A plea for minimally biased naturalistic philosophy

Naturalistic philosophers rely on literature search and review in a number of ways and for different purposes. Yet this article shows how processes of literature search and review are likely to be affected by widespread and systematic biases. A solution to this problem is offered here. Whilst the tradition of systematic reviews of literature from scientific disciplines has been neglected in philosophy, systematic reviews are important tools that minimize bias in literature search and review and allow for greater reproducibility and transparency. If naturalistic philosophers wish to reduce bias in their research, they should then supplement their traditional tools for literature search and review by including systematic methodologies

Gender Identities and Feminism

Many feminists (e.g. T. Bettcher and B. R. George) argue for a principle of first person authority (FPA) about gender, i.e. that we should (at least) not disavow people's gender self-categorisations. However, there is a feminist tradition resistant to FPA about gender, which I call "radical feminism”. Feminists in this tradition define gender-categories via biological sex, thus denying non-binary and trans self-identifications. Using a taxonomy by B. R. George, I begin to demystify the concept of gender. We are also able to use the taxonomy to model various feminist approaches. It becomes easier to see how conceptualisations ofgender which allow for FPA often do not allow for understanding female subjugation as being rooted in reproductive biology. I put forward a conceptual scheme: radical FPA feminism. If we accept FPA, but also radical feminist concerns, radical FPA feminism is an attractive way of conceptualising gender

(Dis)entangling Gender Expression and Race in Antigay Discrimination: An Intersectional Approach

Current psychological definitions and operationalizations of antigay discrimination conceptualize negative treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer (LGBQ) individuals as a response to their same-gender sexual orientations and not other factors. Because an individual’s sexual orientation is always understood through racialized hegemonic gender ideologies, however, attention to gender expression – how one “does” gender – and dynamics of race within antigay encounters is essential. Comprised of two mixed-method studies, this dissertation examines the role of gender expression and race in antigay discriminatory encounters from two perspectives: those who are targets of discrimination (i.e., cisgender and transgender LGBQ individuals) and those who may discriminate (i.e., straight individuals). Quantitative and qualitative findings from Study 1 revealed that presenting in ways that varied from or adhered to traditional gender expectations in relation to one’s birth-assigned gender translated into qualitatively distinct experiences of discrimination for LGBQ participants, suggesting that sexual orientation can exist as both a visible and concealable social identity. The visibility of “race” relative to normative Whiteness also produced distinctions between LGBQ participants of color and White LGBQ individuals both within intra- and interracial contexts. Demonstrating the importance of attending to covert forms of discrimination, LGBQ individuals experienced ambiguity both in regard to if discrimination occurred and if it did as a result of which of their social identities. Study 2 utilized an experimental design to examine the extent to which antigay discrimination as expressed among straight individuals is a function of target gender, gender expression, sexual orientation and race. Although no significant main effects or interactions were found in tests of the main hypotheses, straight participants who failed to pass one or multiple scenario manipulation checks did so disproportionately in scenarios where the target defied the gender inversion stereotype that gay men are effeminate and lesbian woman are masculine (e.g., a straight woman who was masculine in appearance). That no differences existed between eligible and non-eligible participants in terms contact with LGBQ individuals, social desirability, a priori antigay prejudice or endorsement of gender norm beliefs, points to the power of hegemonic gender ideologies above and beyond attitudinal beliefs and suggests that misrecognition constitutes an additional form of covert discrimination. Taken together, findings across both studies demonstrate the salience of hegemonic gender ideologies in the precipitation and interpretation of antigay discriminatory encounters. The extent to which one’s sexual orientation is perceivable is always tenuous, context-dependent, and an inter-relational experience that is informed by racialized gender stereotypes. These findings carry implications for psychological research and policy work in terms of the conceptualization of antigay discrimination and work toward its eradication. If one of the primary functions of antigay discrimination is to maintain gender ideologies, violence and discrimination against LGQB individuals will continue to exist as long as White hegemonic gender norms remain intact

Making Up Is Hard to Do: Race/Gender/Sexual Orientation in the Law School Classroom

