Era Novum The interdisciplinary journal of social and environmental issues
In an attempt to promote freedom of speech, Era Novum offers to bachelor, master and doctorate level student a platform for their work related to social and environmental topics in a sustainable health perspective. Inspired by the values shared with the WUSC, Era Novum is a space for critical reflexion and engaged discussion about the actual social dynamics, which includes questions surrounding migration, gender and environnement, that were central in previous editions.
La transition énergétique et la réduction des inégalités de genre dans les zones rurales d’Afrique subsaharienne
Sub-Saharan Africa, like other regions of the world, faces a long list of critical challenges in the 21st century, including the energy transition and the fight against gender inequality. Could it be that these two issues are particularly intertwined in this region? This essay will attempt to demonstrate that, at a time when a large part of the rural population of sub-Saharan Africa depends on biomass to meet its energy needs, and when this dependence affects and makes women more vulnerable because of the gendered distribution of roles, the reduction of gender inequalities and the energy transition must go hand in hand. By comparing expected theoretical effects with the results of empirical studies, we will be able to observe that greater participation of women in energy policies makes it possible, under certain conditions, to reduce gender inequalities and accelerate the development of renewable energy in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Taking these conditions into consideration is crucial to prevent the energy transition from happening without women or even from worsening gender inequalities, as in the case of the village of Mpanta in Zambia.
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Adéquation entre les besoins des femmes en situation d’itinérance et les services disponibles au Québec : impact sur leur marginalisation
Women experiencing homelessness are a marginalized and vulnerable group of people for whom there are few appropriate support services. This inadequacy will often lead them to adopt alternative survival strategies. As a result, those means developed in an effort to regain an adaptive stability will put homeless women at greater risk of victimization, continued homelessness and prosecution. To better understand this issue, this critical narrative review explores the singular relationship that homeless women have with the resources available and its effect on the strategies they deploy to survive. The aim is to highlight the various elements that contribute to the disaffiliation of these women. The identification of these elements allows to consider the development of a service offer more adapted to the unique needs of this population.
Analyse transaffirmative des conclusions du jugement 500- 17-082257-141 concernant des dispositions du Code civil du Québec relatives à la désignation du sexe au registre de l’état civil
Analysis of a decision rendered in January 2021 by the Honourable Justice Gregory Moore of the Superior Court. This ruling brings various changes to the provisions of the Civil Code of Québec on the designation of sex in the register of civil status. In this case, the Centre for Gender Oppression of Concordia University and four individuals initiated an action against the Government of Quebec. The purpose of this action was to defend the rights of trans and non-binary people by requesting changes to the conditions for changing sex and name on birth certificates. This article outlines the historical context in which the demands were presented, as well as a brief presentation of those that were granted, denied or challenged. Based on the values of trans- affirmative approaches, an analysis of the strengths and limitations of this judgment is made by three candidates for the Master’s degree in social work at Laval University. Finally, alternatives inspired by certain national or international laws are presented in response to the applications that were refused or contested.
Le militantisme féministe à Québec : Organisation alternative au croisement avec les masculinités
The purpose of this article is to offer a line of thought on the possibilities of reconfiguring the organization of feminist associations in Quebec to promote gender diversity. The inclusion of greater gender diversity would open new avenues around the political and identity goals of feminism, which could resemble a dynamic movement that adapts to the socio-cultural context. To carry out this reconfiguration, I suggest first analyzing the mode of organization of associations through a gender perspective. This choice makes it possible to question the place of the woman category, used for a long time by feminist associations to claim their rights, and to consider the integration of men into feminist associations through studies on masculinities. Then, I propose the idea of integrating the concept of intersectionality which will allow to consider the various power relations existing between the members of the association. These clarifications will thus demonstrate potential avenues of reconfiguration by proposing a conceptual toolbox adapted to the specific context of Quebec
Peut-on se distancier du regard masculin? Voyons ce qu’en disent les femmes « mûres » sur Instagram
Don't you have the impression that women over forty are condemned to fade into the background or disappear from the public space? At last, that's the message fashion magazines seem to be sending us. Yet, one only has to browse through Instagram to realize that fashionistas who left the world of adolescence long ago are proudly displaying themselves in swimsuits or in the latest trendy clothes, sometimes colorful and sometimes extravagant. How do these women - who are called mature women or women of a certain age - put themselves forward? Do they manage to get out of the grip of the male gaze or do they perpetuate the traditional codes of advertisement and fashion? This question is one that seems to lend itself well to the Instagram platform since, by being the transmitters of information, these female influencers allow us to evaluate their submission or resistance to the dominant discourse. This exploratory study, focusing on the Instagram accounts of four female influencers aged between 42 and 64, offers some answers and reflections.
