Value of “haafu” as a Category in Education Research

This paper examines the importance of better recognizing and representing haafu students in Japanese education policies by using Fraser's tripartite theory of social justice. In today's transnational Japan, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of haafu, a term used in reference to children with Japanese and non‐Japanese parents. However, the educational experiences of haafu children have not been adequately investigated by researchers and the government for education policies. Central to these arguments are concerns that haafu children occupy a liminal space, and hence are potentially educationally “at risk.” They are generally viewed as Japanese because of their nationality and are expected to perform like the majority of Japanese students with two Japanese parents due to their familiarity with Japanese culture. Yet, in practice there is a paradox that haafu students might be marginalized as a consequence of being viewed as not Japanese enough. In this context, how should public education respond to an increasingly culturally diverse student body? This paper argues why there is a need for public education, its policy and practices to more effectively recognize, represent and redistribute resources ‐ as Fraser frames the three dimensions of social justice ‐ in support of these students.     

“Allochthones” in the Netherlands and Belgium

Schematically one can distinguish two traditions related to ethnic statistics in Europe. In France, Germany and most southern European countries, the dominant statistical categorisations merely distinguish individuals on the basis of their nationality. In contrast, most northern European countries have been producing data on the ethnic and/or foreign origin of their populations. Belgium is caught somewhere in between these two traditions. The French speaking part of Belgium tends to follow the French tradition of refusing ethnic categorisation, while the Flemish try to copy the Dutch model in distinguishing “allochthones” and “autochthones.” This contribution offers an analysis of the construction of ethnic categories as it has been undertaken in the Dutch context and (partially) imported in Belgium.     

Representations of “the West,”“Japan,” and “the Periphery” in the Discourse of Lafcadio Hearn Studies

The purpose of this article is to analyze representations of “the West,”“Japan,” and “the Periphery” in the discourse of research on Lafcadio Hearn (“Hearn studies”) from pre‐war Japan. The nature and construction of nationality will be analyzed by examining where the representations of “the West,”“Japan,” and “the Periphery” intersected. During the 1900s, researchers in the field of Hearn studies recognized that “Japan” lacked—and thus sought—a universality similar to what existed in “the West.” The tone of the discourse shifted during the 1910s through 1920s however, and what came to be emphasized was “Japan's” peculiarity. By the 1930s through 1940s, “Japan” aimed to show to “the West” a new universality that was different from what existed in Europe and America. Yet simultaneously, in order to legitimize its representation of its self, “Japan” portrayed “the Periphery” as an object that was both excluded and absorbed or appropriated into that image. On the one hand, “Japan” received and internalized the Orientalist viewpoint of “the West.” In fact, “Japan” was always conscious of its self‐image as something to display to “the West.” On the other hand, in order to create that self‐portrayal, both a representation of “the Periphery” and a reflection from that same “Periphery” were essential. While representations of “Japan” were produced, reproduced, and reinforced through interactions with “the West” and “the Periphery,” the intersecting behavior of these three entities also points to a residual ambiguity in “Japan's” nationality. By analyzing the discourse in Hearn studies, this paper reveals how the interaction between “Japan” and the two others of “the West” and “the Periphery” helped construct and destabilize its nationality.     

“Beating the Odds” Versus “Changing the Odds”: Poverty,Resilience, and Family Policy

Mixed in with national data on declining poverty rates are other signs that poverty, economic hardship, and inequality continue unabated. This essay examines: (a) the scope of poverty and the growing disparity in income and wealth; (b) the consequences of poverty of adults and children; and (c) strategies for improving their resilience. It is suggested that resiliency will be enhanced more by keen attention to national economic policies than by focusing upon individual personality characteristics, family attributes, or even unique community features. Drawing on a public health analogy, a focus on prevention (through sound economic redistribution policies) could significantly strengthen families and improve their well‐being.     

Between “Families in Trouble” and “Children at Risk”: Historicising “Troubled Family” Policy in England since 1945

The launch of the Troubled Families Programme in 2011 has thrown into sharp relief how governments develop policies and practices to intervene in the lives of so‐called ‘troubled families’. Commentators were quick to make comparisons with historic efforts to rehabilitate ‘problem families’ in the post‐war period. However, beyond discursive similarities, there are also marked continuities in how family policies have been developed and implemented. This review narrates the rise, fall and rise of concern about ‘problem’ and ‘troubled’ families in England in the context of anxieties about child and family welfare, and the appropriate response of the state.     

