Open Research Exeter - University of Exeter
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Between resistance and complicity: Women’s tactical agency within NGOization in Palestine
No full textThis article explores the situated, subjective experiences of women engaged in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in Palestine, through the prism of decolonial feminism and the theorization of oppressing-resisting proposed by Maria Lugones. Since 1993, the Palestinian women’s movement has transformed from grassroots activism into a bureaucratized, professionalized movement through ‘NGOization’. Within a context of settler-colonialism, we examine how this affects Palestinian women’s ability to organize and to resist. Drawing on interviews with Palestinian women, we interrogate how agency/institutions are implicated in NGOization, uncovering how dependency and complicity are institutionalized and agency reshaped and constrained. We identify how women become implicated in practices of oppression and fragmentation that reduce possibilities for collective resistance, in which role modularity, the compartmentalization of thought and action into differentiated roles, is at play. Through a framework of oppressing-resisting, the prospect of tactical agency nevertheless remains, creating possibilities for resistance within the constraints of NGO roles. Our main contribution is to illuminate the latent power of minimal agency, revealing the tacit ways in which active subjectivity enables women to practice resistance from within the settler-colonial context itself.</p
Media Coverage of Immigration and the Polarization of Attitudes
No full textThis paper investigates the effect of media coverage on immigration attitudes. It combines data on immigration coverage in French television with individual panel data from 2013 to 2017 that records respondents' preferred television channel and attitudes toward immigration. The analysis focuses on within-individual variations over time, addressing ideological self-selection into channels. We find that increased coverage of immigration polarizes attitudes, with initially moderate individuals becoming more likely to report extremely positive and negative attitudes. This polarization is mainly driven by an increase in the salience of immigration, which reactivates preexisting prejudices, rather than persuasion effects from biased news consumption
The 2025 European Cystic Fibrosis Society position statement on physical activity assessment in cystic fibrosis
No full textBackground: Recent advances in the measurement of physical activity have significantly enhanced the analyses and interpretation in relation to health and well-being. Thus, we sought to revise and expand the 2015 position statement on the measurement of physical activity and provide guidance to clinicians and researchers for measuring physical activity in cystic fibrosis (CF) clinical practice and research. Methods: This study was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Review (PROSPERO) database (CRD42022292165). Three databases (Medline, Embase and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) were searched for studies investigating the measurement of physical activity and sedentary time in people with CF irrespective of age or duration. The Quality Assessment for Diverse Studies was used to assess methodological concern. A mixed-methods framework synthesis was used to extract, map, chart, categorise and aggregate study findings. Results: In total, 7439 potentially relevant publications were identified. Following screening of titles and abstracts, 422 full texts were retrieved and assessed for eligibility, with 90 studies included. There was considerable variation in the methods of assessment, data processing and analytical interpretation of data. Conclusion: It is recommended that device-based physical activity metrics are presented as time spent in different intensity categories (e.g., light, moderate and vigorous) and to include sedentary and sleep time. For data analysis, the data resolution should be at least 1 s (minimum 30 Hz) to enable clinical teams to obtain representative categorisation of patients' physical activity patterns. Validated questionnaires (e.g., the Habitual Activity Estimation Scale) offer additional opportunities to assess physical activity, whilst diaries can add context but should be viewed as secondary outcome measurements.</p
What philosophy is needed in economics and economics education? Philosophy as reflective and critical thinking
No full textAristotle, in his Protrepticus, famously defends the necessity of philosophising, since any alternative to it will always fail; the alternative implies that one would have to argue against philosophising, but that would still be philosophising. Although economics and economic education have their origins in the reflections of important philosophers from Hume to Smith, in the last 150 years, from Marshall onwards, they have become increasingly autonomous to the extent that philosophy no longer plays a significant role in them. In this chapter, we try to answer two questions: why philosophy is needed and what philosophy is needed in economics. We argue that economics needs philosophy, understood precisely as the reflective and critical thinking that alone enables the economist and the student to become aware of the limits of the assumptions inherent in economic discourse. We believe that this conception of philosophy can overcome the state of “permanent immaturity” (Kant) that is the danger of a mechanical teaching of economics, based on unquestioned and unquestionable assumptions that only need to be consistently applied to increase the scope of knowledge.</p
