The Arabian Gulf region has witnessed tremendous social, political and economic change in recent decades. The State of Qatar's ambitious global visions mean that it is a significant player in both creating and riding these transformational waves. Yet with a minority citizen population of only ~12%, protecting the language, culture and values of the nation in the midst of rapid development and modernization presents unique challenges that most governments do not have to grapple with. This has led to strategic and legal stances and policies as well initiatives by governmental and non-governmental organizations to maintain and develop national identity and Qatari culture. Through a systematic literature review, this paper synthesizes available evidence regarding national identity for Qatari citizens. It explores dominant themes that emerged in the literature related to identity in Qatar, namely: architecture, education and language policy, gender, media and social media, museums, politics and governance, and sports. Each are synthesized, from which we offer reflections on what is (not) known regarding national identity, identifying a number of areas in need of research related to better understanding the complexity and diversity within the citizen population.
]]>Centre-periphery relations have constituted a paradox for the English National Health Service (NHS) since its creation in 1948. Is it a top-down national service organised locally, or a bottom-up arrangement of local health systems managed nationally? North West England provides a regional case study which traces the changing organisational, relational and spatial dimensions of the intermediate tier. These reposition centre-periphery tensions. In foregrounding, situating and conceptualising region in these terms, I offer new insight into existing narratives and centre-periphery relations in the NHS.
]]>This paper explores how seven organisations from the children's social care sector in England adapted their service during the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions to better meet the needs of young people experiencing extra-familial risks and harms. Particularly, it focuses on these organisations' experience of attempting to transform services in a unique crisis context and considers what insights this situated study offers into the processes of innovation and practice improvement in the sector. Twelve respondents from these seven organisations participated in semi-structured interviews, which were analysed both narratively and thematically. Six of these participants were interviewed longitudinally over 6 months, enabling consideration of barriers encountered within their innovation journeys and the factors and conditions that facilitated the process. From these, three longitudinal narrative accounts were selected, highlighting themes emblematic of the overall dataset. The findings indicate that, unencumbered by the usual constraints of bureaucracy, organisations could adapt service provision with unprecedented speed, to respond in more youth-centred and welfare-oriented ways to young people's needs. Rapid cycles of iterative development in response to young people's feedback suggested a surprising potential for agility and responsivity in the children's services sector, raising questions about whether and how this might be mobilised outside of crisis conditions.
]]>This study estimated the (1) levels of alcohol use, drinking motives, ego-resiliency, and social support; (2) effect of drinking motives on alcohol use; and (3) moderating effects of ego-resiliency and social support. An online survey was conducted among undergraduate college students from a university in Hawaiʻi (n = 172). This study estimated moderating effects of ego-resiliency and social support between drinking motives and alcohol use using SPSS 26.0 and PROCESS macro version 4.0. Four independent moderation analyses were performed for each drinking motive (social, coping, conformity, and enhancement). About one-fourth of the sample had drinking problems (AUDIT score ≥ 8). The highest drinking motive was social, followed by enhancement, coping, and conformity motives. Ego-resiliency significantly moderated the relationship between coping and enhancement motives with alcohol use. Social support did not have a significant moderating effect between drinking motives and alcohol use. The findings suggest that undergraduate college students who drink with coping and enhancement motives may have a reduced risk of drinking problems if they have a high level of ego-resiliency. Future research and practice need to account for drinking motives and ego-resiliency when working with college students to prevent and intervene in excessive alcohol use.
]]>Alfred the Great, the ninth-century King of Wessex, has been a popular subject of media representations, including scenes focused on his childhood. These representations, from paintings to contemporary Netflix series and fanfiction, have created an imagined past for Alfred that has contributed to his legendary status. This article seeks to explore the media representations of Alfred as a child, and the stories, themes, and messages conveyed in different mediums, with a special focus on 21st century online fan cultures.
]]>Using data for the United States, we explore how interactions with immigrants during school age affect imagination during adulthood for native children. The analysis uses The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health survey and focuses on the impact of differences in the number of immigrants across cohorts within schools. Results suggest that exposure to immigrant classmates has positive effects on the long-term imagination of natives. Increasing the number of immigrants in the grade by 20 students, would increase the likelihood of reporting a high level of imagination during adulthood by three percentage points. We suggest that the effect is not coming via direct friendship with immigrant students, but through increasing exposure to diverse ideas and experiences.
]]>Patients are commonly accompanied to visit clinicians in Chinese outpatient clinics. Although there has been extensive research on the roles of companions in asymmetric interactions within medical settings, there is a paucity of conversation analytic studies that examine the active participation and contributions of companions on an equal footing in medical consultations. How companions on an equal footing participate and contribute in Chinese outpatient clinical consultations remains under-explored. By employing video recordings of three-party consultations in the Chinese orthopaedic outpatient clinic as the data and adopting conversation analysis as the method, this study investigated how companions participated in and contributed to the information-gathering activity and how their contributions were interactionally negotiated and managed by clinicians and adult patients over sequences of interaction. We showed that companions negotiated epistemic rights in reporting and repairing the information about medical problems in the patients’ epistemic domain and displayed different levels of encroachment on patients’ epistemic rights by endorsing patients’ responses, repairing the information in patients’ responses, and offering information directly to clinicians. Companions also exerted deontic authority and shaped the trajectory of the consultations by hindering or facilitating the progressivity of the interaction. We argued that companions’ contributions to the information-gathering activity might reflect the family-centred model of the doctor–patient relationship in the Chinese orthopaedic outpatient clinic. Clinicians are suggested to open up opportunities for companions’ participation and contributions while respecting patients’ rights, especially when there is a collision of knowledge claims between patients and their companions.
]]>Based on fieldwork carried out at the Early Drug Development Service of a world-leading cancer institution, our study sheds lights on decision-making processes at the stage where decisions are made about which clinical trial to pursue and thus which experimental drugs will feed the growing pipeline of molecularly guided therapies and therapeutic strategies available to treating physicians. The paper shows how such collective decision-making practices by a translational research unit employ formal tools and ad hoc valuation strategies that interweave technical-scientific matters of concern with patient-oriented clinical ones, as part of the institutional assetization of biomedical knowledge production. In the process, decision-making practices in part define the conditions of possibility for the provision of care in what is increasingly becoming a ‘clinic of variants.’ They do so by reconfiguring on an evolving basis the socio-material ecosystem through which precision oncology is enacted as a rapidly evolving assemblage of patients, physicians, research and support staff, protocols, molecular markers, drugs and administrative components.
]]>Although new hepatitis C treatments are a vast improvement on older, interferon-based regimens, there are those who have not taken up treatment, as well as those who have begun but not completed treatment. In this article, we analyse 50 interviews conducted for an Australian research project on treatment uptake. We draw on Berlant’s (2007, Critical Inquiry, 33) work on ‘slow death’ to analyse so-called ‘non-compliant’ cases, that is, those who begin but do not complete treatment or who do not take antiviral treatment as directed. Approached from a biomedical perspective, such activity does not align with the neoliberal values of progress, self-improvement and rational accumulation that pervade health discourses. However, we argue that it is more illuminating to understand them as cases in which sovereignty and agency are neither simplistically individualised nor denied, and where ‘modes of incoherence, distractedness, and habituation’ are understood to co-exist alongside ‘deliberate and deliberative activity […] in the reproduction of predictable life’ (Berlant, 2007, p. 754). The analysed accounts highlight multiple direct and indirect forces of attrition and powerfully demonstrate the socially produced character of agency, a capacity that takes shape through the constraining and exhausting dynamics of life in conditions of significant disadvantage.
]]>Between 2017 and 2020, the UN Special Rapporteur (SR) Dainius Puras published three reports that called for significant changes to organisation, funding and service provision in mental health care in ways that emphasise inclusive, rights-oriented, democratic and sustainable community health services. This article aims to examine formal organisational responses to the UN mental health reports and consider the underlying arguments that either support or delegitimise the SR stance on the need for a paradigmatic shift towards a human rights-based approach to mental health. By combining several different search strategies to identify organisational responses across the web, a total of 13 organisational responses were included in the analysis. Given the political nature of the responses, concepts from discourse theory were used to analyse the responses. The analysis showed how the responses articulated two binary positions and contesting articulations of good mental health care, which formed a backdrop for rejecting the SR reports in defence of psychiatry. The discussion elucidates how the responses tend to resemble previous ways in which critique has been dealt with mainly by ‘biological psychiatry’, but that the counter-critical nature of the medical and psychiatric organisational responses remains in contrast to the broader reception within the UN community.
]]>During COVID-19 lockdowns in England, ‘key workers’ including factory workers, carers and cleaners had to continue to travel to workplaces. Those in key worker jobs were often from more marginalised communities, including migrant workers in precarious employment. Recognising space as materially and socially produced, this qualitative study explores migrant workers’ experiences of navigating COVID-19 risks at work and its impacts on their home spaces. Migrant workers in precarious employment often described workplace COVID-19 protection measures as inadequate. They experienced work space COVID-19 risks as extending far beyond physical work boundaries. They developed their own protection measures to try to avoid infection and to keep the virus away from family members. Their protection measures included disinfecting uniforms, restricting leisure activities and physically separating themselves from their families. Inadequate workplace COVID-19 protection measures limited workers' ability to reduce risks. In future outbreaks, support for workers in precarious jobs should include free testing, paid sick leave and accommodation to allow for self-isolation to help reduce risks to workers’ families. Work environments should not be viewed as discrete risk spaces when planning response measures; responses and risk reduction approaches must also take into account impacts on workers’ lives beyond the workplace.
]]>As opioid fatalities rise in North America, the need to improve the supports available to those who are dependent on opioids and pregnant has become more urgent. This paper discusses the social organisation of drug treatment supports for those who are pregnant, using Canadian clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) as a case study. Pregnant patients are a priority population for MMT, both in Canada and internationally; the regulatory bodies that oversee MMT in Canada are the provincial Colleges of Physician and Surgeons and Health Canada. The paper analyses MMT CPGs published by these agencies, comparing their general recommendations to those specific to pregnant patients. We demonstrate that the guidelines address few treatment considerations for pregnant patients, other than improved birth outcomes and child welfare, despite acknowledging their more complex needs. Drawing on social science studies of gender and drugs, we argue that MMT CPGs therefore perpetuate the intensified surveillance and foetal prioritisation that have long generated barriers to care for opiate-dependent pregnant patients. We also discuss how and why the CPGs ultimately only reinforced these current limitations in the drug treatment sector.
]]>In this article, we take forward sociological ways of knowing care-in-practice, in particular work in critical care. To do so, we analyse the experiences of staff working in critical care during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. This moment of exception throws into sharp relief the ways in which work and place were reconfigured during conditions of pandemic surge, and shows how critical care depends at all times on the co-constitution of place, practices and relations. Our analysis draws on sociological and anthropological work on the material culture of health care and its sensory instantiations. Pursuing this through a study of the experiences of 40 staff across four intensive care units (ICUs) in 2020, we provide an empirical and theoretical elaboration of how place, body work and care are mutually co-constitutive. We argue that the ICU does not exist independently of the constant embodied work of care and place-making which iteratively constitute critical care as a total system of relations.
]]>Video technology enabled professionals and patients to conduct consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person health care was minimised to reduce the spread of the virus. We present findings of a study of video-consulting through in-depth qualitative remote interviews with 40 health professionals, managers, support staff and 10 patients in health-care services across the UK from 2020 to 2021. Drawing on Foucault’s concept of the clinical gaze, Merleau-Ponty’s work on the phenomenology of perception and Ihde’s postphenomenology we interpreted the ways in which remote consultations shaped patient–professional interactions, mediating and framing what was seen, revealed and known. We found that participating in video consultations not only involved creative adaption and adjustment to a virtual clinic but also changed how professionals and patients saw and were seen. We argue that this mode of consulting can transform boundaries and perceptions, alter aspects of clinical presence, knowledge and embodiment and thus both change and incorporate the clinical gaze.
]]>Obstetric fistula is a life transforming event resulting in embodied biographical disruption. Survivors suffer myriad long-term physical and emotional consequences. This paper is an account of a narrative inquiry, conducted with 15 fistula survivors in North-central, Nigeria, who described how their identities had been transformed by their condition. A narrative therapeutic approach, using Frank’s ‘chaos, restitution and quest’ typology, was used to map their recovery narratives. ‘Chaos’, described by Frank as the opposite of restitution, dominated, with women losing hope of recovery. Women’s shift towards ‘restitution’ began with treatment, but inadequate health-care access often delayed this process. In their quest narratives, women’s life and identify changes enabled them to derive meaning from their experience of obstetric fistula within the context of their own lives. The findings highlight socio-structural factors raising the risk of obstetric fistula, which in turn causes biographical disruption and hampers sufferers’ treatment and recovery. Rehabilitation should include income-generating skills to bring succour to survivors, particularly those whose incontinence persists after repairs.
]]>This study uses 26 in-depth interviews conducted with people who use drugs (PWUD) who had sought care for chronic non-cancer pain in public health facilities in Nigeria, to explore how drug consumption stigma constitutes patient legitimacy based on neoliberal ideals. It found drug consumption stigma to be salient and pervasive in PWUD health-care encounters, operating through interpersonal interactions and institutionalised policies and practices to shape access to care. Crucially, stigma emerged through disciplinary opioid prescribing and dispensing practices that defined, categorised and marginalised PWUD based on how their drug consumption disrupted normative values of rationality and responsibility. Accounts additionally revealed disengagement from biomedical care and reliance on alternative pain management approaches (e.g. herbal remedies and illegal drugs), which show how structural positions shape the exercise of choice and agency in socially marginalised populations. In conclusion, the study considers the need to improve the health-care experiences of PWUD as a strategy for enhancing health-care engagement and improving health outcomes. It called for interventions to address the structural factors and interactional dynamics that influence stigma in health-care settings as well as for a review of current guidelines and practices to improve access to opioids for chronic non-cancer pain management.
]]>Much research has shown that implementation behavior of frontline workers and the outcomes of public policies depend on encounters between frontline workers and citizens. However, relatively little is known about the agency of citizens in these encounters. This paper focuses on administrative burdens and psychological responses to stress as possible determinants of citizens' encounter behavior—defined as “behavioral efforts citizens employ during and in preparing for interaction with public authorities in order to master the demands of the public encounter.” Combining a framework categorizing citizens' state-encounter behavior and theory about administrative burdens, we ask whether citizens' behavior reflects their perceptions of administrative burdens, and whether learning, psychological and compliance burdens prompt different encounter behaviors? We use data from surveys among a representative sample of 1460 Danish citizens regarding encounters with tax and home care authorities. We find that perceived administrative burdens affect citizens' behavior, but contrary to expectations, we do not find that burdens discourage citizens from engaging with authorities. Higher perceived burdens tend to prompt activist behavior. Moreover, different types of burdens affect behaviors differently.
]]>The aim of the study was to investigate foster parents' displays and narratives about family life as foster parents of toddlers and preschool children and how these influence the welfare and sense of family belonging for younger children in foster care. Based on qualitative interviews with 16 foster parents in 10 foster families of looked-after children aged 1–6, narratives about the children, their needs and roles in the foster family were analysed. Various kinds of narratives of the child and foster family were identified, where the child's differentness and the normative ideas of the foster family often were negotiated in ways that blurred the understanding of the children's needs. Various boundary issues affecting the foster family were also visualized. The results suggested that addressing issues of family boundary ambiguity as a difficult feature of foster care would be beneficial. Not only would this provide opportunities to strengthen the internal life and resilience of the foster family, but it would also help visualize the looked-after children's individual needs and strengthen their position as family members.
]]>This paper presents an invitation to feminist and queer sociology to engage more frequently, enthusiastically, and deeply with animals. Feminist and queer sociology that attend to animals and animality stand to develop better knowledge for animals and animal studies and for women, queers, and feminist and queer sociology. Sociologists working from feminist and queer perspectives are also particularly well-positioned within the discipline of sociology to contribute to and take advantage of the insights of the field of feminist animal studies. After a brief review of what feminist animal studies is, I proceed through three steps to elaborate the imperative for feminist and queer sociology to consider animals. First, I show how feminist animal studies as a theoretical perspective engages with issues that are core to feminist and queer sociology. Second, I center intersectional feminism and lay out how incorporating species can and does enhance our understanding of intersectional processes. Third, I present an ethical call, grounded in the traditions of feminist ethics and ecofeminism, to attend to species in feminist and queer sociology.
]]>This article aims to analyze the evolution of income inequality and mobility in Spain during the period 1999–2011 by exploiting data from personal income tax returns.
To assess the evolution of inequality over the period analyzed, we have used some of the many metrics developed for this purpose, each of which offers a different approach depending on the segment of the income distribution they focus on (Gini coefficient, income shares, generalized entropy index, and the Atkinson class of measures).
Our results suggest that, after a period of slightly declining income inequality, Spain experienced a rise in inequality in the years immediately preceding the Great Recession, before falling back to precrisis levels. With regard to income mobility, during this period, it was more common for individuals in the middle of the distribution to experience changes, while those at the top and bottom maintained a more stable position.
The economic boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s, as well as the Great Recession, had a significant impact on income inequality and mobility.
]]>Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren, born on May 4, 1984, in Llodio, Álava, is a film director, screenwriter, and producer from the Basque Country, Spain. Her works include the documentary “Voces de papel” (2016) and the short film “Cuerdas” (2022). However, it is her first feature film, “20,000 species of bees” (2023), that earned widespread acclaim and won awards at various film festivals. This film delves into the challenges faced by a family with a transgender girl, drawing inspiration from the tragic story of Ekai Lersundi. Urresola's aspiration was to evoke empathy for the struggles of transgender individuals, fueled by the hope for societal change. The film's compelling narrative revolves around 8-year-old Cocó's journey of self-discovery, challenging societal expectations and prompting his mother, Ane, to confront her own doubts and fears during a transformative summer spent with family.
]]>In many countries, large families with three or more children have high income poverty rates. In this article, we aim to understand why this is the case by examining the relevance of family structure, socio-economic characteristics, and welfare state transfers targeted at this family form. For our analyses, we use cross-sectional data from three waves (2017–2019) of the Austrian European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions dataset. Our results, based on descriptive statistics, logistic regressions, and decomposition analyses, confirm the higher poverty risk of large families compared with smaller families. However, when differentiating between poor and non-poor families, it is not the family type that seems to be relevant in explaining the poverty risk, but rather the parental work intensity, the age of the youngest child, the place of residence, being a single-parent household, and the parental migration background. Moreover, cash transfers from the welfare state, in particular family benefits, contribute to reducing poverty for a significant number of large families. Policy makers are therefore well advised to either further increase the cash transfers targeted at large families, and/or to improve the employability and ultimately the work intensity of parents in large families in order to reduce their income poverty risk.
]]>The relationship between work–family and family–work conflict and attitudes toward having children has been established; however, how it varies by different national cultural dimensions remains unclear. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the moderating effects of two cultural dimensions, individualism–collectivism and indulgence-restraint, across a sample of 40 countries and regions. Data from the 2012 round of the International Social Survey Program (ISSP) are utilized, encompassing 30,613 participants (M = 43.33 years old; SD = 13.22). Multilevel modeling is employed to integrate individual-level and country-level factors and examine the cross-level moderating effects. The findings demonstrate that both work–family conflict and family–work conflict are positively associated with negative attitudes toward having children. Moreover, these relationships between work–family and family–work conflicts and negative attitudes toward having children are more pronounced in individualistic societies compared with collectivist societies. Furthermore, these relationships are stronger in restrained societies as opposed to indulgent societies. These results underscore the significance of addressing work–family and family–work conflict both at the policy and practice levels and emphasize the need for considering cultural dimensions.
]]>In the context of constraining services and support within public home care, this contribution analyses how older adults and home care workers experience and navigate administrative burdens. Relying on focus groups, interviews, and a survey conducted in the province of Québec (Canada), we demonstrate that older adults face an increasing number of administrative burdens designed to alter, delay, and restrict access to public services while homecare workers experience a loss of discretion in their practice due to the introduction of administrative requirements with dubious purposes. As such, administrative burdens play a vital role in the hidden politics of the welfare state and contribute to foster cynicism and a loss of faith in essential public services.
]]>An extensive literature has shown that the rules that govern access to social safety net programs create undue administrative burdens for citizens in accessing the programs. In this paper, we contribute to this literature by describing the experience of older adults with one US social safety net program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Our study gathered data from a total of 267 older adults through interviews and focus groups. Many of our respondents had recently experienced several financial, health, and life crises which affected their ability to seek information, memorize important details, and plan adequately. The main finding of the study is that older adults often experience multiple challenges whose effects tend to amplify each other, affecting their decision-making abilities. The findings suggest that policies that simplify eligibility processes, reduce the amount of paperwork, and minimize the number of client-caseworker encounters, have the potential to facilitate greater program access.
]]>Rich societies have witnessed a postponement of parenthood over the past two decades, and young adults’ economic conditions are often invoked to explain this trend. However, macro-level trends in both “subjective” perceptions of economic uncertainty and “objective” measures of actual income provide no satisfactory explanation for the postponement of parenthood. We propose a potential solution to this puzzle by hypothesizing that the economic prerequisites of parenthood have increased over the past two decades. We expect that this has raised the degree of perceived economic certainty and the level of income that people wish to achieve before having a first child. To test this hypothesis, we draw on individual-level longitudinal data from seven countries from the Comparative Panel File. Our findings show that young adults’ perceived economic uncertainty is not consistently associated with the transition to parenthood. Moreover, the effects of perceived economic uncertainty did not change over time. In contrast, we find consistent evidence that the link between income and first birth has become more strongly positive over the past two decades. This is true mainly for women but also for men, and suggests that increasing income prerequisites are a key mechanism behind the postponement of parenthood.
]]>Early in 2020, experts warned of the devastating toll that COVID-19 would have on African countries. By the close of 2021, however, Africa remained one of the least affected regions in the world, leading commentators to speculate about a so-called “Africa paradox”. This review evaluates current research and data to establish the burden of COVID-19 infections and mortality in the African region. Despite claims that African countries were spared from COVID-19 infection, there is now considerable serological evidence confirming that people in African countries ultimately experienced levels of SARS-CoV2 infection comparable to or more than people in other global regions. Additionally, multiple measures demonstrate substantial impacts of COVID-19 on mortality in specific African countries where mortality and/or seroprevalence data are available. The gaps between recorded cases and seroprevalence are large and increased over the course of the pandemic. Researchers also observe significant gaps between recorded COVID-19 deaths and other measures of mortality, attributable to weak civil and vital registration systems, limited health care resources, and higher mortality at younger ages. Our findings reinforce the need for more equitable global distribution of health care resources and expanded disease and mortality surveillance across the continent.
]]>This perspective aims to critically explore the different levers that can be turned to obtain functional and reliable myco-materials engineered from fungi. These levers include fungal species, encompassing their specific set of genetic information, as well as global environmental cues, encompassing aspects of nutrition, that can be used to coax end material properties toward a desired outcome via fungal adaptation.
Fungi adapt to their surroundings, modifying their behaviors and composition under different conditions like nutrient availability and environmental stress. This perspective examines how a basic understanding of fungal genetics and the different ways that fungi can be influenced by their surroundings can be leveraged toward the production of functional mycelium materials. Simply put, within the constraints of a given genetic script, both the quality and quantity of fungal mycelium are shaped by what they eat and where they grow. These two levers, encompassing their global growth environment, can be turned toward different materials outcomes. The final properties of myco-materials are thus intimately shaped by the conditions of their growth, enabling the design of new biobased and biodegradable material constructions for applications that have traditionally relied on petroleum-based chemicals.This perspective highlights aspects of fungal genetics and environmental adaptation that have potential materials science implications, along the way touching on key studies, both to situate the state of the art within the field and to punctuate the viewpoints of the authors. Finally, this work ends with future perspectives, reinforcing key topics deemed important to consider in emerging myco-materials research.
]]>Tunable fungal monofilaments are produced by valorizing food waste using a biorefinery concept. By performing different post-treatments stronger fibers with tensile strength of 140 MPa and flexible fibers with 14% elongation are produced. Finally, the produced monofilaments are compared with commercial fibers using Ashby's plots with a discussion of potential applications.
A fungal biorefinery is presented to valorize food waste to fungal monofilaments with tunable properties for different textile applications. Rhizopus delemar is successfully grown on bread waste and the fibrous cell wall is isolated. A spinnable hydrogel is produced from cell wall by protonation of amino groups of chitosan followed by homogenization and concentration. Fungal hydrogel is wet spun to form fungal monofilaments which underwent post-treatments to tune the properties. The highest tensile strength of untreated monofilaments is 65 MPa (and 4% elongation at break). The overall highest tensile strength of 140.9 MPa, is achieved by water post-treatment. Moreover, post-treatment with 3% glycerol resulted in the highest elongation % at break, i.e., 14%. The uniformity of the monofilaments also increased after the post-treatments. The obtained monofilaments are compared with commercial fibers using Ashby's plots and potential applications are discussed. The wet spun monofilaments are located in the category of natural fibers in Ashby's plots. After water and glycerol treatments, the properties shifted toward metals and elastomers, respectively. The compatibility of the monofilaments with human skin cells is supported by a biocompatibility assay. These findings demonstrate fungal monofilaments with tunable properties fitting a wide range of sustainable textiles applications.
]]>The purpose of this study is to evaluate the pinnacle of football match key statistics as in-play information for determining the match outcome of Europe's foremost leagues, namely those in England, Scotland, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Belgium, Turkey, the Netherlands, and Greece. The study analyzed a sample of 98,849 matches across all sports leagues from the 2002/2003 to 2023/2024 seasons.
The techniques employed include the zero-inflated Poisson regression model and generalized ordered logit/partial proportional odds (gologit/ppo) models.
The findings revealed that, for both home and away teams, the number of shots, shots on target, corners, and the changes from one season to another, as well as the occurrence of Covid-19, are factors that encourage goal scoring. On the other hand, fouls committed, yellow cards, and red cards act as limiting factors for goal scoring. The effects are higher in the full-time play than in the halftime. However, the impact of the number of goals scored in the last match and the effect of Covid-19 are negligible for the home and away teams, respectively. Moreover, when comparing the impacts specifically within home teams and within away teams, it was found that yellow and red cards are highly detrimental, while the positive impact of shots on target surpasses these and other factors in home teams. In contrast, for away teams, the negative impact of yellow and red cards is more significant than any other factor.
Football match key statistics including the number of shots, shots on target, corners, change from one season to another, fouls committed, yellow cards, red cards, last match outcome, and occurrence of Covid-19 are essential determinants of the match outcome whether a team is at home or way but the impact is higher during the second half of the play.
]]>This study traces how Black lesbians in the San Francisco Bay Area made a place for themselves in the world at the end of the twentieth century, after the decline of the Black Power Movement and before the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Geocoding and analyzing the content of a Black lesbian journal in the San Francisco Bay Area that had global distribution, the author examines how the placemaking of Black lesbians remade them as cultural-political subjects, expanded their networks, and inspired them to reimagine their relations with the earth. As they crafted cultural spaces across the African diaspora, they faced threats—most notably, street violence, harsh policing and ecological degradation—yet they also experienced joyful interactions with each other, with allies and with nature. The belief grew in their cultural spaces that their liberation required world transformation and that they could change the world. This research, providing a frame for studying the interaction between the making of cultural spaces and the formation of political solidarities, contributes to urban movements research, critical environmental justice studies, and Black feminist/LGBTQ+ research.
]]>While researchers have paid growing attention to transnational city engagement in both the policy fields of migration and climate change, there is a dearth of studies exploring how cities claim agency and start acting in emerging global climate mobility debates. Moreover, city diplomacy research tends to focus predominantly on city actors from the global North. We aim to address this research bias and advance academic debates by exploring African city diplomacy in global climate mobility debates. Specifically, we examine the question: How do African cities claim recognition as relevant actors in global dialogues on climate mobility, and what kind of action do they take? To find answers, we draw on a role theory framework analysing empirical research undertaken within an international, interdisciplinary research project.
]]>This paper describes the making of a documentary film about children's learning cultures in West Africa to show that it is possible to escape the melodramatic gaze through deploying specific shooting, editorial and screening choices that represent children as active, knowledgeable subjects situated in a specific cultural milieu. It also discusses the legacy of ethnographic film, especially in relation to Africa, which in its aim at cultural translation presumes a non-local spectator and deploys what has been called an entomological gaze; glossed here as ‘national geographic’ and proposes that key to disavowing that legacy is making film for African audiences.
]]>More is known about how ‘push factors’ motivate emigration and how immigrants adapt to their new environment than about psychological factors associated with migration intentions for those experiencing adversity in their country of origin. This paper explores the association between multisystem resilience and migration intentions among youth in Honduras. In this context of high economic need and contextual violence, higher levels of resilience are associated with higher levels of migration intentions among those who have a job and thus the ability to navigate or negotiate access to resources – economic, social and psychological – that make it possible to consider migration. Among those who have not been victims of violence and consequently may not have that motivation to migrate, higher levels of resilience are associated with lower migration intentions.
]]>Conflicts are common in adolescent friendships and romantic relationships. The ways girls in care navigate conflicts in close relationships have implications for their resilience, since their family relationships are compromised. We employed qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore the conflicts in the friend and romantic relationships of 37 girls in care. They completed an interview about the conflicts with their best friend and boyfriend and a measure on the positive and negative quality of the friendship and romantic relationship within which the conflicts took place. Thematic analysis indicated the girls experienced more intense and volatile conflicts with their boyfriend than best friend. However, the intensity of these conflicts was mitigated by their positive perceptions in their quantitative reports. Despite conflicts, the girls reported significantly higher levels of positive than negative relationship quality within their romantic relationships and similar levels of negative quality between the two relationships. Findings highlight the girls' struggles with their romantic relationship compared to their friendship and especially their attempts to interpret conflict within a more global assessment of relationship quality. The findings provide a nuanced understanding of the girls' relational patterns, which can be used to inform interventions to support their development of healthy relationships.
]]>Deteriorations in the conditions for coffee farming and quality of life are explained mainly by perceived changes in weather conditions. Access to material resources, intellectual resources, as well as increased competition between buyers, have improved the situation, resulting in less opportunistic behavior on the part of buyers as well as better quality and price awareness among farmers.
In the present study, information collected from 360 coffee-cultivating households (HHs) is used to investigate perceptions of deficiencies in three sub-counties in Eastern Uganda and to study changes in these perceptions between two survey rounds. The results of an explorative principal components analysis identify five factors affecting farmers’ perceptions. Whereas perceptions of deficiencies in the preconditions for farm management activities differ significantly between the three sub-counties investigated, indicators of deficiencies in general life quality are distributed more equally. Deteriorations are explained mainly by perceived changes in weather conditions. On the one hand, it can be assumed that the high constraint level will continue to increase in the future due to climate change and its impacts on life quality and the basic conditions required for farm management. On the other hand, access to resources such as water taps but also increased competition between buyers, have improved the situation. Results further indicate that if activities such as the expansion of information access and improvement of road conditions (after land registration) are implemented on a larger scale, these negative trends can be partly counteracted to help farmers maintain the conditions for effective farm management and improve their quality of life in the future.
]]>This article introduces forward-looking solutions for Gaza's water and energy future. Following a data-diven systems approach, the study analyzes both current and anticipated water and energy requirements, while assessing the feasibility of diverse supply alternatives. The insights significantly contribute to the understanding of the water-energy nexus for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners engaged in the domains of enery and water resource management.
The acute water and electricity shortages in Gaza necessitate comprehensive solutions that recognize the interconnected nature of these vital resources. This article presents pragmatic solutions to align supply with fundamental needs in both domains, offering viable pathways for achieving strategic water-energy security in Gaza. Baseline data reveals a deficit in the current water supply, falling below the international minimum of 100 L per capita per day, while the reported 137–189 MW per day electricity supply significantly lags behind the estimated 390 MW per day peak demand. To meet projected 2024 residential, commercial, and industrial demands, this study proposes actionable measures including expanding wastewater treatment to enable over 150 MCM per year tertiary effluents for agricultural reuse and adopting energy-efficient forward osmosis-reverse osmosis and osmotically assisted reverse osmosis desalination methods to increase potable water supply to 150 MCM per year. Electricity supply strategies include scaling renewable capacity towards 110 MW per day, exploring regional cooperation to unlock over 360 MW of power per day, and potentially recovering up to 60 MW per day through system efficiencies. These recommendations aim to prevent exacerbated scarcity and alleviate hardships in Gaza.
]]>Youth work is a practice that supports young people and bolsters mental health and well-being. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, young people in the UK have experienced rising levels of mental distress. However, in the broader youth policy field, youth work is rarely acknowledged as a mental health support. This article draws upon research uncovering to what extent youth workers provide mental health support for young people. A survey questionnaire was distributed to youth workers across selected local authorities in central Scotland and north-east England. Our original findings show that most youth workers provide initial mental health support for young people and, since the pandemic, this has become a key component of youth work practice. The youth workers surveyed were confident that they had the skills, experience and training to provide such support but were struggling to meet increased demand due to funding shortages in the sector.
]]>Despite the seemingly progressive strides made in promoting the rights of children in many African countries, the rights of intersex children remain hidden. This paper explores the lived experiences of intersex children in Zimbabwe drawing from in-depth interviews conducted with intersex children aged between 8 and 16 years. The paper reveals a myriad of overlapping challenges faced by intersex children compounded by a lack of legal recognition and influence of cultural and religious discourses which threaten intersex children's sexual and reproductive health rights including their right to bodily autonomy and integrity, as well as their right to education.
]]>On this, the occasion of its 50th anniversary, we employ a quantitative analysis of the Journal of Law and Society (JLS) to chart empirically the evolution of socio-legal studies in the United Kingdom (UK). By tracing the influence(s) of the JLS upon the development of UK socio-legal research, not only do we demonstrate a new mode of exploring knowledge production in the field of socio-legal studies, but we also illustrate how computational methods can augment hermeneutical approaches to mapping socio-legal trends. Through (a blend of) three different analytical approaches – descriptive analyses of bibliographic metadata, text-linguistic analyses of a corpus of full-text articles, and network analyses of citation graphs – we generate comparative information about the JLS since its inception in 1974. We then employ this data to interrogate the JLS’ own narratives; using predictions, ambitions, and statements of intent made by Editor-in-Chief Phil Thomas published either within or regarding the JLS, we present a map of the journal's role within, impact upon, and enduring contribution to UK socio-legal studies. Finally, we discuss our results and propose future directions of the field.
]]>The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious public health challenge that causes negative effects on adolescents. This study aims to investigate the mediating roles of individual, family and community resilience in the association between COVID-19-related stress and quality of life according to the socio-ecological theory. The sample consists of 814 adolescents from high schools in Zhejiang province, China (mean age = 16.79 years; 51.11% girls), collected by a multi-stage cluster random sampling. The multiple mediation model is performed by SPSS macro PROCESS. The results show that individual resilience (β = −0.017, 95% CI [−0.044, −0.003]), family resilience (β = −0.028, 95% CI [−0.058, −0.008]) and community resilience (β = −0.031, 95% CI [−0.062, −0.007]) partially mediate the relationship between COVID-19-related stress and life satisfaction. Moreover, individual resilience (β = −0.028, 95% CI [−0.056, −0.008]), family resilience (β = −0.017, 95% CI [−0.042, −0.002]) and community resilience (β = −0.033, 95% CI [−0.065, −0.007]) also partially mediate the relationship between COVID-19-related stress and subjective well-being. This study not only elucidates the mediating roles of multidimensional resilience but also provides valuable insights into improving adolescent resilience across different systems.
]]>Sexual violence is a world-wide health problem that has begun to escalate in online and virtual spaces. One form of technology-facilitated sexual violence that has grown in recent years is image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), or the nonconsensual creation, distribution, and/or threat of distribution of nude or sexual images. Using a trauma-informed and victim-centered framework, we asked victim-survivors for structural solutions to IBSA based on their own experiences. Using thematic analysis on 36 semi-structured interviews with adult U.S. victim-survivors of IBSA, we found that victim-survivors proposed structural solutions to IBSA along five general dimensions: legal (creating/strengthening laws, enforcing laws, facilitating legal navigation), corporate (corporate responsibility/activism and solutions for employers), educational (IBSA education, outreach and advocacy, and developing communities of support), technological (more platform accountability, improved procedures for uploading images, better avenues for reporting and removing images, and enhanced platform policies), and cultural. Many solutions built on existing structures (e.g., sexual education in schools) and frameworks (e.g., creating support groups like those for people in recovery from alcohol abuse), enabling educational professionals, policy makers, victim-support service providers, and corporations to readily implement them.
]]>Extended social networks encompass both weak and strong ties to provide social support and resources. Hence, it is important to study what explains variation in these networks. This paper addresses this and examines the size and ethnic homogeneity of extended social networks, and group differences therein, and it aims to explain these differences based on a preference–opportunities approach through a decomposition analysis. We apply state-of-the-art NSUM methods to measure the extended networks for different ethnic-majority and minoritized groups, also considering migrant generation differences, in the Netherlands. Results show that group differences in network size reflect first-generation minority citizens having smaller networks and majority citizens having more ethnically homogeneous networks. More positive out-group attitudes among the Moroccan– and Turkish–Dutch partly explain why these groups have less homogeneous networks than Dutch majority members. Differences in the ethnic composition of neighbourhoods also contribute to explaining the homogeneity gap between Dutch majority and Turkish-Dutch.
]]>Settlement services are key to Canada's success in welcoming and integrating immigrants. Offered mainly in person prior to COVID-19 by non-governmental agencies reliant on and regulated by government funders, services were forced online and delivered by staff working remotely. We document this transition between September 2020 and September 2021 in Ontario, Canada and the conditions that influenced it. Surveys completed by workers and managers at member agencies of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants reveal how agencies provided services and stabilized organizational resources and capacities. Their success is evident in staff satisfaction with management's responses to the pandemic. While our findings underscore the resilience of the agencies and their workforce, they also challenge many tenets of New Public Management. The survey and discussions with managers suggest that sustained and flexible funding, rapid and respectful communication between agencies and funders and collaborations with other agencies were key to overcoming pandemic challenges.
]]>This article analyses the social networks of rural–urban migrant entrepreneurs in Uganda. While social contacts are often an important asset to access resources for migrants, they are often expected to financially support the members of their social networks. These claims for support are here labelled ‘negative social capital’, following Portes' seminal work. This paper focuses on the kinds of networks that are more likely to produce negative social capital, operationalized here as requests for financial resources, and links this to the discourse on bridging and bonding social capital. By means of a regression analysis, this article provides evidence of dense networks with a higher share of migrants (bonding social capital) being associated with negative social capital. In addition, both a higher share of contacts met before migration, which is related to bonding social capital, and a higher share of contacts living in the city, which is related to bridging social capital, are negatively associated with requests for resources. These findings suggest that migrants can instrumentally keep some contacts from before migration and acquire new key contacts in the urban area.
]]>Authoritarian regimes are known to repress the political activity of their diasporas transnationally by threatening harsh sanctions. But is this their only mode of transnational repression? This article builds on scholarship on social control to explore whether migrants bring internalized forms of political repression from their authoritarian home country to their democratic country of settlement—and if so, how it shapes their transnational political activity. In-depth life-history interviews with 29 U.S.-citizen and permanent-resident Syrian immigrants living in Los Angeles, California and Louisville, Kentucky reveal that for many U.S.-based Syrians, demobilizing emotions, interpretive frames, and habits learned in Syria depressed their transnational political activity during the Arab Spring. Four internalized mechanisms of transnational political repression are conceptualized: learned helplessness, chronic fear of politics and the State, political trauma, and disciplined aversion to political expression. Leveraging comparisons between activists, demobilized activists, and non-activists, this article demonstrates the connections between specific political socialization experiences, internalized political repression, and transnational political (in)activity. This article contributes to the growing literature on constraints and barriers to transnational mobilization, and to the debate over the role of pre-migration political experience on immigrants' political participation.
]]>Scholars have long grappled with the ways in which unequal power relations influence the creation and circulation of international social work knowledge. I outline a robust postcolonial theoretical framework to elucidate complexities of global knowledge and power and extend possibilities for considering such questions of epistemic justice. Drawing on my own research with service providers in Nepal, I suggest three analytic strategies to apply postcolonial insights in international social work research: reflexivity, critical discourse analysis, and postcolonial translation. Postcolonial theory and the strategies provided support social work researchers to comprehend, generate, and disseminate knowledge that can disrupt colonial assumptions.
]]>This article explores the association between internet use and Chinese migrant older adults' life satisfaction based on the displacement hypothesis. Using 2016 and 2018 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data, we find that internet use is significantly associated with lower life satisfaction. The association is stronger in the female, age 71 and above and low-income groups. Mediation analysis suggests that social capital has a significant mediating effect in linking internet use and life satisfaction, accounting for about 25% of the total effect of internet use. Based on the findings, we recommend appropriate interventions for internet use and promote social inclusion of migrant older adults, so as to further improve their quality of life.
]]>The purpose of this paper is to provide an update on the development of the long-term relative poverty rate in Europe. We use European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data (EU-SILC) for 26 European countries between 2009 and 2018. In addition to describing the development of long-term poverty, we also analyse the drivers of poverty on the country level via fixed effects panel regression analysis. We are particularly interested in how economic growth, employment rates, social expenditure, and short-term poverty rates are related to long-term poverty. Overall, the results show that long-term poverty has increased in 13 out of 26 countries, but was unchanged or decreased in 13 countries. Gross domestic product growth is not related to the development of long-term poverty. However, we find that male employment and social welfare expenditure reduce poverty rates. Furthermore, short-term poverty is negatively associated with long-term poverty. Hence, short-term poverty and long-term poverty rather substitute than complement each other.
]]>This study examined the representation of visible minority (VM) employees in Canada's public service to clarify the extent to which Canada's Employment Equity Act (EEA) for diversity and equity management has influenced VM employment outcomes, with a focus on executive (leadership) and professional representation. Data from EEA annual reports (1997–2020) were analysed, and the results for VMs in the public service were juxtaposed with those for VMs in the broader labour market. VM employees' numerical representation under the EEA had increased and was slowly trending upwards in executive roles, exceeding their workforce availability in 2020. However, the representation of VMs in public service failed to match their actual proportion in the larger Canadian population. This group had a stronger representation in scientific and professional occupations, reflecting current immigration policies' support for skilled migration. The VM workforce in the broader labour market lacked equal representation, which indicates significant policy implications.
]]>Existing scholarship indicates that subjective and objective poverty hardly overlap. This study contributes to our understanding of what different types of poverty mean by analysing the drivers of subjective poverty in Ukraine, whereby in 2018 71.8% of people self-identified as poor despite the relative material deprivation measures estimating poverty to be around 30%. To understand the drivers of subjective poverty, the paper draws on 50 in-depth semi-structured interviews across low- and high-income individuals, of which 38 self-identified as poor. Data suggests that the self-perception of being poor is driven by Ukraine's relative deprivation to other European countries, fears about the future due to vulnerability to shocks, and the perception of purposeful exclusion by the economic elite. In exploring these findings, the paper contributes to the works of literature on social status, social exclusion, relative deprivation, and populism.
]]>How much, and in what ways, do cultural ideas contribute to understanding cross-national differences in the extent of long-term care (LTC) policy marketisation? We argue that differences in cultural ideas in the political sphere about ‘ideal’ ways of organising the provision of care shed light on these differences, relatively independently of the governing parties' positions on the left/right spectrum. Our comparative case study of two conservative welfare states, Germany and Austria, supports this argument. LTC policy marketisation in the mid-1990s was, in both cases, based on left-libertarian ideas. While these ideas gained strong political support from parties across the left/right spectrum in Austria, they were combined with etatist ideas in Germany, resulting in a substantially lower potential for marketisation in Germany's LTC policy. Our study also shows that, by contrast with neo-liberal ideas, left-libertarian ideas address care recipients' self-determination and divert attention away from social problems associated with LTC marketisation.
]]>Care work is shaped by the context in which it is carried out. This study explored the context, content, conditions and consequences of work in two fields of social care in Sweden: eldercare and disability services. Policy documents and statistical sources were used to analyse the context. Job content, working conditions and consequences of work were analysed using survey data collected in 2015 and 2017 in eldercare and disability services (N = 1307). The analysis of the political and economic context showed that the disability sector is characterised by a higher ambition level in legislation and funding. The survey of care workers reflected this difference: the work content differs; and the working conditions and their consequences are significantly worse for the eldercare staff than for the disability service staff. Possible explanations for these differences are discussed in terms of policy-framing, ageist notions and unintended consequences of policy changes.
]]>The study explores the distribution of elderly households in terms of combinations of different levels of income and wealth and relates to the typically greater homeownership rates in this group than in the younger generation. Using microdata from the Luxembourg Wealth Study for 12 countries it demonstrates that ‘income-poor, asset-rich’ elderly households are a quite marginal category. However, the identification of this group is crucial from the policy perspective, as it constitutes a target for actions aiming at increasing the ability of the elderly households to use housing wealth in such a way as to improve their financial well-being. The results also suggest that higher homeownership rates among elderly households, as compared to non-elderly households, are not accompanied by proportionally greater household wealth. Nevertheless, when the level of data aggregation is reduced, there is some evidence that homeownership is positively associated with the welfare position of the elderly.
]]>While there is a growing body of literature on the lived experiences of people in poverty, their interaction with the welfare delivery system at different levels is still under-theorised. This article presents a multi-level institutional framework to qualitatively study the low-income families' experiences in claiming in-work benefits (IWBs). Considering the Low-income Working Family Allowance (LIFA) in Hong Kong as an extreme case of IWB's residualism and productivism, the findings suggest that LIFA claimants faced cycles of counter-productive re-assessment in their everyday frontline practices, and underwent organisational barriers in workplaces and families in collecting the proofs required by the means-testing and work-testing procedures. These experiences were linked to Hong Kong's macro-systemic contexts that prioritised long working hours and strict targeting of low-wage breadwinners. This study contributes to the literature by linking social policy implementation and welfare delivery to claiming experiences, and empirically reveals the complexities of IWBs using means-tests and work-tests.
]]>As interest in universal basic income (UBI) policy has peaked in recent years, the study of public support for such a policy is rapidly developing. While recent studies recognise the multidimensionality of the UBI proposal, we still know little about to what extent support for UBI is unambiguously supported or rejected. We show that the public holds distinct but related opinions towards three dimensions of UBI: universalism, redistribution and unconditionality. The higher and lower educated are equally ambivalent towards the policy, suggesting a lack of political entrenchment towards UBI in Dutch society. Post hoc comparisons show that key demographics and constituencies support some dimensions while rejecting others, enabling both compromise and division on the issue. Despite these distinct controversies, however, the strong correlation between attitudinal dimensions suggests that survey experiments tend to overstate the degree of multidimensionality by ignoring the strong commonalities in support for policy aspects.
]]>The wholesale changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic to men and women's paid work arrangements and work–family balance provide a natural experiment for testing the common elements of two theories, needs exposure (Schafer et al. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue Canadienne De Sociologie, 57(4);2020:523–549) and parental proximity (Sullivan et al. Family Theory & Review, 2018;10(1):263–279) against a third theory also suggested by Schafer et al. (2020), and labelled in this article, entrenchment/exacerbation of gender inequality. Both needs exposure and parental proximity suggest that by being home because of the pandemic, in proximity to their children, fathers are exposed to new and enduring family needs, which may move them toward more equal sharing in childcare and other domestic responsibilities. By contrast to studies that have tested such theories using retrospective, self-report survey data over a 2-year period, we analyse more than a decade of time-use diary data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) that covers the first 2 years of the pandemic. We model the secular and quarterly trends to predict what would have occurred in the absence of the pandemic, contrasting this to what indeed happened. Our analyses consider aggregate and individual impacts, using methods of sequence analysis, clustering, and matching. Among our results, we find that the division of childcare responsibilities did not become more equitable during the pandemic. Suggestions for future research are provided as are suggestions for the implementation of social policies that could influence greater gender equity in unpaid work and childcare.
]]>The world is witnessing a dramatic increase in displaced persons in Africa, Asia, South America, and, most recently, Europe. Within this population of violence-induced displacement are older women, a group that is mostly unseen because research and relief initiatives primarily target younger women and children. This study aimed to explore the changes in the convoys and support for older women in displacement (OWD). Qualitative data were collected from nine OWD using art-based convoys of concentric circles and interviews. The collected data were analysed in themes, and findings revealed that while there has been intervention from formal organisations to fill the displacement-induced support gap, supports are still limited, sporadic, not focused on the peculiar needs of OWD, not guided by any framework, and mainly material in design. The study concluded by recommending sustainable support to help OWD become empowered to cope effectively without aid.
]]>This study investigated the associations between early parental warmth, harsh discipline, and adolescent depressive symptoms from early to late adolescence, with attention to gender differences in these associations. The sample was drawn from a longitudinal study, the Taiwan Youth Project, including 2690 Taiwanese adolescents from Wave 1 in 2000 (first year in junior high school) to Wave 6 (third year in high school) in 2005. The results showed a nonlinear developmental trajectory of adolescent depressive symptoms during the middle- to high-school period. Harsh discipline was associated with the significantly higher initial presence and faster growth rate of depressive symptoms, while parental warmth and monitoring were associated with the significantly lower initial presence of depressive symptoms. In addition, female adolescents displayed a higher initial level of depressive symptoms than males when parents exercised higher levels of monitoring and harsh discipline. Finally, we provided suggestions for practice and research.
]]>In the United States, nearly 13 million adults are incarcerated in prisons and jails annually with significant negative public health consequences. Incarcerated individuals have disproportionate rates of behavioral health disorders (BHDs); untreated BHD symptoms bring people into incarceration settings and are associated with re-arrest after release. Although lack of treatment motivation is often used to explain these outcomes, individuals may have limited knowledge about BHDs and their symptoms, when and why treatment is warranted, and how to access treatment during custody and in the community. We propose a new construct called behavioral health literacy to facilitate linkage between individuals with BHDs and appropriate treatment options. In this paper, we define behavioral health literacy, review extant literature, describe why behavioral health literacy is needed, and explore how behavioral health literacy interventions may be developed to expand knowledge and guide policy and practice, ultimately improving both behavioral health outcomes and reduce criminal legal system involvement.
]]>Little is known about psychosocial or ‘internal’ behaviours that can perpetuate chronic poverty and how to alleviate them in development programmes. This paper presents a conceptual and evaluation framework examining the relationship between a person's psychosocial behaviours, empowerment and economic wellbeing. The framework shows empowerment is enabled or limited by internal behaviours – including one's identity, aspiration, hope and confidence. We tested the framework on a behaviour change intervention among 1508 extremely poor smallholder farmers in Zambia. The intervention was a six-session curriculum for promoting positive mindsets using faith-based messages. We used concurrent mixed methods to examine changes and differences in levels of empowerment for individuals exposed to the intervention and those not. We found significant correlations between participation in the intervention and improvements in participants' internal attitudes and overall empowerment. The framework and mixed methods evaluation offer insights into how to design programmes to address internal constraints to empowerment.
]]>Despite the increased popularity of exit programmes targeting people involved in sex work, the research community has yet not critically scrutinised policies that regulate these programmes. This study aimed to start filling this research gap by studying the example of Denmark, a country that has implemented exit programmes although sex work remains partly decriminalised since 1999. In specific, this study has analysed policy documents that were formulated by the government and four Danish municipalities in relation to the government's latest grant called ‘Exit Package for People in Prostitution’, which was issued in 2019 to finance municipal exit programmes running between 2020 and 2023. The key finding indicates that the ‘problem’ of sex work is the sex work of the ‘vulnerable’ sex workers. Their sex work must be reduced because they risk being seriously harmed by their sex work activities. Implications from the findings of the study are discussed.
]]>The U.S. prohibits firearm purchase among individuals with specific risk factors. These prohibitions are operationalized using background checks for firearm purchase. Despite these restrictions, prohibited persons have obtained firearms after passing background checks, sometimes with devastating effects.
We conducted a mixed-methods, descriptive study of the records and record-keeping practices that underpin background checks for firearm transfers. Sources included key informant interviews with individuals working in a leadership capacity with state record-keeping systems as well as data from state surveys and administrative records. We analyzed quantitative data using descriptive statistics and qualitative data using a thematic analysis approach to code the data and identify themes. Three investigators coded each interview. We returned to all data sources to develop key findings in an iterative process.
Key informants described major improvements in the collection of specific record types that were previously a “black hole” (e.g. criminal history records housed in military justice systems, and records relating to involuntary commitments for mental illness) and advances in the automation of record transfer across agencies, themes corroborated by administrative data. Key informants also identified potential causes and solutions for challenges relating to missing or incomplete information and delays in resolving ambiguous background check results. Examples include manual processes for confirming relationship status in misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence and discordant practices for processing arrest and court records that result in dispositions that cannot be entered or arrests with no disposition.
Background checks are the backbone of many policies designed to prevent firearm harm in the United States. This study highlights actionable ways in which states could make background check practices and policies more robust.
]]>Labor faces a universal process of increasing exploitation as the following processes converge: Labor is increasingly divorced from a community purpose; the community's economy becomes privatized, which leads to debt bondage and the loss of personal land or availability of land for personal use. This process is repeated from early records of 10,000 BC to the present day. In ancient times, a wise ruler would respond to widespread debt bondage by canceling private debts for the sake of the community. However, there are now no wise rulers on the horizon to cancel debts. This paper may give those who labor, inspiration to continue their struggle for wealth distribution equity.
]]>High-speed rail is not well utilized in the United States. This study examines public interest in high-speed rail and the role the apparent urban–rural political divide may play in its establishment.
Data from a sample of 1648 U.S. residents and 515 Texas residents surveyed in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 were analyzed to determine their likelihood of choosing high-speed rail if it was available.
Results found that 35 percent of national respondents and 52 percent of Texas respondents indicated they are likely to choose high-speed rail. Characteristics such as age, education, gender, and political party affiliation had a statistically significant relationship with a respondent's likelihood of choosing high-speed rail.
This analysis indicates an interest in high-speed rail in both samples. Many of the characteristics of those likely to choose high-speed rail are consistent with typical early adopters of innovation. Democrats seem more likely to consider high-speed rail, however identifying as either a Republican or a Democrat resulted in a positive, statistically significant relationship with an interest in high-speed rail in the Texas sample. While this discussion does appear to have a partisan divide, other characteristics seem to be a strong predictor of interest in high-speed rail.
]]>A donation for a candidate can be motivated by support for that candidate or by opposition to the candidate's opponent. This study tests the impact that race, gender, and party affiliation of the candidate and the candidate's opponent have on the candidate's fundraising.
This study uses data from the 2016, 2018, and 2020 U.S. congressional elections to estimate a regression model where the dependent variable is funds raised by each mainstream party candidate, with party, race, and gender of the candidate and the candidate's opponent accounted for in the model, as well as district competitiveness, district economic and demographic characteristics, and whether the seat is open.
Female Democrats and non-white male Democrats have a fundraising advantage when running against a white male Republican. Female Republicans or non-white male Republicans do not have this advantage when running against white male Democrats.
The interaction effects of gender and race on fundraising for a candidate and opponent are different depending on party affiliation, and the characteristics of both the candidate and the candidate's opponent must be considered for these effects to be visible.
]]>We explore whether Americans’ attitudes about the role of money spent on political campaigns and separately their attitudes about the influence of corporations impact their external political efficacy (EE) or perception that the government is responsive to them.
We conduct three independent sample surveys (total N = 2789) to measure individuals’ attitudes toward the role of money in politics (ARMP), attitudes toward corporations, and EE. We also measure political partisanship to test for moderating effects.
ARMP are strongly and positively associated with EE: those who are more favorable of the role money plays in politics view government as more responsive to them. This finding is specific to ARMP and does not extend to corporations, suggesting that public awareness of campaign spending is shaping individuals' views of government responsiveness. We find no evidence that this relationship is moderated by partisanship, despite differing views of money in politics between Democrats and Republicans.
Our results are normatively troubling and suggest that as campaign spending continues to rise, individuals will increasingly feel that the government is less responsive to their concerns.
