‘Ch'us mon propre Bescherelle’: Challenges from the Hip‐Hop nation to the Quebec nation1

We examine the uses of and attitudes towards language of members of the Montreal Hip‐Hop community in relation to Quebec language‐in‐education policies. These policies, implemented in the 1970s, have ensured that French has become the common public language of an ethnically diverse young adult population in Montreal. We argue, using Blommaert's (2005) model of orders of indexicality, that the dominant language hierarchy orders established by government policy have been both flattened and reordered by members of the Montreal Hip‐Hop community, whose multilingual lyrics insist: (1) that while French is the lingua franca, it is a much more inclusive category which includes ‘Bad French,’ regional and class dialects, and European French; and (2) that all languages spoken by community members are valuable as linguistic resources for creativity and communication with multiple audiences. We draw from a database which includes interviews with and lyrics from rappers of Haitian, Latin‐American, African‐American and Québécois origin.     

Factors associated with long-term benzodiazepine use among elderly women and men in Quebec

The goal of this study was to compare factors associated with long-term benzodiazepine use by elderly women and men (n = 1701) who participated in the Quebec Health Survey (QHS). Data from the 1998 QHS were linked with data from the administrative files of the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec. Results showed that elderly women were more at risk than men for long-term benzodiazepine use. Results of the multivariate logistic regression did not show a significant difference between women and men on any of the risk factors studied. Other factors such as elderly and physician attitudes deserve further study to explain differences in long-term benzodiazepine use between elderly women and men.     

A framework for understanding how nonprofits shape our physical environment: Identifying allies in making spaces

Research exists on the role of nonprofits directly shaping open spaces and preserving elements of the built environment, but the larger landscape of nonprofits that directly and indirectly shape the larger physical environment is less well understood. Although legislation exists to help protect and preserve natural spaces, nonprofits play a crucial role in carrying out work to protect and shape the natural and built components of the physical environment. Furthermore, nonprofit work that shapes public spaces is, by default, an attempt to reshape social environments and values through interventions in the physical environment. This is particularly important as the relationship between the physical environment and societal outcomes related to public health, human behavior, and sustainability is clear. Using past research by the authors, a review of related literature, and a localized case study, we refine a theoretical framework to better describe and understand the breadth of nonprofits that are shaping the physical environment. In doing so, we create a tool to help nonprofit managers identify and better engage allied stakeholders.     

Book review

Evidence‐based Policy: A Realist Perspective by Ray Pawson. Sage Publications, London. 2006. 208 p. NZ$98.99 (paperback). ISBN 1412910606.

The Handbook of Public Affairs edited by Phil Harris and Craig Fleisher. Sage Publications, London. 2005. 616 p. NZ$329.99 (hardback) ISBN 0761943935.

From Innocents to Agents: Children and Children's Rights in New Zealand by Michael Reid. Maxim Institute, Auckland. 2006. 279 p. NZ$39.90 (paperback). ISBN 0958265259.     

Becoming working mothers: Reconciling work and family at three particular workplaces in Norway,the UK,and Portugal

This paper investigates how differences in national and organisational welfare policies and in cultural norms on national, organisational, and familial levels influence work–family reconciliation for mothers. Drawing on case study and interview data gathered through a large European study of parenthood and organisations, we compare experiences of transition to motherhood in three organisations in Norway, the UK, and Portugal. The specific question which is considered in this paper is how mothers manage the reconciliation of work and family in the period of time following parental leave. Our case analyses highlight the differences in organisational, national policy, and family support in the three contexts, and show that having a child is still conceptualised as a predominantly ‘private problem’ in the UK and Portugal, while it has come closer to having the status of a ‘public issue’ in Norway.