Squashed dreams and rare breeds: ableism and the arbiters of life and death

The week beginning 29 June 2015 is not just historic for the closure of the Independent Living Fund in the United Kingdom, but for me was the week they decided that my life is not worth investing in; they being NHS England, NICE and, with them, the Department of Health. They chose not to support the enzyme replacement therapy that has been not only keeping me alive, but giving me a quality of life – enabling me to return to finish my Disability Studies PhD exploring how Christian leaders explain disability, where ethics have become the main topic, and to rebuild my career – or so I thought.     

从主权国家的兴衰看权力博弈形态的转型

传统的国际关系理论,无论是现实主义、自由主义、建构主义还是科学行为主义理论,都是把主权国家抽象成一个统一的国际关系行为体。这一行为主体有一致的利益,也自然要有一致的对外政策目标和手段。在20世纪,尤其是在两次世界大战和冷战期间,这一概念抽象是非常准确的。但冷战结束以后,尤其是进入21世纪以后,这一概念抽象逐渐与国际关系的现实相违背。一方面,国家综合实力并不能直接转化为具体领域的竞争优势;另一方面,很多国家,包括超级大国在内,其对外政策的主要阻力可能不是所谓的竞争对手,而是其国内不同的利益集团。这导致传统的国际关系理论,从假设到概念和推理层面,都已经无法解释和预测今天的世界,而权力小博弈理论可以为认识多元复杂互动博弈时代的国际关系提供一个新的解释框架。     

The ‘right time’ – negotiating the timing of interviews with vulnerable young people

Participant retention is a key factor in determining the success of longitudinal research. Challenges in re-locating and retaining participants over the long term are major issues for researchers working with young people who face adversity and experience frequent changes in circumstances. This article reports on a study of vulnerable young people and their transition into adulthood. Rather than the more conventional schedule-based approach to locating and re-interviewing young people, a relational process, the ‘right time’ framework, was used to facilitate young people's involvement in the study. Embedded in the ‘right time’ framework is recognition of the diverse and fluctuating circumstances that shape young people's availability for interviews. Several case examples are considered which amplify the way that the ‘right time’ framework allowed the research to navigate around these circumstances. The case examples highlight the value young people attached to being involved in the research, the influence on the ‘right time’ of wider relational tensions for young people and the need to negotiate researcher status as a different sort of adult. The ‘right time’ framework contributed to a high retention rate in the study generating a more representative sample and enhancing the subsequent data analysis by providing valuable insights into the lives of these vulnerable young people.     

Social work students' conception on roles within the family in Greece

The present article is based on a small-scale research that took place with third-year students in the department of social work at Technological Educational Institute of Patras. During class the students, who undertake the laboratory course ‘Social Work with Families’, were asked to discuss family roles and depict them on drawings. Analysing their drawings in a qualitative approach the findings suggest that students adopt traditional views on family issues and the family roles. Various gender stereotypes and prejudices were reflected in students' drawings and this is alarming for both social work education and practice.     

试述马克思主义大众化传播应坚持的四个基本原则

马克思主义大众化传播是一个极其复杂、艰巨的社会系统工程。学术界对于马克思主义大众化传播应该坚持什么样的原则和方法也是众说纷纭。从当代世界和中国现实情况、信息传播技术飞速发展的时代背景,以及马克思主义理论创新发展的内在规律出发,马克思主义大众化传播应坚持指导思想一元和文化价值多元的统一、理论逻辑和生活逻辑的统一、科学性与通俗性的统一、传承性和开放性的统一等四个基本原则。     

从“以人为本”到政府“公信”--新世纪初政府公信力构建的进路评析

政府公信力是政府凭籍自身信用赢得公众信任的能力，十六大以来，党在施政理念上强调"以人为本"，在执政行为上关注"民生"；在绩效上彰显公平正义，施政方略渗透着人文关怀因素，政府公信力得到了有效提升。但由于腐败现象没有得到有效控制，党风廉政与制度化建设相对滞后，政府公信力也受到了冲击。在新一代领导集体治国理政中，"改革"成为新的常态，防腐败斗争与党风廉政建设取得了伟大成就，政府公信力的重振业已开启。     

农用承包地流转意愿的实证研究--基于福建省六地市农户问卷调查

从农户意愿角度，以福建省农民的农用承包地为研究对象，对影响农户承包地流转的因素进行分析，通过实地调查和问卷调查的形式收集到影响农户流转承包地的样本数据，并对通过建立二元Logistic模型对各个因素的显著性进行检验。通过实证研究发现，户主受教育程度、户主的职业、农户家庭的人口、家庭的收入主要来源、承包地面积和农户流转承包地的租金水平是农户流转承包地的显著性影响因素，其中户主受教育程度、家庭的收入主要来源、承包地面积和租金水平是正向影响，户主的职业和农户家庭的人口是负向影响。根据研究的结论提出相应的政策建议。     

A new financial stress index model based on support vector regression and control chart

Financial stress index (FSI) is considered to be an important risk management tool to quantify financial vulnerabilities. This paper proposes a new framework based on a hybrid classifier model that integrates rough set theory (RST), FSI, support vector regression (SVR) and a control chart to identify stressed periods. First, the RST method is applied to select variables. The outputs are used as input data for FSI–SVR computation. Empirical analysis is conducted based on monthly FSI of the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis from January 1992 to June 2011. A comparison study is performed between FSI based on the principal component analysis and FSI–SVR. A control chart based on FSI–SVR and extreme value theory is proposed to identify the extremely stressed periods. Our approach identified different stressed periods including internet bubble, subprime crisis and actual financial stress episodes, along with the calmest periods, agreeing with those given by Federal Reserve System reports.     

新中国成立初期马克思主义在新疆地区的传播(1949—1955年）

新中国成立初期,马克思主义在新疆地区的传播,历经了从边缘走向中心、从隐蔽走向公开,进而发展为常态化的历史过程。这一过程,蕴涵着马克思主义理论的内在诉求,是中国共产党执政的在场体现,也深度契合了新疆地区各族人民的迫切需求。面对传播过程中出现的话语、文本和媒介等现实问题,党和政府通过加强党组织建设以建构话语路径、翻译出版经典著作以建构文本路径、完善本土大众传媒以建构媒介路径等来化解问题,从而为新疆维吾尔自治区成立奠定了思想与理论基础,强化了中国共产党在新疆地区的组织建设,也推进了本土传播媒介的发展与提升,更为马克思主义在民族地区传播的理论探究提供了现实参考。     

Field of study variation throughout the college pipeline and its effect on the earnings gap: Differences between ethnic and immigrant groups in Israel

This study demonstrates the analytical leverage gained from considering the entire college pipeline—including the application, admission and graduation stages—in examining the economic position of various groups upon labor market entry. The findings, based on data from three elite universities in Israel, reveal that the process that shapes economic inequality between different ethnic and immigrant groups is not necessarily cumulative. Field of study stratification does not expand systematically from stage to stage and the position of groups on the field of study hierarchy at each stage is not entirely explained by academic preparation. Differential selection and attrition processes, as well as ambition and aspirations, also shape the position of ethnic groups in the earnings hierarchy and generate a non-cumulative pattern. These findings suggest that a cross-sectional assessment of field of study inequality at the graduation stage can generate misleading conclusions about group-based economic inequality among workers with a bachelor’s degree.