Search

This article aims to address the history of the International Association of Workers for Maladjusted Children (IAWMC), which is an organisation often ignored in the field of history of transfers and circulations in the international specialised education. Yet this organisation, which was officially created in 1951 in the post-Second World War reconstruction period, quickly became a forum for exchange of experiences between éducateurs who were focused on the quest for models and methods. The IAWMC was created first during the beginning of the early Franco-German reconciliation, through annual meetings, especially initiated by French éducateurs. These existed in France from the early 1940s, working in the recently created institutions to support children and adolescents placed by the Justice and Child Care administration, and were looking for alter egos across borders. For example, many collective study tours structured such exchanges between éducateurs from different countries and shaped an organisation based in the Netherlands and France – where the first two Presidents, D. Q. R. Mulock-Houwer and Henri Joubrel, came from – and then in Belgium and Germany. In its own way, the IAWMC contributed towards debates on the role of the specialised éducateur in the institution, among pedagogues and therapists, which did not come without tension or resistance. The technical discussions of the association, held at conferences and annual workshops, reflected changes in the general design of the éducateur and in practices and knowledge upon which it was based. The IAWMC was a forum for clinical concepts from case-work and group-work, but also social psychology, sociometry and more generally methods inspired by the human and social sciences, which were expanding in international social work in the 1950s and 1960s. This was done through debates even within the international association, between a practitioner vision of the éducateur role, based on the group and whose leaders are French éducateurs, and a more technical vision based on psychology and psychoanalytic approaches more focused on personal interview and individual care. This contribution focuses finally on how IAWMC on the one hand was included in international organisations, e.g. UNESCO, and on the other hand forged the public recognition of the utility of éducateurs, even in the case of developing countries where they did not exist. Thus, in the late 1950s, the IAWMC was accredited consultative status by UNESCO and played an important role in the international expertise on maladjusted youth. This timing corresponds to the final extension of its audience, after decolonisation, to emerging countries and to what is termed the “Third World”. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On 1 May 2004, the European Union underwent its fifth "enlargement' as ten new countries joined. Integrating the eight new members from central and eastern Europe represents an economic challenge, especially in environmental matters. By joining the EU, these countries have had to accept the acquis communautaire and adopt environmental regulations stricter than those already existing there. This bears a price, since industry must be brought up to par with EU standards, in particular with regard to waste management and the installation of appropriate administrative structures. However the introduction of these standards also brings along considerable economic advantages, mainly related to the saving of natural resources, the improvement of productivity thanks to innovation and an increase in market openings; A comparison of the costs and benefits of applying EU environmental standards shows that, in the middle or long run, the benefits will exceed the initial costs. Porter's hypothesis, which emphasizes the advantages of environmental policies, turns out to be true under condition that these policies are integrated as early as possible in economic strategies and are backed up by a precise assessment of a country's environmental and economic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]