The Clydesdale report: Issues of media and academic responsibility

One of New Zealand’s leading daily newspapers, The Dominion Post, greeted its readers on 20 May 2008 with a front page headline declaring that Pacific migrants were a ‘drain on the economy’.  This was claimed in a study released by Massey University economist Dr Greg Clydesdale, who reportedly found that ‘Pacific Islanders’ crime rates, poor education and low employment were creating an underclass and a drain on the economy’. Pacific peoples were angered and dismayed by the Clydesdale claims, their publication on the front page of the Dominion Post, and racially prejudiced responses on talkback radio and the internet. No evidence was provided to support the claim that they were an underclass or a drain on the economy. The Dominion Post said it published the story because of Clydesdale’s status as an academic. Massey University said Clydesdale was exercising his academic freedom. This article is a case study of the controversy examining the intersecting responsibilities of academics, media and universities in response to a group vulnerable to racial stereotypes

Bucolic Complexes

We introduce and investigate bucolic complexes, a common generalization of systolic complexes and of CAT(0) cubical complexes. They are defined as simply connected prism complexes satisfying some local combinatorial conditions. We study various approaches to bucolic complexes: from graph-theoretic and topological perspective, as well as from the point of view of geometric group theory. In particular, we characterize bucolic complexes by some properties of their 2-skeleta and 1-skeleta (that we call bucolic graphs), by which several known results are generalized. We also show that locally-finite bucolic complexes are contractible, and satisfy some nonpositive-curvature-like properties.Comment: 45 pages, 4 figure

Planning for Tolerability: Promoting Positive Attitudes and Behaviours Towards the Maori Language Among Non-Maori New Zealanders

This thesis investigates the effectiveness of promoting positive attitudes and behaviours towards the Maori language among non-Maori New Zealanders as a contributing factor in Maori language regeneration. It begins by examining the theoretical rationale for focusing on the attitudes and behaviours of majority language speakers in minority language regeneration. Although the impact of majority language speakers on minority languages is clear, theoretical perspectives differ on whether majority language speakers should be a focus of language regeneration planning. Competing approaches are discussed,and a process model is introduced for 'planning for tolerability' - minority language planning targeting the attitudes and behaviours of majority language speakers. This model posits five essential components: recognising the problem; defining the target audience of majority language speakers; developing messages and desired behaviours; selecting policy techniques; and evaluating success. After reviewing existing research on the attitudes of non-Maori New Zealanders towards the Maori language and introducing the participants to the current research, the New Zealand government's approach to planning for the tolerability of the Maori language is examined. The Government has recognised the importance of non-Maori in Maori language regeneration since the beginning of the development of the Maori Language Strategy in the mid 1990s. The extent to which the Government considers non-Maori as an important audience for Maori language planning in practice, however, appears to fluctuate. Possible reasons for this are discussed. The main focus of Maori language policy towards non-Maori has been promotional campaigns. The discursive approach taken in a selection of these campaigns is analysed, showing that promotional materials aimed at non-Maori New Zealanders (including television ads, phrase booklets, and a website) transmit a wide range of messages about the Maori language, relating to both attitudes and 'desired behaviours'. Such messages are conveyed through a range of discursive techniques, using both a ' reason' and a 'tickle' approach. An analysis is also presented of data collected from eighty non-Maori New Zealanders at nine white-collar workplaces in Wellington, using questionnaires and interviews. The analysis centres on the attitudes of the participants towards the Maori language, their responses to current and recent promotional materials, and the role they see for themselves in supporting Maori language regeneration. Language policy approaches targeting majority language speakers in two international minority language situations, Wales and Catalonia, are then examined, and comparisons made to the New Zealand approach. The analysis concludes that the three approaches to planning for tolerability each exhibit some unique features, relating to all five components of planning for tolerability. Possible reasons for the distinct approaches are discussed. Finally, the results of the analysis of New Zealand government policy, the data collection process and the international comparisons are drawn together in order to consider the future of planning for tolerability in New Zealand

