From communist control to glasnost and back?: Media freedom and control in the former Soviet Union

The last decade has seen dramatic changes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union: the end of the Cold War with the West; the loosening of the Soviet Union's hold on part of Germany; movements for independence by regions in the USSR; and the public rejection of Communism by Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland, as well as by key leaders within the Soviet Union. Radical changes in political philosophy have been accompanied by transformations in mass media communication.These changes are inextricably linked to how public relations is practiced in these nations, many of which are attempting, to varying degrees, to adopt a democratic system of government. This article frames the role of public relations in a self-governing society; discusses three environmental factors that affect the practice of socially responsible public relations, reviews the historical media philosophy of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union; and examines examples of media practice that have occurred during the region's transformation and their implications for media freedom and independence, and for the practice of public relations.     

Back to the future? From pragmatic approaches in the social sciences to the development of the patchwork theory

The debate on the function of the social sciences in complex societies, and more generally of the role of knowledge, leads necessarily to a discussion on pragmatism. The gap between theoretical approaches and empirical research still exists and has even widened, in part as a result of the use and abuse of social science knowledge in politics and by the media. However, the academic system is equally to blame for this. Mutual ignorance and scholastic fights are barriers against openness, creative and imaginary thinking. The structures and the practices of the academic system reinforce this trend. Pragmatism aims at overcoming these cleavages by looking at commonalities between different approaches rather than by disputing their validity. It aims at a comprehensive understanding of the process of knowledge production and at the productive use of results. Defining itself in this tradition, the patchwork theory goes beyond the traditional pragmatic approaches: it catches part of the reality of social phenomena from a certain perspective that allows for an overview without having the full picture. Methodologicall, the approach guided by patchwork theory emphasizes the relevance of stakeholders’ knowledge and citizen science, and calls for public participation and democratic access to the production and use of knowledge in a discursive manner.     

Static load in the nursing profession; the silent killer?

Traditionally back pain in the nursing profession is associated with heavy lifting of patients. Although there is a strong relationship between heavy loads on the spine and lifting patients, literature indicates that there is a major factor that should not be underestimated: static load. Static load can be defined as the result of static, not moving, not dynamic, working positions. For example when a caregiver is washing a patient on a bed which is too low, her back is in a static (bended) stooped position up to several minutes. Exposure to static load is an underestimated silent killer of nurses musculoskeletal system . There is evidence from this cross-sectional study that static load can be reduced by a combination of introducing the right equipment, creating awareness and education.     

From mobilization to improvisation: the lessons from Taiwan’s 2014 sunflower movement§

The recent global eruption of large protests calls for a rethinking of the question of movement participation. The conventional model of movement as organized mobilization led by pre-existing organizations and top–down leadership clearly fails as an adequate portrait. As an alternative, horizontality with its emphasis on direct democracy, decentralized decision-making, and prefigurative politics (the rejection of instrumental view of participation) emerges in the global justice movement. This article explores an intermediate pattern of movement participation between these two extremes. Analyzing the protest occupation of Taiwan’s national legislature in 2014, the so-called Sunflower Movement, I theorize the mechanism of improvisation, defined as ‘strategic responses without prior planning,’ as a vital process that facilitates coordination in a large-scale protest. Improvisation involves decentralized decision-making, but it proceeds as a means to a clearly defined and consensual movement goal. The creative collaboration by dispersed, but experienced activists plays a critical yet often neglected role during contentious confrontations against the government. Improvisation is capable of orchestrating large-scale protests because movement leadership is oft constrained by the lack of real-time information and their command is more effective when it provides room for improvisation from below.     

