Casting Timeshadows: Pleasure and Sadness of Moving among Nomadic Reindeer Herders in north-east Siberia

Abstract

Mobility is not simply imposed by the movement of animals, but gives a specific quality to human life. A long-term study of cyclical movement among Eveny reindeer herders reveals an alternating build-up and release of tension as each site is activated by human engagement with its spirits and then becomes dormant again until the following year. In each onward move, pleasure is mingled with sadness to form an indigenous aesthetic as the herder’s intention to travel is matched by the destination’s invitation to arrive. By contrast, the Soviet-imposed village creates a new immobility which thwarts this aesthetic and these emotions, perhaps stimulating depression and suicide. The analysis reveals a very particular kind of relationship between space, mobility and emotion.     

Soziologische Emotionskonzepte und ihre Probleme

The sociology of emotions not only faces the challenge to develop an analytical theory framework by which emotions and their significance for social behavior and social relations can be analyzed, it has also to account for the complexity of emotions as far as ‘emotions’ constitute a diverse, heterogeneous phenomenon area which can be identified only in functional respect. However, in sociology as well as in emotion research in general, very often a rather reduced, single-sided understanding of emotions occurs that is based on everyday concepts. As a result, the relationship between emotionality and sociality can be grasped only sub-complexely. The following article presents a modular theory of the sociology of emotions which integrates different levels of emotions in the form of base emotions and cognitive emotions and by which different forms of social and cultural influenceability of emotions can be identified. With the example of the theory of the structure theoretical individualism of Hartmut Esser we examine how such a modular theory can be integrated into a sociological theory framework in an analytically sound way.     

Weekends and Subjective Well-Being

This paper exploits the richness and large sample size of the Gallup/Healthways US daily poll to illustrate significant differences in the dynamics of two key measures of subjective well-being: emotions and life evaluations. We find that there is no day-of week effect for life evaluations, represented here by the Cantril Ladder, but significantly more happiness, enjoyment, and laughter, and significantly less anxiety, sadness, and anger on weekends (including public holidays) than on weekdays. We then find strong evidence of the importance of the social context, both at work and at home, in explaining the size and likely determinants of the weekend effects for emotions. Weekend effects are twice as large for full-time paid workers as for the rest of the population, and are much smaller for those whose work supervisor is considered a partner rather than a boss and who report trustable and open work environments. A large portion of the weekend effects is explained by differences in the amount of time spent with friends or family between weekends and weekdays (7.1 vs. 5.4 h). The extra daily social time of 1.7 h in weekends raises average happiness by about 2 %.     

Still Feeling the Car – The Role of Comfort in Sustaining Private Car Use

Abstract

In 2004, Mimi Sheller highlighted that emotions and sensations play a key part in sustaining the dominant culture of automobility. Sheller’s work ‘Automotive Emotions’ has been followed by a decade of technological, social and cultural developments, many of which have enhanced the way we dwell in, and seek comfort from, the private car. Ten years on we are still ‘feeling the car’. This paper draws on empirical research on the journey to work in a large auto-dependent city. It explores the function of sensory experience in sustaining automobility through contemporary impracticalities such as constraints on carbon and increased congestion. A practice theory frame is used to unpick this role and feeling the car is positioned as a subtle yet integral element cementing the practice of driving.     

Driven to Care: The Car,Automobility and Social Work

Abstract

Welfare practices are invariably represented in static and sedentary ways and their mobilities ignored. This paper corrects for this by examining the car and auto‐mobility in social work. The car is not just a means to reaching vulnerable children and other service users quickly, and a mobile office, but a space where significant casework goes on and deeply meaningful ‘therapeutic journeys’ happen. The car carries similar emotional meanings and possibilities for workers as a space within which to contain the anxieties and emotions they routinely confront in their work. Drawing on mobile social science and psychoanalytic theory, the paper shows how the power and meanings of auto‐mobility in ‘car therapy’ are products of the design of cars and the distinct rhythms and mobilities they produce in themselves. The car in social work is conceptualised as a ‘fluid container’ for the processing of personal troubles, emotion and key life changes. The theoretical implications of this argument for the social science of mobilities are drawn out.     

