AbstractIn the 15‐year period since the Syrian military entry into Lebanon on June 1, 1976, allegedly to put an end to the civil war that broke out there a year earlier, Syria firmly solidified its control of the country, as evidenced by the signing of the "Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination between Syria and Lebanon," on May 22, 1991, which granted Syria a special status. Yet, 14 years later, on April 24, 2005, the Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon. This article seeks to explain this relatively rapid decline in Syria's standing in Lebanon by examining the strategies of the two Syrian rulers who indirectly controlled this country during those years. It examines what was right in Hafiz al‐Asad's strategy in Lebanon, and what did not work in Bashar's policy.In 2000, the year of Hafiz al‐Asad's death, Syria's status in Lebanon seemed unshakable: 1) Lebanon's president (Emile Lahoud) acted as Damascus's puppet; 2) Hezbollah, the Shi'a militia Hezbollah largely accepted Syria's authority while it simultaneously tightened its control over southern Lebanon and also began gaining popularity in the rest of the country; and 3) finally the politics of the noble families, which had characterized Lebanon since its establishment, began to gradually give way to a politics where a political figure is measured by the level of his connections to the country's power base in Damascus. Yet, merely five years later, Syria was under immense pressure to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. This suggests that we must look at the difference between the strategies of Hafiz al‐Asad and his son Bashar for controlling Lebanon to better understand the rapid deterioration in Syria's standing in the country.We argue that the difference in the degree of anti‐Syrian pressures from Lebanon's society and political elements between the two tenures is largely rooted in the different strategies that the two Syrian presidents adopted for informally ruling Lebanon. We identify three main areas where Bashar al‐Asad made mistakes due to his failure to continue his father's methods. First, Bashar put all his cards on Hezbollah, thus antagonizing all the other groups which resented that Shi'a dominance. Second, in stark contrast to his father, Bashar distanced himself from the regular management of Lebanon's ethnic politics. Hafiz al‐Asad made sure that all the leaders of the different ethnic groups would visit Damascus and update him on their inter‐ethnic conflicts, and then he would be the one who would either arbitrate between them or, for expediency reasons, exacerbate these feuds. Once the ethnic leaders had to manage without Damascus, they learned to get along, making him far less indispensable for the running of the country. Finally, Bashar, unlike his father, did not make a real effort to gain international and regional legitimacy (or at least de‐facto acceptance) for Syria's continued control over Lebanon. Most conspicuously, while Hafiz participated in the First Gulf War against Iraq, his son supported Sunni rebels who fought against the United States‐led coalition forces there. This foreign acquiescence was significant since the Lebanese felt they had a backing when they demanded Syria's withdrawal in 2005.These different strategic approaches of the two rulers meant that the father's policies wisely laid the ground for some of the most controversial measures which were needed as part of any attempt to monopolize control over another country, such as Lebanon (assassinating popular but too independent‐minded Lebanese presidents/prime ministers or extending tenures of loyalist ones), whereas the son's policies myopically failed to do so properly. Indeed, the article will show that while both the father and the son took these same controversial measures, the responses of the Lebanese were completely different.Admittedly, some historical developments increased the Lebanese propensity to rise up against Syria, and these meant that Bashar did in fact face a harder task than his father in maintaining Syria's informal occupation. The Israeli withdrawal from its so‐called "security zone" in south Lebanon meant that one justification for the Syrian presence was gone. More importantly, the risk of renewed eruption of the civil war (which in turn had meant for many years a greater willingness by the locals to tolerate the Syrian presence which prevented the war's resumption) declined significantly due to a variety of processes that could not have been halted even with better "management" of the interethnic strife from Damascus (i.e., making sure that the ethnic groups remained in deep conflict with each other). Nevertheless, as we will show, Bashar's mistakes played a crucial role in bringing the rival ethnic groups together by making Damascus their joint enemy.
This guide accompanies the following article: Doreen Anderson‐Facile and Shyanne Ledford, 'Basic Challenges to Prisoner Reentry', Sociology Compass 3/2 (2009): 183–195, 10.1111/j.1751‐9020.2009.00198.xAuthor's IntroductionCrime, incarceration and prisoner reintegration are pressing issues facing the United States today. As the prison population grows at record rates so, in turn, does the reentry of prisoners into society. The transition from prison to the outside world is often difficult for post‐release prisoners, their families, their communities and the larger society. Many formally incarcerated individuals do not have the skills or support to succeed outside prison walls. Unfortunately, when post‐release prisoners are not successfully reintegrated, they are often returned to prison and begin the cycle of incarceration.The following is a course designed around the basic challenges prisoners face upon reentry. The literature suggests that success depends in part on support and overcoming several barriers, such as homelessness and under/unemployment. This course begins with an examination of reentry barriers facing post‐release prisoners followed by an exploration of the relationship between prisoner reentry, race, gender, family, and employment and concludes with an assessment of ongoing research and public policy.Author RecommendsAnderson‐Facile, Doreen. (2009). 'Basic Challenges to Prisoner Reentry'. Sociology Compass, 3(2): 183–95.Anderson‐Facile's review of current research on prisoner reentry yields interesting results. Her article examines prisoner reentry as it relates to the barriers preventing successful reintegration. Anderson‐Facile begins with a look at incarceration and recidivism statistics leading readers through the barriers preventing reentry success. Barriers such as housing, family and community support, employment, and the stigma of a prison record make successful reentry difficult. Anderson‐Facile concludes with a look at current reentry programs. Anderson‐Facile highlights literature suggesting post‐release success begins with rehabilitation and ends with community support. The author notes that many successful programs are faith or character‐based. These programs focus on the individual and assist in substance abuse issues, vocational training, and transitional living arrangements. Finally, Anderson‐Facile notes that programs that work in one community may not show success in other communities, therefore concluding that matching programs with communities is a critical component for assuring post‐release success.Dhami, Mandeep K., David R. Mandel, George Loewesnstein, and Peter Ayton. (2006). 