Model Workers or Hardened Nazis? The Australian Debate about Admitting German Migrants, 1950-1952

Immigration policies implemented in the early 1950s by the Menzies government embraced several principles defined by the postwar Labor government, trying to accommodate employers, unions, veterans and ethnic voters within a framework of international considerations. The issue of admitting Germans severely tested the government's ability to reconcile these divergent interests. While anti-communism and established ethnic stereotypes were the undercurrents driving the debate, the practical demands of the Australian labour force, on the one hand, and the memories of the Second World War, on the other, also assumed much prominence in the public rhetoric. This study suggests that despite the existence of a common set of assumptions, both sides in the debate constructed opposing viewpoints to exploit them for partisan purposes. Groups or individuals whose concerns indeed focused on the advantages and disadvantages of admitting German migrants were shunted aside in this essentially political battle.     

Business Representation in the UK Since 1979: the Case of Trade Associations

The article explores the impact of Conservative governments since 1979 on business representation. It concentrates on the trade association—the most common form of business organization in the UK but one which has been largely neglected in the discussion of business representation. The results of a major survey of trade associations conducted in 1994 are reported and their significance assessed in the light of three general propositions about the direction of business representation since 1979.     

One percent bikers clubs: A description

This paper, through an extensive literature review of biker websites, newspaper articles, popular books, the limited scholarly research, and court cases, as well as interviews and associations with law enforcement officers and 1% bikers, identifies and describes the major 1% biker clubs. The Big 5 clubs—Hell’s Angels, Bandidos, Outlaws, Pagans, and Sons of Silence— are discussed. Their history, number of chapters in the United States and overseas, and a “best guess estimate” of membership numbers are also provided. Similar information is provided on the major independent 1% biker clubs—Warlocks, Mongols and Iron Horsemen. There is also a brief discussion of the role of puppet (support) clubs and the four black or interracial 1% biker clubs. This research, describing the clubs, is the first step needed to stimulate research on this under researched topic.     

Is there a magical time boundary for diagnosing eyewitness identification accuracy in sequential line‐ups?

We examined whether eyewitness identification latencies for sequential line‐up decisions indicate an optimum time boundary that reliably discriminates accurate from inaccurate decisions. Participants (N = 381) observed a crime simulation and attempted two separate identifications from target‐present or target‐absent sequential line‐ups. As has previously been found with simultaneous line‐ups, the optimum time boundary identified did not reliably discriminate accurate from inaccurate identifications for both line‐up targets. Diagnosticity for choosers was, however, much higher at very high confidence levels than at lower levels. Possible reasons for why one index of signal strength (confidence), but not another (latency), might postdict accuracy within the sequential framework were presented.     

Complex Social Organization: Multiple Organizing Modes, Structural Incongruence, and Mechanisms of Integration

This article conceptualizes and analyses a type of complex social organization consisting of heterogeneous organizing modes and social relationships, combining, for instance, relationships making up markets and hierarchies as well as various types of informal networks. Each mode is constituted and regulated on the basis of a system of social rules making up a particular normative order and operates in terms of its own particular rationality or social logic. When modes are combined or integrated into multi-institutional complexes or organizations, the resultant structure entails zones of incongruence and tension at the junctures or interfaces of the different organizing modes and social relationships. The article identifies a number of such incongruent organizing modes that are common in complex social organizations or inter- institutional complexes. It goes on to identify several of the institutional strategies and arrangements including rituals, non-task-oriented discourses, and mediating roles that actors develop and institutionalize in dealing effectively with incongruences and potential conflicts in complex, heterogeneous organizations. The article suggests that problems of structural incongruence - and the tensions and conflicts that arise in connection with it as well as responses to these - are major features of complex organizational and inter-institutional arrangements. Moreover, it suggests that social order - the shaping of congruent, meaningful experiences - in these complex organizations as in most social life builds on non-rational foundations such as rituals and non-instrumental discourses. These contribute to maintaining social order and to providing a stable context, even for rational decision-making and action.