The occupational (im)mobility of migrants in Italy

Migrants usually experience a downward mobility in their host country’s economy and are over-represented among lower status jobs. The present study contributes to the knowledge on migrant occupation mobility in Italy, assuming a longitudinal perspective and focusing on two aspects: first, the entry of migrants into the Italian labour market and, second, the working trajectories of migrants in Italy, reflecting the role of the first step in determining the following trajectory and migrants’ strategies.     

Military spouses speak up: A qualitative study of military and Veteran spouses’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine military family life through the lens of military and Veteran spouses. Twenty-two female, active-duty military and Veteran spouses provided extensive written responses to essay questions as part of an online survey that were analyzed with qualitative data analysis methods. Findings revealed seven main themes: how military life has influenced health care access, spouses’ identities as caregivers, marital relationships, health outcomes, social support, spouses’ educational and career opportunities, as well as their personal growth. In summary, their experiences indicate that military service affects all aspects of their lives. Spouses gave numerous suggestions as to how service providers can address their unique experiences to improve the supports they offer military families, including ensuring the spouse is involved in health care, and providing support programs that focus on the entire family.     

Globalization,Technology and Female Empowerment: Breaking Rights or Connecting Opportunities?

What are the main impacts of globalization and new information and communication technologies (ICTs) on female empowerment? The first part of this paper surveys two main disputing arguments concerning this issue through a review of the literature investigating the causal mechanisms that links both dimensions. One stream of academia highlights the negative impacts of globalization. It argues how market liberalization resulted in the weakening of welfare policies and the flexibilization of labor rights. Another stream of literature emphasizes the role played by international organizations, like the World Bank, as well as civil society movements, and highlights how globalization made it possible for women conquer an important place in their societies. This paper attempts to add to these analyses the assumption that ICTs provided differential opportunities to women. The second part of the paper verifies which arguments are most consistent with empirical data. In a panel analysis from 2000 to 2014 we focus on how globalization may have affected female economic empowerment (measured as women’s participation in the work force) and political representation (measured as women participation on the labor force and participation in national parliaments). We find evidence that access to ICTs may represent a crucial variable to enhance women’s empowerment.     

‘Volunteer Humanitarianism’: volunteers and humanitarian aid in the Jungle refugee camp of Calais*

The informal refugee camp in Calais, dubbed the ‘new Jungle’, reached an approximate population of ten thousand people in 2016. The settlement, despite these high numbers, did not receive aid from the French government or international aid agencies. As a response to the lack of institutional support, and given the squalid conditions of the camp, hundreds of volunteers and grassroots organisations took on the burden of delivering humanitarian aid and basic services in the Jungle. This grassroots humanitarian aid, which I call ‘volunteer humanitarianism’, has particular characteristics that will be explored. The article argues that volunteer humanitarianism can be interpreted as a symbol against the violent border practices across Europe and, because of its informality, provides an alternative to formal humanitarian aid. The article also shows that volunteer humanitarianism formed a connection between humanitarianism and activism that stands in tension with neoliberal governmentality. As the Jungle was demolished in October 2016, this article is a contribution to the history of the camp as well as a testimony of the volunteers’ work there.     

The role of evidence in nutrition policy‐making in Ethiopia: Institutional structures and issue framing

Malnutrition is the single greatest contributor to the global burden of morbidity and mortality, with most cases arising in low‐ and middle‐income countries. However, the multi‐sectoral nature of nutrition policy‐making adds considerable complexity to the implementation of effective programmes. This raises questions about why or how relevant policy change can come about within different country settings. This article examines multi‐sectoral nutrition policy‐making from the health sector perspective, specifically focusing on different sectoral perspectives and the role and use of evidence within this. Ethiopia provides a unique example of the challenging nature of multi‐sectoral nutrition policy‐making, even with a strong co‐ordinating infrastructure. In December 2014 we undertook 23 in‐depth semi‐structured interviews with stakeholders from key health sector organizations, along with a related documentary analysis. Participants represented a diverse range of perspectives, including government representatives, policy stakeholders, aid providers from multi‐lateral organizations and academic researchers. Our respondents described how nutrition framing in Ethiopia is changing, with greater consideration of overweight, obesity and non‐communicable diseases, as well as undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. However, overweight‐ and obesity‐related concerns are still less evident in key documents. Some health actors described the challenge of enacting structural policy changes when doing so requires engagement from the agriculture sector. While multi‐sectoral plans and infrastructure to address malnutrition are in place, respondents suggested that the mandate for addressing nutrition resting with the health sector was reinforced by the nature of evidence collected. This study of nutrition policy‐making in Ethiopia highlights the complex interaction of evidence within different conceptualisations of policy problems and responses. Despite Ethiopia's strategic framework and its progress in achieving terms of nutrition targets, it shares the challenge of countries elsewhere in addressing nutrition as a multi‐sectoral issue.     

