Beyond charity : outlines of a jurisprudence for civil society

There is not a single, coherent, jurisprudence for civil society organisations. Pressure for a clearly enuciated body of law applying to the whole of this sector of society continues to increase. The rise of third sector scholarship, the retreat of the welfare state, the rediscovery of the concept of civil society and pressures to strengthen social capital have all contributed to an ongoing stream of inquiry into the laws that regulate and favour civil society organisations. There have been almost thirty inquiries over the last sixty years into the doctrine of charitable purpose in common law countries. Those inquiries have established that problems with the law applying to civil society organisations are rooted in the common law adopting a ‘technical’ definition of charitable purpose and the failure of this body of law to develop in response to societal changes. Even though it is now well recognised that problems with law reform stem from problems inherent in the doctrine of charitable purpose, statutory reforms have merely ‘bolted on’ additions to the flawed ‘technical’ definition. In this way the scope of operation of the law has been incrementally expanded to include a larger number of civil society organisations. This piecemeal approach continues the exclusion of most civil society organisations from the law of charities discourse, and fails to address the underlying jurisprudential problems. Comprehensive reform requires revisiting the foundational problems embedded in the doctrine of charitable purpose, being informed by recent scholarship, and a paradigm shift that extends the doctrine to include all civil society organisations. Scholarly inquiry into civil society organisations, particularly from within the discipline of neoclassical economics, has elucidated insights that can inform legal theory development. This theory development requires decoupling the two distinct functions performed by the doctrine of charitable purpose which are: setting the scope of regulation, and determining entitlement to favours, such as tax exemption. If the two different functions of the doctrine are considered separately in the light of theoretical insights from other disciplines, the architecture for a jurisprudence emerges that facilitates regulation, but does not necessarily favour all civil society organisations. Informed by that broader discourse it is argued that when determining the scope of regulation, civil society organisations are identified by reference to charitable purposes that are not technically defined. These charitable purposes are in essence purposes which are: Altruistic, for public Benefit, pursued without Coercion. These charitable puposes differentiate civil society organisations from organisations in the three other sectors namely; Business, which is manifest in lack of altruism; Government, which is characterised by coercion; and Family, which is characterised by benefits being private not public. When determining entitlement to favour, it is theorised that it is the extent or nature of the public benefit evident in the pursuit of a charitable purpose that justifies entitlement to favour. Entitlement to favour based on the extent of public benefit is the theoretically simpler – the greater the public benefit the greater the justification for favour. To be entitled to favour based on the nature of a purpose being charitable the purpose must fall within one of three categories developed from the first three heads of Pemsel’s case (the landmark categorisation case on taxation favour). The three categories proposed are: Dealing with Disadvantage, Encouraging Edification; and Facilitating Freedom. In this alternative paradigm a recast doctrine of charitable purpose underpins a jurisprudence for civil society in a way similar to the way contract underpins the jurisprudence for the business sector, the way that freedom from arbitrary coercion underpins the jurisprudence of the government sector and the way that equity within families underpins succession and family law jurisprudence for the family sector. This alternative architecture for the common law, developed from the doctrine of charitable purpose but inclusive of all civil society purposes, is argued to cover the field of the law applying to civil society organisations and warrants its own third space as a body of law between public law and private law in jurisprudence.

Social capital in a tolerant society? a response to treasurer Costello’s presentation to the Sydney Institute

On 16 July 2003 the Australian Government’s Treasurer, the Honourable Peter Costello, addressed the Sydney Institute on his vision for a tolerant Australian society. Drawing from Putnam’s research Costello argued that tolerance will flow from an active voluntary sector. However, Costello’s proposed model for a “tolerant” society fails to acknowledge that all behaviour is strategic and that voluntary association based on disinterested action is not possible. Ultimately, Treasurer Costello’s notion of tolerant society fuelled by an active voluntary sector may not lead to his desired end. Indeed, the promotion of voluntary association may contribute to the ongoing exclusion of citizens with low social capital. Amid the dynamism of the modern era some citizens such as ageing workers, slow or ineffective learners and women may be especially at risk. Accordingly, rather than advocating a policy approach that seeks to build inclusiveness through an active voluntary sector this paper recommends a policy approach that explores ways in which to strengthen learning and the wider involvement of individuals through both formal and informal means.

