“A Community of Communities”– Catholic Communitarianism and Societal Crises in Ireland, 1890s–1950s1

Abstract This article argues that discourse on community as a socio‐political problem needs to be located within historical, institutional, and socio‐structural contexts if it is to be properly understood. In particular, it suggests that the role of religion in promoting forms of communitarian discourse and practice needs to be given greater attention than it has hitherto received within the social sciences. The article pursues this argument through examination of the religious discourse on community cultivated and promoted by the Catholic Church in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. By providing an analysis of its role in Catholic responses to three major socio‐political crises in Ireland between the 1890s and 1960s, the paper suggests that not only does socio‐religious discourse on community constitute a powerful alternative to secular social‐scientific discourses, but that such discourse is particularly effective in helping to constitute specific groups as communities, given favourable sociological conditions.     

Enclosure: Palestinian Landscape in a “Not‐Too‐Distant Mirror”

This article develops an explanation for the fractured and partitioned landscape in Palestine by comparing it to the early modern enclosures in England, and framing this comparison within a theory of “territoriality.” Territoriality is a practice of power and refers to the efforts of individuals or groups to reorganize the economic life, politics, and culture of a place by reshaping landscape. The argument is that the Palestinian landscape is part of a long‐standing narrative in which groups with power seek to transform the economy, demography, and culture of territorial space through the time‐honored territorial practice of enclosing land. Enclosure consists of two basic instruments: a legal element that redefines rights of property by reorganizing systems of use, access, and socio‐economic relations on the land; and architectural elements that reshape the landscape itself. English estate owners and Israeli Zionists are parallel actor groups using law and the built environment to remake life on the landscape. Mobilizing the institutional power of property law and the material power of the built environment, these groups reorder land ownership, use, and circulation on the landscape in an effort to consolidate systems of control over subalterns and reorganize socio‐economic life and demography in a place. By exploring the contours of this pattern, this article seeks to uncover a more general meaning in the enclosure landscape of Palestine today.     

Characteristics of progressive small‐scale farmers in Transkei

Progressive small‐scale farmers tend to be in the younger age groups, have a relatively high level of education and knowledge of farming, adopt modern technology, have a higher level of managerial aptitude, more progressive attitudes towards farming, larger farm holdings and more implements. They also enjoy a relatively high standard of living and socio‐economic status, participate in organisations and have greater contact with information sources. Findings show variables explaining farming progressiveness and are a multi‐variant cause/effect phenomenon. Many of the important socio‐psychological and economic factors influencing farming progressiveness are easily amenable to manipulation and can be considerably influenced by well planned agricultural and rural development strategies.     

Gender Gaps in Educational Outcomes Among Children of New Migrants: The Role of Social Integration from a Comparative Perspective

This article reviews current research on gender gaps in educational outcomes among children of new migrants (first, 1.5, and second generations) from a comparative cross‐national perspective. The article examines potential explanations for why gendered differences in educational outcomes among immigrants (vis‐à‐vis non‐migrants) continue to occur, focusing on individual, schooling, and institutional factors. For example, while gender gaps in expectations and aspirations as well as some cognitive outcomes are increasing (reading ability is considerably higher among females) and shrinking in specific subjects (e.g. math and science ability is slightly higher among boys), that process often has been less explored within and across immigrant vis‐à‐vis non‐immigrant students. We show that in some countries, gender gaps among disadvantaged ethnic minorities (in relation to other groups) continue to persist and are exacerbated by institutional factors. These disadvantages vary not only across different educational systems and at different rates over time but also are based on students' social background. Overall, we argue that these educational inequalities are key to understanding not only the socioeconomic and future political adaptation of migrants and their children but also future social policy developments in the European Union context.     

Diaspora and Development? London‐based Nigerian Organisations and the Transnational Politics of Socio‐economic Status and Gender

Diaspora organisations are increasingly being lauded as important actors in the development of their communities and countries of origin. Focusing on London‐based Nigerian organisations and their interventions in Nigeria, this article assesses the particular claims that diaspora organisations reach, benefit and ‘empower’ women and ‘the poor’ at ‘home’. It argues that, while many London‐based Nigerian organisations do connect with and support these groups, they often do so in ways that reinforce rather than transform established gender relations and socio‐economic inequalities. If international agencies are to support the progressive potential of the organised diaspora, it will be necessary to acknowledge the alternative and socially mediated ways in which development might be imagined and enacted both in diaspora and at ‘home’.     

