Scale shift in international tax justice: comparing the UK and Australia from 2008 to 2016

ABSTRACT

International tax justice issues, such as corporate tax avoidance, have gained particular salience over the past decade in an environment of financial instability and government austerity. Civil society involvement has ranged from trade unions and NGOs calling for parliamentary inquiries to civil disobedience by less established actors. Since the international financial crisis, how have levels of contentious collective action around these issues waxed and waned? Is contentiousness associated most with domestic politics or global media events like the Panama Papers? This paper uses an original hand-coded dataset from five national newspapers in the United Kingdom and Australia between 2008 and 2016. Political claims analysis (PCA) was used to collect all instances of claims around international tax justice and compare the types of actions and the different frames used by civil society actors. In both countries, mobilising grievances are generated most strongly in the period after domestic austerity policies are introduced. The qualitative coding provides evidence of accompanying frame alignment in these periods, as international taxation is problematized in terms of national revenue, demonstrating scale shift from the global to the national political stage.     

Why do nations matter? The struggle for belonging and security in an uncertain world

This paper explores the reasons why national forms of identification and organization (might) matter in the contemporary era. In contrast to the majority of macro‐sociological work dealing with this topic, I develop an analytical framework that draws together recent research on everyday nationalism with micro‐sociological and psychological studies pointing to the importance of routine practices, institutional arrangements and symbolic systems in contributing to a relatively settled sense of identity, place and community. The second part of the paper focuses on the hierarchies of belonging that operate within a given national setting. Of particular interest is the largely taken‐for‐granted status of the ethnic majority and the degree to which it underpins claims to belonging and entitlement that are used to secure key allocative and authoritative resources.     

Book reviews

New scholarship on rape in American history

Sex Without Consent: Rape and Sexual Coercion in America. Edited by Merril D. Smith. New York: New York University Press, 2001, 308 pages. Cloth, $60.00; paper, $19.50.

The enigma of sexual desire

Sexual Appetite, Desire and Motivation: Energetics of the Sexual System. Edited by Walter Everaerd, Ellen Laan, and Stephanie Both. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Knaw Edita, 2001, 156 pages. Paper, NLG 80.00, Euro 36.30.

American sex in the private and public sectors

Sex, Love, and Health in America: Private Choices and Public Policies. Edited by Edward O. Laumann and Robert T. Michael. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2000, 535 pages. Hardcover, $48.

Enlarging the landscape of sexual pleasure

Good Sex: Feminist Perspectives from the World's Religions. Edited by Patricia Beattie Jung, Mary E. Hunt, and Radhika Balakrishnan. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001, 220 pages. Cloth, $50.00; paper, $20.00.

Another stab at sexual theory

The Role of Theory in Sex Research. Edited by John Bancroft. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2000, 366 pages. Cloth, $49.95.     

Prevalence of classes of risk behaviors for HIV infection in a randomly selected Australian population

A random, geographically stratified sample of over 2,600 individuals aged 16 and over was interviewed in all states and territories of Australia to determine the prevalence of classes of behaviors which are associated with HIV infection. Returns from the anonymous risk behavior questionnaire (60.2% return rate) suggested that the prevalence of both male and female homosexual behavior, and contact with prostitutes, was substantially lower than that estimated by Kinsey et al. (1948, 1953). Data suggest that prevalence of classes of behaviors which place Australian individuals at risk of HIV infection may be lower than American estimates. However, the proliferation of HIV into the Australian homosexual community may be more extensive than previously assumed. The implications of these data for HIV preventive education programs and their targeting are discussed.     

Promoting tolerance for homosexuality: An evaluation of intervention strategies

This article presents a methodological critique of the few attempts to promote tolerance for homosexuality through education. The d statistic was utilized to assess the extent of attitude change from pre‐ to post‐intervention assessment. With few exceptions, data have been gathered from college students in courses focused on human sexuality. These data suggest that students who complete these courses become less fearful of contact with homosexuals, more tolerant of homosexuals in social roles, and more tolerant of homosexual behavior, although the extent and duration of the changes may be limited. Although some attribute attitude change to the intensiveness of the course, methodological and conceptual problems, including volunteer bias, provide alternative explanations. Further attempts to promote tolerance toward homosexuality must consider differences in attitudes toward gay men and lesbians and the extent to which men and women differ in their level of tolerance toward these groups.