‘We may be falling apart but we still keep going’: Retired servicemen’s experiences of their ageing bodies

Currently, there is scant research that investigates in-depth retired servicemen’s perceptions and experiences of ageing and being physically active, particularly in relation to retirement experiences. In this article, we employ a novel theoretical combination of figurational sociology and symbolic interactionism to explore a topical life history of 20 retired servicemen’s experiences in relation to physical activity (PA), the ageing body and constructions of identity in later life. Participants were aged 60+ and members of the Royal British Legion in a city in the English Midlands. Three semi-structured focus-group interviews and follow-up conversations were completed, together with informal observations. Key findings revealed that although participants recognised the need for regular PA, their perceptions routinely centred upon the ‘felt’ limitations of the ageing body, often in stark contrast to their former ‘disciplined’, active, military bodies. Corporeal challenges and limitations discouraged some from taking part in PA altogether. Despite their perceived bodily limitations, however, many ex-service personnel still endeavoured to stay physically active. Findings highlight the salience of the temporal aspects of older adults’ lived experiences of exercise and PA, for past experiences of PA and exercise were identified as strongly shaping current-day motivations, attitudes and behaviours

Protein translocation:what’s the problem?

We came together in Leeds to commemorate and celebrate the life and achievements of Prof. Stephen Baldwin. For many years we, together with Sheena Radford and Roman Tuma (colleagues also of the University of Leeds), have worked together on the problem of protein translocation through the essential and ubiquitous Sec system. Inspired and helped by Steve we may finally be making progress. My seminar described our latest hypothesis for the molecular mechanism of protein translocation, supported by results collected in Bristol and Leeds on the tractable bacterial secretion process–commonly known as the Sec system; work that will be published elsewhere. Below is a description of the alternative and contested models for protein translocation that we all have been contemplating for many years. This review will consider their pros and cons

An ethnographic study of career aspirations amongst students studying level 3 sports courses at a further education college in England

There is currently a dearth of research into how sports students’ career aspirations are formed during their post-compulsory education. This paper is based on an ethnographic study of sport students’ habitus and career aspirations. Two first-year cohorts on two different courses at a Further Education College in England were selected to participate in the in-depth study. The paper provides an analysis of the contrasting subcultures emergent within these groups, and how specific cultural practices affect students’ career aspirations vis-à-vis the current global recession and economic crisis. Utilising a Bourdieusian framework, the study is based upon formal and informal (auto)ethnographic observations and semi-structured group interviews, and aims to unearth the internalised, often latent cultural practices that impact upon these students’ diverse career aspirations in the field of further education in sport. The paper reveals how the two cohorts are situated within a complex field of relations; where struggles for legitimisation, kudos, academic accomplishment and numerous forms of lucrative capital are habituated. Despite the two courses being of equivalent academic level, the scholastic and career aspirations of the two groups appear to differ considerably. One cohort is eager to demonstrate aspirations of progression into Higher Education, whereas the other cohort appears content with achieving the lowest grades “required” to pursue full-time employment. The study will offer academics and practitioners valuable insights into both the career aspirations of these students, and also their attitudes towards their educational field and their contrasting work ethics

Integrating multiple representations: fighting asthma

This paper seeks to engage debates about integrating pluralisms regarding multiple forms/representations and how they might function smoothly if they are closely aligned. This paper offers, narrative poetry with an artistic impression aimed at seeing how these might interact with each other. Like poetry, visual images are unique and can evoke particular kinds of emotional and visceral responses. By offering narrative poetry together with an artistic representation it is not meant to de-value the importance of either, but it is aimed at seeing how these arts-based methods and creative analytical practices might unite as a narrative to offer knew ways of ‘knowing’ and ‘seeing

‘At least you got to see people when you went out for a walk’: older adults’ lived, embodied experiences during COVID-19 times in the United Kingdom

The COVID-19 pandemic presented myriad global challenges, placing unprecedented pressure on health services. Currently, there is limited qualitative research exploring the ‘felt’ impact of the pandemic on older adults’ health experiences and wider social life. Here, we report on the embodied experiences of older adults (65 and above), before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in the UK, to chart the physical, social, and mental-health challenges. A figurational sociological lens was adopted to examine data from semi-structured interviews with 18 older adults, face-to-face or via telephone/video call. Notes from follow-up conversations were also recorded. Combined data were analysed thematically. Salient themes cohered around: physical activity engagement; health experiences; the role of family, friends, and community; and the role of modern technology. Our results highlight how older adults reported the felt benefits of increased PA during lockdowns, but also the negative impacts of treatment delays on experiences of hospital services. Participants also recounted how new social community connections were forged during lockdowns. Saliently, we identified a need to support older adults with modern technology so as to capture its potential to modernise, expand, and personalise healthcare within UK health services

