Lucas Olmedo, María José Ruiz-Rivera, Mary O’Shaughnessy, Georgios Chatzichristos
Geography is a significant element of social innovation. This paper focuses on exploring differences and similarities in the characteristics and contributions towards impact of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs), a form of social innovation which provides otherwise unmet services and opportunities to people at risk of social and economic exclusion and distant from the labour market, in rural and urban areas of Ireland. To do so, we use data from 336 surveys from urban (213) and rural (123) WISEs and conduct an exploratory and spatially sensitive analysis to compare the characteristics, in terms of organisational age, legal and governance form, multiplicity of activities, revenue diversification; and contributions towards impact, in terms of geographical focus/reach, employment, volunteers, and income generation. Our analysis shows that WISEs in urban and rural areas present rather similar organisational characteristics and ways of functioning (legal structure, multiactivity, multiple sources of funding), but their contributions to socioeconomic impact differ according to their spatial location, with urban WISEs generating significantly more employment and income than their rural counterparts. Our study illustrates that socially innovative organisations are spatially sensitive, and that context influences their capacity to create sustainable employment opportunities and contribute to the local economy.
{"title":"Rural–Urban Features of Social Innovation: An Exploratory Study of Work Integration Social Enterprises in Ireland","authors":"Lucas Olmedo, María José Ruiz-Rivera, Mary O’Shaughnessy, Georgios Chatzichristos","doi":"10.3390/soc14060082","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060082","url":null,"abstract":"Geography is a significant element of social innovation. This paper focuses on exploring differences and similarities in the characteristics and contributions towards impact of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs), a form of social innovation which provides otherwise unmet services and opportunities to people at risk of social and economic exclusion and distant from the labour market, in rural and urban areas of Ireland. To do so, we use data from 336 surveys from urban (213) and rural (123) WISEs and conduct an exploratory and spatially sensitive analysis to compare the characteristics, in terms of organisational age, legal and governance form, multiplicity of activities, revenue diversification; and contributions towards impact, in terms of geographical focus/reach, employment, volunteers, and income generation. Our analysis shows that WISEs in urban and rural areas present rather similar organisational characteristics and ways of functioning (legal structure, multiactivity, multiple sources of funding), but their contributions to socioeconomic impact differ according to their spatial location, with urban WISEs generating significantly more employment and income than their rural counterparts. Our study illustrates that socially innovative organisations are spatially sensitive, and that context influences their capacity to create sustainable employment opportunities and contribute to the local economy.","PeriodicalId":21795,"journal":{"name":"Societies","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141256827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jesús Delgado-Baena, Juan de Dios García-Serrano, Laura Serrano, José Tomás Diestre Mejías
This study is the result of the debate sessions held at the 1st International Conference on Human Rights and Territories at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville, aimed at analyzing the impact and the agenda itself in the territorial and local contexts. To conduct the research, five focus groups were organized, focusing on the five elements of the agenda: People, Peace, Planet, Prosperity, and Partnerships, with the participation of over 30 international academics, followed by an analysis of the recorded speeches. The results provide a critical epistemic perspective on the 2030 Agenda and its connection with territories, concluding the difficulty of establishing human rights processes in territories from agendas that are centered from the global to the local level.
{"title":"Human Rights and Territories: Academic Perceptions of the 2030 Agenda","authors":"Jesús Delgado-Baena, Juan de Dios García-Serrano, Laura Serrano, José Tomás Diestre Mejías","doi":"10.3390/soc14060083","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060083","url":null,"abstract":"This study is the result of the debate sessions held at the 1st International Conference on Human Rights and Territories at the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville, aimed at analyzing the impact and the agenda itself in the territorial and local contexts. To conduct the research, five focus groups were organized, focusing on the five elements of the agenda: People, Peace, Planet, Prosperity, and Partnerships, with the participation of over 30 international academics, followed by an analysis of the recorded speeches. The results provide a critical epistemic perspective on the 2030 Agenda and its connection with territories, concluding the difficulty of establishing human rights processes in territories from agendas that are centered from the global to the local level.","PeriodicalId":21795,"journal":{"name":"Societies","volume":"69 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141256963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kinship caregivers encounter complex issues when interfacing with the child welfare system. Most kinship care families are not connected to child welfare. The experiences and extent of child welfare connection among older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren are understudied. This study describes in-depth reflections from older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren about circumstances leading to kinship care and the extent of child welfare involvement. Nineteen older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren participated in qualitative phenomenological interviews. Eligibility criteria included identifying as a primary caregiver aged 40 or older for a grandchild 12 years or older who lived with them at least three days during the week. Respondents were primarily married (58%), white/non-Hispanic (53%), and grandmothers (84%) and had some college education or were college graduates (79%). Older grandparent caregivers described three themes: the intensive child welfare path, the influence of indirect child welfare professionals, and guardians with influence. The onset of kinship care, with or without intensive child welfare involvement, stemmed primarily from child abuse and neglect linked primarily to adolescent pregnancies and parental substance use. Child welfare and other helping professionals must recognize and problem-solve with older grandparent caregivers to meet complex stage-of-life needs in and outside of traditional child welfare settings.
