This article examines the role of collective memory in the resilience of gender-focused civil society organizations (CS0s) faced with unfavorable political climates. Based on interviews with members of gender-focused CSOs in Turkey, we discern that collective memory first serves as a resource for resilience by giving meaning to current actions in light of past achievements and thereby providing a sense of empowerment and hope for the future. Second, collective memory helps demonstrate the role of local processes and accomplishments in the incorporation of global rights and principles. The use of collective memory thus authenticates and indigenizes the claims made and justifies current stances and claims. Third, collective memory helps members of gender-focused CSOs make claims on the basis of the narration of the past. In other words, collective memory provides a roadmap and political implications for the future. Here, we see variation among organizations as history is told differently, with different implications in different cases, demonstrating the internal diversity of gender-focused CSOs. The article aims to fill a significant gap and initiate a new line of research as neither the existing literature on countering democratic backsliding, nor the one on responses to gender backlash systematically consider the role of collective memory in the process.
While the "male gaze" has been extensively theorized as a tool of patriarchal objectification, the "female gaze", particularly in non-Western conflict zones, remains undertheorized. This paper investigates the sociolinguistic and pragmatic dimensions of evaluative discourse among urban, educated young Palestinian women in the West Bank. Moving beyond descriptive accounts of slang, the study analyzes a lexicon of colloquial Arabic terms used in private settings to construct a distinct, analytical female gaze. Through a focused ethnographic design involving 34 participants, the research explores how this language serves not just to evaluate men, but to diagnose potential partners and negotiate the complexities of modern Palestinian femininity. The findings reveal a sophisticated evaluative hierarchy where aesthetic appreciation is consistently subordinated to assessments of moral integrity, psychological stability, and political reliability. This lexicon operates as a hidden transcript, allowing women to critique patriarchal norms and police forms of masculinity deemed "frivolous" (fafi) or dangerous (psycho) within the specific context of military occupation. The analysis demonstrates that these speech acts function as collective mechanisms for risk assessment and social survival, rejecting men who fail to meet the dual demands of domestic partnership and political steadfastness (sumud). This study contributes to gender studies by re-theorizing the female gaze as an active, diagnostic power rather than a passive romantic preference. It challenges monolithic representations of Palestinian women as silent victims and offers a framework for understanding how marginalized groups use private discourse to reclaim agency and navigate structural violence.
This study aims to assess existing policies and interventions that support women seafarers in Malaysia and to compare them with the global benchmarks of women seafarers' employment. The systematic review scrutinized fifteen articles, one survey, and three reports issued from 2014 to 2024, concerning Malaysian women seafarers and considerations on the international level. Some of the findings that stand out include discrimination, lack of or poor facilities, and work-life balance based on gender. It brings into perspective the achievements so far through bodies such as the Women's Maritime Association, as well as compliance with global laid policies. It reveals a lack of effective enforcement of decisions that have been made at the policy level. Some recommendations are to increase resistance to discrimination, to improve conditions for employees during onboard facilities, to create clear and all-embracing policies connected with maternity leave, and to provide women with leadership opportunities. The study suggests the adoption of cultural change within maritime organizations and the need to enhance recognition of the importance of gender diversity. This review offers broader insight into gender equality in the context of the Malaysian maritime industry and serves as a basis for further research and policy initiatives that would support the creation of an equitable and diverse maritime workforce.
South American women constitute the largest group within the migrant population in Spain. These women are often recruited for domestic and care work, where they encounter various forms of discrimination. Migration prompts them to question their own identity, which is narratively reconstructed through proculturation processes. From an intersectional perspective, this paper analyzes the identity reconstruction of four Latin American women who face the challenges of migration from an intersectional perspective. Individual interviews were conducted with migrant women who have more than 14 years of migration experience. The analysis was based on Bruner indicators of selfhood: agency, resources, social references, and coherence. Migration itself, as a primary means of escaping poverty, is identified as a key indicator of agency. Perseverance and religion emerge as the main personal resources on which these women rely to pursue their goals. Among the social reference indicators, support was received from family members, friends, certain employers, and professionals, while ex-husbands and the broader Spanish population were identified as the main barriers to their integration. Finally, coherence indicators reveal an ongoing effort to maintain continuity during the migration process, achieved through positioning and repositioning of themselves and others, with caregiving standing out as a central element of their experience. The results demonstrate the formation of new meanings through proculturation processes and highlight the intersection of social, political, economic, and historical dimensions of discrimination. Gender emerges as a central factor that shapes and articulates the entire migratory project.
Addressing gender-based injustice and violence is a priority for feminist activism, but women's and queer rights activists are often motivated by past traumas that can undermine their work. Healing justice tackles such harm by incorporating collective healing processes as core movement-work. This article draws on qualitative research with 47 feminist activists and healers in 11 African countries and three learning events to show how collective healing could be applied to sustain them. It argues that healing mutual harm requires a combination of communal, holistic-embodied and political healing approaches, which should be contextualised. Five key praxis elements are synthesised to guide adaptive healing applications: reenergising-bonding; verbal-interactive; embodied-enacted; spiritual-ritual; and power-building practices. Insights on navigating the key tensions are discussed. However, collective healing requires longer-term, iteratively evolving processes to achieve social and political healing, and this needs fundamental changes to feminist financing.
