Bev is a feminist sociologist who studies different forms of inequality and how they take shape in a range of different social spaces eg social media, television, urban space, intimate spaces. She has always studied the relationship between values and value and is currently especially interested in economies of care in the field of social reproduction. Address: Goldsmiths, university of London
Ethnography is one of the chief research methods in sociology, anthropology and other cognate dis... more Ethnography is one of the chief research methods in sociology, anthropology and other cognate disciplines in the social sciences. This Handbook provides an unparalleled, critical guide to its principles and practice. The volume is organized into three sections. The first systematically locates ethnography firmly in its relevant historical and intellectual contexts. The roots of ethnography are pinpointed and the pattern of its development is demonstrated. The second section examines the contribution of ethnography to major fields of substantive research. The impact and strengths and weaknesses of ethnographic method are dealt with authoritatively and accessibly. The third section moves on to examine key debates and issues in ethnography, from the conduct of research through to contemporary arguments
The endless mutation of reality television, the numerous sub-genres and variation in formats, has... more The endless mutation of reality television, the numerous sub-genres and variation in formats, has led some commentators to suggest that the term is no longer useful as a generic category,1 whilst on the other hand Nick Couldry argues for maintaining the term because of its suggestiveness about the myth of the mediated center: “presenting itself as the privileged ‘frame’ through which we access the reality that matters to us as social beings.”2 This difference of opinion represents a broader tension in our scholarship around whether television’s textual-aesthetic or social-relational character should provide us with the dominant frame of reference. Taking our lead from Richard Johnson’s observation that the textual/ social split in cultural research is inherently “phoney,”3 this chapter addresses the social character of reality television as it meets its audience. We argue that the immediacy offered by the form draws out what matters to us in ways that intervene in the politics of social distinction. But we insist that it is best not to understand that relationship between television and identity via a text/reader dynamic in which audiences are interpellated and made subject to the text’s dominant meaning system: a model which has ultimately reified and rendered static the categories of “text” and “reader.”4 Rather, we discuss the experiential aspects of being involved in reality television and explore how identity is evoked in the dynamic responses of our audiences. By addressing what matters to audiences in this way we begin to unpack how reality television intervenes in the affective economies of the UK’s current socio-political realm.
... Or refer to popular culture: a recent magazine fashion spread in Marie Claire entitled &#... more ... Or refer to popular culture: a recent magazine fashion spread in Marie Claire entitled 'Council Estate Slags'5 which suggests that working-class ... object of academic inquiry is difficult, firstly, because working-class women have rarely found themselves of interest (see Oakley, 1981 ...
The methodology researching of educational policy is the subject of this book. It takes a "b... more The methodology researching of educational policy is the subject of this book. It takes a "behind the scenes" look at the conducting, the analysis and the interpretation of research carried out into educational policy issues revolving around the 1988 Education Reform Act.
With contributions from some of the most important current feminist thinkers, Transformations tra... more With contributions from some of the most important current feminist thinkers, Transformations traces both the shifts in thinking that have allowed feminism to arrive at its present point, and the way that feminist agendas have progressed in line with wider social developments. A thorough reassessment of feminism's place in contemporary life, the authors engage in current debates as diverse as globalization, technoscience, embodiment and performativity, taking feminism in fresh directions, mapping new territory and suggesting alternative possibilities.
Has vocational education and training failed in Britain? Does training meet the needs of either t... more Has vocational education and training failed in Britain? Does training meet the needs of either the individual and of society? How responsive are youth training schemes to their clients? These are just some of the questions addressed in "Training and its Alternatives". It identifies the factors that will affect training in the future: skill shortages, changing work practices and new labour market conditions. It anticipates the likely alternative curricular, institutional and policy issues necessary to initiate reforms in secondary and further education. In doing so, the book challenges the prevailing view that market forces are the most effective means of determining educational policy. It draws on a variety of historical, sociological, economic and comparative perspectives, in showing where alternative possibilities lie.
This exciting new book brings together contributions from world-leading scholars as well as young... more This exciting new book brings together contributions from world-leading scholars as well as younger researchers and focuses on cutting-edge issues related to the practice of qualitative research in the field. It provides a forum for contributors to discuss the issues and processes which inform qualitative research in its various forms as based on fieldwork experiences. In achieving this in an accessible manner to both practising students and researchers, it seeks to enable a dialogue over ideas and provide the reader with a `state of the art' overview of the topic from a contemporary perspective. Rather than being a `how to do' book, this volume should prove vitally useful for advanced students and researchers who wish to engage with those ideas and practices in terms of their applicability for an understanding and explanation of the place of qualitative research in the social sciences. It is also a forum in which leading scholars make an original contribution to the subject.
