东亚地区粮食安全问题的讨论

针对东亚地区人口、耕地的情况,作者对中国二十二世纪粮食生产和粮食安全提出了与莱斯特·布朗相反的结论,分析了中国粮食生产的历史状况,指出中国在二十一世纪实现粮食自给是可能的。中国政府必须采取合适的农业政策,包括对农业物质投入和对科研的支持、培育国内农产品市场、取消省级或地方政府对农产品进出本地区的限制,使农民了解国际农产品市场等,肯定了中国在二十一世纪不会进口大量粮食,不会冲击国际粮食市场。     

Towards New Indicators of Disadvantage: Deprivation and Social Exclusion in Australia

Concern over the reliability of conventional poverty studies has focused attention on the need to demonstrate that those identified as poor are actually experiencing hardship. This paper takes a step in this direction by examining poverty using a living standards approach derived from the literature on deprivation and social exclusion. Deprivation – defined as an enforced lack of socially perceived necessities – has emerged as a way of identifying who is missing out on what the community regards as the necessities (or essentials) of life. Social exclusion – which exists when individuals do not participate in key activities in society – has opened up new areas of inquiry relating to a lack of connectedness between individuals, the communities in which they live, and key economic and social processes. The findings indicate that many Australians face deprivation and exclusion in numerous aspects of their lives, and that those defined as poor in income terms are different from those who are deprived or excluded. The low overlap between the three indicators implies that they all have a role to play in documenting the extent of social disadvantage and helping to identify the factors that contribute to its various manifestations.     

Religiosity,citizenship and attitudes to social policy issues

Many social policy objectives align with religious beliefs – poverty alleviation, compassion for the poor and addressing more generally the needs of the vulnerable and disadvantaged in society. Yet there are also conflicting views about means, including the role of the state in redistributing resources from the rich and powerful to the poor and powerless. Redistribution and poverty alleviation are central goals of the welfare state, although ideological and other differences mean that views about the need for, as well as the design, delivery and impact of social programs vary. Against this background, this paper reviews existing national and international studies that have examined how religious belief and practice are associated with the attitudes that underpin the welfare state: compassion, altruism, redistribution and egalitarianism, and the activities that are assumed to align with modern conceptions of ‘a good civic citizen‘: participation and engagement. The analysis draws on recent Australian survey data to examine whether the attitudes of those who actively practice their religious beliefs differ from other groups in society and, if so, whether those differences are consistent with the underlying goals of social policy.     

Reporting and Justifying the Number of Interview Participants in Organization and Workplace Research

In this paper we examine established practice regarding the reporting, justification and number of interview participants chosen within organization and workplace studies. For such qualitative research there is a paucity of discussion across the social sciences, the topic receiving far less attention than its centrality warrants. We analysed 798 articles published in 2003 and 2013 in ten top and second tier academic journals, identifying 248 studies using at least one type of qualitative interview. Participant numbers were contingent on characteristics of the population from which they were chosen and approach to analysis, but not the journal, its tier, editorial base or publication year, the interview type or its duration. Despite lack of transparency in reporting (23.4% of studies did not state participant numbers) we reveal a median of 32.5 participants, numbers ranging from one to 330, and no justification for participant numbers in over half of studies. We discuss implications and, recognizing that different philosophical commitments are likely to imply differing norms, offer recommendations regarding reporting, justification and number of participants. Acknowledging exceptions, dependent upon study purpose and data saliency, these include an organization and workplace research norm of 15?60 participants, alongside credible numbers for planning interview research.     

Do gender regimes matter? Gender differences in involvement in anti-austerity protests - a comparison of Spain,Sweden and the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

Responses to the Great Recession are varied across welfare states and gendered in their consequences. Combining gender, social policy and social movement scholarship, this paper investigates how the differential policy responses to the Financial Crisis in three European countries shaped gender-differences in anti-austerity demonstrations. We compare the involvement and characteristics of women and men in anti-austerity protests using data collected at street demonstrations (2010–2012). We conduct cross-national multi-level analysis of demonstrators from countries representing different gender regimes (Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom). Our results show that gender regimes have a significant impact on women’s and men’s involvement in anti-austerity protests. We thus make an important contribution to research on gender differences in participation in anti-austerity demonstrations post-Great Recession. Our comparison of women’s and men’s participation in anti-austerity street demonstrations suggests that at the country or regime level resources matter more than grievances, but that grievances matter at the individual level. This innovative paper links scholarship on gender regimes with research on protest participation. Resources and experiences of grievances are shaped by gender regimes which provide access to decision-making and social support. We reveal novel insights into the connection between gender regimes and demonstration participation.     

Methodology and analysis for comparing discrete linear l1 approximation codes

This is the first of a projected series of papers dealing with computational experimentation in mathematical programming. This paper provides early results of a test case using four discrete linear L₁ approximation codes. Variables influencing code behavior are identified and measures of performance are specified. More importantly, an experimental design is developed for assessing code performance and is illustrated using the variable “problem size”.     

Some Australian Children's Perceptions of Physical Punishment in Childhood

Despite ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, children remain the only people in Australia against whom violence may be justified as discipline. This article presents findings from qualitative research conducted in the State of Victoria, in which children were invited to contextualise incidents of physical punishment by describing the experience from different standpoints and reflecting on the feelings and motivations of victims and perpetrators. The research provides new insights into children's experiences of childhood ‘discipline’, as children reveal the physical and emotional impact of being hit by a parent, the futility of ‘physical punishment’, parents’ confusing reactions and children's awareness of double standards. Children suggest more positive ways to communicate and to resolve conflict, and provide insightful comments that have the potential to enlighten adults’ thinking about the issue.     

Structured risk assessment procedures: instruments of abuse?

Child protection services in Australia and elsewhere face increasing internal and external demands. As a response to these pressures, in part at least, services are increasingly implementing some form of risk assessment procedures. This article examines the practice implications of the increasing use of risk assessment instruments in child protection services. It highlights the complexity of the concept of risk as the basis for a future‐oriented assessment activity. The authors suggest that this change of time frame (from what has happened to what might happen) may be detrimental to children. Through a critical review of the literature, the authors question whether risk prediction is possible and discuss the limitations of risk assessment instruments which omit some risk factors and may ignore the perspective of the child. The authors challenge the validity of risk assessment instruments in statutory settings and suggest that the protection of the organization may be a major objective in their implementation. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.