DAMNED IF YOU DO AND DAMNED IF YOU DON'T

In contemporary Western societies women are often thought to have overcome inequality, become autonomous and resistant to social pressures, and in so doing gained the freedoms to make their own choices. However, this ‘post-feminist sensibility’ can arguably be seen as a double-bind as some types of ‘choices’ cannot always be recognised as freely chosen if they are taken as an indication of failing to resist social (appearance) pressures. We argue that one such example is the ‘choice’ to have cosmetic breast surgery, a practice that has received both criticism and celebration from different feminist angles. In this paper we analyse how women who have had breast augmentation are constructed by readers of an internet blog in which they are largely vilified and pathologised for not valuing their ‘natural’ (yet ‘deficient’) breasts. We demonstrate how the same discursive constructions that appear to value women's ‘natural’ bodies simultaneously (re)produce the conditions in which women may feel the need to have breast augmentation.     

CHINESE LEADERSHIP GRIPS FUTURE

The National People’s Congress looks to address growth,education and other important challenges The political calendar in China is something that most non-Chinese don’t understand that well.Part of that is due to a lack of knowledge about the structure of governance in the country.They know there are ministries     

Public Administration in the Twenty-First Century

Books reviewed in this article:
Donald F. Kettl, The Transformation of Governance: Public Administration for the Twenty-First Century America
Lester M. Salamon (ed.), The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New Governance
H. George Frederickson and Kevin B. Smith, The Public Administration Theory Primer     

Developing Conceptualisations of Europeanisation: A Study of Financial Services

In its most explicit form Europeanisation is conceptualised as the process of downloading European Union (EU) directives, regulations and institutional structures to the domestic level. However, this conceptualisation of Europeanisation has been extended in the literature in terms of up-loading to the EU shared beliefs, informal and formal rules, discourse, identities and vertical and horizontal policy transfer. This article undertakes a study of banking, investment and insurance directives to analyse the impact of Europeanisation on the UK financial services sector.     

At the Movies: A Continuing Dialogue on the Challenges of Teaching with Film

As part of ISP's ongoing effort to provide a scholarly venue for the exchange of ideas on a variety of topics, this issue's ISP Forum presents one set of reactions to the February 2001 article by Lynn Kuzma and Patrick Haney titled "And Action . . . ! Using Film to Learn About Foreign Policy" (February 2001:33-50). Vincent Pollard's comments represent what we hope will be the first in a series of comments on teaching international studies with film. Profs. Kuzma and Haney in their rejoinder urge for an ongoing discussion of the topic, as they see the use of film growing in the field. More broadly, the Editors of ISP invite readers to submit their own comments and reactions on this and other pieces that appear within the pages of ISP. Please note that all submissions undergo a peer review process.     

Public versus private ownership: The federal lands case

“Privatization” of public lands has been urged on the grounds that it will provide a more efficient allocation of the nation's resources. However, there are some public policy objectives which private ownership and free markets are not equipped to achieve. Historically, these objectives have motivated legislation authorizing retention of some land in public ownership. Indeed, land in both forms of ownership is required to achieve a full range of both public and private goods and services. However, since inefficiencies in the allocation of resources will occur under either form of ownership, careful monitoring of economic activities in both sectors is more likely to achieve improvements than arguing for exclusive reliance on only one system of property rights.