Expanding our sociolinguistic horizons? Geographical thinking and the articulatory potential of commodity chain analysis

Conceptual linearity and analytic parochialism (aka focus) can make it more difficult for sociolinguists or discourse analysts to apprehend the far‐reaching, exploitative ways inequality is nowadays produced. A suitably material‐cum‐materialist class critique certainly entails empirical and phenomenological worlds flagged by, for example, multi‐sited ethnographies but otherwise side‐lined as merely “extra‐situational” in much talk/text‐directed scholarship. I propose we think more geographically by properly engaging spatiality à la Harvey (1990) and especially the radical politics of simultaneity (Massey, 2005)—the literal, “right‐now” connectedness of places and people. To this end, and allied with deepening interest in political economy, I combine the principles of articulation theory with the procedures of commodity chain analysis for picking apart an epitomic, contemporary manifestation of extreme privilege: the business‐class meal. The proposed discourse‐centred commodity chain analysis offers an ecumenical but systematic framework for tracking how commodity fetishism is actually and discursively accomplished (or not) across dispersed voices, stories, and social meanings.     

Lost in transition: the lives of African lifeguards

A study of 11 African surf lifeguards in Durban in 1997, as they were entering employment on the beachfront, revealed their aspirations for a confident and respectable masculinity. A study of the remaining 10 in 2012 instead demonstrated the extent to which their transition into employment was caught up in violence. It is argued that three key elements contributing to this have been the racist hostility that undermined the sense of possibility, the strength and nature of peer-group relationships and a masculinity focused on the display of women and possessions. Thus, some lifeguards replicated the same patterns of violence that they had hoped to leave behind in the township, while others severed connections and left. Following Walkerdine, this underlines the significance of the relationship between space and affect and the role of safety in developing imaginative possibilities. In a context of continued structural violence, spaces need to be developed within which people can reflect on their lives and the transitions they are making.     

Using intergenerational relationship teaching strategies in a college-level online gerontology course

Society members educated in gerontology are needed to care for older adults in the United States. Young people may have misconceptions and lack of awareness about aging and older adults, which may influence choosing jobs working with elders. However, research has shown that on-ground courses using intergenerational relationships as a teaching strategy have proved to be effective in changing the views of students. This article reports on the experiences of college-level students in an online gerontology course that used an intergenerational relationship teaching strategy. Through journal entries and discussion board postings, students shared new understandings about aging, elders, and themselves. Data were analyzed using narrative inquiry and the threedimensional (3D) inquiry space. Findings showed students’ views could be changed through intergenerational relationships with reflection in an online course.     

Individual Prior Information in a Physiological Model of 2H8-Toluene Kinetics: An Empirical Bayes Estimation Strategy

Physiologically-based toxicokinetic (PBTK) models are widely used to quantify whole-body kinetics of various substances. However, since they attempt to reproduce anatomical structures and physiological events, they have a high number of parameters. Their identification from kinetic data alone is often impossible, and other information about the parameters is needed to render the model identifiable. The most commonly used approach consists of independently measuring, or taking from literature sources, some of the parameters, fixing them in the kinetic model, and then performing model identification on a reduced number of less certain parameters. This results in a substantial reduction of the degrees of freedom of the model. In this study, we show that this method results in final estimates of the free parameters whose precision is overestimated. We then compared this approach with an empirical Bayes approach, which takes into account not only the mean value, but also the error associated with the independently determined parameters. Blood and breath ²H₈-toluene washout curves, obtained in 17 subjects, were analyzed with a previously presented PBTK model suitable for person-specific dosimetry. Model parameters with the greatest effect on predicted levels were alveolar ventilation rate Q_PC, fat tissue fraction V_FC, blood-air partition coefficient K_b, fraction of cardiac output to fat Q_a/co and rate of extrahepatic metabolism V_max-p. Differences in the measured and Bayesian-fitted values of Q_PC, V_FC and K_b were significant (p < 0.05), and the precision of the fitted values V_max-p and Q_a/co went from 11 ± 5% to 75 ± 170% (NS) and from 8 ± 2% to 9 ± 2% (p < 0.05) respectively. The empirical Bayes approach did not result in less reliable parameter estimates: rather, it pointed out that the precision of parameter estimates can be overly optimistic when other parameters in the model, either directly measured or taken from literature sources, are treated as known without error. In conclusion, an empirical Bayes approach to parameter estimation resulted in a better model fit, different final parameter estimates, and more realistic parameter precisions.     

Warfare,State Identity and Education in Europe

This paper makes the argument that education systems in Europe must maintain a concern for the function of education in maintaining intercultural social stability. Social stability is related to economic stability and inclusion for economic success on its own is no guarantor of social peace. To perceive the education system mainly in economic terms, as is happening in many European states, is likely to be a source of future trouble, both for schools and the states within which they are located. If key intercultural issues are ignored in schools, desired societal economic ends are likely to be thwarted. In particular in this article, the teaching of history is examined, the argument being made that at least three potentially differing histories can be present in most classrooms in European schools. Failure to deal with this plurality can lead to educational and social exclusion, leading to inter‐group misunderstanding and hostility.     

Concepts of Europe in Intercultural Teacher Education and Training

At a time when teacher education is under close scrutiny across Europe, this article attempt to examine some of the intercultural elements within this key area of education. A principle focus is the conceptualisation of terms such as Europe and European where the argument is made that the use of such terms is deeply ideological and deserves close scrutiny. Following a brief examination of the crucial position of migration in Europe and the social policies consequent upon it, the article end with an account of practice in an English teacher training institution that attempts to utilise some of the conceptual frameworks outlined in this article.     

Communicating a global reach: Inflight magazines as a globalizing genre in tourism

Like most multinational or international corporations, marketing for airlines hinges on careful strategies of differentiation and promotion; an increasingly important part of the way this is achieved is for airlines to position themselves as 'global' and to promise their passengers the kudos of being global citizens and travellers. It is in this way that globalization can be seen to be not about just economic reordering, but also strategic, commercial rebranding; globalization is thus both cultural discourse and identity resource. This is exemplified by the 72 inflight magazines we examine here, and achieved by a series of discursive strategies such as: their cashing in on the global cachet (or 'worldliness') of English; their drawing on metonymic repertoires of global cities/destinations and celebrities; and their striking displays of global route-maps regardless of actual network. Inflight magazines are both global medium (or genre) in themselves and carriers of global messages. Drawing on the discourses of nationality and globality, they epitomize a post-modern tendency towards the 'globalization of nationality' as well as espousing a global lifestyle.