Richard Cohen Associates records, undated, 1961-1999.

Contains primarily press releases and news clippings produced and collected by the public relations firm that served a wide diverse range of Jewish organizations, including the American Jewish Congress, World Jewish Congress, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, American Zionist Movement, and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Material documents almost every significant event in contemporary Jewish history; focusing primarily on events occurring in Israel, United states, and Russia. Among the areas of interest include Jewish homosexual rights, disabled rights, Orthodox feminism, African-American and Jewish relations, interfaith relations, Holocuast remembrance, and the marketing of Jewish filmmakers, writers, sculptors, painters, and musicians.

Towards (dis)Satisfaction

Hosted at Blindside Artist-Run Initiative (Melbourne) the exhibition Towards (dis)Satisfaction (2015) was a re-staging of earlier sculptural works from the exhibitions Means are the Ends: The Command Issue and Crude Tools (2014), Feeble Actions (2013). The forms humorously interrogated representations of gender and sexuality via strategies of sculptural intervention. A stripper’s pole oozes grease from its stainless surface, fluted with holes. A dildo vibrates on a glass tabletop; propped up by simulated testicles, the intensity of the dildo’s vibrations makes the form spin. With its continual circling, the phallus drags Vaseline over the table, performing a drawing and redrawing of a smeared circle. In Towards (dis)Satisfaction fetish is used as an instrumental strategy, employed as a mode to work across different theoretical and material discourses. In the works the play between explicit and implicit depiction creates an ambiguity that has suggestive potency, where fragmentation and dysfunction initiate diverse readings. These material dialogues make apparent the anxiety and desire inherent in the viewer and question how the visual conventions of erotica and art history are mutually informative.

Sepulchre

The work in Sepulchre (2015) came from my research into female ritual practices and my fascination with specific mythological and historical narratives. These themes were explored during a month-long Summer Residency at Boxcopy Contemporary Artspace. Of particular note were the chronicles and rituals from the terrain around the Adriatic Sea, including Greece and Italy. During the residency, I kept referring to specific mythological texts, which had women as the main protagonists. I kept returning to female characters whose representation was framed by aspects of their sexuality. When looking at these women together, they seemed to sit within a greater narrative archetype, a communal dialogue of shared characteristics, repetitious narrative components and mutual landscapes. Sepulchre became my attempt to develop a conversation between these women by drawing from their commonality, and reimagining these collective elements into sculptural objects and moving images. The video explores an apotropaic gesture, a Baubo-style ‘flashing’. A glass star chart rests on white cliffs, speaking to the narrative of Andromeda and her position as both a celestial and terrene landscape. Another object, a wall mounted copper light burst, pays homage to the framing device used by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. By reconciling these dialogues, I was interested in exploring expanded portrayals of female sexuality and depictions of subversive and authorial femininity, developed through connotations with mysticism, ritual practice and women’s knowledge.

Imagination and diversity in the philosophy of Hobbes

This dissertation is a study of some aspects of theoretical philosophy of the early modern thinker Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679). The focal point of the work is Hobbes s conception of imagination, which is discussed from both a systematic and a historical point of view, as well as in the light of contemporary scholarship. I argue that though there are significant similarities between the view of Hobbes and that of his predecessors, he gives a novel theory of imagination, which clarifies not only early modern discussions on human nature, knowledge, science, and literary criticism, but above all his own versatile philosophy. The prologue of the dissertation introduces methodological principles and gives critical remarks on the standard view of Hobbes. In Chapter II, I discuss the prominent theories of imagination before Hobbes and link them to his account. I argue that though Hobbes adopted the Aristotelian framework, his view is not reduced to it, as he borrows from various sources, for instance, from the Stoics and from Renaissance thought. Chapters III and IV form the psychological part of the work. In the Chapter III I argue that imagination, not sense, is central in the basic cognitive operations of the mind and that imagination has a decisive role in Hobbes s theory of motivation. The Chapter IV concentrates on various questions of Hobbes s philosophy of language. The chapter ends with a defence of a less naturalistic reading of Hobbes s theory of human nature. Chapters V and VI form the epistemological part of the work. I suggest, contrary to what has been recently claimed, that though Hobbes s ideas of good literary style do have a point of contact with his philosophy (e.g. the psychology of creative process), his ideas in the field are independent of his project of demonstrative political science. Instead I argue that the novelty of his major political work, Leviathan (1651), is based on a new theory of knowledge which he continued to develop in the post-Leviathan works. Chapter VII seeks to connect the more theoretical conclusions of Chapters V and VI to Hobbes's idea(l) of science as well as to his philosophical practice. On the basis of Hobbes s own writings as well as some historical examinations, I argue that method is not an apt way to conceptualise Hobbes s philosophical practice. Contemporary readings of Hobbes s theory of science are critically discussed and the chapter ends with an analysis of Hobbes s actual argumentation. In addition to the concluding remarks, the epilogue suggest three things: first, imagination is central when trying to understand Hobbes s versatile philosophy; second, that it is misleading to depict Hobbes as a simple materialist, mechanist, and empiricist; and, third, that in terms of imagination his influence on early modern thought has not been fully appreciated.

