Conceptualising corporate community development

Globally there is an increasing focus on the private sector as a significant development actor. One element of the private sector’s role emphasised within this new focus has been corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, whereby the private sector claims to contribute directly to local development. There is now a substantial body of work on CSR but it is a literature that is mostly polarised, dominated by concerns from the corporate perspective, and not adequately theorised. Corporations typically do development differently from NGOs and donors, yet the nature and effects of these initiatives are both under-researched and under-conceptualised. In this paper we argue that viewing CSR initiatives through a community development lens provides new insights into their rationale and effects. Specifically we develop a conceptual framework that draws together agency and practice-centred approaches in order to illuminate the processes and relationships that underpin corporate community development initiatives.     

Choosing to be political: some reflections on youth activism in the US

This article explores youth activism in the US, not through the lens of collective action, but as the product of personal choices. By drawing on existentialism, and particularly on the work of Jean-Paul Sartre, this article proposes to shift the focus of the debate from youths’ collective action to the self – a conscious self that observes, perceives and makes sense of the surrounding world through personal experience. It is this conscious self that decides how, and whether, to intervene against the ‘wrong’ that the self experiences. In this perspective, it is not only the acts (of citizenship) that matter, but the conscious process through which the self chooses to become political. Such an understanding will ultimately help uncover not only how the undocumented act and how to conceptualise their acts but also how they perceive and experience their current status and who they want to become.     

Gender-specific differences – first results from a survey on dental surgery

This study focuses on dental surgery from the perspective of practicing dentists through a nationwide survey among practicing dentists in Germany. Subjects were surveyed with respect to patient care and their training in dental surgery. With respect to surgical activity, this survey confirms male dominance in the field and that female dentists may be inclined grade surgical interventions as ‘complicated and risky’. Male dentists appear to be willing to take the same risks with greater self-confidence, whereas female dentists appear to overrate their personal uncertainty by underestimating their real technical capabilities. Though dental treatment in general is increasingly dominated by women, surgery is still dominated by male dentists. This can be viewed through observed gender differences with respect to risk perception and we advocate additional professional training of risk competence as mandatory for the future.     

Unlocking from Community Stakeholders,Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects for effective Company–Community relationship

Abstract

Conflicts in mining fields that revolve around the type and perceived impact of CSR projects seem to be daunting to solve. Such conflicts emerge from misconceptions among community stakeholders’ that lead to a failed company–community relationship. This inimical situation threatens peace, security, lives, and properties at the community level. To resolve the company–community conflicts, it is important to minimize the misconception among community stakeholders’ by identifying their preferences of CSR projects. However, the challenge of identifying these projects in mining fields is yet to be fully explored and understood. The aim of this paper is to identify community stakeholders’ topmost preferences of CSR projects for an effective company–community relationship and propose a path for community engagement. A sample of 604 respondents comprising community leaders’ and local residents’ from three regions which host Gold Mining Firms with level ‘A’ membership from the Ghana Chamber of Mines were drawn for this study. Using a questionnaire made up of close and open ended questions, a survey was conducted. With SPSS 16.0, the data on the close ended questions were analyzed with ranking and factor analyses while the open ended were drawn into teams to support the former. The results of the ranking analysis show that different group of stakeholders’ had a different preference for CSR projects. The factor analysis revealed that for effective company–community relationship both stakeholders’ preferred a Streamline Social Intervention and Improve Stakeholder Economic related CSR projects. Base on these findings, the study recommends that Mining firms’ should give maximum consideration to projects that seek the welfare of both stakeholders’ and have equal engagement with all stakeholders’. Also, managing expectations before, during and after mining should be a shared responsibility of all the stakeholders’.     

Extravagance and mediocrity of virtue: Their divergence and the possibility of demagoguery

In the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle refers to Socrates five times: four references are to the contentious Socratic doctrine that “virtue is knowledge” the fifth is in the discussion of irony, “such as that of which Socrates was accused.” These issues are not conjoined accidentally. “Manifest appearances” attest that we can do worse than we know or know better than we do. Yet, the “problem of incontinence'’ is only half of the problem of the divergence of character and intellect, the mediocre and the extravagant in virtue. The other half of the problem is the capacity of some to do or act better than they know, vice's ability to imitate virtue, the disloyal talent's employment of demagoguery, the clever vice of irony.     

Is China Headed for a Debt Crisis?

正AS local government debts pile up,there are concerns about the effects on the Chinese and world economy.To evaluate the risk posed by such debts,the State Council in 2011 and 2013 instructed the National Audit Off ice to comprehensively examine the debt status of regional government bodies.The two audits–one     

贵州省国有企业履行社会责任的展望和思考

工业强省战略实施以来，工业企业总体发展态势趋好，贵州众多国有企业纷纷投身社会责任实践，在责任意识、理论发展和实践效果上实现了“三个突破”，呈现出企业责任意识持续增强，利益相关方满意度持续增加，社会期望值持续增高和履责环境持续优化“三增一优”的阶段性特征。企业主动履责、政府引导激励、行业全力助推、社会共同参与“四位一体”的良好势头逐渐形成。     

论刑法中原因自由行为之责任基础

＂原因自由行为＂是现代刑法学的一大课题。虽然现今刑法理论通说均已承认它属于具有可罚性的一种犯罪行为类型,然而,依据责任主义的一般规律,无责任则无犯罪。如果认定原因自由行为具有可罚性,那么,主张原因自由行为不适用无责任能力或限制责任能力之规定的理论依据又何在？笔者从分析原因自由行为与责任主义的冲突与调和路径入手提出原因自由行为的责任基础。     

共犯与身份的中国问题

即便我国刑法总则缺乏共犯与身份的明文规定,通过借鉴域外理论与判例经验,根据共犯规定及共犯原理,也能妥当处理共犯与身份问题。根据身份是影响行为的法益侵害性还是行为人的非难可能性,可将身份区分为违法身份与责任身份;非身份者参与违法身份犯罪的,虽成立违法身份犯的共犯,但应减轻处罚;非身份者参与责任身份犯罪的,应分别定罪处罚。委派到非国有公司从事公务的国家工作人员只是一种责任身份,其伙同公司人员侵占本单位财产、收受贿赂、挪用本单位资金的,具有国家工作人员身份的分别成立贪污罪、受贿罪、挪用公款罪,公司人员则相应成立职务侵占罪、非国家工作人员受贿罪、挪用资金罪。     

论国家刑事补偿制度的构建——兼论我国司法救助之不足

刑事被害人的司法救助机制是当前学界研究的热点之一,但我国的司法救助并没有明确国家责任,难以担当起法律救济的重任。而刑事补偿制度明确了国家的责任,弥补了司法救助之不足,在与之相关的国家赔偿制度已经确立的前提下,其更适合我国国情,具有建构的必要性。其中,刑事补偿参与主体、补偿范围和标准、补偿程序和追偿程序的界定及设计是刑事补偿制度的主要内容。