title: When citizen politics becomes uncivil: Between popular protest, civil society and governance in Jamaica

authors: Johnson, Hume Nicola

subjects: Popular protest

abstract: This thesis focuses on the problem of incivility within the domains of citizen politics and civil society by exploring the proclivity for popular protest in Jamaica and the intersections between popular citizen protest, civil society and governance in this context. It scrutinizes the tenor of contemporary civilian politics and assesses the consequent impact on the quality of civil society more broadly. The thesis challenges the assumption within accepted definitions of civil society that civic participation is always positive. It does so by examining the manner in which citizens engage collectively to defend their interests and make claims upon the state, as well as the extent to which this model of political participation serves the agenda and promise of civil society.
Through an in-depth, country-specific, empirical case study, the thesis examines micro social processes of power at community level to raise questions about who should be represented in civil society and how the voices of the marginalized are to be heard. In this regard, it explores the role of social inequality, feelings of social injustice and political exclusion as contributory factors in the existing tenor of citizen politics in Jamaica. It also examines the challenges facing the contemporary state and the impact of violent protests on state engagement, public action and political performance. The study analyses the lived experiences, observations and perspectives of a wide cross section of Jamaican citizens, gleaned from face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions, as well as a range of secondary material, including audio-visual data, to illuminate this process of struggle and underscore the factors which drive violent protests in this political context.
The thesis concludes that maximum disruption, including violence, has not only become the basis of civil protest in Jamaica, but that the varied and contradictory responses of the state bureaucracy and political actors (Members of Parliament, activists, other political iii
officials), as well as the mass media, have directly contributed to the style and tenor of protest politics in Jamaica. This state of affairs reduces popular citizen participation over genuine concerns to mob-style incivility and undermines civil society as a source of positive and responsible citizenship. The growing political importance of grassroots-based citizen participation and community building within the context of a global imperative to forge 'democracy from below' lends theoretical and normative credence to emerging concerns about the current character of popular citizen mobilizations and protest. This study thus establishes the basis for a presumption in favour of civility, civil discourse and civil action as fundamental to the construction of civil society. In doing so, it extends current scholarly understandings of civil society to Third World contexts, with a specific emphasis on Jamaica.

text: When citizen politics becomes uncivil: Between popular protest, civil society and governance in Jamaica This thesis focuses on the problem of incivility within the domains of citizen politics and civil society by exploring the proclivity for popular protest in Jamaica and the intersections between popular citizen protest, civil society and governance in this context. It scrutinizes the tenor of contemporary civilian politics and assesses the consequent impact on the quality of civil society more broadly. The thesis challenges the assumption within accepted definitions of civil society that civic participation is always positive. It does so by examining the manner in which citizens engage collectively to defend their interests and make claims upon the state, as well as the extent to which this model of political participation serves the agenda and promise of civil society.
Through an in-depth, country-specific, empirical case study, the thesis examines micro social processes of power at community level to raise questions about who should be represented in civil society and how the voices of the marginalized are to be heard. In this regard, it explores the role of social inequality, feelings of social injustice and political exclusion as contributory factors in the existing tenor of citizen politics in Jamaica. It also examines the challenges facing the contemporary state and the impact of violent protests on state engagement, public action and political performance. The study analyses the lived experiences, observations and perspectives of a wide cross section of Jamaican citizens, gleaned from face-to-face interviews, focus group discussions, as well as a range of secondary material, including audio-visual data, to illuminate this process of struggle and underscore the factors which drive violent protests in this political context.
The thesis concludes that maximum disruption, including violence, has not only become the basis of civil protest in Jamaica, but that the varied and contradictory responses of the state bureaucracy and political actors (Members of Parliament, activists, other political iii
officials), as well as the mass media, have directly contributed to the style and tenor of protest politics in Jamaica. This state of affairs reduces popular citizen participation over genuine concerns to mob-style incivility and undermines civil society as a source of positive and responsible citizenship. The growing political importance of grassroots-based citizen participation and community building within the context of a global imperative to forge 'democracy from below' lends theoretical and normative credence to emerging concerns about the current character of popular citizen mobilizations and protest. This study thus establishes the basis for a presumption in favour of civility, civil discourse and civil action as fundamental to the construction of civil society. In doing so, it extends current scholarly understandings of civil society to Third World contexts, with a specific emphasis on Jamaica.

