This research summarizes, compares and analyzes the origins and developments of integration in Europe, Asia and Africa since World War Two. There have been some interesting findings. Europe has been the most successful region, having realized free movements of people, goods, services and money in several countries within the European Union (EU). Africa has been more advanced in institutional integration than Asia, although its level of economic development, constrained by instability, corruption, and poor socio-economic conditions, has hindered integration; meanwhile, its regional economic communities (RECs) have been more successful than the continental organization. Despite the improved economic conditions, Asia has been experiencing difficulties in community building due to lack of consensus and a partnership among major powers. There has not been any continental organization in Asia; nor has the subregional grouping, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), progressed far in economic and political integration. / x, 327 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm

Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This research study aims to investigate the exchange students' experiences with living in a foreign environment. Twenty students took part in this study and were made up of two categories namely study abroad students and student interns. The twenty students who took part in this study were mostly from industrialized countries namely Germany, the United States of America, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden. Data were collected by means of individual semi-structured interviews as well as observational methods namely participant and simple observations. The results indicate that if sojourners are to gain a better understanding the South African culture, it is important that they interact with the host nationals. Given that most of the students highlighted the issue of crime as their main concern, their knowledge on how to survive in a crime-ridden country like South Africa would be essential.

This study explored preschool teachers' perspectives on caring relationships and their perceptions of how such relationships affect children's autonomy and motivation in preschool in two cultural settings: one city in China and another in the U.S. Data was collected from preschool teachers in both locations using a qualitative interviewing research strategy. The study found that consensus exists among preschool teachers from the two cities about the importance of caring relationships, in which trust, acceptance, equality, and mutual respect were viewed as these relationships' primary characteristics. There were also shared values regarding teachers' roles and their effective strategies for establishing social skills and caring and sharing among children. Nevertheless, some underlying assumptions about caring, especially teachers' understandings of autonomy and motivation, differed somewhat in relation to the social, cultural, philosophical, or practical influences in the two cultural contexts. The results of the study provide opportunities for early childhood teachers and teacher educators in both contexts to reflect on their own assumptions about these values, as well as insights for preparing caring teachers in both cultural settings.

Thesis (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores the complex and contested processes of drawing boundaries and negotiating identities in the post-Apartheid South African context by analysing how residents in a new residential suburb of Cape Town are working to carve out a new position for themselves in a changing social order. Drawing on data gathered through participant observation, individual and focus group interviews, and household surveys between November 1998 and December 2000, the study examines how residents draw and negotiate boundaries in their search for stability, status, and community in a society characterised by social flux, uncertainty, ambiguity and contradiction. It explores the construction and shifting of identities believed to be embodied in those boundaries, at the levels of the individual, the household and the community. A range of everyday social and spatial practices - including streetscape design, its use and contestation, neighbourliness and sociality, .household livelihoods and strategies, home maintenance and improvements - are shown to reveal residents' own conceptualisations of boundaries, their practical significance and symbolic power, as well as their permeability and transgression. The marking and maintenance of boundaries convey how social relationships, practices and power in the suburb are structured and continually negotiated. By analysing these actions and responses, the study illustrates some of the ways in which recent changes in South African society have unsettled the relationship between class, race and space to construct new boundaries and shape new identities. The fmdings suggest that although social differentiation among the residents is increasingly being restructured around class, race remains a salient variable in residents' constructions of themselves and each other. Ethnic-religious prejudice is also shown to influence local conflict and constructions of community. The study draws out four discourses through which residents contemplate and formulate circumstances and processes in their neighbourhood. The first emphasises racial integration, the second middle class suburban living, the third safety from crime, the fourth distrust and disorder. The discourses are significant, not only in their practical manifestation in everyday interaction but also because they suggest some of the ways in which connections and disconnections with the past, with (he old identities and the old affiliations, are managed in a new, post-Apartheid South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie verken die komplekse en betwiste prosesse van die trek van grense en die onderhandeling van identiteite in die Suid-Afrikaanse post-Apartheid konteks, deur te analiseer hoe inwoners in 'n nuwe Kaapstadse residensiële voorstad te werk gaan om 'n nuwe posisie in 'n veranderende sosiale orde vir hulself daar te stel. Op grond van data bekom deur deelnemende observasie, onderhoude met indiwidue en fokusgroepe, en opnames in huishoudings tussen November 1998 en Desember 2000, ondersoek die studie hoe inwoners grense trek en onderhandel in hulle soeke na stabiliteit, status, en gemeenskap in 'n samelewing gekenmerk deur sosiale vloeibaarheid, onsekerheid, dubbelsinnigheid en teenstrydigheid. Dit verken die konstruksie en die verskuiwing van identiteite wat gesien word as dat dit binne hierdie grense tuis hoort, op die vlakke van die indiwidu, die huishouding en die gemeenskap. 'n Reeks alledaagse sosiale en ruimtelike praktyke - insluitende omgewingsbeplanning, die benutting en betwisting daarvan, buurskap en gemeenskapsin, huishoudelike bestaansmiddele en strategieë, huisonderhoud en verbeterings - toon inwoners se eie voorstellings van grense, hulle praktiese betekenis en simboliese invloed, sowel as hulle deurdringbaarheid en oorskryding. Die afbakening en handhawing van grense deel mee hoe sosiale verhoudings, praktyke en mag in die voorstad gestruktureer en voortdurend onderhandel word. Deur hierdie optredes en reaksies illustreer die studie sommige van die wyses waarop onlangse veranderings in die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing die verhouding tussen klas, ras en ruimte beïnvloed het om nuwe grense te konstrueer en nuwe identiteite te vorm. Die bevindings suggereer dat, hoewel sosiale differensiasie tussen die inwoners toenemend geherstruktureer word wat klas betref, ras 'n duidelik waarneembare onderliggende veranderlike in inwoners se siening van hulleself en mekaar bly. Etniesgodsdienstige vooroordeel word ook getoon 'n invloed op plaaslike konflikte en die konstruksie van gemeenskappe te wees. Die studie onthul vier diskoerse waardeur inwoners omstandighede en prosesse in hulle omgewing bedink en te kenne gee. Die eerste beklemtoon rasse-integrasie, die tweede voorstedelike middelklas lewenswyse, die derde misdaadsbeveiliging, die vierde wantroue en wanorde. Die diskoerse is betekenisvol, nie slegs in hulle praktiese manifestering in die daaglikse omgang nie, maar ook aangesien hulle sommige van die wyses waarop koppelings en ontkoppelings met die verlede, en sy ou identiteite en ou affiliasies, in 'n nuwe, post-Apartheid, Suid-Afrika hanteer word, suggereer.