Quick Draw

'Quick Draw' is an installation integrating large-scale fabric works along with a lecture performance recorded as a digital video. 'Quick Draw' engages pictorial, literary and vernacular quotations in order to replay and reveal the complexities of gender politics, representation and language. In particular, it examines the relationship between abstraction, feminism and painting, following through an iconoclastic impulse that is at play in these histories. 'Quick Draw' was developed and presented as a solo exhibition for Seventh Gallery, Melbourne in 2015. 'Quick Draw II' was revised for the exhibition ‘Like A Burden’, held at Metro Arts Galleries, Brisbane in 2015.

Extended Conversation Pieces

'Extended Conversation Pieces' brings together conversations about art, and conversation as art. The exhibition features collaborative works by six Brisbane-based artists, Catherine or Kate (Catherine Sagin and Kate Woodcroft), Scott Ferguson (Erika Scott and Brooke Ferguson) and Courtney Coombs and Caitlin Franzmann. These artists engage with ideas of contemporary feminism through processes of dialogue and exchange; exploring subjectivity, humour and intimacy in performance and installation works. 'Extended Conversation Pieces' showcases the distinctive approach to contemporary practice at Boxcopy, an artist run initiative focused on supporting and commissioning new experimental works by Australian artists, and engaging with collaborative processes and practices. This project was commissioned by the Melbourne Art Foundation and presented at the MAF Project Rooms, Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne in 2014.

Conversation Pieces

This curated exhibition presented works by Australian artists Agatha Gothe-Snape, Alex Martinis Roe and Hannah Raisin and collaborative works by Catherine or Kate (Catherine Sagin and Kate Woodcroft), Scott Ferguson (Erika Scott and Brooke Ferguson) and Courtney Coombs and Caitlin Franzmann. These artists engage with ideas of contemporary feminism through processes of dialogue and exchange, exploring subjectivity, humour and intimacy in performance and installation artworks. These works are generated by physical, verbal or textual dialogues between collaborators, participants or the artist and audience; and spark a conversation about contemporary feminist art practice in Australia today.

This is not the work

The exhibition THIS IS NOT THE WORK surveyed a selection of community-engaged artist projects from different locations around the world, and followed the pathways of women-centred social networks in order to initiate further collaboration and conversation. The projects documented in this exhibition were examples of artists working with women and community in challenging and unpredictable ways, demonstrating feminist sensibilities and a commitment to non-hierarchical and collective structures. Co-curated by the feminist art collective LEVEL, this exhibition project uses the gallery as a conceptual base-camp or frontline rather than a just site of display. The exhibition was developed and presented at The Block, Creative Industries Precinct, Queensland University of Technology in 2014. A co-authored paper about the project 'THIS IS NOT THE WORK – Feminist Collectives, Collaboration and Curating‘ was presented by members of LEVEL at the 'Feminist Curating: Contemporary Art and Feminism Symposium', Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney in October 2014.

Scopophobia/Scopophilia: electric light and the anxiety of the gaze in postwar American architecture

