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1 – 6 of 6Nomanesi Madikizela-Madiya and John Mushomi Atwebembeire
In this paper we contribute knowledge to the postgraduate supervision discourses by reflecting on our socio-spatial experiences of being supervised by colleagues, a process that…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper we contribute knowledge to the postgraduate supervision discourses by reflecting on our socio-spatial experiences of being supervised by colleagues, a process that we refer to as colleague postgraduate supervision (CPS).
Design/methodology/approach
We followed a duoethnographic research design by dialogically presenting and exploring our lived experiences of CPS and critiquing and questioning the meanings we give to those experiences. The experiences shared arose from two different contexts: a contact university and an open distance learning university.
Findings
The reflection suggests that social values of trust, compassion and care in CPS can outrun the spatial constraints for the benefit of the supervisees in the relationship. However, the colleagues in the CPS can also experience some subtle power dynamics and tensions that produce a constraining space, if the CPS process is not well communicated.
Originality/value
While CPS is a common practice in some universities, there is limited research that pays attention to its socio-spatiality, that is, the interaction between the social and the spatial aspects of this practice.
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For geographers doing qualitative research, autobiographical narratives offer a discrete avenue into life experiences, everyday lived geographies, and intimate connections between…
Abstract
For geographers doing qualitative research, autobiographical narratives offer a discrete avenue into life experiences, everyday lived geographies, and intimate connections between places and identities. Yet these valuable sources remain mostly untapped by geographers and largely unconsidered in methodological treatises. This article seeks to elicit the benefits of using autobiographical data, especially with regard to stigmatised sexual minorities in Western societies. Qualitative research among gay men, lesbians and bisexuals (GLB) is sometimes difficult; due to the ongoing marginalisation experienced by sexual minorities in contemporary Western societies, subjects are often difficult to locate and reticent to participate in research. But autobiographical writing has a long history in Western GLB subcultures, and offers an unobtrusive means to explore the interpenetration of stigmatised sexuality and space, of GLB identity and place. A keen awareness of the power of geography of spaces of concealment, resistance, connection, emergence and affirmation underpins the content and form of GLB autobiographical writing. I demonstrate this in part through the example of my own research into gay male spatiality in Australia. At the same time we need to be aware of the generic limitations of autobiographies. Nevertheless, this article calls for wider attention to autobiographical sources, especially for geographical research into marginalised groups.
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The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the potentiality of dissonance, especially as it engaged with feminist theory to raise familiar yet pertinent questions about…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the potentiality of dissonance, especially as it engaged with feminist theory to raise familiar yet pertinent questions about undertaking research in contexts riven with political and epistemic violence. Drawing on the ethnographic fieldwork in the Kashmir valley, the author tracks the work dissonance does in shaping the research questions we ask, the methodological choices we make and its insistence on embodying a critical politics of location. The author then goes on to trace how dissonance variously emerged in the field and its theoretical implications in explaining the complex processes of military occupation in the Kashmir valley and how it takes hold in everyday life. That is, everyday sense of dissonance as explicated by interviewees brings to light the functions of military occupation but more importantly, it remains imbued with possibilities that contest, challenge and refuse to normalise militarised forms of state-led oppression. Overall, this paper makes the case for remaining with dissonance as a disruptive feminist possibility with epistemic and political potential.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on ethnographically informed fieldwork located in feminist approaches to doing qualitative research.
Findings
The author argues for engaging with experiences of dissonance during research process as productive affects that can yield politically and epistemically useful forms of analysis that contest dominant forms of thinking and knowing.
Originality/value
This paper builds on existing feminist thinking on dissonance to contribute to peace research and the urgent need to centre locational politics and power inequalities as we contest dominant knowledge.
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Manav Khaire and Nagaraj Muniappa
In India – the largest democracy and second most populated country globally – the housing research domain is relatively under-researched and under-theorized. To support and…
Abstract
Purpose
In India – the largest democracy and second most populated country globally – the housing research domain is relatively under-researched and under-theorized. To support and advance research in this domain, this study aims to form and organize the repository of extant academic knowledge in the subject matter of housing research in India.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a scoping review methodology and a thematic analysis method. All the articles analyzed in this study were systematically searched by following the scoping review approach proposed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005). An initial search found 365 articles and finally, 108 articles that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed using the thematic analysis method.
Findings
The data extracted from these 108 articles were analyzed using thematic analysis to arrive at four thematic areas, namely, housing policy, slum housing, housing finance and affordable housing. These thematic areas and 11 sub-themes present under them were used to present a thematic map of housing policy research in India.
Practical implications
This paper contributes to presenting an up-to-date literature review of the housing policy research in India.
Originality/value
To the best of our knowledge, this scoping review focused on housing research in India is the first of its kind. We hope that this study provides a repository of extant research on housing research in India to help current and future researchers.
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Roberto García Alonso, Ulf Thoene and Diego Dávila Benavides
European countries face the crucial challenge of integrating newly arrived refugees into society. The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of using e-government…
Abstract
Purpose
European countries face the crucial challenge of integrating newly arrived refugees into society. The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of using e-government services developed by local authorities, as well as NGOs, to support integration processes by analyzing migrants’ perceptions of the utility, usability and efficacy of social computing applications and their impact on integration.
Design/methodology/approach
A random sample of 67 newly arrived refugees in Kronoberg County, Sweden, responded to a questionnaire in English, Swedish and Arabic comprising 26 questions covering six central domains (employment, housing, education, health, citizenship and m-government/information and communication technology for refugees).
Findings
The successful design and implementation of digital solutions to address social issues or organizational needs are best achieved through collaboration among public, private and academic institutions. The potential use of social computing applications and online services as a resource to support refugee integration processes is determined by people’s preferences and skills when using digital devices. Moreover, newcomers have negative perceptions of online services and sharing personal information because of a lack of confidence and mistrust of social computing applications.
Research limitations/implications
Findings cannot necessarily be extrapolated to Sweden as a whole, or to other European countries, owing to the Swedish government’s determination to devolve decision-making over certain refugee-related issues to the county and municipal levels, and to various European digital ecosystems.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the analysis of the utility and efficacy of e-government services to integrate newly arrived refugees. This paper points to future improvements in social computing applications and shows the potential of public and third-sector institutions to facilitate the integration of new refugee communities and improve their quality of life.
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