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Familicide as a Consequence of Modern Emotional Formations

Neil Websdale

in Familicidal Hearts: The Emotional Styles of 211 Killers

Chapter 6 explores the interrelationships between modern figurations of feeling, familial atmospheres of feeling, and the emotional styles of perpetrators as means of making sense of familicide. One ... More

Chapter 6 explores the interrelationships between modern figurations of feeling, familial atmospheres of feeling, and the emotional styles of perpetrators as means of making sense of familicide. One of the hallmarks of modern life is the increasing value attached to controlling one's emotions and one's interactions with others. Such self-control was particularly emphasized among the ranks of bourgeois men. The chapter commences with a discussion of these cultural imperatives toward self-control and emotional restraint. The author underscores the prominent place of anxiety, shame and anger among familicidal hearts, using this analysis as segue into a discussion of the relationship between modernity, emotional styles, hegemonic masculinity, and familicide. Of particular importance is the fact that familicide is gendered, reflecting the greater social disconnection and isolation of men in modern times.Less

Telephonic Film

Ned Schantz

in Gossip, Letters, Phones: The Scandal of Female Networks in Film and Literature

This chapter considers what our fantasies of the telephone have to do with our fantasies at the movies. It calls out the Classical Hollywood Telephone, the quiet object whose smooth transmission of ... More

This chapter considers what our fantasies of the telephone have to do with our fantasies at the movies. It calls out the Classical Hollywood Telephone, the quiet object whose smooth transmission of narrative information bolsters the routine operations of genre and the stable meanings of crime and romance. Exposing this dormant telephone to coincidence makes it possible to chart a path of increasing deviation from the Classical norm, moving from pat disavowals, on through generic confusion (with a long look at the disguised gothic dynamics of Pillow Talk), finally to uncanny nightmares of disconnection and exposure.Less

Temporal Leapfrog: Puzzles of Timing

Nina Eliasoph

in Making Volunteers: Civic Life after Welfare's End

This chapter portrays the Community House's possibly mismatched time lines, and shows how participants align them by focusing on future potential. Sometimes this temporal leapfrog works, but ... More

This chapter portrays the Community House's possibly mismatched time lines, and shows how participants align them by focusing on future potential. Sometimes this temporal leapfrog works, but sometimes this focus on future potential comes at the expense of any focus on the past or present. The chapter indicates other temporal disconnections as well, as illustrated in how organizers try to “build community” by “drawing on community,” “build leadership by drawing on leadership,” by treating “the community,” “leadership,” “good choices,” and other potentials “simultaneously as diagnosis and cure.” This chapter shows how even with these mismatched time frames, people still manage to coordinate everyday action.Less

Towards an Alternative Framework for Water Law Reforms

Philippe Cullet

in Water Law, Poverty, and Development: Water Sector Reforms in India

This chapter builds on the critical analysis of ongoing water law reforms undertaken in the previous two chapters and suggests some alternatives. It emphasizes some possible new conceptual bases for ... More

This chapter builds on the critical analysis of ongoing water law reforms undertaken in the previous two chapters and suggests some alternatives. It emphasizes some possible new conceptual bases for water law, such as the principle of common heritage. It proposes a different understanding of already accepted notions such as the human right to water. It also suggests that a different understanding of key concepts, such as conservation and participation, is necessary to ensure that water laws adopted today can contribute to socially equitable and environmentally sustainable outcomes. It further argues that the adoption of a framework water legislation at the state or union level is necessary.Less

Pericles and Eros: Caught between Civic Unity and Political Subversion

Vincent Azoulay

in Pericles of Athens

This chapter examines two contradictory aspects of eros in Pericles' life. In the Greek world, eros did not correspond to any romantic sentiment, nor did it bear any similarity to the wishy-washy ... More

This chapter examines two contradictory aspects of eros in Pericles' life. In the Greek world, eros did not correspond to any romantic sentiment, nor did it bear any similarity to the wishy-washy notion nowadays conjured up by “love.” Whether homosexual or heterosexual, eros was first and foremost a connective force or, at times, a disconnective one. As a connective force, eros linked individuals together. As a force for disconnection, it was capable of turning the normal functioning of social life upside down. The chapter explains how Pericles' life combined eros's power of connection and disconnection. It shows that Pericles was an ardent defender of a veritable civic eroticism and that his story testifies to the subversive power of eros. It also considers the erotic dimension of Pericles' authority, his behavior in matters of sexual love, and his relationship with Aspasia.Less

