Globalisierung und die Veränderung sozialer Ungleichheiten in modernen Gesellschaften

This article deals with the effects of globalization on individual life courses and employment careers and the resulting changes in patterns of social inequality in modern societies. Empirically, we draw back to results from the international research project GLOBALIFE which studied the effects of globalization on modern life courses for the first time. The results show that the effects of globalization on individual life courses show marked differentiation with regards to specific life course phases: while especially the employment of mid-career men remained considerably stable under globalization, the careers of young adults, mid-career women as well as late-career workers underwent significant alterations. At the same time, results from the GLOABLIFE study indicate that the changes induced by globalization have not yet led to identical results at the national level. Globalization appears to be differentially filtered by deeply embedded and path-dependent national institutions. These “institutional packages” entail variable forms of labour market “flexibilisation” which themselves differentially shape patterns of social inequality in modern societies: While Scandinavian countries have largely succeeded in limiting an increase in social inequality under globalization through active public welfare engagement, globalization has led to a significant amplification of social inequalities in other regime types, either between labour market insiders and outsiders (in conservative and Southern European countries) or between individuals with different human capital resources (in liberal countries).     

Perspectives on Social Care Practice in Romania: Supporting the Development of Professional Learning and Practice

This paper examines the authors’ experiences of developingand delivering training for workers in social care servicesin Romania, through a European Union PHARE¹ funded project.The authors use their experiences to draw on the past and currentpractices of those social workers who were participants in thetraining and to explore their understanding of the emergingissues and themes for social work in Romania. There is alsoan exploration of the potential opportunities for the furtherdevelopment of professional social work learning and practicewithin Romania. The case is made that learning and developmentof social workers could be supported through the encouragementof participatory networks and ‘communities of practice’.     

Performance Evaluations as Gender Barriers in Professional Organizations: A Study of Auditing Firms

Gendering processes often take the form of organizational subtexts, that is, seemingly gender‐neutral practices that have gender implications. The purpose of this article is to study performance evaluations, which, based on management by objectives systems, may appear neutral, but tend to be based on male norms of what is regarded as good performance. We analysed the careers and performance evaluations of 391 newly licenced Swedish auditors, using an open‐ended question survey. In this industry 50 per cent of new employees and 92 per cent of partners are men. Even in the early stages of their careers, there are notable differences between women and men. The women achieved less and show lower career ambitions and expectations as well as greater intentions to leave the auditing industry. Performance evaluations are also perceived differently, men focusing on what is evaluated (reflecting the perceptions of those at higher hierarchical levels) and women focusing on who does the evaluating and how.     

Preverbal Infants' Ability to Encode the Outcome of Distributive Actions

This research examined whether 10‐month‐old infants expect agents to perform equal distribution of resources. In Experiment 1, infants saw a distributor performing either an equal distribution where one strawberry was given to each of two recipients, or an unequal distribution that favored one of the recipients. Infants looked longer at the unequal test event, suggesting that they expected the strawberries to be distributed equally. In Experiment 2, the potential recipients were replaced with inanimate objects to rule out a lower‐level alternative explanation of the results in Experiment 1 based on symmetric movement of the distributor. Infants' looking times did not reveal a preference for one of the two outcomes of the test events (i.e., symmetric or asymmetric movement). Experiment 3 controlled for the role of the distributive action, that is, here the distributors only removed barriers revealing strawberries that the recipients already had. No preference was observed when an equal or unequal initial allocation of resources was revealed. Experiment 4 assessed whether infants relied on affiliative information provided by the distributor's movements. The distributor made the same movements as in Experiment 1, but without distributing any strawberries, and no difference in looking times was observed. These findings support the view that preverbal infants expect agents to behave according to a simple principle: Resources are to be distributed equally among equivalent recipients. We discuss the possible links between such reactions and the emergence of an early sense of fairness.     

Childbearing and Marriage: Investigating the Importance of Context for Meaning-Making of First-Time Marriage

Previous research reveals that the temporal ordering of childbearing and marriage can have an impact on the meaning of first-time marriage. This article aims to obtain a deeper understanding of meaning-making of first-time marriage in relation to childbearing. Narrative interviews with 16 brides and grooms in 8 couples in Sweden were conducted. The material was analyzed in relation to the temporal ordering of childbearing and marriage. The study reveals that the construction of meaning of marriage does not only relate to the temporal context. Social factors such as social class or family formation might also be relevant for how meaning is constructed. This article contributes to a deeper understanding of meaning-making as a relational process constructed within particular contexts.     

TRANSFORMING DISCOURSE INTO PRACTICE: COMPUTERHYSTORIES AND DIGITAL CULTURES AROUND 1984

This paper discusses some theoretical approaches to the question of how culture, technologies and the social interact. These considerations result from the author' research in the genesis of digital cultures in the 1980s. The paper begins by outlining the author' research project, and then continues with a discussion of some of the most influential approaches in the cultural studies of technology.This article then presents a small sample of the author' analysis, which combines narratological and discourse analytical methods with practice-oriented cultural theories, such as those of Pierre Bourdieu, Régis Debray and Bruno Latour.     

A Mission of Civic Engagement: Undergraduate Students Working with Nonprofit Organizations and Public Sector Agencies to Enhance Societal Wellbeing

Universities in the U.S. have been criticized for not contributing enough to the social well-being of the communities within which they operate, and business schools have been accused of failing to prepare students adequately for careers in business. These criticisms have led to increased focus on service learning, a form of experiential learning that aids students in the application of theoretical knowledge to “real-life” situations—including problems and opportunities—faced by local as well as international communities. Even though service-learning has become fairly popular in business schools throughout the U.S., there is relatively little literature that illuminates its application. Thus, the present article describes a service-learning project in a marketing research course and how this project supports the university’s mission of civic engagement. Included are also a discussion of course-specific objectives as well as learning goals, objectives, and assessments as commonly required by regional and national accreditation agencies.     

Balancing Control and Coaching in CSO Governance. A Paradox Perspective on Board Behavior

How can the internal governance of civil society organizations be conceptualized more adequately by accounting for the dual and simultaneous requirements of controlling and coaching in board behavior? Empirically, we seem to agree that effective governance of a civil society organization is crucial to its sustained viability. Conceptually, however, we observe a lack of consensus on how to best understand CSO governance. By critically juxtaposing two major theoretical lenses to conceptualize governance, namely, agency and stewardship theory, we identify a number of challenges when dealing with board–management relations that deserve our attention. While agency theory privileges controlling behavior, stewardship theory emphasizes the coaching behavior of boards. The purpose of this article is to offer a concept of governance that is informed by a paradox perspective advancing a subtler, more adequate conceptualization of board governance that accounts for these often conflicting demands on CSO governance. Drawing on illustrations from a longitudinal interpretive case study, we exemplify our propositions empirically. The article concludes with discussing the implications of our argument for CSO governance research and practice.