An Empirical Examination of Quality Certification in a "Lemons Market"

This article examines the effect third-party certification has on a market characterized by adverse selection. Using an original data set from the market for young thoroughbreds, we show that certification alleviates problems of adverse selection by examining the effect certification has on breeder decisions to retain or sell horses and the effect these decisions have on observed prices. Data on the racetrack performance of the horses confirm the results.     

Carl Couch: Bridging Sociology and Communication

The article documents how Carl Couch used a sociological approach to conceptualize, analyze, and interpret the communication phenomena studied. It is argued that Couch's analyses offered a thorough sociological discussion and comprehensive understanding of communication issues by relating them to the study of social relationships. One major contribution of Couch's works in communication is his analyses of information technologies. Couch demonstrated the reciprocal relationships between information technologies and social structures. He corrected the technological deterministic flaw in Harold Innis' and Marshall McLuhan's work to demonstrate the interface between information technologies and social structures. To further illustrate the insights of Couch's theses, a study of the experiences of college students with Walkman listening and another study of the Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers' Club are considered.     

Patrolling Chineseness: Singapore’s Kowloon Club and the ethnic adaptation of Hong Kongese to Singaporean society

In combination with their strategy to recruit foreign talent, Singaporean state authorities have increasingly focused their attention on community integration schemes for Chinese professional newcomers. The government facilitated such integration with the creation of the Kowloon Club in 1990. The Kowloon Club is not only a government experiment that has been repeated three times since then, but also the only new migrant association that does not explicitly target Mainlanders. Through in-depth interviews with the Club’s leadership, I explore the ethnic adaptation of the Kowloon Club membership as it negotiates the evolving sense of Chineseness found in state designs and Singaporean society. Much like the emergence of the 1997 Hong Kongese identity, the Kowloon Club’s activities have shifted in strong reaction to the racialized category put forth by state authorities and embodied by Mainlander professionals in that the Club’s activities now symbolize and help patrol what Chineseness means as everyday performance in the city-state.     

Theorizing Diaspora: Perspectives on "Classical" and "Contemporary" Diaspora

Cohen (1997) employed the term “classical” diaspora in reference to the Jews. Indeed, a vast corpus of work recognizes the Jewish people as examples of quintessential diasporic groups. However, a broader conceptualization of the term diaspora allows for the inclusion of immigrant communities that would be otherwise sidelined in the conventional literature on diaspora. This study is therefore a departure from the traditional diasporic literature, which tends to use the Jewish Diaspora as the archetype. It favours, rather, the classification of three principal broad historical waves in which the Jewish Diaspora can be interpreted as part of a classical period. The historicizing of diasporization for the purpose of this paper is achieved by an empirical discussion of the three major historical waves that influenced the diasporic process throughout the world: the Classical Period, the Modern Period, and the Contemporary or Late‐modern Period. The paper discusses these three critical phases in the following manner: first, reference is made to the Classical Period, which is associated primarily with ancient diaspora and ancient Greece. The second historical phase analyses diaspora in relation to the Modern Period, which can be interpreted as a central historical fact of slavery and colonization. This section can be further subdivided into three large phases: (1) the expansion of European capital (1500–1814), (2) the Industrial Revolution (1815–1914), and (3) the Interwar Period (1914–1945). The final major period of diasporization can be considered a Contemporary or Late‐modern phenomenon. It refers to the period immediately after World War II to the present day, specifying the case of the Hispanics in the United States as one key example. The paper outlines some aspects of the impact of the Latin American diaspora on the United States, from a socio‐economic and politico‐cultural point of view. While the Modern and Late‐modern periods are undoubtedly the most critical for an understanding of diaspora in a modern, globalized context, for the purpose of this paper, more emphasis is placed on the latter period, which illustrates the progressive effect of globalization on the phenomenon of diasporization. The second period, the Modern Phase is not examined in this paper, as the focus is on a comparative analysis of the early Classical Period and the Contemporary or Late‐modern Period. The incorporation of diaspora as a unit of analysis in the field of international relations has been largely neglected by both recent and critical scholarship on the subject matter. While a growing number of studies focus on the increasing phenomenon of diasporic communities, from the vantage of social sciences, the issue of diaspora appears to be inadequately addressed or ignored altogether. Certain key factors present themselves as limitations to the understanding of the concept, as well as its relevance to the field of international relations and the social sciences as a whole. This paper is meant to clarify some aspects of the definition of diaspora by critiquing the theories in the conventional literature, exposing the lacunae in terms of interpretation of diaspora and in the final analysis, establishing a historiography that may be useful in comparing certain features of “classical” diaspora and “contemporary” diaspora. The latter part of the paper is intended to provide illustrations of a contemporary diasporic community, using the example of Hispanics in the United States.     

