scholarly journals Rites of Passage or Exploitation? Teaching Social Anthropology, Class Relations and Institutional Change in Two British Universities

1970 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Gibb
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Rites Of Passage ◽  
Class Relations ◽  
Social Anthropology ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Managerial Practices ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Social Fields

In this paper I discuss my experience of teaching and researching in two different British universities in the late 1990s in order to develop a number of arguments about the place of teaching in the making and un-making of professional / academic anthropologists. Not all of the issues I raise, however, can be formulated as questions of ‘boundaries’ or ‘identities’ (in the way the title and rubric of this panel suggest [2] ), although for some of them this is indeed appropriate. Thus, while it is true that the nature of disciplinary borders and identities emerge as key concerns, my material also draws attention to contemporary employment and managerial practices in higher education, as well as to the reproduction of various forms of social division (notably along class lines). As the rubric of this panel recognises, it is in fact the re-organisation of sets of hierarchical social relations characterised by domination and exploitation which often lies behind current changes in higher education (as in other social fields). In my view, the boundary concept is not the most useful tool with which to analyse such processes, and in particular the power relations and structural inequalities involved. For this reason, I will refer instead to social divisions and status hierarchies in the section of the paper that deals with these wider issues.

Reimagining Intersectionality and Social Exclusion in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khosi Kubeka ◽  
Sharmla Rama
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Common Reference ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
African Context

Combining the theories of intersectionality and social exclusion holds the potential for structural and nuanced interpretations of the workings of power, taking systemic issues seriously but interpreting them though social relations that appear in local contexts. An intersectional analysis of social exclusion demonstrates to what extent multiple axes of social division—be they race, age, gender, class, disability or citizenship—intersect to result in unequal and disparate experiences for groups of youth spatially located in particular communities and neighborhoods. A common reference point is therefore power and how it manifests at the intersection of the local and global. A South African case study is used to explore the subjective measures and qualitative experiences of intersectionality and social exclusion further. The unique ways that language intersects with space, neighborhood, and race in the South African context, enables opportunities in education and the labor market, with profound implications for forms of social exclusion.

Composing Robot Production Systems: Japan as a Flexible Manufacturing System

1993 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 923-944 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Patchell
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Flexible Manufacturing ◽  
Manufacturing System ◽  
Flexible Manufacturing System ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Specific Skill

In this paper, case-study evidence of the composition of four robot production systems is provided to reveal the linkages between local, regional, and national social divisions of labour. The relation-specific skill epitomizes the sophisticated procedures used to compose production systems, and the four case studies provide evidence of the communalities and varieties of these procedures. The geography of the interrelationships of the vertical divisions of labour of design-supplied suppliers and of the horizontal division of labour of design-approved suppliers is discussed. The cooperation and competition within this social division of labour allows Japan to function as a flexible manufacturing system.

scholarly journals Refugee Students’ Access to Three European Universities: An Ethnographic Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrin Sontag
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Specific Situation ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Refugee Students ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
European Universities ◽  
Migratory History ◽  
History Of

The article presents an ethnographic fieldwork carried out at three universities in Switzerland, Germany, and France, and analyses how access to higher education for refugees was addressed in the three cases, how and which institutional change and activities were initiated, and by which actors. The article argues that the topic cannot be addressed in isolation but has to consider four intersecting areas: the personal biography and migratory history of the students, the asylum system, the educational system, and the funding situation. For the refugee students, the challenge is that these areas need to be taken into account simultaneously, but what is more challenging is that they are not well in tune with one another. Solutions need to take this complex—and place-specific—situation into account.

Invisible Injustice

2019 ◽  
pp. 261-277
Author(s):  
Raquel M. Rall ◽  
Demetri L. Morgan ◽  
Felecia Commodore
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Institutional Change ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Public Higher Education ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
The Public ◽  
Academic Governance ◽  
Comprehensive Literature Review ◽  
Demographic Shifts

Given the juxtaposition of student demographic shifts in public higher education with the near stagnancy of postsecondary leadership demographics, this chapter illuminates and critiques scholarship at the intersection of equity and academic governance, specifically focused on boards of higher education. Implications, grounded in a comprehensive literature review, frame a new conceptually focused research agenda concerned with (1) challenging homogeneity and hegemony that slow institutional change efforts, (2) pushing for a board representative of and accountable to the public, and (3) extending the research, knowledge, and conversation centered on higher education boards in general and diversity of boards in particular. The chapter per the authors first highlights the prominence of higher education governing boards then shifts to a critique of how governance has traditionally been researched. Afterward, the authors discuss why a concentrated look at issues of diversity and equity within the governance context is of paramount importance.

What Good Can Political Science Do? From Pluralism to Partnerships

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-26
Author(s):  
Rogers M. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Politics Of Identity ◽  
Useful Knowledge ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
The World

At a time when authoritarian regimes are on the rise around the world, higher education in general and political science in particular are facing declining support and sharper political pressures in many places. Political scientists have long promised that their discipline can add to knowledge about politics and educate citizens. However, doubts have grown about whether our increasingly pluralistic discipline collectively generates useful knowledge and communicates it effectively in teaching and in broader public communications. Political scientists need to do more to place their particular studies within big pictures of how politics and the world work, and to synthesize their results. They must focus more on the politics of identity formation that has generated resurgent nationalisms and deep social divisions. They must strengthen their understanding and their community contributions through civically engaged research. They must also place greater emphasis on improving teaching. In these ways, modern scholars can show there is much good that political science can do.

Metropolitan Networks: A Socio-spatial Analysis of Social Ties in Tehran

2020 ◽  
pp. 073112142096483
Author(s):  
Jaleh Jalili
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Analysis ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Social Ties ◽  
Relative Orientation ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Geographical Distance ◽  
Class Relations ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Group Relations

Previous research shows that residents of metropolitan areas tend to have social ties outside their neighborhoods, but ties’ locations and what they indicate in terms of social relations and urban structure are not sufficiently studied. Using survey data and interviews collected in Tehran, Iran, I examine the level of propinquity of strong social ties. Measuring the geographical distance and relative orientation between participants and their ties, I discuss the implications of having ties outside residential neighborhoods. I examine how these relations are formed and sustained and analyze how they impact class relations and perceptions of social structure. Results indicate that ties who reside in other neighborhoods offer points of reference for situating oneself in relation to others, both in socioeconomic and cultural sense. Participants’ narratives suggest that ties’ locations, together with ties’ origins and types, impact interpretations of group relations and social hierarchies associated with location in the metropolitan area.

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