In the U.S., individuals of Afro-Caribbean and Latino descent are two to three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-Hispanic whites. Caribbean and Latin America migrants, particularly minority women bear a disproportionate burden of type 2 diabetes and its risk factors. The purpose of this research is to investigate if Afro-Caribbean women share a cultural belief model about type 2 diabetes and how this belief model, along with structural barriers to health care, influence disease risk and management. A sample of 40 women, primarily Jamaican and Trinidadian, 35 to 90 years of age previously diagnosed with type 2 diabetes were recruited in southwest Florida. Socio-demographic, medical history, and self-reported height and weight data were collected from women. A 53 item yes/no cultural beliefs questionnaire about type 2 diabetes' etiology, treatment, and symptoms was administered to 30 women. Semi-structured interviews about diet and lifestyle type 2 diabetes management were conducted with 38 women, 24 interviews were conducted over the telephone. The cultural consensus analysis used to analyze the cultural beliefs questionnaire found that the women shared a single cultural belief model (.72 ±.081 SD) about type 2 diabetes. Body mass index was calculated from self-reported height and weight data, and correlated with socio-demographic and cultural belief variables. The age-adjusted prevalence of obesity was 40.39 percent. The spearman correlation found that women with higher BMI (rs = -0.42993, p = .0125) and individual cultural knowledge scores (rs = -0.41730, p = .0218) were significantly younger at age of type 2 diabetes diagnosis than women with lower BMI and individual cultural knowledge scores. The women's cultural belief model about type 2 diabetes was similar to the biomedical model. Women struggled to modify their traditional Caribbean diet and failed to engage in regular leisure physical activity which may have contributed to their high BMI. Inadequate health insurance and transnational migration prevented women from accessing regular medical care and effectively managing the disease. Afro-Caribbean women face an ongoing struggle to control their glucose levels and BMI to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes complications.

The purpose of the research was to investigate whether cultural dissonance was experienced by a group of migrant students during educational and cultural transition to new education systems which shared cultural markers of language and ethnicity. Cultural dissonance is defined in this study as:A sense of discord or disharmony, experienced by participants in cultural change where cultural differences are found to occur which are unexpected, unexplained and therefore difficult to negotiate and which inhibit behavioural adaptation.The study utilised case histories of children from forty-seven families. The respondents in the research were the children's parents. The families had emigrated from the United Kingdom to Western Australia during the period 1985-1995.The families reported receiving little information about education systems in Western Australia prior to migration. In the post-migration period, little official information was provided at system or at school level. Because placing the children in schools was a priority for the families, encounters with Western Australian education systems took place within a few weeks of their arrival as migrants.This lack of prior information meant that cultural differences in educational provision were unexpected and unexplained. In particular, families encountered unexpected problems in the appropriate placement of their children in Western Australian schools. Accented English and differences in word usage led to unexpected rejection and teasing. The perceived failure on the part of schools to address these and other differences caused confrontations between parents and many schools and disrupted the children's educational progress. These discordant experiences and difficulties led to what, in this study, is characterised as cultural dissonance.The implications for the study are discussed on two levels. With particular ++ / reference to Western Australian education systems, the lack of induction policies for English-speaking migrant children was apparent. There appeared to be no system or school level guidelines which mandated the use of printed matter, provided at State system level to address these difficulties. The schools were not seen to make good use of the information parents provided about the children's educational stages. The intervention of teachers at classroom level to discourage teasing was seen as ineffective and in two cases teachers contributed to the problems being encountered.On a more general level, the study has implications for attitudinal change within Australian society towards the reception of skilled and financially secure migrant new criteria for entry to Australia have implications for the socio-economic status of potential migrants. The self-identity of these families is influenced by their status in the social hierarchies of their country-of origin. Skilled and professional families are likely to resist policies for their children's induction being seen as a low priority in Western Australian schools simply because of the child's migrant status.The research findings gave rise to recommendations that:Information of education systems in Western Australia should be made available to all intending migrant families with children.Induction policies for all migrant children should be in place and be utilised in Western Australian schools.The formulation of policy takes account of the effects of changes to migrant socio- economic status, brought about by the changes to the criteria for entry to Australia.The study concluded that shared markers of language and ethnicity were not sufficient to ensure that the cultural differences in education systems were not experienced by the families. A lack of prior information on those differences and a lack of induction ++ / policies for the children led to difficulties and to experiences of cultural dissonance for the families.

