The madness that is the world:young activists' emotional reasoning and their participation in a local Occupy movement

The focus of this paper is young people’s participation in the Occupy protest movement that emerged in the early autumn of 2011. Its concern is with the emotional dimensions of this and in particular the significance of emotions to the reasoning of young people who came to commit significant time and energy to the movement. Its starting point is the critique of emotions as narrowly subjective, whereby the passions that events like Occupy arouse are treated as beyond the scope of human reason. The rightful rejection of this reductionist argument has given rise to an interest in under- standings of the emotional content of social and political protest as normatively con- stituted, but this paper seeks a different perspective by arguing that the emotions of Occupy activists can be regarded as a reasonable force. It does so by discussing find- ings from long-term qualitative research with a Local Occupy movement somewhere in England and Wales. Using the arguments of social realists, the paper explores this data to examine why things matter sufficiently for young people to care about them and how the emotional force that this involves constitutes an indispensable source of reason in young activists’ decisions to become involved in Local Occupy.

Agency as vulnerability:accounting for children's movement to the streets of Accra

This paper considers the agency of children moving to the streets of Accra, Ghana's capital city. A much used but largely unexamined concept, agency is nevertheless commonly deployed in childhood studies as a means to stress the capacity of children to choose to do things. In the literature on street and working children, and a cognate area of study concerned with children's independent migration, this has involved accounts of children's agency made meaningful by reference to theories of rational choice or to the normative force of childhood. It is our argument that both approaches leave unanswered important questions and to counter these omissions we draw upon the arguments of social realists and, in particular, the stress they place on vulnerability as the basis for human agency. We develop this argument further by reference to our research with street children. By drawing upon the children's accounts of leaving their households and heading for Accra's streets, it is our contention that these children do frame their departures as matters of individual choice and self-determination, and that in doing so they speak of a considerable capacity for action. Nevertheless, a deeper reading of their testimonies also points to the children's understandings of their own vulnerability. By examining what we see as their inability to be dependent upon family and kin, we stress the importance of the children's perceptions of their vulnerability, frailty and need as the basis for a fuller understanding of their agency in leaving their households. © 2013 The Author. The Sociological Review © 2013 The Editorial Board of The Sociological Review.

The ‘first three years’ movement and the infant brain:a review of critiques

This article reviews a particular aspect of the critique of the increasing focus on the brain and neuroscience; what has been termed by some, 'neuromania'. It engages with the growing literature produced in response to the 'first three years' movement: an alliance of child welfare advocates and politicians that draws on the authority of neuroscience to argue that social problems such as inequality, poverty, educational underachievement, violence and mental illness are best addressed through 'early intervention' programmes to protect or enhance emotional and cognitive aspects of children's brain development. The movement began in the United States in the early 1990s and has become increasingly vocal and influential since then, achieving international legitimacy in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the UK and elsewhere. The movement, and the brain-based culture of expert-led parent training that has grown with it, has been criticised for claiming scientific authority whilst taking a cavalier approach to scientific method and evidence; for being overly deterministic about the early years of life; for focusing attention on individual parental failings rather than societal or structural problems, for adding to the expanding anxieties of parents and strengthening the intensification of parenting and, ultimately, for redefining the parent-child relationship in biologised, instrumental and dehumanised terms. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The rise and fall of stand-alone social reporting in a multinational subsidiary in Bangladesh:a case study

Purpose -The main aim of this paper is to examine the underlying drivers for the development and subsequent discontinuation of stand-alone corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting in a multinational subsidiary in Bangladesh. Design/Methodology/Approach - The research approach employed for this purpose is a case study using evidence from a series of in depth interviews conducted during the period 2002-2010. Interview data is supplemented by examining other sources of information including annual reports, stand-alone social reports and relevant newspaper articles during the study period. Findings - It appears that the stand-alone CSR reporting process was initiated to give the subsidiary a formal space in which to legitimise its activities in Bangladesh where both tobacco control regulation and a strong anti-tobacco movement were gaining momentum. At the start of the process in 2002 corporate interviewees were very receptive of this initiative and strongly believed that it would not be a one off exercise. However, in the face of subsequent significant national policy shifts concerning tobacco control, irreconcilable stakeholder demands and increasing criticism of the CSR activities of the organisation at home and abroad the process was brought to an abrupt end in 2009. Research Limitations/Implications - The paper has a number of implications for policy makers concerning the future prospects for stand-alone social/sustainability reporting as a means of enhancing organisational transparency and accountability. In addition the paper discusses a number of theoretical implications for the development of legitimacy theory. Originality/value - Using the lens of legitimacy the paper theorises the circumstances leading to the initiation and subsequent cessation of CSR reporting in the organisation concerned. As far as we know this is the first study which theorises and provides significant fieldwork based empirical evidence regarding the discontinuation of stand-alone social reporting by a multinational company operating in a developing country. Thus, it extends previous desk-based attempts at using legitimacy theory to explain a decrease (or discontinuity) in CSR disclosures by de Villiers and van Staden (2006) and Tilling and Tilt (2010).

