Organizing Clericals: Problems & Prospects

[Excerpt] One of the central goals of contemporary feminism has been the full integration of women into the workforce. While broader economic and social forces were decisive in propelling women into full-time employment, the women\u27s movement took as its particular task shaping the nature of that participation. The movement sought to achieve economic equality for women workers through two primary strategies: 1) gaining entry to traditionally male-dominated jobs and training, and 2) upgrading the pay and status of traditionally female-dominated jobs. The clerical sector—with its overwhelming concentration of women workers, its rock-bottom pay scales, and its gender-based work culture—was a logical focus of that second strategic course. Historically, the rate of unionization among clericals has been low. Some feminists blamed this on the indifference of maledominated unions to the particular problems of women in the workforce. Others believed that there were unique circumstances which made clerical workers resistant to traditional trade union approaches. Out of such analyses, a small but determined network of activists shaped an alternative conception of organization for office workers, beginning in the early 1970s

Race-Focused Service-Learning Courses: Issues and Recommendations

This article discusses the interaction between race and service-learning in the college classroom. The author found that students of color were more likely to choose the service-learning option in her courses when the incentive was higher and there was more latitude in site choice. The article then looks at factors that adversely affect the service-learning experience in courses that are specifically race-focused and suggests counterbalancing strategies

African American Single Full-Time Fathers: How Are They Doing?

Using a symbolic interactionist approach, interviews of 10 Black single full-time fathers indicate that these fathers perceive parenting to have had positive results for themselves. Specifically, the employment and income of most of the men had remained stable or improved. While their dating lives had suffered the most, they had sustained social activities with friends and families at a high level. Moreover, their assessments of their parent-child relationships and their own life satisfaction was positive

Building the Clinton Legacy Through Frame Alignment

This article examines Clinton’s rhetorical strategy for creating a legacy in light of the imminent end of his second and final term as president. By examining Clinton’s public discourse from 1997 to 1999, with special attention to the period from September 1998 to June 1999, this article argues that Clinton used the frame of his race initiative to centripetally incorporate varied events and policies to redefine and bolster his legacy in the aftermath of scandal and political polarity. Specifically, President Clinton, with an eye on the legacy of the president and the identity of the Democratic Party, gathered the war in Kosovo and the shootings in Littleton, Colorado, along with their attendant disparate policies into one rhetorical frame, thereby supplying a conception of what Clinton’s 6 years as president had been about, a vision and mission for America, and an identity for the Democratic party distinct from the Republicans

Comment on “Presidents and the Politics of Structure”

Terry Moe and Scott Wilson\u27s (1994) theory elaborating on the president\u27s countervailing institutional motivation to strengthen and consolidate the bureaucracy under presidential control is examined. The omission of political parties and courts from the analysis could have altered some of their conclusions on comparative institutional advantages

J/psi production in p-A and A-A collisions at fixed target experiments

Charmonia suppression is one of the main signatures for the formation of a deconfined medium. However, also nuclear effects, not related to the production of a hot medium, can affect the J/psi yield. The determination, from the study of p-A collisions, of the J/psi behaviour in nuclear matter is, therefore, extremely important to correctly quantify the amount of charmonia suppression induced by the deconfined medium. In this paper the new NA60 results collected at 158 GeV incident energy, i.e. under the same kinematical conditions as the In-In (NA60) and Pb-Pb (NA50) data, are presented and compared with p-A measurements from other fixed target experiments. Results on A-A collisions are also reviewed taking into account the new available information on the influence of cold nuclear matter on the J/psi production yield. Finally, results on the J/psi polarization are shown for p-A and A-A collisions.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures - To appear in the conference proceedings for Quark Matter 2009, March 30 - April 4, Knoxville, Tennesse

Smartness. The face of the integration in the new “performing” society

Economia, potere, così come case, persone e lavoro, ma prima di ogni altra cosa città: tutto negli ultimi anni è chiamato a diventare “smart”. È questa l’era della smart economy, della smart governance, della smart home, delle smart people, dello smart work e della sempre più imperante smart city. Con il sostegno della scienza, o meglio delle diverse scienze (ingegneria, politologia, urbanistica, architettura, sociologia, etc.) che ne spieghino i fondamenti a monte e della politica che, ai vari livelli (nazionali e internazionali), ne orienti i processi a valle, la smartness diventa il nuovo orizzonte della società contemporanea a cui conformare senso e prassi su scala planetaria. Ma cosa significa, per un luogo come per una attività, per una persona come per una collettività, essere “smart”? Qual è il denominatore comune che lega tra loro le diverse declinazioni del termine, come gli ambiti di applicazione? Quanto questa ricerca di intelligenza è ricerca di efficienza? E quanto l’efficienza è di per sé garanzia di intelligenza? Dopo un breve excursus sul concetto in oggetto e suoi ambiti esplicativi, l’analisi si concentra sul postulato dell’integrazione quale principale condizione di realizzazione della smartness, anche per fini efficientisti. È l’integrazione la vera sfida contenuta nella smartness e la vera promessa, al momento non mantenuta, della società performante