Suchergebnisse

Abstract

The scientific clinical trial of the African traditional medicine, Sutherlandia (Lessertia fru-tescens) forms an interface between the indigenous local knowledge of people living with Aids, traditional health practitioners and that of science and global health. up till now, no cross-disciplinary studies have been done on epistemological questions concerning especially the knowledge and understanding of 'proof ' of efficacy concerning an African traditional medicine. This paper draws together insights and analysis from the anthropology and sociology of health and healing in discussing the intersecting fields of knowledge and experience of pharmacology, phytotherapy and related fields, as well as that of biomedical and traditional health practitio- ners, and of research subjects involved in the making of clinical trials of sutherlandia (lessertia frutescens) in South Africa.

The past 15 years have seen an increasing governmental and corporate concern for the environment worldwide. For governments, information about the environmental performance of the industrial sector is required to inform macro‐level decisions about environmental targets such as those required to meet UN directives. However, in many African, Asian, and Latin American countries, researching and reporting company environmental performance is limited. This article serves as a contribution to filling the gap by presenting evidence of physical and chemical risk in Nigerian factories. One hundred and three factories with a total of 5,021 workers were studied. One hundred and twenty physical and chemical hazards were identified and the result shows a high number of workers exposed to such hazards. The study also reveals that workers' awareness level of chemical hazards was high. Yet the danger was perceived in behavioral terms, especially by manufacturing firms, which tend to see environmental investment in an increasingly global economy as detrimental to profitability.

Abstract

Der Autor geht der Frage nach, welche Reaktionen die Wirtschaftskrise im Verhalten von Arbeitnehmern an ihrem Arbeitsplatz auslöst. Als empirische Grundlage dient eine sechsmonatige Feldforschung, die der Autor 1987 in einem führenden Elektronikunternehmen durchführte. Die Studie zeigt, daß die Beschäftigten nicht mit Widerstand gegen wachsende Auflagen und Kontrollen, sondern mit Anpassung reagieren. (DÜI-Spl)

The economic crisis in Nigeria has been widely commented upon yet very few empirical studies of the subtle but complex responses by shop floor workers exist. These have tended to concentrate on workers' militant action neglecting the equally important aspect of how workers actually cope. This article focuses on the strategy shop floor workers adopt in dealing with the recession as experienced by them at the workplace. It describes and analyses this strategy and concludes that it has the immediate effect of weakening further the solidary nature of shop floor lateral relations.