Showing papers in "Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research in 2012"

Community Development to Feed the Family in Northern Manitoba Communities: Evaluating Food Activities based on Their Food Sovereignty, Food Security, and Sustainable Livelihood Outcomes

Abstract: This article explores food-related activities and their impacts on sustainable livelihood assets, food sovereignty, and food security, and provides insight for future food-related community development. Analysis is based on community food assessments conducted in 14 Northern Manitoba communities and included a food security survey, price survey, and interviews. The lack of community control over development in First Nation and other Northern remote and rural communities in Northern Manitoba is found to undermine both food sovereignty and sustainable livelihoods, while creating high levels of food insecurity. According to logit models, sharing country foods increases food sovereignty and sustainable livelihoods, and has a stronger relationship to food security than either road access to retail stores in urban centres or increased competition between stores. The model predicts that rates of food insecurity for a community with a country foods program and with access to public transit and roads at 95% would be lower than the Canadian average of 92%. RESUME Cet article explore les activites relatives a l’alimentation et leur impact sur les biens durables ainsi que sur la souverainete et la securite alimentaires tout en ouvrant des perspectives sur le developpement communautaire futur relatif a l’alimentation. L’analyse se fonde sur une recherche menee dans quatorze communautes du nord du Manitoba et comprend un premier sondage sur la securite alimentaire, un second sondage sur les prix, et des entrevues. Le manque de controle du developpement dans les communautes reculees du nord du Manitoba, tant autochtones que non-autochtones, mine a la fois la souverainete alimentaire et les moyens d’existence durables tout en provoquant de hauts niveaux d’insecurite alimentaire. Selon un modele Logit, le partage d’aliments locaux permet une souverainete alimentaire et une autonomie durable tout en ayant un meilleur impact sur la securite alimentaire que celui obtenu par l’acces routier aux supermarches des centres urbains ou par une concurrence accrue entre detaillants. Le modele indique meme que les taux d’insecurite alimentaire pour une communaute rurale ayant un programme de nourriture locale et l’acces au transport en commun seraient, a 95%, inferieurs a la moyenne canadienne de 92%.

Philanthropy in America: A History

Abstract: Philanthropy in America: A History . Written by Olivier Zunz , New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2012. 396 pp. ISBN: 9780691128368 (cloth). Philanthropy: Not made in America but remade decidedly American

Social Movement Structures in Relation to Goals and Forms of Action: An Exploratory Model

Abstract: This article describes a theoretical taxonomy of the structural features of social movements. We begin by using two classification criteria to analyze the types of relations that characterize the structure of social movements. From there, we look at how differences in structure relate to different goals and forms of action. We then derive a four-fold classification system based on formalization and hierarchy of relationships. For each classification we provide case descriptions of social movements (or parts thereof) using literature on how different movement structures support different types of goals and forms of action. Furthermore, we discuss the dynamics of social movements (or parts thereof) and how their classification may evolve. By doing so, we illustrate how changes in structure, goals, and forms of action mutually influence each other.

Assessing the Ability of Disability Organizations: An Interprovincial Comparative Perspective

Abstract: Despite much effort put toward Canadian social policy renewal in the past decade, innovations in programming have been stifled due in large part to a lack of funding and accountability issues This is clearly evident in the disability policy field related to labour market programming for persons with disabilities where the packaging of programs has continually changed; however, the actual contents have largely remained the same The focus on federal-provincial dimensions has come to marginalize the role of disability organizations in the process, yet it is these organizations that governments may enter into partnership with in new governance arrangements to foster new programming This article reviews data from charitable tax returns for the time period 2005–2010 to assess the human, financial, and technological capacity of Canadian disability organizations in five Canadian provinces, in order to implement innovative programming R esume Malgre beaucoup d'efforts au renouvellement de la politique sociale canadienne dans la derniere decennie, les innovations dans la programmation ont ete etouffees en grande partie a l'absence de questions de financement et de responsabilite Cela est tres evidente dans le domaine de la politique handicap lie a la programmation du marche du travail pour les personnes handicapees ou l'emballage des programmes a constamment change mais le contenu reel est restes largement pareilles L'accent sur les dimensions provinciales federales est venu a marginaliser le role des organisations de personnes handicapees dans le processus, mais ce sont ces organismes que les gouvernements peuvent entrer en partenariat avec de nouveaux modes de gouvernance pour favoriser la nouvelle programmation Cet article examine les donnees de bienfaisance des declarations de revenus pour la periode 2005–2010 pour evaluer les capacites humaines, financieres et technologiques des organisations de personnes handicapees canadiennes dans cinq provinces canadiennes a mettre en œuvre des programmes novateurs

