The impact of Japanese plants on local labour markets

Japanese direct investment is assuming an increasing importance in the U.K. economy, especially in the manufacturing sector where Japanese management and manufacturing techniques have aroused particular interest. Until recently this investment in manufacturing has been primarily restricted to plants of an assembly-based nature and Japanese companies have sought out labour markets which best satisfy the needs of this type of operation. However, early signs are appearing which suggest that new Japanese manufacturing investment is becoming increasingly sophisticated. In the light of this emergent trend, this paper uses recent research to draw attention to the labour market problems that are likely to occur as the skill requirements of Japanese employers increase. The paper then concludes by discussing strategies which individual firms should adopt to protect themselves from any consequent labour market disruption.     

Inscribing Gender in Rural Development: Industrial Homework in Two Midwestern Communities1

Abstract A resurgence of informal economic work, such as home-working, occurred in some rural areas during the 1970s and the 1980s. In two midwestern communities, an employer of industrial homeworkers was recruited in an effort to boost the local economy with new jobs. In these communities, ideas about women's roles in households and the labor market are crucial to the states' ability to couple industrial homeworking with rural community development. Industrial homeworking as development in the United States shows how development goals support and maintain the sexual division of labor in households and in the local labor market. Personal interviews and archival documents form the basis of the case study data. These data are content-analyzed for themes about the process of development and the relationship of the local states and industrial firms.     

The Contribution of Voluntary Organizations to the Care of Children with Life-limiting Incurable Disorders and their Families

A national postal survey of voluntay organizations providing for children with life-limiting incurable disorders (n = 147) is described. The majority of organizations originated from the motivation of parents or care workers in response to deficiencies in service provision from other agencies. A wide variety of services were available from the organizations with over half providing an information service, emotional support and counselling, patient and family support and a telephone helpline. The provision of some services, for example respite care, was, hoverer, associated with the size of annual budgets. Publicity, referral and funding arrangements are also discussed. The role of voluntary organizations as partners in care with statutory agencies is discussed in the light of instability of funding arrangements and the use of health and social work staff as the main source of information about voluntary services to parents. Areas of further research in this field are suggested.     

Women's perceived body image: relations with personal happiness

The present study examined the relationships between body image and happiness in adult women. One hundred and forty-four women, with an average age of 40 years, were surveyed. Within the sample, three age groups were established: college-aged women, middle-aged women, and older women. Each participant completed the Body Esteem Scale (Franzoi & Shields, 1984), the Eating Attitudes Test (Garner & Garfinkel, 1979), and the Life Satisfaction Index A (Neugaten, Havighurst, & Tobin, 1961). Results indicated that happiness significantly and positively correlated with the three components of body esteem: sexual attractiveness, weight concern, and physical condition. There were no significant differences among the types of body satisfaction expressed by women of different ages. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of recognizing body image as a major contributor to overall life happiness in women.     

Digital feminisms: transnational activism in German protest cultures

Abstract

This Introduction provides the context for the articles in this special issue and identifies a set of reoccurring themes. After offering some historical background on the developments of feminist activism and feminist movements in the German context, the editors particularly highlight two main and interrelated thematic strands: feminist activism under or in neoliberalism and the complexities of negotiating questions of race and difference between women in feminist activisms in the highly visually determined digital age. Reflecting on the arguments in the different contributions in this volume, this Introduction seeks to suggest ways in which the ambivalent messages that digital feminist activisms create in the contemporary political moment become politically productive.     

From guided-instruction to facilitation of learning: the development of Five-level QDA as a CAQDAS pedagogy that explicates the practices of expert users

This paper introduces Five-level QDA (Qualitative Data Analysis) as a pedagogy for the teaching and learning of CAQDAS (Computer Assisted Qualitative Data AnalysiS) that spans methodologies, software packages and teaching modes. Based on the authors’ personal trajectories of using, teaching and researching CAQDAS since the late-1990s, the paper illustrates the need for a CAQDAS pedagogy by describing the challenges of learners in powerfully harnessing CAQDAS packages. The principles behind Five-level QDA are outlined, which focus on the contrast between the strategies and tactics of conducting QDA with software, and the need to translate between these. The implementation of Five-level QDA as an adaptable method of instruction is illustrated through the use of Analytic Planning Worksheets in the Recurring Hourglass design.     

