Determinants of Stated Son Preference in India: Are Men and Women Different?

New sex-selective abortion technologies allow parents-to-be to implement their preference for sons more easily than in the past. With an unmet demand for sons in India, a better understanding of what leads respondents to prefer sons is important from a policy perspective. Stated son preference has seldom been studied in the past.

Using data from NFHS3, I conclude that never-married women's preference for sons is strongly influenced by the financial worth of children, whereas never-married men's preference for sons is mainly influenced by non-financial reasons, including their perception of women, their religion and their caste.     

Sex-selective Abortions and Infant Mortality in India: The Role of Parents’ Stated Son Preference

In India, millions of female foetuses have been aborted since the 1980s alongside an abnormally high infant girl mortality rate; this has generated a vast literature exploring the root causes of son preference. The literature is sparse, however, on how the decisions to abort or neglect girls are made. This paper examines mothers’ and fathers’ respective roles behind those decisions. Using the third National Family and Health Survey (NFHS-3) data, we show that sex-selective abortions are most commonly used if both spouses or if only the fathers prefer sons, while sex-selective neglect is used if only the mothers prefer sons.     

Uprooting or Sowing Violence?: Coca Eradication and Guerrilla Violence in Colombia

Belligerent nonstate actors including terrorist organizations often exploit illicit economies to fund their activities. In Colombia numerous belligerent groups are involved in illegal narcotics markets. For more than 20 years, the Colombian government has responded with targeted eradication of illicit crops, intending to undermine the groups' sources of revenue while simultaneously disrupting the illicit drug economy. Despite its duration, this policy's effect on guerrilla violence remains unclear. Examining the potential for violent backlash to these tactics, this research note assesses the impact of aerial coca crop eradication in Colombia from 2004–2005 on domestic Colombian guerrilla kidnappings, assassinations, and terrorism.     

Does Drug Trafficking Impact Terrorism? Afghan Opioids and Terrorist Violence in Central Asia

ABSTRACT

The relationship between drug trafficking and terrorism remains a contentious issue. While some assert that drug trafficking is a strong predictor of terrorism, others contest this observation. This study focuses on the impact of the Afghan opioid trade on terrorist violence in Central Asia, a region of drug transit states. We employ Geographic Information Systems–enabled visualizations of the drug trade and terrorism as well as statistical tests to study the drug–terror relationship at the subnational level. Our findings lend support to the argument that the drug trade facilitates terrorism, but we also find that the drug–terror relationship is multifaceted, complex, and intimately linked to the state.     

The Violence of Aid? Giving,power and active subjects in One World Conservatism

Abstract

Using ?i?ek's theorisation of power, we analyse the UK Conservative Party's Green Paper on international development, ‘One World Conservatism’ (OWC). We argue that by placing the West's giving of development aid as something beyond politics, on the moral high-ground of self-evident certainty, it acts to deflect attention from critical engagement with the nature of globalisation, power and aid itself, hiding both economic and epistemological violences behind the apparently benevolent act of giving. An analysis of the nature of the green paper demonstrates the ways in which it draws in UK citizens as active subjects complicit with this vision of the world.     

Curbing Corruption in India: An Impossible Dream?

This article analyses the serious problem of corruption in India by examining its causes and the various anti-corruption measures employed by the government from the formation in 1941 of the first anti-corruption agency, the Delhi Special Police Establishment, which was expanded to form the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in April 1963. India's ineffective anti-corruption strategy can be attributed to the lack of political will of its leaders and its unfavourable policy context, which has hindered the enforcement of the anti-corruption laws. The lack of political will in fighting corruption is manifested in the lowest per capita expenditure and least favourable staff-population ratio of the CBI when compared to those of its counterparts in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand. To enhance the CBI's effectiveness, it should be removed from the jurisdiction of the police and be established as an independent agency dedicated solely to curbing corruption. The Constitution of India should also be amended to empower the CBI to investigate corruption cases at the state level without obtaining the consent of the chief minister of the state. In view of the lack of political will, this article concludes that curbing corruption in India remains an impossible dream in the foreseeable future.     

