Activism Research Articles

When a Literary Translator Took an Activist Turn: Lin Yutang’s Translation of New Democracy

ABSTRACT Lin Yutang, a world-famous writer and translator, has long been known as an apolitical cultural ambassador. This study reveals, however, that beginning from the early 1940s, Lin turned from apolitical to passionately political and his political activism found expression in translation. This article employs narrative theory to examine how Lin, as an activist translator, reframed Kuomintang-Communist conflict in China when translating Mao Tse-tung’s New Democracy. I argue that Lin’s translation was part of a public opinion warfare aimed to win American aid. Lin rendered Mao’s text in a way that could drive a wedge between Americans and Communists of China. Strategies employed included intentional mistranslation, selective appropriation, disambiguating and repositioning. This study shows that attempts to understand what motivates a translator to turn away from his or her well-beaten path can be theoretically productive.

Learning, sharing and caring: Pedagogical features of parents’ educational activism

Scholars of social movements have afforded increasing attention in recent years to pedagogical processes and practices within activist organisations. This article contributes to the ‘pedagogical turn’ in social movement studies by exploring pedagogical features of parents’ educational activism. Drawing on qualitative data collected from parent-led campaign groups operating in England, UK, the article attends to three aspects of activist pedagogy evident within the campaigns. The first concerns the learning that occurs through engaging in activism. The second, internal and external processes of knowledge-sharing. And third, parents’ perceptions of the educative potential of activism as a means for imparting democratic values to their children. I argue that the pedagogical dimension is a central feature of parents’ activism. Indeed, such activism constitutes itself a form of civic education in which democratic values and ideals are transmitted from one generation to another.

Manufacturing January 6: How Republican County Parties Mobilized Anger to Promote #StopTheSteal

The #StopTheStealMovement, which culminated in the January 6 attack, was part of a coordinated, months-long campaign to convince the public that the 2020 election was stolen through fraud and that Donald Trump had won. The dominant narrative of how this movement emerged is a national one, with Donald Trump at the center. However, we show how state and local political institutions, events, and actors—in this case, county Republican parties on Facebook—were instrumental in paving the way for January 6.

Invoking ethnic identity in the service of right-wing rhetoric: an analysis of 2022 Latina republican candidates in South Texas

Abstract Growing identification by U.S. Latines with the Republican Party has been of interest since the 2020 presidential election, especially in South Texas. This article presents a rhetorical criticism of three Republican Latina candidates for Congress in the 2022 midterms. Utilizing Latine rhetorical criticism of their campaign ads, we identify the strategic deployment of conservative ethnic identity that disavows racialized identity through anti-immigrant rhetoric. Instead of moderating anti-immigration discourse, as has been suggested by observers on how to attract Latine voters, these candidates instead redirect the immigrant threat narrative towards other subgroups of Latines. Also key in the deployment of ethnic identity for right-wing appeals is the construction of a political persona that emphasizes traditional Latine gender roles in the service of political activism. Finally, there is a mystification of the underlying reasons for economic precarity that is nevertheless based on local histories of exploitation in South Texas.

Caretaker Conventions in Crisis Times: Dutch Government‐Opposition Dynamics After the Fall of the Government

How does the caretaker status of a government affect party political dynamics in parliament during a crisis? Generally, caretaker governments are not mandated to introduce important policy changes. Yet major crises can demand decisive political action. This article aims to understand the consequences of the caretaker status of the Rutte III government in the Netherlands (after its resignation in January 2021) for government-opposition dynamics during the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. We first analyse party voting behaviour in parliament and then draw on a qualitative text analysis of nine critical parliamentary debates. Surprisingly, we find that differences between mandated and caretaker status have little effect on parliamentary dynamics. Opposition parties with coalition potential are supportive of the government and take on a cooperative tone; opposition parties without coalition potential are not supportive and take on a combative tone and oppose in harsher terms, yet even they barely mention caretaker status. As such, this case provides unique insights into the functioning of caretaker conventions during crises which offer opportunities for new theorising in the undertheorised field of caretaker cabinets and parliaments.