'Prisoners' Positive Illusions of Their Post‐Release Success'. Law and Human Behavior30: 631–47.Dhami et al. examine prisoners' forecasts of reentry success as this may have implications for how prisoners respond to imprisonment, release, and parole decisions. The authors examine sentenced US and UK prisoners' predictions for personal recidivism. The authors also asked UK prisoners how successful they will be compared to the average prisoner. Overall, both samples yielded overly optimistic, unrealistic beliefs about personal reentry success when compared to official data. The UK participants demonstrated a self‐enhancement bias by expressing that they would fair far better than the average prisoner. The authors conclude their article by discussing the implications of their findings and suggest future research possibilities.Holzer, Harry J., Steven Raphael, and Michael A. Stoll. (2002). 'Can Employers Play a More Positive Role in Prisoner Reentry? Urban Institute's Reentry Roundtable'.The authors report that in the early 21st century over 600 000 prisoners were released each year from prison and three million or more ex‐prisoners were in the general population. Holzer et al. indicate that one of the greatest hurdles for a newly released prisoner is finding employment because, as applicants, they are faced with an aversion on the employers part to hiring ex‐offenders. Holzer et al. explore the extent and nature of this aversion. Holzer et al. maintain that interventions by other agencies can help mediate employer aversions to hiring post‐release prisoners.La Vigne, Nancy G., Diana Brazzell, and Kevonne M. Small. (2007). 'Evaluation of Florida's Faith‐ and Character‐Based Institutions'. The Urban Institute.La Vigne et al. produced a summary of the findings from a 'process and impact' evaluation of two of Florida's faith and character‐based programs, also known as FCBIs. The authors' note that FCBIs are founded on principles of self‐betterment and faith development and are often ran by volunteers. The authors gathered data in the following ways: one on one interviews, semi structured interviews with staff members at all levels, focus groups with inmates, administrative data/official documents, and telephone and email communications with state corrections personnel. The authors noted that at six months, male FCBI housed participants were more successful than post‐released prisoners housed in Federal Department of Corrections (FDOC) facilities.La Vigne, Nancy G., Rebecca L. Naser, Lisa E. Brooks, and Jennifer L. Castro. (2005). 'Examining the Effect of Incarceration and In‐Prison Family Contact on Prisoners' Family Relationships'. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice21(4): 314–35.In this article, La Vigne, Naser, Brooks and Castro look at the role of the family in recidivism rates. Specifically, they examine the role of in‐prison contact with family members on released prisoner success. This article first defines family and then looks at the quality of familial bonds at imprisonment and during incarceration. Next, they examine the inter‐personal bonds in relationships, i.e., parent–child vs. husband‐wife of these post‐released prisoners. The authors' findings were inconsistent. For example, in some situations in‐prison contact was detrimental on family relationships and ties, wherein other cases the same contact served to strengthen the family and create a tighter network of family support for the newly released prisoner. These findings suggest further research is necessary.Pager, D. (2003). 'The Mark of a Criminal Record'. The American Journal of Sociology108(5): 937–75.Pager examined the relationship between prior incarceration and race on employment on two teams of subjects. One team consisted of two 23‐year‐old, white men and the other team was two 23‐year‐old, African‐American men. The two teams were nearly identical in personality, appearance, skills and employment history. The variables were race and criminal record. The findings suggest that race and employment history are important factors on post‐released employment. Thirty‐four percent of white applicants without criminal backgrounds received a call back while only 14 percent of black applicants without criminal backgrounds got called back. Seventeen percent of white applicants with criminal records received call backs while only 5 percent of black applicants with criminal records received call backs. These findings indicate that race and not prison record is a greater determinant of employment.Parsons, Mickey L. and Carmen Warner‐Robbins. (2002). 'Factors That Support Women's Successful Transition to the Community Following Jail/ Prison'. Health Care for Women International23: 6–18.Parson and Warner‐Robbins simply state the purpose of their article is to describe the factors that support the successful reentry of post‐release women into the community. The authors look at a specific program called Welcome Home Ministries (WHM), a community‐based program. The authors examine the demographics of the population, the rising incarceration rates, issues that lead to incarceration, and support for post‐release mothers. Through qualitative interviews with women who were participating in WHM programs upon release many themes emerged. The authors argue that these themes lead to implications about what future programs need to support women who are transitioning from prisoner to general public.Seiter, Richard P. and Karen R. Kadela. (2003) 'Prisoner Reentry: What Works, What Does Not, and What is Promising'. Crime and Delinquency49(3): 360–88.Seiter and Kadela examine the nature of the reentry issue and explore which reentry programs show success in reducing recidivism. The authors note a swing from modified sentencing to determinate sentencing which increases length of incarceration as an additional factor in successful reentry. Seiter and Kadela define reentry, categorize programs for prisoner reentry, and use the Maryland Scale of Scientific Method to determine program effectiveness. The authors find that programs that emphasized vocational training and employment development yield the most success.Travis, Jeremy and Joan Petersilia. (2001). 'Reentry Reconsidered: A New Look at an Old Question'. Crime and Delinquency47(3): 291–313.Travis and Petersilia drive prison reform by providing research‐based implications for revamping the current system of prisoner management. While prisoners have always been arrested and released, the authors point out that the numbers of both are increasing. They believe this is a call to action. Travis and Petersilia look at changing sentencing policies, changes in parole supervision, and how the removal and return of prisoners influence communities. The authors highlight the astronomical increase of prisoners at a time when sentencing policies are changing and are often inconsistent. They examine parole, the demographics of transitioning inmates, and the links between reentry and five social policies. The findings provide guidance for development of reentry policies.Wacquant, Loic. (2002). 'Deadly Symbiosis: Rethinking Race and Imprisonment in Twenty‐ First‐Century America'. Boston Review27(2): 22–31.Waquant begins his article with three abrupt facts about racial inequality and imprisonment in the United States all of which point to a 'blackening' of the nations prisons. The author points out that the high percentage of black people incarcerated in the United States is a direct result of four institutions; slavery, the Jim Crow System, the organizational structure of urban ghettos and the growing prison system. One of the main findings, according to Waquant, is that when laws and social reform restricted segregation (technically ended), the prisons picked up where society left off. Essentially he argues that, as evidenced by the ghettos and increasing numbers of African‐Americans behind bars, the prison serves to reaffirm racial inequality.Online MaterialsDepartment of Justice http://www.usdoj.gov/Urban Institute http://www.urban.org/California Departmen of Corrections and Rehabilitation http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Bureau of Justice Statistics http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjsLloyd Sealy Library at John Jay College http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/Pew Center http://www.pewresearch.org/Sample Syllabus Week 1: Introduction to Prisoner Reentry Anderson‐Facile, Doreen. (2009). 