Handicap et arts : en finir avec une perpétuation de la violence
This reflection is the result of questions initiated and sketched out in the summer of 2020 during the doctoral examination part of my doctoral program in communication at UQAM. Here, the writings of several authors in disability studies and crip cultures (at the crossroads between gender and disability) have been associated with the concept of the "hidden transcript" of anthropologist James C. Scott. This interweaving is intended to reflect on a reading of disabled artistic practices that breaks with a medical tradition of disability. Embryonic, this ongoing reflection nevertheless lays the foundations of an analysis that denounces the violent character of Western histories inherent to disability that have long pathologized creators and artistic productions with disabilities, following the example of a so-called "raw art". By applying a socio-cultural model of disability to our analyses, it seems possible, even necessary, to decolonize disabled artistic practices from the capacitive discourses and to reclaim a "disability" heritage that has long been concealed.
Comment définir un groupe sans exclure aucune de ses parties ? Le genre et la notion sartrienne de la structure sérielle selon Iris Marion Young
Following the criticisms of many women in society who disapprove and delegitimize feminist theories that take the white, ethnocentric heterosexist conception of women as a model, Iris Marion Young attempts to think of the group “woman” as a group, without excluding any of its parts. This task leads her to the Sartrean notion of serial structure to think of women as a social group whose members do not necessarily have to share the same attributes to be recognized as such. This approach allows her to consider the possibility of a feminism that does not rely on the category "women" based on common objects, but as a category that would make a unity with plurality. Embracing different practices and transforming them into political issues unique to the condition of women, Young thus makes it possible to think of feminism as a group in which women, both as singular beings and as beings belonging to several categories, can find themselves, come together, but above all, identify themselves. Feminism considered as a political theory and practice becomes a group with which all women identify.
Snapchat’s Broken Promises: A Gender Analysis of the Social Media Platform
This gender analysis of the social media platform Snapchat explores the affordances of the application according to the initial commitment the creators promised to their users. The statements being that they would not conform to the norms of beauty seen on other platforms, that freedom of expression is encouraged as there would be no embarrassment from it, and finally, that there will be no social media history on this app to haunt users afterwards. As compelling as these promises sound, ten years after the Snapchat launch, there are some inconsistencies that emerge due to the different affordances that encourage gender performativity and separation such as beauty filters. Moreover, some features of the platform make it easier for users to break the privacy policy which negatively affects gender practices on the application. Some design alternatives are given at the end of the analysis proving that there are important changes to be made for this app to be safe and inclusive for every gender.
Rapport à la littérature érotique et enjeux de respectabilité pour les femmes : une étude de discours publicitaires et prescriptifs
The aim of this article is to study the discourses on sexuality and gender at work in the prescriptions of erotic reading within the "women's press". By analyzing the legitimization of this reading and the recommendation of its use in several French speaking women's magazines, we wish to show that this testifies to the reconfiguration of norms within sexuality, but also that these "reading recommendations" participate in a discursive production on gender that is operative. After having updated the reasons for the proliferation of erotic reading prescriptions in the women's press, this article will situate these cultural exhortations with regard to the construction of sexuality as an enterprise of the self. Then, this article will turn to studying the discursive mechanisms of the promotion of this reading, which seems in particular to guarantee a certain respectability to the female readers. Finally, it will be shown how these exhortations trace the contours of the good erotic subject, understood within a female sexuality perceived as intrinsically different.
De la métaphysique à la question philosophique de l’animal : avec Heidegger et Derrida
In the history of the Western philosophical tradition, the question of the animal is, in a certain sense, central: it is by the flanks that it constantly emerges at the heart of the great reflectionon the boundaries of "humanity". Thus, contrary to a widespread opinion, the philosophical question of the animal is not secondary, but rather perhaps one of the most constant and tenacious thorn in the history of ideas - and of interrogations. Now, if Martin Heidegger has put the philosophical question of the animal back at the center of reflection, Jacques Derrida is perhaps the one who made visible the fragility and the cracks in the great construction of the Western philosophical tradition around the traditional opposition between the human and the animal. The Derridean deconstruction will then open the way to a plurality of thinkers and to a variety of interpretations that will directly insert themselves into these cracks that have weakened the very structure of the edifice. Nevertheless, it is from the texts of Heidegger that Derrida operates a reversal of the question. In Derrida's eyes, it is the whole Western philosophical tradition, in a certain sense, that perseveres in erasing any trace of the animal : a care fully orchestrated oblivion of the animal. In these conditions, by developing a distinction between spectator and listener, our reflection unfolds the question of the animal in such a way as to demonstrate that it is precisely as a listener, the one who stretches his or her ear, not as a spectator, that we must position ourselves before the animal in order not to remain in sensitive to its call: to remove this deafness, to listen attentively to the animal that tries to communicate with us. Let us open ourselves to the animal that tries to establish a dialogue with us: let us listen to it, finally.
