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Automation and the fall and rise of the servant economy
No full textWe develop a macroeconomic theory of the division of household tasks between servants and own work and how it is affected by automation in households and firms. We calibrate the model for the U.S. and apply it to explain the historical development of household time use and the distribution of household tasks from 1900 to 2020. The economy is populated by high-skilled and low-skilled households and household tasks are performed by own work, machines, or servants. For the period 1900–1960, innovations in household automation motivate the decline of the servant economy and the creation of new household tasks motivates an almost constant division of household time between wage work and domestic work. For the period 1960–2020, innovations in firm automation and the implied increase of the skill premium explain the return of the servant economy. We use counterfactual historical experiments to assess the role of automation, the creation of new household tasks, and the gig economy for the division of household time and tasks. We provide supporting evidence for the relation between automation and inequality, and for inequality as a driver of the return of the servant economy in a regional panel of U.S. metropolitan statistical areas for the period 2005–2020
Conversational repairs on Reddit: widely initiated but often uncompleted
No full textConversational repair has been proposed as a universal system for maintaining mutual understanding during social interactions. The repair system has been studied extensively in offline synchronous interactions (e.g., face-to-face, phone calls) and has been observed across cultures and languages. However, the prevalence of conversational repairs is unclear in online asynchronous text-based interactions. Online interactions are increasingly important for public deliberation, and it is therefore important to understand how conversational repairs manifest in different online contexts. To address this gap, we conducted two analyses of Other-initiated repairs in 25 English-language Reddit communities (subreddits), covering a diverse range of topics and communication norms. Analysis 1 examines the frequency of repair initiations across subreddits, finding them to be widespread (in every subreddit) and frequent (58.48% of interactions experience a repair initiation). Analysis 2 examines the emergence of repairs, finding that a repair initiation becomes increasingly likely the longer a comments thread progresses (Median time-to-repair = 6 turns). These results suggest that the prevalence and emergence of repair initiations in online interactions are comparable to offline contexts. However, we also find 44.80% of initiations receive no reply, precluding the possibility of a repair completion. Thus, conservatively, nearly half of the repair initiations in our data went uncompleted. This suggests that the online medium alters the way initiations are completed compared to offline interactions. We discuss the implications of this finding and avenues for future research
Meeting housing needs within planetary boundaries: a UK case study
No full textThis paper addresses a neglected aspect of the UK housing crisis: how to rapidly but fairly decarbonise the housing stock to meet tough net zero targets while meeting housing needs of the entire population. To do so the authors adopt a radical approach based on sufficiency. The sufficiency approach is based on determining both a housing floor – a decent minimum standard for all – and a housing ceiling - above which lies unsustainable excess. The authors define these thresholds in terms of bedrooms and floorspace and analyse the distribution of housing in England. They find that excess housing is widespread, concentrated in home ownership, particularly outright ownership, and characterised by above average emissions per square metre. They conclude that current policies based solely on energy efficiency and increasing housing supply cannot achieve agreed decarbonisation goals while securing decent accommodation for those who are housing deprived. To do this will require policies that distinguish between sufficient and excess housing to make more effective use of the housing stock to meet housing needs within planetary boundaries
Top 10 public health challenges for 2024: charting a new direction for global health security
Get PDFAs we navigate the complex landscape of global public health in 2024, this article provides a comprehensive exploration of challenges, ranging from infectious diseases, mental health, and substance use to environmental sustainability and emerging technologies. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the critical need to strengthen health systems, increase public financing, and foster effective international collaboration. The intricacies of global geopolitics, diplomacy, and public health highlight the importance of countries that do not address shared challenges through enhanced cooperative mechanisms and joint initiatives. From the imperative of global health security to the persistence of non-communicable diseases and health disparities, this study delves into multifaceted issues, advocating for collective action, targeted interventions, and a commitment to prioritizing public health on a global scale. Focusing on addressing root causes and fostering equity, this study emphasizes the role of sustainable practices, community engagement, and intersectionality of research in building a resilient global health landscape. In this dynamic environment, 2024 calls for a unified global vision that encourages nations to collaborate more effectively to build a healthier and more resilient global community, ultimately paving the way for a future characterized by a shared commitment to public health challenges
