Jun 26, 2014
Jun 12, 2014
stories and stereotypes
I am back in Colombia on a fairly short trip, and having fantastic research conversations. I'm so grateful to get to think with smart committed activists who are up for having difficult conversations about different ways to do solidarity. In particular I've been talking about gender and how it shapes international accompaniment day to day, and different ways that accompaniers respond to various forms of sexism, sexual harassment, and the possibility of sexual violence.
Since I'm busy chewing on that, rather than write my own blog post I want to share one related to those issues. I've long been a fan of the blog the Llama Diaries and was lucky enough to finally get to sit down with the author Anna on this trip. She recently wrote a great post about the difficulties of sharing stories about violence in Colombia without reinforcing stereotypes. With her permission, I'm reposting it below in its entirety.
In the peacebuilding Olympics,
I am a medal contender for the storytelling event. There is nothing I
enjoy more than a dramatic (complete with arm flailing and sound
effects) recital of something that I have experienced. My favourite is
my motorcycle accident. Each time the pus explosion is a little larger
and the audience is a little more awed by my survival.
Currently, my job is telling stories, but what I tell and how I tell it is more than a job. It is an ethical responsibility, especially because my the majority of my audience is not made up of Colombians, but people whose only experience of Colombia is based on my stories and general stereotypes. I write from a position of power. What I say is taken as truth about the realities of this place. I am developing a Spanish section, but not everything I write is accessible to those I am writing about. The stories I tell about my experiences are filtered at home through Canadian experiences, knowledge and culture. Representations are easily misinterpreted.
We like to rescue people. We love individual heroes. My facebook newsfeed is constantly filled with petitions and stories of violence and victims worldwide, especially related to sex trafficking and rescue industries. We share these stories because, as human beings, we care and want to make a difference in the lives of others and the stories that we tell have the power to move people into action. But what action? And based on what information? Who is actually telling the story? And how does that story play into globalized realities of colonization, economic structures and power inequalities?
Money and other resources are funnelled into situations and towards people because of the stories we tell. Last month, Newsweek’s cover story was an expose about Somaly Mam, a famous Cambodian woman in the sex trafficking rescue industry. It turns out, how she was portraying herself and the supposed victims of trafficking, was blatantly untrue. Yet, in part because of her stories and the prominent support she received from influential people in the US, billions of dollars have been poured into an industry which does little to actually examine the structural causes of migration, labour, and economic policies; it’s main goal is to make us feel good about ourselves and our power to save. In reality, many of the woman “rescued” in Cambodia end up in foreign funded sweatshops, creating our clothes. (An excellent book on the topic is Laura Agustin’s Sex at the Margins.)
As Chandra Talpade Mohany reminds us in Feminism without Borders, “Writing is itself an activity marked by class and ethnic position. However, testimonials, life stories, and oral histories are a significant mode of remembering and recording experiences and struggles. Written texts are not produced in a vacuum. In fact, texts that document Third World women’s life histories owe that existence as much to the exigencies of the political and commercial marketplace as to the knowledge, skills, motivation, and location of individual writers…After all, the point is not just to record one’s history of struggle or consciousness, but how they are recorded; the way we read, receive, and disseminate such imaginative records is immensely significant.” (78).
What happens when I, as a Canadian, write a graphic description of an experience of personal violence in Colombia, for a Canadian audience, as a blogger for Canadian Mennonite recently did? There is a good chance that the context in which the situation took place will not be familiar or understood by my Canadian audience because they do not live here. Instead, their understandings of violence in Colombia may be be further cemented towards stereotypes. The victim of the incident may become the hero, for being brave enough to live and work for change in such a dangerous place, while the Colombians already working for change remain unseen and unheard.
Even though the experience is true, Colombia is misinterpreted and the structures and stereotypes that have helped contribute to increasing urban violence across Latin America are perpetrated. Policies of structural adjustment, free trade deals, deportation of migrants, military interventions: all of these global realities remain unacknowledged and an opportunity to think critically about our negative role is lost because no context is provided.
When our stories portray Colombia as a land of chaos, filled with terrorists, random violence and poverty, we justify Plan Colombia and other interventionist policies. We rationalize the spending of development dollars, such a the collaboration between mining companies and giants of the development world, on economic policies that end up harming the people we believe we are helping. We ignore the Colombians already working for change and become heroes. It helps to remember, as Magaly Sanchez points out, that “Rather than viewing violence as a personal deviation from societal norms, it is more appropriate to consider it a product of structural inequalities, a social phenomenon in which multiple actors resort to the use of violence under similar social circumstances and in mutually reinforcing ways, not as isolated individuals.”
This does not mean that we cannot share our stories of violence. #yesallwomen is a powerful opening to talk about the global violence against women everywhere. To deny our own stories simply because they happened outside of our local context is to also become a victim. But by choosing to work and live in another context, we also must accept the ethical responsibility of how and where we tell our stories so that violence and stereotypes do not continue to be perpetrated, especially when, because of language and publication location, those we write about are not able to respond. Even the way I tell my accident story or write this blog is implicated and requires revision.
