scholarly journals 'Midwife for Power': Towards a Mujerista / Womanist Model of Community Organizing

Author(s):  
Alexandra Piñeros Shields

In recent years, communities have responded to police violence in U.S. cities through confrontational models of community organising that evolved from patriarchal and male approaches. Very often, these approaches have not produced the hoped-for outcomes. In this article, I argue that a women-led community organising model, grounded in feminine relational power-with epistemologies, can lead to innovative policy changes, including in contexts of intractable problems, such as police misconduct. This article presents the Midwife for Power community organising model, which creates space for women organisers to nurture solidarity and creativity across all lines of difference, centres personal testimony and uses collective inquiry to create relational power to address injustice. Theoretically, this model draws on the rich insights of Black and Latina organisers and scholars, as well as traditions of intersectional solidarity. In order to illustrate the model, this article presents an empirical case study of a successful police accountability campaign.

Author(s):  
Garrett Felber

Although civil rights historiography has largely focused on the role of the courts in changing federal jurisprudence, the Nation of Islam used the courtroom as a political arena to build Black unity on the issue of police violence and across religious and political divides within Black and Latinx communities. Unlike the efforts of the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund or the cases brought forth by Muslim prisoners, these trials did not seek policy changes or promote civil rights legislation. The Nation of Islam sought to shift the discourse of the trial through political theater and community organizing around a united platform against police brutality. This narrative of the Ronald Stokes trial, in which the LAPD indicted 14 members of the Nation of Islam on 40 counts of assault and resisting arrest, explores the relationship between the trial and both local anti-carceral activism and the national civil rights struggle.


2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Feigenbaum ◽  
Daniel Weissmann

Background  This article presents a case study about the role of data in the CATO Institute’s Police Misconduct Reporting Project and reflects on what constitutes police violence.Analysis  Augmenting this data aggregation work, the article turns to additional data projects focused on recording police crime and misconduct to gather a broader understanding of incidents of police violence beyond acts that cause death. Conclusion and implications  It is only when we look at data on acts of violence that occur when an officer is on duty and off-duty, with or without a firearm, that a clearer sense of the traumatic cycle of policing can be understood. This way of looking at police data requires both broader practices of “copwatching,” as well as a broader definition of what counts as violence.Contexte  Cet article présente une étude de cas sur le rôle des données dans le Police Misconduct Reporting Project (Projet sur le recensement des inconduites policières) du CATO Institute et offre une réflexion sur ce qu’est la violence policière.Analyse  L’article complète cette étude de cas en examinant d’autres projets semblables portant sur les inconduites et crimes policiers afin d’en arriver à une meilleure compréhension d’instances de violence policière au-delà d’actions causant la mort.Conclusion et implications  C’est seulement quand on examine des données sur les actes violents ayant lieu quand un policier est de service ou non, avec ou sans arme à feu, qu’on peut mieux comprendre le cycle traumatique relatif au travail policier. Cette manière de considérer les données sur la police requiert à la fois des pratiques plus englobantes de surveillance des policiers et une définition plus large de ce qu’est la violence.


Author(s):  
Shuman Tan ◽  
Eun Sug Park ◽  
Jinuk Hwang

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County’s METROLift program implemented several revised fare policies on travel options available to eligible riders at the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016. Fares changed on the METROLift paratransit single ticket and passes. A premium fare for the expanded service area and a smartcard—Freedom Q Card—that allows free ride on METRO’s fixed-route services were introduced. This paper documents analyses to determine the impact of the revised METROLift fare policies on travel patterns and travel frequency of METROLift riders. The authors used a linear segmented regression analysis to analyze data from an interrupted time series design. The results suggest that the revised fare policies controlled the growth of percentage of riders who use METROLift paratransit service in total ADA-eligible riders, while improved the awareness and willingness to use supplementary paratransit travel options, especially the fixed-route service in the base service area and the subsidy taxi service in the expanded service area.


Oryx ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 420-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kae Kawanishi ◽  
Gopalasamy Reuben Clements ◽  
Melvin Gumal ◽  
Gareth Goldthorpe ◽  
Mohd Nawayai Yasak ◽  
...  

AbstractTiger Panthera tigris populations are under threat from poaching and depletion of their prey populations. The National Tiger Action Plan for Malaysia contains several actions addressing the threat of legal and illegal hunting of tiger prey species. One action in this plan required an investigation of whether urgent policy changes were needed to improve the protection of the prey of tigers, based on existing data. As the lack of reliable baseline data prevented us from determining population trends accurately, we compiled camera-trapping data from 23 studies conducted between 1997 and 2008 on four principal tiger prey species (sambar Rusa unicolor, barking deer Muntiacus muntjac, wild boar Sus scrofa and bearded pig S. barbatus) and two potential prey species (gaur Bos gaurus and Malayan tapir Tapirus indicus) and compared their distributions and relative abundances. From 10,145 wildlife photographs spanning 40,303 trap-nights, sambar, bearded pig and gaur appeared to be most threatened given their restricted distribution and low relative abundance. Among these, the gaur has full legal protection and has received more conservation attention than the other two species. Following our assessment and advocacy a 6-year moratorium on hunting both sambar and barking deer was imposed by the Malaysian government and the highest protection status possible was afforded the bearded pig. This case study illustrates how best available data (BAD), in this case from camera-trapping studies, can be harnessed to effect precautionary policy changes to curb the impacts of hunting on threatened predator and prey populations that could crash well before resources would otherwise be available for rigorous scientific assessments.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 77-97
Author(s):  
John Bosco Ngendakurio

