Community Narratives of Disaster Risk and Resilience: Implications for Government Policy

The paper explores how subjective risk perception intersects with government disaster management policy that is premised on an objective approach to risk assessment and mitigation. It finds that the presumption of objective risk management underpinning government policy is fundamentally at odds with community risk perceptions. This paper applies the techniques of ethnographic study to explore how communities understand and frame risk narratives. Using qualitative methods, the paper constructs the risk narratives of residents of Rocklea, Brisbane, following their experience with the 2011 Brisbane Flood. These risk narratives are considered in light of the Australian National Strategy for Disaster Resilience and recommendations are accordingly made for government disaster management policy.     

The impact of employee perception on the successful institutionalisation and implementation of performance management systems in developing countries: The perspective from Ghana's public service

Performance management (PM) has become a key instrument in the quest to ensure optimal operations by organisations in the public sector. Some scholars, though, believe that PM has failed because of employees' negative perception and management's exclusion of employees from its development. Studies on the relationship between employee perception of PM and its effectiveness in the public sector are limited. We argue that management must value employee perception more highly than they do at present because it is unlikely employees would be willing to take an active part in implementing a change with which they disagree or that they see as having no value. This study examines the effect of employees' perception on the institutionalisation and implementation of PM in developing countries, with specific reference to Ghana.     

三十年来我国满铁研究现状述评

满铁（南满洲铁道株式会社）是日本设在中国最大的“国策会社”,是日本在中国搜集军事、政治、社会、文化等情报的特殊机构。日本战败后,满铁大部分资料留存于中国,分散于中国国内的数十家图书馆。这批规模巨大、卷帙浩繁的满铁资料,是我们研究东北亚近现代史、近现代中日关系史和中国东北地方史极为珍贵的第一手资料。三十年来我国的满铁文献资料,整理和出版及学术研究都取得了令人瞩目的成就,但也存在一些问题需要引起我们的重视。     

Asymmetric alliances and high polarity: evaluating regional security complexes in the Middle East and Horn of Africa

Abstract

The Middle East and the Horn of Africa exist in two distinct regional security complexes (RSCs), groupings of states exhibiting intense security interdependence within a distinct region, but rarely between regions. Recent geopolitical changes and related analyses, however, point to either a subsuming or a joining of the two RSCs, potentially leading to a high degree of uncertainty in two conflict-prone regions. Given the importance of such developments, we question this theory of RSC expansion by offering a concise review of recent security interactions between the two RSCs as well as quantitatively and qualitatively measuring the material power capabilities of relevant states. Borrowing from and contributing to RSC theory, we also identify and analyse concepts and indicators such as threat perception and sub-regional alliances. Our findings demonstrate the Middle East RSC is not expanding to include that of the Horn of Africa. The two remain distinct and under internal consolidation, despite the current discourse. Rather, high polarity in the Middle East coupled with often-congruent interests in Horn of Africa states best explains the current pattern of their interaction, particularly as Middle East states pursue strategies that further their own security interests at the expense of rival states within their own RSC.     

安全焦虑、信号传递与中国对东南亚国家的战略安抚

对于崛起的中国而言,采取系统性战略安抚,树立自我克制的负责任大国形象有助于赢得周边国家信任。然而,在二十多年睦邻外交实践中,东南亚国家始终对崛起的中国的意图感到焦虑,这种担忧因地理邻近性与实力不对称而变得更加敏感。2008年以来,东南亚国家对中国"核心利益"话语、逐步增多的外交制裁以及多边倡议给予了较大关注。面对东南亚国家上升的安全忧虑,中国外交主动释放安抚信号增信释疑。与强制策略不同,安抚策略关注如何从正面激励换取他国的信任。立足于对现有文献的批判性整合,重新梳理善意信号的呈现形式(情感-物质)与成本来源(内生-外生)两大维度,可以从逻辑上生成四种睦邻安抚信号的表达路径:睦邻话语、相互依赖、无私援助与制度约束。面对中国的吸引与安抚,东南亚国家也会主动进行试探与甄别,以讨价还价、社会化、对冲试探和制度牵制四种方式,对中国释放的安抚信号进行评估。由于安抚信号的可信度评估具有主观性,东南亚国家对中国安抚信号存在不同理解,中国外交需换位思考并理解东南亚国家的试探心理。     

