Sense Of Confidence Research Articles

Sovereignty and the Separation of Powers in John Locke

Locke's conceptualization of sovereignty and its uses, combining theological, social, and political perspectives, testifies to his intellectual profundity that was spurred by his endeavour to re-traditionalize a changing world. First, by relying on the traditional, personalistic notion of polity, Locke developed a concept of sovereignty that bore the same sense of authority as the “right of commanding” attributable only to real persons. Second, he managed to reconcile the unitary nature of sovereignty with the plurality of its uses, mainly through a conception of the dual, vertical separation of functions, which implied degrees rather than kinds of sovereignty. While absolute sovereignty belongs to God, Locke argued, relative sovereignty, separated into “potential” and “actual” sovereignty, is vested in the community on the grounds of the Edenic testament with God. The community, established by a fundamental, single contract, is divided into “society”—to fulfil the function of legislation, which signifies the potential sovereignty of the community, so as to cultivate common law, and into “government”—to undertake the execution, which signifies the actual sovereignty of the king, of common law so as to procure common wealth.

Effects of Emotional Labor on Adventure Tour Leaders' Job Satisfaction

The aim of this study was to examine the potential effects of two types of emotional labor, surface acting and deep acting, on the job satisfaction of adventure tour leaders employed within Australia. While surface acting refers to faking feelings that are not really felt, or hiding feelings that are inappropriate to display, deep acting is concerned with aligning one's true feelings with the ones required by the job. An online survey measuring adventure tour leaders' levels of emotional labor and job satisfaction was made available on the Internet for a period of 2 months. A sample of 137 participants responded to this survey. The results show that while deep acting has a statistically significant positive impact on adventure tour leaders' job satisfaction, there is no statistically significant relationship between surface acting and job satisfaction. These findings are consistent with research suggesting that deep acting could help to convey a sense of authenticity and a feeling of achievement in employees, thus leading to higher levels of job satisfaction. This, in turn, has implications for the way adventure tour operators manage their employees in relation to human resource management areas such as recruitment, selection, training, development, performance appraisal, and retention.

Being in charge - new mothers' perceptions of reflective leadership and motherhood

To explore new mothers' perceptions of reflective leadership in relation to motherhood. Mindfulness, discovery of a deep personal self, sense of life purpose and authenticity appear to be the essence of self-reflective leadership. In this regard, women may be unprepared for the level of distress associated with the transition to motherhood. This study comprised interviews with ten new mothers on day 2-3 after giving birth conducted between March and May 2005. The interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and interpreted by a method grounded in hermeneutics. The content of the text was interpreted as one overall theme; the nature of responsibility in motherhood, encompassing the following four sub-themes: 'Being a good mother by reflecting and developing self-identity', 'managing fear, demands and commitments as a mother', 'having the necessary resources to act and lead as a mother' and 'believing and trusting in others and self as a leader'. In the new mother's transformation and growth of self, true strength has to overcome the vulnerability of life by means of caring and courage mediated by reflective leadership anchored in love.

Standing OUT/Fitting IN: Identity, Appearance, and Authenticity in Gay and Lesbian Communities

Sexuality scholars have noted the historical connection between appearance and gay or lesbian identity. However, as the social landscape for lesbian women and gay men has shifted over the past forty years, little research has documented how such changes influence gay and lesbian individuals' appearance choices as they form, manage, and maintain their identities. To explore the impact of this “post-closet” (Seidman 2002) era on the identities and appearances of lesbians and gays, in-depth interviews were conducted with twenty individuals, aged eighteen to thirty. Findings suggest that while most people use appearance to attain a sense of authenticity after “coming out,” achieving a feeling of authenticity in gay and lesbian spaces presents unique challenges as individuals come under scrutiny by the community.

Who is a Muslim? Identities of exclusion—north Indian Muslims, c. 1860–1900

In the second half of the nineteenth century, multiple and contested interpretations of the practices and scriptures of Islam emerged in north India, as different groupings of faith be-came formalised. Fundamental questions, such as who a Muslim was, were answered differently by each group, based on the exclusion of all other Muslims who did not subscribe to their school of thought. Differences in practice, rituals, faith and even demeanour were emphasised through the vibrant Urdu press. The British, in their efforts to count and classify, used very different set of criteria, which were quite alien to how Muslims appropriated their own sense of authenticity.