Since I'm busy chewing on that, rather than write my own blog post I want to share one related to those issues. I've long been a fan of the blog the Llama Diaries and was lucky enough to finally get to sit down with the author Anna on this trip. She recently wrote a great post about the difficulties of sharing stories about violence in Colombia without reinforcing stereotypes. With her permission, I'm reposting it below in its entirety.
Storytelling, Ethics and Violence
Currently, my job is telling stories, but what I tell and how I tell it is more than a job. It is an ethical responsibility, especially because my the majority of my audience is not made up of Colombians, but people whose only experience of Colombia is based on my stories and general stereotypes. I write from a position of power. What I say is taken as truth about the realities of this place. I am developing a Spanish section, but not everything I write is accessible to those I am writing about. The stories I tell about my experiences are filtered at home through Canadian experiences, knowledge and culture. Representations are easily misinterpreted.
Taking pictures of people taking pictures in Mampujan
We like to rescue people. We love individual heroes. My facebook newsfeed is constantly filled with petitions and stories of violence and victims worldwide, especially related to sex trafficking and rescue industries. We share these stories because, as human beings, we care and want to make a difference in the lives of others and the stories that we tell have the power to move people into action. But what action? And based on what information? Who is actually telling the story? And how does that story play into globalized realities of colonization, economic structures and power inequalities?
Money and other resources are funnelled into situations and towards people because of the stories we tell. Last month, Newsweek’s cover story was an expose about Somaly Mam, a famous Cambodian woman in the sex trafficking rescue industry. It turns out, how she was portraying herself and the supposed victims of trafficking, was blatantly untrue. Yet, in part because of her stories and the prominent support she received from influential people in the US, billions of dollars have been poured into an industry which does little to actually examine the structural causes of migration, labour, and economic policies; it’s main goal is to make us feel good about ourselves and our power to save. In reality, many of the woman “rescued” in Cambodia end up in foreign funded sweatshops, creating our clothes. (An excellent book on the topic is Laura Agustin’s Sex at the Margins.)
As Chandra Talpade Mohany reminds us in Feminism without Borders, “Writing is itself an activity marked by class and ethnic position. However, testimonials, life stories, and oral histories are a significant mode of remembering and recording experiences and struggles. Written texts are not produced in a vacuum. In fact, texts that document Third World women’s life histories owe that existence as much to the exigencies of the political and commercial marketplace as to the knowledge, skills, motivation, and location of individual writers…After all, the point is not just to record one’s history of struggle or consciousness, but how they are recorded; the way we read, receive, and disseminate such imaginative records is immensely significant.” (78).
Documentary making in Mampujan. As far as I know, no one is the community has seen the end result.
What happens when I, as a Canadian, write a graphic description of an experience of personal violence in Colombia, for a Canadian audience, as a blogger for Canadian Mennonite recently did? There is a good chance that the context in which the situation took place will not be familiar or understood by my Canadian audience because they do not live here. Instead, their understandings of violence in Colombia may be be further cemented towards stereotypes. The victim of the incident may become the hero, for being brave enough to live and work for change in such a dangerous place, while the Colombians already working for change remain unseen and unheard.
Even though the experience is true, Colombia is misinterpreted and the structures and stereotypes that have helped contribute to increasing urban violence across Latin America are perpetrated. Policies of structural adjustment, free trade deals, deportation of migrants, military interventions: all of these global realities remain unacknowledged and an opportunity to think critically about our negative role is lost because no context is provided.
When our stories portray Colombia as a land of chaos, filled with terrorists, random violence and poverty, we justify Plan Colombia and other interventionist policies. We rationalize the spending of development dollars, such a the collaboration between mining companies and giants of the development world, on economic policies that end up harming the people we believe we are helping. We ignore the Colombians already working for change and become heroes. It helps to remember, as Magaly Sanchez points out, that “Rather than viewing violence as a personal deviation from societal norms, it is more appropriate to consider it a product of structural inequalities, a social phenomenon in which multiple actors resort to the use of violence under similar social circumstances and in mutually reinforcing ways, not as isolated individuals.”
This does not mean that we cannot share our stories of violence. #yesallwomen is a powerful opening to talk about the global violence against women everywhere. To deny our own stories simply because they happened outside of our local context is to also become a victim. But by choosing to work and live in another context, we also must accept the ethical responsibility of how and where we tell our stories so that violence and stereotypes do not continue to be perpetrated, especially when, because of language and publication location, those we write about are not able to respond. Even the way I tell my accident story or write this blog is implicated and requires revision.
Jun 3, 2014
solidarity poetry
By Roque Dalton (Translated by Jack Hirschman) (original Spanish in the image)
Like you I love love, life, the sweet smell of things, the sky- blue landscape of January days.
And my blood boils up and I laugh through eyes that have known the buds of tears. I believe the world is beautiful and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone.
