Search

This research, conducted with an introductory sociology class at the University of British Columbia during the 2001-2002 academic year, explored community service-learning as a pedagogy and philosophy. The theoretical focus of this paper is Nancy Fraser's (1997) criticisms of Jurgen Habermas' (1992) bourgeois liberal model of the public sphere. We analyzed the class experiences with community service that emerged from students' contributions to a database of community organizations, concept maps, and a student-driven course evaluation. The outcomes of this research include a description of potentially useful course strategies and a narrative of a unique type of community-service learning. (Contains 3 notes and 2 tables.)

This paper presents conclusions drawn from a comparative analysis of three qualitative case studies of participation processes at the regional level in Quebec''s healthcare system in Canada. Our objective is twofold: primarily, to draw on our observations to elaborate and discuss a sociological framework for the analysis of public participation; and secondarily, to use our data to criticise many pervasive but questionable preconceptions in the scientific literature on public participation. The framework used applies the social theory of P. Bourdieu in conjunction with the representation framework of H.F. Pitkin to demonstrate how any form of participation will imply some implicit or explicit delegation. The significance of the analysis is its focus on the social operations implied in these acts of delegation and in the use of the concept of symbolic struggles to understand the conflicts arising when the intrinsic legitimacy of the public is appropriated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses on the case study of the Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM) planning issue in Canada. The analysis focuses if how print media play in the outcome of the ORM debate which became an environmental issue. There are avenues of research used in the study, a literature review, a content analysis of the Toronto Star's Oak Ridges coverage, and interviews with people involved. The study shows that, the development industry sees the media as skewed towards an environmental point-of-view.