The stormy search for self in early adulthood: Developmental crisis and the dissolution of dysfunctional personae.

This qualitative study investigated episodes of early adult crises and the impact of these on identity development. Six individuals were interviewed twice about an experience of formative crisis between the ages of 25 and 40. Results showed a common dynamic starting with a precrisis conformist persona, and an identity correspondingly divided into inner (true) and outer (false). Over the course of a stressful life transition, the person separates from the precrisis roles and relationships that nurtured this fragmented identity and searches for a more unified and integrated life structure. Postcrisis identity is sought through experimentation and trial-and-error. New jobs and relationships permit the expression of feelings, values and aspirations, which in turn brings a sense of autonomy and authenticity.

"Why not? But I can't" – Influence of a 'culture of poverty' on learning - A case study

Based on a sub set of data from a study which investigated the role of motivation as a contributing factor in second language learning in a disadvantaged school setting in Sri Lanka, this paper attempts to show the relationship between a ‘culture of poverty' and learning. Lewis, (1970 : p.85) states that ‘in addition to being a condition of chronic economic poverty, the culture of poverty is characterized by the cognitive poverty of its ‘members', instilling a fatalism with reference to any possibility of ever achieving a different way of life'. Although education is one way in which such people could be empowered to develop a sense of self confidence and self worth, children acquire the adult fatalism early and become learned helpless. The findings of the study indicate that there is a correlation between motivation and a 'culture of poverty'. Further, in spite of the adverse socio-economic backgrounds from which the students come, their motivation to learn the second language can be enhanced. However, it is not the 'culture of poverty' per se that affects motivation but the type of attributions that the students make regarding their prior learning experiences. Thus a relationship between attributions and 'cognitive poverty' was visible. DOI: 10.4038/suslj.v6i1.1687 Sabaragamuwa University Journal, vol 6, no. 1, pp 23-34

Enriching Group Counseling Through Integrating Yoga Concepts and Practices

Integrating practices from yoga with group counseling offers many creative paths of therapeutic learning. While yoga emphasizes the increased sense of connection with the self, group counseling emphasizes the increased sense of authenticity in relationship with oneself and with others. Common aims of both yoga and counseling are liberation from suffering through greater awareness and increased integration. Greater clarity of living and deeper sense of relation can lead to more positive behaviors and reduced negative consequences. Examples are offered regarding the use of yoga principles in various types of groups, including a Native American healing group for adults with significant physical afflictions and for Indian psychology graduate students in training.

Becoming a Grandmother: Maternal Grandmothers' Mental Health, Perceived Costs, and Personal Growth

