Digital Commons Network^™

No. 67: Migrant Entrepreneurship, Collective Violence And Xenophobia In South Africa, Jonathan Crush, Sujata Ramachandran

Southern African Migration Programme

The remarkable growth of informal migrant entrepreneurship in South Africa since 1990 would have been much lauded had it not been for the striking detail that the actors in question are seen as “foreigners” or “outsiders”. As such, they are uniformly viewed as undesirable and disadvantaging poor South African citizens. The growing presence of migrants in the informal sector has created various tensions in South Africa, including in government circles, ignoring the fact that in the free market economy of South Africa, immigrants and refugees, like citizens and commercial enterprises, would otherwise enjoy the freedom to establish, operate and expand …

No. 66: Xenophobic Violence In South Africa: Denialism, Minimalism, Realism, Jonathan Crush, Sujata Ramachandran

Southern African Migration Programme

Violent xenophobia has become a regular feature of South African life. Everyday animosity frequently spills over into violence against individual migrants and refugees and their economic enterprises. Some of these incidents reach the scrutiny of the media and officialdom, but most remain invisible and unremarked. The fact that most of the violence occurs in marginal urban locations of informal settlements, townships and inner-city suburbs in South Africa has prompted intense debate over the nomenclature and identification of the underlying causes. Explanations for the large-scale anti-migrant violence that swept the country in May 2008, and continues in more isolated and sporadic …

Migrant Entrepreneurship, Collective Violence And Xenophobia In South Africa (Migration Policy Series No. 67), Jonathan Crush, Sujata Ramachandran

International Migration Research Centre

The remarkable growth of informal migrant entrepreneurship in South Africa since 1990 would have been much lauded had it not been for the striking detail that the actors in question are seen as “foreigners” or “outsiders”. As such, they are uniformly viewed as undesirable and disadvantaging poor South African citizens. The growing presence of migrants in the informal sector has created various tensions in South Africa, including in government circles, ignoring the fact that in the free market economy of South Africa, immigrants and refugees, like citizens and commercial enterprises, would otherwise enjoy the freedom to establish, operate and expand …

A Holistic Aboriginal Framework For Individual Healing, Gus Hill

Lyle S. Hallman Social Work Faculty Publications

This paper offers up an holistic Indigenous model of individual healing that utilizes medicine wheel teachings to break down the four aspects (spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental) of individual wellness. Teachings about each direction are presented followed by practice techniques for each aspect of the individual self. It is bookended by an introduction to the historical trauma faced by Indigenous peoples in Canada, and a conclusion that draws implications for healing.

Quantifying Rooftop Solar Power For The City Of Waterloo, Ontario, Shawn W. Macdonald

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Climate change, pollution, and energy security are driving a worldwide transition away from traditional fossil fuel generated electricity. As the world moves away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy, electricity generated from photovoltaic solar panels is one of the most promising and capable technologies available today. Arguably the most suitable location to generate this electricity is at the source of consumption. Placing solar panels on unused rooftop space can subsidize the electricity demand that that building requires. This research quantifies the amount of electricity that can be generated within the City of Waterloo, Ontario. Using Natural Resources Canada data, …

A Side Of Justice Rarely Seen: Professional Perspectives Toward Youth Justice And Sentencing Procedures In The Exploratory Context Of Canada And Russia, Serge Lokshin M.A.

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis contributes to the growing body of literature on comparative youth justice and policy. By analyzing dilemmas faced by youth in justice systems from the perspective of Canada and Russia, the study argues that professional outlooks have a considerable significance for understanding the legal system and its function, and play an important role in shaping judicial administration concerning juveniles. An investigation into professional perspectives on youth justice is used to formulate an understanding of the issues for young people within the legal systems of the respective regions, the sentencing procedures, and the social and procedural contentions facing youth on …

An Exploratory Examination Of Families Engaged In An Adventure Running Kids Program, Heather Isnor

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Academics and practitioners have only just begun to delve into the health benefits of outdoor activities in the last few years. In general, the forested settings of these activities have been documented to decrease stress levels, increase recovery rates from disease, and lessen the symptoms of mental illnesses (Kuo & Faber Taylor, 2004). It is believed that the natural environment acts as a setting where humans can engage in physical activity, aesthetic experiences, and social interactions that, in turn, release stress and lead to improved well-being (Bird, 2012). Currently, however, children are experiencing limited exposure to nature and which has …

Intersectional Exposures: Exploring The Health Effect Of Employment With Kaajal Immigrant/Refugee Women In Grand Erie Through Photovoice, Bharati Sethi Ms

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this community-based participatory research was to understand the employment-health association for immigrant/refugee women from Korea, Asia, Africa, Japan, Arab world and Latin America (KAAJAL) in Grand Erie –a mid-sized urban/rural region in Ontario, Canada. The study utilized photovoice –a visual qualitative research methodology in which participants were given cameras to record their experiences. Intersectionality analysis of 525 participant-generated photographs, diaries, and in-depth interviews of twenty women revealed that various markers of difference such as nationality (i.e. native or foreign-born), immigrant status (i.e. family class sponsorship), geography (i.e. rural or urban residence), …

