The new European shareholder rights directive: removing barriers and creating opportunities for more shareholder activism and democracy

Shareholder activism has increased within the last years. Traditionally, minority shareholders voted by their feet if they disagreed with managements actions. However, this has certainly changed due to the development of Internet based technologies as well as the emergence of hedge funds and other active institutional investors. As a consequence, listed firms’ costs of communicating with investors globally have increased, specifically the budget of investor relation departments. The EU Commission has recently issued a Directive on shareholders rights which will become part of European Law next year recognizing that cross-border voting should be solved as a matter of urgency. This article analyses the nature of shareholder activism in the light of the new Directive arguing that the Directive is only the first step in a legal process that is expected to substantially increase shareholders′ rights in the coming years. The article also presents the notion of shareholder democracy that is crucially dependent on active minority shareholders. It is argued that the notion of shareholder democracy may serve as guidance for how future legislation should be designed.     

Talk,Research Technology,and the Achievement of Human Subject “Status Passage”

This article draws on field notes and interviews collected during an ethnographic study of the informed‐consent process in HIV/AIDS clinical trials to examine the movement of individuals from the status designation of patient to that of human subject of research. Its theoretical starting points are Glaser and Strauss's (1971) observation of the centrality of interaction to status passage and their conceptualization of status passage as social accomplishment. Insights from conversation and technology studies are applied to show that human subject status passage is facilitated through (1) the enlistment efforts of research professionals and patients, (2) the talk of participants on informed consent and protocol‐related matters, and (3) the placement of signatures on informed‐consent documents. The analysis reveals that human subject status passage is indeterminate, negotiated, and unmarked by ceremony and cultural symbols. The implications of these findings for future studies on status passage and informed consent in human research are considered.     

Using video and dialogue to generate pedagogic knowledge: teachers,learners and researchers reflecting together on the pedagogy of social research methods

Developments in pedagogical knowledge in the teaching of social research methods have largely been generated through teachers reflecting on their practice. This paper presents an alternative approach to generating data through reflective dialogue between researchers, teachers and learners. The approach incorporates elements of video stimulated recall and reflective dialogue within focus group interviewing. The rationale and affordances are discussed in relation to the goals of discussing teachers’ pedagogical decision-making and learners’ experience of, and response to, various pedagogical practices. The context is a study of capacity-building short courses in advanced social science research methods, specifically courses on: multi-modal analysis, computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, multi-level modelling, and systematic review. The paper examines the methodological challenges of capturing the everyday realities of methods classrooms for teachers and learners and the affordances of using dialogue on observed teaching sessions to gain further insight into each other’s thinking and action. It concludes with lessons learned about methodological and pedagogical processes and an argument about the value of bringing methods and standpoints together in creative dialogue.     

Which Aspects of Elderly Living Conditions are Important to Predict Mortality? The Complex Role of Family Ties at Home and in Institutions

Social Indicators Research - Besides health and socio-economic status, the social relationships maintained during elderly play an important role in shaping the living conditions at older ages. In...     

Toward a Class-Cultural Theory of Social Movements: Reinterpreting New Social Movements

This paper examines the relationship between social class and social mobilization through reviewing the case of new social movements. The middle-class membership of new social movements is well documented but poorly explained by current New Class, New Social Movement, and Cultural Shift theories. These theories fail to recognize the interdependence between interests, values, and expressed ideas. Class culture provides an alternative framework for interpreting the complex relationships between class interests and consciousness in these movements. Through a comparison of working- and middle-class cultures, it is proposed that social class orders consciousness and shapes the interpretation of interests. Class cultures produce distinct class forms of political and organizational behavior while not defining any particular content of movement issues or politics. In particular, the middle-class membership of new social movements is explained by the cultural form of these movements which is distinctly middle class.     

"Who Causes the Blind to See": disability and quality of religious life

Persons with physical or mental disabilities often turn to religious institutions for comfort and belonging. They are not, however, always openly welcomed into religious circles. Many churches and synagogues fail to make the necessary accommodations for parishioners with disabilities and some show covert signs of hostility towards them. Possible reasons for this exclusion are examined, theorising that they stem from the most ancient of beliefs about the nature of disability and its relationship to God. Sources within the Jewish and Christian faiths are examined and it is hypothesised that there are four central views inherent in these religions that act as barriers to those with disabilities. These beliefs must be challenged so that all may find fulfillment and inclusion within their religious faiths. Religious leaders and followers must also acknowledge and redress the fact that such beliefs have contributed to the establishment of disability and an oppressed political minority within Western society.