Contemporary South African Jazz and the Politics of Place

Abstract

Drawing on popular music scholarship on music and place, as well as interviews with jazz musicians, scholars, and journalists active on the jazz scenes in Durban and Johannesburg, this article considers how locales are perceived to uniquely influence music-making. Extending Bakhtin's notion of “utterance” to music, it argues that the musical character of recent South African jazz subtly registers demographic, political, economic, and environmental specificities peculiar to contemporary Durban and Johannesburg. It is argued that contemporary South African jazz, as it is experienced by its performers and listeners, may be profitably conceptualised as speaker and addressee of locale.     

Why Did Adorno 'Hate' Jazz?

Adorno's jazz essays have attracted considerable notoriety not only for their negative and dismissive evaluation of jazz as music but for their outright dismissal of all the claims made on behalf of jazz by its exponents and admirers, even of claims concerning the black origins of jazz music. This paper offers a critical exposition of Adorno's views on jazz and outlines an alternative theory of the culture industry as the basis of a critique of Adorno's critical theory. Adorno's arguments are discussed in the context of his wider theoretical commitment to a model of structuration—in both musical and social relations—that establishes a dividing line between a moral aesthetic praxis that can be approved as having 'truth-value' and one that betrays and subverts the truth. In Adorno's analysis, jazz finds itself positioned on the wrong side of that line and, accordingly, is condemned. It is argued that it is Adorno's commitment to a formalist model of art works that has been superseded by modern aesthetic practice in both so-called 'serious' art as well as in the works of the culture industries that binds him to a regressive model of aesthetic praxis. An alternative theory of the culture industry is outlined that explores its positive functions in enhancing the resources available for culture creation through its transmission of aesthetic codes, and in mediating relations between so-called high and low art.     

Modelling Community Work:

This paper argues that the most useful aspect of Rothman's development of his models for community practice back in 1968 was his specification of the variables which he used to differentiate between ''three important orientations to deliberate or purposive community change in contemporary American communities, both urban and rural, and overseas'' (Rothman, 1970, p. 21). While Rothman referred to these three orientations as Models A, B, and C, my contention has been that they would be described more accurately as approaches to practice which are adopted as the outcome of modelling activity using the variables Rothman identified. Indeed it is to the point that Rothman now refers to these as ''modes.'' Yet, ironically, this core feature of Rothman's work on modelling community practice is largely overlooked in subsequent literature on models even though it is this aspect which is an invaluable tool for practice, especially for students embarking on placement or on their first job. This paper starts from the premise that a model is a simplification of reality that is intended to order and clarify our perception of that reality while still encapsulating its essential characteristics. To have analytical value a model should specify key variables to be considered in assessing a situation in order to develop and evaluate possible action plans. Thus a model should enable prediction of likely outcomes if a particular plan of action is pursued. The paper starts, therefore, by refining the variables identified by Rothman in order to frame them as a model that can hold Rothman's Three Core Modes of Community Intervention. It is proposed that, with some refinement to take account of the insights from further theoretical and practice developments, this can also serve as a simple diagnostic tool to enable analysis by contemporary community workers. The outcome such analysis seeks is the specification of a basic orientation to practice and thus to the clarification of the strategies, roles and skills that are likely to be most useful given the particular approach chosen. The paper indicates how different theoretical perspectives, as well as approaches and strategies that have been identified since Rothman's original work, inform or fit into the proposed four-square model. In short the paper illustrates how an approach analogous to that employed by Rothman is still essential for reflexive community work.     

'Sobre Las Olas': A Mexican Genesis in Borderlands Jazz and the Legacy for Ethnic Studies

Abstract

In 1884 the Mexican government sent a national military band to the Cotton Exposition in New Orleans. When the Fair ended in 1885, several of these musicians remained in the city. By the 1890s, many of New Orleans' and Texas' most promising Black jazz and blues artists were acquiring musical instruction from Mexicano musicians. The evidence presented in this article recalls the centuries-long parallels and meeting points between Black and Mexicano histories of subjugation and resilience, of political suppression and cultural expression, and of the inevitable exchanges that occur through migration and culture among marginalized communities. I argue that the presence of Mexico and Mexicans in the jazz and blues history of the borderlands inspires a reconsideration of relational identities and cultural productions that lie outside the bounds of traditional racial and historical discourses.     

The Formative Context of Organizational Hierarchies and Discourse: Implications for Organizational Change and Gender Relations

Society as artifact, meaning society as a thing that is made and imagined, is a central aspect of Roberto Unger's constructive social theory. This article develops Unger's social theory, specifically his notions of organizational hierarchy, discourse, and organizational change, and applies it to an understanding of gender relations at work. Constructive social theory is defined with a focus on the instrumental concept of formative context. A critical perspective of Unger's constructive social theory is also presented to illustrate its strengths, challenges and limitations. Drawing on literature from a variety of sources and perspectives, organizational hierarchy, organizational discourse, organizational change and gender relations are viewed through a formative context lens. The concept is then applied as a framework for organizational change through change in organizational discourse, specifically language. Change in organizational discourse through language is utilized as a means of improving gender relations: in particular, the advancement of women in organizations.     