year: 2007

title: Local and distortional buckling behaviour of aluminium alloy back-to-back channels with web holes under axial compression

authors: Fang, Zhiyuan (Arthur)

subjects: axial compression test

abstract: Aluminium alloy back-to-back channels are becoming popular in building structures. These back-to-back channels often include web holes for installation of services. No previous research, however, is available in the literature for compressive behaviour of aluminium alloy back-to-back channels with web holes. This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation on the behaviour of screw fastened back-to-back built-up aluminium alloy stub and short columns with web holes under axial compression. Fourteen tests were conducted in total, the results of all are reported in this paper. Prior to compression tests, tensile tests were conducted to determine the material properties of test specimens and initial geometric imperfections were also measured using a laser scanner. A non-linear finite element (FE) model was then developed, and the results were compared against the experiment results showing a good match in terms of both the axial strength and failure modes. Based on 720 FE models, a comprehensive parametric study was conducted to investigate the effects of hole size, screw spacing, section thickness, column length and modified slenderness on structural behaviour of back-to-back built-up aluminium alloy channel columns. Furthermore, the performance of current design guidelines by Australian/New Zealand Standards (AS/NZS) and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) standards was assessed by comparing the axial strengths obtained from the experiments and FEA. It is shown that the AISI & AS/NZS (4600:2018) are conservative by 10% on average, when compared against the test results. Parametric study results were used to propose the axial strength reduction factor equations for aluminium alloy back-to-back channels, and thereafter a reliability analysis was performed. The results of reliability analysis showed that the proposed equations could closely predict the reduced axial strength of aluminium alloy back-to-back channels with web holes.

text: Local and distortional buckling behaviour of aluminium alloy back-to-back channels with web holes under axial compression Aluminium alloy back-to-back channels are becoming popular in building structures. These back-to-back channels often include web holes for installation of services. No previous research, however, is available in the literature for compressive behaviour of aluminium alloy back-to-back channels with web holes. This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation on the behaviour of screw fastened back-to-back built-up aluminium alloy stub and short columns with web holes under axial compression. Fourteen tests were conducted in total, the results of all are reported in this paper. Prior to compression tests, tensile tests were conducted to determine the material properties of test specimens and initial geometric imperfections were also measured using a laser scanner. A non-linear finite element (FE) model was then developed, and the results were compared against the experiment results showing a good match in terms of both the axial strength and failure modes. Based on 720 FE models, a comprehensive parametric study was conducted to investigate the effects of hole size, screw spacing, section thickness, column length and modified slenderness on structural behaviour of back-to-back built-up aluminium alloy channel columns. Furthermore, the performance of current design guidelines by Australian/New Zealand Standards (AS/NZS) and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) standards was assessed by comparing the axial strengths obtained from the experiments and FEA. It is shown that the AISI & AS/NZS (4600:2018) are conservative by 10% on average, when compared against the test results. Parametric study results were used to propose the axial strength reduction factor equations for aluminium alloy back-to-back channels, and thereafter a reliability analysis was performed. The results of reliability analysis showed that the proposed equations could closely predict the reduced axial strength of aluminium alloy back-to-back channels with web holes.

year: 2022

title: Three Pacific writers from Aotearoa discuss Indigenous languages and visual poetry

authors: Salsano, Marama

abstract: This article draws on several months of conversations, creative workshopping, and writing sessions between Māori writers Ammon Hāwea Apiata and Marama Salsano, and Rotuman writer Mere Taito. Here, we contemplate the presence of Māori and Rotuman languages in our visual poetry. For too long, critical work about English language writing by Indigenous writers from the Pacific has been Eurocentric. Papua New Guinean writer-scholar Steven Winduo suggests the need to unwrite this “imagined Oceania,” while Māori author Keri Hulme writes disparagingly of the lower-cased ‘gods of literature’, and in her ReadNZ lecture, Sāmoan-Māori fantasy writer Lani Wendt Young describes traditional publishing as the “white castle of literature.” While white castled gods of literature have historically ignored the everyday vibrancy of Pacific voices, Indigenous writers from the Pacific continue to unapologetically write, read, experiment, critique, and play with words. Into this complexity, we acknowledge that for many Indigenous writers from the Pacific, English language Eurocentric thought and texts dominate our lives; many of us are second language learners of our languages.

text: Three Pacific writers from Aotearoa discuss Indigenous languages and visual poetry This article draws on several months of conversations, creative workshopping, and writing sessions between Māori writers Ammon Hāwea Apiata and Marama Salsano, and Rotuman writer Mere Taito. Here, we contemplate the presence of Māori and Rotuman languages in our visual poetry. For too long, critical work about English language writing by Indigenous writers from the Pacific has been Eurocentric. Papua New Guinean writer-scholar Steven Winduo suggests the need to unwrite this “imagined Oceania,” while Māori author Keri Hulme writes disparagingly of the lower-cased ‘gods of literature’, and in her ReadNZ lecture, Sāmoan-Māori fantasy writer Lani Wendt Young describes traditional publishing as the “white castle of literature.” While white castled gods of literature have historically ignored the everyday vibrancy of Pacific voices, Indigenous writers from the Pacific continue to unapologetically write, read, experiment, critique, and play with words. Into this complexity, we acknowledge that for many Indigenous writers from the Pacific, English language Eurocentric thought and texts dominate our lives; many of us are second language learners of our languages.

year: 2024-08-24