scholarly journals ‘No, I Don’t Like the Basque Language.’ Considering the Role of Cultural Capital within Boundary-Work in Basque Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Pérez-Izaguirre
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Boundary Work ◽  
School Structure ◽  
Intergroup Contact Theory ◽  
Language Choices ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Teacher Relationships ◽  
Education And Society

The aim of this study is to analyze the nature of multiethnic academic interactions in relation to theories of cultural capital and boundary-work. More precisely, it considers to what extent school structure is related to the cultural capital of students from different ethnic backgrounds and explores its relationship to Intergroup Contact Theory and identity. Methods include documentary analysis, participant observation, interviews, and focus groups conducted from an ethnographic perspective between 2015 and 2016. Based on data collected in a Basque school attended by a high proportion of immigrant students, intraethnic and interethnic student–student and student–teacher relationships, and inequalities within these, are analyzed. Results indicate that the distribution of students in different classes tended to be ethnically marked, as most immigrant students chose to attend classes that were taught mostly in Spanish, whereas most autochthonous students were enrolled in classes with a high Basque instruction. The study considers the effects of students’ language choices and concludes that Basque has implications for the theories of identity, cultural capital, and boundary-work, as learning Basque is an academic and implicit rule in Basque education and society.

scholarly journals The Contribution of the Participatory Guarantee System in the Revival of Agroecological Principles in Southern Minas Gerais, Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aloísia Rodrigues Hirata ◽  
Luiz Carlos Dias Rocha ◽  
Thiago Rodrigo de Paula Assis ◽  
Vanilde Ferreira de Souza-Esquerdo ◽  
Sonia Maria Pessoa Pereira Bergamasco
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Minas Gerais ◽  
Women's Leadership ◽  
Guarantee System ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Direct Benefits ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Market Pressures ◽  
Stimulation Of

Market pressures generated by the demand for organic food have pushed farmers to turn away from agroecological principles, which leads to actions focused directly on the agricultural practices for production. The objective of this study was to analyze whether the methodology used by the Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) contributes to farmers’ appropriation of agroecological principles, understood here in their environmental, sociocultural, economic, and political dimensions. We analyzed the PGS-Sul de Minas, which was the first PGS founded in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil and includes 14 organizations and more than 200 families. Documentary analysis and participant observation were prioritized in data collection. The main results are the correlation between the practices used by the farmers in these organizations with the principles of agroecology. This is evident in aspects such as the encouragement of productive diversification, the construction of new marketing alternatives, the revival and use of heirloom seeds, the stimulation of women’s leadership, and places and policies that support and strengthen agroecology. The study found that the procedures adopted by the PGSs help strengthen agroecology and bring direct benefits to the farmers through revival and encouragement of agroecological principles.

Not in our name: collective identity of the Serbian Women in Black

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (04) ◽  
pp. 607-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojan Bilić
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Activist Group ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
Strategic Options ◽  
Life Story Interviews ◽  
Cross Fertilization

The Belgrade-based activist groupWomen in Blackhas been for twenty years now articulating a feminist anti-war stance in an inimical socio-political climate. The operation of this anti-patriarchal and anti-militarist organization, which has resisted numerous instances of repression, has not been until now systematically approached from a social movement perspective. This paper draws upon a range of empirical methods, comprising life-story interviews, documentary analysis and participant observation, to address the question as to how it was possible for this small circle of activists to remain on the Serbian/post-Yugoslav civic scene for the last two decades. My central argument is that a consistent collective identity, which informs the group's resource mobilization and strategic options, holds the key to the surprising survival of this activist organization. I apply recent theoretical advances on collective identity to the case of the BelgradeWomen in Blackwith the view of promoting a potentially fruitful cross-fertilization between non-Western activism and the Western conceptual apparatus for studying civic engagement.

