(RE)AFFIRMING RACE:

This article combines insights from the social construction of reality tradition and recent works on audience ethnography to explore the ritualistic process by which racial boundaries are continually policed, (re)affirmed and (re)produced. The so-called black-white divide in perceptions of the O. J. Simpson double murder trial serves as the case study. This case is understood as a classic media event in which different societal groups struggle to privilege particular understandings of reality, to either maintain or improve their statuses in society. Two ten-member groups—one group black, one white—were tracked over the course of the criminal trial. Findings outline how "raced ways of seeing' figured in the process by which the groups attributed meanings to the case and case-related media constructions. Study conclusions consider the implications for "evidence,' epistemology, and contemporary U. S. race relations.     

A Tapestry of Edgelands: Defining Carceral Edgeland(s) in Masafer Yatta (Firing Zone 918)

The carceral edgeland occupies a unique position. At times, it is acknowledged; at others, it remains unseen by those outside its boundaries. In cases where the edgeland is architectural, such as a prison or a detention center, it can prompt viewers to consider the power dynamics exercised within. This article, however, is concerned with the possibilities for the edgeland to be moveable and embodied. Focusing on the transformation of the area of Masafer Yatta in the occupied West Bank into a military training zone, the article shifts the discourse from the connection between the edgeland and the symbolic power of carceral architecture to suggest alternative carceral edgelands: the occupying edgeland, wherein the moveable and embodied converge to form a tapestry of edgelands. The Israeli military presence varies in intensity, yet the result is the realization of Achille Mbembe's ‘infrastructural warfare’ (2003) that manifests through the moveable edgeland, and second, the embodied edgeland that is enacted by the military personnel who symbolize the state. In Masafer Yatta, the army's long-term presence has had an impact on the communities that evokes Lauren Berlant's ‘political depression’ (2011). Building on Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts' recognition of multitudinous edgelands (2012), this article suggests that there can be multiple carceral edgelands at one site, all of which facilitate exclusion and political depression through enclosure, whether through fences, walls, or moveable checkpoints.     

Networking towards (in)equality: Women entrepreneurs in technology

Deploying a multidimensional framework focusing on individual, organizational and societal factors, we investigate gendering practices through which women entrepreneurs become disadvantaged in the technology sector. Through qualitative fieldwork, we focus on women entrepreneurs' experiences networking to access valuable entrepreneurial resources and examine the role of technology incubators and accelerators in facilitating this access. These organizations have the potential to mitigate gender inequities by adopting gender‐aware practices such as increasing access to networks and resources that might otherwise be unreachable for women technology entrepreneurs. Focusing simultaneously on the complex intersections of networking, organizational practices at incubators and accelerators, and institutionalized gender norms in society, we outline how different gendering practices work separately and in tandem to marginalize women technology entrepreneurs. We observe that these organizations engage in ‘gender neutral’ recruitment practices and promote transactional networking which result in the replication rather than eradication of gender inequality. Moreover, organizational attempts to address ‘gender issues’ as they relate to technology entrepreneurs re‐inscribe rather than disrupt societal gender norms. Our research offers new insights for understanding the interrelated individual, organizational and societal factors contributing to gender inequality in technology entrepreneurship and provokes discussion on the possibilities for social change.     

The (Cuban) Voice of the (Curaçaoan) People: The Making (And Taking) of a Collective Memory

At the turn of the 20^th century, Afro-Curaçaoans developed an affinity for Cuban culture that influenced the manner to which they came to define their own collective memory. Cuba was raised to mythological status, appropriated and adapted to fit Curaçaoan daily life, enabling a new and inventive sense of belonging. This essay speaks to the intricacies involved in memory-making , with the Cuban-inspired memory of memories on Curaçao introduced as a relative category. It points to the variegated and tenuous nature of memory, showing how the past, when negotiated with the present, can shape group goals and demarcate membership.     

Smith's Sentiments (1759) and Wright's Passions (1601): the beginnings of sociology

Treatments of sources of Adam Smith's sociological theory of the self and associated ideas in The Theory of Moral Sentiments typically refer to classical antecedents or the work of his teacher Francis Hutcheson or his contemporary David Hume. During the seventeenth century, however, many books on the passions were published in London that arguably constitute an important but neglected source of Smith's treatment of moral sentiments. These works are largely forgotten today but at the time were widely read. They are not philosophical, partly devotional and predominantly psychological. Although Smith does not refer to these works his argument resembles theirs in many places. The importance of the seventeenth-century books on the passions, apart from their role in the history of psychology, is their bearing on contemporary economic practices. In this paper the connections between Smith and one of these books, Thomas Wright's The Passions of the Minde in Generall, are indicated.     

