Recent pacrim items

Measuring the biological sustainability of marine fisheries: property rights, politics, and science

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0000

While nearly everyone favors sustainability, few agree on what the term actually means. In the case of marine fisheries, what first appears simple – exploiting species at a level that does not diminish their productivity in the future – is confounded by the possible inclusion of social, cultural, and economic notions of sustainability, as well as the effects of fishing practices on the wider ecology (that is, on both non-target species and habitats) of the seas. These approaches are all important, but this paper will focus on measuring the biological sustainability

of targeted species, which must precede (but certainly not preclude) all other measures of sustainability. While determining what is sustainable is tricky, it is not difficult to find examples of biologically unsustainable fisheries.

From the dramatic collapse of the once prolific cod fisheries of New England and Eastern Canada to the decline of subsistence fisheries throughout the developing

world,...

Past tense forms and their functions in South Conchucos Quechua:

Fri, 8 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Characterizations of tense in language generally focus on placement in time. This study demonstrates that tense forms in South Conchucos Quechua (SCQ) not only place past situations in time, they do much more. The research centers on discovering why one tense form, rather than another, is chosen at a given point in discourse.

The data studied consist of over five hours of naturally occurring spoken language. In-depth analysis is presented of four narrative segments, chosen for the richness of tense variation they display. While the data are primarily examined qualitatively, quantitative and prosodic analyses also contribute to understanding the uses of the tense forms.

The analysis of the data reveals a multi-faceted answer to the research question. Several SCQ tense forms place events relative to each other in past time. Choices between two of the past tense forms are further determined by evidentiality. That is, one form is used when the source of evidence is...

How Godzilla Ate Pittsburgh: The Long Rise of the Japanese Iron and Steel Industry, 1900–1973

Fri, 8 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

From the 1890s to as late as 1960, industrial policy provided vital aid to the development of the Japanese iron and steel industry. Japanese industrial policy proved successful in steel even though public support was much prolonged, subject to political influence, and based on limited forecasting power ex ante, particularly with regard to recurrent raw material problems. Policy success in steel within different time periods suggests that specific targeting mechanisms were less important than the prevalence of market failures within a context of underdevelopment, broad support for industry, and dedicated and capable governmental bureaucracy. By implication, industrial policy in recent years faced greater difficulties insofar as it attempted narrower targeting and operated in a more mature economy.

Final Report of Summer Research 2007 Vietnam and Southeast Asia, June 6 – August 21

Fri, 8 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The main objectives of my summer research were the following: • Conduct preliminary dissertation research on the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Biodiversity Corridor Initiative by gathering background information, testing current hypotheses, testing preliminary survey instruments and collecting preliminary data; • Gain experience in human rights related research as part of the Human Rights Fellowship; • Explore and assess potential of various field sites, institutional partners and data sources for my dissertation research; and • Collect GIS data to support further training at UC Berkeley

Ethnic Boundary Enforcers: Conceptualizing Japanese Teachers' Treatment of Migrant Latino Parents

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0000

Ethnic Boundary Enforcers: Conceptualizing Japanese Teachers' Treatment of Migrant Latino Parents

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACROSS AN ETHNIC DIVIDE: PERUVIAN PARENTS AND A JAPANESE SCHOOL

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0000

This article presents a case study of relations between Japanese teachers and Peruvian parents at a public elementary school in central Japan. Using interviews and participant observation, this critical account reveals how some teachers, frustrated by the challenges of teaching an increasingly foreign student body, blame problems at the school on Peruvian parents’ limited language skills and cultural differences. Amid these complaints, various structural factors hinder the efforts of Peruvian parents and children, including poor language support and ineffective remedial language instruction. This account also examines the ways parents’ class position and immigrant status influence their acquisition of the social and cultural capital necessary for the parents to more effectively participate in their children’s education in Japan.

Phylogenetic signal in plant pathogen–host range