Can we,should we,measure ethnicity?

Feminist social science is marked by its diversity, its ethos of inclusiveness and its critical power. These qualities are best exemplified in feminisms' acknowledgement, at the epistemological level, that men as well as women are crucial participants in the feminist enterprise. Moreover, epistemological justifications for positioning men within feminism is matched by a commitment to think through the methodological implications of men's involvement as both researchers and researched. In particular, inclusiveness pushes at the boundary of what counts as feminist methodology, and it forces us to rethink the underlying principles of feminist research work. In this article, two key feminist methodological principles—rapport and empathy, and democracy—are interrogated in the light of a series of in-depth interviews with a group of powerful, authoritative and uniformed men (senior police officers). It is suggested that while there may be a temptation to dismiss the interviewing relations which evolved as ‘non-feminist’, they are also indicative of feminist methodological vitality and strength as well as its capacity to accommodate the fractured subjectivities of research participants. The paper concludes by positing a re-conceptualization of interviewing principles which not only appreciate diversity in feminist epistemological and methodological commitments, but also variability and difference in feminist research relationships.     

How rational we?

How rational people are is a question of interest to social sciences, public policy, and all educated persons. The answer depends, in part, on how widely or narrowly one defines the term. Wide definitions tend to make the term tautological. By narrow definitions, the recent evidence that people act rationally is not overwhelming and evidence that they frequently act on impulse or out of habit, considerable. This points to a binary approach, one that will take into account both kinds of behavior. The specific ways the two approaches may be combined are beginning to be discerned.     

In regulation we trust

The role of trust has been argued to play an increasingly important role in modern, complex, and ambivalent risk societies. Trust within organizational research is anticipated to have a general strategic impact on aspects such as organizational performance, communication and knowledge exchange, and learning from accidents. Trust is also an important aspect related to regulation of risk. Diverse regulatory regimes, their contexts and risks influence regulators use of trust and distrust in regulatory practice. The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between risk regulation and trust across diverse risk regulation regimes. By drawing from studies of risk regulation, risk perception, and trust the purpose is to discuss how regulation and trust are linked and used in practice to control risk across system levels in socio-technical systems in high risk industries. This paper provides new knowledge on 1) how functional and dysfunctional trust and distrust are grounded in the empirical realities of high risk industries, 2) how different perspectives on trust and distrust act together and bring new knowledge on how society control risk.     

The air we breathe

Public attitudes toward smoking are complex, but the facts for businesses are clear. Second-hand smoke is a major health hazard, and the most unhealthy places for second-hand smoke are bars and restaurants. While there is little support for a total smoking ban, selected bans are more popular. Even if new federal rules don't force restaurants to ban smoking, businesses can gain a competitive edge by going smoke-free.     

What are we talking about when we talk about ‘Neoliberalism’?

ABSTRACT

Based on a review of the critical literature, the article provides readers with an overview of neoliberalism’s main dimensions. In this sense, it furnishes an accessible conceptual foundation for a number of the articles in the themed issue. It is suggested that those seeking to comprehend neoliberalism should take into account six intermeshed facets: the overturning of ‘embedded liberalism’; the re-configuration of the state in order to better serve the interests of capital; new patterns of income and wealth distribution to benefit the rich and super-rich; insecurity and precariousness; the rise in mass incarceration; a strategic pragmatism. The article briefly dwells on the capitalist crisis which began in 2007 and goes on to suggest that we may be witnessing the emergence of what is termed ‘rhetorically recalibrated neoliberalism’ (RRN).     

Yes, we are prejudiced

Understanding is always translated into language. The dangeris we then take-for-granted a shared common meaning of language.Gadamer reminds us that we each understand according to prejudicesborn of our whole life experience. None of us can escape suchprejudices for they are ‘how’ we understand. A hermeneuticapproach calls us to strive to articulate our prejudices, recognisingthat others may have an understanding that is different.     

'Yes we have no bananas'

When the National Health Service was introduced in U.K. in 1948 it was hailed as a major step forward in social reform. No longer would sick people have the additional worry of doctors' bills; nor would they suffer the indignity of receiving charitable treatment in voluntary hospitals; nor would they go without treatment. By introducing a national service, financed from public funds, society provided comprehensive insurance against sickness for all its members, but this has involved the creation of so vast an organisation that the patient often feels he is being processed rather than treated.     

Criminology and war: where are we going and where have we been?

Although the metaphor of war (e.g., the war on terror, war on crime, war on drugs) figures prominently in contemporary criminological discourse, criminologists have generally lagged behind other disciplines in studying the reality of war and its implications for crime, punishment, and ideology. In this essay, I first consider potential reasons for criminology's limited role in studying war and make the case for why war warrants a more central place in criminological discourse. Subsequently, I trace some of criminology's early contributions to the study of war in two domains—(a) legal responses to war and (b) the link between war and crime—and reflect upon ways in which the discipline can both broaden its purview and draw from its own intellectual history to engage more critically with the subject of war.     

