scholarly journals Flânerie in Valerie Tagwira’s The Uncertainty of Hope

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-18
Author(s):  
Magdalena Pfalzgraf

Valerie Tagwira’s debut novel The Uncertainty of Hope, set in Harare in 2005, depicts the city on the brink of collapse, characterized by the effects of economic crisis and political violence against the urban poor. Political marginalization of the working classes and gender-based violence intersect and diminish the prospects for the social and spatial mobility of the urban poor. In this article I apply the lens of flânerie to the pedestrian movements of Tagwira’s protagonist Onai Moyo, an impoverished woman who makes a living by selling vegetables on Harare’s streets. In order to make a case for Onai’s ‘flânerie against all odds’, I revisit Walter Benjamin’s theorization as well as recent scholarly engagements with flânerie in non-European settings. By giving her protagonist a gaze traditionally associated with a European middle-class urbanity of the 19th century, Tagwira expands a tradition of city writing/walking and, like other contemporary engagements with flânerie, also breathes new life into a concept often pronounced inappropriate or unproductive for readings of non-European literature. 

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 319-334
Author(s):  
Mauro Machado do Prado ◽  
Ana Paula de Castro Neves ◽  
Nathália Machado Cardoso Dardeau de Albuquerque

O presente trabalho consiste em um estudo qualitativo das representações sociais de imigrantes venezuelanas na América do Sul no período de 2016 a 2019, a partir de manchetes de notícias divulgadas em jornais digitais brasileiros. O objetivo é verificar a ocorrência ou não de veiculações que constituam de forma explícita ou implícita uma violação à dignidade e aos direitos dessas mulheres, ao fomentar ou incitar a xenofobia e a violência de gênero na sociedade através de palavras, frases ou expressões capazes de provocar um aniquilamento simbólico. Para tanto, realizou-se um estudo bibliográfico e documental acerca das vulnerabilidades sociais presentes nos processos imigratórios contemporâneos, que foi consubstanciado com a análise de conteúdo (BARDIN, 2009), em abordagem qualitativa, de manchetes publicadas em jornais digitais brasileiros. A partir da análise realizada, foi possível inferir que estes veículos de comunicação vêm frequentemente descrevendo a migração venezuelana como um problema, mas em conotação negativa, sem o cuidado de descrição do contexto de forma mais clara e abrangente da questão a ser noticiada.   Xenofobia y violencia de género: un análisis de los titulares de las mujeres venezolanas en el periodismo web brasileño El presente trabajo consiste en un estudio cualitativo de las representaciones sociales de los inmigrantes venezolanos en América del Sur en el período de 2016 a 2019, a partir de titulares de noticias publicados en periódicos digitales brasileños. El objetivo es verificar la ocurrencia o no de colocaciones que constituyan explícita o implícitamente una violación a la dignidad y derechos de estas mujeres, al promover o incitar la xenofobia y la violencia de género en la sociedad a través de palabras, frases o expresiones capaces de provocar una aniquilación simbólica. Para ello, se realizó un estudio bibliográfico y documental sobre las vulnerabilidades sociales presentes en los procesos migratorios contemporáneos, el cual fue fundamentado con análisis de contenido (BARDIN, 2009), en un enfoque cualitativo, de titulares publicados en diarios digitales brasileños. Del análisis realizado, se pudo inferir que estos medios de comunicación han venido describiendo muchas veces la migración venezolana como un problema, pero en una connotación negativa, sin preocuparse por describir de manera más clara y completa el contexto del tema a reportar. Palabras clave: Derechos humanos de la mujer. La violencia de género. Xenofobia. Periodismo web.   Xenophobia and gender violence: an analysis of headings broadcasted in brazilian webjornalism on venezuelan women The present work consists of a qualitative study of the social representations of Venezuelan immigrants in South America in the period from 2016 to 2019, based on news headlines published in Brazilian digital newspapers. The objective is to verify the occurrence or not of placements that explicitly or implicitly constitute a violation of the dignity and rights of these women, by promoting or inciting xenophobia and gender violence in society through words, phrases or expressions capable of provoking a symbolic annihilation. To this end, a bibliographic and documentary study was carried out on the social vulnerabilities present in contemporary immigration processes, which was substantiated with content analysis (BARDIN, 2009), in a qualitative approach, of headlines published in Brazilian digital newspapers. From the analysis carried out, it was possible to infer that these media outlets have often been describing Venezuelan migration as a problem, but in a negative connotation, without taking care to describe the context more clearly and comprehensively of the issue to be reported. Keywords: Women’s human rights. Gender-based violence. Xenophobia. Webjournalism.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 158-167
Author(s):  
Hooshmand Alizadeh ◽  
Josef Kohlbacher ◽  
Rozhen Kamal Mohammed-Amin ◽  
Tabin Latif Raouf

