Landowners’ perspectives on the rural future and the role of forests across Europe

Contemporary changes in rural Europe have been characterised by the contrasting terms of rural modernisation and productivism versus restructuring and post-productivism. This study investigates how different categories of owners of farm and/or forestland in 16 case study areas in eight European countries perceive future development. Landowners’ prospects for change are investigated on both the locality and enterprise level. Special attention is given to the role of forestry as a potential future development perspective. The results reveal that both restructuring and modernisation perspectives are important to many landowners. Moreover, a polarisation seems to be developing between a minority of full-time farmers with progressive farming prospects and the vast majority of landowners with declining prospects or little dependency on primary production. More importantly, the research reveals a third employment perspective, which did not have any specific content apart from the social security of having employment opportunities in the locality. Also at the enterprise level, farmers anticipate both restructuring and modernisation practices, even on the very same property. The study proves that it is not only part-time, hobby and retired farmers that are engaged in “restructuring” activities, but also full-time farmers. As regards the role of forests, the majority of landowners do not interpret forests in an economic development context, but as green infrastructure important to the local quality of life. It can be concluded that forests are closely related to restructuring thinking among landowners. Future perspectives differ from one European rural area to another, dependent on local conditions and problems. More importantly, however, this research reveals that modernisation–restructuring thoughts and practices of landowners are manifold and heterogeneous in all types of rural areas across Europe.     

Contemporary development forces in the nonmetropolitan west: new insights from rapidly growing communities

Nonmetropolitan areas in the western United States have experienced rapid growth rates measured in both economic and demographic terms. Macrolevel studies have found that a variety of forces are at work driving these regional patterns of growth including quality of life migrants, expansion of service industries, and nonearnings sources of income. While these macrolevel studies provide important insights into the processes of regional change, very little is known of the significance of these contemporary development forces at the micro, or community, level. This paper reports the results of four community case studies in rapidly growing rural communities within the western United States to provide a better understanding of economic and social change at the community level. Interviews with key players in each case study community provide the empirical evidence for this paper, and the data demonstrate community development processes to be complex. Resource-dependent industrial activities remain an important component for community economies. Furthermore, extractive activity is being supplemented (not supplanted) by various combinations of the factors reported in macrolevel studies including niche manufacturing, Lone Eagles, quality of life migrants, and retirees. The case studies also highlight a high degree of volatility in growing areas and potential problems with assimilation, fractioning, and planning associated with rapid growth in these small places.     

Heritage and Community Regeneration in Northern Ireland: Finding Points of Coalescence in the Development Planning Process

ABSTRACT

Bringing heritage resources to the forefront in communities can serve to help heal long-standing divides with impacts not only in economic dimensions, but also social and cultural. It is an ironic turn—some of the heritage resources in Northern Ireland have been the site of intense and violent conflict over long periods of time—and now serve as focal points for bringing together divergent groups, helping heal divisions in communities. Seventeen communities throughout Northern Ireland are examined, gauging impacts and perceptions of community regeneration and redevelopment processes. Results provide insights for addressing lingering conflict and finding points of coalescence, with heritage playing a role in transformation.     

Conflicts and contestations. Rural populations’ perspectives on the second homes phenomenon

In response to demands to restructure and diversify their economies, many rural communities have welcomed the expanding phenomenon of second homes. However, while the second home owners bring new resources to the host communities, the literature also suggests that large second home populations in rural communities provide fertile ground for a number of economic, social and cultural conflicts and contestations. The present paper analyses the views of the local rural populations on the second home phenomenon, with particular attention to variation in these views, both within and between the rural communities (municipalities). The analysis uses material from the survey City, countryside, second homes 2008, which was conducted among a large-scale and representative sample of the population in Norwegian rural second home municipalities. The first section of the paper addresses the rural populations’ stance towards the second home phenomenon, both in general and as it unfolds in their own vicinity. Results show generally positive views on second home development; however, the analysis identifies a substantial minority which is negative to the second home expansion. Nevertheless, the second section shows that even those rurals who are negative towards further developments of second homes largely report harmonious social relationships with the second home population that is already present. Third, the paper presents and discusses a multivariate logistic regression model to analyse how different segments of the rural population vary in their views on second home phenomena. Here, results suggest differences at both micro and macro levels: the local rural elites, in particular those with direct economic interests in the second home sector, are most positive towards further development. On the municipality level, resistance towards second homes is stronger in municipalities with a high density of second homes. Nevertheless, a high growth rate in the number of second homes, due to high investments, seems to increase local support.     

