Social Movements - public education

Musawah

jhm25@duke.edu — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 16:45:14 +0000

Description:

Musawah is an advocacy group focused on the Muslim family worldwide. The group was officially founded in February of 2009 at a Global Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with over 250 men and women from 50 countries attending. One member of the movement described the conversations at the initial conference being centered around “wrestling Islam back from the men who use it against us” (Mona Eltahawy). Musawah as an organization argues for reform from multiple approaches: Islamic sources, including Muslim jurisprudence; international human rights standards; national laws and constitutional guarantees of equality; and lived realities of women and men. Moreover, Musawah embodies the idea that women can locate their activism, their feminism, and their demands for justice and equality in both Islamic and human rights frameworks.

Goals:

To build and share knowledge that supports equality and justice in the Muslim family using a holistic approach that combines Islamic principles and jurisprudence, international human rights standards, national laws and constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination, and the lived realities of women and men.
To build a critical mass of organizations, groups, and individuals who are empowered to engage in the public discourse on Islam and women's rights.
To support the work of human rights mechanisms as well as groups and individuals working with these processes at the international, regional, and national levels to advance equality and justice in the Muslim family.

Historical/Political Context:

In the early days of Islam in the 7th century, when interpretations of the Quran were not as set in stone and institutionalized, the religion offered more rights to women than many western cultures. For example, marriage was seen as a contract rather than a social status for women; female infanticide was prohibited and women were given inheritance rights. However, as centuries passed and rigid interpretation of the Quran became normalized and the leadership of the patriarchal societies in the Arab World standardized and systematized the repression of women, Muslim women lost more independence and agency. Modern Islamic feminism began in the nineteenth century as a rejection of some repressive practices that were "justified" by religion. For example, polygamy, the veil, and purdah (sex-segregation in Islam) were criticized, but only by a small number of Muslims. Over the next century and a half, Islamic feminism gained momentum; however, it looked very different from the classic political movement of feminism that was making leaps and bounds in the West. Muslim women wanted to advocate for female agency within the framework of Islam. It is anchored within the discourse of the Quran and Islamic feminists interpret the text through a feminist lens. In the twentieth and twenty first centuries, many Muslim women reject using Islam as justification for many repressive policies in the Arab world, as they believe that feminism and progress are possible within the context of the religion. Islamic feminists oppose the conservative interpretation of the Quran and the patriarchal discourse that has dominated the Middle East for so long.

Structure:

The Musawah community includes advocates, allies, affinity groups, working groups, the International Advisory Group and its Steering Committee, the Musawah Secretariat, and all men and women who has a stake and is involved with Musawah's work.

The International Advisory Group, formed in February 2010 to replace the original Planning Committee for the group's first Global Meeting. It is Musawah's highest policy and decision making body, consisting of 13 advocates who provide strategic direction, leadership, provide feedback on Musawah's programs and activities, and help guide the broad direction of the organization. The smaller Steering Committee works with the Musawah Secretariat (explained below) to make program decisions and monitor general implementation of the movement.

The Musawah Secretariat is the implementation body comprised of a Director and program/administrative staff.

There are five Working Groups within the organizations each covering an area of work: knowledge building, outreach, international advocacy, communications, and resource mobilization. Each group is led by a convener (or director) and consists of Advocates, IAG members, Secretariat staff members, and allies. The conveners of the five Working Groups are all members of the IAG Steering Committee.

The decision-making hierarchy is shown in the graphic below:

Genealogy:

In March of 2007, twelve women met in Istanbul to form a planning committee in order to start a conversation about equality in the Muslim family. The word “musawah” means equality in Arabic (مساواة), and the founders chose this word as representative of the Islamic Feminist movement and its efforts to reclaim equality and justice in the Muslim family. They wanted to build an international network to share scholarship, strategies, and best practices on work related to family laws in Muslim contexts. In 2009, the group held their first Global Meeting in Kuala Lumpur and officially launched the organization. Since then, the organization has expanded and become a leader within the Islamic feminist movement.

Watch the opening video of the 2009 Global Meeting below!

