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Networks of securitisation in the academy: the role of friendship, solidarity and radical geographies
No full textThis intervention has three aims: (1) to consider how solidarities are being policed in the academy; (2) how friendships and solidarities emerge in practices of resistance; and (3) what a radical geography which embraces a decolonial pedagogy can offer us in these unsettling times. While solidarity with the Palestinian cause is transnational, it is also heavily policed and disciplined by our academic institutions. Although universities are heavily influenced by neoliberalism that prioritises profit over people, I examine how these activist spaces allow for the organic development of solidarity and friendship, which is fundamental to these movements, both in the USA and the UK. As universities increasingly embrace national security discourses and policies, such as the deployment of counter‐extremism measures in UK universities, activism is being pushed outside of our institutions. Through a call for the recognition of radical geography which embraces a decolonial framework, this intervention highlights the need for the discipline to re‐imagine how knowledge can be produced outside the narrow parameters of the institution, while centring and nurturing dynamics of friendship and care
Democracy, trust, and political orientation: disentangling mechanisms shaping individuals’ vaccine attitudes
No full textContext: In recent decades, many countries experienced a reduction in the quality and functioning of democratic institutions and norms accompanied by rising social distrust and opposing political views. The decline in vaccine confidence might be linked to these trends. This study explores the political factors influencing individual attitudes toward vaccination across 22 upper-middle-income and high-income countries, examining the interaction between political orientation, trust in public health authorities, and levels of democracy. Methods: The authors used the VaxPref database, encompassing demographically representative data from 50,242 respondents collected between July 2022 and June 2023, to conduct an analysis on three levels: pooled sample, democracy groups, and country-specific analyses. Results: The authors found that higher democracy scores generally correlated with lower levels of vaccine skepticism. People in the political center and on the political right expressed more skepticism toward vaccines overall. However, trust in public health authorities emerged as the determinant that explains the largest variation in vaccine attitudes. Conclusions: These findings suggest a greater effectiveness of democratic systems in fostering vaccine confidence and the need to depoliticize vaccination efforts. Building and maintaining trust in scientific information and technical expertise is critical. Blunt measures like vaccination mandates may not sustain long-term confidence, particularly in democratic contexts. Effective interventions should prioritize comprehensive school-based education to promote preventive health behaviors coupled with targeted trust-enhancing communication strategies
Temporary carbon dioxide removals to offset methane emissions
No full textUnlike CO2, methane emissions have a particularly large short-term effect on temperature. We argue that these largely temporary temperature effects of methane emissions are apt to be offset by temporary CO2 removal. Temporally matching offsetting temperature reductions to the temperature impulse of methane eliminates the sizable intertemporal welfare transfers that occur when methane is offset 1 t by equivalent permanent CO2 removals. Assessing equivalence based on avoided economic damages suggests that about 87 temporary CO2 removals over a period of 30 years are needed to offset one tonne of methane. Agreement on the appropriate quantity of temporary CO2 offsets is insensitive to controversial parameters such as the social discount rate, climate damages and future emission scenarios. Short-term monitoring periods of 20-30 years are likely to be more credibly enforceable for various nature-based CO2 removal projects than long-term monitoring requirements
Beyond Confucian perfectionism and democracy: the cultural knowledge problem and liberal polycentrism in East Asia
No full textTheorists have responded to the challenge of pluralism in East Asia by either advocating a less-demanding form of Confucianism or neutral liberal democratic institutions. This article transcends this dichotomy by extending the challenge down to the individual, prioritizing “exit-based” institutional mechanisms characterized by polycentric interjurisdictional competition over collective “voice.” Drawing from the tradition of epistemic liberalism, this framework not only provides groups the space to enact their moral commitments but facilitates cultural discovery in a complex environment where knowledge of what is of cultural importance is in the first place not centralizable. Our novel proposal accepts the pluralist’s preference for an anti-perfectionist regime without being committed to political democracy. In our approach, not only is Confucianism knocked off its special status in justifying the social order, even democracy is deprived of its special status in the arena of governance
Growth experiences and trust in government
No full textThis article explores the relationship between economic growth and trust in government using variation in GDP growth experienced over a lifetime since birth. We assemble a newly harmonized global data set across 11 major opinion surveys, comprising 3.3 million respondents in 166 countries since 1990. Exploiting cohort-level variation, we find that people who have experienced higher GDP growth are more prone to trust their governments, with larger effects found in democracies. Higher-growth experiences are also associated with improved perceptions of government performance and living standards. We find no similar channel between growth experience and interpersonal trust. Second, more recent growth experiences appear to matter most for trust in government, with no detectable effect of growth experienced during one’s formative years, closer to birth, or before birth. Third, we find evidence of a “trust paradox” whereby average trust in government is lower in democracies than in autocracies. Our results are robust to a range of falsification exercises, robustness checks, and single-country evidence using the American National Election Studies and the Swiss Household Panel
Political (in)visibility and governance disconnects: dealing with waste in Addis Ababa and Faisalabad
