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Recent Debates (recent + debate)
Selected AbstractsInformal Work in Latin America: Competing Perspectives and Recent DebatesGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2009James J. Biles During the ,lost decade' of the 1980s, informal work and self-employment emerged as the most prevalent forms of work throughout Latin America. In response to the economic crisis, the majority of Latin American countries adopted a series of sweeping neoliberal reforms designed to open nations to trade and investment, promote export-led growth, and generate employment, ultimately reducing the incidence of informal work. Despite the widespread adherence to the neoliberal model and implementation of structural adjustment reforms during the past quarter century, informal work has not diminished and in much of Latin America the odds of finding ,decent work' are no better today than during the economic crisis of the 1980s. In light of this seeming paradox, this article offers an overview of the recent debates and controversies surrounding informal work in Latin America. Drawing on recent research, as well as reports and policy documents from key international organizations, I pose and attempt to answer four core questions: What counts as informal work? Who works informally in Latin America? Why do men and women throughout Latin America increasingly resort to informal work? What role does informal work play as a livelihood strategy in Latin America and how has this role changed in recent years? [source] Biogeography of bacteria associated with the marine sponge Cymbastela concentricaENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Michael W. Taylor Summary Recent debate regarding microbial biogeography has focused largely on free-living microbes, yet those microbes associated with host organisms are also of interest from a biogeographical perspective. Marine eukaryotes and associated bacteria should provide ideal systems in which to consider microbial biogeography, as (i) bacteria in seawater should be able to disperse among individuals of the same host species, yet (ii) potential for adaptation to particular hosts (and thus speciation) also exists. We used 16S rDNA-DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) to examine geographic variability in bacterial community composition in the marine sponge Cymbastela concentrica. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis banding patterns (and phylogenetic analysis of excised DGGE bands) indicated different communities in Cymbastela concentrica from tropical versus temperate Australia. In contrast, communities were very similar over a 500-km portion of the sponge's temperate range. Variation in bacterial community composition was also considered with respect to ocean current patterns. We speculate that the divergent communities in different parts of the sponge's range provide evidence of endemism attributed to host association, although variation in environmental factors such as light and temperature could also explain the observed results. Interestingly, bacterial communities in seawater varied much less between tropical and temperate locations than did those in C. concentrica, supporting the concept of widespread dispersal among these free-living microbes. [source] Taxonomic affinities and evolutionary history of the early Pleistocene hominids of Java: Dentognathic evidenceAMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 4 2005Yousuke Kaifu Abstract Temporal changes, within-group variation, and phylogenetic positions of the Early Pleistocene Javanese hominids remain unclear. Recent debate focused on the age of the oldest Javanese hominids, but the argument so far includes little morphological basis for the fossils. To approach these questions, we analyzed a comprehensive dentognathic sample from Sangiran, which includes most of the existing hominid mandibles and teeth from the Early Pleistocene of Java. The sample was divided into chronologically younger and older groups. We examined morphological differences between these chronological groups, and investigated their affinities with other hominid groups from Africa and Eurasia. The results indicated that 1) there are remarkable morphological differences between the chronologically younger and older groups of Java, 2) the chronologically younger group is morphologically advanced, showing a similar degree of dentognathic reduction to that of Middle Pleistocene Chinese H. erectus, and 3) the chronologically older group exhibits some features that are equally primitive as or more primitive than early H. erectus of Africa. These findings suggest that the evolutionary history of early Javanese H. erectus was more dynamic than previously thought. Coupled with recent discoveries of the earliest form of H. erectus from Dmanisi, Georgia, the primitive aspects of the oldest Javanese hominid remains suggest that hominid groups prior to the grade of ca. 1.8,1.5 Ma African early H. erectus dispersed into eastern Eurasia during the earlier Early Pleistocene, although the age of the Javanese hominids themselves is yet to be resolved. Subsequent periods of the Early Pleistocene witnessed remarkable changes in the Javanese hominid record, which are ascribed either to significant in situ evolution or replacement of populations. