Social protest, political reform. Is Iran going to change?

Protesters have taken the streets of Iran ever since the last presidential elections of 12th June 2009. The turmoil started when the three opposition candidates accused the government of amending the election results, doubting that the not-so-popular incumbent candidate Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could win two thirds of the votes – 63% of the total – while the Independent Reformist Mir-Hossein Mousavi, stronger candidate with the opposition, just got 33%. The pre-election environment in Iran was already tense and the increasing pressure of international society to uncover the many irregularities of the electoral process has just intensified the magnitude of the protest. A month on from the electoral day, Iran is still in political turmoil, with more than 2000 dissidents arrested – according to human rights groups – and with a political representative body still unable to quell or evade the accusations of political fraud.

The approach that the Western academia has towards the Iranian turmoil is interesting. Some are starting to talk about a pacific revolution – the ‘Iranian Velvet revolution’ – and its implicit future political changes. Western theorists tend to attribute the strength of the revolt to the disposition of Iranians for democracy and political change and – to certain extent – overemphasize the role that massive citizen participation will have in the outcome of the social protest. In the opinion article ‘Iran’s manufactured revolution’ written by Lionel Beehner, columnist of the Guardian, the author questions the real outcome of massive revolts and explains that Western analysts tend to overestimate the political pressure of a popular uprising.

Recent European political history has evolved and shaped up to our current welfare state partly because of protest movements and workers strikes. Popular movements have had a similar influence when Eastern European countries claimed their independence from the USSR; it even led – to certain extent – most of the European colonies to their independence during the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The effectiveness of social protest has been prominent in our culture and, partly because of this outcome, many political analysts tends to look at foreign political situations from the same perspective. However, as Beehner points out, this is not necessarily the case of Iran. The country seems to have a stable political system and as the time gap from the electoral day increases, lower are the chances of the protesters to get a real change out of this turmoil. The incident has not been as serious as to justify further intervention from the international community, nor does the position of the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei seem to be in danger. Then, why are political analysts talking about revolution in the case of Iran?

Following this argument, I am interested to know the relevance of popular protest and political turmoil in the reshaping of a country’s political system. My topic of study is open and allows a wide research on the topic, from case studies to comparative international panorama and from current issues like Iran’s electoral turmoil to a wider historical analysis on the topic. I decide to narrow my search to pure theoretical approach on the relation between social movements and political change. I go to IBSS database and I introduce the keywords ‘Revolution’, ‘political systems’ and ‘political movements’ and I get 54 results. I scanned quickly the list that the database offers me and I pick an interesting article written by J. A Geschwender [1968] ‘Explorations in the theory of social movements and revolutions’ which will be helpful for an initial introductory background. Looking at the same list of results, I note down Kathia Légaré’s [2007] ‘The influence of the international system on the evolution of semi-authoritarian regimes: four approaches to the colour revolutions (2003-2005)’; John Ginkel and Alastair Smith [1999] titled ‘So you say you want a revolution: a game theoretic explanation of revolution in repressive regimes’; Asef Bayat’s [1998] ‘Revolution without movement, movement without revolution: comparing Islamic activism in Iran and Egypt’ and Mark P. Thompson’s [2000] ‘Whatever happened to democratic revolutions?’.

I try to use different keywords this time. I understand that for my research I need a broad selection of books that will allow me to have a good theoretical insight on the topic. Again I introduce the keywords ‘revolution’, ‘democratization’, ‘political movements’ and ‘social movements’ into the search box. This time the database gives me a narrower list of 22 results, from which I pick Adam K. Webb’s article [2006] ‘The calm before the storm? Revolutionary pressures and global governance’. The article focus on how globalization has made the great social revolutions more unlikely. It is an interesting article on how the international community and globalization itself can interfere in the social and political movements that leads a country’s revolution.

I consider that this first selection of articles will give an introductory approach to my topic of discussion and will, once read, open the debate for new focus on the discussion.

The outdated views on family structure and lesbian families

Congratulations to Brigette Sainsbury for being a winner in our recent IBSS blog competition! Brigette wrote an excellent blog entry on lesbian parent families.  In her blog she comments on society’s difficulties in accepting lesbian families who conceive through artificial insemination. Furthermore Brigette remarks on the impact this can have on the everyday life of young children. This blog makes for a thoroughly interesting read. Many thanks to Brigette Sainsbury.

