Thursday, January 6, 2011

Comment: A Public Health Perspective On HPV Vaccination

A Public Health Perspective On HPV Vaccination: Response To The HPV Vaccination Campaign: A Project Of Moral Regulation In An Era Of Biopolitics
Liane Macdonald, Shelley Deeks, Carolyn Doyle
CJS 35, 4 (2010): 627-632

Abstract
Connell and Hunt’s critique (2010) raises important questions and concerns about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in Canada. We offer a public health perspective on several key issues, including the merits of implementing population-based HPV vaccination programs in Canada; the time-sensitivity of HPV vaccination; and, the non-judgmental approach to sexual health promotion for youth championed by Canadian public health organizations.
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Article: Gendered Practices in the Online Pro-Eating-Disorder Community

Hunger Hurts But Starving Works: A Case Study of Gendered Practices in the Online Pro-Eating-Disorder Community
Krista Whitehead
CJS 35, 4 (2010): 595-626

Abstract
This paper investigates collective identity-work of Pro-eating disorder (Pro-ED) groups on the Internet. Using an adaptation of face-to-face ethnographic methods to investigate online communication (Mann and Stewart 2000), the author analyzes five collective organizing practices in Pro-ED groups that reveal a highly gendered character: 1) promoting surreptitiousness, 2) organizing in and around the realm of domesticity, 3) equating beauty with self-worth, 4) relying on friendship as a chief organizing principle, and 5) using fandom as a method of attracting and maintaining members. In spite of exceptional resistance to their activities, women in the Pro-ED community are able to achieve a collective Pro-ED identity wherein they maintain eating-disordered lifestyles. The case study presented here interrupts popular sociological understandings of collective identity mobilization as having categorically positive consequences for its members.
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Article: Income and area effects on voluntary association membership

Income and Area Effects on Voluntary Association Membership In Canada
Laura Jane Duncan
CJS 35, 4 (2010): 573-594

Abstract
Applying multi-level modelling techniques to 2003 Canadian General Social Survey and 2001 Census Profile data , this study investigates the influence of individual income, contextual poverty and income inequality on voluntary association membership in Canada. Both individual and contextual effects on membership are uncovered, in addition to a significant cross-level interaction between individual income and area level income inequality. As individual income increases so do the odds of voluntary association membership, an effect that is fairly consistent between areas. Increases in area level poverty are associated with decreases in the odds of membership. While no main effect is found for area level income inequality, cross-level interactions indicate that the relationship between individual income and membership is moderated by area income inequality. The study findings support claims about the negative social effects of individual and contextual economic disadvantage and confirms the importance of examining contextual influences on social outcomes.
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Article: Women's Environmental Work as Cultural Change

Relational Activism: Re-Imagining Women's Environmental Work as Cultural Change
Sara O'Shaughnessy, Emily Huddart Kennedy
CJS 35, 4 (2010): 551-572

Abstract
We introduce the term “relational activism” to call attention to the way that relationship-building work contributes to conventional activism (re-activism) and constitutes activism in and of itself. In so doing, we unravel Mohai’s paradox – a long-standing “ironic contrast” that notes that women’s environmental concern is not reflected in greater contributions to activism than men’s. We position relational activism as a bridging concept between re-activism and social capital. Relational activism differs from re-activism in four key areas: the role of the individual, effectiveness, motivating values, and temporal scale. To support these claims, we draw upon 26 ethnographic interviews conducted with families in Edmonton, Alberta, who strive to reduce their environmental impact.
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