Feminist Heuristics: Transforming the Foundation of Food Quality and Safety Assurance Systems*

Food safety and quality assurance systems have emerged as a key mechanism of food governance in recent years and are also popular among alternative agrofood movements, such as the organic and fair trade movements. Rural sociologists have identified many problems with existing systems, including corporate cooptation, the marginalization of small producers, and the depoliticization of consumer consciousness. Tackling these problems requires an epistemological shift. This article argues that the existing systems are based on positivist epistemology and calls for a feminist intervention. To show a concrete example of a feminist departure from the conventional assurance systems, I look at the case of a Japanese women's food cooperative and analyze its unique system, comparing it to its conventional counterpart, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). Feminist epistemology can change assurance systems from being closed, nondiscriminatory, and technical to being participatory, differentiated, and normative.     

Work overload and intimidation: The moderating role of resilience

Work overload is a critical but understudied stressor at work, particularly for boundary-spanning positions. Recent studies have highlighted the need for more research on the identification of different predictors of the use of intimidation, a type of assertive impression management tactic. Relying on Lazarus's transactional theory, this study hypothesized and investigated a mediated moderation model that includes resilience, work overload, and its outcomes.This paper contributes to the organizational literature by examining the use of intimidation by salespeople as a reaction to stressful circumstances and the association between this tactic and salespeople's performance. The information provided by 248 employee–supervisor dyads confirmed the proposed model. Work overload has a positive association with intimidation, and the direct effect of work overload on intimidation depends on the level of an employee's resilience. Finally, the use of intimidation has a negative association with supervisor-rated performance.     

Computing the conditional stationary distribution in Markov chains of level-dependent M/G/1-type

This paper considers the computation of the conditional stationary distribution in Markov chains of level-dependent M/G/1-type, given that the level is not greater than a predefined threshold. This problem has been studied recently and a computational algorithm is proposed under the assumption that matrices representing downward jumps are nonsingular. We first show that this assumption can be eliminated in a general setting of Markov chains of level-dependent G/G/1-type. Next we develop a computational algorithm for the conditional stationary distribution in Markov chains of level-dependent M/G/1-type, by modifying the above-mentioned algorithm slightly. In principle, our algorithm is applicable to any Markov chain of level-dependent M/G/1-type, if the Markov chain is irreducible and positive-recurrent. Furthermore, as an input to the algorithm, we can set an error bound for the computed conditional distribution, which is a notable feature of our algorithm. Some numerical examples are also provided.     

Game Theoretical Formulations of The Olson Problem*

Abstract This paper takes up one of the basic themes of Mancur Olson's Logic of Collective Action (Harvard University Press 1965). that is a group size as a cause of suboptimal provision of collective or public goods. A general framework is developed for classifying collective action situations involving public goods provisions. This framework focuses on the two characteristics: relations between contribution and provision, and rivalness or jointness in consumption of the collective goods. This framework distinguishes six types of collective actions, for each of which a game theoretical formulation is developed to obtain. models concerning social movements against (or for) new legislations, a petition for the recall of an official, a strike, lobbying, building a lighthouse, creation of a database, etc. These models, formulated either as an N-person chicken game or as an N-person prisoner's dilemma game. are examined with respect to how a group size affects non-cooperative equilibria and their Paretooptimality. There is no group size effect in the collective action situations formulated as an N-person chicken game, while large groups may suffer from suboptimal provision of the public goods in the collective action situations formulated as an N-person prisoner's dilemma game. Two types of the group size effect in N-person prisoner's dilemmas must be distinguished. In some cases. “no contribution” is the equilibrium regardless of the group size. but increase in the group size makes the equilibrium Pareto-deficient. In other cases, increase in the group size changes the equilibrium from the Pareto-efficient one with N contributors to the deficient one with no contributors.     

Foreign Language Listening Anxiety: A Self-Presentational View

This study used a self-presentational framework to investigate second language listening anxiety among university students and demonstrated that second language listening involves social concerns that are specific to second language settings. A set of anxiety questionnaires was administered to 1,177 students, and 17 learners provided verbal protocol data. The results demonstrated that second language listening anxiety is a higher-order construct composed of two related but distinct dimensions: Self-Focused Apprehension and Task-Focused Apprehension. The former is a concern over social evaluative threat, and the latter is worry over effective processing of aural input. Levels of social anxiety influenced both dimensions.     

Between technocracy and democracy: An experimental approach to certification of food products by Japanese consumer cooperative women

Voluntary food certification systems have emerged as a prominent mechanism of food governance in recent years. However, critics have exposed certifications’ inability to secure independence, quality, consumer trust, and costs. Recent criticism is even more pointed in that some theorists have critiqued “alternative” systems such as Fair Trade as neoliberal window-dressing. What is curious about this emerging literature is how little has been said about the role of citizens. Although most of the certification literature has assumed that food certification resides in the exclusive realm of “experts” and that technical sophistication is equated with improvement, I argue that democratization is possible and desirable. This paper draws on a case study of a Japanese consumer cooperative which has conducted a laywomen's food certification system for past ten years. By proposing at least two parameters of evaluation of food certification—redistributive effect and the degree of democratization, the paper expands the imaginary of “politics of the possible” in food governance while acknowledging tension of gendered participation.     

Interactional Synchrony in Conversations about Emotional Episodes: A Measurement by “the Between-Participants Pseudosynchrony Experimental Paradigm”

Interactional synchrony refers to the coordination of movements between individuals in both timing and form during interpersonal communication. Most previous studies in Western culture used a coding methodology and concluded that interactional synchrony occurred for positive episodes but not for negative episodes (e.g., Charny, E. J. (1966). Psychosomatic Medicine, 28, 305–315). In this study, we examined interactional synchrony using a between-participants pseudosynchrony experimental paradigm (Bernieri, F. J., & Rosenthal, R. (1991). In R. S. Feldman & B. Rime (Eds.), Fundamentals of nonverbal behavior (pp. 401–432). New York: Cambridge University Press). Sixty Japanese female university students viewed interaction clips and judged the level of perceived synchrony. The results show that interactional synchrony was perceived in negative episodes as well as in positive episodes. The degree of perceived synchrony was higher in positive episodes than in negative episodes.

A Review of Political Skill: Current Research Trend and Directions for Future Research

This paper reviews theoretical and empirical research on the use of political skill in organizations and proposes some agendas for future research. Although political skill is a relatively new construct in organizational politics research, a large number of theoretical and empirical studies have been conducted. Five major themes were identified in previous research. These are: (a) definition and measurement of political skill; (b) political skill and stress management; (c) political skill and career success; (d) political skill and individual performance; and (e) political skill and leadership effectiveness. This review critically examines previous empirical studies in light of this theoretical background and points out that, although previous empirical studies support the theoretically assumed effects of political skills, they fail to confirm how and why these skills bring about these effects. Based on this examination, the author suggests the examination of mediators and dimensional differences derived from theory that can lead to more effective exploration of the impact of political skill. In addition, several issues for future research are proposed, which may provide useful insights for both literature and practice.     

Records of rat control campaigns in a food market with the largest seafood trading volume worldwide

Urban Ecosystems - Brown rats (Rattus norvegicus) and roof rats (Rattus rattus) are among the most common mammals worldwide. Little is known about the effects of season on rat population size,...