Is More Violent Better? The Impact of Group Participation in Violence on Group Longevity for Far-Right Extremist Groups

Recent research has begun to explore the causes of organizational death for domestic far-right extremist groups. An important aspect that has not been examined is whether or not a group's participation in violence influences its longevity. This study addresses this gap in the literature by examining over 400 domestic far-right extremist groups that persisted for varying lengths of time to determine whether or not group participation in violence influences their longevity. Additionally, this study also examines whether a variety of external (environmental) and internal correlates influence the longevity of violent and nonviolent groups differently.     

Suicide,gender, and age variations in India. Are women in indian society protected from suicide?

A new set of data concerning the pattern of suicide in India between 1991-1997 are presented. Suicide rates rose over this period despite a small decline in the Indian suicide rate in 1995 and 1996. It was found that between 1995 and 1997 there was a modest fall in the suicide rates among under 29-year-olds of both sexes, and an increase among those 30 years and older. The pattern of suicides in India is bimodal: the incidence of suicides is highest for those in the 30-44-year-old category of both sexes and tends to decline in higher age categories. Suicide rates were nearly equal for young women and men, a contrast with the pattern of suicide sex ratios in eight developed countries.     

Professionals’ Experiences With and Perceptions of Children Exposed to Severe and Homicidal Violence in Sweden

The present study aimed to examine professionals’ experiences, perceptions, and knowledge regarding violence-exposed children in order to clarify the status and opportunities these children have in the Swedish legal system. A questionnaire was distributed to 63 professionals, representing police, prosecutors, social personnel, and treatment personnel. Findings revealed several problems that hindered effective work. Routines and guidelines were lacking and knowledge gaps regarding these children were found among all professions. Perceptions that children remember and tell were widely held, although conditions enabling sufficient reports are seldom met. Results can be used to guide necessary changes in national routines and guidelines to ensure recovery and maintaining of societal rights of this group of psychologically abused victims.     

Healing through Action? The Political Mobilization of Victims of Al Qaeda-Inspired Violence in Spain and the United Kingdom

Spain and the United Kingdom have experienced similar types of political violence. Since the 1960s, both countries have suffered casualties as a result of long-standing ethno-nationalist conflicts as well as terrorist attacks by Al Qaeda–inspired groups. In spite of these similarities, the two countries display a striking variation in the attitudes to victims. In Spain, Associations of Victims of Terrorism have been highly visible and influential, whereas United Kingdom-based organizations have not captured the public's imagination and the attention of policymakers in the same way. Spanish associations of victims have been present in the public sphere and have routinely provided their opinions on counterterrorist policy and appropriate government legislation whereas this sort of political activity is difficult to trace in the United Kingdom. As a result of this puzzle, the article tries to answer the following question: Why are associations of victims of terrorism by Al Qaeda–inspired attacks more influential in Spain than in the United Kingdom? The article will argue that political and sociocultural variables account for the difference. More specifically, the article demonstrates that the experience of both ethno-nationalist and jihadist political violence has affected party systems and cultural frames differently, hence providing distinct sets of political opportunities for victims’ associations to carry out their lobbying strategies.     

Who Gains More from Education? A Comparative Analysis of Business,Farm and Wage Workers in India

The economics literature on returns to education has focused largely on wage workers, thereby ignoring a sizable section of the workforce which is self-employed. This paper presents the estimates of private returns to education for business, farm and wage workers in India using a nationally representative household survey. The paper addresses the sample-selectivity issue arising due to endogenous sector allocation in the earnings equation using the multinomial-selection approach. Our results show that the average rate of return to education is higher for wage workers followed by business and farm workers. Focusing only on wage workers would provide an overestimate of returns by 30 per cent for business workers and by 40–50 per cent for farm workers. Further, the profile of returns across the education ladder varies perceptibly for the three type of workers with higher education being more rewarding for wage workers.