The Impact of Taking Parental Leave on Fathers’ Participation In Childcare And Relationships With Children: Lessons from Sweden

In Sweden, government-mandated paid parental leave has been available to both mothers and fathers since 1974. By 2006, each parent had two non-transferable leave months and nine additional months to share. From the beginning, parental leave was presented as a policy designed to promote gender equality, with women and men having equal opportunities and responsibilities to contribute economically to the family and care for children. Sweden thus provides a unique setting to explore whether social policy can be an important instrument for changing the gender contract. Analysing survey data from 356 fathers working in large private companies, we found that the amount of parental leave days taken had positive effects on several aspects of fathers’ participation in childcare and on their satisfaction with contact with children, controlling for other factors contributing to fathers’ participation in childcare. Our findings suggest that the full potential of Sweden's parental leave policy for degendering the division of labour for childcare will not likely be met until fathers are strongly encouraged by social policy to take a more equal portion of parental leave.     

Extending social security coverage to the rural sector in China

In late 2009 China launched an innovative, voluntary programme that by 2011 had extended pension coverage to 326.4 million people in the rural sector, including contributors and beneficiaries. It requires one contribution per year and provides a flat‐rate benefit and a contributions‐related benefit through a contributory individual account, with a government guarantee that the benefit will continue for life. The programme encourages participation of persons who do not pay income taxes, and thus have no tax incentive to participate, by providing substantial government subsidies. As a further incentive, old‐age benefits are provided to older parents when all their adult children participate in the contributory programme.     

缓和与1973年中东战争的爆发

缓和是冷战时期的特定阶段,美苏对缓和的认知影响了双方在中东地区的政策及解决中东危机的进程。1973年中东战争的爆发,既与美苏对缓和的认知与推动有关,也离不开埃及对缓和的追求。美苏缓和虽缓解了彼此间的紧张关系,但由于美苏对缓和的追求漠视了埃及的缓和努力与阿拉伯国家对被占领土的诉求,这成为促发战争爆发的外源性因素。美苏缓和对阿以僵局的维持,埃及缓和外交的失败与以色列的强硬立场,使萨达特放弃了外交努力而发动了斋月战争。     

Des corps étrange(r)s dans la police ? Les policiers minoritaires à Paris et à Berlin

Fieldwork in police stations in the Parisian region and Berlin is used to comparatively analyze how the assignment of identities shapes the occupational experiences of police officers recruited from among visible minorities. The processes for constructing and deconstructing the positions of minorities take place through negotiations during interactions among colleagues. They also depend on the institutional context. The stance of “denial” adopted by the French staff opens the way to tensions between officers from visible minorities and the others, whereas interventions by superiors in Berlin reduce the room for conflict while assigning a cultural identity to police officers recruited “from immigration”.     

华裔美国文学的族裔想象和文化认同

《中国佬》、《喜福会》、《甘加丁之路》和《典型的美国佬》这四部华裔美国文学作品具有鲜明的族裔意识,在颠覆话语陈规、重写历史和建构身份的过程中发挥了积极的作用。对这些个案进行分析,可以从不同层面阐释文化认同的复杂性和策略的多变性,揭露和批判种种表象背后所隐匿的话语霸权和意识形态性。     

热奈特的类文本理论及其效应

杰拉德·热奈特的类文本理论受到中西方学界的关注与重视,一些学者对该理论进行了一定的补充和修正工作,也有不少学者将其用于文学研究。类文本理论视阈下,文学研究的对象为环绕于文本边缘的类文本要素,如作者的署名、序言、献词、题记、版权页信息等。将作者重新纳入批评视野,类文本理论有效修正了文本理论将文本与作者相割裂的不当做法;将出版商引入批评框架,类文本理论不仅拓展了传统文学批评体系,还起到限制读者过度阐释的目的。同时,类文本理论促进了叙事学的进一步发展,使文学研究从文本中心走向文本边缘,并将文学的内部研究和外部研究相结合,从而推进了文学批评理论的发展。鉴于类文本与文本的互存关系,某些类文本和文本之间的界限模糊不清,它们在具备类文本属性的同时,又不乏文本的属性,而这一特性又恰恰佐证了类文本之于文本而存续的重要性。     

Reforming against all odds: Multi‐pillar pension systems in the Czech Republic and Romania

Attempts to replace pay‐as‐you‐go pension schemes with private funded systems came to a halt in Central and Eastern Europe after 2005. However, more recently, the region has witnessed two belated reformers: the Czech Republic and Romania. Both countries decided to partially privatize pensions despite the rising tide of evidence concerning the challenges associated with the policy. We argue that while part of the domestic political elite remained supportive of private funded pensions, the difficulties experienced by earlier reformers and reduced support from International Financial Institutions led to the adoption of small funded pension pillars. Such cautious attempts at privatization might become more common in the future as large reforms have proven politically unsustainable.     

A call for more elaborate and transparent pension data to inform policy‐making: A critical examination of World Bank data for Eastern Europe

This article offers a critical analysis of the methods by means of which data relating to the performance of second pillar pension schemes are collated, compared and reported. This is done with regard to the performance of mandatory private second pillar pension funds in Eastern Europe. By critically examining data published in a number of World Bank studies, and through the identification of data problems and irregularities, the article argues that a much more elaborate and transparent approach to the collation, comparative analysis and reporting of data is needed. Required is the establishment of a consensus regarding what should represent a robust basis for making credible policy recommendations, not least with regard to pension re‐reforms in the countries of Eastern Europe and elsewhere. In the absence of such a consensus, unresolved data problems and irregularities may potentially continue to influence the formulation of incomplete national policy conclusions regarding the performance of second pillar pension funds and, in turn, the ability of policy‐makers to evaluate appropriately the need for, and assess the feasibility of implementing in a sustainable manner, pension re‐reform.     

From pension funds to piggy banks: (Perverse) consequences of the Stability and Growth Pact since the crisis

As part of their strategy for economic and monetary union, European governments committed themselves to fiscal discipline – particularly by placing limits on annual deficits and on public debt. Subsequently, and as they sought to respond to the “current crisis”, they embraced the view that only if public finances were kept under control would sustainable recovery be possible. Rules of fiscal governance were strengthened. To help them meet these rules, the governments of many member States of the European Union made changes to their pension systems or to funds they had established specifically to pay the costs of population ageing. The intention was not to cut retirement benefits or to improve the efficiency of the relevant pension schemes and institutions. Rather, it was to free up resources immediately. Funded pension schemes and pension funds were treated like “piggy banks” that were raided when times became hard. Moreover, the policies pursued succeeded in meeting their objectives only because the system of national accounts according to which outcomes are judged does not recognize the way in which most of the fiscal gains are matched by future fiscal liabilities.