Attitudes of Japanese and American Workers: Convergence or Diversity*

Testing an argument of convergence on a sample of employed males in Japan and the United States, this paper compares young: (18–24 years) with older (45–55 years) workers within each country on work-related attitudes, education and employment, mobility, interest in the company, characteristics of superiors, and job satisfaction. Comparisons of these attitudes are also made within age-group cross-nationally. Our general finding, which is upheld when company size, type of job, and educational attainment, are controlled for, is that cultural diversity is (still) a better explanation than convergence when applied to work-related attitudes. Aging per se seems to have some similar effects in both societies, e.g., a positive relationship beween age and work satisfaction. Attitudes affected more by historical changes in work organization, however, exhibit stronger cultural differences than age differences.     

AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING: EVOLUTION,CONTENT, AND POPULAR APPEAL

Over the past several years, professional wrestling, now referred to as sports entertainment, has become a hugely popular cultural phenomenon. There are several reasons to account for why tens of millions of Americans are attracted to this form of entertainment, but this article centers attention on three allures that stand out: excitement, intrigue, and political incorrectness. Content analysis suggests that these three foci form the core of pro wrestling program content. The present paper identifies the macrosocial forces that explain sociologically why these themes are especially marketable today: community breakdown, social disenchantment, and political correctness.     

Preliminary observations on globalisation and the migration of sport labour

Focusing on sport labour migration, several broader issues regarding labour migration and globalisation are highlighted. The observations made, and the connections drawn, will be somewhat preliminary in nature. Several dimensions and issues of sport labour migration and globalisation are examined. A range of sports in different societies and across continents are also considered. This migration must be viewed as part of other global cultural flows. Discussion of these flows precedes the case study that focuses on the role of, and the resistance to, American sport labour migrants in the commodification of English basketball over the past two decades, the paper concludes by drawing together the strands of sport migration and global sport development.     

Institutional Gothic in the novels of Vladimir Sharov and Evgenii Vodolazkin

ABSTRACT

Vladimir Sharov (1952–2018) and Evgenii Vodolazkin (1964–) are among the most significant and influential writers of contemporary postmodern Russian fiction. This article argues that the subgenre of institutional Gothic – defined here as Gothic plots set in mental asylums, hospital wards, and other places of involuntary confinement – is an important structural and metafictional element in their novels. It also suggests that these authors’ use of the Gothic mode corresponds to the traditional function of Gothic narrative as a reaction to historical trauma. Each of the novels discussed here (Sharov’s Sled v sled [In Their Footsteps, 1988], and Vodolazkin’s Aviator [The Aviator, 2016]) re-sites traditional European Gothic plots in analogous Soviet and post-Soviet institutional settings, including the clinic, the prison camp, and the mental asylum. For context, the article also discusses Gothic aspects of Sharov’s later novels Repetitsii (The Rehearsals, 1992) and Do i vo vremia (Before and During, 1993).     

The political economy of fraud in a globalised industry: the case of seafarers' certifications

This paper reports on the first systematic and international investigation of the fraudulent trade in seafarers’ certifications of competence. The shipping industry more than any other traditional industry has been transformed by globalisation, so that there is now effectively a single global labour market for seafarers. International regulation of labour standards in the industry is extensive, but so is regulatory avoidance. This paper seeks to investigate the political economy of fraud, through an exploration of the links between economic features of the globalised shipping industry and regulatory avoidance of labour standards.     

Disabling Spaces and Spatial Strategies: Feminist Approaches to the Home Environment of Family Caregivers of People with Dementia

ABSTRACT

The home environment becomes very important for family caregivers of people with dementia as a place of safety, retreat and care provision. Using a gender-based perspective, the authors analyzed thirteen interviews with family caregivers to understand how they perceived their home space. The data was analyzed thematically with the help of adjacency diagrams. Our analysis identified three main themes: compact layout, spatial flexibility, and the wider neighborhood. Given the gendered nature of caring, the findings are discussed drawing on the work of feminist architects regarding the home environment. The authors argue that feminist architectural approaches can usefully inform spatial strategies regarding dementia, ageing friendly housing, accessible living and the wellbeing of the caregiver. Different bodies and users’ needs should be at the epicenter of design, as opposed to conventional design and the current practices by developers, which may create a series of disabling spaces.