China’s “Cancer Villages”: The Social, Political, and Economic Contexts of Pollution

Author(s):  
Anna Lora-Wainwright

Chapter 2 examines the emergence of China’s “cancer villages”—village-sized clusters of high cancer incidence—and their significance. It overviews how media accounts discursively shaped their social, political and epistemological nature. It develops a typology of cancer villagers based on a close analysis of a selected number of cases examined in recent qualitative research (Chen et al 2013). These relatively high-profile, politically active cases provide a useful background against which to compare the less visibly active case studies examined in later chapters. They illustrate a broader range of activist practices, but they also show that such strategies are often ineffective. Ultimately, these examples suggest that “cancer villages” are not an epidemiologically uncontested label but rather a cultural, social, economic and political phenomenon. Further, they prove that scientific evidence is not the most important element in gaining redress. Rather, it is socio-economic contexts, the persistence of the local population’s complaints and their ability to threaten social stability which largely determines the ways in which polluting firms and the local government may respond. This point is further supported by the book’s three case studies, in which scientific evidence plays a relatively minor role in villagers’ reckonings about environmental health effects and in their demands for redress.

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (S1) ◽  
pp. 113-113
Author(s):  
Sylvie Beauchamp ◽  
Martin Drapeau ◽  
Carmen Dionne

Introduction:Methods to assess evidence and to use that evidence to inform practices and policies are under developed in the area of social services. Although health professions have developed robust methods in recent decades to collect, analyze and synthesize scientific evidence and to inform clinical recommendations, the use of these methods often remains difficult in social services. A taskforce was implemented to address this and to propose a method that may be more appropriate for the social sciences.Methods:The project was comprised of four steps: (i) performing a qualitative review of discussions between experts, (ii) designing a cognitive map of the data, (iii) conducting a systematic literature search, and (iv) comparing the data from the meetings with experts with the scientific literature. These steps were completed using the grounded theory approach. In order to test the method developed, focus groups were then conducted and four case studies were used to assess the evidence and provide recommendations for youths with mental health problems and for elderly care.Results:Although robust scientific data remain crucial when developing recommendations for practice, results showed that these data are incomplete if considered alone, and that contextual (circumstances in which the intervention is delivered) and experiential data (how the intervention is perceived by stakeholders) must also be taken into consideration. A method to triangulate these three types of data is proposed. Using this technique, the value of the data is established by means of various measurements that converge towards the same result or that provide a consistent overall picture or some important nuances that need to be considered, as illustrated by the four case studies.Conclusions:The proposed method can be used to address the limitations that are inherent to the use of techniques and procedures drawn from the medical field when assessing evidence and developing recommendations for the social sciences. The case studies that the proposed method is not only a viable option to methods drawn from medicine, but also adds to the quality of the recommendations that are made and is more congruent with the epistemology of social sciences.


Church Life ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 25-44
Author(s):  
Joel Halcomb

This chapter explores the politics of church life among Congregational gathered churches during the English Revolution. In contrast to studies that view gathered church life at this time as too fluid and unsettled to be meaningfully analysed, it outlines the social relations and ecclesiastical structures that shaped the ‘mixed’ church polity of Congregational churches, arguing that these structures defined the corporate and personal experience of their members. In a close analysis of the transactional debate and conflict apparent in two case studies, focusing on the politics of Congregational church life at Norwich and Bury St. Edmunds in the 1640s and 1650s, it concludes that these politics were formative and creative. They determined a church’s beliefs, practices, identity, and communal life in a process best understood as denominational formation. This chapter therefore provides a method for studying religious experience within other institutional churches established both in this period and more generally.


2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Greatbatch ◽  
Elizabeth Murphy ◽  
Robert Dingwall

This paper examines how qualitative research can contribute to the evaluation of medical information systems. Most qualitative studies of the use of medical computer systems adopt either an interactionist or, less commonly, an ethnomethodological perspective. The paper compares and contrasts the two approaches through the detailed discussion of two case studies, one rooted in each tradition. It identifies the implications of using these different analytical approaches and assesses their strengths and weaknessess. The paper argues that the preference for interactionism has led qualitative researchers to overlook important aspects of the social processess which surround the use of computer systems and that, consequently, a shift in emphasis towards ethnomethodological research is necessary. Nonetheless, it concludes by asserting that both strands of qualitative research can illuminate the organizational impact of medical computer systems.


