中国建筑抗震意识觉醒

有人说，汶川大地震带来的另一个影响是购房者选择意愿的转变。这场建国以来毁灭性最为严重的灾难，颠覆了人们传统的购房习惯，在短期内低密度住宅会成为购房者的首选，城市争先恐后进行超高层建筑开发的势头也会得到遏制。     

她们来自前线(英文)

地震灾情发生后,无数感人的故事撞击着人们的心。张泉灵、陈晓楠、范红梅、赵映是四位奋战在抗震救灾第一现场的普通记者,在亲身经历灾区生活后,她们的感触比其他人更加强烈。听她们讲述自己在灾区的经历,喜怒哀乐是那样真实,不禁让我们更真切地感受这场灾难带来的巨大影响,切身体会到中国人万众一心应对这次灾难的勇气与智慧……     

《来自自由路的报告》与美式价值观

"911事件"对当代美国的政治、经济、文学、艺术等领域造成了巨大冲击,以纽约诗人群体为代表的作家们最早对这场灾难作出了回应。美国语言诗派领袖查尔斯·伯恩斯坦创作长诗《来自自由路的报告》,反思了911事件这场灾难蕴含的美式价值观的矛盾与冲突;他在描述恐怖袭击给美国人民带来的巨大灾难的同时,也把批判的矛头指向了"传奇奢华"的美式价值观,从美国国内现状及历史角度思考恐怖主义和不同价值观造成的冲突。     

地震防护知识

发生在四川汶川8．0级地震目前已经造成6万以上人员死亡，北川全城几乎完全被毁，80％的建筑倒塌。在震中的汶川地区，全部通信中断，灾难发生了24个小时之后人们还是无法与汶川取得任何联系，公路、桥梁完全损坏，天气恶劣暴雨发生，飞机无法空降，只能步行前进。在大自然的灾害面前，我们切实地体会到人是多么的渺小。灾难降到无辜的人们头上，他们是那么的悲惨，一个个鲜活的生命就这样消失了。所以，我们在经历了这场浩劫之后，应真真切切地从此次地灾中领会到自然界告诉人类的自然运行规律。大灾之后有必要将科学防震知识重申于众，这是我们每个人都需要学会的。     

乍得战乱历险,中国女客商拼死保护三十同胞

华人同胞登上法军装甲车,踏上回国之路2008年春节前夕,当国内的人们燃炮竹、贴对联,举国欢庆新春佳节之际,乍得发生反政府战乱,远在非洲中部的华侨们经历了一场他们永生难忘的灾难。中国旅非商人连雪花和丈夫马立招冒着密集的弹雨来回奔波,在这场灾难中保护了30名华侨的安全,演绎     

惊魂海啸后遗症

2004年12月26日已经留在了过去,可是滔天巨浪的结束并不像新年的阳光一样可以扶平一切创伤,这场灾难的病毒已经开始蔓延在我们的生活中,不论经济、政治,还是我们的心理!     

惊魂海啸后遗症

2004年12月26日已经留在了过去,可是滔天巨浪的结束并不像新年的阳光一样可以扶平一切创伤,这场灾难的病毒已经开始蔓延在我们的生活中,不论经济、政治,还是我们的心理!     

天怒惊魂

这场旷世劫难席卷了整个南亚及东南亚。从印度洋腹心释放出的巨大能量一度波及到非洲沿岸。数十万人从业乐居安的天堂掉进哀鸿遍野的地狱。空前的浩劫刺痛着人们脆弱的心灵,巨大的灾难让人们自发地团结在一起……     

海洋非传统安全威胁挑战人类

岁末年初,发生在印尼的大地震所引发的前所未有的印度洋大海啸,不仅已经导致了十几万人罹难和数十万人无家可归,而且给东南亚、南亚国家的经济与社会发展造成巨大打击。这场引起国际社会空前关注和历史上最大规模国际救援的灾难,构成了全球化时代人类所面临的最严峻的危机和挑战。人类总是习惯于在灾难之后进行种种反思,当前媒体铺天盖地的报道和评论都在苦苦找寻着这场灾难的根源和启示,这无疑是有益的,本文的内容也在此之列,而从海洋非传统安全威胁的角度来认识和反思这场灾难更有其特殊的意义。何谓海洋非传统安全威胁?国际问题专家指出,…     

