An evaluation of stakeholder capacity in the implementation of millenium village primary school meal project

The paper focused on evaluation of stakeholder capacity to implement the millennium village primary school meal project in Kenya. The study which was anchored on the stakeholder theory as well as the Context Input Process Product (CIPP) model of evaluation used mixed methods research design with ex-post facto and case study as its two research elements. The mixed methods was adopted because when both qualitative and quantitative approaches are used in a single study, the strengths of both produce a research synergy in which the collective benefits are greater than what is obtained from either approach when used alone. A sample size of 186 participants was selected from seven (7) primary schools using stratified random sampling. The participants selected purposively included pupils, teachers, head teachers, parents, Area Education Officer (AEO) and project staff. Data was collected using questionnaires, face to face interview guide, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and document analysis guide. The study findings indicated that the project was implemented with great success as indicated by stakeholders’ capacity to understand project objectives, their involvement in project planning and implementation and their positive attitude towards the project. This has contribute to poverty reduction in the community through the project and sustainable approaches for project implementation.     

Crafting social change: former global factory workers negotiating new identities in Sri Lanka’s villages

This article explores how former factory workers negotiate new identities in villages, as new brides, mothers and daughters-in-law, after 5–6 years of employment in an urban Free Trade Zone. I argue that their performances of self-discipline and disavowal of transgressive knowledges allow them to make use of the limited social, economic and political spaces available while gradually reshaping local understandings about the good daughter-in-law. Former workers’ strategic deployment of social conformity represents the foundation on which their entry into village social, economic, political spaces is based on. Although individual social conformity would conventionally be identified as everyday politics, I argue that former workers’ performance of self-discipline and social conformity is strategic and leads to changes in gender norms and village social hierarchies and thus represents a form of politics that is in between everyday and transformative politics – politics that creates conditions of possibility for social transformations.     

Whose ‘wee country’?: identity politics and sport in Northern Ireland

This article responds to calls in this journal for increased attention to identity, culture, power and sport. It explores, for the first time, the lived realities of identity politics in a divided society, through interviews with 12 self-declared Irish nationalists and republicans that represented Northern Ireland. Important insights are revealed into national eligibility decisions for either Irish team, motivated mainly by ‘shop window’ visibility and being seen as the best of a peer group. Political and sporting nationalisms were not necessarily analogous. A significant original finding is that the lived experiences of being closer to ‘the other’ resulted in an overall reinforcement rather than dissolution of difference. Visual and oral ‘national’ symbols such as flag, and especially anthem, delineated such difference, being symbolic walls of the mind. ‘Our wee country’ was thus a polarised and polarising fantasy shield. The article concludes by reconsidering the role of sport as a lens through which to examine identity and its’ place as part of the ‘problem’ and ‘solution’.     

Building Virtual Age-Friendly Communities in Minecraft

A key theme of Age-Friendly Honolulu’s initiative is intergenerational exchange. The initiative believes that youth need to be aware of aging issues, demographic change, and think critically about the potential impact on their lives. The goal of the Age-Friendly Honolulu Youth Engagement Initiative is to teach youth about the role of the built environment and community features in promoting active aging and engagement among older adults. This article describes a new program in the field that teaches youth and older adults to assess the built environment and then use design thinking and Minecraft (a popular video game in which players use 3-D blocks to create virtual lands) to develop and envision ideas to improve the livability of their neighborhood.     

网络负面问题及伦理思考

网络文明的到来给人类的政治、经济、文化教育、社会生活方式等带来了深刻的变化,同时也带来了诸如信息欺诈、黄色泛滥、信息安全受损、网民人格异化等网络负面问题.产生网络负面问题的伦理根源是网络自身的特点弱化了传统伦理的约束力;网络空间的道德冲突使网民陷入道德相对主义之中;网络法律和道德建设的滞后使网络负面问题有可乘之机;网民自我宣泄和自我表现的心理要求促使了网络负面问题的形成.加强网络法制建设、整合传统伦理资源、扬弃西方网络伦理理论、强化网民的内在道德自觉,是消除网络负面行为的有效途径.     

浅议独立学院的学风建设

高校学风状况直接关系到学校的生存和发展。独立学院由于其自身特点,学风建设需引起高度重视。本文通过对独立学院学风现状的分析,强调了独立学院学风建设的必要性和紧迫性。学校和国家教育行政部门应给予一定的政策倾斜,独立学院本身要从端正教风入手,加强对学生的思想教育,强化学风建设意识。独立学院的学风重在建设,贵在坚持。     

引入“发展”维度 完善农村社会救助——基于资产建设的视角

当前农村减贫效果有限,原因之一在于农村社会救助以收入维持为主要目标,缺乏"发展"维度。救助对象局限在绝对贫困人口,未能满足边缘贫困人群和有劳动力贫困人口的"发展"需求。资产社会政策主张减贫策略并非简单地直接增加穷人的收入,而是要帮助穷人进行资产积累与投资。通过资产建设,可为穷人提供可持续生计,提升其人力资本和社会资本,降低其脆弱性,增强抵御风险和发展的能力。因此,帮助穷人建立、积累个人资产和社区资产,可促进个人、家庭和社区发展,推动农村社会救助的完善。     

论中国先进文化与社会主义法制建设

中国先进文化与社会主义法制建设息息相关.中国先进文化为社会主义法制建设提供理论指导,社会主义法制建设为中国先进文化提供法律保障.二者的关系体现了文化建设与法制建设的高度统一性.     

国际政治的权力周期理论初探

国际政治的权力周期理论的核心要素是相对权力、角色.权力周期理论在和传统的均势理论、体系稳定、霸权稳定论、机制理论的对比中凸显其特点,其动态均衡--横向静态的均势与纵向动态的国家权力涨衰相融;相对权力和角色的互动影响世界体系的变化.     

新农村建设视角下的地方政府能力建设

社会主义新农村建设是我国现代化进程中的重大历史任务,必然会对我国地方政府能力建设提出新的挑战、要求和启发.加强地方政府能力建设是推进新农村建设的关键.当前我国地方政府在政策能力、服务能力、制度创新与公信力等方面存在问题,需要从政府管理理念、体制、政府公信力以及人员素质等方面提升各级地方政府能力.