Biblio

Brief account of the initiative of Moni Rani Das, a Dalit woman living in Dhaka, Bangladesh, who started advocating for nearly 3 million Dalit women living in the country and became the first Dalit woman sitting on the National Human Rights Commission in Bangladesh. Her activism is a source of empowerment for 120 million women altogether that live in South Asia and contributed to the transnational activism of FEDO, Feminist Dalit Organisation based in Nepal, which formed connection with the UN’s Women Fund for Gender Equality; more local organisations such as Nagorik Uddyog in Bangladesh, Swadhikar and Asia Dalit Rights Forum in India; and the Human Development Organization (HDO) in Sri Lanka. By predominantly promoting women’s economic rights, FEDO’s activity constitutes a protection against gender-based violence against Dalit women.

Pollin compares two radically different approaches to political and economic change to meet climate change, referring to the book Degrowth: A Vocabulary for a New Era (listed above) as representative of degrowth theories. He makes clear his own priorities are to secure massive investment in green energy and rapid progress in ending use of fossil fuels, rather than broad theorising about economic growth, or its opposite.

This article explores some feminist voices from India, especially one of a Dalit feminist, and two Northeastern feminists, and identifies certain views on common issues that bind them together. It also looks into the different priorities of each of these feminists, in order to understand the contexts, cultures and experiences that have shaped their primary concerns.

This article explores the nexus of power and resistance in global nuclear politics to explain the aims and practices of the humanitarian movement (politically weak  in relation to the nuclear weapon states) that led to the TPNW. It argues that the movement’s coherence and effectiveness was fostered by a coalitional logic that allowed different ‘identities of resistance’ to be steered towards a treaty banning nuclear weapons within the UN’s institutional framework.

The authors focus on the ‘discourse’ used in North America to promote disinvestment in fossil fuels, based on statements by activists, mainstream media reports on campaigns and coverage in alternative media. They argue that there are four overlapping narratives. The first ‘of war and enemies’, with fossil fuel companies as the enemies, is most dominant. The others are: ‘morality, economics and justice’.

Briefly reports on ex-pats from the Dominican Republic who marched on the streets of Washington Heights, denouncing an epidemic of gender-based killings in their home country, where an average of 200 femicides per year occur. The protest in New York was called “March Against the Plague of Femicide”. See also https://www.vibe.com/2018/03/new-york-marches-against-dominican-femicide  and https://borgenproject.org/challenges-for-women-in-the-dominican-republic/

Initiative by women’s rights organisations in El Salvador who gathered outside the Attorney General’s Office to protest against the surge in femicides, gender-based violence and a chain of unsolved crimes.

A grassroots movement exploded on Twitter after actress Alyssa Milano invited users who had been sexually harassed or assaulted to tweet with the hashtag #MeToo. This study examines opinion leadership within the context of social network analysis and explores how users engaged with the campaign and others on Twitter.

This article analyses the #EndRapeCulture campaign in South Africa, where women students took to the streets in 2016 to protest against the pervasive normalisation of sexual violence on university campuses. Some participated topless and brandished sjamboks (whips) to show their resentment and anger at the prevailing sexual violence. The article looks at the role of digital media in circulating slogans around the campaign and asks the question whether these protests can be compared with SlutWalks or FEMEN.

This thesis focuses on the 1986 Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament that lasted nine-month and covered 3,325 miles, from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. The author coins the term ‘endurance activism’ and explores two central questions: What is the relationship between long-distance walking and the politics of social movements? To what extent does ‘endurance’ shape meanings of the March’s related but twin goals: the building of a “prefigurative” community, and a mass movement capable of attaining media coverage and achieving concrete, or “strategic” political outcomes?

This issue is focused on the roles of long established environmental NGOs (ENGOs), which often act as lobbying and advocacy groups seeking to influence government policy, and the potential of more radical campaigning groups. The introduction examines the implications of both approaches, as well as possible relations between ENGOs and protest movements. Other articles explore the role, strength and weaknesses of specific organizations, such as Friends of the Earth, and the problems as well as the benefits of transnational mobilization (as at the 2015 Paris Climate Summit). Topics covered include: an assessment of the effectiveness of transferring the US model of using the law to promote public interest environmental concerns to a European setting; the expansion of ENGOs in France; and a discussion of how to avoid conflicts of interest between indigenous peoples (concerned about economic opportunities) and environmental activists in Australia. 

