“Granny” au pairs in online French news media: a crueller shade of optimism?

This article examines the French media representation of low-cost live-in “granny” au pairing services available to French families in France and abroad. It argues that the French news broadcast media repackage “granny” au pairing as positive ageing while underplaying its status as work. The media not only gloss over the low (or no) payment these older single women receive, but also sidestep the precarious economic conditions which motivate them to undertake this work. Instead of portraying au pairs as underpaid workers, it promotes au pairing as “good-life fantasies” and au pairs as active agers. “Granny” au pairs are framed as glamorous, adventurous tourists, or as devoted super grannies. Following Lauren Berlant’s notion of “cruel optimism,” I argue that the media promote these fantasies despite the lack of evidence of reciprocity in the au pairs’ surrogate family relations and working arrangements. There is a sense of cruel optimism in the way these fantasies deny the reality of au pairing as work, assume that older citizens should find private solutions for inadequate pensions, and reinforce the idea that constant activity is what is required of older single women.     

普惠金融支持光伏发电发展的空间效应研究

近年来中国光伏发电装机在上网电价补贴支持下快速发展,然而当前面临着补贴拖欠和退坡的严峻挑战,因此通过金融手段解决光伏发电融资难题至关重要。尽管近年来各省获取金融服务的水平整体有所提升,但空间上仍存在明显发展不平衡的问题。因此,本文对中国普惠金融发展指数及其对中国光伏发电发展促进作用进行空间相关性检验,引入空间权重并选取各省太阳辐射量、电力消费量、煤炭消耗量和各省电价补贴额度等作为控制变量,构建了普惠金融对光伏装机规模影响的空间面板计量模型。结果表明,中国普惠金融发展水平呈现西低东高发展格局,而光伏发电发展也具有显著的空间异质性;光伏发电前期阶段主要由光照资源主导因而分布在西部地区,后期装机中心向普惠金融水平更高的东部地区转移;可见中国普惠金融发展对光伏装机容量具有显著支持效果,且该支持效果存在空间溢出效应。因此,相对于政府补贴等方法,普惠金融水平的提升可以更有效支持光伏发电发展。     

Childcare and parental work schedules: a comparison of childcare arrangements among Finnish,British and Dutch dual-earner families

This study examined the association between parental work schedules and non-parental childcare arrangements among dual-earner families in Finland, the Netherlands and the UK. Data from the ‘Families 24/7’ web survey were used, including 937 parents with children aged 0–12 years. Results showed a negative association between non-standard work and formal childcare across all countries. A similar association was found for using a combination of formal and informal childcare, whereas solely using informal childcare was not associated with work characteristics. Country differences showed that, compared with Finland, the probability of using formal childcare was lower in the Netherlands, whereas the probability of using informal childcare was higher in the UK. Interaction effects showed that the negative association between non-standard work and formal childcare was stronger in the Netherlands, compared with Finland. Also, the positive association between working hours and formal childcare was weaker for Dutch and British parents. This study identified the challenges that parents face when arranging childcare outside of office hours. Although the supply of formal childcare seems to be insufficient, using informal childcare introduces other potential problems. Because a considerable proportion of employees work non-standard hours, governments should help these parents in meeting their need for high quality childcare.     

“Raised Eyebrows”: Working with Lesbian‐Parented Families — Experiences of Childcare Centre Directors in Australia

When reflecting on their experiences with children from lesbian‐parented families, 64 childcare centre directors in Victoria, Australia indicated that explicit programs, policies or resources of support were absent in their centres. Importantly, participants' pre‐ and post‐professional education either ignored or superficially addressed lesbian matters. This may explain the limited nature of inclusion of lesbian matters in early childhood education. Of note, is the pervasive nature of ‘truths’ upheld by educators. That is, in the Foucauldian sense these educators perceived lesbian families as being the ‘same’ as heterosexual families. Despite the considerable shifts in professional attitudes and ‘truths’ about sexuality, the Foucauldian silences were being reinforced in everyday practice as evidenced by the reference to ‘raised eyebrows’ by participants when this silence about sexuality was threatened.     

The power of difference in inclusive research

Inclusive research involves people with intellectual disabilities actively and strives for empowerment and normalisation. Less is written about the power dynamics in a research team consisting of researchers and people with intellectual disabilities and the possible value of such collaboration. In this auto-ethnography we reflect on these aspects and the challenges along the way. We conclude that striving for normalisation can be paralysing; ‘doing the same’ is not always possible and can be disempowering for all members of the research team. Acknowledging differences and uniqueness enriches research outcomes and makes us reflect on our own, sometimes rigid, academic frameworks.     

