Lesbian struggle against a pillow or a wall: a Dutch-American dialogue

A dialogue between two lesbian women is conducted in an effort to demonstrate the differences in attitude and level of tolerance towards lesbians in the United States as compared to those in The Netherlands. Their observations suggest there are positive and negative aspects to being a lesbian in both countries and they hope that the positive benefits in both countries will combine.     

How a trend towards a stationary population affects consumer demand

Abstract During the great depression of the 1930seconomists in both the United States and Europe tried to analyse the economic consequences of declining rates of population growth. Not only were birth rates in many industrial countries at the lowest levels ever, but they coincided with high rates of unemployment. Of the many economists who held that demographic trends were partly responsible for the adverse economic conditions, a prominent example was John Maynard Keynes. According to his so-called stagnation thesis, population growth stimulates investment demand in two ways: more people need more goods and services and, hence, more investment in factories and machinery; and with population growing, businessmen are more likely to regard their investment misallocations as less serious than when the growth is slow or nil.(1)A minority of writers were more optimistic about the economic consequences of slower rates of population growth. For example, Thompson argued that with a lower ratio of consumers to producers the population would enjoy a higher standard of living and the education of children should improve.(2).     

Creating a Monster

The United States Democratic primary campaign of 2007–8 witnessed widespread misogynistic and anti-feminist portrayals of Senator Hillary Clinton across all types of media. In particular, Clinton was regularly depicted as monstrous and/or cyborgian, collapsing the boundaries between male and female, human and animal, and organism and machine. Such portrayals indicate a gender crisis in contemporary American culture which intensifies when women attempt to enter positions of power in the public arena. Research has shown that television, radio and print media coverage of American political candidates has consistently relied on gender stereotypes that undermine the campaigns of women politicians. However, portrayals of female candidates in online media remain largely unexplored. This paper discusses the implications of online media for women's political campaigns and for the democratic process itself. Through an analysis of digital imagery, I argue that simulations of Clinton circulating on the Internet during the primaries sought to produce a political reality in which Clinton's bid for the White House could be rendered improper and unnatural. In so doing, I suggest the continuing potential of online media to produce detrimental representations of female politicians.     

Pareto improving transition from a pay-as-you-go to a fully funded pension system in a model of endogenous growth

In this paper we investigate the possibility of Pareto improving social security reforms within a framework of endogenous growth. Belan et al. (1998) propose a transition from a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension system to a system of savings–subsidization. We follow this approach and prove that a Pareto improving conversion from the PAYG system to a fully funded one is possible. Finally, we compare the subsidy system with the fully funded system and discuss the problem of implementing the transition to the fully funded system. Received: 07 March 1999/Accepted: 13 December 1999     

Assessment of consumer research for a valuation of a quality-of-life policy

This paper evaluates the allocation, coordination, priority assignments and new directions in the research efforts towards a consumer policy. The formulation of a consumer policy is an essential component of a quality-of-life policy. It is shown how interdisciplinary efforts could foster this endeavor. The consumer welfare should be central to the political economy system. Thus a detailed analysis of the primary elements that interrelate to produce possible levels of welfare are examined. In depth consideration of the following five points consitute the bulk of the paper: (i) consumer choice and freedom, (ii) controls available to consumers over their environment, (iii) the demographic characteristics of consumer populations over the life-cycle, (iv) the interaction between the individual and the group emerging from the hierarchies of influence at the individual, group and society levels, (v) structure of the markets, degree of concentration and business practices related to sales. As a result of this analysis it can be concluded that several policy measure can redress the balance of power between consumers, business and government, however there is an urgent need for action by the consumers themselves. The initiative for effective social action in consumerism rests in the last resort with the consumers themselves. They can and do form coalitions which can be effective in influencing the course of events.     

Constructing a city,building a life: Brazilian construction workers’ continuous mobility as a permanent life strategy

This article provides an ethnographic analysis of domestic labor mobility among Brazilian construction workers in the context of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. We start from the premise that mobile laborers are crucial for the physical development and expansion of cities. However, the importance of domestic migrants in this process is insufficiently addressed in mobility studies. Building on existing research on domestic population movements in Brazil, we argue that the current generation of mobile construction workers draws on the intangible and material infrastructure generated by previous generations of migrants to enable novel kinds of (permanent) labor mobilities.     

A log-logistic regression model for a transition rate with a starting threshold

The paper presents a new type of parametric transition rate model that is particularly suitable for studying household and union formation. In such studies, it is often not easy to determine the moment at which individuals actually enter the population at risk - or at least when the risk begins to become socially important. Even in the presence of regulations stipulated by law, one might be interested in studying ‘social’ timetables. We assume that there is a constant rate for any duration and that after a certain threshold point a log-logistic rate is added, with this threshold as its time origin. This can be justified in a behavioural sense by assuming that random and social transitions arise from separate processes. We then apply the model to union formation in Italy and show how threshold and intensity effects generated by theoretical hypotheses can be revealed.     

