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This rustic muse: Developing a political voice in the poetry of Patrick Brontë
No full textThis article examines a range of the Reverend Patrick Brontë’s poetry–a much neglected body of work in Brontë criticism–and argues that it was here that Patrick was able to develop a political voice and a sense of literature as a vehicle for political exploration and debate. In considering Brontë’s two collections, Cottage Poems (1811) and The Rural Minstrel (1813), in the contexts of war abroad and industrial, economic and social unrest at home, the article explores what the poetry tells us about Brontë’s political thinking, his relationship with political structures and hierarchies, and his anxieties about political cohesion and security. What emerges is a poet whose work, written under the guise of his ‘rustic muse’, offers fascinating interventions into contemporaneous political debates regarding poverty, industrialisation, the city, community, the place of religion in society, nation-state formation and the nature of liberty and equality more generally
When Is China: Playing with History in Tales of Qianlong and Towards the Republic
No full textBased on a comparative analysis of Tales of Qianlong (1991) and Towards the Republic (2002), this chapter examines the censorship discourse surrounding historical drama in postsocialist China. It explores how the Chinese state’s ideological imperative to shape historical consciousness, especially under post-Tiananmen patriotic education, intersects with the entertainment function of television. While Qianlong was well received and uncensored, exemplifying a moment of relative leniency in representing imperial history, Republic provoked censorship despite extensive efforts at ideological compliance. By asking “When is China?”, this chapter interrogates how historical representations are policed and legitimised within broader state efforts to define nationhood, instil patriotism, and assert political authority. When history is playfully represented, official anxiety over how audiences might interpret or misread the past remains ever-present. Historical dramas thus become contested sites where pedagogical expectations, political sensitivities, and the need to entertain coexist uneasily. This chapter highlights how the imagined vulnerability of audiences fuels the regulatory impulse and reveals the stakes of narrating the nation’s past on the popular screen
BIM Diffusion Prediction System for SMEs: An Ensemble of Ensembles Machine Learning Approach
No full textPrevious studies have focused on explaining the BIM adoption or implementation, and little is known about the diffusion trend. Thus, this study evaluates the BIM diffusion process in SMEs with a predictive machine learning modelling approach using the Nigerian construction industry as a case study.
Empirical questionnaire was employed for BIM diffusion data collection, and the collected data was cleaned and balanced with hybridized SMOTE +Tomek links. Ensemble machine learning algorithms were applied to the collected data to develop predictive models for the BIM diffusion process. The optimized and best-performing models were stacked via a new model (ensemble of ensembles) and deployed in an interactive Python-based Application - BIM Diffusion Prediction System (BIM-DPS) - using Streamlit framework.
The most important features for BIM awareness in SMEs are observability, top management support, and normative pressure, while the top predictors of intention to adopt BIM in SMEs are compatibility, top management support, and behaviour. These sets of the same features have different impacts on awareness and adoption. Also, these features are from technology, organisation and environment contexts of the TOE framework and underscore the social-technical nature of BIM, which should be reflected in strategies to drive proliferation.
