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In recent years, an increasing number of scholars have started to analyse the effects of migration in societies of emigration. This scholarship often depicts migration as a powerful process generating 'levelled' processes of diffusion of money, goods, ideas, and values, ultimately changing entire communities and regions of origin. The paper diverges from this view and argues for a differentialist approach in researching processes of migration and social change. I substantiate this claim by analysing patterns of migration and social change in a multi-ethnic community in Romania that consists of Hungarians, Romanians, and Roma. The research fieldwork consisted of qualitative interviews and participant observation. By using a perspective inspired by the literature on critical social capital and mechanisms of migration, I show that local social differentiation profoundly affects not only the development of migration but also the relationship between migration and social change. As I unfold in the paper, social closure based on ethnic and class/group membership had a strong effect on the ways in which Hungarians, Roma, and Romanians migrated towards Hungary, Italy, and Germany, as well as on the economic niches they occupied in countries of destination. The enrichment of some Roma and the new social position they gained reveals that migrant localities are contested social spaces where migrants' new social statuses and the ideas and values they bring back with them are weighted and negotiated against local values and systems of classification. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tracking and explaining patterns and trajectories of social and economic change in the global South is a key challenge for geographers. Panel studies, though rare, offer a particularly rich alternative insight to more usual cross-sectional studies. Drawing on a 25-year longitudinal panel study of two villages in rural Thailand, this paper reveals the complexities of the processes underway, the shifting terrains of explanation, and the surprises that are easily overlooked in cross-sectional studies, particularly when it comes to household life chances and courses. The paper makes a case for the value of such approaches and the insights they can provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biodiversity of temperate grasslands can change considerably as a result of social and climate change. We have compiled information from published studies and created a database of Japanese semi‐natural grassland flora, which contains databases of flora of each grassland, grassland locations, and management methods. This database is useful as a basis for the analysis of changes in the flora of Japanese grasslands as well as for future monitoring. The detailed Metadata for this abstract published in the Data Article section of the journal are available in MetaCat in JaLTER at http://db.cger.nies.go.jp/JaLTER/metacat/metacat/ERDP-2023-01.1/jalter-en. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents updates on conferences on systems research and practice activities. Information on the 2005 International Conference on Natural Computation and International Conference on Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery; Participants in the 5th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organisations.

International students transitioning to university undergo dramatic changes in social identity, with a need to adapt to a new culture, language, environment, and way of living. This paper explores the impact of this social identity change on academic performance, academic retention, mental health, and life satisfaction. The Social Identity Model of Identity Change (SIMIC) predicts that during life transitions of this form, an individual's group memberships and associated social identities can protect them from the negative effects of life change. This longitudinal study tested SIMIC among international students (N = 210) transitioning to study overseas, with data collected at three time points across a Foundation Year programme in a large Australian university. Consistent with SIMIC, continuity of social identities predicted higher academic performance and better life satisfaction, and indirectly predicted student retention over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the promise of photography in research, few methods offer a guide to leverage this medium in conjunction with experience sampling to facilitate individual reflection while capturing the experiences of participants as they interact with their social world. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new photo‐elicitation method to add to the photography research repertoire, Photo‐experiencing and Reflective Listening (PEARL). PEARL leverages the benefits of experience sampling, mindful self‐awareness, and trauma‐informed interviewing to document daily health experiences. After engaging in an at‐home photography activity, participants meet for a one‐on‐one interview to share and cluster their photographs to discuss key themes and needs going forward. Using a study aimed to understand the recovery experiences of survivors of sexual violence, we illustrate how PEARL can be applied to study a population of interest. The products developed through PEARL provide rich opportunities for analysis, dissemination, story amplification, and action, making it a research method helpful for those interested in improving health equity and catalyzing social change. Because of the high satisfaction voiced by the participants of this approach, PEARL shows promise as a therapeutic data collection method, where the participants leave with some benefit through new awareness gained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Plato, Husserl, and the work of Bernard Stiegler, this paper diagnoses our era as the age of stupidity; an era in which psychotherapy is increasingly playing a subservient role to the ideology on neoliberalism. By reconfiguring and subverting its role, however, psychotherapy can provide the Winnicottian transitional space for the creation of anamnesis, or recollection, and the re‐creation of autonomous and cooperative thought and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the special issue on topics including gender and the management of climate-related risks in Northern Thailand, sustainability and social science research in Singapore, and communication for sustainable social change.

