Gendered Global Migrations

The globalization of migration has entailed a greater diversity and stratification of migration. Integrative approaches, such as transnationalism, structurationism and alternative circuits of globalization, have helped to place migration in broader socio- cultural fields but have not adequately addressed the complex gendered stratification generated in countries of origin and destination. Much literature focuses on the socio-economically disadvantaged, especially those undertaking domestic and sex work, but the opening up of skilled migration in developed countries, increasingly in feminized welfare sectors, is creating new lines of exclusion and inclusion and privileging the skilled and educated of the Third World. It also means that a neat division between the masculine high-tech sector and the feminine intimate, racialized and menial 'other' does not do justice to the complexity of gendered migratory flows. This article explores diverse forms of female migrations, labour market positions and the intersection of class, racialization and gender. I argue that we need to question the relegation of female migrants to the subordinate circuits of globalization and to extend our analysis beyond productive and reproductive labour in less skilled sectors. The inclusion of female skilled migrants can add a distinctive counter narrative, which includes care for and education of people, to our conceptualization of a knowledge economy and society, which tends to be based on scientific and technological sectors.     

The Construction of Gendered Citizenship at the Welfare Office: An Ethnographic Comparison of Welfare-to-Work Workshops in the United States and the Netherlands

In 1996 both the Netherlands and the United States adopted welfarelegislation that aimed to exchange single mothers’ relianceon the welfare state for dependence on the labor market. Thislegislation seems to indicate an end to gender-differentiatedsocial citizenship rights. However, ethnographic research onwelfare reform implementation shows that citizenship does notget constructed solely at the level of legislation. In-depthresearch in one site in the United States and one site in theNetherlands illustrates that citizenship continues to be genderedin specific ways despite the apparent end of gender differentiationat the level of policy formation.     

Cultural Citizenship

This paper seeks to give a sense of the diversity of work that falls within the boundaries of 'cultural citizenship'– a term it locates as emerging from the problematisation of traditional citizenship models by issues of identity and mediation. This paper outlines three distinct strands of cultural citizenship theory, which respectively emphasise multiculturalism, the politics of cultural texts, and dialogical communication. Subsequently, this paper conducts a brief analysis and critique of these strands, enabled by an interrogation of the ways in which they each define and deploy the term 'culture'. It is argued that for cultural citizenship to develop a more coherent terminological 'face', a balance must be struck between a commitment to specificity, and the appeal of abstracted re-imaginings of civil society.     

Gendered Work Meets Gendered Goods: Selling and Service in Clothing Retail

This article explores the way retail work entails a complex form of gendering. Three distinct, but related, forms of gendering interweave in this sector of the service economy. These are the gendering of the work tasks, the gendered structure of the occupation and the gender of the retail environment. Using insights from the sociology of consumption and expanding the notion of aesthetic labour to incorporate insights from Bourdieu's sociology, the article explores how retail workers manifest particular forms of gendered embodiment, enacting a different sort of feminine performance according to the brand strategies of the organization they are employed in. The gendered objects of consumption are thus shown to be critical to understanding the nature of retail service work.     

The Gendered Nature of Mergers

This article ties together two research areas: the gendering of organizations and the effects of organizational change on workers. The article then suggests seven reasons why mergers are gendered. These are: possible differences in undermining or eliminating job security between men and women; contract changes; breaking internal contracts; the loss or undermining of gendered tacit knowledge; emotional reactions; risk perception and the discourse of mergers. The article argues for looking at mergers and organizational change through a gender lens.     

The Gendered Face of Terrorism

What does sociology have to contribute to our understanding of terrorism? As scholars of gender and the Far Right, we believe that we have much to offer the current debates. In this article, we focus both on contemporary cases of terrorism, the attacks of September 11 and the Oklahoma City bombing, and terrorist movements as gendered: as enactments of masculinity. In particular, we focus on the contemporary white supremacist movement, the most dangerous domestic terrorist threat faced by the USA. We suggest that the ideology and organization of many terrorist groups are saturated with gendered meanings, both as the analytic prism through which they view their situation, and also as a means of political mobilization.     

