Interorganizational Alliances

Polarizing conversations and “othering” are becoming norms in individual and organizational discourse, while social, political, economic, and cultural issues—and solutions to manage them—are recognized as increasingly interconnected. Interorganizational alliances (IAs) are one means through which social workers can leverage collective resources toward just and common ground. As systems, policies, and contexts continue to drive the coalescing of organizations into IAs, social workers have an important role to play. All IAs fundamentally operate to address emergent issues. Understanding the ways organizations come together, the circumstances that drive them, and factors that contribute to their success is essential for maximizing results. IAs vary along a continuum, ranging from loosely connected to structurally unified, and can be broadly understood by the processes that underlie them. No position on the continuum is better (or worse) than another. Their evolution is dynamic, greatly shaped by relational factors such as leadership styles, organizational cultures, and the goals of those who will be affected. Regardless of whether organizational participants align for internal, operational gain or to better address issues raised within their environment, IAs must clearly identify all who are intended to benefit. In so doing, they must consciously analyze historic interactions, recognizing patterns of discrimination and oppression and establishing systems and narratives that center previously marginalized voices. Only in this way can IAs advance a just and equitable future. Given appropriate preparation through macro education, social workers are well situated for this work.

‘All Tee, No Shade’: A manifesto for a subtle critical practice negotiating queer, East Asian masculinities through T-shirts

‘All Tee, No Shade’ is a practice-led research project that explores the use of the men’s T-shirt to challenge and disrupt hegemonic subjectivities that contribute to the marginalization and discrimination of the queer Asian diaspora. Through an exploration of my pilot project of the same name, produced as part of the arts programme of Virgin Australian Melbourne Fashion Festival in 2020, I propose that norm-critical design methodologies exploring intersectional experiences of fashion and dress can produce material outcomes that challenge the discrimination and oppression associated with compounding conditions of race and sexuality. I use the notion of ‘subtle’ traits as a condition of the East Asian diasporic experience to reveal how race and sexuality might be expressed through fashion production to disrupt conceptions of ‘otherness’. This is achieved with T-shirts that have printed graphic configurations that align with contemporary streetwear but with ‘subtle’ signifiers embedded through the signs and lexicons of Asian and queer communities. Using an autoethnographic approach, the work is informed by my past fashion design industry experience and reflects on racial and queer marginalization and discrimination through styling and fit. The project contributes to broader discourses aimed at decentralizing dominant narratives in fashion practice and responds to a lack of academic research into diasporic Asian experiences of dress and, more specifically, queer diasporic Asian dress.

Death as a Way of Women’s Resistance: Feminist Reading of Snow and Women at Point Zero

Women’s life without oppression, suppression and discrimination is the claim of women’s rights. Women are subjected to discrimination or violence at various phases of life, by rules and cultures. Unfortunately, female discrimination and oppression are rooted in the cultures of male-dominated societies. Gender discrimination is the practice of denying or granting privilege or rights to someone according to her/his gender, and such practice is acceptable to both; in such societies with such practices and traditions, women’s mission for liberating themselves is seen to be impossible because they have to challenge longstanding customs and traditions of people. This study shed light on the practices of oppression, gender discrimination that women encounter from infancy to adulthood, from childhood to womanhood, as portrayed in Orhan Pamuk’s Snow and Nawal El Saadawi’s Women at Point Zero, as well as the various ways of resistance depending on the cultural differences. Their persistence trial to free themselves from oppression and male dominance. In Women at Point Zero, there is a link between the triple effect of patriarchy, religion, and class on women. This study examines how patriarchal culture, violence, oppression, and gender discrimination happen not only in a family; in contrast, the violence does not happen from men, husbands in families only, but again in wives, women’s resistance and reaction against them. In Snow, women many problems related to their religious norms. The women’s discrimination is because of using headscarves; Kadhife, the female character, is sketched as a woman who attempts to have her right to support and defend women’s rights in her place, Kars, and to retain wearing headscarves.

Information Communication Technologies as Tools to Cope with Stigma: An Exploration of Coping in College-Aged Queer People of Color

Within the United States, Queer People of Color (QPoC) experience high levels of societal discrimination and oppression as a result of having both a stigmatized racial identity and a stigmatized sexual orientation/gender identity. Despite this, QPoC have been the focus of very few studies, and little is known about how to effectively support this marginalized group. Research shows that QPoC utilize Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to cope with societal stigma, however few studies have addressed exactly what ICTs QPoC are using and how they are using them. This qualitative study explores common themes in the experiences of stigma for QPoC, what ICTs QPoC are using to cope with this stigma, and how they are using these ICTs. The authors conducted 12 semi-structured interviews followed by a thematic analysis. The main ICTs that participants discussed using include: Instagram, Twitter, Discord, Tinder, Grindr, GroupMe, Tumblr, Reddit, Netflix, YouTube, Video Games, and Texting. These tools were primarily used for distracting and escaping from stigma, communicating and connecting with others, seeking QPoC media, exploring one’s identity, seeking a community, and finding emotional support. Participants reported that these ICTs are effective coping mechanisms, however stigma permeates these online spaces as well, making it difficult for QPoC to feel safe from the stigma they face offline. To address this, the authors put forth several suggestions.

