Examining relational social ontologies of disaster resilience: lived experiences from India, Indonesia, Nepal, Chile and Andean territories

PurposeThe neoliberal resilience discourse and its critiques both contribute to its hegemony, obscuring alternative discourses in the context of risk and uncertainties. Drawing from the “ontology of potentiality”, the authors suggest reclaiming “resilience” through situated accounts of the connected and relational every day from the global south. To explore alternate possibilities, the authors draw attention to the social ontology of disaster resilience that foregrounds relationality, intersectionality and situated knowledge.Design/methodology/approachQuilting together the field work experiences in India, Indonesia, Nepal, Chile and Andean territories, the authors interrogate the social ontologies and politics of resilience in disaster studies in these contexts through six vignettes. Quilting, as a research methodology, weaves together various individual fragments involving their specific materialities, situated knowledge, layered temporalities, affects and memories. The authors’ six vignettes discuss the use, politicisation and resistance to resilience in the aftermath of disasters.FindingsWhile the pieces do not try to bring out a single “truth”, the authors argue that firstly, the vignettes provide non-Western conceptualisations of resilience, and attempts to provincialise externally imposed notions of resilience. Secondly, they draw attention to social ontology of resilience as the examples underscores the intersubjectivity of disaster experiences, the relational reaching out to communities and significant others.Originality/valueDrawing from in-depth research conducted in six disaster contexts by seven scholars from South Asia, South America and Northern Europe, the authors embrace pluralist situated knowledge, and cross-cultural/language co-authoring. Thus, the co-authored piece contributes to diversifying disaster studies scholarship methodologically.

Emotional Communities: An Understanding of Collective Situated Knowledge and Action

The concept of ‘emotional communities’ has been a fruitful category for understanding the collective action of grassroot organisations in Bogotá, Colombia. In our study group on the subject, we developed our own approach of the concept thanks to the input from many authors who have used it, as well as from our empirical findings in research. The aim of this essay is, first, to discuss emotional communities and explain the gaps we found in some of the foundational works on the concept; second, to analyse the ways that our empirical data offered insights that helped widen up the concept for our research. Finally, it concludes with an argument of how this approach could serve to enhance understanding of the collective situated knowledge that sustain people’s actions of transformation within specific contexts.

Posizionamenti transfemministi. Saperi situati e pratiche spaziali nel movimento Non Una di Meno

The aim of this paper is to analyse, through the toolbox of gender geography, the methodology of positionality and situated knowledge. The article examines some spatial practices of the transfeminist movement Non Una di Meno that involve us both as researchers and activists. The different forms of territorialisation and ways of “doing with” the space of the movement, are here presented through the specific cases of the demonstrations organised during the Covid-19 pandemic on the 25th of November 2020 and 8th March 2021. This enables us to present the methodology of positionality, and to analyse how feminist spatial practices can be the object of research and vice versa.

Subordinasi dan Sudut Pandang Perempuan Suku Malind Marga Mahuze dalam Film the Mahuzes (2015): a Feminist Standpoint Theory

Documentary films are one of the most suitable media to be used as a reference in seeing reality. Like the reality of subordination and women's point of view in The Mahuzes. In general, this film tells the story of the conflict that occurred between the Malind clan Mahuze in Merauke and corporations that entered their territory through the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) program, besides that there were horizontal conflicts between tribal members. This study aims to analyze the form of subordination and women's point of view seeing the problems of indigenous peoples dealing with corporations which are shown by the documentary film The Mahuzes in the perspective of Feminist Standpoint Theory. This study uses a qualitative approach and a critical paradigm by collecting data from various relevant sources. Events involving or relating to women were analyzed using three basic concepts of Feminist Standpoint Theory, namely standpoint, situated knowledge, and sexual division of labour. The results of the study indicate that women in The Mahuzes are a marginalized group, forced to take responsibility for the domestic space, and are limited to take part in the public sphere. Even so, they have a broad and comprehensive perspective in viewing horizontal conflicts between clan members and vertically between clans and corporations. Keywords: Subordinate; Feminist Standpoint; MIFEE; The Mahuze Abstrak: Film dokumenter menjadi salah satu media yang paling sesuai untuk dijadikan sebagai rujukan dalam melihat realitas. Seperti realitas subordinasi dan sudut pandang perempuan dalam The Mahuzes. Film ini, secara garis besar berkisah tentang konflik yang terjadi antara suku Malind marga Mahuze di Merauke dengan korporasi yang masuk ke wilayah mereka melalui program Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE), selain itu terdapat konflik horizontal antar anggota suku. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis bentuk subordinasi dan sudut pandang perempuan melihat permasalahan masyarakat adat berhadapan dengan korporasi yang ditampilkan oleh film dokumenter The Mahuzes dalam perspektif Feminist Standpoint Theory. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dan paradigma kritis dengan mengumpulkan data dari berbagai sumber yang relevan. Agedan-agedan yang melibatkan atau berkaitan dengan perempuan dianalisis dengan menggunakan tiga konsep dasar Feminist Standpoint Theory, yaitu standpoint, situated knowledge, dan sexual division of labour. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa, perempuan dalam The Mahuzes merupakan kelompok yang terpinggirkan, dipaksa untuk bertanggung jawab pada ruang domestik, dan terbatas untuk berkiprah di ruang publik. Meskipun begitu, mereka memiliki sudut pandang yang luas dan menyeluruh dalam melihat konflik horizontal antar anggota marga maupun vertikal antara marga dan korporasi. Kata kunci: Subordinasi; Feminist Standpoint; MIFEE; The Mahuze

