THE REPRODUCTION OF RACIAL INEQUALITY: HOW CRIME AFFECTS HOUSING TURNOVER*

This study examines the microlevel process of housing turnover between Blacks and Whites to assess whether crime plays an important role in the racial transition of neighborhoods. The study uses a unique, longitudinal version of the National Crime Survey in which each dwelling's close neighbors are identified. After controlling for household characteristics and the characteristics of their close neighbors, crime occurring in nearby areas is found to increase the chances of White-to-Black turnover while decreasing the chances of Black-to-White turnover. This change occurs even though the directly victimized houses do not necessarily have a probability of racial turnover different than that of other houses nearby. The findings suggest the presence of structural constraints that limit the housing opportunities for Blacks and constrain their choice of residence to comparatively unsafe neighborhoods. They also indicate that “White avoidance,” in which Whites systematically bypass high-crime neighborhoods, is important in maintaining the relationship between race and crime.     

The titularization of Latvian secondary schools: The historical legacy of Soviet policy implementation

Abstract

Few would deny that the Soviet occupation has had an effect on post-restoration policy making and implementation in Latvia. Indeed, many commentators of post-Soviet politics insist that we must come to terms with the Soviet to understand the post-Soviet. In our view, the effects of the Soviet legacy on the policy process are clearly apparent in post-restoration Latvia, specifically in the area of language education policy. This article argues that both Soviet and post-Soviet policy making and implementation can be characterized in three ways: duplicity, a Soviet ethos, and “professionalization”. In what follows, we first engage with the Soviet policy process in general and the 1958–59 education reforms specifically. Based on interviews with education professionals, teachers and parents, we then analyze Latvian education laws and their implementation in 2004, highlighting the legacy of Soviet governance.     

Market Darwinism vs. Market Creationism: Adaptability and Fairness in the Design of Greenhouse Gas Trading Mechanisms

International rule-making and compliance routines with respect to the Kyoto Protocol are evolving rapidly. This paper examines potential designs of emissions-trading programs by comparing the emissions credit trading (ECT) and cap-and-trade models for achieving cost-effective reductions in atmospheric greenhouse-gas (GHG) loading in terms of their adaptability and fairness. Adaptability is a valuable attribute when markets and their governing institutions are evolving rapidly or when regulated entities do not yet have well-established and predictable compliance routines. Fairness in both procedures and outcomes is central to efforts to establish and maintain institutions of international governance. The key difference concerns the awarding of tradable emission rights, which occurs at the launch of a cap-and-trade program but following when firms reduce emissions below baselines in an ECT scheme. Implications of this difference are explored in terms of institutional adaptability and fairness during program-design stages. By not locking in emission rights at the outset, and by being amenable to incremental roll-out, ECT appears to have superior adaptive and fairness qualities during periods of rapid institutional evolution.     

Do exemptions undermine environmental policy support? An experimental stress test on the odd‐even road space rationing policy in India

Policies sometimes exempt particular categories of regulatees for reasons of equity and political feasibility. Will the non‐exempt oppose the policy because they shoulder all of the policy costs? We outline an analytic framework for “stress testing” public support among the non‐exempt when they are provided negative information about exemptions and reduced policy effectiveness. Empirically, we study public support for the odd‐even road space rationing policy in India. Using a survey experiment with 2,182 car owners in Bangalore, we find considerable baseline support for this policy. While support among the non‐exempt erodes when they are told about exemptions, there is no additional erosion when they are told that exemptions reduce policy effectiveness. This suggests that the perception of fairness, not policy efficacy, drives the erosion of support among the non‐exempt. Yet the policy survives the stress test because the majority of respondents continue to support it, in spite of support erosion among the non‐exempt.     

