Identity in a Self-styled ‘Paedophile-hunting’ Group: A Linguistic Analysis of Stance in Facebook Group Chats

This article contributes a linguistically informed perspective to a growing body of work describing the nature and practices of self-styled ‘paedophile-hunting’ groups. Their reliance on publicly exposing suspected child predators in live-streamed confrontations poses significant moral and practical challenges for UK law enforcement, even if their evidence has proved significant in the conviction of sex offenders. In this article, we extend extant insight through the linguistic analysis of 18 months of private online group chat data from one of the UK’s most prolific hunting teams. Specifically, we explore the group’s collective linguistic identity performance through a corpus-assisted analysis of stance. Our analysis foregrounds the significance of social bonding and community identity and nuances current understanding of hunters’ negative view of the police. It also suggests that the entertainment value of the detective work involved in hunting may be more significant than the emphasis on hunters’ self-proclaimed moral superiority in extant work suggests

Embedded Agency in Institutional Theory: Problem or Paradox

In “Beyond Constraining and Enabling: Toward New Microfoundations in Institutional Theory” Professor Cardinale (2018) seeks to expose and correct “shortcomings” (p.133) in institutional theory’s conceptualization of structure, agency and their relationship. To this end, he theorizes the “different mechanism[s] through which actors are embedded in structure” (p.134). We agree that institutional theory’s microfoundations merit theoretical attention and development. However, we question the premise that the issue of agency in institutional theory is adequately, or even plausibly, formulated as one of “embeddedness”. We also challenge the relevance of Professor Cardinale’s engagement of Husserl to help solve what we argue to be a phantom problem central to his theory

First international external quality assessment scheme of nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of Schistosoma and soil-transmitted helminths, including Strongyloides : a pilot study

Background Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are increasingly being used as diagnostic tools for soil-transmitted helminths (STHs;Ascaris lumbricoides,Trichuris trichiura,Necator americanus,Ancylostoma duodenaleandA.ceylanicum),Strongyloides stercoralisandSchistosomain human stool. Currently, there is a large diversity of NAATs being applied, but an external quality assessment scheme (EQAS) for these diagnostics is lacking. An EQAS involves a blinded process where test results reported by a laboratory are compared to those reported by reference or expert laboratories, allowing for an objective assessment of the diagnostic performance of a laboratory. In the current study, we piloted an international EQAS for these helminths (i) to investigate the feasibility of designing and delivering an EQAS; (ii) to assess the diagnostic performance of laboratories; and (iii) to gain insights into the different NAAT protocols used. Methods and principal findings A panel of twelve stool samples and eight DNA samples was validated by six expert laboratories for the presence of six helminths (Ascaris,Trichuris,N.americanus,Ancylostoma,StrongyloidesandSchistosoma). Subsequently this panel was sent to 15 globally dispersed laboratories. We found a high degree of diversity among the different DNA extraction and NAAT protocols. Although most laboratories performed well, we could clearly identify the laboratories that were poorly performing. Conclusions/Significance We showed the technical feasibility of an international EQAS for the NAAT of STHs,StrongyloidesandSchistosoma. In addition, we documented that there are clear benefits for participating laboratories, as they can confirm and/or improve the diagnostic performance of their NAATs. Further research should aim to identify factors that explain poor performance of NAATs. Author summary Tests that detect parasite DNA in human stool are increasingly being used for the diagnosis of infections with intestinal worms, including schistosomiasis. To ensure the quality in diagnostic testing of these parasitic worms, it is important that laboratories evaluate the diagnostic performance of their DNA-based tests. This can best be achieved by participating in an external quality assessment scheme (EQAS). An EQAS involves a blinded process where test results reported by a laboratory are compared to those reported by reference or expert laboratories, allowing for an objective assessment of the diagnostic performance of a laboratory. Currently, such an EQAS for parasitic worms is lacking. We therefore piloted an international EQAS for the diagnosis of parasitic worms involving 15 laboratories in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America. Although most laboratories performed well, we could clearly identify those laboratories that may need to improve their test protocol. We found that laboratories were using many different test protocols, and further research should aim to verify whether this has an impact on the performance of the diagnostic outcomes

Identities and identifications in organizations: dynamics of antipathy, deadlock, and alliance

We examine the dynamics of identity formation in organizations, with a particular focus on the development of antipathies and deadlocks, by engaging a well-regarded study of identity in organizations. By revisiting this study through the lens of a social theory of hegemony (STH), we show how this theory can bring fresh insights to studies of identity, resistance, and deadlock in organizations. We argue that the “othering” and scapegoating involved in organizational deadlocks can be driven by fantasmatic identifications that dim the prospects for discerning and exploring areas of common cause. A condition of possibility of breaking such deadlocks is, conversely, a traversing of the fantasies that cement the impasse

Being the change: Resolving institutional contradiction through identity work

We show how gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) ministers in two main-line Protestant denominations in the United States experience and address a salient institutional contradiction between their role in the church and their marginalized GLBT identities. Drawing on this analysis, we offer a theoretical model of the microprocesses through which marginalized actors who are committed to the institution in which they are embedded can begin to think and act as agents of institutional change. This model enunciates the importance of embodied identity work in resolving the experience of institutional contradiction and marginalization. © Academy of Management Journal

From Cruise Director to Rabbi: Authoring the Agentic Self through Conventions of Narrative Necessity

The concept of (self-)identity has become increasingly central to institutional theory’s microfoundations, yet remains relatively underdeveloped. In this chapter, the authors use an autobiographical interview with a gay Protestant minister in the US to explore the role of narrative conventions in the construction of self-identity. The analysis of this chapter offers the basis for a new understanding of the relation between institutions, self-identity, and agency: how we agentically engage institutions depends not only on who we narrate ourselves to be, but also on how we narrate ourselves into being. This suggests that narration as a specific modality of micro-institutional processes has important performative effects

Phylogenetic comparative methods improve the selection of characters for generic delimitations in a hyperdiverse Neotropical orchid clade

Taxonomic delimitations are challenging because of the convergent and variable nature of phenotypic traits. This is evident in species-rich lineages, where the ancestral and derived states and their gains and losses are difficult to assess. Phylogenetic comparative methods help to evaluate the convergent evolution of a given morphological character, thus enabling the discovery of traits useful for classifications. In this study, we investigate the evolution of selected traits to test for their suitability for generic delimitations in the clade Lepanthes, one of the Neotropical species-richest groups. We evaluated every generic name proposed in the Lepanthes clade producing densely sampled phylogenies with Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood, and Bayesian approaches. Using Ancestral State Reconstructions, we then assessed 18 phenotypic characters that have been traditionally employed to diagnose genera. We propose the recognition of 14 genera based on solid morphological delimitations. Among the characters assessed, we identified 16 plesiomorphies, 12 homoplastic characters, and seven synapomorphies, the latter of which are reproductive features mostly related to the pollination by pseudocopulation and possibly correlated with rapid diversifications in Lepanthes. Furthermore, the ancestral states of some reproductive characters suggest that these traits are associated with pollination mechanisms alike promoting homoplasy. Our methodological approach enables the discovery of useful traits for generic delimitations in the Lepanthes clade and offers various other testable hypotheses on trait evolution for future research on Pleurothallidinae orchids because the phenotypic variation of some characters evaluated here also occurs in other diverse genera.Ministerio de Ambiente y Energía/[]/MINAE/Costa RicaSistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación/[]/SINAC/Costa RicaUniversidad de Costa Rica/[814-B6-140]/UCR/Costa RicaLeiden University/[]//Países BajosRoyal Botanic Gardens, Kew/[]//InglaterraUCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Agroalimentarias::Jardín Botánico Lankester (JBL