The aim of the study was to develop an in-depth understanding of the migration experiences of the Italian community of Australia, with a case study of the regional Friulan community of Sydney. For the ways in which people identify themselves at different times and in different environments may not always be consistent. The purpose of the study was to add to the exploration of the diversity, cultural variety and richness cultural communities have brought to Australia. The study set out to fulfill an important function in adding to the accounts of the diversity of ethnic groups in Australia, their structure and cultural backgrounds and the values of family members. Since culture is concerned with meaning, there is of course a very close relationship between culture and language, through which kin relationships, obligations and duties are expressed and appropriate behaviour defined. It is that meaning and relationship that led me to investigate the Italian and Friulan communities. The study took on the form of an ethnography enabling me, the researcher, to participate in order to develop an in depth understanding of the experiences of the Italian migrants, in particular the Friulan community. The data was collected by using key informant interviewing. The participants were encouraged to freely reflect on their past and present experiences to enable them to make a comparative analysis of their experiences in Australia and in their country of origin. This enabled the migrants to take on the role of culturally knowledgeable informants supplying information which was significant to them and which reflected their perceptions of their life experiences. The data has been faithfully recorded to represent the immigrant's point of view. The study revealed that many of the first and second-generation are highly involved with their Italian heritage and operate comfortably with a bicultural ethnic identity. The second generation have reconstructed the Italian-Australian family, thus changing the Italian community and providing links between the Italian, the Anglo-Australian and the other ethnic communities. Ethnicity is continually negotiated and is a constant source of transformation for people of immigrant background. If Italian-Australians continue to associate, both through family and cultural practices then the Italian-Australian identity will continue. The big question is what will happen in the third and fourth Italian-Australian generation. It is here that the question of ethnic and national identity becomes highly relevant. Cultural diversity presents challenging issues for Australia: what it means to be an Australian; the relationship between national and personal identities; identifying and working in both the cohesive and divisive forces in a multicultural society; and the form and flavour of a future republic. None of these issues are new, yet all are of immediate concern, and the symbolic importance of the approach of the twenty-first century invests them with particular meaning.

L'objectif de notre thèse était d'analyser la complexité des rapports entre des migrants venus de campagnes chinoises et des habitants locaux, souvent eux mêmes d'anciens migrants, ceci dans un contexte d'appropriation d'un quartier populaire de Shanghai voué à la rénovation. Notre thèse entend montrer : 1) que l'on doit étudier les transformations urbaines à partir des activités et de choix concrets des habitants qui « font » la ville ; 2) comment les migrations et la mobilité des populations transforment les villes des pays émergents et comment se construisent les nouvelles sociétés urbaines chinoises ; 3) qu'il faut réfléchir, à partir du terrain urbain, à la question de la spécificité chinoise et interroger ses limites.

A travers le cas de Buenos Aires, cette thèse s'intéresse à la conservation d'espaces de proximité pour nourrir les métropoles : malgré de fortes pressions métropolitaines, la capitale argentine a maintenu ses espaces de production et de commercialisation pour approvisionner ses treize millions d'habitants en légumes frais. Dans une démarche au carrefour des géographies sociale et culturelle, de l'étude des relations villes-campagnes, des circulations et des réseaux, la recherche s'attache aux conditions et modalités de ce maintien et interroge le rôle de nouveaux acteurs dans ces processus : les migrants boliviens, qui ont succédé ces trente dernières années aux Italiens, Portugais et Japonais. Dans un contexte de transformations métropolitaines importantes, les espaces et réseaux maraîchers non seulement se maintiennent, mais se consolident et se renouvellent du fait des stratégies des Boliviens. Les constructions territoriales de ces nouveaux protagonistes attestent leur installation prolongée en Argentine, mais sans l'établissement d'un dialogue avec les autres acteurs de l'activité maraîchère et les acteurs institutionnels de la métropole, les dynamiques actuelles ne suffiront ni sur le plan quantitatif, ni sur le plan qualitatif, au maintien à long terme des espaces de proximité. Pour approvisionner ses habitants, la métropole argentine ne peut se passer de la mise en place de nouvelles politiques périurbaines ni d'un plan de développement commercial. Les Boliviens, aujourd'hui garants de l'approvisionnement en légumes de Buenos Aires, pourraient ainsi jouer, à l'avenir, un rôle déterminant dans les politiques d'aménagement régional.

