Feminist Epistemology: A Reconstruction and Integration of Women's Knowledge and Experiences

Epistemology is the study of knowing. It is the basis for knowing and how it is that people come to know what they know (Johnson, 1995, p. 97). Originating from philosophy, epistemology seems to come to us from a number of disciplines, i. e.: sociology, psychology, and political science, among others (Duran, 1991, p. xi). These fields have all contributed to what is known as feminist epistemology. This occurred with the emergence of materials that professed to spelling out what feminist accounts of knowledge entail and what is implied by ways of knowing pertaining to women (p. xi). The term feminist epistemology does not have a single referent. Feminist theorists have used the term variously to refer to women's "ways of knowing," "women's experiences," or simple "women's knowledge" (Alcoff Potter, 1993, p. 1). Therefore, the term feminist epistemology is a means of summarizing, to some extent, and integrating women's knowledge and experiences. Inherent in feminist epistemology is the "multiplicity of women's voices" (Duran, 1991, p. xiii)

The 'failure' of Political Islam?:The Muslim Bortherhood's experience in government

On 30th June 2012 Mohamed Morsi was elected as the first post-revolutionary Egyptian President, marking the first time in the country’s history that an Islamist organisation legitimately ascended to power. This event dramatically changed political calculations across the region, and came with significant implications for both the Muslim Brotherhood and for the wider understanding of Political Islams. However, the Muslim Brotherhood’s rule was short-lived, as Morsi was deposed by a coup d’etat on 3rd July 2013. Since then, many have taken his deposition as proof of the incompatibility of Islamism and democratic governance, building on Oliver Roy’s argument of The Failure of Political Islam. This thesis explores the Muslim Brotherhood’s year in power to demonstrate that their removal is attributable to more than simply “undemocratic” choices and authoritarian tendencies, and analyses the sources of their political behaviour to highlight the importance of understanding Political Islam’s heterogeneous nature. This heterogeneity sets up a range of different ways in which groups engage with politics and state institutions – which is why the ideology cannot be reduced to a monolithic set of beliefs and practices. This understanding is key to the re-thinking of contemporary foreign policies towards the region, which are currently shaped by a homogenous view of Islamism and by its equation to extremism and violence. This thesis employs primary sources and data obtained from interviews with Egyptian activists and Muslim Brotherhood members, which investigated their role throughout the 2011 uprisings and up to July 2013. It provides a genealogy of the Muslim Brotherhood’s evolution from a grassroots movement into an Islamist political party, and analyses the organisation’s understanding of Political Islam to assess the implications of its deposition for the perception of the ideology as a whole. Ultimately, this thesis argues that the Muslim Brotherhood’s removal does not equal the end of Political Islam, but rather underlines the need for an understanding of the doctrine that is case-specific and that recognises the heterogeneity of its practices and manifestations

The politicisation of sectarianism in Egypt:‘creating an enemy’ the state vs. the Ikhwan

This article looks at the way in which a certain understanding of sectarian violence and discourses has been historically employed as a political tool by the Egyptian Government, especially in regards to the systematic repression and discrimination against the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) (al-ʾIkḫwān al-Muslimūn) throughout the organisation’s history. Such an understanding is particularly significant as it looks at sectarian divisions along religious and political lines taking place between two political entities within the context of a state in which Sunni Islam is the official religion; therefore, tensions have been constructed by the regime on the basis of ‘moderate’ vs. ‘radical’ interpretations of Islam. Looking at the historical relationship between the state and the Islamist organisation, it is rather easy to identify a repeating pattern of short periods of cooperation alternated to much longer interludes of brutal repression, the overarching aim of both being the safeguarding of the regime’s fragile perceived legitimacy. It follows that the politicisation of sectarian hatred and strategies at the hand of the state has led to the MB being constructed and perceived as ‘the other’, which has arguably hindered the organisation’s political development and created a stigma that is still negatively impacting on the understanding of the its role and narrative today

Egypt's Unbreakable Curse:Tracing the State of Exception from Mubarak to Al Sisi

This paper uses Giorgio Agamben’s State of Exception as a theoretical approach that allows us to see how emergency legislations operate in the region as mechanisms of control and dominant paradigms of governance. Relying on Egypt as a case study, this paper traces the significance of emergency rule throughout Mubarak’s era up until Al Sisi’s 2014 Constitution. It applies a four-stage analytical framework to investigate whether or not Egypt was indeed ruled by the exception throughout its turbulent recent history, while under the guise of Emergency Rule. In doing so, we aim to provide an analysis of the legal structures that shape Egyptian politics, while also adding to debates on the State of Exception, particularly on its application in the non-Western world

Disinhibition: its effects on appetite and weight regulation.

