Showing papers on "Normalization (sociology) published in 2006"
TL;DR: The authors argue that commercial weight-loss organizations appropriate and debase the askeses, practices of care of the self that Michel Foucault theorized, increasing members' capacities at the same time as they encourage participation in ever-tightening webs of power.
Abstract: This article argues that commercial weight-loss organizations appropriate and debase the askeses—practices of care of the self—that Michel Foucault theorized, increasing members’ capacities at the same time as they encourage participation in ever-tightening webs of power. Weight Watchers, for example, claims to promote self-knowledge, cultivate new capacities and pleasures, foster self-care in face of gendered exploitation, and encourage wisdom and flexibility. The hupomnemata of these organizations thus use asketic language to conceal their implication in normalization.
152 citations
TL;DR: The findings show that the normalization of drug use among young people has occurred in Hong Kong, but the extent of normalization is smaller than those in Western societies like the United Kingdom.
Abstract: The upsurge of consumption of party drugs among adolescents in recent years in Hong Kong has been part of the global trend of adolescent recreational use of drugs at rave parties, discos and similar party settings. Scholars in Western societies have recently proposed the thesis of "normalization of adolescent drug use" to describe such a trend. The normalization thesis points at three major aspects of the normalization phenomenon, namely, a rapid increase of the prevalence of drug use in young people, the widespread popularity of recreational drug use that is closely linked with the recent arrival of dance club culture, and a receptive attitude towards drug use as a normal part of leisure. This article aims to examine whether the normalization thesis can be applied to analyze the situation of adolescent drug use in Hong Kong. Data are drawn from official statistics and a recent survey conducted in 2002-2004 of drug use of Hong Kong marginal youths (N = 504). The case of Hong Kong only partially supports the thesis. Our findings show that the normalization of drug use among young people has occurred in Hong Kong, but the extent of normalization is smaller than those in Western societies like the United Kingdom. They also suggest that a recognition of possible cultural differences may be complementary to the normalization thesis. Limitations of the study are also noted.
72 citations
Book•
28 Nov 2006
TL;DR: A sketch of Sino-Korean relations can be found in this article, where the authors discuss the origins of the South Korea-China Rapprochement and the political economy of rapprochements, 1988-19926.
Abstract: List of TablesPreface1. The Rise of Korea-China Relations and the United States2. A Sketch of Sino-Korean Relations3. Perspectives on the Origins of the South Korea-China Rapprochement4. South Korea-China Relations Before 19885. The Political Economy of Rapprochement, 1988-19926. The Politics of Normalization: Actors, Processes, and Issues7. Beyond Normalization: South Korea and China in the Post-Cold War Era8. The Rise of China and the U.S.-South Korean Alliance Under Strain9. Between Dragon and Eagle: Korea at the CrossroadsNotesIndex
65 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the UN methods in Haiti and Croatia and recommend prudence in applying standardized instruments in diverse local situations, in order to maintain order by normalizing the international arena.
Abstract: In confronting a proliferation of unpredictable post-cold war threats, UN peacekeeping attempts to maintain order by normalizing the international arena. Normality is identified with democracy; non-democratic regimes are considered as potential menaces. Pro-democracy peacekeeping is an instance of an international regime that aims at taming chaos through disciplinary and regulatory mechanisms directed at reforming the institutions of potentially disorderly states and at steering their behaviour through multiple mechanisms of surveillance and reward/punishment. However, international normalization encounters resistance. The article analyses the UN methods in Haiti and Croatia and recommends prudence in applying standardized instruments in diverse local situations.
46 citations
TL;DR: Portico is a new, not-for-profit electronic archiving service established to address the scholarly community's critical need for a reliable means to preserve scholarly e-journals through source file normalization and format migration.
21 citations
TL;DR: It has been proved that there are some prejudice attitudes in health care centers which diminish the possibility of health care assistances to patients and generate a poor and distrusted relationship between the health care professional and the patient.
Abstract: The homophobia is present in all social discourses, but we do not realize it due to the normalization of certain rejection behaviors against homosexual persons. This paper analyzes specifically the homophobic discourse of health care personnel. The professional ethics dictates this personnel treats with respect and dignity to all patients. Nevertheless it has been proved that there are some prejudice attitudes in health care centers which diminish the possibility of health care assistances to patients and generate a poor and distrusted relationship between the health care professional and the patient.