Having watched the L Word (a programme about lesbian life in the USA), and seeing the prejudice towards lesbian couple Bette and Tina who conceived a child through a known sperm donor, my eyes were opened to how people perceive lesbian families. This led me to want to found out more about “what is best for the child” and the acceptance of this diverse type of beanpole family.

It is not very often you hear about lesbian families in today’s society. Being such a conservative country and government, the whole gay and lesbian taboo is often played down. The only time you really hear of homosexuality is when celebrities decide they are gay, Lindsay Lohan for example, in which case it is thrown in to the public eye. Other than that, all you hear are damning reports from closed-minded people stuck in the ways of the, ironically called, “New Right”.

For years, members of the New Right have promoted how family is the ‘cornerstone of society’, and yet they are only willing to accept nuclear families as valid ones. Another prominent message they put across is that homosexuality is bad and will be one of the reasons for society’s downfall. But surely if the family is really the ‘cornerstone of society’, should it really matter what it’s structure is as long as it is a healthy and happy one? Should it really matter whether parents are heterosexual or homosexual as long as the child is loved, well cared for and is growing up in a healthy environment? Is that not what is more important?

After searching the IBSS I came across an article called Families in transition: parents, children and grandparents in lesbian families give meaning to ‘doing family’. This article presents research into lesbian-parented families. It produces evidence which shows that ‘the outcomes of children in lesbian-parented families world wide demonstrate convincingly that children’s psychosocial adjustment and intellectual development is influenced more by family processes such as conflict between parents than it is by family structure’ (Bewaeys et al., 1997; Parks, 1998; Fitzgerald, 1999; Patterson and Chan, 1999; Clarke, 2000 Anderssen et al., 2002 and Golombok et al., 2003). This proves that it is better for a child’s development for it to be in a happy lesbian-parented family than it is in an unhappy, conflicting nuclear one. However, some people would argue that although this maybe true, the child would still lack having a male role model. But what most people don’t realize is that although both parents are female, most children still have regular contact with important men in their life, such as godfathers, grandfathers and uncles etc. These people also play an important part in the child’s socialization.

One part of the article is headed Being a child in a lesbian-parented family. It puts across a really poignant message to people that feel these children don’t have a normal life. Dempsey (2004) interviewed a 5-year-old girl who has lesbian parents. She knew she had been conceived through an unknown sperm donor. On her first day at school her new headmaster asked her about her father, she told him that she didn’t have one, just a donor. At this he argued with her and insisted that she must have a father, he was so closed to the ways of family diversity that he tried to suppress her knowledge with his own ideals of what a family “should” be. Ray and Gregory (2001) interviewed a group of children aged between 5 and 8 years old. They reported that many of the children they interviewed held firm on the simple fact that they have two mothers, despite curious and persistent questioning from their peers. The children were asked how they would define a family. They answered that a family was having two loving parents, they did not say having a mother and a father.

It seems to me that the only thing making lesbian families to be wrong are people with out dated ideals on how the family should be rather than caring whether it is really good for the child.

If you are interested in reading more on this topic a quick search on IBSS for articles relating to ‘lesbian*’ and ‘family’ pulls up 325 results. A search for ‘same-sex*’ yields 1,450 results while a narrowed search for ‘same-sex relationships’ comes up with 260 results. IBSS has an extensive number of indexed articles that focus on same-sex relationships and issues facing the gay community in today’s society across the globe.

How does social class affect socialisation within the family?

Congratulations to Tess Pearce, one of our blog competition winners! Tess used IBSS to explore the effect of class on the socialisation of children, and how this influences them as they move into adulthood.

The family is one of the most vital factors for primary socialisation and secondary socialisation for children. Class socialisation refers to the everyday experiences associated with a person’s class location and beliefs and attitudes. So does the family’s social class affect the child’s socialisation? Sociologists argue this matter some agreeing and suggesting that your social class does affect the norms and values you possess.

Children of the upper class and middle class have mannerisms and values that are distinct from those of other social classes. Upper class children are socialised into high culture, for example, being taken to the opera or playing a musical instrument. This contrasts to the popular culture of the working class who might watch celebrity television programs or have a McDonald’s meal. Even their speech has diversity as the middle class speak with an ‘elaborated code,’ in contrast to the ‘restricted code,’ the working class use according to Bernstein.

