Interventions: Dynamics of Contention

This profile looks at the indigenous mobilization against government attempts to open up the Peruvian Amazon to increased foreign investment. It draws parallels between the events in Peru and conflicts in countries such as Mexico, Bolivia and Ecuador. It identifies the main similarities as the causes of the conflict (neoliberal reform), the action repertoire deployed in the protests, and the successful outcome of the action for the indigenous groups involved. We also look at the sources of support for the struggle, focusing in particular on the role played by political leaders such as Ollanta Humala and Bolivian President Evo Morales. We conclude by analysing the consequences of the protests for the wider political situation in Peru.     

Mobilizing Memory: Bolivia's Enduring Social Movements

In Bolivia, the most indigenous of South American countries, powerful social movements have drawn on collective memory to build effective coalitions across significant differences in ethnic identity and awareness, class consciousness, generations and regions. We contend that this deployment of memory to strengthen protest identities is reinforced by pervasive indigenous cultural practices. Deeply rooted in oral storytelling, perceptions of time, place and a reverence for ancestors, collective memories help bring the past into the present, and create responsibilities to those who came before. The result is a mutually constituting relationship between memory and activism, where an instrumental construction of collective memories serves to provide shared meanings to divergent movements. We suggest that scholars of social movements could deepen their analysis by interrogating rather than normalizing the cultural backdrops that movements operate within.     

Can personal narratives heal trauma? A consideration of testimonies given at the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

This study investigates the therapeutic effects of narratives and linguistic expression in people who have suffered trauma. The kind of trauma considered is that which took place as a result of politically related violence in the South African liberation struggle, and the narratives and language discussed are selected from testimonies given during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Certain linguistic criteria identified by Pennebaker as predictors of successful therapeutic outcomes in the narratives of individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are applied to excerpts from the TRC testimonies. Linguistic analysis validates Pennebaker’s findings to some extent, but the investigation concludes that while linguistic expression may demonstrate cognitive processing and facilitate coherence, it is not enough to enable healing. Many factors, not only articulation, interact to determine the extent to which individuals can be healed. Some trauma is so intense that it cannot be verbalised at all.     

“Koe wai hoki koe?!”, or “Who are you?!”: Issues of trust in cross‐cultural collaborative research

Abstract

Cross‐cultural research designs are increasingly employed in the New Zealand context to investigate a range of complex social and environmental issues. However, there is little guidance for researchers who work for mainstream organisations and hapū (subtribe(s)) and iwi (tribe(s)) on how to undertake cross‐cultural collaborative research. Trust is a key issue that makes cross‐cultural research possible and it is surprising that issues relating to trust have not featured widely in the literature. In this paper, we reflect on our experiences working cross‐culturally and collaboratively with a hapū in Northland, New Zealand. We discuss how a mainstream research organisation worked with a community health trust and developed a working relationship with a hapū, forming the basis of a community‐driven collaborative evaluation of a central government‐funded project. Key findings were the establishment of a tuākana‐tēina relationship (where teacher and learner are interchangeable) between the members of the collaborative research team and the employment of appropriate research methods to develop a research agenda that ensured everyone would benefit from the research.     

Fratricide identities: the land conflict between indigenous Leco and peasant unions in Apolo,Bolivia

This article explores processes of identity-building and claims-making by rural social groups in the context of recent multicultural and plurinational reforms in Bolivia, focusing on an analysis of the narrative apparatus that underpins a paradigmatic land conflict between an indigenous organization and a peasant union in the Bolivian Amazon. The institutional shift that characterized the country after Evo Morales’ election has been reflected and absorbed at the local level. Here, however, the new claims for recognition cannot be understood only through the –often abused – lenses of ‘resistance struggle’, ‘cultural oppression’ and ‘political discrimination of minorities’. In fact, these claims are the result of a complex interaction between institutional changes, and social actors’ ability to respond to them, proposing powerful narratives that provide society and individuals with new shared meanings and mechanisms of self-identification.     

Managing the tensions between service and advocacy: The case of the AJEEC Social Change Service Organization,Naqab, Israel

The tension between providing services to marginalized groups and organizing them for advocacy to challenge power structures is a fundamental dilemma for Social Change Service Organizations (SCSO). This dilemma exists in many civil society organizations, especially those that work with indigenous communities, such as the Bedouin in Israel, where providing immediate services and advocating for policy change are crucial. Literature shows the tensions that arise from combining service provision and advocacy. However, there are very few studies showing how these organizations manage and overcome these tensions sustainably. The present study is an exploratory case study using the AJEEC (Arab‐Jewish Center for Empowerment, Equality, and Cooperation) in the Naqab as an instrumental single case. It provides an in‐depth understanding of the tensions AJEEC is facing and reveals AJEEC’s unique approach and strategies for managing these tensions effectively and sustainably within the social, political, and cultural contexts. It presents implications for research, policy, and practice.     

镜像组织研究法:一种本土管理学研究资源的开发思路

本土管理学的发展不仅需要理论创新,也需要研究方法的创新。"镜像组织研究法",拥有当前管理学主流实证方法中所不具备的刻画心理活动等特点,运用这一研究方法存在着科学合理性和可行性。     

中国特色文学理论建构中的两个“两结合”问题

中国特色文学理论包括中国马克思主义文艺思想和中国本土文学理论两大组成部分,要发展中国特色文学理论,必须将马克思主义文艺思想与中国文学的具体实践结合起来,把中国马克思主义文艺思想与中国本土文学理论结合起来。历史经验证明,两个“两结合”是否实现和结合得成功与否,是中国特色文学理论顺利发展的关键。     

Bridging help-seeking options to Vietnamese Americans with parent–child conflict and depressive symptoms

To help practitioners bridge services to their clients who face family problems, this research aims to identify help-seeking behaviors among Vietnamese Americans who have experienced parent–child conflict and depression. The 2008 Asian Survey found that 46.3% of 572 Vietnamese Americans experienced parent–child conflict and 30.2% reported depressive symptoms. Having parent–child conflicts or depressive symptoms did not predict help-seeking from mental health professionals. Logistic regression results show that having parent–child conflict would increase the likelihood by 81.7% of a thinking that the problem will be naturally resolved; having depressive symptoms would increase the likelihood of seeking help from herbalists by 1.718 times and from medical doctors by 39.7%. Service strategies should include offering educational programs by multidisciplinary professionals with a focus on the natural aspect of building parent–child bonding.     

乡土知识与农村中小学校本课程的精神成长

校本课程是我国新一轮基础教育课程改革的重要内容,更是农村中小学课程改革的必然选择.乡土知识与校本课程之间的共生性,决定了农村中小学应充分运用乡土知识的实用价值、思维建构特点和文化认同功能构建农村校本课程的精神生长点,从而实现农村中小学校本课程的可持续发展.