Nothing is as it Seems:‘Discourse Capture’and Backlash Politics

In this article, in response to several calls for new theoretical andanalytical tools to help us understand the nature of contemporaryanti-feminist and anti-queer politics, I introduce the concept of‘discourse capture’. I argue that discourse capture is a key backlashmechanism, characterised by its intention, scale, and undercovernature. Discourse capture occurs where progressive discourse is co-opted and manipulated to serve right-wing agendas. I outline fourforms of discourse capture in practice–resignifying, shifting,mimicking, and twisting. Finally, in the context of existing feministcounter backlash strategies, I explore what a counter discoursecapture strategy might comprise

Sexuality and Empowerment: An Intimate Connection

What does sexuality have to do with women's empowerment? Research from the Pathways of Women's Empowerment RPC shows that sexuality affects women's political and economic empowerment in a number of important ways. For example, in the ways that women experience seeking election of political office, how women are treated and respected (or disrespected) in the workplace and in public, and how families and communities place expectations on how women should behave. Being exposed to sexual harassment and sexual violence and not being able to exercise choice in their sexual relationships affects women's well-being and ultimately undermines political, social and economic empowerment. In this policy paper, we demonstrate why sexuality is so important for women's empowerment, drawing on evidence generated by research carried out by the Pathways of Women's Empowerment RPC and collaborative initiatives with the DFID-funded IDS Sexuality and Development Programme.UKaid from the Department for International Development with co-funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affair

Global Queer and Feminist Activism: An Introduction

Queer and feminist visual activism has various origins across the globe and has emerged in a fluid cultural field of visual arts, popular culture, and protest aesthetics. Given the current context of gender backlash, these forms of activism have become urgent, and so too has scholarship that engages with global queer and feminist visual activism. In this special issue, we engage with the richness of activist aesthetics at the intersections of popular culture, subculture, art and activism, and other forms of visual political communication, not by attempting to contain these manifestations, but by offering a set of navigational tools. We conceive of three primary forms of queer and feminist visual practice – protest, process and product – each with its own histories and epistemologies. Each of these forms offers the capacity for resistance and collaboration. By opening up cross- and inter-disciplinary perspectives, and conversations across diverse global contexts, struggles and possibilities, we aim to expand on existing scholarship both geographically and conceptually. A central motivation for this work has been to think beyond the image; to be able to capture and engage with the activist communities (and the activism) behind and alongside the image and produced through the image. Taking the notion of social practice as an integral part of the ‘process’ of visual activism, we identify three emerging themes across the articles in this special issue: refusal, care, and thriving.Sid

Learning from a Living Archive: Rejuvenating Child and Youth Rights and Participation

This paper reflects the findings of the first phase of the REJUVENATE project, which set out to understand and map approaches to integrating children, youth, and community participation in child rights initiatives. We did this through a scoping of existing practitioner and academic literature (developing a project-based literature review matrix), a mapping of key actors, and the development of a typology of existing approaches. All three of these elements were brought together into a ‘living archive’, which is an evolving database that currently comprises 100 matrices, and a ‘collection’ of key field practitioners (many of whom we have interviewed for this project). In this paper we: (1) present a user-friendly summary of the existing tradition of substantive children’s participation in social change work; (2) share case studies across various sectors and regions of the world; (3) highlight ongoing challenges and evidence gaps; and (4) showcase expert opinions on the inclusion of child rights and, in particular, child/youth-led approaches in project-based work

A Progressive Constitution Meets Lived Reality: Sexuality and the Law in South Africa

This paper examines two cases of homophobic hate crime in post-apartheid South Africa. The paper illuminates how activists have used the legal system to address the violence faced by many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or intersex (LGBTQI) South Africans. Drawing on court transcripts, the experience of the lawyer in one of the cases and on interviews conducted with activists in South Africa, the article also draws attention to some of the challenges faced by those seeking to secure justice for LGBTQI people. The authors argue that recognising forms of violence motivated by prejudice as ‘hate crimes’ can serve as a powerful legal tool. The article provides a brief overview of the use of the term ‘hate crime’ in the South African context and offers concise accounts of the case studies and observations drawn from them. It also provides a series of recommendations regarding sexuality, violence and the law for state actors (ranging from police officers to judges and policymakers), for LGBTQI activists and educators and for donors.DFI

Understanding Children’s Harmful Work: A Review of the Methodological Landscape

Children’s engagement with work has been widely researched using a wide variety of methods. However, the extent to which such methods and their combination provides insight into forms of children’s harmful work (CHW) is not obvious. This paper reviews and assesses respective opportunities and challenges of the main methods that have been used to study children’s engagement with work. It proposes research design principles and a methodological landscape for an integrated approach to child-centred, inclusive, and ethical research of CHW

Understanding Children’s Harmful Work: The Methodological Landscape

This chapter details the merits and challenges of a range of quantitative, qualitative, participation and certification methods that have been used to measure and evaluate the extent and impact of children’s work and child labour. The review highlights the paucity in methods to accommodate considerations of children’s harmful work. It proposes a set of research design principles for studying children’s work. The chapter also calls for the use of new and innovative methods, highlighting the need for truly integrated mixed methods as well as more exploratory qualitative, participatory and emergent methodologies

Real World: Empowering Representations of Women through Film

This article makes an argument for the added value of the use of documentary film in development research communication. It draws broadly on the specific experience of the Real World film scheme developed by the Pathways of Women's Empowerment Research Programme Consortium and Creative England, to create empowering representations of women. It argues that both researchers and film?makers have much to gain by collaborating on the political project of co?crafting a visual argument, to create a nuanced and emotive end product

Introduction: Is Development Research Communication Coming of Age?

In this article we reflect on three themes that highlight current trends in research communication for development and, in turn, shape this issue of the IDS Bulletin . We argue that shifts in the sociopolitical and theoretical context within which development research communication is being put into practice; the range and configurations of actors and roles being deployed; and technological advances or innovations available for research communication are affecting important and often contested changes. In introducing this collection of articles relevant to these themes, we conclude that further work is needed in mapping out this evolving landscape and better understanding the interlinkages, antecedents, and tensions between perspectives. Doing so, we argue, could contribute to a stronger praxis of development research communication