Assessing NGO Empowerment in Housing Development Frameworks: Discourse and Practice in the Philippines

Amid the rise of democratization movements since the 1980s, many governments in developing countries have proactively introduced the ideas of decentralization and devolution into the policy arena. In the pursuit of democratic planning processes where civil society is encouraged to be a part of the formal decision-making system, articles advocating the empowerment of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been included into a series of legislations. This shift was soon reflected in housing development frameworks for the poor, leading to the formulation of a new approach called "enablement." The Philippines' experience for the last two decades follows this line of development. Filipino NGOs are now prescribed as a catalyst to add further dynamism to the improvement of substandard living environments. Empirical findings of this study exemplify that NGO empowerment has been increasingly accelerated by the combination of NGOs' self-endeavors and governments' initiatives. By utilizing the paradigm shift under the enablement approach, NGOs are engaged in the attempt of alliance-formation and network-building to expand their influence. Contrary to ideals, however, NGO empowerment may reveal some adverse effects such as excessive dependency on NGOs and distorted representation by NGOs. Moreover, the professionalization of NGOs is an additional factor which generates hierarchization at the grass-roots level. This study suggests that further research analyze the depth and width to which NGO empowerment has been penetrated in order to precisely capture the processes and consequences resulting in disempowerment.     

Challenging the inevitability of rural decline: Advancing the policy of place in northern British Columbia

In current policy discourse, rural decline is often described as an inevitable process associated with such broader structural trends as globalization and urbanization. The purpose of this paper is to challenge the supposed inevitability of rural decline in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada. We argue that rural decline in northern BC has been facilitated through an intentional policy program that views hinterland areas as a ‘resource bank’ from which to fund provincial infrastructure and services, without adequate attention to rural reinvestment. We highlight the potential discrepancies of this approach through a comparative study of two development eras in the province. In the first era, we examine the policies and development approach adopted by the W.A.C. Bennett provincial government, which governed from 1952 to 1972. We argue that the Bennett regime confronted the complexity of the post-war era with a comprehensive vision and coordinated policy program for ‘province building’ through intensive investments in industrial expansion and community infrastructure throughout the BC hinterland. By comparison, the post-1980s era in BC has witnessed a continuation of the resource bank approach, minus a concomitant commitment to hinterland investment. Reversing the inevitability of rural decline requires a renovation of the investment orientation witnessed during the Bennett era through an appreciation of the role of place in economic development. Our recommendations for renewed rural development in northern BC are drawn from a synthesis of the Bennett lessons with those emerging within place-based development literature.     

Broadening the scope: Gender and international economic development

The central claim of this essay is that gender is a key term for understanding economic development insofar as it reveals fundamental aspects in the organization of production and labor. Following a cursory review of influential approaches to development and their relationship to the parallel theorization of gender, I compare two recent modalities of industrial restructuring: the expansion of export-processing plants (maquiladoras) along the U.S.-Mexico border and the survival strategies of electronics firms in Southern California. My theoretical focus is on the specification of gender as a process that allows for the maintenance of a substratum of labor, predominantly female, outside of market exchanges. That labor is recurrently tapped by employers seeking competitive edges in domestic and international markets. The same mechanism enables the replication of patterns of unequal exchange through the articulation of two interdependent models of production — one domestic and one market oriented — by which capitalist accumulation is fulfilled.     

增强企业社会责任研究——基于浦东案例

企业社会责任不仅限于慈善事业或企业社会形象的提升,而是更多地与增强企业竞争力、促进地区发展,助力城市治理、加快转变政府职能等联系在一起。通过对近年来浦东新区企业社会责任体系建设的历程、现状特征、主要经验和面临困难进行梳理,对浦东新区未来保持和提升地区责任竞争力提出建设性意见。     

An analysis of major social obstacles affecting human resource development in Iran

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to analyze the major social obstacles affecting the human resource development (HRD) in Iran. The study population included faculty members in Yazd province, Iran (N = 280, n = 162). A survey and a researcher-made questionnaire were used to collect data. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by using Cronbach’s alpha (0.88) and its validity was approved by a panel of experts. The results indicated that the major social obstacles affecting HRD are ‘an increase in the share of foreigners in the labor market’, ‘frustration of native graduates’ and ‘local brain drain’, respectively. Furthermore, the results of exploratory factor analysis indicated that the most important social obstacles affecting HRD can be summarized into six factors including migration, lack of nativism, inclination towards foreigners, gender imbalance, lack of justice in distribution of resources, and lack of meritocracy. These factors altogether could explain 65.45% of the total variance. In the end, some applied recommendations (such as paying more attention to rural youth, fair distribution of facilities towards urban and rural balance, supporting native elites, preference for employment, and applying indigenous peoples based on meritocracy, creating favorable balance at different levels of academic education, avoiding gender inequality) have been presented.     

