Partnership Studies in Transformative Education

Social Entrepreneurship and COVID‐19

Eisler’s cultural transformation theory suggests that the global crises we face can be addressed only through movement to a partnership model of social organization. Drawing on cultural transformation theory and systems theory, a partnership model of family organization (PMFO) is outlined as a practical framework to guide families toward partnership relations. Eight components of PMFO are presented and expanded on as a path toward furthering familial and societal transformation. The eight tenets of a PMFO are: 1) cooperative adult leadership, 2) connecting orientation, 3) caretaking emphasis, 4) collaborative roles and rules, 5) celebration of unique contributions, 6) compassionate communication, 7) conscious language use, and 8) collection and creation of partnership stories. Finally, specific strategies of application of the PMFO will be discussed.


 
 
 Faith-based community anchor institutions are important collaborators in community development. They are respected social innovators who deploy their assets for the common good, especially good works aimed towards helping marginalised communities and those in poverty. More recently, the pace of faith-based social innovation and community development leadership has slowed substantially (Jones 2016). Seeking renewed imagination, will and ability for asset-based social innovation among faith-based communities, the Ormond Center at Duke University’s Divinity School has developed a curriculum, based on a human ecology framework, that engages faith-based ‘community- academic partnered participatory research’ (Chen et. al. 2006) towards social change.
 Our approach starts by working with congregations to discover community-level barriers to thriving in their local context. We then walk alongside faith-based communities to identify strengths-based, relationship-centred opportunities to collaboratively integrate congregational assets with community assets towards positive social change. This curriculum has been tested by the Ormond Center with several diverse, multi- denominational congregations in communities located in North Carolina and Virginia. Its potential to encourage asset-based community development for social good is supported by tangible evidence. This article takes the reader through the process of changing a semester-long graduate course, designed by the academy for the academy, to a six-week course that walks alongside faith- based lay leaders and pastors in their local context, towards asset-based community development for positive social change. Five viable asset-based solutions to community-level social issues are shared, and lessons learned are offered.
 
 

In different fields of study, scholars interested in making a positive difference in the lives of their research communities insist on engaging policy makers and activists in their work. Paulo Freire, one of the most widely known public intellectuals, asserts that praxis enables critical thought, awareness and collaborative action for emancipation for oppressed groups. Within this framework, our contribution aims to provoke thinking on the need for accountability to research subjects in development research through an emphasis on producing policy-focused and change-driven, as opposed to purely theoretically oriented, knowledge. The overarching argument is that research should, in fact, be conscious and proactive about its contribution to positive social change. Drawing on primary data gathered through field research in Ghana between 2010 and 2016, the paper highlights respondent fatigue/distrust, cross-cultural translation, and the peculiarities of the diasporic researcher as some of the methodological challenges faced in the attempt to align one’s research towards the pursuit of positive social change. Some modest suggestions are provided regarding how to enhance the impact of research for social transformation.

In a time when the global economy continues to stutter, social justice and climate change mitigation simultaneously increase in urgency and complexity. In this context,existing organisations are put under pressure to display sustainable entrepreneurial behaviour,transforming their strategy to meet new social and environmental goals. This paper analyses the process of sustainable entrepreneurship in the context of existing hybrid organisations. We conducted extensive fieldwork at a Dutch housing association in transition. The case organisation set an ambitious climate mitigation target to be achieved by 2030 inducing a chain of organisational changes. At the same time, the strategy department is also dealing with a number of social challenges, among which a worrying increase of poverty, an ageing target group, and a rising refugees’ requests for housing. We offer a set of new propositions to underpin the mechanism fostering and contrasting the sustainable entrepreneurship process. One key finding is that some of the mechanisms that fuel organisational inertia in its conventional (negative)connotation, might be the ones enabling positive long-term social and environmental change.

A postal survey was conducted to investigate the opinions of social workers as to the need for social change, and the responsibility of social workers and their professional association to work for social improvement. It was concluded that the majority of social workers consider that social change is necessary and believe that it is their responsibility and that of the A.A.S.W. to engage in social activism. However, although most social workers have attempted to bring about positive social change, it was generally felt that the A.A.S.W. had not met its responsibility in the area of social action.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32444/IJSW.2018.79.3.327-350 This article highlights the extent of social change brought about through social innovation and empathy at the Veena Vadini School in a small village of Madhya Pradesh, India. Using the social marketing framework, the article describes how the unique initiative of setting up a school of ambidextrous children led to lasting positive social change in the region. The initiative led to a change in the behaviour of the community towards education, alcoholism, dowry, agriculture, employment, health, sanitation and antisocial activities.