This exchange of letters picks up where Professors Adrienne Davis and Robert Chang left off in an earlier exchange that examined who speaks, who is allowed to speak, and what is remembered.\u27 Here, Professors Davis and Chang explore the dynamics of race, gender, and sexual orientation in the law school classroom. They compare the experiences of African American women and Asian American men in trying to perform as law professors, considering how makeup and other gender tools simultaneously assist and hinder such performances. Their exchange examines the possibility of bias that complicates the use of student evaluations in assessing teaching effectiveness. It hypothesizes that the mechanism by which this bias manifests itself is a variant of stereotype threat, one that they call projected stereotype threat, where stereotypes of incompetence or accent are projected onto the bodies of teachers marked by difference. They examine how institutions respond or, as is more typically the case, fail to respond to these problems. They conclude with some suggestions for change, asserting that if institutions want to pay more than lip service to the goal of diversity and improve the success and employment conditions of women and minorities, they must do two things. First, more women and minorities must be hired, and second, the issue of bias must be directly addressed by educating students about bias, its discriminatory effects on instructors whose bodies are marked by perceived differences, and the ways in which bias interferes with their own learning

Making Up is Hard to Do: Race/Gender/Sexual Orientation in the Law School Classroom

This exchange of letters picks up where Professors Adrienne Davis and Robert Chang left off in an earlier exchange that examined who speaks, who is allowed to speak, and what is remembered. Here, Professors Davis and Chang explore the dynamics of race, gender, and sexual orientation in the law school classroom. They compare the experiences of African American women and Asian American men in trying to perform as law professors, considering how makeup and other gender tools simultaneously assist and hinder such performances. Their exchange examines the possibility of bias that complicates the use of student evaluations in assessing teaching effectiveness. It hypothesizes that the mechanism by which this bias manifests itself is a variant of stereotype threat, one that they call projected stereotype threat, where stereotypes of incompetence or accent are projected onto the bodies of teachers marked by difference. They examine how institutions respond or, as is more typically the case, fail to respond to these problems. They conclude with some suggestions for change, asserting that if institutions want to pay more than lip service to the goal of diversity, the success and employment conditions of women and minorities will improve only through the hiring of more women and minorities and by addressing directly the issue of bias to educate students about bias and its discriminatory effects on instructors whose bodies are marked by perceived differences and how such bias interferes with their learning

This girl’s life: An autoethnography

This essay seeks to add to a growing awareness of transgender lives and narratives in management and organisational studies. It presents an often visceral and emotive autoethnographical account of the experience of being a non-binary transsexual in the United Kingdom to question whether it is possible to think gender without invoking the heterosexual matrix and being held to account by it. It also asks what may need to be done so that the abject and marginalised in society may have liveable lives rather than an otherwise unliveable life resulting from that matrix. It argues that transgender is often conflated in management research theoretically as queer or queer’s evil twin where the latter concept reduces trans lives to rigid, polarised positions in the matrix and stereotypes. The essay concludes by asking an open question, how we may organise so as to make lives liveable

How to Train Your Supervisor

In an ideal world every meeting between law students and professors, or between beginning lawyers and their supervisors, would leave supervisors impressed by their charges and junior lawyers/students with a clear sense of direction for their work. But we do not live in that ideal world. Instead, supervisors, supervisees, law professors and law students frequently leave such meetings feeling frustrated, disconnected and without a shared understanding of how to improve the experience (and future performance).This Article seeks to improve supervisory meetings, and to do so from the perspective of the ones under supervision. There is a genuine art to getting the best supervision possible, which can be both learned and taught. This Article unpacks some of the disconnects and hidden assumptions that can hinder effective supervisory meetings. We observe that participants in supervisory meetings may have very different expectations about the roles of the participants. We further explore the relational aspects of supervision and note that a shared sense of responsibility for supervision promotes more effective supervisory interactions. The Article then considers what law professors can do to prepare law students for supervision, including teaching students to get the most out of feedback from their supervisors. We conclude that teaching law students how to adjust their attributions toward growth, to set clear and achievable goals, and to be thoughtfully self-reflective, will maximize their learning from any academic and professional supervision

Giving Them Something They can Feel: On the Strategy of Scientizing the Phenomenology of Race and Racism

There is an expansion of empirical research that at its core is an attempt to quantify the "feely" aspects of living in raced (and other stigmatized) bodies. This research is offered as part concession, part insistence on the reality of the "special" circumstances of living in raced bodies. While this move has the potential of making headway in debates about the character of racism and the unique nature of the harms of contemporary racism--through an analysis of stereotype threat research, microaggression research, and the reception of both discourses--I will argue that this scientization of the phenomenology of race and racism also stalls progress on the most significant challenges for the current conversation about race and racism: how to listen and how to be heard