Demythologising the petite bourgeoisie: The Italian case

The political volatility and economic instability of the petite bourgeoisie are taken for granted in most political and sociological analysis. Viewed as a pivotal force in historic and contemporary movements of the extreme right, it is widely believed to exercise a constant ‘threat’ potential, thus guaranteeing its protection throughout the post‐war period — above all in the Italian context where small economic entrepreneurs persist in substantial numbers. Using a variety of evidence, including electoral and survey materials, this article counterposes to the ‘pathological’ interpretation of the petite bourgeoisie an alternative profile, one that stresses its confidence, its stability of allegiance and its commitment to centrism.     

Negative democracy and the distortion of american character

The managerial role in our society has done more to erode the development of American character than assist it. For public administration, a more appropriate role is based in the idea of governance. Governance puts the development of character as the first priority of public administration. Adopting this role does not necessarily require structural reform in public institutions or a dismantling of the market, but instead calls for a commitment to a changed disposition among public officials regarding the purposes of government and the potentialities of human relationship. The administrative role must move away from instrumental conceptions of management that focus our minds upon discrete decisions and achievements, to one that embraces life as an ongoing process of maturation in democratic community.

In such condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently no culture on earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building, no instruments of moving, and removing, such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no art; not letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.

Thomas Hobbes

The Leviathan

To many great civilizations past and present, the unity of nature is a fact of immediate experience that needs no special pleading. In the West, however, much of the history of science is concerned with separating and reducing this unity into ever smaller and smaller fragments out of which nature has somehow to be glued back together.

Mae-Wan Ho

We have two kinds of politics in this country...the politics of greed and the politics of guilt. We have to create the politics of convergence.

Sen. William Bradley D-New Jersey April, 1992     

Developmental trends and gender differences in the relation between understanding of friendship and asociality

The relation between understanding of friendship and asociality was examined in 91 girls and 104 boys ranging in age from 9 to 17 years. Consistent with previous research, older children had higher understanding of friendship scores than younger children, and girls had higher understanding of friendship scores than boys. The relation between understanding of friendship and asociality was significant only for boys. Difficulty in understanding components of friendship appears to be one correlate of boys' delinquent tendencies.This article is based on the master's thesis of the first author, submitted to the University of Dayton.Received M.A. from University of Dayton. Main interest is clinical psychology.Received Ph.D. from University of Illinois at Chicago. Main interest is social cognitive development.     

The meaning of anger for Australian Indigenous offenders: the significance of context

The problem of overrepresentation of Indigenous offenders in Australian prisons highlights the need for effective tertiary intervention programs within correctional settings as a way of reducing Indigenous reincarceration. This study seeks to explore meanings of anger within an Indigenous context that might inform the development of more acceptable and potentially more effective rehabilitation programs. A methodology that acknowledges the importance of narrative, context, and culture was devised to explore how anger as an emotion is understood and experienced by a group of Indigenous men in a South Australian prison. Although some of the major themes reflected experiences of anger common to many offenders, it was evident that for these Indigenous men, anger was experienced within a broad social and political context that imbued the experience of anger with layers of culturally specific meaning. It is suggested that these layers of meaning constitute sufficient difference to warrant further exploration.     

Student outcomes associated with service-learning in a culturally relevant high school program

The Hawaiian Studies Program (HSP) integrates the learning of Hawaiian culture with more traditional secondary curriculum in science, social studies, and English. Students also participate in weekly community service-learning sessions. Fifty-five HSP students and 29 peers (who were not involved in the program), completed a survey measuring: students' connection to, pride in, and responsibility for their community; civic attitudes; and career knowledge and preparedness. HSP teachers, community members, and students were also interviewed about program outcomes. Compared to other peers, HSP students tended to report feeling more connected to their community and school and to agree that they had career-related skills. Participants believed that service- learning contributed to these outcomes by making connections between school and community life and by exposing students to a variety of careers.     

Sudden unexpected death in epilepsy: a retrospective study

Patients with epilepsy have a mortality rate higher than that of the general population; sudden unexpected death represents a significant category of mortality in these patients. The precise frequency of occurrence of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) is not well defined, with a range of 1 in 370 to 1100 in the general epileptic population. A major difficulty with incidence studies is the continued reluctance in using the term SUDEP as a cause of death, making reliance solely on death certificates inconsistent and incomplete. Knowledge about SUDEP remains limited, as no single common risk factor has yet been identified, although predisposing conditions have been suggested. The purpose of this study is to review the association between several clinical variables and SUDEP to elucidate risk factors. The characteristics of the 67 cases in this series correlate with published findings in previous studies. Attributes that may be used to define an at-risk group of epileptics include age less than 40 years, male gender, long history of seizure disorder, undermedication or poorly controlled seizure activity, and mental or physical stress. Education of physicians as to the existence of SUDEP and risk factors is imperative in improving patient education and reduction in mortality.     

The Security Council in the Face of Genocide

The genocide in Rwanda will define for our generation the failureto intervene in the face of mass human rights abuses. The UNSecurity Council (the Council) was intimately involved in thisterrible event, with the decisions it took from October 1993,when a peacekeeping mission was created for Rwanda, having adecisive effect on what happened. This article details the crucialmeetings held by the Council in secret and informal sessionsand describes how a serious assessment of the situation in Rwandawas simply missing. It shows how the peacekeepers of the Council'smission to Rwanda were abandoned during the genocide and howthe efforts of these UN personnel to ease the suffering of theRwandan people were ignored by the Great Powers.