Who are the active and central actors in the ‘rising civil society’ in Mexico?

The debate about the rise of civil society in Mexico suggests that the processes of political and economic liberalization are multiple and uneven and, thus, have different and contradictory effects on different social groups. This study takes such arguments into account and examines the nature of collective identities and social networks that are more likely to be mobilized in the rising civil society. Who, with what types of social networks and identities, are the active actors in this rising civil society in Mexico? This study also attempts to identify the central actors who take an active part in multi-sector coalitions. As such a broad coalition often leaves profound effects on politics and society, it is vital to ask which actors are likely to take an important step toward multi-sector coalition making. Using a catalog of 1797 protest campaigns collected from three Mexican newspapers between 1964 and 2000, event frequency analysis is employed to find active actors and social network analysis – blockmodel method and degree centrality measure – is applied to uncover central actors. The analyses reveal that while workers, peasants, or students continue to be very active, the centrality of these actors in contentious networks and coalitions has not increased. New central actors in the rising civil society turn out to be civic associations and NGOs formed around single issues, such as environment, retirement, and human rights. When a multi-sector coalition occurs in contemporary Mexico, NGOs and civic associations are likely to play a crucial role in it.     

Does Higher Education Cause Religious Decline?: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Within‐ and Between‐Person Effects of Higher Education on Religiosity

Although there is ample empirical evidence of the associations between higher education and various aspects of religiosity, the causal mechanisms producing these associations remain unclear. I use four waves of longitudinal data, with respondents ranging in age from 13 to 29, to model the within‐ and between‐person effects of higher education on several measures of religiosity. The results show that earning a bachelor's degree is associated with within‐person declines in some but not all measured aspects of religiosity, which partially supports the argument that higher education causes religious decline. The results also suggest that those predisposed to attending religious services self‐select into higher education, that relatively religious youth in general self‐select into nonelite colleges, and that those with low levels of religious belief self‐select into elite universities. These findings further understanding of the associations between social class and religion, particularly the causal effects of higher education.     

Whatever Happened to Drama? A Configurational–Comparative Analysis of Genre Trajectory in American Cinema, 1946–2013

Although usually conceived of and studied as individual types, genres are frequently combined in practice. This research examines how genres are combined in popular American films, and how the popularity of particular combinations changed between 1946 and 2013. Distinguishing between “contextual genres” (which identify a film's subject matter) and “affective genres” (which identify a film's intent), we find marked differences between the postwar and blockbuster eras of the Hollywood film industry. The blockbuster era exhibits less generic diversity than the earlier postwar era. Furthermore, the popular postwar‐era films dealt with serious subjects and were set in realistic settings. The blockbuster era replaced these with intense, nonrealistic films. We also find that the relationship between contextual and affective genres changes within industry eras, with affective genres dominating at the beginning of new periods and the popularity of contextual genres growing as the period progresses.     

Pure Gold for Broken Bodies: Discursive Techniques Constructing Milk Banking and Peer Milk Sharing in U.S. News

Technological advances provide increased ability to transfer human tissues—blood, organs, milk—from one body to another. This article analyzes mechanisms of reality construction in U.S. news to construct shared human breast milk. Articles used typifications and human interest stories to convey participants as victims, lay heroes, and villains. Milk banking was portrayed as institutionally integrated through associations, expert testimonies, and formalized procedures, making banked milk “pure gold.” Peer sharing was portrayed as institutionally opposed through institutional warnings, expert testimonies, informal procedures, and hypothetical atrocities, making peer milk “fool's gold.” Findings suggest that “biovalue” of human milk is interconnected with institutional processing.     

计算机软件终端用户许可协议的内容成分探析

计算机软件终端用户许可协议(“许可协议”)是许可方与终端用户之间针对具体软件的使用达成的法律文件?国际上的许可协议具有一定的模式特征? 通过分层抽样分析,研究发现,英文软件许可协议文本长度差别很大,有 16 个内容模块比较常见,包括引言?术语定义?常规使用?服务器使用?备份制作?权利转让?知识产权?使用限制?合规性检验?联网与隐私?担保及责任?出口限制?适用法律?争端解决?特别条款?一般规定等?对每个模块在样本中的出现频率进行了统计分析,并对其中 12 个核心模块进行了述评,以期为软件设计者和终端用户提供借鉴?     

