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Soc. Sci., Volume 9, Issue 1 (January 2020) – 6 articles

Cover Story (view full-size image): Drawing on scholarly works from a variety of disciplines, “Information Infrastructures and the Future of Ecological Citizenship in the Anthropocene” claims that ecological citizenship, as both an idea and a practice, hinges on infrastructural compatibility. The article examines what the concept of information infrastructure offers for the understanding of ecological citizenship. After entering a dialogue with the literatures of citizenship studies and information infrastructures, the article suggests a conceptual framework based on Star and Ruhleder’s eight components of infrastructure to explore challenges and promises of ecological citizenship in the age of neoliberal Anthropocene. By doing this, it also brings the Anthropocene into question from an information infrastructure perspective. View this paper
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11 pages, 336 KiB  
Editorial
Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Social Sciences in 2019
by Social Sciences Editorial Office
Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9010006 - 17 Jan 2020
Viewed by 4003
30 pages, 3529 KiB  
Article
Processes of Sub-Citizenship: Neoliberal Statecrafting ‘Citizens,’ ‘Non-Citizens,’ and Detainable ‘Others’
by Daile Lynn Rung
Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9010005 - 14 Jan 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 7900
Abstract
Increasingly, scholars are exploring the politics of migration and the shifting terrain of citizenship from a critical mobilities perspective. To contribute to these discussions, in this paper, I explore how processes of sub-citizenship occur as nation-states craft immigration, citizenship, and border securitization policies [...] Read more.
Increasingly, scholars are exploring the politics of migration and the shifting terrain of citizenship from a critical mobilities perspective. To contribute to these discussions, in this paper, I explore how processes of sub-citizenship occur as nation-states craft immigration, citizenship, and border securitization policies and practices. I argue that complex and shifting processes of sub-citizenship largely occur through the nation-state’s production of ‘insiders’ (‘citizens’) and ‘outsiders’ (‘non-citizens’). As a nascent attempt to introduce sub-citizenship, I draw upon recent high-profile cases of family separation, abuse, and neglect experienced by children with ‘illegal migrant’ status in the United States and Australia. Under the international nation-state system and the neoliberal globalization paradigm, the border policing powers of nation-states are primed to expand and intensify processes of sub-citizenship. Those at lower levels of the sub-citizen hierarchy are at risk of experiencing various forms of state-led violence, including deportation, detention, and torture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reshaping the World: Rethinking Borders)
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12 pages, 270 KiB  
Article
Justice and Civil Liberties on Sex Work in Contemporary International Human Rights Law
by Belinda Brooks-Gordon, Marjan Wijers and Alison Jobe
Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9010004 - 10 Jan 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 5597
Abstract
To fulfil obligations in international law State parties have to take the issue of human trafficking seriously. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) provides General Recommendations (GR) to member states on the interpretation of the Women’s Convention. [...] Read more.
To fulfil obligations in international law State parties have to take the issue of human trafficking seriously. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) provides General Recommendations (GR) to member states on the interpretation of the Women’s Convention. In 2018 the CEDAW Committee started to develop a GR on trafficking in women and girls in a process planned to conclude in 2020. The first stage towards this was through the publication of a Concept Note to serve as a basis for dialogue during the two-year international consultation period. The Concept Note is a vital link in a textual chain because it frames the policy problem and actively constructs its own ‘documentary reality’. This article provides a critical analysis of the CEDAW Concept Note on the grounds that such analysis provides an understanding of its discursive construction of trafficking, migrant labour and sex work, by an institution responsible for international jurisprudence on human rights. Analysis of the Concept Note explores the documentary constructions including narratives that merge adult women with girls, the symbolism of exploitation, the silencing of scientific research, the elision of sex worker voices, and sex work as work. The analysis leads us to conclude that the General Recommendation should define what counts as ‘exploitation’, and ‘forced labour’, and address the growing international recognition of best evidence on the wider impact of sex work laws, in order that legal framing and constructions of sex trafficking are not erroneously used to curtail rights of sex workers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sex Work, Gender Justice, and the Law)
17 pages, 329 KiB  
Article
Information Infrastructures and the Future of Ecological Citizenship in the Anthropocene
by Cagdas Dedeoglu and Cansu Ekmekcioglu
Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9010003 - 05 Jan 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4807
Abstract
In the last two decades, the concept of ecological citizenship has become a recurrent theme in both popular and academic discussions. Discussions around the prospects of, and limitations to, ecological citizenship have mostly focused on the idea of political agency and the civic [...] Read more.