A Demanding Environment

Ashley Carse

in Beyond the Big Ditch: Politics, Ecology, and Infrastructure at the Panama Canal

Thisfinal chapter argues that infrastructures like the Panama Canal have given rise to highly demanding environments. Technological marvels have not universally freed humans from the environment, but ... More

Thisfinal chapter argues that infrastructures like the Panama Canal have given rise to highly demanding environments. Technological marvels have not universally freed humans from the environment, but bound people more tightly and contentiously to landscapes and waterscapes of our own making. Without constant maintenance, infrastructures crack, rust, and crumble and the political projects, promises, and aspirations they carried dissipate. Places once connected can be disconnected and landscapes that once appeared developed can revert to nature and be redeployed in newprojects. The transformation of the environment through infrastructure construction, maintenance, and decay has uneven consequences—both winners and losers. Thus, depending on who, where, and when you are, global infrastructures may produce experiences of environmental control or vulnerability.Less

The Challenge of Regulatory Connection

Roger Brownsword

in Rights, Regulation, and the Technological Revolution

This chapter begins with a discussion of the problem of disconnection (and the process of re-connection). It introduces three key distinctions: one between ‘descriptive’ and ‘normative’ ... More

This chapter begins with a discussion of the problem of disconnection (and the process of re-connection). It introduces three key distinctions: one between ‘descriptive’ and ‘normative’ disconnection, a second between ‘productive’ and ‘unproductive’ disconnection, and a third between ‘intelligent’ and ‘unintelligent’ purposive re-connection. It then reviews the way in which the English courts have recently responded to disconnection — with particular reference to the rapidly developing technologies of cell nuclear replacement (CNR), pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), and pre-implantation tissue-typing (PTT) — by seeking to reconnect the regulatory framework (namely, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990). It is argued that where interpreters face a case that is not straightforwardly one of unproductive descriptive disconnection, there is a danger that reconnection effected through purposive interpretation might not only fall foul of the principle of congruence but also hinder the need for a reconsideration of the law.Less

International perspectives on whiteness, class and politics

Harris Beider

in White Working-Class Voices: Multiculturalism, community-building and change

Despite differences in population, politics and ideology, the narratives of white working class loss, grievance about immigration and social change and political disconnection have been played out in ... More

Despite differences in population, politics and ideology, the narratives of white working class loss, grievance about immigration and social change and political disconnection have been played out in many parts of Europe the United States. This chapter will consider the politics of white working class communities in the context of countries that are becoming ethnically diverse as a result of immigration. Sweden is regarded as a progressive and inclusive country with a tradition of a generous welfare state. Yet it has witnessed the emergence and growth of the extreme right anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats based on winning support from white working class communities. In the US, the Tea Party has become increasingly influential in national and local politics based on a mix of low taxes, extreme conservative and evangelical Christian positions on topical issues such as abortion, guns and immigration.Less

A reactionary voice: nuanced views on multiculturalism

Harris Beider

in White Working-Class Voices: Multiculturalism, community-building and change

Based on the two substantive research projects conduced in in four different locations across England this is the first of two chapters that provide a grassroots perspective on multiculturalism and ... More

Based on the two substantive research projects conduced in in four different locations across England this is the first of two chapters that provide a grassroots perspective on multiculturalism and change that appears to be at odds with the commonly held view that white working class communities are collectively supporters of extreme right wing politics and opposed to multiculturalism. The chapter shows that the far larger theme of disconnection at both national and local levels. Politics and politicians had failed to provide public goods and services in the wake of troubling economic times. Jobs had been lost, housing was difficult to access and unaffordable, and public sector cuts had been made to local services. Immigration was not a consistent factor in these grassroots conversations. On occasions it was raised as an issue that compounded challenges experienced by white working class communities. People were proud to belong to multicultural communities and spoke about their own family histories of ethnic diversity as well as the lived experienced of working and living alongside different types of groups.Less

Strategic Disengagement: Preserving One’s Academic Identity by Disengaging from Campus Life

Ja’Dell Davis

in Campus Counterspaces: Black and Latinx Students' Search for Community at Historically White Universities