]]>While conversations pertaining to school-based sexuality education are becoming more prominent, the experiences of disabled children and youth are still under-discussed in research. Despite disabled childhood studies emerging as a field of inquiry, there is still a lack of critical conversation pertaining to disabled students' sexuality education within their respective schooling. This article draws from Fricker's theory of epistemic injustice to describe some of the ethical questions that arise in the denial of disabled children and youth's access to sexuality education in school contexts. By engaging with relevant literature on sexuality education and disabled students in schooling, this article puts forward that the continual exclusion of disabled students from accessing school-based sexuality education promotes a form of epistemic injustice and silencing of the voices, perspectives and experiences of disabled students.
]]>Much of the research on children's right to participation has focused on formal settings, with less attention given to everyday contexts. The current study explores the scope of children's participation in everyday life in the family, school and community. Based on a sample of 46 000 children from 32 countries, children's participation was found to vary across the different contexts. Moreover, the quality of the children's relationships with adults was found to be positively related to the degree of their participation. Finally, some cross-national differences were found.
]]>This article reflects on the role of narration in times of crisis. Drawing on studies on storytelling and bibliotherapy, it compares the Decameron, a collection of short stories written during and immediately after the 1348 Black Death, with two Decameron-based collections written during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic: The New York Times Magazine's The Decameron Project: 29 Stories From the Pandemic and Nuovo Decameron. The article argues that narration has two ways of relating to times of crisis: as an escape from reality and as a therapeutic means of overcoming trauma. Both ways emphasize that storytelling is a future-oriented tool that can have a positive impact on both the individual and the community: sometimes finding unexpected silver linings, sometimes making sense of a reality that seems surreal. In this sense, the article concludes, the narration is a process of choral reconstruction that brings life back to the stage.
]]>Thailand needs to manage trash disposal due to the country's growing urban community. This study argues that waste management in the city of Khon Kaen can benefit from adopting Buddhist environmental ethics. We conducted a qualitative case study with purposive sampling of 24 key informants for in-depth interviews. We used the ATLAS.ti programme to apply content analysis techniques (theme, coding and quotation). Our case study argues for an optimistic practice of waste management in temples by integrating the Buddhist principle of merit-making. This approach shapes waste management, such as donating waste, garbage-free funerals and waste disposal. The waste merit-making in the temples reinforces application of 3Rs (reuse, reduce and recycle). The study suggests that waste-merit management model could be replicated in other communities but its success is not guaranteed due to variations in the level of support and collaboration between community and temple.
]]>Air pollution, particularly particulate matter (PM2.5) levels, was a significant focus at the COP26 summit. Rampant production practices and changing lifestyles contribute to the issue globally. China's rapid urbanization and reliance on fossil fuels significantly threaten global health sustainability. This study aims to evaluate China's environmental agenda and offer policy recommendations for achieving a green and clean environment. To accomplish this, the study assesses the crucial factors contributing to China's air pollution levels, focusing specifically on fine PM2.5 from 1975 to 2020. By implementing the ARDL bounds testing approach, the study confirmed a non-linear relationship between per capita income and PM2.5, demonstrating an inverted U-shaped curve with a turning point observed at a per capita income level of US$3030 in the short run. Furthermore, a positive correlation between these variables was detected in the long run. The study also revealed that rapid urbanization initially leads to increased PM2.5 concentrations, whereas it has a decreasing effect in the long term. To progress towards sustainable production and consumption, China has embraced efficient environmental technologies and increasing clean energy sources in its production mix. Leveraging these strategies, the country strives to achieve its decarbonization agenda and ensure a cleaner future. By conducting an ex ante analysis, this study identified ecological technologies, renewable energy demand and oil resource rents as critical influencers on China's air pollution levels over the next decade. The findings underscore the pressing need to embrace alternative energy sources, eco-friendly technologies and resource conservation to tackle air pollution effectively and accomplish China's decarbonization objectives. It is imperative to prioritize adopting sustainable practices, ensuring a cleaner environment for current and future generations.
]]>Teaching practicum carries high significance in the initial teacher education because of its enhanced potential to provide the Student Teachers (STs) with the opportunities to put theories into practice and thus to learn the art of teaching under supervision. As revealed in educational literature, STs face a variety of dilemmas during their teaching practicum that influence their professional identity in either positive or negative ways. However, what dilemmas STs face during their teaching practicum and how those dilemmas influence their professional identity has received little attention from academics so far. This research aimed to address the said gap. Two groups of STs enrolled for Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) in a higher education institute in Pakistan and currently doing their teaching practicum were taken as research participants. Data were generated through focused group discussions. The emerging data were analysed thematically. Results showed that, during their practicum, STs undergo a variety of dilemmas created by the learners’ characteristics, limited interaction with students and reduced support mechanism. Most of the dilemmas emerge mainly because the STs have not been properly prepared considering the dilemmas they face at the classroom level. The emerging dilemmas predominantly and adversely affect the professional identity of the STs making them question their decision of opting for the profession of teaching. The implications of the insights emerging from this research are highlighted for initial teacher education institutes, teacher educators and cooperating schools.
]]>The objective of the current study was to design and test a conceptual framework for examining the drivers of customer intentions to use sustainable banking practices and services. This research applied the theory of planned behaviour, adding environmental knowledge (ENK) as a construct in addition to its fundamental variables. The primary data was acquired using a field survey method from a cross-sectional sample of 207 Indian bank customers. Covariance-based structural equation modelling technique was employed to test the study model. The findings demonstrated that one's attitude towards sustainable banking services is significantly influenced by one's ENK. No evidence of a significant mediation function for attitude towards sustainable banking services was found, which would have provided empirical support for the indirect relationship between ENK and purchase intentions. The findings also confirmed that purchasing intentions had a significant impact on actual behaviour. In particular, female bank customers showed higher levels of effects of consumer perceived efficacy and control over availability on buy intentions. The findings imply that bank managers should employ a sensible combination of old and modern communication channels to emphasize the value of a pollution-free environment to the public.
]]>The enormous volume of literature has widely discussed the aid–growth correlation while identification of their causal relationship remains elusive and mixed. The main objective of this article is to investigate whether aid sources matter for explaining the aid–growth causal nexus among African low-income countries (LICs) during 2000–2017. A novel feature of this study is that it takes into account three proxies of aid (i.e. total aid [TA], traditional donors’ aid [TDA], non-TDA [NTDA]), unlike most studies that use aid solely from TDs (TDA). It employs a dynamic panel causality model in a multivariate setting using investment and consumption as key conditioning variables to account for omitted variable bias. The study found a short-run bidirectional causality between aid and growth for TA and TDA proxies but not for NTDA in neither direction. In the long-run, the study found unidirectional causality from growth to aid for TA and NTDA aid but not for TDA. The overall result shows that the aid–growth causality among African LICs depends on the aid proxies used and the time horizon assessed. A key policy implication is that donors’ aid allocation decisions in LICs should take into account the specific causal relationship between aid and growth by aid sources and time periods.
]]>The aim of this work is to uncover factors influencing the quality of life in the study area. The idea is operationalized by collecting data at the household level on subjective and objective aspects of quality of life. For this study, data were collected from 18 sample villages using a stratified random sampling method. The villages were chosen to represent two distinct communities, namely the scheduled castes (SC) and the general population, spread across three altitudinal zones. In all, 436 households (about 20% of the total) were surveyed with respect to 10 domains of quality of life, namely environment and cleanliness, housing, education, health, personal well-being, democratic and social participation, information and communication, employment, income and wealth and governance. To identify the key domains of quality of life, the principal components analysis (PCA) technique was applied. The findings support the idea that Asian predictors of satisfaction with life are similar to those of the Western world, but social and cultural backgrounds determine some culture-oriented predictors. The PCA results show that governance is the key determinant of life satisfaction. This study reveals that due to higher levels of educational attainment, good income conditions, and greater participation in community affairs, the general community has reported higher quality of life satisfaction compared to the SC community population.
]]>MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium enterprises) play a vital role in the development of emerging economies, and their interactions with state-owned enterprises can generate significant economic value for both parties. However, the dependency asymmetry between MSMEs and state-owned enterprises can hinder their growth and overall relationship performance. This research explores the impact of various dimensions of relationship-specific investments (RSIs) on fostering trust and satisfaction in these relationships. Additionally, the study investigates the moderating role of bilateral communication in the relationship between RSIs and satisfaction through trust. The conceptual model was assessed using a sample of 157 MSMEs, employing partial least squares structural equation modelling and necessary conditions analysis. The findings suggest that communication is crucial in building trust and satisfaction within these relationships. The literature has not extensively explored the context of these relationships and the application of necessary condition analysis, making this study valuable for policymakers. By understanding the factors that contribute to successful relationships between MSMEs and state-owned enterprises, policymakers can create targeted strategies to support and enhance these interactions, ultimately fostering the growth and development of emerging economies.
]]>The present study examines stigma removal in the context of strategic industries. Strategic industries are critical from a national interest perspective and may not be able to engage in conventional stigma management strategies, such as concealment, dilution and coopting stakeholders, identified in extant literature. The present in-depth qualitative study of the Indian civilian nuclear energy industry, a strategic industry within the Government of India, identifies two strategies, namely dependency reduction and category repositioning through responsible behaviour, employed in order to eradicate a global level stigma. The study concludes with implications for strategic industries and stigma management literature.
]]>The relation between social capital and socio-economic wealth is a highly debated topic in development studies. This article aims at investigating the relationship between personal wealth and trust. It combines social capital with social categorization theory through a structural equation model based on a data set of over 1000 observations collected in the Republic of Latvia, on the basis of stratified sampling, in 2010, in the wake of a deep financial and economic crisis. Main results suggest evidence of an indirect relationship between wealth and interpersonal trust, with institutional trust and social engagement as mediating factors. This evidence is tested for residence place dimensions, ethno-linguistic affiliation, education and income. Main results hold for poorer, less educated and rural respondents, whereas significant discrepancies arise for urban respondents. Finally, results highlight the interplay of socio-economic dimensions and social and cultural identity. This suggests the existence of different dynamics of social capital accumulation at play, depending on various socio-demographic and socio-economic dimensions.
]]>The article assesses the impact of loneliness and age on the mental health and cognitive functioning of individuals aged 45 and above in the Indian context. The mediating effect of marital status and age on the way loneliness impacts individuals’ cognition and mental health is examined.
Data were obtained from the pilot wave of Longitudinal Ageing Study in India, and scores of 1578 participants were considered for analysis. Standardised and validated measures were employed to measure loneliness, mental health and cognition of the participants. Multivariate analysis was employed to investigate the impact of loneliness and age on cognition and mental health. Structural equation modelling was used for evaluating the mediating effect of age and marital status.
Loneliness significantly impacted mental health and global cognitive function, whereas age significantly impacted episodic memory and total cognition. Marital status had a significant mediating role on the impact of loneliness on individuals’ mental health and cognitive functioning.
Fostering social support among lonely individuals might help mitigate loneliness, enhance their mental health status, and slow down cognitive decline.
]]>Rising wealth and social inequalities around the world place great pressure on social researchers to interpret and explain the impact. However, it is equally important to recognise that scientists too have been part of the reproduction of social inequalities. This article expands on Burawoy's (2015) appeal to social scientists to acknowledge that social inequalities are not only external to the social science community specifically – and the scientific community more generally – but they also pervade academic labour and the way universities are managed and reformed. By taking the case of Indonesia, the largest economy in understudied Southeast Asia, this article reveals types of social inequalities reproduced and sustained through policies and practices within universities. These inequalities are the exclusionary effects of internationalisation, selective inclusion and corporatist bureaucracies, as well as regional inequalities in terms of infrastructure and capacity. We problematise the detrimental effects of marketisation in higher education on academic imagination and how it extends authoritarian developmentalism (1966–1998) to suit neoliberal demands. The article ends with propositions on how academics from the Global South can better understand their social position in an increasingly networked yet disconnected world skewed by multiple configurations of social inequalities.
]]>Given the importance of housing affordability to one's social class standing, one's ability to afford decent, secure housing is not only important on an individual level, but impacts intergenerational im/mobility as well. The purpose of this research is threefold. First, it examines the recent trend in bulk housing purchases by corporate investors who turn those purchases into single family rental properties. In so doing, it discusses the implications for the population in general, but for marginalized population in perticular, that is, persons of color and those inthe lower socioeconomic strata of society. Second, this research examines a closely related housing phenomenon, condominium deconversion, where corporate investors purchase privately owned condominiums in bulk who turn them into rental units. Third, summary analysis and suggestions for future research as well as legislative and policy proposals to offset housing affordability conclude this research.
]]>Although the effects of automation on the future of work have received considerable attention, little research has been conducted on the costs of this technological transformation for different populations of workers. This article makes an important contribution as one of the first to analyze the intersectional effects of workforce automation across race and gender in the United States. Multilevel survey data models are employed using two distinct measures of automation job displacement risk for over 1.4 million Americans across 385 occupations. This research demonstrates that the intersection of race and gender matters for individual automation risks. Education, age, disability, and nativity are also significant. These findings indicate that labor market outcomes of job automation will be based not only on differences in human capital but critically on socially constructed identities as well.
]]>The status of women in Indian society has been paradoxical emanating from a deeply embedded socially construed gender-based exploitation owing to historical and sociological reasons. Moreover, the intersectionality of gender and caste has made them one of the marginalized social groups who experience discrimination, exclusion, and exploitation. Plethora of Bollywood movies, and regional cinema narrate the humiliation and exploitation of women in various spheres of their life. Some of the recent Bollywood and regional cinema has successfully attempted to highlight the gender-based exploitation and exclusion. Therefore, drawing upon an Amazon web series ‘Dahad’ and a movie ‘Kathal-a jackfruit mystery’ the paper tries to explore the struggle, exploitation, discrimination, aspiration, and assertion of women against existing social oppression. Taking the inferences from these two movies, the paper endeavors to seek the answer to the following questions: What are the nature and pattern of gender and caste-based humiliation of women? How gender and caste intersect in their humiliation and social exclusion? How are women making their own struggle against gender oppression and exploitation in society? What is the tactic they use to negotiate gender discrimination? How are they asserting against gender-based discrimination? How are they asserting their ‘agency’ in patriarchal and hierarchical society? What aspire and motivate them to fight for their dignity?
]]>Here, we develop two new social indices: the ADA PARC Absolute Economic Opportunity Index and the ADA PARC Relative Economic Opportunity Index. These indices allow us novel examinations of economic equity between people with and without disabilities within a U.S. state and between people with disabilities in different states using aggregations of multiple component economic indicators. These represent the first efforts to offer U.S. indices of this focus, an important development given the distinct economic needs of people with disabilities and the value in accounting for distinct national policies. The indices rely on U.S. Census and other data on economic opportunity by population. These indices provide comprehensive insight into economic disparities between people with and without disabilities and among people with disabilities in the United States. We find that state/territory values for the two indices are moderately positively correlated, suggesting that relative and absolute economic opportunity for people with disabilities arise from both common and distinct processes. Policy implications for low economic opportunity states are discussed.
]]>This paper presents a speculative framework suggesting that prediction markets (or its epistemic cousins such as artificial intelligence or forecasting tournaments) may constitute a break in the expansion of human knowledge in a manner similar to the impact of the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions. Just as the scientific understanding of the natural world facilitated the development of useful technologies to move far faster than what is allowed by blind evolution and tinkering, tools such as prediction markets allow for scientific knowledge to move faster than its current evolutionary process. The intellectual bases for these tools, such as the interpretation of probabilities as bets, are relatively recent additions to human knowledge, which may have significant implications for how we evaluate past thinkers, versus what is now possible or may be possible in the future.
]]>Continuous improvement of technological innovation ability, adjustment of the development strategy, and enhancement of operational performance are of great theoretical and practical significance for logistics enterprises. This paper aims to analyze and evaluate the innovation efficiency of the logistics industry. The study utilizes the static three-stage DEA model and the dynamic Malmquist index model, considering a total of 12 indicators related to innovation input, output, and environmental variables. A dataset of 2940 entries from 49 listed logistics enterprises from 2017 to 2021 was calculated. The analysis provides insights into the innovation efficiency of logistics enterprises from a static perspective and the innovation total factor productivity from a dynamic perspective and decomposition terms. Based on the analysis of environmental variables by the SFA model, it was found that DEA inefficiency is the combined result of environmental factors and management inefficiency. Environmental variables have both positive and negative effects on innovation. The improvement of the economic development level will lead to excess R&D investment. Increased government simple fund subsidies are not conducive to the efficient allocation of innovation resources within enterprises. The expansion of enterprise scale will increase R&D personnel and investment in fixed assets. A thriving technology market can encourage enterprises to improve their own conversion rate of scientific and technological output and give full play to their innovation ability. The dynamic Malmquist model analysis reveals a recution in the overall innovation efficiency of listed logistics enterprises over 5 years. The changes in total factor productivity and technological progress efficiency of all listed logistics enterprises are synchronized, with most enterprises exhibiting higher technological progress efficiency compared to comprehensive technical efficiency. The total factor productivity of logistics enterprise innovation is mainly affected by comprehensive technical efficiency.
]]>The New York legislature granted charters to 28 new banks in 1829. Over $5 million in capital was subscribed by 1745 individuals or entities. The average distance between investor and bank is less than 40 miles, and the average number of investors is 75 per bank, with ownership and control closely aligned. A gravity model fixed effects regression is estimated. Insiders, such as public officials and bank officers account for over one quarter of the invested capital. After accounting for information asymmetry, a strong home bias exists which suggests a high degree of capital immobility. The failure of Northern capital to invest in Southern manufacturing is readily explained by the picture of a thin and localized market dominated by political elite and specialized traders.
]]>Hollowing out is a term that refers to the decline in the share of middle-pay and middle-skilled jobs relative to low-pay and high-pay jobs. This study employs county-level occupational data at the place of employment to document hollowing out of middle-pay jobs across regions in Ohio. The county-level data with occupational information allow us to study how regions' economic heterogeneity contributes to the decline of middle-paying jobs in Ohio over the 2001–2019 period. Of 88 counties in Ohio, 77 counties experienced declines in the shares of middle-paying jobs. On average, Appalachian Ohio counties experienced higher hollowing out rates than other counties. We found that the hollowing out of middle-paying jobs in Ohio is associated with the declines in the shares of manufacturing and mining jobs.
]]>The study discovers that mixed ownership reform aimed at enhancing the performance and resource allocation efficiency of state-owned enterprises may have unintended consequences in China. When the nature of state-owned control remains unchanged, there is a risk of increased overinvestment due to misaligned interests between state-owned equity representatives and companies. This incentive can be mitigated by introducing nonstate shareholders with political connections. The study employs a double machine learning method to analyze data from state-owned listed companies that introduced nonstate shareholders through stock issuance between 2008 and 2019. The research underscores that modern corporate governance mechanisms are crucial for successful mixed ownership reform.
]]>Neoliberalism is based on the dogma that free-market capitalism serves the public better than governmental programs (e.g., public universities). In this research, we first asked what psychological orientations and beliefs predict support for one of the fundamental tenets of neoliberalism: the belief that government interferes with the smooth functioning of public life and the free market. Second, we examined how these predictors function across economic contexts and political regimes by collecting data in the United States and Turkey. We find that in two U.S. samples, high levels of Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and the belief in personal wherewithal (i.e., anybody can move ahead if they work hard enough) predicted people's support for neoliberalism. In the Turkish sample, we found that RWA and personal wherewithal significantly predicted support for neoliberalism, but unlike the US, in Turkey, higher levels of RWA were related to the rejection of neoliberalism. Our research highlights the flexible relationship authoritarianism has with neoliberalism and the importance of a belief in personal wherewithal in justifying neoliberalism. This research illuminates differences between US neoliberal logic and populist neoliberalism in Turkey.
]]>For generations, Indigenous communities have been calling attention to a widespread form of victimization known as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP). In response to grassroots efforts across rural communities, there has been a marked increase in legislation at the federal and state levels to address MMIP from 2018 to the present. Federal legislation has provided the most comprehensive and coordinated model of response to MMIP. This study analyzes how the scope and themes of federal legislation addressing MMIP are mirrored in the bills recently enacted by 14 states addressing MMIP. One goal of this study is to identify strengths and limitations within state legislation and provide insight into critical areas of focus for improving state legislative responses to MMIP. Next, we analyze reports from federal MMIP legislation and the 10 states (among the 14 with legislation) that have currently published MMIP reports to date. Our analysis of MMIP reports expands knowledge on (1) how data were collected and interpreted across jurisdictions, and (2) whether states experience MMIP in similar or different ways. Drawing on our comparative analysis of legislation and reports across jurisdictions, we offer data-driven recommendations for states to consider when addressing MMIP.
]]>This paper analyzes why child film star series produced by major French production companies (Pathé, Gaumont, Eclectic, and Éclair) in the early 1900s (Bébé, Bout-de-Zan, Willy, and the Maria Fromet series) were received with such interest by global audiences. This period, prior to World War I, was a brief era when French cinema held significant hegemony worldwide, before Hollywood's dominance began. There are ideas suggesting that child film stars emerged with American cinema. Contrary to this, however, French producers competed fiercely in the 10 years following 1906, producing series featuring child film stars. Substantial budgets were allocated for the marketing of these series, ultimately gaining a considerable fan base not only in Europe but also in America. When examining these film stars from the early 20th century within their historical context, they emerge as the first international child stars with international fame and financial success, unlike child musicians, vaudeville artists, and theater actors from the 18th and 19th centuries. Inspired by the field analysis of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this article aims to establish a connection between the struggles within the field and the symbolic needs of the audience as reflected in the content of child star films. The films were viewed at the Eye Film Museum archive.
]]>In this article, we bring together a variety of studies, both old and new, to examine continuity and change in population dynamics in Italy during the medieval millennium (476–1492 AD). Though the available data are often sporadic and should be interpreted with great caution, it is possible to clarify certain dynamics, which can be useful for guiding future research. First, population fluctuations were not impacted by migration into or out of Italy. Second, medieval Italy was characterized by a high-pressure demographic regime: e 0 was around 20 years, with high adult mortality, and the birth rate was around 50 per mill. Third, despite high mortality, the Italian population grew (+50 percent) from the ninth century to 1347, mainly—but not exclusively—due to the absence of plague. Fourth, the stagnant population of the periods between the sixth and the eighth centuries and the 14th and 16th centuries was determined by the recurrent outbreaks of plague. Fifth, the population stagnation during the first and the last medieval centuries is also partly related to the increase in age at first marriage, while the demographic growth between the ninth and mid-14th century is possibly connected to the decrease in age at first marriage among women. Sixth, the vitality of the medieval Italian population was partly ensured by a high rate of remarriage among widows. Seventh, data on statures show that mortality levels were determined by epidemic factors, rather than living standards. Finally, when the plague ceased in Europe in the middle of the Early Modern Age, adult survival was significantly higher than in the ancient and medieval centuries, despite the fact that neither hygienic-sanitary nor epidemiological conditions, and certainly not nutrition, were better than in the centuries preceding the Black Death.
]]>This article aims to determine the extent of “personalization” and “de-institutionalization” within the Conservative Party in Britain during the period 1940–1945 when the Party was under the leadership of Winston Churchill.
The article examines the different dimensions of “personalization” and “de-institutionalization” as defined by Harmel, Svåsand, and Mjelde in this special edition. To do so, it uses a variety of sources including: internal party records, memoirs and biographies, contemporaneous diaries, letters to party leaders, and survey research undertaken by the organization Mass Observation.
The article identified that a limited degree of personalization took place during the period. This was largely in relation to the movement away from existing internal policy and procedures, especially those to do with electioneering. Evidence regarding other dimensions was mixed with a notable lack of change in the perceptions other parties and their leaders held about the Conservative Party.
The article suggests that the personalization that occurred within the Party was largely a product of necessity, notably the unpopularity of the Conservative “brand” during World War II, compared to Churchill's own personal popularity, as well as the disruptions caused by the war itself. The article argues that this was enabled, to an extent, by the already high degree of latitude that the Conservative Party afforded its leaders. At the same time, the article notes the way in which defeat at the 1945 general election led to the Conservative Party “snapping back” to its pre-war highly institutionalized form. Both findings highlight the extent to which electoral calculations were central to the process of personalization and its subsequent reverse.
]]>The question of a declining non-Hispanic white (NHW) population has sparked debate in the United States. In examining this question, three bodies of research have emerged. One group reports that the decline is real, a second argues that it is an illusion, and the third provides evidence that the decline is concentrated within socio-economic segments of the NHW population. We use the third groups’ insight as the starting point for our research objective.
In conjunction with data from Census Bureau sources, we use a series of Regression Models in this inquiry.
Our results show that the decline of the NHW population is real and related to factors embedded in the institutional anomie theory (IAT) framework.
We conclude that the IAT framework is a suitable approach for examining the question of NHW population decline. However, we suggest that future research consider refining our approach by: (1) using sub-state areas as the units of analyses; (2) examining changes in the NHW population relative to lagged changes in the IAT framework at both the state and sub-state levels; (3) placing our framework into an “algorithmic modeling approach” that employs machine learning; and (4) developing anomie predictors.
]]>This study investigates the impact of remittances on the shadow economy and how domestic institutions, particularly property rights, moderate this relationship.
We employed a quantitative research method using panel data from developing countries from 1990 to 2018. We adopted both fixed-effects and instrumental variable approaches to address possible endogeneity concerns between remittances and the shadow economy.
The results demonstrate that remittances are positively associated with the shadow economy's size. However, this positive effect is weaker in countries with strong property rights institutions. These findings remain robust across alternative measures of key variables and estimation techniques.
The results suggest that foreign income in the form of remittances is an important determinant of the shadow economy in recipient countries. We believe that exploring the relationship between foreign sources of income and the decisions of economic actors to enter specific sectors warrants further investigation.
]]>In this article, I examine the definition of resistance given by a favela woman from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—Lucia Cabral—and its epistemological potential for urban theory. From a feminist, postcolonial and decolonial point of view, I argue that Lucia's definition of resistance entails an insightful framework to understand urban transformations, because she shifts the question of ‘what they are’ to ‘where they stream from’. I build on my situated position and inter-relationality with Lucia to argue that, first, urban transformations, which I here refer to as forms of urbanization, can and often do come from the favela; secondly, that these forms of urbanization derive from situated and translocated-ing Amefrican epistemologies; and thirdly, that women's bodies constitute, in many cases, the very basis of urban futurities in the favelas. I look into embodied forms of urbanization to conclude that it is possible to see, feel, sense and nurture forms of future-thinking and -building that I here call Amefrican futurities, for they emerge from the specific subjectivities and praxis of women living in the favelas.
]]>This article examines a nascent phenomenon in which a cluster of digital platforms mimicking popular Chinese apps has popped up in various cities in the United Kingdom (UK). They have been eagerly adopted by a strong clientele composed mainly of Chinese international students and young working migrants from China. Drawing on data we gathered from the British city of Manchester, one of the most popular destinations for Chinese international students, we propose the concept of home virtuality to illustrate how Chinese student migrants’ frequent surfing of these Chinese-style digital platforms has created a ‘virtual home’ that is quite reminiscent of the platformized lifestyle in China, and that thus offers them a sense of connection to home. We argue that this ‘home virtuality’ does not only imply a virtual connection but is also a home environment materialized through the familiar app services of the new Chinese platform businesses in the UK.
]]>As cities develop more and longer-range external relations, some have challenged the long-standing notion that population size indicates a city's power in its urban system. But are population size and network centrality really independent properties in practice, or do larger cities tend to be more central in urban networks? To answer this question, we conducted a systematic literature search and meta-analysed 41 reported correlations between city size and degree centrality. The results show that population size and degree centrality are significantly and positively correlated for cities across various urban systems (r = 0.77), but the correlation varies by network scale and type. The size-centrality association is weaker for global economic and transportation networks (r = 0.43), and stronger for non-global social and communication networks (r = 0.91). This clarifies seemingly contradictory predictions in the literature regarding the association betweensize and centrality for cities.
]]>The proliferation of diasporas has expanded the intricate web of political relations on a global scale. Transnationality has increasingly replaced methodological nationalism, and relationality blurred diaspora's boundaries. This article argues for framing diasporas as socio-material assemblages to capture the political agency of diasporas in action in a transnational space. This highlights diasporas’ ability to forge their transnational political actorness and to expand their power of attractiveness. By tracing ideas and things behind the essential task of representing the homeland, this research explores the connections of the Kurdish freedom movement in Europe, making three main arguments. First, it outlines the existence of transnational infrastructures of solidarity, which highlight a multi-ethnic plurality at work. Second, it illuminates the diasporas’ role in the south–north flow of knowledge and political influence. Third, the article examines the desire which stabilizes the assemblage and makes the circulation of ideas possible and smooth.
]]>Transnational studies emphasize the continuous social presence of transnationally mobile people in their countries of origin. However, some of these individuals will disappear, bringing affective turmoil and uncertainty to the families left behind. Although research has focused on political indifference towards undocumented missing migrants, the effects of other mobility regimes on disappearances remain understudied. I explore patterns of Polish transnational disappearance. Poles as European Union citizens occupy a space of privileged mobility. Yet, I argue, they are also susceptible to disappearance and institutional disregard. I analyse four categories of Polish transnationally missing: temporary migrant workers, settled migrants, truck drivers and tourists. I show that each category carries a specific mobile status and an associated perception of vulnerability and traceability, both of which affect the governance of the search. The stratified reaction to Polish disappearances reflects a global mobility hierarchy and exemplifies the exclusionary practices of transnational governance.
]]>Building on previous research, this study investigates the international migration network and its changes from 1990 to 2017. The findings suggest that certain core countries play pivotal roles in shaping global migration by providing economic opportunities or political refuge. Community detection identified nine groups of nations in 2017, indicating regionalization. The study also examined the networks of antecedent factors that reflect both structural factors, such as geography, language, colonial history, political stability and economic differences, as well as transnational interactions, including student flow, trade, Internet flow and remittance, in relation to the international migration network. Applying multiple regression quadratic assignment procedure, it was found that these networks constituted approximately 11% of the migration network's distribution when chain migration was excluded, and 16.5% when it was included.
]]>This article introduces a novel transnational family configuration (TNFC) approach to study the diversity of family forms across kinship and geographical boundaries. Integrating theoretical insights from family sociology and transnational family research, it examines contemporary families as personal networks that encompass both subjectively identified and potentially transnationally dispersed kin and non-kin members. Drawing on original survey data and in-depth interviews with adults aged 55+ living in Switzerland, it compares migrants’ and non-migrants’ personal family networks. The results indicate that these networks are both diverse and transnational. Although there is a strong correlation between transnationality and migration background, other life-course factors also contribute to the development of transnational family networks beyond the scope of migrant ‘exceptionalism’. By advocating the adoption of a TNFC approach to the study of contemporary families, in diverse population groups and various cultural contexts, this study paves the way for future research in this area.
]]>Over the last two decades, a growing literature has examined the emergence of a transnational business elite. However, the pathways of transnational mobility have not been fully characterized. In this article, we use a combination of sequence analysis and the concept of a career script to investigate the geographical mapping and organizational contexts in which transnational mobility occurs. To achieve this, we rely on a database of 186 executives from the 28 largest Swiss banks, as well as 20 interviews with chief human resource officers and 15 interviews with banking executives. Our findings contribute to relativize and differentiate the phenomenon of transnationalization of business elites by underlining the importance of the career context and by identifying distinct interpretations of international career resources according to different types of banks.
]]>The global production network (GPN) 2.0 framework mainly considers the organizational capabilities of lead firms, neglecting the influence of supplier capabilities on the strategic making of lead firms. I argue that the GPN 2.0 framework must integrate the influence of supplier capabilities (both industrial and individual firm levels) to better explain the organization of the global economy. Industrial-level capability determines the possible strategic choices that firms may make under certain dynamic combinations, whereas the individual firm level determines the geographic extension direction of GPNs. Therefore, this study incorporates the influence of suppliers and builds a more flexible strategy-making causal mechanism other than the definitive and limiting causal mechanism in GPN 2.0. I hope this article can promote the further development of GPN 2.0 and convey some valuable concepts to make it perform better in deconstructing the organization of the global economy in the real world.
]]>In the past two decades, Australia has shifted from being a settler nation that promoted state-supported permanent migration to one where the scale and relative importance of temporary migration schemes have grown significantly. In 2017, Australia was the second largest issuing country of temporary visa permits after the United States, with temporary migrants applying, on average, for 3.3 temporary visas and spending 6.4 years in this multi-step visa journey to achieve permanent residency . As part of a broader research project on the social implications of temporary migration programs, we examine how Argentine temporary migrants exchange care to navigate temporary visa restrictions and the permanent temporariness in which they live. Our central argument is that transnational and local expressions, practices, and processes of care are co-constituted in particularistic temporary migrant care configurations that facilitate prolonged migration projects and continuity of care over time, despite the precarity that permanent temporariness brings. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork among Argentine temporary migrants, we illustrate the dynamics in which economic, accommodation, personal, practical, emotional and moral care is exchanged. The findings reveal the central role that transnational economic and practical as well as local, including local virtual, proximity care has in the everyday lives of Argentine temporary migrants. Ironically, their fragile temporariness may be an incentive to develop local support networks or maintain strong transnational ties to survive living in limbo.
]]>This paper examines how latecomer firms manage to achieve industrial upgrading through strategic coupling with global lead firms in automotive production networks. Drawing upon the example of the Guangzhou Automotive Corporation in southern China, this paper theorizes ‘cross-scalar tension’ as a key factor to explain why the four cases of strategic coupling between lead firms, the same domestic firm and state ended in different results, from decoupling to a sustainable coupling with local upgrading. This paper contributes to the pertinent literature by demonstrating that cross-scalar tension is inherent to the nature of global production networks, and unreconciled tension concerning different corporate strategies on technological transfer, localization and product development could lead to decoupling. Importantly, good coordination and matching on corporate strategies between lead and domestic firms could relieve cross-scalar tensions, thus fostering local industrial upgrading and sustainable strategic coupling.
]]>International student mobility (ISM) is largely interpreted as a global middle-class capital accumulation strategy. Cosmopolitanism, which is the named outcome and effect of these mobile forms of social and cultural capital, is therefore disproportionately available to already privileged students. This study moves beyond this prevailing interpretation by examining how students from working- or lower-middle-class families with limited resources in Global South countries combine bottom-up cosmopolitanism with educational mobility to get selected into highly competitive spaces, such as the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, the most prestigious educational and cultural program in the United States. Based on 20 in-depth interviews with successful Fulbright applicants and participant observation, my findings suggest that working- and lower-middle-class applicants are largely successful because of their cosmopolitan dispositions which they cultivate in creative and agentive ways. This article adds texture and complexity to existing discussions on middle-class hegemony in ISM and cosmopolitan subject-making.
]]>Australia's 2018 introduction of the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS) broadened the scope and duration of labour mobility pathways available to Pacific Island countries. Although longer term temporary migration schemes like the PLS expand livelihood opportunities for migrant households, they also create challenges related to the maintenance of personal relationships and care practices during transnational family separation. Though pressing concerns for Pacific Island governments, these issues have received little scholarly attention. Drawing on in-depth interviews with migrants and their households in Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu, this article offers some preliminary insights into the way gender norms intersect with the reorganization of socially reproductive labour during migration. Findings indicate that women were disproportionately involved in the performance of additional unpaid care work within migrant households adjusting to transnational family life, but also suggest that women's participation in labour mobility may offer nascent opportunities to increase financial autonomy and social standing through the act of ‘remitting care’.
]]>Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major criminal, social and public health problem. As one effort to prevent IPV and intimate partner homicide, several countries have adopted legislation requiring professionals to disclose IPV to the authorities (commonly referred to as mandatory reporting). The child welfare service (CWS) is centrally positioned for detecting, reporting and preventing IPV, but there is limited empirical knowledge concerning how the service handles IPV cases or of social workers' awareness of mandatory reporting of IPV. Using qualitative interviews, we explore how CWS workers in Norway describe their discretionary space and mandatory obligations towards adults subjected to IPV. Our findings indicate an inexpedient interplay between understandings of professional mandate and individual responsibility and local routines and organisation and insufficient knowledge about IPV and mandatory reporting. We suggest that a reframing of CWS workers' understanding of their discretionary space is needed to ensure that their individual responsibility towards adults subjected to IPV is understood as part of their mandate. This reframing presupposes structural efforts, such as formal training. We propose further investigations concerning how local organisation and routines either facilitate or interfere with systematic and thorough handling of IPV in families with which the municipal CWS meets.
]]>Social dominance orientation (SDO) refers to the degree to which people support the superiority of an ingroup over outgroups and oppose equality. It has been consistently found to be a strong predictor of negative attitudes toward disadvantaged groups. Therefore, understanding the factors that predict SDO might be the first step in reducing negative attitudes toward these groups and promoting equality. The purpose of this study is to examine whether childhood experiences of being a victim of social rejection can predict SDO in adulthood. An additional goal is to examine whether empathic concern and resilience can mediate this association. Using a quantitative method, a questionnaire that tested social rejection during school years, SDO, empathic concern, and resilience was administered to 589 Israeli adults. In accordance with the hypotheses, social rejection was found to be a predictor of SDO after adjusting for gender and religion, mediated by empathic concern and resilience. The findings of the current study contribute to social dominance theory since they demonstrate for the first time that social rejection at school has direct and indirect effects on SDO through empathic concern and resilience.
]]>In light of the recent conceptual debate about the administrative burdens framework, this article introduces the ‘bureaucratic sludge framework’ as a complementary theoretical approach for social policy and public administration research. The framework enable researchers to pursue novel research questions about for instance the interplay between administrative procedures, informal bureaucratic practices and public employees' experiences of strain and thus addresses a conceptual gap in the field. The article presents a non-normative conceptualisation, proposing a typology of bureaucratic tasks—information seeking, assessment, implementation, and emotional labour—that may impose cognitive-affective strain. Finally, a research agenda is outlined, and the bureaucratic task typology is proposed as a conceptual point of departure for researchers to empirically explore and audit practical instances of bureaucratic sludge in their contexts to further theorise and advance our understanding of the phenomenon. Social welfare is considered as an especially fruitful context within which to pursue this research agenda.
]]>With 72% of Vietnamese households using the Internet after Vietnam first had access in November 1997, the traditional culture of parent–child communication within families in particular has been significantly influenced by the arrival of this technology. This paper presents a mixed-method study that surveyed 464 parent–child dyads, conducted 30 in-depth interviews and 6 group discussions held in three major cities across Vietnam. The results demonstrate how the parents and their children use the Internet and recognize the influence of this technology on their communication. It is apparent that despite the old ways of a top-down or hierarchical relationship in traditional homes, parent–child communication is moving in the direction of a more equal and open manner despite some disparities in the understanding and respecting of each other's emotions and perspectives due to conflicts created by generational gaps and cultural understandings. The positive and negative impacts of the Internet on parent and child communication are acknowledged, but this study advocates for a change from informal communication rules related to Internet usage and suggests developing a professional system that supports parents and children to manage the parent–child communication issues and challenges more effectively.
]]>A plethora of government- and non-government actors are involved in the labour market integration of highly skilled refugees, forming a complex “system” that is difficult to navigate for integration actors and refugees. Based on interviews with 32 labour market integration actors in Sweden, this article examines multi-level governance gaps in the wake of the simultaneous centralization and decentralization of labour market preparation services. It examines various “steps” in the labour market integration process to gain a more holistic perspective of “the system”, and identifies governance gaps in each step. The article finds that the devolution of services has opened up participatory spaces for non-government actors, but narrowly defined mandates and short-term funding mechanisms hamper cooperation within and between territorial levels of policy implementation.
]]>The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions imposed in the UK had a significant impact on social work practice with children and young people. As has been widely reported, practitioners were deprived of multisensory information in their assessments and of opportunities to connect with children. In this article, we consider data from Scotland, created through interviews with practitioners during May 2021, a time of tentative optimism between periods of widespread lockdown. The Scottish policy context offers particular tensions and contrasts through which to understand how practice was impacted by physical distancing measures. Just prior to the beginning of pandemic restrictions, in February 2020, the report of Scotland's Independent Care Review, The Promise, was published and emphasized the importance of love, nurture, and care for children. The Promise encouraged professionals to ‘bring their whole selves to work’ and to relate to families in ways that are natural, and not constrained by ideas of professionalism. The following month, the country was in a national lockdown with strict restrictions on the contact workers could have with families. Drawing on data from practitioners working in this context, we aim to explore how social workers reconceptualized direct work with children during this period.
]]>This article examines the history of the National Health Service from the perspective of the ‘crises’ it has experienced almost continuously since its foundation in 1948. Three themes are examined: scientific revolution, professional bodies, and, especially, political economy. A concluding discussion suggests that there is scope for rethinking how we envisage the NHS, and the ends it pursues.
]]>The trade conflicts between the United States and China have significantly disrupted global trade and economic growth. In today's globalized economy where the production of goods and services spans across multiple nations, these disputes have far-reaching consequences that extend beyond the involved parties and impact the broader global economy.
We examine the effects of the U.S.-China trade disputes on multinational investment patterns in China and Southeast Asia.
Using a dynamic compositional approach, we analyze data on firm-level greenfield foreign direct investment.
We observe European firms increasing their investments in China to enhance market penetration, while American firms are withdrawing, redirecting their focus toward Southeast Asia to mitigate dependence on the Chinese market.
This shift highlights broader international business strategy trends amid geopolitical and economic changes. The results indicate significant transformations in global supply chains, shedding light on the extensive effects of U.S.–China trade tensions on global economic equilibrium and how these tensions are reshaping international investment and supply chain dynamics.
]]>Institutions of higher education have faced increasing pressure to comply with federal regulations and reform their response to campus sexual assault. This study explores institutions of higher education employees’ perceptions on whether decoupling, or organizational resistance to change, is associated with the number and timing of campus sexual assault reforms adopted. Early captured reforms instituted before the “Dear Colleague Letter” in 2011, mid included reforms instituted after the Dear Colleague Letter in 2011 but before the 2015–2016 academic year and during the period of heightened attention to campus sexual assault, and late which included reforms instituted during or after the 2015–2016 academic year. A web-based survey of institutions of higher education employees familiar with sexual assault policy implementation on their campuses asked about types of reforms, timing, decoupling, and campus characteristics. Correlations and t-tests were run to examine the types of reforms across time periods, and regression assessed the degree to which decoupling was associated with the number and timing of reforms. Higher decoupling was associated with fewer reforms in the early period and more in the late period, though not with the overall number of reforms adopted. Findings highlight the importance of understanding factors that influence change on campuses.
]]>Online platform work is an emerging field of non-standard employment. Up to now, there has been little knowledge of the perspective of online platform workers on social protection and regulation. We provide quantitative data (n = 1727) on their needs for support and on their employment status preferences. Given the heterogeneity of German-speaking online platform workers, we have conducted a cluster analysis to group workers according to task length, hourly wage, working hours and experience on online platforms. Most of the respondents are solo-self-employed and hybrid workers. They prefer support instruments that improve their skills and income over those that aim to strengthen their rights. The majority of platform workers are in favour of working outside of platforms. The study also shows that despite the low dependence on platform income, the actual poverty risk is relatively high.
]]>Research on pension generosity has so far used employees in standard employment as the reference point, ignoring nonstandard forms of employment such as the self-employed. Moreover, as one of the major concepts of welfare state analysis, generosity has not been considered in research on the old-age security of the self-employed. Hence, there is a ‘missing link’ between the two strands in the literature. This paper aims to close this research gap by analysing the differences between 12 European welfare states regarding the generosity of old-age pensions for the self-employed. Based on the degree of strictness of access and benefit level, a typology is developed that results in four types of generosity: high generosity, low generosity, basic security and selective generosity.
]]>This paper explores the career development process of women in postwar Japan who belonged to the Shufuren (the Association of Consumer Organization), the homemakers' federation, and who became experts in everyday life through studying and researching to improve their lives. It analyzes the organizational chart, hours and fundings for activities, details of activities, formation of the cooperative relationships, and career development of the leaders. The women who gathered at the Shufuren studied and researched the issues that arose in daily lives. By accumulating survey and research data and presenting scientific evidence, they made requests and proposals for improvements to the Diet, governments, and industries. Through these activities, they contributed to establish laws and systems protecting consumer rights. The women also developed partnerships with other civic groups in sharing current social issues. They expanded the circle of the movement and asserted their demands to the Diet, government agencies, industries, and the public. The members grew as experts in everyday life by steadily building their careers with passion for daily activities. Their activities were not limited to the Shufuren; some women went beyond the Shufuren to become leaders of organizations. Conventionally, homemakers are viewed as not having career development aspirations. When discussing women's career development in Japan, attention has focused on career development through work and balancing work and family life. However, the activities and steps taken by the female members of the Shufuren to improve their lives should also be considered a form of career development.
]]>This article explores the relationship between United Kingdom (UK) public law and ‘regimes of dispossession’, taking the Chagos Archipelago as its point of departure. This article argues that this instance of dispossession, typically understood as fortifying the military power of the United States, was also part of a wider geography of states dispossessing land for a specific set of economic purposes that were tied to particular class interests. Deploying a relational geographies of materialist public law approach, the article reconceptualizes the scales of public law, extending an examination of its effects and constitution beyond the territory of the UK, and considers public law's relation to capitalism, exploring the ways in which its technologies (re)produce regimes of dispossession. The article argues that the dispossession of the Chagos Archipelago was an example of ‘executive robbery’, a racialized dispossession (produced through conferring displaceability and disposability on the Chagossians) enacted to construct military infrastructure that was key for accumulation in the Middle East.
]]>This article is a contribution to the occasional series dealing with a major book that has influenced the author. Previous contributors include Stewart Macaulay, John Griffith, William Twining, Carol Harlow, Geoffrey Bindman, Harry Arthurs, André-Jean Arnaud, Alan Hunt, Michael Adler, Lawrence O. Gostin, John P. Heinz, Roger Brownsword, Roger Cotterrell, Nicola Lacey, Carol J. Greenhouse, David Garland, Peter Fitzpatrick, David Nelken, Lynn Mather, and Terence C. Halliday.
]]>This article advances sociological work on globalization processes. It concerns itself with conceptualizations of how the local and global ‘clash’, utilizing Ulrich Beck's work on globalization, cosmopolitanism and power. By employing Brazil's 2014 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) men's World Cup as a case, this article seeks to build on Beck's theorizations, into the field of football; using the General Law of the World Cup as a symbolic representation for the global/local, interest-driven interactions between Brazil and FIFA. In particular, this article is concerned with how FIFA's requirements, standards and norms, as imposed on the host nation, were framed within local media and journalistic discourses. The article extends Beck's insights by problematizing how global demands meet local socio-spatial, legal and cultural contexts and how these demands, seeking to regulate and secure consumption, are resisted by various domestic and localized actors situated within a power game.
]]>The collapse of the USSR in late 1991 inspired social science research on levels, patterns, and trends in inequality within Russia, due to theoretical interest in how market transition affects social stratification. The start of the Putin regime in 2000 marked a new era in Russia's post-Soviet political economic trajectory: in contrast to the 1990s, the economy first took off, then stagnated, while the state rolled back institutions of democracy and civic freedoms. In short, Russia became a consolidated market economy under authoritarian rule. In this context research has continued to produce insights into social stratification. The labor market featured high levels of employment but with downward wage flexibility, modest decreases in earnings inequality, and persistent returns to education, gender wage gaps, and locality-based differences. Waves of labor migration to Russia, resurgent traditional gender norms, shrinking population, housing inequality, health disparities, and a small contingent of ultra-rich represent additional noteworthy developments. Although market transition is no longer an intriguing theoretical lens through which to view social stratification in Russia, the topic nonetheless holds broader theoretical interest because inequality became closely intertwined with Russia's political economy, social policies, and geopolitical actions, including those that culminated in Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.
]]>This article analyzes the monument-building and meaning-making processes in the construction of the Statues of Peace erected to commemorate the Korean “Comfort Women.” The tensions surrounding the erection of the Statues of Peace did not stop with their installation, as people then started to place different objects on the statues. This article uses actor-network theory (ANT) to shed light on the formation that this has involved of a new representational and cultural politics.
First, archival research was conducted to understand current issues involving both ANT and the Statues of Peace. Participant observations and semistructured interviews with NGOs were conducted.
I look at the afterlife of the Statues of Peace in cases involving not only destruction or restoration but also smaller acts of support or subversion. New material quality and meanings were formed by these actions.
I show that ANT is a useful framework for understanding the representational complexity surrounding public monuments and their reception.
]]>Self-employed individuals faced numerous challenges amid the global health and economic crisis that was the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, rural and urban workers faced different challenges during the pandemic. This rural–urban disparity further complicates the impacts of self-employment and exacerbates inequalities resulting from gender, race, ethnicity, or immigration status. This study examines the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic across these categories in the United States using Current Population Survey data from May 2020 to May 2022. Comparing the wage and self-employment sectors across rural and urban areas, I examine the effects of individual, business, and geographic characteristics on the probability of work stoppages due to the health crisis. The analysis reveals that recovery from the pandemic was delayed among the self-employed, while additional education and full-time employment status can reduce work interruptions for these workers, as does working in select industries. Findings suggest that rural and urban minorities are more likely to face pandemic-related work disruptions, with key differences between formal and informal self-employment sectors. Specifically, self-employed Asians/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans were more adversely affected in rural areas. The study concludes with several policy and program recommendations to assist vulnerable workers, especially in the rural self-employment sector.
]]>In the times of neoliberal policies, care managers work as gatekeepers to different elder care services. In this study, we examined how care managers categorise older adults' life situations in relation to needs for gerontological social work. Our data consisted of focus group interviews with 19 care managers working in different parts of Finland and were analysed by category analysis. The results show that processing older adults as clients of social work is not unambiguous. The Finnish legislation does not offer a solid foundation for defining the complex needs of older adults in everyday practices of care managers, but abuse and several coincident support needs were recognised as criteria for social work services. Importantly, ethical issues concerning sensitive situations and the self-determination of older adults were categorised as situations where social work is needed. This sets high expectations for the ethical expertise of social work in elder care.
]]>It is often claimed Scotland is more social democratic in outlook compared to England, if this is the case then we might expect to find differences in public attitudes towards health and social justice, reflecting the growing health policy divergence between the two nations. Comparative attitudes towards healthcare in Scotland and England are worthy of close scrutiny here, given the different reform trajectories, with the running of the Scottish NHS based on professionalism and the English NHS structure built on market-based principles. The Scottish Government also implemented stricter lockdown restrictions compared to the UK Government in England. However, the extent to which the policy responses to the pandemic reflect different attitudes towards collective public health action in the two countries remains under-researched. In this article, public attitudes towards health in Scotland are compared with those in England. The comparative analysis relies primarily on survey data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) module on health and healthcare. This survey was fielded in Scotland and England in the autumn of 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, Scotland is more solidaristic or ‘social democratic’ than England on key issues relating to public health action and social justice. The findings reveal some commonalities between the nations, confidence in the NHS during the pandemic, and a willingness to improve the health service via higher taxes for example, but also important differences in attitudes and preferences for state action exist that help set the scene for greater policy divergence in the UK.
]]>This article explores the paradoxical nature of beauty consultant careers in Japan. Despite being considered a “woman-friendly” occupation, it reveals the challenging aspects of this profession in a neoliberal context. Japan's gender gap in employment is stark, with women often engaged in precarious positions, earning significantly less than men. The beauty industry, perceived as advancing women's empowerment, presents opportunities for women in management roles. However, the profession of a beauty consultant demands continuous beauty upkeep, making it a potentially unsustainable career. The research draws on interviews with former and current beauty consultants, supplemented by statistical data and observational research. It highlights their working environment, including entry requirements, training, career advancement, and aesthetic labor demands such as wearing company uniforms, using specific makeup, and maintaining a youthful appearance. Despite a seemingly supportive environment with maternity leave and career advancement prospects, the research reveals the reality of aesthetic labor demands, limited career progression, and challenges faced by women in sustaining their careers after life events like childbirth. Neoliberal norms impact these women, emphasizing self-fulfillment, maintaining youth and beauty, and working post life events. In conclusion, the research offers insights into the gendered labor dynamics in Japan and broadens understanding of women's labor in the neoliberal context. It calls for a deeper examination of “woman-friendly” workplaces and underscores the need to recognize the challenges women face in career progression in such environments.
]]>Most children who receive pocket money have no idea how to manage it as they have never been taught financial literacy. However, the existing literature does not focus on the level of financial education and guidance children receive or the degree to which parents supervise their children in making decisions about pocket money. This research aims to fill the gap. This study focuses on the financial decisions of children aged 12–16, comparing 105 parent–child dyads in which the child gets pocket money to 101 parent–child dyads in which the child does not get pocket money. The study's results demonstrate that, unlike previous studies, getting pocket money has no impact on children's excessive consumption of fast food and sweets, whereas society's impact on children's consumer decisions increases when they are given pocket money. In contrast, if children believe their parents make good financial decisions and if parents share the household financial decisions with them, children will make better financial decisions themselves. In addition, consistent with previous research, girls – more than boys – see themselves as influenced by their friends in the context of consumer decisions and perceive of themselves as excessive consumers. Implications for parents as well as government policy are discussed.
]]>Child labour is a complex social problem worldwide, affecting the physical, moral and educational development of children. A cross sectional quantitative survey research design was used to assess child labour in quarrying activities of the Ga West Municipality, Ghana. The municipality was selected due to evidence in literature of children engaging in quarrying activities. The study examined child labour occurrence and intensity, the working condition of child labourers in the stone quarries; factors influencing child labour in quarrying activities; and the impact of quarrying activities on children. Data which were analysed using probit model and descriptive statistics indicated a negative effect of stone quarry activity on the development, growth and education of the child. Significant influencers were poverty, attitude and poor perception of parents, broken homes, traditional belief systems and migration. The study recommends offering educational support, grants and essential resources to vulnerable households in order to ensure that children remain in school.
]]>Understanding more about the discharge of care orders is vital—whether a care order remains in place has significant implications for children and their families and for local authorities. While there has been comprehensive research about the process and outcomes of care proceedings, much less is known about the discharge of care orders—particularly how, why and when care orders are ended and the differences between applications that are granted and those that are not. The present study combined data from an anonymized administrative data on discharge applications, a detailed analysis of children's e-records and qualitative interviews with family justice professionals to create the first detailed profile of discharge applications across England and Wales. This paper reports, for the first time, the number of discharge applications and outcomes across England and Wales, highlighting regional as well as between-country variation. Drawing on data from children's e-records and interviews with professionals, highlighting how and why local authorities are more likely to submit discharge applications, and to have applications granted, than parents. Recommendations are made for how to adapt professional practice and policy around discharge applications to better meet the needs of children and families.
]]>To explore predictors of variations in White parents’ racial socialization messages, we collected data on racial socialization practices, attributions for racial inequalities, and views about White privilege from White parents of White children between the ages of 10 and 14 (N = 194). After controlling for education and political ideology, endorsement of external attributions for racial inequality was related to sending more frequent messages about awareness of racism and White privilege, whereas endorsement of internal attributions was related to sending more frequent messages about colorblindness and preparation for bias. Further, beliefs about White privilege were associated with socialization regarding awareness of racism and acknowledgment of White privilege and negatively related to colorblind and preparation for bias messages. Results highlight the ways in which White parents’ racial socialization approaches reflect underlying views of race and racism.
]]>As long as welfare arrangements have been in existence, there has been a strong belief that high-benefit generosity leads to welfare reliance. In this study, we investigate whether an increase in welfare generosity in Norway resulted in higher social assistance (SA) uptake and decreased engagement in paid work. By utilizing high-quality administrative data and employing a difference-in-difference design, we find no overall effects on SA or work activity. However, we do observe a significant reduction in work activity and an increase in SA for specific predefined high-risk groups, which are believed to be particularly responsive to financial incentives. Thus, we discover evidence of unfavorable effects for child families, non-Western immigrants, and the combined group of non-Western immigrant child families. These latter findings are interpreted in light of the particular socioeconomic circumstances of these groups.
