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This paper is an extension of a panel presentation delivered in response to a joint call for panels by the Social Informatics and Information Ethics and Policy Special Interest Groups for the 2022 Association for Information Science and Technology conference. The purpose is to introduce critical race frameworks and tenets as a lens to develop, assess and analyze the social informatics (SI) within information science (IS) research, professional discourse, praxis and pedagogical paradigms. This paper spotlights one of the presentations from that panel, an iteration of Critical Race Theory (CRT) designed specifically for information studies: CRiTical Race information Theory (CRiT).

Just as importantly, using SI as part of the context, the paper also includes a discussion that illustrates research and theory building possibilities as both counter and complement to the technocratic advances that permeate society at every level (macro, mezzo and micro), which can also be reasonably framed as the information industrial complex. Thus, CRiT joins other forms of critical discourse and praxis grappling with deconstructing, decolonizing, demarginalizing and demystifying the influence and impact of information technologies. While CRiT has global intentions and implications, this specific discussion has an extensive American focus.

If we consider the rapid pace in which techno-determinism is moving toward the vise grip of techno-fatalism controlled by frameworks generated from the information industrial complex, we can reasonably consider that humanity on a global basis is living within a meta-large technocratic crisis moment. This crisis moment is both acute and chronic. That is, the technocratic crisis is continuously moving quickly while simultaneously worsening over an extended period of time with no remedies and few responses to substantively address the crisis.

Part of the nature of information and data is measurability. Thus, identifying compatible nomenclature connecting the descriptiveness of intersectionality (a seminal CRT tool) as a qualitative research method to the measurability of data connected to quantitative research, a mixed method approach moves from possible to plausible. Additionally, within IS, there are often opportunities to measure human engagement, such as social media content, search engine use, assessing practices of categorizations, and multiple forms of surveillance data as a short list. Hence, the descriptiveness of intersectional qualitative research “mixed” with the measurability of quantitative research within information settings implies exponential methodological possibilities.

CRiT is multilayered, on the one hand, with the intention of being a discipline-specific, information-specific form of CRT. On the other hand, CRiT theory building is interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary based on information as omnipresent phenomena. An ongoing challenge for CRiT theory building is identifying and working within a balance between, practitioners who typically throw anything and everything at practical problems, while scholars often slice problems into such small segments that practical understanding is severely limited. Embracing and integrating the dynamic interplay between developing ideas and using them is the key to evolving CRiT within the social sciences.

There is plenty of room as well as a need for additional narrative discussing or challenging the use or appropriation of information from a technocratic approach, a counter to the information industrial complex.

CRiT is emerging and cutting edge in discussion that addresses the technocratic determinism found in most scholarly discourses.

Environmental social work (ESW) is an approach and a perspective in social work focusing on ecological and environmental sustainability and justice within the context of sustainable development (SD). This study aims to analyse students’ reflective tasks on challenges for ESW education and practice from a critical theory perspective. The purpose of this study is to discuss the implications of the findings for accelerating the implementation of SD in social work curricula.

The research participants comprised 49 master level students from four different cohorts studying the course “Social Work and Sustainable Development” at the University of Gävle, Sweden. The sample comprised only those students who had completed at least one of the three non-mandatory reflective tasks that were set within the course. The reflective tasks of the research participants were gathered as data for this study. A qualitative methodological approach with the help of ATLAS-ti V8.4 was used to analyse the gathered data.

This study discusses three primary results, which are categorised as “Being Boxed”, “Safe and Saviour Sweden” and “Politics and Power”. Based on the results, this study argues for a transformative and emancipatory pedagogy (TEP) in the teaching and learning of ESW to accelerate the implementation of holistic SD within the social work curriculum.

This study is mainly based on the analysis of “problematic” discourses of some of the students. The majority of the students and their respective discourses are not considered. Moreover, it would have been interesting, and probably enlightening to explore the background of the students (such as gender, ethnicity and religion) and any concomitant beliefs or prejudices (whether consciously held or otherwise) that would need to be addressed for an effective social work outcome. For ethical reasons, the background of the students was not recorded and analysed in this study.

