The first aim of this work has been to analyse and understand the ways in which a group of ANC-women politicians reason about bridewealth/lobola – an institution about which they express differing views, in particular about whether or not it is oppressive to women. The main body of the empirical material is based on 27 interviews conducted in South Africa in the period 1996-1998. One finding of the study is that there are explicit defining discourses on lobola as well as more implicitly expressed understandings. The explicit discourses make a distinction between ’good lobola’ – which is expressed in a family-related discourse as ’a bond between families’ – and ’bad lobola’ which is expressed in, for instance, an economic discourse about ’the purchase of women’. The family-related discourse is interpreted as part of a discursive strategy to create spaces for action with respect to relations of gender-related power. (Re)definitions of lobola may be used not only to counter men’s abuse of monetary lobola but also to counter ’traditional’ gender meanings associated with lobola. Furthermore, explicit discourses on lobola are interpreted as a ‘political discourse’ which is formed both in relation to pragmatic ‘political realities’ but also in relation to hegemonic Western discourses. The political discourse on lobola in connection with ‘African identity’ constitutes a discursive strategy to provide discursive space in order for ’Africans’ to be able to (re)interpret a cherished but also controversial institution. A second aim of the study has been of a self-reflexive character. It consitutes a critique of a ‘doing gender’ theoretical perspective as well as an attempt to transcend the ‘actor/structure dichotomy’ in sociological analysis.

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Unter Queer Politics wird eine spezifische Form des politischen Aktivismus verstanden, bei dem eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit gesellschaftlichen Konstruktionsprozessen von Geschlecht und Sexualität, die sozialen Folgen solcher Prozesse und ihre Einbindung in Macht- und Herrschaftsverhältnisse fokussiert werden. Queer Politics wurden insbesondere durch die Befreiungskämpfe der lesbischen und schwulen sowie der feministischen Bewegungen des 20. Jahrhunderts geprägt. Die Queer Theory bildet den wichtigsten theoretischen Hintergrund. Kritik wird vor allem hinsichtlich der Unschärfe des Begriffs queer, als auch queerer Identitätspolitiken formuliert.

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is one of the least studied HIV-related risk factors in Haiti although research in the United States and Europe has clearly established the link between childhood trauma and HIV risk behaviors. Understanding the role and impact of CSA on HIV-positive Haitian women is likely to strengthen future HIV prevention and treatment efforts aimed at this vulnerable group. The current study was a cross-sectional examination of baseline data collected during a randomized trial of a cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) intervention in Haiti. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between CSA and sexual risk behaviors, alcohol use, and social support in a group of Haitian women, ages 17-55 (n=229), who are HIV-positive alcohol users living in Haiti. The outcomes investigated were the respondents’ level of exposure to CSA and their current HIV-related risk factors. The Theory of Gender and Power provided the theoretical framework for variable selection and associative exploration. Statistical tests included descriptive analyses, chi-square tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and correlations. Results showed that women who were exposed to some level of sexual abuse during childhood had less favorable attitudes towards condom use than women who reported no exposure to sexual abuse during childhood [F(2, 217) = 5.10, p = .007]. There were no differences between exposure groups for the remaining sexual risk behaviors: multiple partners, knowledge of HIV, and sexual self-efficacy. Women who were exposed to CSA also reported higher levels of alcohol use than reported by the women in the non-exposure group. Finally, there were no differences between exposure groups for social support. Group differences in attitudes towards condom use and levels of alcohol use among HIV-positive Haitian women demonstrate that HIV-positive individuals have different past and present experiences that affect their current beliefs and behaviors. Examining women at the beginning of their diagnosis for childhood trauma and providing targeted interventions for coping with that trauma presents a valuable research opportunity. The findings of the current study suggest that more research is required to understand the association between CSA and HIV-related risk factors in this subset of the HIV-positive population.

Gehirnforschung ist ein naturwissenschaftlicher Forschungsbereich, der sich aus den Disziplinen Anatomie, Embryologie, Physiologie, Pharmakologie und Psychologie entwickelt hat. Gendertheoretisch informierte historische Studien zur Gehirnforschung fokussieren ideologiekritische und diskursanalytische Betrachtungen androzentrischer bzw. sexistischer Körpervorstellungen von der Antike bis zum 21. Jh., welche u. a. die bürgerliche Geschlechterordnung argumentativ gestützt und naturalisiert hatten.