Narrative Voice Structure in Kole Omotoso’s The Edifice

This article offers a reading of Kole Omotoso’s The Edifice in which he exposes the themes of insensitivity, callousness, aggressiveness, oppression, marginalization and racial discrimination of the whites against the black people successfully. It is clear that the most important and highly unique technique that the writer uses to advantage and which projects the theme of the novel forward is the one of conversational speech which contributes highly to the success of the novel. This explains the reason the present writer is picking the novel out of all Omotoso’s novels because it makes it more prone to linguistic analysis more than most African literary works. Using linguistic stylistic analytical tool of narrative voice structure and focusing particularly on free direct speech and free direct thought, this paper examines the themes of racial discrimination and oppression of the whites against the black people in the novel. From the analysis, the paper concludes that the implication of this racial discrimination is that all the expressions used in the novel against the black people by the whites are exaggerated, hyperbolic and highly calculated to depict African race in bad light.

Moving beyond the rhetoric of social justice in nursing education

We argue that while the discipline of nursing aligns with the ideals of social justice and anti-racism, it has been challenging for nurse educators to translate these ideals into practice. In this discussion paper, we explore these challenges. Of note, there is little guidance for nurse educators to support student knowledge development in addressing the complex issues surrounding anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice. Accordingly, we utilized Peggy Chinn’s Peace and Power framework as a guide to develop an anti-racist practice that is underpinned by critical pedagogy. Our aim is to provide teaching and learning strategies for nurse educators to address racism, discrimination, and oppression in undergraduate nursing learning environments. Implications of this article include guidance for nurse educators who are committed to anti-racist pedagogical practice.

DIASPORIC AND CROSS-CULTURAL IDENTITIES IN PAKISTANI FILM KHUDA KE LIYE (IN THE NAME OF GOD)

Purpose: The study aims to identify the various diasporic identities, hybrid identities, and identity crisis analyses of a Pakistani film, ‘Khuda Kay Liye’ released on July 20, 2007, written, directed, and produced by Shoaib Mansoor. Method: The present study is qualitative by nature and interpretive by approach. The researchers collected the primary data from the film watching it profoundly. The secondary data was collected from the various relevant articles published in periodicals/journals to build the theoretical argument—analyzing the data utilizing the thematic analysis technique. Main Findings: This qualitative analysis enlightens more significant issues about diaspora and identities in the focused film. Individuals in the film represent themselves distinctive living in another society, culture, or religion, practicing their native (Pakistani) cultural norms and ideologically. Moreover, as a subordinate ethnic group, specifically Muslim characters in the film, face discrimination and oppression. Through qualitative discussions based on excerpts dealing with socio-cultural behavior, the researchers concluded that diasporic identities constitute the core thematic content of the film. Application of the Study: The study would be significant for understanding diasporic and hybrid identities. The academic researcher may adopt the theoretical framework of the present research to employ it on the other genres of Pakistani literature to find the diasporic identities and identity crises. The teachers of Pakistani literature would also seek help to understand and teach the concepts analyzed in the research. The Study’s Originality: The study is contemporary as it employs conceptual, theoretical frameworks to explore the diasporic features in a film.

Emotional consequences of hate incidents: experiences of a South African cohort

The consequences of hate incidents are far greater than transgressions without an underlying bias motive. The powerful emotional and psychological effect observed in victims of hate rests in the perpetrator attacking the identity or an unchangeable characteristic of a victim. Within South Africa, these effects are compounded by the country’s legacy of discrimination and oppression; thus, the potential consequences of hate victimisation within this context extend beyond the emotional. This justifies differential retributive and restorative measures following such incidents; however, legislative and policy frameworks to respond to hate victimisation are only in the beginning stages. The scarcity of empirical research on hate incidents and their consequences in South Africa renders this investigation the first of its kind. The researchers aimed to determine the demographic and situational variables that put individuals at a higher risk for experiencing emotional consequences as a result of hate victimisation. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression modelling were used to analyse data ( n = 409, Mean Age = 31.5). Results indicate a higher vulnerability of emotional consequences if a victim is exposed to economic consequences, if the offender is known to the victim, and if the victim identifies as Black African. Sex and type of incident (hate crimes, hate speech, and intentional unfair discrimination) showed no significant relationship with emotional consequences. The results enable greater insight into victim experiences of emotional consequences and motivate prioritising psychosocial health care, targeted interventions, and relevant legislative and policy frameworks for victims and communities affected by hate incidents.

The reproduction of anti-black racism within child welfare

This research study explores the reproduction of anti-black racism within child welfare. The study draws on literature that discuss the experiences of black families within care and the ways in which anti-black racism is perpetuated by child protection services. The literature also discusses the over representation of black children in care by drawing on the past and present discrimination and oppression of black folks as a primary root of such disparity within the system. This research study then moves on to introduce anti-black racism theory and critical race theory as lenses that will frame and guide the discussions on the experiences of black families within child welfare. The study includes an in-depth interview with an East African Canadian child welfare survivor whose narrative provides insight into how black folks are engaged by the system. The study found that this black family continues to face many barriers within child welfare as a result of not only anti-black racism but also the perpetuation of whiteness and white supremacy that continues to guide child welfare practice.

The reproduction of anti-black racism within child welfare

This research study explores the reproduction of anti-black racism within child welfare. The study draws on literature that discuss the experiences of black families within care and the ways in which anti-black racism is perpetuated by child protection services. The literature also discusses the over representation of black children in care by drawing on the past and present discrimination and oppression of black folks as a primary root of such disparity within the system. This research study then moves on to introduce anti-black racism theory and critical race theory as lenses that will frame and guide the discussions on the experiences of black families within child welfare. The study includes an in-depth interview with an East African Canadian child welfare survivor whose narrative provides insight into how black folks are engaged by the system. The study found that this black family continues to face many barriers within child welfare as a result of not only anti-black racism but also the perpetuation of whiteness and white supremacy that continues to guide child welfare practice.