Work Design and the Labouring Body: Examining the Impacts of Work Organization on Danish Cleaners’ Health

Globalization and neoliberalism are having significant impacts upon the cleaning industry, as in the drive for greater work “efficiency”. One way in which cleaning companies have sought to increase efficiency is through the introduction of new equipment and forms of work organization. However, such moves appear to be having negative impacts upon cleaners’ bodies, and many report significant work‐related health problems. In light of this, here we explore the bodily consequences of two possible strategies for giving cleaners a healthier workday—increasing variation within cleaners’ current work tasks or allowing them to engage in a broader range of tasks through job enlargement. Drawing upon a literature review performed as part of a recent European Union project concerning the degree of physical strain to which cleaners are exposed during cleaning, a Danish laboratory study focusing on the loads to which cleaners’ shoulder muscles, backs, and hearts were exposed by different cleaning tasks, and a field study investigating the effects of job enlargement in Danish hospitals, we show that cleaning work is characterized by repetitive work for the muscles of the body's upper extremities and by high levels of dynamic and static force upon these muscles, regardless of which modes of cleaning (old or new style of cleaning tools) are used. Equally, monitoring of heart rates and assessment of the psychosocial environment suggest that simply interchanging current cleaning tasks does not provide sufficient variation in cleaners’ work to prevent work‐related musculoskeletal or cardiovascular damage, nor to create a less mentally stressful work environment. Although introducing greater work variation through job enlargement (such as combining cleaning with kitchen and portering tasks) is often presented as an effective way to minimize musculoskeletal and cardiovascular damage, our field study shows that even this does not provide sufficient variation in physical work conditions, although improvement in some cleaners’ mental health was noted. Therefore, we conclude, prevention of musculoskeletal and cardiovascular disorders demands a much more comprehensive strategy of work redesign than that proposed by some employers and government agencies. Whether this is likely, given competitive pressures towards increased outsourcing and privatization, is, of course, the question.     

“If I were hungry,I would not tell you” (Ps 50, 12): Perspectives on the Care and Feeding of the Gods in the Hebrew Bible

Abstract

In the Hebrew Bible, sacrifices are described as food for Yahweh and thus the sacrificial system corresponds with the general Ancient Near Eastern system of the “care and feeding of the gods” At the same time, human-divine commensality is problematized in narrative texts such as Judges 6 and 13, where the burnt offering is stressed as the only and necessarily different way the deity may consume food. Finally, some passages, such as Psalm 50, quoted above, explicitly reject the notion that sacrifices and offerings should be required as sustenance for Yahweh since he is the creator and owner of the world and everything in it.

This article offers a survey of various views on sacrifice as food for the deity in the Hebrew Bible and discusses these views in their Ancient Near Eastern context. It is suggested that the main understanding of sacrifice as meal in the Hebrew Bible is one that emphasizes difference through commensality and stresses the incompatibility of the human and the divine sphere through the social locus of the meal.     

At the Intersection of Gender and Language: Why do Francophone Women have Lower Levels of Political Participation?

In Canada, research has found few differences in levels of political participation between Francophones and Anglophones despite traditional differences in resources leading to participation. This study argues that it is when gender is considered alongside language that differences emerge. Differences in conditions between Francophone and Anglophone women may mean that the explanations for the gender gaps differ. Findings show that Francophone women in Québec have lower levels of political participation than Anglophone women and men across Canada. These gender gaps are small but significant. Differences in resources and involvement in voluntary associations help account for Québec Francophone women’s lower participation. Additionally, these results indicate that the different political context and the different political influence of the women’s movement in Québec matter in determining explanations for gender gaps in political participation.     

Post conflict identities: Affiliations and practices of Somali asylum seeker children

Following the 2005 terrorist attacks on London it emerged that two of the terrorists charged with the failed 21st July bombings had arrived in the UK as child asylum seekers from East Africa. In the ensuing debate the bombers were represented as children that turned to hate. In this discussion paper we draw on empirical work conducted in Sheffield, UK to explore the identities, affiliations and practices of Somali asylum seeker children, aged 11–18.1 ¹This ongoing research is being funded by the ESRC Identities and Social Action Programme (Award No: RES-148-025-0028) View all notes Specifically, we argue that the actions of the two bombers need to be framed within a broader understanding of the complex processes of social identification that take place as young people negotiate what it means to be a child in the context of different ‘age’, gender and racialised expectations and against a backdrop of discrimination and social exclusion in different relational geographical spaces. We begin by outlining the context of UK immigration policy, before reflecting on dominant constructions of both childhood and asylum seekers. We then discuss how these may shape young refugee and asylum seekers' own narratives of the self and the role that their mobility and specific sites of identity formation may play in this process. In doing so, we contribute to children's geographies by addressing a group – refugee and asylum seekers – that has been neglected within the sub-discipline.     