Industrial relations has long had a concern with the links between research and policy. This concern connects with wider debates on emancipation in the related field of Critical Management and in social science in general. This paper lays out an approach to engagement with policy through four arguments. First, ontological realism provides a grounding for claims as to scientific truth. Second, we can also say from realist principles that people have real interests. Third, links between 'is' and 'ought' can be addressed through the normative arguments presented by Andrew Sayer. Finally, dimensions of real interests, based on the work of Ed Heery, are identified. Part II of the paper provides application and illustration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an evaluation of the long-term impact of microfinance programmes on Acehnese children during the post-tsunami recovery. The study, conducted from June to August 2010, examined the impact of microfinance programming six years after the tsunami. The sample consisted of 185 microfinance participants, with a comparison group of 192 individuals who did not participate in microfinance programmes. All respondents were parents, interviewed through a structured survey. The study used four child protection indicators-diet, health, childcare and education-in contrast to traditional repayment rate indicators. The primary results were insignificant with respect to all four child protection indicators, suggesting that, with respect to these indicators, there was no long-term difference between the impact of microfinance on beneficiaries' children and non-beneficiaries' children. These findings signify a need for microfinance actors to move beyond traditional indicators of economic success to evaluate the social changes microfinance programmes are presumed to effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is the product of a workshop that brought together practitioners, researchers, and data experts to discuss how big data is becoming a resource for positive social change in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We include in our definition of big data sources such as social media data, mobile phone use records, digitally mediated transactions, online news media sources, and administrative records. We argue that there are four main areas where big data has potential for promoting positive social change: advocacy; analysis and prediction; facilitating information exchange; and promoting accountability and transparency. These areas all have particular challenges and possibilities, but there are also issues shared across them, such as open data and privacy concerns. Big data is shaping up to be one of the key battlefields of our time, and the paper argues that this is therefore an opportune moment for civil society groups in particular to become a larger part of the conversation about the use of big data, since questions about the asymmetries of power involved are especially urgent in these uses in LMICs. Civil society groups are also currently underrepresented in debates about privacy and the rights of technology users, which are dominated by corporations, governments and nongovernmental organizations in the Global North. We conclude by offering some lessons drawn from a number of case studies that represent the current state-of-the-art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews literature on employment insecurity and situates objective and subjective employment insecurity in the context of the contemporary economy. I draw on the argument about shifting social contracts to explain both real and perceived pervasive employment insecurity and the frayed American Dream. Employment insecurity derives from the macro-economic changes that produced the social structure of accumulation identified as flexible accumulation that requires employment insecurity as both a form of labor discipline and profit-enhancing strategy. This paper argues that contemporary employment insecurity is both objective and subjective and affects how individuals understand their world and their selves. To this latter point, I look at research on generational differences in the experience of employment insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an introduction to key aspects of Yup'ik Inuit culture and context from both historical and contemporary community member perspectives. Its purpose is to provide a framework for understanding the development and implementation of a prevention initiative centered on youth in two communities in Southwest Alaska as part of collaboration with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the National Institutes of Health. This paper is written from the perspective of elders and local prevention workers from each of the two prevention communities. The co-authors discuss their culture and their community from their own perspectives, drawing from direct experience and from ancestral knowledge gained through learning and living the Yuuyaraq or the Yup'ik way of life. The authors of this paper identity key aspects of traditional Yup'ik culture that once contributed to the adaptability and survivability of their ancestors, particularly through times of hardship and social disruption. These key processes and practices represent dimensions of culture in a Yup'ik context that contribute to personal and collective growth, protection and wellbeing. Intervention development in Yup'ik communities requires bridging historical cultural frames with contemporary contexts and shifting focus from reviving cultural activities to repairing and revitalizing cultural systems that structure community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 mitigating practices such as 'hand-washing', 'social distancing', or 'social isolating' are constructed as 'moral imperatives', required to avert harm to oneself and others. Adherence to COVID-19 mitigating practices is presently high among the general public, and stringent lockdown measures supported by legal and policy intervention have facilitated this. In the coming months, however, as rules are being relaxed and individuals become less strict, and thus, the ambiguity in policy increases, the maintenance of recommended social distancing norms will rely on more informal social interactional processes. We argue that the moralization of these practices, twinned with relaxations of policy, may likely cause interactional tension between those individuals who do vs. those who do not uphold social distancing in the coming months: that is, derogation of those who adhere strictly to COVID-19 mitigating practices and group polarization between 'distancers' and 'non-distancers'. In this paper, we explore how and why these processes might come to pass, their impact on an overall societal response to COVID-19, and the need to factor such processes into decisions regarding how to lift restrictions., (© 2020 The Authors. British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