This chapter provides an intersectional perspective on gendered racial-ethnic identities (a gender identity that is racialized and a racial-ethnic identity that is gendered), with a focus on ... More

This chapter provides an intersectional perspective on gendered racial-ethnic identities (a gender identity that is racialized and a racial-ethnic identity that is gendered), with a focus on experiences of intellectual invalidation. Black women were the most likely to report these alienating campus experiences, and many responded with identity-protection coping strategies that led them to disconnect from campus life or limit their engagement to activities that affirmed their gendered racial-ethnic identity. This chapter illustrates the benefits and costs of certain Black interviewees' conscious decisions to disconnect from general college life. One approach was blanket rejection, while another involved severely narrowing the range of spaces and people that incorporated into the college experience. A third and more extreme form of disconnecting highlights the role that counterspaces play in making the disconnection from college life sustainable.Less

Masculinity and Disability: Ernest Hemingway, the Man, the Girl, and the Genius

Carolyn Slaughter

in Phallacies: Historical Intersections of Disability and Masculinity

Ernest Hemingway was plagued all his life by sexual arousal linked to associations developed in early childhood. In his letters and writing, Hemingway does not easily use “I” or “you.” From Paris, he ... More

Ernest Hemingway was plagued all his life by sexual arousal linked to associations developed in early childhood. In his letters and writing, Hemingway does not easily use “I” or “you.” From Paris, he writes to his boyhood friends as simply a male: “Bring a male up to date.” Psychoanalysts have given us a full range of Hemingway’s mental disabilities: latent homosexuality, posttraumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, narcissism, gender-identity issues, self-image issues, domestic abuse, alcoholism, and sexual inadequacy. His most profound disability might perhaps have been his disconnection from himself and others. His deepest longing was to dissolve with another in a way that did not require him to be a separate, individual person. Ultimately, Hemingway’s desire for dissolution led to self-murder, even as the chaos, rage, and agony of his bipolar mind brought with it an astonishing blessing: stark, intense, and magnificent prose.Less

Two brains—my life in science

Michael S. Gazzaniga

in Inside Psychology: A science over 50 years

This chapter looks at developments in the split-brain studies during the past fifty years from a personal perspective. It describes experiments in split-brain research and the discovery of the ... More

This chapter looks at developments in the split-brain studies during the past fifty years from a personal perspective. It describes experiments in split-brain research and the discovery of the effects of callosal disconnection. It highlights major findings in split-brain research that relate to the problem of consciousness and suggests that it is important to understand that the problem is constantly evolving and new dimensions are continually presenting themselves.Less

Words and Music: The Magnolia Crisis

George Toles

in Paul Thomas Anderson

This chapter describes a considered, thematic, and stylistic account of the viewing experiences of three films by Paul Thomas Anderson and their backgrounds—Punch-Drunk Love (2002), There Will Be ... More

This chapter describes a considered, thematic, and stylistic account of the viewing experiences of three films by Paul Thomas Anderson and their backgrounds—Punch-Drunk Love (2002), There Will Be Blood (2007), and The Master (2012). Writer Geoffrey O'Brien, in his essay on The Master, captures the feel of Anderson's recurring landscape of disconnection. He goes on to speak of the expressionist treatment of milieu in the films, as though in each narrative there is an attempt both to acknowledge the claims of material reality and at the same time to reconfigure the real. The chapter also examines the contradictory pressures at work in the avowedly autobiographical, densely verbal Magnolia, which may have necessitated a change in Anderson's method and technique in the films that followed.Less

Principles and Standards of Anaesthetic Monitoring

Patrick Magee and Mark Tooley

in The Physics, Clinical Measurement and Equipment of Anaesthetic Practice for the FRCA

The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiology (WFSA) adopted standards relating to the safe practice of anaesthesia in 1992 and such standards had already been ... More

