Pessimism of the will,optimism of the intellect: endings and beginnings

ABSTRACT

This essay argues for the need for an ‘optimism of the intellect’ – in the form of the need for cultural studies – in the face of a growing ‘pessimism of the will.’ It illustrates the value of cultural studies by considering three contemporary problematics: post-truth, polarization and consent.     

Failure is always an option: the necessity,promise & peril of radical contextualism

This essay pays tribute to Lawrence Grossberg and his influence through a consideration of radical contextualism – an analytical process that: (1) understands reality as contingently relational, complex, and always open to alteration; and (2) attempts to narratively represent the messiness and complexity of empirical reality as rigorously as possible (with an explicit recognition of the limits of our ability to do so). The piece opens by reflecting briefly on these principles with respect to the genre of intellectual tribute – that is, to contextualize what it means to talk about Larry and his work within the framework of the advisor/advisee relationship. How do you combine the care of engagement with the ethics of argumentation to make a statement that is as personal as it is intellectual? From there, I situate radical contextualism within Cultural Studies as both an ethical-intellectual commitment and an analytical practice. The goal here is to discuss both the positive and negative potential of this process. I end by reflecting on how Larry’s intellectual commitment to radical contextualism also works as a personal form of radical contextuality.     

The price of salt☆: the capable self in the face of heteronormative marriage pressure in the discourses of the “post-90s” Chinese lesbians

This article presents two sets of recorded interview data in which young Chinese lesbians (i.e. born in the 1990s) performatively negotiate a capable and neoliberalized identity in narrating how their relationships are threatened by heteronormative marriage pressure. In applying discourse analysis to examine aspects of performativity and agency in the data, this study determined the ways in which the participants made use of language to index different ideologies. The findings suggest that the discursive strategies adopted by the “post-90s” lesbian subjects in dealing with marriage pressure reflect the influence of both neoliberal and nonliberal ideologies in contemporary China. The strategies demonstrate neoliberal reductionism because structural pressure was reduced to practical problems that could be settled by personal agency. They also demonstrated the nonliberal elements of Chinese sociocultural values because subject positions which are typical in heteronormative discourses were used to normalize lesbian practices. However, the participants’ discourses index new desires that are specific to this generation, which has significant exposure to global queer ideologies. Thus, the results indicate that in response to marriage pressure, a capable and neoliberalized lesbian identity could be constructed at the intersection of sociocultural heteronormative ideologies, neoliberal values in contemporary China, and global queer discourses.     

Towards a Cultural Analysis of the Modern Family: Beyond the Revisionist Paradigm in Japanese Family Studies

Under the influence of the "new history of the family" of the past few decades, a revisionist view of the "modern family" has emerged among family theorists in Japan. In spite of the significant merits of this new paradigm, I have argued that the failure of its proponents to address certain theoretical and presuppositional issues has discouraged a cultural analysis of the modern family. In recent years, one of the foremost theorists to attempt to bring cultural analysis fully into sociological discourse has been Jeffrey Alexander. I have drawn extensively on Alexander's discussion of Durkheim's later thought as the key to a cultural program in the field of sociology. In doing so, I have suggested that one effect of the transition to modern society is the sacralization of what Durkheim termed the "domestic order". Furthermore, in considering the mechanism by which the central emotional axis of the family comes to revolve around either the parent–child bond or the conjugal bond, I have postulated the existence of a "sacred" dyad—in the Durkheimian sense—within the family unit.     

Looking inside the bag of tools: creating research encounters with parents with an intellectual disability

This paper examines the development of fieldwork methodology in a study that investigated the parenting experiences and parent support needs of a group of parents with an intellectual disability. It considers the ways in which the original planning for the project changed as the fieldwork unfolded, requiring adaptations to our methodological expectations and in the process deepening our understanding of the phenomena we were studying and reinforcing for us the importance of relationships in fieldwork‐based research. Three themes in particular are considered that became central to this research: research relationships; safety for participants/positioning of the researcher; suspending assumptions about impairment and disability and influences on life experiences.     

On reflexivity and the conduct of the self in everyday life: reflections on Bourdieu and Archer

This article provides a critique of the concept of reflexivity in social theory today and argues against the tendency to define agency exclusively in terms of reflexivity. Margaret Archer, in particular, is highlighted as a key proponent of this thesis. Archer argues that late modernity is characterized by reflexivity but, in our view, this position neglects the impact of more enduring aspects of agency, such as the routinization of social life and the role of the taken‐for‐granted. These concepts were pivotal to Bourdieu and Giddens' theorization of everyday life and action and to Foucault's understanding of technologies of the self. We offer Bourdieu's habitus as a more nuanced approach to theorizing agency, and provide an alternative account of reflexivity. Whilst accepting that reflexivity is a core aspect of agency, we argue that it operates to a backdrop of the routinization of social life and operates from within and not outside of habitus. We highlight the role of the breach in reflexivity, suggesting that it opens up a critical window for agents to initiate change. The article suggests caution in over‐ascribing reflexivity to agency, instead arguing that achieving reflexivity and change is a difficult and fraught process, which has emotional and moral consequences. The effect of this is that people often prefer the status quo, rather than to risk change and uncertainty.     

