Cambodian youth managing expectations and uncertainties of the life course – a typology of biographical management

Globalising changes in recent decades have produced great impacts on young lives, and youth sociologists have been analysing how young people negotiate change and uncertainty in their lives. This article complements existing research by a case study on Cambodia, where young people have in recent years been charged to deal with drastic social changes but in social conditions different from the better known global North. By drawing on data from a study of young rural–urban migrant labour workers' and university students' life experiences and expectations in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, we systematically compare their sense making, action strategies and future orientation during their transition into working life. We present a theoretically informed but empirically grounded typology that illustrates three major modes of biographical management: entrepreneurial, traditional and situational, which are linked to different perceptions of uncertainty, future perspectives, action strategies, planning modes and resources available through the family, personal capacity and the larger sociocultural context. We conclude with critical remarks on the extent to which the fulfilment of Cambodian young people's hopes for a better life is shaped by broader social conditions and individual circumstances.     

Early retirement differences between Denmark and The Netherlands: A cross-national comparison of push and pull factors in two small European welfare states

The goal of this study is to give a comprehensive empirical account of push and pull factors, situated at various societal levels, which may influence people's early retirement. Factors in two contrasting European countries have been analysed and compared: Denmark, where the rate of early exit/retirement is relatively low, and The Netherlands, where this rate is relatively high. Our analysis, looking into possible explanations for the difference in rates, includes factors that operate at the macro or institutional level of the labour market and the social security system, at the meso level of firms and companies, and at the micro level of individual workers. In addition, we not only look into the effects of structural, objective factors, which impacts are usually analysed from an incentive perspective, but also into the effects of cultural factors, i.e. of preferences, attitudes and values. Cultural factors related to early exit have not been the object of much international comparison thus far, although their possible significance is readily acknowledged. The differences in retirement behaviour in Denmark and The Netherlands are explained by the fact that Danish workers, at all three levels, are less experiencing structural and cultural factors pushing them out of the labour market, as well as experiencing factors pulling them into retirement, compared to workers in The Netherlands.     

Significant Conversations or Reduced Relational Capacity? Exploring Couple and Family Therapists' Expectations for Including a Client Feedback Procedure

Little information exists on the specific reflective processes that precede therapists' choice of including or not including a structured feedback procedure in their established practice. In the present study, we aim to describe and explore experienced couple and family therapists' expectations for how the comprehensive therapy feedback procedure Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change might influence their practices. Through a thematic analysis of six focus group interviews, two main themes were elicited. The first main theme involved values embedded in current practice, with the following subthemes: (1) balance between the therapist's expert knowledge and the client's experience‐based knowledge; and (2) making time to build alliances. The second main theme concerned the presumed influence on current practice, with the following subthemes: (1) ‘Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change will disturb the therapist's capacity to stay present’; (2) ‘Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change will shape conversations’; and (3) ‘Systemic Therapy Inventory of Change will contribute to increased qualitative depth’. We discuss these results in relation to the notion of Systemic Therapy Invention of Change as a ‘third party in the room’. We also discuss the results in relation to implications for collaborative practices, and for client and therapist autonomy.     

Permutation tests — A revival?!

It is shown that permutation tests have optimum properties for interesting classes of continuous distributions as well as for discrete ones. General conditions sufficient for uniformly maximal power on subclasses are given. Moreover, a variety of examples is presented. Research supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) grant No. Schm 677/5-1     

Popular sovereignty and the historical origin of the social movement

This article seeks to explain why the social movement had its historical origin in the 1760s. It argues that the rise of the social movement as a particular form of political action was closely linked to a new interpretation of sovereignty that emerged within eighteenth century British politics. This interpretation, which drew inspiration from Jean-Jacques Rousseau??s social contract thinking, not only resonated with the radicalism of John Wilkes and his followers?? struggle to promote civil liberties to Englishmen of all classes, it also spurred a transformation of the repertoire of popular contention. The article traces the evolution of the concept of sovereignty in British political thought from the Restoration to the Wilkites and discusses how this evolution informed the contentious actions of the Wilkites as they formed the first mass movement to promote a specific political issue.     

Contributions of the German “Expression Psychology” to nonverbal communication research

An attempt is made to survey research on nonverbal behavior performed by German speaking Expression Psychologists. In this first part of a series of articles (other parts will cover research on facial expression, body movement, and speech and voice) theories and concepts of this nearly unknown branch of psychology are reviewed and discussed. Topics include the nature of expressive behavior, the relation between states/traits and expressive behavior, and the perception of expressive behavior.... we should now concentrate on searching for new avenues of approach, particularly in the study of human social communication, without worrying too much about rigid conformity with the canons of experimental respectability. We need more ideas, not more experiments; any provocative theory would be preferable to the inductive collecting of bits and pieces that has become our respectable habit. (Israel & Tajfel, 1972, p. 4)Editor's Note: The subsequent three parts of this series, to be published in consecutive issues of theJournal, further explore this area of theory and research often little known to American psychologists. Comments and contributions about the series are welcomed.     

‘The whole is always smaller than its parts’ – a digital test of Gabriel Tardes' monads

In this paper we argue that the new availability of digital data sets allows one to revisit Gabriel Tarde's (1843–1904) social theory that entirely dispensed with using notions such as individual or society. Our argument is that when it was impossible, cumbersome or simply slow to assemble and to navigate through the masses of information on particular items, it made sense to treat data about social connections by defining two levels: one for the element, the other for the aggregates. But once we have the experience of following individuals through their connections (which is often the case with profiles) it might be more rewarding to begin navigating datasets without making the distinction between the level of individual component and that of aggregated structure. It becomes possible to give some credibility to Tarde's strange notion of ‘monads’. We claim that it is just this sort of navigational practice that is now made possible by digitally available databases and that such a practice could modify social theory if we could visualize this new type of exploration in a coherent way.