Moments Of Empowerment Research Articles

Political Imperatives in the Heritage Regime and the Emergent Collaborative Scenarios on the Ground: Case Studies from the Baltics

Abstract This article studies the political imperatives initiated by the UNESCO-related normative instruments, and the emergent terms of engagement in the dynamics of collaborative participation, both on scholarly and community level. The authors share participatory experience and expertise in the field of intangible cultural heritage in policy-making and research, with particular interest in the aftermath of UNESCO ICH-labelling and list inscriptions. We reflect at first critically upon the progress and stance of decisions taken as well as the international discursive framework and debates where we have participated. We likewise contemplate the collaborative role of experts in the intangible heritage framework. In our comparative case study into the impact on local heritage processes in the Baltics, the post-nomination circumstance has generated novel community-driven and negotiated collaborative efforts. Both the Seto community in Estonia and the Suiti community in Latvia have found diverse ways of using heritage resources for their own goals, but also in their continued creative collaboration where a growing self-esteem proves to be a solid basis. This investigation links community participation to the issue of agency, and its creative capacity to constitute and reconstitute with a substantial effect of generating action. We have discerned various moments of empowerment and creativity in local responses to transformational social and economic processes. Our research results foreground the functional capacity of creative collaboration as agency of change, where innovation and right to hybridity become enabling qualities.

Esters Handlungsmacht in männerdominierten Strukturen

This paper on the book of Esther takes up feminist literary criticism with a special emphasis on the concept of agency. It highlights concrete moments of empowerment of Queen Ester. With the recognition that feminism always underscores the question of power, the figure of Ester is analyzed with regard to the notion of exile and in relation to Mordochai and the king Ahasveros. Where do we find moments of empowerment in this situation of heteronomy?

Assessing Norway’s Gender Recognition Act of 2016: Analysing personal experiences of legal gender change

<p><br />In July 2016, a Gender Recognition Act (GRA) was implemented in Norway which allows one to change legal gender (male/female) without the previously required sterilisation. Though this move by the Norwegian state has been widely celebrated by trans rights advocates for its progressive approach to gender recognition, the Act’s limitation to the male/female binary and the lack of concurrent improvement in trans-specific medical access raise concerns about how far-reaching and transformative it actually is. Given the diversity of trans experiences and identities, this article seeks to address the following question: in what ways is the Act on gender recognition capable of empowering those who change legal gender, and in what ways can it prove limiting or detrimental? To answer this, I conducted interviews with twelve individuals who changed their legal gender soon after the Act’s implementation. Applying Thematic Analysis to the interviews, I uncover and analyse moments of empowerment and disempowerment in order to explore the potential of legal gender recognition to shape one’s personhood and citizenship in the Norwegian context.</p>

Tratamento Restaurador Atraumático: evolução do conhecimento e aceitação entre Cirurgiões-Dentistas da Estratégia Saúde da Família de Ponta Grossa - Paraná, Brasil ao longo de 5 anos

Objetivo: este estudo avaliou as possíveis modificações no conhecimento teórico/técnico e na aceitação da técnica restauradora atraumática (ART) entre Cirurgiões-Dentistas (CDs) da Estratégia Saúde da Família (ESF) de Ponta Grossa – PR, Brasil ao longo de 5 anos. Material e Métodos: foram utilizados dois instrumentos de avaliação: entrevistas em profundidade e questionários semiestruturados, aplicados ao mesmo grupo de 14 CDs que atuam na ESF. Durante este período, houve momentos de capacitação oferecidos pela Secretaria de Saúde do Município e Secretaria de Saúde do Estado. Resultados: Os CDs afirmaram, nas duas etapas da pesquisa, conhecer o ART e julgaram-no útil em Saúde Pública, fazendo uso das restaurações atraumáticas (RA) rotineiramente. Houve modificações nas percepções referentes ao caráter definitivo das RA; na indicação da técnica de acordo com a característica da lesão cariosa e de acordo com a idade do paciente; na utilização do ácido poliacrílico e de agentes de proteção para o cimento de ionômero de vidro (CIV), entre outras. Além disso, os dentistas passaram a reconhecer o CIV como material essencial à técnica e a aceitar a manutenção da dentina cariada. Houve modificação no hábito da leitura científica sobre o ART entre os profissionais avaliados, além do aumento do número de indivíduos que receberam capacitações sobre ART no serviço. Conclusão: concluiu-se que houve modificações positivas no conhecimento teórico/técnico e na aceitação da técnica ART entre os profissionais entrevistados, reconhecendo assim a importância das capacitações oferecidas no serviço

