Language and discourse in Nigerian education: historic implication of gender issues
Autor/in:
Offiong, Ekwutosi Essien
Quelle: Society Register, 3 (2019) 4, S 37-56
Inhalt: This paper examines the influence and power of language in education in Nigeria from the precolonial to colonial and post-colonial times. This is with regards to the effect of language on gender issues within the country. Nigeria, a country on the west coast of Africa is multi-ethnic with over 150 (one hundred and fifty) ethnic groups with their different indigenous languages and cultures. As a colony of the British, the Christian missionaries who first introduced western form of education in Nigeria used the British English language as a medium of communication and subsequently with the establishment of colonial administration in the country, English language was made the official language of the country. This paper contains a critical analysis of the use of English Language in the country and its implications on communication in social and economic interactions of individuals within the various communities across the country. It argues that the proliferation of the English language was through education of which the male gender benefitted more than their female counterparts due to the patriarchal dominance in the country. The data for the study was collated from random interviews and other written sources. The research discovered that the knowledge and ability to speak fluently and write the English language had a direct influence on the socio-political and economic status of individuals within the country. The women who benefitted from this were comparatively fewer than the men due to some prevailing conditions of what could be called in the present the subjugation of women the society. Critical discourse analysis is adopted for this study. It argues that English language dependency by Nigerians shows that forms of the colonial experience is still evident and these were all initiated during the past interactions with west through the transatlantic slave trade and colonial rule. This is because discourse as a social construct is created and perpetuated by the persons who have the language power and means of communication. The Nigerian family being of a conservative orientation derives its power directly from the father who is the patriarch of the family as obtained in the traditional set up of communities and the Nigerian society in general. This has grave effect on the opposite gender.
Schlagwörter:gender; Nigeria; Nigeria; communication; englische Sprache; Kommunikation; Diskurs; discourse; English language; Keywords; english language; power; education; gender; communication; discourse
SSOAR Kategorie:Kommunikationssoziologie, Sprachsoziologie, Soziolinguistik, Makroebene des Bildungswesens, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
What matters? - Natur, Technologie und Geschlecht im Diskurs der Präimplantationsdiagnostik
Titelübersetzung:What matters? - Nature, technology and gender in the discourse on preimplantation genetic diagnosis
Autor/in:
Rödel, Malaika
Quelle: GENDER - Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, 10 (2018) 1, S 47-62
Inhalt: Seit der Einführung der In-vitro-Fertilisation in den 1970er-Jahren sind im Feld der modernen Reproduktionsmedizin eine Reihe weiterer Verfahren entstanden, die die Vorstellungen von Zeugung und Elternschaft verändern. Leihmutterschaft, Präimplantationsdiagnostik, Eizell- und Samenspende lösen die Verbindung von Sexualität und Reproduktion und bieten ein Beispiel für die These der zunehmenden Auflösung von Körper- und Geschlechtergrenzen. Der vorliegende Beitrag leuchtet am Beispiel der Präimplantationsdiagnostik (PID) aus, wie Geschlecht und die Grenze von Natur und Technologie im Zuge dieser Entwicklung neu verhandelt werden. Anhand der Ergebnisse einer Analyse des Diskurses um die PID in Deutschland wird aufgezeigt, wie sich die PID von einer selektiven und mehrheitlich abgelehnten Diagnostik zu einer helfenden Hand für Paare mit Kinderwunsch wandelt und wie diese diskursiven Verschiebungen mit Rückgriff auf die Science and Technology Studies als eine "strategische Naturalisierung" (Thompson) und "Reinigungsarbeit" (Latour) im Diskurs verstanden werden können.
Inhalt: New reproductive technologies have changed our understanding of pregnancy and reproduction. In vitro fertilization, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and surrogate motherhood have created new forms of family and parenthood. As a result, reproduction is no longer solely regarded as a natural process, and the dualism of nature and technology is becoming fragile. But what kind of nature do we have instead, and what does it mean for gender boundaries? The article outlines the results of a discourse analysis of the debate around PGD in Germany. It shows how PGD is changing from a selective technology into an almost therapeutic procedure and how this change is intertwined with women’s and couples’ desire to have a healthy child. It also raises the issue of how the debate can be described from a hybrid perspective of nature and society. It is argued that the discursive shifts can be understood as a result of a “strategic naturalization” (Thompson) and "the work of purification" (Latour).
