Polyamorous relationships face considerable disadvantages in contemporary Western societies, from lack of legal recognition to pervasive prejudice and stigma. Many scholars have pointed out the role of mainstream media in reproducing this prejudice, but we still lack a general overview of the nature and evolution of newspaper coverage of polyamory. This article uses corpus linguistic techniques to identify and categorise the characteristic vocabulary of English-language coverage of polyamory in global mainstream newspapers 1994–2023. It shows that coverage tends to concentrate on issues of sexuality; on experiences of jealousy; and on negative ethical judgements. Terminology reflecting the views and principles of the polyamorous community is rare in comparison. The dataset and code are provided to facilitate verification, replication and extension of this research.
Qualitative research literature discusses how power shapes the interview process and the resulting data and explores the epistemic basis for interview research theoretically. However, processes of negotiating epistemic authority in the interview situation, and in data analysis, are investigated less frequently. This paper draws on 34 interviews with social science academics interested in gender, feminist and queer studies in four English universities to reflect on the epistemological challenges of researching social researchers about their work. Through this, it contributes to explorations of how, in qualitative interviewing and data analysis, we can combine a critical reading of interview data with a commitment to respondents’ accounts of their realities. I argue that Black, anti-colonial, queer, feminist epistemological approaches can be well suited to navigate this challenge. I advocate for an epistemic reflexivity that acknowledges the fluidity of speaker positions while taking structural power relations,…
Self-concordance theory and the goal-striving reasons framework both measure the quality of people’s reasons for their goal pursuits. Both have provided substantial evidence for their predictive power for people’s well-being. However, it remains unclear which of the two goal-reason models is the better predictor for different forms of well-being. The paper analyses the distinct relationships of the two models in relation to hedonic well-being (Subjective Well-Being, Life Satisfaction, Affect Balance) and indicators of eudaimonic well-being (Basic Need Satisfaction, Purpose and Self-Acceptance). The findings are based on a cross-sectional, correlative research design based (N = 124). Using multiple regression analyses the results show that the goal-striving reasons framework is overall more strongly associated with hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. However, the differences for hedonic well-being as well as for self-acceptance and purpose are much larger than they are for the three basic needs of autonomy, com…
Purpose: Internationalisation in higher education (HE) has always been romanticised and idealised but there has been limited focus on the internationalisation of gender equality and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) certification and the role of international partnerships. Certification and Award Schemes (CAS), such as the Athena Swan Charter, can promote gender equality, best practices exchanges and foster institutional changes. Nevertheless, simply transferring strategies or frameworks without careful consideration of the nuances of the destination context can inadvertently lead to the perpetuation or exacerbation of gender inequalities and reproduce hierarchical relations between the Global South and North. Brazil's cultural and political context highlights the need for adapting the CAS framework to align with the unique conditions of the country, as well as institutional transformations in order to accommodate such a framework. This study aims to critically explore how gender equality and EDI certif…
Trans scholarship and trans perspectives have historically been marginalised from mainstream academia. There is value in ongoing theoretical exchange between sociology and the evolving post-discipline of applied trans studies. This article introduces three prominent theories within applied trans studies, namely cisnormativity, pathologisation and gender minority stress, considering the strengths and limitations of these theories. The author then highlights the need for a greater theoretical focus on cis power, drawing from scholarship on white supremacy to articulate and introduce a theory of cis-supremacy. Within the UK cis-supremacy manifests in experiences of control and coercion; problematisation; toleration of trans harm; and cis institutional dominance. A theory of cis-supremacy calls attention to the forces and systems that actively oppress trans people, perpetuating systemic and sustained injustices. Recognition of cis-supremacy is important for understanding intersectional inequality, and a vital com…
Background. Since 2016 trans people in the UK, and particularly trans children, have experienced a sustained and escalating campaign to roll back trans freedoms, rights and access to healthcare. A series of legislative, politicized and media-driven campaigns have resulted in the year-by-year worsening of access to affirmative healthcare for trans children in the UK. Aim. This study examines publications from the NHS-commissioned ‘Cass Review’ into children’s gender services, seeking to better understand what is happening in trans children’s healthcare in the UK. Methods. Inductive and deductive reflexive thematic analysis was applied to a collection of Cass Review publications related to trans children’s healthcare published between January 2020 and May 2023. Results. Four concerns are presented and explored: (1) prejudice; (2) cisnormative bias; (3) pathologization; and (4) inconsistent standards of evidence. Each of these concerns impacts the Cass Review’s approach to trans children’s healthcare, with negat…
Captagon is an illegal amphetamine that is widely used in the Middle East. Since the civil war started in 2011, Syria has become an international hub for Captagon production. A main Captagon trafficking route runs from Syria to the Arabian peninsula via Jordan. This has caused increasing domestic con-sumption of Captagon in Jordan. This article asks how Captagon trafficking and use in Jordan intersects with war in Syria and its wider impact. It illustrates how drug trafficking can be the product of violence and can also become a conduit for further violence. The article firstly analyses the drugs-conflict nexus in Syria and emphasizes Captagon trafficking as a new case study to this literature. It unpacks the role of the state in the crime-conflict nexus. The second half of the article draws on critical border studies literature to illustrate how the illegal Captagon trade has increased violence by contributing to an increasingly militarized border, with significant consequences for the communities who live a…
An oft-cited benefit of candidate-based elections is that voters can hold individual candidates accountable for their issue stances. However, voters may not always be aware of candidates’ policy positions, a concern which becomes especially salient in regional elections. Using mass online survey data and a fixed effects approach, we investigate the extent to which voters were influenced by the policy positions of individual candidates when voting in the 2021 elections to the Welsh Senedd. We find that candidates’ policy positions did matter, but that this effect was small, limited to issues voters deemed to be particularly important, and only emerges among voters with high political interest. That said, our findings also suggest that the influence of candidates’ policy positions on voting behaviour was not substantially smaller when compared to national elections in the UK and elsewhere. We discuss options for improving voter responsiveness to candidates’ issue stances.
Visual research methods have been gaining attention among leisure studies scholars in recent years. As a form of freehand drawing, this paper mobilizes rich picture building (RPB) for future serious leisure studies, and particularly those concerned with devotee work. Employed during focus groups to encourage discussion using pictorial representations of complex social issues, this paper demonstrates the value of RPB for generating new insights into social situations. Through an example of serious leisure via devotee work, this paper presents RPB as a means to support participant discussions since humans are thought to express themselves more easily through pictures than words. Considering serious leisure is inherently social and rooted in human activity, RPB is an innovative approach that can enhance focus group research and triangulate qualitative data across verbal, textual and pictorial data. Through RPB, this paper demonstrates how simplistic pictorial representations of ideas or topics can enhance verbal…