Resolving complex community problems: Applying collective leadership and Kotter's change model to wicked problems within social system networks

How does collective leadership within social networks resolve chronic and complex problems common to communities? Unfortunately, sometimes it does not, but when it does, the outcome may be truly extraordinary. We use a case study approach to explain how one Midwest community within the USA applied collective leadership within a community network to reduce teen births. It took ten years of what many identified as provocative media campaigns and comprehensive sex education programs to reduce teen births by 65%, significantly exceeding the stated goal. Using Kotter's change model as a backdrop, powerful strategies and provocative creativity reveal courageous leadership within a social network of diverse people and organizations focused on improving the social well being of their community.     

Taking the longer view: Explaining Multicultural London English and Multicultural Paris French

The article explores the perplexing outcomes of comparative research projects in London and Paris on language change in multilingual areas of the cities populated by large numbers of recent immigrants with very diverse language backgrounds. In London, as in many other northern European cities, language contact on such a large scale has resulted in the emergence of a “multiethnolect”: a repertoire of innovative linguistic forms used by young people of all ethnicities, including monolingual non‐immigrant speakers. In Paris, however, there was no such repertoire. I propose four factors that are necessary for a multiethnolect to emerge and that explain why similar processes of population movement, immigration, and globalization have produced such different linguistic outcomes in London and Paris. These factors remind us that language evolution, like language use, is constrained not only by the social characteristics of individuals but also by the socio‐cultural historical contexts in which individuals live.     

Inferactive data analysis

We describe inferactive data analysis, so-named to denote an interactive approach to data analysis with an emphasis on inference after data analysis. Our approach is a compromise between Tukey's exploratory and confirmatory data analysis allowing also for Bayesian data analysis. We see this as a useful step in concrete providing tools (with statistical guarantees) for current data scientists. The basis of inference we use is (a conditional approach to) selective inference, in particular its randomized form. The relevant reference distributions are constructed from what we call a DAG-DAG—a Data Analysis Generative DAG, and a selective change of variables formula is crucial to any practical implementation of inferactive data analysis via sampling these distributions. We discuss a canonical example of an incomplete cross-validation test statistic to discriminate between black box models, and a real HIV dataset example to illustrate inference after making multiple queries on data.     

Reconceptualizing the generation in a digital(izing) modernity: digital media,social networking sites,and the flattening of generations

As digitalization binds society to an apparently perpetual acceleration, questions about the nature of time and speed have gained new urgency in the social sciences. Yet, theorizations of these issues have neglected their implications for social life and generations. Linking these lacunae, this article articulates how digital media and social networking sites (SNS) shape social life through cultural transformations in the generation. This article rationalizes predominant patterns of SNS user behaviors in the context of social theoretical and philosophical frameworks informed by Mannheim, Simmel, Adorno, Benjamin, Arendt, social presence, action, and acceleration theories to offer a relational reconceptualization of the generation as a set of social relations and processes for visualizing changing conceptions of time and speed in a digital (izing) modernity. This article introduces the concept of general and local generationing processes to articulate the processual nature of the generation and to assert that trends in SNS use and content production are underwritten by grammatical logics that collectively “flatten” separate traditional generations to form a cross-demographic and cross-temporal digital generation.     

Radical alternative conceptualizations of the classical welfare state? Contrasting the United Kingdom and the Netherlands with Norway

In many countries, new, broad, and normative “conceptions of society” gained prominence that represent fundamentally different discursive alternatives to the classical welfare state. We present two political projects that contain radical alternative conceptualizations of the classical welfare state, the “Big Society” in Britain and the “Participation Society” in the Netherlands, and contrast these with Norwegian developments, where no such a radical alternative conceptualization of the welfare state can be found. We show that the British and Dutch political projects were attempts to replace the welfare state, whereas there is no comparable big idea about a radical overhaul of the welfare state in Norway. Our analysis contributes to a better understanding of a fundamental shift in welfare state reform, namely a radical reconsidering of the ideational and normative foundation that defines and underpins what the welfare state is or should be.     