Feminist street art aims to transform patriarchal spaces into places of gendered resistance by asserting a feminist presence in the city. Considering this, as well as women’s social life, their struggle against lingering forces of patriarchy, and relating features of inequality (domestic violence), there was a feminist installation artwork by the young Kurdish artist Tara Abdulla that shook the city of Sulaimani in Iraqi Kurdistan on 26 October 2020. She had prepared a 4,800‐meter‐long washing line covered with the clothes of 99,678 Kurdish women who were survivors of sexual and gender‐based violence. They installed it along the busiest street of the city (Salim Street). She used this piece of feminine to express her reaction to the Kurdish society regarding, the abuse that goes on silently, behind closed doors. She also aimed towards normalizing women’s bodies. After the installation, she received many controversial reactions. As her artwork was a pioneering project in line with feminist issues in Kurdistan which preoccupied the city for quite a while, the aim of this article is to investigate the diverse effects of her work on the current dialogue regarding gender inequality in the Kurdish society. To do this, we used the research method of content analysis on big data (Facebook comments) to investigate the public reactions of a larger number of locals. The Feminine effectively exposed some of the deep‐rooted cultural, religious, and social barriers in addressing gender inequalities and silent sexual violence issues in the modern Kurdish patriarchal society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-41
Author(s):  
Sara El Ouedrhiri ◽  
Hafsa El Mesbahi

In a time of great uncertainties, the world witnesses, for the very first instance in its modern history a global lockdown spanning over all the vital spheres of economic and social life. At this point, when neither leaving home nor staying is an option, the surge to exponentially study the manner in which human life has evolved and been shaped under such circumstances gained valuable interest, especially within the circles of feminist and human rights-based academia. Respectively, researchers argue that the weight of the lockdown and movement restriction policies fall discriminately on men and women as they are interestingly leading such novel experiences in different ways. Men, by having no concern mounting to the priority of protecting themselves from being inflicted by this global pandemic and maintaining their economic roles as the traditional family providers, and women on the margin side of the picture, having to deal with the burden of surviving the dangers that the outside and the inside worlds akin dispose. Henceforth, this article is an attempt to probe the dynamics of the private sphere considering the intersections between oppression, seclusion and violence and the development of new dynamics of resistance by transposing from the early 20th century’s feminine experience of confinement and the 21st century’s global lockdown in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. This research considers the stories presented by the renowned Moroccan sociologist and author “Fatima Mernissi”, who herself lived a different kind of seclusion behind the colossal and skillfully ostentatious walls of the harem of the city of Fez in the forties of the previous century and this shall be done mainly by reviewing the stories of resistance presented in her memoir Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood; and by considering the stories of five respondents who have shared with us their accounts through various social media outlets upon the surge of the pandemic in Morocco. The purpose here is to unravel the convergences between women’s experiences of gender-based violence (GBV) in both confinements and to foreground the value, significance and challenges these feminine insights being in them simple acts of everyday life constitute in establishing a discourse of resistance and feminine empowerment vis-à-vis patriarchy, seclusion and gender-based violence.


