Alter-Globalism as Counter-Hegemony: Evaluating the ‘postmodern Prince’

This article seeks to provide a critical analysis of the alter-globalisation movement as a potential ‘postmodern Prince’ as advanced by Stephen Gill. The article proposes that the social forces aligned under the rubric of alter-globalism have always had intractable difficulties articulating a postmodern Prince, and that in contrast to Gill's appropriation of Gramsci, these difficulties can be usefully understood through a reading of Gramsci which is attentive to the problems of collective political action. Recent debate among key participants at the World Social Forum (WSF) is used as a case study for analysing the possibility of formulating a common master-frame or strategy for social transformation. It is at the WSF that the problems of articulating a postmodern Prince have been most clearly confronted. It is shown that the weaknesses of alter-globalism can be understood, pace Gill, through Gramsci's own theory of social transformation as evinced in the modern Prince. This underlines the need for further investigation of the agents of progressive politics in an era of global social transformation.

Este artículo busca proveer un análisis crítico a la propuesta de Stephen Gill, sobre el movimiento alter-globalización como un potencial ‘Príncipe posmoderno’. El artículo propone que las fuerzas sociales alineadas bajo la rúbrica del alter-globalismo han tenido siempre dificultades intratables en plantear a un Príncipe posmoderno y que en contraste con Gil y su apropiación de Gramsci, estas dificultades pueden entenderse útilmente a través de una lectura de Gramsci, quien está atento a los problemas de acción colectiva política. Un debate reciente entre los participantes principales al Foro Social Mundial, (FSM) se ha usado como un estudio de caso para analizar la posibilidad de formular un marco maestro o estrategia para una transformación social. En el FSM, es donde más claramente se han confrontado los problemas de plantear a un Príncipe posmoderno. Se ha indicado que las debilidades del alter-globalismo se pueden entender, con el respeto a la opinión de Gill, a través de la propia teoría de Gramsci sobre la transformación social como se evidencia en el Príncipe moderno. Esto enfatiza la necesidad de una mayor investigación de los agentes de una política progresiva en una era de transformación social global.

     

Sexual behavior of clients with street prostitutes in Camden,NJ

This paper describes the sexual behaviors of 101 male clients with female street prostitutes. An earlier study (Freund, Leonard, & Lee, 1989) was limited to sexual behaviors of street prostitutes themselves. Interviews were given by 62% of the clients approached. The clients were mature men (mean = 39.8 years), long‐term residents of Camden, NJ (mean = 19.2 years), and currently or previously married (78/101). Racial composition was similar to the general population of the area, 65% white, 33% black, 2% Asian. Clients reported a mean of 5.3 years of using prostitution, with 81% having been clients of Camden prostitutes for more than a year. Most were regular (or repeat) clients; 93% monthly or more frequently, and 63% weekly or more frequently. About one‐half (55%) reported sex with the same prostitute or same small group of prostitutes. The primary meeting place was the street (78/101) and 43% of the sexual encounters took place in the clients' cars. Ejaculation into the vagina was most frequently reported (43/101), followed by ejaculation into the mouth (39/101) Reports of condom use were substantial; 72% for vaginal and 33% for oral intercourse (mean = 58% of encounters).     

American Toussaints: Symbol,Subversion, and the Black Atlantic Tradition in the American Civil War

During the American Civil War, Toussaint Louverture was for African Americans the touchstone of a transatlantic identity, which joined their violent struggle for freedom and equality to a black revolutionary tradition that was deeply rooted in the eighteenth-century Atlantic world. White abolitionists reinforced the construction of this identification, for when they saw armed and uniformed black men, they likewise imagined American Toussaints, committed, disciplined, and talented slave soldiers who were eager to both die and kill for freedom. The men and women who seized upon the revolutionary symbols of Toussaint and the Haitian Revolution at this critical moment in the history of the American republic advanced a subversive ideology that undermined the white supremacist ideas that buttressed both the institution of slavery as well as the republic itself.     

Perceived Stepparent–Child Relationship Quality: A Systematic Review of Stepchildren's Perspectives

Stepfamily scholars have emphasized the importance of including stepchildren in the analysis and discussion of stepfamily life. This systematic review synthesized recent research examining predictors/correlates of stepparent–child relationship quality from the viewpoint of stepchildren in the United States. Five bibliographic databases were searched, resulting in 631 potentially relevant studies for review. Manual searches of three prominent family studies journals were also conducted. Screening and eligibility assessment based on a priori inclusion criteria yielded a final sample of 23 studies, including published studies and reports found in the “gray” literature. Significant predictors/correlates associated with stepchildren's perceptions of stepparent–child relationship quality were grouped into the following conceptual domains: individual characteristics, family characteristics, features of (step)parent–child interactions, and stepcouple dynamics. Limitations, implications, and future research directions are discussed.     

