Modesty, liberty, equality: Negotiations of gendered principles of piety among Muslim women who cover

This article draws on a qualitative research study with Muslim women who cover to investigate how they represent the Islamic virtue of modesty. The article details findings that Muslim women elaborate modesty as an autonomous labour of ethical self-regulation and a relational virtue that is concerned with devotion to family and the de-sexualisation of day-to-day social interactions. It argues from analysis of representational content and dynamics that these accounts of modesty involve processes of affirming as well as resisting the liberal norms of equality, sexuality and agency that define Muslim veiling in the eyes of others

Introduction: Examined Live – An Epistemological Exchange Between Philosophy and Cultural Psychology on Reflection

Besides the general agreement about the human capability of reflection, there is a large area of disagreement and debate about the nature and value of “reflective scrutiny” and the role of “second-order states” in everyday life. This problem has been discussed in a vast and heterogeneous literature about topics such as epistemic injustice, epistemic norms, agency, understanding, meta-cognition etc. However, there is not yet any extensive and interdisciplinary work, specifically focused on the topic of the epistemic value of reflection. This volume is one of the first attempts aimed at providing an innovative contribution, an exchange between philosophy, epistemology and psychology about the place and value of reflection in everyday life. Our goal in the next sections is not to offer an exhaustive overview of recent work on epistemic reflection, nor to mimic all of the contributions made by the chapters in this volume. We will try to highlight some topics that have motivated a new resumption of this field and, with that, drawing on chapters from this volume where relevant. Two elements defined the scope and content of this volume, on the one hand, the crucial contribution of Ernest Sosa, whose works provide original and thought-provoking contributions to contemporary epistemology in setting a new direction for old dilemmas about the nature and value of knowledge, giving a central place to reflection. On the other hand, the recent developments of cultural psychology, in the version of the “Aalborg approach”, reconsider the object and scope of psychological sciences, stressing that “[h]uman conduct is purposeful”

Social representations and the politics of participation

Recent work has called for the integration of different perspectives into the field of political psychology (Haste, 2012). This chapter suggests that one possible direction that such efforts can take is studying the role that social representations theory (SRT) can play in understanding political participation and social change. Social representations are systems of common-sense knowledge and social practice; they provide the lens through which to view and create social and political realities, mediate people's relations with these sociopolitical worlds and defend cultural and political identities. Social representations are therefore key for conceptualising participation as the activity that locates individuals and social groups in their sociopolitical world. Political participation is generally seen as conditional to membership of sociopolitical groups and therefore is often linked to citizenship. To be a citizen of a society or a member of any social group one has to participate as such. Often political participation is defined as the ability to communicate one's views to the political elite or to the political establishment (Uhlaner, 2001), or simply explicit involvement in politics and electoral processes (Milbrath, 1965). However, following scholars on ideology (Eagleton, 1991; Thompson, 1990) and social knowledge (Jovchelovitch, 2007), we extend our understanding of political participation to all social relations and also develop a more agentic model where individuals and groups construct, develop and resist their own views, ideas and beliefs. We thus adopt a broader approach to participation in comparison to other political-psychological approaches, such as personality approaches (e.g. Mondak and Halperin, 2008) and cognitive approaches or, more recently, neuropsychological approaches (Hatemi and McDermott, 2012). We move away from a focus on the individual's political behaviour and its antecedents and outline an approach that focuses on the interaction between psychological and political phenomena (Deutsch and Kinnvall, 2002) through examining the politics of social knowledge

Genome-wide association study of the antibody response to <i>Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis</i> in sheep

Caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) is a chronic and highly contagious disease that is widespread among sheep and goats and adversely affects animal welfare and production. This study aimed to reveal the host genomic influences on Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis antibody levels as indicators of disease susceptibility or resistance, thereby potentially identifying genetic markers associated with these traits. Blood samples were collected from 321 sheep from four large Czech sheep herds. Animals of the Suffolk breed, ranging in age from 2 to 8 years, were sampled regularly once a year for 4 years. The sheep were classified into healthy and diseased groups based on two different commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) serological antigen tests. Genomic DNA was genotyped with the GeneSeek® Genomic Profiler™ Ovine 50 K, and 41 301 markers were used for the genome-wide association analysis (GWAS). A case–control GWAS including 143 seropositive and 178 seronegative sheep was conducted to assess the relationship between the sheep genome and the antibody response to a phospholipase D antigen of C. pseudotuberculosis using GCTA software. The study revealed two suggestive SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) on chromosomes 11 and 20, with the most significant SNP in the first exon of the TRIM16 (tripartite-motif-containing 16) gene. By analysing genomic alterations and their context between positive and negative animals, including a gene ontology (GO) analysis of genes within ± 500 kb regions of the suggestive SNPs, we identified genes and immune-related processes and pathways potentially influencing CLA susceptibility. These include antigen processing and presentation of exogenous peptides via major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and II, Th17 mucosal cell differentiation, cellular autophagy, and phagosome-related mechanisms. This research provides insights into the genetic basis of the antibody response to C. pseudotuberculosis, identifying suggestive associations and underlying biological mechanisms that could guide future breeding and genetic strategies for improving resistance to CLA in sheep.</p

