Pre-Industrial Ecological Modernization in Agro-Food and Medicine : Directing the Commodification of Heritage Culture in Cambodia

The environmental movement, which picked up steam from the 1960s in many rich countries, is manifested in modern-day green politics, pollution regulation, nature protection, the re-emergence of renewable energy, and organic agriculture. Discursively, this was, and still is, a post-industrial movement that arose out of atavistic notions of ‘returning’ to the land and reversing toxic pollution and human alienation from nature. Since the mid-1990s, this discourse has penetrated into theory and practice for development in pre-industrial countries, presenting new and often contradictory lessons for modernization. In particular, the concept of ‘ecological modernization’, which was used starting in the early 1980s to describe technology-based efforts to clean up the pollution and reconcile industrial development with higher environmental expectations, is turned on its head when applied to developing countries, as the focus shifts from intervention to prevention. In developing countries, however, prevention does not strictly correspond with a transfer of Western protocols for, among others, environmental regulation, organic agricultural production and sustainable wild harvesting. Instead, prevention is more about proactive engagement with contemporary agricultural discourses and adaptation of technical advancements that provides a basis for novel and more culturally-embedded food and medicine systems. This dissertation looks at the ‘capability’ (following Amartya Sen) of Cambodian society to reflexively interact with the pressures and opportunities presented by the commodification of food and medicine in light of ongoing discursive debates between industrial and alternative agriculture. It looks at assets available to Cambodians, including the ‘agro-social skill’ arising from rural experience that maintains a differentiated appreciation of agricultural products, as well as the role of historical narratives in creating a common basis of understanding agricultural modernization. Specifically, the dissertation explores the experience of three agricultural product types that are undergoing a contested commodification, namely organic/natural rice, sugar palm products, and traditional medicine. This work evaluates how these traditional product forms are socially reconstructed as heritage or ecological products throughout their commodification by analyzing the ways in which they are marketed, integrated into cultural politics and development, and perceived by rural and urban consumers. The primarily qualitative analysis of trends in production and consumption is also informed by economic analyses of farm productivity and marketing dynamics using a unique method of natural experimentation developed for this work. In conclusion, this dissertation outlines the evolving successes and dilemmas of various initiatives for promoting ecological and heritage products and uncovers mechanisms by which societal ‘capability’ for proactively encountering agricultural modernization and commodification is either eroded or buttressed. The author suggests that the precondition for successful initiatives in the long-term is the preservation and reproduction of agro-social skill, which provides the reflexivity and ideological motivation to consciously direct commodification of heritage culture and, in broader terms, provide agency in managing the encroachment of capitalist relations

Are you disabled? Social and cultural factors in understanding disability in Trinidad and Tobago

This thesis is an analysis of the under-researched subject of disability in Trinidad and Tobago and presents an understanding of the concepts and contestations of disability as it is lived and experienced by disabled people in T&T. In it disability is explored in the context of identity construction, power relations and self-empowerment, and takes into account the ways in which that identity is shaped by historical events, cultural relations, social interactions and political structures. It identifies the relationships between disability and local social issues through an analysis of the everyday cultural paradigms of religion, kinship, beliefs, rituals, customs and values of the people, and gives particular attention to discrimination within the context of heterogeneity, and the effects that has on disabled people’s contribution to society. The possibilities and limits of claiming a disability identity, and the role of state policy in framing understandings of disability are also explored, as are some of the impacts of those policies on the lives of disabled people. The research took a broadly qualitative approach, drawing on narrative, semi-structured and formal interviews, focus groups, observations and documentary analysis. The research findings and analysis add to the existing disability scholarship by exploring the cultural impositions and social structures that impact on disability experiences in a country of the Global South, and pinpoint some of the limitations present in hegemonic Western discourse when applied in these settings. It highlights the importance of the legacies of colonialism and challenges assumptions that systems of Western modernisation and development can be easily transferred to countries of the South without considering whether or not they are socially or culturally appropriate. The data results have illustrated that disability in T&T is a social construct which diverges in important ways from the dominant Westernised theorisations of disability and in particular, identifies the significance of religion and spirituality in shaping models of reality and value systems, which must be taken into account more fully in disability scholarship, activism and policy in the country

Co-constructing a new framework for evaluating social innovation in marginalized rural areas

The EU funded H2020 project \u2018Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas\u2019 (SIMRA; www.simra-h2020.eu) has the overall objective of advancing the state-of-the-art in social innovation. This paper outlines the process for co- developing an evaluation framework with stakeholders, drawn from across Europe and the Mediterranean area, in the fields of agriculture, forestry and rural development. Preliminary results show the importance of integrating process and outcome-oriented evaluations, and implementing participatory approaches in evaluation practice. They also raise critical issues related to the comparability of primary data in diverse regional contexts and highlight the need for mixed methods approaches in evaluation

