An “old fight”: A case study of enduring struggle in early childhood education

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 224-241
Author(s):  
Mark Nagasawa

This is a case study of political struggles over early care and education in the USA using a combination of archival, interview, and observational data from a study conducted in the US state of Arizona. This case analysis illustrates how a combination of the episodic nature of public attention paid to early care and education in the USA, internal tensions within US early care and education between its educational and caring purposes, and competition over scarce resources has worked to undermine the development of universal early care and education in the USA. The study is framed by Dorothy Holland and Jean Lave’s ideas of enduring struggles and locally contested practice, and uses an analytic strategy informed by Bakhtinian theory to illustrate how understanding the cultural logics involved in locally contested practice can be of use to the practice of policy advocacy, specifically engaging adversaries with what Bakhtin called an “excess of seeing” - understanding beneath the surface. While focused on one state in one national context, this analysis may have transnational relevance by raising comparative questions about early care and education policies and policy practice in other localities.

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Leasure

Purpose – Asset recovery proceedings increasingly target corrupt foreign officials who acquire lavish assets as a result of capital gained through criminal acts. One extremely difficult issue arising in asset recovery proceedings is whether the capital used to acquire the assets can be traced to a criminal act. The purpose of this paper is to critique US tracing procedure through comparative analysis. Design/methodology/approach – A prominent series of cases brought by the USA and France against assets owned by Teodoro “Teodorín” Nguema Obiang, second Vice President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, produced mixed results on the tracing element. This paper utilizes a qualitative comparative case analysis to examine the US and French cases. Findings – The US results reflect serious weaknesses in the US law as compared to more effective French asset recovery procedure. Originality/value – Though this paper is certainly a comparative case study analysis, nearly identical facts and two different jurisdictions reaching separate conclusions bring us in the legal community as close as we can realistically come to quasi-experimental research. Comparative research in this area is severely lacking and sorely needed. The mechanisms identified in the French system clearly show flaws that are present in the US system.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 434-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn A. Walter ◽  
Linda F. Edelman ◽  
Keneth J. Hatten

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate how dynamic capabilities enabled survival in a select group of brewers, during one of the lengthiest and most severe industry consolidations in history. In doing so, we advance Abell’s (1978) theory of strategic windows through integration with the resource-based view of the firm. Design/methodology/approach – Using a mixed method approach, we first apply case study methods to develop hypotheses around the timing and level of operational capability required for survival. In the second phase, we test these hypothesized estimations on the USA Brewing population. Findings – Indicate that brewers which had advanced distribution and manufacturing operational capabilities before the strategic window of opportunity closed had higher survival rates. Practical implications – This study reinforces the importance of making timely strategic investments in capabilities. Originality/value – The integration of strategic window and capability theories advances our understanding of the roles that capabilities and time play in determining firm survival.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. e203321
Author(s):  
Sara E. Benjamin-Neelon ◽  
Elyse R. Grossman

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Barthélémy Michalon

Subject area Diplomatic and consular policies; legal aspects of international relations and Asia regional scenario. Study level/applicability Undergraduate. Case overview In April 2012, high-level officials from China and the USA were about to meet in Beijing in the framework of the bilateral Strategic and Economic Dialogue, organized on a yearly basis. The event was always delicate, due to the ambiguous relationship existing between the two countries, which were at the same time rivals and dependent on one another. That time, the tension previous to the meeting increased significantly: a Chinese human rights activist had just sought and obtained diplomatic protection in the US Embassy in Beijing, thus creating an embarrassing situation for both States' foreign departments […] How could they possibly solve this contentious issue without affecting their already sensitive relationship? Expected learning outcomes Analytical: to be aware of the political nature of the current Chinese Government; to realize the concrete and practical implications of an Embassy's special status; to balance two contradictory objectives, in a specific situation where none of them can be fully discarded; to contrast and try to combine long-term goals (in this case, to maintain a functioning relationship between two main world powers) with short-term objectives (in this case, how to deal with a Chinese activist that required protection against his own country's security forces); to find a modus vivendi (conciliation) between values and interests; to get convinced that certain kinds of negotiations cannot be conceived through a “win or lose” approach: in this case, the only way out must be respectful of the two parties' core interests; and to take into account that image preservation (“face-saving”) must be included within any country's objectives in any situation involving diplomatic means. Conceptual: the purpose is to familiarize the students with specific concepts, such as: best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA), which is to be mentioned as part of the discussion (it is not included in the case study itself); interdependence; (purported) Group of Two; asylum and refuge; Immunity; and sending state/receiving state. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Campbell

