Neoliberal co-optation and authoritarian renewal: social entrepreneurship networks in Jordan and Morocco

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes social entrepreneurship networks (SENs) – composed of social entrepreneurs, business and political elites, and international actors – in Jordan and Morocco and how they foster processes of authoritarian renewal through neoliberal forms of co-optation. I argue that these new neoliberal networks and pre-existing patterns of social interaction complement each other, fostering linkages between well-established elites and hand-picked social entrepreneurs as well as societal groups. The two case studies illustrate different trajectories of the development of SENs and their embeddedness in the respective political, social and economic contexts. Importantly, such trajectories indicate a similar direction of travel: social entrepreneurship, rather than acting as a driver of progressive change, has been aligned with the authoritarian regimes and cements neoliberalism as a mode of governance. This mutation of neoliberal tactics towards more inclusionary and consensual patterns seeks to ensure the survival of both neoliberalism and of authoritarian governance. Thus, the article brings to light repertoires of authoritarian neoliberalism that have hitherto been under-studied. Moreover, it offers a critical perspective on social entrepreneurship as an increasingly popular phenomenon that, in academia and beyond, has all too often been approached from an uncritical and apolitical perspective.     

‘Our young people are worse’: family backgrounds,educational progression and placement options in public care systems

Introducing continental European approaches to UK child welfare practice raises a problem of comparison: to what extent are the problems and issues similar to or different from one country compared to another. Social pedagogues trained in continental Europe and working in English residential care services often encountered the phrase ‘our young people are worse’ from their English colleagues, with the implication that the social pedagogic approach was not suitable for the client group. This paper examines two propositions: (1) that in the context of introducing the continental European approach of social pedagogy into children's residential care services in England, young people are ‘different’ in England compared to other European countries and (2) that the placement options and practices for young people living away from their birth parents in continental European countries differ from those in England. Using data from a five nation study of young people from public care backgrounds, the paper argues that while family backgrounds are remarkably similar there are marked differences in the child welfare systems that might account for the perception that young people in care are ‘worse’ in England.     

Young,anchored and free? Examining the dynamics of early housing pathways in Australia

Young people are remaining in the parental home for longer, and returning there more often, before attaining residential independence. In Australia, these patterns have prompted concerns about a ‘boomerang generation’ whose housing aspirations and decisions have either been directly questioned, or viewed as symptomatic of broader affordability issues. Employing a longitudinal perspective, we argue that early residential pathways reflect a mix of stable and dynamic influences involving individuals, their families, and their broader relationships. Using data from a large cohort (n = 2082) of young Australians participating in the ‘Our Lives’ research project, we examine housing pathway formation between the ages of 12/13 and 21/22. Events such as parental union dissolution or partnership formation were found to encourage home leaving, whilst being employed at a younger age and having grown up rurally predicted both leaving and remaining out of home. Close, supportive relationships with family and friends served to ‘anchor’ respondents at home for longer, and parental socioeconomic resources enabled respondents to leave home and return if needed. The findings suggest that early residential independence reflects various factors, not all of which are in young people’s control, and some of which may hinder the longer term sustainability of their living arrangements.     

How Should Autonomous Cars Drive? A Preference for Defaults in Moral Judgments Under Risk and Uncertainty

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) promise to make traffic safer, but their societal integration poses ethical challenges. What behavior of AVs is morally acceptable in critical traffic situations when consequences are only probabilistically known (a situation of risk) or even unknown (a situation of uncertainty)?  How do people retrospectively evaluate the behavior of an AV in situations in which a road user has been harmed? We addressed these questions in two empirical studies (N = 1,638) that approximated the real‐world conditions under which AVs operate by varying the degree of risk and uncertainty of the situation. In Experiment 1, subjects learned that an AV had to decide between staying in the lane or swerving. Each action could lead to a collision with another road user, with some known or unknown likelihood. Subjects’ decision preferences and moral judgments varied considerably with specified probabilities under risk, yet less so under uncertainty. The results suggest that staying in the lane and performing an emergency stop is considered a reasonable default, even when this action does not minimize expected loss. Experiment 2 demonstrated that if an AV collided with another road user, subjects’ retrospective evaluations of the default action were also more robust against unwanted outcome and hindsight effects than the alternative swerve maneuver. The findings highlight the importance of investigating moral judgments under risk and uncertainty in order to develop policies that are societally acceptable even under critical conditions.     

