Recruitment of foreign male and female fighters to Jihad: Morocco’s multifaceted counter-terror strategy

Field research on ‘young Moroccan Jihadists in Syria and Iraq from northern Morocco’ unexpectedly revealed the mundane factors behind their recruitment represented in the self-realization and the search for heroism, adventure and money, were the main reasons for the recruitment of young people in northern Morocco terrorist organizations, especially the Daesh. The religious factor is secondary. To combat terrorism and extremism which is spreading in the MENA region requires political will. Appropriate laws should be enacted as soon as possible and policies must be implemented to ensure border control, the closure of financing ports, propaganda platforms, anti-addiction, etc.     

De la vigne à la rue : la difficile mobilisation des petits viticulteurs dans le département de l’Aude

The European Commission's specialized services are trying to tighten their grip over viticulture by invoking the legitimating figure of a “new consumer”. Accordingly, growers who work small vineyards are unable to make a wine adapted to market trends. They should, therefore, withdraw from wine-growing and enjoy the subsidies granted by the EU for uprooting vineyards. In Aude Department, southern France, small wine-growers take issue with this analysis, which, in their opinion, caves in to the pressure exerted by traders and hypermarket chain stores. However, there have been no protest actions against the Commission's decisions. This can be explained by the way the EU's policy is embedded in national and local conflicts. Although we cannot point to any joint plan, administrations, trade associations and political parties are developing practices that prevent organized protests.     

Demotic or demonic? Race,class and gender in ‘Gypsy’ reality TV

An intriguing shift in the public interest of Roma, Gypsy and Traveller minorities has been the rise of the ‘Gypsy’ reality TV star in shows across Europe (‘Gypsy’ is the word most often used in popular media culture). The latest phenomenon to hit the UK has been the Channel 4 series Big Fat Gypsy Weddings (Firecracker Films, Channel 4, 2010–2013), a flamboyant production that has garnered both huge audience shares and fierce criticism, with commentators berating its narrow, sensationalist focus. Drawing on both specialized literature on Roma minorities and current sociological debates on reality TV formats, this article raises questions about how the politics of the ‘demotic turn’ of such formats (as noted by Turner in 2004) can lean towards the demonic through emphasizing such groups as spectacular, extraordinary and above all, negatively different. Furthermore, this article shows how the series not only reproduces old stereotypes of Gypsies and Travellers as different, ethnicized others but is also heavily embroiled in UK gender and class discourses. Whilst the series claims to be a unique insight into a marginalized community, this close analysis discusses the wider politics within which it is embedded and how such representations can both popularize and undermine marginalized or minority groups.     

Régulation et compétition entre établissements scolaires dans six espaces locaux en Europe

According to this analysis of the dynamics of competition in six school zones in Europe (Charleroi, Budapest, Lisbon, London, Lille and the Paris area), secondary schools pursue “logics of action” that are shaped by an interdependence between local establishments. Parents’ strategies for choosing a school rank establishments and lead to a competitive interdependence with a pattern and intensity that vary depending on the place — the major issue being the capacity to attract and retain pupils. A typology of these “logics” is proposed: establishments pursue a logic of conquest, profit from the status quo, diversification or adaptation depending on their local position and the intensity of competition. Questions are raised about the potentials and limits of public interventions for regulating this competitive interdependence. Competition, along with its deviant effects (segregation and inequality), arises out of the shortcomings and limitations of public interventions and out of the fragmentation of local regulations. A lack of coordination between the authorities in charge, between districts and between the public and private supply of education affects the development of opportunistic tactics by certain establishments. The conclusion draws attention to the need for coordinating regulations.     

Les métiers flous du développement rural

Along with the notion of development, new jobs have emerged characterized by: a vague, overall definition; an ambiguity as to roles (especially in dealings with locally elected officials); makeshift statuses; and occupational itineraries that cannot be reduced to civil service careers. As this examination of their work over three decades shows, the autonomy of rural development agents has been related to a “phase of invention”, when the switch was made from rural planning to development. Role ambiguity still prevails and has even spread, owing to the social conditions of employment, to occupational itineraries. Given the cofinancing of public authorities’ “territorial actions”, we see a couple forming between elected officials, who want to take hold in an intercommunal territory, and development agents, who “create their jobs” by capturing subsidies. Over this 30-year period, a peculiar image of “fuzzy jobs” has emerged.     

Filial Bereavement

Summary

Loss of parents for midlife lesbians is discussed in the context of continued development in middle age. From an intersubjective point of view, comprehension of externality, the capacity for mutual recognition, the disruption and repair of recognition and affirmation of subjectivity and the agenic “I” color relationships with parents throughout life. In filial bereavement, there can be a resurgence of intersubjective development along with an easing of internalized homophobia. In recovery from loss, there are opportunities to make loving identifications that more fully acknowledge externality and difference.     

