Social Movements Research Articles

Will the EU deforestation-free products regulation (EUDR) reduce tropical forest loss? Insights from three producer countries

The European Union regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR) represents a policy innovation with important implications for the governance of global commodity chains. We discuss the risks and limitations of this policy derived from an ex-ante assessment of the robustness of its theory of change. For doing so, we use insights from the literature on zero-deforestation commitments and other private standards in value chains and from trade and deforestation patterns in three relevant producer countries (Brazil, Colombia and Indonesia). Despite the potentially positive symbolic effect in mobilizing a global agenda for combating deforestation, the EUDR faces several drawbacks and risks associated with three of its constitutive features: To be demand-oriented, having the value chain as the unit of intervention and holding a high degree of unilateralism. We conclude that to be effective in curbing tropical deforestation, the Regulation must be complemented with international cooperation aiming to strengthen national policies with a territorial approach, as well as social movements addressing the underlying causes of forest loss and human rights violations in the territories where it takes place.

Constructos del agua, mercancía y valor

The work revisits certain categories within social sciences to analyze water through two primary lenses. The first lens views water as a social construct, involving various communal, social, and institutional actors. This perspective has historical roots extending back to the liberal era of the early 20th century and continues through the post-war period of 'developmentalism.' During this time, water resources were seen as a public service managed by municipalities, communities, and, following the establishment of the Sistema Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (SNAA, known as AyA) in 1961, by a centralized state institution. Secondly, the study examines the transition of water from a 'use value' (satisfying a need) to an 'exchange value.' This analysis employs the concept of 'elasticity' of the commodity, representing a kind of expansive long wave embedded in the international political debates of the sixties and seventies. These debates involved various social movements and American business elites, who perceived the concept of 'free enterprise' as under threat. This resulted in 'authoritarian liberalism,' which has had lasting effects. In the present era, a 'total market' logic prevails, where water markets, transnational corporations, and stock market pricing determine the distribution of this resource on the planet through supply and demand laws.

MILITARY UNITS FROM KAZAKHSTAN AT THE FIRST STAGE OF MILITARY UNITS FROM KAZAKHSTAN AT THE FIRST STAGE OF THE AXIS AGGRESSION AGAINST THE USSR (22 June 1941 – 18 November 1942))

The purpose of the article is to analyse the formation of rifle and cavalry divisions, brigades, regiments and battalions in the territory of Soviet Kazakhstan in 1941-1942, as well as their role in the first period of the Axis aggression against the USSR. The topicality of the research was determined by the necessity to study the history of military formations from Kazakh Soviet Republic from the day of issuing orders of the Supreme Command of the USSR; the execution of those orders by the leadership of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic; the organisation of interaction with the command of Stalingrad, Ural, South Ural, Central Asian military districts; as well as the combat path of military units from Kazakhstan in the first year and a half of the War. The study of the said theme was worked out by both Soviet-system authors and those working in the conditions of modern national states – Kazakhstan and Russia. Collective works of researchers dedicated to World War II East Front events; Kazakhstani President’s Archive historical documents; as well as those from the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History; and combat documents of military units from Soviet Kazakhstan stored in the Russian Federation’s Defence Ministry Central Archive, are used in the work. The peculiarities of the work held for formation of military units and formations are given; the trends of staffing the division military units by senior, junior commanding personnel, and also by privates, are outlined. The combat path of Kazakhstani divisions and brigades in the first period of the War is traced; numerous pages of heroism of soldiers and commanders on the battlefields are outlined. The conclusion, that military formations from Kazakhstan significantly contributted to repelling Hitler’s troops near Moscow and Leningrad; as well as to defence of Stalingrad; just the same as the fact that they created the conditions for a fundamental turning point in the War in favour of the USSR, is made.