Mathematical modeling in sociology: An exemplar (1)

This paper describes the method of differential equation modeling. To illustrate its application in sociology, a theory of the contribution of income to occupational prestige is developed and tested. The importance of theoretical foundations and inference therefrom is then discussed with a view to providing a model for teaching and the initiation of research.     

Resident-to-resident elder mistreatment (R-REM): a study in residential structures for elderly people (ERI) in Portugal

This study explores patterns of resident-to-resident elder mistreatment (R-REM) in Portuguese Residential Structures for Elderly People (ERI: Estruturas Residenciais para Idosos). Results display a serious situation of R-REM, which occurs in different patterns.     

URban Biotopes of Aotearoa New Zealand (URBANZ) (I): composition and diversity of temperate urban lawns in Christchurch

Christchurch urban lawns are dominated by non-native grasses and forbs. However, we document considerable plant diversity; the total number of species encountered in our 327 sampled lawns was 127, although 80 species occurred in <2% of lawns. Seven distinct lawn communities were identified by Two-Way INdicator SPecies ANalysis using occurrence of 47 species that occurred in > 2% of lawns. Our ability to explain variation in species composition was surprisingly good and indicates intensity of lawn maintenance such as frequency of mowing, irrigation, fertiliser, and herbicide use and whether clippings are removed or not plays the major role. Species richness significantly declines with an increase in total area of contiguous lawn, leaf litter cover, the presence of grass clippings, and on loamy soil. Hence, park lawns with coarser management had lower species richness than residential lawns. Native species were more prevalent in well tended residential lawns, where more frequent mowing and removal of clippings or litter build-up diminishes shoot competition or shading. There is tremendous potential for more native species in New Zealand lawns which would contribute substantially to the conservation of endangered lowland herbaceous flora.     

Kernberg Versus Kohut: A (Case) Study in Contrasts

In this paper, the main concepts of Otto Kernberg and Heinz Kohut—two theorists who have greatly influenced clinical social work practice with severely disturbed patients—are presented, and then compared by using a case from the practice of the author. The case illustrates the value of utilizing some of the treatment principles put forward by Kernberg and Kohut without becoming too wedded to either of the overall treatment approaches they have formulated. Some aspects of the manner in which the practitioner determines when the treatment approach needs to be modified—to avoid the pitfalls of either being too wedded to an approach or too eclectic—are discussed as well.     

(Dis)Empowering technologies: ICT for education (ICT4E) in China,past and present

Information and communication technologies (ICT) are often presented as the cure-all for various problems: ICTs for education (ICT4E) are considered promising tools for promoting self-directed, creative learning and bridging various divides, such as those between developed and developing countries, urban and rural regions, and so on. While the lofty goals of ICT4E are continuously being highlighted, surprisingly little attention has been paid to how these technologies are embedded in sociocultural and political environments. China is no exception to this narrative of techno-determinism. In China, new technologies are being widely propagated as effective instruments for erasing differences between learners and learning communities, particularly with regard to transplanting “modern” education into rural communities. The novelty of twenty-first century ICT, however, tends to obscure the fact that these techno-optimist beliefs date back to attempts in the early twentieth century to uplift rural China through the implementation of modern technologies. The article will scrutinize this history of techno-optimism and will relate it to recent attempts at “transformation by technology.” Finally, I will discuss how the new keyword in both educational modernization and the knowledge economy – “creativity” – functions as the conceptual ideological heir to “production capacity,” the core ingredient of the industrializing societies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.     

Training with o (observing) and T (treatment) teams in live supervision: reflections in the looking glass*

Working with a treatment and observing team at the same time, behind the oneway mirror, offers a variety of ways to: (a) generate multiple realities; (b) work with two different models of family therapy simultaneously; and (c) provide feedback on the teams' own roles, rules and group process. The process that 6 trainees and two supervisors used with T and O teams to examine their own coevolution as a therapeutic system using the Milan model of family therapy and Ericksonian hypnotherapy is described. The article concludes with a discussion of the advantages and pitfalls of this type of dual supervision.