Legal pluralism and the Shari'a: a comparison of Greece and Turkey

The creation of a national and unified legal system was an important aspect of the rise of the modern state and national citizenship. However, this interpretation of legal rationalization has been challenged by sociologists of law such as Eugene Ehrlich (1862–1922) who claimed that this juridical theory of state‐centred law masked the presence of customary laws outside this formal system. In critical theories of the law, legal pluralism is proposed against the idea of legal sovereignty or legal centralism. In this article we explore the implications of the growth of the Shari'a as an example of legal pluralism. We take Turkey and Greece as two interesting but different examples of legal pluralism and consider the implications of these case studies for debates about liberalism, multiculturalism and citizenship in multi‐faith societies.     

Filling holes in the safety net? Material hardship and subjective well-being among disability benefit applicants and recipients after the 1996 welfare reform

Some of the rapid recent growth in disability income receipt in the United States is attributable to single mothers post-welfare reform. Yet, we know little about how disability benefit receipt affects the economic well-being of single mother families, or how unsuccessful disability applicants fare. We compare disability recipients to unsuccessful applicants and those who never applied among current and former welfare recipients, and examine how application and receipt affect material hardships and subjective measures of well-being. We then examine whether alternative ways of making ends meet mediate differences in well-being. After controlling for alternative sources of support, no significant differences in overall actual hardships or difficulty living on current income remained between the three groups. However, even after controlling for these strategies, unsuccessful applicants were significantly more likely to report that they expected hardships in the next two months. Our results suggest a pervasive level of economic insecurity among unsuccessful applicants.     

Participation for children exposed to domestic violence? Social workers' approaches and children's strategies

This article explores social workers' approaches to children exposed to domestic violence and children's strategies in encounters with these professionals in the context of family law proceedings. Investigator approaches as well as child strategies are reconstructed from children's narratives. Furthermore, possible links between the social worker's approach described by a particular child, and the child's own strategies are outlined. Participation can offer children validation of their experiences and support their recovery after exposure to violence. However, it is suggested that it seems to be a challenging task for social workers to both validate children's experiences of violence and simultaneously offer them participation in the investigation process.     

Networks for Welfare Provision: Getting a Grip on Processes of Social Exclusion by Evaluating Network Effectiveness

It has been repeatedly stated that the topic of network effectiveness has often been neglected. This has led to a situation of ‘network euphoria’ amongst practitioners and policymakers with regard to the creation of networks as a means to (re‐)organize welfare provision. Starting from a case study of networks for welfare provision in two Belgian cities, this article focuses on the effectiveness of service delivering networks at the client level, which is understood as the contribution of the network in improving the conditions of life of those being served or targeted by the network. Therefore, we focused on the collective efforts via these networks (e.g. by creating a night shelter or by conducting case consultations) to look after a population of homeless people who face multiple problems and are not able yet to benefit from welfare provision. Our findings revealed that these networks were able to realize a ‘collaborative advantage’ by filling in service gaps and by overcoming fragmentation of care. Nevertheless, these networks equally maintained criteria that restricted the accessibility or usefulness of welfare services provided to homeless people. In the concluding section, we highlight some of the factors that could help us to explain our findings and highlight the tension between the effectiveness of networks at the client level and the effectiveness at the organizational level.     

台湾社区工作:从“福利小区化”迈向“永续小区”

随着世界小区化服务潮流,自20世纪90年代中期以后,台湾各公共领域之以"小区化"为主轴的服务方案如雨后春笋般的出现."福利小区化"与"小区营造"是其中最获重视的两项计划;经过十余年的推动,"台湾健康小区六星计划"的出现,不仅包含了前两项计划的内容,同时也使小区建设扩展至诸如产业、环境、治安、人文等六个方面;永续小区发展策略在反思以前小区建设经验与问题的基础上出现.检视过去十余年来台湾小区工作发展脉络,特别是从"福利小区化"、"小区营造"到"健康小区六星计划"发展路径,可发现台湾小区工作发展具有多方面借鉴意义;应该从理念、政策和实务多角度省思,以有助于迈向"永续小区".     

On high fertility rates in developing countries: birth limits, birth taxes, or education subsidies?

In this paper, we consider two types of population policies observed in practice: birth limits and birth taxes. We find that both achieve very similar equilibrium solutions if tax revenue finances lump-sum transfers. By reducing fertility and promoting growth, both birth policies may achieve higher welfare than conventional education subsidies financed by income taxes. A birth tax for education subsidies can achieve the first-best solution. The welfare gain of the first-best policy may be equivalent to a massive 10–50% rise in income, depending on the degree of human capital externalities and the elasticity of intertemporal substitution.      

Invisible from View: Leaving and Aftercare Provision in the Republic Of Ireland

Abstract

The adequacy of provisions for young people leaving care and in aftercare in the Republic of Ireland has been the subject of recent policy attention. A landmark report, the Ryan Report (2009), into historic abuse in state institutions recommended strengthening provisions in this area. However, the legislative basis for aftercare remains relatively weak and services for young people leaving care remain ad hoc and regionally variable. This article outlines the current context of leaving and aftercare provision in the Republic of Ireland and traces some of the recent policy debates and recommendations in this area. A genealogical analysis of leaving care and aftercare provision highlights that this issue has historically only emerged as a concern in the context in which young people leaving the care system are perceived as a “threat” to social order. It is argued that the failure to adequately reform leaving and aftercare provision is reflective of wider social inequality and of a context in which young people in care are largely invisible from view.     

略论民主社会的内部排斥问题——以迈克尔·沃尔泽的理论为视角

西方民主社会的日益多元化导致了内部排斥,它打破了民主制是最能平等尊重并维护每个公民的基本权利的政治制度的理论承诺。内部排斥的产生原因主要包括经济发展所带来的不平等以及长期形成的习惯性偏见与多元文化的差异这两个方面。在解决这一问题时,沃尔泽强调公民参与和各种地方性社群自治的重要性,而政府在提供社会福利和保护多样性的少数文化群体等问题上则负有不可推卸的责任。     

地方利益、区域经济一体化合作与福祉

地方利益包括地方政府官员的利益与地方公利,其中,地方政府官员利益居于核心层并发挥基础性、关键性作用.地方政府官员的利益又包括物质利益与非物质利益,非物质利益中的政治利益至关重要.地方利益引致地方政府行为变异,导致区域经济不合作,进而造成福祉损失.只有从地方利益入手,准确清晰地界定并规范和约束地方利益,并进行相应的制度创新,才能真正推动我国区域经济一体化合作,增进福祉.