A social class research by Diana Kendall showed how the family continues to pass on cultural and economic capital. Kendall also showed that member of social classes have different lifestyle from and educational outcomes. From the IBSS website I found that the working class is associated with single parenthood, then it is likely that children within that class will also become a single parent. Recent surveys have also shown that Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rates. These teenage pregnancies are often linked to the working class. In addition to this, the rising divorce rates in contemporary society are often related to poverty – to low income and reliance on state benefits.

A study by Joann Miller and Ted. M Brimeyer looks at class socialisation and how it effects student’s aspirations. The research showed how studying the past, present and anticipated or aspired future class locations is necessary for understanding the attitude and beliefs associated with class. Obviously, depending on whether you are born into a privileged class location or a working class network provides different material resources. These will directly and indirectly shape their ideas on beliefs and values. In 1996 a survey showed how a number of first-year students, coming from families with a modest income, didn’t feel the need to get a job to pay for college. Smith and Powell (1990) saw how students from advantaged families may inaccurately assume that they will be better off financially after college than what they are likely to experience. In comparison, only 22.3 percent of working class students said that feel secure about future employment. However, they tended to anticipate occupations that rank higher in status than their parents’ occupations.

With today’s economic crisis, it is likely that the working class family structure will move to extended. This supplies extra role models for children whilst also providing more emotional support. These additional members within the family are unlikely to appear in an upper class family unit.

There is often a very close relationship between social class and life chances. The higher the class position of a child’s parents, the more likely the child is to attain high educational qualifications and a well paid, high status job. Research from Reay shows how middle class mothers are able to influence their children’s primary schooling more than the working class mothers. This research shows how demands of the working class mothers affect their time to devote to the children. Therefore the children will miss out on important socialisation with their mothers.

In contemporary society it is clear to see that social class does affect the socialisation of children. The working class families often lack role models and quality time with their parents, creating a vicious circle of teenage pregnancies, which is a big issue today. The upper and middle class also create norms, values and expectations that pass down through generations. Even though class divisions are getting more blurred, socialisation between these families is still very much present.

Tess has found some really useful material in the IBSS database. It is also possible to generate more specific search results. For example, searching the database with the keywords ‘class’ and ‘ socialisation’ gives 231 results. You can specify which subject area you want your results to come from, so if you select ‘sociology’ you get 173 results, and if you select ‘anthropology’ you get 45 results. There are also 58 articles written from a ‘politics’ perspective. Another useful feature of IBSS is that you can narrow your searches by geographical area. For example, there are 17 articles about class and socialization in the United Kingdom, and 8 about the same topic in Germany.

Mobilising computer models for policy

Diego de la Hoz, a winner of the IBSS blog competition, explores the use of computer models in public policy making in his entry below. Starting with the painful memories of the foot-and-mouth crisis, he leads us to innovative solutions for environmental policy. Computer modelling may not be at the heart of politics yet, but Diego shows us that if the academic world is anything to go by, it will not be long until the bytes will start flying.

You may know that some of best farmers’ markets in the UK emerged out of the despair and tragedy of the Foot and Mouth outbreak in 2001. This is the case, for instance, of the popular farmers’ market in Edinburgh, the city where I live. You may also remember that the decisions made by the UK officials in the face of the crisis became the subject of fierce criticism. At the core of the controversy was the mass slaughter of farm animals to control the spread of the epidemic disease. Significantly enough, these culling strategies relied on the outputs of computer modelling designed by epidemiologists rather than on the advice from vets and virologists who understood the specific nature of the disease. With the benefit of hindsight, ten million animals slaughtered was a grotesque overreaction. The media and the farmers coined a very illustrative expression ‘carnage from a computer’.

The handling of the Foot and Mouth is a good example of how computer models may matter for policy. They have an increasing role in the formulation of policies. At the same time, they also represent a common way of doing scientific work in the era of high processing power, enabling research in those areas where field experimentation cannot be considered. Computer models are all over the place! Therefore, I believe that they constitute an excellent tag for my first experience with IBSS. Moreover, it is interesting to test how IBSS responds to an entry that, while being a headliner within natural sciences and engineering, enjoys a mild popularity at best within the social and political sciences.