Longitudinal Effects of Perceived Maternal Approval on Sexual Behaviors of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Young Adults

Data were obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine the longitudinal association between Asian and Pacific Islander (API) adolescents’ perceptions of maternal approval of their sexual activity and contraception use, and four sexual outcomes during young adulthood. The study includes a nationally representative sample of 1,195 API adolescents. Logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the associations between predictors (Wave I) and outcomes (Wave III), controlling for covariates. API adolescents who perceived that their mothers approved of their sexual activities were more likely to have engaged in sex before age 15, contracted HIV/Sexually Transmitted Diseases, had multiple sex partners, and paid money for sex during young adulthood. Findings highlight the need for parent–adolescent communication and parental involvement in preventing negative sexual health outcomes among API adolescents transitioning to young adulthood.

‘A quite natural and moderate defensive feeling’? The 1945 Hampstead ‘anti-alien’ petition

In October 1945 an ‘anti-alien’ petition was launched in the London Borough of Hampstead that, under the pretext of securing homes for returning ex-servicemen, campaigned for the removal of the district's predominantly Jewish refugee population. By examining the nature of support and opposition to the petition Macklin's local case study provides further evidence to suggest that reactions to those who had fled Nazi terror remained complex. Those who did find sanctuary were characterized by the local press not as ‘deserving victims’, but as the cause of the problems created by their Nazi persecutors. A detailed examination of the rhetoric of the petition movement reveals how this defence of local amenities against ‘alien‘ encroachment can rightfully be defined as ‘antisemitic’. Following an analysis of the role of the local press, Macklin examines its impact on, and interaction with, local and central government policy regarding reconstruction and immigration, which continued to be dominated by the dogma that harmonious race relations necessitated the strict control of immigrants, regardless of the desperation of their plight. He concludes by examining the media's symbiotic relationship with extremist and fascist politics.     

What’s in a Name … or a Face? Student Perceptions of Faculty Race

Utilizing Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a conceptual framework, this study examines student perception of faculty of color in academia from student professor preference. Using an experimental design to test the effect of race on selection of faculty with whom to take a course, we showed student participants two types of pairings of faculty: first, pairs of photos of faculty of different races, and same age and attractiveness, then names of faculty, paired by different race were shown. The study provided evidence of racial bias with a strong preference for courses taught by White faculty by various subgroups of students, providing a snapshot of what faculty of color potentially stand to face in classroom environments.     

Measuring peace using household-level data from post-conflict Solomon Islands

The definition of peace and its quantification has challenged many researchers. The extant literature defines and measures peace in contradistinction to violence, thereby making the measure an indirect one. There is scope for the alternative of a direct measure of peace in the form of a Peace Perception Index (PPI) as revealed here. We use household-level survey data from Guadalcanal Province in the Solomon Islands to compute the PPI. Our analysis shows that the once conflict-affected communities on Guadalcanal have attained a PPI of 88 per cent of the level of peace prior to the conflict. That is, the perception of the level of peace in the sampled community has improved to 88 per cent since the installation of a peacekeeping mission a decade back. We argue that recognising the people’s perceptions, rather than the use of the absolute minimalist or maximalist notion of peace provides nuances on the levels of peace reached in a post-conflict situation.     

The Limits of RMB Internationalization

正RMB internationalization is one of the most important issues for China’s economy.Owing to the real factors affecting it,however,its development will be slower than media speculation can envisage.There is an exaggerated perception of RMB internationalization when considered according to percentage growth statistics,because calculations of them start from extremely low levels.For example,the proportion of RMB payments in the U.S.in April 2014 rose 100percent compared to a year earlier.This sounds spectacular,until taking into account that the rise constituted