论地学的文化学研究——地学社会学研究之二

地学是一种文化,地学社会学问题也是地学文化学问题。它的研究及其为文化服务,有助于社会文化的健康发展。地球科学作为一种"文化力",它不仅对人类精神,而且对资源经济的发展有重要影响。地学社会学是为地球和人类美服务的,是关于地球之美的学科。从文化的角度看,作为文化的地学社会学之地学伦理学,对和谐社会的建设肩负重要的使命。为了真正肩负起这一使命,需要地学伦理学的转变。此外,地缘政治学也是一个有待开拓研究的领域。

社会地球观探微——关于地学社会学的若干问题

社会地球观就是从社会学的角度来观察地球,将地球看作社会的一个组成部分并且与社会联系起来加以研究。社会地球观是地学社会学的基本观点。人类对地球的研究在很早以前就开始了,但是这种研究要么是从宏观上将地球作为天体的一分子来进行的,要么从微观的角度即从构成地球的物理化学结构上来进行的。这些研究当然是必须的,但又是很不够的。因为自从地球上有了人类,地球就开始了它漫长的社会化过程,在地球与社会的互动过程中,地球不断地人化、社会化。而今地球再不仅仅是茫茫宇宙中的一个普通天体。

论地球的社会科学研究

所谓“地学社会学”,是关于地球及地球科学与社会的关系的科学,或者说,是关于地球科学和地球物质客体及其过程、它们的性质和运动规律的社会科学。地学社会学研究的主要问题,是地球和地球科学对社会发展的影响,以及社会发展对地球和地球科学的影响;地学社会学研究的主要领域,是关于地球和地学的社会角色、社会功能和社会价值,包括地球资源和地质过程(特别是地质灾害)与社会经济发展的关系等;地学社会学研究的重要使命,是建立科学的地球社会观和地学社会观,并以科学的地球社会观和地学社会观指导人类的地学实践,建设人与自然和谐发展的社会。

Urban Green Space, Uneven Development and Accessibility: A Case of Dalian′s Xigang District

This study examines the socio-spatial context of uneven development and the residential accessibility of green space in Dalian of Liaoning Province, China. The social fairness was analyzed with a community scale as the basis. We combined social scientific methods with a GIS method using a behavior accessibility model from the perspectives of fairness of urban green space allocation based on social geography, geographic information science, management science and many other related discipline theories. The results show that: 1) Most of the urban green space distribution presents an unbalanced phenomenon, and it does not match with the population distribution; 2) We found some differences in the accessibility of the population with different attributes and opportunities to use and enjoy the urban green spaces, mainly due to: the dual social and spatial attributes of the residents and the serious stratum differentiation generated were the internal causes; the residential space differentiation and the pursuit of economic and real estate development were the direct causes; and unreasonable planning, in regard to the fact that government policies did not give consideration to efficiency and fairness, was also an important factor.

Dynamics of Communal Land Degradation and Its Implications in the Arid Mountains of Pakistan:A Study of District Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkuwa

Similar to other areas of Pakistan, land resources in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa(KP) is kept under various ownership regimes for socio-economic and ecological benefits. For the last three to four decades, communal lands and resources are subjected to high rate of degradation and deterioration, which is leading to multifarious socio-economical and ecological implications. This paper intends to look into factors that are responsible for the degradation of communal land and the adaptability of the management mechanisms developed by the local inhabitants to conserve these resources. Moreover, this study also explores the sustainability of these adopted strategies in present circumstances. Data regarding socio-economic parameters of the inhabitants and their interactions with communal lands were collected through questionnaire cum interview method. As long-term climatic data for the area do not exist therefore focus group discussions were conducted to document the changing trend in rainfall regimes and temperature variations for the last about four decades. Results indicate that communal lands are highly vulnerable to degradation due to biophysical and anthropogenic factors. Local inhabitants have developed suitable measures to control the situation, however, accelerated socioeconomic transformations in the area have weakened the role of local institutions and that led to further degradation of these resources. Nevertheless, a number of locally formulated rules have been revived and implemented and it is hoped that these threatened resources would be conserved.

