Performing Child(hood)

Taking an example of play as our point of departure, we consider what it means to be a child and to perform (Butler, Feminism/Postmodernism, 1990; Gender, 1990. Routledge: New York) childhood. By drawing on poststructuralist accounts of subjectivity, language and meaning (Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, 1979. Penguin: Harmondsworth; Derrida, Dissemination, 1974. Athlone: London), we argue that despite powerful discourses that seek to contain childhood, children manage to exceed or interrupt sites of containment. We then go on to suggest that if children themselves are moving beyond some of the discourses in which they are enwrapped, how might we seek to further destabilise what ‘becoming’ (Deleuze,1990: http://www.generation-online.org/p/fpdeleuze3.htm ) child might mean and what might be the implications for our practice(s) with children.     

Inclusion or outcomes? Tensions in the involvement of people with learning disabilities in strategic planning

Social inclusion is a key principle that underpins the provision of services for people with learning disabilities in England. Learning Disability Partnership Boards, which are responsible for local strategic planning of learning disability services, hold a particular role in promoting inclusion since they are required both to operate inclusively and to achieve inclusive outcomes. This study sought to explore the extent to which these ambitions for inclusion were being achieved. It consisted of three phases: a scoping exercise to elicit the views of key stakeholders; a postal survey of Partnership Boards (response rate 51%); and semi-structured interviews with Partnership Boards members in six local authorities. Findings suggest that Partnership Boards are struggling to fulfil their dual role, with tensions emerging between the desire to operate in fully inclusive ways and the ability to affect strategic change within local services.     

Views,events, and debates

Welcome to Gender & Development's Views, events, and debates section. We'd like to invite readers to respond to any of the views expressed in this section, to contact us with reports of events, and to suggest debates on issues relevant to the journal's concern: to inspire and strengthen development initiatives which support the goals of gender equality and women's empowerment.

We'd also like to invite you to send us your feedback on Gender & Development, and suggestions for future issues, to: gadeditor@oxfam.org.uk     

Unsettling moods in rural midwifery practice

Background

Rural midwifery and maternity care is vulnerable due to geographical isolation, staffing recruitment and retention. Highlighting the concerns within rural midwifery is important for safe sustainable service delivery.

Money and relationships online: communication and norm formation in women’s discussions of couple resource allocation

Research on intra‐household resource allocation practices has largely ignored the role of communication within but especially beyond the household. This article shows that discussions engaged in outside of the household shed light on intra‐household deliberation and also contribute to an understanding of how norms are formed and used in discussions and negotiations. Using data from the website Mumsnet, and grounding our analysis in a framework that combines the literature on gender norms in allocation practices with insights from the study of online communication, we contribute to the sociological literature on household distribution in three ways: first, we show that women use discussion sites like Mumsnet to clarify and sometimes contest social norms regarding money and relationships; second, we show that users conceive the ability to communicate with partners as a source of ‘relationship power’ and use online discussion with other women to develop that skill; third, we argue that sites like Mumsnet provide fresh insights into household resource allocation processes. The article concludes with a broader discussion of the role of communication in household distribution and the value of online data for understanding such processes.     

Transnational social workers’ transition into receiving countries: what lessons can be learned from nursing and teaching?

Appropriate interventions for assisting transnational social workers (TSWs), nurses and teachers in their transition into the receiving country are significant for enabling competent and safe professional practice. These professionals form a significant part of the professional workforce of many countries as globalisation and liberal migration policies encourage many to cross borders for professional practice. Engaging in employment overseas, however, is a challenging process for them as it entails relocating to a new country and working in unfamiliar sociocultural and practice contexts. While some form of profession-wide assistance is found in nursing and teaching, social workers rarely receive any such interventions. This article discusses existing support offered to transnational nurses and teachers in English-speaking countries such as the UK, US, New Zealand, Australia and Canada and suggests how a similar approach to social workers can assist their transitioning into the receiving country. It draws on the findings of a thematic review of the literature addressing support for transnational nurses, teachers and social workers. The imperative of interventions to assist transition of TSWs into host countries is explored and the article concludes with recommendations for some intervention strategies and mechanisms.     

The nature and culture of social work with children and families in long‐term casework: Findings from a qualitative longitudinal study

Social work in the United Kingdom is preoccupied with what social workers cannot do due to having limited time to spend with service users. Yet remarkably little research has examined what social workers actually do, especially in long‐term relationships. This paper draws from an ethnographic study of two social work departments in England that spent 15 months observing practice and organizational life. Our findings show that social work some of the time has a significant amount of involvement with some service users and the dominant view that relationship‐based practice is rarely achieved is in need of some revision. However, families at one research site received a much more substantial, reliable overall service due to the additional input of family support workers and having a stable workforce who had their own desks and were co‐located with managers in small team offices. This generated a much more supportive, reflective culture for social workers and service users than at the second site, a large open plan “hot‐desking” office. Drawing on relational, systemic, and complexity theories, the paper shows how the nature of what social workers do and culture of practice are shaped by the interaction between available services, office designs, and practitioners', managers', and service users' experiences of relating together.     

Where the wild things are! Do urban green spaces with greater avian biodiversity promote more positive emotions in humans?

Urban Ecosystems - Urban green space can help mitigate the negative impacts of urban living and provide positive effects on citizens’ mood, health and well-being. Questions remain, however,...     

MULTIPLE ECONOMIES AND YOUTH LIVELIHOOD

In this paper we present a model of multiple economic spheres in order to understand and explain the income-generating activities of young people. These spheres include the formal sector, the informal waged sector, the informal non-waged sector, the welfare sector and the criminal sector. We conclude that, due to changes in the labour market that affect them in particular ways, young people are engaged in a diverse range of activities within and across each economic sphere.     

Helen Keller: rethinking the problematic icon

More than 30 years after her death, Helen Keller is still known internationally as the little deaf blind girl, the 'miracle child' who triumphed over adversity. However, behind the image, hidden from the public gaze, was a flesh-and-blood woman, writer and radical activist, suffragette and Socialist. She was a woman who lived to old age, yet is fixed in the public imagination as an eternal child. This paper charts the creation of Keller's popular image and enduring iconic status, analysing their purpose and the implications they hold for us as disabled people. It then examines the truth of her life, revealing how contemporary are the issues which determined it. Finally, it explores the value of retelling her biography and the relevance it holds in the building of disability culture.