Clustering ranking data in market segmentation: a case study on the Italian McDonald's customers’ preferences†

Cluster analysis is often used for market segmentation. When the inputs in the clustering algorithm are ranking data, the intersubject (dis)similarities must be measured by matching-type measures, able to take account of the ordinal nature of the data. Among them, we used a Weighted Spearman's rho, suitably transformed into a (dis)similarity measure, in order to emphasize the concordance on the top ranks. This allows creating clusters grouping customers that place the same items (products, services, etc.) higher in their rankings. Also the statistical instruments used to interpret the clusters must be conceived to deal with ordinal data. The median and other location measures are appropriate but not always able to clearly differentiate groups. The so-called bipolar mean, with its related variability measure, may reveal some additional features. A case study on real data from a survey carried out in the Italian McDonald's restaurants is presented.     

The Development of Dynamic Facial Expression Recognition at Different Intensities in 4- to 18-Year-Olds

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the intensity of emotion expression on children's developing ability to label emotion during a dynamic presentation of five facial expressions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, and sadness). A computerized task (AFFECT—animated full facial expression comprehension test) was used to display facial emotion expressions as animations with four levels of intensity (35, 50, 75, and 100 percent). In this study, which employed a cross-sectional design, 240 participants from 4 to 18 years completed the AFFECT. Results indicated that recognition ability developed for each of the emotions, with the exception of disgust, over the age range tested. Girls were more accurate than boys, especially for anger and disgust expressions. Recognition accuracy was found to increase as a function of the intensity of emotional expressions.     

Violence in Roman Egypt. A Study in Legal Interpretation

Claudia Ulbrich, Leibherrschaft am Oberrhein im Spatmittelalter (Veröffentlichungen des Max‐Planck‐Instituts für Geschichte 58) (1979), 327 (Vandenhoeck &; Ruprecht, Göttingen, DM 70). (Serfdom on the Upper Rhine in the Later Middle Ages)

Mervyn James, English Politics and the Concept of Honour, 1485–1642 (1978), 92 (Oxford, Past and Present, Supplement 3, £1.75).

Walter Makey, The Church of the Covenant, 1637–1651: Revolution and Social Change in Scotland (1979), vii+216 (John Donald, Edinburgh, £15).

Hilary J. Beattie, Land and Lineage in China: A Study of Tung‐ch'eng County, Anhwei, in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties (1979), x+208 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £12.50).

Charles F. Nunn, Foreign Immigrants in Early Bourbon Mexico, 1700–1760 (1979), xi+243 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £15.00).

R. B. Rose, Gracchus Babeuf. The First Revolutionary Communist (1978), ix+434 (Edward Arnold, £12.95).

Malcom J. Rohrbough, The Trans‐Appalachian Frontier: People, Societies, and Institutions 1775–1850 (1978), xv+444 (Oxford University Press, New York, £9.25).

Michael Ruse, The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw (1979), xiv+320 (The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, £12).

Benwell Community Project, Final Report Series no. 6, The Making of a Ruling Class, Two Centuries of Capital Development on Tyneside (1979), 121 (Benwell Community Project, 85/87 Adelaide Terrace, Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne, paperback £1.80).

Adelheid von Saldern, Mittelstand im ‘Dritten Reich’. Handwerker ‐ Einzelhändler ‐ Bauern (1979), 401 (Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New York, n.p.). (The Mittelstand in the Third Reich. Artisans ‐ Shopkeepers ‐ Peasants)