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Urban-Biased Policies And The Increasing Rural-Urban Expenditure Gap In Vietnam In The 1990s, Eric Fesselmeyer, Kien T. Le

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

There was a significant and widening rural-urban gap during the economic boom in Vietnam in the 1990s. Using an econometric decomposition, we find that differences in individual characteristics such as education, ethnicity and age are the primary explanation for this widening gap, whereas differences in the returns to these characteristics are the primary explanation for the increase in the gap at higher percentiles. We then argue that government investment policies and the manipulation of price incentives were important factors behind the gap. In particular, we argue that government policies created some benefit to urban dwellers at the expense of rural …

Je E(S)T L’Autre, Nadia Duchêne

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

Immigration and otherness represent core concerns in contemporary society and, as such, give rise to debate and discussion in many disciplines. the question of otherness also arises as a recurrent and key subject in the field of literature. Tahar Ben Jelloun’s novel Partir is replete with the ambivalence of otherness: attraction/aversion; difference/similarity; lack/exile; native/foreigner; close/distant; normal/deviant and as such provides a laboratory where the expression of otherness in discourse can be dissected. We will examine the perception and the issue of otherness in the novel as well as the strength of its representations.

Women's Rights=Human Rights: Pakistani Women Against Gender Violence, Filomena M. Critelli

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Gender-based violence constitutes a major public health risk and is a serious violation of basic human rights throughout the world. Counter to many Western images of Muslim women as passive victims, women's groups in Pakistan have begun to organize to respond to these conditions. This study is based upon in-depth interviews conducted with the founders and senior staff of Dastak (Knock on the Door), a shelter for women in Lahore, Pakistan that uses a human rights framework to provide services and advocate for public support for women's rights to safety and security. The study explores how Pakistani women are taking …

Actor-Network Theory Of Cosmopolitan Education, Hiro Saito

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In the past, philosophers discussed cosmopolitanism as a normative ideal of allegiance to humanity as a whole. A debate among social theorists, however, has examined cosmopolitanism as an incipient empirical phenomenon: an orientation of openness to foreign others and cultures. This paper introduces actor-network theory to elaborate the social-theoretical conception of cosmopolitanism. In light of the actor-network theory of cosmopolitanism, the paper proposes cosmopolitan education that aims to foster in students three dispositions: to extend attachments to foreign people and objects; to understand transnational connections in which their lives are embedded; and to act on these attachments and understandings to …

Hidden Treasures: Four Great Reasons To Sign Up For An International Mission, Sherylyn Watson

Nursing Faculty Publications

I am a nurse who has said yes to calls to volunteer internationally for the past 10 years. Whether aiding victims of the tsunami in Sri Lanka and Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi or traveling on prearranged annual mission trips, I discovered personal and professional fulfillment.

Urban-Biased Policies And The Increasing Rural-Urban Expenditure Gap In Vietnam In The 1990s, Eric Fesselmeyer, Kien T. Le

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

There was a significant and widening rural-urban gap during the economic boom in Vietnam in the 1990s. Using an econometric decomposition, we find that differences in individual characteristics such as education, ethnicity and age are the primary explanation for this widening gap, whereas differences in the returns to these characteristics are the primary explanation for the increase in the gap at higher percentiles. We then argue that government investment policies and the manipulation of price incentives were important factors behind the gap. In particular, we argue that government policies created some benefit to urban dwellers at the expense of rural …

Are We All On The M Squad? Murdering Schoolchildren In China, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the phenomena of violent attacks against schoolchildren in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and its relevance to political psychologists.

The Violences Of Capitalism: Privatization And Land Tenure In Uganda, Minnesota, And Mexico, Nicole S. Kligerman

Latin American Studies Honors Projects

This project analyzes the relationship between land privatization and violence in societies that previously employed non-capitalist land tenure systems. Exploring the cases of the Dakota in Minnesota, the Acholi in Northern Uganda, and indigenous communities in southern Mexico, I examine how the state forcibly incorporated collective land systems into capitalism through a combination of physical, structural, and intra-community violences. This results in the disintegration of previous means of agricultural production and the accompanying community-based cultural systems. Communities resist this process, however, as they battle for natural resource sovereignty and sustainable peace in their homelands.