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] How Lutherans Read the Bible: A North American and Global ConversationDIALOG, Issue 1 2006By Dennis T. Olson Abstract:, Recent debates and conflicts over the interpretation of the Bible among Lutherans both in the U.S. and in other parts of the world impel us to consider our history in a Lutheran tradition, our present challenges, and an agenda for future directions. This introductory essay briefly introduces some of the distinctive Lutheran emphases in the use of Scripture, provides an overview of the other essays in this issue of Dialog which are largely focused on the North American context, and then offers a sample of what two Lutheran scholars in places other than the U.S. are thinking about their experiences as Lutherans using the Bible in places like Malaysia and Argentina. [source] Networks of Empire: Linkage and Reciprocity in Nineteenth-Century Irish and Indian HistoryHISTORY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2009Barry Crosbie Recent debates surrounding Ireland's historical relationship with the British empire have focused almost exclusively upon its constitutional and political ties with Britain. The question of Ireland's colonial status continues to be heavily debated in Irish historiography and has been a contributing factor in obscuring our wider understanding of the complexity of Ireland's involvement in empire. For over 200 years, Ireland and India were joined together by an intricate series of networks that were borne out of direct Irish involvement in British imperialism overseas. Whether as migrants, soldiers, administrators, doctors, missionaries or educators, the Irish played an important role in administering, governing and populating vast areas of Britain's eastern empire. This article discusses new approaches to the study of Ireland's imperial past that allow us to move beyond the old ,coloniser-colonised' debate, to address the key issue of whether Ireland or the varieties of Irishness of its imperial servants and settlers made a specific difference to the experience of empire. By highlighting the multiplicity of Irish connections within the context of the nineteenth-century British empire in India, this article describes how imperial networks were used by contemporaries (settlers, migrants and indigenous agents) as mechanisms for the exchange of a whole set of ideas, practices and goods between Ireland and India during the colonial era. [source] Putting aid in its place: Insights from early structuralists on aid and balance of payments and lessons for contemporary aid debates,JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 6 2009Andrew M. Fischer Abstract Recent debates on aid and development are waged on narrow terms in comparison to earlier debates in the 1950s and 1960s. The principal concern of the ,structuralist' pioneers of development economics, and the key absence in the current debates, was an understanding of the structural impediments faced by countries going through late industrialisation and rapid urban growth. These result in chronic trade deficits, shortages of foreign exchange and persistent balance of payments disequilibria. The positive potential of aid was understood to lie in its ability to mediate these imbalances in the context of national industrialisation strategies. By the same logic, this potential is lost if countries run trade surpluses. Current debates on aid mostly overlook this dual logic, despite the fact that both positive and negative experiences of post-war development largely vindicate these structuralist insights, particularly in light of current global financial imbalances. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] SIMULATING THE WESTERN SEAWAYSOXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 4 2009RICHARD CALLAGHAN Summary Recent debates on the introduction of Neolithic features to Britain have emphasized the role of the western maritime routes and the possibility of direct or indirect connections from Brittany to Ireland and Argyll. Here we present the results of simulation modelling of maritime voyaging by paddled or sail-powered boat, indicating the likely lengths of the journeys that would have been required. The issue of direct travel vs. short crossings and coasting is explored, and the implications for specific connections, such as those posited to account for cattle remains in a pre-Neolithic context in Ireland, are considered. [source] When soft regulation is not enough: The integrated pollution prevention and control directive of the European UnionREGULATION & GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2010Charalampos Koutalakis Abstract Recent debates regarding the effectiveness of regulatory policymaking in the European Union (EU) focus on the merits of soft, non-binding forms of regulation between public and private actors. The emergence of less coercive forms of regulation is analyzed as a response to powerful functional pressures emanating from the complexity of regulatory issues, as well as the need to secure flexibility and adaptability of regulation to distinctive territorial economic, environmental, administrative, and social conditions. In this article we empirically assess the above normative claims regarding the effectiveness of soft regulation vis-à-vis