|
|
| Human
Organization
Agar,
Michael and James MacDonald. Focus Groups and Ethnography. Human
Organization. 1995 Vol. 54(1):78-86. By having it brought
up in a focus group and the debate that ensued among the adolescents
about its comparability to LSD, the
researchers
became aware of the legal cough medicine’s illegal use. This is
one way that ethnographic research interacts with focus groups. The researchers
found something that didn’t fit into the folk model they had come
to understand from their ethnographic work. Another way that ethnographic
research interacts with focus groups is it explains concepts that are
only referred to in focus groups. Agar and MacDonald use the example
of being ‘fried’, a term the adolescents explained in interviews
as a description of persons who shows signs of overuse of LSD. While
adolescents referred to people in as being ‘fried’ during
the group, the term was not explained. Through their earlier ethnographic
interviews, the researchers had learned this term and could interpret
the group’s reference. In their research,
they found that the folk model they had understood previously was not
shared by all adolescents in the
group. This was significant
to their research because it helped them understand that LSD use depended
less on the "usual social labels such as preps, headbangers and
the like" (1995 Agar and MacDonald 85) and more dependent on the
specific folk model a person possesses. NATALIE FINK California State University, Chico (William Loker) .gif){kind=small} Alley, Kelly D. and Charles E. Faupel and Coner Bailey. The Historical Transformation of a Grassroots Environmental Group. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54(4): 410-416. Alley, et al. examine the response of a community to toxic contamination of ground water and waste pollution in Sumter County, Alabama during the 1980’s. Other disciplines have developed models to explain this type of reaction, but anthropologists have done little work in this area. The authors compare two models developed in sociology. The first model is an evolutionary view that describes action as a response to perceived social problems. The second model, resource mobilization, analyzes how organizations obtain resources to meet their goals. This article is a critique of those two models based on a case study of a local environmental group, Alabamians for a Clean Environment (ACE) who formed with the sole purpose of shutting down the hazardous waste treatment plant in Sumter County. It looks at the relationships formed between local and national groups and how these relationships do not necessarily lead to increased strength. The authors discuss the historical and economic background of Sumter County that brought a hazardous waste treatment facility into the community. The community was not made aware of its presence until it had been operating for some time. The lack of information provided to residents about the potential effects was a large source of concern to the founders of ACE. The authors describe the formation of ACE, the initial work ACE did to increase awareness and later attempts to close down the facility. ACE created public awareness by appearing at county council meetings and through editorials in local newspapers. When the hazardous waste plant filed to obtain a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit to incinerate waste, ACE used hostile questioning and brought the Alabama State Attorney General and other prominent political figures to the hearings to speak against such a permit. They were successful in getting a denial of the permit for the incinerator. Their relative success was met with national press. The press generated by the RCRA permit denial brought national attention to ACE. Other organizations such as the Sierra club began to show support for their efforts. As more national organizations became affiliated with their organization, the core founders of ACE began to take positions with these organizations. ACE members began to shift their focus from the local to the national scale. This shift severely stunted the work of ACE. Within ten years of its foundation, ACE had dissolved. The authors conclude that contrary to the evolutionary view and resource mobilization model, affiliation with the national organizations does not necessarily strengthen or institutionalize an organization and may lead to its dissolution. Clarity Ranking: 3 NATALIE FINK California State University, Chico (William Loker) Austin, Timothy. Filipino Self-Help and Peacemaking Strategies: A View from the Mindanao Hinterland. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54 This article explores the cultural basis of self help and security in the Philippines, and its increased importance in light of a recent rise in terrorism and Musilim/Christan conflicts. The cultural mechanisms explored range from the most basic family and friend relationships, to volunteer military policing. The common element in Filipino forms of self help and security are their application to local issues only, at the level of the barangay (village) and puroks (neighborhoods). Familism is a self help cultural mechanism especially apparent in rural areas where it is a necessity due to the predominance of agricultural lifestyles. It relies on direct or extended family members in times of social stress. Similar to the Familism system is the Friendship or compadres/comadres system, relying on friends in time of social stress. Similar to the Friendship system is an even more general “companion concept”. Austin emphasizes that it is rare, especially in times of social stress, for anyone to be alone, even during routine activities. In this case a friend, or a friendly stranger in the case of a tourist or outsider, will accompany another simply to make sure they are safe from the recent rise in terrorism. Cultural mechanisms, which increase the success of self help strategies, are reflected in the personalities of Filipino individuals. These individual dispositions help one understand larger culture phenomena such as government backed volunteer military policing. Austin discusses three traits: utang kabubut-on, pakikisama, and hiya. Utang kabubut-on (which literally means “inner-debt”) is a system of reciprocation, in which, a person provided with a gift or service must return one of equal value. Pakikisama is a respected quality in Filipino culture and is linked with altruism in times of social stress. Pakikisama “. . . (literally meaning ‘to go along with’ as in ‘comraderie’) refers to the desire to avoid placing others in stressful or unpleasant situations.” (pg 14) Hiya can be considered the opposite of Pakikisama, and at times it is due to fear of being labeled with hiya that people help one another. Hiya, (literally meaning shame) is when one loses face because of refusal or failure to reciprocate a gift or favor. Austin explores a number of Filipino self-help organizations. These are: the sakop, the barangay, the tanod, the Bantay ng Byan, and the CAFGU. The sakop is a specifically tied to status in the work place. It is a system in which superiors at work can call upon those who work under them for help outside of the work place. The barangay is literally the village. Each village elects a Capitan who is in charge of the local tanod. The tanod (the guard) is a group of men, not typically dressed in uniform, who patrol the streets at night. The Bantay ng Byan are similar to the tanod except they carry radios and are screened by the government. The CAFGU is the pinnacle of Filipino organized self help organizations. The CAFGU, (Civilian Army Force Geographical Unit), is a volunteer military police called upon during times of high societal stress. They are trained by the government and when called upon by their village, appear in uniform, with arms. Filipino culture is particularly adapted to times of social stress without a dependence on government-funded police for local security. Austin points out that it wasn’t until recently, when the police were particularly busy with such issues as terrorism and Musilim/Christan conflicts, that these local self help organizations became popular. CLARITY RANKING: 4 TRAVIS ELDER California State University, Chico (William Loker) Baer, Roberta D., Marta Butillo, Harold Lewis, Wendy Perry, Donna Romeo, Pat Slorah and Carron Willis. Applied Anthropology: From the Classroom to the Community. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54(3): 325-329. Anthropology courses that incorporate participation in applied research projects are in great need. Subsumed under this problem are three others: 1) ample literature on anthropological methodology, but scarce literature on applying it to class projects, 2) literature helpful in mapping out a chosen field project, but does not report on results, and 3) literature that does report on the results, but does not contain any methodologies. In this article, the authors describe a project initiated in an anthropology course that enabled them to touch on the above stated problems by making sure their case study included information that covered mapping out their project, methodology and how it applies to their class project and the results of the project. The case study they chose took place in Tampa Bay, Florida and consisted of surveying participants of SHARE, (a non-profit organization that provides food packets for the needy). The methodologies used to complete all their goals consisted of every student being involved in the design, questionnaire formulation, interviewing, participant observation and writing of the final report. The students’ particular focus was to find out ethnic and demographic patterns of SHARE participants, as well as how they felt about the program and their overall satisfaction with it. After touring the SHARE facility, meeting SHARE employees and learning about the organization’s history, the class felt comfortable with proceeding in their study. After ethics and informed consent issues were discussed, the class moved into the participant observation phase of the study. In February 1991, each student participated in bagging food with other employees for a day. In this way, information on flow of workers, work locations and sites and ethnicity of workers was all gathered. Informal interviewing of the workers, (volunteers working to receive their food packet), also took place. Formal interviews were constructed from this information as well as decisions to do things like over-sample minorities, interview one person per household, and cover all work sites and shifts as evenly as possible. This diversity was utilized to make sure results represented the SHARE population as a whole and that the results would be representative of the organization and its clientele. The results revealed
several different types of dietary needs and overall food preferences.
