In-migration, entrepreneurship and rural–urban interdependencies: The case of East Cleveland, North East England

In-migration is a key influence in the process of rural economic development in England, Continental Europe and the US. New arrivals are often viewed in the literature as contributors in new venture creation, as well as catalysts in enhancing rural–urban interdependencies in the countryside. This paper sets out to explore the validity of this view in the case of East Cleveland: a rural area with a tradition of mining and industry, occupying the coastal fringe of the Tees Valley city-region. In doing so, the paper compares this locality with other parts of rural England in order to draw some wider conclusions. Particular emphasis is placed on comparisons with Cumbria, where comparable data are available. The paper argues that the impact of in-migration on the conditions of supply of entrepreneurship is cumulative rather than transformational. This means that it is particularly profound in localities with strong opportunity nexus, reinforcing favourable demand side conditions. However, the ability of in-migrant entrepreneurs to influence rural–urban interdependencies in areas with weak opportunity nexus (such as East Cleveland) is modest.     

Switching labels: The role of Weberian ideas in market change. A case study of the German wine market

How do cultural ideas shape market construction? What do ideas ‘do’ to actors in markets? The paper presents an empirical case study of the reconstitution of the German wine market following an EU legislative intervention. I use Bourdieu's theory of fields to analyse the actors’ economic, social and cultural capitals and the impact of these capitals on the actors’ positioning in the political debate. Sensitised by recurring problems in the empirical data analysis, I then, however, argue that Weber's notion of ideas, as presented in his famous switchmen metaphor, is better suited than, or indeed should serve as a complement to, Bourdieu's frame of analysis. It is better suited, I argue, because it refers to a unique and irreducible source of culture while Bourdieu's capitals remain ‘tools' in a struggle for power and dominance in the field.     

Household finance management and the labour market: a case study in Hartlepool

This paper reports on the results of a survey carried out in Hartlepool towards the end of 1989. It considers the problems posed by data collection through survey methods to enquire into the management of household finances, and adopts a procedure which first examines treatment of the man's wage, and follows with additional questions about use of the woman's wage, access to personal spending money, and the location of final authority over spending. The data are based on a comparsion between four different groupings with reference to the man's employment status: Group A: couples in which the man has been unemployed for at least the last 12 months. Group B: couples in which the man is currently employed and has held the same job for at least the last twelve months. Group C: couples in which the man has been recently recruited to employment. Group D: a residual group covering any other status, notably early retirement, sickness, disability or student status. An age range of 20–55 was imposed. Marked contrasts were found between these groupings though further variation was introduced by employment for the woman. Broadly speaking there are two instances of heightened financial influence for women: low income prompts female management, whilst women's employment (and therefore higher income) increases joint management. It is in the traditional and declining situation of a sole male earner in which female authority or influence is at its lowest.     

Agreement on water and a watered-down agreement: The political ecology of contested coastal development in Down East, North Carolina

In 2006, land use planning emerged as a contested issue in the rural area known as ‘Down East’, Carteret County, in eastern North Carolina, USA. Down East is experiencing a transition from a commercial fishing to an amenity economy and concerns about related changes led to the formation of ‘Down East Tomorrow’ (DET), a grassroots group that proposed a one-year development moratorium in order to facilitate a community planning process. In this paper, we use political ecology to examine the fate of the moratorium as reflected in the public written record, primarily minutes of meetings of the Carteret County Board of Commissioners. We illustrate how issues of community, science, and governance were linked to an increasing focus on coastal water quality in the debate, and argue that this focus facilitated a switch by the Board from considering a development moratorium to adopting a conservation ordinance, one that fell short of addressing DET’s concerns. This outcome illustrates the power of formal political institutions in ’First World’ environmental conflicts and the difficulties of reconciling competing values associated with land use in areas of transition, especially where historical resistance to planning has been the norm.     

Relationships between rural inhabitants and their landscapes in areas of intensive agricultural use: A case study in Quebec (Canada)

An understanding of the relationships between local populations and the landscape is crucial for reintroducing the multifunctional character of landscapes in areas of intensive agricultural use. This study proposes to identify and compare the relationships that local populations, both farmers and non-farmers, maintain with their landscapes in areas of intensive agricultural use based on a detailed case study in Quebec, Canada. It relies on the dialectical conceptual model of individual–landscape interactions and introduces the notion of “community of relationships to the landscape” to compare populations. Following semi-structured interviews, we performed an analysis of the links between the attributes of the valued landscape, the motives for having those values and the practices tied to those values. This led to distinguish between four main types of relationships with the landscape: the hedonistic relationship, the emotional relationship, the utilitarian relationship, and the relationship with the social environment. Then, on the basis of the relative weight of each relationship and the interactions between the multiple relationships that local inhabitants have with the landscape, four communities of relationships to the landscape were identified, most including both farmers and non-farmers. Beyond the apparent uniformity of the landscapes in areas characterized by intensive agriculture, the results highlight the diversity of the local populations and confirm the heuristic significance of the notion of community of relationships to the landscape. Finally, our analysis of the differences with regard to values and visions between the communities suggests that the vitality of these rural areas can only be ensured by recognizing, maintaining and possibly increasing the current diversity of communities.     

