‘Goldman-Sachs doesn’t care if you raise chicken’: the challenges of resistant prefiguration

This article addresses debates in the ‘post-Occupy movement’ over the resistant potential of prefigurative politics, and asks how prefiguration can be conceptualized as resistance in relation to activists’ understanding of politics, power and social change. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with activists in New York City, it looks at anarchist politics after Occupy Wall Street (OWS). Here, the absence of spectacular moments of confrontation and the removal of OWS’s space of mobilization and organizing challenged activists to adjust their prefigurative politics to the shifting spaces post-Occupy. This paper advances our understanding of prefigurative politics by conceptualizing prefiguration as resistance in consideration of the elements of ‘intent’, ‘recognition’, ‘opposition/confrontation’ and ‘creation’. Following this, it introduces the ‘logic of subtraction’ as a concept to understand the resistant potential of prefiguration. Here, I argue that rather than being in an antagonistic relationship with dominant power, resistant prefiguration aims for the creation of alternatives while subtracting power from the state, capital or any other external authority in order to render it obsolete. This understanding allows for a nuanced consideration of the proactive and creative potential of prefiguration, as well as of the difficulties of prefigurative practices in shifting movement spaces.     

‘When you have no law you are nothing’: Cane toads,social consequences and management issues

In this article we demonstrate that Yanyuwa people have detailed biological knowledge of their northern Australian environment, which is culturally defined and embedded within their relationships to country, resources and each other. Through a case study of the impact of Bufo marinus (cane toads) on Yanyuwa culture and everyday life, we argue that Aboriginal management strategies and Aboriginal peoples’ intimate knowledge of species and environment need to be understood as both legitimate and fundamental when engaging in management initiatives in Australia. We demonstrate that for Yanyuwa people emotional engagement with their environment is underpinned by a morality of social and environmental relations and that ‘memory’ is pivotal to this engagement. We conclude by briefly delineating how the adoption of a ‘moral ecology’ perspective goes some way to addressing issues pertinent to discursive encounters at cultural management frontiers.     

‘They just seem to live their lives in their own little world’: lay perceptions of autism

The prevalence of autism spectrum disorders is believed to be higher than that of other conditions, such as Down syndrome or diabetes, yet few studies have explored the ideas lay people have about autism. Semi‐structured interviews were used to explore how 10 lay people with no knowledge or experience of autism conceptualised autism. Interpretative phenomenological analysis and discourse analysis illuminated four discourses: (1) autism as transgressing normative expectancies; (2) dependency and functional ability discourse; (3) autism and the discourse of mental status; (4) autism and explanatory discourses. Participants demonstrated clear views (although not necessarily correct) about the nature, origins and manifestations of autism. They drew upon their understanding of normal child development to make these assessments and they made judgements about the ability of individuals with autism to attain social independence. It is recommended that interactions between lay people and people with autism may help develop positive conceptualisations of autism.     

实习平台：当今教学中的‘‘软肋’’

社会工作实习在社会工作专业教育中具有特别重要的地位，因为社会工作专业是一门十分注重直接为人们提供服务的专业。学生必须亲自参加社会工作的实践活动，增进专业意识、专业价值观和应变与成长的能力，才能成为合格的社会工作专业人才。然而，在当前中国社工教育的现实情境中，实习却是一大“软肋”。     

Contested Concepts in Violence Against Women: ‘Intimate’, ‘Domestic’ or ‘Torture’?

Abstract

Ritualistic, overwhelmingly violent bikie gang or cult-inflicted abuse of women, entrenched by co-opting third party cult or gang members, has been referred to as ‘domestic violence’, ‘intimate violence’ or ‘intimate partner violence’. The present article questions the aptitude of these terms to convey the realities of this violence, in light of the experiences of women attending a South Australian domestic violence service, all of whom were escaping violent partners who were members or associates of bikie gangs and cults. The paper asks, ‘is torture an appropriate term for such violence?’ and discusses the impact of social, legal, organisational and human rights parallel states that collaborate to make it almost impossible for these women to escape this violence and make it difficult for social workers to work effectively with them. The paper concludes that the State needs to adopt a human rights rather than legal focus when addressing the issue of violence against women.     

