The home care industry: strategies for survival in an era of dwindling resources

The home care component of our long-term care system is increasingly being recognized as the preferred alternative to institutional care for the frail elderly and disabled. Dwindling resources, both human and financial, are likely to have a deleterious effect on home care. Findings from a 1987-88 survey of paraprofessional home care workers of the frail elderly in New York City are used to draw implications for the home care industry. The scope of problems inherent in the industry imply that changes are necessary on both the micro and macro levels; the article concludes with recommendations for both levels.     

The globalisation of vernacular variation

Work on variation and change in New Zealand English has identified a shift from older, more British-like norms to newer, more American-like ones in the last half century. The shift seems to affect lexical items, and phonological variables. This paper considers some general principles found, in the social sciences, to be associated with globalisation and considers what the theoretical and methodological implications are for the study of language variation if we talk about changes like those taking place in New Zealand English as being the effects of globalisation (or, more specifically, Americanisation). A study showing that New Zealanders have very different attitudes to variants that sociolinguists have lumped together in the past, suggests that globalisation with localisation is an important principle for variationists to take into account. It is suggested that variables hitherto analysed as being the consequence of globalisation might be better thought of as reflecting a 'broadening of the vernacular base'.     

Urban development strategy in an era of global competition: The case of south China

The economic structure of south China, including Hong Kong, has undergone rapid changes in the last 20 years. The transformation is more rapid in the wake of the opening up of China's economic system. This paper argues from the vantage point of the New International Division of Labour (NIDL) and investigates the impact of economic development and urban development strategies on the region. It reviews the process of economic development and the flows of resources, capital and labour forces in China as a whole, with special reference to Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region. Increasing economic integration has led to interaction in the planning domain, such as in infrastructural development. Selected development strategies have also been employed and these will be discussed in detail. The paper concludes that future development between Hong Kong and south China will be a symbiotic one and that the implementation of a sustainable urban development strategy is vital to the continued growth of the region.     

Policies and strategies for integrating women in agriculture and rural development

Continued economic stagnation, civil unrest, rural-urban migration, and a series of natural disasters have impeded efforts in the Sudan to integrate women into the development process. Although the Four-Year (1988-1989 to 1991-92) Salvation, Recovery, and Development Programs Plan does not explicitly addresses women's issues, its emphasis on food security, appropriate technology for the agricultural sector, small-scale industries and handicrafts, balanced regional development, and the needs of the poorest 20% of the population guarantees that women will be major recipients. There remains a need, however, to increase women's participation in the development planning process and to base projects on reliable data on women's economic activities. More successful in defining women's needs have been community development projects--Western Savannah Development Corporation, Blue Nile Integrated Rural Development Project, Nuba Mountain Project, and Jebel Marra Rural Development Project--that combine income generation, social welfare, and agricultural research. It is recommended that all such large integrated rural development or agricultural projects allot funds specifically for women's activities and ensure coordination with women's organizations to avoid duplication and identify areas of greatest need. Also urged is the development of appropriate technologies that will alleviate women's double burden of poverty and household chores and address the inequitable distribution of income. Establishment of a women's bureau for women's affairs and development within the National Planning Department would facilitate project formulation and evaluation. In need of change if women in development projects in the Sudan are to be successful are laws that limit female land ownership and practices that deny women loans and credit.     

城市区域发展战略刍议

一、城市区域发展战略的重大意义 (一)城市区域的含义 城市区域是指非农业人口聚集的城市建成区和与其具有内在经济及社会联系的城乡地区,在生产要素的集聚与扩散中,形成以中心城市为依托,在生产、流通等方面紧密联系、互相协作,具有很强经济集聚性的经济综合体.城市区域分为三个层次:一是基本区,相当于县级市及其影响区域;二是中等城市区域,相当于都市区;三是大城市区域,相当于都市连绵区域,即以某一大城市为中心,由若干都市区形成的具有紧密社会及经济联系的经济区域.     

Disability activism in the new media ecology: campaigning strategies in the digital era

This article examines the changing nature of disability activism through the influence of social media. As disabled people in the United Kingdom have been subjected to acute austerity, this has coincided with a new era of disability activism channelled through increased social media participation. Drawing on the analysis of one group’s online activities and a qualitative content analysis of disability protest coverage in traditional news media during the 2012 Paralympic Games, this article positions this shift in the broader framework of ‘new media ecology’. We explore how emerging structures of disability activism have begun to offer a more visible profile to challenge government policy and negative stereotypes of disabled people. This highlights the usefulness of campaigning strategies for generating favourable news coverage for disability protest.     

Policy strategies for economic development in Cuba: A simulation model analysis

The economic reforms implemented in Cuba since 2008 do not adequately deal with the structural issues that hamper the country's economic development. The article presents a system dynamics model to investigate Cuba's development process, and a simulation analysis to compare different policy scenarios that may be realized in the future as economic reforms will continue. The results indicate that the most effective development policy would be to combine active public policies to enhance the research and development sector on the one hand, and to foster the emergence of an efficient private sector that will develop the capital infrastructure of the economy on the other.     