Is this really Empowerment? Enhancing our understanding of empowerment in patient and public involvement within clinical research

BackgroundThere has been a growing push to involve patients in clinical research, shifting from conducting research on, about, or for them to conducting it with them. Two arguments advocate for this approach, known as Patient and Public Involvement (PPI): to improve research quality, appropriateness, relevance, and credibility by including patients’ diverse perspectives, and to use PPI to empower patients and democratize research for more equity in research and healthcare. However, while empowerment is a core objective, it is often not clear what is meant by empowerment in the context of PPI in clinical research. This vacancy can lead to insecurities for both patients and researchers and a disconnect between the rhetoric of empowerment in PPI and the reality of its practice in clinical trials. Thus, clarifying the understanding of empowerment within PPI in clinical research is essential to ensure that involvement does not become tokenistic and depletes patients’ capacity to advocate for their rights and needs.MethodsWe explored the historical roots of empowerment, primarily emerging from mid-20th century social movements like feminism and civil rights and reflected the conceptual roots of empowerment from diverse fields to better understand the (potential) role of empowerment in PPI in clinical research including its possibilities and limitations.ResultsCommon themes of empowerment in PPI and other fields are participation, challenging power structures, valuing diverse perspectives, and promoting collaboration. On the other hand, themes such as contextual differences in the empowerment objectives, the relationship between empowerment and scientific demands, research expertise, and power asymmetries mark a clear distinction from empowerment in other fields.ConclusionPPI offers potential for patient empowerment in clinical trials, even when its primary goal may be research quality. Elements like participation, sharing opinions, and active engagement can contribute to patient empowerment. Nonetheless, some expectations tied to empowerment might not be met within the constraints of clinical research. To empower patients, stakeholders must be explicit about what empowerment means in their research, engage in transparent communication about its realistic scope, and continuously reflect on how empowerment can be fostered and sustained within the research process.

Decolonizing the National Park: Unsettling public space through Indigenous urbanism

ABSTRACT Despite warnings of decline, public space continues to play a pivotal role for social movements and democracies. Yet, because liberal concepts of public space are rooted in settler colonialism, they avoid critical engagement with histories and contemporary expressions of Indigenous urban life. The occupation of Bogotá’s National Park by Indigenous communities presents an opportunity to reexamine the limits of public space. While government officials espoused conventional definitions about public space, Indigenous occupants described the National Park in entirely different terms. They relied on a praxis known as the minga for sustenance, communication, spatial organization, community building, and political mobilization. Drawing on Indigenous urbanism, this article frames the occupation of the National Park as a practice of decolonization, which challenges the historical legitimacy of stolen land and the supremacy of property. It considers the minga as a practice of Indigenization and an epistemologically distinct form of citymaking.

Stability and Volatility in the Contextual Predictors of Working-Age Mortality in the United States.

The contextual predictors of mortality in the United States are well documented, but the COVID-19 pandemic may have upended those associations. Informed by the social history of disease framework (SHDF), this study examined how the importance of county contexts on adult deaths from all causes, drug poisonings, and COVID-19-related causes fluctuated during the pandemic. Using 2018 to 2021 vital statistics data, for each quarter, we estimated associations between county-level deaths among adults ages 25 to 64 and prepandemic county-level contexts (economic conditions, racial-ethnic composition, population health profile, and physician supply). The pandemic significantly elevated the importance of county contexts-particularly median household income and counties' preexisting health profile-on all-cause and drug poisoning deaths. The elevated importance of household income may be long-lasting. Contextual inequalities in COVID-19-related deaths rose and then fell, as the SHDF predicts, but rose again along with socio-political disruptions. The findings support and extend the SHDF.

Framing silence: the Nazi persecution of gay men in Michel Dufranne and Milorad Vicanović-Maza’s graphic novel, Triangle rose (2011)

ABSTRACT Writer Michel Dufranne and illustrator Maza’s French-language graphic novel, Triangle rose, (2011) features a Berlin homosexual deported under Paragraph 175. In this frame narrative, the elderly survivor’s story never reaches its potential diegetic audience, Parisian students, including the protagonist’s great-grandson. The framed narrative represents the protagonist’s unarticulated memories. This narrative glitch reflects 1) the historic failure to acknowledge homosexuals as legitimate Nazi victims, and 2) ongoing homophobia in Berlin and Paris, resulting in shame, as conceptualized by Sara Ahmed and Ruth Leys. Portraylng the Nazi persecution of gay men, Triangle rose highlights an important, underrepresented chapter of National Socialist history.

Social movements, INGOs, and the meaning of children’s political participation: lessons from the 1997 Oslo Working Children’s Forum

ABSTRACT INGOs regularly take up mediating positions between young people and structures of global governance. This article explores this relationship through a particularly generative historical case: the 1997 Oslo International Conference on Child Labor and parallel Working Children’s Forum. Informed by scholarship on the internal complexity of transnational advocacy networks, it disentangles the broad category of ‘working children’s organizations and their INGO allies’. An analysis of the relationship between one INGO (the International Save the Children Alliance) and the Latin American working children’s movement (MOLACNATs) in a moment of heightened conflict unearths critical disagreements between these two transnational political actors in terms of their representational frameworks, approaches to children’s participation, and ideas about childhood itself. This demonstrates how the often-stated INGO goal of facilitating children’s participation in global governance is neither singular nor self-evident in its meaning and can be a site of contestation between child-led social movements and allied INGOs.

