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This article explores the meaning of the transition to adulthood in post-socialist China. Based on a mixed methods survey conducted in Beijing between 2012 and 2014, it examines how the transition to adulthood has changed during the Chinese transition to market economy. Qualitative data, 45 in-depth interviews (F=25 and M=20), shed light on how young adults (aged 19-36 years) view adulthood. Quantitative analyses (N= 915) inform on cross cohort variations in the timing of the pathway to adulthood. The transition to adulthood of 615 people born between 1980 and 1985 (F=290 and H=325), and 300 people born between 1950 and 1959 (F=151 and H=149) was reconstructed by the means of a life course matrix. The first part of the article opens with a conceptual discussion and a comparative overview of changes in the transition to adulthood since the 1980s. After having introduced the Chinese context, the second part outlines the methodological design developed to collect the qualitative and quantitative data. The third part of the article highlights a postponement in the timing of the transition to adulthood. The last part of the article reveals that, contrary to Western countries in which individualistic criteria such as financial independence, independent decision-making and a sense of responsibility are ranked first in the meaning given by young people to the transition to adulthood, Chinese young adults give a pivotal importance to family roles and responsibilities. It also uncovers that these roles and responsibilities imply different consequences for men and women’s paths to adulthood.

Keywords: youth, jeunesse, transition to adulthood, transition vers la vie adulte, life course, parcours de vie, gender, genre, China, Chine

Canadian universities today assert their social relevance through highlighting processes such as community engagement, knowledge mobilization, and the promotion of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Much can be learned about such processes through examining an era in which Canadian universities asserted their social relevance through another vocabulary: that of adult education and extension. This article provides a case study of adult education work undertaken at Laval University from 1930 through 1965. Through reconstructing programs and practices at Laval, this article offers insight into past and present efforts of universities to pursue educational objectives with which they are not traditionally associated. The article narrates an important chapter in Canadian educational history, and also elucidates five lessons of importance to contemporary educational scholars and leaders: beware of institution-centric thinking, know how you can help people make a living, partner with external organizations, play to your institutional strengths, and serve and learn from others.

Keywords: éducation des adultes, adult education, éducation permanente, university extension, mobilisation des connaissances, knowledge mobilization, engagement communautaire, community engagement, history, histoire du Québec et du Canada, Quebec, Canada

Recent developments in the technology of weaponry have brought about a reconsideration of the "geopolitical" importance of Canadian northern spaces to the physical-security interests of the two superpowers, and especially of the United States. Those technological developments have been apparent in three areas : ballistic missile defence (BMD), nuclear-propelled (and sometimes-armed) submarines, and air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM). Both the BMD and nuclear-submarine issues have generated much debate of late in Canada ; considerably less attention has been accorded the analysis of developments in the domain of the ALCM. It is with this latter weapon-system and in particular with the manner in which Washington regards Soviet ALCMs, that this article is concerned. Argued here is the view that the perceived Soviet ALCM threat has been of major importance in the recent modernization of North American air-defence Systems. In addition to discussing the development and consequences of Soviet ALCMs, this article also explores the extent to which technological transformations in weapons-systems might also have the effect of achieving conceptual transformations in strategic analysis. A major sub-theme of the article is the contention that technological variables have been occasioning a reconsideration of the manner in which theorists of international relations and strategic studies have been assessing the relationship between geographical configuration and the perceived strategic significance of states. The article observes that the once-moribund field of "geopolitics" has been undergoing a modest revival among theorists, in part because of changes in those weapons technologies in discusses.

