Homemaking,Temporality and Later Life

Abstract

While much literature has focused on the meaning of home, relatively little has been conducted on homemaking in later life. This paper demonstrates the importance of time in conceptualizations of home. Using an extensive case study from a multi-interview study with eight older people in England, it is shown that gardening can form the basis of a temporal framework which structures a life. Importantly, gardening can seem essential in homemaking and a reason not to move to residential living. This paper builds on literature that suggests home is a process and that people’s conceptualization and experience of home develop throughout their lives. As ageing and dying have become long and complicated processes, it is argued older people may find this challenging as this makes it difficult to prepare for the end of life.     

Exploring narratives of education: disabled young people’s experiences of educational institutions in Ghana

Disabled young people in many low and middle-income countries experience significant levels of educational exclusion due to disabling social and physical environments and are more likely to be illiterate than their non-disabled peers. Most social sciences and development literature, however, tends to homogenise the educational trajectories of disabled young people and focuses predominantly on the perspectives of educationalists, development experts and carers in assessing educational needs and institutions. Consequently, the experiences of young people across multiple categories of social difference, and their agency in shaping their own educational trajectories, remain largely unknown. This article contributes to filling this gap by exploring the educational narratives of young people with different impairments in mainstream, special and integrated schools in Ghana. The article shows how exploring individual narratives provides new insights into the educational needs of and ‘appropriate’ education for disabled young people in the Global South.     

Formation of European identity: ethnic minority groups in Central and Eastern Europe in generational perspective

Research into European identity has mostly focused on majority populations in Western European countries, neglecting new member states in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as well as ethnic minority groups. This paper contributes to filling this gap by exploring and investigating processes of European identity formation of five ethnic minority groups in four CEE countries. A generational perspective was applied by conducting qualitative in-depth interviews with three generations of ethnic minority group members. The results support the instrumental approach of identity construction. In all minority groups researched, the young generation, due to more positive personal experiences and perceived benefits from the European Union, have developed more positive images and perceptions of Europe and a greater sense of European identity than older generations. Furthermore, ethnic group-specific processes of identity formation were found.     

Fabric that weaves stories: Pua kumbu and contemporary Iban identity construction in Sarawak,Malaysia

This article examines the process of identity construction among the Iban indigenous people of Sarawak in Malaysia through pua kumbu – their sacred and ritual cloth. Although the Ibans are popularly known for their headhunting practices and longhouse dwellings, these cultural practices are in major decline and therefore pua kumbu is brought to the forefront as a significant means of identity construction. By illustrating the meanings, narratives, and ceremonies associated with pua kumbu, this article demonstrates that pua kumbu is not just a piece of sacred or ritual cloth; rather, it has significant meanings in the everyday life of the Ibans. It connects the Ibans with distinctly eternal meanings of their life and cosmology, past histories, and their connections to the physical environment. It thus helps the process of maintaining a boundary and identity construction of the Ibans by distinguishing between ‘us and them’ – the Ibans and others.     

‘Singing acts’ from the deep North: critical perspectives on northern exotics,contemporary ethnic music and language preservation in Sámi communities

This paper discusses the relationship of northernness and performances of contemporary ethnic popular music, within the context of critical geography and postcolonial theory. The focus is on the Sámi ethnic minorities of northern Finland. The North of Finland, ‘nature-Finland’, is understood here as an imaginative region which over the course of several centuries has been constituted through various forms of stereotyping, mystifying, exoticising and othering of Sámi minorities in accordance with the nationalist endeavours of Southern Finland. While these stereotypes and preconceptions of northernness have delimited northern cultural activity, contemporary ethnic music is conceived here as a strategic tool with which stereotypes of northernness can be contested and the work of the preservation of ethnic heritage put into action. The focus is on the works of Inari Sámi-singing rap musician Amoc, Skolt Sámi-singing heavy rock girl Tiina Sanila and the North Sámi-singing hard rock band SomBy. Their music is approached as ‘singing acts’ that work as tools for the preservation of ethnic culture and minority languages and for the deconstruction of stereotypes directed at northernness. The paper claims that contemporary contexts and genres within which singing in Sámi languages takes place may inspire the audience to ponder and reconsider their own ways of perceiving Sáminess and northernness.     

人民性:习近平家庭文明建设重要论述的真谛

人民性是“以人民为中心”发展思想的高度凝炼和集中体现,也是习近平关于家庭文明建设系列重要论述的真谛。从主体维度看,人民是习近平倡导的新时代家庭文明建设的承载者、守护者和创新者。从目标维度看,加强新时代家庭物质文明、精神文明、政治文明建设的目标分别是:提高人民的获得感、幸福感、安全感,增强人民的归属感、认同感、荣誉感,提升人们的清净感、信任感、亲情感。从价值维角度看,坚持以人为本的价值基础、民族复兴的价值理想和社会和谐的价值标准,可以实现人民性的价值取向。     

"原创性"文化的特征与构成——鲁迅、卡夫卡文学创作比较谈

鲁迅是中国新文化运动的旗手,卡夫卡被称为“欧美现代派文学之父”,他们各以其鲜明的原创性在中西现代文学史上起到了奠基和引路作用。本文通过对两位作家文学观念、创作主题、艺术方法诸问题的比较,探究其原创性文化的成因,为当今文学的发展提供借鉴之处。     

娱神与娱人的融合——从楚国“虎座立鸟架鼓”窥探先秦礼乐制度的世俗化转向

虎座立鸟架鼓是楚国工匠依据当时的工艺技巧、审美意识而创作的一种击打乐器,是礼乐制度从规范化到世俗化演化过程中的产物。以虎座立鸟架鼓为观照对象,可窥探先秦时期礼乐制度的规范化、多元化、世俗化的演变历程。虎座立鸟架鼓从庄重到新奇的器型演变,从“夏黑殷白”到“尚朱尚赤”的色彩演变,从“娱神”到“娱人”的功能演变,证明了先秦时期礼乐制度的世俗化转向。东周时期音乐文化由“朝”向“野”、由“神”向“人”演变的进程,促进了不同阶层乐享方式的交融,也促进了乐器类型的多元发展与创新。     

贵州苗族聚居区苗族女童教育普及现状及研究状况

鉴于女童教育对妇女人力资源开发的重要地位与作用,坚持促进女童教育均衡发展成为迈向社会主义和谐社会,实现全面小康社会的重要途径。当前民族地区女童教育滞后,对其普及现状及研究状况的切合实际的了解、认识,对民族地区女童教育发展战略研究具有极为重要的现实意义,本文仅就贵州苗族聚居区苗族女童教育为个案进行剖析。     

构建和谐财务管理目标的思考

构建和谐社会是现今中国的重要社会问题。在财务管理学中,财务目标是财务决策的准绳、财务行为的依据、理财绩效的考核标准。本文从和谐概念出发,从财务管理的角度,运用产权理论和契约理论分析财务管理目标和谐的现实性选择和构建。