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Slow Looking: Noah Davis
No full textA short visual meditation on the African American artist Noah Davis's painting Pueblo del Rio: Prelude, 2014
Environmental Risk Factors for Railway Suicide: A Nationwide Analysis of England’s Mainline Network (2019–2021)
Get PDFObjective: Suicide is the leading cause of death on the railway networks, yet little is known about the geography and socio-environmental determinants of such deaths in England.
Method: We analyzed official records of all suspected suicides recorded on England’s mainline railway from April 2019 to March 2021 (N = 436), alongside area-level data (e.g., deprivation and urbanicity) and railway characteristics (e.g., station size). We used SaTScan’s Poisson discrete scan statistic to detect spatial–temporal clusters and compared suicides at station and non-station locations, including stations with no recorded suicides over the study period.
Results: Most railway suicides—particularly those occurring at stations—took place in urban areas, typically at locations with a very low incidence of previous suicides. A large majority (84.5%) lived within 2 miles of a station and died close to home (median 2.1 miles) or their last known location (1.5 miles). Suicides occurred most often at stations (43.3%), followed by trackside locations (37.6%), foot/level crossing (15.1%) or other rail areas (3.9%). These were often not the nearest station to the deceased (59.6%), but were generally smaller and more likely to be served by fast/non-stopping trains. Across the network, stations without suicides were far less likely to be served by such trains (66% vs. 94.3%; OR ¼ 6.62,95% CI 3.33–13.18).
Conclusions: Urbanicity and the availability of non-stopping train services are key predictors of railway suicide. Restricting access to high-speed trains—especially at smaller urban stations and at non-station locations—could be an effective element of broader strategies and local partnership approaches to prevent suicide.
HIGHLIGHTS
• In England, most railway suicides (especially at stations) occur in urban areas
• Most people died near home, but often not at their nearest station
• Fast trains at nearby stations predicted death at station vs. non-station location
Recontesting the Sacred: political theology as ideological method
Get PDFIn this paper, we explore the contribution that political theology can make to the study of political ideologies. In foregrounding the interaction between theological and political ways of thinking, political theology traces the lingering presence of the sacred in secular politics. It refers not merely to religious doctrines but also to a variety of ways of registering the ‘extraordinary’ dimension in modern political orders. We sketch the development of political theological analysis from the sovereign-centric account famously proffered by Carl Schmitt to more recent versions that identify the sacred with a plurality of struggles against secular power. New types of ideological formation, we argue, can be interpreted as instances of this latter political theology, particularly those expressing what we call a radical politics of redemption that recontests the moral foundations of politics. Although highly divergent, these typically underscore the threat to a specified sacred source, make appeals to the lived experience of suffering and mobilize supporters as a model of communion seeking moral healing. We consider the example of contemporary populism to illustrate this redemptive mode of theological politics and recommend political theology, a method that can supplement the study of political ideology
Critically appraising the Cass report: methodological flaws and unsupported claims
Get PDFBackground
The Cass Review aimed to provide recommendations for the delivery of services for gender diverse
children and young people in England. The final product of this project, the Cass report, relied on commissioned
research output, including quantitative and qualitative primary research as well as seven systematic reviews, to inform
its recommendations and conclusions.
Methods
We critically evaluated the Cass report and the research that was commissioned to inform it. To evaluate
the Risk of Bias within the seven systematic reviews commissioned by the Cass Review, we applied the ROBIS
tool – a domain-based assessment of risk of bias within systematic reviews. It focuses on four domains (i) study
eligibility criteria, (ii) identification and selection of studies, (iii) data collection and study appraisal, and (iv) synthesis
and findings. To maintain rigour, the ROBIS tool was applied to each systematic review by two independent assessors,
within Covidence, with conflicts resolved by an additional two independent assessors. We also conducted a detailed
critical evaluation of the methods used in the survey of gender services for young people in Europe, the two quantitative
studies of health records, and the qualitative study on the experience of gender dysphoria among young people
and the claims made in the Cass report based on these studies.