Investigating socioeconomic and demographic determinants of suboptimal birth spacing and adverse child growth outcomes in the Indian subcontinent
No full textBackground: In Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) sociodemographic factors influence the timing of births, but it’s unclear if these factors consistently affect the first birth interval (FBI) after marriage and successive birth intervals (SBI). Previously, it has been hypothesized that the chronic effect of socioeconomic stressors can accelerate health deterioration, and explain ethnic disparities, but most research into this “Weathering Hypothesis” (WH) has been conducted in developed countries. This thesis examines, within the Indian subcontinent, how sociodemographic factors affect birth interval length and the relevance of the WH for explaining variation in maternal age-related patterns of child health outcomes.Methods: This thesis includes a systematic review to compare factors associated with sub-optimal birth intervals of different parity, and a rapid review to contrast evidence for the Weathering Hypothesis in developed and developing countries. In the first empirical study, we analyzed differences in sociodemographic determinants of FBI and SBI within the 2017-18 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, using recurrent event analysis to account for the dependency between successive births. In the second empirical study, the WH was tested in data from Demographic and Health Surveys for India (2019-2021), Pakistan (2017-2018), and Nepal (2022) by fitting logistic regression models for child health outcomes with interactions between maternal age and ethnicity. Further analysis of intersectionality between maternal age and sociodemographic factors was conducted using pooled DHS data from the Indian subcontinentResults: In the systematic review, we found that most studies address FBI and SBI separately. We found that key risk factors such as maternal education and contraceptive use had different associations with FBI and SBI in Bangladesh. The rapid review highlighted a lack of direct application of the WH in the Indian subcontinent and other LMIC countries. When testing the WH, there was some evidence, particularly for stunting, that mothers from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds had an increased risk of adverse child health outcomes during their prime childbearing ages(25-34yrs). However, the health risks associated with marginalized ethnic groups did not generally follow weathering patterns.Conclusions: Although there is limited evidence to support classical weathering patterns in the Indian subcontinent, chronic exposure to social inequalities may exacerbate health risks during the prime childbearing years. The identification of demographic and socioeconomic factors influencing birth intervals and child health outcomes may assist the development of targeted interventions for addressing population fertility and reducing inequalities.</p
Animal probiotics: kill or cure?
No full textProbiotics can improve disease resistance and reproductive and performance parameters in animals, potentially reducing antimicrobial usage and AMR, enhancing food security and sustainable animal production. However, the rising popularity of these products has raised safety concerns within the scientific community. Mounting evidence indicates the possible transfer of microbial hazards such as pathogens and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through commercial products, revealing a critical knowledge gap in understanding their mechanisms of action and broader impacts on animal, human, and environmental health, as well as food security. Therefore, the overarching aim of this thesis is to address the research question, 'animal probiotics: kill or cure?' by contributing to the scientific understanding of commercial animal probiotics and facilitating the implementation of a One Health approach. This was achieved through understanding probiotic mechanisms of action and selection methods (Chapter 2), investigating the safety and efficacy of commercial shrimp probiotics and their potential impact on food security (Chapter 3), developing a One Health approach to monitor and prevent negative impacts of probiotic use in animals (Chapter 4), and applying the One Health approach to enhance the safety, efficacy, and sustainability of commercial animal probiotics in the UK (Chapter 5). Collectively, the work presented in this thesis highlights significant challenges in animal probiotic selection, application, and regulation, suggesting that current practices in the animal probiotic industry are unsustainable. Nevertheless, this thesis makes several key recommendations to assist scientists, policymakers, regulatory authorities, animal health practitioners, and commercial stakeholders in implementing a One Health approach to assess and improve the safety, efficacy, and sustainability of commercial animal probiotics. This includes revising the probiotic definition, promoting collaboration, enhancing regulatory oversight, and investing in research and infrastructure. By incorporating microbial stewardship as a key success metric in the One Health approach and applying it more broadly to animal feeds, feed additives and antibiotic alternatives, we can further improve animal, public, environmental health, and food security.</p
Subordinated integration and political waves in the 21st century Latin America
