Conceptualizing the EU model of governance in world politics

While the field of EU studies has generated a rich theoretical literature, the usefulness of analyses of the EU for broader processes of regional governance has been questioned. At the same time much recent scholarship on the EU has examined the Union’s external relations as opposed to its internal governance. At stake in both of these debates are questions about the nature of the EU, what it represents and how it should be conceptualised. By examining the conceptual literatures on EU ‘actorness’, the governance of EU external relations and policy and academic discourses of comparative regional integration, this paper argues that approaches informed by broadly constructivist insights carry significant promise and can help to answer questions about the EU’s role in world politics that perplex both the policy and the academic imaginations

Thematic Shifts in Contemporary Vietnamese American Novels

This article examines the thematic shifts in three contemporary Vietnamese American novels published since 2003: Monique Truong\u27s The Book of Salt, Dao Strom\u27s Grass Roof, Tin Roof, and Bich Minh Nguyen\u27s Short Girls. I argue that by concentrating on the themes of inferiority and invisibility and issues related to ethnic and racial relationships in U.S. culture (instead of concentrating on the Vietnam War and the refugee experiences), some contemporary Vietnamese American authors are attempting to merge their voices into the corpus of ethnic American literature, which usually is thematically characterized by identity, displacement, alienation, and cultural conflict, etc. Each author explores the problems confronted by individuals caught up in various phases of the Vietnamese diaspora of the twentieth century. These important works are treated primarily thematically, even as the theoretical approaches of various critics are employed to examine those themes. All three novels take Vietnamese American literature in new thematic directions, which signals great promise for future developments. Key words: contemporary Vietnamese American novels, Monique Truong\u27s The Book of Salt, Dao Strom\u27s Grass Roof, Tin Roof, Bich Minh Nguyen\u27s Short Girls, invisible identity

Bad Words Gone Good: Semantic Reanalysis in African American English

Semantic reanalysis produces lexemes that bear positive connotations in AAE in contrast with their "Mainstream" American English (MAE) (Lippi-Green, 1997) homonyms. For example, bad-AAE, awesome, versus bad-MAE, characterized by negative qualities. This present survey of semantic reanalysis in AAE shows that lexical meaning is subject to analogous types of linguistic variation commonly discussed in variationist studies. It helps lay the foundation for a quantitative study of African American English (AAE) lexemes and semantic change through an exploration of semantic reanalysis.Previous investigations of semantic reanalysis (e.g. Smitherman, 1977) claim that using defamatory words, like bad, in positive ways derives from an African tradition, i.e. hypothesizing that these are semantic calquings from Niger-Congo languages. Although semantic reanalysis appears in West African languages, it is also used by minority groups with no West African connection. Additionally, although the sociohistorical evidence suggests that AAE is a restructured English variety, semantic reanalysis is not a necessary strategy for restructured Englishes. The inadequacy of Afro-genetic accounts, together with the fact that the linguistics literature lacks a cohesive discussion of AAE semantic reanalysis, has motivated the present study. It offers more accessible, verifiable and generalizable explanations for AAE semantics. This study reveals that AAE's distinct semantics cannot be attributed to Niger-Congo retention but rather to the ecology around which AAE emerged. I propose that AAE semantics derive from sociohistorical factors that have shaped the variety. I also suggest that semantic reanalysis is a productive, community-wide phenomenon that a number of AAE speakers employ as a form of responsive discourse, i.e. to differentiate themselves from non-community members.These results are based on quantitative and supplementary qualitative analyses of data from 53 AAE-speaking adults from the Rankin community in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Participants provided definitions and positive/negative evaluations of a variety of lexemes, including semantically reanalyzed words. Responses were coded using AAE and MAE dictionaries alongside my own native-speaker intuitions. Frequency analyses helped assess the pervasiveness of semantic reanalysis in the AAE community.Mixed-effects regression tests identified a generation-stratified pattern of variation wherein participants born after 1959--i.e. post-de jure segregation--were more familiar with reanalyzed words

A Philosophy of Mutuality in Martin Buber\u27s Writings--Implications for Mainstreaming

