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A literature review on violence and discrimination against trans people in Portugal: Are we still living in a dictatorship?
Sexualities, Ahead of Print.
This literature review presents a characterization of violence and discrimination against trans people in Portugal, offering a critical analysis of the national efforts aiming to protect trans people’s rights. Its main objective is to highlight and frame the oppression historically suffered by trans people in family and intimate relationships, social discrimination, school, medical care, and employment. Despite legal advances in Portugal in the conquest of rights for trans people during the last two decades, violence and discrimination are still a social problem that needs urgent academic research for its effective prevention and combat.
This literature review presents a characterization of violence and discrimination against trans people in Portugal, offering a critical analysis of the national efforts aiming to protect trans people’s rights. Its main objective is to highlight and frame the oppression historically suffered by trans people in family and intimate relationships, social discrimination, school, medical care, and employment. Despite legal advances in Portugal in the conquest of rights for trans people during the last two decades, violence and discrimination are still a social problem that needs urgent academic research for its effective prevention and combat.
Gendered machines in film and television: How ‘post-’ femininities and masculinities challenge the gender binary
Sexualities, Ahead of Print.
Motivated by the representation of robots in film and television, this work examines the role of emerging femininities and masculinities in revisiting the gender binary. The gendered cyborg has been a common trope in cultural texts and a favourite topic in feminist discourse, regarding how it exposes the artificiality of this binary. The case studies are the films Ex Machina and I’m Your Man, and the television series Westworld. The ‘post’-femininities and masculinities are explored through the depiction of gendered robots and their relationships with humans. By drawing on the intersection between feminist and queer theory and posthumanism, this article combines a close reading of gendered representations with an analysis of how they visualise post-gender worlds.
Motivated by the representation of robots in film and television, this work examines the role of emerging femininities and masculinities in revisiting the gender binary. The gendered cyborg has been a common trope in cultural texts and a favourite topic in feminist discourse, regarding how it exposes the artificiality of this binary. The case studies are the films Ex Machina and I’m Your Man, and the television series Westworld. The ‘post’-femininities and masculinities are explored through the depiction of gendered robots and their relationships with humans. By drawing on the intersection between feminist and queer theory and posthumanism, this article combines a close reading of gendered representations with an analysis of how they visualise post-gender worlds.
‘No way. You will not make [insert country here] home’: Anti-asylum discursive transfer from Australia to Europe
Current Sociology, Ahead of Print.
This article analyses the ways Australia’s overseas ‘public information campaign’ on asylum based around the phrase ‘No way. You will not make Australia home’ has been adopted by far-right movements in Europe. Considering examples of anti-asylum online video campaigns and activism in a range of European countries, we note semiotic and discursive similarities with the Australian campaign. We discuss the implications of such discursive transfer from official Australian government policy to far-right campaigns promoting a blatantly racist agenda in Europe. We also consider the broader question of the fundamental challenge to international law inherent in the promulgation of information that denies the right to seek asylum in Refugee Convention signatory states.
This article analyses the ways Australia’s overseas ‘public information campaign’ on asylum based around the phrase ‘No way. You will not make Australia home’ has been adopted by far-right movements in Europe. Considering examples of anti-asylum online video campaigns and activism in a range of European countries, we note semiotic and discursive similarities with the Australian campaign. We discuss the implications of such discursive transfer from official Australian government policy to far-right campaigns promoting a blatantly racist agenda in Europe. We also consider the broader question of the fundamental challenge to international law inherent in the promulgation of information that denies the right to seek asylum in Refugee Convention signatory states.
“Sky-high, matte black faux snakeskin heals”: Femininity, clothes, and humor in Jacob Tobia’s Sissy
Sexualities, Ahead of Print.
The article traces the interweaving of femininity, clothes, and humor in Jacob Tobia’s 2019 memoir Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story. It first discusses the societal devaluation of the femme and queer femininity Tobia textually constructs. It then argues that in Sissy, this femininity is enacted primarily through clothes, which appear as a symbol and a proxy for the protagonist’s identity, a source of embodied pleasures, and an organizing element of the narrative. Finally, the article demonstrates that Tobia employs humor to counter the devaluation targeting their kind of femininity, and to reclaim this femininity as a site of pride, resilience, and joy.
The article traces the interweaving of femininity, clothes, and humor in Jacob Tobia’s 2019 memoir Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story. It first discusses the societal devaluation of the femme and queer femininity Tobia textually constructs. It then argues that in Sissy, this femininity is enacted primarily through clothes, which appear as a symbol and a proxy for the protagonist’s identity, a source of embodied pleasures, and an organizing element of the narrative. Finally, the article demonstrates that Tobia employs humor to counter the devaluation targeting their kind of femininity, and to reclaim this femininity as a site of pride, resilience, and joy.
South Korean members’ experiences on the LPGA Tour: The first decade after Se Ri Pak’s appearance in 1998
International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Volume 59, Issue 2, Page 185-202, March 2024.
