Political alienation as a social indicator: Attitudes and action

This paper presents a conceptualization of political alienation as an evaluative orientation toward the political system at the regime level. It then reviews the conceptual status of the most widely used measures of alienation, and concludes that the distinctions among them reflect differences in the attitude object and in the format of the survey questions which make them up. Next the paper reviews trends in attitudes toward American political institutions between 1964 and 1974, demonstrating that the decline in confidence in national leaders was only rarely accompanied by a repudiation of systemic values and processes. These findings are based upon national opinion surveys. The main body of the paper reports on evidence about the relationship between political alienation and political action, drawn from surveys in the San Francisco Bay Area conducted by Berkeley's Survey Research Center in 1972 and 1973. A new Political Alienation Index is used as the attitude measure, and a model is developed to account for alienation's causal influence on participation in unconventional political protest. By the use of multiple regression analysis involving multiplicative terms, it is shown that political alienation interacts with the individual's cognitive and political skills, age, attitudes toward the protest act, and structural opportunities for action to promote protest behavior. Thus the political relevance of rising disaffection from the ongoing order can only be assessed when other characteristics of the alienated and their political context have been established. The Inter University Consortium for Political Research provided access to the University of Michigan's national election surveys. I am grateful to Rober Kahn for permission to reproduce findings from the Bureaucratic Encounter Survey.     

Choreographing Resistances: Spatial–Kinaesthetic Intelligence and Bodily Knowledge as Political Tools in Activist Work

Abstract

Bodies have been used as a political tool in activism, but many scholars have ignored activists’ highly sophisticated and intelligent ways of using their moving bodies. This paper focuses on analysing three choreographies of resistance: the group crawling performance for striking nurses in Helsinki in 2007, the protest by Greenpeace at a nuclear construction site in 2007 and a protest in the 1989 Chinese student movement. The purpose is to shed light on how resisting choreographies can generate interactions and relations between agents keeping these interactions dynamic by the motivations and affections of these agents. I will apply Edmund Husserl’s and Edith Stein’s phenomenological method of analysing movement and their notion of kinaesthesia. One of the keywords here is ‘the kinaesthetic field’ that offers a new perspective to account for resisting choreography and its dynamics in socially, politically and emotionally complex environments. Drawing on Howard Gardner’s notion of kinaesthetic intelligence, I suggest that the core element of kinaesthetic intelligence is not only control of one’s bodily motion but also capabilities for working with kinaesthetic fields. The paper argues that the activists can operate gestures, the vulnerability of the body and timing by drawing various agents into their choreography. When activists are able to express their political ideas as concrete gestures, postures or kinaesthetic relations, it also supports their capabilities of articulating their moral intuitions. Even when witnesses disagree with protesters’ positions, protests frequently force them to reconsider their own.     

Redoing feminism: digital activism,body politics,and neoliberalism

Abstract

This article investigates the renewed feminist politics that emerge from the interface of digital platforms and activism today, examining the role of digital media in affecting the particular ways that contemporary feminist protests make meaning and are understood transnationally, nationally, and locally. I consider the political investments of digital feminisms in the context of what Angela McRobbie has termed the “undoing of feminism” in neoliberal societies, where discourses of choice, empowerment, and individualism have made feminism seem both second nature and unnecessary. Within this context, I describe a range of recent feminist protest actions that are in a sense redoing feminism for a neoliberal age. A key component of this redoing is the way recent protest actions play out central tensions within historical and contemporary feminist discourse; crucial here is the interrelationship between body politics experienced locally and feminist actions whose efficacy relies on their translocal and transnational articulation. My discussion focuses on three case studies: SlutWalk Berlin, Peaches’ “Free Pussy Riot!” video, and the Twitter campaigns #Aufschrei and #YesAllWomen. My analysis ultimately calls attention to the precarity of digital feminisms, which reflect both the oppressive nature of neoliberalism and the possibilities it offers for new subjectivities and social formations.     