And that my veins don’t end in me but in the unanimous blood of those who struggle for life, love, little things, landscape and bread, the poetry of everyone.
May 20, 2014
solidarity can easily veer into saviorism
I am horrified by the kidnapping of the
Chibok schoolgirls in Nigeria. I am disgusted that teachers asked not to hold
the exam, because an attack was likely, and that the government insisted it go
ahead. I am outraged that the government knew four hours before that the Boka
Haram was moving in to attack and did nothing. I am sickened that the police
and military are deeply corrupt in Nigeria, and ineffectual at protecting
civilians. I am heartbroken that the parents found where in the woods they had
been taken, and though they stayed there for some days, could not get a police
response. I am saddened that impunity in Nigeria appears to be even more
rampant than in Colombia, and criminals can engage in these sorts of acts
knowing that it is extremely unlikely they will ever be brought to justice.
I am not surprised that the Nigerian president has used the
#bringbackourgirls campaign to extend 'emergency
rule' (the state of exception, suspending even the very limited
protections that normally exist).
I am not surprised at how hard it has been to hear
the actual voices of the girls and their families, and their specific asks for
specific actions. Most stories don't even give a number of the missing (53
escaped, 223 were taken). The website chibokgirls was set up to encourage
families to share the photos and individual stories of each girl. But it seems
unlikely these families have the means to do that, or would want to since it is
likely this would increase the stigmatization the girl will already face in her
community once she is returned (since it will be assumed that she has been
raped). So the website is left with no stories, and instead just this creepy
picture representing each girl instead. Much better is this
interview with school girls about what it's like to be a school girl
in Nigeria - but note that they are in school in Lagos, which is quite
different than the rural North in the heart of this armed conflict. I
have only found this
one interview with one of the escaped girls, and it is literally very
hard to hear her, it seems because of her fear though probably also because of
the lack of an English interpreter - a key thing to have if you want to listen
well to people who are afraid and don't speak English as a first language.
I am heartened that there has
been an
outpouring of global concern for the girls who were taken. I am
astounded at how quickly attention and concern can grow through social media
and the
pressure it can create. I am worried that this pressure, instead
of targeting the Nigerian government, has veered to pressuring the US,
and will
be used to support even greater US military involvement in the
conflict, and in Africa generally (as the Kony campaign was - and apparently
John McCain has called for the US special forces to go in even without Nigerian
approval). I am fearful that instead of negotiations for their release
this campaign will lead
to a military rescue by a deeply corrupt and dangerous Nigerian
military that is likely to put not only these particular girls but all Nigerian
civilians at greater risk of harm. I am amazed at how few people in the
US seem to realize that Nigeria is a major oil producer and thus a key
part of the US's geopolitical chess game.
Without a clear ask for action, it is
easy for the campaign to be misused for militarized ends. I was reminded by my compa William Payne of this
quote:
"Compassion
is an unstable emotion. It needs to be translated into action, or it
withers… And it is not necessarily better to be moved.
Sentimentality, notoriously, is entirely compatible with a taste for
brutality or worse."
-Susan Sontag (Regarding the Pain of Others)
I am not surprised at how hard it has been to hear
the actual voices of the girls and their families, and their specific asks for
specific actions. Most stories don't even give a number of the missing (53
escaped, 223 were taken). The website chibokgirls was set up to encourage
families to share the photos and individual stories of each girl. But it seems
unlikely these families have the means to do that, or would want to since it is
likely this would increase the stigmatization the girl will already face in her
community once she is returned (since it will be assumed that she has been
raped). So the website is left with no stories, and instead just this creepy
picture representing each girl instead. Much better is this
interview with school girls about what it's like to be a school girl
in Nigeria - but note that they are in school in Lagos, which is quite
different than the rural North in the heart of this armed conflict. I
have only found this
one interview with one of the escaped girls, and it is literally very
hard to hear her, it seems because of her fear though probably also because of
the lack of an English interpreter - a key thing to have if you want to listen
well to people who are afraid and don't speak English as a first language.
There has also been little analysis of
the context in most stories. Have you read any stories about this that talk
about how dangerous it is to protest in Nigeria? How frequently protesters are
killed by the army? Maybe you saw one of the few stories about
one of the mother's of the girls being arrested at a meeting with the First
Lady - but she wasn't actually even one of the mothers, as often portrayed, but
an ally who lived in the city and had been asked by the mothers to go to the
meeting because the leader who was meant to go wasn't able to get through on
the bad roads from Chiboke. She was released a few hours later when it was
confirmed that she was not an imposter, but really?
And what about the context of the
conditions all girls in Northern Nigeria face, where only 4% of girls finish
school and it is one the areas with the most unschooled girls in the world? Or what about the massive environmental degradation across the country, thanks in large part to Shell oil? Meaningful solidarity requires
some sense of context, and dialogue with and leadership from the folks most
directly affected. Both of these seem in scarce supply on this campaign,
and the huge outpouring of solidarity has frequently veered into saviorism.
