Glamorgan Dspace
Not a member yet
481 research outputs found
Sort by
Climate change and normativity: constructivism versus realism
No full textIs liberalism adaptable enough to the ecological agenda to deal satisfactorily with the challenges of anthropogenic climate change while leaving its normative foundations intact? Compatibilists answer yes; incompatibilists say no. Comparing such answers, this article argues that it is not discrete liberal principles which impede adapatability, so much as the constructivist model (exemplified in Rawls) of what counts as a valid normative principle. Constructivism has both normative and ontological variants, each with a realist counterpart. I argue that normative constructivism in the Rawlsian mode, whatever its strengths elsewhere, is markedly ill-equipped to deal with the particular normative challenges posed by climate change – and that that these doubts holds regardless of which stance is adopted as its ontological corollary
Pragmatism, critical theory and democratic inclusion
No full textThis article explores ideas from Richard Rorty and Nancy Fraser on the justification of democracy. It considers both as exemplary of what, following Michael Walzer, we can call philosophizing “in the city” – eschewing any aim to adopt a generalised, metaphysical perspective on questions of social justice, and seeking instead to locate these, in theirconception and elaboration, in the thick of lived social practice. For such approaches, as for other treatments of democracy, issues around inclusion will be key: whose voices should count in the democratic conversation, and how? I address Rorty’s claim that democracy is “prior” to philosophy, rather than requiring philosophical backup, and Fraser’s notion of “participatory parity”. Endorsing Kevin Olson’s diagnosis in the latter of a “paradox of enablement”, I consider the inclusion of the disabled as a way of addressing how this paradox might work in practice. I conclude in section 4 by suggesting that escaping the paradox seems to require venturing to a vantage point further from the city than either Rorty or Fraser would prefer. I suggest that a capabilities-based approach would be one way of doing this – but that this, indeed, involves deeper “traditional”-style philosophical commitments than pragmatists will be happy to support
Liberal ethics and well-being promotion in the disability rights movement, disability policy, and welfare practice
No full textThe disability rights movement (DRM) has often been closely associated with the liberal values of individual choice and independence, or the ‘ethics of agency’, where enhancing the capacity to make autonomous decisions in various policy and practice-based contexts is said to facilitate disabled people's well-being. Nevertheless, other liberal values are derived from what will be termed here the ‘ethics of self-acceptance’. The latter is more disguised in liberalism and the DRM, as rather than emphasising the capacity to make autonomous decisions, self-acceptance focuses on the positive acceptance of individual limitations, but again to enhance well-being. The further argument is that while the ethics of agency and self-acceptance often logically cohere and overlap, through promoting the values of self-respect and relational autonomy, dilemmas arise from our asymmetrical, or uneven, dispositions towards time, and present and future lives and experiences. For example, positively accepting individual limitations allows for a present-oriented immersion in ‘the moment’, but which often requires some suspension of future-oriented goals and aspirations. Understanding some of the implications of this asymmetry, and the dilemmas arising from it, provide important insights concerning approaches to physical and intellectual impairments and the subsequent debates within the DRM, social policy and welfare practice
An iterative consensus-building approach to revising a genetics/genomics competency framework for nurse education in the UK
No full textAim. To report a review of a genetics education framework using a consensus approach to agree a contemporary and comprehensive revised framework.
Background. Advances in genomic medicine have been significant since the first genetics education framework for nurses was developed in 2003. These, coupled with developments in policy and international efforts to promote nursing competence in genetics, indicated that review was timely.
Design. A structured, iterative, primarily qualitative approach, based on a nominal group technique.
Method. A meeting convened in 2010 involved stakeholders in United Kingdom nursing education, practice and management, including patient representatives (n=30). A consensus approach was used to solicit participants’ views on the individual/family needs identified from real-life stories of people affected by genetic conditions, and the nurses’ knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to meet those needs. Five groups considered the stories in iterative rounds, reviewing comments from previous groups. Resulting themes were mapped to the original framework to identify omissions and deficiencies. Anonymous voting captured views. Educators at a second meeting developed learning outcomes for the final framework.
Findings. Deficiencies in relation to Advocacy, Information management and Ongoing care were identified. All competencies of the original framework were revised and an eighth competency added to make explicit the need for ongoing care of the individual/family.
Conclusion: Modifications to the framework reflect individual/family needs and are relevant to the nursing role. The approach promoted engagement in a complex issue and provides a framework to guide nurse education in genetics/genomics, however nursing leadership is crucial to successful implementation
Construction of a Scale Measuring the Job Satisfaction of Public Sector Employees in the UAE with Particular Reference to the Dubai Police
No full textLife cycle assessment for eco-packaging design: a hybrid MCDA approach
No full textGreen packaging plays an important role for organizations to achieve sustainable economic and environmental performance. However, introducing green packaging can bring various potential challenges to firms and supply chains. There is a need to develop a systematic and effective decision support tool to help industrial practitioners to evaluate various eco-packaging options. This paper proposes a comprehensive decision making methodology based on application of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and a hybrid Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach to support a more rational eco-packaging selection decision
The implementation of the Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007
No full textThe Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007, which came into force in November 2008, is designed to provide protection to those at risk of forced marriage, and recourse for those who have already been forced to marry. Several forced marriage protection orders have been made since the Statute came into effect, the most publicised of which relates to Dr Humayra Abedin, who was held captive in Bangladesh and forced to marry. This paper considers the provisions of the Act, highlighting those that are pertinent to Dr Abedin's case, and compares them with the remedies that were available before the Act came into force. It concludes that the Act is an improvement on the law that existed prior to 2008 but further work needs to be done to ensure that the Act is as effective as possible
A review of developments in medical termination of pregnancy
No full textAim. This literature review aims to supplement guidelines by providing an overview of recent evidence relevant to medical termination of pregnancy. Background. Termination of pregnancy is available to women in the UK within legal parameters. Although guidelines form a strong body of evidence on wh
Organisations as knowledge laboratories
No full textIn the last few years the economic, social, technological and competitive environments have evolved and changed at an alarming rate. Some companies passively stood by watching this evolution while others actively participated in this process. The former became weaker in the market, while the latter underwent a change both in dimension and competitive position. This involvement led to different ways of being and gave rise to different personalities emerging within the companies. This change of environments in turn led to the change in the entrepreneurial agents. While knowledge is seen as a new factor of production, conquering the attention of the entrepreneurial scene, these entrepreneurial agents gain a dynamic dimension through the usage of these new production factors thereby catapulting the others towards higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness.Due to the strategic importance, our objective consists in producing a model based on learning and knowledge, upon which decisions are made, taking into account the push and pull factors of knowledge. In this sense, and based on empirical analysis of entrepreneurial cases, we will endeavour to measure their importance within the companies, from the vantage point of usage, dissemination as well as creation of knowledge