<p>This is a qualitative research study utilising a theoretical framework of democracy theory, human rights and theories on migration and irregular migrants. The purpose of this research is to explore how the new Swedish Regulation on Labour Immigration, in relation to the harmonization of migration policy within the European Union, represents and effects the perception of asylum seekers and irregular migrants on a socio-political level in Sweden. Through four semi-structured interviews this study seeks to explore the following areas: the reasons behind the compromise concerning asylum seekers in the Regulation; the exclusion of irregular migrants in the Regulation; and the correlation between the Regulation and the harmonising of migration policy within the EU. The theoretical framework, together with the statements by informants and the grounding information concerning human rights and the migration policy within the EU, constitutes the analysis. The analysis shows that the perceptions of asylum seekers and irregular immigrants as an undesirable solution to demographical challenges represent a relativistic approach to human rights. By legitimating this perception those concerned become even more vulnerable and at a higher risk of exploitation. The correlation between the contemporary democratic welfare state, international human rights law and the Regulation, together with increasing and irreversible migration flows, visualises an incompatible and diffuse organisation, which have to transform into cosmopolitan democracy and global solidarity if to survive.</p>

This is a qualitative research study utilising a theoretical framework of democracy theory, human rights and theories on migration and irregular migrants. The purpose of this research is to explore how the new Swedish Regulation on Labour Immigration, in relation to the harmonization of migration policy within the European Union, represents and effects the perception of asylum seekers and irregular migrants on a socio-political level in Sweden. Through four semi-structured interviews this study seeks to explore the following areas: the reasons behind the compromise concerning asylum seekers in the Regulation; the exclusion of irregular migrants in the Regulation; and the correlation between the Regulation and the harmonising of migration policy within the EU. The theoretical framework, together with the statements by informants and the grounding information concerning human rights and the migration policy within the EU, constitutes the analysis. The analysis shows that the perceptions of asylum seekers and irregular immigrants as an undesirable solution to demographical challenges represent a relativistic approach to human rights. By legitimating this perception those concerned become even more vulnerable and at a higher risk of exploitation. The correlation between the contemporary democratic welfare state, international human rights law and the Regulation, together with increasing and irreversible migration flows, visualises an incompatible and diffuse organisation, which have to transform into cosmopolitan democracy and global solidarity if to survive.

