The Gendered Nature of Managerial Discourse: the Case of a Local Authority

This paper is a response to organizational analysis which highlights the significance of discursive processes in the formation of occupational gender identity. A recurrent weakness in many of these accounts is their focus on the simple dualisms which structure gendered discourse. This tendency is often associated with the abstraction of debate from specific organizational settings. I aim therefore to address the question of the gendered nature of managerial discourse with reference to a case study of a local authority under restructuring. I argue here that the gendered nature of managerial discourse has to be seen as particularly complex, given the way in which it incorporates both ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ identities within an overarching managerial ethos, which is itself related to wider hegemonic projects.     

Estimating large-scale general linear and seemingly unrelated regressions models after deleting observations

A new numerical method to solve the downdating problem (and variants thereof), namely removing the effect of some observations from the generalized least squares (GLS) estimator of the general linear model (GLM) after it has been estimated, is extensively investigated. It is verified that the solution of the downdated least squares problem can be obtained from the estimation of an equivalent GLM, where the original model is updated with the imaginary deleted observations. This updated GLM has a non positive definite dispersion matrix which comprises complex covariance values and it is proved herein to yield the same normal equations as the downdated model. Additionally, the problem of deleting observations from the seemingly unrelated regressions model is addressed, demonstrating the direct applicability of this method to other multivariate linear models. The algorithms which implement the novel downdating method utilize efficiently the previous computations from the estimation of the original model. As a result, the computational cost is significantly reduced. This shows the great usability potential of the downdating method in computationally intensive problems. The downdating algorithms have been applied to real and synthetic data to illustrate their efficiency.     

Muslim–Christian Relations in Kupang: Negotiating Space and Maintaining Peace

Kupang, the capital city of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT/East Nusa Tenggara) province, is a majority Christian community in predominantly Muslim Indonesia. Despite widespread inter-religious violence in Indonesia, especially around the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998, Muslim–Christian relations in Kupang have, to date, been relatively harmonious. Minor incidents occurred in 1998 and tensions were exacerbated by the construction of a new mosque at Batuplat village in 2011, but these did not lead to larger conflicts. Drawing on observations in three urban neighbourhoods (Kampung Solor, Airmata and Oesapa), this article discusses the experiences of Muslims in these urban neighbourhoods in negotiating space for their religious practices and maintaining peace with their Christian neighbours. This ethnographic study allows us to understand factors underpinning inter-religious harmony in Kupang.     

Class, gender and time poverty: a time-use analysis of British workers' free time resources

Free time, that is, the time that remains at one's own discretion after conducting daily work and personal care activities, has been previously recognized as a 'primary good' and an important welfare resource that provides opportunities for participation in social life and leisure. However, recent years have witnessed an increasing preoccupation with the phenomenon of time poverty, drawing attention to the distribution of free time and its relationship to structural and family circumstances. In this article we propose a novel approach to the measurement of time poverty and document its occurrence amongst British workers. In line with previous literature, a conceptualization of time poverty as a relative lack of free time resources vis-à-vis other members of the community is adopted. However, unlike previous empirical studies, we investigate the differential configuration of time poverty on weekdays and weekend days, alongside indicators of the quality of free time, taking into account insights from theoretical and empirical work within the field of the sociology of time. Our analysis of the 2000 UK Time Use Survey highlights class and gender inequalities that have been missed by previous measurement approaches and demonstrates that, overall, working women experience multiple and more severe free time constraints, which may constitute an additional barrier for their leisure and social participation.     

The Representation of Geometric Cues in Infancy

There is evidence that, from an early age, humans are sensitive to spatial information such as simple landmarks and the size of objects. This study concerns the ability to represent a particular kind of spatial information, namely, the geometry of an enclosed layout—an ability present in older children, adults, and nonhuman animals (e.g., Cheng, 1986; Hermer & Spelke, 1996). Using a looking‐time procedure, 4.5‐ to 6.5‐month‐olds were tested on whether they could distinguish among the corners of an isosceles triangle. On each trial, the target corner was marked by a red dot. The stimulus (triangle with dot) appeared from different orientations across trials, ensuring that only cues related to the triangle itself could be used to differentiate the corners. When orientations were highly variable, infants discriminated the unique corner (i.e., the corner with the smaller angle and two equal‐length sides) from a nonunique corner; they could not discriminate between the two nonunique corners. With less variable orientations, however, infants did discriminate between the nonunique corners of the isosceles triangle. Implications for how infants represent geometric cues are discussed.     

The Drug‐Laden Balloon: U.S. Military Assistance and Coca Production in the Central Andes*

Objective. This article explores the empirical effects of U.S. drug policy on coca cultivation in the Central Andes. We assess the impact of U.S. military assistance on the production of coca in the Central Andes, while controlling for other explanatory variables that influence coca cultivation. Method. Using data from 1980–2001 for Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru, we perform a pooled cross‐sectional time‐series analysis. Results. The effects of U.S. military assistance on coca cultivation are not uniform across the Central Andes. Coca production decreased in Bolivia and Peru and increased in Colombia. Total coca production in the Central Andes, however, remained unchanged. Conclusion. This study is consistent with existing literature that points out the obstacles governments face as they attempt to suppress illicit goods. Specifically, our empirical findings support the idea of the “balloon effect,” whereby government efforts to “squeeze” illicit trade in one area result in the expansion of that trade elsewhere.     

Surface Tension: Boundary Negotiations around Self,Society, and Nature in a Community Debate over Wildlife

This study draws on extensions of a Meadian framework to explore the possibility of nature as a “generalized other” that is experienced through a dialogical eco‐self. The author revisits Mead's work, tracing an emerging literature on the eco‐self, and investigates constructions of human–nature boundaries using interviews from a community reacting to the human destruction of a cattle egret nesting colony. She introduces the concept of “surface tension” to capture the fluid, negotiated, and often contradictory quality of narratives about nature and the self. The findings highlight the eco‐self as an emergent and ongoing accomplishment that is not reducible to any one formulation.