Caste, class and Trade Unionism in India

The caste system in India and its exploitative nature has been well researched (Siddique 2011 Gupta 2000). However, the role of caste in Indian employment relations and in particular its role in the labor movement in India is yet to be fully explored. The primary aim of this paper is to examine the rise of caste- based trade unions in India over the past decade. Specifically, we aim to examine why the lower-caste workers (historically treated as untouchables, referred to as ‘Dalits’and officially designated as Scheduled Caste and Tribes) are leaving established trade unions to organize their own unions along caste lines? While fragmentation of trade unions is a well-known phenomenon both in India and in the Western World (Shyam Sundar 2015; Connolly et al. 2014), the rise of caste based trade unions is a relatively new phenomenon which is yet to be fully explored. Caste based trade unionism appears to be counter-intuitive when the conventional logic suggests that unions are class based collective institutions which represent the interest of the working classes (Ramaswamy 1976). The Indian trade union movement has historically been fragmented along political ideological lines ranging from moderate unions affiliated to the Congress Party to the militant unions affiliated to the Communist and Socialist parties. However, the rise of caste-based trade unions of the lower caste workers is a relatively new phenomenon. Our findings from surveys and interviews with mainstream unions and caste-based trade unions suggest that the caste-based trade unions are unique in at least three ways. First, these unions are breaking away from well-established radical and militant union federations such as those affiliated to the Communist and Socialist parties. Second, these unions are predominantly organized on caste identities and not occupational identities or political ideologies. Third in unionized workplaces, lower caste workers are forming their own separate unions along caste lines with membership restricted only to workers of their own caste instead of joining the mainstream unions where present. We examine these issues using the analytical framework of Paulo Freire (1970) – dialogics, praxis and cultural oppression and relate it with the insights from comparative politics which examine the role of actors & their interests within institutions (Peters 2011).

Schools and the formation of Black identity during the Civil Rights Movement: Change and resistance in Holly Springs, Mississippi, 1964--1974

Desegregation of social and public spaces was the most visible result of the Civil Rights Movement. After 1960, the integration of schools in Mississippi became a source of conflict. The social change of Civil Rights attacked the social order of White Resistance that supported the state superstructure. The public schools were a place for the discovery of identity for Blacks. The integrated on of the schools caused many Whites to leave rather than be integrated with Blacks. Desegregation of schools was also a slow process because the local and state government could not enforce the decisions of the US Courts, leading Blacks to realize their place in American society could only be secured through individual action. ^ This work explains the role of schooling during the integration of the Holly Springs Separate School System. The process of forging a new identity by local Blacks is examined against the forces of social change and resistance. I addition, this work examines the perils for the Blacks as they faced the uncertainty of change in the crucial Civil Rights years between 1964 and 1974. ^ This work analyzes how the Black community dealt with the problems triggered by the desegregation of the school system in Holly Springs, of a constructed social condition, a psychological state of being, the realities of racism and segregation, and the change and resistance between the individual and the collective. It is based on six months of field work investigation. Although the schools were a crucial aspect of community life for Blacks and Whites, Blacks did form their identity in them. Other institutions, such churches were more crucial. Second, the aspect of politeness and belief in law made the experience in Holly Springs unique to that place, and thus, warrants further study to determine its place within the Civil Rights Movement. Finally, while the political and economic control of Holly Springs remained with Whites, desegregation led to the resegregation of the public schools: as Whites left to private schools. ^

Social movements theory: A Burkean approach to the rhetoric of abolition

Inspired by Kenneth Burke's dramatism, this thesis examined the viability of social movements rhetorical theory in its application to literature by focusing on the 19th century abolitionist movement in the United States and moving from the analysis of public speeches to fictional works. ^ Chapter one applied the rhetorical analysis of social movements to noteworthy speeches by William Lloyd Garrison and Francis Maria W. Stewart. Chapter two examined social movements rhetoric in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Chapter three considered Uncle Tom's Cabin and determined whether social movements rhetorical theory could illuminate this persuasive work of fiction. ^ Dramatistically speaking, each of these works attempted to persuade the reader or auditor to join the abolitionist cause through symbolic action in their rhetoric. This thesis concluded that the social movements approach derived from Burkean dramatism is indeed powerful in its application to literature as it unpacks the rhetoric of abolition. ^

The dynamics of movement: Toward a definition of a Latin American identity in contemporary fiction

