racialisation,relationality and riots: intersections and interpellations

This paper takes up Avtar Brah's (1999) invitation to write back to the issues she raises in her mapping of the production of gendered, classed and racialised subjectivities in west London. It addresses two topics that, together, illuminate racialised and gendered interpellation and psychosocial processes. The paper is divided into two main sections. The first draws on empirical research on the transition to motherhood conducted in east London to consider one mother's experience of giving birth in the local maternity hospital. The maternity ward constituted a site where racialised difference became salient, leading her to construct her maternal identity by asserting her difference from Bangladeshi mothers and so self-racialising, as well as ‘othering’ Bangladeshi mothers. The paper analyses the ways in which her biography may help to explain why her experience of the maternity hospital interpellates her into racialised positioning. The second section focuses on media responses to the riots in various English cities in August 2011. It examines the ways in which some media punditry racialised the riots and inclusion in the British postcolonial nation. The paper analyses three sets of commentaries and illuminates the ways in which they racialise the debate in essentialising ways, reproducing themes that were identified in the 1980s as ‘new racism’ and apportioning blame for the riots to ‘black gangster culture’. While these media pronouncements focus on racialisation, they are intersectional in implicitly also invoking gender and social class. The paper argues that the understanding of the mother's self-racialisation is deepened by a consideration of the racialised discourses that can be evoked (and are contested) in periods of social unrest. The paper thus draws on part of the methodology of ‘The Scent of Memory’ in layering media readings and biographical narratives to analyse the contemporary psychosocial space of racialisation.     

Mangroves, crabs, clams and communities in Airai State, the Republic of Palau

A collaborative 18 month study was conducted within 4 protected mangroves areas in Airai State, Southeast Babeldaob and the Republic of Palau with traditional men and women groups. Water quality, forest structure, and the size distribution and relative abundance of the mud crab, Scylla serrata and the clam Anodontia edulenta were studied. Water quality parameters differed significantly between sites as follows： pH （F=16.8; df=3,138; p〈0.000）, turbidity （KW-H=22.07; df=3,162; p〈0.0006）, salinity （F=19.8; df=3,366; p〈0.000）, dissolved oxygen （KW-H=13.4; dr=3, 169; p〈0.0012） and temperature （F=4.33; df=3,157; p〈0.006）. The total mean density of all trees was 2,077±225 stems ha^-1 and differed significantly between sites （KW-H=9.3; df=3; p〈0.02）. The total mean basal area was 18.9±2.76 m^2ha^-1 and differed significantly between sites （KW-H=36.2; df=3; p〈0.000）. The total mean volume of all trees was 679 m^3ha^-1 ± 201 m^3ha^-1. The total mean density of saplings was 1,234 ± 297 saplings ha^-1. The mean percent tree canopy cover significantly differed between sites （F=3.3; df=3, 32; p〈0.02）. Mean soil elevation decreased at sites 1 and 4 and increased at sites 2 and 3. The mean soil accretion was greater at sites 1 and 3 than sites 2 and 4. The mean weight for all crabs was significantly different between sites （F=3.2; df=3, 178; p〈0.02）. The mean weight for 55 females was 0.62 g ± 0.04 kg （SE） and differed significantly between sites （F=4.2; dr=3, 51; p〈0.01）. The mean weight for 157 males was 0.75 ± 0.04kg （SE）. The mean carapace width （CW） for all crabs was 14.30 ± 0.20 cm （SE）. The mean carapace width （CW） for 56 females was 14.4 ± 0.35cm （SE） and significantly differed between sites （F=4.6; df=3, 52; p〈0.006）. The mean carapace width （CW） for 157 males was 14.3 ± 0.21 cm. The mean CPUE for all sites was 0.48 ± 0.04 crabs trapl night^-1 （SE） and significantly differed between sites （F=2.9; df=3, 77; p=0.04）. A total of 21 tagged crabs were recaptured in the same area they were initially tagged, of which 3 male crabs had molted. A male was recaptured in the same trap 180 days after capture at Site 1 ; the carapace width increased by 3.6 cm and a weight increase of 0.75kg. A single A. edulenta was found in the protected areas. Clams harvested in Airai State outside the protected areas were significantly smaller than clams harvested in northwest Babeldaob （F=14.8; df=1, 198;p〈0.0002）. Crab fishers and the community recommended a harvest ban on female crabs, enforcement of existing 6inch CW harvest size limit, further investigation of point sources of coliform bacteria and sediment pollution and a harvest limit on mangrove trees.     