A sign of the times? Weak and strong polarization in the U.S. Congress, 1973–2016

Claims that the United States Congress is (becoming more) polarized are widespread, but what is polarization? In this paper, I draw on notions of intergroup relations to distinguish two forms. Weak polarization occurs when relations between the polarized groups are merely absent, while strong polarization occurs when the relations between the polarized groups are negative. I apply the Stochastic Degree Sequence Model to data on bill co-sponsorship in both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, from 1973 (93rd session) to 2016 (114th session) to infer a series of signed networks of political relationships among legislators, which I then use to answer two research questions. First, can the widely reported finding of increasing weak polarization in the U.S. Congress be replicated when using a statistical model to make inferences about when positive political relations exist? Second, is the (increasing) polarization observed in the U.S. Congress only weak polarization, or is it strong polarization? I find that both chambers exhibit both weak and strong polarization, that both forms are increasing, and that they are structured by political party affiliation. However, I also find these trends are unrelated to which party holds the majority in a chamber.     

VIRTUAL LEARNING AND THE NETWORK SOCIETY

A wide variety of organizational structures and technologies are associated with the 'virtual campus'. This paper compares the UK's two largest distance learning initiatives: the Open University (OU) and the University for Industry (UfI). The comparison suggests four alternative approaches to 'virtualization' and shows that debate has often under-estimated the variety of possible approaches. The relationship between ICTs, knowledge and organizational structure is complex, reflecting a diversity of values and rationalities embodied by learning institutions.     

Midnight regulations and the Cinderella effect

Recent studies have shown preliminary evidence of a tendency for outgoing administrations to generate a flurry of last-minute regulatory activity. This so-called Cinderella effect is described as resulting from the combination of an administration being in power yet, because it is out-going, not being subject to political ramifications from its actions. In this paper, we look at monthly regulatory activity over the past 30 years and compare the baseline growth in regulations (measured using the proxy of pages in the Federal Register) to the growth immediately following a Presidential election when the sitting President is re-elected, not re-elected, and when the party in control of the White House changes. We find significant evidence supporting the existence of a Cinderella effect.     

Information technologies and representational spaces at the outposts of the global political economy: redrawing the Balkan image of Slovenia

Drawing upon insights from Deibert's (1997) reconstituted medium theory and critical geopolitics literature, this article examines Slovenia'sefforts at crafting an image of itself via the Internet for specific strategic goals such as EU and NATO accession, the promotion of tourism and the attraction of foreign direct investment. Through an examination of both the material and discursive practices undertaken by the Slovenian government, we demonstrate the difficulty inherent in challenging tropes that hegemonic powers disseminate through various media in order to craft the geopolitical world they operate in. Slovenia's websites represent an important form of resistance to hegemonic visions of space, visions that have excluded Slovenia's accession to certain power structures. The government uses the Internet to construct a discourse refuting assertions of unreadiness to accede to these institutions, a form of online lobbying that attempts to redraw the image of Slovenia in the minds of a global public. We conclude this examination not by making grand pronouncements about the efficacy of these efforts, but by demonstrating that these images are part and parcel of the efforts to disassociate Slovenia from the negative connotations of the Balkan moniker.The fact that these efforts incorporate the Internet, when linked to material practices and policies, raises questions about the possibilities of such resistance via new communication technologies.     

L’Europe sociale : créativité institutionnelle communautaire et réalités nationales

“Social Europe” has been constructed following 50 years of EEC and EU policy-making, which has gradually extricated social questions from a pure rationale of economic integration in order to turn it into a lever for European political integration. The theoretical and disciplinary viewpoints are presented that, together, help us better understand the processes at work. Attention is drawn to three of them. First of all, the evolutionary process of building the EU accounts both for the differences between social Europe and national welfare systems, and for an ongoing process of institutional creation through an accumulation of EU legal achievements (acquis). Secondly, the expansion of the EU to twelve new member states lacking robust labor relation systems, along with globalization, represents a challenge for the future of the “European social model”. Finally, social Europe has not yet undergone an assessment. Problems arise owing to the short shrift given by treaties to questions of social legislation or redistribution, but the “Europeanization of national policies” apparently opens a way toward overcoming these obstacles.     

Entre « usage contrôlé », invisibilisation et externalisation. Le précariat étranger face au risque chimique en agriculture intensive

Based on the testimonies and career paths of Moroccan workers hired on seasonal contracts through the International Organization for Migration (IOM), this article shows how the governance of chemical risk in agriculture has authorized the circulation of toxic substances in the workplace. By setting up a regulatory framework for exposure, the “controlled use” of pesticides produces “clandestine” contamination and makes it possible to sidestep responsibility for its health effects. This paper explores the question of how the IOM's seasonal immigration process helps organize both the invisibilization of occupational exposure to pesticides and the outsourcing of the pathologies it causes.     