]]>Non-standard employment (NSE) is well-documented in the domestic sector in all European countries. The precariousness and poor working conditions of this sector reflect in a labour force composed by the most vulnerable layers of the labour market, namely, migrant women. This article analyses how and to what extent a macro-level factor, that is, the gender regime (resulting from the interplay of gender equality and gendered social norms) interacts with micro-level individual and occupational characteristics to shape the prevalence of NSE in the domestic sector in Europe. We use the 2019 EU-LFS data and run a set of logistic regression analyses. Our results show that NSE is a defining feature of domestic sector, and that migrant women are at a higher risk of being in this type of employment, especially in destination countries where gender equality is relatively lower and expectations concerning care and family responsibilities are more traditional.
]]>This article explores trust in organisations by analysing interview data from students and staff who have disclosed or reported gender-based violence and harassment (GBVH) to their higher education institution in the UK since 2016. GBVH contributes to gender inequality in higher education (HE), and increased reporting of it may not only help prevent GBVH, but also improve gender equality by helping to retain women and gender minorities within HE. Around half of the interviewees in this study (n = 12) expressed distrust in their institution, yet despite this they still reported or disclosed their experiences to their institution. Existing literature in this area, particularly the concept of institutional betrayal, assumes that survivors of GBVH trust their institutions—including HE institutions—because they are dependent upon said institutions. Our data challenges this assumption, and in this article, we analyse participants' trust orientations in the context of their reasons for reporting. We argue that dependence on and trust in institutions are separate phenomena, in that members of an organisation may be dependent upon the organisation in various ways, but their trust in the organisation reflects their structural positioning within it. To develop the theorisation of trust in institutional betrayal, we draw on and extend Luhmann's concept of ‘system trust’ as well as other sociological theories of trust. Finally, the article introduces the concept of ‘unwilling trust’—a contradiction between an individual acting in trusting ways despite feeling a lack of trust—to explain this disconnect between dispositions and actions.
]]>This study examines the influence of race, ethnicity, and immigration on dining experiences through the lens of online customer reviews in Syracuse, New York. Using advanced computational techniques, it explores the nuances of food consumption patterns and their connection to interactions and relationships both within and between migrant and non-migrant communities. The analysis encompasses reviews of 237 restaurants representing eight distinct types of cuisine, revealing a contrast between themes of authenticity in immigrant cuisine and familiarity in mainstream options. This highlights the intricacies of the “food social space” in American culture. Additionally, the study investigates cross-cuisine visitation patterns, uncovering specific preferences across ethnic restaurants and offering new perspectives on theories of cultural omnivory and social stratification. This research marks a significant contribution to sociological studies in the age of big data, shedding light on how dining experiences are framed across different cuisines and the wider implications for restaurateurs and urban communities. Future research could extend to comparing reviews from diverse cities and contrasting online reviews with traditional restaurant critiques, thereby deepening the understanding of the food industry's dynamics and the complexities of diverse urban communities.
]]>This article examines the issue of child labor exploitation on YouTube through the phenomenon of “kidfluencers” - children who create video content and gain a large following on the platform. It discusses kidfluencing within the framework of digital capitalism and platform capitalism, where companies monetize users' data. While kidfluencing can allow children to be creative and gain income, it also risks exploiting their labor and compromising their privacy and well-being. The article analyzes several popular kidfluencer YouTube channels and finds that some children are producing content in a way that resembles intense work. It highlights how digital capitalism leads to the commodification and alienation of digital labor. While kidfluencers benefit platforms and brands through promotion, they may not receive fair compensation for their efforts. The involvement of parents also raises issues about children's autonomy and protection. Overall, the article argues that while kidfluencing seems like casual play, in some cases it amounts to a hidden form of child labor that fails to uphold children's rights. It calls for stronger regulations to ensure kidfluencers are not subject to exploitation of their immaterial labor.
]]>Sport plays a significant role in shaping social life, the health of the nation and the development of regions. Studying the impact of the sports industry on the quality of life and regional development can help to better understand how sports influence the social, economic and cultural aspects of people's lives.
This study aimed to investigate the impact of the sports industry on the quality of life and human development in developed and developing countries by analyzing the correlation and modeling of recognized world indices.
The research employed correlation analysis, regression analysis, and scenario modeling, utilizing publicly available international indices to determine the level of impact of sports on the country's development indicators. While investment in sports development may not be a straightforward decision for developing countries facing socio-economic challenges, the study demonstrated the long-term benefits of such investments through evidence-based mathematical regression models and scenario modeling.
The study findings revealed that the advancement of the sports industry leads to improvements in the quality of life and human development in most of the studied regions.
Moreover, the scenario modeling suggested that the evolution of this field would further enhance the development of the quality of life.
]]>Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Ghana and China between 2016 and 2022, this paper provides a sociological analysis of how new Chinese migrants in Ghana, and more generally in Sub-Saharan Africa, navigate their social and economic integration into the host society by dealing with petty corruption in everyday life. This article examines how similarities and discrepancies in corruption norms contribute to “cultural matching” and cultural conflicts in Sino-African encounters, as well as the coping strategies and social-cultural techniques the migrants develop to navigate their relationship with local bureaucracy. My findings demonstrate that for migrants within the Global South, corruption in the sending and receiving regions is likely to be rooted in different politico-economic structures and cultural grounds. Conflicting understandings of corruption can pose challenges to migrants' initial adaptation in the host society. However, as the migrants develop a proper “cultural toolkit,” engagement in corruption and rent-seeking activities may provide a “cultural matching” interface that facilitates the rapid integration of new migrants into the local market and society. This study provides new insights into our understanding of bureaucracy in international migration, corruption, and migration settlement, as well as the sociocultural negotiation of corruption codes and norms in cross-cultural encounters.
]]>In recent years, young people's economic and employment possibilities have been compromised, especially in the case of vulnerable populations such as unaccompanied foreign minors who migrate to Spain and enter the guardianship system. The aim of this study was to identify this group's most representative training trajectories, and determine the risk and protective factors involved in their insertion to the labour market. To this end, 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with young adult migrants who had left the system and 15 with professionals involved in their socio-educational intervention. The results highlight various factors that hinder the inclusion of young adult migrants in the formal education system, which has a negative impact on their subsequent insertion to the labour market. Actions and proposals were collected that aim to foster the educational inclusion of young adult migrants and promote their labour market insertion; an area considered essential in the transition to adulthood.
]]>Digital platform labor and its complex relationship with capital have stirred scholarly inquiry, calling for a systemic review that bridges foundational theories and various currents of development. In this review, we revisit Marxist and autonomist Marxist theses on the changing nature of work in the platform economy. Following that, we review two major strands of studies on the organization of production at the macro level and labour control at the micro level, which have revealed variegated types of workplace fissuring and different techniques of algorithmic control over bodies. However, we argue that the path forward must transcend these boundaries. We call for a revival of the ‘social factory’ thesis to rekindle ‘networking’ as a way of understanding labor-capital relations on digital platforms. Our premise is that capital and labor mutually constitute the platform economy through their agency of networking the internet and ‘outernet’. We outline four key directions for future research based on this premise: networking with public elements, networking with market-driven elements, networking for financialization in the digital landscape, and networking for resistance. By reinvigorating the social factory approach, we aim to enrich scholarly understandings of labor-capital relations in the platform economy by articulating digital labor in a wider web of sociocultural, technical, political and economic relationships extending beyond and transcending the internet.
]]>This pilot study analyzes student responses to two political cartoons which satirize racism in varying national contexts. Eight moderated focus groups viewed political cartoons then shared reactions via survey and discussion. We found that participants responded negatively to a French cartoon which they perceived endorsed racist attitudes. Participants had more positive responses to an American cartoon which they perceived to “punch up” at the racial hierarchy. A third, unanticipated set of findings relates to participants' spontaneous feedback that though they welcomed the use of popular comedy in teaching, political cartoons felt less engaging than other media formats. This left us with a new question to explore in a future second phase of our project: How can instructors consider generational differences regarding media preferences when selecting popular comedy materials for use in classroom discussions of racism? We speculate that memes, rather than political cartoons, may provide a more effective springboard for discussion. We plan to incorporate memes in the second phase of this project, a cross-national study regarding the use of popular comedy materials as springboards to classroom discussions about racism.
]]>We examine the relationship between citizens’ evaluations of democratic performance in their state of residence and demographic, political, and institutional factors.
We fielded two original surveys (summer 2021 and summer 2022) that asked respondents to evaluate democratic performance in their state both in general and for specific metrics.
Citizens who identify with the political party that controls state government have more positive evaluations of state democratic performance while Republicans (controlling for a litany of covariates) have more negative evaluations. Strikingly, citizens’ perceptions are not related to an objective measure of state democratic performance even when they are primed with information about where their state ranks in a survey experiment.
Citizens’ assessments of democratic quality appear to be yet another feature of American politics that has become politicized and polarized, with important implications for system support and legitimacy going forward.
]]>The photocatalyst bismuth tungstate Bi2WO6 is immobilized on polyethersulfone and polyvinylidene fluoride microfiltration membranes to remove micropollutants from water as a visible light-active and stable alternative to titanium dioxide TiO2. Bi2WO6 does not degrade the supporting polymer membrane and degrades propranolol with UVA and visible light in an efficient way. Compared to TiO2, Bi2WO6 shows a similar high photocatalytic activity.
In this work, bismuth tungstate Bi2WO6 is immobilized on polymer membranes to photocatalytically remove micropollutants from water as an alternative to titanium dioxide TiO2. A synthesis method for Bi2WO6 preparation and its immobilization on a polymer membrane is developed. Bi2WO6 is characterized using X-ray diffraction and UV–vis reflectance spectroscopy, while the membrane undergoes analysis through scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and degradation experiments. The density of states calculations for TiO2 and Bi2WO6, along with PVDF reactions with potential reactive species, are investigated by density functional theory. The generation of hydroxyl radicals OH• is investigated via the reaction of coumarin to umbelliferone via fluorescence probe detection and electron paramagnetic resonance. Increasing reactant concentration enhances Bi2WO6 crystallinity. Under UV light at pH 7 and 11, the Bi2WO6 membrane completely degrades propranolol in 3 and 1 h, respectively, remaining stable and reusable for over 10 cycles (30 h). Active under visible light with a bandgap of 2.91 eV, the Bi2WO6 membrane demonstrates superior stability compared to a TiO2 membrane during a 7-day exposure to UV light as Bi2WO6 does not generate OH• radicals. The Bi2WO6 membrane is an alternative for water pollutant degradation due to its visible light activity and long-term stability.
]]>Across the last 150 years, global CO2 emissions have grown at an increasing, exponential pace. Based on the well-documented tendency to underestimate such exponential growth, we hypothesize and test in three studies (total N = 1796, including one nationally representative US sample) that people would fail to understand the historical, exponential growth of global CO2 emissions. However, we also show that providing a simple rule of thumb can serve as an effective educational boost that helps overcome this biased perception. Participants who were provided with the heuristic that historically, global CO2 emissions have doubled every thirty years provided highly accurate estimates of past emission levels. Compared to participants who relied on intuition, those who applied this doubling heuristic avoided common errors in understanding the current state of the climate change threat and made more realistic expectations of the future consequences of uninterrupted growth. Together, these studies show that overcoming the exponential growth bias helps people form more accurate perceptions of historic CO2 emissions growth and understand the difficulty of curbing future emissions.
]]>We analysed a new counselling and support programme for people with low employment prospects in Austria. The Austrian Public Employment Service introduced regional pilots to investigate whether a new counselling strategy could improve labour market outcomes for this group. Eligible unemployed individuals could opt for third-party counselling and support, access a wide range of low-threshold services, and focus on personal stability rather than job placement. The goal was to achieve similar or even better labour market outcomes at lower cost. By comparing pilot and control regions, we found that introducing the offer resulted in higher costs without improving labour market outcomes.
]]>In low- and middle-income countries, significant differences in fertility beliefs between rural and urban areas arise from the differential timing and pace of fertility declines. Demographers have long hypothesized about the diffusion of these beliefs and behaviors from urban to rural areas, potentially via temporary rural–urban labor migration. In this paper, we investigate the association between temporary internal migration from rural Senegal to the capital city, Dakar, and differences in the fertility and contraceptive beliefs and preferences of migrants and nonmigrants. We test socialization, selection, and adaptation hypotheses by comparing the fertility ideation of current and returning migrants with that of nonmigrants and future migrants from their place of origin. Our results support selection effects, explaining half of the differences between nonmigrants and migrants. Once selection effects are removed, significant differences remain between nonmigrants and current or returning migrants. These differences are largely explained by two complementary measures of adaptation: years lived in Dakar and the number of ties to residents of that city. The results indicate that adaptation is as important, if not more so than selection in explaining differences between migrants and nonmigrants. This holds true even for returned migrants five years after their last migration spell. Of the two potential adaptation mechanisms explored, the time spent in Dakar generally explained adaptation better than ties to nonmigrants in Dakar. However, our complementary analyses do not rule out the importance of urban networks on fertility, as they contribute to migrant selection.
]]>The aerospace industry is a fast-growing high-tech sector related to the national economic lifeline and national defence security. In the context of prosperous cooperation and fierce competition between countries, a multi-layered global aerospace network, from production to trade, has been formed. However, the high-tech aerospace trade structure and its spatial pattern as the mirror of the industry lack systematic research. This study constructs global high-tech aerospace trade networks to review the trade dynamics, identify the core countries and explore the regional structure and geographical characteristics. Different high-tech aerospace segments show varying evolutionary characteristics, with exports more concentrated than imports. The United States and Western Europe dominate the import and export market in all categories of high-tech aerospace trade, especially in high-end segment, holding organizational authority in the community structure. Although Asia is rising rapidly in some areas, it still has a long way to go to become a global hub.
]]>To eat or not eat meat? That has become a central sustainability question. This article zooms in on the moral sustainability of cattle farming and does so from an on-farm perspective: through an ethnographic study of two Swedish cattle farms, we explore how rearing animals for food is made moral. The farms represent two distinct styles of farming, and discursive and non-discursive methods are used to analyse differences in narratives and practices. We combine insights from the farming styles literature with affective and multispecies approaches to theorise farming moralities as situated, embedded and relational beliefs that pertain to practices of work. Our study demonstrates how scale and endogeneity are key factors shaping farming morality by generating different on-farm notions of animal agency and interspecies relationships. We discuss the implications of this conclusion for a potential shift in meat practices.
]]>How have crime, conflict, and violence shaped the social structure of neighbourhoods across diverse spatial and temporal landscapes in marginalised urban communities? To address to this central question, this study examines the socio-political dynamics of New York City and Palermo, as well as the role of authoritarian actors, by juxtaposing different historical periods and contrasting the influences of political institutions with extra-legal entities such as gangs and mafias. Utilising visual images, archival documents, and geographical mapping, the study introduces the concept of ‘justice-based power vacuums’. This novel theoretical concept elucidates the mechanisms through which coercive power fosters social environments susceptible to extra-legal domination, effectively entrapping vulnerable groups, be they ethnic or racial minorities or economically disadvantaged groups. I argue that while crime, conflict, and violence, especially under the auspices of gangs and mafias, often become the focal point, it is the obscured role of political authorities that stands as the genesis of such complex social problems. The present comparative historical social research indicates that recognising and addressing these obscured political influences is essential for a holistic understanding and subsequent mitigation of the structural challenges in urban social life that create deprived neighbourhoods across time and space similarly and perpetuate marginalisation in these communities.
]]>Widespread adoption of policies granting electoral rights to citizens living abroad has spurred vivid scholarly debates regarding the drivers and consequences of extra-territorial enfranchisement. But, little is known about the views of resident citizens in origin countries on the matter. We address this research gap and investigate how resident citizens' attitudes to external voting rights are affected by different arguments usually salient in homeland political debates. The study draws on an original survey experiment conducted across five countries (Belgium, Finland, Poland, Portugal and Ireland) with different external voting regulations. Our results show that utilitarian arguments on the costs and benefits of extra-territorial enfranchisement are persuasively shaping public support for the voting rights of nationals living abroad. They further suggest that resident citizens in origin countries that already grant extensive political rights to non-resident nationals are more receptive to moral arguments of democratic inclusion regarding the recognition of such entitlements.
]]>To examine whether John Henryism Active Coping (JHAC) is a protective risk factor for distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and whether this association differs by race/ethnicity.
Data were collected as part of the 2020 National Blair Center Poll. Higher scores on JHAC measured a greater behavioral predisposition to cope actively and persistently with difficult psychosocial stressors and barriers of everyday life.
High JHAC was associated with lower odds for feeling worried and for feeling afraid when thinking about COVID-19. These associations differed across race/ethnicity such that having a greater JHAC behavioral predisposition to coping was inversely associated with feelings of distress when thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic only among whites and Hispanics, but not among African Americans.
Our findings have important implications as the COVID-19 pandemic continues into 2022 and psychological distress may linger and increase due to unprecedented economic and social impacts.
]]>This ethnographic study explores how South Korean parents understand their language use as a significant resource for their children's education. By expanding the concept of ‘talk labour’, this article examines how South Korean parents report on managing their day-to-day communication with their children as part of their educational work and how they conceptualize and evaluate their talk labour in different ways according to their socioeconomic backgrounds. Acknowledging the multifaceted dimensions of talk labour, we can better understand the diverse strategies employed by South Korean parents in relation to their aspirations for their children's futures as well as their aspirations to become ‘good parents’.
]]>This paper analyses effects of subsidised, predominantly non-standard, employment within the German labour market programme ‘participation in the labour market’ for long-term welfare recipients on their health satisfaction, health-based quality of life, satisfaction with standard of living and households' actual ownership of important goods (e.g., car or new clothes) or the lack thereof due to financial reasons. We differentiated subgroups by health, age and working hours. Data for participants and non-participants (but entitled to welfare benefits) stem from the first two waves (2020/2021) of the panel survey ‘Quality of Life and Social Participation’. To identify causal effects, we employed matching methods based on administrative and survey data. Our findings show that 1 and 2 years after programme start, participation had significant positive effects on all indicators of health and standard of living. Thus, for the programme's focus group, subsidised employment, even if non-standard, can contribute to improving health and material well-being.
]]>This study conducts an in-depth analysis of Japanese women entrepreneurs' career formation, examining how they navigate the acquisition of essential capital, such as human, cultural, social, and financial, to initiate and sustain their business ventures. It delves into the societal and cultural barriers in Japan, drawing comparisons with South Korea to shed light on the factors contributing to the relatively low engagement of Japanese women in entrepreneurship. Interviews were conducted with 69 women entrepreneurs, unveiling diverse career trajectories and underscoring the significant impact of life events on their decision to pursue entrepreneurship. This study covers the numerous challenges these women face, from societal expectations to balancing family and work, and it considers how they creatively overcome them. The findings of this study not only highlight the resilience and resourcefulness of Japanese women entrepreneurs but also indicate the implications for policy and practice to foster a more supportive environment for women's entrepreneurial endeavors in Japan and similar contexts.
]]>Migration is a complex phenomenon that has significant implications for migrant workers’ access to social protection and for social security systems in both origin and destination countries. As the number of migrants continues to rise worldwide, policy makers face a multitude of challenges in adapting social protection programmes to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population. This article explores the relationship between migration and social protection, highlighting key issues and trends that have emerged in recent years. It examines the impact of migration on social security systems in both sending and receiving countries and reports on the ways in which migration patterns can create both opportunities and challenges for these systems. The article provides an overview of social protection measures and gaps in selected countries and considers the need for policy makers to take account of the unique needs and circumstances of migrant populations. The article also explores the role of international cooperation in addressing the social protection challenges and opportunities posed by migration. It considers some of the emerging trends and innovations to support the governance of social protection schemes that may help to address some of the legal and practical challenges faced by migrant workers and social security institutions. The article highlights the importance of understanding the complex relationship between migration and social protection to develop policies and programmes that are responsive to the needs of all members of society, regardless of their country of origin or immigration status. It also underlines the importance of quality administration and good governance for the effective implementation of social protection measures. In support of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agenda, a call is made for continued dialogue and collaboration among policy makers and stakeholders to ensure that social security systems are equitable, effective, inclusive, and sustainable in an increasingly globalized world.
La migration est un phénomène complexe qui revêt des implications considérables pour l’accès des travailleurs migrants à la protection sociale et pour les systèmes de sécurité sociale, à la fois dans les pays d’origine et d’accueil. Le nombre de migrants ne cessant d’augmenter à l’échelle mondiale, les responsables politiques sont confrontés à une multitude de défis dans l’adaptation des programmes de protection sociale afin de répondre aux besoins d’une population de plus en plus diverse. Cet article explore les liens entre la migration et la protection sociale, et met en lumière les enjeux et les tendances clés qui ont émergé ces dernières années. Il examine l’impact de la migration sur les systèmes de sécurité sociale dans les pays d’origine et d’accueil, mais se penche également sur les opportunités et les défis que les schémas migratoires peuvent créer pour ces systèmes. Il offre un aperçu des mesures de protection sociale et des lacunes dans certains pays, et considère la nécessité pour les décideurs politiques de prendre en compte les besoins et la situation spécifiques des populations migrantes. Par ailleurs, il aborde le rôle de la coopération internationale dans la réponse aux défis et aux opportunités inhérents à la migration en matière de protection sociale. Il s’intéresse à certaines tendances et innovations émergentes qui visent à promouvoir la gouvernance des régimes de protection sociale, lesquelles sont susceptibles d’aider à relever certains défis juridiques et pratiques auxquels sont confrontés les travailleurs migrants et les institutions de sécurité sociale. Cet article met en lumière la nécessité de comprendre la relation complexe entre la migration et la protection sociale afin d’élaborer des politiques et des programmes répondant aux besoins de tous les membres de la société, indépendamment de leur pays d’origine ou de leur statut de migrants. Il souligne également l’importance d’une administration de qualité et d’une bonne gouvernance dans la mise en œuvre efficace des mesures de protection sociale. À l’appui du programme relatif aux objectifs de développement durable à l’horizon 2030, un appel est lancé en faveur d’une collaboration et d’un dialogue continus entre les décideurs politiques et les parties prenantes afin de garantir l’équité, l’efficacité, l’inclusivité et la pérennité des systèmes de sécurité sociale dans un monde de plus en plus globalisé.
La migración es un fenómeno complejo que tiene consecuencias notables para el acceso de los trabajadores migrantes a una protección social, así como para los sistemas de seguridad social de los países de origen y de destino. A medida que el número de migrantes continúa creciendo en todo el mundo, los responsables de la formulación de políticas se enfrentan a multitud de desafíos a la hora de adaptar los programas de protección social para satisfacer las necesidades de una población cada vez más diversa. En este artículo se analiza la relación entre la migración y la protección social, y se presentan las cuestiones y tendencias principales que han surgido en los últimos años. Asimismo, se estudia la repercusión de la migración en los sistemas de seguridad social, tanto de los países de origen como de los de destino, y se señalan las formas en las que los modelos migratorios pueden crear oportunidades y desafíos para estos sistemas. También se presenta un resumen sobre las medidas y las deficiencias en materia de protección social en los países seleccionados y se considera la necesidad de que los responsables de la formulación de políticas tengan en cuenta las necesidades y circunstancias particulares de la población migrante. Además, se analiza el papel de la cooperación internacional para abordar dichos desafíos y oportunidades de protección social que plantea la migración, y se examinan algunas de las tendencias e innovaciones que han surgido para respaldar la gobernanza de los regímenes de protección social, que pueden ser de ayuda para resolver parte de los desafíos jurídicos y prácticos a los que se enfrentan los trabajadores migrantes y las instituciones de seguridad social. En el artículo se destaca la necesidad de comprender la compleja relación entre la migración y la protección social de cara a redactar políticas y programas que respondan a las necesidades de todos los miembros de la sociedad, con independencia del país de origen o de la situación migratoria, así como la importancia de que haya una administración de calidad y una buena gobernanza para poder adoptar con eficacia las medidas de protección social. Para respaldar los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible previstos en la Agenda 2030, se hace un llamamiento para mantener un diálogo y una colaboración constantes entre los responsables de la formulación de políticas y las partes interesadas, a fin de garantizar que los sistemas de seguridad social sean equitativos, eficaces, inclusivos y sostenibles en un mundo cada vez más globalizado.
Migration ist ein komplexes Phänomen, das weitreichende Folgen für den Zugang von Arbeitsmigranten zu sozialer Sicherheit hat, aber auch für die Systeme der sozialen Sicherheit sowohl in Herkunfts- als auch in Zielländern. Während die Zahl der Migranten weltweit wächst, stehen die politischen Entscheidungsträger bei der Anpassung der Sozialschutzprogramme vor zahlreichen Herausforderungen, wenn sie den Bedarf einer zunehmend heterogenen Bevölkerung decken wollen. Dieser Artikel beleuchtet die Beziehungen zwischen Migration und Sozialschutz und befasst sich mit wichtigen Themen und Trends der letzten Jahre. Untersucht werden die Auswirkungen der Migration auf die Systeme der sozialen Sicherheit sowohl in den Herkunfts- als auch in den Aufnahmeländern sowie Berichte darüber, wie Migrationsmuster diese Systeme vor Herausforderungen stellen, aber auch Chancen bergen. Der Artikel liefert einen Überblick über Sozialschutzmaßnahmen und Lücken in ausgewählten Ländern und zeigt, dass die politischen Entscheidungsträger auch die besonderen Bedürfnisse und Umstände migrierender Bevölkerungsteile berücksichtigen müssen. Im Text wird überdies deutlich, wie wichtig die internationale Zusammenarbeit für die Bewältigung der sozialschutzbezogenen Herausforderungen und Chancen aufgrund von Migration ist. Betrachtet werden neuere Trends und Innovationen zur Unterstützung der Steuerung von Sozialschutzsystemen, die helfen könnten, einige der rechtlichen und praktischen Herausforderungen zu bewältigen, vor denen Arbeitsmigranten und die Systeme der sozialen Sicherheit stehen. Im Artikel wird darauf hingewiesen, wie wichtig es ist, die komplexen Beziehungen zwischen Migration und Sozialschutz besser zu verstehen, um Strategien und Programme zu entwerfen, die auf die Bedürfnisse aller Mitglieder der Gesellschaft eingehen, unabhängig von ihrem Herkunftsland oder Einwanderungsstatus. Gezeigt wird auch, dass eine Verwaltung hoher Qualität und Good Governance entscheidend dazu beitragen können, Sozialschutzmaßnahmen wirksam umzusetzen. Im Sinne der Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung 2030 wird zu fortgesetztem Dialog und zu weiterer Zusammenarbeit zwischen den politischen Entscheidungsträgern und den beteiligten Akteuren aufgerufen, um sicherzustellen, dass die Systeme der sozialen Sicherheit in dieser zunehmend globalisierten Welt gerecht, wirksam, inklusiv und tragfähig sind.
Миграция — это комплексное явление, значительно препятствующее доступу трудовых мигрантов к системам социальной защиты и социального обеспечения как в странах происхождения, так и в странах назначения. Поскольку число мигрантов по всему миру продолжает расти, законодательные органы сталкиваются со множеством проблем при адаптации программ социальной защиты к потребностям все более разнообразного населения. В данной статье исследуется взаимосвязь между миграцией и социальной защитой, а также освещаются ключевые проблемы и тенденции, возникшие за последние годы. В ней рассматривается воздействие миграции на системы социального обеспечения как в странах происхождения, так и в странах назначения, а также рассказывается о моделях миграции, способных создавать как возможности, так и проблемы для этих систем. В статье представлен обзор мер и пробелов в области социальной защиты в нескольких конкретных странах, а также рассмотрена необходимость принятия законодателями во внимание уникальных потребностей и обстоятельств мигрантов. В статье также исследуется роль международного сотрудничества в решении проблем социальной защиты и возможности, которые предоставляет процесс миграции. В ней рассматриваются некоторые недавно возникшие тенденции, а также инновации по поддержке управления программами социальной защиты, способные помочь в решении некоторых юридических и практических проблем, с которыми сталкиваются трудовые мигранты и организации социального обеспечения. Особое внимание в статье обращается на то, насколько важно понимать комплексную взаимосвязь между миграцией и социальной защитой при разработке политики и программ, отвечающих потребностям всех членов общества, независимо от их страны происхождения или иммиграционного статуса. В ней также подчеркивается значимость качественного администрирования и добросовестного управления для эффективного осуществления мер по социальной защите. В поддержку программы Целей устойчивого развития на период до 2030 г. в статье содержится призыв к продолжению диалога и сотрудничества между законодателями и заинтересованными сторонами, чтобы гарантировать, что системы социального обеспечения являются справедливыми, эффективными, инклюзивными и устойчивыми во все более глобализированном мире.
移徙是一个复杂现象, 对移徙工人能否获得社会保护以及原籍国和目的国的社会保障制度都产生重要影响。随着全球移徙人数不断增加, 政策制定者面临着多重挑战, 需调整社会保护计划, 以满足日益多样化的人群需求。本文探讨了移徙和社会保护之间的关系, 强调了近年来出现的关键问题和趋势。文章探讨了移徙对输出国和接收国社会保障制度的影响, 报告了移民模式对这些制度带来的机会和挑战。文章初步介绍了部分国家的社会保护措施和差距, 认为政策制定者需要考虑移徙人群的独特需求和情况。文章还探讨了国际合作在解决移徙带来的社会保护挑战和机遇中发挥的作用。文章考虑了在支持社会保护制度治理方面的一些新兴趋势和创新做法, 或许可以帮助解决移徙工人和社会保障机构面临的法律和实践挑战。文章强调, 理解移徙和社会保护之间的复杂关系十分重要, 制定的政策和计划应响应所有社会成员的需求, 与他们的原籍国或移民身份无关。文章还强调, 高质量的行政管理和善治对有效实施社会保护措施十分重要。为支持2030年可持续发展目标议程, 呼吁政策制定者和利益相关方持续开展对话与合作, 确保在日益全球化的背景下, 社会保障制度具有公平性、有效性、包容性和可持续性。
الهجرة ظاهرة معقدة من ابعادها صعوبة حصول العمال المهاجرين على الحماية الاجتماعية وشمولهم بأنظمة الضمان الاجتماعي في كل من بلدان المنشأ والمقصد. ومع استمرار ارتفاع عدد المهاجرين في جميع أنحاء العالم يواجه صناع السياسات العديد من التحديات في تكييف برامج الحماية الاجتماعية لتلبية احتياجات السكان المتزايدة التنوع. يستكشف هذا المقال العلاقة بين الهجرة والحماية الاجتماعية ويسلط الضوء على القضايا والاتجاهات الرئيسية التي ظهرت في السنوات الأخيرة. كما يدرس تأثير الهجرة على أنظمة الضمان الاجتماعي في كل من البلدان المرسلة والمستقبلة ويقدم تقارير عن الطرائق التي يمكن من خلالها أن تخلق أنماط الهجرة فرص وتحديات لهذه الأنظمة على حدّ السواء. ويقدم المقال نظرة عامة على تدابير الحماية الاجتماعية والفجوات في بلدان مختارة ومع مراعاة حاجة واضعي السياسات إلى أخذ الاحتياجات والظروف الفريدة للسكان المهاجرين بعين الاعتبار. ويستكشف المقال أيضًا دور التعاون الدولي في معالجة تحديات الحماية الاجتماعية والفرص التي تطرحها الهجرة. وينظر في بعض الاتجاهات والابتكارات الناشئة لدعم إدارة خطط الحماية الاجتماعية التي قد تساعد في معالجة بعض التحديات القانونية والعملية التي يواجهها العمال المهاجرون ومؤسسات الضمان الاجتماعي. ويسلط المقال الضوء على أهمية فهم العلاقة المعقدة بين الهجرة والحماية الاجتماعية لوضع سياسات وبرامج تستجيب لاحتياجات جميع أفراد المجتمع، بغض النظر عن بلدهم الأصلي أو وضعهم كمهاجرين. ويؤكد أيضًا على أهمية الإدارة الجيدة والحوكمة الرشيدة من أجل التنفيذ الفعال لتدابير الحماية الاجتماعية. ودعماً لجدول أعمال أهداف التنمية المستدامة لعام 2030، يتم توجيه دعوة لمواصلة الحوار والتعاون بين صانعي السياسات وأصحاب المصلحة لضمان أن تكون أنظمة الضمان الاجتماعي عادلة وفعالة وشاملة ومستدامة في عالم تتزايد عولمته.
A migração é um fenômeno complexo que tem implicações importantes no acesso dos trabalhadores migrantes à proteção social e nos sistemas de seguridade social, tanto nos países de origem, como nos países de acolhimento. À medida que o número de migrantes continua a aumentar em todo o mundo, os estrategistas políticos enfrentam uma infinidade de desafios para adaptar programas de proteção social que atendam às necessidades de uma população cada vez mais diversificada. Este artigo explora a relação entre migração e proteção social, destacando as principais questões e tendências que surgiram nos últimos anos. Examina o impacto da migração nos sistemas de seguridade social nos países de origem e de acolhimento, e apresenta relatórios sobre as formas como os padrões de migração podem criar oportunidades e desafios para estes sistemas. Ele apresenta um panorama das medidas de proteção social e das lacunas existentes em países selecionados e examina a necessidade de os estrategistas políticos terem em conta as demandas e as circunstâncias específicas das populações migrantes. O artigo também explora o papel da cooperação internacional na abordagem dos desafios e oportunidades que a migração impõe à proteção social. Considera algumas das tendências e inovações emergentes que visam apoiar a governança dos regimes de proteção social aptos a ajudar a resolver alguns dos desafios legais e práticos que os trabalhadores migrantes e as instituições de seguridade social enfrentam. Além disso, destaca a importância do claro entendimento sobre a complexa relação entre migração e proteção social para desenvolver políticas e programas que respondam às necessidades de todos os membros da sociedade, independentemente do país de origem ou status de imigração. Sublinha igualmente a importância de uma administração de qualidade e de uma boa governança na implementação eficaz das medidas de proteção social. Em apoio à agenda dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável 2030, temos aqui um apelo para o diálogo permanente e a colaboração entre os estrategistas políticos e as partes interessadas no sentido de garantir que os sistemas de seguridade social sejam justos, eficazes, inclusivos e sustentáveis em um mundo cada vez mais globalizado.
]]>The target populations to be covered in this article on the extension of social protection coverage are refugees, as defined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Our approach to their coverage is based on the pillars of public health and social protection, which together provide the rationale and legislative basis for coverage. The social protection benefits to be covered are comprehensive health services, providing entitlement to services without conditions such as prior contributions or duration of residence. Refugees are vulnerable since they come from conflict areas or go through persecution and personal threat. They carry grief from the loss of family members and friends, property and livelihood, and social and cultural support. Some have sustained injuries before rescue and evacuation and need additional care. They may have chronic diseases and need medications they can no longer access. Some may have communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis, and children may have missed scheduled mandatory vaccinations. Refugees are vulnerable to new and re-emerging infections, as seen in the COVID–19 pandemic. While the focus in this article is on providing health care, the social determinants of health are addressed, including access to education, employment with decent working conditions, and safe environments. We focus on coverage by national authorities and institutions, legislative amendments to enable entitlement to non-citizens, and provide national examples. Experience has shown that coverage is feasible with the assistance and guidance of international and local organizations and associations and with an acceptance by the existing social protection institutions of the benefits of extending coverage to new members. This article concurs with the principle and pledge of the 2030 Social Development Goals of the United Nations to “leave no one behind”.
Cet article sur l’extension de la couverture de la protection sociale se concentre sur les réfugiés, tels que définis par le Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés. Notre approche de cette couverture est fondée sur les piliers de la santé publique et de la protection sociale, qui en constituent à la fois la raison d’être et la base législative. Les prestations de protection sociale visées sont un ensemble de services de santé complets dont l’accès est garanti sans conditions; il s’agit, par exemple, du versement de cotisations préalables ou d’une durée de séjour requise. Les réfugiés sont des personnes vulnérables qui fuient des zones de guerre ou font l’objet de persécutions et de menaces personnelles. En plus d’être affligés par la perte de membres de leur famille et d’amis, ils se retrouvent privés de leurs biens, de leurs moyens de subsistance, et de leurs repères sociaux et culturels. Certains d’entre eux ont subi des blessures avant d’être secourus et évacués, et requièrent des soins supplémentaires. Ils peuvent souffrir de maladies chroniques et avoir besoin de médicaments auxquels ils n’ont plus accès. D’autres peuvent être porteurs de maladies transmissibles, comme la tuberculose, et les enfants peuvent avoir été privés des vaccinations obligatoires planifiées. Les réfugiés sont vulnérables aux infections émergentes et résurgentes, comme l’a prouvé la pandémie de COVID-19. Si cet article met principalement en lumière la fourniture de soins de santé, il s’intéresse également aux déterminants sociaux de la santé comme l’accès à l’éducation, l’emploi assorti de conditions de travail décentes et l’existence d’un environnement sûr. Nous nous concentrons sur la couverture garantie par les autorités et les institutions nationales ainsi que par les amendements législatifs permettant aux non-citoyens d’en bénéficier. Par ailleurs, nous fournissons des exemples nationaux. L’expérience a montré que l’instauration d’une couverture était réalisable grâce à l’appui et aux conseils des organisations et associations internationales et locales avec, de surcroît, l’acceptation par les institutions de protection sociale existantes des avantages de l’extension de la couverture aux nouveaux membres. Cet article approuve le principe et l’engagement des objectifs de développement durable pour 2030 des Nations Unies de «ne laisser personne de côté».
Este artículo sobre la extensión de la cobertura de protección social se centra en los refugiados, según la definición del Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados. Nuestro enfoque con respecto a esta cobertura se basa en los pilares de la asistencia de salud y de la protección social, que combinados proporcionan el fundamento y la base jurídica de la cobertura. Las prestaciones de protección social que deben cubrirse son los servicios de salud integrales, cuyo acceso está garantizado sin condiciones; se trata, por ejemplo, del pago de cotizaciones previas o de la duración de la residencia. Los refugiados son personas vulnerables, que han huido de zonas de conflicto o han sufrido persecución o amenazas personales. Están conmocionados por la pérdida de miembros de su familia, de amigos, de propiedades, de medios de vida y del apoyo social y cultural que tenían. Algunas de estas personas también han sufrido daños antes de ser rescatadas y evacuadas, y necesitan una asistencia adicional. Algunas pueden tener enfermedades crónicas y necesitar medicamentos a los que ya no tienen acceso; otras, pueden tener enfermedades transmisibles, como la tuberculosis, y es posible que los niños no hayan recibido las vacunas previstas en el calendario de vacunación obligatorio. Los refugiados son vulnerables a contraer infecciones nuevas y reemergentes, tal como se observó con la pandemia de COVID-19. Si bien este artículo se centra en la prestación de atención de salud, se analizan también los determinantes sociales de la salud, como el acceso a la educación, un empleo con unas condiciones de trabajo decentes y la existencia de un entorno seguro. Se presta especial atención a la cobertura que ofrecen las autoridades y las instituciones nacionales, y a las modificaciones legislativas para poder otorgar derechos a los no ciudadanos, y se presentan ejemplos nacionales. La experiencia ha demostrado que la cobertura es factible con el apoyo y el asesoramiento de organizaciones y asociaciones internacionales y locales, así como con la aceptación por parte de las instituciones de protección social existentes de las ventajas de extender la cobertura a nuevos miembros. Este artículo está en consonancia con el principio y el compromiso de “no dejar a nadie atrás” previstos en los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible de la Agenda 2023 de las Naciones Unidas.
Die Zielbevölkerung, um die es in diesem Artikel über die Ausweitung der Deckung der sozialen Sicherheit geht, sind Flüchtlinge gemäß der Definition des Hohen Flüchtlingskommissars der Vereinten Nationen. Der hier vorgestellte Ansatz zu ihrer Deckung beruht auf den Pfeilern öffentliches Gesundheitswesen und Sozialschutz, die zusammen das Grundprinzip und die rechtliche Grundlage für eine mögliche Deckung darstellen. Die hier beschriebenen Sozialschutzleistungen sind umfassende Gesundheitsleistungen, deren Inanspruchnahme nicht an Vorbedingungen wie vorgängige Beiträge oder Aufenthaltszeiten geknüpft ist. Flüchtlinge sind gefährdete Bevölkerungsteile, da sie aus Konfliktgebieten stammen, verfolgt oder persönlich bedroht werden. Oft trauern sie, weil sie Angehörige und Freunde, Eigentum und Lebensgrundlage sowie ihre soziale und kulturelle Unterstützung verloren haben. Einige von ihnen haben vor ihrer Rettung und Evakuierung dauerhafte Verletzungen erlitten und benötigen eine zusätzliche Versorgung. Manche haben chronische Erkrankungen und benötigen Arzneimittel, zu denen sie keinen Zugang mehr haben. Andere sind mit übertragbaren Krankheiten wie Tuberkulose infiziert, und viele Kinder haben geplante obligatorische Impfungen verpasst. Flüchtlinge sind auch anfällig für neue und wiederkehrende Infektionen, wie etwa während der COVID-19-Pandemie. Der Fokus dieses Artikels liegt zwar auf der Gesundheitsversorgung, aber es werden auch soziale Determinanten der menschlichen Gesundheit diskutiert, einschließlich des Bildungszugangs, der Beschäftigung unter menschenwürdigen Bedingungen und eines sicheren Umfelds. Beschrieben werden die Deckung durch nationale Behörden und Institutionen, Gesetzesänderungen zur Schaffung eines Anspruchs für Personen ohne ständigen Wohnsitz und Beispiele aus einzelnen Ländern. Erfahrungen haben gezeigt, dass eine Deckung mit Unterstützung und Steuerung durch internationale und lokale Organisationen und Vereinigungen möglich ist, wenn die bestehenden Institutionen der sozialen Sicherheit erkennen, dass eine Ausweitung der Deckung auf neue Mitglieder Vorteile bringt. Dieser Artikel schließt sich dem Grundsatz und Plädoyer „niemanden zurücklassen“aus den Zielen für nachhaltige Entwicklung 2030 der Vereinten Nationen an.
Целевой группой населения, о которой идет речь в данной статье о расширении охвата социальной защитой, являются беженцы, в соответствии с определением Верховного комиссара Организации Объединенных Наций по делам беженцев. Наш подход к распространению охвата на беженцев основан на принципах общественного здравоохранения и социальной защиты, которые вместе обеспечивают рациональную и законодательную основу для расширения охвата. Помимо пособий по социальной защите охват должен включать в себя и предоставление комплексных медицинских услуг с правом на их получение без выполнения таких условий как предварительные взносы или длительность проживания. Беженцы — это уязвимая группа, поскольку они приезжают из зон конфликтов или подвергаются преследованиям и угрозе личной безопасности. Они страдают от потери членов семьи и друзей, имущества и средств к существованию, а также от потери социальной и культурной поддержки. Некоторые беженцы получают травмы до проведения мероприятий по их спасению или эвакуации и нуждаются в дополнительной помощи. Они могут иметь хронические заболевания и нуждаться в лекарствах, которые больше не могут получать. У некоторых из них могут быть инфекционные заболевания, такие как туберкулез, а у детей могут быть пропущены запланированные обязательные прививки. Беженцы уязвимы перед новыми и вновь возникающими инфекциями, как стало видно на примере пандемии COVID-19. Хотя в данной статье основное внимание уделяется оказанию медицинской помощи, рассматриваются также и социальные детерминанты здоровья в целом, в том числе доступ к образованию, занятость с достойными условиями труда и безопасность рабочей среды. Мы уделяем особое внимание охвату, предоставляемому национальными органами власти и организациями, и внесению в законодательство поправок, обеспечивающих право на социальную защиту негражданам, а также приводим примеры из практик конкретных государств. Опыт показал, что охвата можно достичь при помощи и под руководством международных и местных организаций и ассоциаций, а также при признании существующими организациями социальной защиты преимуществ распространения охвата на новых членов. Данная статья соответствует принципу и обязательству «не оставлять никого в стороне», включенному в Цели социального развития Организации Объединенных Наций на период до 2030 г..
本文中社会保护扩面的目标人群是符合联合国难民署定义的难民。我们的扩面方法基于公共卫生和社会保护两个支柱, 为覆盖提供了理论依据和法律依据。所提供的社会保护福利是综合性医疗服务, 提供享有服务资格而不对先前缴费或居住期限提出要求。难民或来自冲突地区, 或遭受迫害和人身威胁, 属于弱势群体。他们失去家人朋友、财产、生计以及社会和文化支持, 处于悲痛之中。一些难民在救援和撤离前负伤, 需要额外照护。他们可能患有慢性疾病, 需要药品却无法获得。一些可能患有肺结核等传染性疾病, 儿童可能错过预定的强制疫苗接种。正如新冠肺炎疫情期间所见, 难民是新型传染或反复传染的易感人群。尽管本文的重点是提供医疗保健, 但也阐述了医疗的社会决定因素, 包括能否获得教育、体面工作条件就业和安全的环境。文章重点关注由国家主管部门和机构负责的覆盖面、推动非公民享受待遇的立法修订, 并提供了国家实例。经验表明, 在国际与当地组织和协会的协助和指导下, 现有社会保护机构如能接受将福利扩展至新成员, 扩大覆盖面是可行的。本文符合联合国2030年社会发展目标中“不让一个人掉队”的原则和承诺。
إن السكان المشمولين بهذا المقال الذي يتناول مسألة توسيع نطاق تغطية الحماية الاجتماعية هم اللاجئون، حسب تعريف المفوضية السامية للأمم المتحدة لشؤون اللاجئين. ويعتمد نهجنا في تغطية اللاجئين على ركائز الصحة العامة والحماية الاجتماعية التي توفر مع بعضها البعض الأساس المنطقي والتشريعي للتغطية. إن منافع الحماية الاجتماعية المعنية تتمثل في الخدمات الصحية الشاملة غير المشروطة بالاشتراكات المسبقة أو بمدة الإقامة. وعادة ما يكون اللاجئون عرضة للخطر لأنهم يأتون من مناطق الصراع أو يتعرضون للاضطهاد والتهديد الشخصي. كما يرزح العديد منهم تحت وطأة الحزن الناجم عن فقدان بعض أو كل أفراد أسرهم وأصدقائهم أ وممتلكاتهم، وكذلك حرمانهم من سبل العيش والدعم الاجتماعي والثقافي. وقد يصاب البعض بجروح قبل عمليات الإنقاذ والإخلاء، لذا هم يحتاجون إلى رعاية إضافية. وقد يكون لديهم أمراض مزمنة تستدعي أدوية لم يعد بإمكانهم الحصول عليها. وقد يكون لدى البعض أمراض معدية مثل السل. أما بالنسبة للأطفال المرحلين فغالبا ما تفوتهم التطعيمات الإلزامية. إن اللاجئين معرضون للإصابة بالعدوى الجديدة والمتجددة، كما رأينا في جائحة كوفيد-19. وبينما ينصب التركيز في هذا المقال على توفير الرعاية الصحية، يتم تناول المحددات الاجتماعية للصحة، بما في ذلك الوصول إلى التعليم والتوظيف مع ظروف عمل لائقة وبيئات آمنة. ونحن نركز على التغطية التي تقدمها السلطات والمؤسسات الوطنية والتعديلات التشريعية اللازمة لتمكين غير المواطنين من الحصول على المنافع، وتقديم أمثلة وطنية. وقد أظهرت التجربة أن التغطية ممكنة بمساعدة وتوجيه المنظمات والجمعيات الدولية والمحلية وبقبول مؤسسات الحماية الاجتماعية القائمة بتوسيع نطاق التغطية لتشمل القادمين الجدد. ويتوافق هذا المقال مع مبدأ وتعهد أهداف التنمية الاجتماعية للأمم المتحدة لعام 2030 المتمثل في "عدم ترك أي أحد خارج التغطية".
As populações-alvo que abordaremos neste artigo sobre a extensão da cobertura de proteção social são os refugiados, conforme definidos nos termos do Alto Comissariado das Nações Unidas para os Refugiados. A nossa abordagem para esta cobertura baseia-se nos pilares da saúde pública e da proteção social que, em conjunto, propiciam a justificativa e a base legislativa para a cobertura. As prestações de proteção social incluem serviços de saúde abrangentes, que dão direito a serviços sem condições como contribuições prévias ou duração de residência. Os refugiados são vulneráveis, pois provêm de zonas de conflito ou enfrentam perseguições e ameaça pessoal. Eles carregam a dor da perda de familiares e amigos, bens e meios de subsistência, e do suporte social e cultural. Alguns sofreram ferimentos antes do resgate e da evacuação e precisam de cuidados adicionais. Alguns podem ter doenças transmissíveis, como tuberculose, e as crianças podem não ter tomado as vacinas obrigatórias programadas. Os refugiados são vulneráveis a infecções novas e reemergentes, como visto na pandemia do COVID-19. Embora o foco deste artigo seja a prestação de cuidados de saúde, são abordados os determinantes sociais da saúde, entre os quais o acesso à educação, ao emprego com condições de trabalho dignas e ambientes seguros. Temos como foco a cobertura por parte das autoridades e instituições nacionais, as alterações legislativas para permitir o direito a não cidadãos, e apresentamos exemplos nacionais. A experiência vem mostrando que a cobertura é viável com a assistência e a orientação de organizações e associações internacionais e locais e com a aceitação pelas instituições de proteção social existentes dos benefícios da extensão da cobertura a novos membros. Este artigo subscreve o princípio e o compromisso dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Social 2030 da Organização das Nações Unidas de "não deixar ninguém para trás".
]]>This article explores factors influencing the extension of social protection to migrant workers in the region of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC). While there are some indications of new momentum for reforms, we find that reforms to address gaps in legal social protection coverage have historically been hindered by the very design of the migration system, including the assumed short-term migration time frame and over reliance on employer-sponsored provisions, as well as the political economy in the region, which translates into a segmented labour market and associated social protection entitlements for national and migrant workers, and limited channels for migrant worker representation. Despite some new mechanisms being developed, labour dispute and judicial systems are often ineffective in protecting workers and their families when benefits are not paid. Bureaucratic, financial, language, documentation and geographic barriers constitute further obstacles to migrant workers’ access to social protection in practice. The article closes with key policy implications, including measures for: developing comprehensive legal provisions in line with international standards and principles as well as the commitments to leave no one behind and to ensure social protection for all in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; addressing practical barriers, power imbalances and outreach, monitoring and enforcement gaps; and strengthening dialogue and collaboration between all actors, including GCC and country of origin governments, employers, workers, and wider stakeholders advocating for migrant workers’ rights.
Cet article explore les facteurs qui influencent l’extension de la protection sociale aux travailleurs migrants dans la région du Conseil de coopération des États arabes du Golfe (CCG). Bien qu’un nouvel élan en faveur des réformes semble se dessiner, nous estimons que celles visant à combler les lacunes dans la couverture légale de protection sociale ont toujours été entravées par la conception même du système migratoire, à savoir la courte durée supposée de la migration et le recours excessif aux dispositions offertes par les employeurs. Par ailleurs, l’économie politique de la région se traduit par un marché du travail segmenté, avec des droits à la protection sociale différents pour les travailleurs nationaux et les travailleurs migrants, ainsi qu’une représentation limitée des travailleurs migrants. En dépit des quelques nouveaux mécanismes mis en place, les systèmes judiciaires et de règlement des différends au travail échouent souvent à protéger les travailleurs et leurs familles lorsque les prestations ne sont pas versées. En pratique, d’autres obstacles bureaucratiques, financiers, linguistiques, documentaires et géographiques restreignent davantage l’accès des travailleurs migrants à la protection sociale. L’article se conclut par des implications politiques majeures, notamment des mesures visant à: élaborer des dispositions juridiques complètes conformes aux normes et principes internationaux, ainsi qu’aux engagements du Programme de développement durable à l’horizon 2030 des Nations Unies de ne laisser personne de côté et de garantir une protection sociale pour tous; éliminer les obstacles concrets, les déséquilibres de pouvoirs et les lacunes en matière de sensibilisation, de contrôle et d’application; et renforcer le dialogue et la collaboration entre tous les acteurs dont le CCG et les gouvernements des pays d’origine, les employeurs, les travailleurs et, plus largement, les parties prenantes défendant activement les droits des travailleurs migrants.
En este artículo se analizan los factores que influyen en la extensión de la protección social a los trabajadores migrantes en la región del Consejo de Cooperación de los Estados Árabes del Golfo (CCG). Pese a las señales que indican que está surgiendo un nuevo impulso para las reformas, consideramos que históricamente las reformas para colmar las deficiencias en la cobertura legal de protección social se han visto obstaculizadas por el propio diseño del sistema de migración, por ejemplo porque se asume que la migración es a corto plazo o por la dependencia excesiva de las prestaciones que ofrece el empleador. Además, la economía política de la región da lugar a un mercado de trabajo segmentado, a derechos de protección social tanto para los trabajadores nacionales como para los migrantes, así como a la existencia de canales limitados para la representación de los trabajadores migrantes. Aunque se están creando nuevos mecanismos, los sistemas de solución de conflictos laborales y los sistemas judiciales suelen ser insuficientes para proteger a los trabajadores y a sus familias cuando no se abonan las prestaciones. En la práctica, los obstáculos burocráticos, financieros, lingüísticos y geográficos dificultan también el acceso de los trabajadores migrantes a la protección social. El artículo concluye con los principales efectos en materia de políticas, entre los que figuran medidas para: elaborar disposiciones legales exhaustivas, que estén en consonancia con las normas y principios internacionales, así como con el compromiso de no dejar a nadie atrás y de garantizar la protección social para todas las personas, según se prevé en la Agenda 2030 de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo Sostenible; hacer frente a los obstáculos que surgen en la práctica, a los desequilibrios de poder y a las deficiencias en materia de divulgación, supervisión y aplicación; y fortalecer el diálogo y la colaboración entre todos los actores, incluido el CCG, los gobiernos del país de origen, los empleadores, los trabajadores y las demás partes interesadas que defienden los derechos de los trabajadores migrantes.
Dieser Artikel untersucht Faktoren, die sich auf die Ausweitung des Sozialschutzes auf Arbeitsmigranten in der Region des Golf-Kooperationsrats auswirken. Zwar gibt es Anzeichen für neue Reformimpulse, aber Reformen zur Schließung von Lücken in der gesetzlichen Sozialschutzdeckung wurden in der Vergangenheit gerade durch die Gestaltung des Migrationssystems erschwert. Dazu gehörte, dass man von einem kurzen Migrationszeitraum ausging und zu stark auf arbeitgeberfinanzierte Leistungen und auf die Volkswirtschaft in der Region vertraute, was einen segmentierten Arbeitsmarkt mit unterschiedlichen Sozialschutzansprüchen für einheimische und migrantische Arbeitskräfte sowie begrenzte Kanäle für die Vertretung von Arbeitsmigranten zur Folge hatte. Zwar wurden einige neue Maßnahmen eingeführt, aber Arbeitskämpfe und Rechtsstreitigkeiten sind oft unzureichend, wenn es darum geht, die Beschäftigten und ihre Familien vor nicht bezahlten Leistungen zu schützen. In der Praxis steht der Zugang von Arbeitsmigranten zu sozialer Sicherheit oft vor bürokratischen, finanziellen, sprachlichen, dokumentationsbezogenen und geografischen Hindernissen. Zum Abschluss dieses Artikels werden wichtige Empfehlungen für die Politik aufgezählt, einschließlich folgender Maßnahmen: Entwicklung umfassender gesetzlicher Bestimmungen gemäß internationalen Normen und Grundsätzen sowie Engagement für den Grundsatz, niemanden zurückzulassen, und für einen Sozialschutz für alle gemäß den Zielen für nachhaltige Entwicklung 2030 der Vereinten Nationen; Beseitigung praktischer Hindernisse, Machtgefälle und mangelnder Aufklärung sowie Lücken bei Überwachung und Durchsetzung; Stärkung des Dialogs und der Zusammenarbeit aller Akteure, einschließlich des GCC und der Herkunftslandregierungen, der Arbeitgeber, der Arbeitnehmer und der allgemeinen Interessenvertreter für die Rechte von Arbeitsmigranten.
