The Social Dynamics of Technical Innovation in the Computing World*

The “computing world,” all those people and groups that collectively produce computers and computer-based services is an especially complex, dynamic and diffuse social world. Technical innovation is a dominant feature of the world. It is organized to provide a continuous flow of innovations from participants who specialize in innovation through many other participants to the final consumers of computer-based services. Technical innovations often flow across a large number of “markets” which are composed of only a few classes of participants such as “innovators” and “vendors” or of “users” and “consumers.” This paper identifies the major orientations taken on by participants in the computing world and examines some of the markets across which innovations are negotiated. The computing world is organized so that each market is biased in favor of innovations moving from suppliers to their customers. From this viewpoint, “innovation” is a dominant structural interest in computing around which participants organize their activities and to which they must continually adjust.     

Rainbow Research: Challenges and Recommendations for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Survey Design

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - A growing number of people around the world identify, in some way, as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer...     

An education intervention for families of people with schizophrenia in China: development and evaluation

In China, nurses and physicians are the main care providers for people with schizophrenia. This care is provided primarily in institutions because community services are in their infancy, and families carry the burden of care. In the absence of published nursing research in the area, this article reports the rigorous development and evaluation of a culturally sensitive patient/family intervention, which was implemented in a large psychiatric hospital in Beijing, China. A random sample of 15 nurses responded to an open-ended questionnaire to explore what they believed people with schizophrenia and their family members should learn. A convenience sample of 51 family members who lived with a person with schizophrenia were also interviewed to explore what they understood and needed to know about schizophrenia. Common learning needs were integrated with the literature and presented as the Comprehensive Patient/Family Education Guide, which was implemented with an experimental group of 42 family members, while a control group of 45 received the usual hospital treatment. The effect of the intervention was evaluated by interviewing a random sample of 19 of the family members. The results revealed some useful information for the future planning and implementation of such programs, and although focused on a Chinese sample, do offer insights for nurses around the world.     

茶文化中的养生术

茶,是中华民族的国粹。茶文化,是我国饮料史上一道独特的风景线。它的历史源远流长,有着多彩的表现方式和丰富的文化内涵。茶文化中的养生术,更是以其独特的魅力,深受国人的青睐。干百年来,演绎了许多生动有趣的饮茶经,而百岁寿星的饮茶经,更是弥足珍贵,值得世人细细品味。     

Rethinking Partnerships Between Parents and Professionals

SUMMARY: The declaration by the United Nations of 1994 as the International Year of the Family provides a good opportunity to make a fresh start in re-examining policy and practice from first principles. The time seems ripe for a wholesale reappraisal of relationships between families and professionals in the field of intellectual (learning) disability. Members of an International Year of the Family Task Force established by the International League of Societies for Persons with Mental Handicap (Inclusion International) collected around 100 family stories from families around the world who had a relative with an intellectual disability. These family stories indicated that families are not satisfied with the information they are given, the attitudes of professionals, service planners and providers or with the nature and quality of support which they are receiving. Families are asserting their rights as citizens and consumers and they want to see changes. This paper summarises some directions for change.     

外国人的中国第一印象(英文)

很多年来,外国人很少有机会到中国旅游、生活.他们对中国的印象大多来自书籍、电视媒体,因而对相差甚远的异国文化存在诸多不理解.感到难以接受。然而.随着中国对外开放,旅游业的蓬勃发展.与奥运会这样的世界级体育盛会在首都北京召开.越来越多的外国人开始涌入中国,亲自见证中国悠久的历史、丰富的文化、日新月异的变化。他们对     

中国元素演绎服饰新潮流(英文)

在21世纪,服饰已成为展现个性魅力的最佳途径。随着改革开放不断深入,国人的着装风格在受到国际时尚潮流影响的同时,也更加注重将中国元素推向世界。无论是经典的传统款式,抑或"中西合璧"的时尚新潮,中国元素正受到全世界的瞩目!     

Sustainable Conservation of Cultural Heritage: A Global Responsibility. Sichuan Towers Case Study

This paper has been developed in the framework of a larger research program, in which the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Tsinghua University and Yangzhou University are jointly involved to study and preserve historic towers. Cultural heritage is the intangible and tangible attributes of a society, including the natural heritage, that are inherited from past generations, preserved in the present and granted for the next generations. Nowadays we consider the cultural heritage as a world heritage belonging to all the people of the world, irrespective on which territory they are located. This paper presents a model and a methodological hypothesis to conserve cultural heritage in a sustainable way throughout the case study of Sichuan Towers (China) that could become an example for other cultural sites around the world, connecting the environmental and socio-economical aspect to the tourism development.      