Print club photography in Japan

The authors examine the popularity of a new form of photographic representation in Japan, namely Print Club, or Purikura. Print Club machines initially delivered a page of 16 postage‐stamp‐sized photographs of their patrons, but many other formats have become common. This paper describes the 1995 emergence and development of the technology, image content, decorative frames, picture uses and functions and the incorporation of Print Club into a broad range of personal, social and even business and artistic life in Japan. The authors review connections to patterns of popular culture, consumerism, gender bias, adolescent youth culture, and interpersonal communication alongside issues of individual identity and group membership. Some claim Print Club as a fad, but six years later, all indicators point to a lasting contribution to Japanese visual culture.     

THE AURA OF "HIGH TECH" IN A WORLD OF MESSY PRACTICE

This study employs interlocking analytical devices from the perspectives of several disciplines to explore members' meanings through definitions of "high technology" given by workers in design engineering. The comparative analysis employs concepts from art history, sociology of culture, anthropology and science studies to explore the appeal of "high technology" in comparison with the aura of original artworks and the status accrued by symbolic tools. Additionally, the role standardization has played in the development of engineering as a profession is explored in historical context as are the recurring themes of speed and "the new." The findings reveal that how engineers use new technologies in the world of messy practice and their conceptual framework regarding so-called "high technology" do not map well onto one another. The study illustrates the perspective of science and technology studies that views all technology as socially shaped and society shaping, its construction accomplished through messy patched-up practices rather than clean, linear paths or perfect techniques.     

Natural relations: horses,knowledge, technology1

Maintaining the tensions and divisions between the human and non‐human, nature and culture has been a mainstay of Euro‐American thought. Drawing upon two studies of people's associations with horses, we examine how these divisions are being reworked in the social sciences as well in everyday life. We focus on how different ideas about ‘horses’, ‘horsemanship’ and how knowledge is acquired, accomplishes different social worlds. Specifically, what emerges in these differential discourses is that a paradox is put into play to make a distinction between traditional and contemporary ways of being in relation to nature and the animal; it is the paradox of what we want to refer to as ‘natural technologies’. We suggest that the paradox of ‘natural technologies’ is a proliferating feature of Euro‐American cultural life that troubles old divisions between nature and culture and propose that it indicates less about a politics of nature than a politics of culture. Specifically, we show that the preoccupation with bringing nature, and the non‐human, more into alignment with the human promotes ethics and equality as matters of lifestyle choice to the exclusion of very specific ideas about tradition, hierarchy, evolution and socialization.     

Framing analysis of activist rhetoric: How the Sierra Club succeeds or fails at creating salient messages

Master and sub frames used by the Sierra Club to communicate with its members and the public were identified in Sierra Club chapter newsletters, regional and national newspapers via content analysis to identify the occurrence of message frames and sources.Frames in three areas – drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), coal-fired power plants (CFPP), and sprawl – were analyzed. Sprawl was the most mentioned subject in all three media. Sierra Club themes were found infrequently, suggesting the need to focus frames. But, Sierra Club frames appeared with greater frequency than competing frames. Environmental sources were the majority in the sampled articles, suggesting the opportunity for powerful framing of public opinion, with focused message frames and trained environmental spokespeople at all levels, i.e., national, regional, local.New theoretical ground for public relations scholarship is opened and findings could influence message strategies of activist and corporate or government organizations.     

