Suchergebnisse

This project examines the de-sovereignisation processes occurring in Moldova and Ukraine as a result of Russian-instigated activities in the breakaway territories of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR) and the Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples' Republics (DNR/LNR). De-sovereignisation is defined as the process(es) whereby a state selectively facilitates state- and nation-building activities that interfere with another state's ability to exercise control and authority over portions of its territory and population. By strengthening various attributes of sovereignty and statehood in de facto states (i.e. territories having de facto yet lacking de jure sovereignty), Russia automatically weakens those of their respective parent states, thereby making them more vulnerable to its influence. With this in mind, this thesis addresses the following research questions: How does Russia's role in supporting the viability of post-Soviet de facto states affect reintegration prospects into their parent states? How does Russia's involvement in the DNR/LNR compare to that in the PMR? To guide empirical research, this thesis relies on a refined version of coercive diplomacy theory, which implies the use of (verbal and non-verbal) threats and incentives to instigate behavioural change in a target state to the coercer's advantage. Thus, this project looks at how Russian state and non-state actors have been instrumentally promoting state- and nation-building activities in the PMR and the DNR/LNR with the aim to pressurise their respective parent states into complying with Russia's shifting demands. Critically, this project provides the first comparative study of such activities, operationalised into five domains: 1) political-diplomatic; 2) economic-financial; 3) military-security; 4) educational-cultural; 5) socio-legal. At the same time, this study distances itself from the conventional way of treating political and military leaders in de facto states as mere Russian proxies deprived of independent agency. Rather, it interrogates the extent to which local state- and nation-building initiatives are coordinated with Russia's ruling elite and examines whether these may generate policy dilemmas for Russia. There has been a tendency to emphasise the causes of Russia's military incursions into neighbouring countries, with little empirical analysis of the long-term consequences of such incursions on the ground. By contrast, this project acknowledges the complex and 'messy' realities of Russia-backed de facto states and uses apparent similarities as a starting point to examine in comparative terms idiosyncratic local developments and the ensuing challenges for reintegration prospects. This study relies on case-study analysis and draws on sources such as state documents and public statements issued by the de facto authorities and the Russian leadership, local newspaper releases, videos from state-controlled media outlets as well as semi-structured interviews with officials and experts from the countries under study.

Abstract
Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, many young people emigrated from Guangdong to the American West in search of a better living, mainly through building the Pacific Railroad and panning for gold in California. Some of these overseas Chinese who eventually accumulated wealth sent remittances back to their hometowns to provide their families with a better life, or they built mansions for their own retirement. They also used their wealth to renovate ancestral halls, establish schools, get involved in local politics and issues of local public security, public hygiene, etc. The overseas Chinese were one of the important new rising social strata in modern China before the 1960s.
This paper will focus on translocal Chinese cultural heritage in Guangdong and try to discuss how people memorize, narrate, preserve, and represent their migration history in these hometowns. Meanwhile, the meaning of the tangible cultural heritage as a landscape of memories in local society in China will also be discussed. Firstly, I think that there are three types of overseas Chinese memories: the memory of suffering, the memory of making fortunes, and the memory of a philanthropic image; secondly, I will deal with the narrative and representation of the collective memories since the 1990s and check how the collective memory became the cultural heritage beneath the state's discourse; and finally, I will analyze how the overseas Chinese cultural heritage became resources for cultural tourism and local economic development, and show a process of commercialization of those landscapes.

Screening for prenatal stress is not routine in Suriname, despite its significant impact on maternal and newborn health. This study assessed the prevalence of high perceived prenatal stress and its sociodemographic predictors in three geographic areas in Suriname. In this cross-sectional study, data from 1190 participants of the Caribbean Consortium for Research in Environmental and Occupational Health cohort study were analyzed. Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale was completed during pregnancy to ascertain high perceived stress (cut-off score 20). The association between maternal sociodemographic factors and high perceived stress was examined using the chi-square test and logistic regression models; 27.5% of all participants had high perceived stress with statistically significant lower rates in Nickerie (18.8%) compared with Paramaribo (29.8%; p = 0.001) and the Interior (28.6%; p = 0.019). Maternal sociodemographic factors moderated the difference between the Interior and Nickerie. Participants from Paramaribo had statistically significant higher odds of high perceived stress compared to those from Nickerie, independent of their age and educational level (adjusted OR = 1.94; 95% confidence interval 1.32–2.86). Perceived stress during pregnancy is predicted by sociodemographic factors. These findings identified target groups for interventions in Suriname. Policy makers should consider integrating perceived stress assessment as a routine part of prenatal care.