Exploring International Economic Development Through Environmental Justice Movement Frame, Racquel Clarke

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In our global community 20% of the population controls 86% of the gross domestic product and 82% of the world market exports, according to the United Nations Development Program. This thesis explains where this inequality comes from and what can be implemented to help some countries miss out on economic prosperity while others enjoy fiscal bliss. The vast majority of countries with the lowest gross domestic product are non-European countries located in the global south. It is an economic problem for these countries that have been historically oppressed through the exploitation of slavery and colonialism. There has been little done …

Negotiating Everyday Islam After Socialism: A Study Of The Kazakhs Of Bayan-Ulgii, Mongolia, Namara Brede

Geography Honors Projects

Using ethnographic interviews and participant observations from the Kazakh community of Bayan-Ulgii, Mongolia in June 2009, this study examines how Islamic discourses, practices, experiences, and scales of influence are negotiated in post-socialist Central Asia. To do this, local, national, and transnational dynamics of Mongolian Kazakh religious practice are considered alongside the individual-scale mediating roles of personal preference, social position, life course, power, and social networks. Islam in Bayan-Ulgii is shown to be integral to community and ethnic identity but also multifaceted, dynamic, and multi-scalar, militating against essentialist portrayals of Islam as monolithic or dichotomously split between “high” and “low” forms.

Diasporas From States In Crisis: A Case Study Of The Zimbabwean Diaspora And Its Role In The Homeland, Leigh Ann Detwiler

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Diasporas are important transnational actors with significant potential to influence their homeland. However, when crisis drives migration, certain limitations and opportunities are created, affecting their role in their homeland. The Zimbabwean diaspora provides an interesting case study for a diaspora from a state in crisis since nearly one-quarter of its population lives outside its borders. In a crisis characterized by political oppression, near economic collapse, and a breakdown of social institutions, one of the population's few options for survival has been migration. The diaspora that has resulted has played a political, economic and social role in Zimbabwe, but the crisis …

Initiatives Of Tv Ethics Control By Religions In Russia: Challenges For Implementation, Victor M. Khroul

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The diversity of attitudes of Russian society towards television coupled with many plots and subplots emerged in the public arena providing us with an opportunity to consider them as an indicators of the maturity of civil society in Russia. It is also an indicator of the level of influence that religions have in the public sphere and the content of TV programs. I will base my judgment on public declarations by authorities of the idea that Russia strives to build a civil society, rather than examining in details the discussion whether the existence of a civil society in Russia is …

About The Struggle Between The "Lower" And "Upper", Viktor Yelenskyy

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Perception Of The Risks And Benefits Of Bt Eggplant By Indian Farmers, Mark Chong

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Several researchers most notably Lennart Sjoberg and his colleagues have proposed that the moral aspects of risk provide a better explanation of risk perception than the psychometric paradigm or Cultural Theory, neither of which accounts for moral concerns. This study is possibly the first to assess empirically the perception of the risks and benefits of a transgenic food crop transgenic Bt ( Bacillus thuringiensis ) eggplant by farmers in a developing country such as India. It also aims to assess if the moral aspects of risk figure in Indian farmers' perception of Bt eggplant and if economic benefits outweigh perceived …

International Resource Network (Irn) Presents Seminars In The City, Naveed Alam

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

One of the major achievements of the IRN this year was our collaboration with CLAGS's ongoing Seminars in the City series. The Seminars in the City series is part of CLAGS's mission to make scholarly research in Queer Studies accessible to the general public.

Sac Outreach Bulletin 2010, The South Asia Center

Newsletters from the South Asia Center

No abstract provided.