Sociological Features of the Casualties from the 1996 M_S7.0 Lijiang Earthquake, Yunnan Province

A statistics analysis was conducted on the basic information about fatalities from the Lijiang MS7.0 earthquake in 1996. The factors include age, gender, educational background, occupation, cause of death, death place, etc. We found that even though deaths caused by the Lijiang earthquake had some common features with those from earthquakes in other places in China, it also showed some specific features because of the multiracial and economically-underdeveloped situation of Lijiang area. The results reached in the paper can serve as a reference for studying the features of casualties caused by future strong earthquakes in Yunnan, and for the delicate and human-oriented emergency treatment.

What Fails English as the Dream Language of Rural India？

Rural masses in India view English as the language of socio-economic empowerment through education. Education could be either in English or in regional languages, but children should learn English, because it is seen as the key to the world of opportunities in higher education and employment. The governments need to politically respond to the aspirations of the common masses keeping aside both politicised language policies and theoretical linguistic inputs that encourage one＇s mother tongue as the ideal medium of instruction. Onerous responsibility lays on men, methods, and materials over which government have the least say, but the practising teachers of English and academics who help bureaucrats in framing language policies in India are solely responsible for non-realization of dreams of the masses. There is something terribly rotten in the state of English-teaching enterprise in India. This paper proposes to examine the present state of affairs in the teaching of English to rural students and to offer constructive alternatives to the existing package of men, materials, and methods.

Industrial Design Graduates in the Nigerian Labour Market： Unemployed or Unemployable

The annual turnout of faculty graduates in Nigeria is not only increasing numerically but it is ironically, unemployed and other times unemployable. This assertion is supported by researches in the social sciences and reasons adduced to the trend range from lack of qualitative and unavailability of teaching and research facilities, as well as insufficient capable human resources among others. This paper x-rayed the case of Industrial Design graduates and their post training outcome, to understand whether or not graduates of Industrial Design are gainfully employed, unemployed, or unemployable; and why？ Research design used was survey, while the instrument administered on the sample size was structured questionnaire. Two hundred and thirty-three （233） students of Industrial Design constituted the sample size. The research questions were analyzed with the aid of Table of frequency distribution, while a non-parametric test by way of Friedman＇s two-way ANOVA was used to analyze the hypotheses. The outcome of the study revealed that, though the programme of Industrial Design is evolving as craft-based, it is viable. Graduates of the programme are not unemployable in the Nigerian labour market. Finally, the paper proffers solutions and recommendations in form of ideas and deductions to enhance the aim of the study.

Relieving a Tropical Vernacular Habitat Typology as a Source for Contemporary Social Housing Designs

This work presents an analysis for the rural vernacular dwelling （Culata Yovai）, sited in the South America Guarani region, basin of Paraguay and Paraná rivers. Outdoor climate has conducted man to build along the time a habitat climatic responsive. Nowadays, studies in progress try to show how this vernacular typology can support new low-income house designs. The intent is to guarantee for new projects the socio-cultural image that people, coming from countryside to live in city outskirts, are accostumed. Also, to provide material improvements and functional adequation for a quality and healthiness. Natural ventilation is the main bioclimatic strategy during summer for thermal comfort, which influences the house characteristics. This is proven by calculation, and simulation with the CFX-ANSYS software. Thus, the analysis performed shows the real possibity to reconcile bioclimatism with the symbolic-cultural value represented by this vernacular architecture form. It is hopped that this study can be considered as a methodological contributition for new sustainable projects （materials, technics and services） of low-incoming houses in this Latin American region.

＂Trades＂ and ＂Social Membership＂ into the Context of Feudal Friulian Society during Late Middle Ages （13th Century- 1511）

It is a very hard job for historians to keep themselves neutrals in from of the events they find during their studies. It is also difficult to notice the correlations among the different times of the history without falling in anachronistic mistakes. In fact, it is well-known that a historian must be wise and rational when he finds those correlations, because every society has its own characteristics, structures, and mentality. This brief essay focuses on the social structures in a north eastern italic region, which is called Friuli, between the 12th and 16th centuries. In the above mentioned centuries, it is possible to notice an evolution from a feudal ecclesiastical principality, ruled by prince-patriarchs, ecclesiastical institutions and nobility, to a more fluid and dynamic constitution formed by new classes which rose up in times of urban and economic development. But this development struggles to delete the old system, which persisted until the end of 18th century with the arrival of Napoleon. The transition from the Patriarch＇s power to Venice＇s dominion seems to have created two main consequences： by one hand a more bureaucratic and modem structure of the State, by the other hand a consolidation of the old connections between patrons and clients, consequence of the ＂modem＂ feudal system that consolidated its roots in the Late Middle Ages centuries.

