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Modernization
Kinds of Modernization Terms modified by Modernization Selected AbstractsUNDERSTANDING TRADITIONALIST OPPOSITION TO MODERNIZATION: NARRATIVE PRODUCTION IN A NORWEGIAN MOUNTAIN CONFLICTGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2008Tor A. Benjaminsen ABSTRACT. In Gausdal, a mountainous community in southern Norway, a conflict involving dogsledding has dominated local politics during the past two decades. In order to understand local protests against this activity, in this article we apply discourse analysis within the evolving approach of political ecology. In this way, we also aim at contributing to the emerging trend of bringing political ecology "home". To many people, dogsledding appears as an environmentally friendly outdoor recreation activity as well as a type of adventure tourism that may provide new income opportunities to marginal agricultural communities. Hence, at a first glance, the protests against this activity may be puzzling. Looking for explanations for these protests, this empirical study demonstrates how the opposition to dogsledding may be understood as grounded in four elements of a narrative: (1) environmental values are threatened; (2) traditional economic activities are threatened; (3) outsiders take over the mountain; and (4) local people are powerless. Furthermore, we argue that the narrative is part of what we see as a broader Norwegian "rural traditionalist discourse". This discourse is related to a continued marginalization of rural communities caused by increasing pressure on agriculture to improve its efficiency as well as an "environmentalization" of rural affairs. Thus, the empirical study shows how opposition to dogsledding in a local community is articulated as a narrative that fits into a more general pattern of opposition to rural modernization in Norway as well as internationally. [source] FROM REVOLUTION TO MODERNIZATION: THE PARADIGMATIC TRANSITION IN CHINESE HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE REFORM ERAHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 3 2010HUAIYIN LI ABSTRACT Chinese historiography of modern China in the 1980s and 1990s underwent a paradigmatic transition: in place of the traditional revolutionary historiography that bases its analyses on Marxist methodologies and highlights rebellions and revolutions as the overarching themes in modern Chinese history, the emerging modernization paradigm builds its conceptual framework on borrowed modernization theory and foregrounds top-down, incremental reforms as the main force propelling China's evolution to modernity. This article scrutinizes the origins of the new paradigm in the context of a burgeoning modernization discourse in reform-era China. It further examines the fundamental divides between the two types of historiography in their respective constructions of master narratives and their different approaches to representing historical events in modern China. Behind the prevalence of the modernization paradigm in Chinese historiography is Chinese historians' unchanged commitment to serving present political needs by interpreting the past. [source] Environment and Modernity in Transitional China: Frontiers of Ecological ModernizationDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2006Arthur P. J. Mol The process of institutionalizing environmental interests and considerations in Western (especially, but not only, European) industrialized societies has been reflected and theorized upon by social scientists, many of whom have adopted the ,ecological modernization' framework. One of the key questions on the research agenda of ecological modernization is its appropriateness for developing or industrializing countries in other parts of the world. This contribution analyses to what extent environmental reforms in contemporary China can be interpreted as ecological modernization. It focuses on the similarities and differences between Chinese and European modes or styles of ecological modernization with respect to the role of state institutions, market dynamics, civil society pressure and international integration. [source] From Soviet Modernization to Post,Soviet Transformation: Understanding Marriage and Fertility Dynamics in UzbekistanDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2003Victor Agadjanian In this article we analyse the dynamics of marriage and childbearing in Uzbekistan through the prism of the recent socioeconomic and political history of that country. After becoming an independent nation in 1991, Uzbekistan abandoned the Soviet modernization project and aspired to set out on a radically different course of economic, social, and political development. We argue, however, that not only independence but also the preceding period of perestroika reforms (1985,91) had a dramatic effect on social conditions and practices and, consequently, the demographic behaviour of the country's population. Using data from the 1996 Uzbekistan Demographic and Health Survey we apply event,history analysis to examine changes in the timing of entry into first marriage, first and second births over four periods: two periods of pre,perestroika socialism, the perestroika years, and the period since independence. We investigate the factors that influenced the timing of these events in each of the four periods among Uzbeks, the country's eponymous and largest ethnic group, and among Uzbekistan's urban population. In general, our results point to a dialectic combination of continuity and change in Uzbekistan's recent demographic trends, which reflect the complex and contradictory nature of broader societal transformations in that and other parts of the former Soviet Union. [source] Prospects for an Environmental Economic Geography: Linking Ecological Modernization and Regulationist ApproachesECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2006David