Just another brick in the wall? The relationship between classroom-based political education and the political interest of young adults in Switzerland

This article asks whether political education at upper secondary school – i.e. shortly before or at the age when young people receive the right to vote – affects individual political interest as well as differences in political interest between social groups. Empirically, we use a novel data set combining individual student data with information on classroom-based political education as well as teacher characteristics. We do not find support for a more or less automatic and positive effect of classroom-based political education on young people’s political interest. Whereas we analyzed three dimensions of political education (knowledge, skills, arousing interest in politics), the skills dimension was the only one that exhibited a consistent positive (and mostly significant) relationship with young peoples’ political interest. Moreover, classroom-based political education seems not to compensate for a lack of political socialization at home but rather tends to affect students with politically interested parents most strongly.     

Rise of the social?: Socialization of care and gendered social economy in South Korea

This paper sheds light on the recent increase in social enterprises and cooperatives in the care services sector, in particular, in the context of socializing care from the family in South Korea. This paper pays attention to the dynamics between marketization and social protection and the emancipatory efforts to build rich market relationship. In this paper, first I explore the changes in the care regime and the development of the care labor market with a focus on Long Term Care Insurance for the elderly in South Korea. Then I review the care provision through Social and Solidarity Economy and various attempts to build rich market relations. Finally, I evaluate the range of efforts for socialization of care with gender perspective by using the framework which is derived from Fraser's (2013) scenario for emancipation.     

What's in a name? Language ideology and social differentiation in a Swedish print‐mediated debate1

This paper investigates a recent print‐mediated discussion about linguistic phenomena that are perceived by many commentators to be ‘deviant’ from ‘standard Swedish.’ The aim of the paper is to illustrate how this language debate is built on two closely entwined discursive processes: a struggle to define the name, meaning, and value of a specific linguistic phenomenon; and the indexical processes through which such a phenomenon is bound up with a multifaceted image of its purported speakers, in which gender is imbricated in age and ethnicity. Essentially, the argument is that the metalinguistic pronouncements in this debate are ultimately the outer manifestation of deeper social concerns about what it means to be a ‘non‐Swedish’ young man.     

Equalities in freefall? Ontological insecurity and the long‐term impact of COVID‐19 in the academy

This intervention focuses on the impact of the global crisis resulting from the COVID‐19 pandemic on existing racialized and gendered inequalities within the academy and in particular our discipline of Politics and International Relations. We argue that responses to recent crises within the academy have exacerbated ontological insecurity among minoritized groups, including women. When coupled with increased caring responsibilities, the current crises call into question who can be creative and innovative, necessary conditions for knowledge production. While university managers seek to reassure university staff of the temporary nature of COVID‐19 interventions, we argue that the possibilities for progressive leaps at a later state of institutional regeneration is unlikely when efforts to address structural inequalities are sidelined and crisis responses are undertaken which run counter to such work.     

Leaks,legislation and freedom of speech: How can the law effectively promote public‐interest whistleblowing?

Attention is increasingly being focused on leaking, whistleblowing and associated compliance and incentives questions. The authors outline the differences between leaking and whistleblowing, notably on protection of the disclosers. They review provisions of international conventions on human rights and corruption, and compare approaches to protecting freedom of speech in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. Their findings highlight the complex, sometimes conflicting issues involved: public, individual, commercial and financial interests; abuse of power; security; confidentiality; the individual as law enforcer; and the employment relationship.     

If you feed them, will they come? The use of social marketing to increase interest in attending a college alcohol program

The authors used social marketing to design and test advertisement components aimed at increasing students' interest in attending an alcohol program focused on reaching students who drink heavily, although the authors offered no such program. Participants were undergraduate students in introductory psychology courses (N = 551). Questionnaires included measures assessing demographic information, alcohol use and negative consequences, and interest in attending an alcohol program in response to exposure to 1 of 12 systematically varied advertisements. The authors found that approximately 20% of participants across all ad types indicated some level of interest in attending the alcohol program. Students who use alcohol reported more interest in attending when an informational message was used. Of the participants offered food, 41.9% indicated the food offered in the advertisement impacted their interest in attending. Results suggest market segmentation plays a role in developing effective advertisements to recruit different groups of students based on their reported drinking behavior.     

