Role of Culture and Context: Ethical Issues in Research with Asian Americans and Immigrants in Intimate Violence

Ethical principles are often presented as universal, immutable rules. However, when conducting research with ethnic minority groups, such as Asian Americans and immigrants, ethical issues need to be placed within a sociocultural context as ethical responses are filtered through the specific value orientations and belief systems of the ethnic group under study. Further, when the group is a marginalized population, power dynamics complicate ethical principles of autonomy. The complexities are further accentuated with sensitive topics such as intimate violence or domestic violence. Consequently, ethical questions about autonomy, informed consent, confidentiality, limits to confidentiality, and protecting participants’ safety and reducing distress need to be at the forefront when planning intimate violence research. An overview of sociocultural context of Western biomedical ethics is presented and specific ethical issues that emerge when conducting intimate violence are discussed.     

Hawala: An underground haven for terrorists or social phenomenon?

In the wake of September 11, authorities have increasingly focused on an age-old method of banking and money transfer known as “hawala.” In this system, a local hawala dealer in one country (or area) takes money from a customer and (for a nominal commission) has an associate in another country (or area) give an equal amount of money to the recipient. This type of underground banking system remains resilient due to several key characteristics. These are: the system's simplicity, its inclusiveness (enabling it to function without any type of external support), and most importantly, its considerable prominence within, and adherence upon specific cultural and religious spheres. This article provides an overview of hawala banking, together with the historical and cultural milieu that gave rise to, and continues to foster it. It suggests that while Islam addresses the issue of debt transfer through the Islamic concept of hawala, the system is widely practiced through many parts of the world by both Muslim and non-Muslims alike. Therefore, to refer to the practice as wholly “Islamic” is erroneous. This study also demonstrates that the initiatives taken towards regulation and/or elimination of hawala are ill suited to deal with the operation of this particular system. This failure particularly reflects the lack of appreciation, on the part of authorities and policy-makers, for the broader social and cultural context in which hawala opearates. A more insightful understanding of the system will address such issues as competing legal paradigms, the local appeal of the system, as well as the likely negative consequences of current regulatory efforts. Thus, any attempts at regulating hawala should ensue with great cultural and religious sensitivity, and should address some of the larger issues that continue to uphold the system, such as the existence of inadequate economic infrastrcture in such nations as Afghanistan and Somalia.     

The 2008 Financial Crisis and the Flying Geese Model

In the twentieth century Japan embarked on an economic developmental path that came to be known as the Flying Geese Model. The geopolitical milieu after the Second World War provided Japan with favourable conditions for rapid economic growth and industrialization. By the 1950s, many had noticed the success of the model and it was subsequently adopted by other East Asian countries. They too enjoyed decades of remarkable economic growth. An important element of the model is growth driven by export to the USA and Europe. As a result of the 2008 financial crisis, the traditional markets of the geese are shrinking. The new situation poses grave challenges to both the existing flying geese economies and latecomer economies which wish to follow the model. East Asian countries are responding to the situation by broadening and deepening their existing economic linkages and developing new ones. This represents a continuation of East Asian regionalism in the wake of the 1997 financial crisis.     

Barack Obama Meets Celebrity Metaphor

Common knowledge suggests that elections are won or lost based on demographics, finances, and other structural elements. Whether candidates win or lose, however, is a matter of action. Symbolic identification, metaphor, and an unfolding narrative—and how they are managed and interpreted in the flow of events—determine who will emerge victorious from the democratic struggle for power. The McCain campaign’s effort to cast Obama as a celebrity, with the hollow trivialities and self-aggrandizement of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, proves to be one of the most dangerous episodes for the Obama campaign. In response, the Democrats must adjust the staging of Obama’s Thursday night acceptance speech in Denver as a performance of purpose and gravitas, rather than glitz and adoration.