The communicative construction of FEMEN: naked protest in self-mediation and German media discourse

Abstract

In this article, we investigate how FEMEN employs female nudity to raise public attention in their mediatized strategies and how this form of naked protest is represented and interpreted in German media discourse. We will show that the significant media presence of FEMEN’s naked protest actions and its self-portrayal as the new feminism of our days have become increasingly ambivalent over time. As this is of great importance with regards to public perceptions of feminism, feminist activists, and feminist agency in general, our analysis provides a detailed investigation of the processes of appreciation and devaluation of FEMEN as an expression of contemporary feminists and feminism. Employing a qualitative discourse analysis, the article highlights the interwoven processes of contextualization and decontextualization in FEMEN’s self-mediation and news coverage in Germany. It is shown that FEMEN’s protests from 2008 to 2013 materialize in “local” actions, but are increasingly constructed and interpreted on a transcultural level. In this analysis, we identify the core interpretative scheme of decontextualization that becomes apparent in three forms of detachments. As we show, these forms of detachment are a core issue in the media’s devaluation and depolitization of FEMEN and feminism in general.     

Online feminist protest against sexism: the German-language hashtag #aufschrei

Abstract

Twitter is becoming a discursive but also contested space for articulations of feminist protest. A hashtag that collected experiences with everyday sexism in the German-speaking world was #aufschrei, which became the 2013 hashtag of the year. In exploring the role of online feminist protest in the construction of alternative meanings, this paper draws on theories of the public sphere. Specifically, we build upon a communication studies model that refers to mutually permeating spheres of discourse in three layers, the simple, intermediate, and complex, each of which exhibits its own communication forms and forums. The methodology includes both a quantitative and a qualitative content analysis of #aufschrei tweets and of feminist blogs in order to comprehend argumentation patterns and networking practices. We argue that Twitter adopts the function of a simple public, where values and norms are negotiated at an everyday level. Feminist blogs create an intermediate public, in that they generalize experiences and are oriented towards networking. However, the persistent number of anti-feminist and sexist messages on Twitter likewise shows that online debates on gender topics have been increasingly infiltrated by these positions. Against this backdrop, in the conclusion, we discuss the feminist activist potential of #aufschrei.     

Do Social Workers Apply “Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself” to Gay,Lesbian, Bisexual,and Transpersons in the South?

ABSTRACT

Across the United States there has been a spate of legislative bills and initiatives that blatantly stigmatize and discriminate against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. This study was a cross-sectional, exploratory survey designed to measure the attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of Tennessee social workers and future social workers toward the LGBT population and toward proposed discriminatory legislation. A 3-way factorial ANOVA investigated the effects of political affiliation, religious affiliation, and social contact on the dependent measures. Significant main effects were found. Self-reported political affiliation was found to be the most important factor predicting LGBT acceptance and LGBT respect among this sample.     

The effect of political generation on identity and social change: Age cohort consequences

ABSTRACT

In this article, we explore how political generation affects the ways in which diverse individuals come together and change their social and personal identities. Drawing on 52 in-depth interviews with members of the Red Hat Society, we show that women draw on their political generation, and the gains of the women’s movement specifically, to oppose cultural constructions of aging. The Red Hat Society provides a “free space” for women to foster a collective identity that both visibly challenges aging norms and provides its members new standards for self-approval. We conclude by highlighting the importance of focusing on political generation to understand collective action over the life course and call for more scholarship on the function of political generation in social change.     

The Political Use and Abuse of the “Pedophile”

ABSTRACT

The cognitive/affective construct designated by the term “pedophile” is delineated on the basis of how he is presented in the popular media. His salient characteristics are listed and then examined in the light of scientific and historical data. The “pedophile” is discovered to be a “social construct that floats in the thin air of fantasy.” Since the truth-value of the construct “pedophile” approaches zero, we are confronted with the question of why he continues to be such a central and emotionally fraught aspect of American culture. The answer to this question is found in his political usefulness. Specifically, the religious right uses him to further its agenda of sexual repression, and the political right uses him to dismantle the machinery of a free society.     

Women from refugee backgrounds and their experiences of attending a specialist antenatal clinic. Narratives from an Australian setting

