Academic literature on the topic '160199 Anthropology not elsewhere classified'

The past 40 years have formed a transitional period in Sweden’s education and political history. The social democratic reforms from the 1940s that aimed to create a centralised, expanded and integrated comprehensive education system came to an end. Decentralisation, neoliberal governance and the introduction of new public management with the creation of private schools and competition have shaped the policy regime since then. Ethnography emerged in Swedish educational research as a significant research methodology during this transitional period. Using a qualitative and quantitative investigation of research dissertations that classified and counted the use of ethnography as either classical (using core references and long-term participation research at one or a limited number of sites), or adapted (used within adaptations to other research methods), the present article explores these developments at two universities. It suggests that Swedish education ethnography has developed along similar kinds of historical trajectories to ethnography in other places, with roots similar to those in other European countries, though also with some variations. For instance, as elsewhere, ethnography needed a breakthrough point in Swedish education research. It got this in the 1980s. However, it quickly became an important part of educational research from the 1990s onwards and a strong quantitative take off early in the new millennium followed. Presently more than half of all PhD dissertations in Education at the two universities have some kind of participant observation, over half of which are also classically ethnographic. This leads us to conclude that education ethnography in Sweden has changed across its period of growth and that though configured in contemporary social science as having originated in anthropology as a methodology that employed long-term embedded participant observation, this does not limit the variations of ethnography’s development or its application.

The Internet is one of the most significant information and communication technologies to emerge during the end of the last century. It created new and effective means by which individuals and groups communicate. These advances led to marked institutional changes most notably in the realm of commercial exchange: it did not only provide the high-speed communication infrastructure to business enterprises; it also opened them to the global consumer base where they could market their products and services. Commercial interests gradually dominated Internet technology over the past several years and have been a factor in the increase of its user population and enhancement of infrastructure. Such commercial interests fitted comfortably within the structures of the Philippine government. As revealed in the study, state policies and programs make use of Internet technology as an enabler of commercial institutional reforms using traditional economic measures. Yet, despite efforts to maximize the Internet as an enabler for market-driven economic growth, the accrued benefits are yet to come about; it is largely present only in major urban areas and accessible to a small number of social groups. The failure of the Internet’s developmental capability can be traced back to the government’s wholesale adoption of commercial-centered discourse. The Internet’s developmental gains (i.e. instrumental, communicative and emancipatory) and features, which were always there since its inception, have been visibly left out in favor of its commercial value. By employing synchronic and diachronic analysis, it can be shown that the Internet can be a vital technology in promoting genuine social development in the Philippines. In general, the object is to realize a social environment of towards a more inclusive and participatory application of Internet technology, equally aware of the caveats or risks the technology may pose. It is argued further that there is a need for continued social scientific research regarding the social as and developmental implications of Internet technology at local level structures, such social sectors, specific communities and organizations. On the meta-level, such approach employed in this research can be a modest attempt in increasing the calculus of hope especially among the marginalized Filipino sectors, with the use of information and communications technologies. This emerging field of study—tentatively called Progressive Informatics—must emanate from the more enlightened social sectors, namely: the non-government, academic and locally-based organizations.

This research employs an anthropological perspective in the examination of the impact upon social workers of changing welfare policies within a fostering and adoption unit in a London Borough. It is a study of the ways in which issues of policy, governance and power affect people on the ground. Nonetheless, this study is very much about the relationships between macro as well as micro processes. For that reason, it includes an illustration of the irreversible shift from the old notions of care, via major reforms to public sector management, and the introduction of market principles into welfare during the 1980s and 1990s. This research also highlights the notion of family and kinship as a set of ideas that are reproduced in government rhetoric about what environment is normal (and what is ideal) for children. In this context, fostering and adoption have become sites for significant and sustained policy legislation over a number of decades. Thus, the fostering and adoption unit offered a unique location for the focus on the fit between the formal specificity of top-down policy upon the day-to-day practices that social workers engage in. In so doing, it reveals how the redefinition of the role of social workers in the twenty-first century results in a tension between notions of professionalism and public sector managerialism. It draws attention to social workers as instruments of government control and intervention, and provides the framework through which to demonstrate the continually changing nature of the identity of social workers in negotiations of power. At the same time, it provides the context for another major strand of government policy legislation for local authorities that are based on the historical discourse of modernisation.

