Faculti

The heterogeneity of the contemporary Indian middle-class has been discussed widely. However, the effect of its internal differences on the distribution of educational resources needs to be examined systematically. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with parents in 53 middle-class families in Dehradun, India, Achala Gupta explores three aspects of the home-school relationship: how socioeconomic transformations shape parents’ aspirations for their children’s future, educational decisions parents make to realise those aspirations, and mothers’ engagement in their children’s everyday schooling.

Mark Pennington explores the relationship between freedom, regulation, and public policy. Adopting a “non-ideal” approach, he argues that there is no necessary connection between different conceptions of liberty and any particular sort of regulatory/public policy framework. Both negative and positive conceptions of freedom require a role for “regulation,” but whether this “regulation” arises from public policy or is best left to emerge through private agency in a competitive environment is a matter that can only be resolved by theoretical speculation and empirical inquiry.

Geetha Marcus presents the untold stories of Gypsy and Traveller girls living in Scotland. Drawing on accounts of the girls’ lives and offering space for their voices to be heard, the author addresses contemporary and traditional stereotypes and racialised misconceptions of Gypsies and Travellers. Marcus explores how the stubborn persistence of these negative views appears to contribute to policies and practices of neglect, inertia or intervention that often aim to ‘civilise’ and further assimilate these communities into the mainstream settled population.

There is evidence that in the United States popular attitudes about environmental problems have been shaped by elite polarization on environmental issues. Yet there has been little systematic analysis of the impact of elite polarization on environmental attitudes in other parts of the world. Sarah Birch discusses a general theory of the role of elite polarization in conditioning popular support for environmental protection.

Andrew Moran considers the claim that ‘change’ during the Obama years amounted to an acceptance of American global decline. It contends that sensible retrenchment should not be equated with ‘decline.’

Teaching is a complex practice that requires teachers to draw upon their content knowledge, pedagogical approaches and strategies, and knowledge about learners in order to support learning. Integrating technology into the teaching and learning practice of a classroom is a strategy that many teachers are drawing upon. Joanna Masingila reports on the initial findings on information communication technology (ICT) implementation in Kenyan secondary schools and discusses factors affecting effective technology integration. Joanna Masingila is Dean of the School of Education at Syracuse University and a professor of mathematics and mathematics education.

For centuries elegy has been instrumental to Irish culture and its self-expression. Alison Morgan discusses the elegies both by and about Robert Emmet written by Thomas Moore, Robert Southey and Percy Bysshe Shelley as well those written by anonymous balladeers.

Robert Williams discusses how art investigates the nuclear Anthropocene, nuclear sites and materiality and the philosophical concept of radiation as a hyperobject.

Departures from self-interest in economic experiments have recently inspired models of “social preferences.” Gary Charness discusses a range of simple experimental games that test these theories more directly than existing experiments. Experiments show that subjects are more concerned with increasing social welfare—sacrificing to increase the payoffs for all recipients, especially low-payoff recipients—than with reducing differences in payoffs (as supposed in recent models). Subjects are also motivated by reciprocity: they withdraw willingness to sacrifice to achieve a fair outcome when others are themselves unwilling to sacrifice, and sometimes punish unfair behavior.

CEOs who formerly served in the U.S. military are prevalent among U.S. firms. The military puts strong emphasis on the obedience of its personnel. Georg Wernicke discusses time spent in the military leads individuals to be more obedient to rules and regulations in the years after they have left the military and become CEOs.