Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Thom Brooks
Author-X-Name-First: Thom
Author-X-Name-Last: Brooks
Title: Alcohol and public policy
Abstract:
Alcohol and its consumption is a major topic for public
policy-making. Increases in public debate have come about through the
growing awareness of the alcohol-related health problems among the general
public. This article provides an important overview of the leading
contemporary work in this area and the significant contributions made by
social scientists.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-7
Issue: 1
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 2
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.768353
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.768353
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Woody Caan
Author-X-Name-First: Woody
Author-X-Name-Last: Caan
Title: Alcohol and the family
Abstract:
From a UK Government perspective, most current public health
approaches to alcohol focus on the behaviour of individuals (e.g. the
Nudge towards changed drinking: Marteau, T.M., Ogilvie,
D., Roland, M., Suhrcke, M., & Kelly, M.P. (2011). Judging nudging: can
nudging improve population health? BMJ,
342, 263-265) and, increasingly, psychiatric approaches
focus on adjusting microscopic circuits within the brain of individuals
[Caan, W. (2012). Defining addiction, with more humanity.
Contemporary Social Science, 7. doi:
10.1080/21582041.2012.683577 (published first online 28 May)]. Although it
has been apparent for a long time that a major area where alcohol causes
harm is within the family and that involving family members in
interventions (e.g. Social Behaviour and Network Therapy)
is effective in reducing harm, most services for addiction neglect
families as either assets or liabilities for treatment [Alcohol Concern.
(2000). Britains' ruin? London: Alcohol Concern; Caan, W.
(2000a). Working with families. In Working with families - making
it a reality (p. 102). Birmingham: NHSE West Midlands; Copello,
A., & Orford, J. (2002). Addiction and the family: Is it time for services
to take notice of the evidence? Addiction,
97, 1361-1363]. In the UK, over 6% of adults grew up in a
family where at least one parent drank excessively [Alcohol Concern.
(2000). Britains' ruin? London: Alcohol Concern] and
since at least 8% of children live now in such homes it is not surprising
that I found the extra training staff in Parenting Programmes requested
most often was for problems with alcohol [Caan, W. (2010). Fair society,
healthy lives. Timing is everything. BMJ,
340, 495]. This year we face a turning point: The
Government's Alcohol Strategy has a narrow emphasis on
'supporting individuals to change' [HM Government. (2012). The
government's alcohol strategy (p. 21). London: Home Office]. This
article promotes a more balanced alcohol policy, where understanding
family ties and the history and quality of relationships are recognised as
important - and valuable.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 8-17
Issue: 1
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 2
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.745594
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.745594
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Rachel L. Rayburn
Author-X-Name-First: Rachel L.
Author-X-Name-Last: Rayburn
Title: Two decades and a Category 5 hurricane later ... tracking homeless substance abusers in New Orleans
Abstract:
This paper outlines the qualitative methods utilised in a
long-term follow-up study of a non-traditional population: homeless
substance abusers in New Orleans. The purpose of this research project was
to identify possible desistance variables in the lives of homeless
substance abusers and estimate their effects on various life outcomes. By
way of phone, mail and in-person interviews, this research examines the
life course of a sample of New Orleans homeless substance abusers from the
time they entered into treatment (1991) until the present and observes the
quality of their social bonds and their long-term outcomes. By making use
of longitudinal research methods, this project gives a more thorough
understanding of homelessness and substance abuse.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 18-30
Issue: 1
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 2
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.745593
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.745593
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Joel C. Beaupre
Author-X-Name-First: Joel C.
Author-X-Name-Last: Beaupre
Title: Storytelling: Walter Benjamin and recovery from alcoholism
Abstract:
What follows is a critical review of alcoholism and recovery.
The objective is to examine Benjamin's account of storytelling in light of
the value of stories for recovering alcoholics. The research design is
qualitative, and it is explained that, because storytelling requires
experience of a vanishing sort, the design must be qualitative. The method
is theoretical, drawing upon Benjamin's account of the societal changes
that have brought about the disappearance of the storyteller such as the
predominance of information. The main outcome is that the features of
Benjamin's account of storytelling are evident in the body of experience
that comprises recovery from alcoholism, but not in such a way that would
suggest that his account of historical change is thereby null. In
conclusion, the oases of storytelling in recovery provide evidence for the
erosion of experience of the kind required to have stories.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 31-35
Issue: 1
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 2
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.745592
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.745592
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Tom Henri
Author-X-Name-First: Tom
Author-X-Name-Last: Henri
Title: The borders of booze Britain: alcohol controls and nationality
Abstract:
This article seeks to understand how UK alcohol control
policies, historically and currently, are both informed by and seek to
inform how we conceptualise the nation and nationality. Using the latest
minimum price per unit of alcohol policy as a point of departure and
setting it the context of over 300 years of alcohol controls, this article
exposes how the internal contradictions inherent in alcohol regulation are
obscured by the deployment of nationalism as a rhetorical device.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 36-45
Issue: 1
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 2
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.745591
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.745591
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Karl Spracklen
Author-X-Name-First: Karl
Author-X-Name-Last: Spracklen
Title: Respectable drinkers, sensible drinking, serious leisure: single-malt whisky enthusiasts and the moral panic of irresponsible Others
Abstract:
In the public discourse of policy-makers and journalists,
drinkers of (excessive) alcohol are portrayed either as irresponsible,
immoral deviants or as gullible victims. In other words, the public
discourse engenders a moral panic about alcohol-crazed individuals, who
become what Cohen [1972. Folk devil and moral panics.
London: Routledge] identifies as folk devils: the Other, abusing alcohol
to create anti-social disorder. However, alcohol-drinking was, is and
continues to be an everyday practice in the leisure lives of the majority
of people in the UK. In this research article, I want to explore the
serious leisure of whisky-tasting to provide a counter to the myth of the
alcohol-drinker as folk devil, to try to construct a new public discourse
of sensible drinking. I will draw on ethnographic work at whisky-tastings
alongside interviews and analysis of on-line discourses. I show that
participation in whisky-tasting events creates a safe space in which
excessive amounts of alcohol are consumed, yet the norms of the particular
habitus ensure that such drinking never leads to misbehaviour. In doing
so, however, I will note that the respectability of whisky-drinking is
associated with its masculine, white, privileged habitus - the folk devil
becomes someone else, someone Other.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 46-57
Issue: 1
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 2
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.745590
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.745590
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Boudewijn de Bruin
Author-X-Name-First: Boudewijn
Author-X-Name-Last: de Bruin
Title: Socially Responsible Investment in the alcohol industry: an assessment of investor attitudes and ethical arguments
Abstract:
I examine and evaluate the ethical standards and arguments
that Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) investors use when they
deselect the alcohol industry and alcohol corporations. The alcohol
industry was the first industry excluded by SRI investors and is, relative
to fund size, the second most prominent negative screen (after tobacco). I
discuss the role of shareholder democracy in the alcohol industry, review
some evidence on the financial effects of SRI on sin stocks and
investigate the motivations that SRI investors may have to eschew
investment in the alcohol industry (almost no motivation can be found). I
discuss a number of ethical issues that are salient in the alcohol
industry and that ought to concern ethical investors. I draw attention to,
in particular, the marketing of alcopops (flavoured alcoholic beverages or
malternatives such as Smirnoff Ice and Bacardi Breezer), and strategies
involving so-called beer girls. This prepares the way to a reconstruction
of two kinds of arguments that SRI investors might implicitly adhere to
when they put a negative screen on alcohol: a Public Goods Argument and a
Religious Values Argument. I show that the Public Goods Argument is
problematic because it risks democratic legitimacy and effectiveness, and
that while the Religious Values Argument is a coherent defence for
individual investors accepting particular religious views, it is
unacceptable if used by institutional investors forcing religious values
upon involuntary participants when no societal unanimity concerning these
religious values exists. Pension funds and health-care plans are examples
of such investors. Finally, I provide an alternative Ethical Issues
Argument and defend the claim that there are no good moral reasons for
institutional SRI investors to circumvent the alcohol industry; rather,
they should use shareholder democracy to make alcohol corporations address
the ethical issues lest these issues will never be addressed by the
corporations themselves.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 58-70
Issue: 1
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 2
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751494
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751494
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ben Saunders
Author-X-Name-First: Ben
Author-X-Name-Last: Saunders
Title: Minimum pricing for alcohol: a Millian perspective
Abstract:
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has recently sought to
introduce minimum pricing for alcohol in order to tackle drink-related
problems. This paper outlines what the prominent nineteenth-century
liberal reformer John Stuart Mill would have said about such a proposal.
Mill's 1859 On Liberty argued that the only legitimate
reason for the state or society to interfere in an individual's conduct is
to prevent harm to others, rejecting paternalistic interventions or
moralistic legislation. After outlining Mill's general position, this
paper gathers a number of his scattered remarks on alcohol. It seems that
he would be prepared to endorse a number of restrictions on the sale of
alcohol, including age restrictions, mandatory health warnings and even
anti-social behaviour orders for those guilty of violent crime when drunk.
Nonetheless, Mill is clear that the state has no right to prohibit alcohol
and, for the same reasons, that the state has no right to increase its
cost for purpose of deterring drinking - a measure that, Mill argues,
differs only in degree from outright prohibition. Thus, according to Mill,
the proposal of the SNP oversteps the bounds of legitimate government
interference, unjustly interfering in individual liberty. Interestingly,
however, Mill allows that governments have the right to tax inessential
goods for purposes of raising revenue, which suggests that the government
could legitimately tax alcohol, provided its reasoning was not (as the SNP
has stressed its is) to deter people from drinking.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 71-82
Issue: 1
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 2
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.745589
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.745589
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Raymond Arthur
Author-X-Name-First: Raymond
Author-X-Name-Last: Arthur
Title: Punishing children for their behaviour
Abstract:
This article examines the laws which regulate how children
are punished from two perspectives - it examines parents' rights to
physically punish their children for their misbehaviour and the right of
the state to criminally punish young people from the age of 10 years for
engaging in offending behaviour. The article considers the laws in these
areas and assesses whether these laws are consistent with the social
science research on this topic.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 83-91
Issue: 2
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751123
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751123
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Emma Cave
Author-X-Name-First: Emma
Author-X-Name-Last: Cave
Title: Competence and authority: adolescent treatment refusals for physical and mental health conditions
Abstract:
This article explores the relationship between competence and
authority in relation to medical treatment refusals. Comparing provisions
directed at adults and young people, the author explores the options
before the court if a test case (called for by the British Medical
Association and the Department of Health) is brought before the court to
determine the extent of the minor's autonomy rights to be involved in or
make medical treatment decisions of common law. At present, the common law
rights of competent adults and minors stand in stark contrast. Adults can
refuse life-saving treatment against the advice of doctors, but minors
(even if they pass the legal test for competence) cannot do so if a parent
or the court provides the necessary consent in the child's 'best
interests'. Since the matter was last tested in court, children's rights -
including their autonomy rights - have evolved. In light of this, if a
minor can demonstrate his autonomy in relation to the decision should he,
like a competent adult, be given the legal authority to decide? Cave
asserts that academic arguments against the different levels of competence
required to consent to and refuse medical treatment should be
distinguished from arguments about the respective authority a decision to
consent and refuse may carry. A close examination of the law relating to
adults reveals that their decisional authority is context-specific. There
are circumstances where adults too are powerless to refuse medical
treatment, regardless of their competence. Statutes enacted post-Human
Rights Act 1998 which apply to competent minors take a similar approach.
Deference to children's autonomy rights does not necessarily require that
their competent decisions are respected. In particular, the article
considers mental health legislation, examining its aims and how they
relate to the restrictions on competent adults and minors and the extent
to which these provide examples which might be followed when the common
law on adolescent treatment refusals is tested in court.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 92-103
Issue: 2
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751502
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751502
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Anne Kennedy
Author-X-Name-First: Anne
Author-X-Name-Last: Kennedy
Title: Education in custody: young males' perspectives
Abstract:
Many of the young people on arrival in prison have
experienced multiple disadvantages and present with diverse and complex
needs, with a higher incidence of mental health issues and/or substance
misuse; in addition they have often been excluded from school and are
usually well known to social services and they have lower levels of
attainment and educational achievement than the non-offending population.
It is essential that all those working in the delivery of education and
training provision in young offender institutions endeavour to realise the
significance of education as a protective factor in reducing re-offending.
This paper will present the findings from a study which examined the
education and training provision already in place within a Young
Offender's Institution, with an emphasis on course preferences, additional
support needs and resettlement.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 104-119
Issue: 2
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.767467
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.767467
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ewan Ingleby
Author-X-Name-First: Ewan
Author-X-Name-Last: Ingleby
Title: Teaching policy and practice: early years, neoliberalism and communities of practice
Abstract:
This article explores the proposal that the emergence of the
concept of communities of practice in early years education (with children
aged from birth to 8) is symptomatic of neoliberal educational policies. A
community of practice is defined by Lave and Wenger [Situated
learning-legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press (1991)] and Wenger [Communities of
practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press (1998)] as a way of thinking about how social practices
are gathered together and how people learn to participate in them. Drawing
on the work of Bourdieu, Foucault and Weber, this study deconstructs the
neoliberal early years in the educational context. The policies within
this context appear to be tied together by philosophical strands that are
based on marketisation, discourse and the setting of bureaucratic
standards. The consequences of neoliberalism for early years are
interpreted through a textured analytical approach that draws on the work
of key thinkers in the social sciences. The article explores the current
debates over the benefits of establishing communities of practice in the
early years. The concept of communities of practice is considered by
discussing the extent to which the ideal is symptomatic of neoliberal
educational policies in the early years.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 120-129
Issue: 2
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751505
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751505
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Rona Epstein
Author-X-Name-First: Rona
Author-X-Name-Last: Epstein
Title: Sentencing mothers: the rights of the child and the duties of the criminal courts
Abstract:
The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) came into force in October
2000. Section 6 of the Act obliges all public bodies, including, of
course, the courts, to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights
(ECHR). Article 8 of the ECHR and Fundamental Freedoms (1950) states that
everyone has the right to respect for private and family life. As
imprisonment of a father or a mother entails the forcible separation of a
child from its parent and therefore impacts on the Article 8 rights of the
child, a sentencing court must therefore conduct a balancing exercise
weighing the Article 8 rights of the child against the seriousness of the
parent's offence. This article reports on the research that I have
undertaken to explore to what extent, if at all, the required balancing
exercise is being carried out in the English sentencing courts and whether
the courts are complying with the HRA in this respect. The research
covered 50 cases of the imposition of custody (suspended and immediate) on
mothers who have the care of a dependent child. This article presents
conclusions from this preliminary study, which principally has found that
although the courts do sometimes express concern for the welfare of
affected children, they do not, on the whole, refer as they should to the
rights of the child at the time of sentencing a mother. Although the law
regarding the rights of the child to a parent's care applies equally to a
father and a mother, this article concentrates on the imprisonment of
mothers; in the vast majority of cases, it is the custody of the mother
that results in the loss of parental care.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 130-140
Issue: 2
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751503
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751503
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:2:p:130-140
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Stuart Agnew
Author-X-Name-First: Stuart
Author-X-Name-Last: Agnew
Title: Providers to enablers: reflections on the provision of positive activities targeting criminal and anti-social behaviour of young people
Abstract:
In June 2009, grants ranging from £200,000 to
£600,000 were awarded via the Youth Sector Development Fund to 25
Civil Society Organisations. Reflecting the need for active citizenship so
evident in contemporary youth discourse, the grants were aimed at
increasing the participation of young people in rural areas. This article
discusses two diverse projects resulting from this initiative which were
evaluated by academics from University Campus Suffolk. Based in the East
of England, each project received a substantial amount of public funding,
approximately £600,000 and £400,000, respectively, which
brought specific challenges. Each project had similar overall goals:
reducing anti-social behaviour; helping young people enter education,
employment or training; providing positive activities and increasing
protective factors in young people - such as a demonstrable increase in
emotional and social skills together with reducing the likelihood of
engaging in harmful activities. This article acknowledges that both
projects required a substantive amount of 'buy-in' from existing youth
providers and additional stakeholders; however, differing levels of
support are clearly evident in terms of actively supporting the overall
goals of the projects. Whilst a considerable number of young people
engaged with positive activities during this funding round, the lack of
community involvement in the management of the projects may have had a
negative impact upon local perceptions of young people. Sustainability of
projects beyond the funding received was an area of priority for the
funders. There is, however, little evidence of success for this outcome.
The current expectation of local authorities to 'enable' rather than to
'provide' support is an interesting context through which to explore the
varying levels of engagement stakeholders involved in these projects.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 141-155
Issue: 2
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751504
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751504
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mervyn Martin
Author-X-Name-First: Mervyn
Author-X-Name-Last: Martin
Title: Child labour: parameters, developmental implications, causes and consequences
Abstract:
An examination into the incidence of child labour in
developing countries will require an analysis of the reasons for its
occurrence, which in turn will go a long way in indicating a possible
route towards providing a solution. This article will clarify why child
labour rather than child work in general is an issue for concern,
submitting that it is the type of work that impedes the education and
development of children that needs to be addressed. A distinction between
the two prevailing motivations behind calls for developing countries to
address child labour will be drawn, and the article will pursue that only
the human rights motivation will provide the requisite cooperation and
commitment in attaining sustainable and effective elimination of child
labour. In analysing statistics that child labour occurs predominantly in
developing countries, the article will reflect on current global trends to
submit that child labour in developing countries can have a global impact.
Considering the various reasons that have been attributed to cause child
labour in developing countries, it will be demonstrated that poverty is a
common element in all such attributes. In discussing the possible
solutions, the article will submit that developing countries with child
labour problems do not have the resources for the necessary intervention
to tackle a problem of such magnitude and, therefore, international effort
is necessary. Discussions on the international forum to coordinate these
efforts will establish that a forum free of trade links is needed, thereby
dispelling suggestions that the World Trade Organisation and
sanctions-based approach is the best solution. The article will conclude
that work should be undertaken building on International Labour
Organisation standards, if such standards are beneficial to child
development. The problem may lie in developing countries, but only global
efforts can offer a solution.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 156-165
Issue: 2
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751501
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751501
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jon Bannister
Author-X-Name-First: Jon
Author-X-Name-Last: Bannister
Author-Name: Irene Hardill
Author-X-Name-First: Irene
Author-X-Name-Last: Hardill
Title: Knowledge mobilisation and the social sciences: dancing with new partners in an age of austerity
Abstract:
The social sciences hold the potential to help interpret and address the
complex challenges confronting society. The impact agenda actively
encourages the social sciences to make and demonstrate a difference; to
justify and protect social science funding. Knowledge mobilisation (KM)
can be thought of systematically as a process, encompassing the
co-production and channelling of knowledge that can enable the social
sciences to gain purchase and voice in the policy-making and delivery
process, and supports the endeavour to make a difference. This article
serves as an editorial introduction to a special issue in two parts: 'KM:
Research Impact' and 'KM: Engagement'. It sets out to outline the forces
leading to the rise of the impact agenda and the questions it poses for
the social sciences. Particular attention is given to the changing policy
context that has reshaped the academy. The article then progresses to
outline debates on research and impacts and the forms of engagement that
are needed to demonstrate and deliver impact beyond the academy. The
article examines the ways in which impact is defined, measured and
'delivered' within the social sciences. This is followed by a section on
the ways in which social science knowledge is mobilised. The penultimate
section addresses the co-production of social scientific knowledge and
this is followed by a brief conclusion.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 167-175
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.770910
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.770910
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:167-175
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ann Buchanan
Author-X-Name-First: Ann
Author-X-Name-Last: Buchanan
Title: Impact and knowledge mobilisation: what I have learnt as Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council Evaluation Committee
Abstract:
This paper, written by the current Chair of the Evaluation Committee of
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), highlights the findings from
the impact studies commissioned by the Committee over the last six years.
The first part of the paper outlines the context to the new focus on
'impact'. In particular it notes how developments in knowledge
mobilisation, especially in Canada, came together with the rise of
evidence-based policy and practice. With New Labour (and currently the
coalition government) making greater use of research evidence there was a
strong message to the Research Councils that they needed to demonstrate a
better return from their investments in research by demonstrating
economic, societal and scientific 'impact'. However, a major challenge
was: how could 'impact' be demonstrated? The central sections of the paper
summarise the findings from three groups of ESRC 'impact' studies. These
studies have done much to inform how ESRC researchers could better achieve
knowledge mobilisation and 'impact', and what they should do to create
'Pathways to Impact'. The final section asks: 'where have we come from on
knowledge mobilisation and impact', and 'where might we be going'? In
undertaking these evaluation studies on impact, much has been learnt which
the author believes deserve wider publication but there are further
challenges ahead.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 176-190
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.767469
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.767469
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:176-190
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Paul Ellwood
Author-X-Name-First: Paul
Author-X-Name-Last: Ellwood
Author-Name: Richard Thorpe
Author-X-Name-First: Richard
Author-X-Name-Last: Thorpe
Author-Name: Charlotte Coleman
Author-X-Name-First: Charlotte
Author-X-Name-Last: Coleman
Title: A model for knowledge mobilisation and implications for the education of social researchers
Abstract:
The growing imperative for social sciences to apply more directly to the
communities they study raises issues about how researchers develop their
capabilities to interact with people in such communities throughout their
career. A traditional model sees researcher education focus on challenges
that matter primarily within their university: the mastery of methods and
production of research papers. If social research is to
be more relevant outside the academy, then how are social
researchers to be prepared for this challenge? The
underlying proposition of this paper is that publishing academic research
is merely work in progress towards the realisation of some challenge held
to be of wider interest within society. However, pursuing such an outcome
will require a reorientation of programmes of researcher education to
consider the practices of user engagement. In this paper, we reflect upon
the development of our own practice of user engagement within the context
of management studies. We develop our argument by conceptualising the
process of knowledge mobilisation as a series of stages in which knowledge
translates into practice. We suggest that academic researchers contribute
only one of the inputs to this translation process, with other inputs
being provided by users who are in some manner involved in the research.
We discuss the implications of this model for researcher education
throughout academic careers as well as for explaining the research to
users who are part of the process of translating knowledge into practice.
We illustrate our arguments by drawing on data generated whilst
undertaking a review of the UK's Economic and Social Research Council
research training recognition; our experience of designing and delivering
university researcher workshops in user engagement; and the reflections of
one PhD researcher conducted at various stages in her research project,
including interaction with various stakeholders with whom she had to
engage.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 191-206
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751496
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751496
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:191-206
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Philip Lowe
Author-X-Name-First: Philip
Author-X-Name-Last: Lowe
Author-Name: Jeremy Phillipson
Author-X-Name-First: Jeremy
Author-X-Name-Last: Phillipson
Author-Name: Katy Wilkinson
Author-X-Name-First: Katy
Author-X-Name-Last: Wilkinson
Title: Why social scientists should engage with natural scientists
Abstract:
It has become part of the mantra of contemporary science policy that the
resolution of besetting problems calls for the active engagement of a wide
range of sciences. The paper reviews some of the key challenges for those
striving for a more impactful social science by engaging strategically
with natural scientists. It argues that effective engagement depends upon
overcoming basic assumptions that have structured past interactions:
particularly, the casting of social science in an end-of-pipe role in
relation to scientific and technological developments. These structurings
arise from epistemological assumptions about the underlying permanence of
the natural world and the role of science in uncovering its fundamental
order and properties. While the impermanence of the social world has
always put the social sciences on shakier foundations, twenty-first
century concerns about the instability of the natural world pose different
epistemological assumptions that summon a more equal, immediate and
intense interaction between field and intervention oriented social and
natural scientists. The paper examines a major research programme that has
exemplified these alternative epistemological assumptions. Drawing on a
survey of researchers and other sources it seeks to draw out the lessons
for social/natural science cross-disciplinary engagement.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 207-222
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.769617
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.769617
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:207-222
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Glyn Williams
Author-X-Name-First: Glyn
Author-X-Name-Last: Williams
Title: Researching with impact in the Global South? Impact-evaluation practices and the reproduction of 'development knowledge'
Abstract:
Long-standing questions about the production and control of knowledge
about 'the developing world' have been given new urgency through the
deployment of impact-evaluation practices within UK universities,
highlighting the need for careful ethical reflection on the role of
Northern researchers in both academia and practice. In this context, this
article takes up the three underlying themes of this special issue - the
conceptualisation, evaluation and methods of knowledge mobilisation - to
ask what 'researching with impact' might mean for academics whose work
focuses on the Global South. With regard to the conceptualisation of
knowledge, it argues that the Research Councils UK's definition of 'high
impact' research sits uncomfortably with both critical scholarship on the
power of 'development knowledge' and with 'alternative development'
practices that call for knowledge co-production. With regard to the
evaluation of knowledge mobilisation, it uses Northern researchers'
reflections on their practice to argue that impact-evaluation practices
are 'nudging' academia in directions that require our attention. Finally,
with regard to methods of knowledge mobilisation, it investigates what an
ethically engaged response to these pressures might look like, arguing for
scholars working on the Global South to defend the production of
'development knowledge' that is both practically engaged and critically
distant from policy-makers.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 223-236
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751495
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751495
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:223-236
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Gemma Moss
Author-X-Name-First: Gemma
Author-X-Name-Last: Moss
Title: Research, policy and knowledge flows in education: what counts in knowledge mobilisation?
Abstract:
This Special Issue places discussion of knowledge mobilisation in the
context of diminishing government funding for research, and the
difficulties the research community has experienced in reaching out to
those who might make best use of its knowledge base and research findings.
The emphasis policymakers and funders give to demonstrating research
impact has the capacity to distort how the academic community interacts
with other interested parties. To re-direct attention to some of the more
difficult issues in knowledge mobilisation, this paper presents three
empirical case studies from education, exploring what happens as knowledge
travels from one context of use to another. The cases highlight some
substantial inequalities in the rights to define what counts as relevant
knowledge that trouble easy acceptance of the concepts of impact or
influence as key drivers in knowledge exchange.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 237-248
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.767466
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.767466
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:237-248
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jon Bannister
Author-X-Name-First: Jon
Author-X-Name-Last: Bannister
Author-Name: Anthony O'Sullivan
Author-X-Name-First: Anthony
Author-X-Name-Last: O'Sullivan
Title: Knowledge mobilisation and the civic academy: the nature of evidence, the roles of narrative and the potential of contribution analysis
Abstract:
The purpose of knowledge mobilisation (KM) can be defined as the creation
and communication of evidence motivated by a desire to improve the design,
delivery and consequent impact of public services. This definition also
embraces the notion of the civic academy. In this article, we explore the
requirements of effective KM in the light of recent contributions to the
theory of knowledge (specifically regarding the nature of evidence) and of
the potential roles for narrative. We consider in these contexts whether a
number of recent conceptual and methodological developments offer the
prospect of progress in the pursuit of effective KM.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 249-262
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751497
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751497
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:249-262
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Sarah Banks
Author-X-Name-First: Sarah
Author-X-Name-Last: Banks
Author-Name: Andrea Armstrong
Author-X-Name-First: Andrea
Author-X-Name-Last: Armstrong
Author-Name: Kathleen Carter
Author-X-Name-First: Kathleen
Author-X-Name-Last: Carter
Author-Name: Helen Graham
Author-X-Name-First: Helen
Author-X-Name-Last: Graham
Author-Name: Peter Hayward
Author-X-Name-First: Peter
Author-X-Name-Last: Hayward
Author-Name: Alex Henry
Author-X-Name-First: Alex
Author-X-Name-Last: Henry
Author-Name: Tessa Holland
Author-X-Name-First: Tessa
Author-X-Name-Last: Holland
Author-Name: Claire Holmes
Author-X-Name-First: Claire
Author-X-Name-Last: Holmes
Author-Name: Amelia Lee
Author-X-Name-First: Amelia
Author-X-Name-Last: Lee
Author-Name: Ann McNulty
Author-X-Name-First: Ann
Author-X-Name-Last: McNulty
Author-Name: Niamh Moore
Author-X-Name-First: Niamh
Author-X-Name-Last: Moore
Author-Name: Nigel Nayling
Author-X-Name-First: Nigel
Author-X-Name-Last: Nayling
Author-Name: Ann Stokoe
Author-X-Name-First: Ann
Author-X-Name-Last: Stokoe
Author-Name: Aileen Strachan
Author-X-Name-First: Aileen
Author-X-Name-Last: Strachan
Title: Everyday ethics in community-based participatory research
Abstract:
This article explores a range of ethical issues that arise in
community-based participatory research (CBPR), drawing on literature and
examples from practice. The experience of CBPR practitioners adds further
weight to the growing critique by many other social researchers of
regulatory approaches to research ethics (which focus on rule following in
accordance with research governance frameworks, codes of conduct and
ethics review procedures). Yet, whilst many of the ethical challenges in
CBPR are common to social research generally (informed consent, anonymity,
issues of ownership of data and findings), the dynamic, complex and
value-based nature of CBPR gives them particular prominence. There are
also specific issues relating to the ethics of partnership working,
collaboration, blurring of boundaries between researchers and researched,
community rights, community conflict and democratic participation that are
more frequently encountered in CBPR. Four practice examples are used to
demonstrate this argument. These are taken from a young women's community
allotment, a community organisation researching poverty, a youth peer
research project and a museum-based digital storytelling project. The
article concludes that current institutional ethical codes, guidelines and
ethical review procedures are not particularly well-suited to CBPR, in
that they adopt principle-based and regulatory approaches to ethics;
whereas character- and relationship-based approaches to ethics are also
very important in CBPR, which is adopted by many researchers with a strong
value commitment to social justice.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 263-277
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.769618
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.769618
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:263-277
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Angie Hart
Author-X-Name-First: Angie
Author-X-Name-Last: Hart
Author-Name: Ceri Davies
Author-X-Name-First: Ceri
Author-X-Name-Last: Davies
Author-Name: Kim Aumann
Author-X-Name-First: Kim
Author-X-Name-Last: Aumann
Author-Name: Etienne Wenger
Author-X-Name-First: Etienne
Author-X-Name-Last: Wenger
Author-Name: Kay Aranda
Author-X-Name-First: Kay
Author-X-Name-Last: Aranda
Author-Name: Becky Heaver
Author-X-Name-First: Becky
Author-X-Name-Last: Heaver
Author-Name: David Wolff
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Wolff
Title: Mobilising knowledge in community - university partnerships: what does a community of practice approach contribute?
Abstract:
Over the past decade different approaches to mobilising knowledge in
Community - University Partnership (CUP) contexts have emerged in the UK.
Despite this, detailed accounts of the intricate texture of these
approaches, enabling others to replicate or learn from them, are lacking.
This paper adds to the literature which begins to address this gap. The
case considered here concentrates on one particular approach to knowledge
mobilisation (KM) developed in the UK context. It provides an account of
the authors' involvement in applying the concept, and practical lessons
from a community of practice (CoP) approach, to developing knowledge
exchange (KE) between academics, parents and practitioners. The authors'
approach to KM explicitly attempts to combat power differentials between
academics and community partners, and problematises knowledge power
hierarchies. The paper explores the CoP concept and critically
investigates key elements of relevance to developing KE in the CUP
context. Specific themes addressed are those of power, participation and
working across boundaries by CoP members with very different subject
positions and knowledge capitals. The paper concludes that CoPs can be a
useful mechanism for KM, but have many limitations depending on the
specific context in which KM is being undertaken.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 278-291
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.767470
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.767470
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:278-291
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mark Smith
Author-X-Name-First: Mark
Author-X-Name-Last: Smith
Author-Name: Heather Wilkinson
Author-X-Name-First: Heather
Author-X-Name-Last: Wilkinson
Author-Name: Michael Gallagher
Author-X-Name-First: Michael
Author-X-Name-Last: Gallagher
Title: 'It's what gets through people's radars isn't it': relationships in social work practice and knowledge exchange
Abstract:
This article draws on findings from a knowledge exchange (KE) project,
which involved academics working with local authority social workers
around a theme of engaging with involuntary clients. The user engagement
agenda is actively promoted in social work but is not straightforward,
reflecting a mish-mash of client rights and managerial and consumerist
agendas. Engaging with involuntary clients, in particular, those whose
involvement with social work is mandated by law, rarely fits into policy
agendas and requires a range of conditions and practitioner skills for it
to happen effectively. A parallel aim of our project was to explore what
was seen to be effective in the KE and knowledge mobilisation (KM)
processes when local authorities and university academics work together.
Like client engagement, KE is also seen as 'a good thing' but in reality
it is similarly problematic. In this article, we trace the growth of both
client engagement and KE agendas, particularly in relation to social work.
We describe our project and discuss its findings. A number of parallel
processes might be identified in 'what works' with hard to reach social
work clients and 'what works' in KE/KM. Neither are linear or necessarily
rational processes. What does seem to hold both together, however, is the
nature of relationships built up between, in the first instance, social
workers and those they work with and, in the second, between academics and
local authority practitioners. These findings suggest that personal
qualities that might be associated with the concept of emotional
intelligence play an important part in enabling both social work practice
and KE/KM to happen effectively.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 292-306
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751499
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751499
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:292-306
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Pam Carter
Author-X-Name-First: Pam
Author-X-Name-Last: Carter
Author-Name: Roger Beech
Author-X-Name-First: Roger
Author-X-Name-Last: Beech
Author-Name: Domenica Coxon
Author-X-Name-First: Domenica
Author-X-Name-Last: Coxon
Author-Name: Martin J. Thomas
Author-X-Name-First: Martin J.
Author-X-Name-Last: Thomas
Author-Name: Clare Jinks
Author-X-Name-First: Clare
Author-X-Name-Last: Jinks
Title: Mobilising the experiential knowledge of clinicians, patients and carers for applied health-care research
Abstract:
This article demonstrates the benefits of combining various types of
knowledge for applied health research. Funding is available for health
research despite these being 'austere times' for public services and
international policy shifts recognise the role that patients, carers and
the public can play in research. In England the National Institute for
Health Research, Research Design Service (RDS) was created to ensure that
the experiential knowledge of clinicians working in the National Health
Service is informed by methodological expertise to achieve relevant
research outcomes. The RDS also facilitates patient and public involvement
in research, framed as 'PPI'. This raises the question of how PPI impacts
on research design and funding and which patients or members of the public
should be involved in which aspects of research. To answer these questions
we present case studies that draw on the expertise of academics,
clinicians, patients and the public in applied health research. These
cases demonstrate that where patients with direct experience of the
condition that is to be studied are actively involved as advisers early on
in applied health research, this can enhance the likelihood of successful
funding applications, ethical aspects of research and the relevance of
questionnaires and interventions to patients. For comparative purposes, we
give an example of an unsuccessful research proposal. We contribute to
theoretical development through refining the conceptualisation of PPI by
unpicking the different roles that members of the public play as lay
people, distinguishing this from the specific expertise that comes from
direct experience of being a service user, carer or patient. We conclude
that different types of knowledge are required for applied health
research: methodological expertise, practice-based expertise, and the
experiential expertise of patients or carers. While there are no
guarantees, the scrutiny function performed by lay involvement in research
funding panels can challenge the balance of power.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 307-320
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.767468
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.767468
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Author-Name: Irene Hardill
Author-X-Name-First: Irene
Author-X-Name-Last: Hardill
Author-Name: Sarah Mills
Author-X-Name-First: Sarah
Author-X-Name-Last: Mills
Title: Enlivening evidence-based policy through embodiment and emotions
Abstract:
Evidence-based policy and practice tends to operate on a belief that
knowledge is obtained through objective observation and reasoning, leading
to 'rational decision-making'. But the work of producing such knowledge is
typically more 'messy', more iterative and more non-linear; features of
the knowledge production process only made more pronounced by imperatives
such as co-production. Just over a decade ago Smith and Anderson traced
out a position countervailing to that of the predominant - yet, at that
stage, only tentative - 'policy (re)turn' in human geography and set about
charting a new course of research, variously promoting and encouraging a
more enthusiastic laying bare of the researcher's positionalities and
emotional sensitivities. In this paper we wish to briefly reassess the
'emotional turn', via a case study centring on the New Dynamics of Ageing
(NDA) research programme to highlight the challenges of translating
emotions into a policy making environment. In our project we examined the
ways in which the materialities of ICT (and new technology more broadly)
are embedded in everyday life. How people feel, their emotional
sensitivities, towards the use of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) we argue is crucial for understanding the potential
impact of the current public policy thrust to move to the online delivery
of public services (or egovernment). Adding emotional sensitivities in the
body of knowledge when in dialogue with policy makers we suggest enriches
evidence based policy that centres on behaviour change.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 321-332
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.770909
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.770909
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:321-332
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Tim Blackman
Author-X-Name-First: Tim
Author-X-Name-Last: Blackman
Title: Rethinking policy-related research: charting a path using qualitative comparative analysis and complexity theory
Abstract:
This article argues that conventional quantitative and qualitative
research methods have largely failed to provide policy practitioners with
the knowledge they need for decision making. These methods often have
difficulty handling real-world complexity, especially complex causality.
This is when the mechanism of change is a combination of conditions that
occur in a system such as an organisation or locality. A better approach
is to use qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), a hybrid
qualitative/quantitative method that enables logical reasoning about
actual cases, their conditions and how outcomes emerge from combinations
of these conditions. Taken together, these comprise a system, and the
method works well with a whole-system view, avoiding reductionism to
individual behaviours by accounting for determinants that operate at
levels beyond individuals. Using logical reduction, QCA identifies causal
mechanisms in sub-types of cases differentiated by what matters to whether
the outcome happens or not. In contrast to common variable-based methods
such as multiple regression, which are divorced from actual case
realities, QCA is case-based and rooted in these realities. The use of
qualitative descriptors of conditions such as ways of working engages
practitioners, while their standardisation enables systematic comparison
and a degree of generalisation about 'why' questions that qualitative
techniques typically do not achieve. The type of QCA described in the
article requires conditions and outcomes to be dichotomised as present or
absent, which is helpful to practitioners facing binary decisions about
whether to do (a) or (b), or whether or not an outcome has been achieved.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 333-345
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751500
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751500
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Author-Name: Richard Harris
Author-X-Name-First: Richard
Author-X-Name-Last: Harris
Author-Name: John Moffat
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Moffat
Title: Intangible assets, absorbing knowledge and its impact on firm performance: theory, measurement and policy implications
Abstract:
The use of intangible assets (IA) is widely recognised as a key driver of
enterprise performance. A concept that is closely linked to IA is
absorptive capacity, which is defined as the ability to exploit knowledge
that is embodied in IA. The main objective of this paper is to explore
what is meant by absorptive capacity, before examining the empirical
relationship between absorptive capacity and various dimensions of firm
performance. The latter is not straightforward because there is no agreed
approach to measuring absorptive capacity. The approach taken here is to
use data on whether firms sourced knowledge or collaborated externally
from the UK Community Innovation Survey. This allows us to show that there
is a clear and important link between absorptive capacity and various
dimensions of firm performance. In this paper, we aim to contribute to the
special issue by focusing on the role mobilising knowledge can play in
improving the performance of firms in the private sector, which has a
particular resonance in these difficult economic times. Our central
message is that for firms to perform better in hard times, they need to
mobilise their absorptive capacity. Government must therefore consider
whether they should focus their efforts on helping firms directly to
increase their own absorptive capacity or on improving the flow of (local)
knowledge through supporting networks. Our view is that, while maintaining
existing policies that aim to increase connections and encourage
collaborations between firms, there should be a greater emphasis on the
firm because evidence shows that unless firms have sufficient absorptive
capacity, they will not be able to fully internalise the benefits of any
knowledge spillovers, no matter how large such spillovers may potentially
be.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 346-361
Issue: 3
Volume: 8
Year: 2013
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.751498
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.751498
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:8:y:2013:i:3:p:346-361
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Giovanni A. Travaglino
Author-X-Name-First: Giovanni A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Travaglino
Title: Social sciences and social movements: the theoretical context
Abstract:
This manuscript situates the papers of this special issue within the
broader context of social movement research. It discusses the historical
and theoretical significance of the four main perspectives in the field of
social movement, namely the collective behaviour paradigm, the resource
mobilisation approach, the political opportunity model and the cultural
turn in social movement studies. Each of these perspectives has
highlighted the importance of different units and levels of analysis
pertaining to the study of social movements, including the role of
grievances, organisational and political structures and meanings
associated with participation. As a result, the field is highly receptive
to multidisciplinary dialogue and to relations of mutual influences among
different disciplines. The next step in social movement studies consists
in the elaboration of a coherent framework of research which links the
different levels of analysis and dimensions.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-14
Issue: 1
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.851406
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.851406
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:1-14
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Author-Name: Tiina Likki
Author-X-Name-First: Tiina
Author-X-Name-Last: Likki
Title: Unity within diversity: a social psychological analysis of the internal diversity of the Indignados movement
Abstract:
This article examines the relationships between four categories of
motivational characteristics among social movement activists: grievances,
identification, beliefs about social problems and group-based emotions.
Using data from the Spanish Indignados movement (N =
230), a typology was constructed based on the dimensions of subjective
material insecurity and identification with the protests, yielding three
different activist profiles (insecure identifiers, secure identifiers and
non-identifiers). In linear and typological analyses grievances and
identification had independent and additive effects on beliefs about
social problems and group-based emotions. Interactive effects also showed
that high levels of identification may at times render grievances
redundant in predicting concern for social problems and group emotions.
Overall, the findings demonstrate a pattern of diversity in terms of
grievances and identification coupled with unity regarding social identity
content. The implications of different motivational patterns for
collective action are discussed.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 15-30
Issue: 1
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.851403
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.851403
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Author-Name: Zeev Rosenhek
Author-X-Name-First: Zeev
Author-X-Name-Last: Rosenhek
Author-Name: Michael Shalev
Author-X-Name-First: Michael
Author-X-Name-Last: Shalev
Title: The political economy of Israel's 'social justice' protests: a class and generational analysis
Abstract:
In the summer of 2011, similar to and partly inspired by Spain's 15M
(indignados) movement, Israel experienced an unprecedented wave of
socio-economic protest featuring tent encampments and mass rallies.
Headlined 'the people demand social justice', the protest was surprising
since distributive conflicts and social policy issues are peripheral to
Israeli politics, and Israel was not in the throes of an economic crisis.
These were not anti-austerity protests, but reflected the eroding life
chances of young adults. Specifically, liberalisation of Israel's
political economy - which contributed to a substantial rise in the living
standards of the parental generation of the middle class and improved
their life chances in the 1990s - is now impeding inter-generational class
reproduction for their children. We document significant changes in home
ownership, relative incomes, and the value of higher education and other
assets that were previously the key to middle class incomes and
lifestyles. The impact of neo-liberal policies is evident, for instance,
in the declining scope and generosity of the public sector's role in
employment and housing. At the subjective level, on the eve of the
protests young adults with higher education were less optimistic about
their economic prospects than other groups. Finally, even though the
protests appeared to be broadly consensual and inclusive, a closer look
reveals that its core supporters and activists were drawn from social and
political sectors closely associated with the middle class.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 31-48
Issue: 1
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.851405
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.851405
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:31-48
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Bram Meuleman
Author-X-Name-First: Bram
Author-X-Name-Last: Meuleman
Author-Name: Corra Boushel
Author-X-Name-First: Corra
Author-X-Name-Last: Boushel
Title: Hashtags, ruling relations and the everyday: institutional ethnography insights on social movements
Abstract:
The role of social media (e.g. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter) in social
movements has become the subject of academic and media discussion. This
attention can be framed as debates over whether social media use
encourages political participation, and whether the use of social media
can be considered as a form of political activism. We suggest that
analysis of social media in social movements can benefit from drawing on
the work of Dorothy E. Smith. In this article we explain how paying
attention to these media using an Institutional Ethnography perspective
allows for insights on the activities of social movements and recognition
of the use of social media without sliding into technological determinism.
Following D. E. Smith, we argue that understanding contemporary social
movements and their organisations in terms of the lived
everyday/everynight experiences and interactions of historically situated
people, texts and technologies provides a fruitful line of inquiry for
further empirical research. We demonstrate the possibilities of such an
approach by presenting examples from the Occupy Movement and the use of
Twitter during political protests in Egypt (2011) and Iran (2009-2010).
Taking this perspective allows us to identify and challenge the implicit
boundaries drawn around what it means to be acting 'politically' in
academic and media debates over social movements and social media.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 49-62
Issue: 1
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.851410
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.851410
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Sharon Coen
Author-X-Name-First: Sharon
Author-X-Name-Last: Coen
Author-Name: Caroline Jones
Author-X-Name-First: Caroline
Author-X-Name-Last: Jones
Title: A matter of law and order: reporting the Salford riots in local news webpages
Abstract:
On 9 August 2011, hundreds of citizens gathered in the streets of Salford,
predominately in the precinct area. Violence escalated as commercial and
domestic properties were set on fire and rioters engaged in widespread
looting. Simultaneously, riots were taking place across the country in
cities such as London, Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool and
were covered extensively by national and local media. This paper focuses
on local media coverage of the Salford riots in an attempt to shed light
on the main interpretations which the local media offered to their
readers. A (quantitative and qualitative) content analysis was conducted
on news reported in four major local news websites during the period 9
August-6 September 2011 (N = 100) in order to identify
the most common themes and frames presented by the media in reporting the
Salford riots. Results show the overwhelming presence of a crime frame to
the events: news outlets concentrated on policing and juridical aspects of
the events with little room for political and larger social debates. The
paper discusses differences between outlets and time frame, as well as the
potential implications of imposing this type of framing on collective
action.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 63-78
Issue: 1
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.851407
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.851407
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Joseph Ibrahim
Author-X-Name-First: Joseph
Author-X-Name-Last: Ibrahim
Title: The moral economy of the UK student protest movement 2010-2011
Abstract:
The winter of 2010 through to the spring of 2011 saw a number of high
profile, nationally and locally organised student protests and occupations
of university campuses all around the UK. These were a direct response to
the UK government policy to lift the cap on higher education (HE) tuition
fees and the reduction in government funding for HE institutions in
England. To explain this revolt, I draw on the work of Thompson [1971. The
moral economy of the English crowd in the 18th century. Past &
Present, 50, 76-136; 1993. Customs in
common: Studies in traditional popular culture. New York, NY: New
Press] to argue that they were a 'moral economy' of protests. This paper
draws on a two-and-a-half-year ethnographic study of the student political
community. I argue that the student community have mobilised in defence of
an embedded tradition - affordable HE - and that they are politically
motivated by what they consider to be an entitlement violation.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 79-91
Issue: 1
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.851408
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.851408
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:79-91
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Alexander Hensby
Author-X-Name-First: Alexander
Author-X-Name-Last: Hensby
Title: Networks, counter-networks and political socialisation - paths and barriers to high-cost/risk activism in the 2010/11 student protests against fees and cuts
Abstract:
Why might people sympathetic to the goals of a protest campaign choose not
to participate? What distinguishes them sociologically from those who do
participate? This paper uses the 2010/11 UK student protests as a case
study for understanding how contemporary social movements mobilise
individuals for high-cost/risk forms of activism participation. The
protests saw large-scale regional and national demonstrations take place,
along with the formation of a network of simultaneous campus occupations
across the UK, presenting a greater scale and diversity of protest
participation opportunities than had been seen for a generation.
Nevertheless, students' political background and network access remained
significant not only for shaping attitudes towards the efficacy and
meaningfulness of protest, but also making protest participation appear an
'available' option. This paper uses interviews with participating and
non-participating students from four UK universities to explore the range
of pathways to mobilisation for national demonstrations and campus
occupations.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 92-105
Issue: 1
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.851409
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.851409
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:92-105
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Brian Callan
Author-X-Name-First: Brian
Author-X-Name-Last: Callan
Title: Something's wrong here: transnational dissent and the unimagined community
Abstract:
Based on ethnographic research in 2011-2012 this paper explores the
production of a transnational community through various dissenting
practices in Israel-Palestine. In a critique of instrumental and
structural approaches to transnational dissent, from micro-level framing
processes to the macro-level concepts like Global Civil Society (GCS) and
networks, it builds understandings of the affective dimensions of protest
and proposes that a transnational community is being produced through a
shared feeling of wrongness. Drawing upon recent
reassessments of community conceptualisations [Amit, V., & Rapport, N.
(2002). The trouble with community: Anthropological reflections on
movement, identity and collectivity. London: Pluto; Djelic,
M.-L., & Quack, S. (Eds.). (2010a). Transnational communities:
Shaping global governance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press;
Rapport, N., & Amit, V. (2012a). Community, cosmopolitanism and
the problem of human commonality (anthropology, culture and
society) (Kindle.). London: Pluto Press], this paper asks why the
moral actors from GCS limit their imagined community in spatial terms. In
a world of movement, where the everyday practice of community is as likely
to be defined through shared worldviews as it is though shared place, the
challenge is to ask how we may engage in recognising and re-imagining
transnational activism as not merely an episodic and instrumental
gesellschaft but as a praxis of fluid, interconnected and
self-reproducing gemeinschaften.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 106-120
Issue: 1
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.851411
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.851411
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:106-120
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Andrew G. Livingstone
Author-X-Name-First: Andrew G.
Author-X-Name-Last: Livingstone
Title: Why the psychology of collective action requires qualitative transformation as well as quantitative change
Abstract:
The argument of this paper is that social psychological models of
collective action do not (and cannot) adequately explain social change and
collective action through models based on shared variance between
variables. Over and above the questions of why and
how collective action and social change occur, such
models do not adequately address the question of when
they occur: at what point on a measure of perceived illegitimacy - or any
other predictor - does a person decide that enough is enough, and at what
point do shared grievances transform into mass protest? Instead, it is
argued that the transition from inaction to action at the level of both
the individual and the group is better conceptualised as a qualitative
transformation. A key agenda for the social psychology of collective
action should therefore be to conceptualise the link between quantitative
variation in predictors of action and the actual emergence of action.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 121-134
Issue: 1
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.851404
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.851404
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:121-134
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Charalambos Tsekeris
Author-X-Name-First: Charalambos
Author-X-Name-Last: Tsekeris
Title: Special Issue of Contemporary Social ScienceThe self in contemporary social science
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 135-135
Issue: 1
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.876715
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.876715
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:135-135
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Alan Tomlinson
Author-X-Name-First: Alan
Author-X-Name-Last: Tomlinson
Title: Olympic legacies: recurrent rhetoric and harsh realities
Abstract:
This article traces the genesis of the principle of legacy as it has
featured in Olympic discourse, and become enshrined in the expressed
philosophy of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), so shaping
elements in the process of bidding by cities to stage the Olympic Games,
in both their winter and summer manifestations. The article shows how
Olympic bidders have increasingly mobilised the idea of legacy, and how
event by event over the last quarter of a century, evaluation of the
significance of an Olympic Games has been centrally shaped by the legacy
debate, in a multitude of applications and contexts. Particular aspects of
legacy are focused upon, with reference to new studies, from city impacts
to volunteers and workers, spatial politics and communities to gender
discourse, and protest and publics. The article is flavoured by a running
commentary on legacy claims by academics, politicians and IOC careerists
concerning the London 2012 Summer Olympics, and considers the bidding
rhetoric of cities beyond Rio de Janeiro 2016, through to Tokyo 2020. In
conclusion, it is argued that despite the embeddedness of the legacy idea
in Olympic discourse, the reality is that legacy will prove elusive
without long-term planning before Olympic events, and remain unproven
without systematic post-event research over realistically extended
periods. Critical social science remains essential to such an
understanding of the gap between legacy claims and the realities of the
recurring Olympic narratives.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 137-158
Issue: 2
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.912792
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.912792
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Author-Name: Steven Miles
Author-X-Name-First: Steven
Author-X-Name-Last: Miles
Title: The Beijing Olympics: complicit consumerism and the re-invention of citizenship
Abstract:
Debates around the cultural significance of the Beijing Olympics have
tended to focus on the role of the Games as a demonstration of 'soft
power'; as a means of announcing the arrival of the China on a global
economic and cultural stage. But this argument may camouflage a more
profound sociological change that was engendered by the Games: namely, its
role in hastening the emergence of a consumer society in China. The
argument here is that although, of course, the Games allowed the Chinese
Communist Party to present an externally facing image of China as a
country at the forefront of globalisation, it is perhaps the internal
audience that is of greater consequence. For the people of China, the
message underpinning the Games was one centred around the hegemony of the
consumer. Although it can be argued that fundamentally the Games had a
limited impact upon the everyday realities of city life in Beijing itself,
in fact, the more profound impact was perhaps an ideological one,
providing an impetus for a new way of belonging and identity to be defined
through consumption. As such, the Beijing Olympics represents a genuine
shift in Olympic history insofar as they not only said something about
where China stood internationally, but they also had a genuine effect in
legitimising a new kind of being in China. The 2008 Olympics Games played
a key role in advancing a new kind of consumer-driven citizenship with
which Chinese citizens it is suggested were complicitly engaged.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 159-172
Issue: 2
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.838294
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.838294
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:2:p:159-172
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Roy Panagiotopoulou
Author-X-Name-First: Roy
Author-X-Name-Last: Panagiotopoulou
Title: The legacies of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games: a bitter-sweet burden
Abstract:
This paper describes the preparation works related to Athens 2004
Olympics, analyses the controversial issue of the Games' financing using
new evidence, presents the benefits and losses for the Greek society by
undertaking an international project which proved to be far bigger than it
could afford, and scrutinises the post-Olympic use of the remaining
Olympic facilities under the new circumstances of the financial crisis.
The Olympics with their special cultural symbolism and identification for
Greece provided an effective vehicle to boost a wide range of
infrastructure modernisation long needed for the city of Athens.
Intangible assets deriving from the endeavour to set up such a project in
and by a small and not so wealthy country are discussed, stressing on the
importance of a 'can-do spirit', a benefit for the consequent period of
austerity and uncertainty.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 173-195
Issue: 2
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.838297
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.838297
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:2:p:173-195
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Lynn Minnaert
Author-X-Name-First: Lynn
Author-X-Name-Last: Minnaert
Title: Making the Olympics work: interpreting diversity and inclusivity in employment and skills development pre-London 2012
Abstract:
The rising cost of staging the Olympic Games has resulted in closer
scrutiny on their potential economic impacts. Employment and skills
development are often used at the bidding stage to - at least partly -
justify the cost of the Games. This article examines the development and
early implementation of employment and skills strategies in the run-up to
London 2012, 'the most inclusive Games ever'. It analyses the efforts made
to make the recruitment process for training and jobs more focused on a
local, diverse and inclusive labour pool. On the basis of in-depth
interviews with key decision makers, it is found that the different
organisations involved showed dedication to inclusive labour, but that
they operated different definitions of 'inclusivity', resulting in some
key successes and a few missed opportunities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 196-209
Issue: 2
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.838290
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.838290
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:2:p:196-209
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Angela M. Benson
Author-X-Name-First: Angela M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Benson
Author-Name: Tracey J. Dickson
Author-X-Name-First: Tracey J.
Author-X-Name-Last: Dickson
Author-Name: F. Anne Terwiel
Author-X-Name-First: F. Anne
Author-X-Name-Last: Terwiel
Author-Name: Deborah A. Blackman
Author-X-Name-First: Deborah A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Blackman
Title: Training of Vancouver 2010 volunteers: a legacy opportunity?
