Digital Commons Network^™

Social Transformation And Africa’S Regressive Policies And Laws On Lgbtqi+ Rights, Nwabisa Sigaba

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Most struggles for LGBTQI+ rights play out at the national level. However, the question of sexual and gender minorities’ rights periodically appears as a point of friction in international relations as well. This paper will first analyse the question of international efforts to defend LGBTQI+ rights in countries of the Global South, with a particular focus on Western countries’ endeavours in Africa. Combining policy analysis, critique and recommendations, it asks how and when international actors should and should not intervene. Furthermore, African countries have considerably different ways in which gender and sexuality are constructed, with postcolonial and neo-colonial relations, anti-racist …

The Segregation Of Religion: How Othering Influences Society’S Narrative Understanding About The Symbiotic Relationship Among Racism, Sexism, And The Church, Ajanet Rountree

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The social dependence on the sociology of male spiritual leadership is substantial. This dependence accomplishes two ideas: neutralizes the feminine experience and obviates the anthropological implications of religion in the perpetuation of oppression and subjugation. When considering racism and sexism in religion, specifically as they relate to the Black Christian church, a dismissal of accusations and assertions occurs by yielding to the context of the social era. This paper seeks to further clarify the position of women, who pushed against the grain of the gendered and racialized spaces of their churches and communities, as they sought to establish human rights …

Rehumanization Among Veterans Of The Yugoslav Wars: Rethinking Reconciliation And Post-Conflict Justice, Jordan N. Kiper

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

Rehumanization is a central element in powerful social movements after war. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in the Balkans, I consider the convergence and divergence between notions of rehumanization found in human rights literature and the role of rehumanization among veterans in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. Rehumanization plays a prominent role among these veterans because of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which has had varied social effects on Balkan communities. By supporting the ICTY, veteran associations have vetted themselves of potential war criminals, and thereby developed overlapping justice discourses that converge on the notion of reconciliation. There are …

How Can Human Rights Activism Help Tackle Economic Inequality? Lessons From Mining Affected Communities In South Africa, Allison Corkery

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

The dramatic rise in socioeconomic inequality produced by neoliberal globalisation has provoked a crisis of confidence in the human rights community and inspired a wave of debate about whether human rights have anything meaningful to offer in advancing economic justice. The pessimistic view argues human rights are inadequate for challenging socioeconomic inequality because they are too closely aligned to Western liberalism and too uncritical of the rise of capitalism. The more optimistic view does not dismiss these critiques entirely. It argues that they are only valid for particular (arguably dominant) types of human rights praxis, however. Failing to acknowledge this …

To Be Human In A Dehumanizing World: Black Lives Matter And The Human Rights Framework, Maria Rohani

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

This paper explores the relationship between Black Lives Matter and the human rights regime.

First, the study contextualizes the contemporary movement within the long and complicated historical relationship between racial justice struggles and the international human rights system. Second, the paper looks at the available human rights tools that could advance the goals of Black Lives Matter, with a focus on relevant international treaties, the Inter-American System, and the Universal Periodic Review. Third, the project studies the ways in which Black Lives Matter has, on its own, already engaged with human rights discourse.

Here, a sample of Twitter content will …

Mujeres Libres: Lessons On Anarchism And Feminism From Spain's Free Women, Alexandra Hastings

Scholars Week

Mujeres Libres was an anarchist women's organization formed during the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939 by women who were working to eliminate the rampant, hypocritical sexism within the anarchist movement. Although Mujeres Libres was only active for three years, they mobilized over 20,000 women who all recognized that anarchism and feminism go hand in hand. This paper argues that Mujeres Libres was a successful example of both anarchism and feminism in practice, and contemporary feminists should see the framework and philosophy of this organization as something to model their own women's liberation movement after.

From #Blacklivesmatter To #Sayhername, Aitza B. Burgess

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

Sanford, Ferguson, Long Island, and Baltimore are all cities that have become known nationally and internationally in households. This attention has not been about their nature of offering reasonably priced hotel lodging for tourists visiting the neighbouring major cities, but due to the killings of black men in America. Since the election of President Barack Obama in 2009, the notion of a post-racial America has circulated. With Congress members referring to the president as a tar baby to the numerous killings of black people by law enforcement and civilians these actions contradict this notion.

Between the years of 2012-2015, America …

Framing Sex Work Activism: A Sociological View, Nancy Kannampuzha

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

This presentation is based on a book project providing an interdisciplinary introduction to the topic of prostitution. Nancy Kannampuzha will review the sociological literature at the intersection of social movements and prostitution. She will report on ethnographic and interview data to reveal the most commonly used rhetorical frames pro- and anti-sex work activists use when recruiting and retaining members. She will describe the assumptions and taken-for-granted moral and ethical aspects of these claims. The literature suggests that pro- and anti-sex work activists draw upon strikingly similar notions of body ownership and empowerment.

The Characteristics Of Learning In Social Movements: A Pilot Study Of An Environmental Organization, Jihyun Kim

Adult Education Research Conference

This qualitative study addresses the distinctive characteristics of learning in social movements in terms of learning content, motivation, format, and outcomes. Based on the researcher’s constructivist stance on knowledge, social movement activists in a currently active local environmental organization, the Protect Elica Island (pseudonym, PEI), were interviewed. The study showed that PEI activists learned skills and knowledge about the movement, as well as suggestions for more successful organization activities. Participants reported learning about the nature of social movement participation from reflection, and the significance of their social movement activities in more passionate, self- directed, self-controlled, and self-rewarding ways than in …

How Activists Overcome Alienation Through Learning And Collective Action: Considerations From A Recent Case Study, Joseph E. Sawan

Adult Education Research Conference

This paper discusses how a recovery of Marx’s theory of alienation can prove fruitful in understanding social movement activity. As globalized capitalism continues to fragment human social relations, people are coming together to envision alternatives and reclaim their communities. How can we understand such activity in the context of alienation? I begin with an outline of Marx’s method and theory of alienation in the context of social movements, followed by preliminary findings from a recent case study with housing activists engaged in strategies for de-alienation through anti-poverty organizing and learning.

Activist Forest Monks, Environmental Adult Education And The Construction Of Civil Society In Thailand, Pierre Walter

Adult Education Research Conference

Situated at the intersection of adult learning in social movements, the construction of civil society, and environmental adult education, the grassroots movement of Buddhist “forest monks” in Thailand has much to teach us. This paper charts the movement’s history, philosophy, and practice in the construction of Thai civil society.