It is impossible to separate active research from politics especially if it means transforming peoples lives. Even so, researchers who might be interested in applying their skills and training to address social issues find it challenging to mix politics and psychology.
In this book, Mary Brydon-Miller says that the goal of Participatory Action Plan is to initiate social transformation and community empowerment by enabling researchers who undertake to work with communities to achieve desired social change by using psychology to support social, economic and political values.
Beginning with definition of the concepts of Participatory Action Research which includes the little known concept of “participatory research”, this book goes on to describe a number of theories and principles of building viable projects through practical teamwork, the role of the researcher and that of the subject, describing the benefits of involving the researcher in the political life of the subject.
The next step referred in the subtitle, explains the methods that can be used by the researcher to engage the community in meaningful research that can help solve its problems. Finally, there is a lengthy explanation of how psychology can be combined with politics to help solve social problems openly and democratically. Issues touching on developing countries, homeless persons, and role of politicians have been discussed.
Additional points worth mentioning are the inclusion of the quote, “Be There When it happens” by the late poet Joel Oppen-heimer. A well structured book, Education, Research and Action does a good job of describing the benefits of combining psychology with politics, but also why the community should be included in every research.
Class Experience and Conflict in a Feminist Workplace: A Case Study
In work places, perception of class among Euro-American women comes as a result of differences in location of work place and barriers to access of equal work relations in the place of work. In this book, Sandra Morgen uses a health clinic case study to explain how women come to perceive themselves as being either middle or working class.
Contrary to popular belief, coalitions, alliances and work relationships between working-class and middle class women and between Euro-American and women of color do not suggest the existence of sisterhood.
This book begins by discussing the meaning of class to Euro-American women by referring to a health clinic run jointly by middle and working class women workers. The book goes on to explain how class is identified, class differences understood and how they impact on activities in the clinic i.e. are there oppressive class relations etc. A discussion of class theories follows.
The next step involves the discussion of the background and history of a health group called community women for health that was jointly founded by Euro-American working and middle class women. This is followed by a discussion of politics within CWH that saw the middle class women fire the working class. Causes for this outcome of events i.e. strained class relationships; conflicts due to working conditions and class based policies have been discussed.
Additional points worth noting include four separate stories of Betsy, Jesse, Margret and Liz who were interviewed. The well structured book explains equal contributions made by both classes and how middle class came to dominate the clinic by discriminating against their peers. The book ends by giving a conclusion and recommendation.
Feminism and Method: Ethnography, discourse Analysis, and Activist Research
The scientific description of customs of cultures and individual peoples or ethnography is subject to bias every time the relationship between the researcher and the subjects gets out of hand. In this book, Nancy Naples states that negative consequences arising as a result of such bias can be eliminated by taking into account methodological strategies developed by researchers who took postcolonial, postmodern and feminist standpoint.
This is so because members of a community being researched are participants in the research process and certainly do affect the outcome of the research.
This book begins by discussing what researchers can to avoid affecting the lives of research subjects. The book goes on to explain how a feminist approach can be used in ethnography, discuss challenges of ethnography, limits and possibilities of reflective practice i.e. it can make interactive activities between researcher and subjects to be time consuming due to lengthy consultations.
Next step involves explaining how weaknesses of reflective practice can be reduced. The book concludes by briefly discussing the role of feminist theories in ethnographic research and its shortcomings.
Additional points worth noting is the interview conducted to demonstrate reflective practice and the relevance of findings obtained. The book which uses technical terms to bring forth its case does a good job of explaining how bias in ethnography can be overcome so as to give reliable end result. The subjects under study seem to be aware of the bias and feministic materialist approach has been noted to be the best solution to this problem.
Theoretical Bases for Coalition Building: An Assessment of Postmodernism
The author of this book Nancy C. M. Hart sock notes that political theory can be useful for political and policy by helping to reveal possible new coalitions and alliances. This book notes that political coalitions are formed when members of certain communities are dominated and marginalized by others. Coalitions are based on factors such as race, gender, sexuality and class.
The book begins by discussing feminist and postmodernist theories. Postmodernism and the enlightenment tradition are compared. The book also discusses the root of capitalism and it has a comprehensive essay dedicated to failures of postmodernism. The book further discusses the implications of feminist theory and contributions made by Marxist theory to coalition. The book discusses how domineering groups in a society force those dominated to reconstitute themselves into coalitions.
Under the subtopic developing alternative visions, the book suggests to the reader the sources of additional information for better understanding of the subject matter. Something else that is worth noting is the inclusion of a poem by Gloria Anzalduas that illustrates the plight of the subjugated or dominated communities.
The book contains additional short notes that give a brief overview of the kind of ideas that are being discussed in the book and that guides the reader through some of the issues that have been discussed. The book also has a list of contributors that made the work possible.
A well structured book, Theoretical Bases for Coalition Building does a good job of describing existing theories that explain the root of coalitions and also describe alternative theories that can be used to explain the origin of coalitions.
Feminist Approaches to Social Movements, community and Power: Some Theoretical “Musings” about Gender and Resistance
We are living in times of profound changes. These changes have changed the way knowledge is produced in the field of international relations. In this book, Marianne H. Marchand notes that the most important of these changes include cold war and globalization and the impact that these have had on IR. The end of Cold war changed how international politics were viewed earlier by introduced some subjects for debate like environment etc.
Globalization has made IR scholars shift their attention to issues like social movements, transnational corporations and the likelihood of emergence of a global civil society that could end up forming a “New World Order”. The order is often fought by people who often resist changes in global political economy.
