Telephone: +44 78 794 76065Navigating the bio-politics of childhood: How far can 'hybridity' take us?
AbstractThe study of childhood is currently weakened by a biological/social dualism, separating 'social' from 'developmental' traditions and falsely identifying the investigation of life processes with the naturalisation of childhood. Researching the emerging space of childhood bio-politics, in which life processes are central to social and political processes, requires that these problems be managed. The view of childhood as a 'hybrid' phenomenon allows for the management of dualism but has difficulty navigating bio-political space. A supplementary approach based on multiplicities of 'life', 'voice' and 'resource' is described. The argument is illustrated by discussion of sonic 'teen deterrents' in the UK.
Traditionally considered a deficiency in will power and rationality, suggestibility has proven a troublesome concept for psychology. It was forgotten, rediscovered, denounced, undermined experimentation and recently became the ambiguous issue at the centre of concern about child witness' credibility in sexual abuse cases. This paper traces the history of suggestibility to show how it raises the 'paradox of the psychosocial'. Drawing on the work of Deleuze and Stengers, and on interviews with legal practitioners, this paper demonstrates how suggestibility carries this paradox into theory, research and legal practice. It thereby opens up a transdisciplinary perspective, allowing for questions of power and knowledge to be asked as performative questions. In the spirit of a process centred ontology for psychology, Iargue that suggestibility constitutes a 'rhythm of problematisation', a folding, offering a subversive insight into dynamics of subjectification and application, and offering new perspectives towards issues of children's credibility and protection.
This paper introduces the Special Issue on liminal hotspots. A liminal hotspot is an occasion during which people feel that they are caught suspended in the circumstances of a transition that has become permanent. The liminal experiences of ambiguity, uncertainty and paradox that are characteristically at play in transitional circumstances acquire an enduring quality that can be glossed as a 'hotspot'. The origins of the concept are described followed by an overview of the contributions to the Special Issue. classmates. The analysis shows how the liminal affectivity generated by a background of issues around inclusion/exclusion becomes extended and amplified
Innovation in the life sciences calls for reflection on how sociologies separate and relate life processes and social processes. To this end we introduce the concept of the 'biosocial event'. Some life processes and social processes have more mutual relevance than others. Some of these relationships are more negotiable than others. We show that levels of relevance and negotiability are not static but can change within existing relationships. Such changes, or biosocial events, lie at the heart of much unplanned biosocial novelty and much deliberate innovation. We illustrate and explore the concept through two examples -meningitis infection and epidemic, and the use of sonic 'teen deterrents' in urban settings. We then consider its value in developing sociological practice oriented to critically constructive engagement with innovation in the life sciences.
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