'Basic Challenges to Prisoner Reentry'. Sociology Compass 3/2: 183–95.Visher, Christy A. and Jeremy Travis. (2003). 'Transitions from Prison to Community: Understanding Individual Pathways'. Annual Review of Sociology29: 89–113. Week 2: Introduction to Prisoner Reentry Continued Travis, Jeremy and Joan Petersilia. (2001). 'Reentry Reconsidered: A New Look at an Old Question.'Crime and Delinquency 47/3: 291–313.The Urban Institute. 'Beyond the Prison Gates: The State of Parole in America. A First Tuesday Forum.'http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=900567, November 5, 2002. Week 3: Incarceration, Reentry, and Race Pettit, Becky, and Bruce Western. (2004). 'Mass Imprisonment and the Life Course: Race and Class Inequality in US Incarceration.'American Sociological Review69: 151–169.Wacquant, Loic. (2002). 'Deadly Symbiosis: Rethinking race and Imprisonment in twenty‐first‐century America'. Boston Review 27/2 (April/May): 22–31.Marbley, Aretha Faye and Ralph Ferguson. (2005). 'Responding to Prisoner Reentry, Recidivism, and Incarceration of Inmates of Color: A Call to the Communities'. Journal of Black Studies 35/5(May): 633–49. Week 4: Incarceration, Reentry, and Gender O'Brien, Patricia. (2007). 'Maximizing Success for Drug‐Affected Women after Release from Prison: Examining Access to and Use of Social Services During Reentry'. Women & Criminal Justice 17/2&3: 95–113.Severance, Theresa A. (2004). 'Concerns and Coping Strategies of Women Inmates Concerning Release: 'It's Going to Take Somebody in My Corner"'. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 38/4: 73–97.Parsons, Mickey L. and Carmen Warner‐Robbins. (2002). 'Factors that Support Women's Successful Transition to the Community Following Jail/ Prison.'Health Care for Women International23: 6–18. Week 5: Incarceration, Reentry, and Family/ Home La Vigne, Nancy G., Rebecca L. Naser, Lisa E. Brooks, and Jennifer L. Castro. (2005). 'Examining the Effect of Incarceration and In‐Prison Family Contact on Prisoners' Family Relationships'. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 21/4 (November): 314–35.Pearson, Jessica and Lanae Davis. (2003). 'Serving Fathers Who Leave Prison'. Family Court Review 41/3(July): 307–20.Roman, Caterina Gouvis and Jeremy Travis. (2004). 'Taking Stock: Housing, Homelessness, and Prisoner Reentry,'The Urban Institute.http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411096, March 8, 2004. Week 6: Incarceration, Reentry, and Employment Pager, Devah. (2003). 'The Mark of a Criminal Record,'American Journal of Sociology 108/5 (March): 937–75.Solomon, Amy L., Kelly Dedel Johnson, Jeremy Travis, and Elizabeth C. McBride. (2004). 'From Prison to Work: The Employment Dimensions of Prisoner Reentry'. Urban Institute Justice Policy Center. October 2004, pp. 1–32. Week 7: Incarceration, Reentry, and Employment Continued Holzer, Harry J., Steven Raphael, and Michael A. Stoll. (2002). 'Can Employers Play a More Positive Role in Prisoner Reentry? A Roundtable Paper'. The Urban Institute, March 20–21, 2002, pp. 1–16.Harrison, Byron, and Robert Carl Schehr. (2004). 'Offenders and Post‐Release Jobs: Variables Influencing Success and Failure'. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation 39/3: 35–68. Week 8: Prisoner Reentry: What Works? MacKenzie, Doris Layton. (2000). 'Evidence‐Based Corrections: Identifying What Works'. Crime and Delinquency46: 457–71.Petersilia, Joan. (2004). 'What Works in Prisoner Reentry? Reviewing and Questioning Evidence'. Federal Probation 68/2 (September): 4–8.Seiter, Richard P. and Karen R. Kadela. (2003). 'Prisoner Reentry: What Works, What Does Not, and What is Promising,'Crime and Delinquency 49/3 (July): 360–88. Week 9: Incarceration, Reentry, Research and Public Policy Lynch, James P. (2006). 'Prisoner Reentry: Beyond Program Evaluations.'Criminology and Public Policy 5/2: 401–12.Pager, Devah. (2006). 'Evidence‐Based Policy for Successful Prisoner Reentry'. Criminology and Public Policy 5/3: 505–14.La Vigne, Nancy G. Diana Brazzell, and Kevonne M. Small. (2007). 'Evaluation of Florida's Faith‐ and Character‐Based Institutions'. The Urban Institute http://www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411561, October 1, 2007.Jacobson, Michael. (2006). 'Reversing the Punitive Turn: The Limits and Promise of Current Research'. Criminology and Public Policy 5/2: 277–84. Week 10: Incarceration, Reentry, and Outcomes Dhami, Mandeep K., David R. Mandel, George Loewenstein, and Peter Ayton. (2006). 'Prisoners Positive Illusions of Their Post‐Release Success'. Law and Human Behavior30: 631–47.Richards, Stephen C., James Austin, and Richard S. Jones. (2004). 'Kentucky's Perpetual Prisoner Machine: It's About Money'. The Review of Policy Research 21/1: 93–106.Suggested ReadingsEvans, Donald G. (2005). 'The Case for Inmate Reentry'. Corrections Today pp. 28–9.Lynch, James P. and William J. Sabol. (2001). 'Prisoner Reentry in Perspective'. Crime Policy Report3: 1–25.'One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008'. The Pew: Center on the States 2008, pp. 1–35.Petersilia, Joan. (1999). Parole and Prisoner Reentry in the United States, The University of Chicago.Petersilia, Joan (2003). When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0‐19‐516086‐x.Travis, Jeremy, Amy L. Solomon, and Michelle Waul. (2001). 'From Prison to Home: The Dimensions and Consequences of Prisoner Reentry'. The Urban Institute.Young, D. Vernetta and Rebecca Reviere (2006). Women Behind Bars. London: Lynn Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1‐58826‐371‐1.Focus Questions
Think about the kind of crimes for which people are imprisoned. What types of crimes do you think the majority of the prisoners commit? What precursors would lead to someone being arrested and eventually imprisoned for these types of crimes? What is the likelihood that these factors remain upon release? Do you think prison should be rehabilitative or punitive? Do you think prison is always the best option for criminal behavior (in other words, is the old adage 'if you do the crime you need to do the time' valid?). Why are incarceration and recidivism rates different across race and class? How do you explain the disparities in incarceration rates for people of color? What kind of programs, if any, do you feel should be incorporated into a prison sentence (i.e. job training, counseling, AA, NA, religious opportunities, etc.). Suggested Culminating Activity: Students are to design a pilot program to assist prisoners successfully reenter into the community. Students must have the following parts in their report/ presentation: Prison/Community Summary (what population and community do you want to serve), Program Summary and Justification (what is the program – how does it work and why do you think it is a valuable program), Requirements for Participation in Program, Barriers to Success, Assessment/ Measurement of Success/ Failure, and Conclusion. Students must briefly site articles from this course to support their methodologies and indicate the problems they suspect they will face as they try to determine the success or failure of their program. Budgets and money are a non‐issue. In the 'real' world budgets are always an issue but for the purpose of this assignment they are not. However, when designing your program you should consider whether your design is financially feasible.. The goal of such an assignment is for students to recognize the barriers prisoners face to successful reentry, the evidence and research that goes into creating prisoner policies, and that a program must be multi‐faceted and comprehensive in order to provide a platform for former inmate success.