В данной статье исследуются факторы, влияющие на распространение социальной защиты на трудовых мигрантов в регионе Совета сотрудничества арабских государств Персидского залива. Несмотря на некоторые признаки появления новых возможностей для реформ, мы обнаруживаем, что реформам, направленным на устранение пробелов в юридическом закреплении охвата социальной защитой, исторически мешала сама конструкция миграционной системы, в том числе предполагаемая краткость сроков миграции и чрезмерная зависимость от пособий, спонсируемых работодателями, а также политическая экономия региона, приведшая к сегментации как рынка труда, так и соответствующих прав на социальную защиту для национальных работников и трудовых мигрантов, а также к ограничению каналов представительства для трудовых мигрантов. Несмотря на разработку ряда новых механизмов, системы трудовых споров и судебные системы зачастую не способны эффективно защитить работников и их семьи в случае невыплаты пособий. Бюрократические, финансовые, языковые, документационные и географические барьеры представляют собой дополнительные препятствия для фактического доступа трудовых мигрантов к системам социальной защиты. Статья завершается ключевыми политическими выводами, включающими меры по: разработке всеобъемлющих юридических положений в соответствии с международными стандартами и принципами, а также обязательствами не оставлять никого в стороне и обеспечивать социальную защиту для всех согласно Повестке дня Организации Объединенных Наций в области устойчивого развития на период до 2030 г.; устранению практических барьеров, дисбалансов в сфере компетенций, пробелов в мониторинге и правоприменении; укреплению диалога и сотрудничества между всеми участниками, включая правительства стран, принимающих и посылающих мигрантов, работодателей, работников и более широкие заинтересованные стороны, выступающие за права трудовых мигрантов.
本文探讨了将社会保护扩展至海湾阿拉伯国家合作委员会 (海合会)地区移徙工人的影响因素。尽管一些迹象表明出现了新的改革势头, 但我们发现, 为解决社会保护法定覆盖面缺口而进行的改革历来受到移民制度本身设计的阻碍, 包括假定的短期移徙时限和过度依赖雇主出资的条款, 以及本地区的政治经济情况, 这些导致了劳动力市场分化, 影响着本国工人和移徙工人的相关社会保护权利, 限制了移徙工人代表性渠道。尽管制定了一些新的机制, 但待遇无法支付时, 劳动争议和司法制度往往无法有效保护工人及其家人。官僚、经济、语言、档案和地理等障碍构成了进一步障碍, 使移徙工人在实践中无法获得社会保护。文章最后指出了关键的政策影响, 措施包括:根据国际标准和原则以及联合国2030年可持续发展议程中不让一个人掉队、确保人人享有社会保护的承诺, 制定全面的法律规定;解决实际障碍、权力不平衡以及覆盖、监测和执行缺口问题;加强海合会与原籍国政府、雇主、工人以及倡导移徙工人权利的广泛利益相关方等所有参与者之间的对话和合作。
يستكشف هذا المقال العوامل المؤثرة في توسيع نطاق الحماية الاجتماعية لتشمل العمال المهاجرين في منطقة مجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية. وفي حين أن هناك بعض المؤشرات على وجود زخم جديد للإصلاحات، نجد أن الإصلاحات الرامية إلى معالجة الثغرات في تغطية الحماية الاجتماعية القانونية قد تعطلت تاريخياً بسبب تصميم نظام الهجرة ذاته، بما في ذلك الإطار الزمني المفترض للهجرة على الأمد القصير والاعتماد المفرط على الأحكام التي يرعاها صاحب العمل، فضلاً عن الاقتصاد السياسي في المنطقة، والذي يُترجم إلى سوق عمل مجزأ وما يرتبط به من استحقاقات في مجال الحماية الاجتماعية للعمال الوطنيين والمهاجرين وقنوات محدودة لتمثيل العمال المهاجرين. وعلى الرغم من وضع بعض الآليات الجديدة، فإن النزاعات العمالية والأنظمة القضائية غالبا ما تكون غير فعالة في حماية العمال وأسرهم عندما لا يتم دفع الاستحقاقات. وتشكل الحواجز البيروقراطية والمالية واللغوية والتوثيقية والجغرافية عقبات إضافية أمام حصول العمال المهاجرين على الحماية الاجتماعية في الممارسة العملية. ويختتم المقال بآثار سياسية رئيسية، بما في ذلك التدابير الرامية إلى: وضع أحكام قانونية شاملة تتماشى مع المعايير والمبادئ الدولية وكذلك الالتزامات بعدم ترك أي أحد خارج التغطية وضمان الحماية الاجتماعية للجميع في خطة الأمم المتحدة للتنمية المستدامة لعام 2030؛ ومعالجة العوائق العملية واختلال توازن القوى وفجوات التواصل والرصد والإنفاذ؛ وتعزيز الحوار والتعاون بين جميع الجهات الفاعلة بما في ذلك حكومات مجلس التعاون لدول الخليج العربية ودول المنشأ وأصحاب العمل والعمال وأصحاب المصلحة الأوسع نطاقا الذين يدافعون عن حقوق العمال المهاجرين.
Este artigo explora os fatores que influenciam a extensão da proteção social para os trabalhadores migrantes na região do Conselho de Cooperação dos Estados Árabes do Golfo (CCG). Embora haja alguns indícios de um novo impulso para reformas, constatamos que as reformas para resolver as lacunas da cobertura legal de proteção social têm sido historicamente prejudicadas pela própria estrutura do sistema de migração, entre os quais o suposto curto prazo do período de migração e a dependência excessiva às disposições patrocinadas pelo empregador. Além disso, temos a economia política na região, que se traduz em um mercado de trabalho segmentado e em direitos de proteção social associados para trabalhadores nacionais e migrantes, bem como em canais limitados para a representação dos trabalhadores migrantes. Embora alguns mecanismos novos estejam em desenvolvimento, os sistemas judiciais e de resolução de litígios laborais são muitas vezes ineficazes na proteção dos trabalhadores e suas famílias quando os benefícios não são pagos. As barreiras burocráticas, financeiras, idiomáticas, documentais e geográficas são outros obstáculos ao acesso dos trabalhadores migrantes à proteção social na prática. O artigo conclui com as principais implicações políticas, entre as quais medidas para: desenvolver disposições legais abrangentes em conformidade com as normas e princípios internacionais, bem como compromissos de não deixar ninguém para trás e garantir proteção social para todos nos termos da Agenda 2030 da Organização das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável; abordar os obstáculos práticos, os desequilíbrios de poder e as lacunas em matéria de alcance, monitoramento e execução; e reforçar o diálogo e a colaboração entre todos os intervenientes, entre os quais o CCG e os governos dos países de origem, empregadores, trabalhadores e partes interessadas mais amplas que defendem os direitos dos trabalhadores migrantes.
]]>The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) outlines the rights for every child, including the right to benefit from social security and the right to a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral, and social development. The UNCRC is the most widely ratified human rights treaty to date. However, millions of children continue to be denied their rights and face poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion, merely because they are displaced – internally or across borders. Children bear the heaviest burden of displacement, despite not being responsible for its triggers. This reality underlines that a significant population is being “left behind”, threatening progress to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals as part of international efforts to end poverty and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity. This article advocates for inclusive social protection systems for displaced children by highlighting the difficulties they encounter, emphasizing the potential benefits of social protection, and assessing the current status of inclusive social protection for this vulnerable group. Drawing on emerging lessons from UNICEF’s experience across several refugee and internal displacement contexts, such as Brazil, Ethiopia, Slovakia, and Türkiye, the article also offers recommendations to strengthen inclusive social protection systems specifically tailored to meet the humanitarian and development needs of displaced children.
La Convention des Nations Unies relative aux droits de l’enfant (CNUDE) énonce les droits de chaque enfant, à savoir le droit de bénéficier de la sécurité sociale et le droit à un niveau de vie suffisant pour permettre son développement physique, mental, spirituel, moral et social. La CNUDE est le traité relatif aux droits de l’homme le plus largement ratifié à ce jour. Toutefois, des millions d’enfants continuent d’être privés de leurs droits et subissent la pauvreté, la vulnérabilité et l’exclusion sociale simplement parce qu’ils sont déplacés – à l’intérieur de leur pays ou au-delà des frontières. Bien qu’étrangers aux causes de ces déplacements, les enfants en paient le plus lourd tribut. Cette réalité révèle qu’une large partie de la population est «laissée pour compte», mettant en péril les progrès accomplis pour atteindre les objectifs de développement durable des Nations Unies dans le cadre des efforts internationaux qui visent à éradiquer la pauvreté, et à faire en sorte que tous les êtres humains vivent dans la paix et la prospérité. Cet article plaide en faveur de systèmes inclusifs de protection sociale pour les enfants déplacés en mettant en évidence les difficultés qu’ils rencontrent, en soulignant les bénéfices potentiels de la protection sociale et en évaluant la situation actuelle de la protection sociale pour ce groupe vulnérable. Tirant les leçons de l’expérience de l’UNICEF dans différents pays concernés par les réfugiés et les déplacements internes tels que le Brésil, l’Éthiopie, la Slovaquie et la Türkiye, il formule également des recommandations afin de renforcer les systèmes inclusifs de protection sociale spécialement conçus pour répondre aux besoins humanitaires et de développement des enfants déplacés.
En la Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos del Niño se recogen los derechos de todos los niños, como el derecho a beneficiarse de la seguridad social y el derecho a un nivel de vida adecuado para su desarrollo físico, mental, espiritual, moral y social. La Convención de las Naciones Unidas sobre los Derechos del Niño es el tratado de derechos humanos que más se ha ratificado hasta la fecha. Sin embargo, se sigue privando de sus derechos a millones de niños, quienes también se enfrentan a una situación de pobreza, vulnerabilidad y exclusión social, simplemente por estar desplazados a nivel interno o transfronterizo. Sobre los niños recae la mayor carga de los desplazamientos, pese a no ser responsables de sus causas. Esta realidad pone de manifiesto que hay una gran parte de la población que “se está dejando atrás”, lo que supone una amenaza para el logro de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible de las Naciones Unidas, que forman parte de las iniciativas internacionales encaminadas a terminar con la pobreza y conseguir que todas las personas disfruten de paz y prosperidad. En este artículo se aboga por unos sistemas de protección social inclusiva para los niños desplazados, para lo que se ponen de relieve las dificultades a las que se enfrentan, se resaltan los posibles beneficios de la protección social y se evalúa el estado actual de la protección social inclusiva de este grupo vulnerable. A partir de las enseñanzas extraídas de la experiencia de UNICEF en distintos contextos de refugiados y de desplazamientos internos en el Brasil, Etiopía, Eslovaquia y Turquía, en este artículo también se ofrecen recomendaciones para reforzar los sistemas de protección social inclusiva diseñadas específicamente para cumplir las necesidades humanitarias y de desarrollo de los niños desplazados.
Das Übereinkommen der Vereinten Nationen über die Rechte des Kindes (UNCRC) beschreibt die Rechte von Kindern, einschließlich des Rechts auf Leistungen der sozialen Sicherheit und des Rechts auf einen Lebensstandard, der der körperlichen, psychischen, geistigen, moralischen und sozialen Entwicklung angemessen ist. Das UNCRC ist das bisher am häufigsten ratifizierte Übereinkommen über Menschenrechte. Millionen von Kindern haben jedoch nach wie vor keinen Zugang zu diesen Rechten und leben in Armut, Prekarität und sozialer Ausgrenzung, und dies oft nur, weil sie Vertriebene sind, im eigenen oder in einem fremden Land. Kinder leiden am meisten unter einer Vertreibung, obwohl sie nichts für die Auslöser können. Dies zeigt, dass ein wichtiger Bevölkerungsteil „zurückgelassen“wird, was die Fortschritte zum Erreichen der VN-Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung gefährdet, die sich auf internationale Anstrengungen zur Beseitigung von Armut stützen und sicherstellen sollen, dass alle Menschen in Frieden und Wohlstand leben. Dieser Artikel wirbt für inklusive Sozialschutzsysteme für vertriebene Kinder, indem er auf die Schwierigkeiten hinweist, die die Kinder überwinden müssen, die potenziellen Vorteile eines Sozialschutzes benennt und den aktuellen Stand in Bezug auf einen inklusiven Sozialschutz für diese gefährdeten Menschen beleuchtet. Anhand neuer Schlussfolgerungen aus UNICEF-Erfahrungen in verschiedenen Flüchtlings- und Binnenvertriebenenkontexten wie Äthiopien, Brasilien, Slowakei und Türkiye werden im Artikel auch Empfehlungen zur Stärkung inklusiver Sozialschutzsysteme ausgesprochen, die besonders auf den humanitären und entwicklungsbezogenen Bedarf vertriebener Kinder zugeschnitten sind.
Конвенция ООН о правах ребенка (КПР ООН) определяет права каждого ребенка, включая право на социальное обеспечение и право на уровень жизни, необходимый для его физического, умственного, духовного, морального и социального развития. На сегодняшний день КПР ООН является наиболее широко ратифицированным договором по правам человека. Тем не менее, миллионы детей по-прежнему лишены своих прав и сталкиваются с нищетой, уязвимостью и социальной изоляцией только лишь потому, что являются перемещенными лицами (внутри стран или пересекая границы). Дети несут самое тяжелое бремя при перемещении, несмотря на то, что они не ответственны за его причины. Эта данность демонстрирует, что значительная часть населения по-прежнему «оставлена в стороне», что ставит под угрозу прогресс в достижении Целей устойчивого развития ООН в рамках международных усилий по искоренению бедности и достижению всеобщего мира и процветания. Данная статья выступает в поддержку инклюзивных систем социальной защиты для перемещенных детей, подчеркивая трудности, с которыми они сталкиваются, а также отмечая потенциальные преимущества социальной защиты и оценивая текущий статус инклюзивной социальной защиты для этой уязвимой группы. С учётом новых уроков из опыта ЮНИСЕФ в различных условиях работы с беженцами и перемещенными внутри страны лицами, в частности в Бразилии, Эфиопии, Словакии и Турции, в статье также предлагаются рекомендации по укреплению инклюзивных систем социальной защиты, специально предназначенных для удовлетворения гуманитарных потребностей перемещенных детей и их потребностей в области развития.
联合国《儿童权利公约》概述了每个儿童的权利, 包括享有社会保障权利和享有足以促进其生理、心理、精神、道德和社会发展的生活水平。《儿童权利公约》是迄今为止批准最广泛的人权条约。然而, 仍有数以百万计的儿童被剥夺权利, 面临贫困、脆弱和社会排斥, 仅仅因为他们在本国或境外流离失所。尽管儿童并不是流离失所的诱发因素, 他们却承受着最沉重的负担。这一事实突显出大量人口被“抛在后面”, 对实现联合国可持续发展目标取得的进展构成威胁, 包括消除贫困、确保人人享有和平与繁荣的国际努力。文章呼吁为流离失所儿童提供包容性社会保护体系, 突出儿童面临的困难, 强调社会保护的潜在益处, 并对为弱势群体提供包容性社会保护的现状进行了评估。文章借鉴了联合国儿基会在巴西、埃塞俄比亚、斯洛伐克和土耳其等多个难民地和国内流离失所地区的经验, 针对流离失所儿童的人道主义和发展需求, 提出了加强包容性社会保护体系的建议。
تحدد اتفاقية الأمم المتحدة لحقوق الطفل حقوق كل طفل، بما في ذلك الحق في الاستفادة من الضمان الاجتماعي والحق في مستوى معيشي ملائم لنموه البدني والعقلي والروحي والمعنوي والاجتماعي. إن اتفاقية حقوق الطفل هي معاهدة حقوق الإنسان التي تم التصديق عليها على نطاق واسع حتى الآن. ومع ذلك، لا يزال ملايين الأطفال محرومين من حقوقهم ويواجهون الفقر والضعف والاستبعاد الاجتماعي، لمجرد أنهم نازحون - داخليًا أو عبر الحدود. ويتحمل الأطفال العبء الأكبر للنزوح على الرغم من أنهم ليسوا مسؤولين عن مسبباته. ويؤكد هذا الواقع أن عددًا كبيرًا من السكان قد "ترك خارج التغطية"، مما يهدد التقدم نحو تحقيق أهداف الأمم المتحدة للتنمية المستدامة كجزء من الجهود الدولية للقضاء على الفقر وضمان تمتع جميع الأشخاص بالسلام والازدهار. ويدعو هذا المقال إلى إنشاء أنظمة حماية اجتماعية شاملة للأطفال النازحين من خلال تسليط الضوء على الصعوبات التي يواجهونها، والتأكيد على الفوائد المحتملة للحماية الاجتماعية، وتقييم الوضع الحالي للحماية الاجتماعية الشاملة لهذه المجموعة الضعيفة. وبالاستناد إلى الدروس المستمدة من تجربة اليونيسف عبر العديد من سياقات اللاجئين والنزوح الداخلي، مثل البرازيل وإثيوبيا وسلوفاكيا وتركيا، يقدم المقال أيضًا توصيات لتعزيز أنظمة الحماية الاجتماعية الشاملة المصممة خصيصًا لتلبية الاحتياجات الإنسانية والإنمائية للأطفال النازحين.
A Convenção das Nações Unidas sobre os Direitos da Criança (UNCRC) define os direitos de toda criança, entre eles o direito de se beneficiar da seguridade social e o direito a um padrão de vida adequado ao seu desenvolvimento físico, mental, espiritual, moral e social. A Convenção sobre os Direitos da Criança é o tratado de direitos humanos mais amplamente ratificado na história. No entanto, milhões de crianças continuam a ter os seus direitos negados e a enfrentar a pobreza, a vulnerabilidade e a exclusão social, apenas porque são deslocadas – internamente ou entre fronteiras. As crianças arcam com o fardo mais pesado do deslocamento, embora não sejam responsáveis pelos fatores que desencadearam a situação. Esta realidade deixa claro que uma boa parte da população está sendo "deixada para trás", ameaçando o avanço para a implementação dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável da ONU como parte dos esforços internacionais para acabar com a pobreza e garantir que todas as pessoas desfrutem de paz e de prosperidade. Este artigo defende a criação de sistemas de proteção social inclusivos para as crianças deslocadas ao destacar as dificuldades encontradas, enfatizar os benefícios potenciais da proteção social e avaliar a condição atual de proteção social inclusiva para esse grupo vulnerável. Ele também recorre às lições de experiências da UNICEF em vários contextos de refugiados e deslocamentos internos, como Brasil, Etiópia, Eslováquia e Turquia, para oferecer recomendações com intuito de fortalecer sistemas de proteção social inclusivos especificamente concebidos para atender às necessidades humanitárias e de desenvolvimento dessas crianças.
]]>This 2023 special issue of the International Social Security Review contributes to the core debate framed by the international ambition of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to leave no one behind and does so through the lens of social security coverage extension. Specifically, the special issue addresses the social security rights of selected population groups prioritized by the current programme of work of the International Social Security Association; namely, displaced populations, amongst whom children represent a significant proportion, and international migrant workers. Implicit in this choice is a wish to collate, analyse, enrich, and disseminate knowledge to forge a stronger consensus to help realize effective social security coverage for all.
Ce numéro spécial 2023 de l’International Social Security Review entend alimenter le débat central suscité par l’ambition internationale des objectifs de développement durable des Nations Unies de ne laisser personne de côté, et ce en promouvant l’extension de la couverture de la sécurité sociale. Il aborde plus spécifiquement les droits à la sécurité sociale de certains groupes de population ciblés prioritairement par le programme de travail actuel de l’Association internationale de la sécurité sociale, à savoir les personnes déplacées, dont les enfants représentent une large proportion, et les travailleurs migrants internationaux. Ce choix est implicitement motivé par la volonté de rassembler, d’analyser, d’enrichir et de diffuser les connaissances afin de bâtir un consensus plus large et, ainsi, permettre l’instauration effective d’une couverture de sécurité sociale pour tous.
Este número especial de 2023 de International Social Security Review contribuye al importante debate sobre el propósito de la comunidad internacional de no dejar a nadie atrás, que se consagra en los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible las Naciones Unidas, y analiza esta cuestión desde la perspectiva de la extensión de la cobertura de seguridad social. En particular, en este número especial se examinan los derechos a la seguridad social de determinados grupos de población a los que el programa de trabajo actual de la Asociación Internacional de la Seguridad Social da prioridad, como las poblaciones desplazadas, en las que los niños representan un porcentaje significativo, y los trabajadores migrantes internacionales. La elección de este tema refleja el deseo de recopilar, analizar, enriquecer y divulgar conocimientos que permitan forjar un consenso más sólido a fin de contribuir de forma eficaz a la consecución de una cobertura de seguridad social para todos.
Die Sondernummer 2023 der International Social Security Review liefert einen Beitrag zur wichtigen Debatte über die internationale Ambition, niemanden zurückzulassen, die in den Zielen für nachhaltige Entwicklung der Vereinten Nationen verankert ist, und sie tut dies mit Blick auf die Ausweitung der Deckung der sozialen Sicherheit. Genauer geht es in dieser Sondernummer um die Rechte der sozialen Sicherheit ausgewählter Bevölkerungsgruppen, die im Fokus des aktuellen Arbeitsprogramms der Internationalen Vereinigung für Soziale Sicherheit stehen, und zwar von Vertriebenen, zu denen zu einem großen Teil auch Kinder gehören, und von internationalen Arbeitsmigranten. Diese Wahl hat auch damit zu tun, dass Wissen gesammelt, analysiert, angereichert und verbreitet werden soll, um einen stärkeren Konsens für die Verwirklichung einer wirksamen Deckung der sozialen Sicherheit für alle zu erreichen.
Помещая в центр внимания расширение охвата социальным обеспечением, данный специальный выпуск Международного обозрения социального обеспечения за 2023 г. вносит свой вклад в центральную дискуссию, определяемую международными амбициями Целей устойчивого развития Организации Объединенных Наций, суть которых в том, чтобы никто не был оставлен без защиты. В частности, этот специальный выпуск посвящен правам на социальное обеспечение отдельных групп населения, приоритетных в текущей программе работы Международной ассоциации социального обеспечения; а именно, перемещенного населения, среди которого значительную долю составляют дети, и международных трудовых мигрантов. В выборе тематики заложено желание сопоставить, проанализировать, расширить и распространить знания, чтобы сформировать более надежный консенсус с целью предоставить эффективный и всеобщий охват социальным обеспечением.
《国际社会保障评论》2023年特刊通过社会保障扩面视角, 围绕联合国可持续发展目标中“不让一个人掉队”这一国际目标, 为核心讨论做出了贡献。具体而言, 本期特刊讨论了国际社会保障协会当前工作计划的优先事项——特定人群的社会保障权利, 即流离失所人口 (其中儿童占相当比例)和国际移徙工人。选择该主题是希望能够整理、分析、丰富和传播知识, 形成更强有力的共识, 帮助实现人人享有有效的社会保障覆盖。
يساهم هذا العدد الخاص لعام 2023 من مجلة International Social Security Review في النقاش الأساسي الذي يصوغه الطموح الدولي لأهداف الأمم المتحدة للتنمية المستدامة بعدم ترك أي أحد خارج التغطية، ويتم ذلك من خلال عدسة توسيع تغطية الضمان الاجتماعي. وعلى وجه التحديد يتناول العدد الخاص حقوق الضمان الاجتماعي لمجموعات سكانية مختارة تحظى بالأولوية في برنامج العمل الحالي للجمعية الدولية للضمان الاجتماعي (الإيسا)؛ وعلى وجه التحديد السكان النازحون الذين يمثل الأطفال نسبة كبيرة منهم والعمال المهاجرين الدوليين. وينطوي هذا الاختيار ضمنيًا على الرغبة في جمع المعرفة وتحليلها وإثرائها ونشرها لتكوين إجماع أقوى من أجل المساعدة في تحقيق تغطية فعالة للضمان الاجتماعي بالنسبة إلى الجميع.
Esta edição especial de 2023 da International Social Security Review contribui para o debate central traçado pela ambição internacional dos Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável da Organização das Nações Unidas de não deixar ninguém para trás e fazer isso sob a ótica da extensão da cobertura da seguridade social. Especificamente, esta edição especial aborda os direitos à seguridade social de grupos populacionais selecionados, que o programa atual de trabalho da Associação Internacional de Seguridade Social prioriza; a saber, as populações deslocadas, entre as quais as crianças representam uma parcela significativa, e os trabalhadores migrantes internacionais. Implícito nessa escolha está o desejo de conferir, analisar, enriquecer e disseminar conhecimento para forjar um consenso mais forte que ajude a viabilizar uma cobertura de seguridade social para todos.
]]>UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has the mandate to save lives and build better futures for millions of forcibly displaced and stateless people. This contribution sets out UNHCR’s mandated roles concerning displaced population groups and details the nature of the humanitarian and human development challenges that confront the international community. In this important regard, the social protection coverage extension objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection (USP), to leave no one behind, are considered essential.
L’Agence des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés (HCR) a pour mission de sauver des vies et de bâtir un avenir meilleur pour les millions de personnes déplacées de force et d’apatrides. Cette contribution met en lumière les responsabilités de le HCR à l’égard des groupes de population déplacés, et décrit la nature des défis humanitaires et de développement humain auxquels la communauté internationale est confrontée. À cet égard, les objectifs d’extension de la couverture de protection sociale définis par le Programme de développement durable à l’horizon 2030 et le Partenariat mondial pour la protection sociale universelle, visant à ne laisser personne de côté, sont considérés comme essentiels.
ACNUR, la Agencia de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados, tiene el mandato de salvar la vida de millones de personas desplazadas por la fuerza y de personas apátridas, así como de construir un futuro mejor para ellas. En este artículo se detallan las funciones encomendadas a ACNUR en lo relativo a los grupos de población desplazada y la naturaleza de los desafíos humanitarios y de desarrollo humano a los que se enfrenta la comunidad internacional. En este aspecto tan importante, resultan fundamentales los objetivos que se incluyen en la Agenda 2030 para el Desarrollo Sostenible y en la Alianza Mundial para la Protección Social Universal para extender la cobertura de protección social y no dejar a nadie atrás.
Das Flüchtlingshilfswerk der Vereinten Nationen (UNHCR) hat den Auftrag, Leben zu retten und für Millionen zwangsvertriebener und staatenloser Menschen eine bessere Zukunft aufzubauen. Dieser Beitrag umreißt die Aufgaben des UNHCR in Bezug auf Vertriebene und beschreibt, vor welchen humanitären und entwicklungsbezogenen Herausforderungen die internationale Gemeinschaft dabei steht. In dieser wichtigen Frage wird das Ziel der Sozialschutzausweitung, niemanden zurückzulassen, das in den Zielen für nachhaltige Entwicklung der Vereinten Nationen sowie in der Globalen Partnerschaft für einen universellen Sozialschutz (USP) verankert ist, als elementar erachtet.
УВКБ ООН (Управление Верховного комиссара ООН по делам беженцев) уполномочено спасать жизни миллионов принудительно перемещенных лиц и лиц без гражданства и обеспечивать им лучшее будущее. В данном материале изложены отведенные УВКБ ООН функции в отношении перемещенных групп населения и подробно описан характер гуманитарных вызовов и проблем в области развития человеческого потенциала, с которыми сталкивается международное сообщество. В этом отношении ключевыми считаются цели расширения охвата системами социальной защиты Повестки дня в области устойчивого развития на период до 2030 г. и Глобального партнерства по всеобщей социальной защите (USP), согласно которым никто не должен остаться в стороне.
联合国难民署的职责是拯救生命, 为数以百万计被迫流离失所和失去国家的人创造更加美好的未来。本篇文章阐述了难民署在流离失所人群方面的职责作用, 详细介绍了国际社会面临的人道主义和人类发展挑战本质。在该重要领域, 《2030年可持续发展议程》和《全民社会保护全球伙伴关系》社会保护扩面目标强调不让一个人掉队, 这一点至关重要。
تتمتع المفوضية السامية للأمم المتحدة لشؤون اللاجئين بمهمة إنقاذ الأرواح وبناء مستقبل أفضل لملايين النازحين قسراً والأشخاص من دون وطن. وتحدد هذه المساهمة الأدوار المنوطة بالمفوضية فيما يتعلق بالمجموعات السكانية النازحة وتشرح بالتفصيل طبيعة التحديات الإنسانية وتحديات التنمية البشرية التي تواجه المجتمع الدولي. وفي هذا الصدد المهم، تعتبر أهداف توسيع نطاق تغطية الحماية الاجتماعية الواردة في خطة التنمية المستدامة لعام 2030 والشراكة العالمية من أجل الحماية الاجتماعية الشاملة، حتى لا يبق أحد خارج التغطية، أمرا ضروريا.
O ACNUR, a Agência das Nações Unidas para os Refugiados, tem a missão de salvar vidas e construir um futuro melhor para milhões de pessoas deslocadas à força e apátridas. Esta contribuição define a função do ACNUR em relação aos grupos populacionais deslocados e detalha a natureza dos desafios humanitários e de desenvolvimento humano que a comunidade internacional enfrenta. Nesse sentido, os objetivos de extensão da cobertura de proteção social da Agenda 2030 para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável e da Parceria Global para a Proteção Social Universal (USP), de não deixar ninguém para trás, são considerados essenciais.
]]>The article discusses the current practices for providing social protection to refugees and migrants, focusing primarily on low- and middle-income (LMICs) destination countries. It examines formal providers of social protection, including state institutions, development agencies and humanitarian organizations. In recent years, there has been an increase in funding from multilateral donors, especially in the context of the COVID–19 pandemic, leading to the establishment of national assistance programmes in LMICs that also encompass refugees and to a lesser extent migrant workers. International agencies play a crucial role in providing humanitarian cash assistance to refugees, given their status under international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and related protocols. Access to social insurance remains tied to formal employment. Social insurance entitlements for migrants are often restricted and refugees are typically excluded from formal employment in LMICs. Regarding labour market interventions, refugees and migrants are often excluded from national programmes, with migrants’ residence permits being often tied to employment. For refugees, international agencies take a prominent role in providing livelihood programmes aimed at enhancing income-generating opportunities, economic inclusion and financial independence. However, the effectiveness of these interventions remains unclear, lacking rigorous evidence, and often being short-term with limited coverage.
Cet article examine les pratiques actuelles en matière de fourniture de protection sociale aux réfugiés et aux migrants, en se concentrant principalement sur les pays d’accueil à faible et moyen revenu. Il s’intéresse aux prestataires officiels de protection sociale, notamment les institutions publiques, les agences de développement et les organisations humanitaires. Ces dernières années ont vu une hausse du financement venant de donateurs multilatéraux, en particulier lors de la pandémie de COVID-19, permettant ainsi l’élaboration de programmes nationaux d’assistance dans les pays à faible et moyen revenu qui s’appliquent également aux réfugiés et, dans une moindre mesure, aux travailleurs migrants. Les organismes internationaux jouent un rôle essentiel dans la fourniture d’une assistance humanitaire en espèces aux réfugiés, compte tenu de leur statut de protection internationale, conformément à la Convention de 1951 relative au statut des réfugiés et aux protocoles y afférents. L’accès à l’assurance sociale demeure lié à l’emploi formel. Les droits à l’assurance sociale sont souvent restreints pour les migrants, et les réfugiés sont généralement exclus de l’emploi formel dans les pays à faible et moyen revenu. En matière d’interventions sur le marché du travail, les réfugiés et les migrants sont régulièrement mis à l’écart des programmes nationaux, tandis que les permis de séjour des migrants sont souvent conditionnés au fait d’avoir un emploi. En ce qui concerne les réfugiés, les organismes internationaux jouent un rôle de premier plan dans la fourniture de programmes de subsistance visant à accroître les chances de générer des revenus, mais également l’inclusion économique et l’indépendance financière. Toutefois, ces interventions se révèlent d’une efficacité incertaine, faute de preuves rigoureuses, et sont souvent de court terme en raison de la couverture limitée.
En este artículo se analizan las prácticas actuales para proporcionar protección social a los refugiados y los migrantes, y la atención se centra sobre todo en los países de destino de ingreso bajo y mediano. Se estudian los proveedores formales de protección social, como las instituciones estatales, los organismos de desarrollo y las organizaciones humanitarias. En los últimos años ha aumentado la financiación de donantes multilaterales, en particular en el contexto de la pandemia de COVID-19, lo que ha traído consigo el establecimiento de programas de asistencia nacional en los países de ingreso bajo y mediano que también incluyen a los refugiados y, en menor medida, a los trabajadores migrantes. Los organismos internacionales desempeñan un papel crucial para proporcionar asistencia humanitaria en efectivo a los refugiados, dado que se encuentran amparados por la protección internacional prevista en la Convención de 1951 sobre el Estatuto de los Refugiados y los protocolos relacionados. El acceso al seguro social sigue vinculado al empleo formal. Los derechos de seguro social de los migrantes suelen estar limitados y, por lo general, en los países de ingreso bajo y mediano se excluye a los refugiados de los trabajos formales. En lo que respecta a las intervenciones en el mercado de trabajo, los refugiados y los migrantes suelen quedar fuera de los programas nacionales, y los permisos de residencia de los migrantes dependen a menudo del empleo. En cuanto a los refugiados, los organismos internacionales desempeñan un papel importante en el suministro de programas de medios de vida encaminados a mejorar las oportunidades de generación de ingresos y a contribuir a la inclusión económica y a la independencia financiera. Sin embargo, la eficacia de estas intervenciones sigue sin estar clara, ya que no hay pruebas rigurosas, y con frecuencia se llevan a cabo a corto plazo debido a la cobertura limitada.
In diesem Artikel werden aktuelle Praktiken der Bereitstellung eines Sozialschutzes für Flüchtlinge und Migranten erörtert, wobei es vor allem um Zielländer mit niedrigen und mittleren Einkommen geht. Untersucht werden formelle Sozialschutzanbieter, darunter auch staatliche Institutionen, Entwicklungsorganisationen und humanitäre Organisationen. In den letzten Jahren hat die Finanzierung durch Geldgeber von verschiedenen Seiten zugenommen, insbesondere im Kontext der COVID-19-Pandemie, was auch in Ländern mit geringen und mittleren Einkommen die Einrichtung nationaler Hilfsprogramme ermöglicht hat, zu denen Flüchtlinge und in geringerem Maße auch Arbeitsmigranten Zugang haben. Internationale Organisationen spielen eine zentrale Rolle bei der Bereitstellung humanitärer Geldhilfen für Flüchtlinge. Grund dafür ist der internationale Schutzstatus von Flüchtlingen in der Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention von 1951 und den entsprechenden Protokollen. Der Zugang zu einer Sozialversicherung ist jedoch nach wie vor an eine formelle Beschäftigung gebunden. Sozialversicherungsansprüche für Migranten sind oft eingeschränkt, und Flüchtlinge sind in Ländern mit geringen und mittleren Einkommen meist von formeller Beschäftigung ausgeschlossen. In Bezug auf Arbeitsmarktmaßnahmen fallen Flüchtlinge und Migranten meist nicht unter die nationalen Programme, da für die Aufenthaltsbewilligung von Migranten oft eine Beschäftigung vorausgesetzt wird. Für Flüchtlinge sind internationale Organisationen deshalb äußerst wichtig, da sie Lebensunterhaltsprogramme betreiben, die Erwerbsmöglichkeiten, wirtschaftliche Inklusion und finanzielle Unabhängigkeit bieten. Die Wirksamkeit dieser Maßnahmen ist allerdings nach wie vor nicht erwiesen, da es an gesicherten Nachweisen fehlt, die Maßnahmen oft von kurzer Dauer sind und die Zielgruppen beschränkt.
В статье обсуждаются современные практики по обеспечению социальной защиты для беженцев и мигрантов, и особое внимание уделяется странам назначения с низким и средним уровнем дохода. В статье рассматриваются формальные поставщики социальной защиты, в том числе государственные и гуманитарные организации, а также агентства по развитию. В последние годы увеличилось финансирование со стороны многосторонних доноров, особенно вследствие пандемии COVID-19, что привело к созданию национальных программ помощи в странах с низким и средним уровнем дохода, охватывающих беженцев и, в меньшей степени, трудовых мигрантов. Международные агентства играют решающую роль в предоставлении гуманитарной денежной помощи беженцам, учитывая, что они подпадают под международную защиту в соответствии с Конвенцией о статусе беженцев 1951 г. и под соответствующие протоколы. Доступ к социальному страхованию по-прежнему привязан к формальной занятости. Право на социальное страхование часто ограничено для мигрантов, а беженцы, как правило, и вовсе исключены из формального трудоустройства в странах с низким и средним уровнем доходов. Что касается интервенций на рынке труда, то беженцы и мигранты часто исключены из национальных программ, а вид на жительство у мигрантов зачастую привязан к трудоустройству. Международные агентства играют значимую роль в предоставлении беженцам доступа к программам по обеспечению средств к существованию, направленным на расширение возможностей получения дохода, экономической интеграции и финансовой независимости. Однако эффективность этих интервенций остается неясной ввиду нехватки конкретных данных, и они зачастую краткосрочны и ограничены в охвате.
本文讨论了当前为难民和移徙人员提供社会保护的实践, 主要关注中低收入目的地国家。文章探讨了社会保护的正式提供者, 包括国家机构、发展机构和人道主义组织。近年来, 多边捐赠者的资助有所增长, 特别在新冠肺炎疫情背景下, 促使中低收入国家制定了覆盖难民并在一定程度上覆盖移徙工人的国家援助计划。国际机构在向难民提供人道主义现金援助方面发挥着至关重要的作用, 根据1951年难民公约和相关议定书, 难民享有国际保护。然而, 社会保险资格仍与正规就业绑定。在中低收入国家, 移徙人员的社会保险权利往往受到限制, 难民通常被排除在正规就业之外。在劳动力市场干预措施方面, 难民和移徙人员往往也被排除在国家计划之外, 移徙人员的居住许可通常与就业挂钩。对于难民而言, 国际机构在提供生计计划以及增加创收机会、增强经济包容性和财务独立性方面发挥着突出作用。然而, 这些干预措施的有效性仍不明确, 缺乏严格实证, 且措施往往期限较短、覆盖面有限。
يناقش المقال الممارسات الحالية لتوفير الحماية الاجتماعية للاجئين والمهاجرين مع التركيز في المقام الأول على بلدان المقصد ذات الدخل المنخفض والمتوسط. ويدرس مقدمي الحماية الاجتماعية الرسميين بما في ذلك مؤسسات الدولة ووكالات التنمية والمنظمات الإنسانية. في السنوات الأخيرة كانت هناك زيادة في التمويل من الجهات المانحة المتعددة الأطراف، خاصة في سياق جائحة كوفيد-19، مما أدى إلى إنشاء برامج مساعدة وطنية في البلدان المنخفضة والمتوسطة الدخل والتي تشمل أيضًا اللاجئين وبدرجة أقل العمال المهاجرين. وتضطلع الوكالات الدولية بدور حاسم في تقديم المساعدة النقدية الإنسانية للاجئين نظراً لوضعهم تحت الحماية الدولية بموجب اتفاقية اللاجئين لعام 1951 والبروتوكولات ذات الصلة. ولا يزال الوصول إلى التأمين الاجتماعي مرتبطا بالعمل الرسمي. وغالبًا ما تكون استحقاقات التأمين الاجتماعي للمهاجرين مقيدة ويتم استبعاد اللاجئين عادةً من التوظيف الرسمي في البلدان المنخفضة أو المتوسطة الدخل. وفيما يتعلق بالتدخلات في سوق العمل غالبا ما يتم استبعاد اللاجئين والمهاجرين من البرامج الوطنية مع ربط تصاريح إقامة المهاجرين في كثير من الأحيان بالعمل. وفيما يتعلق باللاجئين تضطلع الوكالات الدولية بدور بارز في توفير برامج سبل العيش التي تهدف إلى تعزيز فرص توليد الدخل والشمول الاقتصادي والاستقلال المالي. ومع ذلك فإن فعالية هذه التدخلات لا تزال غير واضحة وتفتقر إلى الأدلة الدقيقة وغالباً ما تكون قصيرة الأمد مع تغطية محدودة.
Este artigo debate as práticas atuais da prestação de proteção social a refugiados e migrantes, com foco especial nos países de acolhimento de baixa e média renda (PBMR). Examina os provedores formais da proteção social, entre os quais as instituições estatais, as agências de desenvolvimento e as organizações humanitárias. Nos últimos anos e em especial no contexto da pandemia do COVID-19, houve um aumento no financiamento de doadores multilaterais. Isso resultou na criação de programas nacionais de assistência em países de baixa e média renda, que também abrangem refugiados e, em menor grau, trabalhadores migrantes. As agências internacionais desempenham um papel crucial na prestação de assistência humanitária em dinheiro aos refugiados, dado o seu estatuto sob proteção internacional ao abrigo da Convenção sobre os Refugiados de 1951 e protocolos afins. O acesso à seguridade social continua atrelado ao emprego formal. Os direitos à seguridade social para migrantes são muitas vezes restritos e os refugiados são tipicamente excluídos do emprego formal nos países de pequena e média renda. No que diz respeito às intervenções no mercado de trabalho, refugiados e migrantes são frequentemente excluídos dos programas nacionais, inclusive as autorizações de residência para migrantes geralmente são atreladas ao emprego. Para os refugiados, as agências internacionais assumem um papel proeminente na prestação de programas de subsistência destinados a melhorar as oportunidades de geração de renda, a inclusão econômica e a independência financeira. No entanto, a eficácia dessas intervenções permanece obscura, carecendo de evidências rigorosas e, muitas vezes, sendo de curto prazo e com cobertura limitada.
]]>Bullying is a pervasive public behaviour that raises significant global concerns, inflicting harm on bullies, victims, and bully-victims. This qualitative case study investigates bully-victim role formation through the lens of symbolic interactionism. Data were collected via interviews and observations with a Chinese adolescent boy identified as a bully-victim, by his family, teachers, and peers. Findings revealed the case subject experienced relational and physical victimization, while perpetrating financial, verbal, and physical bullying. Family violence, school exclusion, and an aggressive community culture shaped the subject's aggressive responses over time. Unique aspects of the Chinese cultural context, including parent–child dynamics within migrant families and teacher–student relationships, influenced role development. This novel application of symbolic interactionism sheds light on the complex interplay between multisystem interactions, emotions, and confrontational actions underlying the case subject's bully-victim status. The study underscores the value of qualitative explorations, giving voice to bully-victims' perspectives. Findings can inform culturally specific bullying prevention and highlight how contextual interactions shape adolescents' roles. This rare glimpse into bully-victim experiences in China advances theoretical perspectives and has important implications for research and practice addressing the worldwide problem of bullying.
]]>Social assistance programmes are crucial in alleviating poverty, reducing inequality, and addressing social exclusion. The efficacy of these programmes hinges on the precision and efficiency of their targeting methods. Governments, especially in developing countries, can enhance the impact of social assistance programmes and ensure equitable resource distribution by accurately identifying the right individuals or households. This paper proposes two approaches to targeting beneficiaries of social benefits in Tunisia, including cash transfers and healthcare programmes. The first approach, a Mixed Means Test, extends the Proxy Means Test model by integrating individual/household assessments with explicit geographical targeting methods. The second is a multidimensional targeting strategy that explicitly considers the various deprivations faced by the households. Utilising data from the 2015 National Survey on Household Budget, Consumption, and Standard of Living, our results indicate that the targeting performance of the Mixed Means Test surpasses existing programmes both nationally and regionally, notably minimising inclusion and exclusion errors in the poorest regions of Tunisia. However, the multidimensional targeting approach identifies a higher number of potential beneficiaries compared to the current selection process in Tunisia. Including these households in social programmes may be hindered by limited monetary resources and the country's financial constraints. To address this, the multidimensional targeting approach enables the categorisation of potential beneficiaries into three mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive groups based on their degree of deprivation.
]]>We ask whether counties with growing black and Latino populations have reduced the number of poll workers and polling sites. We argue that the association between changing racial demographics and election infrastructure has been exacerbated by the release of certain jurisdictions from the Voting Rights Act's (VRA) “preclearance” requirement under Section 5.
Relying on data from the 2016 and 2018 Election Administration and Voting Survey and demographic data from the American Community Survey, we conduct a multilevel linear regression on a sample of roughly 4000 counties.
We find that counties respond to changes in the Latino population, though not changes in the black population, by reducing access to election resources. This relationship is especially pronounced in areas formerly covered by Section 5 of the VRA.
Given the importance of polling places and workers for in-person voting, our findings raise serious concerns for racial equality in election access and influence.
]]>In the context of aspirations that firmly position education as the key to multiple global development goals, we raise concerns about how education is experienced by many children, particularly in low-income, postcolonial contexts. Drawing from two, in-depth qualitative studies in Tanzania, we demonstrate that existing pedagogical practices, including the use of an unfamiliar language of learning and teaching, constitute a ‘hidden curriculum’ that powerfully undermines the vision of education embedded in the sustainable development agenda. We argue that research that foregrounds children's experiences should have a more prominent role as it enables us to understand the lived implications of global policy-making.
]]>It is well established that urban community gardens (UCGs) can either challenge or reinforce neoliberal urbanism. This duality is especially evident among UCGs that sell garden harvests for income generation. In this article I therefore examine UCGs in low-income areas of Cape Town, South Africa, to understand how they might sell their harvests while countering the neoliberal food system in cities of the global South. I draw on qualitative fieldwork, including observations and semi-structured interviews with UCG representatives and civil society actors. Most harvests are currently sold to high-end venues through intermediary actors in civil society organizations (CSOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). However, this approach disregards the local community's socioeconomic conditions and undermines community gardens’ nutritional objectives. Yet, under specific scenarios, the sale of garden harvests could mitigate the persistent food injustice in Cape Town's low-income areas. In this article I introduce a model for harvest sales that advances sustainable urban agriculture and fosters food justice in neoliberal cities in the global South.
]]>The article begins with a discussion of the contribution of childhood studies to our understanding of children's ethics, taking into account feminist inputs to the debate over the ethics of care and the ethics of justice. Then, based on two qualitative studies carried out in Chile with children between 10 and 13 years of age, the article shows the emphasis the children place on reciprocal care between parents and children. This concern for reciprocity is accompanied by notions of justice and rights in how they evaluate the parent–child relationship. The data reveal the complex ways in which the ethics of care and of justice interlock in the children's discourses. The article concludes by tracing the links between these results and the conditions of productive and reproductive work in contemporary Chile as reflected in the children's discourses, and it shows how children have begun to internalise a focus on children's rights in reflecting on their daily lives.
]]>The recent prevalence of digital currencies has challenged policymakers as they try to control the supply of money and rein in clandestine activities. Corruption and shadow economy are widely prevalent illegal/unobserved activities that have been hard to eliminate worldwide. These longstanding and entrenched activities have possibly found a new avenue to thrive and evade detection/punishment. So disentangling the nexus between corruption, shadow economy, and digital currencies is important. Using recent cross-country data, this paper analyzes the interrelationships between corruption, shadow economy, and cryptocurrencies. We argue that a large underground sector in a nation provides a mechanism through which corrupt government officials use cryptocurrencies to conceal their unauthorized earnings. Employing formal mediation analysis, our results show that the positive nexus between corruption and cryptocurrency adoption is mediated by the shadow sector. Quantitatively speaking, three-fourths of the correlation between corruption and cryptocurrency usage is mediated by the shadow economy. The primary implication of our findings is that effective monitoring of cryptocurrencies should pay attention to policies to control both corruption and the shadow economy.
]]>Interdisciplinarity is often hailed as a necessity for tackling real-world challenges. We examine the prevalence and impact of interdisciplinarity in the NSF ADVANCE program, which addresses gender equity in STEM.
Through a quantitative analysis of authorship, references, and citations in ADVANCE publications, we compare the interdisciplinarity of knowledge produced within the program to traditional disciplinary knowledge. We use Simpon's Diversity Index to test for differences across disciplines, and we use negative binomial regression to capture the potential influences of interdisciplinarity on the long-term impact of ADVANCE publications.
ADVANCE publications exhibit higher levels of interdisciplinarity across three dimensions of knowledge integration, and cross-disciplinary ties within ADVANCE successfully integrate social science knowledge into diverse disciplines. Additionally, the interdisciplinarity of publication references positively influences the impact of ADVANCE work, while the interdisciplinarity of authorship teams does not.
These findings emphasize the significance of interdisciplinarity in problem-oriented knowledge production, indicating that specific forms of interdisciplinarity can lead to broader impact. By shedding light on the interplay between interdisciplinary approaches, disciplinary structures, and academic recognition, this article contributes to programmatic design to generate impactful problem-solving knowledge that also adds to the academic community.
]]>John D. Brewer’s (1994) seminal study of the South African Police claimed that structural factors would inhibit democratic reforms in law enforcement agencies, regardless of which political party controlled the public administration. Thirty years of majority rule, and a series of subsequent works (Altbeker 2005, 2007; Steinberg, 2008; Lamb 2018), demonstrate that Brewer’s thesis remains relevant. Occasional efforts at fully reconstructing state security agencies never took hold and the South African Police Service remains mired in the sordid practices of its colonial past. McMichael and Brown concur with this established narrative while Shaw’s study on vigilantism adds insightful subtleties that deromanticize subaltern social movements. All three authors tackle sharp distinctions between policing and criminality, arguing that the two processes often intertwine and are frequently interchangeable. This review article combines structural determinants of coercive law enforcement with elite political agency. Political choices made by South Africa’s ruling African National Congress reinforce criminal practices in policing and precipitate the formation of volatile vigilante organizations.
]]>The dominant narrative in much of the world is that public safety is provided by policing, evidenced by supportive rhetoric from institutional forces including politicians, media, and large budget allocations in all levels of government. Alongside a long history of police violence, especially against Black, Brown, poor, and other marginalized people, many social movements reject the idea that policing provides safety and seek other methods for community wellness. The present study utilizes critical narrative analysis (CNA) to describe how marginalized residents of a small city in Iowa construct their understanding of personal and community safety. Their stories and the dialectic exchange during interviews illustrated several counternarratives and moments of conscientization for participants and researchers where safety was deconstructed and understood outside the power of recycled institutional narratives. Participants rejected popular notions of safety such as police, and instead embraced safety through robust relationships, community resources, and forms of self-knowledge such as mental health. We analyzed their interviews as efforts to be humanly recognized within violent white supremacist structures, and their stories help to radicalize popular messages about safety. We highlight their world-making abilities as they craft their own networks of community and safety outside of the state and police.
]]>Fueled by economic growth, among other factors, environmental degradation is one of the most serious challenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century. Although extensive research has been conducted on the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality, the findings are inconclusive. This study investigated the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality in Ethiopia from 1981 to 2016 using non-linear autoregressive distributive lag and two-step least squares models. First, the study finds that the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality is asymmetric. Second, economic growth negatively affects environmental quality. Third, the positive environmental effect of a negative shock on economic growth is stronger than that of a positive shock. Fourth, energy consumption and population growth negatively affect environmental quality, whereas the effects of renewable energy consumption, natural resources, trade openness and human capital are positive. Fifth, an inverted N-shaped relationship exists between economic growth and environmental quality, where GDP per capita greater than $686.770 contributes to environmental quality. Therefore, high and sustainable economic growth, renewable energy consumption, population control, resource conservation, trade openness and human capital accumulation are required to improve the environmental quality of Ethiopia. The limitation of this study is that it examines the direct impact of economic growth on environmental quality. It would be better to examine the potential indirect impact of economic growth via variables, such as institutional quality and human capital.
]]>The proponents of globalization claim that economic globalization (EGLO) is a catalyst for women's economic empowerment (WEE), whereas the opponents of EGLO are of the view that it is detrimental to WEE, especially in developing countries, as it can exacerbate preexisting inequality. This study has examined the impact of EGLO on WEE from 2005 to 2020 for 45 African countries. The analysis disaggregated the EGLO variable into trade and financial globalizations to examine their individual impact on WEE. The system generalized method of moments is used as the estimation technique. The results show that overall EGLO, trade globalization and financial globalizations significantly promote WEE. Furthermore, the paper reveals that female labour force participation and human development expedite WEE. The results obtained from the analyses of the segregated data – official English and non-English speaking countries – are consistent with the aggregated data. Given these findings, this paper sheds light on how WEE could be enhanced on the African continent. Promoting WEE has the potential to expedite the achievement of some of the sustainable development goals.
]]>AI advancements are poised to substantially modify human abilities in the foreseeable future. They include the integration of Brain–Computer Interfaces (BCIs) to augment cognitive functions, the application of gene editing, and the utilization of AI-powered robotic exoskeletons to enhance physical strength. This study employs a comprehensive analytical framework combining factor analysis, clustering, ANOVA, and logistic regression to investigate public attitudes toward these transformative technologies. Our findings reveal three distinct clusters of public opinion reflecting varying optimism and concern toward AI technologies. Cluster 1 (1574 participants) held a positive view with high excitement while Cluster 2 (1334 participants) showed a balanced stance. Cluster 3 (2199 participants) expressed heightened concern despite some excitement. Notably, regional disparities, particularly between urban and rural participants, emerge as a prominent factor influencing these attitudes (ANOVA, F = 15.2, p < 0.001). Furthermore, logistic regression identifies key influencers of public perception, highlighting the significant roles played by religion and regional factors. The implications of these findings extend beyond understanding public sentiment. They underscore the need for informed policies that promote education and awareness about AI technologies, address ethical concerns, and engage the public in decision-making processes. As society navigates this transformative technological landscape, a nuanced understanding of public attitudes becomes paramount, guiding ethical regulation, innovation, and public engagement strategies. This study provides valuable insights into the intricate dynamics surrounding AI acceptance and highlights the importance of adapting measures to evolving perceptions and attitudes among the general public.
]]>Direklerarası, the core of Ramadan entertainment in late Ottoman Istanbul, rose to prominence toward the end of the nineteenth century at about the same time as entertainment hubs in Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, and New York. Thanks to the legitimacy provided by the Holy Ramadan, which played a positive role in reducing public suspicion and uneasiness among Muslim families towards the products of early mass culture, Direklerarası seems to draw a larger children's audience compared to Pera and Galata, the epicenter of European-style entertainment and a location where non-Muslims were heavily populated. As a result, many children were introduced to emerging modern mass culture at Direklerarası, which offers a large variety of shows and spectacles grouped under the name of lubiyat in the Ottoman world, including theater, musical plays, juggling, circus, concerts, shadow theater and cinema. This article focuses on childhood experiences at Direklerarası using a wide range of primary sources from archival documents and official regulations to Ottoman periodicals and memoirs. It aims to discuss the moral and aesthetic concerns arising from the fact that the spheres of adults and children were not yet clearly separated from each other, as well as how this experience at Direklerarası was remembered later as a childhood memory.
]]>Media stories highlighted accounts of migration away from city centers towards more rural destinations during the COVID-19 pandemic, but systematic research about how the pandemic changed migration in more rural destinations is only starting to emerge. This paper relies on U.S. Postal Service change-of-address data to describe whether and how established domestic migration systems changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on differences across the rural–urban gradient and by outdoor recreation resources. We find little evidence of massive urban exodus. We do find that out-migration from rural counties declined post-pandemic onset and has stayed low in the 3 years since, stemming the tide of net population loss in many rural places. Most rural counties that experienced net population loss prior to the pandemic saw either less net loss or net gains during the pandemic. Rural recreation counties experienced greater gains through both decreased out-migration and increased in-migration in the first year of the pandemic; but by year three, differences between rural recreation and non-recreation counties had balanced. Overall, counties across Rural America saw notable change to pre-pandemic migration patterns. This shift may benefit rural areas through long-term population stability and/or growth but might also exacerbate housing and childcare shortages.
]]>In 1989, Marc Lépine murdered 14 women at L’École Polytechnique de Montréal. We demonstrate how involuntarily celibate (“incel”) men celebrate Lépine and claim him as a member of their community. Our analysis draws on 637 comments made on incels.is, the main English-language incel forum, that explicitly mentions Marc Lépine. We argue that incels use Lépine to situate themselves in relation to masculinity and to justify violence against women. First, incels orient to both hegemonic and subordinate masculinity by arguing that feminists are waging a gender war against men. Second, incels celebrate Lépine as a methodical and efficient murderer, connecting both themselves and Lépine to hegemonic masculinity. Third, incels describe both themselves and Lépine as victims of feminists and use this perceived subordination to justify violence against women. We discuss findings in relation to theories of masculinity and policies regulating online communities.
