The Social Construction of Skill in International Migration: Perspectives from Asia

In discourse comprehension, the global and local contexts may influence the processing of words. Kintsch (1988) and Garrod et al. (2000) proposed two-stage models. They assumed that the local context influenced the processing of words at an early stage, whereas the global context played its role at the later stage of integration. Cook (2004) assumed that in the first stage of processing, a link could occur between the focal concept and the local or global contexts, depending on which one was reactivated more quickly. In the second stage, the link formed in the first stage was verified. Hess et al. (1995) suggested that the global and not the local context influenced the processing of words. When a pronoun appears in a discourse in which there are more than two antecedents, its comprehension may be influenced by the local and global contexts. Some studies (Garvey et al., 1974; Grober et al., 1978; Hirst et al., 1980; Miao Xiaochun et al., 1995, 1996a, 1996b) demonstrated that both the local and global contexts influenced pronoun comprehension. This paper explored the effects of the local and global contexts on pronoun comprehension and their relationship. Forty-six paid subjects participated in the study (18 and 24 in experiments 1 and 2 respectively). Twenty-four complex sentences were compiled, each of which contained a noun and a verbal phrase. The relationship between the noun and verbal phrases was typical or atypical. Twenty-four corresponding discourses, in which the 24 complex sentences were embedded, were then compiled, and the nouns were replaced by pronouns. Each discourse had a phrase as the local context. The global and local contexts were consistent or inconsistent with the verbal phrases. The materials were presented visually to the subjects, and they were requested to read the materials. Eye movements were recorded using a video-based eye tracker. A typicality effect was obtained in experiment 1. The results of the reading time for the interest areas suggested that the nouns were integrated with their typical actions more quickly than those were integrated with their atypical actions. In experiment 2, the results of the first-run dwell time for the interest areas suggested that the global and not the local contexts produced major effects. The results of the second-run dwell time for the interest areas suggested that both the global and local contexts produced marginal major effects. The results suggested that the global contexts and not the local contexts influenced pronoun comprehension at the early stage, while the local contexts influenced it at the later stage.

There are a number of theoretical positions that inform analyses of skill. One such position is the social construction of skill. When it was first proposed it was driven by feminist concerns about the sex-typing of jobs and women’s exclusion from jobs labelled as skilled. This chapter offers a new social construction of skill. It appreciates that the old social construction of skill has not disappeared but points out that the context within which this construction occurred has changed, with weaker labour unions and the decline in the manufacturing industries. With more service jobs and stronger employers, the chapter argues that in the wealthier countries there have been two shifts: a shift in how skill has been defined and a shift in who has the power to define it. Focusing on gender, race and class, the chapters explains how the social construction of skill has been restructured in three ways. First, more importance is attached to ascription of skill. Second, who is and isn’t deemed to be skilled has changed. Third, the lines between achieved and ascribed skill are increasingly blurred. The chapter finishes by suggesting ways in which the discrimination arising from this new social construction of skill might be addressed.

BackgroundThe level of funding provides a good proxy for the level of commitment or prioritisation given to a particular issue. While the need for research relevant to social, economic, cultural and behavioural aspects of neglected tropical diseases (NTD) control has been acknowledged, there is limited data on the level of funding that supports NTD social science research.MethodA case study was carried out in which the spending of a major independent funder, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) - was analysed. A total of 67 projects funded between October 1998 and November 2008 were identified from the BMGF database. With the help of keywords within the titles of 67 grantees, they were categorised as social science or non-social science research based on available definition of social science. A descriptive analysis was conducted.ResultsOf 67 projects analysed, 26 projects (39%) were social science related while 41 projects (61%) were basic science or other translational research including drug development. A total of US$ 697 million was spent to fund the projects, of which 35% ((US$ 241 million) went to social science research. Although the level of funding for social science research has generally been lower than that for non-social science research over 10 year period, social science research attracted more funding in 2004 and 2008.ConclusionThe evidence presented in this case study indicates that funding on NTD social science research compared to basic and translational research is not as low as it is perceived to be. However, as there is the acute need for improved delivery and utilisation of current NTD drugs/technologies, informed by research from social science approaches, funding priorities need to reflect the need to invest significantly more in NTD social science research.

This article reprises debates over ‘the social construction of skill’ (SCS), in the context of the rise of a service economy, and a diminished capacity for collective worker protection of job quality. After exploring the changed conceptual terrain in which the concept of SCS is deployed, it puts the case for recognising under‐documented skills in service jobs. It argues that real (because based on learning) but hitherto uncodified skills are beginning to be mapped in a corpus of interpretative research. A fieldwork‐based conceptual framework is offered for more fully codifying these skills. Such codification may give employers a handle for increased behavioural control, but may also help workers gain recognition and reward for real skills. We identify ‘stages of social construction’: first, skills' ‘detection’ and naming in job‐analysis interviews and second, skills recognition in qualifications and job/person descriptions. Increased remuneration and/or work reorganisation through political–institutional processes, driven by the agency of unions and professional organisations, HR departments or even management itself, may follow. The politics of the concepts' development (or not) in academic and policy communities – another facet of the SCS – we eschew here.