上海现代服务业的空间集聚与演化效应

现代服务业是伴随着信息技术和知识经济的发展而产生,用现代化的新技术、新业态和新服务方式改造和提升传统服务业,创造需求,引导消费,向社会提供高附加值、多层次、知识型的生产服务和生活服务的国民经济新领域。产业集群的崛起是在全球经济一体化的背景下,产业为创造竞争优势而形成的产业空间组织形式。上海现代服务业表现出集群化发展趋势,大量的现代服务企业在空间上形成集聚,进一步提升了上海服务业的水平和质量。     

"I like to treat others as others would treat me": the development of prosocial selves in an urban youth organization

The development of moral identity is linked to a sense of self that is prosocial and connected to others. Youth organizations, if designed appropriately, may provide a setting for social interactions and relationships in which youth can enact and receive validation for moral behaviors and develop prosocial selves. This chapter reports on findings from a four-year study of identity construction within an urban Boys and Girls Club. The author conducted interviews and photography projects with seventeen youth ages twelve to eighteen, all of whom were active club members. Over half described their race or ethnicity as black or African American, while others were Hispanic, Afro-Latino, white, or other. All of them either lived in the housing project near the club or had close ties to it. Both boys and girls describe themselves as rooted in a rich relational milieu that promoted prosocial identities. The importance of respect emerged as a key theme in the teens' narratives about themselves and their activities. The author found that the club served as a site for the development of prosocial traits in an environment characterized by respectful and supportive relationships.     

Using simulation-based education to help social work students prepare for practice

Social work combines professional knowledge and practice skills. Current developments in UK social work education appear to prioritise work-place skills acquisition over traditional academic teaching methods, and this refocus may lead to a decline in UK university social work programmes. In this paper, we propose social work education can learn from nurse and health programmes to develop innovative simulation-based education. Modern technologies allow for interactive and immersive learning experiences, which enable students to develop practice skills safely. Through interactive and immersive simulations, facilitated by modern technology, we suggest social work education can bridge the gap between knowledge and skills.     

Aging-related research in the "-omics" age

The application of high-throughput technologies to aging-related research has the potential to dramatically enhance our understanding of how longevity is determined at a molecular level. Genome-scale studies are being carried out in every major model system used for aging-related research, and new technologies are being developed to rapidly identify mutations or small-molecules that increase life span. A meta-analysis of data derived from genome-wide studies of aging in simple eukaryotes will allow the identification of conserved determinants of longevity that can be tested in mammals.     

HIDING CRIMES IN CYBERSPACE

Criminals have at their disposal a variety of technologies for hiding communications and evidence stored on computers from law enforcement. These include encryption, passwords, digital compression, steganography, remote storage, and audit disabling. They can also hide crimes through anonymity tools and techniques such as anonymous remailers, anonymous digital cash, looping, cloned cellular phones, and cellular phone cards. This paper discusses use of these technologies by criminals and terrorists, and how that use has affected investigations and prosecutions. Options available to law enforcement for dealing with the technologies, especially encryption, are also discussed. Numerous case studies are presented for illustration.     

THE RED, BLACK, AND GRAY MARKETS OF RELIGION IN CHINA

The economic approach to religion has confined its application to Christendom in spite of the ambition of the core theorists for its universal applicability. Moreover, the supply-side market theory focuses on one type of religiosity—religious participation (membership and attendance) in formal religious organizations. In an attempt to analyze the religious situation in contemporary China, a country with religious traditions and regulations drastically different from Europe and the Americas, I propose a triple-market model: a red market (officially permitted religions), a black market (officially banned religions), and a gray market (religions with an ambiguous legal/illegal status). The gray market concept accentuates noninstitutionalized religiosity. The triple-market model is useful to understand the complex religious situation in China, and it may be extendable to other societies as well.     

