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Injunctive relief at the European Court of Human Rights
No full textA discussion of the development of the European Court's interim measures regime
Sociology and the complexity of what is missing
Full text linkWhat is ‘missed’ by sociological literature underpinned by assumptions of presence that a missing approach can rectify? I appropriate a metaphysics of presence and an alternative focus on what is missing as ontological foci to revisit complexity studies in sociology. I review key themes therein and show that, by predominantly adopting a being-laden set of metaphysical assumptions, the complexity discourse overlooks subtler and more nuanced aspects of elucidating social settings. By attuning ourselves to what is missing, I make a case for what the possible consequences of this overlooking might be while showing the theorizing inadequacies of complexity thinking, which rests squarely on tangibility and observability of Aristotelian entities
The use of smart surveillance technologies for suicide prevention in public spaces: a professional stakeholder survey from the United Kingdom
No full textBackground: Around a third of suicides in the United Kingdom occur in public spaces, such as on the railways, at bridges, or coastal locations. Increasingly, the use of Artificial Intelligence and other smart technologies are being proposed as a means of optimising or automating aspects of the surveillance process in these environments. Yet relatively little is known about how they are being used for suicide prevention and the realities of deploying these systems in public spaces.
Methods: 108 professional stakeholders across the UK completed an online survey to understand how smart surveillance technologies are being deployed across different types of public spaces to (also) prevent suicides. Through a series of multiple choice and open-ended questions, participants were also asked about the perceived benefits, limitations, and biggest barriers of implementing these technologies for suicide prevention reasons.
Results: 72 examples of smart surveillance technology were identified, with around two-thirds at “high-risk” locations. Motion-activated CCTV, cameras with AI analytics, and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras were the most commonly identified technologies. More than half of systems alerted a control room when activated (58%), and the majority of all identified systems (80%) initiated a human-led response.
Qualitative analysis suggests that these technologies can help guide real-time or future rescue responses. However, the importance of ensuring technology met the needs of a location was raised, with many originally designed for other purposes (e.g., crime prevention). Furthermore, several participants indicated technology alone could not prevent suicides, and felt a human response was still required. This, however, presented challenges such as the feasibility of delivering rapid responses. Barriers to installation and other challenges, including ethical and legal concerns, were also raised.
Conclusions: The present findings suggest that smart surveillance technologies have the potential to aide suicide prevention efforts but are unlikely to replace other measures. The findings highlight the importance of engaging with other stakeholders, including staff who lead the response or work with the systems day-to-day and people with lived experience of suicide. Furthermore, environmental factors, existing infrastructure and the processes surrounding the use of these tools may also influence their effectiveness as a suicide prevention measure when deployed in real-world settings
Privacy 6.0: privacy as mental integrity
No full textThis chapter suggests that the idea of privacy as mental integrity is an emerging socio-cultural narrative that is likely to shape the legal understanding of privacy in significant ways. We begin the chapter by examining the ways pre-existing socio-cultural narratives can shape the interpretation, application and development of legal norms. Next, we seek to identify and discuss major narratives about privacy that have emerged to date. We propose that there are at least five such narratives: (1) privacy as property, (2) privacy as the ‘right to be let alone’, (3) privacy as control, (4) privacy as anonymity, and (5) privacy as obscurity. It is against this background that we examine the emergence of a sixth major narrative: privacy as mental integrity
A 12-week strength and conditioning intervention: an individualized case series approach for 3 amateur and 3 professional female golfers
No full textThis study utilised an individualised, case series approach to 12-weeks of strength and conditioning (S&C) training, for 3 high level amateur and 3 professional female golfers. Each player took part in a 90-minute testing session both pre- and post- intervention, and two structured S&C sessions per week for 12-weeks. Movement competency assessments were used to help guide exercise selection in each intervention and test measures included: golf shot data, the isometric mid-thigh pull (IMTP), isometric bench press, and countermovement jump, with a total of 12 metrics across the four assessment protocols. Analysis of individual performance changes were done by using the standard deviation (SD) for each test metric, relative to pre-intervention scores. Collectively, for the three amateur players, 32 out of a possible 36 metrics showed changes > the baseline SD, whilst for the three professional players, 23 metrics elicited changes > the baseline SD. Of note, this collective difference was largely attributable to professional #1, who showed only four ‘true’ improvements in test scores, out of a possible 12. This study has shown that taking an individualised approach to S&C training predominantly elicits meaningful changes in both golf shot data and physical performance – a concept which is essential to understand for an individual sport, such as golf
It is time for other stories: troubling the science fact of developmental babyhood
No full textThis chapter critically interrogates developmentalism and its pervasive influence on how babyhood is socially constructed, experienced, and governed. Drawing on Donna Haraway’s concept of ‘Science Fact’ as storytelling, it traces the historical and cultural origins of developmental norms, focusing on instruments like The Red Book as key technologies of regulation that reinforce ableism, whiteness, and neoliberal ideals of progress. Through autobiographical narratives, feminist posthumanist theory, and arts-based interventions, the chapter explores the affective and political power of stories that frame babyhood as linear, measurable, and normative. It examines how clinical developmental psychology, visual culture, and surveillance practices have shaped dominant narratives, and contrasts them with creative projects—such as Towards Toddlerhood and Aesthetic Behavior—that seek to unsettle developmentalist logic. The chapter argues for the necessity of crafting alternative, multispecies, and relational stories that resist human exceptionalism and open space for more just and liveable stories of early childhood
Spiking neural networks: history, current status and the future
No full textSimulated spiking neural networks have been explored for over a hundred years. Many of these networks are driven by biological considerations and an attempt to simulate brains, but others are used with little biological consideration. This paper gives some history of the development of spiking neural models, and their use for modelling biological and cognitive phenomena, and for machine learning. It introduces the current state of the art in computational biological neuron and synapse modelling, and plasticity. It introduces and reviews balanced spiking networks, and their engineering applications. Spiking networks are also used for machine learning, with the hope that their implementation on neuromorphic hardware will bring an energy and time savings.