Negotiating race and place in the Garifuna Diaspora: Identity formation and transnational grassroots politics in New York City and Honduras

This paper is an exploration of the relations between the politics of identity and the socio‐economic and political processes of the current era of globalization. Using ethnographic material from the transnational grassroots organizations of the Garinagu—an Afro‐Indigenous population living in transnational communities between Central America and the US—I show the multiple ways that they articulate their identity between and among the tropes of “autocthony,” “blackness,” “Hispanic,” “diaspora,” and “nation.” This construction and negotiation of identity is intimately connected to the negotiation of rights vis‐à‐vis nation‐states and international political bodies, where ideologies of race, ethnicity, nation, and citizenship carry with them different implications for rights and belonging. I argue that the complexities of this case point to the uneven processes of globalization, within which the power to define the ideological terrain of economic and political struggles is still profoundly unequal.     

Not just another box to tick: Conflict‐sensitivity methods and the role of research in development programming

Reflecting on the experience of conducting a conflict‐sensitivity review during the 2010 political and social disturbances in Kyrgyzstan, the authors argue for the integration of conflict‐sensitive methods across programme areas, close monitoring of conflict potential and an institutional commitment to detailed conflict research drawing on broader socio‐economic research. Comparing their observations with the review findings of conflict sensitivity methods in Nepal, the authors offer recommendations for the application of ‘do no harm’ principles to development work in fragile environments. Ensuring the creation and systematic use of an adequate knowledge base is the critical first step to preventing the lessons that should be learnt from the Kyrgyz experience from being lost.     

Metropolitan Labour Markets, Peripheral Labour Markets and Socio-economic Outcomes among Immigrants to Israel

This article focuses on the impact of the local opportunity structure on socio‐economic outcomes of recent immigrants to Israel. Specifically, it examines the extent to which metropolitan labour markets versus peripheral labour markets differentially affect socio‐economic incorporation of recent “Russian” immigrants who arrived in Israel after the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1989. Using the 1995 Israeli Census of Population, the analyses address the following questions: (1) were recent immigrants differentially sorted to local labour markets; (2) do local labour markets differentially affect socio‐economic attainment; and (3) do modes of socio‐economic attainment and patterns of ethnic inequality differ across metropolitan and peripheral labour markets? The analyses reveal that immigrants from the European republics and of lower education are more likely to settle in peripheral labour markets than in metropolitan labour markets. Peripheral labour markets, compared with metropolitan labour markets, have detrimental consequences for the socio‐economic outcomes of immigrants. The data do not provide strong support for the thesis that patterns of socio‐economic attainment and inequality differ much across labour markets. The rules according to which socio‐economic attainment of immigrants is determined are, for the most part, similar across labour markets. In general, occupational status and earnings of immigrants are likely to increase with the passage of time, education, European origin; and to decline with age regardless of type of the local labour market. However, the socio‐economic outcomes of immigrants are considerably higher in the metropolis than in the periphery. The findings suggest that the local labour market plays a major role in the determination of immigrants' socio‐economic rewards and outcomes.     

Environmental policy in the context of swedish political culture

The article describes the development of Swedish environmental policy by paying attention to the context of Swedish political culture. It describes the successes and, mainly, the failures of Sweden's environmental policy since the late sixties and traces its less‐than‐satisfactory state to the political culture of a welfare state which for a long time tended to view environmental concerns as likely to upset the socio‐economic welfare policies based on cost‐effectiveness and anti‐inflationary policies.     

The demographic and socio-economic characteristics of post-1965 immigrants to New York City: a comparative analysis by national origin

This article analyses and compares the demographic and socio‐economic characteristics of persons born abroad who immigrated to New York City after 1965 and still lived in the City in 1990. Using data from the 1990 Census, we classify persons into the twenty four largest national origin groups and compare their demographic and socio‐economic characteristics (sex, age, educational attainment, labour force participation, unemployment, occupation, income, and poverty). We pose and answer three empirical questions. The first question is: what are some of the main differences by national origin in the composition of persons immigrating to New York City after 1965? The second question is: what are some of the main differences in the location of post‐1965 immigrants in New York's socio‐economic structure? The third question is: what are some of the main differences in the economic rewards received by persons who immigrated to New York City since 1965? We find that immigrants with less than a high school education have higher labour force participation rates than the US‐born population in the same educational category and also have slightly higher earnings. Immigrants with a high school degree have labour force participation rates close to (or slightly higher than) the average for the US‐born population but their incomes are slightly lower than the average income for the US‐born population. Immigrants with a college degree have participation rates similar or slightly lower that those of the US‐born population while their earnings are significantly lower that those of US‐born college graduates.     