17 citations
16 citations
Book•
01 Sep 2006
TL;DR: A review of the history of Chinese-American conflict and cooperation in the 1970s can be found in this article, where the authors present the first multinational, multi-archival review.
Abstract: Relations between China and the United States have been of central importance to both countries over the past half-century, as well as to all states affected by that relationship - Taiwan and the Soviet Union foremost among them. Only recently, however, has the opening of archives made it possible to research this history dispassionately. This volume offers the first multinational, multi-archival review of the history of Chinese-American conflict and cooperation in the 1970s.
15 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the phenomenon of normalization with a focus on the Skinheads' evolving self-presentation, and describe a recent behavioral case example of the tactical change.
Abstract: Skinheads, a subgroup of the larger Neo-Nazi Movement, traditionally presented themselves in a blatant, intimidating fashion replete with tattoos, Nazi symbology, and startling group imagery. Recently, however, the Skins have adopted a new tactic for recruitment: normalization. Members now strive to appear and behave more in accordance with mainstream societal standards in order to achieve perceived similarity with potential members. Using General Strain Theory to attribute the historical-sociological emergence of the Skinhead Movement to affirmative action, this article explores the phenomenon of normalization with a focus on the Skins’ evolving self-presentation, and describes a recent behavioral case example of the tactical change. Normalization is functionally explained in terms of frame alignment and frame resonance, while its effectiveness is demonstrated through Durkheim's construct of mechanical solidarity.
15 citations
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: In the early 1990s, Germany was using military means to achieve its foreign and security policy goals much more intensively than in the early 90s as mentioned in this paper. And the number of deployed troops in the Bundeswehr often rose to more than 10,000 during the tenure of Chancellor Gerhard Schroder.
Abstract: Today, Germany is using military means to achieve its foreign and security policy goals much more intensively than in the early 1990s. Whereas the government of Helmut Kohl stationed, at the most, 2800 soldiers abroad, this number occasionally rose to more than 10,000 during the tenure of Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. Under the Social Democratic–Green coalition, for the first time in German postwar history, the Bundeswehr participated in combat missions. In 1999, the German Air Force bombed Serb positions in the war over Kosovo, and in 2002–2003, the Special Forces Command (Kommando Spezialkrafte, KSK) took part in ground operations in Afghanistan.
11 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the official construction of women political prisoners as the intractable and problematic subjects of political decarceration in Northern Ireland is discussed, and the author traces the emergence of ideal-typical sites of negotiation and contestation between women prisoners and the authorities.
Abstract: This article accounts for the official construction of women political prisoners as the intractable and problematic subjects of political decarceration in Northern Ireland. The discussion firstly locates the processes of penal ‘normalization’ in Northern Ireland in a hegemonic struggle which preceded the managerialist era usually associated with political decarceration. Secondly, it traces the emergence of ideal-typical sites of negotiation and contestation between women political prisoners and the authorities. Thirdly, it utilizes feminist critiques of contemporary penal governmentalities to identify the formation of politico-gendered penal controls, concluding with summary of the era's punitive excesses with respect to women prisoners.
Book Chapter•
01 Jan 2006
01 Jan 2006
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: The national image is a cultural construction which makes a collective identity through reading of signs into an existed narrative as mentioned in this paper, which has been associated to the Black Legend, Romanticism and the normalization after the end of Franco's era, providing very original and contradictory stereotypes.
Abstract: The national image is a cultural construction which makes a collective identity through reading of signs into an existed narrative. In the Spanish case, it has been associated to the Black Legend, Romanticism and the normalization after the end of Franco’s era, providing very original and contradictory stereotypes.
TL;DR: Using poststructuralist theory as a backdrop, the authors demonstrates how the neo-liberal discourse of freedom becomes a method of normalization and domination, and how this tendency is apparent in the theory and practice of Neo-liberalism, in the work of FA Hayek and in the public policy of welfare reform of the self-proclaimed new paternalists.
