Mobilizing Gender to Promote Peace: The Case of Machsom Watch

The binary model that presents women as peaceful and men as warfaring is a common conception of war and peace. Despite increasing levels of gender equality in most spheres of public life and decreasing gender segregation in institutions in many parts of the world, the associational link of men to war and women to peace remains widespread. Focusing on the Israeli women??s peace organization, Machsom Watch, this article uses a content analysis of interactions between Machsom Watch activists, soldiers and Palestinians to examine how gendered political opportunity structures affect and are affected by interactions between individuals, organizations and institutions. The paper highlights the contradiction between Machsom Watch??s form as a women-only organization and their framing and report language, which is non-gender specific. I argue that this contradiction emerges from their strategic negotiation of the gendered political opportunity structure as well as their culturally bounded experiences of gendered interactions and embodied gender norms. More generally, I argue that by understanding political opportunity structures as being bound by cultural norms that create distinct sets of opportunities and constraints for different groups of people, scholars can better understand the particular manifestation of social movement action and thereby more fully account for human agency in social and political structures. Additionally, this paper encourages social movement scholars to understand social movement framing as both a product of political opportunities and constraints as well as an influence in the formation of the political opportunity structure.     

Books received

A Wider Perspective Needed Avraham Greenbaum (ed.), Minority Problems in Eastern Europe Between the World Wars, with Emphasis on the Jewish Minority, introduced by Edward Allworth, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Advanced Studies. Jerusalem, 1988. pp.viii, 163.

The Jokes of Oppression David A. Harris and Izrail Rabinovich, The Jokes of Oppression: The Humour of Soviet Jews. Northvale, NJ and London: Jason Aronson, 1988. 275pp. $22.50.

A Pleasant Surprise Franti?ek Mi?eje, Revolu?nou Cestou. Spomienky na roky 1938–1948 (On the Path of Revolution: Reminiscences of the Years 1938–1948.) Bratislava: Pravda publishers on behalf of the Institute of Marxism‐Leninism of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovakia, 1988. 232 pp. Illus. Bibl. Index. Kcs 19.00.     

Hindsight,foresight and insight: The challenges of longitudinal qualitative research

This paper describes a UK based longitudinal qualitative study following approximately 100 young people over 9 years. It provides an overview of the research design, methods of data collection and analysis as well as reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of the strategies employed. We focus on the value of a devolved research design, complementary cross-section and temporal analytic approaches and the effects of being involved in a longitudinal study on researchers and participants. The paper aims to contribute to a growing understanding of the practical, ethical and epistemological challenges presented by longitudinal qualitative methods, and highlights those challenges that are specific to this method as well as those which are amplified by this kind of approach.     

Associations among Maternal Behavior,Delay of Gratification,and School Readiness across the Early Childhood Years

This study examined the developmental pathways from maternal behavior to school readiness within a sample of 1007 children, with a specific focus on the mediating role of delay of gratification (DoG). Maternal behavior across the first 36 months of age was explored as a predictor of children's DoG at 54 months as well as their behavioral and academic competence in kindergarten. Results support sensitivity as a predictor of children's DoG and indicate significant associations between DoG and teacher‐reported externalizing behavior, social skills, and academic skills. Moreover, DoG partially mediated the associations between maternal sensitivity and school readiness skills, with the highest percentage of mediation reported for social skills. Findings indicate maternal sensitivity and DoG as potential targets for efforts aimed at enhancing school readiness among young children.     

A Reply to Gambino's "An Epidemiologic Note on Verification Bias: Implications for Estimation of Rates"

While two-stage designs in problem gambling research are expensive and relatively difficult to execute, they have the potential to yield more accurate prevalence estimates as well as valuable additional information about gambling and problem gambling in the community. However, gains in precision are heavily dependent on the accuracy of the screening methods used and the sample sizes involved. Sound practice requires reliable information about the variances and confidence levels associated with different screens. In the spirit of contributing to the ongoing dialog about ways to improve the measurement of problem gambling, we examine several reasons to question whether the revised estimates offered by Gambino are in fact an improvement.     

The potential of the SSI program to reduce poverty among the elderly

Is it more effective to reduce poverty among the elderly by increasing the benefits paid by the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program or by increasing eligibility for the program? This paper answers that question from a policymaker's perspective. At given program cost levels, we compare the potential reduction in poverty from increasing benefit levels to the potential reduction associated with a variety of policy proposals that would increase eligibility for the program. This paper employs a microsimulation model containing an eligibility and benefits calculator, a participation model, and an optimization algorithm. The data are from the Survey of Income and Program Participation supplemented by the administrative records of the SSI program. The results show that increasing eligibility by relaxing the restrictions of the means tests can be more effective in reducing poverty than raising benefit levels.