Social Economy: Communities, Economies and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada

Abstract: Social Economy: Communities, Economies and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada. Edited by Sonja Novkovic & Leslie Brown. Sydney, NS: Cape Breton University Press, 2012. 260 pp. ISBN 9781897009680The authors' goal in The Social Economy: Communities, Economies and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada is to provide "a snapshot of the social economy as seen through the work of a large and diverse collaborative research network." This is a very audacious task when one considers that in this edited book, Luc Theriault states the often-overlooked fact that the social economy "was relatively unknown in English-speaking Canada until a few years ago" (p. 23). Within the book, this premise-that outside of Quebec, the concept of social economy was not used or well understood prior to 2005-is shared amongst the authors; however, regardless of this self-identified challenge, the book manages to address and even go beyond this limitation by providing the reader something more thorough than a "snapshot."The Social Economy: Communities, Economies and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada is the result of the research of the Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network (SESRN), the Atlantic node of the Canada-wide Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Social Economy Research Project. The book contributes to, from the Atlantic region perspective, the evolving Canada-wide research resulting from this funding and explains the compelling place and role of the social economy in this region. The book uses the depth and breadth of the SESRN research to portray four key areas: in Part One, a macro picture in The Social Economy of Atlantic Canada; in Part Two, local stories and case studies to review Mobilizing to Meet Community Needs; in Part Three, Evaluation and Measurements; and in Part Four, looking forward with Policy Directions for Social Economy.The book takes on the task of capturing the Atlantic research node efforts over the past six years and provides a very sound basis to understand the macro picture of the social economy in this region, especially in Parts One and Four; and on to the micro level with several case studies of social economy organizations particularly in Parts Two and Three. Sometimes the different and separate pieces of research findings made for difficult reading for me, with perspectives changing as I moved through the book, but then I realized that editorial methodology was essential in order to capture the breadth of engagement and the explorations of different uses of the collaborative research model in SESRN.The book is a fascinating exploration of social economy definition discussions combined with local communitybased case studies. Accomplishing this range of presentation of the research was done well, while still allowing for the fact that "within the SESRN, there is certainly no consensus on a definition [of the social economy]" (p. 192). Importantly, as is apparent throughout the book, "this has not prevented us from collaborating in research, and in policy analysis and dialogue" (p. 8). In fact, The Social Economy: Communities, Economies and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada deals directly with the issue of definition. …

Les organismes communautaires au Québec : De la coexistence à la supplémentarité

Abstract: Resume Cet article presente les resultats d’une recherche effectuee aupres de 52 organismes du tiers secteur quebecois sur la question des relations qu’ils entretiennent avec un partenaire du secteur public. Les objectifs de la recherche etaient doubles : 1) elaborer un outil d’autoevaluation valide des relations entre organismes du tiers secteur et l’Etat et 2) proceder a une analyse transversale des informations produites par les 52 organismes du tiers secteur ayant participe a la validation de l’outil d’autoevaluation. Les resultats demontrent que les relations entre les deux groupes d’acteurs se sont stabilisees et meme ameliorees depuis vingt ans. Cependant, la contribution des organismes du tiers secteur est encore largement orientee vers la coproduction de services publics davantage que sur la coconstruction de politiques sociales destinees a une population commune. Abstract This article presents the results of a study involving 52 nonprofit organizations in Quebec focused on their relationships with public-sector partners. The objectives of the study were twofold: 1) to develop and validate a self-evaluation tool to assess relationships between third-sector organizations and the State and 2) to conduct a transversal analysis of information obtained from the 52 nonprofit organizations that took part in the validation of the self-evaluation tool. The results show that relationships between the two categories of stakeholders stabilized and even improved over the previous twenty years. However, the contribution of nonprofit organizations is still largely oriented toward the coproduction of public services rather than the shared construction of social policies for a common population.