Public relations and tourism: Critical reflections and a research agenda

This article is based on the belief that research focused on PR tourism is of fundamental importance to understanding the role of PR in contemporary culture. Our analysis shows that tourism has not received much attention from PR researchers and that a critical perspective uncovers a host of key issues in promotional culture: power, politics and diplomacy in international communication; risk, ethics and social responsibility; globalisation and multiculturalism; and ‘media panics’ and ‘media events’.     

Constructs of childhood,generation and heroism in editorials on young people's climate change activism: Their mobilisation and effects

We analyse the effects of constructions and mobilisations of childhood, generation and girl heroism in 30 Canadian editorials written in response to 2019 climate change protests. We discuss how the editorials strategically position—and sometimes dismiss—young activists through discourses of childhood innocence, becoming and social participation. Second, we focus on how the editorials mobilise generation to emphasise either generational division or cross-generational solidarity. Finally, we problematise the editorials' concentration on individualised girl heroism. We thus contextualise and deconstruct truth statements around age, generation and heroism, emphasising instead their effects and the potential for certain narratives to better recognise the diversity and solidarity in climate change activism.     

Wirkprinzipien handlungsorientierter Beratungs- und Trainingsmethoden

The article suggests effect principles of action-oriented methods for organizational counselling and training. It is shown that action-oriented methods use “surplus reality” (a concept developed by J. L. Moreno) as a constitutive medium in which they duplicate organizational reality by means of scenic embodiment. The authors show how action-oriented methods derive their specific potential for the depiction and reflection of work-related problems in organizational counselling, training, supervision and coaching from this surplus reality.     

« Adieu les artistes, here are the managers » : les réformes managériales au sein de la DG Développement de la Commission européenne

The managerial reform of the European Commission's DG Development-formerly DG8-started in the 1990s. Placed in a historical perspective, this reform is seen as the temporary outcome of a long process for bureaucratizing an institution marked, since its origins, by the pervasiveness of patronage. The sociology of the principal parties involved in the DG8 and their changing coalitions are linked to the powers and instruments successively used to establish this institution's authority and legitimacy and to professionalize its procedures for allocating aid to countries in Africa, the Caribbean Basin and the Pacific. Light is shed on this incomplete bureaucratization, punctuated by successive expansions of the EU, as new member-states have sought to rationalize the DG's operations in order to better control it.     

Kvetching and carousing under Communism: old Odessa as the Soviet Union’s Jewish city of sin

Odessa has often been branded a “Jewish city.” Much like their counterparts in New York and Warsaw, Odessa’s Jews have historically played a fundamental role in the city’s demographic makeup, economic life and culture. But Odessa is unique among Jewish cities because it has been mythologised as a city of sin, a frontier seaport boomtown whose commercial prosperity and balmy climate attracted legions of adventurers, gangsters and swindlers seeking easy wealth and earthly pleasures. Old Odessa was the Russian Jew’s golden calf – gilded, wicked and ostentatious in its intemperance. Odessa’s carnivalesque environment was fertile ground for the blending of different cultures, and the Jews spearheaded this process, adopting a Yiddish‐inflected Russian as their language for celebrating their profligate city. By the 1917 Revolution the foundations had been laid for the emergence of Isaac Babel, Leonid Utesov, Mikhail Zhvanetskii and the many other Jews who subsequently left Odessa for Moscow and the Soviet interior. They would go on to disseminate the Odessa myth using literature, comedy and music, and their immense popularity ensured that Odessa was indelibly marked as a Jewish city of sin, inhabited by comical rogues whose colourful escapades were rooted in an idiom of Jewishness.     

What was Bitcoin,what will it be? The techno-economic imaginaries of a new money technology

In its first decade, Bitcoin has not proven to be a practical money form for most circumstances, but it has become a staging ground for debate around the cultural role of money in society. This debate is poised between two related but ultimately incompatible techno-economic imaginaries: infrastructural mutualism and digital metallism. Each offers a theory not just of money, but also of relations, identities, and the larger imaginaries we call ‘society’ and ‘the economy’. In particular, they offer distinct visions of what it means to be a ‘peer’ in a peer-to-peer money system, and perhaps, a peer-to-peer society. This article traces the pre-history of Bitcoin, as well as more recent developments, to inquire about its future, as well as the future of money more broadly.     

'INFORMATION SOCIETY' AS THEORY OR IDEOLOGY: A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE IN TECHNOLOGY, EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE INFORMATION AGE

This paper argues that the concept of Information Society fails as theory because it is internally incoherent and unsupported by evidence. Its current popularity within policy discourse can only be understood ideologically. In particular it is argued that one of the drivers of current policy towards higher education is based upon the supposed growth of knowledge work linked to a theory of human capital formation as crucial to international competitiveness and to an explanation of unemployment in terms of a skills gap. The paper goes on to argue that current labour market indicators and research into the skills gap do not support this policy thrust and that a better explanation of the current push towards the creation of virtual universities is the desire to cut educational labour costs rather than to upgrade the economic status of so-called knowledge workers.