Nordic vs. anti-Nordic: the Galton Society and the American Anthropological Association

Most homegrown commentators on race and multiculturalism in Britain find it very difficult to believe that multi-ethnic Britain has anything much it can learn from continental Europe. Arguing against this view, Favell diagnoses the reasons why British academics tend to fall back on 'exceptionalist' arguments. It is wrong to characterize the achievements and peculiarities of British multicultural race relations in terms that disconnect it from similar developments in other West European countries. Favell goes on to discuss the wide-ranging impact of black British cultural studies on research in Britain, exploring the limitations in particular of the paradigm laid down by the influential work of Stuart Hall. Offering an alternative comparative approach to understanding race relations and immigration in Britain, he sets out the distinctive insights to be found when Britain is looked at in terms of general international theories of citizenship and migration. Policymakers and policy academics in Britain, however, continue to work within a framework of ideas and concepts that is becoming increasingly less responsive to the challenge of new migrations-such as asylum-seekers and new economic migrants - which have come to dominate the European scene in the last decade.     

Deregulation and Emergency Contraception: A Way Forward for Women's Health Care?

A deregulation of medicines is currently underway in the U.K. and France. Emergency contraception has become available over the counter in pharmacies in both countries. This might constitute a further step in the liberalisation of contraception, something which has always received support from women’s organisations and from women themselves. It also forms part of a current revolution in patient behaviour. This article examines the law governing the deregulation of emergency contraception in the U.K. and France and assesses how far this might serve to empower women to take control of their own reproductive health care provision. It considers some of the British feminist critiques of the limit to patient’s autonomy put forward by Sheldon(1998), Foster (1998), and Murphy (1998). This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Coalition and Minority Government in Scotland: Lessons for the United Kingdom?

The United Kingdom general election result in 2010 produced a hung or balanced parliament for the first time in over three decades. Since the United Kingdom has limited postwar experience of this outcome, it is natural that commentators have begun to look elsewhere for lessons on the practicalities of minority and coalition government. This article considers the lessons we can learn from the Scottish parliamentary experience since 1999. It outlines two main points of comparison: strength and stability. One might assume that coalition provides more of both than minority government. Indeed, for that reason, it is rare for central or devolved governments in the United Kingdom to operate as minorities through choice. Yet, the Scottish experience shows that the differences between coalition and minority government are not completely straightforward. Much depends on the institutional context and, in many cases, idiosyncratic elements of particular systems. Consequently, one can identify a trade‐off in comparative analysis: as the identification of elements specific to one system increases, the ability to draw clear meaningful lessons decreases.     

As Good as Policy Gets

In June 2014, the think tank IPPR published a report, The Condition of Britain, widely seen as important source material for Labour as the party geared up for the 2015 General Election. This is an echo of another report—that of the Commission on Social Justice, published in 1994—which also made an important contribution to the thinking of Labour in opposition. A comparison between the two documents provides insights into the evolution of mainstream progressive thought over the past twenty years.     

Human rights and the fight against terrorism in Northern Ireland

After a discussion of the United Kingdom's responsibilities under the European Convention of Human Rights and the political background to the re‐emergence in 1968–69 of terrorism and the stationing of British troops in the Province, the article analyses those human rights issues which derive from the way the fight against terrorism has been conducted over the past 20 years. The issues discussed are, deaths resulting from the actions of the security forces, complaints of ill‐treatment by the police during interrogation, the detentioning of terrorist suspects, the use of exclusion orders to deport from the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland persons formerly resident in that Province, the use of juryless courts (Diplock Courts) for terrorist and other offences, and the banning of political organizations.     

Terrorism in Britain: Threat,reality, response

Abstract

As international terrorism has intensified worldwide during the last two decades, Britain has become a primary target. Internationally, it is vulnerable because of its position as a leading member of the Western European Community; and domestically, it continues to be a target of the IRA's exportation of violence from Northern Ireland to England.

In an effort to confront this rise in international and domestic terrorism, Britain has proven herself willing and able to respond. This response has incorporated antiterrorist legislation, strong administrative measures, and an outstanding special military unit.     

英国足球的历史传承与产业化

英国是世界公认的体育强国,更是现代足球的摇篮。足球在英国有着悠久的历史,所以英国文化中渗透着浓厚的足球元素。潜移默化的足球文化与大众深厚的足球情结,使足球成为一项炙手可热的产业。因此,英国足球也从俱乐部的业余性娱乐活动逐渐走向了由俱乐部经营的职业化运动。毋庸置疑,正是源于其悠久的历史传承和坚实的群众基础以及规范化的市场运营才使之成功地实现了高端产业化,英格兰文化也因足球而声名远播。     

Convergence in British Cultural Policy: The Social,the Cultural,and the Economic

It is increasingly the case that cultural policy at all levels of governance is expected to address a suite of concerns much broader than those traditionally associated with the arts and creative practice. Indeed, in many nations, including most notably Britain, the concerns of cultural policy now embrace the economic and the social, as well as the cultural. In Britain, this convergence is occurring as part of a broader policy concern to ameliorate social exclusion by providing people with opportunities to participate in the creative economy. Drawing on the findings of a major study of the factors shaping cultural policy internationally, this article identifies and maps the priorities, key intersections, and convergences associated with these priorities in British cultural policy. The article argues that, in spite of taking different forms and having varying emphases depending on the constituency and the level of governance involved, the convergence agenda currently dominating British cultural policy is nevertheless remarkably consistent in terms of the discourses surrounding culture, the remit of the cultural sphere, and strategic policy implementation.