bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Discourse, social theory, and social research: The discourse ofwelfare reform
Authors: Fairclough Norman
Published: March 2003

Recent social theory includes important insights into language which constitute a so far underdeveloped resource for sociolinguistics. But much of this theory stops short – theoretical frameworks and categories which socially locate language are not pushed in the direction of a theorisation of language itself, which limits their operational value in research. Sociolinguistics can draw upon social theory to produce more sophisticated theorisations of language which at the same time constitute contributions to social theory. My aim in this paper is to explore what it means to work in a ‘transdisciplinary’ way. I argue in particular for a transdisciplinary engagement with social theory in which the logic of one theory is put to work in the elaboration of another without the latter being simply reduced to the former. My focus is upon critical discourse analysis (CDA) which I here take to be a part of a broadly conceived sociolinguistics. I shall link this theoretical exploration to a concrete research focus by referring to a discourse analytical study of the current British (‘New’) Labour Government, with particular reference to its ‘reform’ of social welfare. I shall be drawing upon the theoretical framework developed in Chouliaraki and Fairclough (1999). I have referred to some of the social theory which I find it particularly fruitful to work with, but the paper is intended to suggest a way of working and is in no sense a closed list of theorists – on the contrary, I believe that we should be open to a wide range of theory.
Orthographic transcriptions of non‐standard varieties: The case of Earlier African‐American English
Authors: Miethaner Ulrich
Published: March 2003

This study covers an area of sociolinguistic methodology which so far has received relatively little theoretical attention: the composition and analysis of orthographic transcriptions of non‐standard speech. The following aspects will be addressed: first, the linguistic/semiotic properties of orthographic transcriptions, i.e. the relationship between graphemic representation and phonology, morphology and syntax. Secondly, the different functions of orthographic writing and its ‘ideological’ (popular and linguistic) dimensions (e.g. social stereotypes, linguistic distance). The discussion of these in a database of sample transcriptions of earlier African‐American English illustrates that the interplay between the functional, linguistic and ideological dimensions of orthographic transcripts is highly complex, and that their analysis and interpretation have implications for (socio)linguistic methodology in general.
Real‐time changes in the paradigm of personal pronouns in Montreal French
Authors: Blondeau Hélène
Published: March 2003

Based on the results of three variationist studies on personal pronouns used in Montreal French, this article shows how real‐time data can shed light on ‘apparent time interpretation’ and increase our understanding of morphosyntactic changes. Longitudinal data for a 24‐year period from three corpora of spoken French are used to discuss cases of variation: variation between the clitics on and nous, alternation between on and tu/vous, and variation among non‐clitic plural pronouns. While the first case illustrates a change occurring over a long period of time, the other variables show changes observable in the 24‐year time span under study. In particular, analysis of the variation among non‐clitic pronouns suggests a socio‐stylistic specialization of the variants at a certain stage in the grammaticalization of compound forms. In sum, this article uses longitudinal evidence to show how the variables are involved in a process of restructuring the paradigm of the French pronouns.
The Motives for Joint Ventures: A Transaction Costs Analysis of Japanese MNES in the UK
Authors: Cleeve Emmanuel
Published: March 2003

What factors determine the choice of Japanese companies between part and full ownership of their UK subsidiaries? In seeking to answer this question, this study employs data of Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI), through joint ventures, in the UK, not previously used. The main findings of the econometric work presented is that transaction costs are the principal consideration when Japanese firms choose between part and full ownership of their UK subsidiaries{softhyphen}. Variables that have featured prominently in studies relating to either US parents or for subsidiaries in the US do not appear to play a significant role. The European Union (EU) market appears to be the target of Japanese foreign direct investment in the UK.
The National Lottery:A Preliminary Assessment of net Additionality
Authors: Bailey S.J. , Connolly Stephen
Published: March 2003

This paper makes a preliminary assessment of how the current structure for the distribution of UK National Lottery funds affects the promise of net additionality for the designated ‘good causes’. Indifference analysis demonstrates that the funding structure is optimal in these terms. However, the measurement of net additionality is highly problematic and involves both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Whilst a preliminary comparison with Ireland shows that the UK system is in a better position to achieve net additionality through its accountability and transparency, net additionality could still be only a relatively small proportion of the dedicated Lottery money, depending on the behaviour of politicians, local authorities, other interest groups, and the distribution boards themselves.
The Scottish Political Economy Tradition and Modern Economics
Authors: Dow Alexander , Dow Sheila , Hutton Alan
Published: March 2003