Concha Meléndez opened up a venue for the discussion of a Latin American identity in works of literature when she implied that the great Latin American novel would gestate in the cities, the space where the typical Latin American would achieve an ideal state of consciousness and intellectual capabilities. ^ Her point of view mirrored nineteenth-century debate on a Latin American identity. Similar to her viewpoint, intellectuals of this period viewed the cities and their inhabitants of European extraction, as the ideal spaces and people on which an identity could be defined. However, the present state of urban and rural areas in Latin America demonstrates that there is no such clear-cut division of city and countryside or of their inhabitants. The dynamics of movement, from rural to urban areas, of people of diverse ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, make it difficult to uphold descriptors of space, race, or culture, as sole descriptors of an identity. ^ A study of five twentieth-century novels from North and South America, La muerte de Artemio Cruz (1962), Hasta no verte Jesús mío (1969), Los ríos profundos (1981), La casa de los espíritus (1982), and Los años con Laura Díaz (1999) reveal that the dynamism of movement, between countryside, and cities of peoples of distinct races and social backgrounds, hamper the definition of a collective identity in specific spaces. As characters move, they are constantly reconfiguring their identities and creating tensions and conflicts that intensify social, racial and economic divisions in society. This makes it difficult to ascribe permanent identity descriptors, much less define a collective identity. ^ However, as writers of fiction address the malaise in Latin American societies, they have unearthed descriptors such as history, economy, land, and movement that advance a collective definition of self in these societies. Additionally, female characters have been granted a new identity. The overwhelming evidence in this study points to ‘land’ as the prime factor in the identity dilemma and suggests that a definition will not be possible until the vast landless populace is granted a space they can call home. Only then, perhaps, will Meléndez novel surface. ^

Social and seasonal plasticity of the electric fish, Brachyhypopomus gauderio

The South American electric knifefish, Brachyhypopomus gauderio, uses weakly electric fields to see and communicate in the dark. Only one study to date has investigated natural behavior in this species during the breeding season; this study proposed that B. guarerio has an exploded lek polygyny breeding system. To test this hypothesis, artificial marshes simulating the native vegetation, temperature, and water conductivities of the South American subtropics were created to study seasonal variation in associative behavior of B. gauderio during the breeding and non-breeding seasons. Mark/recapture methods were used to keep track of individual fish and their dispersion inside the experimental designs. The experimental design proved to be extremely successful at eliciting reproduction. Differences were found in seasonal variations of social behaviors between adult and juvenile populations. Although no apparent sex. differences in movement patterns were found during the breeding season; a trend for male-male aversion was found, suggesting male-male avoidance as a possible strategy guiding aspects of social behaviors in this species. Further, movement may be a tactic for mate seeking as the individuals who moved the most during the breeding season obtained the most opposite sex interactions. These findings support the exploded lek polygyny model. Social interactions are subject to complex regulation by social, physiologic and ecological factors; the extent to which these associations are repeatable may provide novel insights on the evolution of sociality as it has been shaped by natural selection.

Cuba’s Role in Venezuela’s Control of the Internet and Online Social Networks

The arrival of Cuba’s Information Technology (IT) and Communications Minister Ramiro Valdés to Venezuela in the Spring of 2010 to serve as a ‘consultant’ to the Venezuelan government awakened a new reality in that country. Rampant with deep economic troubles, escalating crime, a murder rate that has doubled since Chávez took over in 1999, and an opposition movement led by university students and other activists who use the Internet as their primary weapon, Venezuela has resorted to Cuba for help. In a country where in large part traditional media outlets have been censored or are government-controlled, the Internet and its online social networks have become the place to obtain, as well as disseminate, unfiltered information. As such, Internet growth and use of its social networks has skyrocketed in Venezuela, making it one of Latin America’s highest Web users. Because of its increased use to spark political debate among Venezuelans and publish information that differs with the official government line, Chávez has embarked on an initiative to bring the Internet to the poor and others who would otherwise not have access, by establishing government-sponsored Internet Info Centers throughout the country, to disseminate information to his followers. With the help of Cuban advisors, who for years have been a part of Venezuela’s defense, education, and health care initiatives, Chávez has apparently taken to adapting Cuba’s methodology for the control of information. He has begun to take special steps toward also controlling the type of information flowing through the country’s online social networks, considering the implementation of a government-controlled single Internet access point in Venezuela. Simultaneously, in adapting to Venezuela’s Internet reality, Chávez has engaged online by creating his own Twitter account in an attempt to influence public opinion, primarily of those who browse the Web. With a rapidly growing following that may soon reach one million subscribers, Chávez claims to have set up his own online trench to wage cyber space battle.

The Occupy Movement: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

The op-ed evaluates the successes and limitations of the Occupy Movement in the United States. Ronald W. Cox argues that the Movement was inspirational in directing media focus to the trends of growing inequality and the privileges and power of the one percent. The critique of establishment parties and progressive organizations was a key part of the Occupiers efforts to rethink the meaning of social change. The limitations of the Movement became evident, however, in its extremely decentralized structures that emphasized consensus over majoritarian decision-making, and in its refusal to acknowledge and hold accountable its own leaders.

