Politics,Plurality and Problemsheds: A Strategic Approach for Reform of Agricultural Water Resources Management

Starting from the assessment that past efforts at reform in agricultural water management in developing countries have achieved very little, this article argues that a fundamental change is required in the approach to policy and institutional transformation if the present deadlock in the internalisation of ecological sustainability, human development/poverty alleviation and democratic governance into the ‘core business’ of water bureaucracies is to be overcome. ‘Social engineering’ approaches need to be replaced by ‘strategic action’ approaches that acknowledge the inherently political character and the plurality of actors, institutions and objectives of water management — a perspective operationalised here around the notions of ‘problemshed’ and ‘issue network’.     

Semiparametric Bayesian classification with longitudinal markers

Summary.  We analyse data from a study involving 173 pregnant women. The data are observed values of the β human chorionic gonadotropin hormone measured during the first 80 days of gestational age, including from one up to six longitudinal responses for each woman. The main objective in this study is to predict normal versus abnormal pregnancy outcomes from data that are available at the early stages of pregnancy. We achieve the desired classification with a semiparametric hierarchical model. Specifically, we consider a Dirichlet process mixture prior for the distribution of the random effects in each group. The unknown random-effects distributions are allowed to vary across groups but are made dependent by using a design vector to select different features of a single underlying random probability measure. The resulting model is an extension of the dependent Dirichlet process model, with an additional probability model for group classification. The model is shown to perform better than an alternative model which is based on independent Dirichlet processes for the groups. Relevant posterior distributions are summarized by using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods.     

Forgetting the founders*

The inability, or unwillingness, of 20^th‐century sociologists to move beyond the agenda bequeathed by Marx, Weber, and Durkheim is remarkable in view not only of the now outdated presuppositions shared by all three but of the increasing likelihood that the more important influence on the human behavioural sciences in the 21^st century will turn out to be Darwin's. Not only has the coming together of evolutionary theory, population genetics, and molecular biology shown that significantly more of human behaviour can be explained by the theory of natural selection than was previously recognized, but non‐reductionist explanations of cultural and social evolution from within a neo‐Darwinian paradigm can be framed in terms no longer vulnerable to the criticisms previously levelled against the application to sociology of Darwin's original insight about ‘descent with modification’.     

Gender Differences in Pay of Young Management Professionals in the United States: A Comprehensive View

We conduct a comprehensive examination of the gender differences in pay focusing on multiple perspectives emanating from economics, social psychology, and gender studies. Data are drawn from surveys of MBA students conducted by the Graduate Management Admissions Council. Although women in both samples earn significantly less on average than men, when the effects of the study's variables are considered via multiple regression analysis, no significant difference in annual salary is observed. Our results show the importance of simultaneously considering the impact of human capital, job and firm characteristics, demographics, and cognitive skills. Structural differences are noted in the models estimated separately for men and women. However, the results from decomposing salary differentials are quite consistent with estimates from the single-equation models.     

Introduction: Canadian Anthropology in an International Context

L'anthropologie est sur le point de vivre un renouvellement sans precedent de personnel dans les départements des différentes universités canadiennes. Les articles de ce numéro spécial passent en revue les thèmes majeurs de l'anthropologie au Canada durant la dernière décennie: la recherche sur les Premieres Nations, un sujet qui a jeté les fondements de l'anthropologie canadienne anglophone; les changements dans la recherche ethnographique, illustrés par l'exemple de Terre-Neuve; le travail, la mondialisation et la culture locale; quelques difficultés pratiques de la recherche dans le domaine de la justice sociale; et les questions soulevées par la création d'une perspective environnementale dans l'anthropologie médicale. L'examen de chaque thème démontre que, malgré l“élan implacable” vers l'nterprétation étroite qui afflige certaines des sciences sociales au Canada depuis quelque temps, la génération sortante d'anthropologues a maintenu une approche relativement “holistique” envers leur domaine. Ils ont pu garder cette approche en faisant face aux dilemmes inhèrents à la recherche qualitative locale sur des questions nationales ou mondiales et en redèfinissant la portée de l'interprétation anthropologique. Quoique les thèmes développés relèvent surtout de l'anthropologie anglophone au Canada, notre introduction affirme que l'on peut déceler les mêmes thèmes dans l'anthropologie francophone. Anthropology in Canada is about to undergo an unprecedented turnover in department personnel and by way of review, this special issue presents articles on major themes in anthropology in Canada during the last decade. They include First Nations research, a foundational subject for anglophone anthropology in Canada; the changing face of ethnographic research, with Newfoundland as an example; work, globalization and local culture; some practical difficulties of research in the field of social justice; and issues inherent in creating an environmental perspective within medical anthropology. When each theme is examined it becomes apparent that in spite of a “relentless drive” toward narrowness of interpretation that has afflicted some social sciences in Canada, the departing generation of anthropologists has maintained a relatively open, “holistic” approach to their subject matter. They have done so by confronting dilemmas inherent in undertaking locale-based qualitative research on issues of national or global scale and redefining the scope of anthropological interpretation. While the subject matter developed here is confined to anglophone anthropology in Canada, this introduction argues that its counterpart can be found in francophone anthropology as well.     

Estimating Contaminant Dose for Intermittent Dermal Contact: Model Development, Testing, and Application

Assessments of aggregate exposure to pesticides and other surface contamination in residential environments are often driven by assumptions about dermal contacts. Accurately predicting cumulative doses from realistic skin contact scenarios requires characterization of exposure scenarios, skin surface loading and unloading rates, and contaminant movement through the epidermis. In this article we (1) develop and test a finite-difference model of contaminant transport through the epidermis; (2) develop archetypal exposure scenarios based on behavioral data to estimate characteristic loading and unloading rates; and (3) quantify 24-hour accumulation below the epidermis by applying a Monte Carlo simulation of these archetypal exposure scenarios. The numerical model, called Transient Transport through the epiDERMis (TTDERM), allows us to account for variable exposure times and time between exposures, temporal and spatial variations in skin and compound properties, and uncertainty in model parameters. Using TTDERM we investigate the use of a macro-activity parameter (cumulative contact time) for predicting daily (24-hour) integrated uptake of pesticides during complex exposure scenarios. For characteristic child behaviors and hand loading and unloading rates, we find that a power law represents the relationship between cumulative contact time and cumulative mass transport through the skin. With almost no loss of reliability, this simple relationship can be used in place of the more complex micro-activity simulations that require activity data on one- to five-minute intervals. The methods developed in this study can be used to guide dermal exposure model refinements and exposure measurement study design.     

Prayer in Public Schools: When Church and State Collide

Prayer and Bible reading in public schools have led to threemajor Supreme Court decisions and the introduction of numerousconstitutional amendments in the U.S. Congress which would permitvoluntary prayer in public schools or limit federal court jurisdiction.Public opinion polls beginning in 1964 have suggested widespreadsupport among the American public for prayer in public schools.Little is known, however, concerning the characteristics ofthose supporting and opposing prayer in public schools. Thisarticle addresses the school prayer issue through an analysisof three national surveys which were conducted in 1974. 1980.and 1982. Those favoring school prayer were found to be older,less educated, and socially, politically, and religiously conservative.Multivariate analysis revealed that the key predictor variableswere religious orthodoxy and religious salience, a finding whichmay stem from the observation that school prayer is both a politicaland a religious issue. Issue salience, congressional votingdecisions, and demographic characteristics of school prayeradvocates are considered as possible explanations for the failureof Congress to act in accord with public opinion.