Althea-Maria Rivas

Bio: Althea-Maria Rivas is an academic researcher from SOAS, University of London. The author has contributed to research in topics: Economic Justice & Government. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 4 publications receiving 219 citations. Previous affiliations of Althea-Maria Rivas include Centre for Development Studies.

From ‘gender equality and ‘women’s empowerment’ to global justice: reclaiming a transformative agenda for gender and development

Abstract: The language of ‘gender equality’ and ‘women’s empowerment’ was mobilised by feminists in the 1980s and 1990s as a way of getting women’s rights onto the international development agenda. Their efforts can be declared a resounding success. The international development industry has fully embraced these terms. From international NGOs to donor governments to multilateral agencies the language of gender equality and women’s empowerment is a pervasive presence and takes pride of place among their major development priorities. And yet, this article argues, the fact that these terms have been eviscerated of conceptual and political bite compromises their use as the primary frame through which to demand rights and justice. Critically examining the trajectories of these terms in development, the article suggests that if the promise of the post-2015 agenda is to deliver on gender justice, new frames are needed, which can connect with and contribute to a broader movement for global justice.

Experiences in researching conflict and violence: fieldwork interrupted

Abstract: This international, edited collection brings together personal accounts from researchers working in and on conflict and explores the roles of emotion, violence, uncertainty, identity and positionality within the process of doing research, as well as the complexity of methodological choices. It highlights the researchers’ own subjectivity and presents a nuanced view of conflict research that goes beyond the ‘messiness’ inherent in the process of research in and on violence. It addresses the uncomfortable spaces of conflict research, the potential for violence of research itself and the need for deeper reflection on these issues. This powerful book opens up spaces for new conversations about the realities of conflict research. These critical self-reflections and honest accounts provide important insights for any scholar or practitioner working in similar environments.

Health and education in Afghanistan: ten years later – quantity not quality

Abstract: Since 2001, significant effort has been made by the the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan relief Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (ACBAr)4 undertook a study from July to September (GoIRA), supported by the international community, to 2011 to look at health and education from the improvehealthcareandeducation.Accesstobasichealth perspective of ordinary Afghans and non-governmental services has officially soared from approximately 9% to organisations (NGOs) working in the field. Focus group over 80%since 2001.1 Whereas, only 900,000 children discussions and workshops addressed achievements, were enrolled in school in 2001, today the ministry of shortcomings and obstacles, coping strategies and Education (MoE) puts the figure at approximately 7.3 change. According to the research findings, the main million, with 37% of them being female students.2 But all challenges in trying to provide health and education to too often, the focus has been on increasing the quantity Afghans are: a lack of awareness; insecurity; a lack of of services and their coverage, with too little attention access to facilities; a lack of human resources capacity; given to the quality of these services, the ability of the and poor quality of services. Special attention needs to population to use the services, or their sustainability. be given to the role of decision-makers and the needs A decade after the 2001 intervention and 57 billion of women and girls. Mental health, disability issues and uSd3 worth of external aid assistance later, millions of migrant communities were particularly identified as Afghans are still struggling to access basic health and areas where more work needs to be done. education services. this lack of quality in the delivery of health and education services by both government and non-governmental actors is accompanied by growing needs and expectations of local communities within an increasingly insecure environment.

The everyday practices of development

Abstract: This chapter examines the ways in which the international development paradigm reproduces and reinforces racialised and gendered subjectivities and how these identities are constructed through everyday encounters where development takes place It also examines the architecture of aid as one of power, borne from the colonial project The chapter explores linkages between postcolonial and black feminist thought as a basis for developing deeper understanding of the complex realities arising from new global–local moves It also explores what can be considered a postcolonial interaction within the Global South, but does not place its focus on the engagement between the former colonised and colonisers The chapter presents the narratives and contradictions that play out in the experiences of the female aid workers It argues that pushing the boundaries of work on aid workers, diaspora communities and postcolonial and black feminisms can open a space for deeper understanding of these experiences

The Human Condition.

Abstract: Human beings are described by many spiritual traditions as ‘blind’ or ‘asleep’ or ‘in a dream.’ These terms refers to the limited attenuated state of consciousness of most human beings caught up in patterns of conditioned thought, feeling and perception, which prevent the development of our latent, higher spiritual possibilities. In the words of Idries Shah: “Man, like a sleepwalker who suddenly ‘comes to’ on some lonely road has in general no correct idea as to his origins or his destiny.” In some religious traditions, such as Christianity and Islam, the myth of the ‘Fall from the Garden of Eden’ symbolizes the loss of the primordial state through the veiling of higher consciousness. Other traditions use similar metaphors to describe the spiritual condition of humanity:

Postmodern Subjects, Postmodern BodiesThinking Fragments: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and Postmodernism in the Contemporary WestYearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural PoliticsGender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity

Abstract: Preface (1999) Preface (1990) 1. Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire I. 'Women' as the Subject of Feminism II. The Compulsory Order of Sex/Gender/Desire III. Gender: The Circular Ruins of Contemporary Debate IV. Theorizing the Binary, the Unitary and Beyond V. Identity, Sex and the Metaphysics of Substance VI. Language, Power and the Strategies of Displacement 2. Prohibition, Psychoanalysis, and the Production of the Heterosexual Matrix I. Structuralism's Critical Exchange II. Lacan, Riviere, and the Strategies of Masquerade III. Freud and the Melancholia of Gender IV. Gender Complexity and the Limits of Identification V. Reformulating Prohibition as Power 3. Subversive Bodily Acts I. The Body Politics of Julia Kristeva II. Foucault, Herculine, and the Politics of Sexual Discontinuity III. Monique Wittig - Bodily Disintegration and Fictive Sex IV. Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions Conclusion - From Parody to Politics

Women’s empowerment through electricity access: scoping study and proposal for a framework of analysis

Abstract: This article reviews the empirical literature on women’s empowerment through electricity access and the methodologies that have been used. Statistical studies have looked at areas with access to th...