Elephanta Island: World Heritage, Cultural Conservation and Options for Nature Conservation
Elephanta Island lies within a large natural harbour 7 km east of Mumbai, India, and is the site of several cave temples devoted to the Hindu deity Siva dated 4th to 9th century AD. The number, scale and quality of the bas-reliefs and sculptures within the temples, together with their uniqueness and setting, secured inscription as a World Heritage (Cultural) Site in 1987. Otherwise, the silvan nature of the island contrasts vividly with the densely populated city nearby that is largely bereft of urban greenspace. Could conservation measures for the cave temples have incidental benefit for the natural environments of the island, providing an economical means of securing a natural conservation area for Mumbai inhabitants? Exploring this apparently simple question revealed a complex situation necessitating consideration of issues well beyond the techniques of either cultural or nature conservation.
The global conservation status of mangroves
Despite considerable focus on mangroves in the scientific literature, an apparent universal appreciation for their biological and economic values, and the enactment of protective legislation, these tropical coastal forests continue to disappear globally, as a direct result of human activity. We report and rank current, primary conservation issues threatening mangrove forests at 38 sites in 16 nations and island states, based on discussions with local professional land managers, university scientists, villagers and village leaders, and regional government officials. While adequate relevant data to inform conservation efforts already exist in the scientific literature, this information must be disseminated more widely in a form that local nonscientists can use. Stand-structure data, analyses of rates and causes of deforestation, techniques for reforestation, and socioeconomic evaluations of benefits and costs to local communities of mangrove conservation must be developed and shared. Communication among biologists and lay people within and among regions should be enhanced, collaborations among social scientists and biologists must be fostered, and government support for conservation and restoration must be strengthened if mangrove ecosystems are to be sustained.
Comparative Industrial Sociology and the Convergence Hypothesis
Industrial sociology grew spectacularly after World War II, concentrating on three areas: workers' relations with each other, their managers, and their unions; the social organization of the factory; and the impact of technology on social systems extending from the factory to the society. Unable to sus­ tain leadership in all of these areas, industrial sociology shrivelled as other fields invaded its domains. Human relations became the ideological property of the business schools; labor economics maintained its grip on industrial relations; industry-community relations waned as interest in community power soared; industrial organizations were absorbed into the study of com­ plex organizations; occupational sociology maintained research impetus in labor force analysis; and the sociology of the economy dominated the study of industry's institutional relationships. Industrial sociology survived on remnants: worker-machine relationships (job satisfaction, alienation, un­ employment), organizational responses to technological changes. and a bit of working-class ethnology. Enduring interest in technology, however, en­ abled industrial sociology to take part in sociology's expanding interest in comparative studies.