Discourses of service user involvement in meeting places in Norwegian community mental health care: a discourse analysis of staff accounts

In previous research, meeting places have been favourably addressed by service users, but they have also been contested as exclusionary. In this participatory explorative study, we sought to perform a contextual analysis of meeting places in Norway based on a discourse analysis of three focus group discussions with 15 staff members. We asked the following question: how do meeting-place employees discuss their concrete and abstract encounters with service users and their experiences? We focused on service user involvement, which was largely analysed as neoliberal consultation and responsibilisation. Service users were positioned as resisting responsibility trickling down and defending staffed meeting places. Social democratic discourse was identified in the gaps of neoliberal discourse, which is noteworthy given that Norway is a social democracy. This relates to global concerns about displacements of democracy. We suggest that meeting places appear to hold the potential for staff and service users to collaborate more democratically.     

吐鲁番阿斯塔那—哈拉和卓古墓群出土古纸研究

为研究新疆古代的纸和造纸工艺,本文采用外观观察和纤维分析等方法,鉴定了一批吐鲁番哈拉和卓古墓群出土的古纸,其年代处于东晋到唐代之间。分析表明,这些纸张的原料主要是苎麻、大麻和构皮,纸张的生产方法有浇纸法造纸和抄纸法造纸两种,加工方法有单面施胶、双面施胶、浆内施胶加填、染色技艺等多种方法,说明当时加工纸技术已普遍应用于新疆的各种纸张。本文对研究纸和造纸法在新疆地区的流传有一定的意义。     

Looking for homogeneous groups of respondents and nonrespondents using latent class analysis

Concerns about decreasing response rates have led to many nonresponse studies. Unfortunately, usually only a limited amount of data is available on nonrespondents. Linking administrative data makes information available on all the sampled units including nonrespondents. Statistics Netherlands has constructed a database in which several administrative records and several surveys are connected. In this explorative study we use this dataset to look for homogenous groups of respondents and nonrespondents in survey research using latent class cluster analysis. Latent class techniques can provide insight into the problem of selective nonresponse and currently under-represented societal groups. We identify four different latent classes in a recent Dutch survey and replicate the findings for the same survey conducted 4 years later. Two of the types of sampled units have above-average response rates and the other two have below-average response rates. We also evaluate various latent class models with other response outcomes to gain insight into the contact and cooperation process.     

The source of Black-White inequality in early language acquisition: Evidence from Early Head Start

I compare language learning trajectories for Black and White children over the first 3 years of life using data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation study (EHSRE) in order to determine the timing and source of divergence in early language skill. Results indicate that that while controlling for racial differences in family background and a measure of the home language environment cannot entirely account for disparities in language acquisition, interactions between age, race and maternal education, and between race and a time-varying measure of the home language environment play a significant role. I show that returns to parental education and the home language environment, in terms of language learning, are higher for White children than their Black peers. Specification checks confirm that these results are robust to alternate definitions of child language and the home language environment, and that no interactions between race, age and any of the other covariates are significant. I discuss possible explanations for these race specific education gradients, including measurement error and test bias. In addition, I address relevant empirical issues in estimating language growth with respect to linguistic inputs and the home language environment.     

“史学二陈”及其学术精神

陈垣和陈寅恪合称“史学二陈”.这一称谓产生于1950年代初.而“二陈”现象形成于20世纪二三十年代.“二陈”在学术上均重视目录学、年代学,善以文字学治史,均在宗教史、蒙元史、明清史方面有重要建树,不仅在史学研究方面有诸多相同点,又相互交流,商榷学术,彼此影响.晚年在政治思想上虽有异趣,但在学术上追求“实事求是”的目标是一致的,殊途同归.“史学二陈”是20世纪中国学术史上最具魅力的现象之一,宜用学术眼光解读这一现象.