Abstract: Using poststructuralist theory as a backdrop, this article demonstrates how the neo-liberal discourse of freedom becomes a method of normalization and domination It shows how this tendency is apparent in the theory and practice of neo-liberalism, in the work of FA Hayek and in the public policy of welfare reform of the self-proclaimed “new paternalists,” respectively This article links the normalizing tendency of neo-liberalism with the “futureness” of the neo-liberal demand that free agents be “effective” The article presents the foil of a poststructuralist account of freedom that is present-orientated and so non-normalizing
01 Jun 2006
TL;DR: In this article, a four-year-old boy was taken in psychotherapy in the frame of Buttes-Chaumont consultation and discussed the inherent paradox of the social expectation in front of the children's analyst: a normalization.
Abstract: Through the observation of a four-year-old boy taken in psychotherapy in the frame of Buttes-Chaumont consultation, the author discusses the inherent paradox of the social expectation in front of the children's analyst: a normalization.
Abstract: The negotiations on the import of American movies into Spain during Franco´s dictatorship were left in constant limbo by theirs actors On the one hand, Spanish authorities tried to control the foreign exchange generated by the imports, as well as to protect and encourage national motion pictures On the other hand, the influential «Motion Picture Export Association of America Inc» (MPEAA) sought to impose better conditions for its exports This paper describes the talks during its first stage (1950-1955) coinciding with the intensification of the bilateral relations leading to the September 1953 Agreements On so doing, it is sought to point out the main factors that motivated the incapacity of the actors to reach an agreement which would have brought stability and normalization into this economic and cultural transaction
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: This paper argued that the industrialization process was reflected in accelerating accident rates and the new institutions such as liability laws and accident insurance policies which grew out of these, and that there is an exact ratio between the level of the technology with which nature is controlled, and the degree of severity of its accidents.
Abstract: ‘Trauma’ is of obvious interest to psychologists and human rights advocates, who are concerned, at the individual and aggregate levels respectively, with relieving and preventing suffering. Lately, it has become of great interest to historians as well. In their introduction to an important collection of essays, for instance, two leading historians of trauma have argued that ‘the issue of trauma provides a useful entry into many complex historical questions and uniquely illuminates points of conjuncture in social, cultural, military, and medical history’.4 Perhaps surprisingly given the emotional powers of the topic, key claims of this new historiography include at first glance quite dry comments, such as that ‘[t]here is an exact ratio between the level of the technology with which nature is controlled, and the degree of severity of its accidents’ and that ‘the industrialization process was [thus] reflected in accelerating accident rates and the new institutions such as liability laws and accident insurance policies which grew out of these’.5 But the impression of dryness does not survive the first glance, for the historiography of trauma does indeed go to the very heart of the theory of modernity, establishing clear connections among industry, transportation, law, science, and social structure. As Wolfgang Schaffner has argued, the
insurance-technical approach to trauma and accidents is part of a nonrepressive exercise of power, namely through stimulation and regulation. The normalization of nineteenth-century society that derives from extending police decrees and insurance regulations implies increased control of living conditions, a form of control that is an integral part of the social system.
19 Sep 2006
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In 2006, the outlook in 2006 for the North Korea problem was described in this paper, where the parties to the Beijing "six-sided" conference reached a historic agreement on principles and objectives: North Korea would scrap all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs, return to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and allow international inspections.
Abstract: What is the outlook in 2006 for the “North Korea” problem? In September 2005 the parties to the Beijing “Six-Sided” conference reached a historic agreement on principles and objectives: North Korea would scrap “all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs,” return to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and allow international inspections. In return, it would be granted diplomatic recognition, normalization, and economic benefits, including, at “an appropriate time,” a light-water reactor.
Journal Article•
01 Jan 2006
14 Apr 2006
TL;DR: Amouroux et al. as discussed by the authors discuss the connections between political dissent, urban spaces, normalization, conflict and national identity in Denmark and demonstrate how the Danish state is attempting to minimize political dissent by privatizing this 35-year old squatter community and examine significant changes occurring in Danish society and Scandinavian welfare state.
