Vincent Ostrom’s Revolutionary Science of Association [post-print]

Vincent Ostrom challenged epistemic choices at the foundation of modern political science and proposed an alternative conceptualization of democracy based on a theory of federalism he derived from The Federalist and Tocqueville\u27s Democracy in America. This essay examines Vincent Ostrom\u27s critique of contemporary mainstream political theorizing, relates his original theoretical work to the empirical research Elinor Ostrom, other colleagues, and he conducted, advised, or sponsored at The Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis Indiana University, and concludes that Ostrom\u27s democratic alternative constitutes an alternative scientific paradigm as defined by Thomas Kuhn. The paper concludes with a comment on the continuing relevance of Ostrom\u27s critique in the post-9/11 era

Towards reducing communication gaps in multicultural and global requirements elicitation

This paper focuses on the collaborative aspects of requirements elicitation, in the context of software, systems and service development. The aim is to identify and understand challenges of requirements elicitation in general and in distributed environments. We focus on human, social, and cultural factors that have an impact on communication in the requirements elicitation process. More specifically we aim to i) unfold potential cultural impediments that hamper the requirements elicitation process; ii) highlight cultural factors that should be taken into account in the requirements elicitation process in order to avoid incomplete and inconsistent requirements; and iii) make recommendations for alleviating the problems. In this paper our first step is to report on the findings of a review of the literature regarding culture in RE. The results suggest that the cultural studies in the field of RE are insufficient and thus more empirical studies are required. Secondly, we look at current solutions that are being adopted to assist in improving the cultural aspect of the requirements elicitation process. In the following step we map the identified communication gaps to the SPI Manifesto Values revealing the manifestations of the problems and finally we prescribe a set of recommendations that could be exercised and fulfilled by actors in the requirements elicitation process in order for them to improve cultural considerations in the RE process. These recommendations address the shortcomings that were identified in the literature review and mapped the Values of the SPI Manifesto. The proposals regard technologies, platforms, methods, and frameworks that are readily available. A requirements elicitation process that adopts one or a number of these proposals can help alleviate the challenges invoked by stakeholders’ cultural diversity in the RE process, thus leading to systems development and deployment that much better reflects the requirements/needs of diverse stakeholders and users

A Selected Bibliography of Topics on Employment Practices

Cornell University is currently funded by the U.S. Department of Education National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research for a four-year Research and Demonstration entitled Improving Employment Practices Covered by Title I of the ADA (Grant # H133A70005). As a part of these efforts, we have done an extensive literature review on topics related to employer practices and the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This bibliography is the result of these eighteen months of efforts. This publication is available as a print product, and is accessible online at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu. We hope that these resources will be of assistance in helping human resource professionals, employers, providers of vocational rehabilitation services, advocacy organizations, and persons with disabilities and their family members to better employ the ADA in effectively implementing the accommodation process

Everyday Peace in the Ecovillage: Unity and Strength through Diversity

Abstract: Peace and conflict studies can benefit from studying small, ordinary, peaceful communities, in contrast to focusing on outlier events of violence, conflict and war. As a peace from below approach, the ecovillage model offers insights on how ordinary people innovate new ways to build and sustain peace within a microcosm of society, focusing intensely on the local. The aim of this research is to compare the everyday peace practices in two ecovillages, one in the United States and one in Ghana, how aspects of class, culture and race affect these practices, and what transformations can be seen toward positive peace as a result. Through nine semi-structured interviews with ecovillage members, supplemented with documents and field notes, similar everyday peace practices were discovered. Key findings suggest that in both ecovillages, developing social cohesion through a clearly stated purpose and meaningful daily social interactions, is most fundamental, while dialogue is the most versatile and transformational practice for deepening understanding and promoting peace. Embracing diversity as a benefit for all, helps to transcend histories of oppression and create unity. Narratives revealed stories of transformation of improved financial stability, personal development and unifying relations between groups. Key Words: Ecovillage, Everyday Peace, Conflict, Positive Peac

