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Choices with impact: Retrospection and reflection on the ethical dimension of a practice-oriented research project using the Most Significant Change Technique
In this publication, we reflect on our use of the Most Significant Change Technique (Davies & Dart, 2005) in a research project on the ethical impact of a training program for social professionals. This method had never before been used in the field of empirical ethics. We describe how we applied the method and account for some alterations we made to bring it in line with the goal of our research. We also illustrate how the analysis of stories, written by participants, as well as the analysis of discussions about these stories with relevant stakeholders (service users, colleagues and managers), led to a stimulating process during which new insights emerged. Reflecting on the results, we conclude that the MSC technique, slightly changed, could be very useful when doing research on the ethical impact of training programs. The narrative component in particular is valuable, in combination with the fact that all relevant stakeholders can contribute in an equivalent way.

This essay takes its point of departure in images of the victims of the 2023 Turkish-Syrian earthquake. It examines their rhetoric, comparing them to those of Alan Kurdi, the Syrian toddler who washed ashore on a Turkish beach in 2015, and contrasting with the narrative techniques employed by two contemporary novels. It combines cultural critique with an inquiry into the role of art as an agent of change to imagine new ways of doing citizenship and promoting social change in times of crisis, in line with Rosemarie Buikema's mission to develop new and multilayered scenarios for change and transnational justice.

Social mechanisms that have generated the social construction of threatening immigrants in Europe are described, focusing on the situation in Flanders, Belgium, using Pierre Bourdieu's (eg, 1985 [see abstract 86Q6505]) semiotic-praxiological theory of the construction of social space & the genesis of social groups as a theoretical framework. Similarities between historical & socioeconomic conditions in the 1930s & 1980s are related to the repeated emergence of the theme of the "migrant problem" in political discourse; at the end of the 1930s, it referred exclusively to the Jews who had migrated from Eastern Europe & Germany, whereas in the 1980s, it was used for Muslim (Turkish & Moroccan) guest workers hired in the 1970s. It is argued that, in both cases, the discourse of the threatening immigrant attempts to redraw the social space by targeting the economic, & hence, the cultural & social, capital of the target groups. Socioeconomic change is used to legitimize anti-Judaism/-Islamism, resulting in a (cultural) racism that fuels ethnonationalism. 35 References. Adapted from the source document.

A debate consisting of a main article on the paradigm of information and communication technologies for development, the so-called ICT4D-paradigm, stating that access to ICT can promote development, leading to a decrease in global socio-economic inequality. The author underlines the parallel with former modernisation paradigms, and the fact that basic market and power structures are ignored. In the first of two responding articles the authors point out possibilities in ICT interaction and participation, thus enabling developing countries to respond actively, not merely passive. Furthermore they plead for further investment in researching the positive impact ICT can have on social change and development. In the second article examples are outlined in which ICT empowered existing development processes with the inclusion of two requirements: participation of interested people, and capacity building locally. O. van Zijl

Changes in computer science, information gathering, and the possibilities of the internet continue to vastly influence the way social sciences and humanities are dealing with data collection and analysis. The next KWALON Conference on Qualitative Data Analysis Software aims to organize the reflection on the implications of the recent innovations and trends. Developers and users of software have been invited to reflect on the developments of the past years, and to take them as a starting point for a discussion of the requirements for the future versions of QDA tools. We aim for a fruitful debate between developers and users. Apart from practitioners, trainers, and other end users, participants will include representatives from (in alphabetical order): ATLAS.ti, Cassandre, Dedoose, Feldpartitur, F4 analyse, MAXQDA, NVivo, DiscoverText, QDA Miner and Quirkos.

This study deals with the rise and decline of the system of unelected representative bodies that accompanied post-war democracy in the Netherlands. After World War II, the number of these unelected representative bodies grew spectacularly, but from the seventies onwards, it started to decrease. How can we account for this remarkable political change? In traditional historiography, this change is associated with the pillarisation of Dutch society, the institutionalisation of corporatist arrangements, the emergence of new social movements or the deep-rooted practice of consensus building. As these accounts turn out to be problematic, this study focuses on the democratic character of unelected representative bodies. Chapter 1 introduces a framework for analysing the democratic character of these bodies, based on the criteria of a democratic political order as identified by R.A. Dahl. The framework encompasses the constitution of the domains represented by unelected bodies; the recruitment of their members; the tasks they fulfilled; and their internal decision-making process. Chapter 2 presents the cases used to analyse how the democratic character of the system of unelected representative bodies developed. These cases are the Sociaal-Economische Raad (1950), the Landbouwschap (1954 - 1995), the Nationale Raad voor Maatschappelijk Werk (1946 - 1989) and the Raad voor de Kunst (1955 - 1995). Chapter 3 shows that the represented domains were either constituted from above by the state or from below by interest groups. The involvement of interest groups led to the exclusion of rivals and, later on, to petrifaction, with the composition of unelected bodies remaining the same despite fundamental social changes. Chapter 4 highlights a similar pattern as the members delegated by interest groups managed to exclude a large number of newcomers. This resulted in a fierce critique of the involvement of interest groups in member recruitment and led to a new generation of unelected councils composed of independent experts. Chapter ...