Women,Gendered Work and Gendered Violence: So Much More than a Job

This article explores the experiences of individuals who work with men who are violent, focusing in particular on the differential gendered impacts of this area of practice. Violence intervention is widely recognized as work that is difficult, demanding and, frequently, confronting. It is less often recognized that such work is not only experienced differently by men and women, but significantly, that it may weigh more heavily, with impacts that are both broader and more profound, on the women working in this area. Building upon an understanding of the gendered nature of work and the workplace, this research reveals the distinctively gendered nature and impact of work with men who are violent, highlighting the complex interplay of gendered individuals, in the gendered workplace, in relation to a specifically gendered activity, that of men's violence.     

Training for Citizenship

Schools throughout the United States provide instruction on democracy, voting, and major institutions of government, but often excluded from the curriculum is a central reality of our political system: the role of money in elections. This article provides background information and pedagogical strategies to help teachers foster productive discussions on this issue. First, we summarize recent increases in U.S. election spending and five schools of thought on how to address this trend. Then we present various classroom discussion and assessment strategies for supporting students’ learning about our current campaign finance system and its potential alternatives. These processes can facilitate students’ development of important civic knowledge and skills and also fulfill a variety of state and national standards.     

Books and Citizenship

This article takes up the question of world history teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge by reporting on two separate but related projects. In the first, we briefly discuss an empirical investigation one of the authors conducted into the ways that pre- and in-service world history teachers think about, organize, and make meaning of separate and discrete world historical events, first for themselves and then for their students. It demonstrates the value of world history teachers making multiple connections among world historical events from the biggest to the smallest ones to construct dynamic and coherent pictures of the past for themselves and their students. In the second project, we discuss our innovative history lab, a course designed to help undergraduates enrolled in a world history course “see” the pedagogical moves their world history instructors make. We designed this pedagogical history lab to foster future teachers’ understandings of the content knowledge needed to teach world history while they are learning world history as students.     

Citizenship and postmodernity

Citizenship has to be taught in the UK as a new strand in the school curriculum. This citizenship initiative is intended to replace a general feeling of political apathy among the young, yet the initiative itself is leading to concern about what citizenship is and how it can be taught. Citizenship teaching may fail if there is too great a dissonance between the sincerity of citizenship and postmodern scepticism. Hermeneutical philosophy can provide an antidote to doubt and connect the various levels of meaning in our lives: the personal, the local and the global. Citizenship with a global component can succeed by enabling us to compare ourselves with countries where postmodern doubt is not prevalent, as shown in a collaborative project with the Department for International Development.     

Gendered Congregations,Gendered Service: The Impact of Clergy Gender on Congregational Social Service Participation

Using data from the 1998 National Congregations Study, I present empirical evidence that shows that the gender of a congregation's leadership makes a difference in the likelihood that a congregation will participate in a social service programme. The results from binary logistic regression indicate that the odds of congregations with women head clergy participating in a social service programme are four times greater than those with men head clergy. In addition, as the percentage of women on a congregation's governing board increases the probability that a congregation will participate in a service project also increases. The specific types of social service programmes a congregation pursues also differ by gender of leadership, with women‐led congregations significantly more likely to pursue service projects that could be labelled feminine while avoiding programmes that are clearly feminist. To explain this gendered behaviour I incorporate Acker's (1990 ) theory of gendered organizations.     

Cultural Bodies in Bolivia's Gendered Environment

This paper approaches the cultural body as a dynamic nexus of interaction between biophysical factors and diverse social environments in Bolivia. The discussion develops insights from four recent studies that explore the beliefs, practices, and relations that give shape and meaning to sexuality and reproductive health in Bolivia. Visions and voices of women and men with varying sexualities and identities shed critical light on a number of common theoretical assumptions about gender.     

Gendered Organizations: Progress and Prospects

In this paper, we explore the context for the emergence of a theory of gendered organizations and define the basic features of the approach, noting the explosion of scholarship in the area and the now firmly established trend toward understanding gender, race, class, and sexuality as aspects of social structures. We focus on three of the most important emerging areas in research on gendered organizations: the study of intersectionality, the increasing emphasis on the importance of organizational context, and the exploration of mechanisms for organizational change. We conclude by briefly noting prospects for the further development of research on gendered organizations.     

Analysing the Gendered Insecurities of Migration

This article examines the experiences of female migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa aiming to reach Europe via Morocco. The article argues that European immigration policies and policies of co-operation with neighbouring countries on the other side of the Mediterranean, have increased the sources of insecurity for migrants attempting to reach Europe, and shows how these insecurities are gendered.