Contemporary strategies for rural community development in Australia: a governmentality perspective

Contemporary strategies for rural development in Australia are based upon notions of self-help and bottom-up, community-based initiatives which are said to `empower’ the individual from the imposing structures of government intervention. While such strategies are not entirely new to Australia, they have, it seems, been inadequately theorised to date and are generally regarded, in rather functionalist terms, as indicative of attempts to cut back on public expenditure. Harnessing itself to the `governmentality’ perspective, this paper explores government and `expert’ discourses of rural community development in Queensland and suggests, instead, that these strategies are indicative of an advanced liberal form of rule which seeks to `govern through community'. With this in mind, three basic research questions are identified as worthy of further exploration; how are the notions of self-governing individuals and communities constructed in political discourse; what political rationalities are used to justify current levels of (non) intervention and finally; what are the discourses, forms and outcomes of empowerment at the local level? The paper concludes by arguing that while the empowering effects of self-help are frequently cited as its greatest virtue, it is not so much control as the added burden of responsibility that is being devolved to local people. Given the emphasis of the governmentality perspective on strategies for `governing at a distance', however, these conclusions can hardly be unexpected.     

Work hours,social value of leisure and globalisation

We examine how openness interacts with the coordination of consumption–leisure decisions in determining the equilibrium working hours and wage rate when there are leisure externalities (e.g., due to social interactions). The latter are modelled by allowing a worker's marginal utility of leisure to be increasing in the leisure time taken by other workers. Coordination takes the form of internalising the leisure externality and other relevant constraints (e.g., labour demand). The extent of openness is measured by the degree of capital mobility. We find that: coordination lowers equilibrium work hours and raises the wage rate; there is a U-shaped (inverse-U-shaped) relationship between work hours (wages) and the degree of coordination; coordination is welfare improving; and, the gap between the coordinated and uncoordinated work hours (and the corresponding wage rates) is affected by the extent and nature of openness.     

城市规划与房地产开发非协调发展对策研究

改革开放以来,经过短短二十多年,房地产业一跃成为了我国国民经济新的增长点和消费热点。近年来我国房地产业更是以两位数的发展速度增长。房地产开发也越来越受到人们的重视和关注。从城市规划的角度分析,房地产开发犹如一把“双刃剑”,一方面,房地产开发对于促进城市社会经济     

天津城市地下空间立体综合开发的设想

一、引言 随着我国城市规模和经济建设的飞速发展,城市化进程逐步加快,机动车保有量迅猛增加,城市人口急剧增长,交通需求急剧增长.伴随而来的是城市交通拥堵、住房紧张、生态环境下降和城市历史文脉被破坏等城市问题.城市问题的实质是城市空间问题,即要在有限的城市空间内解决城市经济发展、生态环境和文脉延续等复杂交错的城市问题.     

Testing planets: Institutions tested in an era of uncertainty

Prior accounts of the experimenter’s regress in laboratory testing are set against the background of a relatively stable institutional context. Even if the tools are new or the object of investigation is unknown, participating entities are named, a certain degree of funding is presumed, and an organization exists to conduct the test. In this paper, I argue that this background assumption obscures the importance of institutional and organizational context to the sociology of testing. I analyze ethnographic data gathered among a NASA team whose funding is uncertain, whose mission organization is not yet established, and whose object of investigation is inaccessible. In what I characterize as “ontological flexibility,” I reveal how scientists shift their accounts of object agency in response to changes in their institutional environment. As they describe the moon as “uncooperative” or “multiple” while they make appeals to institutions at various stages of support in their exploration projects, this reveals the presence of an “institutional regress”: a previously overlooked aspect of the sociology of testing.     

Housing strategies in an uncertain market

The slump in house prices in the early 1990s created a degree of uncertainty in the housing market which contrasts markedly with the optimism of the 1980s. In particular, the market downturn made it sharply apparent that there could be losers as well as winners in the unstable housing market. This study looks at a sample of owner occupiers drawn from Glasgow and Bristol in 1995. While still endorsing home ownership as the major housing option and as potentially enabling in housing and neighbourhood terms, a note of caution is recognisable. Aspirations to climb the housing ‘ladder’ are tempered by fear of overextending financially and by the broader uncertainties that people perceive to be endemic in the labour market and the housing market. Strategies reflect both diverse personal histories and the adoption of defensive or risk reduction options. For many respondents maintaining current housing standards is more important than market advancement.     

Preliminary observations on globalisation and the migration of sport labour

Focusing on sport labour migration, several broader issues regarding labour migration and globalisation are highlighted. The observations made, and the connections drawn, will be somewhat preliminary in nature. Several dimensions and issues of sport labour migration and globalisation are examined. A range of sports in different societies and across continents are also considered. This migration must be viewed as part of other global cultural flows. Discussion of these flows precedes the case study that focuses on the role of, and the resistance to, American sport labour migrants in the commodification of English basketball over the past two decades, the paper concludes by drawing together the strands of sport migration and global sport development.     

Information technology issues in an era of greater state responsibilities: policy concerns for seniors

Five areas of state information technology policy are of special concern to seniors and senior service providers: obtaining access; closing the digital divide; developing information management systems; creating portals; and maintaining privacy. Increasing their activities in each of these areas, states continue to vary considerably in their responsiveness to meeting the challenge of including older adults, especially those living in rural areas, with the benefits of information technology.