College of Social and Applied Human Sciences

The largest demographic in India suffering from the adverse impacts of global climate change are small farmers. India's rural population is approximately 800 million, with the majority being households dependent on small-scale agriculture. For these smallholders, facing a common rural reality of disempowerment and limited disposable household capital, the agro-ecological results of climate volatility will have catastrophic costs. In a single growing season, even moderate climate abnormalities in temperature regime or moisture regime have shown to disrupt farm agro-ecology and diminish harvests over time. Using a precautionary principle to identify sustainable adaptation solutions, ecological farming offers the most practical and holistic traits of resilience, particularly in the areas of soil, water, and biodiversity. When acknowledging ecological agriculture as an empowering adaptation strategy for smallholders, the evident sustainability of this approach is also apparent alongside key structural dynamics limiting its adoption.

This paper attempts to identify the differences between apolitical perspectives and political ecology approaches to regional socio-environmental issues by delineating the Maoist (Naxal) insurgency in India, using the respective camps of interpretation. A Malthusian view of the issue, within the theory of Eco-Scarcity, is briefly examined. The bulk of this report will pay attention to Environmental Conflict method of describing the rural uprising within the setting of social hierarchies expressed through resource appropriation. The resource categories discussed are agricultural lands, water, forests, and mineral ores.

This case study explores non-Indigenous youths' experiences of cultural immersion in Indigenous communities in Canada. This research acknowledges and situates itself in the socio-political context of Aboriginal-settler relations, drawing upon historical and recent impediments to these relations, with an emphasis on continued colonial injustices to Indigenous communities. As such, a critical post-colonial emancipatory paradigm is adopted in understanding the theoretical framework of the contact hypothesis. In this study, two groups of youth composed of undergraduate university students participated in a series of focus groups and interviews, while keeping journals about their experiences in an Indigenous community-immersion program. Participants' experiences of immersion impacted their relationship to Indigenous community through the personal connections they formed with the host community and the heightened awareness they developed related to challenges facing Indigenous communities. Findings suggest potential areas of social intervention that could ameliorate relations and foster intercultural understanding, while also highlighting critical considerations for intercontact theory. Furthermore, it is proposed that the contact hypothesis can, ironically enough, be used to decolonize Canadian youth.
Available also from the Indigenous Studies Portal at: http://iportal.usask.ca/index.php?sid=777258713&id=60789&t=details

The current study explores the impacts of peer support programs on recently resettled refugees to Canada. This research uses qualitative data that was collected from service users as part of a broader formative evaluation of a regional mental health initiative, the Promise of Partnership. This initiative arose from a need to proactively address the resettlement issues experienced by refugees in the Region of Waterloo. The analysis focuses specifically on the impacts to refugees involved in Arabic-speaking peer support groups as understood through the theoretical framework of the ecological model. Findings from the analysis locate key benefits to participants across the interpersonal, organizational, and community levels of the model, revealing the interwoven and impactful nature of peer support amongst participants and their broader community. Given the unprecedented influx of Syrian refugees to Canada, we argue for the continued implementation of peer support groups as a source of mental wellness promotion, empowerment, and a broadened sense of community.

A retrospective insight on surviving the annual Canadian Psychological Association's Convention, in response to a call for psychology students' perspectives on their first-time participation. Featured in CPA's student resources section: http://www.cpa.ca/students/resources/articles

The global migrant crisis triggered an unprecedented number of asylum seekers in the Balkan region. In this case study, the state of migrants with disabilities—a community notoriously overlooked during global conflict—is explored through field interviews of settlement service providers in Serbia. A human rights framework is espoused in first examining contemporary refugee law discourse and the corresponding gaps in current resettlement practice of migrants with disabilities. The study’s findings illuminate the need for a drastic shift in settlement services for those migrants most vulnerable to persecution in de facto destination countries. The discussion takes aim at “humanitarian silo” funding models and argues for international cooperation and transparency in accommodating migrants with disabilities internationally.

The current study explores the impacts of peer support programs on recently resettled refugees to Canada. This research uses qualitative data that was collected from service users as part of a broader formative evaluation of a regional mental health initiative, the Promise of Partnership. This initiative arose from a need to proactively address the resettlement issues experienced by refugees in the Region of Waterloo. The analysis focusses specifically on the impacts to refugees involved in Arabic-speaking peer support groups as understood through the theoretical framework of the ecological model. Findings from the analysis locate key benefits to participants across the interpersonal, organizational, and community levels of the model, revealing the interwoven and impactful nature of peer support amongst participants and their broader community. Given the unprecedented influx of Syrian refugees to Canada, we argue for the continued implementation of peer support groups as a source of...

Disputes over legal jurisdiction in Canada predate its own Constitution. Even after the 1982 repatriation of the Constitution, First Nations governance remains entangled in a jurisdictional divide. In the spirit of Indigenous self-determination, this article argues the impracticality of First Nations regulating themselves according to federal employment standards under the Canada Labour Code 1 in preference of provincial or territorial standards. A review of jurisprudence since NIL/TU,O underscores the inconsistency of trial division and appellate courts across Canada in determining the appropriate jurisdiction for employment law issues in First Nations communities. This incoherence leaves First Nations communities in a precarious position in regulating employment. An employer's ability to consistently depend on the provincial and territorial regimes is imperative given the innumerable barriers already facing First Nations communities,

Into the 21st century, biomedical interventions are closely related to the environment(s) in which modern infectious diseases manifest. The research presented in this poster examines the overall effectiveness (and necessity) of Western biomedicine in mitigating the public health effects of infectious diseases, such as SARS, H1N1, and West Nile Virus, in the global North and South. Various social, political, and ecological factors are closely tied to the discourse of humanitarian biomedicine and global health security, where issues of social justice, equity, and inclusion are at the forefront of public health, and health-related initiatives and strategies being implemented around the globe. Biomedical interventions, and diagnostic and pharmaceutical technologies, such as quarantining of close contacts, vaccines, and public prevention and control measures, are universally recognized with reducing the short and long-term effects of communicable diseases in humans. However, in both the developed and underdeveloped worlds, having un/equal access to the healthcare system (or lack thereof) can either reduce or exacerbate the transmission of modern infectious diseases between humans in their own environment(s) and communities. In understanding the effectiveness of biomedical interventions through an anthropological (biocultural) perspective, Western biomedicine is essential to the overall health, and well-being of human populations most vulnerable to infectious diseases.