Don’t Call it Climate Populism: On Greta Thunberg’s Technocratic Ecocentrism

The growing popularity of Greta Thunberg has led an increasing number of pundits and scholars to consider her message to be an instance of ‘climate’ or ‘environmental’ populism. Following a qualitative content analysis of key speeches by the young activist, this paper challenges this view, and argues that her message is far from being a case of populism. On the contrary, it abides by a substantially different set of ideas that can be defined as technocratic ecocentrism. In particular, it is argued that rather than people-centrism, anti-elitism and vox populi, Greta Thunberg’s message is grounded on three different core ideas: ecocentrism, technocracy, and on the exaltation of the vox scientifica. However, whereas Thunberg’s technocratic ecocentrism is at odds with the foundations of the populist set of ideas, it shares a similar emphasis on monism, moralisation, a Manichean vision of the world, a critique of key features of the metapolitical status quo, and a tendency to personalisation.     

The Politics of the Green New Deal

Covid-19 has highlighted our fragile relationship with the planet. But it represents a minor challenge compared to the permanent havoc that runaway climate change threatens. Politicians and governments—some at least—are beginning to recognise the scale of the danger. In this article we assess the evolution of policy thinking on how to make climate transitions happen; the potential of the European Green Deal; and how progressives need to shape it and any UK counterpart to meet the challenges of modern society. The European initiative arises from a broad coalition spanning the political spectrum. Yet, its central thrust of active government offers the prospect of reviving a battered social democracy. We indicate the openings here for a pluralist, ecological left. The run-up to the next global climate conference—COP26—will be a vital period which will show whether parties and governments across the world are prepared to meet the climate change challenge.     

论重复自白排除规则的完善

通过分析21例重复自白排除典型案例可以发现法官通常仅排除被告人的一部分重复自白,很少全部排除。在普通刑事案件中违法取供行为主要为刑讯逼供。在重复自白排除的证明程序中,同步录音录像发挥着重要作用,重复自白被采纳的主要原因是自白具有任意性,但同时也存在着证明责任错位等问题。为了更好的平衡被追诉人权利保障与打击犯罪的需要,应当重塑重复自白排除的功能,实现从任意性保障到威慑理论的转变。应当扩宽违法取供的行为范围,明确监察阶段的调查行为也应当被纳入规范,完善重复自白排除的证明程序。     

The Political Viability of Carbon Pricing: Policy Design and Framing in British Columbia and California

The adoption of climate policies with visible, substantial costs for households is uncommon because of expected political backlash, but British Columbia's carbon tax and California's cap‐and‐trade program imposed such costs and still survived vigorous opposition. To explain these outcomes, this article tests hypotheses concerning policy design, framing, energy prices, and elections. It conducts universalizing and variation‐finding comparisons across three subcases in the two jurisdictions and uses primary sources to carry out process tracing involving mechanisms of public opinion and elite position‐taking. The article finds strong support for the timing of independent energy price changes, exogenous causes of election results, reducing the visibility of carbon pricing, and using public‐benefit justifications, as well as some support for making concessions to voters. By contrast, the effects of the use of revenue, industry exemptions/compensations, and making polluters pay are not uniform, because the effects of revenue use depend on how it is embedded in coalition building efforts and a middle path between exempting or compensating industry and burdening it appears to be more effective than pursuing just one or the other approach.     

Trends in the Governance and Governing of Schools in England

Abstract

This article identifies and develops themes in changes in the governance and governing of schools in England in the last 40 years. The themes are: the drive to improve school performance and pupil attainment; the depoliticisation of school governing; the development of school governing as managerial scrutiny; the growth in the influence of Ofsted; the increasing diversity of institutional forms and governing structures; the increasingly conflicting roles of school governing bodies; the development of the role of the head teacher in governance; the overall decline in the influence of the local authority in school governing and governance; the changing influences on the stakeholder model; and changes in the nature of governing, effectiveness and future prospects. The analysis draws on recent research reports and relevant statutes, policies and guidance. Two main arguments develop. First, a tension is at work in the system generally between (peripheral/school) autonomy and (central/government) control and direction, which has significant implications for the role of the local authority. Second, the stakeholder involvement and democratic accountability purposes of school governing have shifted towards an explicit purpose of improving institutional performance, which is configured in a relatively narrow way. This change has implications for the way that the legitimacy of school governance is viewed.     