Abstract:
The successful delivery of a mega sport event depends upon a volunteer
workforce. It is often asserted that the training of event volunteers
contributes to the creation of a social legacy via the transfer of
learning to other volunteer contexts, thereby creating an enhanced
volunteer pool after the event, which will support the tourism and events
industries in the host communities. This article reflects upon the reality
of that assertion and argues that in order to achieve legacy both training
and development strategies are required. As such an analysis of data
collected at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games around
training and legacy is discussed. A Legacy Training and Development Model
is offered and subsequently applied to the case study. The article
concludes by suggesting that training at Vancouver 2010 was a missed
opportunity in achieving legacy.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 210-226
Issue: 2
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.838296
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.838296
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:2:p:210-226
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Francesca Weber-Newth
Author-X-Name-First: Francesca
Author-X-Name-Last: Weber-Newth
Title: Landscapes of London 2012: 'adiZones' and the production of (corporate) Olympic space
Abstract:
This paper examines so-called 'adiZones' - small colourful outdoor gyms,
built as a UK-wide initiative. adiZones represent the pairing of sport
giant adidas with the London 2012 Olympics. Their location within some of
the poorest neighbourhoods in London means that adiZones not only fit
within the Government's promise of an inclusive, community-orientated
Olympic 'legacy', but also the targets concerning the reduction of
childhood obesity and youth crime. Drawing on ethnographic observations
and interviews with users in three London adiZones, this paper explores
the political, social and spatial implications of adiZones. Dovetailing
empirical analysis with Henri Lefebvre and Emile Durkheim's theoretical
accounts of space, the paper suggests that adiZones provide a case study
for illustrating the aggressive corporatisation of public space. It argues
that adiZones are a branding exercise, the corporate flavour of which is
neutralised by the Olympic narrative. 'adiZones' were a way to build
physical and social 'legacy' before legacy had even begun.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 227-241
Issue: 2
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.838293
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.838293
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:2:p:227-241
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Kath Woodward
Author-X-Name-First: Kath
Author-X-Name-Last: Woodward
Title: Legacies of 2012: putting women's boxing into discourse
Abstract:
This article explores some of the promises of legacy following the summer
games in 2012 and demonstrates some of the cultural changes which are made
possible in relation to thinking about gender and sport. The article uses
Foucault's idea of ideas being 'put into discourse' to show how women's
boxing in 2012 was taken seriously as an exciting sport and has had an
impact upon the cultural hegemonic masculinity of boxing. Legacy involves
incremental changes and shifts in ways of thinking which open up new ways
of doing sport.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 242-252
Issue: 2
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.838295
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.838295
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:2:p:242-252
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jules Boykoff
Author-X-Name-First: Jules
Author-X-Name-Last: Boykoff
Author-Name: Pete Fussey
Author-X-Name-First: Pete
Author-X-Name-Last: Fussey
Title: London's shadow legacies: security and activism at the 2012 Olympics
Abstract:
When London organisers bid on the 2012 Summer Olympics, they promised an
array of legacies, from economic and environmental to cultural and
sport-related. In bid materials, Lord Sebastian Coe and his colleagues put
forth a four-pronged vision for the Games: providing an unforgettable
experience for athletes; forging a British sport legacy; regenerating East
London economically and socially; and championing the Olympic Movement and
the International Olympic Committee. But the 2012 London Olympics tendered
a legacy not touted in bid materials: a revamped security state and
riled-up activist communities. This article examines the dialectics of
restriction and resistance: the ever-present dance between security forces
and activists as they jockey for position and advantage in the public
sphere. Drawing from government documents, media accounts, ethnographies
and interviews with activists and security practitioners, we analyse these
dialectics as played out in London in the run-up to, during and after the
Olympics. First, we analyse literatures on repressive and coercive state
policies and on the dissent and activism they inspire, giving special
attention to specific Olympic processes. We then consider the urban
setting that not only stages the Games, but also animates specific
tensions on which security agencies and activists converge. This
discussion is developed in the following section where we consider the
measures adopted by state and private security forces for the London Games
and examine the activist response to the Olympic juggernaut and how
campaigners were replying to - sometimes tacitly and at other times
explicitly - the state's actions. The paper concludes by considering how
security practices, activism and their interrelationships contribute
towards a range of less-visible legacies.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 253-270
Issue: 2
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.838292
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.838292
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:2:p:253-270
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Bárbara Schausteck de Almeida
Author-X-Name-First: Bárbara Schausteck de
Author-X-Name-Last: Almeida
Author-Name: Wanderley Marchi Júnior
Author-X-Name-First: Wanderley
Author-X-Name-Last: Marchi Júnior
Author-Name: Elizabeth Pike
Author-X-Name-First: Elizabeth
Author-X-Name-Last: Pike
Title: The 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Brazil's soft power
Abstract:
The economic growth of nations such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and
South Africa starred a new order into the global power balance. For
Brazil, winning the rights to host sport mega events gave the country
recognition and symbolic power in the international arena. The ensuing
expectation is to increase these achievements while staging the events and
to sustain the profits to a remarkable level of 'soft power'. Using the
2016 Olympic and Paralympic election as a starting point, this paper aims
to reveal how sport has been used as a strategy of foreign policy to
improve the country's soft power. After reviewing some key features of the
Brazilian political and economic context, and the foreign policy agenda in
the 2000s and the 2016 election, it is shown that sport mega events
support and reflect the intention of many Brazilian political officials
intention to increase the status of Brazil in the international sphere.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 271-283
Issue: 2
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2013.838291
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2013.838291
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:2:p:271-283
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Donna Youngs
Author-X-Name-First: Donna
Author-X-Name-Last: Youngs
Title: Crime and society
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 284-284
Issue: 2
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.900981
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.900981
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:2:p:284-284
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Amadu Wurie Khan
Author-X-Name-First: Amadu Wurie
Author-X-Name-Last: Khan
Title: Asylum-seeking migration, identity-building and social cohesion: policy-making vs. social action for cultural recognition
Abstract:
This article considers two UK government policies, which are aimed at
immigrants' assimilation around an 'imagined' Britishness and at managing
multiculturalism and social cohesion. It specifically argues that the
policies are an attempt by 'new governmentality' at identity-building of a
homogeneous British cultural identity and the governance of
multiculturalism in the contemporary western state. It considers asylum
seekers/refugees' alternative forms of identity-building through proactive
social actions to demonstrate that immigrants are capable of resisting
governmentality's 'assimilationist' agenda. It is argued that asylum
seekers/refugees' identity-building practices constitute a process of
'disidentification'. Further, it demonstrates that racialised minorities
are capable of managing public anxiety about asylum-seeking migration as
posing a threat to social cohesion and multiculturalism.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 285-297
Issue: 3
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.682087
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.682087
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:3:p:285-297
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Eve Binks
Author-X-Name-First: Eve
Author-X-Name-Last: Binks
Author-Name: Neil Ferguson
Author-X-Name-First: Neil
Author-X-Name-Last: Ferguson
Title: Identities in diaspora: social, national and political identities of the Irish and Northern Irish in England
Abstract:
The current research aimed to assess the social, national and political
identities of members of the Irish and Northern Irish diaspora in England.
Drawing upon research on social identity theory (SIT), it was hypothesised
that there would be significant differences between the social, national
and political identities of members of the Irish and Northern Irish
diaspora and also that there would be significant differences between the
social, national and political identities of members of the Catholic and
Protestant Northern Irish diaspora. Two hundred and fifty-one members of
the Irish and Northern Irish diaspora in England rated themselves on a
number of ethnic identity items. It was determined that there are
significant differences between the social, national and political
identities of the Irish and Northern Irish diasporic groups and that there
are significant differences between the social, national and political
identities of the Northern Irish Catholic and Protestant diasporic groups.
Results are discussed with reference to SIT, the development and
maintenance of diasporic identities and the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 298-310
Issue: 3
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.709636
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.709636
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:3:p:298-310
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Michael Chibba
Author-X-Name-First: Michael
Author-X-Name-Last: Chibba
Title: Understanding human trafficking: perspectives from social science, security matters, business and human rights
Abstract:
Human trafficking can be traced back to the dawn of civilisation and it
has economic, business and societal roots. Over the last half-century,
human rights have gradually moved to centre stage in the global policy
arena. And recently, security issues, poverty, inequality, law and
inclusive development have also entered the picture on matters dealing
with trafficking. This article provides a fresh look at the subject by
focusing on trafficking from various perspectives that include
consideration of diverse yet complementary dimensions - including the
social sciences, security matters, business and human rights - to impart
an understanding of the definitions, issues and problems to be tackled. As
part of concluding remarks, suggestions for future action on the policy,
practice and research fronts are offered.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 311-321
Issue: 3
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.727301
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.727301
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:3:p:311-321
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Pratikshya Bohra-Mishra
Author-X-Name-First: Pratikshya
Author-X-Name-Last: Bohra-Mishra
Title: Motivations to remit: evidence from Chitwan, Nepal
Abstract:
As remittance has become a crucial source of income for households,
migrant's motivations to remit have significant implications for
migrant-sending societies. Using data from western Chitwan in Nepal, I
test the relative significance of different motives to remit that are
identified in the existing literature along with other likely determinants
of remittance behavior. An improved statistical methodology corrects for
potential self-selection bias. The empirical results suggest that
remittance behavior is driven by semi-altruistic and self-interested
motives rather than purely altruistic motives while social norms also
serve as an important predictor of remittance behavior.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 322-337
Issue: 3
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.709637
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.709637
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:3:p:322-337
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Martyn Hammersley
Author-X-Name-First: Martyn
Author-X-Name-Last: Hammersley
Title: The crisis in economics: What can it tell us about social science?
Abstract:
The discipline of economics is currently facing a severe crisis, in the
wake of the financial collapse of 2008. But there have been growing
criticisms of the discipline, from within as well as from outside, for
over two decades. In this paper the lessons that can be learned from this
crisis by other social sciences are examined. It is argued that the main
source of the problem is not so much the character of the discipline
itself as the public role that it has been assigned, and taken on,
purporting to offer a comprehensive practical perspective that serves as a
basis for policy-making, and for practical decision-making more generally.
Many social scientists crave a similar role for their own discipline, or
for a broader interdisciplinary social science. In this article, I argue
that this represents a failure to learn the lesson that the crisis in
economics teaches.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 338-344
Issue: 3
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.943275
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.943275
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:3:p:338-344
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Martyn Hammersley
Author-X-Name-First: Martyn
Author-X-Name-Last: Hammersley
Title: The perils of 'impact' for academic social science
Abstract:
'Impact' has become a standard way of conceptualising the contributions
that research makes to policy-making and practice, this reflecting in
large part the shift from a state patronage to an investment model of
research funding. However, little attention has been given to the metaphor
that underpins the term 'impact'. Yet this is important because there are
ways in which it can distort our understanding of the public contribution
of academic research, and thereby create false expectations about it. Some
problematic assumptions built into the metaphor are examined, along with
several ways in which it may obscure our understanding of the relationship
between research and policy-making or practice.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 345-355
Issue: 3
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.923580
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.923580
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:3:p:345-355
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: David Canter
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Canter
Title: A Map of the Social Sciences
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 356-357
Issue: 3
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.965917
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.965917
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:3:p:356-357
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Catherine Leyshon
Author-X-Name-First: Catherine
Author-X-Name-Last: Leyshon
Title: Critical issues in social science climate change research
Abstract:
This paper examines the challenges and opportunities for social scientists
working on climate change research. Much work is required to expose and
destabilise taken-for-granted assumptions about: (i) the nature of climate
change, its complex ontology and knowledge-making practices; and (ii) how
academic knowledge is made at the expense of other ways of knowing, doing
and being in the world. I examine the relationship between the natural and
social sciences, the epistemological question of what people are, and the
multiple spaces, sites and practices across which and about which social
science research on climate change is being produced.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 359-373
Issue: 4
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.974890
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.974890
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:4:p:359-373
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Birgitta Gatersleben
Author-X-Name-First: Birgitta
Author-X-Name-Last: Gatersleben
Author-Name: Niamh Murtagh
Author-X-Name-First: Niamh
Author-X-Name-Last: Murtagh
Author-Name: Wokje Abrahamse
Author-X-Name-First: Wokje
Author-X-Name-Last: Abrahamse
Title: Values, identity and pro-environmental behaviour
Abstract:
The importance of understanding and promoting pro-environmental behaviour
among individual consumers in modern Western Societies is generally
accepted. Attitudes and attitude change are often examined to help reach
this goal. But although attitudes are relatively good predictors of
behaviour and are relatively easy to change they only help explain
specific behaviours. More stable individual factors such as values and
identities may affect a wider range of behaviours. In particular factors
which are important to the self are likely to influence behaviour across
contexts and situations. This paper examines the role of values and
identities in explaining individual pro-environmental behaviours.
Secondary analyses were conducted on data from three studies on UK
residents, with a total of 2694 participants. Values and identities were
good predictors of pro-environmental behaviour in each study and
identities explain pro-environmental behaviours over and above specific
attitudes. The link between values and behaviours was fully mediated by
identities in two studies and partially mediated in one study supporting
the idea that identities may be broader concepts which incorporate values.
The findings lend support for the concept of identity campaigning to
promote sustainable behaviour. Moreover, it suggests fruitful future
research directions which should explore the development and maintenance
of identities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 374-392
Issue: 4
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.682086
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.682086
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:4:p:374-392
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Harriet Bulkeley
Author-X-Name-First: Harriet
Author-X-Name-Last: Bulkeley
Author-Name: Vanesa Castán Broto
Author-X-Name-First: Vanesa
Author-X-Name-Last: Castán Broto
Title: Urban experiments and climate change: securing zero carbon development in Bangalore
Abstract:
Climate change is an increasingly important issue on urban policy and
research agendas. As this agenda gathers pace, this paper argues for an
approach that recognises the critical role of climate change experiments
in meditating the response to climate change in the city. Drawing on a
case study of a green housing development in the outskirts of Bangalore in
India--Towards Zero Carbon Development (T-Zed)--the paper follows the
emergence of an experiment in the simultaneous processes of making,
maintaining and living low carbon alongside and in between existing
infrastructure regimes. It is argued that this experiment has created
space for social and technical innovation, reworking notions of urban
development in Bangalore. At the same time, it has reconfigured existing
urban infrastructure networks through new discourses and practices of
urban ecological security, enabling the emergence of a new rhetoric of low
carbon living within the city that effectively marries green forms of
consumption with urban development. While the experiment serves as a means
for modifying urbanism in Bangalore, its results are ambivalent in the
context of ongoing inequalities within the city and beyond.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 393-414
Issue: 4
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.692483
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.692483
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:4:p:393-414
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Elizabeth Shove
Author-X-Name-First: Elizabeth
Author-X-Name-Last: Shove
Title: Putting practice into policy: reconfiguring questions of consumption and climate change
Abstract:
Understanding how societies change is core business for the social
sciences and there is no shortage of theories about how transitions come
about. Despite this reservoir of ideas, efforts to promote more
sustainable patterns of consumer behaviour draw upon a remarkably narrow
range of conceptual resources. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate
the potential and the relevance of paradigms that lie outside the dominant
discourses and traditions of economics and psychology. The method is to
detail the implications of a handful of key propositions anchored in a
'strong' interpretation of practice theory. By organising this discussion
around an invented conversation between a fictional policy-maker and an
equally fictional social scientist, the paper explores further questions
regarding the role of social theory and evidence in contemporary policy.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 415-429
Issue: 4
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.692484
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.692484
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:4:p:415-429
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Karen Turner
Author-X-Name-First: Karen
Author-X-Name-Last: Turner
Author-Name: Cathy Xin Cui
Author-X-Name-First: Cathy Xin
Author-X-Name-Last: Cui
Author-Name: Soo Jung Ha
Author-X-Name-First: Soo Jung
Author-X-Name-Last: Ha
Author-Name: Geoffrey Hewings
Author-X-Name-First: Geoffrey
Author-X-Name-Last: Hewings
Title: Input-output analyses of the pollution content of intra- and inter-national trade flows
Abstract:
This paper considers the application of input-output accounting methods to
consider the pollution implications of different production and
consumption activities, with specific focus on pollution embodied in
intra- and inter-national trade flows. It considers the illustrative case
studies of production and consumption measures of emissions and pollution
embodied in interregional trade flows between two regions of the UK and
between five Midwest regions/states within the United States. The analysis
raises questions in terms of policy reliance on the extremes of
conventional production and consumption accounting measures and considers
a range of alternative measures that may be calculated using input-output
methods to provide different informational content. The paper focuses on
different types of air pollutant of current policy concern in each the UK
and the US Midwest cases and demonstrates how use of the environmental
input-output framework allows the analysis of the nature and significance
of interregional pollution spillovers. The results raise questions in
terms of the extent to which authorities at the regional level can limit
local emissions where they are limited in the way some emissions can be
controlled, particularly with respect to changes in demand elsewhere
within the national economy. This implies a need for policy coordination
between national and regional level authorities to meet emissions
reductions targets. Moreover, the existence of pollution trade balances
between regions also raises issues regarding net losses/gains in terms of
pollutants as a result of interregional trade. In conducting analyses for
different types of air pollutant (here carbon dioxide, CO2, as
a global warming gas, a greenhouse gas (GHG), in the UK case; and ammonia,
NH3, as a pollutant of more local concern in the US case) the
paper also considers how pollution embodied in international trade flows
may be accounted for and attributed.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 430-455
Issue: 4
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2012.692808
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2012.692808
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Bouke Wiersma
Author-X-Name-First: Bouke
Author-X-Name-Last: Wiersma
Author-Name: Patrick Devine-Wright
Author-X-Name-First: Patrick
Author-X-Name-Last: Devine-Wright
Title: Decentralising energy: comparing the drivers and influencers of projects led by public, private, community and third sector actors
Abstract:
The potential contribution of decentralised energy (DE) to the low carbon
transition has received increasing policy and scholarly attention.
However, a predominant emphasis upon community-led initiatives has
overlooked the potential of alternative configurations, in particular
projects led by public, private and professional third sector actors. To
address this gap, a comparative case study analysis was undertaken based
upon in-depth interviews with key actors in nine UK DE projects,
scrutinising cross-sectoral patterns in underlying project drivers and
factors influencing project evolution. Findings indicate that drivers are
highly diverse, vary by sector and are predominantly local, with
addressing poverty predominant. Key influencers identified were funding,
levels of trust and stakeholder representations of energy users. The
results indicate that policy and academic emphases on community-led DE
overlook other successful and diverse configurations that can contribute
to the low carbon transition.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 456-470
Issue: 4
Volume: 9
Year: 2014
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.981757
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.981757
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:9:y:2014:i:4:p:456-470
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Charalambos Tsekeris
Author-X-Name-First: Charalambos
Author-X-Name-Last: Tsekeris
Title: Contextualising the self in contemporary social science
Abstract:
This special issue of Contemporary Social Science
provides a variety of perspectives on current thinking on the nature of
the self within a sociocultural context. These viewpoints show the self to
be, paradoxically, both autonomous and interdependent. It is reflexively
open, socially embedded and interactively created. This leads to the
proposal that the self is a relational not a metaphysical or essential
entity. The present paper, therefore, summarises various developments in
current social science thought which explore the dynamic, relational and
nonlinear understanding of the self. These mainly involve the
consideration of the complex links between agents and structures. The
critical interrogation of these links, starting from an agent-based
systems perspective, highlights the contextual and dialectic emergence of
the self in contemporary society. This provides a fresh interdisciplinary
framework for understanding the complex dynamics of both the self and
society which has practical implications.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-14
Issue: 1
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1010340
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1010340
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Vulca Fidolini
Author-X-Name-First: Vulca
Author-X-Name-Last: Fidolini
Title: Self-construction and multiple modernities
Abstract:
The category of 'individual' has always been at the heart of classical
sociological literature to describe the shift from Traditional to Modern
society. Consequently, Western sociology has always imagined the
individual as the exclusive product of its own form of Modernity. By
analysing a corpus of sociological studies which focuses on the condition
of the young adult in Moroccan contemporary urban centres, we will try to
understand which other possible individuals and self-construction paths
can be found in other, 'non-Western', societies. How is it possible to
link the category of the 'individual' and its process of self-construction
in societies that have gone through socio-historical evolution which
differs from the hegemonic Western model? The case of the young Moroccan
adult will be presented as a paradigmatic example of a new intellectual
path through which contemporary sociology can depict the condition of the
individual and its self-construction in the multiple-modernities
framework.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 15-25
Issue: 1
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.976251
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.976251
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jeff Vass
Author-X-Name-First: Jeff
Author-X-Name-Last: Vass
Title: Selfhood and its pragmatic coherence in the context of social entropy: towards a new framework of the social self
Abstract:
Any contemporary approach to the construction of the self must be able to
deal with the prevailing context of 'the entropy of the social' and its
impact on the self. This paper: (1) examines the rise of 'entropic' views
of sociality and destabilised selfhood and discusses the central
difficulty traditional frameworks, based on two broad paradigms of
understanding selfhood, have for indexing the stability of the self as a
register of social change. As it stands, current approaches leave us in a
state of undecideability. (2) Following a genealogy of
agency theory in the sociological canon, it argues that we can generate
models of greater analytical depth to resolve ambiguity by re-aligning and
relating two key features of reflexive selves in action:
responsivity and recognition. Finally,
(3) this argument is developed in the context of empirical work on couples
in cross-generational relationships which are by one definition entropic.
A new framework is proposed.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 26-38
Issue: 1
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.978811
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.978811
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:1:p:26-38
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Kaisa Ketokivi
Author-X-Name-First: Kaisa
Author-X-Name-Last: Ketokivi
Author-Name: Mianna Meskus
Author-X-Name-First: Mianna
Author-X-Name-Last: Meskus
Title: The dilemma of 'the capable actor' and the case of disrupted lives
Abstract:
This article considers the notion of 'the capable actor', a prevalent
figure in social theory which contemporary people in Western societies are
expected to embrace. The question of agency is approached by looking at
the phases of life in which people 'fail' to perform individual agentic
capacities. The article draws on studies on biographical disruption caused
by the loss of a spouse and serious illness on one hand, and on prenatal
testing and the loss of an expected child on the other. The article
challenges the individualistic notion of agency and shows how action is
relationally accomplished through a wider figuration of actors. While
persons going through disruptive life events are unable to actualise their
personal freedoms and self-management as individuals, they nevertheless
strive for autonomy and personal space. The article suggests that the
figure of 'the capable actor' poses a dilemma which conditions the
experiences of contemporary people. As such it challenges social scholars
to consider the co-existing impossibility and immanent presence of
individual agency, which is itself relationally enacted.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 39-51
Issue: 1
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.988289
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.988289
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:1:p:39-51
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Melissa Lopez Reyes
Author-X-Name-First: Melissa Lopez
Author-X-Name-Last: Reyes
Author-Name: Katrina F. Resurreccion
Author-X-Name-First: Katrina F.
Author-X-Name-Last: Resurreccion
Title: The self in family coexistence: developing youth's agency and prosociality
Abstract:
Central to the concept of family coexistence is the development of its
young members' selves through a process that occurs in the family's shared
life and activities. In this process, young persons are socialised into
their family's values, capabilities and expectations at the same time that
they experience their family's care and support. What possibly emerges
from family coexistence is youth's personal agency that is exercised for
prosocial goals. This hypothesis is examined in this paper in the
Philippine culture, where other persons are regarded as shared selves and
the family's function of educating children is considered of prime
importance. Self-report survey data generated through the Multicontext
Assessment Battery of Youth Development and from three separate Filipino
undergraduate samples show support for three models (a) a correlated
two-factor model of family relations and capabilities, (b) a correlated
two-factor model of youth's agency and prosociality, and (c) a structural
equation model suggesting a developmental pathway starting from positive
relations onto socialisation in family capabilities; family capabilities
then directly influence youth's agency that, in turn, directly influences
prosociality. Thus, while youth's prosocial self emerges from the
interpersonal and communal nature of family coexistence, it also is shaped
by youth's exercise of personal agency. The results are examined in the
light of agency and prosociality as bases of the integrality of the self.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 52-69
Issue: 1
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.980841
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.980841
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:1:p:52-69
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mónica Aresta
Author-X-Name-First: Mónica
Author-X-Name-Last: Aresta
Author-Name: Luis Pedro
Author-X-Name-First: Luis
Author-X-Name-Last: Pedro
Author-Name: Carlos Santos
Author-X-Name-First: Carlos
Author-X-Name-Last: Santos
Author-Name: António Moreira
Author-X-Name-First: António
Author-X-Name-Last: Moreira
Title: Portraying the self in online contexts: context-driven and user-driven online identity profiles
Abstract:
The emergence of online environments created a space where individuals can
work on the construction and reconstruction of the self.
Introducing a case study developed at the University of Aveiro - Portugal,
this paper discusses the importance and challenges of building a
representation the self in online contexts and addresses
the main differences between building the self in
physical and online environments. Data were collected through the
application of questionnaires, direct observation and in-depth interviews,
made to the participants of the study, 13 individuals, convenience sample.
From the analysis of the collected data, a framework and a model have
emerged: the Online Identity Analysis Model. By applying the model to the
information shared by each participant in three online spaces (Facebook,
Twitter and SAPO Campus, an institutionally supported platform), two main
online identity profiles were outlined: the context-driven online identity
profile and the user-driven online identity profile. By presenting the
main results of a study focused on the construction of the
self in online contexts, this paper should be understood
as an approach and/or a starting point for a more wider and profound
analysis of the online self and therefore contribute to
the understanding of the importance of building a presence over the web,
advantages and challenges included.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 70-85
Issue: 1
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.980840
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.980840
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:1:p:70-85
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Carlos Adrian Cuevas-Garcia
Author-X-Name-First: Carlos Adrian
Author-X-Name-Last: Cuevas-Garcia
Title: 'I have never cared for particular disciplines' - negotiating an interdisciplinary self in biographical narrative
Abstract:
Interdisciplinary researchers can be perceived as valuable but also as
dilettantistic. Therefore, claiming an interdisciplinary self and identity
is not a straightforward task. This paper draws on a narrative-discursive
psychology approach to analyse the biographical narrative of a
postdoctoral researcher to position himself successfully as
interdisciplinary. This autobiographical story was published in the
scientific journal Nature. The analysis of this account
identifies a number of discursive resources that can be used for the
construction of oneself as an interdisciplinary researcher, and for the
negotiation of this position as convenient and desirable.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 86-98
Issue: 1
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.974664
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.974664
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:1:p:86-98
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Linda Hantrais
Author-X-Name-First: Linda
Author-X-Name-Last: Hantrais
Author-Name: Ashley Thomas Lenihan
Author-X-Name-First: Ashley Thomas
Author-X-Name-Last: Lenihan
Author-Name: Susanne MacGregor
Author-X-Name-First: Susanne
Author-X-Name-Last: MacGregor
Title: Evidence-based policy: exploring international and interdisciplinary insights
Abstract:
The relationship between international evidence, politics and policy is
never straightforward. Politicians sometimes cite comparative findings
from social science evidence collected and analysed by international
organisations to support policy proposals without sufficient understanding
of contextual factors. The media may exploit data from such studies to
highlight national policy successes and failures. Academic literature on
evidence-based policy is often more interested in identifying policies
that work than in investigating the reasons why policy solutions might, or
might not, be effective if transferred to other regions. This article
explores some of the issues involved by examining the relationship between
evidence producers and users in different institutional settings, drawing
on case studies in health and social policy to illuminate the complexities
of the policy process. In considering possible conditions for successful
policy learning across time and space, the authors stress the critical
need to take account of socioeconomic, political, cultural and
disciplinary contexts.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 101-113
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1061687
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1061687
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:101-113
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ashley Thomas Lenihan
Author-X-Name-First: Ashley Thomas
Author-X-Name-Last: Lenihan
Title: Institutionalising evidence-based policy: international insights into knowledge brokerage
Abstract:
Numerous organisations act as 'evidence brokers', providing and
translating research for use by decision-makers. The relationship between
the supply and demand for evidence is far from linear, and whether these
organisations are self-professed evidence brokers or government appointed
bodies, they face similar challenges in their quest to impact policy. This
paper analyses the strategies of two organisations considered 'exemplars'
of institutional knowledge brokerage: the CPB Netherlands Bureau for
Economic Policy Analysis and the Washington State Institute for Public
Policy. The author posits that three primary factors help these
organisations connect evidence successfully to policy-makers: the
institution's credibility, based on independence, neutrality, reputation,
trust, transparency and the quality of its methods and evidence; the
utility of its research, based on transferability, timing, stakeholder
involvement and resonance with policy-makers; and the communication of
that research, in terms of effectiveness, dissemination, presentation and
translation for policy-makers. Findings, and the possibility of applying
these insights internationally, are then discussed and contextualised.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 114-125
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1055297
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1055297
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:114-125
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Dan Bristow
Author-X-Name-First: Dan
Author-X-Name-Last: Bristow
Author-Name: Lauren Carter
Author-X-Name-First: Lauren
Author-X-Name-Last: Carter
Author-Name: Steve Martin
Author-X-Name-First: Steve
Author-X-Name-Last: Martin
Title: Using evidence to improve policy and practice: the UK What Works Centres
Abstract:
The creation of a network of What Works Centres in the UK reflects a
belief that the provision of high-quality evidence can improve public
policy decisions. The literature on evidence-based policy suggests that
rational, technocratic models belie the complex and contested nature of
the policy process and that What Works Centres are likely to face a number
of challenges as they seek to synthesise and mobilise knowledge. Wide
variations are found between the What Works Centres in terms of their
resources, the evidence standards they use, their audiences and approaches
to transmitting evidence. Tracking their development and their impact over
time should, therefore, provide valuable insights about 'what works' in
promoting evidence-based policy and practice. In particular, it may shed
further light on what counts as 'robust' and 'useful' evidence, and what
are the most effective means of mobilising research-based knowledge,
thereby enhancing our understanding of the contribution that social
science research can make to policy and practice.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 126-137
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1061688
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1061688
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:126-137
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Karen Anderton
Author-X-Name-First: Karen
Author-X-Name-Last: Anderton
Author-Name: James R. Palmer
Author-X-Name-First: James R.
Author-X-Name-Last: Palmer
Title: Evidence-based policy as iterative learning: the case of EU biofuels targets
Abstract:
In recent years, certain attempts to promote sustainable transport have
fallen victim to the impact of 'unintended consequences' on
decision-making and policy outcomes. The pressure that European Union
biofuel targets place on global food production and the role they play in
facilitating deforestation are well-known examples. This paper highlights
how policy-makers' failure to consider evidence relating to the potential
impacts of biofuel mandates in the early 2000s led to a host of complex
problems developing over subsequent years. Drawing on the concept of
problem 'framing', the article then examines the extent of policy learning
that has taken place since the Biofuels Directive was implemented in 2003.
While acknowledging that not all eventualities can be prepared for, the
article highlights the importance of enhanced communication and
collaboration across different levels and departments of government in
policy-making processes as a means of promoting learning, especially when
dealing with complex cross-cutting and international social, environmental
and economic problems.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 138-147
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1061683
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1061683
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Asghar Zaidi
Author-X-Name-First: Asghar
Author-X-Name-Last: Zaidi
Title: Creating and using the evidence base: the case of the Active Ageing Index
Abstract:
The value of evidence-based policy-making depends on the quality and
robustness of the available data. Many conceptual and operational
difficulties restrict the comparability of the data collected in
large-scale international surveys and their usefulness as an evidence
base. Taking the Active Ageing Index (AAI) as a case study, this article
argues that a greater understanding of the context of data sourcing and
application is vital to the usefulness and transferability of the evidence
generated. The difficulties of determining the effectiveness of
evidence-based policy must also be understood in the context of the
economic and political volatility of particular countries and, possibly,
different traditions across nations in applied and academic research.
Drawing on recent AAI findings, the article suggests how the AAI could be
used most effectively as a toolkit by policy-makers seeking to devise
evidence-informed active ageing strategies.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 148-159
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1056750
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1056750
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:148-159
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Carla Meurk
Author-X-Name-First: Carla
Author-X-Name-Last: Meurk
Author-Name: Harvey Whiteford
Author-X-Name-First: Harvey
Author-X-Name-Last: Whiteford
Author-Name: Brian Head
Author-X-Name-First: Brian
Author-X-Name-Last: Head
Author-Name: Wayne Hall
Author-X-Name-First: Wayne
Author-X-Name-Last: Hall
Author-Name: Nicholas Carah
Author-X-Name-First: Nicholas
Author-X-Name-Last: Carah
Title: Media and evidence-informed policy development: the case of mental health in Australia
Abstract:
This article draws together theory from political science, media, and
science and technology studies to examine the past, present and possible
future roles of 'media' in influencing evidence-informed policy-making in
mental health in Australia. The authors develop a nuanced understanding of
the role that media framing, focussing events and participation have
played in the evolution of mental health policy. Media are shown to
influence evidence utilisation in policy development in complex ways. The
authors consider how the global circulation of ideas that media enable
affects policy issues within national jurisdictions. Their findings are
relevant to policy issues in areas where media are deliberately used both
to achieve individual behaviour change and influence policy.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 160-170
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1053970
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1053970
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:160-170
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Tatjana Kiilo
Author-X-Name-First: Tatjana
Author-X-Name-Last: Kiilo
Author-Name: Dagmar Kutsar
Author-X-Name-First: Dagmar
Author-X-Name-Last: Kutsar
Title: Using evidence to reconstruct second-language learning policies in Estonia
Abstract:
This paper exploits framing analysis to examine how evidence from research
and public consultations plays out in the process of public policy
formation, as exemplified by the case of the Estonian Government's new
integration strategy for ethnic minorities. The strategy uses 'culture
steering' to address a horizontal policy area, namely second-language
learning (SLL) policies for adults. The authors draw on diverse forms of
evidence from contrasting ideological stances to examine how a government
administration functions as a knowledge broker in a post-socialist
country. They discuss the appraisal process and review various ways of
framing and reframing evidence, while also exploring the potential for
policy learning. The paper concludes that, when reconstructing SLL
policies in Estonia, not only does the quality of the evidence assembled
matter, but 'culture steering' also plays an important role by addressing
possible sources of resistance to change and by managing conflicting
ideological discourses.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 171-181
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1061685
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1061685
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:171-181
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Edwin van de Haar
Author-X-Name-First: Edwin
Author-X-Name-Last: van de Haar
Title: CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis: Dutch (economic) policy-making
Abstract:
As one of the oldest independent fiscal institutions in the world, the CPB
Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) has a long history
of providing evidence for policy-making. Uniquely, its activities include
the analysis of election manifestos, the national budget and the coalition
agreement, as a derivative from its provision of leading macroeconomic
forecasts. This paper analyses the CPB's role within the Dutch political
system, its place in public administration and the different methods it
employs to provide evidence for policy-makers. It then focuses on two
different types of activities, the costing of election manifestos and
ageing studies, using a multi-methods approach to illustrate how the CPB's
influence extends to setting policy agendas and policy targets, and to
reveal critical factors for success and failure. Although the CPB model
cannot easily be transposed to other countries, a number of general
principles can be deduced from it for application elsewhere.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 182-190
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1052540
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1052540
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:182-190
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ruth Kattumuri
Author-X-Name-First: Ruth
Author-X-Name-Last: Kattumuri
Title: Evidence and the policy process from an Indian perspective
Abstract:
This paper analyses the institutional framework and setting within which
evidence has become linked to policy in India, and the role that
multidisciplinary researchers play in the policy process. It draws on a
number of empirical studies exploring sustainable and equitable
development in India to illustrate the two-way relationship between
researchers and policy-makers, and to demonstrate the value in
policy-oriented research of combining quantitative and qualitative
methods. The author assesses the potential impact and effectiveness of
evidence-based policy-making within the institutionalised strategic
planning framework of the National Institution for Transforming India
Aayog. She considers whether the lessons learnt from one region could be
transposed to other regions within India and elsewhere, and discusses how
and why policies and forms of delivery may require adaptation if they are
to be implemented in different socio-economic, political and cultural
contexts.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 191-201
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1056749
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1056749
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:191-201
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Maren Duvendack
Author-X-Name-First: Maren
Author-X-Name-Last: Duvendack
Author-Name: Kate Maclean
Author-X-Name-First: Kate
Author-X-Name-Last: Maclean
Title: (Mis)use of evidence in microfinance programming in the global south: a critique
Abstract:
This paper looks at the use of economic and social 'evidence' in debates
on microfinance. Microfinance was originally inspired by small-scale
women's savings and credit organisations. When its potential to become a
financially sustainable, even profit-making, development intervention was
recognised, microfinance underwent a 'revolution' that was to convert it
into a much lauded development 'panacea'. Microfinance's reputation has,
however, been tarnished by reports refuting the evidential basis for
claims made on its behalf. We trace the intervention's ascendance and the
evidential basis on which microfinance was promoted. We argue, firstly,
that the exclusion of qualitative evidence was not an epistemological
imperative, but a political choice, and, secondly, that the large-scale
quantitative evidence that did support the scaling up of microfinance was
inadequate in terms of methodological rigour. In concluding, we place the
example of microfinance within wider debates on evidence in development
and argue that evidence can never be apolitical.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 202-211
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1061686
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1061686
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:202-211
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Franca Beccaria
Author-X-Name-First: Franca
Author-X-Name-Last: Beccaria
Title: Evidence and alcohol policy: lessons from the Italian case
Abstract:
During the 1970s, the total alcohol consumption model (TCM) and the public
health approach it inspired shifted the focus of control policies from
individuals to the entire population. From the late 1990s, sociological
studies challenged TCM and indicated the advantages of the harm-reduction
approach, which distinguishes between low- and high-risk patterns of use,
and suggested the adoption of a drinking patterns paradigm, focussing on
the relationship between type, ways and contexts of drinking and
alcohol-related problems. TCM nonetheless remains influential in
international discussions of alcohol policy, and sociological studies are
largely ignored by the most influential stakeholders in the field. Using
Italy as an international comparative case study, the paper challenges the
universal application of the public health approach in alcohol policy. It
offers insights into support for the drinking patterns paradigm and argues
for an increased contribution from the social sciences to understanding
and addressing the alcohol issue.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 212-220
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1061684
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1061684
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:212-220
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Alfred Uhl
Author-X-Name-First: Alfred
Author-X-Name-Last: Uhl
Title: Evidence-based research, epidemiology and alcohol policy: a critique
Abstract:
To demand 'evidence-based medicine' and 'evidence-based research' has
become almost a dogma for researchers and policy-makers in Western
cultures. A critical analysis shows that the original intention of the
term 'evidence-based' was to aim to use the best existing evidence
(emphasising that research should be planned and interpreted in a
methodologically correct way), while recognising that, in some areas,
experimental research would be neither sensible nor feasible. However, as
the paradigm has become established, three dubious and commonly coexisting
additional connotations have become prominent in practice: 'proven beyond
doubt', 'exclusively relying on experimental research' and 'any
conclusions based on empirical data'. Drawing on examples from renowned
publications that demand an 'evidence-based alcohol policy', this article
argues that much of what is presented as 'evidence-based policy' should
more appropriately be labelled 'policy-based evidence'.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 221-231
Issue: 2
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 6
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1051578
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1051578
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:221-231
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jana Králová
Author-X-Name-First: Jana
Author-X-Name-Last: Králová
Title: What is social death?
Abstract:
Social death is on many occasions used too broadly by academics in several
different disciplines, creating ambiguity around its application.
Conceptual clarification is needed, not least because of the importance of
the empirical topics to which the concept has been applied, such as
genocide, slavery and dementia. Analysis of repeatedly occurring
structural similarities in diverse studies of social death reveals three
underlying notions: a loss of social identity, a loss of social
connectedness and losses associated with disintegration of the body. The
article concludes firstly, that social death is a multifaceted phenomenon
with a single conceptual framework; secondly, that in order to preserve
the concept's theoretical potential it should only be used for the most
extreme circumstances whereby most or all of the key facets are severely
compromised and/or lost; thirdly, that social death might be usefully seen
as the opposite of well-being, so that well-being and social death each
clarify the meaning of the other.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 235-248
Issue: 3
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1114407
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1114407
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:3:p:235-248
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Glenys Caswell
Author-X-Name-First: Glenys
Author-X-Name-Last: Caswell
Author-Name: Mórna O'Connor
Author-X-Name-First: Mórna
Author-X-Name-Last: O'Connor
Title: Agency in the context of social death: dying alone at home
Abstract:
Each year, a number of bodies are found of people who have died alone at
home and whose absence from daily life has not been noticed. Media reports
tend to cast either these individuals as deviant, or wider society as
having abandoned them to a lonely death. This paper proposes an
alternative view, one in which some individuals choose to withdraw from
society and enter a period of social death prior to their biological
deaths. They may then be subject to a renewed social life after death,
brought about through post-death social processes. The paper begins by
laying out the background to the pilot study on which it draws, before
discussing some of the methodological and ethical issues involved in
carrying out such research. A case study is then presented as a focus for
a discussion of the possible role of agency and choice within the context
of social death.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 249-261
Issue: 3
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1114663
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1114663
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:3:p:249-261
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Chris Gilleard
Author-X-Name-First: Chris
Author-X-Name-Last: Gilleard
Author-Name: Paul Higgs
Author-X-Name-First: Paul
Author-X-Name-Last: Higgs
Title: Social death and the moral identity of the fourth age
Abstract:
The bleaker aspects of old age have been encapsulated in the concept of a
fourth age which has been likened to a metaphorical 'black hole' where
human agency is no longer visible. This paper explores what such a
formulation might mean for the moral standing of mentally and physically
infirm persons. Does the idea of a fourth age reinforce representations of
dementia as a form of social death or does the status of those defined by
the moral imperative of care benefit from the narratives and practices of
their carers who keep socially alive such persons whatever their degree of
dementia? This paper argues that those persons at risk of being enveloped
by the fourth age are not inherently deprived of a social life even if it
is a social life that their previous self would not have chosen. The moral
imperative of care forms a key part element of the fourth age - for both
good and ill. Recognising the role of carers in realising or rejecting the
fourth age imaginary means also valuing their agency.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 262-271
Issue: 3
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1075328
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1075328
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:3:p:262-271
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Erica Borgstrom
Author-X-Name-First: Erica
Author-X-Name-Last: Borgstrom
Title: Social death in end-of-life care policy
Abstract:
Social death denotes a loss of personhood. The concept of social death is
engaged with in English end-of-life care policy that sees social death
before physical death as a problem. Policy-makers posit that dying persons
are likely to be subject to a social death prior to their physical death
unless they play an active and aware role in planning their death,
facilitated through communication and access to services. Such a view
foregrounds a vision of agency and does not address Sudnow's critique of
how care of the dying focuses on the body.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 272-283
Issue: 3
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1109799
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1109799
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:3:p:272-283
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Annika Jonsson
Author-X-Name-First: Annika
Author-X-Name-Last: Jonsson
Title: Post-mortem social death - exploring the absence of the deceased
Abstract:
The concept of social death is commonly used to describe how individuals
or groups are condemned to existential homelessness at the outskirts of
ordinary, human society. This article, however, explores social death as
post-mortem phenomenon in contemporary Sweden. It is well known that lives
may be extended beyond the grave through the practices and beliefs of the
living, but not all the dead gain a social existence. For various reasons
the living may not wish or be able to construe continuing bonds with their
deceased, and as a consequence the deceased disappear from social life.
