Clausewitz's Political and Ethical World View

This article challenges the accepted view that Clausewitz did not deal with the ethical status of war. It attempts to show that his views on this matter are well documented in his works; that they were part and parcel of a comprehensive outlook regarding the nature of both international relations and the state; and that this outlook reflected the emerging world view in the Germany of national awakening.     

The inverted postnational constellation: Identitarian populism in context

As exemplified by the pan‐European ‘Identitarian movement’ (IM), contemporary far‐right populism defies the habitual matrix within which right‐wing radicalism has been criticised as a negation of liberal cosmopolitanism. The IM's political stance amalgamates features of cultural liberalism and racialist xenophobia into a defence of ‘European way of life.’ We offer an alternative decoding of the phenomenon by drawing on Jürgen Habermas's ‘postnational constellation.’ It casts the IM's protectionist qua chauvinistic populism as ‘inverted’ postnationalism, engendered through territorial and ethnic appropriation of universal political values. As such, inclusionary ideals of cosmopolitan liberalism and democracy purporting humanistic postnationalism have been transformed by Identitarians into elements of a privileged civilisational life‐style to be protected from ‘intruders.’ Remaining within the remit of the grammar of the postnational constellation, trans‐European chauvinism, we contend, is susceptible to inclusive articulation. Foregrounding radical emancipatory social transformation would however require not more democracy, but a principled critique of capitalism.     

A cognitive perspective on ethnicity,race, and termination of parental rights

The determination of parental “fitness” in termination of parental rights cases is open to much judicial discretion and, thus, potentially open to bias. Even if judges look to mental health professionals as expert witnesses, misattributions of racial and ethnic cues may still be likely given the poor state of our parenting models and the lack of ethnically and racially relevant normative data and measurement instruments. A social cognitive framework is used to examine the potential for bias in the nature of categories of information that judges and mental health evaluators currently use to make decisions. Recommendations for research and practice that might enhance judicial and mental health evaluator sensitivity to racial and ethnic differences in interaction, family structure, and parenting practices are reviewed.     

The Impact of Extreme Emotional Distance in the Mother-Child Relationship on the Offspring’s Future Risk of Maltreatment Perpetration

Emotional qualities of the parent-child relationship are thought to influence the offspring’s risk for perpetrating child maltreatment in adulthood. The current study examined whether having grown up in an enmeshed or disengaged mother-child relationship, hence a relationship characterized by extremes on the continuum of emotional distance, increased the offspring’s risk of child maltreatment perpetration in a sample of 178 undergraduate students attending a large rural public university. A history of extreme emotional distance experienced with mothers significantly increased the grown offspring’s risk of maltreatment perpetration, as measured by two risk indicators. Emotional reactivity, but not empathy, mediated this effect for the offspring’s child abuse potential. Extreme amounts of emotional distance within the mother-child relationship also predicted the offspring’s child abuse potential over and above maltreatment occurring in that relationship, whereas maltreatment rather than emotional distance predicted the offspring’s unrealistic expectations of children. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Health,work opportunities and attitudes: a review of Palestinian women's situation in Lebanon

This study examined the health status, employment opportunities, and aspirations of Palestinian women refugees in Lebanon. Data were obtained from 1501 women registered with a UN relief agency and living in 5 regions; 80% lived in camps. 27.6% were aged 20-34 years, 27.1% were aged 35-44 years, and 24.7% were aged 45-60 years. 92% were women with children. About 43% of the 988 women with children had used or currently used contraception. 63% of these women had over 4 children. Among the 24 teenagers, 6 were current users; 41.7% had a child under the age of 16 years, and 62.5% had more than 1 child. Only 25% of all respondents had fewer than 3 children. Short birth intervals were common. About 16.4% of respondents were working. About 25% of mothers and 17% of all respondents never attended school. Tradition, marriage, and financial constraints were reported as reasons for education deficits. A very high rate of women miscarried. 5% had abortions. Mothers reported self-fulfillment reasons for high fertility. Health status included high and early fertility, short birth intervals, frequent miscarriages, lack or misuse of birth control, high child mortality, and lack of knowledge about women's health. Women's work, albeit very limited, was essential to the household. Employed women were older, household heads, and with multiple burdens. Women had aspirations for themselves and their children for education, work, a return to peace, and a home in Palestine. Attainment fell short of aspirations, mostly due to lack of support within the family and the school system, and tradition. Many young women with aspirations had low expectations of success.     

Risk Exposure,Humanitarianism and Willingness to Pay for Universal Healthcare: A Cross-National Analysis of 28 Countries

Social Justice Research - In this article, we explore the associations of people’s valuations of universal healthcare with risk exposure and humanitarianism across diverse institutional...