“But I’m not a racist!” Phenomenology,racism, and the body schema in white,pre-service teacher education

In this article, I call for a phenomenological turn in educating white, pre-service teachers. As opposed to dominant pedagogical models which focus on changing one’s beliefs about race, phenomenology points toward the importance of pre-conceptual, pre-critical forms of racial embodiment. Here I draw upon recent work on the different between body image (beliefs about the body) and body schema (what the body can do). The worry is that existing forms of anti-oppressive education miss the centrality of the schema, and thus do not go far enough in uncovering the embodied, perceptual roots of racism.     

Making Implementation More Democratic through Action Implementation Research

Public administration scholars often associate increased publicparticipation in policy implementation with the advancementof democratic values. Likewise, scholars engaged in the variousforms of action research (AR) promote their efforts as a meansto democratizing the research process or contributing to improvedsocial outcomes. Despite these common interests in participationand democracy, there have been few attempts to apply AR methodsto policy implementation problems. Drawing on Matland's conflict-ambiguitymatrix, we develop a framework for matching particular AR methodsto specific policy implementation contexts.     

AFFECTIVE RESPONSES WITHIN A COMPLEX DECISION-MAKING TASK: THE INFLUENCE OF “PERCEPTUALLY” ILL-STRUCTURED PROBLEMS

The perceptual effects of varying levels of expert advice for potentially improving on strategic decisions were examined in conjunction with goals. The amounts of advice about decision alternatives, as well as assigned goals ranging from “nearly impossible” to “easy,” were manipulated. The task used was complex and functioned perceptually as an “ill-structured” problem. Mixed results indicated that more advice significantly affected satisfaction but advice in general had little influence on effort. On the other hand, as goal difficulty decreased, satisfaction and effort significantly increased. Easy goals were superior to more difficult ones within this perceptually ill-structured decision-making situation.     

Graphic Feedback,Performance Feedback,and Goal Setting Increased Staff Compliance With a Data Collection Task at a Large Residential Facility

Because of budgetary constraints, human service organizations frequently expect consultants to recommend methods to enhance staff performance that require little or no additional funding. The current study utilized a multiple baseline across settings design to evaluate and compare the effects of a single intervention and a packaged intervention including graphic feedback and goal setting on approximately 200 direct care staff as a group, to improve the data collection procedure at a residential treatment facility. The single intervention showed some improvement, whereas the packaged intervention yielded substantial improvements and was maintained.     

RACIALIZING CULTURE IS ORDINARY1

This article engages a discussion of Raymond Williams claim that culture is ordinary to explore some of the ways in which racializing culture is embedded in everyday interactions and processes of identification that found subjectivity. It argues that there is a pressing need for social policy analysts to come to grips with the mechanisms through which ‘culture’ comes to be racialized and an object/subject of governance and suggests that current, high-profile articulations of the ‘problems’ of multiculturalism, profoundly hinder such a development.     

The role of relationships in labor markets for the popular arts and its impact on product quality

While utilizing social networks is common in labor markets and may benefit both firms and laborers, social networks are argued to be unusually important in the popular arts. Prior work in economics on the role of relationships in labor markets has generally focused on the benefits and not the costs. This paper takes a different approach by focusing on both costs and benefits, by examining a specific market where relationships are particularly important. This paper argues that in addition to reducing diversity and creating inherent inequalities, excessive reliance on networks can lead to higher agency costs and lower product quality.     

Serials Review Index

Abstract

The editors scan approximately 120 journals in all disciplines for reviews of serial publications. Journals published since July 2000 were monitored for this installment of Serials Review Index. Suggestions for journals to be included in future columns are welcome. Serials Review 2002; 28:232–239.