38 research outputs found
British citizenship and the âotherâ: an analysis of the earned citizenship discourse
This paper presents an analysis of interviews conducted with citizenship officers in London, working within the field of British naturalisation. We draw from a rhetorical psychology perspective to study the dilemmatic tensions that exist in the participantsâ discourse about naturalisation applicants who are constructed as 'goodâ and âbadâ, as both âdeservingâ and âundeservingâ of British citizenship. In line with a rhetorical approach, we argue that these different constructions of the migrant are strategic and are associated with different constructions of Britain as humanitarian and tolerant, on the one hand, and as being under threat by the in flux of immigration, on the other hand. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this ambivalence for processes of inclusion and exclusion
LaAlO3-based topcoats for novel thermal barrier coatings deposited by means solution precursor thermal spraying
In this study we present the development of LaAlO3 coatings for TBC applications, by means of SPTS. LaAlO3 precursor solutions have been synthesized followed the in situ polymerization with citric acid [16-17]. The details of the solution synthesis, and deposition method, along with characterization of the deposits by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis, and microhardness measurements is reported. The effect of critical plasma spray deposition parameters on the resulting microstructural characteristics and phase composition of the developed coatings is discussed
Constructions of Europe in the run-up to the EU referendum in the UK
The paper reports on a focus group study on representations of Europe, conducted in England in the run-up to the UK EU referendum. Four themes were identified in the analysis: âcultured Europeâ; âlittle Europe/global Britainâ; âEurope as a cultural threatâ; and âEastern vs. Western Europeâ. Analysis of these themes showed that Europe was an ambivalent identity category that could encapsulate contrary ideas such as cosmopolitanism/isolationism and cultural enrichment/undermining. Europeâs relation to Britain was also ambivalent in the data. Britain could be positioned as superior to Europe, sometimes being seen as closer to the âEuropean essenceâ in the context of the EUâs eastward expansion, which was seen as diluting European culture. But, Britain could also be seen as backward compared to the idea of cosmopolitan continental Europe. These different lines of argument and their ideological underpinnings are explored in the discussion of the findings
Lay discourses about Brexit and prejudice: âideological creativityâ and its limits in Brexit debates
Much research on Brexit has studied whether the vote to leave the EU is a marker of growing prejudice. In this paper, we study instead how the relationship between support for Brexit and prejudice is constructed, negotiated and contested in lay discourse. Our analysis of focus groups (N=12) conducted prior to and following the EU referendum shows that support for Brexit was predominantly constructed as based on nationalism and anti-immigration prejudice, especially in Remain-supporting accounts. This prompted identity management strategies and counter-arguments by Leave supporters, such as providing alternative constructions of prejudice and racism; relating Brexit with âprogressiveâ values; and presenting it as rational and economically sound. In our discussion, we draw attention to the âideological creativityâ that underpins these accounts and also reflect on the possibilities and constraints of developing alternative political narratives under conditions of political polarisation
Everyday cosmopolitanism in representations of Europe among young Romanians in Britain
The paper presents an analysis of everyday cosmopolitanism in constructions of Europe among young Romanian nationals living in Britain. Adopting a social representations approach, cosmopolitanism is understood as a cultural symbolic resource that is part of everyday knowledge. Through a discursively-oriented analysis of focus group data, we explore the ways in which notions of cosmopolitanism intersect with images of Europeanness in the accounts of participants. We show that, for our participants, representations of Europe are anchored in an Orientalist schema of West-vs.-East, whereby the West is seen as epitomising European values of modernity and progress, while the East is seen as backward and traditional. Our findings further show that representations of cosmopolitanism reinforce this East/West dichotomy, within a discourse of âOccidental cosmopolitanismâ. The paper concludes with a critical discussion of the diverse and complex ideological foundations of these constructions of European cosmopolitanism and their implications
Social representations and the politics of participation
Recent work has called for the integration of different perspectives into the field of political psychology (Haste, 2012). This chapter suggests that one possible direction that such efforts can take is studying the role that social representations theory (SRT) can play in understanding political participation and social change. Social representations are systems of common-sense knowledge and social practice; they provide the lens through which to view and create social and political realities, mediate people's relations with these sociopolitical worlds and defend cultural and political identities. Social representations are therefore key for conceptualising participation as the activity that locates individuals and social groups in their sociopolitical world. Political participation is generally seen as conditional to membership of sociopolitical groups and therefore is often linked to citizenship. To be a citizen of a society or a member of any social group one has to participate as such. Often political participation is defined as the ability to communicate one's views to the political elite