Charities, civil society and the charity law reviews on the island of Ireland

This article considers the opportunity, presented by the coincidence of simultaneous charity law reviews in the two jurisdictions on the island of Ireland, for an adjustment of charity law frameworks to maximise appropriate and effective charitable activity within each jurisdiction,while also facilitating the coordination of some such activity between both. It examines the nature of civil society and charity law, and the relationship between them. The article argues that a creative legislative response to this opportunity could address themes of social inclusion common to both jurisdictions and thereby contribute to the consolidation of civil society on this island.

Therapeutic relationships in specialist palliative care nursing practice.

There has been limited research into the scope or standards of specialist palliative care nursing practice in an Australian context. This study sought to develop a competency framework that described the core domains of specialist palliative care nursing. This article explores one key domain of specialist palliative care nursing practice - therapeutic relationships - that was identified as underpinning other domains of practice. A mixed method was used, involving a literature review, a survey including practice exemplars and an interview of specialist palliative care nurses. Seventy-four registered nurses working in designated specialist palliative care nursing roles from each Australian state and mainland territory were involved. The nurses represented metropolitan, regional, rural and remote communities, various inpatient facilities and community practice settings. Five core domains of specialist palliative care nursing practice were identified: complex supportive care, collaborative practice, leadership, improving practice and therapeutic relationships. Therapeutic relationships were identified as the central domain of specialist palliative care nursing practice to which all other domains were inextricably linked.

A naturalistic inquiry of registered nurses' perspectives and expectations of psychodynamic therapeutic care in acute psychiatric inpatient facilities

Within contemporary inpatient mental health nursing practice, the psychodynamic model of care considered previously to be central to the nurse-patient relationship now seems a radical concept. It appears to exist only within primary care facilities and public health care practice settings. This naturalistic inquiry aimed to explicate mental health nurses' perspectives and expectations of providing psychodynamic therapeutic care in acute inpatient psychiatric facilities. Ten registered nurses working in acute inpatient mental health facilities were interviewed. Five themes emerged: a career for life, relating in a psychodynamic manner, swimming against the current, adopting a position of difference, and hopeful expectancy.

From Civil Strife to Civil Society: civil and military responsibilities in disrupted states

"The 1990s saw the United Nations, the militaries of key member states, and NGOs increasingly entangled in the complex affairs of disrupted states. Whether as deliverers of humanitarian assistance or as agents of political, social, and civic reconstruction, whether in Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, or East Timor, these actors have had to learn ways of interacting with each other in order to optimize the benefits for the populations they seek to assist. Yet the challenges have proved daunting. Civil and military actors have different organizational cultures and standard operating procedures and are confronted with the need to work together to perform tasks to which different actors may attach quite different priorities."--BOOK JACKET.