Although becoming a grandmother represents an important transition in a woman's life, it has received scant research attention. This study used the model of growth developed by Schaefer and Moos in an attempt to identify personal and environmental resources that may contribute to a first-time maternal grandmother's mental health and her perceptions of costs and sense of personal growth. One hundred and two Israeli women completed a series of questionnaires twice: (1) during their daughter's first pregnancy and (2) following the birth of their first grandchild. The independent variables included the personal resources of education, physical health, self-esteem, attachment style, and self-mastery and the environmental resources of grandmother's perception of level of intimacy with her daughter and active involvement with the grandchild. Findings reveal that education, attachment style, self-esteem, and self-mastery are associated with mental health, perception of costs, and experience of personal growth. The pattern of the correlations that emerged indicates that the transition to maternal grand-motherhood, a normative life event, may evoke both positive and negative cognitions and emotions. KEY WORDS: maternal grandmothers; mental health; personal growth ********** Becoming a grandmother is a life transition that arouses complex emotions. On the one hand, it is a source of happiness, self-fulfillment, and satisfaction (Peterson, 1999; Somary & Stricker, 1998); on the other, it is associated symbolically with the notions of old age and approaching death, regardless of a woman's chronological age and vitality, and may therefore be considered a stressful event (Gauthier, 2002). The need to adapt to both normative and stressful life events may be accompanied not only by perceptions of costs and distress, but also by enhanced well-being and mental health (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Studies indicate that those who enjoy being grandparents feel younger and hope to live longer than those who do not take pleasure in their new status (Kaufman & Elder, 2003) and that grandparent-identity meanings are related positively to self-esteem and negatively to depressive symptoms (Reitzes & Mutran, 2004). Reitzes and Mutran (2004) suggested that more positive grandparent-identity meanings may encourage a heightened sense of well-being by providing a sense of authenticity, meaning, and purpose. Whereas the concept of costs seems obvious in the context of separation, loss of a job, or divorce, it is less self-evident when the event is basically a positive one, such as the transition to grand-motherhood. However, the tendency to disregard negative aspects of this life transition ignores the potential distress it can arouse. Furthermore, evidence from recent years indicates that distress and well-being, as well as costs and stress-related growth, may coexist (Gable & Haidt, 2005).Thus, new grandmothers may also experience a sense of personal growth alongside distress and the perception of costs. Schaefer and Moos (1992) developed a conceptual model for understanding the positive outcomes of life crises and transitions. They noted that personal growth entails reassessment of familial and social support systems; reinforcement of personality traits like self-awareness, empathy, and maturity; and enhancement of coping skills, including efficient problem-solving and help-seeking behaviors. Schaefer and Moos's model has been already applied to events such as serious illness (Siegel, Schrimshaw, & Pretter, 2005) and, more recently, to normative life transitions as well. Specifically, two studies have shown that the transition to being a parent of a preterm baby may generate personal growth (Spielman & Taubman--Ben-Ari, 2009; Taubman--Ben-Ari, Findler, & Kuint, in press). In their classic research of the 1960s, Neugarten and Weinstein (1964) indicated that grandparenthood contains the potential for the experience of biological renewal, continuity, self-fulfillment, a chance to succeed in a new emotional role, and indirect expansion of the self through the grandchild's achievements. …

Ending the liberal hegemony: Republican freedom and Amartya Sen's theory of capabilities

While being generally appreciative of Sen's theory of capabilities, the point of this paper is to raise some conceptual challenges that arise in addressing entrenched conditions of power and domination from the capability paradigm. The enhancement of people's capability prospects with regard to education, employment, decent living standards and political participation can empower them to challenge various dominating conditions in society. It can also bestow a sense of self-confidence in people to stand up against discriminating practices. Yet, the objectives of the capability theory remain less secure as long as citizens’ capability prospects are dependent on and subjected to arbitrary power and domination. I argue that Sen's theory of capabilities can be strengthened and developed as an effective antidote to the liberal hegemony in political theory by drawing on resources from Pettit's republicanism particularly by accommodating the robustness condition of freedom and by envisioning individual freedom as intimately tied to the common good of the polity.

Moving Scenes: The Aesthetics of German Travel Writing on England 1783-1830 (review)