512时光的凝固

生命重于泰山地震中失去生命的亡灵曾经都是我们的血肉同胞;灾难,夺去了一条条鲜活的生命;灾难,将骨肉亲情阻隔于阴阳两界,使孩子失去父母,妻子失去丈夫……因此我们深深地哀悼,哀悼那些在地震中不幸罹难的人们!     

Language,discourse and empowerment: changing approaches to children and young people who have sexually abused others

The sexual abuse of children by other children and young people has gained an increasing profile during the previous decade. It has been increasingly recognised that there has been a significant change in the way that this issue has been responded to, both in philosophy and practice, as research has developed and also as the value base of initial constructions of this behaviour has been questioned. This article describes the development of a project to work with children and young people who have sexually abused from its inception in 1995 to the present, outlining the original assumptions and working practices and the reasoning behind changes. The growth of the project illustrates the changing nature of constructions of this behaviour, along with the introduction of new theoretical approaches to respond to this change. In particular, the changes can be seen to reflect a move away from a ‘modernist’ position and this is discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Colonialism,genocide, and Tibet

A central element of the narrative circulated by the Tibet Movement has been that China has carried out genocide and practised colonialism in Tibet. These notions are, for the most part, uncritically accepted by politicians and the media, especially in the West. This essay challenges such characterizations as inept and as obstacles to resolving the Tibet Question. It looks at whether convincing empirical evidence of physical and cultural genocide in Tibet exists, in light of the most common understanding of such practices as rooted in efforts to destroy a people and its culture. The essay also considers what the contours of colonialism have been in light of its principal modern experience, that of European, US and Japanese colonization, and determines whether the Tibet case fits these characteristics. The essay concludes that a critique of China's policies and practices in Tibet would be best served by focusing on actual problems experienced by Tibetans.     

Violence,Networks, and International Migration from Colombia

Although Colombia is a major country of emigration, little is known about its citizens' motivations for migration. Social and economic conditions have been studied as determinants of migration, but violence has received less attention. We examine how social networks and violence function to promote emigration from Colombia by linking event‐history data from the Latin American Migration Project to external data on violence and economic conditions. We show that emigration is more likely to be initiated by those with higher education, those with network connections to migrants, and during periods of greater violence and increased police presence. Although violence acts powerfully to determine when people migrate, the geographic distribution of social capital determines where they go. Not surprisingly, migrants go to locations where people in their social networks are currently living or have been earlier.     

Disabled People, Service Users, User Involvement and Representation

The issue of representation and representativeness has become central in debates about user involvement, disabled people and users of social care services. This article examines the emphasis of service agencies on the 'unrepresentativeness' of disabled people and service users; looks at how this is experienced by the latter and considers why the issue has gained such importance. It examines the different meanings attached to representation by recipients and providers of services. As well as looking at how the issue of representativeness is used to devalue, exclude and disempower disabled people and service users, the article explores its relation with the competing participatory and representative models and practices of democracy employed by disabled people and service providers.     

Aging, disability, and disabled older people in India

India is witnessing a demographic revolution, leading to a considerable increase in the proportion of older people in the population. Similarly, life expectancy of both the mentally and physically disabled has improved considerably. About 5% of Indian older people have problems with physical mobility. Aging has become a gender issue in India not only because more women are surviving into old age; they are also vulnerable and disadvantaged in many ways. In most cases they are the only caregivers available for the old and disabled. Older Indians are considered a high-risk group for multiple morbidity. It is estimated that nearly four million Indians suffer from mental problems. India has around 12 million people designated as "handicapped." However, little information is available about disabled people who grow older. The National Policy on Older Persons, which has been recently formulated, aims at providing an improved quality of life for millions of older Indians. However, the concerns of older disabled and of the disabled who grow old are still treated separately in both policy and practice.     