Programs within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have recently taken steps to enhance social science contributions to health research. A June 2000 conference convened by the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research highlighted the role of the social sciences in health research and developed an agenda for advancing such research. The conference and agenda underscored the importance of research on basic social scientific concepts and constructs, basic social science research on the etiology of health and illness, and the application of basic social science constructs in health services, treatment, and prevention research. Recent activities at NIH suggest a growing commitment to social science research and its integration into interdisciplinary multilevel studies of health.

In the last 30 years international migration has been transformed from being of little or no significance in Asia to being of substantial economic, social, political and demographic importance. Two types of migration which have increased greatly in significance since the 1970s are international labour migration and refugee movements. Throughout most of the last two decades Asia has had more refugees than any other world region, although numbers have declined in the 1990s with the success of resettlement and repatriation programmes for Indochinese refugees. On the other hand, international labour migration has continued to increase in scale and importance, with the majority of workers moving between Asian countries in the 1990s, although the Middle East remains an important destination. It is argued that two elements, proliferating migrant social networks and the emergence of a vibrant immigration industry, have given a momentum to international migration which to some extent limits the power of nation states to control it. There is some concern among countries in the region that the increase in migration is creating excessive economic dependence upon the export of labour. Fears that migration threatens social cohesion depend upon the extent to which migrants settle permanently in destination areas.

Frequency discrimination thresholds are influenced by various listener, stimulus and task related factors. Here we are interested in the effects of repetitions within the stimulus set used in the discrimination task, and more specifically in the effects of stimulus repetitions within trials (local context) and across trials (global context). In order to examine these aspects, twenty native Hebrew speaking students (10 males and 10 females, aged 20-28), with no known language, hearing, learning or other cognitive or functional problems, performed 4 different auditory frequency discrimination tests differing in the degrees of global and local context they provide. Our findings show that discrimination thresholds were affected by both global and local contexts. In addition, the discrimination thresholds in the condition containing both local and global context were significantly lower than in the condition containing only global context or only local context. There was however no interaction between the two effects. These findings suggest that the effects of local and global context are at least to some extent, distinct, with each making a separate contribution to performance. Furthermore our findings show that the effect of global context was larger than that of local context, which could suggest that each of these effects is related to a separate component of working memory.

Migration research and analysis: Growth, reach and recent contributions of research and analysis being produced on migration is important for those working on migration policies, studying migration, or wanting to develop an informed opinion on migration.It is important to highlight at the outset that there are fundamental differences in the publishing processes for academic and non-academic material, and each has its strengths and weaknesses.The academic publishing system is largely focused on producing journal articles and books.This process typically involves multi-stage reviews and editorial comments involving authors, editors and reviewers.Most published academic research ("white" literature) is behind paywalls (that is, not freely accessible), and often managed by commercial publishers.In contrast, the production of research and analysis publications outside of academic publishing ("grey" literature) generally involves faster and simpler processes that are typically, although not always, characterized by more limited peer review.Contributions from grey literature (such as research reports, working papers and government/official documents) are usually freely available.A report such as this, designed to contribute to our collective understanding of migration and mobility in an increasingly interconnected world, would clearly be incomplete without describing the role of grey literature, which has been "recognized as a key source of evidence, argument, innovation, and understanding". 6 The volume, diversity and growth of both white and grey literature preclude a systematic review of all the material produced and published on migration in 2017 and 2018.Instead, this chapter highlights examples of key contributions made during this period, published in English by a selection of academic journals and intergovernmental organizations.It provides an update to the chapter in World Migration Report 2018, including by focusing on different academic journals and intergovernmental organizations, and their key output in 2017 and 2018. 7 The next section provides an overview of the different actors involved in migration research and analysis.The third section features recent, selected contributions from academia and intergovernmental organizations, and the reach and impact of some of the migration research materials published. Main producers of migration research and analysis AcademiaIdeally, researchers create new knowledge that is supported by strong evidence and is useful for others.Research findings are produced for, and disseminated to, different target audiences.Traditional academic work can be highly technical and narrowly focused, although academic researchers are increasingly encouraged to disseminate their work beyond academic spheres. 8 Researchers analysing policy-relevant issues are often keen to engage with policymakers to impart knowledge that can inform policy deliberations and help shape policymaking -this is especially the case with migration.Effective research contributions for policy audiences tend to take the form of short papers and blog articles, as well as policy workshops and interactive expert meetings.6 GreyNet International, 2014.7 In order to ensure, to the extent possible, that this chapter provides a comprehensive "stand-alone" overview of migration research and analysis in 2017 and 2018, we have drawn upon key background and context material included in the

The USDA Forest Service has had a longstanding presence in utilization, economics, and social sciences research and development activities. The magnitude and diversity of these activities have changed as the questions and the people asking them have changed over the past century. These changes challenge the social science and utilization research community to develop this collective research agenda for utilization, economics, and social sciences research and development activities conducted by the Forest Service. It sets the context for the utilization, economics, and social sciences research and development activities in the Forest Service. It deals with the need to balance knowledge creation with the constantly changing demand for information that guides various land management decisions and shapes policymaker perceptions in various environmental debates. The research agenda is built around six common themes that will help us create a larger pool of experience from which we can form judgments relative to outcomes and develop tools that can be used to solve a variety of problems. It assumes that the worth of utilization, economics, and social sciences research and development activities will be judged by our ability to create lasting solutions that alter outcomes. Finally, creating and implementing such a research agenda depends on leaders who can advocate for problem selection that recognizes the full integrated nature of contemporary questions, who can synchronize research oriented toward major questions with knowledge creation, and who can serve as defenders of social science research against ideological attacks by emphasizing the true nature of questions and the importance of taking integrative approaches.