Gibbs Abstract: Although the "new" economic geography has explored links between the subdiscipline's traditional areas of study and cultural, institutional, and political realms, environmental issues remain comparatively underresearched within the subdiscipline. This article contends not only that the environment is of key importance to economic geography, but also that economic geographers can make an important contribution to environmental debates, through providing not just a better analysis and theoretical understanding, but also better policy proscription. Rather than claim new intellectual territory, the intention is to suggest potential creative opportunities for linking economic geography's strengths with those insights from other theoretical perspectives. In particular, this article focuses upon linking insights from ecological modernization theory, developed by environmental sociologists, with regulationist approaches. [source] Filial Piety, Modernization, and the Challenges of Raising Children for Chinese Immigrants: Quantitative and Qualitative EvidenceETHOS, Issue 3 2004ELI LIEBER This study examines Chinese immigrant parents' perceptions of filial piety. The concept of filial piety is introduced and we discuss the impacts of modernization and immigration experience on the challenges faced by contemporary Chinese immigrants as they reconcile traditional values with the demands of sociohistorical change and child rearing in the United States. Factor analysis of a commonly applied scale demonstrates multiple aspects of filial piety and reflects modifications from traditional views. Interview results point to aspects of filial piety not fully represented in the quantitative scale and expose specific challenges in child rearing related to filial values. These findings suggest the evolution of expectations and strategies related to a cultural adaptation of filial piety. One key demand is for strategies consistent with parental values while maintaining respect for children's unique point of view. The conclusions focus on the development of approaches to understanding the evolving conceptualization and meaning of filial piety for contemporary immigrant Chinese. [source] Modernizing UK health services: ,short-sharp-shock' reform, the NHS subsistence economy, and the spectre of health care famineJOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2 2005Bruce G. Charlton MD Abstract Modernization is the trend for societies to grow functionally more complex, efficient and productive. Modernization usually occurs by increased specialization of function (e.g. division of labour, such as the proliferation of specialists, in, medicine),, combined, with, increased, organization, in, order to co-ordinate the numerous specialized functions (e.g. the increased size of hospitals and specialist teams, including the management of these large groups). There have been many attempts to modernize the National Health Service (NHS) over recent decades, but it seems that none have significantly enhanced either the efficiency or output of the health care system. The reason may be that reforms have been applied as a ,drip-drip' of central regulation, with the consequence that health care has become increasingly dominated by the political system. In contrast, a ,short-sharp-shock' of radical and rapid modernization seems to be a more successful strategy for reforming social systems , in-between waves of structural change the system is left to re-orientate towards its client group. An example was the Flexner-initiated reform of US medical education which resulted in the closure of nearly half the medical colleges, an immediate enhancement in quality and efficiency of the system and future growth based on best institutional practices. However, short-sharp-shock reforms would probably initiate an NHS ,health care famine' with acute shortages and a health care crisis, because the NHS constitutes a ,subsistence economy' without any significant surplus of health services. The UK health care system must grow to generate a surplus before it can adequately be modernized. Efficient and rapid growth in health services could most easily be generated by stimulating provision outside the NHS, using mainly staff trained abroad and needs-subsidized ,item-of-service'-type payment schemes. Once there is a surplus of critically vital health services (e.g. acute and emergency provision), then radical modernization should rapidly improve the health service by a cull of low-quality and inefficient health care providers. [source] Modernization of Tax Administrations and Optimal Fiscal PoliciesJOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMIC THEORY, Issue 6 2009MARTIN BESFAMILLE Since Sandmo (1981), many articles have analyzed optimal fiscal policies in economies with tax evasion. All share a feature: they assume that the cost of enforcing the tax law is exogenous. However, governments often invest resources to reduce these enforcement costs. In a very simple model, we incorporate such investments in the analysis of an optimal fiscal policy. We characterize their optimal level and we show numerically how they interact with the other dimensions of the optimal fiscal policy. Finally, we highlight the differences between our results and those obtained in a model without investment in the tax administration. [source] Turkey's Modernization: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision , by Arnold Reisman (New Academia Publishers, LLC, ISBN: 0-9777908-8-6)JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY, Issue 2 2007Article first published online: 9 MAY 200 No abstract is available for this article. [source] The assessment of poorly performing doctors: the development of the assessment programmes for the General Medical Council's Performance ProceduresMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 2001Lesley Southgate Background Modernization of medical regulation