The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiology (WFSA) adopted standards relating to the safe practice of anaesthesia in 1992 and such standards had already been proposed by a number of countries in order to cut the morbidity due to anaesthesia itself. In the modern era it is easy to forget that historically anaesthesia and surgery did indeed have associated morbidity and mortality and there was very little assistance from technology to monitor patients. The evolution of these standards is based on two main requirements of monitoring. The first is to record anticipated deviations from normal values, which require accurate measurement to ensure patient safety. The second is to warn of unexpected, life-threatening events that, by definition, occur without warning, and could affect the fit, young patient as easily as the old and infirm. All international standards stress the importance of the continual presence of a fully trained and accredited anaesthetic person, and one Australian study demonstrated that many mishaps occur in the absence of such a person [Runciman 1988]. This applies to general and regional anaesthesia, sedation and recovery. Because perceptions of safety and standards vary throughout the world, despite the presence of an International Standards Organisation, debate about the minimum requirements for monitoring continue. Central to the maintenance of these standards is the quality of persons entering the specialty, the quality of training programmes, and the continuing education of specialists throughout a professional lifetime [Sykes 1992]. It is difficult to determine with certainty the effect that additional technological monitoring has on safety. One clear example is the inability of the trained human eye to detect cyanosis, this human failure occurring maximally at 81–85% oxygen saturation. Clearly, the pulse oximeter has improved the quality of cyanosis detection. Numerous studies all over the world have shown that mortality due to anaesthesia itself fell significantly between the 1950s and the 1980s, by which time extensive technological monitoring was being introduced, and training programmes had been very much improved. Utting [1987] reviewed 750 cases of death and cerebral damage reported to the British General Medical Council between 1970 and 1982 that were thought to be the result of errors in technique. Less

Intraoperative awareness

Christel J Bejenke

in Handbook of Communication in Anaesthesia & Critical Care: A Practical Guide to Exploring the Art

Intraoperative awareness (IOA) represents a range of heterogeneous experiences and is a topic of considerable relevance, not only to anaesthetists, but to ... More

Intraoperative awareness (IOA) represents a range of heterogeneous experiences and is a topic of considerable relevance, not only to anaesthetists, but to all theatre staff. This chapter focuses on communications that the anaesthetist may find helpful in ameliorating or preventing adverse sequelae associated with IOA. This is a well-described, infrequent complication of general anaesthesia which can have serious long-term psychological consequences. First recognized as a medical complication in 1846, there have been numerous reports since the 1950s. Considerable research has been devoted to its understanding and prevention over the past two decades. IOA has increasingly come to the attention of clinicians, patients and the media. It is also a medico-legal issue and high compensation awards have been made. The ASA practice advisory for anaesthesiologists states that, ‘Intraoperative awareness occurs when a patient becomes conscious during a procedure performed under general anaesthesia and subsequently has recall of these events.’ This may include: sensations of weakness; inability to communicate, move or scream; auditory and tactile perceptions; feelings of helplessness; acute fear, panic and pain; believing to have been abandoned and betrayed; and being dead, or about to die. Explicit awareness (declarative memory) permits conscious recall of intraoperative events such as auditory, visual and tactile experiences, paralysis and pain. There is a striking similarity of experiences among patients, but only a minority (35 % ) may inform their anaesthetists. Explicit awareness has been the subject of the majority of investigations related to IOA and is the main topic of this chapter. Implicit awareness (non-declarative memory): information can be recollected but cannot be recalled or consciously retrieved. There is strong evidence for auditory information-processing of material relevant to the patient’s well-being, whether beneficial or threatening. The overall incidence of IOA varies, but has been reported to be between 0.1 and 0.9 % with 30 000–40 000 cases annually in the USA. However, the true incidence of recall is probably underestimated. According to a 2010 report by the ASA closed claims project, IOA occurs in less than 1 in 700 cases. Causes were largely attributed to light anaesthesia and anaesthetic delivery problems. Less

Smoke and Mirrors

Michael Taussig

in Mastery of Non-Mastery in the Age of Meltdown

The author introduces the question of environmental collapse, the problem of connection and disconnection, and the notions of "dark surrealism" and the "mastery of non-mastery."

James Baldwin and the Politics of Disconnection

Susan J. McWilliams

in A Political Companion to James Baldwin

This chapter examines those works of Baldwin’s, both fiction and nonfiction, which are concerned with American citizenship and its complicity with a growing sense of a fractured nationality, reaching ... More

This chapter examines those works of Baldwin’s, both fiction and nonfiction, which are concerned with American citizenship and its complicity with a growing sense of a fractured nationality, reaching beyond explicit white and black racial tension. This work also incorporates Baldwin’s internationalism, exploring his frequent choice to reside in other countries. As the essay suggests, Baldwin’s own disconnection from America allowed him to see its internal disconnection more clearly.Less