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird das Bildungsverhalten von türkischstämmigen Schülern, deutschstämmigen Aussiedlern aus der ehemaligen Sowjetunion und einheimischen Schülern ohne Migrationshintergrund am Übergang von der Grundschule in weiterführende Schulformen der Sekundarstufe I und am Übergang von Sekundarstufe I in schulische oder berufsbildende Ausbildungszweige dargestellt. Bisherige Forschungsergebnisse weisen darauf hin, dass sich Migrantenkinder an beiden Etappen im Bildungssystem nachteilig platzieren. Ziel der Arbeit ist es daher zu erörtern, welche Gründe hierfür verantwortlich sind. Zur Erklärung der Disparitäten wird auf die Theorien von Becker (1975), Boudon (1974), Erikson & Jonsson (1996) sowie von Breen & Goldthorpe (1997) zurückgegriffen. Obwohl sie zahlreiche Gemeinsamkeiten vorweisen, unterscheiden sie sich in der Relevanz, die sie der sozialen Herkunft zur Erklärung von differierenden Positionierungen zuschreiben. Diese Unterschiede werden dargelegt und die Vorhersagegüte der jeweiligen Mechanismen zur Erklärung des Bildungsverhaltens aller drei Schülergruppen an beiden Bildungsübergängen mittels multivariater Analyseverfahren überprüft. Hierfür werden Daten der Längsschnittstudie „Kinder und Jugendliche aus Zuwandererfamilien im deutschen und israelischen Bildungssystem“ (BMBF 2006-2010) genutzt. Zentrales Ergebnis der Arbeit ist, dass das Übergangsverhalten von Migrantenkindern im Vergleich zu einheimischen Kindern kaum durch deren soziale Herkunft beeinflusst wird. Während sich am ersten Bildungsübergang noch leichte Einflüsse der Schichtzugehörigkeit auf das Übergangsverhalten zeigen, verschwinden diese am zweiten Bildungsübergang gänzlich. Das Übergangsverhalten in höhere Bildung wird hauptsächlich durch die schulischen Leistungen, hohe Erfolgserwartungen und hohe Bildungsaspirationen beeinflusst. Die ökonomischen Verhältnisse der Familien spielen an beiden Übergängen eine untergeordnete Rolle. Zur adäquaten Vorhersage des Verhaltens eignen sich die Statustheorien (Boudon 1974; Breen & Goldthorpe 1997) infolge dessen weniger, da der Nutzen von hoher Bildung für sie einzig durch Statussicherung entsteht. Demgegenüber können aus den theoretischen Modellen von Erikson & Jonsson (1996) und Becker (1975) Mechanismen abgeleitet werden, die das Verhalten besser vorhersagen. Ihren Ausführungen zufolge wird der Bildungsertrag durch zahlreiche Faktoren bestimmt und orientiert sich nicht ausschließlich am zukünftigen sozialen Status. Dies hat zur Folge, dass wichtige erklärende Einflussfaktoren, wie die subjektiven Erfolgserwartungen und die Bildungsaspirationen, in die Modelle und somit in die Erklärung des Verhaltens integriert werden können. Unter Berücksichtigung des allgemeinen wissenschaftlichen Fortschritts innerhalb der Bildungssoziologie wird daher geraten, den Theorien von Erikson & Jonsson (1996) sowie Becker (1975) mehr Aufmerksamkeit zu schenken.

A thesis presented on the political history of Fiji from cession to Britain in 1874 compares and analyses the country’s four political coups. A military coup occurred in 1987 by Lt. Col Sitiveni Rabuka. Six months later he staged a self-coup. In 2000 George Speight staged an armed civilian coup or putsch, and in 2006 Commodore Frank Bainimarama, head of Fiji’s military forces, overthrew the government of Laisenia Qarase. This paper is an internal comparison of the four coups of which the aim is to examine why coups occur in Fiji. The conclusion is that the level of influence of the country’s traditional paramount chiefs is a strong causal factor in events leading to the political overthrows. Issues such as ethnicity, constitutionalism, democracy, traditionalism, and modernity make the study of the Fiji coups complex. All of the major actors involved have been present or have been somehow linked to each coup. Questions of leadership arise as do issues regarding pluralism and multiculturalism. These issues are discussed in this paper. The end result is that if the question of traditional leadership is not addressed within a democratic framework then Fiji will continue to have coups.

This study is about the Mongolian circus performers who work in Taiwan. Do their skills influence the outcome of their work conditions in Taiwan? This qualitative research carries out with interviews and participation observations. It explores Mongolian circus performers¡¦ working conditions, and the problems they face in different environments. The author has made several fieldwork trips to three places, and interviewed 17 performers. It contends that Mongolian circus performers are not in a disadvantaged industrial relations position due to, first, they are skilled labor; second, there is no clear rule regarding circus performers by Taiwan government; and third, the contract is clearly written about working contents, which makes the conflict less likely between migrant workers and employer.