AbstractThe purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of immigration on local ethnic groups' demographic weight (DW) by presenting a case study. In this study, the ethnic French Canadians (EFC), a group that makes up the majority of the Province of Quebec, were studied to evaluate the impact of immigration on their DW. It was found that EFC transitioned from a DW of 79% in 1971 to a DW of 64.5% in 2014; projections predict that EFC would decrease to a DW of 45% in 2050. Moreover, 45 immigration rate scenarios and total fertility rates were projected; it was found that immigration level and fertility level could be jointly classified into three categories related to their effect on ethno‐demographic decrease; one of these categories may help suggest a quantitative definition for the concept of mass immigration.

This article analyzes the morphology of the tendencies of association of the non-European immigrant population in the Valencian Community. With this objective and from a quantitative methodological perspective, we present a synthetisis of the joint results of two research projects carried out in the Valencian context. Given the heterogeneity, dynamism and complexity presented by the associative phenomenon, this analysis considers and investigates the current structural, organizational and functional elements that accompany and define it. This has enabled us not only to gain knowledge of the logic and factors operating in it, but also to establish a typology of migrant organizations taking into account those variables that are most significant from a statistical point of view.

The article seeks to explore the contemporary notions of privacy in Islamic law. The focus is on the human body. The author argues that legal prescriptions of body covering that apparently regulate modesty, safeguard those interests which are held up by the modern legislations namely, honour as well as bodily and mental integrity. Finally, an attempt has been made to draw the patterns of treatment of privacy notions in Islamic law.

Several efforts have been made recently to address the exploitation of part‐time/adjunct faculty in U.S. institutions of higher education. The Washington Federation of Teachers (WFT) has led one of the most successful efforts in this area on behalf of part‐time/adjunct faculty at the state community and technical colleges. This paper examines the broader issues that such a model raises for future efforts on behalf of part‐time/adjunct faculty.

The purpose of the education of today is to give to society an individual who not only has an accumulation of facts, ideals aptitudes but who also has worthy habits which have been developed by practice and who has chosen wisely a vocation by which he is able to support himself, end who is able to take his place in the existing state of affairs and contribute to the future development of the civilization which he contacts. There was a time when one's education was judged by the number of facts he had memorized and not upon his ability to apply the knowledge gained to the situations of life. Knowledge and practice must go together, for merely knowing facts does not say that the individual will act according to those facts. In order to function effectively in society the individual must act properly and in order to be able to do this, practice in proper actions is necessary and the student is handicapped who Is not exposed to the proper situations end given the privilege to enter into them actively. We should be given the opportunity to develop some fundamental ideals of self-government, democracy, cooperation, love of school, love of law and order, and initiative. He should carry his intelligence and ideals into every activity and force them to function correctly by continually watching criticizing and correcting them. This is the school's opportunity to function in an effective way by providing the proper situations for practice in social relationships through properly organized end directed activities other than the regular curriculum. These activities resembling, as far as, possible, life situations.