Reviewed by: Moving Scenes: The Aesthetics of German Travel Writing on England 1783-1830 Michael Ritterson Alison E. Martin , Moving Scenes: The Aesthetics of German Travel Writing on England 1783–1830, Studies in Comparative Literature 13 (Oxford: Legenda, 2008). Pp. xi,187. $89.50. In her chapter "Sympathy and Spectacle: Visual Representation in Johanna Schopenhauer's Reise durch England und Schottland," Alison E. Martin notes: "Goethe, [the aesthetician Carl Ludwig] Fernow, and many like them had been magnetized by the form and the light of the Italian countryside in the classical arcadian visions embodied by Nicolas Poussin or Claude Lorrain. However, as the eighteenth century drew to a close, it was increasingly the landscape of Britain that caught the imagination of German travellers" (115). Much of the British Isles' appeal lay in their rugged, irregular, somber landscapes and views that charmed with nature's imperfections.more consonant with the Romantic sensibilities of the new century than the "form and light of the Italian countryside." But even before the time of Schopenhauer's travels in England and Scotland (1803–05), there had been more than captivating landscapes to stimulate German interest in and travel to Britain: the Enlightenment had brought technological breakthroughs, "new intellectual and moral values, new canons of taste, forms of sociability, and views on human nature" (7). Martin's study is not meant to be a comprehensive survey of German travelogues on England in the fifty years under consideration; rather it offers detailed analysis of six accounts from a variety of political, social, and stylistic positions within German culture of the period. She notes in her introduction that "the claim of travel writers to speak with an authentic voice was . . . closely bound up with the discourses they employed. . . . The ability to engage affectively with the subject by means of imaginative projection was . . . paramount in this creation of a new style of travel writing" (4). Her twofold aim is therefore to analyze certain rhetorical practices in late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century German travel writing "to demonstrate how the traveller.the moving figure.was also moved by what he or she observed," and "to capture something of the range of impulses that travel writing gained from other aesthetic practices (not necessarily literary) for the purposes of sympathetic representation and in so doing to better understand the range of representational devices on which travel writers of this period drew" (5). The six writers thus selected are not best remembered for their travel accounts. Besides, and often obscuring, their activity as travel writers, they pursued interests and careers as educators, classicists, theologians, journalists, novelists, translators, essayists, salonnières, and theorists of music and painting. Three—Karl Philipp Moritz, Sophie von La Roche, and Johanna Schopenhauer.are still familiar names from the period; Esther Domeier (née Gad), Carl Gottlieb Horstig, and August Hermann Niemeyer are probably all but forgotten. All six seem to have shared a belief that vitality in travel writing, leaving a warm, vibrant impression on the readership, was necessary for a convincingly "truthful" account of the traveler's experience. Martin analyzes the modes these German visitors employed in presenting their observations, seeking to revivify scenes in the mind's eye of their readers rather than to lay out objective, informative, but ultimately lifeless collections of facts and descriptions. She takes these six case studies in the order of publication of their travel accounts, beginning with Karl Philipp Moritz's of 1783. Moritz, then a budding [End Page 278] novelist experimenting with character dialogue, reproduced scenes from the debates in Parliament and exchanges on the streets of London, with less concern for the content of oral discourse than for the rhetorical effect he had observed, creating a sense of immediacy and authenticity for his German readers. Sophie von La Roche, author of the quintessential German sentimental novel, Geschichte des Fräuleins von Sternheim (1771), exemplifies for Martin the "problem of sensibility," that is, La Roche's attempt, as the first German woman to publish an account of travel to England, to balance "female" sentimental reflection with empirical narrative, description, and the rational ordering of evidence.all generally considered the preserve of male discourse. Though she sometimes failed to achieve...

Influence of External Over-adaptive Behavior and Introspection on Sense of Authenticity among University Students

Influence of External Over-adaptive Behavior and Introspection on Sense of Authenticity among University Students

Managing unlawful feelings: the emotional regime of the Swedish migration board

How do organisations develop emotional regimes that make perfect sense to members but appear paradoxical and even morally outrageous to non-members? Exploring the case of a department for the investigation of asylum applications at the Swedish Migration Board (MB), I argue that through repeated and various types of interaction rituals, an emotional regime is enacted and sustained that provides employees with a sense of authenticity, meaning and organisational loyalty. At the department procedural correctness and the professional epitomise the emotional regime and the preferred organisational identity, including ways of acting on and managing emotions. The organisation becomes an emotionally self-enclosed system.

