Jacqueline Gaybor | Erasmus University Rotterdam (original) (raw)
Papers by Jacqueline Gaybor
Journal of scientometric research, Jun 6, 2021
Like other Latin American countries, Ecuador has undergone major political and economic transform... more Like other Latin American countries, Ecuador has undergone major political and economic transformations in the last decade. Science, technology and innovation policies were at the core of some of these transformations. Despite the economic recession since 2015, the local techno-scientific landscape has experienced quantitative and qualitative transformations that need to be analyzed. This paper aims to shed light on these changes and on the Ecuadorian techno-scientific system, which so far remains under-researched. To do so, we first carry out a bibliometric analysis of more than 25,000 records with Ecuadorian affiliation from the Scopus database, published between 1920 and 2019. This allows us to reconstruct the growing complexity of local techno-scientific networks and their connections both inside and outside the country. This analysis shows a strong process of internationalization of local scientific production during the last decade, as well as a shift in research topics from publications focused mainly on health and environmental issues to research with a strong component on data and systems analysis. In a second level of analysis, we explore the relationship between these transformations in techno-scientific production and a postgraduate scholarship policy program which has sponsored Ecuadorians to study abroad over the past two decades. This analysis shows a significant correlation between the number of international scholarships granted and the number of indexed publications. The paper concludes that local transformations in techno-scientific networks are highly correlated with the internationalization process driven by this postgraduate scholarship program and in general by international scientific research training.
A number of cities have shifted their approach to waste management by adopting a zero waste legal... more A number of cities have shifted their approach to waste management by adopting a zero waste legal framework. This chapter discusses and analyses the progress and limitations of a particular case in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that is in the process of implementing this framework. Although waste prevention and re-use are considered guiding principles of the framework, neither have been prioritised in practice. Instead, local waste management has been characterised by end-of-pipe solutions which include recycling and landfilling. This chapter discusses the management of waste from disposable menstrual technologies and seeks to highlight the importance of prevention and re-use. Understanding the disposal of menstrual technologies is of particular importance in the Argentinean case for two main reasons: first, because disposable menstrual waste is the fourth largest component in solid waste and ends up buried in landfills, taking hundreds of years to decompose. Second, reusable menstrual management technologies are locally available and have the potential to reduce this burden. Our analysis is based on data collected through participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted with experts and local stakeholders.
Global Public Health, Dec 23, 2021
In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global femini... more In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global feminist health demands that challenge the norms and practices which condone and institutionalise gender inequalities. Menstruation has moved from being understood principally as a biological function, invisible in the public sphere, to a vibrant form of global body politics with a flourishing set of diverse practices. We examine how menstruation has been brought to global attention in two ways: one through a global development discourse that promotes menstrual health by improving hygiene and the sanitary infrastructure in the Global South; and two through the upswell of feminist groups involved in menstrual activism around the world. The article is a contribution to moving closer towards productive alliances between these two strands as together they contribute to important changes in menstrual health and sexual rights.
Gender, Technology and Development, May 4, 2019
In this essay, I use the domestication framework to explore the integration process in which reus... more In this essay, I use the domestication framework to explore the integration process in which reusable menstrual management technologies become part of the everyday life of users. Drawing on interviews, focus group discussions and observation in online and offline sites in Argentina, this study sheds light on how technologies and users co-construct each other in the context of an emerging menstrual activism. By listening to the stories of the participants of this study, I show the potential of women's agency in transforming technology. New and not foreseen uses and meanings were assigned to the reusable menstrual technologies, however, this happens while the identities of users are also transformed in the process of domestication, illustrating how the identity of being a menstruating woman and technologies are coshaping each other.
Gender, Development and Social Change, 2022
In this chapter, I describe my journey of becoming a user of menstrual tracking apps. I explore h... more In this chapter, I describe my journey of becoming a user of menstrual tracking apps. I explore how my positionality and the different encounters I have had prior to and during this journey have shaped my understanding and experience of using the app. I am reflexive about how my standpoint constituted my meaning-making processes. I emphasize that through the journey of self-tracking, knowledge was developed in conversation with other users of these apps. I reflect on the tensions I face with regards to giving away personal data to the health app about my body while questioning the advertised possibilities to build body awareness and knowledge through digital traces. My chapter concludes by assessing my methodological choices, stressing the possibilities and limitations of a reflective writing.
