an article by Liam Foster and Martin Heneghan (University of Sheffield, UK) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 38 Issue 2 (May 2018)
Abstract
Gender differences in the accumulation of pension savings are well documented.
Work in this field has concluded that while differing lifetime work profiles (and family history) explained much of the difference, other factors such as pension knowledge and confidence in decision-making, may also be significant.
This research, commissioned by the Fawcett Society and funded by Scottish Widows, explores some of these factors through the use of 30 semi-structured interviews and a focus group with women (aged 24–39) about their attitudes and motivations towards pension saving. It concentrates on discussions around pension knowledge, advice and decision-making, and identifies challenges in relation to women’s pension knowledge and the use of male ‘role models’ in making decisions.
The article then explores potential policy mechanisms to enhance women’s pension saving for retirement, including the manner in which information and advice is provided and strategies to improve confidence in pension decision-making.
Full text (PDF 22pp)
Showing posts with label power. Show all posts
Showing posts with label power. Show all posts
Friday, 25 May 2018
Thursday, 26 April 2018
Marx and modern microeconomics
a column by Samuel Bowles for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Few economists doubt that Marx flunked economics, a judgement mostly based on his labour theory of value. But this column argues that Marx’s representation of the power relationship between capital and labour in the firm is an essential insight for understanding and improving modern capitalism. Indeed, this insight is incorporated into standard principal–agent models of labour and credit markets.
Continue reading
Few economists doubt that Marx flunked economics, a judgement mostly based on his labour theory of value. But this column argues that Marx’s representation of the power relationship between capital and labour in the firm is an essential insight for understanding and improving modern capitalism. Indeed, this insight is incorporated into standard principal–agent models of labour and credit markets.
Continue reading
Thursday, 15 March 2018
Analysing the significance of silence in qualitative interviewing: questioning and shifting power relations
an article by Tea Torbenfeldt Bengtsson (SFI, Denmark) and Lars Fynbo (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) published in Qualitative Research Volume 18 Issue 1 (February 2018)
Abstract
In this article we analyse the significance of silence in qualitative interviews with 36 individuals interviewed about high-risk, illegal activities.
We describe how silence expresses a dynamic power relationship between interviewer and interviewee.
In the analysis, we focus on two different types of silence: ‘silence of the interviewee’ and ‘silence of the interviewer’. We analyse how silence functions as an interviewee’s resistance against being categorized as ‘social deviant’, how an interviewer may use silence strategically, and how silence stemming from an interviewer’s perplexity constructs significant data.
We conclude that silence constitutes possibilities for interviewees and interviewers to handle the complex power at play in qualitative interviewing either by maintaining or by losing control of the situation.
Abstract
In this article we analyse the significance of silence in qualitative interviews with 36 individuals interviewed about high-risk, illegal activities.
We describe how silence expresses a dynamic power relationship between interviewer and interviewee.
In the analysis, we focus on two different types of silence: ‘silence of the interviewee’ and ‘silence of the interviewer’. We analyse how silence functions as an interviewee’s resistance against being categorized as ‘social deviant’, how an interviewer may use silence strategically, and how silence stemming from an interviewer’s perplexity constructs significant data.
We conclude that silence constitutes possibilities for interviewees and interviewers to handle the complex power at play in qualitative interviewing either by maintaining or by losing control of the situation.
Sunday, 11 March 2018
Envisioning the power of data analytics
an article by David Beer (University of York, UK) published in Information, Communication & Society Volume 21 Issue 3 (2018)
Abstract
It could be argued that the power of data is located in what they are used to reveal. Yet we have little understanding of the role played by the emerging industry of data analytics in the interpretation and use of big data. These data analytics companies act as intermediaries in the digital data revolution.
Understanding the social influence of big data requires us to understand the role played by data analytics within organisations of different types.
This particular article focuses very specifically upon the way in which data and data analytics are envisioned within the marketing rhetoric of the data analytics industry.
It is argued that to understand the spread of data analytics and the adoption of certain analytic strategies, we first need to look at the projection of promises upon that data. The way that data and analytics are imagined shapes their incorporation and appropriation into practices and organisational structures – what I call here the data frontiers.
This article draws upon a sample of 34 data analytics companies in order to explore the way in which data analytics are envisioned within that increasingly powerful industry.
Abstract
It could be argued that the power of data is located in what they are used to reveal. Yet we have little understanding of the role played by the emerging industry of data analytics in the interpretation and use of big data. These data analytics companies act as intermediaries in the digital data revolution.
Understanding the social influence of big data requires us to understand the role played by data analytics within organisations of different types.