En 1989, Marc Lépine a assassiné 14 femmes à l'École Polytechnique de Montréal. Nous montrons comment des hommes involontairement célibataires (« incel ») cèlébrent Lépine et le revendiquent comme membre de leur communauté. Notre analyse s'appuie sur 637 commentaires formulés sur incels.is, le principal forum incel anglophone, qui mentionnent explicitement Marc Lépine. Nous soutenons que les incels utilisent Lépine pour se situer par rapport à la masculinité et justifier les violences faites aux femmes. Premiérement, les incels s'orientent vers une masculinité à la fois hégémonique et subordonnée en soutenant que les féministes mènent une guerre de genre contre les hommes. Deuxièmement, les incels célèbrent Lépine comme un meurtrier méthodique et efficace, les liant eux-mêmes et Lépine à la masculinité hégémonique. Troisièmement, les incels se décrivent eux-mêmes et Lépine comme des victimes des féministes et utilisent cette subordination perςue pour justifier la violence contre les femmes. Nous discutons des résultats relatifs aux théories de la masculinité et aux politiques régissant les communautés en ligne.
]]>When and why do U.S. leaders visit their allies or adversaries? Much of the literature on diplomatic visits treats each visit as an independent observation. In this article, we analyze high-level diplomatic visits as compositional data based on the assumption that they are scarce political resources.
We conduct a compositional analysis of U.S. high-level officials' diplomatic visits between 1950 and 2010.
We find that U.S. diplomatic visits to its allies are defense-oriented, so leaders spend more time touring them during their security crises to signal reassurance. Additionally, we find that visits to adversaries are motivated by leaders' domestic political concerns, particularly their high public unpopularity. Visiting a hostile country is a challenging and salient foreign policy task, providing a high-profile opportunity to improve their domestic image and standing. This effect is particularly significant in a divided government, where leaders turn to foreign policy to maximize domestic political impacts amid domestic gridlock.
The findings suggest that U.S. leaders travel to allies and adversaries for distinct strategic purposes. Furthermore, our study suggests that future research on diplomatic visits should use a compositional variable approach to better model the dynamics and competitive nature of travel diplomacy.
]]>This paper addresses the research problem that arises from evidence that, despite supportive policy contexts, enactment of pedagogies that attend to young children's participation rights in classroom settings is highly variable. We report our exploration of the ways in which the child, and child participation are constructed in early education settings in Wales, where legislation and policy around children's rights has been a key feature of the Welsh Government agenda post-devolution. Data were gathered via a qualitative online bilingual (English and Welsh) survey offered via email to teachers of children aged 3–7 in Wales. The overarching research question of the project was: How do teachers of children 3–7 years understand and enact the notion of participation as it relates to the children they teach? Data analysis focused on research participants' apparent constructions of the children they teach and their capabilities, and unpacked the ways in which these constructions relate to the reported opportunities for participation. The discussion is informed by the notion of the threshold concept, described by Meyer & Land as akin to a portal that opens new and previously inaccessible ways of thinking. We consider the extent to which the conceptual construction of the capable child maybe a threshold concept in shaping the realisation of children's participation rights in educative contexts.
]]>Although perceived discrimination has been found to diminish self-esteem, the mechanism of such effect and potential protective factors demands further study. Grit has been suggested to moderate the effect of risk factors affecting Chinese left-behind children, but few studies have considered that being left behind might diminish the family and social conditions needed for nurturing grit, and therefore grit might mediate the effect of being left behind and perceived discrimination upon self-esteem. With the questionnaire data collected from 974 Chinese rural children among whom 517 were left-behind children, the present study shows that perseverance of effort mediates the effect of being left behind upon self-esteem. Moreover, within the subsample of left-behind children, perceived discrimination was found to mediate the effect of time length of being left behind on self-esteem, while a chain mediation effect was found where perceived discrimination and consistency of interest mediated the effect of the time length of being left behind on self-esteem. Findings suggest that for left-behind children, while the adverse social conditions reflected by perceived discrimination affects self-esteem by diminishing consistency of interest, the absence of adequate parental regulation more directly affects perseverance of effort and therefore affects self-esteem. Further research directions about practices and interventions targeting at protecting self-esteem through fostering grit are discussed.
]]>The present study examines the recent ideological and cultural apparatuses aimed at the Islamization of children in Turkey through the example of the Children's Magazine, published periodically by the Directorate of Religious Affairs (DRA). Since 2002, under the Islamist government in Turkey, the Directorate of Religious Affairs has progressively evolved into an ideological apparatus that operates in alignment with the government's social objectives. The DRA, supported by significant state funding, has become an institution that holds discussions on matters of family, children, youth, and gender. Seeking to align the government's ideological goals with the Islamization of society, the Directorate of Religious Affairs has placed special emphasis on cultural policies, media, and publishing. The Children's Magazine is one of the monthly publications produced by the Directorate of Religious Affairs, which has evolved into a significant cultural enterprise. The magazine conveys a religious pedagogy rooted in Sunni Hanafi Islam and a nationalist-conservative family ideology. It not only reinforces the prevailing ideology on religious matters but also promotes the political strategies of the government and the newly established official historical narrative.
]]>This paper intervenes in the dichotomous debate on the ‘privatisation’ of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). Whilst research suggests that involving private-sector actors and principles deviates from the founding aims of the NHS to deliver equitable healthcare for all, the opposing argument to ‘keep our NHS public’ also limits understanding and alternative possibilities. Through focusing on maintaining overarching structures, these campaigns fail to address everyday medical practices that have long been critiqued by those allied with the sociology of health and illness. This paper draws on feminist critiques of public/private to expand the structural economic lens of mainstream political debates and explore how multiple forms of economic, social, cultural, and symbolic capital, operate in everyday healthcare practices. Through an historically-informed ethnographic exploration of routine hip replacements, I find that capital itself emerges through relations between people and things, and that public/private boundaries play an integral role in forming these relations to instil value on particular patients and forms of labour, demarcating what kind of healthcare is given to whom. I therefore suggest future action should focus on assembling healthcare relations beyond the dualism of public/private categories, to create multiple safe places and relations for all.
]]>Through in-depth interviews, this study explored US youth climate justice activists' views and experiences of climate change education (CCE) and their recommendations for alternative educational approaches to advance climate justice. Youth activists (N = 16; ages 15 to 17) viewed education as critical to spurring societal transformation, however, most described narrowly focused (e.g., depoliticized; science-centric) or inadequate (e.g., sparse, absent) school-based CCE. Youths' recommendations emphasized the need for justice-driven and action-oriented CCE for all ages to equip all learners with the knowledge and skills to actively contribute to urgently needed, justice-minded, systems-level change. Findings have implications for curricular and policy change that enable education for climate justice action.
]]>The digital transformation in the public sector is a converging trend in many social protection systems. In France, it is being combined with the gradual closure of many government offices, particularly those responsible for managing social security benefits. This article focuses on one of the consequences of these developments. They lead to an increase in requests for support and help from individuals experiencing administrative burdens. They make their requests to a range of very different local actors, who do not always have the skills or the responsibility to respond to them. Based on a study carried out in social centres in France, this article presents the role of third parties in reducing the administrative burden. More specifically, it investigates the types of costs associated with the administrative burden to which social centres have to respond, and who meets them. The article analyses the tensions posed by this growing role, which range from professional and organisational to political.
]]>The article discusses the political-economy of agribusiness, making use of the category of rent that is considered as a proportion of exchange value diverted from production for the payment to the landowners and, crucially, its class-based allies. Rent is therefore more than just the extraction of value from the use of land, but there is a wider, deeply politicised capture of value from the network of relations that maintain land in production. Agribusiness rent primarily derives from the appropriation of land through the formation of a powerful network involving ‘state-landowners-private agroindustrial sector’, and this network provides the necessary conditions for the extraction of rent and the accumulation of capital.
]]>The proliferation of assisted dying legislative reforms globally is a significant change in the social and medico-legal landscape of end-of-life care. Understanding the impacts of these legislative reforms on family members who care for a dying person is vital, yet under-theorised in research. In this article, drawing on semi-structured interviews with 42 carers for a person who has sought assisted dying in Australia, and extending ideas of ontological choreography we explore the new and complex choreographies enacted by carers in their endeavour to arrange a ‘good death’ for the dying person. We find that desires to fulfil the dying person’s wishes are often accompanied by normative pressures, affective tensions and complexities in bereavement. Enacting assisted dying requires carers to perform a repertoire of highly-staged practices. Yet, institutional obstacles and normative cultural scripts of dying can constrain carer assisted dying practices. Understanding the nuances of carers’ experiences and how they navigate this new end-of-life landscape, we argue, provides critical insights about how assisted dying legislation is producing new cultural touchpoints for caring at the end of life. Moreover, we show how emerging cultural scripts of assisted dying are impacting in the lives of these carers.
]]>This study examines the impact of working from home on how the working hours of full-time employees varied by task characteristics during the first COVID-19 state of emergency in Japan. One of the employment issues during the COVID-19 pandemic was which type of job maintained working hours despite the spread of infection. Research in various countries argued that working from home effectively maintained normal business operations without interruption. However, Japan's situation regarding working from home and maintaining working hours during the pandemic differed. Under the first state of emergency, the government strongly promoted work-from-home measures for office workers, regardless of the tasks they were responsible for at their workplaces. In cases where a task was incompatible with working remotely, work stagnated or ceased entirely, which was reflected in the hours worked. This study considered shortened work hours by not maintaining full-time work hours during the emergency period as an indicator of the dysfunctional state of business operations. The results demonstrated that work-from-home arrangements resulted in shortened work hours if the tasks of workers were incompatible with the scheme. We further revealed a tendency in which work-from-home arrangements were discontinued after the emergency period when it involved shortened work hours during the emergency period. The results suggested that work-from-home settings are not sustainable beyond emergency situations unless business operations function as indicated by maintaining full-time work hours.
]]>Since 2014, numerous people on the move have been accused of migrant smuggling in Italian courts for steering makeshift vessels or for assisting in navigation across the Mediterranean Sea. This is the case regardless of the fact that such behaviour was the result of coercion or threats. In this contribution, drawing upon extensive empirical research and following a socio-legal paradigm, I first explore the criminalization of people on the move in relation to migrant smuggling charges in the years following the so-called 2014–2015 refugee crisis and discuss the impact on their rights. Second, I tackle the issue from a policy perspective, considering three potential EU/national policy reforms and the ways in which they could successfully address an existing policy problem. Such reforms vary in scope, from a damage limitation logic to a fully fledged change of paradigm, and the three can be described as follows: alignment of EU and national frameworks with the United Nations Protocol against migrant smuggling; a more significant differentiation between migrant smuggling and the facilitation of undocumented migration; and an explicit exoneration from criminal liability for people on the move accused of migrant smuggling. This article presents innovative insights, providing on the one hand an up-to-date empirical understanding of this form of criminalization of people on the move and, on the other, extensive reflections on the way in which policy reforms could prevent it.
]]>This article identifies and explains the need for qualitative case studies of U.S. state-level public policy and politics before providing researchers with a practical roadmap for how to proceed.
We first review relevant research from political science and sociology to establish the need for qualitative policy-focused state-level case study research. We then lay out a three-stage approach for case study research design and data collection.
We find that qualitative case study research into state-level politics and policy making is useful for developing original theories that move beyond those developed at the federal level, for distinguishing between states and state policies in ways that are not easily measurable, and for conducting research that attends to variation in the meaning of policy design within different state contexts. We further find that barriers to conducting such research can be reduced by following a three-stage strategy that we elaborate.
State-level policy making yields essential processes and outcomes that social scientists across disciplines want to understand. Relying exclusively on quantitative methods will result in incomplete knowledge acquisition. Qualitative case studies, while time-consuming, are worthwhile and achievable. Researchers seeking to conduct this research can follow a three-stage strategy to make the process more manageable.
]]>Immigrant educational selectivity—immigrant parents' educational attainment relative to their peers who did not migrate—is associated with better schooling outcomes for children at later stages of the educational pipeline in the United States. Less is known, however, about its influence on early education-related outcomes. Using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study data from three different cohorts and quantitative analyses, I examine the relationship between immigrant selectivity and school readiness at school entry (proxied through math skills and approaches to learning evaluations). I find that immigrant selectivity is positively associated with school readiness, but it does not generate a widespread immigrant advantage at school entry, contrary to findings related to schooling outcomes later in the schooling pipeline. Notably, among most Asian groups, immigrant selectivity partly accounts for school readiness advantages compared to their White peers with native-born parentage, whenever they emerge. By contrast, accounting for immigrant selectivity reveals the full extent of the immigrant disadvantage at school entry among most Latino groups. These results suggest that immigrant selectivity is an important factor in shaping racial/ethnic stratification early in the schooling pipeline.
]]>This paper explores the motivations and barriers behind the decision of economically disadvantaged Moldovans to refrain from migrating for better economic prospects. Drawing on 30 qualitative interviews with voluntary stayers, it uncovers a range of individual-level characteristics that impede migration aspirations. These findings highlight the heightened sensitivity of lower-wage stayers to their perceived social status abroad, their limited adaptability to new cultures and environments and their lower willpower to endure the challenges of long-term gains. Moreover, this paper sheds light on their contentment with modest material gains and their aversion to migration risks. At the structural level, it emphasizes how social inequalities act as barriers for specific social groups, particularly the economically disadvantaged. These empirical insights challenge prevailing assumptions about the dominance of economic costs and network abroad in migration decision-making, offering a fresh perspective on the social factors and costs shaping stayers' choices.
]]>This article explores the governance of risk in financialization through the entry of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and other investment funds into specialized supported housing in England. Supported housing is a form of care accommodation intended to enable vulnerable groups such as people with learning disabilities to live more independently. Since 2014, investors have targeted the sector, developing a leaseback model that has encountered controversy due to unsustainable rents and the near bankruptcy of at least one housing association. The article unpacks these dynamics by asking how financialization has generated risk through the imposition of a ‘care fix’ in the sector, drawing on qualitative data including interviews, financial and media reports, and court and regulatory documents. In answering this question, it argues that the contradiction between housing's role as a private commodity and as a collective means of social reproduction generates tensions that suggest potential limits to financialization.
]]>Pollution in the environment emerges as a legal and technical object on the one hand, and as a repository of social and cultural beliefs on the other. What happens when we trouble the idea that these belong to different domains and think about seemingly divergent meanings of pollution together? In this article, I draw from anti-caste and anti-racist work to explore this question. Extending critical urban scholarship on environmental politics, I attend to formations of caste and religion alongside judicial and political discourse on preventing pollution to the river Ganga in North India. In our present moment, on the banks of the sacred river, extremist leaders mobilize regulations to target minoritized Muslim and Dalit communities in Kanpur's leather industry. I argue that the roots of these actions lie in an environmental petition from the mid-1980s which transformed urban environmental governance in North India, as the court decoupled questions of environmental protection from economic and social justice. I suggest that the analytic of regional racial formations helps us grapple with uneven socio-spatial landscapes in postcolonial cities and sharpens our understanding of environmental injustices by moving beyond fixed categories of difference.
]]>This study investigated the association between mentoring and creativity among male and female office workers. A web survey was administered to individuals aged 20–59 years using the survey monitors of an internet company; 2106 valid responses (1048 men and 1058 women) were analyzed to examine the association between mentoring and creativity. A three-way analysis of covariance was conducted using mentoring, gender, and managerial status as the independent variables, which were adjusted for occupation. The analysis of the main effects showed that mentored individuals had higher creativity than nonmentored individuals, regardless of gender or managerial status. In addition, managers had significantly higher creativity than nonmanagers. There was no significant difference in creativity between men and women. The interaction effect of gender and managerial status was significant, and the analysis of the simple main effects indicated that male nonmanagers had higher creativity than female nonmanagers, whereas no significant gender difference was found between male and female managers. The difference in the creativity score between mentored and nonmentored female managers was 0.467, whereas the difference between mentored and nonmentored male managers was 0.357; this suggests that mentoring is critical, particularly for female managers. The primary focus of mentoring research has been the role of mentoring in promoting career-related behaviors and attitudes. This study illustrates the potential to enhance creativity, which is an asset for working women in managing challenges after COVID-19.
]]>The purposes of this article are to (1) detail the extent to which the Republican Party personalized in the period from Donald Trump's first becoming a presidential candidate through 2022 and the process by which it occurred, (2) suggest plausible explanatory factors, and (3) speculate as to possible consequences.
The authors employ this special issue's common conceptual framework and glean evidence from a broad accumulation of reportage and expert impressions from professional journalists.
It is found that “Trumpization” invaded all aspects of the Grand Old Party, with de-institutionalization encompassing both de-routinization and value-displacement affecting all faces of the party: as organization, in elective office, and in the electorate.
]]>In this study, we test a clashing narrative approach to conflict, which argues that political conflict is based on opposing narratives that negate one another. We focus on the role of two master narratives central to political schism in the United States. The first is the American dream narrative, which posits that anyone who works hard can become successful in the United States. The opposing narrative, the systemic racism narrative, argues that the United States is a racist country where minorities are systemically held back. A survey study of 189 participants demonstrated that these two master narratives predict support for the presidential candidacy of Donald Trump or Joe Biden above and beyond more traditional ideological dispositions such as right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. In a follow-up experiment (n = 157), we examined how the Trump's administration policies of increased surveillance and policing of Latino immigrants crossing the border influenced White and Latinx participants’ agreement with the narrative of the American dream and the United States as a systemically racist country. Findings suggest that when confronted with news clips of immigrant death at the border, Latinx participants, compared to White participants, increased their endorsement of the American dream narrative. Conversely, White participants, increased their endorsement of the United States as a systemically racist country compared to Latinx participants. The results of this study help us understand support for the Republican party among Latinx voters.
]]>Stalls in fertility decline have been found in many sub-Saharan African countries. Our objective is to unravel the relationship between education and stalled fertility by analyzing the extent to which fertility stalls reflect a lack of changes in the educational composition of the population or are related to reversals and halts in the fertility decline within educational groups. Using the Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, we first estimate total fertility rates by educational level and examine how they have varied over time, especially during periods of stagnation. Then, we use the Kitagawa decomposition method to analyze changes in country-level fertility rates. We show that fertility stalls tend to be a collective experience with fertility stalls found among all educational groups in most countries that have experienced a fertility stall. In contrast, composition effects either have no or a limited impact on fertility stalls. However, slow educational progress made some countries more vulnerable to stalls.
]]>Citizens’ perceived values play a decisive role in shaping a responsive society, driving social and political attitudes and behaviors. Understanding these values, influenced by cultural, historical, and personal experiences, is essential for comprehending public perspectives on social, economic, and ecological aspects crucial for sustainable societies. This study investigates perceived values as indicators of citizens’ potential civic engagement, mainly contributing to societal development.
For the purpose of this study, we analyzed 1012 cases from the European Value Survey/World Value Survey data set of the Republic of Macedonia. In addition to the exploratory factor analysis and cluster analysis, we employed XGBoost regression, coupled with SHAP analysis, offering a transparent exploration of the significance of citizens’ perceived values, while emphasizing their role in motivating social responsibility and duty.
We identified 12 factors and categorized Macedonian citizens into 4 clusters. Through the SHAP feature importance method, we determined that perceptions of gender stereotypes, trust in people, civil rights, and job equality strongly influence the idea of social responsibility.
Our findings offer pathways to promote individual accountability and increased participation in societal actions, fostering greater advocacy and policy changes for a responsible, engaged, and sustainable society.
]]>The purpose of this article is to assess whether the relationship that existed between Ronald Reagan and the Republican Party could reasonably be characterized as one of personalization/de-institutionalization of the party.1
The authors employ the common conceptual framework developed for this special issue. Evidence is drawn from both popular journalism and scholarly sources.
While bits of evidence exist for personalization, especially with regard to the external dimension, the collective evidence stops short of what is required to be considered de-institutionalization of the party.
]]>In this paper, we examine the labour market effects of lowering the UK's benefit cap in 2016. This policy limits the total amount a working-age non-disabled household with no-one in employment can receive in social security. We treat the sharp reduction in this benefit cap as a natural experiment, comparing those at risk of being capped and those who were not before and after the cap was lowered. Drawing on data from ~500,000 individuals, we find that this reform reduced unemployment compared to those not at risk of being capped. The reform also increased economic inactivity, partly because the cap harmed mental health but also because those at risk of being capped were eligible to claim disability-related welfare payments that made them exempt. Limiting total monthly welfare payments of low-income families may increase employment for some but it can also push others out of the labour market altogether.
]]>This paper analyzes the shift in career strategies among Japanese women due to the globalization of Japan's economy since the 1980s. It highlights how economic changes led to a gender-based division of labor, propelling women to seek opportunities abroad. The research draws on interviews with 81 women who moved to financial centers in East Asia, mainly in Hong Kong and Shanghai, examining their experiences in the workforce, the impact of human resource agencies in their migration, and the challenges and opportunities they encountered. The study reveals a complex landscape where Japanese women navigate gendered expectations and discrimination both in Japan and abroad in pursuit of career advancement. The conclusion emphasizes three points. First, women found opportunities abroad to do what they wanted, even if it was not what they initially expected before leaving Japan. Second, although supportive and subordinate to male managers, their work was indispensable to the management of Japanese companies abroad. Their contribution has long been underestimated but needs to be considered. Third, the experience abroad gave them direct interaction with various clients and colleagues and a view of rapid societal change in Hong Kong and China, contributing to choosing their diverse career trajectories and life plans.
]]>The issue of “gender integration” within the military organization has long been a major research topic in military sociology. In the last two decades, however, specific topics such as “gender mainstreaming,” “diversity management,” and “diversity and inclusion” have pervaded sociological studies on military organizations. In this article, I examine the current state of gender integration in the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), focusing on efforts to promote gender mainstreaming. In particular, following the National Action Plan to implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 was formulated in 2015, the Ministry of Defense issued the JSDF Female Personnel Empowerment Initiative in 2017, in which previous challenges for career development of female SDF personnel were to be removed by making virtually all job categories available for women including combat pilot, missile boat crew, and tank driver. While the number and ratio of female personnel have increased and their prospects of career development have substantially improved in the last few years, work–life conflict and sexual/power harassment remain to be challenging issues for the retention of female personnel. Due to the deep-rooted male-dominant organizational culture of the military organization, further organizational challenges remain for JSDF to shift its overarching human resource management paradigm from “Diversity 1.0” to “Diversity 2.0,” with the strong commitment of top leaders to innovate organizational culture.
]]>Reservoirs are developed to store water in reserve for future use. But once built, reservoir sites inevitably hold more than just water, often serving as a key habitat for a range of species. This paper examines how one such animal has transformed water storage facilities and nearby landscapes into contested ground in urbanising areas of Texas, USA. Living around the reservoirs, feral hogs complicate the process of urbanisation by degrading the stockpiled water and infrastructure at the storage sites themselves and by damaging private property throughout the surrounding landscape. Tracking local efforts to manage the hogs, the case study illustrates the spatially extensive stakes of such porous infrastructural ecologies of storage, particularly their role in mediating the ongoing process of the urbanisation of nature.
Los embalses se desarrollan para almacenar agua en reserva para uso futuro. Pero una vez construidos, los embalses inevitablemente contienen más que sólo agua y a menudo sirven como hábitat clave para una variedad de especies. Este artículo examina cómo uno de esos animales ha transformado las instalaciones de almacenamiento de agua y los paisajes aledaños en terrenos en disputa en áreas urbanizadas de Texas, EE. UU. Al vivir alrededor de los embalses, los cerdos ferales complican el proceso de urbanización al degradar el agua en reserva y la infraestructura en los sitios de almacenamiento y al dañar la propiedad privada en todo el paisaje circundante. Siguiendo los esfuerzos locales para gestionar los cerdos, el estudio ilustra los riesgos espacialmente extensos de tales ecologías infraestructurales de almacenamiento porosas, particularmente su papel en el proceso en curso de urbanización de la naturaleza.
]]>Child and family social workers routinely make professional judgements involving significant legal and moral questions (e.g. whether a child has been abused) and more ‘everyday’ issues (e.g. will the child be re-referred again if we close the case now?) Yet the world is capricious, and we rarely know with certainty what is going to happen in future or the likely impact of our different choices. Given the consequences of their judgements and decisions, it is imperative that social workers are provided with the best possible support. This paper reports a proof-of-concept study of a set of interventions to improve the judgemental accuracy of social workers: (i) a survey to identify respondents with above-average existing abilities, (ii) training sessions on cognitive debiasing and (iii) structured group working and (iv) three methods for aggregating individual judgements. Findings indicate that it is possible to measure the accuracy of social work judgements in relation to case-study materials and retrospective questions, while the feedback about the training was largely positive. Any future studies should aim to recruit a more diverse set of respondents, test judgemental accuracy in relation to prospective judgements and explore what types of questions would be most helpful for real-world decision-making.
]]>Can a fictional show affect its audience's perspectives on the issue of drug use and addiction in society? This article aims to answer that question.
We use a survey with an embedded experiment to assess the relationship between the popular HBO show Euphoria and attitudes of Gen Z on the issue of drugs, including: feelings toward drug users and those caught up in drug addiction; beliefs regarding the causes of drug addiction; and, attitudes toward harm reduction, treatment, and punitive drug policies. Subjects were recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk.
We found that reevoking the show by showing photos of two of the main characters led to drug attitudes consistent with the messages about drugs found in Euphoria. We also found that self-reported exposure to the show was associated with perspectives on drugs consistent with the content of the show for respondents who scored higher on individual transportability—results that conform closely to theoretical expectations. The fact that these results were found in a study 8 months after the final episode of Euphoria was aired hints at the durability of the show's effects.
The results add to the growing body of research on the political effects of entertainment media and provide additional validation of new and important measures of the propensity of individuals to be transported by narratives and eudaimonic motivation in entertainment media choice.
]]>Do experiences with civil war violence affect an individual's level of social trust? The literature on this topic suggests that being a victim of violence or being involved in violence has a profound effect on an individual's political behavior in the new host country. However, what has not been explored is how experiences with civil war and violence impact levels of social trust among immigrants. Building on prior research on premigratory experience and literature on experience with violence, we intend to determine if the premigratory experiences with violence in an immigrant's country of origin affect whether social trust is increased or decreased in an immigrant's country of residence. We investigate this question using the National Latino and Asian American Study. We find that immigrants who had experienced civil war as unarmed civilians and were persecuted due to their political beliefs were less likely to acculturate to the host country. Participation in combat also tended to reduce acculturation but did not affect social trust.
]]>Despite Toronto's motto of diversity and inclusion, the municipality has recently mobilised exclusionary spatio-legal tools against unhoused populations using claims to law and order. This article examines one such case of legal action, its precedents, and its constitutive effects on urban citizenship and governance. In 2021, amidst a homelessness crisis aggravated by COVID-19, Toronto police executed violent raids against encampment residents in three public parks. In response to the public relations backlash, the municipality changed course, issuing suspension notices to encampment leaders that barred them from public spaces and services. The suspension notice, while unenforceable, allows municipal administrators to exclude those whose conduct allegedly disturbs the quiet enjoyment of property from public space. Building on critical planning and socio-legal debates on propertied urban citizenship, we use legal research and semi-structured interviews to identify how these arbitrary yet legal tools exacerbate permanent displaceability, banishment, and colonial modes of governance.
A pesar del lema de diversidad e inclusión de Toronto, el gobierno local ha movilizado recientemente herramientas espacio-legales excluyentes contra personas sin techo apelando a la ley y el orden. Este artículo examina uno de esos casos de acción legal, sus precedentes y sus efectos constitutivos sobre la ciudadanía y la gobernanza urbanas. En el 2021, en medio de una crisis de la vivienda agravada por el COVID-19, la policía de Toronto llevó a cabo desalojos violentos contra los residentes de campamentos en tres parques públicos. En respuesta a la mala publicidad que esto generó, la municipalidad cambió de rumbo y emitió órdenes de suspensión a los líderes del campamento prohibiéndoles el acceso a los espacios y servicios públicos de la ciudad. La orden de suspensión, si bien es difícil de hacerla cumplir, permite a los administradores municipales excluir del espacio público a aquellos cuya conducta supuestamente perturba el disfrute tranquilo de la propiedad privada. Partiendo de los debates de la planeación crítica y los estudios socio-jurídicos sobre la ciudadanía urbana propietaria, analizamos documentos jurídicos y datos de entrevistas para identificar cómo estas herramientas arbitrarias pero legales exacerban la desplazabilidad permanente, el destierro y los modos coloniales de gobernanza.
]]>For over a century, abortion has been politically and socially contested, affecting people's lives through personal experience and/or public discourse. In the United States (US), abortion is sometimes exceptional—treated differently from other procedures, professions, and political issues—and sometimes an exemplar—an accessible example of a commonly occurring social, political, or personal phenomenon. It is, in other words, an excellent sociological case study. Yet the sociological literature on abortion is relatively thin. In this essay, we review research on abortion and opportunities for future sociological work in eight areas: gender; race; the body and embodiment; political economy; organizations, occupations, and work; medical sociology; law and society; and social movements. Sociologists have much to contribute to characterizing and understanding abortion, particularly following the 2022 US Supreme Court decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion. The discipline also has much to learn from studying abortion as a case. With its multifaceted social and political status and intersections with key areas of sociological interest, abortion offers a generative case for advancing sociological concepts, subfields, and constructs. While not exhaustive, our review aims to spark interest and inquiry, showcasing how a topic that spurs strong opinions can also catalyze sociological insights.
]]>Guided by the Reasoned Action Approach, we used a salient belief elicitation (SBE) to elicit participant-generated beliefs regarding abortion. SBE is a formative research technique used to elicit people's control (i.e., perceived facilitators and barriers associated with a behavior), behavioral (i.e., perceived positive and negative consequences of doing a behavior), and normative (i.e., influence of important people/peers regarding a behavior) beliefs regarding a particular behavior (i.e., abortion).
We administered our SBE to English- and Spanish-speaking U.S. adults (N = 608) from NORC's AmeriSpeak® panel. We used inductive content and thematic analyses to assess open-ended questions.
We found that participants’ control and behavioral beliefs referenced circumstances used to assess abortion attitudes in polling item (e.g., rape) and reasons people seek abortion (e.g., financial reasons) as well as potential negative emotions (e.g., shame) and positive consequences (e.g., autonomy) associated with abortion. Participants indicated pregnant people's partners and people seeking abortion as salient referents.
Participants mentioned several contexts reflected in common measures used to assess abortion attitudes by national polls and surveys. However, we also found other relevant circumstances not reflected in common measures and a range of salient referents. We recommend abortion attitudes measures account for these participant-driven salient beliefs.
]]>The study of European long-term care (LTC) marketisation is dominated by institutional and ideational perspectives. In contrast, political economic theoretical frameworks have received little attention. This is paradoxical, because marketisation is an inherently political economic phenomenon. The financialisation of LTC systems, the growth of private for-profit providers and the rise in cross-national investments are proceeding apace, yet, they have been neglected by conventional approaches. This paper presents a political economy theoretical framework to study LTC marketisation. In contrast to conventional perspectives, it locates the drivers of marketisation within (neoliberal) capitalism; conceives of the state as significantly aligned with the interests of the business sector; interprets ideology as often originating in the material interests of the latter; examines ‘power struggles’ between, in particular, private providers on one hand and the public/non-profit sector and care workers on the other hand. These power struggles take place in LTC financing, privatisation, regulation, financialisation and labour flexibility. In those struggles, private providers assert their power (structural, institutional and instrumental) to shape marketisation; however, they can encounter resistance. The framework also examines the outcomes of marketisation and is illustrated empirically by reference to Irish LTC.
]]>The main objective of the Youth Tackling Climate Emergency Educational Proposal (YTCEEP) is to involve secondary students in addressing climate action-related subjects from a local context and in a proactive way. We present an evaluation of its third edition, based on the answers from final surveys assessing knowledge, perceptions and attitudes. Main results show that YTCEEP promotes reflection on environmental and social problems; although knowledge slightly improved on the subthemes researched, moderate–low knowledge on climate change in general was detected. Students do positively consider YTCEEP and the programme provides an educational opportunity to address several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to SDG13.
]]>This study aims to investigate the relationships between work and family conflicts, specifically work-to-family and family-to-work conflicts, parental depressive symptoms and coparenting conflict behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. This national survey study involved the participation of 830 families in mainland China, including fathers, mothers and adolescents. Fathers and mothers provided self-reports on their experiences of work-to-family conflicts, family-to-work conflicts and depressive symptoms. Meanwhile, adolescents reported their perceptions of coparenting conflict behaviours exhibited by both fathers and mothers. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model was employed to analyse these relationships. In the Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model, paternal family-to-work conflicts were found to be positively associated with both paternal and maternal coparenting conflict behaviours, mediated through paternal depressive symptoms. Similarly, maternal family-to-work conflicts were positively linked to both paternal and maternal coparenting conflict behaviours, mediated through maternal depressive symptoms. Additionally, paternal family-to-work conflicts exhibited a direct positive relationship with both paternal and maternal coparenting conflict behaviours. However, paternal work-to-family conflicts demonstrated a direct negative association with paternal coparenting conflict behaviours. This study sheds light on the complex interconnectedness between work and family conflicts, parental depressive symptoms and coparenting conflict behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings highlight the importance of addressing work and family conflicts in understanding and managing coparenting dynamics, particularly during challenging times such as a pandemic. Such insights can inform interventions and support systems to promote healthier coparenting relationships and family well-being.
]]>How do national political parties vary in their views on Social Europe? I focus on an aspect that has received less attention despite its growing prevalence—EU regulations with ambitions to diminish social inequality to encourage social convergence among Member States. Since the Juncker Commission, the European Commission has become increasingly active in pursuing this aspect of Social Europe. Thus, understanding parties' positions on this aspect of Social Europe has become more important. However, current literature lacks measures of national party stances towards Social Europe, and explanations for these stances. Here, I use data from the Chapel Hill Expert Survey (2006, 2009, 2014 and 2019) to develop an indirect measure of party positions on Social Europe. Leveraging studies in party politics and EU politics, I propose that party families and national economic conditions may affect parties' positions on Social Europe. The analyses suggest substantial variation in parties' positions on Social Europe both within and across party families. The analyses also demonstrate that socialist and green parties support Social Europe most, whereas radical right parties support it least. Lastly, I do not find systematic evidence that national economic conditions influence parties' support for this aspect of Social Europe.
]]>Since slavery, racism and discrimination have continued to impact the social outcomes of Blacks despite efforts and laws put into place to alleviate the disadvantages. A contemporary project developed by Nikole Hannah-Jones and the New York Times called for the re-examination of the legacy of slavery. With re-examining the consequence of slavery, the lens has been widened, resulting in a more robust interpretation of racism. Social issues have historic roots and thus require a multilayered approach to map out and examine the culminated effects of phenomenon. In this paper, the author uses Beckert and Rockman’s DNA analogy (2016) to merge biology, history, and sociology to provide a critical overview of theories of racism that have emerged since slavery, and to detail the phenomenon of contemporary racism. By connecting past eras of racism using something familiar, racial discourse can potentially move beyond the frustration of racism being a permanent entity in society.
]]>This paper analyses the connectivity between geopolitical risk (GPR) and several segments of exchanged-traded funds, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in order to understand the implications of risk associated with wars, political tensions and terrorist acts in the dynamics generated by this type of asset. We studied the behaviour of assets representative of 6 SDGs and 2 GPR indices, over a period of approximately 14 and a half years, characterized by several market phases, with special emphasis on the pandemic crisis and the war in Ukraine. Resorting to dynamic analysis, based on several multivariate models, it was possible to identify spillover effects in phases corresponding to turbulence in financial markets, in particular in the downward movements of prices of sustainable assets, generated from the geopolitical threat index. The results obtained are relevant for understanding the effect of GPR on sustainable investment, being of interest to various market actors.
]]>In 2018, the influx of Yemeni asylum seekers generated the unprecedented politicization of the refugee issue in South Korea. This paper explored South Korean attitudes towards refugees by collecting data from Korean college students. In doing so, we looked into what led to negative attitudes towards refugees and the role perceived threats play as a mediator. Following previous studies on intergroup threat theory, we noted that threat perception was a useful tool in understanding intergroup prejudice and anxiety as perceived threats and their antecedents were found to explain a significant amount of the attitudes towards refugees. We also found strong interconnections between prejudices towards different minority groups, including Islamophobia, homophobia and anti-refugee attitudes. This finding supported the idea that such prejudices are part of a larger intolerant belief system towards minority groups in general.
]]>Recently, the role of personal ties in migration decisions has received considerable attention. However, this aspect has seldom been studied in the context of retirement. This paper addresses this gap by shedding light on the composition of personal networks, types of mobility patterns and retirement locations for four groups of older adults. To this end, two methodological approaches are employed: (1) a qualitative Social Network Analysis to examine the composition of older adults' personal networks and (2) thematic coding to analyse the relational aspects of migration decisions. This paper draws on 29 semi-structured interviews conducted in Spain and Switzerland in 2020 and 2021. The findings demonstrate that pre-retirement migration trajectories shape personal network composition. Moreover, personal ties play a critical role in older adults' mobility patterns and choices of retirement location. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the impact of personal networks on migration decisions of older adults.
]]>Social workers play a distinctive role in serving all communities, especially immigrants. Heightened immigrant stress and deteriorating well-being have been reported amid recent anti-immigrant socio-political climate. Given the unique challenges of immigrants, they have distinct needs. In our study, we utilize data from a larger study including a sample of first- and second-generation immigrants, to understand “How can social workers support immigrant communities?” In total, N = 265 participants responded to this prompt. We employed a content analysis approach to analyze participant responses. Our analysis yielded four main themes: (1) Resources for immigrants, (2) Doing right by immigrants, (3) Advocacy, and (4) Understanding immigrants. Our findings are timely in highlighting the diverse perspectives about immigrant needs in the current socio-political climate. Study findings have implications for social workers as well as service providers/agencies that engage with immigrants.
]]>In Kenya, the number of street-involved children continues to grow each decade, with most recent estimates as high as 250 000 to 300 000. Despite efforts by local government, nongovernmental organizations, and community-based organizations to address this problem, most children who receive services end up returning to the streets. Since 2021, Agape Children's Ministry has provided time-limited, crisis-oriented services to families recently reintegrated through its Family Strengthening Programme (FSP). We conducted an exploratory programme evaluation of Agape's FSP to ascertain whether it is achieving the intended outcomes. Thirty families (n = 30 children; n = 38 caregivers) were enrolled in the FSP during the study window and participated in the evaluation. Family functioning and child well-being increased to a statistically significant and large extent from before to after the intervention. All but two children remained reintegrated at the end of the study period. Results highlight the importance of using a holistic family-based programme that reunites children with their healthiest possible family environment with a plan specifically tailored to their individual needs and unique family situations. Results also bring to the fore the need for broad governmental attention to basic needs of families as an important part of improving family functioning.
]]>There are several special education provisions for children with disabilities in Kazakhstan, including home education which is characterized as an alternative model of education to mainstream and private educational organizations. Hence, parents become the central figure in managing the home education process as the meeting special needs of children depends on their knowledge and experience. The present study explores parents’ experiences in home educating a child with special needs in one town outside the capital city of Nursultan. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews with six parents in a qualitative multiple case study design. The findings highlight the way the diagnosis of a child’s special needs impacts the psychological, social and financial dimensions of parents’ life. Moreover, the findings of the present study illustrate some of the challenges and opportunities parents experience in home-educating their children. These include teachers’ specialised knowledge and skills, social isolation, involvement in school activities, and the provision of educational resources for home education.
]]>Children have the right to voice views on matters that impact their lives, including writing disability. In this study, five children diagnosed with dysgraphia used art-based research to depict their experiences of dysgraphia. The children described the impossibility of transferring ideas from head to paper and the difficult emotions associated with writing. The results highlighted a symbiosis between writing and identity, with dysgraphia adversely impacting the children's identity development. The study highlights the value of using art to communicate children's perceptions, aligned with inclusive practices. The insights shared offers caregivers, educators, and others scope to develop affirmative writing practices.
]]>This paper presents an account of how children's sense of agency is produced in machinic assemblages. The ethnographic data used in this study originated in one elementary school classroom. By utilising children's own expressions of their agency and by examining the machinic assemblages in which these expressions were produced, we demonstrate that school policies are not merely a background for schools' mundane practices. Rather, when combined with other elements in a school setting, policies have heterogeneous consequences for children's sense of agency.
]]>Analysing young people's temporal experiences can help understand their varied transition pathways in individualised societies. This study explores the diversity of Chinese youths' orientations towards time by addressing how they practise agency, situated within the temporal, familial and gender matrices. We surveyed and interviewed young people at a county-seat lower secondary school in North China and identified three temporal orientations: ‘long-term planners’, ‘seizers of the day’ and ‘compromisers’. The findings challenge the conventional understanding of Chinese youth temporal orientations as homogeneous by identifying the differentiations and complexities when navigating their transition to upper secondary education.
]]>This paper is based on a Horizon 2020 research project on the enhancement of migrant children's ability to contribute to the change of their conditions of integration in the education system in seven countries (Children Hybrid Integration: Learning Dialogue as a way of Upgrading Policies of Participation, CHILD-UP; GA 822400). The paper draws on data collected in vocational schools, with adolescents aged 14–16, in Italy. It draws on transcribed interactions to analyse activities in school classrooms in which facilitators support migrant adolescent's agency in producing narratives of their personal cultural trajectories. The paper shows how facilitators and adolescents share the rights of telling the narratives, the gender differences that become visible in the adolescents' narratives, and the ways in which facilitation supports the hybrid integration of migrant adolescents.
]]>A growing interest in children's participation has led to an increased need for methods for communicating with children. Empirical knowledge on ways to secure children's participation in encounters with welfare professionals and in decisions regarding their life is, however, scarce. One example of a practice model intended to enable children's participation is ‘Good Dialogues’. Presenting results from an evaluation study of the feasibility and practical use of the Good Dialogues model, this article explores the ways in which practitioners manage to put the agenda of child-centred and child-guided dialogues with children underpinning this model into practice. The ways in which children's participation is undermined are also discussed as well as the need for further knowledge development.
]]>Inspired by new feminist materialism, this paper seeks to reimagine existing knowledge of girls, sexuality and playgrounds by considering how the socio-material reality may unlock girls' capacities for what is possible through play. Focusing on semi-structured interviews of girls (aged 12–13), the paper draws attention to the playground as an ‘assemblage’ of human and non-human matter that connect to illuminate other ways of being, feeling and doing. We argue that the assemblage not only creates spaces for girls to disrupt hetero-patriarchal ideologies but simultaneously serves to reinforce them. Interventions require attention to the oppressive materialities that underpin play.
]]>This article presents service provider perspectives on young people and coercive control. Findings illustrate that young people need help from service providers to identify coercive control whilst simultaneously, some service providers minimise young people's experiences using an adult focused frame of reference. This has the potential to deny their agency and render young people's experiences invisible. We highlight the need for education on the specific issues young people face including how that might differ from adults. Finally, we examine the paradoxical role of social media as having transformative possibilities yet in a parallel process, creating opportunities for continued abuse.
]]>From a socio-anthropological study focusing on maternal body weight perceptions and dietary practices towards infants living in Soweto (South Africa), we studied how lay sociocultural traits may lead to early childhood obesity. Most mothers tended to socially value and normalize fatness. This propensity led mothers, particularly older women at home, to adopt high-calorie feeding practices towards infants, although some mothers tended to question these lay norms. Further works must consider how lay (emic) sociocultural norms in African townships can contradict biomedical (etic) messages, conveying for the community thinness as the acceptable standard, and may expose infants to early obesity.
]]>Empowerment evaluation (EE) is an especially useful tool that enables people to be involved in both individual and group transformation processes, in particular in contexts characterized by social inequality. By using a participatory approach, this methodological article analyses an Empowerment Evaluation experience within the European RoMoMatteR project. This project, which focuses on the notion of reproductive justice, has involved a group of Roma girls from Alicante (Spain), in a context characterized by discrimination based on ethnicity, gender and age, as well as by structural determinants such as social exclusion. The main research objective has been to analyse the relevance of the methodology designed to assess how project participants have developed a sense of autonomy and the acquisition of socio-cultural resources as assets for their future life choices. Therefore, the study design has followed the model proposed by Fetterman for Empowerment Evaluation: establishing a mission to be assessed, participatory diagnosis of the current status and finally planning for the future to start the desired change. Fetterman's model was adapted by designing and organizing participatory workshops with the girls involved in the project. The results confirm the relevance of the methodological proposal of the workshops to engage aspects of empowerment. The findings also allow to detect the empowerment of the Roma girls especially in two areas of the project: reaching the proposed objectives and the methodology used to register significant information. In the first case, the results show that Roma girls' establish a critical perspective on the idea of reproductive justice, and related to this, the activation of proactive behaviours linked to the acquisition of socio-cultural resources in the development of visions of their personal futures. In the second case, the Roma girls have also shown empowerment in decision-making on technical aspects, methodological design and taking action aimed at the collective construction of useful information in the project.
]]>This paper examined relationships between area-level deprivation, local authorities' social care expenditure and the rates of children entering care proceedings in England using a novel data linkage of de-identified records provided by the Children and Family Court Advisory Service (Cafcass). Using structural equation modelling, the authors found strong positive relationships between socioeconomic area deprivation and high rates of children undergoing care proceedings in England between 2015 and 2019. Preventative social care expenditure is associated with lower child rates when adjusting for deprivation. Our findings suggest that deprived and underfunded local authorities respond to an increased need by prioritizing care arrangements.
]]>This research is motivated by two inter-related arguments. Humour and cartooning in children are useful means to (1) address sensitive socio-political issues and (2) foster empathic concern and perspective-taking. Humorous cartoons and multimodal narratives were created by 10–13-year olds in school workshops about social inequality and social empathy. Students made cartoons related to concrete situations of economic, gender, racial and ethnic inequality. Children showed empathic concern towards the victims depicted, evidenced by representing positive empathy between characters or by denouncing a lack of empathy. This research suggests that composing humorous multimodal narratives can favour immersive experiences, perspective-taking, empathy and pro-sociality.
]]>Paediatric cardiology practitioners and related experts report unusually young ages when they begin to inform children about their non-urgent heart surgery and begin to respect children's consent or refusal. Research methods included observations in two paediatric cardiology units, audio-recorded interviews with 45 experts, and qualitative data analysis. Significantly younger ages were cited than are usually recommended in the clinical and legal literature. Interviewed practitioners took seriously children's consent to or refusal of a heart transplant from around 6 years, and a child's firm refusal of induction of anaesthesia from around 4 years, when surgery might be postponed.
]]>This study explores whether the frequency and diversity of behaviours observed during contact visits may be used as indicators of visit quality. We observed 20 contact visits and quantified the frequency and diversity of behaviours for both parent and child, classified as positive or negative with respect to the child's well-being. Quality of visits was classified based on a list of parent and child behaviours and two indicators (diversity and frequency), to create two observational checklists and calculate an overall quality index. This observational tool will enable identification of areas where birth parents or their child require additional support.
]]>While the right of children to be involved in decisions that concern them has been widely recognised, they are currently barely involved in guideline development in healthcare. This paper aims to explore what a future guideline development system in which children are meaningfully involved might look like and to reflect on the transition required to achieve this. We used a systems innovation perspective, exploring child participation within its systemic context and complexity. To this end, we conducted 24 interviews with various actors, about their ideas on and experiences with child participation in guideline development in the Dutch system (between August 2018 and September 2020), complemented with a scoping review. The current system is characterised by a high-speed, rigid process that relies heavily on scientific evidence. Children are usually not included or taken seriously. The contours of a system in which children are meaningfully involved would differ markedly: children would be considered capable and taken seriously, and the guideline development process would be flexible, with time for interaction with children and discussion about the implications of their perspectives. We encountered few examples of child participation in guideline development worldwide, and believe our results are indicative of the situation in other Western countries. We propose the following actions: (1) Development of a discussion arena to create a joint vision on the aim of guideline development and subsequently the role of child participation therein. (2) Set up of transition experiments unbound by the current constellation, conducted by front-runners who are open to children's perspectives. These are essential to clarify pathways towards a future in which the voices of children are meaningfully integrated. It remains to be seen, however, whether there are sufficient actors who feel the necessary urgency for change.
]]>Children entering secure accommodation, also known as ‘secure care’, are prevented from exercising free choice over most aspects of everyday life. This paper focuses on the relationship between agency and violence during transference to and early time in secure accommodation. Sharing interview extracts from 11 young people with experience of secure care as children, we explore how the routine processes of ‘suppressing’ children's agency supports the emergence of violence. We argue that the manner of transfer to secure accommodation creates a violent encounter that forces children's emotion and agency to redirect and intensify onto the self and others as further violence.
]]>This study examined the associations of multifaceted material hardship measured cross-sectionally and longitudinally with children's well-being in the United States. Results from linear regression and child fixed effects models indicated that more intense material hardship had consistent, detrimental associations with child health status and internalizing and externalizing behaviours. More intense longitudinal patterns of material hardship were consistently associated with behaviours only. These findings examine new, multifaceted measures of material hardship and suggest associations between child well-being, particularly behaviour challenges, and exposure both to multiple forms of material hardship and to more intense long-term patterns of hardship.
]]>Despite many philosophical and scientific appeals, physical inactivity, especially in children and young people, remains one of the most serious problems of contemporary civilisation. In our sub-study of wider research, we focus on the use of Czech fiction and comics by Jaroslav Foglar as a motivational factor to increase readers' physical activity. The respondents (n = 1174) were mostly adults who had spent their childhood or adolescence reading the works of Jaroslav Foglar. These people valued exercise (70%) in this reading, with a high correlation (0.73) to a healthy lifestyle (abstinence from alcohol and smoking). For 57% of the respondents, these values from reading also become an inspiration for application in life (there is a causal link between the degree of awareness of being influenced by the work and the actual application of the physical activity), with even higher values recorded for camping and being in a natural environment, as well as moral behaviour, ethical principles, and helping others. Thus, we can confirm that the inspiration of the fictional world of literature can become a motivational impulse to increase physical activity in the real world, moreover in the context of a very strong awareness of ethical values and moral behaviour.
]]>This paper focuses on the experiences of children and young people whose parents employ personal assistant(s) (PAs). It describes findings from a UK-based qualitative doctoral research study which explored the significance, influence and meaning of the PA role in supporting family life. Ten children and young adults aged 8–28 years with lived experience were interviewed face to face as part of this study, which also explored the perspectives of disabled parents and PAs. Findings reveal that PA support can alter both the quality and nature of the parent/child relationship. The provision of personal assistance can support family life and prevent children from becoming ‘young carers’; however, it can also create tension, anxiety and even destabilise family life.
]]>This study was aimed at comparing different formats of illustrations for children's books created by modern Chinese and Ukrainian artists. At the same time, it was not focused just on determining the leading format, but on identifying the attractiveness factors of each format. To this end, the study investigated children's illustration preferences drawing from the following three age groups: 5–6 years old (preschoolers), 7–8 years old (second-graders), and 9–10 years old (fourth-graders). According to the survey, children were most concerned with illustration colourfulness (this is true for paper and pop-up books) and viewing convenience. There were no statistically significant differences found between Chinese and Ukrainian books in terms of these parameters. At the same time, Chinese e-books appeared to outperform the Ukrainian texts in terms of feature management and illustration colourfulness. Publishers and artists of children's books can use these data for effective creative activity and making constructive decisions. At the same time, these findings may be of interest to parents, informing or guiding book selection for children.
]]>Iran has been among the top ten largest refugee-host countries worldwide, sheltering one of the largest groups of forced migrants from Afghanistan during the past four decades. This policy paper briefly examines and summarizes the policies related to education of Afghan children in Iran through a structured review. The results of this review suggest that higher education has been and continues to be heavily restricted for Afghans. While access to primary education has improved for Afghans in Iran, policies continue to neglect both cultural specificity and unique needs of this group. Therefore, enrolment has remained restricted. The findings of our policy analysis call for further attention to culturally relevant education, financial assistance for families living in poverty and interventions to subsidize the cost of education to ensure access of all Afghan children to primary education and retain enrolment. Results also call for reconsiderations in restrictive higher education policies for Afghans in Iran.
]]>To better understand chronic bullying, this school ethnographical case study mapped peer rejection processes that fuel bullying. The study focused on a case of a victimized 13-year-old girl and analysed observations of the classroom social interactions, interviews with teachers and students' essays. Thematic analysis elucidated how students, together with the class teacher, constructed the girl as having annoying personal characteristics, being a misfit to the group, and as being on the bottom of the classroom hierarchy. Next, it suggested how these processes made her more vulnerable to being bullied and not defended by teachers or classmates. The study showed that interventions in chronic bullying need to not only stop bullying, but also target the social processes underlying peer rejection.
]]>The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown regulations introduced many changes to children's everyday lives, including play, creating a unique pandemic experience for children. For this qualitative study, 15 children (ages 3–10) participated in virtual interviews on play during the pandemic between August and October 2020. While children recognised changes to play, it had persisted despite restrictions—play itself was not on lockdown. Children showed that play remained valuable and was an expression of adaptability, confidence and positivity. These considerations can help us support children's childhoods during crises, as children are members of society with rights to voice their opinions on matters affecting their lives.
]]>Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is a crucial intervention because of its long-term impact on child development. However, information concerning the effectiveness of the ECEC in developing countries like India is sparsely available. This empirical study drew upon primary data collected from India's eastern state, West Bengal and investigated whether attending preschool contributed to children's cognitive and social skill development. The study found that attending preschool did not provide dividends in the form of cognitive and social skill accumulation. Furthermore, attending private preschool was associated with socioemotional development but no cognitive development. Moreover, parents' education seems to be a strong predictor for child's development. Given the findings of this paper, preschools in India, both in the public and private sectors, would need considerable quality improvement to deliver developmentally appropriate ECEC to children. It is particularly relevant in the context of the new National Education Policy in India, which emphasises the need to provide universal access to high-quality ECCE to all young children across the country.
]]>Using original data, this article explores the ethical issues that arose during a school ‘life histories’ study of ‘lower-attaining’ of 23 primary school pupils in England, from age seven until they were aged 12 and attending secondary school. These children were viewed as being particularly vulnerable, not only due to their age but also due to being designated as ‘lower-attaining’ in English and maths by their teachers, alongside the fact they were participating in a longitudinal study. The research involved 230 interviews, class observations and filming. This article seeks to answer the question: ‘How can a researcher minimise causing harm whilst conducting interviews with particularly vulnerable children’? Formerly, the fear of causing harm to vulnerable children has at times led ethics review boards to be overly cautious about vulnerable children participating in empirical research. Yet conversely this caution has denied these children their participatory rights and their opportunity to contribute to expanding our knowledge about particularly vulnerable children. The article considers the ethical issues that arose before data collection especially in relation to dealing sensitively with the fact the children were designated as being ‘lower-attaining’. It also considers the ethical issues that arose during data collection in relation to safeguarding issues and distress occurring during an interview. The significance of this article is in its honest deconstruction of these ethical issues, including the research team's responses to them. Several practical recommendations are made to aid researchers to help to minimise causing harm when conducting research among particularly vulnerable children.
]]>Criminal law balances community protection from children who commit criminal offences against supporting children to behave appropriately. Existing Australian law applies the rebuttable presumption of doli incapax to children from 10 years of age and then applies full criminal responsibility to children from 14 years of age. Imposing full criminal responsibility on older children is problematic because it does not account for their cognitive development, social and environmental risk factors and maturity. Extending doli incapax to older children is one response to address the challenges of older children's criminal culpability but it does not go far enough to protect children from the harms of the criminal justice system.