2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Greatbatch ◽  
Elizabeth Murphy ◽  
Robert Dingwall

This paper examines how qualitative research can contribute to the evaluation of medical information systems. Most qualitative studies of the use of medical computer systems adopt either an interactionist or, less commonly, an ethnomethodological perspective. The paper compares and contrasts the two approaches through the detailed discussion of two case studies, one rooted in each tradition. It identifies the implications of using these different analytical approaches and assesses their strengths and weaknessess. The paper argues that the preference for interactionism has led qualitative researchers to overlook important aspects of the social processess which surround the use of computer systems and that, consequently, a shift in emphasis towards ethnomethodological research is necessary. Nonetheless, it concludes by asserting that both strands of qualitative research can illuminate the organizational impact of medical computer systems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-35
Author(s):  
Agus Prasetya

This article is motivated by the fact that the existence of the Street Vendor (PKL) profession is a manifestation of the difficulty of work and the lack of jobs. The scarcity of employment due to the consideration of the number of jobs with unbalanced workforce, economically this has an impact on the number of street vendors (PKL) exploding ... The purpose of being a street vendor is, as a livelihood, making a living, looking for a bite of rice for family, because of the lack of employment, this caused the number of traders to increase. The scarcity of jobs, causes informal sector migration job seekers to create an independent spirit, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship, with capital, managed by traders who are true populist economic actors. The problems in street vendors are: (1) how to organize, regulate, empower street vendors in the cities (2) how to foster, educate street vendors, and (3) how to help, find capital for street vendors (4) ) how to describe grief as a Five-Foot Trader. This paper aims to find a solution to the problem of street vendors, so that cases of conflict, cases of disputes, clashes of street vendors with Satpol PP can be avoided. For this reason, the following solutions must be sought: (1) understanding the causes of the explosions of street vendors (2) understanding the problems of street vendors. (3) what is the solution to solving street vendors in big cities. (4) describe Street Vendors as actors of the people's economy. This article is qualitative research, the social paradigm is the definition of social, the method of retrieving observational data, in-depth interviews, documentation. Data analysis uses Interactive Miles and Huberman theory, with stages, Collection Data, Display Data, Data Reduction and Vervying or conclusions.


Author(s):  
James McElvenny

This chapter sets the scene for the case studies that follow in the rest of the book by characterising the ‘age of modernism’ and identifying problems relating to language and meaning that arose in this context. Emphasis is laid on the social and political issues that dominated the era, in particular the rapid developments in technology, which inspired both hope and fear, and the international political tensions that led to the two World Wars. The chapter also sketches the approach to historiography taken in the book, interdisciplinary history of ideas.


Koneksi ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 338
Author(s):  
Faiz Zulia Maharany ◽  
Ahmad Junaidi

'Nightmare' is the title of a video clip belonging to a singer and singer called Halsey, in which the video clip is explained about the figure of women who struggle against patriarchal culture which has been a barrier wall for women to get their rights, welfare and the equality needed they get. This research uses descriptive qualitative research methods. Data collection techniques are done through documentation, observation and study of literature. Then, analyzed using Charles Sanders Peirce's semiotics technique. The results of this study show the fact that signs, symbols or messages representing feminism in the video, 'Nightmare' clips are presented through scenes that present women's actions in opposing domination over men and sarcastic sentences contained in the lyrics of the song to discuss with patriarchy. Youtube as one of the social media platforms where the 'Nightmare' video clip is uploaded is very effective for mass communication and for conveying the message contained in the video clip to the viewing public.‘Nightmare’ adalah judul video klip milik musisi sekaligus penyanyi yang bernama Halsey, dimana pada Video klipnya tersebut menceritakan tentang figur perempuan-perempuan yang berusaha melawan budaya patriarki yang selama ini telah menjadi dinding penghalang bagi perempuan untuk mendapatkan hak-haknya, keadilan dan kesetaraan yang seharusnya mereka dapatkan. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kualitatif deskriptif. Teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui dokumentasi, observasi dan studi kepustakaan. Kemudian, dianalisis menggunakan teknik semiotika milik Charles Sanders Peirce. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa terdapat tanda-tanda, simbol atau pesan yang merepresentasikan feminisme di dalam video klip ‘Nightmare’ yang dihadirkan melalui adegan-adegan yang menyajikan aksi perempuan dalam menolak dominasi atas laki-laki dan kalimat-kalimat sarkas yang terkandung dalam lirik lagunya untuk ditujukan kepada patriarki. Youtube sebagai salah satu platform media sosial dimana video klip ‘Nightmare’ diunggah sangat efektif untuk melakukan komunikasi massa dan untuk menyampaikan pesan yang terkandung di dalam video klip tersebut kepada masyarakat yang menonton.


Author(s):  
Beth Hatt

The legacy of the social construction of race, class, and gender within the social construction of smartness and identity in US schools are synthesized utilizing meta-ethnography. The study examines ethnographies of smartness and identity while also exploring what meta-ethnography has to offer for qualitative research. The analyses demonstrate that race, class, and gender are key factors in how student identities of ability or smartness are constructed within schools. The meta-ethnography reveals a better understanding of the daily, sociocultural processes in schools that contribute to the denial of competence to students across race, class, and gender. Major themes include epistemologies of schooling, learning as the production of identity, and teacher power in shaping student identities. The results are significant in that new insights are revealed into how gender, class, and racial identities develop within the daily practices of classrooms about notions of ability.


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