During last several decades, sociological profession has faced serious challenges, both globally and locally. Within the context of labor market in Serbia these challenges, along with inadequate response of professional community; have resulted in the loss of professional monopoly for some job positions and roles. Once respected experts, sociologists, have lost professional monopoly on jobs recognized and affirmed by: (a) state, governmental and independent institutions; (b) business organizations; (c) civil society organizations; and (d) international organizations, all of which employ sociologists with diplomas received from universities in the Republic of Serbia. Although examples for this are numerous, we will limit the analysis to three case studies regarding professional positions of: (1) sociology teacher; (2) researcher in market research industry; and (3) employees of various international organizations. Analysis will use several different sources of empirical data: (a) various legislation and by-laws, especially rules on employment requirements (in state, public, and individual organizations); (b) job advertisements, where we will analyze required competencies for particular positions; and (c) current curriculums for BA and MA studies of sociology on the Department of Sociology Faculty of Philosophy University of Belgrade, where we will analyze provided professional competencies. Analysis will attempt to answer the question if there is a gap between professional competencies provided by study programs and those required of sociologists in the labor market. If the gap exists, we will provide potential solutions on the way in which it can be bridged and position of sociologists on labor market in Serbia improved.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-97). ; Access to safe drinking water is a basic human right (Hodgson and Manus, 2006). Consequently, safe drinking-water that complies with national - and international standards and norms is of the utmost importance in order to prevent incidences of outbreaks of waterborne diseases. Increases in the global population have placed increasing pressure on water resources. This in turn has resulted in high occurrences of waterborne disease outbreaks (Ford and Colwell, 1996). As a result, there is a need for effective water resource management in order to protect water resources as well as avoid preventable fatalities from water-related illnesses. In order to maintain control over the spread of water-related illness and disease, education on a local, national and international level is needed to facilitate knowledge sharing. Waterborne diseases have the ability to affect different sectors of society, as well as hinder economic progress. As a result, importance should be placed on the overall benefits to be achieved, in order to prompt governments to invest in the water and sanitation sector (Ford and Colwell, 1996).

International audience ; Ethnic minorities living in the highlands of northern Thailand have long been accused of degrading the upper watersheds of the country's major basins. In the nineties, the government reinforced his environmental policies and further restricted their access to farm and forest resources. In the meanwhile, the policy framework also favoured decentralization and public participation. This contradiction resulted in an increasing number of conflicts over land-use between local communities and state agencies, calling for the need for adapted participatory methodologies to facilitate coordination among multiple stakeholders with competing interests. Companion Modelling (ComMod) is one of them. When drawing the lessons from many past participatory projects, several authors highlight their limited impact due to the lack of support at higher institutional levels. Moreover, because of a lack of attention to the local socio-political situations, the less powerful stakeholders were often left behind. This article discusses the usefulness of an area diagnostic study prior to the launch of a ComMod process to avoid such pitfalls and to facilitate genuine communication among stakeholders within and across institutional levels. The article is illustrated by a ComMod experiment conducted in Nan province and focusing on a conflict between two Yao communities and a recently established National Park. We suggest that a relatively short but well-structured initial agrarian and institutional analysis to assess the various stakeholders' characteristics, perceptions of the issue to be solved, and interactions is useful to identify the constraints to an equitable outcome of a subsequent participatory process. It is also used to adapt the ComMod process in order to mitigate these constraints. Moreover, such a picture of the initial situation is necessary to assess the effects of the following participatory process.

International audience ; Ethnic minorities living in the highlands of northern Thailand have long been accused of degrading the upper watersheds of the country's major basins. In the nineties, the government reinforced his environmental policies and further restricted their access to farm and forest resources. In the meanwhile, the policy framework also favoured decentralization and public participation. This contradiction resulted in an increasing number of conflicts over land-use between local communities and state agencies, calling for the need for adapted participatory methodologies to facilitate coordination among multiple stakeholders with competing interests. Companion Modelling (ComMod) is one of them. When drawing the lessons from many past participatory projects, several authors highlight their limited impact due to the lack of support at higher institutional levels. Moreover, because of a lack of attention to the local socio-political situations, the less powerful stakeholders were often left behind. This article discusses the usefulness of an area diagnostic study prior to the launch of a ComMod process to avoid such pitfalls and to facilitate genuine communication among stakeholders within and across institutional levels. The article is illustrated by a ComMod experiment conducted in Nan province and focusing on a conflict between two Yao communities and a recently established National Park. We suggest that a relatively short but well-structured initial agrarian and institutional analysis to assess the various stakeholders' characteristics, perceptions of the issue to be solved, and interactions is useful to identify the constraints to an equitable outcome of a subsequent participatory process. It is also used to adapt the ComMod process in order to mitigate these constraints. Moreover, such a picture of the initial situation is necessary to assess the effects of the following participatory process.