Norms Of Exclusion Research Articles

THE NEOCONSERVATIVE/NEOLIBERAL INTERSECTION IN BRAZILIAN EDUCATION AND ITS INTERFACES FOR THE INCREASE OF LGBTQIA+PHOBIA

This article analyzes the intersection between neoconservatism, neoliberalism, and the oppression of sexual and gender diversity in contemporary society. In a scenario marked by growing conservatism that seeks to restore a traditional social "order," LGBTQIA+ identities face marginalization and violence due to the glorification of an idealized past and the imposition of normative standards. The influence of religious groups and neoconservative movements has restricted discussions about diversity in schools, which should promote a critical and inclusive environment. The research, based on bibliographic data and developed as part of a master's dissertation, investigates how these ideologies impact education and perpetuate the exclusion of sexual diversity issues. The naturalization of exclusionary norms and the perpetuation of the coloniality of knowledge reinforce a hegemonic vision, silencing dissenting voices. The conclusion is that, in order to build a more just society, active engagement in combating LGBTQIA+phobia, racism, and sexism is crucial, respecting the right to freedom and expression of all individuals. Overcoming conservatism and neoliberalism, through critical and politically engaged education, is a vital step towards tackling LGBTQIA+phobia in Brazilian schools, promoting a space where all identities can coexist and be respected.

Spatial norms as traversable and gendered: A study of parental experiences of no-kids zones in South Korea

This study examines the emergent yet understudied cultural phenomenon of ‘no-kids zones’ in South Korea, a business policy in commercial establishments prohibiting children and their caregivers from entering its premises. Drawing on 32 in-depth interviews of mothers and fathers with active caregiving responsibilities for young children, we examine the impact of the no-kids zone policies on parents’ everyday childcare experiences in urban consumption spaces. We argue that the rise of no-kids zones, indicative of a lack of social ethos of care, has further intensified unwelcoming sentiments towards children and parents, with mothers particularly subject to gendered stigma and blame around caregiving. We first find that spatial norms traverse; the acceptance and popularization of no-kids zones have in turn led to an expansion of hostile sentiments in urban consumption spaces beyond no-kids zones. We also find that such exclusionary norms manifest in gendered ways, with mothers reporting notably heightened levels of wariness and consciousness about how they are perceived by other consumers. We offer novel perspectives and insights on the intersection of societal norms and spatial configurations which, together shape caregiving experiences within urban consumption spaces. Our work highlights a gendered understanding of the challenges and dynamics parents face as they navigate child-unfriendly spaces.

Navigating Gender and Sectarian Affiliation: An Analysis of Young Voters’ Bias Against Female Politicians in Lebanon

In May 2018, a record-breaking number of 86 women candidates ran for parliamentary elections in Lebanon, a country with a power-sharing, consociational, sect-based system that guarantees the representation of 18 legally recognized sects (i.e. religious confessions). Yet, only six women were elected. This article explores whether and how sectarianism trumps gender and support for female candidates in general in vote intention. In doing so, it addresses the interaction between sectarian/ethnic and gender voting in contexts where both identities intersect. This intersection emerges when vote intention is influenced by factors that stem from the patriarchal nature of society and structures of sectarianism, creating interdependent systems of disadvantage. Building on a countrywide pre-electoral survey on the attitudes of young voters in Lebanon, I test ethnic voting and gender-affinity theories and develop fine-grained conceptual links between gender and the wider norms of inclusion and exclusion under sectarian-based political systems in post-conflict countries.

Stratified reproduction and ableism: Women with disabilities and navigating reproduction and social control in Poland

The article applies the concept of stratified reproduction to analyse experiences of women with disabilities in Poland. Stratified reproduction – rewarding motherhood for some and disempowering others from being parents – and its relation to ableism is explored in a country context, where reproductive rights struggles are prevalent in the public sphere. Based on qualitative empirical research (in-depth semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews) with 50 women with disabilities, the article shows that women with disabilities are subjected to mechanisms of social control that limit their reproductive decision-making and discourage them from becoming parents. Social control is explored in the context of withdrawal of information about reproductive health and sexuality, navigating access and fear of custody deprivation based on ableist presumptions. The ambivalence between social expectations related to parenthood versus performing care work is explored. The analysis shows that women with disabilities navigate exclusionary norms and challenge understandings of who can become a parent and who can make decisions about who can become a parent. This article offers the concept of stratified reproduction to explain the structural inequalities experienced by women with disabilities with regard to reproduction, and highlights the importance of studying ableism as an essential factor within the reproductive realm.