The study highlights the strong predictive performance of stacked ensemble models. It provides an easy-to-use application to forecast the behaviour of firms to mitigate risks and develop tailored interventions
Social entrepreneurship, empowerment of women experiencing homelessness and gender equality
No full textThe relationship between social entrepreneurship and social change continues to generate interest among researchers. Drawing on Kabeer’s conceptualisation of empowerment and additionally, the lens of intersectionality, paradox of empowerment and change agents for gender equality, we consider the practices of a social enterprise supporting the empowerment of women experiencing homelessness in the UK. We reflect on the motivations and drivers behind its work, the extent to which the women were able to access and control resources, and the change agents enabling this transformation. While the practices of the social enterprise in our case study positively affected women’s empowerment, they also bring to the fore several areas for reflection for social entrepreneurship research; the incorporation of intersectionality into advocacy for marginalised women such as those in our study, the role of male leaders in advancing gender empowerment and the need to find the delicate balance between empowerment on the one hand, and paternalism and suppression on the other
Edgy in the ‘right’ way: Meeting pent-up demand for youth-oriented local content on Saudi TV
No full textDespite accounting for some 60 per cent of the population, Saudi Arabia’s under-30s spent a long time not seeing themselves on screen, except in comedy, satire and drama they made themselves and circulated on YouTube. Things have changed spectacularly under the transformational Vision 2030 project spearheaded by the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, launched in 2016 and aimed first and foremost at youth. Drawing on insights from cultural proximity theory, this article explores how a state-sponsored emphasis on Saudi identity and national unity has shaped changes in television production structures and content aimed at engaging young audiences
Exhausted bodies, crystal worlds: Indigenous relationality and more-than-human care in Amazonian films
No full textThis chapter proposes an analysis of the fabulation of indigenous conceptual worlds in the Amazonian films A febre (The Fever, 2020) and Chuva é cantoria na aldeia dos mortos (The Dead and the Others, 2018). Resulting from a collaborative process between the directors and indigenous actors, the films narrate the exhaustion of their protagonists. Using the trope of exhaustion as an affective embodiment of trauma and grief, as well as a depletion of possibilities, I argue that the films move towards a fabulation of different epistemological dimensions that respond to the conflicts present in the encounter between different (life)worlds to propose possibilities of healing, care, and coexistence in times of crisis. I contend that both films achieve this through their exploration of dreams in their narrative and aesthetic constructions. Finally, I examine how the films mobilise non-Western epistemic dimensions and systems of knowledge to make visible a more-than-human engagement with the life-worlds of the forest and indigenous subjectivities
An investigation of learner types and their unique preferences on the work-based learning (WBL) model: a case of quantity surveying apprenticeship
No full textDegree Apprenticeships (DA) have grown rapidly as a policy-driven response to skills shortages,particularly in Quantity Surveying (QS), where apprentices integrate occupational skills with aca-demic learning through Work-Based Learning (WBL). However, completion rates remain lowerthan expected, potentially due to challenges in developing apprentices’ professional identity.This study examines different apprentice profiles and their impact on identity formation andWBL preferences. A descriptive review of literature was conducted to explore debates on DAand WBL pedagogies, followed by semi-structured interviews and Q-methodology to captureand analyse diverse apprentice perspectives and categorise them based on their characteristics.The findings suggest four distinct apprentice profiles: (i) proactive careerists, (ii) studious work-ers, (iii) resilient strivers, and (iv) university enthusiasts. Alongside these learner types, the studyidentified key successes such as employer involvement and professional recognition, as well aschallenges linked to workload, delivery models, and identity. This identification provides a foun-dation for optimising WBL through curriculum adjustments, stronger university–industry collab-oration, and diversified assessment methods tailored to different learner strengths. This researchcontributes to ongoing efforts on enhancing DA programmes to promote social mobility andwiden participation. The findings highlight the need for apprentice trailblazer groups to considervarious delivery modes for DA, offering a more adaptable approach to target different catego-ries of apprentices, leading to improved completion rates and enhanced graduate outcomes. Byadopting adaptable and inclusive WBL frameworks that integrate both structured and adaptablelearning pathways, institutions can better align with apprentice needs and support professionalidentity development, engagement, and long-term success
Sufficient Gravity before the International Criminal Court
No full textThe book explores the notion of sufficient gravity under Article 17(1)(d) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
Decolonial Entangled Ethnographic Research: Transformative Collaborations with the UK Alevi Community over the Last Fifteen Years
No full textThe vibrant British Alevi community has settled in London and other parts of the UK since the late 1980s, constituting the largest population of Kurdish Alevis outside of Turkey. Their religion is Alevism, but they are often mistakenly identified as Turkish and Muslim, contributing to their invisibility in this country. We have worked with this marginalised community for at least the last 15 years, witnessing significant changes as it gained public recognition and in how we approach our collaboration. Our main priority is political, with academic/methodological rigour secondary. Our aim is always to work collaboratively with and for the community to achieve social justice outcomes in partnership with them. This entails putting their concerns at the forefront of the agenda and co-producing knowledge, rather than simply telling their story. In this article, we present our research as a ‘decolonial, entangled ethnography’, which best describes how our work has evolved, aiming to capture its complexity and commitment to social justice activism. Moreover, we situate ourselves in relation to the community and our involvement with them, using the projects we have undertaken to address issues relating to youth, religion and identity, and how our research practice has evolved, changing both us and our approach. We identify key principles of decolonial entangled ethnographic research to achieve transformative social justice outcomes with the Alevi community