]]>The literature on styles of racetalk, the way we talk about race in racist social structures, suggests that racial discourse is either covertly or overtly racist, with covert racism being dominant in the offline world and overt racism remaining dominant online. In this study I ask: is there a style of racetalk found in online discourse that does not fit within the covert/overt binary of racetalk that is present in the current literature. To address this research question, I draw on data from three social media platforms, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter, and examine two racialized popular discourses, the cancellation of Aunt Jemima and the debates over Critical Race Theory. I find that among conservative social media users, but not liberals, neither overt nor covert styles of racetalk, describe the character of the racial discourse in my data. Instead, I find a distinct style of racetalk with three characteristics: (1) Conservative social media users draw politicized boundaries which frame Black people as part of their ingroup and leftists as an outgroup, (2) The members of the political ingroup, white conservatives and Black people, share a common threat from the political outgroup, and (3) The political ingroup should represent a multiracial political coalition who supports conservative politicians and causes. I introduce Colorblind Nationalism as a theory of politicized racetalk which situates these findings within our current socio-political context and creates avenues for future research.
]]>As the culture of silence that once surrounded cancer has gradually given way to greater public awareness, normative visions of what cancer survivorship should entail have proliferated. These visions emphasise positivity and perseverance in pursuit of cure. While these visions provide comfort to many, for people with metastatic cancer, the emphasis on cure can undermine their sense of belonging to the broader collective of people living with cancer. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 38 Australian women living with metastatic breast cancer, we explore how incurable cancer inflects understandings of self and transforms interpersonal relationships. Extending ideas around biosociality and belonging, we explore the tenuousness of social bonds, revealing how (in)visibility, (in)authenticity and (in)validation circulate within the daily lives of women with metastatic breast cancer. We conceptualise accounts according to four social bonds: (1) threatened bonds where a relationship is strained by misunderstanding, (2) severed bonds where a relationship is ruptured due to misunderstanding, (3) attuned bonds whereby a relationship is based on shared identification and (4) flexible social bonds when a relationship is based on mutual understanding. More broadly, we illustrate the persistence of normative visions of cancer survivorship and their enduring effects on those whom such visions exclude.
]]>This article draws on 2 years’ worth of ethnographic observation of team meetings to explore decision-making in an NHS clinical genomics service. The focus of discussions was on ambiguous genomic results known as VUS or Variants of Uncertain Significance, which may be pathogenic but which also may turn out to be benign. In examining decision-making around such results, we note how, in contrast to much policy and promotional material in this area, clinicians in these meetings (clinical geneticists and genetic counsellors) place great emphasis on parental phenotypes and whether the parents of a patient share the symptoms and signs of the suspected condition. This information is then combined with the result of genomic tests to decide whether the variant a patient has is responsible for their condition. This article explores the way in which clinicians attempt to flexibly enrol parents into genomic explanations through informal diagnosis of their possible phenotypes and the way in which actually meeting parents allows some clinicians to trump explanations based on documentary or photographic data. The paper sheds light on the way that earlier scholarly understandings of such decisions (around, say dysmorphology) remain relevant and explores claims that laboratory tests overrule clinical decision-making.
]]>Western welfare states are facing great challenges as they strive to optimise their health and social systems in response to the realities of an ageing population. Many countries put a stake on reablement services—short-term rehabilitative interventions aiming to help older people regain functional capacity. To ensure a person-centred approach and outcome measures, service providers are recommended to follow a protocol designed for the dual purpose. In this article, we explore how reablement staff perceive and work around these person-centred assessment protocols. Departing from the perspective that standards never operate in isolation, but in social settings already infused with values and interests, we explore the various kinds of work involved in aligning the protocol with ongoing day-to-day assessment practices. The article demonstrates that professionals continuously engage in processes of tinkering to navigate between different values and concerns: they tinker with workflows (articulation work), with clients (identity transformation work) and with protocols (editing work). Exploring the different forms and intensity of tinkering enables us to discuss the practical and moral difficulties inherent in making assessment protocols workable.
]]>The post-racial discourse that permeates many Western European countries depicts society as having moved beyond race concepts and classifications. This article focuses on Sweden, a country that, in line with the post-racial thinking, declares race to be an offensive and unscientific concept. The article investigates what happens when this post-racial discourse meets clinical research standards that encourage, if not demand, the collection of data on patient race. Through an analysis of the reporting of patient race in 76 multinational trials with at least one study site in Sweden, and a review of the regulatory and medical standards and trial documents that direct the collection of patient race in trials, we show how race classification is kept intact in trials despite conflicting with post-racial norms and conventions. Notably, our findings diverge from the way racialisation is typically assumed to work in Sweden and related countries. We argue this is possible because the two incompatible understandings of race are ‘distributed’ (Mol, 2002, The body multiple: Ontology in medical practice, Duke University Press) among different social worlds. The distribution, we propose, is upheld through the paucity of major debate on why and how race classification should be carried out in clinical trials in Europe as this allows contradictions to remain unspoken.
]]>In this article, we use Lévi-Strauss’s (1962, The savage mind, University of Chicago Press) concept of ‘bricolage’ to explore informal food preparation among men in Scottish prisons. The art of ‘making do with whatever is at hand’, in innovative and creative ways, to give new functions to everyday items has recently been reimagined and applied to the field of food. It has been used to explore the practice of informal food networks in resource poor environments; investigate how small food businesses come up with new and innovative recipes ideas; and study the way Michelin-starred chefs responded to the COVID-19 pandemic through philanthropic activities. Our aim is to use bricolage as a lens through which to answer questions about whether more autonomy over food might contribute to overall health and wellbeing in prisons. Drawing on in-depth empirical data from qualitative interviews with 20 men in Scottish prisons, we explore how bricolage is used to escape the monotony of prison-issued meals and the tedium of the prison regime; counter threats to self and identity; create and maintain social relationships through joint enterprise and commensality; and create culinary experiences that afford a sense of control and normality in an environment synonymous with ‘spoiled identity’ (Goffman, 1961, Asylums: Essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates, Penguin.).
]]>Males accounted for half the United Kingdom population in 2021 yet they fail to be prioritised in health and social policies. As examining the health of males and females collectively falls short in accounting for the complexities associated with gendered health outcomes, male health should be considered as a separate policy issue. The island of Ireland has two jurisdictions, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (NI); however, only the former has implemented a men’s health policy. As well as a policy vacuum within NI, few studies have comprehensively examined male health. To address this shortcoming, a narrative review of males’ physical and mental health trends in NI is presented to determine the need for a men’s health policy. A collation of secondary administrative data and survey data was conducted. The narrative review highlights the importance of utilising a holistic framework to understand men’s health. Key findings include high male suicide rates and young males being more likely to report certain mental health problems. The study concludes that a male health policy is needed. To achieve this, a Health Impact Pyramid was developed, and it illustrates practical steps that can be taken to support decision-makers, service providers and individual males.
]]>While the growth of global markets in health-related services may have significant consequences for healthcare provisioning and training, it has received relatively little attention from the social sciences. This article examines UK–India, and specifically England–India, exports in health worker education and training as one such global market, drawing on sociological scholarship on moral economies to understand how trading in this field is constructed and legitimated by the individuals and organisations involved, what tensions evolve, and what is at stake in them. We employ a qualitative mixed methods approach using publicly available materials on existing UK–India collaborations and primary data from interviews with key stakeholders in India and the UK, including government departments, arms-length bodies, NHS Trusts, trade associations and private providers. Our analysis illustrates the key discursive strategies used to legitimate engagement in these markets, and the complex and contested moral economies unfolding between and across these stakeholders and contexts. Not least, we demonstrate the conflicting moral sentiments and the boundary work required to realise commodification. Situating cross-border trade in health worker education and training in a moral economy framework thus illuminates the social context and moral worlds in which this evolving trade is embedded.
]]>The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical practice is spreading, especially in technologically dense fields such as radiology, which could consequently undergo profound transformations in the near future. This article aims to qualitatively explore the potential influence of AI technologies on the professional identity of radiologists. Drawing on 12 in-depth interviews with a subgroup of radiologists who participated in a larger study, this article investigated (1) whether radiologists perceived AI as a threat to their decision-making autonomy; and (2) how radiologists perceived the future of their profession compared to other health-care professions. The findings revealed that while AI did not generally affect radiologists’ decision-making autonomy, it threatened their professional and epistemic authority. Two discursive strategies were identified to explain these findings. The first strategy emphasised radiologists’ specific expertise and knowledge that extends beyond interpreting images, a task performed with high accuracy by AI machines. The second strategy underscored the fostering of radiologists’ professional prestige through developing expertise in using AI technologies, a skill that would distinguish them from other clinicians who did not pose this knowledge. This study identifies AI machines as status objects and useful tools in performing boundary work in and around the radiological profession.
]]>Over the twentieth century, the concept of the natural experiment has become increasingly prominent across a variety of disciplines, albeit most consequentially in epidemiology and public health. Drawing on an analysis of the scientific and medical literature, we explore the social life of the natural experiment, tracing its changing use, meaning and uptake to better understand the work done by the concept. We demonstrate how the natural experiment became central to the identity of post-war epidemiology as the discipline professionalised, turned its attention to the prevention of chronic disease and took centre stage in the field of public health. We then turn to its growing significance amid the rise of evidence-based medicine, and the new meanings natural experiments came to take on in the context of concerns about policy and evidence. Finally, we turn to the newest iteration of the natural experiment in the COVID-19 era, which saw an explosion of studies drawing on the term, albeit in ways that reveal more about the underlying politics of health than the method itself. Throughout, we illustrate that the concept of the natural experiment has always been fundamentally social and political and tied to disciplinary claims-making about evidence and what should count as such.
]]>Evictions are commonplace in the United States, and their negative consequences are broad and severe. However, research on evictions to date has focused primarily on urban areas, and thus has not addressed the impact evictions have on rural renters. This paper offers the first comprehensive analysis of evictions in rural communities, where the number of renters has been increasing in recent decades. We use Eviction Lab's national eviction database to study the approximately 220,000 evictions filed in rural counties each year. While the majority of rural evictions affect families with a white head of household (57 percent in 2010), eviction filing rates are four times higher among rural Black renters than among rural white renters. Eviction filing rates are highest in heavily Black counties in the rural southeast. While eviction filings are somewhat lower in rural majority-Hispanic counties, these communities experience low-quality informal housing and overcrowding. Eviction rates are also higher in rural counties with higher rent burdens and where more households include children.
]]>Over the past few decades, there has been a resurgence of public participation in participatory settings. Such participatory processes are often long and arduous, and sometimes involve seemingly endless meetings of deliberation between various stakeholders and citizens before a policy decision or plan of action is made. While there is much known about the social forces that constrain how people deliberate in meetings, there is more to know about the discursive frames that actors use to deliberate and legitimize in these settings. To explore this, I draw on an analysis of a debate in a small coastal town surrounding a dam removal across two municipally sponsored spheres: listening sessions and select board meetings. I found that people debated the same issue differently across different contexts using different discursive frames, and the frames developed in the listening sessions were not transferable to select board meetings, the site where a policy decision was imminent. To explain this, I analyze how a meeting's empowerment in a given participatory process influences which styles of discursive frames actors use and are valued during deliberation. Understanding this provides a piece to the larger puzzle of what constrains and enables deliberative discourse in the 21st century.
]]>Many programs that place low-income students of color in high-achieving college preparatory high schools seek to nurture bridging social capital, connections across class lines that provide leverage in the process of “getting ahead.” Bonding social capital, which focuses more on emotional support and “getting by,” is frequently characterized as less useful for social mobility. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with alumni from one such program, we challenge the notion of bridging and bonding social capital as discrete, countervailing forms of social capital, and demonstrate how the two may complement each other. Specifically, we find that bonding social capital served as a critical resource that students drew upon as they navigated their elite high schools in the face of racism and classism. In doing so, this bonding social capital ultimately facilitated the development of bridging social capital by encouraging student persistence at these institutions. Our findings support critiques of traditional accounts of social capital that devalue the capital possessed by marginalized communities and fuel deficit ideologies. Furthermore, they highlight the personal costs that youth may face in the pursuit of bridging capital, complicating the narrative of social mobility as an unmitigated good.
]]>Under neoliberal social provision, debt has become a primary tool for US households to pursue economic mobility and manage risk. Borrowing supports financial and non-financial investments that, in theory, should lead to lifetime income and asset gains from which debt can be repaid. Many scholars argue, however, that reliance on credit as a welfare tool significantly increases inequality, particularly along racial lines. In this paper, I examine this process of debt-financed asset accumulation by analyzing racial disparities in the relationship between household debt and assets. Using Survey of Consumer Finances data, I examine disparities in assets held at given debt levels across Black and White households. Results indicate that at equal debt levels, Black households' assets are between 30% and 80% lower than those of comparable White households. This suggests that White households benefit considerably more from social policies that center borrowing as a mechanism of social provision. This likely contributes to the persistence of the racial wealth gap. Racial disparities in access to credit, to homeownership, and to non-market financial transfers like inheritances partly explain White households' higher returns, but racial gaps remain even when accounting for these factors.
]]>This article explores the conditions under which social trust enhances institutional performance, specifically the protection of property rights in Western versus East Asian countries over time.
We estimate fixed-effects panel regression models to test how the relationship between trust and property rights protection is moderated by the quality of political institutions, including state capacity, the legal system, and democracy.
We find that the relationship between social trust and property rights protection is contingent on the quality of political institutions across regions. The quality of the legal system exerts the most pronounced and contrasting effect on the link between social trust and property rights protection in Western and East Asian countries, while the conditional effects of state capacity and democracy are comparatively less pronounced in both regions.
This study contributes valuable insights into the complex interplay between social trust and institutional outcomes in diverse societal contexts.
]]>While they were once viewed as largely local or candidate-centered contests, recent American elections have come to be dominated by national forces such as presidential politics and partisanship. Prior research on voter behavior in this new era of nationalized politics, however, has largely focused on more high-profile contests and has not examined voter decision making across multiple levels of government.
Our study uses cross-sectional (2006–2020) survey data from the Cooperative Election Study to explore the determinants of partisan loyalty and defection across both national and subnational American elections.
We find consistent evidence that citizens increasingly rely upon national forces—specifically partisan-ideological sorting and presidential approval—to make decisions about candidates up and down the ballot. We also find mixed evidence that evaluations of the national economy inform defection behavior.
These findings indicate that the national political forces shape voter behavior in national and subnational contests in effectively identical ways. Thus, the evidence supports the notion that all (electoral) politics are now national.
]]>Increasingly, children live in both parents' homes equally after parental separation, but little is known about whether social security policy supports these shared-residence families. We propose that a determination of support for shared residence in various policies can be based on two criteria: whether both parents can receive benefits and whether the total amount received is greater than what would have been received if children lived with only one parent. We categorise support for shared residence in child benefits, housing assistance, social assistance, and guaranteed child support in 13 countries (Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States), using a 2017 questionnaire, policy documents, and previous research. Norway is the only country supporting shared residence in all four policy domains; three countries do not support shared residence in any. Policies on shared residence across domains are inconsistent. This research highlights the need to clarify policy for these families and to consider whether parents who manage shared parental responsibilities post-separation should be assisted in new ways.
]]>‘আড্ডা with Ahmed: an expanded online exchange & misconnection’ is a reflexive interpretation of a DM conversation between the author and Ahmed, their Bangladesh-based friend, presented as both text and imagetext video (Mitchell, 1994). The article examines the meaning and practice of the Bangladeshi pastime of adda/chatting in a digital context, while exploring the complexities of cultural, interpersonal and technological hybridity. Through excerpts from their adda, the author and Ahmed touch upon various themes, including cultural identity, politics, gender, and the challenges of cross-cultural communication. Their conversations reveal a dynamic interplay between agreement and disagreement, offering glimpses into their subjective experiences and perspectives. While adda contains the potential to transcend cultural boundaries and foster new forms of connection and understanding, the asynchronous nature of the exchange, coupled with linguistic limitations and enculturated modes of expression, troubles the interpretation of meaning and growth of understanding between the correspondents. While the article acknowledges the unresolvable nature of certain misconnections, online ‘adda’ is portrayed as space for curiosity, exploration, remembrance, and the coexistence of diverse perspectives and interpretations.
]]>Exoskeletal devices are new technologies that have been developed in the medical field to provide assistance and rehabilitation for persons with motor impairments. Among these impairments, spinal cord injury and stroke are the most common. Drawing on materials collected during multi-sited ethnography conducted in France, Germany and Switzerland from 2014 to 2019, I suggest that exoskeletons contribute to a more general process that I identify as ‘aiming at the “proper” body’. As they materially craft motor impaired bodies but also are responsible for datafication and dataveillance, exoskeletons allow to categorise new aspects of ‘risky’ bodies. Simultaneously, they foster conflicts between experts’ perspectives about rehabilitation practice and the users’ phenomenological experiences that exoskeletons aim to transform. After describing how exoskeletons expand the realm of contemporary medical technologies in their purpose of ‘aiming at “proper” bodies’ while being ‘miraculous’, I identify two conceptions of ‘risky’ bodies: a first one related to materiality, a second one to processes of digitalisation to which exoskeletons actively participate. Finally, I investigate some conflicting levels between the regimes of expert knowledge and the phenomenological experiences of the users and reassess the latter’s role in rehabilitation practice with exoskeletons.
]]>Previous studies have found a solid correlation between payment problems and health, and a large body of literature has recognised the impact of debt burden on ill health. However, few have looked at the reversed causality—the impact of health on over-indebtedness and payment problems. In this article, we investigate whether or not a person with mental and physical health challenges is more likely to experience debt enforcement, and we take a step further to explore the role of health status on receiving debt settlement for those with severe payment problems. The article uses register data from Statistics Norway, the Norwegian Patient Registry and the Mortgages Registry from 2009 to 2018. When using conditional logistic models and fixed-effects Poisson regressions with a one-year lagged effect, we find that mental disorders significantly contribute to individuals’ financial strains, while physical health does not play a substantial role. When integrating the models with dynamic health effects, all health indicators turned out to have substantial impacts, indicating an extended delayed physical health effect on financial outcomes. Poor health leads to increased payment problems, yet individuals facing health challenges have a lower likelihood of receiving necessary assistance in debt settlement. These findings emphasise the need for tailored services to address the financial challenges of debtors with diverse health conditions.
]]>Examining national awakening in early twentieth-century Lebanon tests the validity of Anthony D. Smith's ethno-symbolism, which argues that modern national movements arise from older or ancient ethnic cores, which Smith calls ethnies. Since ethno-symbolism contradicts Eric Hobsbawm's notion of an “invented tradition,” contrasting Smith with Hobsbawm illustrates the substance of Smith's argument. Supporters of independent Lebanon frequently proclaimed a Phoenician origin for the Lebanese nation, employing various Phoenician symbols to legitimise Lebanese independence. At first glance, Lebanese Phoenicianism seem to fit Smith's idea that nations are “based on, and being created out of, pre-existing ethnies.” Other nationalists from Lebanon, however, rejected Phoenicianism and Lebanese particularist nationalism: self-proclaimed “Syrian” nationalists imagined a nation that encompassed the entire Levant, while Pan-Arab nationalists extended their national sympathies to the entire Arab world. Both Syrian and Pan-Arab nationalists devised their own ancient pasts, suggesting that nationalists choose their own ancient pasts. If nationalists imagine the national past, ethnic symbols have no causal significance, so Smith's theory does not work.
]]>Social work is characterized as a helping profession. Consequently, the nature and purposes of social work revolve around concepts of help and helping. In this article, I explore what happens when the extended family network and friends are brought together by child welfare services to make decisions to help a child. Based on analyses of a single videotaped family group conference, this article offers insights into the challenges and complexities families face when dealing with the mandated task to devise a plan that meets the child's needs. By examining sequences of interaction where friends and family members discuss future scenarios with some cast as beneficiaries and others as benefactors, I show how some of these complexities can be captured in terms of the relationship between benefactive stance and benefactive status. The complexities include ambiguities regarding the relationship between nominated future scenarios and the problem(s) they were designed to solve. Furthermore, participants dealt with uncertainties regarding who was more inclined towards specific future scenarios and thus understood to be the actual beneficiary. Additionally, the analysis shows that social identities ascribed to recipients when resolutions to problems were linked to family members' past shortcomings complicated the acknowledgement and acceptance of assistance.
]]>This ethnographic study examines the disaster subculture of impoverished urban poor communities regarding extreme weather disasters, through the case of jjokbang-chon, one of the most marginalized communities in Seoul, South Korea. The findings shed light on how jjokbang-chon residents make meaning of disasters, where a sense of normalcy surrounds extreme weather, developed in response to recurring exposure to everyday hazards. This study offers insights into their lived experiences, revealing that the residents' perception of vulnerability often diverges from objective reality, primarily due to the pervasive “everyday disasters” that continually disrupt their lives. This “every day is a disaster” perspective, born from the chronic distress they endure, challenges their ability to recognize extreme weather events as disasters. This research carries implications for the field of social work by emphasizing the necessity of broadening the concept of vulnerability to encompass “everyday disasters,” and highlights the pivotal role of social work in addressing the multifaceted challenges presented by everyday disasters.
]]>Portugal has been confronted with a succession of crises in recent years. This article explores the differences in the way that, in Portugal, the welfare regime tackled the Great Recession context (financial, euro, sovereign debt, structural adjustment crises) and COVID-19 crisis through very different policy responses. The fact that the governments in office acted differently when faced with realities that were close in time but very distinct, generates a paired comparative scenario, without forgetting the interim period. Supported by a plural methodological approach that gathers information from various sources, the outcomes reveal important aspects about the policy direction of changes and in terms of socio-economic indicators. First, policy responses have followed three dynamics in tension: Retrenchment, Mitigation, and Expansion. Second, the policies make a difference, producing distinct outcomes in terms of socioeconomic indicators (unemployment, inequality, poverty). Third, the responses to crises induced more “radical” measures (towards Retrenchment or Expansion), which are not consistent with interim situations. Finally, while the austeritarian response was part of the government in office's program, this was not the case during the pandemic, when the response was involuntary and unprogrammed. This means that, in being a provisional and dated response, there is a high risk that in the near future there will be a resumption of Mitigation or even Retrenchment policies.
]]>One of the strongest empirical regularities in spatial demography is that flows of migrants are positively associated with population stocks at origin and destination and are inversely related to distance. This pattern was formalized into what are known as gravity models of migration. Traditionally, distance is measured geographically, but other measures of distance, such as cultural distance, are also relevant in explaining migration flows. However, measures of cultural distance are not widely adopted in the literature on modeling migration flows, partially because of the difficulties associated with operationalizing and producing these measures across space and time. In this paper, we use a scalable approach to obtain proxies for measuring cultural similarity between countries by using Facebook data and illustrate the impact of incorporating these measures, based on food and drink interests, into gravity models for predicting migration. Our results show that, despite their limitations, the new measures of cultural similarity derived from Facebook data improve the prediction power of traditional gravity models and have a predictive capacity comparable to that of classic variables used in the literature, such as shared language and history. The results open up new opportunities for understanding the determinants of migration and for predicting migration when considering broader and complementary perspectives on the meaning and measurement of distance.
]]>Previous research has shown a relationship between social and economic equality and trust, but the relationship between gender equality and trust has received relatively little attention. This study addresses that lacuna and analyzes the relationship between gender equality and political trust as well as social trust.
Using the 2015 Latinobarómetro, we test the relationship between two types of gender equality, labor gender equality and overall gender equality, and two types of trust, political trust and social trust in a series of regressions.
The results show that gender equality is positively associated with social and political trust. In particular, the magnitude of association of labor gender equality with social trust is greater than that of overall gender equality. Also, the magnitude of association of overall gender equality with political trust is greater than that of labor gender equality.
Our article contributes to the literature by demonstrating that overall gender equality and labor gender equality have varying association with trust depending on types of trust.
]]>This study seeks to understand how liberal gun owners configure the rights and responsibilities of ethical gun citizenship in the face of a dominant public narratives that rejects guns as markers of liberal belonging.
This study employs a qualitative, textual analysis approach to explore the narratives of liberal gun owners participating in online discussions of mass shootings and contentious political elections.
The results show how liberal gun owners, in these online forums, advocated for an emancipatory democracy that largely prioritized the collective over the individual, demanded an accountable government, and was radical in its insistence on the importance of accessibility and meaningful participation, thus configuring social belonging and commensurability as central to formal citizenship.
The results suggest that how one formulates the values of citizenship is linked to how one practices the politics of democracy. Highlighting the greater range of possibilities for the alignment of guns and citizenship may thus offer some hope to the rancor of contemporary partisan politics as liberal gun owners seek to normalize a democracy that brings individual and collective identities and needs into its culture and practice.
]]>While research shows the potential benefits of local food systems to improve community economy and quality of life, there is a critique that these studies overlook how informal, non market food access practices contribute to local food systems, especially in rural places. McEntee promoted the concepts of traditional and contemporary localism in his work with rural food systems, arguing that the motivations of participants define the categories. Using narrative research with wild harvesters in the Ozark Highlands, we propose that while McEntee's definitions are useful for expanding the conversation about why people may choose local food or not, more efforts should focus on valuing and welcoming the broader intersection of priorities and strategies that people use to engage in local food systems in their communities. Promoting a wider portfolio of local food access strategies is important to communicate that there are a variety of ways to participate in localized food systems, some in regular market transactions and some in informal non-market ways, and that all are potentially valuable in building sustainable food systems in rural areas.
]]>A flexible thermoelectric device based on composite films of p-type Ti3C2T x /Sb2Te3 is fabricated. The Ti3C2T x /Sb2Te3 composite films are not only freestanding, highly flexible, and mechanically stable, but their prepared flexible thermoelectric device with seven legs can output an open-circuit voltage of 45 mV at a temperature difference of about 30 K.
Flexible thin-film thermoelectric devices (TEDs) can generate electricity from the heat emitted by the human body, which holds great promise for use in energy supply and biomonitoring technologies. The p-type Sb2Te3 hexagon nanosheets are prepared by the hydrothermal synthesis method and compounded with Ti3C2T x to make composite films, and the results show that the Ti3C2T x content has a significant impact on the thermoelectric properties of the composite films. When the Ti3C2T x content is 2 wt%, the power factor of the composite film reaches ≈59 µW m−1 K−2. Due to the outstanding electrical conductivity, high specific surface area, and excellent flexibility of Ti3C2T x , the composite films also exhibit excellent thermoelectric and mechanical properties. Moreover, the small addition of Ti3C2T x has a negligible effect on the phase composition of Sb2Te3 films. The TED consists of seven legs with an output voltage of 45 mV at ΔT = 30 K. The potential of highly flexible thin film TEDs for wearable energy collecting and sensing is great.
]]>This review delivers insights into thermoelectric textiles from the aspects of the selection and optimization of thermoelectric materials, their interfacial properties with textile fibers as well as configuration design and scalable fabrication of thermoelectric textiles. Possible rational ways to address the plight of designing and manufacturing high-performance thermoelectric textiles are proposed.
Self-powered wearable thermoelectric (TE) devices significantly reduce the inconvenience caused to users, especially in daily use of portable devices and monitoring personal health. The textile-based TE devices (TETs) exhibit the excellent flexibility, deformability, and light weight, which fulfill demands of long-term wearing for the human body. In comparison to traditional TE devices with their longstanding research history, TETs are still in an initial stage of growth. In recent years, TETs to provide electricity for low-power wearable electronics have attracted increasing attention. This review summarizes the recent progress of TETs from the points of selecting TE materials, scalable fabrication methods of TE fibers/yarns and TETs, structure design of TETs and reported high-performance TETs. The key points to develop TETs with outstanding TE properties and mechanical performance and better than available optimization strategies are discussed. Furthermore, remaining challenges and perspectives of TETs are also proposed to suggest practical applications for heat harvesting from human body.
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A novel combined cycle is proposed for the application of the solar power tower. Pre-compression configuration of Brayton cycle is used as a topping cycle in which helium is taken as working fluid. Transcritical CO2 cycle is used as bottoming cycle for using the waste heat. The proposed system is investigated based on exergy, energy, and exergoenvironmental point of view.
Solar power tower technology has strong potential among the other concentration solar power techniques for large power generation. Therefore, it is necessary to make a new and efficient power conversion system for utilizing the solar power tower system. In present research, a novel combined cycle is proposed to generate power for the application of the solar power tower. The pre-compression configuration of the Brayton cycle is used as a topping cycle in which helium is taken as the working fluid. The transcritical CO2 cycle is used as bottoming cycle for using the waste heat. The proposed system is investigated based on exergy, energy, and exergoenvironmental point of view using computational technique engineering equation solver. Also, the parametric analysis is carried out to check the impact of the different variables on the system performance. It is concluded that the overall plant's optimized thermal and exergy efficiencies are obtained as 31.59% and 33.12%, respectively, at 800 °C optimum temperature of combined cycle and 850 W m−2 of direct normal irradiation and 2.278 of compressor pressure ratio. However, exergetic stability factor and exergoenvironmental impact index are observed as 0.5952 and 0.6801 respectively. The present proposed system performs better than the previous studies with fewer components.
]]>Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), hailed as the wonder material of the 21st century, exhibit unprecedented tunability, thermal stability, porosity, and surface area. This work highlights advancements in MOFs design and synthesis, delving into their applications in gas storage, catalysis, magnetism, nanomedical, sensing, light-emitting diodes, and self-powered wearable sensors via nanogenerators. The work also addresses current challenges, offering insights into future opportunities in this dynamic field.
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are the wonder material of the 21st century consist of metal ions/clusters coordinated to organic ligands to form one- or more-dimensional porous structures with unprecedented chemical and structural tunability, exceptional thermal stability, ultrahigh porosity, and a large surface area, making them an ideal candidate for numerous potential applications. In this work, the recent progress in the design and synthetic approaches of MOFs and explore their potential applications in the fields of gas storage and separation, catalysis, magnetism, drug delivery, chemical/biosensing, supercapacitors, rechargeable batteries and self-powered wearable sensors based on piezoelectric and triboelectric nanogenerators are summarized. Lastly, this work identifies present challenges and outlines future opportunities in this field, which can provide valuable references.
]]>The study addressed whether specific linguistic variables used by adoptive parents were associated with ratings of the adoptee's relationship with their birth mothers.
Parents transmit their beliefs and values to children through verbal and nonverbal communication. The ways in which adoptive parents discuss their child's adoption and birth family can influence the child's adoptive identity development and satisfaction with their adoption arrangements.
Participants included mothers, fathers, and adolescents (M age = 15.7 years) in 177 adoptive families of children who were adopted domestically as infants by same-race parents. The Linguistic Analysis and Word Count 2015 (LIWC2015) program was used to code adoptive parents' interviews regarding their thoughts and feelings about adoption and their child's birth family. Adolescents' views of birth mothers were coded from their interviews.
There were significant differences in linguistic patterns when adoptive parents discussed adoption generally compared to when they discussed their child's birth family. Specific linguistic variables used by adoptive mothers and fathers were significantly associated with adopted adolescents' perceptions and feelings towards their birth mothers.
]]>This paper aims to illustrate how several emotional mechanisms very probably played some causal and presumably significant role during the revolution that took place in Catalonia between July 1936 and May 1937 within the framework of the Spanish Civil War. Beyond this specific case study, the article contributes to the discussion on the role of emotions in large-scale collective action and the concept of enthusiasm. In this regard, it is argued that the analyzed case suggests hatred could be an emotional antecedent of enthusiasm.
]]>This paper examines the diverse Lagos international school sector as an arena in which Nigerian families are attempting to (re)produce status and good lives that work transnationally. ‘Elite’ international schools focus on securing entry into Anglo-American universities and distinguish themselves via discourses of ‘modern Britishness’, yet also emphasize the special value of schooling in Nigeria and seek to reproduce circulatory lives. There is also a competitive landscape of ‘mid-range’ international schools that do not simply serve ‘aspirant locals’ but have broad international horizons and are central to transnational family strategies. Lagos schools across the spectrum receive students ‘sent’ from the diaspora, demonstrating they are valued stations in the transnational social field to protect as well as accumulate. The paper contributes to understanding international schools in the ‘global South’ not simply as a backstage to Anglo-American centres but as offering unique resources for families navigating hierarchies at home and abroad.
]]>The crises faced by welfare states have now endured for significantly longer than the counter-period of stability, calm and cooperation between the 1940s and 1970s. Systemic crisis of welfare states tied to the contradictions of capitalism, and the exogenous crises for the welfare state that have afflicted its expansion have, however, been met by faith in its resilience evidenced in its economic functions and popularity. We question the basis for optimism by examining the ‘state of the welfare state’ in the context of the social goals envisaged in the 1940s and the extent to which these are evidenced in contemporary social policy arrangements. We present a case for more ‘pessimism of the intellect’ in assessing welfare futures to better underpin welfare state scholars' tendency towards ‘optimism of the will’.
]]>From the 1990s onwards, fraud detection has become an increasingly important focus in the design and implementation of a variety of welfare schemes, including unemployment benefits, social assistance benefits, pensions, and personal care budgets. This culminated in the 2014 Fraud Act, which introduced a system of high sanction in all cases of benefit fraud, even if they were causes by administrative errors. In 2020 a parliamentary investigation committee concluded that the Dutch government had violated the foundational principles of the rule of law through the way suspected fraudsters with childcare allowances had been treated. This so-called Childcare allowances affair undermined the support for the harsh approach to fraud and led to a series of proposals to reform the Dutch ‘surveillance welfare state’. The Dutch Childcare allowances affair is an interesting case of a social policy crisis because its origins are not external events but lie in the regular implementation of policies that have been approved and supported rather widely by politicians, policymakers and street-level bureaucrats. In this article, we define and apply the concept ‘institutional implosion’ to analyse the Childcare allowances affair and its consequences. Moreover, we argue that the implosion in this affair follows from an extension of the target group from ‘non-deserving’ to ‘deserving’ citizens. Whereas the Fraud Act primarily was aimed towards recipients of unemployment, disability and social assistance benefits, a change in the system of childcare allowances extended the scope of the Fraud Act to an almost universal group of parents that use childcare facilities.
]]>The EU has traditionally influenced the social and employment policies of Member States through regulation, leaving redistribution to national welfare states. The latter have, however, been gradually weakened by global socioeconomic change and by the expansion of EU market integration. A series of crises over the last 15 years made a bad situation worse: the longue durée erosion of the capacity of European welfare states has morphed into acute social aftershocks, especially in peripheral countries. After the austerity reflex in the early 2010s, the EU introduced new policy instruments with market-correcting rationales that go beyond the regulatory approach. This article revisits the creation and functioning of four of these instruments that represent EU-level capacity-building in the social policy domain: the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, the Youth Guarantee, the Just Transition Fund and SURE (the temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency). We argue that the EU increasingly provides ‘buffer mechanisms’ to support stressed national welfare states in tasks they would otherwise be unable to accomplish, and we identify the political factors that drive the expansion of this ‘buffering’ logic in EU social policy.
]]>Universal Credit signalled a revolution in the delivery and costs of welfare provisioning. UC aimed to reduce spending on welfare, but in doing so now threatens the stability of a functioning and cohesive society. Over recent years, and most notably during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become ever clearer that adequate social security is vital to the functioning of society, as well as to the health and well-being of the population. Yet this period has also served to highlight the fragility and insufficiency of welfare in the United Kingdom. This article explores how the current welfare crisis, is associated with UC. In this article, we also consider the uncertainty that UC has created in most recipients. We argue that there are other ways to support the most vulnerable in society, and that we are now at that critical juncture in needing to make significant change. Universal Basic Income (UBI) offers one such alternative by offering stable, individual, non-means tested, and unconditional money transfers, to all citizens. Over the last decade, there have been multiple experiments around the world trialling basic income, each of which has a specific focus, or target population, as different elements of a UBI were scrutinised. In this article, we reflect upon what we consider to be the potential shortcomings of the current welfare system in the United Kingdom as a move away from its origin, arguing that the United Kingdom is now primed for UBI to be considered a fair and legitimate way to provide social security.
]]>Veganism and anarchism are burgeoning worldwide, yet very few studies have examined the psychological characteristics of people belonging to these two anti-oppression groups. The present study investigated whether vegans and anarchists, on the one hand, and activists and non-activists belonging to these two groups, on the other hand, exhibit distinct personality profiles. To this end, a sample of 180 adults who self-identify as vegans or anarchists completed an online socio-demographic questionnaire, the HEXACO Personality Inventory, and the Dark Triad Dirty Dozen. A discriminant function analysis showed that anarchists are more likely than vegans to self-identify as belonging to a gender other than female or male, or to identify with no gender at all. Further, the proportion of men was larger in the anarchist group than in the vegan group. In terms of personality traits, vegans scored higher on the Conscientiousness, Emotionality, and Honesty–Humility dimensions than anarchists did. Anarchists scored higher than vegans on Openness to Experience and Psychopathy. Activists and non-activists were not distinguished based on gender or personality traits. While the dynamics of power and oppression toward humans and toward animals share common factors, the present results suggest that veganism and anarchism attract anti-oppression advocates with distinct personality profiles.
]]>This article discusses the present-day positionality of Polish immigrants in Germany and the discursive possibilities for articulating their experiences of discrimination as racism. As interviews with these immigrants do not capture explicit accounts of racism, and there is practically no research on racism directed at Eastern Europeans in Germany, this article scrutinizes the epistemological context in which the voicing of discrimination is embedded. They include the imagined liminality of Poland in Europe, the binary and coloured understandings of racism in Poland and Germany, and the socialisation of Poles to lean towards silence on racism. Based on empirical data, the article discusses three intersecting forms of experiences of racism: disappearance through effort, devaluation of experience, and cultural precarity. Finally, the article argues that metaphors of liminality, stigma, stickiness and cultural precarity offer a nuanced understanding of Eastern European positionalities in Western Europe.
]]>This article explores the representation of peasants in colonial India, during the 1920s-1930s undivided Bengal. It examines how the historically marginalized and underrepresented rural population came to be constructed as objects of representation. It traces the development of representative claims made by various political parties and groups, both within and outside formal institutions of power, on behalf of rural society. The article discusses the challenges of categorizing the diverse rural population using the term "peasant" as an analytical category in the context of colonial Bengal. It highlights the dominance of the urban intelligentsia in provincial politics until the 1920s-1930s, which neglected rural issues. It then explores the emergence of different claims to represent peasants in electoral politics, with a particular focus on the political debates surrounding the Tenancy Reform in Bengal. Drawing on secondary sources and colonial archives, it raises questions about how substantive representation of peasants occurred, who championed their representation, and how they formulated their demands. Overall, the article sheds light on the complex dynamics of peasant representation. By examining the rise communal peasant politics in 1920-1930s Bengal, it contributes to a deeper understanding of the complexities of rural mobilization and the interplay between class and communal identities.
]]>Do women face a disadvantage in terms of citation rates, and if so, in what ways? This article provides a comprehensive overview of existing research on the relationship between gender and citations. Three distinct approaches are identified: (1) per-article approach that compares gender differences in citations between articles authored by men and women, (2) per-author approach that compares the aggregate citation records of men and women scholars over a specified period or at the career level, and (3) reference-ratio approach that assesses the gender distribution of references in articles written by men and women. I show that articles written by women receive comparable or even higher rates of citations than articles written by men. However, women tend to accumulate fewer citations over time and at the career level. Contrary to the notion that women are cited less per article due to gender-based bias in research evaluation or citing behaviors, this study suggests that the primary reason for the lower citation rates at the author level is women publishing fewer articles over their careers. Understanding and addressing the gender citation gap at the author level should therefore focus on women's lower research productivity over time and the contributing factors. To conclude, I discuss the potential detrimental impact of lower citations on women's career progression and the ways to address the issue to mitigate gender inequalities in science.
]]>This article reports on a sociolinguistic study into the prevalence of African-American English (AAE) features in the lyrical language use of blues artists, relying on data from different social and national backgrounds and time periods. It adopts a variationist linguistic methodological approach to examine the prevalence of five AAE forms in live-performed blues music: /aɪ/ monophthongization, post-consonantal word-final /t/ deletion, post-consonantal word-final /d/ deletion, alveolar nasal /n/ in < ing > ultimas, and post-vocalic word-final /r/ deletion. Mixed effects logistic regression analysis applied to a corpus of 80 performances finds no statistically significant association between national/ethnic background and variant use, and indicates that blues artists, from different eras and nationalities, are highly probable to realize the AAE variant of the analyzed variables, regardless of their sociocultural background. By building on early scholarly work on language and music, existing studies considering the use of AAE by non-members of the African-American community, and current theorizing on authenticity, style, and indexicality, this study hence provides tentative support for the existence of a standard blues singing style, which involves performers using AAE forms as a stylistic-linguistic strategy to index artistic authenticity.
]]>This study of syllable-final /s/ reduction in a 55-speaker corpus of Spanish in Juchitán, México, a contact variety, uses both language contact and social processes to explain its results. Contact with the indigenous Isthmus Zapotec language leads to decreased rates of syllable-final /s/ retention, creating a locally salient n+1-order index between “Zapotecness” and /s/ reduction that influences the indexical field for syllable-final /s/ reduction. Zapotec identity is associated with tradition and femininity. Therefore, in this new indexical field, syllable-final /s/ reduction comes to directly index Zapotec language dominance and indirectly index both femininity and tradition. This leads feminine and elderly speakers to reduce /s/ more frequently than “less feminine” and young speakers, even though the opposite pattern is usually found in other varieties. The results show, therefore, that language contact can influence the indexical field typically linked to socially meaningful variation and thereby cause unexpected patterns of variation to emerge.
Este estudio explica la elisión de la /s/ implosiva, en un corpus de 55 hablantes de español de Juchitán, México, en términos del contacto lingüístico y de procesos sociales. Por un lado, el contacto entre la lengua indígena, el zapoteco del Istmo, y el español disminuye la tasa de retención de la /s/, lo cual produce un índice del orden n+1 de indexicalidad entre la “zapotequidad” y la elisión de la /s/ que influye en el campo indexical de la retención de la /s/ implosiva. Ya que la identidad zapoteca se asocia con lo tradicional y lo femenino, en el campo indexical, la elisión de la /s/ implosiva pasa a ser un índice directo de la lengua zapoteca y un índice indirecto de la feminidad y la tradición. Por lo tanto, las hablantes femeninas y de edad avanzada eliden la /s/ con más frecuencia que los hablantes “menos femeninos” y jóvenes, aunque, en otros contextos hispanohablantes, suele darse el patrón contrario. Los resultados muestran, por ende, que el contacto lingüístico puede influir en el campo indexical de una variante socialmente significativa y así llevar a nuevos patrones inesperados de variación.
]]>Unpacking the possible ramification of how ownership of language and the responsibility of language revitalisation is perceived and how this may impact language revitalisation, this study uses a critical discourse studies approach to examine how the speakers negotiate their language ownership, which eventually leads to the question ‘who is responsible for language revitalisation’. The data of this study comes from semi-structured interviews with 11 Indigenous participants in Taiwan. The findings suggest that, when deciding who can ‘do’ language revitalisation, only those who are deemed legitimate by the speakers have the power to act. However, the speakers view the non-Indigenous speakers as potential speakers and, thus, were also assigned language revitalisation responsibility. Thus, by encouraging non-Indigenous speakers to become speakers of an Indigenous language via language acquisition, language ownership is shared. This study shows the complexity of how the speakers negotiate language ownership and how this has an impact on language revitalisation efforts.
]]>The study traces the trajectories of Uyghur college students’ subjectivity construction and transformation from Foucault's governmentality perspective. Drawing on ethnographic data of two telling cases, it explores how minoritized students’ subjectivities were linked to neoliberal discourses of English and constituted by power techniques, self-technologies, and affective dispositions embedded in wider institutional transformations. Participants were found experiencing a shift to the individualistic subjectivity associated with academic achievement and performance in English away from the collective identity of “authentic Uyghur” symbolized by the Uyghur language. Two salient discourses of English, i.e., English as constraints, and English as academic excellence, emerging from the neoliberal-oriented institutional English language education policies and practices, shaped the participants either as incompetent English learners or elite subjects. Participants learned to responsibilitize themselves through such self-technologies as confession and preaching, and affective practices. Yet, technologies of hope and optimism became for a few the enjoyment of experiences and performance of elitism while projecting a majority disadvantaged as affectively problematic others. The self-technologies and affective responses without recognition of larger structures of inequality could further reinforce the neoliberal logic. The affective labor of sense of solidarity, commitment to community, empathy for the deprived ones with critical reflection and collective action, nevertheless, may counter neoliberal logic and point to an alternative path to meaning-making and social relations.
本研究从福柯的治理理论视角追溯了维吾尔族大学生主体性构建和转变过程。基于两个民族志案例数据, 该研究探讨了少数民族学生主体性是如何被植根于宏观制度变迁中的新自由主义英语话语, 权力技术和自我技术以及情感体验共同形塑和构建。分析发现, 维吾尔族学生经历了从集体追求以维吾尔语为象征的“纯正维吾尔人”到强调学术成就和英语水平的个人主义主体性的转变。在国家关于少数民族的语言政策、高等教育中新自由主义语言实践以及个人语言教育背景的交织影响下, 研究中浮现出两种关于英语的话语模式, 也即英语作为束缚和限制与英语象征学术能力和机遇的话语。这些话语模式和权力技术所强调的个人努力和精英主义价值观与个人自我技术中的忏悔和布道性分享以及情感体验和管理共同作用,塑造了个体的主体性, 使得维吾尔族学生或成为英语差生或成为名校精英。希望倾向的自我调控技术使得个别少数民族学生得以体验和展示精英主义, 而大多数少数民族学生却被视为有问题的情感他者。自我调控技术和情感反应如果忽视结构性不平等,可能会进一步加强新自由主义的逻辑。然而, 积极的情感反馈, 如对共同体的责任感和对弱势群体的同理心,加之以批判性反思和集体性行动,则可能突破新自由主义的逻辑, 谋求新的意义构建方式和社会关系模式。
]]>US Federal legislation mandates the treatment of underaged youth induced to sell themselves for commercial sex as victims and not criminal offenders of prostitution laws. Nonetheless, state prosecutors often take action in juvenile court against these youth. This study explored the impact of negative moral emotions, victim blame, and victim believability on public judgments of child sex trafficking victims under varying case facts. We presented an online scenario involving a trafficking case to 682 participants and manipulated youth sex, trafficker sex, vulnerability background, and prior arrest history to determine how emotions, victim blame, and believability mediate child sex trafficking decisions. Two different paths emerged depending on the youth's sex. Participants reported greater victim responsibility and greater negative moral emotions towards a male youth trafficked by a female when he had a prior commercial sex arrest, which in turn predicted a lower certainty of recommending social services over legal consequences. With the same facts, participants reported lower believability for a female youth when she had a prior commercial sex arrest, which in turn predicted a lower certainty of recommending social services over legal consequences. The paper ends with a discussion of the implications of the findings for practice and theory.
]]>The engagement between markets and cultural hegemonies is shaped by the politics that promote or deny the emergence of fresh legitimations in response to the opportunities offered to consumers by new commodities. In the case of Islam and the assisted reproductive technology (ART) market, core cultural values concerning procreation, family and lineage come into direct conflict with the potential consumer demand generated by new ART technologies. Shaped by the character of multiple Islamic modernities and the authority structures of religion and state, it is the Shi’a–Sunni divide which most illuminates the politics of emergence driving the different Islamic responses to those cultural tensions. In Sunni states the hegemonic challenge of the ART commodity market is contained by the senior clerics, the traditional intellectuals of Islamic authority, often acting in concert with the state apparatus. In contrast, in Shi’a states the flexibility of its religious authority structures underpinned by the principles of ijtihad allows the formation of an alliance between traditional and medical organic intellectuals which facilitates the consumer choice of both ART commodities and legitimating values. However, what remains unresolved is the long-term impact of that trasformismo on the stability of the social structures which the Shi’a moral economy serves.
]]>Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of social fields, this article sought to answer two research questions: (a) what challenges do street children encounter on the streets? and (b) what survival strategies do these street children adopt to cope with street life? Thirty street children constituted the study's sample size. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions and were thematically analysed. It was found that street children encountered challenges including abuse, inadequate access to basic needs, stigmatization, and theft. This study also found that some street children resorted to their peer networks and intimate partners for protection, as well as for financial and material support. Additionally, some street children engaged in menial working jobs and in some cases, stealing and prostitution to fend for themselves. While these survival tactics were noted to be crucial in the lives of street children, this article recommends for the intensified implementation of state and non-state interventions to help alter the unwholesome living conditions of these vulnerable children.
]]>Migration scholars and policymakers continue to question why international migration corridors develop. In the current project, I argue that there is value in applying a social network approach to disentangle the processes that drive international migration. Using data on migration between 173 countries from 2010 to 2015, I construct a migration network where nodes are countries and edges are flows weighted by the number of people making an international move. Then, I apply valued exponential random graph models to determine whether multiple factors govern the global movement of people. I find that the international migration network is defined by an overrepresentation of transitive triads and unreciprocated dyads, even when multiple economic, migrant network, macro-level and environmental factors are also considered. Results suggest that after accounting for the volume of migration flows and various, theoretically-informed drivers of international migration, the network continues to resemble a stratified ranking of destinations.
]]>This article aims to contribute to labour recruitment policy by demonstrating the relations between cross-border mobility and inequality through the lens of migration intermediaries. Drawing on thematic analysis of the MIDEQ project's in-depth interviews with Nepalese labour migrants (n = 20) in Malaysia, this research reveals the range of migration intermediaries along the recruitment chain, and shows contradictory roles played by migration intermediaries: they help migrant workers access employment and other opportunities thus overcoming inequality in mobility, whilst simultaneously reproducing socio-economic inequalities and the unequal power relations experienced by migrants. Hence, we identify a “middle space effect” that links migration processes with migration outcomes, reconstructing socio-economic inequalities in mediated migration. We highlight the role of state policies regarding migration and labour in co-producing such inequalities, and the embeddedness of middle space intermediaries in unequal global power dynamics, and we offer policy suggestions on regulation of labour recruitment and employment.
]]>This article proposes a grassroots approach and a process-based analysis of emigrants' activism in parties abroad, through a case study on the Spanish party Podemos' circle in Paris. Building on ethnographic fieldwork and biographical interviews conducted between 2015 and 2016, I explore activists' individual trajectories to better understand the process leading them to join the party abroad. I find that Podemos Paris' activists, previously involved in anti-austerity protests in Spain, feel part of a generation of young “exiles” forced to leave the country and deprived of their social and civic rights by the conservative government. Joining Podemos in Paris is thus a way to reconnect with Spanish politics and society, compensate for the “need to be part of it,” and contribute to the party's campaigns abroad and in the homeland by raising awareness on emigrants' condition among Spanish residents.
]]>Based on two extended qualitative research projects conducted between 2017 and 2022, this paper analyses the refugee reception programme (RP) in Spain, which is managed both by the central state and some specialised social organisations. This cross-sectoral RP presents notable and enduring problems, which have deepened since the increase in asylum applications during the so-called European refugee crisis in 2015. This paper affirms that, although this increase in asylum seekers represents a serious challenge, the persistent shortcomings of the RP are better explained by a set of structural factors related to (1) the restrictive institutional model of asylum and immigration policy, (2) the lack of development of the RP, its dispersal policy and its social intervention design, (3) the lack of multilevel governance between the State and the municipalities and regional administration and (4) the current neoliberal and nativist policies.
]]>This article focuses on ethnic hierarchies found within highly educated migrant women working in Istanbul traced through their everyday urban practices. It introduces the stratified and comparative results of migration and resettlement of those from the Global North and the Global South through a comprehensive analysis on their urban lives, including their social positionings, preferences of neighbourhoods and daily patterns of their use of the city. Contrary to the common conception that skilled migrants are privileged, our research reveals inequalities and discriminatory practices they face that intersect with gender, nationality and ethnicity. Our research, based on qualitative analyses of in-depth interviews along with online subjective mapping representing use of the city, also reveals that regardless of their origin and identity, almost all our participants experience verbal/physical sexual harassment or discrimination in public space in Istanbul, which forces women to produce spatial tactics of everyday life.
]]>Ultrathin silicon (Si) solar cell enables to decrease the tenfold thickness of conventional Si solar cells to lower the cost, and their flexibility further extends the applications in the daily life as well as the area of science and technology. However, the global challenge is enhancing the light path length during illumination to increase the ultrathin Si solar cell efficiency. This review summarizes the state of the art strategies for photon management in ultrathin Si solar cells.
Silicon (Si), the eighth most common element in the known universe by mass and widely applied in the industry of electronics chips and solar cells, rarely emerges as a pure element in the Earth's crust. Optimizing its manufacturing can be crucial in the global challenge of reducing the cost of renewable energy modules and implementing sustainable development goals in the future. In the industry of solar cells, this challenge is stimulating studies of ultrathin Si-based architectures, which are rapidly attracting broad attention. Ultrathin solar cells require up to two orders of magnitude less Si than conventional solar cells, and owning to a flexible nature, they are opening applications in different industries that conventional cells do not yet serve. Despite these attractive factors, a difficulty in ultrathin Si solar cells is overcoming the weak light absorption at near-infrared wavelengths. The primary goal in addressing this problem is scaling up cost-effective and innovative textures for anti-reflection and light-trapping with shallower depth junctions, which can offer similar performances to traditional thick modules. This review provides an overview of this area of research, discussing this field both as science and engineering and highlighting present progress and future outlooks.
]]>Social media use is an integrated part of youth's social life, enabling access to knowledge and social exploration, but it also increases the risk of experiencing online child sexual abuse (OCSA). Quantitative reviews of OCSA provide insights into prevalence, risk factors, and mental health outcomes, but we have limited knowledge about how youth experience OCSA. This study aims to synthesize qualitative studies on youth's (12–24 years of age) first-person experiences of OCSA. We conducted a systematic database search and included 16 studies. The meta-synthesis resulted in three meta-themes: (1) “Navigating in a digital world – feeling safe and understood,” (2) “Being lured, tricked, and caught up in online child sexual abuse,” and (3) “Facing the consequences – feeling powerless and blaming oneself.” Although the studies included most females, findings apply to all genders and across ages. The results highlight how online sexual engagement is a way to explore social and sexual relationships and address a basic need to be understood and supported. However, when trust is misused, developmental tasks related to autonomy and agency may be shattered, replaced with shame and self-blame. These findings point to the need to openly and nonjudgementally address OCSA so that it can be disclosed, and the psychological impact can be addressed.
]]>This research investigates which individuals are aware of and claim the federal adoption tax credit. Using a probit model, I find that the probability that one claims the credit increases with one's income and is lower for Black adoptive parents compared to White ones. These discrepancies in usage stem from different probabilities of knowing about the credit. However, conditional on awareness, I find that the probability of claiming the credit is no different among members of differing income or racial groups, implying that a direct way to increase take-up of the tax credit could simply be increasing awareness of it.
]]>This article examines how the threat of eviction by a transnational land deal in coastal Tanzania shaped competing narratives with which longtime residents and migrants defended and legitimated the moral economy of land: a widely shared customary norm that land belonged to those who cleared, occupied, and used it continuously for their daily provisioning, with or without title deeds. To counter the state's claim that all villagers were “invaders,” long-term residents appealed to their ethnic and ancestral connections to the land, while migrants invoked a broader idiom of agrarian citizenship that placed land entitlements at the heart of rural people's relationship with the state. Despite this divergence, nervousness similarly pervaded both group's narratives, due in part to the instability of the notion of ethnicity and autochthony in coastal Tanzania and people's historically informed sense of foreboding about state-sanctioned dispossession. The article draws on the analytic of assemblage to advance a more relational and dynamic understanding of the co-construction and performance of moral economy and rural identity. Analyzing how villagers imagine and articulate their identities, and how discourses of exclusion and belonging get deployed in conjunctures of displacement is critical to understanding the socio-material realities of rural life in Tanzania today.
]]>Drawing upon the conceptual framework of ‘the sojourner’ in Siu's (American Journal of Sociology 58, 1952 and 34) work, this study employed semi-structured in-depth interviews with 59 Chinese international students and visiting scholars to investigate how their plans to return to China might shape their acculturation experiences in the United States (US). Those interviewed expressed a range of plans, including an immediate return to China, a postponed return, an undecided return and a clear refusal to return. Except for Chinese visiting scholars who were determined sojourners, a majority of the students interviewed regularly negotiated and adjusted their decisions to return based on their experiences in the US. By further exploring the post-migration experiences of those who expressed some intention to sojourn, this study identifies four types of sojourning mentality, including (1) exploratory, (2) pragmatic, (3) disillusioned and (4) detached. Each type was found to distinctively influence and interplay students' experiences with acculturation and acculturative stress.
