The role of ethnic identity in school engagement: perceptions of immigrant Tibetan adolescents in select US public schools

This purpose of the study was to ascertain the level of ethnic identity formation and its perceived role on school engagement for Tibetan adolescents enrolled in public schools in two Midwestern states in the USA. The journey of these students from culturally encapsulated schools from Nepal, Bhutan, and India to multiculturally diverse settings was one of the most fascinating facets of the Tibetan Diaspora. Subjects included 16 girls, 25 boys, and 2 who did not identify their gender. The multigroup ethnic identity measure was used to determine the level of ethnic identity formation of Tibetan students while a questionnaire gathered information on school engagement. The overall ethnic identity measure for this sample was high with a mean of 3.58, while the cognitive and affective aspect of the measure was also high with a mean of 3.56 and 3.74, respectively. The girls showed more emotional commitment to ethnic identity, as their mean score was 3.92, while boys scored 3.62. The results clearly corroborated findings and conclusions drawn by other scholars. School and community partnership contributed to the healthy ethnic identity development of adolescents who were thus encouraged to be more engaged in meaningful school activities.     

Ethnic studies,citizenship education,and the public good

Since the 1990s, ethnic studies and other components of multicultural education have been criticized by neo-conservative and assimilationist scholars who maintain that school diversity initiatives weaken national identity and fail to help students attain the knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to function effectively in the national mainstream culture. The banning of ethnic studies courses in the Tucson (Arizona) Unified School District in the USA was a widely publicized manifestation of the neo-conservative response to multicultural school initiatives. This article describes neo-conservative critiques of ethnic studies, and argues that ethnic studies is an important component of US history that is required to help students become effective and thoughtful citizens in a democratic nation and global world.     

民族地区城镇化发展模式及路径创新——基于四川、广西、贵州等地的调研分析

城镇化是我国民族地区经济社会发展的必经阶段。探索民族地区的城镇化发展模式及创新路径,对于加速民族地区现代化进程、转变民族地区经济增长方式以及实现社会安定团结具有重要的推动作用。文章在对民族地区城镇化发展现状描述的基础之上,归纳概括出城镇化运行的四大矛盾;并全面总结出旅游产业带动型、工业发展助推型、边境贸易推动型、草原牧业发展型四大类型的城镇化发展模式;通过构建民族地区城镇化发展的愿景框架,结合民族地区的发展实际,最终提出坚持绿色低碳,发展城镇化的生态文明建设,强化产城融合,持续释放城镇化的发展活力,深化制度改革,实现城镇化发展质量的提升及保持文化传承,不断彰显城镇化的民族特色等城镇化发展的创新路径。     

Effects of Firm-specific and Country-specific Advantages on Relative Acquisition Size in Service Sector Cross-Border Acquisitions: An Empirical Examination

Using a sample of 348 service sector cross-border acquisitions by U.S. firms in 44 countries during 1990–2006, our study seeks to identify factors that influence relative acquisition size (acquisition transaction value as a percentage of acquiring firm's asset value). Our findings indicate that firm-specific advantages (FSAs) in the form of available financial slack and target industry knowledge were positively associated with relative acquisition size. However, contrary to expectations, we observed a negative relationship between cross-border acquisition experience and relative acquisition size. In addition, our results suggest that country-specific advantages (CSAs) associated with higher market potential, lower political risk, and greater cultural similarity contributed to increased relative acquisition size in service industry cross-border acquisitions. Finally, our analysis reveals that the relationship between available financial slack and relative acquisition size is contingent on cultural similarity with the relationship being more pronounced when cultural similarity is high.     

略论纳西族饮食习俗的文化意蕴

本文从东巴古籍记载的饮食习俗和当代的延续、饮食禁忌与民间信仰的关系、食品祭祀和相关的水土观念、纳西族饮食中的民族文化融合以及饮食烹饪习俗中的社会性别和长幼观念五个方面探讨了纳西族饮食习俗的文化意蕴.纳西族的饮食文化源远流长,随着社会的变迁和发展,纳西族的饮食文化也在不断地发生着较大的变迁.其从古相沿的饮食文化,吸收了其他民族的饮食文化精华,进行了本土化改造和创新,得到了丰富和发展.     

Interpreting conflict and integration through the reciprocity lens: mobility and settlement in a historical perspective on the Sierra Leonean coast

ABSTRACT

In recent years, Sierra Leone has witnessed intense population movements. During the civil war (1991–2002), many populations fled the fighting zones of the interior to take refuge on the coast. Since the conflict ended, new populations have reached the coastal area with the hope of accessing economic opportunities in the fishing business. Mobility, along with changing sociopolitical and economic conditions, has generated conflict between immigrants and Sherbro populations, who consider themselves autochthonous and deny migrants the freedom to access political and land rights. The paper argues that present dynamics of conflicts are rooted in long-term patterns of settlement and relationships of reciprocity between groups. Relations between migrants and local populations are grounded in a sociocultural idiom that implies the institutionalization of practices of reciprocity between local inhabitants (hosts) and later settlers (strangers). The host/stranger reciprocity system is an emic model of cultural action embedded in historical and power relations between groups. It implies the progressive integration of strangers into the host society. This paper highlights how, in a situation of conflict, long-established social relationships between groups are reevaluated with reference to norms of integration and reciprocity. The paper draws on Sherbro oral traditions to show how social memories about interethnic relations are reframed with reference to values and expectations of reciprocity, in order to explain the recent conflict that opposes Sherbros to immigrants. Sherbros use oral traditions to interpret these tensions in a long-term perspective, thereby expressing their own view on settlement, conflict and integration.     

解决好失业问题是构建和谐社会的必然选择

改革开放以来,在传统的计划型劳动力就业机制向新兴的市场型劳动力就业机制转变的过程中,一大批失业人员成为处手社会底层的弱势群体。正确认识这一群体的现状,并提出积极有效的解决对策,对于正确处理人民内部的利益矛盾和构建和谐社会具有一定的理论和现实意义。     

北方少数民族传统服饰文化地域特征分析

北方少数民族的服饰与该民族的生存环境以及民族性格有着完全对应的关系,各民族服饰的结构类型、色彩理念、审美情趣、图案寓意等表现形式,是对自身生活方式的理解与适应,以及在对精神世界的追求中形成的,具有浓郁的地域特征、独特的审美情趣和丰富的文化内涵。这种民族服饰特征与地域民俗风情,是北方少数民族强调修德、追求完美、提倡宽容、崇尚和谐统一等民族精神的体现。     

西南边疆多民族地区社会动力机制

在推进和谐社会建设的进程中,西南边疆多民族地区社会动力机制运行不断完善,但还存在许多问题：社会发展的经济动力不足,政府的工作存在比较大的改进空间,法律法规的规范力处在较低层次上,社会成员的认知程度和文化需求的现实满足程度还偏低。实现西南边疆多民族地区社会和谐必须把推动社会发展的经济动力、政治动力、文化动力等充分激活,让创造社会价值和财富的源泉充分进发。