Globalizing social movement theory: The case of eugenics

Transnational social movements are affected not only by national-level factors, but also by factors that operate at the global level. This article develops two conceptual tools for analyzing global factors: international political opportunity and global culture. The conduciveness of both factors appears to be important in understanding eugenics activity, which this article examines as a transnational social movement. The lack of international political opportunity before World War I and the hostile climate of global culture after World War II hindered eugenic mobilization during these periods, while the emergence of opportunities and cultural conduciveness during the Interwar period was associated with movement growth and effectiveness.     

The Achievement Factor in Igbo Receptivity to Industrialization

On a expliqué les différences de développement économique entre les trois principaux groupes culturels nigériens - Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo - par l'existence dans leurs sociétés traditionnelles d'évaluations différentes de l'ambition et de l'effort personnels. Adoptant une autre perspective que l'approche psychologique de McClelland sur le niveau de réalisation, l'auteur indique que l'oeuvre d'une collectivité serait en rapport plus étroit avec le caractére de son édifice social qu'il ne Test avec la structure de la personnalité de ses membres.     

Theory: The Plague of the Subject: Psychoanalysis and Judith Butler's Psychic Life of Power

In her book The Psychic Life of Power, Judith Butler explores the relation between power and subjectivity. The Psychic Life of Power presents a political account of the formation of the subject. For Butler, psychoanalysis is a crucial theoretical tool for providing such an account of the subject. This essay considers Butler's Foucauldian rereading of psychoanalytic theory through an analysis of her theory of the formation of the subject. In particular, the essay examines Butler's appropriation of psychoanalysis for her theory of subjectivity. The author argues that while Butler's theorising of the psychic life of power represents an important linking of Foucauldian and psychoanalytic theories, nevertheless, her use of psychoanalysis does not fully engage with the complexity of its theory of the subject nor with the implications of that theory for her political project.     

Public perceptions of the ideal number of children for contemporary families

Demographic and family dynamics have been influenced by the recent downturn in average family size. This research examines perceptions of the ideal size for contemporary families and beliefs regarding factors which have contributed to families' decisions to have fewer children. Findings reveal that the two child family is the overwhelming standard chosen by respondents, and that this preference holds for virtually all demographic categories. Three of five reasons offered for smaller families today (expense of children, wives working and better birth control) were viewed as important by over 85% of those sampled.A previous version of this paper was presented at the annual meetings of the Southern Demographic Group, Austin, Texas, October, 1985. Support for computer analyses was provided by the Office of Computer and Information Services, University of Maryland Baltimore County.     

Neighborhood Context and Residential Mobility

This paper extends the search for neighborhood contextual effects to residential mobility. We propose that neighborhood consists of subjective and objective domains, both of which are crosscut by substantive (social/physical) and temporal (current/change) dimensions. Measures of neighborhood characteristics consistent with our conceptualization are used to estimate the impact of context on mobility thoughts and on actual mobility in a sample of Nashville residents. Although individual statuses such as age and tenure remain important antecedents of mobility, subjective features of neighborhood context also play a role—albeit limited and indirect—in the decision to move or to stay.     

PartyIntents: a portal survey to assess gay and bisexual men's risk behaviors at weekend parties

PartyIntents examines whether portal survey methods could be used to anonymously survey gay and bisexual men about HIV-risk behaviors before and after a weekend party-oriented vacation. The study recruited 97% of eligible men and of these 489 participants 47% completed the follow-up assessment. Approximately one half of the men intended to use illegal drugs over the weekend, and almost 20% thought that they might have anal intercourse and not use a condom. The methodology can be applied and provides useful information about HIV risk at these events, though refinements may be needed to increase the follow-up rates.     

The Right Side of the Tracks: Affluent Neighborhoods in the Metropolitan United States*

Objectives. We describe the geography, population composition, and housing stock of extremely affluent neighborhoods and evaluate the extent to which conclusions about these neighborhoods differ across definitions of affluence. Methods. Using Census 2000 data on tracts in the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas, we compare neighborhoods at the very top of the income distribution (highest 2 percent) to their counterparts in lower‐income categories. The distributions for median household income, median family income, per‐capita income, and the household income ratio allow us to define affluence in alternative ways. Results. Contrary to past findings, rich neighborhoods are no longer concentrated in the Northeast, and they exhibit substantial proportions of foreign‐born and Asian residents and average labor force participation rates. Other of their characteristics (e.g., educational level, professional‐managerial employment, housing size and value) seem more predictable. Although certain results vary depending on how affluence is defined, the majority do not. Conclusion. Our analysis lays an empirical foundation for future work on affluent neighborhoods, which have received scant research attention. It also makes a conceptual contribution, demonstrating that such neighborhoods stand out irrespective of the definitional approach taken.     

Self-tracking as communication

Self-tracking has attracted a lot of attention from researchers and public opinion makers owing to its potential for improving life conditions through preemptive action on health, and as a tool of user empowerment vis-à-vis health-care professionals and private and public institutions. Nevertheless, the ‘stuff’ that is typically tracked – exercise and diet being the dominant tracking activities – refers to cultural and social practices that, for the individual user, are utterly mundane and reside in an experiential realm of everyday life. Self-tracking has to be understood in relation to behavior that is predominantly about getting things done in ways that are possible, suitable and meaningful for the individual. To account for this, we propose to conceptualize self-tracking as a communicative phenomenon along three dimensions: communication with the system, the self and social networks of peers. We develop the theoretical framework, drawing upon empirical findings from a qualitative study on how self-tracking is practiced and experienced in the context of exercise by different categories of empirical users. We demonstrate that the meanings of self-tracking practices are, at once, shaped by the motivation of an individual user who is situated in a broader web of everyday activities, and stimulated and augmented by communicative features provided by the technology.