Suchergebnisse

This paper examines public transport use through the lens of practice to understand the perspectives of two categories of public transport users: Younger and older people. In taking this approach, we assume that the forms of mobility in a society are dependent on citizens&rsquo ; everyday practices and on the structures of the cities, landscapes, etc. Transport needs and accessibility may vary depending on contexts (i.e., where and how we live) and on the various resources of groups of citizens. Results indicated that younger people are repeatedly referred to public transport to meet their mobility needs, while older people are more often car-dependent. Local variations, among both younger and older people, indicate higher confidence in public transport in big and medium-sized cities and a greater desire for car ownership in small cities. For the transition to sustainable mobility, e.g., public transport, transport associations and local governments should be responsive to the practice of everyday life among citizens: e.g., younger people&rsquo ; s leisure activities in afternoons and weekends, and older people&rsquo ; s wish for accessible transport service outside the dominant flow of passengers and their daily commuting practice. The data come from Sweden, specifically from focus groups with teenagers aged 14&ndash ; 16 years and retired people aged 63&ndash ; 97 years.

In both popular media and in mainstream academic scholarship, the Jackson-Vanik amendment—which linked Soviet-American trade relations to the question of Soviet Jewish emigration—is portrayed as a largely successful effort to facilitate Jewish emigration. This article sheds light on a revisionist perspective, focusing on the debates over the amendment's effectiveness that took place between the amendment's passage in Congress and the USSR's final years. The research shows that the decline in emigration during the mid-1970s and the early 1980s led many Americans—including politicians, journalists, and Jewish leaders—to question the effectiveness of Jackson-Vanik's hardline approach. In the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, some called for the suspending the amendment or for granting the USSR a one-year waiver from Jackson-Vanik as a gesture of goodwill, but moderate voices were drowned out by Jewish activists who valued principle over pragmatism. Particular attention is paid to an alleged "missed opportunity" in 1979, a year when Soviet leaders boosted emigration and attempted to reach out to compromise with American Jewish leaders. Overall, this article argues that a more nuanced portrayed of the amendment's legacy is required in light of the source material that it presents.