Food Sovereignty in Canada: Creating Just and Sustainable Food Systems

Abstract: Food Sovereignty in Canada: Creating Just and Sustainable Food Systems Edited by Hanna Wittman, Annette Aurelie Desmarais, & Nettie Wiebe Halifax, NS, and Winnipeg, MB: Fernwood, 2011 219 pp ISBN 9781552664438What kind of food system does Canada have? Is it just and sustainable? Is an alternative food system possible? The answers drawn from reading this collection are sobering and distressing on the first two counts, but hopeful on the last This volume, along with an earlier collection by the same editors (Wittman, Desmarais, & Wiebe, 2010), grew out of a conference on "Food Sovereignty" held at the University of Saskatchewan in 2008 Many of the contributors are members of the National Farmers Union (NFU), a founding member of a transnational peasant and farmers' movement called La Via Campesina This movement embraces a vision of food sovereignty in conscious opposition to the prevailing "neoliberal industrialized food system" Its ultimate aim is to "put the control of productive resources in the hands of those who produce food" (p 5)"Food sovereignty" embodies an alternative moral idea of what our food systems ought to be for: sustaining livelihoods, ecosystems, and lives These social ends-which are economic ends-ought to be given precedence over profit-maximization Achieving food sovereignty requires shifting our food systems away from linear profit-driven "food chains" towards multi-dimensional just and sustainable "food webs" (pp 16-17) While there is little sustained theoretical analysis of the nature of capitalist profit-oriented agriculture, the readers of this journal will find that the idea of "food sovereignty" offers fertile ground for studying and mapping out the size and structure of the social economy and non-profit sectors in Canadian agricultureThe opening chapter by Weibe and Wipf outlines the recent history of the food sovereignty movement and the challenges, obstacles, and promise this holds for Canada This movement emerged as a response to the impact of neoliberal globalization on agriculture and trade across the world in the 1980s While its practical meaning might vary, the concept of food sovereignty can be broadly understood "as the right of nations and peoples to control their own food systems, including their own markets, production modes, food cultures and environment" (p 4) Food security is rooted in power relations, and is thus fundamentally political A paradigm shifttowards a food system based on food sovereignty depends on seeing how "sustainable food production and genuine food security are a function of community-based control over the food system" (p 5)In chapter two, Qualman examines Canada's neoliberal food system and argues that any objective consideration of its effects makes the "strongest possible case for food sovereignty-based policies" (p 21)Farmers increasingly rely on off-farm income, agricultural support programs, and debt-financed industrial expansion One of the more alarming observations he makes is that while our agricultural system has generated three-quarters of a trillion dollars worth of agricultural goods since 1985, the net market income of farmers (excluding state transfers) was zero over the same period (p 20) The state of our agricultural system is symptomatic of a classic staples trap that is ultimately turning farmers into sharecroppers and serfs who are increasingly vulnerable to being dispossessed of their land (p 35)In chapter three, Beingessner's interview of Terry Boehm and Hilary Moore (former NFU president and current president of NFU Local 310 - Lanark County) provides insight into the practical meaning of the statistical realities that Qualman identifies for small- and medium-sized farmers and rural communities Much of the discussion here (and throughout the book) revolves around the hard choices farmers face between adapting to the requirements of "capitalist agriculture" and using food sovereignty as the basis of constructing an alternative "mode of production …