“Flexible Citizenship” or Familial Ties that Bind? Singaporean Transmigrants in London

Easier travel and communication technologies, together with the global demand and supply labour market exchanges occurring under post-Fordist capitalism, create the conditions that make transnational family formations more common than before. Geographically dispersed family members are governed by different citizenship regimes that affect familial interactions and the possibility of family reunification. Such family formations have significant implications for the nation-state framework and the way that citizenship is practised in a transnational world. Singapore, a young city-state in Southeast Asia, provides an insightful case-study to examine migrant motivations and citizenship behaviour. The political leaders in Singapore represent the nation-state's internationalising drive – which includes encouraging Singaporeans to live and work overseas for a period of time – and its domestic nation-building goals as strategies that are both necessary and yet in tension with one another.
This paper draws on discourse analysis to examine the ways in which the Singaporean state plays upon familial logics and citizenship regulations as one of its strategies to bind overseas citizens to the country. I also employ findings from in-depth interviews with Singaporean transmigrants in London to discuss the manner in which the above considerations frame their decisions on migration and citizenship. In doing so, I argue that research on migration and the transnational family should consider how they both articulate and are in turn articulated by the nation-state. I then show how my research results have important implications for citizenship policymaking in a transnational world, particularly with respect to gendered familial discourses and nation-building processes. I also suggest that my research findings indicate areas for further academic enquiry into the morphology, strategies and temporality of transnational family formations.     

IS THE BUDGET DEFICIT “TOO LARGE?”

Yes. Specifically, we find that recent spending and taxing policies of the government–if continued–violate the government's intertemporal budget constraint. As a result, government spending must be reduced and/or tax revenues must be increased. These conclusions are based on tests of whether government spending and revenue are cointegrated. In addition to examining real spending and revenue, we also normalize these variables by real GNP and population. For a growing economy, these normalized measures are perhaps more pertinent. We also test and find support for the hypothesis that deficits have become a problem only in recent years.     

“I Vow to Thee My Countries” – The Expansion of Dual Citizenship in the 21st Century

Global developments in dual citizenship legislation highlight changes to conceptualizations of citizenship by increasing the focus on individual rights. Questions of inclusion and exclusion have been illuminated by the move toward wider acceptance of dual citizenship. To understand global patterns and developments in dual citizenship laws this article analyzes the legislation pertaining to dual citizenship in 115 countries. The results show how dual citizenship is becoming increasingly accepted – a development that has predominantly taken place within the last 20 years. A strong regional pattern is identified, supporting the argument that dual citizenship is spreading in a fashion similar to how the idea of citizenship expanded from Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. Potential internal and external reasons for this development are discussed and individual countries’ experiences analyzed.     

“Armed Now with Hope …”: The Construction of the Subjectivity of Students within Integration

Students who are integrated into the regular system have traditionally been constructed in a variety of ways that reflect the philosophies and the policies (both stated and implied) of the relevant educational systems. Within these systems though, students have also constructed views of their own subjectivity, yet their perspectives and perceptions students have seldom been considered. Progressive integration policies, such as that in Victoria, Australia, have attempted to change the way students integrated into the regular education system are constructed. Such constructions however, may still be largely incongruent with the ways students construct themselves. This paper explores the integration policy in Victoria over the last decade, and in order to gain greater insight into the way students are constructed, and construct themselves, by and within the policy, draws on the poetry and diaries of a teenager who has been integrated into the regular school system.     

Feeding the Ties to “Home”: Diaspora Policies for the Next Generations

How do countries of origin deal with their post‐migrant generations, the emigrants' descendants who are born and raised abroad? In this article we examine the diaspora policies of Morocco, a country that relies heavily on its expatriate communities and that is confronted with growing post‐migrant generations. Theoretically, the article draws on the literature on diaspora policies and migrant transnationalism and connects the two. An in‐depth examination of the annual Summer Universities for young Moroccans Living Abroad, one of the flagships of the current Moroccan diaspora policy, demonstrates that diaspora policy programmes are vehicles to convey targeted messages to the post‐migrant generations concerning their transnational ties.     