Public goods provision by asymmetric agents: experimental evidence

Economic theory predicts that individuals will free-ride, providing sub-optimal Nash equilibrium quantities of public goods. However, 25 years of experimental evidence indicates that individuals’ behavior often differs from the Nash prediction. This experiment examines provision in the context of asymmetric benefits and asymmetric costs of providing a public good with declining marginal benefits and increasing marginal costs. The design eliminates the coordination problem at the individual level inherent in previous declining marginal benefit experiments. Yet, even with the improved theoretical design, over-contribution persists, suggesting that it is a behavioral phenomenon rather than a design artifact. Analysis of individual contributions indicates that subjects’ responses to asymmetry match the theoretical prediction in 3 out of 4 single asymmetry cases. Thus, although over-contribution remains, the theoretical role of asymmetry is confirmed.     

Enough is enough: Grandmother caregivers' strategies for mitigating out-of-school suspensions for African–American youth

This qualitative study explores the strategies used by grandmothers caring for African–American grandchildren with out-of-school suspensions drawing from a larger study of caregivers. In-depth, semi-structured, individual interviews with 10 grandmothers who were caring for a total of 13 grandchildren with a range of 1 to 14 out-of-school suspensions (OSS) revealed that these grandmother caregivers took action with both their grandchildren and the grandchildren' s educators. Grandmothers became intensely involved with school and in-home educational activities. They structured their relationship with their grandchildren to attend to affection, provide incentives and respond with appropriate consequences. Additionally, grandmothers identified services and programs received and needed to enhance the grandchildren' s engagement with the learning process. Furthermore, based on strong opinions about changes needed in the schools, they provided concrete recommendations to educators. These recommendations call for professionals to support grandmothers' actions to reduce OSS and advocate to educators to revise policies and procedures that would promote a better understanding of grandchildren in the care of their grandmothers and the efforts that these grandmothers make to mitigate OSS.     

THE FEMA TRAILER PARKS: NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS AND THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF AVOIDANCE

In recent years, negative media attention has fostered the impression that Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) parks are social wastelands filled with criminal elements and other undesirables. FEMA parks have subsequently come to be viewed by some as a major threat to the safety and quality of life of the local communities in which they are situated. This analysis addresses attitudes toward FEMA trailer parks in Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina among Baton Rouge residents. Drawing on the Locally Undesirable Land Use/Not in My Backyard (LULU/NIMBY) literature, the contact hypothesis, and a broad paradigm of social status and social control, we hypothesize that spatial proximity, contact, and social status will influence negative perceptions of the parks, while these same factors along with the negative perceptions will influence avoidance behaviors. The results indicate that living near a FEMA park is associated with less negative perceptions, while actually seeing trailer park residents is associated with more negative perceptions and a greater odds of avoidance, particularly changing driving routes. Whites are particularly concerned about crime associated with the parks, but interracial trust reduces negative perceptions of the parks and the likelihood of avoidance. Those who are likely to end up in a FEMA park if they were in the same situation are more friendly toward the parks and less likely to use avoidance techniques, and negative perceptions themselves are strong predictors of avoidance behaviors. We conclude with a discussion of directions for future research.     

THE NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF HEAVY DRINKING AND ASSOCIATED DISRUPTIVE BEHAVIORS FOR SIBLING RELATIONSHIP PERFORMANCE

This study is designed to extend the sociological research on alcohol use and family relationships. We focus specifically on how heavy drinking by a sibling erodes the sibling relationship performance. Using survey data gathered from 339 college students attending a large Southern University, the results indicate that siblings who are heavy drinkers exhibit substantially poorer sibling relationship performance than nondrinking siblings. However, the data also indicate that there is an important factor mediating this link. Once a measure of disruptive behaviors often associated with heavy drinking is controlled, sibling drinking is no longer a significant predictor of sibling relationship performance. Hence, the inverse relationship between sibling drinking and sibling relationship performance is actually accounted for by an underlying association between disruptive behaviors associated with heavy drinking and poor sibling relationship performance. We conclude with a discussion of the limitations of the study and the theoretical implications of the findings, including suggestions for future research in this area.     

Madam Senator: Growth in Women's State Senate Representation, 1978–2010

Using a dataset of women state senators from all 50 states (1978–2010) and latent growth curve analysis, this article tests two longitudinal theories of the growth of women's political representation over time. Gender salience theory posits that women increase their political representation when they explicitly campaign on their gender. Political climate theory argues that women fare better electorally during periods when domestic issues predominate as opposed to international issues. Results provide support for gender salience theory, but the evidence is too mixed for political climate theory to provide a plausible explanation for the growth in women's state-level political representation. By political party, results suggest that Democratic women were generally advantaged over Republican women; however, Republican women exclusively benefited in the 1992 and 2010 elections. This article concludes with an assessment of the two longitudinal theories and what they may tell us more broadly about women in politics.