Care-leaver activism and criminogenic welfare: An Australian case study

This article discusses the failings of out-of-home care (OOHC) in Australia, focussing on 20th century OOHC systems’ construction of non-offending minors as “problems” while exposing them to high-risk environments defined here as “crime scenes”. Governments are deemed culpable for the inherent criminality of the system and its institutions. Juxtaposed to this is the development of care-leaver activist groups since the 1990s, and their fight to make governments and institutions accountable and to advocate in legal and bureaucratic forums for care-leavers and those currently in care. The discussion benefits from the insights of the article's lead author, herself a former state ward and a long-time care-leaver activist. The article identifies obstacles militating against activist successes, including institutional resistance and the historical reluctance of academics, especially criminologists, to engage with the problem.

Political Participation Among Scheduled Castes: A Study on West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh

Political Participation Among Scheduled Castes: A Study on West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”. ―Plato “Plato had no perception of the uniqueness of every individual, of his incommensurability with others, of each individual as forming a class of his own. He had no recognition of the infinite diversity of active tendencies, and the combination of tendencies of which an individual is capable.” ― Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Annihilation of Caste KONDAPALLI SRINIVASU, M.A. Research Scholar Department of Political Science and Public Administration Andhra University, Visakhapatnam PETETI PREMANANDAM M.A., B.L., B.Lisc., PGDSM., Ph.D. Professor and Head of the Department Department of Political Science and Public Administration Andhra University, Visakhapatnam ABSTRACT India's democracy is the largest among countries in the world. The National Election Commission Report of India listed 900 million eligible voters, 468 million male and 432 million female. These Indian voters were spread over 29 states. A notable element of the 2019, 17th Lok Sabha Election was the participation of 15 million first-time voters aged 18–19. Only 14.39 percent of the 2019 Parliament was female, with 78 MPs. In comparison, 85.61 percent of the group was male (464). General Elections 2019, the National Election Planner, reports 3,66,61,315 Andhra Pradesh voters. According to NEP data, AP has 18,123,437 men, 18,474,714 women, and 3,745 others as voters. The Electoral Roll 2019 contains 56,908 services and 2,511 abroad Indian electors. Female voters grew by 3,51,277, or 1.93 percent. Andhra Pradesh has 539,804 18–19-year-old voters. Political engagement and understanding are essential to any political system. These tools make voters efficient and link them to politics. The International Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences defines political involvement as the main way a democracy grants or revokes consent and holds power accountable to the people. It includes voting, acquiring information, discussing and persuading, attending meetings, donating, and communicating with representatives. Democracy and political participation are linked. Participation lets citizens express their interests. It fosters national stability and organization. It maximizes benefits for most people. Scholars define political participation differently depending on how they understand the different sorts of political activity. Growth generally requires involvement. The UNDP's "Human Development Report 1993" lists four interconnected forms of involvement: family, economic, socio-cultural, and political.

The problem of criminal charisma: State authority and the politics of narcocultura in Mexico's drug war

AbstractThis article examines Mexico's “war on drug trafficking” through its affective and ideological dimensions. By ethnographically exploring two sites of official representations of organized crime in Mexico City—the Secretariat of Defense's Drug Museum and the Institute to Give Back What Was Stolen from the People—I analyze the strategies through which the Mexican state acknowledges and addresses criminality's charisma as a key challenge to its authority. In these official representations, the drug world becomes visible in partial and selective ways, such as through drug traffickers’ confiscated possessions, which project ideas of extravagant capitalist consumption and transgressive social mobility. The state's inevitable failure to contain or redirect this criminal charisma is a symptom of a deeper problem. Such charisma is a key element constituting organized crime as a political actor that menaces state power. It does so not only through violence, but also by means of its capacity to align and organize publics ideologically by doubling and mimicking the state's forms of meaning‐making and valuation.