Cross-border workers and linguistic mobility

One of Luxembourg’s statistical peculiarities is that almost half of the workforce does not live in the country. Research has shown that Luxembourg residents appreciate the economic benefits that this cross-border phenomenon brings to the country, but when it comes to the linguistic and cultural impact of cross-border workers, they tend to demur. Here, cross-border workers are more likely to be framed as a threat to Luxembourg society, and to the Luxembourgish language in particular . The trope of the arrogant French bakery worker incapable of selling – or at least unwilling to sell – a croissant in Luxembourgish is no doubt familiar to all. But what is the linguistic reality of cross-border workers? What are their attitudes towards multilingualism in Luxembourg, and how do they cope with language diversity at work

Globalizing utilitarianism : distributive justice beyond the state

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-173).This dissertation develops and defends a utilitarian approach to global distributive justice: that part of political ethics that is concerned with the distribution of benefits and burdens across the members of distinct societies. Surprisingly little has been written by utilitarians, or by welfare consequentialists in general, on this topic. Many philosophers believe that utilitarianism is incapable of arriving at morally acceptable conclusions concerning global distributive justice, to the extent that it does not merit serious consideration in philosophical debates in the area. The central thesis of the dissertation is that that view is mistaken, and that utilitarianism in fact provides an attractive and useful way of conceiving of our global distributive duties. The main argument begins by distinguishing three types of goal at which principles of distributive justice might be directed. One such goal is the attainment by individuals of a minimally decent level of welfare, a second the treatment of individuals in accordance with norms of fairness, a third the obtaining of a certain degree of equality across individuals, for reasons independent of the first two goals. I then consider whether or not there is a utilitarian case for each of these goals at the global level. I argue that, while the utilitarian case for global equality per se is currently weak, a concern at the global level both for what I call "decency" and for distributive fairness can and should be incorporated into the framework of utilitarianism. I present an account of precisely what form these goals ought to take at the global level, how they intersect with concerns about domestic distributive justice and collective self-determination, and how they translate into duties on the part of individual states and international institutions.(cont.) I also draw out the implications of the resulting principles and duties for some specific aspects of global political economy and international law (including trade in goods, services and ideas; development; and immigration). The result is a distinctive conception of the ground, scope and content of global distributive justice that I hope will appeal, at least in part, to utilitarians and non-utilitarians alike.by Helene de Bres.Ph.D

Venir de (+ infinitive):an immediate anteriority marker in French

This paper deals with the grammaticalization of venir into aspectual auxiliary of immediate anteriority, against the traditional approach (Gougenheim 1929/1971) according to which venir de + inf., would express recent past and so would be a temporal auxiliary. On the basis of the (revised) Reichenbachian model, it shows that venir de + inf. bears upon the relationship between R and E (aspect) and not on the relationship between R and S (time). This analysis allows explain why venir, in this periphrasis, is defective (i.e. why venir cannot be conjugated in the passé simple or in any compound tense)

Intercultural work environments in Luxembourg. Multilingualism and cultural diversity among cross-border workers at the workplace

The trilingual country of Luxembourg accounts for the highest percentage of cross-border workers in the European Union. These workers commute daily from France, Belgium and Germany to Luxembourg. Their presence in the national labour market results in increasing linguistic and cultural diversity at Luxembourgish workplaces. Drawing upon interview and interactional data, the present contribution is the first to investigate how cross-border workers in Luxembourg perceive and deal with multilingualism and interculturality, and presents a range of related linguistic and intercultural practices

Intercultural work environments in Luxembourg. Multilingualism and cultural diversity among cross-border workers at the work-place

Luxemburg zählt die meisten Grenzgänger in der EU. Sie pendeln täglich aus Deutschland, Frankreich oder Belgien in das dreisprachige Land ein, womit sich vielfältige sprachliche und kulturelle Konstellationen der Zusammenarbeit ergeben. Der Beitrag untersucht erstmals derart facettenreich, wie Mehrsprachigkeit und Interkulturalität von Grenzgängern in Luxemburg erlebt und bewältigt werden. Die vorgestellten Sprachpraktiken und Interkulturalitätsstrategien basieren auf Interviews, Interaktionsanalysen und Befragungen.The trilingual country of Luxembourg accounts for the highest percentage of cross-border workers in the European Union. These workers commute daily from France, Belgium and Germany to Luxembourg. Their presence in the national labour market results in in-creasing linguistic and cultural diversity at Luxembourgish workplaces. Drawing upon interview and interactional data, the present contribution is the first to investigate how crossborder workers in Luxembourg perceive and deal with multilingualism and interculturality, and presents a range of related linguistic and intercultural practices