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Social Processes (social + process)
Selected AbstractsDevelopment Discourses and Peasant,Forest Relations: Natural Resource Utilization as Social ProcessDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2000Anja Nygren This article analyses the changing role of forests and the practices of peasants toward them in a Costa Rican rural community, drawing on an analytical perspective of political ecology, combined with cultural interpretations. The study underlines the complex articulation of local processes and global forces in tropical forest struggles. Deforestation is seen as a process of development and power involving multiple social actors, from politicians and development experts to a heterogeneous group of local peasants. The local people are not passive victims of global challenges, but are instead directly involved in the changes concerning their production systems and livelihood strategies. In the light of historical changes in natural resource utilization, the article underlines the multiplicity of the causes of tropical deforestation, and the intricate links between global discourses on environment and development and local forest relations. [source] Some Problems and Possibilities in the Study of Dynamical Social ProcessesJOURNAL FOR THE THEORY OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, Issue 1 2000John E. Puddifoot The recent challenge of Dynamical Systems Theory (also known as ComplexityTheory or Chaos Theory) to the social sciences, is based largely on the beliefthat processes in the social arena can be considered as analogous to those of the natural world, and that in consequence general theoretical advances in explaining the latter might with advantage be applied to the former. This paper aims to show that claims for Dynamical Systems Theory with respect to the understanding or measurement of social processes would be premature; the reasons for this lying not only in the unfamiliarity and operational difficulties of Dynamical Systems Theory in itself, but also in the problematic nature and history of our usage of the term ,social process'. Reviewing some examples of such usage from Sociology and Social Psychology, it is concluded that Dynamical Systems Theory might serve as a catalyst for a re-examination of existing orthodoxies and major concepts, but that progress would be retarded by the uncritical application of it's terminology, concepts, and techniques of mathematical modelling, without this prior and demanding first step. [source] The Concept of Social Exclusion in the European Union: Context, Development and PossibilitiesJCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 3 2000Rob Atkinson In recent years the term ,social exclusion' has come to occupy a central place in the discussion of social policy and inequality in Europe. While the notion has acquired important strategic connotations, by stressing structural and cultural/social processes, the precise meaning of the term remains somewhat elusive. This article focuses on the reason for and the manner in which the notion of social exclusion has developed within the EU social policy discourse, aiming to provide a clearer understanding of its origins, functions and multiple dimensions. Whilst adopting a critical approach to the notion of social exclusion, the article suggests that the concept has played a positive role in keeping issues such as inequality and poverty on the policy agenda. The article also suggests possible ways in which social exclusion might be developed in a climate which has become less conducive, if not hostile, to an autonomous, activist EU social policy. [source] Social Capital, Collective Action, and Adaptation to Climate ChangeECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2003W. Neil Adger Abstract: Future changes in climate pose significant challenges for society, not the least of which is how best to adapt to observed and potential future impacts of these changes to which the world is already committed. Adaptation is a dynamic social process: the ability of societies to adapt is determined, in part, by the ability to act collectively. This article reviews emerging perspectives on collective action and social capital and argues that insights from these areas inform the nature of adaptive capacity and normative prescriptions of policies of adaptation. Specifically, social capital is increasingly understood within economics to have public and private elements, both of which are based on trust, reputation, and reciprocal action. The public-good aspects of particular forms of social capital are pertinent elements of adaptive capacity in interacting with natural capital and in relation to the performance of institutions that cope with the risks of changes in climate. Case studies are presented of present-day collective action for coping with extremes in weather in coastal areas in Southeast Asia and of community-based coastal management in the Caribbean. These cases demonstrate the importance of social capital framing both the public and private institutions of resource management that build resilience in the face of the risks of changes in climate. These cases illustrate, by analogy, the nature of adaptation processes and collective action in adapting to future changes in climate. [source] EDUCATING COMMUNAL AGENTS: BUILDING ON THE PERSPECTIVISM OF G.H. MEADEDUCATIONAL THEORY, Issue 4 2007Jack Martin In this essay, Jack Martin aims to remedy such oversight by interpreting Mead's social-psychological and educational theorizing of selfhood and agency through the lenses of the perspectival realism Mead developed in the last decade of his life. This interpretation understands education as concerned with the cultivation and coordination of cultural, societal, interpersonal, and personal perspectives. Within this framework, communal agency is understood as a self-interpreting, self-determining capability of persons. This agentive capability derives from immersion and participation with others within sociocultural practices and perspectives, but also includes reactivity to those same practices and perspectives. The education of communal agents as envisioned here emphasizes the social nature of education, students' experience and development, and the critical role of the teacher as a mediator between student development and social process. Such an education is grounded in the immediate experiences and perspectives of learners, but increasingly assists learners to move beyond their own experiences through engaged interaction with others and with resources for acquiring broader, more organized perspectives on themselves, others, and the world. [source] The climate learning ladder.ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2010A pragmatic procedure to support climate adaptation Abstract We introduce a new pragmatic procedure called the ,climate learning ladder' to structure policy analysis, support reflection and identify critical decisions to support climate adaptation. This tool is the result of the reflexive learning process that occurred while developing innovative appraisal methods in the Alxa League of Inner Mongolia, China, and in the Guadiana river basin in the European Union. Building capacities to cope with climate change requires going beyond simply providing ,more knowledge' on climate impacts to policy makers. Instead, climate adaptation can be understood as a multi-step social process in which individuals and organizations need to learn how to (1) manage different framings of the issues at stake while raising awareness of climate risks and opportunities, (2) understand different motives for, and generate adequate incentives or sanctions to ensure, action, (3) develop feasible options and resources for individual and collective transformation and collaboration and (4) institutionalize new rights, responsibilities and feedback learning processes for climate adaptation in the long term. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Learning Spaces: an ICT-enabled model of future learning in the Knowledge-based SocietyEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, Issue 2 2007YVES PUNIE This article presents elements of a future vision of learning in the knowledge-based society which is enabled by ICT. It is not only based on extrapolations from trends and drivers that are shaping learning in Europe but also consists of a holistic attempt to envisage and anticipate future learning needs and requirements in the KBS. The ,learning spaces' vision puts learners at the centre of learning, but, at the same time, conceives learning as a social process. The potential of ICT-enabled learning spaces can only be realised, however, if it is embedded in a social and institutional context that is open to innovation and supported by a favourable policy environment. [source] Doing Gender in Academic Education: The Paradox of VisibilityGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 4 2009Marieke Van Den Brink Recent contributions in the field of gender and organization point to the notion of paradox to unveil the persistence of gender inequality in organizations. This article seeks to contribute to this growing body of knowledge. We used the notion of paradox to reveal the processes of doing gender at an earth science department of a Dutch university in order to find out whether gender segregation in academic and professional careers has already started during academic education. We focused on the study choices of female students in earth sciences and discovered the paradox of visibility, which enabled us to show the contradictory and ambiguous nature of how gender is done at this department. In this article we discuss the relationship between doing gender and paradox on a theoretical as well as an empirical level. We argue that paradoxes could be very useful when analysing doing gender in organizations, because paradoxes focus on the social process in which individual agency and social structures come together. We even suggest that paradoxes might help us to disrupt the hierarchical nature of the gender binary, because they allow for a constant reflection on ambiguity and contradictions in theorizing as well as in practice. [source] Exploring the implications for health professionals of men coming out as gay in healthcare settingsHEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 1 2006Bob Cant MA Abstract Coming out as gay is a social process which redefines the relationship between the persons who have decided to disclose their homosexuality and their listeners. This paper, drawing upon Bakhtin's (1984) theories of dialogue, the coming-out literature of gay men and lesbians and contemporary literature on doctor,patient communication, explores the coming-out experiences of gay men with their general practitioners and sexual health clinic staff. The findings are based upon a study of 38 gay men and 12 health service managers in London. The informants were recruited purposively to reflect some of the diversity of the London setting; recruitment was carried out through the channels of gay voluntary organisations and through snowballing. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and a grounded-theory approach was adopted. It was found that coming out in general practice was often/mostly followed by silence/noncommunication on the part of the practitioner; coming out could, however, result in an improvement in communication if the patients were well supported and assertive. If coming out in sexual health clinics did not result in improved communication, the informants in this study were likely to change clinics until they did find improved communication. This paper raises questions about the communication and training needs of general practitioners. It also raises questions about inequalities of access to ,respectful' sexual health clinics; while men who are articulate about the narratives of their lives as gay men are able to exercise informed choices, there were grounds for concern about the choice behaviours of men who are less articulate about their life narratives. [source] Informal learning and the transfer of learning: How managers develop proficiencyHUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2003Michael D. Enos This study examined how the extent to which managers engaged in informal learning, perceptions of support in the transfer environment, and level of managerial proficiency related to transfer of learning in twenty core managerial skills. The results suggested that informal learning is predominantly a social process and that managers with high levels of proficiency who experience low levels of coworker, supervisor, and organizational support learn managerial skills mostly from informal learning and transfer learning more frequently. New perspectives are offered on the interrelationship between informal learning and transfer of learning, the role of metacognition and self-regulation in informal learning, and the influence of informal learning in the development of managerial proficiency. [source] Transferring HR practices within multinational corporationsHUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 4 2007Ingmar Björkman There is extensive evidence that planned transfers of management practices by the headquarters of multinational corporations (MNCs) to foreign subsidiaries are not always successful. In this article, we outline a model of factors influencing the transfer of HR practices to MNC units abroad. The article has two main contributions. First, we develop a more holistic understanding of the outcome of HR practice transfer as encompassing three dimensions: implementation, internalisation and integration. Second, we expand current explanations of transfers of practices to foreign units. We argue that transfer of HR practices is a social process where the governance mechanisms used by the MNC, characteristics of the subsidiary HR systems, the social relationship between the subsidiary and MNC headquarters, and the transfer approach taken by headquarters management will influence the outcome of the process. [source] A theory of maternal engagement with public health nurses and family visitorsJOURNAL OF ADVANCED NURSING, Issue 2 2005Susan M. Jack PhD RN Background., Home visiting by public health nurses and family visitors is promoted as an important intervention for enhancing parent and child development. Mothers of children at-risk for developmental delays tend to be the most difficult to access and engage, and commonly drop out of home visiting programmes prematurely. Purpose., This paper reports a study developing a theory that describes the process by which mothers of children at-risk engage with public health nurses and family visitors in a blended home visiting programme. Methods., Grounded theory was used to guide the collection, recording, organization and analysis of the data. A purposeful sample of 20 mothers receiving public health nurse and family visitor home visits were recruited from a public health unit in Canada. Data were collected through client record reviews and 29 in-depth interviews that explored participants' experiences, beliefs and expectations about engagement. Data collection and analysis continued until all categories were saturated. Findings., Mothers felt vulnerable and frequently powerless when they allowed the service providers into their home. Mothers with children at-risk engage with public health nurses and family visitors through a basic social process of limiting family vulnerability, which has three phases: (1) overcoming fear; (2) building trust; and (3) seeking mutuality. The personal characteristics, values, experiences and actions of the public health nurse, family visitor and mother influence the speed at which each phase is successfully negotiated and the ability to develop a connected relationship. Conclusion., Public health nurses working with families at risk need to identify client fears and perceptions related to home visiting, and to explain the role of public health nurses and family visitors to all family members. Given the importance that mothers place on the development of an interpersonal relationship, it is important for home visitors continually to assess the quality of their relationships with clients. [source] Parents' narratives about their experiences of their child's reconstructive genital surgeries for ambiguous genitaliaJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 23 2008Caroline Sanders Aim., The aim of this study was to initiate an exploration of parents' understanding and experiences of their child's reconstructive genital surgeries for ambiguous genitalia. Background., The determination of gender for a child born with ambiguous genitalia is a complex medical and social process influenced by biological, psychological, social and cultural factors. Two main approaches exist; one promotes interventions (optimal gender policy) while the other suggests delaying interventions (informed consent policy) until the child can contribute to the decision. Methods., An exploratory narrative inquiry design was chosen. Data were collected through narrative interviews with a purposive non-random sample of 10 parents of eight children (aged 0,11 years) who had ambiguous genitalia. Results., Parents' stories reflected strong protective instincts towards their children along with feelings of shock and disbelief. Parents' social construction of gender influenced their attitudes and beliefs about their child's ambiguous genitalia and the need for surgery. Parents' desired to be ,good parents' and do what they perceived as ,right' for their child. They considered genital surgery as a necessity primarily relying on medical advice to guide them at times of uncertainty and confusion. Parents rarely shared stories about their child's surgeries/genitalia outside of the couple relationship and these stories were often referred to as ,secrets'. Conclusion., Having a child with ambiguous genitalia was perceived as problematic and brought about changes in roles, responsibilities, goals and social status as a parent beyond those usually associated with parenthood. Relevance to clinical practice., These early findings help increase awareness of parents' experiences and of the problems