Diabetics and people with cholesterol
problems found
the packets contents to not always be useable, processed meats and exotic
fruits being two of the biggest complaints. Ethnic preferences were also
an issue. Though some people had participated in giving away or swapping
food that they couldn’t eat or didn’t want, the class suggested
food replacements to SHARE to better meet the health and food preferences
of participants. SHARE’s image also presented confusion to its
members. Some people were afraid that if it was discovered that they
were involved in this service that they would lose the ability to receive
food stamps or other social services. The program also identifies itself
with the United Methodist Church, which makes current members, (especially
those with other religious ties), wary of SHARE’s agenda. The project was a success for the students and the SHARE program. All students involved have gone on to attain advanced degrees and the SHARE program incorporated some of the study’s suggestions. This study obviously made SHARE question its current state of operation, because after this initial study they requested another anthropological study of those who left the program and their reasons for doing so. CLARITY RANKING: 4 JACLYN GUILLOT California State University, Chico (William Loker) Beck, Tony. How the Poor Fight for Respect and Resources in Village India. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54(2): 169-181. Tony Beck focuses his research on the strengths of the poor living in rural areas of India by investigating how the poor utilize natural and social resources within their villages, how they bargain with the rich over resources, and how the potential exists for utilizing these strengths in collaboration with outside agents in order to develop programs that could successfully alleviate severe poverty. Beck believes that by tapping into the local power structures already existent within poor villages, anti-poverty programs would be more effective. Beck’s theoretical orientation is based upon the work of E.P. Thompson and the notion of moral economy. Thompson suggests that the class struggle between the rich and poor creates a common field-of-force in which both the rich and the poor use the obligations and functions of paternalism against each other for their own gain. Beck considers the relationship of power within the poor villages of India in terms of this common field-of-force. Beck studied three rural villages in the West Bengal section of India between 1986 and 1992, all of which who derive their main source of income from the land. Despite the large groups of poor in these villages, the majority of political power, land, livestock and income are owned primarily by a small group of “middle farmers.” These “middle farmers” are not only self-sufficient in food production, but they also profit from exploiting the poor through manual labor and a credit system known as dadan, in which the poor repay credit through labor at about half the market rate. Yet despite unequal distribution of resources and exploitation, the poorest villages managed to bargain at a practical and ideological level for their share of the resources. The author interviewed roughly a 20% sample of the poorest households from all three villages, most of whom were landless agricultural laborers. He found that although the rich use violence and unfair treatment against the poor to discourage protest or change, the poor hold viable strengths of their own. Three strategies are used by the poor, mainly women, which help to improve the quality of life among the villages. First, mutual support exists among the poor resulting solidarity of the group, a network of charity between households, and a willingness to challenge oppression, characteristics which Beck perceives as being potentially useful in developing anti-poverty programs. Second, the negotiation of common property resources, such as wild foods, gleaned grains, and fuel, is used to subsidize the income of the poor; a resource that Beck feels has been largely ignored by policy-makers. Third, a sharerearing system exists in which the poor borrow livestock from the rich, raising the animals until they produce offspring, being then allowed to keep the second one. This system, while exploitive, illustrates the bargaining practices operating between both classes. Beck concludes that it is the overall lack of power that is so debilitating to the lives of the poor. However, despite differences of class, gender, ethnicity, and religion, the poor unite in many cases to struggle for the few resources that are available to them. He suggests that the rich and poor are tied together through a process of mutual dependency, and it is this common field-of-force, often invisible to policy-makers, that is so significant to the study of the poor and to the development of successful anti-poverty programs. CLARITY RANKING: 5 CHRISTY NEWTON California State University, Chico (William Loker) Beebe, James. Basic Concepts and Techniques of Rapid Appraisal. Human Organization, 1995. Vol. 54(1): 42-51. Rapid appraisal is a tool used to gain a preliminary understanding of a situation in a short time. Once the qualitative results have been produced, usually by a team of individuals from different disciplines, decisions for conducting applied work can be made. This is especially important when the perspectives of the team members and local participants are needed. Though rapid appraisal uses techniques of traditional qualitative research, three differences are present: there is always more than one researcher, team interaction is part of the methodology, and quick results are produced. Since the mid-1970s, terms such as “rapid appraisal” and “rapid assessment” have been used in the context of rural development in developing countries. Rapid appraisal was first used for farming systems projects in developing countries, but has recently been used for nutrition and health care studies, agricultural marketing, and irrigation projects. Three basic concepts are associated with rapid appraisal, forming a conceptual foundation for the many approaches that are labeled “rapid”. These concepts are, 1) a system perspective, 2) triangulation of data, and 3) iterative data collection and analysis. A systems perspective looks at all aspects of the local situation in order to define a model that focuses on the important elements and their inter-relationships. Because these elements are unknown before rapid appraisal begins, methodologies using prepared questions are inappropriate. This systems perspective approach is based on indigenous knowledge and an understanding of the variability present within the system. Some research techniques associated with this approach are semi-structured interviews, the use of interpreters and both “individual respondents” and “key informants”, short guidelines prepared before beginning the appraisal, and fieldnotes limited to careful observation. The triangulation of data refers to the combination of the observations made by researchers with varying backgrounds and different research methods. This is based on the assumption that there is no “best” way to gather information and provides crosschecks that ensure quality of data. Techniques found in triangulation are the use of multidisciplinary teams, preliminary research, and direct observation. Iterative data collection and analysis is the concept that deals with the structure of the analysis. The rapid appraisal should be conducted using blocks of time for gathering data, discussing it among the team, and making decisions on additional methods and lines of inquiry. Some techniques for this concept are the structuring of the research time and flexibility of team members. Beebe additionally calls for the use of data collection checklists to document work and allow readers to verify the quality of the work.
