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Sorry, But It's The Law: The Westernization Of Islam, Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis Jul 2005

Sorry, But It's The Law: The Westernization Of Islam, Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis

Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis

The last quartile of the 20th Century vastly changed the religio-cultural landscape of the West. Previously the stronghold of Christianity, the West has entered into a period of deep diversity as a result of the unprecedented level of migration of non-Western, non-Christian peoples to western destinations. These new immigrants, with their foreign cultures and unfamiliar religions, came westward with the full expectation that they--like the diverse array of Christian emigrants who migrated westward decades before--would fully enjoy religious liberty in nations long heralded for their commitment to democratic principles and respect for civil rights. How are these immigrants faring on …


Sorry, But It's The Law: The Westernization Of Islam, Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis Jul 2005

Sorry, But It's The Law: The Westernization Of Islam, Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis

Gwendolyn Yvonne Alexis

The last quartile of the 20th Century vastly changed the religio-cultural landscape of the West. Previously the stronghold of Christianity, the West has entered into a period of deep diversity as a result of the unprecedented level of migration of non-Western, non-Christian peoples to western destinations. These new immigrants, with their foreign cultures and unfamiliar religions, came westward with the full expectation that they--like the diverse array of Christian emigrants who migrated westward decades before--would fully enjoy religious liberty in nations long heralded for their commitment to democratic principles and respect for civil rights. How are these immigrants faring on …


Moving Beyond The Mother-Child Dyad: Women's Education, Child Immunization, And The Importance Of Context In Rural India, Sangeeta Parashar Feb 2005

Moving Beyond The Mother-Child Dyad: Women's Education, Child Immunization, And The Importance Of Context In Rural India, Sangeeta Parashar

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The argument that maternal education is critical for child health is commonplace in academic and policy discourse, although significant facets of the relationship remain empirically and theoretically challenged. While individual-level analyses consistently suggest that maternal education enhances child health outcomes, another body of literature argues that the observed causality at the individual-level may, in fact, be spurious. This study contributes to the debate by examining the contextual effects of women's education on children's immunization in rural districts of India. Multilevel analyses of data from the 1994 Human Development Profile Index and the 1991 district-level Indian Census demonstrate that a positive …


Aboriginal Pastoralism, Social Embeddedness, And Cultural Continuity In Central Australia, Nicholas Gill Jan 2005

Aboriginal Pastoralism, Social Embeddedness, And Cultural Continuity In Central Australia, Nicholas Gill

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Aboriginal people are involved in pastoral enterprises throughout the inland and north of Australia. This has generated difficulties as landowners and policymakers struggled with conflicts between Aboriginal social structures and the demands of running commercial businesses. Problems often arose due to imposition of nonindigenous norms regarding land use. It has been suggested that pastoralism can generate social and cultural benefits for Aboriginal landowners, but these have not been investigated in any detail. Drawing on the concept of social embeddedness and fieldwork with Aboriginal pastoralists, this article identifies, describes, and ranks sociocultural benefits arising from Aboriginal pastoralism. Pastoralism fulfilled uniquely Aboriginal …


Positive Mood And The Perception Of Variability Within And Between Groups, Venezia Michalsen, Steven J. Stroessner, Diane M. Mackie Jan 2005

Positive Mood And The Perception Of Variability Within And Between Groups, Venezia Michalsen, Steven J. Stroessner, Diane M. Mackie

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Three experiments investigated the effects of positive mood on perceptions of variability within and between groups. Participants formed impressions of two different and highly variable groups under a neutral or positive mood. When participants expected to learn about both groups, positive mood increased perceived intergroup similarity but did not affect perceived intragroup variability. In contrast, when participants expected to learn about only one group, judgments of intergroup and intragroup similarity were both affected by mood. Mood and the intergroup context influenced the nature and degree of information processing and resultant judgments of variability in social groups.


Who Does The Public Trust? The Case Of Genetically Modified Food In The United States, John Lang, William Hallman Dec 2004

Who Does The Public Trust? The Case Of Genetically Modified Food In The United States, John Lang, William Hallman

John T. Lang

Trust is important for the perception of many types of risk, including those relating to genetically modified (GM) food. Who the public trusts in any given circumstance, however, is not well understood. In this study of public trust regarding GM food, an exploratory factor analysis with Promax rotation reveals public classification of three common institutional types—evaluators, watchdogs, and merchants. The structure of relationships among these stakeholders can act to enable or constrain public support for this new technology. Evaluators—scientists, universities, and medical professionals—are the most trusted. Watchdogs—consumer advocacy organizations, environmental organizations, and media sources—are moderately trusted. Merchants—grocers and grocery stores, …


Fordism And Postfordism, Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy Dec 2004

Fordism And Postfordism, Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy

Wendy A. Wiedenhoft Murphy

The Encyclopedia of Social Theory contains over 500 entries varying from concise definitions of key terms and short biographies of key theorists to comprehensive surveys of leading concepts, debates, themes and schools. The object of the Encyclopedia has been to give thorough coverage of the central topics in theoretical sociology as well as terms and concepts in the methodology and philosophy of social science. Although 106 theorists are given entries, the emphasis of the work is on the elucidation of ideas rather than intellectual biography. The Encyclopedia covers the leading contemporary domains of debate on social theory and the classical …


I Will Not Eat It With A Fox; I Will Not Eat It In A Box: What Determines Acceptance Of Gm Food For American Consumers?, Venkata Puduri, Ramu Govindasamy, John Lang, Benjamin Onyango Dec 2004

I Will Not Eat It With A Fox; I Will Not Eat It In A Box: What Determines Acceptance Of Gm Food For American Consumers?, Venkata Puduri, Ramu Govindasamy, John Lang, Benjamin Onyango

John T. Lang

This article suggests differential acceptance and approval of genetic modification involving plant or animal genes. The results can contribute to our understanding of GM food acceptance and be used to derive marketing strategies and in policy formulation. Similar to previous studies, this article suggests that demographic, socio-economic, consumer value attributes, and trust in key stakeholders help drive acceptance of genetic modification. In general, the public is more approving of plant-based GM than animal-based GM. Furthermore, the results of this survey suggest that a better understanding of biotechnology, trust in the GM regulatory framework, and biotechnology corporations’ motives are critical for …


Richard Rorty, Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy Dec 2004

Richard Rorty, Wendy Wiedenhoft Murphy

Wendy A. Wiedenhoft Murphy

The Encyclopedia of Social Theory contains over 500 entries varying from concise definitions of key terms and short biographies of key theorists to comprehensive surveys of leading concepts, debates, themes and schools. The object of the Encyclopedia has been to give thorough coverage of the central topics in theoretical sociology as well as terms and concepts in the methodology and philosophy of social science. Although 106 theorists are given entries, the emphasis of the work is on the elucidation of ideas rather than intellectual biography. The Encyclopedia covers the leading contemporary domains of debate on social theory and the classical …