yesOver the past 30 years, the understanding of eating behaviour has been dominated by the concept of dietary restraint. However, the development of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire introduced two other factors, Disinhibition and Hunger, which have not received as much recognition in the literature. The objective of this review was to explore the relationship of the Disinhibition factor with weight regulation, food choice and eating disorders, and to consider its aetiology. The review indicates that Disinhibition is an important eating behaviour trait. It is associated not only with a higher body mass index and obesity, but also with mediating variables, such as less healthful food choices, which contribute to overweight/obesity and poorer health. Disinhibition is also implicated in eating disorders and contributes to eating disorder severity. It has been demonstrated that Disinhibition is predictive of poorer success at weight loss, and of weight regain after weight loss regimes and is associated with lower self-esteem, low physical activity and poor psychological health. Disinhibition therefore emerges as an important and dynamic trait, with influences that go beyond eating behaviour and incorporate other behaviours which contribute to weight regulation and obesity. The characteristics of Disinhibition itself therefore reflect many components representative of a thrifty type of physiology. We propose that the trait of Disinhibition be more appropriately renamed as ¿opportunistic eating¿ or ¿thrifty behaviour¿

First record of buccinid genus Chauvetia

Until now, the buccinid genus Chauvetia was considered of European or West African origin, and is still endemic to these areas today. This paper describes the oldest representative of the genus, Chauvetia inopinata nov. sp., from the upper Burdigalian-lower Langhian transition Cantaure Formation of Venezuela. This surprising record suggests a New World tropical origin to the genus and subsequent immigration to the Old World before the earliest known Old World record, which is upper Tortonian. We postulate that this pre-late Tortonian (pre-8.12-7.42 Ma) dispersal of the tropical Gatunian west-Atlantic Chauvetia into the tropical East Atlantic European-West African Province most probably happened during the 10.71-9.36 Ma interval (early-mid Tortonian) during which the Circum-Tropical Current weakened, and the northward Intra-Caribbean Current had started, enhancing the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Current. This new data constitutes compelling evidence of a pre-Pliocene eastward dispersal of New World shallow marine organisms across the Atlantic

KORISNOT I OPASNOST OD TRANSGENIČNIH BILJAKA

Surveying endangered species is necessary to evaluate conservation effectiveness. Camera trapping and biometric computer vision are recent technological advances. They have impacted on the methods applicable to field surveys and these methods have gained significant momentum over the last decade. Yet, most researchers inspect footage manually and few studies have used automated semantic processing of video trap data from the field. The particular aim of this study is to evaluate methods that incorporate automated face detection technology as an aid to estimate site use of two chimpanzee communities based on camera trapping. As a comparative baseline we employ traditional manual inspection of footage. Our analysis focuses specifically on the basic parameter of occurrence where we assess the performance and practical value of chimpanzee face detection software. We found that the semi-automated data processing required only 2–4% of the time compared to the purely manual analysis. This is a non-negligible increase in efficiency that is critical when assessing the feasibility of camera trap occupancy surveys. Our evaluations suggest that our methodology estimates the proportion of sites used relatively reliably. Chimpanzees are mostly detected when they are present and when videos are filmed in high-resolution: the highest recall rate was 77%, for a false alarm rate of 2.8% for videos containing only chimpanzee frontal face views. Certainly, our study is only a first step for transferring face detection software from the lab into field application. Our results are promising and indicate that the current limitation of detecting chimpanzees in camera trap footage due to lack of suitable face views can be easily overcome on the level of field data collection, that is, by the combined placement of multiple high-resolution cameras facing reverse directions. This will enable to routinely conduct chimpanzee occupancy surveys based on camera trapping and semi-automated processing of footage. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Using semi-automated ape face detection technology for processing camera trap footage requires only 2–4% of the time compared to manual analysis and allows to estimate site use by chimpanzees relatively reliably

Feminist Epistemology: The Foundation of Feminist Research and its Distinction from Traditional Research

There are many questions surrounding feminist research. The most common question is: "What makesfeminist research distinctive from traditional research within the Social Sciences?" In trying to answerthis question, we need to examine feminist epistemology and the intertwining nature of epistemology,methodology (theory and analysis of how research should proceed), and methods (techniques forgathering data) utilized by feminist researchers. Feminist epistemology in contrast to traditionalepistemologies is the foundation on which feminist methodology is built. In turn, the research thatdevelops from this methodology differs greatly from research that develops from traditional methodologyand epistemology. Therefore, I argue that one must have a general understanding of feministepistemology and methodology before one can understand what makes this type of research unique. Sucha foundation will assist us in our exploration of the realm of feminist research, while illuminating thedifferences between feminist and traditional research