uniformly binding legislation. We draw on an exploratory investigation of the application of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive of the EU in four countries. Our study reveals that effectiveness in the application of soft policy instruments is largely contingent upon strong cognitive, material, and political capacities of both state regulators and industrial actors involved in regulatory policymaking. In the absence of those conditions, the application of soft, legally non-binding regulation may lead to adverse effects, such as non-compliance and the "hollowing out" of the systems of environmental permits to industry. In the medium term, such developments can undermine the normative authority of the EU. [source] The wealth of species: ecological communities, complex systems and the legacy of Frank PrestonECOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 3 2007Jeffrey C. Nekola Abstract General statistical patterns in community ecology have attracted considerable recent debate. Difficulties in discriminating among mathematical models and the ecological mechanisms underlying them are likely related to a phenomenon first described by Frank Preston. He noted that the frequency distribution of abundances among species was uncannily similar to the Boltzmann distribution of kinetic energies among gas molecules and the Pareto distribution of incomes among wage earners. We provide additional examples to show that four different ,distributions of wealth' (species abundance distributions, species,area and species,time relations, and distance decay of compositional similarity) are not unique to ecology, but have analogues in other physical, geological, economic and cultural systems. Because these appear to be general statistical patterns characteristic of many complex dynamical systems they are likely not generated by uniquely ecological mechanistic processes. [source] Public Investment, the Stability Pact and the ,Golden Rule'FISCAL STUDIES, Issue 2 2000Fabrizio Balassone Abstract The fiscal rules set in the Treaty of Maastricht and in the Stability and Growth Pact have sometimes been criticised as an excessively binding constraint for appropriate counter-cyclical action. The risk that the rules may permanently reduce the public sector's contribution to capital accumulation has also been pointed out. In this framework, the adoption of a ,golden rule' has been suggested. Starting from the recent debate, this paper tackles two questions: (a) the implications of the Pact for public investment and (b) the pros and cons of introducing a golden rule in EMU's fiscal framework, given the objectives of low public debts and adequate margins for a stabilising budgetary policy. The analysis suggests that the rules set in the Treaty and in the Pact may negatively influence public investment spending. However, the golden rule, although intuitively appealing, does not seem to be an appropriate solution to the problem. [source] Forms of Governance in European Union Social Policy: Continuity and/or Change?INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY REVIEW, Issue 2 2006Gerda Falkner This article addresses the question of the evolution of regulatory and distributive social policy at European Union (EU) level, with special emphasis on its quantitative aspects. Data collected in meticulous detail on the EU's powers in the area of social policy and their practical implementation from the early days of European integration through to the end of 2002 are presented in a range of figures and tables. It becomes apparent that, quantitatively speaking, the body of EU social law in existence to date is impressive. Contrary to expectation, non-binding forms of action have not replaced those which are binding, or at least not yet. Soft law and the "open method of coordination", the subject of so much recent debate, are rather a complement to classic legislation, entailing a minimum of harmonization. In terms of political science and legal theory this means that while the neo-voluntarism and legalization hypotheses highlight important aspects of EU social policy, neither of them represents the whole story. [source] International Relations Theory and European IntegrationJCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 2 2001Mark A. Pollack The explicit effort to theorize about the process of European integration began within the field of international relations (IR), where neofunctionalism and intergovernmentalism long remained the dominant schools of thought. With the relaunching of the integration process in the 1980s and 1990s, however, IR scholars have begun to approach the study of the European Union using more general, and generalizable, theoretical approaches. This article examines the recent debate among realists, liberals, rational-choice institutionalists, and constructivists regarding the nature of the integration process and the EU as an international organization. Although originally posed as competing theories, I argue, realist, liberal and institutionalist approaches show signs of convergence around a single rationalist model, with constructivism remaining as the primary rival, but less developed, approach to the study of European integration. [source] Persons with Disabilities as Parents: What is the Problem?JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 