Environmental Justice at the Crossroads

The field of environmental justice emerged at a crossroads of social movements, public policy, and academic research – what we call environmental justice praxis. Now, the field finds itself again at a crossroads as it expands to address new populations, problems, and places. In this article, we first outline the competing definitions of the problems of environmental inequality and environmental racism from the perspective of social movements, policy, and research. Second, we identify the expansion of the field in two key areas: new issues and constituencies and new places and sites of analysis – specifically the relationship between the local and the global. This expansion leads to increasingly sophisticated spatial methodologies and social theories to examine problems of environmental injustice. Finally, we identify three promising trends in the field: refining the mechanisms and processes of environmental injustice, a renewed focus on the state and the environment as key actors, and a revitalized focus on the interactive and continually evolving relationship between scholarship and social movements.     

Public Relations Research at the Crossroads

This article briefly sets out where we are in terms of research and then discusses where I think we should go in the future. The emphasis in this article is on what I see as the dominant theoretical paradigm in the field—2-way symmetrical communication. Although relationship building is also a prominent feature of the literature (L. A. Grunig, Toth, & Hon, 2000), it is 2-way symmetry that dominates. Today's public relations practice is fluid and complex. Thus, we need to bring into our literature new theories from other disciplines to enhance our conceptual understanding of the field and explore more fully the implications of postmodern theories for the practice of public relations. The management literature has embraced postmodernism, leading to an evolution in thinking about strategy with which we have failed to keep up (McKie, 2001; Moss, Warnaby, & Newman, 2000). If we are to be a management function, we need to bring that literature into ours and update what we do and how we do it.     

Presidential Address Rural Sociology at the Crossroads*

Abstract A complex array of socio‐historical, demographic, and organizational factors have combined in recent years to threaten both the current status of and future prospects for the discipline of rural sociology, and for the Rural Sociological Society (RSS). This paper examines the somewhat problematic recent trajectories of the RSS as a professional organization and of rural sociology more generally and notes a degree of disciplinary and organizational inertia that have limited the pursuit of new directions. It also presents a discussion of selected factors that have contributed to these concerns, including both “external” factors that are largely beyond the organizational reach of RSS and “internal” factors that are more directly linked to organizational characteristics and actions. Drawing upon the distinctions between “red ocean” and “blue ocean” strategies outlined by market strategists Kim and Mauborgne, the discussion then shifts to a focus on action alternatives that, if pursued, could help to create an expanded set of opportunities and a brighter future for rural sociology, and for the Rural Sociological Society.     

Federal Welfare and Housing Policy at the Crossroads

Abstract

A time-series design was used to investigate an innovative, rent incentive-based employment initiative in a predominantly African American public housing community. The purpose of the research was to assess the impact of the Welfare-to-Work (W-t-W) program on resident employment levels and on Public Housing Authority (PHA) revenues and costs. Data were collected on a purposive sample of heads of household (N = 313) representing 78.3% of those in the community. Over half of the residents were under 17 years of age, followed by 24.7% who were 18-34, and 15.5% who were 35-54 years of age. Mean annual income for most participants was less than $5,000, and 60% were welfare reliant. Fifty-six percent of the participants in the study (N = 179) received monthly rent credits (discounts) ranging from $23 to $333 (m = $87, s.d. = $38.60). Employment levels in the community increased considerably over the study period and the W-t-W initiative was cost-effective to the PHA. Implications are discussed regarding advantages and limitations of intersected federal welfare and housing policies, the need for formative, evidence-based assessments of W-t-W programs, and the achievement of economic self-sufficiency of public housing residents.     

Different Eastern European Countries at Different Crossroads

This paper takes an initial step toward a better understanding of the complex set of pressing problems that need to be addressed by the Eastern European nonprofit sectors and their supporters in the near future. It gives an overview of the main challenges and claims that different nonprofit sectors of the region are at different crossroads. It identifies a general policy crisis that is fueled by the lack of a comprehensive knowledge of the sector and clear political intentions of cooperating with it. In addition, the dependence on foreign funding may result in a sustainability crisis in several Eastern European countries. In the most developed part of the region, the main elements of the present crisis are the fiscal, economic, effectiveness, identity, and legitimacy problems, which have something in common with the challenges facing the much more mature nonprofit sectors of the developed world.     