The purpose of this article is to re‐examine the notion of a Scottish tradition in political economy in the light of recent developments in the methodology of economics. Consideration is given to the concept of tradition itself, which puts the focus on approach to theorising and the relationship between theory and reality rather than theoretical content. It is argued that the Scottish approach provided the foundations for much of modern political economy. Further, modern discussion of constructivism and critical realism can both be seen to have precedents in the Scottish tradition. Indeed the Scottish political economy tradition provides an exemplar of a constructive blending of the two strands.
Employment and Wages in the Private and Local Government Sectors in a Centralized Fiscal System
Authors: Strøm Bjarne
Published: March 2003

This paper discusses the interaction between the local government and private sector in an institutional context consistent with a centralized fiscal system. Under decentralized wage setting in the private sector, the effects of shocks in the two sectors depend on whether private and local public goods are substitutes or complements in the union utility function. Higher wage markup in the local government sector unambiguously decreases government output while the effect on private sector employment is ambiguous. Higher income taxes have ambiguous effects on local government output. Shocks in the private sector can be reinforced through feedback effects from the local government sector. A shift from decentralized to centralized wage setting in the private sector reduces wages and increases employment in both sectors.
Incomplete Information in Monetary Policy Games: Rules Rather Than a Conservative Central Banker
Authors: Lossani Marco , Natale Piergiovanna , Tirelli Patrizio
Published: March 2003

Time inconsistency in monetary policy can be addressed appointing a conservative central banker. But incomplete information about the central banker's preferences impairs the performance of delegation schemes. Firstly, the ensuing ex‐ante variability of monetary response lowers welfare. Secondly, partial independence schemes may prove inadequate because reputation — not only legal arrangements — defines the actual degree of independence. The incumbent may exploit his reputation to impose too conservative policies whereas, if he lacks reputation, partial independence forces him to accommodate. As a result, simple rules may be preferred.

…I do not believe that we should always get the best man for the post; often I fear that we should not even get a tolerable man.

(W. Bagehot, The Government of the Bank of England, in ‘Lombard Street’)
The Optimal Linear Income Tax Model: Utility or Equivalent Income?
Authors: Creedy John
Published: March 2003

This paper compares the use of equivalent income with that of utility, in the social welfare function, in optimal income tax models. Equivalent income is a money metric welfare measure that, unlike utility, is not affected by monotonic transformations of utility. The use of equivalent income is found to produce an optimal tax rate that is more sensitive to the degree of inequality aversion, compared with the use of utility. With Cobb‐Douglas and CES utility functions, the optimal tax rate is the same for utility and equivalent income where relative inequality aversion is unity. When using equivalent incomes, the case for high marginal rates does not depend on the assumption of a very low elasticity of substitution between consumption and leisure.
Estimating A European Demand For Money
Authors: Hayo Bernd
Published: March 2003

European Monetary Union will come into existence in 1999. This raises questions related to the monetary policy targets that will be adopted by the European Central Bank (ECB). For both likely candidates, targeting a money aggregate or an inflation target, the existence of a stable money demand function at a European level is important. In this paper estimates of such a European money demand for narrow and broad money for the actual 11 EMU countries based on quarterly aggregate data from 1964 to 1994 are presented. It is argued that statistically satisfactory and economically interpretable functions can be found. Moreover, the estimated models appear to be stable over a period of 20 quarters. This raises the hopes that the ECB will face a stable money demand and be able—at least for a certain time—to use past aggregate data for policy purposes.
Thomas Robert Malthus and Samuel Hollander: A Review
Authors: Gee Alec J. M.
Published: March 2003

In large part we follow the order of Hollander’s text,1 and page references to Hollander are given by [H, p()]. References to Malthus are from The Works as edited by E. A. Wrigley and David Souden,2 and are given by [M, (vol. no.), (abbreviated title of volume), (p())].
The Impact of Salary Caps in Professional Team Sports
Authors: Késenne Stefan
Published: March 2003

In this paper we analyse the impact of a salary cap on a professional team sports league. We concentrate on the competitive balance, on the level and the distribution of player salaries, on owner profits and total league revenue. A simple model shows that a salary cap can improve the competitive balance among clubs as well as the salary distribution among players. We also investigate how the recent individual salary cap in NBA might affect the competitive balance.
Inflation and Openness with Non‐Atomistic Wage Setters
Authors: Cavallari Lilia
Published: March 2003

This paper analyses the impact of trade openness on inflation in a strategic framework characterised by monopolistic production in the domestic sector and unionised labour markets. By stressing the interplay between internal and external sources of economic distortion, we show that the economy’s inflationary bias reduces up to a critical level of trade openness. Beyond this threshold, wage setters may be induced to behave more aggressively in open economies, leading to higher equilibrium inflation. Based on a regression analysis that investigates the combined effect of labour market institutions and openness on inflation across nineteen OECD economies, we show that inflation is negatively related to openness when wage bargaining is decentralised, while there is virtually no link between openness and inflation at higher levels of wage centralisation.
Nature, Power and Growth
Authors: Gylfason Thorvaldur
Published: March 2003

