Growing up as an abandoned child in nineteenth-century Italy

In the debate over “maternal indifference” and, more generally, over the ways in which children were viewed and treated in the European past, the care of abandoned children has attracted a good deal of attention. Huge numbers of newborns were consigned to foundling homes in past centuries, and attempts to keep the children alive depended heavily on placing them with rural wetnurses and foster families. In general, scholars have portrayed these foster families as having little concern for the welfare of their charges. One consequence of this view is the presumed instability of foster home arrangements for foundlings. Using archival sources, this article investigates the relationships between foster families and foundlings by examining the lives of babies abandoned at the foundling home in Bologna, Italy over the course of the nineteenth century. The study provides grounds for questioning the received wisdom on the subject of foundling care in nineteenth-century Italy and beyond.     

Evolution of Political Branding: Typologies,Diverse Settings and Future Research

Political branding has developed into an established and vibrant sub-discipline of political marketing. Indeed, political branding research continues to push boundaries by critically applying consumer based branding theories, concepts and frameworks to the political environment. Recently, political branding scholars have segmented research into different categories such as corporate, candidate, leader, local-regional, internal or external in orientation. Despite this development, there continues to be limited research on alternative or different typologies of political brands. This study reaffirms political branding as a distinct area of research and discusses how political brands can be conceptualised and operationalised. Further, drawing on seven empirical and conceptual papers, which focus on different typologies of political brands from a range of international contexts including Canada, USA, Iceland, Indonesia and India, we reflect on the current political branding environment. We conclude that there are multiple relationships and numerous interconnected political brands, which represent an intricate environment or ecosystem. This study offers academics and political actors guidance on how to conceptualise political brands and provides a starting point to map out the ecosystems of political brands. Finally, this study provides explicit calls for further research in political branding.     

Stressful Childhood Experiences and Clinical Outcomes in People with Serious Mental Illness: a Gender Comparison in a Clinical Psychiatric Sample

Objective: This study examines stressful childhood experiences (SCE) including childhood abuse and family context in a cohort of 183 people diagnosed with serious mental illness (SMI) and compares gender specific rates of SCE and clinical outcome variables. Methods: 111 men and 72 women with SMI were interviewed regarding SCE and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, dissociative symptoms, risk for self-harm, and adult re-victimization. Results: Both genders endorse high rates of SCE. Cumulative SCE (the sum of seven SCE) are linked to increased levels of all four outcome variables after adjusting for demographic factors. Conclusions: The study addresses the need to assess cumulative SCE in a population with SMI and its effects on clinical outcomes in both genders.     

Rhetoric in municipal amalgamations: a comparative analysis

ABSTRACT

There is a large literature that seeks to evaluate municipal amalgamations ex post, but a relative dearth of scholarly inquiry into the practical political task of persuading the public to accept amalgamations ex ante. We address this important gap in the literature by conducting a rhetorical analysis to ascertain what types of arguments are believed to be efficacious for persuasion on amalgamation. We find evidence to suggest belief in the efficacy of persuading the public through recourse to various projected dreadful consequences, particularly amongst opponents of amalgamation. We conclude by considering some of the reasons behind the observed rhetorics and briefly outline one possible solution.     

Citizen satisfaction with municipal amalgamations

Abstract: When Mike Harris's Conservative government came to power in Ontario, it embarked on a program of significant municipal reform. Municipal amalgamation, one of the major elements of this reform package, had many goals, two of which were “efficient service delivery” and provision of “high‐quality services at lowest possible cost.” This article reviews three amalgamations, which reduced the number of municipalities from twenty‐nine to three, to determine whether the mergers resulted in a change in the quality of service delivery. In all three cases, there was a great outpouring of both positive and negative rhetoric in the lead‐up to the amalgamations, but not much happened. There were clearly pockets of dissatisfaction, but most residents did not see a significant change in the quality of services. Sommaire: Lorsque le gouvemement conservateur de Mike Harris est arrivé au pou‐voir en Ontario, il s'est lancé dans un programme de réformes municipales importantes. Le regroupement de municipalités, l'un des principaux éléments de cet ensemble de réformes, avait plusieurs objectifs, dont deux d'entre eux étaient une prestation efficiente de services et l'offre de services de grande qualité au prix le plus bas possible.Le présent article passe en revue trois regroupements, qui ont réduit le nombre de municipalités de vingt‐neuf à trois, pour déterminer si les fusions ont entraîné un changement dans la qualité de la prestation de services. Dans les trois cas, il y a eu une extraordinaire effusion de rhétorique, à la fois positive et négative au cours de la période précédant les regroupements, mais peu se passa. I1 y a eu de toute évidence des foyers de mécontentement, mais la plupart des résidents n'ont pas remarqué d'importants changements dans la qualité des services.     

Three difficult months in ‘Iraq

Though the build-up of China's blue-water fleet is causing consternation in foreign-policy circles, the country's on-going expansion into Russia and the former Soviet Union has scarcely garnered comment. For the past decade, China has used its foreign reserves to acquire strategic assets (principally infrastructure and natural resources) and tracts of sovereign territory along its existing borders and increasingly further afield. The impact on targeted countries (and, in turn, their own foreign policy) is extreme, with serious implications for security and economics far beyond their borders. This article provides an overview of China's acquisitions and investments in Eurasia, followed by more detailed discussion of recent developments and responses in Central Asia, Ukraine and Mongolia, and Siberia. It then looks at the impact of China's actions on Sino-Russian relations, discusses the importance of Russia and Central Asia as a resource corridor and buffer zone between Europe and China, and suggests how these manoeuvrings might result in long-term benefits for China.