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From social movements to organizational roles: a study of evolving occupational mandates of ESG analysts
No full textThis study investigates the professionalization processes that accompany the integration of external mandates into mainstream organizations. In response to evolving societal pressures, organizations often create roles specifically tasked with developing practices that align with these external demands. Using the case of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) analysts in asset management companies, this longitudinal study examines the evolution of the ESG analysts’ occupational mandate through three distinct phases. Our findings reveal that ESG analysts’ mandates have developed along technical and normative dimensions, reflecting shifts in both required skills and professional ethos. This study contributes to the professionalization literature by illustrating how external mandates are reinterpreted and adapted within organizational settings
Community pharmacy services in the late COVID-19 period: what has driven change?
No full textBackground: Community pharmacy appears to have undergone considerable change over the years. Objectives: The objective of this research is to study the range of community pharmacy services provided in late stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and during the last decades and to identify potential drivers for change. Methods: Four European countries (Austria, England, Estonia, and Portugal), which represent a balance in terms of income, organization of the health system and pharmacy services, were selected as case studies. For each country, a factsheet on pharmacy services provided in 2023 and recent developments was populated based on a literature review and validated by country experts in community pharmacies. A semi-structured interview was conducted with a community pharmacist in all study countries to gather additional information, in particular on potential drivers for change. Results: In all case study countries, community pharmacies offer a range of medicines-related and non-medicines-related services, ranging from core activities such as dispensing and counselling to information on general health topics, point-of-care testing, disposal of returned medicines and needle-exchange programs. Certain services are only permitted in some countries (e.g., vaccinations, generic substitution). Developments (e.g., additional tasks) were observed in the last decades, but some changes were only introduced recently in response to the pandemic (e.g., testing for COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccinations). Several, mostly facilitating, factors, such as high accessibility and acceptance of community pharmacies, the growing relevance of the primary health care concept and an appetite of community pharmacists to take over additional tasks, have contributed to changes in the range of services in community pharmacy in recent years and over the decades. Conclusions: The study confirms changes in community pharmacy, with overall extension of the services offered. The COVID-19 pandemic was reported to have played an important role but was not considered the sole driver for change
‘Near-to-medium term’ practices in the European Union’s governance
No full textLong-term thinking is one of the most difficult tasks that States, and their policy-makers, face, and the European Union (EU) is no exception. This article examines the long-termist literature and the EU’s governance’s practices infused with power. It addresses the following question: does (and how) the practice approach make it possible to capture the practices of the European Union’s governance that give rise to contrasting directions when encroaching on social interactions? The findings highlight how the practices of the EU’s governance lead to different and opposed outcomes when interact with the social sphere, and how the outcomes are connected to the future. The findings might serve policy-makers to remind the importance of considering the effects of their policies on the future. The article fulfils these tasks by applying the practice approach to three short illustrative examples that are inherent within the EU’s governance: the Covid pandemic, Afghanistan, and China. The issue of how the practical implications of this paper might inform the ‘near-to-medium term’ policy-making or international relations strategies is discussed in the conclusion
Adaptive representation: a moderate stance on predictive processing
No full textPredictive processing (PP), emerging as a novel research paradigm in contemporary cognitive science, offers a departure from both traditional computational representation views and 4E+S cognition perspectives. This theory advocates that the brain is a hierarchical prediction model based on Bayesian inference, which aims to minimize the difference between the predicted world and the actual world to prediction error minimization. In recent years, the problem of representation has emerged as a focal point in the philosophical examination of PP. This article introduces two primary strands of PP theories: conservative predictive processing (CPP) and radical predictive processing (RPP). Building upon these frameworks, it outlines three distinct positions regarding the representation problem within PP: representationalism, anti-representationalism, and a moderate stance on representations. Lastly, the article proposes a new perspective on representation: Adaptive Representation. Adaptive representation highlights the fact that generative processes are adaptive processes, and that adaptation is not necessarily optimal, whether based on natural selection or natural drift; and that generation is at the same time a representational process. By advocating for a form of weak representationalism grounded in adaptive processes, this perspective supports a moderate stance on representations within PP
Two lessons from Trump's attack on Aid
No full textProfessor Duncan Green draws two lessons from the Trump administration’s move to close the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). As of Friday 7 February, 2025, at all USAID direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally
The many faces of online scams - four key deceptions targeted at children
No full textWhen many people think about online scams, they think about financial scams targeted at older people, or at adults in general. However, children are also the targets of deceptive behaviour online. Here, Gazal Shekhawat and Didem Özkul of the Digital Futures for Children centre review the evidence around some of the ways that children might be manipulated or deceived in the online world
Culture plays a role in personal health decisions
No full textHealth decisions, such as how people seek treatment and which kinds of treatment they trust, are highly influenced by culture. In many societies, herbal remedies, spiritual healing and community-based care are still widely used, even when biomedical healthcare is available. Joan Costa-Font writes that it’s important to acknowledge the enduring popularity of these traditions and recommends cultural sensitivity in healthcare policies
Trump's executive orders and the fight against climate change
No full textPresident Trump’s orders to leave the Paris Agreement and “terminate the Green New Deal” will have far-reaching consequences in the United States and globally. Ensuing geopolitical shifts and power gaps are likely to benefit China. Timo Leiter writes about the implications for climate governance, climate finance and greenhouse gas mitigation
Heat work: choreography as an ecological enquiry of machine learning and extractivism
No full textArtificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to both disrupt and transform the performing arts. However, the use of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms in choreography risks leading to a reductive and opaque formalization of choreographic decisions, often disregarding energy consumption and environmental impact. This article explores choreography as a method for examining the energetic materialities of ML and extractivism. Through Heat Work, a performance project, it investigates the energy and heat generated by movement data derived from tribal dances within an extraction zone. The methodology includes motion capture, data classification, and the application of a supervised ML model, with a focus on implementing a sustainable approach to choreography with AI. By examining the project’s ecological dependencies for choreographic decision-making, the article proposes a sustainable and ethical avenue of research at the intersection of AI, extractivism and performance
