People In Positions Of Power Research Articles

Everyday Conversations About Economic Inequality: A Research Agenda

ABSTRACTHigh and rising levels of economic inequality come at a tremendous cost to societies, yet the public is often hesitant to confront these inequalities. Prior research has attempted to explain this paradox, pointing to how it is driven by individuals' misperceptions of the extent of inequality, broader narratives that justify inequality, and distrust in government intervention and redistribution. These beliefs and attitudes are not simply a reflection of individual predispositions; they are also a product of societal debates. The limited scholarship on such debates has focused on elite discourse, examining how discussions about inequality unfold among people in positions of power in formalized contexts such as parliaments or the media. Most of this research has been conducted in the Global North. We know very little about how ordinary people talk about economic inequality, especially in the Global South. Everyday conversations about economic inequality deserve more scholarly attention because of their distinct form and extensive range, covering diverse voices and social situations. They reflect how societies struggle with economic inequality and how some groups are silenced, while others have their voices amplified. Finally, conversations may affect opinion formation differently than unidirectional exposure to information. This article reviews the literature and sets out a research agenda to comprehensively study how ordinary people talk about economic inequality in various contexts.

Holding up a mirror: researching symmetrically to explore exclusion, othering and whiteness in local environmental governance

ABSTRACT The positioning of minoritised and racialised groups such as Global South immigrants as deficient in knowledge, language or motivation is a form of othering prevalent in all spheres of Global North societies, and the environmental sector is no exception. In both academic literature and policy, there is an assumption that minoritised groups are “hard to reach” and less interested in sustainability than the usual white middle-class environmental subjects. But, what might the picture look like if it focused on those who have the power to make choices about whose interests matter and whose can be ignored? By holding up a mirror to the powerful and asking them to reflect on their own practices and assumptions, we centre the operation of structural inequality to show that the lack of inclusivity in sustainability policy is very often a product of structural whiteness rather than the deficiencies of racialised communities. This article draws on interviews with key informants involved in local environmental governance to explore how people in positions of power serve to obstruct, erase or facilitate the engagement of racialised communities in activities relevant for environmental change. We argue that a symmetrical approach to research and analysis is needed to avoid othering immigrants while surfacing whiteness as the context in which othering occurs. We call for greater attention to how white structural advantage shapes the design and implementation of local green agendas in order to develop just and transformative approaches to environmental policy-making.

THE REFLECTION OF IDEOLOGY AND CONFLICT THEORY ON TV SERIES: SNOWPIERCER SERIES EXAMPLE

TV series, one of the visual arts, can include cultural phenomena of society, representations of power and everyday events. One of the basic points of visual arts is the law of conflict. In order for there to be conflict, each character in the series must have a goal, purpose and ideology. Marx's "false consciousness" discourse and the concept of "ideology", Althusser's grouping of "ideological apparatuses", Gramsci's "consent" and "hegemony" discourses have been a part of ideology criticism. Therefore, ideology and conflict cannot be separated from each other in TV series. The characters in Snowpiercer are directed towards different goals in line with their status differences. For this reason, the aim of the study is to reveal how the conflict and class differences between people in positions of power and individuals in lower class positions develop. The population of the study consists of all the TV series that were screened all over the world after 2010, in which there are indicators related to the concepts of ideology, conflict and power. The reason for choosing Snowpiercer as the study sample is that it is a study in which the concept of ideology, conflict theory, class conflict and elite theory are processed together. This study is important in that ideology, conflict and elite theory take place in the same series and in a single space and emphasize the difference between classes. This study concludes that keeping people with status and class differences in the same space for a certain period of time will lead to interpersonal conflict.

Exploring trainee perspectives on barriers and facilitators in serious mental illness doctoral training.

Although there have been momentous and critical advancements in serious mental illness (SMI) psychology doctoral training models and competencies, there is still much systemic change needed to increase access to evidence-based SMI training for psychologists. In the last decade, there has been little to no growth or expansion of SMI training opportunities in clinical psychology doctoral programs in the United States, and psychologists are underrepresented in serving clients with SMI. As trainees and trainers committed to careers in SMI, the contributors aimed to identify barriers and facilitators throughout each stage of the SMI doctoral training pathway, including pregraduate school, graduate school, and internship to reflect critically on systemic issues that have impeded trainees from accessing the appropriate tools for SMI training. This conceptual article reviews the existing literature on barriers and facilitators to accessing SMI training. In centering trainee perspectives, the contributors also reflect on their own experiences through brief narratives illustrating the barriers and facilitators they have faced across training stages with existing empirical research. Recommendations made by the contributors include increasing access to financial support and mechanisms, diversifying departments and practicum sites to include SMI-focused training, and people in positions of power advocating for and centering trainee voices in departmental training decisions and development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Ko Te Reo ō Ngā Tāngata / The People’s Voice

Ko Te Reo ō Ngā Tāngata / The People’s Voice

Networking in Academic Medicine: Keeping an Eye on Equity.

