Women, Gender, Feminism: Marginalization at the Inception of the World Social Forum

The World Social Forum (WSF) is a biannualmeeting space for the globaljustice movement that facilitates the coordination of worldwide events andprotests around a variety of social justice issues. I argue that although theprinciples of the WSF are based on feminist methods of participation, theresearch presented here demonstrates that women, gender, and feminism weremarginalized in the program and content at the forum’s inception. Empiricallythe paper presents the structure of programming and a quantitative examinationof women’s and feminist groups’ participation of the first years of the WSFprocess. I consider the thematic development of the WSF and role ofinformation sharing and intersectionality as feminist principles wereincorporated into the WSF. I refer to various theoretical perspectives on genderincluding feminist political economy, postcolonialism,and queer theory tomake sense of feminist participation and marginalization at the World SocialForum

In Defense of World Social Forum VII

The article argues that the overall World Social Forum (WSF), the annual meeting held by members of the anti-globalization or alter-globalization movement, process embodies an uneven, often contradictory, but evolving democratization with WSF advancing this agenda thru its presence in Nairobi, Kenya. It focuses on the WSF held in Nairobi, which is described as one of the most peripheralized countries. It begins by presenting the roots of the WSF and eventually concludes with the achievements of the addition of the WSF held in Nairobi

The Phenomenon of Collaboration: A Phenomenologic Study of Collaboration between Family Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology Departments at an Academic Medical Center

Collaboration is essential to manage complex real world problems. We used phenomenologic methods to elaborate a description of collaboration between two departments at an academic medical center who considered their relationship to represent a model of effective collaboration. Key collaborative structures included a shared vision and commitment by leaders, rigorous quality improvement, clear delineation of roles with built-in flexibility, ongoing commitment to formal and informal communication channels and conflict resolution, relationship development grounded in respect and responsiveness, and shared training in a supportive learning environment with legitimate participation fostering skill development. This study reveals the complexity and resources required for collaboration which both explains why collaboration is not as easy to achieve and identifies processes that foster collaboration

Microenterprise development, industrial labour, and the seductions of precarity

Microenterprise development is underpinned by an ideology that the solution to poverty is the integration of the poor into market relations. This article addresses the paradox that its ‘beneficiaries’ may be dispossessed industrial workers who already have a long history of participation in the capitalist economy. Exploring the transformation of garment workers in Trinidad from factory employees to home-based ‘micro-entrepreneurs’, I argue that working conditions and labour rights have deteriorated under the protective cover of seemingly laudable policies to promote economic empowerment via self-employment. Showing how microenterprise initiatives contribute to women workers’ ‘adverse incorporation’ (Phillips, 2011) into global production networks, this article calls for renewed attention to the labour politics of microenterprise development

Theorizing the Rise of Microenterprise Development in Carribean Context

Throughout the world development agencies and governments promote micro-enterprise development as a solution to the employment crisis and penury of the global south. But what brought about the unprecedented expansion and worldwide promotion of micro-enterprise development? As a case study on micro-enterprise expansion in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, this paper offers a grounded theory analysis based on semi-structured interviews with national and international officials active in micro-enterprise development. Themes drawn from the interviews demonstrate that the failure of past development policies and the neo-liberal response to these failures help explain why micro-enterprise development expanded vastly in Trinidad and Tobago. Theoretically, I draw from Luxembourgs (1951) and Nashs (1990) studies on subsistence or petty production under capitalism and the world-systems analysis of households (Wallerstein and Scott 1992a; 1992b) to develop a conceptual framework for understanding the expansion of micro-enterprise development under neo-liberalism globally. In this era, micro-enterprise development reflects two separate strategies of dealing with economic crisesinformal or unwaged work and government transfer or social safety netsmerged into one

Riding the globalization wave (1974-2004): islandness and strategies of economic development in two post-colonial states

In 1974, the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, both former British colonies, experienced significant events that permanently altered their economic and social realities. The coincidence of these occurrences offers an opportunity for a historical comparison of island development. In effect, this paper argues that the economic paths of these islands were shaped largely by their responses to neo-liberalism. Cyprus’ support for domestic enterprises and resistance to neo-liberal policies throughout the early 1990s compared to Trinidad and Tobago’s forced acquiescence to them and reliance on its energy sector explain the difference in their economic trajectories. Analytically, I argue that island nations can chart a course for economic strategies that benefit more of the population despite neo-liberal pressure to adopt policies that advantage global capital. This comparison supports the island studies position that islands have distinct place-based and/or historical capacities for resourceful and creative tactics towards economic autonomy and development