CENTRALIZED AND DECENTRALIZED APPROACHES TO SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT – A CASE STUDY

Rapid urbanization and alteration in lifestyle occurring across the globe has resulted in an un-controlled generation of municipal solid waste. Various strategies have been tried and tested for obtaining a sustainable result in municipal solid waste management. Nonetheless, in most of the cases, they have created negative health, environment and socio-economic impacts, particularly in developing countries. Furthermore, the attitude of the common people towards the waste they generate, often acts as a barrier for adopting sustainable strategies for its management. Two main approaches are being followed in municipal solid waste management: a centralized and a decentralized approach. There exists an ongoing debate with regard to the efficiency of the two approaches. Taking the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation in Kerala, India as a case to observe, this paper examines the merits, demerits, and practicability of these two approaches, and tries to suggest a sustainable model to curb the issue of municipal solid waste management in urban settings

Perceptions of the Research Climate in Universities and National Research Institutes: The Role of Gender and Bureaucracy in Three Low-Income Countries

This article examines the relationship between sex and sector of employment and perceptions of the research climate among a sample of researchers in three lowincome areas: Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala India. Using data gathered in 2010 from scientists working in universities and national research institutes, we address the following questions: 1) Are there differences in men’s and women’s assessment of the research environment in terms of their satisfaction with funding, ratings of problems associated with communication and coordination, and sense of autonomy? 2) Do contextual factors— primarily sector of employment but also controlling for home region—account for these differences? 3) Does the effect of sex vary across sector and location? 4) Are there other factors—family status, education, and experience—that mediate the relationship between sex, context and perceptions of the work environment? Findings indicate that female scientists’ satisfaction with funding is governed by national context rather than institutional context, while their sense of autonomy and experience with problems related to communication and coordination is governed by institutional contexts. By engaging with the literature on the gendered nature of bureaucracy, our results provide insight into the features of organizations that shape male and female researchers’ experiences

What happened to the internet? Scientific communities in three low-income areas, 2000-2010

This ten year study suggests that the digital divide in connectivity may have largely closed for the scientific community in parts of the world that were previously unconnected. Almost a decade ago Ynalvez et al. (2005) examined the diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the knowledge production sectors of three developing areas, using data collected at the turn of the millennium. We supplement this data set with a similar survey ten years later. Our analysis addresses the extent to which research communities in three low-income areas (Kenya, Ghana, and Kerala) now have access to ICTs, providing the first longitudinal data on changes in access to computers, email, and the Internet. In contrast to 2000, where the majority of scientists viewed themselves as users of email but with shared and irregular access to computers and the Internet-access to technology has become almost universal, though significant regional differences remain. © 2014 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands

Has the Internet Reduced Friendship? Scientific Relationships in Ghana, Kenya, and India, 1994-2010

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Has the Internet changed the pattern of social relations? More specifically, have social relations undergone any systematic change during the recent widespread diffusion of new communications technology? This question is addressed using a unique longitudinal survey that bookends the entire period of Internet diffusion in two African nations and one Indian state. We analyze data on nine professional linkages reported by a population of agricultural and environmental scientists in Kenya, Ghana, and Kerala over a sixteen-year period (1994-2010). Factor analysis reveals two clusters of relationships, one interpretable as traditional scientific exchange, the other indicating mediated forms of collaboration. While collaboration increases in frequency, friendship declines. We interpret this shift as a consequence of communications technology that facilitates formal projects, reducing the affective dimension of professional association

Are mobile phones changing social networks? a longitudinal study of core networks in Kerala

Mobile telephony has diffused more rapidly than any Indian technology in recent memory, yet systematic studies of its impact are rare, focusing on technological rather than social change. We employ network surveys of separate groups of Kerala residents in 2002 and again in 2007 to examine recent shifts in mobile usage patterns and social relationships. Results show (1) near saturation of mobiles among both the professionals and nonprofessionals sampled, (2) a decrease in the number of social linkages across tie types and physical locations, and (3) a shift towards friends and family but away from work relationships in the core networks of Malayalis. We interpret these findings as support for the bounded solidarity thesis of remote communication that emphasizes social insulation and network closure as mobiles shield individuals from their wider surroundings. © The Author(s) 2011

Mobile phones andcore network growth in Kenya: Strengthening weak ties

In contrast to recent US studies showing a decrease in core network size, our Kenyan data reveals substantial network growth. We attribute this to the diffusion of mobile telephones. Results from pooled survey data from Nairobi professionals and entrepreneurs in 2002 and 2007 as well as qualitative interviews from 2007 to 2009 show virtual saturation in the diffusion of phones during this period, but no direct effect of technology use. What explains this puzzle is a network effect of mobile telephony: increased technological access to existing networks in a context of resource scarcity leads to a strengthening of weak ties and the enhancement of core networks among Kenyans. Video ethnographic data before and after the 2007 post-election unrest supports this interpretation, showing that mobile phones are a crucial resource in managing interpersonal networks for instrumental purposes. © 2010 Elsevier Inc

Who’s afraid of ebola? epidemic fires and locative fears in the information age

Epidemics have traditionally been viewed as the widespread occurrence of infectious disease within a community, or a sudden increase above what is typical. But modern epidemics are both more and less than the diffusion of viral entities. We argue that epidemics are ‘fire objects’, using a term coined by Law and Singleton: They generate locative fears through encounters that focus attention on entities that are unknown or imprecisely known, transforming spaces and humans into indeterminate dangers, alternating appearance and absence. The Ebola epidemic of 2014 had more complex impacts than the number of infections would suggest. We employ multi-sited qualitative interviews to argue that locative fear is the essence of modern global epidemics. In the discussion we contrast Ebola with both the Zika epidemic that followed and the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemicFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO - FAPESP1519411;163829

Has the Internet Reduced Friendship? Scientific Relationships in Ghana, Kenya, and India, 1994-2010

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Has the Internet changed the pattern of social relations? More specifically, have social relations undergone any systematic change during the recent widespread diffusion of new communications technology? This question is addressed using a unique longitudinal survey that bookends the entire period of Internet diffusion in two African nations and one Indian state. We analyze data on nine professional linkages reported by a population of agricultural and environmental scientists in Kenya, Ghana, and Kerala over a sixteen-year period (1994-2010). Factor analysis reveals two clusters of relationships, one interpretable as traditional scientific exchange, the other indicating mediated forms of collaboration. While collaboration increases in frequency, friendship declines. We interpret this shift as a consequence of communications technology that facilitates formal projects, reducing the affective dimension of professional association