In contemporary Japanese society the ability to care for oneself and other senior citizens has become a defining feature of good retirement. The capitalist Japanese state has historically mobilised moral virtues to foster a sense of productive citizenship among senior citizens and their family members. After the country failed to recover from the long recessionary era, policies regarding the welfare of senior citizens have shifted, from a focus on familial care to an emphasis on individual responsibility. This paper traces these shifts in moral virtues since the 1970s to elucidate how ideas of ‘independence’ and ‘mutual support’ have become persuasive forms of virtue for senior citizens, particularly retired corporate workers, in the current neoliberal climate. The paper will also draw from my recent fieldwork among elderly Japanese to contrast their experiences with the state's expectations. The independent and mutually supportive retirement as a performative cultural production was often experienced as one of intense dislocation, rather than belonging, in a productivist state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents some of the main theoretical approaches which examine changes in the EU economic governance system during the current crisis. We review standard approaches of EU studies (neo‐functionalism, liberal inter‐governmentalism, and historical institutionalism), Marxist–regulationist political economists, and Bourdieusian sociologists. The paper illustrates how scholars utilize given intellectual tools to understand ongoing trends of political and institutional change. We suggest that Bourdieusian sociologists may be in a relatively better position to interpret governance reforms and this is briefly illustrated by looking at some empirical observations from researching the effect of EU economic governance reform on the management of public assets in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates the association between the Great Recession and educational inequalities in self‐rated general health in 25 European countries. We investigate four different indicators related to economic recession: GDP; unemployment; austerity and a ‘crisis’ indicator signifying severe simultaneous drops in GDP and welfare generosity. We also assess the extent to which health inequality changes can be attributed to changes in the economic conditions and social capital in the European populations. The paper uses data from the European Social Survey (2002–2014). The analyses include both cross‐sectional and lagged associations using multilevel linear regression models with country fixed effects. This approach allows us to identify health inequality changes net of all time‐invariant differences between countries. GDP drops and increasing unemployment were associated with decreasing health inequalities. Austerity, however, was related to increasing health inequalities, an association that grew stronger with time. The strongest increase in health inequality was found for the more robust ‘crisis’ indicator. Changes in trust, social relationships and in the experience of economic hardship of the populations accounted for much of the increase in health inequality. The paper concludes that social policy has an important role in the development of health inequalities, particularly during times of economic crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Geographer is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article reviews contemporary intercultural scholarship by examining published papers in 16 communication journals (5 of them were dedicated intercultural journals) between 2007 and 2018. The analysis found that the number of manuscripts published in 12 years (n = 191, or approximately 2.5% of 7452 published papers) on South Asian issues and populations is meager. Based on the reading of the intercultural manuscripts, this article identified eight key areas of scholarly attention, including acculturation and cultural adaptation, intercultural transitions, language and verbal communication, communication for social change, negotiation of identities, technology‐based communication, media and mediated communication, and new dynamics in the contemporary era. Later, this article talked about "silent zones" of contemporary intercultural scholarship—topics or areas that are under‐researched and then described potential pathways of future scholarship in imagining a more tolerant, just and equal South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depression is the most common mental illness and its profound impact on cognition and decision‐making has implications for political judgement. However, those implications are unclear in the case of referendums offering a choice between status quo and change. On one hand, one component of depression is the kind of life dissatisfaction associated with voting for change. Yet cognitive models also portray depression sufferers as biased towards the status quo: they are less inclined to research change, more pessimistic about its benefits and more likely to exaggerate its potential costs. In this paper, we use data from Understanding Society to examine the impact of those cross‐pressures on support for Brexit. Prior to the referendum, while life dissatisfaction and generally poor health predicted support for Leaving the European Union (EU), those diagnosed with depression were disproportionately likely to support Remain. Supporting our claim that the latter was a sign of status quo bias, this difference disappeared once the result was in and leaving the EU had become the widespread expectation. The study highlights the unexplored importance of mental health for political judgements, emphasises the multidimensionality of conditions like depression and illustrates the psychological role of status quo bias in referendum voting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Gramsci's notions of hegemony and subalternity may seem outdated in this 21st century, a critical examination of the literature shows that these concepts apply in this global pandemic and political context. Racialization is a form of structural violence. In this paper, I also explore Gramsci's' notion of engaged intellectuals to support the idea of social and political activism in nursing. Nurse scholars call for the decolonization