Several studies have suggested that the effect of cultural differences among Information Systems (IS) professionals from different nations on the development and implementation of IS could be important. However, IS research has generally not considered culture when investigating the process of systems development. This study examined the relationship between the cultural backgrounds of IS designers and their process-related values with a field survey in Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Hofstede's (1980) value survey module (i.e., Power Distance (PDI), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI), InDiVidualism (IDV) and MASculininity/femininity) and Kumar's (1984) process-related values (i.e., technical, economic, and socio-political) were utilized in the data collection. The hypotheses tested were: whether the IS professionals differed on (H.,) their cultural dimensions based on country of origin, (Hg) their process-related values based on country of origin, and (H3) whether a relationship between their cultural dimensions and their process-related values existed. The countries were significantly different on their PDI, UAI and MAS, but not on their IDV. They significantly differed on their technical and sociopolitical values but not on their economic values. IDV and MAS significantly correlated with the process-related values in Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. In the United Kingdom, UAI significantly correlated with socio-political values; and MAS significantly correlated with technical and socio-political values. In Taiwan, UAI significantly correlated with technical and economic values. PDI did not illustrate any significant correlation with the IS process-related values in all four countries. In Singapore and the United States, UAI did not significantly correlate with any of these values. The results provide evidence that IS professionals differ on most of their cultural dimensions and IS process-related values. While IDV and MAS could be useful for examining the relationship between culture and systems development, research involving PDI and UAI might be of questionable benefit.

by Li Tsui-yan. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-105). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter One --- The Dilemma of Liberation and Confinement: Female Subjectivity in Comparative Perspectives --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter Two --- Deconstructing Patriarchal Discourse: Female Subjectivity in Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook and The Summer Before the Dark --- p.18 / Chapter Chapter Three --- "Resistance to the Stereotypes of Femininity: Female Subjectivity in Zhang Jie's “Love Must Not be Forgotten"" and “The Ark´ح" --- p.50 / Chapter Chapter Four --- The Multiple and the Dynamic: Doris Lessing and Zhang Jie's Strategies in the Construction of Female Subjectivity --- p.73 / Notes --- p.86 / Works Cited --- p.99

