Occupying against the patriarchy

Author(s): Giulia Dessi

In: New Internationalist, 2018

Journalist Giulia Dessi reports on the series of students’ occupations (particularly by young women) that started in Southern Chile on 17 April 2018 and prompted a new wave of feminist civil disobedience. These demonstrations were responding to a case of sexual harassment by a university professor, Carlos Carmona, former president of the Constitutional Court. He was suspended for lack of integrity for only three months after eight months of protests. The students wanted to raise awareness of the systemic character of sexism and they campaigned for the university to put in place policies against sexual harassment. In addition, the students voiced a broader theoretical challenge to free-market capitalism. Following the protest Chilean President, Sebatsian Piñera, announced the ‘Women’s Agenda’ consisting of measures that address gender inequality in the areas of harassment, childcare and health. In November 2018, Chile signed a joint agreement with Peru at the Second Binational Cabinet that established increased sanctions for gender violence and domestic abuse.

Available online at:

https://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2018/06/25/chilean-feminist-student-occupations

La Personalità Nonviolenta

Author(s): Giuliano Pontara

Edizioni Gruppo Abele, Torino, 1996, pp. 104

A discussion on the need to solidify a culture of nonviolence and peace education as the starting point for elaborating broader educational strategies and systems for peaceful coexistence.

Teoria E Practica Della Nonviolenza

Author(s): Giuliano Pontara

Edizioni Einaudi, Torino, 2014, pp. 408

Originally published: 1973

This is an anthology of Gandhi’s writings on ethical-political orientations and his teachings on nonviolence. The first part covers the fundamental principles of nonviolence, including the difference between the nonviolence of the strong and the nonviolence of the weak; the relationship between ends and means; and his perspectives on violence and war. In the second part, Pontara discusses practical aspects relating to preparation for a nonviolent struggle and elucidates different nonviolent techniques.

Ciò Che Ho Imparato e Altri Scritti Di Danilo Dolci

Author(s): Giuseppe Barone

Edizioni Mesogea, Messina, 2008, pp. 200

This work, divided in two parts, reprints in the first Danilo Dolci’s writings on his struggle for employment and democracy; the struggles he led for the construction of dams in Sicily, and nonviolent anti-mafia initiatives in the 1950s and 1960s in Sicily. The second part recalls Dolci’s work on development educational programmes, the development of democratic and participatory models and his critique of the mass consumption model.

Aldo Capitini – Danilo Dolci. Lettere 1952-1968

Author(s): Giuseppe Barone, and Sandro Mazzi

Edizioni Carocci, Roma, 2008, pp. 279

This work contains selected letters between anti-fascist Italian philosopher Aldo Capitini and nonviolent activist Danilo Dolci, initiated by the former when Dolci was on his first hunger strike. This series of letters testifies to the close and unique relationship that developed through time between the two figures, which inspired both to develop their work and further implement insights in the field of culture, politics, education, and religion in the second half of the twentieth century in Italy.

Egypt: Sexual Violence Against Women

Author(s): Global Legal Research Center

The Law Library of Congress, Washington, DC, 2016, pp. 22

Describes the main legislative instruments protecting women from sexual violence in Egypt, up to 2016. These are: the Egyptian Constitution of 2014 and the Criminal Code of 1937 and amendments to it. The report also discusses suggestions which have been made for improving the legal system.

Abortion in Chile. The Long Road to Legalization and its Slow Implementation

Author(s): Gloria Maira, Lidia Casas, and Lieta Vovaldi

In: Health and Human Rights Journal, Vol 21, No 2, 2020, pp. 121-131

Until as recently as September 2017, Chile was one of the few countries in the world that did not permit abortion under any circumstances. Although the Health Code had permitted therapeutic abortion on health grounds from 1931, this was repealed in 1989 as one of General Pinochet’s last acts in office. It took more than 25 years to reverse the ban. Finally, a new act was approved allowing abortion on three grounds: when a woman’s life is in danger, when there are foetal anomalies incompatible with life, and in the case of rape. Since the law allows abortion only in limited cases, most women continue to seek illegal abortions. In this paper, the authors explore the historical context in which Chile’s 2017 bill was finally passed and analyze the legislative debate. They also present the results of a community-based participatory research effort carried out by feminist and human rights organizations. Despite the 2017 law, this research shows the persistence of various obstacles to women’s access to legal abortion, such as conscientious objection by medical staff a lack of trained health care providers, and a lack of information for women.

Available online at:

https://www.hhrjournal.org/2019/12/abortion-in-chile-the-long-road-to-legalization-and-its-slow-implementation/

My Life On The Road

Author(s): Gloria Steinem

One World Publications , London, 2016, pp. 310

Autobyography of Gloria Steinem, journalist and prominent activist in feminist campaigns in the USA from the 1960s onward, who was also one of the foundersof Ms Magazine. It provides detailed insights into the early feminist ways of orgsanizing and protesting, and the internal politics of the movement. the book also covers Steinem's earlier two years in India and contact with the Gandhian movement, her links with Native American women, and her continued actvism in varied causes. 

El proyecto politico de la Noviolencia

Editor(s): Gonzalo Arias

Nueva Utopía, Madrid, 1995, pp. 204

Originally published: 1973

(First edition was printed illegally in 1973 during the Franco dictatorship.)

This is a compilation of texts on nonviolent alternatives to accepting unjust rule, starting from the classics, e.g. Thoreau, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Gregg and Ramamurti, and providing translations of important contemporary European authors, such as Muller, Ebert, Colbere or Frognier. The second appendix of the second edition offers a summary of the nonviolent movement in Spain up to 1995.

Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula: A Biography of the Old Lion of Zambia

Author(s): Goodwin B. Mwangilwa

Multimedia Publications, Lusaka, 1982, pp. 157

Nkumbula was the first major exponent from the 1940s of African resistance to white dominance and federation, and led the Northern Rhodesian African National Congress. But in the late 1950s he moved towards gradual reform policies and stood for a seat in the 1959 elections, whilst 
Kapepwe and Kaunda opted for further resistance and founded their own separate party.

Deregulation of Agricultural Markets in India

Author(s): Goti Gopikutan, and Gopal Naik

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore - Indian Institute of Management (IIMB)2021, pp. 19

This paper argues that in principle there is a potential for market reforms to benefit farmers, but that the farm laws passed by the government will in practice benefit 'traders' rather than farmers. Deregulation without 'enabling preconditions' is not likely to help farmers, and may prove counterproductive.

Paradise Lost?

Author(s): Graeme Green

In: New Internationalist, No November-December , 2021, pp. 60-63

Green outlines plans by the Canadian oil and gas company Recon Africa to create a huge oil and gas field in the Okavango valley area, which includes large areas of both Namibia and Botswana and is at present a sanctuary for wildlife and home to about 2 million people. Both African and international green organizations are mobilizing to stop the project. Recon Africa are already drilling under exploratory licenses.

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