Book Review, W. Reed Smith, Norman C. Rotham, Pedro P. Geiger, Laina Farhat-Holzman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

The Potential Return Of Nationalism In Iraq, Jeffrey Knapp

Political Science Theses and Capstones

Over the past decade, Iraq has experienced a tremendous amount of change from once being a dictatorial regime to becoming a new and developing democracy. Iraq is dominantly composed of three main and distinct groups known as the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds. This paper attempts examine whether or not, Iraqi individuals see themselves first and foremost as Iraqis or as being Muslims first. There has been little research conducted that specifically examines the relationship between nationalism and ethnic identity in Iraq. However, some research suggests that most Iraqis see themselves as being Iraqi first instead of being Muslim first. This …

Do Muslims Vote Islamic?, Charles Kurzman, Ijlal Naqvi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Islamic parties have won parliamentary elections in several countries in recent years, leading some observers to speculate that Muslims vote Islamic whenever they are given the chance. However, a review of every parliamentary election in Muslim societies over the past 40 years shows that Islamic parties often compete and rarely win—and the freer the election, the worse these parties perform. In addition, an unprecedented collection of Islamic party platforms shows that Islamic parties have transformed since the 1980s, publicly endorsing democracy and women's rights and de-emphasizing shari'a and jihad. This record suggests that Islamic parties have embraced elections more than …

Sociology Of Islam & Muslim Societies, Newsletter No. 5, Tugrul Keskin

Sociology of Islam & Muslim Societies Newsletter

Table of Contents:

• Introduction by Tugrul Keskin and Najm al-Din Yousefi
• Reflections on Democracy, Non-Violence and Political Change in Iran by Nader Hashemi - Page 3
• An Interview with Iranian Political Scientist Hossein Bashiriyeh by Danny Postel - Page 6
• The role of religious agents in modern Iran by Wladimir van Wilgenburg - Page 24
• Identity Narratives among Second-Generation Iranians in the United States by Sahar Sadeghi - Page 28
• Writers’ Inferno, Ivayla Datseva - Page 32
• Iran-Yemen Relations and Regional Implications by Ladan Yazdian - Page 39
• Reconstructions, Reform and Ahmadinejad: Iran’s Political Revolutions 1989-2009 by Marcus W. Dorsen …

Workers' Migration And Remittances In Bangladesh, Khawaja Mamun, Hiranya K. Nath

WCBT Faculty Publications

Bangladesh has sent more than 6.7 million workers to over 140 countries during a period of more than three decades since the mid-1970s. Most of these workers temporarily migrated to work in Middle East and Southeast Asia. This mass movement of temporary migrant workers has, to some extent, eased unemployment pressures on the over-burdened labor market in this highly populated country. More importantly, the remittance transfers received from these migrant workers have reached a phenomenal level of over 10 billion US dollars in 2009, approximately 12 percent of GDP in Bangladesh. This paper analyzes the trends and various other aspects …

The Conflicts Of Secularization And Islam In Turkey, Emily Jones

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

An examination of the religion of Islam and its unique characteristics, especially those that may relate to the politics and government of the Republic of Turkey, assist in understanding the relationship between the two. The 99% Muslim population affects the country politically and socially. There are many aspects of Sunni Islam, the majority in Turkey, that conflict with the secular nature of Turkey. Despite its apparent differences with the manner in which Turkey is governed, Islam has been able to exist in the country. Although religion is a personal matter, it becomes a concern if one is unable to practice …

Finding Latino/As: Library Tools To Discover And Mine Social Data And Statistics For Latino/Hispanic Populations In The United States, Marisol Ramos, Shikha Sharma

UConn Library Presentations

The purpose of this presentation is to clarify the difference between Data Mining from Mining for Data when searching for information about the United States Latino/Hispanic American population and what tools are available at the Homer Babbidge Libraries for our faculty and students doing this type of research.

This presentation was part of the Puerto Rican and Latino Studies Institute's Terturlia series, March 31, 2010.

