The Burden of Caste on Social Identity in India

Abstract

This paper uses the World Values Survey to investigate the determinants of perceived social status in India. Caste is still the largest determinant, yet not the only one, as income, education and occupation are all relevant factors. However, only unlikely improvements in those economic attributes could offset the burden of being from a low caste or tribe on perceived social rank. This study is part of the literature that shows how the internalisation of prejudice and long-lasting discrimination may have impaired individuals’ self-esteem. The results stress the need to account for self-depreciation when assessing the efficiency of affirmative action policies.     

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马来西亚城市化进程对马来家庭的影响

随着马来亚联合邦(马来西亚前身)于1957年宣布独立,该国的城市化进程如火如荼地拉开了帷幕。近半个世纪以来,随着政府颁布一系列扶植马来人的政策,特别是1971年推行新经济政策,越来越多的马来人从乡村涌向城市,投身到国家的经济建设中去。以伊斯兰教为生活指引的马来家庭在城市化浪潮中受到巨大冲击,发生了诸多改变。本研究通过对马来西亚首都吉隆坡47家低收入马来家庭的采访和调研,解析了马来家庭功能在城市化进程中发生的变化以及这种变化造成的影响。     

Bullies, Gangs, Drugs, and School: Understanding the Overlap and the Role of Ethnicity and Urbanicity

Recent media attention has increased interest in behavioral, mental health, and academic correlates of involvement in bullying. Yet, there has not been much interest in investigating the co-occurrence of other health-risk behaviors, such as gang membership, weapon carrying, and substance use. The potential influence of contextual factors, such as youth ethnicity, urbanicity, and school characteristics, also has been overlooked in previous research. The current study examined different subtypes of involvement in bullying—as primarily a victim, as primarily a bully, as both a victim and bully, and no involvement—and the association with significant health-risk behaviors, including engaging in violence and substance use, as well as academic problems. The analyses use self-report data from 16,302 adolescents (50.3 % female, 62.2 % Caucasian, 37.8 % African American) enrolled in 52 high schools. A series of three-level HLM analyses revealed that bullies and bully/victims were generally at greatest of risk of being involved in violence, engaging in multiple types of substance use, and having academic problems. These findings extend prior research by emphasizing a potential link between involvement in bullying and multiple health-risk behaviors, particularly among urban and African American high school youth.     

Examining Associations Between Race, Urbanicity, and Patterns of Bullying Involvement

Research on the role of race and urbanicity in bullying involvement has been limited. The present study examined bullying involvement subgroups that relate to race, urbanicity, and the perceived reason for the bullying. Self-report data were collected from 10,254 middle school youth (49.8 % female; 62.4 % Caucasian, 19.0 % African American, and 5.6 % Hispanic) and latent class analyses were used to identify three subtypes of bullying involvement: low involvement (50 %), victim (31.3 %), and bully-victim (18.7 %). Irrespective of urbanicity (urban vs. non-urban), African American youth were more likely to be members of either the victim or bully-victim classes than the low involvement class. Further exploration of the community context suggested that urbanicity was associated with the increased likelihood of having been racially bullied. Urban bully-victims were also more likely to have been bullied about money than non-urban bully-victims. Findings underscore the importance of addressing both race and urbanicity for culturally sensitive prevention programming.     

奥巴马当选与美国变革

2008年11月5日，耗时近两年的美国总统大选落下帷幕，据美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）最新统计，民主党总统候选人奥巴马共获得365张选举人票和53％的普选票，麦凯恩仅获得162张选举人票和46％的普选票；在同时进行的国会两院改选中，民主党分别获得参议院100席中的57席和众议院435席中的255席，继续控制国会且优势进一步扩大，奥巴马高票当选美国第56届总统、第44任总统，将于2009年1月20日正式宣誓就职。本次大选是美国发展到关键阶段举行的具有里程碑意义的历史性选举，     

北京市强污染日下的逆温层结构分析

针对１９９８年９月,１９９９年１月和６月间发生的强污染日,利用探空气象资料分析其发生的气象原因,发现湿度较大条件下的接地逆温和多层逆温是造成强污染日的气象原因,并分析了强污染日气象条件下的污染物积累浓度和大气能见度分布。     

Explaining Support for Non-nationalist Parties in Post-conflict Societies in the Balkans

Parties willing to engage in cross-ethnic political cooperation are essential for the stability and democracy of ethnically divided post-conflict states. The investigation of voting in Macedonia and Bosnia, which are similarly small, impoverished, ethnically fragmented and threatened states that arose out of Yugoslavia, helps uncover factors that encourage voters to support parties willing to engage in cooperative multiethnic governance. Analysis of survey data suggests that supporters of the non-nationalist challengers in the first post-violence elections expressed both strong positive associations with the past communist system and clear negative assessments of the governing record of the incumbent nationalists, sentiments that were stronger among Macedonians than among Bosniaks. Data, however, call into question popular contentions that voters' support for non-nationalists is rooted in their social tolerance or engagement in civil society. The finding that Macedonian support for non-nationalist parties is partly due to negative voting combines with difficult domestic social and economic conditions, unfriendly neighbours and uncertain regional integration processes to suggest continuing challenges for Macedonia.     

我国人大会期制度的宪政价值及其实现

我国人大会期制度的原则性缺陷导致了人大会期实践的随意性和理论上的纷争。作为人民代表大会制度的重要组成部分,人大会期制度与宪政紧密相连,体现了人民民主、权力保障、权力制约等宪政价值。为了实现人大会期制度的宪政价值,必须从我国的实际出发,以充分发扬民主、切实履行法定职权为基点,循序渐进地完善人大会期制度。