Ethical Considerations for Humanizing Refugee Research Trajectories

This paper argues that ethical responsibilities in refugee studies have focused on fieldwork, yet ethics ought to be applied to the research problematic—the aims, questions, and concepts—as potentially implicated in the production of harm. Using an example from Tanzania, I argue that policy has largely shaped the language, categories investigated, and interpretive frames of refugee research, and this article advocates greater attention to historical and contemporary processes underpinning humanitarian principles and practices, and how they might contribute to exclusion and ontological anxieties among refugees in the Global South. By expanding our conceptualization of ethical responsibilities, researchers can better explore the suitability, and the implications for the refugee communities, of the approach that they have adopted and whether they contribute or challenge the and dehumanization of people seeking refuge.

Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control

Background Different forms of mosquito modifications are being considered as potential high-impact and low-cost tools for future malaria control in Africa. Although still under evaluation, the eventual success of these technologies will require high-level public acceptance. Understanding prevailing community perceptions of mosquito modification is, therefore, crucial for effective design and implementation of these interventions. This study investigated community perceptions regarding genetically-modified mosquitoes (GMMs) and their potential for malaria control in Tanzanian villages where no research or campaign for such technologies has yet been undertaken. Methods A mixed-methods design was used, involving: (i) focus group discussions (FGD) with community leaders to get insights on how they frame and would respond to GMMs, and (ii) structured questionnaires administered to 490 community members to assess awareness, perceptions and support for GMMs for malaria control. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the findings and thematic content analysis was used to identify key concepts and interpret the findings. Results Nearly all survey respondents were unaware of mosquito modification technologies for malaria control (94.3%), and reported no knowledge of their specific characteristics (97.3%). However, community leaders participating in FGDs offered a set of distinctive interpretive frames to conceptualize interventions relying on GMMs for malaria control. The participants commonly referenced their experiences of cross-breeding for selecting preferred traits in domestic plants and animals. Preferred GMMs attributes included the expected reductions in insecticide use and human labour. Population suppression approaches, requiring as few releases as possible, were favoured. Common concerns included whether the GMMs would look or behave differently than wild mosquitoes, and how the technology would be integrated into current malaria control policies. The participants emphasised the importance and the challenge of educating and engaging communities during the technology development. Conclusions Understanding how communities perceive and interpret novel technologies is crucial to the design and effective implementation of new vector control programmes. This study offers vital clues on how communities with no prior experience of modified mosquitoes might conceptualize or respond to such technologies when deployed in the context of malaria control programmes. Drawing upon existing interpretive frames and locally-resonant analogies when deploying such technologies may provide a basis for more durable public support in the future.

Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control

Background: Different forms of mosquito modification are being considered as potential high-impact and low-cost tools for future malaria control in Africa. Although still under evaluation, the eventual success of these technologies will require high-level public acceptance. Understanding prevailing community perceptions of mosquito modification is therefore crucial for effective design and implementation of these interventions. This study investigated community perceptions regarding genetically-modified mosquitoes (GMMs) and their potential for malaria control in Tanzanian villages where no research or campaign for such technologies has yet been undertaken.Methods: A mixed-methods design was used, involving: i) focus group discussions (FGD) with community leaders to get insights on how they frame and would respond to GMMs, and ii) structured questionnaires administered to 490 community members to assess awareness, perceptions and support for GMMs for malaria control. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the findings and thematic content analysis was used to identify key concepts and interpret the findings. Results: Nearly all survey respondents were unaware of mosquito modification technologies for malaria control (94.3%), and reported no knowledge of their specific characteristics (97.3%). However, community leaders participating in FGDs offered a set of distinctive interpretive frames to conceptualize interventions relying on GMMs for malaria control. The participants commonly referenced their experiences of cross-breeding for selecting preferred traits in domestic plants and animals. Preferred GMMs attributes included the expected reductions in insecticide use and human labour. Population suppression approaches, requiring as few releases as possible, were favoured. Common concerns included whether the GMMs would look or behave differently than wild mosquitoes, and how the technology would be integrated into current malaria control policies. The participants emphasised the importance and the challenge of educating and engaging communities during the technology development. Conclusion: Understanding how communities perceive and interpret novel technologies is crucial to the design and effective implementation of new vector control programs. This study offers vital clues on how communities with no prior experience of modified mosquitoes might conceptualize or respond to such technologies when deployed in the context of malaria control programs. Drawing upon existing interpretive frames and locally-resonant analogies when deploying such technologies may provide a basis for more durable public support in the future.