Temida ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-23
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Artinopoulou

Domestic violence and gender-based violence has been studied and recognised for many years in Greece. Adequate legislation on the criminalization of domestic violence has been implemented since 2006 (Law 3500/2006 on the Confrontation of Domestic Violence). A network of support services has also operated across the country for many years, staffed with professionals trained in the gender-sensitive perspective. However, Greece still faces the impact of the economic crisis that started in 2010 and the critical aspects of the crisis from the reduction of the public budget imposed by the European institutions in the lives of the individuals, the victims and the providers of the social services have not been fully assessed yet. The COVID-19 pandemic created problems in the victims? access to social services and not only. The shadow pandemic describes the alarm on the increase of domestic violence during the pandemic and the isolation of the victims from the providers of social and psychological support. Addressing both the issue of domestic violence through a victim-centered approach before and during the pandemic in Greece and the need for the implementation of evidence-based policies are the general aims of the paper. To this, we present few findings from an original victimological online research on domestic violence during the first lockdown in the country (March to May 2020) and we justify the need for the implementation of evidence-based policies in the criminal justice system in Greece.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Marques

Despite legislative advancements, domestic violence is still today a crime considered as "minor" by many, or often the actions that materialise it are not even recognised. The first steps in Portuguese legislation were taken by the Penal Code approved in 1982, which typified the crime of ill-treatment between spouses, and by the Law n. º 61/91 of 13th of August, which guaranteed “adequate protection to women victims of violence”. However, only in 2007, was the crime of Domestic Violence created, which shows, from 1982 until then, a long path of hesitations and slow social evolution concerning the consciousness of this crime’s seriousness. Until 2007, the crime of spousal abuse was integrated in a broader criminal arrangement, characterised by the abuse of persons. In 2009, with the typification of the crime of Domestic Violence and with the publication of the legal regime applicable to the prevention, protection, and assistance of victims, denominated as Law of Domestic Violence, a more consolidated phase was inaugurated, in both legal treatment and social intervention. Despite these evolutions, Portugal continues to witness an attitude of "social and collective consent" to some forms of Domestic Violence, oftentimes disguised in the acceptance and normalisation of gender inequalities. We have seen news stories where judgements are presented, within the scope of Domestic Violence cases, where discriminatory ideas against women and excuses for the crime of Domestic Violence are manifested. This is proof that some of the representatives of justice (the judges) do not accept what has already been legally approved in the Portuguese legal system. Similarly, recent studies on the population’s perception of domestic and gender-based violence show the abiding ideas and understandings of acceptance and normalisation of domestic and gender-based violence in Portuguese society. We intend to present the evolution of the typification of the crime of domestic violence in Portugal. Then, we intend to understand how this phenomenon has been perceived in Portuguese society. Therefore, we will be able to understand the continuities and ruptures between the legislative body and the social body in what concerns Domestic Violence and Violence against Women in Portugal.


Author(s):  
Abdul Hadi

Patriarchal values are embedded in Pakistani society which determines the subordinated position of women. Patriarchal control over women is exercised through institutionalized restrictive codes of behavior, gender segregation and the ideology which associates family honor to female virtue. The abnormal, amoral, and harmful customary practices which aim at preserving subjugation of women, defended and sanctified as cultural traditions and given religious overtones. Abnormal and amoral traditional practices in Pakistan include honor killing, rape and sexual assault, sexual harassment, acid attacks, being burned, kidnapping, domestic violence, dowry murder, and forces marriages, custodial abuse and torture. According to a 2011 poll of experts by the Thomson Reuters Foundation Poll, Pakistan is ranked the 3rd the most dangerous country for women in the world. This paper aims to highlight the sufferings of women in Pakistan and consider that in patriarchal societies violence has been used as a social mechanism to perpetuate the subjugation of women. Patriarchal system necessitates the violence for the sake of its existence. With the help of existing data, the gender-based violence in Pakistan has been analyzed. This paper concludes that all forms of gender-based violence are committed to ensure the compliance of women. In order to eliminate violence against women, patriarchal system has to be changed which can be achieved by strengthening the social, political and economic position of women.


