Transnational land investment web: land grabs,TNCs, and the challenge of global governance

ABSTRACT

Despite international media’s waning attention, research and political debates on global land grabbing have not subsided. We argue the importance of understanding the ‘transnational land investment web’ of corporate and state actors and institutions, which are not always immediately visible. Focusing on transnational corporations (TNCs) based in the European Union (EU), we examine five sets of actors and institutional spheres through which these actors are able to grab lands beyond Europe. It is crucial to understand these not as individual sets of actors or institutions, but as interconnected sets, comprising a web. These are EU-based: (1) Private companies using regular institutional platforms; (2) Finance capital companies; (3) Public–private partnerships; (4) Development Finance Institutions; and (5) Companies using EU policies to gain control of land through the supply chain. One implication of this complex web is that democratic governance in the context of land grabs becomes an even more daunting challenge.     

The balance of planting and mortality in a street tree population

Street trees have aesthetic, environmental, human health, and economic benefits in urban ecosystems. Street tree populations are constructed by cycles of planting, growth, death, removal and replacement. The goals of this study were to understand how tree mortality and planting rates affect net population growth, evaluate the shape of the mortality curve, and assess selected risk factors for survival. We monitored a street tree population in West Oakland, CA for 5 years after an initial inventory (2006). We adapted the classic demographic balancing equation to quantify annual inputs and outputs to the system, tracking pools of live and standing dead trees. There was a 17.2 % net increase in live tree counts during the study period (995 in 2006, 1166 in 2011), with population growth observed each year. Of the live trees in 2006, 822 survived to 2011, for an annual mortality rate of 3.7 %. However, population growth was constrained by high mortality of young/small trees. Annual mortality was highest for small trees, and lower for mid-size and large trees; this represents a Type III mortality curve. We used multivariate logistic regression to evaluate the relationship between 2011 survival outcomes and inventory data from 2006. In the final model, significant associations were found for size class, foliage condition, planting location, and a multiplicative interaction term for size and foliage condition. Street tree populations are complex cultivated systems whose dynamics can be understood by a combination of longitudinal data and demographic analysis. Urban forest monitoring is important to understand the impact of tree planting programs.     

Minority status and culture: local constructions of diversity in a classroom in the Netherlands

In this paper, we explain diversity in knowledge‐sharing strategies in a multi‐ethnic classroom both from a minority status perspective and from a cultural production perspective. The analysis shows how these perspectives are dynamically related in local productions of diversity. The paper argues how, at the level of classroom practice, culturally learned experiences are shaped by status relationships and, at the same time, how status relationships are expressed in cultural formats. Moreover, it is also argued that at a larger social level, collective attitudes towards schooling develop as a co‐construction between cultural processes and status issues.     

In Loco Parentis: An Elaboration of the Parental Relationship Form

This statement demonstrates the applicability of the parental relationship form as specified by Carl J. Couch by applying the generic elements of this form to multiple content situations. I demonstrate that the survival of subordinates is enhanced when superordinates enact the parental relationship, while survival of subordinates is rendered problematic when superordinates fail to enact this relationship. I further argue that categorical identities of race, gender, and ethnicity are linked to the enactment, or lack of enactment, of this form, which contributes to inequality.     

General growth balance method: A reformulation for populations open to migration

This paper proposes a reformulation of the general growth balance method for estimating census and registration completeness so as to make it applicable even to populations that are affected by migration. It also discusses a new procedure of line fitting that could be useful in countries where the input data are severely affected by age misreporting. The method is applicable to countries where data on age distribution of the population are available for two points in time from either censuses or surveys. Following closely the original proposal of Brass, it involves adjusting the 'partial' birth rates for age-specific disturbances from growth and migration rates. Beyond correcting the death rates, the method is useful in inferring the relative completeness of the censuses, and in deriving a robust estimate of birth rate under certain conditions. The application of the method is illustrated using the example of the male population of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh for the period 1981 to 1991.     

Before They Said “I Do”: Discriminating Among Marital Outcomes Over 13 Years

One hundred couples were followed for 13 years from the premarital period well through the primary risk period for divorce. Results of discriminant analysis indicated that couples who remain satisfied, become distressed, and divorce can be reliably classified on the basis of premarital data. Further, both previously identified demographic risk factors and couple interaction variables contributed to classification accuracy, suggesting that both types of variables play important roles in relationship outcomes. The method employed here addresses weakness in previous studies by: (a) following couples for an extended period after marriage, (b) using multiple validated self‐report and observational measures, and (c) making predictions simultaneously for divorced, distressed, and satisfied couples.     

The participatory research approach in non‐Western countries: practical experiences from Central Asia and Zambia

This paper focuses on the application of the participatory research approach in non‐Western contexts. The aim is to provide critical insights into the participatory research discourse through an examination of its theory and practice based on our own experiences of using this approach in our doctoral research in five Central Asian countries and Zambia. Firstly, we summarise the published literature on the approach in both disability and development studies which are our academic disciplines. Secondly, we critically analyse some of the challenges we came across in applying participatory research in our doctoral studies in practice. By this we wish to contribute to making this approach more viable and to increase research participation by disabled persons in non‐Western contexts. Finally, based on our own experiences we give some suggestions for the use of the participatory research approach in non‐Western contexts.     

Small samples confidencce intervals on common mean of two normal distributions variances

Let X₁,X₂,…,X_m be distributed normally with mean μ and variance σ² _X; Let Y₁,Y₂,…,Y_n be distributed normally with mean μ and variance σ² _Y; let X₁,X₂,…,X_m,Y₁,Y₂,…,Y_n be jointly independent. There have been several papers written concerning point estimation of μ for this problem, but very little is available in the literature concerning confidence intervals on the common mean μ. In this paper a method is proposed that results in a confidence interval with confidence coefficient essentially equal to a prescribed value 1 - α. The method is evaluated and compnred with other methods through the expected length of the confidence interval.