Mysterium tremendum und mysterium fascinans

The history of Western modernity must not only be regarded as a linear process of secularisation: even the “classics” of sociology like Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel have dealt with the ambiguities of the modern age, thereby referring to both the “disenchantment” and the “re-enchantment”. Worldly replacements such as science and political movements partly took over the function and the meaning of traditional religions. Political ‘religions’ not only adopted, transformed and amalgamated the contents of Christian texts and imaginations and used Christian rites and symbols, but also fulfilled special functions for their “believers”. One of the most important functions both of traditional religions and political ‘religion’ is to evoke emotions and to give opportunities to act on emotions. The article deals with the relationship between traditional ‘religions’ and political ‘religions’ with regard to emotions. In this context, the political ‘religion’ of Soviet communism until Stalin’s death is examined.     

‘Emotional authoritarianism’: state,education and the mobile working-class subjects

ABSTRACT

Examining emotions within the studies of mobilities, recent literature has highlighted that migration is an inherently uncertain process shaped by hopes and dreams, as well as feelings of fear and anxiety. More than an individual pursuit for economic advancement or cultural assimilation, we find that migration is also a political project that incessantly creates valuable working-class subjects; a project that often starts in vocational training school, a site generating multiple forms of mobility between learning and workspaces. In the context of China, this article explores the emotional reproduction of working-class subjects through schooling and internship experiences, students’ sense of belonging to the nation-state, their aspirations and fears for the future. Developing the concept of ‘emotional authoritarianism’, it examines the ways in which working-class students were influenced by state-engineered nationalistic sentiments, and how it became a conflictual process of subject-making. Emotional governance is a peculiar political strategy that shapes the emotions of working-class students who are expected to serve the growth of the national economy and transnational capitalism. We discover that mixed emotions or ‘emotions in conflict’ are fundamental to the class reproduction of migrant agents, torn among different bodies and desires in ‘learning to labour’.     

Postpartum women’s experiences of social and healthcare professional support during the COVID-19 pandemic: A recurrent cross-sectional thematic analysis

ProblemDisrupted access to social and healthcare professional support during the COVID-19 pandemic have had an adverse effect on maternal mental health.BackgroundMotherhood is a key life transition which increases vulnerability to experience negative affect.AimExplore UK women’s postnatal experiences of social and healthcare professional support during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 women, approximately 30 days after initial social distancing guidelines were imposed (T1), and a separate 12 women were interviewed approximately 30 days after the initial easing of social distancing restrictions (T2). Recurrent cross-sectional thematic analysis was conducted in NVivo 12.FindingsT1 themes were, ‘Motherhood has been an isolating experience’ (exacerbated loneliness due to diminished support accessibility) and ‘Everything is under lock and key’ (confusion, alienation, and anxiety regarding disrupted face-to-face healthcare checks). T2 themes were, ‘Disrupted healthcare professional support’ (feeling burdensome, abandoned, and frustrated by virtual healthcare) and ‘Easing restrictions are bittersweet’ (conflict between enhanced emotional wellbeing, and sadness regarding lost postnatal time).DiscussionRespondents at both timepoints were adversely affected by restricted access to informal (family and friends) and formal (healthcare professional) support, which were not sufficiently bridged virtually. Additionally, the prospect of attending face-to-face appointments was anxiety-provoking and perceived as being contradictory to social distancing guidance. Prohibition of family from maternity wards was also salient and distressing for T2, but not T1 respondents.ConclusionHealthcare professionals should encourage maternal help-seeking and provide timely access to mental health services. Improving access to informal and formal face-to-face support are essential in protecting maternal and infant wellbeing.     

Prosumer der Gefühle

In recent years, “online dating” has become one of the few profitable sectors of the digital economy. The business model is quite distinct: The main “product” of dating platforms are emotional relationships. In practice however, those relationships are produced by the actual users and their emotion work on the platform. As a result, the roles of producers and consumers merge. Users of dating platforms are becoming “prosumers of emotions”. With their emotion work they produce surplus value for the platform while they pay considerable monthly fees as consumers. Based on our own empirical research, we analyze the tensions between love and emotion work in general as well as the specific emotional production regime of dating platforms, which not only tend to spur emotions but also tend to transform them into productive emotional labor. Regarded this way, online dating appears as a current and outstanding example for a general trend in today’s capitalism to intensify the use of emotions as a source of economic value creation.     