Today, public welfare and respect for the balance of ecosystems are among the objectives of the profession of urban planners. These interesting development issues are the subject of this article, which focuses on the environmental and social management of iron ore operations at lake Bloom by Minerai de Fer Québec, the subsidiary of Champion Iron Limited. Ananalysis of the project to increase the storage capacity of residual materials from this operation was conducted to determine whether the company is acting in favour of sustainable development objectives. The notions of metal pollution, water acidification and the disappearance of fauna and flora species were addressed. The analysis of the social and governance issues of the mining project took into account three issues: business conduct, working conditions on the site and the well-being of the affected communities. Finally, lessons learned and important recommendations for tailings management were presented
D’antiterrorisme à terreur étatique : La répression et l’internement des Ouïghour-e-s en Chine
In 2017, it was discovered thatthousands of Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking,Muslim ethnic minority, were beinginterned in so-called "re-education"camps in the Xinjiang region ofnortheastern China. These camps intendto cleanse the Uyghurs of the religiousextremism that supposedly afflicts them.This discovery followed several years ofsinicization and cultural and religiousrepression as well as violent incidents bythe Chinese Communist Party. This essaywill outline the underlying causes ofChina's repressive integration policies, aswell as the securitization discoursethrough which China has attempted tolegitimize the use of force and detentionagainst the Uyghur minority. It willattempt to explain how a broad anti-terrorism campaign has served to veilthe use of state terror.
Les violences de Mohammad. Réflexion anthropologique des lieux de confinement dans le contexte migratoire actuel en Europe
In the face of a widely mediatized discourse of a global migration crisis, one of desperate populations fleeing massively to the European continent, the new deployment of repressive devices such as camps appears today as the norm for regulating the flows of migrants. The situation of Greece, as a country bordering the Schengen area and one of the main points of entry for migrants, is relevant to analyze the forms of confinement developed to welcome them and the practices used on a daily basis to keep them away. On the basis of the life story of one migrant that transited through the hotspot on the island of Samos, this anthropological article intends to reflect on the various forms of violence which, on the one hand, underlie the establishment of places of confinement in Europe and, on the other, are produced within them. The challenge here is to highlight forms of violence that are not usually associated, in the collective imagination, with brute force, which, in this sense, makes it possible to legitimize practices that are violent because they are insidious, and felt to be so, under the guise of humanitarian arguments.
Introduction de la revue et de l'équipe
Les obstacles bureaucratiques à l’immigration au Québec: quelles sont les stratégies déployées par les personnes migrantes pour les contourner ?
It is possible to compare the journey of Quebec’s immigrants to the ones of fighters. For example, in order to be selected by the province, candidates for the Regular Skilled Worker Program (RSWP) must issue a Declaration of Interest (DI), on the online portal Arrima. Subsequently, if the latter meet the social-economic needs of the province, they will be invited to apply for the Québec Selection Certificate (CSQ), which is delivered by the Ministry of Immigration, Francization, and Integration (MIFI) as a proof of their selection to settle in Quebec. Under the 1991 Federal Agreement, the province has a veto right for the selection of immigrants, which means that obtaining the CSQ is a prerequisite for applying for permanent residency with the federal government. This example shows that candidates who wish to settle in Quebec engage in a multiplication of administrative procedures, which makes the migration process longer, more expensive, and emotionally exhausting. Despite the bureaucratic obstacles to immigration in Quebec, thousands of them get their permanent residency every year. This essay therefore attempts to highlight their capacity for action to overcome the administrative difficulties encountered in their immigration project.
Innovation et mobilisation: la mise à l'essai des nouvelles politiques migratoires canadiennes durant la crise des réfugiés de la mer (1975-1980)
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians were forced to flee their country. They took the direction of refugee camps, a temporary destination, however. The so-called resettlement countries, including Canada, have played a key role in this migration crisis since they have made it possible to offer permanent refuge to the millions of refugees fleeing the former Indochina. This work focuses on the Canadian response during this crisis and, more particularly, on the evolution of Canadian migration policies and their impact on the phenomenon of refugee resettlement
La situation agricole de la Polynésie française: un double contexte particulier
The current agricultural situation in French Polynesia results from a particular double context. On the one hand, the establishment of the Pacific Experimentation Center has upset the socio-economic structures of French Polynesia. On the other hand, the latter are greatly affected by the effects of global warming. It is therefore this double vulnerability that today affects local agriculture in French Polynesia. This therefore leaves room for many forms of international and local environmental assistance.
