公益活动与中国乡村社会资源

本文借助笔者亲自参与的对北方民间信仰进行的大量人类学调查的资料,展示了中国乡村自我组织的公益活动,从广为流行的社会资本概念入手,讨论了中国民间社会（文化）资源的价值、中国乡村的自治传统以及民间领袖作用等问题,认为在乡村普遍存在的民间信仰活动中蕴含着丰富的社会性公益活动治理的功能。进而思考如何使基层社会保有足够的自治空间,以延续文化的传统,从而在国家控制与地方社会的回应之间形成良性的互动,使一些乡民社会原有的社会资源和价值体系不因现代化而失去意义,反而有助于社会的稳定与和谐。     

回到马克思：对中国社会分层研究的反思

本文在文献分析的基础上,归纳了中国社会分层研究的三种取向或范式,认为中国的社会分层在关系型研究方面还比较薄弱,主张采用马克思主义的社会阶级理论研究中国的社会分层,并根据马克思的生产资料占有关系的理论对稀缺性的生产要素占有关系的命题作了简要说明;由此形成了当代中国四大阶级：管理者阶级、资本所有者阶级、专业与技术人员阶级和劳动阶级,其中占主导地位的是管理者阶级和资本所有者阶级;但是承认阶级的存在,并不意味着阶级对抗甚至暴力革命,在构建和谐社会的条件下,阶级冲突将走向阶级合作。     

环境关心的测量：NEP量表在中国的应用评估

本文检视了西方学者（特别是美国学者）自20世纪70年代以来测量公众环境关心的历程,分析了广为使用的NEP量表的提出及修订,并重点基于2003年中国综合社会调查（城市部分）资料,对修订过的NEP量表在中国的应用效果进行了评估。作者指出,不加改造地在中国应用修订过的NEP量表,效果并不理想。但是,经过适当改造之后,该量表可以作为测量公众环境关心的重要工具。     

青少年对父母亲职及亲子关系质量的认知：香港与上海的比较

本研究最基本的问题是：香港和上海的青少年在父母控制，亲子关系质量，以及心理健康方面是否存在着差异。香港（3，017名）和上海（3，022名）的中学生对以下几方面表达了自己的观点：父母行为控制、父母心理控制、透过中国文化本土观念评估的父母管教、父母对传统中国文化亲职信念的认同、亲子关系质量，以及心理健康。从数据中可以得出以下结论：1）相对于上海的父母，香港父母的行为控制较弱，就传统中国文化管教观念而言的管教较弱，对传统中国文化管教子女信念的认同较弱，但他们的心理控制较强；2）相对于上海的青少年，香港的青少年认为亲子关系质量较差，他们的心理健康较差，并不太愿意在放学后回家，与父母或其他成年人在一起。     

传统诚信的历史巡礼与现代开掘——评唐贤秋博士《道德的基石——先秦儒家诚信思想论》

当前,中国社会正处于转型时期,社会生活中出现了各种各样的诚信缺失问题,已引起了人们的普遍关注。因此,在现时期研究诚信问题,不仅具有学理价值,而且具有深刻的现实意义。最近,唐贤秋博士的新著《道德的基石———先秦儒家诚信思想论》已由中国社会科学出版社出版发行。该书在作者博士论文的基础上修改完善而成,是一部富有新意的学术专著。通观此书,主要有以下特点:首先,该著以如何承接中华民族优秀文化为着眼点,将关注的目光投向中国历史上的先秦时期,对先秦儒家诚信思想作了一次深沉而细腻的历史巡礼。为了获得先秦思想的本真面貌,作…     

城乡居民主观生活质量比较研究初探

本研究在山东省范围内取样（N=1224）,对中国城市居民主观幸福感量表运用于城乡居民的测量学特性进行了检验。结果表明,该量表适用于城乡居民。运用该量表对城乡居民主观生活质量的初步比较研究表明,从总体上看,农村居民的主观生活质量低于城市居民。这种差距反映了我国城乡经济社会发展中客观存在的差距。经济转轨和社会转型对农村社会的观念与心理冲击要远远大于城市社会,因此农村居民的主观生活质量对于整个社会的稳定与发展具有不可忽略的影响,应当引起高度的关注。     

迈向“虚无之物”的日常生活消费实践——一个消费者的视野

依据对日常消费实践的经验和观察,作者从消费者的视角论证：在全球化进程中,中国社会生活中的消费实践正在快速地奔向“虚无之物”---没有内涵,没有特色,没有个性,由某个中心建构和控制的、比较而言缺乏特定内容的社会形式。“虚无之物”是瑞泽尔（<')=(7）建构的一个理想类型概念,在使用这个框架之前,本文根据相关理论传统和中国经验稍加修改。中国社会消费实践>" 年来的剧变被阐释为消费革命、第二次解放和人们的选择自由。不过,作者认为,变革的社会后果可能是灾难性的,中国不仅会丧失曾经拥有的独特文化和传统,而且生活的意义和情趣正在遭到侵蚀和损害。     