Sovereignty in the Balance: Claims and Bargains at the UN Conferences on the Environment, Human Rights, and Women

States vary the content and subject matter of their claims to sovereignty. In an analysis of when states invoked sovereignty at recent UN World Conferences on the environment (1992), human rights (1993), and women (1995), the authors revise and extend Litfin's (1997) notion of bargains among components of sovereignty. At the conferences, states invoked sovereignty in debates over cultural and religious values, economics, and increased international accountability. The authors interpret the debates based on how four elements of sovereignty—autonomy, control, and legitimacy in the eyes of other states and nonstate actors—are traded by states through implicit or explicit bargaining. They identify patterns that vary by issue area. The authors argue that nongovernmental organizations as well as other states may legitimate or delegitimate states' sovereign claims. They find that countries of the global South made more sovereignty claims of all kinds than Northern states. And, sovereignty bargains may be struck more easily over power and economics than social values.     

Exploring the influences on Australian agricultural professionals’ genetic engineering beliefs: an empirical analysis

This paper analyses what influences professionals’ beliefs on agricultural genetic engineering. A telephone survey was conducted in 2004 on Australian public agricultural professionals. Using an ordered probit regression, some of the significant key influences on overall beliefs were: age; research relevance; ethnicity; farm background; information and occupational effects; attitudes towards the current sustainability of conventional agriculture; attitudes towards agricultural research issues; and attitudes towards the individual aspects of genetic engineering. Somewhat surprisingly, subjective knowledge of genetic engineering was not a significant factor in influencing overall beliefs, although it did play a positive influence on some individual beliefs (such as the technology’s profitability benefits and that there is no need for more long-term research before further general release of genetically engineered products). However, more research on the links between actual knowledge and acceptance are needed before any definitive conclusions can be drawn.

The Revised Directive on Waste: Resolving Legislative Tensions in Waste Management?

The revised Directive on waste (Directive 2008/98/EC) enteredinto force on 12 December 2008. The purpose of the revised Directiveis to simplify the existing legislative framework for wastein order to encourage the divergence of waste away from landfills,to strengthen legal certainty and minimise burdens on businesses,regulators and stakeholders. This article explores the mainfeatures of the revised Directive and assesses them againstthe European Commissions' intentions in introducing the Directive.In addition, the paper considers the extent to which the revisedDirective promotes successfully (i) reduction of natural resourceuse, (ii) prevention of environmental impacts of waste generation,(iii) life-cycle thinking and; (iv) securing waste prevention.The paper concludes that there is still room for further clarification,particularly in relation to the criteria for by-products andthe new waste management terms ‘end of waste’ and‘preparing for re-use’. Whilst the revised Directivehas weaknesses and limitations it should be considered withinthe context of decision-making. In this way it represents amulti-party, multi-institutional and multi-national compromisewhich should be considered as a progressive step towards improvingthe whole life-cycle of products and resources. Undoubtedly,the revised Directive sets the tone for future legislative developmentsand bolsters the importance of extended producer responsibilityin future waste management measures.     

Sexual dimorphism in America: geometric morphometric analysis of the craniofacial region