Evolving heritage in modern China: transforming religious sites for preservation and development

This paper explores the intricate interactions between heritage and religion in modern China, as well as the broader social and political implications of these interactions in relation to national heritage policies and local developmental practices. By conducting a longitudinal analysis of the social history of Baosheng Temple, this research traces its transformations over the past hundred years from a historically religious site to a local built heritage dedicated to preserving and displaying religious relics. This transformation highlights a shift in the role of religious relics from carriers of practice and thought to focal points for heritage preservation, aimed at supporting nation-building and, more recently, promoting local development through the tourism industry. These changes reflect continuous local responses to broader social transformations towards a modern nation-state as well as the influence of Western ideas and practices. The findings of this research illuminate the evolving values associated with religious heritage and the corresponding implications for Chinese modernity within a secular state context.

The “People’s Tour” as Conflict Pedagogy: Using Site Visits to Engage Students with the Struggle for Civil Rights

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, has a rich history of Civil Rights struggles and its people continue to resist racial oppression in systems of housing, labor, education, policing, transportation, and others. Dating to 1892, Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), a historically Black college/university (HBCU), has attracted students who have become organizers and activists in the fight for social justice in the local community. These include Theodosia Simpson, a leader of the radical Black women-led tobacco workers union; Carl Matthews, who started the first victorious lunch counter sit-in in North Carolina; and Dr. Larry Little, who co-founded the first official Black Panther Party chapter in the South. In that tradition, I have developed a “People’s History Tour of Winston-Salem” that takes current WSSU students outside the classroom to learn about the Civil Rights struggle at a variety of important sites. This critical pedagogy has students apply key sociological concepts that bolster their understanding of racial stratification and efforts to eradicate it. The goals of this assignment are for students to explore classroom curriculum about White supremacy, racial capitalism, and social movements at relevant historical and contemporary sites in Winston-Salem. By doing so, I aim for students to have transformative experiences that tie their readings and classroom discussions to the community spaces where that material comes alive.

Irish Economic and Social History, 1974–2023: Publication Trends

This article reviews the publication trends in Irish Economic and Social History over its first 50 years.

As our population changes, so must we: how race and ethnicity data merging has evolved over time in the Wisconsin Administrative Data Core

The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), centered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Wisconsin, USA, began collaboration with various Wisconsin state agencies in 1985 to link data between disparate state agencies. These initial efforts have since evolved into the Wisconsin Administrative Data Core (WADC) which is an individual-level population dataset connecting extensive administrative data spanning decades of Wisconsin social services program history. Since its purpose is to facilitate evidence-driven policymaking and support program evaluation, it is essential that our data linking efforts accurately represent our Wisconsin population. Since its inception, the WADC has adapted to changes in how race and ethnicity are collected and reported. While Wisconsin has a racial makeup that is generally less diverse than the national population, the number of non-white and multi-racial identifying residents has increased over time. Furthermore, varying state agency demographic collection and reporting methods have fueled the need for our linking methods to change, too. IRP initially implemented standard data linkage methods using a mixture of probabilistic and deterministic matching of personal identifying information. But as the racial composition of Wisconsin residents changed over time, our linking assumptions induced implicit biases. In response, we updated our matching algorithm to account for the cultural nuances in how personally identifying information is assigned and reported within various racial and ethnic subgroups. Furthermore, we prioritized values from data sources that were self-reported rather than assigned from a third-party. These methodological modifications have improved the WADC’s reliability and representativeness of the population.

Producing Human Life or Protecting Wildlife?