Globalization or glocalization? Community care in Taiwan and Britain

The initial fascination in the west with the economic achievements of the East Asian 'tiger economies' led to an increasing interest in their social welfare regimes. Theorizing on wide-scale socio-economic change might suggest that in occidental and oriental welfare regimes a process of convergence is underway, as a result of competitive pressures generated by the global economy and as part of the diffusion of social welfare discourses worldwide. A particular case of possible convergence, namely community care policies in Taiwan and Britain in the 1990s, is identified. However, despite superficial similarities in policy and practice developments a more careful examination suggests that, whilst they may be infused with similar rhetoric, the context and content of policy and practice in each country is radically different. This suggests the possibility that whilst the global economy will continue to act as a major constraint on social welfare development, with welfare discourses becoming increasingly globalized, the policy and practice which emerges will continue to be inflected by national contexts and mediated by existing country-specific institutional arrangements; a process of glocalization rather than globalization. Die anfängliche Faszination der ökonomischen Erfolge der ostasiatischen 'Tigerstaaten' auf den Westen hat zu einem verstärkten Interesse an ihrem sozialen und wohlfahrtsstaatlichen Regime geführt. Eine Theoretisierung der großformatigen sozio-ökonomischen Veränderungen könnte zu der Annahme führen, daß als Resultat des durch die globalisierte Ökonomie hervorgerufenen Wettbewerbsdrucks und z.T. durch die Ausbreitung wohlfahrtsstaatlicher Diskurse sowohl in den östlichen als auch in den westlichen Wohlfahrtsstaatsregimes sich ein Prozeß der Konvergenz durchstetzt. Dabei geht es hier um den spezifischen Fall einer möglichen Konvergenz der Sozialarbeit (Community care) in Taiwan und Großbritannien. Trotz der bei oberflächlicher Betrachtung scheinbaren Ähnlichkeiten auf der Ebene politischer und praktischer Entwicklungen zeigt eine gründlichere Untersuchung, daß die sich durchsetzenden Politiken und Praxen auch weiterhin durch den nationalstaatlichen Kontext gebrochen und durch bestehende länderspezifische institutionelle Arrangements mediatisiert werden - obwohl die globalisierte Ökonomie nach wie vor einen wesentlichen Zwang auf die Entwicklung des Wohlfahrtsstaates ausübt und die Diskurse über Wohlfahrt zunehmend globalisiert werden. Es handelt sich also eher um einen Prozeß der Glokalisierung denn um Globalisierung. La fasinación inicial del oeste por los logros económicos de los praises del este asiático (los 'tigres económicos') ha llevado a un interés creciente por sus regímenes de bienestar social. La teoría sobre el cambio socioeconómico a gran escala sugiere que los regímenes de bienestar occidentales y orientales, están en un proceso de convergencia debido a las presiones competitivas generadas por la economia global y como parte de la difusión mundial de los discursos de bienestar social. Se identifica un caso particular de posible convergencia en las política y desarrollos práticos, un examen cuidadoso sugiere que, aunque estén infundidas por una retórica similar, los contextos y contenidos politicos y prácticos en ambos paises son radicalmente diferentes. Esto sugiere la posibilidad de que, mientras que la economía global va a continuar actuando como una gran restricción para el desarrollo del bienestar social, con los discursos siendo cada vez más globales, la política y la prática emergentes seguirán siendo moduladas por los contextos nacionales y mediadas por los acuerdos institucionales especificos de cada país; un proceso de glocalización en lugar de globalización. La fascination initiale des Occidnetaux pour les accomplissements économiques des 'Tigres' de l'Extrême Orient les a conduit à s'intresser de plus près à leurs régimes de sécurité sociale. Si l'on théorise les changements socio-économiques à grande échelle, on peut supposer que les systèmes sociaux occidentaux et asiatiques convergent en raison des pressions exercées par la compétition économique mondiale et de la diffusion à travers le monde des discours sur la sécurité sociale. Les auteurs identifient un cas de possible convergence : les politiques d'aide communautaire à Taiwan et en Grande-Bretagne dans les années 90. Cependant un examen plus attentif des politiques et des pratiques laisse supposer que, même inspirées par une rhétorique similaire, le contexte dans lequel elles apparaissent et leur contenu dans chaque pays est radicalement différent, malgré des similitudes superficielles dans leur évolution. Il parait donc probable que les contextes nationaux et les instituions spécifiques à chaque pays continuent à infléchir politiques et pratiques, et ceci parallèlement aux contraintes majeures imposées à l'évolution des systèmrd sociaux par l'éonomie mondialisée, les discours sur le social devenant de plus en plus généraux.     

Friend or foe? Examining the relationship between news portals and newspaper sites in Taiwan

Newspapers worldwide often serve as content providers for news portals, but portals outperform most newspaper sites in audience share. Whether this is a zero-sum game or a win-win scenario deserves scholarly attention, because the phenomenon constitutes a unique case of intra-media competition. Based on empirical data collected through a large-scale survey, this study systematically examines the delicate relationship among and between news portals and newspaper sites in Taiwan. The results document non-competitive relationships among most news sites, with the exception of Yahoo! News. Such counter-intuitive findings carry theoretical and strategic implications for the study and practice of online journalism.     

Unsettling the 'learning community': From 'dialogue' to 'difference'?

The focus of this article is adult learning theory and the concept of ‘communities of learning’. Drawing on the authors' experiences as educators, it offers a critique of liberal-humanist and critical ideas about pedagogy, and draws on feminist poststructuralism to disrupt notions of ‘dialogue’, ‘community’and ‘difference’. The aim is to interrupt critical pedagogies through recognition of partial knowledges, exclusionary practices, and differences and similarities within learning communities. The article argues the need for an understanding which acknowledges both the universal and the particular, and engages with the discursive and the material realities entailed. El foco de este artículo es la teoría de aprendizaje para adultos y el concepto de ‘comunidades de aprendizaje’. Recurriendo a las experiencias de los autores como educadores, ofrece una crítica de las ideas liberales-humanistas e ideas críticas acerca de pedagogia, y recurre tambien al postestructuralismo femenista para trastocar nociones de ‘diálogo’, ‘comunidad’ y ‘diferencia’. El objectivo es interrumpir pedagogias críticas mediante el reconociemto de conocimientos parciales, prácticas exclusionarias y diferencias y similitudes entre comunidades de aprendizaje. El artículo sostiene la necesidad de un entendimiento que reconoce tanto lo universal como lo particular, y que aborda las supuestas realidades materiales y discursivas.     

