Howard Ramos

Shaping the Northern Media's Human Rights Coverage, 1986-2000

What influences the Northern medias coverage of events and abuses in explicit human rights terms? Do international NGOs have an impact, and, if so, when are they most effective? This article addresses these questions with regression analysis of human rights reporting by The Economist and Newsweek from 1986 to 2000, covering 145 countries. First, it finds that these two media sources cover abuses in human rights terms more frequently when they occur in countries with higher levels of state repression, economic development, population, and Amnesty International attention. There is also some evidence that political openness, number of battle-deaths, and civil societies affect coverage, although these effects were not robust. Second, it finds that Amnesty Internationals press releases appear to have less impact on media coverage when discussing abuses in countries that are central to the medias zone of concern. Indeed, Amnestys press advocacy may be more effective when addressing violations in lesser-noticed countries. The article attributes this to the saturation of coverage of abuses in highly mediatized countries. Cumulative attention by multiple journalists and others raises a countrys media profile but also makes it more difficult for any one voice to be heard. The authors conclude that Amnestys press advocacy may have greater media impact when focusing on abuses in countries located away from the medias core areas of concern. Overall, the authors are encouraged by the Northern medias sensitivity to actual patterns of repression and to Amnestys lobbying, since both indicate that the media is potentially a useful ally in efforts to combat abuses worldwide. Yet, the discouraging effects of poverty on the medias human rights coverage are cause for concern.

What do Sponsored Parents and Grandparents Contribute

Canada increasingly favours immigration policies based on human capital theory and economic outcomes. Consequently, while immigration is on the increase there is a downward trend in the number of “family class” entrants admitted to the country. The group most seriously affected is sponsored parents and/or grandparents who are also the most vulnerable to criticisms against family class immigration. The discussion is centered on the perceived lack of potential economic contributions of these immigrants. Such a focus, however, overlooks the feminized nature of this type of immigration and the many non-economic contributions these immigrants make. Using multinomial regression modeling of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada data, we examine economic and non-economic contributions of sponsored parent and/or grandparent immigrants and compare them to immigrants of similar age migrating under other categories of immigration. We find that sponsored parents and/or grandparents make significant economic contributions to Canadian society as well as other non-economic ones that are often overlooked. We also find that their contributions increase over time and are heavily gendered, with female sponsored parents and/or grandparents making more non-economic contributions than their male counterparts or other immigrants of similar age migrating under other categories of immigration. Le Canada favorise de plus en plus les politiques d’immigration qui sont fondées sur la théorie du capital humain et sur ses retombées économiques. Par conséquent, alors que cette immigration est à la hausse, il y a néanmoins une tendance à la baisse du nombre d’entrées obtenues à partir du «regroupement familial». Le groupe le plus sérieusement touché est celui des parents et / ou grands-parents parrainés, qui sont aussi les plus vulnérables face aux critiques contre cette catégorie. La discussion est centrée sur le manque perçu de contributions économiques potentielles qu’ils peuvent apporter. Une telle approche, cependant, néglige la nature féminisée de ce type d’immigration et leurs nombreuses prestations non monétaires. En utilisant un modèle de régression multinominale de l’Enquête longitudinale auprès des immigrants au Canada, nous examinons ces apports et nous les comparons à ceux d’autres immigrés d’un âge similaire et provenant d’autres catégories. Nous constatons que les parents et / ou grands-parents parrainés font d’importantes contributions économiques à la société canadienne, ainsi que des non-économiques qui sont souvent négligées. Nous constatons également qu’au fil du temps leurs prestations augmentent et sont fortement sexuées, les femmes en faisant plus au niveau non monétaire que leurs homologues masculins et que les immigrés d’un âge similaire venus par l’entremise d’autres catégories d’immigration.

Race, racialization and Indigeneity in Canadian universities

Abstract This article is based on data from a four-year national study of racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian universities. Its main conclusion is that whether one examines representation in terms of numbers of racialized and Indigenous faculty members and their positioning within the system, their earned income as compared to white faculty, their daily life experiences within the university as workplace, or interactions with colleagues and students, the results are more or less the same. Racialized and Indigenous faculty and the disciplines or areas of their expertise are, on the whole, low in numbers and even lower in terms of power, prestige, and influence within the University.

Environmentalists' Mediawork for Jumbo Pass and the Tobeatic Wilderness, Canada: Combining Text-Centred and Activist-Centred Approaches to News Media and Social Movements

For social movements, the mass media are a key means of reaching potential supporters, engaging public and political debate and reshaping cultural interpretations of relationships with the non-human environment. We examine how outdoor sport becomes the object of environmental movement mobilization and media claims-making in conflict over the Jumbo Pass ski resort, British Columbia, and Off-Highway Vehicle use in the Tobeatic Wilderness Area, Nova Scotia. We use provincial and national news coverage and interviews with key movement actors to examine how activists interpret the success or failure of their media work. We find that environmentalists are generally successful at translating claims on behalf of nature to a general audience through newspaper coverage. Using an activist-centred approach to media and social movements, interviews with core activists provide insight into barriers that persist and characterize environmental movement relationships with the media.

What Shapes the West's Human Rights Focus?

The severity of abuse may be be less important than a nations policy relevance to the West, the ability of journalists to investigate freely, and attention from rights activists.