This essay reviews the relationship between natural–resource abundance and economic growth around the world, and presents some new results. The principal reasons why resource–based production can inhibit economic growth over long periods are traced to the Dutch disease, neglect of education, rent seeking, and economic policy failures. Across a large number of countries in the period from 1965 to 1998, the share of the primary sector in the labour force is shown to be inversely related to exports, domestic and foreign investment, and education, and directly related to external debt, import protection, corruption, and income inequality. The cross–sectional data show, moreover, that the share of the primary sector in the labour force is inversely related to per capita growth across countries. None of this lies in the nature of things, however. What seems to matter for economic growth is not the abundance of natural resources per se, but rather the quality of their management, and of economic management and institutions in general.
The Political Economy of the Global Environment
Authors: Pearce David
Published: March 2003

Issues of the ‘global commons’ have secured a prominent place in environmental discourse. The temperature‐regulating functions of the global atmosphere and radiation control functions of stratospheric ozone offer clear examples of true public goods. Other environmental assets, such as biodiversity and forests, are treated as if they are public goods, but in reality are complex mixtures of private goods, local public goods and global public goods. The approach to the provision and protection of these goods has tended to focus on the development of international agreements, such as those at the Rio de Janeiro ‘Earth Summit’ in 1992. But do these agreements contain the relevant incentives to conserve the global commons? Much depends on one's view of human nature. The Scottish economic tradition suggests that unless incentives focus on ‘self love’, as postulated by Hume and Smith, improvements will, at best, be marginal. A richer array of policy measures is obtained by analysing the potential for ‘global bargains’, trades that improve the environment whilst making each party better off. The souls of Hume and Smith surely approve recent developments in practical global bargains.
Historical Changes in the Flood Hazard at Khartoum, Sudan: Lessons and Warnings for the Future
Authors: Davies H.R.J. , Walsh R.P.D.
Published: March 2003

The 1988 floods at Khartoum were frequently described as “unprecedented”. However, an examination of evidence for floods caused by the Nile and rain storms during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries leads to the conclusion that neither the Nile flood nor the rain storms nor their coincidence in one season were unprecedented and that similar situations will recur.We argue that most problems were created by complacency, lack of planning and mismanagement. We conclude with some simple suggestions for flood amelioration in the future and warn that complacency is the single most important phenomenon likely to recur to the detriment of Greater Khartoum in the future.
An Analysis of Thermal Stress of Climate in Hong Kong
Authors: Yan Yuk Yee
Published: March 2003

The universal scale of apparent temperature (AT) and clo, a unit measuring the amount of clothing insulation required to maintain comfort, were used to examine the weather stress in Hong Kong. Hourly AT and clo values were computed using hourly air temperature, wind speed, vapour pressure and cloud cover data from 1980 to 1994. Results of both AT and clo reflected highly corresponding changes of thermal stress. It is found that the most stressful time in winter and summer occurred in the early morning and afternoon, and cool weather and tropical ensembles were required to surmount the extreme weather stress respectively. A greater percent of time with severe heat stress than those with extreme cold stress was discovered. These results also indicated that clo is a more informative weather stress index than AT since it provides both the thermal stress and clothing requirements to sustain comfort.
“Sense and Sensibility”: Social‐spatial Experiences of the Visually‐impaired in Singapore
Authors: Pow C.P.
Published: March 2003

Vision plays an important role in our daily life, and geography is to a large extent, a visual discipline. The persistence of the visual ideology is problematic as it encourages geographical scholarship to neglect the role of non‐visual senses while at the same time, marginalises the experiences of non‐sighted people. By adopting an interpretative approach and drawing concepts from “sensuous geographies”, this paper explores the role of non‐visual senses in the spatial experiences of the visually‐impaired in Singapore. Through humanistic inquiry, the paper also examines some of the problems that the visually‐impaired in Singapore encounter in public spaces and social interaction. To this end, the author aims to illumine the intricate relationship between our non‐visual senses and social sensibility when thinking about sightlessness.
Child Care Caregiver Sensitivity and Attachment
Authors: Howes Carollee , Galinsky Ellen , Kontos Susan
Published: March 2003