Coercion in psychiatric care: Global and Indian perspective

Byline: Ruchita. Shah, Debasish. Basu Introduction and Historical Aspects Coercion in health care is well known and forced treatment against the patient's will is even more common in psychiatric care. In fact, psychiatry is the only discipline where coercion in care can be legal and state-sanctioned. Although autonomous decision-making is challenged because of the power relationship between the skilled practitioner and the unskilled patient; this power gradient is even more intense in psychiatry because of the nature of mental illness. [sup][1] History is replete with examples of political abuse of the power entrusted in physicians and more specifically, psychiatrists, as seen during the Nazi rule and the Soviet regime when political dissidents were labeled 'mentally ill' and subjected to inhumane 'treatments'. Coercion in psychiatric care is seen in the form of involuntary admission, involuntary treatment, seclusion/restraint, outpatient commitment, and in the Indian context, also includes surreptitious treatment. Thus to say the least, discussing the controversies hovering coercion in psychiatric care is of utmost importance and these controversies mainly center on the issues of 'justification' and 'human rights'. Conceptual Issues Coercion and persuasion are closely linked, but are definitely different terms. Persuasion is defined as the clinician's aim 'to utilize the patient's reasoning ability to arrive at a desired result', [sup][2] whereas, coercion occurs 'when the doctor aims to manipulate the patient by introducing extraneous elements which have the effect of undermining the patient's ability to reason'. [sup][3] The four basic ethical principles [sup][2] that dictate professional behavior are: (a) Respect for autonomy: this includes components of liberty or independence from controlling influences and agencies or the capacity for intentional action; (b) Beneficence: it refers to a moral obligation to act for the benefit of others; (c) Nonmaleficence: this simply means 'First do no harm'; and (d) Justice: it refers to the fair and equitable distribution of treatment resources. Although these are the guiding principles, it is common in actual practice that these come in conflict with each other. The doctrine of double effect states that an action producing both helpful and harmful effects is not necessarily wrong. Although the deontological view states that right behavior (respect for autonomy) is obligatory without regard for consequences, paternalism is widely practiced in psychiatry. Paternalism is defined as the intentional overriding of one person's known preferences or actions by another person, where the person who overrides justifies the action by the goal of benefiting or avoiding harm to the person whose preferences or actions are overridden. [sup][2] To promote individual autonomy and to encourage rational decision-making, the concept of informed consent [sup][4] was developed. Informed consent is built upon the elements of information, decisional capacity, and voluntarism. Decisional capacity or competency, in turn, comprises of the ability to communicate, understand, and logically work with information and to appreciate the meaning of a decision within the context of one's life. Competency assessment involves assessment of the mental ability to understand the nature and consequences of a decision (includes benefits/risks of consenting as well as refusing). Voluntarism [sup][1] encompasses an individual's ability to act in accordance with one's authentic sense of what is good, right, and best in light of one's situation, values, and prior history. Voluntarism further entails the capacity to make this choice freely and in the absence of coercion. Perception of Coercion It is widely believed by the providers that coercion is returned by patient's subsequent gratitude for the psychiatrist's unilateral action; the so called 'Thank you' test. …

Weakness, Belonging, and the Intercordia Experience: The Logic and Limits of Dissonance as a Transformative Learning Tool

AbstractEducational theorist Richard Kiely highlights the central importance of “high intensity dissonance” in successful international service‐learning. This essay applies Kiely's model of dissonance and transformative learning to Intercordia, an international service‐learning program offered at the University of St. Michael's College and the University of Toronto, in partnership with the Non‐Governmental Organization (NGO) Intercordia Canada. By placing its students in situations of significant vulnerability and weakness, the Intercordia program attempts to problematize familiar assumptions about the otherness of oppressed persons and thereby to encourage an authentic sense of belonging across boundaries of difference. The results, as reported by participants in the program, are quite profound. At the same time, the program design invites critical questions about how, and to what extent, such transformative experiences of dissonance should be scripted for students as an expected and desired result of their international service.

Enacting the ‘true self’: Towards a theory of embodied authentic leadership

This paper argues that although authentic leadership may be rooted in the notion of a ‘true self’, it is through the embodiment of that ‘true self’ that leaders are perceived as authentic or not. In making this claim, we consider ways in which a somatic sense of self contributes to the felt sense of authenticity, and how through engaging with somatic cues, leadership can be performed in a way which is experienced as authentic, both to the leader and to those he or she seeks to lead. In developing our ideas further, we draw from the acting theory of Stanislavski (1936a, 1936b, 1961) to explore how authentic dramatic performances are created, focusing on the role of emotional memory, the magic ‘if’ and physical action in performances. We propose three key components of a resulting theory of how embodied authentic leadership is created: self exposure, relating, and making leaderly choices.