has included the introduction of the Professional Performance Procedures by the UK General Medical Council in 1995. The Council now has the power to assess any registered practitioner whose performance may be seriously deficient, thus calling registration (licensure) into question. Problems arising from ill health or conduct are dealt with under separate programmes. Methods This paper describes the development of the assessment programmes within the overall policy framework determined by the Council. Peer review of performance in the workplace (Phase 1) is followed by tests of competence (Phase 2) to reflect the relationship between clinical competence and performance. The theoretical and research basis for the approach are presented, and the relationship between the qualitative methods in Phase 1 and the quantitative methods in Phase 2 explored. Conclusions The approach is feasible, has been implemented and has stood legal challenge. The assessors judge and report all the evidence they collect and may not select from it. All their judgements are included and the voice of the lay assessor is preserved. Taken together, the output from both phases forms an important basis for remediation and training should it be required. [source] Bringing"The Gospel of Modernization"to Nigeria: American Nation Builders and Development Planning in the 1960sPEACE & CHANGE, Issue 3 2006Larry Grubbs Drawing on recent studies of development discourse, this essay explores the impact of two American academics affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Nigerian economic planning in the 1960s. Their published and unpublished writings provide a dramatic demonstration of how development discourse skewed American and Nigerian perceptions of reality, contributing to the failure of nation building during the First Republic. American "secular missionaries" promoted a "gospel of modernization," a vision of Nigeria as a self-confident, unified nation-state that would offer Africa a model for development. They predicted the Nigerian National Development Plan of 1962,68, funded by American aid and private investment, would provide a "significant historical demonstration" that American-led modernization produces development and democracy. Instead, Nigeria's economy remained locked into neocolonial trade patterns, corruption blossomed, and ethnic conflict and political opportunism culminated in a bloody civil war from 1967 to 1970. Nigeria entered the twenty-first century with a staggering external debt, widespread poverty, and painful dependence on the West. [source] Cultural and Socioeconomic Influences on Divorce During Modernization: Southeast Asia, 1940s to 1960sPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW, Issue 2 2003Charles Hirschman The conventional model of a rising divorce rate during the process of modernization is a staple element of the sociological theory of the family. This generalization is challenged, however, by traditional high-divorce societies, primarily in Islamic Southeast Asia, which have experienced a decline in divorce with modernization. In this study, based on micro-level survey data, the authors explore the social roots of marital disruption in Indonesia and Malaysia and in another Southeast Asian society, Thailand, which has not been identified as a high-divorce society. Comparable survey data from the 1970s (from the World Fertility Survey) allow for an in-depth analysis of traditional patterns of divorce before the rapid modernization of recent decades. Two major findings emerge from the multivariate analysis. First, there is a common pattern across all three societies of higher levels of divorce among "traditional" women,those who live in rural areas, marry at young ages, and have lower levels of education. Second, the authors find significant sociocultural (ethnic, regional, religious) differentials in divorce within each country that cannot be explained by demographic and socioeconomic composition. They present an interpretation of how moderately high levels of divorce were accommodated in traditional Southeast Asian societies. [source] Modernization, Socialism, and Higher Education in Mexico: The Instituto para Hijos de Trabajadores1THE JOURNAL OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Issue 2 2009Ana María Kapelusz-Poppi [source] All Dressed Up with Nowhere to Go: The Discourse of Ecological Modernization in Alberta, Canada,CANADIAN REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY/REVUE CANADIENNE DE SOCIOLOGIE, Issue 1 2004DEBRA J. DAVIDSON Nous passons en revue la politique intégrée de gestion des ressources de l'Alberta pour mettre en lumière la compétence du gouvernement provincial pour refaçonner de manière discursive la relation entre un développement des ressources naturelles et une protection de l'environnement pour conserver sa légitimité tout en évitant une restructuration institutionnelle. Cette étude montre que la « modernisation écologique » consiste en deux volets indépendents qui ne conduisent pas nécessairement au même résultat final. Alors que des cas de réforme écologique peuvent exister, la « modernisation ecologique » decrit aussi un discours dominant qui peut faire dévier la critique en étant suffisamment ambigu pour que des écarts entre une politique énoncée et une mise en application soient difficiles à tracer. We review Alberta's integrated resource management policy to highlight the provincial government's ability to discursively reframe the relationship between natural resource development and environmental protection to maintain legitimacy while avoiding institutional restructuring. This study indicates that Ecological Modernization consists of two independent features that do not necessarily lead to the same end point. While instances of ecological reform may exist, Ecological Modernization also describes a dominant discourse that can deflect criticism, while at the same time is