Labeling albinism: language and discourse surrounding people with albinism in Tanzania

This article is based on a qualitative study that set out to analyze the labels and terms attached to 28 people affected by albinism in villages in Kilolo district, Tanzania. Even though national and international attention to killings of people with albinism has attempted to improve general knowledge of albinism and reduce discrimination, most of the community members within the study had little knowledge of the (bio)medical explanations for albinism and tended to marginalize people with albinism. Framed within a wider moral discourse on illness, disability and socially appropriate behavior, albinism is mostly considered to be God’s will or the consequence of past misdeeds within the family, and many of the existing labels for people with albinism express such ideas.     

Disability theorising and real-world educational practice: a framework for understanding

This paper is concerned with the contradictions and tensions in disability theory that have generated an uncertain professional knowledge base in relation to the education of students with disabilities. This tension has produced concern regarding the enculturation of teachers into reductionist understandings of disability that limit the development of inclusive educational environments. A critical realist lens is employed to better understand the boundaries and contributions of three disability models and their connections to education practice. This perspective asserts that the models are social constructions of a real phenomenon requiring critical reflection on their adequacy for explaining and informing real-world practices. It draws upon the work of Bhaskar and Danermark to present a framework for positioning disability theory in a manner that may prove a useful theoretical guide for practitioners.     

Staff characteristics and the exclusion of persons with disabilities: evidence from the microfinance industry in Uganda

This study uses survey data from the microfinance industry in Uganda to investigate whether there are differences among industry staff members in beliefs and views regarding persons with disabilities. For several of the questions, various staff sub-groups respond significantly differently. A recurring result is that staff members who have a relative with disabilities often express views that differ from the views of other staff members. Moreover, we find significant differences related to the age of the staff members. For instance, younger staff members are more positive and optimistic regarding the potential to reach more clients with disabilities. The employment position of the individual staff member also appears to be relevant: credit officers are relatively more likely (than other staff types) to indicate that discrimination could be a problem in the microfinance industry. Interestingly, we do not observe any differences in views and beliefs that are related to staff member gender.     

关学思想史的探索与重构——评《关学学术编年》

《关学学术编年》是我国学术界第一部系统梳理关学学术思想发展的编年体著作,也是近百年来第一部系统发掘关学学者,并对其思想作出较为客观定位的思想史著作。具有学术编年与思想史叙述相结合、关学学者的精选与原始文献相结合、博采众说与辨惑裁定相结合的特色。不仅填补了关学编年研究的空白,而且为关学研究的进一步开展提供了重要的思想史成果。     

实施知识产权战略,促进新兴产业培育发展——以无锡市为例

如今世界经济正处在调整时期,作为发展中国家要抓住机遇,实现跨越发展,首先是树立信心,其次是转变观念。文章对无锡市新兴产业发展状况以及存在问题进行了剖析,最后从知识产权创造、运用、服务体系与环境建设、保护等方面对如何进行新兴产业培育进行了论述。     

当代官场知识分子的精神困境——肖仁福《位置》人物形象分析

肖仁福长篇小说《位置》塑造了沈天涯这一作为政府核心部门里的核心角色的官场文人形象。与同类官场小说不同,对于最终从权利中心走向权力边缘的沈天涯,肖仁福既无褒扬亦无批判,而只是通过对机关零距离的写实,来呈现沈天涯式的精神困境,并以此表达自己对转型期官场体制的反思和对官场知识分子生存状态的人文关怀。     

From Refrigerator Mothers to Warrior‐Heroes: The Cultural Identity Transformation of Mothers Raising Children with Intellectual Disabilities

This article examines public performances of mothering children with intellectual disabilities through thematic discourse analysis of thirty‐three published memoirs. These data reveal presentations of self that, once consumed and interpreted by public interaction, emerge collectively as a “warrior‐hero” identity, a reformulated archetype in the social construction of a good mother. This archetype places a cultural expectation on mothers to do battle to attain resources and possible cures for their children, ultimately shifting the historical burden on mothers from causing the intellectual disabilities of their children to curing them. The article concludes with a discussion of how this hyperfocus on expert parenting has the potential to leave mothers of children with intellectual disabilities strained and subject to the pitfalls of systems of inequality.     

A qualitative analysis of child protective services practice with children with developmental disabilities

The purpose of this study was to examine Child Protection System (CPS) practice with children with developmental disabilities. This study used an emergent design, ethnographic interviews, purposive sampling, inductive data analysis, and grounded theory building. Ethnographic interviews were conducted with foster families, administrators, intake screeners, special investigators, and workers in one local CPS office. Participants expressed concern about the ability to identify disabilities, placement options, services to meet complex needs of children with disabilities, training and support for families, collaborative arrangements with other agencies, and disability training for CPS workers. Findings suggest strategies for improving CPS practice for children with developmental disabilities.     

Toward ‘mental accessibility’: changing the mental obstacles that future Human Resource Management practitioners have about the employment of people with disabilities

This paper presents the results of a participatory research project undertaken with Hungarian MSc students specializing in Human Resource Management and Development about the employment of people with disabilities. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is very high in Hungary and HR practitioners have a key role in maintaining or reducing barriers to their employment. Following the tradition of critical pedagogy, the aim of the research project was twofold. Firstly, we aimed to reveal the mental patterns, attitudes and beliefs of future HR practitioners to the employment of people with disabilities (which might be root causes of domination, discrimination or exploitation). Secondly, through using a radical methodological approach – cooperative inquiry – the researchers wished to emancipate students and challenge their frozen beliefs about disability as well as the positivist value system which usually dominates business education. The main result of the research project was to challenge the medical approach to disability which formerly dominated the belief systems of our student co-researchers, thereby engendering a more critical worldview.     

论亚里士多德的阶梯幸福观

亚里士多德在《尼各马可伦理学》的第一卷中通过目的论论证与功能论证得出幸福是最高的善与灵魂合乎德性的活动,而在第十卷中,幸福却变成了仅仅与智慧同一的思辨活动。这显然是两种对立的观点,体现出亚里士多德思想的不一致之处,同时也引发后世思想家对幸福是涵盖论或理智论的论争。但通过细入分析亚里士多德对幸福的目的论、功能论证及外在善的佐证,可以将其幸福观解释为一种温和的涵盖论——阶梯幸福观。在阶梯幸福观中,思辨活动是首要的幸福,而合乎德性的活动则是第二位的幸福,同时过实践生活所需要的外在善也包含其中。