Social impacts of energy conservation

Energy conservation measures do not only lower the level of energy consumption, but they may produce a lot of side-effects as well. Potential social implications are discussed, especially with reference to equity and distributional impacts and to the voluntariness dimension. Conservation concerns need not conflict with interests of poor people. Rather, equity impacts are dependent on the specific characteristics and conditions of energy conservation measures. There are no typical voluntary and mandatory categories of energy saving measures, but all instruments could vary in the associated degree of voluntariness. Again, modelling and specification is important.To discuss not only implications of specific measures but also impacts of more comprehensive energy alternatives, two ideal types of instruments are considered which are the mainstreams underlying the present energy conservation debate. One line focuses on technological solutions, while the other one stresses life-style alterations.     

Social work education in the West Indies

Social Work Education has been offered in the West Indies at a professional certificate level since 1961. Programmes exist within multi-disciplinary Departments of academic institutions in six countries. Given limited staff resources, they benefit from the availability of instruction in related subject areas but lack the autonomy to create fully integrated social work curricula. Graduates are prepared to function in a post-colonial (post slavery) West Indian society characterized by increasingly democratized patterns of social organization and indicators of modernization but with a serious catalogue of contextual, structural and human behavioural problems which impact the economic social and cultural lifestyles of the people. While there have been some positive developments, the major constraining factors for regional social work education are: limited resources which deny programme autonomy, limit staffing and subject offerings; an unsatisfactory dependence on metropolitan social work education models; and an insufficient sensitivity to the challenge to produce indigenous theory and culturally appropriate practice models. Challenges to be addressed are the need for authentic West Indian (Caribbean) social work models, the strengthening of field practice experience for students, more preparation for advocacy and policy development roles and the extension of professional education at the undergraduate level through the distance education mode, and at the post graduate level.     

The Social Studies Curriculum at West Point

This article illustrates the challenges of teaching curriculum within the guidelines of No Child Left Behind. Nine school teachers write and speak about their experiences, what influences their curriculum choices, and how they attempt to incorporate social studies in the elementary classroom. The teachers completed a background survey, wrote about their experiences, and talked about what they went through during a focus group discussion. Teachers believed that accountability measures taken at their schools had affected the amount of instructional time dedicated to social studies and that students’ access to civic knowledge and participatory education have been diminished along with the resources and professional development necessary to teach the subject competently.     

West Indian migration to the United States Virgin Islands: demographic impacts and socioeconomic consequences

"This article examines the movements of British West Indians to the United States Virgin Islands. It emphasizes the demographic impact on the host society and the underlying socioeconomic forces and legal framework."     

Social impacts evaluation and insider-outsider paradigm: Floodwater spreading project on the Gareh-Bygone plain as an illustrative case

Selection of the appropriate social impact evaluation approach has become an important issue in agricultural and rural development projects in developing countries. The aim of this research was to use the lens of insider-outsider or mutual social impact assessment approach to assess the social impacts of floodwater spreading project (FWSP) on the Gareh-Bygone plain, Iran. A survey methodology with systematic sampling techniques was used to select 138 households as insider group in four villages’ of the Gareh-Bygone plain which is covered by FWSP. Furthermore, key person interview was used to assess the viewpoints of experts (outsider group) who had close, ongoing involvement with the project. Result indicated that the experts’ viewpoints were more positive towards social impacts of the project. Whereas, the project had some negative and positive social impacts from the local people point of view.     

Opportunity, Community, and Reckless Lives: Social Distress Among Adolescents in West Virginia

Social distress among West Virginia adolescents has many manifestations. Among the most conspicuous of these are dropping out of high school, teen pregnancy, and violent death. For more than 30 years, state policy makers have explained these behaviors by invoking the notion of a pervasive culture of poverty and morbidity which is transmitted from generation to generation. Participants in this primitive and fatalistic culture, it is commonly claimed, lack the prudence and foresight needed to make best use of the opportunities offered by our modern world. Education-intensive strategies aimed at enabling West Virginia adolescents and their families to overcome this disabling world view seem the best responses. By contrast, however, based on 8 years of empirical research in West Virginia, we contend that an “Oh, what the Hell!” sort of recklessness is interpretable as a rational response to deteriorating social and economic circumstances. West Virginia communities have become increasingly anomic and devoid of economic opportunity. In this economically uncertain, culturally insubstantial world, adolescents rightly judge their prospects to be poor. In this social context, seemingly irrational acts make more sense. Why be prudent in the absence of opportunity and community? Why be prudent in the absence of a future?     