The use of concept mapping in measurement development and evaluation: Application and future directions

The past decade has seen an increase of measurement development research in social and health sciences that featured the use of concept mapping as a core technique. The purpose, application, and utility of concept mapping have varied across this emerging literature. Despite the variety of uses and range of outputs, little has been done to critically review how researchers have approached the application of concept mapping in the measurement development and evaluation process. This article focuses on a review of the current state of practice regarding the use of concept mapping as methodological tool in this process. We systematically reviewed 23 scale or measure development and evaluation studies, and detail the application of concept mapping in the context of traditional measurement development and psychometric testing processes. Although several limitations surfaced, we found several strengths in the contemporary application of the method. We determined concept mapping provides (a) a solid method for establishing content validity, (b) facilitates researcher decision-making, (c) insight into target population perspectives that are integrated a priori, and (d) a foundation for analytical and interpretative choices. Based on these results, we outline how concept mapping can be situated in the measurement development and evaluation processes for new instrumentation.     

Measuring social capital accumulation in rural development

Using a theoretical framework, the study proposes an index that can measure the social capital of local action group (LAG) projects. The index is founded on four indicators: number of ties, bridging social capital, recognition, and diversity, which are aggregated into one social capital index. The index has been tested in LAG-Djursland, Denmark, and the study further investigates whether the organisational affiliation, project financing, and LAG co-financing can explain the degree of social capital accumulation. Furthermore, the author has tested if there are connections between motivation for pursuing development projects similar to those implemented previously and the degree of social capital. The paper concludes that there are indications that projects hosted by municipalities tend to show the most social capital, there is no connection between the amount of project financing and social capital, and a high level of motivation leads to increased social capital.     

Value Chain Development and the Agrarian Question: Actor Perspectives on Native Potato Production in the Highlands of Peru

Value chain development seeks to integrate smallholder farmers into competitive markets to promote economic and social development. This article, conceptually based on the agrarian question, considers how the perspectives of various value chain actors, with particular focus on smallholders, have important implications for the outcomes of these market‐oriented initiatives. Utilizing Long’s concept of social interface, we present a mixed‐methods case study that analyzes how smallholders, an NGO, and agrifood corporations, including PepsiCo, partnered to establish value chains for native potatoes in the Peruvian highlands. We find that a thorough understanding of the various perspectives held by value chain actors provides important insight into why value chain initiatives have divergent trajectories. Based on the findings, we conclude that accounting for how actors are responding to development initiatives and one another helps explain development outcomes and that therefore the agrarian question remains relevant in current agricultural development discourse and practice.     

上海转型发展若干重大关系的战略思考

上海在未来的转型发展中,关键是要理清发展中若干重大关系问题,如目标与目的、功能与效能、结构与同构、产业与就业、资源与财源等,从而为上海的科学发展、可持续发展奠定统一的认识基础。     

Rural restructuring in the American West: land use, family and class discourses

Migration patterns, technological developments, and altered human–land relationships are combining to precipitate tremendous changes in rural communities across the western US. These processes of restructuring, however, have been quite contentious and divisive for many of the region's small towns. While we are beginning to understand the causes of recent growth and development trends, the consequences of contemporary forces of restructuring on communities remain unstudied. This paper explores the reactions of residents to forces of restructuring in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, the Methow Valley, Washington, Kane County, Utah, and Teton Valley, Idaho. In depth interviews and survey responses give voice to community members by allowing them to articulate their perceptions and interpretations of recent events. The analyses demonstrate tremendous diversity in the ways in which individuals interpret the changes taking place around them. These diverse interpretations challenge singular conceptions of community and highlight the ways in which notions of land use, family, and class are negotiated in the context of contemporary rural restructuring. The analysis further demonstrates the need for a more synthesized field of rural studies spanning disciplinary and national divides.     

Political Process and the Development of Labor Insurgency in Turkey, 1945–80

Much attention in recent political science and sociology has been given to the origins of social movements, revolutions, and other similar forms of contentious politics. Furthermore, unlike other areas of study in the social sciences, analysts of contentious politics have actively sought to draw insights from divergent theoretical approaches. Such an integrated approach to the study of social movements is offered by the political process model. This paper offers an empirical extension of the process model of social movement emergence to the case of the labor movement in Turkey. The predominant view of the labor movement in Turkey is one that sees the movement as relatively inconsequential to the development of state–society relations in that country. This conclusion is based on two lines of reasoning: first, the notion that the state granted labor rights and freedoms without a protracted struggle from below, and, second, the notion that the military coup of 1980 effectively crushed the Turkish labor movement. On the contrary, applying insights from the political process model better helps to explain why the 1960s and 1970s saw the development of an important labor insurgency in Turkey.     

