Assessment and Action Records: Will they Promote Good Parenting?

Correspondence to Theo Knight, Department of Applied Community Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University, 799 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester M20 2RR. Summary In this article the authors seek to provide a critical lookat Looking After children: Good Parenting and Good Outcomes(Department of Health, 1995). They welcome the sentiments underpinningthis major contribution, which recognizes the many disadvantagesfaced by children and young people who are looked after by localauthorities, and acknowledge that local authorities have notbeen positive parents of those in their care. The writers alsoacknowledge the thoroughness which has gone into the detailof the Action and Assessment Records contained in the abovepack. What is questioned is the normative view of parentingand family life which is seen to be at the heart of these documentsand the lack of consideration of the resourcing of action plans.The checklist approach is criticized for the way in which itwill enhance the bureaucratic nature of being in public care,which in turn affects the relative power positions of parentsand children in relation to the local authority and which willimpact on the development of a partnership model of care. Thewriters conclude that children and young people in care arebut one group of young people facing disadvantage and deprivationin British society. An examination of their plight and how toaddress it need to be based within a clear framework of children'srights and a recognition of the power adults hold over them.     

绘制世界文学地图

全球化浪潮下的发生的世界文学学科所“标榜”的“世界性”一直受到挑战,而世界文学研究者在面对这些挑战时也会偶尔不知所措.文章追溯了世界地图绘制史,分析地域间最初的隔膜、语言或文化差异带来的误解或偏见、强势国家自觉不自觉的霸权主义等对地图绘制的影响,并将之一一“投射”到世界文学地图的绘制中,演绎并比较了几种世界文学地图,展示各时期里世界文学的具体情况,重点分析了非西方国家比较文学学者对世界文学格局的“重新定位”,最终得到以“椭圆”系统为单位、永远处在“流变”互通中的“完美”世界文学地图,将世界文学发展史映像化,以求更好地理清世界文学的发展任务和方向.     

The worldwide maritime network of container shipping: spatial structure and regional dynamics

Port and maritime studies dealing with containerization have observed traffic concentration and dispersion throughout the world. Globalization, intermodal transportation, and technological revolutions in the shipping industry have resulted in both network extension and rationalization. However, lack of precise data on inter‐port relations prevent the application of wider network theories to global maritime container networks, which are often examined through case studies of specific firms or regions. In this article, we present an analysis of the global liner shipping network in 1996 and 2006, a period of rapid change in port hierarchies and liner service configurations. While we refer to literature on port system development, shipping networks, and port selection, the article is one of the only analyses of the properties of the global container shipping network. We analyse the relative position of ports in the global network through indicators of centrality. The results reveal a certain level of robustness in the global shipping network. While transhipment hub flows and gateway flows might slightly shift among nodes in the network, the network properties remain rather stable in terms of the main nodes polarizing the network and the overall structure of the system. In addition, mapping the changing centrality of ports confirms the impacts of global trade and logistics shifts on the port hierarchy and indicates that changes are predominantly geographic.     

LEADING WITH(OUT) SACRIFICE? A PUBLIC‐GOODS EXPERIMENT WITH A PRIVILEGED PLAYER

We analyze two team settings in which one member in a team has stronger incentives to contribute than the others. If contributions constitute a sacrifice for the strong player, the other team members are more inclined to cooperate than if contributions are strictly dominant for the strong player. (JEL C91, C92, H40, H41)