Biblio

The authors are proponents of the theory that there is a geological epoch, which can be defined by the irreversible impact of human activity. The early stages of human development, from hunter-gatherers to settled farmers, had some environmental impact. But Lewis and Maslin trace the beginnings of a decisive human impact on the planet to the 16th-17th centuries when western colonialism, linked to the rise of global capitalism, began to transform the Americas, followed by the industrial revolution and the growth in population and consumption. The book concludes by calling for a new stage in human development involving radical economic change (away from profit-driven ownership of energy and food supplies), linked to comprehensive technological changes and much closer global cooperation. Two goals they set out are a re-wilding of half the planet and a universal basic income.

On July 7, 2017, at the UN General Assembly, 122 states voted to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the culmination of pressure from a global network of states and grassroots activists. This article traces the history of the ban movement from 2005.  It identifies six factors that led to the successful adoption of the treaty: a small group of committed diplomats; an influx of new coalition members; the contribution of civil society; the reframing of the narrative surrounding nuclear weapons; the pursuit of a simple ban treaty; and the context provided by the Barack Obama Administration.

Given that no significant progress has been made in nuclear disarmament for two decades, the author explores an alternative approach to arms control, focusing on the human dimension rather than on States’ security. He also explores the role of civil society in securing other arms control treaties, in particular the positive experiences of the movements against chemical weapons, anti-personnel mines, and cluster munitions, as well as the recent conclusion of the Arms Trade Treaty. He examines whether civil society will be able to replicate the strategies that have been used successfully in the field of anti-personnel mines (Ottawa Convention) and cluster munitions (Oslo Convention) in the nuclear weapons field.

Reports on one of the most infamous case of a 68-year old woman who was killed by her partner, which gave rise to widespread protests against femicide in Uruguay. Uruguay’s penal code introduced femicide only in April 2018.

This chapter discusses women’s dual struggle in the context of the Arab Spring: the political struggle to secure civil rights and political rights, and the social struggle to secure gender equality. While the former can be enshrined in constitutions and enforced through the judicial branch, the latter is much harder to pin down, and even harder to enforce, because it deals with cultural mindsets and entrenched social norms. This chapter uses the example of Egypt to show how within the actual struggle for political rights, women experienced the worst forms of sexual violence, highlighting the long struggle ahead. It also stresses the efforts by Egyptian women to continue their parallel sociopolitical struggles, as evidenced in their tireless attempts to fight sexual harassment.

After the kidnapping and gang rape of a 17-yearl old young woman called Khadija by 12 men, public outrage in Morocco led women and men to organize a campaign combating violence against women. ‘#Masaktach’ (She was not silent) first took to the streets of Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city, with early members carrying whistles, which they handed out to women as a defense against sexual harassment. Khadija was held for two months, during which time she was starved, drugged, beaten, gang-raped, tortured, tattooed with swastikas, and burned with cigarettes.   See also https://insidearabia.com/masaktach-a-movement-against-sexual-harassment-in-morocco/ and https://www.azeemamag.com/stories/masaktach

The article discusses how some of the expectations and hopes about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons signed by many non-nuclear weapons states in 2017 at the UN have been fulfilled, what else needs to be done to implement further economic divestment, and alter to the nuclear weapons discourse and policies.

Investigative journalist Beatrice Yeung explores episodes of sexual violence that immigrant workers in the US experience in their workplace at the hands of employers who exploit them. It also gives an account of what type of reactions they face when they decide to denounce the abuses.

A comprehensive article on the various demonstrations and campaigns organised in Latin America with the aim of tackling gender-based violence. It highlights differences with the ‘MeToo’ movement in North America by pointing out how feminist activism in Latin America has always been based on a political and structural analysis of violence, rather than on individual statements by mostly famous women. This analysis also assesses the violence committed against women of different race, age, class and immigration status, and highlights the institutions that in Latin America are at the forefront of this battle.

The short documentary explores the rise of the #MeToo movement in India. It also shows how the accusations on sexual harassment extended from the media industry to academia and the political sector, alongside campaigning for women to speak up when harassment happens in the private sphere as well. Men and women in India have been speaking up against violence against women since 2012-2013, following the death of a 23 year-old young woman. This episode initiated a more grounded conversation on sexual assault against women and especially against women of lower castes. In fact, according to Indian’s Crime National Bureau, more than four Dalit women – the ‘untouchable’ - are raped every day. In 2018, India was rated the most dangerous country in the world for women by the Thompson Reuter Foundation because of high rates of sexual violence. Reports attested that in 2016, India had 338,954 reported crimes against women (38,947 were rapes). For first hand interviews with survivors, please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13w-CJRoi30&vl=en. See also: India was highlighted as one of the worst country for sexual violence, human trafficking, and for cultural and religious discrimination by Thomson Reuters Foundation’s 2018 survey (http://poll2018.trust.org/country/?id=india).

Two experts on Palestine discuss what factors can increase the impact of international solidarity in aiding resistance struggles. They focus on the Palestinian-inspired Boycott Divestment and Sanctions and compare it with the earlier global anti-apartheid movement, analysing  key factors that gave the latter significant leverage. They conclude by stressing the need for a dynamic relationship between internal resistance and external solidarity.