As Teju Cole put it in his White
Savior Industrial Complex article in reference to the Kony campaign,
"If we are going to interfere in the
lives of others, a little due diligence is a minimum requirement." He went on to say, "there is much more to doing
good work than "making a difference." There is the principle of first
do no harm. There is the idea that those who are being helped ought to be
consulted over the matters that concern them. .... One song we hear too
often is the one in which Africa serves as a backdrop for white fantasies of
conquest and heroism."
But there are plenty
of heroes in Nigeria, who are incredibly brave and struggle for justice even
though it is crazy dangerous. This has been an African led campaign, as you can clearly see in this tweetpic. And there
are plenty of elder African statesmen that could negotiate a prisoner swap. Rather than saving, in the US and Canada we could be doing more powerful
solidarity to support this work.
If the US government
wants to 'help', I suggest it pressure president Jonathan to meet with the
brave Nigerian women leading the campaign, and pressure the Nigerian government
not only to effectively pursue the kidnappers, but also to end human rights
abuses against its own people (like killing and arresting protestors, and not
protecting school children). Perhaps the US could also offer funding and
training to the legal system. But then, ending impunity is not nearly as sexy
as sending in the special forces.
Amnesty has a petition for folks in the
US to sign to pressure the
Nigerian ambassador. I do appreciate that this is one of the few that goes
beyond asking for their safe return to ask that they "ensure that all
children are able to access their right to education in safety, and to respect,
protect and fulfill the human rights of all Nigerians without
discrimination." This petition by human rights first is to the US Defense Secretary, and says the Department of Defense should partner with State and USAID to support anti-corruption, rule of law, and police reforms. It should also ensure that the United States is not allying with people complicit in the victimization of the kidnapped girls or other civilians.
But still, I wish that the asks were more clearly coming from the women leading the campaign on the ground in Nigeria, that we could listen better and hear them and the escaped girls more clearly, and that the hashtag was connected to more context and less militarism.
But there is one critique of this campaign that has been circulating that I disagree with. Megan MacKenzie, amongst others, argues that ‘our girls’ implies ownership rather
than solidarity. I disagree, and am
surprisingly ok with this 'our'. It does not feel appropriative or silencing to
me, in the way that the various ‘I
am’ campaigns have (I
am Malala, I
am Trayvon). For the same reasons
that I liked
We are all Juan, I like #bringbackourgirls. I don’t think it implies that I
AM their mother (or sister, or aunt), but that I am part of their larger
community, and that I stand with them.
May 2, 2014
... and I'm back!
Rarely does cause related marketing (a la buy a bottle of water and 10 cents will get donated to those without water) ask you to pretend to 'pretend to be the one you're with' quite like this. This year's action came with the hashtag #withoutshoes. It had a lot of photos of people's bare feet on it, and reminded me of the photos from the Colombia solidarity action a few years ago where the Movement of Victims of State Crimes asked folks to send pictures of our feet around the world to express that we were walking with them virtually from around the world on their big march against impunity and for justice. The flicker stream I linked to that post has changed since then but you can see some of the feet photos they collected at the bottom of this page. Quite a different feel to these feet photos! In comparison the TOMS photos feel even more like charity, as opposed to solidarity.
I would rather walk with others, than walk without, for others.
Mar 24, 2014
ISA brain candy
I'm looking forward to another International Studies Association conference this week. There is a vibrant feminist security studies community there that I always learn a great deal from, and I still get a kick out of the Cynthia sightings. How is it that there are so many fabulous Cynthias in that bunch? Cynthia Enloe, Cynthia Cockburn, and Cynthia Weber are all fun to get to hear. There is also an active peace studies group. It's really striking every year how many more sessions there are on peace at the ISA compared to the geographer's conference (AAG), which I will be going to two weeks later. I am pleased to be presenting, with my colleague Nick Megoran, geographers' takes on peace and geopolitics. We are in fabulous company on that 'presidential panel' and I'm particularly thrilled that Lorraine Dowler and Jo Sharp will be there speaking on feminist geopolitics.
In a separate session I will be presenting my work on the gendered dangers of women playing the civilian card when working to build peace across borders, trying to think my fieldwork through the fabulous recent work on the gendering of the civilian by Helen Kinsella (The image before the weapon) and Charli Carrpenter (Innocent women and children).
Mar 21, 2014
Pope Francis on solidarity
For the record, I'm a Quaker, not a Catholic, but I'm still a huge fan of the new pope.
He's been talking about solidarity alot in the past year.
"Solidarity, this word that strikes fear in the more developed world," he said. "They try not to say it. It's almost a dirty word for them. But it is our word!"
He also said that solidarity is "a word that is too often forgotten or silenced, because it is uncomfortable.”
He called for more solidarity in the world in his first New Year blessing, "We all have a responsibility to act so that the world may be a community of brothers who respect each other, who accept their diversity and who take care of one another." Ok, so it would have been nice to have the word sisters in there, but I appreciate the call.