Understanding the Rural Tilt among Financial Co-operatives in Canada

Abstract: This mixed methods study examines whether the rural/urban distribution of credit union/caisse populaire branches differs significantly from the general urban/rural demographic pattern in Canada. It also explores whether their distribution is different from that of banks, looking at the cases of Quebec and Atlantic Canada. The study finds a rural tilt among financial cooperatives in Canada, and seven key informants present their views on the results. Their responses are categorized in two main themes: why financial cooperatives are overrepresented in rural and small town areas, and why they are under-represented in urban ones. A discussion follows, and directions for further study are provided. RESUME Cette etude utilisant des methodes combinees examine si la distribution des succursales de cooperatives d’epargne et de credit / caisses populaires en milieu rural et urbain differe de facon importante de la tendance demographique generale des milieux urbains et ruraux au Canada. Elle aborde aussi la question de savoir si leur distribution est differente de celle des banques en observant le cas du Quebec et du Canada atlantique. L’etude revele une tendance rurale chez les cooperatives financieres du Canada, et sept repondants cles donnent leur opinion sur les resultats. Les reponses des intervenants sont divisees en deux themes principaux : pourquoi les cooperatives sont surrepresentees dans les milieux ruraux et les petites villes et pourquoi elles sont sous-representees dans les milieux urbains. Un debat s’ensuit, et des lignes directrices sont fournies aux fins d’une etude plus approfondie.

Volunteering with Newcomers: The Perspectives of Canadian- and Foreign-born Volunteers

Abstract: Canadian- and foreign-born volunteers have contributed to the settlement of newcomers into Canadian society. Despite their important contribution, little has been reported about the experiences and perspectives of these volunteers. Using the information collected from face-to-face interviews with 60 Canadian- and foreign-born volunteers who support newcomers, this article discusses factors that motivate people to volunteer with newcomers. The study results revealed among other findings that (1) to become a volunteer, one not only needs to be motivated but also needs to believe that volunteering will produce the expected positive results and to have confidence in one’s ability to complete the assigned tasks, (2) once people become volunteers, the experience of volunteering tests their perceived self-efficacy and their belief about the effectiveness of their volunteer work. Success or failure in their expectations influences their decision to continue or discontinue their volunteer work. RESUME De nombreux benevoles nes au Canada et a l’etranger contribuent a l’integration de nouveaux venus dans la societe canadienne. Malgre leurs contributions importantes, il y a peu d’ecrits sur les experiences et perspectives de ces benevoles. Cet article se fonde sur des entrevues face a face avec soixante benevoles nes au Canada ou a l’etranger afin de mieux comprendre ce qui les motive a aider les nouveaux venus. Les resultats revelent entre autres que (1) pour devenir benevole, non seulement faut-il etre motive mais il faut aussi croire que le benevolat entrainera bien les effets positifs escomptes et etre confiant de son aptitude a accomplir les tâches assignees et (2) l’experience du benevolat met a l’epreuve la perception de sa propre efficacite et l’impression qu’on a de la valeur de son travail benevole. Le succes ou l’echec de ces attentes a une influence sur la decision de continuer a faire du benevolat ou non.

The Impact of a Community-University Collaboration: Opening the “Black Box”

Abstract: Within the Social Economy, universities are working with community representatives to undertake research projects, service learning opportunities, and increasingly, academic program development, all with the objective of addressing social challenges. As many are quick to caution, the community is actually a sum of its various actors, interests, accountabilities and needs, which university staff and faculty must work to understand. Like the community, the university is a complex organization with politics, conflicts, tensions, and competing goals and objectives. Within this larger context, these various components, focusing on government, academic and administrative stakeholders, will impact and may even limit aspects of a collaboration between the university and its community partners. Through examination of a case study related to a graduate program, which was collaboratively developed between the university and community representatives, this article will identify and explore those accountabilities and the resulting impact on the collaboration. It will conclude withrecommendations for similar partnerships. RESUME Dans l’economie sociale, les universites travaillent de pair avec des representants de la communaute pour lancer des projets de recherche, creer des occasions d’apprentissage par le service et, de plus en plus, developper des programmes d’etudes universitaires; tout cela dans le but de regler des defis sociaux. Beaucoup s’empressent de formuler une mise en garde : la communaute est en realite la somme des divers acteurs, interets, responsabilites et besoins qui la composent, ce que les membres du personnel et les facultes des universites doivent tenter de comprendre par leur travail. Au meme titre qu’une communaute, une universite est une organisation complexe constituee de politiques, de conflits, de tensions ainsi que d’objectifs concurrents. Dans ce contexte large, ces diverses composantes, en particulier les intervenants gouvernementaux, universitaires et administratifs, auront des consequences sur la collaboration entre l’universite et ses partenaires communautaires, et peuvent meme en limiter certains aspects. Cette etude definit et analyse ces responsabilites et leurs consequences sur la collaboration par le moyen d’une etude de cas liee a un programme d’etudes superieures developpe grâce a la collaboration de l’universite et des representants de la communaute. L’etude se termine par des recommandations visant des partenariats similaires.

