Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Bosnian Refugees In Bowling Green, Kentucky: Refugee Resettlement And Community Based Research, Elcin Celik

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

To understand the reasons for the increase in recent years of the Bosnian population in Bowling Green, Kentucky and their adaptation problems as refugees in their host country, this study focused upon the Bosnian community in Bowling Green and addressed what the role of their challenges is in the shaping of refugees’ new life in their host country. Extensive literature review helped to emerge that for an understanding of the situation of the refugees, their interaction in the host country is more meaningful topic for research.

This study employed qualitative research methods, drawing from existing empirical studies addressing resettlement in …

“Green” Technology And Ecologically Unequal Exchange: The Environmental And Social Consequences Of Ecological Modernization In The World-System, Eric Bonds, Liam Downey

Sociology and Anthropology

This paper contributes to understandings of ecologically unequal exchange within the world-systems perspective by offering a series of case studies of ecological modernization in the automobile industry. The case studies demonstrate that “green” technologies developed and instituted in core nations often require specific raw materials that are extracted from the periphery and semi-periphery. Extraction of such natural resources causes significant environmental degradation and often displaces entire communities from their land. Moreover, because states often use violence and repression to facilitate raw material extraction, the widespread commercialization of “green” technologies can result in serious human rights violations. These findings challenge ecological …

Mountain Monitor-1st Quarter 2012, Mark Muro, Kenan Fikri

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

For three years now the Mountain Monitor — Brookings Mountain West’s Mountain Zone variant of Brookings’ MetroMonitor — has been tracking the region’s protracted, in-most-places anemic, economic recovery. Quarter-to-quarter, the Monitor has reported on a slow healing of the region’s metropolitan economies that has differed starkly from the region’s past boom-bust cycles.

Comparison Of Nebraska Population By Race/Ethnicity And Age: 2000 And 2010 With Changes And Percent Changes, David J. Drozd

Archived Publications

Comparison of population changes in Nebraska, 2000 - 2010

Nebraska Demographics: Trends And Implications, David J. Drozd

Presentations

Presented to the Peter Kiewit Foundation Board.

A Survey Of Non-Classical Polyandry, Kathrine E. Starkweather, Raymond Hames

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

We have identified a sample of 53 societies outside of the classical Himalayan and Marquesean area that permit polyandrous unions. Our goal is to broadly describe the demographic, social, marital, and economic characteristics of these societies and to evaluate some hypotheses of the causes of polyandry. We demonstrate that although polyandry is rare it is not as rare as commonly believed, is found worldwide, and is most common in egalitarian societies. We also argue that polyandry likely existed during early human history and should be examined from an evolutionary perspective. Our analysis reveals that it may be a predictable response …

Environmental Justice & Sociology, Brenna E. Regan

Honors Scholar Theses

This thesis compared the patterns influencing the creation of Native American reservations and the prison industrial complex in the United States. I argue that the country is controlled by people who create a physical and socio-political environment that caters to their certain positionality, adversely effecting and pushing marginalized groups into confined, controlled spaces in their own home. Ultimately, environmental justice, or equal control of people over their environment, is a vital factor in ending structural and physical violence against marginalized groups in the United States.

New Hampshire Demographic Trends In The Twenty-First Century, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief summarizes current population redistribution trends in the Granite State and shows how fertility, mortality, and migration contributed to these trends. According to the 2010 census, New Hampshire gained 80,700 residents (a 6.5 percent increase) between 2000 and 2010, mostly during the earlier years of the decade. Migration contributed 35,400 to the population gain, and the excess of births over deaths accounted for 45,300. Author Ken Johnson reports that New Hampshire currently does not have a large population of seniors, but a rapid increase in the older population is inevitable and coming soon.

Demographic Characteristics Of The Latino Population In The Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area, Lourdes Gouveia, Christian Espinosa, Yuriko Doku

Latino/Latin American Studies Fact Sheets

This is the first installment of fact sheets about the Latino population in the Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Statistical Area. Together, these fact sheets will provide the context for a forthcoming report on the economic and fiscal impacts of this population in the metro area.

Este es el primer número de una serie de boletines informativos acerca de la población latina en el área estadística metropolitana de Omaha-Council Bluffs. Esta serie servirá de contexto al reporte venidero sobre los impactos económicos y fiscales de la población latina y migrante en el área metropolitana.

