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512. A Postcolonial-Feminist Alternative to Neoliberal Self/Other Relations
- Author:
- L.H.M. Ling
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The neoliberal 'good life' demands one, unequivocal condition: convert or be disciplined. Conversion requires wholesale integration of the neoliberal Self's policies, practices, and institutions at all sites of public policy-making for the Other, regardless of local histories, cultures, or desires. Discipline comes through economic, political, and sometimes military 'conditionalities' from the Self to the 'non-compliant' Other. That both conversion and discipline mean a kind of annihilation for the Other is, for the neoliberal Self, a necessary risk. This includes the rise of rival camps of hypermasculinity that lead, invariably, to perpetual cycles of competition and conflict. A 'borderlands' approach offers an alternative. Similar to 'traveling' theory from feminists of color, this notion of 'borderlands' also draws from pre-colonial experiences such as the ancient Silk Roads where peoples, societies, languages, religions, and ways of life mixed, merged, and moved. 'Borderlands', in short, exemplifies a multiple worlds ontology to world politics. Three cases illustrate the pitfalls of neoliberal Self/Other relations and why we need to move to the 'borderlands': (1) the Asian financial crisis (1997-1998), (2) US corporate corruption (2001-2002), and (3) the 9/11 Commission Report (2004).
- Topic:
- International Relations, Gender Issues, Political Economy, Post Colonialism, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- United States
513. Sociology, Economics, and Gender: Can Knowledge of the Past Contribute to a Better Future?
- Author:
- Julie A. Nelson
- Publication Date:
- 08-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University
- Abstract:
- This essay explores the profoundly gendered nature of the split between the disciplines of economics and sociology which took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, emphasizing implications for the relatively new field of economic sociology. Drawing on historical documents and feminist studies of science, it investigates the gendered processes underlying the divergence of the disciplines in definition, method, and degree of engagement with social problems. Economic sociology has the potential to heal this disciplinary split, but only if the field is broadened, deepened, and made wiser and more self-reflective through the use of feminist analysis.
- Topic:
- Economics, Gender Issues, Political Economy, Political Theory, and Sociology
514. Women in the European Parliament: effects of the voting system, strategies and political resources. The case of the French delegation.
- Author:
- Willy Beauvallet and Sébastien Michon
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Political Sociology
- Abstract:
- This article aims to provide elements to explain the feminisation of French MEPs. While the voting system should be taken into account, its effects can only be understood in relation with two elements: on the one hand, the position of the European Parliament in the French political field; on the other, the specific configuration of social and political struggles of the public space in 1990s France. Within this framework, gender constitutes a political resource that is more valuable in the European Parliament than in the national parliament; as a result, women who are less politically professionalised are promoted. They turn towards forms of parliamentary “goodwill” and strategies of over-involvement in European political roles. The relative specificity of the postures they adopt within the institution does not have to do with a hypothetical “feminine nature”, but with a set of sociopolitical processes.
- Topic:
- Democratization, Gender Issues, Political Economy, and Political Theory
- Political Geography:
- Europe and France
515. Women in Combat Compendium
- Author:
- Michele Putco and Douglas V. Johnson II
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College
- Abstract:
- This compendium resulted from a request by Colonel Michele Putko for sponsorship of a “Women in Combat Study” as a multistudent elective alternative. Dr. Douglas Johnson agreed to sponsor the project on the condition that the perspectives of male officers who had commanded units with women in them be specifically included, as their views might provide a different evaluation of performance. As the editing of the original papers extended into the following student year, Colonel Mark Lindon's paper filled an obvious gap, that of documenting the progressive change in public opinion. It has, therefore, been included. This compendium resulted from a request by Colonel Michele Putko for sponsorship of a “Women in Combat Study” as a multistudent elective alternative. Dr. Douglas Johnson agreed to sponsor the project on the condition that the perspectives of male officers who had commanded units with women in them be specifically included, as their views might provide a different evaluation of performance. As the editing of the original papers extended into the following student year, Colonel Mark Lindon's paper filled an obvious gap, that of documenting the progressive change in public opinion. It has, therefore, been included.
