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Sustainability‐Oriented Innovation and Circular Economy Transitions: Evidence From the UK Textile and Clothing Industry
No full textThe transition to a circular economy (CE) in the textile and clothing (TC) industry is frequently attributed to sustainability‐oriented innovation (SOI), yet empirical understanding of the systemic conditions under which SOI enables CE remains underdeveloped. This study addresses the gap by offering a novel, context‐specific analysis of how consumer behaviour and institutional quality shape the effectiveness of SOI in a high‐consumption, developed economy context. Drawing on survey data from 280 UK‐based textile and clothing firms and employing rigorous partial least squares‐structural equation modelling (PLS‐SEM), this study provides robust evidence that SOI has a significant positive influence on circular economy transitions (CET). However, this effect is contingent: it is strengthened by consumer willingness to buy and weakened by institutional voids. Notably, regulatory compliance, often assumed to drive sustainability, does not significantly moderate the relationship between the SOI and CET. These findings challenge linear models of innovation diffusion and reinforce a more relational, system‐aware understanding of circular transitions. The study makes an original theoretical contribution by modelling SOI as a second‐order construct and CET as a multidimensional outcome. It offers actionable insights for firms and policymakers by exposing the limitations of compliance‐led strategies and calling for more integrated, behaviourally informed approaches to managing innovation for sustainability
Streaming feminism? South Asian TV series by/about women
No full textFilms and TV series by and/or about women are among the most widely circulated content within South Asia. This is not a coincidence. The global expansion of VOD since the 2010s has coincided with the rise of a new global wave of militant feminism. Drawing on a long history of regional and intersectional alliances, in India and other South Asian countries the new feminist generation has been one of the most vociferous opponents of increasingly repressive forms of state power and socio-political control. ‘What a woman can and cannot do’ continues to be one of the most threaded discursive terrains over which national and regional politics are debated. And VOD-circulated TV series by and/or about women today fuel those debates.
And yet within the film industries of South Asia the rate of creative positions held by women barely reaches 10 percent. Corporate VOD platforms like Netflix, Amazon and Zee5 claim to promote women's access to the industry, but these claims remain unsubstantiated. To date no research exists on the impact of VOD on women’s access to creative roles or the percentage of content by women in VODs' libraries.
Taking off from the findings of the AHRC-funded South Asian Cinema and VOD Research Network (http://southasiavod.com/), this chapter asks: are the new forms of cultural exchange enabled by VOD entirely mediated by VOD companies? Can they be channels of transnational feminist dialogue, exchanges that are taking place across the region, below the radar of corporate interests and state control? By examining the circulation and aesthetics of a range of women-centred South Asian VOD series, the author considers how women filmmakers are moving within this new landscape, and how the pressures and opportunities that characterise it shape the VOD content they make
Leveraging diaspora finance for inclusive and sustainable rural entrepreneurship in the Indian Punjab
No full textDiaspora finance has been studied extensively for fostering inclusive economic participation, supporting innovation and value addition. The extent and seminal literature indirectly present diaspora finance as an informal source of finance for the families and relatives of the diasporan population. There is extensive research on the flow of diaspora remittances to the home country, but less is known about the utilisation of diaspora funds as a formally organised alternative financing source for promoting entrepreneurship, especially rural entrepreneurship and farming. However, the use of diaspora finance in rural entrepreneurship in the Indian Punjab is amiss. Therefore, this chapter reaches out to explores the linkages between diaspora finance and rural entrepreneurship by analysing the challenges and opportunities of utilising formally organised diaspora finance to promote rural entrepreneurship in the Indian Punjab. Using the qualitative approach, the findings suggest that remittances and transnational philanthropy provide critical financial resources that supplement inadequate domestic funding, especially in rural areas where formal financial services are limited. An innovative conceptual framework has been developed to conceptualise the utilisation of diaspora finance for empowering rural entrepreneurship to foster economic growth. The conceptual framework provides the context and explains the factors that inhibit the Punjabi diaspora's large-scale engagement in rural entrepreneurship and farming specifically. This study advances the understanding of the underutilisation of diaspora finance for rural entrepreneurship in the Indian Punjab. It emphasises the need for a supportive policy framework to leverage diaspora finance for sustainable rural entrepreneurship, inclusive growth and reducing rural-urban disparities
“We Only Have to Draw”: unearthing parallels between Xenakis and Oram in the design of KlangPad, a learner-focused graphic-composition tool
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Urban Shakespeare: Civic and Public Art in England's Second City
No full textWidely regarded as England’s second city, Birmingham is just thirty miles north of William Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon. As one enters the ceremonial county of Warwickshire in the West Midlands region where Birmingham lies, the road sign welcomes people to “Shakespeare’s county.” Yet, beyond the small market town of Stratford-upon-Avon, the industrial city of Birmingham boasts a long, fascinating, and often overlooked history with Shakespeare
Precarity, Precariousness, Homelessness and the Literature and Ethics of Responsiveness
No full textThis chapter uses examples from contemporary literature about homelessness and forcible displacement to identify literary intersections with response ethics and related concepts: recognition and framing; witnessing and address; relationality, dispossession and corporeality. I argue that literature on homelessness evokes elements of response ethics in action within the narratives but also that writing and reading these stories is a significant activity in witnessing and responding to the needs of others, particularly by stimulating critical self-reflection on our relative vulnerabilities and possible ethical actions
Forensic expert evidence: research approaches to judicial, juror, and lawyer decision-making
No full textIn the United States, forensic experts routinely testify in legal proceedings to help solve crime. In doing so, forensic experts interact with key legal actors. Judges will determine the admissibility of the expert’s evidence, deliver jury instructions, and decide appeals. Lawyers will present and challenge the expert evidence, and jurors will weigh the evidence as part of determining a verdict. In this space, advances in DNA testing have led to concerns about the reliability of expert opinions concerning forensic comparison techniques like fingerprint and firearm analysis, which have served the criminal justice system for decades. The National Academy of Sciences has reported on these concerns, including the limitations of judges, lawyers, and jurors when it comes to understanding forensic science evidence. Against this backdrop, this chapter shares three research approaches developed by the authors to deepen understanding of judicial, juror, and lawyer decision-making about forensic science in context. It concludes with ideas for future research, including the relevance of these approaches to legal debates in England and Wales, Canada, and Australia
What are the functions of daily prayers?
No full textṢalāt, the daily obligatory prayers, according to Muslims, is the most regular form of worship and a highly praised pillar of faith leading to salvation