The Nonprofit Sector at a Crossroads: The Case of America

Despite some encouraging trends, America's nonprofit sector stands at a crossroads because of an interrelated series of challenges. Government budget cuts beginning in the early 1980s have eliminated a significant source of nonprofit revenues and created a serious fiscal squeeze for many organizations. Although the sector as a whole managed to replace this lost revenue, it has done so largely through fees and charges that have attracted for-profit businesses into traditional fields of nonprofit action, creating a serious economic challenge to the sector. Simultaneously, important questions have been raised about the effectiveness and accountability of nonprofit organizations, and about what some see as the overprofessionalization and bureaucratization of the sector. All of this has undermined public confidence in the sector and prompted questions about the basic legitimacy of the special tax and legal benefits it enjoys. To cope with these challenges, American nonprofits could usefully undergo a process of renewal that revives the sector's basic values, reconnects it to its citizen base, and creates a better public understanding of its functions and role.     

Italian Social Enterprises at the Crossroads: Their Role in the Evolution of the Welfare State

This paper investigates the relationship between the emergence of social enterprises (SEs) and the historical development of the Italian welfare state. Our research offers a comprehensive overview of the internal and external influences that shaped the constitutive relations between the welfare state and SEs. A qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups has been adopted. This study suggests that two interconnected dynamics—the emergence of new social needs being answered by private organisations and the increased prominence of third sector actors during the privatisation of the welfare state—shaped the co-evolution of the welfare state and SEs in Italy. The study also suggests that the emergence and evolution of Social Enterprises in the years leading up to 2001 was mainly a bottom-up phenomena stemming from the actions of citizens setting up private organisations (often cooperatives) to answer to social problems created by new social needs and the structural reform of the welfare state. After 2001 especially with the new law on SEs in 2016, the evolution of SEs seems to have been increasingly influenced by the surrounding ecosystem of actors and supranational policy discourses rather than SEs themselves.     

Poverty at a Racial Crossroads: Poverty Among Multiracial Children of Single Mothers

Although multiracial youth represent a growing segment of children in all American families, we have little information on their well‐being within single‐mother households. This article examines multiracial children's level of poverty within single‐mother families to identify the degree to which they may stand out from their monoracial peers. Using data from the 2006–2008 American Community Survey (3‐year estimates), we explore the level of racial disparities in child poverty between monoracial White children and monoracial and multiracial children of color. Fully adjusted multivariate logistic regression analyses (n = 359,588) reveal that nearly all children of color are more likely to be poor than White children. Yet many multiracial children appear to hold an in‐between status in which they experience lower rates of poverty than monoracial children of color. The high level of variation across groups suggests that the relationship between race and childhood poverty is more complicated than generally presumed.     

Documentary at a Crossroads: Reality TV and the Hybridization of Small‐Screen Documentary

Today, as tendencies of popularization and hybridization have fundamentally redefined conventional notions of (small) screen documentary, the genre (re‐)emerges as a particularly appealing topic of scholarly research. This article elaborates some of the main strands of the multifaceted debate about these ongoing developments, thereby focusing on the ‘reality TV’ phenomenon, which is probably the most notable, yet also most controversial embodiment of the shifting that takes place. Discussing key positions regarding the problem of labeling and definition, questions of documentary values, and ethical issues, it is argued that a comprehensive, nuanced approach based on profound conceptualizations as well as empirical research into production and reception contexts are invaluable in making an astute assessment of the popular hybrid documentary.     

Intercultural Education at the Crossroads of Commerce: The intercultural challenges of electronic technology in a diverse Europe

The rapid development of IT is affecting the delivery of intercultural education both academic and applied, as well as other cultural services. Here we look at the consequences for business and also how this can be extrapolated to the realm of (intercultural) education.     

