Public relations in the United States, United Kingdom, and China shares overlapping features

Chinese gated communities feature social clustering, micro-governing, and social engineering

In The Government Next Door (2015), Luigi Tomba describes five “rationalities” whereby the Chinese state has maintained control over local neighbourhoods during the transition from socialism to capitalism, namely: Social clustering micro-governing social engineering contained contention, and exemplarism Homogeneity of collective interests In Chapter 1 of the above-noted, exquisitely well-organized study, Luigi Tomba notes that “Communities are places […]

The setting of boundaries is always a political act (Edward Blakely and Mary Gail Snyder 1997)

On Dec. 26, 2015 Graeme Decarie wrote a long post at his website; he also spoke of mass murder in Guatemala in the 1980s

You can access the post here: Dec. 26:This is very long but,….. Graeme Decarie: I’ve just finished a very long blog. But I like it because this one gets me away from the dreadful newspapers down here. If you like, notify any students who might be interested that they can get it by googling The […]

Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States (1997) serves as a classic study regarding gated communities

I’ve been reading several books about gated communities in countries around the world, beginning with The Government Next Door (2015), which I have discussed in previous posts. Fortress America (1997) The latter study refers to Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States (1997) among other resources. Fortress America (1997), like The Government Next Door (2015) […]

Basketball, ‘the invention of a Canadian’ – CBC Digital Archives: James Naismith describes how he invented the game

I heard this audio recording one recent morning on CBC Metro Morning: Basketball, ‘the invention of a Canadian’ The link above is from the CBC Digital Archives; an excerpt from the link notes: “Basketball came to be because an inventive physical education student named James Naismith was in the right place at the right time. […]

“Whenever I have a spare moment,” notes Graeme Decarie, “I write a bit about my life for my children.”

In an email on Dec. 18, 2015, Graeme Decarie wrote: Whenever I have a spare moment, I write a bit about my life for my children. Last night, I started one that is really about failure in school – and why and how I failed. It’s something that has a lot to do with social […]

Bob Carswell shares reflections about the passage of the years

I’m pleased to share the following text from Bob Carswell. Bob Carswell writes: My philosophy on life is quite simple. I was born and therefore, I will die. The End. What remains after the system stops working has been donated to medical science so that perhaps I can also be of some use after death. […]

Role of other classes, aside from middle class, in China

Recent posts concern research related to the middle class in China. A related addressed topic in  Government Next Door (2015) is the role of other classes, in China aside, from the increasingly wealthy middle class. Luigi Tomba speaks (pp. 148-149) of a proactive role for the middle class and “advanced forces” in “moralizing society.” He notes this role […]