Solidarity Networks Research Articles

Less talk, more action

Abstract Despite the growing size of the academic precariat in the tertiary sector, this exploited group of workers lacks a voice in either their universities or their national union. In this article we draw on our experiences of transitioning from a small activist group to a broader research collective with influence and voice, while forging networks of solidarity. Through reflecting on developing the Precarious Academic Work Survey (PAWS), we explore how action research is a viable way of structurally and politically (re)organising academic work. We argue that partnering with changemakers such as unions as co-researchers disrupts their embedded processes so that they may be (re)politicised towards pressing issues such as precarity. Further, we highlight how research can be used as a call to action and a tool to recruit powerful allies to collaborate on transforming universities into educational utopias.

A Socialist Analysis of the Mutual Aid Solidarity During the #EndSARS Protest in Multi-Religious Nigeria.

This study describes the results of a social analysis of mutual aid solidarity during Nigeria's #EndSARSprotests against Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) brutality in Nigeria. The results reveal that the protests achieved success with the assistance of mutual aid solidarity networks. Yet there is a dearth of literature exploring the reasons for this accomplishment. Nigeria is a country where everything done usually has a religious coloration and interpretation; however, the 2020 mutual aid solidarity in the #EndSARS protests proved otherwise. Using in-depth interviews, data were elicited from 20 youths, including participants and observers during the #EndSARS mutual aid solidarity protests. Using a phenomenological approach, this study found that the mutual aid support group transcended traditional geopolitical, gender, and religious barriers, and youth and the elderly participated in the protest. Further results show that the 2020 #End-SARS mutual aid solidarity brought about an accountable and transparent civil society, including the financial disbanding of the Nigerian Police Force, the SARS unit responsible for extrajudicial killings. The findings also indicate that Nigerian politicians are the real problem, not religion. Recommendations are discussed.

The feminization of resistance: the narratives of #NiUnaMenos as social transformative action

ABSTRACT The Argentinean movement #NiUnaMenos (NUM) represents one of the most relevant transnational examples of Latin American feminist mobilization against gender-based violence and can be understood as vanguard of a current tide of feminized resistance on a global scale. This article addresses two central narratives in the discourses and social practices of three founders of the NUM; one about feminist mobilization as a social transformative moment that creates distinctive protest performances in the pursuing of a liveable life despite the challenging restrictive possibilities; and the other about the intersection between gender and class in the struggle against the neoliberal patriarchal precarization of life, related to the lack of the collective systems of social protection against gender-based violence. The analysis of these narratives highlights a feminization of resistance that promotes a radical transformation of the social system, where politics also at a micro level question capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy by producing alternative knowledges, subjectivities, and epistemologies. Particularly, the study of the experience of enhanced precariousness created by the operation of patriarchal violence, and the resistance expressed in engendered alternative ethical and non-violent responses, reveals in the narratives the strength of a precarity awareness becoming a network of transnational and cross-identities solidarity.

Experiences of Social Service Professionals Working with Sex Workers: Unsung Heroes

This study was aimed at revealing the professional difficulties and problems faced by social service professionals who provide services to sex workers. We conducted in-depth interviews with 11 professionals working with sex workers in Turkey and focused on their working experiences. The interviews revealed that professionals had such problems as pressure, institutional loneliness, burnout, and lack of policy in institutions. They experienced professional problems such as insecurity, ethical violations, ethical dilemmas, secondary trauma, involuntary clients, and lack of professional knowledge. Despite these problems, the fact that professionals who mobilize resources for sex workers are not supported with protective and preventive measures has deepened their problems, and that professionals have not taken a course on sex work during their education makes it difficult for them. It is recommended to establish solidarity networks for the well-being of professionals. The educational content of undergraduate programs through which professionals who are to provide services in the field of social services are trained should be updated and such services should be expanded by taking the needs of sex workers into account. Researchers should generate knowledge by evaluating the problems in this area in evidence-based way and apply techniques to increase the validity of their studies.