This study explored the experiences and perceptions of South Korean players on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour with respect to stereotyping and discrimination. Specifically, we investigated South Korean Tour members’ perspectives about interactions with their fellow golfers, LPGA officials, and members of the media. A combination of group and individual interviewers with 11 South Korean women who played on the LPGA Tour were conducted, and data were analysed using Hatch’s nine-step inductive analysis method. Researchers identified six themes based on patterns in participants’ responses regarding their experiences. These themes included: (a) inconsistent enforcement of rules regarding use of native language during tournament play; (b) inconsistent enforcement of rules regarding interactions with parents; (c) lack of English fluency impact upon pro-am experiences; (d) limited media coverage; and (e) lack of English fluency limiting self-advocacy. Participants perceived that their race and lack of English fluency impacted their overall experiences, in particular the treatment they received from other tour members, tour officials, and the media. Participants’ perspectives demonstrate the prevalence of the “yellow peril” and “perpetual foreigner” stereotypes during this era of the LPGA Tour.
This study explored the experiences and perceptions of South Korean players on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour with respect to stereotyping and discrimination. Specifically, we investigated South Korean Tour members’ perspectives about interactions with their fellow golfers, LPGA officials, and members of the media. A combination of group and individual interviewers with 11 South Korean women who played on the LPGA Tour were conducted, and data were analysed using Hatch’s nine-step inductive analysis method. Researchers identified six themes based on patterns in participants’ responses regarding their experiences. These themes included: (a) inconsistent enforcement of rules regarding use of native language during tournament play; (b) inconsistent enforcement of rules regarding interactions with parents; (c) lack of English fluency impact upon pro-am experiences; (d) limited media coverage; and (e) lack of English fluency limiting self-advocacy. Participants perceived that their race and lack of English fluency impacted their overall experiences, in particular the treatment they received from other tour members, tour officials, and the media. Participants’ perspectives demonstrate the prevalence of the “yellow peril” and “perpetual foreigner” stereotypes during this era of the LPGA Tour.
The intellectual biography of Syed Farid Alatas: Hegemonic orientations, epistemic decolonisation and the School of Autonomous Knowledge
Current Sociology, Ahead of Print.
Syed Farid Alatas is a Malaysian sociologist who has been highly influential in discussions about decolonising knowledge. He has also continued the legacy of his esteemed father, Syed Hussein Alatas, by furthering ‘the School of Autonomous Knowledge’ in the Malay Archipelago and beyond. This article presents a wide-ranging, comprehensive and rich dialogue between Farid and Leon Moosavi. In this conversation, pertinent questions are asked: How does Farid’s approach to decolonising knowledge differ from other decolonial scholars? What exactly does Farid mean when he talks of ‘intellectual imperialism’, ‘alternative discourses’ and ‘academic dependency’? This dialogue also explores Farid’s extensive engagement with the Islamic/Muslim sphere, including topics such as: Ibn Khaldun, Muslim revivalism, Muslim sectarianism and the Islamisation of knowledge. The discussion also explores some potential critiques of Farid’s intellectual contributions with challenging questions: Can Farid’s theoretical ideals be applied in ‘the real world’ or are they confined to an audience of intellectual elites? Is Farid anti-Western? Or, actually, does his work inadvertently fall into the trap of Westerncentrism? This article offers a unique insight into the intellectual biography of one of the most notable social theorists of the current era.
Syed Farid Alatas is a Malaysian sociologist who has been highly influential in discussions about decolonising knowledge. He has also continued the legacy of his esteemed father, Syed Hussein Alatas, by furthering ‘the School of Autonomous Knowledge’ in the Malay Archipelago and beyond. This article presents a wide-ranging, comprehensive and rich dialogue between Farid and Leon Moosavi. In this conversation, pertinent questions are asked: How does Farid’s approach to decolonising knowledge differ from other decolonial scholars? What exactly does Farid mean when he talks of ‘intellectual imperialism’, ‘alternative discourses’ and ‘academic dependency’? This dialogue also explores Farid’s extensive engagement with the Islamic/Muslim sphere, including topics such as: Ibn Khaldun, Muslim revivalism, Muslim sectarianism and the Islamisation of knowledge. The discussion also explores some potential critiques of Farid’s intellectual contributions with challenging questions: Can Farid’s theoretical ideals be applied in ‘the real world’ or are they confined to an audience of intellectual elites? Is Farid anti-Western? Or, actually, does his work inadvertently fall into the trap of Westerncentrism? This article offers a unique insight into the intellectual biography of one of the most notable social theorists of the current era.
Tackling the UK’s regional economic inequality: binding constraints and avenues for policy intervention
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A framework for understanding land control transfer in agricultural commodity frontiers
Abstract
Across the globe, the expansion of large-scale commodity agriculture is occurring not into empty space but over existing social systems. An understanding of the dynamics of expansion and associated impacts of commodity agriculture thus fundamentally requires examining how existing control regimes are dissolved and, simultaneously, how novel ones are assembled in order to make way for the changes in resources use that characterize these transitional moments. With this in mind, in this article, I provide a broad review of the strategies used to secure control over land prospected for agricultural commodity production, distinguishing between the tactics that are applied by agro-interested actors in order to ‘break down’ forms of existing land control, those they apply in parallel to ‘build up’ new control structures, and those strategies that are applied by actors (often smallholders) wishing to ‘hold on to’ the control that they have. I then present a framework for examining the dynamics of control transfer that builds on this analytical structure of ‘breaking down’, ‘building up’, and ‘holding on to’ control.