Clarifying the role of belief-motive explanations in multi-stakeholder realist evaluation

In realist evaluation, where researchers aim to make program theories explicit, they can encounter competing explanations as to how programs work. Managing explanatory tensions from different sources of evidence in multi-stakeholder projects can challenge external evaluators, especially when access to pertinent data, like client records, is mediated by program stakeholders. In this article, we consider two central questions: how can program stakeholder motives shape a realist evaluation project; and how might realist evaluators respond to stakeholders’ belief-motive explanations, including those about program effectiveness, based on factors such as supererogatory commitment or trying together in good faith? Drawing on our realist evaluation of a service reform initiative involving multiple agencies, we describe stakeholder motives at key phases, highlighting a need for tactics and skills that help to manage explanatory tensions. In conclusion, the relevance of stakeholders’ belief-motive explanations (‘we believe the program works’) in realist evaluation is clarified and discussed.     

LGBTQI-identified human rights defenders: courage in the face of adversity at the United Nations

The role of LGBTQI human rights defenders in the international arena at the United Nations (UN) is a particularly risky and insecure one, especially for those who themselves identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, two spirit, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI). This article focuses on the anecdotal experiences of LGBTQI-identified human rights defenders and their work at the UN, observed and noted during a research study examining the degree of recognition and legitimacy LGBTQIs have at the UN. Much courage is required on the part of LGBTQI-identified human rights defenders who, while defending others in their communities, themselves face opposition from those within the UN who hold traditional, religious, and culturally based values, as well as a result of state sovereignty and state-sanctioned criminalisation of their gender and sexual diversity.     

Feminism and science in Masters of Sex

This article examines the fictional characterization of the real-life sex researchers and scientists William H. Masters and Virginia E. Johnson in the Showtime television program Masters of Sex (2013–2016). The historical Johnson had a complicated relationship with second-wave feminism: she disdained the movement and was interested primarily in improving heterosexual marriages and the sex lives of married couples. The Johnson character speaks in a language of postfeminism with minimal interest in collective action and broader social change. However, second-wave feminists later used her and Masters’ research in order to support their own beliefs about sexual autonomy and freedom, within and beyond marriage and heterosexuality. The television program demonstrates Johnson’s importance to both phases of her and Masters’ research—in the first phase, when they are based in a hospital and university environment, and in the second, when they establish their own research institute and raise funds directly from the clients that they serve. Johnson exemplifies postfeminist depictions of ambitious women in prestige television, her aim to have a successful career and marriage conflict, and while she is willing to compromise scientific values to serve her own goals, her male colleagues temper that ambition in service of “objective” science.     

习近平生态文明思想生成的逻辑理路

作为习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想的重要组成部分，习近平生态文明思想这一科学理论有其严密的生成逻辑理路。马克思恩格斯生态文明观的继承发展是其理论逻辑；中华优秀传统文化生态智慧的超越升华是其文化逻辑；历代中国共产党人生态文明思想的承接开拓是其历史逻辑；习近平个人成长发展历程中对生态文明的不懈探索是其实践逻辑；中国特色社会主义生态治理经验的深刻总结是其社会逻辑。深入学习和研究习近平生态文明思想生成的逻辑理路将有助于更系统地认识和理解这一思想产生的时代背景和价值意蕴，也为推进当代中国生态治理和破解全球生态危机提供了基本遵循和科学指南。     

Changing Indigeneity Politics in Indonesia: From Revival to Projects

Through the discourse of indigeneity, rural communities around the world are joining a global network of rural justice seekers. By articulating grievances collectively, they demand state recognition while seeking support from NGOs and international development organisations. In Indonesia, the manifestation of indigenous ‘adat’ politics is no longer confined to the national struggle for the recognition of land rights, but instead, has proliferated into many localised short term ‘adat projects’. This introduction to the TAPJA special issue on adat demonstrates that both the rural poor and local elites can be the initiators or recipients of these adat projects but, at the current juncture, the latter are better positioned to benefit from such projects. The special issue shows that in Indonesia, where adat is often firmly entrenched in the state, the promotion of indigeneity claims can work in contradictory ways. Findings from across the special issue show that adat projects tend to reinforce the power of the state, rather than challenging it.     

