The Middle Way: The Discourse of Planning in Britain,Australia and at the League in the Interwar Years*

Through an examination of speeches, articles and scholarly writing, this article traces the development of the idea of planning and the related doctrine of rationalization in Australia, Britain and at the League of Nations up to the Second World War. These terms denoted scientific control of social forces, an idea that emerged as the major response to interwar perceptions of crisis. Although rationalization and planning were viewed as potentially international in scope by the League's Economic Section, their treatment in Britain and Australia tended towards the provincial, with the rhetoric surrounding them progressively being tailored to suit local and imperial concerns and commitments. The defences of planning often relied on sentimental appeals to British character and traditions, although these same appeals were later used to undermine its rhetorical status.     

The possibility of an Asian monetary union drawing from the EMU experience

This academic exercise evaluates the possibility of formation of a monetary union within East Asia, with the European Monetary Union (EMU) providing a referential framework against which lessons and comparisons are drawn. The benefits and drawbacks to Asia of adopting such a union are discussed, and their relative magnitude weighed against each other by employing the theory of the Optimum Currency Area (OCA). Although studies under the OCA framework have not yielded irrefutable or definitive results on the economic sustainability of an Asian monetary union, it is concurred that such a union is as economically viable as the EMU. The political sentiments towards monetary unification in East Asia are also examined, and though leaders remain generally unreceptive to such an undertaking, it is receiving serious consideration as cooperative monetary efforts accelerate and integrative initiatives deepen across Asia. Attention is also given to the existing monetary union between Singapore and Brunei (MUBS) as it commands relevance in our analysis due to its residence within Asia itself, and its smooth functioning despite economic disparities between its two members. A gradualist approach towards East Asian monetary unification, whereby smaller monetary unions are first formed to be eventually merged to make up an East Asian-wide monetary union is also discussed.     

Perceived responsibility and the least of evils principle

In a 3×3×2 factorial experiment subjects were asked to make a series of judgments about a hypothetical defendant. Varied in theinvestigation were the coercive characteristics of the situation for the defendant, the amount of harm done to the victim, and the legitimate alternatives available to the defendant to meet the demands of coercion. Observers judged the actor harshly for performing an illegal action when a legitimate alternative was available and when the amount of harm to the victim exceeded the level of coercion used against thedefendant. However, the defendant was exonerated from blame and punishment when legitimate alternatives were not available and when coercio level exceeded harm level. The implications of the findings were discussed in relationship to both jury decision making and the attribution of responsibility literature.     

Potential lessons from public health and health promotion for the prevention of child abuse

Two successful public health efforts of the last third of the twentieth century-tobacco control and automobile injury control-are reviewed for relevance to the problem of child abuse. Potential lessons for child abuse prevention are identified and the following approaches are suggested: Investigate varied logic models or conceptual frameworks to identify new opportunities for effective intervention. Use a multidisciplinary, multi-sector approach. Normalize desired behaviors and denormalize undesirable behaviors. Balance efficacy, feasibility, and cultural appropriateness. Develop strategies for effective policy advocacy based upon who benefits and who shoulders most of the burden.     

Sex, race/ethnicity, and context in school-associated student homicides

This study assessed the importance of sex, race/ethnicity, and geographic context for incidents of school-associated student homicides between July 1, 1994 and June 30, 1999, covering 5 academic years. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention School Associated Violent Deaths Study (n = 125 incidents), we compared percentages and medians of victim, offender, motive, and school characteristics for incidents by geographic context and race/ethnicity of the offenders. Most incidents involved urban areas (53.6%), Black and Latino offenders and victims, moderately high youth poverty, and male on male violence (77.6%) driven by disputes and gang-related motives. Suburban area incidents (31.2%) often involved offenders and victims of a different race/ethnicity (51.3%). Multiple victims and White offenders were more common in rural areas (15.2%). More than 50% of the rural incidents involved male offenders and female victims. White offender incidents more often included multiple victims and female victims while Black and Latino offenders more often included single victims of the same sex. These results emphasize the utility of an incident-based analysis of school-associated student homicides in highlighting important variations by intersections of sex, race/ethnicity, and geographic context.     

Special Issue: Gender,Sexuality and Human Rights

This brief article introduces a special issue of Feminist Legal Studies addressing gender, sexuality and human rights, and comprising papers drawn from an E.S.R.C.-funded workshop held at the University of Kent in June 2004 on the theme of “Gender-Auditing the Human Rights Act”. The article begins by situating the themes of the special issue within the broader context of feminist engagement with rights discourse. It goes on to consider the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 into the U.K. with a view to assessing its implications in terms of engendering a positive legal and political culture for equality-seeking initiatives. The article concludes with a survey of the contributions to the special issue, highlighting the possibilities for feminist theory and strategy posed by a wider intersectional engagement with rights issues.