Entertainingly, he also said that the internet is a gift from God that can help us build solidarity.
 |
| Pope Francis greets refugees during a visit to the Astalli Center of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Rome Sept. 10. (CNS/Alessia Giuliani, Catholic Press Photo) |
"Solidarity, this word that strikes fear in the more developed world," he said. "They try not to say it. It's almost a dirty word for them. But it is our word!"
He also said that solidarity is "a word that is too often forgotten or silenced, because it is uncomfortable.”
He called for more solidarity in the world in his first New Year blessing, "We all have a responsibility to act so that the world may be a community of brothers who respect each other, who accept their diversity and who take care of one another." Ok, so it would have been nice to have the word sisters in there, but I appreciate the call.
Entertainingly, he also said that the internet is a gift from God that can help us build solidarity.
Mar 13, 2014
peace as the fruit of solidarity
I have been trying
to think through the differences between Christian and labor/socialist
imaginaries of solidarity. Solidarity is a core Christian value,
generally interpreted not as a unity of interests or common cause, as per the
more labor or socialist take on solidarity, but instead as a sense of
connection and mutual responsibility of all for all as the children of or
expressions of God, or the light within, as Quakers would put it.
In the process of thinking about Christian imaginaries of solidarity I ran across this description of solidarity and geopolitics by none other than Pope John Paul II. It starts out sounding like charity to me, and I'm not sure that wealthier nations 'surmount imperialism' by having a sense of responsibility for other nations, but I'll admit, I love the idea of peace as the fruit of solidarity. Of course, his idea of peace and mine are probably different, but the full quote is below. More later on Francis's visions of solidarity.
In the process of thinking about Christian imaginaries of solidarity I ran across this description of solidarity and geopolitics by none other than Pope John Paul II. It starts out sounding like charity to me, and I'm not sure that wealthier nations 'surmount imperialism' by having a sense of responsibility for other nations, but I'll admit, I love the idea of peace as the fruit of solidarity. Of course, his idea of peace and mine are probably different, but the full quote is below. More later on Francis's visions of solidarity.
"The exercise of solidarity within each society is
valid when its members recognize one another as persons. Those who are more
influential, because they have a greater share of goods and common services,
should feel responsible for the weaker and be ready to share with them all they
possess. Those who are weaker, for their part, in the same spirit of
solidarity, should not adopt a purely passive attitude or one that is
destructive of the social fabric, but, while claiming their legitimate rights,
should do what they can for the good of all. The intermediate groups, in their
turn, should not selfishly insist on their particular interests, but respect
the interests of others.
"Positive signs in the contemporary world are the
growing awareness of the solidarity of the poor among themselves, their efforts
to support one another, and their public demonstrations on the social scene
which, without recourse to violence, present their own needs and rights in the
face of the inefficiency or corruption of the public authorities. By virtue of
her own evangelical duty the Church feels called to take her stand beside the
poor, to discern the justice of their requests, and to help satisfy them,
without losing sight of the good of groups in the context of the common
good.
"The same criterion is applied by analogy in
international relationships. Interdependence must be transformed into
solidarity, based upon the principle that the goods of creation are meant for
all. That which human industry produces through the processing of raw
materials, with the contribution of work, must serve equally for the good of
all.
"Surmounting
every type of imperialism and determination to preserve their own hegemony, the
stronger and richer nations must have a sense of moral responsibility for the
other nations, so that a real international system may be established which
will rest on the foundation of the equality of all peoples and on the necessary
respect for their legitimate differences. The economically weaker countries, or
those still at subsistence level, must be enabled, with the assistance of other
peoples and of the international community, to make a contribution of their own
to the common good with their treasures of humanity and culture, which
otherwise would be lost for ever.
"Solidarity
helps us to see the "other"-whether a person, people or nation-not
just as some kind of instrument, with a work capacity and physical strength to
be exploited at low cost and then discarded when no longer useful, but as our
"neighbor," a "helper" (cf. Gen 2:18-20), to be made a
sharer, on a par with ourselves, in the banquet of life to which all are
equally invited by God. Hence the importance of reawakening the religious
awareness of individuals and peoples. Thus the exploitation, oppression and
annihilation of others are excluded. These facts, in the present division of
the world into opposing blocs, combine to produce the danger of war and an
excessive preoccupation with personal security, often to the detriment of the
autonomy, freedom of decision, and even the territorial integrity of the weaker
nations situated within the so-called "areas of influence" or
"safety belts."
"The
"structures of sin" and the sins which they produce are likewise radically
opposed to peace and development, for development, in the familiar expression
Pope Paul's Encyclical, is "the new name for peace."68 "In this
way, the solidarity which we propose is the path to peace and at the same time
to development. For world peace is inconceivable unless the world's leaders
come to recognize that interdependence in itself demands the abandonment of the
politics of blocs, the sacrifice of all forms of economic, military or
political imperialism, and the transformation of mutual distrust into
collaboration. This is precisely the act proper to solidarity among individuals
and nations.
