Conceptualising public-private partnerships: a critical appraisal of approaches to meanings and forms

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to survey various meanings attached to a public-private partnership (PPP) and related aspects in Western literature, and identify commonalities and differences between them. Additionally, the article intends to critically assess conflicting and overlapping views on contractual and institutional PPPs, their forms and models, and draw insights for transitional economies. Design/methodology/approach – The article contrasts and compares views on PPP meanings, forms and models within Western PPP literature, and also draws comparisons with understanding of partnership aspects in the Russian language sources. The article examines theories underpinning PPPs, builds connections to PPP advantages and drawbacks, and provides critical assessment of net benefits that PPPs may bring along to the society. Findings – The article concludes that future PPP research in transitional countries such as Kazakhstan and Russia, particularly in the area of organisational and power arrangements in partnerships, may delineate new concepts such as government as a guarantor of a PPP project, social significance of a PPP project, and risk management in a country's contextual environment. Practical implications – In transitional countries, in which PPPs are in their infancy, clarification of theoretical positions, and identification of commonalities and differences between meanings attached to the PPP terminology may enable better decisions by researchers and practitioners in their selection and further development of partnerships and related concepts. Originality/value – Research in the field of PPPs in transitional countries such as Russia and Kazakhstan is in its infancy. The paper intends to contribute to the body of knowledge about PPPs by providing detailed account and categorisation of their principal meanings, forms, models, underpinning theories, and drawing insights for future research in transitional countries.

'he perceives himself as a caterpillar […]' constructions of the disabled subject in the critical response to Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rear Window'

This chapter focuses on critical responses to Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, especially their construction of disability. The suggestion is that such criticism takes the disabled body to be both necessary and superfluous to the meaning of the film, a difficulty that, I argue, can be read more widely within film theory. Ever since Christian Metz’s ‘the Imaginary Signifier’, the condition of being ‘bound to a wheelchair’ is understood to have a resonance for theories of film spectatorship, but only ever in a sense that does away with the wheelchair as a mark of difference.

Bound Variable, Split Antecedent and Ellipsis Interpretations in L2 Portuguese: Implications for L2 Acquisition Theories.

Recently, in light of minimalist assumptions, some partial UG accessibility accounts to adult second language acquisition have made a distinction between the post-critical period ability to acquire new features based on their LF-interpretability (i.e. interpretable vs. uninterpretable features) (HAWKINS, 2005; HAWKINS; HATTORI, 2006; TSIMPLI; MASTROPAVLOU, 2007; TSIMPLI; DIMITRAKOPOULOU, 2007). The Interpretability Hypothesis (TSIMPLI; MASTROPAVLOU, 2007; TSIMPLI; DIMITRAKOPOULOU, 2007) claims that only uninterpretable features suffer a post-critical period failure and, therefore, cannot be acquired. Conversely, Full Access approaches claim that L2 learners have full access to UG’s entire inventory of features, and that L1/L2 differences obtain outside the narrow syntax. The phenomenon studied herein, adult acquisition of the Overt Pronoun Constraint (OPC) (MONTALBETTI, 1984) and inflected infinitives in nonnative Portuguese, challenges the Interpretability hypothesis insofar as it makes the wrong predictions for what is observed. The present data demonstrate that advanced learners of L2 Portuguese acquire the OPC and the syntax and semantics of inflected infinitives with native-like accuracy. Since inflected infinitives require the acquisition of new uninterpretable φ-features, the present data provide evidence in contra Tsimpli and colleagues’ Interpretability Hypothesis.

Legal and regulatory barriers to effective public-private partnership governance in Kazakhstan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical assessment of legal and regulatory impediments to effective governance of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in Kazakhstan. Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative study develops propositions from the PPP literature and then tests them against findings from in-depth interviews. Interviewees have been selected by a purposeful sampling from PPP projects in Kazakhstan as well as from national and regional PPP centres. Findings – The identified barriers to effective PPP management include irregularities in the PPP legal framework, such as lack of legal definition of a PPP and controversy with the government guarantee’s legal status for its long-term payments to partnerships; bureaucratic tariff setting for partnership services; non-existent opportunity for private asset ownership; and excessive government regulation of PPP workers’ wage rates. Practical implications – The partners’ opposing perspectives on a number of PPP issues show that management needs to identify and carefully reconcile stakeholder values in a partnership in order to achieve more effective PPP governance. Practitioners, particularly those in the public agencies, have to be concerned with ways to reduce the government overregulation of the private operators, which is likely to result in greater PPP flexibility in management and, ultimately, higher efficiency in delivering the public services. Originality/value – By elucidating multiple examples of overregulation and PPPs’ inefficiency, the paper demonstrates that the government dominance in PPP management is conceptually inappropriate. Instead, the government should adopt the concept of co-production and manage its relations with the private sector partner in a collaborative fashion.

