12 research outputs found

    Writing Class In and Out: Constructions of Class in Elite Businesswomen's Autobiographies

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    The final version of this paper has been published in Sociology, November 2020 by SAGE Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. © The Authors, 2020. It is available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/socThis article explores how meanings of class are constructed in elite businesswomen’s autobiographies. It extends existing sociological studies of elites in two ways. First, by theorising the cultural mechanisms that contribute to the reproduction of business elites, and second, by examining the hitherto under-researched gendered aspects of the reproduction of business elites, and the legitimisation of wealth. We show how these autobiographical texts acknowledge class yet render it irrelevant through discursive repertoires of ordinariness, a universal gender struggle and the unimportance of wealth. We argue that in doing so the genre of elite businesswomen autobiographies contributes to the cultural erasure of class, perpetuating messages that contribute to the creation of a cultural milieu in which class and wealth inequalities remain unquestioned. In an economic context where social disparities continue to grow, the article importantly furthers our understanding of the cultural means by which a plutocratic elite holds on to power

    Intersexuality and Trans-Identities within the Diversity Management Discourse

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    Within both the scientific discourse on workforce diversity, and diversity management practice, intersexuality and transgender issues have hitherto remained marginalized topics. This chapter gives an overview of the discourses on both phenomena, and proposes starting points for more inclusive organizational diversity management initiatives. It is shown that both topics represent different aspects of the category of "gender". The common practice of conceptually lumping together intersexuality, transgenderism, and sexual orientation can be seen as one important reason that intersexuality and transgenderism are rarely considered in organizational diversity management programs in terms of concrete action. Against this background, a modified, and more integrated approach to structuring the workforce alongside the different dimensions of diversity is proposed. It is shown that the categories of "biological sex and gender", "gender identity", and "sexual orientation" cannot be regarded as being separate from each other. They represent, rather, an interrelated organizational field of action that should be considered as being one interrelated topic for organizational diversity practices. This chapter derives this claim theoretically and discusses the consequences for organizational diversity management practices. For most organizations, this would mean a fundamental rethinking of their goals, in terms of workforce diversity, and the shaping of their diversity management programs

    Household Surveys — Using Qualitative Data to Enhance Our Understanding of Household Dynamics over Time

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    Margo Russell suggested that the “household has become dangerously reified” (1993: 755). She had a point. As she and many commentators have explained, identifying “the household” in many African settings is not straightforward and, indeed, may be misleading because it fails to take account of linkages across a wider kinship or familial group (Guyer and Peters 1987; Martin and Beittel 1987; and, more recently, Müller 2004; McEwan and Samuels 2006; Hosegood et al. 2007). However, as Coast, et al. (2009: 1) have recently stated, “Household surveys are the mainstay of micro-level data for developing countries” and while the use of the household as a unit for data collection has well-documented limitations the important place of “the household” in research as well as for national health surveillance surveys suggests that developing a better understanding of how to define households, and distinguish among different types, is a worthwhile exercise. Demographers such as Sara Randall and Ernestina Coast have undertaken extensive research to understand the use of different definitions of the household in survey and census data, and whether they reflect the household and family structures in Europe and Africa (see, for example, Randall et al. 2011), and this chapter builds on this existing body of work

    Intersexualität und Transidentität im Diversity Management

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    Sowohl Im wissenschaftlichen Diversity Diskurs als auch in der Diversity Management-Praxis sind Intersexualität und Transidentität (bzw. Transsexualität oder Transgender) bisher lediglich Randthemen. Dieser Beitrag zeichnet die unterschiedlichen soziologischen, medizinischen und betriebswirtschaftlichen Diskursfelder zu beiden Kategorien nach und leitet daraus Anknüpfungspunkte für organisationales Diversity Management ab. Es wird gezeigt, dass beide Phänomene verschiedene Aspekte der Diversity-Dimension „Geschlecht“ repräsentieren. Ihre bisher übliche Zuordnung in eine Sammelkategorie zusammen mit der Diversity-Dimension „sexuelle Orientierung“ kann als ein wesentlicher Grund dafür angesehen werden, dass sie in Diversity Programmen auf der Maßnahmenebene meist unberücksichtigt bleiben. Vor diesem Hintergrund entwickelt dieser Beitrag einen modifizierten Zugang zur dimensionsspezifischen Herangehensweise im Diversity Management und zeigt die Notwendigkeit auf, die Dimensionen „Geschlecht“, „Geschlechtsidentität“ und „sexuelle Orientierung“ als ein zusammenhängendes organisationales Handlungsfeld zu betrachten. Für die Diversity Management-Praxis ist damit ein grundlegendes Überdenken der eigenen Zielsysteme und Maßnahmengestaltung verbunden

    Botanical Decolonization: Rethinking Native Plants

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    In this paper we use an apparently marginal topic-'native plants'-to address two issues of concern to contemporary politics and political theory: the legacy of settler colonialism, and dilemmas of scholarship and activism in the 'Anthropocene'. Drawing on the writings of Francis Bacon and based on a case study of California, we argue that planting and displanting humans and plants are elements of the same multispecies colonial endeavor. In contrast to those who equate native plant advocates with anti-immigrant nativism, we see native plant advocacy as part of a broad process of botanical decolonization and a strategic location for ethical action in the Anthropocene. © 2014 Pion and its Licensors
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