A qualitative approach to interrogating the age and gender divide in digital SRHR platforms in Kenya

Adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) programmes for 10–17-year-old adolescents in many African contexts are school-based and often aim to manage the risks associated with adolescent sexuality. Such programmes are critiqued for adopting pathologising, biomedical, moralistic and/or authoritarian approaches. Critiques of conventional ASRHR initiatives and technological advancements have resulted in an increased use of digital technologies to facilitate ASRHR. However, there is a gender and age divide whereby adolescent minors, particularly girls, remain excluded, unreached, or unable to exercise their agency. Despite the existence of a gender and age divide in digital SRH platforms, the divide remains uninterrogated. Data were collected in four phases from November 2019 to April 2022 using a qualitative mixed methods design that included review of online information and communication technology (ICT)-based sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) websites and platforms, 18 interviews with implementers of the platforms, and seven focus group discussions with adolescent girls. Even though ICTs have demonstrated their ability to navigate socio-cultural tensions surrounding SRHR, an age and gender divide poses a barrier for them to achieve this anticipated potential as adolescent girls below the age of 18 have the least access in Kenya. Socio-cultural norms surrounding adolescent sexuality in Kenya continue to inform ASRHR policies and programmes that exclude 10–17-year-old girls, particularly those in low-income urban contexts. Such exclusionary norms permeate digital spaces, inhibiting the potential of digital spaces to offer comprehensive and holistic services to adolescent girls who are not legally adult.

Affective Spaces: Migration in Scandinavian and German Transnational Narratives by Anja Tröger

Reviewed by: Affective Spaces: Migration in Scandinavian and German Transnational Narratives by Anja Tröger Thomas Herold Affective Spaces: Migration in Scandinavian and German Transnational Narratives. By Anja Tröger. Cambridge: Legenda, 2021. Pp. xi + 181. Cloth £79.99. ISBN 978-1839540134. Anja Tröger’s 2021 monograph Affective Spaces: Migration in Scandinavian and German Transnational Narratives examines twelve novels whose fairly recent publication dates are bookended by Vigdis Hjorth’s Snakk til meg (2011) and Zeshan Shakar’s Tante Ulrikkes vei (2017). The novels are written in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and German, take place in the respective countries, and are all transnational narratives, populated with characters who are in transit or have already arrived in one of the respective countries. The study is organized into five chapters that thematically follow the chronology of the “migratory journey” (4), from examining personal motivations and circumstances of migrants’ decisions to leave their home countries (chapter one); [End Page 328] to an evaluation of the processes of border-crossing and asylum-seeking (chapter two); to the encounter of Scandinavian travelers with those whom they perceive as “other” (chapter three); to Scandinavian characters who are confronted with asylum seekers within their own communities (chapter four); to post-migrant characters who have to deal with situations in which they are completely embedded and yet marked as “other” by their fellow citizens (chapter five). The examination of nine Scandinavian texts (three each from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark) is complemented by the analysis of three German texts, in order to, as Tröger explains, break through the assumption of Scandinavian homogeneity and probe the notion of Scandinavian exceptionalism. The latter point is a recurring theme, as the study repeatedly returns to Scandinavian privilege and surveys that link Scandinavian countries to the highest levels of quality of life and happiness. These concepts, according to Tröger, do not appear to hold true in the comparison of Scandinavian and German transnational narratives. I discern two main points of inquiry in the study. The first has to do with Scandinavian privilege and is more accidental than substantial to the study: the question as to what these texts can tell us about Scandinavian society. According to these novels, Scandinavian society seems to be, all the privilege and happiness notwithstanding, just as xenophobic and bound to an exclusionary mindset as other Western societies. The second and more important interest that holds the entire study together is its theoretical framework and method of inquiry, which digs deeply into theories of affect and ultimately pursues ethical questions. Particularly, the inquiry starts with the example of racial profiling in Sweden in the context of anti-immigration measures, deportations, and an open letter (2013) by Jonas Hassan Khemiri, a Swedish writer of color, who suggests to then Swedish Minister for Justice, Beatrice Ask, “to trade our skins and our experiences” (1). Khemiri points to “practices of exclusion, processes of othering, and the disparate distribution of precarity in the context of migration” (2) in Swedish society. Tröger uses this starting point to ascertain similar patterns in the twelve novels, maintaining that Khemiri’s suggested “body swap” is similar to what happens during the consumption of literature, where the reader steps into the shoes of characters–in other words, how the act of reading generates an affective reader-character relationship. Such exchange of experiences goes beyond just that, however, and the study’s ultimate goal is the examination of an ethical imperative. Tröger is interested in finding an answer to Judith Butler’s question: “What is our responsibility toward those we do not know, toward those who seem to test our sense of belonging or to defy available norms of likeness?” Whereas Butler sees “critical reflection of exclusionary norms” as the main ethical answer to this question of collective responsibility, Tröger adds that “affect in situated and embodied encounters” (6) must complement such critical thinking. Accordingly, the close readings of the novels examine the affective encounters between white and privileged Europeans and migrants or post-migrants of color and suggest that those experiences carry over to [End Page 329] the reader, creating a sense of “affective responsibility.” In this context, Tröger cites Emily Beausoleil...