A series of biodiversity conservation campaign since 1980s and the establishment of Siberut National Park on Siberut Island (West Sumatra, Indonesia) have seriously unsettled the relationship between the Mentawai and forest as well as between the Mentawai with powerful external agencies. For the Mentawai, forest and nature should be managed and utilized. Claiming and contesting forests have been part of the Mentawai social fabric and histories, while cultivating and transforming them into social spaces (agroforest, sago garden, settlements) and extracting uncultivated animals and plants are valued human activities and important criteria in the construction of Mentawai personhood. The park has tried to persuade people keeping the forest intact and not using and transforming it. The establishment of the park also implies that the state claims the land and the forest. This paper argues that establishing a national park and protecting forests contradicts the value of productive activities and the history of human labour attached and spent on the land and forest. The resistance over forest protection offers vital clues in understanding how producing nature is inseparable from producing humans and discusses how people can coexist with forests and nonhuman entities, not just by conserving it, but by transforming it. Understanding the mutual production and transformation of human nature is crucial to the future of biodiversity conservation activities on the island.

“You’ve Got Me Feeling Emotions”: Affective Norms of Deliberation in the Philippine lgbtqia+ Rights Movement

Abstract In contentious politics and deliberation, emotions function as rhetorical resources to substantiate claims and as evaluative criteria to assess social ties among actors. For social movements, then, emotions are vital in framing demands and sustaining collective participation. Grounded on accounts gathered from Filipinx lgbtqia+ rights movement through oral history interviews and analyzed through narrative and thematic approaches, this article illustrates the role of emotions when adherents deliberate with various interlocutors. I argue that advocates utilize affective ties to expand access to deliberative institutions and to sustain discussions of their claims. I also submit that specific ideologies motivate the idealization of particular affective norms when activists engage specific interlocutors. Hence, emotions figure in the movement both as framing tools and deliberative norms that need to be deliberated as well.

Taking the Right Lessons from Lenin and the Russian Revolution

Eric Blanc's article, “Taking the Right Lessons from Lenin and the Russian Revolution,” critically examines the enduring influence of Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution on socialist movements, highlighting the challenges of applying revolutionary strategies in parliamentary contexts. Blanc argues that while Leninist parties have played significant roles in advancing working-class interests, their revolutionary approach has been less effective in advanced capitalist democracies. He emphasizes that the Russian Revolution demonstrated the potential to overthrow capitalism but warns against overgeneralizing its strategies. Blanc critiques the myth of Bolshevik exceptionalism and the rigid organizational discipline often associated with Leninism, proposing instead a more flexible and inclusive approach to building socialist movements. By analyzing the experiences of socialist parties across the Russian Empire, particularly in Finland and Latvia, Blanc illustrates the effectiveness of uniting radical and moderate socialists within broader workers' parties. He argues that a strategy rooted in democratic socialism, adaptable to varying political contexts, offers a more viable path to socialist transformation than the insurrectionary models promoted by early Leninists. Blanc concludes that the key to advancing socialism lies in scaling up working-class and socialist organization through transformative reforms and democratic engagement, rather than adhering to prescriptive revolutionary strategies.

Understanding diversification of strategies and tactics in Swedish mining resistance: the fanning-out effect of goals and contextual opportunities

Europe is witnessing increasing protests against mining. Social movements mobilizing against resource extraction projects, (i.e. anti-extraction movements) are typically heterogeneous actor networks using diverse tactics to stop projects and promote other forms of societal development. I investigate two prominent anti-extraction movements in Sweden and explore how movement actors’ goals and interpretations of contextual opportunities shape their strategies and tactics. I study tactics over eleven years and use frame analysis to explore actors’ goals, interpretations, and strategies. Results show how diverse goals lead to diversification of tactics in movements by prompting movement actors to relate to different policy areas, that is, issue-specific contexts. Furthermore, actors’ experiences of interacting in different issue-specific contexts created differences in actors’ retrospective reasoning, which reinforced variation in tactics by informing interpretations of contextual opportunities. The study contributes to social movement theory by explicating how the content of goals shape interpretations of contextual opportunities and by extension diversify movement actors’ strategies and tactics. This adds to the understanding of how socio-political context influence tactical choices in concert with other explanations such as action traditions, diffusion, and available resources. Understanding diversification of movement tactics is important for handling increasingly complex conflicts over natural resources.