The Resurgence of Puritanism in the West

Puritanism describes a frame of mind in which social phenomena (from rules and procedures to relationships and emotion) are treated as absolute. It finds expression as formal and highly structured societies which, in the West, have begun to undermine their own foundations. Thus, for instance, security, re-presented as an absolute, is eating away at basic liberties; and the absolute sanctity of family and relationships now requires the supervision of behavior to an extent, and a level of distrust, that is rarely seen except in the most distressed societies.

The explanation for Puritanism offered here deals with the difficulties confronting existing perspectives without rejecting them in their entirety. For instance, narcissism may be explained in part by creeping bureaucracy and professionalization even as Puritanism finds expression through a greatly heightened sense of self and its importance. Rationality can make an organization more impersonal. But rationality emerges from the organization to protect social relationships and emotion, not to excise them. Losing sight of this hastens the shift to a state of Puritanism; and it is Puritanism that transforms rationality into an unyielding doctrine. The perspective offered here also explains how and why there emerge states of mind in which relationships, emotions, ideas, and practice are treated as if absolute (as if significant in their own right). This is important not least because it suggests that the slide from Puritanism into divisiveness, intolerance, and instability which now seems very likely is not inexorable.     

Social Transformation in China and the Development of Social Assessment

Since the late 1990s, China has been pursuing a policy of economic expansion with extensive investment in large-scale infrastructure projects. The social side effects of these projects—such as involuntary resettlement—are but the tip of the iceberg of so-called externalities of economic transformation. This paper introduces the background and methodology of social assessment in China and argues that the assessment of social risks in development projects and programmes, undertaken as an integral part of a larger complex of future-oriented sustainability strategies in China, can be analysed as particular ‘governmental technologies’ in the sense of the Foucauldian school.     

西方居住隔离理论:发展历程与现实启示

自恩格斯首次揭示不同群体的居住隔离状态以来,西方社会学经济学等相关学科先后形成了三种不同取向的居住隔离理论,即强调不同人群空间分离的人文区位学居住分异理论,强调住宅更替规律的住房过滤理论,以及强调住宅阶级的新都市社会学居住隔离理论。这些理论共同提醒人们,在当代中国的城镇发展和住房建设中,必须有效预防居住空间隔离,阻止不同社会群体和阶层之间的隔离和对抗。     

