Assertion Of Authority Research Articles

Philemon, Marbury, and the Passive-Aggressive Assertion of Legal Authority

The essay “Philemon, Marbury, and the Passive-Aggressive Assertion of Legal Authority” draws a parallel between the Apostle Paul’s Letter to Philemon and Chief Justice John Marshall’s opinion in Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803). In each instance, the author claimed a legal authority to direct someone else to act — in Philemon, to order Philemon to release the slave Onesimus; in Marbury, to order the President to comply with the law — but declined to exercise that authority in that particular case. We should praise Paul’s skillfulness in avoiding a risk of prosecution for encouraging Philemon to extend Onesimus mercy for his misdeeds and to grant him freedom, and laud Marshall’s claim of the right to engage in judicial review. But democratic self-government is hardly the same type of vile institution as slavery. Unjustified assertions by government officials of authority over private parties also are neither the same type of white lie that Paul uttered nor an enterprise that the courts can largely leave alone. Accordingly, we should not automatically extend the admiration that we display for Paul’s and Marshall’s political skills to government officials when they use the same technique and claim to possess legal authority that they do not enjoy.

‘Obligations’, Decolonization and Indigenous Rights to Governance

Many contemporary Indigenous communities in Canada assert an ability to make fundamental authoritative decisions about what is acceptable use of their territories. I focus on the question of legal obligations that might befall the Crown in its relationships with these communities and their claims. I argue that any such obligations must be seen as culturally and contextually specific, not only in the sense that particular Crown obligations take on content and form within the context of the culture within which the Canadian legal system has emerged but also in the sense that this non-Indigenous culture and history generate the very meaning of the notion of ‘obligation’ here at play. This culturally determined meaning functions to make it extremely difficult to make sense of the notion the Crown actually has legal obligations in relation to Indigenous assertions of authority over territories. This suggests decolonization in this context should be focused on discursive colonization and its undoing. Along those lines I offer a sketch of what ‘legal obligation’ might mean in an Indigenous cultural-historical setting. Within this way of understanding the situation, addressing questions of Crown obligations would begin with consideration of Indigenous systems of meaning-generation. Analysis would focus on working out what it means within such normative worlds to determine a party has a legal obligation, and would then turn to what this has to say about legal obligations that might be understood to fall on the Crown.I argue that while the Crown will almost certainly not respond to claims it has legal obligations within what it takes to be separate legal systems, describing the landscape this way paints a truer picture of the world as it presents itself. The landscape has been, and continues to be, one of distinct meaning-generating peoples, each determining what it understands such concepts as ‘legal obligations’ to mean and entail. The colonial agenda has been for many generations to deny the existence of Indigenous systems, to have Indigenous communities come to think of ‘legal obligations’ in ways colonial authorities determine. Decolonization – in this form – requires a backing out of these ways of thinking. This article clears away forms of thinking that obstruct our view, giving us all an opportunity to perceive the complex landscape we in fact inhabit.

Smart Growth and the Scalar Politics of Land Management in the Greater Boston Region, Usa

Recent decades have witnessed a significant transformation in strategies of urban environmental governance as authority has shifted from statist command-and-control systems to more horizontal, networked forms of governance-beyond-the-state. In the USA the changing nature of state authority over urban-regional planning processes has been particularly dramatic in metropolitan regions promoting ‘smart-growth’ agendas. Smart-growth strategies address regional planning and land-development concerns through market-based incentive programs aimed at increasing development densities and coordinating other land-management priorities. This paper explores the scalar politics through which smart-growth policies in the Greater Boston region of Massachusetts (USA) are being constructed and contested. In this region the state of Massachusetts has used incentive programs, new forms of regulation, and public-private coalitions to implement a smart-growth agenda that seeks to ameliorate the region's housing crisis and sustain its pool of knowledge-economy workers, but these programs also challenge the traditional authority of local communities in governing land-use decisions. Crucial to this assertion of land-management authority at the state scale has been the legacies of past forms of authority and land management, the ability of the state to exploit the positionalities of key actors associated with the smart-growth agenda, and the role of crises (in housing, congestion) in making increased state control more palatable.

