Justice and the Geographies of Moral Protest: Reflections from Mexico

10.1068/d6708 ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa W Wright

Protest movements offer a rich vernacular for investigating how the connections between social justice and creating political subjects always involve spatial transformations. In this paper, I put Jacques Derrida's contemplations regarding justice as incalculable in conversation with critiques of public witnessing and the role of empathy for catalyzing political action, and I do so to present some speculations over why a social justice movement in northern Mexico has weakened domestically as it has gained steam internationally. The movement has grown since 1993 in response to the violence against women and girls and the surrounding impunity that has made northern Mexico famous as a place of ‘femicide’. By examining these events in relation to the debates on calculating justice and on the politics of witnessing, I hope to add to the growing literature within and beyond geography on the interplay of emotion and social justice politics while illustrating what is at stake in these dynamics for Mexico's democracy and for women's participation in it.

Author(s):  
Lisa Sharland

Abstract Peacebuilding is less likely to succeed without the participation and consideration of women. In the last two decades, peace operations deployed on the African continent under the banner of the United Nations and the African Union have included mandates focused on strengthening women’s participation in peace processes, ensuring the protection of women and girls, and integrating gender considerations into the approach of missions at building sustainable peace. This chapter examines the approaches undertaken in two case study countries—Liberia (where a long-standing UN peace operation has recently departed) and South Sudan (where a UN peace operation continues to operate with significant constraints)—in order to examine some of the challenges and opportunities that UN engagement has offered in terms of advancing equality and women’s security in each country.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 170
Author(s):  
Owen Ndoromo

The study investigated the role of cultural impact on South Sudanese and Rwandan women who nowadays reside in the diaspora in Finland and Belgium. It explores the cultural violence against women before and after the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis, and after the independency of South Sudan. This argument is presented through an analysis of existing literature and documents; and through interviews with 341 respondents (166 men and 175 women) belonging to the Rwandan diaspora in Belgium and in Finland; and 420 participants (302 females and 118 males) married, divorced, single mothers in South Sudan. The results show that women and girls in South Sudan continue to be at risk of violence from cultural impact more than Rwandan women. Poverty, education, and insecurity play a huge role in promoting aggression against South Sudanese women.


Author(s):  
Carlo Caduff

Abstract The Covid-19 pandemic has been overwhelming in many ways, but what are the structural conditions that can explain the dramatic impact of the global pandemic? How can we shift the horizon of the possible and contribute to another politics of life, one that is based on strong institutions and a vision of social justice? This article examines the role of preparedness, authoritarianism and the regulatory state. It suggests that it is important to move beyond the binary of epidemic and endemic disease and rethink the kinds of crisis publics, forms of political action and medical-historical consciousness that this distinction with its emphasis on dramatic disjunctures enables.


Author(s):  
Ellie Hutchinson

This chapter describes an approach, dubbed Get Savi (Students Against Violence Initiative), for tackling gender based violence (GBV) in university communities. Get Savi was developed and delivered in Scotland between 2012 and 2015. The chapter first provides an overview of the broader policy and political context in which the Get Savi programme was developed, with particular emphasis on the importance of a political consensus around the causes of violence against women and girls (VAWG). It then examines the practical process underlying the development of the Get Savi programme, along with the role of partnerships in the development and in the re-imagining of the prevention education programme for a Scottish audience. Finally, it considers some of the ongoing challenges and draws together learnings from the project to make recommendations for future policies and programmes on prevention education for student communities in the UK and beyond.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Owusu-Ansah

The article looks at the role Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (the Circle) have played in the struggle to end or reduce the rate at which violence against women and girls occurs in West Africa by highlighting the contributions of older Circle women, especially the initiator of the Circle, Mercy Amba Oduyoye. The initiator of the Circle and other older Circle women have left a remarkable legacy that needs to continue by the current and future generations of the Circle. The background information examines the leadership and mentorship of Mercy Amba Oduyoye and the impact she has made in the lives of African women. The essay then looks at the types of violence that women face in West Africa with the specific contributions of Circle women in the struggle to end violence against women and girls. It then argues that Circle women have played very significant roles both in setting the pace and giving the platform for women activities to minimise gender-based violence against women and girls. Circle women have written and presented papers that have addressed many challenges including HIV and/or AIDS, Girl Child trafficking, Marriage of Minors, and almost all kinds of violence against women and girls. Currently, religious violence threatens the fabric of African nations causing insecurity and panic, women and girls being the most vulnerable. The challenge to the present and future Circle members is to contribute in significant ways towards religious harmony in Africa and beyond. The Circle acknowledges the leadership role of women and encourages them to spearhead the liberation of women as well as empower them to be able to aspire to get to the top or become independent. No one understands what someone else feels better than the person experiencing the ordeal. Women can better understand what they go through and also have the passion to strive towards liberation.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: In this article, the discipline of practical theology combines with elements of social science and Gender Studies, bringing out the Circle�s contribution towards the eradication of religious and cultural and gender violence against women and girls in Ghana and Africa.Keywords: Circle; Theology; gender-based violence; Mercy Amba Oduyoye; West Africa


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document