Integrated Spatial Analysis Of Volunteered Geographic Information, Haydn Lawrence

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) is becoming a pervasive form of data within geographic academic research. VGI offers a relatively new form of data, one with both potential as a sensitive way to collect information about the world, and challenges associated with unknown and heterogeneous data quality. The lack of sampling control, variable expertise in data collection and handling, and limited control over data sources are significant research challenges. In this thesis, data quality of VGI is tackled as a general composite measure based on coverage of the dataset, the evenness in the density of data, and the relative evenness in …

The Cord (November 27, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (November 20, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (November 13, 2013

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (November 6, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (October 30, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (October 23, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (October 17, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (October 9, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (October 2, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

Issue 04: Inventory Of Services Provided To Immigrants And Refugees In The Waterloo Region, J. Fernando Reyes, Margaret Walton-Roberts, Jenna Hennebry

International Migration Research Centre

In this issue of Policy Points we have provided an inventory and assessment of immigrant services providers currently delivered in the Waterloo Region. Local communities play an important role in the settlement of newcomers and their integration into society. Waterloo Region has the fifth-highest immigrant rate in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2007), and in 2009 the Kitchener Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) was 11th highest nationally in terms of the number of immigrants arriving, and the fourth-highest in Ontario (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2011). Furthermore, Waterloo Region is expected to have a significant increase in the immigrant population over the next decades …

The Cord (September 25, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (September 18, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (September 11, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (September 1, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

Inserting Migrants Into The Global Social Protection Floor, Marie-Hélène Ratel, Gabriel Williams, Keegan Williams

International Migration Research Centre

• The social protection floor (SPF) is a global initiative led by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to provide social security to vulnerable groups.
• The SPF neglects the rapidly growing population of international migrants and focusses principally on citizens from lower-income countries.
• The SPF requires a method to evaluate the social protection gap that exists between citizens and non-citizens in countries that receive migrants in order to improve protections for all.
• The SPF Advisory Group must collaborate more closely with transit and receiving countries, middle- and high-income countries, and regional organizations to reduce the gaps in social protection between citizens and …

Local Uses Of International Criminal Justice In Bosnia-Herzegovina: Transcending Divisions Or Building Parallel Worlds?, Dejan Guzina, Branka Marijan

Political Science Faculty Publications

Social interactions at the local level are crucial to the analysis of the transitional justice and peace-building process. The reason that various international organizations in Bosnia have not been as successful in achieving the admittedly lofty goals of reconciliation is precisely because most of international representatives underestimated the agency of the local population, focusing exclusively on the actions of various local ethnic and civic elites. However, the parallel existence of competing state and nation building projects in Bosnia and their dominance over externally-supported projects of reconciliation cannot be simply explained by relying on one overarching variable – Bosnian nationalist elites’ …

The Cord (July 31, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

The Cord (June 26, 2013)

The Cord

No abstract provided.

Between North And South: The Eu-Acp Migration Relationship, Jonathan Crush

Southern African Migration Programme

Before the turn of the century, international migration had an extremely low profile on the global development agenda. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), for example, make no mention at all of international migration. Although a number of studies have attempted to “mainstream” migration into the MDGs after the fact, it is still largely ignored in official assessments of progress made towards them (Usher, 2005; Crush and Frayne 2007; Skeldon, 2008). According to the United Nations (UN), the silence surrounding migration in the MDGs was because it was too divisive and sensitive an issue between developed and developing countries (United Nations …

Uncertainty And The Reform Of Elementary Math Education, Wayne Melville, Ann Kajander, Donald Kerr, Jennifer Holm

Education Faculty Publications

This paper investigates the notion of uncertainty as elementary teachers engage in conversations intended to develop their understanding and implementation of reform-based mathematics teaching. Using a narrative methodology, several sources of teacher uncertainty are investigated: teaching and learning, the subject, and improving one’s own teaching. The data analysis indicates two important findings. The first is the importance of substantive and syntactic subject knowledge as a necessary foundation for teachers to understand uncertainty in terms that renew their classroom practice.The second is the need to develop and sustain communities in which teachers value opportunities to critique their classroom practices.

No. 18: The State Of Food Insecurity In Blantyre City, Malawi, Peter Mvula, Asiyati Chiweza

African Food Security Urban Network

Chronic food insecurity is considered to be one of the most important challenges facing the people and government of Malawi. Most attention tends to be given to the rural areas where the majority of the population live and where the prevalence of food insecurity is highest. However, Malawi is urbanizing at a rapid rate and those who move to the cities do not automatically become food secure. Urban food insecurity is likely to increase and therefore it is important for policy-makers to begin to think about this issue. AFSUN’s study of food insecurity in the city of Blantyre, Malawi’s industrial …