“Distinct and Significant”: Professional Identities of Two-Year College English Faculty

Drawing on findings from three qualitative studies, this article explores the distinct professional identities of two-year college English faculty. We examine full-time faculty patterns of engagement with professional organizations, their assertion of professional authority in institutional decision making, and the role of organizational socialization in the shaping of part-time faculty professional identities.

Job Authority and Breast Cancer.

Using the 1957-2011 data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, I integrate the gender relations theory, a life course perspective, and a biosocial stress perspective to explore the effect of women's job authority in 1975 (at age 36) and 1993 (at age 54) on breast cancer incidence up to 2011. Findings indicate that women with the authority to hire, fire, and influence others' pay had a significantly higher risk of a breast cancer diagnosis over the next 30 years compared to housewives and employed women with no job authority. Because job authority conferred the highest risk of breast cancer for women who also spent more hours dealing with people at work in 1975, I suggest that the assertion of job authority by women in the 1970s involved stressful interpersonal experiences, such as social isolation and negative social interactions, that may have increased the risk of breast cancer via prolonged dysregulation of the glucocorticoid system and exposure of breast tissue to the adverse effects of chronically elevated cortisol. This study contributes to sociology by emphasizing gendered biosocial pathways through which women's occupational experiences become embodied and drive forward physiological repercussions.

Parental Authority in Flux: A Qualitative Exploration of Manifestations of Power in Parent – Child Relationships

The aim of this article is to investigate the workings of parental authority in Slovenian families: how is parental authority asserted and how do adolescents react to parental authority? Based on a qualitative exploration, the study shows that parental authority is accommodated in ways that comply with the general culture of intergenerational negotiations; it is co-constituted as a joint product of family relationships. The ways of authority assertion differ according to the respective domain: it is predominantly indirect in the example of school performance, and more direct and coercive regarding participation in household chores.

Higher-status occupations and breast cancer: A life-course stress approach

Using the 1957–2011 data from 3682 White non-Hispanic women (297 incident breast cancer cases) in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, United States, we explore the effect of occupation in 1975 (at age 36) on breast cancer incidence up to age 72. Our study is motivated by the paradoxical association between higher-status occupations and elevated breast cancer risk, which presents a challenge to the consistent health advantage of higher social class. We found that women in professional occupations had 72122% and women in managerial occupations had 57–89% higher risk of a breast cancer diagnosis than housewives and women in lower-status occupations. We explored an estrogen-related pathway (reproductive history, health behaviors, and life-course estrogen cycle) as well as a social stress pathway (occupational experiences) as potential explanations for the effect of higher-status occupations. The elevated risk of breast cancer among professional women was partly explained by estrogen-related variables but remained large and statistically significant. The association between managerial occupations and breast cancer incidence was fully explained by job authority defined as control over others' work. Exercising job authority was related to higher breast cancer risk (HR = 1.57, 95% CI: 1.12, 2.18), especially with longer duration of holding the professional/managerial job. We suggest that the assertion of job authority by women in the 1970s involved stressful interpersonal experiences that may have promoted breast cancer development via prolonged dysregulation of the glucocorticoid system and exposure of the breast tissue to adverse effects of chronically elevated cortisol. Our study emphasizes complex biosocial pathways through which women's gendered occupational experiences become embodied and drive forward physiological repercussions.

Parental Behavioral and Psychological Control and Problematic Internet Use Among Chinese Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Self-Control

Previous research has reported contradictory effects of parental control on adolescents' problematic Internet use (PIU). To reconcile the discrepant findings, the current study examined the differential effects of parental behavioral control (solicitation and restriction) and psychological control (guilt induction, love withdrawal, and authority assertion) on adolescents' PIU. The mediating effect of self-control on the relationships between parental control and PIU was also examined. A total of 694 Chinese adolescents (M=13.67 years) completed questionnaire measures of parental behavioral control, psychological control, self-control, and PIU. After adjusting for age, gender, and family financial status, it was found that parental restriction (a form of behavioral control) was negatively associated with PIU, whereas love withdrawal (a form of psychological control) was positively associated with PIU. Increased self-control was associated with decreased PIU, and changes in self-control at least partially mediated the differential effects of parental behavioral and psychological control on PIU. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Adaptation and authority in scaffolding and teacher–student relationships