and emotional challenges that parents face when their child is born with genital ambiguity. [source] The Diffusion of Cricket to America: A Figurational Sociological ExaminationJOURNAL OF HISTORICAL SOCIOLOGY, Issue 2 2006DOMINIC MALCOLM It is argued that class and cricketing relations in England in the mid-nineteenth century had a significant and hitherto unacknowledged impact on the diffusion of the game to America, and that this unplanned social process can only be understood in the light of the specific interdependencies between the British and Anglo-Americans, between upper and lower class English immigrants, and between English immigrants and "Native White Americans". Correlatively, this analysis spreads new light on the establishment of baseball as America's national game, illustrating a greater level of dependence on the English and English sport than is traditionally attributed. [source] The Absorption Hypothesis: Learning to Hear God in Evangelical ChristianityAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 1 2010T. M. Luhrmann ABSTRACT, In this article, we use a combination of ethnographic data and empirical methods to identify a process called "absorption," which may be involved in contemporary Christian evangelical prayer practice (and in the practices of other religions). The ethnographer worked with an interdisciplinary team to identify people with a proclivity for "absorption." Those who seemed to have this proclivity were more likely to report sharper mental images, greater focus, and more unusual spiritual experience. The more they prayed, the more likely they were to have these experiences and to embrace fully the local representation of God. Our results emphasize learning, a social process to which individuals respond in variable ways, and they suggest that interpretation, proclivity, and practice are all important in understanding religious experience. This approach builds on but differs from the approach to religion within the culture-and-cognition school. [source] Culture Matters in the Neolithic Transition and Emergence of Hierarchy in Thy, Denmark: Distinguished LectureAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 1 2004TIMOTHY EARLE Abstract How did the emergence of hierarchical social structure that followed the domestication of plants and animals in the Neolithic actually come about? I suggest that material media were instrumental in this transformation, as culture was changed by incorporating such newmedia as landscape constructions and elaborate prestige objects. During the Neolithic transition in Thy, Denmark, local corporate groups formed, and, subsequently, Bronze Age chieftains came to power. Shifts in material culture suggest possible connections to these institutional changes, namely the materialization of property rights by burial monuments and permanent domestic architecture and the centralization of power through the controlled production of wealth objects. I conclude that, as part of social process, the nature of culture has been transformed by incorporating material culture with specific characteristics of scale, permanency, and control that were vital to institutional change. [source] The Social Construction of Talent: A Defence of Justice as ReciprocityTHE JOURNAL OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, Issue 1 2001Steven R. Smith Debates concerning principles of justice need to be attentive to various types of social process. One concerns the distribution of resources between groups defined as talented and untalented. Another concerns the social mechanisms by which people come to be categorised as talented and untalented. Political philosophers have paid considerable attention to the former issues, much less to the latter. That, I shall argue, represents a significant oversight. [source] Knowledge generation and utilisation in occupational therapy: Towards epistemic reflexivityAUSTRALIAN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY JOURNAL, Issue 4 2009Elizabeth Anne Kinsella Aim:,The purpose of this article is to consider the ways in which theory generation, and hence knowledge generation, in occupational therapy is a complex social process, and therefore carries (often hidden) responsibilities for those who are part of our epistemic community. An epistemic community is a knowledge-producing community, who apply their standards of credibility, and epistemic values, to theory choice. In occupational therapy this community is comprised of a worldwide group of scholars and practitioners. Methods:,We propose that epistemic reflexivity can be used to critique and contribute to our disciplinary knowledge and to critically consider ,who' makes epistemological choices in our profession, and the consequent implications for the theories we adopt. The purpose of this article is to make these relations explicit so that scholars and therapists can become increasingly conscious and empowered with respect to their contributions to occupational therapy's epistemic community. To demonstrate an application of epistemic reflexivity, we critically consider a theoretical construction that has been widely adopted by the international occupational therapy community: evidence-based practice. Results:,As authors, we engage in epistemic reflexivity to critically consider the challenge posed by evidence-based practice. We propose a conception of practice knowledge that is informed by evidence yet based on a conception of wise practice. Conclusion:,Our intention is to stimulate discussion and debate in occupational therapy's epistemic community, a number of approaches for fostering epistemic reflexivity in occupational therapy are suggested. [source] Some Problems and Possibilities in the Study of Dynamical Social ProcessesJOURNAL FOR THE THEORY OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, Issue 1 2000John E. Puddifoot The recent challenge of Dynamical Systems Theory (also known as ComplexityTheory or Chaos Theory) to the social sciences, is based largely on the beliefthat processes in the social arena can be considered as analogous to those of the natural