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Using time diary data to examine practices of reading, this article examines trajectories of change within five countries in the last quarter of the 20th century. It employs a conceptual framework derived from theories of practice to illustrate their application in a quantitative and comparative analysis of change in patterns of consumption. Analysing recruitment and defection, the multiplication and diversification of reading-related practices, and the presence of distinct enthusiast groups leads to the rejection of popular claims that the practice of reading is in decline and that this might be a universal process across societies characterized as having 'advanced reading cultures'. Critiques of cultural homogenization in the context of global consumer cultures are also corroborated. Also, a conceptual and methodological framework for the application of practice theories to the analysis of consumption and social change is advocated.

This article employs an interpretive approach to explore New Labour's use of social scientific theories in developing its foreign policy. After situating New Labour in the broad tradition of social democracy, it outlines the beliefs that most social democrats shared about the values of internationalism, international community and moral leadership. Taking these concepts in turn, the article then considers how New Labour modified their content in response to issues raised by 'New Times'. In so doing, it problematizes New Labour's responses by revealing that they drew on ideas taken from complex interdependence theory, communitarianism and democratic peace theory respectively. The article then examines how these theories, in conjunction with the reformulation of its foreign policy, influenced New Labour's transformation of the three values, before concluding with a brief examination of the dilemmas arising from this process.

Voluntary group migration occurs when a collectivity reaches a group‐level decision to migrate and does so as a community without external compulsion. Typical examples include collective settler movements and voluntary repatriations of refugee communities. We demonstrate the distinctive characteristics of voluntary group migration that make it hard to analyze with current migration theories, and we develop an initial theoretical framework identifying the conditions that typically produce this type of population flow. Recognizing the collective nature of the mobilization that leads to voluntary group migration, we turn to social movement theory as a source of analytical tools that, in combination with concepts offered by prior migration theories, help us build an initial theory. To illustrate our ideas, we discuss an especially revealing contemporary case: the resettlement of Crimean Tatars to their original homeland.

Tools and concepts of optimization are widespread in decision‐making, design, and planning. There is a moral imperative to "do our best." Optimization underlies theories in physics and biology, and economic theories often presume that economic agents are optimizers. We argue that in decisions under uncertainty, what should be optimized is robustness rather than performance. We discuss the equity premium puzzle from financial economics, and explain that the puzzle can be resolved by using the strategy of satisficing rather than optimizing. We discuss design of critical technological infrastructure, showing that satisficing of performance requirements—rather than optimizing them—is a preferable design concept. We explore the need for disaster recovery capability and its methodological dilemma. The disparate domains—economics and engineering—illuminate different aspects of the challenge of uncertainty and of the significance of robust‐satisficing.

A growing number of public administration theorists are taking up the question of ontology—the nature of existence. This primer on the topic provides a basic explanation of ontology, describes the fundamental debates in the competing ontologies of Western philosophy, and discusses why ontology is important to social and political theory, as well as to public administration theory and practice. Using an ideal‐type approach, the author analyzes how different ontologies imply particular political forms that undergird public administration theories and practices. This ideal‐type model can be used to identify the ontological assumptions in these theories and practices. The article concludes with an invitation for personal reflection on the part of scholars and practitioners in regard to which ontology best fits their experience and beliefs and the alternatives that we might pursue for a better future.

Main issues in the scientific work of Giovanni Jervis (1933-2009), psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and psychologist, are outlined. Although he was one of the leading members of the movement for abolishing the psychiatric institutions in Italy from the '50s to the '70s, he distinguished himself for his critical and rigorously scientific approach to the problem. His research was characterized by an historical view of the development of psychological processes and psychopathological phenomena, and according to him psychology and psychiatry theories (and especially psychoanalysis) should always be considered as historically-determined attempts to understand the human mind. In the last period of his scientific activity, Jervis was particularly engaged in a critical analysis of postmodern and relativistic theories of science, and strenuously attacked at second-hand ways of dealing with scientific, social and political questions. Key words: Antipsychiatry – Postmodernism – Psychoanalysis – Psychology - Relativism

Education in Asia Pacific countries is being transformed by globalisation and the market economy. Most economies within the region have flourished due to increased regional capital flow, trade and other forms of economic and political interaction. The Asia Pacific also has rich and unique traditions, which create cultural diversity as well as common challenges, including obstacles of language and geographical separation. Additionally, there is a growing reaction to the predominance of Western social theories that is fuelling recognition of and movement towards theories that reference the wide range of contextual and cultural perspectives available in the East.Contributors offer Eastern-oriented perspectives on teacher education, parent participation, government withdrawal, textbook content, uses of modern technology, the challenges of migrating families and tertiary students who travel from overseas for study. Their commentaries highlight issues of equity, identity and social justice.

