Is sexual difference a probelem

The paper offers a semiotic analysis of Macedonia's emotional architecture as represented in Manchevski's film entitled Before the Rain. Using a Deleuzean theoretical framework, the paper examines the paranoic, the schizzo and the depressive as three main, and deeply entwined, modes of Macedonian subjectivity. The paper particularly focuses on the filmic representation of the relentless struggle between the paranoid codings of Macedonian desires, the schizoid escapes of those same desires, and the depressive compromise formations peculiar to desiring Macedonian subjects.     

The household effect on electoral participation. A contextual analysis of voter signatures from a French polling station (1982–2007)

We use electoral participation data coded from signature lists to show that patterns of voter turnout, be they related to average participation, versatility or precise moments of voting, are strongly related to what we call “electorate households”, i.e. groups of voters registered in the same polling station and living together. Each household tends to be homogeneous, at levels much higher than chance would explain, so that modelling individual participation without taking this household effect into account ignores much of what actually happens. The status in the household also plays an important role among individual factors of voter participation. Not only do people who live together often participate together, but the precise shape of their relationships influences their behaviour.     

Combining value for money with increased aid to fragile states: welcome partnership or clash of agendas?

This article examines the origins and main strands of recent debates within the international development community regarding the tensions between increasing aid allocation to so-called ??fragile states?? and growing domestic and international pressure for donors to demonstrate measurable results and returns on their investments. With particular reference to the UK context, the paper examines how the confluence of these two agendas is being viewed, at least publicly, and some of the main arguments that have been put forward about why they may be difficult to pursue simultaneously. It asks whether or not it is feasible that donors will explicitly seek to address and resolve the apparent trade-offs between these two agendas, and concludes that in both international and domestic political arenas, ??good enough?? aid effectiveness, or a more nuanced, ??developmentised?? understanding of value for money, are unlikely to become palatable or politically viable any time soon.     

Introduction: Nation-building in China and Vietnam

This introduction explores the changing nature of Chinese and Vietnamese nation-building in the era of globalisation and specifically, transnationalism. The first part sets out a conceptual framework designed to put contemporary Chinese and Vietnamese nation-building in comparative, international perspective. The second part looks at the borders of nation-building from the point of view of diasporas living the nation-state, while the third part focuses on a series of trends working to reinterpret the nation from within.     

Predictors of Child Behavior Problems among Children of Female Vietnam Veterans

This study examined the impacts of intimate partner aggression by female Vietnam veterans and their male partners on their children’s behavior problems (N = 100 children). Veteran and partner psychological distress were also examined as potential mediators of these relationships. Results indicated that physical and psychological aggression perpetration by both the female veteran and the male partner was associated with child behavior problems. Contrary to expectations, psychological distress in the veteran and partner was not associated with child behavior problems and did not mediate the effects of physical and psychological aggression on this outcome.     

The temporal dimension of knowledge and the limits of policy appraisal: biofuels policy in the UK

What depth of learning can policy appraisal stimulate? How we can account for the survival policies that are known to pose significant countervailing risks? While heralded as a panacea to the inherent ambiguity of the political world, the proposition pursued is that policy appraisal processes intended to help decision-makers learn may actually be counterproductive. Rather than simulating policy-oriented learning, appraisals may reduce policy actors’ capacity to think clearly about the policy at hand. By encouraging a variety of epistemic inputs from a plurality of sources and shoehorning knowledge development into a specified timeframe, policy appraisal may leave decision-makers overloaded with conflicting information and evidence which dates rapidly. In such circumstances, they to fall back on institutionalised ways of thinking even when confronted with evidence of significant mismatches between policy objectives and the consequences of the planned course of action. Here learning is ‘single-loop’ rather than ‘double-loop’—focussed on adjustments in policy strategy rather than re-thinking the underlying policy goals. Using insights into new institutional economics, the paper explores how the results of policy appraisals in technically complex issues are mediated by institutionalised ‘rules of the game’ which feed back positively around initial policy frames and early interpretations of what constitutes policy success. Empirical evidence from UK biofuels policy appraisal confirms the usefulness of accounts that attend to the temporal tensions that exist between policy and knowledge development. Adopting an institutional approach that emphasises path dependence does not however preclude the possibility that the depth of decision-makers’ learning might change. Rather, the biofuels case suggests that moves towards deeper learning may be affected by reviews of appraisal evidence led by actors beyond immediate organizational context with Chief Scientific Advisers within government emerging as potentially powerful catalysts in this acquisition of learning capabilities.