The kitchen as a pedagogical strategy. Addressing celiac disease from the encounter with "Others" is to build a "We", which leads to accessing a good living

This work arises within the framework of the Pehuajó Solidarity Network (RSP), where a voluntary group, independent since 1997, meets alternating kitchen/s to discuss some issues of interest related to signs and symptoms that a member of their family suffered, without know the condition of Celiac disease. Currently, the fact of being celiac in the social context where one lives and/or in the tourist places that they visit, do not always meet the nutritional needs of children, adolescents, young people, adults, people in general who they suffer from Celiac disease. That is to say, the achievement of Municipal Ordinance 94/2019 in district 079 of the province of Buenos Aires and the Laws: National and Provincial in Argentina are still known and are gradually being complied with, being the Gastronomic offer, sale of food, services of confectionery, among other insufficient. They do not have at least one menu for celiacs, with few exceptions. In other words, the group of aware independent volunteers not only incorporates knowledge to self-manage celiac disease, but as an informal entity it is managing to transpose in formal institutions, the community of the contextterritory, non-profit activities with the objective of: disseminate, raise awareness and make celiac disease visible as a pedagogical strategy. That is, to make visible the advances developed in the 21st century, the very concept of this chronic disease, which went from being defined as a mere food intolerance, to being recognized as a systemic pathology with an autoimmune basis.

Print Internationalism's Uneasy Adjacencies

Print Internationalism's Uneasy Adjacencies

In which European countries do pensioners feel happy? Sociological assessment of the level of satisfaction with the living conditions of “third age” Europeans

The relevance of the study is that, in a healthy modern society, the economic and social development of pensioners is coordinated and synchronised with welfare, providing a solid material foundation for continuous improvement in living standards and quality of life. The social security system performs an irreplaceable role in promoting the coordinated and synchronised development of the economy and society. It is confirmed by the experience of European countries that have established and improved social security systems for people of the “third age”. The purpose of the study is to analyse the main quality-of-life indicators for older people in various European countries, considering sociological factors. To achieve the research purposes were used the following methods: comparative, deductive and survey. The fundamental problem in operationalising the concept of quality of life is to properly define the different aspects that constitute it. Efforts at description and classification cannot conceal the fact that all requirements are deeply interconnected, thus, establishing any type of hierarchy for satisfaction has counterproductive consequences as it ignores the interdependent relationships between different requirements. The results of the work have determined that inequalities indeed have a very adverse impact on the welfare and hence the quality of life of this population, and those mitigation mechanisms, whether public services or solidarity networks of the informal economy, improve this situation. In addition to quantitative proof, this comparison demonstrates that increasing the dimensions studied more accurately describes reality and provides nuances that cannot be ignored. The results of the research are applied to establish the quality of life process as a dynamic, open and ever-evolving reality. The practical relevance is in identifying and measuring the parameters that should be introduced into the concept of quality of life and include both objective and subjective aspects&nbsp

From Union Networks to Lula Livre: an Analysis of US – Brazil Trade Union Solidarity Movements in the 21st Century

Abstract The Brazilian and US labor movements are currently confronting common challenges related to changes in the overall structure and profile of the working class, the elimination of traditional sources of financing, and the weakening of allied political forces in the electoral arena. Considering these joint trajectories, the authors will examine recent efforts by US-based and Brazilian labor movement actors to create spaces for strategic collaborations, two-way learning, and mutual solidarity, to support common political goals and efforts towards union renovation. The article analyzes three contemporary cases of US-Brazil union solidarity networks, in order to better understand how transnational union activism influences national-level outcomes. The authors posit that the success of these forms of activism is dependent on objective limits created by external economic and political conditions, yet in some circumstances non-transactional solidarity is capable of producing unexpected positive outcomes for workers and their union organizations.