‘There is trauma all round’: A qualitative study of health workers’ experiences of caring for parents after stillbirth in Kenya and Uganda

BackgroundStillbirth is a traumatic life-event for parents. Compassionate care from health workers supports grief and adjustment, alleviating psychological distress and minimising serious adverse health and social consequences. Bereavement support in facilities in LMICs, including in sub-Saharan Africa, often fails to meet parents’ needs. However, very few studies have explored health worker’s experiences in these settings.AimTo explore the lived experiences of midwives, doctors and others, caring for women after stillbirth in Kenya and Uganda.MethodsQualitative, guided by Heideggerian phenomenology. Sixty-one health workers, including nurse-midwives (N = 37), midwives (N = 12) and doctors (N = 10), working in five facilities in Kenya and Uganda, were interviewed. Data were analysed following Van Manen’s reflexive approach.ResultsThree main themes summarised participants’ experiences: ‘In the mud and you learn to swim in it’ reflected a perceived of lack of preparation; skills were gained through experience and often without adequate support. The emotional and psychological impacts including sadness, frustration, guilt and shame were summarised in ‘It’s bad, it’s a sad experience’. Deficiencies in organisational culture and support, which entrenched blame, fear and negative behaviours were encapsulated in Nobody asks ‘how are you doing?’.ConclusionHealth workers in Kenya and Uganda were deeply sensitive to the impacts of stillbirth for women and families, and often profoundly and personally affected. Care and psychological support were acknowledged as often inadequate. Interventions to support improved bereavement care in sub-Saharan Africa need to target increasing health worker knowledge and awareness and also embed supportive organisational cultures and processes.     

Quality of Life in Hong Kong: Past Accomplishments And Future Prospects

Following several decades of rapid economic expansion, development in Hong Kong has arrived at a new crossroads. The pace of economic growth is no longer as rapid as during earlier decades, competition with other East Asian societies has grown more acute and many of the territory’s recurrent, sometimes hidden, social problems appear to be undermining selected aspects of Hong Kong’s quality of life. And Hong Kong’s political tensions with the central government in Beijing have become more confrontational since its return in 1997 to Chinese political sovereignty. This article: (1) summarizes the current state of social development in Hong Kong; (2) identifies the major social, political and economic challenges that confront Hong Kong at the beginning of a new development decade; (3) compares selected aspects of Hong Kong’s social development with that of other East Asian societies; and (4) suggests a variety of policy options that are available to leaders in Hong Kong’s for promoting a more balanced approach to social and economic development. The article also illustrates the use of social reports and social reporting in advancing development assessment and planning.     

Religiousness and Subjective Well-Being Among Israeli-Palestinian College Students: Direct or Mediated Links?

Espousing a positive psychology orientation, this study aimed to explore the links between religiousness and subjective well-being, and test whether social support and self-control mediate the expected associations between these two variables. Participants were 264 Israeli-Palestinian college students, who were asked to provide demographic information and complete measures of religiousness, social support, self-control, subjective happiness, positive emotions and negative emotions. We found that religiousness was positively correlated with both subjective happiness and positive emotions, but no significant correlation was found between religiousness and negative emotions. Both social support and self-control partially mediated the links between religiousness and both subjective happiness and positive emotions. The findings of the study, as well as its implications and limitations, are discussed.     

“白发相亲”——上海相亲角的择偶行为分析

相亲角和＂白发相亲＂是2005年以来城市青年择偶领域内出现的新现象。本文考察了＂白发相亲＂者的阶层构成及其特征,重点分析了＂知青一代＂父母代替子女相亲所采取的择偶步骤和择偶策略。研究发现相亲角和＂白发相亲＂现象具有城市性;从＂自发相亲＂到＂白发相亲＂,在一定程度上是一种路径依赖。＂白发相亲＂的实质是＂毛的孩子们＂试图帮助＂邓的一代＂解决婚恋难题。     

#Free_CeCe: the material convergence of social media activism

In 2011 CeCe McDonald, an African-American transgender woman, was charged with murder for killing her attacker during a racist and transphobic assault in Minneapolis. After McDonald’s arrest, local queer communities organized an astounding level of support. This article examines the CeCe Support Committee as a case study for effective grassroots organizing that is fueled by and increasingly reliant upon social media for advancing social justice. An ethnographic approach reveals how the success of the Committee’s social media activism largely depended on traditional activist strategies. Because the group’s activism was based on unpaid labor and supported by numerous physical protests, the use of social media platforms enabled the Support Committee to challenge news media’s racialized framing of McDonald’s gender non-conformity as deceiving and threatening and exposed the state-sanctioned violence enacted against her. Therefore, I contend that the transformative political potential of social media activism is only possible when sustained by coordinated, “on-the-ground” activism offline. Moreover, this case study illustrates that intersecting oppressions do not simply disappear in online activism, but that those oppressions—particularly the centrality of whiteness in organizing—continue to constrain the actual material achievements of social media activism. For the CeCe Support Committee the convergence of on- and offline activism resulted in a raised public consciousness about the disposability of transgender lives, turning a national spotlight on the violence transgender people face.     