Networking in Academic Medicine: Keeping an Eye on Equity.

The transition to scientific research and the fallout of speaking publicly: perspectives from a former proponent of “body language” pseudoscience

Despite decades of research and thousands of peer-reviewed articles on nonverbal communication written by a worldwide community of academics, a number of people in position of power, including security, justice and legal practitioners have embraced “body language” pseudoscience. This autoethnography aims to offer an otherwise inaccessible glimpse of the process a person can go through when turning to and away from pseudoscience. To achieve this objective, I describe and reflect upon the main events that, as a young lawyer, influenced my transition from body language pseudoscience to scientific research. To shed additional lights on these events, I turn to the cyberbullying and intimidation attempts that followed my journey and my decision to speak publicly. This autoethnography ends with a call for scholarly institutions to adequately protect researchers, including graduate students, from cyberbullying and intimidation attempts.

How power increases preference for experiential purchases but not for material purchases

AbstractWhile recent research indicates that experiential purchases lead to greater happiness than material purchases (i.e., experiential advantage), we have a limited understanding of when and why consumers prefer experiential purchases. In this paper, we address this topic and find that consumers' feelings of power play a significant role in their preference for experiential purchases. Across four experimental studies, using multiple manipulations and stimuli, we demonstrate that feelings of high (vs. low) power lead to increased consumer preference for experiential, but not material, purchases. Mediation (Study 3) and moderation (Study 4) analyses revealed that this phenomenon is driven by greater expected happiness from experiential purchases for consumers feeling high (vs. low) power. We contribute to the experiential purchase literature by identifying consumer power as an important antecedent of consumers' preference for experiences and also add to the consumer power literature by documenting how perceived power affects consumer evaluations and decision‐making. Furthermore, our paper suggests that managers should target people in powerful positions or seek to facilitate feelings of greater power in potential customers when marketing experiential products.

Solidarity with Chrystul Kizer: On Disparate Failures of Knowledge-Attribution and Survivors of Sexual Violence

AbstractI write in solidarity with Chrystul Kizer, a criminalized Black teen survivor of sexual violence in Wisconsin, to detail how her ongoing legal fight occurs in a tilted sociopolitical and epistemological landscape with weighted opponents. I offer a theory of disparate failures of knowledge-attribution for survivors of sexual violence, a structural epistemological problem that I call constructed pragmatic encroachment (CPE). CPE explains that pragmatic encroachment is a nonneutral knowledge-attribution problem whereby attributors are empowered to affirm or deny a subject's knowledge-claim based on the subject's constructed practical stakes. Constructed practical stakes here refers to the potential costs/consequences of acting on knowledge of some p for some subject, “S,” constructed by their practical environment. Examining CPE in Kizer's self-defense case, I highlight why real-world pragmatic encroachment is exceptionally alarming for survivors of sexual violence, especially criminalized survivors. The epistemological problem is not merely whether people in powerful positions are frequently fallible, but the convergence of sociopolitical and epistemic power to deny what survivors know about our own experiences of violence, and power to punish survivors for acting on what we know.

Management Equity: Parish Administration and Pastoral Leadership

The thin line between management from leadership inside an organization is something that many people in positions of power constantly face and experience. Leaders usually take on administrative obligations and carry out a number of administrative duties. On the other hand, leadership and administration are two unique, but complimentary, systems of activity. This study aimed to determine the level of Parish administration and Pastoral leadership of the clergy in the Diocese of Tagum. Findings of the study will serve as basis for the diocesan organizational development interventions program. The study utilized descriptive-correlational design as well as comparative design. The study was conducted among the ten parishes under the Diocese of Tagum for CY 2014. There were 593 respondents of the study comprising the clergy, parishioners, parish workers and apostolate. It employed a research instrument based on the framework of McKinsey’s 7S. The study employed frequency and percentage, pearson-r correlation and one-way analysis of variance to treat the data. Parish administration is very satisfactory. The vision and mission is also very satisfactory. The level of pastoral leadership is very satisfactory. There is interaction effectively with people, balancing positive regard for self with positive regard for others and working harmoniously with peers, superiors, and subordinates in the workplace, which is very satisfactory. It is concluded that there is a significant relationship between parish administration and pastoral leadership. Also, there is a significant difference on pastoral leadership across clergymen. Parish administration has a significant effect on pastoral leadership. This means that improving parish administration improves the pastoral leadership.

