Biblio

(Penguin Special) Dapiran argues that Hong Kong has been 'a city shaped by civil disobedience', and he sets the 2014 movement in the historical context of protest since the 1960s. He also discusses the role of these popular protests in forging a distinctive Hong Kong identity, whilst indicating that the relationship between politics and cultural identity is complex.

Zunes provides detailed case studies of civil resistance to military coups in recent decades.  His aim is to advance an analysis of the role of civil society and nonviolent movements in resisting such takeovers, and the role of international pressure and solidarity by both governments and activists. Eight coup attempts defeated by popular resistance are analyzed, including Bolivia, 1978, the USSR 1991, Thailand 1992 and Burkina Faso 2015, as well as four in which resistance did not succeed. Available in PDF at: https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ICNC-Monograph-Civil-Resistance-Against-Coups.pdf *** See also Vol.1. E.II.1.c. Burma: Resisting the 2021 Coup, which covers the mass popular mobilization against the February 2021 coup by the Burmese military junta.

Discusses the anti-nuclear weapons movements in the late 1950s, for example the Committee for Non-Violent Action, and the shift of focus, from the mid-1960s until the early 1970s to the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War by many local and national peace groups in the United States. In the late 1970s and 1980s Europe and the United States experienced a resurgence of concern over nuclear weapons.

The authors observe that Germany in 2017 finally ratified the 2011 Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, and also amended the law on rape to emphasise consent, not the physical violence of the rapist. But these changes were not due to decades of feminist pressure, but to the highly publicised harassment of women in Cologne on New Year's Eve 2015 by immigrants. This led to sensational media coverage invoking anti-Muslim fears, and pressure from the far right AFD party (Alternative for Germany) and extremist Pegida movement. Cologne encouraged demands for quicker deportations and restrictions on refugee numbers across the political spectrum, and there was a rise of up to three a week in arson attacks on refugee centres. The article notes the response of anti-racist feminists, for example in the internet initiative #ausnahmlos (without exception), challenging the racialisation of sexual harassment and the racial undertones of public debate. But they were in turn attacked for fuelling right wing extremism, and were compared to Holocaust deniers.  See also: 'A Feminist View of Cologne: The current outrage is very hypocritical', Der Spiegel Online, 21 January 2016. https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-feminists-debate-cologne-attacks-a-1072806.html Debate between two leading feminists (Alice Schwarzer and Anne Wizorek) from different generations of feminists responding to Cologne. They disagree about the urgency of addressing sexism within some immigrant communities, as opposed to stressing the persistence of patriarchal attitudes throughout German society. Both seem to agree that groping and sexual harassment should become a criminal offence, a cause which Wizorek had promoted since 2013.

TRT World journalist, Dimitri O’Donnell interviews Adriana Cely Verdadero, a women’s rights activist, and Ana Guezmes Garcia, a representative of UN Women Colombia, who provide background to the exhibition dedicated to the victims of femicide in Colombia and the gaps the social and political systems need to fill. Published on 16 December 2017 on YouTube.

Joint initiative between the government of Cuba, ECLAC and the Federation of Cuban Women that saw government authorities, international officials and representatives of civil society in Havana assess the existing policies in favour of gender equality and women’s rights that have been implemented over the past 40 years in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. They also debated the main challenges that lie ahead.

In this paper Juliana Batista discusses the interconnection between Confucianism and Feminism and their inherent conflict. However, she reaches the conclusion that they are not mutually incompatible.

This study seeks to reveal the relationship between the stereotypical images of Moroccan girls and women and the violence that is often committed against them. It suggests that women’s location in the power structures of the family, school, media and the law, as well as their unequal access to the economic and political spheres, all contribute to fostering violent attitudes and practices against women in the public arena. The evolution of the status of women requires changes in their freedom-of-movement, security and emancipation. Future research should address women’s discourse and experiences of street harassment as well as its social meaning, prevalence, severity and impact.

This article examines how the changing external environment faced by the Canadian feminist movement, and its internal situation, are reflected in the beliefs and strategies of recruits to the movement at a given point in time. Using a large sample data set, the author provides evidence that the changes experienced by the Canadian feminist movement from the 1980s onwards have resulted in noticeable shifts in the collective identity and activist strategies of subsequent waves of feminist recruits. The findings suggest that further research into cohort recruitment and replacement is essential for understanding the forces at play in shaping the contemporary Canadian feminist movement.

Examines how the Coalition of  Immokalee Workers (CIW) in a Florida town provide a model of how to achieve greater justice for migrant workers in agriculture. when combating major retail corporations and in the context of exploitation and sometimes modern slavery, which CIW exposed. CIW workers are not only paid better as a result of their campaign, but the Fair Food Standards Council they promoted regularly checks working conditions and hold farmers to account. They have also prompted the Fair Food Program which growers join, and enlisted support from across US society - including a range of religious groups, artists and musicians, as well as food writers. The movement is committed to nonviolent protest on the model of the Civil Rights movement.

The report reveals that India recorded 106 rapes a day, and 4 victims out of every 10 were minors. In 95% of the cases it reveals that the perpetrator was a relative, such as a brother, father, grandfather, son or other man close to the family. In 2016, a total of 38,947 rapes were registered in the country under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) as well as Section 376 and other related section of the Indian Penal Code. In a positive light, the report indicates that the number of reports to the police is increasing each year. However, only 26% of rape cases ended up in conviction in 2016.

This article explores the ‘Black Protest’ demonstration in Poland against a proposed abortion law, which would have been one of the most restrictive in the European Union. 

In this essay Gros reconsiders the roots of political obedience in order to understand the different forms of civic and civil disobedience, in so far as they constitute an ethical resistance to promote democracy.

