Ideology in the Era of Xi Jinping

Journal of Chinese Political Science - After 1978, Maoism as a living mass ideological and social force in the People’s Republic of China largely died away. The Party state’s legitimacy...     

“I'd like to participate,but . . .”: women farmers' scepticism towards agricultural extension/education programmes

This mixed research is inspired by our desire to explain why rural women are cautious in their attitudes towards agricultural extension/education. Fifty-two women livestock farmers from Thessaly-Greece were randomly selected to participate in the study. Our results indicate that at one end of the spectrum women express a high willingness to participate in agricultural extension/education programmes, while at the other end this willingness is not translated into participation mainly because of women's perception that agricultural extension/education constitutes a male dominated area. Another key determinant restricting women's participation arises from their low familiarity with education and the unpleasant experiences they recall from school.

« J'aimerais participer, mais… » : le scepticisme des agricultrices concernant les programmes de vulgarisation/d’éducation

Ce travail de recherches mixtes s'inspire de notre désir d'expliquer pourquoi les femmes en milieu rural font preuve de circonspection dans leurs attitudes envers la vulgarisation/l’éducation agricoles. Cinquante-deux éleveuses de Thessalie (Grèce) ont été sélectionnées au hasard pour prendre part à cette étude. Nos résultats indiquent qu’à une extrémité de l’éventail, les femmes expriment une forte volonté de participer à des programmes de vulgarisation/d’éducation agricoles, tandis qu’à l'autre cette volonté ne se traduit pas en participation, principalement du fait que les femmes considèrent que la vulgarisation/l’éducation agricoles constituent un domaine dominé par les hommes. Un autre facteur déterminant clé qui restreint la participation des femmes provient de leur manque de contact avec les services d’éducation et des expériences désagréables dont elles se souviennent du temps où elles allaient à l’école.

“Me gustaría participar, pero…”: el escepticismo de las campesinas ante los programas de extensión o de educación agrícola

Esta investigación mixta fue motivada por el objetivo de los autores de explicar las razones por las cuales, en sus actitudes, las mujeres campesinas son reticentes a la extensión o a la educación agrícola. En este sentido, se seleccionaron aleatoriamente 52 mujeres ganaderas de Thessaly, Grecia, con el fin de que participaran en el estudio. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que, en un extremo de la gama de opiniones, las mujeres expresan mucho interés en participar en los programas de extensión, mientras que, en el otro extremo, el interés expresado no se traduce en una participación real. En general, ello responde a la percepción de que la extensión/educación agrícola constituye un área dominada por los hombres. Asimismo, otro factor clave que representa una limitante para la participación de las mujeres tiene que ver con su poca familiaridad con la educación y con las experiencias desagradables que vivieron en la escuela.

“Eu gostaria de participar, mas . . .”: ceticismo das mulheres produtoras rurais em relação a programas de extensão/educação agrícola

Esta mescla de pesquisas é impulsionada pelo nosso desejo de explicar por que as mulheres da área rural são reticentes em suas atitudes em relação a programas de extensão/educação agrícola. Cinquenta e duas mulheres produtoras de gado de Tessália-Grécia foram aleatoriamente selecionadas para participar do estudo. Nossos resultados indicam que em um dos extremos, as mulheres expressam uma vontade muito grande de participar de programas de extensão/educação agrícola, enquanto que em outro extremo essa vontade não se traduz em participação, principalmente devido à percepção das mulheres de que a extensão/educação agrícola constitui uma área dominada pelos homens. Um outro determinante-chave que restringe a participação das mulheres surge da pouca familiaridade delas com a educação e de experiências desagradáveis que elas tiverem na escola.     

