The staging of identity in other/s' spaces

Exploring the framing of identity within different modes of representation, particularly Australian art, the thesis built on poststructural discussions of inside/outside power relations, conceptualising art as a political tool for the staging of identity, not only for the subjects inside the artwork, but also the viewer, and marginalised artist/author.

David Bowie: dancing with madness and proselytising the socio-political in art and life

A longstanding, successful and frequently controversial career spanning more than four decades establishes David Bowie as charged with individual agency. The notion of ‘agency’ here refers particularly to the ‘ability of people, individually and collectively to influence their own lives and the society in which they live’ (Germov and Poole, 2007: 7). That Bowie has influenced many lives is undeniable to his fans. He has long demonstrated an avid curiosity for the enduring patterns of social life which is reflected in his art. Bowie’s opus contains the elements of ideological narratives around sexual (mis)adventure, expressivity, and; resistance to ‘normative’ behaviour. He requisitions his audiences, through frequently indirect lyrics and images, to critically question sanity, identity and essentially what it means to be ‘us’ and why we are here. Here, in this context, ‘dancing with madness’ assumes an intimate relationship, even if brief, where ideas and emotions come passionately together for the purpose of creative expression much like the intertwining and energetic performance of the partner dance Tango. As such, ‘dancing’ is argued here to be an appropriate descriptor for how Bowie has engaged with creative cultural forms but not meant to be self-conscious nor indicate superficiality or ignorance. The idea of madness for its part is a theme in many of his compositions, for example the original album cover for The Man Who Sold the World (1971)  depicts an asylum and includes the song ‘All The Madmen’ and Aladdin Sane (1973)—a lad insane--are but two examples. This paper argues that Bowie’s frequently astute contemplations, manifest through his art over a period now spanning more than forty years, continues to draw fans of like mind to his work with the result that he has a legitimate claim to influence and affect.

Identity in multicultural societies: who do we think we are?

This paper examines identity issues in multicultural Australia. In its extreme, negative form, assumptions that certain characteristics apply to all members of an ethnic group can be attributed to racism. However, the belief that individuals who share the same ethnic background have similar needs, interests and perceptions is also reflected in business, government policy and academic research. Often, ethnic groupings used for research and policy formulation are very broad and fail to take into account within-group differences. The criteria used to assess an individuals membership of an ethnic group can be problematic. Criteria based purely on objective measures such as country of birth or ethnic ancestry do not take into account acculturation processes or the degree to which individuals consider themselves to be 'ethnic '. These objective measures are complicated further as individuals may have ethnic roots from multiple countries depending on their family composition over several generations. This theory-focused paper proposes that ethnic identity should be viewed as a subjective phenomenon where individuals are likely to align themselves with the ethnic background to which they most identify. This has implications for research and policy making in multicultural societies.

Research designs and scientific identity in marketing journals: review and evaluation

Purpose - This research is based upon the assumption that the empirical research designs and the scientific identity of a journal are related. The objective is to review and evaluate the empirical research design of papers to determine the scientific identity of a selection of academic marketing journals. Design/methodology/approach – The journal sample consists of the Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), the European Journal of Marketing (EJM) and the Journal of Marketing (JM). The review and evaluation considers a six-year period, namely 2000-2005. The content analysis consisted of 811 papers. Findings – The scientific identity of JM may be seen as built upon quantitative research designs and the North American paradigm of research values. The scientific identity of AMJ is based upon a mix of empirical research designs and the Australian paradigm of research values. The scientific identity of EJM is also based upon a mix of empirical research designs, but a multi-continental paradigm of research values. Research limitations/implications – The leading continental journals in marketing maintain a scientific identity based upon the continental paradigm of research values. If it is driven to the extremes, a paradigmatic myopia and inertia of research designs may evolve that limit the scientific identity to be dogmatic and narrow-focused rather than variable and broad-focused. Originality/value – A cross-continental eview and evaluation of research designs and scientific identity of academic marketing journals is presented.

Video reflection and the formation of teacher identity in a team of pre-service and experienced teachers

This paper discusses a project in which a team of pre-service and experienced teachers, following a teaching development model devised by the authors, reflected on videos of the pre-service teachers teaching literacy. Using a discourse analytic approach, the paper focuses on how teachers' joint reflection contributes to student teacher identity formation. Analysis suggests that reflection, at least in the talk of this team, is a language practice with a distinctive generic structure. Using this structure, participants jointly construct professional teacher identities for themselves and others through the key devices of representation, categorization, evaluation, individualization and inclusion.

Teacher or trainer? The shaping of teacher identity in adult education contexts

In response to changing government funding priorities there has been a shift away from the provision of needs based language and personal development courses for adults in community based contexts towards the delivery of vocational education. Much vocational education is characterized by competency-based curriculum and outcomes influenced by the needs of the current labour market as well as economic driven initiatives such as competitive tendering for short-term course funding. These trends have resulted in changes to the nature of curriculum, assessment, and the purpose and nature of the delivery of courses to adult learners. In turn, these changes affect the ways in which teachers see themselves and carry out their roles as professionals. This paper explores the ways in which the current discourses of vocational education shape teacher identities across a variety of vocational education contexts and the ways in which teacher identities are played out through training and teaching practices.
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