Violence Regimes: A Useful Concept for Social Politics,Social Analysis,and Social Theory

Theory and Society - This paper critically interrogates the usefulness of the concept of violence regimes for social politics, social analysis, and social theory. In the first case, violence...     

Women Scientists and Engineers in European Companies: Putting Motherhood under the Microscope

Unlike the rise in women's participation in other professional sectors, women still form a minority of professional scientists and engineers, especially in multinational companies. Moreover, embedded gendered cultures in the science, engineering and technology (SET) sectors continue to affect the career progression of professional women, with few women reaching senior management positions and many leaving and failing to return. This article examines the experiences of women SET professionals in three European companies based in France, The Netherlands and Italy and illustrates how the careers of SET professionals in industry are shaped not only by corporate cultures and practices but also by the specific national contexts in which they live and work. In particular, we look at how motherhood rather than gender alone is constructed as problematic and propose a model of strategies that women adopt in doing motherhood and SET, including assimilation, cul‐de‐sac, breaking the mould and lying low.     

Progressivism in Social Studies Teaching

Contemporary global events of the War on Terror, the War on ISIS, and the United States contentious relationship with Muslim societies make it crucial to teach about Islam and Muslims in school. However, negative representations of Islam and Muslims often impede this process. Overcoming these challenges is critical for the development of compassionate and informed students who are capable of thinking critically in a complex and globalized world. This article shows the importance of addressing Muslim representation in the media, debunks myths about Islam and Muslims, and provides concrete classroom recommendations for teachers.     

Building strategy on technological resources and commercial proactiveness: The Gemplus case

This article uses the resource-based framework for analyzing the strategy of Gemplus, a spin-off of the French group Thomson, that has grown by 50 per cent each year since its creation in 1988. Three points are highlighted: (1) Gemplus combined various resources in order to build a distinctive competence base in three areas: smart cards design, mass production and mass customization, commercial capabilities. (2) The company's strategy is two-fold: a constant enlargement of the spectrum of applications of its core product (i.e. the smart card), supported by technology exploitation and commercial awareness, and an aggressive search for new geographical markets, supported by commercial proactiveness. (3) Gemplus continuously nurtures its resource base through a vast network of partners (with means such as R&D and joint-ventures). To summarize, we explain the success of Gemplus by a talented balance between an outside-in and an inside-out approach.     

‘Men have careers,women have babies’: unequal parental care among Irish entrepreneurs

This paper examines how entrepreneurial parents in Ireland negotiate their work and family roles, drawing upon a national survey of women and men entrepreneurs, to ascertain the degree to which entrepreneurship facilitates a more equitable sharing of domestic and caring tasks. Relatively few studies have examined familial and domestic task allocation in the context of entrepreneurship, as opposed to employment. The results suggest that mothers (and not fathers) adopted flexible working strategies; took on a disproportionate responsibility for caring and domestic labour; and experienced greater role conflict. Far from contradicting the prevailing findings of gender and employment issues, the study validates the gendered patterns of divergence between men and women and illustrates how they extend into entrepreneurship. Fathers worked significantly longer hours; their career trajectories were typically continuous, in full-time work, while mothers had more fragmented working patterns, reflecting absences for caring and adjustments such as part-time or working from home. It is still mothers, rather than fathers, who feel responsible for childcare arrangements and this imposes time constraints on their pursuit of entrepreneurship. The study points to the need for policy interventions to encourage entrepreneurship alongside co-parenting through childcare provision/subsidies and equal treatment in access to family-related leave.