This article lays out a capabilities and justice-based approach to the development of adaptation policy. While many theories of climate justice remain focused on ideal theories for global mitigation, the argument here is for a turn to just adaptation, using a capabilities framework to encompass vulnerability, social recognition, and public participation in policy responses. This article argues for a broadly defined capabilities approach to climate justice, combining a recognition of the vulnerability of basic needs with a process for public involvement. Such an approach can be used to engage stakeholders with varied perceptions of what is at risk, and to develop priorities for adaptation policy. It addresses both individual and community-level vulnerabilities, and acknowledges that the conditions of justice depend on a functioning, even if shifting, environment.

Summary
This article addresses the issue of how strategic publics should be defined in public diplomacy. The article first reviews widely accepted theories of stakeholders and publics in business and public relations that help to explain the role and value of publics to organizations and provide alternatives for the conceptualization of strategic publics. It applies these concepts to public diplomacy in an effort to demonstrate their potential usefulness in identifying and prioritizing strategic publics at home and abroad. The article then suggests that although stakeholder theory and situational theory are useful tools for conceptualizing strategic publics in public diplomacy, these theories must be expanded to capture fully the complex nature of the contemporary diplomatic environment. An expanded framework that is based on networks of influence is suggested as an alternative for defining public diplomacy publics in a networked world.

This article explores the intersection of culturally responsive pedagogy and faith-based schooling. The author presents a portion of a larger ethnographic research project conducted at a Catholic elementary school that serves a predominantly Latino population in urban Chicago. This work contributes to theories of culturally responsive education by pointing to tensions that emerge when teachers in faith-based schools seek to foster sociopolitical consciousness, an important tenet of culturally responsive pedagogy. The author proposes the extension of theories of culturally responsive pedagogy to include a form of sociopolitical consciousness that is informed by the religious institutions of the teachers, the students, and the school. By preparing teachers to foster a qualified form of sociopolitical consciousness, school leaders may facilitate the efforts of America's 325,000 faith-based school teachers to adopt culturally responsive teaching practices in religious school contexts.

A useful way of understanding the way in which the various bureaucratic collectivist theories developed and contrasted over time is to look at the relationship of such theories to the wider framework of analysis of the USSR put forward by Trotsky. The 1937/8 debate on the class nature of the Soviet Union within the Socialist Workers Party is an interesting example of this, although the idea of bureaucratic collectivism is not itself raised. Joe Carter became one of the most influential figures within the Workers Party/Independent Socialist League. However, in 1937 he had not rejected Trotsky's framework of understanding the Soviet Union. My purpose here is to demonstrate this, and also to show how operating within Trotsky's framework ensured that his 1937 ideas were quite different from his 1940 ones. Adapted from the source document.

"Empirical publicness" explains organizations on the basis of their mix of political and economic authority, whereas "normative publicness" seeks to identify, prescribe or infuse public values. The scholarly traditions developed by these two types of publicness have tended not to overlap and for very good reason-blending empirical and normative theory and purpose is a problem of longstanding, one presenting practical and epistemological challenges. We seek to integrate these two different publicness theories with the goal of shedding light on public organization theory but also to provide a heuristic framework useful for strategic management of organizations. We illustrate the approach and its assumptions in the context of the domain of technology-based economic development policies. We consider the prospects and potential for integrating normative and empirical theories of organization. Adapted from the source document.

An increase in the use of private military and security contractors over the last two decades has sparked a debate over whether their employment enhances or detracts from government control of its security agents. Although there is a rich literature on civilian control of military agents, there is still disagreement on the operationalization of control, and there has been little attempt to apply these theories to private actors. This article contributes to both discussions by offering a synthesis of theories of control and comparing features specific to public versus private agents that may affect control. The author offers the hypothesis that the principles of democratic governance are likely to be more secure when policy is carried out by public agents. [Reprinted by permission; copyright Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society/Sage Publications Inc.]