Re-evaluating the Archive in Stephen Poliakoff'sShooting the Past

In the increasingly fragmented, cost-conscious and competitive terrain of modern British broadcasting, such creative autonomy is atypical within the mechanics of the industry process. As Robin Nelson notes, ‘as both writer and director . . . Poliakoff’s work is as close to “authored drama’’ as it is possible to be in a necessarily collaborative, creative endeavour’ (Nelson 2006: 124). Indeed, Poliakoff’s dual credentials as writer and director compound this sense of authorship, forging links with the writer-led traditions of British theatre and television, and with more recent cinematic conceptions of director as creator. In this way, Poliakoff has generated a public image of himself as British television auteur par excellence: writing, directing and overseeing every aspect of his work. When I interviewed Poliakoff in September 2007, he made clear that he could no longer imagine working on a television piece with less artistic control than he presently enjoys, a far cry from the circumstances of the majority of creatives currently working within the prevailing production-line methods of the television industry. Further linking Poliakoff’s work to the televisual branding of ‘quality’ and ‘authored drama’ is the aura of must-see, special event television which surrounds the publicity and scheduling of his output. For

A Cross-Sectional Survey of Age and Sense of Authenticity among Japanese

This study examined age differences on the sense of authenticity and its relation with mental health measured on the General Health Questionnaire. Participants were 963 Japanese (M age = 51.5 yr., SD = 19.5). Scores on the Sense of Authenticity Scale increased across age cohorts. Correlations of -.45 to -.75 were observed between the sense of authenticity and mental health in all age groups.

Visual transparency: Looking behind thick walls

Organizations send a lot of visual information to their stakeholders, via advertisements, PR-releases, etc. The question is whether they are ready to fulfill the need for visual information, when asked. In order to analyze this question we firstly specify the meaning of the visual code, compared to literacy and orality. The distinction made by Peirce, between iconic, indexical and symbolic signs serves as our starting point. The easy availability and the sense of authenticity of visual material are considered as crucial characteristics of the visual code. Next we construct our concept visual information need, indicating what kind of messages are then to be delivered. We hypothesize that the more the visual information need is vague or ill-defined, the more the symbolic code plays a role. And – vice versa – the more precise a question is the more iconic/indexical the presentation should be. Practical examples illustrate this thesis.

Deeds, Not Words: The Origins of Women's Philanthropy in the Russian Empire. Birmingham Slavonic Monographs, 37 by Wendy Rosslyn (review)

