Masculinity and Class in the Context of Dirty Work

Through an ethnographic study of ‘dirty work’ (refuse collection and street cleaning), this article explores how masculinity and class intersect — how, in a mutually constitutive sense, they produce attitudes and practices, strengths and vulnerabilities, which are shaped by shifting relations of privilege and power. We find resistance to class subordination through adherence to traditional forms of masculinity and through esteem‐enhancing social comparison (e.g., with women; with migrant workers). Men also mobilized powerful nostalgic themes around the loss of traditional jobs as well as trade union power. We argue that displays of masculine resilience in the face of devaluation are less indicative of a culture of masculine dominance but more an expression of vulnerability and social dislocation, serving both as a source of resistance whilst simultaneously reinforcing anchors of social disadvantage that characterize forms of dirty work. We suggest that combining social comparison with intersectionality can potentially highlight how categories of difference are strategically deployed in response to varied and unequally valued social positionalities.     

Parental transfers and the labor supply of children

To finance their personal consumption, children may rely on transfers in the form of pocket money made by their parents and on personal resources earned from labor market activities. In this paper that focuses on the interaction between these two sources of income, we consider a model of parental transfer where the child can choose his own income through labor supply. The parent commits to a transfer amount that the child takes as given. For our empirical analysis, we use a cross-sectional French survey that includes detailed information about pocket money from parents to schoolchildren. Using a maximum-likelihood method, we estimate a simultaneous-equations model and find that parental transfers do not significantly influence the child's labor supply.     

Innovation Propensity in the EU Candidate Countries

Innovation activities in transition economies generally lag behind developed economies. This is also the case in the latest group of EU candidate countries whose innovation performance lags behind EU-27 average. In this paper we analyze the innovation propensity of firms in EU candidate countries (Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey). The analysis relies on the Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS 2009) data. By employing probit model we have identified determinants of innovation propensity in analyzed countries. The results point to external factors such as the subsidies, customer pressure to innovate, obstacles from high tax burdens, political instability and inadequate education of workforce as significant positive predictors. Based on the results, few innovation policy recommendations are proposed.     

A parallel multi-population genetic algorithm for a constrained two-dimensional orthogonal packing problem

This paper addresses a constrained two-dimensional (2D), non-guillotine restricted, packing problem, where a fixed set of small rectangles has to be placed into a larger stock rectangle so as to maximize the value of the rectangles packed. The algorithm we propose hybridizes a novel placement procedure with a genetic algorithm based on random keys. We propose also a new fitness function to drive the optimization. The approach is tested on a set of instances taken from the literature and compared with other approaches. The experimental results validate the quality of the solutions and the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.     

Compensation for What? An Analysis of Insurance Strategies for Repairable Assets

We define a repairable asset as an irreplaceable commodity whose quality is at risk, but can be partly restored at a cost. Examples are houses, automobiles and, especially, health, for which standard monetary approaches are oversimplified. To optimize the value of insurance, the insurer and the insured have to agree upon repair strategies (when to fix the asset and how much) and compensation rules (how much money to receive for other goods). We clarify the role of the consumer's preferences in the properties of the contract, and we highlight the relationship between repair strategies and the super- or submodular structure of the repair technology.     

Effects of government policies on the work of home care personnel and their occupational health and safety

The health sector in Québec (Canada) is dealing with profound macro-economic and macro-organizational changes. This article is interested in the impact of these changes on the work of home health aides (HHAs) and home care nurses and their occupational health and safety (OHS). The study was carried out in the home care services (HCS) of four local community service centres (CLSC) with different organizational characteristics. It is based on an analysis by triangulation of 66 individual and group interviews, 22 observed workdays and 35 observed multidisciplinary or professional meetings, as well as on administrative documents. HHAs are experiencing an erosion of their job because the relational and affective aspects of their work are disappearing. This may be due to an increase in their physical workload, leading to an increase in musculoskeletal problems and, to a lesser extent, in psychological health problems. Nurses are seeing an increase in the volume of invisible work that they have to do, which also has the effect of decreasing the relational aspects of their activity. The increasingly numerous psychological health problems are the consequence of this change in their profession. This study also shows that managers' decisions at the local level can reduce or increase the work constraints of HHAs and nurses. Examples of good practices for HHAs are the stabilization of clienteles and the possibility of organizing their itinerary, while for nurses, it is in how clientele follow-up tools are implemented. This article discusses the effects of government policies and decisions on the work and OHS of home care personnel. To address this subject, we use a specific analysis of the workload of home health aides (HHAs) and nurses. We will show the relationships between managers' organizational choices to respond to governmental constraints and the resulting work changes. We will also look at their consequences on occupational health and safety (OHS) and on the work of different personnel.     