Depending on the circumstances, this could be painful to or a relief for
the living. It may also go unnoticed. Based on both individual and group
interviews, this article investigates why some face post-mortem social
death and others do not, and what shades of post-mortem social death there
might be.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 284-295
Issue: 3
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1078117
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1078117
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:3:p:284-295
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Adela Toplean
Author-X-Name-First: Adela
Author-X-Name-Last: Toplean
Title: To resist or to embrace social death? Photographs of couples on Romanian gravestones
Abstract:
This paper examines how a small-scale Transylvanian community uses the
traditional practice of family photographs on gravestones to deal with
survivors' social degradation. This practice can both affirm social death
and mitigate it, depending on the survivor's will and ability to make an
extra-effort to restore the tie with the deceased. Although substantial
religious commitment is not necessary to engage in this practice, tie
maintenance results from a serious engagement in mutual identity support
and collective memory-making, with obvious spiritual overtones.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 296-309
Issue: 3
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1106759
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1106759
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:3:p:296-309
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Zohar Gazit
Author-X-Name-First: Zohar
Author-X-Name-Last: Gazit
Title: (Social) Death is not the end: resisting social exclusion due to suicide
Abstract:
In most studies on those bereaved by suicide - depicted in this article as
'suicide survivors' - the social stigma of suicide results in two options
for survivors: to suffer ostracism or downplay public mention of the loss,
thereby contributing to the deceased's social exclusion. I suggest a third
alternative - that of contesting the social death inflicted upon both the
deceased and their survivors. Various qualitative methods were used to
analyse Path to Life, an Israeli association founded by
bereaved families striving to redress the segregation of people who
committed suicide and those who survive them. The activists use a
seemingly paradoxical strategy, by which they seek to place the cause of
their social death in the limelight. Through their efforts to reframe
suicide from a taboo to a widespread problem deserving recognition, the
organisation's activists present the deceased and their survivors as
entitled to consideration and support. The proposed analysis is based on
frame analysis of 'alternative death entrepreneurs' promoting
unconventional perceptions and practices concerning suicide. The case
study illuminates a subject seldom investigated - efforts to transform
social death.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 310-322
Issue: 3
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1114662
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1114662
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:3:p:310-322
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Lisa McCormick
Author-X-Name-First: Lisa
Author-X-Name-Last: McCormick
Title: The agency of dead musicians
Abstract:
A long-standing theme in the sociology of the arts is the sacralisation of
art in modern society, but an underexplored aspect of this process is how
death shapes artistic creation and appreciation. This paper approaches
this issue through an examination of the cult of the dead composer in
classical music. After considering the cultural logic and effect of
musical sainthood, I discuss how composers are venerated; commemorative
rites, such as anniversary programming, provide a phenomenological
connection between the living and the dead, while physical remains and
relic-like objects carry messages from beyond the grave that can be
usurped or amplified by political projects. By comparing the fetishisation
of the dead diva with the composer cult, I explain why performers who
continue to be admired posthumously still do not achieve the same exalted
status as composers.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 323-335
Issue: 3
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 9
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1114664
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1114664
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:3:p:323-335
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Satyapriya Rout
Author-X-Name-First: Satyapriya
Author-X-Name-Last: Rout
Title: Gendered participation in community forest governance in India
Abstract:
Recent forest governance practices in India have responded to environmental change and subsequent livelihood insecurity by focusing resource governance policies on communities. A paradigm shift has occurred involving participatory inclusive bottom-up approaches, rather than state-centric, top-down forestry. With the formulation of the 1988 National Forest Policy, several variants of participatory models of forest governance – social forestry, community forestry, joint forest management – have been tried out, with differing degrees of success. The 2006 Forests Right Act adopts a rights-based approach to participatory forestry to address the serious concerns of environmental degradation, livelihood insecurity, tenure reforms and questions of autonomy and identity of forest-dependent communities. Using mainly qualitative methodology, this paper reviews forest governance policies and undertakes a critical examination of recent participatory forestry practices. Drawing empirical evidence from two community-based forest governance institutions in the state of Odisha in eastern India, the paper demonstrates how participatory forestry programmes, albeit successful, may be exclusionary with regard to women’s engagement in cases where their involvement is under-represented.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 72-84
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1393555
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1393555
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:72-84
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Kathryn Hochstetler
Author-X-Name-First: Kathryn
Author-X-Name-Last: Hochstetler
Title: Environmental impact assessment: evidence-based policymaking in Brazil
Abstract:
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures aim prospectively to collect evidence about the environmental impacts of economic projects and to avoid or compensate for the costs incurred. This article asks whether such procedures have been effective in Latin America after many regional countries returned to some version of the developmental state after 2000. It does so by surveying the procedural effectiveness of Latin American regulations comparatively before turning to a deeper study of the Brazilian case. In Brazil, which has some of the strongest EIA procedures in the region, it finds that stakeholders make very different assessments of its effectiveness, not least because they define the standard differently. Economic actors in and out of the state criticise Brazilian EIA as ineffective from a transactive standpoint, which questions the time and cost associated with environmental licencing. Environmental and community activists see EIA as ineffective in achieving the substantive sustainability ends they value. Neither appreciates the procedural improvements offered by licencing professionals. The article concludes that EIA invites a broader set of stakeholders than did classic developmental states, but cannot on its own adjudicate among the resulting multiple visions of how to carry out development strategies.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 100-111
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1393556
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1393556
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:100-111
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Kevin Sansom
Author-X-Name-First: Kevin
Author-X-Name-Last: Sansom
Author-Name: David Hirst
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Hirst
Author-Name: Sam Kayaga
Author-X-Name-First: Sam
Author-X-Name-Last: Kayaga
Title: International water targets and national realities in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Uganda
Abstract:
This article considers how to reconcile ambitious UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for universal piped water supplies with developing country realities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A concise process for effective reviews of medium-term national targets is proposed and is applied in an analysis of the current provision of piped water to households and shared community facilities in urban and rural settings in Uganda. Different disciplinary perspectives are adopted to review trends, the performance of key stakeholders and their scope for achieving new targets. Only about 5% of households have piped water supplies on their premises in rural areas in SSA. To achieve the SDG target of 100% coverage will, therefore, take a long time and requires continued support for the sustainability of community water facilities as a priority. The SDGs offer sensible long-term aims, but national medium-term target setting and reviewing remain critical and require realistic and systematic planning approaches, as well as careful global reporting of national performance against SDG targets. The authors argue that balanced incentives are needed to encourage stakeholders to strive for realistic targets in the medium term, without demotivating countries with limited capacities and resources.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 17-29
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1393557
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1393557
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:17-29
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Nelson Oppong
Author-X-Name-First: Nelson
Author-X-Name-Last: Oppong
Title: Negotiating transparency: NGOs and contentious politics of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Ghana
Abstract:
Transparency has been upheld by the dominant Zeitgeist of the twenty-first century as an all-purpose recipe for addressing the ills associated with resource-led developmental transformation. However, little attention has been paid to the bargains and contestations accompanying its institutionalisation in resource-rich countries. To gain a fuller understanding of how transparency interventions interact with the deeper vectors of power and politics embedded in resource governance, this article examines the dynamics of NGO participation in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), an international auditing and multi-stakeholder oversight initiative, adopted by Ghana in 2003. By recasting the analytic problem around the optic of NGO contestation and representation, the article offers a more nuanced engagement with the material politics of negotiability, contestation, and representation that drive EITI compliance, non-compliance, and de-compliance. Drawing from an overall comparative political economy approach and a heuristic model highlighting the intricate dynamics of transparency, the overriding argument ranks the understated contestations within the NGO community around the EITI and the disparity between its platforms and the representational processes of democratic accountability among the most formidable threats to the EITI's noble ambition of securing optimum resource-led transformation.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 58-71
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1394483
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1394483
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:58-71
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Raman Srikanth
Author-X-Name-First: Raman
Author-X-Name-Last: Srikanth
Author-Name: Hippu Salk Kristle Nathan
Author-X-Name-First: Hippu Salk Kristle
Author-X-Name-Last: Nathan
Title: Towards sustainable development: planning surface coal mine closures in India
Abstract:
Coal is the major source of India's electricity today, accounting for 59 per cent of its electricity generation capacity and 75 per cent of the electrical energy generated. Given that 63 per cent of the power generation capacity added in the Twelfth Five-Year Plan (2012–2017) was coal-based, coal is set to remain the most staple source of electricity for India in the foreseeable future. Of the coal produced in India, more than 90 per cent is dispatched from surface or opencast mines, with potentially harmful effects on the environment, due to loss of forests and habitats, disruption of biodiversity and of local communities, and associated damage to agriculture, water resources and local air quality. Acknowledging these adverse environmental impacts, the Government of India has mandated the restoration of mining areas post mine closure to create a ‘self-sustaining ecosystem’, while optimising the use of mined-out land for the benefit of local communities. Within this context, the article reviews India's surface coal mine closure policies, regulatory regimes and operating practices with reference to best practices for reclamation and restoration in selected major coal-producing countries. The article identifies the shortcomings in India's policies and suggests strategies and measures to remedy them.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 30-43
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1394484
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1394484
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:30-43
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ed Brown
Author-X-Name-First: Ed
Author-X-Name-Last: Brown
Author-Name: Ben Campbell
Author-X-Name-First: Ben
Author-X-Name-Last: Campbell
Author-Name: Jon Cloke
Author-X-Name-First: Jon
Author-X-Name-Last: Cloke
Author-Name: Long Seng To
Author-X-Name-First: Long Seng
Author-X-Name-Last: To
Author-Name: Britta Turner
Author-X-Name-First: Britta
Author-X-Name-Last: Turner
Author-Name: Alistair Wray
Author-X-Name-First: Alistair
Author-X-Name-Last: Wray
Title: Low carbon energy and international development: from research impact to policymaking
Abstract:
Few areas of international development research have seen as much transformation over recent years as those relating to energy access and low carbon transitions. New policy initiatives, technological innovations and business models have radically transformed the configuration and dynamics of the sector, driven by the urgency of ongoing climate change. This article asks how, given these rapidly moving contexts, policymakers can engage with research at different scales to gather evidence needed for effective decision-making, particularly within the context of the frequently opposing aims of increasing energy access and climate change mitigation. The authors trace the general debates around how research impact is conceived within different constituencies, before exploring the relationship between policymakers, the academic community and other stakeholders within the specific context of energy and international development research. Drawing on cross-cutting lessons from thirteen research projects funded by UK research councils and government under the Understanding Sustainable Energy Solutions programme, they examine critically ways in which impact and engagement have been conceived by both researchers and research funders. They ask how those lessons can feed into the design of future initiatives to make low carbon transitions meaningful as pathways for inclusive development in communities in Africa and Asia.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 112-127
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1417627
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1417627
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:112-127
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Huiming Zong
Author-X-Name-First: Huiming
Author-X-Name-Last: Zong
Author-Name: Bingjie Cai
Author-X-Name-First: Bingjie
Author-X-Name-Last: Cai
Title: The impact of urbanisation on land resources in Chongqing, China, 1997–2015
Abstract:
Significant differences are observed in the urbanisation process between China and countries in the Western world, and also within China between its western regions and coastal areas. The western region of China experienced rapid urbanisation after 1997 when Chongqing, one of the most important central cities in the region, came directly under central government control. This article examines the urbanisation process in Chongqing from 1997 to 2015. The authors use the coordinated degree index, land use change intensity index and land use spatial index to analyse the urban construction process, its spatial variability and impact on cultivated land resources from a human geographer’s perspective. They show how rapid urban growth kept pace with the rate of industrialisation and was characterised by a ‘centre–periphery’ spatial structure. They find that urban growth lagged behind the rate of urban construction, measured by the rate of population urbanisation. In line with the government’s ‘new urbanisation strategy’, which was supported by research evidence, arable land was not used for construction, in contrast to other coastal cities. In identifying the characteristics of the urbanisation process in Chongqing and the challenges it raised, the authors comment on the reciprocal relationship between research evidence and policy development.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 44-57
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1417628
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1417628
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:44-57
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Nicole Kenton
Author-X-Name-First: Nicole
Author-X-Name-Last: Kenton
Author-Name: Sumita Singha
Author-X-Name-First: Sumita
Author-X-Name-Last: Singha
Title: Community empowerment in changing environments: creating value through food security
Abstract:
Methodologies that are locally relevant, empowering and replicable offer a way forward for improved policymaking and efficient resource governance in a globalised landscape of rapid change and scarce resources. Using the principles of equal participation and distribution, this article shows how the use of participatory methods can lead to greater community ownership and cohesion around shared concerns over access to healthy food and sustainable resource use in challenging urban environments. Drawing on contextualised examples from small-scale projects carried out by Charushila, an international environmental design charity, in Venezuela and Palestine, the article presents a co-design approach that puts people in touch with food growing and the reuse of resources to transform open spaces. An analysis of community-led co-production projects in these two contrasting urban environments shows how such processes can contribute to policymaking for longer-term sustainable development in the field of disaster relief and amid political upheaval in low- and middle-income countries.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 85-99
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1417630
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1417630
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:85-99
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ruth Kattumuri
Author-X-Name-First: Ruth
Author-X-Name-Last: Kattumuri
Title: Sustaining natural resources in a changing environment: evidence, policy and impact
Abstract:
This article explores the global impacts of a changing environment on the sustainability of resources. In a global context characterised by continued population growth and accelerated urbanisation in emerging economies and the least developed regions of the world, pressures on environmental resources are intensifying. Extreme effects on ecosystems in both urban and rural communities are of enduring concern, as evidenced in water and food insecurity, and poor air quality. The author compares varying approaches to the collection and use of evidence, and the ways in which researchers may influence policy decisions and their implementation. Drawing on large and small-scale studies conducted in different regions of the world from a range of disciplinary perspectives, the article seeks to unravel the triangular relationship between research evidence, policy and impact, while paying attention to the tools used to assess impact on, and of, policy. In conclusion, the author considers how co-ordinated efforts by academics, public, private and third-sector practitioners across disciplines and national borders might produce stronger evidence and knowledge with which to inform decision-makers, empower citizens and achieve sustainable development, thereby supporting the needs of present and future generations.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-16
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1418903
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1418903
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Helen Gavin
Author-X-Name-First: Helen
Author-X-Name-Last: Gavin
Title: Call for Papers: Female killers in contemporary society
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 128-128
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1433593
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1433593
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:128-128
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Polly Lord
Author-X-Name-First: Polly
Author-X-Name-Last: Lord
Title: The changing world of work and employment
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 129-129
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1438003
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1438003
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:129-129
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: The Editors
Title: Erratum
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: i-i
Issue: 1
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1439220
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1439220
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:1:p:i-i
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: David Martin Jones
Author-X-Name-First: David Martin
Author-X-Name-Last: Jones
Title: Political religion and the rise of transnational right and left-wing social movements since 9/11
Abstract:
The Austrian philosopher, Eric Voegelin, argued that the ideological fanaticism of the Nazis was a spiritual perversion. More precisely, so far, as the political religions of the twentieth century, Fascism, Stalinism, Maoism and Islamism, are concerned, the meaning or substance of religious phenomena moved from a spiritual concern with transcending the mundane world towards the realisation of imaginary fantasies of immanent apocalypse and the fashioning of this worldly utopias. These fantasies are not always recognised for what they are because the image of an earthly condition of perfected humanity was often expressed in scientific language. This was not the case with revolutionary Islamic thought, but it remains so with other ideological social movements of both left and right that have evolved since 9/11. This is the case with both race-based and anti-capitalist social movements that pursue national or global purificationism. In this essay, we shall discuss the commonalities between these evolving political religions before examining the Western state response and its implications for the future of secular, liberal democracy.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 413-426
Issue: 4
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1207797
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1207797
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:4:p:413-426
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Iban Diaz-Parra
Author-X-Name-First: Iban
Author-X-Name-Last: Diaz-Parra
Author-Name: Beltran Roca
Author-X-Name-First: Beltran
Author-X-Name-Last: Roca
Author-Name: Silvina Romano
Author-X-Name-First: Silvina
Author-X-Name-Last: Romano
Title: Political activists' frames in times of post-politics: evidence from Kirchnerism in Argentina and Podemos in Spain
Abstract:
This article studies the transformation of the frames of political activists who come from autonomous social movements in Argentina and Spain. The cases of Kirchnerism in Argentina and Podemos and the local electoral coalitions in Spain, despite all their contextual and historical differences, follow the same pattern of politicisation. They took place within a general social tendency towards post-politics, understood as the reduction of politics to technical management, without questioning the existing capitalist order. In both cases, the model of politicisation starts within an exceptional political event: the social protests of 2001 in Argentina and the mobilisations of the 15M or indignados in Spain in 2011. Drawing on participant observation and semi-structured interviews, the article examines how social actors re-adjust their frames by managing the contradictions between their previous autonomous logic of action and their new institutional roles, according to the changing economic and political context. It concludes that there has been a clear process of politicisation, materialised in the rise of new generations of political activists, but to some extent the post-political situation remains both in the exceptional political moment and in the electoral coalitions, as the core of the economic system remains unquestioned.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 386-400
Issue: 4
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1218042
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1218042
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:4:p:386-400
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Keenan Wilder
Author-X-Name-First: Keenan
Author-X-Name-Last: Wilder
Title: The origins of labour autonomy in authoritarian Tunisia
Abstract:
Among the most remarkable things about the Tunisian revolution of 2011 was the role of the national trade union (UGTT). Joel Beinin has shown the critical importance this institutional power gave Tunisian workers in comparison to Egypt. I argue that its pre independence history is inadequate to understand this phenomenon given the weakness of Tunisian labour in the 1950s and 1960s. Instead, it can be traced to elite political crises of the 1970s, relatively continuous base militancy from 1970 to 2011 and the collapse of state military relations in the early 1990s. I use State Department archives combined with data from the International Labor Organization and the Tunisian Ministry of Social Affairs to make this case. These results support the idea that co-optation of Tunisian unions was far less extensive than pre 2011 studies suggested, but that labour unrest was less widespread and less disruptive to strategic industries in comparison to 2011 and after.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 349-363
Issue: 4
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1220612
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1220612
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:4:p:349-363
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Author-Name: Sanchari De
Author-X-Name-First: Sanchari
Author-X-Name-Last: De
Title: Context, image and the case of the Shahbag movement
Abstract:
This research discusses the importance of a photograph of an accused war criminal, Abdul Kader Molla, during the period immediately before the emergence of the Shahbag movement in Bangladesh. The image captures Kader Molla flashing a V sign, and it was taken in the moments after he had been sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh in 2013. After Kader Molla’s punishment was revised to a death sentence, a number of images were circulated online of protesters flashing the same V sign. All these moments pose a key question which this research seeks to answer: How does this image of Kader Molla signify a crucial point of reference for the mobilisation of the Shahbag movement? To provide an answer, this paper discusses a historical context of the tensions between people and the state in Bangladesh and how personalised memory can make such tensions visible.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 364-374
Issue: 4
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1225978
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1225978
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:4:p:364-374
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Author-Name: Alba Ruibal
Author-X-Name-First: Alba
Author-X-Name-Last: Ruibal
Title: Social movements and constitutional politics in Latin America: reconfiguring alliances, framings and legal opportunities in the judicialisation of abortion rights in Brazil
Abstract:
One of the main innovations in the interaction between social movements and the state in Latin America since the democratisation processes is the use of courts as venues for social change and the intervention of social actors in constitutional politics. Drawing from the empirical study of the process of strategic litigation for abortion rights in Brazil, this paper aims to show what type of changes can take place when social actors set out to pursue a legal strategy on a highly controversial matter, and in a transitional context, where courts are in the midst of a redefinition of their institutional role in the political system, and movements have not yet been central actors in judicialisation processes. The study highlights how feminist organisations adapted their framing of the abortion issue and developed new alliances with legal actors in order to pursue a rights strategy and to interact with the constitutional court. It also points out how, when dealing with the abortion controversy, the Brazilian constitutional court (Supremo Tribunal Federal) expanded the legal opportunity for the participation of civil society actors and, in its 2012 decision that liberalised the abortion law, acknowledged the legal arguments advanced by social actors in this field.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 375-385
Issue: 4
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1236211
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1236211
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:4:p:375-385
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Author-Name: Elisa Orofino
Author-X-Name-First: Elisa
Author-X-Name-Last: Orofino
Title: Intellectual radicals challenging the state: the case of Hizb ut-Tahrir in the west
Abstract:
Within the broad panorama of twenty-first-century protest movements, this paper focuses on the activity of the Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) in the West. Founded in Palestine in 1952, HT stands out today as one of the most controversial groups on the global scene and is active in more than 45 countries. HT’s ‘war of ideas’, based on a strong anti-integration agenda, an open rejection of democracy, personal freedom and Western foreign policy, has fostered a negative image of HT and it is seen as potentially dangerous. This paper explores how HT challenges Western states with its ‘Shock, Demolish, and Rebuild’ strategy, and places particular emphasis on the political and social fields. Through an attentive content analysis, interviews with current HT members and observation conducted during the author’s fieldwork in London and Sydney, this paper contributes to the debate on protest movements, exploring an innovative form of dissent against the state based on the exaltation of the Caliphate.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 401-412
Issue: 4
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1236212
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:10:y:2015:i:4:p:401-412
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Thomas O’Brien
Author-X-Name-First: Thomas
Author-X-Name-Last: O’Brien
Title: Populism, protest and democracy in the twenty-first century
Abstract:
Protest is an important measure of discontent within society and can be seen as a form of politics by other means. In periods of uncertainty and instability, protest can harm incumbent regimes by heightening and amplifying tensions, potentially leading to crisis and collapse in extreme cases. The wave of democratisation that characterised the last quarter of the twentieth century saw a number of weak democracies emerge and struggle, whereas other regime changes saw new forms of authoritarianism emerge. Crises in the early twenty-first century have shaken both democratic and non-democratic states, leading to large-scale ‘occupy’ movements and uprisings that have brought down regimes in the former Soviet Union and across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)1 region. Common to these diverse protests is a feeling of antipolitics that draws on populist and religious motivations to challenge the state. The aim of this paper is to consider the significance of this apparent wave of protest and identify the driving factors. In order to do this, the paper examines arguments around the quality of democracy (and autocracy), state–social movement interactions and the rise of populist and religious movements.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 337-348
Issue: 4
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1237438
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Author-Name: The Editors
Title: Editorial board
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: ebi-ebi
Issue: 4
Volume: 10
Year: 2015
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1246641
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1246641
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ana Caetano
Author-X-Name-First: Ana
Author-X-Name-Last: Caetano
Author-Name: Magda Nico
Author-X-Name-First: Magda
Author-X-Name-Last: Nico
Title: Forever young: creative responses to challenging issues in biographical research
Abstract:
Biographical research has a long tradition in social sciences. Being an incredibly dynamic interdisciplinary field, it has evolved in its core mission to study the links between individuals and society, strongly anchored in its tradition while also experimenting new approaches. In this paper we discuss a number of challenges resulting from this noteworthy development (theoretical, methodological, object-related and singularity-related) and the creative strategies put into practice by social scientists to answer and overcome them (in observing subjectivity, in the methodological devices implemented and in the analytical procedures applied). These issues and creativity are transversal to the biographical research field (also in its connection to the life course perspective) and are particularly present in the 11 articles brought together in this themed volume of Contemporary Social Science. Although coming from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and different parts of the world, and developing approaches focused on heterogeneous research topics and methodologies, these papers illustrate how challenging biographical research can be and how resourceful, imaginative and innovative social scientists need to be to overcome those issues.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 361-378
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1510134
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1510134
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:361-378
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Bernard Lahire
Author-X-Name-First: Bernard
Author-X-Name-Last: Lahire
Title: Sociological biography and socialisation process: a dispositionalist-contextualist conception
Abstract:
Within a dispositionalist-contextualist conception of socialisation, the sociological biography seeks first and foremost to reconstruct the successive or parallel socialising experiences through which the respondent has been constituted and which have settled in them in the form of schemes or dispositions to believe, see, feel and act. In our societies, the family comes first in the order of experiences and that are based the subsequent experiences (notably educational and professional experiences). But if family is the first ‘psychological agency of society’, it is not the only one and individuals experience various other ‘agencies’ throughout their lives (school, the professional environment, the political party, the union, the religious institution, the cultural association, the sports club, etc.). Therefore, only the sociological biography allows us to grasp the successive or combined effect of the different socialisation frameworks frequented by individuals. Finally, sociological biography enables the establishment of elements of what can be called the ‘existential issue’ of each individual, which the biographical path has gradually contributed to form.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 379-393
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1399213
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1399213
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:379-393
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Pamela Aronson
Author-X-Name-First: Pamela
Author-X-Name-Last: Aronson
Author-Name: Matthew Fleming
Author-X-Name-First: Matthew
Author-X-Name-Last: Fleming
Title: Tapping and assessing the concept of educational regret: methodological techniques for opening up biographical reflection
Abstract:
Regret, a negative assessment of an action committed or a path not taken, is a common biographical experience. However, it is a difficult concept to study in social science research. Participants are likely to enact protective barriers to avoid confronting personal responsibility for ‘bad’ decisions. Drawing on examples from an in-depth interview study of postsecondary educational experiences, we examine a technique and set of questions that can move beyond these biographical research roadblocks. We argue that a highly structured and comprehensive, yet flexible interview guide is ideal for exploring this concept. This article also outlines two questions that can elicit biographical regret, particularly educational regret. The first question asks respondents what they would change about their college experience. The second question asks respondents what advice they would provide to new college students. Together, these methodological techniques are effective at overcoming potential research roadblocks because they allow for an agentic, positive reframing of the experience of regret.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 394-406
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1448938
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1448938
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:394-406
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jane Gray
Author-X-Name-First: Jane
Author-X-Name-Last: Gray
Author-Name: Jennifer Dagg
Author-X-Name-First: Jennifer
Author-X-Name-Last: Dagg
Title: Using reflexive lifelines in biographical interviews to aid the collection, visualisation and analysis of resilience
Abstract:
This article demonstrates the use of a reflexive lifeline instrument within a study oriented towards documenting and explaining resilience from a sociological perspective. Informed by both life course and biographical perspectives, our research design comprised two interviews incorporating recursive co-construction of the participant’s lifeline. We aimed to meet three objectives with this method: (1) to collect accurate retrospective data about the timing of lives; (2) to garner biographical data that allowed us to explore lives as wholes and (3) to elicit participant reflexivity on turning points associated with resilience. Our approach was distinctive in its explicit use of the lifeline both as a means to bring life stories into dialogue with life histories, and as a dynamic prompt to engage participants in the reflexive co-construction of turning points as fateful moments. We illustrate our approach through a case presentation and analysis of the reflexive lifelines co-constructed with two men who participated in our study. We also show how the reflexive lifeline interview generated opportunities for participant-led researcher reflexivity.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 407-422
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1459818
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1459818
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:407-422
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Davide Morselli
Author-X-Name-First: Davide
Author-X-Name-Last: Morselli
Author-Name: Jean-Marie Le Goff
Author-X-Name-First: Jean-Marie
Author-X-Name-Last: Le Goff
Author-Name: Jacques-Antoine Gauthier
Author-X-Name-First: Jacques-Antoine
Author-X-Name-Last: Gauthier
Title: Self-administered event history calendars: a possibility for surveys?
Abstract:
Event history calendar (EHC) methods have received increasing attention from the life-course surveys that have been used in recent years. According to the literature, the EHC provides high-quality data in retrospective surveys because it replicates the autobiographical memory retrieval processes. EHC interviewing is processed through the visual display of individual life events, phases and transitions on a chronological calendar grid, which allows respondents to effectively link events as well as to identify and correct possible dating errors. Moreover, interactive interviewing facilitates the retrieval mechanism. In this study, we test whether the absence of an interviewer and/or interactive interviewing are associated with a reduction in data quality. This aspect is particularly relevant for surveys, as the absence of the interviewer would allow the implementation of EHC methods in self-administered questionnaires. In Study 1, an experimental design compared the results of self-administered paper-and-pencil EHCs in the presence and absence of an interviewer. In Study 2, a quasi-experimental approach compared the results of an interactive EHC interview with those of a self-administered paper-and-pencil EHC. Neither of these studies showed systematic differences between self-administered and interviewer-administered EHCs. The self-administered mode performs better when the instructions and layout design of the questionnaire are clear and detailed. Our findings suggest that the visual properties of the EHC could be a sufficient condition for collecting good retrospective data in the self-administered mode once the initial burden of the task is overcome.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 423-446
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1418528
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1418528
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:423-446
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Marta Eichsteller
Author-X-Name-First: Marta
Author-X-Name-Last: Eichsteller
Title: There is more than one way – a study of mixed analytical methods in biographical narrative research
Abstract:
The number of studies using biographical narrative data has increased worldwide. Given the variety of analytical approaches in narrative research, a critical investigation of the relationship between the methodological procedures and the implications for research practice is needed. This article reports on a mixed analysis study applying three analytical methods to autobiographical narrative interview data: (1) formal structural analysis, (2) narrative ethnography and (3) qualitative comparative analysis. Comparing these three models exposes key methodological challenges, such as the use of operational definitions and interpretative practice. The article discusses the role of analytical perspectives for biographical research method design and application as a part of mono-methods and mixed-methods studies.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 447-462
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1417626
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1417626
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:447-462
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Camila Moyano Dávila
Author-X-Name-First: Camila
Author-X-Name-Last: Moyano Dávila
Author-Name: Francisca Ortiz Ruiz
Author-X-Name-First: Francisca
Author-X-Name-Last: Ortiz Ruiz
Title: Subjects analysing subjects in the biographical approach: a generational study of Chilean musicians
Abstract:
The biographical approach aims to understand a subject’s life story and its personal interpretations. Produced in specific settings, this approach considers how the elements of this production play a role in the narratives. Therefore, choosing the biographical paradigm assumes methodological decisions within the data collection and definition of analytical tools. In this article, we focus on the researcher’s role in the production of the biographies and the formal analysis, a technique that is borrowed from narrative studies, which emphasises ‘how’ the story is told – on the telling rather than the told. Using the case of three generations of Chilean musicians, we address these two relevant points within the inquiry of biographies: the researcher–researched relationship, with a focus on the impact of the generational proximity on their interactions and how it affects the construction of the narrative; and the different story genres drawn from the formal analysis, which reveal the primary role that temporalities and subjects’ generations have within the biographical approach. We aim to give relevance to the subjective dynamics considered in a formal analysis and in the interview settings, for further biographical studies.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 463-474
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1448939
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1448939
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:463-474
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Goedele A. M. De Clerck
Author-X-Name-First: Goedele A. M.
Author-X-Name-Last: De Clerck
Title: Creative biographical responses to epistemological and methodological challenges in generating a deaf life story telling instrument
Abstract:
Biographical research on life story telling of deaf signers, a vulnerable and linguistically diverse group, is relatively young. Deaf life narratives have recently been considered as means for strengthening identity and enhancing well-being. Although cultural practices of signed storytelling enable deaf adults to generate coherent life narratives, there have been few efforts to develop biographical methods and models based on these practices. Drawing on the common ground of narrative inquiry and narrative therapy and the potential of life stories to positively change the relationship between people and their environment, this article presents a pioneering interdisciplinary biographical study on the praxis of ‘deaf life story work’ with migrants and refugees in the UK. A multilingual and multimodal instrument for deaf life story telling has been developed which employs a range of visual methods, including digital and signed storytelling, photographs, drawings, collages, visual timelines and puppets. Research into deaf life story work facilitates methodological and epistemological reflections on deaf perspectives in biographical research and culturally mediated narrative learning, and provides insight into cross-language issues. It also highlights marginalised epistemologies and the impact of validating life stories and deaf knowledge, while touching on a shared sense of generativity and reflexivity in the research space.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 475-499
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1448940
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1448940
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:475-499
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Elsa Lechner
Author-X-Name-First: Elsa
Author-X-Name-Last: Lechner
Title: Migrants’ lives matter: biographical research, recognition and social participation
Abstract:
Since the beginning of qualitative sociology migrations have been central to the development of biographical research. Migrant communities have interested the founders of the Chicago School, also concerned by questions of isolation and prejudice among ethnic and cultural minorities. Later socio anthropological research has equally given privilege to the study of biographies of migrants, providing a paradigm shift from national understandings of migrations to transnational ones. But the analysis of the mutual effects happening between researchers and participants in such a relational kind of work asks for more attention. Drawing from empirical work conducted with migrants and refugees in Portugal, this paper proposes to deepen such analysis. Focus is brought to the subjective dimensions of the encounter happening between the different subject positions at play. It implies the incorporation of the awareness of structural inequity in the development of methodological tools capable of listening to the truth of each participant. Guided by the search for a theoretical–practical coherence, this essay proposes an analysis of the specific degrees of recognition provided by biographical research among migrants and refugees, in dialogue with the philosophical contributions of Axel Honneth and Richard Kearney. The empirical scope of this interdisciplinary proposition resonates with our public and civic research position defending that ‘Migrants’ Lives Matter’.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 500-514
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1463449
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1463449
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:500-514
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Christine Peta
Author-X-Name-First: Christine
Author-X-Name-Last: Peta
Author-Name: Tom Wengraf
Author-X-Name-First: Tom
Author-X-Name-Last: Wengraf
Author-Name: Judith McKenzie
Author-X-Name-First: Judith
Author-X-Name-Last: McKenzie
Title: Facilitating the voice of disabled women: the biographic narrative interpretive method (BNIM) in action
Abstract:
This paper demonstrates that bringing the Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method (BNIM) to disability studies, under a qualitative narrative approach, promises to further develop the field. The article shows the effectiveness of the interviewing techniques of the method in facilitating the voice of marginalised minority groups and in particular disabled women. The approach supports inclusive research which goes beyond the practice of classifying and pathologising bodies with impairments, as is common in mainstream medical research which seeks to cure, modify and normalise people who are situated as docile and ‘abnormal’ human beings. Comments that were proffered by disabled women themselves indicate that the interviewing techniques of the BNIM create a platform for those who are located at the margins of society to play an active part in the co-construction of knowledge in academic circles, in a scenario which answers the question posed by Spivak (1988). Can the subaltern speak? Marxism and the interpretation of culture. New York, NY: Columbia University Press).
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 515-527
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1450520
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1450520
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:515-527
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: John Goodwin
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Goodwin
Title: Searching for pearls: ‘Doing’ biographical research on Pearl Jephcott
Abstract:
In this paper, I outline my ongoing research into the life and work of the forgotten sociologist Pearl Jephcott (1900–1980) with three objectives in mind. First, I consider the practice ‘doing’ of biographical research into Pearl’s life and work as well as briefly discuss how researching ‘sociological biographies’ intersects with ‘genealogical’ research. I do this to give a clear overview of the biographical research process and offer some insights into the realities/practicalities of the ‘doing’ of biographical research. This is important to ‘throw light on our practices’ (p. 167) as mentioned by Moore, Salter, Stanley, and Tamboukou [2016, The archive project archival research in the social sciences. London: Routledge] so that those who want to engage in this approach can learn directly from those who do biographical research. Second, using her notebooks, I briefly outline Jephcott’s sociological/biographical research practice. Pearl was a biographical research practitioner well before this approach became ‘fashionable’ and ahead of the ‘biographical turn’. Finally, the paper concludes with the sharing the lessons that I, and others, have and can learn from Pearl’s work, and I reflect a little on how researching Pearl’s biography has changed my sociological practice.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 528-541
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1470329
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1470329
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:528-541
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Me-Linh Hannah Riemann
Author-X-Name-First: Me-Linh Hannah
Author-X-Name-Last: Riemann
Title: A moment of biographical analysis under the microscope: reading Felipe’s autobiographical narrative
Abstract:
In recent years, biographical research on the basis of narratives has attracted a great deal of attention in the social sciences. The specific processes of interpreting autobiographical narratives, however, often remain non-transparent. Many authors merely allude to methodologies on which their research is based without communicating how they go about interpreting their data. The following article takes this problem as a starting point. The author presents a sequence of an autobiographical narrative interview, which she conducted during her ongoing study on the biographies of Spanish migrants who had moved to Germany and the UK in the context of the economic crisis. Readers are invited to develop their own interpretations of this excerpt before turning to and critically scrutinising the author’s structural description of the sequence (during which she also discusses the significance of a phenomenon of textual disorder, a ‘background construction’, for learning something about painful experiences of the narrator). She then gives an overview on the theoretical and methodological background of her analysis, the work of German sociologist Fritz Schütze, before finally reflecting on specific features of her own structural description and on the uses of single case studies for arriving at more general insights.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 542-559
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1450990
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1450990
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:3-4:p:542-559
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jonathan E. Leightner
Author-X-Name-First: Jonathan E.
Author-X-Name-Last: Leightner
Author-Name: Zhang Haiqi
Author-X-Name-First: Zhang
Author-X-Name-Last: Haiqi
Title: Tax policy, social inequality and growth
Abstract:
The effects of social inequality usually include income inequality. Income inequality is augmented or reduced by tax policies. This paper finds empirical evidence that shifting the tax burden from the socially disadvantaged to the socially advantaged would cause gross domestic product (GDP) to rise. Specifically, this paper uses Reiterative Truncated Projected Least Squares – a regression technique that produces reduced-form estimates while solving the omitted variables’ problem – to estimate dGDP/d(Property Tax), dGDP/d(Corporate Tax), dGDP/d(Individual Tax) and dGDP/d(Sales Tax) for 23 countries using annual data from 1970 to 2012. GDP is measured in millions of US dollars and each tax is tax revenues as a per cent of GDP. For 13 of the 23 countries examined after 2008, we find that property and corporate taxes are the best taxes (increases GDP the most) to increase and individual income taxes and sales taxes are the worse to raise.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 253-269
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1114406
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1114406
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:253-269
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Tim Morris
Author-X-Name-First: Tim
Author-X-Name-Last: Morris
Author-Name: Danny Dorling
Author-X-Name-First: Danny
Author-X-Name-Last: Dorling
Author-Name: George Davey Smith
Author-X-Name-First: George
Author-X-Name-Last: Davey Smith
Title: How well can we predict educational outcomes? Examining the roles of cognitive ability and social position in educational attainment
Abstract:
Social inequalities in UK educational outcomes continue to persist despite improvements in recent years. However, studies that examine these inequalities fail to account for differences in prior cognitive ability. We seek to determine the influence of cognitive ability on educational outcomes and the extent of socio-economic disparities in education across a wide range of indicators while accounting for cognitive ability. Social inequalities exist whereby children from disadvantaged backgrounds systematically underperform compared to their advantaged peers regardless of cognitive ability; high ability children from disadvantaged backgrounds are disproportionately less likely to attain good grades compared to children from advantaged backgrounds. In addition, school effects operate to add to this inequality as children in fee-paying secondary schools outperform their state secondary school counterparts regardless of ability. Future UK policies should focus on reducing social inequality in education to ensure that all children are offered the same life chances regardless of background.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 154-168
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1138502
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1138502
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: The Editors
Title: Corrigendum
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: x-x
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1159808
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1159808
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Christopher James Playford
Author-X-Name-First: Christopher James
Author-X-Name-Last: Playford
Author-Name: Vernon Gayle
Author-X-Name-First: Vernon
Author-X-Name-Last: Gayle
Author-Name: Roxanne Connelly
Author-X-Name-First: Roxanne
Author-X-Name-Last: Connelly
Author-Name: Susan Murray
Author-X-Name-First: Susan
Author-X-Name-Last: Murray
Title: Parental socioeconomic influences on filial educational outcomes in Scotland: patterns of school-level educational performance using administrative data
Abstract:
In Britain there have been manifest changes in the management and organisation of education, but despite these developments there are still persistent inequalities in pupils’ educational outcomes. These inequalities are consequential because school qualifications are known to influence both pupils’ immediate continuation in education, and their later educational and occupational outcomes. The Scottish school system is similar to the system in England and Wales but there are a distinctive set of qualifications. From the mid-1980s until 2013 the final years of compulsory schooling led up to Standard Grade qualifications. Standard Grades were similar to the General Certificates of Secondary Education (GCSEs) and are worthy of detailed sociological examination because they were the first major branching point in the Scottish education system. A specialist dataset using administrative records was constructed for this project. The dataset comprises young people who undertook Standard Grades in Scottish schools between 2007 and 2011, who were members of the Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS). We analyse pupils’ subject-area outcomes using a latent variable modelling approach, and explore characteristics associated with the membership of latent educational groups. The analyses uncovered four main latent educational groups. One group had very positive outcomes and pupils were generally more socially advantaged; another group had very poor outcomes and were generally more socially disadvantaged. There were two ‘middle’ groups, which both had similar moderate overall Standard Grade outcomes, but notably different subject-area-level outcomes. We conclude that during school hours these pupils are unlikely to be found drinking Iron Brew WKD in their local parks or at home playing on their Xbox; however, they are also unlikely to be filling out university application forms in the next couple of years.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 183-202
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1172728
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1172728
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:183-202
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Gabriele Ballarino
Author-X-Name-First: Gabriele
Author-X-Name-Last: Ballarino
Author-Name: Nazareno Panichella
Author-X-Name-First: Nazareno
Author-X-Name-Last: Panichella
Title: Social stratification, secondary school tracking and university enrolment in Italy
Abstract:
This paper looks at class inequality in the probability of enrolling in university in Italy from a long-term perspective. Given that Italian higher secondary education is tracked, it studies how tracking interacts over time with class origin in the production of inequality of educational opportunities, thus contributing to the growing literature on the inequality effects of the qualitative, or horizontal, stratification of educational systems. The paper has thus two research questions. First, it asks whether class inequality in participation in higher education has changed over time; second, whether and how this change was influenced by the tracked structure of upper secondary school. Empirical analyses are based on data from the Italian Longitudinal Household Survey, a retrospective panel survey including detailed life-course information about a representative sample of the Italian population. In an educational transition framework, we analyse the association between social class, tracking and university enrolment, applying the Karlson/Holm/Breen decomposition method for logistic regression coefficients. We find increasing inequality in accessing university, and a change in the role of upper secondary track, whose mediating role between family background and university choice appears to have weakened over time.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 169-182
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1186823
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1186823
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:169-182
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Yaojun Li
Author-X-Name-First: Yaojun
Author-X-Name-Last: Li
Title: Social mobility, social network and subjective well-being in the UK
Abstract:
This paper examines the intergenerational mobility trajectory (class) effects on social connection and, through this, on subjective well-being in contemporary UK society. Drawing on data from the United Kingdom Household Longitudinal Study, we measured four types of formal and informal social network (civic engagement, neighbourhood cohesion, diversity and size of social networks) and used three indictors for well-being. We find that social network does play a significant role on well-being but the impact is much smaller than that of class. We also find that class is more closely related to the formal than the informal domains of social network. Demographic attributes show some influences but social network, employment, and prior levels of well-being in particular, have more salient effects on well-being. Over and above all this, class as an indicator of cumulative advantages and disadvantages has a persistent and systematic influence. Overall, the analysis shows that while enriching social connection would contribute to well-being, reducing class-based inequality is of greater importance.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 222-237
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1190860
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1190860
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:222-237
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Kevin Ralston
Author-X-Name-First: Kevin
Author-X-Name-Last: Ralston
Author-Name: Zhiqiang Feng
Author-X-Name-First: Zhiqiang
Author-X-Name-Last: Feng
Author-Name: Dawn Everington
Author-X-Name-First: Dawn
Author-X-Name-Last: Everington
Author-Name: Chris Dibben
Author-X-Name-First: Chris
Author-X-Name-Last: Dibben
Title: Do young people not in education, employment or training experience long-term occupational scarring? A longitudinal analysis over 20 years of follow-up
Abstract:
Not in education, employment or training (NEET) is a contested concept in the literature. However, it is consistently used by policy-makers and shown in research to be associated with negative outcomes. In this paper we examine whether NEET status is associated with subsequent occupational scarring using the Scottish Longitudinal Study which provides a 5.3% sample of Scotland, based on the censuses of 1991, 2001 and 2011. We model occupational position, using CAMSIS, controlling for the influence of sex, limiting long-term illness, educational attainment and geographical deprivation. We find the NEET categorisation to be a strong marker of subsequent negative outcomes at the aggregate level. This appears to be redolent of a Matthew effect, whereby disadvantage accumulates to the already disadvantaged. Our results also show that negative NEET effects are variable when stratifying by educational attainment and are different for men and women. These findings confirm that there are negative effects on occupational position associated with prior NEET status but that outcomes are heterogeneous depending on levels of education and gender.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 203-221
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1194452
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1194452
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:203-221
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jenny Chesters
Author-X-Name-First: Jenny
Author-X-Name-Last: Chesters
Title: Trends in economic growth and levels of wealth inequality in G20 nations: 2001–2013
Abstract:
During the first 13 years of the twenty-first century, the world economy experienced a period of economic volatility with a rapid boom followed by a strong contraction and then a prolonged recession. This volatility provides a unique opportunity to examine the associations between economic growth and levels of wealth inequality. In this paper, I use data published by the World Bank to examine trends in economic growth; data published by Credit Suisse to examine trends in levels of wealth inequality; and data collated from the billionaires lists published by Forbes Magazine to examine the concentration of wealth at the very top of the distribution in the G20 nations. Overall, the results presented in this paper indicate that rapid economic growth was associated with increased wealth inequality and exceptionally large increases in the number of billionaires, whereas negative or low levels of economic growth were associated with declining or stable levels of wealth inequality and more moderate increases, or a decline, in the numbers of billionaires.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 270-281
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1199891
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1199891
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:270-281
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Cinzia Meraviglia
Author-X-Name-First: Cinzia
Author-X-Name-Last: Meraviglia
Author-Name: Harry B.G. Ganzeboom
Author-X-Name-First: Harry B.G.
Author-X-Name-Last: Ganzeboom
Author-Name: Deborah De Luca
Author-X-Name-First: Deborah
Author-X-Name-Last: De Luca
Title: A new international measure of social stratification
Abstract:
In this paper we present a new international measure of social stratification, the ICAMS (International Cambridge Scale). Our aim is to bring new evidence to the hypothesis that the construct that underlies measures of social stratification as different as prestige scales, socio-economic indexes, social distance and social status scales is actually unidimensional. We evaluate the new scale according to both criterion-related and construct validity. Our analysis shows that the ICAMS is a valid indicator of social stratification, being almost as valid as International Socio-Economic Index (ISEI) in what we termed the generic, the homogamy and the social mobility models, and being better than ISEI in the cultural consumption model. The second key result is that all continuous measures we consider (ICAMS, ISEI and Standard International Occupational Prestige Scale) are indicators of the same latent dimension, which is unidimensional. This latter result is compatible with more than one explanation, hence calling for further research.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 125-153
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1215512
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1215512
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:125-153
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jennifer Jarman
Author-X-Name-First: Jennifer
Author-X-Name-Last: Jarman
Title: Social inequality and its consequences in the twenty-first century
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 103-112
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1254277
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1254277
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:103-112
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Roger Penn
Author-X-Name-First: Roger
Author-X-Name-Last: Penn
Title: Rethinking class analysis: some reflections on current issues and possible new forms of empirical research
Abstract:
This paper examines the current state of social stratification research. Its focus is mainly upon the British tradition of research, but its reflections also apply more broadly to wider European and North American literature. The paper explores the classical tradition of class analysis in Britain and probes how this became superseded by newer forms of sociological analysis which are rooted primarily in occupational differences. The paper argues that there is a need for a double shift in approach. This would involve a renewal of interest in class-based relations of structured inequality and also a shift of focus away from highly quantitative approaches in favour of different styles of empirical research.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 113-124
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1254946
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1254946
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:113-124
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Eric Weissman
Author-X-Name-First: Eric
Author-X-Name-Last: Weissman
Title: Spaces, places and states of mind …
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 282-282
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1267461
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1267461
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:282-282
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Robert M. Blackburn
Author-X-Name-First: Robert M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Blackburn
Author-Name: Jennifer Jarman
Author-X-Name-First: Jennifer
Author-X-Name-Last: Jarman
Author-Name: Girts Racko
Author-X-Name-First: Girts
Author-X-Name-Last: Racko
Title: Understanding gender inequality in employment and retirement
Abstract:
The paper is concerned with the occupation-based inequalities of women and men in economically developed societies. The inequalities in their working lives lead to inequalities in retirement, and particularly the greater poverty endured by women. Occupational gender segregation, the tendency for women and men to work in different occupations, results in gender inequalities. The inequalities are measured by pay and class-status. The extent of the inequality in a country is measured as the vertical dimension of the occupational segregation, which varies appreciably across countries. In employment, men almost always have an advantage on the vertical dimension of pay, while on class-status the advantage lies with women. The gender inequalities in working lives carry over into retirement, though in a somewhat different manner. In retirement there is a wide range of experience from affluence to poverty, with a great many experiencing poverty. Those from lower class-status levels who earned too little to save for pensions, including those who worked part-time, suffer poverty in retirement. The occupational status advantage of women disappears, while their income disadvantage combines with greater life expectancy, with the consequence that women are among the majority of retired people in poverty.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 238-252
Issue: 2-3
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.981756
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.981756
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:2-3:p:238-252
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ozden Ozbay
Author-X-Name-First: Ozden
Author-X-Name-Last: Ozbay
Title: Does Islam deter crime in a secular Islamic country? The case of Turkey
Abstract:
‘Does Islam deter crime in a secular country like Turkey’ is the research question for which the current study tries to find a tentative answer. The data came from 619 undergraduate university students, 352 academic and non-academic staff at a public university and 498 shop owners in a small city in a Central Anatolian region in Turkey in 2010. The research on the relationship between Islam and crime is almost absent in the criminology literature. The findings of the correlation analysis pointed out that the impact of Islam on crime was more pronounced regarding alcohol use, and generally weak. More importantly, the results of the multivariate statistics showed that some religious measures deterred individuals themselves engaging in deviance and alcohol use. No relationship was found between Islam and violence.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 315-333
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1008562
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1008562
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:315-333
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Michael Levi
Author-X-Name-First: Michael
Author-X-Name-Last: Levi
Title: The impacts of organised crime in the EU: some preliminary thoughts on measurement difficulties
Abstract:
This article analyses the social construction of the problem of organised crime and associated problems of measurement. It reports on a study conducted for the European Parliament which had three principal aims:1. To produce a critical assessment of the state-of-the-art in terms of what is and is not known about the prevalence and distribution of different forms of organised crime.2. To set out a robust conceptual framework which would enable us to think more clearly and coherently about the costs of organised crime going forward.3. To use this assessment and framework to interrogate empirical data on the costs of organised crime in the EU, where it is available and is judged to be reasonably valid and reliable, to produce informed estimates of what these social and economic costs might be.It comments on the conceptual and empirical problems involved in this exercise and the policy issues that arise in the context of it.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 392-402
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1090802
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1090802
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:392-402
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mary Aiken
Author-X-Name-First: Mary
Author-X-Name-Last: Aiken
Author-Name: Ciaran Mc Mahon
Author-X-Name-First: Ciaran
Author-X-Name-Last: Mc Mahon
Author-Name: Ciaran Haughton
Author-X-Name-First: Ciaran
Author-X-Name-Last: Haughton
Author-Name: Laura O'Neill
Author-X-Name-First: Laura
Author-X-Name-Last: O'Neill
Author-Name: Edward O'Carroll
Author-X-Name-First: Edward
Author-X-Name-Last: O'Carroll
Title: A consideration of the social impact of cybercrime: examples from hacking, piracy, and child abuse material online
Abstract:
Contemporary news headlines seem to play regular host to treatments of one form of cybercrime or another, whether it be fraud, hacking, malware, piracy or child abuse material online. In this paper, the meaning of that term is unpacked, social impact is considered and possible future developments are discussed. Given the pervasive and profound influence of the Internet, it is important to acknowledge that in terms of criminology, what happens online can impact on the real world and vice versa. Consequently, real-world and cyber social impacts in relation to cybercrime will be examined.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 373-391
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2015.1117648
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2015.1117648
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:373-391
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Elif Bulut
Author-X-Name-First: Elif
Author-X-Name-Last: Bulut
Title: Pride and prejudice: the context of reception for Muslims in the United States
Abstract:
Public opinion surveys suggest that Americans increasingly have negative perceptions of Muslims especially following the tragic attacks on World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9/11. The widespread negative attitudes towards Muslims suggest potential challenges for Muslim immigrants' integration into American society. Drawing from theory and prior research on prejudice and using data from the nationally representative Religion and Diversity Survey, this study uncovers variation in prejudice towards Muslims in the United States. Specifically, this study investigates whether nativist attitudes towards immigrants – such as beliefs that nothing in other countries can beat the American way of life, immigrants are a threat to traditional American values and immigrants should give up their foreign ways and learn to be like other Americans – fear of terrorism and contact with Muslims can account for the prejudice against Muslims in the United States. The findings suggest that strongest predictor of prejudice towards Muslims is not the fear of terrorism, but nativist attitudes towards immigrants and lack of contact with Muslims.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 304-314
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1176243
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1176243
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:304-314
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Chrystie Myketiak
Author-X-Name-First: Chrystie
Author-X-Name-Last: Myketiak
Title: Fragile masculinity: social inequalities in the narrative frame and discursive construction of a mass shooter’s autobiography/manifesto
Abstract:
Mass shootings, where four or more people are injured or killed, are widely constructed as a contemporary American social problem. This article uses critical discourse analysis guided by thematic analysis to examine the text written and distributed by a mass shooter in California in 2014. Analysis of the narrative frame and discursive construction shows that the author is motivated by a precarious or ‘fragile’ relationship to masculinity that involves positioning himself against both women and other minority ethnic men in a way that underscores multiple social inequalities. This work contributes to the social science of narrative by building on the connections between positioning theory and framing, which are applied to a text that contributes to debates in feminist linguistics and broader discussions of mass shootings. The findings contribute to feminist linguistics by demonstrating how a mass shooter uses language to rationalise his actions through a frame of hegemonic masculinity based on social inequalities, namely gender, race/ethnicity, sexuality and social class. Finally, this work contributes to broader discussions of mass shooters by demonstrating how this mass shooter does not construct or position himself in a way that is exceptional or extraordinary but rather hinges on a fragile form of contemporary masculinity that uses violence as a way to prove self-worth, dominance and superiority.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 289-303
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1213414
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1213414
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:289-303
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Brenda Geiger
Author-X-Name-First: Brenda
Author-X-Name-Last: Geiger
Title: An inside look at Israeli police critical incident first responders
Abstract:
In this study 11 police first responders revealed during in-depth interviews their experience of managing critical incidents of terrorist attacks. On the way to the site, they reported getting ready, preparing for the worst and freezing all feelings to act as they were trained to do. Once on site they performed, in a robot-like manner, all operations needed to prevent further casualties and make the site safe for rescue vehicles. Once the dead and the wounded were safely evacuated they engaged in site reconstruction and allowed the public to return to their daily activities. On the way home they reported feelings of professional pride and sorrow over the dead and tried to defreeze their feelings by engaging in routine activities. Despite emotional numbing that was an integral part of their training, first responders revealed intense awareness and vivid traumatic memories of the scene which they seldom shared with family members or therapists. In this macho subculture treatment was rarely sought since it would entail stigmatisation and the preferred mode of relieving tension with the use of black humour with other team members. Most importantly, the bond uniting first responders, their feeling of being connected with something greater than themselves and to a calling from above were found essential components in their quest for meaning, coherence and purpose. These components allowed for the transformation of the intense memories of disaster and chaos into a source of resiliency and growth that strengthened their faith in their mission of saving lives.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 414-431
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1228012
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1228012
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:414-431
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Sogo Angel Olofinbiyi
Author-X-Name-First: Sogo Angel
Author-X-Name-Last: Olofinbiyi
Author-Name: Babatunde Ajayi Olofinbiyi
Author-X-Name-First: Babatunde Ajayi
Author-X-Name-Last: Olofinbiyi
Author-Name: John Lekan Oyefara
Author-X-Name-First: John Lekan
Author-X-Name-Last: Oyefara
Title: Use of drugs and criminal behaviour among female adolescent prostitutes in Lagos metropolis, Nigeria
Abstract:
This paper demonstrates that a sizeable number of adolescent girls are often involved in the use of drugs in their various sex industries. There is much controversy as to whether criminal activities among the sex workers are influenced by drugs use. Cross-sectional survey and in-depth interviews were adopted to generate data from respondents. Findings show that sex workers are frequently engaged in drug use and criminality but their engagement in criminal activities is not significantly influenced by the use of drugs. The study recommends an urgent need to design and implement effective research studies, policies, prevention and intervention programmes to deal with the intricacies associated with drug use and criminality among adolescent girls in Nigeria.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 347-361
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1243255
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1243255
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:347-361
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jagadish Prasad Sahu
Author-X-Name-First: Jagadish Prasad
Author-X-Name-Last: Sahu
Author-Name: Chandan Kumar Mohanty
Author-X-Name-First: Chandan Kumar
Author-X-Name-Last: Mohanty
Title: Is there a natural rate of crime in India?
Abstract:
This paper examines the natural rate of crime hypothesis in the Indian context. We use annual time series data on aggregate as well as specific crime categories for the period 1953–2012. Various types of unit root tests – conventional as well as unit root test with endogenously determined structural breaks – are used to identify whether the respective crime rates are stationary. The empirical findings suggest that majority of the crime series are stationary with structural breaks implying the existence of a natural rate of crime in India in the long run. Specifically, total crimes along with individual crime types such as burglary, counterfeiting, criminal breach of trust, dacoity and theft are stationary with two structural breaks, whereas kidnapping & abduction and cheating are stationary with one break. Our findings are consistent with the literature which argues that crimes with pecuniary motives are more likely to have natural rates.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 334-346
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1249937
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1249937
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:334-346
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Myia C. Egleton
Author-X-Name-First: Myia C.
Author-X-Name-Last: Egleton
Author-Name: Diari Marcus Banigo
Author-X-Name-First: Diari Marcus
Author-X-Name-Last: Banigo
Author-Name: Branden A. McLeod
Author-X-Name-First: Branden A.
Author-X-Name-Last: McLeod
Author-Name: Halaevalu F.O. Vakalahi
Author-X-Name-First: Halaevalu F.O.
Author-X-Name-Last: Vakalahi
Title: Homelessness among formerly incarcerated African American men: contributors and consequences
Abstract:
This article critically analyses the existing literature on the contributors and consequences of homelessness among formerly incarcerated African American men. Offered is a discussion of a conceptual framework that incorporates anti-discrimination/anti-oppression, Afrocentric, social and community development perspectives, as a lens through which to conceptualise this topic. Gaps in the existing literature related specifically to reintegration, stigma, barriers, and perspectives of family members and service providers are identified. Implications are offered for education, research, practice and policy. Urgent attention is needed to identify and reverse the systemic factors contributing to the cycle of poverty, incarceration and homelessness among African American men.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 403-413
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1258590
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:403-413
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: David Canter
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Canter
Author-Name: Donna Youngs
Author-X-Name-First: Donna
Author-X-Name-Last: Youngs
Title: Crime and society
Abstract:
Much of society’s resources are devoted to dealing with, or preparing for the possibility of, crime. The dominance of concerns about crime also hints at the broader implications that offending has for many different facets of society. They suggest that rather than being an outlawed subset of social activity crime is an integrated aspect of societal processes. As an introduction to this themed issue of Contemporary Social Science, a brief review is undertaken of some of the direct and indirect social impacts of criminality, proposing that this is worthwhile, not just in terms of understanding crime but also because of how it elucidates more general social considerations. A range of studies that examine the interactions between crime and society are brought together drawing on a wide range of countries and cultures, India, Israel, Nigeria, Turkey and the USA, as well as Britain and Ireland. They include contributions from many different social science disciplines, which complement each other. Taken together the 11 papers reviewed do demonstrate that the implicit and direct impact of crime is very widespread indeed.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 283-288
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1259495
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1259495
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:283-288
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Graham Towl
Author-X-Name-First: Graham
Author-X-Name-Last: Towl
Title: Tackling sexual violence at UK universities: a case study
Abstract:
There has been international and national concern about the prevalence rates and impacts of sexual violence [Towl, G. J., and Crighton, D. A. (2016). The Emperor’s new clothes? The Psychologist, 29(3)]. In recent years this area has been brought into sharper focus in Higher Education. The film ‘The Hunting Ground’ shone a light on this area and particularly the inadequate responses of North American university administrations to the problem. The film has recently been shown widely at Australian universities and the same is the case in the UK. There have been concerns reported that university leaders are fearful of the perceived repetitional (and potentially financial) damage associated with high report rates of sexual violence. At Durham University the starting premise was a recognition that the problem of sexual violence is a societal problem and one that universities have an important role to play in addressing. In this paper I contest the premise that high levels of sexual violence reporting at universities will necessarily result in reputation damage. Indeed on the contrary this case study account makes a compelling case that the contrary is true. I argue that both the civic and educational responsibilities of universities are such that it is essential that such matters are addressed. This, ethically, is especially so in view of what we know about the under reporting of sexual violence and also the potential physical and mental health impacts. Much of the focus is on prevention. Contributions can be made to prevention, it is argued, through increased reporting and also potentially through bystander intervention initiatives and consent workshops. A key benefit of increased reporting is that if universities know there is a problem there is the opportunity to help. An underlying principle to policy and practice development in this challenging area is the empowerment of those with trust in us to make such reports.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 432-437
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1260764
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:432-437
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Author-Name: The Editors
Title: Editorial Board
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: ebi-ebi
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1278866
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1278866
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Alonzo DeCarlo
Author-X-Name-First: Alonzo
Author-X-Name-Last: DeCarlo
Title: A reason for reasonable doubt in social justice: the weight of poverty, race and gender in lopsided homicide case clearances outcomes
Abstract:
Threats to and lack of social justice in response to homicide victims in the USA is one of the most provocative topics of inquiry. The current study empirically scrutinises a decade of data and statistical trends regarding case clearances for homicide victims. The relationship between a homicide victim's race, age, gender and poverty status of their residential area was examined. Analysis of the circumstances and type of weapon used were also examined in conjunction with the status of the offender. The investigation of patterns over 10 years reveal that homicide victims who live in cities with high poverty and who happen to be young, African-American and male are less likely to have their case solved or cleared.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 362-372
Issue: 4
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2014.997275
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2014.997275
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:4:p:362-372
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Joan Hunt
Author-X-Name-First: Joan
Author-X-Name-Last: Hunt
Title: Grandparents as substitute parents in the UK
Abstract:
When children are unable to live with their birth parents it is typically their extended family, rather than the state, which steps in to take care of them, an arrangement commonly known as kinship care. Grandparents tend to form the largest single group of such carers. This paper provides an overview of what is known about these arrangements in the UK, examining their prevalence, the profile of carers and children, the outcomes for children and the impact on carers. Since UK research does not usually focus on grandparents as a distinct group of kinship carers, it will draw on both the generic UK literature on kinship care and the more extensive international research on grandparents bringing up grandchildren.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 175-186
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1417629
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1417629
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:175-186
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Lauren Gail Wild
Author-X-Name-First: Lauren Gail
Author-X-Name-Last: Wild
Title: Grandparental involvement and South African adolescents’ emotional and behavioural health: a summary of research findings
Abstract:
South African grandparents provide considerable support to their grandchildren. However, little is known about whether grandparental involvement contributes to children's well-being. This paper synthesises the findings of our research on the relationship between grandparental involvement and the emotional and behavioural health of South African adolescents. In the first phase of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 adolescents. Thematic analysis indicated that grandparents served as caregivers or surrogate parents, teachers and sources of motivation and emotional support. In the second phase, we piloted a structured questionnaire informed by the qualitative evidence with 204 students in Grades 8 and 9 (mean age = 13.69 years) at a public high school. In phase 3, the survey instrument was administered to a larger sample of 671 adolescents. Multiple regression models indicated that greater grandparental involvement was associated with more adolescent prosocial behaviour, regardless of family structure and the level of parental involvement. In addition, maternal grandfather involvement was associated with fewer adolescent emotional problems. Maternal grandmother involvement predicted fewer adolescent internalising problems only when grandmothers and adolescents co-resided in three-generation households. The findings suggest that grandparental involvement is a potential resource for promoting social and emotional competence in adolescents.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 232-245
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1422536
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:232-245
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mirkka Danielsbacka
Author-X-Name-First: Mirkka
Author-X-Name-Last: Danielsbacka
Author-Name: Antti O. Tanskanen
Author-X-Name-First: Antti O.
Author-X-Name-Last: Tanskanen
Title: Marital disruption and intergenerational relations among older Finns
Abstract:
In this paper, we investigate whether the investments of divorced, re-married or widowed grandparents differ from those of never-divorced grandparents and whether the effect of marital status is different between grandfathers and grandmothers. Grandparental investment is measured by childcare, contact frequencies, practical help and the financial support grandparents give to their offspring. The investigation is based on the Generational Transmissions in Finland 2012 survey, which includes 1441 grandparents aged between 62 and 67 years. We found that among married (never-divorced), divorced and re-married grandparents, the grandmothers were significantly more involved than grandfathers, except in the case of practical help provided to children, which married (never-divorced) grandfathers provided more than grandmothers. Both divorce and remarriage were associated with reduced child care help and reduced contacts between grandfathers and their grandchildren. In addition, re-married and widowed grandfathers provided significantly less practical and financial help to their offspring compared to their never-divorced counterparts. Among grandmothers, remarriage was associated with reduced child care help and contact, and divorce with reduced financial help when compared to never-divorced grandmothers. Finally, the timing of divorce had a very limited effect on grandparental investments.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 203-218
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1422794
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1422794
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:203-218
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jo-Pei Tan
Author-X-Name-First: Jo-Pei
Author-X-Name-Last: Tan
Title: Do grandparents matter? Intergenerational relationships between the closest grandparents and Malaysian adolescents
Abstract:
A close connection with a grandparent can interact with an adolescent’s experience of life stressors to increase or decrease their risk for negative outcomes. Traditional filial values may be linked to closer grandparent–grandchildren interactions in Asian cultures, such as Malaysia. This study examined how grandparental involvement and emotional closeness moderated the associations between life stressors and adjustment difficulties among adolescents in Malaysia (n = 643 adolescents). Hierarchical regression analysis showed that greater proximal and distal life stressors were associated with more adjustment difficulties of adolescents. Moreover, emotional closeness with the closest grandparents moderated the association between adolescent distal adversities and adjustment difficulties. Specifically, the contribution of accumulative stress from adverse life events on the risk of adjustment difficulties among adolescents may be alleviated when adolescents perceived high levels of emotional ties with the closest grandparents. These findings suggest that grandparents can directly relate to grandchildren’s adjustment through engaging emotional relationships. Our study shed lights on the interpretation of the contribution of grandparents to adolescent outcomes and the development of adolescents’ resilience in the face of adversity within the Malaysian cultural context.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 246-260
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1424931
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1424931
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:246-260
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Deborah M. Capaldi
Author-X-Name-First: Deborah M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Capaldi
Author-Name: Stacey S. Tiberio
Author-X-Name-First: Stacey S.
Author-X-Name-Last: Tiberio
Author-Name: David C. R. Kerr
Author-X-Name-First: David C. R.
Author-X-Name-Last: Kerr
Title: Assessing associations in substance use across three generations: from grandparents to sons and from sons to their children
Abstract:
The Three Generational Study (3GS) began in the early 1990s and involves the third generation (G3) offspring of second generation (G2) fathers who were originally recruited in 1984 as part of the Oregon Youth Study (OYS) in mid-childhood (ages 9–10 years) along with their first-generation (G1) parents. As boys, the G2 fathers lived in higher delinquency neighbourhoods of a medium-sized Pacific Northwestern United States city. The OYS–3GS examines questions concerning socially mediated intergenerational transmission versus discontinuity (or moderation) of antisocial behaviour, substance use and related problem behaviours. Questions address influences of the grandparents, or Generation 1 (G1), on their sons in G2 and in turn of these sons and their partners on their own children in G3. In this article, we present an overview of the study design – and underlying theory – related to general and outcome-specific transmission pathways. We then summarise key issues and findings to date related to the current main focus of the study regarding the intergenerational associations in substance use.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 288-304
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1433313
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1433313
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:288-304
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ziarat Hossain
Author-X-Name-First: Ziarat
Author-X-Name-Last: Hossain
Author-Name: Giovanna Eisberg
Author-X-Name-First: Giovanna
Author-X-Name-Last: Eisberg
Author-Name: David W. Shwalb
Author-X-Name-First: David W.
Author-X-Name-Last: Shwalb
Title: Grandparents’ social identities in cultural context
Abstract:
Scholarship on grandparents has noticeably increased in recent years, including international research (Shwalb & Hossain, 2018), yet there has seldom been research on grandparents’ social identities. This paper focuses on variations and commonalities in their social identities, across cultural communities. In the Western world, the processes of individuation and economic practices tend to segregate grandparents from the social mainstream, as ‘ageism’ works insidiously to undercut the importance and status of grandparents. By contrast, in the non-Western world, traditions of gender hierarchy, kinship and property ownership have promoted the higher social status of grandparents within the family and society. Psychological research shows that as family patriarchs and matriarchs, grandparents still maintain a respected authority role, especially in many Asian, African and Latin American societies. Such a respect-based social identity vitalises intergenerational interactions based on inclusion. This paper discusses cultural narratives and research findings’ examples to illuminate the cultural contexts of the two contrasting models (Western and non-Western) of grandparents’ social identities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 275-287
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1433315
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1433315
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:275-287
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: George W. Leeson
Author-X-Name-First: George W.