Women, Hospitality and The Intimate Politics of International Socialism, 1955–1965

Abstract In the 1950s, a commitment to democratic socialism connected networks of intellectuals, activists and political operators in both Europe and Asia. Many of these were women, who built informal and intimate networks of solidarity that underpinned the movement. The rich set of correspondence between European and Asian socialist women speaks to their role as connectors of global and local civil society within international socialist circuits. It also indicates the importance of friendship, mobility and hospitality as a crucial factor in sustaining such networks, as well as building the trust that facilitated the exchange of subversive information. While Asia was seen as the great hope of international socialism in the 1950s, by the middle of the 1960s, many of its socialist parties had imploded, pointing to the limits of international socialism for Asian women amidst global anti-communism and the rise of authoritarian states. Transnational socialist networks nonetheless helped further both European and Asian women’s campaigns for gender equality, development and democratic socialism in decolonizing Asia, adding vital new dimensions to the history of internationalism.

‘Vaccine populism’ and migrant assistance: On the contingency of mutual aid in Italy's Alpine region

AbstractPrior to COVID‐19, migrant journeys through the Mediterranean were often described with reference to the barriers posed within ‘fortress Europe’ or through registers which centre migrant's adeptness at navigating draconian immigration regimes. Between these two contexts, this paper explores how a public authority lens can assist in understanding the implications of COVID‐19 and associated vaccine bureaucracies. We draw on ethnographic research on the Italian‐French Alpine border and chart how ‘vaccine populism’—perpetuated in nationalist political discourse as well as in the counter‐commentaries of resistance offered by solidarity networks—has specific implications for migrants' access to vaccines and health information. We argue that analyses attentive to the subtle nuances of state and local politics provide an important entry point to map multi‐scalar power dynamics which accompany universal health policies. Through considering the complex realities relating to Alpine crossings, we advocate from less categorising approaches to vaccinating migrants.

Stepping into the Void: Lessons Learned from Civil Society Organizations during COVID-19 in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil experienced some of the highest rates of COVID-19 globally. This was complicated by the fact that 35 million of its citizens have limited access to water, a primary resource necessary to stem the spread of infectious diseases. In many cases, civil society organizations (CSOs) stepped into this void left by responsible authorities. This paper explores how CSOs in Rio de Janeiro helped populations struggling with access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) during the pandemic, and what coping strategies are transferable to similar contexts. In-depth interviews (n = 15) were conducted with CSO representatives in the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing social inequities among vulnerable populations, undermining their ability to protect their health. CSOs provided emergency relief aid but faced the counterproductive actions of public authorities who promoted a narrative that diminished the risks of COVID-19 and the importance of non-pharmacological interventions. CSOs fought this narrative by promoting sensitization among vulnerable populations and partnering with other stakeholders in networks of solidarity, playing a vital role in the distribution of health-promoting services. These strategies are transferrable to other contexts where state narratives oppose public health understandings, particularly for extremely vulnerable populations.

Beyond Heroes and Hostility: Greta Thunberg, Vanessa Nakate, and The Transnational Politics of Girl Power

ABSTRACT This article develops a feminist and democratic theory of girls’ activism framed around the work of Greta Thunberg, Vanessa Nakate, and the global youth climate movement. It draws from recent work in girlhood studies to criticize the discourse of the “girl hero” and challenge the two dominant ways that political theorists engage with girls and politics or political change, through Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone and Hannah Arendt’s “Reflections on Little Rock.” A politics of heroism, I argue, unwittingly invests itself in the hostility the hero must face and overcome and therefore minimizes the political networks that make politics possible. Through my readings of Thunberg and Nakate, I attend to girl activists’ local attachments within family, community, and nation; intergenerational, transnational, and transcontinental relationships; and the effects of colonialism, white supremacy, and misogyny and anti-feminism. Underscoring networks of support and solidarity (rather than hostility that the girl hero must face down), I provide a new way of thinking about girls and politics (and politics, in general) outside of the framework of heroism.