White NIMBYism and diversity close to home

AbstractObjectiveWe use a survey experiment to study what explains white “not in my backyard” opposition (NIMBYism) to dense and affordable housing—racial threat, material self‐interest, or both.MethodsIn a survey experiment on white U.S. respondents, we vary the presence of a racial prime about black and Latinx community organizations and the proximity of the housing development to the subject's home. We then measure levels of support for a proposed hypothetical housing development, willingness to take political action in support of or opposition to the development, and support for a number of housing‐related and redistributive policies.ResultsWe find that a racial threat, a material self‐interest threat, and a combined racial and material self‐interest threat decrease support for a proposed housing development. These effects are moderated by racial resentment, ideology, and partisanship such that the effects of the treatments are primarily driven by Republicans, conservatives, and the highly racially resentful. These groups are more threatened than others by either Latinx and black people moving in, the development being in their own neighborhood, or both.ConclusionThese findings indicate that racial and material perceived threats play important and interlocking roles in white Americans’ resistance to multifamily housing being built. In a context where local political institutions empower an unrepresentative group of disproportionately white, economically privileged neighbors to mount opposition to dense housing, it is important to understand how white opposition to new dense housing is shaped by racial and financial concerns.

Determinants of livelihood diversification in an integrated agricultural and non-agricultural livelihood system in Ghana

The diversification of livelihoods by households has been widely acknowledged as a way to overcome food insecurity and poverty challenges in developing countries. Diversification of livelihoods helps spread the risk among multiple livelihood earning activities to provide households with a range of their food needs all year round. By examining the integrated livelihood systems of 405 rural farm households in the Upper East Region of Ghana, empirical evidence is provided in this study using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework to advance arguments in the literature for the creation of sustainable strategies that improve diversified livelihood systems. The mean diversification indices estimated were 0.45 for agricultural diversification systems, 0.32 for non-agricultural diversification systems and 0.59 for integrated agricultural and non-agricultural diversification systems. With the use of the Cragg two-step regression model, we demonstrate that the decision to diversify and the extent of diversification of rural livelihoods are distinct decisions and are influenced by distinct sets of factors. Similarly, for the three categories of livelihood diversification studied, the effect of these factors also differed. The results emphasize the significance of access to good road network, credit and market information in encouraging rural farm households to diversify their livelihoods. In the short term, improving access to credit and market information through community-based initiatives can provide immediate support to rural households. Communities should also organize local markets and cooperatives to strengthen their economic resilience. While government and stakeholders should focus on long-term infrastructure projects, these community actions can complement such efforts and contribute to achieving global and regional goals targeting food insecurity and poverty eradication.

Pragmatism, courage, and ideals of peace in times of war

ABSTRACT After the demise of liberal peacebuilding, the policy literature often views peacebuilding as a project aimed at avoiding relapse into conflict, focusing on prevention, stabilisation and hard security. Also, critical peace scholars have predominantly narrowed peacebuilding down to gradual, small, hybrid, everyday work. There is no enthusiasm for pointing towards new ideals of peace. To this aim, this article engages with the work of the American social worker, feminist, and peace activist of the early twentieth century, Jane Addams, who was the first to theorise what a positive peace may be. According to Addams, a positive peace was about enlarging human relations and already emerging from the ashes of the First World War. Peacebuilding had to be heroic, courageous, and aggressive, substituting the virtues of war. Her pragmatist work is useful for thinking of alternative imaginaries of liberal peace in times when imagination about peace and peacebuilding has dimmed.

Motivations for political donations in Aotearoa New Zealand

This research explores motivations for political party donations in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). Drawing on interview data from 29 political ‘insiders,’ we utilize McMenamin and Power’s theoretical framework to assess the pragmatic, partisan and social motivations for donations. We extend the original framework beyond business donations, incorporating a broader range of donor and non-donor insights. We observe strong social motivations for donating and a general agreement among political actors that donations provide access to politicians. The theoretical lens is expanded by NZ-specific factors, notably a strong concern for democracy and the potential for adverse impacts from donating. The latter brings negative motivations into the theoretical lens. We offer an amended framework that more closely reflects donation motivations in the NZ environment, which is dominated by a small pool of large donors, close connections between political actors and a desire for adequately funded political parties to enhance democratic outcomes.