Mild Intellectual Disability Associated with a Progeny of Father-Daughter Incest: Genetic and Environmental Considerations

We report the case of a 34-year-old female resulting from a father-daughter sexual abuse and presenting a phenotype of mild intellectual disability with minor dysmorphic features. Karyotyping showed a normal 46, XX constitution. Array-based comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH) revealed a heterozygote 320kb 6p22.3 microdeletion in the proband, encompassing only one known gene, and therefore unlikely to be the cause of the phenotype. However, the role of other genetic factors, such as a recessive condition, could not be ruled out as a putative cause for the phenotype. On the other hand, the role played by a heavily detrimental familial situation on the development and outcome, and possibly leading or contributing to a mild intellectual disability, should be taken into account.     

Materials relating to east European Jewish history and culture in the archives of the former Soviet Union

YOM KIPPLTR AND AFTER

YOM KIPPUR AND AFTER. THE SOVIET UNION AND THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS, by Galia Golan. London, Cambridge University Press, 1977. ix + 350 pp. Index. £9.00

LITERARY PORTRAITS OF A BYGONE AGE

OCHERKI I PORTRETY. STAT'I O EVREYSKIKH PISATELYAKH (Essays and Portraits. Articles on Yiddish Writers), by G. Remenik. Moscow, Sovetsky pisatel, 1975. 422 pp.

MARXISM AND RELIGION: THE STRUGGLE FOR MAN'S SOUL

MARXISM AND RELIGION IN EASTERN EUROPE. Papers presented at the Banff International Slavic Conference, September 4–7, 1974, ed. by R. T. de George and J. P. Scanlan. Dordrecht — Holland; Boston — USA, Reidel, 1976. xvi + 181 pp. Index. (Sovietica 36.) Dfl. 70.00, US $27.00.

ANTIRELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA IN THE SOVIET UNION. A STUDY OF MASS PERSUASION, by David E. Powell. Cambridge, Mass.; London, England, MIT Press, 1975. xi + 206 pp. Illus. Appendices. Bibl. Index. £13.75.

EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE WARSAW GHETTO

LUDZIE Z DZIELNICY ZAMKNIETEJ. ZYDZI W WARSZAWIE W OKRESIE HITLEROWSKIEJ OKUPACJI, PAZDZIERNIK 1939‐MARZEC 1943 (People in the Quarter. Jews in Warsaw During the Nazi Occupation, October 1939‐March 1943?), by Ruta Sakowska. Warsaw, PWN for the Jewish Historical Institute in Poland, 1975. 399 pp. Illus.

A SLANTED HISTORY OF POLISH COMMUNISM

THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF POLAND (Second Edition), by M. K. Dziewanowski. London, 1976. 419 pp. Index. £10.50.     

What Coy Smiles Say About Positive Shyness in Early Infancy

Positive shyness is a universal emotion with the specific social function of regulating our interactions by improving trust and liking, and showing politeness. The present study examined early infant production of coy smiles during social interactions as a measure of positive shy behavior. Eighty 4‐month‐olds were experimentally observed during three types of interactions in front of a mirror in which (1) the infant only sees him or herself, (2) the infant only sees the other person (mother, father, or stranger), and (3) the infant sees both him or herself and the other person. Infants produced more coy smiles during the interaction with a stranger than during the interactions with their mother or their father, or when they could see only themselves in front of a mirror. Infants also produced more coy smiles when they could see their self‐reflection during the interaction than when they could not. Our results support the assumption that coy smiles indicate an early emerging emotional reaction with an important adaptive function during social situations involving novel persons and when special attention is given to the child.