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<p> Since the late 1970s, economic growth in developing countries has followed a pattern of privatization, liberalization, marketization, and a focus on economic development over human development. Postreform China has followed this pattern while at the same time maintaining several top-down strategies. Both phenomena have profoundly impacted spatial patterns of human development in the country. </p><p> This paper seeks to assess China&rsquo;s spatial inequities in its availability of healthcare and exposure to air pollution, in the context of China&rsquo;s economic history, and the history of economic development thought that influenced China&rsquo;s transition into the modern world economy. This paper will rely on prefecture level data in 2005 and 2012 to analyze spatial inequities. A thorough historical and theoretical review is provided that is an attributed cause of spatial patterns&mdash;this highlights the importance of providing context in regional studies and in assessing factors in human development, in addition to economic factors, which are often not incorporated in other regional studies. The spatial analysis identifies inner China as experiencing the worst patterns of high pollution and low access to healthcare, relative to the rest of China, indicating a critical need for future policy to address.</p><p>

Scholars have long studied political behavior in the United States and Western democracies. However, less in known about political participation patterns in the developing world and, more specifically, in Asia. This dissertation examines types of political participation in ten Asian countries. Previous political behavior scholarship in Asia has focused on voter turnout and aggregate level data instead of all types of participation and individual level analysis. / The inquiry begins by constructing and testing six dimensions of political participation in a survey dataset from the second wave of the Asian Barometer Survey. A confirmatory factor analysis is utilized to determine exact dimensions of political behavior types that exist in the region. The findings from this analysis indicate that, much like the Western world, Asians also fall into the following political participation types: political interest, voter, communalist, parochial participant, campaigner, and complete activist. / The analysis continues with an examination of social characteristics that help deteunine with which type of participation one will be involved. Weighted least squares regression analysis supports theories developed for Western democracies. After examining participation in the region as a whole, the scope of this dissertation turns to an investigation of individual countries in Asia. The same six political participation dimensions are found independently in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Models are constructed to further test theories related to individual characteristics and their impact on political participation modes. Theories of participation that have been tested for decades in the developed and stable democracies prove to have explanatory power in the emerging democracies of Asia. / The implications of the findings are apparent in that this dissertation sheds light on "who participates" not only in voting, but in all forms of participation in Asia. While voting may not necessarily topple a regime, actively participating in protests, demonstrations, and other unconventional methods have helped countries such as Mongolia and the Philippines move towards democratization. Distinguishing between who is involved in such activities can help explain the nature of the political system and whether these actions will encourage democratic consolidation in the region.

Weber's theory of authority is an important tool when studying power and its relationship to human collectives, especially religious groups. Weber focused on the rise of Protestants' power in the West and how this group created and maintained economic power which helped them gain political control in various countries, including the U.S. In this paper, I incorporate Weber's insights about the Protestant ethic, bureaucracies, and types of authority to examine Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia. I compare Saudi Wahhabism with Protestantism, analyzing the rise of the Saud family as controllers of the economy and politics. The role of bureaucracies in these processes will also be discussed. The similarities and differences between Protestantism and Wahhabism are used to investigate power inside their respective societies. These comparisons will highlight the types of authority which allowed each sect to enhance power and how those processes of creating, consolidating, and maintaining power relate to the larger social climates in both Saudi Arabia and the Western world. Finally, I investigate images of the Saudi State in the The London Times between 1927 and 1937 to explain how power in the hands of a Wahhabi king was presented to Western readers.

<p>My dissertation seeks to explain the variations in decentralization we observe among states. Why, for example, are some states more decentralized than others? More importantly, why do central leaders in some states devolve power to local politicians, who may defect to pose challenges to the leader? </p><p> </p><p>In answering these questions, I develop a theory of decentralization with two main components: First, information asymmetries that exist between central leaders and local politicians about voters - local politicians know more about the voters than central leaders do, and second, the fear central leaders have about local defection. I argue that central leaders undertake decentralization when information asymmetries that exist between the central leaders and local politicians become politically salient and the chances of local defection are fewer. </p><p>This information theory is tested systematically on quantitative and qualitative evidence from Indian cases. In the concluding chapter, I examine how the theory could explain decentralization in cases outside India.</p> / Dissertation

<p> This mixed methods study examines the opinions of U.S-based practitioners of Chinese Medicine (CM). This study recruited CM practitioners (n = 96) from U.S professional association networks. The study asked CM practitioners to define the term integrative medicine (IM). They were also asked to reflect on the role of CM within contemporary health care in the United States, the impact this may have on patient care, and the future of CM as a part of IM. </p><p> While some CM practitioners in this study voiced optimism and an interest in working in IM settings, others equated the opportunity for integration with loss of CM traditions, compromise to CM, and professional subordination. While CM practitioners are fully trained to practice a complete system of medicine, acupuncture alone is most frequently the modality that is utilized in IM settings. </p><p> Practitioners were of the opinion that skills, training, knowledge, and experience that are included in patient care remain underutilized in IM settings. They also had concerns about maintaining the distinct philosophy and practices that constitute Chinese medicine as a whole system of care. </p><p> The recommendation from this study is that the current hierarchical structure that exists in many IM settings open up to the possibility that CM can provide a range of treatment options for patients that conventional medicine cannot. The contribution that CM practitioners could bring to the developing field of IM holds great potential. The majority of CM practitioners surveyed agreed that the health care field in the United States is expanding and this offers opportunities for ongoing development of the Chinese medicine profession in the United States.</p>