SARAH TAYLOR California State University, Chico (William Loker) Bellon, Mauricio R. Farmers’ Knowledge and Sustainable Agroecosystem Management: An Operational Definition and an Example from Chiapas, Mexico. Human Organization. 1995 Vol.54(3):263-270. The development of sustainable agricultural systems is rooted in the knowledge of traditional or indigenous farmers to identify methods of managing resources even under adverse environmental conditions. The author, Mauricio Bellon, uses an ethnoecological approach to study the factors that result in sustainable and nonsustainable agroecosystems in the Vicente Guerrero ejido in Chiapas, Mexico. Bellon defines agroecosystem sustainability as the ability to maintain a specified level of production over a long term; or maintain productivity despite a disturbing force. There are four requirements to sustainability, (1) maintenance of the resource base, (2) minimum use of artificial inputs, (3) management of pests, and (4) successional processes to recuperate from cultivation and harvest disturbances. “The concept includes the need to conserve soil and water resources, and genetic diversity while being economically viable and socially acceptable (p.264).” An agroecosystem is “a complex of air, water, soil, plants, animals, microorganisms and everything else in a bounded area that people have modified for agricultural production (p.264).” Sustainable management systems should lead to the maintenance or increase in stocks of renewable resources and the substitution of nonrenewable resources by renewable ones that will help accomplish farmers’ goals. Farmers must demonstrate a functional relationship between knowledge and management practices to contribute to the development of sustainable systems. For example, organic matter for fertilizers provides nutrients to the crop and are important for the soil. Maintaining these renewable stocks helps overcome major disturbances and maintains long-term production. The loss of stocks may be irreversible and could have negative consequences for the future. Maize, the main crop at Vicente Guerrero, is grown by both plow and swidden agriculturalists. Both use modern technologies, such as fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides, as well as traditional methods like the wooden plow, oxen and dibbling sticks. Farmers use a combination of maize types to adapt to various soil types that are part of their traditional ethnoecological knowledge. Production of maize is for, both, household consumption as well as for the market. Bellon analyzed management of two resources, soils and maize germplasm. According to the author, sustainability of soil management involves managing soil organic matter, replacing nutrients, managing crop residues and preventing soil erosion. Germplasm management involves maintaining diversity of crops to insure success under various environmental conditions. The farmers in Chiapas use synthetic fertilizers to increase production, even though many know organic animal manure or compost also provides nutrients to the crops. This could potentially improve productivity but it is more expensive than fertilizer, making it hard to implement. Eighty-one percent of maize farmers use more than one variety of maize germplasm. One variety of crop may be better suited for certain soils, therefore it is in farmers’ best interest to maintain diversity of crops to fulfill their needs. Those few farmers who do substitute native crop varieties with improved crops result in a loss of genetic diversity. The author concludes that most farmers’ current practices and knowledge associated with managing soil are not sustainable. The Vicente Guerrero farmers don’t recycle nutrients by using organic matter like green manures or compost, and they don’t prevent soil erosion. On the other hand, management of maize germplasm does seem sustainable because most maintain several maize varieties which results in genetic diversity. Conservation programs are recommended to keep future crop genetic resources diverse, such as creating incentives for farmers to practice in situ maize germplasm conservation. Programs geared toward improvements in soil management include eliminating fertilizer subsidies, and encouraging the use of green manures to foster efficient use of soils. CLARITY RANKING: 4 ERIN SMITH, TRAVIS ELDER California State University, Chico (William Loker) Bhattacharyya, Jnanabrata. Solidarity and Agency: Rethinking Community Development. Human Organization Spring, 1995 Vol.54(1):60-69. Community development has been redefined in this article as the pursuit of solidarity and agency, thus placing it in a theoretical framework that is distinctive and universal. To be universal, this definition must apply to all societies and serve as a reference point by which instances can be defined as community development. Over the last twenty years, community development has been known as many things; grassroots development, people-centered development, and others. The flaws in these definitions lie in their criteria and rationale that seek to change or improve something through imposed development. The term “community” is often defined as rural, agricultural, and pre-industrial social configurations. A more appropriate definition lies in solidarity, or shared identity and code for conduct. When defined as such, development is seen in a holistic manner concerned with agency, or the capacity of a people to order their world and change or define themselves. Historically, the absence of agency within a group has been the catalyst for the destruction of solidarity. Viewing community as solidarity, and development as agency allows community development to focus on the erosion and possible restructuring of these two things. Four agency-robbing factors present in past development efforts are delineated in the article. First, the creation of “Other”- people who are different and inferior - has arisen from Euro-centric historiographies and geographies. Similarly, throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the assignment of particular “syndromes” attempted to explain why poor countries remained poor. Positivism is the third agency-robbing factor, claiming that facts are culturally neutral and allowing for domination by government, religion, or planners. Lastly, development research undermines agency. Extractive research assumes that the people are passive reservoirs from which knowledge can be extracted, taking ownership of the problem from the people and giving it to the researcher or developer, Three overlapping principles should be found in community development practices in order to treat the people as agents; self-help, felt needs, and participation. Self-help acknowledges the capacity of the people to solve their own problems and is the result of effective teaching within community development. Felt need refers to the people’s perception of the relevance of a problem. Participation is the most recognized of these themes, encompassing the first two. Agency is granted through participation in the production of meaning without preconceived notions on the part of the developer regarding the problem or solution. Bhattacharyya gives examples of successful projects, based on their use of self-help, felt needs, and participation. These successes are found in environmental projects, such as the restoration of forest rights to local people in West Bengal. Successful economic development projects have incorporated the community development approach also. The author uses that well-known example of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Public health has benefited from these principles by basing health delivery systems on the felt needs of the people. Similarly, urban violence has decreased where the community development approach to crime prevention has been instituted. CLARITY RANKING: 5 SARAH TAYLOR California State University, Chico (William Loker) Brouwer, Roland. Common Goods and Private Profits: Traditional and Modern Communal Land Management in Portugal. Human Organization. 1995 Vol.54(3):283-294. In this article, Roland Brouwer raises the issue of equality in communal
land management. By describing the evolution of communal land management
systems in Portugal, the author attempts to explain the problems of inequality
and discrimination in different communities. Traditionally, communal land management meant that everyone living in the village could profit from common resources. However, ownership, private management, and usufruct all come into play. The traditional management system ends up serving the wealthier people in the community. This system failed during the industrial revolution and agrarian reform, and thus developed the modern communal land management. Under this system, resources are managed by officials who are elected by the population, while community affairs are settled in council. Although officially intended to help the poor sector, modern communal management strategies benefit the wealthier classes in the end. In the article, Brouwer reviews past research about Portugal’s communal land management, in order to bring up the major discussion in his study – common good and private profit. According to him, communal land management in Portugal has not fulfilled its objective; in fact, communal management has widened the wealth gap and increased social inequality. Many examples in the modern communal resource management show the interrelationship between private and communal property. For example, an owner of a large herd of cattle takes more profit from a communal pasture than his fellow commoner with only a few head. In other words, those individuals with greater private resources will gain more from communal land than those whose wealth is more modest. Due to the problems of managing communal resources, the Portuguese government has used reforestation and enclosure for agricultural purposes in order to turn the common property into private or state property. However, instead of distributing more wealth to the poor, these projects have enlarged the gap between the wealthy and the poor. The major reason is because all of the revenue from reforested land goes directly to the state government, instead of helping the poor. In this case, the lower class is deprived of financial compensation, and therefore is unable to increase their status. However, the revenue is not completely lost to the communities that hold reforested lands in common; the state government spends a portion of the revenue they gain from the forests on improving public infrastructure, such as roads and schools. In conclusion, the author asserts that traditional communal land management systems in Portugal benefit the wealthy people in the community, while the modern management systems of privatization have worsened the lot of the poor. Even though state intervention attempts to help the poor, in the end, the wealthy citizens have the most to gain, and social inequality remains unsolved. CLARITY RANKING: 3 YUEN YEE YONNIE YEUNG California State University, Chico (William Loker) Cavender, Anthony P. and Scott H. Beck. Generational Change, Folk Medicine, and Medical Self-Care in a Rural Appalachian Community. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54(1):129-141 This paper examines stereotypical notions in the health care community about folk medicine and medical self-care in the Appalachian South. The research seeks to debunk presumed false stereotypes, created by early investigations that were performed unsystematically, and as a result mislead the general public about the practices of medical self-care in rural Appalachia. The Appalachian South is a diverse region, consisting of people with different ages, levels of formal educational attainment, socioeconomic class and ethnicity. Earlier research, created a persisting image of the Appalachian South as an “arrested frontier”, where outmoded, archaic traditions (folk medicine beliefs and practices) remained largely extant. New investigations were conducted in the community of Hiltons in southwestern Virginia. This community was chosen because it was socially and economically stratified and has a thriving middle class. The strategy was to obtain a sample of older residents of Hiltons and to elicit from them what remedies they currently use as well as the remedies used by their parents, when the current residents were children. The investigator found a representative sample that consisted of 102 people of the target population. No systematic bias by gender, class, age or residence was introduced, and so the investigator concludes that the sample is representative of the population 60 and older (the target population). The respondents were interviewed and recorded in writing or taped. The main task was to describe the extent of change or consistency from the parental generation to the current day practices of older respondents. The respondent were asked how their parents treated 65 different health problems that were grouped into ten types, and how they currently treated these same health problems today. All answers were grouped into eleven different categories. The McNemar’s test was used to test the null hypothesis that both generations used folk medicine equally. Qualitative methods of analysis were also used. The results indicate that dramatic changes have occurred over the generations.
