The Brazilian organic food sector: Prospects and constraints of facilitating the inclusion of smallholders

The Brazilian organic food sector has experienced important growth during the last two decades. Brazilian smallholders, however, are facing huge challenges to enter and benefit from this growth in a sustainable way. Combining the lens of New Institutional Economics and socio-anthropology, we analyze six experiences of Brazilian smallholders who converted to organics in the 1990s’. Three different food systems are featured in this analysis: an alternative food system, which is strongly interwoven with the Brazilian Agro-ecological movement and two commercial food procurement systems oriented towards domestic and an export markets driven mainly by supermarket chains. The analytical focus was on 1) the governance of these food systems, 2) the constraints farmers are facing within these food systems and, 3) the benefits that they can expect from market inclusion. We highlighted the roles that NGOs, Faith-based organizations and public-related agencies play in supporting the inclusion of smallholders into all three food systems. We confirmed the arguments in support of pursuing the agro-ecological development based model in Brazil, but underlined that there is a critical lack of support for farmers included in the commercial market-oriented food systems. Such a lack is even more critical as the food systems driven by expanding supermarket chains are characterized by strong asymmetric power relations at the expense of smallholders. Considering the reluctance of NGOs and Faith-based organizations to support these farmers, we call for efforts to be made to provide a policy framework to enable public-related entities to secure sustainable inclusion into these systems and exit strategies for those experiencing exclusion from these highly competitive food systems.     

Kinship Care and Transnational Parenting: The Intersection of Cultural Values and Practices

This study uses ethnographic research to examine the phenomenon of transnational parenting by migrant mothers from the African Caribbean community and their family who care for the mothers’ children. Twenty women’s narratives demonstrate the complexity of relationships between migrant mothers living and working in New York City and their extended family or kinship caretakers who coparent their children in their countries of origin. The study reveals three main factors that contribute to the success of transnational parenting: (1) informal kinship care-child fostering, (2) remittances, and (3) social networks. Policy and practice implications are explored.     

Separations: A Personal Account of Bowen Family Systems Theory

This paper is a personal account of my own family of origin research. It explores the impact of separations from parents, nuclear family, and extended family through a Bowen family systems theory perspective using concepts pertaining to Bowen theory such as chronic anxiety, differentiation of self, multigenerational family process, and the emotional system. An outline of the process of doing research in ‘vivo’ with my mother as well as conversations with my supervisor are included. Theoretical differences between individual and system models are discussed. A Bowen theoretical approach to the anxiety of separations is investigated. The efficacy of engaging in family of origin work and the effects of thinking systems is examined in light of how it assisted me to view family members, family system disturbances, and clients’ emotional systems more objectively.     

侗族社会地方性制度对森林资源的保护

在人类社会的一切生产活动中,都要求人们在生产过程中必须进行广泛的合作,而有效的合作就需要有制度的保障。贵州清水江下游侗族人工营林业的形成与发展就是在侗族社会地方性制度（主要表现为“侗款”习惯法）的保护下得以实现的。由于侗族地区的森林资源在侗族社会地方性制度的保护下获得了有效的利用,从而最大限度地降低了这种经济活动方式的风险性和不确定性。     

论我国少数民族地区环境问题与环境法制建设

少数民族地区的生态环境日趋恶化,加强少数民族地区环境法制建设,促进少数民族地区的可持续发展已成为当务之急.本文分析了我国少数民族地区环境呈现出的严重恶化的趋势及其产生原因,提出了关于我国少数民族地区环境法制建设的基本设想.     

Information management support for international negotiations

This paper examines the information processing requirements that surround the international negotiations process. General problem-solving models and generic task taxonomies are explored to provide insight into this process, a process that can be characterized as iterative options analysis. The paper also identifies a set of existing and emerging information technologies that can support the negotiation process, technologies that range from electronic mail to group decision support systems. The premise of the paper is that cost-effective information technology can support many important negotiation tasks and that existing technology has been vastly under-exploited by negotiators and their staffs. A program for introducing and evaluating information technology is also proposed.     

试论提高农村居民生存质量的途径

中国 6 4 %以上的人口在农村 ,没有农民的小康就不会有全国人民的小康。目前 ,我国城乡居民收入差距账面上看是 3:1,实际差距可能已达到 6 :1。城乡之间长期存在的不同身份制度、教育制度、公共服务制度、公共财政制度等等是造成这种差距的根源。这种不公正的体制已严重妨碍了对农村人力资本的投资 ,妨碍了农村劳动力的转移 ,这是束缚我国农村社会生产力发展的最大的体制性障碍。从制度和政策层面改变现行城乡二元结构状态是提高农民生产、生活水平 ,促使城乡共同富裕 ,实现全面小康的最有效的途径。     

加强反腐败体制机制创新和制度保障的新思路

反对腐败,建设廉洁政治,关系党和国家的生死存亡。一年多来,党中央实施一系列反腐新举措,体现出新一届中央领导集体加强反腐败体制机制创新和制度保障的新思路：在党章制度框架下改革党的纪律检查体制,推动党的纪律检查工作双重领导体制具体化、程序化、制度化;明确党委和纪委在党风廉政建设中的责任定位,落实党风廉政建设责任制;修订和完善选人用人制度,把从严治吏、从严管理干部的要求具体化、细节化,解决选人用人方面的腐败问题;抓好组织管理和组织纪律的执行,严格遵守组织制度,为加强党风廉政建设和反腐败凝聚组织力量;运用法治思维和法治方式推进廉洁政治建设,健全反腐倡廉法规制度体系：健全和完善巡视制度等。     

We are not walking wave functions. A response to “Quantum Mind and Social Science” by Alexander Wendt

Alexander Wendt raises many interesting questions in this book, but to get to the answers he wants, he relies on a misunderstanding of the nature of the quantum states of macroscopic objects.     

民族地区农村社会保障制度的实证分析

作者在分析民族地区农村社会保障制度建立的政策及经济发展背景和群众意愿的基础上,通过实证分析,提出农民的保障在一定时期内将是多元化的保障模式,民族地区农村社会保障制度建设主要应建立养老保险制度、最低生活保障制度、医疗保障制度和救济制度等四个方面的制度,同时,要发挥土地保障的主导作用,并继续挖掘各民族灿烂的历史文化资源,使其在新时期继续发挥作用。