Sustainable communities,economic development,and social change: Two case studies of 'garrison communities' in Jamaica

Although the concept of sustainable communities is often referred to as being closely allied to environmental sustainability, it also embodies notions of sustainable development, empowerment and increase in community autonomy. The concept of sustainability assumes a process of social and/or economic development that has as a high priority the needs of the future generation. However, models of social and economic development employed in developing countries must rely heavily on political, social and psychological empowerment techniques being employed at the community level, in order to warrant any type of sustainability becoming apparent. Two case studies taken from Kingston, Jamaica, demonstrate the process of community economic development (CED) employed and provide a source for analysis of one writer's criteria for sustainable development. Conclusions are subsequently drawn as to the usefulness of this particular CED model in contributing to sustainable community-driven action. The analysis also points to improvement in the quality of life, acceptance of a 'third-party' support mechanism, the creation of an atmosphere for continued community decision making and continued visible government support as important factors in the struggle to maintain a responsible, viable community which will be acceptable to present and future generations. A pesar de que con frecuencia se refiere al concepto de las comunidades autosuficientes como muy vinculadas con mantenimiento del medio ambiente, tambien contiene nociones de desarollo sustentable, transferencia de poder y aumento de la autonoma de la comunidad. El concepto de la sustentabilidad asume un proceso de desarollo social y/o económico que tiene como su maxima prioridad las necesidades de la generación futura. Sin embargo, los modelos del desarollo social y económico empleados en los paises en desarollo, deben depender en gran medida de que las técnicas del autorizamiento póltieo, social y sicológico esten implementadas al nivel de comunidad para garantizar que cualquier tipo de sustentabilidad sea aparente. Dos estudios, hechos en Kingston, Jamaica demuestran que el proceso del desarollo económico de la comunidad (CED) emplearon y facilitaron un fuente para el análisis de los criterios de un escritor sobre el desarollo sustentable. En consecuencia, se han extrá´ do concluciones referentes a la utilidad de este modelo espe? fico (CED) para contribuir a la acción originada por la comunidad sustentable. El análisis tambien apunta a una mejora de la calidad de vida, la a ceptación de un mecanismo de apoyo a terceros, la creación de un ambiente para la toma de decisiones comunitanas y el continuo apoyo gubernamental visible como factores importantes en la lucha para mantener una comunidad viable y responsable que sea aceptable para las generaciones presentes y futuras.     

International guidelines and the inclusion of disabled people. The Ugandan story

Uganda has made much progress towards including disabled people in its mainstream development, particularly in the political agenda. The exact process by which this has been achieved and the relationship between this and international guidelines and legislation are not known. This study undertakes to examine this from two specific perspectives: (1) How do international documents relevant to disabled people relate to national legislation in Uganda? (2) What can this comparison, together with the perceptions of stakeholders, tell us about how the legislation and services could improve? International legislation and Ugandan legislation is reviewed and compared. Data from 5 semi‐structured key informant interviews and 6 focus group discussions involving a total of 38 people are collected and analysed. The themes arising from the data are related to the documents, legislation, policies and other relevant literature. The results examine the barriers to service provision; the role of change; the importance of representation; policy and legislation issues; and the effects of devolution. Five specific findings relate to how legislation and services can improve: more resources to increase access for disabled people; strong leadership and collaboration between Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) funding bodies and governments; awareness raising and training; representation from all impairment groups; and raising the profile of disabled people through further legislation.     

A simultaneous-equations model of the relationship between public sector bargaining legislation and unionization

This paper estimates a simultaneous-equations model with public sector bargaining laws and union membership treated as jointly-determined variables. The extent of public sector unionization has a significant positive influence on the passage of prolabor bargaining legislation and bargaining legislation has strong, independent effects on the extent of public sector unionization. We gratefully acknowledge the research support provided by Minbo Kim and Parisun Chantonahom.     

Feminist and Gender Media Studies: A Critical Overview

This paper offers a general overview of past, current, and developing issues and debates in the growing field of gender and feminist media studies. Its main aim is to provide for those who are new to the field, as well as advanced students and researchers, a broad sense of what is now significant and important area of academic research. It engages with the differences and similarities between gender and feminist media studies, gendered communication systems, gendered news production, feminist methodologies and methods in communication research (textual, audience, and production based), the media's role in constructing gender, and gendered and feminist research by specific media form including advertising, magazines, film, television, news, radio, and the Internet and new media. The outline of research presented is not exhaustive; however, it attempts to trace certain significant developments in the field historically, conceptually, methodologically politically and trans‐nationally.     

Cambodia's Fertility Transition: The Dynamics of Contemporary Childbearing

Cambodia is undergoing a fertility transition, with the total fertility rate falling from 6.7 before 1970 to 3.0 in 2010. This study is the first to examine the contemporary context of childbearing in Cambodia and the drivers of this transition, analyzing the articulations of men and women and the rationales behind their fertility intentions and behavior. Findings are derived from 21 months of ethnographic fieldwork in urban and rural settings in Siem Reap. The article explains how patterns of reproduction are shaped by the specific context and social organization, the political economy, gender relations, and kinship system. In Cambodia, changes in employment conditions, agricultural systems, and living arrangements create new motivations that in turn affect fertility decisions. In post‐conflict Cambodia rationales related to lineage continuation and the effects of the Khmer Rouge period also emerge as important influences.     

Writing resistance together

This piece of writing is a joint initiative by the participants in the Gender, Work and Organization writing workshop organized in Helsinki, Finland, in June 2019. This is a particular form of writing differently. We engage in collective writing and embody what it means to write resistance to established academic practices and conventions together. This is a form of emancipatory initiative where we care for each other as writers and as human beings. There are many author voices and we aim to keep the text open and dialogical. As such, this piece of writing is about suppressed thoughts and feelings that our collective picket line allows us to express. In order to maintain the open‐ended nature of the text, and perhaps also to retain some ‘dirtiness’ that is essential to writing, the article has not been language checked throughout by a native speaker of English.