The Lab as a Classroom: Advancing Faculty Research Through Undergraduate Experiential Education

ABSTRACTBoth undergraduate students and faculty members face a challenging job market that requires innovative approaches to skill development and research products. Moreover, entrenched approaches to research and education reinforce traditional hierarchies, exclusionary norms, and exploitative practices. This article describes a lab-based pedagogical framework designed to support faculty research goals and student learning and, simultaneously, to attenuate patterns of historical exclusion. This approach leverages evidence-based best practices from experiential education, team-based workflows, an understanding of servant leadership, and “whole-person”–style mentorship models. We find that these tools advance faculty research goals (in terms of both quality and productivity), support student learning in ways beyond traditional undergraduate coursework, and disrupt patterns of historical exclusion. We provide qualitative evidence to support our model and discuss the hurdles and challenges still to be overcome.

Citizen action for accountability in challenging contexts: What have we learned?

SummaryMotivationWhile much is known about how citizens mobilize and make claims for accountability in more democratic, stable, and peaceful settings, little is known about how accountability dynamics work in more challenging contexts—those more democratically weak, politically fragile, and affected by legacies of violence and conflict.PurposeThis article introduces a special issue that brings together findings from across the Action for Empowerment and Accountability programme. The programme explored citizen action for accountability and citizens' experiences of governance in Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan and, to a lesser degree, Egypt—countries that reflect challenging conditions now common in many places across the world.Methods and approachWe introduce and summarize the key findings of eight commissioned articles—some which explore specific themes across the body of research, and some that report findings of particular multi‐country studies. We analyse these findings in relation to what they tell us about the contextual factors that matter, the strategies adopted, and the consequences of citizen‐led social and political action.FindingsWe find a number of contextual challenges for citizen action that are common, though not unique, to these settings. Despite authoritarian governance histories, and norms of fear, low expectations, and patriarchal exclusion we see diverse examples of social and political action, both open questioning of authorities and dissent and more under the radar and mediated responses. Such efforts have led to increased visibility of grievances, increased citizen agency, some concrete responses from authorities, and evidence of progressive norm change.Policy implicationsWe argue that even in challenging contexts there are prospects for finding some space for productive citizen engagement and citizen‐led social and political action. These are more likely to be found from taking a “citizen‐eye” view to relevant governance dynamics, actors, and identifying the most important issues. Networks and alliances, including with donors, are significant. But accountability goals in such contexts need to be realistic and recognize the importance of small steps and establishing the building blocks of better governance.