Madonna continues to excite debate among students of cultural and media studies - both as an icon... more Madonna continues to excite debate among students of cultural and media studies - both as an icon of contemporary culture and as an ideological conundrum for feminists. This symposium of essays places Madonna's career in the context of chart and dance music of the 1980s and 1990s as well as show business as a whole, before examining the wider issues of sexuality and control raised by her work in music, video and film.
This article explores how white working-class women are figured as the constitutive limit – in pr... more This article explores how white working-class women are figured as the constitutive limit – in proximity – to national public morality. It is argued that four processes: increased ambivalence generated by the reworking of moral boundaries; new forms of neo-liberal governance in which the use of culture is seen as a form of personal responsibility by which new race relations are formed; new ways of investing in one’s self as a way of generating exchange-value via affects and display; and the shift to compulsory individuality are reshaping class relations via the making of the self. By showing and telling themselves in public white working-class women are forced to display their ‘lack’ of moral value according to the symbolic values generated by the above processes. It is a no-win situation for them unless we shift our perspective from exchange-value to use-value.
Television studies has come of age as the rapid expansion in media and communications courses sho... more Television studies has come of age as the rapid expansion in media and communications courses shows. 'The Television Studies Book' is a stimulating and challenging collection which analyses how the study of television has developed and points to new approaches dealing with rapidly changing technologies and formats. Chapters on the history and methods of studying television reflect on such issues as the impact of feminism and the development of ethnographic research while specific case studies on topics as varied as US 'people shows', Brazilian telenovelas and the varied use of video in the home give pointed and vivid accounts of current practices. Specially commissioned chapters by scholars such as Lynn Spigel, Jostein Gripsrud, Gillian Branston and Laura Stempel Murnford provide accessible and concise accounts of the main developments in television studies in a book which will become an important resource for students in higher education who need to relate broad ove...
Many of the existing debates about Reality TV overlook some of the obvious ways in which question... more Many of the existing debates about Reality TV overlook some of the obvious ways in which questions of intimacy are implicated in gender relations. In this article we want to open up a debate about how Reality TV’s creation of mediated intimacy induces a type of emotional labour through the performance of femininity. The realm of intimacy is one that has traditionally been associated with the feminine private sphere, but various commentators have marked out how public worlds, institutions and market forces have marshalled the intimate terrain into public spaces, using it to reinforce arguments of ‘normalcy’. We want to assess whether the blurring of the public/private distinction can offer a straightforward route to viewing pleasure through locating some of our findings from the 40 women that we interviewed about their own lives and the place of Reality TV within their broader life experiences. What we see on Reality TV is a visualisation of different performatives and demands. The d...
Ethnography is one of the chief research methods in sociology, anthropology and other cognate dis... more Ethnography is one of the chief research methods in sociology, anthropology and other cognate disciplines in the social sciences. This Handbook provides an unparalleled, critical guide to its principles and practice. The volume is organized into three sections. The first systematically locates ethnography firmly in its relevant historical and intellectual contexts. The roots of ethnography are pinpointed and the pattern of its development is demonstrated. The second section examines the contribution of ethnography to major fields of substantive research. The impact and strengths and weaknesses of ethnographic method are dealt with authoritatively and accessibly. The third section moves on to examine key debates and issues in ethnography, from the conduct of research through to contemporary arguments
The endless mutation of reality television, the numerous sub-genres and variation in formats, has... more The endless mutation of reality television, the numerous sub-genres and variation in formats, has led some commentators to suggest that the term is no longer useful as a generic category,1 whilst on the other hand Nick Couldry argues for maintaining the term because of its suggestiveness about the myth of the mediated center: “presenting itself as the privileged ‘frame’ through which we access the reality that matters to us as social beings.”2 This difference of opinion represents a broader tension in our scholarship around whether television’s textual-aesthetic or social-relational character should provide us with the dominant frame of reference. Taking our lead from Richard Johnson’s observation that the textual/ social split in cultural research is inherently “phoney,”3 this chapter addresses the social character of reality television as it meets its audience. We argue that the immediacy offered by the form draws out what matters to us in ways that intervene in the politics of social distinction. But we insist that it is best not to understand that relationship between television and identity via a text/reader dynamic in which audiences are interpellated and made subject to the text’s dominant meaning system: a model which has ultimately reified and rendered static the categories of “text” and “reader.”4 Rather, we discuss the experiential aspects of being involved in reality television and explore how identity is evoked in the dynamic responses of our audiences. By addressing what matters to audiences in this way we begin to unpack how reality television intervenes in the affective economies of the UK’s current socio-political realm.
... Or refer to popular culture: a recent magazine fashion spread in Marie Claire entitled &#... more ... Or refer to popular culture: a recent magazine fashion spread in Marie Claire entitled 'Council Estate Slags'5 which suggests that working-class ... object of academic inquiry is difficult, firstly, because working-class women have rarely found themselves of interest (see Oakley, 1981 ...