Les activités écotouristiques à Les activités écotouristiques à Rio Lagartos: un « modèle vertueux » ?
Ecotourism is understood as a “virtuous model” internationally given its ability to conserve nature in addition to generating economic and social benefits for local populations. However, local issues of redistribution, participation and subjectivity can be raised in the case of the Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve in Río Lagartos in Yucatán (Mexico). It is therefore through an analysis through the prism of development myths and protected areas as well as neoliberalism that the pernicious nature of ecotourism will be exposed. Thus, by moving from theory to practice, it is possible to understand that ecotourism perpetuates logics of power of domination of the global north over the global south by attempting to reconcile capitalism and nature conservation through sustainable development.
Violences sexuelles et judiciarisation: repenser « l’expertise » à la lumière des théories féministes du savoir situé ?
By focusing my reflection on the experience of survivors and victims of sexual violence, I highlight in this article the way in which legal "expertise" in matters of sexual assault has been constructed by excluding the knowledge of people who experience violence. I thus mobilize feminist theories from the situated point of view in order to show the need to place the experiences of survivors/victims at the heart of the understanding of sexual violence as well as the legal treatment that results from it. I first offer a brief overview of feminist theories from the situated point of view to then show the way in which the legal system marginalizes the experiential knowledge of survivors/victims in the problematization of sexual violence. I continue my analysis by highlighting the inescapable nature of the testimonies that constitute denunciation movements such as #MeToo for the understanding of violence, while underlining the effects of exclusion of certain realities that they participate in (re)producing. Finally, taking the example of the Regroupement québécois des centers d'aide et de Lutte contre les Aggresses sxueles (RQCALACS), I show how an understanding of violence centered on experiential knowledge promotes support for survivors and makes it possible to go beyond certain received ideas on the problem of sexual violence.
Fluidité du genre au sein de la tradition wicca: étude de cas d’une pratiquante wiccane éclectique trans à Québec ?
Wicca is a magical-religious tradition that presents a unique cosmology in which the relationships maintained between the gender identity of practitioners and their ritual and magical practices are anchored. Gender identity in Wicca in Quebec City is defined as the chosen expression of male or female energy depending on a given situation in daily life, which allows for a reassessment of notions of masculine and feminine. This article examines the specific life story of an identifying eclectic Wiccan trans woman in Quebec City. The construction and fluid expression of one's gender identity through the practice of Wicca highlights the subversive potential of spirituality in a society where binary gender norms favoring male dominance over women and heteronormativity still dominate.
Écoféminisme, hydroféminisme et art: de l’importance des émotions face aux changements climatiques
This reflective article offers an ecofeminist and hydrofeminist analysis of the importance of art, and more broadly of emotions, in climate change thoughts. First, I suggest abandoning the multiple dualisms found in Western thought. Indeed, those dualisms contribute not only to the subordination of women and minorities, but also to an erroneous conception of reason, which, isolated from emotions, is leading us towards a form of ecological denial. Then, I introduce the hydrofeminist theory which perceives water as the common element of the world. I illustrate this analysis with a few concrete examples of ecofeminist or hydrofeminist art. Through this article, my goal is to offer another way of being in the world.
What place do transfeminine and non-binary people have in organizations addressing domestic violence against women?
Do transfeminine and non-binary people have a place in women-only spaces? More specifically, is it justifiable to include them in organizations fighting domestic violence? This question raises different issues, but also strong reactions. While several of these organizations oppose this mix, others are gradually relaxing their eligibility criteria. In fact, trans people report having experienced nearly twice as much domestic violence in their lifetime as cisgender women. Thus, this essay explores the ways in which the debates surrounding the consideration of transfeminine and non-binary people in feminine spaces influence the practices of organizations combating domestic violence addressed to women (LVCAF). To that end, the issues raised by this question are set out in more detail. Second, the essentialist and non-essentialist visions that tend to justify the criteria of mixedness or non-mixedness are raised. Third, recourse to the theories of transfeminism and intersectionality is made in order to depict various limits associated with the criteria of non-mixedness. Guided by this analysis, the essay concludes by presenting various courses of action to promote the inclusion of transfeminine and non-binary people within LVCAF organizations.