Consensual sexual selfies: everyday exposure in teen girl media

ABSTRACT Despite its everydayness, girls’ digital exposure is often conceived as scandalous. Concerns about the potential of leaked nudes to “ruin” a girl’s life are part of a long history of moral panics about girls and technology that mask fears about the public expression of female sexuality. Much teen media, however, counters this panic by exploring the social and technological dynamics at play in practices of sending sexual selfies. This article analyzes teen magazines and TV series to map the alternative mainstream discourse through which girls might frame their practices of self-exposure. Teen media incorporates the exposure built into everyday technological interactions in ways that allow girls’ consensual sexuality to exist, visibly, as everyday. Magazines like Rookie and Teen Vogue and series like Riverdale and Pretty Little Liars employ such discourses in ways that often protect the hegemony of white femininity, even as they defend girls’ right to privacy and expose the unique consequences of exposure queer girls. Teen media begins to offer alternative discourses of young women’s sexual selfies that are aligned with the social and technological realities of digital culture, and which girls can mobilize to deconstruct exclusionary norms of privacy and visibility.

On the Deontic Validity of the General Exclusive Norm

The paper concerns the following two questions: (i) is the general exclusive norm a proper legal norm? (ii) if the general exclusive norm is a proper legal norm, is it universally valid? It will be held that the general exclusive norm is a proper legal norm and not a logical principle. Therefore, as a legal norm, it can be said to be valid or invalid. The answer to the second question will be negative: the general exclusive norm, as a proper legal norm, is valid only in those legal systems in which it is positively established.

The Abnormality of Discrimination: A Phenomenological Perspective

Over the years, phenomenology has provided illuminating descriptions of discrimination, with its mechanisms and effects being thematised at the most basic levels of embodiment, (dis)orientation, selfhood, and belonging. What remains somewhat understudied is the lived experience of the discriminator. In this paper I draw on Husserl's phenomenological account of normality to reflect on the ways in which we discriminate at the prereflective levels of perceptual experience and bodily being. By critically reflecting on the intentional structures undergirding discriminatory practices, I argue that discrimination is characteristic of a naïve normalising attitude which is habitually interested in securing a familiar experience of a static normality. I first demonstrate how this attitude problematically tends to reproduce, enforce, and further sediment discriminatory and exclusionary norms. Further, I provide an internal critique which problematises discrimination—without recourse to external normative standards—on three fronts: as epistemically unproductive, experientially obscuring, and normatively non-instantiating. In discriminatory acts we see an abnormal refusal to enrich, revise, and genetically establish new normative commitments, new ways of seeing, and a new normality.

Affinity networks as diversity instruments. Three sociological dilemmas

Are affinity networks, like women’s, LGBTQ+ and bicultural employee networks, really effective instruments for diversity management? These networks, also called identity networks, diversity networks or employee resource groups, are seen as important means to make organizations more inclusive and to provide spaces for professional development and social networking. However, they also strengthen exclusionary norms and power hierarchies. The identification of three sociological dilemmas shines light on the complexities and the ambiguous effects of identity networks. Through its discourse, activities and organizational structure, a network either supports individual career advancement – while strengthening existing inequalities – or promotes organizational change. Recognizing these dilemmas will help researchers, organizations, diversity practitioners, and affinity networks to make more informed and deliberate choices.

The Normal Heart and “sickly” body: The case of Matthew Bomer’s extreme weight loss

ABSTRACT Actors often lose or gain weight to satisfy specific esthetics for their roles. When Matt Bomer reportedly lost forty pounds for The Normal Heart, public discourse went well beyond the typical explanation for the weight loss. That discourse explained Bomer’s body transformation as a part of his sacrificial duty to the gay community. Rhetors positioned Bomer’s weight loss as a sacrifice to educate, envision, and justify a united gay community that would continue to act to address the many challenges the community continued to face. Yet, the case of Bomer’s extreme weight loss also serves as a cautionary tale about how exclusionary norms, including whiteness, ageism, and ableism, circulate within rhetorical efforts to build and sustain community. The essay provides insights into the relationships among bodies, public memory, commemoration, and community.

Group Norms Influence Children's Expectations About Status Based on Wealth and Popularity.

