A roomful of Owls

The Athenaeum ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 213-240
Author(s):  
Michael Wheeler

This chapter explores how the Athenians' reputation for 'reserve and dignity' was sustained throughout the 1920s and 1930s, when a particular breed of highly educated and deeply serious members played leading roles in club life. Political decisions on national reconstruction were often based upon reports from advisory groups of the kind that had been needed during the war, and again many members of the club served as expert advisors in a wide range of fields. Athenians had always valued the opportunity to meet fellow members with different interests and from a wide variety of professions, and the freer spirits among them now enjoyed engaging with a generation of writers and artists who specialised in satire and caricature. Although the traditions of the club were still fiercely defended in the inter-war years, this was a period of innovation, with the ending of the ballot and the introduction of bedrooms for members, monthly Talk Dinners, and an annexe where ladies could be entertained. Change, or rather adaptation was under way, both inside and outside the Athenæum.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Avril Macfarlane

<p>There is a growing concern internationally about levels of income inequality, and the negative effect this has on the functioning of societies both in terms of productivity and social harmony. An unexpected contributor to inequality is assortative mating - the phenomenon of “like marrying like”. Educational attainment is highly correlated with income; when two highly educated people partner and form a household they are more likely to appear at the top of the household income distribution, while couples with only primary or incomplete secondary education appear at the bottom. Therefore the greater the propensity to mate assortatively the more unequal the distribution of household income becomes.   I ask two questions of the relationship between educational assortative mating and household income inequality. Firstly, how do countries (in Europe) differ in their degree of educational assortative mating? Secondly, what is the evidence that such differences are reflected in indicators of household income inequality?   My study differs from the prevailing approaches to this question by taking a geographical approach. Instead of comparing a single country over time and monitoring the correspondence between assortative mating and income inequality, I compare a wide range of countries, using a uniform instrument, at one point in time. In order to do so I draw on the unit records of 29 countries from the European Social Survey administered in 2012.   From these unit record data I have been able to identify two important patterns. Firstly, there is a clear presence of educational assortative mating in each country. However, the degree differs and it does so primarily as a reflection of the overall level of education in the country. Rising levels of education lower the returns for education, in turn making assortative mating comparatively less attractive. As a result, the level of assortative mating, compared to what would be expected under random conditions, is lower in highly educated nations. The lowered level of assortative mating in highly educated nations reduces the barriers to social mobility through marriage for those without university educations. Consequently, household income inequality is seen to be intrinsically related to assortative mating, although the outcomes can be mitigated by redistribution policies.</p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Avril Macfarlane

<p>There is a growing concern internationally about levels of income inequality, and the negative effect this has on the functioning of societies both in terms of productivity and social harmony. An unexpected contributor to inequality is assortative mating - the phenomenon of “like marrying like”. Educational attainment is highly correlated with income; when two highly educated people partner and form a household they are more likely to appear at the top of the household income distribution, while couples with only primary or incomplete secondary education appear at the bottom. Therefore the greater the propensity to mate assortatively the more unequal the distribution of household income becomes.   I ask two questions of the relationship between educational assortative mating and household income inequality. Firstly, how do countries (in Europe) differ in their degree of educational assortative mating? Secondly, what is the evidence that such differences are reflected in indicators of household income inequality?   My study differs from the prevailing approaches to this question by taking a geographical approach. Instead of comparing a single country over time and monitoring the correspondence between assortative mating and income inequality, I compare a wide range of countries, using a uniform instrument, at one point in time. In order to do so I draw on the unit records of 29 countries from the European Social Survey administered in 2012.   From these unit record data I have been able to identify two important patterns. Firstly, there is a clear presence of educational assortative mating in each country. However, the degree differs and it does so primarily as a reflection of the overall level of education in the country. Rising levels of education lower the returns for education, in turn making assortative mating comparatively less attractive. As a result, the level of assortative mating, compared to what would be expected under random conditions, is lower in highly educated nations. The lowered level of assortative mating in highly educated nations reduces the barriers to social mobility through marriage for those without university educations. Consequently, household income inequality is seen to be intrinsically related to assortative mating, although the outcomes can be mitigated by redistribution policies.</p>


JEJAK ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devanto Shasta Pratomo