This sample syllabus above is modeled after a 10 week term. It is recommended for longer terms, that the following book be utilized:Irwin, John. (2005). The Warehouse Prison. California: Roxbury Publishing Company.ISBN: 1‐931719‐35‐7.John Irwin derived his data from a prison in Solano County, California. Irwin watched as incarceration rates doubled between 1980 and 2000 despite crime levels staying relatively stable. Irwin notes that most of the prisoners in his study were incarcerated for 'unserious' crimes and were often treated in unethical ways. Irwin begins by examining incarceration rates, the demographics of the prison population, problems prisoners faced while incarcerated, post‐release difficulties and hurdles, and the societal costs of the prison super‐structure. Irwin offers a thorough examination of why prisoners are incarcerated, what they face while inside prison walls, what challenges they face once released, and the financial implications of imprisoning people.
Author's introductionWhile sociologists have paid a great deal of attention to how political elites matter for the emergence and development of social movements, they have focused less explicitly on how political elites matter for the culture of social movements. Considering the amount of attention paid to culture in the field of social movements, this issue is an important one to address. This essay reviews work that directly and indirectly addresses this relationship, showing how political elites matter for various aspects of movement culture, like collective identity and framing. It also reviews literature that suggests how movement culture comes to impact political elites. The essay concludes by drawing from very recent scholarship to argue that to best understand political elites and the culture of social movements, we need to think about culture and structure as intertwined and to understand how relations matters in the construction of meaning.Author recommendsArmstrong, Elizabeth, and Mary Bernstein 2008. 'Culture, Power and Institutions: A Multi‐Institutional Politics Approach to Social Movements.'Sociological Theory 26(1): 74–99.This is a very recently published article that advances a fairly complex understanding of the relationship between culture, power, and institutions. The authors conceptualize social movements as phenomena that emerge in a society where power is distributed, enacted, and challenged across multiple institutional contexts. While they review a range of empirical cases to illustrate their concerns about the power of the political process model, they largely focus on gay and lesbian activism to illustrate the application of their 'multi‐institutional politics approach'.Davenport, Christian 2005. 'Understanding Covert Repressive Action: The Case of the U.S. Government against the Republic of New Africa.'Journal of Conflict Resolution. 49(1):120–40.Davenport's article is a good place to think about how cultural aspects of social movements impact repression. He examines how covert intelligence‐gathering activities were directed against the Republic of New Africa, a Black Nationalist organization, in Detroit, Michigan and finds that the racial identity of the challengers was a significant factor in determining who was targeted. Importantly, he shows how the identity of groups, along with their strategy and goals, affect the way they are perceived and treated by political elites.Johnston, Hank and Bert Klandermans 1995. Social Movements and Culture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.This volume remains one of the best edited collections of readings on the relationship of social movements and culture. Top scholars in the field of social movements review the conceptualization of culture in movement studies, cultural processes in movements, and methods for studying culture and collective action.Laraňa Enrique, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield, eds. 1994. New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.This is an important edited volume in which leading scholars in the field present both case study of movements (for example, of the women's movement and student movements) and theoretical and conceptual assessments of the role of culture and identity in movements.McCammon Holly J., Karen E. Campbell, Ellen M. Granberg, and Christine Mowery. 2007. 'Movement Framing and Discursive Opportunity Structures: The Political Successes of the U.S. Women's Jury Movements.'American Sociological Review 72: 725–49.McCammon and her co‐authors examine factors that explain activists' state‐level success in winning women the legal right to serve on juries. One of their key findings is that activists' use of particular frames was more successful when those frames resonated with the current state of legal discourse. In other words, to win, activists must advance claims that resonate with discourse established by political elites.Meyer David S., Nancy Whittier, and Belinda Robnett, eds. 2002. Social Movements: Identity, Culture and the State. New York: Oxford University Press.This is another excellent edited volume that offers essays by leading scholars on the relationship between identity, culture, and the state. Meyer's introduction is particularly useful for the topic at hand, as he points out the ways that state action and polities often create the basis for a challenging group's collective identity.Polletta, Francesca. 1998. 'Legacies and Liabilities of an Insurgent Past.'Social Science History 22(4): 479–512.In this article, Polletta examines the different ways in which members of the United States Congress commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr., and finds that they most often emphasize King's legacy of community service and institutional politics over disruptive insurgency. For black legislators, however, the story is more complicated, as they must also carefully caution that King's legacy has not been fully realized. Polletta shows that how the culture of movements gets integrated into the discourse of elites is shaped by how elites are situated in a network of relationships—with other elites, with their own social groups, and with challengers.Online materials Social Movements and Culture http://www.wsu.edu/~amerstu/smc/smcframe.html Sponsored by the American Studies program at Washington State University, this site provides great links to bibliographies, movement websites, and other resources. Speech Prepared for March on Washington, 1963 http://www.crmvet.org/info/mowjl.htm Read the text of Congressman John Lewis' speech at the March on Washington, referred to at the beginning of the article. Sociology Eye http://sociologycompass.wordpress.com/ This website, associated with Sociology Compass, is a great site for thinking about how a range of contemporary issues are sociologically important. Check it out to look for posts related to social movements, culture, and political elites. Though a post may not directly seem to address the issue, oftentimes you can think about the ways in which a discussed subject implicitly tells you something about how the three things relate.Sample syllabusBelow I provide suggestions for topics and readings that might be assigned in a range of courses, including: a general social movements course, a course focused on social movement culture, or a sociology of culture course with a unit on social movements.Topic: Culture and Social MovementsMcAdam, Doug 1994. 'Culture and Social Movements.' Pp. 36–57 in New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity, edited by Enrique Laraňa, Hank Johnston, and Joseph R. Gusfield. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.Swidler, Ann. 1995. 'Cultural Power and Social Movements.' Pp. 25–40 in Social Movements and Culture, edited by Hank Johnston and Bert Klandermans. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Snow, David A., E. Burke Rochford, Jr., Steven K. Worden, and Robert D. Benford 1986. 'Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation.'American Sociological Review 51: 464–81.Williams, Rhys H. 2004. 'The Cultural Contexts of Collective Action: Constraints, Opportunities, and the Symbolic Life of Social Movements.' Pp. 91–115 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.Topic: Political Elites and Social MovementsGamson, William 1988. 'Political Discourse and Collective Action.' Pp. 219–144 in International Social Movement Research, vol. 1, edited by Bert Klandermans, Hanspeter Kreisi, and Sidney Tarrow. Greenwich, CT: JAI.Kriesi, Hanspeter 2004. 