This research mainly examines the superior-subordinate relationship between Japanese managers and Thai subordinates working in joint ventures in Thailand, especially the management style of the Japanese and the reactions of the Thais, Cultural adaptation of Japanese expatriates and Thai subordinates is also explored. Through this study, we gain better understanding of the Japanese-Thai interpersonal relationships, communication patterns, work ethics, and other cultural values with particular emphasis on recurring themes such as concepts about work, vertical relationship, authority and supervision style, and gender issues. The in-depth interviews were conducted with ten Japanese managers, six Thai managers, and 12 Thai subordinates in Thailand in 2001. Findings show that although there are some similarities in Japanese and Thai cultural values at work, conflicts, frictions, and misunderstandings still exist between Japanese superiors and Thai subordinates because of their cultural differences. Both parties also have some stereotypes and negative myths of the other party. Concerning concepts about work, Japanese superiors prefer immediate actions from their Thai subordinates when problems arise whereas when the Thais encounter some difficulties in solving problems, they hesitate to inform their superiors. Since there is no clear job description in Japan, the Thais often feel uncomfortable when their job responsibilities overlap with their colleagues. Moreover, unlike Japanese people, Thai employees do not have a strong commitment to the company. Vertical relationship explores how the Japanese and the Thais build and maintain their relationships at work and after work hours. The Japanese believe that relationships should follow job accomplishment while the Thais think that good relationships should be established before working. After-hour activities are suggested as means to strengthen relationships between superiors and subordinates. Furthermore, Japanese superiors tend to use different strategies to supervise their Thai subordinates; those strategies include scolding, expecting expression of opinions, information sharing, and delegation of authority in decision making processes. However, the strategies seem not to work properly in Japanese-Thai joint ventures due to cultural differences at work. Although gender can be a barrier in career advancement in Japan, Japanese expatriates do not see this as the case in Thailand. However, most of the Thai female subordinates complained that women were less likely to get promotions while Thai male subordinates thought that career advancement was blocked because managerial positions were occupied by and reserved for Japanese expatriates. At the end, three cases are presented to illustrate how Japanese superiors and Thai subordinates adjust in intercultural work settings. Each case consists of two individuals' work experience and adaptability. We can see the importance of individual differences as some Japanese superiors and Thai subordinates realize cultural differences and try to adjust to the intercultural work settings while others hold back and, finally, resign from the company. To avoid conflicts and misunderstandings, and to work together effectively, Japanese managers and Thai subordinates should realize their cultural differences and learn the other's culture. If problems arise, they should be open-minded and willing to help each other solve the problems. / Graduation date: 2004

The present study focused on changes over time in university-level Japanese students' sociocultural perceptions of social status during their year abroad in Canada, and the impact of such altered perceptions on their perceptions at subsequent time points. The sociocultural perception to be examined was perceived "social status" which Brown and Levinson (1987) discussed as a contributory factor in the perception of social asymmetry, power and authority. The study attempted to examine (1) whether (and to what extent) Japanese students, before they came to study in Canada, had recognized English native speakers' understanding of social status and had learned how to offer advice appropriately in English to individuals of various social statuses, (2) what proportion of differential pragmatic development among Japanese students in Canada was accounted for by their English proficiency and amount of exposure to English, and (3) whether (and to what extent) living and studying in Canada facilitated Japanese students' pragmatic development, which was assessed by the degree of approximation to native speech act behavior in various advice-giving situations repeated during the course of an academic year. To this end, the study compared the development of Japanese exchange students' pragmatic competence during their year abroad in Canada with peers in Japan who did not undertake a year abroad.

The strength of the relationship between various measures of self, such as self-esteem, self-concept, self-acceptance, and achievement has been studied extensively with varying results (see Hansford & Hattie, 1982). This variation may be attributable to the use of different self and achievement measures, ranges in the age of those studied, and not controlling for socioeconomic status, ethnicity/race, gender, or school effects. The main goal of my thesis was to estimate the strength of the relationship between self-esteem, and achievement when gender, ethnicity/race, socioeconomic status, aspects of the parent-child relationship and school contextual effects were controlled. Analyses were conducted on two large data sets. The first was taken from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) - 1988 and consists of 21,039 grade 8 students sampled from the United States. The second data set was taken from the School-Based Prevention Project (SBPP) - 1995 and consists of 6,795 grade 8 through 12 students from 20 schools in British Columbia, Canada. For both data sets, 7 of 10 items from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1965) were used to measure self-esteem. Analyses of the NELS data set yielded three notable findings: (1) the strength of the self-esteem/ achievement relationship is not equivalent across gender-ethnic/racial groups, (2) the self-esteem/ achievement relationship varies when grades versus tests scores are used as achievement measures, and (3) the variability in self-esteem is largely within-schools. Variables controlled in these analyses were gender, ethnicity/race and socioeconomic status. Analyses of the SBPP data yielded four notable findings: (1) the strength of the self-esteem/ achievement relationship varies across a new measure of coping styles, (2) relational factors reduce the strength of the self-esteem/achievement relationship, (3) relational factors explain much more of the variance in self-esteem than does achievement, and (4) almost all the variance in self-esteem is within schools. Variables controlled in these analyses included gender, grade-level, socioeconomic status, perceptions of Mother's and Father's love, and coping styles. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed in terms of attachment theory (Ainsworth, 1969), coping styles (Horney, 1950), and the need to belong (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).