Changes in child care caregivers’ sensitivity and in children’s attachment security were examined in three studies. Study one involved 55 children enrolled in community based child care. There was no intervention in these sites. Caregiver responsive involvement and children’s attachment security did not change over time or when children changed caregivers. Study two involved 71 toddler age children enrolled in family child care homes. The caregivers of these children were enrolled in a family child care training project. Six months after the training security scores increased and caregivers of children who became secure or remained secure were more sensitive following training. Study three involved 36 children enrolled in center‐based child care. Children were observed before and after selective staff replacement and in‐service training to increase caregiver sensitivity. Six months following intervention security scores increased and caregivers of children who became secure or remained secure were more sensitive following training.
On the Relation of Personal Experience to Early Adolescents’ Reasoning About Best Friendship Deterioration
Authors: Azmitia Margarita , Lippman David N. , Ittel Angela
Published: March 2003

The primary goal of this study was to investigate the association between early adolescents’ generalized beliefs about the causes of best friendship deterioration and dissolution and conflict experiences in their own best friendships. An additional goal was to assess whether early adolescents’ self‐esteem moderated this association. Participants listed their beliefs about the causes of best friendship deterioration and dissolution, indicated whether conflicts described in a series of vignettes had occurred in one of their best friendships, and described two conflicts they had experienced in their best friendships. They also judged the seriousness of the vignette and personally experienced conflicts. As predicted, early adolescents included conflict issues they had experienced personally more frequently in their causal inventories than conflict issues that they had not experienced personally. However, contrary to predictions, the perceived seriousness of the conflicts did not influence their inclusion in participants’ causal inventories. While high and low self‐esteem adolescents had similar beliefs about the causes of best friendship deterioration and dissolution, low self‐esteem adolescents perceived their conflicts as more serious and their friendships as more fragile.
The Interpretation of Line of Regard by Prelingually Deaf Children
Authors: Scott Christeen , Russell Philip A. , Gray Colin D. , Hosie Judith A. , Hunter Norma
Published: March 2003

The ability of 5‐ to 12‐year‐old deaf children to utilise and interpret another person's visual line of regard (where the eyes are looking) was studied in four experiments using cartoon faces. The children had little difficulty in determining whether or not a face was looking directly at them. They had more difficulty, however, with more complex tasks requiring them to infer mental states of desire and intention from line of regard and to ignore line of regard when it was inappropriate to attend to this cue. Deaf children raised in a hearing environment appear to have more difficulty with these more complex tasks than hearing children. The results are discussed in terms of the special difficulties facing some deaf children in the development of skills involving utilisation of line of regard and the implications for the development of joint attentional behaviour, theory of mind and dyadic social interaction in deaf and hearing children.
Peer Experience: Common and Unique Features of Number of Friendships, Social Network Centrality, and Sociometric Status
Authors: Gest Scott D. , Graham‐Bermann Sandra A. , Hartup Willard W.
Published: March 2003

Three conceptually distinct dimensions of classroom social position (number of mutual friendships, social network centrality, and sociometric status) were examined in relation to each other and to peer‐nominated behavioral reputation among 205 7‐ and 8‐year old children. There were moderate correlations in children’s standing across the three dimensions, but categorical analyses underscored the limits to these associations (e.g., 39% of Rejected children had at least one mutual friendship; 31% of Popular children did not). Each dimension was associated with a distinct profile of peer‐nominated social behavior and, in multiple regression analyses, accounted for unique variance in peer‐nominated behaviors. Number of friendships was uniquely associated with prosocial skills; network centrality was uniquely associated with both prosocial and antisocial behavioral styles; and being disliked was uniquely associated with the full range of social behaviors. Results provide empirical validation for the conceptual distinctions among number of reciprocated friendships, social network centrality and being liked or disliked.
Men Don’t Put on Make‐up: Toddlers’ Knowledge of the Gender Stereotyping of Household Activities
Authors: Poulin‐Dubois Diane , Serbin Lisa A. , Eichstedt Julie A. , Sen Maya G. , Beissel Clara F.
Published: March 2003

Toddlers’ knowledge of the stereotyping of traditionally feminine and
masculine household activities was examined in two experiments. The experiments used
a generalized imitation paradigm which required toddlers (total N = 63) to
select a male or female doll to imitate nine masculine, feminine and neutral activities
(e.g., shaving, vacuuming, sleeping). In the first experiment, 24‐month‐old girls,
but not boys, demonstrated knowledge of both feminine and masculine activities. Results
from study 2 indicated that boys possess some knowledge of these stereotyped activities
by the age of 31 months. The results of the two experiments suggested that knowledge
about the gender stereotyping of familiar activities can be demonstrated in children
as young as 24 months.
Parent and Peer Effects on Delinquency‐related Violence and Dating Violence: A Test of Two Mediational Models
Authors: Brendgen Mara , Vitaro Frank , Tremblay Richard E. , Wanner Brigitte
Published: March 2003