The Gastón Institute’S Response To Requests For Descriptive Socio-Demographic Profiles Of Latinos In Massachusetts, Maria Idali Torres, Phillip Granberry, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Gastón Institute responds to requests for periodic demographic updates on the Latino population in Massachusetts and other New England states. The rapidly changing makeup of the Latino population of Massachusetts calls for a deep understanding of the characteristics and situations of the different sectors of the community. While the non-Latino white population from Massachusetts declined around 4% over the last decade, the Latino population grew approximately 45%. This fact highlights the importance of Latino population to the State’s economic, political and social growth and stability.

The Gastón Institute’S Partnership With The Puerto Rican Cultural Center In Springfield, Ma, Maria Idali Torres, Ivette Cruz, Anjuli Manrique, Phillip Granberry, Gaston Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Gastón Institute responds to requests from government and foundations for CBPR studies seeking to test theories and methods for addressing disparities in educational, health, and economic outcomes in U.S. Latino and Latin American communities. Our future research in this area seeks to answer questions about the factors that contribute to the production of disparities in health, educational, and economic outcomes. Our current CBPR projects seek to test the feasibility of a variety of intervention strategies.

Inmigración En España: Historia Y Experiencia - Immigration In Spain: History And Experience, Ryan Katz

Spain: Language, Community, and Social Change

No abstract provided.

Take Back Rondebosch Common: A Case Study On Discontent With The Da And Urban Land Reform In Rondebosch, Cape Town., Kyle Dallman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In late January of 2012, undercurrents of dissatisfaction with Cape Town’s ruling political party, the Democratic Alliance, and their pace of development and service delivery came to a head as aggrieved citizens marched through the southern suburbs of the city to a green known as Rondebosch Common. The citizens had planned on protesting the lack of opportunities for Cape Town’s non-white citizens while at the Common in a “Land, Housing and Jobs Summit,” but were met with police batons and armored vans that quelled the movement in an astonishing show of force. This paper will investigate the motivations of the …

Housing And Urbanization: A Socio-Spatial Analysis Of Resettlement Projects In Hồ Chí Minh City, Michael J. Stumpf

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As Hồ Chí Minh City continues to undergo rapid urbanization, especially with the creation of a multitude of new urban zone developments on the periphery of the inner districts, the resettling of people has become common. Families who live within areas that are selected for urban upgrading or, as in other cases for the construction of new miniature cities, must face the realities of relocation. Many issues arise in the complicated process of resettling the displaced, due to complex land-use laws, bureaucratic dissonance, and lack of investment in actual resettlement housing. The authorities of Hồ Chí Minh City have faced …

Vietnam To Việt Kiều And Back: An In‐Depth Look At The Relationship Between Overseas Vietnamese And Vietnamese In Ho Chi Minh City, Minh Le

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This independent study project explores the relationship between overseas Vietnamese and local Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The primary research methods included surveys, interviews, an experiment, and personal observations. The survey provided general knowledge on what Vietnamese people in HCMC thought about overseas Vietnamese. This survey was given to 200 participants in various locations in District 1, Thu Duc District, and District 9. The interviewees included university students, war veterans, Vietnamese with relatives in a foreign country, Vietnamese who tried leaving but could not, and overseas Vietnamese. The experiment was to see vendors’ treatment of overseas Vietnamese. It …

Managing Diversity And Dealing With The Obstacles To Integration Of Non-European Union Migrants: A Comparison Of Policies In The Netherlands And France, Eryn Eby

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Because of the reality of permanent immigration to Europe, the issue of integration of immigrants, particularly Muslim immigrants is of great importance and the direction and style of policies are the subjects of increasing debate and disagreement. Neither multicultural policies nor assimilation policies have led to a satisfactory level of integration and decreased social and ethnic tensions in France and the Netherlands. We found that often, the rhetoric, perceptions, and misinterpretations that go along with the labels of ‘multiculturalism’ and ‘assimilation’ serve to further polarize the debate and lead to more problems than they solve. The overall rhetoric and program …

Discourses Around Social Welfare Grants As Antipoverty Policy: Effectiveness And The Potential For Reform, Sarah Maniates