Medieval origins of constitutional government in the West

Conclusions This survey of the political history of nonwestern countries has shown that Russia, Japan, and China never developed the levels of constitutional government found in late medieval Europe. Three of the four social origins of constitutionalism in the West, rough balance between crown and noble, contractual-feudal military organization, and lordpeasant dynamics have been largely absent from these countries. Nor has any other substantial source (such as religion or economic organization) been uncovered that compensated for these absences or which otherwise fostered constitutionalism. Consequently, the major institutes of medieval constitutionalism, rural local government, autonomous towns, estates, and the rule of law, have also been largely absent. Village government, on the other hand, which was fostered in the West by the continuance of Germanic peasant organization and by the commune movement of the medieval period, has been found to be quite ubiquitous outside Europe. Village government existed — and in vital forms — in all three nonwestern regions, but always dwarfed by the power of authoritarian organs of the surrounding state structures. Thus, village government in and of itself lacked constitutional significance unless it was able to fuse with other, stronger constitutional institutions as it did in the West.To avoid the charge that the present study is only another sentimentalization of remote, mythic past, the modern significance of medieval constitutionalism for liberal democracy must be established. Each component carried forth — and with essential continuity — one or more of the pivotal aspects of modern representative government, at least in those countries in which medieval constitutionalism was not destroyed by military-bureaucratic absolutism or by a labor-repressive commercialization of agriculture. Among those aspects of liberal democracy are citizenship rights, representative institutions, checks and balances on central authority, and the rule of law.Rural local government contained representative government, from tribal popular assemblies to gentry cliques, which persisted in one form or another. Citizenship found its expression in participatory government and in the chartered liberties of village communes and frontier settlements. Local government in itself could not act as a check on central power; it could, however, provide a scattered but collectively almost insurmountable obstacle to state penetration of the localities. Towns provided various levels of citizenship and representation, from narrow oligarchy to representation of the guilds and plebeian classes. The progressiveness of negative freedom (freedom from feudal authority) enjoyed by lower classes is easily missed by focusing too narrowly on the oligarchic nature of many municipalities. To be rid of seigneurial controls and to have access to a more rational judiciary were benefits that were not lost on the urban masses streaming in from the countryside. Royal dependence on revenue from the towns served as a de facto check on central power inasmuch as infringing the rights of one endangered and unified the others.The representative nature of the estates as well as their serving as checks and balances on the monarchy are very straightforward. The estates became the central arena of politics in successive centuries, and the struggle for citizenship rights was fought here in two senses. A main battle of liberalization was fought over the franchise, the right to vote and send representatives to the national assembly. Second, politics within the representative assembly often centered on extending freedoms and liberties by acts of legislation. The rule of law was a crown ornamenting and protecting medieval constitutionalism as well as liberal democracy. Law, that brooding omnipresence in the sky as Oliver Wendell Hohnes called it, served to guarantee citizenship rights, ensure proper consultation with the estates, and provide a normative and procedural grid in which the monarchal state had to act.It is important to note once more that medieval constitutionalism was not almost democracy, nor was it sufficient cause of liberal democracy. It did, however, provide many of the critical components including representation, citizenship, checks and balances, and the rule of law, that were absent in other parts of the world. Nor was constitutional government always accompanied by trust, cooperation, and acceptance of the political status quo. Tension, conflict, and often open hostility were more the norm as monarchs endeavored to rid themselves of meddlesome pests. But their animosities were held in check by constitutional protections and the strength of the opposition. Monarchs could only bide their time, abide by the governing rules and practices, and await the opportunity to shed what they viewed as the fetters of antiquated politics.The constitutional achievement, then, was a modest and frail one that had inherent instabilities owing to monarchal/state ambitions. It would be undermined in many countries where the commercialization of agriculture and the exigencies of modern warfare combined to bring about authoritarian relations and institutions. Elsewhere, where the impact of war and commercialization were less pronounced, medieval constitutionalism would serve as a basis for liberal democracy.     

Data and the measurement of R&D program impacts

The purpose of this paper is to propose a research agenda for the measurement of economic impacts of Canadian government R&D support programs. Different methodologies and indicators used to assess benefits from government support programs/agencies for R&D are discussed first. Using available information on major business-related R&D federal programs, the paper will assess which indicators and methodologies can be implemented. The specific programs/agencies under investigation include: Technology Partnerships Canada sponsored by Industry Canada, Industrial Research Assistance Program sponsored by National Research Council, Atlantic Innovation Fund sponsored by Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Canadian Space Agency and National Defence.     

Orientalist Knowledge and Social Theories: China and the European Conceptions of East‐West Differences from 1600 to 1900

This paper examines the long‐term development of Orientalism as an intellectual field, with the European learning of China between ca.1600 and ca.1900 as an exemplary case. My analysis will be aided by a theoretical framework based on a synthesis of the world‐system and network perspectives on long‐run intellectual change. Analyzing recurrent debates on China within European intellectual circles, I demonstrate that the Western conception of the East has been oscillating between universalism and particularism, and between naive idealization and racist bias. This oscillation is a function as much of the changing political economy of the capitalist world‐system as of the endogenous politics of the intellectual field. Despite their contrasting views, both admirers and despisers of the East viewed non‐Western civilizations as uniform wholes that had never changed. I argue that the fundamental fallacy of Orientalism lay, not in its presumptions about the ontological differences between East and West and the former's inferiority, as previous critics of Orientalism have supposed, but in its reductionism. Understanding non‐Western civilizations in their full dynamism and heterogeneity is a critical step toward the renewal of the twentieth‐century social theories that were built upon and impaired by the Orientalist knowledge accumulated in the previous centuries.     

