Visualising folk religion and ancestor worship at A-Ma temple in Macau,China

This reflective visual essay interacts with the images included as I perused the grounds of the A-Ma temple in Macau on the southern coast of China. This essay is a response to seven images taken during this visit, accompanied by a brief overview of religious adherence and the historical practice of folk religion and ancestor worship in this region of the world. The lore behind the Temple of the Goddess A-Ma is given with a consideration of the practices of ancestor worship as portrayed in the images.     

Girl-trafficking,HIV / AIDS,and the position of women in Nepal

This article focuses on trafficking of young Nepalese girls and women. Trafficking is an integral part of the social and economic fabric of Nepal, as in other parts of the world. The practice causes intolerable degradation and suffering for the girls and young women involved, who are treated as a commodity. It presents a risk to their physical and mental health, and in particular to their sexual health. The article examines the connections between coercive sex work and HIV infection, and community and government responses to HIV infection among trafficked sex workers. In particular, it considers the current AIDS prevention and control program in Nepal, and criticizes it from the feminist perspective of the authors, who are a Nepalese nurse who has undertaken academic work in New Zealand related to women's health, and a New Zealand feminist academic, who is also a nurse.     

No time to lose: time constraints and physical activity in the production of health

Although individuals are all endowed with the same time budgets—1,440 minutes per day—time use patterns differ owing to heterogeneity in preferences and in other constraints. In today’s health policy arena there is considerable discussion, but little conclusive strategy, about how to improve health outcomes by increasing levels of physical activity. In this paper, we explore how individuals with different levels of human capital (educational attainment) allocate time to physically-demanding activities that we characterize as health-producing behaviors. Our hypothesis is that many individuals are confronted with significant constraints on their allocation of time to exercise, and that these constraints differ importantly by level of human capital (e.g., educational attainment). However, the prediction of how human capital influences time allocated to physical activity is ambiguous because there are both substitution and wealth effects at work: since the shadow price of non-labor time use is relatively greater for high-wage individuals, they may spend less time engaged in health-promoting activities (as has been documented for activities like sleep); yet individuals who have amassed high levels of human capital are both more able to afford health-producing behaviors and more likely to prefer greater levels of produced health. We explore a set of empirical questions suggested by this framework using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), administered by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We focus on respondents ages 25–64 using the combined 2005 and 2006 ATUS data. The ATUS data are based on daily time use diaries completed by individuals aged 15 and older, including information on a large number of detailed physical activity time uses. We compare time allocated to physical activity to time allocated to sleep, household and personal activities, care for others, work, and non-exercise leisure activities. Since the ATUS time use categories are mutually exclusive and exhaustive (i.e. “multitasking” is not accommodated) we employ econometric share equation techniques to enforce the adding-up requirement that time use is constrained to 1,440 minutes per day. Our findings largely bear out the hypothesis that different levels of human capital endowment (educational attainment) result in different manifestations of how time is used in ways that may produce different health outcomes. While more-educated individuals tend to sleep much less than less-educated individuals and to work more hours, they are more likely to allocate time to physical activity in their leisure time. Our application of economic share equation techniques allows us to extend the literature by demonstrating not only how educational status is associated with time allocated to physical activity, but also where the other minutes of the day are allocated to and from.     

Responding to economic change in remote, rural regions: federal installations in Idaho and Washington

The federal government's massive spending on nuclear weapons materials and research generated tens of thousands of jobs and pumped billions of dollars into a small number of regions during the 1940s and 1950s. This concentration of financial and physical resources caused the almost overnight formation of small urban centers in what formerly had been remote, rural areas, and made the economies of the regions that surround the two physically largest sites at Hanford and INEEL heavily dependent on nuclear-related government funding. With the end of the Cold War and global agreement to reduce nuclear arsenals, most of these facilities have been made obsolete. More than 10,000 jobs have been recently eliminated and thousands more were lost at private companies providing support services to these facilities and the displaced workers and their families. Further reductions will likely occur within the next 7–10 years. Our research looked at how local leaders in the still largely rural regions surrounding these two Department of Energy (DOE) sites responded to these economic changes, how have the communities reacted to the likelihood that these facilities would never again be a significant economic engine for the region, and what actions are being taken to reduce the impact of significant DOE cutbacks expected in the future? The results raise critical questions regarding the long-term economic future of the two regions and whether a more aggressive multi-faceted effort is required to stave off a long-term decline.     