Governance in Transformation: Alberta School Board Chairs' Perspectives

Abstract: School boards are typically removed from nonprofit sector analyses because they are part of the “MUSH” set of organizations (municipalities, universities, schools, and hospitals) that both stand outside of the more typical nonprofit sector and tend to be closely affiliated with government. Nevertheless, school boards offer a unique opportunity to examine the governance of a large system of regulated activity that affects millions of citizens. How such systems should be governed has been a matter of concern for nearly 40 years. This study presents data from Alberta school board chairs regarding their perception of governance transformation being brought about by legislative changes. Five dimensions of governance are proposed as defining the current and anticipated governance domain within which school boards operate. Tensions within and between these dimensions signify symbolic boundary constructions that need to be scrutinized in anticipation of the governance transformation and boundary spanning activities of school boards required by the new legislation.

The Social Economy: Working Alternatives in a Globalizing Era

Abstract: The Social Economy: Working Alternatives in a Globalizing Era. By Hasmet M. Uluorta. New York, NY: Routledge, 2009. 256 pp. ISBN 9780415775939Motivated by what he identifies as a "global crisis of reproduction," Hasmet M. Uluorta explores the emerging role of the social economy in the paradigmatic shiftfrom that of "employment" to that of "work"; a shiftwhich has produced changes in what kinds of labour workers expend and how their labour power is understood. Having become increasingly precarious in the market-driven economy, the conception of labour has changed from rational to reflexive. This shiftis demonstrated in a change in workers' employment motives from purely financially-driven ones toward increasingly socially-conscious motivations, involving both paid and non-paid labour. The growth of the social economy and a changing understanding of labour are the book's central themes: the transition from paid employment-derived identity to an emerging consciousness of being-in-theworld- with-others (discussed further below). Uluorta develops a theoretical framework for conceptualizing these changes, drawing from Marxist philosophical traditions and testing against an original empirical study.Uluorta ultimately suggests that the gradual withdrawal of the state from social programs since the 1970s, in conjunction with the rise of precarious employment as a normative yet disadvantaged status, has prompted both the need for, and desire of, workers to engage in labour differently. Specifically, workers are now seeking out opportunities to use their labour in a more socially meaningful way. This argument is strengthened by an exhaustive quantitative study in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that demonstrates substantial growth of the social economy. Uluorta outlines three primary aims for this book: providing practical insights to encourage further implementation of alternative working practices; providing an innovative theoretical and empirical framework to analyze this paradigm shift; and providing a useful reference point for future research.Much of the book is spent tracking the paradigmatic shiftfrom "employment" to "work," its historical trajectory and the role of the social economy. The (post-War, Fordist) employment paradigm, spanning from the 1940s to the 1970s, is characterized by two features: (1) the market-driven economy; and (2) government commitment to full employment, both of which featured the domination of Taylorist factory and assembly line labour by a primarily male workforce. This produced what Uluorta calls "rational" employment. As the paid labour market and state sectors underwent major changes in the 1970s, a movement away from "employment" and toward "work" was spurred. Uluorta suggests that this movement consists of an intersection of social, economic, and political changes - namely, global economic restructuring toward a service and knowledge-based economy, the mass entry of women into paid labour, the expansion of working hours, employer demands for an increasingly flexible workforce, and the shiftaway from welfare state principles - which produced an economy and a workforce very different from that of the previous "employment" paradigm. He notes that this shifthas resulted in workers requiring extra support and assistance (such as that offered by social economy organizations), and seeking more meaningful and reflexive labour experiences.The theories and ideas presented in the book are important both scholarly and practically. Uluorta illustrates the value of non-paid work in a predominantly market economy through a unique and comprehensive theory of "economy" and economic activity, ideas that have been similarly approached in feminist literature (see, for example, Waring, 1999). Uluorta comprehensively develops his key concepts throughout the book, weaving together ideas of "employment," "work," and being-in-the-world-with-others, conceptualizations that guide the reader through the history of - and meaning behind - labour in our globalizing era. …

