Suchergebnisse

Circumcision & linguistic transformation often play a role in communal violence between Muslims & Hindus in India. For Indian Muslims, the ritual of circumcision encodes masculinity on the body & marks the child's transition from an uncircumcised "Hindu" body to a Muslim male body. The notion of the Muslim as a circumcised body extends beyond the context of ritual to permeate male conversations in everyday life. In everyday discourse, circumcision becomes a verbal, rather than a corporal, sign through which men articulate the differences between Hindu & Muslim male identity. For the Hindu, circumcision represents a kind of castration that transforms the Muslim body into a bestial body. Thus, the Muslim is unable to respect important social boundaries -- those between pure & impure, between sexual control & abandonment, between man & animal. This disparity between Muslim & Hindu attitudes crystallizes during communal riots when the discourse of musalmani & khatna (rituals of circumcision & the encoding of maleness on the body) confronts the notion of katua (castration). 13 References. A. Funderburg

Analyzes the multiple narratives constructed about the interethnic standoff that occurred in Oka, Quebec, 11 July 1990, drawing on 1993 field interviews with persons who participated in or covered the incident for the local media. On the day of confrontation, hundreds of Surete du Quebec police engaged in a conflict with 12 Kanehsatake Mohawks over the municipality's plan to expand a nine-hole golf course onto the tribe's ancestral pine forest. Thirteen narratives about this event are categorized according to their relative sympathy toward Mohawk positions. These narratives move from the suggestion that the municipality had a clear right to take this action to assertions that the act was an effort to take away the sovereignty of the Mohawk people. Two metanarratives were also found, stressing the possibility of greater interethnic understanding or greater unity among tribal peoples. The genesis of these narratives is traced to a confluence of political motivation, convenience, linguistic community, psychological characteristics of the narrator, access to local sources, ethics, & human ingenuity. D. M. Smith

Discusses the relationship of women's studies to the discipline of philosophy, drawing on personal experiece as a feminist philosopher. Traditionally, philosophy has been dominated by a male perspective that privileges a combative culture, a disembodied form of reason, & a preference for analysis of themes & issues pertinent to the public rather than private sphere. In this climate, feminism has been pushed to the margins of philosophy, forcing women to choose between success on the discipline's terms or migration to women's studies programs. In arguing that women philosophers should continue to inhabit the borderlands between philosophy & women's studies, three dangers in inhabiting this space are raised: the tendency to turn philosophy into an exercise in literary analysis; (2) the tendency to make feminist arguments inaccessible to educated readers; & (3) the tendency to base one's work solely on linguistic or psychoanalytic theories. It is concluded that feminists can continue to occupy the borderlands by maintaining a commitment both to political engagement & to critical scrutiny. 14 References. D. M. Ryfe

(Originally published in John A. Hall & Ian C. Jarvie's [Eds], Transition to Modernity, 1992 [see abstract 93c01707].) Ernest Gellner's criticism of the Oxford school of ordinary language philosophy (Words and Things, a Critical Account of Linguistic Philosophy and a Study in Ideology [1959]) is buttressed by his defense of an empirical positivism built on the work of Immanuel Kant & Karl Popper. Gellner's sociological works can all be construed as philosophical works that endorse positivism. Gellner borrows from Paul Fayerabend the argument that science is not a content-free methodology, but a substantive moral commitment. Gellner thinks that such a commitment is unavoidable in modern society; his reasons for believing in this unavoidability are defended. Empiricism is argued to be highly plausible, & sociology to be adept at making sense of social practice. The difference between modern & premodern societies' worldviews is emphasized. The neutrality of scientific language continues its inexorable expansion. Positivism is not dependent on an other-worldly justification. The problem of a philosophy of experience is considered, & the Socratic method is offered as a solution. 11 References. H. von Rautenfeld