No. 23: Labour Migration Trends And Policies In Southern Africa, Jonathan Crush, Vincent Williams

Southern African Migration Programme

Since 1990, there have been major changes to longstanding patterns of intra-regional labour migration within the Southern African Development Community (SADC). At the same time, new channels of migration to and from the region have opened. Labour migration is now more voluminous, dynamic and complex than it has ever been. This presents policy-makers with considerable opportunities and challenges. In order to understand the exact nature of these challenges, it is important to have a good grasp of current labour migration characteristics and trends. Unfortunately, reliable, accurate and comprehensive data on labour migration is not available. The quality and currency of …

Conceptions Regarding Children’S Health: An Examination Of Ethnotheories In A Sending And Receiving Community, Maria Rosario De Guzman, Jennifer Deleon, Gloria Gonzalez-Kruger, Rodrigo Cantarero

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Ethnotheories are beliefs that adults hold about children and the factors that impact upon their development. Scholars suggest that “ethnotheories” serve as cultural models that underlie motivations for parenting practices and the way adults organize children’s early experiences. This study examines Mexican adults’ ethnotheories about children’s health in two communities that are linked by transnational migrants and serve as sending and receiving communities for workers. Forty-four Mexican adults in six focus groups discussed well-being issues affecting children in their communities. Qualitative analyses using grounded theory revealed a complex conception of children’s health issues that included physical, psychological, and behavioral components …

Learning Sustainable Development: Chimeneas De La Esperanza, Miriam V. Mollan Gundersen

Social Sciences

Social inequality and environmental degradation are motivating informed young people into action and connecting impoverished regions of the world with students in more developed nations. This Social Sciences senior project is to analyze an alternative development model designed by a group of Californian university students. The project, named Chimeneas de la Esperanza, is designed to help impoverished Nicaraguan women start a ceramics business. The major hurdle of this mission is to establish a market for the ceramics product. Energy efficient ceramic stoves and smoke ventilating chimneys would benefit the community and avoid an impacted crafts market. The project encompasses ideas …

Brazilians In The United States, 1980—2007, Laird W. Bergad

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This report examines demographic and socioeconomic factors concerning Brazilians in the United States between 1980 and 2007.

Methods: Data on Latinos and other racial/ethnic groups were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, reorganized for public use by the Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, IPUMSusa. Cases in the dataset were weighted and analyzed to produce population estimates.

Results: The wave of migration from Brazil which began in the 1990s in all likelihood will continue into the future, economic fluctuations in the U.S. notwithstanding. In part this is due to the relatively high rates of educational attainment …

Affordable Homeownership Policy: Implications For Housing Markets, Sock Yong Phang

Research Collection School Of Economics

Affordable homeownership is a policy that is often accorded a great deal of policy attention by governments of many countries. This paper aims to examine the market implications of setting a housing price to income ratio target for a market segment by the government. The policy requires active intervention by the government with regard to the targeted sector. The paper uses a simple model of the housing market with a homeownership affordability target to derive the market implications of such targets. In the presence of uncertainty and resource constraints, the objective of homeownership affordability is achieved for the targeted group …

Family Control And Ownership Monitoring In Family-Controlled Firms In Japan, Toru Yoshikawa, Abdul A. Rasheed

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper focuses on a type of firms that have been traditionally neglected in both family business and governance research, namely, family-controlled, publicly-listed firms. Although principal-agent conflicts may be less prevalent in such firms, family control can potentially give rise to principal-principal conflicts, leading to expropriation of the wealth of minority owners by family owners. Superior firm performance and the willingness to distribute the profits through dividend payments would suggest the absence of such expropriation. Based on a sample of 210 OTC firms in Japan, we examined the relationships between family control and dividend payouts and profitability. Our results indicate …

Religion And Manifestations Of Chinese Modernity, Paul Katz

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One of the most frequent questions that scholars and writers hear is “I’m interested learning more about your field. What should I read?” Answering this query is surprisingly tricky, as often the books that specialists love the most are far beyond the introductory level that many general readers are seeking. China Beatwould like to help; below is the inaugural post in our new series, “Where to Begin.” In these essays, we’ll be asking authors to suggest a broad range of books that might make up a good beginning reading list for someone setting out to explore an unfamiliar topic. Here, …