One of the four pillars of the anthropological protocol is the estimation of sex. The protocol generally consists of linear metric analysis or visually assessing individual skeletal traits on the skull and pelvis based on an ordinal scale of 1-5, ranging from very masculine to very feminine. The morphologic traits are then some how averaged by the investigator to estimate sex. Some skulls may be misclassified because of apparent morphologic features that appear more or less robust due to size differences among individuals. The question of misclassification may be further exemplified in light of comparisons across populations that may differ not only in cranial robusticity but also in stature and general physique. The purpose of this study is to further examine the effect of size and sex on craniofacial shape among American populations to better understand the allometric foundation of skeletal traits currently used for sex estimation. Three-dimensional coordinates of 16 standard craniofacial landmarks were collected using a Microscribe-3DX digitizer. Data were collected for 118 American White and Black males and females from the W.M. Bass Donated Collection and the Forensic Data Bank. The MANCOVA procedure tested shape differences as a function of sex and size. Sex had a significant influence on shape for both American Whites (F = 2.90; d.f. = 19, 39; p > F = 0.0024) and Blacks (F = 2.81; d.f. = 19, 37; p > F = 0.0035), whereas size did not have a significant influence on shape in either Whites (F = 1.69; d.f. = 19, 39; p > F = 0.08) or Blacks (F = 1.09; d.f. = 19, 37; p > F = 0.40). Therefore, for each sex, individuals of various sizes were statistically the same shape. In other words, while significant differences were present between the size of males and females (males on average were larger), there was no size effect beyond that accounted for by sex differences in size. Moreover, the consistency between American groups is interesting as it suggests that population differences in sexual dimorphism may result more from human variation in size than allometric variation in craniofacial morphology.     

Jordan’s solution to the refugee crisis: idealistic and pragmatic education

ABSTRACT

Syrian refugees are causing upheavals in Jordan’s economy and education. Unemployment of Jordan’s native youth is 29.9% without the addition of unemployed refugees further threatening the stability of the country. The cost of educating, sheltering, feeding and integrating them into the cities with resulting school congestion creates resentment in citizens paying 60% of their national budget for refugees. To alleviate educational pressures alone, Jordan solicited funding from the European Union, United Kingdom, Germany, United States and Norway. Together, they pledged 81.5 million in May 2016 to expand education for Jordan’s refugee children. From the refugees’ perspective, all face similar challenges in gaining access to classrooms, adapting to the culture taught in the schools and catching up academically as they try to prepare for and seek employment to survive. Jordan’s government has implemented two 5-year educational reorganization programmes Educational Reform for Knowledge Economy (ERfKE) I, II that are in many cases unknowingly shifting instruction from idealism to pragmatism. This philosophical movement towards pragmatism is less expensive and more effective for future employment of all students in contrast to the existing idealistic system. Jordan’s transitioning changes in educational philosophies and programmes provide visions for Jordan’s future. Their educational adaptations provide suggestions for other refugee host countries.     

The Crime and Threat Image Set (CaTIS): a validated stimulus set to experimentally explore fear of crime

Objectives

Fear of crime may develop in response to crime specifically (the narrow pathway) or may be a projection of broader threats (the broad pathway). New approaches are needed to examine how crime and threat, independently and in combination, influence people’s fear. To address this need, we created, evaluated, and validated an image set that varied across the dimensions of threat and crime.

Method

We used a 2 (Threat: high vs. low) × 2 (Crime: high vs. low) within-subjects factorial design. In three studies, participants (N = 24, 29, and 176, respectively) gave threat, crime, and fear ratings towards images. Participants also completed two traditional fear of crime measures and a measure of anxiety. Two evaluation studies explored the suitability of 178 images to produce a final set of 80 images (20 in each of the four categories). We validated this final set of 80 images in a third study.

Results

The validated Crime and Threat Image Set (CaTIS) contains 78 images across four categories: threat-and-crime (high-crime, high-threat), threat-only (low-crime, high-threat), crime-only (high-crime, low-threat), and neutral (low-crime, low-threat). There were significant main effects of threat and crime, and an interaction between Threat × Crime, on participants’ fear ratings. Participants’ own ratings of threat—but not crime—had a strong relationship with their fear ratings.

Conclusions

Threat had a stronger influence on participants’ fear ratings than crime. Thus, what is typically referred to as fear of crime may reflect broader fear. Further research with the CaTIS could explore the expression of this fear.

     

Parental attitudes following exposure to child abuse prevention campaign materials: a randomized trial

The purpose of this study was to evaluate child abuse prevention campaign materials. Using a randomized posttest design, 600 parents from an online research panel were recruited and surveyed. Multiple regression results indicate that exposure to the campaign materials had a significant relationship with four of the five domains (effects of child maltreatment, the appropriateness of harsh parenting, the physical dangers and needs unique to childhood, and the power to prevent child maltreatment). These results have implications for the child abuse prevention practitioners who seek to design and distribute effective campaign materials.