Social Studies

The conventional thinking on the ‘gnatisisya Parampara’(hereditary succession) and Shiyanishiya Parampara (pupillary Succession) tradition in the kandyan area is that it was primarily, economically determined. But this research will inquire into the structure of political power and legitimacy, social factors- both caste and service tenor system, internal fraternity conflict and external forces that draw these parties onto conflicts paving the way for the formation of their lineage tradition. The new sectarianism was possible not only because of caste mobility in society but also because the colonial state was prepared to promote such division and competition to legal recognition.

First line response organization personnel are critical during urban search and rescue because they rescue people trapped in collapsed building structures. Having highly trained and motivated human resource is essential in these situations as they are relied to search and rescue people. The aim of this study was to determine the human resource capacity of first line response organisations during urban search and rescue in Nairobi and Mombasa City Counties that have in recent past witnessed residential and commercial buildings collapsing with many lives lost and huge losses in investment. Findings revealed that majority of responders did not have formal technical expertise in urban search and rescue

The present study is a critical criminological introductory note that tries to correlates broader socio-economical processes and the peculiarities of political and social life in modern Jordan with the law and the practice of its function. Instead of reproducing orientalist stereotypical analyses, we use honor and crime as instrumental concepts that reveal the full patriarchal structure of the given society that converses with power in a capitalistic state.

Immortality of the human soul has been, like other problems in philosophy, an unresolved and perennial problem. Over the years, solutions to this problem have proven inadequate as a result of the varieties of modes of philosophizing; philosophers? theories or views; as well as the logical tenacity of these theories. A materialist, who is logically consistent with the tenets of materialism, cannot accept the existence of any spiritual reality. Bertrand Russell denied the immortality of the soul on the basis that man, instead of being made up of substances that is body and soul, is composed of events .He believes that death brings the human event to an end. Since there is a difference between “being”, and “acting”, we can argue that the existence (being) of a soul that survives death could be logically defended. The human soul exists, though it is not explicitly graspable. It is, ontologically independent of the body. In fact the soul accounts for the boringness of the body. Though the soul and the body unite essentially in man, their union does not in any way deprive the soul of its uniqueness. Thus, at their separation, the soul retains its properties and nature viz: being, substantiality and spirituality. Thing being this way, this research is aimed at refuting the claim that the soul ceases to be when the body is gone. In other words , the human soul, being spiritual and subsistent, as well as the cause of life in the human person, is immortal. So, however convincing Russell?s argument against the doctrine of immortality of the soul may be, we must not lose sight of the truth that life is larger than logic. This study will employ the expository, hermeneutical and analytical method of philosophy.

Sri Lankan historiography relating to immigrant plantation worker community under colonialism in the 19th century has so far failed to examine the inner complexity of strategies of labour management. This historiography tends to emphasize institutional developments in the plantation sector as and overall process of modernization where the colonial state and the British planters combined to provide better social, health and sanitation facilities for the welfare of the immigrant workers. Women were looked upon as machines of reproduction that would serve the long term labour requirements of the plantations while at the same time providing cheaper female and child labour.

Ryle’s thesis on the mind arises polemically from the mind-body dualism of Rene Descartes. Ryle refers to Descartes dualism as the official doctrine because it was so prevalent amongst theorist and even laymen. Ryle introduces the term the dogma of the ghost in a machine to describe the philosophical concept of the mind as an entity separate from the body, Ryle posited that it is false not in detail but in principle, and that Descartes made a mistake of a special kind by postulating an interaction between the mind and the body in his philosophy of the mind, hence Ryle called it a category mistake. The work presents a historical, evaluative and logical behaviourist account of the human person, that is to say; you can know people based on their public behaviour and it raises critical problems concerning the deceptive nature of the displayed human behaviour. the work presents a beautifully written account of the will, emotion, self-knowledge, imagination and disposition and occurrences. The project unveils the achievement and lapses of Gilbert Ryle’s conception of the mind. It gives a philosophical insight to anyone interested in the nature of human behaviour.

As the number of elderly is rising and the social environment is changing, the percentage of the needy among them is also increasing. These factors are also leading to the need for a large number of old-age homes where the elderly may enjoy the end part of their lives in a group of their specific. The effect of the above causes may be observed in the living arrangements of old age Indians. With the evolution of the rural population, the area of arable land is lessening to meet the increased plea for housing, leading to incremental and disguised unemployment. As a result, the rural commonalities are forced to voyage to the urban areas in search of a livelihood. According to the framework of economic development developed by Arthur Lewis, the movement of labour from the “traditional sector” involving agriculture and allied areas that produce traditional outputs for all societies, to the “modern sector” (industrial area, which produces manufactured items) is placed on the centre stage. The traditional sector may be assumed to supply an unconstrained number of labourers, but the absorption of the same critically depends on the supply of capital to the modern sector. The level of savings and investment funds are the determinants of the growth of the modem sector and, hence, the generation of employment as well as the process of urbanization. This paper deals with the issues of aged people in India.

Widow inheritance is a prevalent cultural practice among some Asian and Sub Saharan African communities and has been found to affect the lives of widows. The general purpose of this study was to establish socio-economic implications of widow inheritance rituals. The objectives of the study were to: describe the rituals associated with widow inheritance, decipher the underlying cultural meaning and value of widow inheritance rituals and explore the socio-economic implications of widow inheritance rituals. The theoretical framework was anchored on Clifford Geertz theory of the interpretation of culture. This theory puts emphasis on the uniqueness of a ritual that one may not find even in a similar culture. The uniqueness derives from their loci. Descriptive research design was adopted in this study. The study population was 214 people of Kagan clan in Homabay County. Simple random sampling was used to select 48 widows, 7 Luo elders and 10 HIV intervention officers. The study sample therefore, comprised a total of 65 key informants. Interviews and questionnaires were used to collect data from the sampled respondents. The test-retest approach was used to determine the reliability of the research instruments and validity of the instruments was ascertained by presenting the questionnaires and interview guide to experts who are authorities in the study area for scrutiny and advice on the instruments. Qualitative thematic analysis was the main method adopted in analysing data. The researcher found out that despite the original good intensions of widow inheritance rituals, the current practice involving professional inheritors, an alternative as cleansing ritual, has made widows vulnerable to HIV and AIDS and the practice was degrading and humiliating the widows. The study concluded that widow inheritance has got adverse effects on widows’ socio-economic lives. Therefore the study recommended that community based education targeting the Luo elders, widow inheritors and inherited widows should be enhanced so that safer sexual practices are adopted even as widow inheritance rituals continue. In addition, widows and inheritors empowerment through education is necessary to enable them make informed choices.

The digital divide manifests the unbalanced growth between developed and developing world. This paper analyzed the existing digital divide through retrieving data in the period of 2000 - 2014 in Ethiopia. The result revealed that a huge gap in sex-disaggregated information appeared in Ethiopia. In addition, poverty, education and infrastructural development significantly affected accessibility, use and skill discrepancy in ICT between the genders. The digital divide trajectory is diminishing over time as the educational attainment and level of income increasing.

Motivation plays an integral role in any kind of learning in general and consequently language learning in particular. Demotivation,the other side of motivation (Dornyei, 2001a), is regarded as a very significant factor in language learning. As Dornyei (2001b) postulates in second language learning ,demotivation has a central role and more studiesare required to be undertaken in this regard(p. 5). However, there is a dearth of research in demotivation in both EFL and ESL contexts.They are categorized into three majorfields: Causes related to a) instructors, b) learning/teaching context, and c) learners.