"Coloured Power" or "Coloured Bourgeoisie"? Political Attitudes among South African Coloureds

Why have Coloureds in South Africa—people of mixed racialdescent—voiced less opposition to white minority rulethan have black Africans? A theoretical analysis suggests thatColoureds feel both "relatively deprived" in comparison withwhites and "relatively gratified" in comparison with Africans,that they believe they may eventually be accepted by whites,and that individually they have difficulty identifying withthe broader Coloured community; in short, seemingly ideal conditionsfor the emergence of a "Coloured Bourgeoisie" rather than a"Coloured Power" ideology.     

The Consequences of Objective and Subjective Status Inconsistency*

The phenomenon of status inconsisitency, while having rich potential as an explanatory variable, has been beset with methodological problems and conflicting findings. Nelson has argued that the use of objective and subjective components of status inconsistency will allow for a more accurate test of its usefulness (1973). The present study, using a sample of 1971 male college graduates interviewed in 1974, analyzed the attitudinal and behavioral consequences of one type of status inconsistency (under-rewarded) incorporating objective and subjective techniques. The tentative conclusions were: (1) the use of subjective measures of inconsistency validates this phenomenon as an explanatory variable; (2) the use of subjective measures minimizes the methodological criticisms of the objective approach; and (3) both objective and subjective measures of status inconsistency should be incorporated in future research.     

The effect of strikes on shareholder returns

Relationships between labor disputes and shareholder wealth are examined through analysis of 91 strikes between 1951 and 1973. Stock market reactions to strikes of different durations are analyzed through a market model methodology. Different market adjustments are found for short, intermediate, and long duration strikes. Shareholder returns prior to strikes are below market returns for firms in the short strike category, approximately equal to the market returns for firms in the short strike category, approximately equal to the market for firms in the intermediate strike duration category, and above the market for firms in the long strike category. After strikes, shareholder returns decline for firms in the short and long strike duration categories.     

Acomparison between Northern and Southern blacks residing in the North

Differences between Southern and non-Southern blacks living in the North and West are considered for a wide variety of attributes such as employment, occupation, income, marital stability, and offspring's performance in school. Migrant blacks have generally more favorable rates than their Northern- and Western-born compatriots after standard domographic controls are applied to an unusually detailed set of cross-tabulations based on the One-Percent Sample Tapes for 1960. Perhaps the sharpest gap exists with respect to marital conditions; Southern blacks of both sexes are more likely to marry and, among those ever married, live more frequently with their spouses. Some of the results reported by earlier investigators require considerable modification; For example, the fact that Northern black men are less often at work than migrants has led to speculations about regional differences in work orientation among blacks, but a detailed analysis of labor force activity indicates this pattern does not hold for women. Likewise, the migrant income advantage is found to vary by education such that it is confined to those with low educational attainment. The use of sample tapes permits a novel analysis of differences between Northern-born blacks classified by whether they are second or at least third generation residents of the North (children of Southern- or Northern-born parents, respectively). For the attribute measured, school performance, the gap is essentially nil. Finally, an alternative is suggested to the existing causal interpretations of North-South gaps among black residents of the North. Reconsidered in particular are the higher labor force rates of migrant men and their more frequent employment in blue collar jobs;     

The prospects for sociology into the twenty-first century

In contrast to the malaise that Collins (1986), characterized for sociology of the 1980s, I argue that the future for sociology and sociologists is bright. There are three structural changes that lead to my optimism. First, the professoriate is changing from one that has been overwhelmingly white, male, and tenured, to one that will become younger and more diverse by gender and race. Second, the fiscal crisis of the state will limit monies for funded research, which will lead to more critical and more qualitative research. Third, societal and global changes will present sociologists with unprecedented opportunities. Globally, three momentous historical turning points present sociologists with incredible opportunities: (a) the shift to a post cold war era; (b) the ecological crises threatening the worlds’s ecosystem; and (c) the transformation of the economy. Within the United States, there are many contemporary trends with considerable sociological relevance: the aging of the baby boom; the increasing proportion of the elderly; the growing racial/ethnic diversity; the regional shifts as the frost belt loses population, resources, and power, while the sun belt gains; and the growing urban underclass that is being left further and further behind. In short, the next two decades or so will present sociologists with exciting opportunities and challenges.     

Continuous Violent Conflict as a System of Authority*

This paper analyzes how authority can be maintained by structuring reality through continuous violent conflict. Using Lewis Coser's reformulation of Simmel's propositions on fostering continuous conflict as a raison d'être in sect-like struggle groups as a general frame of analysis, the Stalinist case is then examined in order to evaluate systematically these propositions in a societal context and to specify the morphology of violence as a method of conflict. By examining a societal context, it is noted that instability in the social structure not only can be a condition for the legitimacy of a problematic political leadership and system, but also simultaneously be a consequence of a form of preventive punitive sanctioning, whereby potential threats, both persons and alternative courses of action, are eliminated before they become present dangers. In turn, an official definition of reality, justifying leadership and system, is constructed through the public documentation of a conspiracy, which employs invented categories to demonstrate ideological continuity and fabricates pseudo events to demonstrate indispensability in fulfilling necessary functions. This public documentation of a conspiracy is then used as a facade for a larger plan of social prophylaxis that implicates the public as well as the police in ferreting out tangible and visible enemies to till the invented categories in the pseudo events. As public complicity conjoins with the official definition of reality, commitment to the leadership and system is acquired.     

Chemistry of growth medium and leachate from green roof systems in south-central Texas

Installation of intensive and extensive green roofs is becoming popular for reducing runoff from impervious surfaces in many cities around the world. Most studies on runoff quality from green roofs have been conducted in cooler northern climates. We examined the losses and gains of nutrients, cations and selected anions in planted and unplanted growth medium and compared these to initial growth medium (IGM) typically used for green roof modules in south-central Texas. Water extracts of growth medium and leachate from three replicates of unplanted growth medium and three planted species (Sedum kamtschaticum, Delosperma cooperi and Talinum calycinum) were examined. During the first 6 months after establishment we observed high losses of nitrate (25 to 44 mg kg⁻¹), dissolved organic carbon (DOC: 155 to 190 mg kg⁻¹) and nitrogen (DON: 9.0 to 11.2 mg kg⁻¹) and orthophosphate-P (1 to 2 mg kg⁻¹). Average leachate concentrations based on four rain events 6 months after establishment ranged from 0.3 to 6.6 mg L⁻¹ in planted modules and 6.3 mg L⁻¹ in unplanted modules for nitrate-N, 38 to 42 mg L⁻¹ in planted modules and 32 mg L⁻¹ in unplanted modules for DOC, 2.1 to 3.1 mg L⁻¹ in planted modules and 2.1 mg L⁻¹ in unplanted modules for DON and 0.27 to 0.37 mg L⁻¹ in planted modules and 0.40 mg L⁻¹ in unplanted modules for orthophosphate-P. We suggest that after the establishment of green roofs, leachate losses may contribute some runoff concentrations of nitrogen, carbon and phosphorous in urban areas.