POSTMODERNISM; OR,THE CULTURAL LOGIC OF POST-FORDISM?

This article examines attempts by Marxist thinkers such as Fredric Jameson and David Harvey to explain the cultural transition from modernism to postmodernism by the economic transition from Fordism to post-Fordism. They argue that the movement of advanced industrial societies from standardized mass production to diverse flexible production has created a new culture that stresses difference, superficiality, and ahistoricality. But in their attempts to portray a synchronous development of economy and culture, these thinkers ignore the uneven developments between and within each realm. I argue that in the United States the popular arts like automobile design developed postmodern traits long before the high arts like architecture. Instead of this change in popular culture resulting from post-Fordism, it dialectically influenced this economic change.     

CONSEQUENCES OF BLACK EXCEPTIONALISM? Interracial Unions with Blacks,Depressive Symptoms,and Relationship Satisfaction

Using data from Wave 4 (2008) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 7,466), we examine potential consequences of black exceptionalism in the context of interracial relationships among nonblack respondents. While increasing racial diversity and climbing rates of interracial unions have fostered the notion that racial boundaries within the United States are fading, our results add to the accumulating evidence that racial/ethnic boundaries persist in U.S. society. Results suggest that among non-Black respondents there is more stigma and disapproval attached to relationships with Blacks than there are to relationships with members of other racial/ethnic groups. Specifically, our results indicate that nonblack individuals with black partners have significantly more depressive symptoms and less relationship satisfaction than their counterparts with nonblack partners, regardless of respondent race and whether the nonblack partner is the same versus a different race from the respondent. Further, the relationship between partner race and depressive symptoms is partially and significantly mediated by relationship satisfaction.     

MUSIC OF ANTIQUITY

BEAUTIFUL music is flowing out from the fingertips of a dozen old men. They hail from the remote snowcapped Yulong mountain of Lijiang, located in southwestern China's Yunnan Province. The music that they play has a history of more than one thousand years. Performed in traditional costume with antique-looking musical instruments, the thoroughly original concert of ancient     

RELIGIOSITY,PEERS, AND DELINQUENCY: DOES RELIGIOSITY REDUCE THE EFFECT OF PEERS ON DELINQUENCY?

Do peer influences have the same effect on religious and nonreligious youth, or does religiosity reduce the effect of peers on delinquency? Using data from the National Youth Survey, we examined the interaction of religiosity and peer influences on marijuana use, alcohol use, hitting, and property offenses. The results suggest that, for marijuana use and alcohol use, three measures of peer influence—peer attitudes, behaviors, and pressure—have weaker effects on religious adolescents. Thus, even when religious youth are exposed to peers who encourage substance use, religiosity may serve as a protective factor that reduces the effect of peers. In contrast, religiosity does not seem to condition the effect of peers on hitting and property offenses.     

COMMUNITY COHESION,ASYLUM SEEKING AND THE QUESTION OF THE ‘STRANGER’

This paper addresses the changing governance of the social through the conjunction of international, national and local strategies where attempts to regulate migration and promote community safety meet. Migration has been increasingly subjected to processes of ‘securitization’ and ‘criminalization’ that encounter and align with new pressures in ‘domestic’ crime and safety policies. The paper offers a critical evaluation of the sociological grand narratives that frame these events, arguing instead for a more nuanced analysis of the instabilities and volatilities of governance strategies and practices – and the normative issues that they bring into view.     

TOUR OF HONG KONG

Known as the First Port of the Orient, the night scene in Hong Kong is charming. The highest building shown here is the Bank of China, designed by Ieoh Ming Pei, a famous architect.     

RELIGIOSITY,MORAL BELIEFS,AND DELINQUENCY: DOES THE EFFECT OF RELIGIOSITY ON DELINQUENCY DEPEND ON MORAL BELIEFS?

Does the effect of religiosity on delinquent behavior depend on moral beliefs? For example, will religious adolescents refrain from using marijuana, even if they do not believe using marijuana is wrong? We addressed this question using data from the third and fourth waves of the National Youth Survey. The results indicated a significant interaction between religiosity and moral beliefs for marijuana use and getting drunk, but not for hitting or property offenses. Religiosity has a stronger effect on marijuana and alcohol use when adolescents also believe these behaviors are wrong. Conversely, when it is not accompanied by strong moral beliefs, religiosity has less of an effect on marijuana use and drinking.     

ABSTRACTS OF The 2nd Asian ISSAM Meeting on the Aging Male Taipei,Taiwan March 6–9, 2003

Background.?It is of interest to understand whether impaired physical function is associated with health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL). We examined upper and lower body physical function and its relationship with two domains of HRQOL among men.

Methods.?We conducted a population-based observational study of musculoskeletal health among Boston, MA residents, the Boston Area Community Health/Bone Survey. Participants were 1219 randomly-selected Black, Hispanic, and White males (30–79 years). Upper body function was measured using hand grip strength, while lower body function was measured by combining a timed walk and a chair stand test. HRQOL was measured using the physical (PCS-12) and mental health (MCS-12) component scores of the SF-12. Multivariate linear regression models were used to estimate the association between poor function and HRQOL.