Similarly, neuromorphic hardware can enable massive parallelism, supporting larger spiking networks. The use of spiking nets for machine learning, both with biologically plausible models and without, is discussed showing that effective models already exist. The paper concludes with some notes about implementing spiking nets and a discussion including open questions and future work
The fables of the academic zoo: de‐legitimizing dominant micro‐practices through storytelling and caring
No full textContemporary academia is like a zoo where academics, like caged animals, are confined by dominant micro-practices, creating an individualistic, competitive, and output-driven neoliberal ecosystem. Although prior research highlights these practices, little is known about how to dismantle them, and rewrite the academic script. In this article, we unveil how to collectively de-legitimize our dominant micro-practices, transcending traditional writing by telling the fables of the Academic Zoo and creating a radically imaginative theory. We foster a reflexive recognition of our dominant micro-practices, revealing their hidden logics, and challenging their illusion of inevitability. Through our fables and their associated morals, we construct a three-phased process model of recognition, disruption, and transformation—embedded in our conceptual foundation of narrative theory and the ethics-of-care—in which academics collectively weaken the legitimacy of dominant micro-practices and create opportunities for alternative ways of organizing. We call on academics to C.A.R.E—create awareness of our dominant narratives, alter the naturalized perception of these narratives through questioning and deconstruction, redistribute responsibility for disruptive counter-action, and establish and embed care-full alternatives—supporting the creation of a more inclusive and humane academic ecosystem where “Together We Can Make a Difference”
Arranged servitude: how forced marriages violently confine women
No full textThis article examines the prevalence and dynamics of forced and arranged marriages in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, tracing how women's autonomy is constrained and how consent is negotiated under pressure within patriarchal social structures. The study asks how consent is negotiated, justified, and experienced in situations where refusal would carry social, economic, or familial consequences. Employing a thematic analysis of 55 in-depth interviews, the study explores how these practices are sustained through intersecting pressures, honour, kinship obligations, economic precarity, and familial control. This is the first multi-site, gender-focused study to examine forced and arranged marriages across Kurdish and Arab communities. The research examines the continuum between “arranged” and “forced” marriage and the social logics that position women within these systems. Situated within feminist and sociological analyses of gendered constraint, the findings demonstrate how marriage functions as a social and economic strategy, how families mobilise marriage to safeguard honour or consolidate status, and why legal prohibitions remain largely disconnected from lived realities. The article contributes new empirical insight into how coercion is rationalised within kinship systems and how women navigate constrained forms of agency in contexts where alternatives are limited. While forced marriage is legally prohibited in the region, the study argues that legal reforms alone are insufficient without corresponding shifts in social norms, institutional practices, and community-level interventions that address the structural conditions enabling these marriages
Greener labels, stronger bonds: driving engagement and value co-creation through retailers’ sustainability and sustainable development goals alignment
No full textPurpose
This study aims to explore consumers’ perceptions of retailers’ corporate image, focusing on corporate social responsibility, climate change engagement and sustainability initiatives such as the adoption of recyclable packaging and efforts to reduce carbon footprints and CO2 emissions.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory research approach was used to gain deeper insights into consumers’ perceptions of retailers’ corporate image and sustainability practices. The study involved six focus group discussions conducted with a total of 33 private label brand (PLB) consumers.
Findings
An exploratory research approach was used to gain deeper insights into consumers’ perceptions of retailers’ corporate image and sustainability practices. The study involved six focus group discussions conducted with a total of 33 PLB consumers.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to qualitatively examine how retailers’ sustainability and alignment with UN SDG12 and SDG8 influence customer engagement and value co-creation in the PLB context. Unlike previous research that treated these concepts separately, it offers an integrated view of how sustainability narratives foster deeper consumer involvement. The findings show that sustainability cues prompt both active and passive co-creative behaviours, such as storytelling, feedback and eco-conscious participation. Based on these insights, a conceptual model is proposed to illustrate the dynamic relationship between sustainability and customer engagement, highlighting the cognitive, emotional and behavioural dimensions that shape value co-creation