Abstract Three issues are addressed in this commentary. The first issue concerns the application of the concept of scaffolding to situations that go beyond its original context of one-to-one learning–teaching interactions, typically involving a parent and a child. Do interactions between a teacher and a whole classroom or a group of students still fit into the original conception of scaffolding as sensitive, responsive support which results in the eventual handover of responsibility to the learners? How can the concept of scaffolding be meaningfully related to other approaches to teaching, e.g., approaches that involve dialogic teaching or the use of new meditational means? The second issue is about the relationship between educational research and educational practice. It is important to ensure that descriptions of particular, efficacious teaching–learning interactions do not inadvertently become construed as prescriptions regarding the nature and conduct of effective teaching–learning interactions. A third issue relates to the social context of scaffolding interactions. Scaffolding is not merely a form of social interaction, it is significant precisely because it entails the assertion and acknowledgement of power and authority.

Hmong American adolescents' perceptions of mothers' parenting practices: Support, authority, and intergenerational agreement.

Twenty-four Hmong American adolescents participated in individual interviews regarding their percep- tions of mothers' parenting practices. A content analysis revealed a set of nine parenting practices that were represented in the responses. The adolescents talked about supportive parenting practices that included caretaking, positive communication, acceptance, and involvement. The adolescents also talked about parental assertions of authority that included high expectations for achievement, family obligations, and supervision. Less commonly discussed were the categories of psychological autonomy and inter- generational support. This study captured youth perceptions of family interactions, which revealed a range of parenting practices that represent Hmong American mothers. The Asian American population experienced the largest growth of any other ethnic group in the past decade (46%; United States Census Bureau, 2010). With nearly a quarter of the population comprised of children under the age of 18, the nature of Asian American parenting and child development is an important topic of research. Mainstream interest in the topic was piqued by Amy Chua's (2011) memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, in which she describes a strict approach to parenting that she claims is rooted in traditional Chinese cultural approaches to parenting. The notion that there is a Chinese, or more broadly, Asian approach to parenting is supported by Chao's (1994) model of Asian parenting that emphasizes the concepts of guan (caring and governing) and chiao shun (training). In this model, Chinese immigrant parents are represented as having high control but without the negative emo- tional climate that is often thought to characterize strict families. In particular, families are described as using a style in which parents have high expectations for educational outcomes and emphasize hard work, self-discipline, and obedience. Warmth and responsiv- ity are shown through investing time and having high expectations rather than verbal or physical expressions of closeness and inti- macy in the parent-child relationship. These interactions occur within a hierarchical family structure in which respect for parents is highly valued. Children largely experience positive psychosocial and academic outcomes in the context of the guan or training style (and their equivalent models in other Asian cultures; for a review, see Chao & Tseng, 2002).

Taking Epistemology Seriously: ‘Truth, Reason and Justice’ Revisited

Underlying orthodox evidence theory is a number of epistemological assumptions about the ability of reason to deliver true descriptions which accurately describe and correspond to the ‘real’ world. Drawing extensively on both traditional philosophical and contemporary, particularly postmodernist, scepticism this article provides a detailed critique of realist epistemological assumptions about reason, truth and knowledge. It argues that claims to reason, truth and knowledge can never escape the impact of individual perspective, community standards and power relations. At the same time, however, it rejects the realist assertion that subjectivism and relativism are oxymoronic or self-defeating positions. Instead, it is argued that epistemological scepticism is a healthy political position to adopt in that it guards against the complacent acceptance of seemingly authoritative assertions of reason, truth and knowledge.

Transnational Private Regulatory Governance: Ambiguities of Public Authority and Private Power

The continuing proliferation of transnational private regulatory governance challenges conceptions of legal authority, legitimacy and public regulation of economic activity. The transnational law merchant or, lex mercatoria, is a case in point in this context, as it represents a laboratory for the exploration of “private” contractual governance in a context, in which the assertion of public or private authority has itself become contentious. The ambiguity surrounding many forms of today’s contractual governance in the transnational arena echoes that of the far-reaching transformation of public regulatory governance, which has been characteristic of Western welfare states over the last few decades. What is particularly remarkable, however, is the way in which the depictions of “private instruments” and “public interests” in the post-welfare state regulatory environment have given rise to a rise in importance of social norms, self-regulation and a general anti-state affect in the assessment of judicial enforcement or administration of contractual arrangements. The paper suggests the need to short-circuit and to read in parallel the justifications offered for a contractual governance model, which prioritizes and seeks to insulate “private” arrangements from their embeddedness in regulated market contexts, on both the national and transnational level.