or to the political establishment (Uhlaner, 2001), or simply explicit involvement in politics and electoral processes (Milbrath, 1965). However, following scholars on ideology (Eagleton, 1991; Thompson, 1990) and social knowledge (Jovchelovitch, 2007), we extend our understanding of political participation to all social relations and also develop a more agentic model where individuals and groups construct, develop and resist their own views, ideas and beliefs. We thus adopt a broader approach to participation in comparison to other political-psychological approaches, such as personality approaches (e.g. Mondak and Halperin, 2008) and cognitive approaches or, more recently, neuropsychological approaches (Hatemi and McDermott, 2012). We move away from a focus on the individual's political behaviour and its antecedents and outline an approach that focuses on the interaction between psychological and political phenomena (Deutsch and Kinnvall, 2002) through examining the politics of social knowledge
Adult women and ADHD: on the temporal dimensions of ADHD identities
This paper uses conceptual resources drawn psychosocial process thinking (Stenner, 2017, Brown and Reavey, 2015, Brown and Stenner, 2009) and from G.H. Mead in particular, to contribute to an emerging body of work on the experiences of adult women with ADHD (Singh, 2002, Waite and Ivey, 2009, Quinn and Madhoo, 2014, Horton-Salway and Davies, 2018). It has a particular focus on how ADHD features in the construction of womenâs identities and life-stories and it draws upon findings from a qualitative investigation of adult women diagnosed or self-diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A theoretically informed âthematic decompositionâ of 16 depth interviews reveals how complex processes of identity transformation are mediated by the social category of ADHD. Through this process, pasts are reconstructed from the perspective of an âemergentâ identity that offers participants the potential for a more enabling and positive future
Exploring the Demands of Assimilation among White Ethnic Majorities in Western Europe
This article was published in the journal, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies [© Routledge (Taylor & Francis)] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2012.640015Since the mid-1990s, assimilation has gradually regained momentum as both a normative and an analytical concept for understanding the ways in which migrants are incorporated into societies at large. Although scholars have investigated various dimensions of this process, they have tended to privilege the experience of migrants themselves. Comparatively little attention has been dedicated to the perspective of the dominant groups, particularly in relation to what ethnic majority people demand that migrants do in order to be accepted. This article explores these demands of assimilation through qualitative data collected among white local elites in four regional case-studies in Western Europe. The analysis reveals a different picture from the one usually portrayed by 'new assimilation theory'. Accordingly, I suggest rethinking assimilation in ways which incorporate more fully the plurality of demands put forward by dominant ethnic groups. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
International migration and the rise of the âcivilâ nation
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies on 2 March 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/1369183X.2016.1155980Scholars largely agree that immigration policies in Western Europe have switched to a liberal, civic model. Labelled as âcivic turnâ, âcivic integrationâ or âliberal convergenceâ, this model is not identically applied across countries, since national institutions, traditions and identifications still matter. Even so, the main focus is on processes which allow or prevent migrants to be incorporated into nations usually taken for granted in their meanings. Moving from policies to discourses, this article aims to interrogate what kind of nation is behind these policies as a way to further scrutinise the âcivic turnâ. Exploring how the term âcivilityâ and its adjectivisations are discursively deployed in Italian parliamentary debates on immigration and integration issues, the article points to two opposite narratives of nation. While one mobilises civility in order to rewrite the nation in terms of a common, inclusive, civic âweâ, the other uses civility to reaffirm the conflation between national identity and the identity of the ethno-cultural majority. These findings suggest the importance of exploring the âcivic turnâ not only across countries, but also across political parties within the same country to capture the ways in which a liberal, civic convergence in political discourses might hide divergent national boundary mechanisms
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Comparing children's care work across majority and minority worlds
Comparative qualitative methodologies that investigate children's lives in sharply contrasting socio-economic, political and welfare contexts are relatively unusual. Yet within an increasingly interdependent globalised world, comparative research and dialogue across binaries seems ever more important. In this chapter, we critically reflect on global conceptualisations of young caregiving and discuss the methodological and ethical challenges that arose in our comparative study of children caring for a parent/relative living with HIV in Tanzania and the UK. We discuss the potential problems and benefits of using the term "young carer" and suggest that levels of support and recognition of children's caring roles in particular countries do not follow a simple Majority/Minority world binary, but rather reveal a more complex picture. We argue that developing global perspectives that work across geographical, linguistic and disciplinary boundaries can facilitate greater understanding of the commonalities and diversities of children's caring lives globally