The occupational orientations of jazz musicians: Some recent findings and a reexamination of the evidence

In contrast to earlier studies which stressed the deviant status of jazz players and their hostility toward conventional society, research appearing in the 1960s reported these musicians accepting middle‐class values and aspirations and expressing concern about the public image of their profession. This paper reports the findings of ethnographic research on jazz practitioners undertaken in St. Louis and New Orleans during the 1970s. Two contrasting occupational orientations, or work ideologies, those of the “artist” and the “craftman” (Becker, 1978), are found to coexist among the contemporary generation of jazz modernists. A historical interpretation that links the artist and craftsman orientations to the origin of jazz among blacks and the pattern of its diffusion into the larger society is offered as an explanation for the divergent findings from past studies.     

Participation in practice: making it meaningful,effective and sustainable

Children's participation in decision‐making is complex: it is undertaken for different purposes and is reflected in different levels of involvement, different contexts and different activities. This paper reviews the current state of participation and, drawing on practice and research literature, highlights several aspects of practice where further consideration is needed if participation is to develop positively. This suggests that, if participation is to be more meaningful to children and effective in influencing change, it is necessary to move beyond one‐off or isolated participation and consider how participation becomes embedded as an integral part of our relationship with children.     

Ritual Power in Interaction*

Research (by a self-styled participant observer) into two fashions of persons—nurses and punks—lends unexpected significance to the ritual “frame” as this appears in Erving Goffman's thought. A new concept that was only implicit in Goffman's ritual frame is demanded by the research experiences. This is “ritual power.” Ritual power, especially when it is strong, is like “presence” or “possession”, and it may well exert a major claim on interactants' consciousnesses (whether the interactants are displaying it or appreciating it). Of course, it must follow that verbal forms which try to define ritual power will do so the more powerfully the more they arrest the reader's attention. So it may not be a good idea to use sociological rhetoric of any sort to suggest that punks and nurses are exemplary referents of “ritual power”, but this last possibility is only latent in what follows.     

A multi-level examination of how the organizational context relates to readiness to implement prevention and evidence-based programming in community settings

Prior theoretical and empirical research suggests that multiple aspects of an organization's context are likely related to a number of factors, from their interest and ability to adopt new programming, to client outcomes. A limited amount of the prior research has taken a more community-wide perspective by examining factors that associate with community readiness for change, leaving how these findings generalize to community organizations that conduct prevention or positive youth development programs unknown.Thus for the current study, we examined how the organizational context of the Cooperative Extension System (CES) associates with current attitudes and practices regarding prevention and evidence-based programming. Attitudes and practices have been found in the empirical literature to be key indicators of an organization's readiness to adopt prevention and evidence-based programming. Based on multi-level mixed models, results indicate that organizational management practices distinct from program delivery may affect an organization's readiness to adopt and implement new prevention and evidence-based youth programs, thereby limiting the potential public health impact of evidence-based programs. Openness to change, openness of leadership, and communication were the strongest predictors identified within this study. An organization's morale was also found to be a strong predictor of an organization's readiness. The findings of the current study are discussed in terms of implications for prevention and intervention.     

Policy-Practice in Social Work: Models and Issues

Abstract

The emergence of policy—practice is a recent development in social work. In this article, policy—practice is defined as a direct social work practice mode with the potential to strengthen the social work profession's abilities to meet its century-long commitments of providing policy-informed services to those in need of them. At the same time, policy—practice advocates for and participates in policy implementation and change. This article examines policy—practice and places it within the context of the profession's historic cause—function debate and identifies several barriers that have complicated development. Most important, the article reviews five policy-practice models found in the literature: (1) social worker as policy expert, (2) social worker as change agent in external work environments, (3) social worker as change agent in internal work environments, (4) social worker as policy conduit, and (5) social worker as policy itself.     

Challenges in framing women's rights as human rights at the domestic level: A case study of NGOs in the post-Soviet countries

This case study examines framing as an essential communication strategy used by women's rights NGOs at international and domestic levels. The article uses a theoretical framework of transnational advocacy networks, originally developed by political scientists Keck and Sikkink (1998), to demonstrate the importance of public relations’ efforts in political communication campaigns of women's rights NGOs around the world. Supported by the United Nations, these NGOs play an important role in democracy building and contribute to women's empowerment efforts. However, an examination of communication strategies used by these NGOs to help implement the Platform for Action—the UN-promoted agenda for women's empowerment—showed that the existing frame of women's rights as human rights may not be successful in all contexts. This study argues that at the domestic level the issue of women's rights needs to be presented in greater detail than the current human rights frame allows it to be.     