Two important factors that marked the rise of the
professions of secretary, assistant manager respectively are technical
developments in communication and control systems. Globally, secretaries
and assistants can be found in any organization, regardless of the nature,
origin of capital, organization size, etc. In Romania, concepts of secretary
and assistant manager two formulas are moving today to describe the same
type of activity. The formula has become assistant manager for private
companies, with imposing time manager and use English in business. For
companies looking today, a secretary or an assistant, secretarial basic
techniques alone are not sufficient to handle this functions, the job
description is full of other details and other required skills: linguistic,
commercial, financial etc. But these new powers are not used to anything if
the possession does not know how to classify, to organize work to ensure
the operations, to circulate written and oral information, take notes and
prepare minutes, which gives even more than ever, a real added value
along with other skills. Limited time in typing and shorthand, secretarial
techniques currently encompasses all aspects of communication processes
within an organization, being used in an environment more and more
modern.

Ponders the potential for a feminist public sphere. Discussion opens with some remarks on Jurgen Habermas's The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1989) & the linguistic turn in theorizing to point out deficiencies in current public sphere theory particularly with respect to emphasizing discourse & treating the media as only instruments for the dissemination of discourse. The contributions of feminist theorizing to understanding the public sphere are noted; although such efforts are criticized for their parochialism, while much scholarship is seen to follow Habermas & pays scant attention to how public modes of discourse are produced, enabled, & obstructed through the media's hegemonic practices. Feminist treatments of the transnationalization of the public sphere are addressed, countering the work of Nancy Fraser (1997) with that of C. T. Mohanty (2002), whose notion of transnational feminist praxis is deemed more nuanced than the former's "too-rigid categorical opposition." The idea of a transnational feminist movement is then elaborated on, demonstrating congruence with the feminist concept of the counterpublic sphere. In addition, attention is given to cosmopolitan democracy, particularly Habermas's thought, exposing problems with his ideas that ought to concern feminists. In this light, difficulties with the notion of "globalization from below" & transnational civil society are considered, along with the roles of the UN & NGOs in excluding women. In closing, the implications of new media & neoliberal globalization for a public sphere & women's communicative access therein are briefly articulated. 58 References. J. Zendejas

Ponders the potential for a feminist public sphere. Discussion opens with some remarks on Jurgen Habermas's The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere (1989) & the linguistic turn in theorizing to point out deficiencies in current public sphere theory particularly with respect to emphasizing discourse & treating the media as only instruments for the dissemination of discourse. The contributions of feminist theorizing to understanding the public sphere are noted; although such efforts are criticized for their parochialism, while much scholarship is seen to follow Habermas & pays scant attention to how public modes of discourse are produced, enabled, & obstructed through the media's hegemonic practices. Feminist treatments of the transnationalization of the public sphere are addressed, countering the work of Nancy Fraser (1997) with that of C. T. Mohanty (2002), whose notion of transnational feminist praxis is deemed more nuanced than the former's "too-rigid categorical opposition." The idea of a transnational feminist movement is then elaborated on, demonstrating congruence with the feminist concept of the counterpublic sphere. In addition, attention is given to cosmopolitan democracy, particularly Habermas's thought, exposing problems with his ideas that ought to concern feminists. In this light, difficulties with the notion of "globalization from below" & transnational civil society are considered, along with the roles of the UN & NGOs in excluding women. In closing, the implications of new media & neoliberal globalization for a public sphere & women's communicative access therein are briefly articulated. 58 References. J. Zendejas

Quantitative questionnaires are increasingly applied across different languages and cultures.
They play an important role in research on immigrant communities as well as in
surveys of the general population of which immigrants are a significant part. Because
immigrants have often limited proficiency of the language of the host country, usually
questionnaires in their first language ("mother tongue") are needed. For this purpose, it
is common to use questionnaires developed or adapted for the population of the respective
countries which immigrants originate from. The applicability of these questionnaires,
however, may be limited because of differences between both populations in terms of
language usage, amongst others resulting from language attrition. This, for example, can
be illustrated by means of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) applied to
Turks in Turkey and Turkish immigrants residing in Germany. Questionnaires, therefore,
must be thoroughly tested and often re-adapted to the language style and level of language
proficiency of immigrants to avoid different forms of bias. An analytical framework of
questionnaire equivalence can guide the process of testing and re-adaptation.