Sector Approaches,Sustainable Livelihoods and Rural Poverty Reduction

This article examines the relationship between sector‐wide approaches (SWAps), sustainable livelihoods approaches (SLAs) and rural poverty reduction. The authors suggest that SLAs provide one means by which SWAps can focus more effectively on poverty reduction, whilst SWAps provide an entry point via which government and donor initiatives can be made supportive of the livelihoods of the poor. The article puts forward guidelines indicating the core issues upon which donors should focus to enhance the poverty impact of sector‐wide approaches.     

Toward a Theory of Worker Participation

This paper proposes that the emergence of shop-floor worker participation projects in many of the largest corporations in the United States has major theoretical interest because it points to a shift in the structure of American management from Taylorist forms of organization toward "post-Taylorist" systems based on "relative worker autonomy" and limited democratic organization on the shop floor. The postulated shift toward "relative worker autonomy" is explored, first, in terms of the contradictions and failures of Taylorism-specifically its failure to integrate workers or bind them effectively, either psychologically or ideologically, to their jobs and firms. While the costs of worker dis-integration have led management to initiate post-Taylorist labor control systems, an analysis of participative experiments suggests that these new systems produce new contradictions engendering worker expectations and entitlements for democracy in the workplace. The analysis suggests the need for a reformulation of current theories of the capitalist labor process that can explain both the emergence of "integrative" labor systems based on participation and democratic legitimations and also the new forms of contestation they produce.     

The Bangladesh Health SWAp: Experience of a New Aid Instrument in Practice

Sector‐wide approaches are being widely adopted as a new aid modality, incorporating government ownership, partnership and a move from project to programme support. The literature to date on their performance in practice is, at best, mixed. This article reviews these issues in the light of the experience of arguably the world's oldest and largest SWAp, the Bangladesh health sector programme. A positive picture emerges of an evolutionary institutional adaptation towards a programme approach, with positive systemic effects on government processes and a reduction in transaction costs in dealing with donors. There are, however, negative aspects, notably, donor dominance in ‘dialogue’, though with limited influence on the government's actual strategy.     

Neoformation: A Dialectical Approach to Developmental Change

In Vygotsky’s writings on development, we find the concept neoformation in the context of his distinction between quantitative-incremental and qualitative-revolutionary change in psychological development. Few studies have taken up this concept. The purpose of this article is (a) to provide a dialectical grounding to the distinction generally and to the emergence of new psychological and personality forms specifically and (b) to describe a 5-step historical-genetic method that qualitative researchers can use to document the emergence of new psychological (behavioral) forms. This work therefore contributes to the elaboration of a dialectical method that Vygotsky himself has failed to articulate in a systematic way.     

Responsible mothers and normal children: eugenics, nationalism, and welfare in post-revolutionary Mexico, 1920-1940

This article examines the emergence of the eugenics movement in Mexico during the 1920s and 1930s and explores the ways in which eugenicists and physicians participated in the creation of a new paternal order focused on motherhood, sexuality, and child welfare. I analyze this transformation as part of a broader process of medicalization and state expansion that recast understandings of reproduction, heredity, childhood, and the female body during the post-revolutionary period. I argue that eugenics, and the related puericulture movement, played a critical role in the emergence of novel forms of governmentality, the nationalization of women, and the neutralization of anterior forms of patriarchy in modern Mexico. The article contributes to a growing body of scholarship on the meaning of motherhood, the standardization of elementary school education, and the formation of welfare states in Latin America.     

Adat in the Office: The Creative Afterlife of a New Order Cultural Policy

This paper explores the emergence of a new genre of garments in Eastern Indonesia: ‘traditional’ uniforms, made from locally hand-woven cloth, which are worn twice weekly by government employees in Kupang, the capital of the province of East Nusa Tenggara (Nusa Tenggara Timur, or NTT). These uniforms, which appeared following a 1997 regulation, supported the emergence of a new, urban textile culture, and a partial decoupling of traditional clothing from adat, Indonesian customary law, even as they allowed adat to make inroads into government offices. National policy, the agitation of local elites and the innovation and conservatism of artists and ritual practitioners, all contributed to this new form of artistic and cultural expression. While attention has been paid to the domesticating power of the state on local forms of cultural expression, this example shows how attempts at control can also push cultural expressions in unexpected directions.     

Challenges to the notion of publics in public relations: implications of the risk society for the discipline

The notion risk society offers a conceptual framework for understanding the emergence of new communicatively powerful publics. Focusing on the role of the public for the firm, this paper argues that the emergence of the powerful consumer and the critical public is not coincidental but a symptom of the emergence of the risk society. In looking at the consequences of the risk society at the individual, the institutional, and social political levels, the paper argues that new forms of political discourse are emerging which change the “ground rules” of the interaction between the firm and its publics. Linking the growing interest in identity with risk communication, the paper sheds light on the nature of the arenas in which these public operate and the consequences for business. It is argued that the emerging sub-political arena of direct action and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has the capability of catapulting public relations into a central role in organisational sustainability.     