"The
motto of the pontificate of my esteemed predecessor Pius XII was Opus iustitiae
pax, peace as the fruit of justice. Today one could say, with the same
exactness and the same power of biblical inspiration (cf. Is 32:17; Jas 3:18):
Opus solidaritatis pax, peace as the fruit of solidarity.
"The
goal of peace, so desired by everyone, will certainly be achieved through the
putting into effect of social and international justice, but also through the
practice of the virtues which favor togetherness, and which teach us to live in
unity, so as to build in unity, by giving and receiving, a new society and a
better world." (SRS, 39) - See more here
Mar 6, 2014
This is really happening
"Just because it isn't happening here doesn't mean it isn't happening" ends this video, which is yet another creative attempt to bring a war over 'there' home 'here' and help you imagine what it would be like if it happened to 'us' as a way to build solidarity (or maybe charity given that it uses terminology of saving). This is the first I've seen to use a second a day format, and it works well for drawing you in. But do we really have to imagine it happening 'here' to a white girl that looks like 'us' for it to matter? Does this video escape being appropriative of the experiences of actual Syrian girls? I have my doubts. (thanks to @suitpossum for pointing me to this on twitter)
Feb 26, 2014
Spaces of Contention: Spatialities and Social Movements
Sadly (and a bit ironically) the book is through Ashgate, which charges truly outrageous prices. But you can get a 50% discount with the code A14IIR50 at www.ashgate.com. That still makes it £35.00 + post and packing. Offer valid until 31/12/2014.
Spatiality has been an important contribution
geographers have offered to social movement studies, who often wrote about
movements as if they happened ‘on the head of a pin’ (Nicholls 2007). How do movements use space, how does space
shape movements, and how do movements shape space? Geographers have used different
spatial concepts to get at this: place, networks, and scale in particular,
though also sometimes territory, city, and region. Nicholls, Mill, and Beaumont argue
in their introduction that in the 30s to 50s it tended to be region,
60-70s: space, 80s: place, 90s-00s: scale, and now networks and mobility, and they
offer a helpful review of how each has been taken up for movement studies.
Yet each of these concepts exist in relation to movements and to each other, which does not mean that they are endlessly entangled but that if we look at actual practices, different ones will the stronger notes in the chord in a particular conjuncture. This argument was first made by Leitner et al (2008) who have been widely cited for arguing that too often, as they call it, a favorite ‘master spatiality’ has been plopped down on a movement rather than recognizing that these spatialities are, as they put it, co-implicated (a la intersectionality). Scale and territory, for example, not only shape each other, but also, as Neil Smith put it, "the scale of struggle and the struggle over scale are two sides of the same coin" (Smith 1992,74, cited in Martin 2013, 332). Miller argues this is true for all of these spatialities, which movements work to shape, and also shape movements. Though this will always be contextual he offers a complex grid in his concluding chapter in this book. For a full-on geography geek out see this grid that, in relation to movements, grafts the Jessop et al framework for the relationship between territory, place, scale, and network (TPSN) on to the Lefebvrian triad of material space, conceptual space, and lived space, and points to the different socio-spatial power relations created in each (334).
A more fluid and process oriented take on these relations is the assemblage approach. Rutland, for example, in his chapter in this book uses actor networks to great effect in detailing how the movement for a new Portland energy policy was made possible and constituted through a concatenation of human and nonhuman elements associated across time and space. But he warns that Latour's approach ignores processes of disassociation and exclusion, and attends to minute details at cost of obscuring broad systemic conditions, like capitalism and patriarchy, under which associations are formed (2013, 255).
If you read only one chapter of this book, I recommend the conclusion by Miller, entitled Spatialities of Mobilization: Building and Breaking Relationships.
Yet each of these concepts exist in relation to movements and to each other, which does not mean that they are endlessly entangled but that if we look at actual practices, different ones will the stronger notes in the chord in a particular conjuncture. This argument was first made by Leitner et al (2008) who have been widely cited for arguing that too often, as they call it, a favorite ‘master spatiality’ has been plopped down on a movement rather than recognizing that these spatialities are, as they put it, co-implicated (a la intersectionality). Scale and territory, for example, not only shape each other, but also, as Neil Smith put it, "the scale of struggle and the struggle over scale are two sides of the same coin" (Smith 1992,74, cited in Martin 2013, 332). Miller argues this is true for all of these spatialities, which movements work to shape, and also shape movements. Though this will always be contextual he offers a complex grid in his concluding chapter in this book. For a full-on geography geek out see this grid that, in relation to movements, grafts the Jessop et al framework for the relationship between territory, place, scale, and network (TPSN) on to the Lefebvrian triad of material space, conceptual space, and lived space, and points to the different socio-spatial power relations created in each (334).
