Slacktivists or Activists?: Identity Work in the Virtual Disability March

Protests are important social forms of activism, but can be inaccessible to people with disabilities. Online activism, like the 2017 Disability March, has provided alternative venues for involvement in accessible protesting and social movements. In this study, we use identity theory as a lens to understand why and how disabled activists engaged in an online movement, and its impact on their self-concepts. We interviewed 18 disabled activists about their experiences with online protesting during the Disability March. Respondents' identities (as both disabled individuals and as activists) led them to organize or join the March, evolved alongside the group's actions, and were reprioritized or strained as a result of their involvement. Our findings describe the values and limitations of this activism to our respondents, highlight the tensions they perceived about their activist identities, and present opportunities to support further accessibility and identity changes by integrating technology into their activist experiences

Making sense of assets: Community asset mapping and related approaches for cultivating capacities

This working paper critically reviews some main aspects from asset based approaches highlights key strengths and weaknesses for future research/development. Drawing on a large body of reports and relevant literature we draw on different theoretical traditions and critiques, as well as practices and processes embedded within a broad range of approaches including, widely acknowledged frameworks such Asset Based Community Development (ABCD), Appreciative Inquiry (AI), Sustainable Livelihood Approaches (SLA) and Community Capitals Framework (CCF). Although these are presented as distinct approaches, there is a sense of evolution through them and many of them overlap (in terms of both theories and methodologies). We also include emerging frameworks, including geographical, socio-spatial, visual and creative approaches, stemming from a number of projects within AHRC’s Connected Communities programme and additional collaborations

Invisible No More: The Role of Training and Education in Increasing Union Activism of Chinese Home Care Workers in Local 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East (UHE)

[Excerpt] In 2002 only a small number of Chinese home care workers represented by 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East (UHE) were involved in their union. Language, unfamiliarity with unions in the United States, and, in some cases, undocumented immigration status inhibited participation in the life of the union by the growing number of Chinese home care workers. Despite these obstacles in 2007 perhaps the most active segment of the 60,000 home care workers in 1199SEIU now comes from the approximately 10,000 Chinese home care workers. Today, Chinese home care workers are consistently overrepresented at union (not just home care) rallies and demonstrations and have helped organize several home care agencies, bringing significant numbers of additional Chinese workers into the union. Currently the Chinese home care workers are organizing retirees and expanding their involvement in the political life of their communities. Chinese home care workers have extended their activism into political participation in their communities and in the union\u27s political program. Eighty to ninety percent of Chinese home care workers, who earn between $7 and$10 per hour and who cannot count on regular work contribute between $5 and$10 per month on top of their union dues to the union\u27s political action committee, maybe the highest percentage in the union. What makes this turnaround particularly significant is the role education and training played in the organizing. In 2003, 1199, assisted by Cornell University labor educators, launched a series of two-day training sessions for home care union activists facilitated in Cantonese and Mandarin. Chinese home care activists trained as facilitators by 1199 led the training. To date the two-day activist training has been given thirteen times for over 700 Chinese home care workers who give up precious days to complete the training. Each new training session is eagerly awaited, and each new class has a waiting list of participants ready before it starts. Of those who have completed the activist training over 100 have attended additional training to become union delegates (stewards). This article will describe how the Chinese Activist Training was conceived, designed and presented

Design for sustainable behaviour: Investigating design methods for influencing user behaviour

This research aims to develop a design tool for product and service innovation which influences users towards more sustainable behaviour, reducing resource use and leading to a lower carbon footprint for everyday activities. The paper briefly explains the reasoning behind the tool and its structure, and presents an example application to water conservation with concept ideas generated by design students

Environmental activism and gender

In the following sections, this chapter discusses and provides a number of examples from around the world to illustrate each of these aspects of environmental activism and gender — the empirical, theoretical, and dynamic—ending with a few concluding remarks.This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canad

Climate Justice and Women's Rights: A Guide to Supporting Grassroots Women's Action

This Guide emerged from a "Summit on Women and Climate" in Bali, Indonesia, and aims to increase timely and appropriate funding for worldwide climate action initiatives led by women and their communities. The Guide is not a comprehensive resource on climate change or women's rights. Instead, it addresses an urgent need within the funding community and offers concrete, practical guidance that: Orients grantmakers to the importance of funding at the intersection of climate justice and women's rights.Draws lessons from specific examples of funding for women's climate change initiatives.Provides guidance on how funders can collaborate to direct timely and appropriate funding to women and their communities.Advocates for bringing women's voices into climate change policy discussions.Highlights the strong impact that small (less than $10,000) to medium-sized ($10,000-$50,000) grants can make in women-organized efforts to address climate change at the community level, across geographic boundaries and in global climate policy. Grassroots women's climate activism is becoming increasingly critical to women's collective and individual rights, freedom and survival

Interdependence as a Frame for Assistive Technology Research and Design

In this paper, we describe interdependence for assistive technology design, a frame developed to complement the traditional focus on independence in the Assistive Technology field. Interdependence emphasizes collaborative access and people with disabilities' important and often understated contribution in these efforts. We lay the foundation of this frame with literature from the academic discipline of Disability Studies and popular media contributed by contemporary disability justice activists. Then, drawing on cases from our own work, we show how the interdependence frame (1) synthesizes findings from a growing body of research in the Assistive Technology field and (2) helps us orient to additional technology design opportunities. We position interdependence as one possible orientation to, not a prescription for, research and design practice--one that opens new design possibilities and affirms our commitment to equal access for people with disabilities

The role of ICT in assuring environmental sustainability

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) affect the environment both positively and negatively at various levels. At the most direct level, production, use and disposal of IT equipment is becoming a serious environmental concern. While by many measures the impacts of automobiles are much larger than those of computers, the short lifespan, chemically intensive production processes and content of toxic materials in a computer imply it has a significant environmental impact. There is much that is being done to deal with these issues, such as recently passed EU legislation mandating takeback and recycling systems for electronic goods. Much remains murky, however, about the scope and nature of the problems involved and what should be the appropriate response. There is thus much useful work to be done to realize environmentally friendly computers. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/839