Events

Seminar – Cartographies of Child Poverty in Policies and Programmes in Kenya

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Friday 19 February 10.30-12.00
W&N building, 6th floor, room WN-P656, this is behind the main building
VU University Amsterdam

Cartographies of Child Poverty in Policies and Programmes in Kenya: Locating Children’s Voice at the Interstices of Competing Representations

Elizabeth Ngutuku (Eliza)

PhD Researcher
International Institute of Social Studies

Abstract:

Policies and programmes for child poverty and vulnerability harbour specific constructions on child poverty as well as poor children.  These constructions may affect children’s subjective experiences and elide the voices of children. Despite this possibility, these interventions have often been perceived as natural and the norms they harbour are often invisible. The proposed one year research in Kenya intends to problematize and denaturalize these dominant constructions as embedded in policies and programmes.  Elizabeth Ngutuku will map these competing representations against the perspectives and lived experience of children. In so doing, she intends to locate children’s voices, while aware that these perspectives might go beyond the articulated as they might be contained in the unsaid as well as hidden in the processes of silencing.

Note that our March meeting will take place on Tuesday 15 March 10.30-12.00. We will have the pleasure of a presentation of Dr Clarice Cohen from Brazil. If you are interested in presenting at one of our seminars yourself, please contact the Network chair: Dr Sandra J.T.M. Evers, s.j.t.m.evers@vu.nl

VU University is located at a 10-minutes’ walk from Amsterdam Zuid railway station. Tram stop ‘De Boelelaan / VU’ is served by tram lines 5 and 51. W&N Building is located behind the main building:

http://www.vu.nl/nl/Images/CAMPUS_PLATTEGROND-looprichtingen_100px_website_contact_tcm289-386787.jpg

Feel free to communicate information of this seminar to other people who might be interested.

Could you confirm your participation in the 19 February seminar to us? childrenseminar@hotmail.com

Uncategorized

AAA Panel CFP – Ethics, IRB, vulnerable pops

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Panel:  Ethical and Practical Complexities: Navigating the IRB to Conduct Ethnographies with Vulnerable Populations

Call for Papers: AAA 2016
Minneapolis, MN
November 16-20, 2016
Theme: “Evidence, Accident, Discovery”

Abstract:

Anthropologists face unique challenges in obtaining IRB approval to conduct research with vulnerable populations, particularly (but not limited to) people with mental illnesses or who are undergoing mental health treatment.  Beyond the basic challenges of collecting data while remaining sensitive to the needs of the populations work with, we also face the complexities of satisfying IRB requirements in ever-changing ethnographic environments and maintaining participant confidentiality in clinical settings.  Due to the sensitive nature of mental illnesses, anthropologists also participate in extra screenings in order to ensure the safety of the participants.

Consistent with this year’s AAA theme, “Evidence, Accident, Discovery”, this panel highlights questions for anthropologists conducting mental health and other disability research.  First, how anthropologists face challenges in obtaining IRB approval for our research and how we obtain high-quality data while adhering to high ethical standards?  In the case of uneven balances of power between ethnographer and participant, the panel asks how we can envision our relationships with vulnerable people and populations? This panel also examines the obligations that anthropologists have to our participants, from prevention of harm during the course of research to ensuring the results of our research also do not cause harm, and perhaps can be used to reduce vulnerability.

Papers relevant to this panel might discuss IRB requirements to conduct ethnographic research among people with mental illnesses; whether ethical obligations to participants with mental illnesses differ from those we might hold to other participants; and the challenges of complying with IRB while in the field.

Abstracts are limited to 250 words, and are due to Shir Lerman (shir.lerman@gmail.com) and Olivia Marcus (olivia.marcus@uconn.edu) by March 5, 2016.

Job Postings

RA job – UCL Institute of Child Health

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UCL Institute of Child Health
30 Guilford Street, London, WC1N 1EH