Women Behind the Shutter: Exploring the Place of Women in Elite Environmental Conservation Photographer Networks

Since the 1980s, much has been written about the importance of including women in environmental decision making. However, when and how women are included remains an issue. The goal of this article was to explore how the historical exclusion of women from the production of conservation visual narratives continues to have an influence on conservation networks. We surveyed 121 National Geographic Society-affiliated conservation/wildlife photographers, which produced a usable sample of 98 photographers, to assess whether there is evidence of the historical legacy of female exclusion in contemporary elite conservation photography networks. Using network analysis, we find a strong network among 67 conservation photographers, with eight subgroups. Our analysis shows that there are formal networks among conservation photographers, but these networks are sparsely populated with women. Of the women who are present, they mostly engage in the same subnetworks. Our findings provide evidence to support the notion that the historical exclusion of women from the production of visual conservation narratives has had a lasting impact on the network of conservation image producers, which may influence the way conservation is depicted to the general public. We situate our findings using gendered organizational theory.     

Time and support do not heal all wounds: Mental health correlates of past bullying among college students

Abstract

Objective: We examined whether perceptions of being bullied during middle and high school were associated with depressive, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during college. We also examined whether perceived social support (PSS) mediated the association between bullying and symptoms, and explored whether parental, peer, or other sources of support was most beneficial. Participants: Undergraduates (N?=?270) from an urban commuter college in the Northeast participated during Spring 2013 or Fall 2015. Methods: Psychometrically sound self-report measures were used to assess symptoms and perceptions of bullying and social support. Results: As hypothesized, bullying was associated with more symptoms, and PSS significantly mediated the associations between bullying and symptoms of PTSD and depression. Conclusion: The college years provide another opportunity to address the effects of middle and high school bullying. Receiving current support for past bullying is beneficial but is not enough, college counseling services are needed to reduce symptoms.     

Hidden Markov chains in generalized linear models

We show how the concept of hidden Markov model may be accommodated in a setting involving multiple sequences of observations. The resulting class of models allows for both interrelationships between different sequences and serial dependence within sequences. Missing values in the observation sequences may be handled in a straightforward manner. We also examine a group of methods, based upon the observed Fisher Information matrix, for estimating the covariance matrix of the parameter estimates. We illustrate the methods with both real and simulated data sets.     

Identification,Estimation, and Control of Uncertain Dynamic Systems: A Nonparametric Approach

This article is devoted to a presentation of the author' practice of the non-parametric estimation theory for the estimation, filtering, and control of uncertain dynamic systems. The fundamental advantage of this approach is a weak dependency on prior modeling assumptions about uncertain dynamic components. This approach appears to be of great interest for the control of general discrete-time processes, and in particular, biotechnological processes, which are emblematic of nonlinear uncertain and partially observed systems.     

Methodological standards for randomised controlled trials of interventions for preventing recurrence of child physical abuse and neglect

Despite the significant financial and human resources invested in child protection services (CPS), it is unknown whether these services are effective in preventing recurrence of child physical abuse and neglect. This paper reviews available studies evaluating the effectiveness of these interventions and identifies methodological limitations and factors that may contribute to these limitations. We searched databases to identify randomised controlled trials published in peer‐reviewed journals in the past five decades that evaluated interventions to reduce recurrence of physical abuse and neglect. We outlined ten methodological standards that are important for rigorous testing of psychosocial interventions and applied them in critically appraising identified studies. Thirteen randomised controlled trials were reviewed. This review identified methodological limitations (e.g. small sample size, lack of standardisations, contamination) that made it difficult to draw reliable conclusions as to the effectiveness of interventions. Field‐specific factors that contributed to methodological limitations (e.g. heterogeneity of sample, multiple family problems, psychosocial nature of interventions) were identified and recommendations were provided for improvement. It was concluded that it is possible to implement high‐quality trials that are ethical and feasible in the child welfare field. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.