No full textLike many large cities in the Global South, Addis Ababa and Faisalabad have struggled to improve their solid waste management (SWM) systems. The political economy of the sector, alongside local attitudes towards waste work, creates a complex governance environment in which solutions are far from obvious. This article traces social, political and institutional change in the SWM systems of the two cities through a comparative, interdisciplinary analysis anchored in three governance arenas: institutional and policy frameworks,the roles and agency of key actors, and everyday waste practices. Despite substantial institutional differences, we find that service levels and waste workers’ livelihoods are similar. While both cities have moved towards an integrated approach to SWM,imported principles and best practices have not been adequately contextualised. Addressing governance disconnects will depend less on technical fixes than on the public authorities’ ability to place-based, constructive interaction between ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ actors and practices
Saving souls from the depths: the society for rescuing the drowning (Zhengnitang) in late imperial China
Full text linkWhat motivates a society or community to promote the rescue of individuals in hazardous waters? This article expands upon comprehensive research regarding charitable history and volunteerism in late Qing China to fill a void in the literature pertaining to the Zhengnitang, a local organisation committed to rescuing individuals from drowning. Although lifesaving has been examined within the framework of a global trend in organised humanitarian efforts, the particular practices, measures, and principles of Chinese lifesaving societies during the late imperial era in a transnational context require more scrutiny. This study contextualises the Chinese model of lifesaving within both national and international frameworks, emphasising its nuanced impact on the formation of European lifesaving societies during the long nineteenth century and conversely, how global humanitarian advancements may have influenced Chinese lifesaving efforts. We will also look at the deeply ingrained idea of lifesaving in imperial China, which is different from saving lives in other unfortunate situations, and how it has changed over time. This will allow us to explore how different Chinese humanitarian practices have affected the region and the world as a whole, as well as how they relate to the cultural history of water-related accidents and injuries
Global banking with a Latin American rhythm
Full text linkHow does global banking impact financial stability and the real economy, particularly in emerging market economies? This paper revisits this question through the lens of new data and recent empirical findings in the banking literature. Considering this evidence, we illustrate how global banks are more prone to engaging in quantity and price credit rationing during crises, particularly when dealing with opaque borrowers abroad. However, in a context where shocks emerge in the real sector — for instance, through trade shocks — global banks can play a key role in making trade flows more resilient. We primarily use Latin America as our region of study as it is a region where globalization and deglobalization have had substantial impacts. Our findings support the notion that prudential financial stability frameworks can help to grasp the benefits of banking globalization while mitigating its downside risks
Subtle discrimination of fathers in relation to leave-taking: a comparative study of Slovakia and Poland
Full text linkThe article argues that despite a growing trend of generous leave policies for fathers, leave-related workplace discrimination against them persists, contributing to lower rates of uptake compared to mothers. Using a comparative design, we explore the link between different leave policies for fathers and differences in subtle discrimination of fathers in their workplace when it comes to leave-taking. Drawing on semi-structured individual interviews with fathers and mothers conducted in 2019-20, we compare the cases of Poland and Slovakia, two contexts similar in their inegalitarian gender structures—casting mothers as primary stay-at-home carers of young children and fathers as ideal workers—but different in policies. At the time of our interviews, Poland granted fathers 2 weeks of well-paid, non-transferable paternity leave; Polish fathers could also draw on 32 weeks of well-paid parental leave, which could be divided by parents as they wished. By contrast, Slovak fathers were entitled to 28 weeks of well-paid non-transferable “maternity leave for fathers”. Polish fathers' rate of uptake of paternity leave was the highest, their uptake of parental leave the lowest, with Slovak fathers' uptake of the “maternity leave for fathers” in-between. We find that differences in workplace obstacles linked to the three policies help explain the different rates of uptake. While fathers in Poland rarely reported opposition to taking the short non-transferable paternity leave, Slovak fathers were faced with multiple obstacles to their use of their non-transferable but considerably longer policy, ranging from a lack of established HR processes, through a need to find substitutes for their position to fears of losing their jobs. The obstacles were further exacerbated for Polish parental leave, which parents can divide freely and which is viewed as mothers' entitlement. We conclude that though gendered norms on the division of leaves remain strong in both Poland and Slovakia, casting men as ideal workers and women as primary carers, policy details matter and affect the level of discrimination. Slovak fathers with their non-transferable leave entitlements face comparatively less discrimination than Polish fathers when taking longer leaves. In sum, more egalitarian policy design may help counter subtle workplace discrimination when it comes to fathers' leave-taking
Sequential credit markets
Full text linkEntrepreneurs typically seek financing in decentralized markets, where they approach investors sequentially. We develop a model of sequential capital markets with privately informed investors. The sequential market creates a dynamic adverse selection externality that leads to overinvestment and excessive rents to intermediaries, even as the number of competing investors becomes arbitrary large. The resulting rents lead to excessive entry of investors and insufficient entry of entrepreneurs. Moving to a centralized market structure or reducing transparency restores competitiveness but may harm efficiency. The model also explains how even a small skill advantage for an investor can lead to preferential deal flow and outsized returns