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AMX150/research-assistant/

Research Assistant Job reference: 1534180

Unit
Louis Dundas Centre for Children’s Palliative Care
Grade
Grade 6B
Salary (inclusive of London allowance)
£29,485 – £31,091 per annum, depending on skills and experience
Reporting to
Prof Myra Bluebond-Langner
Duration
This role is initially funded for 2 years
Hours of work
36.5 a week
Annual leave
27 days
robation period
9 months
Job Specification
Overview
The post holder, in conjunction with Professor Myra Bluebond-Langner, and staff funded to work on specific studies, will assist on this project which takes forward the core academic themes of the unit: (1) Documenting the illness experience; (2) Decision making about care and treatment; (3) Pain and symptom management; (4) Delivery of palliative care services.
The post holder’s main responsibilities will be (a) to assist in day to day research activities (including data management, collaborative analysis and presentation of results), (b) to contribute, as a co- author, to the development and writing of research papers for publication in books and peer reviewed journals and for presentation at meetings and conferences, (c) to develop effective working partnerships with clinicians and other stakeholders in the field of paediatric palliative care to assist others on the team to ensure timely completion of research activities (d) to contribute to other academic activities of the unit as required by the professor.
The person appointed will in consultation with the Chair:
 Participate in literature and instrument review, instrument development, data collection and analysis.
 Undertake analysis of empirical data under the direction of Professor Bluebond-Langner and provide written reports of the analysis subject to her specifications in a timely manner.
 Carry out data entry on the unit’s qualitative and quantitative data bases.
  Contribute to preparing and submitting project outlines for peer review, research and
development review and ethical approval.  Contribute to the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative research data as
required. 
 Contribute to development of the Louis Dundas Centre’s clinical database. 
 Contribute presentations to regular unit seminars.  Provide the unit team with regular progress reports on current projects.  Participate in monthly academic unit business meetings, where the goals of the unit and
progress of various projects are discussed.  Meet at least fortnightly with Professor Bluebond-Langner and project staff to review
progress to date and plan next steps.  Complete minutes and compile documents for the research team meetings as required.  Collaborate in preparing final reports of projects in a timely manner for a range of audiences.  Participate in the development of proposals and articles emanating from projects
undertaken.
This job description reflects the present requirements of the post. The post holder will carry out any other duties within the scope, spirit and purpose of the role and as required by their line manager and/or Head of Department/Programme. As duties and responsibilities change/develop, the job description will be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the post holder.
The post holder will actively follow UCL policies including Equal Opportunities policies and be expected to give consideration within their role as to how they can actively advance equality of opportunity and good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
The post holder will also maintain an awareness and observation of Fire and Health & Safety
Regulations.
Uncategorized

CFP for ASA 2016 (Durham, UK) – Living histories, making futures: Temporality and young lives

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ASA 2016 conference – Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth

University of Durham, UK, 4-7 July 2016

Living histories, making futures: Temporality and young lives

Convenors 

Sarah Winkler-Reid (Newcastle University), Ditte Strunge Sass (Mahidol University International College), Camilla Morelli (University of Bristol)

Short Abstract

This panel examines the temporal dimensions of young lives, both in terms of how young people construct their life-trajectories and future selves; and how they experience, discuss, reflect and mobilise personal local, national or global histories and memories.

Long Abstract

Children and young people often symbolise both hope and anxiety in public discourses about the future. Since the 1990s, an increasing number of anthropologists have sought to study children and young people in their own right, rather than as adults-in-the-making or societal symbols. However, as scholars have noted, this leads to a tendency to disconnect young people from the generational relations in which they are embedded (Cole 2004), while on the other hand, the focus on the ‘now-ness’ of youth action can overlook the temporal dimensions of experience (Ansell et al 2014). This panel considers how different temporalities intersect at the level of childhood and youth. It examines how children and young people prepare the ground for their future selves and life-trajectories by mediating between desires, hopes and aspirations for the future on one side; and the social and political-economic constraints informed by previous generations on the other. What are the aspects of continuity and transformation in this process? How can we understand young people’s learning as both an act of creativity, and as the result of past actions and collective histories?

We invite papers that examine the temporal and political dimensions of young lives. Both in terms of the future, as children and young people’s actions, efforts and choices shape the trajectories of their own lives and of society at large; and to the past, by examining how they experience, discuss, reflect and mobilise personal, local, national or global histories and memories.

Please follow this link to submit a paper: http://www.nomadit.co.uk/asa/asa2016/panels.php5?PanelID=4413

Events

Young People, Participation & Media: Between the Rhetoric & Practice of Democracy

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RISE/ Virtual Pedagogy Seminar
2 March 2016, 11.00-12.30
Convent Parlour, Digby Stuart College
University of Roehampton
South-West London

The programme is:

Welcome & Introduction by Dr. Michalis Kontopodis & Dr. Julie Shaughnessy (10’)

Young People, Participation & Media: Between the Rhetoric & Practice of Democracy by Dr. Shakuntala Banaji, LSE (60′ including discussion)

Coffee, tea & informal interaction (30’)

Seats are on a first-come first-served basis (but you are welcome to tell me whether you are able to join). Please forward this announcement to interested students, colleagues and practitioners!