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In a South Africa where many still live in poverty, the government has chosen an extensive system of social grants as one of the primary methods by which it attempts to reduce this poverty. Research has generated substantial quantitative evidence that the system is successful, but there has been little analysis of public opinion around this costly policy, its effectiveness, and the need for its reform. This study explores discourses around the grants, both within government and among everyday people, in order to gain insight into such opinions. This insight is important in a South Africa that is now democratic, …

Overview Of Economic Development, Don Macke, Nancy Arnold, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Independent Living and Community Participation

Economic development is a vast concept with an abundance of meanings depending upon the audience. A widely accepted view of economic development is as follows: In the United States with our market economy focus, economic development typically centers on increasing private business activity as a way to increase new investment, job creation and tax base expansion. Economies and economic development should serve the needs of residents and society through the creation of meaningful work. (RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, 2005) Historically, rehabilitation worked to restore as much lost function as possible so that a person with a disability could engage …

The Subtleties Of Social Exclusion: Race, Social Class, And The Exclusion Of Blacks In A Racially Mixed Neighborhood, Daniel Monroe Sullivan, Jonathan Picarsic

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We use interviews, content analysis, and surveys to describe how a neighborhood association in a racially mixed neighborhood in Portland, Oregon (USA) subtly excludes many blacks from being full members of the neighborhood. In contrast to explicit cases of social exclusion, this neighborhood association excludes blacks without ever referring to race. They instead justify their actions—e.g., helping close down a black social club and discouraging more affordable housing—based on such nonracial goals as increasing homeownership, minimizing crime, and maximizing “economic diversity.” We argue that without the inclusion of black residents and their neighborhood organizations (e.g., churches) in the decision-making process, …

Local Perceptions Of Population Growth: The Causes And Effects Of Local And National Population Changes On The People Of Kenya, Taylor Osborne

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the early 1990s, Kenya held the record for highest population growth rate in the world, with greater than four percent per year (Van Der Veen 2004:243). Kenya's population broke 40 million by the year 2010 and is still expanding (World Bank Group 2010). This rapid growth in population has brought many changes to the country, creating pressure on land and other resources. A large rural-urban migration has left Kenyan cities faced with a shortage of space, high unemployment rates, and rapidly expanding impoverished slums. This study seeks to construct an understanding of how Kenyans have witnessed evidence of population …

Régulations De L’Usage Et De La Possession De Terre: Exploration De L'Efficacité Des Règles Officielles Concernant La Gestion De Terre Et Perceptions Des Lois Par Les Habitants D’Andranomena Dans La Région Menabe, Ben Armstrong

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Autour d’Andranomena, un village qui se trouve près de Morondava dans la Région Menabe, il y a encore des terres non cultivées couvertes d’herbes sauvages ou de forets. Mais avec l’accroissement de la population dû au taux de natalité et de l’immigration, il y a de plus en plus de pressions pour trouver de la terre nouvelle.

Cette recherche de terrain se passe avec deux processus parallèles: le premier est la demande de titres domaniaux auprès de l’Etat effectuée par l’intéressé et le second est la validation de la possession de terre avec la connaissance locale de la personne qui …

Why Are Cities The Only Place For Dreams? Outmigration Of Youths From Rural Uttarakhand, Peter Grunawalt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Outmigration of rural youth from the hill districts of Uttarakhand has happened since time immemorial. However, within the past decade it has appeared as a frontline issue. This is evidenced by the massive increase in government and NGO rural livelihood development schemes directly and indirectly targeting outmigration throughout the state. This study investigates migration from the mostly rural districts of Uttarakhand to the urban centers of the plains, namely Dehradun and Delhi. It focuses on the prospective livelihood of young adults. Questions addressed in the study; (1) What are the different factors which influence migration of youths? (2) What are …

Community Development, Cornelia Flora, Nancy Arnold, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Independent Living and Community Participation

Our physical communities – the places we live and the people with whom we live – shape our lives. Often, our communities choose us; we are born into them, and we simply stay because it is what we know. Some get to choose or create their community. Others choose or are forced to leave. Rural communities differ widely in their economic base, culture values and practices, and social structure (Flora, 1992). The rural economy influences the opportunities with which we are presented, which in turn influences whether we leave or whether we stay. But the economy and jobs are not …

