Collective Identity in Social Movements: Central Concepts and Debates

The concept of collective identity has been used extensively by social movement scholars seeking to explain how social movements generate and sustain commitment and cohesion between actors over time. Despite its wide application, collective identity is a notoriously abstract concept. This article focuses on the use of the concept in the literature on contemporary social movements and offers a comprehensive theoretical overview. The central elements of collective identity in the social movement literature are developed, and some key differences in interpretations are highlighted. Finally, some contemporary debates around the continuing usefulness and limitations of the concept of collective identity are explored, with a special emphasis on the challenges of applying the concept to movements that define themselves in terms of heterogeneity, diversity and inclusiveness.     

Time Use by Gender and Quality of Life

Italy has no survey that was specifically designed to measure the degree of quality of life for the population, although certain other surveys exist which contribute useful information on the issue. This paper will concentrate on the potential of using existing sample surveys and on initial studies carried out starting from the Time Use survey conducted by the National Statistical Institute in 1989.Daily activities are the key factor when analysing a person's quality of life, however, these must also be considered in context. First and foremost this context is the household, within which each person carries out more or less defined roles. The roles covered are, in fact, a crucial variable when evaluating each person's quality of life. This angle of obsevation is particularly instructive when seen in terms of developments from a gender standpoint. Interpreting a woman's lifestyle according to the presence of symmeetry of asymmetry of roles, accompanying this analysis with one covering subjective perception of satisfaction as to daily activities, is an essential approach for determining the real satisfaction derived from the different aspects of a person's daily life. In addition to conventional indicators, newly conceived indicators taking into account the division of roles can be of great help when carrying out this kind of study. In this sense the analysis of individual time use in relation to household time use represents a significant step forward when studying quality of life.     

The Business Environment Perceived by Foreign Investors in the Region Transylvania,Romania

The paper provides an overview of the perception of the business environment by foreign investors in Transylvania (Romania) as a result of a survey conducted on firms with foreign capital in this region. The first part of our study considers general information about the companies in the sample, regarding size, type of contribution, domain of activity, market, and other aspects. The second part of the study deals with factors concerning the location decision: the factors that influenced the success of operations and impediments and barriers encountered. The fact that despite several obstacles, the business environment is perceived by the majority of investors as a good one, allows the conclusion that the transformation process of the economy is moving in the right direction.      

Wholly proprietary versus wholly open knowledge strategies: some empirical evidences from Italian biotech firms

This paper focuses on biotechnologies and biotech companies. Our aim is to develop a model for assessing the openness degree of knowledge governance strategies, applying it to the biotech firms. Biotech production is described as an emerging meta-industry in the global economy, fostering through new products, many socio-economic fields. Its main features are: a close relationship among knowledge, innovation and competitiveness; the need for collaborative research; the importance of small firms. Our paper begins with a brief characterization of the biotech meta-sector. We then review the literature regarding the advantages and disadvantages of ??wholly proprietary?? versus ??wholly open?? knowledge strategies. Next we propose a model and report the main results of its application to biotech companies in Italy. In conclusion, we evaluate the degree of openness of the company knowledge strategies based upon empirical evidence from our research in the field.     

Religion, social mobility and education in Scotland

The relationship among religion, education and social mobility in Scotland is analysed statistically using the Scottish Household Survey of 2001 . The large sample size allows much greater statistical power for this purpose than any previous source, and thus allows a more reliable assessment of claims that the stratifying effect of religion in Scotland may have declined. The questions investigated are as follows. What are the religious differences in the distributions of class origins and class destinations, in the movement between these (absolute mobility), and in the association of these (relative mobility, or social fluidity)? Do changes in social fluidity across cohorts vary among people with different religious affiliation? Are there religious differences in the association of origins and education, in the association of education and destinations, or in the role of education in social fluidity, and do any of these vary over cohorts? The conclusions are that, in younger cohorts, there is no religious difference in social status, and that in older cohorts Catholics are generally of lower status than Protestants and the non‐religious. Social fluidity does not, however, vary among religious groups, even for older cohorts, and does not change over time. The reason for convergence in social status of religious groups over time is probably the equalizing of educational attainment among the groups: there is no evidence for any of the cohorts that the labour‐market rewards to education differ by religion.     

Entrepreneurship research: mapping intellectual structures and research trends

Review of Managerial Science - Using bibliometric techniques to identify connections between existing entrepreneurship studies, this article seeks to understand the scientific structure of...     

Communal Goals,Campus Racial Climate Perceptions,and Cultural Differences in Perceived Academic Satisfaction

Although some research has examined Latino collectivism and Latino students' campus climate perceptions, there remains a gap in the literature regarding the interactive effects of these two constructs. Therefore, the authors examined the moderating effect that perceptions of campus racial climate may have on the relationship between communal goals and academic major satisfaction for Latino students in comparison with European American students. Contrary to prediction, perceptions of a positive university campus racial climate moderated the relationship between communal goals and academic satisfaction for European American students but not Latino students. Specifically, European Americans endorsing higher communal goals were more likely to report higher academic satisfaction when holding a positive perception of the university's racial climate. However, a main effect was observed whereby communal goals were a significant positive predictor of academic satisfaction for Latino students. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Juvenile delinquency in Romania: a comparison between minors in prisons and re-education services

This article assesses the relationships between the individual and family characteristics of minors and juvenile delinquency in Romania. This cross-sectional study involved Romanian delinquent minors, 285 of whom were incarcerated in prisons in Romania and 280 subject to educational measures in re-education services in Romania. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that delinquency in incarcerated minors is associated with age, the offence committed, drug use, school dropout rates, recidivism, family alcoholism, the relationship with the biological parents, and the number of biological siblings. The study provides baseline data to identify at-risk minors in order to develop prevention programmes. We have adopted a public health approach to analysing delinquency and targets risk factors.     

Objectified conformity: working self-objectification increases conforming behavior*

The present work explores whether self-objectification triggered by doing peculiar work activities would increase people’s conforming behavior. We conducted an experimental study in which participants (N = 140) were asked to perform a high objectifying activity (vs. low objectifying activity vs. baseline condition) simulating a real computer job. Afterwards, their levels of self-objectification and conforming behavior were assessed. Results revealed that participants who performed the high objectifying activity self-objectified (i.e., perceived themselves as lacking human mental states) more than the other conditions and, in turn, conformed more to the judgments of unknown similar others. Crucially, increased self-objectification mediated the effects of the high objectifying activity on enhancing conforming behavior. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.     

When community becomes an agent of educational support: communicative research on Learning Communities in Catalonia

Educational support is a key component of any inclusive school. However, many traditional forms of support have been proven ineffective and even exclusionary for the most vulnerable students and their families. This article presents the results of a study conducted over four years by a diverse research team of university professors, PhD students, teachers and head teachers of schools operating as Learning Communities in Catalonia, Spain. The communicative and dialogic approach of these schools offers an alternative understanding of educational support, which is influenced to a great extent by the creation of networks that include participation by diverse agents. The current article provides a theoretical grounding for this approach to support. The article describes the role of different agents from the community and analyses the main effects of this approach and students’ experiences. Finally, a proposal for a dialogic orientation for educational support is discussed.