A transient presence: black visitors and sojourners in Imperial Germany, 1884–1914

The onset of German colonial rule in Africa brought increasing numbers of black men and women to Germany. Pre-1914 the vast majority of these Africans can best be described as visitors or sojourners and the black population as a whole was a transient one. This makes recovering their presence in the archival record exceptionally difficult and it is not surprising that the existing historiography is dominated by biographies of well-documented lives. Through utilising a number of recently digitised archival materials, particularly the Hamburg Passenger Lists, this article draws upon a database with information on 1094 individuals from sub-Saharan Africa who spent time in Germany over the period 1884–1914 in order to widen our understanding of the black presence as a whole. It offers new insights and detail into the composition and character of this fluid population – where visitors came from, why they came to Germany, their age on arrival – as well as more accurate information on the temporal and spatial distribution of African visitors.     

Client Satisfaction with Live-In and Live-Out Home Care Workers in Israel

Abstract

In an era of globalization where the migration of long-term care workers is common, foreign live-in home care workers can compensate for the unavailability of family members and, perhaps, even substitute for institutional care in the provision of long-term care services to disabled older persons.

This study examines differences in home care satisfaction between disabled older persons in Israel with “live-in” home care workers and those with “live-out” workers, and explores some differences in socio-demographic and personal characteristics between these two groups. Face-to-face interviews were held with a random sample of 93 older persons in Beer-Sheva.

Older persons with live-in home care workers were more satisfied with their home care service than those with live-out workers. Those with live-in workers were more severely disabled, tended not to have any children living in close proximity, although an adult child was available as an informal caregiver. Communication difficulties between the elderly persons and their home care workers were found not to affect negatively the satisfaction with the service.     

Indoor Climate and Thermal Comfort from a Long-Term Perspective

ABSTRACT

This article discusses how a Swedish wooden burgher house, the mid-1660s Burmeister House, was adapted over the course of 250 years to satisfy ever-changing expectations of thermal comfort. The investigation is based on the climatic conditions of the Nordic Region, where the issue of thermal comfort is crucial when attempting to understand the development of indoor environments. The article explores how spatiality, heating, and interior decor and furnishing operated and affected the inhabitants' experiences of indoor climate and thermal comfort. The results show that Burmeister House followed a general pattern of improvement, especially with regard to innovations in heating. Burmeister House ceased to be a private residence when it was restored and turned into a historic house museum. Rather than revealing its history, restorations carried out in the twentieth century worked to conceal or remove most of the building's more recent history. As a consequence, the house has become more difficult to use since it can no longer be efficiently heated.     

Jewish and Muslim Married Women Don't Work

ABSTRACT

This article sets out to locate the place and meaning of work within the lives of migrant wives by examining the experiences of two migrant waves into Britain: Eastern European Jews from Russia, Russia/Poland, and Romania at the end of the nineteenth and early years of the twentieth centuries; and Muslim Bangladeshis during the latter decades of the twentieth and dawn of the twenty-first centuries. Using a cultural and religious framework, it explores the reality of life for women whose traditional role has been perceived solely as that of homemaker. However, research has shown that in the case of both groups, economic activities were carried out within and beyond the home. Going behind the “veil,” it reveals the various means employed by women who sought to sustain the household at times of hardship, even if this involved contravening the wishes of spouses and in-laws. Finally, the article highlights the recent changes that have taken place in the economic lives of Bangladeshi and Pakistani women who are seeking to empower themselves by moving into the economic mainstream.     

“Home” for Now or “Home” for Good?

ABSTRACT

This article explores accommodation experiences of East Europeans in London. Based on in-depth interviews with recent Polish and Lithuanian migrants it highlights a range of accommodation strategies that they exercise living in London. The article argues that instead of being passive users of the housing services in the immigration country, East European migrants skillfully manipulate the British housing market in order to achieve maximum benefit from the limited housing options available them. In this way, the article reflects on the dilemmas of making “home” and contributes to the theoretical refinement of the concept of “home” in the context of temporary accommodation.     

