Search

Particularly pertinent given the explosive power of political cartoons that has been witnessed in Europe in recent years, the central focus of this research is a decoding of the visual rhetoric of satirical media in France today. These images are analysed as rich sources of coded content pertaining to concepts of nationhood and identity, a pressing issue of contention given the current tumultuous socio-political climate in France. Conceived primarily through an argument of images and play of metaphor, these political ephemera are powerful sites of symbolic meaning-making, wherein ‘elite’ concepts of national identity may be challenged as well as strengthened. With this research, then, I hold that an exploration of the poetics of political imagery reveals enduring myths about France and its inhabitants, one that arguably forms part of a wider, nationwide dispute about citizenship that extends beyond formal, legal definitions. Within these connoted elite concepts of Frenchness and its corresponding marginalised Other, the signifying practices of satire, and its purpose and misuse, emerge as especially significant. Remarkably central in renewed nationhood debates stoked by the current identity and ideological crisis felt in France, the satirical political cartoon often appears to represent an irreconcilability between French and Muslim values. In such a context, further, the customarily subversive deployment of satire in contemporary France, whilst ‘punching up’ at threats and intimidation, often simultaneously appears to align with elite, hegemonic scopic regimes and social positions, dislocating its proper societal function. For a postcolonial France with an increasingly fractured populace, the ‘dangerous signs’ of the satirical political cartoon, then, become disputed space for meaning-making, with its contemporary application, and the semiotic ideologies contained therein, entangled with new socio-political implications.

This study set out to determine which values are represented in the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools by matching Schwartz's ten values constructs to the Nine Values for Australian Schooling and examining the values orientations of contemporary young people, specifically Grade 8 girls from one State High School in South East Queensland. This was achieved by using the Schwartz Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ) as well as thematic analysis. Key findings were that there was a match between the Grade 8 girls values and some of the Nine Values however not others. Also, that not all of Schwartz's values are represented in the Nine Values for Australian Schooling, and certain values could be said to be omitted from the Framework and certain privileged.

The Indigenous community of Wadeye in the Northern Territory, Australia has been described as a community 'under siege from continual gang violence' (Rioting flares again at Wadeye. The Australian 7 August; Gang violence plagues Wadeye. ABC News 1 December; Wadeye worst in 50 years. NT News 2 November). The gangs appear to have emerged in the early 1980s and are generally defined through youth aligning themselves along cultural, clan and family affiliations into groups with contemporary Americanised gang characteristics, symbolic links with heavy metal music and clearly defined turf boundaries. Although they do engage in some relatively minor drug (predominately cannabis) distribution for profit, the rationale for these groups appears to be either as a provocative and offensive structure, or at other times as a defence mechanism. Despite the portrayal of gangs as the focus of criminal activity in the community, there has been little research to explore the relationship between the gangs and the criminal profile of the community. Nor has there been research that examines gang activity from the perspective of the members or within a broader community context. Without this level of understanding, it is very difficult to design interventions that meet the needs of youth in the community. This paper presents data from a survey of young people who were involved in gangs in Wadeye and interviews with gang members who were incarcerated in Darwin Correctional Centre.

This report explores the experiences and aspirations of youth in Wadeye, a remote Aboriginal community in the Northern Territory which has become synonymous with the deviant behaviours of its young people. The research was undertaken over a three year period, and builds upon a previous ten year period of community based research. As such it forms a unique longitudinal study of young people during a period of extreme change in their lives. The research applied a mixed methods approach, utilising ethnography, interviews and the application of a community wide survey. Although young community based people were the primary focus of the study, the research also included the wider community perspectives, service provide rs and a sample of imprisoned community members. The proliferation of gangs in the Wadeye community has become a primary focus for outsiders' interpretation of social issues in the community. These gangs have been defined by their violent and oppositional cultures. This period of research and the research which preceded it, emphasise the complexity of gang cultures and gang dynamics in this community. The report also emphasises that a primary focus on gangs serves to obscure other factors influencing young people's lives and behaviours. This includes those youth who do not engage in deviant behaviour, who attend school and progress to employment. It also includes youth who engage in non-gang related violent and anti-social behaviour. The report argues that effective service delivery and the development of appropriate diversion activities for young people must recognise the diversity and complexity of the youth experience in the community and recognise and develop their current strengths. Feedback from elders, young people and long-term community workers, advocates that more partnership approaches to further research and program evaluation must become an integral part of the process. Involving young people themselves as part of this research process will pr