The identities and social roles of people with an intellectual disability: challenging dominant cultural worldviews,values and mythologies

Intellectual disability is commonly conceptualised as stigmatised identity with which one has to live. However, within the literature the notion of a damaged identity is contested. The aim of this research was to explore the social construction of intellectual disability, with an emphasis on the identities and social roles of people with an intellectual disability. Informed by a contextualist perspective, this research was conducted within a participatory framework. The co-researchers involved in this research were 18 members of an advocacy agency. Photovoice and conversational interviewing were used to collect data and causal layered analysis was used to deconstruct the data. Analysis of the interactions that emerged across the causal layers revealed a complex dynamic of worldviews which served to construct people with an intellectual disability as incompetent, inherently different and not quite human. For genuine, transformative change to occur, developing an awareness and understanding of social processes, such as dehumanisation, is crucial.     

Critique on the notion of model minority: an alternative racism to Asian American?

This research note attempts to probe how contemporary racism has evolved to replace physical characteristics with cultural traits by examining the notion of model minority in America. The analysis begins by positing that this notion manifests a problematic deployment of cultural differences. A short historical review justifies that model minority is generated and maintained by a stereotyped understanding of Asian tradition, especially Confucianism. Racial antagonism and class consciousness are then invoked by fostering essentialist ideas of cultural traditions. While America advocates its democratic system of inclusion, the logic of ‘model minority’ suggests an ‘internal exclusion’. The implications of model minority are thus that: (1) ‘race’ is replaced by ‘cultural difference’ – when cultural racism replaces biological racism, race is subsumed into a pure realm of cultural difference and race as a sociohistorical category becomes obscured; (2) the deployment of cultural differences creates an illusion that US society has already reached ‘color-blind’, and therefore neglects the social oppression and inequality along racial lines; (3) in the transforming process from a biologistic conception of race to a culturalist one, cultural differences are deployed to differentiate Asia(n) from American(n). Cultural differences are by all means essentialized, and race is furthermore reduced to essentialized cultural differences.     

Reason,grace and charity: Augustine and the impact of church doctrine on the construction of intellectual disability

This paper examines how early church doctrine influenced the construction of and response to intellectual disability. Though the main focus of the paper is on intellectual disability, much of the discussion is more broadly relevant to other types of impairments and human differences. The vehicle for this examination is the work of the key figure in the development and codification of church doctrine, Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354–430 CE). The paper concludes that while church doctrine mitigated the stark association of reason and human value found in classical Greek thought, it did not engender an attitude of equality in this world. The ideas of grace and the ‘divine plan’, while opening up a limited space for acceptance and broad equality in the eyes of God, also reinforced and legitimated an inferior position in this world, leaving those considered to have an intellectual disability on the margins of social life and subject to a charity ultimately undertaken for the salvation of the giver, rather than for the welfare of the recipient. Subsidiary themes related to the construction of intellectual disability, such as ‘object lessons to the wise’ or as ‘monsters’, use as sources of amusement, innocence and their association with children and the charity ethic, are also examined.     

Class,culture and politics: on the relevance of a Bourdieusian concept of class in political sociology

Even though contemporary discussions of class have moved forward towards recognizing a multidimensional concept of class, empirical analyses tend to focus on cultural practices in a rather narrow sense, that is, as practices of cultural consumption or practices of education. As a result, discussions within political sociology have not yet utilized the merits of a multidimensional conception of class. In light of this, the article suggests a comprehensive Bourdieusian framework for class analysis, integrating culture as both a structural phenomenon co‐constitutive of class and as symbolic practice. Further, the article explores this theoretical framework in a multiple correspondence analysis of a Danish survey, demonstrating how class and political practices are indeed homologous. However, the analysis also points at several elements of field autonomy, and the concluding discussion therefore suggests the need for further studies.     

Positioning God as the ultimate frame of reference in politics and everyday life: an analysis of radio Zimbabwe texts during a time of crisis

ABSTRACT

In the early 1980s, former President Mugabe was a celebrated nationalist hero at home and abroad. Towards the end of the 1990s, in some sections, Mugabe’s popularity plummeted in the wake of occupations by war veterans of white-owned farms. In the face of strident criticisms, the Mugabe administration used, among other tactics, state-controlled stations like Radio Zimbabwe for rebutting the disparagements and accentuating their own ideological positions. Informed by framing theory, this article uses qualitative content analysis to examine how God was presented as the ultimate frame of reference to support the beleaguered leader and his political party on Radio Zimbabwe between March and April 2011. Radio Zimbabwe vindicated Mugabe and ZANU-PF’s support of the land occupations by framing the occupations as just appropriations of a God-given inheritance to black Zimbabweans. Mugabe’s presidency was presented on the station as unassailable by constituting him as God’s messenger to Zimbabweans. Considering the survival struggles associated with the political and economic crisis post 2000, Radio Zimbabwe listeners were encouraged to turn to God in a manner that served to give them hope and to deflate attention from a government that was failing to provide basic services for them.     