A more fluid and process oriented take on these relations is the assemblage approach. Rutland, for example, in his chapter in this book uses actor networks to great effect in detailing how the movement for a new Portland energy policy was made possible and constituted through a concatenation of human and nonhuman elements associated across time and space. But he warns that Latour's approach ignores processes of disassociation and exclusion, and attends to minute details at cost of obscuring broad systemic conditions, like capitalism and patriarchy, under which associations are formed (2013, 255).
If you read only one chapter of this book, I recommend the conclusion by Miller, entitled Spatialities of Mobilization: Building and Breaking Relationships.
Leitner, Helga, Eric Sheppard, and Kristin M. Sziarto. 2008. “The Spatialities of Contentious Politics.” Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 33 (2): 157–72.
Martin,
Deborah G. 2013. “Place Frames: Analyzing Practice and Production of Place in
Contentious Politics.” In Spaces of Contention: Spatialities and Social
Movements,
Nicholls,
Walter J. 2007. “The Geographies of Social Movements.” Geography Compass
1 (3): 607–22.
Rutland,
Ted. 2013. “Energizing Environmental Concern in Portland.” In Spaces of
Contention: Spatialities and Social Movements
Feb 8, 2014
savior or consumer? is that the choice?
I appreciate that this video makes fun of stereotypes and, as they call it, the 'gringo cliche' of white savior solidarity. I'm not a fan though of being a good consumer as the other option. It still has plenty of savior dynamics. For more on "shopping to save lives" see Roberta Hawkins' work.
The particular certification plugged in this video, the rainforest frog, is widely critiqued as a form of greenwashing. The standards for the certification are low - and only 30% of the product in the can has to meet even those! Their response is that getting big multinationals to be even 30% (sort-of) fair and green is a step forward. But it may actually be a step back, as many are now buying 'frog' certified instead of truly fair trade certified.
And what happened to the street protests shown in the beginning of the film? Or even online actions? All of the money spent to develop this video and they don't even ask you to send a quick click email? Not only might the frog be cutting in to more truly ethical consumption, but the way this video is pitched, it makes me wonder how much ethical consumption cuts into more direct solidarity actions people might take.
Feb 3, 2014
Geographies of Social Movements
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| art by Rini Templeton, copyleft at riniart.org |
If you are not a zotero user, you can still see the list on the site above, and sort by year, but I've also posted a static version here that you might be more comfortable with. And here is a report version, sorted by date, that includes abstracts. Note that I did not clean up the typos, etc that can come through with zotero quick click downloads, and the static versions do not include ongoing updates.
Zotero is reference management software. It does what Endnote does, but more, and more easily - and it's free! It makes my life better daily and I am wildly grateful to the Carnegie Mellon foundation for funding it to promote collaborative scholarship, like this sort of list.
What all is included in this bibliography? It has literature about social movements in/across/as/with space, place, scale, networks, regions, territory and/or any other spatial concepts. Most of this work is by geographers, but of course work by others is welcome!
This list also includeds analyses of who organizes where, how, and for, or against, what; and how different whos organize against similar whats, or how organizing here is or is not like organizing there, and how each is facing similar dynamics of not only capitalism but other systems of oppression.
The list currently includes work in English, Spanish, and Portugese. It would be fantastic if you could suggest resources in other languages.
Jan 18, 2014
another creative way to bring a conflict very literally 'home'
University of Michigan students got fake eviction notices slipped under their dorm room doors last month. The notices said EVICTION NOTICE, in large letters, and then:
"If you do not vacate the premises by 13 DEC 6PM, we reserve the right to demolish your premises without delay. We cannot be held responsible for property or persons remaining inside. Charges for demolition will by applied to your student account."
But then they went on to say that notices like this are given arbitrarily in Palestine, told more about what that is like, and said across the bottom, this is not an actual eviction notice (see image below). Do these students now know what it feels like to get an arbitrary eviction after having a heart stopping few seconds until they read further down? Of course not - but maybe it helped them imagine for a moment what that might be like. It was certainly effective in raising awareness and generating discussion. Within 24 hours of the eviction notice action, the hashtag #UMMockEviction had thousands of tweets.
full article here.
"If you do not vacate the premises by 13 DEC 6PM, we reserve the right to demolish your premises without delay. We cannot be held responsible for property or persons remaining inside. Charges for demolition will by applied to your student account."
But then they went on to say that notices like this are given arbitrarily in Palestine, told more about what that is like, and said across the bottom, this is not an actual eviction notice (see image below). Do these students now know what it feels like to get an arbitrary eviction after having a heart stopping few seconds until they read further down? Of course not - but maybe it helped them imagine for a moment what that might be like. It was certainly effective in raising awareness and generating discussion. Within 24 hours of the eviction notice action, the hashtag #UMMockEviction had thousands of tweets.
full article here.
Jan 3, 2014
bringing the wall home to build solidarity
I've written about lots of different ways people have tried to inspire solidarity by making a conflict feel 'real' to people in another place, and getting them to think about what that would be like if it happened here. I think this is my favorite so far.
