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This article examines the relevance of marketing and consumption phenomena to the interpretation of meaning in works of art. It suggests that, in general, consumption symbolism can contribute to the meaning of an artwork and that, in particular, consumer behaviour does work in this manner in at least one paradigmatic case example — namely, Painting Churches by Tina Howe. After tracing the symbolic use of consumption in that illustrative play, the paper concludes that this focus represents a potentially fertile area of enquiry and that, in this spirit, we should “Ask not what Art can do for Marketing and Consumer Research, but what they can do for Art.”

I. The Gendarmerie: Historical Background The Gendarmerie is the senior unit of the French Armed Forces. It is, however, difficult to give a precise date to its creation. What can be asserted is that as early as the Eleventh Century special units existed under the sénéchal (seneschal), an official of the King's household who was entrusted with the administration of military justice and the command of the army. The seneschal's assistants were armed men known as sergents d'armes (sergeants at arms). In time, the office of the seneschal was replaced by that of the connétable (constable) who was originally the head groom of the King's stables, but who became the principal officer of the early French kings before rising to become commander‐in‐chief of the army in 1218. The connétable's second in command was the maréchal (marshal). Eventually, the number of marshals grew and they were empowered to administer justice among the soldiery and the camp followers in wartime, a task which fully absorbed them throughout the Hundred Years War (1337–1453). The corps of marshals was then known as the maréchaussée (marshalcy) and its members as sergeants and provosts. One of the provosts, Le Gallois de Fougières, was killed at Agincourt in 1415; his ashes were transferred to the national memorial to the Gendarmerie, which was erected at Versailles in 1946.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between management accounting software and the management accountant, as (re)produced in adverts appearing in professional management accounting journals. The paper analyses how such adverts have shaped the management accountant and the social practice of management accounting; in particular, whether these adverts are producing an image of management accountants who are in control of their management accounting system or who are controlled by it. The paper also discusses whether these adverts reflect changes in broader social practices.

The paper analyses two software adverts that were published in Chartered Institute of Management Accountants' professional journal. It uses discourse analysis to understand both the image of management accountants and the nature of the management accounting software portrayed in these adverts, as well as to explore the relationship between management accountants and their control systems.

It is concluded that the software adverts project an image of management accountants who are effectively handing over control to their systems, and who are encouraged to place substantial trust in the software. The paper relates these changes to trends in contemporary social practices, and reflects in the light of recent events in the financial markets and global economy more generally.

This paper contributes by adding more insight to the diffusion of the images of the accountant as a more action oriented and hedonistic person (while the software system “does the work”), as well as considering the broader implications of such diffusion in the context of the recent financial crisis.

D.H. Lawrence thought Lady Chatterley’s Lover was his best and most important novel. Yet he had to pay to have it privately printed. His publishers thought his sexual descriptions and language were obscene under the censorship laws of the UK and the USA, and they were right. From 1928 until 1959 no‐one could legally publish or sell the unexpurgated novel, and copies were subject to confiscation. All this changed in 1959 when Charles Rembar successfully defended Grove Press’s right to publish the novel. His defense, which rested on a unique interpretation of Justice Brennan’s opinion in Roth v. United States, introduced the redeeming‐social‐value test for obscenity. Within six years it revolutionized American obscenity laws, ensuring that sexual material with even a small measure of social value would enjoy First Amendment protection.

Hair colour stereotyping is well documented in countless jokes as well as in the psychological literature. Blondes, for example, are stereotyped as incompetent, but likeable. Those with red hair are stereotyped as competent but cold or with a fiery temper. These and other stereotypes may affect job progression, mobility, and the rise to the corporate suite. To test this research question, the hair colour of CEOs of the Fortune 500 was recorded and analysed. The results support the pre conceived hair colour stereotypes. Of this group, only 11 CEOs (2.2%) were blonde while 17 CEOs (3.4%) had red hair. The remainder of the 460 male non‐minority CEOs (92%) had either brown or black hair. Do ste reo types or per cep tions be come reality? Is awareness the first step in correcting the disparity? Is the disparity a problem? Does it point to discrimination in lower organisational ranks? Is this bias warranted? The article discusses the possible implications of these findings. Areas for further research are also included.

DRAGONS represent times far away and marvellous, where none of the ordinary work‐a‐day worries can torment mankind. In Dragon‐Land there are turreted castles, feasts of nightingale tongues, and pomegranates served in golden bowls. Here all men are the bravest of knights, victorious in battle and love, and all women are beautiful and gentle, and wait for lovers in hidden gardens of roses and lime trees, the while they weave tapestries of unicorns and wyverns.

The purpose of this study was to explore negative and stereotype-threatening depictions of career women in Hollywood films. The study draws on stereotype threat research to reflect on how such portrayals might undermine women’s career aspirations and contribute to the glass ceiling’s persistence, and proposes an agenda for future research.

Bridging social role theories with conceptual models of films as social “texts”, the author explored depictions of 165 career women presented by 137 films, focusing on negative and potentially stereotype-threatening personal and professional characteristics and contexts.

Thematic analyses of film portrayals revealed negative and stereotype-threatening characteristics and contexts of career women, including their mean and conniving personalities, promiscuity, isolation, failures at intimacy and inability to balance work and family.

Limitations include the subjective interpretations of a single author, a broad exploratory focus and no empirical evidence of connections between film portrayals and career attitudes. Researchers are encouraged to deepen analyses of film portrayals and examine linkages with stereotype threat and career behaviours sustaining the glass ceiling.

Given the pervasive reach of the media and the potential for consumers to internalize its messages, the negative depictions documented here could bear an adverse effect on women’s career aspirations, contributing to the glass ceiling’s survival.

Questioning the role of the media, in particular the portrayals of career women in film, provides an additional angle to understand why the glass ceiling endures.

Human hair may contain deposits of illicit drugs. Testing of hair will provide an indicator of drug use at the time the hair was grown. Hair samples have several advantages over urine samples, particularly length of surveillance period (months rather than days) and resistance to tampering. Any form of drug‐testing must be seen as a component of a clinical plan for the management of the patient's drug misuse, mental disorder and offending.

Purpose – Research on punk culture often falls prey to three main dilemmas. First, an ageist bias exists in most popular music research, resulting in the continued equating of music and youth. Second, punk culture research often uses a Marxist economic lens that implies fieldwork reveals already known conceptions of class and culture. Third, research on punk culture lacks ethnographic and narrative examinations. This ethnographic project explores my reentry into punk culture as an adult, exploring it from a new researcher perspective. It provides an insider's view of emerging cultural themes at the site that disrupts these traditional research approaches.

Methodology/approach – This ethnography examines punk culture at an inner city nonprofit arts establishment. Through grounded theory and using a fictional literary account, this research probes how rituals and cultural narratives pervade and maintain the scene.

Findings – Concepts such as carnival, jamming as an organizing process – and as an aesthetic moment – emerged through the research process. This ethnography found narratives constituted personal and communal identity.

Research limitations/implications – As a personal ethnography, this research contains experiences in one local arts center, and therefore is not necessarily generalizable to other sites or experiences.

Originality/value of paper – Using ethnography, I explored punk as one of my primary identities in tandem with younger members of the scene. It critiques Marxist and youth approaches that have stunted music scene research for decades.

The dedicatee of this Festschrift Issue is Anthony J. Wood, retiring as Head of the Department of Library and Information Science of Manchester Metropolitan University. His career is reviewed by the former Librarian of Manchester Polytechnic/ Manchester Metropolitan University.