Bala Raju Nikku

Disasters are becoming more intense and frequent, causing destruction, deaths, and community asset devastation in South Asian communities, highlighting the importance of disaster governance as a key factor in regional and global stability within non-traditional security frameworks. Drawing on empirical evidence from Nepal’s 2015 earthquakes and recurrent cyclones in eastern India, this article emphasizes that regional cooperation and community resilience foster a shared responsibility among policymakers and security officials for effective disaster governance within the Indo-Pacific security architecture. Keywords: Disaster governance, regional stability, community resilience

There is a global resurgence in the field of participatory research and community engagement. The world health system crisis post pandemic, geo-political inequalities, social exclusion and ecological degradation expose the limits of development and the dominant positivist paradigm of research which captures the social world as ‘fact’ intact. Traditional top-down research known for upward accountability to donors and institutions of power, seldom take stance and support downward and lateral accountability (towards participants/ community and the researchers). There is a growing recognition of the need for approaches which focuses on participants lived experiences, share power and build research with rather than on communities. In the emerging context, learning institutions, social justice philanthropists, and grassroots community organisations are increasing calling for models of inquiry that are not only methodologically rigorous but also socially just and locally rooted. This special edition on “Participatory Research and Community Engagement” captures this pivotal moment in the evolution of research practice. The papers presented here reflect a cross-section of the dynamic efforts to respond to the complex glocal social issues through inclusive, contextually grounded, and collaborative approaches. Together, they represent a shift- as Thomas Kuhn puts it from extractive model of knowledge production and ‘development-by-accumulation’ view of science to those that prioritises co-creation, accountability and relational ethics.

Taking social work education in two selected universities in Canada and Nepal as a case in point, this chapter argues the need for developing disaster social work curriculum and teaching by integrating: disaster-related concepts, politics of disaster policies, and discourse around building resilience. Specifically, this chapter analyses how these concepts and narratives are applied while working with disaster-prone and affected communities in its quest to prevent, prepare, respond to, and support communities to recover from disasters. Based on the qualitative narrative of the author’s lived social work teaching and practice experience in Nepal and Canada, this chapter raises important pedagogic insights for social work teaching and curriculum development. By positioning social work teaching and teacher as a practitioner, therapeutic guide, and Socratic instructor, this chapter argues for disaster social work as a critical building block for 21st-century social work practice.

South Asia consists of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and the Maldives. All eight countries have a colonial history where Western influence has been very strong. Based on the knowledge and experience of the authors, this paper will involve discussion of social work education and practice in three of them: India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. For each country, there will be an analysis of a history of social work education and practice, social work as a profession, decolonizing social work, and barriers to decolonizing social work.

This study explored how Malaysian Indian viewers read and perceived the portrayal of sexual violence in Tamil movies produced in India. Sixty youths were selected, using a purposive sampling method, to participate in focus group discussions. The discussions were transcribed and analysed for common themes related to their reading of sexual violence in Tamil movies. Four main themes were identified in this study: forms of sexual violence; blurring lines between sexual violence and pre-marital sex; stalking; and rape comedy. Participants clearly identified rape as a form of sexual violence but were more cautious when identifying other forms of sexual violence especially when it was portrayed as part of courtship. Participants were divided in their understanding of rape as part of a comedy scene. Generally, participants accepted the way sexual violence was portrayed in the movies without overtly challenging the meaning of these portrayals. The portrayal of sexual violence and the reading of it by viewers followed traditional notions of femininity and rape myths in their society.