Suchergebnisse

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AbstractNegotiations within the Former Soviet Union (FSU) are caught between the contrary directions of new independence and old interdependence, or disintegrationist vs. integrationist tendencies. They are necessary to distribute past assets and value, maintain relations and value, and build new value and institutions. Structurally, relations among the 12 states are asymmetrical around a still-dominant Russia. The negotiations follow one of three patterns: dominative, disintegrative, or integrative. However, disintegrative tendencies and structural suspicions tend to result in loose, weak and unenforced agreements, when indeed agreement is possible.

Examines how traditional gender roles are reflected by the participation of women in the US military, arguing that military stucture is fundamentally patriarchal & hostile to women. The Gulf War is drawn on to illustrate how the idea of women warriors reinforces a patriarchal structure, system, & ideology; eg, female soldiers are placed in a position of direct subservience to a male officer. Radical & liberal feminist perspectives are discussed in this context. Rather than securing equal rights for women, military participation leads to a loss of control over a woman's resources; there is no empowerment in a military career as the liberal feminists claim. It is concluded that the false notion of an egalitarian military must be challenged. M. Nichols-Wagner

Media bias in the representation of the welfare system & welfare users is examined, its depiction of the welfare reform debate is found to be superficial: it largely portrays a conservative Right viewpoint that decries the fiscal crises created by the program, a demonization of the constituency benefiting from the program, & a softening of attacks while holding steadfast to extreme reform proposals. This three-point strategy is carried out by using switchpoint cases -- single extreme incidents that depict fraud or abuse. The media disadvantages welfare activists & recipients in several ways: (1) use of standards of evidence different than those for politicians & other public officials; (2) favoring of institutionalized sources over others; (3) not giving welfare activists the opportunity to reply to charges; (4) portraying public officials & academics as neutral; (5) allowing public officials to set the frame of media coverage; & (6) failing to use knowledgeable welfare mothers as sources, relegating them to the role of human interest. D. Generoli

SOME HAVE ARGUED THAT THE POST-COLD WAR PERIOD HAS BEEN MUCH MORE UNSTABLE OR VIOLENT THAN WHAT CAME BEFORE. CERTAINLY THE NUMBER OF WARS HAS INCREASED IN THE 1980S AND 1990S, ESPECIALLY IN EUROPE AND AFRICA. MORE IMPORTANT, HOWEVER, THE NATURE OF WARS HAS CHANGED. OVERALL CASUALTIES AND DIRECT PARTICIPATION IN WARS TEND TO BE LOWER BUT THE RATIO OF CIVILIAN TO MILITARY CASUALTIES HAS RISEN QUITE DRAMATICALLY. WARS TEND TO BE LONGER, MORE PERVASIVE AND LESS DECISIVE.

Offers proposals for democratizing access & empowering women in the global mass communications media. Arguing that the present marginalization of women in global media is a violation of their human rights, greater participation of women is recommended as a means of increasing the role of women's perspectives in the media. A host of measures suggest how the UN can facilitate greater access to global media for women; eg, UN agencies concerned with women's issues should make freedom of information & women's communication rights a top priority. Other proposals call for the decentralization of media monopolies & the elimination of gender discrimination. By combining state & private initiatives, it is hoped that a global organization can be created to give women an equal voice in global media. S. Barrera

Despite an enormity of environmental problems, the Philippine print & broadcast media have not focused on environmental issues for several reasons: (1) ownership of media establishments by commercially driven interests & consequent valuation of environmental issues as nonnewsworthy; (2) cutthroat media competition & emphasis on sensational news; (3) excessive emphasis on late-breaking vs well-researched investigative reports; & (4) failure of ecological activists to develop effective strategies of information distribution. The need for environmental groups to take their news to the media, rather than wait for the media to come to them, is discussed. D. Generoli

THE KERNER COMMISSION OBSERVED THAT THE WORLD THAT THE MASS MEDIA OFFERS TO THEIR BLACK AUDIENCE IS ALMOST TOTALLY WHITE IN BOTH APPEARANCE AND ATTITUDE. CHANGING THE DEMOGRAHPICS OF THE NEWSROOM TO RESPOND TO THESE SUSPICIONS WILL FAIL UNLESS IT IS ALSO ACCOMPANIED BY GENUINE INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY. THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT THE PRESS STRUCTURED THE COVERAGE OF THE SIMPSON VERDICT IN WAYS THAT HIGHLIGHTS THE POLARIZATION BETWEEN MINORITIES AND THE DOMINANT POPULATION. THIS MIRRORS THE WAY THE MEDIA ALSO COVERS THE THIRD WORLD. THE PRESS TYPICALLY STRESSES CONFLICT AND CRISIS, WITHOUT PROVIDING CONTEXT.

Provides a comparative recounting of the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps during WWII & the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima (Japan) in 1945, concluding that these were the most consequential events of the century. The striking efforts put toward solving technical problems involved in the furnaces & atomic warhead, described as instrumental rationality, described as instrumental rationality, are marked as some of the most significant & disastrous advancements of the millennium. 3 Photographs. S. Barrera

Examines the social, political, & ethnic factors surrounding wartime rape. Feminist scholarship on rape in Bosnian & Latin American wars is reviewed to illustrate the diversity of issues accompanying wartime rape & the diversity of feminist perspectives that address it. It is argued that rape serves as a symbol of ethnic dominance, a form of initiation for military recruits, & a means of isolating military men from the community. It is concluded that wartime rape must be understood as a practice of both ethnic & gender oppression. 6 References. M. Nichols-Wagner

IN THE PAST DECADE, CONSTITUTIONAL ARGUMENTS FOUNDED IN IDEALIZED INDIVIDUALISM HAVE BEEN USED BY MEDIA INDUSTRIES AS MUCH AS BY INDIVIDUALS. THIS ARTICLE EXPLORES TRENDS TOWARD REDUCING THE REGULATION OF BROADCASTING. ONLY THE MASS MEDIA EFFECTIVELY REACH ACROSS THE POPULATION AND THE CORPORATIONS CONTROLLING THOSE MEDIA HAVE BEEN INCREASINGLY RESTRICTING THE PARAMETERS OF PUBLIC DEBATE. CURRENT LEGAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGES ARE PUSHING THE SITUATION FROM BAD TO WORSE.