Results.?There was a significant association of poor upper body physical function with the MCS-12 (β coefficient:??4.12, p?=?0.003) but not the PCS-12 (β coefficient: 0.79, p?=?0.30) compared to those without poor function. Those with poor lower body physical function had significantly lower PCS-12 scores (β:??2.95, p?=?0.007), compared to those without poor function, but an association was not observed for MCS-12 scores.

Conclusions.?Domains of physical function were not consistently related to domains of HRQOL.     

ON THE NATURE OF FUTURE WORLDS? - CONSIDERATIONS OF VIRTUALITY AND UTOPIAS

It has been a widespread belief that computers can create viable utopias, design the future and plan and co-ordinate things such that the world can be born anew. The exponential increase in computing power has allowed for interaction in imaginary places - utopian spaces - and the endless re-configuration of those places. There are then good reasons to make links between the realm of the virtual and the creation of utopian and future worlds. We explore some of these links in this article. Having offered a preliminary discussion of the nature of traditional utopian and future world thinking, we then draw a distinction between stable state and flexible utopias, the former characterized by structurally fixed blueprints, the latter by the possibilities of virtual technologies which allow us endlessly to re-configure virtual spaces. This distinction leads us on to a debate that is implicit in the writings of Sherry Turkle and Richard Coyne, namely the analysis of the virtual from a Husserlian, as opposed to the dominant Heideggerian view. We defend a Husserlian analysis which, it is shown, better satisfies the concept of 'flexible utopias'. The totalizing existential experience by a Heideggerian analysis corresponds well to 'immersion' technologies e.g. games and VR, utopias as ready-mades but, a Husserlian approach allows us to account for the creative process of making utopian or future worlds using software such as interior design when one changes items ad infinitum as part of the normal practices of being a designer. In the conclusion we will pull together the strands of the article and, end by noting how the contemporary theorist, Robert Nozick complements our arguments when he offers a version of utopia as a meta-utopia of flexible utopias or future worlds!     

YOU'VE WON,NOW WHAT? THE INFLUENCE OF LEGAL CHANGE ON GAY AND LESBIAN MOBILIZATION, 1974–1999

Research on movement outcomes primarily examines the conditions under which social movements influence the law. Less attention has been given to the influence that legal change might have on the movement's subsequent development. Does the achievement of legal goals help the movement mobilize or does the movement experience decline once change occurs? Using unique measures of gay and lesbian mobilization, I investigate the influence of legal change on the number of gay and lesbian movement organizations in each state from 1974 to 1999. Results demonstrate that the impact of legal change is contingent on the type of reform achieved and the cultural context surrounding the decision.     

WHAT MAKES THE LOCAL? A BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF THE REJUVENATION OF HONG KONG IDENTITY

This paper ascertains what makes the local and why the local is important, in the context of change in Hong Kong due to the political transition to PRC sovereignty.In doing so, I hope to pose a modest polemical challenge to cultural studies' tendency to overlook seemingly simplistic empirical information. The return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 has led to a contraction of the political sphere, as the convergence of political structures curbed the development of local identities. The label or category ‘Hong Kong people’ was then appropriated with a specific meaning for the local to resist encroachment of the national. It was true that the high intensity of dominant national discourses during the political transition created a favourable atmosphere for re-nationalization. However, as soon as the political transition was over, Hong Kongers re-adhered to their own label in their struggle for cultural autonomy.Their strong cultural affect toward various national icons during the transition quickly diminished. This multiyear discourse study (1996–1998), which utilizes social scientific methods in conjunction with cultural theories, illustrates important political and methodological impulses necessary for the formulation of a socio-political approach to cultural studies within the Hong Kong context.     

DOES THE LAUNCH OF THE EURO HINDER THE CURRENT ACCOUNT ADJUSTMENT OF THE EUROZONE?

This paper examines current account adjustments before and after the launch of the euro. Applying a dynamic panel model, we provide robust evidence to support that the adoption of the euro facilitates rather than hinders the adjustment of current accounts. This finding agrees with our results that the use of the euro assists real exchange rate and inflation rate adjustments. We also find that the independence of exchange rate regimes from current account, real exchange rate and inflation rate adjustments is observed when standard panel estimation methods are applied and when time‐varying smooth shifts in mean are not controlled. (JEL C33, F32, F41)     

IS LOVE BLIND? THE EFFECTS OF EXPERIENCE AND INFATUATION ON THE PERCEPTION OF LOVE

We hypothesized that participants in love and more experienced in romantic love (e.g., schematics) would perceive love more accurately than those who were not in love and less experienced. Judges viewed and rated a series of 25 thin-slice video clips of couples for whom their love for another was known via Sternbergs (Psychological Review, 93, 119–135) love scale. Individual differences in love judgment accuracy were large. Not surprisingly, participants who were in love at the time of the study and who reported having had a lengthy romantic relationship were more confident in their love judgment accuracy but, in fact, were less accurate. Apparently the love schemas people develop subjectively may not adequately represent the way in which the construct manifests among the population in general. Although love judgments may come easier to those in love, their perceptions of the love around them may be biased and inaccurate.     