4 2008Hans S. Reinders Background, This paper discusses the recent debate on parenting by people with intellectual disabilities in the Netherlands. By and large this debate has been dominated by disastrous examples of child abuse and neglect in families where one or both parents have a disability. Feeding on horror stories the media have construed the issue as one of moral and legal constraint: should people with disabilities be allowed to have children? In view of this construal, many professionals in the field have rejected the debate as irrelevant. In their view the issue is about support, not about constraint. Aim, The national organization for self-advocacy in The Netherlands has claimed the right to parenting based on the principle of equal citizenship. This paper aims at (1) reconstructing and (2) evaluating the positions taken in the Dutch debate since its incipience in 2002, particularly with regard to this principle. Method, A philosophical reconstruction of how the moral principle of equal citizenship structured the Dutch debate on parenting by people with intellectual disabilities, in particular with regard to the nation of ,good enough parenting'. Conclusion, The analysis shows how the principle of equal citizenship guided research in The Netherlands and how it is crucial in criticizing negative responses that depend on stereotyping of people with intellectual disabilities as parents. It indicates how in at least two instances, these responses can be shown to constitute a case of discrimination against these people. [source] Children's nursing and interprofessional collaboration: challenges and opportunitiesJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 3 2002GERARD KENNY BA ,,Interprofessional working has been the subject of recent debate in the nursing press. ,,Despite this heightened scrutiny little attention has been given to putting this development in the context of practitioners working within children's nursing. ,,This paper seeks to redress this imbalance by focusing on the challenges and opportunities for professional development that interprofessional collaboration working offers. ,,This is illustrated by acknowledging existing themes of good practice, and identifying the potential for new ways of working that maintain professional status, skills and knowledge but also facilitate wider collaboration. [source] Emulation vs. indigenization in the reception of western psychology in Republican China: An analysis of the content of Chinese psychology journals (1922,1937)JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, Issue 1 2009Geoffrey Blowers The present study examines the practice of empirical psychology in China during the Republican period using a content analysis of its journals. By seeking answers to questions of what kinds of psychology from the West first attracted the Chinese; whether they found a way of developing a psychology more in tune to their own cultural assumptions of selfhood; and to what uses they felt the new discipline could be put, it shows the extent to which its journal content adopted a Western or an indigenous orientation. It thus contributes to the recent debate about indigenization of psychology globally and situates the origins of these issues in China much earlier than has been envisaged by contemporary Chinese indigenous psychologists. Throughout this period, indigenous concerns informed the research agenda, the dominant practice being psychometrics. But because of a lack of social support, they remained largely confined to the pages of psychology journals. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] BARCODING: Assessing the effect of varying sequence length on DNA barcoding of fungiMOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 3 2007XIANG JIA MIN Abstract DNA barcoding shows enormous promise for the rapid identification of organisms at the species level. There has been much recent debate, however, about the need for longer barcode sequences, especially when these sequences are used to construct molecular phylogenies. Here, we have analysed a set of fungal mitochondrial sequences , of various lengths , and we have monitored the effect of reducing sequence length on the utility of the data for both species identification and phylogenetic reconstruction. Our results demonstrate that reducing sequence length has a profound effect on the accuracy of resulting phylogenetic trees, but surprisingly short sequences still yield accurate species identifications. We conclude that the standard short barcode sequences (,600 bp) are not suitable for inferring accurate phylogenetic relationships, but they are sufficient for species identification among the fungi. [source] Confucianism and Ethics in the Western Philosophical Tradition II: A Comparative Analysis of PersonhoodPHILOSOPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 4 2010Mary I. Bockover This Philosophy Compass article continues the comparison between Confucian and mainstream Western views of personhood and their connection with ethics begun in Confucianism and Ethics in the Western Philosophical Tradition: Fundamental Concepts (CEWI), by focusing on the Western self conceived as an independent agent with moral and political rights. More specifically, the present article briefly accounts for