Why might constructed nationalist and ethnic ideologies come into confrontation with each other?

The paper develops a model for examining ethnic conflict in Southeast Asia, using Indonesia as an illustrative case. Ethnic conflict is explained as arising not out of the facts of ethno-cultural pluralism, but rather out of the disentwining of the three visions of the nation: as civic community, as ethno-cultural community and as multicultural community.This disentwining occurs particularly in the context of pressures for democratization. Three aspects of politics are identified as promoting the disentwining so as to engender the weakening of the civic nationalist vision, and thence the confrontation between a majoritarian ethno-cultural nationalism and a minority-focused multicultural nationalism. First, the spread of ideas related to democracy generates the spread of liberal forms of the three nationalist visions, alongside the authoritarian forms, and puts the spotlight on the divergences between these visions. Ideas of democracy are then highjacked by ethnic majorities claiming majority rights, and by ethnic minorities claiming minority rights. Second, the patrimonial basis for politics in much of Southeast Asia means that ethnic majorities and minorities alike perceive democratization as the search for responsive patrons, rather than as the search for civic equality. Third, civic nationalism is further weakened by the erosion of faith in the social justice promises of state elites. While these features of politics promote ethnic tensions, they also generate countervailing factors that ensure the political disunity of ethnic minorities, and thereby inhibit the extent of ethnic conflict.     

Should They Stay,or Should They Go?

正A Greek exit from the euro zone would have major economic and political consequences What was unthinkable a year ago is now being thought about much more seriously.The exit of Greece from the euro zone is now being discussed increasingly by commentators,economists,and even political figures in Europe.British Prime Minister David Cameron has raised the ire of euro-zone members (the UK is not     

Fictional power and control and the reality of abusive behaviour

In response to recent sociological studies that suggest that the seriousness of psychological, emotional and verbal abuse are not only dismissed but are also the least identified in dating relationships, this article undertakes an analysis of these underexplored, ‘less visible’, elements using Ellen Pence and Michael Paymar’s ‘Power and Control’ and ‘Equality’ wheels, it compares Stephanie Meyer’s 10th anniversary re-release of Twilight, and Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, which tells the same story as Twilight, but with the genders reversed are compared using the ‘Power and Control’ and ‘Equality’ wheels. The author argues that Life and Death is not just a simple swap of names and pronouns, as Meyer asserts, but that the alterations of thoughts and actions of the characters reflect commonly held ideas about gender, including the perpetration of psychological, emotional and verbal abuse in intimate relationships as hallmarks of masculinity. Moreover it shows that consistent with the feminisation of vampire Edythe Cullen and mortal Beau Swan, the intimate relationship in Life and Death more closely resembles that of a non-violent and equitable relationship, which significantly lessens the abuse, and reinforces traditionally socially accepted messages about gender in intimate relationships.     

School Smoking Policy Characteristics and Individual Perceptions of the School Tobacco Context: Are They Linked to Students’ Smoking Status?

The purpose of this study was to explore individual- and school-level policy characteristics on student smoking behavior using an ecological perspective. Participants were 24,213 (51% female) Grade 10–11 students from 81 schools in five Canadian provinces. Data were collected using student self-report surveys, written policies collected from schools, interviews with school administrators, and school property observations to assess multiple dimensions of the school tobacco policy. The multi-level modeling results revealed that the school a student attended was associated with his/her smoking behavior. Individual-level variables that were associated with student smoking included lower school connectedness, a greater number of family and friends who smoked, higher perceptions of student smoking prevalence, lower perceptions of student smoking frequency, and stronger perceptions of the school tobacco context. School-level variables associated with student smoking included weaker policy intention indicating prohibition and assistance to overcome tobacco addiction, weaker policy implementation involving strategies for enforcement, and a higher number of students smoking on school property. These findings suggest that the school environment is important to tobacco control strategies, and that various policy dimensions have unique relationships to student smoking. School tobacco policies should be part of a comprehensive approach to adolescent tobacco use.     

Enhancing and Measuring Organizational Capacity: Assessing the Results of the U.S. Department of Justice Rural Pilot Program Evaluation

A significant goal of public administrators in this era of shrinking public funds has been to find ways to enhance and measure organizational capacity and sustainability with minimal outlays of resources. One attempt to address this goal was the Rural Pilot Program, funded by the Office of Violence Against Women in the U.S. Department of Justice. Based on the evaluation of the program, this article (1) describes how capacity was measured, (2) discusses the validation and utility of a self‐administered instrument, and (3) examines whether and to what extent organizational capacity is enhanced by an intermediary funding model. Modest positive changes were found in two areas—organizational staffing and information technology—but no changes were found in other areas. The article concludes with recommendations for designing future programs to enhance capacity and sustainability and for public administrators and grant makers in utilizing self‐administered capacity instruments.