world, and that in consequence general theoretical advances in explaining the latter might with advantage be applied to the former. This paper aims to show that claims for Dynamical Systems Theory with respect to the understanding or measurement of social processes would be premature; the reasons for this lying not only in the unfamiliarity and operational difficulties of Dynamical Systems Theory in itself, but also in the problematic nature and history of our usage of the term ,social process'. Reviewing some examples of such usage from Sociology and Social Psychology, it is concluded that Dynamical Systems Theory might serve as a catalyst for a re-examination of existing orthodoxies and major concepts, but that progress would be retarded by the uncritical application of it's terminology, concepts, and techniques of mathematical modelling, without this prior and demanding first step. [source] NO COMMUNITY IS AN ISLAND: THE EFFECTS OF RESOURCE DEPRIVATION ON URBAN VIOLENCE IN SPATIALLY AND SOCIALLY PROXIMATE COMMUNITIES,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 3 2006DANIEL P. MEARS The link between resource deprivation and urban violence has long been explored in criminological research. Studies, however, have largely ignored the potential for resource deprivation in particular communities to affect rates of violence in others. The relative inattention is notable because of the strong theoretical grounds to anticipate influences that extend both to geographically contiguous areas and to those that, though not contiguous, share similar social characteristics. We argue that such influences,what we term spatial and social proximity effects, respectively,constitute a central feature of community dynamics. To support this argument, we develop and test theoretically derived hypotheses about spatial and social proximity effects of resource deprivation on aggregated and disaggregated homicide counts. Our analyses indicate that local area resource deprivation contributes to violence in socially proximate communities, an effect that, in the case of instrumental homicides, is stronger when such communities are spatially proximate. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for theories focused on community-level social processes and violence, and for policies aimed at reducing crime in disadvantaged areas. [source] CODE IS SPEECH: Legal Tinkering, Expertise, and Protest among Free and Open Source Software DevelopersCULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 3 2009GABRIELLA COLEMAN ABSTRACT In this essay, I examine the channels through which Free and Open Source Software (F/OSS) developers reconfigure central tenets of the liberal tradition,and the meanings of both freedom and speech,to defend against efforts to constrain their productive autonomy. I demonstrate how F/OSS developers contest and specify the meaning of liberal freedom,especially free speech,through the development of legal tools and discourses within the context of the F/OSS project. I highlight how developers concurrently tinker with technology and the law using similar skills, which transform and consolidate ethical precepts among developers. I contrast this legal pedagogy with more extraordinary legal battles over intellectual property, speech, and software. I concentrate on the arrests of two programmers, Jon Johansen and Dmitry Sklyarov, and on the protests they provoked, which unfolded between 1999 and 2003. These events are analytically significant because they dramatized and thus made visible tacit social processes. They publicized the challenge that F/OSS represents to the dominant regime of intellectual property (and clarified the democratic stakes involved) and also stabilized a rival liberal legal regime intimately connecting source code to speech. [source] Whither causal models in the neuroscience of ADHD?DEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 2 2005Dave Coghill In this paper we examine the current status of the science of ADHD from a theoretical point of view. While the field has reached the point at which a number of causal models have been proposed, it remains some distance away from demonstrating the viability of such models empirically. We identify a number of existing barriers and make proposals as to the best way for these to be overcome in future studies. These include the need to work across multiple levels of analysis in multidisciplinary teams; the need to recognize the existence of, and then model, causal heterogeneity; the need to integrate environmental and social processes into models of genetic and neurobiological influence; and the need to model developmental processes in a dynamic fashion. Such a model of science, although difficult to achieve, has the potential to provide the sort of framework for programmatic model-based research required if the power and sophistication of new neuroscience technologies are to be effectively exploited. [source] The Schooling of Women: Maternal Behavior and Child EnvironmentsETHOS, Issue 3 2001Professor Robert A. LeVine Beatrice Whiting was a member of the first generation of graduate students to be trained in psychological anthropology, and she has always presumed a broad range of connections between psychological and social processes. She salvaged the Six Cultures Study through an ecological analysis of its child-observation material, and she stimulated further studies, using quantitative and qualitative methods, of the ways in which broad categories like sex, age, and education influence child development. This article presents in overview a crosscultural research program on the effects of women's schooling that was influenced by her ideas. [source] ,In the Company of Men': A Reflexive Tale of Cultural Organizing in a Small OrganizationGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 4 2002Denise Fletcher A tale of fieldwork in a small organization is discussed in this article with a view to highlighting how social processes, cultural understandings and expressions of gender are produced during fieldwork interaction. The tale is told reflexively and