- Topic:
- Conflict Resolution, Gender Issues, and War
- Political Geography:
- United States
516. Global Tensions, Global Possibilities: Everyday Forces of Conformity and Contestation
- Author:
- Jean Michel Montsion, Samah Sabra, James Gaede, Jeremy D. Kowalski, Rhiannon Mosher, Teresa Kramarz, Kathryn Mossman, Adam Sneyd, Luis Alfredo Marroquin-Campos, Rob Downie, Heather Battles, Adrienne Smith, Ahmed T. Rashid, Joanne Nowak, Liam Riley, David Haldane Lee, Greg Shupak, Arun Nedra Rodrigo, Lauren Scannell, Naomi Achus, and Ethel Tungohan
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
- Abstract:
- Academics theorizing and analyzing the impacts of globalization on everyday life are conventionally divided between those who highlight the (overt or hidden) opportunities and advantages afforded by globalizing processes and others who emphasize their negative impacts on populations across the world. The former tend to focus on such things as increased access to paid labour, faster modes of communication, and technological ease of transportation (of people and information) across global networks. The latter, in contrast, generally stress the vicious implications of globalization's systemic processes, which continue to exacerbate polarization between rich and poor and, invariably, mean uneven access to labour, communication, and transportation. With this division in mind, the Graduate Student Research Group of the Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition held a conference titled Global tensions, global possibilities in September 2007. The conference organizers intended to bring together graduate students to challenge the above oppositions which often characterize contemporary globalization theories. By gathering an eclectic group of young scholars from various disciplines and backgrounds, the key aim driving Global tensions, global possibilities was to question disciplinary and attitudinal divides in theorizing globalization. A secondary, and related, intention of the organizers was for the conference to be a space in which participants (i.e. presenters, discussants, and audience) would together (re)think the implications of globalizing processes in non-dichotomizing ways that transcend such traditional divides. The organizers recognized that their intentions were not necessarily revolutionary. The works of several prominent scholars in various disciplines have denoted the need to be critical of further polarizing contemporary globalization theory (Comaroff and Comaroff 2001; Mudimbe-Boyi 2002; Ong 2006). For example, in their discussions of globalization, Jean and John Comaroff (2001) have indicated that globalizing processes and their attendant consequences can be neither classified nor understood in simple terms. Like the Comaroffs, the conference organizers felt that one cannot deny the intense messiness of any investigation of globalizing processes. Instead, they wanted to stress that globalization is simultaneously creative and destructive, enabling and constraining, beneficial and detrimental. Given that it has come out of the conference, the same line of reasoning forms the driving force behind this graduate student volume of the Working Paper Series. Below, we discuss our rationale for organizing the volume in the way we have. We begin with a brief discussion of our understanding of the need to move beyond theorizing globalization as either liberating or oppressive. Throughout the following sections, we move back and forth between our theorization of this necessity and the specifics of how the dichotomy beyond which we want to move re-emerged in the context of the conference. In the final section, we provide a brief description of the papers and our motivation for organizing them as we have.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Globalization, Health, Human Rights, Human Welfare, International Organization, Markets, Migration, and Science and Technology
517. In the Shadow of the Brothers: The Women of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
- Author:
- Omayma Abdel-Latif
- Publication Date:
- 10-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- In September 2007, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt released its first political party platform draft. Among the heavily criticized clauses was one that denied women (and Copts) the right to be head of state. “Duties and responsibilities assumed by the head of state, such as army commanding, are in contradiction with the socially acceptable roles for women,” the draft stated. In previous Brotherhood documents there was no specific mention of the position of head of state; rather, they declared that women were allowed to occupy all posts except for al-imama alkubra, the position of caliph, which is the equivalent of a head of state in modern times. Many were surprised that despite several progressive moves the Brotherhood had made in previous years to empower women, it ruled out women's right to the country's top position.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Islam, and Religion
- Political Geography:
- Middle East and Egypt
518. A Strategic Framework and Toolbox for Action Research with Small Producers in Value Chains
- Author:
- Lone Riisgaard, Simon Bolwig, Stefano Ponte, Frank Matose, Andries du Toit, and Niels Halberg
- Publication Date:
- 07-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Danish Institute for International Studies
- Abstract:
- The paper presents a strategic and practical guide for how to design and implement action research in value chains in a way that integrates poverty, environmental and gender concerns. The focus is on small producers in developing countries and other weak chain actors such as small trading and processing firms.
- Topic:
- Economics, Environment, Gender Issues, Markets, and Poverty
519. Women in Islamist Movements: Toward an Islamist Model of Women's Activism
- Author:
- Martha Ottaway and Omayma Abdel-Latif
- Publication Date:
- 06-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- Abstract:
- Women are beginning to play a bigger role in shaping the politics of Islamist political movements in the Middle East. Mounting evidence suggests that women activists have made important inroads in Islamist movements by creating strong women's branches and pushing for broader political participation and representation in the upper echelons of the entire movements. Although women in these movements deny that they are embracing a Western-style feminist agenda and remain instead quite concerned with the preservation of Islamist values, most display dissatisfaction at being relegated to the women's branches of their respective movements. They want to be seen as potential leaders, not just as dedicated organizational foot soldiers, and in many countries they are pushing the leadership of their movements for change. To some extent the women's demand for greater recognition of the importance of their role in the service of the Islamist cause is also translating into activism in the cause of women's rights and equality more generally, just as it has with women activists in other political movements elsewhere in the world.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues, Islam, and Political Economy
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
520. AsiaSource Interview with Mohini Giri
- Author:
- Nermeen Shaikh
- Publication Date:
- 10-2007
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Asia Society
- Abstract:
- No abstract is available.
- Topic:
- Gender Issues and Human Rights
- Political Geography:
- India and Asia