sufficiently ambiguous that gaps between stated policy and implementation are difficult to trace. [source] Struggles Over the Shore: building the quay of Izmir, 1867,1875CITY & SOCIETY, Issue 1 2000Sibel Zandi-Sayek BEGINNING IN THE MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY, the urban landscape of the Ottoman seaport of Izmir, like other centers on the eastern Mediterranean, was profoundly transformed by the advent of modern forms of urban institutions and infrastructure. Studies dealing with these transformations have been so immersed in structural processes of European economic penetration that little has been known on the ways in which local actors participated in these changes and reworked them to address their own urban concerns and ambitions. Focusing on the remaking of the quay in Izmir, this essay explores how the project triggered discursive and practical struggles among Ottoman administrators, shore owners, local merchants, and a progressive elite, by transforming land tenure patterns and modes of handling trade and shipping on the shore. In doing so, it demonstrates how existing power relations and the complexity of the local urban context reshaped'and gave meaning to this urban modernization scheme. [Modernization, urban elite, public interest, Izmir, Turkey] [source] ,Green alliances' of business and NGOs.CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2002New styles of self-regulation or, dead-end roads'? In recent years, so-called greenalliances between NGOs and business have become popular phenomena, both in practice as well as in academic literature. This is striking, as it concerns collaborative partnerships of agencies whose relationships were quite antagonistic in the past. The question then is how stable and effective these alliances can be, amongst others, in contributing to,or even substituting,environmental policy-making and regulation. To answer this question, the history and (potential) effectiveness of green alliances are analysed from a political modernization and policy arrangement perspective. With that, this paper has a strong theoretical focus. The intention is not to analyse empirical cases thoroughly, but to theorize about the history, strengths and weaknesses of green alliances. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [source] A Pride of Museums in the Desert: Saudi Arabia and the "Gift of Friendship" ExhibitionCURATOR THE MUSEUM JOURNAL, Issue 1 2005John Coppola ABSTRACT The task of developing and presenting an exhibition at the King Abdul Aziz Historical Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia illustrates the challenges of museum work in a global environment filled with widely differing social, cultural, political, and professional norms. The exhibition, The Gift of Friendship, was largely drawn from the collections of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, in New York State. Saudi Arabia and its neighboring countries view museums as a source of national pride and public engagement, and frequently draw on Western expertise in building them. There are implications for exhibition development and interpretation in a society undergoing rapid modernization, but also one noted for an aversion to social science research. A postscript looks at museum trends in Oman, after 9/11 and the Iraq war. [source] Education for Social Change: Girls' Secondary Schooling in EritreaDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 2 2006Tanja R. Müller One central pillar of the Eritrean revolution is the modernization of gender roles within Eritrean society, through education. This article, based on ethnographic style research, looks at the personal experiences of young women in Eritrean secondary schools. These girls' journeys are discussed in terms of gender resistance, exemplifying modernity, and gender accommodation, exemplifying tradition. It is argued that these categories are not as dichotomous as claimed by the education policy agenda: in contrast, many young women strive to find a balance between the two. Ultimately, the success of the Eritrean model of the modernization of gender roles should be measured in terms of having created an environment in which women are able to strive to fulfil their aspirations. [source] Environment and Modernity in Transitional China: Frontiers of Ecological ModernizationDEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 1 2006Arthur P. J. Mol The process of institutionalizing environmental interests and considerations in Western (especially, but not only, European) industrialized societies has been reflected and theorized upon by social scientists, many of whom have adopted the ,ecological modernization' framework. One of the key questions on the research agenda of ecological modernization is its appropriateness for developing or industrializing countries in other parts of the world. This contribution analyses to what extent environmental reforms in contemporary China can be interpreted as ecological modernization. It focuses on the similarities and differences between Chinese and European modes or styles of ecological modernization with respect to the role of state institutions, market dynamics, civil society pressure and international integration. [source] Tracking diabetes in Albania: a natural experiment on the impact of modernization on healthDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 2 2002L Shapo No abstract is available for this article. [source] Kanada: Deutschstudien im Wandel , von neuen Gegebenheiten zu Ansätzen einer SelbsterneuerungDIE UNTERRICHTSPRAXIS/TEACHING GERMAN, Issue 1 2010Anette Guse This contribution describes the situation of the German profession in Canada, by presenting the latest trends in trans-institutional cooperation, curriculum development, the job market, and promotion of the discipline. The author suggests that the adaptation to new realities, such as changes in student interests and