Re-thinking what we do and how we do it: a study of reproductive decisions

La promotion de la méthodologie comme une fin en soi a fourvoyé le féminisme dans une voie sans issue. Ainsi, Stanley et Wise (1983) soutiennent que la conscience féministe est ‘une façon de conduire la recherche féministe,’ qui se doit de rejeter ?orientation masculiniste aux structures. Selon elles, la recherche féministe ne peut ni ne doit ‘dépasser’ le domaine de ?expérience personnelle. A partir de ma recherche en cours, sur la prise de décisions dans le domaine de la reproduction, je sugge au contraire qu'il est nécessaire de transcender les univers personnels des femmes. A ce titre, on pourra mieux comprendre les débats entre le ‘scientisme masculin’ et les méthodologies féministes du personnel, dans la perspective logico-déductive du test de théories établies au préalable, plutôt que dans celle de la découverte de théories de facçn inductive. Le débat ainsi posé, nos choix doivent se justifier selon des critères pratiques, plutôt que de rectitude politique. This paper examines the current impasse which feminism has created by promoting methodology as an end in itself. Stanley and Wise (1983), in particular, argue that feminist consciousness is a ‘way of doing feminist research’ which must reject a masculinist structure-orientation. Challenging their claim that feminist research cannot and should not ‘go beyond’ the realm of personal experience, the author discusses her current research on reproductive decision-making which highlights the necessity of transcending the strictly personal worlds of women. The author argues that debates about ‘masculine scientific’ versus ‘feminist personal’ methodologies are better understood in the context of testing established theory through logio-deductive research as opposed to the discovery of grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) through an inductive approach. From this perspective, debates concern the practical rather than the political correctness of our choices.     

Safeguarding disabled children in residential settings: what we know and what we don't know

Research in America, Canada, Australia and Britain has revealed that disabled children are particularly vulnerable to abuse. Their likelihood of attending residential institutions, their dependency on others for personal care and the lack of opportunities for them to alert others to maltreatment or comprehend the nature of abusive acts all increase levels of risk. Over the last decade, there has been increasing public and professional concern about the abuse of children in residential establishments, resulting in a number of inquiries. However, the abuse of disabled children in residential settings has received little attention. Despite residential schools, care homes and respite care being widely used by disabled children, there is a paucity of knowledge regarding the standards of child protection in these establishments. This article explores the research literature revealing the vulnerability of disabled children to abuse when living away from home, what measures can be taken to help protect them and the limitations of available data as a basis for planning child protection measures. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What we talk about when we talk about ‘walking in the city’1

Originally published. in France in 1980 (and translated. into English in 1984), Michel de Certeau's The Practice of Everyday Life has assumed. the status of an ur-text for many cultural studies academics and students. In particular, his chapter on ‘Walking in the City’ is often cited. as a blueprint for understanding key terms in the cultural studies repertoire such as ‘power’ and ‘resistance’. This article revisits ‘Walking in the City’ in order to supplement some of the established. understandings of his work circulating in the field of cultural studies, as well as the intersecting fields of cultural geography and urban studies. The paper begins by suggesting ways in which established. understandings of Certeau's work might be usefully rethought and extended. through a consideration of differentiated. instances of walking. Critiquing the account of body-subject relations posited. by Certeau through reference to the writings of Marcel Mauss on techniques of the body and self, the author calls, in particular, for a greater consideration of the role of assemblages and affect in understanding everyday urban practices. By the conclusion of the article, the author arrives at a more nuanced. understanding of the feedback loop between the body-subject and the city, and suggests ways in which Certeau's writing on walking remains productive for those strains of cultural studies interested. in the practices of an increasingly virtualized. urban space.     

Institutional abuse of older adults: what we know, what we need to know

Although Canadian policies support "aging in place," there still will be a number of older adults who will require institutional care in the future. Most research on elder abuse, however, has focused on domestic abuse and has paid less attention to institutional abuse. The purpose of this article is to comprehensively review current research to identify gaps in knowledge and methodological issues in the study of institutional abuse. Overall, 49 studies in English and 20 studies in French were reviewed, and 11 key-informant interviews were conducted with methodological experts. Methodological challenges are addressed in light of the review and interviews.     

What do we call post-apartheid?

In this paper, the author examines the different uses and meanings of the usual expression “post-apartheid.” It has been used extensively in the social sciences, political discourse and the media since the mid-1980s. But what does it refer to, and has it always meant the same thing over the last 20 years? To answer that question, the author reviews the different ways she has used the notion in her research into workers’ forms of thinking and political subjectivities in South Africa since 1996. She distinguishes between its use as a chronological marker, an academic concept open to various problematics and epistemological decisions and a notion used by interviewees under various acceptations. She concentrates more specifically on the sequential implications of the adverb “post” in her work and argues that there have been political sequences in what she (with others) has named “post-apartheid.” She concludes that she intends to stop using this term in order to concentrate on identifying the current political sequence in South Africa.     

What we know about child maltreatment

This article presents the results of an informal survey of nationally recognized experts on child maltreatment. The poll asked, “What do we know about child maltreatment?” A process of collating and sequential validation produced an outline of current knowledge that demonstrates some progress in understanding child maltreatment.     

I,we, and she: An ecological note on Etzioni's I & we paradigm

Ecology and environmental issues are almost completely lacking in socioeconomics. Results of environmental sciences demonstrate that nature plays an important role in the life of individuals and collectivities. Etzioni's I & We paradigm can be enlarged to include Mother Nature.