In recent years, digital vigilantism, often dubbed ‘paedophile hunting’, has grabbed media headlines in the US, UK and Europe. Though this novel style of policing carries no legal or moral authority, it is nonetheless ‘taking hold’ within a pluralised policing landscape where its effectiveness at apprehending child sex offenders is capturing public attention. While the emergence of digital vigilantism raises normative questions of where the boundaries of citizen involvement in policing affairs might be drawn, this paper is concerned with firstly, how this kind of citizen-led policing initiative comes into being; secondly, how it emerges as an identifiable policing form; and thirdly, how it acquires leverage and makes its presence felt within a mixed economy of (authorised) policing actors, sites and technologies. The paper sets out a detailed case study of a ‘paedophile hunter’ in action, read through a provocative documentary film, first broadcast on mainstream UK television in October 2014. This lays the groundwork for thinking through the cultural relations of digital vigilantism, and how this proliferating mode of policing practice is engendered and mobilised through affective connectivities, performative political imaginaries and culturally-mediated dialogical praxis. In seeking an entry point for theorising emergent policing forms and their connectedness to other policing bodies, spaces and things, the paper concludes with a thumbnail sketch of assemblage thinking.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 1265-1270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Fogarty

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to set out to examine and critique the current state and future trajectory of interdisciplinary accounting research in the USA. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on the author's involvement in and research into accounting research and publication contexts, drivers and patterns in the accounting discipline. Findings – In all likelihood, research will continue established traditions that prevent the explorations of economics and finance from material broadening. This paper identifies how that which everyone believes to be such a good idea cannot bear fruit. Research limitations/implications – Conventional economics-based accounting research has proliferated in volume but has largely exhausted its potential for significant contributions to knowledge. Failure to embrace broadened interdisciplinary perspectives risks a crisis of accounting research contribution to policy, practice, and society. Originality/value – This critique reveals the serious weaknesses and serious risks to international accounting scholarship of the continuance and global mimicking of the North American pursuit of an exclusively economic accounting research perspective.


Gesnerus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-121
Author(s):  
Nicholas Stücklin

This article analyzes the moral and scientific construction of the vole as a dangerous, yet intriguing rodent. Using a case study of An Economic Study of Field Mice (Genus Microtus) by David E. Lantz as example, this contribution discusses the role that agriculture comes to play in knowing the behavior of animals in natural history, and in turning wildlife into a matter of national government in the USA around 1900. In this setting, the Microtus is given the shape of a “small […] pest […that] inflicts enormous injury upon the crops of the country”. However, by granting field mice an important role in the agricultural development of the US Midwest, Lantz also qualifies the rodent as a capable agent deserving of scientific attention and political consideration. Thus, an animal otherwise perceived as repulsive and insignificant is transformed into an intricate being well worth dedicated study.


Author(s):  
Ayman Massouti

This qualitative single case study aimed to examine the logics of one teacher education program towards preparing pre-service teachers for inclusive teaching from the perspectives of the program’s coordinators. In particular, the study aimed to understand the practices of these coordinators and how these practices are influenced by inclusive education and teacher education policies. This examination would reveal how education policies are enacted in this particular case. New-Institutionalism (NI) theory (DiMaggio & Powell, 1991) constituted the theoretical framework that guided the methodology as well as the analysis of the findings. The study revealed that the coordinators’ understanding and practices around the existing inclusion and teacher education policies emerge from their own experiences in this particular program, intermingled with their beliefs about how inclusion should be enacted in teacher education and schools. Key findings included coordinators developing inclusive mindsets among pre-service teachers, negotiating their logics towards inclusion through modeling inclusive teaching practices in the university classroom, and engaging them in critical discussions around inclusion policy practice in schools, and coordinators calling for a curriculum policy change. Recommendations for future teacher education programming in response to the evolving inclusive education are offered.


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