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Useful Idiots 2.0:Saving ‘Great Russian Literature’ from Cancel Culture or Extolling Russian Imperialism?
No full textIn early 2024, a new prize for independent (émigré) Russian literature was founded in Switzerland. With so many authors and their books banned in Putin’s Russia, it appears a laudable initiative. Yet, the prize’s goals reflect those of official Russian cultural propaganda and entirely disregard the context of Russia’s imperialist war on Ukraine. As a result, consciously or not, the prize’s founders and experts support Russian imperialism and colonial wars of conquest
The legacy of the cod fishery collapse:understanding wind energy acceptance in Newfoundland through energy justice and place
No full textAs renewable energy grows globally, understanding community acceptance of wind energy projects is crucial for ensuring a fair and equitable energy future. Procedural and distributional justice have been widely identified as central to shaping community acceptance. However, there are increasing calls to examine how local historical context plays a role not only in influencing acceptance but also in how residents rationalise their justice considerations. Drawing on energy justice and place attachment/disruption theory, this study investigates how historical experiences with resource development influence perceptions of fairness and acceptance of onshore wind energy in Newfoundland, Canada. Based on semi-structured interviews (n = 22) and surveys (n = 146) with residents living near existing wind projects, this study finds high acceptance of current projects (76–100 %), but a distinct pattern of ‘sceptical optimism’ toward future developments. On one hand, residents' attachment to their once-thriving communities and positive experiences with current wind projects contribute to support for future development. On the other, residents' optimism is tempered by hard-learned lessons from the previous resource developments. The findings underscore the need to integrate recognition justice and local historical context more fully into energy justice and acceptance frameworks, highlighting how past (in)justices inform both community support and the evolving understanding of fairness of energy transitions
A fight against all odds? The causal effects of perceived political efficacy and protest repression on motivation to engage in normative and non-normative climate protest
No full textDespite increasing concern about climate change and widespread demonstrations demanding urgent action, governments worldwide are failing to meet climate pledges, and many have introduced anti-protest laws that limit citizens' ability to hold them accountable. We investigate the impacts of the political efficacy of climate protests and the risks of protest repression on people's motivation to engage in both conventional, normative and radical, non-normative pro-environmental collective action. We ran two experiments (total N = 443) among residents in the UK, where recent legislative changes have severely restricted climate protests. Using fabricated news articles, we manipulated political efficacy and repression in a 2x2 between-subjects design. Our manipulations successfully shifted perceptions of political efficacy and the risks of repression. However, they did not directly affect action intentions. Rather, these factors impacted action intentions indirectly by shaping other motives. Specifically, political efficacy exerted a positive indirect effect on normative (but not non-normative) action intentions by shifting people's beliefs about the value of their contribution (Study 1) and the likelihood that taking action will strengthen the movement (Study 2). In line with a backlash effect, and suggesting that restrictions on protest could further spark resistance, repression exerted a positive indirect effect on both normative and non-normative action intentions by generating moral outrage. Exploratory moderation analyses provided further nuance to our findings. For instance, politicised identity was found to attenuate adverse effects of high political efficacy on moral obligation, as well as intensifying the association between protest repression and moral outrage. Our research provides evidence of the causal effects of efficacy and repression on protest intentions, with implications for mobilisation efforts in climate movements.</p
A rocky planet in its star’s ‘habitable zone’ could be the first known to have an atmosphere – here’s what we found
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The reconfiguration of <i>mestizaje</i> and whiteness in the diaspora
No full textAs a light-skinned mestiza Mexican woman, I have enjoyed the privileges of ‘whiteness’ in Latin America. In this article, I talk about how my whiteness has helped me in the development of my own fieldwork with Latin American migrants in London, that is among other mestizas who have similar understandings of the complexities and contradictions of mestizaje and whiteness in the region. I engage with the literature on white passing to explore the shifting terrain of ‘passing’ through time in a new context in the diaspora. Reflecting on the embodiment of my own mestizaje, I explore the problems that this cultural notion has produced in my country, and the ways in which I have come to understand and reformulate it while living as a non-white person in the UK. I do it via my personal experience of race and ethnicity, of racism abroad, and through my own work with Latin American migrants
Time on their minds:narrative reasoning and leaders’ construction of temporality in foreign policy
No full textScholars have identified several temporal challenges in foreign policymaking, such as variable time horizons and maintaining commitment or resolve over time. While the behavioural turn has emphasised leaders and their subjective perceptions, research often relies on rationalist conceptions of objective and linear time and struggles to assess leaders’ subjective perceptions of it. This paper theorises time as an intrinsic aspect of narrative reasoning in foreign policy, introducing a ‘temporal definition of the situation’ (TDoS) framework to capture leaders’ situation-specific subjective time perceptions. I then operationalise the TDoS framework’s key temporal features and show how it can be empirically examined. The value of the TDoS is illustrated by assessing the temporal perceptions of Bush and Obama regarding Iran’s nuclear programme, showing how their distinct definitions of the foreign policy situation shaped their subjective time perceptions and their corresponding responses. I conclude by discussing how this advancement can enhance behavioural research, provide insights into the ‘why now?’ questions surrounding leaders’ actions, and challenge existing understandings of time’s impact on foreign policymaking
The impact of mild cognitive impairment on healthcare utilization and costs:AUK Biobank study
No full textINTRODUCTION: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is common in older adults, but the burden on patients and health systems is not well understood. We aimed to estimate the impact of MCI on healthcare utilization and costs.METHODS: This was a matched cohort study in UK Biobank comparing healthcare costs and Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia incidence rates in participants with MCI to propensity score-matched participants without MCI.RESULTS: Of 164,508 eligible participants, 6605(4%) had cognitive testing scores consistent with MCI. Ten-year inpatient costs were 7.6% higher in MCI versus matched no-MCI participants, while 6-year primary care costs were 9.1% higher. Among MCI participants, AD dementia incidence rates were substantially higher than in non-MCI participants (7.2 5-year incidence rate ratio 95% CI: 3.3 to 15.7), and eventual AD dementia accrued higher additional inpatient costs (mean £20,199) over 10 years.DISCUSSION: MCI is characterized by modestly higher healthcare utilization and costs. Subsequent AD dementia diagnosis was strongly associated with costs
The role of interior dynamics and differentiation on the surface and atmosphere of lava planets
No full textLava planets are rocky exoplanets that orbit so close to their host star that their dayside is hot enough to melt silicate rock. Their short orbital periods ensure that lava planets are tidally locked into synchronous rotation, with permanent day and night hemispheres. Such asymmetric magma oceans have no analogues in the Solar System and their internal dynamics and evolution are still poorly understood. Here we report the results of numerical simulations showing that solid–liquid fractionation has a major impact on the composition and evolution of lava planets. We explored two different interior thermal states. If the interior is fully molten, the atmosphere will reflect the planet’s bulk silicate composition, and the nightside solid surface is gravitationally unstable and constantly replenished. If the interior is mostly solid with only a shallow magma ocean on the dayside, the outgassed atmosphere will lack in Na, K and FeO, and the nightside will have an entirely solid mantle with a cold surface. We show that these two end-member cases can be distinguished with observations from JWST, offering an avenue to probe the thermal and chemical evolution of exoplanet interiors