Search results

This chapter examines relationships between gender equity and environmental concerns as expressed through two different views of ecofeminism, those of a natural scientist and a social scientist. Personal experiences are recorded and analyzed to show similarities and differences in life and career trajectories, in part influenced by ecofeminist thought. In tracing this impact, we observed that much of the current philosophical and social science framework is less applicable to a natural science perspective. Natural systems repeat and nest at varieties of scales; thus the connectivity within any system parallels, reflects, mirrors the connectivity of other systems. These parallel systems can be nested in fractal-like natural worlds, where connections within are reflected between, and the patterns of the system are replicated in each. Thus, when we look across the range of interconnected systems, the axes are not intersecting at all, but simply reflective parallels. Such may be the case with the axes of oppression emphasized by many ecofeminists. We thus propose an extension to ecofeminist thinking – the notion of system reflectivity that encompasses, but is broader than, the idea of simultaneously operating axes of oppression.

In recent years there have been increasing calls for the use of anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) and associated drugs to be recognized as a public health issue. In the domain of the competitive athlete and professional bodybuilder, recent decades have seen the diffusion of AAS from the hardcore gyms of the 1980s and 1990s to the mainstream exercise and fitness environments of the twenty-first century. Alongside the apparent increases in the use of these drugs, there is a growing evidence base in relation to harms – physical, psychological and (to some extent) social. But is this form of drug use a public health issue? What criteria should we use to make this judgement? What is the available evidence and has our understanding of the issue improved? By drawing on the authors' research in the United Kingdom and the wider international literature this chapter will explore these issues and attempt to answer the fundamental question – is the use of anabolic steroids a public health issue?

To date, the limited level of attention devoted to equity issues has perhaps been clearest in work done outside of the social sciences, but in our view, even social science work on environmental issues has devoted too little attention to the importance of equity and inequality. In an chapter that proved particularly influential in spelling out approaches for analyzing relationships between society and environment, for example, Dunlap and Catton (1983); see also Dunlap (1993) noted the importance of recognizing three “analytically distinguishable functions” of the biophysical environment, reflecting the fact that humans tend to use the environment as (1) a dwelling place, (2) a source of supplies, and (3) a repository for wastes. The typology has been influential in part because it is so simple and so useful. In addition, as noted in later work by Dunlap (1993) and Dunlap and Catton (2002), for example, one factor behind rising awareness of environmental problems, particularly in the context of the social problems literature, is that these three functions tend to be incompatible with one another. In present-day homes, for example, we tend to separate bathrooms from bedrooms from eating places, and more broadly, across many of the world's cultures, the pressure to devote more and more of the finite space available to one such function – for example, waste disposal – is in fact increasingly running into competing demands to use the same spaces for resource supplies or living spaces.

Many Black women continue to negotiate their way within higher education institutions, which are influenced by social class, race, and gender biases. Several scholars contend that Black women’s objectification as the “other” and “outsider within” (Collins, 2000; Fitzgerald, 2014; Jean-Marie, 2014) is still apparent in today’s institutions yet many persist to ascend to top leadership positions (Bates, 2007; Epps, 2008; Evans, 2007; Hamilton, 2004; Jean-Marie, 2006, 2008). In particular, the inroads made by Black women administrators in both predominantly white colleges (PWIs) as well as historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) depict a rich and enduring history of providing leadership to effect social change in the African American community (i.e., uplift the race) and at large (Bates, 2007; Dede & Poats, 2008; Evans, 2007; Hine, 1994; Miller & Vaughn, 1997). There is a growing body of literature exploring Black women’s leadership in higher education, and most research have focused on their experiences in predominantly white institutions (Bower & Wolverton, 2009; Dixon, 2005; Harris, Wright, & Msengi, 2011; Jordan, 1994; Rusher, 1996; Turner, 2008). A review of the literature points to the paucity of research on their experiences and issues of race and gender continue to have an effect on the advancement of Black women in the academy. In this chapter, we examine factors that create hindrance to the transformation of the composition, structure, and power of leadership paradigm with a particular focus on Black women administrators and those at the presidency at HBCUs. From a review of the literature, our synthesis is based on major themes and subthemes that emerged and guide our analysis in this chapter. The chapter concludes with recommendations for identifying and developing Black women leaders to diversify the leadership pipeline at HBCUs and other institutions for the future.

