Shaking off the neoliberal shackles: “democratic emergence” and the negotiation of democratic knowledge in the Middle East North Africa context

ABSTRACT

There is a general assumption in democracy promotion that liberal democracy is the panacea that will solve all political and economic problems faced by developing countries. Using the concept of “good society” as analytical prism, the analysis shows that while there is a rhetorical agreement as to what the “good society” entails, democracy promotion practices fail to allow for recipients’ inclusion in the negotiation and delivery of the “good society”. Contrasting US and Tunisian discourses on the “good society”, the article argues that democracy promotion practices are underpinned by neoliberal parameters borne out from a reliance on the transition paradigm, which in turn leave little room to democracy promotion recipients to formulate knowledge claims supporting the emergence of alternative conceptions of the “good society”. In contrast, the article opens up a reflective pathway to a negotiated democratic knowledge, which would reside in a paradigmatic change that consists in the abandonment of the transition paradigm in favour of a “democratic emergence” paradigm.     

Social and economic implications of family connections to prisoners

Research about incarceration has moved beyond studies of the individual prisoner to examine how incarceration impacts prisoners' families and neighborhoods. Much of the family-centered work highlights the potential benefits for the prisoner of maintaining ties to family during the incarceration period, and particularly after release. Less thoroughly considered is the potential benefits and costs to families of maintaining a relationship with an incarcerated individual. This article addresses this topic with a qualitative study of prisoners' families, as well as a review of census data in one high incarceration neighborhood. Research findings suggested that there were significant costs, both social and economic, to a prisoner's family if they desired to maintain the most basic level of connection with him. The study further suggested that families and prisoners were put in a position requiring constant negotiation of competing interests.     

深化教育行政管理研究为推进教育改革创新服务

加快推进教育行政管理改革创新，已成为新形势下促进教育改革发展的重要关注点和着力点。中国教育学会教育行政专业委员会的成立，为从事教育管理的实际工作者和理论工作者搭建了一个科学研究、政策分析、经验分享和相互学习提高的新平台，对于深化教育行政管理研究和推动实践创新，将发挥积极作用和影响：要努力推进教育行政管理方面的学术研究和理论创新；积极推进教育行政管理改革和实践创新；深入开展教育方针政策的学习、宣传和咨询服务；促进教育行政管理干部队伍建设和能力水平提升。当前和今后一段时期。该专业委员会将围绕《国家中长期教育改革和发展规划纲要》精神的贯彻实施开展学习宣传和咨询服务工作，围绕深化教育行政管理体制改革组织学术研究和交流活动，积极开展教育行政管理干部的教育培训等工作。     

Project USA: American competitiveness and what must be done to restore it

The United States today faces a loss of influence as a world power, a reduction in American independence as a policymaker, and a decline in the standard of living on which Americans have come to depend. History teaches that nations weaker and less productive than the United States can rise to become economic powerhouses and rapidly increase their standards of living. History also teaches that nations failing to recognize their fundamental problems will inevitably decline. American politicians must face what is abundantly clear: the United States is losing ground and must act quickly to reverse its course. This White Paper outlines what must be done. Information about the nation's current status must be analyzed and communicated. Incentives to improve the level of competence in government must be provided and maintained. The emphasis of government policy must be changed to reflect broad economic and technological interests as opposed to special interests. Savings must be encouraged and increased. Infrastructure must be improved Tax laws must be modified to help bring these changes about. Economic and technological issues must be elevated to the importance they require. American thinking must reflect the new realities: that the age of leadership through military power is over, that the requirements for success in the world of the 1990s and beyond require a sound and growing economy that is internationally competitive. The US can accomplish these goals only through foundation-shaking, comprehensive, fundamental changealong the lines we propose herein.This paper is the executive summary (with minor editing modifications) of a white paper that is available from Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management.     

Present but not prevalent: identifying the organizational correlates of researcher-practitioner partnerships in U.S. Law Enforcement

ABSTRACT

Federal funding streams, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and policing executives and scholars alike have advocated for more researcher-practitioner partnerships in American law enforcement. While a few studies have explored the growth and prevalence of research partnerships in policing, less attention has been placed on the organizational correlates of such collaborative relationships. Using a nationally representative sample of US law enforcement agencies, the current study investigated participation in what we term ‘rigorous partnerships’ – more formal, long-term relationships between researchers and practitioners with increased opportunity for interactive knowledge exchange. Policy implications and directions for future research are discussed, with a specific focus on the barriers and impediments that both parties face for successful collaborative efforts and research translation.     

Time,work and money in a Tuscan co‐operative

This article describes how and why a small group of farming families in southern Tuscany collectivised their production and formed an agricultural co‐operative in 1980. The attempt to build socialism on one hillside is entirely untypical of the area, but it does provide a vantage point for examining the general post‐war transformation of Tuscan agriculture, and revealing changes in production and the household with the growth of market relations. The concluding section concentrates particularly on changes in the organisation and purpose of work.