Drawing on two complementary process models of violence, i.e., social cognitive

theory and rejection sensitivity theory, the goal of the present study was (1) to

examine the unique effects of parents and peers on boys’ violent behavior

in delinquency‐related contexts and in dating relationships, (2) to assess the mediating

processes underlying these links, and (3) to test whether these processes operate

in the same way for delinquency‐related violence and dating violence. Based on a

sample of 336 boys, results showed that problematic experiences with parents and

with peers each predicted subsequent violence, both in delinquency‐related and in

dating‐related contexts. However, the contributions of the social cognitive model

and the rejection sensitivity model in explaining these links varied somewhat depending

on the situational context of the violent behavior. The implications of the similarities

and specificities in the risk factors and pathways leading to delinquency‐related

violence and dating violence are discussed.
Knit Your Own Without a Pattern: Health Promotion Specialists in an Internal Market
Authors: Nettleton Sarah , Burrows Roger
Published: March 2003

The reforms of the National Health Service in England have given an emphasis to “strategic” approaches to health and health care, in that, ideally, purchasing decisions will be made on the basis of evidence from various forms of “needs assessment”. Alongside these reforms a strategic approach to the promotion of health has been set out in the “Health of the Nation” (DoH 1992). However, although the promotion of health is high on the policy agenda, the occupational group of health promotion specialists, whose prime function it is to devise, develop and implement health promotion strategies, have been ignored. Drawing on qualitative interview data with these specialists in both provider and purchasing settings in England this paper argues that thus far the reforms have actually hindered the development of a strategic approach to the promotion of health by health promotion specialists. Three main reasons for this are suggested; a confusion over the most appropriate institutional location for health promotion specialists; a lack of clarity by key actors as to the role and function of health promotion specialists; and the emergence of a model of effectiveness and efficiency which is largely antithetical to the philosophy and practice of health promotion.
Concepts of Risk in Relation to Organizational Structure and Functioning within the Personal Social Services and Probation
Authors: Kemshall Hazel , Parton Nigel , Walsh Mike , Waterson Jan
Published: March 2003

The main argument of this paper is that personal social services, including probation, at both a policy and practice level are increasingly focused on issues of risk. We postulate that risk assessment, risk management, the monitoring of risk and risk‐taking itself are rapidly becoming the dominant raison d'être of such agencies, thus supplanting ideologies of meeting need or welfare provision. In turn they have become key to priority setting and rationing, the basis for organizational rationales and structures, the central focus for professional activity and accountability, and measuring quality. Thus an analysis of risk as an organizing principle offers fundamental insights into the rapidly changing nature and organization of statutory social work and probation. There is very little literature that focuses on risk across the spectrum of services. Risk analysis, as such, is most developed in the criminal justice and child protection fields. However, the mental health literature, being centrally preoccupied with notions of dangerousness, is quickly adopting risk terminology. Apart from work on elder abuse, literature on child welfare and community care has been framed in terms of need, issues of risk only coming to the fore around potential admission to residential care. We contend that as issues of rationing and accountability become more dominant, so do concerns with risk. Thus we predict the extension of notions of risk as central organizing principles throughout the social services and probation.
Female Workers on Long‐term Sickness Benefit in the Republic of Ireland: The Relevance of their Relationship with the Labour Market
Authors: O’Leary Richard
Published: March 2003

This article investigates the extent to which the entry of female workers into long‐term receipt of sickness benefit is related not only to their health status but also to the experience of women in the labour market. It is argued that specific categories of female workers–women with children, women who enter sickness benefit from maternity or unemployment benefit or who live in areas of high female unemployment–have an incentive to remain on sickness benefit long‐term. This is supported by a logistic regression analysis on a random sample (n D1142) of individual social security sickness benefit claimants in the Republic of Ireland. The results can be used to understand how married, compared to single, women can come to be overrepresented among those on long‐term sickness benefit.
GPs and Contracts: Bringing General Practice into Primary Care
Authors: Glendinning Caroline
Published: March 2003