Writing ‘Conflict’: Whispers as a ‘Restorative’ Narrative

Abstract

This paper examines contemporary Kenyan popular fiction as a site of cultural production, where the contradictions of African modernity are played out. The paper focuses on one of Kenya's oldest popular fiction columns, Whispers, published in local newspapers since 1983. Constructed around a Kenyan family, which is deployed as an allegorical trope to read modern Kenya, the paper explores how the column introduces us to the anxieties that define life in contemporary Kenya. Although the narrative comprises many thematic concerns, reference is particularly made to the restive masculinity threatened by social change. The paper also provides a discussion of the constant ‘backward glance’, an attempt to look for stability in the past, part of the society's relentless search for models that could help Kenyans make sense of an uncertain present, and an even more doubtful future. The paper also engages with the narrative mode of this fiction, examining how humour, satire and parody deceptively make light of what are important issues affecting society.     

The ‘compliant’, the ‘pacified’ and the ‘rebel’: experiences with Swiss disability insurance

Switzerland’s social policies in the field of disability have been significantly reshaped over the last two decades by reducing the number of allowances awarded and by increasing the recourse to vocational rehabilitation measures. What stances do individuals who experience the implementation of these policies adopt? What kind of tests are they subjected to? How can we explain the posture they adopt – be it ‘compliant’, ‘pacified’ or ‘rebellious’ – when facing the (re)assignations of their identity and professional status? Drawing on interviews conducted with individuals who have recently been involved in programmes set up by Swiss disability insurance, we highlight their uncertainties and concerns relating to their place in society, as well as their reactions to disability insurance’s interventions.     

‘Indigenous Rights’ or ‘Racial Privileges’: The Rhetoric of ‘Race’ in New Zealand Politics

The New Zealand parliamentary election campaign of 2005 was marked by a significant break in the consensus between the two major political parties, Labour and National, in the area of Maori affairs: a consensus that had previously been articulated in terms of a shared commitment to ‘biculturalism’ and the Treaty of Waitangi. In January 2004, the National Party launched an attack on government policies, describing them as giving unfair privileges to Maori based purely on ‘race’. The present paper examines the National Party's adoption of the rhetoric of ‘race’ and the conceptual, political and ideological considerations behind it. It also examines attitudinal, social policy and socioeconomic factors to explain the widespread acceptability of this rhetoric among the New Zealand public. These events are considered within the context of a growing academic and political critique of ‘culturalism’ in New Zealand social policy and social science.     

敢露‘庐山真面目’

苏东坡曾有诗云：“不识庐山真面目，只缘身在此山中。”照此意推论，一个人是很难看到自己的缺点与不足的。笔者反其意而论之，入为什么不能主动暴露自己的“庐山真面目”，而让别人了解一下真实的“我”呢？最近，笔者读过一位日本学者写的交际心理学方面的书，颇受启发。书中日：让人家看到自己的缺点或弱点，人家才会觉得你真实可信，不存虚假，从而产生亲近感。反之，如果人们不了解你的真实个性，即没有看到一个包含有缺点与弱点的你，反而会对你放心不下，对你产生戒备和警惕，从而不敢亲近你。这真是洞察人心的至理名言。我想，现实…     

‘DWELLING IN DISPLACEMENT’

This paper is a successor to an earlier one (Malone, Community, Work & Family, 4(2), 195–213, 2001) which described the development of a ‘community saved’ among first-generation Irish immigrants in North-West London, UK. A distinct and health-enhancing ‘sense’ of community founded on mutual helping networks, a belief in family ties, the importance of paid work and the Roman Catholic Church was identified within this Irish immigrant group. For the second generation or London Irish, upon whom this paper focuses, ‘community’ and ‘sense’ of community have meanings which differ significantly from those of their first-generation forebears. The London Irish describe the anonymity they experience within their contemporary urban ‘home’ and yearn, instead, for an idyllic but mythical ‘homeland’ — the rural Ireland of long ago. Disparities between the two groups yield insights into those elements which truly shape experience of ‘community’ and ‘sense’ of community and which can only be understood within the conceptual, geographical and intellectual boundaries of what has been called the ‘diasporic space’.