Results
Using the ROBIS tool, we identified a high risk of bias in each of the systematic reviews driven by unexplained
protocol deviations, ambiguous eligibility criteria, inadequate study identification, and the failure to integrate
consideration of these limitations into the conclusions derived from the evidence syntheses. We also identified methodological
flaws and unsubstantiated claims in the primary research that suggest a double standard in the quality
of evidence produced for the Cass report compared to quality appraisal in the systematic reviews.
Conclusions
We discuss these issues in relation to how evidence regarding gender affirming care is framed,
the wider political context, and the future for gender affirming care. The Cass report’s recommendations, given its
methodological flaws and misrepresentatio
Protocol for biomimetic tumoroid models by plastic compression using centrifugation
Get PDFHere, we present a protocol for engineering biomimetic tumoroid models by plastic compression using centrifugation. We describe steps for generating multi-compartment tumor-stroma models by mixing cells into a collagen hydrogel crosslinked at 37°C and centrifuging the hydrogel. We then detail procedures for generating compartmentalized models and encapsulating the final layered hydrogel containing a 96-well tumor mass in a 24-well stroma. This protocol increases collagen density and improves mechanical properties of collagen hydrogels
Decolonising Ocean Matter
Get PDFOceans occupy a central place in the centuries‐long unfolding of European colonialism. They form the interstice between the base of the coloniser and the “overseas” territories of the colonised. As an unsettling body, a realm that cannot be settled in, oceans at once separate and connect the Earth’s different continents. This simultaneity of separation and connection has become indicative of the contradictions shaping the pursuit of interests in oceanic and “overseas” territories up to the present day: from the competitive, speculation‐driven race to stake claims to ocean resources to the ostensibly peaceful agendas driving the scientific exploration of oceans’ final, unknown frontiers. This article examines the essential role of cultural storytelling in facilitating these processes by looking at how a growing wave of scientist settlements is encroaching on remaining unconquered spheres in the most remote parts of the oceans such as the polar regions. It highlights how an incessant spectacularisation of their futuristic architectures domesticises these endeavours to master a hostile environment as a matter of making oneself at home and settling in. In order to challenge such possessive, human‐centric investments in oceanic territories, the article contrasts these developments with two examples of artistic research, A World of Matter (2014) and Frontier Climates (2017), which aim to offer a decolonial perspective through other forms of representation and knowledge production. Discussing the conceptual approach of these projects, it draws attention to more‐than‐human ecologies to reframe our understanding of marine life away from contested rights of access and towards global commons
Young people “learning to become” active citizens: informal learning and youth social action in the Philippines
Get PDFPurpose
Citizenship education tends to focus on formal provisions – such as integrating citizenship education into curriculums – eclipsing the important contributions of informal learning to youth citizenship development. This paper explores the informal learning processes in how young people “learn to become” active citizens through activism and volunteering. It investigates how informal learning facilitates critical citizenship and shape more ‘hopeful’ visions for social change despite intersecting crises young people face.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on multiple case study analysis of two ethnographic and participatory research that I conducted with a youth-led organisations central Philippines from 2017 to 2023, where I observed, documented and discussed (through semi-structured interviews) their everyday activism.
Findings
This paper found that youth activists and volunteers engage in informal learning, fostering political literacy through peer-to-peer and intergenerational interactions, task-oriented learning and observation. This learning helps young people to critically assess power structures, such as local politics, while also expanding their repertoires of activism and strengthening their contributions to youth movement building. Additionally, informal learning through participation broadens young people’s identities, repositioning their roles to become active local actors. This shift allows them to promote their own vision of development and citizenship, a vision framed by solidarity and hope.
Originality
Youth citizenship learning is conceptualised as a situated and relational process. Using informal learning as a lens, this paper argues that citizenship education must be understood in the context of wider social issues, promoting critical literacy so young people identify power inequalities and devise methods for addressing them