retrospectively, recording an ongoing conversation about fieldwork experience. Central to the tale is discussion of how the researcher is drawn into ,culture,making' within the organization and the ways in which fieldwork interaction creates a ,space' through which organizational members engage with, work through and realize work,place values. In this article there are multiple levels of reflection. At one level it is examined how the organizational,researcher role of ,emotional nurturer' was constructed during fieldwork. At the same time some cultural insights drawn from ethnographic inquiry and intensive interviewing within the small organization are presented. The analysis is also shaped by a further layer of post,fieldwork reflection and interpretation which draws in emotional issues and expressions of gender. It is argued that a close scrutiny of fieldwork roles is important to organizational research in that it makes explicit how the researcher,,native' interaction is central to the theorizing process and how the researcher can become a participant in organizational culture,making. [source] EXPLORING THE CONNECTIONS: LAND TENURE, SOCIAL IDENTITIES, AND AGROBIODIVERSITY PRACTICES IN GHANAGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2009Louis Awanyo ABSTRACT. This article employs qualitative and quantitative evidence from primary social research in Ghana to examine the link between land tenure security and social identities (of wealth/income and gender), and how they condition farmers' investments in practices that contribute to the rehabilitation of tree biodiversity (agrobiodiversity). Statistical analyses of the significance of the effects of farmers' de jure land tenure security regimes, and income and gender on agrobiodiversity practices were inconclusive. The conventional causation link between investments and more secure formal land tenure rights, for instance, was confirmed in investments in four out of eight agrobiodiversity practices. Testimonial-based evidence of farmers provided a clearer concept of land tenure security and an explanatory framework about the interacting and complex effects of income and gender on land tenure security. The theoretical and empirical argument developed from these testimonies portrays land tenure as embodying negotiated social processes, influenced by gender and income of individuals, whereby breadth of land rights, duration of rights over land, and assurance of rights are established, sustained, enhanced or changed through a variety of strategies to shape tenure security. These processes , tenure building and renewal processes , are critical because all farmers have lingering anxiety about land tenure rights, even among farmers with more secure formal rights. Investments are made in agrobiodiversity practices as a strategy to strengthen land tenure security and thereby minimize anxiety, leading to reverse causation effects between land tenure, social identities, and investments. [source] MATTER(S) OF INTEREST: ARTEFACTS, SPACING AND TIMINGGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2007Tim Schwanen ABSTRACT. This paper argues that time-geography can make a contribution to contemporary ,rematerialized' geographies, because the interconnections among social processes, human corporeality and inanimate material artefacts within the landscape were among Hägerstrand's central concerns. Time-geography needs none the less to be extended in several ways to make it more reconcilable with current thinking about materiality in geography. The possibility of combining Hägerstrand's framework with notions from (post) actor-network approaches is therefore explored. It is suggested that concepts and notions from the latter may contribute to the advancement of the conceptualization of action at a distance and agency in general in time-geography, as well as the incorporation of the immaterial realm into space,time diagrams. The resulting materially heterogeneous time-geography is a framework for studying the spacing and timing of different material entities that is sensitive to the role of artefacts and their local connectedness with other material forms. Some of its elements are illustrated briefly through an empirical study of the roles played by a few mundane artefacts in working parents ,coping with child-care responsibilities on working days. The case study suggest that these artefacts not only enable goal fulfilment and routinization but also result in further spacing and timing practices, and can introduce uncertainty and novelty to existing orders. [source] Teaching and Learning Guide for: The Geopolitics of Climate ChangeGEOGRAPHY COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 5 2008Jon Barnett Author's Introduction Climate change is a security problem in as much as the kinds of environmental changes that may result pose risks to peace and development. However, responsibilities for the causes of climate change, vulnerability to its effects, and capacity to solve the problem, are not equally distributed between countries, classes and cultures. There is no uniformity in the geopolitics of climate change, and this impedes solutions. Author Recommends 1.,Adger, W. N., et al. (eds) (2006). Fairness in adaptation to climate change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. A comprehensive collection of articles on the justice dimensions of adaptation to climate change. Chapters discuss potential points at which climate change becomes ,dangerous', the issue of adaptation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the unequal outcomes of adaptation within a society, the effects of violent conflict on adaptation, the costs of adaptation, and examples from Bangladesh, Tanzania, Botswana, and Hungary. 2.,Leichenko, R., and O'Brien, K. (2008). Environmental change and globalization: double exposures. New York: Oxford University Press. This book uses examples from around the world to show the way global economic and political processes interact with environmental changes to create unequal outcomes within and across societies. A very clear demonstration of the way vulnerability to environmental change is as much driven by social processes as environmental ones, and how solutions lie within the realm of decisions about ,development' and ,environment'. 