4,871 research outputs found
Racialisation, relationality and riots: Intersections and interpellations
This paper takes up Avtar Brah's (1999) invitation to write back to the issues she raises in her mapping of the production of gendered, classed and racialised subjectivities in west London. It addresses two topics that, together, illuminate racialised and gendered interpellation and psychosocial processes. The paper is divided into two main sections. The first draws on empirical research on the transition to motherhood conducted in east London to consider one mother's experience of giving birth in the local maternity hospital. The maternity ward constituted a site where racialised difference became salient, leading her to construct her maternal identity by asserting her difference from Bangladeshi mothers and so self-racialising, as well as âotheringâ Bangladeshi mothers. The paper analyses the ways in which her biography may help to explain why her experience of the maternity hospital interpellates her into racialised positioning. The second section focuses on media responses to the riots in various English cities in August 2011. It examines the ways in which some media punditry racialised the riots and inclusion in the British postcolonial nation. The paper analyses three sets of commentaries and illuminates the ways in which they racialise the debate in essentialising ways, reproducing themes that were identified in the 1980s as ânew racismâ and apportioning blame for the riots to âblack gangster cultureâ. While these media pronouncements focus on racialisation, they are intersectional in implicitly also invoking gender and social class. The paper argues that the understanding of the mother's self-racialisation is deepened by a consideration of the racialised discourses that can be evoked (and are contested) in periods of social unrest. The paper thus draws on part of the methodology of âThe Scent of Memoryâ in layering media readings and biographical narratives to analyse the contemporary psychosocial space of racialisation
Taking a stand: using psychoanalysis to explore the positioning of subjects in discourse
This paper is concerned with thinking through the cultural construction of personal identities whilst avoiding the classical socialâindividual division. Our starting point is the notion that there is no such thing as âthe individualâ, standing outside the social; however, there is an arena of personal subjectivity, even though this does not exist other than as already inscribed in the sociocultural domain. Our argument is that there are psychoanalytic concepts which can be helpful in exploring this âinscriptionâ and thus in explaining the trajectory of individual subjects; that is, their specific positioning in discourse. The argument is illustrated by data from a qualitative study of young masculinities, exploring the ways in which some individual boys take up positions in various degrees of opposition to the dominant ideology of âhegemonicâ masculinity
Exploring how males who encounter phenomena they identify as âConversion Disorderâ/âFunctional Neurological Disorderâ experience agency in their lives
This research investigates the way that males who identify with the diagnostic label âconversion disorder/functional neurological disorder (CD/FND)â experience agency in their lives. The historical developments, controversies and complexities around âCD/FNDâ form the backdrop of this exploration into the lived experience of agency. A sample of eight participants were recruited via social networking sites and charities, and the data was collected through Skype-based interviews and analysed using the qualitative Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach. The analysis showed the following five main themes: âparadox of controlâ, âliving within a dualistic frameworkâ, âdisconnection from self and othersâ, âengaged in a battle or fightâ and âmeaning and reality as dependent on other peopleâ. These master themes and their related subordinate themes are presented in light of existing research. The findings highlight the difficulty experienced by participants who identify with a diagnostic label that is at odds with a medicalised approach to understanding and treating illness. The limitations of this study and the potential avenues for future research are also discussed
Playing Games with Quantum Mechanics
We present a perspective on quantum games that focuses on the physical
aspects of the quantities that are used to implement a game. If a game is to be
played, it has to be played with objects and actions that have some physical
existence. We call such games playable. By focusing on the notion of
playability for games we can more clearly see the distinction between classical
and quantum games and tackle the thorny issue of what it means to quantize a
game. The approach we take can more properly be thought of as gaming the
quantum rather than quantizing a game and we find that in this perspective we
can think of a complete quantum game, for a given set of preferences, as
representing a single family of quantum games with many different playable
versions. The versions of Quantum Prisoners Dilemma presented in the literature
can therefore be thought of specific instances of the single family of Quantum
Prisoner's Dilemma with respect to a particular measurement. The conditions for
equilibrium are given for playable quantum games both in terms of expected
outcomes and a geometric approach. We discuss how any quantum game can be
simulated with a classical game played with classical coins as far as the
strategy selections and expected outcomes are concerned.Comment: 3 Figure
Securing a Quantum Key Distribution Network Using Secret Sharing
We present a simple new technique to secure quantum key distribution relay
networks using secret sharing. Previous techniques have relied on creating
distinct physical paths in order to create the shares. We show, however, how
this can be achieved on a single physical path by creating distinct logical
channels. The technique utilizes a random 'drop-out' scheme to ensure that an
attacker must compromise all of the relays on the channel in order to access
the key
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