Justification and legitimacy in global civil society

As some thinkers have sought in the concept of global civil society an ethically driven site of deliberation and even resistance, so others have criticized global civil society for its lack of legitimacy and representativeness. This article attempts to answer these criticisms – at least in part – by invoking a moral commitment to the value of justification. I argue that the idea of justification, when examined, offers us a particular understanding of legitimacy which would be attainable for global civil society actors. The article begins by setting out the case for concern about the legitimacy of global civil society. I then outline a certain understanding of justification, showing how a commitment to this conception provides both a response to critics of global civil society and an ethical baseline for humane actors within global civil society. I move on to trace the significance of the moral relevance of justification for actors' strategies. Lastly, however, I highlight the difficulty of justification in a diverse world. This is to say that the issues of legitimacy and strategy facing global civil society are only made more tractable, not dissolved, by an appeal to the importance of justification.     

Beyond the International Relations framework: an essay in descriptive global ethics

Discussions of global ethics—about the types of ethical claim made on individuals and groups, not only states, by individuals and groups around the world—have had to move beyond the categories inherited in the International Relations discipline. Many important positions are not captured by a framework developed for discussion of inter-state relations. The blindspots seem to reflect an outmoded expectation that (i) giving low normative weight to national boundaries correlates strongly with (ii) giving more normative weight to people beyond one's national boundaries, and vice versa; in other words that these two dimensions in practice reduce to one. The paper develops an enriched categorisation. We need to recognise the separate importance of the two dimensions, and thus distinguish various types of ‘cosmopolitan’ position, including many varieties of libertarian position which give neither national boundaries nor pan-human obligations much (if any) importance.     

The Nature of Generalized Anxiety in Older Primary Care Patients: Preliminary Findings

Clinical features of older primary care patients with GAD (PC-GAD; n = 22) were examined relative to older patients with GAD recruited for two academic clinical trials (M. A. Stanley, J. G. Beck, et al., 2003; J. L. Wetherell, M. Gatz, & M. G, Craske, 2003) and to a sample of older primary care patients without psychiatric diagnoses (No Dx; n = 10). Comparisons revealed similar levels of worry, anxiety, depressive symptoms, quality of life, and functional status between the PC-GAD subsample and patients recruited for academic trials, although primary care patients were older, less well educated, and more ethnically diverse. The PC-GAD subgroup, however, reported greater symptom severity, reduced quality of life, and poorer perceived general health, mental health, and vitality than the No Dx subgroup (² = .23–.43). Service utilization was not different between PC-GAD and No Dx subgroups, with the exception of psychotropic medication use. The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) and an abbreviated version of this measure may be useful for identifying late-life GAD in primary care. Cutoff scores of 50 and 22 on the full and abbreviated versions of the PSWQ, respectively, demonstrated excellent specificity, sensitivity, and positive predictive value. Negative predictive value was less impressive, probably as a result of high base rates for GAD in this sample.     

Reinventing the University to Teach Both Mind and Heart (Part I)

The objectives of this special two-part issue are summarized, and the articles within the issue are shown to contribute to the theme. The university must serve adults of all ages who are developing within a global society. Interpersonal interactions are important processes for development. The university might respond to current criticisms of it as an institution, in part, by teaching and studying interpersonal and emotional skills in combination with intellectual skills that are already emphasized. A better balance such as this would make the university, its research, and its students more viable in the next century.     

Reinventing the University to Teach Both Mind and Heart (Part II)

The articles in this issue continue the theme of university reform begun in Part I, published in this journal in July. The university might well respond to current criticisms by teaching and studying interpersonal and emotional skills in combination with intellectual skills, which are already emphasized. Such a change would assist the adult development of university students and prepare the university and its students for the global society of the next century. The concept of the university as providing nourishment for life is described. This second part of the Special Issue includes both empirical studies and responses to all the articles in both this part and Part I.     