Why did black southern migrants during the Great Migration not get off the train along the migratory corridor that connected the points of departure and arrival, i.e. the Jim Crow South and the urban North? How did midwestern small-towns and black America come to be understood as polar opposites? Based on archival and ethnographic research, this project answers these questions by disrupting grand narratives about the Great Migration and the Midwest: 1) it disrupts the idea of predefined destinations of southern black migrants by illustrating that not all wanted to settle in big cities; 2) it disrupts the midwestern whiteness by displaying resilience and resistance of minorities in the same landscape; and 3) it disrupts stereotypes of midwestern friendliness by uncovering the self-perceived understanding of midwestern hospitality of Hoosier communities that stands in stark contrast with the unwelcoming environment as experienced by outsiders. Together, the chapters in this dissertation record the racialized geographies of Indiana and provide a nuanced understanding of identity and belonging in the Midwest. Analysis of the data identifies cultures of exclusion prevalent in midwestern small towns.

This thesis is a study of older volunteers and their feelings of being valued and of worth within that role. The perceptions of older volunteers and their managers within three participating non-government organisations, government and organisational policy documents and relevant legislation and literature in the fields of ageing and volunteering provided data for the research. Changing political, economic and social conditions together with ageing of the Australian population have resulted in human services being increasingly contracted to non-government organisations. This in turn has resulted in more services than hitherto being delivered by volunteers many of whom are older people. Population ageing implies that there will be an increasing need for human services provision in the first half of the twenty first century. Whether there will be sufficient volunteers to maintain these services will depend at least in part on the responsiveness of organisations to their volunteer base and the effectiveness of their recruitment strategies. This research indicates that a sense of mastery over their circumstances is critical to volunteer satisfaction. Volunteers discussed their perceptions of maintaining control over their circumstances through the process of initiating volunteering arrangements and negotiating role changes in response to their changing health or abilities. Managers recognised the need to be responsive to the changing abilities of older volunteers and identified strategies for maintaining the volunteer contribution. Management style and in particular communication emerged as integral to volunteer satisfaction and an awareness of and responsiveness to differing motivators was important, particularly in relation to social networking and making a worthwhile contribution as a source of feeling valued.

Food insecurity and nutrition are two of the biggest challenges facing our society. Urban agriculture can help address these challenges, though lack of awareness about opportunities for engagement and degraded soils are two barriers that could prevent people from realizing the benefits that these operations can provide. Soils in urban areas are often highly degraded due to development activities and lack the structure and microbial life needed to sustain healthy, productive plants. Many lifelong habits such as healthy eating and engagement in community gardening are best established during young adulthood. Graduate school is a particularly unique time period, as many students are living on their own for the first time with modest incomes and some have young families that are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. Consequently, the first objective of this project was to identify which barriers, if any, Purdue graduate students face when purchasing and consuming fresh produce and participating in local urban agriculture initiatives as Purdue’s campus and much of the surrounding area are characterized as food deserts by the USDA. We also sought to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced food access and motivations for healthy eating and community garden engagement. To answer these questions, we distributed a voluntary 33 question online Qualtrics® survey to all Purdue graduate students via mass email blast. Results indicate that many Purdue graduate students face individual and structural barriers to accessing fresh fruits and vegetables. International respondents, in particular, were particularly vulnerable to structural barriers. Not having access to a personal vehicle appears to be the primary predictor of who was most vulnerable, especially during the pandemic. Results also indicate that students are interested in participating in local urban agriculture initiatives, but most are unaware of their existence. Students indicated that e-mails were the best method for increasing awareness and engagement. The second objective of this study was to determine whether leaf mold compost could improve the health and productivity of degraded urban soils. In addition, we aimed to determine whether the leaf compost could better support a beneficial microbial inoculant to further enhance crop productivity, as well as the extent to which plant genotype moderates these beneficial plant-soil-microbial relationships. To answer these questions, leaf compost was obtained from a local grower and applied to experimental plots at the Purdue University Farm. Two tomato varieties, Wisconsin 55 and Corbarino, were inoculated with Trichoderma harzianum T-22 or a sterile water control, and transplanted into the field trials. 15 Survival following transplanting, vigor, disease ratings and the yield and quality of tomato fruit were quantified over the course of two growing seasons. Results indicated that several measures of soil health were significantly increased in compost-amended soils and the health and productivity of tomato plants greatly improved. The microbial inoculant dramatically reduced transplant stress, especially in Wisconsin 55. Other more subtle differences among the tomato varieties indicated that urban agriculture systems could be improved through varietal selection. These studies highlight the fact that graduate students are not immune to food insecurity and proper nutrition and they are interested in connecting with urban agriculture initiatives to address these challenges. Pairing of the two groups could prove to be a successful mutualistic symbiosis as graduate students provide the enthusiasm and manpower that urban gardens need while urban gardens offer access to low-cost fresh produce that many graduate students desire. Leaf mold compost can aid in these initiatives by providing a cost-effective approach to improve the health and productivity of urban soils and crops, while at the same time providing further benefits such as reduced accumulation of valuable carbon sources in municipal landfills. Results like these provide stark evidence that agriculture, particularly urban agriculture, can continue to improve access to nutritious foods through green initiatives and innovations.