The perceptions of female media professionals in Kuwait about their job: an empowerment perspective

This study explores the perceptions of women who work in the media in Kuwait—a conservative, male-dominated society. It examines how female media professionals are treated and explores the factors that either encourage or discourage the empowerment of Kuwaiti women working in this field. In-depth interviews were conducted with five female media professionals and academics in Kuwait in order to develop measures of perceptions towards their profession, media organizations, and the general outlook of Kuwait society. The perceptions of a sample of 237 female media professionals were measured using a fifty-one-item questionnaire. An exploratory factor analysis shows that the respondents’ perceptions are grouped into eight sets of variables. The results show that, while the respondents feel empowered by education, regulations, and the current lifestyle in Kuwait, their cultural upbringing, self-image, and societal outlook discourage their empowerment.     

Would rethinking learning disabilities benefit Kuwait?

Learning disabilities education in Kuwait grew from Kuwaiti’s wholesale importation of the Western, medical model of disability – a model basically incompatible with Kuwaiti culture. Conflicting factors include its problematic normal/abnormal binary, its assumption that the ‘deficit’ is located in the student and the segregation of students by label. As proponents of disability studies we investigate whether, and if so how, Arab educators at Kuwait’s only learning disabilities school talk about this incompatibility. Through focus group and individual, in‐depth conversational interviews we found that they acknowledged this tension, but that they dealt with it in more complex ways than we had anticipated: by compartmentalizing, accepting the imported model as the only alternative to overcrowded public education and subjugating their experiential awareness to that of the Western scientific model.     

科威特社会的变迁

萨巴赫家族统治科威特至今已284个春秋。在这近3个世纪里，科威特社会发生了翻天覆地的变化，首先是经济基础发生了根本性的变化，从而促使科威特的上层建筑-政治体制的变化。     

Women’s activism as public relations in a patriarchal society: The case of Kuwait

This paper addresses an important era of women’s activism in Kuwait. In the 1950s, when the government recognized women’s rights for education, the wave to obtain other civil rights clashed with culture, tradition and religion which became serious obstacles facing women in their struggle for basic rights. This historical study focuses on the establishment of two women’s organizations -- the Arab Women’s Development Society in December 1962 and the Kuwait Women's Cultural and Social Society in February 1963. To sway the negative image of women in a patriarchal society, women used activism as a public relations tool to achieve their social, civil and political rights. The study uses cultural-economic model (CEM) to illustrate how activism and public relations were articulated as synonymous to foster women’s rights in Kuwait. Archived documents and content analysis of media content published in the 1960s reveal that activism played a vital role as a public relations strategy and that social activism was more effective than political activism. The study highlights the implications of culture within the context of both public relations and activism.     

新解海湾危机

海湾危机爆发的原因,此前有多种说法,其中有一种主要说法是,美国欲借苏东剧变、中东地区出现真空之际,寻求切入并控制中东石油资源和这个战略要地,默许了伊拉克入侵科威特,而后出师有名,发动海湾战争,占据并控制中东要地.然而,本人通过对有关文献、重要文件及高层人士对话等资料的仔细梳理发现,由于萨达姆·侯赛因想称霸波斯湾、控制海湾石油资源、左右海湾局势的欲望与美国在中东保持均势的立场和有限的允许伊拉克获得一定利益的政策之间产生了尖锐矛盾,加之萨达姆.侯赛因对美国关于中东政策态度方面的误读,最终触动了美国在中东利益的底线,招致了海湾危机的爆发.     

Globalization and the built environment in Kuwait

This paper discusses the impact of globalization on the built environment and the tension between the forces of globalization and localization as exemplified in the case of Kuwait. It claims that globalization has been active in the countries of the Gulf area since the middle of the 20th century when they witnessed rapid development and change that permitted globalization and localization processes to be more evident and magnified than in other parts of the world. The aim of this paper is to analyze manifestations and consequences of globalization and localization processes in the built environment in Kuwait by tracing the rapid transformation of the built environment in Kuwait during the second half of the 20th century. The paper claims that the clash of styles that exists in the built environment is a product of the tension between globalization and localization processes, and that the dichotomy between the cultural forces currently shaping the built environment, i.e. modern-traditional, Islamic-Western, and local-international, is the result of this tension. While some architects attempt to integrate the local architecture into global cultural trends, others try to revive the traditional architectural style to protect the local identity and heritage. The resulting built environment is chaotic and lacks identity and sense of place. The paper concludes that the processes of globalization and localization are inseparable and that they coexist, like in many other parts of the world, in continuous state of change and interaction. There is a need for an alternative understanding of what global architecture can be; one that understands the essential need to preserve and respect diversity as well as house seemingly disparate philosophies of space, people, and their interactions with and within the built form. This approach should be reflected in professional practice, education and building regulations that govern the production of the built environment.     

战后科威特经济走势及我政策

美伊战争后，科威特经济发展的外部隐患被消除，科财政收入大幅增加，投资扩大，国内需求增加，市场消费旺盛；对外贸易增长，贸易顺差加大；外国投资活跃，资本流入增多。伊科是传统贸易伙伴，在地理、人文、资金等方面都具有开展贸易的得天独厚条件。中国企业可以科为跳板，与科企业进行广泛紧密合作，不失时机地进入伊市场。     

Toward excellence in public relations: identifying practices and barriers in Kuwaiti corporate,governmental and non-profit organizations

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to examine the applicability of the Excellence principles in Kuwait, generating insights into factors that affect the practice of strategic public relations management across corporate, governmental and nonprofit organizations. The findings, based on 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews with Kuwaiti public relations practitioners, revealed that the public relations profession demonstrates low levels of adherence to the generic principles of excellence. Public relations practitioners are less involved in strategic management and less empowered in the dominant coalition. Practitioners have provided various barriers including higher management’s lack of understanding of public relations, and lack of qualified practitioners, which have created disparities in understanding symmetrical communication. The sector of the organizations and the employment system in the country have also contributed to the situation.     

科威特石油运输公司

科威特石油运输公司在由全资私有公司变成全资公有公司的46年里，由小变大，在科经济尤其是石油工业中发挥了重要作用。但在多变的世界政治、经济形势下，公司正进行着改革，以应对所面临的挑战。