ETHNOGRAPHIES OF PRACTICE—PRACTISING ETHNOGRAPHY

This paper argues that acquiring competencies in different approaches and procedures in qualitative or interpretative social research provides a strong foundation for case analysis in professional social work practice. When students of social work become familiar with such research and are encouraged to engage in their own supervised projects they develop skills for a circumspect and sensitive practice with clients. The paper reports on work with students of social work in Germany, which can be described as an attempt to help them to become self‐reflective ethnographers in their own affairs, of their own emergent social work practice. It spells out different phases of a process in which they learn to make their own practice strange. This process consists of developing different competencies in observing, analysing and writing, and requires a setting in which students' written observations and reflections can be shared and discussed by their peers in a critical, egalitarian and supportive manner. The author thinks that such a critical and self‐critical discourse which addresses professional issues in general, as well as the individual student's (or practioner's) experiences and reflections, can have important implications for the collective development of social work and its relationship with other professions.     

Boutros Boutros-Ghali MESSAGE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL TO THE WOMEN OF CHINA ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 1995

THIS year's International Women's Day has special significance, for it takes place during the fiftieth anniversary year of the United Nations. The purposes of International Women's Day: to celebrate past achievements, to highlight continuing problems, and to stimulate thought about the future, will this year be conducted in the context of a similar effort focused on the entire United Nations system. But the connection between International Women's Day 1995 and the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations goes far deeper than similarity of purpose. There is increasing recognition that the problems     

CHINA:STORMING THE CITADEL OF POVERTY

Development is a catchword among farmers in Longshan County nowadays.     

THE LIFE AND LOVES OF WANG LUOBIN

WANG was born in 1913 in Beijing. When he studied at the Beijing Art School, he fell in love with Luo Shah, who was five years younger than he. Luo's grandfather was an official in charge of salt transportation at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Her father was a professional revolutionary. The sharp contradiction between her feudal family background and her progressive thoughts made her a radical youth. When Luo left Beijing for her hometown in Henan Province after the     

THE LIFE OF THE DISABLED IN TANGSHAN

TANGSHAN, in northeastern Hebei Province, is noted for its coal, steel, iron,porcelain and the great earthquake that astonished the world. When the earthquake occurred in 1976, 240,000 people died and 160,000 people were injured. By now, the total     

TAKING CONTROL OF ONE'S OWN LIFE?

The Norwegian system of benefits for lone mothers was revised in the late 1990s. The reform entailed an altered conception of the interrelations between gender, the labour market and the welfare state in Norway — basically shrinking the period it is possible to stay at home with your children as a lone mother. This paper discusses the implementation and the consequences of these new policies from a gender and power perspective. The reform was meant to give lone parents more power over their own life, independence, higher income and self-realization. Lone parents’ own statements about their experiences show the problematic aspects of dependency on welfare, as well as the difficult aspects of dependency on the market. The reform was based on two assumptions, namely, that the market provides work opportunities and that gender equality has now been achieved in Norway. The paper concludes that since both assumptions are questionable, those lone parents least capable for this struggle have been turned into pioneers struggling for a place in the market and for that very gender equality.

El sistema Noruego de beneficios para madres solteras fue revisado en los últimos años de los 90. La reforma significo una concepción distinta de las relaciones entre género, el mercado de trabajo y el estado de bienestar en Noruega — básicamente significo una reducción en el tiempo que las madres solteras pueden dedicar a cuidar a sus hijos en casa. Este articulo elabora la implementación y las consecuencias de esas nuevas políticas publicas desde una perspectiva de genero y poder. El razonamiento de la reforma fue que esta llevaría a dar más control sobre sus vidas a los padres solteros, así como más independencia, salarios más altos y que por tanto los padres conseguirían una realización propia mas completa. Sin embargo, las declaraciones de madres solteras en este respecto ilustras los aspectos problemáticos de dependencia en beneficios del estado de bienestar así como las dificultades relacionadas con dependencia de los mercados. Las reforma estuvo basada en dos presunciones, primero, que los mercados proveen oportunidades para conseguir trabajo, y segundo, que Noruega ya consiguió igualdad de genero. El artículo concluye que debido as que estas presunciones son cuestionables, los padre solteros mas débiles se han convertido en pioneros en la lucha por un puesto en el mercado de trabajo así como pioneros en la lucha por la igualdad de genero.     

BOON OR BURDEN? THE EFFECT OF PRIVATE SECTOR DEBT ON THE RISK OF SOVEREIGN DEFAULT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

We explore how the share of the private sector in total external debt affects perceived creditworthiness and the likelihood of sovereign default in developing countries. While there are theoretical arguments both in favor and against a stabilizing role of private‐sector borrowing, the evidence supports the notion that a greater share of the private sector in total external debt is associated with a reduced likelihood of sovereign default. (JEL F34, O16)