Artists in an Iron Cage? Artists’ Work in Performing Arts Institutions

This article discusses artists’ work in performing arts institutions in Norway. Many scholars describe Nordic performing arts institutions as slow-moving and heavy “art factories,” where artistic creativity is almost suffocated within bureaucratic “prisons.” The general problem that we raise in the article is whether this pessimistic picture of the relation between state control, market influence, and artistic work is relevant for studying the performing arts today. The study is primarily based upon twenty-seven qualitative interviews with informants in an institutional theatre and a symphony orchestra. We conclude that the actors in the Theatre are trapped—not so much within “a bureaucratic iron cage”—but rather within “an iron cage of charismatic leadership,” while the musicians in the Orchestra enjoy the relative freedom and democratic power of a rather soft bureaucratic organization.     

People We Hire as Executioners: Who Are They? Who Are We?

Christopher Bennett has introduced a new inquiry into the capital punishment debate by looking at whether the role of executioner is one in which it is possible and proper to take pride. He argues that this will depend on the kind of justifications that an executioner can offer in defense of his role and takes as an example the English executioner Albert Pierrepoint as portrayed in the film Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman. Bennett claims that none of the justifications available to Pierrepoint are adequate, that his pride in his role was unjustified, and that this gives us reason to doubt those justifications for capital punishment. I am unpersuaded by Bennett’s arguments and give reasons for thinking that the role of executioner can under certain circumstances be an honorable vocation in which one may legitimately take pride.     

Who Benefits from the Party Organization? Evidence from Republican House Members' Attendance at Caucus Meetings

As the role of US congressional parties in the legislative process has increased, so has the importance of understanding the institutions within these organizations. In this article, we examine the weekly caucus meetings held by Republican House leaders with their rank‐and‐file. We consider how members’ characteristics relate to their decision to attend based on the collective and private benefits that caucus participation affords. Using interviews of members and staffers as well as members’ attendance records at these meetings from 2007 to 2013, we find, among other things, that members who vote less with their party or who have more seniority are less likely to attend while those in leadership positions or who are electorally vulnerable are more likely to do so. Together, these findings provide additional insights on the relationship between party leaders and their members and which members benefit from this central party‐building activity.     

Teaching Arts Management: Where Did We Lose the Core Ideas?

In light of the need to start clearing the methodological confusion in the field of arts management, this article provides a critical overview of the teaching curricula in the field. Distinction is made between programs that copy directly from business management; programs that focus on the technological process of producing an artwork (usually run by practitioners); those that interlink cultural management and cultural policy (highlighting the role of public governance as a higher principle); and programs that focus on an entrepreneurial approach to arts management, connecting it to issues of creativity and innovation. The author calls for clear goals to educate administrators and arts or cultural managers. The suggestion is made to follow what I call the Janus syndrome: looking toward managerial and economic realities but primarily focusing on the arts—the aesthetic and the social aspects of the field. A question is raised about the position of art in arts management curricula, as well as the organization of undergraduate and postgraduate studies in the field.     

Who Files Suit? Legal Mobilization and Torture Violations in Europe

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is the most active international court. After decades with few allegations of human rights abuses, the ECHR docket expanded in the 1990s. Paradoxically, long‐standing democracies can have standardized violation rates of the prohibition against torture that compare to transitional democracies that struggle to protect rights. Yet it is implausible that human rights abuses increased or that established democracies engage in more torture than new democracies. Instead variations in legal mobilization generate the surge and puzzling distribution of European judgments. I argue that discrepancies between the incidence of torture and litigation reflect variations in support structures, where declared violations can reflect the level of support that individuals receive in pursuing claims rather than the incidence of torture. This dynamic is most pronounced for foreign nationals, who typically possess fewer resources than citizens to access legal institutions and encounter popular and official hostility. As a result, much European litigation concerning torture in long‐standing democracies is transnational in character.     

A Two-Way Street for Alcohol Use and Partner Violence: Who’s Driving It?

Using lifetime data from two waves of the National Epidemiologic Surveys on Alcohol and Related Conditions, this study sought to examine sex- and race-specific risks in the temporal relationship between adult onset severe physical intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and alcohol misuse (binge drinking) and alcohol use disorders (abuse and dependence) and whether or not childhood trauma moderated these relationships among U.S. non-Hispanic White and Black women and men. IPV predicted most alcohol outcomes among White and Black women and White men. Conversely, binge drinking among White and Black women and alcohol abuse among Black women and men predicted IPV. Childhood trauma moderated the relationship between IPV and alcohol misuse mainly among Black respondents, with an increased risk of either outcome among those without childhood trauma. These findings suggest a reciprocal relationship between IPV victimization and alcohol misuse, with implications for sex- and race-specific prevention and intervention efforts.     

Data Theft? Cybercrime and the Increasing Criminalization of Access to Data

The use of computers in the commission of crime, so-called ??cybercrime??, presents a considerable challenge to law enforcement. Central to the prosecution of cybercrime is the offence of unauthorised access to a computer, or ??hacking??. Originally conceived of as analogous to trespass, the trend in some jurisdictions has been toward punishing access to computer data per se. This issue also arises under the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime which criminalizes ??offences against the confidentiality, integrity and availability of computer data and systems??. As the criminal law traditionally provides protection only to limited forms of information, the increasing use of the criminal law to protect computer data therefore confers on it a status not enjoyed by information stored in other forms. Drawing upon the laws of Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, this article explores the increasing criminalization of access to computer data. It describes the evolution of cybercrime laws and considers ways in which problems of over breadth may be avoided. Questions will also be raised as to the appropriate role of the criminal law in protecting information.     

Arts Organizations: The National Endowment for the Humanities—Its History and Purpose

Abstract

Theatre Management and Production in America: Commercial, Stock, Resident, College, Community and Presenting Organizations Stephen Langley New York: Drama Book, 1990, 707 pages, cloth $37.50: Reviewed by Gregg Stull.

Crossroads: Reflections on the Politics of Culture Don Adams and Arlene Goldbard Talmage, Calif.: DNA Press, 1990, paper $13.95: Reviewed by Edward Arian.