Schlagwörter:Präimplantationsdiagnostik; pre-implantation diagnostics; Reproduktionsmedizin; reproductive medicine; neue Technologie; new technology; gesetzliche Regelung; statuary regulation; gender; Diskurs; discourse; Federal Republic of Germany; Science and Technology Studies; Rekonfiguration von Geschlechtergrenzen
SSOAR Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, Wissenschaftssoziologie, Wissenschaftsforschung, Technikforschung, Techniksoziologie
Quelle: Femina Politica - Zeitschrift für feministische Politikwissenschaft, 27 (2018) 1, S 47-61
Inhalt: Aktuell wird europaweit das gleichstellungspolitisch Erreichte - sei es die (relative) Öffnung der Ehe für gleichgeschlechtliche Paare, der Anspruch von Frauen auf autonome Lebensentscheidungen, die Möglichkeit der Integration von Geschlecht und Sexualität in wissenschaftliche Paradigmen oder die Inklusion von Frauen in patriarchale Sprachmuster - in Frage gestellt. Der Beitrag zeigt am Beispiel Österreichs, dass sich der Hass auf Gleichberechtigung, der Wunsch nach Reetablierung traditioneller hierarchischer und naturalisierter Geschlechterverhältnisse sowie der Wille zur Diffamierung und Diskriminierung jeder Form von Sexualität jenseits heterosexueller Vorstellungen in breitere rechtspopulistische und rechtsextreme Strategien der Naturalisierung sozialer Ungleichheit einfügen. Damit verfügen sie über das Potenzial, diese zu plausibilisieren und zu popularisieren. Der Text macht deutlich, dass im Kampf gegen Geschlechtergleichstellung und gegen die Anerkennung sexueller Differenz ein Kampf um kulturelle Hegemonie sichtbar wird, der sich gegen die sozialen Errungenschaften, gegen Liberalisierungsprojekte und gegen demokratische Kompromisse der 1970er-Jahre wendet und der insbesondere die Idee der 'Gleichheit' als Basis von Demokratie ablehnt.
Inhalt: Equal opportunity policies have achieved a number of milestones in Europe, including the legalization of same-sex marriage, women's right to determine their own lives, the possibility to include gender and sexuality in academic paradigms or the visibility of women in patriarchal language. However, currently these accomplishments are under attack. Taking Austria as an example the article shows that the rejection of equal opportunities, the wish for the re-establishment of traditional, hierarchical and naturalized gender relations and the will to repudiate and discriminate against any form of sexuality other than heterosexuality are part of broader right-wing populist and right-wing extremist strategies, which aim to naturalize social inequality. We show that gender and sexuality related discourses have the potential to render these overarching strategies more plausible and popular. The fight against gender equality and against the acceptance of sexual diversity is analyzed as part of a fight for cultural hegemony. It is a fight that tries to dismantle social achievements, the liberalization of social relations and the democratic compromises of the 1970s, but which most of all objects to the idea of 'equality' as the basis of democracy.
Schlagwörter:Gender; gender; Geschlechterverhältnis; gender relations; Geschlechterpolitik; gender policy; Gleichstellungspolitik; equal opportunity policy; Gleichberechtigung; equality of rights; Populismus; populism; politische Rechte; political right; Rassismus; racism; Konservatismus; conservatism; Diskurs; discourse; Österreich; Austria
SSOAR Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung, politische Willensbildung, politische Soziologie, politische Kultur
Titelübersetzung:Rocks and gems: symbolic concretions in the contemporary German anti-genderism discourse
Autor/in:
Nieberle, Sigrid
Quelle: GENDER - Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft, 8 (2016) 3, S 98-113
Inhalt: "Je größer die Erfolge der Gleichstellungspolitik, der Genderforschung und im Diversity Management, desto vehementer die rhetorische Abwertung durch ihre Gegner: Damit lässt sich zwar die derzeitige publizistische Tendenz des Anti-Genderismus benennen, aber im hermeneutischen Sinn zu verstehen sind diese Reden und ihre Ziele deshalb noch nicht. Besonders die Autorinnen und Autoren tagesaktueller Kolumnen und Glossen haben während der letzten Jahre rhetorisch aufgerüstet. Auch in antifeministischen Foren und Blogs wird gegen Gender Studies und Gleichstellungspolitik gehetzt. Die Debatte hat sich dabei in eine Generationenfrage unterschiedlicher medialer Dispositive gewandelt, die analogen Konservatismus in Buchform gegen den Aktivismus der digital natives auszuspielen scheint. Der Beitrag versucht eine Bestandsaufnahme aus literaturwissenschaftlicher Perspektive und analysiert den Diskurs unter semiotischen und kollektivsymbolischen Gesichtspunkten." (Autorenreferat)
Inhalt: "The greater the successes of gender equality policies, gender research and in diversity management, the more vehemently they are devalued rhetorically by their opponents. Hence, the current journalistic tendency towards anti-genderism can be labelled, but this discourse and its targets cannot be understood in the hermeneutic sense. In particular, the authors of daily columns and commentaries have armed themselves rhetorically in recent years. Incitement against gender studies and gender policies has become a popular phenomenon in German-speaking online and print media. The debate has turned into a generational question of different medial dispositives that seem to pit analogue conservatism in book form against the activism of digital natives. This article attempts to take stock from the literary perspective and analyzes the discourse from the point of view of semiotic and collective symbolism." (author's abstract)
