Turkey and Russia: A paradox of family resemblance

an article by Igor Torbakov first published in Osteuropa [via Eurozine]


Ottoman Army Marching Band (Mehter)
Photo by Turkspot from Flickr

Both Russia and Turkey are ethnically diverse former empires that underwent similar processes of modernization and had similar relationships with the West. Today, they have revived a civilizational paradigm with a strong authoritarian and anti-western character. Precisely this resemblance is resurrecting rivalry for power and influence in the region.

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I learnt a lot about current Eurasian political relationships from this article.


I also learnt about an earlier time from a novel by Ann Bridge. “The Dark Moment” details the leap by which Turkey progressed from a feudal-style government to become a modern republic in which women enjoyed equality of rights and equality of opportunity. 

More information about “The Dark Moment” here

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Coming Together to Punish Others: Social Capital, Racial Context, and Social Control

an article by Daniel P. Hawes (Kent State University, Ohio, USA) published in Social Science Quarterly Volume 100 Issue 4 (June 2019)

Abstract

Objectives

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between social capital and the use of social controls in public policy.

Social capital is strongly correlated with a wide range of positive societal outcomes across many policy domains. However, others have cautioned that the benefits of social capital are not uniformly distributed to all members of society and that there may even be negative effects of social capital.

This article posits that communities with higher levels of social capital will be more punitive toward those who break society's “norms of reciprocity.” This tendency for social capital to reinforce social controls will be particularly strong for groups within society that are considered “others” by the dominant group. Thus, as racial and ethnic diversity increases, punitive (and targeted) social controls are likely to increase.

Methods

The analysis uses state‐level panel data from 1986–2009 to examine the effect of social capital on public policies relating to social control within criminal justice policy, and how this relationship is conditioned by minority group size.

Results

The empirical analysis finds that states with higher levels of social capital tend to have more punitive criminal justice and drug enforcement policies and outcomes but only when there is a significant black population.

Conclusions

These findings support the hypothesis that the effects of social capital are conditioned by racial context.

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A Status-Based Multilevel Model of Ethnic Diversity and Work Unit Performance

an article by Lisa M. Leslie (New York University, USA) published in Journal of Management Volume 43 Issue 2 (February 2017)

Abstract

The present research builds theory regarding the consequences of work unit ethnic diversity by advancing a status-based, multilevel model of when ethnic diversity is likely to constrain work unit performance.

In contrast to past work unit diversity research, which has largely ignored the varying degrees of status ascribed to members of different ethnic groups, I propose that ethnic diversity is most likely to constrain work unit cohesion, and in turn work unit performance, in work units composed of two ethnic subgroups that are separated by large differences in status (i.e., ethnic status subgroups; ESS).

Furthermore, and consistent with evidence that the consequences of work unit diversity are contingent on the broader social contexts in which work units are embedded, I predict that the presence of ethnic status subgroups in the community exacerbates the detrimental consequences of ethnic status subgroups in work units.

Findings from a multisource, field-based data set (N = 743 employees nested within 131 bank branches) support the study hypotheses.

Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

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