Stories and Statecraft: Afghan Women’s Narratives and the Construction of Western Freedoms

This article explores how performance and character can be used to represent the lives of real women in spaces of heritage. It focuses on two different site-specific performances created by the author in the South Ayrshire region of Scotland: CauseWay: The Story of the Alloway Suffragettes and In Hidden Spaces: The Untold Stories of the Women of Rozelle House. These were created with a practice-as-research methodology and aim to offer new models for the use of character in site-specific performance practice. The article explores the variety of methods and techniques used, including verbatim writing, spatial exploration, and Herstorical research, in order to demonstrate the ways in which women’s narratives were represented in a theoretically informed, site-specific manner. Drawing on Phil Smith’s mythogeography, and responding to Laurajane Smith’s work on gender and heritage, the conflicting tensions of identity, performance, and authenticity are drawn together to offer flexible characterization as a new model for the creation of feminist heritage performance. Victoria Bianchi is a theatre-maker and academic in the School of Education at the University of Glasgow. Her work explores the relationship between space, feminism, and identity. She has written and performed work for the National Trust for Scotland, Camden People’s Theatre, and Assembly at Edinburgh, among other institutions.

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Of Vulnerability and Agency: Perspectives from Survivors of Sex Trafficking in India

Indian Journal of Human Development ◽

10.1177/09737030211003657 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 097370302110036

Author(s):

Nisha James ◽

Shubha Ranganathan

Keyword(s):

Field Study ◽

Sex Trafficking ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Women's Narratives ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

Paternalistic Attitude

The recent Anti-Trafficking Bill in India (2018) has received considerable criticism for perpetuating a paternalistic attitude towards victims of sex trafficking. Scholars, activists and legal experts have pointed out the failure of the Act to recognise the agency of trafficked girls and women. In thinking about victimhood and agency, we draw attention to the need for thinking of ‘vulnerability’ in terms of complex intersectional processes and situations that render certain persons more vulnerable to trafficking. This article delves into contexts and vulnerabilities in the process of trafficking by drawing on women’s narratives about the lived experiences of sex trafficking. It is based on a qualitative field study through in-depth interviews of 51 survivors of sex trafficking who were sheltered in government and non-government organisations in the cities of Chennai and Hyderabad.

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DoVeanna S. Fulton, Speaking Power: Black Feminist Orality in Women's Narratives of Slavery

The Journal of African American History ◽

10.1086/jaahv92n2p302 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 92 (2) ◽

pp. 302-305

Author(s):

Phanuel Ejeguru

Keyword(s):

Black Feminist ◽

Women's Narratives

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Contested or complementary healing paradigms? Women’s narratives of COVID-19 remedies in Mwanza, Tanzania

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine ◽

10.1186/s13002-021-00457-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Gerry Mshana ◽

Zaina Mchome ◽

Diana Aloyce ◽

Esther Peter ◽

Saidi Kapiga ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Belief Systems ◽

Emerging Infections ◽

Community Members ◽

Women's Narratives ◽

Traditional Remedies ◽

Traditional Therapies ◽

Audio Files ◽

Smart Mobile ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

African Setting

Abstract Background COVID-19 has caused worldwide fear and uncertainty. Historically, the biomedical disease paradigm established its dominance in tackling emerging infectious illnesses mainly due to innovation in medication and advances in technology. Traditional and religious remedies have emerged as plausible options for prevention and treatment of COVID-19, especially in Africa and Asia. The appeal of religious and traditional therapies against COVID-19 in the African setting must be understood within the historical, social, and political context. This study explored how women and community members dealt with suspected symptoms of COVID-19 in Mwanza, Tanzania. Methods This study was conducted in Nyamagana and Ilemela districts of Mwanza, Tanzania, between July and August 2020. We conducted 18 mobile phone in-depth interviews with a purposively selected sample of women aged 27–57 years participating in an existing longitudinal study. For safety reasons, smart mobile phones were used to collect the data. Each interview was audio recorded after obtaining verbal consent from the participants. The audio files were transferred to computers for analysis. Four researchers conducted a multistage, inductive analysis of the data. Results Participants reported wide use and perceived high efficacy of traditional remedies and prayer to prevent and treat suspected symptoms of COVID-19. Use was either alone or combined with public health recommendations such as hand washing and crowd avoidance. Despite acknowledging that a pathogen causes COVID-19, participants attested to the relevance and power of traditional herbal medication and prayer to curb COVID-19. Four main factors underline the symbolic efficacy of the traditional and religious treatment paradigms: personal, communal, and official reinforcement of their efficacy; connection to local knowledge and belief systems; the failure of biomedicine to offer a quick and effective solution; and availability. Conclusions In the context of emerging contagious illnesses, communities turn to resilient and trusted treatment paradigms to quell fear and embrace hope. To tackle emerging infections effectively, it is essential to engage the broader sociopolitical landscape, including communal considerations of therapeutic efficacy.

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