how the more strictly and explicitly individualistic notion of self dominating Western philosophy has developed, leading up to a recent debate in modern Western rights theory between Herbert Fingarette and Henry Rosemont, Jr., two contemporary Western philosophers who are both steeped in Confucian thought as well as moral and political philosophy. This compares and contrasts Confucian principles with some basic to modern Western rights theory and the more individualistic view of self they entail. In the end, a new view of personhood and "free will" is offered that synthesizes insights from the Confucian treatment of persons as being essentially interdependent with the Western treatment of persons as being essentially independent. [Correction added after online publication 31 May 2010: Sentence changed.] [source] Police Complaints and Criminal ProsecutionsTHE MODERN LAW REVIEW, Issue 3 2001Graham Smith The police complaints process is the sole means by which criminal proceedings are initiated against police officers after allegations by members of the public that they were the victim of an offence committed by officers when in the execution or purported execution of their duty. Yet this state of the law has hardly figured in recent debate, which has seen the complaints process examined almost exclusively as the preliminary stage of the disciplinary process. This paper considers police complaints, the criminal liability of the officer and the implications for reform of the process after incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights. [source] Front and Back Covers, Volume 21, Number 4.ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Issue 4 2005August 200 Front and back cover caption, volume 21 issue 4 Front cover The photo on the front cover, taken from the World Monuments Fund (WMF) website, shows house in Hilinawalö Mazingö, South Nias, Indonesia which was recently included on the WMF's List of 100 most endangered sites. Built in the 19th century, the house withstood the massive earthquake of 28 March 2005 that reduced the port towns of Nias to rubble and made over 150,000 people homeless. Constructed without nails, its complex structure can absorb tremors where modern concrete houses collapse. However, the hardwoods needed to replace columns and panels damaged by fire, rain and insects are no longer available, since Nias has been stripped of primary forest. Urgent conservation work is needed if the stone-paved villages and traditional architecture of Nias are to survive further destruction. In order to house the homeless, reconstruction planners are now studying the possibility of reviving traditional designs using cheaper, renewable materials. South Nias, whose plight was barely reported in the aftermath of the earthquake, received no government attention until ten days after the disaster. In his article on pp. 5-7 of this issue, Andrew Beatty reflects on the lack of development in Nias since he began fieldwork there in 1986 and considers the context of the recovery operation, showing how selective reporting, narrowly focused on stereotypical human interest stories, has failed to address local conditions, allowing corruption and inefficiency to thrive. Local knowledge is key to the success of aid. But only better reporting of regional power structures and stakeholders, combined with greater scrutiny of official dealings, will help to ensure that aid reaches those most in need. Back cover POLICY AND RACE The back cover reproduces questions from recent censuses conducted in England and Wales (above) and the USA (below). The former asks the respondent to state 'your ethnic group'; the latter seeks information on a 'person's race'. Statistics from the responses to these questions are given on page 4 of this issue. The British census question on ethnic origin, first introduced in 1991, is unusual in the European context. The 2001 census introduced a new 'mixed' category, as well as the term 'British' as a qualifier (to permit identification as British Black or British Asian), and a 'white' category subdivided into British, Irish and others. It also included a question on religion for the first time in more than a century, in response to the concerns of those for whom ethnic affiliation relates closely to religion (e.g. South Asian Muslims). In the US, the census of 2000 offered individuals, for the first time, the opportunity to identify themselves as belonging to more than one racial category (previously people of mixed descent were asked to choose a single racial category or to respond as 'some other race'). Most countries conduct regular censuses of their populations. In 1995 the United Nations Assembly passed a resolution calling on all its member countries to compile census data by 2004. However, a census depends on the consent of the population. Germany has not taken a full census since 1987, after postponing its scheduled 1983 census because of public concern over the proposed use of census returns to update local population registers; the Netherlands has not had a census since 1971, when high rates of refusal rendered returns unreliable. In common with a number of other countries, including Denmark, these two have turned to alternative data sources, particularly population and housing registers as well as sample surveys, for population