Toward Contemporary Co-Operative Studies: Perspectives from Japan's Consumer Co-Ops

Abstract: Toward Contemporary Co-operative Studies: Perspectives from Japan's Consumer Co-ops. Edited by The Consumer Co-operative Institute of Japan. Tokyo, Japan: Consumer Co-operative Institute of Japan (CCIJ), 2009. 247 pp. ISBN: 9784915307003The good news is that a patient reader will come away from this collection of research papers and essays with plenty of insight into the origins and evolution of Japan's consumer co-operatives. Many Western co-operators know that a huge number (one third) of Japanese households belong to co-ops, and that many have a track record of commercial success that is considered enviable in other countries. However, few Canadians will have "drilled down" enough to understand the challenges and opportunities that Japan's co-operative sector has dealt with. Here is a book that offers a great overview of everything from the history of Japanese cooperative legislation to the future of the Social Economy and is available to English readers for the first time in one collection.The reader must be patient because there is a certain amount of duplication and repetition in this collection, and also because the text contains numerous, minor grammatical errors that make for slower than usual reading. The collection would have benefited from a final review by an attentive and scrupulous English language proofreader in order to ensure ease of flow. Be that as it may, by the end of the book the repetition ensures that the reader will have learned a great deal about the fundamentals of consumer co-ops in Japan, and probably more than they need to about the contaminated dumpling scandal!Joking aside, for this reader, the repetition was not altogether unwelcome as it helped me to better understand what the flashpoints and game-changing moments have been for Japan's co-operators in the post-war era. Even though six of the eleven chapters are written by a single author, Akira Kurimoto (Chief Researcher at the Consumer Co-operative Institute of Japan or CCIJ), there is sufficient variety among the remaining authors to provide the reader with a range of perspectives. I was particularly happy to encounter Mari Osawa's genderbased analysis towards the end of the book, which proved key in helping to grasp some of the changes that have swept through Japanese society over the past decades.Appreciating the role of women as the foundation of everything from Han groups to Home Delivery is another reason to read this book. When describing Japan's post-war shifttoward urban and suburban living, Otohiko Hasumi writes in the Introduction, "the most typical pattern of lifestyle ... in which husbands worked long hours for their companies (the Japanese 'salary man') and wives ... took charge of all household related activities" (p. x). Professor Hasumi goes on to describe such housewives as forming "the backbone of co-op's Joint Buying food distribution system" (p. …

Funding Charities Through Tax Law: When Should a Donation Qualify for Donation Incentives?

Abstract: Canadian income tax law provides incentives for taxpayers to make charitable donations. Since only those donations to charities qualifying as charitable “gifts” are eligible for donation incentives, the definition of gift bodes significant revenue implications for charities and government alike. The Income Tax Act does not, however, define the term gift. The tests applied by courts and regulators to identify gifts in the absence of a statutory definition are contradictory, unnecessarily restrictive, and inconsistent with the tax policy behind donation incentives. The recent attempt to improve the law through the proposed “split-receipting” rules has achieved little in the way of meaningful reform. The ideal solution is to adopt a statutory definition of “charitable donation” that will both broaden and clarify the range of eligible donations. RESUME La loi canadienne de l’impot sur le revenu prevoit des incitatifs visant a encourager les contribuables a faire des dons. Etant donne que seuls les dons faits aux oeuvres de bienfaisance qui se qualifient en tant que « dons » de bienfaisance peuvent donner droit a ces incitatifs, la definition du terme « don » est porteuse d’importantes repercussions fiscales, tant pour les organisations caritatives que pour le gouvernement. Toutefois, la Loi de l’impot sur le revenu ne definit pas le terme « don ». Les criteres appliques par les cours et les autorites de reglementation pour identifier ce qui constitue un don, en l’absence d’une definition etablie par la loi, sont contradictoires, inutilement restrictives et incoherentes avec la politique fiscale concernant les incitatifs accordes au titre des dons de bienfaisance. La recente tentative d’ameliorer la loi avec les regles proposees sur le fractionnement des recus n’a eu que peu de resultats pour mener a une reforme significative. La solution ideale est d’adopter une definition legislative du terme « don » qui permettrait d’elargir et de clarifier la portee des dons admissibles.