Overview Of Rural America: Past, Present, And Future, Brian Dabson, Nancy Arnold, Tom Seekins Ph.D., University Of Montana Rural Institute

Independent Living and Community Participation

Rural America is a diverse and changing place. Small-town America, the family farm, and the frontier west are images that have long formed the foundation of the rural American dream. Basic rural values that are ingrained in visions of open spaces, picturesque rolling hills, rich farmlands, patchwork waves of grain, and majestic mountains are alive and romanticized in our culture. Yet these popular images mask the reality that rural America is an extremely significant, diverse, and complex part of our society, with resources, problems, and needs that are extensive and largely misunderstood. This paper addresses several key issues and suggests …

Overview Of Rural Health, Vincent Francisco, Craig Ravesloot Ph.D., University Of Montana Rural Institute

Independent Living and Community Participation

Ultimately, the challenge of health care reform is the challenge of building community (Shortell et al., 1996). It makes little sense to discuss health without also discussing environment. Environments may be toxic physical environments due to pollution, noise and crime, or toxic social environments that promote health risk behavior like smoking and sedentary living. Alternatively, environments may be constructed to promote health behavior (e.g., physical activity) or reduce health risks (e.g., indoor smoking policy). In either case, the population’s health status is shaped by their environment. Rural people are less healthy than urban people (Institute of Medicine, 2005). Rural environments …

Demographic Change In The Northern Forest, Kenneth M. Johnson, Susan I. Stewart, Miranda H. Mockrin

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief examines the population redistribution in the Northern Forest, which includes thirty-four counties scattered across northern and central Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont. Authors Ken Johnson, Susan Stewart, and Miranda Mockrin report that the population of the Northern Forest grew modestly between 2000 and 2010, and the population gains were greatest in recreational areas and least in manufacturing areas. Racial and ethnic diversity is also growing in the Northern Forest, and the population is getting older due to aging in place among current residents and net outmigration among younger populations.

Massachusetts Immigrants By The Numbers, Second Edition: Demographic Characteristics And Economic Footprint, Alan Clayton-Matthews, Paul Watanabe

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

With this update to the original groundbreaking study of Massachusetts Immigrants by the Numbers in 2009, we continue to focus on the economic and social contributions that immigrants have made in building the vibrant Massachusetts economy. It shows that, despite heightened public debate, the demographic characteristics and economic trends of the state’s immigrant population have remained largely unchanged. Immigrants continue to have a positive impact on the Commonwealth.

Mountain Monitor-4th Quarter 2011, Mark Muro, Kenan Fikri

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

Recovery was firmly underway in the Intermountain West by the fourth quarter of 2011 but its pace varied considerably across the region’s 10 major metropolitan areas. Six of the 10 metros saw job growth in the fourth quarter but only four saw it accelerate over the previous one. Output grew everywhere but only in half of the region’s metros did the pace of growth quicken. The unemployment rate was down across the board from one year earlier. House prices in most markets stabilized. Yet signs of a robust, sustained, and self-fueling recovery remained elusive.

National economic indicators from early 2012 …

Rural Demographic Change In The New Century: Slower Growth, Increased Diversity, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief examines rural demographic trends in the first decade of the twenty-first century using newly available data from the 2010 Census. The rural population grew by just 2.2 million between 2000 and 2010—a gain barely half as great as that during the 1990s. Population growth was particularly slow in farming and mining counties and sharply reduced in rural manufacturing counties. Rural population gains were largest in high-amenity counties and just beyond the metropolitan fringe. Diversity accelerated in rural America, with racial and ethnic minorities accounting for 83 percent of rural population growth between 2000 and 2010.

The Fukushima Disaster And Japan’S Occupy Movement, Hiro Saito

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

On October 15, 2011, OccupyTokyo protests took place in three different districts: Hibiya,Shinjuku, and Roppongi. Before the rallies began, protesters gathered in parkswhere organizers and participants gave speeches. They expressed solidarity withthe worldwide Occupy movement, criticized a widening economic gap in Japan, anddemanded a more just world. Protesters then took to the streets with theirplacards, drums, and megaphones to shout slogans to reclaim society for “the99%.”