Transforming Masculinist Political Cultures? Doing Politics in New Political Institutions

In the devolved legislative assemblies of Scotland and Wales the proportion of women representatives is approaching parity. This is in marked contrast to Westminster where one in five MPs are women. In this paper we explore the extent to which the masculinist political cultures characterising established political institutions are being reproduced in the National Assembly for Wales or whether its different gendering, both in the numbers of women representatives and in terms of its institutional framework, is associated with a more feminised political and organisational culture. Drawing on interviews with half the Assembly Members, women and men, we show that the political style of the Assembly differs from that of Westminster and that Assembly Members perceive it as being more consensual and as embodying a less aggressive and macho way of doing politics. AMs relate this difference to the gender parity amongst Assembly Members, to the institutional arrangements which have an \'absolute duty\' to promote equality embedded in them, and to the desire to develop a different way of doing politics. We suggest that the ability to do politics in a more feminised and consensual way relates not only to the presence of a significant proportion of women representatives, but also to the nature of the institution and the way in which differently gendered processes and practices are embedded within it. Differently gendered political institutions can develop a more feminised political culture which provides an alternative to the masculinist political culture characterising the political domain.Gender, Political Culture, New Political Institutions, Consensus Politics, Political Style, National Assembly for Wales

Food and the Social Identities of People with Learning Disabilities

The behaviors surrounding food provision and consumption provide subtle, yet fundamental ways of defining social identities and structuring social relationships. The food consumption patterns of young adults with learning disabilities, and the control over their food consumption exercised by others, define them as 'children' even though they are physically and chronologically adults. These food-based behaviors contribute to the difficulties they face in achieving full social adulthood and thereby accentuate stigmatizing aspects of their social identities. Unsurprisingly, in some cases food becomes an area of conflict between these young people and their caregivers. Food provision also highlights a dilemma of the philosophy of care based on normalization theory, namely that actions taken to encourage age-appropriate behavior, and hence promote social adulthood in one sphere, may undermine adult identity in another. The paper is based on 18 months of participant observation and interviews with young adults with learning disabilities and their caregivers

My family and other animals : pets as kin

The title of this paper gives a family-like character to animals and an animal-like character to the idea of family. It emphasises the close, family and friend-like relationships that can exist between human beings and the animals who share their domestic space. This type of relationship between humans and their pets emerged during a study of families and kinship and in this paper we draw on 193 in-depth interviews conducted in four contrasting areas of a South Wales city. Although our interview schedules did not explicitly ask about animals, a significant proportion of our interviewees spontaneously included their pets as part of their kinship networks. There were two points during the interview when the significance of pets became apparent: when interviewees were asked who counted as family and when they were asked to complete a network diagram. In studies of kinship it has been said that pets are substitutes for children, providing emotional satisfaction. Here we explore some of the other ways in which animals are constructed as kin and discuss whether such constructions confound the (socially constructed) boundary between nature and culture

My Family and Other Animals: Pets as Kin

The title of this paper gives a family-like character to animals and an animal-like character to the idea of family; it emphasises the close, family and friend-like relationships that can exist between human beings and the animals who share their domestic space. This type of relationship between humans and their pets emerged during a study of families and kinship and in this paper we draw on 193 in-depth interviews conducted in four contrasting areas of a South Wales city. Although our interview schedules did not explicitly ask about animals, a significant proportion of our interviewees spontaneously included their pets as part of their kinship networks. There were two points during the interview when the significance of pets became apparent: when interviewees were asked who counted as family and when they were asked to complete a network diagram. In studies of kinship it has been said that pets are substitutes for children, providing emotional satisfaction. Here we explore some of the other ways in which animals are constructed as kin and discuss whether such constructions confound the (socially constructed) boundary between nature and culture.Pets, Animals, Family, Kinship Networks

The Piano in the Parlour: Methodological Issues in the Conduct of a Restudy

AbstractAlthough re-studies are relatively rare in sociological research, they can be very valuable resources for understanding social change. However, they also raise methodological questions about the validity of comparison given the inevitable changes in both social and analytical contexts during the period between the original and the re-study. This paper considers such methodological issues with reference to a major restudy in the area of family and household research. By looking at some of the details of research design in this re-study, we argue that reflexive consideration of relevant changes makes possible an examined and modified research design that retains much of the original and alters the remainder in ways that still allow for meaningful comparison.Comparison; Family; Household; Methodology; Re-study; Social Change

Gender and political process in the context of devolution : a case study of Wales

The devolution of government within the UK was accompanied by a significant increase in the proportion of women political representatives in the new legislatures. Using Wales as a case study, this research aimed to explore the effect on political processes and participation of the election of a high proportion of women representatives to devolved government. Its objectives were: 1. To explore the contribution made by women members of the National Assembly for Wales to policy development and to the Assembly’s responsiveness to gender-based welfare claims. 2. To identify the discourses within which policy issues are framed and the relation of this framing to gender politics. 3. To investigate the political and organisational culture of the Assembly, its gendering, and its relation to the political and organisational culture of local government in Wales. 4. To explore how those organising in civil society around family and child welfare and/or equality issues perceive themselves to be affected by the different gender balance amongst political representatives at local and regional levels of government and the extent to which they organise on the basis of explicitly gendered collective identities. 5. To develop a common analytic framework so that meaningful comparison can be made between gendered political processes in different parts of the UK. The research drew on a range of methods including semi-structured interviews, observation, and documentary analysis. We carried out interviews with: 31 AMs, during the Assembly’s second term (2003-7), 27 councillors and senior officials (9 in each case study area), 30 representatives of civil society organisations at local and national level (8 in each case study area), 4 senior civil servants and 1 statutory equalities body. We conducted 20 observational sessions at National Assembly plenary sessions and committee meetings, council meetings, and Welsh political conferences of the four main parties: Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Plaid Cymru