Abstract This article seeks to reveal the primary barriers to fair economic development based on Kenyans’ perceptions of power and globalization. This search was initially sparked by the seeming disinterest of First World scholars to understand the reasons why poor countries benefit so little from the global market as reflected in a subsequent lack of a wide-ranging existing literature about the subject. The literature suggests that global capitalism is dominated by a powerful small elite, the so-called Transnational Capitalist Class (TCC), but how does this relate to Kenya and Africa in general? We know that the TCC has strong connections to financial capital and wealthy transnational corporations. It also pushes neo-liberalism, which becomes the taken-for-granted everyday language and culture that justifies state policies that result in a further class polarization between the rich and poor. Using Kenya as a case study, this article draws on original qualitative research involving face-to-face interviews with Kenyan residents in different sectors who spoke freely about what they perceive to be Kenya’s place in the world order. My interview results show that, on top of the general lack of economic power in the world order, the main barriers to Africa’s performance are neo-colonial and imperialist practices, poor technology, poor infrastructure, general governance issues, and purchasing power.


Multilingua ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mieke Vandenbroucke

AbstractThis paper focuses on how different historical stages of socio-economic development in Brussels are played out on the ground over time in one particular inner-city neighbourhood, the Quartier Dansaert. In particular, I document the history of this neighbourhood and how urban change and gentrification have impacted the outlook of multilingualism and the development of multilingual discourses and language hierarchies in its material and semiotic landscape over time. By using the rich history of multilingualism in the Quartier Dansaert as a case-study, I argue in favour of more historically-sensitive and longitudinal approaches to social and, in particular, linguistic change as played out in urban landscape.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Thi Minh Khue Nguyen ◽  
Thi Dien Nguyen ◽  
Thi Minh Hop Ho ◽  
Philippe Burny ◽  
Thomas Dogot ◽  
...  

This paper explores the links between migration and social differentiation in rural Vietnam after the reform period (2005–2015) through a case study of Maithon village, Chilang District, Bacninh Province. Since 2005, many villagers have left Maithon to work in cities, industrial zones or to find employment abroad. The migration process has transformed labour and income structures and supply in many households. However, 90 percent of Maithon households claimed on the positive contribution of remittance, while at the same time, they did not suffer from labour shortage due to the circular pattern of the migration. Therefore, rural out-migration is one of the diversification strategy which enables the villager to gain access to cash income in urban areas while still keep position in rural areas. It has resulted in the increase in the size of the middle class, rather than the generation of the gap between the rich and the poor. Through this process, migration becomes a developmental strategy, as a means for upward mobility rather than mechanism of social differentiation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-32
Author(s):  
Sarah B. Garlington ◽  
Margaret R. Durham Bossaller ◽  
Jennifer A. Shadik ◽  
Kerri A. Shaw

This article presents research on faith-based community organizing in the US to examine how congregation members engage in structural change efforts related to marginalized populations. Examining the case of one organizing model, justice ministry, congregations focus on power defined through relationships, cultivated in informal spaces, and communicated through personal narrative (traditionally private, feminine spheres), and change is enacted by creating tension in public (traditionally masculine) spaces with decision-makers. A growing body of literature presents nuanced gender analyses of policy advocacy, social movements, and community change efforts both in terms of strategic models of action and revisiting our understanding of historical movements. We ask questions about how the expectations and work are constrained or facilitated by cultural expectations of gender roles and power dynamics. Examining the organizing model of justice ministry through a gender lens helps to understand how an emphasis on relational power (traditionally gendered as feminine) facilitates and strengthens the use of a range of tools, including publicly challenging authority (more frequently gendered as masculine). While the private/public, feminine/masculine dichotomy has severe limitations and risks oversimplification, the utility remains in helping name and challenge real power differentials based on gender.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mimi Zaleha Abdul Ghani ◽  
Yazid Sarkom ◽  
Zalina Samadi

This paper aims to explore the rich potential of interactive visualisation environment integrating GIS for modelling urban growth and spatio-temporal transformation of Malaysian cities. As a case study example, authors consider a 3-D GIS model of Ampang Jaya, Selangor to investigate the techniques of data acquisition, data reconstruction from physical to digital, urban analysis and visualisation in constructing a digital model ranging from low to high geometric content including 2-D digital maps, digital orthographic and full volumetricparametric modelling. The key aspect of this virtual model is how it would assist in understanding the urban planning and design of Ampang Jaya by translating complex spatial information that are currently used by the authorities for planning activities such as maps, plans and written information into responsive, easily understandable spatial information. It could serve as a new platform to disseminate information about Ampang Jaya, bridge gaps among professionals involved in planning processes, improve communications among decision makers, stakeholders and the public as well as support decision making about thespatial growth of Ampang Jaya. Demonstrations of Ampang Jaya will also provide a clearer picture of the importance of ownership and control of 3-D models by local councils in empowering them in decision making, for example, in improving transparency, and avoiding misuse by project developers (Shiffer 1993; Sunesson et al., 2008). Such environment will improve the subsequent digital models and research in the area of urban design and planning in Malaysia where visual communication is pivotal.


Author(s):  
Anitza Geneve

There is a need to understand the phenomenon of women's under-representation in the Australian Digital Content Industry (DCI) workforce. This chapter presents the findings from an Australian case study where both women working in the industry and industry stakeholders were interviewed for their insight into the influences on women's participation. The rich empirical data and findings from the case study are interpreted using the Acts of Agency theory—an original theory by the author of this chapter. As the chapter reveals there are five ‘Acts of Agency' (containing 10 agent-driven mechanisms) identified as influencing women's participation. Agent-driven mechanisms recognise the causal effect of people themselves; that is, the role individuals play in their participation.


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