High Ideals and Noble Intentions: Voluntary Sector-Government Relations in Canada

Abstract: High Ideals and Noble Intentions: Voluntary Sector-Government Relations in Canada. By Peter R. Elson. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011. 224 pp. ISBN 9781442610989High Ideals and Noble Intentions is a unique phrase borrowed from a speech made to the International Association for Volunteer Effort by Jean Chretien in 1998 that Peter Elson uses as his book's title. Like the title, this is a unique and refreshing book that serves as a wake-up call for those busily engrossed within the voluntary sector, including volunteers, board members, and funders et cetera. At its core, Elson's work presents in multitudinous detail the government's historically feeble attempts at procuring a stable and lasting relationship with the voluntary sector.High Ideals and Noble Intentions relies on scholars and researchers who have on prior occasion explored voluntary sector/government relations; however, Elson goes beyond this and uses persuasive evidence to depict the maladjusted marriage of the voluntary sector and the Canadian government. Relying heavily on statistical portrayals provided in reports consolidated by the National Council for Voluntary Organizations dating back to 1980, Elson uses a wealth of primary sources (e.g. House of Commons debates) to complement his narrative enquiry.Elson argues that the historical record documenting the relationship between Canada's federal government and its voluntary organizations shows the weakness of this relationship, which is only rarely mutually productive and supportive. He advocates the idea that a strong government partner is necessary for a flourishing voluntary sector, but when the government lacks the will to establish a relationship with the sector, then the latter needs to "independently invest in establishing itself as an inclusive and significant sectoral representative" (p. 158). Given this argument, the author's avowed intention is for his book to contribute to the understanding and practice of voluntary sector/government relations in Canada. Further, he argues that when a more sustainable and productive policy relationship between the two is fostered, it will prove beneficial to all Canadians. To this end, the book poses two broad questions: what accounts for the relationship that exists today between the government and the voluntary sector? And what has been the impact of key historical developments on voluntary sector/government relations today?High Ideals and Noble Intentions addresses three issues (noted as critical junctures) at the cynosure of voluntary sector and governmental affairs: policy and advocacy, federal funding, and the federal regulatory regime. The three critical junctures explored are: (1) the 1930 amendment to the Income War Tax Act (chapter three), because both the regulatory and statutory contrivances implemented in it paved the requisite groundwork for their reinforcement and consolidation in 1967 when the CRA developed a centralized effort to register and regulate charities; (2) regulatory changes made in between 1987 and 2003 to permissible political activity, as mandated by the release of Information Circular 87-1 (chapter four) in conjunction with Information Circular 78-3 and Political Activities CPS-022, which collectively amount to a momentous institutional shiftin admissible political actions within the current legislative framework; and (3) the alteration from citizen-based project funding to service-based contract funding between 1994 and 1996 as provided through Paul Martin's Program Review, which has precipitated long-lasting impacts on the government/voluntary sector funding relationship.Elson's work engages with an important epoch in Canadian history by unveiling the hidden idiosyncrasies of adverse governmental policies mandated for voluntary sector organizations, and proffers a compendious historical account of how the voluntary sector has been shaped in the 20th century. …

Advice for New Authors about the Submission of Articles / Conseils pour les nouveaux auteurs sur la soumission d’articles