Values of Portuguese/non‐Portuguese mothers of kindergarten children,and of kindergarten teachers

The aim of this research was to identify continuities/discontinuities in the values of Portuguese mothers with kindergarten children belonging to high and low socio‐cultural backgrounds, mothers from different cultures and kindergarten teachers. The sample was composed of sixty‐five mothers (fourteen Roma, fifteen Indian, twelve African, and ten Portuguese from low socio‐cultural backgrounds, and fourteen Portuguese from middle and high socio‐cultural backgrounds) and fifteen kindergarten teachers, from middle and high socio‐cultural backgrounds. They all worked in multicultural classes, and all were aged between 18 and 45. A list of behaviors and open questions about adaptive/non‐adaptive behaviors and the metaphor of Adaptive Adult were applied to identify their values. Results show continuities and discontinuities in mothers’ and kindergarten teachers’ values. The most important were: (1) valuing of autonomy by the kindergarten teachers and Portuguese mothers from high socio‐economic backgrounds and (2) valuing of conformity by Indian and Roma mothers. Discontinuities were also observed between (1) kindergarten teachers and all groups of mothers concerning personal fulfillment, only valued by kindergarten teachers, (2) professional fulfillment, only valued by Indian mothers, and (3) self characteristics, only valued by Portuguese mothers from a low socio‐economic background. Implications of these results are analyzed with regard to research, the training of kindergarten teachers and the nature of interventions with parents.     

The strangers at work in sandwich: Native envy of an industrious minority 1561–1603

This article is not an analysis of the motives and character of the immigration of sixteenth‐century exiles from the Low Countries into Sandwich, but a study of the socio‐economic significance of their presence for the Cinque Port and its consequences for their relationship with the local authorities and townsmen. On an in‐troductionary note, we will first look at the interest of English historians in the subject of the sixteenth‐century immigrants during the last 20 years or so. Thereafter, we will discuss the Anglo‐Flemish trade relations in medieval and Tudor times and the economic role of Sandwich during that period. This is followed by an examination of the socio‐economic evolution of the Strangers from the time of their arrival until the end of the century within a local and national context, with the emphasis on the relationship with the native inhabitants. The article concludes with a discussion on the general traditions of both encouragement of the opposition to the Strangers and the attitude of the English authorities.     

Pre‐ and Post‐Migration Determinants of Socio‐Cultural Integration of African Immigrants in Italy and Spain

Using a unique dataset (N=2,014), we examine the pre‐ and post‐migration determinants of socio‐cultural integration among first‐generation immigrant groups in southern Europe: Moroccan and Senegalese migrants in Spain, and Egyptian and Ghanaian migrants in Italy. The results of the pooled and immigrant‐group specific regression analyses partly highlight the dominance of pre‐migration factors. Immigrants who were well‐educated and well‐informed prior to migrating and who migrate at a young age, achieve higher levels of socio‐cultural integration. Going against some hypotheses found in the literature, female gender and North African origin have a positive effect on socio‐cultural integration as opposed to male gender and sub‐Saharan origin. With regard to post‐migration factors, occupational status is the main economic determinant of socio‐cultural integration. Interestingly, being employed as such has no significant effect on socio‐cultural integration. This suggests that labour market segmentation and discrimination negatively impact upon socio‐cultural integration. The results also suggest that policies allowing immigrants to benefit from the human capital they carry across borders and achieve upward socio‐economic mobility are likely to enhance their socio‐cultural integration.     

QUESTIONS AND HINDSIGHT: WORK WITH ZARA,AN ASYLUM SEEKING CARE LEAVER

Psychodynamic ideas are used to think about social work with an asylum‐seeking young woman with mental health problems. Questions are raised about her needs and our response to them in relation to her individual history, the organisation and the wider socio‐economic context. These lead to reflections on adolescence and the leaving care task, non‐dependence, loss of home and homelessness, fear of madness, attitudes to difference and asylum seekers and institutional racism. Failure and learning from it is also a theme.     