Women from the Middle East and North Africa in Europe: understanding their marriage and family dynamics

The aim of this article is to assist the understanding of social workers in Europe of marriage and family dynamics among women from Middle East and North African countries who have moved to Europe. The focus of this article is on husband selection processes and family dynamics after marriage in Egypt, which is used as a case study reflecting culture and norms surrounding marriage in this region. This article reports on the findings of doctoral studies which examined marriage patterns and family dynamics in North Africa and in particular in Egypt where more in-depth data were available. The authors reflect issues surrounding values and process of marriage not only in terms of the implications for practice with social work clients or service users, but also in relation to the potential of women from this region who may join the social care workforce.     

The role of empathy in case management: a pilot study

Little research has been done on the benefit of empathy for social workers in the actual practice of their profession. This prompted an exploration of the interplay between empathic ability and the skills practitioners draw on for case management. Two cohorts of social work students, in their final semester, reflected on an authentic social work scenario and suggested a plan for intervention before completing a scale measuring empathy. The results revealed that different dimensions of empathy, to a varying degree, underpin the process through which students come to a decision on how to intervene. The findings provide empirical support for the assumption that empathy plays an essential role in the practice of social work. They also suggest the need for further investigation, particularly given the potential use of increased knowledge on what determines the skills needed to take on the oftentimes complex and demanding reality of social work.     

Five new towns in the Seoul metropolitan area and their attractions in non-working trips: Implications on self-containment of new towns

In the late 1980s, the Korean government initiated the “Two Million Home Construction Plan” to tackle severe shortages in housing and soaring housing prices. Five new towns (Bundang, Ilsan, Pyeongchon, Sanbon, and Joongdong) were planned around the city of Seoul. By the mid-1990s the residential areas in the five new towns were mostly developed. However, their commercial areas have remained underdeveloped and as a consequence, the new towns are believed to have become bedroom communities.This paper assesses self-containment status of the new towns by analyzing non-working trip patterns in the five new town areas. A survey conducted on non-working trip patterns of the residents in the five new towns and the nearby areas (to shop for groceries, clothing, electronics/jewelry, leisure/entertainment, and to access medical services) reveals that Bundang's commercial dependency upon the city of Seoul has been reduced significantly over the past 5 years (from 1995 to 2000). The survey results on non-working trip patterns of the residents in the five new towns and nearby residential areas in the Seoul Metropolitan Area indicate that the five new towns have been growing as suburban centers in the region in terms of retail attractions, even though they are still maintaining a high dependency on Seoul in terms of working commutes.These observations provide some new indications about self-containment arguments relevant to new town planning. The new towns are currently maintaining a decent degree of self-containment in terms of non-working trip, which has been an important aspect absent in self-containment arguments. In addition, the appeal of self-containment in non-working activities is growing in a dynamic sense. Observations on the dynamic process of the new town developments in Korea demonstrate that the self-containment can be established but through a long taking cumulative and stepwise process rather than immediately by planning.     

Influence of urban landscape structure on bird fauna: a case study across seasons in the city of Valencia (Spain)

Studies on bird fauna of urban environments have had a long history, but the potential of studies mapping the distribution of birds in cities probably has not fully developed. The bird fauna of the municipality of Valencia (Spain) was studied to determine the influence of urbanization on bird species richness and abundance. Birds were censused during winter and the breeding season of years 1997–1998 in 197 squares measuring 49 ha each from a rural and an urbanized area. Across seasons the number of species decreased around 40% in the city compared with the rural landscape surrounding it. Such pattern could be attributed to the low number of farmland species capable to use the habitats inside the city, and the limited ability of urban parks in attracting woodland species. In the urban landscape, the influence of the dimensions and spatial arrangement of habitat patches was outweighed by the amount of each habitat per square. Bird richness and the abundance of most species were negatively related with the amount of built-up habitat per square and positively with the amount of urban parks, and of habitat diversity. Conversely, bird fauna was largely independent of mean park size per square especially during winter, indicating that at the landscape scale even small patches of habitat could play an ecological role. Conservation of urban bird diversity could benefit of two complementary strategies: (i) the protection of the surrounding rural landscape from urban development; (ii) habitat enhancement within the city. Particularly, a proper design and habitat management of urban parks could improve their suitability for urban bird fauna.     

