Ecocultural Attributes: Evaluating Ecological Degradation in Terms of Ecological Goods and Services Versus Subsistence and Tribal Values

It is becoming increasingly clear that scientists, managers, lawyers, public policymakers, and the public must decide how to value what is provided by, and is a consequence of, natural resources. While “Western” scientists have clear definitions for the goods and services that ecosystems provide, we contend that these categories do not encompass the full totality of the values provided by natural resources. Partly the confusion results from a limited view of natural resources derived from the need to monetize the value of ecosystems and their component parts. Partly it derives from the “Western” way of separating natural resources from cultural resources or values, and partly it derives from the false dichotomy of assuming that ecosystems are natural, and anything constructed by man is not natural. In this article, we explore the previous assumptions, and suggest that because cultural resources often derive from, and indeed require, intact and unspoiled natural ecosystems or settings, that these values are rightly part of natural resources. The distinction is not trivial because of the current emphasis on cleaning up chemically and radiologically contaminated sites, on restoration of damaged ecosystems, on natural resource damage assessments, and on long‐term stewardship goals. All of these processes depend upon defining natural resources appropriately. Several laws, regulations, and protocols depend upon natural resource trustees to protect natural resources on trust lands, which could lead to the circular definition that natural resources are those resources that the trustees feel they are responsible for. Where subsistence or tribal peoples are involved, the definition of natural resources should be broadened to include those ecocultural attributes that are dependent upon, and have incorporated, natural resources. For example, a traditional hunting and fishing ground is less valued by subsistence peoples if it is despoiled by contamination or physical ecosystem degradation; an Indian sacred ground is tarnished if the surrounding natural environment is degraded; a traditional homeland is less valued if the land itself is contaminated. Our argument is that intact natural resources are essential elements of many cultural resources, and this aspect requires and demands adequate consideration (and may therefore require compensation).     

Improving Africa's Roads: Modelling Infrastructure Investment and Its Effect on Sectoral Production Behaviour

Given the scarce resources for public investment in developing countries, policy analysis should include a detailed perspective on the effects of infrastructure. This article develops a modelling framework for analysing the effects of improved road infrastructure on the economy of African countries. The theoretical framework is tested empirically and used for simulations in a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model, and the effects on production and welfare are analysed. The model also serves to investigate the effect of roads on the economic participation of rural households.     

大学生虚拟生存的影响及对策

大学生虚拟生存是大学生群体在物理身体不在场状态下,在以比特为单位的数字化环境中,凭借现代电子通信、网络技术等手段,利用网络信息资源开展学习、工作、娱乐等一系列活动的行为。它满足了大学生求知娱乐、社会交往、自主平等、自我实现的需要,同时也给大学．牛的心理和行为带来了消极的影响,应采取措施积极应对。     

生态文明与人的生存关怀

恩格斯100多年前就关注人与自然的和谐相处,预警人类的生存危机,马克思则提出了根本的解决之道:包含生态文明与人的生存关怀在内的人化自然。面对着世界范围内的生态文明与人的生存关怀缺失,中国更应该从意识、规律、建设方面,坚持经济、社会、生态效益的统一,展示社会主义的生态文明与人的生存关怀。     

变数额标准为人员标准——农村低保标准确定的范式转换

中国扶贫和发展的情况表明,要解决农村全部贫困人员的温饱问题必须建立农村低保制度。受扶贫和城市低保对像确认的影响,我国实行农村低保试点的地区多采取数额标准作为确定农村低保对象的主要确认方法。鉴于数额标准在确定农村低保对象中的种种缺陷和弊端,文章在分析农村低保意义的基础上论证了变数额标准为人员标准在农村低保对象确认中的意义、作用、应注意的问题和确认的方法。     

青岛地区农民生活消费特征及影响因素分析

改革开放以来,青岛地区农民的物质和精神文化消费观念变化显著,交通信息费增长迅速,医疗保健支出增加及突出性消费显著。农民收入增长缓慢,消费环境不健全,社会保障体系不完善是影响农民生活消费特征变化的主要因素,要进一步引导农民科学消费可从切实增加农民收入,完善社会保障体系,加强农村文化建设等几个方面着手。     