A Fragmentary Archive: Migratory Feelings in Early Anglo-Saxon Women’s Letters

The letters by Anglo-Saxon women in the Boniface correspondence are connected by cultural practices and emotions centered on the conversion mission that functioned to maintain connections between the Anglo-Saxon diaspora. A striking recurring focus of these letters is on loss and isolation, which connects them to the Old English elegies. Many of the letters describe the writers’ traumatic experiences that result from the death or absence of kin. These are women who endured the trauma of being left behind when others migrated overseas or who, in traveling away from their homeland, found themselves isolated in an alien environment, displaced in time as well as space. This article offers an analysis of the letters, focusing on the queer temporalities they explore, the queer emotions they evoke, and the queer kinships that they forge. It argues that the women’s letters represent fragments of an early queer archive of migratory feelings.     

社会保障支出、经济增长与居民消费的区域差异研究

基于扩展的杜森贝利消费函数,以区域差异的视角对东、中、西部地区1997～2009年的社会保障、经济增长与居民消费之间的长短期效应进行实证研究。结果显示,我国社会保障支出、经济增长与居民消费存在长期的协整关系,居民消费水平与社会保障支出呈显著正相关,西部地区社会保障支出对居民消费的拉动作用最大,中部次之,东部最小。其政策含义是:应加大中西部地区在社会保障领域的支持力度,促进地区间公共服务均等化,降低人们的不确定性预期,实现居民消费的稳定性和经济健康发展。     

Cyborg witches: class composition and social reproduction in the GynePunk collective

This paper takes Haraway’s techno-scientific concept of the cyborg as the basis for understanding a feminist theory of class that is rooted in socially reproductive labour. Arguing that the Operaismo notion of class composition ignored reproductive labour as either a technical or political component of proletarian composition, this article claims that social reproduction in fact provides the foundation for both. Through the notion of the cyborg, this article situates class as a human and machinic con, which is at once conquered by capital’s technological methods of accumulation but also finds its modes of resistance within these same convergences. Using the GynePunk collective’s DIY reproductive health technologies as an example of class composition through cyborgic social reproduction, this article aims to develop a techno-feminist concept of class suitable to the prevailing technological conditions of our time.     

Is Social Capital a Good Concept?

This paper explores whether the concept of social capital as popularized by Robert Putnam is a good social science concept. Taking Gerring’s work on concept evaluation as the starting point, the paper first presents a set of criteria for conceptual ‘goodness’ and discusses how social capital performs on these criteria. It is argued that social capital eventually may be a good concept if it can be shown empirically to be a unidimensional concept. An empirical section therefore explores the validity of the unidimensionality assumption and rejects it in four separate tests at both the individual and aggregate level. We conclude that even if social capital has been a remarkably productive idea, it is not a good concept as most popular conceptualizations define social capital as several distinct phenomena or as phenomena that already have been conceptualized under other labels.     

The Socioemotional Well-Being Index (SEWBI): Theoretical Framework and Empirical Operationalisation

This article presents the design, process of construction, content and validation of the Socioemotional Well-Being Index. This index is a composite indicator of subjective well-being, and has been designed with the aim of providing a measurement device for the sociological analysis of the subjective components of quality of life and social quality. Two spheres of knowledge have been combined in its construction: research in social indicators, the recent development of which has been oriented toward the elaboration of composite indicators, and the theoretical content developed in recent decades by the sociology of emotions. As a composite indicator, the index presented in this article offers a hierarchical and multidimensional alternative to the univariate scales measuring happiness and satisfaction most often used in social research. In addition, in comparison to measures of subjective well-being grounded in cognitive evaluations, this index is based on the evaluation of a series of emotional states recently experienced by individuals. The conceptual definition of socioemotional well-being is based on Thomas Kemper’s social interactional theory of emotions and Randall Collins’ theory of interaction ritual chains. A “4 factor, 10 variable” solution has been obtained by applying common factor analysis to the data of the European Social Survey, 2006.