Institutional translation in the European Parliament: an insight

This report accounts for the traineeship carried out within the Master of Translation at the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), in the French translation Unit of the European Parliament. The main topic of this report is institutional translation, focusing on the case of the European Union. The aim is to introduce, define and clarify the concept of institutional translation, later relating it to the case of the European Union and further applying its features to the traineeship in the European Parliament. This report starts out by defining institutional translation. The European Union, seen as it fits into that definition, has been used as an example in research on institutional translation. The characteristics of institutional translation are thus identified and a parallel is made with institutional translation in the European Union institutions where the way they conduct their institutional translation is scrutinized. Concerning the traineeship, tasks performed, the type of translations, the translation process, the details of one translation and its corrections are all accounted for. A critical and a personal reflection is also provided, explaining to which degree the characteristics of institutional translation apply to to the experiences within this traineeship in the European Parliament.Este relatório constitui o resultado de um estágio realizado no âmbito do mestrado de Tradução do Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (IPB). O estágio foi desenvolvido na unidade de tradução francesa do Parlamento Europeu, como tradutor estagiário. Este relatório tem como principal tema a tradução institucional, com ênfase no caso da União Europeia. Pretende-se, essencialmente, introduzir, definir e clarificar o conceito de tradução institucional, relacionando-o com o caso da União Europeia e aplicando depois as suas características ao estágio desenvolvido no Parlamento Europeu. O relatório inicia-se com a definição teórica da tradução institucional. A União Europeia, a qual se enquadra nesta definição, tem sido usada como exemplo em pesquisas sobre tradução institucional. As características da tradução institucional são assim descritas, sendo exploradas a ligação com a tradução institucional nos organismos da União Europeia, bem como a forma como é executada. Sobre o estágio propriamente dito, contabilizam-se e descrevem-se as tarefas executadas, os tipos de traduções, o processo de tradução, os detalhes de uma tradução e as suas correções. Apresenta-se igualmente uma reflexão crítica e pessoal, explicando de que modo as características da tradução institucional se aplicam muito às experiências deste estágio no Parlamento Europeu

Current Developments in Services for People with Intellectual Disabilities

[Taken from Executive Summary] This literature review is the culmination of the Saskatchewan Community Living Division jurisdictional study which began in the autumn of 2003. Following a brief survey of developments in providing services to people with intellectual disabilities (hitherto the People) for creating the questionnaire for this study, information was gleaned from the provinces and territories on their services. The CLD Jurisdictional Project was completed in the spring of 2005. Subsequently, a thorough search and examination of pertinent resources for serving this People and for policy development was conducted. From over 800 documents about 350 were selected for this literature review. The material is recorded in the following chapters: Public Consultation and Policy Development; Social Philosophy: the philosophical influence on contemporary social issues; Definition of disabilities; Needs assessment systems; Human Rights; Advocacy; Community services & Deinstitutionalization; Issues and Influences; Citizenship; Inclusion; Self-determination; Person-centered planning; Supports; Respite; Individualized funding; Canadian governmental initiatives; Provincial Services

Art Therapy and Art History Theories, an Inquiry

This research uses critical theory inquiry with interviews and arts-based research to explore biases about art making in clinical art therapy practice. The literature review establishes an historical link between theoretical tenets in fields of art therapy and art history. Participants are chosen from experts in the fields of art therapy and art history. Interviews explore what art making means to each participant, utilizing both verbal and arts-based processing. The data is condensed through coding and arts-based reflection, and seven emergent themes are identified. The themes are checked with the participants for accuracy. The findings of the paper integrate the insight from the literature review with the expressed views of the participants to illuminate meaning-making processes of art. The paper concludes with identification of an “art historical lens” for practicing art therapy and discussion of treatment considerations, limitations of the study, and suggestions for further research

Pressures of African American Christian Women Who Serve as Leaders in a Secular Environment

The pressures of African American Christian women (AACW) who function as leaders in a secular environment are unknown. This qualitative phenomenological study aimed to explore the experiences of AACW who lead in a secular environment in Eastern North Carolina under pressures such as stress and anxiety. Data received from conducting this qualitative study will reveal the perspectives of six AACW who function as leaders in a secular environment. It will reveal the causes for their pressures, their ways of coping with those issues, and their thoughts on ways to lessen stress while serving as an African American Christian (AAC) leader in a secular environment. The driving force behind this study is explained by Bell (2004), who stated that the average life expectancy of a Black woman is seventy years, whereas that of a Black man is sixty years, and that of a White woman is seventy-nine years. Black women\u27s life expectancy has declined due to cancer and heart disease (Bell, 2004). The decline in life expectancy due to illnesses and other health issues emphasizes how vital it is for African American women to preserve their health and well-being. According to Wiley (2020), when poverty and a potentially unhealthy environment are present, both physical and mental illness can be crippling (Wiley, 2020). Therefore, it is essential to identify the root causes of stress and anxiety. According to the findings of this research study, AACW who function as leaders in a secular environment are leading under stress and/or anxiety due to working in a secular environment, their race, their age, their gender, Black men, and personal reasons