Demographic and economic aspects of international migration

The author examines demographic and economic aspects of international migration in Poland. "Increase of absorption of employment is caused by emigration of [the] productive population and by emergence of [a] shortage of [available jobs]. Migration of [the] work force is seen as a profitable process: a part of earned money and goods was transferred to workers' families in their countries of origin." (EXCERPT)     

Farmers of Jin county want fewer children

The economic reform practiced in the vast rural areas in China gives a great impetus to the vigorous development of rural economy and the the rapid improvement of living standard. Meanwhile, reform pounds at the traditional childbearing ideas. The striking change in the childbearing attitudes of the farmers of the Jin County is a good example. As the farmers of the country are getting well-off when the commodity economy develops rapidly with the rural economic reforms, their childbearing attitudes change. Profound changes have taken place in their mode of production and their life style. The young couples of the county begin to seek small families instead of traditional big ones. They are convinced that under the new situation of reforms, the farmers of an old generation are in no way competent as the head of the family to guide production and therefore want to build their own small families by freeing themselves from the binds of the traditional patriarchal system. The increase in the cost of bringing up children and the economic loss resulting from the absence from work for looking after children constitute another reason to prefer a small family. The son is no more the only economic guarantee for the aged. As a result of the rapid development of the rural economy, a retirement system has been established among the farmers of the Jin county. "It is unreliable to expect that the son will support his aged parents. Now it is better to earn more money and the collective can be depended upon by the aged."     

卢卡奇论民主

政治民主及其社会实现过程的问题贯穿在卢卡奇的全部作品之中.卢卡奇理论观点的特点是"第三种选择",是对一些错误理解的批判,或是对支配实践的极端看法进行批判,提出并阐述真正的历史方面和理论方面的可供选择的看法.但是这种"第三种选择"并不是两个极端之间的折衷,而是一种在本质上更高级的解决办法,通过这种办法,有可能避免那种直接出现的,相互否定又相互增强的错误选择的强制性途径.这两个错误的极端一方面是斯大林主义,另一方面是为适应资产阶级民主的机制而产生的某些概念的变体."第三种选择"代表     

Factors influencing the number and frequency of marriages in Poland in 1985

This is a preliminary review of the results of the annual sample survey for 1985 concerning newlyweds in Poland. The decline in marriage that has occurred, particularly between the ages of 20 and 24, is attributed to changes in the age structure of the population and the deficit of young women in rural areas. Increases in the age at marriage for both sexes are noted.     

Adjustment patterns of the Arab internal refugees in Israel

This analysis is pursued in the framework of an interrelated multidimensional model which includes 5 main components: 1) dimensions of adjustment, 2) range of adjustment, 3) levels of adjustment, 4) typology of aggregate adjustment, and 5) indicators of mobility and variation in the refugee adjustment. Arab internal refugees in Israel, including their characteristics and patterns of adjustment in the host communities as well as in Israeli society, are studied. Social, psychological, and socioeconomic adjustments are separated out and show the importance of the linkage between adjustment patterns at both the communal and the societal levels. The findings indicate that processes of adjustment at the communal and the societal levels are not necessarily conjunctive and symmetric. At the societal level, socioeconomic adjustment occurs relatively more rapidly than social adjustment. At the communal level, inter-marriage with locals lags behind friendship relationships and mutual visits. Psychological adjustment rates in between these 2. Cultural and linguistic compatibility with the host community are crucial positive factors for refugee adjustment. Cultural, linguistic, and national compatibility with the host community may have paradoxically indirect negative effects on the refugee psychological adjustment. High background compatibility generates high expectations among the refugees, which may be easily transferred into alienation, when faced with a different situation than expected; the greater the gap between the expected and the actual, the more the alienation.     

Genetics and the quality of life

Thanks to recent innovations in medicine, it is now possible to detect many so-called genetic diseases' before birth. Consequently, there is a growing movement amongst the medical fraternity advocating genetic counseling: the detection and abortion of diseased fetuses, before birth. This paper considers the implications of this practice on the general quality of life, examining in some detail cost-benefit analyses of the most extensive screening and counseling programme to date, the Kennedy Institute project aimed at reducing the numbers of North American Jewish children born with Tay-Sachs disease. It is argued that although genetic counseling clearly does hold prospects for improving the quality of life in some respects, nevertheless it raises many questions (e.g. to do with minorities and the poor), and care must be taken lest-stampeded by the enthusiasms of medical researchers-overall the quality of life declines.