Changing Borders and Women as the Narrator: The Case of Syrian Circassians

Since 2011, with the Syrian conflict, a sizeable portion of the Syrian Circassian diaspora have fled to Turkey. The experience of deportation due to the Syrian civil war exposed the community to the same trauma for the third time. However, as the refugees were forced to leave their country, they experienced different conditions than their Arab and Kurdish counterparts. Utilizing solidarity networks through their kinship relations, the Circassian diaspora appears to have avoided the hardships encountered by other refugee groups at least to some an extent. In the meantime, the diaspora developed new survival strategies in the face of general negative attitudes towards refugees and Syrians. The recent diasporic experience has been generally discussed with regards to issues of social class, ethnic affiliation, and distinction. Yet, the gendered dimension of the recent forced migration has been underestimated or neglected. This study aims to understand whether the women within the Circassian community who migrated from Syria to Turkey generated new forms of roles to meet the social demands of the new diasporic experience. The evidence discussed here is based on fieldwork that was conducted in 2019. One of the significant findings to be assessed in this study is the reinforcement of the patriarchy within the diaspora and the factors that facilitated this process.

Reflections on Walden Bello

The online censorship and subsequent arrest of scholar-activist Walden Bello is the latest instance of a disconcerting trend during a period of hegemonic crisis. To understand how a respected scholar ended up in jail and in grave legal trouble on very feeble accounts, we have to unpack the full implications of this case, and place it in relation to ongoing structural changes within the world-system—namely, the decline of the United States as global hegemon, the ascendancy of far-right authoritarianism as a popular political framework, and the use of institutions and technologies developed under liberal-democratic rule by authoritarian regimes for purposes of social control during a period of flux. The crisis offers an opportunity to reconfigure systemic arrangements through coordinated solidarity networks characterized by forms of organization and ways of relating that embody prerogatives and values different from those that predominate in the modern world-system and from those that reproduce the capitalist world-economy; which, more likely than not, will have authoritarian tendencies in the decades to come. As a conclusion, we offer some of the possibilities the global left has for these upcoming decades in regards of large coalitions aimed at changing the structure of the world-system at large.

Mountain as an Ambivalent Transit Zone: Facing the Battleground of the Alpine Border Crossing

ABSTRACT Through ethnographic research carried out in the Alpine border zone between Italy and France, this contribution analyses the ambivalent usages and meanings of the Alpine environment in the conflict between border policies and intra-EU irregular migration. This article identifies how the morphological characteristics of the landscape can be mobilized with conflicting purposes, and explains how the geophysical elements of space can define and diversify irregular mobility patterns and crossing conditions. To grasp the complexity of border struggles, Alpine migrant mobility conflicts are divided into three intertwined and contentious political arenas, namely networks of solidarity, mountain trails patrol and, finally, means of transport. This article builds on the awareness that the ambivalence concerning natural settings remains understudied, at the risk of assuming a universal effect of the environmental dimension on migrant journeys.

In Search of Free Spaces to Breathe: Turkey's United June Movement, Social Uprising, and Spatial Maintainability

AbstractThis study examines the socio‐spatial practices of the United June Movement (UJM), a grassroots movement that drew inspiration from the neighbourhood forums of the Gezi Park protests. We argue that the counter‐sites of politicisation and symbolic places engraved on the social movements’ memory formed the socio‐spatial base of solidarity networks and the long‐term political organising of UJM. Secondly, we suggest that in an authoritarian context, activist organisations nourishing from full‐scale protests such as UJM need to form, reshape, and sustain free spaces where they feel protected. For testing these arguments, we designed fieldwork around UJM with an ethnographic approach. We concluded that the desire for social change has the potential of generating alternative visions in a spatiotemporal context, but in the medium term, it can turn into a feeling of self‐enclosure or being besieged. Even so, such attempts leave a perpetual legacy, tagged to certain spaces and geographies.

