title: Australian Sociology: Fragility, Survival, Rivalry by Kirsten Harley & Gary Wickham[Book Review]

authors: Rajčan, Adam

abstract: This short book is one of about two dozen volumes in the Palgrave Macmillan series on national sociology histories around the world. Australia and New Zealand represent overlaps in colonial histories, the growth of western modernity and forms of intellectual and scientific regimes, yet with very different disciplinary accounts (Crothers, 2018). Harley and Wickham’s book expands on other historical work, particularly Germov and McGee’s 2005 volume, providing additional information, especially about the more recent half-century. They use the phrase from their title as a thematic device to suggest three overlapping themes: ‘fragility, survival and rivalry’.

text: Australian Sociology: Fragility, Survival, Rivalry by Kirsten Harley & Gary Wickham[Book Review] This short book is one of about two dozen volumes in the Palgrave Macmillan series on national sociology histories around the world. Australia and New Zealand represent overlaps in colonial histories, the growth of western modernity and forms of intellectual and scientific regimes, yet with very different disciplinary accounts (Crothers, 2018). Harley and Wickham’s book expands on other historical work, particularly Germov and McGee’s 2005 volume, providing additional information, especially about the more recent half-century. They use the phrase from their title as a thematic device to suggest three overlapping themes: ‘fragility, survival and rivalry’.

year: 2021

title: Investigating state-trait distinction in scales of resilience: Application of generalisability theory

authors: Child, Lucy E.

subjects: Resilience

abstract: Psychological resilience has been linked to a range of positive psychological outcomes, notably as a protective factor against the harmful effects of stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Resilience is also a proven asset for students, workers, and organisations. Despite a general academic consensus of resilience as both dynamic and developable, interventions to develop it have proven largely ineffective. Interventions designed to enhance resilience should be focused on aspects of resilience that are dynamic and thus amenable to change. Accordingly, accurate assessment of resilience, and formation of effective resilience training interventions necessitates clear delineation between stable and dynamic aspects of resilience. Without this distinction, changes in state and trait resilience are likely to be conflated, resulting in imprecise measurement of resilience and inadequate design of interventions. Generalisability Theory (G-theory) has been recommended as the most robust and appropriate statistical model to evaluate state-trait distinction, reliability, and sources of measurement errors. 

This study investigated five major psychometric scales of resilience and the individual items within these scales to ascertain whether they were reliable measures of either stable or dynamic features of resilience. G-theory methodology was implemented to discriminate between state and trait features of resilience, and to assess the reliability of five scales of resilience measurement over a period of several weeks. Longitudinal measurement design was applied to an adequate sample of 94 participants, assessed at 3 time points with one-week intervals on five resilience scales. 

All analysed scales demonstrated a high generalisability of scores across occasions and the sample population (G > 0.90), consistent with expectations for a trait measure. Eleven state-items were identified in four resilience scales and consolidated into eight dynamic aspects of resilience. These dynamic aspects of resilience include adaptation to change, perseverance, self-confidence in the face of adversity, self-efficacy, trust in instincts, ability to follow plans, ability to plan, and non-reactivity. These resilience facets are the most modifiable and therefore should be the primary target of interventions to enhance resilience in people. This research established the overall reliability of all five psychometric scales for the assessment of trait resilience. Therefore, these validated scales are useful to assess long-lasting changes in resilience but lack the sensitivity required to detect temporal changes, warranting the development of a state-resilience scale.

text: Investigating state-trait distinction in scales of resilience: Application of generalisability theory Psychological resilience has been linked to a range of positive psychological outcomes, notably as a protective factor against the harmful effects of stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Resilience is also a proven asset for students, workers, and organisations. Despite a general academic consensus of resilience as both dynamic and developable, interventions to develop it have proven largely ineffective. Interventions designed to enhance resilience should be focused on aspects of resilience that are dynamic and thus amenable to change. Accordingly, accurate assessment of resilience, and formation of effective resilience training interventions necessitates clear delineation between stable and dynamic aspects of resilience. Without this distinction, changes in state and trait resilience are likely to be conflated, resulting in imprecise measurement of resilience and inadequate design of interventions. Generalisability Theory (G-theory) has been recommended as the most robust and appropriate statistical model to evaluate state-trait distinction, reliability, and sources of measurement errors. 

