American Anthropology in the Middle Decades: A View from Hollywood

North American anthropology had an earlier interest in studies of the United States and in critical approaches than is often recognized. Such interests were pursued before World War II but were set aside during the war and in anthropology's postwar expansion. This perspective on anthropological history was inspired by the work of Hortense Powdermaker, specifically the disjunction between her 1930s research in segregated Mississippi and her pioneering study of Hollywood in the late 1940s. Reexamining that study highlights the theoretical framework that led to omissions in her account of Hollywood, while her explanation of movie content invites a more diachronic approach. Parallels between the history of the movies and that of cultural anthropology from the 1930s through the 1960s suggest how both were shaped by the Depression, World War II, and the Cold War.     

美国林火管理概况及分析

受气候变化和人为活动的影响,近年来全球重特大森林火灾频发,给生态系统、大气环境和人类健康带来重大影响.美国在林火管理方面积累了大量的实践经验.全面梳理美国林火管理的框架体系,可以为我国的森林防火工作提供有力借鉴.本文从美国林火政策的历史演变入手,系统介绍了政策演变的4个阶段及各阶段的特点,从可燃物管理、行政管理权责、火灾扑救和林火管理科研支撑4个方面对美国林火管理概况进行综合分析.同时,通过总结相关文献,提出美国未来可燃物管理、政策政治和火灾扑救3方面的改进策略.最后,通过对美国林火管理的综合分析,提出对我国林火管理的几点启示性意见,旨在推动建立健全具有我国特色的林火管理体系.     

Managing Global Atmospheric Change: A U.S. Policy Perspective

There are several air pollution issues that concern the international community at the regional and global level, including acid deposition, heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants, stratospheric ozone depletion, and climate change. Governments at the regional and global levels have entered into various agreements in an effort to deal with these problems. This paper deals with two major global atmospheric change issues: stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change. The focus is on the policy responses of the United States to these global issues. The United States has signed and ratified international agreements to deal with both problems. The Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer have led to an effort in both developed and developing countries to phase out ozone depleting substances. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been signed and ratified by over 180 countries. The UNFCC contained no binding targets and timetables for emissions reductions. The Kyoto Protocol (1997) to the UNFCCC did contain targets and timetables for reductions of greenhouse gases on the part of developed countries. The United States has signed but not ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The United States has experienced some movement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the part of various levels of government as well as the private sector. The policy process is constantly informed by scientific research. In the case of stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change, much of this work is carried out under the auspices of international scientific panels. From a policy perspective, there is a great deal of interest in the use of indicators for assessing the scope and magnitude of these problems, both for fashioning policy responses as well as assessing the impact of adopted programs to reduce ozone depleting substances, and potentially, greenhouse gases. This paper will discuss some of the indicators used for stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change.     

美国生命科学两用性研究监管政策分析

目的:近年来高致病性禽流感H5N1病毒基因改造研究及美国国家生物安全科学咨询委员会的监管建议引起广泛争议,美国发布了生命科学两用性研究监管政策。本研究旨在通过对美国生命科学两用性研究监管政策进行分析,探讨两用性研究发展和监管趋势。方法:通过文献检索,获取生命科学两用性研究监管政策相关的情报源,对美国政府生命科学两用性研究监管的政策背景、主要内容、政策评论、政策动因进行系统梳理与分析。结果:美国政府出台的生命科学两用性研究监管政策,有助于美国对整个生命科学研究周期(从最初提交资助申请到研究结论和研究成果交流)潜在的误用风险进行管理。结论:美国生命科学两用性研究引发极大争议,两用性研究监管主要依靠生命科学团体的自我管理,政策具有指导性而非强制性。     

United States patent prior art rules and the neem controversy: a case of subject-matter imperialism?