The Inseparability of “Career” and “Personal” Counseling

In this article it is argued that “career” and “personal” counseling should not be viewed as different types of counseling because: (a) the holistic philosophy of counseling emphasizes helping “whole” persons whose lives contain many important and meaningful roles; (b) recent research on the implications of gender and race for career development further demonstrates the inseparability of our career and “personal” lives; and (c) there are numerous commonalities in the “career” and “personal” counseling process.     

“His” and “her” marriage expectations: Determinants and consequences

This article uses couple‐level data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N= 2,263) to investigate factors associated with unmarried parents’ expectations about marriage and the association between their expectations and subsequent union transitions. In most couples, both partners expect to marry, and their shared expectations are the strongest predictor of marriage and separation following their child's birth. Although men's expectations are somewhat more consequential for union transitions, marriage and relationship stability are more likely when at least one parent expects to marry. Factors such as children from previous relationships, distrust, conflict, and shared activities are also associated with union transitions. Findings about how expectations and other factors relate to marriage and separation may inform new marriage promotion initiatives.     

From “nobody's clapping for us” to “bad moms”: COVID-19 and the circle of childcare in Canada

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of childcare to national economies in general and women's economic participation in particular, spurring renewed interest in childcare policy in many countries that have implemented lockdowns. This paper adopts a circle of care framework to analyzes how COVID-19 has affected paid childcare, unpaid childcare and other paid work, and the relationship between these sectors. Analysis is grounded in the lived experiences of parents and childcare educators, documented through 16 semi-structured interviews during the initial lockdown (March–June 2020) in British Columbia, Canada. Experiences from educators suggest their safety was not prioritized, and that their contributions were undervalued and went unrecognized. Mothers, who provided the majority of unpaid care, not only lost income due to care demands, but struggled to access necessities, with some reporting increased personal insecurity. Those attempting to work from home also experienced feelings of guilt and distress as they tried to manage the triple burden. Similarities of experiences across the circle of care suggest the COVID-19 childcare policy response in BC Canada downloaded care responsibilities on to women without corresponding recognition or support, causing women to absorb the costs of care work, with potential long-term negative effects on women's careers and well-being, as well as on the resilience of the circle of care. Pandemic recovery and preparedness policies that aim to promote gender equality must consider all sectors of the circle of care and the relationships between them.     

Globalization and Technology Divides: Bifurcation of Policy between the “Digital Divide” and the “Innovation Divide”*

The global diffusion of digital technology, which occurred more rapidly than the global diffusion of any technology previously, has been mired by its uneven distribution across, and unequal effects on, societies worldwide. In addition, policy initiatives to close this global digital divide, which peaked with the two World Summit on Information Society conferences, still did not change the course of this differentiated globalization process. In this article, I attribute the cause of such stalling of policy on the issue of the global digital divide to the bifurcation of current international policy: attention is split between concern for the impeded access of the poor to this revolutionary technology, on the one hand, and the race to lead the world in creating the next “hot” technology, on the other. These two concerns, which have been given the pithy titles of the “global digital divide” and the “global innovation divide,” are leading to two separate policy tracks, targeting the world’s laggards and leaders as separate entities and operating under separate logics. This separation is problematic because the issues of access to technology and ownership of rights to technology are intertwined. This article describes the two global technology divides and analyzes the policies that are currently charted to address them.     

Social Policy, “Deservingness,” and Sociotemporal Marginalization: Katrina Survivors and FEMA

Limiting assistance in the context of the neoliberal U.S. welfare state relies on a distinction between the deserving and undeserving poor. Hurricane Katrina survivors were caught between two opposing cultural characterizations—”deserving” disaster victims and “undeserving” welfare cheats. In this article, I examine Hurricane Katrina survivors' experiences with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)'s rental assistance policies and practices, as their experiences reveal important aspects of how aid is allocated in the context of the contemporary U.S. welfare state, and what consequences this has for marginalized populations. I analyze in‐depth interviews and field observations with displaced Katrina survivors and find that FEMA policies and practices assumed a “middle class” model of family structure and economic standing. Those who did not fit into this model were made to wait while their cases were investigated, which had negative psychological and material consequences. I argue that being made to wait, or temporal domination, is a central component of the larger sociotemporal marginalization of the poor, or the way in which time structures social stratification. Temporal domination is a feature of neoliberal social policy, neither maliciously intended nor entirely unintended, that has the consequence of punishing the “undeserving.”     