Species Diversity and Phylogeographical Affinities of the Branchiopoda (Crustacea) of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

The region of Churchill, Manitoba, contains a wide variety of habitats representative of both the boreal forest and arctic tundra and has been used as a model site for biodiversity studies for nearly seven decades within Canada. Much previous work has been done in Churchill to study the Daphnia pulex species complex in particular, but no study has completed a wide-scale survey on the crustacean species that inhabit Churchill's aquatic ecosystems using molecular markers. We have employed DNA barcoding to study the diversity of the Branchiopoda (Crustacea) in a wide variety of freshwater habitats and to determine the likely origins of the Churchill fauna following the last glaciation. The standard animal barcode marker (COI) was sequenced for 327 specimens, and a 3% divergence threshold was used to delineate potential species. We found 42 provisional and valid branchiopod species from this survey alone, including several cryptic lineages, in comparison with the 25 previously recorded from previous ecological works. Using published sequence data, we explored the phylogeographic affinities of Churchill's branchiopods, finding that the Churchill fauna apparently originated from all directions from multiple glacial refugia (including southern, Beringian, and high arctic regions). Overall, these microcrustaceans are very diverse in Churchill and contain multiple species complexes. The present study introduces among the first sequences for some understudied genera, for which further work is required to delineate species boundaries and develop a more complete understanding of branchiopod diversity over a larger spatial scale

Discourse and representation: a comment on Batel and Castro ‘re-opening the dialogue between the theory of social representations and discursive psychology’

Batel and Castro propose to integrate conceptually and empirically social representations theory (SRT) and discursive psychology (DP). This comment emphasises the importance of debates between different traditions of social psychology, focusing on the status of psychological entities and methodological pluralism as two areas in which fruitful tensions between DP and SRT are still evident. It critiques DP’s disavowal of psychological entities and reaffirms the insights of socio-cultural traditions that see intra-psychological entities as internalised sociality. It argues that rather than considering individual methods, the focus should be on the fit between research questions, context and methodology. A simultaneous focus on theory, research questions and analytical tools is best for dealing with the limitations as well as potentials of the methodological toolkit available for the study of meaning in context

Insight dimensions and cognitive function in psychosis: a longitudinal study

BACKGROUND: It has been reported that lack of insight is significantly associated with cognitive disturbance in schizophrenia. This study examines the longitudinal relationships between insight dimensions and cognitive performance in psychosis. METHODS: Participants were 75 consecutively admitted inpatients with schizophrenia, affective disorder with psychotic symptoms or schizoaffective disorder. Assessments were conducted at two time points during the study: at the time of hospital discharge after an acute psychotic episode and at a follow-up time that occurred more than 6 months after discharge. A multidimensional approach of insight was chosen and three instruments for its assessment were used: the Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorder (SUMD), three items concerning insight on the Assessment and Documentation in Psychopathology (AMDP) system and the Insight and Treatment Attitudes Questionnaire. The neuropsychological battery included a wide range of tests that assessed global cognitive function, attention, memory, and executive functions. RESULTS: After conducting adequate statistical correction to avoid Type I bias, insight dimensions and cognitive performance were not found to be significantly associated at cross-sectional and longitudinal assessments. In addition, baseline cognitive performance did not explain changes in insight dimensions at follow-up. Similar results were found in the subset of patients with schizophrenia (n = 37). The possibility of a Type II error might have increased due to sample attrition at follow-up. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that lack of insight dimensions and cognitive functioning may be unrelated phenomena in psychosis

Communism and the Meaning of Social Memory: Towards a Critical-Interpretive Approach

This article was published in the journal, Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science [© Springer Verlag] and the definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12124-012-9207-xUsing a case study of representations of communism in Romania, the paper offers a sketch of a critical-interpretive approach for exploring and engaging with the social memory of communism. When one considers the various contemporary appraisals, responses to and positions towards the communist period one identifies and one is obliged to deal with a series of personal and collective moral/political quandaries. In their attempt to bring about historical justice, political elites create a world that conforms more to their needs and desires than to the diversity of meanings of communism, experiences and dilemmas of lay people. This paper argues that one needs to study formal aspects of social memory as well as "lived", often conflicting, attitudinal and mnemonic stances and interpretive frameworks. One needs to strive to find the meaning of the social memory of communism in the sometimes contradictory, paradoxical attitudes and meanings that members of society communicate, endorse and debate. Many of the ethical quandaries and dilemmas of collective memory and recent history can be better understood by describing the discursive and sociocultural processes of meaning-making and meaning-interpretation carried out by members of a polity