Development jujitsu: Looking on the bright side

Whatever one concludes with respect to whether global standards of living are getting better or worse, it is undeniable that people everywhere are becoming more closely integrated into and dependent upon a global economic system over which they have no control. This is a consequence not of policy failures but of policy decisions. The richer, more powerful countries have always sought access to the poorer ones mainly in order to exploit them, and such exploitation has always been undertaken in the name of noble cause—in centuries past, most commonly saving souls, in the late twentieth century, development. That would not cease to be the case if people of selfless good will disassociated themselves from the official enterprise of development assistance. The challenge, then, for those who would turn the tables and promote the empowerment of poor communities is to take advantage of the cover story. If hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue, the tribute must at least be invested well. Jan Knippers Black is a professor of international policy studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Previously she has been Research Professor of Public Administration at the University of New Mexico and Senior Research Scientist and Chairman of the Latin American Research Team in the Foreign Area Studies Division of American University. Her recent publications include:Latin America, Its Problems and Its Promise, 2nd ed. rev. (1991);Development in Theory and Practice; Bridging the Gap (1991); andDevelopment on a Human Scale (forthcoming). She has also published more than 100 chapters and articles in reference books and anthologies, journals, magazines, and newspapers.     

The decision makers

This is a report on family planning in 3 villages in India, Tanzania, and Bangladesh. The Indian and Tanzanian respondents favored large families and did not favor the practice of family planning because economic circumstances seemed to them to support the need for large families. The respondents in the Bangladesh villages realized that a large family could be an economic burden. There was some mention of rural health centers, primary health centers, and mobile matenal/child untis for the provision of health services to rural people. Knowledge regarding these services was not widespread or complete. Family planning education services must overcome the weight of ignorance, tradition, and misconceptions. The rural women in the Bangladesh villages observed were anxious to take oral contraceptives. Their need was for a regular source of supply, adequate education concerning the working of and possible side effects associated with pills, and proper medical supervision during their pill therapy.     

The mothers' international: The Women's Co-operative Guild and feminist pacifism

The Women's Co-operative Guild (now the Co-operative Women's Guild), founded in 1983 as an auxilliary of the English Consumer Co-operative Movement, became a strong feminist representative of married working-class women. Its ‘social’ feminism stressed women's maternal, domestic role, deriving from it a series of values seen as lacking in male-dominated public life. Politics was to be transformed by means of women's active involvement, including but extending past their acquisition and use of the vote. The ‘female’ values were nurturant and cooperative; internationally, they focussed on international organization and peace. The Consumer Co-operative Movement provided a reformist ideology supportive of women's activism and pacifism, but the Movement itself as an organization was increasingly hostile to the Guild's feminism both within and outside the Movement. Although relatively uninfluential, the Guild thus embodies a tradition of feminist pacifism that is active and increasingly influential today.     

Comparison of ages of epiphyseal union in North American and Bosnian skeletal material

The accurate determination of age at death is a critical component in the analysis of human skeletal remains. Population specific techniques are often used without due consideration of the provenance of the material being studied. This communication considers the ages at which epiphyseal union occur in young Bosnian males and compares those findings to data published by McKern and Stewart on young North American soldiers killed during the Korean War. Of the ten epiphyses considered in this study, all elements were observed to be at least two years in advance in the Bosnian sample compared to the American sample. This article demonstrates that whilst standards based on an American sample produce broadly applicable age ranges for use on forensic work in the Balkans, the age ranges generated produce an upper age limit that is often two or more years older than the chronological age. Therefore, it is desirable, that wherever possible, appropriate standards should be devised for more accurate aging reflecting population specific profiles.     

Does corporate social responsibility cushion unethical brand behavior? Insights from chocolate confectionery

Food and agribusiness companies face increasing scrutiny of their corporate social responsibilities (CSRs) due to the impacts of their business activities on the environment and in society. In particular, the procurement practices of some companies in the commercial food industry have been linked to unsustainable farming, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity. This study investigates the extent to which a positive CSR reputation influences consumers' evaluations of a company and its new products following brand misconduct involving unethical procurement of palm oil. The results of an experiment revealed that a positive CSR reputation prior to the misconduct enhanced consumers' evaluations of the company and their support for its new products, thereby facilitating its recovery. These findings extend understanding of the potential insurance afforded by a positive CSR reputation and its halo effect in situations of brand misconduct in the food industry, in this case where a brand has failed to meet consumers' expectations of its obligations to avoid commercial activities that threaten the natural environment.