<p> The purpose of this research was to understand substance use prevalence and patterns of use among Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, and other Asians in the United States with a primary focus on alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. The research explored prevalence of use, physical health and mental health, individual dynamics, and patterns of service use among these distinct populations. The exploration of ecosystems, intersectionality, and homogeneity theories assisted with identifying factors among the Asian cultures. Data collected were from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). There were 2,095 Asian participants who were 18 years and older in the United States. The study showed significant relationships among the different Asian groups and substances with the multiple attributes. Limitations and implications relevant to social work practice were discussed. Future research is needed to develop culturally sensitive prevention and intervention programs for Asian adults who have used substances.</p>

The thesis provides the first description and analysis of long-term economic change and development in the Peninsular Malaysian State of Perak from about 1800 to 2000. Although a considerable number of studies have been undertaken on the colonial economy of Perak focusing on tin and rubber production, given the vital importance of these commodities and of Perak's position in the British imperial enterprise, very little research has been done in relating the state's pre-colonial status and its colonial development to post-independence transformations. The thesis coordinates and re-evaluates the material on colonial period concentrating particularly on the available statistical data and the relations between tin, rubber and rice. It then links colonial developments with contemporary change by examining the three key economic elements of land, labour and capital, and utilises a considerable amount of government economic data on the recent period. It also considers the relations between the policies and practices of the colonial and post-colonial state and processes of economic development. It argues that the role of the state, though different and changing, has been vitally important in promoting and underpinning economic transformations from British intervention in 1874 until the present. The major change can be characterised as the transition from a primarily 'natural' economy to a 'state capitalist' one.

<p> The Tharu are reportedly the fourth largest minority group in Nepal. Yet despite their numerical strength, their social experience in modern Nepal largely consists of marginalization. A culturally and linguistically diverse people indigenous to the flat, southern Terai region of Nepal, the Tharu have claimed an ethnic group identity in the past sixty years in light of their shared geographic location and state exploitation, as well as the rise of ethnic politics in Nepal. I examine how performance practices and musical experiences are central to the Tharu&rsquo;s group identity formation. First, I examine how the Tharu combat their social exploitation largely through musical means. I focus on the role of sociomusical practices in community ritual, its transformation through folkloricization, and extension as tools for activism. The cultural significance of these practices shift as the Tharu come into contact not only with Nepal&rsquo;s changing political, social and economic scenes, but also paradigms of global indigenism and human rights. However, even as a marginalized people, the Tharu have their own internal politics. Second, I examine how musical practices are locations for productive friction within Tharu communities. Musical performances constitute intense community negotiation and contestation concerning Tharu womanhood and religious identity, and are places where the Tharu produce situated knowledge about development and modernity. While not ignoring political, historical, and global frameworks, my focus on sociomusical practices brings attention to how an ethnic identity is generated and embodied on a local level.</p>

<p>Contemporary Chinese Christians seek a new way of becoming authentically Chinese Christians. Christians in Chinese Confucian cultural context have experienced a tension of being both authentically Chinese and Christian. Through the practical theological method by following theology of inculturation, this dissertation aims to find a new way of being authentically Chinese and Christian. Confucianism offers a way of being authentically Chinese person who is a Junzi. Becoming Junzi is the first crucial step for becoming authentically Chinese Christians. Contemporary Catholic theologian Catherine M. LaCugna&rsquo;s Trinitarian theological insight delineates a model of becoming an authentically Christian who is a Trinitarian Christian. By valuing both Chinese Confucian traditional teachings about being Junzi and Christian teachings about being Trinitarian Christian, this dissertation helps contemporary Chinese Christians to bridge the tension of being both authentically Chinese and Christian, and to find a new way of becoming both authentically Chinese and authentic Christian. This new way of being a Chinese Christian is defined in this work as a Trinitarian Junzi. </p><p> Becoming a Trinitarian Junzi is a new way of being Chinese as well as being Christian in the Chinese context. The concept creates an understanding for Chinese people to participate in the life of the Triune God; it also reminds Christians to cherish the values of all of God&rsquo;s people and creations. Becoming a Trinitarian Junzi opens the horizon and vision of being Chinese in the light of Christianity; it also offers inspiration and imagination about being Christian in a new way through dialoguing with every local culture and beyond. </p>