So here we go, I enter ‘computer model’ into the search engine and IBSS bounces back 66 results. Well, probably not an outstanding amount of hits but, definitely, enough informative material to get you started without feeling overwhelmed. For instance, I come across Vág (2005) ‘The short history and the plausible future of world modelling’. World modelling refers to any set of equations that attempts to capture some particular global dynamics. They became popular at the beginning of the 70s with the spread of IBM computers, particularly the model behind the Limits to Growth report. Published in 1972, it addressed the consequences that a world of finite resource supplies projected over its fast growing population. Policy informative models have continued to pervade public policy making, following the increase in computing power. However, to what extent are they used by policy makers? Interestingly, not to a great deal according to Måns et al. (2008) in their article ‘The use and non-use of policy appraisal tools in public policy making: an analysis of three European countries and the European Union’, also one of the results offered by IBSS.

At this point, while keeping the focus on public policy, I decide to refine my search by combining ‘computer model’ and ‘environmental policy’. This time IBSS returns only 4 hits, less than I would expect. Yet I am able to spot an interesting case study by Tuinstra et al. (1999) entitled ‘Using computer models in international negotiations: the case of acidification in Europe’. It provides insights of the key role of mediation played by a computer modelling in the context of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) in 1994. Meanwhile, another hit points to a promising volume called ‘Public participation in sustainability science: a handbook’ (2003).

In a final search I opt to combine the tags ‘computer model’ and ‘climate change’, one of the most pressing environmental problem of our days both for modelling and policy making. Again IBSS returns only 4 hits, which is surprising given that this is a popular area of scholarship and general interest. Nonetheless, some of the results are thought-provoking. Nielsen-Gammon (2007) in the paper ‘An inconvenient truth: the scientific argument’ tells us about the relatively poor use of model-based evidence in Al Gore’s famous documentary film. Meanwhile, in ‘Seductive simulations? Uncertainty distribution around climate models’ Lahsen (2005) discusses how climate change modellers are so charmed by their models that they are unable to see the full range of uncertainties and shortcomings in the same way that the users of those models sometimes can. The final article that I want to single out is ‘Computer models and public’s understanding of science: a case-study analysis’ by Yearley (1999), who brings in the analysis of the public responses to computer model. Contrary to the general belief that use of computer models in policy is a barrier for the lay citizens wanting to express an opinion, Yearley accounts for their valuable contributions for the case of a the computer-based air-quality monitoring in the city of Sheffield.

In sum, when it comes to computer models IBSS covers informative sources for anyone having a general interest in these tools from a social and political sciences perspective. At the same time, I believe that it is just a matter of time before IBSS will fully reflect the ubiquity and importance of computer models across a wide range of environmental policies. I will stay tuned.

Diego de la Hoz

In addition to Diego’s research, a helpful way of searching IBSS is to use truncated forms of keywords. For instance, a combination of ‘comput*’, ‘model*’ and ‘environmental policy’ brings up a substantial 83 records. Similarly, ‘policy making’, ‘computer’ and ‘model*’ with 23 hits, is a practical search counting both models and modelling amongst the results.

Is it hard for working-class women to cope in higher education?

The IBSS team would like to offer our congratulations to Katy Higgs, who was amongst the winners of our recent IBSS blog competition.  Her entry, posted below, concerned working-class women and their ability to integrate into the higher education system.  My own investigation into the subject using the IBSS database yielded 189 results from the keywords ‘working-class’, ‘women’ and ‘university’, showing that there is a wide array of information held on this specific issue…

Everyone is being affected by the current economic climate; the recession is raging with no sign of an end. Recently the credit crunch has been having a particular effect on those studying, or planning to study at university. NatWest’s 2008 Student Living Survey showed that 25,000 more undergraduates had taken up a part time job than in 2007. The Guardian recently published figures that show a 20% rise in rent prices during the last 4 years. Even students’ social lives are taking a hit as alcohol sales have fallen by 50% over the last 10 years according to NUS Supplies.

Perhaps most affected are the working class, in particular the women. They not only have to fit into universities that are predominantly middle class in intake, but also have to fight financial hardship. I have used IBSS, in particular a study by Yvette Taylor[1], to find out about the experiences that working-class females have while attending university.

Working-class women are traditionally expected to pursue caring professions and social work. But many go to university in an attempt to better themselves and get rid of their working-class identity. Though universities never name a class barrier there is a hidden expectation that you need to be from a middle class background. In university, middle-class people see working-class girls as outsiders that are ‘spoiling the fun’. In many cases they are perceived as people who ‘just want to get by’ and set up families, not having any real ambition. Even the way the working class present themselves is criticised. The way they speak and dress is not feminine or respectable. The working class are shy and reserved, while the middle class are confident with their opinions. These women feel humiliated and angry. They blame themselves for not being able to change.