of the discipline. Gramsci's philosophical approach to hegemony can be extended to racialization in nursing. Gramsci's notions of civil society and state can help nurses to see the structures that create racism in nursing and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is spreading through all walks of life, promising social and economic disruptions that prompt comparisons with the Industrial Revolution. While there is growing interest in AI ethics and its implications for humanity, there has been surprisingly little consideration of its implications for national identities and nationalism. This paper argues that the transformation of citizens into population data is driving changes to state sovereignty and that the simultaneous competition between (and within) states and global corporations on a structural level and expansion of algorithmic population management on a quotidian level may crystallize in ways that are likely to produce nationalist responses. It concludes by proposing a number of causal mechanisms and hypotheses regarding the emergence and spread of "AI nationalism." Scholars in nationalism studies can benefit substantially from embracing the study and applications of AI, though they ignore its development and spread at their peril. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are return migrants more entrepreneurial? Existing literature has not addressed how estimating the impact of return migration on entrepreneurship is affected by double unobservable migrant self-selection, both at the initial outward migration and at the final inward return migration stages. This paper exploits exogenous variation provided by the civil war and the incidence of agricultural plagues in Mozambique, as well as social unrest and other shocks in migrant destination countries. The results lend support to overall negative unobservable return migrant self-selection, which results in an under-estimation of the effects of return migration on entrepreneurial outcomes when using a 'naïve' estimator that does not control for self-selection at both the initial migration and at the final return migration stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last 30 years, different economic, political and social changes have taken place in the university sector and this has led to an extensive reform to meet the new societal challenges that these institutions are facing today. This emphasises the social dimension of universities and their important role in society as educators of future leaders and policy makers. This reveals the need to integrate social responsibility principles into the mainstream functions of universities. In view of these comments, this paper offers a review of the literature about university social responsibility during the period from 2000 to 2015. The objectives of the review are to: explore patterns in publication outlets; collect, scrutinise and critically analyse the current literature on this field; to identify gaps in the literature and make recommendations for further research in this field. To accomplish this task, data were collected from 15 specialist academic journals that focus on higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective delivery strategy coupled with relevant social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) have been identified as central to the implementation of micronutrient powders (MNP) interventions, but there has been limited documentation of what works. Under the auspices of 'The Micronutrient Powders Consultation: Lessons Learned for Operational Guidance,' three working groups were formed to summarize experiences and lessons across countries regarding MNP interventions for young children. This paper focuses on programmatic experiences related to MNP delivery (models, platforms, and channels), SBCC, and training. Methods included a review of published and grey literature, interviews with key informants, and deliberations throughout the consultation process. We found that most countries distributed MNP free of charge via the health sector, although distribution through other platforms and using subsidized fee for product or mixed payment models have also been used. Community-based distribution channels have generally shown higher coverage and when part of an infant and young child feeding approach, may provide additional benefit given their complementarity. SBCC for MNP has worked best when focused on meeting the MNP behavioural objectives (appropriate use, intake adherence, and related infant and young child feeding behaviours). Programmers have learned that reincorporating SBCC and training throughout the intervention life cycle has allowed for much needed adaptations. Diverse experiences delivering MNP exist, and although no one-size-fits-all approach emerged, well-established delivery platforms, community involvement, and SBCC-centred designs tended to have more success. Much still needs to be learned on MNP delivery, and we propose a set of implementation research questions that require further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does a treaty-based organisation account for its shifts in policy and procedure? With the European Union's history in focus, the paper observes a pattern of evolution by which departures from existing practice are justified as moves to better honour commitments already held. This logic of change-as-fidelity has long been the usual way of doing transnational politics in post-war Europe. The concept of revisionism, borrowed from the study of innovation in purposive organisations more generally, elucidates its place in the early European Community. The paper goes on to examine how more recent developments, especially visible in the Euro crisis, challenge this logic of change and threaten to displace it. It concludes by discussing what this implies for the political nature of the EU, and whether the revival of the revisionist method is plausible or desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes some adaptations made by the small town newspaper in Washington to the social and cultural changes occurring in the rural environment. Among these adjustments are: a stability in numbers has been reached, although at the expense of some loss of per capita circulation strength; a reduction in the number of two-newspaper towns; an increase in the size of the newspaper page; a shift from Saturday to Thursday as the second most important day of publication; a decreased interest in political parties and policies; a concentration on local news, particularly of persons and organizations. These trends suggest certain observations on the process of change and