Gender mainstreaming and evaluation in the EU: comparative perspectives from feminist institutionalism

This article presents a focused comparative analysis of the institutionalization of two governance practices in the European Commission that levy distinct challenges to the gender status quo: gender mainstreaming (which overtly challenges gender bias) and evaluation (which does not have explicit feminist aspirations). With reference to five dimensions, we identify evaluation as relatively strongly institutionalized, and gender mainstreaming as relatively weakly institutionalized. We draw on the explanatory power of feminist institutionalism to unpack these findings, arguing that a feminist institutional perspective can shed light on this variation, as it provides greater insight into the formal and informal institutions that constrain, enable and shape the implementation of evaluation and gender mainstreaming. We assert that the notion of path dependency, the logic of appropriateness, and the concept of layering serve as useful tools to understand the gendered nature of the European Commission. This research provides insights into the institutional factors that impact the implementation of gender equality strategies (such as gender mainstreaming). In turn, this contributes to the development of more effective strategies to promote institutional change toward greater equality.     

Transnational land investment web: land grabs,TNCs, and the challenge of global governance

ABSTRACT

Despite international media’s waning attention, research and political debates on global land grabbing have not subsided. We argue the importance of understanding the ‘transnational land investment web’ of corporate and state actors and institutions, which are not always immediately visible. Focusing on transnational corporations (TNCs) based in the European Union (EU), we examine five sets of actors and institutional spheres through which these actors are able to grab lands beyond Europe. It is crucial to understand these not as individual sets of actors or institutions, but as interconnected sets, comprising a web. These are EU-based: (1) Private companies using regular institutional platforms; (2) Finance capital companies; (3) Public–private partnerships; (4) Development Finance Institutions; and (5) Companies using EU policies to gain control of land through the supply chain. One implication of this complex web is that democratic governance in the context of land grabs becomes an even more daunting challenge.     

Spins of (Dis)Integration: What Might "Reformers" in Canada Learn from the "Social Dimension" of the European Union?

Viewed superficially, Canada and the European Union are both multi-tiered systems with a social identity problem, albeit one arrived at via different routes. This paper examines the extent to which Canada and Canadians might or might not be able to profit from the experience of the EU in respect of social policy development. First, the paper offers an outline review of where the "social dimension and social policy are at" in the EU. This it does with reference to the workings of three distinct processes: attempts at (a) positive activist social reform; (b) negative reform arising from the European Court of Justice's imposition of market compatibility requirements; (c) indirect, de facto pressures towards integration resulting from the demands of adapting to a single market and single currency area. The paper then goes on to review the two main schools of proposals for restructuring Canada politically—"reversing the founding process" (a Québécois/separatist perspective), as against replacing Canada's federal system with a "pure interstate compact"—in the light of this EU experience. In neither set of cases, as it turns out, does the experience and example of the EU offer promising pointers of relevance to Canada.     

全球化进程中的欧洲文化认同

民族主义思想为欧洲近现代民族国家的形成和巩固提供了思想基础,欧洲文化认同也为当代的欧洲一体化提供了精神支柱。欧洲文化认同反映了当今的全球化进程中不仅仅存在着民族文化的差异性,还存在着超越民族认同之上的人类文化同一性,在民族认同的基础上构建欧洲文化认同是一个文化创新的过程。     

苦难还是福祉--18、19世纪西欧思想家关于工业文明的论争

18世纪后期和19世纪上半期,西欧诸国开始进入工业化,工业文明给人类带来的是灾难还是福祉,如何实现自由与平等.为此,西欧诸国的思想家们在思想领域展开了批判与辩护这样一场激烈的交锋.我们应在工业文明的视野下探讨这场论争,梳理其基本内容,考察其具有的历史意义.从历史进程中可以看到,这场论争不是思想家们的个人之争,而是关系到社会发展道路的如何选择,以及对工业文明这样一种现代化的反思.     

论欧盟共同防务的特点、问题及其前景

欧盟的共同防务经历了一个漫长而曲折的过程。首要性、滞后性、内倾性、长期性、相对独立性是其特点。超国家权力与国家主权之间的矛盾,国家利益之间的冲突,欧洲主导权的争夺,运行机制的缺陷,战略清晰度之不够,内在动力之不足,是欧盟共同防务发展存在的问题。欧盟共同防务的发展不会停止下来,但也不可能太快,还有很长的路要走。欧盟共同防务在短时间内也不大可能取代以美国为首的北约。俄罗斯是影响欧盟共同防务和安全发展的一个重要因素。     

The Ombudsman Institution in Small States: The Case of Cyprus

Many small state constitutions provide for the establishment of an ombudsman. In the Cyprus case, the original constitution-makers were preoccupied with other things, and many years were to elapse before provision was made for the appointment of an ombudsman. While the office now plays an important part in the governance of the island, its provision needs to be viewed as part of this small state's preparation to become part of the European Union rather than as an accommodation to small state orthodoxy.     

Relationships Between Parenting Environment and Children's Mental Health Among African American and European American Mothers and Children

This study examined the relationship between aspects of the parenting environment and children's conduct problems and anxious symptoms among socioeconomically comparable samples of African American and European American mothers and their kindergarten children. Ethnic differences in parenting may lead to differences in the relationship between parenting and child outcomes. Thus, the moderating role of ethnicity for the relationships between parenting and children's mental health was tested. African American and European American parents were similar in their parenting practices. European American children reported a higher number of anxious symptoms, however. Parenting and family interaction patterns were associated with children's anxious symptoms and conduct problems. Although many relationships were similar across ethnic groups, there were ethnic differences in the relationships between maternal parenting efficacy and anxiety and between hostile control and conduct problems. These similarities and differences are discussed in light of theory and familial, cultural, and environmental niches.     

Parent–Child Coresidence: Who Moves in With Whom and for Whose Needs?

Using administrative data on all adult children living in The Netherlands age 30–40 and their parents (N = 1,999,700), we investigated the extent to which situations and events associated with the support needs and privacy needs of either generation determine intergenerational coresidence and the transition to coresidence. Logistic and multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that both generations' support needs increased the likelihood of coresidence and of a move of the generation in need into the other's home. Turning to privacy needs, we found that coresidence and the transition to coresidence was less likely when a partner or stepparent was present and more likely when the adult child was a never‐married single parent.     

Employment, Industrial Relations and Social Policy: New Life in an Old Connection

The purpose of this paper is to account for the revival of both academic and substantive interest in what had long been seen as an unimportant byway of social policy: the role of social partners, especially trade unions, in the management of national social insurance systems. The answer is found in the budgetary crises facing these systems along with the frequent embedded role of the social partner organizations in their governance. Meanwhile, this welfare state role of trade unions then has implications back on to the conduct of industrial relations. The diversity of national experiences is considered, including the reasons for British exceptionalism on this question. Particular use is made of a comparison between Italy and the Netherlands on the one hand (cases of some success in the role of social partners in managing change in social insurance arrangements), and France and Germany on the other (at the time of writing, cases of stalemate).