Speculating with human rights: two South Asian women writers and utopian mobilities

ABSTRACT

Utopian and dystopian fiction are classifiable under the umbrella term speculative fiction, which speculates with or takes risks with the reality it creates in the fiction. My paper investigates speculative writing which is also utopian by South Asian feminist and activist women, comparing creative texts by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, from the first half of the 20^th century, and Vandana Singh, from contemporary times. A selection of their published short fiction are focused on, in particular Hossain’s ‘Sultana’s Dream’ (1905) and Padmarag and the short story ‘Delhi’ by Singh. The article pulls together analysis of different kinds of mobility to argue that both writers, in their imagination of mobile utopia, also further creative speculations round human rights, with special reference to gender and the city. The article analyses how South Asian metropolises, notably Calcutta and Delhi, get reimagined in their writing. Both Hossain and Singh were/are educators in real life. How do their educative and speculative voices come together (or not) in their mobile utopia reimagining human rights? My answer is that the speculative reality-bending mode offers an articulation of the educative in a very different key to the conventionally pedagogic.     

Joan Acker and the shift from patriarchy to gender

Feminist sociologist Joan Acker is most commonly cited as one of the first to theorize how gender gets institutionalized in organizations and workplaces. But this project was actually an application of a more general theoretical turn in the field Acker was promoting. Acker was centrally involved in an important feminist sociological conversation about whether we should continue to theorize and study ‘patriarchy' or whether our focus should shift to ‘gender'. She argued for the latter and played an influential role in convincing the field to follow this suggestion.     

Parental status and psychological distress among older Thais

This study examines whether childless older Thais are more vulnerable to psychological distress relative to older adults with children. Drawing from the 2011 Survey of Older Persons in Thailand (n = 37,936), zero‐inflated negative binomial regression methods examine psychological distress of childless older adults relative to coresident and noncoresident parents. Analyses further explore how gender and marital status moderate this relationship. Results show that 40% of older Thais did not experience any symptoms of psychological distress in the past month. Compared to coresident parents, noncoresident parents showed a higher likelihood of experiencing psychological distress but being childless was associated with increased symptoms of psychological distress. While the relationship between parental status and psychological distress did not significantly differ by gender, marital status presents a significant moderating effect. Specifically, widowed childless older adults and widowed noncoresident parents experienced more symptoms of psychological distress relative to their married counterparts. In collectivistic societies, where the family unit is highly valued, and institutional support is weak, being childless and unmarried may negatively affect one's psychological well‐being in later life. Children and marriage are protective for older Thais’ psychological well‐being. The implications for social welfare policies are discussed.     

Diversity of romantic experiences in late adolescence and their contribution to identity formation

Romance constitutes a central experience in adolescence, which can take several forms including (a) serious romance with a steady partner, (b) casual and short‐lived dating, and (c) pending experiences of romantic thoughts and attempts. Using a three‐way longitudinal design, the present study examined the gender differences and developmental changes of these romantic experiences, and their cross‐lagged associations with identity processes, throughout one year in late adolescence. 389 students (63% girls) filled out questionnaires about their romantic experiences and identity processes. Girls reported more serious romance than did boys, who reported more casual dating and pending experiences. Serious romance increased over the year for both genders whereas casual dating and pending experiences continued to rise only for boys. The cross‐lagged model highlighted that serious romantic experience positively predicted identity commitments and exploration in depth whereas identity exploration in breadth positively predicted casual dating. This pattern was stable over the three time points and across gender and age groups. Overall, this study invites consideration of more diverse romantic experiences than those associated with tangible involvement. We discuss the contribution of romantic experiences to the identity dynamic.     

“I wish someone would explain why I am in care”: The impact of children and young people's lack of understanding of why they are in out‐of‐home care on their well‐being and felt security

Having a good understanding of one's origins and history is known to be significant in identity development. Drawing on a large‐scale online survey of looked after children's subjective well‐being, this paper demonstrates that a significant number of children and young people (age 4–18 years) did not fully understand the reasons for their entry to care. The paper explores the effect of this lack of knowledge on children's well‐being and on their feelings of being settled in their current placement. The study reiterates the need for professionals to be honest and open with children in out‐of‐home care and the need to specifically address, perhaps repeatedly, why a child is not living with their birth family.     

Beyond Simple Differences: Moderators of Gender Differences in Heteronormativity

ABSTRACT

Heteronormativity is a culturally embedded system defining acceptable identities and behaviors in romantic relationships. Recent literature has suggested that heteronormativity is strongly associated with political attitudes, personality characteristics such as tolerance of ambiguity, and key demographic variables such as gender and sexual orientation. However, interactions between gender and other factors have not been thoroughly explored as predictors of heteronormative attitude and beliefs. The current study (N = 306) expands the understanding of predictors of heteronormativity, particularly as they interact with gender. In the current study, higher education was associated with lower heteronormativity among women, but not among men, and expressiveness was associated with lower heteronormativity among men, but not among women. Finally, a 3-way interaction showed that the relationship between education and heteronormativity for men (but not women) depended on trait expressiveness. Future studies are recommended, including observation of changes in heteronormativity over time and exploration of mechanisms that reinforce or reduce heteronormativity.     

“儿童作为研究者”对儿童学习品质发展的价值

"儿童作为研究者"打破了过去儿童在研究中处于被动地位的局面,尊重儿童作为社会行为者和参与者的主体地位,提倡以儿童视角研究儿童问题。儿童参与或领导研究能够增加儿童活动参与的广度与深度、促进了幼儿园教育方式的民主化、拓宽了社会文化环境的多元性和开放程度,为儿童学习品质的发展提供了良好的外部支持。这种新兴的研究取向帮助儿童在好奇心与兴趣、主动性、创造与发明等学习品质上获得了长足的发展,为儿童学习品质的发展提供了独特契机。     

Indigenous and gendered persons and peoples in business ethics education: Intersections of Indigenous wisdoms and de Beauvoirian existentialism

The purpose of this paper is to explore how business ethics textbooks include Indigenous and gendered persons and peoples and whether they acknowledge Indigenous philosophies and theories. We explore 363 cases from eighteen (18) business ethics textbooks. A form and theme based content analysis was employed to help us better understand the inclusion, obfuscation and omission of Indigenous and gendered persons. A purpose of business ethics education is to disrupt injustice and oppressive practices in business. We find that business ethics education can provide more inclusive and respectful cases as it relates to Indigenous and gendered characters. There are cases that marginalize, obfuscate and omit Indigenous peoples, females, and gender diverse persons. This study contributes to diversity scholarship by identifying ways in which Indigenous and gendered persons and peoples can be included in management and business ethics education.     

Rapid Gender Analysis and its use in crises: from zero to fifty in five years

ABSTRACT

This article explores how and why the international non-government organisation, CARE, developed its own system of gender analysis, Rapid Gender Analysis (RGA), during the humanitarian response in Syria. The article tracks and reviews a sample of the first 50 CARE RGA reports to share recurrent gender themes that emerge across them, including the lack of women’s meaningful participation in decision-making, limitations on women and girls’ mobility, increased risks of gender-based violence, and recurring issues facing humanitarian organisations in providing a gender-sensitive response. RGA has now been used in more than 50 crises around the world and is featured as a good practice in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Gender Handbook. It is giving humanitarians faster and more complete access to information about gender norms than ever before. But, this article asks, has the RGA made a difference and, if so, to whom?