User:Bicktanner/sandbox

Final entry added to Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Article Evaluation: "Gender and Development”

The discipline of gender and development is difficult to summarize; however, the article “Gender and Development” from Wikipedia seeks to explain the subject through reviewing the dominant liberal approaches that it is composed of. Ultimately, the text suggests that these approaches are not independent. Instead, overlap exists between them, and elements of each approach continue to be used or built upon in the preceding. The article first summarizes the early approaches: Women in Development (WID), Women and Development (WAD),  and Gender and Development (GAD), explaining what each approach stresses and discussing the criticism in which it received. The text then explores both neoliberal and alternative approaches that have also had a significant historical impact on gender and development through the advancement of theories and practices.

Concerning the textual content, most or all of the information presented within the article seemed to be relevant to the topic of the article. The editors did a good job of explaining how the main focuses would be explored in an orderly manner throughout the text in their introduction, although failing to mention the alternative approaches until later in the text. They also did a good job of explaining how each focus built upon the previous section. It seems that most of the work to compose the article took place in 2013, so while the information present is not necessarily out of date — as the article is discussing the stages of gender and development throughout time— there is probably more recent information that could be added to better explain the approaches that are most relevant in contemporary society, and perhaps some evidence could be provided. The subject is a large and difficult one to tackle.

Evaluating the tone of the article is difficult. Upon opening, readers immediately encounter a warning banner stating that the tone or style of the article “may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia,” which is expected to be formal, factual, third-person, and unbiased. This is an immediate cause for concern. While the article appears to be neutral, it does focus on feminist agendas, and some may feel that perhaps these viewpoints are overrepresented. While many of the subdivisions of the subject first emphasize feminist motives, most sections also explain the criticism that the developmental approach received, therefore offering multiple perspectives on each subdivision. There were a few grammatical errors and formatting issues present that could also have prompted concern for the style of the article, as the exact reason for this banner being present is not specified.

At first glance, it appears that most or all facts presented in the article are cited with a seemingly appropriate and reliable reference; however, after checking three random citations, only one of them was successful at providing the source intended. Perhaps this is because these citations were for website pages that are no longer available, but if this is the case, than the article should be updated accordingly. It should also be noted that the talk page for the article reveals that the page previously contained external links that were either globally or locally blacklisted, which is typically due to the link having a history of being spammed or containing highly inappropriate content according to Wikipedia. While this issue has since been resolved, it does effect the credibility of the article and the sources used it its creation. A lot of the citations listed do come from written texts and are therefore difficult to check. Judging from the titles of these texts, a lot of the information for the article is coming from feminist works, and this may have something to do with the reasoning for the tone banner located at the top of the page. Perhaps some of these literary sources are considered biased to some, and there is no notation for bias views present in the text. The article includes 77 references throughout the text, has 50 sources listed, and also has 8 suggestions for further reading, so it appears that there was a large amount of information reviewed by editors on the subject.

Upon reviewing the talk page for the article, I found that it is part of both WikiProject Gender Studies (which “aims to improve the quality of articles dealing with gender studies and to remove systematic gender bias from Wikipedia”) and WikiProject International Development (which seeks “to improve the coverage of international development, including such areas as appropriate technology, microfinance and social issues, on Wikipedia”), and is or was also the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. A fairly lengthy record of conversation between editors of the article is present on this page. It is helpful to review this conversation, as the stages of development of the article become more clear through analyzing all of the collaboration that took place. Examples of collaboration include suggestions for additional sections on the subject, constructive criticism concerning information, formatting, and organization, and expressing a need for more citations and references to sources in specific sections. It is clear through reviewing the talk page that the editors of the article were trying to represent this topic in the best manner possible.