"万物并作"与"天人合一":先秦生态美学思想及启示

中国先秦时期有很多实用化的美学实践和关学主张,以"万物并作"与"天人合一"为核心的生态美学是其中典型的代表.生态美学表达了人类对生存环境问题的深刻关注."万物并作"主要揭示自然万物相互联系、相互依赖的关系,而且这种关系在动态平衡中实现依生、竟生、共生的生态循环;"天人合一"则要求人的行为应与天地自然保持和谐统一.先秦生态美学思想时社会群体和社会个体都具有明确的美育功能.研究先秦美学家的生态美学思想对于今天的美学研究以及美育的发展具有重要的启示意义.     

先秦诸子"愚民"论考辨

先秦时期"愚民"的主要内涵,涉及知识、性情两个方面。就知识方面的"愚民"而言,先秦诸子普遍认为社会大众在是非辨别、利害判断方面存在愚昧无知的不足。"民愚"判断既是先秦诸子政教思想的社会基础,又是一种最早的国民性批判。性情方面的"愚民"则是先秦诸子理想社会状态中的民风民俗,蕴涵着先秦诸子对现实"狡诈奸猾"社会风气的强烈批判意识,不能简单地认为先秦诸子在具体政策措施层面提倡"愚民"、"反智"。探讨先秦诸子,尤其是几乎已成学界公论的法家"愚民"思想,应对研究者的价值立场和前提预设作一具体分析,反思"愚民"论的相对性和历史性。先秦诸子"愚民"论的话题,不仅关涉对先秦诸子思想内涵的重新认识,而且对于提升当代中国对于传统文化的自信心亦不无裨益。     

派系及其治理:休谟社会政治理论研究的一个视角

基于历史观察和其思想的内在逻辑,休谟将“派系”问题及其治理作为社会政治理论的核心内容。休谟分析了“派系”产生的人性基础和基本类型,进而提出派系治理的三种路径。首先,商业、科学和艺术的发展可以促进人们理性的增长以及相互之间的同情,从而可以瓦解极端的信念和增进社会的团结;其次,文明的政治秩序的构建不应当依赖于道德,而应当建立起派系之间的相互制衡;再次,宗教派系的极端性对社会秩序构成了重大威胁,为了保持社会秩序的稳定,必须在宗教宽容的基础上保持世俗政府对宗教的控制。休谟的派系治理思想具有立足商业社会的现代视野,既致力于减弱和消除极端派系对社会秩序的破坏,又使温和的派系成为促进社会繁荣与发展的动力,在近代西方社会秩序理论中具有重要的历史影响和理论价值。     

Considering Improvisation: Play,Transitional Space,and Discovery

This article explores the concept of improvisation in the therapeutic setting as a complex construction when elaborated in the idiom of jazz music. A composite clinical case is offered that illustrates an impasse and how improvisational thinking offers a way forward. Improvisation has recently been conceptualized through the metaphor of theater improvisation, dance, and rhythm. The therapeutic hour is considered an improvisational dialogue with the main theme (melody) and counter melodies, and harmonic possibilities that underlie the rhythmic pulse of the hour. Improvisation requires a reflective/interpretive process that draws on patterns, structures, and experiences reformulated in the relational field of the participants. The client initiates the call and response pattern, from which improvisation emerges as a mutual process of discovery. A more relaxed, receptive, and reflective posture extends Winnicott’s 1971 notion of play to integrate classic understanding and relational interaction.     

Objective Tests versus Subjective tests

objective test has only one correct answer, while subjective test has a range of possible answers. Because of this feature, reliability will not be difficult to achieve in the marking of the objective item, while the marking of the subjective items is reliable. On the whole, a good test must contain both subjective and objective test items.     

Comments on the National College English Test

College English Test is an important national test for Chinese college students, this paper introduces the distribution of scores, time of examination, and analyses the four parts in CET ,such as listening comprehension, reading comprehension, integrated testing, and writing based on testing theories.     

Social security reforms in Kenya: Towards a workerist or a citizenship‐based system?

With social security provisions in Kenya remaining under‐reported in the more recent literature, this overview covers recent reforms in key areas of the country's social security system. In the health sector and in old‐age pension provision social security is still mainly workerist (biased toward those in formal employment), and attempts to expand coverage have had limited effect only – cash transfer programmes, for instance, have been expanded but in practice they do not universally cover the entitled categories. Thus, although the Kenyan social security system now has a considerable pro‐poor social assistance component it remains biased toward those in formal employment, to the benefit of the highest income quintile.     

