Tradition as a Tool: Designing Culture and Negotiating Power in Chinatown, Sydney

This article uses ideas of Postmodernism to examine how and why tradition has been manipulated in Chinatown, Sydney. It looks firstly at the redevelopment of Chinatown in the late 1970s, and how traditions have been used to evoke a sense of Chinese culture. It interprets this use of tradition through the notion of the simulacra. This leads to a criticism of Chinatown as a tourist attraction, and analysing the effect tourism has on tradition and why. However, the involvement of the local Chinese community draws out the use of tourism as a tool of political and social empowerment. The discussion broadens to analyse the relevance of the commodification of culture for Sydney, specifically looking at the notion of a multicultural identity formed through traditions that construct an imagined nation. Multiculturalism means a collection of differentiated cultures, but its effect is to create hybrid ones, and ultimately one identity of the multicultural. The article then constructs other arguments against Multiculturalism, including that it enables policy based on elitist, romanticised versions of culture, as in the commodification of Chinatown; that it obscures real social inequalities; and that it allows imperialist voyeurism of the exotic in the same way that the West historically studied the Orient

Coastal Capital: Dominican Republic: Case Studies on the Economic Value of Coastal Ecosystems in the Dominican Republic

Illustrates the benefits coralline beaches, reefs, and mangroves in various parts of the country offer, including providing protection against beach erosion, habitats for fisheries, potential tourism growth in protected marine areas, and local tourism

Coastal Capital -- Economic Valuation of Coral Reefs in Tobago and St. Lucia

Presents findings on the economic benefits of coral reefs to the local economies of Tobago and St. Lucia, using a new, broadly applicable methodology that focuses on benefits to tourism, fisheries, and shoreline protection. Includes policy applications

First Year Teachers\u27 Use of Technology in Literacy Instruction: A Case Study

The purpose of this case study is to determine how first year teachers describe their teacher preparation and use of technology to teach literacy. This is achieved by considering how teachers’ descriptions demonstrate self-efficacy, identify challenges and obstacles, and distinguish benefits of technology integration in literacy instruction. As the understanding of literacy broadens to include alternative forms of print and technology, school districts are investing significantly in technology and yet teachers are often not using technology in their practices. For these reasons it is necessary to examine first year teachers’ perceptions of their own prior training, their current technology use in the classroom, and their sense of self-efficacy in doing so. A qualitative, instrumental case study is used to explore the perceptions of seven first-year elementary school teachers from a single American school district. Data are collected in a three-step process beginning with participant interviews, followed by a technology asset matrix for participants to complete, and finally, a one-time focus group. Data are qualitatively analyzed using the constant comparative method. The study finds first year teachers feel unprepared by their teacher preparation programs to teach literacy using technology; first year teachers are using some technology in their literacy instruction but identify barriers keeping them from using technology as much as they would like; and first year teachers have high self-efficacy in technology integration to teach literacy with technology regardless of their prior training or sense of preparedness. These findings contribute to the growing body of similar research that confirms that teachers are hesitant to adopt technology into their instruction and current teacher education is inadequate in preparing teachers to do so

Literacy, Technology, and First Year Teachers: A Case Study

This paper examines how first year teachers describe their preparation and use of technology to teach literacy. Findings indicate teachers feel confident but unsupported in their efforts

Nebraskans who support and oppose religious freedom laws actually share many of the same values

Religious freedom legislation highlights political division in the U.S., pitting conservative Christians against LGBTQ people and their allies. As sociologists who study sexuality and conservative Christianity in the U.S., we decided to investigate whether and why people support or oppose these religious freedom laws with our co-author, Mathew Stange. Our recent study asks specifically about laws that protect business owners who refuse to serve gays or lesbians. This is the focus of the ongoing Supreme Court case Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The case will decide the legality of a wedding cake baker’s refusal to make a cake for a same-sex couple

Devil in the detail of SCOTUS ruling on workplace bias puts LGBTQ rights and religious freedom on collision course

orientation and gender identity was cheered by LGBTQ people and allies. Indeed, the June 15 decision represents a big win in the fight for LGBTQ equality. But buried towards the end of a 33-page majority opinion written by conservative stalwart Justice Neil Gorsuch is a sober warning that those celebrating the decision might have initially missed. In his reading, the religious beliefs of an employer may “supersede” the Title VII protections now being extended to the LGBTQ community in its resolution of Bostock v. Clayton County. It is an issue that courts will likely have to decide on a case-by-case basis in the future. But Gorsuch notably referred to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, passed by Congress in 1993 to protect an individual’s practice of their faith, as a “super statute” and emphasizes the court’s mandate to uphold “the promise of the free exercise of religion enshrined in our Constitution.