{"title":"“Wasn’t in Our Game Plan”: Reflections of Older Grandparents Navigating Child Welfare Systems","authors":"Tina L. Peterson","doi":"10.3390/soc14060079","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060079","url":null,"abstract":"Kinship caregivers encounter complex issues when interfacing with the child welfare system. Most kinship care families are not connected to child welfare. The experiences and extent of child welfare connection among older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren are understudied. This study describes in-depth reflections from older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren about circumstances leading to kinship care and the extent of child welfare involvement. Nineteen older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren participated in qualitative phenomenological interviews. Eligibility criteria included identifying as a primary caregiver aged 40 or older for a grandchild 12 years or older who lived with them at least three days during the week. Respondents were primarily married (58%), white/non-Hispanic (53%), and grandmothers (84%) and had some college education or were college graduates (79%). Older grandparent caregivers described three themes: the intensive child welfare path, the influence of indirect child welfare professionals, and guardians with influence. The onset of kinship care, with or without intensive child welfare involvement, stemmed primarily from child abuse and neglect linked primarily to adolescent pregnancies and parental substance use. Child welfare and other helping professionals must recognize and problem-solve with older grandparent caregivers to meet complex stage-of-life needs in and outside of traditional child welfare settings.","PeriodicalId":21795,"journal":{"name":"Societies","volume":"53 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141197268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Creative social enterprises are increasingly emerging in rural regions, motivated by a desire to take social responsibility through creative approaches. These enterprises integrate entrepreneurial activities with creative social attributes and are sometimes set in rural collaborative workspaces (CWSs) facilitating entrepreneurial activities. Under the frame of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs), we argue that CWSs can be seen as brokers, who (1) link resources as liaisons, (2) hold and pass resources as gatekeepers, (3) enhance resource flows as coordinators, and (4) reproduce experiences as representatives. Against this backdrop, this paper presents a case study of two creative social enterprises in a CWS with a cooperative structure in rural Upper Austria by analyzing entrepreneurial biographies about the demand and use of entrepreneurial resources. Through a comparison between before and after the emergence of the CWS, the findings suggest that the EE for creative and social entrepreneurship undergoes two different types of transformation, a radical and a gradual one. The brokerage process of the CWS enhances local resource networks’ transformation of EE and brings the transformation in terms of translocal resources and integral EE of enterprises in the CWS. Additionally, the CWS generates social impacts on the local community through social enterprises. This paper contributes to ecosystem literature by introducing an actor-centric perspective and giving new insights into social entrepreneurship and the transformative power of CWSs as brokers.
{"title":"Transforming the Creative and Social Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: The Broker Roles of Rural Collaborative Workspaces","authors":"Chen Gao, Eleonora Psenner","doi":"10.3390/soc14060081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060081","url":null,"abstract":"Creative social enterprises are increasingly emerging in rural regions, motivated by a desire to take social responsibility through creative approaches. These enterprises integrate entrepreneurial activities with creative social attributes and are sometimes set in rural collaborative workspaces (CWSs) facilitating entrepreneurial activities. Under the frame of entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs), we argue that CWSs can be seen as brokers, who (1) link resources as liaisons, (2) hold and pass resources as gatekeepers, (3) enhance resource flows as coordinators, and (4) reproduce experiences as representatives. Against this backdrop, this paper presents a case study of two creative social enterprises in a CWS with a cooperative structure in rural Upper Austria by analyzing entrepreneurial biographies about the demand and use of entrepreneurial resources. Through a comparison between before and after the emergence of the CWS, the findings suggest that the EE for creative and social entrepreneurship undergoes two different types of transformation, a radical and a gradual one. The brokerage process of the CWS enhances local resource networks’ transformation of EE and brings the transformation in terms of translocal resources and integral EE of enterprises in the CWS. Additionally, the CWS generates social impacts on the local community through social enterprises. This paper contributes to ecosystem literature by introducing an actor-centric perspective and giving new insights into social entrepreneurship and the transformative power of CWSs as brokers.","PeriodicalId":21795,"journal":{"name":"Societies","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141189083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This research delves into the territorial nuances of political populism, examining Portugal’s CHEGA party as a case study. Through a comprehensive analysis of survey data and correlational studies, this study reveals that discontent, manifesting in the rise of populist movements, is intricately linked to the economic decline and neglect of specific regions. The unexpected success of CHEGA is not merely a socio-economic phenomenon but a product of deeply rooted territorial dynamics. The findings underscore the importance of adopting place-sensitive development policies that address the unique challenges of overlooked territories, steering clear of traditional compensatory measures. The urgency to counteract long-term economic decline, industrial decay, and brain drain demands innovative strategies that tap into latent economic potential and provide tangible opportunities. As we confront the rise of anti-establishment voting threatening European unity, this research advocates for a paradigm shift towards place-sensitive policies to navigate the crossroads of discontent and foster a more resilient, inclusive future.