the continuing cutbacks of resources, has resulted in the modernization of German programs and more effective strategies of self-marketing. Rather than succumbing to resignation, the article highlights the need to capitalize on traditional strengths as well as the demand to pursue interdisciplinary work and to embrace the concept of collaboration with other departments. [source] Ecological modernization and wind power in the UKENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2006Dave Toke Abstract We analyse the UK wind power programme using a particular variant of ecological modernization (EM) theory developed by Christoff (1996). This distinguishes between a centralist ,weak' EM strategy and a more decentralized ,strong' approach. A radical critique of EM is also considered. The ,weak' EM typology is most relevant to the case of wind power in the UK. However, ,strong' EM may have some purchase on account of its normative dimensions. Deployment of ,strong' EM may, in this case, go some way to defusing some of the criticisms made by observers operating from a radical green perspective. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Ecological modernization in the UK: rhetoric or reality?ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 6 2005Andrea Revell Abstract This paper discusses the degree to which recent trends in UK policy-making amount to a paradigm shift towards the prescriptions of ecological modernization (EM) theory. First, in keeping with EM's ,win,win' philosophy, recent political speeches and policy documents on the environment have expressed the idea that there is no conflict between environmental protection and economic growth. Second, policies have attempted to encourage the invention and diffusion of clean technologies. Third, policy-makers have explored innovative market-based policy approaches to tackle environmental problems. These three trends suggest UK policy-makers' predilection towards EM as a policy strategy. However, there has arguably been less success in terms of a fourth key characteristic of ,ecologically modernized' states, that of environmental policy integration. The paper concludes that New Labour's failure at ,greening government', combined with its economistic and technocratic policy focus, places the UK at the weak end of Christoff's (1996) weak,strong continuum of ecological modernization. As such, environmental imperatives continue to remain ideologically and politically peripheral to conventional economic goals. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Incorporating the environment into structural funds regional programmes: evolution, current developments and future prospectsENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2001Peter Roberts During the last two decades the environment has become an important element in a number of areas of member state and European Union policy. A key instrument for the delivery of environmental objectives is the European Union's Structural Funds. These Funds provide support for regional development programmes, which are developed and managed by partnerships representing the European Commission, member state governments and regional stakeholders. A potential model for these environmentally driven regional programmes is provided by the concept of ecological modernization. Environmental concerns have now been absorbed into the regional programmes and it is likely that in future even greater emphasis will be placed on the environmental (and social) dimensions of regional development. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [source] Filial Piety, Modernization, and the Challenges of Raising Children for Chinese Immigrants: Quantitative and Qualitative EvidenceETHOS, Issue 3 2004ELI LIEBER This study examines Chinese immigrant parents' perceptions of filial piety. The concept of filial piety is introduced and we discuss the impacts of modernization and immigration experience on the challenges faced by contemporary Chinese immigrants as they reconcile traditional values with the demands of sociohistorical change and child rearing in the United States. Factor analysis of a commonly applied scale demonstrates multiple aspects of filial piety and reflects modifications from traditional views. Interview results point to aspects of filial piety not fully represented in the quantitative scale and expose specific challenges in child rearing related to filial values. These findings suggest the evolution of expectations and strategies related to a cultural adaptation of filial piety. One key demand is for strategies consistent with parental values while maintaining respect for children's unique point of view. The conclusions focus on the development of approaches to understanding the evolving conceptualization and meaning of filial piety for contemporary immigrant Chinese. [source] Poor Adolescent Girls and Social Transformations in Cuenca, EcuadorETHOS, Issue 1 2000Ann Miles This paper, based on eight years of observation and interviewing in southern Ecuador, examines how the processes of modernization affect the lives of poor adolescent girls growing up in the city. Focusing exclusively on the daughters of rural-tourban migrants, this paper discusses how both Hispanic gender models and a rigid class system ultimately serve to undermine the state-sponsored rhetoric promoting girls'full participation in the modernizing economy. The disjuncture between the imagined world of professional success and the real one of urban poverty is described. Using a theoretical framework that views culture and ideology as contestable domains, the author argues that consideration of the responses of adolescent girls is important for understanding future social transformations. [source] The structural context of recent transitions to democracyEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2004RENSKE DOORENSPLEET An analysis of the influence of these structural