Search results
1 – 10 of over 6000
Abstract
Details
Keywords
State‐sponsored ethnic discrimination is in danger of undermining the complex mix of indigenous ethnic minorities which make up the Latvian labour market. Systematic labour market…
Abstract
State‐sponsored ethnic discrimination is in danger of undermining the complex mix of indigenous ethnic minorities which make up the Latvian labour market. Systematic labour market discrimination has resulted from restrictive legislation on citizenship and language which preserves a substantial list of jobs for citizens and Latvian speakers. A naturalisation process has been introduced for permanent residents, but the procedures associated with it also discriminate against the 45 per cent of the population who are Russian speakers. This paper presents a systematic account of these developments and highlights the economic, social and political dangers inherent in the legislation, and in the recent shift in the educational system to tuition in Latvian only.
Details
Keywords
Nasreen Ali, Carl Mclean and Hamid Rehman
This paper seeks to discuss the attitudes and beliefs of the Pakistani/Kashmiri community in Birmingham towards the cultural practice of consanguineous (cousin) marriage and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to discuss the attitudes and beliefs of the Pakistani/Kashmiri community in Birmingham towards the cultural practice of consanguineous (cousin) marriage and health, and how an understanding of Pakistani/Kashmiri community views may help institute good practice for health care professionals.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research study using eight gender‐ and age‐specific focus group discussions and eight in‐depth one‐to‐one interviews with participants who were in consanguineous relationships. All participants were from the Pakistani/Kashmiri community and residents of Springfield ward in Birmingham.
Findings
The findings illustrate Pakistani/Kashmiri attitudes towards consanguinity and health. There was awareness of still births and genetic conditions but a poor understanding of genetics; respondents were reluctant to accept the link between cousin marriages and birth issues and explanations for still births and impairments were largely attributed to the “will of God”. Female respondents were in favour of screening for genetic conditions but would not terminate pregnancies as this was contrary to Islamic ideas about pre‐destiny and all respondents wanted more medical and Islamic scholarly information on cousin marriage and how it is linked to disabilities. Clearly there is a need to improve healthcare outcomes and reduce infant mortality in the Pakistani/Kashmiri community.
Research limitations/implications
Research findings correspond with previous studies that have explored ethnic minority knowledge and attitudes to health and healthcare services and the need for culturally competent services.
Originality/value
This paper presents some suggestions on effecting behaviour change in this important area.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the transforming effect of pursuing person centered ethnography using contemporary reflexive methods and a cultural traditions model on a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the transforming effect of pursuing person centered ethnography using contemporary reflexive methods and a cultural traditions model on a researcher in late life. It attempts to show the usefulness of life history research as a lens through which to examine the complex ways people age. It adds to literature dealing with ethnographic studies of aging women and demonstrates personal narrative as a way to convey information. Lastly it demonstrates the value of studies pursued by researchers in old age, and illuminates aspects of ethnographic work when women interview women.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a journey format, the paper uses personal narrative as a way to achieve its goals. The personal account is complemented by noting other ethnographic studies that have contributed to age studies literature, and it draws attention to the value of reflexivity in good ethnographic work as proposed by anthropologists Barbara Myerhoff and John Caughey.
Findings
The paper points toward research institutions who study aging valuing ethnographic findings and making use of researchers in old age to engage in ethnographic studies. It points to the possibility that elders engaged in such research may strengthen their sense of self and empower them as they make a contribution to age studies.
Research limitations/implications
This paper deals with the transformative power of engaging in reflexive life history research, especially as it is done by an ethnographer in late life. This freeing from customary cultural ways of thinking may be as beneficial to the researcher as life review or reminiscence. This should be explored further.
Originality/value
The paper points to the idea, implicit not explicit, that an elder who engages in reflexive life history research that involves doing a self-ethnography, can benefit in ways similar to having engaged in life review or reminiscence. This is original.
Details
Keywords
The paper aims to examine the role played by property tax in influencing strategic decisions regarding marital separation and divorce in Italian municipalities.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to examine the role played by property tax in influencing strategic decisions regarding marital separation and divorce in Italian municipalities.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis is conducted on a sample of 6,458 Italian municipalities by applying the ordinary least squares (OLS) and instrumental variables (IVs) approaches.