Digital transcultural psychiatry in times of crisis: the Help for helpers webinar series

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemics brought numerus changes in the European mental health systems. One of the major, was the widespread introduction of digital psychiatry across the globe, as the only possible option to maintain the psychiatric care. On February 28th 2022, the European Psychiatric Association has started a network of solidarity for Ukraine to respond to the needs of people in Ukraine as verbalized by the Ukrainian mental health professionals, but also to the need of surrounding countries where people from Ukraine fled to. As verbalized by the colleagues from Ukraine and surrounding countries, one of the unmet educational needs was the education for first line helpers and volunteers from Ukraine and countries surrounding Ukraine where displaced persons fled to. This resulted in the series of webinars on the topics detected as unmet needs (what is normal response to trauma, how to triage dispaced persons in need of help, how to provide first psychological help, how to approach to children of different ages, how to take care of one-self and what is the role of supervision). The webinars were delivered by experienced clincians, trauma experts and experts with lived experince in the war zones, incliding the ones from Ukraine. These are available freely at the EPA website https://www.europsy.net/resource-page/, in several languages.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

The involvement of Croatian psychiatrists in helping the displaced persons from Ukraine

AbstractAfter two years of pandemic with COVID-19 Europe is facing a war, which has already caused numerous death and injuries, mass displacement, and aggravated the economic and energy crisis and has left most countries completely unprepared and created a humanitarian crisis. The COVID-19 pandemics crisis pointed out the unpreparedness of the health (including mental health) sectors for the emergency situations. However, we also learnt some of the practices that proved effective – including the fast creation of collaborative networks on a larger scale that also allowed fast spread of good practices and practical organisation of help. The European Psychiatric Association as well as individual national psychiatric association have started an informal network of solidarity for Ukraine on February 28th, 2022 to respond to the needs of people in Ukraine as verbalized by the Ukrainian mental health professionals, but also to the need of surrounding countries where people from Ukraine fled to. Through this network several actions, including financial support, medical donations and education. The Croatian Psychiatric Association took the lead in the organisation of education for first line helpers and volunteers from Ukraine and countries surrounding Ukraine where displaced persons fled to, in collaboration with many partners.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

'There is No Future in it': Pandemic and Ride Hailing Hustle in Africa.

This article examines the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on ride‐hailing drivers in Africa. It argues that though ride‐hailing offers paid‐work to some African workers, the commodified and informalised nature of this work results in poor job quality. The effects of which are greatly amplified during the pandemic. Drawing on a mixed methods approach: in‐depth interviews with ride‐hailing drivers in Nairobi and digital ethnography, it also provides a narrative of ‘hustle’ to outline strategies of resilience, reworking, and resistance among informal workers. It concludes by highlighting the need for adequate regulatory frameworks and on‐the‐ground solidarity networks to ensure decent working conditions and to push back against precarity in the gig economy.

Helping the forcely displaced persons - situation in Hungary

AbstractIn recent years, the state-funded side of the Hungarian psychiatric system has been struggling with a serious lack of resources. During the pandemic the level of organization, which was also not perfect, continued to deteriorate. Immediately after the breakout of Ukrainian war the civilians started to make significant efforts to support refugees. From the beginning our Association joined activities of Solidarity Network organized by EPA. We made efforts among other things to find Ukrainian-speaking psychiatrists to tackle the language barriers, connect the needs with the offers psychologists. When a refugee is admitted to a psychiatric unit as a patient, they receive all mental health care as any Hungarian citizen would. Overall however, mental care is insufficiently organized and the patient pathways for refugees - as those of the population - are not well-defined. The coordination between government services and civil organizations helping refugees is unsatisfactory. There is no steady support system that could provide regular, professional mental health care for those in need, thus a mental triage process is also missing to uncover the perhaps less severe mental problems, that nevertheless might require professional attention. Consequently there also seems to be a lack of assistance in trauma processing. There are some official civil organizations (e.g. Maltese Charity Service, Hungarian Red Cross) that are doing all they can for the refugees, but most of their staff is not professionally equipped to provide mental health care or to reliably identify when it is needed. When refugees show symptoms of a severe nature (psychosis, mania, severe depression, suicidal thoughts) they reach out to the professional mental health care system, but refugees struggling with less obvious mental health problems generally stay out of sight of professional psychiatric or psychological care.Keywordscivilian efforts, unmet needs, lack of human resourceDisclosure of InterestNone Declared