Promising Practices of Nonprofit Organizations to Respond to the Challenges Faced in Countering the Mistreatment of Older Adults

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This article discusses promising practices used by employees and volunteers in nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in...     

Towards a critical realist epistemology?

When critical realists consider epistemology they typically start from “epistemological relativism.” We find this position necessary, but we also find it insufficient because it lacks a critique of the highly unequal social relations among observers themselves—relations that shape the very production of knowledge. While it is indeed the case that all knowledge is fallible, it is also the case that all knowledge is positioned, with a particular standpoint. What is more, the social power relations between standpoints organize the production of truth in ways that produce systematic distortions. In this paper, we propose a critical realist social epistemology. We introduce feminist standpoint theory and postcolonial theory as our suggested interventions into critical realism and we use two case studies of existing work to highlight i) the social production of truth and the real, and ii) what is at stake for radicalizing epistemology in critical realism. In so doing, our paper emphasizes the epistemic complexities that continuously shape ontology, a commitment to subaltern voices or experiences, and a thorough interrogation of the relations between positions of knowledge production.     

Remittances and inequality: a dynamic migration model

We develop a model to study the effects of migration and remittances on inequality in the origin communities. While wealth inequality is shown to be monotonically reduced along the time-span, the short- and the long-run impacts on income inequality may be of opposite signs, suggesting that the dynamic relationship between migration/remittances and inequality may well be characterized by an inverse U-shaped pattern. This is consistent with the findings of the empirical literature, yet offers a different interpretation from the usually assumed migration network effects. With no need to endogenize migration costs through the role of migration networks, we generate the same results via intergenerational wealth accumulation.     

Trajectories of team and individual sports participation in childhood and links with internalizing problems

The purpose of this 5-year longitudinal study is to identify trajectories of team and individual sports participation in childhood, and to compare these trajectories on different types of internalizing problems. Parents reported their children's annual sports participation from the ages of 6–10 (n = 785) and teachers reported internalizing problems (depression, anxiety, social withdrawal) at the beginning and at the end of this period. The study used latent class growth analyses to identify two trajectories of team sports and two trajectories of individual sports participation were identified: (1) high participation, and (2) low participation. Considering baseline level of internalizing problems and gender, children in the high participation team sports trajectory show significantly fewer depression, anxiety, and social withdrawal behaviors at age 10 than those in the low participation team sports trajectory. No differences between individual sports trajectories were observed. Comparison with joint trajectory groups partially confirmed these results but also showed that sustained participation in multiple individual sports could also be linked to decreased anxiety. Our findings suggest that participation in team sports should be encouraged to promote certain aspects of children's mental health.     

Formation of a Communication Network Under Perfect Foresight

We study the formation of a communication network under perfect foresight. We show the existence of a non-monotonic relationship between the cost of link formation and the total number of links created in stable networks. This result enhances a dilemma between stable and efficient networks.     

Matching Communities and Hierarchies within the Firm

This article, which draws on recent literature on organizational communities, raises the question of the coherence of the firm through the analysis of the dialectic interaction between hierarchies and Knowledge-Intensive Communities (KnICs) within the firm. Focusing on the cognitive dimension of the firm, we analyze the matching between hierarchies and KnICs and draw conclusions as to the coherence of the firm. Using two key elements (the frequency of interactions and the intensity of communication between communities), we draw a typology allowing a better understanding of the processes of coordination and knowledge creation within the firm. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Décloisonner la sociologie de l’engagement militant. Note critique sur quelques tendances récentes des travaux français

This critique reviews an especially active field of research during the last 20 years in France: the sociology of activism. In this current of sociology, a new interactionist paradigm has emerged that takes into account activists’ careers and the process of becoming an activist. This critique focuses on how the idea of the “rewards” of activism has been reworked. After reviewing theoretical debates about whether or not new forms of activism and new activists are arising, this article points out two issues for current research, both related to the social division of labor, namely: improving our understanding of, on the one hand, the linkage between macrosocial changes and activism and, on the other hand, of the way that organizations shape activism.     

European System of Accounts: The French Case

The 1995 European System of Accounts (1995 ESA), an adapted version of the United Nations System of National Accounts (1993 SNA), will be applied in most European countries. This research note shows that the empirical knowledge of the nonprofit sector is not improved in this change. We first review the treatment of the nonprofit organizations in 1968 SNA, and then discuss the 1993 SNA and 1995 ESA approaches, which do not clear up many conceptual difficulties. The classification of the private nonprofit institutions serving households by the French statistical office is also presented and criticized. A way forward through the use of a satellite account system is proposed.