Abstract and speaker information: 

Young People, Participation and Media: Between the Rhetoric and Practice of Democracy, Dr. Shakuntala Banaji, LSE

There has been widespread concern in contemporary Western societies about declining engagement in civic life; studies find that people are less inclined to vote, to join political parties, to campaign for social causes, or to trust political processes. Young people more than other groups are frequently described as disenchanted with elections, alienated or apathetic. Some scholars have looked optimistically to new media – and particularly the Internet – as a means of revitalizing civic life and giving young people a voice. Governments, political parties, charities, NGOs, activists, religious and ethnic groups, and grassroots organizations have created a range of youth-oriented websites that encourage widely divergent forms of civic engagement and use varying degrees of interactivity. But are young people really apathetic and lacking in motivation? In what circumstances does the Internet have the power to re-engage those disenchanted with politics and civic life? And what role do social class, political and media literacy play in motivating sustained participation?

Based on three major research projects funded by the European Commission between 2006 and 2016, the paper attempts to understand the role the internet and media more generally play in young people’s participation in democracy and the civic sphere. Examples are drawn from Hungary, the Finland, France, Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom – countries offering contrasting political systems and cultural contexts. The books based on this research – ‘Banaji, S & Buckingham, D. (2013) ‘The Civic Web: Young People, the Internet and Civic Participation’ and Cammaerts, Bruter, Banaji et al. (2015) ‘Young People and Democratic Life in Europe: Between Hope and Disillusion’ also address broader questions about the meaning of civic engagement, inclusion and exclusion, the nature of new forms of participation, and their implications for the future of civic life.

Dr. Shakuntala Banaji is a Lecturer in Media and Communications, and Programme Director of the Master’s in Media, Communication, and Development at LSE. Her teaching and research covers children, youth and media cultures in South Asia and Europe, Hindi films, the internet and civic participation. She has worked on several largescale funded projects, and is currently UK project director for CATCH-EyoU: Constructing Active Citizenship with Young People in Europe (Horizon 2020, 2015-2018).

http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/WhosWho/AcademicStaff/ShakuntalaBanaji.aspx

Further details: https://mkontopodis.wordpress.com

Calls for Papers: Conferences

CFP – Workshop: Activism on the edge of age

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Workshop organised by the ERC Connectors Study & hosted the Centre for Innovation and Research in Childhood and Youth, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QQ

June 2 & 3, 2016

The workshop brings together researchers and activists concerned with the lived experiences of activism across the lifespan, with a particular emphasis on earlier and later life experiences. We are interested in the spaces, places and times – historical and contemporary – where activism and age intersect in everyday lives and social imaginaries.

Activism and youth remain closely intertwined in everyday life and research.  Activist demographics suggest that ‘youth’ and ‘young adulthood’ is a prime time for participation in social movements, and the link between youth and social, cultural and political change has long held a fascination for academic researchers and the public at large. But what happens on the edges of age? Does an interest in public life, issues of common concern and collective action only emerge during ‘youth’ and dissipate after ‘young adulthood’? What metaphors link narratives of ‘growing up’ with social change stories (e.g. independence), and is breaking away always a renewal? Where do ‘younger children’ and ‘older adults’ fit in with discourses and practices of social and political change? And why is it that the vocabulary used to describe activism is replete with kinship terms (sisterhood, brotherhood, family resemblances)?

The workshop is organised around these and related questions and aims to explore the spaces and vocabularies created by putting activism in conversation with the edges of age, biography, the lifespan, and the relationships in which activists and activist imaginaries are embedded in everyday life. We are open to the scope and type of activity or politics being investigated, preferring instead a phenomenological definition of activism that foregrounds people’s relationships of concern and the individual and collective social action arising from those concerns.

We encourage applications from across the social sciences, arts and humanities, and activists who are interested to engage in a conceptual and reflective space. The workshop is free to attend but spaces are limited. Priority will be given to contributions that: address either or both edges of the lifespan; are original, creative and playful in rethinking activism and age; are cross-culturally sensitive either empirically or theoretically; and take a long-view of activism and age be that through longitudinal, historical or generational research or traditions of storytelling.

Contributions can be original research reports, case studies, theoretical articles, review articles, reflective pieces, or commentaries. Please submit a long abstract of 1000 words, together with a two-page CV, to C.J.Prater@sussex.ac.uk by February 19, 2016. Please use the email subject line: ‘Activism on the edge of age’. There will be a small number of bursaries available to enable those without their own funding to participate in the workshop. If you would like to be considered for a bursary please make a case for it in your application.