Diving deeper into shared meaning-making: Exploring the zones of engagement within a single case study

The purpose of this research is to use a case study method to investigate how employees within a specific context experience and make-meaning of Lemon and Palenchar’s (2018) zones of engagement. This is in response to the authors research call to use case study methods, specifically here interviews and focus groups (n = 77), to see how the zones of engagement are operating in a bound context, which in this case is a government contractor. The findings demonstrate the value of using the zones of engagement conceptual model to develop employee-centric engagement tactics rooted in both formal and dialogic communication. In addition, the study cautions an overuse of encouraging discretionary effort, highlighting the potential dark side of engagement. In taking a non-functionalist approach to understand government contractor employee experiences, the findings illustrate the meaning that derives from shared experiences and offer insight into a particular context beneficial to internal communication practitioners.     

England, France and their North American Colonies: An Analysis of Absolutist State Power in Europe and in the New World

Using Michael Mann's concepts of "despotic" and "infrastructural" power as a starting point, this paper examines how the political associations between the state elite and dominant groups in "absolutist" England and France gave rise to state mechanisms that resulted in their exercising very different sorts of power, both at home and in their respective North American colonies. It is determined that the system of governance that defined the infrastructural power of the English state was less conducive to trans-Atlantic rule than the system that defined the combined despotic/infrastructural power of the French state. The analysis shows how the social relationships that comprise the structure of a state come to define the source and character of state power, and how the durability of those relationships can have a lasting effect on the exercise of state power.     

Exploring the effectiveness of methadone treatment from the perspective of drug users and their families: a qualitative study in Iran

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to explore the effectiveness of Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) from the perspective of drug users and their families. For this qualitative content analysis study, 15 participants were selected via purposive sampling. Data collection was done using deep and semi-structured interviews, which were then analyzed. The results showed that MMT can bring favorable impacts into the patients’ lives and help them with the process of treatment and rehabilitation despite the medical side effects.     

Constraints affecting the efficiency of the urban residential land market in developing countries: a case study of India

Access to serviced land for housing is one of the major problems faced by practically all developing countries. In most cities of developing countries, the urban poor and even the middle-income group often have to step outside the formal land market to gain access to land and housing. Generally, in cities of developing countries the informal land market is much bigger than the formal market. To improve the operation of the formal land market it is necessary to understand the constraints that are preventing it from operating efficiently. It was found that finance, policies, regulation, laws and other instruments formulated to improve the efficiency of the land market have often themselves become constraints requiring change. It is suggested that to overcome these constraints it will be necessary for governments to recognise the informal market and work with it, rather than ignore or oppose it as at present.     

The resale of right to buy dwellings: a case study of migration and social change in rural England

Drawing on data relating to some 500 households, taken from local government records and questionnaire surveys, this paper examines the processes of migration and social change associated with the resale of former local authority dwellings in a rural part of the East Midlands, England, UK. Legislative change principally stemming from the Housing Act (1980) has given tenants a `right to buy’ their rented dwelling from the local authority landlord. By focussing on the longer term impact of this process the findings of this study reveal a radical discontinuity with the past, as new households with contrasting characteristics to previous occupants move in when these dwellings are resold on the open market. The study shows that the relative affordability of the dwellings in a highly competitive rural housing market is creating an opportunity for comparatively young, dual-career and largely urban families to move to the countryside. Their movement into former local authority dwellings has important implications for the future provision of local needs housing in rural areas.     

Implementation and evaluation of tourism industry: Evidentiary case study of night market development in Taiwan

Taiwan’s night markets are the most popular and unique characteristics of domestic and foreign tourists’ night life and have great potential value for tourism development. However, development of the night market is vulnerable to the negative impact of COVID-19. To discover the potential value and evaluation of the night market, we interviewed 46 experts from several industries and occupations in Taiwan to investigate the relationships between brand equity, benefits, motivations of and satisfaction with night market tourism and development. The results show that travel motivation has both direct and indirect effects on brand equity, benefits and satisfaction. Furthermore, customer satisfaction is the most critical performance attribute of night market tourism, which may be influenced by brand equity, benefit, and motivation. Managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Aliens in irregular status in the United States: a review of their numbers,characteristics, and role in the U.S. labor market

A general review of international migration to the United States is first presented. The analysis then focuses on aliens in irregular status in the United States, including the size of the illegal alien population, the intention of migrants to stay or to return, migrant characteristics, and the role of migrants in the U.S. labor market. The main concern of the paper is with illegal migration from Mexico. (summary in FRE, SPA)