Every organization (and department) needs to undertake a periodic analysis to pinpoint its existing strengths and weaknesses. At present, there is a growing interest among organizations about learning how to conduct a systematic human resources (HR) assessment. The evaluation of the HR function and its relationship to organizational effectiveness results in an understanding that is useful when modelling the path toward strategie human resources management. Thus, evaluation and control mechanisms are a requisite and contributing factor to the credibility and acceptance of HR management in the eyes of corporate management.Although management understands the need for assessing the effectiveness of their HR services, the approaches and instruments avallable to carry out this task are not very well developed. Recently, however, an approach called "multiple constituency" has emerged. The premise behind this approach is that the effectiveness of the HR department is determined by its reputation with constituents or clients. The multiple constituency approach is on the rise, given the importance accorded to customer satisfaction in the general management literature. With the proliferation of general concepts such as "total quality", "zero defects" and the like, this study attempts to develop a model applicable to human resources; it measures constituent satisfaction with various HR activities (i.e. the dependent variable) as an indicator of the effectiveness of the HR department. Nevertheless, given the notion of limited resources, the underlying assumption in this study is that an effective HR department is one that is able to identify the critical constituents in its organization (i.e., hospitals in this study), and to attempt to satisfy these constituent groups first and foremost. By contrast, it is also assumed that an HR department which falls to address these "core groups", may allocate time, money, and other resources to less important constituents and consequently may have less impact on the organization's overall effectiveness. Thus, the two research questions addressed in this study are:1. What are the key variables affecting the level of satisfaction of different constituent groups with their human resource department?2. Are there differences or similarities pertaining to the level of satisfaction with the HR services amongst the various constituent groups?In order to test the model, the collaboration of the Quebec Hospital Association was sought. A stratified sample was used to select 35 general hospitals (i.e., 12 large, 12 medium-sized and 11 small) of which 27 finally agreed to collaborate. Two types of instruments (questionnaires) were developed to measure 5 principal constituent groups' perceptions about their respective HR effectiveness. The groups included: (1) senior executives, (2) middle managers, (3) nurses, (4) professional employees, and (5) blue-collar workers. In parallel, all of the HR directors were given questionnaires which enabled them to supply information about their services and department (i.e., size, qualifications of the staff in the HR unit, etc.). Based on this stratified sample, and the requirement of a minimum of 42 questionnaires per hospital (i.e., a minimum of 7 employees selected at random for each constituent group), a 68.5% response rate was obtained.The fact that multiple sources of information were used and that analyses were done across hospitals and constituent groups (i.e., the aggregate nature of the analyses), reduced the problem of "method-variance" in the findings.A model pertaining to the determinants of client satisfaction with (and expectations of) the HR department was developed. The determinants of clients' satisfaction (and expectations) were divided into two principal groups: (l)those pertaining to client characteristics (i.e., seniority, age, commitment to the hospital, gender, level of autonomy, frequency of contacts with the HR department, and constituent affiliation), (2) those pertaining to HR department's characteristics (size, power, seniority of the HR department, qualifications of the HR staff, education and the general orientation of the HR strategy in conducting the HR activities). All in all, the results supported the general usefulness of the multiple constituency approach. First, the results of the factorial analysis suggested that the 10 facets of HR activities (i.e., staffing, training, remuneration, etc.) can be grouped into only two dimensions which were labelled in the study: "labour relations" and "traditional HR". Second, it was demonstrated that different constituents have significant differences in their level of satisfaction with respect to labour relations activities ÇF=11.6; P=.001). By contrast, no significant differences in satisfaction were found for the traditional HR dimension. As regards to expectations of the HR department, a significant difference was found for both labour relations and traditional HR activities. Moreover, the findings revealed that three independent variables play a major role in explaining variance in satisfaction with the HR services: (1) level of commitment of the constituent to the hospital, (2) professional qualification of the HR staff, and (3) the frequency of contacts the constituent has with the human resource department. Other findings shed more light on the level of expectation constituents have toward their HR services. The study concludes with a short discussion on how an HR department can increase its effectiveness under circumstances of compatibility and non-compatibility with its clients' expectations, and how the HR department should intervene in order to increase satisfaction thereby increasing effectiveness.

SummaryBased on a review and comparison of recent developments in organizing, collective bargaining and political action, this paper considers the potential for union revival in Canada and the United States. Although unions have devoted considerable energy and resources to new initiatives, the overall evidence leads us to generally pessimistic conclusions. The level and direction of union density rates indicates the two labour movements lack the institutional frameworks and public policies to achieve sustained revival. Significant gains in union membership and density levels will require nothing less than a paradigm shift in the industrial relations systems—a broadening of the scope and depth of membership recruitment, workplace representation and political activities.

This paper summarises a diagnosis of some human resource management (HRM) activities in 12 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) of the Canadian consulting engineering industry. Data were collected by means of thorough interviews with the persons assuming the main HRM responsibilities in these SMEs. These interviews were structured by the use of an exhaustive questionnaire covering the main HRM activities. The employment and maintenance activities analysed in this paper are human resource planning, job analysis, recruitment, selection, induction, compensation and performance appraisal. This study has three major objectives. First, it provides descriptive data on the use of these HRM activities in SMEs of the consulting engineering industry. Second, it evaluates the level of development of these activities in light of the normative HRM body of knowledge. Finally, it summarizes the major obstacles faced by the persons assuming these HRM responsibilities. The results underline the adaptive capacities of the SMEs but they also suggest the pertinence of improving some of their HRM activities.

Keywords: Gestion des ressources humaines (GRH), Pratiques de GRH, Petites et moyennes entreprises (PME), Gestion de projets (GP), Diagnostic, Sociétés-conseils, Ingénierie

Issues relating to the fight against cross-border crime and the strengthening of the Common Market led the Community legislature to lay the foundations of a common criminal space in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC). Being an area where State sovereignty has long been regarded as an obstacle to any harmonization, the building of a Community penal space is noticeable on material and procedural plans. On the material side, it is manifested by a communitisation of criminal rules through the establishment of Community offences and matching penalties. On a procedural point of view, the construction of the common criminal space proceeds of the consecration, though imperfect, of the principle of mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments in criminal matters, on the one hand, and a judicial co-operation procedure which gradually takes the path of Community bodies on the other.

Keywords: CEMAC, espace pénal, coopération judiciaire, CEMAC, penal space, judicial co-operation