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"Shakespeare in Shoreditch": chapter in Cultures of London: Legacies of Migration
No full textThe neighbourhood of Shoreditch, in north east London, has a long history of immigrants: Romans, Walloons, Huguenots, and many more came here to settle and work. This is in part due to its location, just outside the old City walls and therefore free, at least in the 16th and 17th centuries, from some of the stricter City laws. One immigrant who was rumoured to live in Shoreditch and who certainly worked there was William Shakespeare, who began his career working at a playhouse called The Theatre, which stood next to what is now a branch of Foxton’s on New Inn Yard, south-east of the Old Street roundabout. This chapter suggests that Shakespeare’s plays reflect upon the changing faces of London, and specifically this neighbourhood and its many centuries of immigration
Social Interactions Matter: Is Grey Wolf Optimizer a Particle Swarm Optimization Variation?
Get PDFMany swarm-based algorithms are proposed using different inspirations from nature with the fact that they perform better than older versions. At the same time, some can resemble similar computational performances regardless of their inspirations. To understand the mechanisms of such similarities, recent works have analyzed and compared swarm-based algorithms via a network based on the information flow shared collectively. Here, we modeled networks of the social behavior of GWO (from wolves) and PSO (from birds) algorithms to investigate the extent of their similarities considering their temporal dynamics. To make sure that both algorithms had similar communication principles, we also designed the KBest topology for PSO that mimics the GWO communication. Using metrics from Network Science such as the Portrait Divergence, Local and Global Connectivity, our results showed that GWO can have different temporal signatures than PSO regardless of using a similar communication topology. Thus, we show that GWO is probably not just a variation of PSO
Tracing lines between Deleuze and Négritude: A Vitalist Ontology of Postcolonial War Machines
No full textThis chapter proposes a crossing of Western and postcolonial thought via a creative reading of the Négritude movement in conjunction with Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy. Spanning poetry, philosophy and political writings, the Négritude writers Léopold Senghor, Aimé and Suzanne Césaire confronted racist 1930s societies with the provocative declaration of a superior Black consciousness. Black thought and culture, these authors argue, circumvent the modern Western binaries of mind/body, culture/nature and subject/object with their infusion in an ontology of emotion, creativity and vital relationality, which make them superior to the rigidity of colonial modernity. First, the chapter challenges the widespread reception, developed largely out of the legacy of Jean-Paul Sartre’s commentary on the movement, that such a use of African culture by Négritude produces a positively inverted racism and a ‘counter-essentialism’ which remains incapable of eluding hierarchical borders between White modernity and African heritage. Against this backdrop, the chapter mobilises Deleuze’s work to show how the engagement with Bergson, Nietzsche and Marx shared by the Négritude authors and the French thinker opens up new lines of flight that move beyond both essentialisation of being and the dialectical rejection of modern reason. The chapter argues that, for Négritude, the vitality and creativity of African cultures, expressed primarily via art and poetry, is a strategic literary war machine in Deleuze and Guattari’s sense, which aims to challenge modern liberalism in its ontological underpinnings and imperialist political-economic and institutional outgrowth. The strategic use of African rhythms, sounds and imagery serves the purpose of the creative rupture that Deleuze and Guattari attribute to art and which is able to move beyond, rather than against, the shackles of white modernity. The ontological propositions of Negritude, therefore, should be read as a deeply politically
situated and future-oriented call: the embracement of an ontology of affect, relational agency and vitalist becoming in Négritude is enfolded with the strategic—and profoundly human— end of creating political life after colonialism and capitalism
Institutional ownership and women representation on boards in three different institutional settings
No full textThis study aims to investigate the moderating effect of country level institutional variables on the relationship between institutional ownership and board gender diversity.
