Narratives of race and nation in china: Women's suffrage in the early twentieth century

This paper explores the ways in which the Chinese women's suffrage movement used racializing narratives to alter the boundaries that had excluded women from full participation in politics in the first two decades of the 20th century. It extends existing work on the connection between narratives of race and women's suffrage in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA to explore how “race” was mobilized in China in the late-Qing and early Republican period. The article has three main areas of innovation. First, it explores the deployment of racializing narratives within the broader discourses of modernity circulating in China wherein modernization was premised on a racialized notion of national identity—that is “modernization as Han chauvinism.” Second, this article aims to participate in the process of extending the history of women's suffrage from primary reliance on class analysis and towards methods that explore the multiple categories of exclusion and inclusion. Third, this article aims to explore the manner in which narratives of race were invoked within a feminist political campaign that occurred in a nation without a history of European colonization. The article demonstrates that the multiplicity of possible gains sought under the banner of “race” makes it an unreliable category to invoke for struggles that are ultimately determined by “gendered” divisions.     

Politics of municipal property taxes: implications for decision‐making

Abstract: Property taxes are one of the few, important mechanisms through which municipal governments can exercise a measure of autonomy and determine policies that shape their local communities. Property taxes account for almost half of a municipality's own‐source revenues. Ideally, decisions surrounding property‐tax assessments could be based on criteria related to such things as equity, efficiency and stability. A closer examination of property‐tax assessments between property classes in Northern British Columbian municipalities, however, suggests that the setting of tax rates appears to be an incremental, rather than systematic, process that builds on past experiences, current demands, and observation of the practices of nearby municipalities. These findings suggest that property‐tax policy development is a poorly understood process that can have significant implications for the economic health of local municipalities. Sommaire: Les taxes fanciers ne sont que l'un des quelques rares et impotents mécanismes au moyen desquels les Governments municipaux prevent exercer une certain autonomic et determiner les propitious qui faqonnent leurs communautés locales. Les taxes foncières représentent près de la moitié des recettes d'une munici‐palité. En principe, les décisions entourant les évaluations de taxes foncières pour‐raient reposer sur des critères se rapportant à des facteurs comme l'équité, l'efficience et la stabilité. Un examen plus attentif d'évaluations des taxes foncières de différentes catégories dans les municipalités du Nord de la Colombie‐Britannique laisse entendre que l'établissement des taux de taxes semble être un processus pro‐gressif plutôt que systématique, reposant sur les expériences passées, les demandes actuelles et l'observation des pratiques des municipalités environnantes. Ces résul‐tats donnent à penser que l'élaboration d'une politique en matière de taxes foncières est un processus mal compris qui pourrait avoir d'importantes répercussions sur la santééconomique des municipalités locales.     

How women use family networks to facilitate migration: A comparative study of Irish and Polish women in Britain

Within migration studies there has been a tendency to focus on a single case study of a particular national group. Adopting a comparative approach may raise new and interesting questions or challenge conventional thinking on migration. While on the surface, at least, Irish and Polish migrants would appear to have many commonalities, there has been surprisingly little comparative analysis of these two groups. Drawing on my own research on these migrants in the British context, I focus on women as a large but under-researched aspect of both groups. This paper suggests ways in which such a comparison could be undertaken by using social networks as a useful comparative tool. A social networks perspective not only allows a probing analysis of migration strategies, but also provides a framework within which to compare across different migrant groups, such as for example, examining the role of family networks (here and there) in migration processes. In addition, this approach enables an examination of dynamism over time and how migrants develop relationships within spatially dispersed as well as locally embedded ties.     

Type and extent of child abuse as predictors of adult functioning

Child abuse is associated with a variety of difficulties later in life. However, it is unclear to what extent these outcomes are related to the type and combinations of abuse (i.e., sexual versus physical) rather than the variable characteristics within each type. Information regarding child abuse histories as well as current functioning was gathered from a community sample of 259 working women. Incest and severe physical abuse were each associated with similar symptoms, with people who were more severely abused showing worse outcomes. Those women who were both physically and sexually abused had less favorable outcomes than those abused in only one manner. The effects of abuse could not be understood without taking combinations of different types and severities into account. The implications of the similarities of the outcomes of severe sexual and physical abuse were discussed.     

Judicial Decisions and Policy

This symposium debates the impact of High Court decisions by questioning whether the High Court has the constitutional and legislative authority (and possibly the moral right) to decide policy issues and determine the rights of citizens. Arguments on the role of the High Court vary from views that the High Court provides a sphere in which political interests may be lobbied to notions that its role is solely to interpret the Australian Constitution. However, what occurs when the political aspirations of government are in conflict with the decisions of the High Court? Should the High Court adapt judicial decisions to changing social views, or consider the implications of their decisions on the executive and legislature? What is the constitutional role of the High Court? These questions are explored in detail in the following articles.