Asian Families at the Crossroads: A Meeting of East,West, Tradition,Modernity, and Gender

East Asian societies have undergone major changes in the past few decades, including substantial declines in marriage and fertility. This article introduces the special section of Asian Families in Context by sketching commonalities and variations in patterns of marriage and family behavior in this region. A discussion of relevant theoretical frameworks from the Western literature follows. The final section briefly introduces the 6 empirical studies that comprise this section and discusses their relevance for developing and refining theory relevant to understanding family change in East Asia.     

Grandparenthood: Crossroads between Gender and Aging

Abstract:  This paper attempts to examine the factors affecting the significance of grandparenthood and grandparent behaviors in Japan. The study pays specific attention to the interplay of gender and aging, notably the mixture of maintenance and transformation of gendered family life from middle age to later life. The data analyzed in this study are from a random sample aged between 60 and 75, containing 322 grandparents (146 grandfathers, 176 grandmothers). Results indicate a complicated mechanism of aging and gender operating in the construction of grandparenthood. Analyses show that continuity and transformation of gendered family life are mainly reflected in the significance of grandparenthood rather than grandparent behaviors. The significance of grandparenthood for females, with less dynamic changes in later life, could be a product of the long-standing and cumulative effects of gendered midlife. On the contrary, grandparenthood could become increasingly important for males with advancing age, implying a dynamic transformation of masculinity or male identity with family in later life. This increasing significance of grandfatherhood is discussed with respect to possible structural changes of male personal networks during the transition to later life.     

The School: The Crossroads for Collaboration

This essay argues that the time has come to restructure schools to allow the “whole” child to receive service at the school. The provision of time, place, and personnel to respond to the needs of today's children might facilitate their academic progress. If students and families can find support in one location, perhaps anxiety can be reduced and academics can be strengthened. The school can do little on its own to help children whose lives are in chaos due to poverty, hunger, abuse, ill health, family disintegration, neglect, fear, or hopelessness. Collateral collaboration needs to evolve in which professional development is a shared responsibility of all agencies that serve a community.     

Beyond the Crossroads: Policy Issues for the Philippine Nonprofit Sector

The Philippine nonprofit sector, including nongovernmental organizations, have enjoyed an enabling and facilitative state environment since the People Power Revolution of 1986. It currently faces a legitimacy challenge in terms of its ability to represent the people, to be accountable to them, and to show its autonomy and difference from the state. It also confronts the challenge of how it can deliver services more effectively as it expands and professionalizes. Raising resources through government, philanthropy, and income generation also continue to be major challenges.     

Reflections on Race,Diversity, and the Crossroads of Multiculturalism

This article draws upon recent research on race and diversity, much of it conducted by the author and his collaborators on the American Mosaic Project at the University of Minnesota, to provide a critical‐theoretical perspective on multiculturalism in contemporary American culture. It is based upon three main empirical findings. The first is that Americans are, on initial inspection, generally quite open to and optimistic about diversity. Further analysis and deeper probing, however, reveals a second, cross‐cutting discovery: that thought and talk about diversity is marked by a series of underlying tensions and misgivings. The third and perhaps most important finding is that the discourse about diversity is deeply informed and determined—over‐determined perhaps—by race in the United States. Taken together, it is argued that the contradictory, race‐based attitudes Americans exhibit toward diversity reflect and reproduce many of the key, animating ambivalences of multiculturalism in both theory and practice: for example, the tensions between individuals and groups and between abstract ideals and empirical realities. The article concludes by suggesting that multiculturalism is not only at a crossroads in the United States but is a crossroads where many conflicting impulses and ideals about solidarity, belonging, and equality come together in the same cultural space.     

On Being Jewish at a Jesuit University: Reflections on Organizational Cultures

This article provides reflections on the intersection of religion, identity, occupation, and organizational culture as it occurred in my professional life.