Ultimately, evaluating the article forced me to think critically about its content, and to highlight its strengths and weaknesses. While the organization of the article and development of the topic seemed to make sense, additional information from more recent sources could provide more insight as to how the approaches related to this topic are present in contemporary society. Due to the presence of a warning banner from Wikipedia, it appears that there may be an issue present with the articles tone and/or style, potentially stemming from seemingly overrepresented or biased viewpoints or perhaps grammatical errors and/or formatting issues. Some of the references were unsuccessful in providing the source listed for the content provided, and this along with the previous inclusion of blacklisted external links decreases the credibility of the article. Lastly, reviewing the talk page allowed for a better understanding of the collaboration that had taken place in the development of the article. I believe that critically analyzing the creation of this article will greatly improve the quality of my on work on Wikipedia.

Adding Citations

In order to complete the adding citations assignment for this week, I continued to work on the Wikipedia article "Gender and Development" that I evaluated for last week's assignment. Most of the information provided within the article already includes citations; however, I did find a statement made under the topic of "Gender and Microfinance" in the "Neoliberal Approaches" section of the text that could use some support. The concluding sentence of the topic is the one that I chose, stating that "the impact of programs of the Bretton Woods Institutions and other similar organizations on gender are being monitored by Gender Action, a watchdog group founded in 2002 by Elaine Zuckerman who is a former World Bank economist." Originally, there were no sources provided to back up this information.

When researching Gender Action, and founder Elaine Zuckerman, I had a difficult time finding one source that discussed both Zuckerman's professional background as well as the group, and the goals it seeks to achieve. Therefore, I decided to add two citations to the statement. The first citation references the website for Gender Action, which details the work of Elaine Zuckerman, and the development of the unique organization. The second citation references a 2008 article by Zuckerman and international development specialist Suzanna Davis, titled "Mapping Multilateral Development Banks' Spending on Reproductive Health and HIV and

AIDS." The text by Davis and Zuckerman discusses a large amount of research conducted by Gender Action regarding spending on reproductive health, HIV, and AIDS, and is critical of the impact that this spending has on both women and men. I wanted to include this citation as I think it perfectly represents the monitoring of the impact of various institutions on gender that was initially described in the Wikipedia article. Ultimately, I believe that the statement found in the original Wikipedia article appears to be much stronger and better supported through the inclusion of my two citations. Selecting an Article to Create or Develop

In order to complete the Wikipedia contribution assignment for the course, I would like to work on developing the "Gender Violence" Wikipedia page. While I was expecting this "stub" to be one of the more extensive ones related to gender studies, I quickly found that this page currently has only the bare minimum information on the subject -- and there multiple are issues present in the little information provided. Only a mere 3-4 short paragraphs long, the article has issues concerning tone, formatting, and references listed. It also offers an extremely limited perspective on the subject (U.S. focused). This is concerning, as when googling the subject, this article and the limited information that it offers are the first results provided, and are probably some of the only material viewed by less thorough members of society. While much more information is needed to adequately address this topic, the initial material must be revised as well in order to present an article with an unbiased and academic tone, organized and uniform formatting, and proper references. The perspective on gender violence must also offer a more worldwide view on the subject, and not solely focus on the U.S. Ultimately, I hope to first fix the issues present, and then develop the article much further than its current state.

^^^ Too broad, needs more focus to class material. Sex trafficking? Femicides?

TOPIC CHANGE: China's Special Economic Zones / Shenzhen

Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (specific)

or

Special economic zones of China (more broad) Bibliography

China's Special Economic Zones: From Shenzhen to Shanghai. A new path to industrialization, urbanization, globalization and modernization

-- Analyzes the manner in which China has established the SEZ growth model as an alternative developmental path to industrialization, urbanization, globalization and modernization, while also creating various social problems.

Migrant Girls in Shenzhen: Gender, Education and the Urbanization of Aspiration

-- Discusses the major impacts that rural–urban migration has on primary school-age girls in China. The article specifically focuses on well-being, education, and migration satisfaction.

Women Workers and Precarious Employment in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, China

-- Focuses on the working conditions of female migrant workers. Explains how globalization and 'race to the bottom' production

strategies impact labor relations in China.