The occupational role of the lay health trainer in England: a review of practice

Health Trainers constitute an emergent occupational group in the Public Health system in England with the key purpose to reduce health inequalities by helping or ‘nudging’ people in local communities to adopt healthier lifestyles. Whilst primarily supplying health-related information and support regarding smoking cessation, diet, alcohol, physical activity and mental wellbeing issues, the role also requires awareness of, and sensitivity toward the specific needs of local communities. This literature review charts current research on the occupational context of the Health Trainer role since its implementation in the English Public Health system. It provides a critical examination of current literature whilst highlighting the theoretical basis of Health Trainers’ roles, the potential boundary-crossing nature of their work, along with professional development issues

Refined measurement of SecA-driven protein secretion reveals that translocation is indirectly coupled to ATP turnover

The universally conserved Sec system is the primary method cells utilize to transport proteins across membranes. Until recently, measuring the activity—a prerequisite for understanding how biological systems work—has been limited to discontinuous protein transport assays with poor time resolution or reported by large, nonnatural tags that perturb the process. The development of an assay based on a split superbright luciferase (NanoLuc) changed this. Here, we exploit this technology to unpick the steps that constitute posttranslational protein transport in bacteria. Under the conditions deployed, the transport of a model preprotein substrate (proSpy) occurs at 200 amino acids (aa) per minute, with SecA able to dissociate and rebind during transport. Prior to that, there is no evidence for a distinct, rate-limiting initiation event. Kinetic modeling suggests that SecA-driven transport activity is best described by a series of large (∼30 aa) steps, each coupled to hundreds of ATP hydrolysis events. The features we describe are consistent with a nondeterministic motor mechanism, such as a Brownian ratchet

Feminist phenomenology and the woman in the running body

Modern phenomenology, with its roots in Husserlian philosophy, has been taken up and utilised in a myriad of ways within different disciplines, but until recently has remained relatively under-used within sports studies. A corpus of sociological-phenomenological work is now beginning to develop in this domain, alongside a longer standing literature in feminist phenomenology. These specific social-phenomenological forms explore the situatedness of lived-body experience within a particular social structure. After providing a brief overview of key strands of phenomenology, this article considers some of the ways in which sociological, and particularly feminist phenomenology, might be used to analyse female sporting embodiment. For illustrative purposes, data from an autophenomenographic project on female distance running are also included, in order briefly to demonstrate the application of phenomenology within sociology, as both theoretical framework and methodological approach

Dangerous Fieldwork: Reflections on Ethnographic Research with Irregular, Nigerian Streetwalkers and Madams in Spain

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordRecent calls have been made to investigate the lived experience of migrant sex workers, to broaden the scope and inclusivity of macro-level conceptualizations, and to develop contextually grounded forms of understanding. Our ethnographic study sought to explore the lived perspectives of an under-researched occupational group: migrant women working as irregular streetwalkers in a European city. Nineteen Nigerian Edo women working as prostitutes and Madams in Spain participated in an ethnographic, longitudinal study spanning five years of data collection. In this article, we focus on some of the key challenges, including ethical considerations, of undertaking ethnographic work in a hazardous fieldwork setting that presents psychological and physical dangers to both participants and researchers, including threats of violence, and researcher burnout

'Working out’ identity: distance runners and the management of disrupted identity

This article contributes fresh perspectives to the empirical literature on the sociology of the body, and of leisure and identity, by analysing the impact of long-term injury on the identities of two amateur but serious middle/long-distance runners. Employing a symbolic interactionist framework,and utilising data derived from a collaborative autoethnographic project, it explores the role of ‘identity work’ in providing continuity of identity during the liminality of long-term injury and rehabilitation, which poses a fundamental challenge to athletic identity. Specifically, the analysis applies Snow and Anderson’s (1995) and Perinbanayagam’s (2000) theoretical conceptualisations in order to examine the various forms of identity work undertaken by the injured participants, along the dimensions of materialistic, associative and vocabularic identifications. Such identity work was found to be crucial in sustaining a credible sporting identity in the face of disruption to the running self, and in generating momentum towards the goal of restitution to full running fitness and reengagement with a cherished form of leisure. KEYWORDS: identity work, symbolic interactionism, distance running, disrupted identit