Teaching A Model of Group Work Skill

Social workers practice with many partner professions. Interdisciplinary practice requires ability to practice one's own profession, and ability to link into the work of others. This requires knowledge and skill that differentiates one's work from that of others within a single frame of reference. Clients gain from the advantages of interdependent practice in that various needs are met, continuity of service is likely, and practitioners are open to several approaches. This paper lists advantages, assumptions, constraints, and desirable attitudes regarding interdisciplinary practice. Educational implications are made explicit with emphasis on professional identity formation.     

Constructs and Events in Verbal Behavior

Skinner''s (1957) analysis of verbal behavior has been the subject of much controversy in recent years. While criticism has historically come from outside the field of behavior analysis, there are now well-articulated arguments against Skinner''s analysis of verbal behavior from within the field as well. Recently, advocates of Skinner''s analysis have attempted to respond to the critiques, particularly to those regarding Skinner''s definition of verbal behavior articulated by proponents of relational frame theory. Specifically, it has been suggested that talk about definitions equates to making the essentialist error. This paper provides an overview of these issues in the context of understanding the role of constructs in science more generally. It will be argued that definitions are central to scientific progress, and are not only relevant to a functional analysis, but a central prerequisite to the pursuit of such an analysis.     

Class Position and Musical Tastes: A Sing‐Off between the Cultural Omnivorism and Bourdieusian Homology Frameworks

The longstanding debate between the homology and omnivorism approaches to the class bases of cultural tastes and practices rages on in cultural sociology. The homology thesis claims that class positions throughout the class hierarchy are accompanied by specified cultural tastes and specialized modes of appreciating them while the cultural omnivorism thesis contends that elites are (increasingly) characterized by a breadth of cultural tastes of any and all kinds. This study tests the applicability of these theses to musical tastes in Canada through the application of multiple correspondence analysis, latent class analysis, and logistic regression modeling to original telephone survey data (n = 1,595) from Toronto and Vancouver. I find that musical omnivorism, an appreciation for diverse musical styles, is not dispersed along class lines. Instead I find a homology between class position and musical tastes that designates blues, choral, classical, jazz, musical theater, opera, pop, reggae, rock, and world/international as relatively highbrow and country, disco, easy listening, golden oldies, heavy metal, and rap as relatively lowbrow. Of the highbrow tastes, all but jazz are disliked by lower class people, and of the lowbrow tastes, country, easy listening, and golden oldies are concurrently disliked by higher class people. Consistent with the homology thesis, it appears that class position is aligned with specific musical likes and dislikes. Le vieux débat entre les approches de l'homologie et de l'omnivorisme aux bases des classes des goûts et des pratiques culturels fait rage dans la sociologie culturelle. La thèse de l'homologie prétend que les positions des classes à travers la hiérarchie des classes sont accompagnées par des goûts culturels spécifiés et des modes spécialisés permettant leur appréciation. La thèse de l'omnivorisme culturel, en revanche, soutient que les élites sont (de plus en plus) caractérisées par un éventail de goûts culturels de toutes sortes. Cette étude expérimente l'applicabilité de ces thèses aux goûts musicaux au Canada à travers l'application de l'analyse des correspondances multiples, de l'analyse des classes latentes et du modèle de régression logistique aux données d'origine de l'étude collectées par téléphone (n = 1,595) de Toronto et de Vancouver. Je me rends compte que l'omnivorisme musical, une appréciation de styles musicaux divers, n'est pas dispersé le long des classes sociales. Bien au contraire, je trouve qu'il existe une homologie entre la position des classes et les goûts musicaux qui désigne les blues, la chorale, la musique classique, le jazz, le théâtre musical, l'opéra, la pop, le reggae, le rock et la musique du monde/internationale comme des styles des classes au niveau intellectuel relativement élevé. Cette homologie désigne la country, la disco, la musique d'ambiance, les anciens succès, le heavy metal et le rap comme des styles des classes au niveau intellectuel relativement bas. Des goûts des classes au niveau intellectuel élevé, tous les styles à l'exception du jazz ne sont pas appréciés de la basse classe. De même, des goûts des classes au niveau intellectuel bas, le country, la musique d'ambiance et les anciens succès ne sont pas appréciés de la haute classe. Selon la thèse de l'homologie, il apparaît que la position des classes est fonction des préférences et des aversions musicales spécifiques.     