Reducing Prejudice Through Law: Evidence From Experimental Psychology

Can antidiscrimination law effect changes in public attitudes toward minority groups? Could learning, for instance, that employment discrimination against people with clinical depression is legally prohibited cause members of the public to be more accepting toward people with mental health conditions? In this Article, we report the results of a series of experiments that test the effect of inducing the belief that discrimination against a given group is legal (versus illegal) on interpersonal attitudes toward members of that group. We find that learning that discrimination is unlawful does not simply lead people to believe that an employer is more likely to face punishment for discriminatory behavior. It also leads some people to report less prejudicial attitudes and greater feelings of interpersonal warmth toward members of that group. Conversely, when people learn that the law tolerates discrimination against a group, it can license more prejudicial attitudes. Importantly, we demonstrate that individuals vary substantially in the degree to which they view courts as legitimate authorities and that these orientations systematically moderate the degree to which—and even the direction in which—prejudicial attitudes shift in response to legal rules

Logics of Freedom: Debating Religious Freedom Laws and Gay and Lesbian Rights

In the wake of marriage equality for same-sex couples, many states have introduced and passed laws that provide religious exemptions for certain services and benefits for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) persons. The authors use data from a general population survey of Nebraskans as a mixed-methods case study to examine public opinion of religious freedom laws. Drawing on data from both closed-ended (n = 1,117) and openended (n = 838) questions, the authors show that opposition to religious freedom laws is quite high, as 64 percent of respondents report that they oppose laws that would allow business owners to deny services to gay men and lesbians. The authors outline how both sides rely on frameworks that are foundational to the American experience: the protection of rights and the capitalist economy. The authors argue that these appeals to broad American values underscore why these bills will continue to be introduced and seen as controversial despite low levels of support

How Did Colonisation Affect Tsunami Resilience In Indigenous Communities In Hawaii?

This study will embark on a journey, exploring the geographical vulnerabilities and defences of Hawaii, with a focus on the ‘Big Island’, and how these have changed over time due to the introduction of the Colonial West. In doing so, awareness of the negative impacts of the colonisation of Hawaii and reimplementing native culture and traditions into the wider community will be spread. The Hawaiian Islands are located near the fault line between the tectonic plates that span around the Pacific Ocean. As the issues relating to climate change worsen, the frequency and intensity of natural disasters increases (Perera et al. 2022). This ongoing issue poses a formidable challenge to coastal communities, especially indigenous groups who are affected disproportionately to other groups (Risi, 2021). I reviewed literature, examining the traditional practices for mitigating the impacts of tsunamis and other coastal hazards. Through studying the data of past tsunamis in Hawaii, patterns and trends were uncovered that allow an understanding of the factors that may affect tsunamis and their impacts. The lack of available indigenous and primary source literature creates a limited indigenous perspective and may be affecting the study’s comprehensiveness. The historical information used will likely carry a bias that could influence narrative due to being written by colonisers and external observers and leads to speculation rather than fact. My research shows that there have been some benefits to tsunami resilience in Hawaii caused by colonisation such as more robust structures, early warning systems, and the technologies of grey infrastructure. However, in implementing these measures, a lot of the traditional culture, economies, social structure, and infrastructure was lost or forcibly altered to better fit the western way of life, with little-to-no regard for the indigenous people and land directly affected. This study adds to the current information on the topic by focussing on an indigenous point of view which is often underrepresented in literature. The study helps in creating a comprehensive framework for analysing disaster resilience, bringing a focus to how the interconnectedness of historical, cultural, and environmental factors can shape resilience in a way that benefits all