“Podem duas mulheres falar sobre masculinidades?”: entre saberes localizados e a reflexão sobre múltiplas masculinidades // “Can two women talk about masculinities?”: Between situated knowledge and reflection on multiple masculinities

Este artigo se propõe, a partir de um ponto de vista feminista crítico negro e interseccional, tecer algumas considerações sobre o impacto, desconfianças e questionamentos que surgiram quando duas mulheres se propuseram a ministrar um curso de férias intitulado "Introdução aos estudos de masculinidades". A partir da descrição da turma, dos nossos objetivos enquanto docente, da nossa localização enquanto pesquisadoras e sujeitos, iremos abordar as noções que os e as estudantes tinham quando se matricularam no curso ou quando faziam suas falas no espaço das aulas. Para tanto, começaremos nos localizando enquanto sujeitos e pesquisadoras, bem como o trabalhos que temos desenvolvido nos últimos cinco anos; posteriormente, traremos uma descrição de quem eram os e as estudantes e o que havia levado cada um deles e delas até ali; traçaremos, em seguida, uma breve retomada histórica dos estudos de masculinidades, explicando quais foram os caminhos que decidimos percorrer e como fizemos nossas escolhas de autores e autoras para compor o curso; após analisar exercício de escrita feito pelos estudantes no último dia de aula, nós teceremos algumas considerações que buscarão conectar os diferentes pontos abordados no decorrer do artigo. Como considerações importantes a serem feitas é crucial apontarmos o autoflagelo e a dificuldade que as e os educandos tinham quando precisavam falar de situações que entendiam não fazer parte de seus "lugares de fala". Buscando não ignorar, mas tentando não esvaziar significativos debates contemporâneos sobre lugar de fala, representatividade e protagonismo, construíremos no artigo a necessidade de saída do autoflagelo, do congelamento dos debates e a importância de nos pautarmos por debates feitos dialogicamente e a partir de locais múltiplos.

Decolonizing Arab organizational Knowledge: “Fahlawa” as a Research Practice

This article draws attention to how management scholars “the outsiders within” who are structurally positioned within the academies of dominant powers might negotiate the complexities of producing a locally rooted and meaningful knowledge, emancipated from the U.S. hegemony while carrying organization studies in Arab countries. Drawing upon my different ethnographic journeys as a researcher, brought up in an Arab country with a Francophone intellectual mindset and studying Arab management practices, I will discuss both the potential for and the difficulties of critical engagement with a decolonizing management research agenda. Then, and building on critical border thinking tradition, I will propose the Egyptian term “Fahlawa” as a metaphor for better describing the challenges of a decolonizing research practice that privileges contestation and perpetual bricolage over formal and universal design. Finally, I will conclude by highlighting the potential of “Fahlawa” as a survival/resistance practice to theorize what is unthought and invisible in management literature and to build situated knowledge less organized by U.S. domination.

On which common ground to build? Transferable knowledge across cases in transdisciplinary sustainability research

To support societal problem solving, transdisciplinary research (TDR) uses knowledge co-production focusing on relevance and validity in a studied case and its particular social–ecological context. In the first instance, the resulting situated knowledge seems to be restricted to these single cases. However, if some of the knowledge generated in TDR could be used in other research projects, this would imply that there is a body of knowledge representing this special type of research. This study used a qualitative approach based on the methodology of grounded theory to empirically examine what knowledge is considered transferable to other cases, if any. 30 leaders of 12 Swiss-based TDR projects in the field of sustainable development were interviewed, representing both academia and practice. The transferable knowledge we found consists of the following: (1) Transdisciplinary principles, (2) transdisciplinary approaches, (3) systematic procedures, (4) product formats, (5) experiential know-how, (6) framings and (7) insights, data and information. The discussion of TDR has predominantly been focusing on transdisciplinary principles and approaches. In order to take knowledge co-production in TDR beyond an unmanageable field of case studies, more efforts in developing and critically discussing transferable knowledge of the other classes are needed, foremost systematic procedures, product formats and framings.

