Toward a sociology of global comparative placemaking

I call for a globally informed sociology of comparative placemaking that integrates historical and contemporary processes and includes the ephemeral, institutional, and personal. By placemaking, I am referring to the explicit or tacit cooperation among people to create, maintain, and give meaning to places in space through bodily occupation given differential resources and constraints. I review select place, space, and community-based literature about urban, Black, migrant, LGBTQ, and international populations to think about how we can build upon and integrate multiple theoretical, methodological, and epistemological insights to form an explicit placemaking research agenda. A US focus on neighborhoods contrasts with a comparative examination of global urban networks, social polarization, and transformation of the built environment in the interdisciplinary field of global urban studies (Ren, 2018). I argue for a placemaking research agenda that bridges insight from US Urban Sociology with Global Urban Studies to consider how various structures and actors constrain and facilitate place projects. With a globally reaching and comparatively informed sociology of placemaking, we can illuminate our multi-structured story of place and agency in context. We can answer questions about how and why we co-create and are simultaneously disciplined by the process of creation.     

Comparison of labour and birth outcomes between nulliparous women who used epidural analgesia in labour and those who did not: A prospective cohort study

ObjectiveTo compare labour and birth outcomes between nulliparous women who used versus did not use intrapartum epidural analgesia.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingTwo maternity hospitals in Ireland.PopulationA total of 1221 nulliparous women who gave birth vaginally or by emergency caesarean section.MethodsMultinomial logistic regression was used to analyse categorical outcomes, with results presented as ratios of relative risks (RRR). For dichotomous outcomes we used logistic regression, with results presented as odds ratios (OR).Main outcome measuresMode of birth, IV syntocinon use, pyrexia (≥38 °C), antibiotic treatment, first stage labour ≥10 h, second stage labour ≥2 h, blood loss (≥500 mls, ≥1000 mls), perineal trauma. Neonatal outcomes included Apgar score ≥7 at 1 min and 5 min, admission to neonatal intensive care unit, and infant feeding method.ResultsWomen using EA were more likely to require a vacuum-assisted birth (RRR 3.35, p < 0.01) or forceps-assisted birth (RRR 11.69, p < 0.01). Exposure to EA was associated with significantly greater risk of ≥10 h first (OR 6.72, p = 0.01) and ≥2 h second (OR 2.25, p < 0.01) stage labour, increased likelihood of receiving IV syntocinon (OR 9.38, p < 0.01), antibiotics (OR 2.97, p < 0.01) and a greater probability of pyrexia (OR 10.26, p < 0.01). Women who used EA were half as likely to be breastfeeding at three months postpartum (OR 0.53, p < 0.01). No differences were observed between groups in neonatal outcomes.ConclusionsOur data shows significant associations between EA use and several intrapartum outcomes.     

Professional blinders? The novel as an eye-opener in organizational analysis

ABSTRACT

Scholarly textbooks often follow a logic where suitable empirical cases are selected to illustrate the theoretical and analytical points that we as scholars want to make. But what would happen if we would do the opposite: build a textbook on a novel written by a novelist for such purpose and let the theories explain the actions and emotions of fictional characters? In this article, we share and reflect upon our experiences of co-authoring a textbook in organization theory together with a professional novelist. We argue that the novel can function as an eye-opener in organizational analysis, forcing us to look beyond more static and rationalistic perspectives on organizations as well as the stereotypes of such. We build and relate our experiences to the growing literature about using fiction in scholarly work and discuss the potential of such genre-bending work when we bring in flesh and blood into the analyses.     

Land markets and migration trends in Tanzania: A qualitative‐quantitative analysis

While migration has been found to enhance welfare across a range of settings, most of the literature focuses on rural‐to‐urban migrant flows. Using a unique dataset from north‐western Tanzania, this article probes an important, yet overlooked, link between land markets and rural‐to‐rural migration. A mixed‐methods approach is used to discern how these two forces are intertwined in village life. Results indicate that household decisions to migrate are particularly influenced by the ease of market‐based land access in their new communities. This suggests that labour mobility may be facilitated through the development of a well‐functioning land market.     

Overcoming Old in Age-Friendliness

In this article, we explore views on an age-friendly space in the Netherlands by analysing the responses of older individuals (N = 54) in focus groups and by examining the perspectives around an age-friendly zone in the Netherlands, Parkstad Limburg. We found that a central issue in the wishes for living at a later age are adjustments to envisioned physical limitations that come with the ageing process; this includes adjustments to ensure safety, accessibility and mobility, in order to facilitate older individuals' efforts to stay engaged with the world around them. In their wishes, the older participants constructed ideal dwelling places that closely resembled a senior home, but at the same time they rejected wishing to live in a place that was identified as a senior home. We explain this paradox by the representation of such a space as being for old people, i.e. needy older individuals, which was not how the older participants wished to be identified. We conclude that the conception of age-friendly environments will have to face the difficult challenge of overcoming the association with old age, while simultaneously taking into account adjustments that signify and relate to the ageing process and that seem inescapably tied to oldness.     

Childbearing and Marriage: Investigating the Importance of Context for Meaning-Making of First-Time Marriage

Previous research reveals that the temporal ordering of childbearing and marriage can have an impact on the meaning of first-time marriage. This article aims to obtain a deeper understanding of meaning-making of first-time marriage in relation to childbearing. Narrative interviews with 16 brides and grooms in 8 couples in Sweden were conducted. The material was analyzed in relation to the temporal ordering of childbearing and marriage. The study reveals that the construction of meaning of marriage does not only relate to the temporal context. Social factors such as social class or family formation might also be relevant for how meaning is constructed. This article contributes to a deeper understanding of meaning-making as a relational process constructed within particular contexts.     

后现代主义对教育评价研究的启示

后现代主义是 2 0世纪末西方社会流行的一种哲学和文化思潮 ,其影响遍及各个领域。强调反思和批判精神、反中心和提升非理性、倡导多元化的方法论和提倡对以及淡化价值判断是其显著特征。自 2 0世纪 90年代以来 ,许多教育学者开始借助后现代主义的有关思想来审视教育 ,笔者通过对后现代主义有关思想的观照 ,展开由后现代主义引发的对当前教育评价研究有关问题的思考。     

投敌叛变罪若干疑难问题研讨

投敌叛变罪作为危害国家安全的一种重罪,刑法学界的研究状况相对较为薄弱,为此应立足于刑法规定,并紧密结合司法实践,对投敌叛变罪的本质属性、客观表现、罪过形式、罪数形态、犯罪形态及其死刑适用等几个重大疑难问题进行较为深入的研究。     

我校医学影像专业实施素质教育的实践与探索

三峡大学医学院开办医学影像专业有 16年历史 ,经历了从专科向本科转型过度。在素质教育和创新意识培养方面经过了多年的探索实践。大专层次的教育为社会培养了一批临床应用型专业人才 ,缓解了市场需求的压力 ,但部分学生客观上存在着知识面较窄小 ,缺乏后劲的问题。实施本科教育全面提高学生的综合素质需要在多方面下工夫 :转变教育思想 ,更新教育观念 ;转变培养模式 ;优化组合构建新的课程体系 ;强化科研 ,以科研促教学 ;通才教育与专才教育并举。探索本科生素质教育 6年 ,取得了可喜成绩 ,积累了一些经验