Members of the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, 1992–1993

Members of the Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, 1992–1993     

Overcoming barriers to technology transfer between small business assistance agencies and their clients: Third world style

This paper presents the results of an empirical examination of the methods small business assistance agencies in the Dominican Republic use to overcome technology transfer barriers. The availability and the methods agencies use to access the world's business knowledge are examined, as well as how the agencies disseminate the information to clients. The discussion identifies barriers that inhibit the flow of client information between (1) the knowledge pool and the agencies and (2) the agencies and the client. The strategies that agencies use to overcome barriers are characterized as push or pull, and informal or formal. Pull strategies begin with marketplace need and work toward the technology to solve the problem. Push strategies begin with specific business information and work toward its acceptance and use in the marketplace by clients. Personal interviews were conducted in Spanish with heads of the 13 assistance agencies in the country. Survey participants were asked about the processes, procedures, and techniques they used to gain and transfer business skills. The study identifies specific activities in which the agencies engage in order to effectively overcome barriers to the transfer of business knowledge.     

The battlefield of ideas: the legitimation of political violence in Northern Ireland

Abstract. Northern Ireland has suffered consistently from the effects of political violence since the late 1960s. This article argues that anyone who engages in political violence seeks legitimation for his acts and it assesses the attempts by Republicans and Loyalists in Northern Ireland to legitimate their violence. The legitimation of both Loyalist and Republican violence is shown to consist of arguments drawn from a wide range of theoretical traditions by no means confined to Northern Ireland. Republicans draw upon nationalism, Catholicism and Marxism whilst Loyalists make use of contractarian ideas and Protestant theology. Both sides have been relatively successful in persuading potential supporters of the legitimacy of their activities. The article concludes by analysing weaknesses in each attempt at legitimation and by indicating how the diversity of the rival packages may prove counterproductive in the long run. The capacity of each group to generate the additional support needed to achieve its ends is seriously doubted.