Testing news trustworthiness in an online public sphere: a case study of The Economist's news report covering the riots in Xinjiang,China

This paper explores the news trustworthiness and media credibility of The Economist's news report on 9 July 2009, and the communicative roles of 846 readers' responses. Theoretically guided by news translation and cultural resistance and the online public sphere, we applied online field observation and discourse analysis and achieved two main findings: First, although the news report covered the Xinjiang riots with comprehensive and attractive details, it violated the core journalism value of media credibility and journalistic objectivity by providing misleading pictures and significant unreliable and biased coverage. Second, the major communicative roles of the online readers' responses generally match Dahlberg's six conditions of an ideal online public sphere, which is still challenging but promising to realize.     

Family support in late life: A review of the literature on aging,disability, and family caregiving

ABSTRACT

For older adults and people with disabilities in the United States, family caregiving is an important part of remaining at home and in the community. As care recipients and caregivers age, family dynamics change, and the health, social, and financial impacts of this (largely unremunerated) work have implications for individuals, families, and social policy. In this review, the authors map the literature across multiple fields related to disability and aging to understand caregiving in late life, what it means to be an older caregiver and/or to care for older people. The authors summarize the findings of 97 articles to address the care, services, and supports family caregivers provide for older adults; negative and positive impacts for caregivers serving in this role; supports that family members use or need; and societal impact of family caregiving. Much of the literature describes the work family caregivers provide and negative impacts of caregiving. Less attention is devoted to caregiving benefits, supports used by family caregivers, and societal impacts. The authors conclude with an agenda for future research that attends to the need for research that includes: more diverse samples, new types of caregivers, longitudinal data, qualitative data and analysis, and comparative research.     

Patterns of practice: a reflection on the development of quantitative/mixed methodologies capturing everyday life related to water consumption in the UK

There is a growing body of research arguing the relevance of practice approaches to understand resource consumption, and to highlight alternative pathways to sustainability. These practice approaches offer an alternative conceptualisation of demand and have been demonstrated largely by qualitative research, particularly in the work on water and energy consumption in the home. However, these historical narratives and qualitative research have not, to date, lead to the development of quantitative or mixed methodologies that could potentially reflect the diversity of performances of practice across populations in a more systematic way. This paper reflects, critically, on one such attempt to scale a practice-based perspective into a quantitative survey on water consumption and practice in homes in the south and South-East of England. The use of quantitative and mixed methodology has substantial potential – from translating practice-based research to policy; developing indictors to track patterns of practices as they change over time; and the exploration of methodologies that reflect the bundling and coordination of practices associated with water use inside and outside the home. The benefits and utility of such a methodological approach are highlighted as cautions and future research directions.     

Beginning street life: Factors contributing to children working and living on the streets of Khartoum, Sudan

Understanding why some children work on the streets while others live there, and how causal factors differ by gender, is important in developing effective services for them. This study examined these questions in Sudan using participant observation, qualitative interviews, and surveys of working boys (n = 1025), working girls (n = 192), street boys (n = 397), and street girls (n = 35). Street children were less likely than working children to have local families (66% and 77%, p < 0.001), and more likely to have experienced some prior hardships, e.g. a mother's death (17% and 10%, p < 0.001), or coming from the war-torn south (30% and 10%, p < 0.001). 70% of street children and 10% of working children had abused (i.e. sniffed and sucked) glue (p < 0.001); initiating glue abuse often coincided with a transition from working to living on the streets. Within groups, conditions ‘pushing’ girls to street life were often harsher than for boys. For working girls, these included death of both parents (10% and 3%, p < 0.001), and/or insufficient food at home (59% and 43%, p < 0.001). For street girls, they included having a homeless family (23% and 9%, p = 0.019), and/or insufficient food at home (63% and 40%, p = 0.008), but street girls also more often reported boredom at home (80% and 48%, p < 0.001). Services should be tailored to the particular needs of each group by gender, including community-based prevention, street-based health and safety interventions, and street child counseling and re-integration programs.     