Ce papier suit à un précédent (Malone, Community, Work & Family, 4(2), 195–213, 2001) qui a dépeint le développement d'une ‘communauté sauvé’ parmi les immigrants irlandais de la première génération au nord-ouest de Londres. Un ‘sentiment de communauté’, à la fois marqué et assanisant, et fondé sur des résaux d'assistance réciproque, le croyance dans les liens familiaux, l'importance du travail salarié, et l'Eglise Catholique, a été identifié parmi ce groupe immigrant irlandais. Pour les immigrants de la deuzième génération, ainsi nommé les ‘London Irish’, et sujet de ce papier-ci, ‘la communauté’ et ‘le sentiment de communauté’ ont des significations très différentes de la première génération. Les London Irish parle de l'anonyme de leur expérience dans le domicile urbain, ils brûlent de revoir le ‘terre patrie’, idylle mythique d'un Irlande rural du bon vieux temps. Ces différences fournissent des aperçus des éléments qui forment l'expérience de ‘la communauté’ et du ‘sentiment de communauté’, éléments qui ne sont compris que dans les bornes de la conception, de la géographie et de l'intellect, bornes de ce qui a été désigné ‘l'espace diasporique’.     

‘Non-interference’ implies equality

We propose a new principle of ‘non-interference’ applied to social welfare orderings. The principle, together with two other standard requirements, implies a strong egalitarian conclusion: the ordering must lexicographically maximize the welfare of the worst off. The first version of this paper was written when Mariotti was visiting Bocconi University. Their generous hospitality and financial support through a Research Fellowship is gratefully acknowledged. A previous version of this paper written by Mariotti alone was circulated with the title ‘Liberalism implies equality’. We thank Ken Binmore, Paola Manzini, Juan Moreno Ternero and two referees for helpful comments. The responsibility for any error is our own.     

‘An Unstable Amalgam’

Christopher Herbert. Culture and anomie: ethnographic imagination in the nineteenth century. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press. 1991. x, 364pp., references, index, notes. ISBN 0 226 32738 8 (hard); ISBN 0 226 32739 6 (paper).     

Gamblers can discriminate ‘tight’ from ‘loose’ electronic gambling machines

All slot machines make money over time, but the payouts to the players can differ. ‘Loose’ machines pay out more than ‘tight’ machines. Gamblers (n = 1402) at Ontario slots venues were assessed using the Problem Gambling Severity Index. Their beliefs about slots were polled using the Informational Biases Scale. Problem gamblers were more likely than non-problem and at-risk gamblers to endorse the belief that ‘some slot machines keep me from winning because they are programmed to produce fewer wins than normal’. We then showed that after extensive play (60 hours), 9 out of 10 gamblers were able to correctly discriminate a ‘loose’ machine (98% payback) from a ‘tight’ machine (85% payback). Problem gamblers' assertions that there are ‘loose’ and ‘tight’ machines demonstrate a belief rooted in reality. The ability to distinguish ‘loose’ from ‘tight’ machines may be interpreted as a skill by players. Such skill, when overestimated, may lead to erroneous cognitions.     

Managing ‘American Islam’

Focusing on the case of Islam in post-9/11 United States, this article highlights the particularity of how US secularism is enacted by the state. In much sociological theory, the United States has been understood to be a neutral and non-interfering state with regard to religion, thereby fostering a pluralist religious context of free consumer choice. Some Muslim reformists have argued that this context makes the US highly fertile ground upon which to reform Islam and to improve women's status in Islam. This article argues that, in the context of the US-led ‘war on terror’, the government has drawn on and amplified this discourse in the service of producing a representation of the US as tolerant, while also seeking to promote a concept of ‘true’ Islam and produce patriotic Muslim citizens. At the center of this discourse are contested portrayals of Muslim women as symbolic of a modern and liberated Islam that is uniquely ‘American’ and opposed to other presumably oppressive Islams. While this context may in fact promote the reform of Islam, it does so with state involvement rather than as a result of state neutrality.     

Mastering ‘Lady Credit’

This article politicizes current understandings of financial crises. It is argued that financial discourse, and specifically the discourse that locates financial crises in the realm of madness and delusion, is founded upon a distinctively masculine conception of agency. This argument is made by looking at early eighteenth-century debates concerning the emergence of credit and paper money. The article examines Daniel Defoe's satirical personification, Lady Credit. Lady Credit embodies all the irrational, inconstant and effeminate aspects that had to be purged from financial discourse before it was able to gain respectability as a rational, disinterested and scientific sphere of action. Lady Credit is not unlike ancient goddess, Fortuna, who ruled capriciously over the affairs of men. The financial discourse under examination implies that it is in times of crisis that financial man loses self-control and is prevented from seeing economic reality by the delusions that Lady Credit generates in him. Through the virile mastering of Lady Credit, it is implied, the smooth and neutral workings of the financial sphere are guaranteed. The article contends that this inherently gendered manner of understanding financial crises informs debates on financial crisis today, as can be exemplified by the public discussion on the recent crisis in Asia.