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11 – 20 of over 2000The purpose of this paper is to argue that rather than contest the artificial schism produced by social scientists between “qualitative” and “quantitative” research, we should to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue that rather than contest the artificial schism produced by social scientists between “qualitative” and “quantitative” research, we should to accept this binary, however, contingently, and use it productively. This would be an act of “strategic essentialism” that would allow us to be productive in the research and inquiry.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses postcolonial theory to make a case for contingent representation, i.e. using artificial categories to carve out a space for heterodox theoretical approaches.
Findings
Researchers devoted to qualitative research must resist thinking, speaking and evaluating that research using quantitative thinking. Also, while ethical considerations are paramount in qualitative research, we need to debunk the narrow understanding of ethics as “following rules.” Also, qualitative researchers need to be aware of the institutional pulls that the research will be subject to, and also be ready to resist them.
Originality/value
This paper discusses how good research resists the siren call of institutionalization. It challenges the “common sense” assumptions of the field and brings them into the realm of the questionable. It seeks to theorize the untheorizable, and anthropologize the dominant.
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On 20 March 2020, the four adult convicts of the 2012 Delhi rape case were executed after a long debate regarding the punishment for their crime. The Delhi rape case, unlike…
Abstract
On 20 March 2020, the four adult convicts of the 2012 Delhi rape case were executed after a long debate regarding the punishment for their crime. The Delhi rape case, unlike others, was also given to the fast track court because of the worldwide outrage India received in its aftermath. Otherwise, most rape survivors rarely speak out and if they do, their lives are often endangered and threatened, depending on the severity of the case itself and the perpetrator's rank in the society. Through the analysis of Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's, 2016 film Pink, and Ajay Bahl's film Section 375 (2019), this chapter explores the different ways in which mainstream Hindi cinema deals with such questions, especially in its depictions of courts. Both these films foreground India's contemporary cultural systems of fear that silence the rape survivors. They also imply that in the court cases, unless the specific court case faces intense global publicity, as was the case of the Delhi gang rape, rape survivors will never want to speak out. Moreover, the rape survivors will also hesitate to file a First Information Report (FIR) – a document that records crimes by the police against their perpetrators – limiting any possibility for justice for them. The laws surrounding rape cases are obscure and complex and finding justice for a rape victim (unless it is on a global level) is not an easy venture in India. At the time of the #metoo movement, the rape laws in India are not designed in such a way to arguably encourage victim-survivors to speak up. Instead, if rape survivors do decide to confront their perpetrators, they not only face ostracisation from society but also the danger of losing loved ones and endanger their lives as well.
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Geneva Connor and Leigh Coombes
The purpose of this paper is to analyse pro-anorexia from a discursive, metaphorical standpoint in order to enable an understanding of how pro-anorexia functions as political…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse pro-anorexia from a discursive, metaphorical standpoint in order to enable an understanding of how pro-anorexia functions as political resistance through technological bodies.
Design/methodology/approach
Techno-metaphor is used to reveal how pro-anorexic communities online function through technology.
Findings
Six techno-metaphors work to construct pro-anorexic cyborg embodiment through technology. This pro-anorexic cyborg embodiment offers relief from the tensions of patriarchal femininity and provides control over troublesome embodiment. Technology enables women experiencing anorexia to resist the dominant interpretations of their lived experience that subjugate them.
Originality/value
This research offers an understanding of pro-anorexia as resistance to intolerable femininity and reconstructed female bodies through technology. By exploiting technological political space, pro-anorexics are claiming positions and forms of embodiment previously off-limits to women and their biological bodies.
