Family violence laws: Traditional narratives and the (in)visibility of lesbian relationships and lesbian-parented families

Abstract

Feminist advocacy and activism over the last 40 years broke historic ground in shining a light on “domestic” or “family” violence, traditionally conceptualized as male violence against female intimate partners and their children. This has resulted in a large body of research, particularly in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and similar jurisdictions, around the gendered nature of family violence and violence within heterosexual relationships and heterosexual-parented families. As a consequence, the predominant narrative—in political, policy, and advocacy settings—is largely heteronormative. Less research has focused on family violence in non-heterosexual relationships. The data that do exist have employed different methodological approaches and there are limitations on the extent to which they can be compared to the data on violence within heterosexual relationships. However, the existing research does demonstrate that family violence within lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) communities is a significant issue. Even so, the current narrative does not acknowledge this, and predominantly reflects heterosexual norms of intimate relationships and family structures in society. LGBTI relationships are described as “invisible” in policy and practice responses to family violence, due to the failure to acknowledge violence in such communities. This article explores these claims in relation to lesbian relationships in the context of Australian legislative responses to family violence. It considers the extent to which family violence laws in two Australian jurisdictions recognize and frame lesbian identity in intimate relationships and lesbian-parented families. This is considered in light of the emerging conceptualization of family violence in lesbian relationships and lesbian-parented families, as evidenced by the wider scholarly literature on the nature and dynamics of such violence.     

All that is solid melts into work: self‐work,the ‘learning ethic’ and the work ethic

In this paper I examine the intersections between a general commitment to education and learning and the moral and ethical dimensions of the work ethic under contemporary capitalism. Drawing on Kathi Weeks' (2011) recent exploration of the work ethic in The Problem with Work, I suggest there is a relationship between the form and function of the work ethic‐ and what I term the ‘learning ethic’. I suggest that commitment to a learning ethic, to the unreserved power of learning and education‐ may reiterate a moral commitment to the personal characteristics that define the work ethic under capitalism. As a consequence, consideration of the form and function of these moral character ideals in the continuation of unequal social relations across educational and workspaces, become obfuscated by a generalized celebration of learning, education and self‐work.     

赫哲族伦理道德初探

赫哲族的伦理道德是赫哲族人民的宝贵精神财富,它在赫哲族人民的精神生活中起着直接的规范性作用。这也表明赫哲族是一个极为讲究伦理道德的民族,其伦理道德既是中华民族传统伦理道德不可分割的组成部分,又具有自身鲜明的特点。赫哲族伦理道德在赫哲族人的生活习俗、民间文学等诸多方面都有十分具体的体现。在社会主义精神文明建设中,对赫哲族伦理道德的特点进行分析,取其精华,弃其糟粕,通过吸收和改造,使赫哲族的传统道德和社会主义道德相统一,是本文研究的主旨。     

儒家的社会规范与阴阳五行秩序

所谓规范指称"标准化的秩序"。社会规范指的是为社会成员所提供的是非标准和行为指南,因而也是人们具体行为必须要遵循的行为法则。儒家的社会规范可分为两种:一是以"德礼"为核心的积极的规范,其目的在于通过教化的力量来改变人们行为的根本态度;二是以"法刑"为核心的消极规范,其目的在于通过物理的制裁来暂时控制人们的行为。规范必须拥有其合理性。在儒家看来,社会的规范不是来自于近代社会学理论所讲的社会契约,而是来自于自然本身的秩序。因而"三纲五伦"以及"礼乐"、"刑政"等规范都体现着阴阳五行的自然法则。跟近代的社会学理论相比,儒家的社会规范具有以下的特点:其一,儒家的社会规范不是以平等的个人,而是以有差别的个人为前提;其二,儒家规范的根本目的不在于实现功利性或者效率性,而在于实现道德性;其三,儒家的规范不是为了实现社会契约,而是为了实现阴阳五行的自然秩序。     

Injunctive Norms and Problem Gambling among College Students

Two studies examined the relationships among injunctive norms and college student gambling. In study 1 we evaluated the accuracy of perceptions of other students’ approval of gambling and the relationship between perceived approval and gambling behavior. In study 2 we evaluated gambling behavior as a function of perceptions of approval of other students, friends, and family. In study 1, which included 2524 college students, perceptions of other students’ approval of gambling were found to be overestimated and were negatively associated with gambling behavior. The results of study 2, which included 565 college students, replicated the findings of study 1 and revealed positive associations between gambling behavior and perceived approval of friends and family. Results highlight the complexity of injunctive norms and the importance of considering the reference group (e.g., peers, friends, family members) in their evaluation. Results also encourage caution in considering the incorporation of injunctive norms in prevention and intervention approaches.     

观艺术之心叩灵魂之门——重读田本相著《曹禺传》

《曹禺传》是田本相代表性的研究成果之一,该著以其整体宏阔的结构原则,史实考订与艺术想像并重的阐释方式,注重心灵探寻的写作向度,重建了伟大作家曹禺的生命史和灵魂史。《曹禺传》所提供的意义已经远远超出了透视曹禺本身,对探求文学背后所隐含的政治、思想、文化的解释,以及克服当代作家传记写作的隐与忧等亦有诸多启示意义。     

论我国城市社区的生态文化建设

城市社区生态文化建设是一个全新的事物,它是社会主义精神文明建设和社会主义先进文化建设的重要内容。然而,目前我国城市社区的生态文化建设存在着许多问题,跟不上时代发展的步伐。因此,探讨解决我国城市社区生态文化建设的有效途径,对于促进我国社会主义和谐社会和城市社区的可持续发展,都具有重要的时代价值和理论意义。     

基于发展战略的高校后勤实体企业伦理建设

知识经济时代,卓越伦理以其有价值、稀缺性和难以模仿性,成为可持续竞争优势的一个重要来源。处于转型时期的高校后勤实体,面临着继续深化改革与改革动力不足、市场竞争加剧与组织活力下降的矛盾。为此,加强伦理建设,着力体现管理组织价值观,寻求组织发展的内在动力;推行伦理管理制度化,改造员工的行为,提升企业服务能力;重视利益相关者利益,树立良好的社会形象,在追求社会价值的过程中实现组织价值的最大化,已成为高校后勤寻求实体发展之路的战略选择。     

Crafting social change: former global factory workers negotiating new identities in Sri Lanka’s villages

This article explores how former factory workers negotiate new identities in villages, as new brides, mothers and daughters-in-law, after 5–6 years of employment in an urban Free Trade Zone. I argue that their performances of self-discipline and disavowal of transgressive knowledges allow them to make use of the limited social, economic and political spaces available while gradually reshaping local understandings about the good daughter-in-law. Former workers’ strategic deployment of social conformity represents the foundation on which their entry into village social, economic, political spaces is based on. Although individual social conformity would conventionally be identified as everyday politics, I argue that former workers’ performance of self-discipline and social conformity is strategic and leads to changes in gender norms and village social hierarchies and thus represents a form of politics that is in between everyday and transformative politics – politics that creates conditions of possibility for social transformations.