Vaccine Justice and Bioethical Reflections of COVID-19 Immunization in Malaysia

Malaysia has the highest infection rate in Southeast Asia, with over 1 million positive COVID-19 cases and over 8500 deaths. The National Immunization Programme, which began in late February 2021, had a particularly slow vaccination rate, with only 4% of the targeted group receiving vaccination in three months. The delay has sparked a lot of public debate and concern, especially in light of allegations of vaccine injustice, unclear prioritization, queue jumping by people in positions of power, and other aspects of the vaccination process. Using an interpretative social science approach, this paper examines the ethical issues that arise in Malaysia’s COVID-19 vaccination discourse, focusing on vaccine justice and the bioethical principle of ‘respect for autonomy’. The paper finds that despite several shortfalls in the immunization process, most Malaysians remain optimistic and support the government’s immunization initiatives. The paper contributes to the understanding that building public trust is critical to the success of the immunization programme. Health agencies should make more efforts to inform the public about the benefits and risks of vaccines, as well as the transparency of immunization processes, which will increase public trust in health systems.

The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State

The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State

We write samba on the wild asphalt

The importance of Hélio Oiticica’s ascension to the Morro of Mangueira to his career has been extensively studied and mythicized, and the indebtedness of his work to Afro-Brazilian culture has recently started receiving attention. Nevertheless, his oeuvre has not been explored with sufficient attention through the lens of malandragem, the use of tricks to outwit people in positions of power and restore a temporary sense of justice. I interpret malandragem as a legacy of the resistance enacted by enslaved Africans and their descendants against colonialism, slavery, and oppression. In this paper I analyze the work of an Afro-Brazilian artist from a previous generation, Heitor dos Prazeres, whose work was labeled “naïf” and “primitive” and, thus, ostracized from the history of modern art. Although it might seem unusual to pair the work of a figurative painter like dos Prazeres with that of Oiticica, an artist who not only never produced representational art, but even declared the death of traditional painting and dedicated his career to transposing the medium into space and time, in fact the culture of malandragem brings the two oeuvres together. Painter and samba composer, dos Prazeres was profoundly consequential in establishing the foundations of the cultural environment that Oiticica would draw from in the 1960s, where samba is just one aspect. Heitor dos Prazeres used malandragem to bend social barriers and infiltrate a hostile cultural world during the Estado Novo (1937-1945) and the following decades. His tactics should be considered precursors to the strategies that artists working under the military dictatorship (1964-1985) would enact to express dissent, as in the case of Hélio Oiticica.

“How a Facebook Update Can Cost You Your Job”: News Coverage of Employment Terminations Following Social Media Disclosures, From Racist Cops to Queer Teachers

Social media posts and profiles have become a key part of hiring and firing processes, producing a “hidden curriculum of surveillance.” When hiring, employers routinely engage in “cybervetting” job candidates, making judgments based on their social media presence (or absence), and so too can social media disclosures impact (positively and negatively) employment progression and even result in termination. Where is the line between personal social media use and professional identities? What is the difference between holding people in positions of power to account and invading the privacy of everyday people? What kinds of social media posts get people fired? In this article, we report on a study of 312 news media articles that document stories of people being fired because of a social media post. We divide the corpus into posts made by the individuals who are fired (“self-posts,” n = 264) and posts made by others that resulted in the subject of those posts losing their job (“third party,” n = 48). Racism was the most common reason people were fired in these news stories, followed by other forms of discriminatory behavior (such as queerphobia), offensive content, workplace conflict, political content, acts of violence, and abuse. We examine these narratives through the lens of what van Dijck describes as “professional value,” and ultimately seek to question how these stories normalize the “hidden curriculum of surveillance,” putting additional pressure on employees and young people who are called to act on social media through the prism of future employment.

The Positive Impact of Having Served as a Danwei Leader on Post-retirement Life Satisfaction: Experiences in China.

Relevance deprivation syndrome refers to feelings of incompetence among retired people caused by them leaving their high status or influential jobs. The question then arises: do people in positions of power, like Danwei leaders in China, have a lower life satisfaction post-retirement compared to other groups? This study investigated the influence of serving as a Danwei leader before retirement on retirees’ life satisfaction, as well as differences in this influence and the channels through which they are affected. Based on the data of 5,873 respondents of the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, ordinary least-squares, ordered logistic regression, and propensity score matching models were used to investigate the influence, differences, and influential mechanisms of serving as a Danwei leader before retirement on retirees’ life satisfaction. We found that Danwei leaders experience a significantly positive impact on their life satisfaction post-retirement. Second, the positive impact of having served in this role on peoples’ post-retirement life satisfaction is related to the resulting higher income, social status, and better living habits. In contrast to the perspective of relevance deprivation syndrome, in China, having been a Danwei leader before retirement has a significantly positive impact on peoples’ life satisfaction post-retirement, with there being a significant difference observed among different types of retired Danwei leaders.