Gender, Development and Social Change, 2022
In this chapter, I describe my journey of becoming a user of menstrual tracking apps. I explore h... more In this chapter, I describe my journey of becoming a user of menstrual tracking apps. I explore how my positionality and the different encounters I have had prior to and during this journey have shaped my understanding and experience of using the app. I am reflexive about how my standpoint constituted my meaning-making processes. I emphasize that through the journey of self-tracking, knowledge was developed in conversation with other users of these apps. I reflect on the tensions I face with regards to giving away personal data to the health app about my body while questioning the advertised possibilities to build body awareness and knowledge through digital traces. My chapter concludes by assessing my methodological choices, stressing the possibilities and limitations of a reflective writing.
Gender, Development and Social Change, 2022
The process of engaging with and learning from each other that culminated in this book has been a... more The process of engaging with and learning from each other that culminated in this book has been a beautiful experiment in community building. We are grateful for the time and care that each contributor has put into this—beginning with shared laughter and good food in an idyllic setting in Bolsena, Italy, and continuing with the unhurried reading of and commenting on each other’s draft chapters. By way of bringing the collection to a close, we, the editors, offer a few reflections on how to do feminist research. We open up questions around: what it means to trouble and be troubled by; how to learn and unlearn together; and in what ways our methodologies take us beyond academic knowledge production.
Gender, Development and Social Change, 2022
The editors set out what the book seeks to trouble and what we are troubled by when speaking abou... more The editors set out what the book seeks to trouble and what we are troubled by when speaking about feminist methodologies. We highlight the commonalities and differences across the book showcasing the many methodologies feminism has inspired and shaped. We delve into the patterns we saw woven across the chapters and the major themes that emerge in the book. We reflect on what we learned, what surprised, and what delighted us, as well as the ways in which the creative tensions and the inevitable silences invited us to reflect on what we could not do, the queer art of failure that is also part of our feminist method.
In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global femini... more In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global feminist health demands that challenge the norms and practices which condone and institutionalise gender inequalities. Menstruation has moved from being understood principally as a biological function, invisible in the public sphere, to a vibrant form of global body politics with a flourishing set of diverse practices. We examine how menstruation has been brought to global attention in two ways: one through a global development discourse that promotes menstrual health by improving hygiene and the sanitary infrastructure in the Global South; and two through the upswell of feminist groups involved in menstrual activism around the world. The article is a contribution to moving closer towards productive alliances between these two strands as together they contribute to important changes in menstrual health and sexual rights.
Gender, Development and Social Change
The editors set out what the book seeks to trouble and what we are troubled by when speaking abou... more The editors set out what the book seeks to trouble and what we are troubled by when speaking about feminist methodologies. We highlight the commonalities and differences across the book showcasing the many methodologies feminism has inspired and shaped. We delve into the patterns we saw woven across the chapters and the major themes that emerge in the book. We reflect on what we learned, what surprised, and what delighted us, as well as the ways in which the creative tensions and the inevitable silences invited us to reflect on what we could not do, the queer art of failure that is also part of our feminist method.
Seeing the colour red: Menstruation in global body politics, 2021
In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global femini... more In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global feminist health demands that challenge the norms and practices which condone and institutionalise gender inequalities. Menstruation has moved from being understood principally as a biological function, invisible in the public sphere, to a vibrant form of global body politics with a flourishing set of diverse practices. We examine how menstruation has been brought to global attention in two ways: one through a global development discourse that promotes menstrual health by improving hygiene and the sanitary infrastructure in the Global South; and two through the upswell of feminist groups involved in menstrual activism around the world. The article is a contribution to moving closer towards productive alliances between these two strands as together they contribute to important changes in menstrual health and sexual rights.
