Teacher training and multiculturalism in a transitional society: the case of the Slovak Republic

The authors explore a number of issues surrounding multicultural education in “societies in transition”, emerging from their experiences during a TEMPUS project that took place in the Slovak Republic. The TEMPUS project entailed the development of a multicultural education curriculum for teacher trainers, as a response to the conditions for entry into the European Union. The paper provides background information on the position of ethnic minorities in Slovakia, in particular the Hungarian and Roma population and the development of policies, especially in education, for combating racism. In examining the challenges to educators in developing a more open system than the command education of the recent past, issues such as the predominance of traditional pedagogies, multiculturalism and antiracism, the problems of “other isms” and of giving voice to minorities are considered.     

Immigrant suicide in Australia,Canada, England and Wales,and the United States

Factors influencing the suicide rates of numerous immigrants in groups in Australia, Canada, England and Wales, and the United States during the period 1959–73 were examined. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated for the origin, immigrant and destination native-born populations using the Canadian native-born age-sex-specific suicide rates as the standard. For males, the foreign-born in England and Wales had the lowest suicide rates and the foreign-born in the United States the highest. For females the variation was smaller, with immigrants in the United States having the lowest rates, and those in Australia the highest. Agespecific suicide rates indicated that relative to the native-born, foreign-born elderly had substantially elevated risks of suicide.     

Current work on the social indicators system for the Federal Republic of Germany

The paper in hand deals with the construction of the SPES Indicators Tableau and its extensions and modifications which are carried out by current work. Advantages of time series regression analysis for social reporting as well as classifying social change are discussed. The paper ends with a short prospect on the publication in preparation which shall continue the social reporting of the SPES Indicators Tableau.     

One size fits all? On the institutionalization of participatory technology assessment and its interconnection with national ways of policy-making: the cases of Switzerland and Austria

Science and technology policy is often confronted with issues that are both complex and controversial and which have to be decided upon in a delicate constellation of policy-makers, experts, stakeholders, non-governmental organizations and the public. One attempt to deal with such a complex problem is via citizen involvement. Participatory technology assessment (pTA) already goes back to several decades, and countries have made various experiences. While in some countries, governments established technology assessment organizations, which also included pTA in their methodological portfolio, others primarily rely on experts to make decisions on science and technology policy. In a third group of countries non-state actors, such as social scientists, experimented with pTA. However, they were often unable to link these experiments to policy-making. This paper deals with the question of why this variation exists and compares the use of pTA in Switzerland and Austria. Despite similarities between the two countries, both had quite different experiences with pTA so far. Whereas several pTAs have been carried out in Switzerland until today, Austrian pTAs have remained infrequent. The aim of this paper is to explain this difference as a result of different ways of policy-making which affect the use and chances of pTA.     

Social representations of the euro in Austria

In summer 1997, a survey on attitudes and social representations of the single European currency was conducted in Austria on a sample of 534 respondents. Participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire on economic expectations and psychological aspects relating to the change of the national currencies to the single European currency. In addition to the standard questionnaire distributed in all 15 EU member states (Müller-Peters et al., 1998. Explaining attitudes towards the cure. Design of a cross-national study. Journal of Economic Psychology 19, 663–680), subjects in Austria were asked to indicate what they freely associated with the term “European single currency” and to evaluate their own associations. On the basis of individuals' attitudes towards the euro, the total sample was divided into five sub-samples of (a) strong opponents of the euro, (b) moderate opponents, (c) neutral or indifferent respondents, (d) moderate supporters, and (e) strong supporters. Social representations of these sub-samples were then analysed. Firstly, frequencies of associations within the five groups were investigated by correspondence analysis. It was found that opponents associated mainly negative feelings with the euro, thinking of currency instability and financial losses in conjunction with it. Moreover, strong euro opponents feared a loss of national autonomy and the unjust distribution of EU-related benefits and costs. Supporters, on the other hand, most frequently mentioned the facilitation of tourism and trading opportunities. Comparability of prices and incomes across Europe and the stimulation of the national economy were other frequently mentioned positive consequences. Secondly, sequences of associations were analysed. Four groups showed a tendency to more extreme emotions, that is, positive or negative, at the beginning of the association process with a shift towards neutral associations after their initial associations. The belief in a stronger European identity and a threat to Austrian identity, respectively, proved to be a relevant cause for subjective support of or opposition to the euro. Moderate opposition seems to be related to anticipated financial restrictions, both at the individual and the national level.     

Activist online resource mobilization: Relationship building features that fulfill resource dependencies

This study examined activist group websites (N = 300) to determine how activists are engaging in resource mobilization online and provides a benchmark for current mobilization practices by activists. Website features asking visitors to donate, join the organization, and links to other activist groups were most common on the sites. The study positions resource mobilization in terms of online relationships and organizational linkages, argues that resource dependencies drive mobilization efforts and that resource-based relationships with publics may be established in the mobilization process.