Bringing experiential educational groups to the United States: an analysis of group development in an international travel and study program

International exchanges and travel and study projects have been gaining popularity in many fields including social work. Embedded in a group context, the success of these initiatives depends heavily on the group process of all members involved. This article analyzes the impact group dynamics have on an international travel and study project that brought 11 doctoral students and their dean from Ethiopia for a one-month experiential education program. A model of group development, which emphasizes behavioral outcomes in groups (forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning), is presented as an organizing framework. The discussion draws on a qualitative analytical study, which revisits Tuckman's model, and proposes a revised model that defines group development stages by individual, group, purpose, and work concerns that drive conflict throughout all group stages. Implications for social work education include de-emphasizing stages of group development, being mindful about what is known about small groups, and improving empirical research and training for leading international groups.     

在国家与市场之间寻找中国社会政策改革的逻辑——“社会发展与社会政策:国际经验与中国改革”国际学术研讨会评述

综观东亚新兴经济体和欧美发达国家在社会政策领域的路径变迁,可以得出"两个转型"的基本结论,即东亚新兴经济体从单一追求经济增长逐渐向追求经济与社会平衡发展转型;欧美发达国家从倚重国家福利向倚重社会投资与国家福利平衡发展转型。这两个处于不同社会发展阶段的转型,对中国当前的社会发展和社会政策改革都有着非常重要的启示意义。中国作为具有后发优势的全球最有活力的新兴经济体,当前既需要解决经济增长与社会发展之间的失衡问题,也需要未雨绸缪,避免陷入欧美国家福利陷阱而背上沉重的财政包袱。因此,在国家与市场之间找到一条最具效率性和合理性的社会发展路径,才是符合当前中国社会政策改革的逻辑。     

Managing Categorization and Social Withdrawal in Japan: Rehabilitation Process in a Private Support Group for Hikikomorians

Abstract: Social withdrawal among Japanese youth has been noticed since the latter‐half of the 1990s. It is called Hikikomori in Japan. Though some clinicians in the mental health field have referred to social backgrounds of this problem, only a few sociological studies have been conducted. I have conducted participant observation in a private support group and recorded the rehabilitation processes of people with Hikikomori for two years. My study has two aspects. First, it is a short ethnography concerning the features of the group efforts. Second, it is intended to interpret relations between the features and rehabilitation processes. The first feature is the group dynamics arising from friendly and competitive relationships among the people with Hikikomori—called Hikikomorians. The second feature is “managing categorization”. It is a tendency to be vague about categories that indicate their social status accompanied with some roles. This tendency could be observed in various aspects of the group activities, for example, concerning diseases’ names, schedules, definition of space and so on. Managing categorization allows Hikikomorians to easily participate in and experience social activities. They are people who do not have social categories to explain themselves easily in social settings and do not have the self‐confidence to perform some roles. Under social pressures, however, they tend to maintain a behavioral principle that is based on categories. Managing categorization therefore functions to provisionally release their attitudes and allow them to attempt trial and error based situations more easily. Finally, I also indicate some difficulties of managing categorization.     

Social work and pastoral counseling: Empowering each other

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the divergent outcomes which can result from counseling services offered pastorally versus clinically. As faith leaders often have greater direct access than social workers to supporting religious populations, it is important to explore the intersection between religious pastoral support and clinical social work. Presenting six scenarios from the author’s own experiences as both a rabbi and social worker, this article processes each scenario first through the pastoral lens of an Orthodox rabbi, followed by the clinical lens of a social worker or other mental health professional. The client outcomes which are produced from each modality are radically different. This contrast demonstrates the distinction between the goals, values, and training of each profession, and highlights importance for future work to be done in linking religious and pastoral training to mental health services, as well as broadening the scope of cultural competence for social workers and therapists who may engage with tight-knit religious populations.     

Perspectives on How Social Business Can Engender Work Identity Among People with Mental Illness

ABSTRACT

Social businesses use market strategies to advance the employment and economic situation of people with mental illness who have experienced high levels of social marginalization. They have the potential to achieve these goals by fostering the work identity of the workers within the business, and to themselves acquire an identity as a viable commercial entity that contributes to the prosperity and social fabric of the local community. This study used in-depth case study methods enhanced by comparisons with international social businesses to understand the processes by which social businesses influence work identity. Six business processes that are salient to the development of a strong work identity were identified. Eight propositions for how work identity can be supported by social businesses are offered. The propositions may be useful as a guide for the development of social businesses that are organized and implemented to positively develop work identity, regardless of the nature of the business model.