Explains the scope and nature of the Alberta tar sands in western Canada - oil fields and mines covering an area larger than England with lakes created by the runoff of chemicals. This oil extraction process is difficult because the oil (bitumen) is heavy and has to be brought to the surface using huge amounts of water. It is a major contributor to global warming as well as polluting indigenous lands and the local environment. Greenpeace notes that resistance was mounting to the pipeline projects linked to tar sands, including Keystone XL, and the Transmountain Expansion pipeline.

International law has expanded significantly to encompass abuse of women’s rights, as a result of pressure from international civil society. There is now strong support for recognising violence against women as a human right issue. But attempts by women’s groups to promote consensus on reproductive rights, especially the right to safe access to abortion, have met with strong opposition or conservative religious bodies at both an international and local level.  This article includes a case study of local direct action in Australia against access to abortion, and also a wider evaluation of the impact of anti-abortion protest groups on women’s rights. It also examines how far legislation to limit anti-abortion activism in designated areas is effective, and how far such legislation is consistent with international norms and feminised international laws.

The author discusses 'patterns of democratic backsliding' in Eastern Europe, but concentrates primarily on 'constitutional retrogression' in Bulgaria. The article argues that the declining political influence of the middle class has undermined respect for the rule of law, so enabling 'oligarchic networks' to capture key parts of the judiciary, and undermining media independence. Ganev describes Borissov's personalistic form of governing, suggesting this can be conceptualised as 'soft decisionism'.

The authors examine youth opposition to policies and practices that lead to climate change, noting that differing forms of climate activism have differing results. They focus on three types that oppose power relationships and political interests: ‘dutiful, disruptive, and dangerous dissent’

This article offers a critical overview of the Brazilian legal framework for confronting domestic violence. Intimate partner homicides are epidemic in Brazil: there are four deaths of women per day. In 2006, the Maria da Penha Law (MPL) introduced integrated polices and transformed criminal procedures to deal with the complexities of gender violence. Reforms included the establishment of The House of Brazilian Women, women‐only police stations, specialised courts, intervention orders, interdisciplinary experts, and perpetrator programs. In 2015, a new law established the crime of femicide and was designed to prevent ‘honour killings’ defences in cases of intimate partner homicides and to avoid impunity. Despite the legal reforms, the structure and articulation of the networks of services remains a challenge. The MPL led to great social change in Brazil by raising awareness of violence against women, and facilitating a broader discussion about gender equality.

Analyses gender in the Muslim world, particularly in Pakistan. Zia chronicles secular feminism and its past and ongoing achievements, and explores the limits of faith-based politics in the country.

Roberts discusses the 2011 uprisings in their broader historical context of the breakdown of empires and problems of creating order, and then summarizes the key events in the Arab Spring, with a particular emphasis on the role of civil resistance.

This article addresses Femen’s media-based activism in Spain. It examines the lack of understanding of Femen’s activist methods among mainstream feminists and broader debates in the current Spanish political context.

Sheds light on the causes of femicide in Ciudad Juarez, a city in Mexico with the highest rate of femicides. It highlights nonviolent initiatives led by feminist groups and emphasises that the pandemic of femicide in Ciudad Juárez should be placed in a national context of uncontrolled violence from organised crime, impunity, institutional corruption, and a patriarchal mentality. 

Explores the struggles of women during different historical events and political regimes in the Philippines, including during the Spanish colonization, Marcos dictatorship, and the current challenges under the administration of President Duterte. The study hopes to enhance conversations and possibilities for collaboration among new generation of feminists and experienced women activists at the national and global fronts. See also: Gabriel, Arneil G. (2017) “Indigenous women and the law: The consciousness of marginalized women in the Philippines”, Asian Journal of Women's Studies, Vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 250-263 and https://www.cbsnews.com/news/international-womens-day-march-8-protests-amplify-feminism-in-asia/

Explores how the feminist movement in Tunisia has been a victim of brutal hijacking, exploitation, and politicization, which has fragmented its foundation.

The author interprets the work of Nigerian feminist scholar Oyèrónké Oyĕwùmí to be embedded in a relational understanding of subjectivity, as developed in African philosophy, that is deeply relational, fluid and non-dichotomous and therefore not reducible to the strict, essentialised, hierarchical and stable gender dyad of the colonial Western gender system.

Gives account through pictures and captions of the history and activities of ‘New Rhythm’, a small feminist group in Kyrgyzstan that is raising awareness over many problems the women of the county face, such as domestic violence, early marriage, sexism, and the lack of encouragement to young women to pursue higher education.

Historic conviction of a 23-year old young man who murdered Anyela Ramos Claros, a transgender woman. This was the first conviction among at least 35 cases in Colombia.