Diversity in gender and visual representation: a commentary

Visual images deserve our critical attention more than ever. In this commentary, I draw together the papers in this Special Issue on Diversity in gender and visual representation. The collection here is ‘diverse’ in terms of the breadth of visual representations, and through the methodological interdisciplinary approach of its contributions. I consider the overlaps within this diversity, and identify the contribution that these articles make in opening up discussion of activism, the body, history and emotions. I conclude with particular attention to how this Special Issue highlights the importance of returning to the politics of visibility, and how collectively these articles ask us to question the costs, limitations and possibilities of being represented in today's visually mediated societies.     

Size Matters: Toward a Contingency Theory of Diversity Effects on Performance

Abstract

This study examines the diversity-performance link by focusing on two types of diversity—gender and functional—in the context of governing boards of 24 quasi-government agencies in Korea over 16?years (2000–2015). Although public management scholarship contains evidence regarding the importance of diversity in public organizations, there is little consensus on what constitutes diversity and how it affects public sector performance. This study expands the scope of dialogues by highlighting multidimensional characteristics of diversity and the contingent nature of diversity effects. Multiplicative interaction models confirm that there are distinctive effects of different types of diversity on performance, and the relationship is moderated by the size of the group to which minorities belong. While the effect of board gender diversity is limited in our data, the effect of having a female chief executive is positively significant with decreasing marginal effect as the number of board members increases. On the other hand, the relationship of functional diversity in the boardroom to agency performance is negative, while the negative marginal effect decreases and becomes positive when board size rises above a critical number.     

英汉文化差异及其对英语教学的影响

在跨文化交际中,我们有时会经常误解说话人的意图。之所以会出现这种情况,主要是因为说话人想要表达的意图与其文化背景等知识紧密相关。因此大学教师不仅要重视语言知识的传授,更要灌输文化方面的知识,培养学生独立的跨文化交际意识。     

文化多样性的主权、人权与私权分析

文化传统保护与文化发展选择是国家文化主权的基本内容;保护文化多样性的权利和自由属于基本人权的范畴;知识产权对文化创造参与者的支持和激励具有重要意义。《文化多样性公约》以主权和人权作为文化多样性保护的基本举措,并以对艺术家的知识产权保护作为补充措施,由此构建了一个保护文化多样性的多元权利形态。     

Women and globalisation: challenges and opportunities facing construction workers in contemporary India

This article identifies the opportunities and constraints faced by female construction workers in urban India, citing empirical research conducted in the city of Ahmedabad. The Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) conducted three surveys in 1998, 2003, and 2007 to learn more about the needs and priorities of construction workers in the context of economic globalisation. While enthusiastically endorsing the role that training and certification can play in providing skilled women with opportunities for quality employment, the author emphasises the need for wider policy intervention at the state and national levels to ensure that such programmes have replicable, sustainable, and gender-equitable results.     

World Conservation Congress 2008: Climate Change,Islands, and In-situ Conservation

The author participated in the IUCN World Conservation Congress (5–14 October 2008), both the Forum events and pre-selected Learning Sessions, including forest carbon inventory, and multilateral negotiations. The sessions highlighted the importance of multidisciplinary approaches and of treating indigenous knowledge as seriously as rigorous hard science. The gravity of climate change was fully recognised. Success stories gave important encouragement and knowledge-capital for conservation, while case studies showed that protected areas should be made as diverse and harmonious as the human landscape that they are affecting.     

Enhancing rural learning,linkages, and institutions: the rice videos in Africa

Africa Rice Center (WARDA) facilitated the development and translation of 11 rice videos. From 2005 to 2009, WARDA partners translated them into more than 30 African languages. Open-air video presentations enhanced learning, experimentation, confidence, trust, and group cohesion among rural people. The videos strengthened capacities of more than 500 organisations and hundreds of thousands of farmers. WARDA's integrated rural learning approach also helped women to access new markets and credit. Learning videos allow for unsupervised learning; unleash local creativity and experimentation; facilitate institutional innovations; and improve social inclusion of the poor, youth, and women.     

当代公安文学主体多样性的生成及其原因

公安文学是中国当代文学艺术的重要组成部分,发轫于二十世纪五十年代,“文革”中遭到压制,改革开放后获得复苏和发展。伴随着社会环境及文学环境的变迁,公安文学作品中的人物主体性也呈现多样性发展。五十年代公安文学作品中主体单一,多为“高大全”的人民警察形象。八十年代后,警察形象的构成走向多元与多向,时常表现为带有人性弱点的英雄形象。进入九十年代,公安文学的主体范畴进一步扩大,一方面警察形象在公安文学作品中的比重减小,另一方面,与案件相关的各色人物,包括灰色人物和犯罪嫌疑人的比重不断增加。公安文学作品中的主体多样性不仅是社会与历史交汇碰撞下的公安文学特殊性质的合理展现,同时也体现出社会现代化进程和社会文化环境的变迁力量。     

Dimensions,manifestations, and perceptions of gender equity: the experiences of Gram Vikas

Concerns about gender equity have been at the fore of discussions and analysis of NGO interventions and action since the 1970s. Gender equity, defined as equal rights to access, opportunity, and participation for men and women, has always been a distinctive feature in the programmes of Gram Vikas, a leading NGO in the Indian state of Orissa. Conscious efforts to identify and address these issues began in the mid-1980s. Several specific initiatives have been made to create a level playing field between women and men in the village communities where Gram Vikas works, and within the organisation. There have been resistance and challenges to several of these interventions, and while some of them have embedded themselves to create lasting impact, others have had only limited effect.     

劳动关系研究的当代理论争论及对创新中国特色劳动关系协调机制的启示

不同国家之间的劳动关系协调模式存在着系统性差异,这种差异会逐渐走向趋同还是继续保持多样性是当代劳动关系研究的核心理论争论之一。按照这一主题,相关理论在当代的演进大体上可以划分为三个阶段,包括20世纪50-80年代的趋同理论、80年代中后期到2000年左右的资本主义多样性理论、2000年以后的制度逐渐变迁理论。上述理论的争论及其历史演进对创新中国特色劳动关系协调机制具有重要的启发意义,特别是相关理论中对主要发达经济体劳动关系协调模式的分类和走向的预测,以及对劳动关系制度和其他经济政治制度之间互补性的强调,为我国劳动关系协调机制的构建提供了重要的概念工具。