AIDS funding and the rhetoric of scarcity

This article describes the “rhetoric of scarcity,” a viewpoint that focuses on the inadequate past support for and the uncertain future of AIDS funding. This view is at variance with the consistent rise in financial support for AIDS and with the criticism from some quarters that AIDS is being overfunded relative to other diseases. The rhetoric of scarcity expressed by members of the AIDS community is distinctive but not unique to HIV/AIDS and can be traced to qualities of the epidemic and the ways in which nonprofit organizations obtain their funds.     

Violent families and the rhetoric of harmony

Observing that the violent realities of family life belie the social rhetoric of harmony, most sociologists recommend 'demythologizing' the family. This paper challenges that view, arguing that social rhetoric must be analysed rather than debunked. The sense-making activities of actors who engage in violent family events are identified as a strategic site for such an analyses. The paper explores the ways in which the rhetoric of family harmony is routinely sustained and reproduced. Two kinds of supports are considered (i) macrosocial supports, which sustain family rhetoric by integrating it into a wider system of collective representations; and (ii) microsocial supports which sustain family rhetoric by embodying it in the accounts of family members.     

The rhetoric and the reality of rural deprivation

In the development of the rural deprivation debate in the U.K. in the early 1970s, the cause of rural deprivation was largely attributed to the imbalance in the allocation of state resources between urban and rural areas. In subsequent campaigns to redress that situation, much emphasis was placed on identifying specific ‘rural’ as opposed to ‘urban’ explanations for the problems facing rural populations. Evidence presented in this paper, however, illustrates the essentially aspatial nature of the deprivation experience. From a detailed household survey in a range of rural environments in England, deprivation was found to result as much from the socio-economic inequalities within rural society as it does from any perceived processes of territorial injustice in the allocation of Central Government financial support to local authorities. In the light of such findings, the paper questions the advisability of the state's adherence to spatial policies in the pursuit of solutions to the problems of the deprived in rural areas.     

Oppositional identities and rhetoric in divorce

Using data gathered through participant observation and in-depth interviews, this article considers the phenomenon of non-mutual divorce in terms of the oppositional identities that divorcing partners establish through discourse. Divorcing partners describe feelings of mutual ambivalence prior to divorce, but they almost always transform themselves into dumpers (initiators/leavers) and dumped partners once their divorces begin. Most importantly, divorcing people establish these identities by invoking a cultural rhetoric of individualism on one side and a cultural rhetoric of commitment on the other. Although the two identities and their associated rhetorics are transitional, emerging only at the moment when one partner declares I want out and subsiding once the divorce is accomplished, they are significant means by which divorcing partners resolve ambivalence, account for their divorces, and impose a general sense of order onto the dissolution process.     

试论美国反恐与中东局势

美国遭遇恐怖袭击与中东地区关联深厚,而反恐行动更是为本已动荡的巴以局势增添了新的变数.反恐利益主导下的美国中东政策的不稳定性客观上加剧了中东局势的动荡.随着反恐行动的后续发展,伊拉克成为新打击对象,中东的两大热点--巴以争端和伊拉克问题在反恐框架中相互交织,中东局势未来走向与美国反恐息息相关.在可预见的将来,美国中东政策将在确保中东根本利益不受影响的前提下,根据反恐需要做相应调整,而巴以冲突将维持可控制的低烈度状态.     

试论美国反恐与中东局势

美国巧遇恐怖袭击与中东地区关联深厚，而反恐行动更是为本已动荡的巴以局势增添了新的变数。反恐利益主导下的美国中东政策的不稳定性客观上加剧了中东局势的动荡。随着反恐行动的后续发展，伊拉克成为新打击对象，中东的两大热点--巴以争端和伊拉克问题在反恐框架中相互交织，中东局势未来走向与美国反恐息息相关。在可预见的将来，美国中东政策将在确保中东根本利益不受影响的前提下，根据反恐需要做相应调整，而巴以冲突将维持可控制的低烈度状态。     

The rhetoric and reality of youth mentoring

Enduring and supportive mentoring relationships can powerfully influence the course and quality of adolescent lives. As mentoring continues to expand, community agencies are implementing alternatives to the traditional one-on-one mentoring mode. Such efforts may help to reach youth who might otherwise fall through the cracks.     