The Persistent Problem of Colorism: Skin Tone, Status, and Inequality

Colorism is a persistent problem for people of color in the USA. Colorism, or skin color stratification, is a process that privileges light-skinned people of color over dark in areas such as income, education, housing, and the marriage market. This essay describes the experiences of African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans with regard to skin color. Research demonstrates that light-skinned people have clear advantages in these areas, even when controlling for other background variables. However, dark-skinned people of color are typically regarded as more ethnically authentic or legitimate than light-skinned people. Colorism is directly related to the larger system of racism in the USA and around the world. The color complex is also exported around the globe, in part through US media images, and helps to sustain the multibillion-dollar skin bleaching and cosmetic surgery industries.     

Screening Networks: shared agendas in feminist and disability movement challenges to antenatal screening and abortion

This paper identifies common ground in feminist and disability movement concerns with the social and ethical implications of antenatal screening and abortion. By examining the frameworks used by particular authors within each area, I argue that they both can and do have a shared agenda, which is focused on the social values that are embedded in antenatal screening and promote abortion as the obvious choice to the diagnosis of a congenital condition. It is important to develop some kind of shared agenda in order to construct theoretical and methodological approaches, which pay equal attention to pregnant women (disabled and non-disabled) and disabled people. To aid the development of such an agenda I draw on Actor Network Theory (ANT), which focuses on analysing the role of sociotechnical networks in securing particular social values and moral worlds. The issue for both disability studies and feminism is what kind of screening networks produce moral worlds that promote abortion, shape women's choices and express discrimination against disabled people?     

发展大学生领导力教育的瓶颈及对策

世界各国的经验表明,高校开展大学生领导力教育有利于大学生更好地适应未来不断变化发展的现代社会。近些年,我国也开始关注大学生领导力教育问题,但在发展大学生领导力教育过程中存在定位有失偏颇、理解不够全面、教育资源的开发与利用不足等三大瓶颈。为此,对大学生领导力教育进行恰当定位,从大学生成长成才的角度出发开展领导力教育。探索大学生领导力教育长效机制显得十分紧迫和必要。     

From philosophy of history to political philosophy: an ideological investigation of globalization

Many have argued that one of the reasons for the irresistible trend of liberal democracy is the irreversible process of globalization. The logic assumes that globalization is not only an inseparable prerequisite for promoting economic development but also the dynamic to transform political structures into liberalism in less democratic countries, because economic development within countries creates new middle classes around the world, with their natural demands for more participation in decision and political pluralism. In other words, all societies will evolve to a point where they will adopt liberal democratic institutions. In turn, the resulting new world order will be characterized by international cooperation through market economies and liberal democracy. This paper investigates the ideological origin of globalization by inspecting Fukuyama's theory of the ‘end of history’. It argues that this belief is a continuance of modernization theory and reminiscent of functionalist concepts by Western scholars concerning the development of less developed countries. The difference is that globalizers cleverly cover their ethnocentrism with Hegel's philosophy, as it implies that the Western system is some perfect theory that all people will eventually accept as their cultures and societies evolve into a Western superior state.     

“It's Not Dutch to Close the Curtains”: Visual Struggles on the Threshold Between Public and Private in a Multi-Ethnic Dutch Neighborhood

The front of the house functions as a border between the public and the private sphere. Different people have different customs in dealing with this area. Whereas some use it as a “front-stage,” on which they present themselves to the outside world, others block their windows with curtains or devote little attention to creating an attractive image. The practices of older Dutch inhabitants, rich decoration, and open curtains, are guided by social norms on tidiness and gender roles. The confrontation with other customs, often linked to other ethnic groups, is considered an intrusion in a space they consider to be theirs. Partly as a consequence of this, they are also retreating into their private sphere, reflected in changed practices at the fronts of their houses.     

Informed decision making on assistive technology workplace accommodations for people with visual impairments

Underemployment of people with visual impairments is an important problem in the world of work. Barriers to successful employment include the lack of informed decision making concerning AT as a workplace accommodation. Choosing effective Assistive Technology (AT) as an accommodation solution is imperative to successful employment of individuals with vision impairments. While not all jobs require AT as a part of an accommodation, when AT is needed, an informed choice is the best approach. This article describes the five step process for selecting appropriate AT for individuals with vision impairments in workplace accommodations developed by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN). Cases from the JAN database that involve people with vision impairments were examined. Resources to enable readers to further evaluate and implement effective AT solutions are provided.     