包容性发展视角下的死刑三维审视

死刑废除已是大势所趋,这既是经济包容性增长也是法律包容性发展的要求。尽管我国死刑的存在有其合理因素,但是面对的外部压力较大,随着人权观念深入人心,至乐活身是不二法则,死刑也终将渐行渐远。在伦理学、生物学、经济学意义上来看,死刑都会受到质疑。从法律层面废除死刑制度,其理论基础是存在的,对于包容性的和谐社会创建意义重大。     

Good Practice in the Education of Children in Residential Care

Correspondence to The Directors, New Horizons (Child Care) Ltd., Unit B, Silkmoor, New Street, Frankwell, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY3 8LN, UK. E-mail info{at}new-horizonschildcare.co.uk Summary Research shows that the education of children in residentialcare is generally poor, in terms of both process and outcome.This has highlighted the uncertainty over how best to educatethese children and a pessimism over what they can achieve. Drawingupon the findings of an evaluation of a children’s home,this paper argues that children in residential care can havegood educational outcomes. It also shows that it is possibleto identify the processes by which these outcomes can be broughtabout. However, this largely positive assessment is predicatedupon education being defined broadly in respect of ‘process’and ‘outcome’. Moreover, it is important not tounderestimate the formidable challenges inherent in this work.While the multi-agency nature of this work gives rise to oneof the most significant, it has to be recognized that responsibilityfor the education of children in residential care falls primarilyto children’s homes. If children’s homes are tomeet the increasing expectations that are being made of them,national and local government will have to undertake a radicaltransformation of residential childcare, especially in termsof attitudes towards, and resources invested in, this sector.Central to this is the establishment of a qualified and properlysupported workforce.     

数字普惠金融提高了农户信贷获得吗？

数字普惠金融的迅猛发展为推动农村金融体制改革,改善农户信贷获得提供了有利契机。使用北京大学数字普惠金融指数和2014—2018年中国家庭追踪调查数据发现,数字普惠金融的发展显著提高了农户的正规信贷可得性和正规信贷规模,通过Biprobit模型和CMP模型进行稳健性检验,并运用工具变量和LPM模型克服潜在的内生性后,结果仍然稳健。研究同时发现,数字普惠金融对农户的非正规信贷获得具有负向影响但并不显著。机制分析发现,数字普惠金融主要通过降低交易成本、缓解信息不对称和降低抵押品要求提高了农户的正规信贷获得。异质性分析表明,数字普惠金融对较高收入农户和较低收入农户的正规信贷获得具有更大的促进作用,但是对中等收入农户的影响并不显著。由此提出,要大力支持数字普惠金融发展,提升农户互联网使用技能,注重农户个人信用积累和关注农村中等收入群体的利益诉求。     

Resolution of evolutionary conflict: a general theory and its applications

While many cases in which conflict over the evolution of social behavior exists even between closely related individuals (e.g., parent-offspring conflict) have been pointed out, little attention has been paid on the problem of where such conflict should lead. A general theory of conflict resolution, however, has recently been developed. The key idea of the theory is the incorporation of conflict costs in the inclusive fitness evaluation. The theory shows that if both sides engaged in the conflict can potentially control the other at a cost, the coevolutionary game of escalating the fight with increased conflict costs always leads either side to give in to the other, resolving the conflict. Here we examine the logical basis of the theory in terms of a simplest example, donor-recipient conflict over the evolution of altruism, and to show its different types of application we review two more specific examples: reproductive-worker conflict over true (sterile) worker evolution in termites and insider-outsider conflict over group size determination. The latter exemplifies the resolution of conflict over the value of a variable (group size in this case) rather than a behavior, suggesting extended applicability of the basic theory.     

扬弃悖论命题的方法和标准

要合理解决悖论,首先要区别思想中三种不同的逻辑否定词:同指否定词并非();异指否定词非(′);兼指否定词不只是()。其次,要区分思想中四种不同矛盾命题:逻辑矛盾命题;辩证矛盾命题;怪论矛盾命题;悖论矛盾命题。它们具有辩证矛盾命题的语义内容,却具有逻辑矛盾命题的语法表达形式。再次,要有令人满意的解决悖论的标准。罗素指出的解决悖论的三个必要条件,可作为令人满意解决悖论的共同标准。近百年来解决悖论诸种方案可分为(1)特设性排除悖论方案;(2)特设性容纳悖论方案;(3)非特设性扬弃悖论方案三大类。按罗素提出的三个标准,解决悖论方案(1)和(2)是不能令人满意的,(3)是令人满意的。