Power Relations Research Articles

Chinese voluntary associations in the diaspora: ethnicity, gender and the (re)making of ancestral communities

ABSTRACT Recent studies of Chinese voluntary associations (CVAs) have attempted to highlight the theoretical significance of CVAs for understandings of community (re)making. However, the power dynamics inherent in community (re)making has rarely been expounded. In recognition of this, we weave together case studies across countries to explore the complex power relations played out in and through the transformation of CVAs. Collectively, CVAs are understood as ever-changing, heterogeneous ancestral communities composed of common ancestral ties be it origin, locality, surname, religion or language. We aim to contribute to existing scholarship on ethnic and diaspora studies through focusing on CVAs in three ways: (1) foreground CVAs as sites of power relations through unpacking ethnic relations and gender hierarchies; (2) illuminate Chinese diaspora transnationalism beyond political-economic perspectives; and (3) examine the contemporaneous transformation of ethnic Chinese communities in shifting times, including amidst China's “rise” as a global power.

Understanding and addressing gender-based violence in Eswatini

The high prevalence of gender-based violence (GBV) in the kingdom of Eswatini is quiet saddening. Women and girl children become victims of GBV to the extent of losing their lives. Therefore, this article sought to find the causes of GBV, collaborative majors and guidelines to help reduce GBV. The paper employed a qualitative research design underpinned by a transformative paradigm as a framework for promoting preventive action toward social justice for marginalized populations. Participatory Action Learning Action Research (PALAR) was employed. A purposeful sample of traditional leaders, religious leaders, law enforcers, NGOs and public were selected. Data was obtained through individual interviews, focus group interviews and analyzed using the thematic analysis approach. Findings obtained revealed various causes of GBV: unequal power relations, socio-economic factors, weak legal and support systems. Study recommends that government in collaboration with stakeholders must establish educational programs and guidelines to fight GBV, improve psycho-social support, strengthen recreational systems, implement programs that focus on poverty alleviation and economic empowerment, decolonization of patriarchal cultural practices and develop awareness programs about issues faced by GBV survivors. Sexual offences domestic violence act (SODV) must be enforced by the law.

Modeling root effects on soil detachment capacity using critical flow depth and unit energy of cross section in soils under Fraxinus excelsior L. species

The flow depth is an important hydraulic parameter for calculating other hydraulic parameters of overland flow. There is notable changes in hydraulic parameter when the roots of a plant develop in the topsoil. A power regression equation between soil detachment capacity (Dc) and unit energy of cross section (UEC) was established in soils under Fraxinus excelsior L. species based on the Froude number. For measuring Dc, samples collected from soils under the studied species and subjected to five slopes (from 13.9 to 33.9%) and five water discharges (from 0.39 to 0.77 l m−1 s−1) by a hydraulic flume. Compared with the soil with absence of root, the soil with presence of root had lower Dc. The results showed a strong power relationship between the unit energy of cross section and Dc, suggesting that soil detachment rate in rill erosion can be estimated using this hydraulic parameter (R2 = 0.84). This finding is particularly relevant for hillslopes with slopes from 12% to 31%, where the proposed mathematical model could be applied to predict Dc. Overall, this investigation supports a broader use of native species (such as the european ash Fraxinus excelsior L.), as a useful eco-engineering conservation practice and an alternative technique instead of utilizing artificial and expensive conservation practices.

Abusive Supervision as a Social Phenomenon: Causes and Coping Strategies

The paper analyzes the phenomenon of abusive supervision (AS) in Russian organizations. The study is based on semi-structured in-depth interviews and a standardized survey of employees. The analysis demonstrates that half of the respondents had encountered various manifestations of AS at their current or previous jobs. The imbalance of power relations at workplace, employee’s socio-economic dependence on a supervisor are the core conditions of AS. Factor analysis results reveal 4 behavioral strategies of employees faced with AS – “neglect”, “exit”, “balance of power” and “loyalty”. A most effective strategy to reduce the manifestations of AS, according to respondents, was the “balance of power” strategy involving employees’ individual value enhancement and coalition formation.