Protesting in a different way: minority activism from within the urban economy and politics

ABSTRACT In marginalized communities where traditional political channels are often inaccessible, social movements and protests have emerged as vital platforms for voices seeking to challenge established power structures. This study reveals a compelling shift in recent decades as these neighborhoods undergo economic transformation and gentrification. It uncovers a distinct pattern of activism characterized by the emergence of middle-class ethnic entrepreneurs and business owners who engage in activism from within the urban economy and political systems. This qualitative case study, conducted within a Latino community in the U.S. delves into the activism of this actor, providing a deeper understanding of how this pattern, which both challenges and engages with the system, gives rise to local political conflicts and accusations of ‘class betrayal’, and cooptation. By utilizing a ‘place-based’ mobilization model and examining the interplay between ethnic and class affiliations, this study enriches our understanding of political protests and activism in ethnic/racial communities.

Global citizenship among students of Kazakhstan: the role of social media

With the increasing involvement of universities in Kazakhstan in the processes of internationalization, there is a need to adapt educational programs to the changing requirements of the labor market and the national educational environment. An important aspect of these changes is the study of the perception of global citizenship among students of Kazakhstan. In this article, the authors present the results of their two studies on global citizenship. In the first study, the authors set out to study the behavior of university students with participation in democratic processes and their use of social media. In the last decade, many researchers have studied the impact of social media on youth participation in global public life. Many of them noted the positive impact, suggesting that the use of social media would promote democratic participation, especially among the younger generation. Among the students of Kazakhstan, 284 students took part in this study. Participation in global and democratic processes includes five main elements: voting, political activism, consumer participation, protests, and communication with politicians. Our research has shown that university students in Kazakhstan most often express their support or protest within the framework of consumer participation. Students in Kazakhstan demonstrate a low level of participation in political activism, protests and communication with politicians. Regarding the second work of the authors, the study aims to adapt the Scale of Global Citizenship to the context of Kazakhstan, which is a key step in preparing students for active participation in democratic processes. The study used a cross-sectional design using quantitative methods for data collection and analysis. 374 students participated in the study. Based on the results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, as well as reliability calculations, it was found that the Global Citizenship Scale has been successfully adapted for use in Kazakhstan, which confirms its applicability in the country.

Empowerment Model for Persons with Disabilites: Application Village Inclusion for Incumbent Disability in the Village Mangliawan Pakis District, Malang Regency

Disability is a condition that restricts an individual’s ability to fully participate in social, economic, and political activities, whether physically, mentally, or sensorily. Disability groups, especially people with disabilities, are vulnerable to discrimination and marginalization due to a lack of support, facilities, and adequate opportunities. The empowerment model of people with disabilities is an approach aimed at enhancing their independence, social participation, and quality of life. This article discusses the empowerment model of people with disabilities, including the benefits and challenges in its implementation. Disability empowerment is focused on enabling them to reach their full potential and participate equally in society by overcoming everyday barriers. Mangliawan Village, a rural area in the Pakis District, Malang Regency, Indonesia, faces similar challenges. Despite the lack of resources and adequate support for people with disabilities, Mangliawan Village has taken significant steps by implementing the principles and goals of Inclusive Village. The implementation of the Inclusive Village in Mangliawan Village begins with an assessment of the needs and challenges of people with disabilities involving local stakeholders, including people with disabilities, families, community leaders, and government officials. The results of this assessment form the basis for developing a comprehensive plan to enhance accessibility and inclusion in Mangliawan Village. This article highlights Mangliawan Village’s efforts to create a more inclusive environment and inspires the development of similar programs in other rural areas. Keywords: empowerment, persons disabilities, social inclusion, participation, training skills

Governing aging people in a rural commune during the Covid-19 pandemic: A case study

Based on the case study of a rural commune, this article analyzes how the challenges of ensuring the inclusion, participation and protection of older residents were addressed by local political actors and partly redefined following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. It appears that the mutual knowledge between the inhabitants, the proximity of public and private players and the relational and organizational capital of the people in charge are the main levers that can be used to govern older inhabitants. The research shed light on the gap between local actors’ perceptions of older residents, of their expectations and needs and the way older inhabitants themselves define their own place within the town.