On 13 June 1999, elections for the regional Parliaments, the federal Parliament (both House of Representatives & Senate), & the European Parliament were held in Belgium. The % of voters casting a preferential vote at these elections was the highest ever in Belgian history. On average, 60.9% of the electorate expressed their preference for one or more candidates. Although voters have the possibility to cast a multiple preferential vote (ie, a vote for several candidates figuring on the same party list), this possibility is not used very much: a voter who cast a preferential vote only voted on average for 1.73 candidates. The further increase in preferential votes was a little surprising since strong limitations were imposed on campaign expenditures & on commercial support. Political & social factors, eg, individualism, antiparty feelings, & mediatization, seem to have had a stronger impact on preferential voting than these material limitations. The use of the preferential vote varies from one constituency to another, from Flemings to Walloons, & from one party to another. There were some notable changes: the gap between the voters of the extreme-Right Vlaams Blok & the green parties Agalev & Ecolo, who traditionally cast less preferential votes, & voters of other parties, has diminished. Another important change is the decrease of preferential voting in some constituencies in Wallonia. As for the Senate & the European Parliament, more Flemings than Walloons now cast a preferential vote. The large constituencies used for these elections seem to attract very well-known politicians & as a consequence also many preferential votes in Flanders. Despite the increase in preferential voting, the order of the list composed by the party remained in most cases decisive whether or not a candidate was elected. 20 Tables, 1 Figure. Adapted from the source document.

After the sharp conflicts between the government & the medical unions in 1964, concerning health insurance reform involving an `agreement system' for medical fees & repayments by the health insurance funds--a form of bargaining economy has developed in Belgian health care, with sick funds & medical unions as the major parties. This 'Pax Medica' appears to be threatened by a series of financially motivated government measures aimed at reducing the medical associations' professional autonomy & dominance. The historical context, the parties involved, & the development of this conflict are discussed. A striking analogy with the 1964 conflict is pointed out, particularly regarding union strategy. The present state of affairs does not suggest a threat to the 'Pax Medica,' but rather a stabilization of the established power relationship between government, sick funds, & medical unions, which will respect the rules of democratic compromise. Such a conflictual situation helps in making various aspects of the overall situation more perceptible. The scene is dominated by two groups of organizations: medical unions & the sick funds. They function on the background of _a market economy that is accepted by both. Hence, fundamental social changes in the area of medicine are unlikely. Modified HA.

A report of a policy evaluation of the personnel situation in Belgium's amalgamated municipalities, investigating the degree to which amalgamation has achieved its objectives & which instruments have contributed to that achievement. It appears that the number of personnel in local administration grew more than in regional ones, particularly in public welfare agencies. This growth is probably due more to social evolution than to the amalgamation operation. The fact that large municipalities have relatively more personnel than small ones is not due to increase of the population. The diachronic study of the % of total expenditures for personnel shows that they have decreased, which could indicate a scale effect. However, there is insufficient information to ascribe this change to amalgamation. It is concluded that amalgamation as a policy measure has not brought many changes in policy implementation, which is explained by the lack of a strategy for change. It does not suffice merely to pass a law to bring about fundamental change. 11 Tables, 1 Figure, 1 Appendix. Modified HA.

Whoever tries to break a lance for the more intensive use of markets and market mechanisms in the context of Mi-Assessment Agency and climate policy can usually non-economic social scientists rely on a strong reception. Neoliberalism (term) markets, risk accumulation, virtual money, new inequality, bonuses, uncontrollable shadow effects and more similar woes ultimately arises in the market as the core of capitalist societies, runs simply summarized the reasoning. Who is an effective international climate policy stands for, believes in strong regulation by national and supranational authorities in (climate) taxes, government funding for research and innovation. Government is, market, despite all the talk in the literature on changes in control forms of 'government' to 'governance'. Adapted from the source document.

Dutch socioeconomic concertation has experienced some transformative changes in its modus operandi in recent years, which has given the 'Polder Model' a new lease on life for the time being. Building on an older tradition of sharing political space with civil society organizations, the recent liberal-social democratic government coalition, with Mark Rutte at the helm (2012-2017), has been able to enact a surprisingly successful structural reform agenda in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Governing in times of significant economic, social and political uncertainty, it is no mean feat that the Rutte II administration – de facto a minority government – is the first Dutch coalition to complete its term since the administration under Wim Kok (1994-1998). After the foundational Social Accord (the so-called Mondriaan Akkoord) in April 2013, a series of reform agreements were reached in the policy areas of education, housing, healthcare, industrial and energy policy. For each of these more meso-level accords, a variety of civil society organizations participated that were beyond the traditional social partners of business and labor. Over time these seemingly ad hoc, open and non-hierarchical agreements materialized in a trajectory of cumulatively transformative policy change. The political tactic of the Rutte II government stands out in comparison with the halcyon Dutch miracle era of the Polder Model in the 1980s and 1990. We explain the new modes of Dutch socioeconomic policy concertation and its political tactic as a kind of rallying around existing institutional arrangements to bring the contested political and social center together behind a major adjustment strategy, including retrenchment, compensatory social meas­ures and investments, when reform output and outcomes are fundamentally uncertain. Whether the new Polder Model will prove robust remains an open question. Recently, new multiple party covenants were negotiated in the textile and banking industry. Meanwhile a number of issues concerning regional labor market regulation and work-life balance reconciliation have yet to be resolved.