Appointment of traditional authorities with an international migrant background has become an important trend in Ghana. Such ‘return chiefs’ are expected to bring development and modernization, but – as former international migrants – they are also seen as potentially estranged from local customs and realities. As presumed guardians of tradition, they are thus placed in a situation that poses a range of dilemmas of legitimacy and public authority. The article argues that return chiefs are in an ambivalent position between the domains of tradition and modernity and that they endeavour to overcome this dilemma through emphasizing their foundation in tradition as well as by using their professional and international experience to spur local development and modernize the chieftaincy institution. Return chiefs thus simultaneously practise and invoke the traditional and the modern. In this way, the transformation of chieftaincy is embedded in both local and global contexts. Return chiefs go beyond local customs to bring development and innovation to their areas, mobilizing international networks, touring European and North American countries, and collaborating with international development agencies, NGOs, and migrants. Their practices are thus at once local and global, and the article calls for inclusion of both perspectives in contemporary chieftaincy studies.

Taking as its starting point what has become known as the British labour process debate, this paper discusses some of the developing ideas within what the author charactenzes as its third wave. In particular it focuses on the question of alternatives to Taylonsm and the concept of skill. Rather than assuming the dominance of Taylonsm (or superiority of flexible forms of organization), it is more useful to start from an appreciation of the limits of and contradictions within scientific management. A central problem which has bedevilled the post-Braverman debate about both new forms of work organization and the concept of skill is the centrality accorded to a um dimensional concept of control The paper points to the need to get away from this and for a broader discussion of skill which includes consideration of the 'social construction of skill', tacit knowledge, and the sexual division of labour. The author links this discussion to the question of 'new' technologies, showing for example that the notion of tacit skills cautions against assuming they deskill most jobs, because such existing skill may be vital for their successful implementation. An examination of both the effects of recession on work organization and Japanese management further highlights some of the issues raised by the third wave of labour process debate

This chapter looks at the major challenges the social scientists and social researchers are facing in conducting social research during this COVID-19 pandemic due to their physical inaccessibility to the community. The chapter also provides some alternative ways to reduce these challenges using different techniques within the latitudes of social sciences research. This chapter is based on authors' empirical observations, and some evidence is obtained from the experts' opinions working in different disciplines in social sciences. Results found some practical challenges (i.e., many social researchers stop their research practices due to inaccessibility in the communities; many of them started their research, but could not finish it; some researchers are doing their research using alternative tools and techniques; and research funding has been frizzed due to this pandemic). Findings would be useful to the social sciences researchers, academics, research students, policymakers, and development practitioners.

Social science research in malaria prevention, management and control in the last two decades: An overview

This chapter focuses on the other socially constructed vulnerabilities with a special focus on People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs) and internal migrants. The systematic denial of equal rights to a specific group of individuals through social sanction, programmes and policies would be social construction of vulnerability. PLHAs face stigma and discrimination which have negative social consequences (particularly among women PLHAs), decreased quality of life and systematic denial to access health and healthcare services. The large population of internal migrants also faces stigma and discrimination leading to lower access to general healthcare and maternal and child health services. Migration is a major contributor to ill health among adults and children. These vulnerabilities collude against the health and well-being of migrant PLHAs. The diagnosis and treatment of HIV among migrants is convoluted and often delayed. Their women partners face layered inequalities in accessing health care and social justice. Lower socio-economic status and being a woman often contributes to the social construction of vulnerability among PLHAs and internal migrants. Migration itself should be considered as an axis of health inequity, in this context. The neo-liberal policies prevailing in the current consumerist society, compounded by public programmes and policies insensitive to the specific needs of PLHAs and internal migrants; layered by the stigma and discrimination and compounded by layered vulnerabilities due to gender, class and caste leads to systemic denial of access to health and health care resulting in health inequities among PLHAs and internal migrants.

The economic development brought about by tourism often induces migration to an emerging tourism region. A constructivist paradigm with semi-structured interviews was employed. This paper aims to interpret residents' social constructions towards the sociocultural impacts of tourism-induced internal labour migration in a Thai context. Western studies assume there are clear negative and positive impacts of tourism development. These sociocultural impacts of tourism in the Western literature are applicable in a Thai context. However, most previous studies on sociocultural impacts of tourism look from the outside but it is significant that nobody has looked from an inside Thai perspective. Local residents in Koh Samui attribute the majority of sociocultural impacts to labour migration from the Isan region of Thailand. This paper starts with an analysis of labour forces in Thailand, and how tourism and labour migration are interrelated. In addition, the ethnic identity of the Isan people is examined.