The (em)bodiment of blackness in a visceral anti-black racism and ableism context

Over the years, many scholarly publications have extensively discussed disability ‘diagnoses’ and placement practices in special education programs in the United States and the United Kingdom. These publications argue that racism and classism rather than clinically predetermined factors appear to influence the disability diagnosis and placement practices in special education. The present essay is contributing to the debate by critically exploring the relationship(s) between race, class, and disability ‘diagnoses’ and placement practices in special education programs in Toronto, Canada. The core ideas noted in the essay are drawn from a personal story of an African-Canadian parent – a story of a daughter with a diagnosed disability and her mother’s struggle to resist the disability ‘diagnosis’ as well as her battle rejecting her daughter’s placement in the special education program in a Toronto public school. Using this personal account, other literature, and anti-black racism theory, I argue that special education programming in Toronto, Canada helps white middle/upper class Canadians achieve a de facto race/class-based segregation in the Toronto public school system. Whereas the Supreme Courts’ rulings on Brown vs. the Board of Education in the United States and Washington vs. the Trustees of Charlottesville in Canada have insisted that whites and non-whites attend the same school, special education identification practices ensure that whites and non-whites do not have to belong to the same classroom. I conclude that when educational practices move into spaces of pathologization, blacks and working-class students are continually at risk of facing exclusionary practices. One thing is clear: the significance of skin color in the mind of the racist cannot easily be dismissed.     

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.     

The working practices of Birmingham's Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies

This article offers a history of the working practices of the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. Based on extensive interviews with former members and on research into a new archive of the Centre, housed in the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham, it argues that cultural studies as practised in the 1970s was always a heterogeneous subject. The CCCS was heavily influenced by the events of 1968 when it tried to develop a new type of radical and collaborative research and teaching agenda. Despite Stuart Hall's efforts to impose a focused link between politics and academic practice, the agenda soon gave way to a series of diverse and fruitful initiatives associated with the ‘sub-groups’ model of research.     

Achieving high quality and long‐lasting matches in youth mentoring programmes: a case study of 4Results mentoring

Mentoring programmes show significant promise for enhancing the well‐being of youth with complex needs. Research indicates that high quality mentoring, although difficult to achieve, positively impacts youth development across behavioural, social, emotional and academic domains. The difficulty of sustaining long‐term matches between mentors and youth, however, remains an important concern for the field of mentoring, as foreshortened matches can be harmful to youth. The 4Results mentoring programme has been identified as a Promising Practice through the Washington State Inventory of child‐serving behavioural and mental health programmes and has developed a unique infrastructure to support critical programme values such as match longevity. In 7 years, the programme has successfully retained 98% of mentors for at least 1 year with an average match length of 3.7 years. The following article describes the programme's guiding philosophy and approach to recruiting and training mentors in the context of existing best practices research.     

高校招生“并轨”内涵之管见──兼与张应强同志商榷

高校招生“并轨”是高等教育体制改革的一部分,弄清“并轨”的内涵及招生本身的有关问题具有实际意义,有助于改革的深化。     

Negotiating the boundaries of intimacy: the personal lives of asexual people

This paper uses findings from research diaries to explore the use of practices of intimacy among asexual people. While much of the literature to date has focused on the supposedly transformative and political nature of uniquely asexual practices of intimacy, our findings suggest something different. Rather than seeking to transform the nature of intimate relationships, asexual people make pragmatic adjustments and engage in negotiations to achieve the forms of physical and emotional intimacy they seek. We discuss this in relation to three areas: friendships, sex as a practice of intimacy, and exclusion from intimacy. Our findings suggest the importance of not only considering the social context in which asexual people practise intimacy, but also how the practices in which they engage may be shared with non‐asexual people.     

Introducing the Historical Thinking Practice of Contextualizing to Middle School Students

This article describes the design of a social studies unit about the Johnstown Flood of 1889 with a particular emphasis on how specific unit resources engaged middle school students in learning about the geographical and historical context of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. We also report on how the resources supported the teaching and learning of the historical thinking practice of contextualizing.     

Living “Anyway:” Stories of Access

Elana Dykewomon's 1974 novel, Riverfinger Women, was among the first lesbian books with a “happy ending.” Her seven books of fiction and poetry include the Lambda Award winner Beyond the Pale (now an audio and e-book) and Lambda nominee, Risk. She was an editor of the lesbian-feminist journal, Sinister Wisdom, for eight years. Her literary work foregrounds the lesbian heroic as integral to women's communities. As a social justice activist, she has organized and participated in anti-war, anti-racist, anti-classist, fat and disability rights work since the 1970s. She is now working with Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. She is happy to live embedded in dyke community as a lesbian radical committed to a loving justice. While she suffered psychiatric abuse at 13 (and acknowledges long-term adaptive behavior on that account), she has not experienced disabling mental illness since. Her primary disabilities are mobility impairment through severe, progressive arthritis and constant low-to-powerful pain, sometimes diagnosed as fibromyalgia. Her acute illnesses include pancreatitis and a rare-in-adults kidney disease currently in remission.     

Are skilled contingent workers neglected? Evidence from a cross-sector multiple case study on organizational career management practices

The study aims to discover the extent to which organizations support the careers of skilled contingent workers (SCWs) by providing them with organizational career management (OCM) practices. Analyzing three Belgian companies from different sectors, we find that SCWs do benefit from OCM practices. Such practices cover three dimensions: formalization, individual focus, and differentiation. Subsequently, we explain the three dimensions, respectively, through three contextual variables: the legal and regulatory framework, companies’ human resource management (HRM) configurations and the value of human capital, and the roles of third-party actors. The association of the variables with such dimensions enables the development of three research propositions. This study paves the way for additional research on SCWs and their careers as well as incorporating this population in HRM strategies, including that of OCM practices.     

Articulating the Scaffolding of White Supremacy: The Act of Naming in Liberation

Liberatory practices require that social workers think about categorical social stratification in terms of power hierarchies brought about through practices of individuals, cultures, and institutions. Our focus is on how scaffoldings of white supremacy impact organizational, structural, and professional interactions in social work. We provide examples and stories to illustrate operations of white supremacy and offer alternatives through a counter story. The counter-story reveals how transparency, accountability, and caucusing (with structured safeguards) support alliances that build transformative restructuring. We emphasize the importance of interrupting structures and translations of white supremacy on an ongoing basis.