Author-X-Name-Last: Leeson
Title: Global demographic change and grandparenthood
Abstract:
Life expectancies at birth have increased at the global level from 47 years in the mid-twentieth century to around 71 years today, and are expected to rise to 78 years by the mid-twenty-first century and to 83 years by the end of the century. The proportion of the world’s population aged 65 years and over has increased from 5% in the mid-twentieth century to just over 8% in 2015, and by 2050, it is expected to reach almost 16%, equating to more than 1.5 billion people. The end of the century will see 23% and 2.5 billion of the world’s population aged 65 years and over. In newly ageing populations, fertility has often declined dramatically. This presents challenges to individuals, families and societies, not least because many of these societies rely on family-based support. The traditional family is shrinking and its role is changing. As we live longer, we are grandparents for longer and grandparenthood in the modern family is changing. This paper considers global demographic change and grandparenthood, and utilises data from Oxford’s Global Ageing Survey to understand changing family roles and attitudes to family, which impact on grandparenthood.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 145-158
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1433316
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1433316
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:145-158
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: David A. Coall
Author-X-Name-First: David A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Coall
Author-Name: Sonja Hilbrand
Author-X-Name-First: Sonja
Author-X-Name-Last: Hilbrand
Author-Name: Rebecca Sear
Author-X-Name-First: Rebecca
Author-X-Name-Last: Sear
Author-Name: Ralph Hertwig
Author-X-Name-First: Ralph
Author-X-Name-Last: Hertwig
Title: Interdisciplinary perspectives on grandparental investment: a journey towards causality
Abstract:
Why do grandparents invest so heavily in their grandchildren and what impact does this investment have on families? A multitude of factors influence the roles grandparents play in their families. Here, we present an interdisciplinary perspective of grandparenting incorporating theory and research from evolutionary biology, sociology and economics. Discriminative grandparental solicitude, biological relatedness and the impact of resource availability are three phenomena used to illustrate how these perspectives, within such a multi-level approach, add value by complementing not competing with each other. Changing demographics mean there is greater demand and opportunity for actively engaged grandparents to help their families, especially in times of need. Grandparents have been filling this emerging niche because in some societies the role of community and government never has, or increasingly cannot, meet the diverse needs of families. Built on an empirical foundation of descriptive and correlational research, grandparent research has rapidly entered a phase where the potential causal relationships between grandparents’ roles and family health, well-being and structure can be scrutinised. Together, these investigations are producing high-quality evidence that ultimately can support informed public policy and service delivery decisions. We finish by detailing two examples of such research efforts that highlight opportunities for future research.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 159-174
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1433317
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1433317
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:159-174
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: James S. Bates
Author-X-Name-First: James S.
Author-X-Name-Last: Bates
Author-Name: Alan C. Taylor
Author-X-Name-First: Alan C.
Author-X-Name-Last: Taylor
Author-Name: M. Hunter Stanfield
Author-X-Name-First: M. Hunter
Author-X-Name-Last: Stanfield
Title: Variations in grandfathering: characteristics of involved, passive, and disengaged grandfathers
Abstract:
Grandfather involvement is comprised of three constructs, namely, contact frequency, intergenerational commitment, and participation in activities, and refers to grandfathers’ efforts to develop and maintain relationships with grandchildren. From these, recent research has identified three distinct grandfathering typologies or styles, including, involved, passive, and disengaged. In this study, we use multinomial logistic regression to explore which and the degree that background features, characteristics of the family and the grandfather–grandchild relationship, and the health and wellness of the grandfather are factors in determining the grandfathering style of a sample of 351 grandfathers. Results indicate that household income, grandfather agreeableness, geographic distance from the grandchild, age of the grandchild, and the quality of and satisfaction with the relationship with the grandchild are contributing factors to being categorised as an involved and active grandfather.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 187-202
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1433868
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1433868
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:187-202
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Lynn Jamieson
Author-X-Name-First: Lynn
Author-X-Name-Last: Jamieson
Author-Name: Eloi Ribe
Author-X-Name-First: Eloi
Author-X-Name-Last: Ribe
Author-Name: Pamela Warner
Author-X-Name-First: Pamela
Author-X-Name-Last: Warner
Title: Outdated assumptions about maternal grandmothers? Gender and lineage in grandparent–grandchild relationships
Abstract:
The impact of lineage and gender on the quality of grandparent–grandchild relationships has become more complicated in recent decades. ‘In countries with high rates of couple dissolution and re-partnering, the number of a child’s potential grandparents increases as the parents of parents’ new partners or the new partners of grandparents become part of the family. The broadening of ‘family’ potentially puts new types of grandparents on an equal footing with biological grandparents. Loosening conventions around gender and more ‘maternal fathers’ may lead to ‘new grandfathers’ who are as hands-on as grandmothers. This paper re-examines the issues with quantitative and qualitative UK data. The evidence shows the persistence of a hierarchy of involvement, with maternal grandmothers at the top and paternal grandfathers the bottom but also counter-examples pointing to the possibilities of and limits on wider social change, as three generations negotiate relationships in the shifting socio-economic conditions of their national and local context.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 261-274
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1433869
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1433869
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:261-274
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Shalhevet Attar-Schwartz
Author-X-Name-First: Shalhevet
Author-X-Name-Last: Attar-Schwartz
Author-Name: Ann Buchanan
Author-X-Name-First: Ann
Author-X-Name-Last: Buchanan
Title: Grandparenting and adolescent well-being: evidence from the UK and Israel
Abstract:
This article reviews the major findings of two large-scale studies on adolescent–grandparent relationship conducted in the UK and in Israel. The Israeli study followed the UK study, deepening the investigation of some of the major themes uncovered in the British study. Both studies reveal that grandmothers and grandfathers are highly involved in adolescents’ lives and that this involvement is associated with increased adolescent well-being. The studies focus on the role of grandparents in times of parental divorce and other stressful events, as well as the weaker status of the paternal grandparents in post-divorce families and the correlates of the adolescent’s relationship with the paternal grandmother. Both studies highlight the role of intergenerational relationships, including parent–grandparent and parent–adolescent bonds, in the adolescent–grandparent relationship, in line with the intergenerational solidarity model. The Israeli study deepens our understanding of the possible contributions of cultural affiliation to the child–grandparent relationship by comparing Arab and Jewish adolescents’ self-reports of their relationships with their grandparents. These studies bring to light the possible positive role of grandparent involvement. Family psychology should pay greater attention to this role and its contribution, especially in times of transition and distress in adolescents’ lives.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 219-231
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1465200
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1465200
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:219-231
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ann Buchanan
Author-X-Name-First: Ann
Author-X-Name-Last: Buchanan
Author-Name: Anna Rotkirch
Author-X-Name-First: Anna
Author-X-Name-Last: Rotkirch
Title: Twenty-first century grandparents: global perspectives on changing roles and consequences
Abstract:
This special issue on Grandparents highlights the increasing role that they are taking in raising the next generation, not only in the United Kingdom, but across the world. Why are grandparents playing a major role in rearing the next generation? Firstly, older people are living longer and are healthier so they are more available. Also rising divorce rates, increases in single parenthood, more working mothers and the globalisation of work has fuelled family change. The expanding body of interdisciplinary research in cross-generational relations has raised key questions such as: how has human evolution shaped grandparental behaviour? How is grandparenting different from parenting? How do lineage, gender or marital status influence grandparenting? How does grandparental involvement affect the well-being of children and is this different when they are caring for them full-time? How is contemporary grandparenthood shaped by cultural patterns and what are the social policy implications? This introduction outlines some key topics which are further developed by the 11 papers in this special issue. Contributors come from many disciplines and countries and employ a vast range of research methods. The overall conclusion is that societies need to re-evaluate the role of grandparents, pay attention to the support they need, and systematically integrate kin and grandparental care into family policies. As caretakers of many of their grandchildren, who will be our future citizens, grandparents are guardians of all our tomorrows.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 131-144
Issue: 2
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1467034
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1467034
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:131-144
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Guillermo López-García
Author-X-Name-First: Guillermo
Author-X-Name-Last: López-García
Author-Name: José M. Pavía
Author-X-Name-First: José M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Pavía
Title: Political communication in election processes: an overview
Abstract:
Influenced by both the impact of digital technologies and the social and political changes experienced in Western societies, the processes of political communication have undergone profound transformations in recent years. This paper introduces the themed issue of Contemporary Social Science devoted to the topic, entitled ‘Election Campaigns and Political Communication’. The themed issue provides an overview of up-to-date interdisciplinary, international research that investigates the complex dynamics linking election campaigns and political communication in the era of internet. Without overlooking the theoretical contributions, the 11 papers that complete this special issue address various aspects related to the field of political communication from an eminently empirical perspective. The contributions are varied and have been presented by experts from diverse fields such as political science, communication or data science.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-13
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1479040
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1479040
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:1-13
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Daniel C. Hallin
Author-X-Name-First: Daniel C.
Author-X-Name-Last: Hallin
Title: Mediatisation, neoliberalism and populisms: the case of Trump
Abstract:
This article examines the historical conditions for the electoral victory of Donald Trump and contemporary populist movements more generally, focusing on neoliberalism and populism. Populism is understood here according to the discourseanalytic perspective of Ernesto Laclau. After discussing the way in which neoliberalism undermined the legitimacy of political systems based on the “politics of difference,” the article goes on to elaborate an argument that although populist movements like the Trump movement can be said to be a product of the mediatisation of politics, they reflect a very different form of mediatisation from the form analyzed in the classic literature in political communication. That literature focuses on the history of Europe, especially, in the 1960s–1980s, when centralized media like commercial newspapers and television became more autonomous and displaced the influence of political parties and similar mass organizations. Contemporary populist movements develop within a fragmented media ecology in which it is possible for populist leaders to bypass these legacy media institutions and challenge their legitimacy.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 14-25
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1426404
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1426404
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:14-25
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Marianne Kneuer
Author-X-Name-First: Marianne
Author-X-Name-Last: Kneuer
Title: The tandem of populism and Euroscepticism: a comparative perspective in the light of the European crises
Abstract:
Although populism does not constitute a new phenomenon per se, the recent success of older and the proliferation of new populist parties bring them a renewed attention. It is an obvious assumption that the multiple crises that Europe experienced in the last decade had a major impact on the development of populist and Eurosceptic parties. This article explicitly focuses the mélange of populist and Eurosceptic parties in the context of the European debt and refugee crisis, and aims to unravel which impact each of the crises had on the demand side, namely the voters’ support to populist-Eurosceptic parties. The analysis presents a differentiated perspective on the effects of each of the European crisis. Thus, only few of the older populists benefitted from the debt crisis whereas they could mobilize voters’ votes during the refugee crisis. New populist parties however mostly emerged during the debt crisis. Beyond these diverging effects of the European crises, one unifying feature of all successful populist parties is their increases Eurosceptic and even nationalist stance. This result supports the assumption of the formation of a new transnational cleavage. Moreover, it supports that this cleavage running along inclusive versus exclusive and European/cosmopolite versus nationalist orientation cross-cuts the ideological axis.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 26-42
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1426874
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1426874
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:26-42
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Óscar G. Luengo
Author-X-Name-First: Óscar G.
Author-X-Name-Last: Luengo
Author-Name: Jaime Peláez-Berbell
Author-X-Name-First: Jaime
Author-X-Name-Last: Peláez-Berbell
Title: Exploring the accuracy of electoral polls during campaigns in 2016: only bad press?
Abstract:
This article analyses the electoral polls published during the previous days to elections in several countries from a comparative perspective. The countries were Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Moldova, Portugal, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain and the United States, where elections took place in 2016. In the study, which included 65 different polls, we controlled several electoral and institutional variables in order to find particular patterns regarding party-system fragmentation, electoral volatility and competitiveness, among others. We developed the following hypothesis: the accuracy of electoral polls published during 2016 depends on several institutional, contextual and electoral features. More in depth, we assumed that the final results are more difficult to predict by electoral polls the greater the party-system fragmentation, competitiveness and electoral volatility are, the earlier before Election Day the polls are conducted, the higher the margin of error declared is, and in parliamentary elections compared to presidential ones.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 43-53
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1393553
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1393553
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:43-53
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Gonzalo Rivero
Author-X-Name-First: Gonzalo
Author-X-Name-Last: Rivero
Title: Preaching to the choir: ideology and following behaviour in social media
Abstract:
Social media offers a new channel to connect political elites with potential supporters. However, the flow of information between the two groups is constrained by a deliberate decision to actively listen only to some politicians based on the messages that users potentially favour. Previous research has posited that, if ideological proximity is an explanatory factor of the decision to follow certain political elites in social media, it should be possible to recover the political preferences of users from following behaviour. Using a unique database with survey data about the demographic characteristics and political attitudes of 5580 Twitter users, I show that, although ideology indeed explains following behaviour on Twitter, interest in politics induces a pattern of selection that limits what we can know about the ideological distribution in the population. My results provide direct validation of a previously hypothesised behaviour in the literature and have implications for the use of a proximity model to infer the state of public opinion using Twitter data.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 54-70
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1325924
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1325924
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ícaro Joathan
Author-X-Name-First: Ícaro
Author-X-Name-Last: Joathan
Title: Negative campaign in the Brazilian presidential race: an analysis of the attacks posted on Facebook by the main candidates
Abstract:
In 2014, the polls indicated a fierce dispute between the two main candidates running for the Brazilian Presidency, Dilma Rousseff (Workers’ Party, PT) and Aécio Neves (Brazilian Social-Democracy’s Party, PSDB). During the campaign, their media attitude towards each other became quite aggressive at times, especially on social network sites. The use of digital media to attack opponents is a recent electoral communication strategy in Brazil, since this was only the second presidential race in which those tools could be officially employed by the candidates. In order to analyse this new context, this paper compares the negative campaigning promoted on Facebook by Dilma and Aécio in the pre-campaign and campaign periods. For the purpose of the investigation, we collected all the 3907 posts published on the two candidates’ official fan pages between 6 April and 26 October, 2014. Through the techniques of Content Analysis and Discourse Analysis, we identified and categorised the attacks based on the frequency, author, target and type of resource used. The results indicate that the electoral period was more negative than the pre-campaign, and that the preferred targets and the type of resource used by Rousseff and Neves varied over time.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 71-88
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1369557
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1369557
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:71-88
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Kajsa Falasca
Author-X-Name-First: Kajsa
Author-X-Name-Last: Falasca
Author-Name: Mikolaj Dymek
Author-X-Name-First: Mikolaj
Author-X-Name-Last: Dymek
Author-Name: Christina Grandien
Author-X-Name-First: Christina
Author-X-Name-Last: Grandien
Title: Social media election campaigning: who is working for whom? A conceptual exploration of digital political labour
Abstract:
This paper posits the notion of digital political labour (DPL) as a rewarding concept for the analysis of political communication and social media. Numerous studies conclude that the engagement, dialogic and social affordances of social media have not yet been realised. But despite the lack of direct interaction, active audiences are, by their own actions in social media, taking part in DPL since audiences do not only receive political messages but contribute significantly with their own user-generated content. The empirical data in this study are from the official Facebook pages of Swedish political parties during the 2014 national election campaign. The results show that most of the communications work is actually performed by the audiences, and not by the parties themselves. This study highlight two important dimensions of DPL where users constitute targets and carriers of advertising as well as audiences whose free labour generates political campaign content.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 89-101
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1400089
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1400089
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:89-101
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Carlos Muñiz
Author-X-Name-First: Carlos
Author-X-Name-Last: Muñiz
Author-Name: Eva Campos-Domínguez
Author-X-Name-First: Eva
Author-X-Name-Last: Campos-Domínguez
Author-Name: Alma Rosa Saldierna
Author-X-Name-First: Alma Rosa
Author-X-Name-Last: Saldierna
Author-Name: José Luis Dader
Author-X-Name-First: José Luis
Author-X-Name-Last: Dader
Title: Engagement of politicians and citizens in the cyber campaign on Facebook: a comparative analysis between Mexico and Spain
Abstract:
This study explores the use of Facebook by political actors in election campaigns, establishing the extent to which candidates, parties and citizens engaged in online participation through different online tools provided by this social networking site. A comparative content analysis of the Facebook pages of the main candidacies in the election campaigns in Spain (Castilla y León) and Mexico (Nuevo León) in 2015 was carried out. The results reveal a positive relationship between types of engagement, especially in the Mexican campaign, where politicians and users score systematically higher in all variables measuring engagement. However, results also indicate that the citizen engagement was of higher quality/intensity in the Spanish campaign.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 102-113
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1367832
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1367832
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:102-113
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Lidia Valera-Ordaz
Author-X-Name-First: Lidia
Author-X-Name-Last: Valera-Ordaz
Title: Frame building and frame sponsorship in the 2011 Spanish election: the practices of polarised pluralism
Abstract:
This study assesses if the well-established polarised pluralism of the Spanish news media system translated into frame sponsorship during the 2011 Spanish General Election. After reviewing the historical and cultural influences that shaped the 2011 Spanish electoral campaign, I conduct a qualitative discourse analysis of 96 news releases issued by the 2 main Spanish political parties, the Socialist Party and the People’s Party, to identify their sponsored diagnostic and prognostic frames. I then compare the partisan news releases with 27 El País and El Mundo editorials that evaluated the party-sponsored frames to explore if and to what extent both Spanish leading newspapers adopted the party-sponsored frames. Findings show that the political parties succeeded in dominating news narratives about what was at stake in the election, since the newspapers clearly sponsored partisan frames and supported the parties’ political aspirations. Results also demonstrate that the newspapers sporadically challenged details of partisan diagnostic and prognostic frames, especially after the election. These discrepancies, however, do not challenge partisan ideological foundations.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 114-131
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1347703
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1347703
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:114-131
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jose M. Pavía
Author-X-Name-First: Jose M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Pavía
Author-Name: Itziar Gil-Carceller
Author-X-Name-First: Itziar
Author-X-Name-Last: Gil-Carceller
Author-Name: Alfredo Rubio-Mataix
Author-X-Name-First: Alfredo
Author-X-Name-Last: Rubio-Mataix
Author-Name: Vicente Coll
Author-X-Name-First: Vicente
Author-X-Name-Last: Coll
Author-Name: Jose A. Alvarez-Jareño
Author-X-Name-First: Jose A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Alvarez-Jareño
Author-Name: Cristina Aybar
Author-X-Name-First: Cristina
Author-X-Name-Last: Aybar
Author-Name: Salvador Carrasco-Arroyo
Author-X-Name-First: Salvador
Author-X-Name-Last: Carrasco-Arroyo
Title: The formation of aggregate expectations: wisdom of the crowds or media influence?
Abstract:
The general elections of 2015 in Spain were elections of change. Two new parties for which voters had no previous historical reference points burst onto the parliamentary scene. Two (partially) opposed theories vie to offer an explanation as to how voters build their aggregate electoral expectations. In this paper, we investigate which mechanism has the greatest influence on the formation of expectations: published opinion or social interactions. Likewise, we also study if there is an ideological bias in the voters’ perception of the future results of the electoral battle. Based on analysis of microdata from a survey (sample size = 14,262) conducted in Spain on the occasion of the general elections of 2015, we provide evidence: firstly, that the published surveys are the main source used by voters to configure their aggregate expectations; and secondly, that the interpretation and projection that voters make about reality is not neutral, but strongly influenced by their own beliefs and preferences.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 132-143
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1367831
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1367831
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:132-143
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Tomás Baviera
Author-X-Name-First: Tomás
Author-X-Name-Last: Baviera
Author-Name: Àlvar Peris
Author-X-Name-First: Àlvar
Author-X-Name-Last: Peris
Author-Name: Lorena Cano-Orón
Author-X-Name-First: Lorena
Author-X-Name-Last: Cano-Orón
Title: Political candidates in infotainment programmes and their emotional effects on Twitter: an analysis of the 2015 Spanish general elections pre-campaign season
Abstract:
The infotainment format offers candidates an informal setting to show a more personal side of themselves to the electorate, opening themselves up to potential voters. An example of media hybridisation, social networks users can immediately comment on infotainment television programmes, a process known as second screening. These second screeners tend to be especially active in politics. This paper analyses the immediate emotional reaction of these users as they watch infotainment programmes that air during the campaign or pre-campaign seasons and feature political candidates as guests. We have confirmed that second screeners react more emotionally towards the candidate when his or her party is mentioned, and less emotionally when the host displays an aggressive attitude through his or her non-verbal communication. When issues related to the candidate’s personal lives are discussed, users’ emotional reactions improve slightly. The relevance of this research stems from the fact that we are witnessing the consolidation of a politics that increasingly strays from ideological questions, and instead focuses on more emotional and personal issues.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 144-156
Issue: 1
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1367833
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1367833
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:144-156
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Dabesaki Mac-Ikemenjima
Author-X-Name-First: Dabesaki
Author-X-Name-Last: Mac-Ikemenjima
Title: Violence and youth voter turnout in sub-saharan Africa
Abstract:
Despite the growing literature on political violence in sub-Saharan Africa, there is, surprisingly, a limited number of studies exploring its relationship with voter turnout, and specifically youth turnout, in the region. Africa is a relatively young continent, and the majority of its population is youth, positioning them as an important voting group. However, recent studies have suggested a shift in youth interest from voting to other forms of political participation such as protest. This paper explores the relationship between violence and youth voter turnout in sub-Saharan Africa. Using cross-sectional nationally representative data from the Afrobarometer public attitude survey from 20 countries, a correlation analysis is carried out to explore the relationship between fear of violence and turnout (voted in the last elections) among youth. The analysis shows a negative relationship between violence and voting among youth. Analyses controlling for employment, education and party affiliation also show that none of these had an effect on the strength and direction of the relationship. This suggests that violence could be a factor in explaining youth voter turnout in sub-Saharan Africa.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 215-226
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1369558
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1369558
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:215-226
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: María Luz Morán
Author-X-Name-First: María Luz
Author-X-Name-Last: Morán
Author-Name: Laura Fernández de Mosteyrín
Author-X-Name-First: Laura
Author-X-Name-Last: Fernández de Mosteyrín
Title: Imagining the future in a difficult present: storylines from Spanish youth
Abstract:
This paper examines Spanish juveniles’ effort to imagine the future in times of uncertainty. The breakdown of youth strategies to adulthood exacerbates the disarticulation of imagined futures. ‘Presentism’ is further intensified by the 2008 crisis, making it difficult for youth to ‘find their place in the world’. Our evidence comes from biographical narratives collected in the form of ‘letters’ written by Spanish university students. Borrowing from literature on youth transitions, temporal sociology and situated culture, we develop a narrative analysis which shows how, in the process of imagining their future, Spanish youth are reconsidering their expectations and generating new solutions. Their accounts show how they manage to connect their individual experiences with the collective, generational dimension.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 347-360
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1372620
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1372620
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:347-360
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Daniel Sewasew
Author-X-Name-First: Daniel
Author-X-Name-Last: Sewasew
Author-Name: Orna Braun-Lewensohn
Author-X-Name-First: Orna
Author-X-Name-Last: Braun-Lewensohn
Author-Name: Ebabush Kassa
Author-X-Name-First: Ebabush
Author-X-Name-Last: Kassa
Title: The contribution of guardian care and peer support for psychological resilience among orphaned adolescents in Ethiopia
Abstract:
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the contributions of guardians’ care, and peer support to psychological resilience. Three-hundred orphan adolescents (OAs) living in Dessie, Ethiopia, aged 12–20 (M = 15.5 ± 1.23), of which 165 (55%) were boys, filled out self-reported questionnaires, which included resilience, guardian care and peer support scales. Results show that the majority of the OA living in Dessie town are resilient. Older adolescents are more resilient than younger ones, and girls obtain more support from their peers compared to the boys. Age, guardian care and peer support were significantly positively related to resilience; together, they accounted for 35.6% of the explained variance. More specifically, peer support accounted for the highest proportion, followed by guardian care and age. The results of this study are discussed based on the cultural competence theory. The unique cultural context in which Ethiopian children grow up places many responsibilities on them, and thus moves them forward to become adults at a very early age. The experience of orphanhood could be an additional contributor to life experience which also serves as a strong resilience factor for the older group children. Practical implications will be offered to foster resilience among orphan and vulnerable adolescents in deprived areas.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 175-188
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1384048
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1384048
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:175-188
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Roxana Pessoa Cavalcanti
Author-X-Name-First: Roxana Pessoa
Author-X-Name-Last: Cavalcanti
Title: Marginalised youth, violence and policing: a qualitative study in Recife, Brazil
Abstract:
Few studies have examined the relations between urban marginalised youth and the public security system in the northeast of Brazil. This article addresses this gap in the literature through an examination of youth perceptions of a security programme aimed at reducing violence. It also analyses the effects of this security programme by interrogating the hegemonic discourses of state-actors in the region, namely, agents of the criminal justice system. The analysis draws on ethnographic data collected between 2012 and 2016 in Recife, the capital city of the state of Pernambuco in the northeast of Brazil. This approach permits an examination of the nature of new security interventions, and a comparison between two distinct narratives about this new securitisation agenda. One overarching narrative focuses on young people’s vulnerabilities, the other on claims of successful securitisation. An analysis of these narratives widens understandings of the effects and risks of security interventions, contributing to a debate about their impact on young people’s lives and society at large.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 227-241
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1384049
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1384049
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:227-241
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ioanna Christodoulou
Author-X-Name-First: Ioanna
Author-X-Name-Last: Christodoulou
Author-Name: Charis Pashias
Author-X-Name-First: Charis
Author-X-Name-Last: Pashias
Author-Name: Sotiris Theocharides
Author-X-Name-First: Sotiris
Author-X-Name-Last: Theocharides
Author-Name: Bettina Davou
Author-X-Name-First: Bettina
Author-X-Name-Last: Davou
Title: Investigating the roots of political disengagement of young Greek Cypriots
Abstract:
This study attempted to disentangle the issues underlying the marked drop recorded in political engagement of young Greek Cypriots. To reveal the dynamic processes through which people debate, disagree or convince each other towards the formation of political attitudes, eight focus-groups were carried out with a total of forty participants, equally distributed according to age and gender. The analysis showed that young Greek Cypriots appear uncertain for their future, pessimistic, cynical, and highly disillusioned with traditional politics. Contrary to what is observed in other European countries, young Greek Cypriots do not experiment with alternative forms of political action, remain inactive, and although the country's politicised culture of the past is still reflected in their theoretical discussions about social issues, they express embarrassment and confusion when asked to elaborate on how theory could be transformed into practice. They associate politics with corruption and economic interests, they are scornfully disillusioned with the European Union, and they emotionally distance themselves from important changes to come with the possible reunification of Cyprus. Young Greek Cypriots appear insecure, pessimistic, disoriented, uninspired, and in an urgent need to rediscover passion for ideas which they cannot any more find in traditional politics and forms of political action.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 376-392
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1384562
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1384562
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:376-392
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Anna Uboldi
Author-X-Name-First: Anna
Author-X-Name-Last: Uboldi
Title: Disadvantaged students and art school: the outcasts on the inside between acquiescence and contestation
Abstract:
This research explores the educational experiences from a qualitative perspective with in-depth interviews and focus groups with disadvantaged young pupils. The research takes place in two secondary art schools in Milan. I define art in the space of educational choices, in a Bourdieusian perspective. This type of school is an ambivalent practical lyceum. I study the meanings of this choice, the educational representations and attitudes of the students as well as the ambitions for the future. I investigate the school choice, the learner identity and the creative aspiration as classed concepts by means of cultural capital and habitus tools. The social class determines the way in which students orient themselves towards creative educational routes and professional future careers. A research of mediocrity and modesty characterises their dispositions towards school and art. The educational artistic experience is considered as a merely autotelic practice without value and relevance to their life. The disadvantaged young students are incomplete neo-liberal subjectivities and their life projects are undefined in terms of tools, aims and trajectories. In sum, I examine the role of secondary art school to reproduce the social disadvantages in terms of educational and professional aspirations.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 297-315
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1384563
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1384563
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:297-315
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Tin-yuet Ting
Author-X-Name-First: Tin-yuet
Author-X-Name-Last: Ting
Title: Struggling for tomorrow: the future orientations of youth activism in a democratic crisis
Abstract:
Recent protest movements worldwide have painted a picture of youth striving in times of crisis to secure self-determination and justice for more democratic futures. While traditional theory has viewed youth activism as the result of structural strains or collapse of order, recent studies have focused attention upon the role of future orientations merely as movement strategies. What is missing from these accounts, and what this article seeks to address, is the initiatives of youth to carry out their future-oriented agendas and struggles at the grassroots. Drawing upon interview data with young citizens, who took part in recent political activism in response to a democratic crisis in Hong Kong, this article illustrates how young people were involved in political struggles as they enacted their life goals and identities. Rather than static political ideals, these visions of future were constantly reconstituted in the activist practices alongside unfolding crises. This article thus re-theorises youth activism simultaneously as the manifestation as well as the constitution of alternative futures in practice. Moving beyond the notion of youth activism as passive reaction to repression or abstract political anticipation, it leverages for youth agency and everyday experience to understand youth’s political imagination and commitment to social transformation.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 242-257
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1385827
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1385827
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:242-257
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Uliano Conti
Author-X-Name-First: Uliano
Author-X-Name-Last: Conti
Title: Between rap and jihad: spectacular subcutlures, terrorism and visuality
Abstract:
This article underlines the importance of terrorist jihadist online communication. The visual expressions of sociocultural identity are a trademark of jihadist terrorist groups. This paper also shows that subcultural perspective constitutes a privileged point of view for the analysis of the phenomenon of Western-born jihadist terrorism. In scientific literature there is a lack of empirical research on the visual dimension of jihadist terrorism in a subcultural perspective. In this perspective, the article analyses the subcultural identity of a Western-born jihadist terrorist, the former rapper Deso Dogg, also known as Abu-Maleeq. This paper proposes an original analysis of terrorist group membership, analysing through visual sociology the YouTube videos of Deso Dogg – Abu-Maleeq. The visual jihadist representation is based on the repetition of semantic elements. This result confirms the importance of the semantic coherence of communication, namely the Hebdigian homology. Furthermore, terrorist communication assigns new meanings to traditional cultural elements. This result confirms the relevance of the subcultural practice of bricolage. In conclusion, the article allows an original perspective for the study of terrorist communication and underlines the importance of Hebdigian perspective for the understanding of what processes turned troubled Western youth into terrorists.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 272-284
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1385828
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1385828
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:272-284
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Valerie Visanich
Author-X-Name-First: Valerie
Author-X-Name-Last: Visanich
Title: Youth in the age of anxiety: the case of a southern European location
Abstract:
This paper examines the sociological implications of personal anxiety for youth in tertiary education. The arguments brought forward are positioned broadly within a discourse on individualisation – on how youth today are devising their lives on their own free-will and experiencing anxiety due to self-reliance. Various socio-economic and cultural conditions have a direct impact on their degree of anxiety. This paper focuses on three of them – changes in the educational system, employment prospects and personal debts. This paper analyses increased anxiety in youth, outlined by various studies, and how it transcends in southern Europe. The data drawn on for this paper are taken from interviews conducted in Malta. The implications brought forward include the need for a more detailed exploration of the familial support network and its work in reducing anxiety. Youth experience a kind of ‘institutional individualisation’ – Their reflexive deliberations leading to angst are cushioned by their familial support network.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 333-346
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1385829
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1385829
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:333-346
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Marie Jacobs
Author-X-Name-First: Marie
Author-X-Name-Last: Jacobs
Title: Youth identity in desegregated schools of Johannesburg
Abstract:
Since the end of apartheid, South African schools went through deep changes with the deracialisation of the school system and a fairer allocation of educational resources (funding, equipment, facilities). School vision and mission had to promote values of the rainbow nation in order to enrol learners from different communities. Despite the recognition of diversity, race and ethnic relations still structure social relations inside school. This research shows how South African teenagers from desegregated school of Johannesburg construct their identity in relation to the diverse communities where they evolve. We expose their representation of a world affected by the apartheid legacy of racialised borders and socio-economical divisions but open to identity ‘bricolages’ and aspirations which allow overtaking them. Religion, popular and global culture, and democratic values are sources of identification to analyse to understand youth identity in contemporary South Africa.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 202-214
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1385830
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1385830
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:202-214
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Derek Roberts
Author-X-Name-First: Derek
Author-X-Name-Last: Roberts
Author-Name: Simusa Silwamba
Author-X-Name-First: Simusa
Author-X-Name-Last: Silwamba
Title: Ethnicity, politics and Zambian youth
Abstract:
Zambia is a very young nation in the midst of economic and political turbulence. The current trials are exacerbated by a youth bulge. Zambian youth have been exposed to a globalising world, and their expectations often exceed the current realities of the country. The country's economy has been decimated by daily power outages and falling copper prices. The fragile democracy has seen ethnic politics expand in the face of two presidential elections in less than two years. There have been concerns about the potential for increased political and ethnic violence as a result of these financial and political challenges. In this article, we draw upon a survey of 419 public university students in order to uncover how ethnic identities contribute to the democratic landscape for the nation's youth. We find that Zambian youth consider ethnicity to be an important part of personal identities, but they do not believe ethnicity should be a political factor. Contrary to this desire, the youth overwhelmingly perceive politicians to be engaging in political tribalism. The data suggest that the youth's widespread dissatisfaction with the perceived ethnic politics has contributed to lower voter turnouts, especially among Zambia's largest tribe.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 189-201
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1385831
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1385831
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:189-201
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Gary Armstrong
Author-X-Name-First: Gary
Author-X-Name-Last: Armstrong
Author-Name: James Rosbrook-Thompson
Author-X-Name-First: James
Author-X-Name-Last: Rosbrook-Thompson
Title: ‘Squashing the Beef’: Combatting Gang Violence and Reforming Masculinity in East London
Abstract:
The article draws on the findings of two years’ ethnographic fieldwork in exploring how gang activity in Newham, East London is combatted by faith-based organisation, Targeted Against Gangs (TAG). More specifically, the authors examine how TAG seeks to reform the identities of young male gang members according to the principles of what we have called ‘Pentecostal realist masculinity’. The characteristics of this reformed masculinity include an awareness of the racial (and racist) dynamics of criminal and wider society, a focus on individuals thriving within fraternal networks, and the desire to channel creative energies into legitimate entrepreneurial activities. Though this strategy did not mount a direct challenge to the racist societal structures it identified, it was effective in reducing levels of gang violence in East London.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 285-296
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1385833
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1385833
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:285-296
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Lara Monticelli
Author-X-Name-First: Lara
Author-X-Name-Last: Monticelli
Author-Name: Simone Baglioni
Author-X-Name-First: Simone
Author-X-Name-Last: Baglioni
Title: Aspiring workers or striving consumers? Rethinking social exclusion in the era of consumer capitalism
Abstract:
This study is part of a special issue aimed at investigating young people’s trajectories in troubled and challenging times. The paper tackles the topic by providing the results of an in-depth qualitative and exploratory study conducted on young unemployed people in the Italian city of Turin – the industrial ‘capital’ of the Sixties, now undergoing a massive wave of deindustrialization. Interviews were gathered in 2010, when the Great Recession was severely affecting young people living in Southern European countries like Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. The article proceeds along two levels of analysis. The first focuses on the subjective experience of unemployment and job precariousness seen through the eyes of young people, aware of living in exceptionally hard and uncertain times. The second focuses on the broad mechanisms leading to social exclusion paying particular attention to deprived experiences of consumption. Findings reveal that while work has not lost its material and symbolic meaning, a great importance is attributed to experiences of consumption, as a way for young people to socialize with peers.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 316-332
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1385834
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1385834
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:316-332
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Charalambos Tsekeris
Author-X-Name-First: Charalambos
Author-X-Name-Last: Tsekeris
Author-Name: Lily Stylianoudi
Author-X-Name-First: Lily
Author-X-Name-Last: Stylianoudi
Title: Youngsters and adolescents in troubled contexts: worldwide perspectives
Abstract:
A brief overview is presented of perspectives on current thinking on youth to contextualise the themed issue of Contemporary Social Science entitled ‘Investigating Youth in Challenging and Troubled Contexts’. This provides an overview of up-to-date interdisciplinary, international research that investigates the complex dynamics of youth in contemporary society, especially in troubled and crisis-ridden contexts. The studies are brought together from many countries and cultures, including Ethiopia, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Brazil, Hong Kong, Kuwait, India, Israel, Britain, Italy, Malta, Spain, Portugal and Cyprus. Taken together the 15 papers show that current youth research contributes significantly to understanding emergent dynamic transformations which are reshaping the social structure (including politics and democracy), taking place at both local and global levels.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 165-174
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1386261
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1386261
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:165-174
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Magda Nico
Author-X-Name-First: Magda
Author-X-Name-Last: Nico
Title: Young individuals as microcosms of the Portuguese crisis
Abstract:
The Portuguese crisis affected the country’s collective identity, and ‘the timing of life’ at which it struck individual lives in this case is also significant. Quantitative figures show that young people were particularly affected by this crisis. However, a long-run qualitative approach provides a multilayered and quite complex view of what this crisis is embedding in young people’s lives and minds. In qualitative research on ‘middle class’ transitions to adulthood carried out in 2009, 52 young adults were interviewed about their educational, residential, occupational and romantic lives. In a follow-up study, these individuals’ trajectories, plans and expectations are now updated; their past and present confronted; and effects of the crisis on their lives questioned. The discussion is held in the form of a critical approach to the theories of individualisation, and goes to the heart of the ‘generation in itself’ vs. ‘generation for itself’ and ‘biographies of choice’ vs. ‘discourses of choice’ debates.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 361-375
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1393554
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1393554
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:361-375
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Emanuela Buscemi
Author-X-Name-First: Emanuela
Author-X-Name-Last: Buscemi
Title: Resistant identities: culture and politics among Kuwaiti youth
Abstract:
The present paper investigates the role of youth in contemporary Kuwait, and how their diverse resistance strategies contest and challenge dominant cultural and political paradigms, affecting identity construction and social patterns. It examines the distance between the government and youth, and a growing crisis of representation through the analysis of three main areas of resistant practices enacted by youth, seemingly interdependent and possibly overlapping: political mobilisation, political radicalisation and civic engagement. Political mobilisation concerns the protests staged in Kuwait mainly in 2012; political radicalisation examines political violence and terrorist episodes, while civic engagement investigates examples from an invigorated civil society. The article investigates and addresses youth practices employing classic and alternative social movements literature developed in Latin America and the Middle East, together with original ethnographic data.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 258-271
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1402205
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1402205
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:3-4:p:258-271
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jessica K. Taft
Author-X-Name-First: Jessica K.
Author-X-Name-Last: Taft
Title: Teenage girls’ narratives of becoming activists
Abstract:
Stories about individuals’ entry into activism are an important part of collective identity formation within social movements. This article, based on in-depth interviews and participant observation with teenage girl activists in five cities in North and South America, looks at narratives of the process of becoming an activist in order to understand how these narratives function for teenagers. Drawing on the conventions of coming of age narratives as well as developmental ideas of adolescence as a time of self-discovery, teenage girl activists produce narratives of the activist self that are influenced by these age-based discourses. The article identifies features of these narratives, including concerns with the subject’s outsider status, transformative peer relationships, growing social awareness, and a self-in-process. It argues that girl activists’ emphasis on themselves as ‘becoming’ rather than ‘being’ activists enables valuable political flexibility and openness but also contributes to their own invisibility and dismissal.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 27-39
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1324173
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1324173
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:27-39
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Rachel Rosen
Author-X-Name-First: Rachel
Author-X-Name-Last: Rosen
Title: Play as activism? Early childhood and (inter)generational politics
Abstract:
Both young children and imaginative play are often considered to be fundamentally apolitical. Such views have been increasingly challenged, however, as both ‘the political’ and activism are being reconceptualised in more expansive ways. In seeking to critically build upon these efforts, I draw on ethnographic data generated in an early years setting in a super-diverse low-income community in London to highlight the space of imaginative play as a resonant site for investigations of the political. However, whether or not something is considered a ‘political’ matter is a political struggle in itself, and one that players may neither desire nor achieve. I make a case for both distinguishing between play and activism, and considering ways to foster connections between them. Imaginative play has the potential to enrich an intergenerational politics where adults and children engage together for a more just future.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 110-122
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1324174
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1324174
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:110-122
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Catherine Walker
Author-X-Name-First: Catherine
Author-X-Name-Last: Walker
Title: Embodying ‘the Next Generation’: children’s everyday environmental activism in India and England
Abstract:
The symbolic evocation of ‘the next generation’ might be considered as valuable in buttressing calls for concerted public and political action on climate change, whilst assigning to children a unique identity and role in engendering sustainable transitions. Yet does an identity that is in essence equated with futurity stifle possibilities for children’s own actions in the present, and conflict with policy expectations that children can be ‘agents of (pro-environmental) change’? Drawing on multi-method doctoral research carried out with children (aged 11–14) and their families in varying socio-economic contexts in India and England, this paper considers the use and utility of generational identities in prompting environmental concern and explores how generationally framed imaginaries of childhood feature in children’s and family narratives of everyday environmental activism. Building on theoretical arguments of generational interdependence and ethics of care, the paper argues for greater recognition of children’s actual and potential contributions to engendering sustainable futures, whilst drawing attention to the ways in which children’s agency to act on environmental knowledge is supported by – and interdependent with – that of adult actors, not least parents.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 13-26
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1325922
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1325922
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:13-26
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Molly Andrews
Author-X-Name-First: Molly
Author-X-Name-Last: Andrews
Title: Enduring ideals: revisiting Lifetimes of Commitment twenty-five years later
Abstract:
This article examines political commitment to work for progressive social change as a lifelong activity. Challenging assumptions that idealism is something which is associated with youth, and, appropriately, later to be ‘grown out of’, the article presents an alternative model for examining social activism as a lifelong engagement. Revisiting research published 25 years ago (Lifetimes of commitment: Aging, politics, psychology, Cambridge University Press, 1991), the author re-examines key aspects of the study, including its most central contribution concerning activism as a feature across the life course. The discussion addresses recent debates on old age and political inclination as they are manifested in the global mourning of the death of Nelson Mandela, and the Brexit vote.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 153-163
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1325923
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1325923
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:153-163
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jonathan R. Guillemot
Author-X-Name-First: Jonathan R.
Author-X-Name-Last: Guillemot
Author-Name: Debora J. Price
Author-X-Name-First: Debora J.
Author-X-Name-Last: Price
Title: Politicisation in later life: experience and motivations of older people participating in a protest for the first time
Abstract:
With demographic ageing, political activity of older people is increasingly becoming relevant to political science. However, little is known about the possibility of and rationale for politicisation in later life. This article uses in-depth qualitative interviews with older first-time participants in a successful protest against the closure of a charity-run day centre to investigate how and when such politicisation might occur. We find that in response to perceived extreme threat, and provided with high levels of support, frail older people with low levels of early politicisation actively participated in a protest that ultimately prevented closure of their day centre. Furthermore, older people are not a weak population, but were able to use their frailty as political tools for shaming decision-makers. The study reveals that despite low political activity throughout life, politicisation can be triggered for the first time in later life. Three key aspects are highlighted: (1) in spite of poor health, perceived threat seems an essential driver to politicisation; (2) supporters and carers act as an essential determinant to catalyse politicisation in this group; (3) older people are capable of adapting their claim-making performances, including shaming strategies, to achieve the best outcomes, thus illustrating their potential power.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 52-67
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1326620
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1326620
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:52-67
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Thalia Dragonas
Author-X-Name-First: Thalia
Author-X-Name-Last: Dragonas
Author-Name: Anni Vassiliou
Author-X-Name-First: Anni
Author-X-Name-Last: Vassiliou
Title: Educational activism across the divide: empowering youths and their communities
Abstract:
This paper tells the story of the Creative Youth Workshops (CYWs), a social space for youths, members of the minority/Muslim and the majority/Christian society, in jointly constructing alternative possibilities of living positively together in the conflict-ridden social environment of Thrace, a North Eastern Greek province bordering Bulgaria and Turkey. The CYWs constitute a sub-project within the overall frame of a comprehensive intervention inside and outside the classroom, called ‘Education of Muslim Minority Children’.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 123-137
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1327668
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1327668
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:123-137
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Author-Name: Sevasti-Melissa Nolas
Author-X-Name-First: Sevasti-Melissa
Author-X-Name-Last: Nolas
Author-Name: Christos Varvantakis
Author-X-Name-First: Christos
Author-X-Name-Last: Varvantakis
Author-Name: Vinnarasan Aruldoss
Author-X-Name-First: Vinnarasan
Author-X-Name-Last: Aruldoss
Title: Talking politics in everyday family lives
Abstract:
How do children encounter and relate to public life? Drawing on evidence from ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2014 and 2016 for the ERC-funded Connectors Study on the relationship between childhood and public life, this paper explores how children encounter public life in their everyday family environments. Using the instance of political talk as a practice through which public life is encountered in the home, the data presented fill important gaps in knowledge about the lived experience of political talk of younger children. Working with three family histories where political talk was reported by parents to be a practice encountered in their own childhoods and one which they continued in the present amongst themselves as a couple/parents, we make two arguments: that children’s political talk, where it occurs, is idiomatic and performative; and that what is transmitted across generations is the practice of talking politics. Drawing on theories of everyday life developed by Michel de Certeau and others we explore the implications of these findings for the dominant social imaginaries of conversation, and for how political talk is researched.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 68-83
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1330965
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:68-83
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Andrea Jones
Author-X-Name-First: Andrea
Author-X-Name-Last: Jones
Title: Housing choices in later life as unclaimed forms of housing activism
Abstract:
This paper explores how housing choices over a lifetime produce under-recognised and unclaimed forms of housing activism. It is based on qualitative interviews with two individuals in their sixties, living in intergenerational communities in the South of England. I argue that their stories of their housing choices and their future housing plans resist dominant housing discourses, particularly as they relate to ageing, and they illuminate a number of under-recognised elements of housing activism. Using Clapham’s housing pathway concept, I describe their narratives of decision-making about where and how to live over their life time to show their agency and their resistance to norms of housing consumption in later life, which are key elements of housing activism. Whilst interviewees recognised the political nature of their housing choices, neither claimed the term ‘housing activist’ nor used the term in their narratives and I argue that this may be because their forms of housing activism were interwoven with domestic and caring needs, emotional experiences, intermittent commitment and ageing identities. Their housing pathways and life stories support emerging theories of activism that broaden definitions from public to private spaces and challenge stereotypes of older people’s involvement in housing activism.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 138-152
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1334127
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1334127
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:138-152
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Raquel da Silva
Author-X-Name-First: Raquel
Author-X-Name-Last: da Silva
Title: Narrative resources and political violence: the life stories of former clandestine militants in Portugal
Abstract:
This study analyses the experiences, both violent and non-violent, of two former clandestine militants who were part of distinct politically violent organisations in the past in Portugal. It explores the narrative resources at the origin of personal political awareness and their influence on political activism, taking into (particular) account the impact of the early family narrative environment and of the moment in history in which individuals were living. It also demonstrates the ways in which past experiences are reconstructed by self-constructions and representations in the present. Activism at the edge of age is, thus, shaped by the meanings of past memories, which are used dialogically to preserve a valued identity.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 40-51
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1335878
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1335878
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:40-51
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Sheila Marie Katz
Author-X-Name-First: Sheila Marie
Author-X-Name-Last: Katz
Title: Welfare mothers’ grassroots activism for economic justice
Abstract:
Several events during the course of this research – including the Great Recession, Barack Obama’s election and presidency, and the Occupy and student protests – increasingly focused media attention and public interest on social justice and economic inequality. Given the 2016 US elections interest continued to grow on these topics and sparked new attention to the role of organising and activism on social policy issues such as on health care, the economic conditions of working families, access to higher education, and the deteriorating social safety net. Through ethnographic research in the San Francisco Bay Area, this paper examines how mothers who pursued higher education while on welfare engaged in grassroots activism to reform social safety net policies. This project explores how they became grassroots activists, how they developed an oppositional consciousness and participated in grassroots anti-poverty activism, and the consequences of that participation.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 96-109
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1335879
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1335879
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:96-109
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Sevasti-Melissa Nolas
Author-X-Name-First: Sevasti-Melissa
Author-X-Name-Last: Nolas
Author-Name: Christos Varvantakis
Author-X-Name-First: Christos
Author-X-Name-Last: Varvantakis
Author-Name: Vinnarasan Aruldoss
Author-X-Name-First: Vinnarasan
Author-X-Name-Last: Aruldoss
Title: Political activism across the life course
Abstract:
The study of political activism has neglected people’s personal and social relationships to time. Age, life course and generation have become increasing important experiences for understanding political participation and political outcomes (e.g. Brexit), and current policies of austerity across the world are affecting people of all ages. At a time when social science is struggling to understand the rapid and unexpected changes to the current political landscape, the essay argues that the study of political activism can be enriched by engaging with the temporal dimensions of people’s everyday social experiences because it enables the discovery of political activism in mundane activities as well as in banal spaces. The authors suggest that a values-based approach that focuses on people’s relationships of concern would be a suitable way to surface contemporary political sites and experiences of activism across the life course and for different generations.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-12
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1336566
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1336566
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Author-Name: Veronica Barassi
Author-X-Name-First: Veronica
Author-X-Name-Last: Barassi
Title: Digital citizens? Data traces and family life
Abstract:
In the last decades, different scholars have focused on how political participation has been transformed by digital media. Although insightful, current research in the field lacks a critical understanding of the personal and affective dimension of online political participation. This paper aims to address this gap by looking at the interconnection between digital storytelling, identity narratives and family life. Drawing on an ethnographic research, the paper shows that activists construct their political identities online through complex practices of digital storytelling that involve the reinterpretation of early childhood and family life. These processes of digital storytelling have an un-intended consequence: they enable the political profiling of different family members. The paper argues that these digital practices, which produce politically identifying digital traces, are transforming political socialisation in family life and introducing new ways in which we can think digital citizenship across the life course.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 84-95
Issue: 1-2
Volume: 12
Year: 2017
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1338353
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1338353
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:12:y:2017:i:1-2:p:84-95
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Goedele A. M. De Clerck
Author-X-Name-First: Goedele A. M.