'Political Context and Opportunity.' Pp. 67–90 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.McCarthy, John D. and Mayer N. Zald 1977. 'Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory.'American Journal of Sociology 82:1212–1241.Meyer, David S. 2002. 'Opportunities and Identities: Bridge‐Building in the Study of Social Movements.' Pp. 3–21 in Social Movements: Identity, Culture and the State, edited by David S. Meyer, Nancy Whittier, and Belinda Robnett. New York: Oxford University Press.Rucht, Dieter 2005. 'Movement Allies, Adversaries, and Third Parties.' Pp. 197–261 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.Topic: Political Elites and the Culture of Social MovementsArmstrong, Elizabeth, and Mary Bernstein 2008. 'Culture, Power and Institutions: A Multi‐Institutional Politics Approach to Social Movements.'Sociological Theory 26(1): 74–99.Fantasia, Rick and Eric L. Hirsch 1995. 'Culture in Rebellion: The Appropriation and Transformation of the Veil in the Algerian Revolution.' Pp. 144‐ 159 in Social Movements and Culture, edited by Hank Johnston and Bert Klandermans. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.Irons, Jenny 2009. 'Political Elites and the Culture of Social Movements.'Sociology Compass 3/3: 459–74.McCammon, Holly J., Karen E. Campbell, Ellen M. Granberg, and Christine Mowery 2007. 'Movement Framing and Discursive Opportunity Structures: The Political Successes of the U.S. Women's Jury Movements.'American Sociological Review 72: 725–49.Polletta, Francesca 1998. 'Legacies and Liabilities of an Insurgent Past.'Social Science History 22(4): 479–512.Skrentny, John 2006. 'Policy‐Elite Perceptions and Social Movement Success: Understanding Variations in Group Inclusion in Affirmative Action.'American Journal of Sociology 111(6):1762–1815.Topic: Movement Culture, Political Elites, and RepressionBoudreau, Vincent 2002. 'State Repression and Democracy Protest in Three Southeast Asian Countries.' Pp. 28–46 in Social Movements: Identity, Culture and the State, edited by David S. Meyer, Nancy Whittier, and Belinda Robnett. New York: Oxford University Press.Cunningham, David 2004. There's Something Happening Here: The New Left, The Klan, and FBI Counterintelligence. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Cunningham, David and Barb Browing 2004. 'The Emergence of Worthy Targets: Official Frames and Deviance Narratives Within the FBI.'Sociological Forum 19(3):347–369.Davenport, Christian 2005. 'Understanding Covert Repressive Action: The Case of the U.S. Government against the Republic of New Africa.'Journal of Conflict Resolution 49 (1):120–140.Noonan, Rita K. 1995. 'Women Against the State: Political Opportunities and Collective Action Frames in Chile's Transition to Democracy.'Sociological Forum 10: 81–111.Focus questions
In what ways do political elites matter for the development of a social movement's culture—in terms of the development of movement frames, discourse, and collective identity? (You might focus on a particular movement to address this question) How do those same aspects of a movement's culture impact political elites? Can you think of examples in which we can see elites reflecting meaning produced by social movements? What do you think are the most effective ways that social movements can impact political elites on a cultural level? What factors shape the relationship between movement cultures and political elites? What do you think are the best ways to conceptualize "political elites" and "social movement culture"?
Background Good hand hygiene adherence is a key factor in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections. The guidelines offered by the World Health Organization for interventions to improve hand hygiene adherence in human health care can only in part be applied to veterinary medicine, and current observations of hygiene adherence in veterinary environments stress a need for decisive action. There is great potential for improvement, especially in situations in which people act habitually. Focus of the Article The focus of this article is to identify the barriers and benefits that influence hand hygiene habits in veterinary care facilities and to derive intervention strategies to promote hand hygiene habits informed by theory and formative research. Research Question This article examines two research questions. What contextual, social, and personal factors promote (benefits) and hinder (barriers) hand hygiene habits in veterinary care facilities? Which intervention strategies can be derived from the identified barriers and benefits to foster hand hygiene habits? Approach The identification of the target behavior and group was based on the literature, talks within the author team, and daily observations. Barriers and benefits were identified by means of qualitative focus groups. The focus group interview schedule was informed by the risks, attitudes, norms, abilities, and self-regulation (RANAS) approach. The intervention strategy was based on the elicited barriers and benefits and guided by the framework of habit formation. Importance to the Social Marketing Field For the first time, barriers and benefits regarding hand hygiene habits were systematically elicited in a small animal clinic in Switzerland. The article focuses on hand hygiene as a habit and offers evidence-based and behavior-oriented intervention strategies. Our findings can thus be used as a basis for developing a theoretically sound intervention to promote hand hygiene habits in veterinary clinics and practices and serve as a springboard for future social marketing research, especially with a focus on habit formation. Methods Primary data were gathered using eight structured in-depth focus group interviews ( N = 32 participants) in a small animal clinic in Switzerland. Two focus groups each were conducted with the following professional groups: veterinary assistants, students, residents and interns, and senior clinicians. Results The overarching theme across the participants' talk was that building habits is promising but challenging to implement. In examining the key barriers and benefits, five themes were discussed: (1) animal welfare as a reason to act, (2) not about the why but about the how, (3) clash of generations, (4) lack of feedback mechanisms, and (5) the invisible enemy. Strategies were derived based on these findings and the theoretical framework of a habit formation intervention. Recommendations for Practice and Research The themes that emerged in the focus groups are connected to the theoretical framework of habit formation to derive possible intervention strategies. The supplemental material delves into these strategies and provides implementation steps for practitioners facing a similar challenge. Further research is needed to experimentally test the effect of the intervention strategies and to validate the results for other clinics.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to update the core data set of self-neglect safeguarding adult reviews (SARs) and accompanying thematic analysis. The initial data set was published in this journal in 2015 and has since been updated annually. The complete data set is available from the author. The second purpose is to reflect on the narratives about adult safeguarding and self-neglect by focusing on the stories that are told and untold in the reviews.
Design/methodology/approach Further published reviews are added to the core data set, drawn from the national SAR library and the websites of Safeguarding Adults Boards (SABs). Thematic analysis is updated using the domains used previously, direct work, the team around the person, organisational support and governance. SAR findings and recommendations are also critiqued using three further domains: knowledge production, explanation and aesthetics.
Findings Familiar findings emerge from the thematic analysis and reinforce the evidence-base of good practice with individuals who self-neglect and for policies and procedures with which to support those practitioners working with such cases. SAR findings emphasise the knowledge domain, namely, what is actually found, rather than the explanatory domain that seeks to answer the question "why?" Findings and recommendations appear to assume that learning can be implemented within the existing architecture of services rather than challenging taken-for-granted assumptions about the context within which adult safeguarding is situated.