No one can kill the drought: Understanding complexity in the relationship between drought and conflict amongst pastoralists in northern Kenya

Climate-induced resource scarcity is currently cited as one of the most important drivers of human conflict, particularly in the developing world. It is predicted that in the coming years, rising global temperatures may increase aridity in a number of resource-poor regions, precipitating violence, as subsistence populations struggle to maintain livelihoods. East African pastoral communities have long adapted to unpredictable, adverse climatic conditions by modifying behaviours according to their environmental circumstance. A growing concern, however, is whether pastoralists can adapt to prolonged periods of drought, reduced rangeland productivity, and increased livelihood insecurity. A number of studies have argued that pastoralists may rely on violent livestock raids in order to recoup herd losses incurred during drought periods. This thesis investigates the apparent relationship between drought-induced resource scarcity and inter-ethnic conflict amongst three pastoral populations in northern Kenya. Through the analysis of ethnographic data and quantitative applications, this study examines the nature of the relationship between periods of increased drought and escalations in conflict episodes, testing if there is, indeed, a direct relationship between these two phenomena. Furthermore, it builds on the complexity of this relationship by identifying a number of intermediary causal and social effects that may interact and influence the nature of the resource scarcity – conflict relationship. Game theory and socio-ecological resilience models are used as explanatory frameworks, as a way of making sense of these ‘chaotic’ interactions. Ultimately, this thesis presents new theoretical perspectives in understanding resource-based conflicts, tests the adaptive ‘limits’ of subsistence populations, and examines the impact that conflict has on the resilience of pastoral communities

In search of the radio frequency identification (RFID) implementation framework: Lessons from the United Kingdom's public sector

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This study presents a normative framework of the RFID implementation process in the UK public sector. It was motivated by the lack of socio-technical studies on the RFID implementation process in the UK public sector and the need for existing and potential RFID project managers to have an implementation model which could guide their effort in implementing any RFID initiatives in the sector. The study has been conducted through a combination of case study research and grounded theory research approach. Primary data have been collected from the in-depth interviews conducted with the RFID project managers from seven public sector organisations, i.e., five libraries and two hospitals. The analyses of the data were in two main stages. The first stage involved the analysis of the RFID implementation process in each of the organisations and the second stage involved a cross analysis of the RFID implementation process across the entire organisations. Potential contribution towards the existing body of knowledge on RFID implementation was in the form of a normative framework of RFID implementation process in the public sector. This framework describes the main and sub activities in the implementation process, and illustrates the dissimilarities and similarities between the implementation processes. Consequently, the implications of the study to the existing and potential RFID project managers in the public sector and also to the study of information system and RFID implementation are discussed

The role of scientific methods in social work.

The thesis discusses the widely held view in social work that practice should be based on intuitive and empathic understanding and that standard scientific procedures are inapplicable. I argue that this anti-science attitude is misguided and that social workers can and should use scientific methods to test theories and develop more effective ways of helping. There are practical and philosophical reasons for reexamining this dismissal of science. Social workers' statutory powers and duties have increased rapidly but there is also growing concern about their professional competence. Moreover developments in the philosophy of science challenge social workers' assumptions about science. The first two chapters discuss the importance of overcoming the hostility to science, examining social workers' duties, training, and practice methods. The first objection to science examined is the claim that science studies only observable behaviour not mental phenomena. I argue that this is based on a false idea of science and suggest instead that there is great similarity in the way scientists and social workers theorise. The next chapter discusses the claim that the scientific search for causal explanations conflicts with a belief in free will; I argue that in fact there is no conflict. The following chapter questions the reliability and scope of fieldworkers' intuitive and empathic judgements and sets out some reasons why they should be supplemented with scientific methods of testing. What counts as empirical evidence and how theories are appraised are the topics of the next two chapters. I argue that the traditional social work view of empiricism is unduly narrow and has hampered social work research. I also address the comparatively new objection to science in social work, namely the relativists' claim that science is not empirical and therefore should not be held up as a model to social workers. The final chapter considers how scientific methods can be incorporated into practice

Doing Human Service Ethnography

"EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Human service work is performed in many places – hospitals, shelters, households – and is characterised by a complex mixture of organising principles, relations and rules. Using ethnographic methods, researchers can investigate these site-specific complexities, providing multi-dimensional and compelling analyses. Bringing together both theoretical and practical material, this book shows researchers how ethnography can be carried out within human service settings. It provides an invaluable guide on how to apply ethnographic creativeness and offers a more humanistic and context-sensitive approach in the field of health and social care to generating valid knowledge about today’s service work.