A novel alternative. Book groups, women, and workplace networking

Drawing on the results of a small qualitative research project involving four work-based book groups – three in the UK and one in the USA- this article examines the ways in which participation in workplace reading groups facilitates women’s networking within work organizations, in terms of both formal and informal as well as expressive and instrumental networking. It has long been recognized that women’s employment progression is hampered, in part, by their exclusion from male-dominated networks. Taking a gendered approach to the analysis of workplace networking, this study suggests that book groups can function as an alternative to traditional old boys’ networks, in some instances. Within the workplace the collective reading of literature, I suggest, can potentially function as a means to extend the social as well as the more career-focused opportunities of its participants

Aesthetic surgery and the expressive body

In this paper we explore the relation between bodies and selves evident in the narratives surrounding aesthetic surgery. In much feminist work on aesthetic surgery such narratives have been discussed in terms of the normalising consequences of the objectifying, homogenising, cosmetic gaze. These discussions stress the ways in which we model our bodies, under the gaze of others, in order to conform to social norms. Such an objectified body is contrasted with the subjective body; the body –for –the self. In this paper, however, we wish to make sense of the narratives surrounding such surgery by invoking the expressive body, which fits on neither side of this binary. We wish to explore how the modification of the body’s anatomical features (physiology) are taken to be a modification of its expressive possibilities, and therefore as modifications of possibilities for inter-subjective relations with others. It is such expressive possibilities, which, we suggest, underlie decisions to undergo surgical procedures. The possibility of modification of the expressive possibilities of the body, by the modification of its anatomical features, rests on the social imaginaries attached to anatomical features. In the context of such imaginaries individual decisions to undergo or promote surgery can be both intelligible and potentially empowering. However, the social consequences of such acts are an increasing normalisation of the ‘body under the knife’ and an intolerance of bodily difference. This, we suggest, can only be changed by a re-visioning of bodily imaginaries so that expressive possibilities can be experienced across bodies with a range of physiological features

Debt relief as a platform for reform: the case of Nigeria's virtual poverty fund

In June 2005 the Paris Club group of creditors announced a US$30 billion debt relief package for the Nigerian government, which included a US$18 billion debt write off. This paper describes how these debt relief savings have been managed and spent, with a focus on the development and implementation of a comprehensive tracking system that aimed to effectively monitor debt relief expenditures. The paper argues that the Nigerian case implies debt relief can be a valuable tool for supporting public sector reform

Grounded Theory as an approach to studying students’ uses of learning management systems

This paper presents the first phase of a qualitative study of students’ use of a Learning Management System (LMS). A group of students at Kingston University with experience of two different systems were afforded the opportunity to study the relationship between the interface to an LMS and the usability of the system

On reification: A reinterpretation of designed and emergent practice

This paper is a response to the article: ‘Examining the five‐stage e‐moderating model: designed and emergent practice in the learning technology profession, published in ALT‐J 11 (1). Whilst we agree with the concerns of the authors on the problems of commodification and the increasing control of learning technology from a financial or predominantly management perspective, we wish to offer a reinterpretation of the research by taking a stricter analysis of the events described by the authors

The substance of interaction: design and policy implications of NGO- government projects in India

Collaboration between government and non-government organizations has been a recurrent feature of many development interventions in India. This paper is based on case studies of 11 such programs.Non-governmental organizations India., Government., India Economic development.,

Measuring empowerment in practice: structuring analysis and framing indicators

This paper presents an analytic framework that can be used to measure and monitor empowerment processes and outcomes. The measuring empowerment (ME) framework, rooted in both conceptual discourse and measurement practice, illustrates how to gather data on empowerment and structure its analysis. The framework can be used to measure empowerment at both the intervention level and the country level, as a part of poverty or governance monitoring. The paper first provides a definition of empowerment and then explains how the concept can be reduced to measurable components. Empowerment is defined as a person's capacity to make effective choices; that is, as the capacity to transform choices into desired actions and outcomes. The extent or degree to which a person is empowered is influenced by personal agency (the capacity to make purposive choice) and opportunity structure (the institutional context in which choice is made). Asset endowments are used as indicators of agency. These assets may be psychological, informational, organizational, material, social, financial, or human. Opportunity structure is measured by the presence and operation of formal and informal institutions, including the laws, regulatory frameworks, and norms governing behavior. Degrees of empowerment are measured by the existence of choice, the use of choice, and the achievement of choice. Following the conceptual discussion and the presentation of the analytic framework, this paper illustrates how the ME framework can be applied, using examples from four developmentinterventions. Each example discusses how the framework guided analysis and development of empowerment indicators. The paper also presents a draft module for measuring empowerment at the country level. The module can be used alone or be integrated into country-level poverty or governance monitoring systems that seek to add an empowerment dimension to their analysis.Decentralization,Public Health Promotion,Regional Rural Development,Health Economics&Finance,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Economics&Finance,Gender and Social Development,Community Based Rural Development,Non Governmental Organizations,Regional Rural Development