The Discourse of Legitimacy in Early Modern England

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? [Youth Protest and Generational Conflict in Twentieth‐Century Europe: Germany, England, France and Italy in Comparison.]

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Selection works both ways: BMI and marital formation among young women

The literature on entry into marriages has almost universally regarded a high body mass index (BMI) to be a disadvantage for women in the marriage market. But the theoretical effect of BMI on marital entry is actually uncertain because women who anticipate poor outcomes in the marriage market are more likely to accept early offers, while women with more desirable characteristics can afford to wait for a better match. Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we show that female entry into marriage does decline as BMI rises, but that early marriage is nonlinear in BMI. Women with an extremely high BMI or with a BMI in the most attractive range are less likely to marry early.     

Public Private Partnerships,the Levels of Public Investment and the New Member States

Some of the features of public private partnerships (PPPs) are outlined. The arguments that PPPs provide additional investment are critical examined, and the way in which the accounting treatment may influence the use of PPPs examined. The costs of PPPs are compared with ‘conventional’ public investment and it is argued that PPPs are a relatively expensive way of undertaking public investment. The idea that PPPs effectively transfer risk from government to private companies is assessed. Issues relating to the nature of contracts under PPPs, the transactions costs and the implementation of the contracts, are briefly considered. For the New Member States, it is suggested that national accounting rules and perceived constraints on budget deficits may encourage the use of PPPs, even if that use is not warranted in terms of costs of public investment.     

Nihilism and urban multiculture in outer East London

This paper discusses nihilism as it relates to contemporary urban multiculture in outer East London. It addresses how contemporary discourses on, and performances of, nihilism signal shifts in the constitution of urban multiculture. Attention is paid to acts of anti‐sociability (and sociability) for what they reveal about contemporary urban rearrangement, and in particular the re‐formation of urban multiculture in a moment defined by globalization, virtual communication, ethnic diversity and neoliberal marginalization. Through addressing discourses on, and performances of, nihilism the overall argument of the paper is for a renewal of the terms on which we understand and engage with urban multiculture, and for an appreciation of how relations between class, race and culture have shifted since key texts on the subject were published.     

Universal Suffrage as Counter-Revolution? Electoral Mobilisation under the Second Republic in France, 1848–1851

The advent of mass, male suffrage in France in 1848 is usually regarded as a great success. There was a huge turnout in elections for a Constituent Assembly, but the outcome disappointed republicans, who failed to win a majority and blamed a backward peasantry. This paper suggests that the electoral system was at fault rather than the electorate. A hastily devised procedure, based on collective voting and the absence of declared candidatures, enabled notables to dominate the new regime. Radicals revised their tactics with some success in 1849, but soon succumbed to the plebiscitary democracy of Louis-Napoleon. Universal suffrage might well mean counter-revolution.     

St Christopher's and the future

The founding vision of St Christopher's Hospice was based on a recognition that permeating mainstream health care services would be essential and an emphasis on an adaptable philosophy rather than a building. Today, demographic and disease related changes mean that need and demand for end-of-life care will inevitably outstrip professional and financial resource. Hospices must engage with the development of cost-effective models of service delivery and rational planning. Only partnership working with the National Health Service, care homes, and others will ensure that appropriate care is available to everyone wherever the bed in which they die, regardless of diagnosis. Only collaboration and active engagement will ensure that future strategy in end-of-life care retains the original insight that its focus rightly includes not only patients but also the social context that will be affected by their death. Cost and patient choice dictate an emphasis on care at home. Health-promoting, public education and family-focused strategies will be essential. At a pivotal moment for the delivery of health care generally, hospices can play a vital part by marrying the role of "insistent conscience" of the health care service with continued cost-effective clinical innovation.     

Learning in manufacturing organizations: what factors predict effectiveness?

This paper argues that it is possible to identify factors which pre-dispose organizations to adopt effective learning strategies and processes. It is hypothesized that effective OL is associated with: profitability, environmental uncertainty, structure, approach to HRM and quality orientation. The study focuses on forty-four manufacturing organizations, and draws on longitudinal data gathered through interviews. The findings suggest that two of these variables - approach to HRM and quality orientation - are particularly strongly correlated with measures of OL. It is concluded that effective learning mechanisms, with the potential to improve the quality of OL processes, are more likely to be established in businesses where HRM and quality initiatives are well established.     

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF AMERICAN INDIAN DRINKING: Perceptions of American Indian and White Officials

Research has shown that alcohol abuse is a significant problem among American Indians. It has been suggested, however, that American Indians and whites interpret the behavioral pattern differently, which may reflect the distinct symbolic-moral universes of the two groups. Whites are said to stereotypically blame Indians for the alcohol problem, and they favor assimilation to ameliorate it. American Indians purportedly blame the historical incursions of whites for the problem and advocate cultural revitalization to solve it. However, systematic empirical documentation of the competing viewpoints is lacking. Here we compare the perceptions of twelve American Indian and twelve white officials responsible for controlling alcohol abuse and related problems on the Wind River Indian Reservation, Wyoming. Data were collected using in-depth, semistructured interviews. The findings show that the two groups tend to converge in their assessments of the extent of the alcohol abuse problem but clearly diverge in their attributions concerning both its causes and appropriate approaches to controlling it. The discourse of whites and American Indians thus reflects the existence of separate symbolic-moral universes. This investigation redirects attention from the traditional focus on the incidence and etiology of alcohol abuse among American Indians to the politics surrounding the definition and interpretation of the deviant behavior. It also highlights the significance of cultural competition to race relations theories grounded in political economy, which are commonly used to analyze Indian-white contact.