The Circular Economy and the Global South
Like other Latin American countries, Ecuador has undergone major political and economic transform... more Like other Latin American countries, Ecuador has undergone major political and economic transformations in the last decade. Science, technology and innovation policies were at the core of some of these transformations. Despite the economic recession since 2015, the local techno-scientific landscape has experienced quantitative and qualitative transformations that need to be analyzed. This paper aims to shed light on these changes and on the Ecuadorian techno-scientific system, which so far remains under-researched. To do so, we first carry out a bibliometric analysis of more than 25,000 records with Ecuadorian affiliation from the Scopus database, published between 1920 and 2019. This allows us to reconstruct the growing complexity of local techno-scientific networks and their connections both inside and outside the country. This analysis shows a strong process of internationalization of local scientific production during the last decade, as well as a shift in research topics from p...
Feminist Political Ecology and the Economics of Care, 2018
A number of cities have shifted their approach to waste management by adopting a zero waste legal... more A number of cities have shifted their approach to waste management by adopting a zero waste legal framework. This chapter discusses and analyses the progress and limitations of a particular case in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that is in the process of implementing this framework. Although waste prevention and re-use are considered guiding principles of the framework, neither have been prioritised in practice. Instead, local waste management has been characterised by end-of-pipe solutions which include recycling and landfilling. This chapter discusses the management of waste from disposable menstrual technologies and seeks to highlight the importance of prevention and re-use. Understanding the disposal of menstrual technologies is of particular importance in the Argentinean case for two main reasons: first, because disposable menstrual waste is the fourth largest component in solid waste and ends up buried in landfills, taking hundreds of years to decompose. Second, reusable menstrual m...
Feminist Media Studies
There has been a growing trend to resist mainstream body ideals via social media sites. From fat-... more There has been a growing trend to resist mainstream body ideals via social media sites. From fat-acceptance, vulva-positive to menstrual-pride blogs, Tumblrs and Facebook groups, people use social media to question and challenge mainstream depictions of the female body. In this article, I look at social media culture and how the notions of the menstrual body are evolving online. I analyze these concerns with a case study based on a women-only closed Facebook group created to discuss issues around feminine health, sexuality, and wellbeing. I argue that by looking from the lens of everyday politics, it is possible to understand how political participation and social change can emerge through people's everyday practices. My findings suggest that the private Facebook group serves three purposes. One, as a pedagogical space to address a gap in knowledge about the menstrual cycle and menstrual health. Two, as a platform to break the silence around menstruation and make it visible to the public. Three, as a tool for building a caring community among the participants. This study illustrates how social media is used for everyday body politics, contributing to changing attitudes, beliefs, and values in daily life.
Gender, Technology and Development
In this essay, I use the domestication framework to explore the integration process in which reus... more In this essay, I use the domestication framework to explore the integration process in which reusable menstrual management technologies become part of the everyday life of users. Drawing on interviews, focus group discussions and observation in online and offline sites in Argentina, this study sheds light on how technologies and users co-construct each other in the context of an emerging menstrual activism. By listening to the stories of the participants of this study, I show the potential of women's agency in transforming technology. New and not foreseen uses and meanings were assigned to the reusable menstrual technologies, however, this happens while the identities of users are also transformed in the process of domestication, illustrating how the identity of being a menstruating woman and technologies are coshaping each other.
Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society
On the basis of interviews, observations and archival analysis, this article explores the controv... more On the basis of interviews, observations and archival analysis, this article explores the controversies surrounding the Yachay project case in Ecuador and unveils three ideological processes behind its conception and implementation. First, we show how the new elite in the government used this project to produce and reproduce a new power structure using a symbolic strategy based on propaganda and on an imaginary of techno-scientific modernization. Second, we unveil the material and symbolic reproduction of a cosmopolitan elite of international experts that profited from the Ecuadorian public funds in exchange for their name and prestige, thanks to a discourse based on cosmopolitanism, urgency, and voluntarism. Finally, we explain how the Yachay project has triggered the reconfiguration of the local symbolic sphere according to the new conditions of reproduction of the world system by reshaping the local imaginaries around technology and innovation. We conclude that Yachay, like other similar projects that have emerged at the same time in other parts of the world, is part of a global process of reconfiguration of the ideological and institutional conditions that accompany the deployment of the latest wave of technoeconomic transformations in the global system.