Children’s understanding of status and group norms influence their expectations about social encounters. However, status is multidimensional and children may perceive status stratification (i.e., high- and low-status) differently across multiple status dimensions (i.e., wealth and popularity). The current study investigated the effect of status level and norms on children’s expectations about intergroup affiliation in wealth and popularity contexts. Participants (N = 165; age range: 5–10 years; Mage = 7.72 years) were randomly assigned to hear two scenarios where a high- or low-status target affiliated with opposite-status groups based on either wealth or popularity. In one scenario, the group expressed an inclusive norm. In the other scenario, the group expressed an exclusive norm. For each scenario, children made predictions about children’s expectations for a target to acquire social resources. Novel findings indicated that children associated wealth status to some extent, but they drew stronger inferences from the wealth dimension than from the popularity dimension. In contrast to previous evidence that children distinguish between high- and low-status groups, we did not find evidence to support this in the context of the current study. In addition, norms of exclusion diminished children’s expectations for acquiring social resources from wealth and popularity groups but this effect was more pronounced between wealth groups. We found age differences in children’s expectations in regards to norms, but not in regards to status. The implications of how these effects, in addition to lack of effects, bear on children’s expectations about acquiring resources are discussed.

Beyond ‘migrant background’: how to select relevant, social justice oriented, and feasible social categories in educational research

Across continental Europe, educational research samples are often divided by ‘migrant background’, a binary variable criticized for masking participant heterogeneity and reinforcing exclusionary norms of belonging. This study endorses more meaningful, representative, and precise research by offering four guiding questions for selecting relevant, social justice oriented, and feasible social categories for collecting and analysing data in psychological and educational research. Using a preregistered empirical example, we first compare selected social categories (‘migrant background’, family heritage, religion, citizenship, cultural identification, and generation status) in their potential to reveal participant heterogeneity. Second, we investigate differences in means and relations between variables (discrimination experiences, perceived societal Islamophobia, and national identity) and academic motivation among 1335 adolescents in Germany (48% female, Mage = 14.69). Regression analyses and multigroup SEM revealed differential experiences with and implications of discrimination for academic motivation. Results highlight the need for a deliberate, transparent use of social categories to make discrimination visible and centre participants’ subjective experiences.

Sites of Violence, Sites of Peace, Sites of Justice: Transforming the Relational Landscape of Yogyakarta

The collaborative “Sites of Violence, Sites of Peace” project seeks to transform the relational landscape of Yogyakarta by enabling new intergenerational conversations about the 1965 politicide in Indonesia and further injustices with other marginalized communities. This community-engaged project developed walking tours of (largely unacknowledged) sites of historic violence: a colonial fort turned national museum, a derelict office building, a refurbished bank. Through these tours, sites of past suffering are activated by unheard survivor testimonies, making visible historical injustice and its contemporary and enduring significance. Unsettling the dominant spatial arrangement of Yogyakarta, the tours rewrite the city as a space where injustice and persecution are experienced. Crucially, the tour is also a relational encounter, facilitating intergenerational conversations that challenge social and political exclusionary norms. It, thereby, enables a form of relational justice, which requires active involvement from fellow citizens, not solely redress from the state.

National board governed post-graduate curriculum: Strengths and scope.

The National Board of Examinations was established to boost the quality of medical education by laying down exclusive norms, uniform standards and a national level evaluation for the postgraduate medical courses. The content and context of the training curriculum is well updated as per advances in the field and current requirements. Diplomate of National Board (DNB) courses are considered to be at par with the postgraduate and post doctorate degrees for all intents and purposes. The introduction of a formative assessment with objective evaluation pattern has improved the scope of the board. Moving on to a competency-based training with emphasis on novel research can maximise the quality of training to international standards. Training DNB teachers and assessors in the newer teaching and assessment methods can improve the calibre of residents. Stringent monitoring and review of the training can increase the credibility of the courses and the board can be expected to cater for students abroad.