Two and a half centuries of demographic history in a Bavarian village

Abstract A village genealogy containing family histories of couples married between 1692 and 1939 serves as the basis for a study of the demographic history of a Bavarian village. The past patterns of marriage, re-marriage, widowhood, illegitimacy, bridal pregnancy, marital fertility, family size, and birth intervals are examined. Both the age at marriage and illegitimacy increased and then declined during the nineteenth century, apparently in response to changes in restrictive marriage legislation. Differences in fertility for occupational groups were insignificant. Marital fertility remained extremely high before 1900 suggesting the absence of any substantial family limitation within marriage. A rise in marital fertility that occurred during the last half of the nineteenth century appears to result from a change in breast-feeding customs. The actual number of children surviving to maturity for most couples was kept quite low, however, through late marriage and high infant mortality. Only during the twentieth century are substantial declines in infant mortality and fertility evident.     

Implementing a Multidimensional Poverty Measure Using Mixed Methods and a Participatory Framework

Recently, there have been advances in the development of multidimensional poverty measures. Work is needed however on how to implement such measures. This paper deals with the process of selecting dimensions and setting weights in multidimensional poverty measurement using qualitative and quantitative methods in a participatory framework. We estimate the multidimensional poverty measures developed by Alkire and Foster for a particular group: persons with psychiatric diagnoses in the United States. To select relevant dimensions and their relative ordering, two discussion groups are convened: one consisting of persons with lived-experience expertise and the other consisting of people with mental health service provision or research expertise. Several methods are used to convert dimension rankings into weights. The selection and ordering of dimensions differed between the two discussion groups, as did the resulting poverty measures. For instance, the poverty headcount using the dimensions and weights of the ‘lived experience’ group ranged from 20.61 to 26.96% as compared to a range of 18.62–33.19% using those of the ‘provider/researcher’ group. One of the main results of this study is that the Alkire Foster method is sensitive to the selection of dimensions and the methods used to derive rankings and weights. It points toward the limitation of relying exclusively on small scale qualitative methods for the selection and ranking of dimensions. In addition, the participatory framework used in this study was found to be essential in interpreting results, in particular with respect to the limitations of the data set in measuring relevant dimensions.     

Multiparous women's confidence to have a publicly-funded homebirth: a qualitative study

Background

Hospital birth is commonly thought to be a safer option than homebirth, despite many studies showing similar rates of safety for low risk mothers and babies when cared for by qualified midwives with systems of back-up in place. Recently in Australia, demand has led to the introduction of a small number of publicly-funded homebirth programs. Women's confidence in having a homebirth through a publicly-funded homebirth program in Australia has not yet been explored.

Aim

The aim of the study was to explore the reasons why multiparous women feel confident to have a homebirth within a publicly-funded model of care in Australia.

Methods

Ten multiparous English-speaking women who chose to have a homebirth with the St George Hospital Homebirth Program were interviewed in the postnatal period using semi-structured, open-ended questions. Interviews were transcribed, then a thematic analysis was undertaken.

Results

Women, having already experienced a normal birth, demonstrated a strong confidence in their ability to give birth at home and described a confidence in their bodies, their midwives, and the health system. Women weighed up the risks of homebirth through information they gathered and integration with their previous experience of birth, their family support and self-confidence.

Discussion

Women choosing publicly-funded homebirth display strong confidence in both themselves to give birth at home, and their belief in the health system's ability to cope with any complications that may arise.

Implications for practice

Many women may benefit from access to publicly-funded homebirth models of care. This should be further investigated.     

Sensitivity analysis in a multidimensional demographic projection model with a two-sex algorithm

"Formulas are derived for the effect that a slight change in the occurrence/exposure rate of the multidimensional projection model has on the elements of the population vector. The projection model classifies the population by sex, age, and marital status. The model includes a two-sex algorithm in order to ensure consistency between numbers of male and female marriages, number of divorces for the two sexes, and new widows (widowers) and deceased spouses. The sensitivity functions and elasticities are applied to data from the Netherlands for the period 1980-1984. The results indicate that marriage market mechanisms, in particular competition and substitution effects, are reasonably well modelled."     

Sleeping with a Vampire

The research explores the narrative frames of recent vampire TV and cinematic stories with a special focus on the construction of gender relations and female agency in order to determine whether these narratives conjure up any liberating or empowering potential for their audience. The most significant elements of vampire fiction are taken into account: the central position of the heroine, power relations, love triangles, and the objectification of male characters. The identified common patterns both reflect and generate a crucial shift in Western sexual politics; at the same time, they address the burning concerns this shift has aroused, invoking the anthropological concept of “reflexivity.” The analysis is further couched in the debate on female empowerment and post-feminist gender representations in popular culture, including the idea of sexual subjectivity and a diagnosis of post-feminism as “double entanglement.” The described changes within the contemporary vampire narratives should not be, however, simplified as new forms of sexist discourse.     

Depict a better mood

In the language of contemporary painting, the conceptualization of a gradual replacement of the art itself seems to be reduced to an unprecedented bottom line requirements for color, shape and composition of fi ne art and other art forms the boundary is increasingly blurred. In such the air environment, in order to     

论和谐人口

1和谐人口的提出及内涵人口发展目标一直是人口学研究的重要课题,甚至可以说自有人口研究以来,关于人口发展目标的研究一直是人口研究的重要内容。这表明,人口发展目标是人类共同关注的重要问题。适度人口是人口目标研究中的重要成果。早在公元前300多年前,柏拉图就主张一个国家的人口应该适当,“必须不使人民过多而使国家过大,也不使人民过少而使国家过小”。现代适度人口思想发端于约翰.穆勒,他把“报酬递减规律”应用于农业人口规模研究,提出了人口增长过快超过一定点之后会导致人均产量下降的观点。系统提出和研究适度人口理论的分别是…