Environmental education evaluation: Time to reflect,time for change

Evaluation in environmental education is fairly nascent despite decades-long attention to its importance. In setting the context for future chapters appearing in this special issue of the Journal of Evaluation and Program Planning, attention is devoted to the political circumstances associated with retrenchment in the public sector and increased involvement of citizens in environmental issues in their regions. It further is nested in the context of potential political reforms in a stable market democracy where education is but one strategy that can be bundled with regulations and taxes/subsidies. Additional attention is directed to explaining many of the key evaluation theories – utilization-focused evaluation, evaluative capacity building, and program-theory driven evaluation. The final section of this chapter situates the subsequent chapters of this volume based on the demographic target (youth or adult) as well as connection to a particular evaluation theory.     

No time to think: protecting the reflective space in children's services

Over the past few years, first line managers in child care have faced mounting pressure on their time from both the national performance management agenda and the professional demands associated with the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families and Working Together to Safeguard Children: A Guide to Inter‐Agency Working to Safeguard and Promote the Welfare of Children. This paper briefly discusses the policy context surrounding this period of unprecedented change and focuses on the potential erosion of the reflective space in supervision as first line managers struggle to cope with the ever‐increasing expectations. An argument is made for the creative use of multi‐agency action learning/ research projects within the workplace to supplement individual supervision and promote reflective multi‐agency child care practice; some examples of successful projects are given. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Faith,work, and women in a changing world: the influence of religion in the lives of beedi rollers in West Bengal

In India, religious norms and values play a significant role in regulating the lives of women and girls in many communities. This article looks at how the lives of women and girl beedi (hand rolled cigarette) rollers in a Muslim community in West Bengal are influenced by their religious background, highlighting the complex relationship between gender, faith, and work. Secondly, the article discusses how secular NGOs – which in India are often seen to be hesitant in addressing questions of religious faith and practice – can engage in development work with women and girls in faith-based communities. The article focuses on the experiences of two secular NGOs working with women beedi workers in villages in Murshidabad, as they come to understand that to bring about significant changes in women's lives they must open up discussions around sensitive religious belief, within the community and their own organisations.     

Moroccan women in Madrid: between change and continuity

This article focuses on individual migration and acculturation processes experienced by Moroccan women in the area of Madrid, based on qualitative research conducted in the Spanish capital in 2008. The results show that Moroccan women restructure their daily practices through complex acculturation processes, orienting them towards both the society of origin and that of arrival. They experience a constant struggle in getting to know the traditions of Spanish society, reorienting their former traditions and inventing new solutions. Moroccan women develop new ways of adapting themselves to their situation in Madrid. This acculturation process bridges the continuity with their culture of origin and reflects changes related to the new context. The studied women move in a transnational space with rigid borders, which is intersected by several social categories such as their education, ethnicity and gender, influencing their relative position within this space.     

Influencing economic change: Government interventions, disputes between sectors, and public relations campaigns in Israel

As with the earlier downturn of the Great Depression, the current global economic crisis has revived direct government intervention in the marketplace. It has also stimulated wider contemporary debates on the role of government in financial markets that feature not just funding issues, but questions of regulation and social legitimacy, and a greater acknowledgement of distinctive national–international tensions rather than a converging consensus around continuing to deregulate a global market. This article seeks to provide historical perspectives to these debates by considering the role of government, with the involvement of public relations, during economic changes in Israel. It focuses on major campaigns in Israel around the roles, and inter-sector disputes, of three major sectors: agriculture during the first half of the 20th century; industrialization from the 1960s to the 1990s; and commerce and competition from the 1990s into the 21st century. The article tracks these three historical transformations as part of Israel's gradual shifting from a nation economy toward a global economy. It concludes that, in the present downturn, the Israeli experiences offer a reminder of the impact of communication campaigns, interwoven with national identity, on economic changes, and the potential for public relations strategies and tactics to have long-term effects.     

Women farmers and economic change in northern Ghana

Structural adjustments can have negative impact, especially for the poorest people in the rural areas. This article explores the consequences of the liberalization of cotton production in northern Ghana, in terms of gender relations in the household and the bigger community in the context of production and provisioning. It draws on an 18-month study conducted in 1995 and 1996. Section 1 describes gender relations and agriculture in Kusasi, northern Ghana. Section 2 looks at the households, farming and provisioning situations in Mamprusi. The effects of liberalization and structural adjustment and how women responded to the new opportunity are discussed in sections 3 and 4, respectively. The final sections examine the difficulties faced by women who take on new burdens as a result of structural change and looks at alternative means of meeting strategic needs of women farmers.     

