title: The economic impact of climate change on wheat and maize yields in the North China Plain.

authors: Song, Chunxiao

subjects: climate change

abstract: Climate change has significantly affected agricultural production. As one of China's most important agricultural production regions, the North China Plain (NCP) is subject to climate change. This paper examines the influence of climate change on the wheat and maize yields at household and village levels, using the multilevel model based on a large panel survey dataset in the NCP. The results show that: (i) Extreme weather events (drought and flood) would significantly reduce the wheat and maize yields. So, the governments should establish and improve the emergency service system of disaster warning and encourage farmers to mitigate the adverse effects of disasters. (ii) Over the past three decades, the NCP has experienced climate change that affects its grain production. Therefore, it is imperative to build the farmers' adaptive capacity to climate change. (iii) Spatial variations in crop yield are significantly influenced by the household characteristics and the heterogeneity of village economic conditions. Therefore, in addition to promoting household production, it is necessary to strengthen and promote China's development of the rural collective economy, especially the construction of rural irrigation and drainage infrastructures.

text: The economic impact of climate change on wheat and maize yields in the North China Plain. Climate change has significantly affected agricultural production. As one of China's most important agricultural production regions, the North China Plain (NCP) is subject to climate change. This paper examines the influence of climate change on the wheat and maize yields at household and village levels, using the multilevel model based on a large panel survey dataset in the NCP. The results show that: (i) Extreme weather events (drought and flood) would significantly reduce the wheat and maize yields. So, the governments should establish and improve the emergency service system of disaster warning and encourage farmers to mitigate the adverse effects of disasters. (ii) Over the past three decades, the NCP has experienced climate change that affects its grain production. Therefore, it is imperative to build the farmers' adaptive capacity to climate change. (iii) Spatial variations in crop yield are significantly influenced by the household characteristics and the heterogeneity of village economic conditions. Therefore, in addition to promoting household production, it is necessary to strengthen and promote China's development of the rural collective economy, especially the construction of rural irrigation and drainage infrastructures.

year: 2022-05-07

title: Young mothers speak out: Young Pākehā women's experiences of motherhood.

authors: Banks, Hannah

subjects: Young mothers

abstract: Early motherhood is a much debated and highly contentious topic. This research aimed to explore young Pākehā women's experiences of motherhood using a feminist qualitative framework. Twelve women, six current young mothers and six former young mothers, were interviewed via focus groups and individual interviews. The analysis revealed that Pākehā culture constructs young mothers as problematic because they challenge the 'traditional' family dominant in Pākehā culture. By having children prior to, rather than after, workforce participation and achieving economic independence, young mothers challenge the prescribed life trajectory for Pākehā women. The women in this study discussed both the positive aspects and the challenges they faced as young mothers. In contrast to common public perceptions and media representations of early motherhood as negative, motherhood positively transformed the women's lives. This was discussed in terms of ceasing destructive activities and gaining motivation to return to education. The young mothers in this study had flexible parenting styles, which allowed them freedom from Pākehā cultural pressure to 'do motherhood' in a particular way. As young mothers, the women had high energy levels and anticipated early future freedom from childcare duties to pursue their dreams. Challenges discussed by the women included incorporating unanticipated early motherhood into long-held life goals, feeling exhausted, having a lack of time for themselves and having too little support. Financial hardship, poverty, judgment and stigma surfaced as major challenges which affected all areas of the women's lives. However, the women also resisted this discrimination by using a range of strategies, which positions them as women with agency, challenging their representation within literature as passive victims. Young women will not use services where they perceive they will be judged for being who they are. As levels of support appear to determine how young women experience motherhood, services have a vital role to play in supporting young mothers. The findings of this study highlighted the complex and contradictory nature of the young mothers' stories, presenting a challenge to simple and stereotypical negative discourses of early motherhood.