This paper argues that the terms on which GPs entered the NHS, as self‐employed contractors, have proved remarkably resistant to the managerial pressures which have come to dominate other sections of the National Health Service. However, this traditional mode of financing and organizing the delivery of a key element of the National Health Service has become increasingly incompatible with wider health policy objectives—the development of an integrated network of good‐quality, equitable and well‐coordinated primary and community health services which are responsive to local needs. Furthermore, primary health services have themselves come to play a crucially important role in securing other strategic changes in the wider health policy arena, such as securing and sustaining a shift in the traditional balance between hospital and community‐based health services and controlling expenditure in a needs‐led service. The paper argues that, notwithstanding the change of government, the 1997 NHS (Primary Care) Act and the White Paper “The New NHS” are both integral to the achievement of wider strategic health policy objectives, such as improving the quality and coherence of services, and increasing professional accountability for the financial consequences of clinical decisions. However, the greatest significance of these and other related measures is that they shift the emphasis of health policy from commissioning and purchasing by primary care to commissioning and contracting for primary care. They thereby extend the exposure of GP‐based services to managerialist scrutiny and control.
The Changing Governance of Welfare: Recent Trends in its Primary Functions, Scale, and Modes of Coordination
Authors: Jessop Bob
Published: March 2003

This paper discusses four dimensions of the capitalist state's role in economic and social reproduction: its economic and social policy roles, the scales on which these roles are performed, and the modes of governance with which they are associated. It describes the typical postwar welfare regime on these dimensions, analyses the crisis in the governance of welfare that began to emerge in the late 1970s and 1980s, and characterizes the new regime that is tendentially replacing the postwar welfare state.
Beyond New Zealand's Dual Health Reforms
Authors: Gauld Robin
Published: March 2003

The New Zealand health system was substantially reformed in 1993 with the introduction of a purchaser–provider split, competitive contracting and managerialism. The new system failed to deliver the desired gains and, in 1996, the reforms were “reformed”. While there has been widespread study of the 1993 reforms, there has been little discussion to date of the 1996 changes and the emerging directions for New Zealand health policy and service delivery, which remain unclear. This paper discusses the New Zealand health reforms of the 1990s. It briefly outlines the 1993 reforms and their results. Next, it details the 1996 “reforms”. Third, it discusses developments since 1996, some of which have emerged out of the 1993 reforms, but which have gathered momentum only since the 1996 changes were announced. In the conclusion, the paper lists some of the directions in which the New Zealand health sector appears to be heading, noting that there is a need for coordination of the sector, and for permanence.
Gender Down Under: Welfare State Restructuring in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand
Authors: Shaver Sheila
Published: March 2003

Beginning in the mid‐1980s, the governments of both Australia and New Zealand embarked upon programmes of economic reform. In the same period, they have also undertaken extensive, if incremental, restructuring of their social policy gender models, away from the male breadwinner family form and towards dual‐earner partnerships based on individualized entitlement. This paper examines and compares this restructuring. It aims to identify those respects in which similarities and differences in this restructuring express enduring cross‐national differences in social policy, and in what respects simply reflect differences in the timing of otherwise similar developments.
The Politics of Partnership in Tropical Public Health: Researching Tuberculosis Control in India
Authors: Ogden Jessica A. , Porter John D. H.
Published: March 2003

In today’s globalizing world the nature of relationships between the North and South is changing to account for the closing gap in capacity to carry out research of international standard. The development of a lexicon sophisticated enough to address adequately these changing relationships, however, lags behind and is not supported by the current recourse to the jargon of ‘partnership’. In this paper we explore the difficulties of negotiating a productive path through the dynamics of power and control that characterize international research collaborations. We call attention to this issue through recounting the story of the development of two quite different, but related, international research relationships in which we have been involved. We suggest that there is an important difference between those aspects of the relationship that respond to institutional needs and agendas and those aspects that relate more directly to the human relationships upon which the work in the field actually depends. We set out this difference in a tentative framework, where the relationship between researchers is labelled ‘partnership’ and the institutional relationship ‘collaboration’. It is hoped that, by its inclusion in a journal on social policy, this paper may also stimulate discussion on the extent to which these issues are particular to international relationships or are, indeed, generalizable to national‐level partnerships and collaborations within the UK and Europe.
The Making and Melting of the “Iron Rice Bowl” in China 1949 to 1995
Authors: Fung Ho‐lup
Published: March 2003

The socialist regimes are commonly perceived as insensitive to the economic problems of overmanning and inefficiency arising from the iron rice bowl. This paper argues that the People’s Republic of China, as a socialist regime, was not insensitive to these problems. However, the economic rationality of the planned economy was prioritized on macro‐planning balances rather than efficiency at the unit level. The national economy was considered as a chessboard and the regime was the player to move labour from one square to another to maximize overall efficiency through strategic positioning. The iron rice bowl was a part of the national industrial manpower policy and it was considered more important than the growth and efficiency of individual enterprises. Even during the economic reform era, the regime guarded against the disruption of overall economic balancing, and measures were taken to protect workers from dismissal.
Social Security Reform in China’s Transition to a Market Economy
Authors: Saunders Peter , Shang Xiaoyuan
Published: March 2003

