Top level actors speak about social policy and intergenerational inheritance of inequalities

The article has been divided into two parts. In the irst one the author presents dominant trends of the contemporary academic discourse over the European social policy, in the context of progressive europeization in this ield as well and on the level of comparative research. The second part of the article depicts results of studies led among central level politicians (members of parliament, members of government) conducted by each national research team within the framework of the PROFIT project. The starting point of the research was the assumption that the way politicians contextualize the problem of social inequalities inheritance and politicians’ opinions about the phenomenon of IIofI can considerably inluence the mode state’s priorities concerning social policy are being formulated

User resistance strategies and the problems of blanket prescriptions: a case study of resistance success

There is a growing body of research on resistance in IS projects, a good deal of which focuses on strategies for overcoming resistance. However, within this strand of research, it appears that there is a ‘blanket prescription’ approach that does not account for diversity in resistance reasoning. We offer a qualitative study of the response of diverse actors to a pilot of a custom developed client tracking information system, which brought about diverse covert and overt resistance activities. This empirical research is used to explore the heterogeneous user and how such a ‘blanket prescription’ to avert organisational-wide resistance went wrong and how resistance succeeded. This paper aims to contribute to the body of existing literature on IS user resistance by emphasizing the injurious continuous error of excluding such constructs as the heterogeneous user within user resistance research

ON THE EVE OF A FOOD RIOT: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE POLITICAL DETERMINANTS OF WIDESPREAD PROTEST IN CENTRAL AMERICA DURING THE 2007-08 GLOBAL FOOD PRICE CRISIS

In this thesis, I develop a framework for the systematic investigation of the political determinants of widespread protest that occurred during the 2007-08 global food price crisis. Broadly engaging Acemoglu and Robinson’s (2001, 2006) theory of the democratic window of opportunity for mobilization engendered by transitory economic crises, I consider the role that both individual and structural factors play in promoting collective action for political change during such events. Fifteen hypotheses are offered that are grounded in theory on food riots, political culture, and political opportunity structures. Ultimately, this thesis takes the form of a proposal for future research on the impact of citizen political views and changing political opportunity structures in facilitating widespread social unrest during transitory economic shocks

Interrogating the European Union’s Democracy Promotion Agenda: Discursive Configurations of ‘Democracy’ from the Middle East

Following the electoral victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections of January 2006, the international community reacted by suspending aid to the democratically elected Hamas government. Across Middle Eastern societies, this move and the events that followed since, ushered in a complete loss of credibility in the discourse of external actors like the European Union (EU) and their declared quest for promoting democracy in the region. Are we witnessing the demise of the EU’s democracy promotion agenda given the perception from the Middle East (ME) in regard to its inconsistent discourse? This article aims to address how a critical engagement with the ways in which the EU constructs itself as a normative power, in its attempts at exporting its model of liberal democracy, might shed light on questions central to contemporary EU-ME relations. In particular, it focuses on how an inquiry into political grammars might illuminate discursive configurations of ‘democracy’ in the ME. By way of conclusion, the article holds that the EU’s discourse on democracy promotion in the ME can be reframed and this process of reframing need not negate its principles

Reconciling Actors' Preferences in Agricultural Policy - Towards a New Management of Public Decisions

To attain sustainable development in the 21st century, the world's population still has to overcome many challenges; hunger, poverty, environmental degradation and depletion. Policy design in such a context is and will remain a complex task. On one hand, policy makers often lack information on stakeholders' strategies and constraints as well as on potential options for improvement. On the other hand, stakeholders do not always adhere to policies for lack of understanding of the pursued goals. It is not unusual to observe that often, real policy effects are not those initially expected. Furthermore, existing decision-making mechanisms for public intervention are increasingly questioned due to pressure for market liberalization, decentralization processes and the increasing role of the civil society. However, while the classical role of government is challenged, few methods have been proposed to enable the design of viable alternatives. The approach presented in this book is a contribution to the improvement of efficiency in public decision-making. Based on practical experience from Viet Nam, Indonesia and other countries, it proposes new methods for the identification of policy objective, stakeholders and issues at stake, and for the definition and implementation of concrete actions. It also provides means and guidance to foster progressive actors' participation and involvement in decision-making and policy implementation processes. Key Words: analytical methods, tools, decision making, agricultural policiesanalytical methods, tools, decision making, agricultural policies, Agricultural and Food Policy,