Changes in Aleut Concerns Following the Stakeholder-Driven Amchitka Independent Science Assessment

There is widespread agreement that stakeholders should be included in the problem‐formulation phase of addressing environment problems and, more recently, there have been attempts to include stakeholders in other phases of environmental research. However, there are few studies that evaluate the effects of including stakeholders in all phases of research aimed at solving environmental problems. Three underground nuclear blasts were detonated on Amchitka Island from 1965 to 1971. Considerable controversy developed when the Department of Energy (DOE) decided to “close” Amchitka. Concerns were voiced by subsistence Aleuts living in the region, resource trustees, and the State of Alaska, among others. This article evaluates perceptions of residents of three Aleutian village before (2003) and after (2005) the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation's (CRESP) Amchitka Independent Science Assessment (AISA). The CRESP AISA provided technical information on radionuclide levels in biota to inform questions of seafood safety and food chain health. CRESP used the questions asked at public meetings in the Aleut communities of Atka, Nikolski, and Unalaska to evaluate attitudes and perceptions before and after the AISA. Major concerns before the AISA were credibility/trust of CRESP and the DOE, and information about biological methodology of the study. Following the AISA, people were most concerned about health effects and risk reduction, and trust issues with CRESP declined while those for the DOE remained stable. People’s relative concerns about radionuclides declined, while their concerns about mercury (not addressed in the AISA) increased, and interest in ecological issues (population changes of local species) and the future (continued biomonitoring) increased from 2003 to 2005. These results suggest that questions posed at public meetings can be used to evaluate changes in attitudes and perceptions following environmental research, and the results are consistent with the hypothesis that the AISA answered questions about radionuclides, and lowered overall concern about radionuclides, but left unanswered concerns about the health effects of mercury.     

民事诉讼法被执行人生存权保障规则之完善——以经济分析观点为视角

从经济分析观点的视角看,我国民事诉讼法中的被执行人生存权保障规则并非尽善尽美,由此,在司法实践中亦衍生了诸多问题,存在应然与实然的背离,因而亟待立法完善,以矫"过正"之枉,使申请执行人的权利受到应有的保护,并在实现公平——兼顾被执行人生存权保障和申请执行人私权实现的基础上提高执行的效率。     

经济伦理视域下农村最低生活保障政策反思

经济制度的公正性是保证经济活动运行的重要条件。最低生活保障政策是维护和实现社会公平的产物和体现,也是维护农民基本生存权利的根本保障。从农村最低生活保障政策现实来看,政策制定主体的伦理目标定位、伦理职能的发挥、政策执行主体的伦理责任及执行结果等方面均存在伦理缺陷;借助于数学模型分析发现,政策制定主体与执行主体的关系直接受到目标制定向度和目标执行向度的相互影响和作用。通过以上两个向度的分析,研究政策制定主体与执行主体所呈现出的价值分布状态,进一步构建“政策理念导向、政策制定与执行主体负责、价值分配与权力分配关系合理、政策立法完善、资金投入保障、农民需求参与”的多元政策模式,实现农村最低生活保障政策的伦理回归。     

浅析人权白皮书中的人权话语及其变迁

分析考察历年人权白皮书,是归结整理我国官方人权话语及其变迁的一个有价值的视角。从结构体例来看,历年白皮书可以归结为三种模式:混合模式、"五位一体"模式和权利清单模式。与前两种模式相比,权利清单模式体例更统一,用语更规范,权利编排上也更符合当今中国实际,体现出在人权观念和话语上的一些新变化。在历年白皮书中,生存权所占比重逐渐减少,这与我国经济社会发展的总体趋势是逻辑一致的。生存权在完成其解决温饱问题的历史使命之后,将不再构成我国人权话语体系的核心语汇。发展权利的内容日益完善,重要性不断凸显。在2013年人权白皮书中独立成篇的社会保障权利,突出反映了我国社会发展和人权保障的"民生"特色。发展权利和社会保障权利将成为我国今后人权话语的新重心。