Two Walks: Palestine and the Peak District. A Conversation between Raja Shehadeh and Marina Lewycka, September 2008

In the summer of 2008 novelist Marina Lewycka and author and human rights lawyer Raja Shehadeh went on two walks: the first in Palestine near Ramallah near the Beit Eil Jewish settlement, the second on Kinder Scout in the Peak District, the site of the mass trespass in 1932 to reclaim the right to walk on the hills. This account of the conversation they recorded on the second walk includes observations by Marina on writing about Palestine and Israel and reflections by Raja about the effect of the Israeli occupation on the fragile Palestinian landscape. It also includes their discussions on writing, walking and the meaning it has to each of them, as well as political comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict evoked by visiting these sites. They wonder whether a similar act of resistance would be possible in Palestine and what it would mean to the future of the conflict.     

都市佛教的实证考察——以福州K寺为例

本文运用田野调查等实证研究方法,以福州开元寺个案,归纳分析都市佛教社会参与的变化,观察都市佛教在社会功能上的转型。本文对这个问题进行探索,目的是以之为都市佛教在现代社会的存适提供一个个案研究实例的参照。研究结果表明,以佛教社会学的角度。对僧团进行多学科的个案研究,以反映出都市佛教不断转型的历史轨迹,也是有价值的。     

中国律师在公益行政许可听证中法律地位研究

该文认为,确定中国律师在公益行政许可听证程序中的法律地位,是律师参与公益行政许可听证工作的重点问题,这一问题既是重大的理论问题,又是立法及执法实践亟待解决的问题。     

妇女参政议政问题研究

妇女参政议政不仅是检验男女是否平等的一个重要标志,而且体现着国家的文明程度。我国妇女的进步与发展,不仅对我国的改革开放和现代化事业,而且对整个人类进步都将产生深远影响。因此,正确认识我国妇女参政议政的现状,分析我国妇女参政议政存在的问题和成因,并积极探寻提高妇女参政议政能力的途径和对蓑,对于加强社会主义政治文明建设,促进女性与社会和谐发展,具有十分重大的意义。     

Putting a Price on Justice: How to Incentivize the Downsizing of Prison Populations

Abstract

We argue that the proximate reason the United States overuses prisons is that for local prosecutors and judges, sending offenders to prison is “free”; the state pays. By completely subsidizing prison use, states incentivize local overuse of prisons. State prisons in the United States are common pool resources, so options to managing common pool resources used in fisheries and environmental protection may have applications to corrections. We propose, for this purpose, seven options: six involve pricing systems and each having several variants. Each approach, in its own way, puts a price on justice. We also outline other changes in correctional and sentencing practices policy makers need to make to implement these approaches. We anticipate potential consequences, good and bad, of incentivizing justice. Finally, we fully expect our proposals to incur the ire of some political idealists on the right and the left. Nevertheless, for policy makers who are concerned about practical solutions to the grave injustices and high costs of mass incarcerations, our portfolio of options should be useful.     

Patronage,politics and performance: radio call-in programmes and the myth of accountability

The role of media in promoting political accountability and citizen participation is a central issue in governance debates. Drawing on research into the interactions between radio station owners, journalists, audiences and public authorities during Somali radio call-in programmes we argue that these programmes do not simply offer a new platform for citizens to challenge those who are governing but that they are also spaces where existing power structures reproduce themselves in new forms. We identify the ways the programmes are structured and the different motivations the audience has for participation. Three types of programmes are identified and their relationships with patronage, politics, and performance are examined. Rather than focusing on normative assumptions about the media as a tool of accountability, the article emphasises the importance of understanding radio programmes in their social and political environment, including the overlapping relationships between on-air and off-air networks.     

职工需求是确立工会工作重点的现实依据

工会是个群众组织,其最大的工作特点是自下而上开展工作,所以工作重点的确定必须走群众路线,倾听广大会员与职工的呼声与要求,将工作重点置于解决职工群众最关心最直接最现实的利益维护上,以促进劳动关系的和谐稳定,充分调动职工积极性。     

Integrating a youth participation model in a youth mental health service: Challenges and lessons learned

Youth participation in mental health settings is fundamental to service design and delivery, and is beneficial for the young people involved as well as the organisation. This paper presents the findings of an evaluation of a youth participation model where tiered participation was attempted in a clinical youth mental health setting. To inform the ongoing development and improvement of a youth participation model, an evaluation was conducted consisting of three focus groups with the youth consultants, consultations with management about the implementation of the tiered participation model, and a review of records. The purpose of this evaluation was to identify possible barriers to implementation early on so these could be addressed and a youth participation model that meets the needs of all key stakeholders could be developed. The findings of this evaluation and the way in which these findings informed the model's development are discussed.     

Data hubris? Humanitarian information systems and the mirage of technology

This article looks at the promise of technology to revolutionise humanitarian action, especially in terms of the gathering and use of data. With many heralding a ‘data revolution’, the opportunities and enthusiasm for using social media and SMS data in crisis response are on the rise. The article constructs an analytical framework in order to scrutinise the three main claims made on behalf of technologically advanced humanitarian information systems: that they can access data more accurately, more quickly, and alter power relations in emancipatory ways. It does so in relation to two aspects of digital humanitarianism: visual technology and crisis mapping, and big data. The article is partly informed by a historical perspective, but also by interview and other material that suggests some of the claims made on behalf of technology are exaggerated. In particular, we argue that the enthusiasm for the data is vastly outstripped by the capacity to meaningfully analyse it. We conclude by scoping the implications of the future technological evolution of humanitarianism, in particular by examining how technology contributes to what Duffield terms ‘post-modern humanitarianism’.     

Examining media markets’ influence on the diffusion of antismoking legislation in US counties

This article assesses the role of mass media markets in the diffusion of antismoking legislation in the state of Missouri in the US. Testing multiple diffusion theories, this study finds that media markets can facilitate the diffusion of policies among local jurisdictions by exacerbating intercounty competition. More attention should be given to media markets when assessing policy diffusion mechanisms at the local level. Media markets can be an important source for policy information conveyance among counties over a large geographic area. Furthermore, traditional diffusion studies that rely on geographical contiguity measures may not be completely capturing the existence of diffusion by excluding media markets.