Discourse, Cultural Capital and Power Relations in Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending

The objective of this paper is to examine in which way the use of the oral and written discourse in Julian Barnes’s novel The Sense of an Ending (2011) reflects, on the one hand, a social hierarchy based on classificatory cultural, intellectual, and educational competencies and resources and, on the other, dominance strategies and power relations developed among the principal actors. It will be investigated how trivial discussions and letters exchanged between friends are deployed in order to sustain or eliminate control over the other(s) and indicate status positions. The proposed methodological framework of analysis is founded on Bourdieu’s approach to cultural capital, according to which cultural preferences are markers of social stratification, while highbrow aesthetic judgment is both a means to, and a stake in, upward social mobility. Foucault’s theory of a “decentralised” and ubiquitous power, dispersed at all levels and defined as an action directed to other people’s actions, will also be applied.

DOMINANCE STRATEGIES IN POLEMICAL DIALOGUES

To support successful interaction in dialog it is necessary to realize both informative and social functions that are to convey the information and to maintain good relations between interlocutors. The functions work in different dialogs not always in harmony. The article is devoted to polemical dialogues, the target of which may not take into account social function and even lead to conflicts. Particular attention is paid to three polemical tactics realized with the help of communicatives - stereotypical speech formulas of dialogue.

Beyond Populism: The Psychology of Status-Seeking and Extreme Political Discontent

Modern democracies are currently experiencing destabilizing events including the emergence of demagogic leaders, the onset of street riots, circulation of misinformation and extremely hostile political engagements on social media. Some of the forms of discontent are commonly argued to be related to populism. In this chapter, however, we argue that the evolved psychology of status-seeking lies at the core of this syndrome of extreme political discontent. Thus, social status constitutes one of the key adaptive resources for any human, as it induces deference from others in conflicts of interest. Prior research has identified two routes to status: Privilege acquired through service and dominance acquired through coercion. We argue that extreme political discontent involves behaviors aimed at dominance through engagement in either individual aggression or in mobilization processes that facilitate coalitional aggression. Consistent with this, we empirically demonstrate that measures of status-seeking via dominance correlate with indices of a large number of extreme forms of political discontent and do so more strongly than a measure of populism. Finally, we argue that the reason why dominance strategies become activated in the context of modern democratic politics is that increased inequality activates heightened needs for status and, under such conditions, dominance for some groups constitutes a more attainable route to status than prestige.

Facial width-to-height ratio is associated with agonistic and affiliative dominance in bonobos ( Pan paniscus )

Facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) is associated with social dominance in human and non-human primates, which may reflect the effects of testosterone on facial morphology and behaviour. Given that testosterone facilitates status-seeking motivation, the association between fWHR and behaviour should be contingent on the relative costs and benefits of particular dominance strategies across species and socioecological contexts. We tested this hypothesis in bonobos ( Pan paniscus ), who exhibit female dominance and rely on both affiliation and aggression to achieve status. We measured fWHR from facial photographs, affiliative dominance with Assertiveness personality scores and agonistic dominance with behavioural data. Consistent with our hypothesis, agonistic and affiliative dominance predicted fWHR in both sexes independent of age and body weight, supporting the role of status-seeking motivation in producing the link between fWHR and socioecologically relevant dominance behaviour across primates.

Heuristic Voting as Ordinal Dominance Strategies

Decision making under uncertainty is a key component of many AI settings, and in particular of voting scenarios where strategic agents are trying to reach a joint decision. The common approach to handle uncertainty is by maximizing expected utility, which requires a cardinal utility function as well as detailed probabilistic information. However, often such probabilities are not easy to estimate or apply.To this end, we present a framework that allows for “shades of gray” of likelihood without probabilities. Specifically, we create a hierarchy of sets of world states based on a prospective poll, with inner sets contain more likely outcomes. This hierarchy of likelihoods allows us to define what we term ordinally-dominated strategies. We use this approach to justify various known voting heuristics as bounded-rational strategies.

Detailed analysis of paternal knockout Grb10 mice suggests effects on stability of social behavior, rather than social dominance

ABSTRACTImprinted genes are highly expressed in monoaminergic regions of the midbrain and their functions in this area are thought to have an impact on mammalian social behaviors. One such imprinted gene is Grb10, of which the paternal allele is currently recognized as mediating social dominance behavior. However, there has been no detailed study of social dominance in Grb10+/p mice. Moreover, the original study examined tube-test behavior in isolated mice 10 months of age. Isolation testing favors more territorial and aggressive behaviors, and does not address social dominance strategies employed in group housing contexts. Furthermore, isolation stress impacts midbrain function and dominance related behavior, often through alterations in monoaminergic signaling. Thus, we undertook a systematic study of Grb10+/p social rank and dominance behavior within the cage group, using a number of convergent behavioral tests. We examined both male and female mice to account for sex differences, and tested cohorts aged 2, 6, and 10 months to examine any developments related to age. We found group-housed Grb10+/p mice do not show evidence of enhanced social dominance, but cages containing Grb10+/p and wildtype mice lacked the normal correlation between three different measures of social rank. Moreover, a separate study indicated isolation stress induced inconsistent changes in tube test behavior. Taken together, these data suggest future research on Grb10+/p mice should focus on on the stability of social behaviors, rather than dominance per se.