In the years of reconstruction and economic boom that followed the Second World War, the domestic sphere encountered new expectations regarding social behaviour, modes of living, and forms of dwelling. This book brings together an international group of scholars from architecture, design, urban planning, and interior design to reappraise mid-twentieth century modern life, offering a timely reassessment of culture and the economic and political effects on civilian life. This collection contains essays that examine the material of art, objects, and spaces in the context of practices of dwelling over the long span of the postwar period. It asks what role material objects, interior spaces, and architecture played in quelling or fanning the anxieties of modernism’s ordinary denizens, and how this role informs their legacy today. Table of Contents [Book] Introduction Robin Schuldenfrei Part 1: Psychological Constructions: Anxiety of Isolation and Exposure 1. Taking Comfort in the Age of Anxiety: Eero Saarinen’s Womb Chair Cammie McAtee 2. The Future is Possibly Past: The Anxious Spaces of Gaetano Pesce Jane Pavitt 3. Scopophobia/Scopophilia: Electric Light and the Anxiety of the Gaze in American Postwar Domestic Architecture Margaret Petty Part 2: Ideological Objects: Design and Representation 4. The Allegory of the Socialist Lifestyle: The Czechoslovak Pavilion at the Brussels Expo, its Gold Medal and the Politburo Ana Miljacki 5. Assimilating Unease: Moholy-Nagy and the Wartime-Postwar Bauhaus in Chicago Robin Schuldenfrei 6. The Anxieties of Autonomy: Peter Eisenman from Cambridge to House VI Sean Keller Part 3: Societies of Consumers: Materialist Ideologies and Postwar Goods 7. "But a home is not a laboratory": The Anxieties of Designing for the Socialist Home in the German Democratic Republic 1950—1965 Katharina Pfützner 8. Architect-designed Interiors for a Culturally Progressive Upper-Middle Class: The Implicit Political Presence of Knoll International in Belgium Fredie Floré 9. Domestic Environment: Italian Neo-Avant-Garde Design and the Politics of Post-Materialism Mary Louise Lobsinger Part 4: Class Concerns and Conflict: Dwelling and Politics 10. Dirt and Disorder: Taste and Anxiety in the Working Class Home Christine Atha 11. Upper West Side Stories: Race, Liberalism, and Narratives of Urban Renewal in Postwar New York Jennifer Hock 12. Pawns or Prophets? Postwar Architects and Utopian Designs for Southern Italy Anne Parmly Toxey. Coda: From Homelessness to Homelessness David Crowley

Women bashing: An urban Aboriginal perspective

ABORIGINAL people in urbanised Australia experience violence on a daily basis. This violence ranges from the psychological (the covert hostility of the corner shop, the denial of the Aboriginality of fair-skinned or urban Blacks) through to the physical brutality of the criminal justice system. For Aboriginal women and children this daily violence is not only public but also has a private, B1ack-on-B1ack dimension. The Aboriginal home may be some refuge from the slights of white Australia but this is cold comfort to women for whom being 'flogged up' by their partners is so ordinary an event as to be unremarkable.

Communication and Political Crisis: Media, Politics and Governance in a Globalized Public Sphere

Communication and Political Crisis explores the role of the global media in a period of intensifying geopolitical conflict. Through case studies drawn from domestic and international political crises such as the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, leading media scholar Brian McNair argues that the digitized, globalized public sphere now confronted by all political actors has produced new opportunities for social progress and democratic reform, as well as new channels for state propaganda and terrorist spectaculars such as those performed by the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. In this major work, McNair argues that the role of digital communication will be crucial in determining the outcome of pressing global issues such as the future of feminism and gay rights, freedom of speech and media, and democracy itself.

Gender, Politics and Democratisation in Cameroon

Gender perceptions, religious belief systems, and political thought have excluded women from politics, for ages, around the world. Combining feminist and modernisation theorists in my theoretical framework, I examine the trends in patriarchal Europe and I highlight the gender-sensitive model of the Nordic countries. Retracing local gender patterns from precolonial to postcolonial eras in sub-Saharan Africa, I explore the links between perceptions, needs, resources, education and women's political participation in Cameroon. Democratisation is supposed to open up political participation, to grant equal opportunities to all adults. One ironic feature of the liberalisation process in Cameroon has been the decrease of women in parliamentarian representation (14% in 1988, 6% in 1992, 5% in 1997 and 10% in 2002). What social, cultural and institutional mechanisms produced this paradoxical outcome, the exclusion of half the population? The gender complementarity of the indigenous context has been lost to male prevalence privileged by education, church, law, employment, economy and politics in the public sphere; most women are marginalised in the private sphere. Nation building and development have failed; ethnicism and individualism are growing. Some hope lies in the growing civil society. From two surveys and 21 focus groups across Cameroon, in 2000 and 2002, some significant results of the processed empirical data reveal low electoral registration (34.5% women and 65.9% men), contrasted by the willingness to run for municipal elections (33.3 % women and 45.2% men). The co-existence of customary and statutory laws, the corrupt political system and fraudulent practices, contribute to the marginalisation of women and men who are interested in politics. A large majority of female respondents consider female politicians more trustworthy and capable than their male counterparts; they even foresee the appointment of a female Prime Minister. The Nordic countries have institutionalised gender equality in their legislation, policies and practices. France has improved women's political inclusion with the parity laws; Rwanda is another model of women's representation, thanks to its post-conflict constitution. From my analysis, Cameroonian institutions, men and more so women, may learn and borrow from these experiences, in order to design and implement a sustainable and gender-balanced democracy. Keywords: democratisation, politics, gender equality, feminism, citizenship, Cameroon, Nordic countries, Finland, France, United Kingdom, quotas, societal social psychology.

The Feminist Transformation of Bioethics : An Analysis of Theoretical Perspectives and Practical Applications in Feminist Bioethics

The purpose of this study is to examine how transformation is defining feminist bioethics and to determine the nature of this transformation. Behind the quest for transformation is core feminism and its political implications, namely, that women and other marginalized groups have been given unequal consideration in society and the sciences and that this situation is unacceptable and should be remedied. The goal of the dissertation is to determine how feminist bioethicists integrate the transformation into their respective fields and how they apply the potential of feminism to bioethical theories and practice. On a theoretical level, feminist bioethicists wish to reveal how current ways of knowing are based on inequality. Feminists pay special attention especially to communal and political contexts and to the power relations endorsed by each community. In addition, feminist bioethicists endorse relational ethics, a relational account of the self in which the interconnectedness of persons is important. On the conceptual level, feminist bioethicists work with beliefs, concepts, and practices that give us our world. As an example, I examine how feminist bioethicists have criticized and redefined the concept of autonomy. Feminist bioethicists emphasize relational autonomy, which is based on the conviction that social relationships shape moral identities and values. On the practical level, I discuss stem cell research as a test case for feminist bioethics and its ability to employ its methodologies. Analyzing these perspectives allowed me first, to compare non-feminist and feminist accounts of stem cell ethics and, second, to analyze feminist perspectives on the novel biotechnology. Along with offering a critical evaluation of the stem cell debate, the study shows that sustainable stem cell policies should be grounded on empirical knowledge about how donors perceive stem cell research and the donation process. The study indicates that feminist bioethics should develop the use of empirical bioethics, which takes the nature of ethics seriously: ethical decisions are provisional and open for further consideration. In addition, the study shows that there is another area of development in feminist bioethics: the understanding of (moral) agency. I argue that agency should be understood to mean that actions create desires.

Sukupuolen rakentuminen väkivaltakertomuksissa

Tutkielmassa tarkasteltiin sukupuolen sosiaalista rakentumista väkivaltaa käsittelevissä kertomuksissa. Aineistona oli 31 lehti-ilmoituksella kerättyä väkivaltakertomusta, joissa väkivallasta kirjoitettiin sekä väkivallan uhrin että tekijän positiosta käsin. Tarkoituksena oli tutkia, millä tavoin väkivaltaa konstruoidaan kertomuksissa ja miten tämä yhdistyy kirjoittajien sukupuolen suorittamiseen. Analyysimenetelmänä oli diskurssianalyysi, jossa sovellettiin sekä poststrukturalistisen diskurssianalyysin että diskursiivisen psykologian lähestymistapaa. Aineistosta oli löydettävissä yhteensä yhdeksän erilaista väkivaltakonstruktiota. Miehen toiseen mieheen kohdistaman väkivallan kontekstissa väkivaltaa konstruoitiin kolmessa konstruktiossa oikeutetuksi ja kahdessa paheksuttavaksi. Parisuhdeväkivallan ja perheessä lapsiin kohdistuvan väkivallan kontekstissa väkivalta näyttäytyi joko väkivallan tekijään liittyvänä, valta-aseman vahvistamisena tai osapuolten vuorovaikutukseen liittyvänä. Tämän lisäksi kaikissa konteksteissa väkivaltaa konstruoitiin toisinaan väkivallan tekijän ulkoisista syistä aiheutuvaksi. Sukupuolen suorittaminen käsitettiin tutkielmassa asemointipyrkimyksinä sukupuolen mukaisiin subjektipositioihin. Kirjoittajien katsottiin kohtaavan väkivaltaan ja sukupuoleen liittyviä diskursiivisia ristiriitoja, joita he pyrkivät neuvottelemaan käyttäen erilaisia neuvottelustrategioita. Väkivaltaan ja maskuliinisuuteen liittyviä diskursiivisia ristiriitoja pyrittiin neuvottelemaan sosiaalisen paheksunnan välttämiseen ja maskuliinisuuden todistamiseen käytetyillä neuvottelustrategioilla. Uhriuteen ja feminiinisyyteen liittyviä diskursiivisia ristiriitoja neuvoteltiin uhriuden todistamiseen sekä sille vastakohtaisesti uhriuden välttelyyn käytetyillä neuvottelustrategioilla, joiden tulkittiin liittyvän pyrkimyksiin asemoitua vahvan naisen positioon. Keskeisinä neuvottelustrategioina olivat erilaiset eronteot, esimerkiksi oikeutetun ja paheksuttavan väkivallan välille, uhrin ja tekijän välille sekä itsen välille ennen ja nyt. Tärkeimmät tutkielmassa käytetyt lähteet olivat: Burr, Vivien (1995): An Introduction to Social Constructionism; Butler, Judith (1990): Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity; Harré, Rom & van Langenhove, Luk (toim.) (1999): Positioning Theory: Moral Contexts of Intentional Action; Hearn, Jeff (1998): The Violences of Men. How Men Talk about and How Agencies Respond to Men’s Violence to Women; Jokinen, Arto (2000): Panssaroitu maskuliinisuus. Mies, väkivalta ja kulttuuri; Keskinen, Suvi (2005): Perheammattilaiset ja väkivaltatyön ristiriidat; Ronkainen, Suvi & Näre, Sari (toim.) (2008): Paljastettu Intiimi. Sukupuolistuneen väkivallan dynamiikka; Wetherell, Margaret (1998): Positioning and Interpretative Repertoires: Conversation Analysis and Post-Structuralism in Dialogue. Avainsanat – Nyckelord – Keywords sukupuolen rakentuminen, väkivalta, subjektipositiot, diskurssianalyysi, diskurssit

