Selecting Journal Articles
Where was the article published? Does it come from a scholarly journal published by a university press or one that is connected to an organization of researchers?
What is the author's main argument? See the accompanying abstract or skim the first page or two of the article.
What are the author's qualifications? Look at the brief biographical sketch accompanying the article or check the web. What other articles and books has the author published?
When was the article published? Are there more recent articles that may incorporate newer evidence and interpretations?
Reading Journal Articles Critically
How does the author summarize previous scholarship on the questions involved? Thinking about this will add to your understanding of the broader historical context.
What disciplinary approach/es does the author take? For example, is the article written from the point of view of history or political science? Are there interpretations from additional academic fields, like anthropology or sociology, introduced within an article that explores an historical or political question?
What makes this author's argument significant? What new ideas does this article offer?
What kinds of primary sources does the author use? What evidence does the author offer to support the argument and how does the author interpret that evidence?
What are the author's conclusions? What concluding ideas does the author draw from his or her argument? Do you find it convincing? Are there questions that were not fully answered?
The databases below allow you to search for journal articles by subject. When you find a title of interest, if the full text is not immediately available (as in JSTOR and Proquest), use the Find It button to check for Haverford's holdings.
See the Search Tips tab for examples of ways to develop terminology and construct search statements.
Fighting Discrimination in a Hostile Political Environment: The Case of “Colour-Blind” France
Author: Escafré-Dublet, Angéline, Virginie Guiraudon and Julien Talpin
Source: Ethnic and Racial Studies 46, 4 (March 2023): 667-685
Abstract: This introduction discusses responses to ethno-racial discrimination in a hostile political environment, colour-blind France. The article presents the current characteristics of the French case, including data measuring ethnoracial discrimination. We outline the on-going role of state institutions and their agents in disqualifying minority claims, but also the recent turn against Islam and the hostility towards new movements against structural racism. We discuss how colour-blindness constrains both local policies and movements. We examine the consequences for individuals that experience discrimination and the collectives that fight against it. We highlight the various strategies that they adopt such as discretion, infrapolitical mobilization as well as tactical re-framing.
“Instrumentalizing” The United Nations: Nigeria and Its Quest for Regional Leadership in Africa
Author: Oshewolo, Segun, Nwozor Agaptus,Femi Fayomi and Oluwatuyi Motolani.
Source: World Affairs 184, 1 (March 2021): 77-100.
Abstract: This study demonstrates that Nigeria’s power scheme in the United Nations (UN) clearly amounts to “instrumentalizing” the world body in favor of its hegemonic interest in Africa. Through the UN, Nigeria has employed its abundant power resources to support the dismantling of apartheid and colonialism in Africa, contribute actively to the maintenance of international peace, and promote social and economic development in the developing world, including Africa. Nigeria’s exploits in the above areas have yielded notable dividends, particularly the projection of the country as a leading African power. The notable dividends notwithstanding, there have been some major setbacks such as occasional disdain for Nigeria’s interest and ambition in the UN by smaller African countries, overwhelming domestic security challenges, and the consequent waning of Nigeria’s role in UN-mounted peacekeeping. The study recommends that Nigeria must urgently address these challenges to return to its position of prominence in the world body.
Gendered Discipline in Globalising India
Author: Kavita, Krishnan
Source: Feminist Review 119, 1 (Jul 2018): 72-88.
Abstract: Discrimination and violence against women in India often tend to be discussed, framed and explained in cultural terms alone. It is a commonplace assumption that Indian cultural norms are responsible for women’s oppression in India and that India’s moves to open up the economy to globalisation will usher in modernity and empower women. Another similar assumption is that gendered violence and patriarchal oppression are produced and located primarily in the (Indian traditional) family and community, and that women’s entry into the globalised workforce will empower and help them confront and overcome such violence and oppression. This paper attempts to challenge this false binary between ‘family/community/tradition/culture’ and ‘modern political economy’. It looks at the methods used across various sites—household/family, college/university and factory—to subject women’s labour and sexuality to a regime of surveillance and gendered discipline. It also looks at the ways in which this regime is disrupted and challenged repeatedly by women’s protests.