reviews 559 example,careful study ofRussia'spotashtraderevealsthatitwas developed byforeigners undera speciallicensegranted bythetsarand apparently promisedtoyieldhighreturns . Bymid-century, Russia'srapidly growing potash industry reachedsucha largescalethatitresulted in significant deforestation in severalparts of Russia while simultaneously enrichingTsar Aleksei's favourites, including theMorozovand Miloslavskii clans,as wellas Charles IPs personalenvoyto thetsar. Department ofHistory Chester Dunning TexasA&M University Rosslyn, Wendy. Deeds,Not Words:The Origins of Women's Philanthropy in the Russian Empire.BirminghamSlavonic Monographs, 37. CREES, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, 2007. 516 pp. Tables. Notes. Bibliography. Index.£38.00 (paperback). The subjectofWendyRosslyn's Deeds, NotWords is one thathistorians have touched upon,butfailedtoexploreindepth:namely, theparticipation ofelite womenin philanthropic societiesin theearlynineteenth century. Rosslyn's workis a thorough examination offemalephilanthropy which,she argues, providedwomenwitha 'pathintopubliclife'and ultimately 'redefined the boundariesbetweenmasculineand feminine spheres'in imperialRussia (p. 454).The voluntary associations thatappearedinresponse to theNapoleonic invasionof 1812weresmallin numberand oftenshort-lived, Rosslyn admits, yetthey represented thefirst instance whenRussianwomen'emerged from theprivate domestic sphere'(p. 1)and 'claimeda place in associational lifeand in civilsociety' (p. 189). Rosslyndividesherbook intothreeparts:in PartOne she exploresthe context fortheemergence ofwomen'sassociations byexamining theconcept ofpublicand privatein imperialRussia,discussing the history of Russian philanthropy, and offering a comparative surveyoffemalephilanthropy in Western Europeand theUnitedStates.She goes on in PartTwo to survey therangeofwomen'sbenevolent associations, whicharosefirst as an expressionofwomen 'spatriotism in 181 2 and were,Rosslynasserts, the'equivalent ofmilitary service'(p. 177)and an important manifestation of'femalecitizenship '(p. 173).PartThree is devotedto case studiesofwomen'sassociations throughout the empire.Of these,Rosslynfocusesparticularly on the St Petersburg Women'sPatriotic Society, for whichthemostextensive documentationsurvives . She also,however, examinestheworkofwomen'sorganizations inSimbirsk, Rigaand Orel,whichwere,bycomparison, motivated more byreligious and humanitarian imperatives, rather thantheobjectofwarrelief thatbrought theSt Petersburg society intoexistence. Amongthemanyfascinating topicsthatRosslynconsiders in thisworkis herattention totheinteraction between stateand society through themedium ofwomen'sassociations. As Rosslynobserves, thePatriotic Societymade use ofbothmaleandfemale channels ofcommunication tosolicit patronage from 560 SEER, 87, 3, JULY 2OO9 Alexander I and hisconsort, ElizavetaAlekseevna. To a lesserextent, access tolocalofficials was also significant inthesurvival ofwomen'sassociations on a provincial leveland dependedas wellon networks ofwomen- inthiscase, thewivesofgovernors and otherofficials. Rosslynpointsout,however, thatfeminine initiative rather thanimperial largessewas instrumental in the successof the Women's PatrioticSociety in raising fundsin theaftermath of 1812;she also notestheresistance ofits members to a merger withtheImperialPhilanthropic Society.Amongthe achievements ofwomen'sassociations weretheir contributions to poorrelief, therehabilitation ofprisoners, and theirrolein providing educationforgirls from disadvantaged families. Indeed,inlight ofthenumber offemaledonors tothePatriotic Society, Rosslyn suggests thattheworkofthelatter 'mobilized a newsegment ofthebenevolent public'(p.279).Womencomprised theboard and membership of the Patriotic Society,althoughboththe secretary and treasurer were male - a curiousfactin lightof noblewomen's economic independence in imperialRussia. Rosslynpaysmeticulous attention to the activities of each society, placingparticular emphasison women'srole in decision-making, theirresponsibility fortheuse of fundsand evaluationof applications forassistance, and theirinteraction withthepublic.In contrast totraditional almsgiving, Rosslyn asserts, participation inphilanthropic societies endowedtheirmembers withca senseofworking in a teamwithother women' (p. 245) and a senseof authority. She also considersthe benefits and liabilities forwomenwho tookpartin societiesthatincludeda male membership. Rosslyn is careful notto overstate thesignificance offemalephilanthropy. She remarks that,in contrast toWestern Europe,women'sassociations were rare,thattheir workwas 'essentially apolitical'(p. 243),and thatitcannotbe arguedthatthe societiesachieveda significant change 'in women'ssocial role' (p. 188).Thus,herconclusion thatfemalephilanthropists succeededin redefining 'theboundaries betweenmasculineand feminine spheres'and,in effect, 'challengedallegationsof women's essentialintellectual inferiority' seemssomewhat at odds withherevidence.She is on firmer groundwhen she asserts thatphilanthropic societies maynothave overturned thegender order,yetsucceededin widening women's'sphereofactivity' and acted as forerunners forlaterbenevolent societies withmoreexplicitly feminist goals. If thereis, however,a weaknessin thiswork,it is Rosslyn'suse of the concept of domesticity. On more than one occasion Rosslynmaintains thatbenevolent associations offered womenan opportunity to overcomethe 'isolation'ofrestriction in theirhomes(p. 257)and challengetheirexclusion fromthepublicsphere.And yettheprotagonists of her workwere,overwhelmingly , womenoftheelite,manyofwhomheldpositions at courtand whosesocialstatus madepossible the'channels offemale communication' that Rosslynvividly depicts.For Russiannoblewomen in thesecircles,the line between 'public'and 'private' wasoften ill-defined, and their roleat thecourt and as property ownersin theirown rightmeantthattheywerefarfrom confined to the 'domesticsphere.'Rosslynis well aware of thisambiguity, acknowledging that the boundarybetweenpublic and privatewas 'not REVIEWS 561 clearly differentiated' inearlynineteenth-century Russiaand thatwomen,like men,'functioned within a private realmthathad a publicface'(p.28).A more forceful and sustained consideration oftheproblematic status of'domesticity' for noblewomen wouldhavestrengthened parts ofthis fine andwell-researched book.Byraising important questions aboutthemeaning ofwomen'scivicand political identity...