Does How You Measure Representation Matter?: Assessing the Persistence of Canadian Universities' Gendered and Colour Coded Vertical Mosaic

This paper engages recent debates over equity group representation among university professors. Since at least the time of John Porter’s publication of The Vertical Mosaic, the correlation between ethnicity, education, and employment success has been shown. The most troubling of Porter’s research findings was the persistence of a stratified Canadian workforce and society. Using data from the 1991, 1996, 2001, and 2006 Canadian censuses, three questions are engaged: 1) How well are different equity groups represented among university professors? 2) Is their representation improving over time? and 3) Does looking at the pool of earned doctorates matter in the analysis of equity group representation among university professors? The paper shows that when looking at crude comparisons of the proportion of equity groups in the general population to the proportion of equity groups in the professorate, visible minorities have moved from being overrepresented to underrepresented, Aboriginal peoples are consistently underrepresented by a small amount, and women are significantly underrepresented, although the gap is narrowing over time. When additional analysis is done by looking at comparisons of the proportion of equity groups who work as university professors compared to the national average of all people working as university professors, similar conclusions are made; however, Aboriginal peoples are more severely underrepresented when making this comparison. When the proportion of equity groups with earned doctorates is examined and compared against the proportion working as university professors, we see surprising differences: women appear to be overrepresented or at parity depending on the calculation used, Aboriginal peoples are almost at parity or slightly underrepresented, and visible minorities are underrepresented irrespective of measurement or method used to assess their representation in the professoriate. Cet article traite des débats récents qui ont eu lieu sur la représentation de groupes visés par l’équité parmi les professeurs d’université. Au moins depuis l’époque de la publication de La mosaïque verticale de John Porter, la corrélation entre ethnicité, éducation et réussite profession-nelle est reconnue. Ce qui est le plus troublant dans les résultats de la recherche de Porter, c’est la persistance d’une force de travail et d’une société stratifiées au Canada. À partir de données des recensements canadiens de 1991, 1996, 2001 et 2006, trois questions sont posées : 1) À quel point les divers groupes visés par l’équité sont-ils représentés parmi les professeurs d’université? 2) Le sont-ils mieux avec le temps? et 3) dans quelle mesure le fait de consulter le bassin de titulaires d’un doctorat joue-t-il dans l’analyse de cette représentation? Dans cet article nous montrons qu’en examinant des comparaisons approximatives de la proportion des groupes visés par l’équité dans la population en général et au sein du professorat, de surreprésentées, les minorités visibles sont devenues sous-représentées, ce que les autochtones sont légèrement, mais systématiquement, et les femmes largement, bien que l’écart aille en diminuant peu à peu. Une analyse complémentaire comparant, parmi tous ceux qui travaillent comme professeurs d’université, la proportion des groupes visés par l’équité avec la moyenne nationale, on arrive à des conclusions semblables; cependant, lorsqu’on opère cette comparaison, les autochtones sont sérieusement plus sousreprésentés. Lorsqu’on examine la proportion de titulaires d’un doctorat dans les groupes visés par l’équité et qu’on les compare à ceux qui travaillent comme professeurs d’université, on découvre des différences surprenantes : les femmes semblent surreprésentées ou à parité selon la méthode de calcul utilisée. Les autochtones, eux, sont presqu’à parité ou légèrement sous-représentés, une sous-représentation que subissent les minorités visibles, quelle que soit la méthode ou la mesure utilisée pour évaluer la représentation en question dans le professorat.

Regulating marginality: how the media characterises a maligned housing option

ABSTRACT Communities often stigmatise forms of housing targeting low-income tenants. This paper examines how media sources characterise one such form: rooming houses that provide multiple, low-cost, single-room accommodations in structures with shared bathrooms and/or kitchens. By analysing newspaper and online media coverage in Halifax, Canada, we illustrate the way the media describe the rooming house as a risky structure and its occupants as dangerous and marginalised persons requiring surveillance and regulation. Media coverage can play an important role in creating the social context within which local government fashions planning and housing policy interventions to control the size, location, and operation of unpopular housing options. In cities where market pressures drive gentrification, negative media coverage can contribute to the on-going loss of such affordable housing opportunities.

Political Sociology Is Dead. Long Live Political Sociology

POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY IS DEAD. The old kind, anyway. What counted as political sociology in the past just is not practiced anymore. Generalizing wildly, political sociology used to be the study of how voters, classes, movements, parties, and so on influenced the state—be it political leaders, policy, administration, and so forth. In Canada, this kind of political sociology was represented by both political economists—such as Wallace Clement, John Porter, Gordon Laxer, or William K. Carroll—and scholars measuring and assessing broad trends using survey data—for instance, Douglas Baer, Edward Grabb, or James Curtis. Today, no one analyzes the state-society relationship by treating “the state” and “society” monolithically. Now, each encompasses unlimited instances of “politics” that impact on the other in just as many ways. This is certainly the message communicated by the contributors to this committing sociology section of the Canadian Review of Sociology. Included are Douglas Baer and William K. Carroll, who have produced some of the most highly cited and award-winning works in Canadian political sociology. Both draw attention to the decline in the use of old methods and perspectives by political sociologists. Baer (2016) does this by tracking