Diversity in the Academy: On the Growing Prominence of Race and Ethnicity in the Pacific Sociological Association, 1929–2014

This article examines issues related to the underrepresentation of faculty of color in higher education, with specific attention to the discipline of Sociology and the Pacific Sociological Association (PSA). The authors explore the role that professional organizations such as the PSA have played in promoting racial and ethnic diversity within the Sociology pipeline. Further, it provides an analytic overview of the history of conference presentations on the topic of race and ethnicity within the PSA over the last eight decades. The article proceeds in three major parts: First, is an outline of the contours of the problem of racial underrepresentation in the academy. Next, follows a content analysis of PSA programs, which indicates that race continues to be of central importance to the PSA and that the 1970s were a turning point when the PSA began to examine its role in promoting diversity in the discipline. Finally, mentorship is presented as a critical vehicle for promoting greater racial equity in the PSA and the discipline of Sociology more broadly.     

Emotional Facial Expression Recognition and Expressivity in Type I and Type II Alcohol Dependent Patients

Alcohol dependent patients (ADs) are known to encounter severe interpersonal problems. Nonverbal communication skills are important for the development of healthy relationships. The present study aimed to explore emotional facial expression (EFE) recognition and posed and spontaneous EFE expressivity in male ADs divided into two groups according to Cloninger’s typology and the impact of their interpersonal relationship quality on the potential nonverbal deficits. Twenty type I ADs, twenty-one type II ADs, and twenty control participants took part in an EFE recognition task and an EFE expressivity task that considered personal emotional events (spontaneous expressivity) and EFE in response to a photo or word cue (posed expressivity). Coding was based on judges’ ratings of participants’ emotional facial expressions. Participants additionally completed a questionnaire on interpersonal relationship quality. No difference between the three groups emerged in the EFE recognition task. Type II ADs showed heightened deficits compared with type I ADs in EFE expressivity: Judges perceived less accurate posed EFE in response to a cue word and less intense and positive spontaneous EFE in type II ADs compared to control participants. In addition, type II ADs reported more relationship difficulties compared to both type I ADs and control participants. These interpersonal relationship difficulties were related to some of the EFE expressivity deficits of AD-IIs. This study underlines the important differences between the interpersonal functioning of AD subtypes.     

Are Condorcet procedures so bad according to the reinforcement axiom?

A Condorcet social choice procedure elects the candidate that beats every other candidate under simple majority when such a candidate exists. The reinforcement axiom roughly states that given two groups of individuals, if these two groups select the same alternative, then this alternative must also be selected by their union. Condorcet social choice procedures are known to violate this axiom. Our goal in this paper is to put this important voting theory result into perspective. We then proceed by evaluating how frequently this phenomenon is susceptible to occur.     

Going for broke. From desire for illusion and the illusion of desire / De perdidos,al río. Del deseo a la ilusión y la ilusión del deseo

The illusion of control refers to an excessively high expectation of success considering the likelihood of it actually happening. This expectation seems to be modulated by idiosyncratic variables, such as the desire for control. This study aims first to provide evidence regarding the validity of the Spanish Desire for Control Scale and secondly to study the ‘going for broke’ phenomenon. Participants included 92 university students from different colleges, 59 females and 33 males. The results first show that there is enough evidence to validate the Spanish version of the scale and to support its application. Secondly they show that in cases where there is a perception of having nothing left to lose, people risk everything they have, causing a reversal in the outcome pattern in a normal situation.     

How Children and Young People Influence Policy‐Makers: Lessons from Nicaragua

This article describes a participatory research project, which explored four case studies of children and young people's successful political advocacy in Nicaragua. The analysis combined a human rights‐based approach and a human development approach, and included concepts of multiple settings and levels, interrelated participation spaces, children and young people's citizenship, inclusion and exclusion, democracy, advocacy and empowerment. The main problems faced by children and young people seeking to influence policy‐makers were identified as adultism, dependency and lack of accountability. The research identified pre‐conditions, participation spaces and ways of organising for effective advocacy, and facilitation methods that had proved effective. It concludes that children and young people who achieve effective advocacy are generally self‐empowered, but can count on effective adult support and facilitation. They work through coordination with the authorities and not by clashing with them, but need to ensure effective follow up if they want politicians to keep their promises.     