Abstract: New authors often see the publication process as a mystery that only gets revealed in bits and pieces over time. This article aims to present some tips and ideas to new authors to facilitate the submission of an article to Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research / Revue canadienne de re­cherche sur les OSBL et l’economie sociale ( ANSERJ ). It describes the review process and highlights some key milestones. As the English Language and French Language editors for ANSERJ, we would like to encourage new contributors, and thus we will highlight specific items as they apply to ANSERJ. These guidelines complement the author guidelines already posted on the ANSERJ website. Our advice may apply to authors interested in other journals with a peer review process. RESUME Les nouveaux auteurs considerent souvent le processus de publication comme un mystere qui se decouvre au fil du temps. Cet article vise a presenter certains conseils et reflexions pour faciliter la soumission d’un article a la Revue canadienne de re­cherche sur les OSBL et l’economie sociale / Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research ( ANSERJ ). Il decrit le processus de publication et ses etapes principales. A titre de redacteurs en chef d’ANSERJ, nous aimerions encourager les nouveaux chercheurs, contribuer au debat par quelques conseils et reflexions et souligner certains elements specifiques a notre revue. Les presentes reflexions completent les directives deja presentes sur le site web de la revue. Ils peuvent s’appliquer a des auteurs interesses par d’autres revues avec comite de lecture.

Critical Perspectives in Food Studies. Edited by Mustafa Koc

Abstract: Critical Perspectives in Food Studies. Edited by M. Koc, J. Sumner, & A. Winson. Don Mills, ON: Oxford, 2012. 402 pp. ISBN 97801905446418For students of agro-food systems, Critical Perspectives in Food Studies is the kind of book that will spend little time collecting dust on the bookshelf. This reader, intentionally designed to serve as a "formal text to represent the depth and breadth" (Koc et al., 2012, p. x) of Food Studies, will more likely be found in use, open, pages marked, highlighted and interspersed with small crumbs of food. This invaluable 400-page book features wellwritten, well-researched chapters penned by leading figures in the Canadian Food Studies field. This volume is a credit to the depth and diversity of the Canadian Association of Food Studies (CAFS) in which it was incubated, to its editors, contributors, and to all the institutions, organizations, and individuals that drive the food movement in Canada, from field to table.The Food Studies movement is progressively interdisciplinary and this text demonstrates the value of bringing multiple perspectives to bear on a complex problem through critical inquiry. Contemporary Food Studies is giving rise to community engaged scholarship from its critical pedagogy, creating a new breed of activism amongst scholars and students in this field. Action research and community-university alliances are becoming commonplace as many of the chapters in this volume attest, offering a welcome dose of collaborative inspiration within the sea of silo'd academia. Ultimately, however, it is the "Emancipatory Question" (Constance, 2008) what many feel to be the leading edge in Food Studies scholarship that is at the core of this text, and the focus on interdisciplinary and organizational forms bringing social value that will be of particular interest to those interested in the Social Economy.Smartly spliced into five parts, plus an introduction and conclusion, the 22 chapters of Critical Perspectives in Food Studies bring readers through a logical progression from the what, to the why, to the how of Food Studies. Through the Introduction and Chapter 1, co-editors Mustafa Koc et al. situate the emergence of Food Studies' interdisciplinarity and mixed-methods as primarily a great strength, but note that this leaves the field open to boundary, methodology, and overall clarity issues which will need to be resolved through collective engagement at the intersections within the broader Food Systems framework.The remainder of Parts One and Two, including works by prominent scholars such as Freidmann, Albritton, and Cooke, showcase the diversity of analytical perspectives in Food Studies as well as the multiple levels of inquiry in scope and scale. What begins to come through in this work is the magnitude of the Food System's impacts on our socio-ecological systems. From systems of production and distribution, to evolving cultures of consumption, and linkages to health, art, education, gender, social justice, and environment, the prominence and prevalence of food as a lens through which to critically situate oneself within society and environment, becomes clearer.Parts Three and Four of the text offer further proof of the abundant analytical fodder for Food scholars across our troubled Food System. From the "Farm Crisis" (Wiebe) to the "Crisis in the Fishery" (Sundar), to the root causes of the diet-related health epidemic at the grocery counter (Winson), among Aboriginal peoples (Martin), and food bank users (Suschnigg), critical analyses by leading Canadian scholars offer stark assessments of the challenges in reforming the Food System. Food pricing, food labelling, and food governance are also covered herein, using a combination of theoretical analysis and case study perspectives to bring clarity to each of these critical debates. …