Sukupuoli ja organisaatiot liikkeessä? Gender and Organisations in Flux?

Viimeaikainen sukupuolta ja organisaatiota käsittelevä tutkimus ja kirjallisuus on saanut paljon (toisinaan epäsuoria) vaikutteita feminismiä ympäröivistä keskusteluista. Lisäksi naisten aseman ja kokemuksien tunnistaminen organisaatioissa ja johtamisessa on vaikuttanut tutkimukseen. Erilaisten kansainvälisesti tutkittujen aiheiden kirjo on laaja: sukupuolisuhteet organisaatioiden ja johtoryhmien kulttuureissa ja kommunikaatiossa; sukupuolittunut työnjako; sukupuolittuneet hierarkiat, valta, auktoriteetti ja johtajuus organisaatioissa ja johtamisessa; sukupuolittuneet markkinat; sukupuolittuneet kuvat, symbolit ja mainokset; sukupuoli ja IT teknologia; seksuaalisuus, häirintä, kiusaaminen ja väkivalta organisaatioissa; työn ja kodin yhteensovittaminen; ja niin edelleen. Myös akateemiset organisaatiot sekä niiden sukupuolittuneet valtasuhteet ja johtaminen kaipaavat kipeästi huomiota. Useimpia mainituista alueista on tutkittu ainakin jonkin verran mutta paljon työtä on vielä myös jäljellä. Tämä kokoelma esittelee ajankohtaista suomalaista tutkimusta seuraavista teemoista: tasa-arvo organisaatioissa, naisjohtajuus, yrittäjyyden sukupuoli, verkostot, sukupuolen representaatio sekä sukupuoli ja uusi teknologia. Kokoelma on työryhmän yhdessä koostama joten se on ennen kaikkea yhteistyön tulos. Recent research and literature on the gendering of organisations has been strongly influenced, though sometimes indirectly, by debates in and around feminism, and on recognising women and women’s situations, experiences and voices in organisations and management. The range of topics and issues that have been studied internationally is vast: gender relations in organizational and management groups, cultures and communication; gender divisions of labour; gender divisions of hierarchy, power, authority and leadership in organizations and management; gendered markets; gender imagery, symbols and advertising; gender and information technology; sexuality, harassment, bullying and violence in organisations; home-work relations; and so on. There are also key issues of gender power relations in academic organizations and management themselves, which need urgent attention. Though most of these areas have been researched to some extent, much remains to be done. This collection brings together current Finnish research on: Equality in Organisations, Women in Management, Gender and Entrepreneurship, Networks, Representation of Gender, Gender and ICTs. The book has been put together by an editorial team and is thus first and foremost a collective effort.