Well-being in liquid modernity: an annotated bibliography.

The studies for my PhD, titled "Comfort in Clothing: A Baumanian Critique of How Clothing Contributes to the Well-being of Women in the United Kingdom", utilized Zygmunt Bauman's concept of "liquid modernity" as a critical lens to explore the synergies between Western contemporary fashion, clothing and dress practices, and the subject of well-being. Where orthodox sociology was concerned with human obedience and conformity, sociology in modern times, according to Bauman's "Liquid Modernity" (2012), is more concerned with freedom, autonomy and responsibility. Bauman used the term "liquid modernity" where other authors use "post-" or "late-modernity." In this changeable and materialistic economy, Bauman suggests a culture of consumerism, which reflects the current fashion system in terms of speed of change (trends), ease of access (cheap, mass produced and readily available) and ease of disposal (wear once, throw-away practices). Bauman noted that many people are unhappy without being able to articulate why or what might be causing their unhappiness. Thus, the postmodern human condition is identified by Bauman as an ongoing challenge, the very meaning of "staying alive and well", suggesting that Bauman's concepts are an appropriate choice for research with a focus on well-being. The reading list presented here includes texts related to fashion, dress and well-being, focusing on the key topic of comfort from both a sociological and psychological perspective

Womenswear well-being warriors: a content analysis of female-targeted activewear brands on Instagram.

In contemporary Western society, people are increasingly focused on well-being, with national well-being statistics reported by numerous developed economies. Wellness is now a consumer mindset, which has gone beyond a trend and become a lifestyle, described as individual, multi-dimensional and influenced by community and environment. Fashion is recognized as a powerful social force, capable of enhancing both physical and emotional well-being. The cultural shift toward prioritizing comfortable clothing and more casual dress has led to the rapid development of female sportswear as fashionwear, described as athleisurewear. This category has seen high levels of growth compared to slowing growth in the overall clothing market. Existing studies on activewear focus on positivist paradigms and scientific testing, with few examining the sociological or fashion perspective, therefore this research adopts an interpretive, qualitative methodology. An exploratory literature review established several well-being categories related to fashion; safety, time, the body, community, confidence and colour, as well as hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Qualitative content analysis on four female-targeted activewear brands was completed, utilizing posts from each brand’s Instagram feed over a six-month period. Results were coded to the well-being categories established in the literature and critiqued using a Baumanian sociological lens. The findings reveal high levels of positivity, a strong sense of community, messages of female empowerment, and inclusivity, underpinning the value of female-targeted activewear brands to the well-being of the women who wear them, and the role of both activewear brands and social media in facilitating community

Comfort in clothing: fashion actors and victims.

Fashion psychology is an emerging discipline, recognising the potential of clothing to enhance well-being in an era when mental health issues are increasing in the Western world. Well-being is important to the individual and on a wider societal level, with the Office for National Statistics monitoring the well-being of UK inhabitants and the World Health Organisation stating that depression will be the most common health issue in the world by 2030. As comfort is a key aspect of well-being, this study explores meanings associated with comfort and discomfort in everyday, non-elite clothing. Comfort in clothing can by physical, physiological and psychological, and the psychological comfort gained from clothing is identified in literature as under-researched. Psychological theory was explored, revealing individuals perform multiple identities, dependent on the reaction of others and filtered by previous, lived experience. Fashion was found to be a recognized method of communicating identity in the social space and research suggests the physical response to psychological constructs or meanings associated with certain garments can be used to change or enhance mood. As psychological comfort can only be measured subjectively, this study employed an interpretive paradigm and qualitative methodology. In keeping with fashion’s location within visual culture, participant-produced visuals, described as a form of photo elicitation were collected, accompanied by short narratives. Fashion Management students, as a key informant sample, were briefed to create photographic fashion images styled on a ‘Comfort in Clothing’ or ‘Discomfort: Fashion Victim’ theme, accompanied by 100-word narratives, providing rich data. The study was longitudinal, over a three-year period, to negate the influence of short-term fashion trends and groupthink. Multimodal textual analysis was used to explore comfort and discomfort associated with clothing and fashion in the participant-styled images and narratives. Four identities emerged; the private self, the unrestricted self, the body-conscious self and the confident self

Shifting stories: provenance and production in Scotland's fashion and textile SMEs.

Scottish textile jobs support the prosperity of many rural communities (Textiles Scotland 2016), for example the Harris Tweed hand-weavers in the Outer Hebrides. Scotland's traditional tweeds and tartans, cashmere and woollens continue to survive today, largely through Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) producing luxury products with a focus on value rather than volume. Two workshops, Redesigning for creative recovery (20 Scottish SMEs) and Sustainable fashion and textiles in Scotland (4 presenters, 3 Scottish fashion and textile brands, a circular economy consultant and 55 participants), were held. The SME participants noted increased interest in provenance from some consumers, with details of material origin and authenticity being sought. Participants noted the increased ease of connection with other places and people, through participation in webinars and international trade events, which they normally could not afford to attend in time of time and costs. The opportunity to share their stories was deemed important

Comfort in clothing: a Baumanian critique of how clothing contributes to the well-being of women in the United Kingdom.