The article examines the factors promoting significant international solidarity with specific campaigns against injustice. It does so through a study of the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign launched by Palestinian civil society bodies in 2005. The article compares the BDS movement with the international campaign against apartheid in South Africa (an inspiration for BDS) and discusses why BDS has been less effective.

Interesting survey of Iraian public opinion after the 2017-18 protests.  The survey covers a wide range of economic and political issues,  including Iran's foreign policy.  The findings show that many see Iran's economy as worsening, but blame inefficiency and corruption more than international sanctions.  The survey also indicates that a majority of the respondents disagree with criticism of the regime and or of strictness in enforcing Islamic laws, and also support the police response to protests. However, a majority does not endorse harsh punishment for peaceful protesters.  For a summary of the findings see: https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/21088

Narrates the history of Ireland’s constitutional ban on abortion and was published a few weeks before the referendum that legalized abortion in May 2018. See also https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-27/abortion-referendum:-ireland-votes-to-liberalise-laws/9803848

Sheds light on the role of social groups that have promoted the definition of the crime of gender-based homicide as “femicide” and reports on the legal framework that exists in Cuba on the matter.

Taracena reports on the abuse that people belonging to the LGBTI+ community suffer at home and in Mexican detention centres because of their sexual orientation. She also juxtaposes the violations they encounter during the journey from Honduras to Mexico and portrays their immigration as an act of resistance against transphobia and homophobia. In addition to Taracena 's report, attached is also an account of the death of a transgender woman, Roxsana Hernández, from Honduras who died in a detention centre in New Mexico who gave rise to LGBTI+ activism in the country. 

PowerPoint presentation where Margot Cohen briefly addresses which factors can explain institutional responses to gender-based violence; how state institutions have responded to femicide in Chile up until 2017, and what are the implications of these responses for reducing levels of femicide.

Report by Amnesty International on recurrent gender-based violence in Libya, in particular abduction, beating, sexual violence and threats; violence against women on social media; and the discrimination suffered by women in law and practice. See also: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/libya-women-human-rights-defenders-still-under-attack-four-years-after-activists-assassination/

Discusses how the ‘humanitarian’ approach to disarmament served as a catalyst to and model for the negotiations on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and describes its purpose and provisions.

This article points out the necessity of resisting anti-Black women policing practices, and argues that resistance must be organised by rethinking how we understand police violence in relation to the passage of time. Smith makes use of the term sequelae, which indicates ‘a condition that is the consequence of a previous disease’, to help shed light on the effects of police brutality on women, and its medium and long-term effects that are often overlooked. The article recalls four known Black women whose murder prompted vast public outcry - Claudia Silva de Ferreira; Marielle Franco; Luana Barbosa; and Aurina Rodrigues Santana – and articulates how sequelae are the combination of both physical and emotional trauma suffered by Black women.

The immediate popular resistance to the military coup in 2009, that ousted the democratically elected President Manuel Zelava, did not defeat the coup, but a sustained and impressive movement continued under the National Front for Popular Resistance, which brought together trade unions, church leaders, academics and teachers and others, despite violent repression by the military and police. Frank also examines the role of  the US government in supporting the coup and  describes the support offered to the resisters by the US organization she founded. See also: Main, Alexander, 'Honduras: The Deep Roots of Resistance', Dissent, Spring 2014, https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/honduras-the-deep-roots-of-resistance Focuses particularly on role of the National Front of Popular Resistance in creating in 2011 a new political party Liberty and Refoundation with the aim of winning power and creating a new constitution.  Main sets this development in the context of socialist parties winning power through elections in other Latin American countries. See also: Portillo, Suyapa, ''Honduran Social Movements: Then and Now', Oxford Research Encylopedia of Politics, 28 September 2020. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9781190228637.013.1774 Examines historic bases of social movements: political parties, both moderate and radical unionism and land struggles, the reaction against neoliberal economic policies of the 1990s  undermining earlier economic and political gains. The article concludes by assessing the remarkable mobilization against the 2009 coup by almost all sections of society, including feminists, Black and indigenous groups.

Gives an account on the debate in Kyrgyzstan, and more generally in Central Asia, about women's rights and the role of women in contemporary Central Asian societies. Provides link to videos and podcast debating the issue. 

Historian and activist, Barbara Ransby, explores the birth of the hashtag and social media platform #BlackLivesMatter by three Black activist women following the shooting of unarmed 17 year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, in 2012, and the acquittal of his killer, George Zimmerman. Through a series of interviews with its principal organisers, Ransby’s narration contextualizes the origin of the Black Lives Matter movement in prison reform and anti-police violence reform policies, the establishment of Black youth movements, and radical mobilizations across the country dating back for at least a decade.

Report on how small group protests in Iran's second largest city, Mashhad, in December 2017 rapidly grew into major demonstrations reported in most provinces across Iran, with crowds often demanding an end to the dominance of senior clerics and the Revolutionary Guard. Beauchamp notes that protests on specifically economic issues, the responsibility of the parliamentary leader President Rouhani, could be acceptable to the religious leaders, but a direct challenge to their own dominance was not.