As if fitting in with other people were not a big enough challenge for working-class women, they also have to cope with financial pressure that going to university entails. While the middle class assume that they will go to university, the working class have much more to think about and always fear that they have made the wrong decision. The working class feel a sense of unfairness as the middle class’s loans are supplemented by their parents whilst they must do part-time work to make ends meet. This in turn affects the quality of their studies. Many hold the view that university makes finance an issue when it shouldn’t be when it comes to education. Women felt that the middle class took advantage of funding opportunities while the working class were not provided for.

There also seems to be a gender inequality in the working class. Males felt that they could cope with the middle-class climate of higher education and remain untouched. Men also seem to face less pressure to make personal adjustments to fit in with others. There also seems to be a positive view of working-class masculinity, so the working-class men are seen as sex symbols and to be admired while the women are simply seen as ‘slutty’.

In the end, working-class women seem to get the bad end of the deal as even when they have achieved their degree, they are still expected to pursue low-paid, feminised work.

I think that although this evidence seems to suggest that your class is a big issue, it doesn’t have to be. If you do not advertise your class, then there is no reason why you can’t fit in with those of a higher class. I’m sure in many cases middle-class people at university suffer the same financial problems as the working class. And this will surely increase more and more during the recession.

Katy Higgs

 

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[1] ‘Going up without going away? Working-class women in higher education’, Yvette Taylor (2007)

IBSS blog competition – winners announced!

As part of the ESRC Festival of Social Science week (9^th-16^th March), IBSS organised a blog writing competition to demonstrate how IBSS online could be used effectively in social science research.  Entrants were required to write a post for the IBSS blog on a topical social science issue, using background information available in the IBSS database. 

 

The competition has now closed and we are pleased to announce the winning entries below.  We offer them our congratulations and would also like to thank all those who entered the competition.  You can check out the winning posts now on the IBSS blog site by clicking on the links below:

  

Katy Higgs – Is it hard for working class women to cope in higher education?

 

Diego de la Hoz – Mobilising computer models for policy

 

Tess Pearce – How does social class affect socialisation within the family?

 

Brigette Sainsbury – Outdated views on family structure and lesbian families

Swimming and swimming pools

I recently learnt about an exciting outdoor swimming pool I can try out in London. Not only is the London Fields Lido heated, but, at 50 metres, it is Olympic sized! With a bit of investigation, I learnt that the 1930s lido was closed for over 20 years before reopening in 2006, thanks to pressure from the community. Another impressive London pool is the 100 year old Kentish Town Baths which I joined a petition to save back in 2005, and is now thankfully undergoing renovation, not destruction. The London Pools Campaign lists 25 pools which are either closed or at risk of closure in London, and of course this is an issue which extends far beyond the capital. Swimming is a form of exercise that is excellent for burning calories, strengthening muscles and, being low impact, is ideal for people such as pregnant women and those with injuries. The government is clamouring to tackle obesity and get more people more active more often, so why are so many pools at risk of closure?

My local pub, The Swimmer at the Grafton Arms, is something of a shrine to the aesthetics of swimming, with a fine collection of images of old swimming pools (such as a floating pool on the River Thames!), a diagram of about 15 strokes which predate the invention of the front crawl, and photos of bathing suit-clad men, and women in fancy swimming hats. I wonder if swimming has made it into academic literature, as a topic which crosses the disciplines of social history, the sociology of leisure and policy studies?

I searched for ’swimming’ in IBSS and got a surprising 120 hits. I quickly realised that the search was picking up on the metaphorical use of the word ’swimming’ in the title field, generating results like ‘Swimming with sharks: technology ventures, defense mechanisms, and corporate relationships’. Amending my search to ’swimming pools’ got me 17 bona fide results, and searching for ’swimming’ but limiting this to the Subject field gave me 23 records which had been tagged with the keyword ’swimming’ by IBSS’s team of indexer/editors. This seems to be a good number of results, showing that swimming has at least a minor presence in the academic world.

