Knowing your place and commanding space: de/constructions of gendered embodiment in mixed-sex karate

ABSTRACT

Feminists have long acknowledged that gendered divisions in access to spaces of leisure, and how women and men physically take up that space, reproduce gender inequality. This article will explore how karate practitioners participate in the space of mixed-sex karate practice and how such uses of space de/construct gendered embodiments and a gender hierarchy. Data presented are drawn from nine months of ethnographic emersion within three karate clubs and 15 photo-elicitation interviews with karate participants from the three clubs. The findings of this paper suggest that whilst women often occupied spaces of expertise within the karate hall, gendered distinctions in uses of space emerged in the more subtle ways in which women and men used their voice, responded to the tacit and smelt dilemmas of sweat, and moved their bodies across physical space. This research highlights both the potential of physical leisure practice to ‘undo’ conventional gendered embodiments that particularly restrict women’s intentionality in the world, and the power of spatially attuned research to illuminate the minute ways in which unequal gender relations are naturalised, legitimised and done.     

Development of an inclined plate jet reactor system

A new design combines reaction or extraction and separation in one unit. Here are practical working details.     

Framing Work Through a Socio-technical Ensemble: The Case of Butler Co.

The paper argues for conceptualizing technology as a socio-technical ensemble which emerges from the socio-political context of the organization. This perspective is used to inform a case study carried out within a consumer goods company, where the focus is upon the configuration of work and technology associated with the job of sales representative. It is argued that the acquiescence and compliance of the sales representatives are to be understood primarily on the basis of senior management's effective deployment of its power resource through 'enacting the environment', the configuration and utilization of the ensemble, and its employment strategy. 'Closure' and 'stabilization' had occurred, and the ensemble was operating on a number of levels.     

Rio reconstruction and flood prevention in Brazil

Until the Rio Flood Reconstruction and Prevention Project, disaster-related projects funded by the World Bank focused primarily on reconstruction, especially immediate, short-term recovery. The Rio de Janeiro project was notable as a targeted effort to reduce disaster vulnerability by promoting long-term multisectoral development strategies. It taught that reconstruction projects must address specific disaster vulnerabilities as well as cross-sectoral needs in Improving urban environmental management. The project represents a significant step towards developing a strategy for long-term prevention and mitigation of natural disasters and environmental degradation. It is also a good example of an effort to develop support for long-term environmental policies by strengthening indigenous managerial and planning capabilities—something that was not possible in short-term recovery projects.     

Constructing and using a company Intranet: 'it's a very cultural thing'

Organisational Intranets provide a testing ground where certain theories of technology and organisations meet with emerging innovative practice. This paper develops a theoretical framework that is used to analyse a case study of the adoption, introduction and use of a company Intranet focusing on the competing representations of the Intranet presented by the staff involved.     

Supporting virtual organizations through constraint fusion

The formation and operation of dynamic and open virtual organizations is a central concern in business‐to‐business e‐commerce. Virtual organizations enable partner companies to develop and manufacture customized products with low costs and rapid delivery. Agent‐based architectures are an effective platform for such virtual organizations because they provide mechanisms to allow organizations to advertise their capabilities, exchange rich information, and synchronize workflows at a high level of abstraction. In this paper, we examine the KRAFT architecture and its features for supporting virtual organizations. In particular, we focus upon KRAFT's agent‐based architecture, and its use of constraints as a knowledge‐exchange medium. We show how constraint fusion supports the design of customized products. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Asking ‘Why’ in AI: Explainability of intelligent systems – perspectives and challenges

Recent rapid progress in machine learning (ML), particularly so‐called ‘deep learning’, has led to a resurgence in interest in explainability of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, reviving an area of research dating back to the 1970s. The aim of this article is to view current issues concerning ML‐based AI systems from the perspective of classical AI, showing that the fundamental problems are far from new, and arguing that elements of that earlier work offer routes to making progress towards explainable AI today.     

Framing Work Through a Socio-technical Ensemble: The Case of Butler Co.

The paper argues for conceptualizing technology as a socio-technical ensemble which emerges from the socio-political context of the organization. This perspective is used to inform a case study carried out within a consumer goods company, where the focus is upon the configuration of work and technology associated with the job of sales representative. It is argued that the acquiescence and compliance of the sales representatives are to be understood primarily on the basis of senior management's effective deployment of its power resource through 'enacting the environment', the configuration and utilization of the ensemble, and its employment strategy. 'Closure' and 'stabilization' had occurred, and the ensemble was operating on a number of levels.     

Ma(r)king memories: exploring embodied processes of remembering and forgetting temporal experiences

Based on in-depth interviews with nine tattoo consumers, participant observation at a tattoo studio, a tattoo consumption diary, and photography, we investigate embodied processes of remembering and forgetting temporal experiences. We unpick participants’ experiences of combatting the fragility of memory, negotiating which temporal experiences to remember or forget, and constructing temporal order through their tattooed bodies. These insights are enriched theoretically with reference to Ricoeur’s ideas concerning time, narrative, and memory. By focusing upon the embodied dimensions of memory work, we contribute fresh insights into the underexplored relations between bodies, time, and consumer culture. Furthermore, we indicate the continuing significance of temporal continuity, durability, and the past in accelerating Western cultures. Finally, we elucidate the importance of also attending to “absences” in consumer research. We conclude by considering the wider implications of our findings for better understanding an accelerating, liquid, and unstable consumer culture, beyond the context of tattooing.     

Off‐Market Buybacks in Australia: Evidence of Abnormal Trading around Key Dates

Off‐market share buybacks in Australia are often structured with the buyback price comprising a large dividend component (which may carry imputation tax credits) and a small capital component. This unique structure has the consequence that institutions on low tax rates stand to benefit most from selling shares into the buyback. In this article, we explore evidence of abnormal trading activities around key dates in the conduct of off‐market buybacks and investigate the drivers of these activities. We find evidence of abnormal trading activities around the initial announcement and the final announcement dates of the buyback. The significant differences in abnormal volumes between the buybacks with and without imputation tax credits highlight the importance of tax motivations in explaining abnormal trading activities in the shares of companies conducting off‐market buybacks, and are consistent with observed buying pressure around the announcement of the buyback.