Which is the Only Game in Town? Minority Rights Issues in Estonia and Slovakia During and after EU Accession:Perspectives on European Politics and Society

Post-communist transition went hand in hand with the European integration process. Much of the literature on EU accession focuses on the rational decision to implement a set of European norms into domestic legislation pre-accession. It is often concluded that once EU membership is achieved, states succumb their rationality and act on the basis of internalised norms. The paper claims that the past literature overlooks the wider framework within which policy-makers operate before and after the accession, namely domestic sovereignty over policy-making and implementation. Tracing the policy dynamics in the area of minority rights in Estonia and Slovakia, we demonstrate that the European integration ushered greater domestic control over policy implementation on minority issues in two states exposed to a heavy dose of conditionality. As we observe, both states have consolidated their state- and nation-building policies referencing EU conditionality in the course of accession and later EU membership to assert centrality of domestic objectives for policy-making and implementation.

Civil society versus nationalizing state?:Advocacy of minority rights in the post-socialist Baltic states

Strong civil society provides individuals with arenas to bring their interests to the attention of policymakers. In so doing, civil society organizations (CSOs) can support state policies, but can also criticize policies. This paper argues that most minority rights advocacy CSOs in the Baltic states have little say in the crafting of policy and are compartmentalized into the existing agendas, with only a few groups able to evaluate policies independently. It concludes that the Baltic civil society is weak because the CSOs working on minority issues ask policymakers either too much, or too little. The findings suggest that policymakers quell criticism of their work from the side of the CSOs by ignoring their activities. Alternatively, by funding the CSO that shores up the state agenda, policymakers delegate their responsibilities to civic actors, keep critical voices from public debates and claim that their policies have the full support of a vibrant civil society. This paper investigates the options available for civil society actors to relate to policymakers in a nationalizing state by drawing on the data collected in 77 semi-structured interviews with the CSOs working with Russian and Polish minorities in the Baltic states between 2006 and 2009. © 2011 Association for the Study of Nationalities.

Contact and context: sharing education and building relationships in a divided society

One approach to tackling problems of division in society has been to promote collaboration and engagement between schools separated on ethno-religious lines. Based on some variant of contact theory, the received wisdom is that inter-group encounters can contribute to prejudice reduction and promote more harmonious relationships. Evidence to support this analysis is convincing; however, relatively little is known about the environmental factors that impede or enhance the potential for contact in different contexts. The importance of understanding such factors is underscored in divided jurisdictions, where separate education has been linked to the perpetuation of division and hostility. This paper adopts a qualitative approach to exploring the impact of two inter-school initiatives in Northern Ireland. The projects are located in contrasting socio-political and demographic environments, and research findings point to very different contact outcomes for participants in each. Seemingly relevant factors include the degree of congruence between school and community norms and values, the opportunity to develop relationships outside the school context, the relationships developed between the schools and local communities and the historical, political and social referents used by individuals to navigate the contact experience. The paper concludes with some reflections on factors that may help foster social harmony and on potential policy implications of the findings.

Identification of genetically and oceanographically distinct blooms of jellyfish

Reports of nuisance jellyfish blooms have increased worldwide during the last half-century, but the possible causes remain unclear.Apersistent difficulty lies in identifying whether blooms occur owing to local or regional processes. This issue can be resolved, in part, by establishing the geographical scales of connectivity among locations, which may be addressed using genetic analyses and oceanographic modelling. We used landscape genetics and Lagrangian modelling of oceanographic dispersal to explore patterns of connectivity in the scyphozoan jellyfish Rhizostoma octopus, which occurs en masse at locations in the Irish Sea and northeastern Atlantic. We found significant genetic structure distinguishing three populations, with both consistencies and inconsistencies with prevailing physical oceanographic patterns. Our analyses identify locations where blooms occur in apparently geographically isolated populations, locations where blooms may be the source or result of migrants, and a location where blooms do not occur consistently and jellyfish are mostly immigrant. Our interdisciplinary approach thus provides a means to ascertain the geographical origins of jellyfish in outbreaks, which may have wide utility as increased international efforts investigate jellyfish blooms. © 2013 The Authors.