Rhetoric as resistance leadership in the ‘buen vivir’ global movement: Framing on social media collective utopias inspired by nature to challenge the status quo

Environmental activists and social movements worldwide have directed different forms of resistance toward an unsustainable and unfair model of development based on limitless growth and continuous exploitation of natural resources and people. For these processes of resistance, using the Internet has been key in creating a global discourse and consciousness of environmental activism and collective action. Drawing from the resistance leadership and the social movement literature, this paper offers an overview of the environmental movement for the global ‘Buen Vivir’ that originates in Latin America and their struggle against environmental degradation and climate change. Implementing a content analysis of the movement’s social media, this study focuses on the role of rhetoric and framing as tools for resistance. Three main findings emerged after analyzing the data: (1) Framing injustices for enhancing global environmental consciousness; (2) Framing solutions for imagining possibilities inspired by nature; and (3) Framing a rationale for unfolding collective action and building networks. This paper contributes to the resistance leadership literature, bringing new insights and further knowledge of how people can effectively resist and challenge the status quo using rhetoric and framing through social media platforms.

EP354 - Acute pancreatitis – an unusual cause

Abstract Introduction Drugs are responsible for only 0.1%-2% of acute pancreatitis. Whilst the link between some drugs and pancreatitis is well-established, (steroids, azathioprine), we found only one previous case-report linking testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) to pancreatitis. We report a case of acute pancreatitis secondary to TRT. Case Report A 55-year-old man presented with history of upper abdominal pain. He denied alcohol/illicit drug use, no recent infection/changes to medication. His amylase was raised; CT scan confirmed acute pancreatitis. When interrogating his past medical history for a cause, we learned of his bilateral orchidectomy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy for seminoma in 1993, following which, he was on Testogel. He was managed conservatively, with success. Discussion Although drug-related causes of pancreatitis are uncommon, management is easy with identification/cessation of the causative agent. Therefore, a detailed medical history (including exposure to toxins and medication changes) is important. In our patient, an extensive surgical, medical and social history, CT and bloods excluded other main causes of acute pancreatitis i.e. alcohol, gallstones/infection, hypertriglyceridemia, toxins and trauma. The WHO database of “drugs suspected to cause pancreatitis” includes evidence from published literature, mostly case reports. Testosterone does not feature amongst the 525 drugs mentioned. Conclusion Our anecdotal evidence may provide a possible link between TRT and pancreatitis, however further research is needed to ascertain a definite causality. Reporting such potential links is important due to increased TRT use recently as treatment for female-to-male sex transition and young adults for performance enhancement, as well as remaining the primary treatment for hypogonadism.

SP9.5 - Peri-operative Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA): A new benchmark for Acute General Surgery patients

Abstract Aims More than 50% of patients undergoing emergency general surgery are over 65 years of age. NICE guidelines emphasise frailty assessment in acute surgical settings, particularly in the preoperative period. Similarly, the Emergency Laparotomy and Frailty (ELF) study showed associations between frailty (CFS ≥ 5) and 90-day mortality, increased complication and length of hospital stay in older emergency laparotomy patients. NELA best practice tariff (BPT) April 2023 heavily focuses on perioperative team involvement in frailer, older patients. This is an audit from a city teaching hospital, with a surgical liaison team against standards set by NELA. Methods Review of patients aged ≥ 65 undergoing emergency laparotomies between August and November 2023 (pre-intervention) then December and January 2024 (post-intervention). Data collected includes whether patients had a documented frailty score, a clearly documented CPR decision & treatment escalation plan (TEP), pre- or post-operative medical review, and advanced-care planning (ACP) post-operatively. Intervention included dedicated members of surgical liaison team following patients throughout admission, weekly meetings to discuss laparotomy patients, older patient template being created capturing ceilings of care, frailty score, and social history. Results Post intervention, improvement in clear documentation regarding escalation, frailty level. Greater level of MDT collaboration with regards to older patients undergoing laparotomies. Conclusion Changes in NELA BPT emphasise the importance of comprehensive geriatric assessment in the management of older laparotomy patients. Even a basic surgical liaison service can achieve high levels of compliance with a few simple strategies, resulting in better outcomes for patients as well as financial benefits for Trusts.

Historicizing the “Beast-Man”

This essay surveys the emergence and trajectory of the historiography of slavery as it has at times intersected with human-animal studies. First, the essay traces the historiography of slavery from 1918 to the 1980s to question how historians wrote about both chattel slavery as a regime of labor involving animals and the dehumanizing function of slavery as an economic system. Second, the essay looks at how the “animal turn,” beginning in the 1980s, has since influenced how social, intellectual, and environmental historians have written about slavery and human-animal relationships. Finally, the essay concludes by making the case that animal historians interested in slavery should pay attention to ongoing debates and discussions in Black studies involving the philosophy of humanity.