Conceptualising informal institutions : Drawing on the case of guanxi

Institutions regulate social life through formal rules and sanctions. These are distinguished from another source of social regulation, the informal incentives and constraints inherent in cultural currents and customary practices. Informal practices may be based not simply on cultural forces, though, but expectations regularised by informal rules and sanctions, which may operate as informal institutions. One approach holds that informal institutions arise out of formal institutional voids. Another holds that informal institutions operate in response to situations in which formal institutions frustrate the interests of individuals and groups who engage informal institutions to augment, compromise, or subvert formal institutions. After developing the concept of informal institution, the article goes on to indicate how an informal relationship pervasive in modern China, guanxi, may be understood as an informal institution. It is shown that by drawing on the case of guanxi the scope of the concept informal institution can be extended and also that our understanding of guanxi is enriched when the concept of informal institution is applied to its analysis

Home Away from Home: The Curious Case of Diplomats

TB

Exploring the Links between Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements and Merchandise Trade

Over 200 bilateral and regional trade agreements are currently in force, yet their impact remains a topic of debate. We analyse effects of 27 agreements that are of particular importance for Australia on the value of merchandise trade flows using data from 1970 up to the global financial crisis in 2008. We show that preferential trade agreements generally increase trade between members but that there are often offsetting negative effects on trade with non-signatories. In contrast to regional trading blocs and bilateral accords, agreements more oriented towards open trade principles have a positive impact on all trade flows of member nations

Recognising Desire: A psychosocial approach to understanding education policy implementation and effect

It is argued that in order to understand the ways in which teachers experience their work - including the idiosyncratic ways in which they respond to and implement mandated education policy - it is necessary to take account both of sociological and of psychological issues. The paper draws on original research with practising and beginning teachers, and on theories of social and psychic induction, to illustrate the potential benefits of this bipartisan approach for both teachers and researchers. Recognising the significance of (but somewhat arbitrary distinction between) structure and agency in teachers’ practical and ideological positionings, it is suggested that teachers’ responses to local and central policy changes are governed by a mix of pragmatism, social determinism and often hidden desires. It is the often underacknowledged strength of desire that may tip teachers into accepting and implementing policies with which they are not ideologically comfortable

Emotions, Violence and Social Belonging: an Eliasian Analysis of Sports Spectatorship

This paper examines the development of different forms of spectator violence in terms of the socio-temporal structure of situational dynamics at Gaelic football matches in Ireland. The nature of violent encounters has shifted from a collective form based on local solidarity and a reciprocal code of honour, through a transitional collective form based on deferred emotional satisfaction and group pride, towards increasing individualization of spectator violence. This occurs due to the shifting objects of emotional involvement. As the functional specialization of the various roles in the game is partially accepted by spectators, the referee becomes the target of anger. Violence becomes more individualized as ‘mutually expected self-restraint’ proceeds within the context of relative state pacification beyond the field of play and the formation of a less volatile habitus. We use Elias’s figurational perspective on violence over the micro-interactional approach of Randall Collins, but support Collins’ emphasis on state legitimacy

Shame if you do, Shame if you don't: Women's experiences of infant feeding

Emotions such as guilt and blame are frequently reported by non-breastfeeding mothers, and fear and humiliation is experienced by breastfeeding mothers when feeding in a public context. In this paper we present new insights into how shame-related affects, cognitions and actions are evident within breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding women’s narratives of their experiences. As part of an evaluation study of the implementation of the UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) Community Award within two primary (community-based) care trusts in North West England, 63 women with varied infant feeding experiences took part in either a focus group or an individual semi-structured interview to explore their experiences, opinions and perceptions of infant feeding. Using a Framework Analysis approach and drawing on Lazare’s categories of shame, we consider how the nature of the event (infant feeding) and the vulnerability of the individual (mother) interact in the social context to create shame responses in some breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding mothers. Three key themes illustrate how shame is experienced and internalised through ‘exposure of women’s bodies and infant feeding methods’, ‘undermining and insufficient support’ and ‘perceptions of inadequate mothering’. The findings of this paper highlight how breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding women may experience judgement and condemnation in interactions with health professionals as well as within community contexts, leading to feelings of failure, inadequacy and isolation. There is a need for strategies and support that address personal, cultural, ideological and structural constraints of infant feeding

Prison officer self-legitimacy and support for rehabilitation in Ghana

Legitimacy refers to the moral recognition of power, and prison legitimacy remains a principal issue for prison researchers and managers. However, the prison legitimacy literature tends to focus on the views held by individuals in custody. Research on prison officer Self-Legitimacy – that is, the powerholders’ belief that the authority vested in them is morally right – remains scanty. Drawing on data from a survey of 1,062 prison officers in Ghana, this study examined both the correlates of prison officer Self-Legitimacy and the links between Self-Legitimacy and Support for Rehabilitation of individuals in custody. The results of multivariate analyses showed that having good Relations with Colleagues and being treated fairly by supervisors enhance prison officers’ Self-Legitimacy. In turn, Self-Legitimacy was found to increase officers’ Support for Rehabilitation. Finally, perceived Fair Treatment by Supervisors and positive Relations with Individuals in Custody were associated with increased Support for Rehabilitation. The implications of these findings are discussed