Cash for Clunky Appliances

This paper examines the viability of a “Cash for Appliances” (“CfA”) program that targets home appliances toward the goal of increasing energy efficiency and decreasing greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. Analyzing an existing CfA effort at the federal level, this paper argues that the case for a federal CfA program is strong, but that the current federal effort falls short of fulfilling its potential. The analysis proceeds in four parts. Part I makes the case for a Cash for Appliances program as a policy tool for promoting energy efficiency. Part II examines existing programs that have done just this – utilized the Cash for Clunkers model to stimulate consumer upgrades to more energy efficient appliances – including a program by the federal government. Part III examines the federal program more closely and identifies a number of defects in the current design. Part IV lays out suggestions for restructuring the federal program in future years to make it more efficient and effective

The paradox of virtue : (re)thinking deviance, anorexia and schooling

In this paper we posit a radical retheorization of anorexia as a form of deviance. We examine how the disciplinary practices and moral technologies typical of contemporary secondary schooling signify and enter into the articulation of three &lsquo;virtue discourses&rsquo; (discipline, achievement and healthism), and tease out how these &lsquo;virtue discourses&rsquo; play into the formation of the &lsquo;anorexic&rsquo; subject. Informed by Foucauldian theory, our analysis draws on our life history interview study with teenage girls diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and their parents. We argue that anorexia can be understood not as a form of deviance but as a &lsquo;paradox of virtue&rsquo; involving zealous compliance with and taking up of socially and culturally sanctioned &lsquo;virtue discourses&rsquo; that are immanent in schooling and wider society.<br /

Are Big Gods a big deal in the emergence of big groups?

In Big Gods, Norenzayan (2013) presents the most comprehensive treatment yet of the Big Gods question. The book is a commendable attempt to synthesize the rapidly growing body of survey and experimental research on prosocial effects of religious primes together with cross-cultural data on the distribution of Big Gods. There are, however, a number of problems with the current cross-cultural evidence that weaken support for a causal link between big societies and certain types of Big Gods. Here we attempt to clarify these problems and, in so doing, correct any potential misinterpretation of the cross-cultural findings, provide new insight into the processes generating the patterns observed, and flag directions for future research