Journal of scientometric research, Jun 6, 2021
Like other Latin American countries, Ecuador has undergone major political and economic transform... more Like other Latin American countries, Ecuador has undergone major political and economic transformations in the last decade. Science, technology and innovation policies were at the core of some of these transformations. Despite the economic recession since 2015, the local techno-scientific landscape has experienced quantitative and qualitative transformations that need to be analyzed. This paper aims to shed light on these changes and on the Ecuadorian techno-scientific system, which so far remains under-researched. To do so, we first carry out a bibliometric analysis of more than 25,000 records with Ecuadorian affiliation from the Scopus database, published between 1920 and 2019. This allows us to reconstruct the growing complexity of local techno-scientific networks and their connections both inside and outside the country. This analysis shows a strong process of internationalization of local scientific production during the last decade, as well as a shift in research topics from publications focused mainly on health and environmental issues to research with a strong component on data and systems analysis. In a second level of analysis, we explore the relationship between these transformations in techno-scientific production and a postgraduate scholarship policy program which has sponsored Ecuadorians to study abroad over the past two decades. This analysis shows a significant correlation between the number of international scholarships granted and the number of indexed publications. The paper concludes that local transformations in techno-scientific networks are highly correlated with the internationalization process driven by this postgraduate scholarship program and in general by international scientific research training.
A number of cities have shifted their approach to waste management by adopting a zero waste legal... more A number of cities have shifted their approach to waste management by adopting a zero waste legal framework. This chapter discusses and analyses the progress and limitations of a particular case in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that is in the process of implementing this framework. Although waste prevention and re-use are considered guiding principles of the framework, neither have been prioritised in practice. Instead, local waste management has been characterised by end-of-pipe solutions which include recycling and landfilling. This chapter discusses the management of waste from disposable menstrual technologies and seeks to highlight the importance of prevention and re-use. Understanding the disposal of menstrual technologies is of particular importance in the Argentinean case for two main reasons: first, because disposable menstrual waste is the fourth largest component in solid waste and ends up buried in landfills, taking hundreds of years to decompose. Second, reusable menstrual management technologies are locally available and have the potential to reduce this burden. Our analysis is based on data collected through participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted with experts and local stakeholders.
Global Public Health, Dec 23, 2021
In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global femini... more In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global feminist health demands that challenge the norms and practices which condone and institutionalise gender inequalities. Menstruation has moved from being understood principally as a biological function, invisible in the public sphere, to a vibrant form of global body politics with a flourishing set of diverse practices. We examine how menstruation has been brought to global attention in two ways: one through a global development discourse that promotes menstrual health by improving hygiene and the sanitary infrastructure in the Global South; and two through the upswell of feminist groups involved in menstrual activism around the world. The article is a contribution to moving closer towards productive alliances between these two strands as together they contribute to important changes in menstrual health and sexual rights.
Gender, Technology and Development, May 4, 2019
In this essay, I use the domestication framework to explore the integration process in which reus... more In this essay, I use the domestication framework to explore the integration process in which reusable menstrual management technologies become part of the everyday life of users. Drawing on interviews, focus group discussions and observation in online and offline sites in Argentina, this study sheds light on how technologies and users co-construct each other in the context of an emerging menstrual activism. By listening to the stories of the participants of this study, I show the potential of women's agency in transforming technology. New and not foreseen uses and meanings were assigned to the reusable menstrual technologies, however, this happens while the identities of users are also transformed in the process of domestication, illustrating how the identity of being a menstruating woman and technologies are coshaping each other.
Gender, Development and Social Change, 2022
In this chapter, I describe my journey of becoming a user of menstrual tracking apps. I explore h... more In this chapter, I describe my journey of becoming a user of menstrual tracking apps. I explore how my positionality and the different encounters I have had prior to and during this journey have shaped my understanding and experience of using the app. I am reflexive about how my standpoint constituted my meaning-making processes. I emphasize that through the journey of self-tracking, knowledge was developed in conversation with other users of these apps. I reflect on the tensions I face with regards to giving away personal data to the health app about my body while questioning the advertised possibilities to build body awareness and knowledge through digital traces. My chapter concludes by assessing my methodological choices, stressing the possibilities and limitations of a reflective writing.