Facing Racism and Sexism in Science by Fighting Against Social Implicit Bias: A Latina and Black Woman's Perspective.

The editors of several major journals have recently asserted the importance of combating racism and sexism in science. This is especially relevant now, as the COVID-19 pandemic may have led to a widening of the gender and racial/ethnicity gaps. Implicit bias is a crucial component in this fight. Negative stereotypes that are socially constructed in a given culture are frequently associated with implicit bias (which is unconscious or not perceived). In the present article, we point to scientific evidence that shows the presence of implicit bias in the academic community, contributing to strongly damaging unconscious evaluations and judgments of individuals or groups. Additionally, we suggest several actions aimed at (1) editors and reviewers of scientific journals (2) people in positions of power within funding agencies and research institutions, and (3) members of selection committees to mitigate this effect. These recommendations are based on the experience of a group of Latinx American scientists comprising Black and Latina women, teachers, and undergraduate students who participate in women in science working group at universities in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With this article, we hope to contribute to reflections, actions, and the development of institutional policies that enable and consolidate diversity in science and reduce disparities based on gender and race/ethnicity.

Miss Saigon: The Asian Experience in the Perspective of the White Man

Stuart Hall defines stereotyping as a way in which mediamakers separate and excludegroups of people, a hegemonic practice that works to maintain a social order (Hall, 1997). Theproducers and writers of the musical film Miss Saigon aim to show a tragic love story between aVietnamese woman and a white GI soldier during the Vietnam War; however, the mediamaker’snarrow perspective on the war causes the musical to feel limited in showing and understandingvarious experiences of Asian immigration. While mediamakers believe that Miss Saigonencourages Asian representation, by framing the immigrant experience through the perspectiveof white male producers, the musical film depicts Asians as exotic and inferior and createslasting stereotypes. This form of “othering” creates and maintains fixed differences between the“insiders” and “outsiders” as the experiences of minorities are told by people in positions ofpower.

A preparatory study of care for elderly women in rural Kenya

Ageing is a global phenomenon, and sub-Saharan African countries will be no exception; however, no political framework for longterm care (LTC) for the elderly has been established as yet. Moreover, very little research on ageing has been carried out. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to illustrate the life of old women in Kwale County, Kenya, focusing on care. This study was conducted mainly in 2016 and 2017 for several weeks using basic information from the HDSS in Kwale, as well as interviews with 30 informants (elderly women) as the preparatory study for a future interdisciplinary research project on ageing. There are very few studies on aging or care for the elderly in Kenya. Some previous ethnographies have described old people in powerful positions and were focused on male issues. Therefore, we have focused on women and care. This study has yielded three key findings: (1) gender issues: most caregivers for old women are also women, such as daughters and daughters-in-law; (2) social change: some older females live alone without enough support from their own children; and (3) there is not enough medical support: some old women are bedridden and have serious health problems, but they do not receive special attention, compared to younger patients.

Deep Disagreement and Patience as an Argumentative Virtue

During a year when there is much tumult around the world and in the United States in particular, it might be surprising to encounter a paper about patience and argumentation. In this paper, I explore the notion of deep disagreement, with an eye to moral and political contexts in particular, in order to motivate the idea that patience is an argumentative virtue that we ought to cultivate. This is particularly so because of the extended nature of argumentation and the slow rate at which we change our minds. I raise a concern about how calls for patience have been misused in the past and argue that if we accept patience as an argumentative virtue, we should hold people in positions of power, in particular, to account.

Gender, power and emotions in the collaborative production of knowledge: A large-scale analysis of Wikipedia editor conversations

This paper studies the conversations behind the operations of a large-scale, online knowledge production community: Wikipedia. We investigate gender differences in the conversational styles (emotionality) and conversational domain choices (controversiality and gender stereotypicality of content) among contributors, and how these differences change as we look up the organizational hierarchy. In the general population of contributors, we expect and find significant gender differences, whereby comments and statements from women are higher-valenced, have more affective content, and are in domains that are less controversial and more female-typed. Importantly, these differences diminish or disappear among people in positions of power: female authorities converge to the behavior of their male counterparts, such that the gender gaps in valence and willingness to converse on controversial content disappear. We find greater sorting into topics according to their gender stereotypicality. We discuss mechanisms and implications for research on gender differences, leadership behavior, and conversational phenomena arising from such large-scale forms of knowledge production.