社会和谐与农民工社会保障问题

为农民工提供可靠的社会保障,才能不断促进农村剩余劳动力向城市转移,才能带来我国生产力的持续发展和社会的稳定和谐;隐藏在农民工社会保障问题背后的根源,有六大矛盾;建议采取建立农村劳务输出公司等措施,来解决这些矛盾。     

Im/mobile highly skilled migrants in Qatar*

Most studies on the mobility of highly skilled migrants have been examined with a framework of global talent mobility and under conditions of neoliberal governance and economic globalization. In this study we challenge the notion of the hypermobile knowledge worker. Utilizing mixed methods, we examine the factors that attracted highly skilled migrants to Qatar and the conditions under which they might leave in the future. Rather than finding a group of footloose migrants attracted primarily to high-wage jobs, a lack of taxation or amenities, and with multiple alternative locations of residence, we find that highly skilled migrants exist on a spectrum of immobility. More significantly, this immobility depends on the migrant’s region of origin. For Asian and Western migrants immobility is attributed to the Kafala system or employer sponsorship, which hinders occupational and spatial mobility and ties workers to their sponsors. Arab highly skilled migrants are especially affected by lack of security and stability in their home countries, which makes these workers involuntarily immobile. The former group seem to be willing to accept a reduced level of agency and mobility for high income, whereas for the latter security and stability are more fundamental to their decision to come to Qatar.     

Not without them: realising the sustainable development goals for women migrant workers

ABSTRACT

Drawing on multiple data sources, including key informant interviews, participant observation and archival study, this paper provides an analysis of the civil society’s role in foregrounding the agenda of women migrants in migration and development (M&D) fora, and reflects on its role in realising the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Yet, the dominant narrative within the state-led Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) tends to be a gender-blind migration for development approach, which emphasises national-level economic growth at the centre of migration processes, while negating the subjectivities of women migrants and neglecting their contributions to the global economy; this approach diverts attention to a narrow focus on macro-economic development through forms of financial remittances. Based on an examination of the GFMD as a site for gender mainstreaming M&D, we reflect on lessons learned as we look forward to achieving the SDGs. We argue that while the SDGs include some significant provisions for women in migration, only critical civil society advocacy and activism networked within grassroots organisations can address the structural changes necessary (such as a re-articulation of the care economy to value economic contributions of women’s reproductive work) to transform and improve the lived realities of women in migration and realise the SDGs in a manner that fosters their empowerment.     

水库移民贫困成因与反贫困策略： 基于文献的讨论

水库移民贫困威胁社会的稳定与发展 , 尤其是介入性贫困 , 它是诱发社会矛盾与冲突的导 火索 。 文章系统梳理了水库移民贫困成因及反贫困策略的相关研究 , 认为水库移民生计遭到破坏 、 贫困移民的文化贫困和观念落后 、“ 以失定补 ” 补偿方式的局限 、 水库移民存在权利贫困等是水库 移民贫困的主要成因 , 政府部门 、 水库移民社区 、 水库移民自身以及其他社会资源的有效配合可以 缓解水库移民贫困 。 但既有研究对如何精准化扶持贫困移民研究较少 , 鲜见将水库移民社区发展 与扶贫结合起来 、 水库移民社区社会关系网络对精准识别移民贫困户以及水库移民社区发展对减 贫作用等方面的研究 。 未来研究应更多地探讨水库移民社区发展 、 水库移民自身能力发展 、 非营利 性组织等其他社会资源对水库移民减贫的作用 , 特别是探讨政府部门如何解决已安置的水库移民 的贫困问题 、 如何完善水库移民补偿与征地政策以及如何实现在水库移民搬迁安置时就能够解决 贫困问题 , 使 “ 介入性贫困 ” 不发生或尽量减少 。     

陕北汉画像石中所见东汉民间信仰

陕北画像墓中石室墓或石质墓门的出现,表明东汉时以西河郡为核心的今陕北地区的民间信仰发生了某种改变并体现在墓葬文化中,他们使用石头为墓葬建筑材料并在石头上进行雕刻绘画,表明其时石头被赋予了某种特殊的意义;陕北画像石中西王母像的较早模式中,其正面端坐的形象、偶像式的构图方式等,体现出民间西王母信仰已经有了宗教化的倾向;随后出现的羽肩、火焰形座、锯齿边缘状华盖,表明西王母信仰有可能受到了具有月氏或龟兹等西域风格的佛教因素的影响;陕北汉画像石中神秘的牛首鸡首像,以及与佛教有关的象征物狮子、大象等,表明汉代陕北民间已有了关于佛教的某种信仰。考察汉代佛教传入情况时,陕北显然是一个不可忽略的区域。