Counter-geographies: The campaign against rationalisation of agricultural research stations in New South Wales, Australia

This paper discusses an example of community action mounted in a rural region of New South Wales, Australia, in response to proposals by the State Government to rationalise agricultural research stations operated by the Department of Primary Industries. Informed by a Foucaultian understanding of power and the concept of governmentality, neoliberalism is theorised as being the broad governmental context in which rationalisation proposals were put forward. Recent literature drawing on this theoretical perspective has emphasised that neoliberalism is enacted through a relationship of power, and is not monolithic or inevitable. Neoliberalism is always negotiated by those seeking to govern and those who are the object of such governmental actions. This paper analyses how plans to rationalise publicly funded agricultural research stations were opposed by those seeking to keep research facilities open in the case study area. The paper discusses the methods and scope of community action and, drawing on interviews, identifies a series of discourses articulated by campaigners. Non-local actors were depicted as uncaring and insensitive. In contrast, campaigners discussed the emergence of a ‘city-country divide’ in domestic politics; the need for specialist agricultural knowledge given the region's unique geographical location; and local impacts of an economic, social and emotional nature. Central were discourses of maintaining community, tradition, and continuity in unique local places defined by their climate, biophysical environment and economy. These were ‘counter-geographies’ that sought (successfully, it would transpire) to disrupt the state's imagined geography of a homogenous and flexible administrative space in which research services could be relocated wherever most efficient. Important too were embodied resistances to the way rural industries and people were subjected. Campaigners refused to accept preferred codes of neoliberal behaviour (particularly mobility and rationality) and instead demanded respect for their careers, families and communities. Important considerations are suggested for further research on impacts and negotiations of neoliberalism. This study particularly highlights the successes—as well as contradictions and limitations—of arguments that construct rural places as socialised, unique and unfairly treated (by governments), in opposition to metropolitan dominance and ‘placeless’ neoliberalism.     

外来务工者的社区融入现状分析——基于对北京石景山区Y小区的调查

文章基于对北京石景山区Y小区中外来务工人员生活和社区融合状况的调查，揭示了城市社区中外来务工人员的融人情况和面临的主要问题，并分析了造成这种情况的原因，主要从社区层面上提出了促进社区融合的建议。对于前人关于外来务工人员城市适应问题的研究进行了补充。     

从社区居民读书状况看社区图书馆的建设模式

南昌居民读书特点为：家庭藏书不能满足居民的读书需求；读书的主观能动性不足，属于“要用才读书”；在读书方面投入的时间和资金不大。因此，社区图书馆在社区将有着极大的功能发挥空间。社区图书馆的建设必须与时俱进，采用依靠政府支持、创办图书银行、挖掘物业潜力、共享学校与公共图书馆的资源等多元化模式进行建设。     

What are friends for? Elective communities of single people

The paper presents the results of a qualitative research on friendship networks of single people. The research has been undertaken using social network analysis tools (egonetworks) and qualitative interviews, on a non-representative sample of 23 heterosexual singles of Milan, aged between 25 and 35 years, 12 male and 11 female.     

The Right to Take Risks: Alcohol and Older People

This paper examines policy and practice regarding the purchase of alcohol for older clients of home carers in three local authorities in the Greater London area. Data were gathered from interviews with home carers and their managers, focus group discussions, and a postal survey. None of the local authorities had a written policy or written guidance on alcohol purchase or on appropriate responses to the identification of problematic drinking in older clients. The findings illustrate the problem of balancing "rights" and "risks" within a philosophy of community care which emphasizes client choice and autonomy, and show how policy and practice are "tailored" by local contexts. It is suggested that both home carers and other domiciliary workers, as well as their older clients, could benefit from a clear code of practice regarding responses to alcohol consumption and problematic drinking by older people.     

粤苏辽京四省市农村土地股份合作制改革及其启示

粤苏辽京四省(市)在农村土地(社区)股份合作制改革方面走在全国的前列,富有特色性和典型性,值得参考和借鉴。本文在广泛调研的基础上,总结了四省(市)农村土地(社区)股份合作制改革的基本情况和特点,探讨了改革过程中具有规律性的东西及四省(市)经验对于推进农村土地(社区)股份合作制改革的若干启示。     

Civic responsibility in a risk democracy

The National Research Council advocates for what they term a risk democracy, in which risk issues require community decision-making based on dialogue. This essay focuses on the promotion of civic responsibility in a risk democracy. Award-winning public awareness campaigns are analyzed to demonstrate how community partnerships and civic responsibility can improve community resilience. First, the role of a community in an emergency is discussed; second, the current focus of the Department of Homeland Security on prevention rather than preparation as illuminated by interviews with emergency managers is critically examined; and finally, public awareness campaigns are presented to show how personal and civic responsibility can assist in emergency planning and response.     

The influence of network structures of Wikipedia discussion pages on the efficiency of WikiProjects

As a platform for discussion and communication, talk pages play an essential role in Wikipedia to facilitate coordination, sharing of information and knowledge resources among Wikipedians. In this work we explore the influence of network structures of these pages on the efficiency of WikiProjects. Project efficiency is measured as the amount of work done by project members in a quarter. The study uses the comments on WikiProject talk pages to construct communication networks. The structural properties of these networks are studied using ideas from social network theory. We develop three hypotheses about how network structures influence project effectiveness and examine the hypotheses using a longitudinal dataset of 362 WikiProjects. The evaluation suggests that an intermediate level of cohesion with a core of influential users dominating network flow improves effectiveness for a WikiProject, and that greater average membership tenure relates to project efficiency in a positive way. We discuss the implications of this analysis for the future management of WikiProjects.     

构建多元化和协同化的社区组织，促进东北城市社区发展

社区组织是社区建设的重要载体,也是构建和谐社区的结构性要素。目前东北城市社区组织效率不高、结构单一、缺少多元化和协同化,更缺少民间、非盈利性的社区组织的介入。借鉴国内外社区组织建设的理论和经验,提出建设多元化和协同化的社区组织,大力发展民间的、非盈利性的社区组织的构想,以促进东北城市社区组织的建设和发展。