The victim-bind dilemma of black female sociologists in academe

In this article, the author argues that black female academicians, in particular sociologists, are in a “victim-bind,” which indicates their paradoxical ambivalence and produces stereotypical perceptions. This article examines the purpose and functions of stereotypic perceptions of black females in various phases of graduate school and early career development. It draws on the limited literature as well as the experiences and observations of the author and points out how the political culture and institutional structures of academic communities and departments shape images and career patterns of black women being professionalized as sociologists and social scientists in general. It concludes that stereotypic perceptions of black females are tied into the institutional systems of gender, race and power relations which represent in microcosm, the society at large. Her research areas are social psychological consequence of underemployment, racial/gender differences in social comparison processes, racial/gender inequality in academe, and racial/gender differences in perceptions of labor unions.     

Transformations du discours éthique au sein des sociétés engagées dans le passage au néo-libéralisme*

This article focusses on the sociological analysis of the transformations of ethical discourse in today's societies. The author seeks to clarify the notion of ethics as a central concern of sociology, and to identify what seems to constitute the core of the ethical discourse that is beginning to emerge in modern societies. The thrust of this exploration is that until now, modern society, given prior regulatory conditions (i.e., liberalism and “providentialism”), has engendered an ethical discourse that fosters concerted action by social actors toward a common goal. Neo-liberalist ethical discourse, by contrast, seems unable to produce a positive representation of society as a whole. Consequently, individuals now have difficulty conceiving of an ethics of solidarity. Cet article porte sur l'analyse sociologique des transformations du discours éthique dans les sociétés actuelles. L'auteur cherche d'abord à clarifier la notion d'éthique dans le cadre des préoccupations de la sociologie et, ensuite, à dégager ce qui lui paraît constituer l'essentiel du discours éthique en train de se mettre en place dans les sociétés modernes. L'essentiel de la démonstration vise à montrer que la société moderne, dans le cadre de modalités de régulation antérieures (libérale et providentialiste), était parvenue àélaborer un discours éthique capable de rallier les acteurs sociaux autour d'un projet. À l'inverse, le discours éthique néo-libéral, incapable de profiler la représentation d'une société signi-fiante aux yeux de l'acteur, a peine à engendrer chez lui une éthique de la solidarity et du bien commun.     

Cultural Differences: Deaf and Hearing Researchers Working together

This article is based on several years of research done by the two authors, one of whom is Deaf and the other hearing. The paper discusses research done within the Deaf community using sign language. This is an estimated 50,000 people-the same number as those whose first language is Welsh. The Deaf community sees itself as a linguistic and cultural minority and as such is quite distinct from people with an acquired hearing loss, or those who are hard of hearing and who usually rely on written and spoken English through lipreading or writing things down. The paper sets this research in the context of cross-cultural research and looks at its connections with emancipatory research. The central discussion is in the form of a dialogue between the Deaf and hearing researchers and their personal responses to cultural differences. In the past Deaf people have been denied the opportunity of making their opinions known because research has used written or spoken language. Our research, using videocameras to record sign language and Deaf research using sign language to interview, provides a means of interviewing more suited to Deaf people than to hearing researchers. However, as the hearing culture is likely to be perceived as the dominant culture, there are bound to be differences when a hearing and Deaf researcher are working together within the Deaf community. These are the issues which we discuss within Deaf research.     

论当代视域中的马克思主义革新

当代社会的元结构由市场与组织这两个中介形成,并在世界体制中得到进一步发展。市场个人契约与组织中央契约的多重相互作用构成了当代社会秩序和阶级关系,同时也产生了政治实践中的一系列问题。契约并不是像自由主义者认为的那样是体现了我们时代的精神,它实际上蕴藏着矛盾和局限性。当代政治话语要求超越中介,批判性地重申形成阶级和国家的统治关系。     

A robust principal component analysis

This work is concerned with robustness in Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The approach, which we adopt here, is to replace the criterion of least squares by another criterion based on a convex and sufficiently differentiable loss function ρ. Using this criterion we propose a robust estimate of the location vector and introduce an orthogonality with respect to (w.r.t.) ρ in order to define the different steps of a PCA. The influence functions of a vector mean and principal vectors are developed in order to provide method for obtaining a robust PCA. The practical procedure is based on an alternative-steps algorithm.     

Introduction to the Issue

The criminal trial of O. J. Simpson, his acquittal, and the subsequent public reaction have provided an opportunity to apply social science models and methods in ways that have enhanced our understanding of the complexity and dynamics of ethnicity. Most of the articles in this issue focus on ethnicity and go beyond simplistic analyses of ethnic differences in responses to O. J. Simpson and the trial. These analyses inform us that ethnicity is best viewed as a proxy for a host of life experiences, beliefs, and attitudes. The knowledge gained from these applications demonstrates that social scientists can contribute to the understanding of major public events when issues of ethnicity are involved. This article provides an introduction to the dynamics of ethnicity and overviews of the articles in this collection.