A recent United States patent covering an improvement to the naturally-occurring pesticide in neem tree seed oil might have been rejected as 'obvious' if United States patent law recognized certain forms of prior inventive activity on a par with similar activity occurring within the United States' borders. But the US only recognizes prior 'knowledge, use or invention' as blocking a claim to a patent when those activities take place within US borders, or are evidenced by publications accessible in the US, or, more commonly, by foreign patents. Neither of these last forms of tangible 'prior art' is likely to be available to block patents on biodiversity inventions – most notably because of the fact that most developing nations do not allow patents on pharmaceutical or agricultural inventions, categories subsuming most biodiversity-related advances. Although the United States patent only has direct force within the United States, it is nonetheless highly significant to this global dispute, since the United States and other developed nations stand to be the major markets for the end-products of neem. This paper argues that the border-drawing distinctions in US patent law are archaic, counter to stated policy directives and are disproportionately influencing the developing world's stance towards GATT and its intellectual property rights provisions.     

美国生物医药产业竞争力分析与启示

进入生物经济时代以来,以生物医药产业为代表的生物技术产业正在引领人类新一波技术产业革命。我国针对生物医药产业作出的战略部署已经取得了明显成效,但与美国等生物医药强国相比仍有较大的竞争差距。采用波特钻石模型构建了生物医药产业国际竞争力理论分析框架,以美国为例分析其生物医药产业在要素状况、企业结构和竞争、需求条件、相关及支持性产业、政府和发展机会六个方面的竞争优势,并基于此提出了我国发展生物医药产业的政策建议,从而为我国生物医药产业发展提供政策参考。     

中国征收碳税应对碳关税的经济分析——以美国为例

碳税和碳关税作为一种价格调整机制,长期而言会对经济系统中各主体产生较强的约束力。通过GTAP-E模型的模拟分析,得出以下结论:在目前的发展阶段,碳关税并非有效的低碳经济发展政策,尤其是美国对中国征收碳关税对降低世界碳排放量的影响有限;美国针对中国采取的碳关税政策将在一定程度上对我国出口贸易产生负向影响,尤其是对中国的高碳产业影响较大;当中美采取相同的碳税政策时,碳税的征收对中国GDP造成较大的负面影响,且中国自主采取节能减排方案不足以应对美国碳关税的负面效应;而当两者采取差异化政策时,中国主动采取节能减排行动可以有效应对美国碳关税的威胁。     

United States legislation and the polar oceans

The United States has important national interests vested in both the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. Thus, in recent decades the United States has progressively codified its national commitment to conserve and manage both these marine regions and their resources and to protect them from activities that might produce adverse impacts. The U.S. legislation passed since the 1960s selectively affects both polar regions and supports major American policy objectives there: to maintain the Arctic and Antarctic as areas of international cooperation for peaceful purposes; to satisfy economic needs, especially hydrocarbon, mineral, and living resources; to protect opportunities for scientific research; to protect the marine environment; and to conserve living resources in the circumpolar seas. Future trends suggest a shift in U.S. policy attention to the Arctic. Accordingly, new U.S. legislation will be needed to regulate increased activities in the polar north.     

Comparative Analysis of Extended Producer Responsibility Policy in the United States and Canada

This article analyzes the policy choices and programmatic elements of extended producer responsibility (EPR) as implemented in the United States and Canada. The article traces the historical development of EPR in each country and defines common features of EPR in each nation. The U.S. states and the Canadian provinces have assumed the primary role, rather than the federal governments, for enacting producer responsibility requirements in their respective countries. However, the paths taken demonstrate several fundamental differences, including the prevalence of individual versus collective responsibility and the financing mechanisms implemented for EPR. Given the deepening experience with EPR and the breadth of its application to a widening array of products in the United States, the Canadian model for EPR is starting to receive more examination from policy makers in the United States, indicating that the policy and programmatic differences between the two nations may eventually be narrowing. The comparative policy analysis is illustrated through the lens of EPR regulatory efforts for waste electronics, with particular profiles of the programs in the State of Minnesota and Province of Ontario. Both approaches broadly reflect many of the policy considerations and governance and programmatic themes that dominate EPR programs in each country. Finally, the article offers recommendations for collaborative work between the United States and Canada to explore consistency between programs and other complementary strategies to support producer responsibility activities.     