Research limitations/implications A national database of reviews completed by SABs has been established (www.nationalnetwork.org.uk), but this data set remains incomplete. Drawing together the findings from the reviews nonetheless reinforces what is known about the components of effective practice, and effective policy and organisational arrangements for practice. Although individual reviews might comment on good practice alongside shortfalls, there is little analysis that seeks to explain rather than just report findings.
Practical implications Answering the question "why?" remains a significant challenge for SARs, where concerns about how agencies worked together prompted review but also where positive outcomes have been achieved. The findings confirm the relevance of the evidence-base for effective practice, but SARs are limited in their analysis of what enables and what obstructs the components of best practice. The challenge for SAR authors and for partners within SABs is to reflect on the stories that are told and those that remain untold or untellable. This is an exercise of power and of ethical and political decision-making.
Originality/value The paper extends the thematic analysis of available reviews that focus on work with adults who self-neglect, further reinforcing the evidence base for practice. The paper analyses the degree to which SARs answer the question "why?" as opposed simply to answering the question "what?" It also explores the degree to which SARs appear to accept or challenge the context for adult safeguarding. The paper suggests that SABs and SAR authors should focus explicitly on what enables and what obstructs the realisation of best practice, and on the choices they make about the stories that are told.
In March 2021, during a time of loss and longing, the theatre company, Seyyar Kumpanya, under the artistic directorship of Naz Yeni, created a digital project called 'Migrant Shakespeare'. Seyyar Kumpanya is a collective of Turkish-speaking actors who now, for various reasons, all live and work in and around London. Their project evolved into a sequential performance of ten monologues taken from different Shakespeare plays, each spoken by ten different actors who have English as a second, sometimes third, language. The directorial decision was made to transpose Shakespeare's characters to the day-to-day contexts that socially and politically transform and define the migrant experience: Caliban becomes a hotel cleaner, King Lear a construction worker, Hamlet a meat packer and Katerina Minola a barmaid, simultaneously subservient while also ironically sarcastic and physically strong. Thus, at one level, all the actors were performing their own migrant identity. In this article my primary aim is to analyse the digital text of the 'Migrant Shakespeare' project. Methodologically, I describe the ten performances and record my personal attempt to make meaning within the dialogic relationship between myself as spectator, the author and the migrant actors. Shakespeare often imagined that it is only in faraway places and in displaced realities that we discover other possibilities that exist within ourselves. His plays feature (among many instances) a penniless and homeless old man, King Lear, thrust out into the wilderness, Prospero, the displaced Duke of Milan, who is exiled to an unpopulated isolated island and Prince Hamlet, a privileged young man who is transposed to an unrecognizable world of grief and loss. The migrant is similarly decentred on a daily basis, repeatedly required to redress the balance between old and new identities while being simultaneously present in both. This article attempts to understand how the experience of contemporary migration may be explored through the similar destabilization inherent in Shakespeare's dramaturgy. Furthermore, I argue that the craft of acting mirrors the experience of the migrant. At one level, all actors are 'foreign', as their profession requires them to migrate from their individual identity to that of the character they are playing. A working actor is thus always concurrently present within two selves. Consequently, they are polysemic, that is, in performance actors signify the characters they portray, while simultaneously remaining different, functioning human beings. Generally audiences may, or may not, be directed to a meta-theatrical awareness of the actor's two identities and herein can lie much of the enjoyment and/or meaning of performance. This article concludes that, where 'Migrant Shakespeare' is concerned, the spectator is directorially guided to incorporate a personal recognition of the migrant identity or 'other' within a reading of the performance text. Audiences are confronted by a strong awareness of the polysemic body of the migrant actor embodying Shakespeare's often decentred and destabilized characters. I suggest that this process of complex signification destabilizes the text in performance creating new readings and, consequently, suggests a new decentred understanding of the concept of contemporary 'Britishness'.
The subject of this paper is the analysis of court proceedings conducted in connection with the criminal offense of violation of a grave (Article 354 CC) which were held before the courts on the territory of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The analysis covers all finalized court cases of the aforementioned courts for the period from 01.01.2010. (i.e. from the introduction of the current organization of courts in the Republic of Serbia) to 01.07.2018. The research is primarily focused on the statistical presentation and analysis of data obtained from court decisions (which the author independently obtained from courts in original, raw form), as well as the identification of relevant criminal (material and procedural) and criminological characteristics. On the basis of the totality of the results, different regularities were noticed, with regard to the spatial and temporal distribution of the court proceedings, the types of court decisions, the type and amount of criminal sanctions imposed, as well as with regard to the characteristics of the perpetrators of the criminal offense in question. As a unifying conclusion, it can be stated that the crime of violation of a grave is relatively less represented in the practice of courts in the territory of AP Vojvodina, and that its spatial and temporal distribution is uneven (due to the absence of more specific regularities considering criminal expression). The penal policy regarding the crime in question can be characterized as in principle harmonized with the one at the level of the entire state regarding the same criminal offense. On the other hand, it is noticeable that the mentioned penal policy is somewhat stricter in relation to the general penal policy of the courts in the Republic of Serbia. However, this factual situation is potentially somewhat relativized by the specific features of the analyzed court proceedings (above all, the high percentage of recidivism and the frequent presence of other aggravating circumstances), as well as by the fact that all prison sentences were imposed only in the lower third of the envisaged range of the sentence (from one month to one year, although this criminal offense is punishable by up to three years in prison). Regarding the characteristics of the prosecuted perpetrators, it is noticeable that the convicts for the crime of violation of a grave were mainly nationals, and dominated by: adults over juvenile offenders; male over female; general recidivists over special recidivists; persons without education, with primary and secondary education over (non-existent) highly educated offenders; unemployed persons and persons without permanent employment over permanent employees. Considering possible strategies for prevention, it was concluded that important criminogenic factors are the low level of education of most perpetrators and their unfavorable socio-economic status, which gives grounds for assuming that timely educational work and providing conditions for improving their material opportunities could achieve significant results in the domain of both general and special prevention, especially in relation to the identified most risky categories of potential perpetrators (recidivists, illiterate persons, persons without primary education and persons in a state of severe social vulnerability).