adaptation in social institutions, which by nature are slow to change: (1) adjustment to change is forced upon an institution by the inroads of competing agencies; (2) the stimulus to change comes from without, not from within the institution; and (3) changes in any one of the four elements of any institution, (a) rank and file membership, (b) leadership, (c) physical structure and equipment, and (d) pattern of attitudes lending sanction to the operation of the institution, will evoke changes and adpatations in the structure and functions of the institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociologia Ruralis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The last few years have witnessed an explosion of interest in the concept of social tipping points (STPs), understood as nonlinear processes of transformative change in social systems. A growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship has been focusing in particular on social tipping related to climate change. In contrast with tipping point studies in the natural sciences–for example climate tipping points and ecological regime shifts–STPs are often conceptualized as desirable, offering potential solutions to pressing problems. Drawing on a well‐established definition for tipping points, and a qualitative review of articles that explicitly treat social tipping points as potential solutions to climate change, this article identifies four deleterious patterns in the application of the STP concept in this recent wave of research on nonlinear social change: (i) premature labeling, (ii) not defining system boundaries and scales of analysis, (iii) not providing evidence for all characteristics of tipping processes, and (iv) not making use of existing social theories of change. Jointly, these patterns create a trend of overusing the concept. Recognizing and avoiding these patterns of "seeing the world through tipping point glasses" is important for the quality of scientific knowledge generated in this young field of inquiry and for future science‐policy interactions related to climate change. Future research should seek to identify empirical evidence for STPs while remaining open to the possibility that many social change processes are not instances of tipping, or that certain systems might not be prone to nonlinear change. This article is categorized under:Climate, History, Society, Culture > Ideas and KnowledgePerceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Behavior Change and ResponsesThe Social Status of Climate Change Knowledge > Sociology/Anthropology of Climate Knowledge [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gentrification is a process of social and spatial change, but it is also a changing process. This special issue aims to better understand new forms of gentrification, policies and experiences which have emerged since the year 2000. Specific emphasis has been given to the Netherlands, a country where the strong role of the state and more than two decades of pro-gentrification policy have created a unique context where gentrification is pursued, implemented and experienced in different ways than in the Anglo- Saxon world. Research into Dutch gentrification has led to new theoretical insights in the past and the papers in this special issue should present international readers with new and alternative perspectives towards contemporary gentrification, thereby contributing to a wider understanding of the 'geography of gentrification'. This introduction will examine new spatial and social manifestations of gentrification over the past decade, examine what binds them together as part of the gentrification process, introduce Dutch gentrification and outline the papers featured in this special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to discuss the use of a participatory documentary process ( PDP) in human geography as a method of constructing critical visual information on territorial histories of dispossession. The process was also used to enhance social change both in conjunction with local communities and within the communities themselves. The project involved 14 local young participants and four professionals who collectively produced a documentary on the rural context of violence in La Toma District, Colombia. By enabling the reflections and intentions of young participants in the research process, PDP gave special value to their social and political commitment to supporting community social organisation, and provided fresh research insights into comprehending territorial conflict. The paper concludes that this method amplifies participatory and action research approaches in geography by producing knowledge that is academically and socially relevant. Such collective, emancipatory and anti-hegemonic visual representations and actions for social change in PDP are especially pertinent in spaces of conflict and violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper applauds the vision and originality of Piketty's Capital and Ideology. We draw attention to the distinctive methodological perspective which he adopts, which we liken to call "social science engineering." This allows a problem oriented perspective on long‐term global social change which sidesteps siloed disciplinary debates in social science and history about the meaning of modernity, the rise of capitalism, the formation of social groups, and the primacy of nations. We bring out how his theory of property permits him to take forward his overarching insight that economic growth leads to wealth accumulation. This, therefore, challenges long standing sociological perspectives by insisting that modernity is a conservative, rather than a revolutionary and transformative process. We build on this essential contribution by noting some areas where his work can push forward even further, notably that his focus on shifting relativities obscures qualitative historical changes, and more particularly means his analysis of the 20th century is not as provocative as that of the 19th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant labour has transformed local economies in many places, often helping to reverse long-term decline. The emergence of new immigration destinations (NID) globally brings mixed opportunities for the individuals involved. This paper uses empirical evidence, focusing on the workplace, to show the performance, construction, and significance of migrant identity. By using social identity theory to examine what it means to be a 'migrant', it follows from Goffman's overarching concern with social interactions and his promotion of microanalysis as analytical lenses. The paper reveals the ambiguity of the label 'migrant'. It shows how the external application or internal enactment of migrant identities bestows particular status that represents an asset or an obstacle to integration. It can mean 'hard-working', 'less deserving', and 'exploitable', and it also denotes 'lazy' individuals. While some individuals assume the hard-working and 'exploitable' migrant identity in certain circumstances because of the benefits that it brings, this status can also cause high levels of dissatisfaction and distress among migrants. The research shows how the creation of a migrant identity limits the structures and networks from which migrants may draw resources and in so doing curtails the possibilities for social change due to migration. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of contemporary economic, environmental, and social changes, one of the main challenges facing cities is to build and realise a vision for a sustainable future. To do so, a number of local sustainability strategies are promoted in urban policymaking with the goal of improving citizens' participation and quality of life. The aim is to empower citizens and enable them to be more active in local and global sustainability issues. This paper focuses on identifying and discussing the alternative spaces in which the future of the city can be collectively envisioned, considering processes of socio-ecological change and power relations, consistent with an urban political ecology. The purpose of such spaces should be to link daily behaviour patterns of sustainability with urban environmental governance through processes of participation. In particular we suggest the adoption of an integrative approach between top-down and bottom-up approaches. One example is an experimental process, called the Altrevie project, which took place in a pilot area of the city of Brescia and involved 150 families. The approach is an example of participatory action research. Its first phase was a sample survey to obtain an initial representation of the lifestyles of the residents. In the second phase, residents learnt to measure their ecological footprint and participated in workshops and laboratories to improve the sustainability of their lifestyles. During the project, we identified and tried to promote alternative spaces in which to imagine and build the sustainable city: spaces of alternative consumption which go beyond the traditional market system (according to alternative economic geographies); and spaces of participation that can promote an integrative method between top-down and bottom-up approaches. These different approaches to urban development create unique conditions for seeking sustainability through innovative and participative visions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Antipode is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The increasing trend of urbanization has resulted in a growing imbalance in ecological systems that is affecting the lives of people globally. Planners often neglect the fact that human beings are part of the natural ecosystem and their ecological needs are ignored. Urban planning needs to focus on incorporating human-nature relationships as a key element. This paper explores ecocity elements in traditional towns of Kathmandu Valley with reference to Kirtipur, and seeks to argue that these consist of sustainable elements and practices that facilitate ecocity planning and development. An ecocity is quite a recent phenomenon. However, ecocity elements existed earlier and it seems relevant to include them in recent concepts. Similarities and differences of modern concepts and the lessons learnt from the traditional towns are worth exploring. Ecocity elements are analyzed in this paper by applying methods of document analysis, observations and interviews. Criteria for the analysis are ecologically oriented, sociocultural value oriented perspectives. The analysis will indicate if and how these elements/practices can be (a) maintained or (b) retrofitted or have to be (c) abandoned because they are not feasible anymore due to ecological, economic or sociocultural changes. Most of the traditional towns in the Kathmandu Valley were planned with the goal to maintain the natural ecosystem, and this has been reflected in the settlement pattern and land use, in the provision of basic infrastructure etc. The results of this paper indicate that there is a set of traditional sustainable elements and practices that are worth maintaining since they are part of the sociocultural and ecological tradition and that might contribute to ecocity transformation. Planning a city so as to disturb the natural ecosystem to the least possible extent is important for sustainability, and this research contributes to the theme of building sustainable and healthy cities. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until now the discussion on resilience has mainly adopted technical, economic, functional points of view. This paper assumes that, even though these approaches are important and necessary, they are not enough. If resilience must be a characterizing feature of every potential future society, its cultural dimension must be considered too. In order to make a contribution in this direction, the paper introduces the notions of distributed systems and cosmopolitan localism and discusses the possibility of using design tools to connect and reinforce them. It also observes that both distributed systems and cosmopolitan localism can be recognized in the growing wave of social innovations we are witnessing worldwide. Building on them, the paper concludes outlining an emerging design scenario, the SLOC scenario, and the new cultural fabric needed to implement it. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim We aim to explore the capacity of MCDA methods to successfully capture social impacts and integrate stakeholders' participation into environmental decision applications. We follow a theoretical framework that deconstructs the concept of social impact into two components: human impacts and social change processes. Location Global. Methods We systematically reviewed the literature on MCDA in the Web of Science ( ISI) database, finding 119 papers that meet our search criteria. For each paper, we identified the social change processes or human impacts objectives, along with the attributes that measured them. We also recorded the degree of stakeholder participation in each phase of the MCDA stages. Results We found that MCDA practitioners have increasingly integrated social concerns in the analysis of environmental problems, estimating the potential impacts, and developing participative procedures for stakeholders. We identified 252 objectives that represent human impacts or social change processes. Constructed attributes were the most commonly employed (56%), although natural (20%) and proxy (24%) attributes were also relevant. Estimating human impacts or social change processes can involve public participation, but is not a requirement for MCDA: 42% of papers ( n = 50) include stakeholder engagement in one or more stages of the decision-making process. We found that stakeholders engage differently across case studies, demonstrating that this process is neither simple nor homogenous. Main conclusions Our review suggests that MCDA methods are appropriate techniques to integrate a wide range of social objectives and stakeholder engagement, supporting well informed and democratic decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper is inspired by the observation that the social norm approach (SNA) to socially desirable behaviour change - that is, telling people about what lots of other people do - retains something of a Cinderella role among social marketing practitioners and academics. Thus, the objective of this paper is to bring the social norm approach to the attention of a wider - and specifically, marketing and social marketing - audience, in the hope that the practice, study and critical analysis of the approach can be widened and deepened. We begin this task by tracing the background of the social norm approach to its origins in psychology and social psychology and by discussing a number of typical social norm campaigns. Thereafter, we review four key characteristics of successful social norm campaigns. In our discussion, we return to a more theoretical discussion of how the social norm approach works, and we pose a number of questions that emerge from the paper. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objective: To explore the psychobiographical origins of Carol Gilligan's sensitivity to the importance of voice in human psychology, an awareness that, through her foundational written work, transformed the field. Method: Narrative inquiry and analysis. Results: Carol Gilligan's awareness of voice began at a young age with a self‐defining memory in which she learned to hold on to her own voice and experience. She never set out to be a social change agent, but she became one. Other scholars relied on her work, particularly the lyrical trope of "in a different voice" to change social (and psychological) attitudes toward women in many ways. This psychobiographical analysis traces Carol's personal struggles to sustain her own voice and knowledge, and these struggles met a culture that became able to hear something about how the patriarchal culture suppresses relational sensibilities. Rooted in a close and intense relationship with her mother, who expressed and imposed on her a duality between the voice of personal experience and the voice of meeting social expectations. Carol's understanding of the differing levels of what it means "to know" grounded a new conception of girls' development as well as of moral development. Conclusion: Carol Gilligan became an agent of social change because her inner world and life path coincided with sociocultural readiness to embrace her work as giving voice to an emerging awareness of the suppression and denigration of women's sensibilities in psychology as well as in the larger culture. Her lifelong conflicts about speaking her own truth versus conforming to a society in which she was well able to be successful attuned her to the ways in which others, particularly women, similarly discounted their own experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Job insecurity is a widespread workplace stressor that has been extensively investigated using quantitative approaches. With the use of a critical organisational psychology framework, we conducted a meta‐synthesis of 20 qualitative studies to investigate the experience of job insecurity among vulnerable employee groups (i.e., women and immigrants). The qualitative meta‐synthesis results suggest that there are meaningful differences. Specifically, whereas women were more concerned with and exposed to deteriorating working conditions, men experienced job insecurity as a threat to their identity. Among immigrants, the experience of job insecurity is viewed as largely intersecting with the legal system, impacting their ability to remain in their country and making them feel powerless. Thematic evidence also emerged regarding individual actions that participants use to attain security in contrast to corporate strategies that enhance job insecurity. We contribute to the critical organisational psychology literature by discussing how these results test common academic theories and neoliberal assumptions pervasive within the job insecurity literature: We highlight how organisations manufacture job insecurity, question the existence of harmonious social exchanges, discuss the use of job insecurity as a form of worker control, consider the role of the legal context in aiding worker exploitation and argue for an intersectional view of job insecurity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While injustice is widespread, collective action against it appears to be rare. This paper argues that this may be because research often focuses on a narrow range of outgroup-oriented actions, such as demonstrating, signing petitions, that are symbolic of a collective response to injustice. The present work takes a bottom-up approach to study a broad range of collective and individual actions that people undertake in response to collective injustice. Participants indicated actions they felt they could take (Study 1) and, via interviews, actually had taken (Study 2) in response to human-induced earthquakes. These studies revealed a broad range of actions, many of which are collective but ingroup- (e.g., helping ingroup members) rather than outgroup-oriented. Study 3 further conceptualized these collective and individual actions by including quantitative measures thereof in an assessment of responses to stressful life events that were collective or individual. Results revealed that, while traditional forms of collective action are rare, ingroup-oriented and individual level (e.g., social support) responses form distinct dimensions in response to both individual and collective events. This work extends our understanding of responses to collective injustice and suggests the need to broaden the scope of collective action research., (© 2018 The Authors. British Journal of Social Psychology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Psychological Society.)