Author(s):  
Gabrielle S. Bardall

This article presents a conceptual orientation to the intersection of gender, politics, and violence. The first part of the article will introduce the subject by reviewing the primary conceptual framework and empirical knowledge on the topic to date and discussing the theoretical heritage of the concept. Establishing a key distinction between gender-motivated and gender differentiated violence, this article will discuss the gender dimensions of political violence and the political dimensions of gender-based violence. The latter half of the article reviews a number of the key questions driving research and dialogue in the field in the 21st century.


Author(s):  
Farai Chinangure ◽  
Lawrence Mapaire

The study examined the social effects of graffiti as pieces of writing or drawings scribbled, scratched or sprayed on surfaces of public toilets or bus termini. The study followed a qualitative exploratory design in which the researchers observed the messages expressed in the graffiti and conducted a discourse analysis on their effects on the moral fabric of society. Themes and perceptions towards some societal ills emerged from the analysis. The main aim of the study was thus to unravel the possible social issues expressed through this art of graffiti and sgraffitti. A purposive total sample size of 10 public toilets and bus termini was used for the study. Among the major findings of this study was the view that the messages conveyed through the graffiti and sgraffitti expressed a disapproval and distaste of such anti-social acts as promiscuity, prostitution and crime that are prevalent in the city of Johannesburg and its environs. In addition, gender based violence, stereotypes prejudices and stigmas against women, homosexuality and HIV/AIDS were among the dominant graffiti and sgrafitto messages. The study concluded that although graffiti and sgraffitti artists tend to deform and deface some public utilities, their call for normative social behaviour in society shows that there is a need to deconstruct a number of societal biases such as gender biases, sex, sexual orientation, stigmas, stereotypes and other prejudices associated with the diverse nature of the human species. The recommendation made by this study is that there is a dire need for advocacy by social workers, the city fathers, the metro police division and other human rights organisations to deconstruct and demystify certain human practices, acts and mind sets.


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 122-142
Author(s):  
Stephen Vertigans ◽  
◽  
Natascha Mueller-Hirth ◽  
Fredrick Okinda

Informal settlements have been identified as locations both where the spread of COVID-19 has generally been slower than within the Global North and measures to restrain the pandemic have further intensified local peoples’ marginality as income decreases without welfare or financial safety nets. In this paper, qualitative fieldwork is detailed which commenced in Korogocho, an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, immediately prior to national COVID-19 restrictions. This March 2020, pre-COVID phase of the fieldwork focused on a community-based project and the basis for resilience in transforming local lives. During the next 12 months of the pandemic fieldwork continued, exploring experiences and reactions to restraining policies. These findings reinforce concerns about the impact of COVID-19 related restrictions on marginalised peoples’ income, food security, health, safety and gender-based violence. How the local people reacted to these effects highlights their creative resilience and adaptability. The paper concludes by examining the impact of, and responses to, the controlling measures on the social relationships and cohesion that underpins the community resilience.


2022 ◽  
pp. 764-787
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Masullo ◽  
Angela Delli Paoli ◽  
Sara Tomasiello

Misogyny and gender violence are the result of social and cultural predetermination of gender roles. Indeed, eradicating role prescriptions is a real revolutionary action which implies escaping from male and masculinity hegemony and rethinking male identities. It is therefore crucial to create pathways of democratization of gender that aim to create real paths of equality between genders abandoning the social predetermination of gender roles. This challenge has become the goal of some social promotion associations which try to break down gender-based violence and the stigma attached to it. The chapter aims to investigate how these associations operate to democratize gender through a content analysis of messages posted on their respective Facebook pages. The unit of analysis of the study is constituted by the last 200 posts produced in these two Facebook pages for a total of 400 posts analyzed. Findings identify renewed spaces of masculinity (for example fatherhood) not adhering to the main stereotypes.


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