ProblemIn response to an identified need, a specialist antenatal clinic for women from refugee backgrounds was introduced in 2008, with an evaluation planned and completed in 2010.QuestionCan maternity care experiences for women from refugee backgrounds, attending a specialist antenatal clinic in a tertiary Australian public hospital, be improved?MethodsThe evaluation employed mixed methods, generating qualitative and quantitative data from two hospital databases, a chart audit, surveys and interviews with service users, providers and stakeholders. Contributions were received from 202 participants.FindingsThe clinic was highly regarded by all participants. Continuity of care throughout the antenatal period was particularly valued by newly arrived women as it afforded them security and support to negotiate an unfamiliar Western maternity system. Positive experiences decreased however; as women transitioned from the clinic to labour and postnatal wards where they reported that their traditional birthing and recuperative practices were often interrupted by the imposition of Western biomedical notions of appropriate care. The centrally located clinic was problematic, frequently requiring complex travel arrangements. Appointment schedules often impacted negatively on traditional spousal and family obligations.ConclusionsProviding comprehensive and culturally responsive maternity care for women from refugee backgrounds is achievable, however it is also resource intensive. The production of translated information which is high quality in terms of production and content, whilst also taking account of languages which are only rarely encountered, is problematic. Cultural competency programmes for staff, ideally online, require regular updating in light of new knowledge and changing political sensitivities.     

Maternity waiting homes in times of crisis: Can current models meet women’s needs?

BackgroundMaternity waiting homes (MWHs) located close to birthing facilities are a conditional recommendation by the World Health Organisation, based on very low-quality evidence that they contribute to improvements in maternal or perinatal health outcomes. In addition, several studies suggest that more vulnerable women are less likely to use them. Yet significant investments continue to be made in building and running MWHs within conflict-affected and under-resourced health systems.AimsWe critically examine the literature to shed light on the challenges and opportunities provided by MWHs during health emergencies and in conflict situations.Findings and discussionMWHs are difficult to utilise during crises because they require women to be away from home, are often designed as dormitories, can lack security and be over-crowded. Some MWHs have been adapted during situations of political conflict to incorporate birthing and broader reproductive health care, thereby improving the availability of care away from over-burdened health facilities. How MWHs are adapted during times of crisis may provide insights into what systems of care are more appropriate in meeting women’s needs more broadly.ConclusionThe current global pandemic is an important time to reflect on whether MWHs are meeting the needs of a diverse range of women, in times of stability and during emergencies, and engage in genuine dialogue with women about the kinds of maternity care they want. We need to co-create those systems now so that they are more resilient during the inevitable crises we will face in the future.     

Historical,Economic, and Political Contexts of Aging in African America

ABSTRACT

This article is an attempt to present some of the historical and political contexts of older women in general and to communicate pieces of the lives of African American older women, in particular. It presents some of the present day distortions as well as a sense of the historical, economic, and political realities of older African American lives, while trying to limit the use of the usual comparison approach to this topic.     

From Fisheries Decline to Tourism Destination: Mass Media,Tourism Mobility,and the Newfoundland Coastal Environment

Abstract

In this paper, we examine narratives of tourism mobility circulated through print news media coverage of Newfoundland published in Canada, the UK, and the USA between 1992 and 2010. Initially articles were situated within a larger narrative of fisheries collapse, rural decline, and out-migration. In recent years, however, the discourse shifted to emphasize how non-human nature, including whales, icebergs, and national parks, serves as a tourism attractor, yielding benefits for rural communities. We draw on Latour’s work on political ecology, as well as on Urry’s work on tourism, mobility, and climate change, to analyze the eco-political implications of media accounts of tourism and the Newfoundland coastal environment.     

Getting Disciplined: What’s Trans* About Queer Studies Now?

ABSTRACT

This essay maps the epistemological terrain trans* studies may face as it is widely incorporated into queer studies programs, often housed within women’s studies departments. Over the past two decades, queer studies and women’s studies have rapidly professionalized, producing new modes of disciplinary power that may seek to either include or cite trans* studies, often without fully welcoming its specific material and political investments. Under such conditions, trans* studies may find itself heard largely as a but—an epistemic blockage, a distraction from proper objects, a hindrance to customary methods—that must be disciplined.     

‘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’.     

Rhythms of urban space: skateboarding the canyons,plains, and asphalt-banked schoolyards of coastal Los Angeles in the 1970s

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the ways in which pioneering skateboarders in Southern California reacted to, and exploited a capital-intensive urban landscape to create a sport that today has tremendous economic, political, and cultural implications. The analysis focuses on archival material drawn from Skateboarder Magazine from 1975 to 1980. Ultimately, the skateboarders and those who documented their emerging sport express deep awareness and understanding of urban space as influenced by topography, urban development and emerging notions of mobility. The asphalt-banked schoolyards of Los Angeles provided an unintended playground for skateboarders and served as a starting point for the modern-era of the sport.     

