Growing the Green Giant: Ecological Threats, Political Threats, and U.S. Membership in Sierra Club, 1892-Present

A growing body of research examines questions related to the emergence of environmental organizations and the growth of the environmental organizational field in the United States, but we need to know more about why particular environmental organizations grow or decline in terms of membership size over time. In this article, we draw on both qualitative and quantitative data to assess factors contributing to the growth of the Sierra Club, one of the United States’ oldest and largest environmental organizations. First, through an analytic narrative that synthesizes insights from secondary accounts of the history of the Sierra Club, we identify a variety of ecological and political threats that have led to growth in the Sierra Club from its founding in 1892 to the present day. Then, through time-series analyses of quantitative data, we show that two particular types of environmental and political threats—growth in carbon dioxide emissions and the presence of Republican Presidents—have led to growth in the Sierra Club from 1960 (when it began mass recruitment of members) to 2016. We contextualize these findings within the broader social scientific literature on neoliberalism and its consequences for environmental degradation and environmental mobilization. Overall, our findings provide support for threat-based models of mobilization and hold significant implications for research on environmental organizations.

Detecting the function of finance through history.

This special review article profiles the work of Joost Jonker, who retires from his chair at the University of Amsterdam in 2021. We situate Joost’s work in the international literature on the financing of governments, businesses and households, showing how his contributions to the field of financial history mirror wider trends. We focus on Joost’s preferred methodology (the analytic narrative) and his preferred theory (the functional perspective). We conclude with a discussion of possible future developments in the field of financial history. Our intention is for this article to become a useful resource for new scholars entering the field of financial history, particularly on topics relating to the Low Countries.

Growing the Green Giant: Ecological Threats, Political Threats, and U.S. Membership in Sierra Club, 1892–Present

A growing body of research examines questions related to the emergence of environmental organizations and the growth of the environmental organizational field in the United States, but we need to know more about why particular environmental organizations grow or decline in terms of membership size over time. In this article, we draw on both qualitative and quantitative data to assess factors contributing to the growth of the Sierra Club, one of the United States’ oldest and largest environmental organizations. First, through an analytic narrative that synthesizes insights from secondary accounts of the history of the Sierra Club, we identify a variety of ecological and political threats that have led to growth in the Sierra Club from its founding in 1892 to the present day. Then, through time-series analyses of quantitative data, we show that two particular types of environmental and political threats—growth in carbon dioxide emissions and the presence of Republican Presidents—have led to growth in the Sierra Club from 1960 (when it began mass recruitment of members) to 2016. We contextualize these findings within the broader social scientific literature on neoliberalism and its consequences for environmental degradation and environmental mobilization. Overall, our findings provide support for threat-based models of mobilization and hold significant implications for research on environmental organizations.

Sacred Abolition

This chapter analyzes the new cabinet’s position as well as the critical role of the Abolitionist leadership and provides a narrative of the legislation’s passage and its immediate aftermath. It begins with João Alfredo’s position and assessment of the situation, together with his cabinet appointments and parliamentary strategy, focusing on the reactionary threat. It goes on to emphasize the critical role of private relations with Rebouças and public Abolitionist support, the conflict between Abolitionist demands and Conservative emphasis on gradualism and indemnification, and Rebouças’s discreet legislative lobbying. It shows in detail how and why rural slavery’s collapse in São Paulo spread and what was its impact, how Rebouças’s position on abolition triumphed within the cabinet, and how Liberal and Abolitionist support for the cabinet solidified, and then concludes with an analytic narrative of the passage of the 13 May law abolishing slavery together with the immediate response of the Abolitionists.

Who is in charge? Jurisdictional contests and organizational outcomes

We explored how professional jurisdiction contests influence organizational outcomes by examining how Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) schools in the USA were impacted by a policy pursuing educational upskilling. While others have focused on boundary work at the field and work levels, we argue that contests between professions also influence important organizational outcomes. We detail how the profession’s accreditation decision requiring schools to provide Master’s degrees within a 17 year window took place in the context of physicians historically battling CRNAs. We provide an analytic narrative illustrating the history of this jurisdictional dispute, and empirically examine how CRNA schools with cultures differentially supportive of physicians’ field-level dominance responded to the requirement of educational upskilling. Our analysis indicates that the timing of a school adopting a graduate program was influenced by whether the organizational culture, represented by organizational ownership, supported physician dominance. We also highlight the importance of access to resources as another conduit for boundary work impacting organizational outcomes.

An analytic narrative of Caesar’s death: Suicide or not? That is the question

On the Ides of March, 44 BC, in the Senate House of Pompey in Rome, Julius Caesar was assassinated by conspirators, the most famous of those being Brutus. Are there objectively valid reasons to confirm the possibility of a suicidal wish on the part of Caesar raised by Suetonius? By building and solving a two-player non-cooperative game that models the historical strategic aspects of the relationship between Caesar and Brutus, our article shows that there is no need to subscribe to the suicide thesis to explain Caesar’s death. We formulate our conclusion via the solution concept of mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium.

Computerized neurocognitive interventions in the context of the brain training controversy

This article presents, in the form of an analytic narrative review, a complete picture of the state-of-the-art, challenges, and perspectives in the field of information and communication technology (ICT)-based neurocognitive interventions for older adults. The narrative particularly focuses on applications aimed at mild cognitive impairment and similar age-related cognitive deficits, which are analyzed in the context of the brain training controversy. Clarifying considerations are provided about the nature and present extent of the brain training debate, regarding the possible influence it has on the support received by research and development initiatives dealing with innovative computerized neurocognitive interventions. It is recommended that, because of the preliminary nature of most data currently available in this area, further research initiatives must be supported in the quest for better effectiveness of computer-based interventions intended for age-related cognitive impairment. The conclusion suggests that advanced ICT-based tools, such as virtual and augmented reality technologies, are the most fitting platforms for applying nonpharmacological computerized neurocognitive interventions.