Resistance Performances: (Re)constructing Spaces of Resistance and Contention in the 2010-2011 University of Puerto Rico Student Movement

On the night of April 20, 2010, a group of students from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), Río Piedras campus, met to organize an indefinite strike that quickly broadened into a defense of accessible public higher education of excellence as a fundamental right and not a privilege. Although the history of student activism in the UPR can be traced back to the early 1900s, the 2010-2011 strike will be remembered for the student activists’ use of new media technologies as resources that rapidly prompted and aided the numerous protests. This activist research entailed a critical ethnography and a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of traditional and alternative media coverage and treatment during the 2010 -2011 UPR student strike. I examined the use of the 2010-2011 UPR student activists’ resistance performances in constructing local, corporeal, and virtual spaces of resistance and contention during their movement. In particular, I analyzed the different tactics and strategies of resistance or repertoire of collective actions that student activists used (e.g. new media technologies) to frame their collective identities via alternative news media’s (re)presentation of the strike, while juxtaposing the university administration’s counter-resistance performances in counter-framing the student activists’ collective identity via traditional news media representations of the strike. I illustrated how both traditional and alternative media (re)presentations of student activism developed, maintained, and/or modified students activists’ collective identities. As such, the UPR student activism’s success should not be measured by the sum of demands granted, but by the sense of community achieved and the establishment of networks that continue to create resistance and change. These networks add to the debate surrounding Internet activism and its impact on student activism. Ultimately, the results of this study highlight the important role student movements have had in challenging different types of government policies and raising awareness of the importance of an accessible public higher education of excellence.

Partidos, tradiciones y estrategias de movilización social : De la Junta de la Victoria a la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina

Este trabajo analiza el surgimiento de la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina (UMA). El disparador es comprender cómo un proyecto del Partido Comunista Argentino desbordó los límites partidarios intentando constituirse como un movimiento de masas femenino. La atención se colocará sobre el hecho de que este conjunto de mujeres rescató una experiencia de movilización que las precedió: la Junta de la Victoria (JV). La UMA capitalizó en el contexto de los primeros años del gobierno peronista (1947-1949) varias propuestas de la JV durante la entreguerras. Así logró movilizar redes de sociabilidad y adhesión que se conjugaron con un proyecto de mujer ciudadana activa y partícipe justificada en la arena política, social y económica desde su lugar de madre. El corpus se compone de entrevistas a dirigentes de ambas agrupaciones y del Partido Comunista así como de recursos escritos tales como diarios y revistas que se pondrán en juego para comprender las complejidad de la temática propuesta

Partidos, tradiciones y estrategias de movilización social : De la Junta de la Victoria a la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina

Este trabajo analiza el surgimiento de la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina (UMA). El disparador es comprender cómo un proyecto del Partido Comunista Argentino desbordó los límites partidarios intentando constituirse como un movimiento de masas femenino. La atención se colocará sobre el hecho de que este conjunto de mujeres rescató una experiencia de movilización que las precedió: la Junta de la Victoria (JV). La UMA capitalizó en el contexto de los primeros años del gobierno peronista (1947-1949) varias propuestas de la JV durante la entreguerras. Así logró movilizar redes de sociabilidad y adhesión que se conjugaron con un proyecto de mujer ciudadana activa y partícipe justificada en la arena política, social y económica desde su lugar de madre. El corpus se compone de entrevistas a dirigentes de ambas agrupaciones y del Partido Comunista así como de recursos escritos tales como diarios y revistas que se pondrán en juego para comprender las complejidad de la temática propuesta

Partidos, tradiciones y estrategias de movilización social : De la Junta de la Victoria a la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina

Este trabajo analiza el surgimiento de la Unión de Mujeres de la Argentina (UMA). El disparador es comprender cómo un proyecto del Partido Comunista Argentino desbordó los límites partidarios intentando constituirse como un movimiento de masas femenino. La atención se colocará sobre el hecho de que este conjunto de mujeres rescató una experiencia de movilización que las precedió: la Junta de la Victoria (JV). La UMA capitalizó en el contexto de los primeros años del gobierno peronista (1947-1949) varias propuestas de la JV durante la entreguerras. Así logró movilizar redes de sociabilidad y adhesión que se conjugaron con un proyecto de mujer ciudadana activa y partícipe justificada en la arena política, social y económica desde su lugar de madre. El corpus se compone de entrevistas a dirigentes de ambas agrupaciones y del Partido Comunista así como de recursos escritos tales como diarios y revistas que se pondrán en juego para comprender las complejidad de la temática propuesta