Campaigns:

Musawah works on three inter-related areas in order to build a strong movement of women and men working towards a common goal of equality and justice in Muslim families. All of the three areas are supported by communications activities.

The Musawah Course Islam & Gender Equality and Justice
o Designed for women and human rights activists working in Muslim contexts throughout the world
o Offers an alternative discourse on an Islam that upholds the principles of equality and justice, helps build a tradition of public debate on religion and public law and policy, and advocates for women's rights in Muslim contexts

A Toolkit for Advocates
o Designed for advocates
o Includes definitions of key terms and suggested activities for advocates to do on their own or within a group
o List of follow-up activities like accessing online audio-visual clips of Musawah Advocates speaking about their experiences and ideas
o Other resources
o http://www.musawah.org/get-involved/toolkit

Ideological Composition:

This group is composed of progressive people of the Muslim faith. As an organization, it is pluralistic and inclusive, bringing together NGOs, activists, scholars, legal practitioners, policy makers and grassroots women and men from around the world. The Islamic Feminist group is a sub-movement within the larger International Feminist movement. They relate with the general political and cultural goals of the International Feminist movement; however, Muslim women are in a different position than many women from other regions because of the religious restrictions that have been incorporated into many Arab regimes. Because of this, their goals are less lofty than those of many other feminists globally. However, Islamic feminists do benefit from interaction with other feminist sub-movements as they can share campaigns and resources, even if their basic ideological compositions are not identical.

Communication Strategy:

Musawah works within three areas in order to build a strong movement of both men and women working towards a common goal: knowledge building, capacity building, and international advocacy. As a knowledge building movement, Musawah facilitates access to existing knowledge and creates new knowledge about women's rights in Islam by applying a feminist lens in understanding Muslim legal traditions. In the capacity building area, the group contributes to building a public voice for women leaders. Regarding international advocacy, Musawah aims to strengthen women's voices both at regional and international levels. They are committed to including the following in their communications and outreach:

Translations
An emphasis on clear language
Sensitivity to information and communications technology access in resource-poor contexts
Inclusivity in the form, structure, and content of communications
Respect for confidentiality
Positive messaging that conveys the belief that change can happen and that people can be active agents in their lives

Created New Spaces:

The Musawah community is very global and thus many of their shared spaces are online. They have an active Facebook group where people post images and stories that are relatable across countries.

Oppositional Forces:

Religious and cultural barriers
- Sharia Law
- The Veil
Women who are considered too outspoken on women’s rights can expect severe reprisals from the state or society
Scrutiny from the West
- Must prioritize the narratives of Muslim women

Demand Universal Healthcare

gp99@duke.edu — Mon, 23 Apr 2018 15:56:52 +0000

Description:

DUH (Demand Universal Healthcare) advocated for a National Improved Medicare for All (NIMA), which would expand the current Medicare system to provide healthcare to all Americans and it would also expand the types treatments covered by the insurance. They are a group based in Chicago, but most of their work is done through social media and their website.

Goals:

Advocacy for National Improved Medicare for All (NIMA) a bill introduced by Representative John Conyers in 2015 that would establish a single payer health care system similar to Canada's Medicare system.
Inform the general public about what universal health care actually means, how it will affect Americans across different socio-economic groups, how it can be achieved in America, and what candidates will be able to achieve it
Use social media to engage the general public in advocacy for universal healthcare and in increasing or changing voter turnout
Encourage participation in politics through their use of social media
Elect progressive legislators by endorsing candidates for the House of Representatives, Senate, State Governors, and other critical races (mayoral, state legislature, etc.)
Forming alliances with other groups, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the women's right movement, and the movement for HIV/AIDS research and care, because universal healthcare affects all Americans and is inherently intersectional

Historical/Political Context:

