Students’ narratives of the future: Imagined mobilities as forms of youth agency?

In the context of the ‘iFuture’ research project, 341 18-year-old Sardinian students were asked to write an essay in which they imagined themselves at 90 and described what their futures (in the past) would look like. Such data allow us to investigate the notion of agency. Agency and the future are deeply intertwined: agency involves the idea of projection and implies anticipation; the ‘desired’ futures have an impact on the ways in which youth act in the world today. We focus on the analysis of one of the emerging findings, which expresses an interesting configuration of youth agency, namely the imagination of youth mobility. This finding expresses the desire to put some projects into place, yet it concurrently implies that youth believe that these projects are impossible to achieve in the current context. After offering an overview of imagined destinations, we identify two ways in which imagined mobility emerges from the rich material collected: (a) mobility as an entry ticket, to bypass the uncertainty associated with crude reality and (b) mobility as an occasion for self-experimentation and self-growth. We conclude by discussing in what ways these forms of imagined future mobilities may be seen as youth agency.     

论“一带一路”沿线国家能源合作的可持续发展

“一带一路”倡议是中国与“一带一路”沿线国家进行区域深度合作的宏伟构想,能源是“一带一路”沿线国家合作的重点。当前,在“一带一路”倡议的引领下,国际能源合作正在向纵深、宽广、可持续和高质量的方向推进,但国际能源合作的可持续发展则面临着能源高消耗高污染、能源体系不明确、能源合作模式缺乏创新、能源链单一分散等困境。在推进“一带一路”沿线国家能源合作可持续发展的过程中,应以完善绿色低碳机制、提高能源合作标准、营造多元共生机制、构建供需互补体系和建立供应链联盟为实现路径,探索更多的能源合作新机遇,为国际能源合作可持续发展机制创新奠定基础。     

A Year Then Forever: Personal Resolution Making and the Temporal Bridge of the Near Future

Based on in-depth interviews and drawing exercises with 25 resolution makers, this paper explores the use of time in structuring and enacting improvement projects of the self. Resolutions are intentional, identity-laden moments when people bring the future into the present. They provide a window into the identity work of the “near future”—an underresearched but fascinating site where individuals transition between what they see as an immediate, controllable future to a more distant one that is less certain. In attempt to mitigate the emotionally and cognitively daunting prospects of the distant future, resolution makers enlist time as a form of capital, constructing the “temporal bridge” of the near future by engaging in three interrelated processes: structuring and remembering, being flexible, and maintaining optimism.     

Cognition in Situations

The symbolic interactionist tradition can contribute to advancing sociological studies of cognition by setting dual process models on more solid ground. I draw on Blumer's epistemological statements and the interactionist tradition more broadly to consider how dual process models of cognition could be applied to naturally occurring situations. I suggest that attending to the ways the past and the future are handled and modified within social interaction provides a usable inroad for the sociology of cognition to engage with situational analysis. I identify “resonance” and “iterative reprocessing” as concepts that are suitable to this end.     

Labour geographies of the platform economy: Understanding collective organizing strategies in the context of digitally mediated work

The article examines the geographies of collective labour struggle in the platform economy. It distinguishes between the unique spatial features associated with place-based work and crowdwork to examine the divergent collective organizing strategies developed therein. Taking works councils, collective bargaining and multi-enterprise agreements as three examples of social dialogue, the article considers why different types of platform workers gravitate towards particular strategies, analyses the regulatory frameworks within which these workers' collective struggles are bound, and assesses the propensity for these expressions of solidarity to improve the terms and conditions of platform work.     

The Perceptions and Needs of Farm Dwellers Regarding Aging,Advanced Age,and Future Perspectives

Abstract

This article reports on a multidisciplinary study that was undertaken by the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education. This study was done on certain farms in the North West Province of South Africa and called the FLAGH study, meaning the Farm Labour, Agriculture and General Health study. This article reports on a need assessment of farm dwellers done during the second half of 2002 and focuses specifically on perceptions and needs regarding aging, advanced age and future perspectives of aged farm dwellers.

The objective of this study was to ascertain the psychosocial needs and problems of farm dwellers in order to eventually design, implement and evaluate a programme aimed at the improvement of the quality of life of farm dwellers. An exploratory study was done, utilising in-depth interviewing according to a schedule of both quantitative and qualitative nature. Certain aspects, like the attitude of the community towards the elderly, relationships of the elderly with peers, children, grandchildren and spouses were dealt with in this study. Topics like the needs or problems of the elderly, nearing death, old age homes and retirement were also covered in this project.     

Three scenarios for the future of work

After presenting a historical overview of the concept of work and the different meanings that it has acquired over the centuries, the author analyses the value it holds for Europeans, and the impact on work and employment of the popular rhetoric about a technological revolution and its “inevitable” consequences. She then considers the future of work in the light of three scenarios: a “dismantling of labour law”, a “technological revolution” (where automation brings an end to employment), and an “environmental transition”. She argues that the latter is compatible with the imperative to take action on climate change and the expectations placed in work and employment.     

基于未来效率的兼顾公平与效率的资源分配DEA模型研究——以各省碳排放额分配为例

根据需要实现的目标，评估各生产决策单元的投入产出效率及改进潜力，可以为资源分配提供重要参考。构建一个基于未来效率的兼顾公平与效率的资源分配DEA模型可以有效、灵活地解决该问题。该DEA模型首先根据历史数据计算每个生产决策单元过去各期的技术增长率，并预测各DMU未来的技术增长率，从而获得未来的生产前沿面。以此为基础，在九个硬性目标约束下，分三个步骤分别解决三个追求的软性目标：最大化期望总产出、最小化非期望总产出、最小化可变要素总投入。管理者不仅可以改变九个硬性目标的参数值，以及调整三个软性目标的优先顺序和软性目标参数值，进而形成各种兼顾效率与公平的资源分配方案。最后，运用该DEA模型评估了我国各省碳排放削减潜力，并形成了能够实现管理者期望目标的各省碳排放削减责任分配方案。     

股价暴涨的风险:基于中国股市的实证

股价暴涨直观上带来高收益，激发市场正面情绪，那么为什么暴涨被视为风险?本文利用2006年至2016年中国A股上市公司数据，通过计量建模对暴涨股票的特征和日后的市场表现进行刻画。实证发现：（1）股价暴涨频度高的股票，呈现低资产收益率、高市值账面比、多散户持股、少沪深300成份股等特点；（2）易发生暴涨的股票其长期超额收益率更低，未来有更大的暴跌风险和更高的收益率波动率；（3）对于运营基本面较差、市场过于乐观、信息披露质量较低的股票，暴涨后的暴跌风险更加明显。研究结论在不同代理变量选择、多种计量模型设定下均稳健成立。本文揭示了暴涨不仅仅是极端价格波动，而且更容易发生在高风险股票中，未来蕴含着更大的潜在损失。暴涨是实实在在的风险。     

我国网络语体研究现状与展望

近10年来我国网络语体研究主要集中在网络语体的语言特征、性质、风格和规范四个方面。分析表明,目前我国网络语体的界定等基本问题还需要完善,研究范畴还需向多维度扩展。网络语体的定量研究、对比研究等问题值得学者的关注。