Rumour and Myth in the labour camps of Qatar (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate)

The petroleum‐rich states of the Arabian Peninsula comprise one of the principal transnational destinations for the global movement of labour. In the Gulf States, much of that labour force comes from South Asia. Legions of unskilled male labourers are typically housed in labor camps, a nomenclature that masks a wide variety of both formal and informal accommodation that, in spatial terms, is a fundamental mechanism for the social segregation of this foreign labor force from the citizenry. Building upon recent fieldwork in Doha, Qatar, this paper examines the myths and narratives that proliferate amongst the South Asian men in these labor camps – men who, often despite years of experience in the Gulf States, typically have little or no interaction with the native citizenry. This paper suggests that these myths and stories can be understood as instruments of governance in that they portray the collectively‐established boundaries of appropriate behavior in a culture foreign to these unskilled laborers. A close analysis of the content of these myths and rumors, however, also helps us grapple with the connections and contradictions between power, race, class, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender and sexuality in the extraordinarily heterogeneous context of the contemporary Gulf State. As such, the analysis not only sheds light on the experiences of these foreign men and women, but also their collective understanding of that experience and of the society that hosts them.     

CROSSING THE RIVER: HOW LOCAL STRUGGLES BUILD A BROADER MOVEMENT

A case study of environmental justice organizing in South Carolina explores how local activists can build an oppositional ideology that connects to a broader agenda for social justice. A multi-issue, state-wide workers' rights organization provided ideological context and strategic experience that enabled residents fighting to clean up a polluted pond to connect their concern to a wider effort for economic justice and undoing racism. The organization's worker-centered, multi-racial identity and an organizing strategy that exposes contradictions of the dominant ideology are seen as enabling these wider connections.     

THE NECESSITY OF UTILIZING SOCIAL MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES IN PROGRAM EVALUATION

The primary purpose of this research paper is to examine the necessity of utilizing both technical and social measurement techniques in program evaluation. Within this paper both types of measurement techniques are defined and discussed, and two local government program evaluation case studies are detailed to illustrate the use of both social and technical measurement techniques. Finally, an assessment of the results of multiple measurement utilization concludes the paper.     

Public reason and private passion

Distinctions between ‘public’ and ‘private’ dimensions of human life have traditionally been associated with philosophical distinctions between Reason and other, supposedly lesser, mental traits, such as passions and desires. This paper examines the ways in which these associations have affected character ideals associated with citizenship and our understanding of sexual difference. It discusses, in particular, Hegel's idea, in The Phenomenology of Spirit, that female consciousness is constituted through the exclusion of women from the public domain, and relates it to earlier interconnections between the male‐female and public‐private distinctions in Rousseau, Hume and Kant.     

SNOW AS A RESOURCE AND HAZARD IN EARLY-TWENTIETH-CENTURY MINING, SELKIRK MOUNTAINS, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Snow as both a resource and a hazard is discussed in the context of early-twentieth-century mining in the southern Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia. This case study focuses on the Carpenter Creek region , a productive silver mining area during the period 1892–1930. Historical data sources including newspapers, government reports, anecdotal literature, and photographs, have been employed. As a resource, snow usually provided a plentiful water-supply for domestic, industrial, and power-generation purposes and served as the basis of ore transport from most minesites by the process of rawhiding. As a hazard, snow disrupted trail and rail transport and was the basis of an enduring avalanche risk that often resulted in deaths, injuries, and structural damage. Mining and related activities destroyed much of the natural forest cover, which led to an increased extent of avalanches. A variety of technological and behavioural adjustments were made to mitigate the hazards posed by snow. Other hazards such as forest fires and flooding, coupled with socioeconomic conditions, such as silver prices, labour shortages, and strikes, adversely affected the local economy throughout the period of study. However, the ultimate demise of the economy resulted from the collapse of world silver prices in 1929 .