Perceptions of the processes of radicalisation and de-radicalisation among British South Asian Muslims in a post-industrial city

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study exploring the perceptions of British South Asian Muslims in relation to the pathways towards radicalisation and the challenges of community leadership in relation to de-radicalisation. The study is based on in-depth interviews, using an ethnographic methodological framework, with a purposive sample of 30 Muslim men and women, including senior political figures, community leaders, religious figures and young Muslims (aged 18–25) from across the city of Birmingham, UK. The fieldwork was carried out between September 2005 and May 2007. Respondents reflected a general perspective that regards social exclusion, Islamophobia, lack of effective theological and political leadership, regressive anti-terror law and geo-political events as principal factors in the radicalisation and the de-radicalisation of British Muslims. These findings provide important insights into Muslims in Britain in relation to questions of ‘radicalism’ and politics, and they have specific implications for research, policy and practice in this area.     

Association Models for Multi-Dimensional Cross-Classifications of Ordinal Variables

Models are formulated for describing associations among ordinal variables in multidimensional tables.Uniform association and uniform interaction models occur as special cases in which equal-interval scores are assigned to levels of the variables.The models described are extensions of ones proposed by Goodman (1979).     

Objective Bayesian Analysis for Log-logistic Distribution

In this article, Bayesian approach is applied to estimate the parameters of Log-logistic distribution under reference prior and Jeffreys’ prior. The reference prior is derived and it is found that the reference prior is also a second-order matching priors as for the case of any parameter of interest. The Bayesian estimators cannot be obtained in explicit forms. Metropolis within Gibbs sampling algorithm is used to obtain the Bayesian estimators. The Bayesian estimates are compared with the maximum likelihood estimates via simulation study. A real dataset is considered for illustrative purposes.     

Deciphering the modern Janus: societal multiplicity and nation-formation

ABSTRACT

How to theorize the nation’s Janus-like form, its simultaneous modernity and antiquity? This paper provides an original answer to this longstanding question. It argues that nations arise from the interaction of ‘societal multiplicity’ and the expansionist tendency of historical capitalism. The emergence of capitalism super-adds a modern inflection to the inherently relational process of collective identity formation by generating modern sovereignty as an abstract form of rule. Crucially however, just like its emergence, capitalism’s expansion also refracts through societal multiplicity. Non-capitalist societies are therefore pressured into ‘nationalist’ projects of emulative self-preservation in which the nation’s political form (i.e. the sovereign state) is forged before its sociological content (i.e. primitive accumulation). Thus, the original site of this process, France, produced the modular nation-form that unlike Britain’s imperial nationhood could be globalized. The paper therefore shows that IR’s premise of multiplicity may be the key to one of social sciences’ most enduring puzzles.     

An Evaluation of Progress Toward European Monetary Union Using Fuzzy Analysis

European Monetary Union (EMU) is scheduled to commence by the end of the century. Currently, Europeans are engaged in a grand debate over EMU. The controversy is not only over the timetable and stringency of criteria for macroeconomic convergence between member countries, but also over the desirability of the whole EMU enterprise. The European Union (EU) has three choices, to abandon the idea of EMU and opt for independent national monetary policy for each member, to venture the unknown by adopting the EMU regardless of the conditions of its members, or to measure and monitor the fulfillment of EMU preconditions carefully and take the final step when there is a consensus that convergence is reasonably attained. Our paper is a contribution to a systematic quantification and measurement of the fulfillment of the EMU preconditions. We provide a general framework for policy evaluation based on fuzzy logic. We use fuzzy analysis to assess the degree to which each goal is attained, to evaluate the performance of different countries, and to determine the overall progress of the EU in meeting the Maastricht criteria.     

Convergence on the two-child family norm in Australia

This paper examines childbearing patterns of ever-married women in Australia and establishes that during the process of fertility transition from high to low levels which largely began after 1971, significant changes occurred in the timing of the first birth after marriage, the length of the first and inter-birth intervals and the proportion of women progressing to have a first birth or births beyond the second. The analysis also confirms the predominance of the twochild family norm and shows the emergence of a converging trend on that family norm. The study applies the life tables technique to the marriage and birth history data collected in the Family Formation Survey conducted by the ABS in September 1986.     

The abs population projections: Overview and evaluation

The paper provides a brief history of the ABS projection services in the context of its role as the central statistical agency in Australia. It also presents an overview of the methodology used for generating the projections and details the procedures used for compiling the various components of change incorporated in the projections. The accuracy of the ABS past projections is assessed by comparing their results, both at the national and state/territory levels, with corresponding estimated resident population figures. The paper also describes the range of projection services currently provided by the ABS, lists present unmet needs and indicates some of the developments likely to occur in the future in satisfying unmet demand, consolidation of existing services and dissemination of output.