An income-related loans proposal for drought relief for farm businesses

In 2004 the Commonwealth government is undertaking a review of its drought policy. This follows expenditure in excess of $1 billion on drought relief during 2002 and 2003 and comes only a decade after similarly large expenditure on support for farmers during the drought of the 1990s. Drought support for farm businesses has been provided within the framework of the National Drought Policy (NDP) agreed by Commonwealth and state governments in 1992 and at present is in the form of interest rate subsidies. This article suggests an alternative form of drought relief for farm businesses based on the Higher Education Contribution Scheme, which is more equitable between farmers, less regressive in its impact on tax payers and less open to politicisation.     

China's consumer revolution: The 1990s and beyond

Since 1980 China's economic revolution has enabled more households to allocate labor to market‐related activities to earn more income. In 1992 an even greater surge in market economy growth took place when urban households began abandoning state‐related occupations and took their chances in the marketplace. The increase in consumer spending that followed reflects a new pattern of household spending for the first time in China since 1949: the share of spending for food relative to spending for other categories of goods and services is fast declining. This new trend, already strongly evident among high income‐earning households, is rapidly being replicated by other households as their incomes rise. During the 1990s new consumer patterns have emerged in the cities of the coastal provinces that strongly indicate that a consumer revolution is under way. This revolution has revived traditional gift‐giving between the Chinese people, thus facilitating the strengthening of their social, economic, and political ties and encouraging people to emphasize social and political stability.     

Advancing Human Rights Policy: Does Grassroots Mobilization and Community Dispute Resolution Matter? Insights from Chiapas,Mexico

This research examines the impact of grassroots organizing at the community level in Chiapas, Mexico, to address problems associated with human rights advocacy and implementation. Traditionally, the nation‐state has had the primary responsibility to address issues pertaining to human rights violations and the enforcement of international human rights principles and treaties. Local political struggles and acts of resistance by disenfranchised groups in Mexico offer insight to understand the impact of indigenous and other social movements in furthering human rights. Indigenous populations in the state of Chiapas use local community dispute resolution to contest the inadequacy of the state in responding to the problems that give rise to poverty, lack of human dignity, educational access, racial and ethnic discrimination, lack of political participation in government and the right to equality in economic, social, and political sectors. Drawing from research based on participant observations in Chiapas, Mexico, there is some evidence to suggest that since the 1994 EZLN (Zapatista National Liberation Army) uprising several micro‐level political and social movements have contested the power of the state through symbolic and pragmatic organizing efforts. These groups include, but are not limited to, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), women's groups, and indigenous groups. After the Zapatista uprising, these groups were instrumental in making claims against the state through numerous activities: protests to end the war, the development of NGOs to observe human rights violations, civilian‐based Zapatista support groups (base de apoyo), peace camps, and open dialogue with the EZLN. I argue that collective mobilization in local communities serves both symbolic and pragmatic efforts in helping disenfranchised groups empower themselves to address economic, social, and political inequality. Local‐level activism has fueled a sense of self‐empowerment to change state institutional responses and to involve sectors of civil society domestically and internationally to initiate a proper resolution of issues that are fundamentally related to human rights.     

L'offre active de services de santé mentale en français en Ontario et au Manitoba : les rôles clés des instruments et des outils

This article is based on the results of a survey carried out in 2019 to document health managers and professionals’ knowledge concerning their linguistic obligations and the tools promoting active offer in the field of mental health in French, in Ontario and Manitoba. The working hypothesis is that knowledge of the obligations and available tools can contribute to a successful offer of services in French. The more professionals and managers understand their obligations, the more tools they can use to fulfill them. The study shows that there is indeed a link between knowledge of obligations and the use of tools to provide an active offer of mental health services in French. It also highlights the key role of tools to provide French services actively.     

Underground banks in NYC,their main clientele and operators: The perspective of Chinese illegal immigrants

The financial link of the process of illegal immigration is an unexplored area in previous studies. This current work is the first qualitative study to deal with this concern. The study examines the nature of Chinese-operated informal fund transfer systems in the U.S. by investigating the main clientele, operators or owners, location, and operation style of Chinese underground banks. The primary source of data came from in-depth interviews with thirty illegal immigrants in New York City and Philadelphia. The findings show that the emergence of underground banks in the U.S. coincided with the largest tide waves of Abstract: The financial link of the process of illegal immigration is an unexplored area in previous studies. This current work is the first qualitative study to deal with this concern. The study examines the nature of Chinese-operated informal fund transfer systems in the U.S. by investigating the main clientele, operators or owners, location, and operation style of Chinese underground banks. The primary source of data came from in-depth interviews with thirty illegal immigrants in New York City and Philadelphia. The findings show that the emergence of underground banks in the U.S. coincided with the largest tide waves of Chinese illegal immigrants smuggled into the U.S. They served as a preferred means of fund transfers among Chinese illegals due to the unique service they offered, not necessarily because of the clients' illegal status, or coercive means by smuggling groups. The evidence generated from this research provides support for the illegal enterprise perspective. Chinese illegal immigrants smuggled into the U.S. They served as a preferred means of fund transfers among Chinese illegals due to the unique service they offered, not necessarily because of the clients' illegal status, or coercive means by smuggling groups. The evidence generated from this research provides support for the illegal enterprise perspective.     

STUBBORN LEGACIES OF WAR: Japanese Devils in Sarajevo

Japanese Devils, a documentary of personal confessions of war crimes by Japanese Imperial soldiers in China duringWorldWar II, was invited to the Sarajevo Film Festival, in August, 2002. Accompanying the film and its director to Sarajevo, the author, an American, sensitive to the postwar Japanese experience, discovered a people and city still deeply traumatized by war. The visit prompted a series of questions about the origins of genocide, the consequences of targeting civilians in war, and our collective responsibility to question and listen to the stories of perpetrators, as civilians increasingly become explicit targets in hostilities.     

Balancing acts in construction: A study of two women painters in Denmark and Britain

The construction industry is the most male-dominated labour market in every country in Europe. In Britain and Denmark, women constitute only 1% of those employed in this industry. In spite of the barriers to women entering and remaining in skilled construction work, inroads have been made. Amongst housepainters in Denmark, for instance, women constitute 27% of the workforce and 40% of trainees, and in a number of local authorities' Direct Labour Organisations in Britain, relatively high proportions are to be found. Through the example of two women painters in Britain and Denmark, each with over 14 years' continuous employment, the authors identify the opportunities and obstacles to women entering and remaining in the construction industry. The commonalities and differences between the two countries are illustrated, and it is shown how integration has successfully occurred where social and working conditions are better. The paper concludes that gender segregation and the exclusion of women can be attributed to structural discrimination through training and recruitment mechanisms, the nature of labour relations, employment conditions and the wage system.