42228 research outputs found
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Locked down? Speaking from the shadows and silence for survival
Get PDFI write to speak of silencing and the suffering of survivors of domestic abuse in the family courts of England and Wales and the struggle to find a voice to articulate the hardship faced in this lockdown through court. It has taken the whole period of lockdown to find the words, the courage to keep writing, even as tears stream down my face, even as I sit in a virtual court hearing, even as my voice breaks as I fight to be heard. This text is a glimpse into a world that is hidden in plain view, where I will share fragments of my lived experience. I am scared to write but know I speak or am lost in the silent void that I have known for too long. Domestic abuse and the taboo around it screams at me to remain unseen, hidden, and invisible. I keep returning to find the words, as the very real cost of not naming the violence and reaching out to speak through it is too high. The fragmented account that follows is a raw telling of living life through the court system; it is written to share a voice that was unheard in the family law court and has been minimized, side-lined, ordered, and silenced through 3 years of the court journey and the embodied effects this has had. It moves between space and time to show a journey endured. Can you hear me? Will you bear witness
Fashion storytelling through Dress and Lego Mini-Figures: Mary, Queen of Scots
Get PDFFalkland Palace in the Kingdom of Fife, Scotland, is a royal palace built in the early sixteenth century. The Palace was the country residence of the Stuart king and queens and due to a recent restoration, the Palace’s historic royal arms, centuries-old paintings, and reproductions of period costumes can now be seen by the public. Yet between the meticulously curated dresses, materials, and legacy of Royals past are hidden more modern props—Lego mini-figures. Curated as a Lego trail, it is aimed at engaging and teaching young children in the story of Mary and her forebears and the hunt for these small miniatures takes visitors through the full range of public, leisure, and private areas of the Palace. What narrative constituents are coming into play here, to work in synergistic union between environmental context (Palace) and material (Lego and textile/dress) content? What value is there in using miniatures as playful story props, to support the telling and retelling of historic legacies? This chapter explores how these Lego figures act as fashionable and transformative symbolic and aesthetic thirds, energising storied characters, events, and plots for contemporary visitors, and dynamically prompting active storytelling in the present
The Forensic Ethics of Scientific Communication
Get PDFAn important part of the work of forensic scientists is communicating accurate information to lay factfinders under conditions of uncertainty. It is an ethically demanding role as it obliges scientists to disclose information that may call their own authority into question. Similar issues arise in other areas of applied science, for example climate science. This article builds the ethical framework for scientific communication under uncertainty proposed by Keohane, Lane and Oppenheimer and argues that with some modifications their work provides useful guidance for forensic scientists. It also questions whether the current system of Streamlined Forensic Reporting is compatible with that framework
Affect and emotions in sports work: A research agenda
Get PDFAffect and emotions are integral to everyday social life, and they have, in recent years, been the subject of increased sociological theorising. Despite significant mainstream advances in the study of affect and emotions in formal and informal organisations, sports work is largely understood and practiced as a technocratic, disembodied, and linear activity. Indeed, while an embryonic body of literature has provided useful insights regarding the micropolitical dimensions of sports work, the role of affect and emotions and their related implications for sports workers remain little understood. To attend to this lacuna, this paper brings together in conversation select theorisations of affect and emotions to highlight how they might be productively drawn upon to a) advance our understanding of sports work and, relatedly, b) to promote the development of more ethical sports work practices on the other
The power of relationship-based supervision in supporting social work retention: A case study from long-term ethnographic research in child protection
Get PDFSupervision is a core component of professional support and development in social work. In many settings, and perhaps particularly in children’s services, it is valued as crucial in safe decision-making, practice reflection, professional development and staff support. Research has demonstrated that supervision and staff support also contribute to social worker retention in child welfare services. Drawing on data gathered in a 15-month ethnographic, longitudinal study of child protection work that included observations of supervision, we were able to observe the impact of supportive supervisory relationships on social workers’ decision-making about staying in their current workplace. This article presents a single case that demonstrates the potential impact of effective relationship-based supervision on retention and calls for a more humane approach to social work supervision against dominant managerial themes that have increasingly burdened the profession
Developing a framework for radical and incremental social innovation in rural areas
Get PDFSocial innovation (SI) has been championed as an integral feature of community-led rural development. However, the choice of the term “innovation” prompts a number of questions about the intensity and novelty of SI initiatives. In this paper, these issues are examined through the lens of radical and incremental innovation theory. By analysing features of radical and incremental SI, we can better understand the different social reconfigurations that can respond effectively to a range of rural needs and opportunities. The article aims at explaining the meaning and operationalisation of radical and incremental SI in rural areas. A multiple case study method was adopted for the research. Empirical data was gathered from two initiatives located in rural areas of Spain and Scotland and the main methods used were semi-structured interviews and qualitative content analysis. The findings illustrate how radical and incremental SIs can lead to sustainable development and social change. However, they imply social reconfigurations of different intensity that respond to the different attitudes and aspirations of the actors involved. The paper shows three diverging development trajectories for SI initiatives and discusses the role of conflict, skills and planning in these processes. Further, the more fluid nature of SI compared to technological innovation is clarified. In the conclusion we argue that public actors should identify the different aspirations of local actors and set the stage for the activation of the local society. In radical SI processes, conflict management mechanisms and new skills need to be promoted