A Semi‐empirical Bayesian Chart to Monitor Weibull Percentiles

This paper develops a Bayesian control chart for the percentiles of the Weibull distribution, when both its in‐control and out‐of‐control parameters are unknown. The Bayesian approach enhances parameter estimates for small sample sizes that occur when monitoring rare events such as in high‐reliability applications. The chart monitors the parameters of the Weibull distribution directly, instead of transforming the data as most Weibull‐based charts do in order to meet normality assumption. The chart uses accumulated knowledge resulting from the likelihood of the current sample combined with the information given by both the initial prior knowledge and all the past samples. The chart is adapting because its control limits change (e.g. narrow) during Phase I. An example is presented and good average run length properties are demonstrated.     

Les déterminants des déplacements de la courbe de Beveridge (et de l'appariement sur le marché du travail)

Les auteurs s'interrogent sur les politiques et facteurs qui influent sur la correspondance entre offre et demande de travail. Ils repèrent d'abord les déplacements de la courbe de Beveridge dans douze pays de l'OCDE (2000–2013) – avec trois méthodes complémentaires – avant de les expliquer avec un modèle à variable dépendante limitée. L'analyse montre que la croissance de la population active et la législation protectrice de l'emploi facilitent l'appariement, à l'inverse des qualifications moyennes et du chômage de longue durée. De même, l'effet favorable des politiques actives (partage d'emploi, aide à l'entrepreneuriat) contraste avec un effet nettement défavorable des politiques passives (allocations chômage, imposition du travail).     

Addressing the sex trade in Thailand: Some lessons learned from NGOs, part I1

This is the first in a series of articles stemming from Project Hope International's month long visit to Thailand in June 2002. Project Hope International is a non-governmental organization based in greater Washington, D.C., which fights against child sexual exploitation and trafficking in girls and women into the international sex trade, specifically in Thailand and the United States. Thailand undeniably deals with serious problems of child sexual abuse and exploitation, as well as trafficking of children into the sex trade. However, the sex trade in Thailand today is not the same as it was thirty years ago. There has been a gradual decrease in the numbers of Thai women and girls in the sex trade, and an increase in the numbers of females from neighboring countries in the Mekong sub-region, as well as non-citizen, hill-tribe girls from Northern Thailand. The goals of our research trip to Thailand were threefold: first, we wanted to learn about the current problems of the sex trade and how they have changed over the last ten years; second, we wanted to visit the child welfare centers, and meet the most prominent activists in Thailand who are targeting the political, social, and economic problems surrounding the child sex trade in Thailand; and, finally, we wanted to be able to bring the information we acquired to dispel myths promulgated by many nearsighted NGOs who work on trafficking issues. In this article, problems of researching the sex trade in Thailand are discussed, and a brief overview of the current situation surrounding the trafficking of females into Thailand is provided. In examining the extraordinary efforts of non-governmental organizations and international organizations, we place these issues in the context of how Thailand fits into the broader international anti-trafficking movement. We then provide some information on the most recent court cases that have prosecuted sex offenders and pedophiles and look at some of the reasons why girls get involved in prostitution, albeit on an increasingly voluntary basis in certain regions. Finally, evidence is provided that the government and police are slowly committing themselves to fighting trafficking in females for sexual exploitation. Christina Arnold is an undergraduate in the School of Public Affairs at American University, majoring in Political Science and Justice. Ms. Arnold spent her childhood in Southeast Asia and as a result was drawn to a career in public service. She is the Executive Director of Project Hope International (PHI), a non-for-profit organization, dedicated to combating human trafficking in the U.S. and Thailand by partnering with organization that provide direct services to women and children in their receovery, repatriation, and reintegration processes. She won a $20,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation in 2001 for research on human trafficking in Thailand. Andrea M. Bertone is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Govenment and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she is writing her dissertation on the ways in which NGOs and international organizations cooperate in Thailand and Kosovo on anti-trafficking projects. She is also the Associate Director of Project Hope Internation, an NGO in Washington, D.C., working on issues of child prostitution and trafficking in females in Southeast Asia and the United States. She is the author of “International Political Economy and the Politics of Sex,” Gender Issues 18 (1). She is the co-editor of numerous publications published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. We thank Sudarat Serewat of FACE for her invaluable help and time in Thailand.