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In this book Paul Willis, a renowned sociologist and ethnographer, aims to renew and develop the ethnographic craft across the disciplines. Drawing from numerous examples of his own past and current work, he shows that ethnographic practice and the ethnographic imagination are vital to understanding the creativity and irreducibility of experience in all aspects of social and cultural practice. Willis argues that ethnography plays a vital role in constituting 'sensuousness' in textual, methodological, and substantive ways, but it can do this only through the deployment of an associated theoretical imagination which cannot be found simply there in the field. He presents a bold and incisive ethnographically oriented view of the world, emphasizing the need for a deep-running social but also aesthetic sensibility. In doing so he brings new insights to the understanding of human action and its dialectical relation to social and symbolic structures. He makes original contributions to the understanding of the contemporary human uses of objects, artefacts and communicative forms, presenting a new analysis of commodity fetishism as central to consumption and to the wider social relations of contemporary societies. He also utilizes his perspective to further the understanding of the contemporary crisis in masculinity and to cast new light on various lived everyday cultures - at school, on the dole, on the street, in the Mall, in front of TV, in the dance club. This book will be essential reading for all those involved in planning or contemplating ethnographic fieldwork and for those interested in the contributions it can make to the social sciences and humanities. Paul Willisis Professor of Social and Cultural Studes at Wolverhampton University. He is also the Founding Editor of the journal Ethnography.

Purpose
This paper is a conceptual discussion of the ways in which the diverse lives, identities and collective politics of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people can be made visible, and how they are made visible, in long-term care environments for older people. The purpose of this paper is to problematise strategies of visibility as methods for promoting social inclusion in care environments.


Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual discussion that draws on several social theorists that have previously discussed the politics of visibility, knowledge and sexuality.


Findings
Promoting increased visibility in itself does not fully grapple with the ways in which older LGB can be represented and known as particular kinds of sexual citizens. This potentially curtails a more holistic recognition of their needs, interests and wishes, inclusive of their sexual lives and histories. Making LGB lives visible in care environments may not always be a productive or affirmative strategy for dismantling homophobic views and beliefs.


Practical implications
The theoretical implications of a politics of visibility warrant a deeper consideration of strategies for promoting visibility. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the practical implications for rethinking strategies of visibility in care environments.


Originality/value
Critical discussions about the application of visibility strategies, and the problematic assumptions contained within such strategies, are lacking in relation to mainstream housing and social care provision for older LGB people. This paper seeks to initiate this important discussion.

Purpose This paper is a conceptual discussion of the ways in which the diverse lives, identities and collective politics of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people can be made visible, and how they are made visible, in long-term care environments for older people. The purpose is to problematise strategies of visibility as methods for promoting social inclusion in care environments. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual discussion that draws on several social theorists that have previously discussed the politics of visibility, knowledge and sexuality. Findings Promoting increased visibility in itself does not fully grapple with the ways in which older LGB can be represented and known as particular kinds of sexual citizens. This potentially curtails a more holistic recognition of their needs, interests and wishes, inclusive of their sexual lives and histories. Making LGB lives visible in care environments may not always be a productive or affirmative strategy for dismantling homophobic views and beliefs. Practical implications The theoretical implications of a politics of visibility warrants a deeper consideration of strategies for promoting visibility. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the practical implications for rethinking strategies of visibility in care environments. Originality/value Critical discussions about the application of visibility strategies, and the problematic assumptions contained within such strategies, are lacking in relation to mainstream housing and care provision for older LGB people. This paper seeks to initiate this important discussion.