老年人特殊生活事件的应对意向与情境性应对

该研究旨在对老年人合法权益受侵此类特殊生活事件的应对意向（ＣＩ）和情境性应对（ＳＣ）进行比较分析,多元因素分析结果鉴别出应对意向的五种方式及其三种基本类型,以及六种情境性应对方式和四种应对类型。研究也发现今老年人采用不同方式的ＣＩ和ＳＣ的旨弱程度存在的异同点。同时,多元回归分析结果表明,年龄、文化程度、经济状况和法规了解程度是影响ＣＩ和ＳＣ的显著因素,此外健康状况和性别也分别对ＣＩ和ＳＣ产生影响。     

MULTICOMPONENT INTERVENTION FOR AGITATED BEHAVIOR IN A PERSON WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

We evaluated a multicomponent intervention for agitated behavior in a man with probable Alzheimer's disease. Hypotheses about variables controlling his agitated behavior guided intervention design. Based on staff interviews, direct observations, and brief experimental probes, intervention components were chosen to increase rate of reinforcement and decrease aversive aspects of his job. Intervention reduced agitated behavior without disrupting his work rate.     

‘A philosophy of change’: Emotions,civil society and global development

Dominant paradigms of global development have historically been devoid of emotions, connected with racialized and gendered ideas of rationality and civility. Within contemporary scholarship there is however increasing recognition of the importance of emotions for understanding development processes. This paper adds to this body of work by exploring the ways that emotions shape how people who are trying to ‘do’ development actually do it. Drawing on empirical material from conversations with civil society activists based on the Caribbean islands of Grenada and Barbados, this article explores some of the emotions that are present within civil society organizing and makes the case that in this context emotions are not just felt, they are generative of civil society organizing and wider development processes. Focusing on shame, the article demonstrates how emotions are produced relationally within civil society organizing, how emotions are generative and can co-construct spaces for civil society and how civic organizing can act as counter-expressions to these feelings. Emotions are then constitutive of global development, yet often neglected in dominant discourses of civil society within the development sphere, with professional subjectivities dominant.     

老年人的元刻板印象及其对社会互动的影响

本研究考察了老年人的元刻板印象及其对老年人社会互动的影响。预研究以35名老年人为被试,通过访谈和开放式问卷,获得老年人积极与消极元刻板印象形容词。正式研究以140名老年人为被试,通过问卷调查,首先确定老年人元刻板印象的内容与结构;然后分析发现,当老年人作为社会互动的接受方时：（1）积极元刻板印象正向预测其接受外群体帮助的意愿（包括自主定向帮助和依赖定向帮助）,并且接受帮助可引发积极受助体验;（2）消极元刻板印象只正向预测老年人接受外群体自主定向帮助的意愿,且持消极元刻板印象的老年人受助体验消极。当老年人作为社会互动的发出方时;（3）积极元刻板印象正向预测老年人社会参与的频率和他们对外群体的施助意愿;（4）消极元刻板印象对施助意愿和社会参与的预测作用均不显著。综上,老年人的积极元刻板印象能促进他们的社会互动,并使他们获得良好的互动体验。     

Social Networks as a Factor in Volunteering Among Elderly Japanese with Lower Socioeconomic Status

We investigated the effect of social networks on volunteering, which is known to be beneficial for people and society, among elderly Japanese of lower socioeconomic status. Western studies have demonstrated that social networks boost volunteering among wealthy people because of the norm that they should help the less fortunate. However, wealthy East Asians do not share this norm. Therefore, socioeconomic variables and volunteering tend not to be significantly related in Japan. We hypothesized that social networks would be more important to volunteering among the Japanese elderly, especially among people of a lower socioeconomic status. A total of 768 respondents (319 men, 432 women, 17 sex unspecified; M_age = 73.99 years, SD = 7.40 years) completed the survey. The results indicated that social networks were positively related to volunteering only among people with lower financial status. This result suggests that social networks can increase opportunities and help less advantaged elderly people to reap the benefits of volunteering.