Demonised,impoverished and now forced into isolation: the fate of disabled people under austerity

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) was introduced in the United Kingdom explicitly to help offset the extra costs of disability. The scrapping of DLA and its replacement with the so-called Personal Independence Payment is causing massive concern across the United Kingdom, not least because it comes in the wake of a large number of other cuts, all of which impact disproportionately on disabled people. These changes reflect the retraction of ‘welfare’ across many European countries. As the government has refused to perform a cumulative impact assessment to date, it has been left to grassroots organisations such as DPAC to assess the damage and put the bigger picture together. An article in the New Statesman reports research showing that by 2018 disabled people are set to lose an astonishing £28.3 billion worth of financial support. These changes are going to affect up to 3.7 million disabled people in total.     

Capability,freedom and profound disability

It has been suggested that capability theory is well suited to assess egalitarian principles of justice as these apply to people with learning difficulties and disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to explore how extensive that assistance is in respect of people whose difficulties are multiple and profound. I am concerned with one aspect of capability theory in particular; namely, the place accorded to the concept and value of freedom. I argue that capability theory exaggerates the importance of freedom as a basic value for egalitarian evaluation.     

Aging,Disability, and Disabled Older People in India

Summary

India is witnessing a demographic revolution, leading to a considerable increase in the proportion of older people in the population. Similarly, life expectancy of both the mentally and physically disabled has improved considerably. About 5% of Indian older people have problems with physical mobility. Aging has become a gender issue in India not only because more women are surviving into old age; they are also vulnerable and disadvantaged in many ways. In most cases they are the only caregivers available for the old and disabled. Older Indians are considered a high-risk group for multiple morbidity. It is estimated that nearly four million Indians suffer from mental problems. India has around 12 million people designated as “handicapped.” However, little information is available about disabled people who grow older. The National Policy on Older Persons, which has been recently formulated, aims at providing an improved quality of life for millions of older Indians. However, the concerns of older disabled and of the disabled who grow old are still treated separately in both policy and practice.     

Disabled people as counterfeit citizens: the politics of resentment past and present

In this article I argue that disabled people in the United Kingdom have been tipped into an abyss of counterfeit citizenship. They have been smeared as ‘false mendicants’ – an old trick well documented in the historical archives of ableism. Neoliberalism has used this repertoire of invalidation – its noxious taint of cunning and fraud – as the ‘moral justification’ for welfare reform and for the pillory and notoriety into which the entire disabled community has been placed. Austerity – through the neoliberal politics of resentment – has made disabled people its scapegoat. I argue that a historical precedent for the contemporary demonisation of disabled people as counterfeit citizens can be found in the early modern period in the mythology of the ‘sturdy beggar’.     

Who Cares Wins? Women,Caring and Disability

This article is an attempt to open up some of the unexplored issues in the 'carer's debate'. The interest in carers started receiving Government funding in the early 1970s as a response to community care policies. It also received interest from carers themselves and from feminist researchers concerned with the position of women in the family and the labour market. However, in wanting to show the difficult and often unrecognised work of the carer, the debate, in both academic and popular presentation, has often emphasised the public's perception of disabled people as passive, helpless and demanding. Feminist research on carers, it is argued, has ignored women who may need care and the principle of the 'personal is political' has failed to identify with the lives of disabled people. It is both unhelpful and unproductive to polarise the needs of disabled people and their carers and treat them as if they are mutually exclusive. We need research which does not alienate disabled people by defining concepts like rights, independence and power in ways which exclude, making disabled people the problem rather than the focus of the research. We need to move forward in the debate, making sure that we give a voice to all those involved in the giving and receiving of personal care. The concept of citizenship with its association with universal human rights may be a way to look concurrently at these needs.