The Effects of Single Parenthood on Educational Aspiration: A Comparative Study of Children in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong

Using data collected by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's Program for International Student Assessment in 2003, this study examines the gap in the educational aspirations of children from single-parent families and two-parent families in the United Kingdom (UK) and Hong Kong. Consistent with previous research on the relationship between cultural orientation and academic motivation, our analysis shows that children in the UK have statistically significant lower levels of educational aspiration than those in Hong Kong. Moreover, children from single-parent families in the UK and Hong Kong are found to have statistically significant lower levels of educational aspiration than those from two-parent families. Further analyses indicate that family capital and school experience are important factors for understanding the negative effects of single parenthood. Finally, we observe that single parenthood has a less negative effect on educational aspiration in the UK than it does in Hong Kong, which can be explained by differences in government family policy and family capital between the two regions. Based on the outcomes from the current analysis, we put forward several policy and service recommendations for improving children's educational aspiration and enhancing family well-being.     

The Nurturing Neighborhood: The Brownsville Boys Club and Jewish Community in Urban America, 1940–1990, by G. Sorin

Abstract

Corporal punishment (CP) refers to the deliberate infliction of physical pain on children in response to an apparent disobedience or disapproved behavior. It is still used in educational settings in numerous nations worldwide, including Bangladesh. Despite the government’s efforts to ban corporal punishment in Bangladesh, the practice is prevalent, with children routinely enduring various punishments in the school system. Questions remain related to how widespread this practice is and whether certain groups of children (e.g., low income or rural) are being affected more severely than others. This article explores the use of physical punishment in Bangladeshi elementary schools and the socioeconomic variables that may be predictors of its use. The primary research questions that guide this article are: (1) do socioeconomic characteristics (i.e., gender, age, education, school type, parental socio-economic status) predict physical punishment in the school system in Bangladesh? and (2) is there a statistically significant relation between poverty and physical punishment for elementary school children in Bangladesh? Findings indicate that of the 450 children included in the sample, more than 86.6% were subjected to at least one form of physical abuse (e.g., hit with a stick or slapped) and types of abuse varied by their demographics. Findings also show that poverty status is a strong predictor of physical punishment in the school within Bangladesh.     

Tough-Girl Femininity,Sisterhood and Respectability: Minority Girls’ Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in an Urban Secondary School

ABSTRACT

This study aims to explore how adolescent girls with minority backgrounds experience different forms of sexual harassment in school. The study draws on semi-structured interviews conducted in a lower secondary school located in one of Sweden’s most socially disadvantaged urban areas. The results reveal that the girls repeatedly experienced misogynist comments such as “whore” and “slut” and were subjected to moral judgements connected to their manner of dressing and behaving. The girls’ narratives were also framed as tough-girl femininity, which is related to how they had to show a tough façade against acts of harassment as well as to other students at the school. When the name-calling became personal, the girls stuck together against the harassing boys and fought back verbally. The study contributes important knowledge about how adolescent girls perceive sexual harassment at school; this knowledge is important in efforts to create a safer school environment for all students.     

浅议宁夏师范学院图书馆文献资源保障体系建设

根据学校办学理念、办学特色,分析了学校图书馆的现状,抓住本科教学水平评估机遇,以评促建,提出了本院图书馆文献信息资源保障体系建设的思路与举措。     

Comparing the legitimacy and effectiveness of global hard and soft law: An analytical framework

The international norms that are developed as tools of global governance can be placed on a continuum from traditional “hard law” treaties to the vaguest and voluntary “soft law.” In this article we develop an analytical framework for comparing norms on different positions along the continuum, thus for comparing international hard and soft law. We root the framework in both the rationalist and the constructivist paradigms of international relations by focusing on two overarching evaluative criteria: effectiveness and legitimacy. These broad concepts are divided into smaller building blocks encompassing mechanisms through which norms can exert influence; for example, by changing material incentives, identities, and building capacity, and by contributing to building source‐based, procedural, and substantive legitimacy. We illustrate the applicability of the framework with three norm processes of varying degrees of “softness” in global climate governance.