3.,Nordås, R., and Gleditsch, N. (2007). Climate conflict: common sense or nonsense? Political Geography 26 (6), pp. 627,638. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2007.06.003 An up-to-date, systematic and balanced review of research on the links between climate change and violent conflict. See also the other papers in this special issue of Political Geography. 4.,Parry, M., et al. (eds) (2007). Climate change 2007: impacts adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. The definitive review of all the peer-reviewed research on the way climate change may impact on places and sectors across the world. Includes chapters on ecosystems, health, human settlements, primary industries, water resources, and the major regions of the world. All chapters are available online at http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg2.htm 5.,Salehyan, I. (2008). From climate change to conflict? No consensus yet. Journal of Peace Research 45 (3), pp. 315,326. doi:10.1177/0022343308088812 A balanced review of research on the links between climate change and conflict, with attention to existing evidence. 6.,Schwartz, P., and Randall, D. (2003). An abrupt climate change scenario and its implications for United States national security. San Francisco, CA: Global Business Network. Gives insight into how the US security policy community is framing the problem of climate change. This needs to be read critically. Available at http://www.gbn.com/ArticleDisplayServlet.srv?aid=26231 7.,German Advisory Council on Global Change. (2007). World in transition: climate change as a security risk. Berlin, Germany: WBGU. A major report from the German Advisory Council on Global Change on the risks climate changes poses to peace and stability. Needs to be read with caution. Summary and background studies are available online at http://www.wbgu.de/wbgu_jg2007_engl.html 8.,Yamin, F., and Depedge, J. (2004). The International climate change regime: a guide to rules, institutions and procedures. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. A clear and very detailed explanation of the UNFCCC's objectives, actors, history, and challenges. A must read for anyone seeking to understand the UNFCCC process, written by two scholars with practical experience in negotiations. Online Materials 1.,Environmental Change and Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ecsp The major website for information about environmental security. From here, you can download many reports and studies, including the Environmental Change and Security Project Report. 2.,Global Environmental Change and Human Security Project http://www.gechs.org This website is a clearing house for work and events on environmental change and human security. 3.,Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) http://www.ipcc.ch/ From this website, you can download all the chapters of all the IPCC's reports, including its comprehensive and highly influential assessment reports, the most recent of which was published in 2007. The IPCC were awarded of the Nobel Peace Prize ,for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made (sic) climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change'. 4.,Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research http://www.tyndall.ac.uk The website of a major centre for research on climate change, and probably the world's leading centre for social science based analysis of climate change. From this site, you can download many publications about mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, and about various issues in the UNFCCC. 5.,United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change http://unfccc.int/ The website contains every major document relation to the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol, including the text of the agreements, national communications, country submissions, negotiated outcomes, and background documents about most key issues. Sample Syllabus: The Geopolitics of Climate Change topics for lecture and discussion Week I: Introduction Barnett, J. (2007). The geopolitics of climate change. Geography Compass 1 (6), pp. 1361,1375. United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, address to the 12th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Nairobi, 15 November 2006. Available online at http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=495&ArticleID=5424&l=en Week II: The History and Geography of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Topic: The drivers of climate change in space and time Reading Baer, P. (2006). Adaptation: who pays whom? In: Adger, N., et al. (eds) Fairness in adaptation to climate change. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 131,154. Boyden, S., and Dovers, S. (1992). Natural-resource consumption and its environmental impacts in the Western World: impacts of increasing per capita consumption. Ambio 21 (1), pp. 63,69. Week III: The Environmental Consequences of climate change Topic: The risks climate change poses to environmental systems Reading Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. (2007). Climate change 2007: climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability: summary for policymakers. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC Secretariat. Watch: Al Gore. The Inconvenient Truth. Weeks IV and V: The Social Consequences of Climate Change Topic: The risks climate change poses to social systems Reading Adger, W. N. (1999). Social vulnerability to climate change and extremes in coastal Vietnam. World Development 27, pp. 249,269. Comrie, A. (2007). Climate change and human health. Geography Compass 1 (3), pp. 325,339. Leary, N., et al. (2006). For whom the bell tolls: vulnerability in a changing climate. A Synthesis from the AIACC project, AIACC Working Paper No. 21, International START Secretariat, Florida. Stern, N. (2007). Economics of climate change: the Stern review. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press (Chapters 3,5). Week VI: Mitigation of Climate Change: The UNFCCC Topic: The UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol Reading Najam, A., Huq, S., and Sokona, Y. (2003). Climate negotiations beyond Kyoto: developing countries concerns and interests. Climate Policy 3 (3), pp. 221,231. UNFCCC Secretariat. (2005). Caring for climate: a guide to the climate change convention and the Kyoto Protocol. Bonn, Germany: UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat. Weeks VII and VIII: Adaptation to Climate Change Topic: What can be done to allow societies to adapt to avoid climate impacts? Reading Adger, N., et al. (2007). Assessment of adaptation practices, options, constraints and capacity. In: Parry, M., et al. (eds) Climate change 2007: impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 717,744. Burton, I., et al. (2002). From impacts assessment to adaptation priorities: the shaping of adaptation policy. Climate Policy 2 (2,3), pp. 145,159. Eakin, H., and Lemos, M. C. (2006). Adaptation and the state: Latin America and the challenge of capacity-building under globalization. Global Environmental Change: Human and Policy Dimensions 16 (1), pp. 7,18. Ziervogel, G., Bharwani, S., and Downing, T. (2006). Adapting to climate variability: pumpkins, people and policy. Natural Resources Forum 30, pp. 294,305. Weeks IX and X: Climate Change and Migration Topic: Will climate change force migration? Readings Gaim, K. (1997). Environmental causes and impact of refugee movements: a critique of the current debate. Disasters 21 (1), pp. 20,38. McLeman, R., and Smit, B. (2006). Migration as adaptation to climate change. Climatic Change 76 (1), pp. 31,53. Myers, N. (2002). Environmental refugees: a growing phenomenon of the 21st century. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 357 (1420), pp. 609,613. Perch-Nielsen, S., Bättig, M., and Imboden, D. (2008). Exploring the link between climate change and migration. Climatic Change (online first, forthcoming); doi:10.1007/s10584-008-9416-y Weeks XI and XII: Climate Change and Violent Conflict Topic: Will Climate change cause violent conflict? Readings Barnett, J., and Adger, N. (2007). Climate change, human security and violent conflict. Political Geography 26 (6), pp. 639,655. Centre for Strategic and International Studies. (2007). The age of consequences: the foreign policy and national security implications of global climate change. Washington, DC: CSIS. Nordås, R., and Gleditsch, N. (2007). Climate conflict: common sense or nonsense? Political Geography 26 (6), pp. 627,638. Schwartz, P., and Randall, D. (2003). An abrupt climate change scenario and its implications for United States national security. San Francisco, CA: Global Business Network. [online]. Retrieved on 8 April 2007 from http://www.gbn.com/ArticleDisplayServlet.srv?aid=26231 Focus Questions 1Who is most responsible for climate change? 2Who is most vulnerable to climate change? 3Does everyone have equal power in the UNFCCC process? 4Will climate change force people to migrate? Who? 5What is the relationship between adaptation to climate change and violent conflict? [source] ,Civil Society' and the Limits of Democratic AssistanceGOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 3 2005Ivelin Sardamov A correlation between the strength of civil society and democratization is often assumed to imply a causal relationship between the two variables. In fact, this correlation may be spurious, both phenomena being shaped by deeper social processes related to modernization and individualization. An excessive focus on ,civil society assistance' may paradoxically hamper the deeper changes necessary for the development of a vigorous associational life and of democratic representation. It would therefore be more prudent to focus democratic assistance on the establishment of stable and efficient social and political institutions, and on the maintenance of key social infrastructures crucial to political legitimacy. [source] Introduction: Local Democratic Governance, Poverty Reduction and Inequality: The Hybrid Character of Public ActionIDS BULLETIN, Issue 6 2009Peter K. Spink It has largely been assumed that as societies get better at being broader and more open (decentralisation, local government, participation and governance), so services tend to improve and things will get better for those in situations of poverty. In testing this assumption, the LogoLink network has drawn on studies of innovative experiences by members of its partner organisations. The emphasis of the joint project was on the local actors and the social processes involved. The results show how effective action and impact requires not only community-based organisations, social movements and NGO networks, but also public sector actors who can make links between the institutional environment, the public sector and communities. Recognising this hybrid character of public action has been a key conclusion from the studies. [source] Transformative Education and its Potential for Changing the Lives of Children in Disempowering ContextsIDS BULLETIN, Issue 1 2009Felix Bivens For millions of children around the world, disempowerment is not just a part of life , it becomes their life, to the point where any alternative way of living may be unimaginable to them. Intergenerational transmission (IGT) of inequality is deeply embedded, even where education is available; this leads us to question whether many forms of education, experienced by children who are already disempowered, may further entrench that condition by reproducing the norms, values and drivers within society that have brought about this disempowerment in the first place. In this article we explore the extent to which access to good-quality, transformative education has a key role to play in overcoming IGT of marginalised children and their communities, with positive outcomes not only for the individuals themselves but also for wider social processes. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||