Geschlechterfragen an der Schnittstelle: Verortungen feministischer Polonistik im postsozialistischen Gesellschaftsdiskurs
Titelübersetzung:Gender issues at the interface: alignments of feminist Polish studies in post-socialist discourse
Autor/in:
Seiler, Nina
Quelle: Femina Politica - Zeitschrift für feministische Politikwissenschaft, 24 (2015) 2, S 54-67
Inhalt: Mit der politischen Transformation von 1989 verändert sich in Polen auch die wissenschaftliche Landschaft. Die verstärkte Integration westlicher Theorien und ein soziopolitischer Backlash in Geschlechterfragen bewirken ein steigendes Interesse an feministischen Ansätzen. Die polnische Literaturwissenschaft nimmt dabei eine führende Rolle in der Anwendung feministischer Theorien im lokalen Kontext ein. Im vorliegenden Artikel wird nach der Einbettung dieser Forschung in die polnischen postsozialistischen Diskursfelder gefragt. Dabei geht es insbesondere um die Auslotung des engen diskursiven Raums, der sich in der polnischen Gesellschaft zwischen konservativ-patriotischen Narrativen, dem Anspruch auf Fortschritt und der Verhandlung der Vergangenheit eröffnet. Hier sind in den polonistischen Beispielen Strategien sowohl der Assimilation wie auch der Subversion erkennbar.
Inhalt: With the political transformations of 1989 in Poland the academic landscape is also changing. The increased integration of Western theories and a sociopolitical backlash in gender issues are responsible for the growing interest in feminist approaches. Polish studies take a leading role in the application of feminist theories in local contexts. The paper asks about the embedding of this feminist research in Polish post-socialist discourse fields. A main focus is the discursive setting of the narrow space between conservative-patriotic narratives, progressivism and negotiations about the past. The study of polonist examples reveals both strategies of assimilation and subversion.
Quelle: International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, (2015) 47, S 195-208
Inhalt: The aim of this study is to seek two types of interpersonal model of Hyland (2005) used in conclusion sections of 30 Master Theses of English Teaching, English Literature, and English Translation written by male and female graduate students. These conclusion sections were categorized into two groups of male and female writers: 15 conclusion sections belonged to male writers and other 15 conclusion sections belonged to female writers. The interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers were counted and analyzed to find if male or female writers utilize these metadiscourse markers differently or similarly in conclusion sections of English disciplines (Translation, Teaching, and Literature). These metadiscourse markers were analyzed descriptively and referentially. The descriptive analysis show that both male and female writers in Translation, Teaching and Literature applied more interactional markers than interactive ones. In Translation and Teaching, female writers used more interactional resources comparing to male writers. But, in Literature, male writers employed more interactional markers than female writers. The referential statistics indicate that in English Translation and English Literature, there are significant differences between male and female writers concerning use of Interactive and Interactional metadiscourse Markers, while in English Teaching, there are not any significant differences between male and female writers regarding use of these metadiscourse Markers.
Meanings and motives before measures: the "what" and "why" of diversity within the mossos d'esquadra and the politie Utrecht
Autor/in:
Ewijk, Anne R. van
Quelle: Social Inclusion, 2 (2014) 3, S 60-74
Inhalt: This article proposes the definition of and motivation for diversity (policy) as an important research topic that should be studied before focusing on diversity policy measures. As such, it strives to demonstrate the academic potential of an analytical framework that outlines fundamental choices made in these respects. What types of diversity do organizations focus on? And what do they want to achieve with (increased) diversity? In this article the discourses underlying the diversity policies in two regional European police forces -the Mossos d'Esquadra and the Politie Utrecht- are analyzed. The main observation is that the results are surprisingly similar in spite of contextual factors that may lead observers to expect otherwise: they both focus on gender and migrant background, identifying these types of diversity as collective in nature, while striving for equal opportunities for individuals despite these collective differences. This article also explores possibilities for further theory building by formulating possible explanations for the similarities and differences which have been identified, suggesting a possible hierarchy in diversity within European organizations, and describing how the motivation for diversity might influence the effectiveness of diversity policies.