Beginning with a discussion of knowledge of issues pertaining to globalization, gender and feminism, this book the goes on to describe a number of issues related to gender based resistance to social change, setbacks to globalization and explaining their effect the establishment of new world order.
Next come the issues referred to in the subtitle, which undermine swift implementation of globalization. Finally there are a number of provocative essays discussing diverse subjects such as gender and resistance to global changes, social movements i.e. women’s health movement etc, feminist resistance practices, globalization and politics of resistance.
Additional points worth mentioning are the inclusion of excerpts from women’s movements and other activists and some long notes from the author to help the reader understand the source of some of the ideas. The book was published in Columbia, South Carolina.
The book gives clear details of how feminist movements hinder global development.
Rethinking Feminist Organizations
Despite the increase in popularity of social feminist movements scholars continue to overlook some strategies, ideologies and forms embodied by feminist organizations.
Patricia Yancey Martin who is the author of this book argue that most scholars who are involved in judging feminist organizations pay more attention to collectivism and bureaucratic issues while at the same time choosing to overlook some qualities of these organizations. This means that a lot remains to be discussed especially when it comes to comparing non feminist and feminist organizations.
The author begins by outlining all key aspects of feminist organizations that he is going to discuss in the book including definitions. The book then goes ahead to discuss some contested issues, how organizations are classified of feminist and non feminist, how feminist organizations lose power by working more with the government, internal structure of the organization, what distinguishes a feminist organization from the others and the ten dimensions or aspects of a feminist organization.
The most important thing done by the author is to define the concept of feminist organizations comprehensively together with all associated terms. This is closely followed by essays discussing all of the ten dimensions that distinguish a feminist organization from a non feminist organization.
Additional points worth noting is the note given by the author to the reader that refers him or her to an earlier version of the book that the reader can use to gain much understanding concerning the issue being discussed. The book also gives the background of the author and issues she is currently covering. The book is well structured and it describes the link between feminist organizations and social movements.
Men’s work: Men’s voices and Actions against Sexism and Violence
It is the duty of men to prevent violence perpetrated against women, however, little is known about men who commit their lives towards prevention of violence against women. In this book, Rus Ervin Funk observes that it can be a bit confusing to focus attention to men only while ignoring women victims of various forms of violence. The book focuses on and how men can prevent fellow men from perpetrating violence against women.
The book begins by giving a summary of findings of a project that was carried out whose purpose was to see how violence against women can be controlled. The book then goes on to discuss the role played by men to prevent violence against women, it then discusses the various forms of violence that exist in the society and finally the book gives details concerning the project undertaken, what the findings were and the recommendations.
The next step outlined in the subtitle, explains the need for men to re examine themselves by redefining the meaning of a real man in order to effectively tackle the problem of violence against women.
Finally, the book gives details of the outcomes of the project that involved obtaining the views of men concerning violence against women and how much the notion of being a real man contributed towards such violence. All forms of violence are discussed including sexual assault, dating abuse, sexual harassment, domestic violence, prostitution, pornography, and stalking.
Additional Points worth noting include an overview of key words to guide the reader towards understanding better the subject matter under discussion and the list of acknowledgement that gives the background of the author.
Social Movements: Creating Communities of Change
Social movements and political protests can have significant impact on politics and public policy. It is not easy trying to understand social movements. In this book, David S. Meyer says that since social movements have become a feature that is increasingly associated with modern political life, there is the need to understand them better. This requires analyzing factors of social protest movements handled mostly through feminist protest movements but have often been missing from conventional political analysis.
The book begins by discussing the phenomena of social movements and how such understanding can help social scientists understand the movements better. The book the goes on to discuss how feminist theories can be used best to explain the origins of social movements and protest politics.
The next thing referred in the subtitle, explains how social movements transform the lives of the participants. It also details additional means that can be used by social movements to engage in conventional political activities e.g. public education campaigns, running electoral campaigns, lobbying and non conventional means such as political violence, demonstrations, civil disobedience, picketing, and boycotts.
Additional points worth noting are the authors description of real life movements that helps the reader understand circumstances under which social movements are formed, what political opportunities are created and the effects that social protest movements have on culture, policy, and lives of participants.
The book focuses mainly on feminist theory and its contribution to politics, community and social life. The book ends with a note that guides the reader in understanding the context of the book.
Critical Race Theory: The Intersection of Race and Gender
The last twenty years have seen women desire to shape their lives increase. Women have realized that there is power in numbers. In this book, Kimberley Williams Crenshaw says that transforming problems that were formerly seen as individual and isolated i.e. violence against women, gays, lesbians, African Americans etc into a form of social movement can help solve these problems more effectively. The social movements give the desired political identity that helps fight race and gender based prejudices.
The book begins by discussing means of increasing membership for a social movement in order to give it more social significance. The book mostly focuses on describing gender and race aspects of violence against women of color, failures of contemporary antiracist and feminist theories to address problems faced by women of color.
The next step referred in the subtitle, explains the intersection between racism and sexism in discrimination against black women. The book also discusses the details of a field study on shelters that was conducted in Los Angeles, discrimination against women of color and high rates of unemployment among them, race and domestic violence support services.
Additional points worth noting include excerpts taken fro other books to help the reader gaining better understanding of the subject under discussion. Elaborate discussion of racism and rape occurring against women of color. The book also has additional notes that direct the reader towards sources for further reading.
This book is well structured and it gives comprehensive details on how violence against women of color can be controlled by strengthening social movements that address women problems. This can be achieved effectively by addressing individual and isolated cases of violence through social movements.