The older generation has for the most part discontinued the use of many
home remedies once used by their parents. This decline may be attributable
to both industrialization and the successful marketing efforts of proprietary
medicine producers. This trend was further promoted by road improvements,
the establishment of modern medical facilities nearby and the availability
of modern over-the-counter medications. Contrary to what has been written
about rural Southern Appalachian inhabitants, current investigations
indicate that Hiltons older generations are empirically grounded, pragmatic,
and certainly not advocates of suffering (which previous studies may
have suggested). Most respondents adhered to biomedicine. The current
investigations negate outdated stereotypes, and promote an understanding
of historical change and cultural diversity in rural Appalachia. Alea Gellman California State University, Chico (William Loker) Cernea, Michael M. Malinowski Award Lecture: Social Organization and Development Anthropology. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54(3):340-52. In this essay, Michael M. Cernea presents a retrospective of the World Bank’s slow inclusion of social scientists into positions of planning and policy making, and also offers an encouraging look to the future of international development in terms of project strategies and theory building. The author first provides the necessary contextual dimension of international development briefly touching on the implications of the fall of the Soviet Union and other Eastern European governments, and how these power shifts ushered in dramatic changes in the course and direction of social systems throughout the world. The author asserts that the ills and devastations in these societies require the attention of the social sciences. In the same vein, the author notes that a changing notion of progress in international development that is slowly gaining acceptance—that development should be focused, above all else, upon social goals. The author then provides some personal accounts of his own struggle to incorporate social variables into the planning processes of international development projects within the World Bank—this testimony, the author contends, is especially relevant to any social scientist who attempts to integrate social and anthropological perspectives into an institution as parochially focused on financial and economic variables as the World Bank has been historically. The author stresses the importance of the social scientist to be persistent in presenting these considerations to fellow development planners since it is people that are the center of international development. Also, the author stresses the need for sociologists and anthropologists to combine their efforts and see the parallels in their disciplines in order to effectively initiate development that is both far-reaching and long-lasting. At the same time, the author also urges social scientists to recognize the value of input and knowledge produced by economists and financial consultants; their contributions are valuable in quantifying the feasibility of a given project. The author suggests that fewer discrepancies may arise between social scientists and economists in the future if reform is initiated first in the universities. Universities must strive to train students of the social and economic sciences to work in consort, and to see the common theme in their studies: the necessary consideration of human beings as they are organized in society. The author asserts that expanding on the concept of social organization in applied anthropology will be valuable to international development. This is because studying and reflecting on social organization allows project planners and implementers to approach a project at its most fundamental structure: the organization of the individuals in question. Attention to social organization allows development professionals to integrate solutions into an existing society. Considering social organization also allows development professionals to deal with a gamut of social ills including ones that are not so evidently related to social organization, like projects aimed at improving environmental standards. The author concludes by noting the positive changes that have taken place in international development from the direct contribution of social scientists. Lastly, the author stresses the point that the social sciences are "consequential" in international development, and that this trend will continue as long as social scientists continually refine their theoretical and applied strategies. CLARITY RANKING: 5 KEITH HAYDEN California State University, Chico (William Loker) Chhetri, Ram B. Rotating Credit Associations in Nepal: Dhikuri as Capital, Credit, Saving, and Investment. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54(4):449-455 In this article, the author explores Rotating Credit Associations (RCAs) known as Dhikuris, in Nepal. Multiple Dhikuris are investigated in such a way as to show them in relation to various other, similar RCAs found throughout the world and also to identify some features of Dhikuris in particular which make them unique. The author also explains the functional role that Dhikuris play in various forms of Nepalese society as systems of credit, savings, investment and capital. According to the author, Dhikuris also serve to solidify and extend social alliances in various Nepalese communities. The author asserts that by studying RCA’s like the Dhikuri system, anthropologists may gain insights that could assist theory building aimed at discovering the social processes that led to the creation of more formalized, institutional banking and credit systems. Dhikuris are small associations in which usually15 to 30 individuals or families contribute fixed shares of value units (which may be in the form of cash, grains or livestock) at regular intervals into a lump account. At regular and formalized intervals, each member of the Dhikuri will receive the aggregate of the shares. The author examines four kinds of Dhikuris: among the Loba of Lo Manthang, among Tibetan refugees, among Nepalese business owners and also among rural farmers of remote areas of Nepal. The Loba of Lo Manthang invest combinations of cash, grains and animals into the Dhikuris in their own communities, and they also partake in long-distance Dhikuris as a way of accumulating goods and food from far away. Tibetan refugees partake in Dhikuris as a way of saving capital that is eventually used to start small-businesses. Business owners in Pokhara, Nepal participate in multiple Dhikuris at once as a means of saving and accumulating wealth that is used to expand their businesses. Rural farmers set up Dhikuris as a way of saving and investing without the need to travel extremely long distances by foot to set up accounts in banks in the urban areas of Nepal. The author concludes that Dhikuris serve multiple purposes for various Nepalese peoples. Dhikuris are a means of saving, investment, a way to extend networks of social relations and alliances, and as a strategy by which migrants anchor their families into pre-existing communities. They also serve to slowly familiarize Nepalese citizens to the ever-increasingly urbanized world where capital, credit, and investment rule. The author asserts that modern day economic institutions can learn much from the Dhikuri system in that they are based on very transparent and overt trust agreements among equals, as a means of redistributing wealth. This insight is important for larger and much more formal economic institutions to understand if they wish to gain inclusion among individuals world-wide, like the Dhikuri participants of Nepal. CLARITY RANKING: 4 KEITH HAYDEN California State University, Chico (William Loker) Colman, Samuel. Industry-University Cooperation at Japan’s Protein Engineering Research Institute: A Study Based on Long-term Fieldwork. Human Organization 1995 Vol. 54(2): 20–32 This case study, written by Samuel Colman analyzes the relationships in a consortium effort between university academics and industry transfers in a highly specialized Japanese research organization, the Protein Engineering Research Institute (PERI). The data in Colman’s case study derives from a four month period spent at PERI. It represents only part of a year long study of bioscience research laboratory organizations at four locations in Japan. Colman set out to analyze the success of term employment in Japanese institutions that traditionally follow a policy of life-long employment. Colman seeks to understand the daily life at the PERI laboratory, specifically the inter-relationships between professionals from the academic and industrial fields. Colman identifies three major subcultures that divide PERI’s staff based on the following criteria: professional backgrounds, recruitment, and contractual relationships with the Institute. These are, “. . . academic, PhD researchers, hired from university positions for the duration of PERI’s existence; industrial researchers and administrative staff assigned to positions at PERI as temporary