Sustainability guidelines and forest market response: an assessment of European Union pellet demand in the southeastern United States

Woody biomass from the southeast United States is expected to play an important role in meeting European Union renewable energy targets. In crafting policies to guide bioenergy development and in guiding investment decisions to meet established policy goals, a firm understanding of the interaction between policy targets and forest biomass markets is necessary, as is the effect that this interaction will have on environmental and economic objectives. This analysis increases our understanding of these interactions by modeling the response of southern US forest markets to new pellet demand in the presence of sustainability sourcing or harvest criteria. We first assess the influence of EU recommended sustainability guidelines on the forest inventory available to supply EU markets, and then model changes in forest composition and extent in response to expected increases in pellet demand. Next, we assess how sustainability guidelines can influence the evolution of forest markets in the region, paying particular attention to changes in land use and forest carbon. Regardless of whether sustainability guidelines are applied, we find increased removals, an increase in forest area, and little change in forest inventory. We also find annual gains in forest carbon in most years of the analysis. The incremental effect of sustainability guideline application on forest carbon and pellet greenhouse gas (GHG) balance is difficult to discern, but results suggest that guidelines could be steering production away from sensitive forest types inherently less responsive to changing market conditions. Pellet GHG balance shows significant annual change and is attributable to the complexity of the underlying forest landscape. The manner by which GHG balance is tracked is thus a critical policy decision, reinforcing the importance and relevance of current efforts to develop approaches to accurately account for the GHG implications of biomass use both in the United States and European Union.     

What should the standard of proof be in scientific misconduct proceedings relating to public health service-funded research?

This article discusses the nature and purposes behind the three standards of proof commonly used in the United States. It summarizes the analytical constructs or standards of review courts commonly use to determine the constitutional validity of standards of proof (as well as other procedural protections) in physician disciplinary proceedings. It applies these constructs to the context of scientific misconduct and an illustrative case, and shows that sound policy and morals as well as procedural due process and equal protection provisions of the United States and some state constitutions require the use of the clear and convincing evidence standard of proof in scientific misconduct proceedings. That standard is necessary to protect scientists from misuse of scientific misconduct charges and proceedings, entailing, as they do, vast discretion in bureaucratic officials as well as staggering costs. The imminent rule making proceedings at the federal level will provide a special opportunity to right a wrong that long has been long visited upon academic scientists throughout the United States.     

United States interests in the Arctic region

Abstract

The Arctic is a vast, forbidding and relatively unknown region. It covers about 14 million square kilometers of which 5.2 square kilometers is ice covered in summer and 11.7 million square kilometers in winter. It is a highly strategic region, and is the shortest distance between the two superpowers. It also contains vast resources, including oil, gas, and coal. Over 830,000 native peoples inhabit the Arctic Rim and have a culture that goes back 4500 years. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is generally applicable to the Arctic Ocean and has a special provision for ice‐covered areas. However, there are several unresolved jurisdictional and navigational problems between the United States and other Arctic Rim States concerning the Arctic's waters, including the Chukchi Sea, the Beaufort Sea and the Northwest Passage. Although the United States has paid some attention to the Arctic region in recent years, the Arctic still remains a relatively low priority interest for national policy and operational programs.     

Stem cell politics, ethics and medical progress

Tremendous controversy has surrounded efforts to undertake research on totipotent human stem cells. To date public policy in the United States has attempted to skirt the ethical and social questions raised by this research. Annas et al. argue that research using human embryos as a source of totipotent stem cells can secure broad public support if there is an open and public discussion about the ethical justification for undertaking such research and the assurance of adequate federal regulation and oversight.     

美国先进生物燃料技术政策与态势分析

美国是生物燃料大国,更是先进生物燃料研发强国。美国制定了宏大的生物燃料发展目标,采取了有力的政策支持措施,组织实施了生物质计划,将纤维素乙醇作为目前先进生物燃料研究、开发和示范的焦点,并已着手第三代生物燃料的研发。美国政府十分重视生物燃料的规划分析和部际协调工作,在立足于基础研究和应用研究前沿的基础上,大力推进技术示范与商业化,正努力加速向先进生物燃料转变。     