Reasons That Could Lead People to Divorce in an Evolutionary Perspective: Evidence from Cyprus

In the current research, we aimed to identify the reasons that could drive people to get a divorce. In Study 1, we employed qualitative research methods, and we identified 62 reasons that could potentially drive people to get a divorce. Using quantitative research methods, in Study 2 we classified these reasons into 7 broader factors. We found that being a harmful spouse was the most important factor for divorce, followed by incompatibility and in-law problems. We also found significant sex differences in several factors such as women indicating a higher willingness than men to divorce a harmful spouse. In addition, participants with children were less willing to divorce a harmful spouse than those who had no children. Finally, using second-order principal components analysis, we classified the 7 factors into 2 broader domains of reasons for getting a divorce.     

高技术复杂度中间品进口会加剧制造业中间品进口依赖吗?

本文在测度制造业和服务业中间品进口技术复杂度的基础上,剖析了中间品进口技术复杂度对中间品进口依赖的作用机制及其作用渠道,并进一步分析了中间品进口技术复杂度对经济量增和质增的作用机制。得到的结论主要有:一是高技术复杂度中间品进口会加剧一国的中间品进口依赖,该结论在多维度检验中均稳健成立,这一机制不仅有助于高技术中间品先发企业成为制衡全球价值链的链主,还容易导致高技术复杂度中间品后发企业成为全球价值链的被俘获者和尾随者;二是高技术复杂度中间品进口通过抑制制造业的资本积累和科研人员规模扩大来加剧高技术复杂度中间品进口国的中间品进口依赖,中国的制造业和服务业中间品进口技术复杂度远高于自身经济发展水平,这使得中国承受的中间品进口依赖压力可能远高于其他国家;三是高技术复杂度中间品进口是经济量增和质增的重要推动力量,促进经济量增和质增战略与降低中间品进口依赖战略之间存在潜在冲突,这一潜在冲突也证实了中国当前以国内大循环为主体发展战略的科学性和正确性。     

西班牙—摩洛哥边境的建构与治理研究

休达与梅利利亚地处非洲北端地中海南岸,是孤立在非洲大陆上的两个西班牙飞地。这两座城市的陆上边界活动与经济要素的流动,反映出摩洛哥与西班牙、欧盟与非欧盟国家之间的冲突与交流。其建构与治理不仅影响着两国的政治稳定、经济发展、外交关系,也影响着欧盟的移民政策和欧洲—非洲关系,同时建构了独特且动态的边民认同。2020年受到新冠肺炎疫情的影响,休达与梅利利亚的边境空间有了新的变化。本文通过梳理该边境问题的产生与流变,分析其“双重性”“交织性”“波动性”等特点,进而指出,休达与梅利利亚的边境空间具有屏障功能、桥梁作用、认同建构、边境建构及其重构等作用,其对研究飞地边民认同、欧盟政策与欧洲—地中海关系意义重大。     

Moving On From Supportive Housing (MOSH): Development and evaluation of a transitional skill-building curriculum for providers helping residents exit homeless services

This article describes the development and evaluation of MOSH (Moving On From Supportive Housing), a transitional skill-building curriculum for providers helping residents exit homeless services to mainstream housing without embedded supports. In this evaluation, we assess the feasibility, acceptability, fit, and potential efficacy of the MOSH curriculum to improve proximal provider-level outcomes, including self-efficacy to provide MOSH-related independent living skills and supports. Homeless-services providers (N = 49) from a range of programs and settings participated in the training. Findings from focus groups and pre- and posttest surveys indicate high levels of overall satisfaction with the training. The majority of trainees perceived the training to be useful to their work and potentially useful for service recipients, felt the training would fit well within their existing day-to-day work, and said they were very likely to use MOSH skills in such work. Statistically significant improvements in self-efficacy regarding all skills but one were also found. MOSH holds promise as an intervention that can enhance provider practice and promotion of independent living skills in homeless services. Although these initial findings on MOSH are encouraging, further research will be needed to evaluate provider knowledge gains and effective use of these skills in practice.     

The impact of the European Youth Guarantee on active labour market policies: A convergence analysis

The European Union’s (EU) Youth Guarantee aims to improve the labour market situation of young people. Rather than prescribing a uniform policy model, it acknowledges that supportive measures need to align with national, regional and local circumstances. It thus seeks to promote mutual policy learning through the open method of coordination. As an innovative measure, the EU has deployed funding programmes to support the domestic measures related to the Youth Guarantee. We therefore examined in this study whether this mix of recommendations and financial incentives has entailed a convergence of member state policies. Our analysis of policy outputs for the period 2007?2014 yields a mixed empirical picture. There is catching‐up convergence regarding policies’ sectoral coverage but increasing divergence concerning the number of adopted policy instruments. The first two years of financial incentives did not produce any effect on enhancing policy experimentation among less active member states. We offer an optimistic and a pessimistic interpretation of these findings.