transfers from the participating firms; and technicians, typically new graduates with higher educational degrees, hired on one-year renewable contracts.” (pg 22) Colman employed a number of methods in his study at the PERI laboratory. These were participant observation, surveys, and interviews. He identified that while overall the employees were satisfied with their experiences at PERI, they all desired change and improvement. Colman identified a number of problems the employees had with the way PERI was run that if changed might lead to positive improvement. These problems revolved around the research topic selection process, communication problems between the three subcultures mentioned above, cooperation across sectors and specialties, the methods for recruiting researchers from industry, a difference in the motivations between academic and industry workers, and the lack of authority by administration to allocate or withhold awards to researchers based on their performance. The research topic selection process was mainly influenced by division heads and the director of the program. Colman indicated that, “. . . the desire to see changes in the research topic selection process was quite evident among the questionnaire respondents, particularly among industry researchers and technicians.” (pg 23) Communication problems among the three sub-cultures at PERI revolved around the method of information transmission, in-house educational lectures used to keep researchers and technicians abreast in advances in research and techniques, and a Japanese cultural trait of subordinate passivity among hierarchal authority figures. According to Colman this was most evident at the in-house lectures, where the director sat in front and asked all the questions, the mid-level researchers sat in the middle rows, and the technicians sat in the rear rows and never asked any questions. “Several researchers who had attended conferences in the west [America and Western Europe] expressed the wish that meetings in Japan could be conducted with the same lively presentation style.”(pg 24) Cooperation across sectors and specialties mainly refers to troubles between academic researchers and technicians, and industry researchers and technicians. The troubles revolved around communicating complex ideas. Academics complained that industry specialists were not abreast in the terms an concepts regularly used by those from the academic sector. The following quotes are from a researcher about an industry technician (named Tabuchi), which express this sentiment. “Good research has three components: one, grasping a research problem; two, executing it thoroughly; and three, reporting it in an attractive way. Tabuchi is real good at number two.” Recruitment from industry was another problem that PERI researchers expressed in interviews. The primary complaint was that the majority of industry transfers were simply assigned the job by their sponsoring institution. There was no real screening process, and relatively few industry transfers actually volunteered for the job. Many researchers, especially those from the academic sector, felt that the majority of the industry transfers were under skilled and apathetic. In fact, Colman indicated that during his study a few of the industry transfers were returned to their sponsoring institutions, because they were grossly under skilled. The motivating factors, according to Colman, were quite different between those in the academic and industry sectors. Academics were typically more motivated, because they volunteered for the program, mainly because of the lack of career mobility in the academic sector. The majority of the academic volunteers were not full professors; rather they were assistants even though they had a PhD. They saw PERI as having more potential for upward career mobility. The industry transfers, in contrast, were for the most part assigned to PERI. Some actually saw it as being harmful to their careers, because they felt the time spent at PERI would cause them to fall out of step or behind in the research done at their sponsoring institution. It should be noted, however, that the small number of volunteers from the industry sector came to PERI because, in Japan, the work done at PERI could lead to them getting their PhD. The volunteers from industry saw this as either a necessary step in their upward mobility at their sponsoring industry, or acquiring a PhD was a personal lifetime goal. Finally, the last problem Colman noted was the inability of PERI administration to reward or penalize the performance of their workers. The industry transfers responded to their sponsoring industries, who were not allowed knowledge of their progress, and the academic workers reported to the program director that was often out of step with the specific activities in each of the four laboratories. CLARITY RANKING: 3 TRAVIS ELDER California State University, Chico (William Loker) Darrah, Charles N. Workplace Training, Workplace Learning: A Case Study. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54(1): 31-41. In 1987-88, Stanford University Anthropology Department conducted a ten-month study of Kramden Computers as part of their New Technology and Work Organization Project. The study was performed to gain knowledge of the connection between workplace learning and training. Participant observation, interviewing, review of archival documentation and structured observation of workers were all used in data collection. Research focused on production workers, supervisors and managers. There was little formal instruction available on the production floor because managers assumed that employees hired already possessed needed skills to perform the job. New assemblers got a limited period of time to work next to a more experienced one and then were expected to imitate they had just seen. There was also oral transfer of knowledge and written documentation made available by the engineering department. Unfortunately, the diagrams and instructions were mostly written for and by engineers and so people who didn’t possess that particular background, couldn’t understand the material. Any information obtained had to be committed to memory. Those who chose to train others on their own did not have any guidelines to follow; they were not rewarded for good training, or penalized for bad training. When formal training was first being discussed, supervisors discussed that they feared training would not only give the worker new skills to take to another firm, but they were also concerned that the training would make the employee too valuable to keep them at their current pay rate. Nevertheless in December 1987 supervisors, engineers and a production manager started discussing who would be responsible for training and how they would help resolve current problems on the production floor due to informal training. Training began in April of 1988 and covered different topics on each day of the week, ranging from general safety to mechanical assembly and diagnostic tests. The classes were only partly successful because the workers’ everyday environment included production quotas, inadequate training and the poor availability of tools that were not taken into consideration. The trainees also assumed that the training was really an objective for lowering costs by increasing workload. Trainees were apprehensive about asking questions at first because they were not only unsure what to ask, but they were also afraid that the questions could be taken as a reflection of stupidity. However, after a couple of days they began to ask questions that expanded their knowledge of production work as a whole, instead of in the realm of the narrowly defined tasks the trainers were more apt to focus on. Without these questions, training would have continued to go in the
direction of benefiting departments rather than individual production
workers. Two other positive outcomes were that the trainees had made
contacts that could assist them in the future and management gave production
workers the okay to deviate from procedure if it conflicted with their
