Suchergebnisse

When evaluating the various aspects of the welfare state, people assess some aspects more positively than others. Following a multidimensional approach, this study systematically argues for a framework composed of seven dimensions of the welfare state, which are subject to the opinions of the public. Using confirmatory factor analyses, this conceptual framework of multidimensional welfare attitudes was tested on cross-national data from 22 countries participating in the 2008 European Social Survey. According to our empirical analysis, attitudes towards the welfare state are multidimensional; in general, people are very positive about the welfare state's goals and range, while simultaneously being critical of its efficiency, effectiveness and policy outcomes. We found that these dimensions relate to each other differently in different countries. Eastern/Southern Europeans combine a positive attitude towards the goals and role of government with a more critical attitude towards the welfare state's efficiency and policy outcomes. In contrast, Western/Northern Europeans' attitudes towards the various welfare state dimensions are based partly on a fundamentally positive or negative stance towards the welfare state.

The aspect of gender (equality) often goes down among other general statements defining equality of all individuals as regards such aspects as age, achievements etc. Lithuanian scientific society still lacks discussion on equality between women and men in science and equal opportunities for women and men in decision making. Male prevail in decision making bodies, composed by state, science and academic studies institutions. Participation of women and men in decision making is not proportional. In this study more substantial changes of legal regulation that are important to reconcile scientific activity and family duties are described. The attention is also drawn to the fact, that in practice science and academic institutions lack initiatives when solving specific problems that women and men experience reconciling family duties and scientific activity. Equality between women and men is one of the fundamental values of the European Union and horizontal priority in all activity areas. Equal and effective participation of both women and men in all activity areas is not only a requirement of social justice, but also a necessary precondition for further development of state's economic growth, competitiveness and welfare of the society. [.]

The aspect of gender (equality) often goes down among other general statements defining equality of all individuals as regards such aspects as age, achievements etc. Lithuanian scientific society still lacks discussion on equality between women and men in science and equal opportunities for women and men in decision making. Male prevail in decision making bodies, composed by state, science and academic studies institutions. Participation of women and men in decision making is not proportional. In this study more substantial changes of legal regulation that are important to reconcile scientific activity and family duties are described. The attention is also drawn to the fact, that in practice science and academic institutions lack initiatives when solving specific problems that women and men experience reconciling family duties and scientific activity. Equality between women and men is one of the fundamental values of the European Union and horizontal priority in all activity areas. Equal and effective participation of both women and men in all activity areas is not only a requirement of social justice, but also a necessary precondition for further development of state's economic growth, competitiveness and welfare of the society. [.]

The idea that the political context sets the parameters within which political participation and mobilization occur is quite common among students of social movements and contentious politics (see Eisinger, 1973; Kriesi et al., 1995; McAdam, 1999; Tarrow, 1998; Tilly, 1978). This holds as well for the political activities carried out by migrants' organizations (Bloemraad, 2006; Vermeulen, 2006). However, previous work has stressed the impact of the institutionalized political system, largely overlooking more cultural and symbolic contextual aspects. In addition, previous work has looked at the role of political opportunities for explaining collective action, focusing much less on how they influence individual participation and behaviour (but see Leighley, 2001; Morales, 2009). This chapter engages with the systematic analysis of a set of 'opportunity structures', ranging from institutional opportunities to discursive opportunities, for the political participation of migrants at the individual level. To what extent does the political context influence individual participation? If there is an impact, how can we disentangle the institutional from the discursive aspects of that context? What are the implications in terms of policy-making?

Educational reform requires a way of thinking and acting that are different from what already exists, by holding a thorough diagnosis or paradigm shift with a systemic approach. It should be noted that a fundamental change in one aspect of learning in education would affect fundamental changes in other aspects. The research objective was to analyze the degree of correspondence between government institutions, the desire of faculty and students in teaching and learning, in addition to analyze the changes that occur with learning in the policy reforms of education systems. This study uses a case study, with Bysan analysis techniques, as an approach to the study, explained, interpreted a case in a natural context without the intervention of outside parties, researcher tried to discover the social reality holistically about the organization of education systems and the impact of reform on the teaching faculty and students. It is expected that researchers may be easier to understand research problem thoroughly with these strategies, so that at the end of the study could provide a model of reform recommendations of learning in the globalization of competition.