This particular article focuses very specifically upon the way in which data and data analytics are envisioned within the marketing rhetoric of the data analytics industry.
It is argued that to understand the spread of data analytics and the adoption of certain analytic strategies, we first need to look at the projection of promises upon that data. The way that data and analytics are imagined shapes their incorporation and appropriation into practices and organisational structures – what I call here the data frontiers.
This article draws upon a sample of 34 data analytics companies in order to explore the way in which data analytics are envisioned within that increasingly powerful industry.
Saturday, 6 January 2018
What’s a Narcissist’s Punishment?
a post by Darius Cikanavicius for the Psychology of Self blog [via World of Psychology]
Photo by: Thomas Hawk
How Abusers Get Away with Their Behavior
People with strong narcissistic, psychopathic, or sociopathic tendencies, abusers, manipulators, and otherwise harmful people tend to hurt others. Sometimes they do it overtly, even proudly, and in other cases it’s covert or maybe even unconscious. Sometimes it’s well planned and calculated, while other times it’s careless and reactionary.
Sometimes these people are identified and are forced to accept the consequences of their wrongdoings, while other times they get away with their behavior. And in certain social environments they, horrifyingly, are rewarded for their narcissistic and otherwise hurtful behavior.
It’s no surprise that people who like to abuse and manipulate others tend to look for positions of power. They seek careers as CEO’s, lawyers, politicians, police officers, celebrities, and so on. Some go into helping and teaching fields and work as doctors, therapists, priests, or teachers.
All of it serves two purposes. One, you have (legal) power over others. And two, you are perceived as respectable, educated, even caring, so you increase your chances of getting away with your bad behavior.
Continue reading
Photo by: Thomas Hawk
How Abusers Get Away with Their Behavior
People with strong narcissistic, psychopathic, or sociopathic tendencies, abusers, manipulators, and otherwise harmful people tend to hurt others. Sometimes they do it overtly, even proudly, and in other cases it’s covert or maybe even unconscious. Sometimes it’s well planned and calculated, while other times it’s careless and reactionary.
Sometimes these people are identified and are forced to accept the consequences of their wrongdoings, while other times they get away with their behavior. And in certain social environments they, horrifyingly, are rewarded for their narcissistic and otherwise hurtful behavior.
It’s no surprise that people who like to abuse and manipulate others tend to look for positions of power. They seek careers as CEO’s, lawyers, politicians, police officers, celebrities, and so on. Some go into helping and teaching fields and work as doctors, therapists, priests, or teachers.
All of it serves two purposes. One, you have (legal) power over others. And two, you are perceived as respectable, educated, even caring, so you increase your chances of getting away with your bad behavior.
Continue reading
Friday, 31 July 2015
My Name Is Sue. How Do You Do! (Names and Identity)
an article by Irina Perianova (University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria) published in Issues in Social Sciences Volume 3 Number 1 (2015)
Abstract
The paper aims to give an overview of the functions of proper names as a complex multi-dimensional phenomenon. While implying certain conceptual characteristics proper names reflect the way people see themselves, or what others might infer about them, and thus shapŠµ their attitude.
As part of the cultural discourse they serve as determinants of social identity. An important feature of personal names is their potential to be used metaphorically – as characterizers and signifiers. Naming conventions depend on culture, generation, status and existing linguistic forms. Avoiding a name as a form of address is culture-based, or expresses attitude and affect. Furthermore, names are an instrument of control, submission and otherisaton.
They are also a marker of memory and trust as well as a signifier of status. The disparity of addressing when, for example, one of the speakers uses the first name and the other one the surname, always implies some kind of inequality.
The drift of the current changes in naming/addressing in the West is egalitarian and characterized by greater informality and reciprocity.
Full Text: PDF
Abstract
The paper aims to give an overview of the functions of proper names as a complex multi-dimensional phenomenon. While implying certain conceptual characteristics proper names reflect the way people see themselves, or what others might infer about them, and thus shapŠµ their attitude.
As part of the cultural discourse they serve as determinants of social identity. An important feature of personal names is their potential to be used metaphorically – as characterizers and signifiers. Naming conventions depend on culture, generation, status and existing linguistic forms. Avoiding a name as a form of address is culture-based, or expresses attitude and affect. Furthermore, names are an instrument of control, submission and otherisaton.
They are also a marker of memory and trust as well as a signifier of status. The disparity of addressing when, for example, one of the speakers uses the first name and the other one the surname, always implies some kind of inequality.
The drift of the current changes in naming/addressing in the West is egalitarian and characterized by greater informality and reciprocity.
