Tool For Political Change Research Articles

A tale of two publics? Online politics in Ethiopia’s elections

ABSTRACTThis article examines two apparently contradictory uses of digital media during elections: in 2005, when still nascent digital tools were employed by Ethiopians to contest power in ways that pre-configured tactics later adopted by protesters elsewhere in Africa and globally; and in 2015, when digital publics displayed disenchantment towards an election with a foregone outcome. Relying on a mixed-methods approach, combining interviews with some of the very actors that shaped Ethiopia’s information society and the analysis of more than 3,000 statements posted on Facebook 3 months before and 1 month after Ethiopia’s elections on 24 May, the article offers an empirical examination of this contradiction, and how an authoritarian state has sought to influence online public discursive spaces. The findings suggest interpreting the effervescence of 2005 and the apathy of 2015 not as disjointed examples of active and passive uses of digital media. Especially when read against the background of the protests that erupted in the years following the elections, when digital media were embraced again as tools for mass mobilization, we propose reading the “digital apathy” of 2015 rather as a critique moved towards the fictitious apparatus for political participation erected in 2015, one that concurrently challenges the EPRDF’s hegemonic project, and the obsession of the international community towards elections as a tool for political change.

Translating affect, redeeming life. The case of the Italian queer transfeminist group ideadestroyingmuros

ABSTRACTThis article looks at the role played by emotions and affect in activist translation, that is, translation understood as a tool for political change, by analyzing the Italian queer transfeminist group ideadestroyingmuros. Translation is conceived by this collective as a bodily act, a transformation of oneself in the act of migrating, as a way for, in the words of the collective, ‘redeeming life,’ that is, improving living conditions. This transformation, for ideadestroyingmuros and other queer transfeminist groups, can indeed stem from the creation of more affective, supportive and cooperative conditions of living. The article will draw on the concepts of emotion and affect, as theorised by some scholars who dealt with them. Emotion and affect, with their emphasis on relationality and on the capacity to create action and to be affected by action, can demonstrate how translation impacts on translators, and how sociopolitical studies of translation can benefit from a view of ideological positioning as the outcome of a series of intricate emotional and affective journeys.

The Ethics Resistance

Legal ethics complaints have been filed against several of the high-ranking lawyers in the Trump Administration. While individual complaints have caught the public eye, the collective movement to use legal ethics to resist Trumpism has escaped attention. This is not altogether surprising: legal ethics rules have not historically been an attractive tool for political change. Perhaps, desperate times have called for desperate measures. This “Ethics Resistance” will face significant opposing forces. Legal ethics complaints seldom result in punishment. Further, the agencies that are asked to investigate these high-profile and controversial matters will not be eager to leave their comfort zone; they are accustomed to complaints from clients who are unhappy with their lawyers over straightforward matters like unreturned phone calls or high fees. There will also be loud dissenting voices from those who will see the movement as the weaponization of a tool designed for the modest task of lawyer self-governance. Finally, the complaints will have to navigate between powerful constitutional protections of lawyer speech and federal power. But we should not dismiss this movement simply because it is unusual or challenging. The wisdom of the Ethics Resistance can only be judged after we understand its distinctive qualities and consider how they further or hinder our legal, institutional, and pragmatic interests. In this Article, I undertake that analysis and conclude that the movement has the capacity to be legally permissible, institutionally sound, and prudent. I further offer a list of best practices for future complaints.

Dante’s Purgatorio Canto VI in Nineteenth-Century Brazil: Translating the Nazione/Nação

In the 1888 Brazilian –not Portuguese– translation (as the cover proudly reads) in terza rima of Purgatorio Canto VI by Brazilian José Xavier Pinheiro the choice of the translator of the word pàtria instead of the word paese (or in Portuguese país) caught my attention. In this paper I argue that the use of the word pàtria was done in an attempt to translate, both inside and outside the text, the national consciousness present in Dante, a national consciousness that was much needed in nineteenth century Brazilian society. Purgatorio Canto VI is where we witness the moving embrace between Virgilio and Sordello, an embrace prompted by their discovery that Mantua is their common hometown. Such a tender moment unleashes Dante’s rage toward Italy and its citizens, condemning the many wars and the frivolous political games of their municipalities, particularly of Florence. While in the Italian text Sordello inquires about Dante and Virgilio’s “paese” (v.70), in the Portuguese text Pinheiro deliberately uses the word “pàtria” (v.70). First, I discuss the creation of Dante as a political icon by nineteenth century Italian patriots and activists, Mazzini among others, and the ways in which these ideas traveled to Brazil through Garibaldi (among others). Second, I look at how Pinheiro uses this potentiality in his translation of the Purgatorio VI, to reflect on the impact that the translation might have had on the construction of the literary canon of a new nation and whether such ideas can be actually translated. Third, I show how both the Risorgimento’s reinterpretation of Dante and Pinheiro’s translation challenge the arguments advanced by Benedict Anderson in his book Imagined Communities. Finally, I conclude by reflecting on translation as a tool for political change.

Using social network systems as a tool for political change

Social network sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube play a significant role in the political arena nowadays. They are growing engagement tools that assist in improving the political process by helping electoral candidates in communicating their political programs and thoughts to the community, as well as in rallying their campaign supporters. On the other hand, voters can also use social media sites to unconditionally communicate with the candidates. This paper shows the importance of online social networking in modern society by reviewing the literature on social networks usage in politics, and showing how this usage has grown dramatically in different aspects of political life during the past few years. The growth in the use of social network sites was clearly seen after Obama’s 2008 US presidential election win, which uncovered the significance of social media in political campaigns and presented new ideas about the utilization of different web 2.0 technologies in politics. Clarifying the relationship between social networking and political life will also assist researchers to study the political behaviors of society and the motivations behind political participation. Key words: Political elections, social network systems, political campaigns, politics, web 2.0 technologies, social networking and politics.

Won't You Be My (Political) Friend? The Changing Face(book) of Socio-Political Contestation in Malaysia

Using Malaysia as a case study, this article explores the potential of Facebook (the social networking website) as a tool for political change within restricted media environments. In countries with little or no freedom of the press, citizens often turn to alternative forms of media to express dissent, connect with like-minded individuals, and organize. Facebook's integrated privacy controls can help facilitate such connections and may lend themselves to discussion and debate that challenge the status quo, particularly in Malaysia, which has emphasized economics before political rights and civil liberties since the country's independence.

Democracy: the forgotten challenge for bioethics in the developing countries

BackgroundBioethics as a field related to the health system and health service delivery has grown in the second half of the 20th century, mainly in North America. This is attributed, the author argues, to mainly three kinds of development that took place in the developed countries at a pace different than the developing countries. They are namely: development of the health system; moral development; and political development.DiscussionThis article discusses the factors that impede the development of the field of bioethics from an academic activity to a living field that is known and practiced by the people in the developing countries. They are quite many; however, the emphasis here is on role of the political structure in the developing countries and how it negatively affects the development of bioethics. It presents an argument that if bioethics is to grow within the system of health service, it should be accompanied by a parallel changes in the political mindsets in these countries.SummaryFor bioethics to flourish in developing countries, it needs an atmosphere of freedom where people can practice free moral reasoning and have full potential to take their life decisions by themselves. Moreover, bioethics could be a tool for political change through the empowerment of people, especially the vulnerable.To achieve that, the article is proposing a practical framework for facilitating the development of the field of bioethics in the developing countries.