Effects of long-term landscape dynamics and city growth on biodiversity in the Mediterranean: the case study of Montpellier,France

In the Mediterranean, long-term land-use changes have resulted into landscape mosaics composed of very few ancient woodland remnants scattered across extended post-agricultural woodlands. Patches of ancient woodlands are now suffering rapid urban growth that reduces their area and impact their associated biodiversity. Here we use the case study of Montpellier, one of the most dynamic cities in France, to 1) characterize temporal changes in land covers (between 1860 and 2006) in its area, and 2) using two guilds of fungal bioindicators (i.e., polypores and lichens), to compare biodiversity stakes between ancient and secondary Mediterranean woodlands. We used a combination of historical maps, archives, fungal collections and field survey in eight Quercus ilex patches (4 ancient versus 4 recent replicates) to reconstruct landscapes dynamics and assess biodiversity changes. From the 19th to the 21st century, over half (52.4%) of the ancient woodlands within Montpellier were replaced by other land covers, mainly by urban equipment, while secondary patches (16.8% of the total area) were naturally established. Remaining ancient woodlands show multi-layered vegetation made of multi-secular Pinus halepensis dominating a dynamic understorey made of Quercus ilex and various Mediterranean shrubs. Polypores, but not macrolichens, tended to differ in community composition between ancient and recent woodland patches, with the highest diversity found in ancient woodlands. This study highlights that urban woodland patches of contrasted histories harbour distinct biodiversity stakes to be included in urban planning and provide valuable areas to evaluate biodiversity patterns and dynamics.     

Exploring dialogic strategies in social media for fostering citizens’ interactions with Latin American local governments

Although the benefits of social media for enhancing citizens’ interactions with their local governments are well known in a more global context, few studies have focused on Latin America, or on the MERCOSUR countries in particular. This paper examines the use of dialogic strategies in the social media activities of local governments in MERCOSUR countries in order to generate citizens’ online engagement. Analysis of this question enhances our understanding of the use of social media by local governments in less developed countries and highlights the need for empirical evidence on the use of dialogic communication theory regarding stakeholder engagement with social media. The findings obtained reflect the positive influence of dialogic strategies on citizens’ online engagement, particularly those based on dialogic loop, useful information and generation of return visits, aimed at fostering participation via social media.     

Remittances and labour market outcomes: Evidence from Mexico

The effects of remittances on labour market outcomes have been studied by many researchers, primarily using micro‐level data. While a few studies have also used macro‐level data, they suffer from endogeneity bias due to the inclusion of remittances in their estimations. The present study attempts to fill the gap in the literature by using a set of panel data of Mexican states and by addressing the endogeneity bias with a system GMM (generalized method of moments) estimator. The main conclusions are that remittances increase labour force participation rates and reduce median hours worked, critical employment and unemployment duration.     

Linda Milbourne and Ursula Murray (Eds.): Civil Society Organizations in Turbulent Times: A Gilded Web?

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

Blurring the Lines Between Civil Society,Volunteering and Social Movements. A Reflection on Redrawing Boundaries Inspired by the Spanish Case

Citizen participation is manifested through various concepts, such as activism, social movements, volunteering or civil society. The different ways of understanding popular engagement are often separated by delimitations that define them, particularly volunteering and civic action, as two highly differentiated forms of participation in the distinct academic disciplines: political science, volunteering studies, social movement studies or civil society theory. This article considers whether this basic theoretical differentiation can be problematised in the Spanish political context by exploring four paradigmatic cases of popular engagement, using qualitative case study methodology, specifically, a historic case from the 1990s and three more recent cases. It is hoped that the results of the study—which differentiates between organisational hybridity and fuzziness—will encourage reflection on the traditional boundaries between different forms of popular engagement.