The methodology researching of educational policy is the subject of this book. It takes a "b... more The methodology researching of educational policy is the subject of this book. It takes a "behind the scenes" look at the conducting, the analysis and the interpretation of research carried out into educational policy issues revolving around the 1988 Education Reform Act.
With contributions from some of the most important current feminist thinkers, Transformations tra... more With contributions from some of the most important current feminist thinkers, Transformations traces both the shifts in thinking that have allowed feminism to arrive at its present point, and the way that feminist agendas have progressed in line with wider social developments. A thorough reassessment of feminism's place in contemporary life, the authors engage in current debates as diverse as globalization, technoscience, embodiment and performativity, taking feminism in fresh directions, mapping new territory and suggesting alternative possibilities.
Has vocational education and training failed in Britain? Does training meet the needs of either t... more Has vocational education and training failed in Britain? Does training meet the needs of either the individual and of society? How responsive are youth training schemes to their clients? These are just some of the questions addressed in "Training and its Alternatives". It identifies the factors that will affect training in the future: skill shortages, changing work practices and new labour market conditions. It anticipates the likely alternative curricular, institutional and policy issues necessary to initiate reforms in secondary and further education. In doing so, the book challenges the prevailing view that market forces are the most effective means of determining educational policy. It draws on a variety of historical, sociological, economic and comparative perspectives, in showing where alternative possibilities lie.
This exciting new book brings together contributions from world-leading scholars as well as young... more This exciting new book brings together contributions from world-leading scholars as well as younger researchers and focuses on cutting-edge issues related to the practice of qualitative research in the field. It provides a forum for contributors to discuss the issues and processes which inform qualitative research in its various forms as based on fieldwork experiences. In achieving this in an accessible manner to both practising students and researchers, it seeks to enable a dialogue over ideas and provide the reader with a `state of the art' overview of the topic from a contemporary perspective. Rather than being a `how to do' book, this volume should prove vitally useful for advanced students and researchers who wish to engage with those ideas and practices in terms of their applicability for an understanding and explanation of the place of qualitative research in the social sciences. It is also a forum in which leading scholars make an original contribution to the subject.
Madonna continues to excite debate among students of cultural and media studies - both as an icon... more Madonna continues to excite debate among students of cultural and media studies - both as an icon of contemporary culture and as an ideological conundrum for feminists. This symposium of essays places Madonna's career in the context of chart and dance music of the 1980s and 1990s as well as show business as a whole, before examining the wider issues of sexuality and control raised by her work in music, video and film.
This article explores how white working-class women are figured as the constitutive limit – in pr... more This article explores how white working-class women are figured as the constitutive limit – in proximity – to national public morality. It is argued that four processes: increased ambivalence generated by the reworking of moral boundaries; new forms of neo-liberal governance in which the use of culture is seen as a form of personal responsibility by which new race relations are formed; new ways of investing in one’s self as a way of generating exchange-value via affects and display; and the shift to compulsory individuality are reshaping class relations via the making of the self. By showing and telling themselves in public white working-class women are forced to display their ‘lack’ of moral value according to the symbolic values generated by the above processes. It is a no-win situation for them unless we shift our perspective from exchange-value to use-value.
Television studies has come of age as the rapid expansion in media and communications courses sho... more Television studies has come of age as the rapid expansion in media and communications courses shows. 'The Television Studies Book' is a stimulating and challenging collection which analyses how the study of television has developed and points to new approaches dealing with rapidly changing technologies and formats. Chapters on the history and methods of studying television reflect on such issues as the impact of feminism and the development of ethnographic research while specific case studies on topics as varied as US 'people shows', Brazilian telenovelas and the varied use of video in the home give pointed and vivid accounts of current practices. Specially commissioned chapters by scholars such as Lynn Spigel, Jostein Gripsrud, Gillian Branston and Laura Stempel Murnford provide accessible and concise accounts of the main developments in television studies in a book which will become an important resource for students in higher education who need to relate broad ove...
Many of the existing debates about Reality TV overlook some of the obvious ways in which question... more Many of the existing debates about Reality TV overlook some of the obvious ways in which questions of intimacy are implicated in gender relations. In this article we want to open up a debate about how Reality TV’s creation of mediated intimacy induces a type of emotional labour through the performance of femininity. The realm of intimacy is one that has traditionally been associated with the feminine private sphere, but various commentators have marked out how public worlds, institutions and market forces have marshalled the intimate terrain into public spaces, using it to reinforce arguments of ‘normalcy’. We want to assess whether the blurring of the public/private distinction can offer a straightforward route to viewing pleasure through locating some of our findings from the 40 women that we interviewed about their own lives and the place of Reality TV within their broader life experiences. What we see on Reality TV is a visualisation of different performatives and demands. The d...
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