Author-X-Name-Last: De Clerck
Author-Name: Sam Lutalo-Kiingi
Author-X-Name-First: Sam
Author-X-Name-Last: Lutalo-Kiingi
Title: Ethical and methodological responses to risks in fieldwork with deaf Ugandans
Abstract:
While members of marginalised communities may be motivated to participate in ethnographic research by the desire to have their stories ‘heard’/seen, find a place in history and transmit their legacy, telling and publishing these stories may also put them and the researchers at risk. This paper discusses the ethical and methodological dilemmas inherent in studies on the Ugandan deaf community’s emancipation and sustainability. A first risk factor resides in the country’s political situation, strategy planning, financial management and pressures on democracy and human rights. Other risk factors are power hierarchies and questionable ideologies on the status of Ugandan Sign Language (UgSL) (factor 2) and the sometimes-scant attention to ethics in development partnerships (factor 3). These risks directly and indirectly enter the research space, for example, when participants warn that their own and the researcher’s safety could be compromised if certain information is divulged, resulting in social isolation, loss of income, and even threats to life and limb. Information sharing, transparency in partnerships, and attention to the status of UgSL are keys in the circumvention of these risks. The ‘ritual dance’ metaphor illuminates the constant and intricate balancing of academic responsibility, the well-being of the community, and the interests of the other players.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 372-385
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1347273
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1347273
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:3-4:p:372-385
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Monique Marks
Author-X-Name-First: Monique
Author-X-Name-Last: Marks
Author-Name: Julten Abdelhalim
Author-X-Name-First: Julten
Author-X-Name-Last: Abdelhalim
Title: Introduction: identity, jeopardy and moral dilemmas in conducting research in ‘risky’ environments
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 305-322
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1388463
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Author-Name: Julten Abdelhalim
Author-X-Name-First: Julten
Author-X-Name-Last: Abdelhalim
Title: Accommodating fieldwork to irreconcilable equations of citizenship, authoritarianism, poverty and fear in Egypt
Abstract:
Post-Mubarak Egypt witnessed major shifts in the elaboration of inclusive citizenship that came to halt after the abandonment of the democratic experiment. This period offered insights on the abruption of a process of citizenship building, especially in poor urban dwellings, where narratives of everyday violence shape the way citizenship is conceived. As I carried out fieldwork in an urban settlement in Cairo to address these issues following the 2013 military coup, I was forced to end my project in order to avoid risk to myself or to my respondents. This article demonstrates how fieldwork, even in unfavourable conditions, could be contextualised to redesign the research and theories guiding it. Through examining some of the dynamics of my fieldwork and positionality as a native female researcher, I demonstrate alternative methods of narrating the complex interactions of citizenship variables, poverty and fear in police-state-like conditions in Egypt.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 397-411
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1393552
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1393552
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:3-4:p:397-411
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Aastha Tyagi
Author-X-Name-First: Aastha
Author-X-Name-Last: Tyagi
Title: Field, ethics and self: negotiating methodology in a Hindu right wing camp
Abstract:
There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution. (Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray)
Feminist research methodology has made a strong case for emotionality as a legitimate part of not only the research process but also, as a valid addition to the data gathered. Research in risky environments presents tangible threats in the form of physical and mental exhaustion, and harm. It also becomes an avenue to confront emotions that go beyond the encounter with change. These emotions are extremely personal but contain within them the potential to threaten the researcher's mental well-being (in the form of trauma or shock), the ethics guiding the research or abandonment of the research project. This article concurs with Lal's [Lal, J. (1996). Situating locations: The politics of self, identity, and ‘other’ in living and writing the text. In D. L. Wolf (Ed.), Feminist dilemmas in fieldwork (pp. 185–214). Boulder, CO: Westview Press] assertion that we need to go beyond reflexivity during the research process and use it for ‘political action’. By using data collected during participant observation at a camp that was conducted by the women's group associated with the largest Hindu nationalist organisation in India, the article attempts to situate the emotion of guilt as an inseparable part of the research experience and makes a case for utilising it not only for more ethically sound research but also, an honest and empowering research process.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 323-336
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1394482
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1394482
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:3-4:p:323-336
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Aya Nassar
Author-X-Name-First: Aya
Author-X-Name-Last: Nassar
Title: Where the dust settles: fieldwork, subjectivity and materiality in Cairo
Abstract:
This article uses the very materiality of the city, namely its dust, to reflect on the processes of researching and writing about it. By using ‘dust’ as both a material and an imaginative metaphor that assembles architecture, urban space, archives and history, I argue that field environments, in a very material sense, seep through our fieldwork methodologies. Written through a series of four vignettes; this article reflects on conducting archival fieldwork in urban space, as a non-risky methodology, yet within a politically turbulent context where research in itself could be a cause of risk. By acknowledging the very materiality of the field environment, a space is created to reflect on how the field constitutes our subjectivity as researchers, in the city, the archive, or elsewhere. Attention to dust allows us to write with – rather than against – the entanglement of field notes. It makes space for an autobiographic incision and reclaims a subjective voice that writing on being in the field needs. Furthermore, it allows us to trouble the clean and disentangled constructions of our subjectivity as academic knowing subjects through the orchestrated everyday practices of conducting fieldwork.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 412-428
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1418521
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1418521
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:3-4:p:412-428
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Angela Leggett
Author-X-Name-First: Angela
Author-X-Name-Last: Leggett
Title: Environmentalist protection: feminist methodology and participant risk for research with Chinese NGOs
Abstract:
Environmentalism has emerged as an arena in which Chinese civil society has become increasingly active, with influence potential still unimaginable in other areas. While the political sensitivity of environmental research and safety concerns for environmentalist participants have certainly dissipated somewhat since the 1990s, ethical considerations remain crucial for my research on Chinese non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and corporate environmental responsibility. The relative legitimisation of NGOs presents a new dilemma for contemporary fieldwork; participatory methods and publication of findings may affect – for better or worse – the activities and results of organisations and members. This article examines how methodological approaches affect researcher positionality and participant risk for environmentalist fieldwork in China. Reflecting on interviews in Beijing, Yunnan and Zhejiang during 2015 and 2016, it presents feminist techniques as one means to reconcile the tension between the academic urge to more deeply understand participants’ experiences and the ethical desire to avoid impacting their safety or organisational activities. Building on Harding’s [(1987). Feminism and methodology: Social science issues. Bloomington: Indiana University Press] ‘standpoint’ epistemology and Worell and Etaugh’s [(1994). Transforming theory and research with women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18, 443–450] feminist interviews, I propose extension beyond explicit gender research, and critically reflect on power and exploitation. Insights from fieldwork with environmentalists in China may support contextualised application of feminist methodologies to reduce participant risk in broader politically sensitive areas.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 354-371
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1418522
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1418522
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:3-4:p:354-371
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Author-Name: Anne-Linda Amira Augustin
Author-X-Name-First: Anne-Linda Amira
Author-X-Name-Last: Augustin
Title: Rumours, fears and solidarity in fieldwork in times of political turmoil on the verge of war in Southern Yemen
Abstract:
My fieldwork took place in Southern Yemen at a time when this region was marked by insecurity, prosecutions and detentions. As a fieldworker, I was challenged by a context best described as political turmoil on the verge of war. The fact that my paternal family lives in Southern Yemen facilitated access to the field, but also complicated the fieldwork experience, as I found myself closely bound to the society I was trying to understand and to the politics at play. My position as an involved outsider and a temporal insider [cf. Hermann, T. (2001). The impermeable identity wall: The study of violent conflicts by ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. In M. Smyth & G. Robinson (Eds.), Researching violently divided societies: Ethical and methodological issues (pp. 77–91). London: Pluto Press., p. 79] defined the scope of my research on Southern Yemen and the Southern Movement. Using an autoethnographic approach, and based on three personal experiences from my visits and fieldwork in Southern Yemen in recent years, this article describes, reflects and analyses how rumours, fear and solidarity in a dangerous fieldwork setting affected my position as researcher, the choice of my research topic, access to the field and acquisition of data.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 444-456
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1418523
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1418523
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:3-4:p:444-456
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Author-Name: Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos
Author-X-Name-First: Andreza Aruska
Author-X-Name-Last: de Souza Santos
Title: Risky closeness and distance in two fieldwork sites in Brazil
Abstract:
This article discusses how closeness and distance affected my ethnographic research in two Brazilian cities. I first address the pitfalls I encountered researching Luz, a run-down transportation hub and residential area in São Paulo’s city centre, also known as Crackland for its drug trade and consumption. In Luz, I was confronted with everyday hostility in an environment of unknown others and an ever-changing cityscape: users of cultural offerings, temporary residents and by-passers, police removal of drug users, house evictions and demolition in deteriorated buildings, and contentious and short-lived state policies with regard to the area. The second part of the article contrasts this experience with living and conducting research in Ouro Preto, a Brazilian UNESCO World heritage site where residents have a strong sense of social cohesion. While, for me, the violence and disorder of Luz made conducting research there impossible, the strong networks and familiarity in Ouro Preto created its own challenges. Drawing on 15 months of fieldwork in these two distinct contexts, I discuss how researchers can face intimidation brought about by both distance from informants and excessive closeness, and how research questions and findings are often limited by such personal possibilities and positions.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 429-443
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1418524
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1418524
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:3-4:p:429-443
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Author-Name: E. Ashley Wilson
Author-X-Name-First: E. Ashley
Author-X-Name-Last: Wilson
Title: ‘Don’t say “research”’: reducing bidirectional risk in Kibera slum
Abstract:
Kenya’s 2007 presidential elections led to what was widely termed ‘ethnic violence’, resulting in over 1000 deaths and 600,000 displacements. Kibera slum, in the country’s capital, is home to the opposition leader’s stronghold and was at the conflict’s epicentre. Conducting fieldwork in Kibera a decade later and months before the 2017 presidential election presented a multitude of methodological risks to both the research team and the Kibera community. This article explores what I call ‘bidirectional risks’ – risks to both research team and research participants – that were encountered and how these risks were minimised using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies including a household survey, engaged ethnography and community research collaboration. These strategies increased the safety of both the research team and participants, allowed the research team to collect sensitive data and suggested possibilities for further democratising the anthropological research process.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 337-353
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1418525
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:3-4:p:337-353
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Sarwat Viqar
Author-X-Name-First: Sarwat
Author-X-Name-Last: Viqar
Title: ‘We are your brothers, we will know where you are at all times’: risk, violence and positionality in Karachi
Abstract:
This article foregrounds some of the challenges and risks involved in fieldwork in what is often perceived as a contested and violent political environment. In conducting an ethnography of public spaces in Karachi's inner city, I frequently encountered risky situations. These led to a critical examination of popular and normative discourses around risk and violence. Using this critique as a foundation, I examined aspects of my positionality that either hindered or aided my fieldwork – namely gender and ethnicity. Thus in this article, I explore how my own ethnic and gender identity both foreclosed as well as created opportunities in the field while at the same time examining how risk and violence need to be constantly reconceptualised and reframed. These two levels of critique, one practical and the other conceptual, provide a useful vantage point to re-evaluate our role as ethnographers in contested environments.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 386-396
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1418526
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1418526
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:3-4:p:386-396
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: The Editors
Title: Urban animals – shifting ecologies of proximities
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 457-457
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 13
Year: 2018
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1507425
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1507425
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:13:y:2018:i:3-4:p:457-457
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Kenneth Gibb
Author-X-Name-First: Kenneth
Author-X-Name-Last: Gibb
Title: Housing benefit: slow on the take-up?
Abstract:
Housing benefit (HB) plays a pivotal dual role within both the income maintenance system for the UK and in terms subsidising housing for lower income households. But as a means-tested benefit open to both social and private tenants, it has significantly less than 100% take-up on both caseload (eligible tenants) and expenditure levels. Estimates suggest that £2.5 billion is unclaimed annually. This paper sets out how the HB system works and sets the argument in the context of the fundamental welfare reforms introduced and underway since 2010. The paper examines the literature on take-up and recent data on HB take-up before exploring the possible policy responses that might address the shortfall.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 40-51
Issue: 1
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1156733
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: George Head
Author-X-Name-First: George
Author-X-Name-Last: Head
Title: Entitlement and adherence in schools
Abstract:
This paper explores the extent to which pupils, through non-attendance, do not take up their full entitlement to schooling. Using statistics from Scotland and elsewhere, this paper explores the nature and extent of the problem, reasons and measures used to address attendance in the UK. This paper also discusses different perspectives of non-adherence to the entitlement of schooling, including that of truancy as a form of ‘opting out’ of the mainstream education system.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 18-29
Issue: 1
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1176347
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Robin G. Milne
Author-X-Name-First: Robin G.
Author-X-Name-Last: Milne
Title: Using administrative innovation to address missed consultant outpatient appointments
Abstract:
An administrative innovation for booking outpatient appointments has been introduced in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, variously known as ‘patient-focussed booking’ (PFB) and ‘partial booking’. It has three distinct features: patients must confirm their wish to have an appointment; patients are given a choice of date, time and place for the appointment; and the appointment is booked only a short time in advance of the due date. Previous studies have shown a reduction in missed booked appointments, either because the patient could not attend (CNA) or did not attend (DNA). Our results, covering a more recent period, confirm these findings, and show they can be sustained for longer periods. The requirement that patients must confirm their wish to have an appointment can lead to some referrals not ending up as booked appointments. Some may choose to withdraw; others simply did not reply, ‘non-responders’. Either way, those that do not are referred back to their GP. This study finds non-response was much less common that previous studies. However, it was common enough to offset the effect of PFB on missed booked appointments due to CNA and DNA. To that extent, the innovation did not make much change to civic disengagement, except for providers who are now better able to plan clinics.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 64-78
Issue: 1
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1185143
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Robin G. Milne
Author-X-Name-First: Robin G.
Author-X-Name-Last: Milne
Title: Recent trends in civic disengagement
Abstract:
This study takes as its point of departure Putman’s classic study, Bowling Alone, on disengagement among voluntary organisations in America. This study views disengagement in terms of absence from pre-arranged situations, such as booked appointments, and the non-takeup of statutory means-tested benefits. Whereas Putman finds disengagement in America became more common from the 1960s, we find the opposite in the United Kingdom over the last 10 to 20 years. Central governments in the United Kingdom have been active in addressing absence and non-takeup in the areas studied. Absence may be a problem for schools, hospitals and the workplace, but for some pupils and employees they may be a symptom of poor relations within the organisation, and for some patients the outcome of the hospital’s administrative failure. A common stated feature in the non-takeup of means-tested benefits is the stigma associated with it. By way of contrast, the takeup of Child Benefit had been virtually complete. The question – whether the high takeup was because of the administrative simplicity of Child Benefit and its significant cash benefits over the long term, or because it was not means tested – might be resolved post-January 2013, when its eligibility and the size of benefit became income based.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-17
Issue: 1
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1223869
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1223869
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Robin G. Milne
Author-X-Name-First: Robin G.
Author-X-Name-Last: Milne
Author-Name: Kenneth Gibb
Author-X-Name-First: Kenneth
Author-X-Name-Last: Gibb
Title: Using economic analysis to increase civic engagement
Abstract:
Two well-established insights of economic analysis are applied to four case studies on civic disengagement: the use of incentives implicit in supply-and-demand analysis and marginal analysis. The case studies comprise social security, housing benefit, hospital consultant outpatients and free school meals (FSMs). The case studies support the propositions that incentives can work or are thought to do so, and that the higher the take-up, the larger the benefit. But other factors can override, and significant proportions do not respond in the predicted way. In the case of the spare room subsidy, the policy-makers’ goals were arguably unrealistic. In the case of Working Tax Credit and Pension Credit, the reasons are far from clear. Marginal analysis is used to quantify how much it could cost to increase take-up, when the take-up of a means-tested benefit is already nearly universal, as it had been for FSMs among primary school pupils. The chosen method, universal free provision for P1–P3 children, would seem disproportionate, unless the main reason for this policy has been to impact all children, and not just those who had been means tested. This case study shows the importance of marginal analysis when designing policies to increase civic engagement.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 79-91
Issue: 1
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1223870
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1223870
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:1:p:79-91
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Stephanie Chambers
Author-X-Name-First: Stephanie
Author-X-Name-Last: Chambers
Author-Name: Ruth Dundas
Author-X-Name-First: Ruth
Author-X-Name-Last: Dundas
Author-Name: Ben Torsney
Author-X-Name-First: Ben
Author-X-Name-Last: Torsney
Title: School and local authority characteristics associated with take-up of free school meals in Scottish secondary schools, 2014
Abstract:
School meals are an important state-delivered mechanism for improving children’s diets. Scottish local authorities have a statutory duty to provide free school meals (FSM) to families meeting means-testing criteria. Inevitably take-up of FSM does not reach 100%. Explanations put forward to explain this include social stigma, as well as a more general dissatisfaction amongst pupils about lack of modern facilities and meal quality, and a preference to eat where friends are eating. This study investigated characteristics associated with take-up across Scottish secondary schools in 2013–2014 using multilevel modelling techniques. Results suggest that stigma, food quality and the ability to eat with friends are associated with greater take-up. Levels of school modernisation appeared less important, as did differences between more urban or rural areas. Future studies should focus on additional school-level variables to identify characteristics associated with take-up, with the aim of reducing the number of registered pupils not taking-up FSM.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 52-63
Issue: 1
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1223871
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1223871
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:1:p:52-63
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Harvie Ferguson
Author-X-Name-First: Harvie
Author-X-Name-Last: Ferguson
Title: (Dis)appointment: conspicuous absence in contemporary society
Abstract:
The purpose of this article is to consider varied forms of absence, including absenteeism from work, truancy and missed appointments in modern society in the context of a number of theoretical perspectives within sociology. It does not address empirical material directly but focuses, rather, on the relevance of some central insights of social theory for any comprehensive account of the problematic character of absence in modern society. It is argued that three key theoretical perspectives of social theory provide distinctive explanatory, interpretative and descriptive accounts of absence that reflect the quite different social worlds in which these phenomena arise. A brief account of these worlds of experience is suggested and related to a more general historical sociology of the emergence and continuous transformation of modern society.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 92-101
Issue: 1
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1237662
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1237662
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:1:p:92-101
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ewan B. Macdonald
Author-X-Name-First: Ewan B.
Author-X-Name-Last: Macdonald
Author-Name: Kaveh Asanati
Author-X-Name-First: Kaveh
Author-X-Name-Last: Asanati
Title: Absence from work
Abstract:
Most absence from work is attributed to illness, and dealing with it can be a challenge in different ways, for the individual, their employing organisation and their doctors. It is a major public health concern and a significant financial burden on the economy. This paper discusses the individual, organisational and bio-psychosocial factors which underpin sickness absence (SA) behaviour. Despite health being a relatively unimportant factor in the causation of SA, SA can lead to job loss which in itself increases the risk of an earlier death. The evidence-based recommendations for managing and reducing SA through better recording and reporting, early intervention and provision of support to the employee are discussed. SA is reducible and manageable through a combination of support for the individual, which may not only be medical, but also through policies which address health, social and environmental factors and can lead to long-term benefits for the individual and society.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 30-39
Issue: 1
Volume: 11
Year: 2016
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2016.1246749
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2016.1246749
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:11:y:2016:i:1:p:30-39
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ed Turner
Author-X-Name-First: Ed
Author-X-Name-Last: Turner
Author-Name: Andrew Glencross
Author-X-Name-First: Andrew
Author-X-Name-Last: Glencross
Author-Name: Vladimir Bilcik
Author-X-Name-First: Vladimir
Author-X-Name-Last: Bilcik
Author-Name: Simon Green
Author-X-Name-First: Simon
Author-X-Name-Last: Green
Title: Negotiating as One Europe or several? The variable geometry of the EU’s approach to Brexit
Abstract:
There are long-standing debates amongst scholars of European Union politics over the relative importance of member states and supranational institutions in determining what happens in the EU. This paper treats the case of ‘Brexit’ as a case study, considering the positions of the EU institutions, France, Germany and the V4, focusing particularly on dissociation issues, questions of migration, the customs union and trade, and the UK’s relationship to the single market during the first year of exit negotiations. It finds that while there are distinct national priorities, EU institutions have been able to synthesise these rather effectively into a common position which meets member states’ priorities as well as their own, confirming the claims of those who emphasise the ability of EU institutions to drive European integration and act on behalf of member states.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 226-241
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1492145
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1492145
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:226-241
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Christopher Huggins
Author-X-Name-First: Christopher
Author-X-Name-Last: Huggins
Author-Name: John Connolly
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Connolly
Author-Name: Craig McAngus
Author-X-Name-First: Craig
Author-X-Name-Last: McAngus
Author-Name: Arno van der Zwet
Author-X-Name-First: Arno
Author-X-Name-Last: van der Zwet
Title: Brexit and the future of UK fisheries governance: learning lessons from Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands
Abstract:
Brexit presents significant challenges and uncertainties for the future governance of policy areas currently managed by the EU. This is especially the case with fisheries policy. The UK government has stated an ambition for post-Brexit fisheries policy to be based on sustainability and the use of scientific evidence. Yet how these aims will be achieved and formalised into post-Brexit governance structures remains to be seen. This article investigates fisheries governance arrangements in three non-EU countries: Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands. These cases offer lessons for the UK on governance and institutional arrangements for fisheries post-Brexit. However, none of these cases account for devolution and division of fisheries policy competences across multiple territories. This places significant limits on the potential for direct policy transfer from these countries to the UK.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 327-340
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1516296
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1516296
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:327-340
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Martina Lawless
Author-X-Name-First: Martina
Author-X-Name-Last: Lawless
Author-Name: Edgar L. W. Morgenroth
Author-X-Name-First: Edgar L. W.
Author-X-Name-Last: Morgenroth
Title: The product and sector level impact of a hard Brexit across the EU
Abstract:
The UK exit from the European Union (Brexit) is likely to have a range of impacts, with trade flows one of the most immediate areas where the effects will become evident. One possible outcome of Brexit is a situation where WTO tariffs apply to merchandise trade between the UK and the EU. By examining detailed trade flows between the UK and all other EU members, matching over 5200 products to the WTO tariff applicable to external EU trade this paper shows that such an outcome would result in significantly different impacts across countries. Our estimates of exposure at the country level show an extremely wide range with reductions in trade to the UK falling by 5% (Finland) to 43% (Bulgaria) taking into account the new tariffs and the elasticity of the trade response to this price increase. Food and textiles trade are the hardest hit, with trade in these sectors reducing by up to 90%.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 189-207
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1558276
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1558276
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:189-207
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: David Hearne
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Hearne
Author-Name: Alex De Ruyter
Author-X-Name-First: Alex
Author-X-Name-Last: De Ruyter
Author-Name: Haydn Davies
Author-X-Name-First: Haydn
Author-X-Name-Last: Davies
Title: The Commonwealth: a panacea for the UK’s post-Brexit trade ills?
Abstract:
The central tenet of this article is that geography is the dominant factor in determining trade flows. British accession to the EEC in 1973 did not cause a discernible break in export trends already visible. As a complement to the existing literature on prospects for post-Brexit trade, we consider in-depth case-studies to ascertain the extent to which a reorientation of UK trade flows towards the Commonwealth might be feasible. We consider Nigeria and India as representatives of fast-growing economies with large populations in addition to Australia and Canada as examples of more mature economies. In each case, substantial barriers towards a substantive improvement in export conditions remain. We find that plans to ‘replace’ EU trade with that from the Commonwealth are problematic. As such, this article seeks to deepen our practical understanding of barriers to trade and explain why, ultimately, geography trumps history in determining British trade flows and will continue to do so, irrespective of the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 341-360
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1558277
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1558277
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:341-360
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Gabriela Ortiz Valverde
Author-X-Name-First: Gabriela Ortiz
Author-X-Name-Last: Valverde
Author-Name: María C. Latorre
Author-X-Name-First: María C.
Author-X-Name-Last: Latorre
Title: The economic impact of potential migration policies in the UK after Brexit
Abstract:
The bulk of studies which attempt to quantify the effects of Brexit focus on trade issues; however, very few of them have analysed migration. In this paper, we analyse the impact of several migration policies on GDP, GDP per capita, wages, national income and sectoral production in the UK, using what is technically called a general equilibrium analysis. We also analyse the impact at the macroeconomic level on the EU. We find that migration has the potential of deeply affecting economic activity in the UK. The more restrictive immigration policies are, the greater the losses in terms of GDP and Welfare. However, according to the text of the ‘joint agreement’ reached by the UK and EU on December 8 (2017), very restrictive policies seem to be ruled out. Nevertheless, after the ‘Windrush scandal’ some doubts about the final implementation of future UK migration policies remain. We also analyse mild migration policies which would only reduce the number of migrants received. Reductions in the number of EU immigrants between 42,000 and 87,000 per year would lead to foregone GDP increases in the UK between 0.08% and 0.17%. This impact should be considered cumulative across years in which the net inflows are reduced, so that negative effects for GDP and welfare can be substantial if the reduction in workers takes place during many years in a row. The UK currently has easy access to a large pool of workers coming from other EU member states, and UK managers have expressed that it is hard to replace EU talent in the short term. This suggests that if the political imperative for tighter immigration control cannot be avoided, gradual immigration restrictiveness will be less harmful for the UK’s economy and should be accompanied by additional efforts in education and workers’ training.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 208-225
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1558278
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1558278
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:208-225
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mark Shucksmith
Author-X-Name-First: Mark
Author-X-Name-Last: Shucksmith
Title: Rural policy after Brexit
Abstract:
The impacts of Brexit on rural England will be far reaching, although only the impacts on agriculture tend to be considered by researchers and by government. This paper explores the challenges and opportunities which Brexit presents for renewal of rural policy in England. Rural policies remain rooted in the immediate post-war context but the rural economy is no longer synonymous with agriculture, and rural society and the institutions of governance have each been transformed over the past 70 years. International evidence from social scientists suggests that an approach conceptualised as ‘networked rural development’ would be more effective at promoting the prosperity and well-being of citizens in rural areas, and the elements of such an approach are taken as a basis for a practical agenda for reforming and updating rural policy.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 312-326
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1558279
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1558279
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:312-326
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: David J. Bailey
Author-X-Name-First: David J.
Author-X-Name-Last: Bailey
Title: Neither Brexit nor remain: disruptive solidarity initiatives in a time of false promises and anti-democracy
Abstract:
The political divide over Brexit reflects a wider incompatibility between British democracy and capitalism. This incompatibility has been worsened by the post-2008 period of ‘secular stagnation’ (or stagnant neoliberalism). In this context, two key sections of Britain’s contemporary political elite have adopted alternative (but nevertheless both problematic) attempts to reconcile this tension: Nationalist Brexiteers offer a set of false promises to improve the lives of the ‘left behind’ in a way that leaves neoliberal capitalism largely intact but suggests that anti-immigration is a means to improve ‘native’ working class lives; Ardent Remainers bemoan the illegitimate, ill-informed, and irresponsible voices of those who oppose the neoliberal status quo, seemingly unaware of the anti-democratic implications of such a stance. In this context, we see the emergence and growth of grassroots-led solidarity initiatives that are largely indifferent towards or ambivalent about Brexit. These grassroots alternatives to ‘Nationalist Brexit’ or ‘Ardent Remain’ represent both a more progressive and a more effective way to assert subaltern voices in the current context. This therefore also explains, in part, the equally ambiguous position on Brexit adopted by Corbyn’s Labour Party, in its efforts to act as the political representative of these grassroots solidarity movements.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 256-275
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1559349
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1559349
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:256-275
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Tom Mullen
Author-X-Name-First: Tom
Author-X-Name-Last: Mullen
Title: Brexit and the territorial governance of the United Kingdom
Abstract:
Brexit presents a major challenge to the territorial governance of the UK. Despite a major overhaul of territorial governance in 1999 when the current devolution schemes were created, and subsequent changes to those schemes, the territorial governance of the UK has not been stabilised. There remained a series of unresolved issues. Eventually, these issues would have to have been faced, but Brexit has not only forced them onto the agenda, it has done so in fraught political circumstances which make them harder to resolve. Brexit highlights already existing tensions in territorial governance, it also creates a new set of problems for the institutions and processes of territorial governance to deal with, including how to implement the changes that Brexit requires in the context of extensive devolution of power. This article, therefore, sets out the difficulties Brexit poses for territorial governance and considers the prospects for resolving them.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 276-293
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1563802
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1563802
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:276-293
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: David Bailey
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Bailey
Author-Name: Nigel Driffield
Author-X-Name-First: Nigel
Author-X-Name-Last: Driffield
Author-Name: Erika Kispeter
Author-X-Name-First: Erika
Author-X-Name-Last: Kispeter
Title: Brexit, foreign investment and employment: some implications for industrial policy?
Abstract:
Inward investment in the UK is likely to be negatively impacted in a number of ways in the event of a ‘hard Brexit’ via tariff barriers, but even ‘softer’ forms of Brexit such as the current potential agreement are likely to cause customs delays, limits to the ability of firms to relocate staff, and to coordinate ‘servitization’ activities. In addition are the the negative impacts of currency depreciation. In the context of already existing job market polarisation, inward investment flows in advanced manufacturing, food technology and financial services, which can bring ‘good quality’ jobs, are especially vulnerable under Brexit to frictions in global value chains. After highlighting the case of the auto industry, the paper moves on to stress the links between inward investment, employment restructuring and job quality given the employment opportunities foreign firms create.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 174-188
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1566563
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1566563
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:174-188
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Linda Hantrais
Author-X-Name-First: Linda
Author-X-Name-Last: Hantrais
Author-Name: Kitty Stewart
Author-X-Name-First: Kitty
Author-X-Name-Last: Stewart
Author-Name: Kerris Cooper
Author-X-Name-First: Kerris
Author-X-Name-Last: Cooper
Title: Making sense of the social policy impacts of Brexit
Abstract:
When Denmark, the Republic of Ireland and the UK joined the European Communities in 1973, their governments were required to transpose into domestic law all the treaty commitments previously negotiated by the six founding member states. A chapter on social policy in the 1957 Treaty, conceptualised as a necessary component of economic integration, was designed to prevent distortion of the rules of competition and ensure a high standard of social protection for workers. Although successive UK governments strongly supported the concept of a single European market, they resisted the notion of a European ‘social superstate’ or ‘social union’. They opposed the extension of qualified majority voting to social security and favoured softer forms of social legislation to preserve national sovereignty over social protection systems. This article attempts to make sense, firstly, of the role played by the social dimension during the UK’s membership of the European Union, the referendum campaign and Brexit negotiations; and, secondly, of the direct and indirect implications of Brexit for the future development of social and employment policy in both the EU and the UK. The authors consider the implications for the EU’s social agenda, and for employment rights, public service provision and living standards in the UK.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 242-255
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1572217
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1572217
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:242-255
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Graham Brownlow
Author-X-Name-First: Graham
Author-X-Name-Last: Brownlow
Author-Name: Leslie Budd
Author-X-Name-First: Leslie
Author-X-Name-Last: Budd
Title: Sense making of Brexit for economic citizenship in Northern Ireland
Abstract:
Northern Ireland appears to be the keystone for building a sustainable outcome for Brexit for the whole of the United Kingdom and its future relationship with the other Member States of the European Union, especially the Republic of Ireland. The complex constitutional, political, socio-economic, geographical and cultural position of Northern Ireland means that resolving the current negotiating difficulties rests on a wider set of considerations. These include the scale and scope of cross-border corporation with the rest of Ireland so that there is effectively an all – Ireland single market to which the Single European Market and Customs Union is presently essential. In this context, there is a significant challenge for economic citizenship in Northern Ireland and its governance arrangements. This paper sets to analyse the challenges to economic citizenship in Northern Ireland by examining the case of the key Agrifood sector for whom cross-border transactions and co-operation are crucial. It does so in the general context of how the economics profession contributed to the weakness of its expertise in investigating the impact of Brexit.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 294-311
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1585564
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1585564
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:294-311
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: David Bailey
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Bailey
Author-Name: Leslie Budd
Author-X-Name-First: Leslie
Author-X-Name-Last: Budd
Title: Brexit and beyond: a Pandora’s Box?
Abstract:
A fundamental challenge for addressing ‘Brexit and Beyond’ is its multi-faceted and multi-dimensional nature. This is also reflected in the multitude of analytical accounts of its causes and potential outcomes. These accounts, however, have tended to focus on voting behaviours and a number of economic scenarios in general. This special issue makes a different contribution in focusing on four lines of enquiry that can be generalised into a critical narrative of one of the most complex issues facing social sciences for over sixty years. These lines comprise: ‘drivers of the economy - industry, trade and immigration’; ‘Brexit’s wider European context’; ‘From politics to territorial governance’; and ‘Post-Brexit rural and fisheries policy’. By setting this analysis in a brief historical reading of ‘Europe versus Empire’, the Introduction to this special issue provides a context for understanding Brexit’s deeper and wider resonance.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 157-173
Issue: 2
Volume: 14
Year: 2019
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1621365
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1621365
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:14:y:2019:i:2:p:157-173
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Simplice A. Asongu
Author-X-Name-First: Simplice A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Asongu
Author-Name: John Kuada
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Kuada
Title: Building knowledge economies in Africa: an introduction
Abstract:
Knowledge has emerged as a fundamental driver of economic growth and development by inter alia improving the effectiveness and efficiency of economic projects and boosting the process of finding new avenues of addressing developmental policy syndromes. Recent evidence suggests that Africa is on the threshold of significant and sustainable economic growth if its human and material resources can be effectively mobilised to support the process (Asongu & Tchamyou, 2019; Kuada & Mensah, 2018). Consequently, the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Framework aims to explore and support the extent to which current policies in African countries affect the knowledge development process (and thereby competitiveness) on the continent. A knowledge economy is an economy in which economic prosperity largely depends on the accessibility, quality and quantity of information available, instead of the means of production (Asongu, 2017a, 2017b). This themed issue of Contemporary Social Science-‘Building Knowledge Economies in Africa’ – consists of papers that focus on, but are not limited to, the four dimensions of the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index. These are: information and communication technology, education, economic incentives and institutional regime, and innovation (Tchamyou, 2017). The themed issue engages with high quality contributions which, taken together, address the drivers towards knowledge-based economies. This introduction provides a context for understanding the importance of building knowledge economies in Africa and summarises the main contributions to the themed issue. The paper ends by advising scholars and policy makers regarding the risks associated with a colonial view of knowledge- notably the importance of proposing knowledge-based policies while avoiding hegemonic paradigms and hierarchical constructs. In summary, the issue consists of a set of theoretically informed, empirically robust, policy-relevant and accessible articles for both specialists and non-specialists.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-6
Issue: 1
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1722213
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1722213
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:1:p:1-6
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Vanessa Simen Tchamyou
Author-X-Name-First: Vanessa Simen
Author-X-Name-Last: Tchamyou
Title: Education, lifelong learning, inequality and financial access: evidence from African countries
Abstract:
This study investigates the role of financial access in modulating the effect of education and lifelong learning on inequality in 48 African countries for the period 1996–2014. Lifelong learning is conceived and measured as the combined knowledge gained from primary through tertiary education while the three educational indicators are: primary school enrolment; secondary school enrolment and tertiary school enrolment. Financial development dynamics are measured with financial system deposits (liquid liabilities), financial system activity (credit) and financial system efficiency (deposits/credit). Three measures of inequality are employed notably: the Gini coefficient; the Atkinson index and the Palma ratio. The estimation strategy is based on the generalised method of moments. The following findings are established. First, primary school enrolment interacts with all financial channels to exert negative effects on the Gini index. Second, lifelong learning has negative net effects on the Gini index through financial deposit and efficiency channels. Third, for the most part, the other educational levels do not significantly influence inequality through financial access channels. Policy implications are discussed.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 7-25
Issue: 1
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1433314
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1433314
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:1:p:7-25
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Simplice A. Asongu
Author-X-Name-First: Simplice A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Asongu
Author-Name: Vanessa S. Tchamyou
Author-X-Name-First: Vanessa S.
Author-X-Name-Last: Tchamyou
Title: Human capital, knowledge creation, knowledge diffusion, institutions and economic incentives: South Korea versus Africa
Abstract:
This article compares African countries to South Korea in terms of knowledge economy (KE). Emphasis is laid on human capital, knowledge creation, knowledge diffusion, institutions and economic incentives. The analytical approach consists of providing KE catch-up strategies that can be understood within the context of country-specific gaps between the frontier country in KE and laggard African countries. The empirical evidence is based on sigma convergence with data for the period 1996–2010. Overall, a KE diagnosis is provided by assessing KE gaps (between South Korea and specific-African countries) and suggesting compelling catch-up strategies with which to reduce identified gaps. Contemporary and non-contemporary policies from South Korea and more contemporary policies based on challenges of globalisation are discussed. The policy relevance of this inquiry aligns with the scholarly perspective that catch-up between South Korea and more advanced economies was accelerated by the former adapting to and assimilating relatively obsolete technological know-how from more developed nations.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 26-47
Issue: 1
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1457170
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1457170
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:1:p:26-47
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jeremiah O. Ejemeyovwi
Author-X-Name-First: Jeremiah O.
Author-X-Name-Last: Ejemeyovwi
Author-Name: Evans S. Osabuohien
Author-X-Name-First: Evans S.
Author-X-Name-Last: Osabuohien
Title: Investigating the relevance of mobile technology adoption on inclusive growth in West Africa
Abstract:
This paper empirically investigates the role of mobile technology adoption on inclusive growth in 15 West African countries with a view to ascertaining if the positive role of mobile technology adoption on human development as established in other regions holds in West Africa. It used data from World Development Indicators for the period 2004–2014, which was estimated with System Generalised Method of Moments (SGMM). The SGMM results show that mobile cell subscription has a statistically insignificant effect on inclusive growth in West Africa which refutes the positive and significant role of mobile technology adoption on inclusive growth. The possible reasons for the results and recommendations are documented in the study.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 48-61
Issue: 1
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1503320
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1503320
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:1:p:48-61
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Stephen Oluwatobi
Author-X-Name-First: Stephen
Author-X-Name-Last: Oluwatobi
Author-Name: Isaiah Olurinola
Author-X-Name-First: Isaiah
Author-X-Name-Last: Olurinola
Author-Name: Philip Alege
Author-X-Name-First: Philip
Author-X-Name-Last: Alege
Author-Name: Adeyemi Ogundipe
Author-X-Name-First: Adeyemi
Author-X-Name-Last: Ogundipe
Title: Knowledge-driven economic growth: the case of Sub-Saharan Africa
Abstract:
The experience of South Korea, India, China and Singapore reveals that developing economies can fast-track development, leapfrog the stages of development and catch up with advanced economies by putting knowledge capital as the driver of development. If the knowledge economy is therefore an accelerant of development for both advanced and developing economies, it is possible for Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies to also catch up with advanced economies. It was on this basis that this study assessed the knowledge capacity of SSA and the effect it has on its economic advancement. Given the importance of the interrelatedness among the knowledge economy elements, this study, thus, examined how the interaction effect between the elements of the knowledge economy affects economic growth in 32 SSA countries, for which data were available, over a period of 17 years (1996–2012). Using the System Generalised Method of Moments (SGMM), the study found out that institutions and human capital in SSA mitigate the effect of innovation on economic growth in the region, thus, making it a lean knowledge economy.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 62-81
Issue: 1
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1510135
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1510135
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:1:p:62-81
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: John Kuada
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Kuada
Author-Name: Esther Mensah
Author-X-Name-First: Esther
Author-X-Name-Last: Mensah
Title: Knowledge transfer in the emerging solar energy sector in Ghana
Abstract:
This study reports the results of an exploratory qualitative investigation into knowledge transfer processes within the solar energy industry in Ghana. Our main thesis is that the development of a new economic sector requires diffusion of new technology and knowledge, most often through cross-border inter-firm collaborations. We interviewed 12 solar energy firms operating in the country and 12 users of solar energy. The data were analysed using Tables and statements from the respondents. The results reveal that an increasing number of firms are entering the industry to take advantage of the growing demand for solar energy. There is also a general eagerness among individuals and firms to acquire skills and knowledge, mainly from foreign firms and inter-firm knowledge transfers appear to be facilitated by social ties. However, the degree of inter-firm mobility of workers is currently limited and efforts are not made at aggregate industry level to generate and disseminate knowledge.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 82-97
Issue: 1
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1510132
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1510132
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:1:p:82-97
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Simplice A. Asongu
Author-X-Name-First: Simplice A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Asongu
Author-Name: Nicholas M. Odhiambo
Author-X-Name-First: Nicholas M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Odhiambo
Title: Remittances, the diffusion of information and industrialisation in Africa
Abstract:
This study examines the role of information and communication technology (ICT) on remittances for industrialisation in a panel of 49 African countries for the period 1980–2014. The empirical evidence is based on three simultaneity-robust estimation techniques, namely: (i) Instrumental Fixed Effects (FE) in order to control for the unobserved heterogeneity; (ii) Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) to account for persistence in industrialisation; and (iii) Instrumental Quantile Regressions (QR) to control for initial levels of industrialisation. Our best estimators are from FE and QR estimations because the GMM regression outputs largely fail post-estimation diagnostic tests. The following findings are established: (i) There are positive marginal effects from the interaction between remittances and ICT in the FE regressions whereas there are negative marginal impacts from the interaction between remittances and ICT; (ii) Interactions between remittances and mobile phone penetration are positive in the bottom and 90th quantile whereas the interaction between internet penetration and remittances is positive in the bottom and top quantiles of the industrialisation distribution. Overall, the role of ICT in remittances for industrialisation is much more apparent when existing levels of industrialisation are accounted for.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 98-117
Issue: 1
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1618898
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1618898
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:1:p:98-117
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Tom Mills
Author-X-Name-First: Tom
Author-X-Name-Last: Mills
Author-Name: Narzanin Massoumi
Author-X-Name-First: Narzanin
Author-X-Name-Last: Massoumi
Author-Name: David Miller
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Miller
Title: The ethics of researching ‘terrorism’ and political violence: a sociological approach
Abstract:
In this article, we propose a sociological model for the assessment of ethics in research on conflict and terrorism. We move beyond the rather narrow, procedural approaches that currently dominate contemporary discussion, seeking to broaden ethical considerations to include questions of social power, academic freedom, and the politics of knowledge production, as well as a consideration of the public function of the university. We argue that social scientists have both a professional responsibility to protect the integrity of scientific knowledge, and public responsibilities to the wider societies of which they are part. Navigating ethical questions, we suggest, therefore requires a reflexive engagement with the social conditions of knowledge production; a careful consideration of the social impact of research; and a dialogue with a variety of ‘publics’, not merely policy actors. The main body of the paper reviews the range of writing on the ethics of ‘terrorism studies’, engages with the question of institutional oversight and then examines the ethics of the current ‘impact agenda’ in UK universities. We conclude by drawing on our empirical findings and applying them to our proposed model to argue for: a significant revision to ethical policies and guidelines (and better means of enforcement) so as to better protect vulnerable research subjects; offer greater protections to researchers from (especially) powerful interests which attempt to smear, constrain or undermine independent research; make unethical research (which we argue is widespread) more visible, with the intent that it be managed down.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 119-133
Issue: 2
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1660399
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1660399
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:2:p:119-133
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Narzanin Massoumi
Author-X-Name-First: Narzanin
Author-X-Name-Last: Massoumi
Author-Name: Tom Mills
Author-X-Name-First: Tom
Author-X-Name-Last: Mills
Author-Name: David Miller
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Miller
Title: Secrecy, coercion and deception in research on ‘terrorism’ and ‘extremism’
Abstract:
This article calls for more understanding of the ethical challenges and dilemmas that arise as a result of state involvement in academic research on ‘terrorism’ and ‘extremism’. It suggests that researchers and research institutions need to be more attentive to the possibilities of co-option, compromise, conflict of interests and other ethical issues. The paper empirically examines the relationship between academic researchers and the security state. It highlights three key ways in which ethical and professional standards in social scientific research can be compromised: (1) Interference with the evidence base (through a lack of transparency on data and conflicts of interest); (2) Collaboration on research supporting deception by the state which undermines the ability of citizens to participate in democratic processes; and (3) Collaboration on research legitimating human rights abuses, and other coercive state practices. These issues are widespread, but neglected, across: literature on ‘terrorism’ and ‘extremism’; literature on research ethics; and, in practical ethical safeguards and procedures within research institutions. In order to address these issues more effectively, we propose that any assessment of research ethics must consider the broader power relations that shape knowledge production as well as the societal impact of research. In focusing on the centrality of states – the most powerful actors in the field of ‘terrorism’ and ‘extremism’ – our approach moves beyond the rather narrow procedural approaches that currently predominate. We argue more attention to the power of the state in research ethics will not only help to make visible, and combat, ethically problematic issues, but will also help to protect the evidence base from contamination. We conclude by proposing a series of practical measures to address the problems highlighted.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 134-152
Issue: 2
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1616107
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1616107
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:2:p:134-152
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Remi Brulin
Author-X-Name-First: Remi
Author-X-Name-Last: Brulin
Title: Terrorism discourses, public and secret
Abstract:
This article provides a historical account of the American-supported ‘counterinsurgency’ campaign in Guatemala in the 1960s. The analysis of a selection of now-declassified secret documents and of a number of public testimonies given by representatives of the executive branch before the US Congress reveals the existence of two very different discourses on ‘counterinsurgency’ and ‘terrorism’. A focus on the profound differences between these public and secret discourses, it is argued, allows for a powerful critique of government-sponsored projects that, from Camelot in 1965 to the Human Terrain System programme launched in the mid-2000s, have attempted to harness the expertise of social scientists in the service of often extraordinarily brutal US ‘counterinsurgency’ campaigns.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 153-174
Issue: 2
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1390246
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1390246
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:2:p:153-174
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mark Hayes
Author-X-Name-First: Mark
Author-X-Name-Last: Hayes
Title: The ESRC university project on ‘dissident’ Irish republicanism: some reflections on the relationship between research, academia, and the security state
Abstract:
This article focuses on a particular research project, funded by the ESRC, which aimed to examine the so-called dissident Republicanism in Ireland. By analysing the flaws in the proposal for the ESRC project, this article attempts to tease out and highlight some of the critical issues faced by those engaged in sustained research activity in the social sciences. The subsequent analysis throws into a much sharper focus the nature of the relationship between academia and the state. The article deploys original ESRC and Government documentation and evaluates pertinent secondary source material to conclude that particular types of state intervention into the research process, such as Research Excellence Framework and the ‘impact agenda’, have had (and will continue to have) a deleterious effect on genuinely autonomous academic output. Indeed, in certain key areas, the emergence of a ‘security state’ agenda has not only fostered a sterile functionalism in academia which militates against the construction of independent and critical narratives but also threatens to diminish our understanding of complex social phenomena, such as the use of violence for political purposes.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 175-195
Issue: 2
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1427884
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1427884
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:2:p:175-195
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ruth Blakeley
Author-X-Name-First: Ruth
Author-X-Name-Last: Blakeley
Author-Name: Sam Raphael
Author-X-Name-First: Sam
Author-X-Name-Last: Raphael
Title: Conducting effective research into state complicity in human rights abuses
Abstract:
This paper explores how to conduct effective research into state complicity in human rights abuses. This type of research is challenging: the secretive nature of state violence presents considerable difficulties for the researcher, in terms of both access to evidence, and the safety and security of the researcher and victims. Recent developments in the methods and types of data available present new opportunities for strengthening research. Drawing on our own experience, specifically our work to map the CIA’s rendition, detention and interrogation programme, we aim to show how we have navigated the difficult terrain of human rights investigation. The paper begins by exploring a number of challenges involved. We then discuss recent developments in human rights investigation techniques, as well as the emerging body of critical scholarship that is beginning to shape this kind of work among practitioners and academics alike. We consider some of the imbalances of power that affect this type of research. We then demonstrate how we tried to embrace new opportunities, while being mindful of the risks involved and the limitations of what we can achieve. We close with some reflections on ways forward for this type of research.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 196-210
Issue: 2
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2017.1391406
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2017.1391406
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:2:p:196-210
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: David H. Price
Author-X-Name-First: David H.
Author-X-Name-Last: Price
Title: Questioning our agency inside agencies: rethinking the possibility of scholars’ critical contributions to security agencies
Abstract:
During the months and years following the 11 September 2001 terror attacks in the US, it became axiomatic for American policy makers to speak of a need to more directly connect military and intelligence agencies with academic experts at American universities. Anthropology and other social science disciplines drew renewed attention as politicians, pundits and policy makers claimed regional and disciplinary expertise was lacking in the governmental agencies involved in America’s terror wars. This paper questions the possibility that the US governmental agencies claiming they seek anthropologists and other scholars to bring new ideas to security and defence agencies want the sort of independent ideas that a body of critical anthropologists would bring to this work. I argue that the primary outcome of these efforts will be, not the transformation of governmental agencies; but the transformation of American universities into more-streamlined appendages of expansive national security apparatus. The lack of serious consideration of these possibilities by policy makers or members of intelligence or security agencies the importance of asking such basic questions as clearly as we can. I argue that the broad range of post-9/11 existing and proposed programmes linking American anthropologists and other social scientists’ work with military and intelligence projects will narrow the range of views within intelligence and analyst circles, will damage university systems, and will produce a homogenisation of analysis that will weaken intelligence capabilities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 211-226
Issue: 2
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1426873
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1426873
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:2:p:211-226
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Roberto J. González
Author-X-Name-First: Roberto J.
Author-X-Name-Last: González
Title: Beyond the Human Terrain System: a brief critical history (and a look ahead)
Abstract:
This article provides a brief critical history of the Human Terrain System (HTS), a US Army counterinsurgency programme designed to embed anthropologists and other social scientists with combat brigades in Iraq and Afghanistan. It lasted from 2007 to 2015 and at its peak employed more than 500 people. The programme, which was among the most expensive social science programs in history, was controversial for many reasons. Among anthropologists, HTS sparked heated debates about the ethics of professional social science. Soon after its creation, the American Anthropological Association’s executive board described the program as ‘an unacceptable application of anthropological expertise’. The article explores the reasons behind the program’s rapid rise and its subsequent demise, and it also discusses the long-term impacts of the programme – most notably the survival and propagation of the ‘human terrain’ concept within military and intelligence agencies, particularly as applied to techno-scientific methods of counterinsurgency. The article ends by reflecting upon broader questions of anthropological ethics in the post-9/11 world.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 227-240
Issue: 2
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1457171
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1457171
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:2:p:227-240
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jeffrey Alan Sluka
Author-X-Name-First: Jeffrey Alan
Author-X-Name-Last: Sluka
Title: Too dangerous for fieldwork? The challenge of institutional risk-management in primary research on conflict, violence and ‘Terrorism’
Abstract:
Research on conflict and ‘terrorism’ is confronted by an expanding range of daunting ethical, methodological, and institutional challenges. One of these is the increasing involvement of university ethics and fieldwork safety committees in ‘managing’ researcher safety and security as an issue which requires institutional oversight, control, and approval. This paper contributes to contemporary reflection on and conversations about social sciences fieldwork in what is deemed to be an increasingly dangerous world. It focuses specifically on the increasing application of institutional ethics and safety review processes to ‘dangerous’ fieldwork on socio-political violence. While these new restrictions are clothed in the language or idiom of ethics and worker safety and security, a political analysis suggests that these committees represent powerful institutions of censorship and control, a serious challenge to academic freedom, and even movement towards the recolonisation of social science research. This paper describes and addresses this threat, and offers a constructive proposal for potentially responding by the development of risk assessment and management protocols which may contribute both to researcher survival in perilous field sites and help researchers to negotiate the necessary approval by university ethics and safety committees.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 241-257
Issue: 2
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1498534
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1498534
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:2:p:241-257
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Marie Breen-Smyth
Author-X-Name-First: Marie
Author-X-Name-Last: Breen-Smyth
Title: Interviewing combatants: lessons from the Boston College Case
Abstract:
Boston College’s Burns Library established a project in 2001 which archived over 200 interviews with two non-state armed groups in Northern Ireland in order to collect primary data on the Northern Ireland conflict before the death of some of the key armed actors. Interviews were confidential and embargoed till the death of the informants. Following the deaths of two of the interviewees, and a third interviewee revealing her participation to the press, the project director published a book and made a television documentary based on their interviews. Subsequently, the police in Northern Ireland requested access to the interviews under the United States-United Kingdom Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT). Initial legal resistance by Boston College and protracted legal resistance by project director and researchers proved unsuccessful. Based on interviews handed over by Boston College to the authorities, one interviewee has been charged with soliciting a murder, and a second with two murders. A film based on videoed interviews with a third interviewee was released after her death. This article considers the implications of the Boston College project for academic research in times of conflict and the ethical, methodological and political implications for future research focused on non-state armed actors.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 258-274
Issue: 2
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 4
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1637533
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1637533
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:2:p:258-274
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Linda Hantrais
Author-X-Name-First: Linda
Author-X-Name-Last: Hantrais
Author-Name: Julia Brannen
Author-X-Name-First: Julia
Author-X-Name-Last: Brannen
Author-Name: Fran Bennett
Author-X-Name-First: Fran
Author-X-Name-Last: Bennett
Title: Family change, intergenerational relations and policy implications
Abstract:
Since the 1990s, international social science research has made a major contribution to the evidence base on changing family forms and household structures by collecting and processing data about family composition, dissolution and reconstitution, as well as household living, working and caring arrangements. Social scientists have exploited the available data to analyse the social, economic and financial impacts of family change on relations between the generations and their implications for policy. This article explores the varied conceptual understandings of family, household and generation. It reviews international socio-demographic data that track trends in family relations and identifies the contributions of different disciplinary perspectives to the evidence base. The authors consider intergenerational relations both within families and in wider society, covering property, finances, care and value systems, in addition to public policies determining the provision of benefits, goods and services supporting family life. They highlight the challenges facing social scientists in collecting and evaluating evidence about changing intergenerational relations and in assessing policy responses. Acknowledging that many factors contribute to policy development and implementation, they conclude by recognising the extent to which governments in different societal contexts vary in their responses to apparently similar challenges.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 275-290
Issue: 3
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1519195
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1519195
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:3:p:275-290
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mary Daly
Author-X-Name-First: Mary
Author-X-Name-Last: Daly
Title: Generations, age and life course: towards an integral social policy framework of analysis
Abstract:
This article examines how the relationship between generational processes and social policy has been studied. It identifies three main approaches: social policy’s targeting of different age groups, social policy’s role in shaping the life course and the generational contract that leads social policy to recognise the claims of particular generations. Each of these perspectives has strengths and weaknesses but, if the goal is to understand how the welfare state embodies generational assumptions and affects the distribution of public and private resources and responsibilities across population sectors, then these perspectives need to be better integrated analytically. The article suggests two clarifications towards that end. The first is to recognise that together the concepts of age group, life course and generation capture the set of relationships involved and can therefore be built on and better integrated. Second, the article elaborates a multi-level understanding of generational processes in social policy to encompass both the effect of policy in structuring the life course and the welfare state’s role in shaping obligations, relationships and exchanges associated with familial as well as public life.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 291-301
Issue: 3
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1455107
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1455107
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:3:p:291-301
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Marie-Thérèse Letablier
Author-X-Name-First: Marie-Thérèse
Author-X-Name-Last: Letablier
Title: Family change, intergenerational relations and policy development in contemporary France
Abstract:
This article examines the impact of changing family structures on intergenerational relations in contemporary France. It explores the ways in which policy has responded to these changes and sought to influence the direction of change. The author argues that, in a context of population ageing and rapid socio-economic development, family forms and living arrangements have become more diversified and complex, creating new challenges for family members and requiring innovative policy responses. The article draws on socio-demographic data and evidence from social policy analyses to track changing family structures and associated patterns of intergenerational solidarity. It documents attempts by policy-makers to establish and support a new social contract between the generations. Although many of the trends reported are common to other advanced Western societies, the author identifies distinctive features in the role played by the state in France in fostering and supporting intergenerational relations and solidarities. Other governments, including in East Asian countries, have looked for lessons that might be learned from the French case, but without, it is argued, being able to reproduce the necessary societal conditions that have allowed the French family-friendly policy model to develop and prosper.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 302-315
Issue: 3
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1476731
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1476731
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:3:p:302-315
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Laima Žilinskienė
Author-X-Name-First: Laima
Author-X-Name-Last: Žilinskienė
Author-Name: Melanie Ilic
Author-X-Name-First: Melanie
Author-X-Name-Last: Ilic
Title: Changing family values across the generations in twentieth-century Lithuania
Abstract:
Lithuanian society experienced several tumultuous upheavals during the twentieth century. Drawing on the findings from two series of biographical interviews, this article analyses changes in family values and intergenerational relations across three different generations of Lithuanians. The authors examine how traditional family values were transmitted between generations in twentieth-century Lithuanian society during the periods of independence before 1945, incorporation of Lithuania into the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1991, and the newly independent Lithuania after 1991. Particular attention is paid to the Soviet generations, their accommodation within the Soviet system and their adaptation to social and political changes in Lithuania after 1991. Analysis of these life histories illuminates the impact of the Soviet regime and the Sovietisation process on family values, family practices and intergenerational relations. The authors explore the role of families in resisting, accommodating and adapting to these systemic transformations, and they assess the indelible imprint of the processes involved on Lithuanian family life, which is still evident more than a quarter of a century after the collapse of the Soviet regime in 1991. The study explores how the different periods of the Soviet regime shaped Lithuanian generations in the twentieth century and the legacy of these experiences during the Soviet era for Lithuanian society in the twenty-first century.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 316-329
Issue: 3
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1516297
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1516297
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:3:p:316-329
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ginevra Floridi
Author-X-Name-First: Ginevra
Author-X-Name-Last: Floridi
Title: Social policies and intergenerational support in Italy and South Korea
Abstract:
This article explores the interactions between social policies and exchanges of support between parents aged 50 and over and their adult children in Italy and South Korea. In both countries, families are predominantly responsible for financial and care support to dependent members. However, in the mid-2010s, social security systems, labour market arrangements and family policies allocated resources between age groups in different proportions, favouring pensioners in Italy and prime-age workers in South Korea. Arguably, this difference may influence and interact with exchanges of support within families. Harmonised data for 2012–2013 from surveys of ageing are used to compare exchanges of financial support, instrumental care and intergenerational co-residence between parents aged 50 and above and their adult children. In Italy, where societal transfers favour older generations, intergenerational transfers from parents to children are large, and children provide complementary forms of help to ageing parents. In South Korea, where later-life protection is limited, parents are more heavily dependent upon adult children for financial and care support. The findings add to the existing literature on the relationship between societal and family transfers in European welfare regimes by exploring these interactions in broader contexts and policy areas.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 330-345
Issue: 3
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1448942
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1448942
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:3:p:330-345
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Misa Izuhara
Author-X-Name-First: Misa
Author-X-Name-Last: Izuhara
Title: Reconceptualising co-residence in post-growth Japanese society
Abstract:
Three-generation co-residence, derived from the pre-war family system, was a common living arrangement among Japanese families until the proportion of nuclear family households became dominant in the period of economic growth following the Second World War. Financial affluence among ageing parents due to pensions and personal savings, and changes in lifestyle and attitudes, stimulated the growth of elderly-only households from the 1970s. In contemporary Japanese society, patterns of co-residence are changing again. Growing numbers of ageing parents are living with their unmarried adult children, largely due to precarious employment and falling marriage rates among the younger generation. In response to ultra-low fertility, population ageing and low economic growth, current policy discourse and initiatives are encouraging co-residence. Using Census data and attitudinal surveys, this article examines changing post-war patterns of co-residence and conceptualises their shifting functions in post-growth Japan. While ‘de-familialisation’ underpinned the development of long-term care policy in the 1990s reducing the caring responsibilities of families by expanding services and provisions, current policy rhetoric and measures largely focus on ‘re-familialisation’. The article argues that policies encouraging a revival of co-residence through tax incentives and subsidies are, therefore, failing to address contemporary housing and fertility issues facing young adults.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 346-359
Issue: 3
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1465201
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1465201
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:3:p:346-359
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Yang Hu
Author-X-Name-First: Yang
Author-X-Name-Last: Hu
Author-Name: Xuezhu Shi
Author-X-Name-First: Xuezhu
Author-X-Name-Last: Shi
Title: The impact of China’s one-child policy on intergenerational and gender relations
Abstract:
Drawing on data from the China Family Panel Studies, this article assesses the state of gender equality among Chinese children under the one-child policy. We demonstrate the importance of conducting intra-gender and inter-gender comparisons taking into account the perspectives of parents and children and the intergenerational (in)congruence between these two perspectives. Our results show that parents invest more financial resource and time in educating singleton than non-singleton children, which partially supports the hypothesis of intra-gender equality. The findings for children’s subjective perceptions of their own life circumstances do not consistently support this hypothesis. Since gender differences in intergenerational investment and children’s subjective perceptions varied little by sibship structure, the hypothesis of inter-gender equality is not consistently supported. We found a stronger negative association between the presence of male and elder siblings and intergenerational investment in girls, and a larger male–female gap in intergenerational investment in urban than in rural areas. We also report a considerable intergenerational incongruence between parents’ and children’s perspectives. Our findings call into question the effectiveness of intervening solely in parental behaviour and intergenerational investment to enhance children’s outcomes. They underline the importance of considering both intra-gender and inter-gender inequalities in moving the gender revolution forward.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 360-377
Issue: 3
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1448941
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1448941
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:3:p:360-377
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jieyu Liu
Author-X-Name-First: Jieyu
Author-X-Name-Last: Liu
Author-Name: Joanne Cook
Author-X-Name-First: Joanne
Author-X-Name-Last: Cook
Title: Ageing and intergenerational care in rural China: a qualitative study of policy development
Abstract:
The large-scale migration of younger workers from rural to urban China since the 1990s has separated many adult children from their ageing parents, thereby challenging traditional patterns of familial support in rural villages. Existing studies on ageing in rural China examining the familial support system show that families remain the main focus of support despite geographical separation. Less work has been done to capture the effects of recent changes in Chinese social policies for rural villages, including state pension provision and medical care, and the interaction between the familial support system and other sectors. Drawing on data from an ethnographic study of a rural village, this article adopts a ‘bottom-up’ approach to examine the implications of Chinese policy development for the provision of different types of old-age support. The findings suggest that current welfare provision in rural China is deeply embedded in a familial ideology with market, state and community sectors, indirectly or directly, relying on the family sector. Rather than being located in a dichotomised debate between familialisation and defamilialisation, this article reveals that villagers’ preferences are situated along a spectrum between familialisation and defamilialisation, shaped by local socio-cultural economic circumstances and different types of old-age support.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 378-391
Issue: 3
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1448943
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1448943
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:3:p:378-391
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Julieta Palma
Author-X-Name-First: Julieta
Author-X-Name-Last: Palma
Author-Name: Jacqueline Scott
Author-X-Name-First: Jacqueline
Author-X-Name-Last: Scott
Title: The implications of changing living arrangements for intergenerational relations in Chile
Abstract:
The past three decades have seen important transformations in family life in Chile: falling marriage and fertility rates and increasing cohabitation and extramarital births. Increasing female employment has weakened the traditional male-breadwinner family. This article provides evidence of the effects of these changes in family living arrangements in Chile and their implications for intergenerational relations. We use 1990, 2000 and 2011 data from the National Socio-economic Characterisation Survey to explore why extended family living is increasingly important for young women in the early stages of family formation. We hypothesise two different processes to explain this increase. Firstly, due to the rise in women’s employment, young women need greater assistance from their extended family to reconcile the demands of work and family responsibilities. Secondly, declining marriage rates and rising rates of cohabitation and lone parenthood increase the need for extended family support. Our findings show that family change is the main driver of the rise in extended family living, indicating that intergenerational dependence is often driven by the economic and social support needed by young families. Despite improvements in social welfare and female employment, better-designed housing and work–family reconciliation policies are needed to offer young families an alternative to intergenerational family support.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 392-405
Issue: 3
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 7
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1460487
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1460487
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:3:p:392-405
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Polly Lord
Author-X-Name-First: Polly
Author-X-Name-Last: Lord
Title: Changing world, changing work
Abstract:
Contemporary debates on the world of work have long centred on the precariousness of the global workforce, and situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic have only brought into sharper focus the issues facing those who seek employment. Globally, the characteristics of insecure work pervade economic and social settings creating a weakened fabric of labour. Those weak threads are further unravelled by the concurrent rise of technology and digitalisation, changing both the jobs and how they are performed. As different countries have adopted variant practices at different speeds, each society has undergone its own revolution, bringing to the fore crucial cultural, economic, and political questions. While labour patterns are situated in, and thus contingent on, the countervailing responses to those questions, broader thematic lessons can be learned from each society. This themed issue thus brings together papers from several countries and sectors, from exploring the impact of the financial crisis on job security in Germany and US, to the potential impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution in South Africa, these papers circumnavigate the world. Yet despite the heterogeneity of the labour markets, the papers all shine light on the potential precariousness of the workforce and, crucially, the workforce’s response to them.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 407-415
Issue: 4
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1812707
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1812707
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:4:p:407-415
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Lena Hipp
Author-X-Name-First: Lena
Author-X-Name-Last: Hipp
Title: Feeling secure vs. being secure? Qualitative evidence on the relationship between labour market institutions and employees’ perceived job security from Germany and the U.S.