From Health Crisis to Rights Advocacy? HIV/AIDS and Gay Activism in China and Singapore

The relationship between HIV/AIDS and gay activism has been primarily informed by the American experience and understudied in nondemocratic contexts. Drawing upon qualitative research on China and Singapore, we refine understanding of HIV/AIDS’ influence on the development of gay activism under authoritarian conditions, by examining the processes through which activist organizations interact with laws and regulations, political norms, HIV/AIDS funding, and government responses to both HIV/AIDS and collective organizing. We show how HIV/AIDS’ influence plays out in multiple patterns, depending on the strategic responses that gay activists select from a constrained range of options to shape their organizations’ destinies. Therefore, we provide insights for development agencies and international donors into whether and how international assistance intended to encourage activism and wider social change are mediated by political and legal controls on local activism.     

From globalization to Europeanization-and then? Transnational influences in lesbian activism of the Western Balkans

The article looks at transnational dynamics in lesbian activism in the Western Balkans, with particular focus on Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, over the last two decades. Based on 30 interviews with activists from local and international feminist, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), and queer organizations, the article discusses the role played by transnational contacts in the development of lesbian activism in the region and the related issues arising within the conflicting relationship between the "East" and the "West," with special attention to trends related to international intervention and cooperation, globalization, and Europeanization.     

Understanding the Challenges to Providing Disabilities Services and Rehabilitation in Rural Alaska: Where Do We Go From Here?

American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) suffer from some of the highest rates of health and mental health-related disabilities. Despite high rates of disabilities experienced among this population, services available to treat the disabilities are extremely limited, especially within the rural Alaska context. Additionally, limited research exists regarding the perceived barriers to receiving disability services, the importance of treating disabilities within one's own community, and individual and community-level strengths that exist to help cope with the lack of services. This article attempts to bring awareness to these issues, as well as propose tangible solutions to help mitigate the barriers.     

From Welfare to Work? Social Policy for Disabled People of Working Age in the United Kingdom in the 1990s

Disabled people of working age have been at the heart of recent welfare restructuring in the United Kingdom, but this has received little attention from mainstream social policy analysis. Both Conservative and Labour governments have introduced measures to promote labour force participation among disabled people, whilst discouraging dependence on welfare benefits. Whilst this new approach has been justified in terms of reducing poverty, its underlying imperatives are essentially inegalitarian. The welfare reform process has been driven by a number of official concerns including a perception of unsustainable fiscal pressures and a belief that perverse incentives in the social security benefit system have undermined economic efficiency. Moreover, it has been legitimated by an ideology of citizenship, which has shifted the moral responsibility for needs satisfaction away from the state to the individual. The paper concludes by identifying a better approach to welfare reform for disabled people of working age.     

From neglect to partnership? Challenges for social services in promoting the welfare of Traveller children

This paper explores current and potential directions in social services' provision for Traveller children, drawing on a Nuffield‐funded study. Many Traveller communities experience harassment, racism and oppression, which create a structural ‘vulnerability’ for children. However, the paper focuses on services for children where structural and family vulnerability interact, and the extent of statutory neglect. After outlining the study, three models of provision are explored. Firstly, crisis response in relation to child protection and youth justice issues has dominated social services' interaction with Travellers, tending to reinforce existing difficulties in relationships between the two. Secondly, family support was the subject of initiatives beginning in the study areas (selected as more engaged with Traveller issues) to facilitate Travellers' access to services, and plan a more strategic engagement with Traveller communities. Thirdly, specialist work was represented both formally and informally in the study, and demonstrated considerable benefits. Lessons from these findings suggest priorities for developing work with Travellers: recognition of Travellers as a minority ethnic/cultural group; inclusion of Travellers in equality policy and practice; training for workers; changes to referral systems; development of community support services; specialist posts; support to, and outreach work in partnership with, voluntary agencies; interagency initiatives; and, crucially, consultation with Travellers. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Are Rich Earners Time-Privileged in Taiwan? The Evidence from 1981 to 2006

This paper investigates how the relationship between income and working hours in Taiwan has changed over time. By using the official individual sample in the Manpower Utilization Surveys from DGBAS during 1981–2006, this study concludes that higher earners worked fewer hours as the economy is expanding and the price level increases in Taiwan; however, higher earners lose their time privileges as the economy relies on the service sector more than before. Furthermore, with regard to gender differences, it is found that higher earners still have time advantages relative to lower earners over time for male, but not so for female.