Social Unionism and the Popular Front: The Cambridge Union of University Teachers, 1935-1941

Most studies of university faculty unions that formed during the interwar era argue that those bodies devoted themselves to a progressive social, economic, and political agenda (social unionism), rather than immediate workplace needs (bread-and-butter unionism).  The few scholarly works that mention the Cambridge Union of University Teachers (CUUT)—created in October 1935 by instructors from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology—emphasize the union’s orientation toward social issues. An affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, the CUUT never attempted to engage in collective bargaining or to set wages, hours, or other work conditions.  But a careful examination of the CUUT’s early history reveals a more complicated legacy. The men, and a few women, who led the union embraced a multifaceted agenda: to link Local 431 to the larger community, including local teachers’ unions and other area labour groups; to support a national popular front social movement; and to secure fair employment and academic freedom for all college/university teachers in Cambridge.  This article describes and analyzes the CUUT’s ideology and policies during the years 1935-1941, the union’s most active period, and the obstacles that it encountered both from within its ranks and from the corporatized institutions of higher education

(De) stabilizing the Normative: Using Critical Autoethnography as Intersectional Praxis to (Re) conceptualize identity performances of Black Queer immigrants

This review explores how critical autoethnography as a qualitative research tool can be used to capture some of the social and material realities embedded in the processes of embodiment and performance and its implication for queer of color critique. Using African immigrant queer identity performances as an example, I elaborate how autoethnography can be used to highlight multiple, complex and sometimes contradictory identity negotiation strategies used by African queer migrants to navigate simultaneous systems of privilege and oppression. I show that identities of African queer migrants are ongoing processes riddled with constant negotiation and re-negotiation with systems with power which autoethnography can be used to illuminate

Becoming Black in America: Exploring Racial Identity Development of African Immigrants

This qualitative study critically examined how African immigrants experience racialization and the process of developing Black racial consciousness. Focus group interviews were conducted to sample the collective racial experience among African immigrants. Thematic analysis was used as the basic methodology for analyzing the data. It was discovered that the participants become African and also become Black during the process of racial identification. Becoming African and Becoming Black constituted two sets of processes that simultaneously shaped the identity of African immigrants as they assimilated into the United States. From the study it became evident that there was tension between ethnic identification as African and racial identification as Black. Most of the participants affirmed their ethnic identity as African over their racial identity. Using the culturalist racist discourse as the conceptual framework, I argued that ethnic definitions do not overturn the negative connotations of blackness. Rather, it assumes the contemporary colorblind nature of American society while the system of racism stays the same

Cryopreparation of Tissue for Clinical Applications of X-Ray Microanalysis

A number of diseases is associated with changes in ion and/or water distribution at the tissue or cell level, and X-ray microanalysis can be used to investigate the relationship between the disease process and the changes in elemental distribution. For analysis of diffusible elements by X-ray microanalysis, the tissue has to be prepared by cryotechniques. To carry out studies of this kind in a clinical environment poses a number of problems. Some of these problems occur already before the tissue is frozen, others are caused by the practical and ethical limitations that are imposed on the freezing method itself when human tissue is to be used. The use of cryostat sections for analysis at the cellular level, and of in vitro systems and cell cultures in which sampling and cryopreparation can be separated in time and place can be useful alternatives

The Correction for Extraneous Background in Quantitative X-Ray Microanalysis of Biological Thin Sections: Some Practical Aspects

The correction for extraneous continuum is of great importance in the quantitative analysis of thin sections of biological tissue. Although a theoretical model for this correction is available, its application in practice meets with problems. In this paper, a model system, consisting of sections of homogeneous plastic on copper mesh grids was used to identify sources of inaccuracies in the quantitative procedures. An unmodified electron microscope was operated under standard analytical conditions. It appeared that geometrical factors connected with the position of the analysis relative to the grid bars were of prime importance. The correction for the contribution of the support film to the continuum should ideally be carried out at the same location with respect to the grid bars as the matching measurement on the section. Also the position of the analysis with respect to its coordinates on the grids is important, in particular when the possibility of absorption of X-rays by the specimen holder exists. The use of slot grids (rather than mesh grids) may alleviate this problem at least in part. Additional factors of importance are differential mass loss in specimen and film, as well as undetected variations in specimen current

The Hall Method in the Quantitative X-Ray Microanalysis of Biological Specimens: A Review

In the two decades since its inception by T.A. Hall, the continuum theory of quantification has become the general method for quantitative analysis of biological specimens. Although the method was originally developed for thin specimens, its use has been extended to thicker specimens, and it has also been used in quantitative determinations of local water content. The single most important difficulty in the application of the Hall method is the accurate calculation of the extraneous continuum, i.e., the continuum due to non-specimen sources. The different variations in methods for quantitative analysis of local water content are critically compared and a generally applicable method is proposed

Reproducing the Ghanaian/African Subject: Ideological Tensions and Queer Subjectivities in Postcolonial Ghana

Same-Sex sexual relationship continues to be a criminal offence in Ghana under the carnal knowledge clause instituted by the British during colonization. Although the law does not specifically mention same-sex sexual relations, carnal knowledge criminalizes all forms of non- heterosexual sexual activities. The criminalization of same-sex sexual relations has sparked an intense debate about African subjectivity. On the one hand, many African nationalists and most Christian organizations argue that same-sex sexual relations is unAfrican; this enables them to both subjugate queers while not having to defend their views more explicitly. Others (typically academics) have explored the existence of diverse sexual behaviors over many generations in many African countries, which were not necessarily condoned, but did not have dire social consequences (Murray, & Roscoe, 1997). Therefore, using critical discourse analysis as theory and method, this dissertation examines how the queer Ghanaian subject is constituted through discourse. This research was informed by theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of post-colonial theory, queer of color critique and queer intercultural communication. Consistent with the critical perspective that informed this project, I utilized Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis to bring out ideological tensions framing the discussions of same-sex relations and LGBT visibility politics. Online news media texts and interviews with NGOs and queer Ghanaian men were chosen to show the contrasting views and tensions which constitute discourses about queer men in Ghana. Findings from the study showed that much has not changed for queer Ghanaian men with the end of British colonialism. From the above explanation, it is evident that independence did not mark the end of social relations and practices informed by colonialism. The continual references to social, political, medical, and legal institutions inherited at independence to violently deny queer Africans access to state resources show the importance of illuminating sexuality as a relevant aspect of postcolonial theory. Ideologies such as heteronormativity are implicated in discourses positioning queer men as against the norm. In this context, relations between queer men and social institutions such as religion and the criminal justice system reproduce power relations subjugating same-sex sexual relations as abnormal and heterosexuality as the norm. It also became evident that relationships established between the colonizer and colonized, to “civilize” and “modernize” the other, have been sustained through broader discourses of globalization and human rights