An evidence of frame building: Analyzing the correlations among the frames in Sierra Club newsletters,national newspapers,and regional newspapers

Based on the data reported in a published article, this study finds that the percentages of articles that have particular frames in Sierra Club newsletters correlate with those in national and regional newspapers. Partial correlation analysis also reports such a correlation between the national newspapers and the regional newspapers, which disappears when the Sierra Club newsletters are controlled. Moreover, the correlation between the newsletters and the newspapers exists when the pro-environment master frames are analyzed, but not when the pro-development competing frames are analyzed.     

Political power beyond the State: problematics of government

This paper sets out an approach to the analysis of political power in terms of problematics of government. It argues against an overvaluation of the 'problem of the State' in political debate and social theory. A number of conceptual tools are suggested for the analysis of the many and varied alliances between political and other authorities that seek to govern economic activity, social life and individual conduct. Modern political rationalities and governmental technologies are shown to be intrinsically linked to developments in knowledge and to the powers of expertise. The characteristics of liberal problematics of government are investigated, and it is argued that they are dependent upon technologies for 'governing at a distance', seeking to create locales, entities and persons able to operate a regulated autonomy. The analysis is exemplified through an investigation of welfarism as a mode of 'social' government. The paper concludes with a brief consideration of neo-liberalism which demonstrates that the analytical language structured by the philosophical opposition of state and civil society is unable to comprehend contemporary transformations in modes of exercise of political power. ¹     

The Jockey Club and the town in colonial Australia

This analysis examines the formation and development of a Jockey Club and an annual race carnival in a small country town in northern New South Wales, Australia, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. These institutions are discussed in terms of their role in bestowing status and legitimacy upon the town of Grafton, as well as in terms of their importance in local political, social, and economic life. Comparisons are made to similar organizations in Britain and the United States. The seemingly disproportionate power and prestige associated with the Jockey Club is examined in terms of its broader role in establishing purpose and self-image to the rural community.     

Unequal Exchange? Recent Transfers of Agricultural Resources and their Implications for Developing Countries

Plant genetic resources constitute the biological basis for plant breeding and future agricultural development. Their transfer from developing to developed countries over centuries has sometimes been viewed as an example of exploitation, if not ‘biopiracy’. Modern gene flows are different in character and magnitude from historic exchanges, however. This article examines current patterns and finds that developing countries are major net recipients of germplasm samples from CGIAR centres, particularly if ‘improved materials’ are considered. Potentially problematic, intellectual property rights do not currently present major barriers to the availability and use of genetic resources by developing countries. Proposals to restrict flows and redress perceived injustices may reduce the benefits accruing at present to developing countries from germplasm exchanges.     

Mediated Relationships

This paper is about the Internet as a new mode of meeting people and forming relationships. It is argued that the rapidly growing number of Internet 'dating resources' constitute a domain where people are entering into particular forms of interactions that are characterized by interactional 'rules' that facilitate the building of 'trust' between users. Authenticity and 'emotional communication' is, as Giddens (The Transformation of Intimacy: Sexuality, Love and Eroticism in Modern Societies, Polity Press, Cambridge, 1992) has suggested, central to the 'pure relationships' of our late modern era. It is therefore appropriate that information and communication technologies are supplementing or replacing traditional routes to potentially romantic encounters that have in the past been mediated by the marriage broker, shadkhan or others taking similar roles.     

WE HAVEN'T TALKED IN 30 YEARS!

The phenomenon of reconnection of dormant ties using internet communication technologies has been identified as having salience in the use of social media forms by midlife and older adults. Dormant ties, as distinguished from those that are merely inactive, are those that were once operational, but which have lapsed under the stressors of time, distance and circumstance, such as relationships between former college friends, neighbors or work colleagues. Reconnection is the process by which these dormant ties become active again, and is an activity which is supported in unique ways by internet communication technologies. This study presents findings from interviews with midlife adults on how the use of email, social network sites and search engines is leveraged to enhance and support the reconnection of dormant relationships and maintain weak ties. Grounded in a life course perspective, it examines how the experiences of longevity and the life course alter perceptions of the attributes and drawbacks that these technologies offer. By examining adults at midlife, a less-well studied group than teens and young adults, this work provides a more nuanced perspective of the technological practices at varied points in life, and offers insight on how various communication technologies might be utilized at different life stages.