Disciplinary Culture and Effective Teaching: A Cultural Anthropological Study

During the last couple of decades, many researchers have been trying to explicate "effective teaching" in higher education. As a result, when one searches the term, a vast amount of papers and research reports pop up in the literature, involving lists of attributes and competencies of effective teachers. But the impressive point is that "effectiveness" has been viewed mostly from a technical vantage point and disciplinary differences have not received proportionate attention. At the same time, some sociologists of science began to view disciplines as tribes and territories who own their exclusive norms, rituals, and values. Hence, this research aims at investigating effective teaching in higher education within the framework of disciplinary culture. Methodologically, the research may be deemed as interpretive ethnography as it aims at representing emically how members of disciplinary cultures perceive and interpret effective teaching. Hence, based on Tony Becher classification of disciplines into civil and rural, two postgraduate classes were selected, namely from Pure Mathematics (involving 15 students to represent civil disciplines) and Education Studies (involving 18 students to represent rural disciplines). To collect data, the researcher deployed non-participant observation for a full semester and informal interviews were also conducted at regular intervals. The field notes and interview protocols were analyzed thematically to produce meaningful categories for results representation. As credibility was of great concern in the research, three strategies were used for this purpose namely member check, peer debriefing and prolonged engagement. Based on the interpretations, members of rural disciplines evaluate teaching as effective when it focuses on classic texts, cares about human and social issues, approaches laymen jargons, emphasizes understanding, appreciates variety of teaching strategies and learning styles, holds a critical stance towards cultural issues, and takes on a lenient approach in marking. On the other side, members of civil disciplines evaluate teaching as effective when it focuses on updated resources, is content-oriented, approaches professional terminology, emphasizes practicality, and takes on a tough stance on marking.

Disciplining the Accepted and Amputating the Deviants: Religious Nationalism and Segregated Citizenship in Indonesia

AbstractT. H. Marshall’s 1950 seminal work shows that the granting of civil, political, and social rights leads to the institutionalization of rules binding the state and its citizens. In practice, however, citizenship goes beyond these unproblematized paternalistic relations. It is political, involving connection, competition, and conflicts. Isin and Turner (2002) propose that “citizenship” should be examined through itsextent(norms of inclusion and exclusion),content(rights and responsibility), anddepth(citizens’ perceived relation to their political community). In Indonesia, the discrimination against members of minority religions by Islamic conservative groups is among the main issues in politics. This article therefore examines the ambiguity between the constitutionally embraced “religious freedom” and the everyday discriminatory practices of conservative groups. Taking the case-studies of the sectarian campaign against a Chinese-Christian governor, the blasphemy sentence of a Chinese-Buddhist woman, and the persecution of the Ahmadiyah and Syiah, I argue that conservative groups have practised a “segregated citizenship” that prioritizes the values and interests of the majority religion against those of both the “accepted” and the “unaccepted” minority religions.

Swedish study shows how managers in forestry and mining industries blame gender inequality on male, blue-collar workers

PurposeIn previous studies of the subject women had received more attention as both the problem and solution. Instead, the authors wanted to focus on how power relations of gender, class and place all have a role to play in how the problem is “constructed.”Design/methodology/approachThey used material from four previous research projects in the same industries as a point of departure. The first project examined gender equality in four forestry work organizations. The second project analyzed existing methods for increasing gender equality in forestry organizations. The aim of the third project was to examine gender patterns and equality initiatives in Nordic mining organizations. Finally, the fourth project merged theory concerning industrial workplace relations with gender theory and knowledge about gender equality interventions.FindingsThe data revealed that gender, class and place are powerful intersecting forces when it comes to “constructing” gender equality in male-dominated industries. Company managers formulating policies tended to blame gender inequality on groups of male, blue-collar workers who represented ‘uneducated’ masculinity in a rural context.Originality/valueFraming the issue of gender inequality as a problem of rural, blue-collar masculinity risked reinforcing class-based and place-based inequalities in forestry and mining. Therefore, bringing these exclusionary norms into light helped to broaden the discussion. Instead, companies should focus more on the structures and daily practices embedded in their organizations. From a research point of view, the study had a lot of lessons about challenging organizational inequalities. Meanwhile, from an organizational perspective, a heightened awareness of the interrelated power relations of class, place and gender could help sharpen processes for change.