Findings
The estimation results show a small increase in marital separations and divorces as the difference between the municipal secondary and primary home tax rate increases. Specifically, an increase of 1‰ in the property tax rate differentials is accompanied by an increase of six marital separations and four divorces per 1,000 inhabitants.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of the analysis is that the strategic behavior of the married couple is inferred from econometric analysis with data aggregated at the municipal level. To investigate this phenomenon more precisely, it would be useful to have individual data collected by surveys on strategic divorce decisions due to property tax incentives.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the scant existing literature on the tax incentives for strategic divorce. It is the first study to empirically investigate the effects of property tax on separation and divorce decisions by investigating the Italian context. In Italy, a property tax was introduced in 1993, encouraging “false” divorces by spouses with a second home since the tax on the secondary home was set at a rate higher than that on the primary residence. Moreover, there were no tax deductions and no additional tax breaks on the secondary home, while they were established on the primary one. Higher property taxes and the absence of tax breaks on the secondary home may have encouraged a strategic behavior whereby many married couples filed for false separation and divorce in order to recover part of property tax rebates.
Details
Keywords
This paper aims to provide an alternative method of building quality collections for Jewish Studies collection development professionals in small and medium‐sized academic…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an alternative method of building quality collections for Jewish Studies collection development professionals in small and medium‐sized academic libraries with highly restricted budgets.
Design/methodology/approach
Sources of Jewish Studies literary awards were identified and a detailed analysis of awarded books' subjects and the publishing sources was conducted.
Findings
The results show that awarded books cover a vast variety of subjects of interest to Jewish Studies collections. Since many of them are also published by academic presses, the use of identified Jewish Studies book award sources should be considered by bibliographers responsible for building Jewish Studies collections in non‐sectarian college libraries with very limited budgetary resources.
Practical implications
The “one stop” access to all award sources and awarded books provides an easy access to otherwise dispersed information.
Originality/value
The comprehensive list of awards, nominated and winning titles, as well as the subject analysis presented herein, is the first of its kind. This can be used by Jewish Studies bibliographers to build and improve their collections and can also serve as a model for building other interdisciplinary subject collections.
Details
Keywords
The literature on ‘mixed’ families (in which members are socially viewed as ‘different’ due to their varying ethnicities and/or nationalities) identifies several stakes of…
Abstract
The literature on ‘mixed’ families (in which members are socially viewed as ‘different’ due to their varying ethnicities and/or nationalities) identifies several stakes of mixedness. One of them arises from childbirth, after which parents need to give name(s) to their offspring. How does the parent–child dyad understand the giving of names in their mixed family? What does naming children unveil regarding interpersonal interactions and the value of children within this social unit? The chapter delves into these questions through a case study of forenaming children in Filipino-Belgian families in Belgium. Interview data analysis reveals two modes of forenaming in these families: individualisation through single forenames and reinforcement of collective affiliation through compound forenames. Through the analytical framework of social relatedness, this chapter uncovers the way the act of naming a child bridges families based on biological and social ties, generations, and parents' nations of belonging in their transnational spaces. The complex process of naming reflects the power dynamics not only within the parental couple but also within the wider set of social relations. Although the use of forename(s) in everyday life and in legal terms differ, the value of children in the mixed families studied lies in their symbolic role as social bridges linking generations and non-biological relationships, the then and now, and the here and there.
Details
Keywords
A common perception about immigrant assimilation is that association with natives necessarily speeds the process by which immigrants become indistinguishable from natives. Using…
Abstract
A common perception about immigrant assimilation is that association with natives necessarily speeds the process by which immigrants become indistinguishable from natives. Using 2000 Census data, this paper casts doubt on this presumption by examining the effect of an immigrant's marriage to a native, a measure of social integration, on dropout rates of children from these marriages. Although second-generation immigrants with one native parent generally have lower dropout rates than those with two foreign-born parents, the relationship reverses when steps are taken to control for observable and unobservable background characteristics. That is, immigrants that marry natives have children that are more likely to drop out of high school than immigrants that marry other immigrants. Moreover, gender differences in the effect of marriage to a native disappear in specifications which control for the endogeneity of the marriage decision.