I found lots of really interesting articles on the development of swimming by Christopher Love, who is clearly the main academic working on this topic. Swimming also seems to be a pet topic of The International Journal of the History of Sport.  In ‘An overview of the development of swimming in England, c.1750-1918′ Love (2007) asserts that the activity can be dated back to the mid-18th century when public school boys splashed around in “swimming holes”. By the late 19th century, swimming had become a more common recreational pursuit. In ‘Local aquatic empires: the municipal provision of swimming pools in England, 1828-1918′ , I learnt that the first municipal swimming pool was the St George’s Baths, Liverpool, built in 1828. This was followed by many pools nationally, and swimming came to be seen as something that local authorities should encourage because of its benefits to health and hygiene. In fact, an image at my local pub corroborates the link between cleanliness and swimming: the Hornsey Road Baths was also a laundry!

My search on IBSS shows me that swimming has sparked academic interest on both sides of the Atlantic. From grimy, utilitarian municipal pools to glamorous photographs of swimmers in days gone by, the idea of swimming seems to provoke a reaction in many. Three books about swimming in the Americas catch my eye. Kossuth (2005) looks at the development of municipal pools in Canada in the Victorian age. Van Leuven’s (1999) The springboard in the pond: an intimate history of the swimming pool discusses American swimming pools from the perspective of modernism, and also links swimming to an American ‘obsession’ with recreation and health. Wiltse’s (2007) Contested waters: a social history of swimming pools in America takes a class, race and body angle. The race perspective is shown in the book’s cover which is adapted from an advert for swimming classes in New York from the 1940s.

In ‘The future of swimming’, a chapter in Statistical Thinking in Sports (2007), Ray Stefani discusses swimming from a competitive athletics perspective. It seems likely that the 2012 Olympics will have some impact in boosting the protection of swimming in London. The new Aquatics Centre will have two 50 metre and one 25 metre pools. A look at the architecture of the Kentish Town Baths shows how grand swimming pools once were: . I hope that new pools are treated the same level of respect in future, and that planners start to see the beauty and historical value of old pools.

The incest taboo

Josef Fritzl is currently on trial in Austria over the imprisonment and rape of his daughter. The case is grotesque, and because of this, I venture, also morbidly fascinating. It also brought back to The Times ‘most read’ section an article I was intrigued by over the summer – ‘I had sex with my brother but I don’t feel guilty’ – in which the author puts across the other side of the story: a relationship that was clearly consensual, and a positive experience for both.

I decided to search IBSS to look for articles on incest. There are c. 500 records dealing with the subject, and many are from the ‘abuse’ perspective, looking at how to identify and prevent cases of abuse, and how to help victims deal with their trauma. Pertinent to the Fritzl case, perhaps, is ‘Decisions to offend in men who sexually abuse their daughters’ (in the Journal of Sexual Aggression, 2007); or ‘Acting out the Oedipal wish’: father-daughter incest and the sexuality of adolescent girls in the United States, 1941-1965’, R. Devlin (2005), which takes a psychoanalytic approach. Though rarer, there is also a literature on mothers as abusers, for example ‘Speaking about the unspeakable: exploring the impact of mother-daughter sexual abuse’, Tracey Peter, (2008).

Many articles, however, take a cultural look at the subject rather than a psycho-social, and look at different attitudes to incest across diverse societies. Among them: ‘Incest between adults and children in the Medieval world’ (a chapter in the book ‘Children and sexuality: from the Greeks to the Great War’, Palgrave:2007); ‘Close relationships – incest and inbreeding in classical Arabic literature’, Gelder (2007); ‘Le bain mystérieux de la Tu’i Tonga Fefine. Germanité, inceste et mariage sacré en Polynésie’, F. Douaire-Marsaudon (2002) which looks at kinship, incest and sacred marriage in Polynesia); ‘Full brother-sister marriage in Roman Egypt: another look’, S. Parker (1996); and ‘Rudras Geburt: systematische Untersuchungen zum Inzest in der Mythologie des Brahmanas’, J. Deppert (1977) – a look at incest in Brahman mythology. I could go on – there is really a fascinating range.