Historically, there is negative connotation attached to universal health care with the American Medicare Association calling it “socialized medicine” since the Truman Administration proposed a universal healthcare system. Early attempts at universal health care during the Progressive Era, when many European countries established the foundations for their current healthcare system. America remained suspicious of government run programs and centralized government structures leading to employee provided insurance. Presently, many people continue to tie universal health care to socialist and communist ideologies that are not typically accepted in America. However, one of DUH’s main goals is to educate the public on what universal healthcare in America really means to change the stigma attached to it. Their universal health care fact sheet states that to achieve a truly universal healthcare system the government would pay for 100% of medical costs and the access to healthcare would not depend on someone's ability to pay, however it is not free. There are several ways that have been proposed to pay for a universal healthcare system, the most popular way is through payroll deductions where everyone pays 4.75% of their income. Most of the supporters of universal healthcare are aligned on the left side of the ideological spectrum, most of which align with the Democratic party. The founders of DUH both identify as Democratic Socialists, the Democratic Socialists of America are big supporters of universal health care with it being a central part of their platform.

Structure:

DUH is a decentralized movement with only two full time employees. It relies on the help of volunteers.

Donna Ellington and Sue Saltman are the only full-time staffed members of DUH. After working in the HIV/AIDS field for over 20 years and having a first hand look at the struggles people often faced in receiving adequate health care, as well as having a rare autoimmune liver disease, Sue has dedicated herself to universal healthcare advocacy. Donna was in the Air Force then an educator and counselor before dedicating her time to the fight for universal healthcare. She was the chairperson for Healthcare for America before becoming the Social Media Director of DUH, she also runs the partner Facebook site that deals with more general political topics called People Overcoming Politics.

The work done within DUH is reliant on volunteers. DUH has a small budget based on follower donations and on funding by the two founders which prevents for a full-time staff. There are several volunteers within the organization that carry out vital jobs, Luule Vess is integral in candidate research, Josh Dill works part time as a Campaign Consultant.

Genealogy:

Demand Universal Health care was established in Chicago in 2011 as Demonstration for Universal Healthcare, it was originally not a group but an attempt at rally at the National Mall that aimed to unite single payer activists to oppose the Affordable Care Act on the grounds that it needed to be expanded to cover those who needed access to healthcare the most. However, it died bc lack of money and shot down by other single payer groups who stood behind ACA. It was re-established as a grassroots organization in 2013 as the Drive for Universal Healthcare that toured 33 cities in 3 years.advocating and educating the public using The Healthcare Movie. Since then it has become Demand Universal Healthcare. Most of the work they do now is done through the internet. Since 2013, their Facebook page has grown to over 80,000 followers with over a million interactions, their Twitter page has amassed over 14,000 followers. The DUH page has appeared on Facebook’s Blue Book of Progressive Pages every year since 2013.

Campaigns:

The universal health care movement’s campaigns focus on pushing for legislation that expands healthcare coverage and they types of treatment available to eventually cover all American citizens. They also focus on public education to get rid of the negative stigma attached to universal healthcare while educating the public on what universal health care is, how it can be financed, and what its benefits are. One of DUH's biggest campaigns involves the endorsement of politicians running for office whose campaigns emphasize universal health care as goal. They led 3 tours across the United States from 2013-2015. Their first tour in 2013 focused on the East Coast, DUH visited 9 cities in 11 days from Augusta, Maine to Chicago, Illinois. Their second tour in 2014 was the West Coast Tour that spanned 19 cities from San Diego, California to Seattle, Washington in 23 days. Their Southeast Tour in 2015 was intended to span the south from Texas to Virginia to include Manu red states, but because of a low budget they had to condense their tour to span 6 cities in Georgia and the Carolinas.

Because of a lack of funding and donations and imposed taxes, DUH has chosen not to seek 501(c)(3) status so that THEY can endorse specific candidates and legislation, much of their work is done online. They endorse U.S. House and Senate candidates in every state without taking into account their political party affiliation. Most of the House and Senate candidates that they endorse identify as Democrats. They do endorse several Progressive Republicans, such as Marc Whitmire running in Tennessee's 2nd District which includes Knoxville, Paul Knupp running as an Independent in Iowa's 3rd District, Kenneth Mejia running as a Green Party candidate in California's 34th District. On a more local level, they also support gubernatorial candidates. During the last Presidential election, the only one for which DUH has existed, they endorsed Bernie Sanders who they believed was the perfect candidate to achieve a universal healthcare reform. They believed that Senator Sanders embodies what the DUH wanted to achieve, his priorities in achieving universal healthcare paralleled those of DUH. Although, he lost the nomination bid, they continue to endorse Senator Sanders in his Senatorial campaigns.

