Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Property ownership in Scotland has recently undergone a major overhaul with Europe’s last feudal land ownership system at last being reformed, via three separate pieces of property legislation. The Act’s have, however, had a very limited impact on the owners of multi-owned private fatted property, which represents some 30 per cent of all Scottish home occupiers. Rather than introduce a common ownership legal model, Scot’s law has stuck solidly with individual ownership rights operating within the context of collective responsibilities. In addition, there is a revised set of common law provisions, the Law of the Tenement, which provide a codified fall back if the properties title deeds have no specific powers in certain instances. This paper critically reviews the reform process that has now concluded and argues that there has been a limited shift in the respective rights and power of the three key actors in multi-owned developments, namely the developer, property manager, and the owners. This is because throughout the reform process the interests of developers and managers took precedence over those of the residents. As with its recent feudal heritage, Scot’s property law still shows a disregard to property owners.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines the results of an empirical study of the effects of landowner attitudes on policy adoption in the Lake Tahoe Basin.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: With very little public attention, and practically no academic attention, Indian Americans have come to own over half of the nation’s motels. In fact, practically all of the owners are from a single state within India, Gujarat, and have the last name Patel. This research concentrates on how these actors run their motels as immigrant entrepreneurs. They fit a middleman minority profile to a certain extent. The findings explain their role as immigrant capitalists relative to their employees, including those within their family. Indian Americans get ahead by reifying gender, racial, ethnic and class stratifications, within and outside of their communities, rather than relying only on ethnic social capital, other “ethnic resources,” or a notion of self-reliance in the face of structural inequalities. Owners even affirm their own marginal status as minorities relative to Whites. Yet instead of a picture of only increasing inequalities, people resist these hierarchies as well. Still, such agency does not challenge ultimately their group statuses. The findings shed light on how immigrant entrepreneurs use various stratifications, in particular race relative to the majority which remains under-analyzed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Women’s disadvantages in labor market outcomes are often attributed to the preponderance of male old-boy type networks. This suggests that the presence of more women in positions of power would ameliorate gender differences in wages through providing women with the connections they need to succeed. However, there is little work evaluating these ideas, and the work that does so is unable to match individual workers to those in positions of power over them. This study considers these questions using a survey of several thousand small businesses, and examines how gender differences vary among establishments with male and female owners. We find that there are no systematic differences between men and women owners in terms of gender wage inequality.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Based on data from a one-year ethnographic project in two large veterinary hospitals in the Northeast, this paper examines the emotion work of veterinarians in the context of euthanasia situations. The typical veterinary encounter between client and professional is rather “unemotional” and routine in character, however, discussions leading up to a decision to euthanize are frequently marked by displays of intense emotions; including sadness, grief, distress, doubt, and guilt. Moreover, the presence of a pet owner during the actual euthanasia brings additional challenges from the perspective of the veterinarian especially in terms of attending to the emotional needs of bereaved owners. Thus, emotion-laden euthanasia encounters provide a rich context for the examination of the ways in which professionals handle emotionality and manage the emotions of clients in the workplace. This paper details the various instrumental as well as expressive strategies veterinarians utilize in managing owners’ guilt and grief resulting in the validation of owner’s grief as well as their decision to euthanize. Data comes from multiple, lengthy interviews with over 40 veterinarians and participant observation among novice veterinary doctors (interns) as well as more experienced veterinary professionals and educators.