Abstract:
How can labour market institutions make workers confident about their economic future? While quantitative studies have repeatedly shown that countries’ labour market regulations and policies are related to variations in workers’ perceived job security, these studies did not explain how these institutions affect workers’ perceptions and expectations. This study seeks to close this gap by analysing qualitative interview data collected on employees in Germany and the U.S. during the great financial crisis (2009–2010). The study's main finding is that policies vary in their effectiveness at making workers feel secure about their jobs. While unemployment assistance can reduce workers’ worries about job loss, dismissal protection does not seem to effectively increase workers’ confidence that their jobs are secure. Overall, employees know relatively little about the policies and regulations that are meant to protect them and have limited trust in their effectiveness. Individual and organisational characteristics seem to be more relevant for employees’ feelings of job security than national-level policies. In particular, comparisons with others who have lower levels of protection increase workers’ perceived security. These insights are particularly important in light of the ongoing changes in the world of work that are making workers’ lives more uncertain and insecure.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 416-429
Issue: 4
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1656816
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1656816
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:4:p:416-429
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Young Waribo
Author-X-Name-First: Young
Author-X-Name-Last: Waribo
Author-Name: Dayo I. Akintayo
Author-X-Name-First: Dayo I.
Author-X-Name-Last: Akintayo
Author-Name: Adewale Omotayo Osibanjo
Author-X-Name-First: Adewale Omotayo
Author-X-Name-Last: Osibanjo
Author-Name: David Imhonopi
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Imhonopi
Author-Name: Ayodotun Stephen Ibidunni
Author-X-Name-First: Ayodotun Stephen
Author-X-Name-Last: Ibidunni
Author-Name: Olatunji Idowu Fadeyi
Author-X-Name-First: Olatunji Idowu
Author-X-Name-Last: Fadeyi
Title: Examining employees’ behavioural outcomes within the context of organisational justice
Abstract:
This study was designed to investigate the combined influence of organisational justice on employees’ behavioural outcomes. The descriptive survey research design was used for this study. A sample size of 423 respondents was proportionately selected from employees of the six Seaports in Nigeria, administered by Nigeria Ports Authority. Multiple regression was used to analyse the data collected and to test for the effects among the variables. Based on the results, the study concluded that organisational justice (distributive, procedural, interpersonal and informational as well as spatial) has a combined positive influence on employees’ behavioural outcomes. Additionally, this study found that the proactive implementation of the aforementioned dimensions of organisational justice (distributive, procedural, informational, interpersonal and spatial) will help organisations ward off some contemporary worrisome employees’ behavioural tendencies such as presentism, absenteeism and cynicism with their negative consequences, which include huge financial and material loss as well as extinction. Consequently, the study recommends that organisations should have functional organisational justice policy framework that encompasses all the six dimensions of organisational justice as they have significant influence on employees’ behavioural outcomes.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 430-445
Issue: 4
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1733646
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1733646
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:4:p:430-445
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Anselm Komla Abotsi
Author-X-Name-First: Anselm Komla
Author-X-Name-Last: Abotsi
Author-Name: Cynthia Fofo Dsane
Author-X-Name-First: Cynthia Fofo
Author-X-Name-Last: Dsane
Author-Name: Pearl Adiza Babah
Author-X-Name-First: Pearl Adiza
Author-X-Name-Last: Babah
Author-Name: Patrick Kwarteng
Author-X-Name-First: Patrick
Author-X-Name-Last: Kwarteng
Title: Factors influencing the choice of teaching as a career: an empirical study of students in colleges of education in Ghana
Abstract:
Teachers play an important role in the development of human capital yet the rate of teacher attrition continues to be a problem in Ghana. The research seeks to explore the extent to which ease of attrition from the teaching profession influences the choice of the teaching profession as a career by student teachers. This study adopted a quantitative research design and deployed a multi-stage sampling strategy. The sample size was 864. Deploying the ordered-logistic regression model, the study finds that the ease of attrition from the teaching profession does not influence the choice of the teaching profession as a career.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 446-460
Issue: 4
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1675092
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1675092
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:4:p:446-460
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Abigail Osiki
Author-X-Name-First: Abigail
Author-X-Name-Last: Osiki
Title: ‘Esusu cooperative’ as a means of extending social protection to the Nigerian informal economy
Abstract:
In Nigeria, a significant number of the active labour force exists within the informal economy. For these workers, decent work remains elusive. They are mostly unprotected by existing legal framework and lack basic work rights. One of such right is access to social protection. This lack of access to ‘social protection’, especially as it relates to their means of livelihood, results in exclusion and marginalisation, and violates the principles of social justice. However, the high financial and structural costs of providing the basic forms of social protection inhibits the Nigerian government from extending social protection to informal workers, even though they constitute the larger percentage of the national workforce. This therefore necessitates an innovative solution that extends social protection to informal workers, and at the same time is independent of the capacity limitations of the government. Based on a desktop research methodology, this article finds that Esusu cooperatives – an informal cooperative system popular among informal workers– represents an existing and functional structure through which social protection can be extended to Nigerian informal workers. Consequently, it is recommended that the ‘Esusu Cooperative system’ should be adopted and restructured as a means of extending social protection to informal workers.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 461-475
Issue: 4
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1766695
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1766695
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:4:p:461-475
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Elena Gramano
Author-X-Name-First: Elena
Author-X-Name-Last: Gramano
Title: Digitalisation and work: challenges from the platform-economy
Abstract:
The new ways of organising work and offering services on the market through the so-called digital platforms seem to have put the traditional legal standards for classifying employment relationships into question. The mechanism of functioning of digital platforms, in fact, seems to put together a series of ‘old’ problems in a new combination. On the one hand, platforms present themselves on the market as subjects with an apparently rarefied organisational structure, moving along the threads of algorithms; on the other hand, those who collaborate with them seem to do so in a spontaneous, voluntary, random and flexible way. The radical fragmentation, or reduction to the minimum, of the productive organisation, is accompanied by the fragmentation of the work activity itself, made by an anonymous multitude of people (‘crowd’), who move together in the light of invisible dynamics, dictated by unknown algorithms.Academic scholarship - and in some countries also case law - has already offered many and different answers to the problem of the legal classification of the relationship of those who work for/with the platforms. They vary according to the methodological approaches and the systems used as a reference.The present paper argues that it is not possible to provide for a general answer to such question, valid for every concrete case. In fact, the specific features of each relationship between the platform and the workers might largely vary from case to case.However, some elements that are functional to the solution of the classification issue are still disputable and shall be clarified: (a) in most of the cases, the platform does not act as a mere intermediary between the supply and demand for a certain service; instead, it represents the direct supplier of that service, which is provided through the activities of the workers; therefore, the workers are fully integrated into the platforms’ organisation; (b) in the light of the rating mechanism and the adoption of certain contractual clauses on withdrawal – that will be described –, often the worker is made illegitimately liable for the unfulfilment of the obligations to the customer; (c) when the conditions a) and b) occur, a substantial overlap between the business carried out by digital platforms and the workers’ activities can be detected and this shall be taken into consideration in the investigation on the legal status of the workers, especially in order to prevent any attempt to circumvent the application of the employment law protections.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 476-488
Issue: 4
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1572919
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1572919
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:4:p:476-488
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: M. B. Rapanyane
Author-X-Name-First: M. B.
Author-X-Name-Last: Rapanyane
Author-Name: F. R. Sethole
Author-X-Name-First: F. R.
Author-X-Name-Last: Sethole
Title: The rise of artificial intelligence and robots in the 4th Industrial Revolution: implications for future South African job creation
Abstract:
The world is becoming one. Globalisation is slowly becoming the leading figure in the interaction and integration of companies, governments, and people of different nations. In this process, technology, products, and information are all spread at a more extremely faster pace more than ever imagined in centuries. Realistically, there are new developments which are transforming the way people live, work and relate to one another in South Africa. This is shaped by the current and developing environment composing of disruptive technologies and trends such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to analyse the implications of the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution (4th IR) on the African National Congress (ANC)-led South Africa’s future youth employment trends. As research that is conducted on the African soil for the benefit of Africans, we adopted Afrocentricity as a theory to decolonise South Africa’s education system and also to unpack the realities and myths surrounding 4th IR within the context of South Africa. The central argument which also serves as the principal objective in this article remains that the 4IR is an incoming worst reality. To fully realise this, we relied on document review and thematic content analysis.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 489-501
Issue: 4
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1806346
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1806346
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:4:p:489-501
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jacqueline Barnes
Author-X-Name-First: Jacqueline
Author-X-Name-Last: Barnes
Author-Name: John Connolly
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Connolly
Title: Introduction
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 503-503
Issue: 5
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1862970
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1862970
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:5:p:503-503
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Glynis M. Breakwell
Author-X-Name-First: Glynis M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Breakwell
Title: Mistrust, uncertainty and health risks
Abstract:
Aspects of the relationship between mistrust, uncertainty and risk responses are examined. Identity Process Theory and Social Representation Theory are used to explain risk responses. The operation of mistrust, defined here as an active state of uncertainty about whether a source or its assertions are to be believed, is examined. Mistrust can also be a cognitive or emotional trait of a person, associated with being habitually suspicious, doubtful, or sceptical, and, as such, can be a preferred strategy for coping with threats to identity. The relationship between mistrust and uncertainty in shaping responses to health risks is examined. An illustration using media reporting of MMR vaccine hesitancy during 2019 is described. This indicated: politicians and health experts sometimes mistrust the public’s reaction to risk guidance; uncertainty once established is resilient against remediation; and, targeting of mistrust and blame is purposive.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 504-516
Issue: 5
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1804070
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1804070
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:5:p:504-516
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Arno Van Der Zwet
Author-X-Name-First: Arno
Author-X-Name-Last: Van Der Zwet
Author-Name: Murray Stewart Leith
Author-X-Name-First: Murray Stewart
Author-X-Name-Last: Leith
Author-Name: Duncan Sim
Author-X-Name-First: Duncan
Author-X-Name-Last: Sim
Author-Name: Elizabeth Boyle
Author-X-Name-First: Elizabeth
Author-X-Name-Last: Boyle
Title: Brexit, Europe and othering
Abstract:
The UK has seen, within recent years, a noticeable increase in Euroscepticism, culminating in the vote to leave the European Union altogether. Although there were many reasons for the Brexit vote, the UK, in common with some other EU countries, had become increasingly concerned about rising levels of immigration, particularly from within the EU. This has led to an increase in a process of Othering those of a different background, nationality or religion, and ultimately the EU itself. This article seeks to explore aspects of othering of the EU in the UK, partly in the light of the Brexit vote. It focuses on the role of the media and political elites in this process. The article draws from secondary sources and sets out a research agenda based on seeking to understand the othering process of the EU, within the UK that requires further empirical research.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 517-532
Issue: 5
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1851393
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1851393
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:5:p:517-532
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: John Connolly
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Connolly
Author-Name: Jacqueline Barnes
Author-X-Name-First: Jacqueline
Author-X-Name-Last: Barnes
Author-Name: Joana Guerra
Author-X-Name-First: Joana
Author-X-Name-Last: Guerra
Author-Name: Robert Pyper
Author-X-Name-First: Robert
Author-X-Name-Last: Pyper
Title: The facilitators of interagency working in the context of European public service reform
Abstract:
This article provides an overview of key lessons about the governance and leadership of interagency working in multi-level contexts. The article is based on interviews with local and national leaders across Europe. This topic is timely given the complexity of European public sector governance which demands leadership, co-production, and styles of collaboration which promote partnership-working within local contexts. We highlight that localism is central but this still requires national political leadership for localism to be managed and delivered effectively. In other words, empowerment-heavy models of governance, without top-down support, risks interagency ineffectiveness or even failure. We argue that leadership at macro, meso and micro levels of the governance system is required in order for successful interagency working to be delivered. We find that removing the barriers to interagency working requires the identification of an interagency leader (and to even enshrine this within statute), clear roles and lines of accountability for professionals, a breakdown of disciplinary silos, non-tokenistic bottom-up approaches, national public service leadership which promotes capacity building, and the dovetailing of planning and evaluation. The article concludes by proposing strategies for developing effective multi-level interagency working.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 533-547
Issue: 5
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1824078
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1824078
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:5:p:533-547
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Eric Baumgartner
Author-X-Name-First: Eric
Author-X-Name-Last: Baumgartner
Title: De-constructing the other: an integrated pedagogy of inclusive learning and teaching approaches in and beyond Prison
Abstract:
Considerations of epistemology in teaching and integrated pedagogical approaches to teaching have long been identified as central to teaching practice (Dewey, 1997, Experience and Education. New York: Touchstone Publishing). More recently, these have been framed around not only anti-oppressive practice (Dominelli, 2002, Anti-oppressive social work; theory and practice. Palgarve Macmillan: Basingstoke), but wider considerations of power and oppression and ‘epistemic dominance’ (Andreotti, 2011, p. 4, Actionable postcolonial theory in education. New York: Palgrave). While they may not always be elevated theoretically or explicitly stressed as fundamental in every day teaching practice, they are evident across subjects and sectors (Andreotti, 2011, Actionable postcolonial theory in education. New York: Palgrave; Sin, 2014, Epistemology, sociology, and learning and teaching in physics. Science Education, 98, 342–365), particularly with an increasing emphasis in Higher Education on student engagement and equipping students with vital employability skills (Nygaard et al., 2013, Student engagement: Identity, motivation and community. Oxfordshire: Libri Publishing). This paper argues that such considerations are particularly relevant to the teaching of Social Sciences, at the heart of which lies challenging the status quo and interrogating inequalities. The example of jointly teaching university students (Outside Students) and individuals with convictions for sexual offences in a custodial setting (Inside Students) provides a platform on which to investigate the pedagogies involved in teaching Social Sciences in this setting. It considers the importance of language (Willis & Letourneau, 2018, Promoting accurate and respectful language to describe individuals and groups. Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment, 30(5), 480–483) in order to assist with the de-construction of ‘the other’, promoting awareness and equality, and breaking down essentialised conceptions of ‘the other’- both for Inside and Outside students. At the heart of this is balancing and integrating knowledge and experience of all students (Harmer, 2007, The practice of English language teaching. Essex, UK: Paerson Longman) as integral to the learning process. The paper brings together a diversity of approaches to teaching and scaffolds these into an integrated pedagogical framework, applicable more universally and beyond the limited and specialised application to prison teaching (Dewey, 1997, Experience and education. New York: Touchstone Publishing).
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 548-560
Issue: 5
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1855466
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1855466
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:5:p:548-560
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Eric T. Hoddy
Author-X-Name-First: Eric T.
Author-X-Name-Last: Hoddy
Author-Name: Paul Gready
Author-X-Name-First: Paul
Author-X-Name-Last: Gready
Title: From agency to root causes: addressing structural Barriers to transformative justice in transitional and post-conflict settings
Abstract:
Transformative justice has emerged as a new practice agenda for addressing structural and systemic violence in post-conflict and post-authoritarian societies. This article is situated at a critical juncture: while the emerging scholarship has focussed on community agency and action, there is little as yet that has explored the social structures and relations in transition societies that are harm-generating and which constrain action. We argue that a critical social science, grounded in realist social theory, systems thinking and complexity theory, have a vital role to play in rendering transparent the relations and structures that resist change. New knowledge about the ‘root causes’ of harm is both conceptually innovative and useful to practice, helping practitioners identify societal arrangements in need of change and informing strategies for action. This article illustrates the approach through its application to a study with poor farmers in post-Revolution Tunisia. The article should be of interest to researchers and practitioners in transitional and transformative justice, conflict and post-conflict, peacebuilding, and security sector reform, who are engaged with understanding and addressing issues of structural and systemic violence.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 561-576
Issue: 5
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1812706
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1812706
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:5:p:561-576
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Graham Crow
Author-X-Name-First: Graham
Author-X-Name-Last: Crow
Title: Hedgehogs, foxes and other embodiments of academics’ research career trajectories
Abstract:
Academics’ career trajectories follow diverse paths, and understanding them is challenging. Animal metaphors, notably the contrast between hedgehogs and foxes, have helped to distinguish patterns but need reappraisal as universities change. Reflecting on prominent sociologists’ careers, the argument is developed that academic trajectories differ according to whether work is blue skies or applied, and how it relates to innovation and consolidation. Four types of academic animals are identified: bears, beavers, jackdaws and eagles. Ann Oakley’s career is used to illustrate how individuals’ trajectories may move between these. For researchers anticipating how their academic futures may unfold, role models framed in these terms offer alternative scenarios.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 577-594
Issue: 5
Volume: 15
Year: 2020
Month: 11
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1849784
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1849784
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:15:y:2020:i:5:p:577-594
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Andrea Mubi Brighenti
Author-X-Name-First: Andrea Mubi
Author-X-Name-Last: Brighenti
Author-Name: Andrea Pavoni
Author-X-Name-First: Andrea
Author-X-Name-Last: Pavoni
Title: Situating urban animals – a theoretical framework
Abstract:
This introduction to the special issue of Contemporary Social Science: 'Urban Animals – Shifting Ecologies of Proximities', argues that the focus on urban animals is not to be treated as just another specialisation in urban ecology or biology, rather, as a perspective from where the field of urban studies at large, and the domain of social science more generally, can be re-thought in the novel and challenging ways. To do so, first, the text situates the question of urban animals within the emerging problématique of the contemporary urban condition in the context of the Anthropocene; second, it proposes six requirements which may prove valuable to widen the scope of current research; third, it introduces the papers composing the special issue.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-13
Issue: 1
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1788131
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1788131
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:1:p:1-13
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Tora Holmberg
Author-X-Name-First: Tora
Author-X-Name-Last: Holmberg
Title: Animal waste work. The case of urban sewage management in Sweden
Abstract:
Urban infrastructures such as wastewater services are essential to the functioning of cities. Through waste work, sewage gets transformed and revalued. Non-humans are potentially unruly agents in the transformation of “dirty” sewage into biogas, a “clean” energy resource in environmental terms. But these values are not given or applied in any simple sense. What goes on under the surface, beneath the street or inside a pile of dirt is the invaluable work that constitutes a city’s multispecies waste management. The article argues that rats, worms and microbes perform labour in the urban wastewater economy, as they eat, digest and breed. This article investigates the role of these non-human waste workers and the cultural and economic values they produce in the intersections between the socio-technical infrastructures where the urban and the animal meet. The article makes use of “trash-tracing” as a method and follows the multiple steps taken in the chain of sewage management in the city of Gävle, Sweden. It contributes new knowledge on the waste ecologies of cities by paying close attention to shifting and paradoxical valuations of wastewater, as it is configured through nonhuman work.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 14-28
Issue: 1
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1630669
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1630669
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:1:p:14-28
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Andrija Filipović
Author-X-Name-First: Andrija
Author-X-Name-Last: Filipović
Title: Three bugs in the city: urban ecology and multispecies relationality in postsocialist Belgrade
Abstract:
This paper analyses the intersection and interaction of insects, humans, urban infrastructure, the postsocialist condition and the Anthropocene in the urban ecology of Belgrade. The mutually conditioned materialisation of these phenomena is marked by biopolitical and zoopolitical technologies, reflected in production of biofear through media and unmediated management of human and non-human bodies. Broader context of these technologies is the transition towards a (neo)liberal economy (precarisation, privatisation, financialisation): this is the postsocialist condition, marked by investment urbanism and the state of city infrastructure. The other, more broader context is planetary anthropogenic climate and ecological change (the Anthropocene), which enables novel movement of living and nonliving beings, as well as new kinds of relationality between them. The challenge is to create new forms of multispecies relationality in the face of the local, regional and global changes of the twenty-first century.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 29-42
Issue: 1
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1667521
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1667521
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:1:p:29-42
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Donna Houston
Author-X-Name-First: Donna
Author-X-Name-Last: Houston
Title: Planning in the shadow of extinction: Carnaby’s Black cockatoos and urban development in Perth, Australia
Abstract:
This paper explores the shifting ecological proximities of urban-human-animal relations in Perth via a story of Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos, urban planning and extinction. The story is framed around a challenge and a provocation. The challenge, calls for a deeper consideration of urban planning in the shadow of extinction. Such a consideration involves two entangled elements: a deepening ethical and practical engagement with diverse urban lifeforms and temporalities; and an exploration of the more-than-human communities that emerge, are threatened or made possible in extinction’s shadows. The provocation, involves asking questions about what kinds of responses to extinction in urban contexts are desirable, or even possible? The paper experiments with the concept of planning in and with ‘ethical time’ as one way of thinking about how commitments to urban nature and urban justice might be re-imagined in a time of mass extinction. With the help of Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos, I argue that planning multispecies cities requires re-setting coordinates for ethical decision-making, coordinates that are embedded in the rhythms, knots and relations of ecological time and in the responsibilities involved with living in more-than-human urban communities of difference.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 43-56
Issue: 1
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1660909
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1660909
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:1:p:43-56
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Nhi Ha Nguyen
Author-X-Name-First: Nhi Ha
Author-X-Name-Last: Nguyen
Title: Bird play: raising red-whiskered bulbuls and (re)inventing urban ‘nature’ in contemporary Vietnam
Abstract:
A socially recognisable signifier for wealth and class in Southeast Asian consciousness, ornamental birdkeeping often focuses on exotic avian species to enhance the status symbolism of this practice. For the past five years, contemporary Vietnamese urbanites have renewed interest in and refocused birdkeeping on a non-exotic avian native to the region: the red-whiskered bulbuls, widely considered a ‘bird of the people’ (chim bình dân) in the words of participants. Popular media have recognised the return of ornamental birdkeeping as a healthy cultural practice that encourages mental stimulation, yet the favouring of a native, non-exotic species quite amenable to a variety of living and economic situations (dễ nuôi), I argue, is remarkable in its reimagination of the high society associations of this tradition. Further, this article will demonstrate that the increased popularity of raising red-whiskered bulbuls reflects a rapidly urbanising Vietnam wherein holistic ideals of nature, characteristic of and integral to Vietnamese consciousness, underline human-nonhuman interactions from city to country, and are caught amid a transition from industrial modernity, with its nature-culture binarism, to a postmodern period fraught with uncertainties.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 57-70
Issue: 1
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1667524
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1667524
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:1:p:57-70
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jacquelyn Johnston
Author-X-Name-First: Jacquelyn
Author-X-Name-Last: Johnston
Title: Incongruous killing: cats, nonhuman resistance, and precarious life beyond biopolitical techniques of making-live
Abstract:
Under traditional programmes, unclaimed cats entering animal shelters were euthanized by barbiturate injection; since the implementation of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), cats are sterilised and returned to the streets. TNR cats are not only made to live – they are made to work for politics through a technique of tracking live releases from the shelter system to gain public support. However, biopolitical techniques are more than counting – life persists beyond the statistic. This paper traces the underexplored consequences of ‘nuisance wildlife’ removal laws in the ‘no kill’ era of TNR-only programmes in Miami. Trapped cats can be processed as ‘nuisance wildlife’, and killed by gassing, rather than by the only lawful method for killing cats in a shelter: lethal injection. How does TNR, created to make cats live, result in new vulnerabilities and incongruous cat deaths? This case study makes visible both known and unforeseen nonhuman vulnerabilities when biopolitical techniques are implemented without consideration for the complex systems of power at play within the apparatuses of nonhuman animal management. The precarious lives of cats suspended between wild and domestic, wanted and unwanted, and across political and legal purviews, requires greater engagement with the frameworks of killability for domestic and wild species.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 71-83
Issue: 1
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1667523
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1667523
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:1:p:71-83
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Bradley Rink
Author-X-Name-First: Bradley
Author-X-Name-Last: Rink
Author-Name: Justin Crow
Author-X-Name-First: Justin
Author-X-Name-Last: Crow
Title: Horse/power: human–animal mobile assemblage in the contemporary city
Abstract:
This paper focuses on an under-studied aspect of contemporary urban life through the experience of working horses and horse cart drivers as they negotiate mobility and livelihoods on the streets on Cape Town. By adopting an ethnographic approach including embedded participant observation, the paper provides insights to the everyday mobility of urban working animals, their human counterparts and their unique ‘humanimal’ assemblage. Results trace daily routes of travel, while providing a deeper understanding of the mobility challenges of horse carts. Ethnographic data reveal how horse cart riders depend on this form of mobility as a primary source of income which the riders use to provide for their daily needs and expenses. At the same time, this study sheds light on the elements that govern the daily mobility of horse carts including motive force, velocity, rhythm, route, experience and friction. This study fills a critical gap in research on urban animals and mobility in African cities, with findings that lend appreciation to the daily activity and travels from home and the road and their inherent knowledge of the city.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 84-95
Issue: 1
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1655164
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1655164
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:1:p:84-95
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Irus Braverman
Author-X-Name-First: Irus
Author-X-Name-Last: Braverman
Title: Corals in the city: cultivating ocean life in the Anthropocene
Abstract:
Ocean life is often portrayed as antithetical to life in the city. Drawing on interviews with coral hobbyists and aquarists, my article focuses on the emergence of the coral aquarium hobby within the urban home. I depict the recent fascination of city dwellers from around the globe with corals, explore the history and contemporary characteristics of those who propagate them as well as their reasons for doing so, and examine the urban coral industry. I also argue that corals reveal the problems with existing regulatory modes of classifying animals. The corals who live in urban tanks are not exactly wild, nor are they domesticated; they are not exactly pets, nor are they plants or ornaments; and since they are clones, it is hard to determine where one individual starts and another begins – and what death even means in this context, in which production and consumption are intertwined. Finally, while tropical corals are dying at alarming rates in the oceans, their numbers in the city are on the rise. Instead of heading to tropical islands to experience corals up close, coral enthusiasts are transplanting themselves into the city as their corals require careful attention to survive in the urban environment.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 96-112
Issue: 1
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1688382
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1688382
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:1:p:96-112
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Priska Gisler
Author-X-Name-First: Priska
Author-X-Name-Last: Gisler
Title: Urban topologies of epistemic change: the zoo and the heterotopia of the map
Abstract:
By tracing the history of maps of the Zurich Zoo since its inception in 1929, I enquire how ideas about human-animal relations in an urban context have changed. Linking Foucault's concept of the heterotopia with the ordering power of space allows to see that a map does more than show the way to one's favourite animals in a zoo. I suggest that the map can be understood as a necessary element in creating a heterotopia, an ‘other space', contributing more to visitors’ ideas about the zoo than generally assumed. Underlying the Foucauldian concept are endeavours to juxtapose several incompatible emplacements in one real place. These can be understood as efforts to accomplish an illusion that allows to reify the respective model of the zoo that each map pretends to illustrate. The maps aim to create an apparent ecology of proximities between animals and humans, and between the urban and the wild. All in all, the maps offer both a layout for human-animal relations and an instructive account of them, as depicted and imagined by the zoo authorities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 113-126
Issue: 1
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1667522
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1667522
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:1:p:113-126
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Shelley M. Alexander
Author-X-Name-First: Shelley M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Alexander
Author-Name: Dianne L. Draper
Author-X-Name-First: Dianne L.
Author-X-Name-Last: Draper
Title: The rules we make that coyotes break
Abstract:
We used mixed-methods to explore human experiences and motivations towards co-existence with coyotes in the Foothills Parklands of Alberta, Canada. Traditionally agricultural, this is one of Canada’s fastest urbanising landscapes, offering insight into a plurality of viewpoints and feedback loops related to the social construction of and co-existence with coyotes. Invoking theories of place and transgression, we provided a new lens on the problem of human–coyote entanglements. We interviewed 60 respondents (27 males; 33 females) on 48 properties (agricultural = 23; rural residential = 25). We posed closed- and open-ended questions exploring experience, perception, beliefs, sentiments and actions. Selected data were analysed here. Our word analysis neatly depicts the tension surrounding human engagements with coyotes. Respondents articulated critical distances reflecting ‘home place’. When coyotes transgressed the boundaries of the latter, respondents considered this un-natural behaviour or a biosecurity threat punishable by death. Landuse type, gender and prior depredation did not predict coyote killing. However, female respondents appeared more likely to view killing as ‘OK’ after a depredation event. Understanding motivations for killing requires further analysis and is essential to realising co-existence.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 127-139
Issue: 1
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 1
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1616108
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1616108
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:1:p:127-139
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Linda Hantrais
Author-X-Name-First: Linda
Author-X-Name-Last: Hantrais
Author-Name: Ashley Thomas Lenihan
Author-X-Name-First: Ashley Thomas
Author-X-Name-Last: Lenihan
Title: Social dimensions of evidence-based policy in a digital society
Abstract:
A plethora of evidence demonstrates the effects of the digitisation of society on everyday life. Developments in web science (the world wide web), online technologies (internet of things, social media, e-governance), artificial intelligence and robotics present major challenges for contemporary societies. These technological advances create risks (loss of autonomy, cybercrime, online abuse, threats to children’s safety and national security) and opportunities (climate change mitigation, responses to global health scourges, medical therapies, intergenerational connectivity, smart cities). This article focusses on the contribution of the social sciences to the digital revolution, whether it be in the public or private sectors, civil society or households. The authors explore how technological innovations can result from international cooperation between researchers in different disciplines. They consider how evidence from the social sciences is used to measure the societal impacts of technological change in different cultural, economic and political contexts. They review the ethical issues raised by the datafication of society and autonomous learning machines, while assessing the contribution of social sciences to the policymaking process in the digital age.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 141-155
Issue: 2
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1887508
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1887508
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:141-155
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Paul Allin
Author-X-Name-First: Paul
Author-X-Name-Last: Allin
Title: Opportunities and challenges for official statistics in a digital society
Abstract:
National systems of official statistics are expected to provide governments, businesses and the public with data about the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation. Digitisation of data collection for official statistics is mooted as having a major potential impact on society. Greater use of administrative data held in government is proceeding slowly. Evidence is limited, but access to big data − from satellites, point-of-sale systems and social media − is being explored and trialled. Initiatives are driven by new requirements for official statistics as well as pressures on traditional data collection from households and businesses. Effective government use of new data sources has the possibility of creating the ultimate evidence base for policies intended to improve lives, and anonymised data are also being made available to other researchers. The article uses the UK as a case study to outline how the big data evidence-to-policy process is intended to work in that context, and to assess the challenges faced in making it work as intended. We conclude that technical developments need to be accompanied throughout with attention to the marketing of official statistics and engagement with all users and potential users. The goal is to produce trusted as well as trustworthy statistics.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 156-169
Issue: 2
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1687931
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1687931
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:156-169
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ron Iphofen
Author-X-Name-First: Ron
Author-X-Name-Last: Iphofen
Author-Name: Mihalis Kritikos
Author-X-Name-First: Mihalis
Author-X-Name-Last: Kritikos
Title: Regulating artificial intelligence and robotics: ethics by design in a digital society
Abstract:
Evidence-based policymaking must urgently consider regulations addressing advances made in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, as well as issues of ownership, management and control. Many repetitive manufacturing tasks once requiring human labour have already been replaced by robots. The general public are facing associated risks to safety and privacy with the appearance of drones, driverless cars, robots of care, and human repair and enhancement. Major challenges for policymakers arise as machines acquire the ability to learn and become autonomous in their decision making. When independent of the humans that created them, their true ‘intelligence’ is tested in terms of their status as ‘moral beings’. Given their algorithmic decision making, questions arise about how ‘they’ could make ethical decisions about their actions and interactions with humans. This paper reviews current issues raised about the morality of autonomous learning machines and explores whether policy can be developed to address their potential to acquire a moral status. The authors argue that policies and regulations will fail if no account is taken of the ethics of robotics, either to ensure an ‘ethics by design’ or prevent them from becoming ‘autonomous moral agents’.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 170-184
Issue: 2
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1563803
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1563803
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:170-184
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Melita Sogomonjan
Author-X-Name-First: Melita
Author-X-Name-Last: Sogomonjan
Title: Challenges and opportunities for e-mental health policy: an Estonian case study
Abstract:
Public administration of mental health policy is an area that raises issues about human rights and dignity, equality of access to high-quality mental health services and the adequacy of financial resources. Globally, most people with mental health problems lack access to care services due mainly to the limited number of trained specialists, the stigma and discrimination associated with mental illnesses, and fragmented service delivery models. A widespread response to the growing demand for integrated care is the establishment of e-mental health services engaging primary and secondary healthcare specialists from different disciplines. In Estonia, evidence-based e-mental health solutions are being introduced to improve access to mental healthcare and to reduce the costs associated with treatment. However, awareness of the benefits of e-mental health solutions remains limited among healthcare professionals and the wider population. This article draws on findings from EU-funded research projects to examine the challenges Estonia faces in adopting e-mental health solutions. The author shows how the lack of public investment in evidence-based e-mental health interventions and the reluctance of relevant professionals to engage with e-mental health technologies have resulted in legal uncertainty, hindering full implementation of e-mental health policy in mental health services.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 185-198
Issue: 2
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1720795
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1720795
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:185-198
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Prathivadi B. Anand
Author-X-Name-First: Prathivadi B.
Author-X-Name-Last: Anand
Title: Assessing smart city projects and their implications for public policy in the Global South
Abstract:
This article aims to assess critically different definitions and indicators of smart cities. Drawing on exemplary case studies, the author proposes a typology of four categories of smart cities: type A are the world leaders who pioneer ideas not predicated on smart city projects; type B are aspirational cities punching above their weight; type C are surprise transformers that use the smart city concept to propel real transformation; and type D are cases where smart city projects do not directly address the main urban problems. The discussion highlights the need to prevent ‘smart-wash’ by avoiding superficial technological solutions that chase symptoms but not causes of some of the complex urban challenges that they are intending to address. In conclusion, the author considers the public policy implications of applying these typologies to cities in general with particular reference to the Global South.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 199-212
Issue: 2
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1720794
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1720794
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:199-212
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Sonia Livingstone
Author-X-Name-First: Sonia
Author-X-Name-Last: Livingstone
Author-Name: Mariya Stoilova
Author-X-Name-First: Mariya
Author-X-Name-Last: Stoilova
Title: Using global evidence to benefit children’s online opportunities and minimise risks
Abstract:
This article considers the challenges of conducting global research in a domain characterised by intense socio-technological change, complex ethical issues and contested policy choices. The domain chosen is that of children’s rights in the digital environment, which poses challenges to policymakers regarding children’s protection, empowerment and wellbeing. The article critically examines a particular project, Global Kids Online, which was designed to impact beneficially on policy and practice in this area through a coordinated, yet distributed, collaborative approach to cross-national research and impact. It examines the project’s conception, implementation and emerging impact to illustrate some key challenges of evidence-based policy in a digital society and to discuss the lessons learned regarding the possibilities and limitations of impact effectiveness. Global Kids Online has developed an approach to address these challenges by building a multistakeholder and multinational research network and co-creating knowledge exchange and impact tools. These tools allow research evidence to reach and inform stakeholders as they formulate relevant policies, harnessing the capacity of the overall network in addressing different country priorities. The impact tools developed to support the processes of impact planning and monitoring are illustrated with a selection of country case studies demonstrating pathways to impact.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 213-226
Issue: 2
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1608371
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1608371
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:213-226
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mark Williams
Author-X-Name-First: Mark
Author-X-Name-Last: Williams
Author-Name: Michelle Butler
Author-X-Name-First: Michelle
Author-X-Name-Last: Butler
Author-Name: Anna Jurek-Loughrey
Author-X-Name-First: Anna
Author-X-Name-Last: Jurek-Loughrey
Author-Name: Sakir Sezer
Author-X-Name-First: Sakir
Author-X-Name-Last: Sezer
Title: Offensive communications: exploring the challenges involved in policing social media
Abstract:
The digital revolution has transformed the potential reach and impact of criminal behaviour. Not only has it changed how people commit crimes but it has also created opportunities for new types of crimes to occur. Policymakers and criminal justice institutions have struggled to keep pace with technological innovation and its impact on criminality. Criminal law and justice, as well as investigative and prosecution procedures, are often outdated and ill-suited to this type of criminality as a result. While technological solutions are being developed to detect and prevent digitally-enabled crimes, generic solutions are often unable to address the needs of criminal justice professionals and policymakers. Focussing specifically on social media, this article offers an exploratory investigation of the strengths and weaknesses of the current approach used to police offensive communications online. Drawing on twenty in-depth interviews with key criminal justice professionals in the United Kingdom, the authors discuss the substantial international challenges facing those seeking to police offensive social media content. They argue for greater cooperation between policymakers, social science and technology researchers to develop workable, innovative solutions to these challenges, and greater use of evidence to inform policy and practice.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 227-240
Issue: 2
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2018.1563305
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2018.1563305
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:227-240
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Martin Innes
Author-X-Name-First: Martin
Author-X-Name-Last: Innes
Author-Name: Diyana Dobreva
Author-X-Name-First: Diyana
Author-X-Name-Last: Dobreva
Author-Name: Helen Innes
Author-X-Name-First: Helen
Author-X-Name-Last: Innes
Title: Disinformation and digital influencing after terrorism: spoofing, truthing and social proofing
Abstract:
This article explores how digital communications platforms are used in the aftermath of terrorist attacks to amplify or constrain the wider social impacts and consequences of politically motivated violence. Informed by empirical data collected by monitoring social media platforms following four terrorist attacks in the UK in 2017, the analysis focusses on the role of ‘soft facts’ (rumours/conspiracy theories/fake news/propaganda) in influencing public understandings and definitions of the situation. Specifically, it identifies three digital influence engineering techniques – spoofing, truthing and social proofing – that are associated with the communication of misinformation and disinformation. After configuring these concepts, the authors consider their implications for policy and practice development, concluding that, to date, possibilities for evidence-informed post-event preventative interventions have been relatively neglected in the formulation of counter-terrorism strategies. They recommend more attention be paid to how strategic communications interventions can counteract the effects of misinformation and disinformation, and thus mitigate the wider public harms induced by terror events.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 241-255
Issue: 2
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 3
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2019.1569714
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2019.1569714
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:241-255
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Linda Hantrais
Author-X-Name-First: Linda
Author-X-Name-Last: Hantrais
Author-Name: Paul Allin
Author-X-Name-First: Paul
Author-X-Name-Last: Allin
Author-Name: Mihalis Kritikos
Author-X-Name-First: Mihalis
Author-X-Name-Last: Kritikos
Author-Name: Melita Sogomonjan
Author-X-Name-First: Melita
Author-X-Name-Last: Sogomonjan
Author-Name: Prathivadi B. Anand
Author-X-Name-First: Prathivadi B.
Author-X-Name-Last: Anand
Author-Name: Sonia Livingstone
Author-X-Name-First: Sonia
Author-X-Name-Last: Livingstone
Author-Name: Mark Williams
Author-X-Name-First: Mark
Author-X-Name-Last: Williams
Author-Name: Martin Innes
Author-X-Name-First: Martin
Author-X-Name-Last: Innes
Title: Covid-19 and the digital revolution
Abstract:
Since the 1980s, the digital revolution has been both a negative and positive force. Within a few weeks of the Covid-19 outbreak, lockdown accelerated the adoption of digital solutions at an unprecedented pace, creating unforeseen opportunities for scaling up alternative approaches to social and economic life. But it also brought digital risks and threats that placed new demands on policymakers. This article assembles evidence from different areas of social science expertise about the impacts of Covid-19 in digitised societies and policy responses. The authors show how the pandemic supported changes in data collection techniques and dissemination practices for official statistics, and how seemingly insuperable obstacles to the implementation of e-health treatments were largely overcome. They demonstrate how the ethics of artificial intelligence became a primary concern for government legislation at national and international levels, and how the features enabling smart cities to act as drivers of productivity did not necessarily give them an advantage during the pandemic. At the micro-level, families are shown to have become ‘digital by default’, as children were exposed to online risks and opportunities. Globally, the spread of the pandemic provided a fertile ground for cybercrime, while digital disinformation and influencing risked becoming normalised and domesticated.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 256-270
Issue: 2
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1833234
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1833234
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:2:p:256-270
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Roxanne Connelly
Author-X-Name-First: Roxanne
Author-X-Name-Last: Connelly
Author-Name: Vernon Gayle
Author-X-Name-First: Vernon
Author-X-Name-Last: Gayle
Author-Name: Chris Playford
Author-X-Name-First: Chris
Author-X-Name-Last: Playford
Title: Social class inequalities in educational attainment: measuring social class using capitals, assets and resources
Abstract:
There is a plethora of measures of social class, and social stratification more widely. Occupation-based measures are most frequently used in social stratification research, although more recently the propriety of such approaches have been questioned. An emerging school of thought advocates the use of more culturally based measures as the most appropriate indicators of an individual’s social class position, an argument predominantly influenced by the work of Bourdieu. In this paper, we evaluate the benefits of a social class measure with a Bourdieusian theoretical foundation compared with an orthodox neo-Weberian occupation-based social class measure, the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC). First, we assess how closely we can replicate the Bourdieusian social class measure reported in Savage et al. ([2013]. A new model of social class: Findings from the BBC's Great British class survey experiment. Sociology). Second, we aim to compare and contrast the capitals, assets and resources based social class measure with the occupation-based National Statistics Socio-economic Classification, in an analysis of inequalities in school GCSE outcomes.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 280-293
Issue: 3
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 5
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1805506
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1805506
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:3:p:280-293
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jennifer Jarman
Author-X-Name-First: Jennifer
Author-X-Name-Last: Jarman
Author-Name: Paul Lambert
Author-X-Name-First: Paul
Author-X-Name-Last: Lambert
Author-Name: Roger Penn
Author-X-Name-First: Roger
Author-X-Name-Last: Penn
Title: Social stratification: past, present, and future
Abstract:
‘Social Stratification, Past, Present, and Future’ celebrates the 50th anniversary of the annual Cambridge Social Stratification Seminar. This editorial presents a brief characterisation of the ‘Cambridge school’ approach that has featured prominently through the seminar’s lifetime. Then it discusses the domains and topics explored in this issue – education; intergenerational transmission of inequality; family, work and employment; occupations; migration for work; housing, and political preferences. While most of the papers focus on Great Britain, several papers involve international comparisons, one focuses on stratification in India, and another on China. Collectively, researchers reveal how social hierarchy influences people’s lives, and reproduces fairly stably over time. The papers also contribute to understanding the sometimes counter-intuitive outcomes that challenge those charged with policy development.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 271-279
Issue: 3
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1916575
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1916575
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:3:p:271-279
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Claudia Traini
Author-X-Name-First: Claudia
Author-X-Name-Last: Traini
Title: Like parents, like children. Does the stratification of education systems moderate the direct effect of origins on destinations?
Abstract:
This article aims to identify the moderating effect of the stratification of education systems (especially the extent to which the first selection is based on student ability) on the association between social origins and destinations, while holding the effect of education constant. Two hypotheses are formulated. The first hypothesis expects a negative moderating effect of the stratification of education systems on the direct effect of origins on destinations, while the null hypothesis argues for no moderating effect. Individual-level data from the European Social Survey (round 1–5) are complemented with new contextual indicators measuring various education system characteristics. Apart from employing these new indicators, another contribution of this article is the use of a more comprehensive measurement of social origins, simultaneously accounting for social class and parental education. Findings show that the direct effect of social origins on occupational attainment is not moderated by the extent to which the first selection is based on student ability. The null effect holds against several robustness checks employing different measurements, sample selections and model specifications.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 344-358
Issue: 3
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 5
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1821908
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1821908
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:3:p:344-358
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Lindsay Richards
Author-X-Name-First: Lindsay
Author-X-Name-Last: Richards
Author-Name: Anthony Heath
Author-X-Name-First: Anthony
Author-X-Name-Last: Heath
Author-Name: Noah Carl
Author-X-Name-First: Noah
Author-X-Name-Last: Carl
Title: Not just ‘the left behind’? Exploring the effects of subjective social status on Brexit-related preferences
Abstract:
It has recently been argued that subjective status – the way individuals feel about their worth in society – deserves greater prominence in accounts of political preferences including anti-immigration sentiment and Brexit. In this paper, we give a detailed empirical account of the relationship between Subjective Social Status (SSS) and Brexit-related preferences, using data collected online in the autumn of 2017 (N = 3600). We find limited evidence that ‘objective’ dimensions of status translate into preferences via SSS. Rather, most of the effect of education and social class on political preferences is direct (or via another unmeasured mechanism). We propose that SSS has a role in norm compliance and demonstrate that high SSS among the university-educated and among those with high-status social ties is associated with a higher probability of voting leave in the referendum, as well as higher levels of anti-immigrant sentiment. Thus, we conclude that if SSS has a role in shaping populist preferences, it is more complex than has been assumed. It exerts an effect in the opposite direction to the expected one among the privileged, and does not appear to explain the preferences of the ‘left behind’.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 400-415
Issue: 3
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1847312
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1847312
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:3:p:400-415
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Qiong (Miranda) Wu
Author-X-Name-First: Qiong (Miranda)
Author-X-Name-Last: Wu
Title: Social stratification and housing inequality in transitional urban China
Abstract:
The shift to a market economy in the past few decades has privatised the housing market and transformed housing into a crucial part of social stratification in urban China as in many Western capitalist countries. The hukou system which is based on the place of origin has long been a major state institution connected with where people reside and their entitlements in China. However, the existing research has been paid little attention to the multi-dimensions of the hukou system and the emerging class structure in the process of market transformation. I conceptualise hukou stratification in transitional urban China based on three dimensions and construct a new class typology based on Wright's capitalist class theory. Using the 2010–2013 Chinese General Social Survey, I investigate the effects of hukou and class on two housing outcomes: homeownership and housing space. The findings reveal that hukou is more important than class in determining homeownership, but class is more important than hukou in determining workers’ housing space in transitional urban China. This study contributes to the ongoing market transition debate, the results of which deepen insights into the hybrid nature of the stratification outcomes in the context of China’s market transition.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 384-399
Issue: 3
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 5
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1797148
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1797148
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:3:p:384-399
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Arun Kumar Acharya
Author-X-Name-First: Arun Kumar
Author-X-Name-Last: Acharya
Title: Caste-based migration and exposure to abuse and exploitation: Dadan labour migration in India
Abstract:
This article examines the relationship between an exploitative labour migration system and the social stratification system in India. Every year, thousands of people migrate from rural areas to work in brick kilns, construction sites and textile industries in Indian cities. This article analyses interview and questionnaire data from a sample of Scheduled Caste Dadan migrants. High levels of abuse, injury and disability are reported. The researchers conclude that efforts to regulate employment conditions and implement caste reforms have failed to protect many workers. The findings underscore the need for much more attention from public authorities, employers, job brokers, NGOs, and international organisations.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 371-383
Issue: 3
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1855467
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1855467
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:3:p:371-383
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Roger Penn
Author-X-Name-First: Roger
Author-X-Name-Last: Penn
Title: New ways of exploring the changing nature of work: neglected themes in contemporary social stratification research
Abstract:
The paper assesses new ways of exploring the changing nature of work as an essential part of developing contemporary social stratification research. This combination was a key feature of the ‘classical tradition’ in economic sociology. Unfortunately, this has been lost in recent years and the paper provides examples of areas of work that urgently need greater research by sociologists
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 359-370
Issue: 3
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 5
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1799065
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1799065
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:3:p:359-370
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Sarah Stopforth
Author-X-Name-First: Sarah
Author-X-Name-Last: Stopforth
Author-Name: Vernon Gayle
Author-X-Name-First: Vernon
Author-X-Name-Last: Gayle
Author-Name: Ellen Boeren
Author-X-Name-First: Ellen
Author-X-Name-Last: Boeren
Title: Parental social class and school GCSE outcomes: two decades of evidence from UK household panel surveys
Abstract:
This paper investigates social class inequalities in English school qualifications. The analytical focus is pupils’ outcomes in General Certificates of Secondary Education (GCSEs). The original aspect of this paper is the operationalisation of data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), which facilitates analyses from 1991 to 2013. We observe a general trend of improved educational outcomes in more recent cohorts of school pupils, which is consistent with national results. The central empirical finding is that there is a persistent social class gradient. Pupils growing up in families in less advantaged social classes have less favourable school GCSE outcomes. This is especially concerning, because having fewer good GCSEs is likely to limit children’s participation in more advanced education and restrict their options in the labour market. Changes in the structure and content of GCSEs lead us to conjecture that sociological analyses of social class inequalities in school qualifications will continue to be important. We highlight the limitations of using administrative educational data, and we outline the data resources that would better facilitate the study of social class inequalities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 309-324
Issue: 3
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 5
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1792967
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1792967
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:3:p:309-324
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Vernon Gayle
Author-X-Name-First: Vernon
Author-X-Name-Last: Gayle
Author-Name: Christopher J. Playford
Author-X-Name-First: Christopher J.