Full Text: PDF
Monday, 10 June 2013
Discourses of ambition, gender and part-time work
an article by Yvonne Benschop, Marieke van den Brink, Hans Doorewaard and Joke Leenders (Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands) published in Human Relations Volume 66 Number 5 (May 2013)
Abstract
The aim of this article is to unravel the gendered practices in ambition and challenge the hegemonic masculinity within it.
Our findings are based on a qualitative study using focus groups in which Dutch men and women, full-timers and part-timers, constructed different meanings of ambition. The men and women in our study used three manifest discourses of ambition in the workplace, regarding individual development, mastery of the task, and upward career mobility.
A critical analysis of these three discourses indicates how cultural and organisational norms on gender and working hours affect these constructions of ambition. We argue that a fourth discourse, ‘ambition as a resource’, is a major driving force of inequality.
‘Ambition as a resource’ is the dominant hegemonic discourse in organisations, and its power effects mitigate the impact of other discourses on ambition, revealing the potential for change when different discourses of ambition are valued.
Abstract
The aim of this article is to unravel the gendered practices in ambition and challenge the hegemonic masculinity within it.
Our findings are based on a qualitative study using focus groups in which Dutch men and women, full-timers and part-timers, constructed different meanings of ambition. The men and women in our study used three manifest discourses of ambition in the workplace, regarding individual development, mastery of the task, and upward career mobility.
A critical analysis of these three discourses indicates how cultural and organisational norms on gender and working hours affect these constructions of ambition. We argue that a fourth discourse, ‘ambition as a resource’, is a major driving force of inequality.
‘Ambition as a resource’ is the dominant hegemonic discourse in organisations, and its power effects mitigate the impact of other discourses on ambition, revealing the potential for change when different discourses of ambition are valued.
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Widening participation aims and outcomes
an article by Kate Hoskins (University of Roehampton, UK) published in Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning Volume 14 Number 3 (Winter 2012/13)
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of New Labour’s policy initiative to widen participation, and considers the consequences this policy has had for four non-traditional students, that is, ‘students from under-represented groups’ (Medway et al., 2003:3).
As a result of widening participation policy, a broader range of higher education institutions (HEIs) have actively sought to enrol larger numbers of those they have historically tended to exclude: the working classes, women, mature students, those from minority ethnic groups and those with disabilities (Burns, Sinfield and Holley, 2006). The shift in emphasis away from Access programmes as a route into higher education for those traditionally excluded to the New Labour government push for widening participation across the sector has reshaped higher education, raising questions about what and who higher education is for.
Drawing on semi-structured interviews with four white, male working-class students attending a new ‘post-1992’ university, this paper considers their attempt to access educational capital and some of the struggles and challenges they have encountered in the process.
The paper asks if changes to education (such as widening participation ostensibly as part of a move to increase social justice) changed the status quo, giving voice, stake and power to those traditionally excluded from those realms.
Abstract
This paper provides an overview of New Labour’s policy initiative to widen participation, and considers the consequences this policy has had for four non-traditional students, that is, ‘students from under-represented groups’ (Medway et al., 2003:3).
As a result of widening participation policy, a broader range of higher education institutions (HEIs) have actively sought to enrol larger numbers of those they have historically tended to exclude: the working classes, women, mature students, those from minority ethnic groups and those with disabilities (Burns, Sinfield and Holley, 2006). The shift in emphasis away from Access programmes as a route into higher education for those traditionally excluded to the New Labour government push for widening participation across the sector has reshaped higher education, raising questions about what and who higher education is for.
Drawing on semi-structured interviews with four white, male working-class students attending a new ‘post-1992’ university, this paper considers their attempt to access educational capital and some of the struggles and challenges they have encountered in the process.
The paper asks if changes to education (such as widening participation ostensibly as part of a move to increase social justice) changed the status quo, giving voice, stake and power to those traditionally excluded from those realms.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Workplace bullying as a gendered phenomenon
an article by Denise Salin (Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland) and Helge Hoel (Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, UK) published in Journal of Managerial Psychology Volume 28 Issue 3 (2013)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue that bullying is a gendered, rather than gender-neutral, phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews empirical findings on gender and bullying and identifies and discusses theoretical frameworks that can provide explanations for identified gender differences.
Findings
The paper shows that there are gender differences not only in reported prevalence rates and forms of bullying, but that gender also matters for the way targets and third parties make sense of and respond to bullying. It is shown that gendered conceptions of power, gender role socialisation theory and social identity theory are all relevant for explaining reported gender differences.