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This chapter presents an interpretation of gentrification and touristification as gender-related issues. The underlying question driving this discussion is: How can we envision…
Abstract
This chapter presents an interpretation of gentrification and touristification as gender-related issues. The underlying question driving this discussion is: How can we envision feminist cities when certain forms of feminism today are strongly intertwined with consumerism? In the context of ghost cities or neighborhoods, Airbnb and digital nomads dominate, skyrocketing prices make life unaffordable, support structures vanish in favor of place branding, and oppressive security practices are normalized. The chapter examines the history of neoliberal deactivation in Rome’s Ostiense neighborhood. It explores the resistance by places of liberation, such as the occupied former barracks of Porto Fluviale, which serves as a residence for homeless families. It delves into the genuine transformation of the area into an open-air museum exploited for tourism and the occupation of a former nightclub turned into a meeting space for marginalized individuals to ensure their safety through acts of resistance. The territorial appropriation dynamics driven by neoliberal forces have altered geographies, resulting in an emotional detachment that renders the city unlivable. The chapter touches upon the transformation of soulful places into sites of emotional resistance, illustrated through Sara Ventroni’s poem dedicated to the Gasometer. This suburban colossus has indelibly shaped the area’s cityscape since the early 20th century, constantly caught between branding and resistance. Drawing from these experiences and insights, a new theory of the city is proposed, one rooted in the principle of care.
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To provide relevant, appropriate education to the female student population, their perceptions as women and preparedness to work in male-dominated spaces, such as the construction…
Abstract
Purpose
To provide relevant, appropriate education to the female student population, their perceptions as women and preparedness to work in male-dominated spaces, such as the construction workplace, is essential. The aim of this study, by the Professional Communication Studies and the HIV/AIDS Inclusivity and Change Unit, was to explore whether the students have been appropriately prepared.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology comprising six semi-structured focus groups was conducted with student cohorts in 2016 and 2017. The focus groups were drawn from different courses in 2016 and 2017 and comprised a total of 17 female students between the ages of 20 and 23 years old. Themes were developed by using NVivo for “literal” (Mason, 1996, p. 56) coding prior to manually coding the data using an interpretive lens. Eight dominant themes emerged from the data, which are discussed in the findings.
Findings
Responses were that the students perceived that their gender is advantageous to their entering the profession, as there is legislative support but that the challenge remains that they need to prove their worth more than their male counterparts. The curriculum fails to prepare and/or sensitise students to respond to gender-based challenges, some of which they have already experienced during vacation work.
Research limitations/implications
The sample is drawn from one institution. Whilst the university has a diverse student body, it is not confirmed that the sample groups were reflective of the broad base of women employed in the construction field in South Africa.
Social implications
The findings were aligned with those from developed countries. Whilst some challenges specific to developing countries were cited, they were not considered to be insurmountable.
Originality/value
Gender research is an important topic for countries which, like South Africa, have legislated that employment of women in construction be increased but do not underscore gender in curriculum development of construction courses in universities.
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Scholarly literature on the Internationalization of Education has generated important theories, debates, and insights supporting in-depth understandings of the field, yet we lack…
Abstract
Scholarly literature on the Internationalization of Education has generated important theories, debates, and insights supporting in-depth understandings of the field, yet we lack comprehensive reviews exploring the design, implementation, and impact of practical approaches. The present review addresses this gap, mapping the literature on international curriculum design, identifying trends and themes across approaches and pedagogies while revealing limitations and lack of attention to issues that inhibit practice in the field. It highlights the privileging of “instrumental,” or quantifiable skills-based curricula, over “transformative” internationalization dedicated to social justice and equity, and observes important disconnects between theory and practice: publications in the field offer critical conceptualizations of what internationalized curricula should achieve and why but with little attention to specific content and teaching practice that would lead to achieving these objectives. The review further analyzes such disconnect in the literature dedicated to decolonial internationalizing pedagogies, while simultaneously illuminating how prevailing decolonial theories of international education erase and ignore parts of the world. It concludes by contending that approaches to the internationalization of curriculum would benefit from increased practical frameworks that could guide educators, practitioners, and students in crucial conversations at the intersections of social justice and International Education.
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This chapter reviews different ontological positions and uses modernism, postmodernism, structuralism, and poststructuralism to illustrate how each changes the nature of research…
Abstract
This chapter reviews different ontological positions and uses modernism, postmodernism, structuralism, and poststructuralism to illustrate how each changes the nature of research when attempting to decolonize the research method.
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