Author-X-Name-Last: Playford
Author-Name: Roxanne Connelly
Author-X-Name-First: Roxanne
Author-X-Name-Last: Connelly
Title: Social class inequalities in Scottish school qualifications
Abstract:
The qualifications that British children gain at school are strong determinants of their futures in both education and the labour market. Studies of the relationship between parental social class and children’s outcomes in school qualifications report the general finding that pupils from families in less advantaged social classes on average have poorer outcomes. This paper investigates social class inequalities in Scottish school qualifications. Scottish data provide an interesting case study because Scotland has its own set of school qualifications and has a widespread system of comprehensive secondary schools that do not select children through academic testing. This paper is innovative because it analyses new linked administrative data on individual pupils from the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) with parental information from the Scottish Longitudinal Study (SLS). Standard Grades were the main qualifications undertaken by Scottish pupils at the end of compulsory schooling. We present multivariate analysis of pupils’ overall school Standard Grade scores. We find an overall negative relationship between parental social class and children’s outcomes in Scottish school qualifications. Pupils from families in less advantaged social classes, on average, have lower overall Standard Grade scores. A more nuanced finding that emerges from the analyses is that there is a cleft between the Standard Grade scores of children from families in the white and the blue collar classes. We conjecture that the complexity of parents jobs, especially in the more advantaged social classes, fosters forms of family and home life that are conducive to children having more favourable outcomes in school qualifications. Standard Grades have been replaced by the ‘National’ qualifications framework. Changes in the structure and content of the curriculum and assessment could affect the pattern of parental social class inequalities. Further detailed empirical analyses of social class inequalities in outcomes in Scottish school qualifications is therefore imperative.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 294-308
Issue: 3
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 5
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1823013
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1823013
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:3:p:294-308
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Steffen Hillmert
Author-X-Name-First: Steffen
Author-X-Name-Last: Hillmert
Title: Three spheres of stratification in how social origin relates to educational achievement: a large-scale analysis
Abstract:
This paper proposes to broaden the focus of analysis when studying the importance of parental context for a child’s educational achievement and attainment. Research has assessed the relevance of social origin primarily in the form of effects of parental characteristics. However, two additional aspects require further attention: first, individual-level distributions of the respective characteristics, and second, the composition or associations of context characteristics at the family level. This means that, in fact, three spheres of stratification need to be considered when assessing social origin’s relevance for education.Going beyond parent-specific effects, this paper compares 61 countries with regard to the relevance of parental context in children’s educational achievement. Using large-scale data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 study, individual-level information on school students and their parents is used to derive country-specific macro-level indicators. These indicators are then used for comparative analyses. The analyses are also replicated using different measures for social origin and achievement. The results confirm that it is reasonable to consider various components when conceptualising and interpreting the level of origin-based inequality in education. There are marked international differences in the specific relevance of these components, but there are no clear associations between these dimensions.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 325-343
Issue: 3
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 5
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1794020
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1794020
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:3:p:325-343
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Jana Obrovská
Author-X-Name-First: Jana
Author-X-Name-Last: Obrovská
Author-Name: Kateřina Sidiropulu Janků
Author-X-Name-First: Kateřina
Author-X-Name-Last: Sidiropulu Janků
Title: Resilience capacity and supportive factors of compulsory education in ethnic minority families: mixed methods study of Czech Roma mothers
Abstract:
This mixed methods study from 2017 to 2018 documents the living conditions and Czech Roma mothers’ experiences of the education system. Based on a comparative analysis of quantitative survey data and in-depth biographical interviews, we focus on the mothers’ reflections of macro, meso and microsystem level primary education conditions and experiences. We especially draw upon racially/ethnically framed oppression and its interrelation with modes of communication between education facilities and families, as well as educational aspirations. The negative schooling experiences of Roma mothers and their children appear to oscillate at the intersections of race, ethnicity and social class. Our findings indicate the development of resilience and coping strategies, the overriding feature of which is a mode of family damage control and prevention rather than the pursuit of ambitious prospects when assisting children through the education process. At the same time, when seeking support, Czech Roma mothers preferably turn to informal education and the private sphere, rather than the formal education sphere.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 448-463
Issue: 4
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1869813
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1869813
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:4:p:448-463
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Giulia Pastori
Author-X-Name-First: Giulia
Author-X-Name-Last: Pastori
Author-Name: Alessandra Mussi
Author-X-Name-First: Alessandra
Author-X-Name-Last: Mussi
Author-Name: Irene Capelli
Author-X-Name-First: Irene
Author-X-Name-Last: Capelli
Author-Name: Ryanne J. R. M. Francot
Author-X-Name-First: Ryanne J. R. M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Francot
Title: Moroccan immigrant mothers’ experiences of Italian preschool institutions. A mixed-method study
Abstract:
Being an immigrant mother demands both the redefinition of one’s identity as a woman and as a mother and a ‘double cultural mediation’ in children’s upbringing, between the culture of origin and that of the host country. Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) are key settings to supporting the wellbeing and the integration of immigrants. This contribution presents research conducted in Italy within the international ISOTIS project (www.isotis.org). Drawing on 114 structured interviews and 12 narrative-biographical interviews, this paper analyses how Moroccan mothers described their relationship with the ECEC system, teachers, and other parents. While survey data indicated that mothers who perceived discrimination were likely to participate less, the qualitative interviews showed that the ECEC settings were generally supportive and non-discriminatory. The ECEC services’ support resulted to be a turning point in the educational and social path of children and mothers themselves. The relationship with the teacher was depicted mostly as positive and meaningful, though the Italian parents’ network seemed harder to join, unveiling a segmented experience of social inclusion and exclusion between in and out of the school context. The findings may contribute to identifying factors facilitating or hindering immigrant parents’ full inclusion and participation in the community life.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 432-447
Issue: 4
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1869814
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1869814
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:4:p:432-447
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Lyudmila Nurse
Author-X-Name-First: Lyudmila
Author-X-Name-Last: Nurse
Author-Name: Edward Melhuish
Author-X-Name-First: Edward
Author-X-Name-Last: Melhuish
Title: Comparative perspectives on educational inequalities in Europe: an overview of the old and emergent inequalities from a bottom-up perspective
Abstract:
Educational inequalities remain a major challenge to the social cohesion of modern societies. They affect the younger generations in the society throughout their development and are also becoming more varied and entrenched. Although most inequalities are linked to socio-economic factors such as income, access to material resources, educational attainment, and social class, new emergent types of inequalities are developing rapidly: spatial segregation, residence status (native-born or immigrant) (Barnes, J. (2007). Down our way: The relevance of neighbourhoods for parenting and child development. Chichester: Wiley. ISBN 9780470030721; Lareau, A. (2014). Schools, housing and the reproduction of inequality. In A. Lareau & K. A. Goyette (Eds.), Choosing homes, choosing schools (pp. 169–206). New York: Russell Sage Foundation; Lareau, A. (2015). Cultural knowledge and social inequality. American Sociological Review 2015, 80(1), 1–27. doi:10.117/0003122414565814); and the digital divide (Bynner, J., & Heinz, W. R. (2021). Youth prospects in the digital society: Identities and inequalities in an unravelling Europe. Bristol: Policy Press; Melhuish, E. (2019). House of commons education committee (2019). Tackling disadvantage in the early years. London: HMSO. Tackling disadvantage in the early years (parliament.uk)). The use of in-depth evidence about the nature and variations in experiences of inequalities by individuals, families, communities within and across European countries is an effective way to provide up-to-date insights into evolving inequalities and the social problems that arise. This paper shifts the focus of the debate about the changing nature of inequalities in modern societies by drawing upon qualitative and mixed methods advances in studying socially disadvantaged groups. Their chances to integrate into society through the educational channels are not likely to be fully achieved without significant change in the current social environment and re-organisation of education systems. The paper draws its conclusions based on recent research and analytical reports with a focus on Europe.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 417-431
Issue: 4
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1948095
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1948095
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:4:p:417-431
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Hande Erdem-Möbius
Author-X-Name-First: Hande
Author-X-Name-Last: Erdem-Möbius
Author-Name: Özen Odağ
Author-X-Name-First: Özen
Author-X-Name-Last: Odağ
Author-Name: Yvonne Anders
Author-X-Name-First: Yvonne
Author-X-Name-Last: Anders
Title: Socio-spatial segregation in school-society relational spaces from the perspectives of Turkish immigrant mothers: “Where are the Germans?”
Abstract:
By applying a relational spatial approach, we examine how Turkish-origin mothers in Germany perceive and experience socio-spatial segregation and how they relate this issue to the quality of education received by their (pre-)school-age children. Socio-spatial segregation is examined using the concept of ‘space’, to interpret not just physical but also symbolic boundaries perceived at the intersections of school and society. To explore the mothers’ subjective perceptions, qualitative interviews with 22 mothers were conducted and analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings indicate that mothers who live in immigrant-dense neighbourhoods criticise the quality of education in their children's schools. Some of these mothers also state their worries regarding the exclusion or ‘Germanisation’ of their children in ethnic German majority schools. Strategies for selecting appropriate places of residence and school for the family, considering social and ethnic composition, are mentioned among respondents – rendering diversity both beneficial and problematic.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 464-479
Issue: 4
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1890813
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1890813
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:4:p:464-479
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Ioanna Strataki
Author-X-Name-First: Ioanna
Author-X-Name-Last: Strataki
Author-Name: Konstantinos Petrogiannis
Author-X-Name-First: Konstantinos
Author-X-Name-Last: Petrogiannis
Title: Greek Roma mothers’ relationship with education: aspirations and expectations regarding the educational future of their children
Abstract:
This paper explores Greek Roma mothers’ aspirations and expectations regarding the education of their children, analysing responses regarding three core issues: the value they ascribe to education, their educational aspirations, and their perceived resources for supporting their children’s education. The analysis is based on 27 in-depth interviews with Greek Roma mothers of 3–6 or 9–11 years-old children living in the broader Athens metropolitan area. The Super and Harkness’ theoretical framework of developmental niche guided the study. Thematic analysis according to Braun and Clark was employed for data analysis. Consistent with previous research, this study showed that Greek Roma mothers recognised the importance of school attendance and the positive effect it could have on their children’s lives in terms of upward social mobility and improvement in their standard of living. Their educational aspirations were high, and the role of poverty was a major factor in shaping attitudes towards schooling. Understanding their values and beliefs provides a more thorough perspective on designing social-educational interventions with the use of more culturally appropriate approaches.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 480-493
Issue: 4
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1850848
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1850848
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:4:p:480-493
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Katarzyna Gajek
Author-X-Name-First: Katarzyna
Author-X-Name-Last: Gajek
Author-Name: Paulina Marchlik
Author-X-Name-First: Paulina
Author-X-Name-Last: Marchlik
Title: Polish low-income mothers: conversions of human, social and cultural capitals through their lifetime
Abstract:
The aim of this article is to identify the human, social and cultural capitals of Polish low-income mothers, and to reconstruct the capitals’ conversion. The research was carried out using the method of (auto)biographical interview rooted in the tradition of symbolic interactionism, while data (autobiographical narratives about life) were collected in two Polish cities as part of the ISOTIS project, using the narrative interview technique developed by Schütze [(2008). Biography analysis on the empirical base of autobiographical narratives: How to analyse autobiographical narrative interviews – part one. European Studies on Inequalities and Social Cohesion, 1, 153–242], which was adapted by the ISOTIS project team. The analysis of women’s autobiographical narratives made it possible to reconstruct the events that were significant to them and the resources that they activated in everyday situations, compensating for the shortage of material capital. Recognition of the sequences of process structures occurring in the biographies revealed the narrators’ attitude to certain phases in their lives and the dominant forms of their activity that influenced their decisions and choices.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 494-508
Issue: 4
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1931954
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1931954
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:4:p:494-508
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Catherine Delcroix
Author-X-Name-First: Catherine
Author-X-Name-Last: Delcroix
Title: Immigrant families in France and their experience of professionals’ prejudice against their children
Abstract:
Among social policies in France, those concerning childhood are primarily aimed at populations living in deprived neighbourhoods where immigrant families live side by side with disadvantaged native French single mothers, disabled workers and long-term unemployed families. However, immigrant families are ‘captives’, and they can neither move easily due to lack financial resources nor access private housing markets because some private landlords refuse to accept immigrant tenants. This article is based on in-depth studies using parents’ life-stories, family case histories and semi-structured interviews with professionals carried out in various French cities. It was found that immigrant families, most of whom come from former French colonies (North Africa, Black Africa), have expectations about the French health, social and school systems. The future of their children is at the heart of their migration project. This paper shows how these families report making sacrifices for their children to achieve success in French society, in spite of the risks of living in poverty. But one unexpected risk lies in the prejudices of some professionals against their children. The paper sheds light on how immigrant parenting in France is still shaped by colonialism and class, and how it influences the policy response with various consequences.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 509-522
Issue: 4
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1948094
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1948094
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:4:p:509-522
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: John Connolly
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Connolly
Author-Name: Robert Pyper
Author-X-Name-First: Robert
Author-X-Name-Last: Pyper
Author-Name: Arno van der Zwet
Author-X-Name-First: Arno
Author-X-Name-Last: van der Zwet
Title: Governing ‘levelling-up’ in the UK: challenges and prospects
Abstract:
Following the Conservative Party’s victory in the 2019 UK General Election, and its success in achieving significant electoral gains across traditional Labour Party ‘red’ areas in the north of England, Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed not to let down the new Conservative voters and pledged that his government would address longstanding regional inequalities in the UK. Consequently, ‘levelling up’ became part of the public policy lexicon, and, in March 2021, the government published its Levelling Up Fund prospectus. The concept of levelling up enjoys widespread political support, has featured in important policy initiatives beyond the UK, and has been the subject of considerable theorising. This article considers how social scientists might evaluate the success or otherwise of the UK government’s levelling-up agenda. The article suggests that any evaluation of this agenda requires the need to take into account aspects of network complexity, the resource allocation arrangements attached to the policy, and what the policy signifies in terms of governance leadership in the context of delivering public value. The article concludes that the UK government’s plans risk falling short of delivering a sustained reform programme to reduce area-based inequalities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 523-537
Issue: 5
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1957495
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1957495
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:5:p:523-537
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Graham Crow
Author-X-Name-First: Graham
Author-X-Name-Last: Crow
Title: In search of role models of successful academic retirement
Abstract:
Academics retire with varying degrees of enthusiasm or reluctance, as is apparent in a variety of data sources. Autobiographies and biographies of academics report diverse trajectories, from treating retirement as a fresh start to continuing or even intensified scholarly endeavour. Fractional contracts and flexible retirement ages in most United Kingdom universities have expanded the range of possibilities available to the latest generation of retirees. Survey and interview data collected recently from later-career and retired UK-based academics reveal broad support for continuing connections with academia, unpaid and paid, although universities’ facilitation of this was found to vary. The features characterising ideal retirement, notably continued intellectual stimulation and escape from entanglement in bureaucratic processes in a revised work-life balance that offers more space for families, friends, hobbies and volunteering were easier to identify than named examples of successful role models. Making a clean break from an academic role is rare, while uncertainty about the meaning of retirement is common.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 604-617
Issue: 5
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1983204
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1983204
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:5:p:604-617
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Aimee Grant
Author-X-Name-First: Aimee
Author-X-Name-Last: Grant
Author-Name: Helen Kara
Author-X-Name-First: Helen
Author-X-Name-Last: Kara
Title: Considering the Autistic advantage in qualitative research: the strengths of Autistic researchers
Abstract:
Autism is often viewed as an impairment, preventing Autistic individuals from achieving success in the world. We argue that, Autism can be an enhancement, particularly in some professional contexts, including qualitative research. However, Autistic people experience higher rates of unemployment and underemployment (lower skills/part-time). The social model of neurodiversity highlights the role of inaccessible workplaces and practices. Alongside this, the concept of the ‘Autistic Advantage', a strengths-based model, emphasises the ways in which Autistic people are assets to the social structures in which they exist. Two late diagnosed Autistic women, acknowledged as qualitative research experts, review the literature on Disability, neurodiversity and research; outline their own professional strengths; discuss their professional strengths in the light of the literature; and make recommendations for Autistic researchers and their neurotypical colleagues. Autistic qualities and preferences can be strengths in qualitative research teams. This includes long periods of concentration (hyperfocus), leading to ‘flow’ and creative thinking, attention to detail, and detailed knowledge of topic areas that are of interest to the individual. We conclude that qualitative research teams can benefit from working inclusively with Autistic researchers. We present guidance to facilitate inclusive working, without which Autistic researchers may be Disabled by their work environment
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 589-603
Issue: 5
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1998589
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1998589
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:5:p:589-603
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Leon Feinstein
Author-X-Name-First: Leon
Author-X-Name-Last: Feinstein
Author-Name: Yousef Khalifa Aleghfeli
Author-X-Name-First: Yousef Khalifa
Author-X-Name-Last: Aleghfeli
Author-Name: Charlotte Buckley
Author-X-Name-First: Charlotte
Author-X-Name-Last: Buckley
Author-Name: Rebecca Gilhooly
Author-X-Name-First: Rebecca
Author-X-Name-Last: Gilhooly
Author-Name: Ravi K. S. Kohli
Author-X-Name-First: Ravi K. S.
Author-X-Name-Last: Kohli
Title: Conceptualising and measuring levels of risk by immigration status for children in the UK
Abstract:
Extensive evidence exists on how characteristics and circumstances of children shape their lifepaths and outcomes, and on the scale of resulting need. However, little research exists assessing the numbers of children who may be at risk of harm or disadvantage due to their immigration status. In this paper, we sought to establish the degree to which it is possible to monitor the aggregate vulnerability to risk of children in the UK by virtue of immigration status. First, we developed an observable set of immigration risk and vulnerability factors through workshop consultations that were analysed to produce a core set of variables that might be measured to assess aggregate need by virtue of immigration status. Second, we assessed through an administrative data review what is known statistically about the numbers of children at risk by virtue of immigration status in the UK. This research indicates a considerable gap in statistical knowledge of the level of vulnerability of children in the UK by virtue of immigration status. The approach we have developed provides a framework for future statistical work that might address this gap.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 538-555
Issue: 5
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.2007279
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.2007279
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:5:p:538-555
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mauricio Morales Quiroga
Author-X-Name-First: Mauricio
Author-X-Name-Last: Morales Quiroga
Title: Chile’s perfect storm: social upheaval, COVID-19 and the constitutional referendum
Abstract:
Why did one of Latin America’s most stable democracies experience a social upheaval that forced the political class to organise a referendum to rewrite the current constitution? To what degree did the COVID-19 pandemic influence the development of the constitutional referendum of October 2020? What institutional paths will open for Chile when the new constitution comes into force? In this article, it is suggested, first, that Chile successfully reduced poverty levels but inequality was reduced more slowly, which contributed to generating discontent with democracy. Second, that Chile has had a long-term crisis of representation, with a rigid party system which partially changed in 2017 due to the implementation of a new electoral system. Third, that in the 2020 constitutional referendum the lower-income sectors – whose COVID 19 infection rates were higher than the rest of the population – surprisingly turned out to vote in greater numbers than in previous elections. Fourth, that Chile is beginning a constitutional process blighted by uncertainty, polarisation and political instability, which will culminate only with the referendum in mid-2022 to approve or reject the new constitution.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 556-572
Issue: 5
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1973677
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1973677
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:5:p:556-572
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Glynis M. Breakwell
Author-X-Name-First: Glynis M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Breakwell
Title: Identity resilience: its origins in identity processes and its role in coping with threat
Abstract:
This paper describes a model of identity resilience developed within social psychology and derived specifically from the basic tenets of Identity Process Theory (IPT). Identity resilience refers to the extent to which an individual possesses an identity structure that: facilitates adaptive coping in the face of threat or uncertainty, can absorb change while retaining its subjective meaning and value, and is perceived to be able to cope with threat or trauma without experiencing permanent undesired change. Identity resilience is defined as a relatively stable self-schema based on self-esteem, self-efficacy, positive distinctiveness and continuity. This paper describes how identity resilience can be measured. It presents findings from two empirical studies: one on gay men of recollecting negative coming out experiences; the other on COVID-19 fear and perceived personal risk. Both provide evidence that greater identity resilience is associated with more adaptive reactions, less undesired identity change, and less negative affect after thinking about aversive experiences.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 573-588
Issue: 5
Volume: 16
Year: 2021
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1999488
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1999488
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:16:y:2021:i:5:p:573-588
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: S. Petroccia
Author-X-Name-First: S.
Author-X-Name-Last: Petroccia
Author-Name: A. Pitasi
Author-X-Name-First: A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Pitasi
Author-Name: A. Folloni
Author-X-Name-First: A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Folloni
Title: Introduction: identity in an open world order
Abstract:
This study is a brief introduction to the themed issue titled Identity In An Open World Order, for which we are guest editors. With this introduction, we intend to review each paper of the themed issue and state how each contributes to debates and advance knowledge and explains what they add to social science until drawing out avenues for future research. The special issue is focused on the shift of identity from maximum opening to maximum radicalisation, analysing the shaping of new forms of the civilising process, significantly facilitating the globalisation of the sovereign world order.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-2
Issue: 1
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2030492
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2030492
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:1:p:1-2
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Giorgio Porcelli
Author-X-Name-First: Giorgio
Author-X-Name-Last: Porcelli
Title: Cross-border identity as a daily resistance tactic in a time of global health emergency: Gorizia-Nova Gorica go borderless
Abstract:
Ulrich Beck represented risk society as the overcoming of the nation states as the container of the respective civil societies. The social contract which was at the base of the construction of what Anderson defined the imagined communities, sanctioned the renunciation by the populations of part of their prerogatives of freedom in favour of the security guaranteed by the sovereign power. The present global health emergency seems to have proposed the same social pact: more security and less freedom especially of movement of people segregated within the apparently resurging nation states by new borders and walls. The remaining residue of globalisation is its economic-financial globalism. Yet ethnographic analysis along border areas reveals a consolidated cross-border identity experienced in people's everyday life as a tactic of resistance against the erection of new self-containment barriers. This contribution aims to analyse the salient aspects of this phenomenon in the city of Gorizia, which for decades has constituted an integrated metropolitan area of the Italian and Slovenian zones, defining a specific cross-border identity shared by both Italian and Slovenian citizens. This identity has not given way in front of the walls that have been restored in recent months in order to contain the contagion and therefore could represents what de Certeau defined as a tactic of resistance that in the present case bears witness to the invention of an increasingly cosmopolitan daily life.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 38-50
Issue: 1
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1968479
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1968479
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: G. Cifaldi
Author-X-Name-First: G.
Author-X-Name-Last: Cifaldi
Author-Name: N. Malizia
Author-X-Name-First: N.
Author-X-Name-Last: Malizia
Title: Globalisation in the context of subjective identity, deviance and social control
Abstract:
The work addresses the issue of globalisation and deviance, in the context of subjective, social, and gender identity and forms of social control. According to many theories, over time the globalisation is destined to produce social fragmentation, destructuring of society, and increase in individual uncertainty, followed by a general amplification of forms of social deviance; moreover, the shift from social identity to cultural identity, the possibility that cultural interdependence could favour the transition from a subjectivity understood as a concept borderig with the idea of fusion of horizons, or shift to an open (cosmopolitan) subjectivity. Such uncertainties or alterations can have repercussions concerning deviance, where subjectivity prevails and leads the individual to place himself in the most useful and beneficial part of society bypassing limitations, exploiting all possible opportunities and where social control, now informal, is overtaken by self-control.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 51-62
Issue: 1
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1941228
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1941228
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:1:p:51-62
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Sara Petroccia
Author-X-Name-First: Sara
Author-X-Name-Last: Petroccia
Author-Name: Andrea Pitasi
Author-X-Name-First: Andrea
Author-X-Name-Last: Pitasi
Title: Identity and citizenship in a cosmopolitan open world
Abstract:
In this work, we focus on the idea of identity strictly linked to the idea of citizenship. It is the subject of a profound revision and an innovative proposal. Due to globalisation, global citizenship and global identity are currently the object of an attempt at a profound re-elaboration in light of the new contemporary scenarios globalisation has generated. This study provides a reading of and an important step toward cosmopolitan sociology as a paradigm, methodology, and working style, although it still implies the fight against zombie concepts – ‘culture’ and ‘identity’, according to Beck – replaced, for instance, by memetics and evolutionary contingency. We propose the critical concept of European citizenship, open to the idea of a European political and cultural space, where we seek to identify, at least roughly, the object, the spatial continuum, and the subjective profiles of an evolving identity, the European identity, until an elaborate attempt at innovation. Our starting point is the growing awareness that the ideas of world citizenship and European citizenship constitute the most desirable solution. It is not free from problematic elements, which, from our point of view, belong to three sets of issues that we have identified as the focus of this research.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 3-14
Issue: 1
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1912383
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1912383
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Massimiliano Ruzzeddu
Author-X-Name-First: Massimiliano
Author-X-Name-Last: Ruzzeddu
Title: Ascribed identities in the global era: a complex approach
Abstract:
This study focuses on the process of identity-building, wherein I aim to provide theoretical tools, other than social-psychology (especially symbolic interactionism), to help analyze the said process. Within the epistemic framework of complexity theories, I demonstrate that historical sociology provides sufficient background for understanding contemporary identity phenomena from a macro-sociological perspective. This enables the assessment of how, in the current scenario, identity dynamics can affect global phenomena and how the global social structure can affect identity-building processes worldwide. The notion of ascribed identities is, thus, crucial. In this study, I describe modernisation as a process where the ascribed characteristics (gender, religion, ethnicity) progressively lose their function of rigidly defining a person's identity, on behalf of personal achievements. Within this framework, I describe the current re-strengthening of ascribed identities and assess, through this description, which phase of the modernisation process is nowadays taking place.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 26-37
Issue: 1
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1933157
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1933157
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:1:p:26-37
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Romina Gurashi
Author-X-Name-First: Romina
Author-X-Name-Last: Gurashi
Title: World disorder and peace research: a sociological, post-nationalist reading of the pathway to sustainable peace
Abstract:
This paper offers a sociological reading of the concept of world order within the peace research debate, mindful of the complexity of systemic factors that influence changing interpretations. By addressing the clash of thought currents that have seen ‘traditionalist’ peace researchers interpret peace as a phenomenon opposed to conflict, while ‘progressive’ researchers view it as a social and sustainable development capable of mitigating conflict while containing disruptive aspects, this study critically reconstructs utopian conflict theories within a complex mosaic, which leads from conflict to a new vision of a peaceful world. In this view, there is no longer room for a concept of world order as expression of an arbitrary system of dominance, but a tendency to read social reality through the lenses of the complexity theories as a worldwide disorder. Following giants such as Kenneth Boulding and Johan Galtung, this paper investigates the four interconnected pillars of the new worldview – peace, society, economy, and nature – and the role played by conflict in defining its identity. Pursuing a vision that seeks to recompose the contents of positive peace and sustainable development, the researcher will try to understand the direction taken by the new sustainability paradigms.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 63-76
Issue: 1
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1942183
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1942183
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:1:p:63-76
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: André Folloni
Author-X-Name-First: André
Author-X-Name-Last: Folloni
Title: Individuality over identity: individual freedom and responsibility within social identity
Abstract:
Identity can be understood as the process in which people feel at home inside a class, which is defined by symbolic borders that distinguish some people from others. There are a number of sources of identity, but most relate to belonging to a group. Identities are often based on opposition against different values and life visions: anticommunists vs. antifascists, pro-life vs. abortion, traditional family vs. homo-affective relationships, etc. Moreover, there are identities based on the dimensions of race, gender, class, and religion that often oppose other people. In any of these cases, there are individuals that share a common condition and are, thus, similar and identify with one another and with the group. Political and ethical evolution, globalisation, and technology have enhanced individual freedom to a point that makes it possible for some ascribed identities to be denied in favour of others. Although the consideration of groups of people might eventually enhance the freedom of individuals, identity is also a source of violence. The ultimate individual freedom seems to be the freedom to understand ourselves as unique individuals who might think, feel, and act differently than the group to which we otherwise belong.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 15-25
Issue: 1
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1925731
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1925731
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:1:p:15-25
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Tatenda Nhapi
Author-X-Name-First: Tatenda
Author-X-Name-Last: Nhapi
Title: An exploration of the domains of the inequality trajectory in Zimbabwe
Abstract:
Pervasive natural climatic shocks and poverty combine to reinforce inequalities in Zimbabwe. Despite commitments to poverty eradication and socio-economic transformation through Sustainable Development Goals and the incoming Government of Zimbabwe’s socio-economic blueprint National Development Strategy 2021–2025, robust poverty mitigation gaps still exist. The aim of the article is to explore the domains of inequality in Zimbabwe. The article is secondary literature-based and relies on various applied action research studies, journal articles, evaluations commissioned by different Zimbabwean state and non-state actors. The article concludes by identifying pathways by which more robust pro-poor interventions can achieve desired outcomes of galvanising the social functioning of the Zimbabwean vulnerable.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 84-98
Issue: 2
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1955956
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1955956
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:2:p:84-98
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Makhura. B. Rapanyane
Author-X-Name-First: Makhura. B.
Author-X-Name-Last: Rapanyane
Title: China’s involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s resource curse mineral driven conflict: an Afrocentric review
Abstract:
Resource curse mineral driven conflicts have taken a major toll in the African continent. Observably, most of the studies which have been conducted do not address major aspects such as the international influence coming from economically powerful countries who rely heavily on Africa’s mineral resources for their economic feed. It is in this context that the current research article is driven by this scholarly major gap that China (second global biggest economy) is deployed as a test case to explore her involvements in the mineral resources curse and conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This article answers a research question on whether international major influencers such as China do have a role to play on resource curse mineral driven incessant conflicts in Africa. Equally, this article argues that China’s Sicomines deal secured with DRC is at the forefront of China’s big indirect role in the continued resource curse mineral driven conflict in the DRC’s Eastern region driven by mineral resource wealth. This argument is achieved methodologically by the deployment of document analysis and content analysis of the prevailing scholarly conversation throughout Africa.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 117-128
Issue: 2
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1919749
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1919749
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:2:p:117-128
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Author-Name: Oluwakemi Adeola Obayelu
Author-X-Name-First: Oluwakemi Adeola
Author-X-Name-Last: Obayelu
Author-Name: Abiodun Elijah Obayelu
Author-X-Name-First: Abiodun Elijah
Author-X-Name-Last: Obayelu
Author-Name: Ifeoluwase Tunrayo Awoku
Author-X-Name-First: Ifeoluwase
Author-X-Name-Last: Tunrayo Awoku
Title: Technical efficiency and socioeconomic effects on poverty dynamics among cassava-based farming households in rural Nigeria
Abstract:
Despite a large scale government investment to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, rural poverty remains widespread in Nigeria. However, technical efficiency effects on the transitory poverty have not received much attention in the poverty literature in Nigeria due to lack of nationally representative panel data that can track the poverty status of households over time. Using a two-wave panel data between 2010 and 2015, technical efficiency and socioeconomic effects on poverty dynamics of cassava-based rural farming households in Nigeria was investigated. Results showed that 14.9% of the cassava farming households moved into poverty while 31.6% exited poverty. In the long run, the probability that rural cassava-based farmers would be non-poor (74%) was higher than those remaining in poverty. Two out of five (42.2%) cassava-based farmers who were always poor exited technical inefficiency. A large number of farmers were actively involved in mono-cropping and mixed cropping but 29.7%, 26.0% and 16.6% of those involved in mono-cropping were always poor, entered and exited poverty, respectively. Tertiary education, marital status, access to extension, farm size, membership of association, farming systems and technical efficiency were factors influencing poverty transitions in rural Nigeria.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 99-116
Issue: 2
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1981425
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1981425
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:2:p:99-116
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: B. L. Gururaja
Author-X-Name-First: B. L.
Author-X-Name-Last: Gururaja
Author-Name: N. Ranjitha
Author-X-Name-First: N.
Author-X-Name-Last: Ranjitha
Title: Socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on the informal sector in India
Abstract:
The Coronavirus pandemic has affected various sectors in the world including India. The sector which has been badly affected by the pandemic is the informal sector. The present study aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the informal sector in the world, including in India. An exploratory methodology is used in the study which is comprised of policy documents, research papers, international reports, and available literature in the related area. The study finds that the pandemic has severely affected poverty, hunger, deprivation, unemployment, economic and social inequality in the informal sector in India. As a result, it increases socio-economic problems in India. The study recommends bringing policies and protection measures for the informal sector to overcome such unprecedented events in the future. The study also suggests a need for further studies on the impact of COVID-19 on the informal sector in the emerging and developing countries of the World for broader generalisation. Otherwise, which will adversely affect the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 173-190
Issue: 2
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1975809
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1975809
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:2:p:173-190
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Zakia Resshid Ehsen
Author-X-Name-First: Zakia Resshid
Author-X-Name-Last: Ehsen
Author-Name: Khurshid Alam
Author-X-Name-First: Khurshid
Author-X-Name-Last: Alam
Title: COVID-19: an age of fear, simulacra, or reality?
Abstract:
The present research aims to deconstruct the proclamatory discourses on COVID-19 circulating in the networks of cyberspaces. The study attempts to analyse whether the knowledge produced about the precautionary assumptions such as a lockdown or social distancing are intentionally highlighted through media and other social networks. For this purpose, the research borrows Jean Baudrillard’s concept of Simulacra and Simulation to analyse how the COVID-19 pandemic creates a sensation of unreal fear at the global level. This excessive sensation constructs a culture of exercising power that gradually replaces the real understanding of discrimination between reality and imitation. This projection of sustained discordance aligns with Baudrillard’s basic tenets of media simulation of reality, wherein a simulation process is a fabricated culture constructed by human beings that dominates nature through a reversal of commonsensical understanding about the relationship between nature and the culture that is constructed by man. Hence, whatever knowledge is consumed as a constructed entity remains a copy ad infinitum. The exploration demonstrates the stage of hyper-reality highlighted in the process of simulation and simulacra. The present analysis is interested in perusing the effects of interpenetration between the real/created media knowledge production through Baudrillard’s concept of simulation simulacra.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 143-156
Issue: 2
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1942964
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1942964
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Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Evans Osabuohien
Author-X-Name-First: Evans
Author-X-Name-Last: Osabuohien
Author-Name: Gbadebo Odularu
Author-X-Name-First: Gbadebo
Author-X-Name-Last: Odularu
Author-Name: Daniel Ufua
Author-X-Name-First: Daniel
Author-X-Name-Last: Ufua
Author-Name: Darline Augustine
Author-X-Name-First: Darline
Author-X-Name-Last: Augustine
Author-Name: Romanus Osabohien
Author-X-Name-First: Romanus
Author-X-Name-Last: Osabohien
Title: Socioeconomic shocks, inequality and food systems in the Global South: an introduction
Abstract:
Food and nutrition security is increasingly understood as the most vital component of human ecosystems for transforming raw materials into foods, nutrients, and health outcomes. In addition to the distortions in the global food and nutrition systems as reflected in the triple burden of undernutrition, micronutrient deficiency, and overnutrition, the COVID-19 pandemic has generated devastating socioeconomic crises in the Global South. Food supply chain fragilities have become more prominent due to inherent capacity shortages to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on food supply. From the global community’s perspective, scientific research innovations, disruptive technologies, and public health preparedness are some of the strategic pillars and critical drivers of post-pandemic socioeconomic recovery and resilience. As the COVID-19 pandemic signals a scientific paradigm shift towards accelerating food systems and public health innovation, a key takeaway for governments in the Global South, along with enterprises and communities, is scaling the implementation of selected social protection policy interventions towards rapidly absorbing future socioeconomic shocks while consolidating alternative pathways for a region-wide sustainable food system.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 77-83
Issue: 2
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2059549
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2059549
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:2:p:77-83
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Romanus Osabohien
Author-X-Name-First: Romanus
Author-X-Name-Last: Osabohien
Author-Name: Junaid Ashraf
Author-X-Name-First: Junaid
Author-X-Name-Last: Ashraf
Author-Name: Tyrone De Alwis
Author-X-Name-First: Tyrone
Author-X-Name-Last: De Alwis
Author-Name: Daniel E. Ufua
Author-X-Name-First: Daniel E.
Author-X-Name-Last: Ufua
Author-Name: Evans Osabuohien
Author-X-Name-First: Evans
Author-X-Name-Last: Osabuohien
Author-Name: Gbadebo Odularu
Author-X-Name-First: Gbadebo
Author-X-Name-Last: Odularu
Author-Name: Ambreen Noman
Author-X-Name-First: Ambreen
Author-X-Name-Last: Noman
Author-Name: Darline Augustine
Author-X-Name-First: Darline
Author-X-Name-Last: Augustine
Title: Social protection and food security nexus in the Global South: empirical evidence from West Africa
Abstract:
Social protection helps in addressing the problem of extreme poverty and enhance food security, while building resilience against shocks. Globally, within the last two decades, social protection has helped in transferring about 150 million households out of extreme poverty and food insecurity. However, only about 45% of the world population is covered by at least one social assistance. This study empirically examines the effect of social protection on food security in the Global South, using West Africa as a case study. Data were sourced from the World Development Indicators and the Country Policy Institutional Assessment for the period 2005–2018. Data cover 15 West African countries that are members of the Economic Community of West African States. To resolve the possible issue of endogeneity, and reverse causality, the study applies the generalised method of moments (GMMs). Result showed that social protection is statistically significant and has a positive effect on food security in West Africa. This implies that a 1% increase in social protection coverage may increase the level of food security by 2.1%. Therefore, the study recommends that social protection intervention should be enhanced to mitigate the impact of socioeconomics shocks faced by the poor and the most vulnerable households.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 129-142
Issue: 2
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.2005125
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.2005125
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:2:p:129-142
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Olalekan Tolulope B. Aduloju
Author-X-Name-First: Olalekan Tolulope B.
Author-X-Name-Last: Aduloju
Author-Name: Abdullateef Iyanda Bako
Author-X-Name-First: Abdullateef Iyanda
Author-X-Name-Last: Bako
Author-Name: Abdulfatai Olanrewaju Anofi
Author-X-Name-First: Abdulfatai Olanrewaju
Author-X-Name-Last: Anofi
Title: Specifics knowledge links between COVID-19 and urban food systems in Nigeria
Abstract:
COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant adverse impacts, in all ramifications, to the Nigerian society, especially in worsening the hunger situation resulting from the distortion of the urban food system. It has inhibited food choices and access for urban residents due to restrictions imposed on movement and human interactions. In Nigeria, the majority is in the informal economy who depend on the daily income for everyday needs, including food. This study, therefore, establishes specific knowledge links between COVID-19 and the urban food system. Also, it reviewed the impacts of adopted safety protocols and government policies during the COVID-19 pandemic on the Nigerian urban food supply system vis-a-vis state and non-state interventions to provide palliatives for the urban poor and vulnerable groups. The paper concluded that Nigeria has not adequately built a resilient strategy for eventualities, such as the COVID-19 emergency. Also, all measures instituted at different levels of government towards strengthening the urban food system during the pandemic were grossly inadequate as they could barely serve a fraction of the urban vulnerable. Therefore, the paper suggests a holistic policy review towards promoting resilience in the urban food system to withstand future emergencies.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 157-172
Issue: 2
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1955957
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1955957
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:2:p:157-172
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Victor Albert
Author-X-Name-First: Victor
Author-X-Name-Last: Albert
Title: Resisting eviction: the polymorphy of peripheral spatial politics in Brazil
Abstract:
Struggles against eviction are key moments in the (re)production of informal housing in Brazilian cities, as they contest the uprooting and displacement of generally low-income families. While recent research has focused on displacement due to the World Cup and Olympic Games mega-events, this paper explores struggles against eviction that are less high profile, underscoring the distributed nature of evictions in processes of urban change. Drawing on long term fieldwork, this paper examines three cases of struggles against eviction in different cities in the southeast of Brazil. This comparison highlights the everyday contestations that take place across varied geo-political terrain; the morphological constraints and opportunities for collective action of building as opposed to land occupations; the punitive and cooperative state logics with which threatened communities must engage; and drawing on recent attempts in geography to combine theorisations of territory, place, network and scale, contributes to understanding the polymorphy of spatial struggles in contemporary Brazil.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 290-303
Issue: 3
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1906936
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1906936
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:290-303
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Brodwyn Fischer
Author-X-Name-First: Brodwyn
Author-X-Name-Last: Fischer
Title: Historicising informal governance in 20th century Brazil
Abstract:
This is an article about what urban informality means when it is understood historically. In particular, it explores the relationship between urban informality and three vital threads in Brazil’s contemporary history: the evolution of racialized governance and inequality, the tense coexistence of private and public forms of power, and the complex contradictions embedded in Brazilian social struggles. Paying special attention to the way in which regulation creates informality from everyday life, I argue that Brazil’s modern urban law, from its very inception, has naturalised a version of urbanity that was both out-of-step with Brazil’s urban realities and economically unfeasible for many urban residents. By compounding poverty with the stigma of illegality, and especially by disproportionately channelling Afro-descendants into systems of urban power relations that denied them both citizenship and resources, Brazil’s urban legal and regulatory practices perpetuated racial inequality, undermined the legitimacy of liberal institutional governance, and channelled social activism in directions that, while often locally emancipatory, ultimately perpetuated Brazil’s deepest inequalities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 205-221
Issue: 3
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1919748
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1919748
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:205-221
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos
Author-X-Name-First: Andreza Aruska
Author-X-Name-Last: de Souza Santos
Title: Informal practices in politics and society in Brazil
Abstract:
In the social sciences, informality is regularly discussed as a territory: ‘the informal city’. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, precarious informal workers gained attention as people were targeted for cash transfer policies to increase adherence to and diminish the negative impact of social distancing policies. Focusing on informal workers highlighted new discussions about informality. In this Introduction, I discuss theories of informal practices in Brazil prior and during the pandemic, when this special issue ‘The prism of Brazil: informal practices in politics and society’ was conceived. This issue combines theory and ethnography to locate informality in time and space. I situate two shifts in the discussion of informality: (1) Prior to 2020, researchers started discussing informality as a practice across different scales of power, moving away from binary conceptions. (2) Informality was discussed as mutual dependency, where autonomy in housebuilding or income generation was framed as possible existence, not freedom. To counter effects of the pandemic in Brazil, targeting and locating people in ‘informal’ labour became important for conditional cash transfer, though still simplifying complex realities. In turn, disturbed social interactions highly affected co-dependency. In grappling with new scholarship focused on Brazil, I discuss the heterogeneity and dynamics of informality.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 191-204
Issue: 3
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2042588
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2042588
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:191-204
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Corentin Cohen
Author-X-Name-First: Corentin
Author-X-Name-Last: Cohen
Title: The ‘debate’ and the politics of the PCC’s informal justice in São Paulo
Abstract:
This article is an ethnographic account of the Primeiro Comando da Capital’s informal justice. I introduce a key aspect of the ‘debate’, a dispute resolution process, which has not been discussed yet: its selective and fragmented nature. This refines the idea of normative orders and the discussion on how informal justices shape legal pluralism in Latin America. I show that the effect of the PCC’s informal justice on governance should be analysed in the light of the growing disconnection between two dimensions: on the one hand, its transcendent dimension relates to a set of behaviours and performances. It has shaped the city’s code of the street and has a self regulatory effect. On the other hand, the implication of the PCC's members in dispute and arbitration is as selective as is the order of the police or the state. Access to the PCC's institutions depends on individuals’ networks, their behaviours, gatekeepers, and broader political and territorial considerations that are not grasped by approaches in term of norms, criminal governance or legal pluralism. This increasingly selective system of justice led to new perceptions of the PCC in the 2010s and a form of disappointment with the organisation in some deprived communities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 235-247
Issue: 3
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1998588
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1998588
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:235-247
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Marie Kolling
Author-X-Name-First: Marie
Author-X-Name-Last: Kolling
Title: Selling hope on credit: women's livelihoods, debt and the production of urban informality in Brazil
Abstract:
The paper analyses the embeddedness of informality in the city and ambiguities among low-income families around what constitutes the formal and informal in the arenas of housing, lottery betting and labour. Through ethnography of women navigating various dimensions of informality in Salvador, Brazil, the paper portrays the gendered circumstances and vulnerabilities of making a living and maintaining a home in peripheral neighbourhoods in the city. Specifically, the paper examines the implications of debt on women’s lives and life choices in the informal city. The paper demonstrates that formality was often beyond their means and aspirations whereas many informal practices, including credit practices, enable life to continue by providing a meagre income and the opportunity to avoid expenses such as rent and utility bills. Yet these same practices keep women on the margins of the city and the formal economy. Marginality engenders vulnerability, exacerbated during periods of turbulence as seen in the current context of Brazil’s economic downturn and struggle to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. The paper highlights state attempts and failures to reduce informality and sheds light on the production and persistence of informal housing, services and work in the city.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 262-275
Issue: 3
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1919920
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1919920
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:262-275
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Martijn Koster
Author-X-Name-First: Martijn
Author-X-Name-Last: Koster
Author-Name: Flávio Eiró
Author-X-Name-First: Flávio
Author-X-Name-Last: Eiró
Title: Clientelism in Northeast Brazil: brokerage within and outside electoral times
Abstract:
In scholarship on informal politics in Brazil, clientelism is a well-studied phenomenon. While studies of clientelism generally concentrate on elections, campaigning and vote buying, clientelist practices and their impact extend well beyond this temporal and thematic focus. This article develops an approach that builds on theories of brokerage in anthropology and social network studies. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in low-income neighbourhoods in Recife, Brazil, it shows how clientelism is based on informal exchanges both within and outside election periods. Through a study of community leaders, their projects and their search for resources, the article advances a more comprehensive understanding of how clientelism works as a social mechanism in the ordering of life in these neighbourhoods.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 222-234
Issue: 3
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1876244
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1876244
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:222-234
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Matthew Aaron Richmond
Author-X-Name-First: Matthew Aaron
Author-X-Name-Last: Richmond
Title: The pacification of Brazil's urban margins: peripheral urbanisation and dynamic order-making
Abstract:
This article explores the relationship between informal processes of urbanisation and order-making at Brazil's urban margins. It draws on research conducted in contrasting neighbourhoods in the peripheries of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, analysing the influence of different kinds of criminal organisation on these areas. It is argued that the unpredictable processes surrounding peripheral urbanisation – the irregular occupation or subdivision of land, the growth of diverse markets, physical consolidation and, in some cases, eventual formalisation – provide a dynamic backdrop against which local order and disorder are produced. To theorise these interrelated processes, I mobilise the concept of ‘pacification’. This is usually used to refer to violent state interventions against socially and racially marginalised populations that are followed by measures designed to create more lasting stability. However, I argue that, while it may ultimately have such effects, pacification should be understood as a provisional outcome of ongoing negotiations between state and criminal actors rather than as a coherent, top-down project.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 248-261
Issue: 3
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1906937
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1906937
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:248-261
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Débora Françolin Quintela
Author-X-Name-First: Débora Françolin
Author-X-Name-Last: Quintela
Author-Name: Flávia Biroli
Author-X-Name-First: Flávia
Author-X-Name-Last: Biroli
Title: Activism, justice and the centrality of care: Brazilian’s ‘mother’s against police violence’ movements
Abstract:
The article investigates the Brazilian social movement of mothers whose children were killed by State’s security agents between 2003 and 2017. Its purpose is to understand how these women define their claims for justice, as they struggle to see those responsible for the assassination of their children properly judged. Our hypothesis is that their activism politicizes motherhood and makes it a public matter. To investigate that, we conducted in-depth interviews with twelve activists on the mothers’ movements against police violence. The interviews were conducted between June and August of 2017, in two metropolitan areas in the Southeast of Brazil, the city of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and Santos (SP). They confirmed the politicization of motherhood, redefining care as resistance and a matter of justice.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 276-289
Issue: 3
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 05
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.1978533
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.1978533
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:3:p:276-289
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Pedro Romero-Balsas
Author-X-Name-First: Pedro
Author-X-Name-Last: Romero-Balsas
Title: Do Europeans want children? The significance of job-related spatial mobility
Abstract:
Job-related spatial mobility (JRSM) includes different types of movement situations (long-distance commuting, overnighting, recent relocation, long-distance relationship and multi-mobile) regarding employment and family life and it has implications both for labour market relations and for embarking on parenthood. This article aims to determine how spatial mobility at work can influence childless workers decision on having children in the context of the Great Recession, based on data collected on the occasion of the ‘Job Mobilities and Family Lives in Europe’ panel survey. Conducted in 2007 and 2010–2012, it comprised a sample of 1735 respondents in France, Germany, Spain and Switzerland. The subsample of 257 childless people was analysed using multivariable logistic regression. The findings suggest that initially a switch from non-JRSM to JRSM intensifies the importance attached to occupational reasons for not wanting children, although to a greater extent in Germany and Spain than in France.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 368-382
Issue: 4
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2074530
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2074530
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:368-382
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Junko Nishimura
Author-X-Name-First: Junko
Author-X-Name-Last: Nishimura
Title: Work–family policies and women’s job mobility: emerging divides in female workforce in Japan
Abstract:
The impact of work–family policies on women’s employment must be considered in the institutional context wherein policies are introduced. This study examines the impact of introducing work–family policies on job exit and change experienced by 25–45-year-old women since the 1990s in the Japanese context. The past three decades are characterised by a deepened labour market duality, continued basic social welfare framework in which labour market position is pivotal for entitlement, and intensified normative familialism. Analyses of panel data from the Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers show that with the development of work–family policies, women become less likely to leave their jobs. This phenomenon is, however, limited to women in regular employment. Mothers with pre-school-age children have not increased their labour market attachment. No change is noted in the tendency of women in regular employment being less likely to change their jobs. Results suggest that work–family policies have not only promoted women’s employment but also brought divides in the female labour force. Additionally, the results indicate the importance of focusing on institutional arrangements to understand how such divides are brought about.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 353-367
Issue: 4
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2092202
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2092202
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:353-367
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Mary Daly
Author-X-Name-First: Mary
Author-X-Name-Last: Daly
Title: The resilience of maternalism in European welfare states
Abstract:
This article goes in search of contemporary maternalism in European social policy. It first undertakes a review of both the meaning and forms of maternalism querying how scholarship and policy framed maternalism in Europe and, secondly, assesses its significance in today’s European welfare state. The article argues that maternalism has been crowded out from the analysis of contemporary social policy by a host of other concepts and frameworks that downgrade gender equality. However, maternalism continues to have relevance and application in policy. It is a different – less explicit – maternalism as compared with the past. The maternalism that we see today is more implicit in the sense that it is the result of a new familialism which emphasises both women’s and men’s changed roles but in a gender-neutral framing. The ‘problem’ as policy sees it is to get men more involved and active in the rearing of their children and the main way of doing that is not through major redistributive or other structural change measures but through a mild set of incentives oriented to cultural change. At the same time, women are being repositioned more centrally between family and employment but they have to do both. Policy now tends to speak in gender-neutral terms or, when it does use gender-specific terms. These lack any radical purchase.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 313-325
Issue: 4
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2061042
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2061042
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:313-325
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Author-Name: Yi Zhang
Author-X-Name-First: Yi
Author-X-Name-Last: Zhang
Title: Balancing work and family? Young mother’s coordination points in contemporary China
Abstract:
China’s transition from a centrally planned to a market economy has substantially intensified the pressure on women in playing their dual roles as care givers and income earners. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 34 young mothers in Jilin, China, this article employs the framework of ‘coordination point’ Skinner, C. [2003]. Running around in circles: Coordinating childcare education and work. Bristol: Policy Press). It looks at the daily journeys made in young women’s families and provides detailed information about the numbers of journeys take place and how these journeys are coordinated. The results show that Chinese young mothers retain the primary responsibility for childcare, not only transporting and caring for children, but taking the responsibility for organising the journeys to ensure the continuity of care. I argue that Chinese young mothers are not just taking on the ‘dual burden’ of work and care, but actually the ‘triple burden’ of worker, carer and manager as they deal with coordination points. Furthermore, grandparental support has been found to be particularly important in supporting working mothers by helping with coordination points and childcare activities. By contrast, long working hours and employed-favoured flexible arrangements, as well as the absence of childcare services for children under three, act as a hindrance to work–family balance.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 326-339
Issue: 4
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2086998
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2086998
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Author-Name: Anna Kwak
Author-X-Name-First: Anna
Author-X-Name-Last: Kwak
Title: The Polish family in transition: a shift towards greater gender equality?
Abstract:
This article aims at tracking patterns of both change and consistency with regard to women’s roles in Poland, with particular focus on family roles. This paper considers whether women’s disproportionate domestic labour and childcare constitutes the so-called double burden or a successful example of work–family balance. In addressing this question, the paper considers survey evidence concerning the gap between preferred and implemented models for the division of domestic labour and childcare. Is there a strong expectation of a gendered domestic division of labour in contemporary Poland? What do women in Poland think about this? Following Ulrich Beck’s individualisation theory (2002), as well as Hakim’s preference theory (2006), this paper provides a secondary analysis of gender roles in terms of both paid work and unpaid work. In contemporary society, ‘doing family’ leads to changes in the internal structure of family. In the Polish context, however, it is unclear whether this signals a transition to full gender equality or, rather, perpetuates inequality.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 340-352
Issue: 4
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2077419
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2077419
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:340-352
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Author-Name: Sirin Sung
Author-X-Name-First: Sirin
Author-X-Name-Last: Sung
Author-Name: Lisa Smyth
Author-X-Name-First: Lisa
Author-X-Name-Last: Smyth
Title: Gendered families: states and societies in transition
Abstract:
Family life has changed significantly in recent decades for both women and men. Fertility rates have dropped, numbers divorcing have increased, and the proportion of children born outside marriage has grown. At the same time, we have seen significant changes in state forms and institutions, with marketization becoming embedded in centrally planned economies as well as welfare states. Women increasingly participate in labour markets and higher education, as expectations of equal opportunity have expanded. Despite obvious improvements in female employment and educational attainment, however, gender inequalities persist, not least in law, policy, labour markets, and family roles. Women continue to provide the bulk of informal multigenerational care. Work and family policies vary across the globe, yet policy analysis from a gender perspective is scarce. This editorial considers research from around the world, including Europe, the former Soviet bloc, Japan, and China, to develop an understanding of the tensions and shifts in the gendered organisation of family lives. Changes and continuities in gendered inequalities shaping family life are examined, with a focus on the intersection of state, labour market, and family, as they reproduce and reshape gender norms and inequalities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 305-312
Issue: 4
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2091155
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2091155
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:305-312
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Madeleine Leonard
Author-X-Name-First: Madeleine
Author-X-Name-Last: Leonard
Author-Name: Grace Kelly
Author-X-Name-First: Grace
Author-X-Name-Last: Kelly
Title: Mams, moms, mums: lone mothers’ accounts of management strategies
Abstract:
Management strategies are typically associated with economic goals and neglect how women’s daily lives incorporate non-economic goals. To illustrate this point, the paper draws on the narratives of 32 lone mothers who have to confront various constraints in terms of how they manage the resources at their disposal paying particular attention to how their subjective accounts impact on their conceptions of the mothering role. Mothers continually strive to make decisions based on how they consider, negotiate and balance economic and non-economic responsibilities. Based on the women’s narratives, the women were categorised into three core groups: MAMs (mothers actively managing), MOMs (mothers only managing) and MUMs (mothers under managing). This typology is used to identify and explore factors that enable women to counter constraints, intensify agency and thereby enhance their ability to make decisions they believe are right for them and their families. In the process, the women demonstrate how they perceive motherhood and how their subjective evaluations of their ability/inability to match their expectations are fundamental to their sense of well-being in terms of managing everyday life.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 383-395
Issue: 4
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2021.2012586
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2021.2012586
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:383-395
Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Xiao Tan
Author-X-Name-First: Xiao
Author-X-Name-Last: Tan
Author-Name: Leah Ruppanner
Author-X-Name-First: Leah
Author-X-Name-Last: Ruppanner
Author-Name: Belinda Hewitt
Author-X-Name-First: Belinda
Author-X-Name-Last: Hewitt
Author-Name: David Maume
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Maume
Title: Restless sleep and emotional wellbeing among European full-time dual-earner couples: gendered impacts of children and workplace demands
Abstract:
Role strain theory illuminates how work and family impinge on our intimate lives in gendered ways. Drawing upon data from the 2012 European Social Survey, we estimate structural equation models to understand the links between work and family conditions on full-time dual-earning couples’ restless sleep and emotional wellbeing. Our results show that young children (aged two or under) disrupt full-time working mothers’ but not full-time working fathers’ sleep, improving emotional wellbeing for fathers but not mothers. Compared to men, women report a significantly larger association between work hour dissatisfaction and restless sleep, probably highlighting the more time strain they experience due to their family responsibility on top of their full-time work. These gender gaps are the most pronounced among those couples working longest hours, suggesting that when inter-role strain intensifies for both partners, women suffer disproportionately. Collectively, our findings identify significant and gendered consequences of childcare and workplace demands and spotlight restless sleep as a key mechanism linking women's role strain to poor emotional wellbeing.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 396-411
Issue: 4
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2033305
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2033305
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:17:y:2022:i:4:p:396-411
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# input file: RSOC_A_2073386_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20220907T060133 git hash: 85d61bd949
Author-Name: David Bailey
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Bailey
Author-Name: Alex de Ruyter
Author-X-Name-First: Alex
Author-X-Name-Last: de Ruyter
Author-Name: Claire MacRae
Author-X-Name-First: Claire
Author-X-Name-Last: MacRae
Author-Name: Jon McNeill
Author-X-Name-First: Jon
Author-X-Name-Last: McNeill
Author-Name: Julie Roberts
Author-X-Name-First: Julie
Author-X-Name-Last: Roberts
Title: Perceiving and managing Brexit risk in UK manufacturing: evidence from the midlands
Abstract:
This paper assesses the risk implications of Brexit for UK-based, manufacturers, drawing on data generated from semi-structured interviews with senior managers and directors in the advanced manufacturing sector of the West Midlands region of the UK in 2021. The UK’s departure from the EU has led to increased socio-economic risk for manufacturing businesses, requiring careful management by the latter. This paper draws on elements of the Kasperson et al. [1988. The social amplification of risk: A conceptual framework. Risk Analysis, 8(2), 177–187] Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF) to explore the communication of risk and uncertainty to businesses, during and post-Brexit discussions. This paper then examines the extent to which risk arises from changes to supply chains and production regimes and in turn examines consequences for the management of risk.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 468-484
Issue: 5
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2073386
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2073386
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# input file: RSOC_A_2153158_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20220907T060133 git hash: 85d61bd949
Author-Name: Monique H. Harrison
Author-X-Name-First: Monique H.