Based on the results, this study argues for TEP in catalysing environmentalism within the social work curricula.

Social workers have a political mandate from their professional ethics to work for the protection of the planet and for the well-being of all – including non-humans. This study therefore argues for ESW education within social work curricula in promoting SD through social work practice.

Within the context of SD, there is a global call for social work education to shift from an anthropocentric to an eco-centric paradigm. However, ESW education is still in its infancy stage and very few universities are focusing in this particular area. This study therefore brings an important and well-needed layer of empirical evidence in considering the implications for catalysing environmentalism within the social work curricula.

The purpose of this article is to address research gaps relating to agency and institutionalism in new institutional theory (NIT) and institutional work (IW) and use the critical sensemaking (CSM) approach to bridge the debates around agency, especially on issues of language and discourse, actor network theory (ANT) and history.

A conceptual analysis of the literature is performed to discuss issues of agency in IW and CSM in organizations, and examples of empirical studies are used to illustrate connectivity, contrast and fusion.

The analysis illustrates points of distance (rather than disconnect), but most importantly, connectivity and the potential for further developments between the literature on IW and CSM.

Discussion around new possibilities to focus on agency has the potential to contribute to humanist thinking about the (agentic) character of organizations and the potential for social change.

The article contributes to the discussion of agency in the organization through a starting point (i.e. CSM) outside of NIT.

Mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are widely used in disaster research and practice. While, in some cases, these practices incorporate methods inspired by critical cartography and critical GIS, they rarely engage with the theoretical discussions that animate those fields.

In this commentary, the author considers three such discussions, and draws out their relevance for disaster studies: the turn towards processual cartographies, political economy analysis of datafication and calls for theorising computing of and from the South.

The review highlights how these discussions can contribute to the work of scholars engaged in mapping for disaster risk management and research. First, it can counter the taken-for-granted nature of disaster-related maps, and encourage debate about how such maps are produced, used and circulated. Second, it can foster a reflexive attitude towards the urge to quantify and map disasters. Third, it can help to rethink the role of digital technologies with respect to ongoing conversations on the need to decolonise disaster studies.

The paper aims to familiarise disaster studies scholars with literature that has received relatively little attention in this field and, by doing so, contribute to a repoliticisation of disaster-related maps.

This paper points out that common human resource manageement (HRM) research and practice have overlooked employee's class of origin. Workers' class of origin can be seen as “the elephant in the room” in current HRM, being that it significantly affects organizational decision-making with negative social (increased class-based inequality) and organizational (inefficient allocation of human re-sources) effects.

The paper summarizes the partial, fragmented and multi-disciplinary literature on HRM and employees’ social class of origin.

The paper shows how recruiting, selection, training and development practices systematically reinforce class-based inequality by providing high-class employees with more resources and opportunities compared to low-class employees.

The paper provides sustainable HR practitioners, educators and researchers with recommendations on how to address employees' social class of origin, improving organizational competitive advantage and reducing class-based inequality at the societal level.

The paper focuses on a topic which, in diversity management, is an elephant in the room (i.e. workers social class of origin).

This study aims to identify the contextual and relational factors that enhance and limit the empowerment of young people from the perspective of social education professionals.

Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model made it possible to locate the narratives of the educators in the territory. These narratives include field diaries, i.e. hybrid narratives that include visual, written and spoken materials, and focus groups with 11 educators from different fields of action and related to youth empowerment projects.

According to these educators, the most important factors for empowering young people are their immediate environment, and the issues that affect them most. For these factors to be empowering, young people need to be accompanied, with support based on connectedness, horizontality and the creation of safe spaces and learning experiences. Both the microsystem and the mesosystem form the immediate reality for their action. Aware of this, educators do the work of connecting with the exosystem.

