Exploring Sameness and Difference: Fundamentalisms and the Future of Globalization

Abstract

The rise of fundamentalisms—both secular and religious—threatens to become a key element in the functioning of the international system over the coming decades. But what exactly are fundamentalisms? This article provides a response to this question by taking up the relationship between sameness and difference, arguing that fundamentalisms are predicated on a deep desire for sameness. This desire for sameness becomes all the more potent in a period of rapid change and dislocation, and with the loss of ideological certainties. In the light of this, the implications for the emphasis on sameness are pursued in terms of what fundamentalisms make of the international system and globalization.     

Social Movements, Social Justice and Social Work

Correspondence to: Neil Thompson, Avenue Consulting Ltd, PO Box 2060, Wrexham LL13 OZG, Wales, UK. Summary This paper explores the relationship between social movements,social justice and social work. It examines the role of socialmovements in promoting social justice and considers the influencesof such movements in the development of emancipatory forms ofsocial work practice. It also considers the question of whethersocial work can be viewed as a form of social movement in itsown right. A central theme of the paper is the fundamental tensionbetween social work as a force for social regulation and asa force for social development and emancipation.     

Determining attribute weights using mathematical programming

Group decisions are an important element of successful knowledge management in organizations. Such decisions are difficult to make, however, especially when they involve a large set of attributes that require decision-makers to develop rankings. This paper presents a goal programming model for determining constrained regression estimates of attribute weights. The model is developed using pair-wise comparison ratings that are derived by using triads of the attributes. In addition, metrics are presented for measuring individual and group consensus. A specific application to the health care industry is presented to illustrate results that are obtained from the model.     

人们是否知道你最近为他们做了什么？

上司的上司或许比你的直接主管更能够让你得到晋升或美差过去几年中,经理人的离职率高得空前。在20世纪90年代后期的繁荣中,许多经理人为大好光景所迷醉,纷纷离职另谋高就。而在新世纪的头几年,这批经理人却有许多在一纸解聘书下黯然去职。因此,由于你自身及上级经理的工作流动(不管是否自愿),你目前的直接上司很可能不同于三四年前。这意味着,你可     

Ethnicity, Marginalisation and Mental Illness in Hawaii

This study examines the characteristics, treatment and care of severely and persistently mentally ill patients at Hawaii's largest public sector psychiatric facility, Hawaii State Hospital. The implications of this information are then discussed, in terms of treatment and care. Consistent with previous studies, the 88 patients included in this study were most often male, less than 40 years of age, with a high school education or less, and hospitalized under a penal code. More remarkable variations were revealed, however, when patients were grouped according to ethnicity and racial origin. For example, patients from marginalised groups had a significantly higher likelihood of violence than patients from more politically, economically and socially powerful groups in Hawaii. The findings of this research challenge health care providers in general, and nurses in particular, to combine social advocacy with clinical expertise to ensure that patients receive effective and complete treatment and care.     

Successfully exiting homelessness: experiences of formerly homeless mentally ill individuals

This study aims to identify and describe processes of change enabling achievement of stable housing among homeless individuals. Twelve previously homeless individuals who had maintained stable housing for a period of at least 24 consecutive months provided information through semi-structured interviews on the following topics: (1) the personal experience of homelessness, (2) the process of becoming housed, and (3) the role of significant life relationships. Only the second and third topic areas were included in this discussion. Eight categories were developed and analyzed from the qualitative interviews, including: work/employment difficulties, substance use and/or mental illness, cyclical nature of homelessness, personal motivation, housing-related issues, lessons learned, relationships with family/friends and relationships with service providers. The participants highlighted relationships with family, friends and service providers as central in the processes of achieving stable housing.     

Spatial Risk Assessment Across Large Landscapes with Varied Land Use: Lessons from a Conservation Assessment of Military Lands

Spatial decision-support tools are necessary for assessment and management of threats to biodiversity, which in turn is necessary for biodiversity conservation. In conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey-Biological Resources Division's Species at Risk program, we developed a GIS-based spatial decision-support tool for relative risk assessments of threats to biodiversity on the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss (New Mexico and Texas) due to land uses associated with military missions of the two bases. The project tested use of spatial habitat models, land-use scenarios, and species-specific impacts to produce an assessment of relative risks for use in conservation planning on the 1.2 million-hectare study region. Our procedure allows spatially explicit analyses of risks to multiple species from multiple sources by identifying a set of hazards faced by all species of interest, identifying a set of feasible management alternatives, assigning scores to each species for each hazard, and mapping the distribution of these hazard scores across the region of interest for each combination of species/management alternatives. We illustrate the procedure with examples. We demonstrate that our risk-based approach to conservation planning can provide resource managers with a useful tool for spatial assessment of threats to species of concern.