Disrupted Sand Flows, Artisanal Fishers, and the Making of Coastal Protection in Southern India

<p>Flowing parallel to the sea, sand is subject to erosive, accretive, and extractive processes and is intertwined with the socio-ecological dynamics at the land–sea interface. Human interventions, climate change, and societal responses to it are constantly reshaping the morphology of coastal areas and thus disrupting sand flows, for example, through the construction of harbours or groins to prevent erosion. In this article, we ask how disrupted sand flows shape the interaction and social dynamics between different coastal actors in the making of coastal protection. Empirically, we ground our research in the Pondicherry region of southern India, characterised by a sandy morphology and numerous fishing communities. Building on the literature on “geosocialities,” we argue that engaging with the materialities of ocean sand and the social implications of sediment loss for artisanal fishers is crucial to reducing maladaptation. Following sand as a non-human actor unravels the social entanglements with ocean sand that underpin the implementation of protective measures and that shape access to sandy beaches for artisanal fishers. By exploring these contestations, we show how the reclamation of sand through groins is embedded in unequal power relations over shrinking beaches. While migration to other sandy beaches becomes a necessary means of adaptation, this leads to local conflicts over coastal space. We conclude by highlighting the need to understand coastal adaptation as a geophysical and socially intertwined process, in which ocean sand must be critically considered for future adaptation strategies.</p>

Digital Platform, Spatial-Digital Fix, and the Reconfiguration of Apparel Production Networks

Digital Platform, Spatial-Digital Fix, and the Reconfiguration of Apparel Production Networks

Effect of electroacupuncture on the characteristic signal of electroencephalogram in the patients with chronic insomnia： a randomized controlled trial

To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on sleep quality and electroencephalogram (EEG) signal in the patients with chronic insomnia and to explore its mechanism. Sixty patients with chronic insomnia were randomized into an EA group (30 cases, 3 cases dropped out) and a health learning group (30 cases, 3 cases dropped out). In the health learning group, the sleep health education was provided. In the EA group, besides the health education as the health learning group, EA was delivered at Baihui (GV20), Yintang (GV24+), bilateral Shenmen (HT7), bilateral Sanyinjiao (SP6), with continuous wave, 2 Hz in frequency, once every other day, and 3 interventions a week. EA was given for 4 weeks successi-vely, composed of 12 treatments. The score of Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA), and patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) before and after treatment were compared between the two groups. The EEG signals were collected and the relative power and entropy of EEG before and after treatment were compared between the two groups. After treatment, the scores of PSQI, HAMA and PHQ-9, the relevant power of β wave in F8 and T3 channels, and that of α wave in T4 channel, and the entropy in T3 channel under the eyes-open (EO) resting state, as well as the relevant power and the entropy of γ wave in F8 channel under the eyes-closed (EC) resting state in the EA group were lower (P<0.05) than those before the treatment. All of the above results were lower than those of the health learning group at the same time points (P<0.05). Under the EO resting state, the relevant power of the θ and δ waves of T3 channel and θ wave of T4, O2 and Pz channels of patients in the EA group after the treatment were increased (P<0.05) than those before the treatment, and higher (P<0.05) than those of the health learning group at the same time points. Acupuncture is effective on chronic insomnia, which may be related to the regulation EEG signals.

(Re)producing uneven waterscapes in South China: the materiality and spatiality of the Dongshen inter‐basin water supply project

(Re)producing uneven waterscapes in South China: the materiality and spatiality of the Dongshen inter‐basin water supply project

Towards anarchist abolitionist futures for violence prevention: Beyond ‘counterterrorism’

Towards anarchist abolitionist futures for violence prevention: Beyond ‘counterterrorism’

When patriarchy and individualism collide: experiences of women entrepreneurial leaders

PurposeThrough a feminist lens, the study explores women’s experiences of entrepreneurial leadership in the UK and how the women manage competing and contrary patriarchal and individualism discourses and associated discursive paradox.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows social constructionism and Feminist Standpoint Research approach, providing space for women to voice and contextualise lived experiences from multiple standpoints. The study comprises five cases of women entrepreneurs in IT, law, construction, beauty and childcare, using a two-stage semi-structured interview process analysed through discourse analysis.FindingsThis study provides new insights into the entrenched patriarchal socio-cultural context for women entrepreneurial leaders in the UK. The competing discourses provoke a discursive paradox, which dominates and oppresses women. This is managed through a process of discursive blending, blurring and merging contrary discursive expectations. The women use the individualism discourse to obscure patriarchy’s domination and as a resource to resist patriarchal gender power relations. To blend the discourses, the women use particular tactics: engaging in patriarchal bargains, such as “dressing not to impress”; can sidestep and manoeuvre these bargains and can utilise “patriarchal advantages”, turning gender oppression into benefits by “working it positively”.Originality/valueThis study addresses the lack of research interrogating patriarchy in the Global North and the absence of understandings of how women entrepreneurial leaders manage the competing and contrary discourses of patriarchy and individualism, which actively shape their experiences. The study illuminates the significance and increasing requirement for feminism to disrupt the ever-increasing power of patriarchy in entrepreneurship.

