Editorial: Research as practice: on critical methodologies

Isabelle Stengers, perhaps unwittingly, perhaps knowingly, echoes a theme of the work of American philosopher Stanley Cavell (1995, p. 136) when she invites in the first edition of the journal Subjectivity, her readers to join her in slowing down, in hesitating, pausing, taking a breath in the face of our own endeavours to ‘produce subjectivity’ (Stengers, 2008, p. 49). Cavell’s gesture of hesitation is similarly evocative and provocative. Where Stengers pushes for an approach which betrays or reveals rather than denounces, Cavell suggests that in the face of apparently constitutive philosophical oppositions, in stead of seeking to decide we should seek to dismantle. Betrayal rather than denunciation; revelation rather than condemnation; dismantling rather than deciding. Alluring and seductive ideas but the question is begged: where is the critical edge? This volume grapples with this question. It hesitates in the face of the complex relations between theory, research methods and practice, and the persons and places, or milieus, they are embedded in. It represents an attempt to revive the question as to what it means to do psychology critically, or for that matter, to practice critical theory

Therapeutic Discipline? Reflections on the Penetration of Sites of Control by Therapeutic Discourse

This article addresses the way in which therapeutic practice in an English prison creates conditions whereby both prisoners and prison officers are caught up in networks and relationships of power that contribute to the constitution of particular subjects. The development of therapeutic practice, in relation to prisons and probation, is described and contextualised. Subsequently, the practices of group therapy in operation at Grendon prison - a rather unique institution built on principles of therapeutic community – are analysed with a focus on five ”practices of moulding,” namely, naming, confession, assessment and surveillance, tolerance and participation. The argument that psychotherapy, under conditions of imprisonment, is a form of repression or social control is discussed and dismissed as too simple a model to account for the relations of power and constitutive practices that effect all participants, not only prisoners. Members of staff, as well as prisoners, are shown to be caught up in the disciplinary web. Discipline, as opposed to control, is advocated as a more appropriate concept for understanding therapeutic practices in prison. The work of Thomas Mathiesen, on the concept of synoptic power, is introduced to help illustrate these dynamics. The article represents a shift in my own thinking, from scepticism to a pragmatic idealist position, that creates space for institutions like Grendon to be imagined as potential least worst options for people convicted of offences and obliged to serve “time”. It is my hope, argued for in the article, that Grendon can be conceived of as a “visionary space” with emancipatory potential

Inflammation as a Central Mechanism in Alzheimer\u27s Disease

Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by cognitive decline and the presence of two core pathologies, amyloid β plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Over the last decade, the presence of a sustained immune response in the brain has emerged as a third core pathology in AD. The sustained activation of the brain\u27s resident macrophages (microglia) and other immune cells has been demonstrated to exacerbate both amyloid and tau pathology and may serve as a link in the pathogenesis of the disorder. In the following review, we provide an overview of inflammation in AD and a detailed coverage of a number of microglia-related signaling mechanisms that have been implicated in AD. Additional information on microglia signaling and a number of cytokines in AD are also reviewed. We also review the potential connection of risk factors for AD and how they may be related to inflammatory mechanisms

MÆRKET AF FÆNGSLET – FØLELSERS ROLLE I ETNOGRAFISK FÆNGSELSFORSKNING

Prisons inevitably leave their mark on all who pass through their gates. In this article two psychologists reflect on how prisons left their mark during our ethnographic fieldwork in developing countries. Via reflection on our own experiences the article advances thediscussion of the role of emotions in prison ethnographies. The article is based on a meta- analysis of field notes with a focus on emotional reactions as recorded and revealed in the field notes. Through this analysis the article illustrates how increased self-reflectionand awareness of researchers’ subjective experience can contribute to a better understanding of research as a particular, situated practice thereby enhancing our understanding of prisons and their consequences

MÆRKET AF FÆNGSLET – FØLELSERS ROLLE I ETNOGRAFISK FÆNGSELSFORSKNING

Prisons inevitably leave their mark on all who pass through their gates. In this article two psychologists reflect on how prisons left their mark during our ethnographic fieldwork in developing countries. Via reflection on our own experiences the article advances thediscussion of the role of emotions in prison ethnographies. The article is based on a meta- analysis of field notes with a focus on emotional reactions as recorded and revealed in the field notes. Through this analysis the article illustrates how increased self-reflectionand awareness of researchers’ subjective experience can contribute to a better understanding of research as a particular, situated practice thereby enhancing our understanding of prisons and their consequences

Disavowing 'the' prison

This chapter confronts the idea of ‘the’ prison, that is, prison as a fixed entity. However hard we, that is, prison scholars including ourselves, seek to deconstruct and critique specific aspects of confinement, there is a tendency to slip into a default position that envisions the prison as something given and pre-understood. When it comes to prison our imagination seems to clog up. It is the political solution to its own failure, and the preferred metaphor for its own representation