Close Encounters: Solidarity,Servitude and Postcolonial Feminist Affects and Affiliations

Abstract

This essay offers close readings of three texts that in different ways foreground the problems, possibilities and struggle involved in forging affective connections across difference between women: Kate Clanchy, What is She Doing Here? 2008, Jamaica Kincaid, Lucy, 1991a and Marlene Van Niekerk, ‘Labour’, 2004. The author argues that the incomplete and partial nature of affective moments represented in these texts signals possibilities for a cautiously redefined idea of affective feminist solidarity as it is mobilized in the intimacy of domestic spaces.     

Mapping giant honey bee nests in Palawan,Philippines through a transdisciplinary approach

This article reports on a study that uses participatory mapping with indigenous Tagbanua honey hunters and gatherers to understand the spatial distribution of giant honey bees in a community forest in Palawan, Philippines. Through the use of global positioning system devices, digital cameras, and a solar home system as an electricity source, local collaborators mapped 31 bee nests from April to June 2015. This study provides a replicable long-term participatory methodology and promotes participatory learning and mutual knowledge creation. By combining applied sustainability research with local stakeholder participation, the article suggests that novel knowledge and solutions can aid sustainable rural development.     

The Silent Reform of Swiss Federalism: The New Constitutional Articles on Education

This article examines the decision‐making process leading to the new constitutional articles on education in Switzerland. It analyzes how actors from both state levels (Confederation and cantons) could reach consensus in a process that was prone to a “joint‐decision trap”. To that end, we hypothesize which factors may be conducive to a “problem‐solving” style of policy‐making in a compulsory negotiation system. Rich empirical material from various sources supports our theoretical arguments: We show that shared beliefs and a common frame of reference, the procedural separation between constitutional and distributional issues, neutral brokers, and informal structures were all beneficial to the success of the reform project.     

Strategic ratification

Previous models of ratifier effects have relied on restrictive assumptions regarding the dimensionality of the choice space and the preferences and rationality of actors. These assumptions can lead to an underestimation of the importance of ratifiers and a mischaracterization of their role. A model presented here responds to these concerns and finds that when ratifiers are strategic, ratification requirements consistently aid negotiators in settings where previous models find no effects. Furthermore, new relations between the types of ratifier and the strength of their influence are identified. Negotiators benefit from in-group homogeneity on dimensions along which negotiators agree and from internal dissension on dimensions along which negotiators disagree.     

Costly Misconceptions of Law and Legal Services: The Small Business Owner vs. the Chicago Personal Property Tax

Inaccurate perceptions of the law by ordinary citizens, especially when resolution of conflicts caused by such perceptions is usually handled by lawyers, can lead to cynicism and distrust of government, the legal system, and the lawyers who participate in the system. The authors present some results of research into the functioning of a particular part of the system in a particular place to show how all participants keep the situation from being changed.