RESEARCH NOTEStylistic variations in the social network of a 10‐year‐old child: Pragmatic adjustments or automatic alignment?1

Although stylistic variation within social networks has been described in adults, this topic remains under‐researched in children. One question that remains unanswered is the extent to which stylistic variation is the result of automatic alignment or of intentional, pragmatically motivated adjustment. We present an in‐depth sociolinguistic case study of a 10‐year‐old boy, his family and four friends selected according to their place of birth and the duration of their relationship with the boy. Statistical analyses of sociolinguistic variables of French suggest that the child's use of these variants is influenced by pragmatic motivations but not by automatic alignment. La variation stylistique est bien décrite chez l’adulte. Toutefois, sa forme, ses mécanismes et ses fonctions ontogénétiques doivent être davantage étudiés chez l’enfant. Une question concerne notamment le degré auquel cette variation résulte d’un alignement automatique sur les usages de l’interlocuteur ou d’un ajustement intentionnel, fondé sur des motivations pragmatiques. Nous présentons une étude de cas approfondie d’un garçon de dix ans enregistré avec sa famille et quatre amis sélectionnés selon leur lieu de naissance et la durée de la relation amicale qui les lie à l’enfant cible. L’analyse statistique de variables sociolinguistiques du français suggère que cet enfant est capable d’ajustements subtils en fonction de l’identité des interlocuteurs. Plutôt que d’être sous‐tendus par un alignement mimétique sur les usages d’autrui, ces ajustements semblent fondés sur des motivations pragmatiques et identitaires.     

Whither the evolution of the contemporary social fabric? New technologies and old socio‐economic trends

This article considers whether societies are witnessing another industrial revolution in the light of an assessment of the impact of technological change on today's socio‐economic fabric, especially with respect to employment, income distribution, working conditions and labour relations. The authors argue that the processes of innovation and the spread of what they term “intelligent automation” are likely to exacerbate incumbent patterns of uneven income distribution and power, some of which existed well before the arrival of the technologies concerned, while others have emerged over the past 30 to 40 years. They venture to consider policy implications on the basis of such developments.     

Corporate political power and US foreign policy, 1981–2002: the role of the policy-planning network

Theory and Society - Recent empirical work has offered strong support for ‘biased pluralism’ and ‘economic elite’ accounts of political power in the United States, according...     

Who killed whom?: victimization and culpability in the social construction of murder

Based on in-depth interviews with relatives of people convicted of murder, this article examines the ways in which everyday understandings of 'murder' are socially constructed, as revealed by the narratives of murderers' relatives. To this end, interviewees' explanations of the killings are analysed and a distinction is drawn between interviewees who understood the killings committed by their relatives as manslaughter and those who accepted the murder verdict. In defining the offences in this way, interviewee s identified the significance of victimization and culpability to understandings of interpersonal violence. Through the analysis of interview data, it is possible to examine the ways in which 'murder' is seen to have occurred only when particular criteria of victimization and culpability are met.     

Conservative Catholicism versus social Catholicism? Contrasting patterns in the political engagement of highly religious young Catholics in France and Italy

Current academic literature has proposed contrasting interpretations of the developments of youth religiosity. While some scholars have claimed increasing secularization of younger generations, others have noted the growing importance of religious values in young people's lives. To go beyond this debate, this article explores the restructuring of youth religiosity in Western European countries, characterized by the resilience of religion in secularized societies. With this purpose in mind, the article investigates the under-researched topic of the political activism of highly religious young Catholics and compares the political engagement of two recently established youth organizations: Sens Commun (SC) (rebranded Mouvement Conservateur, MC) in France and the Comunità di Connessioni (CdC) in Italy. Although both SC and CdC were founded by young Catholics, their engagement has followed diverging trajectories. While SC/MC's ideas and politics bear the imprint of conservative Catholicism, CdC's initiatives and values are inspired by social Catholicism. This article claims that the diverging trajectories of SC/MC and CdC are influenced by the long-lasting socio-historical factors that regulated the relations between religion, politics and civil society and the emerging post-secular reconfiguration that can open the way for a renewal of the forms of political engagement of young Catholics.     

Contradictory tendencies in the political culture of Croatian youth: unexpected anomalies or an expected answer to the social crisis?

A successful democratic consolidation of post-socialist societies depends, among other things, on their citizens’ political culture, younger generations included. Moreover, youth civic engagement today and in the future is a guarantee of the continuity and development of democracy, which means that scientists need to gain insight into young people’s political culture. In this paper we look at political values, institutional trust and participation as relevant components of the civic political culture. The analysis is based on quantitative data collected in the empirical studies of Croatian youth, carried out between 1999 and 2013. Based on longitudinal study results, a downward trend is identified regarding selected political culture indicators: acceptance of liberal-democratic values, trust in social and political institutions, interest in politics and party preference. However, there is a simultaneous increase in participation in various types of organizations, especially political parties. The interpretation of established tendencies is placed in a broader context of an inherited democratic deficit, economic recession and social crisis. Current trends are both indicators and consequences of young people’s inadequate political socialization as well as weaknesses of political institutions and various actors during the transition and consolidation period.     