Economic Transition,Class Formation,and the Superintendent State in the Midwest: 1850‐1900

This article outlines and clarifies the complex relationship between economic development, the formation of classes, political movement responses to these changes, and state institutional capacity building in response to these movements in the Midwestern US. It seeks to remedy views of the transition to capitalism in America that focus too narrowly on a moment of transition, positing instead a long, politically contested process of class formation by elucidating the specific interactions between agrarian and union movements and state‐building processes. Our research reveals the substantial role of the state in forcing through acceptance of economic changes and shifting class locations through a co‐developmental process of political resistance movements and state‐building.     

Do developing economies require creative industries? Some old theory about new China

This paper argues that media and communications theory, as with cultural and creative industries analysis, can benefit from a deeper understanding of economic growth theory. Economic growth theory is elucidated in the context of both cultural and media studies and with respect to modern Chinese economic development. Economic growth is a complex evolutionary process that is tightly integrated with socio‐cultural and political processes. This paper seeks to explore this mechanism and to advance cultural theory from an erstwhile political‐economy perspective to one centred about the co‐evolutionary dynamics of economic and socio‐political systems. A generic model is presented in which economic and social systems co‐evolve through the origination, adoption and retention of new ideas, and in which the creative industries are a key part of this process. The paper concludes that digital media capabilities are a primary source of economic development.     

Factoring Turbulence Out: Diaspora Regulatory Mechanism and Migration Development Bank

The ongoing economic crisis has shifted much of the policy debate to problems of financial sector regulation, productive capacity collapse, among others. However, this leaves unattended the real situation with labour migration, which directly impacts social and economic inner components of being of millions of individual families across the world. The somewhat ad hoc nature of the process poses several policy issues for the home and host economies alike. Immediate concerns relate to streamlining migrants and remittances flows. This involves sensitive aspects of inequality in migrant workers’ labour efforts vis‐à‐vis domestic workers; migrants’ social and legal status; and less obvious, but still profound, unproductive misallocation of labour resources. Derived from this premise and recognizing the need for an institutional approach, this paper offers alternative policy solutions to temporary labour migration regulation. This research’s original propositions include a Diaspora Regulatory Mechanism and a Migration Development Bank, both operating within a state‐managed temporary labour migration regime. Fiscal action, including multilateral agreements, is crucial. The functionality of these mechanisms will directly impact infrastructure, human capital and entrepreneurial projects development in both home and host economies. Discussion is inspired by the analysis of actual circumstances in the economies of the Commonwealth of Independent States, where migration is a social, economic, and increasingly political issue. In the interlinked world, diasporas become dominant actors across all society strata. The development plateau of the post‐socialist states offers a rich economic and social soil to conduct responsible policy with future outlook. Moreover, conditions of ongoing economic crisis offer a unique opportunity for daring research to propose and for a motivated decisionmaker to implement original, proactive, and beneficial policy solutions aimed at streamlining the (temporary) labour migration process. This paper contributes to the emerging literature on topics of diaspora, labour migration, and remittance flows.     

The Mass Emigration Context of Lithuania: Patterns and Policy Options

Lithuania represents one of the rare cases in which a state with relatively high standards for maintaining population statistics is experiencing mass emigration. In light of the policy initiatives undertaken by the Lithuanian government to address the issue of emigration, this study aims to improve our understanding of how, in this mass emigration context, emigration events are connected to specific socio‐economic characteristics of individuals and variation in local socio‐economic conditions. We analyse census and vital registration data covering the whole working‐age population of Lithuania during the period 2011‐2012. Our findings indicate that when assessing the likelihood of emigration events, individual‐level characteristics such as employment status, educational attainment, and prior migration experience are highly relevant. However, the importance of these characteristics differs by gender. We also detect considerable spatial variation in emigration rates across Lithuanian municipalities. Our outcomes provide new insights for the development of cohesive migration policies in Lithuania.     

‘Blair's children’: young women as ‘aspirational subjects’ in the psychic landscape of class

This paper engages with the subjective experience of ‘doing’ aspiration, teasing out the psychic and social costs that accompany this as a classed process. It draws on a qualitative study of young women located in further education and contemplating their futures under New Labour, locating how the political rhetoric of aspiration gets institutionalized within school practices; how it intersects with maternal expectations and practices of involvement; and how these are lived and managed by subjects located in different positions in class‐inflected social space. In attending to the tangled web of institutional, intergenerational and affective practices which shape young women's aspirations, the paper seeks to interrupt the celebratory and simplistic rhetoric of aspiration that characterizes the contemporary socio‐political register of neoliberalism. As these ideals become further entrenched by the current Coalition government, there is an even greater urgency for such sociological enquiries.