Abstracts of theses: Smith College School for Social Work,July 1954

Abstract

Many clients relate in ways that elicit emotional responses in practitioners and may also feel pressure to intervene when appropriate action is not yet clear. Practitioners must develop sufficient self-awareness so their own reactions do not interfere with the work they do with clients. Educators exhort their students to be self-aware, but locating methods that foster the capacity can be difficult. Infant observation is an elegant training model that helps to develop self-awareness. The method described here makes use of regular observation, supportive small groups, and repeated detailed examination of what is seen in training both generalist and specialized practitioners. It has become a prototype for the observational study of several kinds of specific populations. Because it attends to people in their own environments and demonstrates a flexible, reflective, multi-modal manner of information-gathering, infant observation is particularly useful in the education of social work practitioners.     

India's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act: Assessing the quality of access and adequacy of benefits in MGNREGS public works

The extension of social protection to all has become a central policy objective, both nationally and internationally. A considerable number of middle‐ and low‐income countries have undertaken substantial efforts to extend social protection, while the international community reaffirmed its commitment to the extension of social protection through the adoption of the ILO Recommendation concerning National Floors of Social Protection, No. 202 (2012). This article reviews the legal provisions and the implementation of the Indian Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), legislated in 2005, and does so in the light of the more recent provisions of ILO Recommendation No. 202. Since its introduction ten years ago, MGNREGA has provided a source of income to rural workers, increased wage rates, achieved high female participation rates and created durable assets. India's local governance bodies, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), have been empowered and involved in the processes of planning and monitoring. However, despite successes, there have been considerable shortcomings in implementation. This article highlights two central themes: first, the innovative policy framework of the Act, which brings together rights‐based entitlements, demand‐driven employment, and citizen‐centred monitoring. Second, it assesses the accessibility and adequacy of benefits in the implementation of MGNREGA. We conclude that MGNREGA offers potential for South‐South learning, both in terms of policy‐design and implementation.     

From “Either‐Or” to “When and How”: A Context‐Dependent Model of Culture in Action

In this article, I outline a framework for the sociological study of culture that connects three intertwined elements of human culture (cultural motivations, resources, and meanings) and demonstrates the concrete contexts under which each most critically influences actions and their subsequent outcomes. In contrast to models that cast motivations, resources, and meanings as competing explanations of how culture affects action, I argue that these are fundamental constituent elements of culture that are inseparable, interdependent, and simultaneously operative. Which element provides the strongest link to action, and how this link operates, must be understood as a function of the actor's position within wider social contexts. I argue that on average motivations have the most discernable link to action within a social strata, cultural resources provide the strongest link across strata, and meanings have the greatest direct influence when codified and sanctioned. I then offer a reframing and synthesis that reintegrates previously “competing” theories of culture into a more holistic context‐dependent model of culture in action. Finally, I use evidence from prior empirical research, as well as new data from an ongoing ethnographic study of health behaviors among the aged, to show how various elements of culture are concretely linked to action in eight different social contexts. In doing so, I provide a roadmap for the transition out of the “either‐or” logic underlying much of cultural theory and reemphasize the importance of the classical sociological concern for “when” and “how” various aspects of culture influence action and outcomes in concrete social contexts.     

A Man Can be Destroyed but Not Defeated

Santiago,the main hero in the Old Man and the Sea is characterized as someone struggling against defeat. He has gone eighty-four days without catching a fish,the sail of his skiff resembles "the flag of permanent defeat." But the old man refuses defeat at every turn:he resolves to sail out beyond the other fishermen to where the biggest fish promise to be. He lands the marlin,tying his record of eighty-seven days after a brutal three-day fight,and he continues to ward off sharks from stealing his prey,even though he knows the battle is useless. He establishes a great hero:a man can be destroyed but not defeated.     

The gender gap in pensions in Latin America

Lower female lifetime labour market participation rates, greater interruptions during their working lives, and wage gaps contribute to create gender gaps in pensions at the time of retirement. The design of social security systems may reinforce or attenuate these gaps. This article provides new evidence on gender gaps in access to pensions and in pension income in four Southern Cone countries in Latin America and analyses their evolution between 2000 and 2013, showing significant improvements in both gaps, with differential patterns by countries. The decrease in the gender gap in pension income has been particularly significant in Argentina and Brazil. In both cases, the largest increases in pension values during the period correspond to the lowest income percentiles, where women are overrepresented. The application of redistributive policies in these countries, aimed at reducing poverty and inequality but not necessarily focused on gender equity, has had positive and probably unintended consequences in terms of reduction in gender gaps in pensions.