statistics. The discourse of governance and perceptions of social category are powerfully influenced by the terms officially sanctioned by governments for the classification of citizens. The US census identifies its use of race as 'sociopolitical constructs' that are not 'scientific or anthropological in nature' (quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_68186.htm). Race is surely one of the most potent and elusive of concepts anthropology is trying to make sense of, whether as a scientific or as a cultural category. In this issue of AT, Michael Banton contends that contributors to recent debate have not distinguished sufficiently between scientific classifications and the categories current in the English language of everyday life. In their review of the recent 'Anthropology and Genomics' conference, Simpson and Konrad point out how issues of race and policy arise in this dynamic field. ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY continues to offer a forum for topical debate on issues of public concern, and welcomes further contributions on these questions. [source] Bridging the Gap: How Can Information Access and Exchange Between Conservation Biologists and Field Practitioners be Improved for Better Conservation Outcomes?BIOTROPICA, Issue 5 2009Terry Sunderland ABSTRACT It is widely accepted that there is a considerable gap between the science of conservation biology and the design and execution of biodiversity conservation projects in the field and science is failing to inform the practice of conservation. There are many reasons why this implementation gap exists. A high proportion of papers published in scientific journals by conservation biologists are seldom read outside of the academic world and there are few incentives for academics to convert their science into practice. In turn, field practitioners rarely document their field experiences and experiments in a manner that can meaningfully inform conservation scientists. Issues related to access to scientific literature, scientific relevance in multidisciplinary environments, donor expectations and a lack of critical analysis at all levels of conservation theory and practice are factors that exacerbate the divide. The contexts in which conservation biologists and field practitioners operate are also often highly dissimilar, and each has differing professional responsibilities and expectations that compromise the ability to learn from each other's expertise. Building on recent debate in the literature, and using case studies to illustrate the issues that characterize the divide, this paper draws on the authors' experiences of project management as well as academic research. We identify five key issues related to information exchange: access to scientific literature, levels of scientific literacy, lack of interdisciplinarity, questions of relevance and lack of sharing of conservation-related experiences and suggest new ways of working that could assist in bridging the gap between conservation scientists and field practitioners. [source] Evolution Is Not a Necessary Assumption of CladisticsCLADISTICS, Issue 1 2000Andrew V.Z. Brower Although the point has already been emphasized by various authors that the assumption of descent with modification is not required to justify cladistics, recent debate suggests that there is still confusion surrounding the necessary and sufficient background knowledge underlying the method. Three general axioms necessary to justify cladistics,the discoverability of characters, hierarchy, and parsimony,are reviewed. Although the assumption of evolution is sufficient to justify cladistics, it is also sufficient to justify competing approaches like maximum likelihood, which suggests that the philosophical support for the cladistic approach is strengthened by purging reference to descent with modification altogether. [source] THE CONTEXT OF MARRIAGE AND CRIME: GENDER, THE PROPENSITY TO MARRY, AND OFFENDING IN EARLY ADULTHOOD,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2007RYAN D. KING Marriage is central to theoretical debates over stability and change in criminal offending over the life course. Yet, unlike other social ties such as employment, marriage is distinct in that it cannot be randomly assigned in survey research to more definitively assess causal effects of marriage on offending. As a result, key questions remain as to whether different individual propensities toward marriage shape its salience as a deterrent institution. Building on these issues, the current research has three objectives. First, we use a propensity score matching approach to estimate causal effects of marriage on crime in early adulthood. Second, we assess sex differences in the effects of marriage on offending. Although both marriage and offending are highly gendered phenomena, prior work typically focuses on males. Third, we examine whether one's propensity to marry conditions the deterrent capacity of marriage. Results show that marriage suppresses offending for males, even when accounting for their likelihood to marry. Furthermore, males who are least likely to marry seem to benefit most from this institution. The influence of marriage on crime is less robust for females, where marriage reduces crime only for those with moderate propensities to marry. We discuss these