Zhang Heng’s Seismoscope(3):Disappearance & Scientific Value

The ancient idea of Heavenly Punishment confused natural phenomena with social issues,which resulted in Zhang Heng’s tragedy in his later years and seismoscope. The instrument might have been lost in the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. A series of extremely serious chaotic social events caused by war took place,such as a fire in Luoyang,forging coins by destroying copper wares,relocation of the capital,sharp population decrease,and the destruction of the Ling Observatory. Zhang’s scientific thought and successful practice had played an important role in ideological enlightenments at the primary stage of modern seismology at the end of the nineteenth century. There is a glorious course of"innovation—inheritance—re-innovation"of scientific and technical development from the inception Zhang Heng’s seismoscope to the modern seismograph invented by Milne,et al.

College folk dance and Reform of Teaching Practice

Emotional and social lives which come from life are higher than life. Due to the geographical environment, lifestyle, history of every nation and region are so different, it forms a distinctive folk dance. Folk dance, also known as folk dance, traditional dance, is different from ballet performances and other kind of dance. It is a dance which is closely related with people＇s daily life, and matches with the local music, clothing closely. You can obviously see that the regional style colors, forms are very rich. Therefore dance education has become an important part in our country.

Spatial restructuring and land consolidation of urban-rural settlement in mountainous areas based on ecological niche perspective

With the socio-economic development associated with urbanization, the urban-rural relationship has changed across the world. In China, due to the urban-rural dual structure, these changes turn out to be more complicated. Spatial restructuring are suggested as the main strategies and spatial supporting platforms for urban-rural development. However, the theory still lacks solid methodology and support from systematic empirical studies. This study seeks an adequate scientific methodology and discusses the difference of urban-rural transformation in plains and mountainous areas. A case in Shanghang County, China, demonstrates: 1) The compound ecological niche model can be a suitable approach in urban-rural restructuring, especially in mountainous areas. 2) The urban-rural development area with highly inappropriate, slightly appropriate, moderately appropriate, and highly appropriate areas are 1273.2 km2(44.69%); 906.1 km2(31.80%); 509.4 km2(17.88%); and 160.1 km2(5.62%), respectively. 3) The "deserting villages" in mountainous areas play positive synergistic roles in urbanization, in contrast to the "hollowing villages" common in plain areas. 4) The central town-village will become the most important settlement in mountainous areas. Therefore, we suggest more attention should be paid to environmental capacity in the construction of central town-villages. This study significantly extends the understanding of "hollowing village" theory and regional planning.

Progress of research on transportation geography in China

As an important branch of human geography, transportation geography has experienced three periods of evolution: foundation, systematization, and rapid development of the discipline. It has gradually become a relatively mature discipline. During the period 1930– 1980, the development of transportation geography consisted mainly of the publication of theoretical texts. During 1980–2000, it gradually became a systematic discipline. Since the start of the 21 st century, transportation geography has focused mainly on exploring the impacts of transportation on socio-economic development. Currently, studies on transportation geography have led to significant developments in a number of areas, including transportation theory, facility distribution and planning, transportation flows and network analysis, evaluation of transport modes, transportation planning, and simulation and assessment of urban transportation. Such studies have also enriched human geography research, provided a wider geographical overview and elucidated the development mechanism of transportation, as well as helped to understand the impacts of transport development on socio-economic systems. Some findings obtained by geographers have been widely used in transportation geography and related fields, including the four basic laws of transportation generation, the hub–spoke mode of transport organization, the subordinating and guiding functions of transportation on socio-economic development, regional transport dominance measures, accessibility measures, and spatial organization of port systems.