Using firm and country level data of three different cultural environments (Gulf Cooperation Council countries, UK, and France) for the years 2018–2019, this study concludes that institutional elements related to women (Women Tertiary education levels; legal support, Economic Participation and culture) create isomorphic pressure on firms that enhance the role of institutional owners in increasing women representation on board of directors. Other governance elements, such as ownership concentration,
board independence and board size may indicate governance levels better than board gender diversity in certain institutional environments. The study recommended that board gender diversity should not be a priority for investors and portfolio managers in financial markets where reduced female labor market participation exists. Moreover, quotas may be a good tool for enhancing female representation among boards in contexts that have reduced female labor market participation and high levels of tertiary education attainment to maintain corporate sustainability
Updating UK CSR legislation and potentials for voluntary application
Get PDFUK legislation is to follow the moral views of society, has begun to incorporate CSR into legislation, forcing companies to conform the voluntary inclusion of CSR into the business framework beyond the legislated minima. Although the incorporation of CSR is a relatively new concept, the relevant legislation does not address certain key points; this allows some companies to find loopholes within the law and perform actions that are damaging the environment, but are technically still within the constraints of the legislation. The absence of a structured assessment of legislations in the UK, against CSR guidelines has left legal escapes which some companies may exploit to avoid their social responsibility. To study the reality of this, thematic analysis was used to identify areas of CSR that are currently present within the UK legislation. Further, thematic analysis was also conducted on Carroll's sustainability pyramid to establish the main areas of CSR that are absent from the selected UK legislation. Accordingly, this study outlines a structured assessment of the current UK legislation in relation to CSR activities. Furthermore, we have provided a set of recommendations that can be espoused by the UK legislators
Supply chain complexity and its impact on knowledge transfer: Incorporating sustainable supply chain practices in food supply chain networks
Get PDFBackground: The dynamics of supply chain networks have changed due to increasing complexities. Global expansions and knowledge transfer in supply chain networks bring efficiency and effectiveness to companies. However, the probability of supply chain complexity has also been seen increasing. The barriers to sustainable supply chain networks need to be tackled in an effective manner as they impact business operations. Therefore, it is essential to eliminate and reduce the supply chain complexities, as it will facilitate the process of knowledge transfer and increase the implementation of sustainable practises in supply chain networks. In the previous research, four supply chain complexity drivers were identified. Previous research identified four supply chain complexity drivers by conducting a systematic review. This study investigates which of the four complexity drivers impacts knowledge transfer in the context of the food supply chain sector. Methods: In this research, knowledge transfer is therefore examined from the perspective of sustainable food supply chains. Thirty exploratory qualitative interviews were conducted in this study and analysed using Nvivo (v12) software. This study utilised thematic analysis techniques for the evaluation of the interviews to gather results. Results: The results illustrated six main factors classified under broad categories: integration of Knowledge Transfer, incorporation of technological advancements in supply chain networks, supply chain complexity solutions, supply chain complexity drivers, sustainable supply chain networks, and capability to reduce supply chain complexity. The findings of this study highlight that process complexity significantly influences the process of knowledge transfer in food supply chain networks. The research findings contribute to both academic and practical domains. This study contributes to the aggregation of supply chain complexity and its impact on Knowledge Transfer. Additionally, the findings support supply chain networks, which strive to achieve efficient Knowledge Transfer to attain sustainable value in business operations. Conclusion: This study has proven that robust knowledge transfer reduces supply chain complexity as it makes supply chain systems more resilient and well-coordinated in many potential ways
Newman University Church, Dublin: Architectural revivalism in the British Isles and the authority of form
Get PDFIn 1854, John Henry Newman, one of the foremost intellectual figures of the nineteenth century, was officially installed as the rector of the first Catholic university in Ireland. University Church (constructed in 1855–6) was Newman’s first objective when he agreed to the rectorship and it can be considered as a tangible manifestation of the idea behind the unprecedented Catholic university in Dublin – the posing of an erudite Catholic alternative to post-Enlightenment secularism and Protestant hegemony through a style-based analogy to the early Church.
Despite physically embodying what Newman wished to achieve in and through his new university, this ‘early Christian' style church, which drew upon Roman and Byzantine basilicas, has received little attention. This book charts for the first time the significant place that the building occupies within the history of Victorian revivalist architecture. Niamh Bhalla explores the meaningful connection between the church’s context and the ambiguity of its ‘early Christian’ style. In the intersection of these two things, a significant monument was created. The study of University Church therefore provides an effective lens to understand more comprehensively the architectural revivalism that dominated the nineteenth century, particularly the first stirrings of basilican and Byzantine revivalist architectures in the British Isles