The "Race Directive," along with the rest of the recent European Union expansion of its body of equality law, was welcomed with huge acclaim and fanfare, predictably by the Commission, but also by much academic writing. Now that this has subsided, it is necessary to engage in a sober analysis of the contents of the directive. Although the directive has been seen as embodying a huge shift in conceptions of equality and discrimination, and as part of an emerging European social citizenship, a closer examination of the provisions of the directive reveals something quite different: an ambivalence towards broader reaching conceptions of equality, a repeating of the mistakes of the past, and a series of delegations of key decisions regarding the potentially most progressive aspects of the legislation to other actors. This article suggests that whereas the directive contains many positive aspects, to a large extent it represents an exercise in passing the buck, given the hollowness of many of the seemingly expansive provisions. This means that our focus must shift onto member states and other actors, who have traditionally been conspicuously inactive in the field of race discrimination.

The aim of this paper is to examine the future prospects for cooperation between the European Union after the Treaty of Lisbon and the United States of America under its new leadership. This paper will focus on the maintenance of the transatlantic alliance and the way in which each partner contributed to the maintenance of this alliance. Such alliance- maintenance will have to move beyond issues of military "burden- sharing"—important as those are—to examine whether or not trade and social issues also need addressing. The end of the Cold War has not diminished the importance of consultation on political and security issues, including human security aspects. A healthy transatlantic relationship remains essential in order to guarantee the security and prosperity of Europe and the United States. Viewing transatlantic relations as a common platform for the development of global partnerships with other political actors will strengthen the transatlantic link and direct its future development. The theoretical framework will be derived from two aspects of political science and international relations: theories of neoliberalism and literature on "historical materialism" as discourses used in order to define globalization.

AbstractThe hierarchy of systems is described as parallel to the hierarchy of military titles: general systems as the universe; Major General Systems as the earth; the Major Systems of earth—physical, biological and social—each with its subsystems; 'kernel' systems, which try to describe the 'core of the diverse major systems' (these divide into ecological–evolutionary systems which have the quality of being 'resurgent') and 'corporal' systems, such as organisms and organizations. Then there are the 'private' systems, which are the 'minute particulars' of the real world. Cutting across this hierarchy are the ideologies, which might well be called 'lieutenant' systems, as they are in place of images of the more complex systems of the real world. The General Systems movement might help ideologies to become more realistic; it is showing some ecological resurgence, and it has to sustain both its 'special' aspect as mathematical modelling and its more general, philosophical aspect. It must also be aware that systems emerge from a matrix of chaos, and that all reality is not systematic.

Résumé Alors que de nombreuses recherches récentes ont apporté des éléments de mesure, voire d'explication des inégalités sociales de santé et de recours aux soins en France, leurs aspects relevant de l'équité n'ont pas été systématiquement mis en avant. Cet article pose la question du statut de l'équité dans le contexte actuel de travaux empiriques et propose une lecture éthique des recherches récentes dans le domaine des inégalités en santé, tant économiques qu'épidémiologiques, particulièrement celles qui relèvent de la demande de soins de santé. Nous considérons les aspects de l'équité sous-jacents à la mesure de la santé, la mesure des inégalités et l'interprétation des résultats. Il apparaît alors que le concept d'équité ne saurait être écarté de l'analyse économique dans ce domaine d'application que constitue la santé et qu'un effort plus systématique d'explicitation des fondements éthiques des mesures empiriques permettrait de mieux articuler mesure et décision. En outre, l'accent est mis sur l'apport majeur que constitue le passage de l'analyse des inégalités de santé à celle d'inégalités des chances en santé, qui offre une transcription directe de la notion d'équité en santé.

In this analysis of an Internet film the presentation of a socio-economic message is highlighted. The film focuses on the regeneration of a derelict industrial site in Dortmund, a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area in Germany. On the basis of the methodological principles of the analysis of audiovisual data & a praxis-orientated narratological perspective, an analysis of the social spaces, the film production techniques utilized & the representational practices of the main actors of the film is presented. It is shown that its mise-en-scene is significantly characterized by the promulgation of celebratory, market-orientated, legitimizing strategies. On the basis of the contrast between the presentation of the communicative praxis in the film & central developmental aspects of the Dortmund economy, it becomes clear the film focuses on central aspects of this restructuring & neglects other features. On the basis of the observation that socioeconomic agents are increasingly making use of Internet videos, a praxis-orientated analysis of audio-visual data offers a broad spectrum of explanatory models which could be more intensively explored by political science. Adapted from the source document.