This paper begins by describing the origins of a social security system that was based on a series of institutional splits that resulted in the development of a fragmented system characterized by inequity and incomplete coverage. The entitlements embedded in this system have proved difficult to revise in the light of changing circumstances and the pressures associated with economic transition, demographic change and the newly emerging problems of open unemployment and urban poverty. These developments, particularly the latter, are creating new demands on a system already struggling to adjust to structural problems of coverage and financial soundness. A series of extensive reforms in the areas of pensions and unemployment insurance and a rationalization of administrative arrangements and responsibilities have been introduced over the last two decades, but further reform seems inevitable as external pressures and policy priorities change. A key goal of the reform process has been to transfer responsibility for social security from enterprises to the state, but the system still suffers from a series of serious financial problems. Despite the extensive reforms that have already been introduced, these problems and the structural imbalances underlying them will require further action. The most important of these imbalances relate to the split between the nature and role of social security in the urban and rural sectors, the role of the commercial provision and its relationship with the state, and the extension of programmes aimed at poverty alleviation.
The Implications of Consumerism for the Transition to a Sustainable Society
Authors: Cahill Michael
Published: March 2003

An exploration of the nature of consumerism in rich societies, noting the damaging impact on the environment and the loss of interest in public life. The challenge of moving towards sustainable lifestyles is explored with reference to household labour and the use of the car.
States of Welfare: A Response to Charles Atherton
Authors: Veit–Wilson John
Published: March 2003

This response deals with Atherton’s objections in so far as they are relevant and restates the importance of clarity about the content of the term “welfare state”. It suggests that the term be restricted to states which offer a minimum real level of living to all their citizens, and shows that it is possible in both principle and practice to compress income inequalities to a point where poverty is effectively abolished. The article discusses some of the logical and semantic problems that have arisen as terms such as “welfare state” and “welfare regime” have been adapted to make international comparisons.
Health Authorities, Priority‐setting and Resource Allocation: A Study in Decision‐making in New Labour's NHS
Authors: Greener Ian , Powell Jane
Published: March 2003

This paper analyses the decision‐making process of health authorities under New Labour in the NHS through a study of their qualitative responses to questionnaires. We find a considerable frustration and cynicism with the government's plans for reform, with its interference at the local level with services, and an acknowledgement of the differences between health authorities’ practice and what they believe the government requires, with, often, only minimal effort being made attempting to achieve new governmental performance targets. We conclude by making suggestions for an alternative strategy less likely to antagonize local health service providers.
Local Heroics: Reflecting on Incomers and Local Rural Development Discourses in Scotland
Authors: Burnett Kathryn A.
Published: March 2003

Aspects of ‘localness’ are used to both define and promote Scotland’s rural people and places. By way of illustration, the social construction and consumption of Scotland’s highlands and islands as underpinned by a negotiated relationship between what is considered ‘local’ and ‘not local,’ is provided. One particular focus is on how incomer and local identities are constructed and mediated by development agencies and academic analysis. It is suggested that the rural incomer is represented as a contradiction of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ with respect to rural development processes. This paradox of incomer identity and representation is examined. Discourses of what and who is local within the current socio‐political climate of devolution for Scotland, and increasingly confident claims for national independence, are crucial factors in the contextualization of incomer/local constructions and rural development processes. The promotion of Scotland as a nation which celebrates local articulations is explored, and some possible implications for rural communities and sustained socio‐cultural development initiatives are considered.
New Rural Pluriactivity? Household Strategies and Rural Renewal in Norway
Authors: Eikeland Sveinung
Published: March 2003

It is a common assumption that pluriactive Nordic smallholders would prefer an income from ordinary paid work to the daily search for income. However, this article shows that a large proportion of pluriactive people live in regions with considerable access to paid work. The question therefore becomes why they choose traditional rural adaptations when there is ample opportunity to obtain ordinary full‐time paid work. The analysis is based on data collected in ten Norwegian rural municipalities, and interviews with pluriactive households living in four communities close to Norwegian cities. The article confirms that the income of a majority of entrepreneurs is obtained by running more than one small‐scale industrial enterprise, or by mixing operating enterprises with ordinary paid work. These kinds of strategies are based on exploiting new niches in the rural economy, which are shaped by modern gender relations in rural households.
leader, a New Social Order, and the Central‐ and East‐European Countries
Authors: Kovách Imre
Published: March 2003

