‘Community’: The Spray-on Solution

Community is one of those ‘motherhood’ words with great potential for mystification of social issues. This paper examines the way the term has evolved and is currently used in Australia. Special attention is given to the contradiction between the claims to radicalism of much community work and the system preserving effect the term actually lends to programs. To illuminate the process under consideration alternative approaches are briefly considered but recognized as generally unacceptable to official social policy and practice because of the implicit threat to the current distribution of power and resources.     

"Around the Verge of Parting Life":

Few Blacks were involved in the gerontological movement of the 1950s. Only eight attended the 1950 White House Conference on Aging. One of these individuals was Hobart Jackson who was administrator of the Stephen Smith Home for the Aged, originally the Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons which was founded in 1864 by Blacks and Quakers. It is now the oldest Black Nursing Home in the United States. Jackson emerged as the leading spokesman for the Black elderly. His administration of the Stephen Smith Home, guided by the new conceptual formulations and emerging philosophies of care, brought it abreast of the times and led Jackson to the broader arena of advocate for Black gerontology. His activities culminated in the founding of the Washingtonbased National Caucus on Black Aged in 1970 and the National Center in 1973. Primarily a practitioner but at times a theorist, Hobart Jackson, the Father of Black gerontology, deserves a significant place in the annals of gerontology.     

‘‘With the greatest respect and fidelity:’ a Cherokee vision of the ‘Trust’ doctrine”

The trust relationship is the conceptual/philosophical framework against which all relations between the federal government and indigenous groups are conducted. Yet despite the centrality of this concept, federal policymakers have no consistent or agreed upon definition of what the trust relationship actually entails (Wilkins, 1997). And, more importantly, indigenous conceptions of trust have rarely been assessed. This article analyzes and advances one tribe's—the Cherokee—perspective on trust. In focusing on how the Cherokee perceive trust, this section emphasizes that from an indigenous viewpoint the trust relationship embodies a complex and sophisticated understanding that both the tribe and the United States have reciprocal responsibilities to maintain positive relations towards one another. The leaders of the Cherokee people—one of the more diverse indigenous groups— understood in the federal government's actions, whether these were expressed in treaties, policy statements, congressional laws, or court decisions, that the federal government was pledged to protect Cherokee property and sovereignty, would act with utmost integrity in its legal and political dealings with the people, and would insure that the United States political and judicial representatives would act in a moral manner regarding the tribe's rights. Notwithstanding the federal government's tremendous variety of treaty and trust violations, the Cherokee conception of trust is regenerative from generation to generation. This breathes new life into a seasoned concept and offers hope for the often difficult political/legal relations between the federal, state, and tribal governments. And here we beg leave to ask of our father that, in future transactions of a public nature between the United States and our nation, the American Government will not require of our nation any thing which, as our protectors and guardians, they will not, after due deliberation, advise us to comply with; and having no doubt of the magnanimity and benignity of the Government, we shall return home satisfied, and report to our nation the result of our mission to this. With the greatest respect and fidelity, we subscribe our names (Going Snake, et al., 1817, p. 147)     

Just a little “froth”: Tracing Greenspan's ideology

Although not receiving the attention it deserves, Greenspan's rhetorical rationalization of the extraordinary developments in the housing market contributed significantly to its unsustainable expansion between 2002 and 2006. His rhetorical campaign served to justify his regulatory inaction, much like the language masking the stock market bubble of the 1920s. Informed by this historical pattern, this paper offers a rhetorical analysis of the housing market developments as represented in Alan Greenspan's last speech on the housing market in September 2005, near the peak of the housing market euphoria, as the Fed's outgoing chairman. Although Greenspan explicitly recognized many signs of the bubble, his ideology prevented him from making necessary inferences regarding the true extent and potential ramifications of the bubble burst for the broader economy.     

“新代理人”:项目进村中的村治主体研究

在项目进村过程中,"新代理人"成为描述当前村治主体角色性质的核心概念。契合当前项目进村要求,进而满足村庄社会项目诉求是"新代理人"形成的权威基础。在基层政府"悬浮"的背景下,村治主体的谋利冲动与村庄社会的项目诉求相互交织,村庄中交际能力强、关系网络广且关系重心和利益空间在村庄之外的部分村民登上村庄政治舞台。"新代理人"的治理实践表现出一种利益治理的逻辑,这实质上是后税费时代基层治理困境的延续。在村庄社会增量逻辑的主导下,以"新代理人"为核心要素的村庄权力结构呈现固化态势。"新代理人"与传统代理人在权威来源、精英替代逻辑、治理机制和治理绩效等方面存在显著不同,这也凸显出"新代理人"概念所蕴含的学术价值和现实意义。"新代理人"脱离于国家和乡村社会的双重规制,是基层治理研究的一个新议题。     

On Austerity & Accountability:

No abstract available for this article.     

Originary différance: “A quantum vitalism”

Review of Alexander Wendt, Quantum Mind and Social Science: unifying physical and social ontology (2015).