Examination of major protests and movements in the USA from  the anti-Vietnam War mass obstruction of Washington DC in May 1971 to the Occupy movement of 2011.  The author discusses the role of feminists and gay activists in launching significant resistance on key public issues: notably the 'Women's Pentagon Action' in 1980 and ACT-UP battling discrimination against AIDS sufferers in the 1980s. The book also examines why some major protests were not well supported by Black activists and how they brought a different focus to others.

Potter has been involved in negotiations relating to Review Conferences of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) for many years and was also engaged in the processes leading to the 2017 UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. From this perspective he discusses how one phrase in the statement of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, opened the way to the diplomatic processes leading to the 2017 Treaty. His article also discusses the probable consequences of the 2017 ‘Ban Treaty’ on the NPT Review Conference scheduled for 2020.

Critically explores key arguments for nuclear weapons: as an instrument of security; and as safe, affordable, and legal defensive tools. Wallis also queries the claim by nuclear-weapon states to be seeking multilateral disarmament, and examines the moral dimension of nuclear weapons.

Examines whether, as often assumed, scientists support for particular views and policies damages their scientific credibility. Their findings were that there was no significant indication that advocacy undermines scientific credibility.

Brown discusses why the devolved Scottish government has opposed both nuclear energy as a power source, and also strongly opposed the UK government's decision to renew the Trident missile (which carries nuclear warheads) for the submarine fleet based at Faslane.  Although there are several factors, such as abundant resources  available for energy, Brown argues that the Scottish government's stance can be best understood by 'considering the underlying (and deliberate) bridging of policy frames that is noticeable between environmental, pacifist and Scottish independence actors'.

Stressing the need to create inter-agency agreements, the 2017 Economic Commission for the Latin America and the Caribbean’s report on femicide shows that Brazil topped the list of femicides (with 1,133 victims confirmed in 2017). In 2016, Honduras recorded 5.8 femicides for every 100,000 women. In Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Bolivia, high rates were also seen in 2017, equal to or above 2 cases for every 100,000 women. In the region, only Panama, Peru and Venezuela have rates below 1.0. In the Caribbean, four countries accounted for a total of 35 femicide victims in 2017: Belize (9 victims), the British Virgin Islands (1), Saint Lucia (4) and Trinidad and Tobago (21). In the same year, Guyana and Jamaica — which only have data on intimate femicides — reported the deaths of 34 and 15 women, respectively, at the hands of their current or former partners. In 2017, the rates of intimate femicides in Latin America ranged between a maximum of 1.98 for every 100,000 women in the Dominican Republic, to a minimum of 0.47 in Chile.

On the week marking the United Nations Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, Council on Foreign Relations published a link featuring six publications from the Women and Foreign Policy Program. The publications are: -       CFR Discussion Paper: Countering Sexual Violence in Conflict (Include PDF); -       ‘Sexual harassment and gender-based violence in the workplace’ (http://fortune.com/2017/11/17/sexual-harassment-legal-gaps/); -       ‘Rape as a tactic of terror’ (https://www.cfr.org/event/countering-human-trafficking-and-sexual-violence-conflict) inclusive of a discussion with human rights activist, Yazidi survivor to ISIS’ sexual slavery and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Nadia Murad. The link provides both the video and its script); -       ‘The economic costs of violence against women’ (https://www.cfr.org/report/closing-gender-gap-development-financing); -       ‘Ending gender-based violence in conflict’ (https://www.cfr.org/blog/its-time-end-gender-based-violence-conflict); -       ‘Addressing gender-based violence in peace agreements’ (Link not retrievable).

It explores the development of feminism in different historical periods: during the New Socialist China (1949-1965); feminism in the Cultural Revolution (1966- 1999); and feminism in contemporary China (2000-2017). See also https://www.theblueandgoldsmu.com/single-post/2017/10/26/Holding-up-half-the-sky-Feminism-in-China

Provides data on femicide in Latin America (up to 2016). It also provides links to individual cases that advanced the protection of women in Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay, and also reports on El Salvador, Argentina and Cuba. In almost all Latin America countries, violence against women is difficult to challenge due to the pervasiveness of patriarchal and macho culture. In general, it is acknowledged that tolerance of this type of violence is due to the belief that ‘having a woman’s body’ means ‘having a sexual body’, which places women in a subordinate and objectified position. Moreover, because in many Latin American countries murder of men is frequent due to gang-related crimes, deaths of women have appeared, in comparison, unimportant. For a general overview of high-profile cases that have helped to stimulate a debate about femicide, rape, domestic violence and other forms of abuse, and led to protests for women’s rights and against femicide prior to 2017, see https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jun/03/brazil-argentina-unite-protest-sexual-violence-gender for Brazil and Argentina; https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/04/25/state-violence-against-women-mexico/83488114/ for Mexico; http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/4/30/bolivia-struggles-with-gender-based-violence.html for Bolivia; https://colombiareports.com/colombias-women-protest-against-gender-based-violence/ for Colombia; http://www.ipsnews.net/2016/08/peruvians-say-no-to-violence-against-women/ for Peru. For factors behind the world’s highest number of female murder rates in Latin America, see https://www.opendemocracy.net/democraciaabierta/mimi-yagoub/why-does-latin-america-have-worlds-highest-female-murder-rates

Journalist Karla Zabludovsky recalls the horrific murder of Micaela Garcia for her 'NiUnaMenos' activism in April 2017and how the movement developed in Argentina since her death.

This study looks at feminism in China over the last century and reveals that feminist movements and arguments at most times have been linked to the nation’s development. Independent and mass feminist movements like those in the West never developed in China. By taking a look at the realities of women and their images in contemporary China, the study shows that feminism in the People’s Republic of China has still plenty of room for development. See also Menke Augustine, (2017) ‘The development of feminism in China’, Undergraduate Thesis and Professional Papers, pp. 20.