No full textIn the 2000s and early 2010s, Brazil, Peru, and Chile experienced leftist electoral victories, reflecting the regional trend known as the Pink Tide. However, in the mid-2010s, the erosion of the popular support for left-wing governments interrupted this process, marking the start of a period of instability. On the one hand, in different countries, conservative forces managed to regain power, renewing the impulse to marketisation; on the other hand, left-wing parties kept their electoral strength, obtaining new victories after the late 2010s and even opening the debate about a second left turn in the region. Although these electoral cycles in Brazil, Peru, and Chile reflected domestic political conditions, they cannot be detached from Latin America’s position in the hierarchy of global capitalism. This paper argues that the region’s integration into international trade and global finance has also shaped and subordinated political cycles, introducing varied constraints and opportunities for domestic political actors. We show that during the first left turn, relatively stable inflows from the commodities boom and foreign direct investment allowed governments to implement progressive policies. However, recent left-wing governments have not experienced a similar commodities surge and had to rely more heavily on volatile, short-term financial inflows, posing significant challenges to these countries’ stability and policy space. We argue that the analysis of the trade, financial and political past of Latin American countries should serve them to change their path to avoid being trapped in shrinking waves that curb the space for autonomous development.</p
“My understanding has shifted from using ‘produce knowledge’ to ‘generate knowledge’”: University ESL students and their use of v-n and adj-n collocation, how and why?
No full textThe use of academic collocations, as an aspect of formulaic language, is important in aiding fluency and concision in students’ academic writing. This mixed-method study, informed by a pragmatist theoretical approach, examined the use of academic collocations by international undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds in Years 1 and 3 in various subject areas representing both hard and soft disciplines at universities in the United Kingdom. Adopting a multiple-case study approach, it undertook a quantitative analysis of seven individual cases of verb-noun (v-n) and adjective-noun (adj-n) collocation use in academic assignments through corpus analysis. In a second, qualitative phase, it then explored the students’ understanding of collocation, and their perceptions of their use of academic collocations and the factors influencing it over the period of their undergraduate studies.The quantitative corpus analysis of students’ assignments examined the use of v-n and adj-n collocations, employing reference lists extracted from the British Academic Written English (BAWE) corpus and the British National Corpus (BNC). The BAWE was used to create four discipline-specific reference lists, a hard and soft discipline list for each of the two types, v-n and adj-n. A further two lists were extracted, one for v-n collocations and another for adj-n collocations, representing collocations overlapping between the two disciplines. These two lists were compared with the BNC to filter out non-academic and general/spoken collocations, creating a list termed “pure academic collocations” in this thesis to denote cross-disciplinary academic collocations. The study piloted various association measures (T-score, MI, MI2 and Delta-P) in the R program to refine the reference lists, ultimately employing logDice as the measure in the main study.In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted in which the participants reflected on their experiences and views of their collocation use. The study explores the challenges faced by the participants in using academic collocations, highlighting aspects unique to each individual, as well as common themes that emerged across cases. The findings highlighted that both academic discipline and time shaped collocation use, as did a range of factors, such as individual differences in background and learning experience, personal characteristics, feedback and support, input and exposure to language, and the topic of the task. Many learners expressed difficulties adapting to academic style and the complexity of discourse, while others highlighted discipline-specific expectations and task demands as influencing their collocation choices.By foregrounding the learners’ voices and perspectives, this study expands understanding of how individual beliefs and lived experiences intersect with collocation use. The findings offer valuable implications for English for academic purposes pedagogy, suggesting that increased collocation instruction would greatly benefit such students. In addition, the integration of corpus tools and more tailored support to help L2 learners navigate the complexities of academic writing are required.</p
The Role of Gender in the Help-Seeking Decisions and Experiences of Men who Have Experienced Interpersonal Violence
No full textBackground. The association between experiences of victimisation and higher risk of poorer mental health and psychiatric conditions, and use of self-limiting coping strategies such as substance use, self-harm, and suicidality, is well-substantiated and widely accepted. However, men who have experienced interpersonal violence (IV) face gender-specific barriers to disclosing and seeking tailored help. This thesis explored the role of gender in men’s help-seeking decisions and experiences following IV. A systematic literature review identified and synthesised barriers to help-seeking reported by men. A qualitative study explored how UK-based male-victim/survivors construct and negotiate masculinities to overcome these recognised barriers and make help-seeking and treatment engagement possible.
