Unofficial Hanoians: Migration,Native Place and Urban Citizenship in Vietnam

Independent migration to Hanoi has surged dramatically over two decades of deepening market reforms, blurring the distinctions between urban and rural lives once maintained so carefully by the Communist Party of Vietnam. However many urban migrants face ongoing legal and social obstacles in Hanoi, tied to an outmoded system of household registration (ho khau), and widespread anxieties about the ‘floating population’ threatening to overwhelm the city. This article shows how one group of ‘unofficial Hanoians’—migrant motorbike taxi drivers from Nam Dinh Province—navigate a system of differentiated urban citizenship by forging communities and mutual assistance networks around shared ‘native places’ (que huong) to find employment, housing and social support in the city. It also reveals how Hanoi's marginal urban spaces—home to entrenched migrant communities of ambiguous legality—emerge as key arenas in the negotiation of Vietnamese citizenship, forcing national leaders, city officials, landlords and residents to grapple with questions of free movement and the rights of rural citizens to transgress urban space.     

Gambling-related Irrational Beliefs in the Maintenance and Modification of Gambling Behaviour

Abstract

The present study investigated a primary assumption of the cognitive theory of problem gambling, that gambling-related irrational beliefs lead directly to problematic gambling behaviour. Participants (N =114) received a message designed to increase their illusion of control (IOC) over a computerised roulette game, a message designed to decrease their IOC, or a neutral message. Participants then played the game, during which their gambling behaviour was recorded and irrational beliefs were measured. Based on the cognitive model, it was expected that those receiving the IOC enhancement message would evidence greater levels of irrational beliefs and correspondingly more intense gambling behaviour and that those in the IOC reduction condition would show decreased levels of both irrational beliefs and behaviour. However, although conditions differed as to levels of irrational beliefs, there were no significant differences in gambling behaviour. Results are discussed and implications of the results on the cognitive theory of problematic gambling are explored.     

Towards an Insurrectionary Power/Knowledge: Movement-Relevance,Anti-Oppression,Prefiguration

Despite ongoing efforts to articulate radical methods and theoretical frameworks for social movement research, the field remains embedded in exploitative, oppressive, and hierarchical modes of knowledge production. Following Foucault, I argue that this is because societies like ours, founded through racial and patriarchal violence, are invested in a regime of truth supportive of that violence. In light of this, I argue that social movements scholars need to adopt a radically different form of knowledge practice. Building on anarchist, anti-racist feminist, and anti-colonial scholarship, this paper begins by analysing how liberalism constrains social justice organizing and how academic norms foreclose accountable social movements scholarship. I then introduce three unique ethics emerging in resistance to this situation: movement-relevant, anti-oppressive, and prefigurative. The first confronts the extractive imperatives of enlightenment truth-making; the second resists its neutral and disinterested tendencies; and the third models a rejection of its hierarchical and exclusive mode of authority. I argue that together they provide scholars with a strategy for re-/orienting their research towards what Foucault theorizes as an insurrection of knowledges. These three ethical frameworks combine to facilitate an insurrectionary power/knowledge that fosters collective struggle as it progressively dismantles the regime of truth underlying social movements research.     

Creativity,brands, and the ritual process: Confrontation and resolution in advertising agencies

The intensity of modern business has increased pressure for innovation, which places greater emphasis on creativity. This article explores one of the central sites of creativity in the American corporate world, the advertising agency. We examine how creativity in agencies is managed, controlled, and channeled to produce advertisements. We contend that the brand advertised and the agency’s creative collaborations have properties of ritual symbols and that rituals mediate tension inherent in two forces, stability and change, which define the brand and the advertising collaboration. The article offers an analytical perspective on creativity and a new perspective on rituals and ritual symbols.     

Transport related social exclusion in New Zealand: Evidence and challenges

Abstract

People without functional access to a car in countries where private vehicles are the predominant form of transport are at a disadvantage. Alternative modes of travel in such settings often do not meet people's mobility needs, creating barriers to participation in work, education, social activities, sport and leisure, and to accessing basic goods and services. In New Zealand, private vehicles have long been prioritised as the mode of personal transport in land transport planning policy. However, this is beginning to change with policy objectives now including improvement of access and mobility for all, and reduction of social exclusion. Despite this there is very little evidence of the experiences of those with mobility or access problems in New Zealand. This article seeks to provide qualitative data about experiences of transport related social exclusion, the efficacy of alternative modes for people's mobility needs, the impacts of these difficulties on people's lives, and the policy implications of these findings.     

Family Mediation: A Guide for Family Therapists

Family therapists often see separating parents who need to agree on co‐parenting arrangements. This article provides a guide to current research and practice in family mediation. The limited available research suggests mediation is a useful approach for some separated parents and their children, but often is not successful with highly conflicted parents, parents with mental health problems, parents struggling to accept the separation from their partner, or parents with unrealistic co‐parenting expectations. We analyse ways in which mediation might be enhanced, and discuss the potential roles of family therapists to support separating families to negotiate positive co‐parenting.