Examining How Structural Conditions, Cultural Norms, and Institutional Practices Shape Diagnostic Delays for Women in Ontario: A Critical Qualitative Study

There are a number of diseases and conditions that have notoriously long diagnostic periods. Often associated with a downplaying or dismissal of symptoms and feelings of shame, many of these diseases and conditions disproportionately manifest among women. Endometriosis, for instance, takes on average three to ten years to diagnose, and cardiovascular disease, ADHD, and pain conditions such as fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis represent other common examples. During a diagnostic delay – when the period becomes prolonged between seeking care until the point at which a diagnosis is made – women continue to suffer from symptoms, lose confidence in healthcare providers and systems, and experience interruptions to their lives, relationships, and sense of self. While several investigations have produced descriptive accounts of these reasons, they leave unaddressed women’s embodied experiences of diagnostic delays, socio-political structures and power relations, such as gender, and the interrelationships between these two components. To address this gap, I will draw on critical phenomenology to ask: How are diagnostic delays lived as embodied social practices by women?; What do narratives of diagnostic delay reveal about gendered embodiment during illness? and In what ways do women’s embodied experiences of illness resist, reinforce, and revise the cultural expectations and institutional practices that contribute to diagnostic delays?. In doing so, my research aims to understand how socio-political structures and power relations are intertwined with embodied experiences of diagnostic delay, and the ways the relationship between them serves to support and/or disrupt this phenomenon. Critical phenomenology engages with a wide range of critical disciplines to understand rich subjective experiences and how normalizing structures privilege some experiences and marginalize others. Drawing on this methodology, I will interview women with lived experience of diagnostic delay and clinicians who have experienced delays in diagnosing women. I will also review relevant practice guidelines and organizational policies to further contextualize this phenomenon. By exploring the intertwined nature of women’s embodied experiences of illness with social structures, and how these relationships serve to impact diagnostic delays for women, this project will importantly address the lack of specific and critical discourse on this phenomenon. In doing so, it will not only advance scholarship in this area, but will also support the continued discussion and advocacy that is essential to effecting change to this enduring and wicked problem.

Nominal construction of epistemological positions and power relations in journalistic stance taking: Variation across British and Chinese media discourse in English

Pursuing new ways of understanding the norm of objectivity and journalistic authority in the analysis of contemporary journalistic discourse has been a focal point of interest. Latest developments in the study of journalistic discourse have extended beyond the more traditional critical discourse analysis to methodologies that involve large corpora of texts and in-depth linguistic analysis to capture attitudinal expressions. We aim to study epistemological positions and power relations in journalistic stance taking focused on noun + that-complement clause constructions based on a comparable corpus of British and Chinese media discourse and the application of a functionally based taxonomy of stance nouns. Through the empirical observation about the deployment of different types of stance nouns, our study revealed important similarities between the two discourse types in that they both rely heavily on stance nouns showing beliefs, attitudes and cognitive grounding in addition to those of actions, processes and states of affairs specific to events. More significantly, the study pinpointed important differences by unveiling a preference for verbal propositions and speech acts in British media discourse and a contrasting preference in Chinese media discourse for propositional truth judgements deploying stance nouns designating epistemic status. Most importantly, the current study has suggested a corpus-based approach to stance taking in journalistic discourse by way of functional classification of nouns as a linguistic analytical procedure that has proven to be particularly suited for this purpose.

Geopolitical Challenges in Public Governance

Geopolitics is the study of how Earth's geography both physical and human, affects politics and international relations. The Ancient Greek terms γῆ (gê), which means "earth, land," and πoλιτική (politikḗ), which means "politics," are the source of the term "geopolitics.". It is an academic discipline that studies how a nation's size, location, climate, terrain, population, and natural resources affect its politics, particularly its foreign policy. Geopolitics has a significant bearing on public governance. A framework for comprehending the power relationships that shape our world is provided by geopolitics. It aids in the analysis of how geopolitical forces affect human rights, cultural heritage, and the development of public opinion around the world. Insights into societal divides, migration trends, and the emergence of nationalism are also provided by it. Other than that, geopolitical factors can impact governance strategies in the context of governance. For instance, decision-making procedures within public governance, strategic planning, and policy-making may be impacted by the geopolitical backdrop of a given area. It may also have an impact on how various countries relate to one another, which could have an impact on international accords and policies. Additionally, geopolitics can be understood as a process that makes it easy to comprehend conflicts and tensions at several levels, including local, regional, national, and worldwide. It can also disclose power struggles between actors. This knowledge can help public governance manage these tensions and conflicts in an efficient manner. In essence, geopolitics is a major factor in determining the tactics and laws used in public government. It offers a prism through which we can view the intricate relationships that are necessary for efficient public governance, including those involving geography, power, politics, and international relations. Thus, a better understanding of geopolitics can support more intelligent, astute, and successful public governance.

