The world crisis: global financial governance: principles of reform

It is now increasingly acknowledged that complex global processes, from the financial to the ecological, connect the fate of communities across the world. Yet the problem-solving capacity of the existing system of global institutions is in many areas not effective, accountable, or fast enough to resolve current global dilemmas. What has recently been called the paradox of our times refers to the fact that the collective issues we must grapple with are of growing extensity and intensity, and yet the means for addressing them are weak and incomplete.1 There are a variety of reasons for the persistence of these problems, but at the most basic level the persistence of this paradox remains an issue of governance. One significant problem in this regard is that a growing number of issues span both the domestic and the international domains. The institutional fragmentation and competition between states can lead to these global issues being addressed in an ad hoc and dissonant manner. A second problem is that even when the global dimension of a problem is acknowledged, there is no clear division of labour among the myriad of international institutions that seek to address them: their functions often overlap, their mandates conflict, and their objectives often become blurred. A third problem is that the existing system of global governance suffers from severe deficits of accountability and inclusion. This problem is especially relevant in regard to how less economically powerful states and, hence, their entire populations, are marginalised or excluded from decisionmaking. This paper describes the current global economic crisis as intimately related to a problem of governance, and articulates simple principles by which the reform of governance can be guided. Increased accountability through participatory reform, we argue, helps to underwrite effectiveness

The review of a design practice learning project to pilot heightened social responsibility and engagement

This paper describes the review of a design project devised to pilot a student community learning experience at a heightened level of social responsibility. There is evidence around the world that degree level programmes are beginning this process, albeit through initial discussions (Swan, 2000). The project involved students in the use of open-space technology to promote creative team working and reflective practice reporting on the design project. The review involved a programme of qualitative research into the evidence and outputs created by the students and staff and compared these with interviews with the; participants, industrial sponsor, independent academic staff and professional designers. It was not possible to determine in the review whether the project had led to a greater level of creativity, but those involved described it as a profoundly creative experience. The findings showed that the project engendered truly effective teamworking, complete consensus to solutions amongst the students and a heightened sensitivity to societal issues. The review makes recommendations for the future development of this form of design practice learning at appropriate levels of study

Body Talk: Male Athletes Reflect on Sport, Injury, and Pain

This paper examines how participation in physically demanding sport, with its potential and actual injurious outcomes, both challenges and reinforces dominant notions of masculinity. Data from 16 in-depth interviews with former and current Canadian adult male athletes indicate that sport practices privileging forceful notions of masculinity are highly valued, and that serious injury is framed as a masculinizing experience. It is argued that a generally unreflexive approach to past disablement is an extraordinary domain feature of contemporary sport. The risks associated with violent sport appear to go relatively unquestioned by men who have suffered debilitating injury and whose daily lives are marked by physical constraints and pain