New Labour,racism and ‘new’ football in England

ABSTRACT

Bradbury and Williams begin by examining aspects of the genealogy of incidents of fan racism at the Spain v. England international football match in Madrid on 17 November 2004, and the public outcry in Britain that followed. They raise questions about the possible ‘strategic mobilization’ by Spanish fans of apparently racist epithets as a response to the use, by the English football authorities before the match, of prominent anti-racism symbolism. The main body of the article then considers the British public response to Madrid within the context of the Blairite New Labour policy on football racism in England from the late 1990s. It argues that Labour's Football Task Force from 1997 constituted an entirely new direction for sport and government policy in Britain. However, by drawing on the comments of some of the key figures involved, Bradbury and Williams further contend that, both structurally and ideologically, the Task Force was preset to limit its own investigations on the nature and effects of racism, specifically in the English game. Although the Task Force's report, Eliminating Racism in Football, has had some positive effects—for example, on Football Association policy or in stimulating local anti-racist initiatives—its narrow focus and its relatively underdeveloped understanding of the racism problem in professional sport led its members to de-emphasize the significance of forms of institutionalized racism within English football. Research and commentaries on racism in the English game since that report was published in 1998 suggest that problems of racialized exclusion in football remain. Bradbury and Williams conclude that the public outrage in Britain about the incidents in Madrid reflect an over-concentration on silencing public expressions of racism—combating overt, collective fan outbreaks—at the expense of addressing the racialized structures of power that continue to shape access, opportunities and acceptance of ethnic minorities within professional football in England.     

England's green and pleasant land? examining racist prejudice in a rural context

Popular constructions of rural England have perpetuated images of idyllic, problem-free environments that have largely masked the process of ‘othering’ that works to marginalize particular groups within rural society. Drawing on the findings of studies conducted in two rural English counties, Chakraborti and Garland assert that racist prejudice is very much part of the reality of rural living for minority ethnic groups whose presence in the countryside tends to be overlooked. They discuss the perceptions of established white rural communities and those of the victims of racial harassment to illustrate the disturbing nature, extent and impact of racism in rural areas, and suggest that the enduring ‘invisibility’ of the problem is compounded both by the under-reporting of such racist incidents and the reluctance of agencies to acknowledge the needs of minority ethnic groups in the countryside. Consequently, racist prejudice in the rural context will only be recognized as a significant issue through a greater appreciation of the diverse complexity of rural space, and the abandonment of singular, outdated notions of rurality.     

街政治理创新的公民参与机制——以北京市为例

随着社会转型和经济转轨速度的加快,我国城市街道事务管理的任务量和复杂性急剧增加,街政治理变革与创新势在必行。本文以公民参与和街道行政之间的生态互动关系为主线,依据"决策—实施—监督"的街政流程,对2007年北京市委社会工委成立以来街政治理的公民参与机制进行了案例分析。本研究发现,社区的公民参与及其组织形式塑造了街道公共决策的民主化机制,扮演着社区居民自组织服务或为其增能的角色,开辟了街政监督的公民社会路径,其在推动街政由低分权、封闭性、单向度管理,向开放式、参与型的公民治理转变的过程中,发挥着重要的作用。     

“隐蔽的公理”:城市社区地域空间的性质及其塑造

当前的城市社区研究,较少讨论社区地域空间的性质以及这一性质的塑造力量,更多地把这一地理空间当作是"无视"的实然存在。正因为如此,长期以来,社区研究的逻辑起点莫衷一是。通过历时地分析、探究中国城市社区地域空间在建国初期和改革时代两个不同时段的性质及其相应的权力意识形态和资本意识形态两个相异的主导性型构力量,可以看出两种不同力量对社区地域空间性质的影响,社区研究的逻辑起点在于对社区地域空间的了解和对社区性质的把握。     

我国社区矫正主体的构建

社区矫正在矫治罪犯、降低再犯率和降低司法成本等方面发挥着制度优势。《刑法修正案（八）》与新修订的《刑事诉讼法》中对社区矫正都有明文规定。但由于社区矫正制度在我国起步较晚,法律规定难免简单笼统,社区刑罚和社区矫正的具体实施还有很多困难。应进一步完善相关法律法规,在制度的改革中明确矫正主体,制定配套的执行制度。     

