Girlie

‘Girlie’ was a solo show of paintings in October-November 2008 that commented on the idea of the girlie in popular culture. Historically, the term referred to early pornographic magazines. Contemporary usage of the term is employed by advertisers and is aimed at selling products that sexualise pre-pubescent girls. This exhibition was an attempt to explore the paradoxes that issue from the popular conflation of these two ideas. References to fairy queens, princesses, girlie tattoos, cuddly toys, playboy bunnies and slogans from girlie T-shirts are juxtaposed with patronising and derogatory labels such as bitch, whore, tart, slut etc., so as to draw attention to the persistence of hypocritical moral judgements of women. Not only are these judgements inconsistent with the egalitarian ideals implicit in our democracy but also they endorse distorted conceptions of the boundaries between women and children’s sexuality. At a more formal level, the paintings were intentionally constructed to evoke standard prejudices of painting. That is, the medium of painting is often regarded with disdain and/or is seen as a quaint activity pursued by women (evidence of which can be seen in a review of the show in Art Review, issue no. 29, Jan-Feb, 2009). I wanted to play with these common attitudes by setting up the viewer to assume that the work fits seamlessly with these prejudices. Indeed, I wanted to mock those in the art-world who have little ability or interest in looking at art that is not presented in conventional modes

The Writer as an Acrobat: Deleuze and Guattari on the Relation between Philosophy and Literature (and How Kierkegaard Moves in-between)

Throughout his work, Deleuze not only draws on literature in order to address philosophical problems but he seeks to map out the ‘mobile relations’ between philosophy and literature. After an initial overview, I will focus on A Thousand Plateaus (1980), a book co-authored with Guattari, and in particular, on plateaus “1874: Three Novellas or ‘What happened?’” and “1730: Becoming-intense, becoming-animal, becoming-imperceptible…” In doing so, I aim to explore: (a) how the relation between literature and philosophy is refracted in Novellas Plateau and (b) the way in which Deleuze and Guattari articulate their key philosophical notion of becoming-imperceptible via Kierkegaard’s knight of faith. The novella as a literary genre by essentially relating to secrecy also advances a distinctive way of relation between the three dimensions of time (the past, present and future). I argue that novella-time could be extended beyond the limits of the literary genre ‘novella.’ To this end, I propose a reading of Kierkegaard’s Repetition (1843) and selected entries from his Journals in order to identify his contribution as a religious writer to the discussion of philosophy as literature. I conclude that time, change and faith stand out as a common problematic of philosophy, literature, and life

Economic crisis, poor governance and the rise of populism: the case of Greece

The eurozone crisis has become associated with the rise of populism across Europe as it has coincided with in- creasing electoral support for political actors who seek to return politics back to ‘the people’. This has taken place in different forms, depending on whether the country was a debtor or creditor, the salience of cultural and/or eco- nomic cleavages and other contextual factors

The effects of water activity, particle size distribution and free fat content on flowability of grated and dried Parmesan cheese : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology in Food Technology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

A study was made of the effects of water activity, particle size distribution and free fat content on flowability of Grated and Dried Parmesan cheese made by Greenwood Valley Cheese Company (GVC) and by Kraft. The three parameters were modified to span a wide range around the original level of each. Water activity (Aw) was decreased / increased through water sorption. A range of particle sizes for each of the samples was obtained by separating the samples into two fractions and then combining them together to different levels. Samples were sieved through a stack of sieves with different mesh sizes and particle size was expressed in terms of median particle size. A range of free fat levels was obtained by spraying samples with anhydrous milk fat (AMF). The response of flowability to changes in these parameters was assessed. Flowability was measured by using a rotating drum. The results in the preliminary study showed that flowability increased with increasing moisture content from 18 to 22%, which is in contradiction to the normal expectation from the literature. Therefore, the hypothesis: flowability increases with increasing moisture content / Aw was proposed. To test the validity of the hypothesis, several trials were conducted. The results in the first trial showed that flowability increased with increasing Aw from 0.66 to 0.79 for both GVC and Kraft products. The results also revealed a possible critical Aw between 0.79 to 0.83 at which the products could have their optimum flowability. In the next trial, additional values in the Aw range between 0.79 to 0.83 were included. The results showed that flowability increased with increasing Aw from 0.67 to the critical Aw value and dropped down above this value. The critical Aw values for GVC products were determined at 0.80 ± 0.01. Kraft's product did not show this increasing trend or the critical Aw value. A series of commercial samples with different Aw levels from two of each of GVC products were chosen to test the hypothesis. Variation in water activity naturally occurred during processing due to the slight changes in drying conditions. The results obtained on these commercial samples showed flowability increased with increasing Aw from 0.69 to 0.77, Therefore, the hypothesis has been proven. The study on the effect of particle size shows flowability also increased with increasing median particle size for both GVC and Kraft products. Of the methods chosen to plot cumulative undersize versus sieve size, linear regression is suggested rather than simply joining the points. This is because all the points are taken into account when linear regression is used. The study conducted on the effect of free fat shows that flowability decreased with increasing free fat levels from 16.8 to 26.3%. The sieve analysis results on the samples with different free fat levels show that median particle size increased from 721 to 1476 μm with increasing free fat levels from 16.8 to 26.3%. This was presumably caused by particle aggregation. The results show that the positive effect of particle size on flowability could not counteract the negative effect of free fat. Further study is required to confirm the net effect of free fat and particle size

IVF Battles: Legal Categories and Comparative Tales

Coupled with modern reproductive technologies, the ancient desire for parenthood has led to novel legal challenges. This essay discusses landmark cases addressing those challenges. At the outset, it distinguishes between two litigation paradigms in this area—termed “horizontal” and “vertical.” Horizontal controversies involve private parties who have different aspirations regarding a joint parenthood project (e.g., between two partners who began an IVF procedure and later disagree whether to complete the process). In contrast, vertical controversies concern clashes between an individual (or individuals) and the state, such as when the state or one of its authorities does not allow the individual to move forward with technologies that may lead to parenthood (e.g., new surrogacy procedures), though all affected individuals consent. The essay then focuses on horizontal litigation, and examines the ways in which various legal systems draw on, and sometimes adjust to the particular circumstances of the case, traditional concepts such as contract, reliance, property, and more to resolve such disputes

Political Inequality and the Origins of Distrust: Evidence for Colombia

This paper aims to identify the effect of political exclusion on social capital in Colombia, suggesting social capital as an important channel through which political inequality has been central for Colombian economic development. I use the Colombian National Front agreement during 1958-1974 to test my hypothesis, as it institutionalized the political exclusion of non-traditional parties in that country. Whereas it affected all regions at the same time, it implied differential effects according to the municipalities’ initial political diversity. The empirical strategy deals with the potential endogeneity in the variation of the treatment by using region fixed effects and relevant control variables in a cross-section model, as well as performing robustness checks. I further use panel fixed effects models with electoral turnout as a measure of social capital. I find that political exclusion imposed by the National Front may have led to less trusting individuals today, to a higher perception of free riding behaviors and to lower levels of electoral turnout. I also find that a possible channel through which political exclusion in the past may be able to explain social capital in the present is distrust towards the state