]]>Considering the ongoing, record-setting migration in the Global South, this paper explores the values, principles and ethical tensions of Venezuelan migrants in the informal economy of Colombia. We found that migrants frequently prefer to stay within the informal economy as a way of preserving their identities, values and principles, rather than adopting those of their new country. This choice sets up ethical tensions for the migrants and their host countries. Our analysis challenges the current policy goals of transitioning migrants from informal to formal economies as a mark of success and inclusion. Instead, we attempt to recognize the migrant voice and their agency capacity through our research using focus groups and applied thematic analysis (ATA) of popular music and narratives. Our findings broaden the understanding of why migrants choose to stay in the informal economy and challenge policy goals that focus on inclusion and integration of migrants into formal economy.
]]>Precarity extends beyond economic and material conditions to shape people's identity, belonging and subjectivity. As a process, precarity has made instability a virtue by lifting the smokescreen that previously hid relations of production. Its institutional crystallization becomes concrete in state apparatuses and social relations. It targets both subjectivity and the life of the population as a whole. Therefore, it participates in everyday life as a hegemonic form of rule. This study focuses on the experiences of precarity, the production of subjectivity and the areas of conflict of local and migrant labourers in day-labour hiring sites in Istanbul. Day-labour sites are areas where precarity is normalized. In contrast, day labourers produce their own areas of autonomy in day-labour sites. The loyalties of migrant and non-migrant labourers to each other differ in day-labour sites. Due to the production of certain oppositions through identities in labour areas, the relations of domination have certain invisibility. Nevertheless, the practices of day labourers in organizing their mutual relations intersect in these sites.
]]>This article investigates everyday market nationalism as a construction of nationalism in everyday social interactions in the market field and reflected in the existence of an imaginative value of nationalism in a commodity. Focusing on the market field of ride hailing commodity Gojek and using a mixed method, this study shows that the imaginative value of Indonesian nationalism in Gojek is influenced by economic, cultural, symbolic, and digital capital as well as socio-demographic characteristics of the actors and associated with nationalistic economic habitus formed through social practices in the market field of Gojek.
]]>This study examines the patterns and determinants of multidimensional poverty and related welfare interventions in Hong Kong. These patterns unveil which dimension or combinations of dimensions contribute the most to multidimensional poverty. These results are useful in informing poverty-alleviation policies as they help to identify who should be targeted and which welfare transfer programme(s) should be enhanced. Data were drawn from the first wave (2015) of the Hong Kong Panel Survey for Poverty Alleviation (N = 1458). A latent-class analysis revealed four types of multidimensional poverty: severely deprived, housing-led poor, socially and status excluded and neighbourhood poor. A multinomial logistic regression was conducted and identified distinctive determinants of the four types of poverty. The groups that require paramount attention from policymakers are older adults over age 70, households with members with disabilities or chronic diseases and households with five or more members. The assessment of the coverage and intensity of cash and in-kind transfers showed that the coverage of cash transfers for the severely deprived and housing transfers for the housing-led poor was inadequate. The approach proposed in this study exemplifies ways to transform multidimensional poverty research into evidence-based policymaking.
]]>Although Hong Kong has always been transnational and its overseas communities longstanding, the queer experiences of diasporic Hongkongers have rarely been explored. Through interview-based research, this article examines the experiences of LGBTIQ+ Hongkongers who migrated to Taiwan after the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, with the intention to accomplish three broader theoretical objectives. First, it introduces an intersectional approach to understanding the current Hong Kong diaspora by exploring how queerness came to shape and politicize a changing Hong Kong identity. Second, it considers Taiwan's role in global queer migration by investigating how it became a place of exception for LGBTIQ+ Hongkongers and, by extension, other ethnically Chinese queers. Lastly, it highlights how Hong Kong and Taiwan are linked by a structure of queer Sinophone consciousness, demonstrating how queerness and Chineseness are mutually productive and most amplified in transnational settings.
]]>Federal Title IX policy requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct. Based on 23 in-depth interviews, this study explores California Title IX coordinator experiences at a critical policy juncture—the recension of the Obama-era guidance and the implementation of the Trump administration Title IX rules and regulations—to understand how they responded to, implemented, or resisted federal mandates. Most California Title IX officers reported that the recension of Obama guidelines had limited impact on their daily operations because they lived in a state with more progressive social policy. Participants singled out California case law, state statues, the California Education Code and university system mandates as protective legislation to ensure survivors’ rights. By contrast, the new Title IX regulations that became law in August 2020 were perceived as more consequential. The tight implementation time frame, combined with the complicated and unfunded policy directives, imposed heavy burdens on their administrative offices. Title IX officers foresaw implementation consequences to campus safety, survivors’ willingness to report, and to the credibility of the Title IX office. Taken together, their experiences lend support to progressive state legislative action, restorative justice approaches and for a survivor bill of rights as important counterpoints to federal Title IX policy.
]]>Expansion in access to public infrastructure can have varied, microlevel impacts. In this paper, we use a discrete and quasi-random change in the access to paved roads through a large-scale rural road construction program in India to study how road access impacts fertility decisions and investments in child health. We find that increased access to paved roads at the district level decreases fertility, improves investments in children, and lowers infant mortality. We also provide evidence that highlights the mechanisms that drive this effect. First, we show that local roads improve access to health care facilities and raise immunization rates, which reduces infant mortality. Then, we demonstrate that last-mile road connectivity has contrasting effects on employment across gender. Overall, the evidence suggests that rural roads can help accelerate demographic transition through their effects on fertility and infant mortality.
]]>Conducting a job search implies the identification of a target—an intended job. However, this assumption has been little studied, and just two main conclusions have been drawn, namely: jobseekers have an incentive to adjust their targets to the jobs available, and returning to work tends to lead to occupational downgrading. This article explores how job search experiences shape and alter targets. Biographical interviews were conducted with 57 unemployed people registered with the French public employment service. Ultimately, all of them revise their occupational expectations as, faced with the uncertainties inherent to the job search and experiencing difficulties in reaching their priority targets, they try to adapt and define more realistic goals. Four contrasting processes of expectation revision are used to track these tensions between desirability and realism. In conclusion, we stress the following facts: that unemployed people are flexible and develop rationales in order to adapt to the labour market; that their experience of failure, alongside advice and beliefs arising in the course of the job search feed directly into these revisions, and that these revisions both vary in magnitude and reflect inequalities in the defining process of target jobs.
]]>Historically, a scarcity of comprehensive longitudinal microdata has affected comparative research on the interplay between self-identified race, immigrant status, and educational attainment. Thus, this study utilizes ethnic capital theory and harmonized data from Toronto, Canada, and Sydney, Australia, to scrutinize the success of ethnolinguistically diverse immigrants in accessing university education. While students from certain East Asian countries enter universities at higher rates in both cities, dissecting the intricacies of ethnic capital's operation proves challenging. Notably, first- and second-generation migrants who speak Chinese, Japanese, or Korean outdo their peers in university admissions by a larger margin in Toronto than in Sydney. However, the shortcomings of the administrative data in Toronto and the survey data in Sydney limit how we can interpret this finding. We postulate expanding existing data collections to enable insightful research on how the educational trajectories of Canadian students compare to those elsewhere with respect to immigration experiences, race, and ethnicity.
Historiquement, la rareté des microdonnées longitudinales exhaustives a affecté la recherche comparative sur l'interaction entre la race déclarée, le statut d'immigrant et le niveau d'éducation. Cette étude utilise donc la théorie du capital ethnique et des données harmonisées provenant de Toronto, au Canada, et de Sydney, en Australie, pour examiner la réussite des immigrants de diverses origines ethnolinguistiques dans l'accès à l'enseignement universitaire. Si les étudiants originaires de certains pays d'Asie de l'Est sont plus nombreux à entrer à l'université dans les deux villes, il est difficile de disséquer les subtilités du fonctionnement de la capitale ethnique. Notamment, les migrants de première et de deuxième génération qui parlent chinois, japonais ou coréen dépassent leurs pairs dans les admissions à l'université, et ce dans une plus grande mesure à Toronto qu'à Sydney. Toutefois, les lacunes des données administratives à Toronto et des données d'enquête à Sydney limitent la manière dont nous pouvons interpréter ce résultat. Nous postulons que l'élargissement des collections de données existantes permettra de mener des recherches approfondies sur la façon dont les trajectoires éducatives des étudiants canadiens se comparent à celles des étudiants d'autres pays en ce qui concerne les expériences d'immigration, la race et l'appartenance ethnique.
]]>In this article, we develop a model for child participation in child welfare services (CPC). Child participation has gained increasing attention in research, policy and practice in the last couple of decades. Two perspectives have concurrently moved this agenda forward—childhood sociology and children's rights—leading to an almost irrefutable understanding of children as social actors with independent rights. We integrate these perspectives in one model in our CPC model. We base the model on the rights-based Lundy model of child participation and develop it with theoretical insights from childhood sociology and social work as well as empirical insights from the literature on CPC. To capture the specific conditions of child welfare services and the social world of the child, we add contexts as a new overarching element in our CPC model. We also expand the four elements in the original Lundy model to include time and space, voices, direct and indirect audiences and influence and statutory power. The CPC model is designed to conceptualize how child participation unfolds as both a right of the child a social practice within the specific setting of child welfare services.
]]>Previous studies suggest a widespread notion among social workers that children should be involved in child protection processes. Nevertheless, children are found to be unsatisfied with the degree to which they feel involved and heard in those processes. This study explored social workers' reasons to exclude children from conversations about contact visits. It applied a social constructivist approach, in which the dominant understandings of children—‘child constructions’—in the social workers' responses were identified and then used to discuss the concepts of ‘participation’ and ‘conversation’. Findings reveal that social workers' reasons to exclude children from conversations about contact visits align with prevailing notions of children as rights holders, as vulnerable and as mentally immature. This study suggests that broadening the concept of conversations could provide social workers with the latitude to explore innovative approaches to conversing with children. Furthermore, conversations about contact visits should be performed to be as a tool that empowers children to influence and make meaning of their lives.
]]>The present study investigates the relationship between resilience and parental behaviours and examines the moderating role of parent and child age in this relationship. The cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with a sample of 204 parents of children aged 6 months to 12 years. The Resilience Assessment Scale and the Parenting Behaviours and Dimensions Questionnaire were used. The findings confirmed the existence of a positive relationship between parental resilience and desirable parental dimensions and a negative association with undesirable behaviours towards children. However, overall resilience was not associated with anxious intrusiveness. The moderating effect confirmed that parental age played a moderating role between resilience and punitive behaviours. Child age moderated the relationship between resilience and emotional warmth, permissiveness and anxious intrusiveness. The results of the study indicate the importance of positive resources, such as resilience, and demographic variables, such as parental and child age, in the development of positive parenting.
]]>Social services in the welfare sector consist of women-dominated jobs generally characterised by arduous working conditions, including exposure to client violence. Although there is a rather extensive research base on client violence in institutional social services, less is known about how client violence is handled in noninstitutional social services. Using longitudinal data obtained from the Swedish Work Environment Agency's register on work injuries caused by workplace violence, we examined the effects of organisational factors and employee characteristics on the reporting of client violence in noninstitutional social services. We found that most of the reports about work injuries caused by client violence are filed by public employers and that most reports concern occupational groups performing direct care services in clients' homes. Moreover, although most reports include female employees and incidents of physical violence, reports concerning male employees are comparatively more likely to include physical violence, and reports concerning female employees are comparatively more likely to include threats. Taken together, our findings point to a much-needed improvement of health and safety measures for care workers in noninstitutional social services in Sweden.
]]>Most people coreside with other kin in private households while others live alone. The incidence of coresidence with kin and solo living varies noticeably across societies. Scholars have long theorized about the role of modernization and cultural change for living arrangements, suggesting a trend toward the nuclearization of households (coresidence only with primary kin) or solo living as societies attain higher levels of development. There is little empirical evidence about global variations in living arrangements and about how such variations unfold at different levels of development. Here we address these fundamental questions. Using IPUMS census microdata for 279 samples and 90 countries, we develop a new metric for assessing the part of the lifetime a person can expect to reside with primary kin, nonprimary kin, or alone assuming exposure rates, from birth to death, to the living arrangements observed in a given year. Results show that coresidence patterns differ substantially across societies, with exposure to primary kin alone and to solo living substantially higher at higher levels of development (as measured with Human Development Index [HDI]). They also reveal a sustained decline in coresidence with nonprimary kin and/or with others nearly everywhere, supporting the idea of an increasing importance of nuclear living arrangements. This trend is most pronounced at medium levels of HDI. At very high levels of development, nuclear family coresidence tends to be stalling or is in decline in favor of more time spent living alone and, rather unexpectedly, to a modest increase in exposure to nonprimary kin within the household. We suggest different interpretations for these results.
]]>This paper draws on a subsample (N = 851) of respondents to ITA.LI—Italian Lives—a recently established panel study on a probability sample of individuals aged 16+ living in Italy—to track changes in the affective (positive and negative emotions such as energy and sadness) and cognitive (life satisfaction) components of well-being during different COVID-19 policy phases, classified according to the severity of key government responses.
An event-study design is employed, which uses mixed-effects ordered logistic models to investigate the change in SWB scores. Given the nested nature of the data, multilevel modeling is chosen as the most appropriate method of analysis.
The results reveal the levels of affective and cognitive well-being were significantly lower during the lockdown period than before the pandemic outbreak potentially reflecting both the direct effects of the confinement and other potential sources of distress, such as trends in infection rates and related media alarm. Once the lockdown was lifted, there was no evidence of an immediate and general improvement in well-being. In the following policy phase, with the lifting of most containment measures, there were significant signs of full recovery concerning energy, but the scores for the other well-being components remained relatively lower than those observed before the onset of COVID-19.
]]>For many people, COVID-19 vaccination now informs social identity, triggering prejudice and discrimination toward those with a different vaccination status. As this may jeopardize social cohesion, we investigated the effects of three brief, theory-informed interventions for reducing ingroup bias in a preregistered experimental intervention study in Germany, assigning vaccinated participants (N = 2016) to one of four conditions: crossed categorization (emphasizing commonalities between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals), recategorization (framing vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals as members of a superordinate ingroup), counter-stereotypic categorization (encouraging participants to think about mismatched stereotypes), or a control condition (no intervention). As compared to the control condition, crossed categorization and counter-stereotypic categorization were found to reduce (evaluative) ingroup bias but the observed effects were weak and mostly diminished when controlling for demographic characteristics and vaccination status identification. Overall, the results indicate that none of the three interventions substantially reduced prejudice and discrimination toward the unvaccinated.
]]>Given the increasing academic and applied interest in convenience foods, this research aims to examine the personal and extrinsic factors concerning the consumption of frozen convenience foods (FCF). The study relies on theories to reveal the connection between the attributes of FCF and the real purchase behaviour of Egyptian customers. A total of 608 Egyptian customers participated in the methodological survey investigation. This study employed partial least square-multi-group analysis to compare different groups of respondents according to purchasing frequency. The study findings revealed the identification of important pathways of consumer behaviour towards frozen foods related first to its different attributes and second to the contradictory effect of both health awareness and the influence of advertising. The study presented its theoretical and practical contributions in this regard. Using the model, researchers drew four potential scenarios validating the theory and impacting business.
]]>In the wake of the #MeToo movement, liberal feminism has garnered the spotlight on equal rights for women. However, what factors contribute to men and women developing liberal feminist ideologies? This is important to understand as this ideology is predictive of support for political and social policies that are currently under debate in the United States. In this survey study (149 heterosexual men and 233 heterosexual women) we examined attitudinal and ideological variables that underlie liberal feminist ideology. The results of this study indicate that heterosexual men scored significantly lower on liberal feminist ideology and significantly higher on traditional attitudes toward women, hostile and benevolent sexism, gender-specific justification, rape myths, and conservative political affiliation compared to heterosexual women. Furthermore, traditional attitudes toward women, hostile and benevolent sexism, gender-specific justification, rape myths, political leanings, and gender accounted for almost 70% of the variance in liberal feminist ideology. Participant gender did not moderate the regression analyses, suggesting that men and women are influenced similarly in determining what attitudes predict liberal feminist ideologies. Implications for support for public policy are addressed.
]]>Although studies have linked Christian nationalist beliefs with greater emotional distress, little is known about the potential underlying mechanisms or subgroup variations. Informed by the strain-struggles-distress model and the concept of structural amplification, we tested whether religious/spiritual (R/S) struggles mediate and moderate the association between Christian nationalist beliefs and emotional distress.
Regression models were conducted on national survey data collected in 2021 (n = 1704).
Results suggested that respondents who reported stronger Christian nationalist beliefs also tended to report higher levels of R/S struggles, anger, and psychological distress. Mediation analyses revealed significant indirect effects of Christian nationalist beliefs on emotional distress through R/S struggles. Moderation analyses also indicated that the effects of Christian nationalist beliefs on emotional distress were amplified at higher levels of R/S struggles.
In support of the strain-struggles-distress and structural amplification models, we find that the adverse emotional impacts Christian nationalism are explained and intensified by the cognitive vulnerabilities of R/S struggles.
]]>The current study investigated the relationships between demographic variables, cash benefits, vocational rehabilitation (VR) services, and employment outcomes of Asian Americans VR clients.
The data were extracted from the most recent Rehabilitation Service Administration database (RSA-911). Among 17,278 case services records, 5784 clients met the inclusion criteria. Chi-square automatic interaction detector and logistic regression analyses were employed to investigate the employment outcomes.
The results indicated that Asian American clients who have completed a bachelor's degree or more do not receive disability-related benefits, and those who received more VR services were more likely to achieve competitive integrated employment (CIE). In addition, VR counseling and job placement services were significant predictors of employment outcomes.
These findings provide valuable insights into the factors influencing CIE among Asian American VR clients with disabilities. The results further underscore the importance of VR professionals possessing cultural competence to effectively serve a diverse clientele.
]]>This article considers the influence of female legislators on gun legislation across U.S. states. Females have behavioral differences with males and likely different exposure to gun-related violence.
Using data from 1991 to 2020, we estimate the drivers of gun legislation across U.S. states. The dependent variables are alternately the total number of gun laws enacted and 5-year differences in gun laws.
We find that female legislators in state houses significantly increase the supply of gun laws. Female senators, on the other hand, were no different from their male counterparts. In other results, states with greater population density had more gun laws, while economic prosperity, race, and the elderly population did not generally have significant effects. Finally, when special interest aspects, involving gun ownership, mass shooting episodes, and states with single-party control of the legislative and executive branches are considered, mass shootings and single-party control increase laws, while gun owners have the opposite effect. These findings show significance when 5-year differences in gun laws are used.
Our findings suggest that when it comes to gun legislation and female legislator representation, it matters which chamber of the legislature females are elected to. Furthermore, different interest groups can significantly bear upon gun legislation.
]]>This paper aims to evaluate existing measurements and propose new ones for foreign policy similarity in international politics, emphasizing the importance of measurement in social science. The indicators designed must align with theoretical concepts and data characteristics to ensure consistency and validity.
The paper meticulously examines the assumptions and calculation methods of existing indicators, such as the S-score and tau-b, to rigorously evaluate their alignment with theoretical concepts and data characteristics. It then proposes alternative measurements that can address these criteria.
The new indicators introduced in this paper address the limitations of the existing measurements. While producing values similar to existing measurements, they maintain conceptual consistency and operational interpretability. Additionally, the paper presents a tau-like indicator weighted by national capability, an aspect not feasible with the previous tau-b, leading to new meaningful conclusions.
This paper emphasizes the importance of understanding measurements when creating or using them. A deep comprehension of similarity measures and the research topic facilitates more precise measurements, thereby enhancing research outcomes in international politics.
]]>Interprofessional collaboration (IPC) is a key contributor to the health-care organizational culture of wellness and health-care provider (HCP) morale.
The purpose of this study is examining the impact of IPC on their work stress among HCPs in China and comparing the differences in associations between IPC and work stress between Chinese physicians and nurses.
With a survey research design, 1036 HCPs were electronically recruited. Five multiple linear regression models were developed to examine the association between IPC and work stress among general HCPs, physicians, and nurses.
IPC can significantly reduce work stress among Chinese HCPs. Regarding IPC, achieving mutually satisfactory solutions, having a clear understanding of boundaries, and a sense of trust are negatively associated with HCPs’ work stress, but team reflective revision was positively associated with HCPs’ work stress during the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic. However, IPC factors are associated with work stress differently between physicians and nurses in China.
Our findings have important implications for practice, research, and policy.
]]>This article examines how the limited national media reporting covered the pandemic in American Indian communities across the United States, specifically the Diné (Navajo) Nation, and whether and how this coverage differs from American Indian news sources.
This article compares coverage related to COVID-19 by The New York Times (NYT) with coverage by the Navajo Times (NT), a Diné newspaper. The authors compiled their own database of news-based articles published by the NYT and the NT covering the pandemic and its impact on Native Nations between January 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020, and conducted a comparative content analysis of these articles.
While coverage was limited, the NYT articles highlight social inequities that settler colonialism and federal Indian law have fostered in the past and present, the cultural backdrop, which contributed to greater adverse impacts from COVID-19. However, coverage differs from the NT in important ways, particularly when considering the distinction between the Navajo Nation as a bureaucratic entity versus the Diné people, the framing of Native peoples as adaptive, and Indigenous investment in future creation.
The NT was more nuanced in its coverage of stories of the impact of COVID-19 on American Indian communities as compared to the NYT.
]]>This research investigates the impact of liberal and illiberal world society on women's legislative representation across a sample of developed and developing countries, and at the global level.
I estimate fixed effects panel regression models with robust standard errors clustered by country.
I consistently find that liberal world society embeddedness helps explain cross-national and longitudinal variations in women's legislative representation across all three country samples, while illiberal world society ties matter at the global level.
This analysis highlights the role of world culture in explaining the worldwide expansion of women's legislative representation across country development levels.
]]>Anecdotal evidence suggests that the term “pollster” has, in recent years, become stigmatized in the United States. We explore this and a subsequent question as to whether negative perceptions of pollsters affect people's perceived trustworthiness of survey findings.
Survey experiments were administered to national probability-based samples after the 2016 and 2020 elections.
In each study, pollsters obtained significantly more negative ratings when compared to “survey researchers” and “public opinion researchers,” suggesting that the general public views pollsters, who are more likely to be viewed as partisan, as being less honest/ethical. In line with social identity theory, interaction models revealed that those rating pollster critic Donald Trump most favorably had the most negative ratings of pollsters and public opinion researchers, compared to survey researchers. Yet, the vignette experiment showed that negative perceptions of pollsters did not affect the perceived trustworthiness of survey result reports.
We conclude that while there appears to be a stigmatization of pollsters, those negative perceptions do not translate into less trust in the findings of public opinion.
]]>This study empirically explores the relationship between spousal income and individual happiness in contemporary China.
Utilizing three waves of the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS) data set, we employ a methodological approach involving an ordinal logit model, nearest neighbor matching, inverse probability weighting methods, and a series of robustness tests.
The findings reveal an asymmetric association between spousal income and one's happiness within the family context. Husband's happiness is more positively linked to his own income than his wife's income, whereas the wife's happiness is positively associated with her husband's income rather than her own. This association is more pronounced for women from rural areas and lower-income households, influenced by traditional gender ideologies and limited economic and political participation.
Our results highlight that women in contemporary China, especially those in rural areas and from lower-income households, continue to rely on the traditional gender role arrangement for greater well-being, emphasizing the enduring influence of spousal income on women's happiness.
]]>Cohesion Policy—the European Union's (EU) policy platform for regional and local development—represents a major yet often neglected instance of Social Europe. In this article we inquire into the delivery of Cohesion Policy projects concerned with social policy objectives. Specifically, we ask: how are these projects delivered? Building on the literature of subsidiarisation in social policy, we theorise that the interaction of two processes—vertical subsidiarisation across territorial levels and horizontal subisidiarisation across sectoral levels—generates different spaces of subsidiarity, with major implications for policy outputs and outcomes. Empirically, we explore the emergence of spaces of subsidiarity in over 800 Cohesion Policy projects for quality employment and labour mobility delivered in Italy, Portugal, and Spain, during the 2010s. We show that, despite common rules, the governance framework through which the social agenda of Cohesion Policy is implemented is not a constant but a variable, one that may be leveraged by future research to explain the heterogeneous impact of Cohesion Policy across the EU. Our contribution is relevant to research on Social Europe, research on the territorial dimension of post-industrial welfare systems as well as research on Cohesion Policy.
]]>Driven by macro-level investment and strategic competition, engagement between China and African countries has expanded significantly in recent years, giving rise to increased migration flows between the two regions. Wary of Beijing's growing influence on the continent, Western scholarship and media often portray China as extractive and neo-colonialist, whereas Africa and Africans are depicted as passive and lacking agency. This study examines an important yet understudied group operating at the crux of contemporary Sino–African relations that challenges these assumptions: young, African student-entrepreneurs studying and working in China. Drawing on data from 10 months of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with African student-traders, as well as Chinese university administrators, students, and officials, this study finds that African student-traders have developed a set of strategies that allow them to navigate, exploit and reconfigure Chinese structures as they pursue their entrepreneurial aspirations, suggesting that the Sino–African relationship is far from one-sided.
]]>The proliferation of politically motivated hate speech towards rival politicians has been rapidly increasing in Pakistan. However, the literature on political hate speech and its association with extreme ideologies is under-theorized in the Pakistani context. We have utilized van Dijk's manipulative discourse and Walther's social approval theory to structure political hate speech and its consequences. The data was based on two Pakistani mainstream politicians’ public speeches and partisans’ comments available on YouTube. Findings reveal that politicians commonly exploit discursive categories, such as name-calling, offensive metaphors and sarcasm, in their hate speech to dehumanize, ridicule and threaten their rivals. Their hateful slurs showcase extreme ideologies, such as polarization, intolerance, threat and violence. They use the hateful epithets to manipulate partisans, to sell fear of being betrayed and enslaved to the military and foreign powers, and to obtain, in exchange, audience and consent. The study theorizes that Pakistani mainstream politicians deliberately sensationalize hatred in their public speeches to harangue their rivals and foment extreme ideologies for the purpose of increasing their audience.
]]>Patient harm, patient safety and their governance have been ongoing concerns for policymakers, care providers and the public. In response to high rates of adverse events/medical errors, the World Health Organisation (WHO) advocated the use of surgical safety checklists (SSC) to improve safety in surgical care. Canadian health authorities subsequently made SSC use a mandatory organisational practice, with public reporting of safety indicators for compliance tied to pre-existing legislation and to reimbursements for surgical procedures. Perceived as the antidote for socio-technical issues in operating rooms (ORs), much of the SSC-related research has focused on assessing clinical and economic effectiveness, worker perceptions, attitudes and barriers to implementation. Suboptimal outcomes are attributed to implementations that ignored contexts. Using ethnographic data from a study of SSC at an urban teaching hospital (C&C), a critical lens and the concepts of ritual and ceremony, we examine how it is used, and theorise the nature and implications of that use. Two rituals, one improvised and one scripted, comprised C&C’s SSC ceremony. Improvised performances produced dislocations that were ameliorated by scripted verification practices. This ceremony produced causally opaque links to patient safety goals and reproduced OR/medical culture. We discuss the theoretical contributions of the study and the implications for patient safety.
]]>Most studies on racial inequality begin with a series of statistics highlighting racial variations in an outcome of interest to illustrate how wide (or narrow) the gaps between racialized groups are. This approach is standard in racial inequality research because emphasizing racial differentials between racialized groups helps researchers frame inequality as a social problem. Scholars across academic disciplines and across sub-areas within sociology report racial statistics to pay attention to what social scientists refer to as racial disparities. Presenting racial disparities is extremely important for documenting inequality; however, family scholars tend to provide descriptive statistical portraits along ethno-racial lines (disparities) in the absence of racism, which, in turn, conceals the United States' racialized historical context. In other words, reporting racial inequality as disparities without addressing racism is a critical omission in family science research. Emphasizing racism is important because biological explanation still permeates the American imagination about racial inequality. The purpose of this paper is to provide conceptual and analytical considerations for future racial inequality and family research by recasting disparities as manifestations of racism instead of mere statistical differences. To illustrate the conceptual considerations, I first build on Williams' theoretical model focusing on structural racism and Black family life. I expand on how racism not only makes the idea of race possible but also manifests in observable, measurable outcomes. In the second section, I present an analytical consideration for understanding Black families' inequality by focusing on within-group analyses. These conceptual and analytical considerations serve as ways to adequately represent Black families and children in the US.
]]>Scientific research on the mechanisms to address global warming and its consequences continues to proliferate in the context of an accelerating climate emergency. The concept of climate action includes multiple meanings, and several types of actors employ its use to manage the crisis. The term has evolved to incorporate many of the suggested strategies to combat global warming offered by international bodies, states, nongovernmental organizations, the private sector, and social movements. The present work offers a classification scheme to build a shared understanding of climate action through a lens of environmental justice and just transitions developed by sociologists and others. The classification system includes major institutional and noninstitutional forms of climate action. By identifying the primary forms of climate action, analysts, scholars, policymakers, and activists can better determine levels of success and how different forms of climate action may or may not complement one another in the search for equitable solutions in turning back the rapid heating of the planet.
]]>This article is a review of global health literature, emphasizing the evolution in health terminology in recent decades and noteworthy research areas of global health. This review identifies global inequality and disease-related stigma as key social determinants of health and central problems improving health outcomes. Within global health, there is a growing discourse surrounding health disparities, particularly among the world's most disadvantaged populations. Additionally, the field notes an increase in global health nonprofits, international governmental organizations (IGOs), and regulatory bodies. As such, this paper examines the scope of empirical global health research with consideration of inequality and stigma as well as the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in health outcomes for the developing world. The review also discusses the role of IGOs and global health regulatory bodies in shaping development and health outcomes. A broad review of literature finds that although chronic noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are currently the largest cause of poor health in the world's most impoverished nations, these are largely untargeted by NGO efforts, which may exacerbate the state of global inequality. However, the impact that NGOs could have on ameliorating the effects of NCDs remains understudied and is a promising direction for future scholarly efforts.
]]>This review article examines the meanings and materialities of human stature, from serving as a marker of human difference to shaping the socio-spatial experiences of individuals. I introduce existing perspectives on height from various disciplines, including biomedical discourses on the factors (e.g. nutrition, genetics) that determine height, economic discourses on how the average heights of populations have changed over time, sociobiological and psychological discourses that assume a pre-cultural, evolutionary “height premium”, and popular discourses on heightism and height discrimination. Drawing from a diverse range of scholarship since Saul Feldman called for a “sociology of stature” in the 1970s, I then present ways in which height and height differences have figured in various domains of human experience, from employment and education to sports and social relationships. Finally, I survey people's attempts to become taller or shorter, and the implicit values that inform such height-making practices. What these figurations and practices show, I argue, is that height intersects with notions of race, class, gender, and beauty – but is irreducible to any of them, and is thus best viewed as a distinct, embodied form of distinction, difference, and inequality. I conclude by proposing a research agenda for future work.
]]>The scholarship on crimes of the powerful encompasses a critical examination of social harms, and crimes perpetrated by privately or publicly operated businesses and corporations, the state, international organizations, elites, as well as the state-mediated administrative and political responses to these crimes. Going beyond state-centric definitions of crime and deviance, this scholarship emphasizes studying power and the harmful and criminogenic operations of the neoliberal-capitalism. However, this scholarship has overlooked the systemic examination of these crimes in the Global South, Latin America and the Caribbean, and their impact on racialized, gendered, and other marginalized communities. This article aims to contribute to this scholarship by providing an overview of the current developments in the scholarship on crimes of the powerful and proposing some future research areas for Latin America and the Caribbean. Thus, the article aims to demonstrate that the Latin American and Caribbean experiences with crimes of the powerful can expand our understanding of the social harms generated by powerful organizations and actors and magnify the analytical and methodological reach of this critical scholarship.
]]>Our piece raises a conceptual issue with regards to how migration and deradicalization literature conform with each other in ways that they depict and deal with the self/other dichotomy. Both also aim at “integrating” the “other” through policy-oriented formal mechanisms. The deviance from the normal, evinced by the self/other dichotomisation in these literature, presents who is not ‘us’ as the wayward other. In return, the following migration and deradicalization policies both introduce disciplining mechanisms to make societies homogenous and align the “other” with the existing nation-state structures. Instead, we propose that societies have a non-binary composition, and they cannot be pushed in becoming homogenous entities. This piece contributes to deradicalization literature by foregrounding the importance of informal engagements rather than policy-focused formal processes of deradicalization. In conclusion, we show the importance of the ordinary and the convivial activities to achieve inclusion.
]]>The mainstream notions of gender and sexuality among neurodivergent individuals lack wisdom and input from those who have the lived experience of the same. Queer phenomenology (2008) proposed by Sarah Ahmed, offers an interpretative framework to understand neurodivergent life by moving beyond the definitions of sexuality as a set of constructed identity formations aligned to normative gender and reproductive practices. Queer phenomenology along with a feminist phenomenological lens can be employed to analyze the narratives of queer neurodivergent women to see how they access and experience their sexualities. In this way, the present paper argues that queer neurodivergent women “neuroqueer” (a term developed by Yergeau) sexuality by actively subverting and disrupting compulsory heterosexual norms.
]]>In the summer of 1976, prior to the United States presidential election between Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease occurred in Philadelphia. After an epidemiological survey, 221 people with pneumonia or similar symptoms were identified, 34 of whom died. The outbreak prompted the advancement of legislation to exempt companies that produced influenza vaccines from liability for damages, resulting in significant losses for the government. The outbreak was a major economic blow to the Bellevue Stratford Hotel, an iconic historical hotel in Philadelphia, which was forced to close 16 days after the election. Following the outbreak, media coverage was extensive, and there was frustration over the inability to determine the cause of the outbreak in Philadelphia. The critical factor was that the cause of the outbreak was not determined to be rod-shaped bacteria, later named Legionella pneumophila, before the election date. While many aspects had an impact, it is possible that the Legionnaires' disease outbreak may have affected the outcome of the election, particularly in Pennsylvania. This study does not make definitive causal links but focuses on Legionnaires' disease and the 1976 elections.
]]>This study examines tax morality in two youth cohorts, Gen Y and Gen Z, using World Values Survey data from 64 countries (7th wave 2017–2022). Despite numerous studies investigating ethical values around the world, the intricate dynamics shaping tax morality across younger generations remain less clear. Significant differences in factors influencing tax morality are observed between the two generations, including gender, educational level, and religiosity. Results also indicate that traditional forms of trust, such as that in public institutions, predict tax morality, but only in individuals belonging to Gen Y. The research adds further knowledge to existing studies on tax morality among individuals, focusing on a specific subgroup composed of contemporary youth. Policymakers can leverage these insights to promote ethical values among future generations of taxpayers.
]]>South Africa is the most economically unequal country in the world. Moreover, research shows that inequality has only risen since advent of multi-party democracy in 1994. In this article, I review research that documents how economic inequality has formed over the past century, and the relationship between these structural conditions and contemporary social stratification. The literature shows that since the end of apartheid racial inequality has declined somewhat, but increases in inequality within race have more than offset this. Despite momentous political change and formal legal equality, economic equality remains elusive for most South Africans. Research on South Africa shows that accounting for the historical construction of institutions that shape inequality is crucial not only for understanding stratification within the country, but for explaining it in any contemporary industrial society.
]]>Distinctive features of the on-demand work platforms made it theoretically improbable for workers to organize and for collective forms of protest to emerge. Their business model and work arrangements spatially isolate and socially individualize workers, subjectivizing them as competing micro-enterprises rather than co-workers. However, faced with the flood of the platforms on a global scale, collective actions of platform workers surged like a backwash, especially in the ride-hailing and food delivery sectors, during the last decade. Observers witnessed a great variety in the combination of actors involved and repertoire of actions mobilized worldwide. Despite this diversity, some common global trends can be sketched out. Through a literature review focused on Europe, Latin America, North America and Asia, this article shows that workers struggle globally to build a collective actor, through an original combination of new and old forms of protest. They ought to compensate for their weak marketplace bargaining power by leveraging their discursive, associational, coalitional and workplace bargaining powers.
]]>China has experienced unprecedented economic development and urbanization in the past four decades, which has reshaped the Chinese city's physical and social landscape. This article reviews research on socio-spatial differentiation and residential inequalities in urban China. The market transition and institutional changes have led to cities with escalating spatial divisions of socioeconomic groups since the 1990s. The legacy of a planned economy, unique socialist institutions, growing social disparities, migration, and globalization are essential mechanisms leading to the changing socio-spatial structure of Chinese cities. Divided cities foster social inequalities by unevenly distributing opportunities and resources for education, income, health, and social networks, and, in turn, affect individual well-being. This review concludes by calling for more theoretical development and comparative research in studies of Chinese residential inequalities and offering some suggestions for the field's future direction.
]]>Even though we know activists want to change the world, including the people living therein, we are often disinclined to see in activism the desire for social power, thinking of “power” as a dirty word. However, by overlooking this aspect of activist motivation, we may be occluding our view onto an important aspect of activist frustration which can lead to burnout. Data collected among German environmental activists suggest that, controlling for self-esteem and resilience, social power motivation does indeed predict levels of burnout. However, rather than causing burnout as though it were an independent variable apart from burnout (i.e., as seen within a “naturalistic” approach), it is argued that—given the nature of activism as the enacted desire to change others—the frustrated desire for social power is part of what burnout inherently is for activists. Thus, by taking the perspective of “interpretive social science,” the current piece attempts to encourage both reflection on the particulars of burnout among activists and greater sensitivity to the context-dependent nature of burnout in general.
]]>A robust body of research has documented the representational politics of news coverage in their depiction of HIV-positive people charged for HIV non-disclosure. News media representations of HIV-negative sex partners in cases of HIV non-disclosure have received far less scholarly attention. Adopting a social constructionist perspective, this article identifies how “victims” of HIV non-disclosure are constructed in news media. It is based on a dataset consisting of 341 news articles on HIV non-disclosure from 14 English Canadian newspapers across the political spectrum. Victims of HIV non-disclosure were constructed as: (1) suffering horribly, (2) morally pure and virtuous, (3) vengeful and (4) agentic and responsible for their situation. We consider how such constructions are enmeshed within arguments that establish or reject HIV non-disclosure as a social problem. We then discuss the ways these constructions and the assumptions upon which they are based reflect broader discussions on the severity of HIV, the responsibility for HIV risk and exposure, and the contestations over the very nature of the social problem of HIV non-disclosure. Constructions of victims that uphold HIV criminalisation have relied on assumptions of HIV as a deadly disease but de-emphasise personal responsibility for HIV risk. By contrast, constructions of victims that, in effect, oppose HIV criminalisation have tended to minimise the harms of HIV and invoke personal responsibility for HIV risk. We suggest that both proponents and opponents of HIV criminalisation engage in the “ideology of victimhood” and thus participate in and reinforce what Best (1997) termed, the “victim industry.”
De nombreux travaux de recherche ont mis en évidence les politiques de représentation de la couverture médiatique dans leur représentation des personnes séropositives accusées de ne pas avoir révélé leur séropositivité. Les représentations médiatiques des partenaires sexuels séronégatifs dans les cas de non-divulgation du VIH ont reçu beaucoup moins d'attention de la part des chercheurs. Adoptant une perspective constructionniste sociale, cet article identifie comment les « victimes » de la non-divulgation du VIH sont construites dans les médias d'information. Elle est basée sur un ensemble de données comprenant 341 articles de presse sur la non-divulgation du VIH provenant de 14 journaux canadiens anglais de tous les horizons politiques. Les victimes de la non-divulgation du VIH ont été construites comme suit : (1) souffrant horriblement, (2) moralement pures et vertueuses, (3) vengeresses, et (4) agissantes et responsables de leur situation. Nous examinons la manière dont ces constructions sont imbriquées dans les arguments qui établissent ou rejettent la non-divulgation du VIH en tant que problème social. Les constructions de victimes qui soutiennent la criminalisation du VIH s'appuient sur des hypothèses selon lesquelles le VIH est une maladie mortelle, mais minimisent la responsabilité personnelle face au risque de VIH. En revanche, les conceptions des victimes qui s'opposent à la criminalisation du VIH ont tendance à minimiser les effets néfastes du VIH et à invoquer la responsabilité personnelle dans le risque d'infection. Nous suggérons que les partisans et les adversaires de la criminalisation du VIH s'engagent dans «l'idéologie de la victimisation» et participent ainsi à ce que Best (1997) a appelé «l'industrie de la victimisation et la renforcent.
]]>Housing prices in Canada have increased dramatically, giving rise to a housing affordability crisis. Young adults have been disproportionately affected by this crisis. To cope, many young adults have had to alter their living arrangements, contributing to the diversification of their living arrangements. Young adults’ diverse living arrangements are the product of growing inequalities in young adults’ economic prospects and access to family support. Extant work has yet to document how young adults’ risk of having unaffordable housing varies according to their living arrangements. Our comparison of young adults’ risk of having unaffordable housing according to their living arrangements reveals that co-residence with parents, relatives, or roommates reduces young adults’ risk of having unaffordable housing. This protective effect is smaller for the foreign-born than the Canadian-born. The National Housing Strategy should allocate more resources to increase the supply of affordable housing earmarked for young adults, particularly the foreign-born who live alone or with children.
]]>With our analysis of the Korean society we intend to make an innovative contribution to research on intergenerational solidarity by examining how the introduction of welfare policies has changed patterns of intergenerational solidarity. Using aggregated data from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, the Korean General Social Survey, and the Korean Social Survey, we examine the changing character of intergenerational solidarity by focusing on national trends in both societal practice and intergenerational norms from 2002 to 2018. Our findings show that patterns of Korean intergenerational solidarity have modified in various respects. The normative dimension of the familial/filial contract has profoundly changed along with the developing welfare state, shifting from a dominantly filial piety-centric character to more complementarity contract-based norms in which children, welfare state and society are all assigned responsibility for the well-being of parents. Intergenerational “functional” solidarity, however, in terms of the exchange of money and practical support has not de-filialized.
]]>The issue of employment is extremely significant, and employment assistance programs work for special social assistance and employment support for the impoverished in China. Are employment assistance programs, particularly those providing job recommendations and free vocational training, effective in promoting employment in China? This study answers this question using a mixed methods approach. Logistic regressions and propensity score matching–difference in differences models using unique data from the “Construction of Social Policy Support System for Urban and Rural Impoverished Families in China” project demonstrates that providing either job recommendations or free vocational training does not significantly promote employment. Qualitative analyses of in-depth interviews show that the ineffectiveness of providing job recommendations and vocational training programs can be attributed to three reasons: (1) lack of coordination among employment assistance providers, (2) mismatch between employment assistance provision and recipients' needs, and (3) employment assistance as subordinates to Dibao and labor market policy. This study has important theoretical and practical implications for research on and improvement of employment assistance.
]]>The last 20 years have seen exponential growth in participatory research methods in child and youth studies, social work, education and allied disciplines. Scholars internationally have highlighted the ways these methods can connect with other areas of scholarship including children's rights, citizenship and activism. The Binks Hub is a new initiative committed to supporting, promoting and delivering transformative, co-creative research. The funding, monitoring and impact regimes within higher education can mean that delivering these commitments is challenging. This article uses three empirical cases involving participatory methods to reflect on these challenges and examine the connections and disconnections between participatory research and activism. The work of Sassen (2014) is employed to make spaces before and beyond method more visible. These spaces, we conclude, are critical to creating the foundations for relational participatory practice, and ensuring initiatives like the Binks Hub have long-term meaning and value.
]]>In this article, we analyse how different governments have dealt with situations, labelled as ‘crises’ in the international and national discourses. More specifically, we analyse how the Czech, Hungarian and Slovak governments framed and dealt with their social policies during the 2008 ‘financial crisis’, the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’, and the 2020 ‘Covid crisis’. We argue that sometimes governments and the mass media frame the situation as a crisis, when objectively it would be hard to argue empirically that there really was a crisis. At other times, according to objective criteria, there is ample evidence that there is indeed a crisis, but the government tries to deny it for political reasons. Despite differences in objective conditions and differences in political constellations, none of the policymakers in the three countries took advantage of the windows of opportunity that the alleged crises presented to carry out path-changing social policy? changes. Instead, the changes we rather small and usually only temporary; thus, showing the importance of path dependency even during crisis situations.
]]>Individuals encounter and experience different costs, conceptualized as administrative burdens, when seeking access to social welfare programs. Scholars and practitioners suggest that digitalizing and redesigning application processes could alleviate and shift some of these negative experiences. However, empirical research testing whether real interventions achieve this remains scarce. In a laboratory experiment, we randomly assigned participants (n = 120) to one of two application processes for a student financial aid program: the standard paper-based or a digitalized and redesigned application procedure. Students encountering the latter experienced significantly less administrative burdens, were more satisfied, and completed a higher proportion of process steps. Furthermore, functional literacy improved the experience of the bureaucratic encounter. These findings reveal the potential of redesigning and digitalizing application processes to alleviate administrative burdens.
]]>Over recent decades, sickness absence due to common mental disorders has increased among young workers. The phenomenon is mostly understood on the basis of epidemiological research, and knowledge regarding the viewpoints of young workers themselves is lacking. Our study explored the explanations for mental health-related sickness absence in the narrative accounts of young workers in high-risk health and social care occupations. Semi-structured narrative interviews were conducted with 23 Finnish young workers (aged 21–34), with self-reported sickness absence related to common mental disorders over the previous year. Our analysis identified three narrative explanations for the onset of mental health problems leading to sick leave: work as the sole cause, work as an additional cause and work as a trigger. These findings indicate that mental health-related sickness absences form a complex phenomenon related to various life and work-related circumstances. More comprehensive preventive measures are needed in the health and social care sector to help tackle mental health problems among young workers.
]]>The aim of this study is to examine whether the relationship between populist orientation and attitudes towards the anti-COVID vaccine and government measures is mediated by conspiracy beliefs and health risk perceptions, and whether these relationships are moderated by trust in institutions. Data were collected in Italy using a questionnaire (N = 390). The results largely supported our hypotheses of moderated mediation. Basically, while previous studies suggest that populist attitudes are positively associated with conspiracy theories, vaccine hesitancy and limited compliance with government measures, this study shows that these relationships are stronger when people do not trust institutions.
]]>This study systematically reviewed the literature on ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) in mono-racial Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) families in the United States. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we examined what is known about (1) ERS strategies used, (2) child and parent factors related to ERS, and (3) the relation of ERS to child outcomes in mono-racial AAPI families. We included peer-reviewed, original studies published between January 2002 and August 2023, abstracted in Sociological Abstracts, PubMed, and/or PsychINFO, and focused on ERS in AAPI families. Fifty-eight studies met the inclusion criteria. The reviewed studies show that mono-racial AAPI families engage in ERS, but parents' messages tend to focus on positive aspects of ethnicity-race (e.g., ethnic pride) and avoid negative aspects (e.g., discrimination). However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter, parents are increasingly willing to address the negative aspects of ethnicity-race, including racism and anti-racism, to prepare their children for a racialized society. ERS is related to AAPI child identity, psycho-social outcomes, ethnic-racial attitudes and experiences, and other outcomes but in a variety of contingent ways. We identify gaps in the literature and recommend future research on ERS in AAPI families.
]]>A large body of research has demonstrated that evictions affect already vulnerable groups and are linked to a number of adverse outcomes. However, prior findings largely rely on enforced evictions processed through the legal system and it has been suggested that such an approach might underestimate the number of evictions. Using comprehensive Swedish individual-level register data from 2009 to 2012, this study extends prior literature by focusing on self-initiated moves that occur during a formal eviction process but before an enforced removal. Results from explorative statistical analyses indicate that self-initiated moves during the formal eviction process are four times more common compared with enforced evictions. Although self-initiated moves typically affect the same disadvantaged groups as those facing enforced removals, those who self-initiated their move were younger. Households with children were also found to be more common in that group compared with those faced with enforced removals. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.
]]>Although studies have highlighted the role played by couple and parental relationships for children's psychosocial adjustment, especially in challenging situations, research on these two relationship domains has largely developed separately and mostly focussed on negative couple processes. However, Family Systems Theory highlights how these subsystems are interconnected, and studies inspired by this theoretical framework provide evidence of how the quality of the interparental relationship predicts the parent–child relationship. This study focussed on the association between two relational resources (dyadic coping and parent–child relationship quality) and children's emotional difficulties during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. Five hundred ninety-one Italian parents filled in an online self-report questionnaire. A path analysis model was estimated to test the mediating role of parent–child relationship quality in the association between partner positive dyadic coping and children's emotional difficulties. The findings showed both a direct effect and an indirect effect of partner positive dyadic coping on children's emotional difficulties, because parent–child relationship quality partially mediated this association. Enhancing parents' ability to cope together with stress and the quality of the parent–child relationship might contribute to decrease children's vulnerability to emotional difficulties in challenging times.
]]>Mothers who use substances often experience gender-based and structural inequities that can jeopardize maternal and family wellness. Instability in the availability of services, particularly during public health crises (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic), often results in changes in population health needs/funding/services, which may magnify experiences of disadvantage. Limited research has focused on times of change/crisis and its impact on maternal and family wellness. We examined the experiences of structural disadvantage, service access, and well-being among mothers who use or formerly used substances during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 26 mothers with current or past engagement in outpatient substance use treatment programs for pregnant and parenting women in Ontario, Canada. Transcripts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, revealing that instability of services and decreased access to/quality of informal and formal relationships often magnified the mental and affective toll of stressors, both pre-existing and new. The impact on well-being appeared to be greater for families who were actively engaged with child protective services. Findings are discussed in relation to literature examining systemic and societal factors that perpetuate gender-based and structural inequities experienced by mothers with lived and living histories of substance use. The potential impact of changes in public health service delivery requires thoughtful and proactive attention for and by all stakeholders, including integrated attention across systems (e.g., health, social, education) that provide services to support maternal and family well-being.
]]>Despite an increased drive over the past two decades in Western societies to promote children’s physically active play to improve their health, there are concerns that childhood has become less physically active. There are also fears that a previously naturally occurring aspect of childhood has become less authentically playful. Both trends highlight changes over time in the amount and type of play practiced by children and are often cited as consequences of generational shifts. Yet, research which analytically employs the concept of generation to connect changes to childhood with relevant social transformations is lacking. Inspired by Mannheim’s conceptualisation of generations, this paper draws on life history interviews with 28 United Kingdom residents born between 1950 and 1994 to propose a fracturing of naturally occurring physical activity from childhood play. As shifts in childhood and parenting have become inextricably linked, this argument illustrates the impact of an intensification to parenting upon greater parental surveillance of increasingly organised forms of childhood physical activity at the expense of spontaneous play. Future physical activity policy should be sensitive to the social climate in which recommendations for children are made, as this places expectations upon parents due to how childhood is currently understood within neoliberal contexts.
]]>The COVID-19 pandemic led to the widespread adoption of virtual care—the use of communication technologies to receive health care at home. We explored the differential impacts of the rapid transition to virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic on health-care access and delivery for gay, bisexual and queer men (GBQM), a population that disproportionately experiences sexual and mental health disparities in Canada. Adopting a sociomaterial theoretical perspective, we analysed 93 semi-structured interviews with GBQM (n = 93) in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver, Canada, conducted between November 2020 and February 2021 (n = 42) and June-October 2021 (n = 51). We focused on explicating how the dynamic relations of humans and non-humans in everyday virtual care practices have opened or foreclosed different care capacities for GBQM. Our analysis revealed that the rapid expansion and implementation of virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic enacted disruptions and challenges while providing benefits to health-care access among some GBQM. Further, virtual care required participants to change their sociomaterial practices to receive health care effectively, including learning new ways of communicating with providers. Our sociomaterial analysis provides a framework that helps identify what works and what needs to be improved when delivering virtual care to meet the health needs of GBQM and other diverse populations.
]]>During the last few decades, the human rights paradigm has shifted the normative status of disabled people, providing, in principle, the right to full and equal participation. Particularly in neoliberal economies, however, participation in work life is a major constraint on social legitimacy, creating a predicament for people who cannot adhere to the ideal of the ‘productive member of society’. In this article, I explore this predicament at the intersection of disability studies and the sociology of health and illness, reviewing literature and discussing key concepts. I argue that in neoliberal societies, two distinct and largely incompatible pathways to social legitimacy depend, respectively, on (a) a version of the classical sick role and (b) a more recently constituted able-disabled role. Of these, the first pathway has mainly been explored and critiqued in the sociology of health and illness, while the second features mainly in disability studies. However, both pathways can be understood (1) as ableist mechanisms for maintaining adherence to values of productivity and by (2) imposing on disabled people an unequal burden of invisible work—a key feature of ableism, driving inequality both within the group of disabled people and for the group as a whole.
]]>Like other elite athletes, ballet dancers are highly dedicated to the pursuit of their vocation. They work to perfect their bodies, their movements and their expression of the art form. The lockdowns that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic represented a significant interruption to the extraordinary but everyday lives of ballet dancers, creating unique environments where exploration of the embodied habitus of ballet can be further investigated. The impacts of lockdown upon dancers were explored via a series of interviews with 12 professional dancers from Germany. Framed by previous research, theorising the balletic body from a Bourdieusian perspective, interview data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Our research highlights the way in which COVID-19 lockdowns and associated restrictions disrupt the habitus of dancers and results in a form of suffering that is comparable to injury or chronic illness. Our research suggests that individuals respond to the ‘structural injuries’ of lockdown measures in a manner comparable to the way they respond to physiological injury. Thus, dancers sought to repair or re-establish the social structures they ordinarily inhabit whilst the inevitable limitations of such efforts engendered occasions for reflexive thinking about their role, careers and identity as dancers.
]]>Identity loss and (re)construction forms a central debate in sociology of chronic illness. Living with chronic/persistent health conditions may raise questions about how disruptions can touch upon and further threaten the very roots of existence, by which people reflexively perceive a coherent and stable sense of ‘being-in-the-world’. Whilst medical sociologists have shown interest in ‘existential loss’ in chronic illness, this question remains largely underexplored. Adopting a qualitative study on Long COVID (LC) as an example, this article illuminates existential identity loss as a deeply painful experience of losing body as a fundamental medium to retain continuity and consistency of one’s narratively constructed identity. Interviews with 80 LC sufferers in the UK revealed that living with persistent and often uncertain symptoms and disruptions can cause the loss of biographical resources and resilience, making it difficult to reflexively understand their own being within the world. Their dynamic responses to LC also highlighted how sufferers’ longing for a narratively coherent self can profoundly shape the ongoing construction of their identity in chronic health conditions. These insights into the complicated and often hard-to-express existential pain of identity loss can also nurture more holistic understandings of and support for LC and chronic illness more broadly.
]]>The COVID-19 crisis in the UK precipitated a sharp rise in the use of remote technologies to provide therapy during the lockdown. With mental health care services migrating to devices and video-conferencing platforms, nearly all forms of therapy had become ‘teletherapy’. Drawing on interviews with UK-based practitioners, this paper explores how existing ideas of intimacy and presence are challenged when care is practiced at a distance. Against the background of concerns that remote technologies erode intimacy and degrade physical presence, the argument is made that presence, distance, intimacy and control are reconfigured within mediated therapy. Analysis of practitioners’ experiences of teletherapy examines the material and expressive components of ‘assemblages’ characterised by their stable and fluid properties. Two assemblages are identified and discussed: emergency care assemblages and assemblages of intimacy, both of which are aligned with specific sectors of mental health care. Evidence that therapeutic encounters are constrained by technologies are considered alongside the material conditions and inequalities of vulnerable groups, while assemblages with relatively stable properties are generative of new ways of relating to clients online. These findings highlight the material and expressive components of human and nonhuman assemblages that create new kinds of affective relations in distanced care.