Applicants will be notified of the outcome in early March. Successful applicants will be asked to write a short paper (4000 words) developing their contribution and to submit these papers ahead of the workshop meeting in June (paper deadline: May 20, 2016) so that all attending get a chance to read papers in advance. We are in the process of scoping opportunities for a special issue (or other suitable output format) and, following peer review, a selection of papers from the workshop will be considered for publication.

Timeline:

  • Abstract submission: February 19, 2016
  • Response: early March, 2016
  •  Paper submission: May 20, 2016
  • Workshop: June 2 & 3, 2016

The workshop is organised and funded by the ERC Connectors Study & hosted by CIRCY under its Childhood Publics theme. For more information about either please contact Dr Sevasti-Melissa Nolas: S.Nolas@sussex.ac.uk

Calls for Papers: Publishing

CFP – Children in Care Work Research: Formulating a New Agenda

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The journal Social Studies announces a call for papers for a monothematic issue with a working title Children in care work research: formulating a new agenda. The editors of the issue are Sara Eldén (Lund University), Terese Anving (Lund University) and Adéla Souralová (Masaryk University).

The aim of the special issue issue is to introduce a child centered perspective on research on paid private care work. Through introducing an up-to-date collection of articles that focus on an often neglected perspective in care work research – the perspective of the care-receivers themselves – this special issue will contribute to and expand on the scholarship of both global care chain research (Hochschild & Ehrenreich 2003; Anderson 2000; Macdonald 2010) and research on children and care (Brannen et al 2000; Eldén 2015).

We welcome papers which focus on the following topics:

  •  Children’s perspective on paid private child care, their understanding, and sense making, of care-giving
  •  Children’s reflections on relationships with nannies, care-givers, domestic workers, child-minders, private daycare providers
  •  Parents’, nannies’, or child minders’/providers’, reflections on paid care work for children, discussing for example discourses on “what is best for children”
  •  Historical perspectives on children and paid care work
  •  Politics and policy affecting paid private care work for children focusing, e.g., on changes in family policy and politics of the welfare state, and/or the effects of international agreements (such as the UN convention on Children’s Rights)
  •  Methodological and ethical considerations on conducting research on/with cared-for children

Abstracts (500-word maximum) should be sent to socstud@fss.muni.cz no later than March 15, 2016. The deadline for full papers is September 30, 2016. Any specific questions about the special issue should be addressed to the guest editors:

Sara Eldén (sara.elden@soc.lu.se)
Terese Anving (terese.anving@soc.lu.se)
Adéla Souralová (asouralo@fss.muni.cz)

Social studies/Sociální studia is a fully open-access journal, indexed in SCOPUS and ERIH PLUS. The journal is published since 2004 at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, both electronically (ISSN 1803-6104) and in print (ISSN 1214-813X).

http://socstudia.fss.muni.cz/?q=content%2Fcall-papers-children-care-work-research-formulating-new-agenda

Calls for Papers: Conferences

CFP – Remediating Boundaries between Children’s Print and Digital Media

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CFP – 2017 MLA Convention
Remediating Boundaries between Children’s Print and Digital Media

At the outset of their landmark work, Remediation: Understanding New Media, Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin explain the “double logic” of remediation accordingly: “Our culture wants both to multiply its media and to erase all traces of mediation: ideally, it wants to erase its media in the very act of multiplying them.” Indeed, our culture is increasingly “hypermediated,” even as we see more and more calls for immediacy.

With this observation in mind, I seek papers that examine the boundaries between print and digital cultures for/of/by children and young adults. It has been over 15 years since Eliza T. Dresang first proclaimed the “radical change” offered by the so-called Digital Revolution. What characteristics, trends, tendencies, possibilities, and pitfalls define digital children’s culture today, and what is its connection to its print counterpart? How do print texts reveal the impact of digital media—or resist it? How do print texts inform our reading of digital texts and vice versa?

This panel seeks to explore the ongoing relationship between print and digital forms in children’s and young adult literature and culture. Papers may cover adaptation and remediation, intermediality, digital narratives, e-books and other digital delivery platforms, user-generated content, and transmedia storytelling. Submissions considering digital cinema (including CGI and computer animation), video games, viral videos, and other new media content are especially welcome.

This session is guaranteed for the 2017 MLA Convention in Philadelphia. Please send proposals of 350-500 words (including a working bibliography) to Pete Kunze at pkunze@utexas.edu byTuesday, March 15. Inquiries welcome!