Critical anthropomorphism and animal ethics

Anthropomorphism has long been considered a cardinal error when describing animals. Ethicists have feared the consequences of misrepresenting animals in their reasoning. Recent research within human-animal studies, however, has sophisticated the notion of anthropomorphism. It is suggested that avoiding anthropomorphism merely creates other morphisms, such as mechanomorphism. Instead of avoiding anthropomorphism, it is argued that it is a communicative strategy that should be used critically. Instances of anthropomorphism in animal ethics are analyzed in this paper. Some analogies made between people and non-human animals in present theories of animal ethics are clear instances of psychological anthropomorphism. Other analogies are implicit cases of cultural anthropomorphism. It is argued that animal ethics needs to take the wider discourse of critical anthropomorphism into account in order to sophisticate the understanding and use of anthropomorphic projections. Anthropomorphism is an efficient tool of communication, and it may be made an adequate one as well.

Relocating the personal : a critical writing pedagogy

Addressing the current and growing interest in the personal, the self, and the autobiographical not only in the teaching of writing, but also across many disciplinary and subject fields, Relocating the Personal describes a rich array of practical approaches to teaching the personal in settings where it has been excluded." "The author argues for the teaching of writing as a political project in schools and communities, and for a notion of the personal which is not simply equated with voice. The construct of narrative is preferred, because it allows teachers to examine all personal writing as a representation and not the same thing as the writer's life. Strategies are developed for examining how experience is portrayed and how it might be written differently, with material effects on both the personal text and the writer's person.

The book incorporates the latest theories of critical and genre literacy as it develops four teaching cases in different education contexts (secondary, undergraduate, graduate, and adult/community).

`I feel enlightened now, but...`: the limits to the pedagogic translation of critical social discourses in physical education

The emancipatory goal that underpins critical theories of teaching and learning is built on a theory of rational self-determination. In the context of physical education, critical educators believe that through a process of enlightenment teachers can recognize and transform elements of injustice and inequality that exist, albeit unwittingly, in their practice. However, despite the broad appeal of this orientation there are relatively few empirical accounts of how theories of enlightenment manifest themselves in the practice of emancipation. Propelled by the lacuna that clearly exists between critical theory and critical practice, this paper reports on the introduction of critical social discourses to a preservice PE program. It uses a case study methodology to report on two student-teachers' engagement with a range of critical social discourses during a year-long PE unit. The paper discusses some of the ways these students engaged with the theory and practice of a critical orientation for teaching and learning in physical education. Aspects of their experiences are then interpreted through Fay's (1987) critical but postmodern "limits to change" thesis. The paper concludes with tempered optimism about the potential for critical social discourses to guide preservice teachers in practical ways.

A Critical Review of the Harm Minimization Ideology in Australia

Harm minimization as a drug-policy approach represents a major step forward in Australian society's method of dealing with the myriad problems associated with illicit drug use. However, harm minimization lacks a substantial theoretical underpinning and there has been little debate about harm minimization at the sociological level. This article investigates a number of the assertions made within the harm minimization literature and the assumptions on which they are based. These assumptions are critically deconstructed from a number of points of view, including a Foucauldian perspective. Areas investigated include: the use of epidemiological data as a foundation for many harm-reduction strategies, the failure of harm minimization theories to deal adequately with the role of discourse in the drug policy arena, the harm minimization claim to amorality, the use of a utilitarian set of values, the supposed popularity of harm reduction and the idea that the current harm-reduction paradigm clearly acts as an extension of 'surveillance medicine' through the vehicle of governmentality. It is concluded that, whilst harm minimization represents the most promising advance in drug policy in the past, the lack of theoretical rigour in the development of these initiatives results in many of the claims made by proponents of harm-reduction strategies being either overly optimistic or fundamentally flawed.

The initiation and administration of drugs for advanced life support by critical care nurses in the absence of a medical practitioner

Current legislation does not permit the administration of first line resuscitation medications by suitably qualified Division 1 registered nurses (RNs) in the absence of a medical officer. This omission by the Drugs,  Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981 (Vic) and the Drugs, Poisons and The Controlled Substances Regulations 1995 (Vic) leaves many critical care nurses in a vulnerable legal position.

The primary aim of this study was to gauge the view of critical care nurses with respect to lobbying for change to the current legislation. In addition, the study aimed to explore and describe the educational preparation, practice perceptions and experiences of RNs working in critical care regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the administration of first line advanced life support (ALS) medications in the absence of a medical officer. It was anticipated that data collected would demonstrate some of the dilemmas associated with the initiation and administration of ALS medications for practising critical care nurses and could be used to inform controlling bodies in order for them to gain an appreciation of the issues facing critical care nurses during resuscitation.