Communication strategies are one of the World Health Organization´s best buys for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), particularly to reduce risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and alcohol consumption, however, capacities for developing and implementing effective communication and behavior change campaigns remain low. The Pan American Health Organization, in collaboration with the University of South Florida, PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centre for Social Marketing and Social Change to Address NCDs developed and implemented the Social Marketing Program for Public Health to respond to this pressing need in developing country capacities. Social marketing is the application of commercial marketing principles to influence behaviors that benefit society and public health and uses traditional marketing tools to promote sustainable and positive social change. Unlike traditional communication-based initiatives, social marketing employs comprehensive strategies based on research and marketing principles to achieve measurable behavioral outcomes. The Program on Social Marketing for Public Health includes modules on social marketing essentials, case studies, initial planning in social marketing, developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating social marketing and communication strategies. This Compendium provides an overview of the social marketing approach informed by program implementation, using salt reduction as the primary focus for behavior change, and it includes learning activities and lessons learned by the country-led teams participating in a tutor-led component. This guide aims to enhance the knowledge and skills necessary for managing communication and behavior change-based programs and policies, bolstering the capacity of public health practitioners to use social marketing in Latin America and the Caribbean, by demonstrating how social marketing principles translate into effective interventions in real-life situations.

Amidst the 2019/22 COVID-19 miseries, a silver lining appears: the pandemic is causing many of us rethink our lives. Using terror management theory (TMT), this conceptual essay identifies the simultaneous emergence of two mindsets, a cautious mindset, stemming from the preservation motive, and a “virtuous” mindset, stemming from an enrichment motive—an intentionality to live a more fulfilling life. These two mindsets in turn produce five life perspectives—life themes for everyday living and achieving long-term life goals. This study reviews evidence of these five life perspectives in published reports of consumers’ thoughts during the pandemic. In turn, these emergent life perspectives and consumer motives present new opportunities for marketers to advance consumer well-being and positive social change as developed in this paper. Weaving a nexus of consumers’ emergent life perspectives, consumption motives, and marketer opportunities, our conceptual framework suggests seven research questions for marketing scholars.

Everyday conversations are pivotal to unfolding human relationships. These routine conversations provide evidence of the structure and function of talk within relationships. Interpersonal communication motives were considered antecedents to climate and outcome variables as defined by the Iowa Communication Record. Participants completed three diary records for substantial interactions they engaged in over the course of one week. Analysis established communication for enjoyment to be associated with quality and positive change outcomes. Inclusion motivation was associated with high conversational value and positive social change. Results support a functional view of communication.

Dementia research is characterised by a noticeable focus away from issues of 'race', racism and racialised social inequalities with respect to its discourses around the experience of dementia within minority ethnic communities. Taking into account the specific silence around 'race', and conceptualising this as a form of whiteness, this chapter presents a number of critical reflections around how this whiteness of public health discourses and research agendas relating to dementia has important implications for knowledge production, social justice and social change. The discussion takes issue specifically with the particular conceptualisations of 'ethnicity' within the wider white public health discourses around dementia and presents a critique regarding how these white discourses work as a mechanism to shift responsibility and blame collectively to members of the disadvantaged minority ethnic communities. A strong emphasis is placed within this discussion on the need for a decolonisation of research agendas with respect to dementia research and adoption of anti-racist approaches to knowledge production. Challenging the current dominance of Western (and white) framings of the problem around minority ethnic people's equitable access to dementia diagnosis, care and support is thus identified as a key priority for inclusive dementia research concerned with positive social change.

This study assesses American Muslim physicians’ public role and levels of civic, community, and political involvement; examines the relationship between religiosity and civic/community involvement; and identifies community empowerment and social change. The results show that civic/community action is associated primarily with one's level of religiosity, t = 2.74 (df = 301.3), p < .03; age 2.69 (df = 317.7), p = .007; country of origin, t = 11.5 (df = 2), p = .006; and gender, t = 4.52 (df = 1), p = .03. Participants’ charitable giving, willingness to treat uninsured patients without charge, and provision of financial and medical support suggest that their public role could have health policy and community empowerment implications for civic engagement and positive social change in their community vis-à-vis underserved Americans.

In 1970, a gay male couple applied for and was given a marriage license in Minnesota. The license was eventually rescinded by court order. Forty-five years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, limiting the federal definition of marriage to consist of one man and one woman, was unconstitutional. The result was the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of establishing the right for same-sex couples to legally marry. It outlines the benefits and costs to LGBT communities one year after the establishment of same-sex marriage in the U.S. This paper explores the limits of utilizing a rights-based approach when advocating social change. The recommendation is for LGBT individuals, communities and allies to shift tactics to adopt a capabilities approach to organizing and mobilizing people, groups, and organizations around issues of injustice. A capabilities framework addresses the complexities of individual and community needs while providing a foundation for coalition building and lasting positive social change.

Twitter and social accountability: Reactions to the Panama Papers

This article analyses young men’s political subjectivities through a prism of everyday alignments and disassociations with historically, socially and spatially produced masculinities. Drawing on qualitative data from a wider project on men and care work, we analyse insights from interview and focus group data pertaining to young-adult men (19–37 years old) working in the Australian Health Care and Social Assistance sector to document how they disassociate and align themselves with certain elements of hegemonic masculinity. We discuss how these young men understand care as gender-neutral, redefine masculine strength, develop analyses of men’s privilege and violence and reject domination, while simultaneously navigating the cultural continuity of the breadwinner ideal. Maintaining that these are alignments with caring masculinities—and are not to be confused with hybrid masculinities—we argue that our participants’ political subjectivities are geared towards positive social change.