‘Go Home, Get a Job, and Pay Some Taxes to Replace a Bit of What You’ve Wasted’: Stigma Power and Solidarity in Response to Anti-Open-Cast Mining Activism in the Coalfields of Rural County Durham, UK
Get PDFThis article explores the nexus of stigmatisation and environmental activism in the Campaign to Protect Pont Valley against open-cast mining in the northeast of England. Drawing on Imogen Tyler’s work, our analysis examines stigma power as embedded in wider efforts to police and repress environmental dissent and defend core neoliberal values. Examination of qualitative interviews with campaigners, drive-past insults shouted at activists, online police statements and public responses, and online trolling of activists by mining employees and the wider public reveals stigmatisation to be a process of power, informed by neoliberal ideologies (of the threat and danger of worklessness), and reproduced through neoliberal power structures (the state, corporate power, and popular culture), shaped by the insecurities that are specific to social and political contexts. We show how the state mobilises stigma through ideologies associated with austerity and the hostile environment to delegitimate activism through association with worklessness/idleness and the inaccurate representation of activists as part of broader processes of criminalisation, policing, and management of protest. In an area renowned for its work ethic and high levels of unemployment, the work of environmental activists is dismissed as illegitimate, drawing on tropes associated with the disciplining of the so-called deviant working classes. The historical importance of coal and activism in the defence of the ‘mining way of life’ feeds into dominant narratives associated with work and individualism. Pride associated with coal mining is reconfigured and forms the basis of insults against those (working class and otherwise) who are recast as ‘outsiders’, ‘wasting time and money’ in resisting environmental destruction. Finally, we examine how activists were able to largely deflect stigmatisation through collective engagement, solidarity, and political analysis of the process they were subject to
Is socialism back? A review of contemporary economic literature
Get PDFThe paper deals with the recent resurgence of interest in the concept of “socialism” from an economic perspective. The most significant contemporary proposals for a new model of socialism are surveyed across five major thematic areas: socialism as a voluntary endeavor and socialist ethics; socialism as a process of democratization; socialism, efficiency and profit maximization; the problem of planning and the new calculation debate; and, socialism as a means versus socialism as an end. A common framework to assess the new blueprints is constructed to identify the likely directions of the research on these themes in the near future
Assessing the influence of institutions on students’ entrepreneurial dynamics: evidence from European post-socialist and market-oriented economies
Get PDFThis paper theorizes how institutional conditions influence students’ entrepreneurship dynamics (e.g., nascent and active), especially these institutional conditions related to environments where students are mostly exposed (e.g., university and country), as well as the moderation effect of the type of economy (e.g., post-socialist and marked-oriented). We tested our proposed theoretical model in a sample of 91,105 students from 557 European universities located in nine post-socialist economies and nine market-oriented economies. The results show the important role of informal institutions in the country (societal perceptions) and university (students’ perception) on students’ entrepreneurial dynamics, especially the moderation of post-socialist and market-oriented economies on the informal institutions that influence nascent entrepreneurs. Several implications for policymakers and university managers emerge from this study
Biodegradable biopolymers for active packaging: demand, development and directions
Get PDFThe food packaging industry is a major contributor to plastic waste. The end-of-life scenario of fossil-fuel derived plastics often has a detrimental effect on the natural environment, including the formation of microplastic pollution and increased GHG emissions. Therefore, alternative food packaging materials are required to overcome these effects and reduce the unsustainable use of plastics. The sustainability of biopolymers is related to the valorisation of waste, the abundance of the source, and the biodegradability of the material. Conventional fossil-fuel based plastics often have the ideal properties to protect food from environmental conditions which enhance food degradation. Therefore, bioplastics require equal or superior mechanical and barrier properties to outcompete traditional plastics. Here we review the use of biodegradable biopolymers for active food packaging, discussing bioplastics at the forefront of active packaging research. Particular attention is paid to the source of the biopolymer, the film properties, and different scale-up technologies used to produce active packaging materials. The variation in bioplastic properties upon incorporation of active agents is also explored. Moreover, the controversies relating to biodegradable certifications are discussed. This review builds upon current literature by providing a specific overview of biopolymers in the context of their use as active packaging materials. Overall, it is evident that active packaging prospects will rely on; (i) bio-based and biodegradable bioplastics (ii) optimising the properties of bioplastics containing active agents, (iii) adhering to strict safety regulations of food contact