This Comfort in Clothing study explores how fashion, clothing and dress practices contribute to the psychosocial well-being of women in the UK. Fashion is a global industry, fuelled in recent times by the growth of the athleisurewear sector, reflecting the postmodern preoccupation with comfort, leisure and well-being in Western societies. Well-being is identified as important to the individual and on a wider societal level, with rising mental health issues identified as a global health concern and well-being statistics reported by numerous developed economies. Bauman, a prominent sociologist, acknowledged the anxieties of the postmodern actor in his concept of Liquid Modernity, attributing them to the fast pace of change and overwhelming freedom of choice, factors inherent in today's fashion industry. Thus, this study makes an original contribution to theoretical knowledge by applying Bauman's concept of Liquid Modernity to the phenomenon of well-being in relation to clothing artefacts, fashion and dress practice. Literature related to comfort in clothing, well-being, positive psychology and identity was reviewed. Research exists in terms of physical and physiological comfort in clothing, however a gap was identified in terms of the psychological comfort gained from the everyday use of non-elite fashion and clothing. The key elements of well-being were identified as community, work, time, the body, place, individuality, emancipation, income, colour and confidence, with these being mapped to the research focus of fashion, clothing and dress practice. The concepts of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being and positive psychology were also explored. Examination of existing fashion research revealed the applicability of an interpretive world-view and multi-modal qualitative methodology. Qualitative data was gathered in the form of innovative, participant-produced image/narrative elicitations from a key informant sample. In addition, focus groups were conducted with an expanded sample. All participants were females currently living in the UK, who were mostly interested or very interested in fashion. Triangulation of the resultant multiple data types was employed during the analysis stage. The value of this Comfort in Clothing study lies in the contribution to knowledge of everyday dress practices in the postmodern era, and how those lived experiences and autobiographical memories of dress impact the psychosocial well-being of the participants. The key findings confirm that female appearance management remains firmly focused on the body and controlled by the fear of judgement, both self-judgement and the judgement of others. Hedonic well-being, gained from presenting oneself properly in public and feeling good through looking good was prevalent. Bauman's definition of the individualistic person was found to dress as a community-minded citizen, seeking the solidity of normative, ritualised dress practices and rejecting fashion's fast-paced and perpetual change. This suggests a disconnect between the fashion industry as a driver of creative destruction and constant consumption, and the clothing consumer's need for the safety and solidity of routine and the known. A hierarchy of attachment emerged, which found clothing to be under-valued, suggesting an opportunity for increased eudaimonic well-being through adoption of clothing with longevity, enabling meaning and memory to accrue and ultimately, to provide comfort in Liquid Modernity

Panel: Unionization and the Development of Policies for Non-Tenure Track Faculty - A Comparative Study of Research Universities

Handou

Deregulation and the \u27Gig Academy\u27, 67 Wayne L. Rev. 151 (2022)

For decades, colleges and universities in the U.S. have responded to increased competition, shrinking budgets, and other challenges by relying on growing numbers of part-time faculty. Scholars use the phrase gig academy to analogize higher education institutions and their growing reliance on adjunct faculty to the gig economy. This Article examines how the government and higher education accreditors have relaxed full-time faculty requirements at colleges and universities, failing to constrain a drastic increase of gig workers in academia. When evaluating institutional quality, accreditors and the federal government focus less on an institution\u27s faculty resources than on student outcomes, such as graduation and debt default rates. Although holding institutions accountable for student success is often appropriate, a negative consequence of this approach has been a lack of transparency and absence of public accountability regarding a college or university\u27s investment in its faculty. The ABA, in contrast, maintains relatively strict full-time faculty requirements. But in response to pressure from the federal government, even the ABA has relaxed enforcement of these requirements over time. The Article argues that the ABA\u27s strict rule-based approach may err on the side of raising educational costs but is preferable to reliance on vague standards. It also considers ways to improve public disclosure of higher education institutions\u27 reliance on adjunct faculty

Unionization and the Development of Policies for Non-Tenure Track Faculty: A Comparative Study of Research Universities

This paper examines how policies at several research universities support and professionalize their full-time, non-tenure track (NTT) instructional faculty, and considers the influence of NTT faculty unions on policy development at these institutions. Faculty handbooks, collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), and other policy documents at a few institutions with and without CBAs were analyzed for the presence of institutional, NTT faculty-supportive policies. One unionized and one non-unionized institution were selected as sites for interviews with faculty and administrators. The paper finds CBAs to be a significant source of NTT faculty-supportive policies, and the union to provide important procedural safeguards against arbitrary administrative acts towards a NTT faculty member. The findings identify potential advantages as well as limitations of NTT faculty unionization

Panel: Unionization and the Development of Policies for Non-Tenure Track Faculty - A Comparative Study of Research Universities

Handou