findings in the context of recent debates concerning gender, criminal offending, and the life course. [source] Understanding Social and Spatial Divisions in the New Economy: New Media Clusters and the Digital DivideECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2004Diane Perrons Abstract: Economic inequality is increasing but has been sidelined in some of the recent debates in urban and regional studies. This article outlines a holistic framework for economic geography, which focuses on understanding social and spatial divisions, by drawing on economists' ideas about the new economy and feminist perspectives on social reproduction. The framework is illustrated with reference to the emerging new media cluster in Brighton and Hove, which, as a consequence, emerges less as a new technology cluster and more as a reflection of increasing social divisions in the new economy. [source] Informal Work in Latin America: Competing Perspectives and Recent DebatesGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2009James J. Biles During the ,lost decade' of the 1980s, informal work and self-employment emerged as the most prevalent forms of work throughout Latin America. In response to the economic crisis, the majority of Latin American countries adopted a series of sweeping neoliberal reforms designed to open nations to trade and investment, promote export-led growth, and generate employment, ultimately reducing the incidence of informal work. Despite the widespread adherence to the neoliberal model and implementation of structural adjustment reforms during the past quarter century, informal work has not diminished and in much of Latin America the odds of finding ,decent work' are no better today than during the economic crisis of the 1980s. In light of this seeming paradox, this article offers an overview of the recent debates and controversies surrounding informal work in Latin America. Drawing on recent research, as well as reports and policy documents from key international organizations, I pose and attempt to answer four core questions: What counts as informal work? Who works informally in Latin America? Why do men and women throughout Latin America increasingly resort to informal work? What role does informal work play as a livelihood strategy in Latin America and how has this role changed in recent years? [source] Disability and Development: Different Models, Different PlacesGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2007Cheryl McEwan Debates about disability within geography, as well as in disability studies more generally, have been largely urban, Anglophone and Western-centric. Not only have industrialised societies remained the predominant focus of attention, but the debates themselves are rooted within an often unacknowledged Western context. In the light of this, this article aims to bring together debates about disability and development, which have until relatively recently tended to be mutually exclusive, and provides a critical review of recent debates about disability issues in developing countries. By doing so, it furthers debates about the significance of geography in disability studies, challenges the Western-centric focus of disability models and extends understanding of the shifting and complex landscapes of disability in developing countries. [source] Bombed and Silenced: Foreign Witnesses of the Air War in GermanyGERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 4 2009Oliver Lubrich ABSTRACT Non-German accounts of the air war from inside Germany, 1939,1945, offer perspectives and evidence that are very distinct from what most German authors have been able to contribute. Yet they have not been registered in the recent debates about representations of German suffering in testimonies and literature (initiated by W. G. Sebald ten years ago). By looking at five issues specific to non-German writing, the present article proposes to open up the debate to these new voices: (1) Foreign experiences are distinctively sudden, open, ambivalent, dynamic and, by contrast, sharper in perception. (2) International reports are historical documents that have a particular value for understanding contemporary expectations, relative information and shifting judgments on the Allied bombing campaign. (3) Writers like Curzio Malaparte, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Kurt Vonnegut or Marie Vassiltchikov developed rhetorical and poetical means for representing the destruction without succumbing to the faults that Sebald diagnosed in most German writers, who repressed, stylised or banalised it. (4) Unlike many of their contemporary German counterparts, most international authors dealt with the uncanny aesthetics of an air raid without aestheticising it. (5) Finally, the article attempts an explanation for why international witnesses have not been heard n the politicised German debates. Their tendency to overemphasise introspection and moralism over comparative philology and historiography may have made many Germans deaf to the voices of foreigners. [source] ,New Green' Pragmatism in Germany , Green Politics beyond the Social Democratic Embrace?1GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 4 2004Ingolfur Blühdorn Coalitions with left-of-centre parties have traditionally been regarded as the only viable option for