Risky Jews

Focusing on many previously untranslated articles in popular national magazines and newspapers, as well as works by prominent racial theorists, this chapter traces how outrage was systematically fomented against Jews in Nazi-era Germany, creating perceived imperatives for drastic discriminatory measures. Rather than locate the core of Nazi antisemitism in historical or psychological factors, this study approaches antisemitism using the theoretical framework of risk communication. The heuristics of risk perception reveal an array of rhetorical tactics that fomented visceral aversion impervious to logical refutation. Portraying Jews as embodying maximal and uncontrollable risk, political, academic, and mass media discourse converged on the theme of Jews as posing unacceptable dangers that required progressively more drastic measures to control. The principles of risk communication, especially the means of inflaming outrage, could furnish useful interpretive frames for analyzing current antisemitism and other types of repressive discourse.

The Floating Signifier of “Radicalization”: Correctional Officers’ Perceptions of Prison Radicalization

The number of people incarcerated for extremist actions has grown over the past decades. The resulting prospect of prison radicalization has contributed to widespread risk responsibilitization among prison staff. Low-level correctional officers now perceive themselves as being directly responsible for detecting radicalization on their units. Consequently, radicalization has become a meaningful topic for prison staff, one which shapes their daily actions and perceptions. However, officers’ understandings of radicalization may not conform with accepted definitions. Through 131 semistructured interviews with Canadian correctional officers, we demonstrate how radicalization functions as a floating signifier in prison, influencing officer thought and behavior in meaningful ways while eluding easy definition. Officers redefine radicalization to fit interpretive frames around religion and race, gang membership, and mental health, irrespective of whether stereotypical extremists exist in a given prison. We demonstrate how radicalization, when operating as a floating signifier, can significantly influence officers’ perceptions and front-line prison operations.

Hybrid Mosquitoes? Evidence From Rural Tanzania on How Local Communities May Conceptualize and Respond to Modified Mosquitoes as a Tool for Malaria Control

BackgroundDifferent forms of mosquito modification are being considered as potential high-impact and low-cost approaches to future malaria control in Africa. Though still under evaluation, the eventual success of these technologies will require high-level public acceptance. Understanding the prevailing community perceptions is therefore crucial for effective public engagement during implementation. This study investigated community perceptions regarding genetically-modified mosquitoes (GMMs) and their potential for malaria control, in Tanzanian villages where no research or campaigns about such technologies have previously been undertaken. MethodsA mixed-methods design was used, involving: i) structured questionnaires administered to 490 community members to assess awareness, perceptions and support for GMMs, and ii) focus group discussions (FGD) with community leaders to explore in greater depth how these communities frame and would respond to GMMs. Thematic content analysis was used to identify key concepts and interpret the findings. ResultsNearly all survey respondents were unaware of mosquito modification technologies for malaria control (94.3%), and reported no knowledge of their specific characteristics (97.3%). However, community leaders participating in FGDs offered a set of distinctive interpretive frames to conceptualize interventions relying on GMMs for malaria control. The participants commonly referenced their experiences of cross-breeding for selecting preferred traits in domestic plants and animals. Preferred GMMs attributes included expected reductions in insecticide use and human labour. Population suppression approaches, requiring as few releases as possible, were favored. Common concerns included whether the GMMs would look or behave differently than wild mosquitoes, and how the technology would be integrated into current malaria control policies. The participants emphasised the importance, and the challenges, of educating and engaging communities during technology development. ConclusionUnderstanding how communities perceive and interpret new technologies is crucial in designing effective implementation strategies that enjoy durable public support. This study offers vital clues on how communities with no prior experience of modified mosquitoes might conceptualize or respond to such technologies when deployed in the context of malaria control programs. The existing interpretive frames and the real-life analogies, such as cross-breeding, may provide a basis for effective community engagement to aid the potential deployment of such technologies in the future.