Gender, Development and Social Change, 2022
In this chapter, I describe my journey of becoming a user of menstrual tracking apps. I explore h... more In this chapter, I describe my journey of becoming a user of menstrual tracking apps. I explore how my positionality and the different encounters I have had prior to and during this journey have shaped my understanding and experience of using the app. I am reflexive about how my standpoint constituted my meaning-making processes. I emphasize that through the journey of self-tracking, knowledge was developed in conversation with other users of these apps. I reflect on the tensions I face with regards to giving away personal data to the health app about my body while questioning the advertised possibilities to build body awareness and knowledge through digital traces. My chapter concludes by assessing my methodological choices, stressing the possibilities and limitations of a reflective writing.
Gender, Development and Social Change, 2022
The process of engaging with and learning from each other that culminated in this book has been a... more The process of engaging with and learning from each other that culminated in this book has been a beautiful experiment in community building. We are grateful for the time and care that each contributor has put into this—beginning with shared laughter and good food in an idyllic setting in Bolsena, Italy, and continuing with the unhurried reading of and commenting on each other’s draft chapters. By way of bringing the collection to a close, we, the editors, offer a few reflections on how to do feminist research. We open up questions around: what it means to trouble and be troubled by; how to learn and unlearn together; and in what ways our methodologies take us beyond academic knowledge production.
Gender, Development and Social Change, 2022
The editors set out what the book seeks to trouble and what we are troubled by when speaking abou... more The editors set out what the book seeks to trouble and what we are troubled by when speaking about feminist methodologies. We highlight the commonalities and differences across the book showcasing the many methodologies feminism has inspired and shaped. We delve into the patterns we saw woven across the chapters and the major themes that emerge in the book. We reflect on what we learned, what surprised, and what delighted us, as well as the ways in which the creative tensions and the inevitable silences invited us to reflect on what we could not do, the queer art of failure that is also part of our feminist method.
In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global femini... more In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global feminist health demands that challenge the norms and practices which condone and institutionalise gender inequalities. Menstruation has moved from being understood principally as a biological function, invisible in the public sphere, to a vibrant form of global body politics with a flourishing set of diverse practices. We examine how menstruation has been brought to global attention in two ways: one through a global development discourse that promotes menstrual health by improving hygiene and the sanitary infrastructure in the Global South; and two through the upswell of feminist groups involved in menstrual activism around the world. The article is a contribution to moving closer towards productive alliances between these two strands as together they contribute to important changes in menstrual health and sexual rights.
Gender, Development and Social Change
The editors set out what the book seeks to trouble and what we are troubled by when speaking abou... more The editors set out what the book seeks to trouble and what we are troubled by when speaking about feminist methodologies. We highlight the commonalities and differences across the book showcasing the many methodologies feminism has inspired and shaped. We delve into the patterns we saw woven across the chapters and the major themes that emerge in the book. We reflect on what we learned, what surprised, and what delighted us, as well as the ways in which the creative tensions and the inevitable silences invited us to reflect on what we could not do, the queer art of failure that is also part of our feminist method.
Seeing the colour red: Menstruation in global body politics, 2021
In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global femini... more In this article, we set out how menstrual activism is emerging as a novel strand in global feminist health demands that challenge the norms and practices which condone and institutionalise gender inequalities. Menstruation has moved from being understood principally as a biological function, invisible in the public sphere, to a vibrant form of global body politics with a flourishing set of diverse practices. We examine how menstruation has been brought to global attention in two ways: one through a global development discourse that promotes menstrual health by improving hygiene and the sanitary infrastructure in the Global South; and two through the upswell of feminist groups involved in menstrual activism around the world. The article is a contribution to moving closer towards productive alliances between these two strands as together they contribute to important changes in menstrual health and sexual rights.
