The relevance of institutions and people’s preferences in the PSNP and IN-SCT programmes in Ethiopia

The effective implementation of social protection interventions is key for achieving positive change. The existing literature mainly focuses on issues related to programme design and impact, rather than the factors that influence the emergence, expansion and provision of these programmes. This article builds on the recent literature that indicates that the quality of institutions and people’s preferences play an important role in the implementation of social protection. It does so by using Ethiopia and its Productive Safety Net Programme – one of the largest social protection programmes in sub-Saharan Africa – as a case study, thereby contributing to debates on how to implement social protection more effectively, particularly in settings of widespread poverty and relatively low levels of institutional capacity. Based on primary qualitative data, the article finds that greater institutional quality at the local level is associated with the more effective provision of social protection. The ability of community members and social protection clients to voice preferences can lead to adaptations in implementation, although the extent to which this occurs is highly gendered.     

Reinvigorating the social contract and strengthening social cohesion: Social protection responses to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of those who are inadequately covered by social protection in more and less developed countries alike, and has exacerbated the fragility of a social contract that was already under strain in many countries. A weak social contract in the context of an exceptional crisis poses a very real risk to social cohesion. Nevertheless, many States have reasserted themselves as the guarantor of rights by protecting public health and incomes. By sustaining these measures, economic recovery will be supported which will help minimize risks that may weaken social cohesion. However, this is a fast-moving, inherently unstable and protracted crisis. Social protection stands at a critical juncture. Decisive policy action will be required to strengthen social protection systems, including floors, as one of the cornerstones of a reinvigorated social contract.     

Parent–professional interviews in child protection: Comparing viewpoints

Several studies have analysed the parent–professional relationship in the field of child protection. Although social workers tend to privilege interviews when working with families and view them as a means through which to build ties, few studies have focused on these interviews. To analyse how professionals and parents position themselves, we chose to focus on the content of these interviews and on the associated interactions. To this end, we recorded 13 parent–professional interviews after receiving the consent of the concerned parties. After analysing the interviews, we asked volunteer social workers and parents to analyse their own recorded interviews. Our results confirm the asymmetric nature of the parent–professional relationship. They show that professionals' viewpoints carry more weight than those of parents. They also underscore professionals' lack of openness and the strategies parents implement to cope with this power imbalance. Lastly, our results open new avenues for reflection on the evolution of practices that may enable professionals to better take into account families' viewpoints.     

Challenges and dilemmas working with high‐conflict families in child protection casework

Social workers within child protection services report that families marked by high levels of conflict between separated parents are among the most challenging cases to handle. Few studies however have focussed on how social workers themselves experience and meet with parents involved in hostile martial interactions. This article reports on a qualitative study involving 31 social workers and provides an analysis of their experiences and dilemmas in working with such families. Findings demonstrate that social workers struggle to find ways to help high‐conflict families and often find themselves at an impasse. Parents involved in such conflict are highly resistant to change, and social workers struggle to engage with them over concerns about their children. Furthermore, findings suggest that social workers lack organizationally allotted time to assist the parents. I conclude by discussing ways in which emotional support, empowering interventions, and strength‐based approaches enable social workers to manage relationships with high‐conflict families. More research on this topic is needed to support and promote better practices for social workers to be more effective in assisting high‐conflict families.     

Age limits for participation in child protection court proceedings in Sweden

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Swedish legislation, children have the right to participate in child protection proceedings. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the notion of age and maturity in child protection proceedings in order to elucidate how these aspects could influence children's rights to participate. We focus on the view of three groups of actors involved in child protection proceedings in Sweden—social workers, lawyers, and laypersons in social welfare boards and administrative courts—and on how children's age and maturity should be taken into consideration in decisions on their participation in court. The analysis is based on survey data. The study found that social workers, laypersons, and lawyers have different views on when children are old enough to have the right to litigate in court. Additionally, there is no consensus on how the maturity of the child can be assessed to inform the decision about participation. More discussion is needed about what competences a child needs to participate in court and to what extent this right should be limited by their age. Importantly, courts and decision‐making proceedings can be made more child friendly.     

Engagement with sustainability at the International Labour Organization and wider implications for collective worker voice

Sustainability objectives have been recognized by the ILO primarily in terms of the impact of environmental protection in the form of “just transition” and “green job” initiatives. Arguably, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) now offer richer scope for ILO engagement with social sustainability. This can be attributed to the prominent recognition of “decent work” in SDG 8 and the need for “responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels” in SDG target 16.7. This article examines how the ILO could further promote collective worker voice in the context of debates over a sustainable “future of work”, particularly considering to whom voice is given and how it is exercised.     

前台、帷幕、后台--民族文化保护与旅游开发的新模式探索

针对民族文化保护与旅游开发的矛盾问题,文章借用美国社会人类学家马康纳"前台、后台"理论,提出了民族文化保护与旅游开发的"前台、帷幕、后台"模式,希望通过这一新模式合理地解决民族文化保护与旅游开发之间的矛盾冲突,并以美国印第安人文化保护和世界文化遗产丽江古城等为案例进行了初步的分析,为民族文化的保护与旅游开发提供了理论和实践的依据.     

从华为前员工侵犯商业秘密案看我国商业秘密的法律保护

深圳华为公司三名前员工侵犯商业秘密案给我们提出这样一个问题:我国如何在信息技术时代加强商业秘密的法律保护?在立法方面,我国对商业秘密的法律保护已初步形成整体框架,但以世界贸易组织与贸易有关的知识产权的协议来要求,还需进一步完善;执法方面,保护商业秘密的执法面临较大的困难.同时很多中国企业商业秘密和知识产权的保护意识和缜密做法还有所欠缺.     

刑事程序性权利的保障

随着保障人权意识在刑事诉讼中的觉醒,刑事程序性权利的保障必将成为刑事诉讼中的核心问题。刑事程序性权利的价值可区分为程序性权利的工具价值和内在价值。前者是实现实体权利的手段,后者是基于普遍的人性为基础的独立价值。对我国现行刑事诉讼法中刑事程序性权利内在价值的缺失与薄弱环节的完善,是今后现代化法治建设的紧迫任务。     

自媒体环境下隐私信息的公开化及其治理

自媒体环境下隐私信息具有公开化的趋势,表现为隐私信息传播的去边缘化,隐私所有人成为主导者,隐私公开成常态。阴私、身份、财富和观念是公开化的主要隐私类型。传播隐私信息对抗伦理道德可以轻易引起社会关注和自媒体把关权弱化,传播自由度增大是隐私信息公开化的主要原因。隐私信息公开化过度放大了娱乐信息,导致严肃信息失语;强调了传播的自主性,忽略了对"他"者的影响。促进自媒体的发展和媒介生态的净化,需要媒介监管者对信息进行分级,自媒体经营者履行"把关权"职责并适当地引导用户,自媒体用户提高自身媒介素养。