“Not Allowed to Inherit My Kingdom”: Amenity Development and Social Inequality in the Rural West

This article, based on 84 in‐depth interviews and 10 months of ethnography, focuses on the rural Washington community of “Paradise Valley,” whose economic bases in mining, ranching, and logging declined by the end of the twentieth century. Recently, economic development has focused on amenity‐based tourism and second‐home ownership, as well as attracting wealthy in‐migrants. Job growth has been concentrated in construction and service sectors, particularly low‐paid, part‐time, and seasonal jobs in hospitality, retail, and food services. The community has changed from a relatively homogenous population of working‐class residents to a more diverse and divided community. The article explores outcomes of these changes, including gentrification and housing shortages, unemployment and underemployment, and a social divide in which the community's longtime and working‐class residents are marginalized. I explore these social consequences of amenity‐based development, illustrating the ways in which the social divide is reproduced and the gradual disenfranchisement of those with roots in earlier social and economic systems in the valley, focusing on the changing meanings and uses of different types of symbolic capital.     

Teaching Social Work and Social Policy in the Era of Hyperpartisanship

ABSTRACT

For social work educators, teaching social policy in the current political climate in the United States may seem daunting and energizing at the same time. Students are often acutely aware of the political and policy-related controversies raging in Washington, D.C. and local governments, and yet their position on these issues may be unexplored or conflicted. The social policy classroom can be a productive place to explore these conflicts, but instructors may be especially wary of undertaking these difficult conversations in the current hyperpartisan era. This article explores how to ground these conversations in social work’s professional values, pedagogical theory, and educational best practices to help students build skill and confidence in developing their own well-informed assessments about policies and politics.     

Pluralism and ethnic conflict in Tanzania's arid lands: the case of the Maasai and the WaArusha

In Tanzania, the Maasai and Waarusha tribes are experiencing conflict because differences in their modes of productions and economic strategies undermine the peaceful coexistence that they have enjoyed since the 18th century. The Maasai are pastoralists, while the Waarusha are agricultural subsistence farmers who are encroaching on the best pasture lands. A sketch of the history of the two groups shows that the Maasai reached the peak of their land holding in 1880 before the arrival of European colonists who seized land and restricted the Maasai to a semi-arid reserve but allowed the Maasai to remain an autonomous and powerful group. The Waarusha began encroaching on Maasai land after independence due to land and population pressure. While closely tied, each group looks down on the other, and Maasai ascendancy has given way to Waarusha challenges. After independence, the tribal and ethnic rule that was protected by the colonial system was disrupted to allow for increased internal migration and new patterns of settlement. The rights of land ownership were transferred from tribes to the State, allowing privileged groups to benefit. The Waarusha began to engage in illegal land-grabbing and to encroach on the Maasai preserve using legal and illegal means. The Maasai view land as collective property and have had difficulty retaining title of traditional lands in the face of population pressure. This loss of grazing land has forced the Maasai into a mixed economy that depends upon agricultural production as well as livestock production. In the meantime, the Waarusha have deliberately sought political office to gain power to secure their holdings. Immediate action is needed to produce 1) a policy on spontaneous settlement, 2) an immediate adjustment of legal procedures for land acquisition, 3) a land tenure policy that equally emphasizes agricultural and livestock production, and 4) controls on undue expansion of subsistence agriculture into semi-arid rangelands.     

大学生志愿服务西部计划的法律困境及消解途径

大学生志愿服务西部计划是2003年推出的一项支持西部开发、推进大学生基层就业、引导人口迁移的社会工程。其以先进的工作理念、良好的组织方式、突出的社会效果获得了广泛的好评和社会认同。但也有一系列涉法律法规的问题需要认真思考和完善,如人口迁移中的户籍暂住问题、教师资格证问题、志愿者的劳动关系和社会保障问题、志愿者从事公务活动的身份问题等。从学理上看,西部计划的涉及法律法规问题的产生是其在运作过程中的必然现象,其发展完善需要经过一个过程。     

Researcher reflexivity: exploring the impacts of CAQDAS use

Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) programs are established tools for qualitative research. Making informed decisions when using them requires researchers to understand how they affect research practices and outcomes. In this article we consider the impact of CAQDAS on researcher reflexivity. Reviewing three decades of literature, we identify specific ‘reflexive moments’ experienced by CAQDAS users, the contexts in which they occur, the issues they raise, and the reflexive awareness they generate. The ways in which CAQDAS can enhance or undermine researcher reflexivity are also reported. By doing so, we aim to help researchers and especially research students (and their supervisors) understand the relationship between CAQDAS and reflexivity and the reflexive moments they may encounter when using such software.