{"title":"Discontent, Populism, or the Revenge of the “Places That Don’t Matter”? Analysis of the Rise of the Far-Right in Portugal","authors":"Pedro Chamusca","doi":"10.3390/soc14060080","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060080","url":null,"abstract":"This research delves into the territorial nuances of political populism, examining Portugal’s CHEGA party as a case study. Through a comprehensive analysis of survey data and correlational studies, this study reveals that discontent, manifesting in the rise of populist movements, is intricately linked to the economic decline and neglect of specific regions. The unexpected success of CHEGA is not merely a socio-economic phenomenon but a product of deeply rooted territorial dynamics. The findings underscore the importance of adopting place-sensitive development policies that address the unique challenges of overlooked territories, steering clear of traditional compensatory measures. The urgency to counteract long-term economic decline, industrial decay, and brain drain demands innovative strategies that tap into latent economic potential and provide tangible opportunities. As we confront the rise of anti-establishment voting threatening European unity, this research advocates for a paradigm shift towards place-sensitive policies to navigate the crossroads of discontent and foster a more resilient, inclusive future.","PeriodicalId":21795,"journal":{"name":"Societies","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141189078","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marco Guglielmi, Olga Breskaya, Stefano Sbalchiero
As shown by sociological studies, the Catholic Church in Italy is very active in conducting advocacy and providing political representation to immigrants. It is also highly effective in carrying out services for immigrants, as well as fairly receptive to sharing places of worship with them. However, these sociological observations have been mainly conducted at the national level rather than by exploring the life of parishes through an empirical lens. This article aims, by applying the congregations study methodology, to fill this gap by detecting faith communities as the basic social units of religious life at the city/country level. In doing that, we discuss quantitative data collected in 377 Catholic parishes in the cities of Bologna, Milan, and Brescia. The findings suggest that Catholic parishes: (i) illustrate a low proportion of immigrants in their communities; (ii) show high activity in providing services for immigrants; (iii) are not politically engaged in advocacy for foreign persons at the local level; and (iv) similarly position themselves as politically conservative and liberal while expressing commitments to immigrants. This study confirms the sociological argument regarding the solidarity approach of the Catholic Church in Italy toward immigrants, while highlighting some ambivalent aspects related to cultural diversity and grass-roots political engagement within parishes’ life.
{"title":"Catholic Parishes and Immigrants in Italy: Insights from the Congregations Study in Three Italian Cities","authors":"Marco Guglielmi, Olga Breskaya, Stefano Sbalchiero","doi":"10.3390/soc14060077","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060077","url":null,"abstract":"As shown by sociological studies, the Catholic Church in Italy is very active in conducting advocacy and providing political representation to immigrants. It is also highly effective in carrying out services for immigrants, as well as fairly receptive to sharing places of worship with them. However, these sociological observations have been mainly conducted at the national level rather than by exploring the life of parishes through an empirical lens. This article aims, by applying the congregations study methodology, to fill this gap by detecting faith communities as the basic social units of religious life at the city/country level. In doing that, we discuss quantitative data collected in 377 Catholic parishes in the cities of Bologna, Milan, and Brescia. The findings suggest that Catholic parishes: (i) illustrate a low proportion of immigrants in their communities; (ii) show high activity in providing services for immigrants; (iii) are not politically engaged in advocacy for foreign persons at the local level; and (iv) similarly position themselves as politically conservative and liberal while expressing commitments to immigrants. This study confirms the sociological argument regarding the solidarity approach of the Catholic Church in Italy toward immigrants, while highlighting some ambivalent aspects related to cultural diversity and grass-roots political engagement within parishes’ life.","PeriodicalId":21795,"journal":{"name":"Societies","volume":"18 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141189149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Most highly developed countries invest considerably in language training programmes for refugees, which are assumed to facilitate economic, social, and cultural integration. Although recent research has turned to particular patterns of host country language acquisition amongst refugees, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has hitherto remained understudied. Consequently, this article assesses changes in refugees’ uptake and outcomes of language training over the onset of the pandemic using longitudinal population data for Belgium (Flanders). Findings confirm theoretical expectations, as refugee cohorts entering the country after the onset of the pandemic exhibit lower Dutch language credentials, mostly due to lower enrolment and lower proficiency at intake for language courses. Furthermore, this study indicates that such changes are considerably weaker for highly educated and female refugees. These findings are interpreted in terms of increased vulnerability resulting from the pandemic as well as within-group diversity in potential barriers to integration in the host country.
