Silent dark: the orders of silence

ABSTRACT

This article examines anxiety, arguing that it is a systemic feature of neoliberalism which regenerates the economy and acts in a conservative manner, thereby effectively preventing social change. Anxiety is explored using psychoanalytic theory to extend Foucault’s conception of neoliberal governmentality as proposed in his lectures on neoliberalism at the Collège de France. Relying on Foucault’s notion of governmentality as an analytic perspective, this article does not present the economy or the state as the origin of power in neoliberalism. Rather, these are seen as mediums of power, whereas the anchorage point of power relations is understood to be a particular form of governmentality. In neoliberalism, this anchorage point of power is largely supported and strongly characterised by anxiety. While examining the psychic life of power in neoliberalism, I avoid positioning and thus analysing anxiety either on the individual or the macro level of society. Rather, showing that anxiety exposes the weakness of such clean divisions, it is argued that neoliberal subjects are nowadays governed through anxiety.     

Seeing touch and touching sight: a reflection on the tactility of vision

ABSTRACT

The article explores the reciprocal relationship between images and viewers by considering the relationship between the senses of sight and touch. I argue that images touch viewers at the same time that viewers touch images. Taking Casilda Sánchez video work, As Inside as the Eye can See as a point of departure, this article explores the ways in which a viewer’s encounter with the work can be understood as tactile rather than merely visual. Precisely because the work is visibly obsessed with the sense of sight it provides an intriguing entry point into discussions around the tactility of visual experience. Even though a person does not physically interact with this video by means of actual touch, our relationship with it is fundamentally tactile. In order to make this argument, I draw on theoretical positions that deal with the embodiment of perception, phenomenology and haptic visuality. Finally, with reference to Merleau-Ponty’s theories on vision as touch, I show how a viewer’s embodied response to the video contributes to its critical potential which unfolds from this rich experiential and tactile encounter.     

Ageing in Society: European Perspectives on Gerontology (3rd Edition), edited by John Bond,Sheila Peace,Freya Dittman-Kohli,and Gerben Westerhof

This study explored the meaning of the experiences of community-dwelling postmenopausal women who were born and grew up in a Muslim country when drawing a picture about their lived experiences of urinary incontinence. Hermeneutic phenomenology underpinned the study’s interpretive research approach. In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted in two sessions with nine postmenopausal women. The participants were asked to draw a picture about their lived experiences of urinary incontinence in a self-portrait. Three themes emerged to illuminate the meaning of urinary incontinence, including “disruption of normal functioning,” “self-imposed restrictions,” and “feeling of despair.” Discussion of these themes was presented, and practice and research implications were suggested.     

Indicators of Preclinical Disability: Women's Experiences of an Aging Body

This paper is derived from a larger multimethod longitudinal study of women's bodily experiences and coping practices before the onset of disability. Twelve women participated in repeated performance measures, in-depth interviews of daily life and physically challenging events, and observations of daily activities conducted over 18 months. Interpretive phenomenological analysis of textual data showed that women's bodies provided multiple indicators or symptoms of preclinical disability. These indicators informed the women that their body was out of synch with their environment; conspicuous during social activities; and vulnerable to becoming dependent on others, technology, or assistive devices to accomplish daily activities. Greater attention to bodily indicators or symptoms may offer a practical method for clinicians to identify preclinical disability.     

Where do I belong? High-intensity teleworkers’ experience of organizational belonging

Despite the noted benefits of telework, concerns about distance, employees’ lack of presence, and how individuals remain connected to the organization and its members continue to surface. This is noteworthy because a sense of connectedness and feelings of belonging at work have been linked to engagement, productivity, and performance. The aim of this phenomenological study was to describe and understand the essence of high-intensity teleworkers’ experience of organizational belonging. Notions of identity fulfilment surface as central to how organizational belonging is experienced by high-intensity teleworkers. Expressions of organizational belonging included experiences that reflected self and other awareness, personal and professional fulfilment, support from others and participation. Not belonging was apparent where there was a lack of credibility, conflict, a loss of stability and exclusion from ownership. A definition of organizational belonging is offered, and recommendations for further research and practical suggestions for organizations employing high-intensity teleworkers are highlighted.     

论梅罗-庞蒂的肉体概念

本文根据梅罗-庞蒂的<可见者与不可见者>等晚期作品,通过澄清他的肉体概念,揭示其从知觉现象学到肉体本体论的转向,即意向生活不仅是主体向世界的生存投射和世界向主体的生存投射,而且还是存在的自身实现.     

现象学视野下的审美经验精神结构

在现象学视野的观照下,审美经验的一般精神结构包括意向性、想象与理解。意向性是审美经验发生的起点,它廓清了审美对象的所指,揭示了审美对象与审美主体的亲密关系,呈现了经验的内在时间性。想象是审美经验中最活跃的精神结构,是一种在直观中再现一个其本身并不在场的对象的能力。理解是审美经验中具有理性功能的一种精神结构,意味着审美意义的生成。     

时间性显现:“社会主义现象学”与胡塞尔、海德格尔现象学的差异

建立社会主义现象学,就是要以马克思主义的历史辩证法为指导并借鉴现象学的合理成分,对社会主义的历史现象进行考察分析。从时间性显现来说,社会主义现象学与胡塞尔、海德格尔的现象学有本质区别:时间性显现的动力机制不同,内涵不同,结构和基础不同,对时间性显现的前途观点不同,着重点和落脚点的把握不同,显现的特点与方式不同。     

论梅洛-庞蒂的生命现象学

本文首先从现象学发展史的角度出发,阐明生命现象是现象学研究本身的关键论题,进一步延伸出梅洛一庞蒂的生命现象学的重要意义及其基本特征,集中探讨对感知、身体、肉体、精神及其相互交错关系的现象学研究的具体内容和难点,以便恰当评价梅洛一庞蒂的生命现象学的理论贡献及其遗留难题.     

Real social analytics: A contribution towards a phenomenology of a digital world

This article argues against the assumption that agency and reflexivity disappear in an age of ‘algorithmic power’ (Lash 2007). Following the suggestions of Beer (2009), it proposes that, far from disappearing, new forms of agency and reflexivity around the embedding in everyday practice of not only algorithms but also analytics more broadly are emerging, as social actors continue to pursue their social ends but mediated through digital interfaces: this is the consequence of many social actors now needing their digital presence, regardless of whether they want this, to be measured and counted. The article proposes ‘social analytics’ as a new topic for sociology: the sociological study of social actors’ uses of analytics not for the sake of measurement itself (or to make profit from measurement) but in order to fulfil better their social ends through an enhancement of their digital presence. The article places social analytics in the context of earlier debates about categorization, algorithmic power, and self‐presentation online, and describes in detail a case study with a UK community organization which generated the social analytics approach. The article concludes with reflections on the implications of this approach for further sociological fieldwork in a digital world.