Culture and Subjectivity in Neoliberal and postfeminist times

My aim in this paper is to think through a number of issues concerning the relationship between culture and subjectivity. It seems to me that exploring the relationship of changing forms of political organisation, social relations and cultural practices to changing modes and experiences of subjecthood and subjectivity are among the most important and urgent tasks for critical intellectual work. These questions go to the heart of understanding power, ideology and agency and they require research that is interdisciplinary, psychosocial and intersectional. My particular focus in this short article is on the interrelations between changing representational practices in visual culture and changing subjectivity/ies. I argue that neoliberalism and postfeminism are central to understanding contemporary media culture, and I put the case for research which does not retreat from exploring how these broader social/political/economic/cultural discourses and formations may relate to subjectivity

Bad Holocaust Art

This article examines the representation of the Holocaust in the visual arts, and evaluates theories of that representation which seek to place limits upon artworks that are seen to transgress responsible modes. Acknowledging that the Holocaust is one of the most fraught and contested of crime scenes, it opens by studying the public responses to the Mirroring Evil exhibition, at the Jewish Museum in New York in 2002. It traces changing critical and theoretical discourses about the limits of Holocaust representation, and tests these against practices in literature, historiography, jurisprudence and visual art. In particular, it describes the transgressive goals of certain practices within contemporary visual art, and proposes an ethical framework for engaging with various forms of transgressive conduct

A változó szociokulturális környezet tükröződése a nyelvi tájképben, Hódmezővásárhely példáján

Reflections of the changing socio-cultural environment on the linguistic landscape in a Hungarian town named Hódmezővásárhely     In Hungary, practices of naming shops and services, as these names typically reflect the social characteristics of a historical era, have changed from time to time in the 20th–21st centuries. This paper presents the name-giving practices concerning shops in Hódmezővásárhely in three different periods: from the beginning of the 20th century to the Second World War (1900–1944), in the socialist era (1945–1989) and in the present day, at the beginning of the 21st century. The characteristics of the name-giving practices are explored with the help of visual and written documentation. Data clarify what trends have dominated in naming shops and services in each period, how name-giving practices have changed and to what extent earlier practices have survived until now. This research gives special attention to the appearance of words of foreign (especially English) origin in names – a characteristic present-day feature hardly observable before the change of the political regime in Hungary

Precarious Practices: Artists, Work and Knowing-in-Practice

This study presents a new perspective on work practice in conceptual art. Using ethnographic evidence from five visual artists, the study used a combined visual arts and practice orientated perspective to explore the materiality of their everyday work and the sociomaterial practices shaping it. Close scrutiny is given to the forms of expertise embedded in this through concepts of knowing-in-practice and epistemic objects. Emerging from the findings is clearer understanding of how an arts-based methodology might enhance knowledge about artists’ knowing-in-practice. Popular representations of contemporary artists often ignore the realities of precarious work. This is reflected in the professional education of artists with its concentration on studio-based activities and emphasis on the production and products of artmaking. This study reconfigures and reconceptualises the work of artists as assemblages of sociomaterial practices that include, but are not limited to artmaking – so providing a different representation of the work of artists as a continuous collaboration of mundane materials. The study identified seven sociomaterial practices, defined as movement-driven; studio-making; looking; pedagogic; self-promotion; peer support; and pause. As these practices are subject to ever-changing materialities, they are constantly reassembled. Analysis revealed hidden interiors of underemployment and income generation to be significant factors embedded in the mundane materialities of everyday work, revealing resilience and adaptability as key forms of expertise necessary for the assembling of practices. Further, the arts-based methodology of ‘integrated imagework’ created ways of visually analysing the materially-mediated, socially situated nature of knowing in practice, and demonstrated how relational concepts relating to knowing-in-practice might be better analysed. Findings indicate how the professional education of artists – particularly the way the workplace of the studio is understood – could be re-envisioned to support the fluidity of contemporary artistic practices. The studio itself is a form of knowledge – ever changing – forming and being formed by the practices of artists. Adopting this view of studio-based education would be a radical departure from current studio-based pedagogies in contemporary art education. Further, resilience – the capacity to sustain practices that are emergent and constantly unfolding – becomes a form of expertise central to the professional education of artists

Now I See: Photovisualization to Support Agricultural Climate Adaptation

Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. To remain viable, agricultural producers will need to adapt to changing climatic conditions in coming decades. Agricultural advisers play an important role in helping producers decide to adopt appropriate adaptation practices. Photovisualizations have the potential to complement currently utilized outreach and education strategies. This research uses a focus group approach to explore (1) whether photovisualizations can aid in decision-making about climate change adaptation, and (2) what characteristics of photovisualizations are most effective at conveying spatial aspects of adaptation practices. We found that photovisualizations generate rich discussions about ecological and economic effects as well as tradeoffs associated with climate adaptation practices. To have the greatest impact, photovisualizations should be used when producers are considering implementing high-cost or high-risk projects, when practices are likely to dramatically change the visual landscape, or when a practice is unfamiliar to a producer

Write Like a Visual Artist: Tracing artists’ work in Canada’s textually mediated art world

This study examines the social organisation of Canada’s art world from the standpoint of practising visual artists. Bringing together theories of literacy and institutional ethnography, the article investigates the literacy practices of visual artists, making visible how artists use written texts to participate in public galleries and in the social and institutional relations of the art world. Drawing on extended ethnographic research, including interviews, observational field notes and textual analyses, this study sheds light on the ways visual artists enact particular texts, enact organisational processes, and to enact the social and conceptual worlds they are a part of. Through the lens of visual artists, this study locates two particular texts – the artist statement and the bio statement – in the extended social and institutional relations of the art world.

Peripheral news workers expelled to the periphery: the case of camera reporters

The professionals behind television cameras are peripheral contributors to journalism who are often overlooked in journalistic research in contrast with co-workers who occupy clearly demarcated journalistic roles. In this article we use the term camera reporters rather than the more frequently used terms such as cameramen or camera operators as we argue that these professionals are part of the journalistic field and their job titles in themselves question their belonging to this field. The aim of our article is to focus on the role of camera reporters as peripheral actors in the news production process – in this respect we address their journalistic culture, identity, autonomy, and practice – and to understand their role not only in the context of boundary work within journalism but perhaps even more importantly in relation to changes brought about by the move of a television studio from the city centre to a residential suburb. The relocation provides a rare opportunity to study camera reporters in their work places and spaces at a time of disruption and adjustment. Our case study is based in a Czech television studio where we have conducted interviews with camera reporters and news reporters. Our findings are in line with other research on peripheral news workers and illustrate complex issues in the professional standing of camera reporters

Disability Employment Policies and Practices in U.S. Federal Government Agencies

A survey of U.S. Federal agencies was initiated by the Presidential Task Force on Employment of Adults with Disabilities, and 403 representatives of U.S. Federal agencies were surveyed to determine their response to the employment nondiscrimination, affirmative action, and accommodation requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended