Ambiguity of Interpretation: the Gender-Conscious Attitudes in the Dissident Works of the Czech Writer Lenka Procházková

This paper explores the presence of gender-conscious attitudes in the works of the Czech author Lenka Procházková (born 1951), a member of the dissident movement during the communist regime. It argues that her writings took issue with patriarchal social structures, yet sometimes camouflaged these challenges behind criticism of the totalitarian rule. These expressions, which one might be tempted to consider as feminist from a Western and 21st-century point of view, emerged within East European dissident culture and probably without exposure to Western feminist concepts. Procházková developed a model of an inner exile for dissidents that originated in a canonical work of Czech literature by Božena Němcová and from which one of her female protagonists draws strength. Thus, her works suggest that Western gender theories are limited in their potential to assess East European dissident women’s writing, when they fail to include local literary traditions

Asymmetric metal-catalyzed [3+2] cycloadditions of azomethine ylides

Cycloadditions of azomethine ylides with olefins provide a short, attractive route to pyrrolidine units with the potential to control the relative and absolute configuration by means of a chiral catalyst. Grigg and co-workers have pioneered the use of chiral transition metal complexes to induce enantioselective cycloadditions of this type. However, stoichiometric amounts of metal complexes were employed in this work. Paying regard to Griggs investigations it was intended to develop a system which gives asymmetric induction using catalytic amounts of chiral transition metal complexes. A first screening of different transition metal sources showed promising results for Cu(I) and Ag(I) species. The application of their complexes with several members of different ligand classes to the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction directed the interest towards phosphinooxazoline (PHOX) ligands. The catalysts derived from the two different metals and PHOX ligand 39 induced enantioselectivity in both cases. Subsequent investigations demonstrated that also the use of the analogous Au(I) catalyst led to the formation of enantioenriched pyrrolidines. Although the Cu(I)-PHOX catalyst generated the five-membered heterocycle 38a with higher enantiomeric excess than the other two catalysts (Table 28, compare entries 1 with 2 and 3) the focus was directed to the Ag(I) system. Firstly, because a further screening with differently substituted PHOX ligands indicated only for the Ag(I) system the chance of substantial improvement of the enantioselectivity. Secondly, much higher endo:exo selectivity could be observed than for the other two systems. Optimization of the substitution pattern of the PHOX ligand showed that particularly the variation of the substituents at the phosphorous atom and the C5 position of the oxazoline moiety had a positive effect on asymmetric induction. Scheme 47 shows the most selective PHOX ligand (79) found to date which resulted in formation of the pyrrolidine product 38a with 84% enantiomeric excess. Although Ag(I)-PHOX complexes gave only moderate to good asymmetric induction in intermolecular [3+2] cycloadditions, they demonstrated to be efficient catalysts for intramolecular [3+2] cycloadditions of azomethine ylides, giving access to tricylic products with almost complete diastereocontrol and enantiomeric excesses of up to 99%.. Additionally the C5-substituted PHOX ligands, originally synthesized for the [3+2] cycloaddition reaction, were applied to the Ir(I)-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of an imine as well as tri- and tetrasubstituted olefins. They induced similar or superior enantioselectivity than the best PHOX ligand (bis(ortho-tolyl)phosphino-tertbutyloxazoline). This confirmed the preliminary assumption that the steric bulk caused by the substituents at the C5 position of the oxazoline ring might direct the methyl groups of the isopropyl substituent at the C4 position to the coordination center creating a “tertiary butyl substitute“. Thus, this ligand type represents a less expensive substitute of the tert-leucine-derived PHOX ligand

Disrupted Idylls

The study provides a close analysis of literary works by women in late-18th- and early-19th-century Russia, with a focus on Anna Naumova, Mariia Pospelova, and Mariia Bolotnikova. Political, social and feminist theories are applied to examine restrictions imposed on women. Women authors in particular were fettered by a culture of feminisation strongly influenced by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. As Sentimentalism and its aesthetics began to give way to Romantic ideals, some provincial Russian women writers saw an opportunity to claim social equality, and to challenge traditional concepts of authorship and a view of women as mute and passive

Modern American Hategroups

I focused my research on modern, American hate groups. I found some criteria for early warning signs of antisemitic, bigoted and genocidal activities. I included a summary of neo-Nazi and white supremacy groups in modern American and then moved to a more specific focus on contemporary and prominent groups like Atomwaffen Division, the Proud Boys, the Vinlanders Social Club, the Base, Rise Against Movement, the Hammerskins, and other prominent antisemitic and hate-driven groups. Trends of hate-speech, acts of vandalism and acts of violence within the past fifty years were examined. Also, how law enforcement and the legal system has responded to these activities has been included as well

Disrupted Idylls

The study provides a close analysis of literary works by women in late-18th- and early-19th-century Russia, with a focus on Anna Naumova, Mariia Pospelova, and Mariia Bolotnikova. Political, social and feminist theories are applied to examine restrictions imposed on women. Women authors in particular were fettered by a culture of feminisation strongly influenced by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. As Sentimentalism and its aesthetics began to give way to Romantic ideals, some provincial Russian women writers saw an opportunity to claim social equality, and to challenge traditional concepts of authorship and a view of women as mute and passive

Acknowledging the complexity of processes leading to foster care breakdown

Family-based solutions for children in care are the preferred option in European countries on the grounds of both cost and quality. Yet, too often, foster care placements intended to be long term are terminated unexpectedly early. Few studies have identified factors leading to unexpected breakdown and fewer still have translated such findings into practical guidance for professionals. This article outlines: (a) the ambiguity and contradictions in the use of terminology (e.g., instability, breakdown, disruption) in several international studies; (b) the adoption of a one-sided, file-based, systemic perspective in recent studies of foster care instability, breakdown, and disruption; and (c) empirical data collected from interviews with foster children. Foster care breakdown is shown to be a process that takes place on several levels. In addition to the actual breakdown event, the situation of the child before the placement, the situation during the placement, the emergence and development of the crisis and the consequences of the breakdown for all those involved are all part of the process. It is only in retrospect that the ending of a foster care process is perceived as a breakdown. Assessments of whether it was planned or unplanned, expected or unexpected, and desirable or undesirable are meaningful only from an individual perspective. Such a perspective must be clearly identified: different people experience and remember the same breakdown in different ways, and its significance for their personal biographies may vary

Homeless young adults in the Swiss social assistance system : evaluation of an institution for homeless young adults who have no daily structure

This article presents an evaluation study of a home for young adults who have lost their accommodation. Most of the home’s residents are found to have unstable biographies as to housing and education as well as a history of psychological problems and substance abuse. The programme is successful for those who have a daily structure, but fails those who do not, or with psychological problems or drug addiction. An integrated approach is recommended and the accessibility of services questioned