Standing on the Shoulders of a Giant: Remembrances of Jack Michael,Part 2

In Part 1 of these remembrances of Jack Michael, we briefly described Jack’s history in terms of how he became a behavior analyst (Sundberg & Schlinger, 2021). We pointed out that he was one of the first to apply the principles of behavior analysis discovered in the experimental laboratory to the area of rehabilitation. In so doing, Jack was perhaps the first applied behavior analyst. In Part 1, some of his former students and close associates from his early years at the University of Houston, Arizona State University, and Western Michigan University—John Mabry, Grayson Osborne, Jon Bailey, Mark Sundberg, and J. Vincent Carbone—provided their personal tributes to Jack. In Part 2, we offer six more tributes that—with one exception, that of Ted Ayllon—provide insight into Jack’s work in the latter part of his career. In addition to Ted Ayllon, these tributes are from Jack’s students and close associates Hank Schlinger, Dave Palmer, John and Barb Esch, Carl Sundberg, and Caio Miguel. The authors provide insights not only into their views about Jack but also into their own lives. Collectively, they paint a picture of people from different backgrounds that all found their way to Jack Michael and to behavior analysis. To a person, they describe how their behavior, whether as scientists, practitioners, or both, was radically transformed as a result, and how they attribute that change largely to Jack’s influence.     

The Impact of HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Use on the Sexual Health of Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Qualitative Study in Seattle,WA

This study explores the impacts of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use on the sexual health of men who have sex with men (MSM). The authors conducted in-depth interviews with MSM who use PrEP (n = 14). Data was analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. PrEP use reduced fear and shame associated with sex and facilitated greater sexual satisfaction and intimacy. Although participants generally viewed PrEP as empowering and beneficial, they also experienced PrEP-related stigma. The authors’ analysis emphasizes the importance of understanding the reasons MSM use PrEP and highlights opportunities for reducing harm and fostering sexual health among MSM who are using or considering PrEP.     

Understanding the dominant discourse of colonialism: A qualitative,single case study of an eighth-grade U.S. History classroom

The purpose of this qualitative, single case study is to investigate how teacher-created curricula addresses key Native American events in early U.S. history and to determine if such curricula provided students with accurate representations of Native American content. To do this, we used discourse analysis to consider the meanings of words and phrases, as well as the underlying assumptions and intentions of the teacher-created curricula and the experiences it claims to represent. Given the presence and use of dominant narratives to preserve power systems, curricula that deconstructs the colonizing narrative and historical representation of Native Americans can encourage the active destruction of such narratives. By analyzing four teacher-created narratives, we found is that even when a teacher creates content with the intent to be more historically accurate, the curricula still reflects a dominant narrative that privileges White settlers over Native Americans. We then provide suggestions for teachers who wish to design more culturally relevant and appropriate curricula on Native American content.     

‘If you want to have a future and a life,do an apprenticeship’: the expectations and realities of tradesmen’s transition to adulthood

ABSTRACT

Apprenticeship programs are promoted to facilitate youth’s transition from school-to-work, especially for those who might not otherwise attend postsecondary education. These programs may help youth achieve other markers of adulthood earlier. In this paper, we draw on qualitative interviews with Canadian young men in the skilled trades to explore whether they believe their educational choices have given them an advantage in their transition to adulthood. We also draw from the 2011 GSS, a nationally representative survey, and Cox modeling to examine three early adult transitions – home-leaving, first union, and first marriage – to determine if apprenticeship programs facilitate earlier transitions compared to other educational streams. Our respondents expressed that they transitioned to adulthood more quickly than their peers, due to early employment and avoiding student debt, however, many also had trouble finding stable employment and often took on debt related to their training. Using nationally representative data, we find tradesmen tend to leave home earlier than their peers, they form first unions at younger ages but marry slightly later than their more highly educated counterparts. Our results contribute to our understanding of how apprenticeship programs in Canada facilitate transitions to adulthood among a recent cohort of young men.     

Qualitative Study on the Impact of Child Sexual Abuse: Perspectives of Children,Caregivers, and Professionals in Indian Context

ABSTRACT

With an alarming increase in reported cases of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) in India, the present study was conceived in an attempt to unearth the impact of CSA from the perspective of children, their caregivers, and the professionals dealing with them using qualitative research methodology. The secondary objective of the study was to discuss the clinical implications of the obtained findings for conducting culturally sensitive psychological assessment and intervention for CSA in India. Thus, in-depth interviews with 11 children and 7 Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) with 21 caregivers and 27 professionals were conducted. A total of 59 sample participants were recruited, and a thematic analysis was done. Six broad themes were identified from 223 generated codes-impact on behavioral, emotional, cognitive functioning and academics, psychopathology, biological, and social functioning. Four essential recommendations were concluded from the study, i.e., multidimensional impact assessment as a mandatory clinical practice, developing and utilizing culturally sensitive assessment & intervention protocols, incorporation of family-focused approach and multidisciplinary treatment team approach to ensure the holistic well-being of each chilsd in India.