Given the widely different cultural approaches to incest over time and place, an interesting question is whether the aversion most people have to incest is cultural or biological. Two sides of the coin are represented by ‘Il tabu dell’incesto: un problema culturale’ (The incest taboo – a cultural problem), G. Marucci (1975) on the one hand; and on the other ‘The biological foundations of the incest taboo’, N. Bischoff (1972). Around 20 articles look at the Westermarck thesis, which I presume, therefore, is influential: ‘Westermarck proposed that humans have an incest avoidance instinct, triggered by frequent intimate contact with family members during the first several years of life. Westermarck reasons that (1) familial incest will tend to produce less fit offspring, (2) those humans without instinctive incest avoidance would hence have tended to die off and those with the avoidance instinct would have produced more viable offspring, and hence (3) familial incest would be, as indeed it is, universally and instinctively avoided.’ (quoted from ‘Instinctive incest avoidance: a paradigm case for evolutionary psychology evaporates’, J. Leiber, 2006). However this evolutionary approach does not seem to be as popular a field of research as that of the ‘cultural taboo’ surrounding incest. Among the more off-the-wall papers dealing with this subject is ‘Crossing the final taboo: family, sexuality, and incest in Buffyverse fan fiction’, K.Busse (2002) – a reference to the issue in Buffy the Vampire Slayer!

Some articles suggest that Western culture overplays the taboo, and that the line between familial love and sexual love is a rather finer one than we like to think. In her article ‘’I could eat my baby to bits’; passion and desire in lesbian mother-children love’, Jacqi Gabb (2004), asserts that ‘The legal-moral boundaries that are invoked prohibit intergenerational desire, upholding the incest taboos that dominate Western culture. However the construction of these boundaries neither stop adult-child ‘border skirmishes’ nor quash children’s ‘natural’ exploration of their sexuality. I explore how bodies and bodily boundaries are used to manage sexuality and desire in families.’ The author of the Times piece mentioned above might well agree.

‘The Troubles’: history or current affairs?

With the recent re-ignition of political violence in Northern Ireland – IRA dissident groups shooting dead two army officers and a police constable – a period that most had hoped was consigned to history is suddenly making headlines again. Coming after a decade of peace, many commentators have drawn attention to the generation of young people for whom ‘the Troubles’ are simply something they learn about in school. The thousands of people who took to the streets to condemn the violence suggest that they are keen to confine this period to history lessons.

For those interested in re-visiting the academic literature on the subject to shed light on the current situation, IBSS offers a wealth of material. A search on ‘Northern Ireland’ and ‘Political violence’ brings up 347 results, and a subject search on the IRA 241 hits. Widening it to ‘Northern Ireland’ and ‘Conflict’ brings up 1188. Some articles take a long view of the troubles, for example ‘Irish republican politics and violence before the peace process, 1968-1994’, Marc Mulholland (2007); whereas many hone in on specific issues: for example ‘Meaning in the Maze: the heritage of Long Kesh’, B. Graham and S. McDowell (2007) looks at “the role of the former Long Kesh/Maze prison as one of the key heritage sites of the Northern Ireland conflict.”; or ‘Territoriality, alienation, and loyalist decommissioning: the case of the Shankill in Protestant West Belfast’, Neil Southern (2008) which looks at the post-conflict situation of one of the flashpoint areas of the conflict. Popular areas of research include the meaning of the famous mural art that emerged to express the sentiments of those involved in the conflict, for example: ‘Politics, painting and popular culture – the political wall murals of Northern Ireland’, Bill Rolston (1987), and ‘Local symbols, global networks: rereading the murals of Belfast’, Debbie Lisle (2006). Sectarianism and sport is another popular field.

For those wishing to go back further, there are two books that look useful: ‘Acts of Union: the causes, contexts, and consequences of the Act of Union’, D. Keogh and K. Whelan (2001); and ‘The Irish Act of Union, 1800: bicentennial essays’, Brown, Geoghegan and Kelly (2003).

The peace process itself has also generated a substantial literature of its own. A search on ‘Northern Ireland’ and ‘Peace process’ recalls 336 results, which look at the process from a variety of angles. ‘Beyond the wire: former prisoners and conflict transformation in Northern Ireland’ P. Shirlow and K. McEvoy (2008) looks at the key role many former combatants have played in leading communities through the peace process. Over 60 records look at the role of the political parties, among them ‘Polarisation or new moderation? Party politics since the GFA’ – a chapter in the book ‘A farewell to arms? Beyond the Good Friday Agreement’ (2006); and more than 70 address the role of civil society, among them ‘Global change, civil society and the Northern Ireland peace process: implementing the political settlement’ (2008) which includes chapters on the role of women in the peace process, as well as comparative analyses of other post-conflict societies, including Lebanon and South Africa.