Understanding the use of “twinkie,” “banana,” and “FOB”: Identifying the origin,role, and consequences of internalized racism within Asian America

Where does internalized racism come from? How is it sustained and perpetuated within the Asian American community? What is the role and consequence of internalized racism within the Asian American community? This article reviews the existing literature to map the origin, role, and consequences of internalized racism among Asian Americans. Research on internalized racism must examine more than individual behaviors, otherwise it falls victim to conceiving of individuals as “racial dupes” (i.e., an individual who has been deceived into supporting existing racial hierarchies and systems of racial inequalities). However, the research should also veer away from an over emphasis on individual agency and resistance because doing so ignores the larger structural systems of inequality that exist, via colonial mentality and racialization, which influence individual behaviors. Future research on internalized racism must engage both perspectives to hold accountable the connection between broader racialization processes and everyday interactions driven by internalized racism.     

“The right to lead”: Navajo language,dis‐citizenship,and Diné presidential politics

This article examines the 2014 Navajo Nation presidential primary election and language debate as a window into the politics of Navajo heritage language and identity. Using Facebook posts written in response to a videotaped hearing testing the fluency of one of the candidates that subsequently went viral, we analyse social citizenship and stigmatized language identities through the lens of critical Diné (Navajo) language consciousness. Focusing on generational differences between speaker groups that undergirded this debate, we analyse (a) the fluency test itself and (b) online and ethnographic responses to the fluency test. Using discourse analysis of Facebook posts of both heritage language and new Navajo speakers, we show how new speakers in particular express investment in their language and Diné cultural continuity and, through their emphasis on the heterogeneity of contemporary Diné communicative practices, offer an alternative template for ways to move forward in Diné language reclamation efforts.     

“It's Only Sport”—The Symbolic Neutralization of “Violence”

Within the commodified world of professional ice hockey, athletes sell their bodily performances in return for a salary. A central feature of this transaction is the very real risk of physical injury—a risk inherent within most contact sports, but particularly so within those that feature seemingly “violent” confrontations between competitors, as ice hockey is widely reputed to do. Yet, within the spectacle of sport, where physicality can be constructed as playful and unserious, it is possible for the consequences of such action to be concealed behind a symbolic, ludic veneer. Within this article, we explore this process with a particular focus on ice hockey spectators, for whom notions of sport violence as in some important way “mimetic” of the “real” enabled their propensity to both enjoy, and find moral validation through, potentially deleterious behaviors among athletes.     

When “citizenship is indispensable to the practice of a profession”: Citizenship Requirements for Entry to Practise Professions in Canada

This paper explores citizenship requirements for entry to practice regulated professions historically in four Canadian provinces. It reviews how common citizenship restrictions have been in Canadian professions, when and where they were implemented, and what rationales were provided for these restrictions. Findings provide support for both Weberian social closure theory which sees such restrictions as the product of professional lobbying, and state‐centred explanations which hold that states regulate professions to facilitate governance. Many citizenship restrictions were historically implemented by state actors. The decline of citizenship restrictions reflects not only changing social attitudes, but changes in state‐profession relations in Canada.     

“An Economics of Capital”: Genealogies of Everyday Financial Conduct

Although recent forms of neoliberalism have been associated with everyday forms of ‘investment’, this paper argues that the financial conduct of everyday populations has long been an intense site of intervention. Drawing on the history of nineteenth and twentieth‐century Canadian government savings, annuities and tax deferral programs, this paper argues that everyday financial conduct has long been a key site of experimentation and innovation in practices of the self. These programs experiment with a language and practice of investment which emphasizes everyday conduct as a space of individual responsibility attached to diverse political goals. This suggests that enterprise as a mode of self and citizenship has a diverse and longer trajectory that predates neoliberalism. By extension, this paper conclude with a case for more diversified, complicated and historically‐situated analyses of ‘neoliberalism’.