Brigitte Beauzamy
The Sex Which is not One
Abstract
Do so-called anti-globalization movements ignore gender issues? It would be erroneous to conclude - in accordance with mainstream feminist theory that considers all social movements alone with reference to 'male hegemony' - that alter-globalization movements are so inscribed into the patriarchal system as to silence feminist voices. In fact, the gender problematic is not absent from the debates of the Social Forums and all principal organizations take up gender onto their agenda. The opening of the alter-globalization discourse to the gender perspective occurs out of necessity and is not the result of a process of paying lip-service to a relevant topic. We will therefore reconstruct the normative mechanism whereby gender is set on the agenda and study concretely how the relevant actors experience and effect this appropriation. In doing this they encounter other activists with a long mobilization record, both feminists and post-feminists. This encounter may give rise to processes of alliance or processes of conflict. Gender thus constitutes a challenge for alter-globalization politics and indeed often a highly contested issue.
Claire Lévy-Vroelant
Urban Renewal in France
Abstract
The aim of this article is to deliver a sociological analysis on what is going on in the so called 'sensitive neighbourhoods'. From at least the last three decades, different policies have tried to improve 'social cohesion' which is considered not to be produced 'naturally' anymore. As the policies are mainly targeting territorial actions on the housing market structures, we will begin trying to delineate the French housing 'crisis'. In the second part, we will summarize the urban development policies implemented over time. In the third part we will give an analysis about the stakes social housing sector has to face. Finally, we will discuss how social difficulties can be solved with spatial actions - or not - through resident satisfaction levels. One of the main conclusion is that stakeholders should invest more in dealing with the people already living in the neighbourhoods. Moreover, an excessive faith in the virtues of social mix and local intervention could lead to an aggravation of social exclusion.
Thomas Franke
Neighbourhood Management for Integrative District Development
Abstract
In Germany there is broad consensus that efficient implementation of programme objectives requires cooperative political and administrative structures as the basis for realizing measures, activities and mobilization and revitalization processes deemed necessary by the neighbourhood. Therefore neighbourhood management is regarded as a critical tool for handling the tasks and reaching the targets associated with integrative district development. However, this tool is interpreted and utilized in a different manner. This is reflected not only in the labels (district, area or neighbourhood management), but more emphatically in the various organizational forms employed, ranging from individual officials equipped with specific authority to complex structures involving different levels of municipal control and operation. This article presents the neighbourhood management concept developed and implemented in the framework of the 'Socially Integrative City'.
Franz Höllinger; Max Haller and Adriana Valle-Höllinger
Christian Religion, Society and the State in the modern World
Abstract
This paper is an attempt to explain why religious beliefs and practice have strongly declined in some parts of the world, in particular in Europe, while in other parts religion continues to play a central role in the public sphere and in private life. It is argued that the following factors determine the patterns of religiosity in contemporary Christian societies: substantive differences between religious doctrines and denominations with respect to theological teachings but also the use of rituals and symbols; the level of welfare state services; and the historical connections between church and state. These theses are empirically investigated in two ways: first, through a quantitative, multilevel analysis of the effects of individual and context variables on individual religiosity in 28 Christian countries around the world; and, second, through short case studies of four countries - Norway, Ireland, the United States and Chile - each exemplary of a specific type of state-church relations over time.
John Bynner and Heather Joshi
Building the Evidence Base from Longitudinal Data
Abstract
Survey data from cross-sectional snapshots give an incomplete picture of the social fabric. Without longitudinal information, planners, practitioners, social scientists and policy makers would be in the dark about dynamics, durations and pathways of human development. Longitudinal data collected in birth cohort studies give a better guide to long-term processes and outcomes and are more informative about the causal relations that are the drivers of disadvantage or success. The content and structure of Britain's Birth Cohort Studies are described to illustrate the challenges of creating and studying longitudinal evidence. Examples of findings and policies based on these prospective longitudinal studies are given, along with a discussion of the practical decisions that have to be confronted in undertaking them.