Greening Constitutions with Environmental Rights: Testing the Isomorphism Thesis

Why do some countries have constitutional environmental rights while others do not? In this paper, I conduct statistical analyses to respond to this inquiry. Through studying the impact of intraregional constitutional design, I aim to understand why states adopt environmental rights. I argue that regional isomorphism—i.e., the tendency among states within a region to converge on certain policies—may explain the trend toward constitutionalization of environmental rights. In this paper I (1) define and provide historical background on environmental rights, (2) describe theories which support regional isomorphism as a means of explaining the adoption of constitutional environmental rights, and (3) conduct statistical tests to determine the validity of the regional isomorphism thesis. I find that the enactment of constitutional environmental rights within a region does not increase the likelihood that another state within the same region will include environmental rights within its constitution.     

Nonpunctuated and Sweeping Policy Change: Bhutan Tobacco Policy Making from 1991 to 2009

This paper examines policy outputs associated with the 2004 Bhutan antitobacco law, including 2009 amendments, to determine if the law is congruent with punctuated equilibrium or social policy realism theories of policy change. There was no direct and sudden tobacco policy output change in Bhutan due to a shock to the policy system contrary to what punctuated equilibrium theory would predict. Rather, policy change was sweeping but nonpunctuated. This paper reconfirms prior findings of social policy realism theory that various and complex policy output patterns occur due to a mixture of contingent and complex factors. Under social policy realism, a complex interplay of factors drive policy with the state, corporate actors, and interest groups, and the market often playing a primary role. These complex policy outputs have a direct impact on society and the natural environment reflected in government policy output actions or inactions.     

Experimentalist governance in the EU: The emperor's new clothes?

Most students of the EU agree by now that it is best described as a governance system. There is far less consensus on what kind of governance the EU actually features: modern, postmodern, network, cooperative, innovative or simply new? Sabel and Zeitlin have advanced yet another concept. This paper discusses the added value of their “experimentalist governance” (EG), as presented in an edited volume published in 2010, for understanding and explaining the nature of EU policymaking, addressing four questions: First, to what extent is EG distinct from existing concepts of governance? Second, how pervasive is EG in the EU when compared to alternative forms of governance? Third, what is the effect of EG on EU policy outcomes, on the one hand, and the overall architecture of the EU, on the other? Finally, does EG solve or exacerbate the EU's democratic deficit?     

大学章程的框架体系、治理结构、制度要素与生成机制——基于十所高校章程的文本比较

大学章程通常应当包含序言、总则、学校功能与教育形式、办学活动、管理体制与运行机制、教职员工、学生和校友、经费资产与财务管理、举办者与学校的关系以及学校的权利义务、外部关系、学校标志,以及附则等内容,由此形成大学章程的框架体系。大学章程确立大学的治理结构,包括纵向和横向两个方面,涉及学校党委（党委会、纪委）、学校行政（校长）、学术机构（学术委员会、学位委员会等）、教授／教职员工（教授会议、教职工代表大会）和群团组织之间的关系,以及学校与教学科研单位的“校一院（系）”两级或“校一学部一院（系）三级关系。与大学治理基本格局相匹配,大学内部的治理制度主要包括：大学法人制度、党委领导下的校长负责制、教授治学制度、民主管理制度、学院管理制度、教师管理制度、学生管理制度,等等。大学制定章程并依章治校是当前大学管理制度改革的重大课题,明确大学立章体制具有重要的现实意义。现阶段大学章程理想的生成机制可以设想为：学校专门成立章程起草委员会,形成学校章程草案,面向师生员工公布草案征集意见,党委会或者党政联席会议、校长办公会等对章程进行审议和审定,校长提交教职工代表大会审议通过,报教育行政主管部门备案。     

“有为而治”彰显高效 “无为而管”考量智慧——香港基层治理体制及社区建设启示

香港居民自治和基层治理体制及社区建设模式很有特色。概括起来,“有为而治”体现在政府制定芾1J度与规章,维护法律与社会秩序,对整个城市和社会实行宏观层面的治理;而“无为而管”则充分表现在发扬民主自治、人本管理和权责明确。“有为而治”彰显香港政府管理的高效,“无为而管”更多考量的是政府的胸襟与智慧。学习香港政府这种“有为”与“无为”灵活熟练的管理之道,学会该管的到位,绝不推卸,事无巨细,不该管的或管不好的放手,绝不掺和,彻彻底底,这对于当前贵阳市城市基层管理体制机制的创新很有帮助。