Book Reviews

Ellen Juhl Christiansen, The Covenant in Judaism &; Paul. A Study in Ritual Boundaries as Identity Markers (Arbeiten zur Geschichte des Antiken Judentums und des Christentums XXVII; Brill, Leiden 1995, pp 396.

Eberhard Bons, Psalm 31, Rettung als Paradigma. Eine synchron‐le‐serorientierte Analyse (Frankfurter Theologische Studien 48; Verlag J. Knecht, Frankfurt am Main 1994), pp 307.

Magne Sæb?, editor (in co‐operation with Chris Brekelmans and Me‐nahem Haran), Hebrew Bible I Old Testament: The History of Its Interpretation. Volume I. From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (Until 1300). Part 1. Antiquity. Göttingen, Vandenhoeck &; Ruprecht 1996. 847 pp. Price: DM 210.

Martin Rösel, Bibelkunde des Alten Testaments. Neukirchen 1996. Pp.182.

Hans M. Barstad, The Myth of the Empty Land. Symbolae Osloenses fasasuppl. XXVIII, Scandinavian University Press, Oslo 1996. Pp 113.

Klaus Samuel Davidowicz, Gershom Scholem und Martin Buber. Die Geschichte eines Mißverständnisses. Neukirchener Theologische Dissertationen und Habilationen 5; Neukirchen 1995, Pp 166.     

Biblical Archaeology: a Plea for its Continuation

ABSTRACT

The aim of this article is to propose a ritualistic reading of Old Testament ritual texts based on the theory of Roy A. Rappaport. ² 2. Rappaport's ritual theory as it is expressed in Rappaport's major work, Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999). One of Rappaport's more or less overlooked views is that in order to be able to “understand” a certain ritual, one will have to become acquainted with this ritual's liturgical orders, its encoded message. In other words to understand a ritual it is necessary in some way to be informed of this ritual's particular worldview.

As I focus on the ritual texts of the so called P material in the Pentateuch, and in particular on the law of the Nazirite in Numbers 6,1–21, I use this notion of Rappaport's as a hermeneutical key to the reading of the ritual texts.

It is my claim that when we try to answer the questions posed by a ritual text, if we limit our search to the worldview of the ritual in question, we will not only be using an approach which is methodologically sound and appropriate, we will also receive better answers.     

Norwegian national day oratory: constructing and reconstructing a national we

National day speeches play an explicit part in defining national identities. In this article, we examine how mayors in Norwegian municipalities reflect on Norway's increased diversity in their 17 May speeches. National day speeches in Norway are supposed to focus on unity, not conflict. Yet, what have they become in the context of diversity? In applying theoretical perspectives on nations, rituals and language to data consisting of a selection of speeches, our analysis identifies themes that structure a typical 17 May speech. We explore the use of plural pronouns in the speeches and how they make Norwegian national identity more or less accessible for people with minority backgrounds. By including ethnic minorities in national day rhetoric, the speakers negotiate who belongs in the Norwegian community in a less directly political way than in everyday life. Yet, whilst the genre is celebratory, the national day speeches also echo different political attitudes towards diversity and integration.     

Partisanship and the gender gap: support for gender quotas in Australia

The percentage of women elected in the Australian Parliament is comparatively low. This poor track record has generated debate within political parties about the necessity of gender quotas (or targets) to increase women’s representation. Using the 2016 Australian Election Study, this paper proposes to test support for different measures aiming to increasing women’s representation in Australian politics. More specifically, I investigate the role of partisanship in explaining gender differences in support for gender quotas. I find that differences in support for quotas are greater among women, and among men, than between women and men. The paper also demonstrates that the role of political values in explaining differences in support for gender quotas is non-uniform. Indeed, attitudes towards government intervention, minority rights, and gender equality are more crucial in explaining differences in support for legislative quotas among men than among women.