{"title":"Did COVID-19 Put Language Certificate Acquisition on Hold? Uptake and Outcomes of Language Training amongst Refugees","authors":"Jonas Wood","doi":"10.3390/soc14060078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060078","url":null,"abstract":"Most highly developed countries invest considerably in language training programmes for refugees, which are assumed to facilitate economic, social, and cultural integration. Although recent research has turned to particular patterns of host country language acquisition amongst refugees, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has hitherto remained understudied. Consequently, this article assesses changes in refugees’ uptake and outcomes of language training over the onset of the pandemic using longitudinal population data for Belgium (Flanders). Findings confirm theoretical expectations, as refugee cohorts entering the country after the onset of the pandemic exhibit lower Dutch language credentials, mostly due to lower enrolment and lower proficiency at intake for language courses. Furthermore, this study indicates that such changes are considerably weaker for highly educated and female refugees. These findings are interpreted in terms of increased vulnerability resulting from the pandemic as well as within-group diversity in potential barriers to integration in the host country.","PeriodicalId":21795,"journal":{"name":"Societies","volume":"67 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141189011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Social innovation has been associated with contributing to ‘valuable’ rural development; however, usually, the impact of social innovation has been identified in the aftermath of its development or implementation. This might be too narrow an approach, as an ongoing social innovation process in itself may already lead to effects that contribute to regional and social changes in a local community and beyond. This paper argues that collaborative valuation processes are embedded in social innovation processes, generating effects that contribute to rural development. Focusing on a case study that exemplifies social innovation processes in agriculture and food production carried out by a rural collaborative community in southern Italy, we demonstrate how three valuation phases, such as contestations and negotiations of norms, symbolic capital accumulation and recognition of actions, as well as re-definitions of values, impact community development through joint sense-making, empowerment and societal change. Our empirical results suggest the close intertwining of both social innovation and valuation processes. The empirical results demonstrate how collective valuation processes have micro-effects on the agro-economic system, on local socio-cultural processes, and on place-making activities. Methodologically, this paper builds on ethnographic methods, including participatory observations, semi-structured interviews, oral histories, and socio-spatial analysis investigating moments of valuation embedded in daily collaborative practices.
{"title":"Valuation in Rural Social Innovation Processes—Analysing Micro-Impact of a Collaborative Community in Southern Italy","authors":"Federica Ammaturo, Suntje Schmidt","doi":"10.3390/soc14060076","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060076","url":null,"abstract":"Social innovation has been associated with contributing to ‘valuable’ rural development; however, usually, the impact of social innovation has been identified in the aftermath of its development or implementation. This might be too narrow an approach, as an ongoing social innovation process in itself may already lead to effects that contribute to regional and social changes in a local community and beyond. This paper argues that collaborative valuation processes are embedded in social innovation processes, generating effects that contribute to rural development. Focusing on a case study that exemplifies social innovation processes in agriculture and food production carried out by a rural collaborative community in southern Italy, we demonstrate how three valuation phases, such as contestations and negotiations of norms, symbolic capital accumulation and recognition of actions, as well as re-definitions of values, impact community development through joint sense-making, empowerment and societal change. Our empirical results suggest the close intertwining of both social innovation and valuation processes. The empirical results demonstrate how collective valuation processes have micro-effects on the agro-economic system, on local socio-cultural processes, and on place-making activities. Methodologically, this paper builds on ethnographic methods, including participatory observations, semi-structured interviews, oral histories, and socio-spatial analysis investigating moments of valuation embedded in daily collaborative practices.","PeriodicalId":21795,"journal":{"name":"Societies","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141170542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Prisons in the United States serve as a site and embodiment of gendered and racialized state violence. The US incarcerates more people than any other nation in both numbers and per capita rates. Individuals incarcerated in women’s prisons are 10% of the total prison population, yet women’s prisons remain understudied, and the violence that occurs in women’s facilities is rampant, widespread, and operates in particular racialized and gendered ways. This paper centers the forced sterilizations that occurred in California state prisons over the last two decades. We consider how reproduction and the nuclear family have served as a primary site of racial capitalism and eugenic ideology. While eugenic policies were popularized and promoted across the US and globally in the 20th century, the violent ideas underlying eugenic ideology have been a constant presence throughout US history. The height of the eugenics era is marked by the forcible sterilization of institutionalized ‘deviant’ bodies. While discussions of eugenics often center these programs, the reach of eugenic policies extends far beyond surgical interventions. We utilize a reproductive justice lens to argue that the hierarchical, racialized social stratification necessary for the existence of prisons constructs and sustains the ‘deviant’ bodies and families that predicate eugenic logic, policies, and practices. In this conceptual paper, we draw from ongoing research to argue that prisons, as institutions and as a product of racial capitalism, perpetuate the ongoing violent legacy of eugenics and name abolition as a central component of the fight to end reproductive oppression.
