Suchergebnisse

The lesbian and gay movement in the UK has been the least successful of the major 'new social movements' (NSMs) in achieving social policy and legislative change, and Section 28 of the Local Government Act (1988) remains in force as a major symbol both of Conservative opposition to such changes and also of wider and institutionalised discrimination. Around 'New Labour' proposals to repeal Section 28, a 'moral panic' has taken place, and sections of the popular press have been 'players within' the amplification processes involved. Reporting of 'what has been happening' has suggested apparently close ongoing links exist between disparate groups opposed to repeal and largely homogenous views about the moral wrongness of homosexuality as such tantamount to a 'New Right' hegemonic phenomenon. However, a closer look suggests there is actually important differences between the groupings involved and the 'close links' are actually artefacts of 'creative reporting'; and that these events are better characterised in terms of a 'backlash' to the specificities involved rather than a 'New Right' blanket response.

Discusses the social role of the female academic, drawing on personal experience as a white, lesbian working-class scholar. Distant physical separation from the university is but the first boundary between the personal & professional life of this scholar. Other boundaries include those between being a professional social worker & a scholar. In the midst of crossing these boundaries, identity is fragmented along a host of lines, eg, class, sexual orientation, profession, & gender. This fragmented sense of self opens a number of avenues through which to establish relationships with students. Though the reality of multiple identities is configured differently for different women, all feminist scholars must face the reality of the present university context as a social institution beset by cuts in financing, greater regulation of faculty & students, & a more market-oriented atmosphere. 5 References. D. M. Ryfe

Sociological work on the sequestration of death has taken on some canonical qualities, while secondary discussion has not recognized interesting divergences within it. While drawing on Giddens (1991) provides useful ideas, the work of Elias (1983, 1985, 1994) is an especially helpful means of historicizing, contextualizing and theorizing domestic figuration and its role in responding to the threatening 'otherness' of death. Case studies concerning the domestication of death and its ritualized practices are discussed, including representations of the ineffable 'moment' of death. Following Elias, a fully-articulated theorization of death needs to be grounded, historicized, comparative; to explore such matters through the lens of domestic figuration; and to deal with the ontological and epistemological issues raised by death with which the bereaved necessarily have to deal.

The ESRC's (2010) Framework for Research Ethics extends the remit of its 2005 research ethics framework in three significant ways: the system is to be fully mandatory and it will no longer be possible to make the case that no out of the ordinary ethical issues arise; the Research Ethics Committees (RECs) set up under the ESRC's 2005 document have extended remit, including reviewing all research proposals accepted by the ESRC and other funding bodies; and funding will depend on the REC review, with its purview extending through a project's life. The 2010 document is reviewed in detail and the conclusion is drawn that it is not fit for purpose. Six wider issues raised by the FRE document are discussed: the consultation process by the ESRC was insufficient and the informed consent of the social science community was not obtained; the ethics creep involved will involve unnecessary bureaucratisation; the RECs will operate without expert discipline-specific knowledge using unethical generalist criteria; the overall effects long-term will be deleterious to the research base; the FRE document unacceptably ignores the professional associations and their research ethics guidelines; and the ESRC's system of the expert peer review of funding applications will be undermined.

Feminist fractured foundationalism has been developed over a series of collaborative writings as a combined epistemology and methodology, although it has mainly been discussed in epistemological terms. It was operationalised as a methodology in a joint research project in South Africa concerned with investigating two important ways that the experiences of children in the South African War 1899-1902, in particular in the concentration camps established during its commando and 'scorched earth' phase, were represented contemporaneously: in the official records, and in photography. The details of the research and writing process involved are provided around discussion of the nine strategies that compose feminist fractured foundationalism and its strengths and limitations in methodological terms are reviewed.