Indonesia is the largest archipelago country in the world, making one of popular tourist destinations in Southeast Asia region for both international and domestic holidays. The main objective of the study is to examine a wide range characteristics, including demographic, employment, and spatial characteristics for domestic travel in Indonesia.The method used in the study is descriptive analysis using the 2015 National Socio-Economic Survey (SUSENAS), which is used to explain some specific characteristics of domestic travelers in Indonesia. Some regression analysis using binary probit is also added to examine the determinants of domestic travel demand in Indonesia, measured by the probability to travel within the country. The result shows that, in general, domestic travelers in Indonesia are dominated by people who are living in urban areas, people who are aged 25-40 years old, highly educated, working as paid employees, and mostly originate from provinces in Java island.For specific purposes, people who are living in urban areas are more likely travel for holidays. Males are more likely travel for business compared to females. People who do have a job are more likely travel for business purposes, while people who are at school ages are the market for holiday travel.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-158
Author(s):  
Leandro Oliveira ◽  
Rui Poínhos ◽  
Cláudia Afonso ◽  
Maria Daniel Vaz Almeida

Information about nutrition and health are important to empower older adults on what their food choice is concerned. The present research aims to study the perceived need and preferences regarding sources of information about healthy eating among older adults and to relate them with sociodemographic characteristics. A sample of 602 older adults (≥65 years old) living in the community (Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal) was assessed by trained nutritionists using a structured questionnaire developed within the Pronutrisenior project. Most participants (87.5%) are concerned about healthy eating, and 69.3% would like to receive more information about the subject, mainly as audiovisual material (49.8%). Women prefer to receive information through practical cooking sessions and audiovisual material. Highly educated individuals prefer leaflets with text as well as audiovisual material, while more independent individuals prefer a wide range of media, such as booklets with pictures, informational posters, and food education and practical cooking sessions. Those with an adequate social support network prefer booklets with text. Age was not related to these preferences. These results can inform stakeholders about the most effective means of transmitting information on food and nutrition to older adults and are therefore useful in tailoring community and clinical interventions.


2014 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Schindler

AbstractWith his poems, which comprise more than 40.000 hexametric verses and cover a wide range of secular topics, the Neapolitan Jesuit Nicolò Partenio Giannettasio (1648-1715) represents a very distinct form of neo-Latin didactic poetry: on the one hand, Giannettasio’s poems refer to the literary models of classical antiquity such as Vergil’s Georgics and contemporary Jesuit didactic poetry such as René Rapin’s Hortorum libri. Hence, the poet from Naples claims for himself to be the natural heir of his ›Neapolitan‹ poetic predecessors Vergil, Pontano and Sannazaro. On the other hand, Giannettasio’s poetry can be regarded as a very specific instrument used to spread Jesuit doctrine. The secular topics of his poems perfectly match the scientific interests of the Societas Iesu, and at the end of the sixteenth century, it is exactly this specific form of poetry that grants its success. As the addressees of his didactic poems are highly educated aristocrats, Giannettasio tries to emulate their literary taste and arranges the scientific material in a way that resembles the baroque Kunstkammer rather than a (plain) scientific treatise. Nevertheless, Giannettasio never loses sight of the principles of the Jesuit order. All in all, Giannettasio’s didactic poems provide a unique example for the combination of scientific material, classical models, and Jesuit doctrine and for spreading a local literary microculture by means of the worldwide Jesuit network.


2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICHOLAS A. VALENTINO ◽  
VINCENT L. HUTCHINGS ◽  
ISMAIL K. WHITE

Recent evidence suggests that elites can capitalize on preexisting linkages between issues and social groups to alter the criteria citizens use to make political decisions. In particular, studies have shown that subtle racial cues in campaign communications may activate racial attitudes, thereby altering the foundations of mass political decision making. However, the precise psychological mechanism by which such attitudes are activated has not been empirically demonstrated, and the range of implicit cues powerful enough to produce this effect is still unknown. In an experiment, we tested whether subtle racial cues embedded in political advertisements prime racial attitudes as predictors of candidate preference by making them more accessible in memory. Results show that a wide range of implicit race cues can prime racial attitudes and that cognitive accessibility mediates the effect. Furthermore, counter-stereotypic cues—especially those implying blacks are deserving of government resources—dampen racial priming, suggesting that the meaning drawn from the visual/narrative pairing in an advertisement, and not simply the presence of black images, triggers the effect.


