Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Historically, being "Japanese" meant a convergence of formal status (nationality), ancestry (inheriting the "blood" line of Japanese), and identity (such as having a Japanese name and speaking "proper" Japanese). But contemporary conditions of migration and human interaction has led to increased difficulties in maintaining this rigid structure. This paper will explore recent developments including a Supreme Court decision regarding the nationality of children born between Japanese and Filipino parents and issues arising from the migration of Japanese Brazilians to Japan and consider the possible directions that the definition of "Japanese" might take in the future.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Population migration can have dramatic health effects (e.g., the Spanish introduction of smallpox to New World inhabitants). Health effects can also be subtle, especially given the long latency of diseases such as cancers. Separately, places in the U.S. may be ranked as persistently healthy and unhealthy places, based on a variety of health measures. As such, we investigate how socioeconomic factors and population migration relate to the relative health of these counties. Assessment of the stable population is necessary to correctly determine the “at-risk” population for either the incidence or prevalence of morbidity/mortality within a population. Further, understanding population migration flows can reveal the role that place versus the population or community play in morbidity and mortality outcomes. Using mortality as a health outcome and socioeconomic factors as controls, we test the importance of county-level population stability and in-migration. Population in-migration is negatively associated with mortality rates except in already unhealthy places, while population stability (non-movers) is positively associated with mortality rates no matter how counties are grouped. This finding supports previous research from other countries, indicating that healthy people move from unhealthy places while unhealthy people remain in unhealthy places. This is also supportive of parallel research in the migration patterns of the poor, in which migration is found to maintain and reinforce spatial concentrations of poverty. We conclude that migration and stability reinforce the health status of county populations and plan to examine in more detail the migration patterns among healthy and unhealthy places in future research.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: The two newly democratized post-Soviet giants, Russia and Ukraine, share a host of post-communist parallels. The long dominance of the CPSU in both countries denied them a legacy of open, democratic politics. Based on these parallels, one would expect their patterns of legislative behavior to mirror each other. Commonalities exist in the legislative behavior of both chambers; however, in at least one area, they are not analogous: the level of parliamentary party discipline among SMD deputies.the Ukrainian SMD deputies of the first mixed-member Rada (1998-2002) voted with the majority position of their parliamentary party at higher rates than their Russian brethren did in the first mixed-member Duma (1994-1995). In this paper, I attempt to find an answer for this conundrum by analyzing the roll-call voting behavior of SMD deputies in both legislatures. I argue that the higher level of discipline among SMD deputies in the Rada is a function of a more pronounced social cleavage found in the Ukrainian electorate. While both Russia and Ukraine feature a pro-reform/anti-reform cleavage, only Ukraine features a reinforcing regional cleavage built on ethnic and linguistic differences between eastern and western Ukraine. The presence of this reinforcing cleavage helps solidify behavior in the Rada, while Russia, lacking such cleavages, features a more fluid legislature.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Previous research on mixed income housing developments suggest limited prospects for cross class interaction. Reviewing participant observation data from a mixed income housing development in Boston, Massachusetts, this paper focuses on the occasional interaction among income groups. The infrequent interaction is nonetheless illuminating, suggesting occasions and opportunities for improved interaction and implementation. Several theoretical propositions form the foundation of the strategy of using mixed income developments as a strategy to confront urban poverty. Scholars maintain that the presence of higher-income residents provides (1) increased social capital for low-income residents, (2) informal social control leading to safer and more orderly communities for everyone, (3) direct or indirect role modeling of social norms for work and behavior, and (4) gains for the broader community through enhanced engagement of political and market forces. Looking across four categories, Joseph et. al. (2006) conclude that greater informal social control and access to higher quality services are the most compelling propositions for benefits of income mixing for low income residents, where this is much less evidence to support the other claims.

Publication Type: Proceeding