Challenges and lessons learnt from a sanitation project in rural Bolivia

The University of Arizona chapter of Engineers Without Borders USA has faced multiple challenges involving community participation in rural development, in the Andean community of Marquirivi, Bolivia, both in rural design and in community participation. Despite successful construction of a shower house in 2014, the EWB-USA UA team experience with community participation revealed the numerous complexities involved in engaging successfully with communities. The importance of previous aid in a community with development projects also emerged as critical in shaping actions. This article discusses lessons learnt and recommendations for rural infrastructure projects, as well as the EWB-USA model of sustainable development.     

Environmental sanitation and pollution control measures in the Odaw-Korle River catchment,Ghana

This article reports on a study that sought to understand the major factors to consider in changing poor environmental sanitation practices in urban communities in Accra, Ghana. The study focused on three main issues: the drivers of sanitation and pollution control measures in the communities; community members’ perceptions on the influence of poor planning on environmental sanitation and pollution; and how existing local governance arrangements influence environmental sanitation and pollution control. It found that efforts are made at the city, community, and individual levels to control poor environmental practices. In order to control environmental pollution, policy initiatives on sanctions should be coupled with the provision of efficient sanitation facilities and services.     

Understanding accessibility to healthcare for elderly people in Bangladesh

Healthcare facilities for the rising number of elderly people living in rural and semi-urban areas in Bangladesh are insufficient. This article assesses the accessibility to healthcare for elderly people living in rural and semi-urban areas. Data collection was carried out using surveys, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews, and both quantitative and qualitative tools were used in analysis. Upazila hospitals, which are geographically easily accessible for elderly people in rural and semi-urban areas, have a dearth of specialist doctors to treat their chronic diseases and lack sophisticated diagnostic facilities. It is recommended that a course on gerontology be introduced in the medical curriculum to increase the number of available geriatricians, and resources allocated for sophisticated diagnostic facilities in upazila hospitals.     

From internationalism to the European Union: An ideological change in the Polish post-communist party?

The Polish post-communist party Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland (Socjaldemokracja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, SDRP) which survived almost unchanged in the dynamic Polish political scene of the 1990s was one of the leading political parties after 1989. This paper will attempt to explain the ideological journey, which has been taken by the former high-ranking Polish United Workers' Party members after 1989. Their journey seems to start at the point of internationalism and socialism and ends in the victorious battle to join the European Union. Was this a simple modernized adjustment of the internationalist ideology or an opportunistic choice made in order to survive in the new political and social circumstances? Was choosing a pro-EU policy a choice or a necessity? This analysis will attempt to answer the above questions and describe this phenomenon of change or may be just an ideological continuity.     

An Unbearable Price: War Casualties and Warring Democracies

Israeli society has changed its attitude to the sacrifice of life in war, a change that is reflected in the bereavement discourse. Attitudes have shifted from the unquestioned justification of military losses prior to the First Lebanon War (1982) to the emergence of an antiwar bereavement discourse after the war and during the South Lebanon war of attrition that followed it. More recently, following the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the Second Lebanon War (2006), a discourse that accepts losses has emerged. While the retreat from the hegemonic discourse prior to the First Lebanon War is explained by the changing attitudes to military sacrifice among the social elites, the latter shift took place in parallel with the alteration of the social composition of the Israeli Defence Force. It is argued that the social composition of the military affects the level of sensitivity to losses. While secular upper-middle class groups tend to show a high level of sensitivity to war losses, which they then translate into a subversive bereavement discourse, religious and peripheral groups with a hawkish agenda are more tolerant of military losses, or, alternatively, may seek to avoid excessive casualties by improving the military’s performance or the quality of the political directives.

党员志愿服务及其创新机制分析

当前,党员志愿服务蓬勃发展,在体现为人民服务宗旨、帮助困难人群与家庭、弘扬文明与道德风尚、改善党员与群众关系、塑造服务型党组织等方面发挥积极的作用。但是,党员志愿服务要避免"作秀、加负、变味、垄断"四个偏差,尽量做实做好,真正满足人民群众的需求。党员志愿服务的创新发展,可采取"四个联动"策略,即党员志愿者与社会组织联动、党员志愿者与社区农村联动、党员志愿者与专业机构联动、党员志愿者与信息网络联动,通过党员志愿者的示范带动,建立邻里守望的社会环境,倡导行善立德的社会风尚。     

都市佛教的实证考察——以福州K寺为例

本文运用田野调查等实证研究方法,以福州开元寺个案,归纳分析都市佛教社会参与的变化,观察都市佛教在社会功能上的转型。本文对这个问题进行探索,目的是以之为都市佛教在现代社会的存适提供一个个案研究实例的参照。研究结果表明,以佛教社会学的角度。对僧团进行多学科的个案研究,以反映出都市佛教不断转型的历史轨迹,也是有价值的。     

中国特色社会主义道路问题研究

邓小平开辟了中国特色社会主义的伟大道路,它既坚持科学社会主义的基本原则又立足我国实际和时代特征赋予鲜明的中国特色。从科学社会主义和当代中国发展史来看,中国特色社会主义道路的中国特色表现在为当代中国一切发展进步奠定了根本政治前提和根本制度基础的中国新民主主义革命道路和社会主义革命方法的中国特色,表现在改革开放中成功地开辟了一条不同于其他发展模式的社会主义道路的中国特色,表现在中国特色社会主义的发展大道具有六条有中国特色的具体发展道路的中国特色。     

解放思想与中国特色社会主义理论体系创新

改革开放以来,解放思想不仅被赋予深刻的内涵,而且具有重要的现实针对性。解放思想是中国特色社会主义理论体系形成和发展的先导,是新时期发展中国特色社会主义的一大法宝。因此,发展中国特色社会主义需要我们继续解放思想,这是科学发展观的根本要求,也是发展中国特色社会主义的本质体现。     

Escaping Poverty and Securing Middle Class Status: How Race and Socioeconomic Status Shape Mobility Prospects for African Americans During the Transition to Adulthood

This article draws on extant research from the disciplines of psychology, sociology, and economics to identify linkages between individual, family, community, and structural factors related to social mobility for African Americans during the transition to adulthood. It considers how race and class together affect opportunities for social mobility through where African Americans live, whom they associate with, and how they are impacted by racial and class-related stigma. Of particular interest is social mobility as accomplished through academic achievement, educational attainment, employment, economic independence, and homeownership. Research on five issues is reviewed and discussed: (a) the unique vulnerabilities of newly upwardly mobile African Americans, (b) wealth as a source of inequality, (c) racism and discrimination, (d) the stigma associated with lower-class status, and (e) social and cultural capital. The article concludes with a summary and directions for future research.