Jane Addams and the Campaign of Theodore Roosevelt

Abstract

Built on the assumption that both rational and nonrational thought go into problem solving, but only rational approaches have been presented as appropriate technology for program development, this article offers an alterative way of designing social programs. We call this approach “emergent planning.” Our aim is to provide a conceptualization of planning processes that will be useful regardless of culture, mission or goals of the human service organization within which planning and service occur. Our hope is to deconstruct what constitutes rational thinking in program planning in order to critically consider alternative ways of thinking and planning within the context of multiculturalism and globalization. The goal is recognition of a subjugated model of planning so that those who do not plan rationally are not automatically assumed to lack competence to engage in “real” planning and effective problem solving.     

Agricultural development and emigration: rhetoric and reality

"The untested premise of trade liberalizing U.S. development programs such as the Caribbean Basin Initiative is that commodity trade can substitute for international labor migration. Analysis of U.S. tomato producing regions in Sinaloa, Mexico and Florida suggests that the effect of trade liberalization on international labor migration is uncertain." The emphasis is on how such development projects might affect the flow of illegal migrants to the United States.     

Social work and macro-economic neoliberalism: beyond the social justice rhetoric

Macro-economic policy shapes and structures social welfare policy, services, and their implementation. As a result, the commoditisation of social welfare services and the use of markets as well as private sector management philosophies and tools have colonised and fashioned the design, provision and implementation of social welfare policy and structures. The impact has been far reaching, from limiting social welfare responses of elected democratic government to shaping the profession in a range of intended and unintended directions. Written from a UK perspective, this paper proposes a discussion of the impact of macro-economic neoliberal policies in the field of social welfare and explores the implications for social work practice. The paper also promotes a debate within the profession regarding the importance of macro-economic analysis and possible responses, as well as suggesting a way forward within European and, more broadly, international practice contexts.     

Sex differences in trust and trustworthiness: A meta-analysis of the trust game and the gift-exchange game

We present a meta-analytic review of the literature on sex differences in the trust game (174 effect sizes) and the related gift-exchange game (35 effect sizes). Based on parental investment theory and social role theory we expected men to be more trusting and women to be more trustworthy. Indeed, men were more trusting in the trust game (g = 0.22), yet we found no significant sex difference in trust in the gift-exchange game (g = 0.15). Regarding trustworthiness, we found no significant sex difference in the trust game (g = −0.04), and we found men, not women, to be more trustworthy in the gift-exchange game (g = 0.33). These results suggest that men send more money than women do when their money is going to be multiplied, thereby creating an efficiency gain. This so-called “male multiplier effect” may be explained by a stronger psychological tendency in men to acquire resources.     

Assimilation and its discontents: between rhetoric and reality

"It is in [the] conceptual interstices between theory, rhetoric, and reality that paradoxes (or at least what may appear as paradoxes) emerge. By focusing on paradoxes--on evidence that contradicts orthodox expectations and points instead to assimilation's discontents--the aim of this article is to test empirically the conception of assimilation as a linear process leading to improvements in immigrant outcomes over time and generation in the United States, to unmask underlying pre-theoretical ethnocentric pretensions, and to identify areas in need of conceptual, analytical and theoretical refinement. It is precisely through the examination of paradoxical cases--in effect, deviant case analyses--that fruitful reformulations can be stimulated, considered, and advanced."     

Campaign Finance and Policymaking: PACs,Campaign Contributions,and Interest Group Influence in Congress

The general public is skeptical of our current system of campaign finance and feels that members of Congress are corrupt. Although the scholarly literature on campaign contribution influence is mixed, there is growing consensus that Political Action Committees (PACs) and interest groups do, indeed, have a powerful influence on policymaking in Congress. In this article, the author reviews this literature and discusses how influence occurs. Findings reveal that influence is only very rarely an explicit quid pro quo exchange. Instead, it is typically an ongoing, implicit, reciprocal exchange that impacts multiple stages of the legislative process and yields contributors many dividends, such as softer regulations, lower taxes, and lucrative contracts – none of which are explicitly promised (except in rare cases of full‐blown bribery) but are, nonetheless, regularly granted. The social relationships between contributors and lawmakers are central to this process, as is the ability to get legislators to sway their colleagues.