Fast and optimal inference for change points in piecewise polynomials via differencing
Get PDFWe consider the problem of uncertainty quantification in change point regressions, where the signal can be piecewise polynomial of arbitrary but fixed degree. That is we seek disjoint intervals which, uniformly at a given confidence level, must each contain a change point location. We propose a procedure based on performing local tests at a number of scales and locations on a sparse grid, which adapts to the choice of grid in the sense that by choosing a sparser grid one explicitly pays a lower price for multiple testing. The procedure is fast as its computational complexity is always of the order O(n log(n)) where n is the length of the data, and optimal in the sense that under certain mild conditions every change point is detected with high probability and the widths of the intervals returned match the mini-max localisation rates for the associated change point problem up to log factors. A detailed simulation study shows our procedure is competitive against state of the art algorithms for similar problems. Our procedure is implemented in the R package ChangePointInference which is available via GitHub
Arts-integrated approaches to engaging men in violence prevention: mapping a kaleidoscope of arts, masculinities, and feminist possibilities
Get PDFEfforts to engage men in gender equality and preventing violence against women, otherwise known as engaging men (EM), are growing world-wide. However, the evidence for such work remains mixed. This article responds to one critique that EM programs in the US rely on didactic instruction, failing to effectively and affectively engage participants. In response, this research draws on interviews with 15 practitioners to examine how the arts can be integrated into EM programming. The findings reveal diverse mediums and ways the arts are being used across EM efforts in the US. The article challenges a one-size-fits-all approach of adding the arts to existing EM programs and advocates for a kaleidoscopic understanding of how practitioners must intentionally integrate the arts whilst being responsive to a diverse range of factors including the program’s purpose, participants readiness for engagement and intersectional identities, and access to resources and expertise. While meaningful challenges and risks remain, the article outlines several potential ways an arts-integrated approach can support more creative, critical, and feminist-informed engagements with masculinities in EM programs
The ‘ethical recruitment’ of international nurses: Germany’s liberal health worker extractivism
Get PDFInternational institutions increasingly promote ‘ethical recruitment’ as a standard for health worker migration from poor to rich countries. We analyze how this notion is interpreted in a country considered to be an exemplary, ‘ethical’ recruiter of international nurses. In Germany, international nurse recruitment initiatives are proliferating,and programs such as the public Triple Win scheme and a private-sector voluntary fair-ness certificate promise gains to all participating actors. We find that ‘ethical recruitment’ is a regime of largely voluntary protection of and care for migrant workers, which legitimizes the extraction of health workers from the Global South but hides underlying structural inequalities between countries and workers. Gains for sending countries are postulated, yet de facto merely assumed to happen through remittances, and develop-mental demands by sending countries remain unaddressed despite talk about circular migration and support for health systems. In short, ‘ethics’ facilitates a regime of liberal health worker extractivism: This regime recognizes individual rights (however imperfectly) but disregards developmental and social rights, and it limits state intervention to market facilitation and soft regulation. We draw on primary sources including documents retrieved through freedom of information requests, and over thirty interviews with recruiters, regulators, employers, unionists, and civil society experts
Desi queers: LGBTQ+ South Asians and cultural belonging in Britain