The paper considers the relevance of leader to the context of the ceecs and, in particular, to Hungary. The main argument is that the leader approach represents one of the most likely paths for socio‐economic development. The theoretical approach of paper adopts political economy and actor network theory to conceptualize leader as a move from direct intervention towards a new indirect regime of market relations interpreting leader as participative redistribution. The paper analyses the major disparities that exist between conditions in the ceecs and the eu rurality and the consequences of post‐socialist transformation. It is argued that, in the ceec context, the strengthening of civil society, its institutions and their control (monitoring)over development system are necessary components of a leader‐type approach so as to offset power of bureaucracy and the economic elite.
Federations of Co‐Operatives and Organized Interests in Agriculture. An analysis of the Spanish Experience
Authors: Moyano‐Estrada Eduardo , Entrena Francisco , Serrano del Rosal Rafael
Published: March 2003

This article considers federations of agricultural co‐operatives as claim‐oriented associations, characterized by integral goals, collective goods and ideological discourse. However, they differ from other claim‐oriented associations, such as farmers' unions, in their tendency toward unitary models for the representation of the interests of agricultural co‐operatives. The authors stress the importance of institutional factors in explaining this panorama. The Spanish case is used as an example of the influence of institutional factors on the process of the establishment of federations of agricultural co‐operatives. In particular, it focuses on decision‐making institutions, at the regional, national and European level, which have oriented such a process toward unitary models of representation.
Taming Nature, Taming Workers: Constructing the Separation Between Meat Consumption and Meat Production in the U.S.
Authors: Gouveia Lourdes , Juska Arunas
Published: March 2003

In this article we examine corporate and state actions implicated in manufacturing the extension, and precipitating the collapse, of the fictional distance separating production from consumption in contemporary agro–food systems. We investigate this phenomena via the case of the U.S. beef industry. Specifically, we examine regulatory initiatives and corporate responses aimed at addressing the two most important issues confronting the industry today: bacteriological meat contamination and an over–reliance on Latino immigrant labour. The collapse of this precarious architecture can expose the most hidden, and often problematic, linkages between meat consumption and meat production practices.
Towards a Sociology of Child Health
Authors: Mayall Berry
Published: March 2003

This paper argues that children, as an important social group, repay study in connection with the sociology of health and illness. The paper outlines the neglect of children within medical sociology and goes on to open up a discussion towards a sociology of child health. The paper makes three main points. First, consideration of the case of health and illness helps understanding of children’s social positioning as a minority group. Secondly, children present a clear case for considering people as embodied health care actors. Thirdly, taking account of children in the sociology of health requires rethinking the division of labour and inter‐generational relationships within it.
Illness in the Context of Older Age: The Case of Stroke
Authors: Pound Pandora , Gompertz Patrick , Ebrahim Shah
Published: March 2003

Stroke is popularly conceived of as an illness which shatters lives. The discourse of shattered lives, articulated more generally within the sociological literature on chronic illness as ‘biographical disruption’, is examined with reference to the experience of a sample of predominantly elderly, working class people living in the East End of London. We begin by exploring the interviewees’ responses to the stroke as something which was ‘not that bad’, before going on to examine the place of the stroke within the context of these peoples’ lives. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which age may mediate illness experience.
Theorising Inequalities in Health: The Place of Lay Knowledge
Authors: Popay Jennie , Williams Gareth , Thomas Carol , Gatrell Tony
Published: March 2003

This paper contributes to the development of theory and research on inequalities in health. Our central premise is that these are currently limited because they fail adequately to address the relationship between agency and structure, and that lay knowledge in the form of narrative has a significant contribution to make to this endeavour. The paper is divided into three sections. In the first section we briefly review the existing, largely quantitative research on inequalities in health. We then move on to consider some of the most significant critiques of this body of work highlighting three issues: the pursuit of overly simple unidimensional explanations within ‘risk factor’ epidemiology and the (probably inevitable) inability of this research tradition to encompass the full complexity of social processes; the failure to consider the social context of individual behaviour and, in particular, the possibility for, and determinants of, creative human agency; and, thirdly, the need for ‘place’ and ‘time’ (both historical and biographical) to be given greater theoretical prominence. In the final section of the paper the potential theoretical significance of ‘place’ and ‘lay knowledge’, and the relationship between these concepts, in inequalities research is explored. Here we suggest three developments as a necessary condition for a more adequate theoretical framework in this field. We consider first the need for the conceptualisation and measurement of ‘place’ within a historical context, as the location in which macro social structures impact on people’s lives. Second, we argue for a re‐conceptualisation of lay knowledge about everyday life in general and the nature and causes of health and illness in particular, as narratives which have embedded within them explanations for what people do and why – and which, in turn, shape social action. Finally, we suggest that this narrative knowledge is also the medium through which people locate themselves within the places they inhabit and determine how to act within and upon them. Lay knowledge therefore offers a vitally important but neglected perspective on the relationship between social context and the experience of health and illness at the individual and population level.