Distribution dilemmas

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 978-1001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Mifsud
Keyword(s):  
Distributed Leadership ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Educational Practice ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
College Level ◽  
Policy Document ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Organizational Paradox ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
State Schools

In this paper, I explore the relationship of democracy to educational leadership; more specifically, to the notion of distributed leadership as it unfolds within policy-mandated multi-site school collaboratives, with particular reference to practices in Malta. Under the policy framework ‘For All Children To Succeed’ introduced in Malta in 2005, Maltese primary and secondary state schools embarked on the process of being organized into networks, legally termed ‘colleges’. I explore leadership distribution among the leaders constituting the college and the subsequent inherent tensions within this educational scenario. The notion of distributed leadership as perceived by the leaders is examined, and especially the leaders’ reception of its presentation in the policy document as the leadership discourse; and its eventual (non-)enactment at both school and college level. A Foucauldian theoretical framework, specifically Foucault’s concepts of power relations, governmentality, discourse, and subjectification, is used to carry out a case study of a Maltese college, collecting data via semi-structured, in-depth interviews, participant observation and documentary analysis. Narrative is both the phenomenon under study and the method of analysis. The policy discourse does not unfold in a participatory democratic manner in practice, resulting in an organizational paradox where leadership enactment in a Maltese college is ‘directed’ from above, rather than ‘distributed’. These findings may be significant for educational practice, policy and theory in terms of the generation of problematization which may lead to further research on this contested topic.

scholarly journals Networked G20 Governance of COVID-19 and its Transversal Crisis Effect

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-68
Author(s):  
Jonathan Luckhurst ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Analytical Approach ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Economic Recovery ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
Global North ◽  
New Evidence

In this article, the Group of 20’s (G20) networked pluralism and transversal policy practices in the governance of COVID-19 and the pandemic crisis effect are analyzed. The G20 is an important global governance hub, with the strategic capacities and authority to improve cooperation on the pandemic and economic recovery efforts. The forum’s increasingly pluralistic networkedgovernance processes have been crucial for recent shifts in global governance practices and authority. They were augmented by transversal consequences of the pandemic crisis effect, the latter denoting the consequences of new evidence during a crisis leading to a heightened perception of uncertainty and the repoliticization of background knowledge. The analysis combines a “practice-relational” social constructivist analytical approach with discourse-analytic and sociological insights. It integrates empirical evidence from semi-structured interviews, informal discussions, participant observation, and documentary analysis of G20 engagement on transversal policy dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially with its interlocutors and governance networks. This indicates the growing significance of networked G20 governance, involving engagement with increasingly pluralistic networks of actors from the Global North and Global South.

scholarly journals Languages, Symbolic Power and Multidimensional Poverty in the Context of Pakistan

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Tayyaba Tamim
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Multidimensional Poverty ◽  
Secondary School Student ◽  
Symbolic Power ◽  
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged ◽  
Government School ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Social Critical ◽  
Research Consortium

This paper engages with the question of languages in education and language policy in the multilingual context of Pakistan, from the perspective of its impact on multidimensional poverty. Poverty is interpreted as ‘capability deprivation’ following Amertya Sen’s capability approach, while Bourdieu’s social critical theory inform the analysis. The paper is based on findings from a 3-year qualitative study, funded by Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes and Poverty (RECOUP). The methods of data collection included participant observation, documentary analysis and interview data from 16 cases of private and government school graduates, in two provinces. Each case comprised of a final-year secondary school student and his/ her same sex 5-6 year older sibling. The findings reveal that the symbolic power of English in the country, in contrast to its restricted access, and the concurrent devaluation of the local linguistic capital reinforced the structures that nest inequality and poverty. This restrained the agency and of the already socioeconomically disadvantaged government school participants to achieve valued goals as inequality was unleashed in the multiple dimensions of their lives: cognitive, social, affective, economic, and physical. The paper argues for more inclusive language policies and languages in education.

scholarly journals We are what we tell: an enquiry into NGOs' organizational identity and accountability

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Pianezzi
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Organizational Identity ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Participatory Action ◽  
Action Research Project ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Over Time

PurposeThis study offers a critical inquiry into accountability vis-à-vis organizational identity formation. It investigates how accountability evolves in the transformation of an NGO operating in the field of migration management from an informal grassroots group into a fully-fledged organization.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is the outcome of a participatory action research project on Welcome Refugees (WR), a UK-based NGO. The project involved documentary analysis, focus group and semi-structured interviews, field notes, and participant observation. The analysis draws from poststructuralist theorization to explain the interplay between organizational identity and different forms of NGO accountability over time.FindingsThe study shows how different forms of accountability became salient over time and were experienced differently by organizational members, thus leading to competing collective identity narratives. Organizational members felt accountable to beneficiaries in different ways, and this was reflected in their identification with the organization. Some advocated a rights-based approach that partially resonated with the accountability demands of external donors, while others aimed at enacting their feelings of accountability by preserving their closeness with beneficiaries and using a need-based approach. These differences led to an identity struggle that was ultimately solved through the silencing of marginalized narratives and the adoption of an adaptive regime of accountability.Practical implicationsThe findings of the case are of practical relevance to quasi-organizations that struggle to form and maintain organizational identity in their first years of operation. Their survival depends not only on their ability to accommodate and/or resist a multiplicity of accountability demands but also on their ability to develop a shared and common understanding of identity accountability.Originality/valueThe paper problematizes rather than takes for granted the process through which organizations acquire a viable identity and the role of accountability within them.