peer-reviewed ; This paper highlights the derisory situation in respect of tackling poverty which continues to affect and exclude significant numbers of persons and the increasing inequalities prevalent within Irish society. The government's attempts to equitably redistribute the benefits of economic growth have been negligible, particularly in respect of the impact of expenditure on health and education. Poverty's presence continues to represent an acute barrier in terms of access to and experiences of these basic rights. The lived inequitable experiences of health and exclusion from adequate care are prominent features of the Irish health care system. Similarly, deprivation continues to constitute a key arbiter in respect of all aspects of the educational experience, with significant inequalities and exclusion remaining prominent in terms of access, participation and performance for deprived socio-economic and excluded groups. The consequences of the inequitable and exclusionary experiences determined by poverty in education and health are inherently linked and pervade all aspects of a person's life, both personal and social. The idea of a 'cycle of poverty' is pertinent; despite Ireland' economic success it continues to revolve and for those trapped therein, escape must appear impossible.

RéSUMé. — Le contexte joue un rôle dans beaucoup d'explications sociologiques. Cependant : 1 / l' « individu-en-contexte » est forgé sur le modèle « figure-sur-fond » de la Gestaltpsychologie dont le holisme est incompatible avec tous les paradigmes individualistes ; 2 / contrairement au « fond » de la Gestalt, le « contexte » des sociologues est indéfini quant à l'échelle, quant aux limites et au contenu ; c'est pourquoi il ne peut être en position de sujet causal d'une expression bien formée : seuls les individus sont capables d'action ; 3 / dans ses aspects objectifs, le contexte est réductible au réseau social de l'individu ; 4 / dans ses aspects subjectifs, le contexte est réductible à une croyance de l'individu. La sociologie des sciences fournit l'exemple d'une telle réduction spontanée : l'action des chercheurs a d'abord été référée à la « communauté scientifique », puis aux « communautés autorégulées », aux « sous-communautés spécialisées », aux « collèges invisibles », enfin aux « réseaux de collaboration scientifique ». Il n'est pas indispensable de maintenir le concept de contexte sinon comme fiction ou façon de parler : les usages explicatifs sont illégitimes ; l'usage référentiel peut être évité.

AbstractThe paper puts forward a new Chinese concept of 'Wu Liu' (material flow) which is different from the concepts of logistics and physical distribution popular in the West and Japan in four aspects: characteristics, contents, properties and applications. The paper points out that the research on material flow science and technology in China has lagged far behind, especially in the application aspect of material flows which is not in line with the position that material flow holds as the third biggest backbone industry group of the national economy. The paper also discusses issues in researching material flow in economic development, social development, as well as natural sciences. At the end, a framework of material flow science and technology is proposed which includes four components: disciplines supporting material flow science and technology, engineering and technological disciplines supporting material flow science and technology, theoretical disciplines supporting material flow science and technology, and other disciplines supporting material flow science and technology. About forty disciplines are related to material flow science and technology which need to be either built or enhanced. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The time has come for researchers into innovative movements in art and literature in the first half of the twentieth century to break free from traditional investigative frameworks. The works reviewed here belong to different disciplines – art history, literary history, literary criticism, history – but all show a shift of perspectives in the history of culture. They point to a reassessment of the theoretical models we use to understand modern art and literature. Those models are – in this case as they relate to the avant-garde – nuanced, refined, developed and sometimes even invalidated. Though some of these works are not wholly devoted to the European avant-gardes, they do deal with the international circulation of modern art in, to or from Europe, studied here in its lesser-known aspects. Moreover, they all to some extent examine the artist's responsibility to the community, or the state's responsibility to art. This theme of responsibility runs through all these works, either in its ethical dimension or as an aspect of the social function of art, especially when art has to confront an entertainment culture or is roped in as part of cultural policy.

There are many factors which contribute to the development of an economy. Some of them are geographical location, availability of natural resources, and availability of skilled workforce. Economic growth and social development are also affected by the legal procedures and mechanisms through which norms are enforced and interpreted by the court system and alternative dispute resolution mechanism. This paper intends to bring into light the legal aspects of the South Asian Tigers, which have aided the development of these countries. The four countries that have been studied are Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore. The reason for choosing these countries is that they have witnessed immense development in the near past and hence make an interesting subject for study. The amount of development these countries have witnessed can be made out from their human developmental figures over the past few decades. The emphasis is placed on the industrial relations aspect and hence the labour laws of these countries have been referred to. The legal provisions relating to industrial relations from these four countries have been analyzed and commonalities, which contributed to development, have been identified.