Can Capitalism Solve Its Own Rural Problems? Japanese Lessons for the World Bank's Vision of Rural-Led Development

Recent research and policy advice by international development organizations have, by their own account, sought to reverse a prior neglect of conditions in agriculture and rural areas. In pursuit of this, they have developed a vision of dynamic but incremental development in rural areas, anchored in a smallholder-based and economically diversified market economy. This vision, articulated in the World Bank's 2008 World Development Report and continuing to animate research and policy advice today, presents itself as a solution to persistent poverty in the world's least developed countries. This paper adopts a historical sociological lens to use the case of Japan, in the period from the latter half of the nineteenth century to the opening decades of the twentieth, to assess how realistic this vision is. This analysis shows that the lessons of Japan's experience are chastening for this vision of rural development. The mechanisms of growth in Japan were remarkably similar to those advertised by the World Bank's vision. However, its rural economic dynamism was based on deep socioeconomic inequalities and brought improved material conditions and greater economic security to agricultural households only with excruciating slowness, if at all. Rather than demonstrating the potential of incremental, market-oriented rural development to offer a path towards widespread poverty reduction, Japan instead serves as a warning of this development model's limitations.     

How Dangerous Is Low Level Radiation?

Problems in the theoretical basis for the linear-no threshold theory of radiation carcinogenesis are reviewed, and it is shown that they very strongly suggest that the theory greatly overestimates the risk of low level radiation. A direct test of the theory, based on the radon—lung cancer relationship is described; it strongly reinforces that conclusion. However, it is shown that even if the linear-no threshold theory is valid, the public's fear of low level radiation, at least in some contexts, is grossly exaggerated.     

Conflict Resolution as the Alternative to Terrorism

We distinguish between the typical sort of short-range conflict management, in which governments must engage, and the long-term processes of conflict resolution, which must include the involvement of entire societies and the replacement of adversarial relations with cooperative ones. How can third parties facilitate conflict resolution? This article discusses five principles that have evolved from attempts to facilitate conflict resolution in the Mideast: enhancement of each adversary's identity , creation of new symbols, enfranchisement of elements within each of the conflict groups, enhancement of indigenous development , and use of indigenous third parties . We argue that this nongovernmental facilitation of conflict resolution (with governmental tacit cooperation) is the real alternative to terrorism.     

Security level,potential level,expected utility: A three-criteria decision model under risk

Among the violations of expected utility (E.U.) theory which have been observed by experimenters, the violations of its independence axiom is, by far, the most common. It seems that, in many cases, these inconsistencies can be ascribed to the desire for security - called the security factor by L. Lopes (1986) - which makes people attach special importance to the worst outcomes of risky decisions as well as to the sole outcomes of riskless decisions (certainty effect). J.-Y. Jaffray (1988) has proposed a model which generalizes E.U. theory by taking into account this factor and is then able to account for certain violations. However, especially in experiments on choice involving prospective losses, violations of the von Neumann-Morgenstern independence axiom cannot be explained by the security factor alone and have to be partially ascribed to the potential factor (L. Lopes, 1986) which reflects heightened attention to the best outcomes of decisions, especially when the best outcome is the status quo. In this paper, we construct an axiomatic model for subjects taking into account simultaneously or alternatively the security factor and the potential factor. For this, as in Jaffray's model, it has been necessary to weaken not only the standard independence axiom but also the continuity axiom and, in the same time, to reinforce the dominance axiom. In the resulting model, choices are partially determined by the mere comparison of the (security level, potential level) (i.e. the (worst outcome, best outcome)) pairs offered, and completed by the maximization of an affine function of the expected utility, the coefficients of which depend on both the security level and potential level.In this model, a decision maker who (i) has constant marginal utility for money, (ii) is sensitive to the security factor alone in the domain of gains, (iii) is sensitive to the potential factor alone in the domain of losses, behaves as a risk averter for gains and a risk seeker for losses.     

The Cognitive Domain of the Quality of Life of University Students: A Re-Analyses of an Instrument

This paper presents the re-analysis of a previouslypublished instrument, based on Bloom's taxonomy,developed to measure the cognitive domain of thequality of life of university students. The items inthis instrument were assessed using Guttman's SmallestSpace Analysis. The findings generally supportBloom's conceptualization, identifying 5 of 6dimensions in the taxonomy: Knowledge, Comprehension,Application, Analysis, and Evaluation. The findingsprovide support for the enduring utility of Bloom'staxonomy, and reinforce the ongoing need to testtheoretically informed instruments using sophisticatedstatistical techniques.     

The concept of sublimation

Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice and Mind. M. F. Belenky, B. M. Clinchy, N. R. Goldberger and J. M. Tarule. (New York: Basic Books, 1986.)

The Therapist's Own Family: Toward the Differentiation of Self. Peter Titelman (Ed.). (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1987.)

Clinical Work With Adolescents. Judith Marks Mishne. (New York: The Free Press, 1986.)     

A feminist perspective on COVID‐19 and the value of care work globally

The shared response to the COVID‐19 crisis demonstrates that the vast majority of society believes human wellbeing — not economic growth — should be at the centre of policy. COVID‐19 exposes the foundational role of care work, both paid and unpaid, to functioning societies and economies. Focusing on ‘production’ instead of the sustainable reproduction of human life devalues care work and those who perform it. Women’s physical and mental health, and the societies that rely on them, are at stake. When these policies are formulated, the field of feminist economics has valuable lessons for mitigating hardships as countries navigate the related economic fallout. A comprehensive response to the COVID‐19 crisis must recognize this gendered work as an integral part of the economic system that promotes human wellbeing for all.