Sustainable communities,economic development,and social change: Two case studies of 'garrison communities' in Jamaica

Although the concept of sustainable communities is often referred to as being closely allied to environmental sustainability, it also embodies notions of sustainable development, empowerment and increase in community autonomy. The concept of sustainability assumes a process of social and/or economic development that has as a high priority the needs of the future generation. However, models of social and economic development employed in developing countries must rely heavily on political, social and psychological empowerment techniques being employed at the community level, in order to warrant any type of sustainability becoming apparent. Two case studies taken from Kingston, Jamaica, demonstrate the process of community economic development (CED) employed and provide a source for analysis of one writer's criteria for sustainable development. Conclusions are subsequently drawn as to the usefulness of this particular CED model in contributing to sustainable community-driven action. The analysis also points to improvement in the quality of life, acceptance of a 'third-party' support mechanism, the creation of an atmosphere for continued community decision making and continued visible government support as important factors in the struggle to maintain a responsible, viable community which will be acceptable to present and future generations. A pesar de que con frecuencia se refiere al concepto de las comunidades autosuficientes como muy vinculadas con mantenimiento del medio ambiente, tambien contiene nociones de desarollo sustentable, transferencia de poder y aumento de la autonoma de la comunidad. El concepto de la sustentabilidad asume un proceso de desarollo social y/o económico que tiene como su maxima prioridad las necesidades de la generación futura. Sin embargo, los modelos del desarollo social y económico empleados en los paises en desarollo, deben depender en gran medida de que las técnicas del autorizamiento póltieo, social y sicológico esten implementadas al nivel de comunidad para garantizar que cualquier tipo de sustentabilidad sea aparente. Dos estudios, hechos en Kingston, Jamaica demuestran que el proceso del desarollo económico de la comunidad (CED) emplearon y facilitaron un fuente para el análisis de los criterios de un escritor sobre el desarollo sustentable. En consecuencia, se han extrá´ do concluciones referentes a la utilidad de este modelo espe? fico (CED) para contribuir a la acción originada por la comunidad sustentable. El análisis tambien apunta a una mejora de la calidad de vida, la a ceptación de un mecanismo de apoyo a terceros, la creación de un ambiente para la toma de decisiones comunitanas y el continuo apoyo gubernamental visible como factores importantes en la lucha para mantener una comunidad viable y responsable que sea aceptable para las generaciones presentes y futuras.     

Family migration and the economic status of women in Malaysia

"The impact of family migration on women's economic position in a developing country setting is an area that has received relatively little research attention. Incorporating a lifetime perspective, this study makes use of the retrospective migration histories of husbands and wives from the second round of the Malaysian Family Life Survey to estimate how joint migration with the husband affects women's socioeconomic achievement. The findings show that family migration depresses the chances of working, but it does not significantly reduce socioeconomic attainment of those who do work. However, when a woman migrates with her husband she does forgo the substantial advantage she could have derived had she moved alone."     

Gender,conflict, and peace-building: how conflict can catalyse positive change for women

Although modern-day armed conflict is horrific for women, recent conflict and post-conflict periods have provided women with new platforms and opportunities to bring about change. The roles of women alter and expand during conflict as they participate in the struggles and take on more economic responsibilities and duties as heads of households. The trauma of the conflict experience also provides an opportunity for women to come together with a common agenda. In some contexts, these changes have led women to become activists, advocating for peace and long-term transformation in their societies. This article explores how women have seized on the opportunities available to them to drive this advocacy forward: including the establishment of an international framework on women, peace, and security that includes United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 and other international agreements and commitments to involving women in post-conflict peace-building. The article is based on on-the-ground research and capacity-building activities carried out in the Great Lakes Region of Africa on the integration of international standards on gender equality and women's rights into post-conflict legal systems.     

Socioeconomic Implications of the Increasing Foreign Remittance to Nepal: Evidence from the Nepal Living Standard Survey

The period since the 1990s witnessed a strong economic performance and labour demand in many countries in the Middle East, East Asia, and West, which coincided with the major political turmoil in Nepal causing enormous increase in emigration and foreign remittance. Using micro‐data for 1996 and 2004, this paper examines foreign remittance to Nepal and its socioeconomic implications. Data indicate that foreign remittance has helped increase income sizably and reduce poverty and income inequality marginally. Various family and individual characteristics are used to test whether the socioeconomically disadvantaged groups such as those with low non‐remittance income and assets, low caste and ethnic backgrounds, and from rural areas and remote regions benefited equally from foreign remittance. Analytical strategy involved estimating regressions of foreign remittance using the Generalized Least Squares estimator for families with foreign remittance and Three Stage Least Squares estimator for all families to minimize self‐selection and simultaneous causality bias. Although non‐remittance income and some of the low caste, ethnic, and spatiality backgrounds showed less consistent relationships, findings suggest that smaller families particularly with low asset‐holding and socioeconomic backgrounds were likely to receive less remittance. These findings highlight an important progress that the Nepali society is making toward levelling the playing field in foreign employment and remittance with migration to the regions and countries other than India offering better remittance prospects. Yet, further policy efforts are needed to ensure that foreign employment and remittance do not exacerbate the increasingly polarizing economic structure leaving the bottom sections of the society further worse off.