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Western Discourse (western + discourse)
Selected AbstractsRendering the World Unsafe: ,Vulnerability' as Western DiscourseDISASTERS, Issue 1 2001Gregory Bankoff Disasters seem destined to be major issues of academic enquiry in the new century if for no other reason than that they are inseparably linked to questions of environmental conservation, resource depletion and migration patterns in an increasingly globalised world. Unfortunately, inadequate attention has been directed at considering the historical roots of the discursive framework within which hazard is generally presented, and how that might reflect particular cultural values to do with the way in which certain regions or zones of the world are usually imagined. This paper argues that tropicality, development and vulnerability form part of one and the same essentialising and generalising cultural discourse that denigrates large regions of world as disease-ridden, poverty-stricken and disaster-prone. [source] A Stereotype, Wrapped in a Cliché, Inside a Caricature: Russian Foreign Policy and OrientalismPOLITICS, Issue 3 2010James D.J. Brown This article distils Edward Said's celebrated critique of Orientalism and applies it to the mainstream Western discourse on Russian foreign policy. It finds that the literature in this field, while not as afflicted as the material towards which Said's strident criticism was originally directed, displays a number of the characteristic symptoms of Orientalism , the exaggeration of difference, assumption of Western superiority and resort to clichéd analytical models. To overcome this malaise, it is proposed that scholars make greater efforts to break free of these ,mind-forg'd manacles' and reflect more deeply upon the assumptions underpinning their scholarship. [source] New Polynesian Triangle: Rethinking Polynesian migration and development in the PacificASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 3 2009Manuhuia Barcham Abstract For many Polynesians migration is still framed within a particular spatial context, although on an enlarged scale , one that we have termed the New Polynesian Triangle. With its apexes in the North American continent to the east, Australia in the west and New Zealand in the south, this New Polynesian Triangle encompasses a particular field through which ongoing Polynesian migration and movement continues to occur. Movement within this New Polynesian Triangle is both multidimensional and multidirectional. While it is the movement of economic resources, particularly remittances, that has captured the interest of many agencies operating in the region, we argue that such economic flows are integrally linked with other flows , of goods, ideas, skills and culture , to form a single dynamic system of movement. Importantly, such flows are not uni-directional (from ,rich' to ,poor' countries) as was assumed in times past. In developing ideas on the New Polynesian Triangle, we wish to move away from the dominant Western discourse of the Pacific Ocean as a barrier to development and movement and towards the reclamation of the ocean as a conduit and source of connection and movement for Pacific peoples. [source] Socio-cultural perceptions of sudden infant death syndrome among migrant Indian mothersJOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 11 2009Henna Aslam Aim: To explore socio-cultural influences on migrant mother decisions and beliefs regarding co-sleeping as a risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Methods: Semi-structured interviews with five Indian-born women in a socio-economically disadvantaged suburb in the south-west of Sydney were conducted between September and December 2007. Transcripts were analysed using principles of discourse analysis. Results: Discourse analysis revealed that SIDS-related decisions and beliefs about co-sleeping as a risk factor for SIDS are constructed amid competing discourses of motherhood and child health. Mothers are either actively or unconsciously deciding how they negotiate or resist dominant Western discourses of motherhood and child health to make ,the best' health-related decisions for their children. Participants resisted acknowledging child sleep practices recommended by health practitioners, particularly recommendations to put to sleep the baby in its own cot. This resistance was expressed by constructing messages as ,inapplicable' and ,inappropriate'. Co-sleeping was constructed as a highly valued practice for its physical and social benefits to the child, mother and family by facilitating child security, breastfeeding, bonding and family connectedness. Conclusion: This study illustrates how decisions and behaviour are shaped by socio-cultural influences embedded in discourses and context. It also shows that in-depth investigation through a social constructivist lens is particularly useful for investigating influences on knowledge acquisition, interpretation and implementation among migrant groups. A greater appreciation of the social meanings and ideologies attached to behaviours can help to ensure that the correct messages reach the correct populations, and that child health outcomes can be achieved and maintained both for overseas and Australian-born populations. [source] | ||||||||||