The Value of the Map and the Place of STS

In the 2020 Prague Virtual Conference of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), Sharon Traweek was awarded the society’s John D. Bernal Prize jointly with Langdon Winner, for her distinguished contributions to the field of STS. In this essay responding to Traweek’s Bernal Lecture, I explore the continuing relevance of her work for Japan’s STS community. Even though this community has grown rapidly since the beginning of the 2000s, I argue in this essay that her work, produced more than three decades ago, encourages us today to reflect how we may want to relate ourselves to the local organization of science and the politics of epistemic authority in the country.

THE DISCOURSE OF SHARĪ’AH IMPLEMENTATION IN BANTEN 1999-2015

The establishment of Banten Province in 2000 has had a profound impact on the political and social situations. It also stimulated the rise of the implementation of Islamic law (sharī’ah) discourse in Banten. It is well known that Bantenese is one of the societies that strictly perform Islamic teachings in Java. The rise of Panitia Persiapan Penerapan Syariat Islam Banten (P3SIB/ The Committee of Sharī’ah Implementation Preparation in Banten), a local organization that propagated the important of the implementation of sharī’ah in Banten for instance, illustrated the willingness of Bantenese to implement it. Supported by some local organizations among others alumnae of PII, FSPP (Forum Silaturrahim Pondok Pesantren/Forum for Friendly Relation among Islamic Boarding Schools), as well as transnational organization such as HTI and Tarbiyah, P3SIB organized public meetings, discussions, and seminars about the importance of the implementation of sharī’ah in Banten. Those activities however are not followed by any further serious steps. This paper analyzes the development of the sharī’ah implementation discourse in one of the “religious” provinces in Indonesia and looks at the future of the discourse in Banten.

Bergamo and Covid-19: How the Dark Can Turn to Light

The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, continues to spread rapidly. Here we discuss the dramatic situation created by COVID-19 in Italy, particularly in the province of Bergamo (the most severely affected in the first wave), as an example of how, in the face of an unprecedented tragedy, acting (albeit belatedly)—including imposing a very strict lockdown—can largely resolve the situation within approximately 2 months. The measures taken here ensured that Bergamo hospital, which was confronted with rapidly rising numbers of severely ill COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization, was able to meet the initial challenges of the pandemic. We also report that local organization and, more important, the large natural immunity against SARS-CoV-2 of the Bergamo population developed during the first wave of the epidemic, can explain the limited number of new COVID-19 cases during the more recent second wave compared to the numbers in other areas of Lombardy. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of coordinating the easing of containment measures to avoid what is currently observed in other countries, especially in the United States, Latin American and India, where this approach has not been adopted, and a dramatic resurgence of COVID-19 cases and an increase in the number of hospitalisations and deaths have been reported.

Pedagogy and the Politics of Organizing in Mississippi

This article reflects on a community-directed collaboration between students at a four-year liberal arts institution and a local organization in Mississippi to develop an index of women's economic security. It suggests that the collaborative nature of the course, as well as the relationship- and community-building witnessed in Mississippi offer counter-narratives to liberal individualism, southern conservatism, and the practice of social justice work.

Kaizen Events at the University of St. Thomas: Experiential Learning for Students

This paper describes how the Operations and Supply Chain Management Department at the University of St. Thomas uses kaizen events as a vehicle to integrate undergraduate and professional programs with local area organizations. A unique business collaboration was created where the faculty members led an actual lean kaizen event at a local organization. Project team members included lead and support faculty, undergraduate students, professional certification students, and company representatives. In a one-week intensive experience, teams addressed real issues at a local organization and implemented changes that had positive impacts on the student learning experience and the bottom lines of the participating organizations. This paper discusses how to conduct a kaizen event student project as well as challenges and benefits related to this approach.

Variations in use and access of mental health services in Europe

Background Mental illnesses comprise a wide range of mental health (MH) conditions -prevalence 3,90%- among European (EU) countries with significant effects on quality of life, life expectancy and disability. They are also related to substantial direct and indirect costs, consequences of inpatient care - not always beneficial for those patients. The main goals of our study are: to report on geographic variations in utilization rates and quality of care for adults MH diseases among 30 EU countries and regions; to explain the determinants of such variations. Methods Different data from EUROSTAT regarding healthcare resources, activities and self-perceived health and wellbeing for the years 2013-2015 are combined in a unique database at level of EU countries and NUTS 2 regions to allow for comparisons in utilization rates, perceived conditions and service local supply for MH diseases in Europe. Results Preliminary findings show a decline in the global trend of hospitalization rates for mental diseases; however, significant variations were observed among and within countries (High-Low ratio=25 in 2015, at country level). Males were more hospitalized than females (p = 0.40). Women were more likely than men to report depressive symptoms and to access to MH consultations (p < 0.001). Significant and positive correlations were found between resources (hospital beds and psychiatrists per capita) and adjusted hospitalization rates for MH disorders and between self-reported MH consultations and psychiatrists per capita (p < 0.001). Conclusions Preliminary findings confirm the presence of wide variations in the care of mental diseases across and within EU countries. Significant correlations between utilization rates and local supply of resources might indicate that part of the variation might be explained by differences in the local organization and availability of resources rather than patients' needs. Key messages There is a wide variation in the care of mental diseases across and within EU countries which might be explained by differences in the local organization and resources instead patients’ needs. These results can help policy makers and professionals to identify unwarranted variations that need to be removed and to shift to value-based healthcare.

Adapting the Multilingual Assessment Instrument for Narratives (MAIN) to Torwali

Torwali, a Dardic language of the Indo-Aryan family spoken in the District Swat in Pakistan, is an endangered language that lacks a literary tradition. This paper gives a background on the Torwali language and people, and describes the development of an orthography for Torwali and the establishment of Torwali-medium schools by the local organization Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi ‘institute for education and development’ (IBT). Finally, the process of adapting the Multilingual Assessment Instruments for Narratives (MAIN) to Torwali is outlined.