Political economy analysis of the dissemination and use of seasonal weather forecasts and services in Zimbabwe

Weather and climate services are essential tools that help farmers make informed choices, such as choosing appropriate crop varieties. These services depend considerably on the availability of adequate investments in infrastructure related to weather forecasting, which are often provided by the State in most countries. Zimbabwean farmers generally have limited access to modern weather and climate services. While extensive attempts have been made to investigate farmers’ socioeconomic factors that influence access to and use of weather and climate services, comparative political economy analysis of weather and climate service production and use is limited. To address this knowledge gap, this study examines the production, dissemination, and usage of modern seasonal weather services through a political economy analysis perspective. The findings of this study highlight considerable discrepancies in access and use of seasonal weather forecasts between male and female farmers, those who practise African Traditional Religions versus Christians, and the minority group (Ndau tribe) and the majority group (Manyika tribe). This result suggested the presence of social marginalization. For example, minority Ndau members living in remote areas with limited radio signals and a weak mobile network have limited access to modern seasonal weather forecasts, forcing them to rely much more on indigenous weather forecasts. Further, due to unequal power relations, a greater proportion of male farmers participated in agricultural policy formation processes than their female counterparts. To promote inclusive development and implementation, deliberate efforts need to be made by State authorities to incorporate adherents of African traditional religions, members of minority tribes and female farmers in agricultural policymaking processes, including seasonal weather forecast delivery policies. Further, the study suggests the relaxation or elimination of international sanctions on Zimbabwe by the European Union, United Kingdom and the United States of America, given that they are considerably affecting marginalized groups of farmers in their climate change adaptation practices, including the use of modern weather and climate services. The vast majority of these marginalized farmers never benefitted from the land reform programme and were also not responsible for the design and implementation of this programme which triggered these sanctions.

Toward a gender transformative change perspective for smallholder agricultural commercialization: building consensus among experts

While smallholder agricultural commercialization has been posited as a catalyst to bring about broad economic benefits, evidence demonstrates that commercialization efforts that are gender blind can exacerbate inequalities. This study employed a consensus-building process for gender and agricultural development experts to formulate a perspective for informing the design and implementation of gender transformative smallholder agricultural commercialization interventions. A three-round Delphi process was used to systematically achieve agreement among 23 experts who address gender issues and implement gender transformative approaches (GTAs) in smallholder agricultural systems. Over the three rounds, the experts systematically generated and prioritized 58 intended changes and conceptual considerations for design and implementation into a final set of 23 statements that were categorized as: GTA design and implementation fundamentals, potential target changes in smallholder agriculture, and standard gender integration measures. Unlike many Delphi studies, we also highlight expert statements that did not achieve consensus in both rounds as well as the qualitative divergence. Key themes based on the agreed upon findings include involving diverse actors in co-development of GTAs, applying an intersectional lens, tackling root causes of power relations in the value chain, addressing constraining norms, increasing women’s access to and control of resources, and strengthening agency and solidarity.

Critique, Vision and Cosmology: Millenarian Ideas in Melanesia

ABSTRACTAn essential connection between critique and the millenarian has been proposed with particular reference to the study of Melanesian cargo cults. It is argued here that all critique is not necessarily millenarian. Rather, what is crucial for critique to have a millenarian form is for local cosmological ideas and practices to become transformed into the source of a new kind of future; a future that appears delimited by outside power relations (colonial, mission, capitalist) that now define what is possible. Often this involves altering local cosmological ideas of the outside (e.g. the dead) as the new source of future fecundity. The article considers two cases, among Fuyuge and Manus Islands peoples, where forms of critique and the millenarian have radically different outcomes.