The study suggests a relationship which exists between Martin Buber\u27s philosophy of mutuality and a humanistic educational mainstreaming. Mandated by parent-initiated legislation, mainstreaming is intended to reduce the isolation of the handicapped by including them as nearly as possible within the larger group in the regular class, and by giving them greater access to educational resources. This becomes problematic even for those handicapped children in nearest physical proximity. Among the obstacles are society\u27s frequent exclusionist response to the different reflected in the school\u27s preference for homogeneity, and the ideas of competition which dominate education. The literature indicates that mainstreaming in its present stage is largely a one-sided effort to change the handicapped through individual remedial instruction. There is less evidence suggesting a substantial coinciding effort to make the structure of the regular class conducive to their inclusion. In the introductory chapter, a need is proposed to develop such a structure, to clarify how any child, not only the handicapped, may be educated as an individual by strengthening the bonds of human contact. Once the essential human relational element is defined, special methods and techniques can be brought to serve it. Buber\u27s thought is relevant to this problem, since his concern was for the humanization of the modern institution by means of the growth of mutuality between its members. Therefore, the various aspects of mutuality as indicated in his writings are researched and applied to mainstreaming. Biographical information reveals Buber’s attentiveness to the phenomena of human difference and communication between the different. Chapter III states that there is a potentiality in all human beings which can be actualized through mutual relation. The components of mutuality, namely, uniqueness, awareness, responsibility, and others are studied. A bond of mutuality exists between two persons engaged in spontaneous communication when they have become presences, each for the other. It is only when each becomes aware of the other\u27s presence as a whole, and as a unique person of equal worth, and responds as a whole person on that basis, that mutuality can be established. Based on a Jewish w^rld affirming tradition and his philosophical anthropology, Buber attributes to all people the capacity to enter into mutuality. The second basic human relation is the partial and detached perception of the other as an object which can be categorized, used, and even changed. In the remaining chapters, Buber\u27s evolutionary view of education is presented as a conscious experiment toward equity and humaneness. The greatness of the genuine teacher is seen in an Impartial, yet personal involvement with pupils which imbues them with courage and enables a confirming relation to their world. Hence, Buber advocates strong participatory roles for the teacher and child. Kis goal of character education Is fostered in the community of achievement founded on mutuality between children in their common learning pursuit. Community provides a sense of belonging, educates to responsibility, and it is the essential bearer of knowledge. The teacher helps pupils to experience their world of people subjectively, and helps them to see the unity behind the diversity of aspects. This presupposes an objectivity which sets limits to biases, an openness to the facts and how they interrelate by which prejudice is replaced with a realistic value judgment. Individual experience is not weakened, rather it is enriched by differing experience. This epistemology links to an openness to humanity, an integrative perception of the world, and an independent world view. The conclusions emphasize quality education as generalizable to all students; education as inclusive; education as conscious and willed; education for community; and education for uniqueness defined by awareness and responsible service

A Philosophy of Mutuality in Martin Buber\u27s Writings--Implications for Mainstreaming

The study suggests a relationship which exists between Martin Buber\u27s philosophy of mutuality and a humanistic educational mainstreaming. Mandated by parent-initiated legislation, mainstreaming is intended to reduce the isolation of the handicapped by including them as nearly as possible within the larger group in the regular class, and by giving them greater access to educational resources. This becomes problematic even for those handicapped children in nearest physical proximity. Among the obstacles are society\u27s frequent exclusionist response to the different reflected in the school\u27s preference for homogeneity, and the ideas of competition which dominate education. The literature indicates that mainstreaming in its present stage is largely a one-sided effort to change the handicapped through individual remedial instruction. There is less evidence suggesting a substantial coinciding effort to make the structure of the regular class conducive to their inclusion. In the introductory chapter, a need is proposed to develop such a structure, to clarify how any child, not only the handicapped, may be educated as an individual by strengthening the bonds of human contact. Once the essential human relational element is defined, special methods and techniques can be brought to serve it. Buber\u27s thought is relevant to this problem, since his concern was for the humanization of the modern institution by means of the growth of mutuality between its members. Therefore, the various aspects of mutuality as indicated in his writings are researched and applied to mainstreaming. Biographical information reveals Buber’s attentiveness to the phenomena of human difference and communication between the different. Chapter III states that there is a potentiality in all human beings which can be actualized through mutual relation. The components of mutuality, namely, uniqueness, awareness, responsibility, and others are studied. A bond of mutuality exists between two persons engaged in spontaneous communication when they have become presences, each for the other. It is only when each becomes aware of the other\u27s presence as a whole, and as a unique person of equal worth, and responds as a whole person on that basis, that mutuality can be established. Based on a Jewish w^rld affirming tradition and his philosophical anthropology, Buber attributes to all people the capacity to enter into mutuality. The second basic human relation is the partial and detached perception of the other as an object which can be categorized, used, and even changed. In the remaining chapters, Buber\u27s evolutionary view of education is presented as a conscious experiment toward equity and humaneness. The greatness of the genuine teacher is seen in an Impartial, yet personal involvement with pupils which imbues them with courage and enables a confirming relation to their world. Hence, Buber advocates strong participatory roles for the teacher and child. Kis goal of character education Is fostered in the community of achievement founded on mutuality between children in their common learning pursuit. Community provides a sense of belonging, educates to responsibility, and it is the essential bearer of knowledge. The teacher helps pupils to experience their world of people subjectively, and helps them to see the unity behind the diversity of aspects. This presupposes an objectivity which sets limits to biases, an openness to the facts and how they interrelate by which prejudice is replaced with a realistic value judgment. Individual experience is not weakened, rather it is enriched by differing experience. This epistemology links to an openness to humanity, an integrative perception of the world, and an independent world view. The conclusions emphasize quality education as generalizable to all students; education as inclusive; education as conscious and willed; education for community; and education for uniqueness defined by awareness and responsible service