Conflicting Treasures: contrasting resource use governance in two artisanal gemstone mining sites in Madagascar

Conflict over property and resource rights is a common product of the convergence of biodiversity conservation and natural resource extraction and is especially pronounced in resource rich developing countries. Madagascar, a country well known for its unique and threatened biodiversity as well as its wealth of mineral resources is under great pressure to reconcile the conflict between these two treasures. This article, utilizing research conducted from 2004-2008, explores how resource claims are exercised, by whom, and by what means in two artisanal gemstone mining sites in Madagascar. It argues that the practices and discourses associated with conservation intervention have influenced both the way in which people understand as well as act upon their property rights. The alienation and dispossession accompanying a fortress modeled state-managed protected area is contrasted with a decentralized self-governing communitymanaged model and are posited as key drivers of observed differences in people's claims to resources in two gemstone mining sites. The research shows that community-managed conservation had an unexpected influence on a community's assertion of greater authority over gem resources. Key words: Community management, conservation, mining, Madagascar, governance

The Ins and Outs of Transnational Private Regulatory Governance: Legitimacy, Accountability, Effectiveness and a New Concept of “Context”

The continuing proliferation of transnational private regulatory governance challenges conceptions of legal authority, legitimacy and public regulation of economic activity. The pace at which these developments occur is set by a coalescence of multiple regime changes, predominantly in commercial law areas, but also in the field of internet governance, corporate law and labor law, where the rise to prominence of private actors has become a defining feature of the emerging transnational regulatory landscape. One of the most belabored fields, the transnational law merchant or,lex mercatoria, has gained the status of aposter child, as it represents a laboratory for the exploration of “private” contractual governance in a context, in which the assertion of public or private authority has itself become contentious. The ambiguity surrounding many forms of today's contractual governance in the transnational arena echoes that of the far-reaching transformation of public regulatory governance, which has been characteristic of Western welfare states over the last few decades. What is particularly remarkable, however, is the way in which the depictions of “private instruments” and “public interests” in the post-welfare state regulatory environment have given rise to a rise in importance of social norms, self-regulation and a general anti-state affect in the assessment of judicial enforcement or administration of contractual arrangements. A central challenge resulting from case studies such as the transnational law merchant is from which perspective we ought to adequately study and assess the justifications, which are being offered for a contractual governance model, which prioritizes and seeks to insulate “private” arrangements from their embeddedness in regulated market contexts, on both the national and transnational level.

The Origins of Positive Judicial Independence

A number of comparative judicial scholars have argued that assertions of judicial authority are a function of the level of fragmentation/competition in the formal political sphere. Accordingly, in authoritarian or one-party settings, judges should be deferential to power holders, and in places where political power is divided between branches and/or parties, one would expect to see greater levels of judicial assertiveness. Through a longitudinal, qualitative analysis of one most-likely case (Chile) and one least-likely case (Franco-era Spain) and drawing on a half-dozen other cases from the comparative judicial literature, this article argues that political fragmentation is neither sufficient nor necessary for judges to challenge powerful actors. Instead, it argues that assertive or “positively independent” judicial behavior requires ideational support, in the form of a role conception/professional ideology that gives judges motivation for such behavior. Such professional attitudes are socially and institutionally constituted in a dynamic process that itself shapes judges' perceptions of the opportunities for and obstacles to judicial assertiveness, both within and outside the judiciary.

Do Chinese and American Children's Interpretations of Parenting Moderate Links between Perceived Parenting and Child Adjustment?