The Circular Economy and the Global South
Like other Latin American countries, Ecuador has undergone major political and economic transform... more Like other Latin American countries, Ecuador has undergone major political and economic transformations in the last decade. Science, technology and innovation policies were at the core of some of these transformations. Despite the economic recession since 2015, the local techno-scientific landscape has experienced quantitative and qualitative transformations that need to be analyzed. This paper aims to shed light on these changes and on the Ecuadorian techno-scientific system, which so far remains under-researched. To do so, we first carry out a bibliometric analysis of more than 25,000 records with Ecuadorian affiliation from the Scopus database, published between 1920 and 2019. This allows us to reconstruct the growing complexity of local techno-scientific networks and their connections both inside and outside the country. This analysis shows a strong process of internationalization of local scientific production during the last decade, as well as a shift in research topics from p...
Feminist Political Ecology and the Economics of Care, 2018
A number of cities have shifted their approach to waste management by adopting a zero waste legal... more A number of cities have shifted their approach to waste management by adopting a zero waste legal framework. This chapter discusses and analyses the progress and limitations of a particular case in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that is in the process of implementing this framework. Although waste prevention and re-use are considered guiding principles of the framework, neither have been prioritised in practice. Instead, local waste management has been characterised by end-of-pipe solutions which include recycling and landfilling. This chapter discusses the management of waste from disposable menstrual technologies and seeks to highlight the importance of prevention and re-use. Understanding the disposal of menstrual technologies is of particular importance in the Argentinean case for two main reasons: first, because disposable menstrual waste is the fourth largest component in solid waste and ends up buried in landfills, taking hundreds of years to decompose. Second, reusable menstrual m...
Feminist Media Studies
There has been a growing trend to resist mainstream body ideals via social media sites. From fat-... more There has been a growing trend to resist mainstream body ideals via social media sites. From fat-acceptance, vulva-positive to menstrual-pride blogs, Tumblrs and Facebook groups, people use social media to question and challenge mainstream depictions of the female body. In this article, I look at social media culture and how the notions of the menstrual body are evolving online. I analyze these concerns with a case study based on a women-only closed Facebook group created to discuss issues around feminine health, sexuality, and wellbeing. I argue that by looking from the lens of everyday politics, it is possible to understand how political participation and social change can emerge through people's everyday practices. My findings suggest that the private Facebook group serves three purposes. One, as a pedagogical space to address a gap in knowledge about the menstrual cycle and menstrual health. Two, as a platform to break the silence around menstruation and make it visible to the public. Three, as a tool for building a caring community among the participants. This study illustrates how social media is used for everyday body politics, contributing to changing attitudes, beliefs, and values in daily life.
Gender, Technology and Development
In this essay, I use the domestication framework to explore the integration process in which reus... more In this essay, I use the domestication framework to explore the integration process in which reusable menstrual management technologies become part of the everyday life of users. Drawing on interviews, focus group discussions and observation in online and offline sites in Argentina, this study sheds light on how technologies and users co-construct each other in the context of an emerging menstrual activism. By listening to the stories of the participants of this study, I show the potential of women's agency in transforming technology. New and not foreseen uses and meanings were assigned to the reusable menstrual technologies, however, this happens while the identities of users are also transformed in the process of domestication, illustrating how the identity of being a menstruating woman and technologies are coshaping each other.
Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society
On the basis of interviews, observations and archival analysis, this article explores the controv... more On the basis of interviews, observations and archival analysis, this article explores the controversies surrounding the Yachay project case in Ecuador and unveils three ideological processes behind its conception and implementation. First, we show how the new elite in the government used this project to produce and reproduce a new power structure using a symbolic strategy based on propaganda and on an imaginary of techno-scientific modernization. Second, we unveil the material and symbolic reproduction of a cosmopolitan elite of international experts that profited from the Ecuadorian public funds in exchange for their name and prestige, thanks to a discourse based on cosmopolitanism, urgency, and voluntarism. Finally, we explain how the Yachay project has triggered the reconfiguration of the local symbolic sphere according to the new conditions of reproduction of the world system by reshaping the local imaginaries around technology and innovation. We conclude that Yachay, like other similar projects that have emerged at the same time in other parts of the world, is part of a global process of reconfiguration of the ideological and institutional conditions that accompany the deployment of the latest wave of technoeconomic transformations in the global system.