Par for the course: A study of gambling on the links and a commentary on physical skill‐based gambling formats

Abstract

A widely practiced but understudied gambling activity is the wagering that occurs between participants in games of physical skill. Little is known about what draws players to this form of gambling, the sub‐groups involved or their social dynamics, the strategies employed, and whether, and to what extent, this activity is associated with disordered gambling.

Gamblers were studied in their natural environment at two private golf clubs. Prominent themes emerging from the research include: motivations for gambling on golf, socialisation into golf course gambling, the golf course betting hierarchy, deceptive practices and evidence of disordered gambling. In general, the golf course wagering we investigated embraced several unique features and traditions that generally make it a salutary gambling experience, largely free of the destructive elements associated with luck‐based gambling formats. The study's findings are utilised to make observations about other gambling formats and gamblers in general.     

Gender Mainstreaming in a Development Project: Intersectionality in a Post‐Colonial Un‐doing?

This article explores some critical reflections engaged in as part of the earliest stages of applying for an international development project grant. Though most of the funding came from the North, which had the potential to reproduce typical North–South relations, both parties involved in the project agreed to predicate relationships on principles of equity in an attempt to decolonize relationships, or what could be seen as a sort of ‘un‐doing’ of traditional colonial relations. Tensions emanating from within and among the teams at early meetings underscored the complexity of un‐doing colonial relationships, as well as the way that colonial relations awkwardly but seamlessly intersect with gendered, classed and heteronormative individual and organizational relations. It also highlights the messiness and difficulty in transform(ing) hegemonic social conditions in a single international institution or project.     

Practising social work in a ‘stateless state’; an exploration of the views,experiences and practice of children and family social workers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem

In over 65?years of conflict that followed the creation of Israel and the subsequent occupation of Palestinian land, the official international organizations representing the profession of social work have been in a state of avoidance with regards to dealing with crucial questions about social work under occupation. Until, last year hardly any relevant statement could be traced in the archives of the International Federation of Social Workers and the International Association of Social Workers referring to this issue. This article attempts to provide an initial exploration of the views and every-day professional lives of children and family social workers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The authors investigate and reflect on the challenges and opportunities Palestinian social workers face while working in the context of military conflict. There is a particular focus on the impact of the occupation of Palestinian lands and the experiences of trauma affecting children who seek the support of social services.     

Do the most successful migrants emulate natives in well‐being? The compound effect of geographical and social mobility

A growing body of research has been focusing on the well‐being consequences of migration, yet most of this has overlooked the fact that many migrants experience intragenerational social mobility alongside geographical mobility. Without accounting for the effect of social mobility in working life, the impact of geographical mobility on well‐being cannot be clearly examined. This paper focuses on the most successful migrants, who have started from the bottom and have achieved upward social mobility in the course of their careers, and compares their well‐being with that of native non‐migrants who have experienced a similar intragenerational social mobility trajectory. The analysis is based on a recent national survey in China, which has a representative sample for both the overall population and migrants. Findings show that migrants, whether from an urban or rural origin, have better incomes but significantly lower levels of well‐being than natives, even with a similar career advancement trajectory and the same destination class position. Further exploration shows that the well‐being disadvantage of migrants is mainly due to institutional and sociocultural barriers, rather than to reward differentials in the labour market. This may have a wider implication for migrants across national borders.     

Is excessive gambling seen as a form of dependence? Evidence from the community and the clinic

Data from two studies are used to examine the proposition that excessive gambling, unlike excessive substance use, is not generally viewed as a form of dependence. In the first study, the attitudes of 100 members of the general population towards the causes of excess and towards appropriate treatments, indicated that excessive gambling was seen in more moral terms than were other addictive behaviours. In the second study, of 54 people receiving treatment for one of four forms of excessive behaviour, gamblers were just as likely to use terms such as addiction or compulsion to describe their behaviour but were also more likely than others to describe it in terms of moral weakness or vice. Concern is expressed at the way in which gambling may be marginalized as a form of dependence.We would like to acknowledge the help and support of the members of the clinical and general population samples who generously gave their time to take part in this research, and of those who kindly gave us permission to approach people in the clinical sample with whom they were in touch. We are grateful also to the Social Science Research Council (now the Economic and Social Research Council) who supported J.M. during the period of the research.