The peace tree in ELT: A problematizing exploration

The English language teaching (ELT) field has undergone transformations regarding its views on knowledge and language. Although instrumental perspectives situate English teachers in a passive, receptive and technical position, their research and pedagogical work displays an interest in extracurricular phenomena about Peace Construction (PC) in ELT. This qualitative exploratory study aimed at unveiling possible connections between PC and ELT in Colombia. Documental revision and semi-structured interviews were applied with 4 English teachers. Findings discuss an organic metaphor as facilitating “teachers’ situated knowledge construction” (Serna, 2018, p. 585). Thus, a critical reflection is developed on how ELT and PC may articulate one another towards an alternative reading on their possible relationality or the reduction of the canonical distance imagined between these two fields, in order to acknowledge their interconnection. Conclusions around the multifaceted transdisciplinary ELT field are presented.

A philosophy of birth: if you want to change the world, change the conversation

This essay is about why and how we should introduce birth into the canon of subjects explored by philosophy. Birth care brings to the fore fascinating philosophical questions: is a woman in labour a subject with full rights in practice as well as in theory? Can a labouring woman exercise her autonomy in a situation of maximum vulnerability but also maximum lucidity and awareness, as characterises the work of giving birth? What is the relationship between agency, capacity, and pain during and between contractions? Birth care proposes key questions relating to knowledge, freedom, and what it means to be a human being. Nonetheless, giving birth continues to be a blind spot in contemporary prevailing philosophy. My approach to a philosophy of birth aligns with one of the aims of contemporary philosophy; I explore the relationship between knowledge and emancipatory action in the relatively unchartered waters of birth and delivery, to create an epistemology that is sensitive to feminism and embodiment. What I propose to achieve through a philosophy of birth is a new logos for genos —a radically new meditation on origin and birth. How we understand our origin and the practices that bring us into being reveals our humanity. The lived experiences of women and their situated knowledge challenge widely-held assumptions about rationality, about what it is to be a birthing woman and what it is to have agency and capacity in the delivery suite. A philosophy of birth enables us to navigate the stormy waters of contemporary obstetric practice towards a new and radical logos for genos —an embodied genealogy which not only redresses imbalances of gender, but also addresses life and happiness.

O TRABALHO DE CAMPO COMO EXPERIÊNCIA EDUCATIVA EM GEOGRAFIA

O presente artigo revisita o trabalho de campo em geografia discutindo questões pedagógicas que envolvem sua implementação na Educação Básica. Partindo-se de uma análise que relaciona o campo ao pensamento geográfico, discute os limites da tradição calcada na pressuposição da neutralidade e da objetividade da observação direta. Contrapõe essa tradição de base positivista às chamadas “epistemologias críticas” que consideram o campo como um “conhecimento situado” sobre processos, pessoas e lugares. Ao centralizar a discussão no caráter pedagógico do campo, o artigo problematiza a tensão existente entre “conhecimentos acadêmicos” e “conhecimentos escolares”, defendendo a necessidade de uma “transformação didática” da abordagem do campo no ensino regular a fim de transformá-lo numa experiência educativa em geografia capaz de engendrar processos mais amplos de educação geográfica. Palavras-Chave: trabalho de campo, ensino de geografia, papel pedagógico. FIELDWORK AS AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF GEOGRAPHY Abstract: The article reviews fieldwork studies in geography by discussing pedagogical issues involving in the possibility of its implementation. It presents an analysis of the relation between the field and geographic thought, as well as a discussion of the limits of the tradition based on the presumption of neutrality and objectivity in direct observation. The paper opposes this tradition based on positivism to the so-called “critical epistemologies which consider the field as“situated knowledge” of processes, people, and places. By recognizing the importance of fieldwork in geographic practices, this article aims to be a contribution to the understanding of its pedagogical role, highlighting its ability to awaken interest in acquiring the geographic knowledge. Keywords: fieldwork, geography teaching, pedagogical role. LE TRAVAIL DE TERRAIN COMME EXPÉRIENCE ÉDUCATIVE DANS LA GÉOGRAPHIE Résumé: Cet article revisite le sujet du travail de terrain en géographie en discutant des aspects pédagogiques impliqués dans la possibilité de sa mise en œuvre, à des différents niveaux. En partant de l'analyse du rôle formatif du terrain dans la pensée géographique, il discute les limites de la tradition fondée sur l'hypothèse de la neutralité et de l'objectivité de l'observation directe. Il oppose cette tradition fondée sur le positivisme à ce qu'on appelle les “épistémologies critiques" qui considèrent le terrain comme une forme de connaissance située sur les processus, les personnes et les lieux. Toute en reconnaissant l'importance du travail de terrain dans les pratiques de la géographie, l'article se veut une contribution au rôle pédagogique propre du terrain, en mettant en évidence sa capacité à éveiller l'intérêt pour l'apprentissage et, en particulier, pour la connaissance géographique. Mots-Clé: travail de terrain, enseignement de la géographie, rôle pédagogique.