No full textDesi Queers reveals how diasporic South Asians have shaped LGBTQ+ movements and communities in Britain, from the 1970s to the present day. Weaving the history of 1980s anti-racism with the emergence of Black LGBTQ+ and feminist coalitions, this book highlights landmark moments in British queer life and culture through South Asian lives, and illuminates British histories of colour through queer politics and creativity. From the Gay Black Group to Haringey Council’s pioneering Lesbian and Gay Unit, desi queers were at the centre of anti-homophobic direct action in the 1980s, including the historic ‘Smash the Backlash’ demo against bigotry. This activism birthed key grassroots groups of the 1980s and 1990s, such as Shakti and Naz, whose founders and early members opened a path of creative resistance to the intersecting violence of racism and homophobia–a path of solidarity echoing through the twenty-first century. These spaces and networks have been a refuge for people doubly marginalised in Britain–by experiences of homophobia within South Asian communities, and by the whiteness of mainstream queer scenes. Drawing on artistic creations, archives and oral history, Desi Queers celebrates rich traditions of social and cultural activism alongside stories of everyday life among Britain’s LGBTQ+ South Asians
Randomized controlled feasibility trial to reduce stigma related to dementia among community health workers in Brazil: preliminary results
No full textAbstractBackgroundDementia awareness and education are currently limited among healthcare workers and the general public, contributing towards the generation and propagation of stigma and discrimination against people with dementia worldwide. It is crucial to promote evidence‐based anti‐stigma interventions with a focus on stigma reduction.MethodThis is a randomized and controlled feasibility trial of a group intervention aimed at improving knowledge and reducing stigma related to dementia among Community Health Workers (CHWs) (Trial Registration: RBR‐10xp637m). The Intervention Group (IG) (n = 70) received a 9‐hour intervention involving reflexive, educational, visual, and social contact activities related to dementia, and the Control Group (CG) (n = 62) was not intervened. Beyond sociodemographic characteristics, we collected data on dementia related stigma. For this preliminary analysis we will present data on: (1) negative attitudes (a composed score from 8 related question – the higher the score the more negative are the attitudes); (2) knowledge on dementia (a composed score from 5 related question – the higher the score the better the knowledge) and (3) a single question on the importance of dementia diagnosis disclosure (the higher the score the more important the participant think this is). The follow‐up questionnaires were reapplied 30 and 90 days after the intervention, using the same set of questions. We estimated and present the Mean Change (SD) in the IG and in the CG, the T‐test (p‐value), and the Mean Difference (95% CI).ResultThere was no significant difference in any baseline measures between IG and CG. The preliminary results show that, compared to the CG, a significant increase in knowledge was achieved in the IG both at 30‐ (p = 0.007) and 90‐day follow up (p = 0.020), and a significant reduction in negative attitudes in both measure points (p<0.000 and p = 0.000 at 30‐ and 90‐day follow up, respectively).ConclusionThe preliminary findings indicate the intervention can lead to a sustained increase in knowledge and a shift in negative attitudes among CHWs over time. Further analysis are being carried out, including a qualitative assessment of the intervention, which will help improve the intervention to be applied in a randomized‐ controlled trial in the future
Hierarchies of violence, victimhood, and remedy in the pursuit of women's rights after war
No full textRecent postwar recovery efforts have paved the way for reforms that advance women's participation in politics, inclusion in the economy, and access to justice. In this article, we show how a singular emphasis on gender reforms after war that are inattentive to other societal cleavages can leave various forms of marginalization in the shadows. Subnational interviews on the reverberations of gender reforms in five postwar countries expose three hierarchies that structure access to rights for war-affected communities. We reveal which violence is privileged, whose violence is privileged, and which responses are privileged from the perspectives of differently situated war-affected women, showing how patterns of access to new rights can reinforce exclusionary dynamics. Importantly, because international and domestic actors tend to privilege top-down, state-based responses to wartime violence (what we term hierarchies of remedy), hierarchies of violence and victimhood frequently also reflect state actors’ priorities. Speaking to debates on legal and policy reform, we acknowledge that attention to women's rights after war offers an urgently needed corrective to earlier gender inequalities. Yet, a singular focus on gender reforms that ignores other conflict-related cleavages, particularly those that are amplified by the distribution of political power within the state apparatus, can risk obstructing access for marginalized women, sometimes reproducing grievances that contributed to violence in the first place. For policymakers, we suggest that striving for more equal access to new rights after war will help foster a more inclusive—and therefore more stable and durable—peace