Structural violence (SV) is related to the uneven distribution of resources which then leads to social exclusion and marginalisation of people. Johan Galtung (1969) also refers to it as social injustice and it is characterised by unequal access to education, health, water, food, shelter and other basic services. SV manifests itself through different forms of exclusion supported through both public and private institutions. Without support to address economic and educational opportunities, Zimbabwean youth continue to experience SV and high levels of social inequality (Chimucheka, 2012). Conflict transformation (CT) can help address SV since it provides processes and ways to build something desired thus altering the manifestation of the conflict (Waldman, 2009). CT involves action between parties that leads to both social change and justice (M. Evans, 2016). Social entrepreneurship (SE) can be used as a CT tool because it (i) identifies an unjust equilibrium that perpetuates exclusion and marginalisation, (ii) identifies opportunities and innovatively challenges the status quo to add social value and (iii) provides a better future for the marginalised communities through creating a new and stable alternative equilibrium (Baporikar, 2016). This chapter discusses the SV transformation model which the author tested to address the disparities faced by youth in an urban area in Zimbabwe. The action research, which took place between January and May 2017, was carried out in combination with capacity building, social support systems and community participation to address some of the SV indicators prevalent in the community. Whilst SE showed great potential in tackling SV in the community study, findings also reveal contestations between theory and practice. Some of the barriers identified in the field include the community’s failure to self-organise, lack of financial resources and buy-in from the local government. Future research could test the model in multiple settings and over longer periods to see its effectiveness.

Bill Clinton is exemplary of a new conception of leadership appropriate for the 21st century. In spite of his sexual proclivities (for which he received harsh criticism and impeachment proceedings) Clinton’s physicality signals an end of a Gnostic view of leadership that separates the knowing head from the rest of the body. We propose that 20th century manifestations of leadership are no longer appropriate for this age, and we illustrate this idea with the ‘reality’ television series Undercover Boss. Further, by exploring artist Peter Robinson’s installation The End of the Twentieth Century we claim that Clinton’s call for inclusivity, a ‘both–and’ approach that characterizes his late- and post-Presidential rhetoric, opens possibilities for alternative constructs that place the body at the heart of leadership. Our exploration of Clinton’s physicality is through his speech to the APEC business leaders in 1999, his commentary on the movie documentary The Hunting of the President and his speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention. In each of these he reaches out to his audiences through physical and verbal gestures. He pleads for tolerance and understanding so that people may find commonalities among their flaws and differences. Through enacting the physical ‘doing’ of leadership in these instances, Bill Clinton offers an exemplar of re-locating leadership within its physical context.

Monitoring and assessment are essential in the measurement of tourism business performance. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to illustrate how monitoring and assessment procedures can be applied in the hospitality business.

A case study and micro examples provide a framework for the monitoring and assessment of business performance in the hospitality business.

This chapter provides reasons why the tourism business uses control measures to monitor business performance. This is complemented with practical steps in the assessment procedures and guidelines for assessments. Different types of assessment procedures together with the characteristics of performance management provide a well-rounded overview to tourism business owners on how to conduct monitoring and assessment.

Due to the explorative nature of the monitoring and assessment case study, more empirical studies are needed to investigate and test performance measurement from a developing country perspective.

Discussions from the case study support the steps and practical guidelines in the monitoring and assessment of the tourism business.

The case study offers new practices into prospective entrepreneurs’ measurement and understanding in the monitoring and assessment of business performance.