Abstract: Author(s): Amouroux, Christa S. | Abstract: This paper discusses the connections between political dissent, urban spaces, normalization, conflict and national identity. Two questions are central to this paper: 1) How are social and political marginality being constructed, negotiated and resisted in Denmark? 2) What insights are generated when groups defined as 'marginal' by the state challenge state authority and compete for control of urban spaces?Christiania is a key cultural icon in Danish society and widely known as one of the oldest, most successful and politically active squatter communities in Europe. In the center of Copenhagen, moments walk from the Danish Parliament, one-thousand citizen-activists have created an alternative, self-governed community on the remains of a former military base.In 2002 a new government was elected in Denmark, and Christiania's future as a legitimized "social experiment" under the previous Social Democratic government was in doubt. The new government, elected on a neoliberal agenda that promised significant reform of the welfare state, began plans to close the squatter community. The stated goals are to end the flourishing illegal hash trade, privatize and develop the area. Equally important, normalization will curtail this trenchant and oppositional political voice by transforming this prime location, just minutes walk from downtown Copenhagen, from a space of alterity and opposition into a marketable place comprised of privately owned homes and businesses.I use the example of the engagements and contentions surrounding Christiania's normalization (privatization) to demonstrate how the Danish state is attempting to minimize political dissent by privatizing this 35-year old squatter community and to examine significant changes occurring in Danish society and Scandinavian welfare state.
01 Jan 2006
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors highlight the relationship between pedagogic and medical discourses from a public health perspective that emphasizes the education of good habits for the production of an individual considered to be normally healthy.
Abstract: This discussion highlights the relationship between pedagogic and medical discourses from a public health perspective that emphasizes the education of good habits for the production of an individual considered to be normally healthy. The paper presents some articulations between Education and Health and indicates that the place of school health, in the curricula and life of the school, appears to follow the place of discipline and normalization. Thus, the paper sought to discuss the complexity of the concept of health, and to contribute to the discussion of questions related to the processes of inclusion in schools.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reviewed the efficiency of real estate market using literature review and induction methods and found that the efficiency is important to market researches. But no quantitative researches have been carried out on the efficiency in real estate markets.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to review the efficiency of real estate marketMethods of literature review and induction were employedResults indicate the efficiency is important to market researchesAfter Fama divided the market efficiency into three types,more and more case studies have been carried out to test them in which most of studies have focused on the efficiency of financial marketThe studies abroad mainly are from the viewpoint of investment including researches on data and on certain marketIn China,the relevant studies have a short history and mainly target the capital market focusing on the normalization,institutional arrangement and trendsNo quantitative researches have been carried out on the efficiency of real estate market
14 Apr 2006
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the connections between political dissent, urban spaces, normalization, conflict and national identity in Denmark and demonstrate how the Danish state is attempting to minimize political dissent by privatizing this 35-year old squatter community and examine significant changes occurring in Danish society and Scandinavian welfare state.
Abstract: This paper discusses the connections between political dissent, urban spaces, normalization, conflict and national identity. Two questions are central to this paper: 1) How are social and political marginality being constructed, negotiated and resisted in Denmark? 2) What insights are generated when groups defined as 'marginal' by the state challenge state authority and compete for control of urban spaces? Christiania is a key cultural icon in Danish society and widely known as one of the oldest, most successful and politically active squatter communities in Europe. In the center of Copenhagen, moments walk from the Danish Parliament, one-thousand citizen-activists have created an alternative, self-governed community on the remains of a former military base. In 2002 a new government was elected in Denmark, and Christiania's future as a legitimized social experiment under the previous Social Democratic government was in doubt. The new government, elected on a neoliberal agenda that promised significant reform of the welfare state, began plans to close the squatter community. The stated goals are to end the flourishing illegal hash trade, privatize and develop the area. Equally important, normalization will curtail this trenchant and oppositional political voice by transforming this prime location, just minutes walk from downtown Copenhagen, from a space of alterity and opposition into a marketable place comprised of privately owned homes and businesses. I use the example of the engagements and contentions surrounding Christiania's normalization (privatization) to demonstrate how the Danish state is attempting to minimize political dissent by privatizing this 35-year old squatter community and to examine significant changes occurring in Danish society and Scandinavian welfare state.