Negotiating Theory When Doing Practice: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Research on Interventions to Reduce Homophobia

ABSTRACT

We performed a systematic review of qualitative research on interventions to reduce homophobia. Specifically, we conducted a thematic analysis of participant feedback given in 30 qualitative and mixed-methods studies. Participants often described interventions as “eye-opening.” However, they also criticized many interventions for their mismatch with the social, historical, or institutional context in which they were conducted. Some participants rejected the interventions altogether, describing them as offensive or disgusting. We drew three conclusions. First, participants not only were actively making sense of the interventions but also were often aware of philosophical and political tensions (especially liberal vs. queer approaches). Second, participants sometimes used the perceived inadequacy of the intervention for the local context as an argument to resist change. Finally, tensions in participant feedback (eye-opening vs. disgusting) can be read as evidence that reducing homophobia is “dirty work”: such work is both vital for society and despised by many.     

The overuse of intrapartum cardiotocography (CTG) for low-risk women: An actor-network theory analysis of data from focus groups

BackgroundThere is an overuse of cardiotocography for intrapartum fetal monitoring for low-risk women in high-income countries, despite recommendations from evidence-based guidelines.AimTo understand why midwives use cardiotocography for low-risk women despite evidence-based recommendations and to understand the roles of the cardiotocograph machine.MethodThis qualitative study used focus groups for data collection. Thirty-one midwives and three student midwives participated from four different countries: New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, and Norway. Constant comparative analysis, informed by an actor-network theory framework, was the method of data analysis.FindingsCardiotocography was multifaceted and influenced all attendants in the birth environment. The cardiotocograph itself is assigned different roles within the complex networks surrounding childbirth. The cardiotocograph’s roles were as a babysitter, the midwives’ partner, an agent of shared responsibility, a protector that ‘covers your back’, a disturber of normal birth, and a requested guest.DiscussionThe application of the actor-network theory enabled us to understand how midwives perceive cardiotocography. The assigned roles of the cardiotocograph shape its everyday use more than evidence-based guidelines. Discussion of these inconsistencies must inform the use of cardiotocography in the care of women with low-risk pregnancies.ConclusionWe found that the cardiotocograph is a multifaceted actant that influences practice by performing different roles. Drawing on this study, we suggest that actor-network theory could be a helpful theoretical perspective to critically reflect upon the increasing use of technologies within maternity care.     

Narrating Instability: Political detouring in Jerusalem

Abstract

This paper contributes to the ethnography of guided tours in politically contested spaces by interrogating their use for political advocacy by Palestinian guides in the Old City of Jerusalem. It advances the guided tour genre as a potentially transformative encounter for tourists, while offering reflection on its possibilities and limitations for solidarity. Analyzing the narrative framework of the tour vis-à-vis the cityscape shows that guides strategically employ both discourse and movement to convince tourists of the injustice of the Israeli occupation through a practice called political detouring. It reveals how guides manipulate the tour genre’s dynamic nature by spontaneously altering its trajectories to expose the corresponding instability of Palestinian lives in Jerusalem.     

Political beliefs and subjective indicators of quality of life

A recent article by Buttel et al. argued that the subjective satisfaction of individual respondents with their personal lives may be related to their political ideological beliefs. Employing survey data collected in Wisconsin in 1974 they demonstrated a significant linkage between total life satisfaction and political cynicism. This paper proceeds to reanalyze their results, employing 1972 election data collected by the Survey Research Center. The paper argues that one must differentiate a standard measure of political cynicism from the type of measure employed in the Buttel et al. work. For the standard measure of political cynicism no linkage was found with total life satisfaction, but for a personal measure that was similar to the one employed in the Buttel et al. article there was a relationship. The previous results suggest that the findings of the Buttel et al. article were brought about by the unique manner in which they defined political cynicism.     

Body Talk: Body Image Commentary on Queerty.com

ABSTRACT

In this study, we conducted a content analysis of 243 photographic images of men published on the gay male-oriented blog Queerty.com. We also analyzed 435 user-generated comments from a randomly selected 1-year sample. Focusing on images’ body types, we found that the range of body types featured on the blog was quite narrow—the vast majority of images had very low levels of body fat and very high levels of muscularity. Users’ body image–related comments typically endorsed and celebrated images; critiques of images were comparatively rare. Perspectives from objectification theory and social comparison theory suggest that the images and commentary found on the blog likely reinforce unhealthy body image in gay male communities.