GENDER AND IDENTITY IN POSTMODERNITY: EARLY CONSIDERATIONS

It is urgent to reflect on identity and how it can be generated by personal characteristics. The dichotomy that emerges when it comes to identity between men and women reveals a segregation in which positive value is attributed to one and negative value to the other, placing gender binarism in our society as a unique condition. To this end, the guiding thread of this article will seek to understand the relations of identity in postmodernity and the relations that gender has in the post-structuralist movement, in a qualitative methodological proposal that encompasses basic texts on gender and identity in which the authors weave considerations. Based on the conception of identities, we see that differentiating individuals is a process intertwined with meanings that reinforces the historical and geographical characteristics to which the subjects are subjected, which presents constant modifications, which gives rise to new identities. Regarding gender, the quest for it to become an analytical category involves the struggle of minorities affected by inequalities in power relations and the redefinition of the term so that it does not merely differentiate between masculine and feminine, opening space for new concepts and categories. Current social construction, therefore, demands that meanings loaded with absolute truths be remodeled, countering modern thinking and redefining identities and gender, in order to deconstruct the ambiguities and generalizations rooted in each of us.

Collaborative dynamics and shared motivation: exploring tobacco control policy development in Zambia.

In Zambia, efforts to produce a tobacco control policy have stalled for over a decade, and the country is not yet close to developing one. Limited studies have explored the dynamics in this policy process and how they affect the attainment of policy goals and outcomes. This study explored how collaborative dynamics within tobacco control policy development shaped shared motivation among stakeholders in Zambia. The study used a qualitative case study design that adopted a collaborative governance lens, comprising an in-depth exploration of the tobacco control policy working group meetings and their internal collaborative dynamics. The integrative framework for collaborative governance, which identifies mutual trust, mutual understanding, internal legitimacy and shared commitment as key elements of shared motivation, was adapted for this study. Data were collected from 27 key informants and analysed using thematic analysis. Several collaborative dynamics thwarted mutual trust among tobacco control stakeholders, including concerns about associated loyalties, fear of a ban on tobacco production, silo-mentality and lack of comprehensive dialogue. All stakeholders agreed that the limited sharing of information on tobacco control and the lack of reliable local evidence on the tobacco burden hindered mutual understanding. Diverse factors hampered internal legitimacy, including sector representatives' lack of authority and the perceived lack of contextualization of the proposed policy content. Acknowledgement of the need for multisectoral action, lack of political will from other sectors and limited local allocation of funds to the process were some of the factors that shaped shared commitment. To accelerate the development of tobacco control policies in Zambia and elsewhere, policymakers must adopt strategies founded on shared motivation that deliberately create opportunities for open discourse and respectful interactions, promote a cultural shift towards collaborative information sharing and address unequal power relations to enable shaping of appropriate tobacco control actions in respective sectors.

Only a game? The politics of football, the English Premier League, and its wider international relations: A critical research agenda for the next 25 years

Despite its near-universal popularity, economic significance, and political power, football (or ‘soccer’) remains, save for a few notable exceptions, on the margins of political studies, international relations, and international political economy. This article, written to mark twenty-five years of the BJPIR, reflects upon the remarkable growth of the English Premier League during this same period, and considers how the conceptual toolkits of these disciplines might explain this growth trajectory and those fault-lines that have emerged as a result of its own dominant position across the globe. By building the case for those working within these disciplines to take seriously the politics, IR and IPE of football, this piece offers a research agenda designed to encourage colleagues to consider ways that their own scholarship might be extended to interrogate those power relations and various sites of political struggle that will be present within football over the next twenty-five years.

Looking for a ‘just transition’: Sustainable forestry in Sweden and biodiverse beet sugar production in Denmark

This article aims to identify contradictions between visions of just transition and their realisation in practice, particularly the extent to which labour and nature are respected, with examples of forestry in Sweden and the beet sugar industry in Denmark. The case studies provide insight into the formation and local implementations of the just transition vision promoted by the ITUC and ILO, representing a call for the ecological modernisation of the economy. The cases illustrate its Northern European roots and limitations. Although a multi-scalar perspective positions union agency as embedded in interwoven spatial scales, particular power relations remain prevalent. Despite being formally represented through social dialogue structures at the national and European levels, Swedish and Danish unions appear to have limited involvement at the local level, with environmental and social justice effectively defined by corporate social responsibility policies. The apparent consensus hides a series of challenges: employment rights and protections in the transition, including for a significant number of migrant workers, meaningful union involvement on the ground, and a light-touch approach to environmental concerns so as not to disrupt production objectives. Ultimately, nature and labour remain positioned against each other, and unions are caught between environmentalists and employers.