Managing Social Risk in China Local Administration: An Examination of SSRA Initiative

Social Stability Risk Assessment (SSRA) sponsored by the local administration is perceived as a socially defined risk-coping initiative since it became mandatory in China. This article observes and unravels SSRA practices by selecting Xuzhou municipality as a sample case. Findings show that local SSRA is operated by the tridimensional mechanism and antecedents of its effectiveness in enforcement are linked with multiple elements of administrative supports. The findings contribute to a full understanding of SSRA in mainland China where there is no electoral democratic regime, and provide implications for developing countries alike. Some recommendations are proposed as a potential driver of these results.     

New normal with new force in Chinese society

Chinese society by the rule of man society should transition to the rule of law, you have to have the production and development of new social strata, the transition is one of transition, if thanks to ...     

‘My private kingdom and sometimes my private jail’ The meaning of home in the lives of Bedouin women: changes in the home and social spaces and their implications for Bedouin women

Home has always been significant in the lives of Bedouin women. At times it has been considered a ‘private kingdom’ – an intimate space, a jurisdiction, a sphere of influence and a space of creativity and well-being. In other periods it has been perceived as a ‘private jail’ – suffocating and limiting. The Bedouin communities in southern Israel, which are part of the country’s Arab-Palestinian population, are undergoing major changes – cultural and social, as well as in the form of settlement – imposed largely by the state. The external form of the Bedouin home has changed too, from a tent to a cement-block house, from an open structure to a closed one, from being part of the open space of the desert to being a limited space in a neighbourhood. To understand the changing meaning of home for Bedouin women during this transition, I conducted a narrative study with 30 women who live today in permanent settlements, but who represent three generations that correspond to three periods of settlement and three housing types. I found that each generation ascribes different meanings to the home.     

理解公共行政的新维度:政府与社会的互动

长期以来,对公共行政的理解是一种从政府角度的理解,其主旨是以官僚为中心,二分法和三个途径说是这一理解的代表性观点。随着新公共管理和治理的出现,这种传统的理解已经不足以对公共行政进行全面而准确的解释。公共行政生态的变化需要一种新的理解,即超越政府,从政府与社会组织共治的角度去加以理解,以期对公共行政有一种更全面的解释,并从中发现一些带有规律性的东西。     

The Monitoring Capacity of Civil Society Networks: A Social Network Analysis in the Case of Gender Equality Policy

The role of civil society organizations (CSOs) as a watchdog in the implementation process is widely acknowledged. However, little is known about what determines their capacity to monitor EU policy implementation and how it differs across member states. This article accounts for social capital as well as human and financial capital to determine the monitoring capacity of CSOs. To capture sources of social capital, a network analysis is applied in a comparative case article on the monitoring networks of national platforms of the European Women’s Lobby across eight EU member states. The analysis reveals that CSOs in western member states are rich in human, financial and social capital, while CSOs in CEE member states compensate for this lack of resources by linking up with the Commission.     

政府与社会组织关系演进的历史逻辑

从总体性二元合一走向分化性二元合一,解决分化与耦合两个方面的问题,是中国政府与社会组织关系演进的总体态势。运用结构功能主义视角,可以发现,演进历经让渡与承接、规范与依附、激活与协同等阶段,由政府与社会组织的功能性界分,到基于责任结构整合的政会功能黏附,逐渐发展为基于全面结构整合的政会功能分化与耦合。演进的基本逻辑,是政府主导下功能演变与结构调整的互动,即由政府主导的演进轨道、由功能演变与结构调整互动而构成的演进机制。展望未来,分化性二元合一体系的完善,必须按照现代国家治理的要求,在政府与社会组织之间打造共建、共治与共享的结构功能系统,实现基于责任结构契合的功能目标一致、基于权力结构合理的功能形式耦合、基于利益结构规范的功能输出互益。     

Gender-specific differences – first results from a survey on dental surgery

This study focuses on dental surgery from the perspective of practicing dentists through a nationwide survey among practicing dentists in Germany. Subjects were surveyed with respect to patient care and their training in dental surgery. With respect to surgical activity, this survey confirms male dominance in the field and that female dentists may be inclined grade surgical interventions as ‘complicated and risky’. Male dentists appear to be willing to take the same risks with greater self-confidence, whereas female dentists appear to overrate their personal uncertainty by underestimating their real technical capabilities. Though dental treatment in general is increasingly dominated by women, surgery is still dominated by male dentists. This can be viewed through observed gender differences with respect to risk perception and we advocate additional professional training of risk competence as mandatory for the future.     

从项目嵌入到组织社会:村级集体经济发展的新趋势及其类型学研究

发展和壮大村级集体经济是乡村振兴战略的重要内容。既有研究在探讨村级集体经济问题时较多地聚焦于其功能和目的、历史与现实、发展原则和要求,而较少关注到村级集体经济的发展趋势及其在不同村庄所呈现出的异质性特征。基于"项目嵌入-公众参与"的二维分析框架和浙北J市S镇的田野调查发现:新时期村级集体经济发展出现了由依赖纵向国家项目嵌入向组织和激活横向社会网络转变的新趋势,其发展形式呈现出政社耦合型、社会嵌入型、政治嵌入型和双重脱嵌型四种理论类型。村级集体经济发展类型上的差异也导致了其在村庄治理实践中发挥的分配、互惠、悬浮、兜底保障等不同功能,以及国家治理机制上的分殊。此外,村级集体经济的发展在不同类型的村庄面临着不尽相同的内外限制性条件。     

公共服务供给机制转型中的公益性岗位研究

我国自2002年起开始施行公益性岗位的政策,这一政策对拓宽就业渠道、缓解失业压力起到了一定的作用。但目前依靠政府进一步开发和购买公益性岗位的难度很大。本文对国内外公共服务供给机制转型进行了比较分析,在此基础上提出以下建议:我国应进一步完善公共服务的供给机制,以社区为平台,通过推动购买服务的方式,调动社会组织服务社区和吸收就业的功能,以推动公益性岗位的增加。     

Civil society and state-centred struggles

This article is about civil society and state-centred struggles in contemporary Zimbabwe. I first identify and outline three current understandings of civil society. Two understandings (one Liberal, one Radical) are state-centric and exist firmly within the logic of state discourses and state politics. A third understanding, also Radical, is society-centric and speaks about politics existing at a distance from the state and possibly beyond the boundaries of civil society. This civil society-state discussion frames the second section of the article, which looks specifically at Zimbabwe. It details civil society as contested terrain (from the late 1990s onwards) within the context of a scholarly debate about agrarian transformation and political change. This debate, which reproduces (in theoretical garb) the key political society (or party) fault-lines within Zimbabwean society, has taken place primarily within the restricted confines of state-centred discourses.