Between sexuality and professionalism: Experiences of gay workers at Blued, a Chinese gay social app company

Recent scholarship on gay social apps has largely focused on the experiences of their users. In this article, we take a production-side approach to examine the politics of sexuality and professionalism in Blued, a Chinese gay social app company. Based on ethnography at the company and in-depth interviews with its workers, we found that workers at Blued actively weaved their sexual identity into their professional identity. Also, its CEO made use of workers’ personal memory and collective hope as a motivating rhetoric, transgressing the boundary between the private and the public. Nonetheless, the collapse of the private–public division is not total, because such division was continuously re-established by the company’s corporate external positioning and workers’ pragmatic consideration of their career prospect. The case of Blued reveals a highly dynamic relationship between sexuality and professionalism, which sometimes reinforce and sometimes negate each other.

The leadership thing – a unique perspective

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to surface the misdirection of certain accepted organization development and executive compensation practices. Design/methodology/approach Against a backdrop of academic leadership studies, this paper engages the authors’ hands-on expertise drawn from their joint 100 plus years of organization building experience. Findings The pragmatic consideration of leaders’ performance and potential boils down to assessing their attitude, skills, knowledge and impact. Originality/value This paper exposes the inadvertent effect of some common customs and policies on organizations.

Intertextualidad y coherencia en una crónica de João Ubaldo Ribeiro: abordajes en lectocomprensión / Intertextuality and coherence in a chronicle of João Ubaldo Ribeiro: approaches in reading comprehension

RESUMEN: El propósito de este trabajo es discutir, desde un punto de vista didáctico, a partir del análisis de una crónica literaria de carácter argumentativo en lengua portuguesa en su variante brasileña, los parámetros de textualidad (BEAUGRANDE; DRESSLER, 1997) como caminos de acceso al texto y que contribuyen a la construcción de sentido, así como el empleo de algunos mecanismos de textualización (BRONCKART, 1996; DUARTE, 2003). Con escasos organizadores textuales o conectores, la coherencia (temática y pragmática) de la crónica analizada (“Questões gramaticais” de João Ubaldo Ribeiro) está determinada por la forma del texto y por su unidad temática, generada por un discurso crítico basado en marcas intertextuales y de intergéneros que apelan, desde lo pragmático, a la enciclopedia del lector. El objetivo es contribuir, en el ámbito de la enseñanza de la lengua portuguesa en su modalidad de lectocomprensión, a la elaboración de tareas interactivas que permitan un abordaje dinámico y contextualizado del texto desde la perspectiva planteada, basado en los recursos disponibles en los medios electrónicos.PALABRAS CLAVE: coherencia; intertextualidad; lectocomprensión; mecanismos de textualización; tareas. RESUMO: O objetivo deste artigo é discutir, de um ponto de vista didático, a partir da análise de uma crônica literária de caráter argumentativo em língua portuguesa, na sua variante brasileira, os parâmetros de textualidade (BEAUGRANDE; DRESSLER, 1997), como formas de acesso ao texto e que contribuem para a construção de sentido, assim como o uso de alguns mecanismos de textualização (BRONCKART, 1996, DUARTE, 2003). Com poucos organizadores textuais ou conectores, a coerência (temática e pragmática) da crônica analisada (“Questões gramaticais”, João Ubaldo Ribeiro) é determinada pela forma do texto e por sua unidade temática, gerada por um discurso crítico baseado em marcas intertextuais e de intergêneros que apelam, desde o pragmático, à enciclopédia do leitor. O objetivo é contribuir, no âmbito do ensino da língua portuguesa em sua modalidadeda compreensão da leitura, para o desenvolvimento de tarefas interativas que permitem uma abordagem dinâmica e contextualizada do texto a partir da perspectiva levantada, com base nos recursos disponíveis em meio eletrônico.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: coerência; intertextualidade; compreensão de leitura; mecanismos de textualização; tarefas.ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to discuss, from an educational point of view, taking as a starting point the analysis of a literary chronicle of an argumentative character in the Portuguese language in its Brazilian variant, the parameters of textuality (BEAUGRANDE; DRESSLER, 1997) as access roads into the text that contribute to the construction of meaning, and the use of some mechanisms of textualization (BRONCKART, 1996, DUARTE, 2003). With few textual organizers or connectors, the coherence (thematic and pragmatic) of the chronicle analyzed (“Questões gramaticais”, by João Ubaldo Ribeiro) is determined by the shape of the text and its thematic unity, which is generated by a critical discourse based on intertextual and intergender marks which appeal, from a pragmatic consideration, to the encyclopedia of the reader. The objective is to contribute, in the field of the Portuguese language teaching in its mode of reading comprehension, to the development of interactive tasks that allow a dynamic and contextualized approach to the text from the alluded perspective, based on the resources available in the electronic media.KEYWORDS: coherence; intertextuality; reading comprehension; textualization mechanisms; tasks.

A Pragmatic Objection to Moral Distinctions: A Comment on The Morality and Law of War

This comment to Jeff McMahan's thought-provoking contribution does not aim to take issue with the interesting and rather compelling philosophical arguments he raises in support of moral-based norms. In the same vein, the comment does not criticize the way in which McMahan describes the international law doctrines governing war situations—a description which is generally accurate. Instead, I comment on the policy reasons that have led international law-maker to move away from some of the morality-based distinctions and normative choices expounded by McMahan. Hence, my focus in this comment is on the pragmatic constraints that limit the influence of moral ideas on the laws of war. Of course, the resort to pragmatism may be in itself morally justifiable, as the insistence on the application of pragmatic consideration is often linked to the promotion of laudable goals—aversion of war and reduction of casualties and damage. Hopefully, a better understanding of the reasons underlying the rejection of “pure morality” in the context of the regulation of war would contribute to a critical assessment of the desirability of McMahan's ideas and to identification of the institutional conditions that could facilitate their application.