It is evident why communities are spaces with opportunities for youth empowerment, and the authors observe the need for more transversal and less welfare-based social and youth policies that generate empowerment instead of dependency.

This methodology evidenced the environmental structures of educators and the dissimilar levels to explore and understand the work of educators and the complex interrelationships, which play an important role in empowerment processes.

This research presents a new perspective that allows traditional qualitative reflection to be embedded in the bioecological model. All of this sheds light on relational ecosystems with young people and proposes youth policies, in this case, oriented towards empowerment.

This paper provides a methodological map for guiding the choice and application of research paradigms and design frames that can be of value to a wide range of researchers in the fields of education, social sciences and interdisciplinary studies who are interested in teaching and learning in context. Following an interpretivist/constructivist paradigm, I used a mixed methods research approach to study the spatial experiences of Emirati female students in a gender--‐ segregated educational context. The main component was qualitative, using ethnography, while the quantitative part included a survey. In such a research approach, my reflexivity and unique positionality as both insider and outsider played a significant role. The paper is divided into three sections: the beginning, which justifies the choice and philosophies of the methodological route; the journey, which illustrates the data collection techniques; and the destination, containing reflexive lessons from the field.

This study aims to identify how the involvement of female university students in volunteer organisations is contributing to their self-empowerment in Bangladesh.

A cross-sectional study with a qualitative approach was conducted. A total of 20 in-depth interviews with female student volunteers, two focus group discussions with student members of the volunteer organisation and ten key informant interviews with academics, gender experts and high-level representatives of civil society organisations were conducted. The data were collected from eight purposively selected universities in Dhaka. The data were collected between 1 January 2023 and 23 March 2023.

The inter-organisational environment appears to be supportive and welcoming, despite the fact that some male colleagues belittle women with insulting comments. Female students are predominantly involved in public presentation activities and their advice is rarely considered. To reach a top position, they have to show more commitment than their male colleagues. Subjective prejudices discourage women from taking on positions of responsibility. Participation in voluntary organisations strengthens the self-confidence, critical thinking, networking and social capital of female students, making it easier for them to gain employment. These factors contribute to the empowerment of female students.

This study is an excellent empirical document that establishes a link between the empowerment of female students and their participation in voluntary activities. The recommendations of this study pave the way for future research in different countries on how volunteering helps young people, especially female students, to shape their future by taking on social responsibility alongside their academic activities.

This study examines the perspectives of adjunct (short-term contract) faculty teaching at offshore branch campuses in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The rise of the global adjunct labor class and the expansion of universities to overseas markets in the form of branch campuses are just two examples of the extension of neoliberal and consumerist ideology to higher education. While the problems of implementing corporate-style practice and policy in higher education is much critiqued in the literature, this research centers on the intersection of the two issues just mentioned. The primary motivations for undertaking this study were to explore a) branch campus adjuncts’ perceptions of being connected to their university community, and b) the possible impact of their labor conditions on pedagogical conditions. Five adjuncts from four separate branch campuses were interviewed, and the semi-structured interviews analyzed using a critical discourse analysis approach. The findings revealed that the adjuncts often felt isolated from their branch campus and considered themselves to be carrying out the educational mission of the home campus despite having no contractual relationship with the home campus. I argue that the working conditions of the adjuncts have a negative impact on teaching experience and, to a degree, on pedagogy. A more formalized employment relationship between branch campus adjuncts and the home campus is recommended, as well as the provision of professional development and research engagement opportunities for adjuncts.