productivity. CLARITY RANKING: 2 JACLYN GUILLOT California State University, Chico (William Loker) Deshen, Shlomo. Irony Among Blind Israelis: The Meaning, Construction, and Force. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54(3):309-317 Deshen Shlomo explores the uses of irony and sarcasm among blind Israelis in order to uncover the motivations and messages that underlie these forms of speech. In general, the use of sarcasm and the employment of irony in conversation may reveal clues about the internal beliefs and the external social standing of individuals within a given culture. The use of sarcasm and irony allows the speaker to explicitly state their beliefs or emotions covertly, through allusion, parody, humor, spite, body language and a host of other conversational modes. Shlomo investigates the use of irony and sarcasm in blind Israelis to illuminate a variety of themes that are common in the lives of all of her subjects. Drawing distinctions between kinds of sarcastic expression reveals a great deal of insight into blind Israeli’s conceptions of themselves as individuals and as often misunderstood members of Israeli society. Shlomo identifies six themes that underlie blind Israeli’s sarcasm and use of irony: expression of degradation, expression of social marginality, expression of low status and poverty, expression of actual sightlessness, expression of control of the unimpaired senses, and expression of the ambiguity of fellowship among blind Israelis. These themes appear to be universal in all of Shlomo’s subjects. Shlomo observes the different social contexts and emotional states blind Israelis find themselves in as they employ sarcasm to express these ideas. All six themes are found to be expressed in light-hearted jokes as well as heated confrontations, as well as many places in between. Also, these themes are expressed in a variety of ironic conversational styles: from pun to ridicule to parody. Through the use of irony blind Israelis and their unique social status as individuals with an impairing and oftentimes, socially-stigmatizing handicap, Shlomo leaves the reader with a sense of the way that all human beings express themselves through ironic and sarcastic expression. Lastly, Shlomo presents suggestions for social workers who assist the blind in any country or culture. The spirit of ironic expression Shlomo observes in blind Israelis leads her to contend that social workers and organizations relax the seriousness and pity in their services. The blind are not disabled in the sense that they are helpless and in need of charity, but are instead unique members of society with a socially constructed handicap status. This realization, Shlomo suggests, can make the services and assistance that is offered to the blind much more meaningful and would also help to remove some of the baseless stereotypes of blind people from society. Indeed, Shlomo asserts, the stigmas that arise from these stereotypes only serve to inhibit the sighted from understanding the blind as normal members of society who just happen to be sightless. CLARITY RANKING: 4 KEITH HAYDEN California State University, Chico (William Loker) Fitchen, Janet F. “The Single-Parent Family,” Child Poverty, and Welfare Reform. Human Organization, 1995 Vol.54(4):355-362 Fitchen conducted this study because of her concern with poverty and government welfare reform targeting “single-parent families.” She feels that instead of focusing on the “single parent family,” the government should look at the underlying cause of poverty within the single-parent family. The government has misinterpreted the dynamics of the “single parent family” by grouping “unmarried mothers” and “illegitimate children” together thinking that this is the “single parent family”, but this is not the case. Most studies about child poverty for single-parent family studies are conducted in urban inner-city areas where poverty rates are fairly high; however, child poverty rates for single-parent families in rural areas are increasing and sometimes surpass these urban populations because of unemployment and lowered wages. The purpose of the author’s research is to suggest a welfare reform policy for families who have been misunderstood because of the very complex relationships that are present in poor, rural communities. The author conducts her field research among low income families and high-poverty communities in upstate New York. In the second section of her article, Fitchen draws on existing research conducted in dispersed rural sites throughout the United States and then compares her research to previous research. In 1990-1992, Fitchen
conducted her study in 17 counties in upstate New York to determine
what sort of rural issues were present.
These counties
rely on agriculture and manufacturing as their economic mainstays. Lately
manufacturing employment has declined due to closing factories. Fitchen
defines three types of poor: the poor who have been poor for generations,
the newly arrived poor from urban areas, and local residents thrown into
unemployment because of reduction in work opportunities and/or reduction
of number of workers per household. Fitchen observes that most of the
poor people living in these rural areas are “white/non-ethnic,” which
offers an alternative to assuming single-parenthood and poverty with
stereotypes of race and ethnicity. CLAIRITY: 3 MAGGIE HOFFMANN California State University, Chico (William Loker) Gill, Lesley. “Examining Power, Serving the State:” Anthropology, Congress and the Invasion of Panama. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54 (3): 318-323 In 1969, Laura Nader urged anthropologists to “study up.” Influenced by renowned authors like Nader and Kathleen Gough, Gill explores the tension faced by anthropologists who seek to examine the institutional structures of state power in American society first hand. Gill explores this topic through her participation in a ten-month AAA Congressional Fellow program, assisting a congressman, in the House of Representatives. During this period, US military forces invaded Panama, kidnapped Panamanian president, General Manuel Noriega, accused him of drug trafficking, and jailed him in Miami. The congressman for whom Gill worked did not agree with US policy. He felt the action needlessly endangered American lives, broke international law, and was carried out without the prior consent of Congress. In the eyes of the congressman these illegal actions put the Bush administration in a vulnerable position, and presented the Congressman with a spotlight to speak on an important issue, and receive press coverage, newspaper space, that could interest other members in his constituency. Gill was assigned the task of writing an op-ed due to her knowledge of Latin America. The article was to criticize the intervention, and hopefully postpone the dimming of the Congressman’s and the Democrats’ spotlight on the issue. Despite full acknowledgement that her opinions on this issue did not fully coincide with the Congressman, Gill decided to write the article anyway. The op-ed article addressed four main points. First, the invasion and US-imposed sanctions that preceded it were in serious breach of international law. Second, it suggested that even if General Noriega was an alleged cocaine dealer, the US did not have the right to intervene in sovereign affairs of another nation. Next, the article pointed out the Guillermo Endara was hardly a president of the people, due to being unfairly financially assisted from the CIA earlier in his presidential bid. Finally, the article urged President Bush to listen to Latin American presidents who called for democratic elections monitored by independent, international observers. The article was read by the entire staff, then handed to the Congressman who set up a meeting with Gill and a lawyer on the Congressman’s personal staff. Once the meeting began the Congressman started dismantling the article. He stated that discussing the election in Panama was, “Like a dog, barking at the moon.” Further, he did not want to associate himself with those Latin American presidents who called for elections, worried that this might lead opponents to question his patriotism. Overall, the article was taking an unpopular stand on Panama and the Congressman was unwilling to take the risk. Gill’s article was never published, and the hours she spent at her desk were for nothing. Eventually, feeling alienated, she transferred departments, and finished her fellowship elsewhere. In conclusion Gill writes that in order to engage inaccessible public officials and corporate executives in pubic policy discussions, collaboration with popular organizations who challenge established order is needed; unions, church organizations, gay/lesbian groups, women’s and minority groups. Progressive social movements can command attention of aloof officials, broaden the limit of pubic debate and stimulate meaningful change. A conscious effort needs to be made to “study up” and examine relations of power. This will provide a deeper understanding of domination and subordination and the ambiguities and personal conflicts that continually plague professional anthropologists engaged in political activity. CLARITY RANKING: 4 Paul Tantarelli California State University, Chico (William Loker) Gmelch, George and Sharon B. Gender and Migration: The Readjustment of Women Migrants in Barbados, Ireland, and Newfoundland. Human Organization 1995 Vol. 54(4): 470-473. In this article the authors conducted a controlled comparison of the
impact return of migrants in three Atlantic societies; Barbados, Ireland,
and Newfoundland. Their goal was to determine how migrants from each
society readjusted to their home lands after having been assimilated
into a different culture. They found a significant gender difference
in the attitudes of return migrants, particularly women. Most of those interviewed migrated to the urban areas in their late
teens and early twenties (the average ages were 21 for Barbadians, 22.5
for the Irish, and 22.3 for the Newfoundlanders). Most were single at
the time of their emigration and married by the time they came back.