{"title":"Controlling Reproduction and Disrupting Family Formation: California Women’s Prisons and the Violent Legacy of Eugenics","authors":"Vrindavani Avila, Jennifer Elyse James","doi":"10.3390/soc14050073","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14050073","url":null,"abstract":"Prisons in the United States serve as a site and embodiment of gendered and racialized state violence. The US incarcerates more people than any other nation in both numbers and per capita rates. Individuals incarcerated in women’s prisons are 10% of the total prison population, yet women’s prisons remain understudied, and the violence that occurs in women’s facilities is rampant, widespread, and operates in particular racialized and gendered ways. This paper centers the forced sterilizations that occurred in California state prisons over the last two decades. We consider how reproduction and the nuclear family have served as a primary site of racial capitalism and eugenic ideology. While eugenic policies were popularized and promoted across the US and globally in the 20th century, the violent ideas underlying eugenic ideology have been a constant presence throughout US history. The height of the eugenics era is marked by the forcible sterilization of institutionalized ‘deviant’ bodies. While discussions of eugenics often center these programs, the reach of eugenic policies extends far beyond surgical interventions. We utilize a reproductive justice lens to argue that the hierarchical, racialized social stratification necessary for the existence of prisons constructs and sustains the ‘deviant’ bodies and families that predicate eugenic logic, policies, and practices. In this conceptual paper, we draw from ongoing research to argue that prisons, as institutions and as a product of racial capitalism, perpetuate the ongoing violent legacy of eugenics and name abolition as a central component of the fight to end reproductive oppression.","PeriodicalId":21795,"journal":{"name":"Societies","volume":"29 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141058729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rosa Scardigno, Carmela Sportelli, Paolo Giovanni Cicirelli, Angelica Lops, Francesca D'Errico
Online mothering is an arising and multifaceted phenomenon as the online world offers unique opportunities and risks in a particularly challenging period. The overall aim of this work is to investigate the features of the hashtag movement #itcouldbeme, which was born after a terrible news event concerning a newborn’s death, specifically concerning (a) the e-activation levels; (b) the emotional arousal; (c) the potential presence of deconstruction of stereotypes concerning intensive mothering. To investigate positioning, reactions, and emotions, a database of 394 online posts gathered from popular Italian social networks was created, manually codified, and analyzed through the chi-square test. The results enabled us to deepen the associations among these variables, thus revealing the opportunities for empowerment offered by the socio-cultural positioning, different emotional pathways, and adhesion to this online movement. Finally, implications for professionals and public health issues are discussed.
{"title":"Online Mothering: The Empowering Nature of a Hashtag Movement Founded on Social Sharing and Stereotype Deconstruction","authors":"Rosa Scardigno, Carmela Sportelli, Paolo Giovanni Cicirelli, Angelica Lops, Francesca D'Errico","doi":"10.3390/soc14050067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14050067","url":null,"abstract":"Online mothering is an arising and multifaceted phenomenon as the online world offers unique opportunities and risks in a particularly challenging period. The overall aim of this work is to investigate the features of the hashtag movement #itcouldbeme, which was born after a terrible news event concerning a newborn’s death, specifically concerning (a) the e-activation levels; (b) the emotional arousal; (c) the potential presence of deconstruction of stereotypes concerning intensive mothering. To investigate positioning, reactions, and emotions, a database of 394 online posts gathered from popular Italian social networks was created, manually codified, and analyzed through the chi-square test. The results enabled us to deepen the associations among these variables, thus revealing the opportunities for empowerment offered by the socio-cultural positioning, different emotional pathways, and adhesion to this online movement. Finally, implications for professionals and public health issues are discussed.","PeriodicalId":21795,"journal":{"name":"Societies","volume":"129 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140931493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}