Research limitations/implications
The theoretical frameworks that have been selected should not be seen as exhaustive, but rather as useful examples. The authors encourage researchers in the field of bullying to pursue cross-disciplinary research and actively apply existing theoretical frameworks to integrate their findings more firmly in existing research on related themes.
Practical implications
The finding that bullying is gendered rather than gender-neutral has implications above all for the way managers, organisational representatives and policy-makers should address and prevent workplace bullying.
Originality/value
The paper questions the prevailing notion that bullying is gender-neutral and demonstrates the importance of gender in the experience of workplace bullying. It further identifies gaps in research and puts forward an agenda for future research in this area.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to argue that bullying is a gendered, rather than gender-neutral, phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews empirical findings on gender and bullying and identifies and discusses theoretical frameworks that can provide explanations for identified gender differences.
Findings
The paper shows that there are gender differences not only in reported prevalence rates and forms of bullying, but that gender also matters for the way targets and third parties make sense of and respond to bullying. It is shown that gendered conceptions of power, gender role socialisation theory and social identity theory are all relevant for explaining reported gender differences.
Research limitations/implications
The theoretical frameworks that have been selected should not be seen as exhaustive, but rather as useful examples. The authors encourage researchers in the field of bullying to pursue cross-disciplinary research and actively apply existing theoretical frameworks to integrate their findings more firmly in existing research on related themes.
Practical implications
The finding that bullying is gendered rather than gender-neutral has implications above all for the way managers, organisational representatives and policy-makers should address and prevent workplace bullying.
Originality/value
The paper questions the prevailing notion that bullying is gender-neutral and demonstrates the importance of gender in the experience of workplace bullying. It further identifies gaps in research and puts forward an agenda for future research in this area.
Friday, 8 February 2013
‘It's Always English in the Cop Shop’: Accounts of Minority Language Use in the Criminal Justice System in Wales
an article by Iolo Madoc-Jones and Odette Parry (Glyndwr University, Wales) published in The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume 52 Issue 1 (February 2013)
Abstract
European language activists have successfully campaigned for the right to use regional or minority languages in judicial contexts. Despite this, such rights are rarely exercised. This is commonly understood as a function of the unavailability and/or inaccessibility of appropriate language services, so judicial authorities in a range of countries are urged to do more to meet their obligations to meet the needs of minority language speakers.
The article draws on a study of language use in one criminal justice system where the right to use a minority language exists. It uses a discourse analytic approach to explore how first-language Welsh-speaking criminal justice service users account for their choice, and usage, of language, and what purposes these accounts may serve for narrators.
Despite their commitment to the Welsh language, none of the study respondents used Welsh in their most recent episodes in the police station or at court.
Two competing discursive constructions were evident in respondent accounts which served specific objectives for narrators. A ‘down to them’ discursive construction, which drew on wider imperialist discourses, positioned narrators as powerless victims of a system in which they had no choice over language.
This construction legitimised narrators’ claim to Welshness and castigated agencies of the criminal justice system.
Simultaneously, however, narrators deployed ‘up to me’ discursive constructions to demonstrate resistance to the role of victim. This construction positioned narrators as more powerful and as exercising agency and choice in the criminal justice system.
The article thus challenges oversimplified understandings of minority language use and non-use in the criminal justice system.
Abstract
European language activists have successfully campaigned for the right to use regional or minority languages in judicial contexts. Despite this, such rights are rarely exercised. This is commonly understood as a function of the unavailability and/or inaccessibility of appropriate language services, so judicial authorities in a range of countries are urged to do more to meet their obligations to meet the needs of minority language speakers.
The article draws on a study of language use in one criminal justice system where the right to use a minority language exists. It uses a discourse analytic approach to explore how first-language Welsh-speaking criminal justice service users account for their choice, and usage, of language, and what purposes these accounts may serve for narrators.
Despite their commitment to the Welsh language, none of the study respondents used Welsh in their most recent episodes in the police station or at court.
Two competing discursive constructions were evident in respondent accounts which served specific objectives for narrators. A ‘down to them’ discursive construction, which drew on wider imperialist discourses, positioned narrators as powerless victims of a system in which they had no choice over language.
This construction legitimised narrators’ claim to Welshness and castigated agencies of the criminal justice system.
Simultaneously, however, narrators deployed ‘up to me’ discursive constructions to demonstrate resistance to the role of victim. This construction positioned narrators as more powerful and as exercising agency and choice in the criminal justice system.
The article thus challenges oversimplified understandings of minority language use and non-use in the criminal justice system.
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