Conceptualising Generational Dynamics in Feminist Movements: Political Generations,Waves and Affective Economies

This article reviews efforts to account for dynamics of continuity, change and complexity in contemporary feminism, with a particular emphasis on the utility of the ‘generational paradigm’ of the wave metaphor. We draw on assessments of the wave classification from feminist historians, political theorists and social movement scholars to make a case for the concept of political generation as way to explore patterns of generational‐based contest and collaboration across the women's movement. While political generation allows for an assessment of the role of context in shaping the activist identities of feminists from different generations, it lacks the explanatory power to explain the continuing purchase of the wave metaphor and its function for feminist claims making. Here, we turn to work on the centrality of loss within the affective economies of feminism to explain the functions of the wave metaphor for different elements within women's movements. This analysis is grounded in a brief empirical case of the Irish women's movement characterised as highly fragmented and marked by generational dynamics.     

EXTENSIONS OF RESPONDENT-DRIVEN SAMPLING: ANALYZING CONTINUOUS VARIABLES AND CONTROLLING FOR DIFFERENTIAL RECRUITMENT

Respondent-driven sampling (RDS) is a network-based method for sampling hidden and hard-to-reach populations that has been shown to produce asymptotically unbiased population estimates when its assumptions are satisfied. This includes resolving a major concern regarding bias in chain-referral samples—that is, producing a population estimate that is independent of the seeds (initial subjects) with which sampling began. However, RDS estimates are limited to nominal variables, and one of the assumptions required for the proof of lack of bias is the absence of differential recruitment. One aim of this paper is to analyze the role of differential recruitment, quantify the bias it produces, and propose a new estimator that controls for it. The second aim is to extend RDS so that it can be employed to analyze continuous variables in a manner that controls for differential recruitment. The third aim is to describe means for carrying out multivariate analyses using RDS data. The analyses employ data from an RDS sample of 264 jazz musicians in the greater New York metropolitan area, taken in 2002.     

Heavy metal in Turkey: Tracking the tensions of democratization in the 1990s

Music, as a form of public discourse, invariably becomes a social science field that is considered more in the postmodern era when the boundaries are blurred. This study examines the political and cultural links between the emergence of the heavy metal genre and Turkish democracy. There are correlations between the prevalence of heavy metal in Turkey and the country's social and political transition in the 1990s and the search for a new path. The main argument here is that, among the country's tense democratization efforts and social problems, the heavy metal genre also indirectly carries the distinct traces of a different political search for the youth of the 1990s, although not directly. Democratic politics is a process established by daily life with the direct influence of societal interactions, and Turkish politics, and cultural life, in this case, heavy metal, include important notions in this remarkable manner. The main point symbolized by metal music in Turkey was its lyrical and artistic ability to express different points of view loudly enough against the uniform religious and nationalist culture that could be offensive, while other mainstream ranges such as pop and arabesque music didn't mind this issue.     

Discursive and institutional intersections: women,health and law in modern India

While important foci of feminist legal jurisprudence have highlighted the patriarchal bias in the areas of legal theory, sexuality, race, and violence, an important area that has received little attention is the interface between health law, gender, and power, particularly in the context of post-colonial societies. This paper explores these concepts in contemporary India, the underlying idea being that health is as much an issue of violence as violence is an issue of health, and both carry critical implications for the gender power configurations in society. This discussion is framed in the interstices between the Indian state and the women's movement that have interfaced in fashioning law as a critical instrument of social change and women's empowerment. Several assumptions foreground this paper: Firstly, culture is the ground upon which gender and power dynamics play out in any society. Secondly, law is also taken to be one of the sites of cultural engagement and is very much embedded in and the product of prevailing values, norms, and practices; it is not outside culture. And lastly, although this paper is India-specific, it raises issues which have cross-national resonance, particularly in the South Asian context.     

Communicating strategically in the face of terrorism: The Spanish government's response to the 2004 Madrid bombing attacks

With the re-emergence of insurgency tied to terrorism, governments need to strategically manage their communications. This paper analyzes the effect of the Spanish government's messaging in the face of the Madrid bombing of March 11, 2004: unlike what happened with the 9/11 bombings in the USA and the 7/07 London attacks, the Spanish media did not support the government's framing of the events. Taking framing as a strategic action in a discursive form (Pan & Kosicki, 2003), and in the context of the attribution theory of responsibilities, this research uses the “cascading activation” model (0030 and 0035) to explore how a framing contest was generated in the press. Analysis of the coverage shows that the intended government frame triggered a battle among the different major newspapers, leading editorials to shift their frame over the four days prior to the national elections. This research analyzes strategic contests in framing processes and contributes insight into the interactions among the different sides (government, parties, media, and citizens) to help bring about an understanding of the rebuttal effect of the government's intended frame. It also helps to develop an understanding of the role of the media and the influence of citizens’ frames on media content.