The Crisis of Over-Accumulation in Japan

Abstract

Japan has now been mired in economic stagnation, punctuated by recurrent recessions, for the past two decades. What are the causes of this longstanding malaise? Is it merely the natural consequence of financial retrenchment and the onset of a pervasive “liquidity trap” after the collapse of the “bubble” economy in the early 1990s, or does the present slump signify a more profound historical phase of structural decline? The aim of this study is to provide several tentative hypotheses. In the first section, some of the possible causes of this phase of prolonged stagnation will be examined. The next section provides a theoretical treatment of the dynamics of debt-deflation from a Minsky-Fisher perspective. The final section evaluates whether the historical evidence lends credence to the debt-deflation thesis.     

Hope in the treatment of sexual offenders: the potential application of hope theory

Abstract

The present paper attempts to demonstrate how hope theory is conceptually consistent with current positive approaches to sexual offender treatment. Hope theory and its components of goals, pathways thinking, and agentic thinking is reviewed as defined by Snyder and his colleagues. A theoretical relationship exists between the role of hope and many aspects of sexual offending and treatment. Developmental course, attachment style, and the formation and maintenance of coping styles are reviewed as they relate to hope and sexual offending. A framework by which to apply hope theory to pre-treatment, treatment, and more specifically, self-management or relapse prevention for sexual offenders is proposed. Emphasis is placed on the use of techniques that target hope components, particularly in pre-treatment programs.     

Generating data with sexual offenders using qualitative material: A paradigm to complement not compete with quantitative methodology

This paper proposes triangulation as a research strategy in which the domain of sexual offending may be assessed using both qualitative and quantitative data. Examples of studies that have employed this approach with sexual offenders are outlined, showing the benefit that can be gained from utilizing multiple methods of assessment. The paper also outlines a range of quality criteria when conducting qualitative research, that Gaskell and Bauer (2000) argue are functional equivalents of reliability and validity.     

THE SOCIETY'S 2006 TOUR OF WESTERN MONGOLIA (28 JULY–14 AUGUST)

This article, accompanied by colour photos, records the author's recent archaeological expedition in the Taklamakan Desert. His advance northwards along the now mostly sand-covered beds of the Keriya River proved to be a march backward through time, from the Iron Age city of Jumbulakum to the early Bronze Age necropolis of Ayala Mazar. The artifacts he found are contemporary with, and similar to Chinese discoveries at Xiaohe. This proves that Xiaohe was not an isolated case and provides evidence for a whole culture based on some sort of fertility cult. The remains also suggest that some, at least, of the peoples concerned had Indo-European affiliations.     

The Irish election of November 1982

Changes in centre‐periphery relations, both institutional (most notably decentralisation) and socio‐economic (the growing importance of cities) have radically altered the environment in which French political parties operate. The unprecedentedly close links between parties and the local political system that have resulted have profoundly affected power structures within the parties. Just as the Fifth Republic ‘presidentialised’ parties, so decentralisation has ‘localised’ them. The case of the Rassemblement pour la République, the inheritor to the top‐down, presidentialist tradition of Gaullism, is a remarkable illustration of this transformation.     

The new international financial architecture and Caribbean ofcs: Confronting financial stability discourse

This article examines the role and force of international finance in contemporary capitalism and the norms being established by international financial governance structures. More than the matter of exclusion, the article argues that financial stability discourse girding issues related to the nature of capital market liberalisation, terrorist financing, money laundering and tax evasion attempts to suture over, erase and/or render illegitimate ideational resistance—particularly by offshore financial centres (ofcs) of the global South. The ongoing experience of the English-speaking Caribbean ofcs is discussed as local operatives have long been simultaneously framing as well as resisting Anglo-American insistence on a new configuration of market ethics, norms and sociality in the virtual world of ‘shores’ and high finance. This adds to the emerging body of work seeking to discursively unpack financialisation.     

Control versus consent in community-based long-term care services: the role of economic empowerment

Professor Kapp responds to the article in this issue by Safewright and McAuley. He discusses the use of economic empowerment as a public policy strategy that is essential to a meaningful consideration of enhancing consumer autonomy and choice within the context of publicly-funded home and community-based long term care programs.