]]>Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning (LGBTQ+) are at greater risk of poorer COVID-19 prognosis due to higher levels of chronic disease and a greater impact on mental health from pandemic mitigation strategies due to worse pre-pandemic mental health. We examine how a hostile social system contributes to LGBTQ+ people’s negative health experiences during the pandemic through adopting a syndemic framework and using data from The Queerantine Study, a cross-sectional, web-based survey (n = 515). Identification of a health syndemic is based on depressive symptoms, perceived stress and limiting long-term illness. We used Latent Class Analysis to identify latent classes based on experiences of a hostile social system. A syndemic was identified among a third of respondents (33.2%), with transgender/gender-diverse and younger participants at higher risk. Latent Class Analysis identified five groups based on experiences of hostile social systems using psychosocial and socioeconomic indicators. Classes reflecting psychosocial hostility were predictive of a health syndemic and worsening health. This study emphasises (i) mental and physical health issues are intertwined among LGBTQ+ people; (ii) experiences of hostile social systems can account for part of variation in health across LGBTQ+ groups; (iii) that psychosocial hostility continued and was exacerbated throughout the pandemic, and (iv) experiences of psychosocial hostility in particular were associated with a greater likelihood of experiencing a syndemic.
]]>The topic of this article is the classed formation of health lifestyles in youth. Based on longitudinal interview data (41 youths, 17 of their parents) from two contrasting class contexts in Norway, we investigate how health lifestyles are reproduced across generations and during youth, focussing particularly on diet and physical activity. We find that young people’s health lifestyles are powerfully shaped by social class and moulded over time in ways that may impact their further health trajectory. The health practices of upper-class young people are closely monitored; they are practically and emotionally scaffolded by their parents. Developing a rigorous health orientation, they come to view health as an investment for the future, intrinsically linked to achievement, discipline and identity. Working-class parents focus more on the child’s autonomy in matters of diet and physical activity. Separating health practices from family life, their children’s health orientation becomes more fragile and their children’s health lifestyle trajectory more arbitrary and vulnerable to peer influence and marketised body cultures. Combining temporality, youth agency and relationality, it becomes evident that young people internalise their parents’ health lifestyle, leaving room for different expressions of youth agency.
]]>In a growing trend in digital psychiatry, algorithmic systems are used to determine correlations between data that is collected using wearable devices and self-reports of mood. They then offer recommendations for behaviour modification for improved mood. The present study consists of observations of the development of one of these systems. Descriptions of the trial emphasise the powerful role of the intrinsically motivated, responsible participant on one hand and the empowering machine learning (ML)-based technology on the other. This conceptualisation is shown to extend the neoliberal paradox of a freedom that, to be maintained, must be continually adjusted through discipline. Because of the paradoxical nature of this formulation, laboratory members disagree about the balance of agency between the objective machine learning system and the empowered participant. The guides who help participants interpret ML outputs and implement system recommendations are ascribed a replaceable role in formal accounts. Observations of this guidance practice make clear not only the important role played by guides but also how their work is relegated to the technological side of the broader formulation of the trial and further how this conceptualisation affects the way they conduct their work.
]]>Northern New Mexico was uniquely vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout. Its Hispanic majority, aging population, and decreased access to healthcare put many of the communities in this area of the United States at risk. Taos County was particularly at increased risk of impact from COVID-19. The county was also more vulnerable to the economic consequences of a pandemic due to reliance on tourism; this meant major impacts for individual households. As unemployment and poverty increased—and pandemic relief program rollouts floundered—the consequences meant precarity for many families. One of the most visible impacts of the pandemic was the inability to access affordable housing. This paper, based on 58 in-depth interviews and 5 months of participant observation, explores experiences of homelessness and housing insecurity among an already vulnerable population during the pandemic, illustrating the ways in which many people struggled. Importantly, this paper explores differences in patterns of housing insecurity among rural White and rural Hispanic participants during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, this paper advocates the importance of looking at nuanced patterns of dealing with housing precarity in the rural setting as the ways in which different populations cope impact the forms of help that are needed when housing becomes a problem.
]]>Access to contraception is critical for limiting fertility. Yet, in South and Southeast Asia, access to these resources is often limited by spatial inequalities between rural and urban areas. Access to a motorcycle may empower women living in rural areas to attenuate these spatial inequalities, increase their educational attainment and participation in labor markets, and thereby facilitate a shift in fertility preferences. Concomitantly, motorcycle access may increase access to contraception for geographically isolated women who desire to limit fertility. We employ logistic regression models to examine associations with contraception use and unmet need for contraception for women living in rural versus urban areas and for women with versus without access to a motorcycle. Roughly 40 percent of women reported current use of contraception while another 21 percent indicated an unmet need for contraception. After adjusting for other variables, women with a motorcycle were more likely to report current contraception use (AOR = 1.55, 95% CI [1.50, 1.61]), modern contraception use (AOR = 1.60, 95% CI [1.54, 1.66]), and traditional contraception use (AOR = 1.49, 95% CI [1.41, 1.58]) compared with women who did not own a motorcycle. Women with a motorcycle were less likely to report an unmet need for contraception (AOR = 0.65, 95% CI [0.62, 0.68]) after adjusting for other variables. Our results are consistent with the premise that motorcycles facilitate contraception use among women living in resource-limited countries in South and Southeast Asia and thereby contribute to decreases in fertility. These relationships are contextualized by whether a woman lives in an urban or rural setting, and the number of children already present in their household; they are robust to controlling for household-level wealth and other factors that may mediate associations with contraception use.
]]>The news media is an important force shaping societal views of the socio-politics of climate change. International scholarship finds it not uncommon for Indigenous cultures, communities, and perspectives to be underrepresented and misrepresented in Western media, especially on climate change issues. Research also indicates that accurate Indigenous representation occurs when Indigenous peoples are the authors of news articles themselves. We developed a Holistic Media Coding Protocol informed by Indigenous and Western perspectives to guide our content analysis of media coverage of climate change, environmental issues, and Indigenous peoples. We examined news articles from two Indigenous news publications, Indian Country Today and Navajo Times, and two Western news publications, The New York Times and The Salt Lake Tribune. Our findings indicate that creating and utilizing a theory-informed Holistic Media Coding Protocol challenges the recurrent Western gaze on Indigenous peoples. This Holistic Media Coding Protocol contributes to our understandings of the media, settler colonialism, and climate change from Indigenous and Western perspectives. Overall, this research responds to a critical call for sociologists to engage more deeply with settler colonialism, Indigenous issues, and intersectional environmental justice.
]]>Indigenous stories are the backbone of Indigenous education systems. While Indigenous communities are still grappling with settler colonial-imposed violence, many Indigenous Nations are engaging in what Leanne Betasamosake Simpson describes as Indigenous resurgence. In our paper, we draw from our own Indigenous communities' teachings and discuss our peoples' ongoing storytelling traditions as important forms of resurgence, which contribute to a process Dene scholar Glen Sean Coulthard describes as grounded normativity. After setting the context for understanding Indigenous stories as a form of resurgent education, we then pay special attention to a well-known collection of stories, first published in the book Anakú Iwachá in 1974, with a second edition published in 2021. We analyze the history of the project, examine key principles that make it a strong example of resurgence, and explain how it is a particularly instructive data source for social scientists to (1) better understand Indigenous knowledges within our storytelling traditions, (2) engage place-based learning, and (3) imagine futures beyond settler colonialism. These aims, already central in Indigenous sociology, are currently at the margins of mainstream social sciences. We argue these aims provide a particularly hopeful remedy for U.S. sociology, which has generally ignored Indigenous Peoples' knowledges.
]]>Bereavement of one or both parents is known to cause many kinds of internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescents. However, less is known about factors that are protective of the mental health of orphaned adolescents and differences by their gender and orphanhood type. To fill these gaps, the current study used a sample from southwestern China to test the association between types of orphans, life satisfaction, adolescents' psychological distress and problem behaviours. The results showed that orphan girls were prone to have lower levels of problem behaviours but higher levels of psychological distress than orphan boys. Female paternal orphans tended to have the highest psychological distress, while male paternal orphans tended to have the lowest psychological distress. In addition, school satisfaction had a stronger association with problem behaviour, and self-satisfaction had a stronger association with psychological distress. Interventions and preventive measures aimed at reducing the psychological distress of orphans could benefit from the findings regarding the correlates of psychological distress and the most vulnerable group among orphans.
]]>This article explores war remembrance and ritual in English schools. The Remembrance in Schools project (2013–2020) investigated remembrance practices in schools in England through questionnaires, interviews and observations. Schools are unique as sites of remembrance because children constitute the majority of participants in rituals. School-based rituals of remembrance might potentially reproduce dominant discourses of war-normalisation that conflate military values and nationalism with morally ‘good’ values and an imagined community of the nation. They also provide a contested, ambivalent space in which ambiguities of practice and thinking may encourage the emergence, in small ways, of counter-narratives about war and its remembrance.
]]>Although considerable gains in survival have been observed in developed countries, particularly in the last stretch of life, part of these additional years of life are lived in bad health. In this context, a number of actions/inactions that limit or may limit life span are becoming increasingly common. Demography and quantitative sociology are well-positioned to make a significant contribution to the measurement of the consistency of different end-of-life interventions, to the examination of differences over time, space and among different social groups, and to the analysis of the behaviors and attitudes of different stakeholders (the sufferers, their relatives, health care personnel, public opinion). We focus here on euthanasia and assisted suicide (EAS). First, we discuss changes in public opinion on EAS in developed countries. Second, we analyze the diffusion and temporal trends of EAS, with a particular focus on Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium; three countries for which it is also possible to consider the connections between the diffusion of EAS and palliative care. Third, we consider several differential aspects of the spread of EAS (mainly by sex, age, and cause of death).
]]>There have been more-or-less continual suggestions that the UK National Health Service (NHS) has been suffering from one kind of crisis or another since its creation in 1948. If we are to understand the problems the NHS faces, then we need to empirically investigate what kinds of crises it has faced, if such crises have patterns to them, and whether or not they tend to lead to policy change. This article considers NHS crisis in terms of academic accounts of its history, as well in occurrences of the term ‘NHS crisis’ (and its synonyms) in national newspaper headlines from the 1980s up to 2020 through the application of topic modelling. The combination of these two sources of data leads to the construction of a typology of NHS crises. Having constructed this typology, we can then examine the timing and frequency of NHS crises, and consider the relationship between crises and periods of policy change, as well as to the wider economic and social context in which crises occur through the notion of the ‘NHS spatio-temporal fix’.
]]>This article uses multilevel analysis of 24 European countries to examine the effects of macroeconomic variables (GDP and unemployment) and welfare state interventions (active and passive labour market policies) on job insecurity and job quality in Europe from the mid-1990s until the last 2021 COVID crisis. The paper makes a distinction between the crisis of the welfare state and the reaction of welfare states to crises and connects the job quality literature with that on the transformation of the welfare state. The article introduces several innovations to the literature by looking at the impact of welfare state interventions on multidimensional job quality, distinguishing between different types of active labour market policy spending and considering the generosity of benefits. The findings show that active labour market policies (ALMPs) and passive labour market policies (PLMPs) have a positive effect in reducing job insecurity across skill groups. ALMPs and PLMPs also improved several dimensions of job quality, but mostly among manual/low-skilled workers, while they have a negative effect on work pressure which mostly affects medium- and high-skilled workers. The article concludes by discussing how, due to the reach of ALMP and PLMP interventions, the positive effects of the welfare state on job quality are concentrated among lower-skilled workers, thereby limiting the ambition of contemporary welfare states to generate positive spillover effects on the quality of work for all workers.
]]>White employers routinely hire undocumented Latino immigrant workers based on their perceived racializations about their subservience. Researchers have explored how employers racialize Latinos, yet there is less understanding of how white employers justify breaking immigration labor policies. This study analyzes the justifications of both racialized exploitation and organizational decoupling that supports violations of immigration laws. Using in-depth interviews with 20 white employers, this study explores employer racializations of Latinos, views of whiteness in the workplace, and justifications to hire undocumented immigrants. White employers praise Latinos for their perceived subservience, favor whites for management, and neutralize their own unlawful actions of hiring undocumented laborers. White employers frame themselves as rational, innocent, and virtuous while reinforcing racial stratification and breaking immigration laws. This study provides insights on employer labor practices with implications for labor mobility, migration reform, and racial inequality in the workplace.
]]>Nanofiltration ceramic membranes stand at the forefront of ceramic membrane technologies. Their deployment in desalination and lithium recovery forms a potentially high-value application. Prior research underlined the crucial interactions between Donnan exclusion, zeta potential, and salt concentration in determining overall salt rejection. Building upon this understanding, three viable strategies are suggested: Multi-NF, lithium recovery, and the Janus configuration.
Ceramic membranes are taking center stage for separation technologies in water treatment. Among them, ceramic nanofiltration membranes are at the forefront of membrane technologies. The desalination of seawater using ceramic nanofiltration membranes is a potential application toward increasing the global water supply and tackling water scarcity. However, while the high fabrication cost poses a challenge to their large-scale applications, high-value separation applications can help to offset the overall cost. In this regard, ceramic nanofiltration membranes can also be explored as a viable option for high-value lithium extraction from the waste seawater brine. In order to determine the potential of nanofiltration ceramic membranes for desalination and lithium recovery from seawater, the current efficiency of salt rejection across various operation parameters must be thoroughly evaluated. Specifically, the interactions between the Donnan exclusion, steric exclusion, zeta potential, and salt concentration play an important role in determining the salt rejection efficiency. Several strategies are then proposed to guide ceramic nanofiltration membranes toward potentially practical applications regarding desalination and lithium recovery.
]]>Through a Foucauldian lens, this qualitative study explored the perspectives and lived conditions of children's experiences of social media surveillance. Sixteen children between the ages of 10 and 11 years old participated in the creative method of collaging with an unstructured interview in four schools in South Wales, UK. Visual combined with verbal analysis found a nuanced picture of how social media surveillance has influenced children's cultural and social practices of their childhood. Despite the challenges of peer and adult control exemplified, children did demonstrate agency within their digital spaces. Policy implications should involve a stronger emphasis on developing children's emotional resilience and discernment surrounding perceived surveillance.
]]>Arranging safe and secure child care is necessary for parents of dependent children to maintain their participation in the labor force. This article uncovered the extreme version of work–childcare conflict faced by low-income mothers. The constant, underlying threat of the loss of income and unsafe conditions for children influences child care and work, hindering their ability to move out of poverty even when employed. This qualitative study uses interview and focus group data collected from low-income mothers in Colorado, Georgia, and Massachusetts from 2009 to 2020 to explore the obstacles as well as the strategies for finding and keeping child care. The data are the mother's voices as they describe their experiences negotiating care arrangements while working or looking for work. Factors that contributed to this extreme version of work–childcare conflict included: difficult conditions at work and mixed experience relying on care from family and friends. Also uncovered were problems affording paid care and utilizing public vouchers, which may undermine assistance programs. Child care from schools, family, and public programs were greatly diminished during the Covid-19 pandemic, further exacerbating work–childcare conflict for low-income mothers. Policy implications and the effects of the pandemic on childcare arrangements were also considered.
]]>Throughout the recent pandemic, governments used digital video technologies to facilitate social distancing during political meetings. In addition to enabling social distancing, a theoretical advantage of virtual political governance is that it has the potential to mitigate the hierarchical administrative relationship between capitals and regions and the differences in real estate prices and wealth that often follows from such hierarchical structures. However, hardly any governments are currently planning a long-term transition to work-from-home digital governance. On the contrary, several countries are doubling down on the centralization model of government by building new capitals in new locations. This article proposes that in a time of digital alternatives, physically centralized “capitals” could be considered examples of bad equilibrium.
]]>Over the last 3 decades, the emergence of Japanese–Filipino children, born from the presence of female entertainers holding the “entertainer” residency status, has profoundly shaped the dynamic movement of individuals between Japan and the Philippines. These distinctive migration patterns have been regarded as noteworthy “social issues” within both Japanese and Philippine contexts. This study aims to illuminate the multifaceted roles assumed by support organizations in addressing this phenomenon. This article draws from collaborative research conducted with three prominent organizations primarily located in the Philippines, dedicated to providing assistance and empowerment to Japanese–Filipino children and their mothers. This paper delves into the diverse functions that support organizations undertake within the context of migration between these two countries. In summary, this paper discerns several key roles that support organizations have undertaken in the migration between Japan and the Philippines. First, these NGOs contribute to shaping the discourse surrounding the challenges associated with entertainers and Japanese–Filipino children, thus influencing perceptions of these issues. Second, these support organizations serve as transformative spaces for former entertainer women returning to their home countries, aiding them and their offspring in undergoing identity shifts and personal growth. Finally, while these organizations strive to combat human trafficking and exploitative migration, unintended consequences have led to the direct and/or indirect mediation of the younger generation's movement to Japan. In essence, this research underscores the intricate roles that support organizations play in mediating the intricate web of migration dynamics between Japan and the Philippines.
]]>This study examined whether specific social factors are associated with COVID-19 vaccination distrust. Data originated from the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey Phase 3.3 Week 42 collected from January 26 to February 7, 2022. In total, 38,504 adults answered the questions regarding receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine distrust, and the designated social factors. Logistic regression and ordinal regression were performed to examine specific social factors associated with the COVID-19 vaccine to determine if differences were seen in a dichotomous outcome or scale outcome for distrust. Over 7% of men reported 1 or both types of COVID-19 distrust compared to 6.6% of women. Men were more likely to distrust the COVID-19 vaccine than women. There was a significant association between educational attainment and COVID-19 distrust scale. The same association was seen also in household income and COVID-19 distrust scale. Overall, this study identified specific social factors were a strong predictor of COVID-19 vaccination distrust. These findings can assist public health efforts to reduce the health inequity of COVID-19 vaccination efforts and reduce distrust in racial-ethnic minorities.
]]>In situations where parents do not accept support while their family situation is assessed as unsafe (for instance in cases of child abuse and neglect), it is sometimes necessary to offer mandatory support to families. The aim of the current study is to investigate how parents perceive the results of mandatory support from Child Protection Services (CPS) and which elements of the mandatory support parents mark as crucial for the results of the support. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 parents. Parents report mixed feelings about the results of the mandatory support. According to parents, reaching alignment with professionals about the problem definition, as well as the aims of CPS at the start of mandatory CPS, is a crucial element contributing to results of CPS. Additionally, the perceived quality of the support (both on the organizational and professional level) is simultaneous important conditions for a positive view on the support of parents. Implications for practice include the importance of multi-directed partiality of professionals to reach an agreement about the problems definition and the aims of the mandatory CPS involvement.
]]>Based on an administrative census of the 267,116 migrants registered for the 2017 presidential elections and a survey applied to 4771 migrants, we conclude that (1) the electoral participation of migrants shows a significant gender gap, with women participating in a higher proportion; (2) migrants who registered earlier in the electoral registers, are more likely to vote compared to the rest; (3) when migrants come from countries that implement compulsory voting, they increase their likelihood of voting in the receiving country; (4) the declaration of wanting to remain in Chile and not return to their countries of origin or migrate to another country increases the probability of voting, and the same happens with married migrants, with Chilean children, with a Chilean partner, and with a better economic situation; (5) social capital has a positive influence on electoral participation.
]]>In recent years, public discourse and political actors have increasingly used a deservingness rhetoric to refer to the arrival and permanent settlement of migrant groups. However, scholars have drawn on the concept of deservingness without developing a clear theoretical framework for it. Following our recent work on the migrant deservingness framework, in the present study we use the CARIN criteria (Control, Attitude, Reciprocity, Identity, Need) to establish the extent to which host nationals in eight nations impose conditions towards accepting permanent settlement among migrants. Specifically, we examine the links of these deservingness perceptions with news media consumption in seven European countries and Colombia using online survey panel data (N = 12,142). Our findings indicate that consuming news via commercial television and in popular newspapers, in particular, is linked to greater conditionality regarding migrant settlement. Consuming public television or quality news sources is only weakly linked to (reduced) conditionality. We discuss these findings using the migrant deservingness framework.
]]>Research suggests that migrants have higher rates of mental health disorders but are less likely to access mental health services, which highlights both their vulnerability to mental illness and inequity in service provision. Despite being large and established culturally similar migrant cohorts in Australia, Croatians and Bosnians are invisible in mental health research. This qualitative study collected practice-based evidence from eight mental health service providers who have had direct professional contact with these communities, in order to understand how they engage with services, barriers to uptake and provide suggestions for service improvements. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes across interviews, which were then compared against Yang and Hwang's Migrant Mental Health Service Utilisation Model. The study identified unique factors specific to Croatia- and Bosnia-born migrants that impact how they engage with services, including mandated/prescribed services, religious resources, knowledge resources, referral pathways and procedures, and service provider competencies. This study will promote a better understanding of the limitations of the current mental health service offerings for Croatia- and Bosnia-born migrants, making it significant to practitioners, mental health organizations, policymakers and the general public.
]]>This study explores the relations within the current broader literature on migration and entrepreneurship and specifically investigates the extent to which Syrian refugees in Egypt prefer to establish family businesses and why. A qualitative research method is employed by conducting semi-structured interviews with 45 Syrian partner/managers of micro, small and medium-sized family businesses in Egypt. Thematic analysis was used to determine the main ideas in the interview transcripts. Syrian refugees in Egypt were found to prefer to establish family businesses. And the following were considered to be the main antecedents of such preference: action resources (economic challenges and poor salaries in the host country; refugee financial insolvency; refugees' limited social network), emancipation values (refugees' trust in working with each other; refugees' intention to pay back the support/gratitude perceived from the host country) and civic entitlement (governmental support to family businesses).
]]>This article provides evidence that many Central Americans who have joined the migrant caravans to the north manifest a profound discontent with the political institutions of their home countries. It is based on surveys with migrants in refugee centres, compared with similar data from the AmericasBarometer survey, and complemented with contextual qualitative data on the experience of immigrants passing through Mexico. The article shows that several Central Americans in route to the north do not trust their political institutions and express little support for their political system. It demonstrates that in contexts where economic instability, rampant crime, and environmental uncertainty prevail, many citizens keep exiting their countries under the conviction that government institutions have lost the capability to protect them from existential threats.
]]>The sedentary bias that characterizes discourses on migrations from and within the Global South has failed to inform a consistent exploration of international migration from and among global southern countries as normal, desirable and impactful to migrants and their social networks at different spatial levels. Migration-development nexus analyses are predominantly framed around Global South-Global North migration episodes whereby cash and social remittances from the North to the South are expected to trigger development in poorer global southern origin countries. This approach neglects the possibility of similar outcomes accruing from south-south migrations. Drawing on qualitative research methods among Ghanaian migrants to China, our paper addresses the question how does south-south migration affect livelihoods and wealth inequality? We argue that blunt global categorizations such as “Global South” and “Global North” only serve to obfuscate what is a rather heterogenous bunch of countries, with divergent opportunities for migrants. We recommend that greater focus should be on the contextual factors at the origin and destination, the quality of return preparedness and the human capital of the migrants rather than an arbitrary clustering around a binary Global South-Global North trajectory as though they are internally homogenous. We conclude that there is heterogeneity in the effects of south-south migration on household livelihoods and wealth inequalities.
]]>Restrictions on mobility as a measure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic meant, in the case of Spain, an abrupt ending to what could be called the second international migratory boom. At the same time, internal migrations underwent considerable change, with cities becoming less attractive as a destination for migrants, and increased flows into rural areas. In this context, our aim is twofold. First, it is to describe and analyse the decline in international migration according to origin and, second, to analyse internal migration among the population of immigrant origin. The results point to a temporary steep downturn in international flows, which does not affect all origins equally. In the case of internal migrations, there is a slight reduction in the intensity of movements with patterns similar to those of the autochthonous population. However, this drop in numbers is very significant among Asians and barely noticeable among immigrants from Latin America.
]]>Canada's migration regime prioritizes the admission of young skilled immigrants while restricting elderly immigrants constructed as non-contributing dependents. We review and compare the current pathways to family reunification for elderly immigrants. Based on interviews with 16 Chinese skilled immigrant mothers and eight sponsored (grand)parents in Edmonton and Ottawa, we highlight the contributions made by elderly Chinese immigrants to social reproduction, intergenerational cultural preservation, and various forms of transnational support. We also reveal the financial and emotional costs incurred by young skilled immigrants who sought to sponsor their elderly parents for permanent residency. Based on these rich conversations, we propose two policy recommendations to reduce the pressure on sponsoring family members and create opportunities for elderly immigrants to access gainful employment.
]]>Environmental degradation constitutes a disruptive force in man-made and natural systems. The projected duplication of the frequency and duration of meteorological drought will contribute to a situation of water scarcity, which is expected to negatively impact the agricultural sector. This study focuses on Souss-Massa, Morocco, a leading agricultural region, and it seeks to map how human mobility fits within a wider adaptation response to environmental degradation. Over 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted with internal migrants and members of rural communities on the perceived impacts of environmental degradation and human mobility. Most of the interviewees perceive a reduction in the available water, and the agricultural sector is the most severely affected by those changes. Internal migration is the most frequent adaptation strategy mentioned, and the remittances it originates are supporting the communities of origin facing a deterioration of agricultural output.
]]>This paper looks at the migration of women from Bangladesh to the Middle East as short-term migrants, mainly for work in the domestic care sector as domestic workers, housekeepers, nannies, cooks, etc. This group accounts for about 15 per cent of the total short-term migration cohort. They face particular challenges around not only the precarity of their employment but also in navigating a series of patriarchal norms in both Bangladesh and the destination countries in the Middle East. The paper will build on the work of Deniz Kandiyoti and her seminal work on patriarchal bargains. This paper will explore the challenges women face in migrating to the Middle East: in their decision to migrate, their experiences abroad, and on return and reintegration into Bangladesh society and their home life, and how these are determined by a series of patriarchal bargains both in Bangladesh and the destination country.
]]>The article brings the concept of the immobile left-behind population into the migration infrastructure debates focusing on countries of migrants' origin. Drawing on an analysis of government's migration policy in Kyrgyzstan and interviews with stakeholders in rural areas, the article concludes that the government relies on a traditional sectoral approach and agriculture in this regard and stands separately from mobility contexts. The policy discourse around outgoing migration focuses on mobility but less engages with return migration and the situation with left behind. We show how remittances-dependant country keeps migration policy as a non-active management tool. A starting point for a more holistic policy approach that includes the left-behind population would be facilitating discussion of left-behind needs in regions with active outmigration, including a wide range of stakeholders from migrants, family members, local authorities and migrant organizations. That would require essential changes in how policies are formulated and implemented, including introducing a cross-cutting and multi-level governance approach.
]]>This study aims to analyse the activities and discourses of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field of migration in Turkey. The research explores how the NGOs frame the issue of migration differently and how they define and comprehend migration, migrants, and refugees. The article discusses whether the NGOs view refugees as subjects needing help, support, and protection or as actors who have rights and must be empowered and argues that there is tension between the two approaches. These points are discussed through a field study, conducted in 2020 (between February and April), comprising in-depth interviews with representatives of 13 NGOs working in the field of migration. The study points to structural, historical, and conjectural causes and aspects of the weakness of rights-based attitudes and activities among the NGOs working in the field of migration in Turkey. The article finds out that the actions of the NGOs working in the field of migration are concentrated on the basic needs of refugees, and structural limitations, such as political pressure, political polarization, and capacity problems, push the NGOs to evaluate the issue of migration within relatively narrow frames. The article also stresses the importance of an enabling political and legal environment and a coherent and structured communication strategy to promote a rights-based migration agenda.
]]>Due to a lack of relevant data, very few empirical studies have examined the changes in and stability of secondary migration intentions. We aim to fill this gap by analysing return migration intentions among international migrants in Italy. Data are drawn from the cross-sectional SCIF survey conducted by ISTAT in 2011–2012. Our findings reveal that migration intentions at the beginning of the migratory experience tend to differ from those measured at more advanced migration stages (i.e. at the time of the survey). In particular, intentions to return seem less stable than intentions to stay. When confirming intentions to return or remain, critical factors include financial stability, family situation and ties with the country of origin and destination. Additionally, having an Italian partner, a partner living in Italy, and a positive self-assessed family financial condition are positively associated with transitioning from a temporary plan to a permanent settlement intention.
]]>Like in many other fields of human endeavour, digital literacy is rising in importance. As migration continues unabated, key stages of the process are now possible online. This study investigated the role of digital literacy and migration intent in satisfaction with online migration services. Deploying a cross-sectional survey of 100 students at a Ghanaian university, the study tested the hypotheses with a linear regression (r = 0.85, R-square = 0.72, p = 0.00). Results indicate support for digital literacy and migration intent in satisfaction with online migration services. Age and level of education are correlated with satisfaction, digital literacy and migration intent. The meaning and implications of these findings are discussed.
]]>Social policy is most effective when evidence-based. In this research, we scrutinise 11 surveys to produce evidence on the subjective well-being (SWB) of older migrants in the Netherlands. The descriptive analysis and literature review revealed that the study of the diversity among older migrants is hindered by several factors, including the inclusion of a limited number of distinct migrant groups, their almost exclusive comparison to non-migrants, and a focus on first-generation and urban-based migrants. Different concepts are used for three dimensions of SWB, both migrant-specific and general. The validity of concepts and measurement instruments is not well examined. By means of multi-group analysis, we demonstrate that the overarching concept of SWB is multidimensional and cannot be easily used to compare different groups of migrants. In conclusion, we argue that survey data can be used to further refine the concept of SWB, compare differences between and within migrant groups and over time, and ultimately inform social policy better.
]]>This article contributes to debates on the decentering of urban research by critically examining emergent forms of housing in the mining municipality of Canaã dos Carajás, Brazil, beyond the dominant lexicons that have emerged from the country's metropolises. The notion of ‘beyond the metropolis’ is offered here as a geographically situated, conceptual placeholder that empirically grounds calls for dislocating urban research. I draw upon fieldwork conducted in Canaã in 2018 and 2019, after the construction of the largest open-pit mine in human history, which attracted tens of thousands of migrants and more than doubled Canaã's population in five years, creating a severe housing crisis. By looking closely at how regional developers, local authorities, mining giant Vale as well as Amazonian majorities came up with their own ‘solutions’ to the housing problem they faced, I foreground the role of ‘extractivism’ and ‘extensions’ in driving and shaping urbanization and inhabitation—beyond the metrocentric emphasis on agglomerative dynamics driven by industrialization and rural-to-urban migration. This twofold conceptual grammar grounded in non-metropolitan Amazonia is absent from current housing debates and illustrates the generative analytical potential inherent in the move beyond the metropolis.
]]>In this article we seek to advance our understanding of unhoming in a population not previously perceived to be vulnerable to such processes. We examine the particular forms of trauma in an emergent space of urban marginality, which has arisen through the fracturing of longstanding citizen–state relations and the rupturing of habitual orientations to home in a world that had hitherto been knowable and predictable. In this article we highlight the centrality of waiting in experiences of unhoming, which act as a mechanism of domination over a group newly subject to a specific manifestation of marginality; this mechanism has particular significance for understanding the differentiated dynamics of urban displacement. In this article we utilize interviews with 31 residents of residential flats in England living in buildings affected by fire safety defects, identified following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire disaster in London in which 72 individuals died. We argue that research on urban dispossession needs to be attentive to distinctive processes and consequences of—and resistance to—unhoming. The experiences of newly affected populations unmask the underpinning precarity and unequal power relations of housing-based urban citizenship.
]]>Leisure activities, including place-based food experiences, have become central to defining urban identities and branding places. Mobile and affluent urbanites’ search for authentic and cosmopolitan experiences is increasingly guided by corporate digital media such as apps and websites that direct them to previously ignored working-class, ethnic and immigrant neighborhoods, which are being discursively and materially reconfigured to meet their needs, in turn causing the displacement of long-time residents. We examine the relationship between food and gentrification through the lens of digital media, suggesting that they play an important role in shaping urban experiences and cities. Specifically, we investigate narratives produced by popular digital food media, not least websites and apps providing restaurant ratings and reviews, and their relationship to ongoing patterns of gentrification in Buenos Aires, Los Angeles and Paris. Using mixed methods that combine census data with ‘hybrid fieldwork’ in online and offline foodscapes, we identify some spatial patterns and key characteristics of food-driven gentrification, highlighting the aestheticization of everyday life and its significance in encouraging and legitimizing planetary gentrification.
]]>The remediation and redevelopment of industrially contaminated land are complex challenges for urban regions worldwide. Yet the literature on urban brownfields mostly addresses this as a technical problem through dichotomic and anthropocentric terms, contrasting the passive and negative role of the contamination as a toxic entity in the ground with the active and positive roles assigned to human actors such as planners, developers and communities. This article contests this prevalent view by tracing in detail debates concerning the remediation of three highly contaminated military-industrial brownfield sites in the Tel Aviv metropolitan region. Drawing on notions of ontological multiplicity and enactment from science and technology studies and on qualitative analysis of a vast database of planning protocols and court hearings alongside interviews with key stakeholders, we uncover how contamination is enacted in multiple ways as mobile/immobile, unified/fragmented, remediable/irremediable. Furthermore, following one of our field's inherent controversies—whether to fully map the contamination prior to planning the sites—the article highlights the attempts to regulate this multiplicity and replace it with a single coherent contamination. By acknowledging the multiple enactments of contamination, our approach offers a more nuanced understanding that could help stakeholders rethink the remediation and redevelopment of urban brownfields beyond simplistic technical solutions or neoliberal policy imperatives.
]]>India continues to modernize, and the legacy of political modernity rooted in the European Enlightenment continues to reify itself in India through the performative practices of the body politic. The body politic is a totalized conceptualization of a society imagined in the form of a body, with real exclusionary effects on those without citizenship rights. This body politic is made real through performances of popular sovereignty, bureaucratic state practices and liberal democratic electoral procedures performed during urban development processes. Ethnographic accounts of politics of slum rehabilitations in Pune show that the modern body politic is indeed performatively practised, and reshaped, by the very bodies that are expected to be alienated for the making of the body politic. Bodies meet one another in different spaces and times and generate the possibility of reshaping the liberal body politic into relational and affective bodily politics. Together, bodies become both the site and the means through which political modernity is reshaped in India.
]]>External forces always shape the social construction of ‘the local’. In this article we offer a framework for understanding how external players and strategies reconfigure the social and symbolic character of local culture for new investments and new populations. We aim not only to propose a theory of urban cultural processing by nonlocals—what we call ‘urban cultural terraforming’—but to identify pressure points for local groups to make claims on or even commandeer reshaping local culture. Using two cases, casino development in a deindustrialized city and state-designated cultural districts, we illustrate how ‘cultural terraformers’ use identifiable strategies (e.g. colonization of local sentiment, re-creating partnerships and respatializing) to change local culture, and how groups struggle to avoid marginalization.
]]>In this article I question notions of urban liminality by foregrounding the temporal, spatial and experiential dimensions underpinning their formations. I focus on liminal practices of inhabitation in the context of a housing squat in Rome, Italy, by investigating how a permanent housing deprivation condition, once politically organized in a squatted building, can anchor processes of empowerment and political mobilization. To do so, I put forward a rereading of liminality, not necessarily as a temporary state but rather as a more comprehensive spatial–temporal assemblage, by offering a tripartite reading of liminal conditions in their spatial, temporal and experiential dimensions. My goal is to offer an analysis of urban and housing liminality that transcends totalizing narratives of exceptionality, temporariness or straightforward annihilation, advancing instead a more nuanced reading—where liminality can be seen either as a vehicle for social depotentiation or as the grounds for collective forms of emancipatory practices.
]]>Cities are critical sites for understanding, and potentially ameliorating, the effects of global ecological change, the climate emergency and natural resource depletion. Contemporary cities are sociomaterially connected through global markets, trade and transportation, placing ever-increasing demands on the natural environment and generating dangerous pollutants and emissions. Current approaches to address these environmental crises are dominated by neoliberal forms of ‘green’ urban development, carbon accounting and techno-economic solutions, which extend corporate control over cities and tend to entrench inequality. A more strategic approach for enabling ecologically sustainable and equitable urban futures is urgently needed. We present five strategies for urban ecological futures in the global North, derived from qualitative and ethnographic empirical research with international eco-communities, which open up discussions about how to tackle this challenge by acknowledging the role and potential of: (1) non-extractive community economies; (2) democratic processes of co-operative action; (3) social approaches to resource management; (4) participatory collaborative governance; and (5) urban heterogeneity and social justice. We explore the relational, contested and contextual processes through which these approaches could become embedded in urban policy and planning, thereby offering the strategic capacity required to move towards truly sustainable cities.
]]>In this article I aim to shed light on boat dwelling as an increasingly popular housing practice in the UK. I investigate the changing nature of this practice in times of housing crisis and of the connection between formal and informal approaches, and discuss how decentralized urban actors influence and safeguard their visions of housing. My investigation concentrates on three intertwined strategies boaters in Oxford use to deal with growing regularization and commodification pressures: (non)compliance, formalization and staying under the radar. My findings challenge several assumptions about housing informality in the global North and document the diverse trajectories that informal processes may take. My analysis reveals that informal and semi-formal solutions are not simply ‘tolerated’ or ‘overlooked’ by the state, but co-produced by urban dwellers through a repertoire of everyday actions and ad hoc advocacy approaches. The construction of specific trajectories of informal housing emerges at the interface of complex agendas and attitudes that go beyond the generalized roles attributed to the key urban sectors.
]]>We study the role of bargaining as a barrier to migration in the equilibrium of a two-region world with imperfectly competitive labour markets. Equilibrium migration is jointly determined by relative labour market bargaining powers, productivity and costs of migration. If migrants complement host factors, higher migration generally benefits both source and host economies. An enhancement of the bargaining power of typically weak migrant workers in host regions improves welfare.
]]>This study seeks answers to the question: ‘Under what conditions do communities with migration experience in refugee-receiving states become more open toward accepting more refugees and why?’. The research seeks answers to this question by examining the attitudes of individuals (N = 37) from Turkey who have been living in Germany for at least a year and who have sufficient familiarity with the characteristics of governance of mass migration in both countries. The findings suggest that the respondents are more pessimistic about the consequences of Turkey accepting more refugees in the future, while they are optimistic about the outcomes of the arrival of more refugees in Germany. This study posits that receiving communities' perceptions about the host state's regulatory and institutional capacity in managing mass migration and integration of refugees shape their attitudes toward the possibility of the influx of more refugees over time. The findings indicate that efficient mass migration governance in a receiving state is identified through four characteristics: (i) admission of educated refugees, (ii) proper refugee registration procedures, (iii) systematic integration processes, and (iv) effective monitoring and law enforcement mechanisms. The study concludes that local communities view public authorities as the key actors in managing the consequences of mass migration and establishing and sustaining good mass migration governance at the receiving state level is likely to facilitate positive attitudes towards accepting more refugees.
]]>Türkiye has a long history of hosting millions of refugees, but since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, it has emerged as the world's leading refugee-hosting country. Due to this fact, the frequency of refugee inflows to Türkiye has attracted us to explore refugees' macroeconomic impacts as the ongoing political and social debates in Türkiye regarding refugees are immensely focused on their economic impacts. Hence, this paper investigates the effect of refugees on unemployment in Türkiye. The study utilizes the Auto Regressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) Bounds Test approach from 1991 to 2021. Our results yield the pronounced positive and aggravating impact of refugees on unemployment rates in Türkiye. Türkiye's policymakers should focus on local economic policies to improve the refugees' formal integration into the labour market to resolve the negative economic effect of refugee hosting on the labour market.
]]>This article presents the main findings of a research study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of pathways to reintegration for citizens repatriated from Italy to Senegal and Nigeria through Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programmes. Based on the scientific debate on the subject, the article begins by offering an in-depth exploration of the issue of whether or not AVRR is truly voluntary, as well as the meaning of the term ‘reintegration’. It then illustrates the Italian AVRR system before presenting the methodology and results of the research carried out. In particular, the aim is to identify and analyse the main factors upon which the result of the reintegration of citizens who have used AVRR programmes depends, perhaps most notably the type of reception given to the returnee by friends and relatives who remained in their home country.
]]>Before full-scale war broke out in 2022, over 1 million Ukrainians resided legally in Poland. Within weeks of Russia's aggression, around 1.5 million new Ukrainian forced migrants had arrived, many of whom remain in Poland. As of September 2023, 970,000 Ukrainian refugees were still in Poland, where they enjoyed temporary protection status. This paper analyses data from a 2022 survey of both forcibly displaced and pre-war Ukrainian migrants with the aim of establishing what measures are needed to facilitate the economic integration of the former group. The two cohorts differ in terms of gender, age, family status, ways of seeking employment, employment situation and aspirations. Although 66 per cent of respondents had completed tertiary education, only 30 per cent of the forcibly displaced group had Polish-language skills. The paper recommends strategies for the provision of language education along with solutions to enable the labour market participation of this group and otherwise support their integration.
]]>Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple event stressors converged to exacerbate a growing mental health crisis in Canada with differing effects across status groups. However, less is known about changing mental health situations throughout the pandemic, especially among individuals more likely to experience chronic stress because of their disability and health status. Using data from two waves of a targeted online survey of people with disabilities and chronic health conditions in Canada (N = 563 individuals, June 2020 and July 2021), we find that approximately 25% of respondents experienced additional increases in stress and anxiety levels in 2021. These increases were partly explained by worsening perceived financial insecurity and, in the case of stress, additional negative financial effects tied to the pandemic. This paper understands mental health disparities as a function of social status and social group membership. By linking stress process models and a minority stress framework with a social model of disability, we allude to how structural and contextual barriers make functional limitations disabling and in turn, life stressors.
Au début de la pandémie de COVID-19, de multiples facteurs de stress ont convergé pour exacerber une crise de santé mentale croissante au Canada, avec des effets différents selon les groupes de statut. Cependant, on en sait moins sur l'évolution de la situation en matière de santé mentale tout au long de la pandémie, en particulier chez les personnes plus susceptibles de subir un stress chronique en raison de leur handicap et de leur état de santé. En utilisant les données de deux vagues d'une enquête en ligne ciblée sur les personnes handicapées et atteintes de maladies chroniques au Canada (N = 563 personnes, juin 2020 et juillet 2021), nous constatons qu'environ 25% des répondants ont connu des augmentations supplémentaires des niveaux de stress et d'anxiété en 2021. Ces augmentations s'expliquent en partie par l'aggravation de l'insécurité financière perçue et, dans le cas du stress, par les effets financiers négatifs supplémentaires liés à la pandémie. Dans cet article, les disparités en matière de santé mentale sont considérées comme une fonction du statut social et de l'appartenance à un groupe social. En reliant les modèles de processus de stress et un cadre de stress minoritaire à un modèle social du handicap, nous faisons allusion à la manière dont les barrières structurelles et contextuelles rendent les limitations fonctionnelles invalidantes et, à leur tour, les facteurs de stress dans la vie.
]]>In-depth explorations of LGBTQ attitudes among rural Americans are sparse and often rely upon sweeping stereotypes that cluster all perspectives into one broad statement such as “homophobia” in the country. As a result, little is known about the relationships between rurality and the stigmatization of LGBTQ people. In addition, though research demonstrates that men are less supportive of LGBTQ people than women are, these patterns are unclear among rural Americans. In the current study, data from a sample of U.S. adults aged 18–64 stratified by the U.S. census categories of age, gender, race/ethnicity, and census region collected from online panelists (N = 2,802, n = 492 rural Americans) are utilized to investigate the relationships between rurality and attitudes toward lesbian women, gay men, bisexual women, bisexual men, trans women, trans men, nonbinary people, queer women, and queer men. Specifically, we offer a test of Norm-Centered Stigma Theory with a focus on hetero-cis-normativity and intersecting experiences with social power (gender identity: cis women and cis men) as they relate to rurality and LGBTQ attitudes. Findings indicate that hetero-cis-normativity, rurality, and being a cisgender man are all significantly related to the stigmatization of LGBTQ people. Implications are provided.
]]>Researchers have paid little attention to child supervision in Laos, an ethnically-diverse country with a community-informal child protection system, and where many young children are regularly home alone or with another child. To explore what constitutes (in)adequate child supervision and its perceived effects, we conducted individual interviews with community leaders and professionals (n = 23) and focus group discussions with parents/adult caregivers (n = 74) and 12–17 year-old children (n = 51) in six rural villages in Saravane and Borikhamxay provinces. Adults and children in both provinces described similar understandings and support systems of child supervision. Mothers are the main caregivers of young children, and literate fathers contribute to supervising school-age children. Grandparents, older siblings and other relatives, teachers, and village authorities contribute substantively to child supervision. The main aims of supervision are child safety, socialization and moral development in cultural context. Parental unavailability due to employment, farming and migration; limited infrastructure; and lack of material resources are the main barriers to adequate supervision and may result in injuries, school dropout, teenage pregnancy and illicit drug use. Understanding the determinants, consequences, and patterns of child supervision across cultural and socio-economic groups is needed to inform culturally acceptable strategies to support children and families.
]]>The United Kingdom two-child policy was announced in 2015 and began to operate from April 2017. A mother claiming a range of means-tested benefits who had a third or subsequent child born after 6 April 2017 could not receive a child addition for them, while a new claimant with three or more children would now receive no more than a claimant with two children. Using data from nationally representative annual living conditions surveys for the period up to 2019/20, we find that larger families experienced substantial real income losses since the introduction of the two-child limit, with proportionally greater losses among those on lower incomes. Income losses among larger families were driven primarily by changes in income penalties to family characteristics, such as the presence of children under three, rather than changes in the distribution of these characteristics. Although this is not a causal analysis, these findings are consistent with a negative impact of the policy change on larger families' incomes.
]]>Temporary employment has been the core dimension of employment precariousness in Spain for decades. In December 2021, a labour market reform aimed at reducing the use of fixed-term contracts, which especially affected young people, was passed. This article compares the situation of young workers before and after this labour market reform, with the objective of identifying internal differences among this age group. The results show a substantial reduction in the prevalence of temporary employment after the reform, although they also show that temporary employment, as well as incipient forms of precariousness such as involuntary part-time employment, are more concentrated than before among the most disadvantaged in this age group, following traditional patterns of segmentation in the labour market. This article, therefore, provides insights into which profiles of young workers were better off after the reform and which were not, offering valuable lessons for other countries with similar labour market challenges.
]]>In the wake of South Africa's truth-telling experiment as part of its transition from apartheid to democracy, truth commissions have become one of the most utilized mechanisms for addressing past atrocities. While most truth commissions are established in countries undergoing “transition” to democratic governance or peace, increasingly, established democracies such as Canada, Norway, Sweden, and Finland have also undertaken such processes to address historical (and often, racial) injustices. The U.S. Department of State has denied the relevance of truth commissions to the United States for addressing its own history of racial injustice, however, the U.S. itself has been home to at least 13 official truth commissions (operating primarily at the state-, county-, and city-level) and numerous unofficial truth-telling processes emanating from civil society. In this article, I review literature on truth commissions with a focus on history and theorized importance, recent application to the more established democracies of the “Global North” and overall significance and limitations in terms of fostering racial justice and social transformation in what are primarily settler colonial states. I conclude by evaluating the state of this research area and by suggesting directions for future research.
]]>Historically, researchers and policymakers alike recognized the risk of poverty among large families, but family size is often neglected in the contemporary literature. This article revives an examination of the connections between family size and poverty risk for children with a focus on Germany. We take a child-centered perspective by analyzing a sample of 13–14 year-old children from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). First, we provide a detailed overview of the welfare and tax policies aimed at large families in Germany. Next, we estimate the poverty risk and prevalence for children in large families (looking at families with 3+ and 4+ children). Finally, we discuss how the policy and socio-economic context interacts with the risk of poverty. We identify that the means-tested social assistance scheme penalizes large families, while the child benefit would only acknowledge higher need of middle-income families with three or more children.
]]>Child to parent violence (CPV) is a form of family violence that has seen a growth in research attention over the past decade. However, little research has examined how this problem is understood by those outside of academia. This is despite recognition that public understandings of a particular social problem shape the landscape in which that problem plays out. To address this research gap, we analysed data from 463 public comments posted on YouTube in response to four UK news broadcasts that reported on the problem. Using a discourse analytic approach, we examined how posted comments framed the cause of, and solutions to, CPV. While a range of causes were identified, the posts predominantly blamed the parents, mobilizing child development discourses to attribute the cause of CPV to either parental use of violence, or to a lack of parental violence, towards children. The solutions offered reflect a penal populism that supports extremely punitive sanctions against children who engage in CPV. This study suggests that public campaign and education initiatives need to do more than raise public awareness about CPV—they must also inform the public about how broader social policy operates in relation to children, families and the state.
]]>Drawing on qualitative research conducted in El Salvador, the author examines the transnational fathering practices of Salvadoran immigrant men who were deported from the United States. By using a transnational fathering practices conceptual model, the author was able to examine the transnational fathering practices of deported men in El Salvador who had children in the U.S. This study revealed the harmful effects of U.S. immigration policies and enforcement practices on Salvadoran transnational families. The author focused on three key areas including deported father's (1) role in providing financially for their transnational families, (2) their efforts in maintaining their transnational family networks, and (3) their communication with transnational family members via information technology. First, Salvadoran fathers in this study shared their experiences attempting to provide financially for their transnational families. Secondly, deported fathers shared their desire to keep their transnational families together, their attempt to restore their strained relationships with their children, and recover from past traumas within their parent-child relationships. Lastly, Salvadoran fathers reported using technology to communicate with their transnational families. This study provides insight into the issues that transnational fathers and their children experience and the need for new policies to support family reunification efforts.
]]>We estimate the long-run impacts of telecommunication technologies, information and communication technology (ICT), and national leadership on private consumption in Malaysia. To accomplish this objective, the research employs the unit root and cointegration tests on a quarterly sample from 1995:Q1 to 2020:Q4. Our results show that private consumption, ICT, leadership quality and other determinants are cointegrated. In the long-run, we find that ICT and leadership quality both have a significance positive impact on private consumption. We also discovered that better ICT development and leadership quality will moderate the effects of disposable income on private consumption. Interestingly, the impact of ICT on private consumption is also found to be contingent upon the degree of leadership quality. Thus, policy initiatives aimed to improve ICT infrastructure and nurturing first-class leadership talents should be prioritised in an effort to promote private consumption, which eventually leads to economic growth and development.
]]>Diagnostic encounters can be seen as complex socio-material processes. Drawing on the new materialist ideas of Barad, we studied how an innovative technology became part of the intra-actions between different human and non-human materialities in a cervical cancer diagnostic process. While researching the development of a technology intended to improve cervical cancer detection, we carried out a series of observations of diagnostic encounters involving clinicians, patients and the device in a hospital. The intra-actions between the different materialities had rhythmic properties, repeated activities and timings that varied in intensity, for example, movements, exchanged looks, and talk that helped co-produce the diagnosis and maintain consent. Sadly, the device interfered with the rhythms, undermining the clinicians’ desire to adopt it, despite it being more accurate at diagnosing ill health than previous assistive technologies. Studying rhythms as part of diagnostic encounters could help with the design and subsequent integration of novel technologies in healthcare, because they encompass relationships created by human and non-human materialities. Importantly, highlighting the role of rhythms contributes another way diagnostic encounters are co-produced between clinicians and patients, and how they can be disrupted, improving the understanding of how consent is maintained or lost.
]]>The Treatment Programme for Families with Children in Andalusia is fundamentally aimed at promoting the integral development of children and adolescents through the strengthening of parental competences and family preservation strategies. In the last 20 years, this programme has been applied to over 75 000 families, involving about 150 000 children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of this family intervention programme on the quality of life and behaviour problems of the children. This quasi-experimental and longitudinal study had two non-randomized groups (intervention group and comparison group) and two evaluation measures (pre-treatment and post-treatment). The intervention group was constituted by 297 families (540 children) who had participated in the programme. The comparison group consisted of 95 families (138 children) at a similar risk level, although these families had not participated in the programme. The results showed a significant improvement in the quality of life of the children of the families that belonged to the intervention group, which was significantly greater than the evolution detected in the children of the families that belonged to the comparison group. The results of efficacy and efficiency of this type of practice constitute a quality criterion of evidence-based programmes and a requirement to maintain public investment.
]]>Norwegian youth in out-of-home care move three times as frequently as their peers. Such placement instability is linked to negative outcomes in terms of social attachment, well-being, educational achievements, health, and future opportunities. Norway implemented a new child welfare service reform in 2022 that increased the municipalities responsibilities for out-of-home care. The “incentive package” and “Barneløftet” were measures implemented to prepare the municipalities for these changes. This study evaluates how the implemented measures affect the number of moves within out-of-home care in Trøndelag county. An event-study design with difference-in-difference estimates was used to study the effect of the measures. The data are Norwegian registers that include most children in out-of-home care from 2013 to 2021. The findings of this study indicate that increased support for foster care homes significantly reduces the number of moves. Increased placement stability is associated with an increased sense of belonging, thus facilitating positive development.
]]>Policy feedback scholars argue that experiences with government shape political participation. Administrative burden scholars posit that burdensome bureaucratic encounters deter political participation. Related quantitative studies take a top-down, deductive approach and test effects of single policies, yet people engage multiple programs, and all policies may not be equally salient in how they view the state. Using qualitative interviews, our inductive, “bottom-up” approach examines the most prominent policy domains in views of government shared across mothers with low incomes in the United States (n = 80). Mothers experienced a wide range of policies, and they detailed related administrative burdens, but this was not the focus in most of their views of the government. Many raised issue areas that hit close to home, such as affordable child care or children's recreation programs. They often drew on a sense of collective motherhood in their view of government, including how it could facilitate efforts to raise children.
]]>Scholars and advocates are at odds about how to achieve higher levels of child safety and permanency. Calls for change include the recent upEND focus on eradication of child welfare services to a radical refocusing of the present system towards prevention/early intervention. To clarify the implications of reform over abolition, we seek to portray a future in which the abolition of child welfare has occurred, in juxtaposition to maintaining four core elements of established child maltreatment programmes around the world: (1) receiving and responding to community signals about the risk to children; (2) assessment of need coupled with a proportionate response; (3) rights protections to ensure fairness when placement outside the family is required; and (4) procedures for accountability and quality improvement. For each of these functions, we outline abolitionist advocates' positions and implications for children and parents. Across these elements, we delineate how assigning these responsibilities to communities, as suggested by upEND, would likely (1) exaggerate racial and economic inequities and (2) create structural barriers that would increase harm to children. We suggest several evidence-informed enhancements to practice, research and policy that would mitigate these inequities while also increasing safety and permanency.
]]>Welfare state crises have long fascinated researchers. This introduction distills the special issue's insights on this enduring topic. Overall, the articles indicate that future debates surrounding crisis types and responsive policies will remain important. Simple or singular crisis explanations prove elusive. Uncertainty persists regarding whether crises are episodic or constant and occur on macro or micro levels. Diverse welfare regimes further complicate crisis interpretations. Perhaps academic discourse should shift from “crisis” frameworks towards framing pressures as ongoing variations. These encompass struggles over legitimacy, demographic changes, financing dilemmas, and societal battles over resources and options. Specifically, the articles reveal the limitations of sweeping crisis narratives, emphasizing the complex, gradual pressures shaping social policies. Welfare systems balance simultaneous stresses rather than experiencing overarching crises. Even pivotal events rarely trigger seismic shifts, as continuity typically prevails over radical departures. In summary, this special issue provides nuance to welfare state debates by delving into multifaceted, incremental change rather than superficial crisis rhetoric. The articles underscore the diversity of pressures and responses across varied regimes, challenging simplistic crisis notions. This highlights the need for constant welfare state adaptation despite the absence of outright crises.
]]>An ecosocial approach implies integrating social and ecological sustainability on all levels of social work practice (Boetto, British Journal of Social Work, 2017:47(1), 48–67). This survey study explored the frequency of ecosocial work practices in Finnish social work and the factors that enable or hinder adopting ecosocial work in social work practice. The study found that ecosocial work practices are quite rarely applied in Finnish social work. It indicates that personal interest in and knowledge of the ecosocial approach, organizational practices, and client attitudes play an important role. Social welfare professionals as well as the organizations where they work should be informed of environmental issues affecting human wellbeing and of the ecosocial approach in social work. This study examines the present state of the ecosocial approach in Finnish social work and provides opportunities to reflect on the relationship between social work and the natural environment.
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