2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (3) ◽  
pp. 552-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
TIMOTHY BESLEY ◽  
MARTA REYNAL-QUEROL

This paper uses a unique data set on over 1,400 world leaders between 1848 and 2004 to investigate differences in educational qualifications between leaders who are selected in democracies and autocracies. After including country and year fixed effects, we find that democracies are around 20% more likely to select highly educated leaders. This finding is robust to a wide range of specifications, choices of subsamples, controls, and ways of measuring education and democracy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Pinto ◽  
Paula Castro

This paper presents a case study about the drilling of offshore oil and gas in mainland Portugal, a process that ended with the cancelation of all contracts. It aimed to better understand the argumentative and value dynamics involved in how municipalities, populations, civic organizations, and others successfully contested the central government decision of prospection. Since the press was one of the main stages for this conflict, it was important to analyze how it presented the respective arguments to society. Articles on this topic were collected from the two widely read national newspapers “Correio da Manhã” and “Público” in the culmination period of this confrontation, which occurred between June 2016 and December 2018. In total, 155 articles were found, 61.3% (n = 95) from “Público” and 38.7% (n = 60) from “Correio da Manhã.” The quantitative analysis focused on the number of news per month and the frequency of themes, as well as the frequency of actors and arguments used against and in favor of exploitation on the news. Thematic analysis was used to qualitatively assess the articulation of arguments in the two opposing views. Results show that, in both newspapers, the majority of articles focused on the positions and actions of those opposing prospection, as the Government and other actors in favor of drilling were much less active in presenting its arguments. Overall, the analysis suggests two different strategies: (a) a strong argumentative synergy between a wide range of actors against offshore prospection. Their concerted arguments defended multiple values, including public participation in political decisions, protecting local communities and places from environmental risks, countering climate change, and protecting local economic activities. (b) The Government was usually isolated in its arguments with the occasional exception of oil companies or representatives of the national industry. The scarce arguments used by these actors evoked mostly national economic values, with little engagement with other societal goals. This study suggests that the large mobilization of different sectors of society, their use of a convergent and wide range of arguments, and the lack of engagement of the Government in a dialogical argumentation were crucial to delegitimize the latter’s political decision.


2021 ◽  
pp. 123-176
Author(s):  
Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz

This chapter deals with unofficial communal activity. A wide range of informal communal activities provides women with opportunities for religious or spiritual self-expression and for creating ritual contexts that function as substitutes for the communal rituals closed to them. It is here that they show most creativity and originality, often adapting or even inventing rituals. In Israel, the related practice of women praying in the standard synagogue service but then conducting a separate women-only Torah reading has taken root in several places. Until recently, the only regular prayer service for women in London was in Stanmore under the auspices of Stanmore and Canons Park United Synagogue. Many women feel that these services constitute the high point of their religious lives, offering an opportunity for quiet reflection and participation. This also allowed women the opportunity to learn more about the service and individual prayers, the sense of active participation. Recently, a new trend has emerged within the British Orthodox community. Small groups of highly educated professionals in their thirties and forties from the Modern Orthodox sector of the community, have begun to hold services known as partnership minyanim, in which women lead non-obligatory parts of the service, as well as reading the Torah and haftarah and being called up to recite the Torah blessings. Women also give sermons at these services, and recite Kaddish if they are mourners. Consideration of these non-official communal rituals provides further support for the threefold division of Orthodox women into haredi, Modern Orthodox, and traditionalist groups.


2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Luísa Alves Barbieri ◽  
Márcia Thereza Couto

OBJECTIVE To analyze the sociocultural aspects involved in the decision-making process of vaccination in upper-class and highly educated families.METHODS A qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews with 15 couples from the city of Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, falling into three categories: vaccinators, late or selective vaccinators, and nonvaccinators. The interpretation of produced empirical material was performed through content analysis.RESULTS The study showed diverse and particular aspects surrounding the three groups’ decisions whether to vaccinate their children. The vaccinators’ decision to vaccinate their children was spontaneous and raised no questions. Most late or selective vaccinators experienced a wide range of situations that were instrumental in the decision to delay or not apply certain vaccines. The nonvaccinator’s decision-making process expressed a broader context of both criticism of hegemonic obstetric practices in Brazil and access to information transmitted via social networks and the internet. The data showed that the problematization of vaccines (culminating in the decision to not vaccinate their children) occurred in the context of humanized birth, was protagonized by women and was greatly influenced by health information from the internet.CONCLUSIONS Sociocultural aspects of the singular Brazilian context and the contemporary society were involved in the decision-making on children’s vaccination. Understanding this process can provide a real basis for a deeper reflection on health and immunization practices in Brazil in light of the new contexts and challenges of the world today.


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