Author-X-Name-Last: Harrison
Author-Name: Philip A. Hernandez
Author-X-Name-First: Philip A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Hernandez
Title: Supporting interviews with technology: how software integration can benefit participants and interviewers
Abstract:
The interview experience is only one component of the process of interviewing – software programmes can coordinate the pre-interview steps and begin a digitally-mediated relationship with participants long before the actual interview commences. This essay provides examples of how researchers can maximise their time and energy by digitally coordinating the steps of the interview process, thus reducing the logistical time and stress for all involved. Smoothly tying together the user experience from the first click of interest, to consent, to scheduling, and finally payment, confers many advantages to both the interviewer and interviewee. Based on a study with over 700 online interviews conducted from 2019 to 2022, this article gives insight into the platforms and customisation options that allowed a relatively small research team to conduct a large qualitative study. The automation of portions of the typical process allowed us to spend more of our time and intellectual resources on the interviews and initial analysis rather than logistics. We discuss the process of digital consent, interview scheduling using calendar managers, and standardised communication coordination. We describe the participant experience, give detailed descriptions of how we integrated the software associated with interviews, and provide our insights on the process. This article is a timely guide for qualitative researchers to lessen their load by coordinating the logistics of interviewing more efficiently.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 517-527
Issue: 5
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2153158
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2153158
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Author-Name: Andrew Morrison
Author-X-Name-First: Andrew
Author-X-Name-Last: Morrison
Title: Social and private goods: the duality of unpaid internships
Abstract:
This review paper offers a political philosophy perspective on the place that unpaid internships occupy within the UK’s graduate labour market. By reviewing a range of sociologically-oriented academic and sources, the paper concludes that we lack an understanding of the deeper historical and philosophical roots of the contentions surrounding this area of work. To address this, the review locates unremunerated internships at the intersections of two opposing liberal philosophies in relation to work: an egalitarian and pluralist strain wherein a job is a key social good; classic political economy in which an individual’s labour is a private good. The paper argues that this contending duality is the origin both of the criticisms that unpaid internships attract for perpetuating social elitism and their persistence in the face of such criticisms.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 528-540
Issue: 5
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2028000
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2028000
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# input file: RSOC_A_2150284_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20220907T060133 git hash: 85d61bd949
Author-Name: Susan Michie
Author-X-Name-First: Susan
Author-X-Name-Last: Michie
Author-Name: Philip Ball
Author-X-Name-First: Philip
Author-X-Name-Last: Ball
Author-Name: James Wilsdon
Author-X-Name-First: James
Author-X-Name-Last: Wilsdon
Author-Name: Robert West
Author-X-Name-First: Robert
Author-X-Name-Last: West
Title: Lessons from the UK’s handling of Covid-19 for the future of scientific advice to government: a contribution to the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry
Abstract:
Despite strong expertise and a sophisticated scientific advisory system, the UK’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been, and continues to be, weak in terms of preventing death and illness, and damage to the economy. This article argues that an important reason for this failure has been that the policies of the UK government have at critical times failed to take adequate account of scientific evidence, while at the same time attempts have been made to blame scientists for resulting policy failures. This paper analyses the role of scientific advice in addressing Covid-19 in the UK and draws three lessons for how such expertise can be better deployed in the future. It argues that: (1) Government scientific advisors and advisory bodies should be more independent of political influence and interference; (2) Government scientific advisors should be empowered to challenge misrepresentation and misuse by decision-makers of the scientific evidence, and undermining of public-health policies; and (3) Government scientific advice should be more transparent and advisors should engage more proactively with the public. Acting on these lessons will be important for ongoing handling of the current crisis, for the current UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry, and for the UK’s preparedness for future crises.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 418-433
Issue: 5
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2150284
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2150284
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# input file: RSOC_A_2161237_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20220907T060133 git hash: 85d61bd949
Author-Name: David Bailey
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Bailey
Title: Editorial: Contemporary social science open access (CSS open)
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 413-417
Issue: 5
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2161237
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2161237
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# input file: RSOC_A_2044069_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20220907T060133 git hash: 85d61bd949
Author-Name: Hartwig Pautz
Author-X-Name-First: Hartwig
Author-X-Name-Last: Pautz
Author-Name: Damian Dempsey
Author-X-Name-First: Damian
Author-X-Name-Last: Dempsey
Title: Covid-19 and the crisis of food insecurity in the UK
Abstract:
Over the past decade, food insecurity has been increasing across the United Kingdom. The 2020/21 Covid-19 global pandemic has further aggravated food insecurity. This article examines how Covid-19 affected food insecurity through, first, a review of existing literature on the UK and, second, through presenting research results from Scotland with a focus on four groups considered to be specifically vulnerable to food insecurity – namely people with a disability, the homeless, young carers, and (destitute) asylum seekers. The article finds that Covid-19 impacted food insecurity in three ways: (1) it led to rising need driven mainly by income reductions and income crises; (2) it created new and intensified food access challenges; and (3) it had a significant impact on the operation of food banks and their important ‘wrap-around’ services (e.g. benefits advice). The article concludes with a discussion of the role of the social sciences in understanding the food insecurity crisis during Covid-19. In summary, the article adds to the developing understanding of the consequences of Covid-19 on food insecurity, the effectiveness of policy measures and the role that social sciences can play in times of crisis.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 434-449
Issue: 5
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2044069
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2044069
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# input file: RSOC_A_2097733_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20220907T060133 git hash: 85d61bd949
Author-Name: Colin Atkinson
Author-X-Name-First: Colin
Author-X-Name-Last: Atkinson
Title: Security politics and techno-securitisation in Star Wars: from the Fall of the Jedi to the Reign of the Empire
Abstract:
The Star Wars franchise – and in particular the ‘in-universe’ period from the Fall of the Jedi to the Reign of the Empire – represents germane ground for the critical analysis of security in both everyday life and extraordinary circumstances. Although beginning with the films of the ‘prequel trilogy’ (1999, 2002, 2005) this period has most recently been covered in the animated television series Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021 –). Deepening the contribution of criminology towards a diverse and critical transdisciplinary field of security studies, this paper conducts a multimodal critical discourse analysis of season one of The Bad Batch. In doing so it describes how, in its depiction of a newly established Imperial regime, the Star Wars franchise has continued to engage with the politics of security through its exploration of the processes and practices of techno-securitisation. The Bad Batch thus acts as an ideological critique of developments in the late-modern securityscape. The discussion section reflects upon how the persistence of politics in the ‘Disney era’ of Star Wars storytelling, and of security politics in particular, indicates the limits of ‘Disneyfication’. The paper concludes by emphasising the value in bridging divides between distinct disciplinary approaches in the study of security.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 501-516
Issue: 5
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2097733
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2097733
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# input file: RSOC_A_2147987_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20220907T060133 git hash: 85d61bd949
Author-Name: Ritika Arora-Kukreja
Author-X-Name-First: Ritika
Author-X-Name-Last: Arora-Kukreja
Title: Relocating the political in education: why we need to revisit the marketisation of education in the contemporary political climate
Abstract:
This article adopts tools from political science and political anthropology to re-evaluate the prevailing discourses of accountability and marketisation that continue to shape education policies across the developing world. Following an exploration of studies promoting the quasi-marketisation of education and reforms that empower parents to exercise their voice and choice, this paper adopts principal–agent theory, social dominance theory and concept of the everyday to argue that such community-centric policies – which were initially devised to offset the capture of education by the state – may de facto lead to the education landscape becoming intrinsically politicised and reflective of national political discourses, albeit not in the way we conventionally believe. It argues that parents can no longer be regarded as passive, apolitical agents in education discourse. Rather, citizens’ interests are continually in conflict, and in a marketised system designed to respond to the interests of more dominant parents, schools may become sites in which inter-group contestations and competing political beliefs are reified. This article invites us to revise our current understanding of education and politics, and question: What – or whom – do we define as political, and why is this becoming increasingly important?
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 485-500
Issue: 5
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2147987
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2147987
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Author-Name: Amanda N. Brumwell
Author-X-Name-First: Amanda N.
Author-X-Name-Last: Brumwell
Author-Name: Gbotemi B. Babatunde
Author-X-Name-First: Gbotemi B.
Author-X-Name-Last: Babatunde
Author-Name: Sonjelle Shilton
Author-X-Name-First: Sonjelle
Author-X-Name-Last: Shilton
Author-Name: Jade Tso
Author-X-Name-First: Jade
Author-X-Name-Last: Tso
Author-Name: Michael W. Wilson
Author-X-Name-First: Michael W.
Author-X-Name-Last: Wilson
Author-Name: Noeline Xulu
Author-X-Name-First: Noeline
Author-X-Name-Last: Xulu
Author-Name: Jamila K. Adam
Author-X-Name-First: Jamila K.
Author-X-Name-Last: Adam
Author-Name: Monique M. Marks
Author-X-Name-First: Monique M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Marks
Author-Name: Guillermo Z. Martínez-Pérez
Author-X-Name-First: Guillermo Z.
Author-X-Name-Last: Martínez-Pérez
Title: Self-testing for COVID-19 in Durban and Eastern Cape, South Africa: a qualitative inquiry targeting decision-takers
Abstract:
Innovative diagnostic solutions are essential to improve COVID-19 case detection and slow its spread in resource-constrained settings. To understand how South African communities may utilise rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen self-testing and react to self-test results, we conducted a qualitative study, involving semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, of healthcare workers, representatives of civil society groups, and potential self-testing implementors. A sex- and location-sensitive thematic analysis approach was used to assess how 52 decision-takers on self-testing roll-out in South Africa perceive the value and utility of this innovative diagnostic approach. Informants suggested South Africans might value a device that allows them to self-test in private, at their own convenience, while avoiding the risk of social stigma and having to wait for COVID-19 test results in a facility. They also emphasised the need for awareness and sensitisation campaigns and to ensure pre-/post-self-test counselling services are easily accessible. Collaboration with traditional leaders and community-based organisations would improve results communication and linkage to counselling and confirmatory testing. SARS-CoV-2 self-testing was perceived to be acceptable to a population already sensitised to the use of HIV self-testing, being a decentralised solution that would help reduce the incidence of COVID-19 and prevent any further deterioration of socio-economic indicators.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 450-467
Issue: 5
Volume: 17
Year: 2022
Month: 12
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2147986
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2147986
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Author-Name: Simone Digennaro
Author-X-Name-First: Simone
Author-X-Name-Last: Digennaro
Author-Name: Alice Iannaccone
Author-X-Name-First: Alice
Author-X-Name-Last: Iannaccone
Title: Being a docile body: the effects on preadolescents of the social restrictions imposed during COVID-19
Abstract:
During the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, school activities in Italy have been provided through distance learning, with a consequent impact on the body of the students and their physical activity habits. The aim of this paper was to investigate the impact of a programme to sensibilize preadolescents towards the adoption of active lifestyles and to ‘activate’ the body to counteract the negative effects of lockdown. The sample was composed of 160 secondary school scholars. The intervention was conducted online; it comprised daily steps count with pedometers, motivational speeches and classes promoting tools for active lifestyles. The levels of physical activity, the perception of the impact of lockdown and the changes in terms of active lifestyle habits were assessed pre- and post-intervention. Effects on scholars’ lifestyles were investigated by focus groups. Before the intervention, scholars reported low levels of physical activity that has been increased through the intervention. Focus groups showed that scholars who were physically active positively coped with the negative effects of the lockdown. The results suggested that school activities should be refocused on the individual body for reconstructing the psychophysical well-being and limiting the marks left by the creation of docile bodies due to social restrictions.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 90-108
Issue: 1
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2162571
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2162571
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# input file: RSOC_A_2161781_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: E. Michelini
Author-X-Name-First: E.
Author-X-Name-Last: Michelini
Author-Name: N. Bortoletto
Author-X-Name-First: N.
Author-X-Name-Last: Bortoletto
Author-Name: A. Porrovecchio
Author-X-Name-First: A.
Author-X-Name-Last: Porrovecchio
Title: Editorial. Covid-19, sport and society
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 1-6
Issue: 1
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2161781
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2161781
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# input file: RSOC_A_2155869_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Giovannipaolo Ferrari
Author-X-Name-First: Giovannipaolo
Author-X-Name-Last: Ferrari
Author-Name: Paolo Diana
Author-X-Name-First: Paolo
Author-X-Name-Last: Diana
Author-Name: Yingxin Tan
Author-X-Name-First: Yingxin
Author-X-Name-Last: Tan
Title: Tennis coaching in China before and during COVID-19. The mediatisation of a precarious profession
Abstract:
In China, due to the large-scale lockdowns and strict prevention policies of COVID-19, Chinese tennis coaches have started to open a new front of their career by offering online tennis training on social media platforms. This study introduces mediatisation theory as a theoretical framework to investigate the mediatisation process of tennis coaching on social media platforms in China. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to analyse three dimensions of Chinese tennis coaches' professional and living conditions: the career trajectory of tennis coaches, the mediatisation of the profession of tennis coaching, and the financial crisis faced by tennis clubs and the tennis industry. We monitored the BiliBili channels of the most popular tennis vloggers on BiliBili and analysed their media practices. We also collected data from job search websites and conducted in-depth interviews with 30 Chinese tennis coaches. The findings are as follows: The new approach has gradually gained the support of coaches thanks to its advantages such as flexibility, accessibility, self-promotion and marketing strategies. The mediatisation of tennis training has accelerated the popularisation of tennis in China, as have relevant government regulations regarding self-promotion platforms.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 41-57
Issue: 1
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2155869
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2155869
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# input file: RSOC_A_2172204_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Barbara Mazza
Author-X-Name-First: Barbara
Author-X-Name-Last: Mazza
Author-Name: Giovanna Russo
Author-X-Name-First: Giovanna
Author-X-Name-Last: Russo
Title: The value of esports football. Towards new models of consumption and participatory experience in Italy
Abstract:
The growth of esports due to the suspension of live sporting events highlights a change in the consumption of ‘mediated' sports. While traditional sports have come to a halt, the data highlights how, conversely, the number of following e-sports events on streaming platforms such as Twitch has increased. Starting from the recent digital acceleration of sport world (for techniques and regulations of the game, dissemination sports content, management processes) the paper investigates on how much the relationship between football and efootball can affect the reconfiguration of dynamics of play and use and business models. Through a quantitative analysis, we wanted to understand the behaviour of e-football spectators and e-sportsmen who experience Fifa at an amateur level. The research was conducted in 2021 in Italy, involving 316 young adults (18–35 y.o.) belonging to the community of Fifa eplayers and viewers present on the Twitch platform. The main aspect that emerges from the research field is the ‘sportification' of e-sports as a process of participatory experience within a complementary consumption between football and e-football.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 109-124
Issue: 1
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2172204
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2172204
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# input file: RSOC_A_2155868_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Alessio Norrito
Author-X-Name-First: Alessio
Author-X-Name-Last: Norrito
Author-Name: Carolynne Mason
Author-X-Name-First: Carolynne
Author-X-Name-Last: Mason
Title: Lampedusa, football and COVID-19: transitions at the border and the role of sport
Abstract:
Lampedusa is a remote Italian island, known as a border zone and European point of entry for many asylum-seekers coming by boat from North Africa. This research seeks to understand the value of sport in Lampedusa for its local and migrant population, in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with experts from the local community. Results show that sport in Lampedusa is often synonymous with football. Football has always been informally practiced in the island but has proved to be of practical social value to both asylum-seekers and the local population. The pandemic has however interrupted the playful interactions occurring between asylum-seekers and the local youth. Findings show that the interactions and connections enabled through football can be fundamental for asylum-seekers to find direction in their journey but since the start of the pandemic, these interactions have become limited, and serve exclusively as temporary moments of relief. These changes have also impacted the local population, anxious about the transition occurring within the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in worries about the condition of the asylum-seeking population who are proceeding in their European journey without the assistance of the locals.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 26-40
Issue: 1
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2155868
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2155868
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# input file: RSOC_A_2155867_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Malou Grubben
Author-X-Name-First: Malou
Author-X-Name-Last: Grubben
Author-Name: Remco Hoekman
Author-X-Name-First: Remco
Author-X-Name-Last: Hoekman
Author-Name: Gerbert Kraaykamp
Author-X-Name-First: Gerbert
Author-X-Name-Last: Kraaykamp
Title: Does the COVID-pandemic affect the educational and financial inequality in weekly sport participation in the Netherlands?
Abstract:
This paper explores the impact of the COVID-pandemic on educational and financial inequality in level of weekly sport participation in the Netherlands. Restrictions due to the COVID-pandemic resulted in several barriers for people to continue sport participation. Lower educated people and individuals with financial problems are expected to have relatively few resources to adapt to the COVID restrictions, and therefore, more likely will decrease their level of weekly sport participation. Using high-quality data from the Dutch Longitudinal Internet Studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) panel, we are able to compare individual sport behaviour before and during the COVID-pandemic. Our findings suggest that the level of weekly sport participation of lower educated people and individuals with financial problems decreased more strongly during the COVID-pandemic. This implies that indeed the COVID-pandemic resulted in increasing educational and financial inequality in sport participation. With these results, our study contributes to a body of knowledge on the broader societal impact of COVID on issues of social exclusion. It may also inform policymakers to critically assess and intensify sport promotion policies directed at vulnerable groups in society.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 7-25
Issue: 1
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2155867
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2155867
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# input file: RSOC_A_2157473_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Klára Kovács
Author-X-Name-First: Klára
Author-X-Name-Last: Kovács
Author-Name: Zsolt Békési
Author-X-Name-First: Zsolt
Author-X-Name-Last: Békési
Author-Name: Krisztina Győri
Author-X-Name-First: Krisztina
Author-X-Name-Last: Győri
Author-Name: Dávid Papp
Author-X-Name-First: Dávid
Author-X-Name-Last: Papp
Title: Gender differences in the characteristics of gaming and esport aspirations in Hungary
Abstract:
In our paper, we present the research findings of our empirical survey conducted in Hungary related to the gender differences in the use, motivations, habits, and aspirations in video games and esports. The most important theoretical foundations of our research are provided by the critical feminist theory and, within that, the critical agenda and the feminist cultural studies (Birrell, 2000). These writings raise awareness of the fact that sport still has extremely masculine dimensions that have preserved the original uneven distribution of power for centuries. We consider esports as such a domain. Our research question relates to the gender proportions in video gaming, and we include the characteristics of the games played and the motivations of the players in our observations. In order to achieve the desired data, an online inventory was used (N = 338). Our results highlight that although modernisation and technical development profoundly transformed and determined our daily life, including our attitude to free time and sports, regardless of gender, social and geographical situation, the changes at the same time bring about certain forms of inequalities.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 58-75
Issue: 1
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2157473
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2157473
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# input file: RSOC_A_2161702_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Jean-Charles Basson
Author-X-Name-First: Jean-Charles
Author-X-Name-Last: Basson
Author-Name: Loïc Sallé
Author-X-Name-First: Loïc
Author-X-Name-Last: Sallé
Title: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sports-based youth development: the case of the rugby association ‘Rebonds!’
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on organisations that work with economically disadvantaged youth such as Rebonds! [Pick yourself up!], an association that provides educational rugby programmes to underprivileged young people in Toulouse, France. During the pandemic, this association experienced social change in the form of a double movement. First, its actors sought to preserve the fundamentals of the socialisation process that structures their work, which encourages young people to open up to the world and engage their bodies, while also introducing a new range of socialisation activities to address precarity and social inequality in healthcare. Second, because it was able to adapt its programmes to environmental constraints and remain strongly connected to all its partners, the association came to be perceived as a strong, stable, and seasoned community resource. At the same time, Rebonds! was able, during this period, to strengthen its legitimacy and the recognition it received from public institutions.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 76-89
Issue: 1
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 01
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2161702
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2161702
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# input file: RSOC_A_2190157_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Graham Brownlow
Author-X-Name-First: Graham
Author-X-Name-Last: Brownlow
Title: ‘Northern Ireland and the Economic Consequences of Brexit: taking back control or perpetuating underperformance?’
Abstract:
This paper investigates the economic implications of Brexit by making recourse to original archival studies as well as the literatures concerning modern British and European economic history as well as the Two Irelands. An overriding lesson is that Northern Ireland, like the UK as whole, has suffered from weaknesses in competition and productivity that have given rise to long-run economic underperformance. Only after Brentry was this legislation reversed. Yet while European integration overall tended to improve economic performance, political instability tended to offset these benefits. Despite the political settlement in 1998, much room for improvement remains. Brexit, and in particular the Protocol, has complicated matters further. While the Windsor Framework offers greater economic opportunities than the original Protocol, seising these opportunities is far from inevitable. A better regional industrial policy is possible if the right lessons emerge from the historical evidence. Such a regional policy requires consideration of 'place-based' issues and in turn consideration of such issues return us to the importance of historical factors in determining long-run economic performance. Economic history matters more than is often understood.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 168-184
Issue: 2
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2190157
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2190157
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# input file: RSOC_A_2192043_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Jun Du
Author-X-Name-First: Jun
Author-X-Name-Last: Du
Author-Name: Emine Beyza Satoglu
Author-X-Name-First: Emine Beyza
Author-X-Name-Last: Satoglu
Author-Name: Oleksandr Shepotylo
Author-X-Name-First: Oleksandr
Author-X-Name-Last: Shepotylo
Title: How did Brexit affect UK trade?
Abstract:
This paper assesses the effect of Brexit implemented through the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement on UK trade. Using COMTRADE data for the period of 2019 up to 2022Q1, and the method of synthetic difference-in-differences (SDID), we build a counterfactual UK that did not experience the change in its trade relationships with the EU. We show that the negative, large, and statistically significant impact of the TCA on UK exports has persisted over the examined period. This highlights the continuing export challenges that UK firms have faced since the TCA was put in force and underscores the need to systemically think about the UK’s post-Brexit trade policy. Our further analysis suggests that the UK has experienced a significant contraction in its trading capacity in terms of the varieties of goods being exported to the EU due to the TCA, which signify some serious long-term concerns about the UK’s future exporting and productivity.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 266-283
Issue: 2
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2192043
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2192043
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# input file: RSOC_A_2192700_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: David Bailey
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Bailey
Author-Name: Lisa De Propris
Author-X-Name-First: Lisa
Author-X-Name-Last: De Propris
Author-Name: Alex De Ruyter
Author-X-Name-First: Alex
Author-X-Name-Last: De Ruyter
Author-Name: David Hearne
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Hearne
Author-Name: Raquel Ortega-Argilés
Author-X-Name-First: Raquel
Author-X-Name-Last: Ortega-Argilés
Title: Brexit, trade and UK advanced manufacturing sectors: a Midlands’ perspective
Abstract:
The paper examines how Brexit has impacted on Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers in the UK Midlands, and to what extent such firms are reconfiguring their supply chains with the increase in trade barriers with Brexit. To do this, the paper aims to add to macro studies in the area by using a mixed-methods approach that combines descriptive quantitative analysis of secondary data with a complementary qualitative research analysis based on a novel interview dataset. The latter is generated from 14 semi-structured interviews conducted in late 2021 with senior managers and directors in advanced manufacturing firms across the East and West Midlands regions of the UK. A key finding of this paper is that the imposition of new non-tariff barriers through Brexit has proved particularly challenging to smaller firms in manufacturing supply chains. The findings of our research highlight the need for policy support for smaller firms engaging in EU-wide supply chains, particularly around skillsets and access to talent, cost reduction for exports and facilitating trade.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 250-265
Issue: 2
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2192700
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2192700
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# input file: RSOC_A_2192044_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Ludovic Highman
Author-X-Name-First: Ludovic
Author-X-Name-Last: Highman
Author-Name: Simon Marginson
Author-X-Name-First: Simon
Author-X-Name-Last: Marginson
Author-Name: Vassiliki Papatsiba
Author-X-Name-First: Vassiliki
Author-X-Name-Last: Papatsiba
Title: Higher education and research: multiple negative effects and no new opportunities after Brexit
Abstract:
Brexit has weakened collaboration between UK higher education institutions and their EU counterparts, with negative implications for UK resources and capacity, without leading to new global strategies and opportunities. In 2020 the UK government withdrew from the Erasmus student mobility scheme and introduced the Turing scheme. While Erasmus had supported both outward UK student mobility and inward movement from Europe, Turing supports only outward mobility. In 2021–2022 the cessation of UK tuition fee arrangements for EU citizens entering UK degrees led to a sharp drop in numbers. Collaborative European research programmes have been crucial in building the infrastructure and network centrality of UK science and in attracting EU citizen researchers, but at the time of writing future UK participation as a non-member country was unresolved. The long uncertainty about this, coupled with the cessation of free people movement, have triggered the exit of some UK-based researchers and declines in UK researchers' competitiveness in European grants, EU doctoral students and established researchers entering UK, and EU country citizens as a proportion of UK academic staff. In addition, the loss of access to European structural funds has slowed the modernisation of UK higher education institutions and reduced their social contributions.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 216-234
Issue: 2
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2192044
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2192044
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# input file: RSOC_A_2197881_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Michael Keating
Author-X-Name-First: Michael
Author-X-Name-Last: Keating
Title: Regulation in Scotland and Wales after Brexit
Abstract:
While the United Kingdom was a member of the EU, a number of regulatory competences were shared between the EU and devolved authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. As Northern Ireland is governed by the Protocol, which requires dynamic alignment with most EU regulations, it is a case apart and this article deals only with Scotland and Wales. Where repatriated competences should go after Brexit has been a matter of political contention. Attempts to centralise at the UK level have been rebuffed so far but tensions remain. Common Frameworks are designed to deal with shared competencies but are inconsistent and work best with technical matters. UK measures regarding the application of international trade agreements, the EU Internal Market Act, legislation on subsidy control and professional qualifications undermine the regulatory autonomy of Scotland and Wales. The real test will come if the UK diverges radically from EU regulations while the devolved governments resist.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 185-196
Issue: 2
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2197881
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# input file: RSOC_A_2189294_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Sarah Hall
Author-X-Name-First: Sarah
Author-X-Name-Last: Hall
Author-Name: Martin Heneghan
Author-X-Name-First: Martin
Author-X-Name-Last: Heneghan
Title: Brexit and ‘missing’ financial services jobs in the United Kingdom
Abstract:
In this paper, we examine the impact of Brexit on financial services employment in the UK. Initial estimates suggested that around 10,000 jobs could relocate from London to other EU financial centres as a result of Brexit. Official statistics show that the total number of job relocations that has taken place to date is lower than these estimates, but concerns have been raised concerning ‘missing’ financial services jobs as employment growth has been relatively flat since Brexit. We analyse the geographies of these ‘missing’ jobs and examine the different causes in wholesale and retail banking. Our findings suggest that it is the combination of Brexit alongside the changing nature of financial work itself that best account for ‘missing’ financial services jobs in the UK. As a result, Brexit is far from done and, in the case of financial services, it is likely to be some time before its full impacts are fully understood.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 235-249
Issue: 2
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2189294
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2189294
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# input file: RSOC_A_2197874_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Irene McMaster
Author-X-Name-First: Irene
Author-X-Name-Last: McMaster
Author-Name: Heidi Vironen
Author-X-Name-First: Heidi
Author-X-Name-Last: Vironen
Title: Gone but not forgotten (yet): Interreg in post-Brexit UK
Abstract:
Territorial cooperation has a long history in the UK. Numerous stakeholders in the UK have a long-standing and active engagement in the EU’s Territorial Cooperation Programmes (also known as ETC and Interreg). Launched in 1990, Interreg is the EU’s framework for territorial cooperation, enabling joint actions and policy exchanges between national, regional and local actors from different Member States. Brexit led to the decision on the part of the UK Government not to participate in EU territorial cooperation programmes after 2021, except for the PEACE Plus programme covering Northern Ireland. This article examines what will be lost because of this decision, especially in terms of what, where and what types of organisations are impacted, and what will be ‘missed’ in terms of the added value associated with territorial cooperation. At a time when cooperation is seen as a key lever to support efforts in addressing major economic, political, social and environmental challenges, and border relations, the article examines what, if anything, is being/can be done to fill the gaps? The article is based on documentary analysis, programme data and engagement with policy, programme and project stakeholders.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 197-215
Issue: 2
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2197874
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# input file: RSOC_A_2216185_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: David Bailey
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Bailey
Author-Name: David Hearne
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Hearne
Author-Name: Leslie Charles Budd
Author-X-Name-First: Leslie
Author-X-Name-Last: Charles Budd
Title: People, places and policies beyond Brexit
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 125-131
Issue: 2
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2216185
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2216185
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# input file: RSOC_A_2192516_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Jonathan Portes
Author-X-Name-First: Jonathan
Author-X-Name-Last: Portes
Author-Name: John Springford
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Springford
Title: The impact of the post-Brexit migration system on the UK labour market
Abstract:
The end of free movement and the introduction of the post-Brexit migration system represent a major structural change to the UK labour market. We provide a descriptive assessment of the impact on a sectoral basis. We examine how overall labour force growth has differed between sectors, both overall and in terms of the extent to which this growth was driven by migrant workers, both from the EU and from outside the EU, prior to the pandemic. We construct counterfactuals, which we contrast with observed outturns, as well as with data on visas issued by sector. Our analysis suggests that, although migration overall is currently running at least at pre-pandemic levels, the post-Brexit migration system has produced, as designed, a clear break with pre-Brexit trends, reducing labour supply for some sectors. There remains a substantial ‘shortfall’ in migration for work. However, these impacts differ very considerably between sectors. In lower-skilled sectors, work-related migration under free movement does not appear to have been replaced by additional visa issuance under the new system. Meanwhile, in higher skilled sectors, visa issuance has increased, and does appear to be consistent with levels of migration that are broadly in line with pre-pandemic, pre-Brexit trend.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 132-149
Issue: 2
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2192516
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2192516
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# input file: RSOC_A_2188486_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20230119T200553 git hash: 724830af20
Author-Name: Catherine Barnard
Author-X-Name-First: Catherine
Author-X-Name-Last: Barnard
Author-Name: Fiona Costello
Author-X-Name-First: Fiona
Author-X-Name-Last: Costello
Title: When (EU) migration came to Great Yarmouth
Abstract:
This article examines the impact of EU migration on Great Yarmouth, a coastal town in Norfolk, England. Great Yarmouth had the fifth highest ‘leave’ vote nationally in the UK Brexit referendum, at over 70%. In this article, we want to show that Great Yarmouth has always been a town of migration but the sudden arrival of large numbers of EU nationals, exercising their free movement rights, in a relatively short space of time has created divisions in the town, divisions which may take decades to heal. Using legal geography as a prism, we offer an insight into the complex and evolving realities of European integration – and resistance to it. We argue that because EU free movement is a process, not an event, it has long-term effects, effects which have not, to-date, been fully recognised and explored. What we observe in Great Yarmouth is that free movement has, at best, been unevenly experienced by both movers and stayers and, at worst, has a divisive effect on the local community. Only by understanding the experience of migration on a particular community over time can the impact of free movement be properly understood, its consequences continuing long after Brexit.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 150-167
Issue: 2
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 03
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2188486
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2188486
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# input file: RSOC_A_2217655_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Ron Martin
Author-X-Name-First: Ron
Author-X-Name-Last: Martin
Author-Name: Peter Sunley
Author-X-Name-First: Peter
Author-X-Name-Last: Sunley
Title: Capitalism divided? London, financialisation and the UK’s spatially unbalanced economy
Abstract:
The UK economy is one of the most geographically unequal among OECD countries, with London's lead having increased since the mid-1980s. The UK is also one of the most centralised, in terms of the overwhelming concentration of economic, financial, political and institutional power in the capital, London. A key question, therefore, is whether the latter feature is a cause of the former. This paper focuses on one aspect of this question, namely London's dominating role in the UK's financialised, neoliberal-globalised growth model that has held sway for the past forty years. It is often argued that London's pre-eminence in finance acts as an engine of national growth, delivering benefits to all regions through ‘trickle down' effects. We argue that these claims are exaggerated and that much more need to be known about London's negative impacts on other regions and cities, about the geographical dimensions of what some have labelled the ‘finance curse'. We argue that such negative effects are integral to the growth of regional inequality in the UK. The Government's new ‘Levelling Up’ policy, though innovative in some respects, remains subordinate to the promotion of London and finance, and is unlikely to decentre and spatially rebalance the economy.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 381-405
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2217655
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2217655
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# input file: RSOC_A_2207555_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Luke Telford
Author-X-Name-First: Luke
Author-X-Name-Last: Telford
Title: ‘Levelling Up? That’s never going to happen’: perceptions on Levelling Up in a ‘Red Wall’ locality
Abstract:
Emerging as the flagship policy of the Conservative Government in 2019, the Levelling Up agenda identified the need to ameliorate the United Kingdom’s (UK) spatial inequalities with a particular focus on so-called left behind places. However, there is a dearth of qualitative research in these locales that explores what Levelling Up means to residents and how they believe it can be a success. Drawing upon 25 interviews with residents of left behind Redcar & Cleveland – a unitary authority that was central to the 2019 collapse of the Red Wall – this article explores their nuanced sentiments on the Levelling Up agenda. After presenting a brief history of Redcar & Cleveland, the study’s qualitative methodology is presented. The findings sections are then structured into three themes: (a) the ambiguity of Levelling Up, (b) Redcar & Cleveland’s freeport, and (c) cynicism of Levelling Up. It explicates how locals believe improved public infrastructure and well-remunerated employment, particularly through the unitary authority’s recently opened freeport, should be central to Levelling Up the area. Next, the paper exposes the cynicism towards the agenda. It closes by suggesting failures to Level Up will serve to entrench peoples’ discontent in places like Redcar & Cleveland.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 546-561
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2207555
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2207555
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# input file: RSOC_A_2219664_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Chris Millward
Author-X-Name-First: Chris
Author-X-Name-Last: Millward
Title: Balancing the incentives in English higher education: the imperative to strengthen civic influence for levelling up
Abstract:
The UK government’s levelling up strategy is the latest attempt to address the nation’s spatial inequalities. This issue has been amplified by voting in the 2016 referendum to leave the European Union, within which people in places with lower levels of educational qualifications and wages demonstrated their desire for change. These places have been characterised as ‘left behind’ by the pursuit of a knowledge economy fuelled by university expansion and mobile labour. The article explores how the specific policies adopted to support university expansion in England have influenced spatial inequalities and the political motivation for levelling up. It then describes how universities are recognised within the diagnosis of spatial inequalities in the Levelling Up White Paper and the vision for addressing them, but not the strategy embodied in its prescription of missions. The article concludes by exploring how tertiary education systems can strengthen the civic influence on universities, and how this could inform future approaches to funding and regulation in England. This could balance the growing influence of national government and global market forces, which has been a feature of university expansion in England since the 1980s, and thereby position universities better for the imperative of levelling up.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 485-499
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2219664
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2219664
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# input file: RSOC_A_2281591_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Joyce Liddle
Author-X-Name-First: Joyce
Author-X-Name-Last: Liddle
Author-Name: John Shutt
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Shutt
Author-Name: Cameron Forbes
Author-X-Name-First: Cameron
Author-X-Name-Last: Forbes
Title: Levelling up or down? Examining the case of North-East England
Abstract:
This paper contributes to the levelling up (LU) debate by examining the case of the North-East of England, a region with long-standing and deep-seated historical issues of inequality. It will determine if centrally directed LU policies are appropriate and necessary interventions by charting the evolution of UK policy shifts and impacts on the region. In analysing the past failed policies and current situation, including the Devolution Deal, the authors point to some of the critical challenges and opportunities still facing regional leaders. It concludes by arguing that the region is at an impasse and calls for a regional summit to agree on regional priorities and more robust and effectively targeted strategies for the future. Overall, the paper suggests that without the correct policy interventions and the capacity to deliver them, levels of inequality will persist.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 469-484
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2281591
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2281591
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# input file: RSOC_A_2250745_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Anna Stansbury
Author-X-Name-First: Anna
Author-X-Name-Last: Stansbury
Author-Name: Dan Turner
Author-X-Name-First: Dan
Author-X-Name-Last: Turner
Author-Name: Ed Balls
Author-X-Name-First: Ed
Author-X-Name-Last: Balls
Title: Tackling the UK’s regional economic inequality: binding constraints and avenues for policy intervention
Abstract:
We analyse binding constraints to productivity growth in the UK’s regions outside London and the greater South East. These analyses challenge a number of common arguments about the UK’s regional economic inequality problem. We find little evidence consistent with the hypotheses (i) that low shares of university graduates remain the primary constraint on growth for the UK’s regions; (ii) that there is a generalised issue with access to finance for firms outside the South East; or (iii) that low or falling regional migration rates are to blame for the persistence of the UK’s regional economic inequalities. Instead, we find evidence consistent with (i) a specific relative shortage of STEM degrees; (ii) binding transport infrastructure constraints within major non-London conurbations; (iii) a failure of public innovation policy to support clusters beyond the South East, in particular through the regional distribution of public support for Research and Development (R&D); and (iv) missed opportunities for higher internal mobility due to London’s overheating housing market. We also find some suggestive evidence consistent with constraints on access to early-stage equity financing for high-growth-potential SMEs in certain regions.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 318-356
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2250745
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2250745
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# input file: RSOC_A_2203122_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Charlotte Hoole
Author-X-Name-First: Charlotte
Author-X-Name-Last: Hoole
Author-Name: Simon Collinson
Author-X-Name-First: Simon
Author-X-Name-Last: Collinson
Author-Name: Jack Newman
Author-X-Name-First: Jack
Author-X-Name-Last: Newman
Title: England’s catch-22: institutional limitations to achieving balanced growth through devolution
Abstract:
International studies show that relative levels of regional (de)centralisation are associated with more or less balanced patterns of economic growth, well-being and resilience. Alongside supporting specific levels and types of devolution, prior studies emphasise the quality of local institutions as a key factor underlying balanced growth. This study empirically confirms the relative lack of devolution alongside large and growing disparities across England’s regions. Drawing on an interview-based case study of the West Midlands, we then identify a Catch-22, with devolution predicated on high-quality local institutions caught in a highly centralised system that undermines the development of the required capacity and competency. We identify specific decision-making and resource allocation mechanisms, appraisal and control systems which underpin the dominance of central government agencies in an ad hoc and asymmetric approach to devolution. In combination these limit progress towards locally-driven ‘levelling-up’.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 428-448
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2203122
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2203122
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# input file: RSOC_A_2197877_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Diane Coyle
Author-X-Name-First: Diane
Author-X-Name-Last: Coyle
Author-Name: Adam Muhtar
Author-X-Name-First: Adam
Author-X-Name-Last: Muhtar
Title: Levelling up policies and the failure to learn
Abstract:
UK policy targeting regional economic disparities has been characterised by frequent reversals and announcements, with multiple, uncoordinated public bodies, departments and levels of government responsible for delivery. Prior ‘place-blind' national policies have given way recently to ‘place-based' approaches, with a convergence between industrial and spatial policies. Yet a consequence of inconsistency and poor co-ordination is that the UK policy framework lacks adequate feedback mechanisms from local outcomes to the national policy process; there is a failure to learn. More effective policies to address spatial inequalities require institutional reform embedding evaluation and learning mechanisms into subsequent policy analysis and implementation. Other advanced economies offer institutional examples that could be feasibly implemented in the UK.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 406-427
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2197877
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2197877
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# input file: RSOC_A_2274031_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: John Connolly
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Connolly
Author-Name: Robert Pyper
Author-X-Name-First: Robert
Author-X-Name-Last: Pyper
Title: Beyond levelling-up: labour’s response to regional inequalities and the challenge of governance
Abstract:
The levelling up initiative of the UK Conservative Government has, since 2019, aimed to address the problem of serious economic disparities between and across the regions of the country. In opposition, the Labour Party has reacted to this initiative in phases: firstly via a broad critique, and then through an alternative policy which has come to be framed around a wider set of constitutional and governance reforms. Labour’s response has been problematic due to its vagueness and opacity, the lack of a roadmap or timeline for delivery, a failure to address the need for policy evaluation, the linkage of levelling up to an unwieldy project for constitutional reform, and the lack of a binding strategic narrative. An opportunity remains for Labour to refine and develop its policy in this sphere before the 2024 General Election.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 562-573
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2274031
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2274031
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# input file: RSOC_A_2232765_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Sarah Ayres
Author-X-Name-First: Sarah
Author-X-Name-Last: Ayres
Author-Name: Andrew Barnfield
Author-X-Name-First: Andrew
Author-X-Name-Last: Barnfield
Author-Name: Geoff Bates
Author-X-Name-First: Geoff
Author-X-Name-Last: Bates
Author-Name: Anna Le Gouais
Author-X-Name-First: Anna
Author-X-Name-Last: Le Gouais
Author-Name: Nick Pearce
Author-X-Name-First: Nick
Author-X-Name-Last: Pearce
Title: What needs to happen to ‘level up’ public health?
Abstract:
The aim of this article is to examine what needs to happen in central, sub-regional and local government to ‘level up’ public health in the United Kingdom (UK). The Government's recent Levelling Up White Paper outlined ambitious targets for reducing regional disparities, including a ‘mission’ to tackle inequalities in healthy life expectancy and reduce inequalities in the social determinants of health outcomes. However, the approach has been criticised for failing to integrate population health policy objectives, programmes and interventions into the implementation of the levelling up agenda and its associated ‘missions’. Drawing on a case study of promoting healthy urban development in the UK, we examine how the wider determinants of health might be incorporated into the Government's levelling up strategy. Based on in-depth interviews with 132 urban development actors, our findings reveal that long-term investment in healthy urban development could play a key role in levelling up public health but is not currently part of the Government's plans. We make a timely contribution to the levelling up debate by placing public health centre stage in social science debates. We conclude by offering a series of recommendations for transformative policy change to level up health.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 500-526
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2232765
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2232765
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# input file: RSOC_A_2269144_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Graeme Atherton
Author-X-Name-First: Graeme
Author-X-Name-Last: Atherton
Author-Name: Marc Le Chevallier
Author-X-Name-First: Marc
Author-X-Name-Last: Le Chevallier
Title: When is a fund not a fund? Exploring the financial support for levelling up
Abstract:
This paper will examine the different funding streams associated with the levelling up agenda pursued by the Conservative government elected in the United Kingdom in 2019. It will explore in detail a number of funding streams that this government has associated with levelling up to understand their relationship to the levelling up agenda. The article will also analyse the relationship between the levelling up missions and the funding associated with levelling up. The Levelling Up White Paper released in February 2022 included 12 missions that were intended to provide a ‘targeted, measurable and time-bound objective, or set of objectives, from which a programme of change can then be constructed or catalysed’. The analysis of the funding streams outlined in this paper shows that the relationship with the missions is overall a tangential one. The lack of clarity on what is and is not a levelling up fund, coupled with the loose relationship with the levelling up missions may diminish the impact that the levelling up agenda will have on regional inequality in the UK.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 527-545
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2269144
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2269144
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# input file: RSOC_A_2279534_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Philip McCann
Author-X-Name-First: Philip
Author-X-Name-Last: McCann
Title: Levelling Up UK regions: scale-related challenges of Brexit, investment and land use
Abstract:
This paper discusses three of the key reasons why productivity growth in the UK is both so weak and also so regionally unbalanced. These reasons are Brexit, low levels of public and private investment, and the operation of the land-use planning system. In each case the national implications of these issues also have direct regional corollaries and causal mechanisms, which unless comprehensively addressed, heavily constrain the ability of Levelling Up to work. A reconsideration of the nature and scale of these issues also highlights the limited nature and scale of the current institutional and policy responses aimed at rebalancing UK productivity and prosperity.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 298-317
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2279534
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2279534
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# input file: RSOC_A_2280703_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Leslie Budd
Author-X-Name-First: Leslie
Author-X-Name-Last: Budd
Author-Name: Stefania Paladini
Author-X-Name-First: Stefania
Author-X-Name-Last: Paladini
Title: Space exploration as a propulsive industry in levelling up
Abstract:
In recent decades the importance of space exploration and its associated economy and industry have grown significantly. Beyond its scientific, technological, and engineering advantages space exploration has created significant direct and indirect socioeconomic benefits. Apart from economic growth, employment, and providing a fiscal contribution, these benefits include cultural, educational, environmental, and social benefits that can be termed community capitals. There are important distributional aspects to these benefits manifested in the way that the space sector is becoming a propulsive industry within the activity complex form of agglomeration economy. In regard to this potential impact on urban and regional economic development, it appears that the space industry can make a significant contribution to realising the policy objectives of levelling up in the United Kingdom (UK) and cohesion policy in the European Union (EU). The agency of this development is the evolution of industrial strategies and policies based upon the concept and practice of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) which evolves its space variant, Space 4.0. This article explores these possibilities from UK and EU perspectives to address the question of whether the space sector is becoming a key propulsive driver of regional policy in general and levelling up in particular.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 357-380
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2280703
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# input file: RSOC_A_2282161_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Felicia M. Fai
Author-X-Name-First: Felicia M.
Author-X-Name-Last: Fai
Author-Name: Philip R. Tomlinson
Author-X-Name-First: Philip R.
Author-X-Name-Last: Tomlinson
Title: Levelling up or down? Addressing regional inequalities in the UK
Abstract:
The UK has the widest regional inequalities among the advanced industrial economies. These regional inequalities are not new, but the persistence of the so-called North-South divide has become more prominent in the public eye. The post-Brexit landscape was aligned with the political rhetoric of ‘levelling up’, although this was only vaguely defined. While related to tackling regional inequalities, there has been much ambiguity around the various dimensions of ‘levelling up’, and the scale of its ambition. Moreover, the recent UK government White Paper provides little indication of which alternative paths (weaker) regions should take to address the country’s long-standing inequalities. Indeed, the approach seems to implicitly accept the status quo, especially given that the minutiae detail of achieving ‘levelling up’ and recognition of interregional dynamics was largely missing. ‘Levelling up’ clearly invokes huge challenges, not least because the UK’s regional inequalities are not only wide, but longstanding. The papers in this special issue highlight some of these challenges and some potential new policy directions. We offer this collection as useful food for thought for both academics and policymakers from across the political spectrum as we continue to tackle the issues surrounding uneven regional economic growth, development, and opportunity.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 285-297
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2282161
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2282161
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# input file: RSOC_A_2233931_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Paul Hildreth
Author-X-Name-First: Paul
Author-X-Name-Last: Hildreth
Author-Name: David Bailey
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Bailey
Title: Levelling-up beyond the metropolis: is the UK government’s preferred governance model appropriate?
Abstract:
We consider whether the UK government’s levelling-up governance model of Combined Authorities and metro-mayors is the most appropriate solution for beyond the metropolis. We draw on case study research from the Mersey Dee area between North East Wales and North West England. The paper addresses three propositions. First, that the underlying distinction between agglomeration-driven and place-based policy centres on assumptions regarding the homogenous and heterogenous character of place. The paper shows how, in the UK context, the city-region concept has evolved as an agglomeration-driven territorial construct with practical limitations. Proposition two focuses on how a distinctive character of place reflects its particular mix of firms and their resulting combined processes of agglomeration. Proposition three suggests that this mix of firms presents choices for the appropriate design of institutions locally and regionally. Finally, the paper illustrates why the present agglomeration-driven framework is a barrier to enabling levelling-up. Progressing ‘levelling up’ involves recognition that heterogenous local governance contexts are shaped by history, culture, and geography, where the success of place-based policies is not aided by the top-down imposition of governance models.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 449-468
Issue: 3-4
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 08
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2233931
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2233931
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# input file: RSOC_A_2289661_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Tyyne Karjalainen
Author-X-Name-First: Tyyne
Author-X-Name-Last: Karjalainen
Title: EU enlargement in wartime Europe: three dimensions and scenarios
Abstract:
The enlargement policy of the European Union from 2013 to 2022 was not only ineffective, but also lacked an active enlargement drive. Russia’s war in Ukraine changed the equation of costs and benefits in favour of new members and gave the EU a geopolitical incentive to restart enlargement. Enlargement is not only a geopolitical strategy, however: it also requires successful state-building efforts in the neighbourhood. Moreover, it is closely interlinked with the EU’s internal development. This article analyses the current evolution of the EU enlargement policy as it emerges from the interplay of geopolitics, state-building challenges, and the EU’s internal dynamics. Drawing on original interviews with officials, the paper also presents three scenarios for the coming decade. The paper concludes that to achieve its foreign policy objectives in the neighbourhood, the EU cannot continue ‘business as usual’ with enlargement. On the contrary, the policy of 2013–2022 needs to be replaced by a more effective model that encourages candidate countries to undertake genuine efforts towards democratic development. At the same time, reforms and compromises are required at the EU’s end. Finally, the EU needs to better address the security needs of the applicant countries already during the accession process.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 637-656
Issue: 5
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2289661
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2289661
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:18:y:2023:i:5:p:637-656
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# input file: RSOC_A_2221249_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Julian Molina
Author-X-Name-First: Julian
Author-X-Name-Last: Molina
Author-Name: John Connolly
Author-X-Name-First: John
Author-X-Name-Last: Connolly
Title: “A modern research profession’: government social research, evidence-based policymaking and blind spots in contemporary governance research
Abstract:
Recent debates on evidence-based policymaking have demonstrated limited engagement with the history of the Government Social Research (GSR) profession and its role in facilitating the translation of evidence into policy. Though there was a concerted scholarly focus on social research functions within government during the 1980s and 1990s, the recent limited focus on these professions has led to a ‘blind spot’ in contemporary governance research. As a case in point, the United Kingdom's GSR profession offers a critical vantage point upon which to develop new insights into the relationship between evidence and policy. We argue that just as the GSR profession is currently undergoing significant reform programmes, there is a critical need for a critical research agenda on the composition of research professions within governments. Such a research agenda would reflect on crucial questions about the interface between research evidence and other government functions. In conclusion, we offer four starting points for a comparative, interdisciplinary, transnational research agenda, focusing on the effects of reform programmes for (1) researchers’ professional identities and values, (2) organisational change processes, (3) accountability challenges, and (4) intra-professional relationships with evidence producers.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 674-685
Issue: 5
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2221249
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2221249
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:18:y:2023:i:5:p:674-685
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# input file: RSOC_A_2293822_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Hartwig Pautz
Author-X-Name-First: Hartwig
Author-X-Name-Last: Pautz
Title: Policy making and artificial intelligence in Scotland
Abstract:
The article presents an exploratory qualitative single case study about whether and how artificial intelligence (AI) is used by the Scottish Government, about the key concerns relating to its usage, and about obstacles to, and drivers of AI usage. Besides the academic literature and published reports, the analysis rests on 12 semi-structured interviews. Interviewees include Scottish Government employees, experts from academia and representatives of commercial and non-commercial AI and Big Data organisations. The article finds that the Scottish Government has, so far, made little use of AI. Currently, AI is used in very limited ways in process automation and for gaining ‘cognitive insights’ with the human in control. There are no ‘strategic’ AI applications where advanced reasoning and ‘decision-making by algorithm’ play a role. Data-driven e-policy making is not currently on the cards. The reasons are the Scottish Government’s wariness of AI, a lack of ‘digital maturity’ (concerning Big Data and digital infrastructure, but also expertise) in the public sector, and ethical concerns around the use of AI. Governments need to conduct a debate about the extent of AI usage to avoid ‘AI creep’ in their institutions and to assure that AI does not have negative consequences for democracy.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 618-636
Issue: 5
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2293822
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2293822
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:18:y:2023:i:5:p:618-636
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# input file: RSOC_A_2283139_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Syed Mansoob Murshed
Author-X-Name-First: Syed Mansoob
Author-X-Name-Last: Murshed
Author-Name: Blas Regnault
Author-X-Name-First: Blas
Author-X-Name-Last: Regnault
Title: Inequality: the scourge of the twenty-first century
Abstract:
Rising inequality is a ubiquitous problem, encompassing every geographical region and nation in the world. Inequality can be contended to have replaced unemployment as our most vital economic issue. After nearly six decades of declining inequality from the time of the First World War, the process has reversed itself with a vengeance, and we may be about to surpass the very high levels of inequality that prevailed in 1914. The causes are multifarious, including accelerating globalisation, plutocratic politics, excessive emphasis on ‘meritocratic’ pay, declining public expenditure, and social protection combined with the high rates of return on ‘capital’ compared to the overall economy’s growth rate. Inequality between nation-states may be declining because of the rise of China, but within countries, inequalities are increasing everywhere. Excessive inequality prevents social mobility and contains the seeds of social conflict and even civil wars. Most crucially, excessive and rising inequality makes democratic politics and governance unsustainable. High inequality may be a causal factor behind the decline of democracy and the rise of autocracy and populism that we are witnessing globally. In the ultimate analysis, the reduction of inequality necessitates wealth taxes.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 580-598
Issue: 5
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2283139
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2283139
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# input file: RSOC_A_2066716_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Bereket Roba Gamo
Author-X-Name-First: Bereket Roba
Author-X-Name-Last: Gamo
Author-Name: Duk-Byeong Park
Author-X-Name-First: Duk-Byeong
Author-X-Name-Last: Park
Title: Community sentiment influences community participation: evidence from Ethiopia
Abstract:
Community sentiment is an essential component of community development and can influence residents’ propensity to participate in their community. However, few studies have investigated the effect of community sentiment on community participation in the sub-Saharan region. This study aimed to examine social connectedness, community attachment and community satisfaction as factors influencing community participation among rural residents in Ethiopia. We collected data through a cross-sectional survey from 360 residents of 12 communities located within Yirgachefe district of Ethiopia, using a simple random sampling technique for selection. Descriptive statistics and hierarchical regression techniques were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that community participation was influenced not only by respondents’ demographic and socioeconomic characteristics but also by their community sentiment. Respondents’ age, level of education, annual income, social connectedness, community attachment and community satisfaction all positively influenced community participation. It was noted that respondents who were more socially connected, who have higher levels of attachment to their community and more satisfied with their community are more likely to participate. We suggest community networking mechanisms and social events to augment community participation.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 657-673
Issue: 5
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2022.2066716
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2022.2066716
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:18:y:2023:i:5:p:657-673
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# input file: RSOC_A_2268037_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: Debbie Laliberte Rudman
Author-X-Name-First: Debbie
Author-X-Name-Last: Laliberte Rudman
Author-Name: Sarah Larkin
Author-X-Name-First: Sarah
Author-X-Name-Last: Larkin
Author-Name: Kassandra Fernandes
Author-X-Name-First: Kassandra
Author-X-Name-Last: Fernandes
Author-Name: Gorety Nguyen
Author-X-Name-First: Gorety
Author-X-Name-Last: Nguyen
Author-Name: Rebecca Aldrich
Author-X-Name-First: Rebecca
Author-X-Name-Last: Aldrich
Title: Third places in precarious workers’ lives: a scoping review of associated social experiences and outcomes
Abstract:
The contemporary increase in precarious employment has shaped lives marked by employment, economic, and social instability for many workers. While research has demonstrated deleterious physical and mental implications of precarious work, less attention has been paid to social implications, including heightened risk for social isolation. Using a 5-step scoping review process, this paper investigates what is known about the types and characteristics of physical and virtual ‘third places’ outside of home and work that help maintain social connectedness and ameliorate social isolation in the lives of precarious workers. Descriptive and thematic analysis of 24 interdisciplinary articles revealed that precarious workers navigating conditions marked by spatial exclusion enact collective agency to create and sustain alternative ‘third places’ that align with the conditions of precarious lives. Although places created could be associated with social risks, obligations, and exclusions, they were also mobilised to address diverse social needs, including: a sense of belonging to a collective of ‘similar’ others; temporary respite from the conditions of precarity; assertion of presence and visibility; and exchange of diverse resources and forms of care. These results inform critical reflections on the kinds of spaces that can serve as ‘third places’ within societies marked by growing precarity.
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 599-617
Issue: 5
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2023.2268037
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2023.2268037
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# input file: RSOC_A_1802145_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: The Editors
Title: Correction
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 686-686
Issue: 5
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2020.1802145
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2020.1802145
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:18:y:2023:i:5:p:686-686
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# input file: RSOC_A_2303208_J.xml processed with: repec_from_jats12.xsl darts-xml-transformations-20231214T103247 git hash: d7a2cb0857
Author-Name: David Bailey
Author-X-Name-First: David
Author-X-Name-Last: Bailey
Title: Contemporary Social Science, publishing and looking forwards
Journal: Contemporary Social Science
Pages: 575-579
Issue: 5
Volume: 18
Year: 2023
Month: 10
X-DOI: 10.1080/21582041.2024.2303208
File-URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21582041.2024.2303208
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Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocxx:v:18:y:2023:i:5:p:575-579