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.     

Urbanization does not affect green space bird species richness in a mid-sized city

Urban Ecosystems - Urbanization is one of the most intensive forms of landscape and habitat transformation, resulting in species loss, and taxonomic and functional homogenization of different...     

LAYERED MEANINGS

Recent sociological inquiry into the family has focused on the decline of the male breadwinner family and the increasing diversity of family forms. Yet the term ‘family’ remains vague and assumes different meanings. This paper discusses the meanings of the term ‘family’ as it is used by interviewees in qualitative, in-depth interviews on family and kinship networks. The interviews were conducted as part of ethnographic fieldwork in a study of family and kinship in Swansea. Three contrasting areas of Swansea were selected, an affluent, popular area, one of the most deprived council estates and an inner-city area with a relatively high proportion of minority ethnic families. In the paper we draw out differences and similarities in the meanings given to the term ‘family’ by interviewees in the three areas. Differing meanings emerge, but what is striking is the layering of meanings. People refer to varying groups of relatives when they speak about their family but ‘family’ refers to a set of norms and practices about bringing up children, staying in contact or giving support. In the interview situation, the interviewees use these varying meanings in different contexts.