Struggles for value: value practices, injustice, judgment, affect and the idea of class

This paper is about the struggle for value by those who live intensified devaluation in the new conditions of legitimation and self-formation, by which the self is required to repeatedly reveal its value through its accrual and investment in economic, symbolic, social and cultural capitals. It explores how this value struggle is experienced: felt affectively, known and spoken through discourses of injustice. Drawing on a small research project, which uses the British New Labour government's Respect Agenda as an evocative device to provoke discussion, the paper details how those positioned as already marginal to the dominant symbolic, presented as 'useless' subjects rather than 'subjects of value' of the nation, generate alternative ways for making value. It examines how the experience of injustice generates affective responses expressed as 'ugly-feelings'. The conversion of these 'ugly feelings' into articulations of 'just-talk' reveals how different understandings of value, of what matters and what counts, come into effect and circulate alongside the dominant symbolic. The issue that most angered working-class respondents is how they are positioned, judged, blamed and held responsible for an inheritance over which they have no control, 'an accident of birth'. They were acutely aware of how they were constantly judged and de-legitimated and how practices such as selfishness and greed were legitimate for others. Showing how they refuse to authorize those they consider lacking in value but with authority and in a position to judge, the paper demonstrates how class relations are lived through a struggle, not only against economic limitation but a struggle against unjustifiable judgment and authority and for dignified relationality. The paper reveals a struggle at the very core of ontology, demonstrating how the denigrated defend and make their lives liveable; an issue at the heart of current austerity politics which may have increased significance for the future.     

Cohabiting Men’s Preferences for and Roles in Determining the Outcomes of Unexpected Pregnancies1

Growing numbers of men are fathering children within cohabiting unions. However, we know little about their desires for and preferred roles in making fertility decisions. To address this gap, I use data from 61 in‐depth interviews with working‐ and middle‐class cohabiting men to examine their stated preferences should their partners experience an unplanned pregnancy. For some men, the decision appears to be a relatively stable personal or political one, but most draw on their current relationships and/or financial or maturational situations when noting their desires. A subsample of 22 men from this group who have experienced pregnancies is used to explore men’s actual roles in negotiating whether a conception was terminated or carried to term. Despite the fact that most men would like to have input into decisions to abort or carry a pregnancy to term, the majority were not actually involved in making decisions with their partners (especially the decision to abort) when pregnancies occurred. Results are interpreted in light of social class differences in family formation processes.     

浅析如何提高医学院校生物化学课堂教学效果

生物化学作为一门医学专业基础课,与许多学科交叉渗透,内容庞杂、抽象,教学质量难以保证。提高课堂教学效果是提高教学质量的重要途径。作者结合自身教学经验,从培养学生的学习兴趣、优化课堂教学设计、合理使用现代化的教学手段、挖掘生物化学美学信息等方面,对如何提高生化课堂教学效果进行了探讨与研究,总结了一些做法。     

中产阶级在中国社会现代化进程中的历史地位

无论是从发生学的角度来考察,还是从事实判断和价值判断的角度来审视,中国中产阶级在整个中国社会现代化的历史进程中都享有崇高的历史地位,它不仅本身就是中国社会现代化的必然产物,而且事实上成了中国社会现代化的重要推动力量,在新的历史时期,它还将成为中国社会现代化深度发展的主体目标.     

‘I Know It Sounds Nasty and Stereotyped’: Searching for the Competent Domestic Worker

The recent upsurge of commercial companies in the market of domestic services has drawn attention in various countries. However, little is known about the operation of these companies and the extent to which their endeavours to industrialize paid domestic work reproduce or break away from historical patterns of gender inequality. In this article, the theoretical debate is informed by empirical data collected in the city area of Lisbon, in Portugal. In particular, open‐ended interviews with the managers of 15 companies provide a privileged view over the practices of recruitment and selection. Multiple sources of segmentation are associated with gendered understandings of class and ethnicity. Far from a paradigm in which stimuli toward industrialization and professionalization would overthrow the traditional centrality of trust and personal bonds in domestic service relationships, managers seek to gain a competitive advantage over rival companies and the informal economy precisely by mastering the trade of trust and personal bonds.     

“以人为本”视阈下普通高校体育舞蹈课程模式研究——以厦门理工学院体育舞蹈选项课为例

基于“以人为本”的哲学思想,分析普通高校体育舞蹈课程现状与问题,认为其教学与校内外、课内外“一体化”教学模式的结合具有重要意义和可行性。对体育舞蹈课程体系构建进行研究,创新其教学内容体系,完善其评价体系,揭示体育舞蹈教学规律,以期为高校体育舞蹈课程建设与改革提供参考。     

Factors in educational exclusion: including the voice of the youth

The processes of educational exclusion are multiple and diverse. Research has shown that exclusion from school goes far beyond access. It is associated with crucial issues related to educational processes (belonging, recognition or representation) and results (knowledge or certificates). The objective of this article is to delve into the analysis of factors in educational exclusion, including the voice of the youth, as a key element in understanding these factors. The article begins with a literature review addressing the meaning, mechanisms and profiles of educational exclusion. It then presents qualitative fieldwork, consisting of six focus groups of young people (aged 14–24) who have been excluded from mainstream educational institutions in Barcelona, Spain. The results of the empirical analysis point to four critical elements in the process of educational exclusion as experienced by the youth: educational transitions; the role of teachers; the impact of grouping practices and disciplinary mechanisms; and the contrast between mainstream educational institutions and alternative learning arenas. By including the voice of the youth, the article provides a better understanding of the factors contributing to educational exclusion so as to advance in the construction of an educational system able to guarantee students’ right to learn and succeed in school.     

Declining social mobility? Evidence from five linked censuses in England and Wales 1971–2011

In this paper we add to the existing evidence base on recent trends in inter‐generational social mobility in England and Wales. We analyse data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study (ONS‐LS), which links individual records from the five decennial censuses between 1971 and 2011. The ONS‐LS is an excellent data resource for the study of social mobility because it has a very large sample size, excellent population coverage and low rates of nonresponse and attrition across waves. Additionally, the structure of the study means that we can observe the occupations of LS‐members' parents when they were children and follow their own progress in the labour market at regular intervals into middle age. Counter to widespread prevailing beliefs, our results show evidence of a small but significant increase in social fluidity between 1950s and the 1980s for both men and women.     

CONSTRUCTING A HEALTH AND SOCIAL INDICATOR FRAMEWORK FOR INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY HEALTH RESEARCH

Health and social indicators that capture the distinct historical, social, and cultural contexts of Indigenous communities can play an important role in informing the planning and delivery of community interventions. There is currently considerable interest in cataloguing and vetting meaningful community-level health and social indicators that could be applied to research and health promotion activities in Indigenous communities in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, inclusive of conventional indicators as well as measures developed specifically for use in or with Indigenous communities. To avoid haphazard selection of indicators, and to assure the comprehensiveness and relevance of any given set of indicators, a framework that can accommodate and conceptually classify indicators representing a full range of domains is required. We report here on the development of a conceptual framework, by which Indigenous community indicators, and more general community-level social indicators, can be sorted, catalogued, and systematically classified within four hierarchical levels. The indicator framework was developed across Canada, Australia and New Zealand in consultation with academic researchers and Indigenous community stakeholders, building from established health and social indicator systems. The Indigenous indicator framework permits Indigenous communities, public health researchers, and funding agencies to compare and select the most appropriate indicators for application in specific contexts from the multitude of existing indicators.