A plurality of total institutions: towards a comparative penology

Data were collected in five countries, Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Canada and France between 1996 and 2003. This was used to compare and assess prison social climates. A taxonomy of social climates based on different configurations of institutional and personalized trust is proposed. Relationships between, on the one hand, assessments of the social climate by inmates and staff, and, on the other hand, the overall stability of prison as a social institution are explored. It is argued that criteria for assessment do not have an absolute character; they depend on the external context, values and norms shared by inmates. Prison reforms might destabilize the situation if they fail to take into account mutual expectations of staff and inmates. This article is written as the significantly revisited and updated version of a section in the book ([21], pp. 138–150). Previously published materials are reprinted with a kind permission of Ashgate Publishing Ltd. I am grateful to the anonymous reviewer for a number of very helpful comments and suggestions. The author also thanks Sheryl Curtis, Theresa Heath-Rodgers and Anamika Twyman-Ghoshal for helpful suggestions in editing. However, remaining inaccuracies and mistakes are only my own.     

Should I stay,or should I go? self-legitimacy of attorneys in an authoritarian state

Crime, Law and Social Change - In non-democracies, lawyers face various constraints ranging from the absence of acquittals or violations of their clients’ rights to threats and criminal...     

Re-enacting “Cossack roots:” embodiment of memory,history, and tradition among young people in southern Russia

This article draws upon ethnographic research which was conducted among young Cossacks (members of officially registered and informal Cossack clubs) in southern Russia. It presents young people’s participation in the Cossack “nativism” as a physical and material mode of socialization into the mnemonic community. The research puts forward an argument that such corporal and sensorial experiences is effective in recruiting some young members to the Cossack movement. At the same time, the performative character of neo-Cossack identity destabilizes contemporary Cossacks’ claims of authenticity related to the status of the legitimate heirs of historical Cossackdom. At the more general level of discussion this paper juxtaposes bodily activities, social memory, and revivalist discourses.     

SOVIET AGRICULTURAL POLICY IN THE 1980

During the early 1960s. the USSR entered a stage where the pent-up forces for a higher standard of living no longer could be ignored. These forces showed in an increased demand for high-quality food products, particularly meat, and raised Soviet demand for feed grains. The Soviets came to rely increasingly on the world grain market for these—particularly on the United States. Nonetheless, consumer discontent over food supplies and the reliance on imported grain was a strategic weakness which the United States sought to exploit in 1980. The USSR reacted by formulating a IIFood PrOgramI1 that is the basis of today's Soviet agricultural policy. Its implications for trade could be significant.     

Accountability for the use of algorithms in a big data environment

ABSTRACT

Accountability is the ability to provide good reasons in order to explain and to justify actions, decisions and policies for a (hypothetical) forum of persons or organisations. Since decision-makers, both in the private and in the public sphere, increasingly rely on algorithms operating on Big Data for their decision-making, special mechanisms of accountability concerning the making and deployment of algorithms in that setting become gradually more urgent. In the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation, the importance of accountability and closely related concepts, such as transparency, as guiding protection principles, is emphasised. Yet, the accountability mechanisms inherent in the regulation cannot be appropriately applied to algorithms operating on Big Data and their societal impact. First, algorithms are complex. Second, algorithms often operate on a random group level, which may pose additional difficulties when interpreting and articulating the risks of algorithmic decision-making processes. In light of the possible significance of the impact on human beings, the complexities and the broader scope of algorithms in a big data setting call for accountability mechanisms that transcend the mechanisms that are now inherent in the regulation.     

Measuring the effectiveness of competition in defense procurement: A survey of the empirical literature

This article surveys the empirical literature that has attempted to measure the effects of competition in defense procurement. Its focus is on the conceptual underpinnings of the empirical models rather than on the technical aspects of the estimation procedures. While the empirical studies provide some valuable insight, the studies are flawed because they assume an implicit model of the procurement environment that is inconsistent with reasonable economic behavior on the part of defense contractors and seems to be contradicted by the evidence. In general, the predictive power of the empirical models is also limited by a program-by-program estimation approach in which only a handful of data points are available to estimate two or more parameters. These empirical models could be improved by the use of structural models that assume reasonable economic behavior and provide a theoretical basis for cross-program analyses.     

Characterization of ballpoint pen inks by thermal and desorption and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

The characterization of ink on paper is of importance for dating and comparing questioned ink entries in forensic document examination. Inks are commonly characterized by their colorant profile that is identified by well-established analytical methods. Numerous ink formulations show identical colorant profiles, though. In order to differentiate inks that are not distinguishable by colorant analysis, a method for the characterization of colorless ink ingredients, namely binders, solvents and additives is necessary. In this paper, we propose a technique for the analysis of colorless compounds in ballpoint inks using direct thermal desorption of the ink on paper followed by chemical analysis of the desorbed volatile compounds by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. As compared to liquid extraction and subsequent analysis of the extracts, the technique avoids possible contamination risks. Sensitivity is very high due to the enrichment of volatile components by thermal desorption. Even from old samples, the chromatograms obtained by the method enable the determination of binder polymers, solvents and additives. Pure binders as used by ink manufacturers were analyzed for unambiguous assignment of analytical results to specific polymers. To prove the practical applicability, we analyzed 121 ballpoint pens, not all having the same colorant profile, and grouped the pens into resin and solvent categories.