In the last two decades, the concept of ecological citizenship has become a recurrent theme in both popular and academic discussions. Discussions around the prospects of, and limitations to, ecological citizenship have mostly focused on the idea of political agency and the civic responsibility of individuals in relation to their environments, with an emphasis on environmental justice and sustainability. However, the current scholarship has yet to adequately characterize its conceptual bases and empirical applications from an information perspective. Therefore, this paper provides an overview of citizenship studies and infrastructure studies for developing more nuanced understanding(s) of epistemological models for ecological citizenship in our networked world. Drawing on the literature on information infrastructure, this paper then proposes a conceptual framework to understand ecological citizenship as constituted both discursively and techno-materially through neoliberal, anthropocentric informational infrastructures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Rethinking Environmental Citizenship for Grassroots Politics )
15 pages, 336 KiB  
Article
Seeking Gastronomic, Healthy, and Social Experiences in Tuscan Agritourism Facilities
by Rosa Maria Fanelli
Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9010002 - 30 Dec 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4423
Abstract
There is a growing desire among tourists to improve their lifestyle and pass their vacations in areas with a strong local gastronomic heritage. Indeed, one of the most important factors that drives visitors to choose an agritourism facility for their vacation is the [...] Read more.
There is a growing desire among tourists to improve their lifestyle and pass their vacations in areas with a strong local gastronomic heritage. Indeed, one of the most important factors that drives visitors to choose an agritourism facility for their vacation is the pull of good food and wine. This manuscript examines visitors’ evaluations of their time spent in Tuscan agritourism facilities with particular focus on the cuisine, the health benefits, and the social experience. The analysis is based on a representative sample of 1886 reviews posted by visitors from all over of the world on the websites of 60 agritourism facilities that operate in Tuscan municipalities. By exploring visitor evaluations, which consist of an overall rating of their agritourism experience and separate ratings for the cuisine, the physical environment, and the service, this paper expands the scope of previous studies into food and drink management development as a way of attracting new visitors, by providing additional information on the distinctive characteristics of the local cuisine on offer. Results indicate that visitors—above all families—prefer an agritourism facility that offers authentic local cuisine and beverages and also offers them the possibility of spending time outdoors in destinations with a rich culinary heritage. Visibility of the main attractive attributes of agritourism facilities and the local cuisine through websites is needed in order to drive consumers in their vacation choices and to allow these structures to consolidate their place in the food and drink market. Full article
30 pages, 443 KiB  
Article
Community-Based Responses to Negative Health Impacts of Sexual Humanitarian Anti-Trafficking Policies and the Criminalization of Sex Work and Migration in the US
by Heidi Hoefinger, Jennifer Musto, P. G. Macioti, Anne E. Fehrenbacher, Nicola Mai, Calum Bennachie and Calogero Giametta
Soc. Sci. 2020, 9(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci9010001 - 23 Dec 2019
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 13938
Abstract
System-involvement resulting from anti-trafficking interventions and the criminalization of sex work and migration results in negative health impacts on sex workers, migrants, and people with trafficking experiences. Due to their stigmatized status, sex workers and people with trafficking experiences often struggle to access [...] Read more.
System-involvement resulting from anti-trafficking interventions and the criminalization of sex work and migration results in negative health impacts on sex workers, migrants, and people with trafficking experiences. Due to their stigmatized status, sex workers and people with trafficking experiences often struggle to access affordable, unbiased, and supportive health care. This paper will use thematic analysis of qualitative data from in-depth interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with 50 migrant sex workers and trafficked persons, as well as 20 key informants from legal and social services, in New York and Los Angeles. It will highlight the work of trans-specific and sex worker–led initiatives that are internally addressing gaps in health care and the negative health consequences that result from sexual humanitarian anti-trafficking interventions that include policing, arrest, court-involvement, court-mandated social services, incarceration, and immigration detention. Our analysis focuses on the impact of criminalization on sex workers and their experiences with sexual humanitarian efforts intended to protect and control them. We argue that these grassroots community-based efforts are a survival-oriented reaction to the harms of criminalization and a response to vulnerabilities left unattended by mainstream sexual humanitarian approaches to protection and service provision that frame sex work itself as the problem. Peer-to-peer interventions such as these create solidarity and resiliency within marginalized communities, which act as protective buffers against institutionalized systemic violence and the resulting negative health outcomes. Our results suggest that broader public health support and funding for community-led health initiatives are needed to reduce barriers to health care resulting from stigma, criminalization, and ineffective anti-trafficking and humanitarian efforts. We conclude that the decriminalization of sex work and the reform of institutional practices in the US are urgently needed to reduce the overall negative health outcomes of system-involvement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sex Work, Gender Justice, and the Law)
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