Towards a postmodern science of language

This article outlines the terms and rationale for a ‘postmodern’ science of language, and illustrates it with reference to a single text: President George Bush's speech to Congress in the wake of September 11. It first addresses the issue of whether and how students of language can or should draw on scientific concepts and theories, and where the acute anxieties on this topic come from. It then proposes that a new stage in science needs to be recognised that changes the terms of the relations between science and the humanities. ‘Postmodern’ forms of science accept and work with the uncertainty, unpredictability, ambiguity and contradiction that characterise the phenomena of language and society in every era, and is especially marked in the present ‘postmodern condition’. The article then briefly explains key concepts from this body of scientific work: Poincare´'s Three Body Analysis, Prigogine's far-from-equilibrium analysis, Zadeh's fuzzy logic, Mandelbrot's fractals, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, and Lorenz's Butterfly Effect.     

Book reviews

Making Sense in Law: Linguistic, Psychological and Semiotic Perspectives, BERNARD S. JACKSON Liverpool: Deborah Charles Publications 1995

Culture And Sexual Risk: Anthropological Perspectives On Aids, HAN T. BRUMMELHUIS &; GILBERT HERDT (Eds) Amsterdam: Gordon and Breach Publishers, 1995

Virtual Geography, MCKENZIE WARK, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994     

Images of the homeless: Public views and media messages

Abstract

Despite its potential policy relevance, public opinion about homelessness has received little attention from researchers. This deficiency is addressed here by bringing together data obtained in four recent surveys. The survey results indicate that many Americans accurately perceive the characteristics of homeless people, consider homelessness a serious problem with structural roots, and support a variety of measures intended to solve it. Certain segments of the public— Democrats, liberals, blacks, and residents of communities that have homeless populations—are especially likely to hold these views. The extent to which the public's thoughts on homelessness have been shaped by the media is difficult to determine. However, an analysis of the volume and content of print and broadcast news coverage of the issue hints at a plausible causal connection.     

Legacy of the Housing Act of 1949: The Past,Present, and Future of Federal Housing and Urban Policy

Abstract

This article summarizes a special issue of Housing Policy Debate, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Housing Act of 1949. The act is best remembered for its declaration that every American deserves a “decent home and a suitable living environment.” The articles in this collection offer varying perspectives on how this act helped shape the postwar metropolis. The authors—urban planners, historians, and public officials—each consider a different part of the legacy.

The first three articles deal primarily with the act's creation and social and political ramifications, while the next three look at how Titles I, II, and III have influenced the past 50 years of housing and urban policy. The record of the Housing Act of 1949 is mixed, and so are its lessons. There remains an ongoing struggle to find the right mix of housing support to reach the goals first expressed in this landmark legislation.     

From seaside to Southside: New urbanism's quest to save the inner city

Abstract

In this article, we use a random sample of urban community development corporations (CDCs) to determine whether distinct types exist and, if so, to estimate their prevalence in the industry. The typical urban CDC has a diversified portfolio of economic and social development activities, including community organizing, and is likely to have a housing development program, although not necessarily a large one because relatively few are high producers.

Large‐scale housing producers, defined in the study as having produced at least 500 units during the previous 10 years, comprise 18 percent of CDCs. A large organizational capacity, an affiliation with national intermediaries, the training of staff and the adoption of computers, the length of executive directors’ tenure, and the share of funding devoted to housing programs are the most important factors increasing the odds that a CDC will belong to the group of high producers.     

Public Service Motivation: A Test of the Job Attraction–Selection–Attrition Model

ABSTRACT

Public service motivation (PSM) research suggests that PSM influences employee sector choice, yet relatively little research examines how time moderates this relationship. In this research we examine public service motivation among private and public sector lawyers. Using survey data that measure sector of employment at multiple time periods, we investigate the stability of the relationship between individual reward orientations and sector employment choice over time. Our findings suggest that while PSM may not clearly predict the employment sector of a respondent's first job, it does increase the likelihood that a respondent's subsequent job is in the public sector.     

Does the Likely Demographics of Affordable Housing Justify NIMBYism?

ABSTRACT

NIMBYism (not in my backyard) decreases the amount of affordable housing construction. A possible motivator for this is an existing homeowner’s fear that proximity to affordable housing depresses property value. Using a hedonic regression analysis of the sales prices of homes in Sacramento County, California, this study finds that increases in the demographic characteristics in a census tract that are likely to increase if more affordable housing is built there lower the sales price of a home. This finding holds even after controlling for the percentages of racial/ethnic groups more likely to face discrimination. Policymakers should recognize this economic element of NIMBYism as they consider instruments to increase the amount of affordable housing built. We conclude with a suggestion for a knowingly controversial policy mechanism based upon cap and trade with the hope it will spur further debate on this issue.