Ideological Composition:

The universal health care movement in America is mostly composed of people who lean left ideologically, with universal healthcare being attached to more socialist ideologies. The movement for universal healthcare in America is also largely intersectional, with close ties to the Black Lives Matter movement. African Americans are the most oppressed racial group in America. With high levels of poverty and imprisonment rates, they are also likely to lack access to adequate healthcare. DUH works with black power organizations to get them the resources necessary to access healthcare. They also have close ties with the Women's Movement in America. Women are also an oppressed demographic in the United States with very limited access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. Universal healthcare would provide more opportunities for women to get access to a very needed resources. DUH wants everyone to know that healthcare affects everyone, not just limited amount of people. America would be a much better, healthier country if universal healthcare was achieved.

Communication Strategy:

Much of DUH’s communication centers on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter because of their small size and limited staff. Larger organizations like Democratic Socialists of America have local chapters and hold regular meetings. Both hold events for a wide range of people of people with interest in the issue such as rallies. They also work with other groups to promote the issue through different media, such as movies. On their tours they promoted The Healthcare Movie, they are noe promoting Now Is the Time.

DUH has amassed over 80 thousand followers on Facebook, with over 1 million interactions and over 14 thousand followers on Twitter. This has allowed them to reach a wide following where they can educate people about universal healthcare. Their following spreads across the United States, their endorsements of candidates plays a role in the election of politicians across the country. Their website has a wide variety of information ranging from fact-sheets on what universal healthcare really is and the implications it has to bills introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate that deal with healthcare expansion to articles that explain how a universal healthcare system would be paid for, even if it would be cheaper than our current system. Their partner Facebook page People Overcoming Politics, allows them to reach an audience on a much wider range of issues.

Created New Spaces:

Organizations like DUH provide spaces on social media for people to express their opinion. DUH has provided a space where people can educate themselves on what universal healthcare in America actually is, thus getting rid of th negative stigma attached to it. Their country wide tors allowed people to interact with each other and form connection with other healthcare activists. While DSA provides the same, they also provide physical spaces, DSA has 181 local chapters in 49 states.

Oppositional Forces:

In the United States, people with right wing ideologies tend to be the major opponents to universal healthcare since they are proponents of small governments with a limited involvement in the lives of citizens. In the United States government this takes form in the Republican Party, whose platform stance in universal health care is to oppose it and support private health care, they have proposed to privatize Social Security. In the 2016 presidential race, Republican candidates emphasized that they would repeal Obamacare (Affordable Care Act), with the term "repeal and replace" becoming prominent.

The move has grown massively over the last couple of years as more people are exposed to what universal healthcare is. A lot of the movements forces today, are dedicated to stop the Trump presidency from limiting healthcare access even further. President Trump signed an executive order in 2017 that allowed short term health insurance policies to last for up to year instead of 90 days as the Obama Administration outlined in the Affordable Care Act, however this leads to a rise in premiums for comprehensive plans. In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act repealed the tax on those who did not obtain health insurance after ACA, this leads to 13 million people dropping coverage with the removal of the incentive. In January of 2018 the Trump Administration allowed states to implement work requirements on Medicaid that will cut benefits for able-bodied people unless they have a job, are caregivers, or are in school. This policy will affect around 5% of Medicaid recipients, most of which are single adults who received benefits after ACA. The Trump Administration’s attempts to repeal-and-replace ACA in Congress have failed but they have succeeded in amending it. There are now less regulations in association health plans which allows small business to unite and purchase health insurance as if they were large employers, although cheaper they cover less.

An unexpected oppositional force, includes others who also advocate for universal healthcare but are willing to take a slower route to get there. DUH does not have many connections with their universal healthcare advocacy groups, since DUH is explicitly against ACA and many other groups stand begind it. DUH is very clearly a Democratic Socialist movement that does not always align completely with the views of more moderate Democrat groups.