Methods. A systematic literature review was completed following PRISMA and ENTREQ statements. A search strategy comprising database and hand searching was executed to identify published qualitative research and credible grey literature published between 1990-2024. Study quality was assessed using a modified CASP. Study findings were synthesised using Thematic Synthesis. In the empirical paper a cross-sectional qualitative design recruited a purposive community sample of male-victim/survivors living in the UK, who had experienced victimisation and sought help, to discuss their experiences in individual interviews. Principles of user involvement were followed. Critical Discursive Psychology (CDP) methodology guided interview style, transcription and analysis.
Findings. Twenty-two reports of 19 studies were synthesised in the systematic review. Taken together, studies explored the experiences of 608 men, living in majority Western countries, and were medium or high quality. Three analytic themes grouped together barriers, identified as descriptive themes, operating at intra-personal, inter-personal or relational, and socio-cultural levels. Men experienced barriers at a personal level; which were embedded in and through their relational context and inter-personal experiences; and powerfully driven by gendered expectations and stereotypes, sexuality-based discrimination, accepted cultural practices for managing shame, lack of public awareness and services, and institutional practices. Eight male adults, aged 26-69, living in the UK, who self-identified as having sought help following IV experiences participated in the empirical study. CDP analysis identified a central gendered ideological dilemma relating to help-seeking, and two main repertoires of masculinity. The traditional masculinity repertoire ‘troubled’ help-seeking whereas the non-masculine masculinity repertoire constructed help-seeking as making sense and being the obvious choice. Seven subject positions were identified which functioned as discursive side-steps to the gendered ideological dilemma, enabling participants to construct help-seeking as making sense even despite the traditional masculinity repertoires evident in their accounts.
Conclusions. The findings of the systematic review point to need for governmental intervention to dismantle barriers operating socio-culturally; and for psychological professions and responders in public services to be appraised of barriers male victim/survivors face and take-up gender-inclusive approaches. In identifying how men who have experiences IV construct themselves in ways that make it possible to help-seek, the empirical study contributes to emergent and much need literature examining men’s use of masculinities in recovery following trauma. It demonstrates the value of discursive research in generating novel insights with clinical implications.</p
A two-stage retrieval-augmented generation framework for producing sustainable product design guidelines
No full textDesign is fundamental to product development and is widely recognised as a key driver for supporting the transition to a circular economy. As a problem-solving process, design relies heavily on knowledge retrieval and generation. Large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, have demonstrated substantial capabilities in these areas, suggesting their potential to support sustainable product design. However, LLMs alone often produce ambiguous and overly general responses, limiting their effectiveness in delivering valuable sustainability insights. To address this limitation, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), which integrates domain-specific information retrieval with generative modelling, has emerged as a promising approach to improve output accuracy and contextual relevance. This study introduces a novel two-stage RAG framework specifically designed to enhance sustainable product development by incorporating two external knowledge bases: one dedicated to systems design principles and the other to sustainable design strategies. This framework equips designers with practical sustainable design guidelines that align naturally with the design thinking process, requiring minimal prior sustainability expertise, an improvement over current approaches that depend heavily on specialised knowledge or assessment tools typically applied in later development stages. Expert-evaluated case studies demonstrate that this RAG-based framework covers 2.7 times more relevant product design specification topics than non-RAG approaches, with noticeable improvements across all performance metrics, particularly in product Desirability and Use lifecycle stage considerations. This research has implications for accelerating circular economy transitions by embedding sustainability considerations at the conceptual design stage, potentially transforming how designers approach sustainable product innovation with relatively low implementation costs.</p