This article discusses the experiences of Serbian citizens who came back to their country of origin just before or at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of the state of emergency. We analysed their motives to return and their experiences during self-isolation. We also highlighted the problems they encountered at the beginning of the pandemic and the impact they had expected the pandemic would have on their social and economic status. The paper covers their plans for mobility after the end of pandemic, as well as potential motives for staying in Serbia. The aim is to show that even though a large number of citizens came back to Serbia when the crisis broke out and could not have predicted what would happen to their social and economic status in their destination countries, they still did not intend to stay in Serbia after the end of the pandemic. The whole social system in Serbia would need to be changed for them to decide to stay. Discussion of the results is based on data collected at the beginning of pandemic by researchers from the Institute of Sociological Research, one of whom was the author of this paper. Due to the health risks related to the coronavirus, we used a quantitative method: a questionnaire distributed online via the Google platform. As such, the respondents were mostly young and educated people who took part in the research because they used the internet on a daily basis and were able to fill in the survey easily. For this reason, the results presented in this article cannot be generalised to represent the whole population, but only the respondents of this research. The findings are placed within a contextual framework in which the world?s population is extremely mobile. We recognised a similarly high level of mobility among Serbian citizens, too. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected many different aspects of life, and so a large share of respondents decided to come back to their home country. This was a normal coping strategy, especially for those migrants who did not have officially recognised status in their destination country. Returnees faced many problems when they returned to their home country; they had to self-isolate and did not know what would happen with their jobs once the pandemic was over. They also didn?t know if they would receive an income or what would happen with the social system, either in their home country or in their country of emigration. Analysis of the data revealed that despite their expectations of an economic crisis following the drastic measures introduced to suppress the spread of the coronavirus, a large share of respondents believed that the crisis wouldn?t have an impact on their material and social status in their destination country. Because of that, we noted that most respondents wished to go back to their destination country after the crisis was over. However, it?s suggested that if we want them to stay in Serbia, then the state should introduce measures that include both economic and social reforms.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of participant-created comics as a research method through a project to investigate the life stories of British–Bangladeshi women.
Design/methodology/approach The author worked with a group of ten women through a series of workshops exploring their personal and community histories. Each of the women produced a digital comic that represented her story using text in any languages, photographs and drawings.
Findings The experiences of the Graphic Lives project suggest there is considerable unexplored potential for the use of comics creation as a research method when working with community groups that may be considered "hard-to-reach". A crucial difference between the comics created for the Graphic Lives project when compared to many other visual methods is that they do not seek or attempt to represent a verifiable truth. The project acknowledged and accepted the presence of fictional elements of autobiography and the difficulty in drawing boundaries between fiction and non-fiction. Indeed, this was seen as a strength of the stories as the use of imaginary elements offered participants a way to express emotional truths that they may otherwise have found difficult to convey.
Research limitations/implications Whilst interviewing participants could be one way to analyse participant-created comics in certain circumstances, this should not simply be the default. In the Graphic Lives project, it was important to accept that participants had already voiced their story in a certain way – using words and images – during the creative process. The project needed to accept and respect their voices as they had chosen to present them and not expect the participants to transform this into something that was more aligned with what the researcher might want to hear. A limitation of this method is the time and resourcing required to undertake such a programme of in-depth work, in addition to the need for close collaboration with community partners.
Practical implications The paper questions the appropriateness of research interviews when working with many "marginalised" groups. It suggests that alternative methods, such as the comics creation method described, may be a more effective way to engage "hard-to-reach" groups in research.
Social implications This research has implications for the involvement of groups who, for a variety of reasons, are often excluded from research. It outlines a method that may be more socially acceptable than more established methods such as interviewing for some groups.
Originality/value To date, exploration of the potential of comics as method of participatory knowledge construction has been limited. In addition, the use of comics to engage communities in research, especially adult groups who may be more reluctant to participate via traditional research methods, has received relatively little attention. This paper addresses these issues through a discussion of the use of comics creation as the research method adopted in a project working with a group of British–Bangladeshi women in the UK.
"Poetry is the expression of the beautiful, through words elaborately woven with each other", according to the Argentine writer Borges Jorge-Luis. Poetic process, the complicated art of creating poetry becomes perceived in different ways by every author. Thus, for others, it consists a sacramental route where the creator-poet exposes his internal world, his thoughts, his personal experiences, through verses, being in a situation of daydreaming or vision. Certainly, this clearly individual element in poetry is inevitably influenced from external factors, such as the common ideology of the times, the socio-political status and the moral perception of society. This emotive experience is especially arduous and suppressive and for the person who tastes it. However, this traumatic experience is simultaneously a curative treatment for the poet. For most poets, writhing poems reflects a situation of liberty, autonomy, promotion of ego and personal feelings, which are suppressed by the conservative look of the society whereas they, finally, find outlet through creation. French Surrealists move towards this spirit, and, generally, creators. For the beginning of this ceremony of poetic action, the boost, the stimulus, the spark that will penetrate the spirit of the poet enabling him to create poetry are necessary. And surely, the conception of many poems takes place during the evolution of a dream, where the poet's spirit is free to express as it wishes itself. A basic resource of inspiration for the majority of poets is the past, pleasant or traumatic, a stone corner of the past, however, and a guide towards the uncertain future. The concept of "Creative Writing" is placed on the same wavelength with the poetic process. In reality, it is integrated into it. All these who adopt and get involved with creative writing, are possessed with the same feelings and worries. The pleasure of creation, the new. The individual expression, the mental amalgamation with the receiver-reader are diffused. Furthermore, the person discovers new, until then, possibilities of himself. In parallel, there is an extroversion in the whole procedure. Positive experience creates the will for further continuation of this attempt. Regarding the cultivation and promotion of the trainees' abilities of creative writing, the role of the teacher is extremely important. The analyses of the texts of respected creators from the teacher function in a helpful way , as well as the perceptions related to writing of the writers themselves. What is more, this is intensified when common points of writers' assembly (Greeks and foreigners) about poetic creation are located. Teachers should present the positive elements of creative writing if they wish to reach its desired result and cultivation. After all this analysis and contact of trainees with the thoughts and way of writing of known writers, the need and desire for an attempt of trying this experience will, gradually, take place. This attempt of trial functions as a basic lever for the launch of creative writing. Besides, "writing is nothing else but a guided dream" (Borges Jorge- Luis). A "dream" that we all of us should live.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to gain a greater understanding of the development of safer walking technology for people with dementia through contemporary literature.
Design/methodology/approach – A two stage systematic approach to searching the literature was adopted. Initially this involved searching the literature to gain a broad overview of the development of safer walking technology and the context in which it has been developed. Then, this literature was examined in detail to look at published evidence surrounding the use of safer walking technology by people with dementia. These articles were quality appraised and a meta ethnographic approach taken to synthesis of the findings.
Findings – There is a small but growing body of literature within this field. Whilst there is only limited evidence to support the use of safer walking technologies for people with dementia, the evidence to date indicates great potential for its use. If provided with the right support and guidance, safer walking technology has the potential to increase freedoms and independence for people with dementia; gaining them improved access to outdoor spaces and environments to support their health and wellbeing. However, if the safer walking technology continues to be associated with only risk management it will not achieve this potential.