Impact of socio-economic infrastructure investments on income inequality in Iran

One of the main subjects, governments have been facing is fair distribution of income, and making effort to improve it. In this study, we evaluated the effects of economic (energy, water, ICT) and social (health, education) infrastructure expenses on income inequality in the Iranian provinces for the period of 2007–2016 by the panel corrected standard errors (PCSE) model. The results show that social and economic infrastructures improvements reduce income inequality. However, the magnitude of these effects varies. Investment on education, healthcare, communication technology, energy, and water infrastructures has the greatest impact on income inequality reduction, respectively. Therefore, in order to reduce inequality in deprived areas, combination and optimal allocation of economic and social infrastructures should be considered.     

Afghan families and health professionals’ access to health information during and after pregnancy

BackgroundHaving a baby in a new country can be challenging, especially if unable to communicate in a preferred language. The aim of this paper is to explore the provision of health information for Afghan women and men during pregnancy, childbirth and the first year after birth in Melbourne, Australia.MethodsCommunity engagement underpinned the study design. Qualitative study with bicultural researchers conducting semi-structured interviews. Interviews and focus groups were also conducted with health professionals.ResultsSixteen Afghan women and 14 Afghan men with a baby aged 4–12 months participated. Thirty four health professionals also participated. Verbal information provided by a health professional with an interpreter was the most common way in which information was exchanged, and was generally viewed favourably by Afghan women and men. Families had limited access to an interpreter during labour and some families reported difficulty accessing an interpreter fluent in their dialect. Availability of translated information was inconsistent and health professionals occasionally used pictures to support explanations. Women and men were unsure of the role of health professionals in providing information about issues other than pregnancy and infant wellbeing.ConclusionBoth individual and health system issues hinder and enable the availability and use of information. Consistent, understandable and ‘actionable’ information is required to meet the needs of diverse families. Health professionals need to be supported with adequate alternatives to written information and access to appropriate interpreters. Inconsistent provision of information is likely to contribute to low health literacy and poor maternal and child health outcomes.     

Uncovered and disrespected. A qualitative study of Jordanian women’s experience of privacy in birth

BackgroundPrivacy is related to a person’s sense of self and the need to be respected and it is a key factor that contributes to women’s satisfaction with their birth experiences.AimTo examine the meaning of privacy for Jordanian women during labour and birth.MethodA qualitative interpretive design was used. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 27 Jordanian women. Of these women, 20 were living in Jordan while seven were living in Australia (with birthing experience in both Jordan and Australia). Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.ResultsThe phrase ‘there is no privacy’ captured women’s experience of birth in Jordanian public hospitals and in some private hospital settings. Women in public hospitals in Jordan had to share a room during their labour with no screening. This experience meant that they were, “lying there for everyone to see”, “not even covered by a sheet” and with doctors and others coming in and out of their room. This experience contrasted with birth experienced in Australia.ConclusionsThis study explicates the meaning of privacy to Jordanian women and demonstrates the impact of the lack of privacy during labour and birth. Seeking a birth in a private hospital in Jordan was one of the strategies that women used to gain privacy, although this was not always achieved. Some strategies were identified to facilitate privacy, such as being covered by a sheet; however, even simple practices are difficult to change in a patriarchal, medically dominated maternity system.     

新世纪新阶段民族政策宣传教育的指南——解读《党和国家民族政策宣传教育提纲》

本文解读了<党和国家民族政策宣传教育提纲>颁布的对象、目的、意义及基本内容,指出了<提纲>是我党在全国各族广大干部群众中进行马克思主义民族观教育的重要举措,是在民族工作中贯彻落实科学发展观的具体表现,新世纪新阶段民族政策宣传教育的指南.     

北方渔猎民族的滑雪狩猎文化

滑雪板既是北方渔猎民族冬季的主要雪上交通工具,也是狩猎工具之一,在北方渔猎民族冬季狩猎生产中发挥着重要的作用。利用滑雪板狩猎是北方渔猎民族冬季狩猎生产中所采用的一种主要的狩猎手段,广泛存在于各民族中,自古以来,绵延不绝,影响深远,形成了一种独特的滑雪狩猎文化和一条滑雪狩猎文化带。这条滑雪狩猎文化带从东北的长白山(白云峰以北)开始一直向北,包括大小兴安岭,最后沿着蒙古高原的北部延伸到阿尔泰山脉。