text: Young mothers speak out: Young Pākehā women's experiences of motherhood. Early motherhood is a much debated and highly contentious topic. This research aimed to explore young Pākehā women's experiences of motherhood using a feminist qualitative framework. Twelve women, six current young mothers and six former young mothers, were interviewed via focus groups and individual interviews. The analysis revealed that Pākehā culture constructs young mothers as problematic because they challenge the 'traditional' family dominant in Pākehā culture. By having children prior to, rather than after, workforce participation and achieving economic independence, young mothers challenge the prescribed life trajectory for Pākehā women. The women in this study discussed both the positive aspects and the challenges they faced as young mothers. In contrast to common public perceptions and media representations of early motherhood as negative, motherhood positively transformed the women's lives. This was discussed in terms of ceasing destructive activities and gaining motivation to return to education. The young mothers in this study had flexible parenting styles, which allowed them freedom from Pākehā cultural pressure to 'do motherhood' in a particular way. As young mothers, the women had high energy levels and anticipated early future freedom from childcare duties to pursue their dreams. Challenges discussed by the women included incorporating unanticipated early motherhood into long-held life goals, feeling exhausted, having a lack of time for themselves and having too little support. Financial hardship, poverty, judgment and stigma surfaced as major challenges which affected all areas of the women's lives. However, the women also resisted this discrimination by using a range of strategies, which positions them as women with agency, challenging their representation within literature as passive victims. Young women will not use services where they perceive they will be judged for being who they are. As levels of support appear to determine how young women experience motherhood, services have a vital role to play in supporting young mothers. The findings of this study highlighted the complex and contradictory nature of the young mothers' stories, presenting a challenge to simple and stereotypical negative discourses of early motherhood.

year: 2008

title: Rangatahi and complex entanglements of sexuality, sexuality education and secondary school: A material-discursive exploration

authors: Chalmers, Jade

subjects: Rangatahi,sexuality,sexuality education,New materialisms,feminist poststructuralist,matter,discourse,ethico-onto-epistemology,secondary school,colonisation,diffraction,posthuman,postqualitative,entanglements,becoming,indigenous theorising

abstract: This research is an exploration with rangatahi (young Māori), of complex materially-discursive webs of sexuality education, sexuality, and secondary school education in Aotearoa. These research areas have commonly produced unfavourable outcomes, which include disparity statistics and other findings that position Māori as ‘cultural’ or ‘in need’ (Cooper, 2012; Green, 2011; Le Grice, 2014). To produce something different, in this work I engaged with concepts from the theoretical fields of Māori Indigenous Theories, Feminist Poststructuralisms, and New Feminist Materialisms to develop a framework for exploration.  Nine rangatahi participated in small hui (meetings) and individual interviews, focused on the areas of sexuality education, other sexuality topics, and experiences of secondary schooling. Transcripts from these meetings became part of the ‘data’. The approach to the analysis, termed Moving Through Entanglements, was informed by the whakaaro method (Mika & Southey, 2018) and diffractive approaches (Barad, 2007; Davies, 2014a, 2014b). The analysis explored a number of entanglements, using transcripts, theories, concepts, matter, experiences, colonisation, sensations, utterances and beyond (Davies, 2014c; Jackson & Mazzei, 2011). I did not attempt to produce ‘evidence’ or propose findings or truths about the ‘situation’ for rangatahi; instead I considered these well-worn research areas in different ways, honing in on ‘hot spots’ in entanglements (Taylor, 2013).
At the heart of this research are the lives of rangatahi. This research listened to and privileged their experiences in the materially-discursive webs of sexuality education, sexuality and secondary education, with the aim of contributing to further positive transformation in these areas (Allen, 2015b). The analysis suggested that confronting ‘gaps’ in what rangatahi learn in sexuality education and what they experience beyond the classroom remained. The contrast between the mundane topics or the “same old shit” (in the words of one participant) taught in sexuality education, which rangatahi recalled, and the complexities of two important and complex hot spots (Tayor, 2013) – ‘tap and gap’ and ‘relationship goals’ – demonstrated this gap. A need remains for sexuality education to be more connected with young people’s lives (Allen, 2001, 2005a, 2005b; Young, 2002). Other issues that became important included hickeys, hair and skin, the school stage, big bodies and health, boys’ breasts, and clothing. A material-discursive exploration of these topics was central to the analysis; this research has demonstrated their under-acknowledged importance in the daily existence of rangatahi, which should continue to be explored. Colonisation remained a lingering presence (Le Grice, 2018), and instances rangatahi shared highlighted not only this, but also their critical awareness of its functioning.
An innovative approach is the posthuman methodology experimented with in this research. As outlined above, this research was guided by a theoretical framework built with ideas borrowed from three philosophical fields. I applied a method of analysis that attempted to move beyond normative modes of qualitative analysis, unsettling dominant anthropocentric ways of doing research.  Taking this position, among other things, meant that the entanglements I worked through were materially-discursive. Thus, this research posits that non-human or more-than-human participants are active in the daily becomings of rangatahi, and their influence in shaping daily experiences for rangatahi and should not be overlooked in future research (Bennett, 2010). The ethical crises of the present mean that an ethical imperative to do things differently in every facet of our existence is needed now more than ever (St. Pierre, Mazzei & Jackson, 2016). Perhaps a change in the way research is conducted is one key approach to a fruitful and sustainable future for humans and non-humans alike.