There are relatively few articles assessing the likelihood of a return to violence, but one that does is ‘”They haven’t gone away, you know”. Irish republican “dissidents” and “armed struggle”, J. Tonge (2004) which notes that ‘The odds against militarist Republican “dissidents” appear overwhelming, as they lack weapons, members and support. Sinn Féin has carried most of the Nationalist constituency on its transition towards constitutionalism and the Irish Republic has abandoned its claim to Northern Ireland. Nonetheless, continued political uncertainty over the province’s political future has contributed to the maintenance of a long-standing militaristic tradition within Irish republicanism.’

Milk

Having really enjoyed Gus Van Sant’s Milk, and being a big fan of San Francisco, I’m keen to see what IBSS can tell me about the history of the gay rights movement in California.

The film Milk stars Sean Penn as America’s first openly homosexual politician in public office, Harvey Milk. For the last eight years of his life Milk was a gay activist in San Francisco, and was assassinated one year after being elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk is based on true events and shows many issues faced by the gay community in the ‘70s, rather than focussing exclusively on Harvey Milk’s rise to political prominence. I thought it would be interesting to see how I could supplement what I’d learnt from the film with academic research in the social sciences.

I decide to focus more on the historical events covered in the film than on Harvey Milk himself, so I search for ‘homosexuality’, ‘history’ and ‘San Francisco’. This is really successful, uncovering papers on several issues which the activists in Milk focussed their efforts on. The most shocking of these, and an issue which brought Harvey Milk into direct conflict with his eventual assassin Dan White, is Proposition 6, or the Briggs Initiative, which attempted to ban homosexuals and even supporters of gay rights from teaching in California’s public schools. In ‘Butterflies, whistles, and fists: gay safe street patrols and the ‘new gay ghetto’, 1976-1981’ C. Hanhardt (2008) discusses the Butterfly Brigade in Castro, San Francisco’s gay district, and their role in the protest against the Briggs Initiative. Their role in the Coors beer boycott, another event covered in the film, is also explored. I learn that the Butterfly Brigade was established to respond to the police’s ineffectiveness in dealing with violent homophobia. Operating from a bakery delivery truck in Castro, members of the brigade recorded homophobic acts and were police informants.

An insight into the police’s relationship with the gay rights movement is provided by C. Agee’s ‘Gayola: police professionalization and the politics of San Francisco’s gay bars, 1950-1968’ (2006). This is very interesting as Milk has many scenes in gay bars. Agee’s paper is a case study of John Mindermann’s work as a police officer in San Francisco in the 1960s. Mindermann gives a first hand account of police crackdowns on gay bars, and the relationship between the San Francisco Police Department and homosexuals. Agee explores the idea that police crackdowns were key to making the gay rights movement better organized and more effective. This theme is developed in ‘Wide-open town: a history of queer San Francisco to 1965’, N.A. Boyd (2005). Boyd suggests that communities in gay bars had a strongly politicised identity which developed in response to contemporary policing. The book looks fascinating in its variety of sources: it uses police and court records, oral histories, tourist literature, and manuscript collections from local and state archives. I think the book would be complemented nicely by S. Stryker and J. van Buskirk’s (1997) ‘Gay by the bay: a history of queer culture in the San Francisco Bay Area’, which has over 200 photos of the gay rights movement.

Searching for ‘Social movements’ and ‘San Francisco’, I discovered E. Armstrong’s 2005 paper ‘From struggle to settlement: the crystallization of a field of lesbian/gay organizations in San Francisco, 1969-1973’, which discusses how the social movement changed over time. Armstrong argues that “In 1968 gay liberation displayed a contradictory mix of civil rights, identity, and revolutionary political ideologies. By 1972 the movement had stabilized around building gay identity and pursuing civil rights.” She suggests that the collapse of the New Left movement in 1970 allowed activists to unite around central themes, and made their aims less fragmented. In ‘Movements and memory: the making of the Stonewall myth’ (2006), E. Armstrong and S. Crage compare the effect of the Stonewall riot and 4 other gay activists riots in the 1960s (including ones in Los Angeles and San Francisco) on collective memory in the gay rights movement.

I’m impressed by the number of records in IBSS which are specific to the history of gay activism in San Francisco. Much of the research taps into first hand accounts of the events covered in Milk. I end with a straight search for Harvey Milk, and one particular hit corroborates the film’s description of Harvey Milk as “Icon. Inspiration. Hero.”: a Harvey Milk Institute has been established in San Francisco for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies.