Rethinking Care Through Social Reproduction: Articulating Circuits of Migration

Care has come to dominate much feminist research on globalized migrations and the transfer of labor from the South to the North, while the older concept of reproduction had been pushed into the background but is now becoming the subject of debates on the commodification of care in the household and changes in welfare state policies. This article argues that we could achieve a better understanding of the different modalities and trajectories of care in the reproduction of individuals, families, and communities, both of migrant and nonmigrant populations by articulating the diverse circuits of migration, in particular that of labor and the family. In doing this, I go back to the earlier North American writing on racialized minorities and migrants and stratified social reproduction. I also explore insights from current Asian studies of gendered circuits of migration connecting labor and marriage migrations as well as the notion of global householding that highlights the gender politics of social reproduction operating within and beyond households in institutional and welfare architectures. In contrast to Asia, there has relatively been little exploration in European studies of the articulation of labor and family migrations through the lens of social reproduction. However, connecting the different types of migration enables us to achieve a more complex understanding of care trajectories and their contribution to social reproduction.

Opting out of oppositionality : toward an informed and engaged "third wave" feminism

I begin by citing a definition of "third wave" from the glossary in Turbo Chicks: Talking Young Feminisms at length because it communicates several key issues that I develop in this project. The definition introduces a tension within "third wave" feminism of building and differentiating itself from second wave feminism, the newness of the term "third wave," its association with "young" women, complexity of contemporary feminisms, and attention to multiple identities and oppressions. Uncovering explanations of "third wave" feminism that go beyond, like this one, generational associations, is not an easy task. Authors consistently group new feminist voices together by age under the label "third wave" feminists without questioning the accuracy of the designation. Most explorations of "third wave" feminism overlook the complexities and distinctions that abound among "young" feminists ; not all young feminists espouse similar ideas, tactics, and actions; and for various reasons, not all young feminists identify with a "third wave" of feminism. Less than a year after I began to learn about feminism I discovered Barbara Findlen's Listen Up: Voices From the Next Feminist Generation. Although the collection nor its contributors declare association with "third wave" feminism, consequent reviews and citations in articles identify it, along with Rebecca Walker's To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Voice of Feminism, as a major text of "third wave" feminism. Re-reading Listen Up since beginning to research "third wave" feminism, I now understand its fundamental influence on my research questions as a starting point for assessing persistent exclusion in contemporary feminism, rather than as a revolutionary text (as it is claimed to be in many reviews). Findlen begins the introduction with the bold claim, "My feminism wasn't shaped by antiwar or civil rights activism ..." (xi). Framing the collection with a disavowal of the influence women of color's organizational efforts negates, for me, the project's proclaimed commitment to multivocality. Though several contributions examine persistent exclusion within contemporary feminist movement, the larger project seems to rely on these essays to reflect this commitment, suggesting that Listen Up does not go beyond the "add and stir" approach to "diversity." Interestingly, this statement does not appear in the new edition of Listen Up published in 2001. And the content has changed with this new edition, including several more Latina contributors and other "corrective" additions.

Materno-infantilism, feminism and maternal health policy in Brazil

In the last days of 2011, President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff issued a provisional measure (or draft law) entitled "National Surveillance and Monitoring Registration System for the Prevention of Maternal Mortality" (MP 557), as part of a new maternal health programme. It was supposed to address the pressing issue of maternal morbidity and mortality in Brazil, but instead it caused an explosive controversy because it used terms such as nascituro (unborn child) and proposed the compulsory registration of every pregnancy. After intense protests by feminist and human rights groups that this law was unconstitutional, violated women's right to privacy and threatened our already limited reproductive rights, the measure was revised in January 2012, omitting "the unborn child" but not the mandatory registration of pregnancy. Unfortunately, neither version of the draft law addresses the two main problems with maternal health in Brazil: the over-medicalisation of childbirth and its adverse effects, and the need for safe, legal abortion. The content of this measure itself reflects the conflictive nature of public policies on reproductive health in Brazil and how they are shaped by close links between different levels of government and political parties, and religious and professional sectors. (C) 2012 Reproductive Health Matters

