Judith Benz-Schwarzburg and Sophia Benz
Purpose – This study addresses the great apes' fatal situation in the wild by integrating perspectives from conservation biology, conflict research, and…
Abstract
Purpose – This study addresses the great apes' fatal situation in the wild by integrating perspectives from conservation biology, conflict research, and bioethics.
Design/methodology/approach – We introduce the great apes' red list status and describe habitat destruction and bushmeat commerce as main threats to their survival. We analyze the complex context in which great ape extinction takes place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and thereby focus on a threatening factor that is interlinked with habitat destruction and bushmeat commerce: armed conflict.
Findings – The study shows that some characteristics of so-called “New Wars” are apparent in the DRC and that they directly or indirectly impact the great apes' situation. Because the human role in the animals' extinction is so severe and so obvious, ethical consequences become apparent. Animal ethics (the welfare as well as the rights approach) has to acknowledge the severity of the situation of the great apes in the wild. Implications for the human–animal relationship and the human identity come into play. After all, we have to ask ourselves what it means for us and for coming generations if our nearest relatives are going to be extinct one day.
Practical implications – It is argued that conservation policy has to include insights from conflict research. Likewise, peacemaking has to address ecological consequences of warfare.
Originality/value – Our findings promote an interdisciplinary approach. Armed conflict as a threatening factor to great ape survival has so far largely been neglected within the literature on conservation biology as well as in conflict research.
Details
Keywords
Carolyn Barber and Judith Torney-Purta
Theories and research on gender and civic engagement have changed dramatically since studies were conducted 50 years ago. Over time, definitions of political socialization…
Abstract
Theories and research on gender and civic engagement have changed dramatically since studies were conducted 50 years ago. Over time, definitions of political socialization, knowledge, and engagement have all evolved, and with these developments come differences in how we view male and female political and civic engagement.
Melanie Lubinger, Judith Frei and Dorothea Greiling
Materiality, as a content-selection principle, is an emerging trend in sustainability reporting for making sustainability reports (SRs) more relevant for stakeholders. The purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
Materiality, as a content-selection principle, is an emerging trend in sustainability reporting for making sustainability reports (SRs) more relevant for stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether materiality matters in the reporting practice of universities which have adopted the Global Reporting Initiative G4 Guidelines.
Design/methodology/approach
Strategic stakeholder theory and sociological institutionalism serve for deriving conflicting expectations about the compliance of universities with the materiality principle. In the empirical section of this paper, content analyses are conducted on the documented material aspects, followed by a correlation analysis for examining to which extent the identified material aspects are reported in the SRs.
Findings
Although universities document G4-19 stakeholder-material aspects according to different relevance levels and for internal and external stakeholder groups, the identified material aspects are not appropriately reported in the SRs. The adoption of the materiality principle is a superficial one and therefore more in line with the expectations of sociological institutionalism.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation for this study is the small number of university SRs available. The chance to make SRs more relevant by focusing on stakeholder-material aspects is not used.
Originality/value
This paper reports the first study looking at the compliance between the documented material aspects and the content of SRs in a particular challenging organisational field, the university sector. This paper also adds to the emerging theoretical discussion about the extent universities implement materiality in SRs.
Details
Keywords
David A. Hales and Gail S. Hales
The purpose of this article is to help acquaint librarians with some of the major resources available regarding Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAS/FAE).
On April 2, 1987, IBM unveiled a series of long‐awaited new hardware and software products. The new computer line, dubbed the Personal Systems 30, 50, 60, and 80, seems destined…
Abstract
On April 2, 1987, IBM unveiled a series of long‐awaited new hardware and software products. The new computer line, dubbed the Personal Systems 30, 50, 60, and 80, seems destined to replace the XT and AT models that are the mainstay of the firm's current personal computer offerings. The numerous changes in hardware and software, while representing improvements on previous IBM technology, will require users purchasing additional computers to make difficult choices as to which of the two IBM architectures to adopt.
Rohini Balram and Jorge Knijnik
In Fiji, Indo-Fijians constitute the second largest community after Indigenous Fijians. Indo-Fijian women face gender and racial inequalities to access sports and Physical…
Abstract
In Fiji, Indo-Fijians constitute the second largest community after Indigenous Fijians. Indo-Fijian women face gender and racial inequalities to access sports and Physical Education (PE) in Fijian high schools. To gain a comprehensive view of the sporting realities of these young women, an ethnographic study was carried out with 12 young Indo-Fijian women via participant observations and semi-structured interviews, which were driven by sporting experience-related photographs taken by the participants and participant-voiced free verses. This chapter extracts four young women's experiences from the larger set of data and weaves a one-act play to holistically present their lived sporting experiences. This non-fiction creative piece captures the young women's colloquial words and artistic writings, thus creating a space where the reader can hear their voices and feel their sporting experiences too. We employ intersectional lenses together with Critical Race Theory (CRT) to look at the social factors that influence their sporting lives. The findings reveal that factors such as traditional gender norms, racism, age, classism and internal migration from rural co-ed to urban co-ed schools intersect at various levels to determine the segregation of Indo-Fijian girls from ‘mixed racial’ (team) sports. Moreover, in high school PE lessons, iTaukei (Indigenous Fijian) interests are maintained in sports where PE lessons are focused on dominant sports (rugby, soccer and netball) with emphasis on competition rather than inclusive participation for all. Therefore, this paper supports the opening of pathways for Indo-Fijian girls and women to participate in sports so that they can exercise their rights as Fijian citizens.