ﺗﺑﺣ ث ھذه اﻟ د ر ا ﺳ ﺔ ﻓ ﻲ وﺟ ﮭﺎ ت ﻧ ظ ر اﻟ ﻣد ر ﺳ ﯾ ن اﻟ ﻣﻠ ﺣ ﻘﯾ ن ﻓ ﻲ ﻓ ر وع اﻟ ﺟ ﺎ ﻣﻌﺎ ت ﻓ ﻲ دﺑﻲ ، اﻹﻣﺎ را ت اﻟ ﻌرﺑﯾﺔ اﻟ ﻣﺗ ﺣدة. إ ن ﺻ ﻌود اﻟ طﺑﻘﺔ اﻟﻌﺎ ﻣﻠ ﺔ اﻟﻌﺎﻟ ﻣﯾ ﺔ اﻟﻣﻠ ﺣ ﻘﺔ و ﺗ و ﺳ ﻊ اﻟﺟ ﺎ ﻣﻌﺎ ت إﻟﻰ ا ﻷ ﺳ و ا ق اﻟﺧ ﺎ ر ﺟ ﯾ ﺔ ﻓ ﻲ ﺷ ﻛ ل ﻓ ر و ع ﺟ ﺎ ﻣﻌﯾ ﺔ ﻟﯾ ﺳ ت ﺳ و ى ﻣﺛﺎﻟﯾ ن ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ا ﻣﺗدا د ا ﻹ ﯾدﯾ و ﻟ و ﺟ ﯾ ﺔ اﻟ ﻧﯾ و ﻟﯾﺑ ر اﻟﯾ ﺔ و ا ﻻ ﺳ ﺗ ﮭ ﻼ ﻛﯾ ﺔ إﻟ ﻰ اﻟﺗ ﻌﻠﯾم اﻟ ﻌﺎﻟ ﻲ. ﻋﻠ ﻰ اﻟ رﻏم ﻣ ن أ ن ﻣ ﺷﻛﻠ ﺔ ﺗ طﺑﯾ ق ﻣﻣﺎ رﺳﺎ ت وﺳﯾﺎ ﺳﺎ ت اﻟﻧ ﻣ ط اﻟﺗ ﺟﺎ ر ي ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﺗ ﻌﻠﯾم اﻟ ﻌﺎﻟ ﻲ ﻗد ﺗ ﻌر ﺿ ت ﻟﻧﻘد ﻛﺑﯾ ر ﻓ ﻲ اﻷدﺑﯾﺎ ت، ﻓﺈن ھذا اﻟﺑ ﺣ ث ﯾ رﻛز ﻋ ﻠ ﻰ ﺗﻘﺎط ﻊ اﻟ ﻣﺛﺎﻟﯾ ن اﻟ ﻣو ﺻ وﻓﯾ ن . ﻛﺎﻧ ت اﻟ دواﻓ ﻊ اﻟ رﺋﯾ ﺳ ﯾ ﺔ ﻹ ﺟ را ء ھذه اﻟد ر ا ﺳ ﺔ ھ ﻲ ا ﺳ ﺗ ﻛ ﺷ ﺎ ف 1 ( ﻣﻔﺎ ھﯾم ﻣﻠ ﺣﻘ ﻲ ﻓ روع اﻟﺟ ﺎ ﻣﻌﺎ ت ﻟ ﻛوﻧﮭم ﻣرﺗ ﺑ طﯾ ن ﺑ ﻣ ﺟﺗ ﻣﻊ اﻟﺟ ﺎ ﻣﻌﺔ؛ 2 ( ﻣﺎ ﺗﺄﺛﯾ ر ظرو ف ﻋﻣﻠ ﮭم ﻋﻠ ﻰ اﻟظ ر و ف اﻟ ﺗ ر ﺑ و ﯾ ﺔ. ﻟ ﺟ ﻣﻊ اﻟ ﺑﯾﺎﻧﺎ ت ، أﺟرﯾ ت ﻣﻘﺎﺑ ﻼت ﻣﻊ ﺧﻣ ﺳﺔ ﻣدرﺳﯾ ن ﻣﻠ ﺣﻘﯾ ن ﻣ ن أ رﺑ ﻌﺔ ﻓ روع ﺟﺎ ﻣﻌﯾ ﺔ ﻣﻧﻔ ﺻ ﻠ ﺔ. ﺗم ﺗ ﺣﻠﯾ ل اﻟ ﻣﻘﺎﺑ ﻼ ت ﺷﺑ ﮫ اﻟ ﻣﻧ ظﻣﺔ ﺑﺎﺳﺗ ﺧدام ﻣﻧﮭ ﺞ ﺗ ﺣﻠﯾ ل اﻟ ﺧطﺎ ب اﻟﻧﻘد ي. وﻛ ﺷﻔ ت اﻟﻧﺗﺎﺋ ﺞ أ ن اﻟ ﻣﻠ ﺣﻘﯾ ن ﻏﺎ ﻟ ﺑًﺎ ﻣ ﺎ ﺷ ﻌ ر و ا ﺑ ﺎ ﻟ ﻌ ز ﻟ ﺔ ﻋ ن ﺣ ر ﻣ ﮭ م ا ﻟ ﺟ ﺎ ﻣ ﻌ ﻲ وا ﻋﺗﺑ روا أﻧﻔ ﺳﮭم ﯾﻧﻔذون اﻟ ﻣﮭﻣﺔ اﻟﺗ ﻌﻠﯾ ﻣﯾ ﺔ ﻟﻠ ﺣرم اﻟ ﺟﺎ ﻣﻌ ﻲ اﻟ ﻣ ﺣﻠ ﻲ رﻏم ﻋدم وﺟود ﻋﻼﻗﺔ ﺗ ﻌﺎﻗدﯾ ﺔ ﻟ ﮭم دا ﺧل اﻟ ﺣرم اﻟ ﺟﺎ ﻣﻌ ﻲ. أﻧﺎ أ زﻋم أن ظرو ف ﻋﻣ ل اﻟ ﻣﻠ ﺣﻘﯾ ن ﻟ ﮭﺎ ﺗﺄﺛﯾ ر ﺳﻠﺑ ﻲ ﻋﻠ ﻰ ﻣﻣﺎ رﺳﺔ اﻟﺗد رﯾ س . ﺗ و ﺻ ﻲ اﻟ د را ﺳﺔ ﺑ ﺧﻠ ق ﻋﻼﻗﺔ ﺗ و ظﯾ ف أ ﻛﺛ ر رﺳﻣﯾﺔ ﺑﯾ ن اﻟ ﻣﻠ ﺣﻘﯾ ن ﻓ ﻲ اﻟﺣ ر م اﻟﺟ ﺎ ﻣﻌ ﻲ اﻟﻔ ر ﻋ ﻲ و اﻟﺣ ر م اﻟ ﺟ ﺎ ﻣﻌ ﻲ اﻟدا ﺧ ﻠ ﻲ ، ﺑﺎﻹ ﺿ ﺎﻓﺔ إﻟ ﻰ ﺗ وﻓﯾ ر ﻓ ر ص اﻟﺗ ط وﯾ ر اﻟ ﻣﮭﻧ ﻲ واﻟﺑ ﺣ ث ﻟﻠ ﻣ ﺷ ﺎ ر ﻛﺔ ﻟﻠ ﻣد ر ﺳ ﯾ ن اﻟ ﻣﻠ ﺣ ﻘﯾ ن .

The Women in Leadership Development (WLD) Initiative is a year-long, multifaceted co-curricular leadership development opportunity created to support the unique developmental needs of emerging women leaders. WLD was intentionally designed around the context of second-generation gender bias with a firm grounding of research and theory on gender and leadership.

Organized around three leadership pathways – leadership training, leadership coaching, and leadership support networks – WLD brings together the best practices of leadership development in combination with feminist pedagogy and critical perspectives to foster meaningful and impactful development of women leaders.

This paper describes the design of the initiative and how each leadership pathway supports the leadership development journey for emerging women leaders. It provides a model that is impactful as well as foundational, for undergraduate women’s leadership development.

Women leaders, in particular, can benefit from leadership development that takes gender into account (DeFrank-Cole & Tan, 2022a; Ely et al., 2011).