The primary reason for emigrating was for economic and employment reasons;
they needed jobs. There were few gender
differences in the data except for the question, “How
satisfied are you with your life here compared to your life abroad?” The
women’s responses were significantly different than the male response
to this question. Particularly among those who had returned home in the
last year, most of the women were significantly more “dissatisfied” then
men. CLARITY RANKING: 5 MAGGIE HOFFMANN California State University, Chico (William Loker) Hansis, Richard The Social Acceptability of Clearcutting in the Pacific Northwest. Human Organization. Vol. 54 (1): 95-101, 1995 In his article on the forestry practices, Richard Hansis focuses on clearcutting, a technique where most, if not all, of the standing trees of any given area are removed. Before writing about the data relating to his study, he reviews the literature on various theories and models concerned with acceptability and values. The first point made in the literature review is that values are the basic standards of judgments and evaluation. Values are also stated as being ranked; the fulfillment of lower ranked values not necessarily satisfying non-fulfillment of a prime ranked value. Hansis then reviews facets that influence the acceptability of new ideas. Hansis shows that there are three determinant of the acceptability of a new idea: (1) the character of the idea, (2) the situational features connected to the idea, (3) the range in qualities of possible acceptors of the idea. Next Hansis gives a list of five factors relating to the social acceptability of clearcutting. First, places carry symbolic meaning to the people who use the forest. Second is in understanding the value placed upon these experiences. Third are the level of knowledge about forestry practices and the impacts of their practices shared by the community. Fourth is an understanding that members of the community may have previous experience with accepting introduced ideas, including a generalized apathy toward outside authority. Last is the character of potential acceptors. Based on this review, Hansis describes the methods used in his research to ascertain the level of social acceptability of clearcutting in the Pacific Northwest. The population selected was divided into four groups: (1) people who visited Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Southwest Washington, (2) people from rural and urban areas of Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington, or Hood River Counties, all in the vicinity of Portland, (3) a random sample from rural and urban areas of Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania, or Klickitat counties of Southwestern Washington, and (4) rural occupants of Clark, Cowlitz, Skamania, and Klickitat counties. Two methods were used in this study. The first was a questionnaire consisting
of a series of statements concerning federal forest management, and was
answered by people choosing to agree or disagree. This was mailed to
the chosen population in waves. Hansis had a high rate of survey return,
nearly 72%, due to intense interest in this issue. It was shown that
29.8% of the people involved disagreed with the statement that clearcutting
should be banned on federal forest land, 14.6% were neutral to this statement,
and 55.6% agreed with the ban. He further discusses various factors in
the data involving gender, occupation, and self-identified political
ideology. The second method was the interviewing of 35 people. The format
was the same as the questionnaire with the added ability of interviewees
to expand upon their answers. The results of these interviews showed
that feelings against clearcutting increased with level of education.
Also, those people who labeled themselves as being conservative were
more apt to be in favor of clearcutting. Clarity Ranking: 2 JACOB CARR California State University, Chico. (Dr. William Loker) Hogg, Robert S. Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Mortality in Rural Australia. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54 (2): 214-220. Robert Hogg investigates differences in the mortality rates of Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal people of Western New South Wales over a ten year period (1979-1988), uncovering substantial health inequalities between the two groups that result in a higher rate of mortality for Aborigines. Conditions of severe poverty, diet, lifestyle, and poor health contribute to the gross disparity between the two groups. The study is based on mortality data gathered from primary and secondary sources for two medium-sized towns with a fairly large Aboriginal population. Using data for mortality rates for the years studied, Hogg cross-compares age-specific and cause-specific patterns of death, potential years of life lost, and life expectancies to age and gender groups, looking for any significant differences between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal mortality rates. Hogg discovered that the Aboriginal population for both sexes was much younger in comparison to the Non-Aboriginal population, with the majority of the Aboriginal population under 20 years of age. Correspondingly, he found Aboriginal mortality rates to be drastically higher than Non-Aborigines, with the majority of deaths among Aborigines occurring between the ages of 25-64, which signified an unusual trend. A theory of epidemiological transition would anticipate more deaths during the 0-24 age range that includes childbirth and early childhood, periods that typically witness greater mortality rates due to the infant deaths and infectious diseases. However, as Hogg illustrates, Aborigines have higher instances of adult mortality, which he attributes to three possible explanations. First, Aborigines may be genetically predisposed to certain illnesses such as heart and lung diseases and non-insulin dependent diabetes, which may be attributed to changes in dietary habits in relation to a specific Aboriginal genotype. Second, Aboriginal risk factors for heart disease, the leading cause of death for both groups, include higher rates of tobacco consumption, hypertension, obesity, and non-insulin dependent diabetes, a phenomenon that can also be linked to dietary changes from traditional food sources to modern, refined and packaged foods. Third, social inequality may play a role in the higher mortality rates found among Aborigines. Inadequate food and housing, unemployment, lack of education, depression, higher rates of alcohol abuse, and an overall feeling of powerlessness exists in the Aboriginal community, all of which may factor into the higher rates of deaths that are related to accidents, abuse, and violence. Concerned by the implications, Hogg notes that intervention programs designed to improve health conditions in Australia have been fairly ineffective thus far. He feels that in order to improve health conditions of Aborigines, extensive work must be done that would include Aborigines as active participants involved in designing strategies to end the cycles of poverty. Hogg also feels that programs need to be designed and implemented that focus on specific disease strategies in order to improve the health of Aborigines, which would in turn extend life expectancies. Finally, he suggests that more research is needed for reevaluations of the current and future strategies designed to improve the health of Aborigines. CLARITY RATING: 4 CHRISTY NEWTON California State University, Chico (William Loker) Knudsen, Stale. “Fisheries along the Eastern Black Sea Coast of Turkey:” Informal Resource Management in Small-scale Fishing the Shadow of a Dominant Capitalist Fishery. Human Organization. 1995 Vol. 54 (4): 437-448 This article focuses on the recent historic developments of capitalist fisheries, and their effects on small-scale fishing during the last 20-30 years in Turkey, on the Black Sea. Technological and economic differences between small-scale fishing and capitalist fisheries, along with their social and cultural closeness, have affected formal and informal regulation of diminishing resources in the Black Sea. Knudsen focuses on two main issues. First, the social process at work in the management systems in capitalist fisheries, and what influences their design of management. Second, Knudsen examines the evolution of two very distinct kinds of fishery adaptations: modern capital-intensive and work-intensive small-scale fishing. The majority of people in coastal Turkey regard themselves as ethnic Turk and Sunni Muslims. Most people in this densely populated region (average 100-250 pers./km) are involved in cultivation of hazelnut. This seasonal crop requires little labor, and groves are usually family managed. Land shortage, low prices for hazelnuts, and lack of any substantial industry, cause many to leave home in order to find income. Many jobs are offered in the large scale fishing industry. Generally 20-25 people to work on each trawler, and additional employment is needed for large scale packing, and shipping of anchovies and sardines. There are no regulations limiting the