This article explores issues associated with organisational governance in the context of stakeholder engagement. It argues that both public relations (PR) research and practice have yet to address systematically the challenges inherent in this area, particularly how organisations exert power over stakeholders. Prompted by a consideration of the situational theory of power put forward by the sociologist Steven Lukes, it introduces the concept of passive aggression to PR practice. This is cited as an example of a wider phenomenon, which the author calls dark dialogue. The insights generated by these perspectives are used to highlight how theoretical approaches in the PR field that seek to understand and promote the role of dialogue in organisational-stakeholder relations face an empirical challenge. This insight is then used to highlight the limitations of what has been traditionally termed as social auditing. It is suggested that PR and social auditing practice share the same blind spots when it comes to assessing how organisations exercise power and behave towards their stakeholders. The article goes on to advocate collaboration between PR professionals and academics to practically address these issues through a reconfigured social auditing process. It ends by suggesting that action research provides a methodological framework through which these theory-practice interactions can be facilitated productively. . [Copyright John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.]

Social divisions on the basis of sexuality are continually reinforced and contested in organizational environments. Previous studies have focused on the workplace as a problematic environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer-identifying (LGBQ) workers. In this article, I examine young workers' experiences of witnessing the exchange of homophobic expressions, commentary and humour at work. Qualitative findings are presented from an exploratory study of young LGBQ people's experiences in Australian organizations. Three core themes are discussed: (i) young workers' location as periphery witnesses to homophobic exchanges, discussions and humour; (ii) the constraints experienced by young LGBQ workers in having to 'manage' their sexuality at work; and (iii) young workers' attempts to refute and reject homophobic discourse in work relationships. Based on these findings, I conclude that witnessing the exchange of homophobic commentary can constrain how young workers express their sexuality at work while also mobilizing young workers to question homophobic discourse.

While Internet-based tools are gaining currency in social work teaching and practice, social work researchers are tapping into the development of computer-mediated methods for research with dispersed and hard-to-reach populations. This article is a reflective commentary about the opportunities and challenges of using computer-mediated methods in a qualitative inquiry about young people's (18–26 years) experiences of negotiating lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer (LGBQ) identities in Australian workplaces. The research used two Internet-based methods of online interviews and web-based surveys to capture young people's experiences of disclosing and discussing LGBQ identities in past and current work environments. In this commentary, I outline these methods and explore the technical, methodological and ethical challenges and tensions presented by using online tools in qualitative research. To conclude, I discuss wider applications of computer-mediated communication for social work.

A visit to the Liberty Bell has an unexpectedly penetrating effect on the author. He recasts a planned talk on the crisis of British working-class culture into a wider meditation, shaped by the metaphor of the bell, on the role of culture in popular struggles from below. The bell calls up the centrality of human labor in popular struggle and experience, from that embedded in the physical making of the bell to all the symbolic and communicative labors entailed in the grassroots cultural production of the historical meanings now condensed into it. In the past, these labors have helped to produce trade unions, abolitionist political forces and organizations, and the civil and women's rights movements. But devastating economic and social changes seem to have fractured the everyday cultural forms of today, made them invisible, and unwound their links with political organization: the bell is cracked anew. But human labors, physical and cultural, continue even in "new times." Ethnographic social science must recognize, record, and dignify their many forms, seeking, where possible, to make visibility a means to self-direction and repair.

A visit to the Liberty Bell has an unexpectedly penetrating effect on the author. He recasts a planned talk on the crisis of British working-class culture into a wider meditation, shaped by the metaphor of the bell, on the role of culture in popular struggles from below. The bell calls up the centrality of human labor in popular struggle & experience, from that embedded in the physical making of the bell to all time symbolic & communicative labors entailed in the grassroots cultural production of the historical meanings now condensed into it. In the past, these labors have helped to produce trade unions, abolitionist political forces & organizations, & the civil & women's rights movements. But devastating economic & social changes seem to have fractured the everyday cultural forms of today, made them invisible, & unwound their links with political organization: the bell is cracked anew. But human labors, physical & cultural, continue even in "newtimes." Ethnographic social science must recognize, record, & dignify their many forms, seeking, where possible, to make visibility a means to self-direction & repair. 33 References. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright 2004 The American Academy of Political and Social Science.]