Experimenting new design languages in contemporary home design

The changes in society at the beginning of this millennium are giving rise to deep transformations in the behavioural trends and tastes of home users, as well as in their lifestyles and consumption patterns. This opens up a wide range of opportunities for innovation within the context of contemporary home design. Due to the emergence of new user profiles, new needs and models are coming to the attention of designers and manufacturing companies. Just think about the new needs resulting from the changing composition of households, new forms of cohabitation and the contemporary multi-ethnic society.     

Au-delà du conflit et de la négociation ?

Since the creation of Sociologie du travail, the importance and forms of conflicts and of negotiations have changed. Nor are the stakes still necessarily the same. Given the emergence of new players in public movements and of new strategies in social protest, it is worthwhile reviewing the ideas of “conflict” and “negotiation” in the light of the forms of circulation between different universes (government, labor unions, employer organizations, associations). Though a topic of debate, the law's place in labor relations has special importance with regard to these two ideas.     

Introduction: Human Longevity,Utopia, and Solidarity

Biomedical and geriatric technologies are having major impacts on the development and management of human longevity. Our contention in this special issue is that longevity should be considered as a point of departure for new forms of politics in which social sciences, in particular sociology and politics, can play an important role. In this introduction, we argue that emerging consumer markets in biomedicine are incrementally redefining the relationship between old age and society. Techno‐economic transformations are creating new sites of vulnerability that are masked by medical utopias of good health and “living forever.” In this context, it is unlikely that such technologies will be able to overcome inequalities in distribution and may well exacerbate various forms of injustice. By drawing on notions of institutional precariousness and scarcity, we conclude that to maintain any degree of social solidarity, increasing longevity will force the emergence of a “sociology of limits.”     

The myth of modernity in popular african art: Symbolic representations in popular carving and painting

The contemporary artists of Lusaka, Zambia are engaged in an image-making process. They present idyllic portraits of an Africa “as it was” to an audience of tourists and outsiders and play upon a unique blending of traditional and contemporary symbols for an African audience. The latter symbolic forms are representations of modernity and depict both the positive aspects of social change (e.g., material improvements) and its negative dimensions (the gradual destruction of tradition). This paper examines images of modernity in the representations of the natural world, men, and women by contemporary African artists. These images are living myths in the making and are expressive cultural responses to a diverse audience of consumers in a rapidly changing cultural milieu.     

The promotion of participatory methods for group events in Zambia: a process evaluation report for unicef 1994–1997

Beginning in early 1994, UNICEF Zambia made a commitment to emphasize the use of participatory methods in conducting its business. Specifically, this has meant adopting and experimenting with a participatory methodology named VIPP (Visualization in Participatory Programmes) which had been used in a wide variety of group events, ranging from planning and review meetings to training and team building. Three years later, a process evaluation was commissioned to examine the question: How has this initiative been accepted and what effect is it having on UNICEF-supported programmes in Zambia?Employing a widely-utilized framework for evaluating training effectiveness, the evaluation team traced the history of VIPP implementation in Zambia through document reviews and interviews. In addition, the evaluators collected data from three different programme sites in Zambia where VIPP had been used. Several participatory evaluation techniques were used to conduct this evaluation, the first exercise of its kind for assessing VIPP application in Africa.Through this evaluation exercise, the evaluation team has gained knowledge about the strategic benefits and application of VIPP that will help with future planning for VIPP in Zambia and that will also inform other UNICEF offices and organizations about the experience of implementing a participatory methodology for programme and organisational purposes. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.     

感受北京夜生活(英文)

改革开放三十年来,北京已经发展成为一座国际化的大都市。无论社会、经济的蓬勃发展,还是人们生活方式的日新月异,这座城市里发生的每一处变化都不容忽视。城市夜生活的出现便是其中之一。丰富多样的娱乐方式:从餐厅、酒吧到俱乐部,还有玩转通宵的卡拉OK,居住在北京,夜不再是一天生活的结束,而成为另一个开始……     

Transnational politics at the edges of sovereignty: social movements,crossings and the state at the US–Mexico border

This article documents the history of border crossings among a group of social movement activists located in southern Arizona. By comparing two types of US–Mexico border crossings separated ten years apart, the article explores how political groups become ‘transnationalized’ and in relation to what kinds of ‘states’. By contrasting the shift from a state‐centric movement to a transnational coalition, the case study analyses why, in the later period, political activists were no longer able to identify the same kind of state. In chronicling the disappearance of one kind of state formation and the emergence of a transnational one, this research argues that globalization—rather than simply reflecting a decline of the nation state—is a process entailing not only new forms of transnational political activism but also new forms of the state.     

