Populism,privilege, and democracy in Henry James’s The Bostonians: encounters with community

ABSTRACT

Unusually for Henry James, The Bostonians (1886) addresses notions of “the people,” popular movements, and socio-political reform. Foregrounding the position of women, the narrative searchingly, if ambiguously, appraises conditions in the United States of the 1870s, following the Civil War. As Olive Chancellor (a Boston feminist) and Basil Ransom (a conservative Southerner) vie for possession of the malleable orator Verena Tarrant, the text explores the failure of “union” in both its personal and political senses. The populist-feminist rally concluding the narrative highlights the prevailing challenges to democratic possibilities. Community in its traditionally cohesive guise has metamorphosed into the “inoperative community” theorized by Jean-Luc Nancy. Mutually dependent, monadic “singularities” converge in tense encounter. “Community,” according to Roberto Esposito, inevitably separates such vulnerable “singularities” from themselves and others through the play of social relationality. The novel’s democratic orientation is nonetheless sustained by its capacious form and the hospitable engagement of its readers.     

“Cultures of populism: institutions and hegemonic practices” – a brief introduction

ABSTRACT

This short Introduction sets the context for the nine articles included in Safundi’s special issue on “Cultures of Populism: Institutions and Hegemonic Practices” (Vol. 21, no. 3) by establishing connections with the colloquium of the same name that was hosted at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg from 10th until 13th July 2019. At the conference, populism (whether of the political right or the left) was examined in relation to democracy, the role of elites, and possible futures for the Humanities. Drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives, papers considered the diverse histories of populism, as well as varied occurrences of this phenomenon across the globe.     

Child physical abuse and self-perceived social isolation among adolescents

This research examines the connection between physical abuse and social isolation. Using data from the National Youth Survey, a measure of self-perceived social isolation was constructed indicating the extent to which respondents feel detached from their friends and from school. Those who had experienced violence were predicted to be more isolated than those who had not. Results strongly supported the hypothesis, controlling for theoretically relevant variables. Explanation is provided in terms of damage to attachment skills, social competence, and self-esteem concomitant to being a victim of abuse. Males were more socially isolated than females, and Hispanics more than Whites. Children with involved parents were less socially isolated; those whose parents experienced normlessness were more isolated. Children who recently experienced a stressful event or were from riskier neighborhoods were more isolated. The number of children in the family was positively related to isolation. Social isolation decreases between seventh and eighth grades.     

The impact of anti-stalking training on front line service providers: using the anti-stalking training evaluation protocol (ASTEP)

The Anti-Stalking Training Evaluation Protocol (ASTEP) was developed to provide Safe Horizon, a large victim service provider, with an opportunity to evaluate and improve its anti-stalking training program. This report presents the results of this effort to measure Safe Horizon staff's knowledge and general perceptions about stalking, and to assess the impact of anti-stalking training on knowledge about the anti-stalking law, and stalking in general. Although these trainees appeared familiar with stalking issues, they were able to benefit from information about different types of stalkers and stalking, and about the legal options available to victims. The implication of the findings is that, if relatively well-informed staff members of a large victim services agency can benefit from training about stalking behavior, anti-stalking legislation and the needs of stalking victims, there is almost certainly a need for such training among a wider population of victim service providers, law enforcement professionals, and the general public.     

High prevalence of 6-acetylmorphine in morphine-positive oral fluid specimens

Identification of 6-acetylmorphine, a specific metabolite of heroin, is considered to be definitive evidence of heroin use. Although 6-acetylmorphine has been identified in oral fluid following controlled heroin administration, no prevalence data is available for oral fluid specimens collected in the workplace. We evaluated the prevalence of positive test results for 6-acetylmorphine in 77,218 oral fluid specimens collected over a 10-month period (January-October 2001) from private workplace testing programs. Specimens were analyzed by Intercept immunoassay (cutoff concentration=30 ng/ml) and confirmed by GC-MS-MS (cutoff concentrations=30 ng/ml for morphine and codeine, and 3 ng/ml for 6-acetylmorphine). Only morphine-positive oral fluid specimens were tested by GC-MS-MS for 6-acetylmorphine. A total of 48 confirmed positive morphine results were identified. An additional 107 specimens were confirmed for codeine only. Of the 48 morphine-positive specimens, 32 (66.7%) specimens were positive for 6-acetylmorphine. Mean concentrations (+/-S.E.M.) of morphine, 6-acetylmorphine and codeine in the 32 specimens were 755+/-201, 416+/-168 and 196+/-36 ng/ml, respectively. Concentrations of 6-acetylmorphine in oral fluid ranged from 3 to 4095 ng/ml. The mean ratio (+/-S.E.M.) of 6-acetylmorphine/morphine was 0.33+/-0.06. It is suggested that, based on controlled dose studies of heroin administration, ratios >1 of 6-acetylmorphine/morphine in oral fluid are consistent with heroin use within the last hour before specimen collection. The confirmation of 6-acetylmorphine in 66.7% of morphine-positive oral fluid specimens indicates that oral fluid testing for opioids may offer advantages over urine in workplace drug testing programs and in testing drugged drivers for recent heroin use.     

A study to investigate the evidential value of blue gel pen inks

The aim of this project was to investigate the evidential value of blue gel pen inks in Europe. For this purpose, 33 blue gel pen inks, of different brands and models, representative of those available on the European market at the time of the study, were analyzed using three techniques: filtered light examination (FLE), Raman Spectroscopy (RS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). First, after visual examination (naked eye and stereo microscope), it was possible to classify the 33 inks into three groups described as: milky, metallic, and normal. This paper describes in detail the results obtained for the normal gel pen group. The ability of the techniques to discriminate gel inks between and within brands varied. The results indicated that RS and SEM were more discriminating than FLE. The greatest degree of differentiation was achieved when using a combination of RS and SEM techniques (discriminating power = 0.91). This study also highlights some problems concerning the identification of the brand of a gel pen from a written text.     

Love and Responsibility: a Political Ethic for Hannah Arendt

This paper argues that those critics of Hannah Arendt's thought who have protested at her disavowal of 'moral standards' as being appropriate in the judgment of political action have, in fact, misjudged the structure of her thought. My argument is, however, a constructive one: the paper seeks to demonstrate how Arendt arrives at her sweeping rejection of conventional standards of moral judgment, and what solution she proposes. I do this in three stages. First, I address Arendt's understanding of self as opposed to world : especially how the moral absolutes which may be claimed by the former may threaten the very structure of the latter. Second, I draw upon her model of action to discover the idea of a worldly ethics, one of principle . And third, I consider the fate of our goals when we act into the world, paying particular attention to the idea of responsibility and the on-going responsiveness to the world that belongs to action under a principle.