The Hungarian Economic Elite After the Political Transition

Erzsebet Szalai (Hungary). The Hungarian Economic Elite after the Political Transition. Ms. Szalai is a research fellow in the Institute of Political Sciences in Budapest and worked on this project from July 1996 to June 1998. In the period following the political changes of 1989, the leading forces of the economic elite have gained increasing superiority over the political and cultural elites, with the clear ambition of putting the latter to their service. The power relations within the economic elite were characterised by "a war of all against all". The desire to gain precedence over others became an openly declared value. The formation of estates and the intensification of competition became embodied in a multitude of lobbies which cropped up to assert short-term interests. After the state socialist period, possession of at least two of the social, economic and cultural forms of capital is necessary to join one of the three segments of the elite: political, cultural or economic. What defines the ability of the members of the three elite groups to assert their interests is their ability to convert any of the three types of capital into another. That is to say, the basis on which they can retain and extend their position is "symbolic capital" as interpreted by Bourdieu. The concept of symbolic capital is useful for describing the power relations following the collapse of state socialist systems and societies. In the state-socialist system, the political, economic and cultural spheres are tightly interwoven, and this interpenetration slackens only slowly after the system's disintegration. A close institutional relationship between the three spheres continues to make it easier for power actors to convert social, economic and cultural capital from one type to another. Symbolic capital, or the easy transfer between the three spheres, in turn reproduces the institutional relationship, or more precisely, complicates the separation of the three spheres after the fall of state socialism.

Difference and Hierarchy Revisited by Feminism

Drawing heavily on the work of classicist Page duBois, which eloquently explains the emergence, in ancient Greece, of hierarchy and of what is still understood today as the great chain of being (scala naturae: male, female, slave, barbarian, animal), this paper analyzes the age-old negative conotations of the concept of difference in western culture, considers the reinvention of difference as “positive” by Rosi Braidotti (after Deleuze & Guattari), and reassesses the efforts of several other feminist philosophers (e.g. Luce Irigaray, Judith Butler, Gayatry Spivak, Drucilla Cornell) to counter Lacan on the impossibility of “speaking women” beyond the dominant (male) philosophical discourse. Or, to paraphrase Marie Cardinal, their efforts to find “les mots pour le dire”.

Statue of Liberty after Women's March to Battery Park

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Eleanor Holmes Norton and NY delegate after abortion resolution passes

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Exhausted after hours of voting at the NOW conference, Philadelphia

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Women in Central Park after second Women's March down Fifth Avenue

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Dna Extraction From Filter-paper Spots Of Vaginal Samples Collected After Sexual Violence.

To detect the presence of male DNA in vaginal samples collected from survivors of sexual violence and stored on filter paper. A pilot study was conducted to evaluate 10 vaginal samples spotted on sterile filter paper: 6 collected at random in April 2009 and 4 in October 2010. Time between sexual assault and sample collection was 4-48hours. After drying at room temperature, the samples were placed in a sterile envelope and stored for 2-3years until processing. DNA extraction was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction for human β-globin, and the presence of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was quantified. The presence of the Y chromosome was detected using primers for sequences in the TSPY (Y7/Y8 and DYS14) and SRY genes. β-Globin was detected in all 10 samples, while 2 samples were positive for PSA. Half of the samples amplified the Y7/Y8 and DYS14 sequences of the TSPY gene and 30% amplified the SRY gene sequence of the Y chromosome. Four male samples and 1 female sample served as controls. Filter-paper spots stored for periods of up to 3years proved adequate for preserving genetic material from vaginal samples collected following sexual violence.

The Value Of The 2005 International Society Of Urological Pathology (isup) Modified Gleason Grading System As A Predictor Of Biochemical Recurrence After Radical Prostatectomy.

To compare time and risk to biochemical recurrence (BR) after radical prostatectomy of two chronologically different groups of patients using the standard and the modified Gleason system (MGS). Cohort 1 comprised biopsies of 197 patients graded according to the standard Gleason system (SGS) in the period 1997/2004, and cohort 2, 176 biopsies graded according to the modified system in the period 2005/2011. Time to BR was analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier product-limit analysis and prediction of shorter time to recurrence using univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. Patients in cohort 2 reflected time-related changes: striking increase in clinical stage T1c, systematic use of extended biopsies, and lower percentage of total length of cancer in millimeter in all cores. The MGS used in cohort 2 showed fewer biopsies with Gleason score ≤ 6 and more biopsies of the intermediate Gleason score 7. Time to BR using the Kaplan-Meier curves showed statistical significance using the MGS in cohort 2, but not the SGS in cohort 1. Only the MGS predicted shorter time to BR on univariate analysis and on multivariate analysis was an independent predictor. The results favor that the 2005 International Society of Urological Pathology modified system is a refinement of the Gleason grading and valuable for contemporary clinical practice.

Comparison Of Postoperative Stability Of Three Rigid Internal Fixation Techniques After Sagittal Split Ramus Osteotomy For Mandibular Advancement.

The aim of this investigation was to compare the skeletal stability of three different rigid fixation methods after mandibular advancement. Fifty-five class II malocclusion patients treated with the use of bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy and mandibular advancement were selected for this retrospective study. Group 1 (n = 17) had miniplates with monocortical screws, Group 2 (n = 16) had bicortical screws and Group 3 (n = 22) had the osteotomy fixed by means of the hybrid technique. Cephalograms were taken preoperatively, 1 week within the postoperative care period, and 6 months after the orthognathic surgery. Linear and angular changes of the cephalometric landmarks of the chin region were measured at each period, and the changes at each cephalometric landmark were determined for the time gaps. Postoperative changes in the mandibular shape were analyzed to determine the stability of fixation methods. There was minimum difference in the relapse of the mandibular advancement among the three groups. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in postoperative stability. However, a positive correlation between the amount of advancement and the amount of postoperative relapse was demonstrated by the linear multiple regression test (p < 0.05). It can be concluded that all techniques can be used to obtain stable postoperative results in mandibular advancement after 6 months.

Desquamation Is A Novel Phenomenon For Collective Prostate Epithelial Cell Deletion After Castration.

The mechanism underlying castration-induced prostate regression, which is a classical physiological concept translated into the therapeutic treatment of advanced prostate cancer, involves epithelial cell apoptosis. In searching for events and mechanisms contributing to prostate regression in response to androgen modulation, we have frequently observed the collective deletion of epithelial cells. This work was undertaken to characterize this phenomenon hereafter named desquamation and to verify its presence after 17β-estradiol (E2) administration. Electron microscopy revealed that the desquamating cells had preserved cell-cell junctions and collapsed nuclear contents. The TUNEL reaction was negative for these cells, which were also negative for cleaved caspases-8, -9, -3 and nuclear apoptosis-inducing factor. Detailed analyses revealed that the condensed chromatin was first affected detaching from the nuclear lamina, which was observable after lamin A immunohistochemistry, suggesting the lack of lamin A degradation. A search in animals treated with supraphysiological E2 employed as an alternative anti-androgen treatment revealed no desquamation. The combined treatment (Cas + E2 group) caused changes particular to each treatment, including desquamation. In conclusion, desquamation appeared as a novel phenomenon contributing to collective prostate epithelial cell deletion, distinct from the classical castration-induced apoptosis and particular to the androgen deprivation resulting from surgical castration, and should be considered as part of the mechanisms promoting organ regression.

Up-regulation Of Dnam-1 And Nkp30, Associated With Improvement Of Nk Cells Activation After Long-term Culture Of Mononuclear Cells From Patients With Ovarian Neoplasia.

This study aimed at evaluating the functional activation and activating receptors expression on resting, short- and long-term NK and NK-like T cells from blood of ovarian neoplasia patients. Blood from patients with adnexal benign alterations (n = 10) and ovarian cancer (grade I-IV n = 14) were collected after signed consent. Effector cells activation was evaluated by the expression of the CD107a molecule. Short-term culture was conducted overnight with IL-2 and long-term culture for 21 days, by a method designed to expand CD56(+) lymphocytes. Short-term culture significantly increased NK cells activation compared to resting NK cells (p<0.05), however, the long-term procedure supported an even higher increase (p<0.001). Resting NK-like T cells showed poor activation, which was not altered by the culture procedures. The long-term culture effectively increased the expression of the activating receptors on NK and NK-like T cells, either by increasing the number of cells expressing a given receptor and/or by up-regulating their expression intensity. As a conclusion, the long-term culture system employed, resulted in a high number of functional NK cells. The culture system was particularly efficient on the up-regulation of NKp30 and DNAM-1 receptors on NK cells.