“I am not getting your money”: boundary making and identities in immigrant economies in Hong Kong

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-128
Author(s):  
K. Kwok
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Social Integration ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Boundary Work ◽  
Small Business Owners ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Boundary Making ◽  
Symbolic Meanings ◽  
Mainstream Society ◽  
Immigrant Economies

Purpose This paper aims to explore how immigrant small business owners construct entrepreneurial identities by deploying strategies of boundary making in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach Conceptually, it departs from the theoretical discussions of immigrant economy and ethnic boundary making. The analyzes are based on qualitative data collected from in-depth interviews and participant observation primarily in the South Asian immigrant economies in Hong Kong in the period 2014-2017. Findings Four strategies of boundary work including blurring boundaries, inversion of boundaries, personal repositioning and reconfirming of boundaries are identified. They bring to light that small immigrant entrepreneurs in Hong Kong still encounter considerable obstacles in the process of social integration. Boundary work serves as strategies to release sentiments that would symbolically bring them closer to the mainstream society. Following the “city as context” framework (Brettell, 1999; Foner, 2007), this paper argues that the various boundary making strategies have been shaped by the legacies of racism, neoliberal governance of integration and urban work ethos highlighting problems and individual responsibilities in Hong Kong. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature of the immigrant economy and social integration. First, it sheds light on the role of symbolic meanings and non-economic gains of immigrant entrepreneurship in social integration. Second, it illuminates our understanding that immigrant economy can provide a channel for advancing and weakening social status, thus reminding us not to assume the path of social integration as a straightforward and positive one.

An ethnographic examination of the experience of ecotherapy as an intervention for mental health in South and West Wales.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Edward Lord
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Biological Pathways ◽  
Ethnographic Methods ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Critical Attention ◽  
Original Contribution ◽  
Ethnographic Examination ◽  
Trail Running ◽  
Expected Outcomes

This thesis uses ethnographic methods to explore the experiences of people in South and West Wales doing ecotherapy activities. Ecotherapy describes a variety of outdoor nature-based activities intended to improve individual and population health and wellbeing. The expected outcomes of ecotherapy are contested, and there is a widespread focus on how to measure nature exposure or test particular psychological or biological pathways and mechanisms. I argue that this reductionist reification of ecotherapy outcomes leads to a lack of critical attention to the myriad irreducible experiences of people currently taking part in ecotherapy groups in particular places. Ethnographic methods, including participant observation, interviews, and documentary analysis, are deployed to examine four ecotherapy projects in South and West Wales. These projects are indicative of the variation of ecotherapy in the region and include two woodland based groups, a sustainability skills organisation, and a coastal trail running group. Findings are presented in three chapters. First - “How bureaucratic systems as ‘smooth flows’ and ‘striated events’ shape participant’s experience of ecotherapy.” - examines the bureaucratic practices in use by the different projects. I suggest the ways in which the ‘natural’ spaces are produced as therapeutic is informed by how these practices are deployed on a continuum between ‘smooth’ and ‘striated’. Second – “The expression of multiple notions of ‘escape’ and ‘getting away’ as a frame to ecotherapy” - in which the natural spaces are operationalised as restorative and energising resources by some and as protective and safe refuges by others. In the final findings chapter – “People, place & agency: A typology of orientations to ecotherapy” - I use my analysis of the fieldwork data to generate a tentative four-part typology of participant orientations towards ecotherapy. My analysis indicates that a greater emphasis is needed on the multiple ways in which spaces are produced as therapeutic by individuals and groups who are already negotiating a complex intersection of environmental, health, and organisational challenges. This original contribution shows that there are conflicting rationalities at play in ecotherapy which are being resisted and reproduced in ways not captured by other potentially reductionist and reifying approaches commonly applied to this field of research.

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