Community structures in world perspective: Decline and transfiguration

Despite the relatively uniform images evoked by the word “community,” in the past several centuries the community structures within which persons live have been anything but stable. The penetration of industrialization, bureaucratization and urbanization into all areas of the world has resulted in the inexorable erosion not only of traditional values, but also of all older forms of traditional andGemeinschaft community structures. From the ruins of the past, however, entirely new community formations and ideologies have emerged. It is not entirely unexpected that these newer formations and ideologies are based on both mummified images of past traditions and on entirely new values and institutions provided by industrial civilization. We argue that the destruction of communities defined by past traditions and the emergence of new formations constitute a fundamental transformation in communal and community relationships.     

"Lazy men", time-use,and rural development in Zambia

This paper examines how work and the labor in agriculture in rural sub-Saharan Africa is measured. Section 1 presents a historical example of colonial discourses of the "lazy" African (the Lamba in Zambia). Section 2 analyzes a study carried out in rural Zambia to illustrate the relationship between stereotypes held by many Europeans, particular aspects of the colonial project, and the social relations brought about by colonialism. Section 3 examines the ways in which present work and labor approaches in sub-Saharan Africa embody value judgements which leads to distorted documentation of the division of labor between opposite genders. Sections 4 through 7 look at a time-use study conducted in Zambia and argue that studies of such nature create value judgement on what comprises work, and about how researchers and planners classify this. Overall, this article has demonstrated that time-use surveys may provide inadequate understanding of women and men's work in the absence of an understanding of the local context in which the work is undertaken, and of labor markets.     

Characteristics of Innovative Nonprofit Organizations in Argentina

The purpose of this study was to discover the characteristics of innovative organizations as perceived by employees of Argentine nonprofit organizations. The free listing technique, adapted from the field of cognitive anthropology, was used to achieve this task. Fifteen representatives of a variety of Argentinean nonprofit organizations participated in the study. Among the highest rated characteristics were: searching for new ways, solutions, and unconventional forms of work; adapting to new times; suggesting new forms for solving problems; and reflecting over organizational activities and actions. Rated as least characteristic were: encouraging role changes within teams; focusing on organizational mission; not being afraid of failure; and generosity (sharing information with other organizations).     

Spontaneously settled refugees in Northwestern Province,Zambia

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) commissioned researchers from the University of Zambia to conduct a socioeconomic survey and census of "spontaneously settled" Zairean and Angolan refugees in the Northwestern Province of Zambia in 1982. The sample consisted of 188 Angolans, 201 Zaireans, and 2 South Africans. The difficulties experienced by refugees in Northwestern Province in achieving integration were related to a combination of factors including the lack of a clear national policy on refugees and refugee status, a national concern for maintaining security, the popular belief that aliens are responsible for an increasing crime rate, the desire by immigration officials for stricter laws to control alien infiltration, conflict between traditional and modern leaders, and Zambia's deteriorating economic situation. In spite of the problems described, the integration of refugees into existing communities is a desirable goal and should be encouraged. One should not assume that self-settling refugees are able to live with ethnic kin, receive assistance and hospitality, and thus are better off than those in camps. The Zambian case provides ample evidence that integration is not easy even with kin support, shared ethnicity, language, and historical connections. Moreover, given the fact that Zambia will continue to receive refugees it is vital that there is a well defined refugee policy and an administrative mechanism for implementing that policy at all levels. This will be particularly important in Zambia as it will undoubtedly continue to receive large influxes of refugees, from countries such as Namibia, Uganda, Angola, Mozambique, and South Africa.     

The Ebb and Flow of Environmentalism

This essay examines the pattern of ebb and flow in the environmental movement in the United States. Although the movement has experienced periods of expansion and contraction over the last century, environmentalism has sustained significant mobilization with the evolution of its organizational forms and tactics. Mass demonstrations and other forms of public protest defined the emergence of the modern environmental movement in the 1960s and early 1970s, and grassroots action remains important, particularly in response to the urgency of climate change. However, the movement has also relied increasingly on institutionalized organizational forms and conventional tactics such as litigation and lobbying. Some critics argue that decentralized networks and disruptive tactics are essential for inspiring a new era of impassioned environmental activism, while others contend that the complexity of current environmental problems requires more formalized structures and focused legislative advocacy. We conclude that the diversity of organizational forms and activities in the environmental movement has maintained the movement over many decades, and that this diversity can aid in effecting comprehensive change.     

Freedom as self-transgression: transformations in the ‘governmentality’ of social work

This article takes as its starting point the growing prominence of what might be called ‘neo-philanthropic’ forms of knowledge in social work during recent years. Inspired by Foucault's concepts of genealogy and governmentality, the article presents an historical analysis including eighteenth century poor policies, philanthropy in the late nineteenth century, welfare planning in the 1960s and the emergence of neo-philanthropic social work from the 1980s onwards. The article argues that the recent rediscovery of concepts and techniques invented by late nineteenth-century philanthropy breaks with traditional welfarist forms of knowledge and practices of social work. As a result, it seems that social work is now to foster new kinds of subjects and create new types of communities. This development indicates that a more profound transformation of the welfare state and its conception of citizenship might be taking place.

The article draws upon the PhD thesis entitled The Genealogy of Social Work: The Struggle to Turn the Poor and Marginalized into Free Persons by the author.