This study investigated five major psychometric scales of resilience and the individual items within these scales to ascertain whether they were reliable measures of either stable or dynamic features of resilience. G-theory methodology was implemented to discriminate between state and trait features of resilience, and to assess the reliability of five scales of resilience measurement over a period of several weeks. Longitudinal measurement design was applied to an adequate sample of 94 participants, assessed at 3 time points with one-week intervals on five resilience scales. 

All analysed scales demonstrated a high generalisability of scores across occasions and the sample population (G > 0.90), consistent with expectations for a trait measure. Eleven state-items were identified in four resilience scales and consolidated into eight dynamic aspects of resilience. These dynamic aspects of resilience include adaptation to change, perseverance, self-confidence in the face of adversity, self-efficacy, trust in instincts, ability to follow plans, ability to plan, and non-reactivity. These resilience facets are the most modifiable and therefore should be the primary target of interventions to enhance resilience in people. This research established the overall reliability of all five psychometric scales for the assessment of trait resilience. Therefore, these validated scales are useful to assess long-lasting changes in resilience but lack the sensitivity required to detect temporal changes, warranting the development of a state-resilience scale.

year: 2020

title: Race-ing and engendering the nation-state in Aotearoa/New Zealand

authors: Seuffert, Nan

subjects: Maori

abstract: During the past several decades the dynamics of law and policy reform in Aotearoa/New Zealand have prefigured and encapsulated contemporary trends in economic state restructuring, indigenous claims to refigure the nation, and gender struggles for political representation. Successive governments have restructured the economy and the state using radical forms of neo-liberal economic policy with the stated aim of globalizing the economy. Political action on the part of the indigenous Maori people, often led by Maori women, increased and diversified, and included demands for self-determination and redress of historical colonial injustices. In 1997, the conservative National Party’s Jenny Shipley become the country’s first white female Prime Minister, followed in 1999 by the election of a center-left coalition headed by Labour Party leader Helen Clark. This article analyzes the race and gender dynamics of these contemporary trends. First, it argues that policies of state structural adjustment and Maori political claims have converged in commodified settlements of past colonial injustices as corporate deals. These deals are temporary alliances of men across race to silence and erase the demands for self-determination or political power sharing of Maori activists, who are usually Maori women. Second, this article contends that the political instability created by rapid structural adjustment and the change to a Mixed Member Proportional (“MMP”) electoral system converges with white backlash against these settlements to open space for New Zealand’s first two female Prime Ministers. This article also suggests that the election of a second white female Prime Minister in New Zealand may reflect the (temporary) regendering of the role of Prime Minister to the feminine.

text: Race-ing and engendering the nation-state in Aotearoa/New Zealand During the past several decades the dynamics of law and policy reform in Aotearoa/New Zealand have prefigured and encapsulated contemporary trends in economic state restructuring, indigenous claims to refigure the nation, and gender struggles for political representation. Successive governments have restructured the economy and the state using radical forms of neo-liberal economic policy with the stated aim of globalizing the economy. Political action on the part of the indigenous Maori people, often led by Maori women, increased and diversified, and included demands for self-determination and redress of historical colonial injustices. In 1997, the conservative National Party’s Jenny Shipley become the country’s first white female Prime Minister, followed in 1999 by the election of a center-left coalition headed by Labour Party leader Helen Clark. This article analyzes the race and gender dynamics of these contemporary trends. First, it argues that policies of state structural adjustment and Maori political claims have converged in commodified settlements of past colonial injustices as corporate deals. These deals are temporary alliances of men across race to silence and erase the demands for self-determination or political power sharing of Maori activists, who are usually Maori women. Second, this article contends that the political instability created by rapid structural adjustment and the change to a Mixed Member Proportional (“MMP”) electoral system converges with white backlash against these settlements to open space for New Zealand’s first two female Prime Ministers. This article also suggests that the election of a second white female Prime Minister in New Zealand may reflect the (temporary) regendering of the role of Prime Minister to the feminine.

year: 2002-02-01