Being in the zone and vital subjectivity: On the liminal sources of sport and art

With the aim of re-contextualising the social dimensions of Being in the Zone whilst retaining its psychological resonance, this contribution thinks Bitz alongside van Gennep's notion of liminality and Turner's notion of the liminoid. Bitz research centres around the liminoid spheres of sport and art, and it is in these social contexts that it has its primary meaning. This move enables the articulation of a critical distance from the role the ‘being in the zone’ concept is coming to play in new forms of governance and corporate activity which aim towards a super-productive 'vital subjectivity'. In these contexts, Bitz does not address people as thinking subjects who must self-manage by making decisions, but as unified and (ideally) unconscious mind/bodies seeking experiences composed of an optimal balance of feelings. This optimal balance, at the same time, promises something interesting to the manager: an individual operating at full-capacity and yielding maximum productivity with no need of extrinsic reward. Situating Bitz in relation to liminality contributes to the task of tracing the genealogy of the vital subject back to a set of social practices directly concerned with the incitement and management of affectivity and emotion

Interdistrict Choice and Teacher Beliefs: Implications for Educational Expectations, Equity, and Policymaking

Interdistrict choice, which allows families to choose between schools outside of their districts of residence, is currently serving more students than any other choice program in the United States. Yet, despite this popularity, there is a pressing need for more research on how interdistrict choice may affect educational equity within U.S. public schools. Drawing on the analytic framework of educational racial contract, this study examines the issue of teacher beliefs in the context of interdistrict choice at a large, urban high school in Arizona, where market-based school choice programs have been continually expanded for nearly three decades. Data were collected through a survey of 112 teachers, who rated their in- district and out-of-district students based on their perception of three developmental skill categories: 1) academic, 2) communication, and 3) behavior. Results speak to negative teacher beliefs about the educability of Students of Color and hold significant implications for teachers’ academic expectations, educational equity, and future policy decisions

Corruption and Development: The Need for International Investigations with a Multijurisdictional Approach Involving Multilateral Development Banks and National Authorities

We argue that while Multilateral Development Banks (“MDBs”) and national governments have mechanisms to fight corruption, the objectives and outcomes of these enforcement mechanisms diverge. MDBs are interested in the causes and effects of corruption from a development perspective and, as such, tend to sanction small and medium enterprises and individuals, while national governments are focused on a more punitive outcome, targeting larger multinational corporations. This article examines the enforcement objectives articulated in national legislation, namely the US Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act and its Canadian counterpart, the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, as well as several Canadian cases, on the one hand, and the tools and outcomes of MDBs’ sanctions systems on the other. We conclude that national enforcement efforts and MDBs’ sanctions outcomes intersect in their fight against international corruption in that their results are complementary; the former punishing large-scale offenders while the latter ensuring the integrity of development projects

Corruption and Development: The Need of International Investigations with a Multijurisdictional Approach and the Involvement of Multilateral Development Banks with National Authorities

The authors argue that while both Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and national governments have mechanisms to fight corruption, the outcomes of these enforcement mechanisms diverge. MDBs are interested in the causes and effects of corruption from a development perspective and, as such, tend to sanction Small and Medium Enterprises and individuals, while national governments are focused on a more punitive outcome, targeting larger multinational corporations. The article examines the enforcement objectives articulated in national legislation, namely the American Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act and its Canadian counterpart (the CFPOA) as well as several Canadian cases, on the one hand, and the tools and outcomes of the MDBs’ Sanctions Systems on the other. The authors conclude that national enforcement efforts and MDBs’ sanctions outcomes intersect in their fight against international corruption in that their results are complimentary; the former punishing large-scale offenders, while the latter ensuring the integrity of development projects

Corruption and Development: The Need of International Investigations with a Multijurisdictional Approach and the Involvement of Multilateral Development Banks with National Authorities

The authors argue that while both Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and national governments have mechanisms to fight corruption, the outcomes of these enforcement mechanisms diverge. MDBs are interested in the causes and effects of corruption from a development perspective and, as such, tend to sanction Small and Medium Enterprises and individuals, while national governments are focused on a more punitive outcome, targeting larger multinational corporations. The article examines the enforcement objectives articulated in national legislation, namely the American Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act and its Canadian counterpart (the CFPOA) as well as several Canadian cases, on the one hand, and the tools and outcomes of the MDBs’ Sanctions Systems on the other. The authors conclude that national enforcement efforts and MDBs’ sanctions outcomes intersect in their fight against international corruption in that their results are complimentary; the former punishing large-scale offenders, while the latter ensuring the integrity of development projects

Corruption and Development: The Need for International Investigations with a Multijurisdictional Approach Involving Multilateral Development Banks and National Authorities

We argue that while Multilateral Development Banks (“MDBs”) and national governments have mechanisms to fight corruption, the objectives and outcomes of these enforcement mechanisms diverge. MDBs are interested in the causes and effects of corruption from a development perspective and, as such, tend to sanction small and medium enterprises and individuals, while national governments are focused on a more punitive outcome, targeting larger multinational corporations. This article examines the enforcement objectives articulated in national legislation, namely the US Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act and its Canadian counterpart, the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, as well as several Canadian cases, on the one hand, and the tools and outcomes of MDBs’ sanctions systems on the other. We conclude that national enforcement efforts and MDBs’ sanctions outcomes intersect in their fight against international corruption in that their results are complementary; the former punishing large-scale offenders while the latter ensuring the integrity of development projects

A CRITICAL MULTIPLE CASE STUDY ANALYSIS EXAMINING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT (ESSA) TO PROMOTE POSITIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE

This study explored the role of federal policy in improving school climate, and examined how federal policy, specifically the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is being implemented at the state-level to address school climate issues. A qualitative multiple-case study design with content analysis was used as the leading approach to understanding how states are implementing ESSA’s school climate measure for accountability. ESSA is the nation’s federal education law that was enacted in 2015 and replaced No Child Left Behind (NCLB). I compared states’ implementation of ESSA’s school climate and safety (SCS) measure, including how states are measuring SCS and whether the practices and interventions that are being implemented to promote safe and supportive learning environments are evidence-based. In addition to content analysis as the leading approach for analyzing data, I also applied a critical policy analysis (CPA) to examine how the problem of school climate was represented and addressed in state discipline regulations, and if the representation of the problem created advantages and/or disadvantages for Black and Latinx students and students with disabilities. The CPA approach was guided by Bacchi’s (2009) “What’s the problem represented to be?”, also known as WPR, framework