size of fleets, and due to the lack of knowledge of stock sizes, neither individual boats nor the total fleet are restricted by quota arrangements. Conversely, with no present agreements on wages, the owner decides individuals percentages, depending on the seasons catch. If the catches are small crewmembers may have no share, as the expenses of the business are covered first. Many local small-scale fishermen have become aware of this, and the majority prefer to work alone. Due to this form of capitalist business, and their inability to compete with anchovy and sardine sales, small-scale fishermen have adapted to catching Atlantic bonito fish and red mullet that have higher market values. In order to catch these fish, location and communication among fisherman is very important. Social order and ownership of land on the coast plays an important role in the location of each small-scale fisherman. For the most part, full time small-scale fishermen ally themselves against large-scale fleets and relentlessly hold on to sections of the Black Sea at any cost. These locations are near the eastern part of the Black Sea, and are currently closed to large trawlers, which allows small-scale fisherman a minor advantage of waters not fished by trawlers. Currently small-scale fisherman have been able to hold off capitalist fishing by their constant presence, however no agreement or regulation stipulating individual fisherman’s positions or village territories have been legally established. Due to resources becoming more scare, capitalist fisheries have been putting pressures on government agencies to open current forbidden areas. This raises the question of who will receive “first comer’s right?” Opening these waters to large trawlers is very controversial, ecologically and economically, due to depletion of fish, and precarious rights of small-scale farmers. CLARITY RANKING: 3 Paul Tantarelli California State University, Chico (William Loker) Mansperger, Mark. Tourism and Cultural Change in Small-Scale Societies. Human Organizations. 1995 Vol. 54(1):87-94. We have entered an era in which small-scale societies are increasingly affected by tourism. With the expansion of tourism and tourist-host interactions, comes significant impact on these small-scale societies. Intercultural contact may cause significant cultural changes within these cultures. In this article Mansperger analyzes three case studies of tourism impacts on Native peoples of the Upper Amazon, East Africa, and the Pacific Islands. These case studies become a point of reference for the Mansperger to make a general analysis of the benefits and costs of tourism on small-scale societies. The Upper Amazon case study reviews the cultural change that has occurred within the Yagua of Peru and Colombia. Mansperger determines that tourism negatively impacted the Yagua by relocating the Yagua into accessible locations to make it more convenient for tourists to have contact with the indigenous people. The Yagua also perform superficial ceremonies for the tourists; these ceremonies then lose their significance to the local people. Apathy, depression, tuberculosis, and the cessation of their subsistence activities among the Yagua are all negative impacts of tourism. When reviewing the case study done on the Massai of East Africa, Mansperger determines that tourism has had minimal effects on their culture. This is a result of limited interactions between hosts and guests, resistance to foreign agencies, and retaining enough access to land to allow them to continue their pastoral traditions, thus allowing them to maintain their traditional world view, social structure, and subsistence system. The last case study Mansperger reviews is done on the Yapese of the Pacific Islands. In this study it seems that the impact of tourism is primarily benefiting the Yapese culture. The reasons for the minimal negative costs and preponderant benefits of tourism among the Yapese is due to Yapese ownership of all the tourism infrastructure on the island. They, rather than foreign agencies, reap profits from the tourist industry. The relationship that the Yapese have with their land, and the status that owning land brings, ensures that the Yapese will not sell their land for monetary profit. Overall Mansperger acknowledges that tourism can have many benefits, and/or costs, to small-scale societies. Tourism can promote economic development, provide employment opportunities for women, increase public services, promote the preservation of indigenous traditions, and establish educational contacts between people of different cultures. The costs of tourism on small-scale societies may include displacement, disruptions of local economic and kinship systems, environmental degradation, inflation, inequality, social conflict, erosion of traditions, crime, prostitution, crowding, inauthenticity, loss of autonomy, and increased dependency on the outside world. Research indicates that the impacts of tourism can be reduced if tourism is kept at a moderate or low level. Mansperger explains that a primary factor of minimizing tourist impact is maintaining host control or ownership over the tourist infrastructure and involving the locals in all decision-making processes. Also, the negative impacts of tourism seem to be related to tourist induced changes in the host’s relationship to their lands. The more land utilization and tenure systems are disrupted, the larger and more harmful are the impacts of tourism. Clarity Ranking: 4 Alea Gellman California State University, Chico (William Loker) Margolis, Maxine L. Brazilians and the 1990 United States Census: Immigrants, Ethnicity, and the Undercount. Human Organizations.1995 Vol.54(1):52-58. Using the example of Brazilians in New York City, this article documents the reasons why immigrants in the United States are underrepresented in national censuses; in turn, this creates a problematic final tally of who is living in the country. Two issues that affected the 1990 United States census included the utilization of ethnic categories and the enumeration of undocumented immigrants. Maxine Margolis’ study of Brazilian immigrants in New York City documents the census undercount of Brazilians in New York and in the U.S. as a whole. Margolis compares two sources on statistics of Brazilian immigration. The United States government statistics indicate a steady increase in Brazilian immigration over the last 25 years, from approximately 1984 to 1992. These data only include legal immigrants because the majority of illegal immigrants try to avoid being counted. The author believes the best source for the true volume of immigrants is the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization services statistics on tourist visas issued to Brazilians coming to the U.S. The most intense period of Brazilian immigration to the U.S. was between 1984 and 1992; tourist visas rose by 200 percent during this time period. Using estimates from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services, twenty percent of the 2 million immigrants came to this country to seek work. The question that remains is how these people are represented on the census. There are two issues present regarding how the census is conducted, (1) how to count illegal immigrants as part of the Brazilian population, and (2) the effects of identity categories on the count. How to define those of Latin American heritage went through years of reshaping. During the 1960’s, Latin American ancestry was classified as “white,” and then changed in the next decade to “Hispanic,” and “Central and South American,” followed by “Spanish/Hispanic origin/descent.” The 1990 census directed people to check “Spanish/Hispanic” if they were from the countries the census had listed or other Spanish speaking countries. Brazil was not included on the list and Brazilians speak Portuguese not Spanish. They had the option of putting Brazilian as “other race” but Brazilian isn’t a race, it is a nationality. Many marked “white” and many others refused; both these options contributed to the undercount of Brazilians. The 1990 census declared a total of 27,631 Brazilians in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut combined, yet Margolis’ findings of statistics by the Brazilian Consulate in New York City state there were 80,000 to 100,000 Brazilians in the New York metropolitan area alone. The author found
that there was a significant, but unknown, number of Brazilians living
in New York City that do not participate
in the census
due to the following factors: unable to declare ethnicity specifically,
fear of being detected by immigration authorities, residential mobility,
and household composition. Her anecdotal evidence suggests that more
individuals would have participated but they were disinterested or they
resented the options the census offered. The census category “other
race” went from 6.8 million in 1980 to 9.8 million in 1990. An
undetermined percentage of individuals in this category were Brazilians. ERIN SMITH California State University, Chico (William Loker) Meleif, Alaf I. and Pilar Bernal. The Paradoxical World |
.gif){kind=small}