Guideline for the diagnosis and management of myelofibrosis

The guideline group regarding the diagnosis and management of myelofibrosis was selected to be representative of UK-based medical experts, together with a contribution from a single expert from the USA. MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched systematically for publications in English from 1966 until August 2011 using a variety of key words. The writing group produced the draft guideline, which was subsequently revised by consensus of the members of the General Haematology and Haemato-oncology Task Forces of the British Committee for Standards in Haematology (BCSH). The guideline was then reviewed by a sounding board of UK haematologists, the BCSH and the British Society for Haematology Committee and comments incorporated where appropriate. The criteria used to state levels and grades of evidence are as outlined in the Procedure for Guidelines commissioned by the BCSH; the 'GRADE' system was used to score strength and quality of evidence. The objective of this guideline is to provide healthcare professionals with clear guidance on the investigation and management of primary myelofibrosis, as well as post-polycythaemic myelofibrosis (post-PV MF) and post-thrombocythemic myelofibrosis (post-ET MF) in both adult and paediatric patients.

Guideline on the design and conduct of cystic fibrosis clinical trials: The European Cystic Fibrosis Society–Clinical Trials Network (ECFS-CTN)

We describe the rationale for disease specific research networks in general as well as the aims and function of the European Cystic Fibrosis Society-Clinical Trials Network (ECFS-CTN) specifically. The ECFS-CTN was founded in 2009 with the aim of improving the quality and quantity of clinical research in the area of cystic fibrosis (CF) in Europe. A network of 18 clinical trial sites in 8 European countries was established according to uniform state-of-the-art quality criteria. To support the ECFS-CTN in the acquisition, planning and conduct of clinical trials, the network is equipped with a coordinating centre, steering and executive committees, and committees for protocol review, standardization, training and networking as well as a data safety monitoring board. A strong partnership with European CF patient parent organizations aims to increase awareness of the need for efficient clinical research and the participation of patients in clinical trials.

British population and society in 2025:Some conjectures

The paper examines three aspects of demographic change and conjectures about their wider impact on British society. Two features of fertility behaviour are highlighted. The first deals with ethnic variations and the likely continuation of high fertility rates amongst women of South Asian origin. The second involves the continued bifurcation between career women and those for whom motherhood remains a central life project. International migration is also assessed and the contradictions within the 'Fortress Britain' strategy exposed. Britain will continue to receive migrants from overseas and British society will become increasingly multi-ethnic. The paper also examines the tensions between an increasingly ageing population and the development of increased ethnic and cultural diversity. The paper concludes with some implications of these changes for the discipline of sociology itself.

The relationship between spatial planning and economic competitiveness: the ‘path to economic nirvana’ or a ‘dangerous obsession’?

This paper offers a contribution to contemporary studies of spatial planning. In particular, it problematises the relationship between neoliberal competitiveness and spatial planning. Neoliberal competitiveness is a hegemonic discourse in public policy as it (allegedly) provides the ‘path to economic nirvana’. However, commentators have critiqued its theoretical underpinnings and labelled it a ‘dangerous obsession’ for policy makers. Another set of literatures argues that spatial planning can be understood as a form of ‘neoliberal spatial governance’ and read in a ‘postpolitical’ framework that ‘privileges competitiveness’. Synthesising these debates this paper critically analyses the application and operationalisation of neoliberal competitiveness in Northern Ireland and Belfast. In focusing on this unique case study—a deeply divided society with a turbulent history—the paper takes the debate forward in arguing that rather than offering the ‘path to economic nirvana’ neoliberal competitiveness is a ‘postpolitical strategy’ and represents a ‘dangerous obsession’ for spatial planning.