DNA Identification of Commingled Human Remains from the Cemetery Relocated by Flooding in Central Bosnia and Herzegovina

The floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina in May 2014 caused landslides all over the country. In the small village of ?eri?i, near the town of Zenica, a landslide destroyed the local cemetery, relocated graves, and commingled skeletal remains. As the use of other physical methods of identification (facial recognition, fingerprint analysis, dental analysis, etc.) was not possible, DNA analysis was applied. DNA was isolated from 20 skeletal remains (bone and tooth samples) and six reference samples (blood from living relatives) and amplified using PowerPlex^® Fusion and PowerPlex^®Y23 kits. DNA profiles were generated for all reference samples and 17 skeletal remains. A statistical analysis (calculation of paternity, maternity, and sibling indexes and matching probabilities) resulted in 10 positive identifications. In this study, 5 individuals were identified based on one reference sample. This has once again demonstrated the significance of DNA analysis in resolving the most complicated cases, such as the identification of commingled human skeletal remains.     

On Political Terror during the Soviet Expansion into Lithuania, 1918–1919

This article deals with a noticeable anomaly of Bolshevik expansion in Lithuania during 1918–1919: the refusal of the Soviet authorities to resort to terror to subdue the local population in order to export the world revolution. The author argues that the Soviets avoided political terror in Lithuania because they did not treat the Lithuanians as a nation capable of sustaining their own state. In fact, anti-Bolshevik forces employed more terror than the Bolsheviks in their attempt to drive out the Reds and uproot Lithuanian support for the Communist regime. The Lithuanian left-wing government of Mykolas Sle?evi?ius sought to contain its radicalized military and to preserve a soft-handed relationship with the local Bolshevik government.     

‘“Keeping Tabs” on Coalition Partners’: a Theoretically Salient Case Study of Lithuanian Coalitional Governments

Portfolio allocation raises the potential for de facto abdication on a broad range of policy issues among coalition partners. Recent scholarship has addressed how parties in governing coalitions ‘keep tabs’ on each other in order to avoid such abdication. Two mechanisms have been identified: junior ministerial appointments and chairs of parliamentary oversight committees. We argue that the former is the most common method for intra-coalitional oversight in the Lithuanian parliament and that a combination of the two appears to be employed for monitoring the activities of the most important ministries. We conjecture that dependence on junior ministerial oversight is more likely among coalition partners in less institutionalised parliaments.     

Transnational Reception: Nordic Women Writers in Fin de Siècle Finland

Abstract

This article investigates the transnational and translingual reception of Nordic women’s writing (among authors writing in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish) in a multilingual country, Finland, around the turn of the nineteenth and the twentieth century. This contribution is a component of our work for the international Joint Research Project, Travelling TexTs. We concentrate on the presence of Nordic women’s writing in various languages in fin de siècle Finland by investigating a library collection from that time. We look at the complexities in the reception of Nordic women’s writing in translation in Finland, making use of the concept of the Nordic dimension of translation history, and introducing the notion of intranational reception. We emphasize the role of women translators as cultural transmitters, and the intertwining of national and transnational (or, even, in today’s terms, feminist) agendas. We also investigate the reception of Nordic women’s texts in the press of that time, by examining both literature written for adults and literature for girls. Working with large-scale digitized sources has enabled us to examine the question of reception broadly.     

INTERROGATING INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE: ACTORS' ATTITUDES TO COMPETITION AND COOPERATION IN COMMISSIONING HEALTH SERVICES IN ENGLAND

Since the beginning of the 1990s the public healthcare system in England has been subject to reforms. This has resulted in a structurally hybrid system of public service with elements of the market. Utilizing a theory of new institutionalism, this article explores National Health Service (NHS) managers' views on competition and cooperation as mechanisms for commissioning health services. We interrogate the extent of institutional change in the NHS by examining managers' understanding of the formal rules, normative positions and frameworks for action under the regime of the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Interviews with managers showed an overall preference for cooperative approaches, but also evidence of marketization in the normative outlook and actions. This suggests that hybridity in the NHS has already spread from structure and rules to other institutional pillars. The study showed that managers were adept at navigating the complex policy environment despite its inherent contradictions.