Cross-talk of subchondral bone osteoblasts and articular cartilage chondrocytes : a new insight in understanding osteoarthritis pathogenesis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common musculoskeletal disorder and represents a major health burden to society. In the course of the pathological development of OA, articular cartilage chondrocytes (ACCs) undergo atypical phenotype changes characterized by the expression of hypertrophic differentiation markers. Also, the adjacent subchondral bone shows signs of abnormal mineral density and enhanced production of bone turnover markers, indicative of osteoblast dysfunction. Collectively these findings indicate that the pathological changes typical of OA, involve alterations of the phenotypic properties of cells in both the subchondral bone and articular cartilage. However, the mechanism(s) by which these changes occur during OA development are not completely understood. The purpose of this project was to address the question of how subchondral bone osteoblasts (SBOs) and ACCs interact with each other with respect to regulation of respective cells’ phenotypic properties and in particular the involvement of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathways under normal and OA joint condition. We also endeavoured to test the influence of cross-talk between SBOs and ACCs isolated from normal and OA joint on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression. For this purpose tissues from the knees of OA patients and normal controls were collected to isolate SBOs and ACCs. The cellular cross-talk of SBOs and ACCs were studied by means of both direct and indirect co-culture systems, which made it possible to identify the role of both membrane bound and soluble factors. Histology, immunohistochemistry, qRT-PCR, zymography, ELISA and western blotting were some of the techniques applied to distinguish the changes in the co-cultured vs. non co-cultured cells. The MAPK signalling pathways were probed by using targeted MAPK inhibitors, and their activity monitored by western blot analysis using phospho MAPK specific antibodies. Our co-culture studies demonstrated that OA ACCs enhanced the SBOs differentiation compared to normal ACCs. We demonstrated that OA ACCs induced these phenotypic changes in the SBOs via activating an ERK1/2 signalling pathway. The findings from this study thus provided clear evidence that OA ACCs play an integral role in altering the SBO phenotype. In the second study, we tested the influence of normal SBOs and OA SBOs on ACCs phenotype changes. The results showed that OA SBOs increased the hypertrophic gene expression in co-cultured ACCs compared to normal SBOs, a phenotype which is considered as pathological to the health and integrity of articular cartilage. It was demonstrated that these phenotype changes occurred via de-activation of p38 and activation of ERK1/2 signaling pathways. These findings suggest that the pathological interaction of OA SBOs with ACCs is mediated by cross-talking between ERK1/2 and p38 pathways, resulting in ACCs undergoing hypertrophic differentiation. Subsequent experiments to determine the effect on MMP regulation, of SBOs and ACCs cross-talk, revealed that co-culturing OA SBOs with ACCs significantly enhanced the proteolytic activity and expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9. In turn, co-culture of OA ACCs with SBOs led to abundant MMP-2 expression in SBOs. Furthermore, we showed that the addition of ERK1/2 and JNK inhibitors reversed the elevated MMP-2 and MMP-9 production which otherwise resulted from the interactions of OA SBOs-ACCs. Thus, this study has demonstrated that the altered interactions between OA SBOs-ACCs are capable of triggering the pathological pathways leading to degenerative changes seen in the osteoarthritic joint. In conclusion, the body of work presented in this dissertation has given clear in vitro evidence that the altered bi-directional communication of SBOs and ACCs may play a role in OA development and that this process was mediated by MAPK signalling pathways. Targeting these altered interactions by the use of MAPK inhibitors may provide the scientific rationale for the development of novel therapeutic strategies in the treatment and management of OA.

Book review : Kellett, M (2010) Rethinking children and research : attitudes in contemporary society

Rethinking Children and Research characterizes Mary Kellett’s vision as campaigner and sociologist actively working for and with children for many years. The book itself is not only visionary; it is informative, thought provoking and pragmatic. From a contemporary standpoint, the manuscript presents a detailed synopsis of the shifts in thinking about research with children and provides an appraisal of the theoretical movements that have driven a participatory research agenda. A strong theoretical approach of the combined lenses of sociologies of childhood and rights discourse is introduced early in the book. From the outset, the reader receives loud and clear, the key message of the book: that children in research should and can be included as competent members who lead research in the study of their everyday lives. The argument for a more mutual research approach is shaped throughout the book using research examples and practical suggestions on how this might be achieved. Overall, the reader is left feeling compelled to adopt such an approach.

Insulin-like growth factor-i : vitronectin complex-induced changes in gene expression effect breast cell survival and migration

Recent studies have demonstrated that IGF-I associates with VN through IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP) which in turn modulate IGF-stimulated biological functions such as cell proliferation, attachment and migration. Since IGFs play important roles in transformation and progression of breast tumours, we aimed to describe the effects of IGF-I:IGFBP:VN complexes on breast cell function and to dissect mechanisms underlying these responses. In this study we demonstrate that substrate-bound IGF-I:IGFBP:VN complexes are potent stimulators of MCF-7 breast cell survival, which is mediated by a transient activation of ERK/MAPK and sustained activation of PI3-K/AKT pathways. Furthermore, use of pharmacological inhibitors of the MAPK and PI3-K pathways confirms that both pathways are involved in IGF-I:IGFBP:VN complex-mediated increased cell survival. Microarray analysis of cells stimulated to migrate in response to IGF-I:IGFBP:VN complexes identified differential expression of genes with previously reported roles in migration, invasion and survival (Ephrin-B2, Sharp-2, Tissue-factor, Stratifin, PAI-1, IRS-1). These changes were not detected when the IGF-I analogue (\[L24]\[A31]-IGF-I), which fails to bind to the IGF-I receptor, was substituted; confirming the IGF-I-dependent differential expression of genes associated with enhanced cell migration. Taken together, these studies have established that IGF-I:IGFBP:VN complexes enhance breast cell migration and survival, processes central to facilitating metastasis. This study highlights the interdependence of ECM and growth factor interactions in biological functions critical for metastasis and identifies potential novel therapeutic targets directed at preventing breast cancer progression.