The collective consciousness of Information Technology research: The significance and value of research projects. A. The views of IT researchers

This research seeks to reveal the different perceptual worlds in a research community, with the longterm intent of fostering increased understanding and hence collaboration. In the relatively new field of information technology (IT) research, available evidence suggests that a shared understanding of the research object or territory does not yet exist. This has led to the development of different perceptions amongst IT researchers of what constitutes significant and valuable research. A phenomenological approach is used to elicit data from a diverse range of IT researchers in semistructured interviews. This data is presented to show (1) the variation in meaning associated with the idea of significance and value and (2) the awareness structures through which participants experience significance and value. An Outcome Space represents the interrelation between those different ways of seeing, revealing a widening awareness. Five categories of ways of seeing the significance and value of research projects were found: The Personal Goals Conception, The Research Currency Conception, The Design of the Research Project Conception, The Outcomes for the Technology End User Conception and The Solving Real-World Problems Conception. These are situated within three wider perceptual boundaries: The Individual, The Research Community and Humankind. The categories are described in detail, demonstrated with participants’ quotes and illustrated with diagrams. A tentative comparison is made between this project and a similar investigation of IT professionals’ ways of seeing the significance and value of IT research projects. Finally, some recommendations for further research are made

Leading From the Middle: Mid-Level District Staff and Instructional Improvement

This three-year research project demonstrates that mid-level central office staff can make or break critical reform initiatives. It also provides strong recommendations for a new vision of leadership in which central office and school staff become equal partners

Changes in corporate governance of German corporations: convergence to the Anglo-American model?

This paper examines the many changes which have transformed the German system of corporate governance during the last seven odd years. It concludes that it is in the process of converging towards the Anglo-American system and that this has fundamentally affected the way strategic decisions are made in firms. Large, internationally oriented companies are particularly affected. But the notion of shareholder value and its many behavioural effects are gradually spreading also to other parts of the economy. Consequently, the distinctive logic, which had underpinned the German variety of capitalism during most of the post-war period, is eroding. This transformation is affecting also labour and industrial relations in negative ways. The argument is empirically substantiated with data about recent trends in capital markets, banks and firms. The paper theoretically examines institutional change, focussing on the notions of system logic and institutional complementarity. It examines both external sources of change and internal powerful actors who promote the process of transformation. The notion of hybridisation of the German business system is examined but is rejected in favour of a trend towards convergence. Convergence is not seen as a functional necessity, nor is it viewed as inevitable.Corporate governance, capital markets, German variety of capitalism, institutional change.

Can analysis align with antiracism? : an exploration of the experiences of psychoanalysts working toward social justice

This research study is an exploration of the ways in which practicing psychoanalysts work towards antiracism in clinical practice. The study is based on an independent and in-depth investigation of 9 practicing psychoanalysts who self-identify as committed to the goals of antiracism. The study examines the ways in which theoretical orientation, analytic training, and clinical practice experience impact the analysts\u27 commitment to antiracism and their ability to feel effective in their work. The study was designed using the constructivist grounded theory method for data collection and analysis. This method takes into account the social location of the participants and the researcher, and views all research as a co-construction between these players and the surrounding environment. The major findings of this study indicate that an analysts\u27 ability to manifest antiracism in clinical practice is greatly influenced by three factors; perceptions of analysis as a white, elitist treatment modality; the amount of training the analyst has received about issues of race and racism; and the analyst\u27s preferred theoretical orientation. In addition, the high variation in participants\u27 fluency with issues of race and racism and comfort level tackling these issues in therapy points to the conclusion that a self-definition of antiracism is not sufficient to sustain a transformative therapeutic practice. Recommendations are made for individual analysts interested in working towards antiracism in clinical practice, and for institutes looking to support these interests