The Game Metaphor: How To Teach Racists That There Is No Such Thing As Reverse Racism

It is difficult to guide the racially unknowing, ignorant, and fragile (read: most white people) to an understanding of these ideas, so explanations rejecting reverse racism fall short. I came up with a metaphor to do this. I call it the game metaphor. Its purpose is to show why there is no such thing as reverse racism without using any concepts or language that might confuse, trigger, or exclude modern racists

Visions in monochrome: Families, marriage and the individualisation thesis

This paper takes issue with the way in which the individualisation thesis – in which it is assumed that close relationships have become tenuous and fragile - has become so dominant in ‘new’ sociological theorising about family life. Although others have criticised this thesis, in this paper the main criticism derives from empirical research findings carried out with members of transnational families living in Britain whose values and practices do not fit easily with ideas of individualisation. It is argued that we need a much more complex and less linear notion of how families change across generations and in time

Fragile states and the return of native Administration

Ponencia presentada en el I Congreso Internacional Sobre Desarrollo Humano, Palacio Municipal de Congresos, Madrid, 14 a 16 de noviembre de 2006Durante los últimos años, un número de ideas relacionadas con el trabajo en “entornos difíciles”, o que implican países descritos como “malos actores” o “estados frágiles” han entrado en el discurso político. Tratan de describir el reto del desarrollo en una época de inestabilidad global y de extendido fallo estatal. Estas ideas son similares en contenido y aquí nos referimos a ellas como el estado frágil, o el discurso sobre el estado frágil. El pensamiento de los gobiernos donantes sobre la reconstrucción de los estados frágiles se entiende como la punta de lanza de la política actual. De cualquier forma, además de explorar éste discurso, éste trabajo se basa en las suposiciones y disposiciones desarrolladas dentro de la cobertura del imperialismo liberal, en concreto, la práctica colonial del gobierno indirecto o administración nativa. En vez de ser esencialmente nuevo, el discurso sobre el estado frágil es más bien una reinscripción contemporánea de enfoques anteriores sobre el problema del espacio no gobernado. Dado el fallo histórico de semejantes tecnologías para revertir el rechazo al tutelaje occidental, en una época de guerra indefinida y de creciente insurgencia global, es tan urgente como relevante un examen crítico de esta arqueologíaOver the last several years, a number of ideas relating to working in “difficult environments”, or engaging countries described as “poor performers” or “fragile states” have entered policy discourse. They attempt to describe the challenge for development at a time of global instability and the widespread occurrence of state failure. In content, these ideas are similar and are referred to here as the fragile state, or fragile state discourse. Donor government thinking on reconstructing fragile states is regarded as the cutting-edge of current policy. Besides exploring this discourse however, this paper draws out its reliance on assumptions and dispositions developed within the fold of liberal imperialism; in particular the colonial practice of indirect rule or Native Administration. Rather than being essentially new, fragile state discourse is more a contemporary re-inscription of earlier approaches to the problem of ungoverned space. Given the historic failure of such technologies to reverse the rejection of Western tutelage, at a time of indefinite war and deepening global insurgency, a critical examination of this archaeology is both pressing and relevant

Marginality in the context of the new rurality: application to the case of Malargüe in Mendoza, Argentina

In Malargüe, the southernmost department of the province of Mendoza, two different rural realities coexist: a small area with intensive farming around the urban centre, and a larger area where goat-grazing prevails. Whereas structural problems continue to affect extensive and transhumant cattle raising in the most fragile areas of the territory, in recent years the intensive agricultural development of vegetables, forestry and fodder has grown in the peri-urban area. From the perspective of the theoretical framework of marginality, both areas have different relations to the processes that characterise marginality. This was one of the ideas that guided the study of the rural area of the department. UGI, Barcelona.Fil: Cepparo, María Eugenia

Fragile learning

“A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy”A critical exploration of seven peer-reviewed published papers supports the author’s contention that learning in Higher Education is a fragile system of conscious and unconscious transactions that serve to weaken a process that is already precarious. Over the course of this essay and the accompanying papers, the submission is that learning is brittle, and easily broken. The Fragile Learner is described as someone close to conceding defeat to circumstances that threaten his education. The Fragile Learner might be a student of a Higher Education Institution, but also might be an appointed educator. Alongside notions of barriers to learning, this submission explores identities and tensions. Although some of the ideas that make up my picture of Fragile Learning have been researched by other contributors (notably Meyer and Land; Britzman), my own contribution sees the complexities through various psychoanalytic lenses. Fundamentally, it is the addition of psychoanalysis that makes Fragile Learning original. It is argued that anxiety is an important part of adult learning. Fragile Learners might experience anxieties that are internal and complex but which appear to be attacks from other people. Alternatively, Fragile Learning might be a consequence of learners having suffered illness or indisposition. It is important that something can be blamed. The themes of fragility and anxiety – not to mention the difficulties that arise from distance learning – are present throughout

Jamming and Stress Propagation in Particulate Matter

We present simple models of particulate materials whose mechanical integrity arises from a jamming process. We argue that such media are generically "fragile", that is, they are unable to support certain types of incremental loading without plastic rearrangement. In such models, fragility is naturally linked to the marginal stability of force chain networks (granular skeletons) within the material. Fragile matter exhibits novel mechanical responses that may be relevant to both jammed colloids and cohesionless assemblies of poured, rigid grains.Comment: LATEX, 3 Figures, elsart.cls style file, 11 page

Grappling with Issues of Learning Science from Everyday Experiences: An Illustrative Case Study

There are different perceptions among researchers with regard to the infusion of everyday experience in the teaching of science: 1) it hinders the learning of science concepts; or, 2) it increases the participation and motivation of students in science learning. This article attempts to contemplate those different perspectives of everyday knowledge in science classrooms by using everyday contexts to teach grade 3 science in Singapore. In this study, two groups of grade 3 students were presented with a scenario that required them to apply the concept of properties of materials to design a shoe. Subsequently, the transcripts of classroom discussions and interactions were analyzed using the framework of sociocultural learning and an interpretative analytic lens. Our analysis suggests that providing an authentic everyday context is insufficient to move young learners of science from their everyday knowledge to scientific knowledge. Further, group interactions among young learners of science to solve an everyday issue need to be scaffolded to ensure meaningful, focused, and sustained learning. Implications for research in science learning among younger students are discussed