Widows,children and assistance from society in urban Northern Europe 1890–1910

The increasing urbanisation and industrialisation of the late 19th century promoted migration of families and individuals into the growing towns. As a consequence the protective network of kinship and village was lost. In the process the access to household production was also severely decreased. After the death of a husband in a labourer's household the widow had to face a difficult situation. The aim of this paper is to assess the standard of living of poor widows in the Nordic countries. To estimate the proportion of intrafamilial contributions, the role of the wider kinship group and to calculate level of support from poor relief authorities and other possible sources.     

Super-optimizing china: reunification as an example

Whereas political issues and problems in China are complicated, efforts to “super-optimize” are essential and can be fruitful. The reunification issue is discussed to illustrate even highly politicized problems in China are amenable to super-optimum solutions. At the moment, some reunification options have been proposed: KMT-CCP negotiation on equal footing; KMT's military takeover; CCP's military takeover; the “one country, two systems” formula, convergence by democratization, and incremental convergence through trading and communication. Yet, neither parties find the alternatives desirable in terms of optimal satisfaction. By applying SOS rule # 2 (finding items that will provide large benefits to one side but only small costs to the other side), # 5 (combining the conservative and liberal alternatives where they are not mutually exclusive), and # 6 (removing the source of the conflict), reunification and democratization are made feasible and all parties concerned are better off. The specific proposals are that Taiwan should introduce a wholesale buy-out scheme that costs US$30 billion, that a new republic be established, and that legislative powers should be shared among the majoritarian and non-majoritarian institutions. Together, these arrangements could ensure stability and result in democratization.