A mailout survey was sent to all members of the Victorian Branch of the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN). The results showed that the majority of nurses underwent an annual ALS assessment and had current ALS accreditation. Nurses indicated that they felt educationally prepared and were confident to manage cardiopulmonary resuscitation without a medical officer; indeed, the majority had done so. The differences in practice issues for metropolitan, regional and rural nurses were highlighted. There is therefore clear evidence to suggest that legislative amendments are appropriate and necessary, given the time critical nature of cardiopulmonary arrest. There was overwhelming support for ACCCN Vic. Ltd to lobby the Victorian government for changes to the law.

Towards critical social work practice in mental health: a review

Progressive social work perspectives that draw on both critical theories and postmodern thought, provide highly relevant and appropriate frameworks to inform social work practice in the mental health field. Despite this, the literature overviewed indicates that the majority of social work practice conducted in mental health settings reflects an uncritical embrace of the medical model of psychiatric illness, and therefore largely neglects social work approaches which utilize critical principles. The following article explores the possibilities for applying a critical model of social work practice to the mental health field, and argues the necessity for social workers to actively engage with critical practice, even in medically dominated settings, to effectively work towards the espoused social justice ethics and mission of the social work profession.

Sources of doubt, sources of duty: HLA Hart on international law

In many ways HLA Hart’s critical analysis of the concept of law, with its repudiation of simple command theories of legal obligation, is at the same time a critique of the notion of state sovereignty. It is therefore an adumbration, if no more, of a radical reconceptualisation of international law, one which redefines the distinction between municipal and in-ternational jurisdiction. This paper is an exploration of what Hart could or ‘should’ have said about international law, based as much as possible on what he did say about international law and law in general. After some introductory comments it outlines Hart’s general analysis of law, with particular reference to the relevance for our understanding of international law.

Responding to terrorism through networks at sites of critical infrastructure : a case study of Australian airport security networks

The importance of effective multilateral security networks is widely recognised in Australia and internationally as being essential to facilitate the large-scale sharing of information required to respond to the threat of terrorism. Australian national security agencies are currently constructing networks in order to bring the diverse national and international security agencies together to achieve this. This paper examines this process of security network formation in the area of critical infrastructure protection, with particular emphasis on airport security. We address the key issues and factors shaping network formation and the dynamics involved in network practice. These include the need for the networks to extend membership beyond the strictly defined elements of national security; the integration of public and private ‘nodes’ in counter-terrorism ‘networks’; and the broader ‘responsibilisation’ of the private sector and the challenges with ‘enabling’ them in counter-terrorism networks. We argue that the need to integrate public and private agencies in counter-terrorism networks is necessary but faces considerable organisational, cultural, and legal barriers.

Asian socialism & legal change : the dynamics of Vietnamese and Chinese reform

The immense process of economic and social transformation currently underway in China and Vietnam is well known & extensively documented. Less attention has been devoted to the critical process of Chinese & Vietnamese legal change In a unique comparative approach this book analyses recent developments in the legal sphere in China & Vietnam.

Discrimination of educational outcomes between differing levels of critical care programmes by selected

Objective: This study was designed to prioritise educational outcomes for three levels of postgraduate speciality critical care nursing programmes.

Background: Postgraduate speciality education has proliferated within Australia over the past 20 years. However, there is little agreement regarding the expected characteristics, or relevant priorities, of these characteristics of graduates successfully completing these programmes of study.

Method: This study used a mixed-method approach comprising two phases. Initially a survey was mailed to volunteers between March and June 2005 to obtain priorities in educational outcomes for graduates of critical care programmes. This was followed by a stakeholder focus group in May 2006 to refine expected outcomes.

Results: Survey respondents rated educational outcomes that described professional and legal aspects of practice to ensure safe patient care as highest priority for programme graduates. Although most educational outcome statements were considered important for graduates from all levels of courses, increasing levels of practice was described for increasingly higher levels of programmes from Graduate Certificate to Masters Degree.

Conclusion: This study provides an emerging description of the priorities of critical care nursing programmes, with priority given to professional and legal aspects of practice. Further delineation of priorities is necessary to inform ongoing educational development.

Small firm e-business adoption : a critical analysis of theory

Purpose – The paper critiques a range of theories and evaluates their ability to provide a lens for explaining the idiosyncratic nature of small firms and their e-business adoption decisions.

Design/methodology/approach – This literature review firstly summarises the existing research evidence that shows that small firms are idiosyncratic when it comes to e-business adoption. It then critiques theories commonly used in the literature in this field to examine the extent to which they take this small firm idiosyncrasy into account when explaining e-business adoption decisions.

Findings – The critical analysis shows that no commonly-used theory adequately explains small firm adoption of e-business because each omits important aspects of small firm idiosyncrasy. The analysis suggests that an integrated theoretical framework is needed. Preliminary ideas on this framework are provided.

Originality/value – Existing research generally applies a small number of selected theories and formulates research models of adoption factors. However, there is no systematic analysis of theories in this field and no consensus about theoretical frameworks. This paper addresses this limitation of the literature by critically evaluating the commonly used theories in terms of their individual suitability as lenses for explaining small firm e-business adoption.