Research limitations/implications – The published literature within this field is small and has limited generalisability as much of it was generated in recent years has been by the same small research teams, often reusing data sets. There is also very little research that examines the experience of actually using safer walking technology and even less which explores the views of people with dementia. It is evident that a greater breadth and depth of knowledge is needed within this field to develop a clearer understanding of how this technology is used and perceived by all stakeholders concerned. In particular the literature would benefit from greater consideration of the views and experiences of people with dementia themselves.
Practical implications – For many people with dementia, health and social care professionals can play an important role in ensuring appropriate assessment and support in the decision-making process when using safer walking technology. However, greater support is needed in decision making for all people with dementia, especially those people not currently engaged with specialist services. Therefore greater awareness of the benefits and limitations of this technology is needed by all health and social care professionals as well as the general public.
Originality/value – At the time of conducting this review the author is unaware of any other systematic search of literature or overview of research on the use of safer walking technology and its use by people with dementia. Despite this safer walking technology is growing in popularity, commonly recommended by health and social care practitioners and often marketed and purchased directly by people with dementia and their families. This review offers an insight into the development of the technology and the current evidence base for its use.
In: Population and development review, Band 36, Heft 4, S. 831-839
ISSN: 1728-4457
The simple depiction of geometric population growth checked by famine and disease that achieved fame or notoriety through Malthus's First Essay of 1798 was anticipated in the work of a number of other writers. Some of these predecessors Malthus acknowledged in the preface to his much‐enlarged Second Essay of 1803: Montesquieu, Benjamin Franklin, James Steuart, Arthur Young, and Joseph Townsend. Other names could be added to such a list: Giovanni Botero perhaps most notably, in the late sixteenth century. Another name, less well known in this context, would also warrant notice: Sir Matthew Hale.Hale (1609–1676) was a prominent English jurist, chief justice under Charles II, and author of some classic legal treatises, among them A History and Analysis of the common Law of England (1713). On the side, he also wrote (as he says) "at leisure and broken times, and with great intervals, and many times hastily," a study of the peopling of the world titled The Primitive origination of Mankind, Considered and Examined According to the Light of Nature. Internal evidence dates this book's composition to the 1660s; it was published in London in 1677, the year after Hale's death, and has not been reprinted (aside from a part of it that was included, under the title "Essay on Population," as an appendix to George Chalmers's Estimate of the Comparative Strength of Great Britain (1782)). Excerpts from three chapters, discussing population growth and positive checks to it, are reprinted below, with minor modernization of spelling and punctuation.Hale's idiosyncratic aim was to demonstrate that humans had a beginning—that they had not always existed—and that the course of population growth accorded with the Bible's account of Noah's descendants. The Primitive Origination adduces a broad range of "natural and moral evidences" bearing on this topic. It vividly illustrates the still‐easy coexistence in the seventeenth century of argument based on classical or scriptural authority with one based on evidence and experience. Hale's main support is the former (most of the omitted sections of the excerpts below are lengthy recitations of classical texts), but he is clearly pleased to be able to bring statistics to buttress his case—whether from the Domesday Book on population distribution in medieval England, from back‐of‐the‐envelope calculations of net reproduction, or from Graunt's empirical findings on mortality. (On Graunt's Observations upon the Bills of Mortality (1662), noted as "lately printed," Hale remarks that it gives "a greater demonstration of the Gradual Increase of Mankind upon the face of the Earth, than a hundred notional arguments can either evince or confute.") At the same time, he is broadly credulous of the classical authors (Plato on Atlantis perhaps an exception) and appears to accept the chronology and bizarre longevities contained in the biblical narrative.Hale's book is cited approvingly by Sir William Petty in his Essay concerning the Multiplication of Mankind (1686) and may have influenced Petty's own treatment of his subject. A century later, Malthus seems not to have known of it—or perhaps, as social scientist, scorned to recognize what was primarily a work of apologetics.
Abstract: In the last century, refl ections on contract law have been almost entirely dominated by classical contract theory and laissez–faire ideology, while open considerations of effi ciency and justice have played a marginal role. The rise of European contract law has gradually led to the abandonment of traditional arguments typical of national private laws and has sparked a growing debate on effi ciency and justice. This trend does not always contribute to the quality of the debate, as it is often ideologically polarized between 'right wing' arguments pleading in favour of marketoriented polices and 'left wing' arguments in support of consumers' rights, both proposing solutions inspired by so–called common sentiment. This is mainly due to the absence of any reference to a clearly outlined theoretical framework and to the fact that the refl ections of contemporary political philosophy are largely ignored in the current debate. An examination of the various contemporary conceptions of justice is the only possible route to identifying a European social model on the basis of which to set rules for contracts as well as to provide the legal discourse on European contract law with a solid, rationally viable theoretical framework. For this reason, this paper aims at expounding the distributive options proposed by the main schools of thought in political philosophy and attempts to conciliate the demands of effi ciency and justice through the balancing of interests. In the last part of the paper, the author will apply his reasoning scheme to a specific question: the penalty clause. Résumé: Au siècle dernier, la réfl exion sur le droit des contrats en Europe a été dominée quasi exclusivement par la théorie classique du contrat et par l'idéologie du laissez–faire, alors que la réfl exion sur l'effi cacité et sur la justice contractuelle est restée en marge de l'attention. La naissance lors de la dernière décennie du droit européen des contrats a eu pour conséquence d'une part l'abandon progressif du raisonnement traditionnel propre aux droits privés nationaux et, d'autre part, l'intensifi cation du débat autour de la notion de justice. Ce changement n'a pas toujours abouti à une amélioration de la qualité du débat, souvent caractérisé par une polarisation idéologique entre une politique de droite, au service d'un droit à connotation mercantile, et une politique de gauche, soutenant les droits des consommateurs, ces deux courants politiques proposant des solutions fondées sur le «sens commun». L'auteur estime que ceci est dÛ principalement l'absence d'un cadre théorique clair. L'étude des diverses conceptions contemporaines de la justice –utilitarisme compris– proposée dans cet article est la seule voie permettant d'identifi er un modèle social européen sur la base duquel défi nir les règles régissant le contrat et pour apporter au débat juridique sur le droit contractuel européen un cadre théorique solide et contrôlable de façon rationnelle. Dans la dernière partie de l'article le système de raisonnement proposé s'applique à un cas spécifi que: la clause pénale. Zusammenfassung: Im letzten Jahrhundert wurde das Vertragsrecht in Europa fast gänzlich von der Theorie des Rechtsgeschäfts und der Ideologie des, laissez–faire" bestimmt.