Voices from Vietnam: experiences of children and youth with disabilities,and their families,from an Agent Orange affected rural region

This study examines the experiences of young people with disabilities from ethnic minorities, and their families, in central Vietnam. The study is set in an area contaminated by Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Data were gathered from interviews with youth with disabilities and interviews and focus groups with mothers who had children with disabilities. Respondents expressed confronting multiple barriers to inclusion, education, health and well-being similar to other persons with disabilities and their families from around the world. Participants sought broad-ranging human rights as they described experiencing stigmatization and marginalization from negative social reaction toward disabilities and by residing in a location known for dioxin contamination. The participants’ voices are not only important in informing program responses to support implementation of Vietnam’s new National Law on Persons with Disabilities, but also timely as the US government considers proposed legislation providing material support for Vietnamese nationals affected by Agent Orange.     

艾滋病防治一线的中国女性(英文)

每年的12月1日是世界艾滋病日,世界各地的人们佩带红丝带以象征对艾滋病防治问题的关注。而对于很多中国女性来说,关注艾滋病不仅仅是那一天的事情。2003年,中国实施了艾滋病"四免一关怀"政策,即自愿免费血液初筛检测,对农民和城镇经济困难人群中的艾滋病患者实行免费抗病毒治疗,对艾滋病患者遗孤实行免费就学,对孕妇实施免费艾滋病咨询、筛查和抗病毒药物治疗和将生活困难的艾滋病患者及其家庭纳入政府救助范围。此后,中国在艾滋病防治工作中取得了很大进步。本刊记者采访了四位战斗在艾滋病防治一线的中国女性,和她们分享工作中的经历与感受。     

Drama for Empowerment: the role of Drama in Education with special reference to work in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe

This article deals with the strengths and pitfalls of Drama in Education. I describe two projects that have focused on the empowerment of young people in a civil society and the promotion of intercultural understanding between the countries of Western and Central and Eastern Europe: “Seeding a Network” and “Branching Out”. It is argued that drama is the most inclusive and social of all art forms. Drama in education provides young people with a safe context in which they can tackle major issues, and allows teachers and students alike to radically re‐examine their social and personal relationships. The dangers associated with drama are also discussed.     

Evaluating the heterogeneity of street life and homelessness in adolescent research

Researchers of homelessness have been careful to delineate the heterogeneity of adolescent homelessness and street involvement when defining and differentiating street life experiences around the globe. Understanding these experiences poses challenges to researchers as adolescents across these locations come to the street at various stages of transition and homelessness yet share similarities. In this article, we review homeless research to understand both the heterogeneous characteristics and experiences adolescents have when they become involved in street life and homelessness around the world, as well as the similarities and differences they globally share. We review and compare general definitions of street life and homelessness presented in observations of young people on the street in the developed and developing worlds. We then explore interrelated characteristics outlined by researchers across these studies and locations, namely, the homeless status of street life participants and their socialization to street life as well as their network affiliations. Although this collected body of work reveals a complex heterogeneity of street involvement among all those that participate, it also shows how the young and street involved around the globe share these commonalities with one another which challenges the frameworks and classifications that guide contemporary global research among the homeless.     

The Abuse of Deinstitutionalised Persons with Mental Handicaps

A decade or more ago there were a number of Government reports published of inquiries into the ill-treatment of patients in mental hospitals. Now that fewer people with mental handicaps are going into hospitals and others are leaving them to be integrated into the community will they be any better treated by those around them? The situation is briefly reviewed and a solution proposed to the problems uncovered, but the main purpose of the paper is to generate awareness debate and possibly some action.     

Low-income young people's problematic relationship with individualised policy in England

There is much debate within youth studies regarding whether or not, or to what extent, young people subjectively experience individualised life-pathways. This article suggests that alongside these debates, it might be fruitful to also explore if young people are being institutionally individualised ‘from above’. Using the current UK Government's child poverty policy as a case study, it explores the extent to which this policy individualises low-income young people, arguing that it strongly pushes them towards the project of self-making and choice-biographies. This is regardless of whether or not they subjectively see themselves as self-makers, or whether or not they are equipped for the task. Working with 38 young people around England, who were some of targets of this policy, this article then goes on to document how this individualisation ‘from above’ was actively rejected. Given the opportunity to write their own, ideal child poverty policy, created as part of this research, these young people instead underscored the importance of structural inequalities in shaping the problems of poverty as they saw them. Their policy highlighted a desire for collective, universalistic interventions to correct for these inequalities, rather than individualised solutions imposed ‘from above’.