Big kudos to the St. James church, in central London, for the best Christmas decorations ever. In front of their church they built an eight-meter-high replica of the Israeli-built concrete wall that entirely surrounds the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. What I love about this is that no one will think that they "know" what it is like to live with a wall from having seen this, but that it is so incongruous they will certainly stop and notice and think about it, maybe try to imagine what it is like to be surrounded by walls like that, and hopefully be moved to take some action.
Check out this short video to get a sense of it:
Big kudos to the St. James church, in central London, for the best Christmas decorations ever. In front of their church they built an eight-meter-high replica of the Israeli-built concrete wall that entirely surrounds the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. What I love about this is that no one will think that they "know" what it is like to live with a wall from having seen this, but that it is so incongruous they will certainly stop and notice and think about it, maybe try to imagine what it is like to be surrounded by walls like that, and hopefully be moved to take some action.
Check out this short video to get a sense of it:
Dec 21, 2013
playing with space and time to foster solidarity
“It’s not happening here. But it is happening now.” is the title of this ad campaign Amnesty International put up in Switzerland that has been getting reposted around the web (I saw it here). Below are only 10 of the 200 posters in the campaign. I have seen many attempts over the years to bring a conflict 'into' a more peaceful space as a way to inspire solidarity, for example giving numbers of how many dead it would translate into if the war were in your town, or overlaying a map of where bombs have fallen in Baghdad to San Francisco, but this is a whole new take on these moves to help people 'bring it home' and imagine what it would be like to live it 'here', as a way to inspire action to end war over 'there'.
via acidcow.
Dec 13, 2013
empathy vs. sympathy
I have been trying, literally for twenty years, to sort out how people understand and commonly use the words empathy and sympathy. I started thinking about the two and how they might be related to solidarity for my Swarthmore college thesis. Since then when they come up in conversation I have regularly asked people what they understand the words to mean, and what they see the difference as. I have become convinced that people use them in widely different ways - so if you hear people use them don't assume you know what they mean by these terms! Here are Brene Brown's definitions, beautifully animated by the RSA.
Dec 6, 2013
whose shoes?
I have blogged a fair bit about the dangers, but also sometimes potential, of 'walking in her shoes' if we want to foster more meaningful, respectful, and powerful solidarity.I have no reservations, however, in saying that 'giving her a pair of my shoes' smells more like charity to me. I have blogged before about my qualms with the TOMS shoe give away campaign, and in particular their 'one day without shoes' simulation empathy/awareness exercise (and the counter campaign of a 'day without dignity').
Well, I'm certainly not the only one who has criticized them, and in response, they have pledged by 2015 to make one third of their shoes in the places where the shoes are distributed. I am still dubious that this does much to change the relationship between the buyer and those who receive the shoes, or change, or educate about, the structural violence that leaves some people with less access to shoes.
"Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you'll be a
mile from them, and you'll have their shoes." - Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts (via my friend Christy)
Dec 1, 2013
poorism gone mad
I have blogged many times before about simulations, where people actually try to 'walk in another person's shoes' (and in so doing may well step on the person whose shoes they try to walk in). There is a real danger of these experiments inspiring appropriative or false empathy where you think you really know what it's like to be me after 'playing me' for a day. But here's a bizarre simulation that is so fake it doesn't seem like those playing it could possibly think they were getting a taste of this reality - or could they? Full article reposted here from gizmodo because it's so mind boggling.
A Fake Slum for Luxury Tourists Who Don't Want to See Real Poverty
It's
estimated that one in eight people worldwide live in so-called slums,
which, in some cities, makes visiting these informally maintained
neighborhoods unavoidable. Although controversial, the practice of "slum
tourism" has become a popular way for tourists to engage with poverty
on a personal level. But why go visit an actual slum when you can simply
stay at a luxury resort that looks like a slum?
The Emoya Luxury Hotel and Spa near Bloemfontein, South Africa offers Shanty Town, a dozen shacks made from scrap wood and corrugated metal that it thinks is the perfect
setting for your next corporate retreat or wedding anniversary. The
resort has gone to great lengths to recreate the joys of slum living
without the nuisances of crime, disease, or poor sanitation: "Now you
can experience staying in a Shanty within the safe environment of a
private game reserve. This is the only Shanty Town in the world equipped
with under-floor heating and wireless internet access!"
For
those of you worried that the presence of heating and wi-fi might not
make for an authentic slum experience, don't worry! Shanty Town has made
it more realistic for you by installing a "famous 'long-drop' outside
toilet" and encouraging guests to heat water in outdoor fires. By
burning toxic, life expectancy-lowering trash, I hope!
The rooms will set you back about $82 a night, which some have noted is a half month's salary for the average South African.
Reviews on Trip Advisor
were mixed. While one guest praised it as a "real experience," and even
enjoyed a barbecue under the stars at their shack, another cautioned
that slums do not offer good value: "Do not even consider staying in the
Shanty Town. For the price you can stay in a luxury bed and breakfast
establishment. An average caravan park with chalets will have the same
experience." [This Is Africa via Urbanphoto]
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