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4421. From Disease to Pandemic

Author:
Amy Lieberman
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
MANGALSEN, Nepal—Most locals walk here, journeying hours or days to reach a smattering of tea shops and convenience stores or an ammonia-washed health clinic. Outsiders access the western Nepali district of Achham either by helicopter or the single road clinging precariously to the rocky corners of the Himalayan Mountains. People in Achham have no choice but to eat the little that sprouts from their stubborn land. Here, many know HIV only as "Bombay disease," a seemingly mysterious illness that began to weaken and kill in Achham when men started migrating to India for short-term, low-wage jobs more than a decade ago.
Political Geography:
India and Nepal

4422. Bangladesh: A Labor Paradox

Author:
Edward Bearnot
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
DHAKA, Bangladesh—Color floods the main roads of this mega-city's industrial belt. Saffron scarves flutter in the hot, dusty wind, billowing against green and fuchsia salwar kameez—products of the textile mills that line these streets for miles. A sea of people shuffle along sunbaked, garbage-strewn roads wearing plastic flip-flops, the crowd thick with young faces packed 10 across and hundreds deep. Some are smiling, some are sullen, and most are women. They walk past rows of tea stalls and scrap metal hawkers, heading home to the sprawling slums that grow like the ubiquitous purple hyacinth around the factories. The crowd brings the heavy traffic to a begrudging halt.
Political Geography:
Bangladesh and Dhaka

4423. The Somali Question

Author:
Mwaura Samora
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
NAIROBI—Throngs of traders haggle and jostle for goods along busy streets, constantly interrupted by the hooting of matatus, local public transport vehicles, and the shouting of pushcart drivers, known as mkokotenis. This neighborhood is no place for the squeamish. The matatus and the mkokotenis make their way through deep, water-filled potholes, splashing thick, dark liquid onto crowded sidewalks. Like the badly damaged roads, the sewage system in Nairobi's Eastleigh district was built by British colonists in the 1920s to service a few hundred working-class Africans and Indians, but now it must bear the waste of over 100,000 residents. Today raw sewage oozes out of thousands of household pipes that have ruptured after decades of neglect. The dark green sludge mixes with runoff in the streets to form a foul porridge of human excrement.
Political Geography:
Africa, India, Somalia, and Nairobi

4424. A Cacophony of Dissonance

Author:
David A. Andelman
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
TIRANA, Albania—In the last national elections here in June, there were 66 political parties, many with names so similar that the banners stretching across streets in even the humblest of villages, identified not only the name of the party and its standard-bearer, but the party's number on the ballot. "Vote #44," the banners for the Democratic Party of incumbent Prime Minister Sali Barisha screamed in blue and white. "Vote #29," pleaded the red and white banners of the Socialist Party and its challenger, Edi Rama. But they were only the most prominently and widely displayed. A kaleidoscope of other numbers and politicos vied for attention.
Political Geography:
Albania and Tirana

4425. Unchaining Labor

Author:
David A. Andelman
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
The ability to create, sustain, and develop work in a pleasant and profitable environment is the touchstone of success for an economy, a society, and a government. Productive work has been the determinant of happiness, well-being, and satisfaction since the first human rubbed two sticks together and created fire. Now in almost every corner of the globe, stagnation and gluttony have thrown millions out of work. Workers find themselves chained to a system that leaves them unable to control their future.

4426. The Big Question: Manufacturing Jobs: What Is the Best Way to Create Jobs?

Author:
David Fine, Megan Yarema, Pedro Conceicao, Irene Mandl, Raymond Greene, and Ana Maria Oviedo
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
With jobs disappearing across the developed world and arriving too slowly to keep pace with the population growth and aspirations of the developing world, the very nature of work is being challenged as never before. We asked our panel of global experts what they see as the most effective and expeditious way of creating jobs.

4427. Jobs Crisis: Moving Forward?

Author:
Raymond Torres
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Geneva—Europe has entered an employment crisis of alarming proportions and with unpredictable social and political consequences. The figures speak for themselves. Over 27 million Europeans are unemployed—8 million more than when the global financial crisis erupted in September 2008. While the employment free fall paused during 2010-2011, it has gathered momentum ever since. Over the past six months alone, unemployment has grown by 2.5 million people. Though the trends are worse in southern European countries and parts of Eastern Europe, unemployment has resumed its upward trend even in hitherto successful European countries.
Political Geography:
Europe

4428. Map Room: Turning Over Tech Workers

Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Across Europe, the days of having a single career at a single company are over. The increased movement of labor from job to job is a major cost for both companies and countries. The price of replacing a single employee in a given country (Cost of Turnover) reflects the sum of all expenses and opportunity costs to separate and rehire an employee. It can range from 20 percent to an incredible 200 percent of that employee's annual salary. This map of science and technology workers, a reflection of their tremendous influence on economic growth, shows the Cost of Turnover as a percentage of a country's per capita GDP. A higher percentage reflects a more significant financial burden on the nation. Because of the way this ratio is expressed, countries with widely disparate economic sizes and growth rates may be comparable. Each country faces its own economic challenges, but a high Relative Cost of Turnover indicates that a nation loses more money to replace science and technology talent, which can make sustaining industry performance difficult. What this map and new data also reveal are the countries where turnover is relatively cheap, making these countries ripe for further science and technology ventures.
Political Geography:
Europe

4429. Anatomy: Labor Demographics

Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
Demographics show the way labor forces develop and place burdens on workers that dramatically affect a country's quality of life. Using population pyramids, World Policy Journal has highlighted how demographics can govern the challenges facing a country's workforce.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, and Brazil

4430. China's Left-Behind

Author:
Helen Gao
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
World Policy Journal
Institution:
World Policy Institute
Abstract:
GUANG'AN, China—Jiang Xin leaves school at 2:30 p.m. every-day. On his way home, the 8-year- old usually lingers by the rice fields with his friends for an hour or so, squatting on the edge of a dirt road, where trucks loaded with coal roar by. They play with pebbles, exchange school gossip, or punch the buttons of Jiang's video game player, which he wrapped in tape to prevent from falling apart. Their cattle stand together in a nearby field, grazing on grass stalks.
Topic:
Education
Political Geography:
China