HOW DO TRADITIONAL MEDIA INCORPORATE STATEMENTS FROM POLITICAL ACTORS IN SOCIAL MEDIA? An analysis of the framing of Jair Bolsonaro’s tweets in Brazilian journalism

This paper analyzes how three of Brazil’s largest national newspapers (Folha de S. Paulo, O Estado de S. Paulo, O Globo) addressed tweets from the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, in the first four months of his government. The methodology consists of a qualitative content analysis of the news motivated by the president’s publications on Twitter, as well as the messages themselves, in order to identify the framing adopted by said newspapers and whether that framing fits the approach of Bolsonaro. Moreover, the study uses descriptive statistics (Chi-square test) to identify links between the following pairs of variables: issues and frames, months and issues, months and frames. The data is composed of 351 news pieces collected from these media’s websites. The results show that conflict and moral were the issues that media covered the most concerning Bolsonaro’s tweets, and the newspapers used news and interpretive frames equally.O artigo analisa como os tweets do presidente Jair Bolsonaro que pautaram três dos maiores jornais de circulação nacional no Brasil (Folha de S. Paulo, O Estado de S. Paulo, O Globo), nos quatro primeiros meses de governo, foram abordados pelo jornalismo. A metodologia consiste na análise de conteúdo qualitativa das notícias motivadas pelas publicações do presidente na referida rede, assim como dessas próprias mensagens, a fim de identificar o enquadramento que os jornais adotaram e se ele condizia com a abordagem de Bolsonaro. A pesquisa lança mão de estatística descritiva (Qui-quadrado) para identificar associações entre os seguintes pares de variáveis: temas e frames, temas e meses, meses e frames. Foram analisadas 351 notícias, coletadas dos webportais dos referidos jornais. Pode-se afirmar que conflito e moral foram os temas dos tweets que mais receberam atenção dos jornais, que utilizaram equilibradamente frames noticiosos e interpretativos na abordagem das mensagens analisadas.El artículo analiza cómo los tweets del presidente de Brasil, Jair Bolsonaro, que se presentaron en tres de los periódicos nacionales más grandes de Brasil (Folha de S. Paulo, O Estado de S. Paulo y O Globo), en los primeros cuatro meses de gobierno, fueron cubiertos por el periodismo. La metodología consiste en un análisis de contenido cualitativo de las noticias motivadas por las publicaciones del presidente en Twitter, y estos propios mensajes, para identificar el marco que adoptaron los periódicos y si se ajusta al enfoque de Bolsonaro. La investigación utiliza estadísticas descriptivas (Chi-cuadrado) para identificar asociaciones entre “temas y marcos”, “temas y meses”, “meses y marcos”. Se analizaron 351 artículos de noticias, que se recopilaron de los sitios web de estos medios. Conflicto y moral fueron los temas de los tweets que recibieron la mayor atención de los periódicos, que utilizaron equilibradamente los marcos noticiosos y interpretativos en el enfoque de los mensajes.

Betwixt and Between: A Reflection on the Scale and Scope of Disaster Memories

This paper shows that disaster memories not only develop over different circuits of time, but also involve multiple spatial layers. In the particular case presented here, remembering Hamburg’s ‘Great Deluge’ of 1962 followed patterns in which national politics intermeshed with distinctive local legacies and competing memory actors in changing interpretive frames. Tracing the flood’s multi-faceted reverberations along these intersections, this article suggests, firstly, that a long-term analysis of selected memory narratives can offer insights into the broader political implications as well as the unique characteristics of placebased disaster cultures. Secondly, by taking into account commemoration events, politics of remembrance as well as symbolic and material lieux de mémoire, the article shows that disaster memories are shaped by historical actors both ‘outside’ and ‘on site’. As a result, the article traces an eclectic panorama of co-evolving disaster memory cultures – not only local and (inter)national, environmental and social, and ‘from below’ and prescribed at the same time, but ‘betwixt and between’ them as well.