重要生物恐怖病原及其医学防护对策

生物恐怖问题由来已久,但直到美国“9.11”事件后的炭疽芽孢袭击才引起人们广泛关注。生物恐怖已成为21世纪全人类的威胁,防范生物恐怖病原袭击已成为各国政府的当务之急。本文主要介绍了对生物恐怖的定义、生物恐怖病原种类和致病特征,以及医学防护对策。     

Defining women's health: a dozen messages from more than 150 ethnographies

Although the women's health research agenda has been largely defined by Western biomedicine and public health, anthropology has much to offer in terms of defining and understanding women's health from the perspective of women themselves. Through the in-depth qualitative tradition of ethnography, anthropologists have documented women's health concerns around the globe, producing a large and constantly expanding literature that is rich and provocative. This article summarizes a dozen major messages about women's health that emerge from the ethnographic literature, now consisting of more than 150 volumes. These volumes are listed in the article, and some primary examples are described as representative of anthropology's contribution to knowledge production in women's health.     

Physical Anthropology: The Search for General Processes and Principles

Physical anthropology consists of two interdependent types of study: (1) the biological history of man and (2) general biological processes in man (such as mechanisms of evolution and growth). Popular interest may focus on the former, the fascinating story of the origin of man and of specific people, but the latter affords physical anthropology potential practical value in respect to medicine, dentistry, public health, and population policy. The study of general processes is the study of human beings in particular situations, not for what we can learn about these particular populations but for the sake of generalization about mankind anywhere in comparable situations. This is, of course, the purpose of experimental science in general, but in anthropology the method is usually comparative. Long ago the study of the growth of the two sexes and of children in different countries was started on a comparative basis as was the study of the so-called secular change in adult stature. By 1911 Franz Boas had compared the changes in stature and head form of children of several different immigrant groups in the United States. There have since been comparative studies of the amount and distribution of body fat (but not yet adequate comparative measurements of the relation of tissue components to diet and to diseases). Demographic patterns, inbreeding, outbreeding, and their effects are other general problems. The Human Adaptability Project of the International Biological Program promises studies of human response to heat, cold, altitude, and other conditions on a wide international basis. If supported, these could turn physical anthropology's search in a useful direction. The functional biology of people of even out-of-the-way communities will be compared with each other. These studies can yield general statements concerning human response to types of ecological situation including such sociocultural conditions as those of hunting-gathering tribes and urban slums.     

Mass immunisation programmes: some philosophical issues

Most countries promote mass immunisation programmes. The varying policy details raise a raft of philosophical issues. I have two broad aims in this paper. First, I hope to begin to remedy a rather curious philosophical neglect of immunisation. With this in mind, I take a broad approach to the topic hoping to introduce rather than settle a range of philosophical issues. My second aim has two aspects: I argue that the states should have pro-immunisation policies, and I advance a view on the subsequent and more specific question as to which sorts of pro-immunisation policies they should prefer. I use the immunisation policies of the United States and New Zealand to frame my discussion of these substantive questions. Immunisation is effectively compulsory in the United States. New Zealand, by contrast, requires evidence not of immunisation but of immunisation status upon school enrolment: New Zealand's policy effectively makes immunisation choice compulsory. I argue that, as between the pro-immunisation policies of the United States and New Zealand, the latter should be preferred. Though the threshold question as to whether states should have pro-immunisation policies should be answered affirmatively, the move to compulsory immunisation cannot be justified.     

Reclaiming Applied Anthropology: Its Past, Present, and Future

Growing concerns about anthropology's impact in both academia and the broader social arena have led to calls for more "public" and more relevant anthropology. In this article, we expand on these exhortations, by calling for systematic joining of critical social theory with application and pragmatic engagement with contemporary problems. We argue for the repositioning of applied anthropology as a vital component of the broader discipline and suggest that it should serve as a framework for constructing a more engaged anthropology. In revisiting disciplinary history and critiques of applied anthropology, we demonstrate the central role that application has played throughout anthropology's evolution, address common misconceptions that serve as barriers to disciplinary integration, examine the role of advocacy in relation to greater engagement as well as the relationship of theory to practice, and conclude with an assessment of the diverse work that is subsumed under the inclusive rubric of "anthropology in use."