In this paper, I present and criticize Ted Kaczynski's ("The Unabomber") theory that industrialization has been terrible for humanity, and that we should use any means necessary, including violent means, to induce a return to pre-industrial ways of living. Although Kaczynski's manifesto, Industrial society and its future, has become widely known, his ideas have never before been subject to careful philosophical criticism. In this paper I show how Kaczynski's arguments rely on a number of highly implausible philosophical premises. I further make the case that, although his theory as a whole should be rejected, Kaczynski raises a number of worries about technological development that ought to receive serious attention. Some of these worries have recently come to be shared by prominent defenders of human enhancement, including Nick Bostrom and Julian Savulescu. In the last section I indicate why I believe it is important that academic philosophers scrutinize ideas that motivate acts of violence., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The author reflects on several papers that were presented in a 2006 Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association conference in Manila titled "Climate Change in the Indo Pacific: Human responses from the Late Pleistocene to the Little Ice Age." It says that the inspiration for the conference and its publication is the dramatic boost in the availability of paleoenvironmental records in the Indo-Pacific region in the past ten years. Among the issues raised by the papers include the creation of new models that link changing climate and environment to cultural change.

This paper examines the degree of sociolinguistic change in the English of young middle-class South Africans of different ethnic backgrounds in relation to new post-apartheid opportunities and friendships. Once tightly controlled, social networks of young people of middle-class background are now deracialising. The paper examines whether young people of the major ethnic groups, Black, Coloured and Indian, are simply adopting prestige White middle-class norms, adapting them or resisting change. Forty-eight speakers were analysed within a Labovian framework in relation to thegoose vowel (long /u/or /uw/). Over 4000 tokens were analysed acoustically using PRAAT and compared via vowel normalisation procedures based on Watt and Fabricius (2003) . The results show that middle-class speakers of the three ethnicities are fronting the vowel, but in different ways. Black speakers show the greatest accommodation to erstwhile White norms. Females show greater resistance among Coloureds and Indians, but overall it is the Black females of the study who approximate most closely to the norms of the White reference group of their gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses inclusion of persons with disabilities in social cash transfer programmes in developing countries. Drawing on material from literature reviews and interviews, it considers potential challenges in the design of these programmes, particularly barriers to access and the complexities of assessment, and the impact of transfers for persons with disabilities. The paper identifies some key principles for including persons with disabilities in social transfer schemes, specifically: strong legal foundations; participation of persons with disabilities in programme design, implementation and evaluation; and embedding transfers within a wider framework of action to tackle discrimination and empower persons with disabilities. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining social welfare and opportunity in the face of severe ecological pressures requires frameworks for managing and governing long-term social–ecological change. In this paper we analyse two recent frameworks, adaptive management and transition management, outlining what they could learn from each other. Though usually applied in different domains, the two conceptual frameworks aim to integrate bottom-up and top-down approaches, and share a focus on the ability of systems to learn and develop adaptive capacity whilst facing external shocks and long-term pressures. Both also emphasize learning from experimentation in complex systems, but transition management focuses more on the ability to steer long-term changes in system functions, whilst adaptive management emphasizes the maintenance of system functions in the face of external change. The combination of iterative learning and stakeholder participation from adaptive management has the potential to incorporate vital feedbacks into transition management, which in turn offers a longer-term perspective from which to learn about and manage socio-technical and social–ecological change. It is argued that by combining insights from both frameworks it may be possible to foster more robust and resilient governance of social–ecological systems than could be achieved by either approach alone. The paper concludes by critically reflecting upon the challenges and benefits of combining elements of each approach, as has been attempted in the methodology of a research project investigating social–ecological change in UK uplands. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]