Sexualities, Ahead of Print.
In this article, the result of ethnographic research on the LGBT community over the last five years in Mozambique, I will deal theoretically with a hegemonic elite discourse alleging tolerance of homosexuality in this country. I will review previous scholarly works on this theme and analyze the recurrence of this discourse among certain elite groups, such as local activists, journalists, and politicians. I conclude that this discourse is reminiscent of the Lusotropicalist myth transformed into a new kind of homonationalism and that it explicitly reverberates in the current political strategies of LGBT activism in Mozambique.
Category Archives: Arts and Health
Cannibal Capitalism. How Our System Is Devouring Democracy, Care, and the Planet – And What We Can Do About It
.
Making military conscription count? Converting competencies between the civilian and military spheres in a neoliberal Estonia
Current Sociology, Ahead of Print.
While past decades Western societies have been shifting from mandatory military service toward all-volunteer forces, a number of them have retained conscription. A growing emphasis on individualization and neoliberalist ideas results in a tension for youths between fulfilling a duty and the need for constant self-development. We argue that a central mechanism for addressing this challenge is convertibility, the ability to use competencies gained in one sphere in another, and thus increasing the individual value of conscription for recruits. By linking convertibility to societal expectations, we demonstrate how societies shape ideas of what is convertible and why, and by relating convertibility to agency and motivation, we extend the concept to the individual level. We argue that as material rewards are limited and conscripts cannot rely on occupational motivations, convertibility has a potential to increase the value of conscription for recruits and enable them to combine institutional motivators with utilitarian motives.
While past decades Western societies have been shifting from mandatory military service toward all-volunteer forces, a number of them have retained conscription. A growing emphasis on individualization and neoliberalist ideas results in a tension for youths between fulfilling a duty and the need for constant self-development. We argue that a central mechanism for addressing this challenge is convertibility, the ability to use competencies gained in one sphere in another, and thus increasing the individual value of conscription for recruits. By linking convertibility to societal expectations, we demonstrate how societies shape ideas of what is convertible and why, and by relating convertibility to agency and motivation, we extend the concept to the individual level. We argue that as material rewards are limited and conscripts cannot rely on occupational motivations, convertibility has a potential to increase the value of conscription for recruits and enable them to combine institutional motivators with utilitarian motives.
Videoconference-based Creativity Workshops for mental health staff during the COVID-19 pandemic
.
Rent Strikes: Revolutions at Point Zero
Editorial Introduction: Special Section on older-age migrants and sexualities
Sexualities, Ahead of Print.
Research on migration in older age has been flourishing during the recent years. However, motives and experiences related to love, sexuality and intimacy are still a sensitive desideratum in older-age migration research. The Special Section approaches this gap and encourages interdisciplinary research to further contribute to this field. We argue that older-age migration and sexuality are closely linked concepts that deserve nuanced attention across the broad social sciences themes of inequality, inclusion and self-expression and across diverse geographies.
Research on migration in older age has been flourishing during the recent years. However, motives and experiences related to love, sexuality and intimacy are still a sensitive desideratum in older-age migration research. The Special Section approaches this gap and encourages interdisciplinary research to further contribute to this field. We argue that older-age migration and sexuality are closely linked concepts that deserve nuanced attention across the broad social sciences themes of inequality, inclusion and self-expression and across diverse geographies.
‘I am an Arab Palestinian living in Israel with a disability’: marginalisation and the limits of human rights
.
Striking Fossil Capital: Towards a Theory of the Climate Strike
‘It’s a generational thing, really’. Understandings of sexual rights in a digital age
Sexualities, Ahead of Print.
Deriving from a large-scale research project on intimacy in data-driven culture in Finland, I build on a sub-study examining Finland’s presumed sexual digital divide between generations. I analysed in-depth, semi-structured research discussions with six social media users who actively participated in the online discussion following the posting of a video on TikTok by the National Board of Investigation on the potential risks and dangers of sending nude images online. I wanted to know why this particular ‘awareness-raising video’ gained so much negative feedback from its young audiences on TikTok and other social media platforms. By using the idea of ‘generational sexualities’, I focus on the shared social imaginary the research participants seem to have on the sexual and digital divide between generations. As a result of my analysis, I propose that the idea of a generational gap regarding the digital modes of sexual engagement is a culturally and socially shared narrative contributing to a disconnective effect between the generations in sexual matters. Furthermore, the analysis of my research materials reveals that young people’s ‘full sexual rights’ operate as a specific generational narrative that organises and structures my research participants’ perspectives of what is inclusive and socially just sexual education. The educational efforts must go beyond risk and harm as ‘no-sexting’ educational materials may contribute to sexual discrimination and marginalisation, increase social inequality and negatively impact young people’s sexual wellbeing.
Deriving from a large-scale research project on intimacy in data-driven culture in Finland, I build on a sub-study examining Finland’s presumed sexual digital divide between generations. I analysed in-depth, semi-structured research discussions with six social media users who actively participated in the online discussion following the posting of a video on TikTok by the National Board of Investigation on the potential risks and dangers of sending nude images online. I wanted to know why this particular ‘awareness-raising video’ gained so much negative feedback from its young audiences on TikTok and other social media platforms. By using the idea of ‘generational sexualities’, I focus on the shared social imaginary the research participants seem to have on the sexual and digital divide between generations. As a result of my analysis, I propose that the idea of a generational gap regarding the digital modes of sexual engagement is a culturally and socially shared narrative contributing to a disconnective effect between the generations in sexual matters. Furthermore, the analysis of my research materials reveals that young people’s ‘full sexual rights’ operate as a specific generational narrative that organises and structures my research participants’ perspectives of what is inclusive and socially just sexual education. The educational efforts must go beyond risk and harm as ‘no-sexting’ educational materials may contribute to sexual discrimination and marginalisation, increase social inequality and negatively impact young people’s sexual wellbeing.
More bottoms than tops? Mediated sexual roles and masculinity assemblage in Chinese gay communities
Sexualities, Ahead of Print.
This paper examines the discursive production of “there are more 0s (bottoms) than 1s (tops)” in a mediated environment, and its implications on gay communities. It explores why many Chinese gay men perceive it as a “sexual truth.” Based on ethnographic research from 2017 to 2021, I argue that this popular discourse is produced by the higher threshold to qualify as a 1 than a 0. The unequal threshold prevents many men from self-identifying, and, more importantly, being recognized as a 1. In addition, the wide circulation of this discourse has intensified effeminophobia, and led to unequal sexual opportunities for gay men based on their embodied masculinities.
This paper examines the discursive production of “there are more 0s (bottoms) than 1s (tops)” in a mediated environment, and its implications on gay communities. It explores why many Chinese gay men perceive it as a “sexual truth.” Based on ethnographic research from 2017 to 2021, I argue that this popular discourse is produced by the higher threshold to qualify as a 1 than a 0. The unequal threshold prevents many men from self-identifying, and, more importantly, being recognized as a 1. In addition, the wide circulation of this discourse has intensified effeminophobia, and led to unequal sexual opportunities for gay men based on their embodied masculinities.