The Perils and Penalties of Meritocracy: Sanctioning Inequalities and Legitimating Prejudice

This article deploys insights from Michael Young’s 1958 satire The Rise of the Meritocracy to challenge the dominant ideology of meritocracy in contemporary British society. It draws on ethnographic research in schools over a twenty-five year period to illustrate the damage the illusion of meritocracy inflicts on children and young people, but particularly those from working class backgrounds. It argues that the consequences of the pretence of meritocracy are to be found in everyday practices of testing, hyper-competition and setting, and beyond the classroom in the designation of predominantly working class schools as ‘rubbish schools for rubbish learners’. It concludes that, beyond the negative consequences for working class learners, there are wider consequences for British society, exacerbating social divisions and encouraging the growth of distrust, prejudice, envy, resentment, and contempt between different social groups.     

网络时代我国弱势群体阶层流动困境:表征、根源及对策

网络时代弱势群体获得了一定的阶层流动机会,但并未完全摆脱阶层流动困境,由此产生的社会对立情绪、社会矛盾和风险日益突出。较之传统时代,网络时代弱势群体阶层流动的困境主要表现在机会困境、动力困境和技术保障困境三个方面,其根源在于“自我排斥”与“外部排斥”交织循环作用,其结果表现为弱势群体处于相对于网络主流社会、权力中心的边缘境遇,难以与其他社会成员进行互动,产生空间排斥,丧失认同感。通过双向赋权激发弱势群体阶层流动意愿、建立电子包容提供弱势群体阶层流动技术动力、提供网络媒介援助增加弱势群体阶层流动机会是加快弱势群体阶层流动的现实路径。     

Re‐imagining Geographic Labour Mobility through ‘Distance Labour’

Geographic labour mobility is necessary for increasing productivity in Australia. Long‐distance commuting has been found to be especially significant. However, important considerations are being excluded from policy discussions within the Productivity Commission on this topic. This commentary covers these important omissions. They are, namely, the problematic conflation of the terminologies of ‘fly‐in, fly‐out’ and ‘long‐distance commuting’ with mining, and a lack of qualitative research investigating the material impacts of these labour practices on people's lives. This commentary puts forward a new terminology, ‘distance labour’, to better include those industries on the margins of distance commuting. By accounting for the social worlds of workers engaged in distance labour, the Productivity Commission could increase the validity of its datasets, and provide more egalitarian policy recommendations.     

航空器上法律事实与行为法律适用问题比较研究

航空法是一个复杂的法律部门,既包括公法又包括私法,既包括国际法又包括国内法.航空器高速飞行和跨界运输的特点,加之各国航空运输领域民事责任立法之间的歧异,不免引发国际航空运输有关法律关系的法律冲突.华沙公约体系也只是在有限的范围内仅仅调整航空运输责任,大量案件的处理需要由冲突规范指引.受海商法的影响,航空法中的国旗国法原则逐渐被各国实践及公约所接受,但是,与船舶主要航行在无主权存在的海域航行不同,飞机主要在主权国家的上空,所以航空器上的事实与行为能在多大范围内适用国旗国法原则是一个亟待解决的问题.主要从国际私法层面对航空器上发生的事实与行为的法律适用规则中的国旗国法原则及例外作初步探讨.     

绿色奥运与北京环境法律实施对策研究

绿色奥运,是2008年北京奥运会的重要指导方针,是北京奥运三大理念之一,环境保护已是奥运计划中一个不可缺少的主要部分.本文从分析北京市有关环境保护方面的法律实施中的问题入手,结合环境保护法律制度及奥运规则的要求,结合北京目前的环境现状,探讨解决环境问题的对策.主要就环境保护中的大气污染和水资源问题进行初步探讨.     

西安“六.六”空难的法医学鉴定

本文报告了１９９４年６月６日，中国西北民航Ｂ—２１６０号客机在西安失事的法医学鉴定。机上乘员１６０人全部遇难、死难中，以撞击伤为主，主要死因为多脏器严重损伤、创伤休克、大出血。１６０名遇难者中，１３９人经体貌特征和遗物被确认，６例通过血型被认定，３例通过指纹被认定，其余通过牙齿被确认。本文还讨论了如死亡时间等空难中的法医学处理问题。