Only reflecting the industry or critical reporting? News coverage about sustainable finance in Germany

With the increasing need to channel financial capital to reach the sustainable development goals, various actors (political, financial and NGOs) are trying to place their perspectives in the public sphere. Previous research has mainly focused on the coverage of climate change in the news media, whereas the financial aspect of transitioning our society to a net-zero future has often been overseen. This study manually content-analysed 479 news articles in Germany to find out about the main topics, actors and representation of sustainable finance (SF) in the news media. Findings show that media coverage has steadily increased since 2019, with a strong focus on European politics and political actors in Germany. Whereas differences across news outlets were identified, SF was overall mainly presented in a positive tone with advantageous characteristics, pointing out the positive performance of sustainable investments. The findings imply a predominance of neo-capitalistic representations of SF in the news that forego a more critical, differentiated and diversified discussion of the role of finance and the economy in transforming our society towards carbon-neutrality.

Political Knowledge in the Context of Changing Institutions

Citizen political knowledge is conventionally measured with survey questions developed for use in the industrialized wealthy democracies. In this paper, we argue that certain characteristics of political institutions and party systems that are relatively common in unconsolidated democracies and mixed regimes are likely to constrain the acquisition of political knowledge as traditionally measured. Using data from Latin America, Africa, and the countries included in the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, we examine the relationship between contextual factors and average levels of political knowledge across countries, measured both through civics knowledge and the ideological placement of political parties. We provide evidence consistent with the idea that citizens have fewer opportunities and are less motivated to acquire political knowledge in contexts where political institutions and actors frequently change and where young and nonprogrammatic parties are the norm.

Community Health Workers’ Challenges during COVID-19: An Intersectionality Study

Abstract Accredited social health activists (ASHAs) and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) as community health workers (CHWs) have been crucial in providing health assistance and information during the COVID-19 pandemic. These CHWs face various challenges, such as discrimination, long hours of work, and low wages, which were exacerbated during the pandemic. The study uses an intersectionality framework to understand CHWs’ marginalization and challenges. A qualitative study with ASHAs and ANMs was conducted in selected primary health centers (PHCs) and subcenters in Suryapet district, Telangana, in 2021. The in-depth interviews of 60 CHWs were analyzed using the software Atlas-ti. The inductive thematic analysis highlighted several challenges faced by CHWs. These challenges include barriers such as discrimination based on class and caste, pay parity, increased workload, lack of training, inadequate safety equipment, and instances of assaults and mistreatment. CHWs, who are often rural women with minimal education, face stigmatization and attacks from community members. They struggled with maintaining records and understanding online training and dealt with rapid adaptation to technology. The study highlights the importance of implementing policies and support systems to protect and empower community health workers. This includes training, fair compensation, safety equipment, and measures against discrimination and violence.

Ganjar Pranowo's Branding Politics Through Instagram Media in the 2024 Presidential Election Contestation

This research is motivated by the use of social media by political actors to build political branding which is one of the strategies to increase the electability of one of the presidential candidates in the 2024 presidential election contest, namely Ganjar Pranowo. The purpose of this research is to find out the political branding displayed by Ganjar Pranowo on Instagram social media as a political media in strengthening his electability in the Contestation of the 2024 Presidential Election of the Republic of Indonesia. The method used in this research is a qualitative research method with a descriptive approach. The data collection technique in this research uses observation and documentation. The results showed that political branding carried out on Instagram @ganjar_pranowo, consisting of 4 categories, namely policy, person, party, and presentation.