text: Rangatahi and complex entanglements of sexuality, sexuality education and secondary school: A material-discursive exploration This research is an exploration with rangatahi (young Māori), of complex materially-discursive webs of sexuality education, sexuality, and secondary school education in Aotearoa. These research areas have commonly produced unfavourable outcomes, which include disparity statistics and other findings that position Māori as ‘cultural’ or ‘in need’ (Cooper, 2012; Green, 2011; Le Grice, 2014). To produce something different, in this work I engaged with concepts from the theoretical fields of Māori Indigenous Theories, Feminist Poststructuralisms, and New Feminist Materialisms to develop a framework for exploration.  Nine rangatahi participated in small hui (meetings) and individual interviews, focused on the areas of sexuality education, other sexuality topics, and experiences of secondary schooling. Transcripts from these meetings became part of the ‘data’. The approach to the analysis, termed Moving Through Entanglements, was informed by the whakaaro method (Mika & Southey, 2018) and diffractive approaches (Barad, 2007; Davies, 2014a, 2014b). The analysis explored a number of entanglements, using transcripts, theories, concepts, matter, experiences, colonisation, sensations, utterances and beyond (Davies, 2014c; Jackson & Mazzei, 2011). I did not attempt to produce ‘evidence’ or propose findings or truths about the ‘situation’ for rangatahi; instead I considered these well-worn research areas in different ways, honing in on ‘hot spots’ in entanglements (Taylor, 2013).
At the heart of this research are the lives of rangatahi. This research listened to and privileged their experiences in the materially-discursive webs of sexuality education, sexuality and secondary education, with the aim of contributing to further positive transformation in these areas (Allen, 2015b). The analysis suggested that confronting ‘gaps’ in what rangatahi learn in sexuality education and what they experience beyond the classroom remained. The contrast between the mundane topics or the “same old shit” (in the words of one participant) taught in sexuality education, which rangatahi recalled, and the complexities of two important and complex hot spots (Tayor, 2013) – ‘tap and gap’ and ‘relationship goals’ – demonstrated this gap. A need remains for sexuality education to be more connected with young people’s lives (Allen, 2001, 2005a, 2005b; Young, 2002). Other issues that became important included hickeys, hair and skin, the school stage, big bodies and health, boys’ breasts, and clothing. A material-discursive exploration of these topics was central to the analysis; this research has demonstrated their under-acknowledged importance in the daily existence of rangatahi, which should continue to be explored. Colonisation remained a lingering presence (Le Grice, 2018), and instances rangatahi shared highlighted not only this, but also their critical awareness of its functioning.
An innovative approach is the posthuman methodology experimented with in this research. As outlined above, this research was guided by a theoretical framework built with ideas borrowed from three philosophical fields. I applied a method of analysis that attempted to move beyond normative modes of qualitative analysis, unsettling dominant anthropocentric ways of doing research.  Taking this position, among other things, meant that the entanglements I worked through were materially-discursive. Thus, this research posits that non-human or more-than-human participants are active in the daily becomings of rangatahi, and their influence in shaping daily experiences for rangatahi and should not be overlooked in future research (Bennett, 2010). The ethical crises of the present mean that an ethical imperative to do things differently in every facet of our existence is needed now more than ever (St. Pierre, Mazzei & Jackson, 2016). Perhaps a change in the way research is conducted is one key approach to a fruitful and sustainable future for humans and non-humans alike.

year: 2019