Publication Type: Poster
Abstract: The New Orleans’ Hurricane Katrina crisis presents a unique opportunity to study what can be expected when those whom society relies upon in the midst of a disaster are personally impacted by the disaster. Currently, there is a dearth of literature examining the divergent responses of first responders in the midst of a crisis. This study addresses this gap by examining the factors that influenced the divergent responses of police officers in the New Orleans Police Department during the Hurricane Katrina crisis.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper argues for the need to distinguish between more refined types of social capital than the dichotomous categories of 'bonding' and 'bridging' that Putnam uses in his recent work. With the addition of 'binding' and 'blinding' types of social capital, it becomes possible to more effectively investigate the forms of social capital that exist in societies where both political economy and political culture are different from those in the U.S. and Western Europe. Based on research among four types of social groups in Tanzania - (a) commercial farmers, (b) village farmers, (c) informal sector entrepreneurs, and (d) women - this paper demonstrates the prevalence of the binding type - an informal and shortterm kind of investment - among both village farmers and informal sector entrepreneurs, the bonding type among women, and the bridging type among the commercial farmers. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for building civil society, and places the Tanzanian data in comparative perspective.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Using a national telephone probability sample of 2,592 U.S. adults, ranging in age from 18 to 95 in 1995, this study examines the age variation in the relationship between socioeconomic status and psychological well-being. Previous studies, which mainly focused on education and physical health, have provided inconsistent results about this age-related pattern. Overall results of this study’s comprehensive examination taking into account education, occupational prestige, and income support the hypothesis of consistent diverging SES-gaps in depression or anxiety with age. Cumulative advantage mechanism explains the SES-based mental health divergence through physical impairment and sense of control, and resource substitution mechanism explains the divergence through stronger effects of work fulfillment and sense of control in non-employed or non-married status prevalent in later life. Resource substitution is a more dominant mechanism to explain the occupation-based divergence, and cumulative advantage is more dominant one in the case of income.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: September 11 served as a wake-up call to both Canadian and Mexican decision makers. It dramatically reminded leaders in both countries that when the U.S. worries about security, so must its closest trading partners. In the hours following the terrorist attacks, the United States shut down its borders with Canada and Mexico essentially imposing an embargo on the North American continent in the name of national security. Canadian and Mexican leaders understandably panicked, not because of the terrorist attacks per se, but rather because of the impact that the September 11 events had had and would continue to have on their relations with the United States. The most significant changes now being discussed involves the way goods, services and people cross the shared continental borders. The United States has called for increased trilateral and bilateral cooperation in these areas, suggesting that the three NAFTA partners should deepen security cooperation by establishing formal continental and border security mechanisms. Canada and Mexico really have no choice in the matter; both countries must comply or else suffer the economic and political consequences of a United States now worried for its own territorial security. That much should not surprise anyone. What is odd however is how Canadian and Mexican decision makers have reacted. Canada and Mexico seem to be standing on literal and proverbial opposite sides of the continental and border security fence. Mexico, with a strong political and cultural tradition of independence in the making of foreign security policy has accepted and even encouraged the development of trilateral mechanisms while Canadian decision makers - at the helm of a country that prides its historical participation in multilateral security cooperation - has been particularly aloof, arguing that border differences in North America necessitate a bilateral rather than trilateral approach to continental security. The paper examines and explains this divergence in Canadian and Mexican foreign policy and serves as an interesting case study into how and why states dramatically shift their foreign policy orientations.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This paper explores one approach to examining the role of the Japanese state under globalization. Recently, researchers have begun focusing on increasing diversity rather than homogeneity within globalization. They are reexamining the role of the state in the context of divergence toward diversity rather than convergence toward homogeneity. Whereas previous studies emphasized the uniqueness of Japan, this study analyzes Japan as one of the states contributing to divergence in globalization. This analysis comprises three parts: first, the dichotomy between divergence and convergence as results of globalization; second, the differing roles of states within globalization; and finally, how the Japanese state can continue to enhance its role under globalization. Since the Japanese state has been pursuing every policy option under globalization, it is essential to explore Japan’s intricate relationships between state policy and society in a historical context and also in a comparative perspective in order to qualify the concept of Japanese uniqueness in wider analytical dialogues.