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto

Reviewed by: Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto Natalie Berglind Preto, Nicki Pau Crown of Feathers. Simon Pulse, 2019 [496p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-5344-2462-3 $19.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-5344-2464-7 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 8-12 Veronyka has always dreamed of becoming one of the fierce Phoenix Riders—warriors who once defended the Golden Empire but have since been banned. Desperate to join the now all-male Riders, she breaks away from the control of her manipulative sister, Val, and disguises herself as a boy to join the secret group outside the fringes of the empire. There she finds allies in the Commander’s son, Tristan, and later Sev, an empire soldier on the other side, and all three viewpoints are interlaced with bits of history, mythology, and phoenix biology that breathe life into the tale. The characters are well developed and the cast is unusually strong on representation, with broad racial diversity (Veronyka’s brown skin is prominently noted) and [End Page 217] a same-sex romance (plus the possibility that Tristan is attracted to Veronyka in her male guise). The novel reflects its phoenix motif in the theme of rebirth that symbolically impacts each of the characters as they remake themselves into stronger people. The well-paced plot is chock-full of shocking revelations, betrayals, and moments of empowerment in the face of adversity that give this novel an epic scope and set up the beginning of a promising book series. A glossary and timeline help readers keep track of the intricate world building. Copyright © 2019 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Protesting Women in the People’s War Movement in Nepal

Like many revolutionary movements, Nepal’s Maoist People’s War (1996–2006) produced heterogeneous and contradictory effects in society and polity, and a definitive analysis may take decades. The long-brewing protest movement officially started with the United People’s Front’s forty-point set of demands made to the government in February of 1996 and swiftly became an insurgent movement, sweeping the nation into a full-fledged armed conflict. When Nepal’s government and the Communist Party of Nepal–Maoist (or CPN-M) signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord in November of 2006, more than thirteen thousand people had died, hundreds of disappearances were unsolved, and thousands were displaced from their homes. In my research, I argue that three key processes—militarism/militancy, displacement, and altered gender dynamics—ensued, each affecting the others and opening up moments of empowerment, agency, and transformation alongside periods of violence, chaos, and despair. In this symposium, however, I discuss the centrality of gender and women’s gendered bodies to forwarding the People’s War by the CPN-M and briefly examine the war’s intended and unintended outcomes for women.

Women’s Experiences with Emotional Eating and Related Attachment and Sociocultural Processes

This study explored the experiences, influences, and concerns of women who eat for emotional reasons with an emphasis on relational and cultural factors. Colaizzi's (1978) guidelines to analyzing phenomenological research were utilized to explore participants' lived experiences and gain a deeper understanding of emotional eating. A number of unique themes connecting attachment-related influences with emotional eating were identified. The following 10 theme clusters were developed: Personal and Cultural Foundation, Preoccupation With Food and Eating, Relationship History, Addiction as Coping Mechanism for Insecure Attachment, Moments of Empowerment and Acceptance, Self-Judgment About Eating and Weight, Social Influences on Eating and Weight Gain, Secretive Eating, Emotional Eating as Reminiscent of Ambivalent Attachment, and Emotional Hunger. Clinical interventions and future research are discussed.

Moments of empowerment: A qualitative analysis of positively experienced episodes in brief person‐centred counselling

38 positively experienced episodes in brief person‐centred counselling with six clients were analysed. The Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) method was used as the prime research tool. Clients were asked to identify positively experienced moments in the counselling session during a post‐session review interview. Clients and counsellors were invited to report on the feelings, perceptions and intentions they recalled experiencing during these moments. Three analyses were used to categorise the meaning and feeling quality of these moments, and a taxonomy of types of positively experienced episodes was also created. The most frequently reported positive client experiences were associated with empowerment, safety and insight. Other significant themes emerging from the analysis included: freedom in the relationship, shortcomings of the relationship, assurance of the relationship, unfolding of the client's personal meaning, and the importance of the counsellor's presence. Taxonomy of episodes revealed nine categories: four of them focused on the strengthening of the therapeutic relationship, and five focused on the empowerment of the client's self. These findings are discussed, and implications for theory and practice explored.