SYNOPSIS Objective. The researchers in this study investigated whether Chinese and American children's interpretations of parents' coercive authority assertion moderate relations between their self-reported parenting and adjustment. Associations between child adjustment and parents' shaming and critically comparing children to their peers were also investigated. Design. Sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders (M ages = 11.73, 12.74, and 13.78 years, respectively) residing in Shanghai (n = 150) and Chicago (n = 168) rated possible motivations for coercive authority assertion, indicated whether they approved of it, and reported their parents' coercive authority assertion, critical comparison and shaming, as well as their own depression, antisocial behavior, and school effort. Results. Children in both cultures indicated that parents practiced coercive authority assertion to benefit their children more than themselves. Yet approval ratings were low. Approval of coercive authority assertion and the child-beneficial interpretation moderated relations between parents' coercive authority assertion and depression in both cultures. For American children, relations between parents' coercive authority assertion and both antisocial behavior and school effort were moderated by a social conventional interpretation. Critical comparison and shaming, and parents' coercive authority assertion were associated with poorer adjustment in both cultures. Conclusions. Chinese and American children believe parents are well-meaning but misguided in their practice of coercive authority assertion. Children's approval and interpretations can moderate parents' coercive authority assertion's links to psychosocial and academic functioning. Critical comparison and shaming is also associated with poorer adjustment in both cultures.

Deals and Dealings: Inconclusive Peace and Treacherous Trade along the South Sudan-Uganda Border

Since Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed, its border with Uganda has become a hub of activity. Contrasting developments on the Ugandan side of the border with those on the South Sudanese side, the paper draws on empirical fieldwork to argue that the CPA has created new centres of power in the margins of both states. However, in day-today dealings on either side of the border, South Sudanese military actors have become dominant. In the particular case of Arua and the South Sudan-Uganda border, past wartime authority structures determine access to opportunities in a tightly regulated, inconclusive peace. This means that small-scale Ugandan traders – although vital to South Sudan – have become more vulnerable to South Sudan's assertions of state authority. The experience of Ugandan traders calls into question the broad consensus that trade across the border is always beneficial for peace-building The paper concludes that trade is not unconditionally helpful to the establishment of a peaceful environment for everyone.

PRACTICE AND THE AGENDA OF “ISLAM AND SCIENCE”

Abstract When speaking about Islam and contemporary issues in science, Guessoum's Islam's Quantum Question shares many characterizations with Barbourian science and religion discourse. The focus is on theological responses to particular scientific theories. In this article I suggest an expansion of the discourse by looking at how science meets religion (as well as other local system of knowledge) in practice, in particular events such as natural disaster, when they are called upon as sources of meaning making. The encounter takes place not only at the cognitive level, but may take the form of competition, collaboration, or negotiation over the authority to provide explanation. In practice the authority is supported not only by objective knowledge but involves many other factors, including politics. Thus, part of my proposal for expansion suggests the broadening of how we understand science and religion to include how assertions of authority are made in practice.

“He is still unwanted”: Women’s Assertions of Authority over Abortion in Letters to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada

Throughout the 1960s, the public abortion debate was dominated by men. While women's voices were not absent, they are harder to locate. This article highlights one forum in which women eloquently expressed their feelings about abortion. In submissions to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, women demonstrated their "right" to speak on the issue in many ways, including by sharing their experiences as mothers or with unplanned and unwanted pregnancies; referencing their professional lives, especially in care giving fields; and drawing moral authority from or opposing religious beliefs. This article analyzes women's efforts to convey their authority to speak to the legality of abortion, highlighting a component of the 1960s abortion law reform discussion often overlooked.

Spooks and spoofs

This article describes the relations between academic psychology and psychical research in Britain during the inter-war period, in the context of the fluid boundaries between mainstream psychology and both psychical research and popular psychology. Specifically, the involvement with Harry Price of six senior academic psychologists: William McDougall, William Brown, J. C. Flugel, Cyril Burt, C. Alec Mace and Francis Aveling, is described. Personal, metaphysical and socio-historical factors in their collaboration are discussed. It is suggested that the main reason for their mutual attraction was their common engagement in a delicate balancing act between courting popular appeal on the one hand and the assertion of scientific expertise and authority on the other. Their interaction is typical of the boundary work performed at this transitional stage in the development of psychology as a discipline.