Green parties that have shed their stance of radical opposition. The German Greens are investigated as a case study putting this assumption into doubt. Historical analysis of their relationship with the Social Democratic Party reveals how they slipped into life-threatening dependency on the latter. A survey of consecutive reinterpretations of the positioning formula ,Neither right, nor left but ahead' maps the struggle for an independent Green identity. An appraisal of recent debates about Conservative, Green alliances investigates the basis for Green coalition politics beyond the Social Democratic embrace. [source] Management strategy and HR in international mergers: choice, constraint and pragmatismHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2009Chris Rees The article combines consideration of the range of contextual factors that impact on management strategy and HR in the post-merger period (such as corporate structures and cultures, pressures from shareholders and regulatory and legal environments at national and international level) with an examination of the interests and power of various groups of actors within the firm. Specifically, we apply a framework which integrates the insights of market-based, institutionalist and micro-political approaches. We locate our analysis within the relevant international HRM literature, most notably recent debates concerning multinational corporation (MNC) merger dynamics. International mergers and acquisitions provide particularly useful scenarios through which to explore the interdependence between choice and constraint, illustrated here by processes of negotiation, compromise and balance across a range of issues in several case study organisations. The key areas highlighted concern: (1) the integration of HR strategies, and (2) processes of post-merger rationalisation. [source] Planning and the Technological Society: Discussing the London PlanINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN AND REGIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 2 2010YVONNE RYDIN Abstract The sustainable development agenda has influenced the focus of urban planning policy in many countries and localities; this article argues that its influence has been much more widespread, affecting not just the content of planning but also its discourses and practices. This reflects more profound shifts within society , shifts that put the governance of technology firmly centre-place. Using a case study of the London Plan (the spatial development strategy for London), the discussion considers how recent debates on the Plan are being shaped by the need to focus on technological issues. Using Barry's and Feenberg's explorations of the technological society, the analysis identifies key features such as the contestation of evidence and expertise, the focus on technical details and the resultant reframing of policy discourse. The article concludes with suggestions as to the ways in which planning may change in the future. Résumé Les préoccupations liées au développement durable ont influé sur le c,ur des politiques d'urbanisme dans de nombreux pays et localités. Leur influence s'est révélée beaucoup plus vaste, affectant non seulement le contenu, mais aussi les discours et pratiques en matière d'aménagement. Cette situation traduit des mutations plus profondes de la société, mutations qui donnent à la gouvernance de la technologie une solide prééminence. À partir d'une étude de cas sur le London Plan (stratégie d'aménagement spatial de Londres), est examinée la façon dont les récents débats sur le Plan sont modelés par la nécessité de s'attacher aux aspects technologiques. S'appuyant sur les explorations de la société technologique menées par Barry et par Feenberg, l'analyse identifie des caractéristiques dominantes telles que la contestation des éléments factuels et de l'expertise, la focalisation sur des détails techniques et, donc, le recadrage du discours de l'action publique. La conclusion présente les possibles évolutions futures de l'aménagement du territoire. [source] For a Public International RelationsINTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY, Issue 1 2008George Lawson The last few years have seen an opening up of what is considered to be the legitimate terrain of international relations (IR). This move is, for the most part, extremely welcome. Yet, the multiple theoretical and empirical openings in IR since the end of the Cold War have failed to elucidate many of the puzzles, questions and problems posed by the contemporary conjuncture. There are a number of reasons for this failure ranging from the stickiness of Cold War problem fields to IR's continued attachment to systemic-level theories. However, this article focuses less on symptoms than on treatment and, in particular, on how generating a more "public" international relations enterprise might help to connect IR with the core theoretical, empirical and normative terrain of "actually existing" world politics. Taking its cue from recent debates in sociology about how to generate a "public sociology," the article lays out three pathologies that a public IR enterprise should avoid and four ground rules,amounting to a manifesto of sorts,which sustain the case for a "public" international relations. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||