factors is however important, and it has not yet been done in a systematic way in order to explain recent transitions to democracy since 1989. It will be shown that some structural factors indeed play a role in generating transitions to democracy. These results contradict the idea that structural factors can be ignored when explaining recent transitions to democracy. An additional finding in this article is that some structural factors, such as economic development, growth and a country's role in the world-system had an unexpected impact on democratic transitions since the end of the Cold War. These findings set bounds to the strength of the modernization and world-system theories to explain transitions to democracy, but on the other hand, democratic diffusion played a significant role after 1989. In the (structural) context in which a state had a peripheral role, a low level of economic growth and a high proportion of democratic neighbors, the probability of a state's transition to democracy was high. This structural context seemed to be fertile soil for recent transitions to democracy. [source] Soil infiltration, runoff and sediment yield from a shallow soil with varied stone cover and intensity of rainEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2005Uttam Kumar Mandal Summary Stones on the surface of the soil enhance infiltration and protect the soil against erosion. They are often removed in modern mechanized agriculture, with unfortunate side-effects. We evaluated experimentally the influence of surface stones on infiltration, runoff and erosion under field conditions using a portable rainfall simulator on bare natural soil in semi-arid tropical India, because modernization and mechanization often lead to removal of these stones in this region. Four fields with varied cover of stones from 3 to 65% were exposed to three rainfall intensities (48.5, 89.2 and 136.8 mm hour,1). Surface stones retarded surface runoff, increased final infiltration rates, and diminished sediment concentration and soil loss. The final infiltration ranged from 26 to 83% of rainfall when the rainfall intensity was 136.8 mm hour,1. The reduction in runoff and soil erosion and increase in infiltration were more pronounced where stones rested on the soil surface than where they were buried in the surface layer. The sediment yield increased from 2 g l,1 for 64.7% stone cover with rainfall of 48.5 mm hour,1 to 70 g l,1 for 3.5% stone cover with rain falling at 136.8 mm hour,1. The soil loss rate was less than 2 t ha,1 hour,1 for the field with stone cover of 64.7% even when the rainfall intensity was increased to 136.8 mm hour,1. The effects of stones on soil loss under the varied rainfall intensities were expressed mathematically. The particles in the sediment that ran off were mostly of silt size. [source] Between Endless Needs and Limited Resources: The Gendered Construction of a Greedy OrganizationGENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 5 2004Bente Rasmussen One of the strategies of the modernization of public services is the decentralization of responsibilities and organizing work in autonomous co- operative teams with varied tasks. The empowerment of the public service workers in the front line is therefore a strategy in local government in Norway today. Under the assumption that women have ,natural' skills in caring, workers on the lowest levels are given responsibility for care and nursing. A study of the decentralization of public care for the elderly in their homes showed that being given interesting tasks and increased responsibility mobilized the efforts of the care workers. However, since the power of resources has been centralized, this has led to an intensification of work. In gendering the relevant discourses by explaining women's experiences of an over-heavy workload as a result of their ,mothering' and their inability to set limits, women care workers were constructed by their managers as unprofessional and not to be taken seriously. This has made the public care organization a greedy organization for the women care workers. [source] UNDERSTANDING TRADITIONALIST OPPOSITION TO MODERNIZATION: NARRATIVE PRODUCTION IN A NORWEGIAN MOUNTAIN CONFLICTGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2008Tor A. Benjaminsen ABSTRACT. In Gausdal, a mountainous community in southern Norway, a conflict involving dogsledding has dominated local politics during the past two decades. In order to understand local protests against this activity, in this article we apply discourse analysis within the evolving approach of political ecology. In this way, we also aim at contributing to the emerging trend of bringing political ecology "home". To many people, dogsledding appears as an environmentally friendly outdoor recreation activity as well as a type of adventure tourism that may provide new income opportunities to marginal agricultural communities. Hence, at a first glance, the protests against this activity may be puzzling. Looking for explanations for these protests, this empirical study demonstrates how the opposition to dogsledding may be understood as grounded in four elements of a narrative: (1) environmental values are threatened; (2) traditional economic activities are threatened; (3) outsiders take over the mountain; and (4) local people are powerless. Furthermore, we argue that the narrative is part of what we see as a broader Norwegian "rural traditionalist discourse". This discourse is related to a continued marginalization of rural communities caused by increasing pressure on agriculture to improve its efficiency as well as an "environmentalization" of rural affairs. Thus, the empirical study shows how opposition to dogsledding in a local community is articulated as a narrative that fits into a more general pattern of opposition to rural modernization in Norway as well as internationally. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||