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A sacramental theology of the poor centred on the Eucharistic liturgy from Coptic and Latin American perspectives
Get PDFThe integral liberation of the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalised (henceforth ‘the poor’) can be conceived as a deep sacramental act that Christians are called to realise and experience in history. In light of this concept, this interdisciplinary study explores the sacramental dimension of the theology of the poor (TP) and its eucharistic and liturgical applications from Coptic Orthodox perspectives and Latin American Liberation Theology perspectives. The main purpose is to investigate the grounds on which a sacramental theology of the poor (STP) stands and analyse its liberationist features and dynamics.
The study is primarily based on a dialogue between Coptic theologians and Latin American liberation theologians. It brings their writings into a guided open-ended conversation on key topics regarding the TP, its sacramental foundations, and its eucharistic and liturgical expressions. More precisely, it delves into the Christo-pneumatological aspect of the STP, the expected holistic transformation, and the place of eschatological imagination.
This dialogue demonstrates that both theologies share numerous areas of agreement albeit using different terminologies. It also reveals distinct areas of emphasis and in some cases diversion for each theology. The study argues that both theologies can be complementary to constructing a comprehensive STP.
Towards the end of this project, the opinions of liturgiologists, sociologists, and anthropologists of religion are introduced to the conversation to build an image of a liberating eucharistic liturgy, a liturgy of the poor. This image is afterward used – and tested – to analyse the current Coptic liturgical text.
The study bridges two distinct rich theologies for the sake of the poor. It uncovers an intrinsic relationship between integral liberation and eucharistic liturgy. It also offers a vision for a liberating liturgy and a tool to analyse critically and constructively a given liturgy practiced in a certain context from the perspective of the poor
A badge of dishonour: will the UK Conservatives follow the far-right towards ECHR withdrawal?
Get PDFCalls for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) have become commonplace in British political debate. Reform UK has announced withdrawal as its day one priority, the centre-right Conservative party could be on the brink of adopting exit from the ECHR as a flagship policy, and even some Labour MPs are thinking the unthinkable. Pushback against the ECHR and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) over immigration is neither new nor confined to the UK. What is unusual in the UK, compared to other European democracies, is the way in which calls for denunciation of the ECHR have spread beyond parties of the far-right
Rethinking retail: navigating the intersection of commerce, community, and sustainability
No full textRetail, more than any other sector, possesses a unique capacity to address pressing socio-economic challenges in a timely manner and serve as a catalyst for innovative solutions. Moving beyond its traditional role of facilitating transactions, retail has evolved into a dynamic platform for societal engagement, promoting values such as sustainability, inclusion, and ethical practices. This chapter examines the intersections of commerce, community, and sustainability, focusing on retail's potential to drive social activism and act as an agent for positive change.
Guided by the research question, How can retail brands and spaces be catalysts for a more sustainable and connected society?, the study explores how retail environments and brands champion causes ranging from environmental sustainability to human rights advocacy. Drawing on the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this research defines key dimensions of retail activism, identifying pathways through which retail can address global challenges. Case studies were selected and analysed to assess the potential of environmentally sustainable and socially responsible practices in reshaping the retail landscape and fostering societal transformation. This chapter highlights retail's emerging role in shaping a more interconnected and sustainable society, illustrating how it can transcend commercial imperatives to act as a driver for systemic change. By providing a nuanced understanding of retail's evolving responsibilities, the chapter calls for a re-evaluation of its capacity to contribute meaningfully to the global sustainability agenda, particularly in addressing the urgent challenges of the 21st century
The lived experiences of awe and connectedness: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
Get PDFThis dissertation project explores the lived experiences of awe amongst people in middle adulthood (age 35-65). The research project intends to examine how awe is experienced and made sense of in the immediate term and beyond, and to understand what facilitates the experiences of awe. Seven participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews about their experiences of awe. The material was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), and four Group Experiential Themes were identified and discussed: the first details the experiential characteristics of awe in the immediate moment, the second explores the impact of the experiences on the participants’ ways of being, and third examined the psychological factors that helped participants to access and experience awe, and the fourth theme explored how participants more broadly perceived and conceptualised awe. The findings were understood and illuminated with references to knowledge gleaned from existing literature on awe, while also contributing a phenomenological and qualitative understanding of the phenomena that has thus far been investigated primarily through experimental and quantitative means. The findings suggest that the experience of awe is expansive, complex, and impactful on one’s sense of connectedness and ways of relating with the wider world. It is also suggested that awe is accessible and can be experienced through cultivating favourable psychological conditions
Decoding accountability: the importance of explainability in liability frameworks for smart border systems
Get PDFThis paper examines the challenges posed by Automated Decision-Making systems (ADMs) in border control, focusing on the limitations of the proposed AI Liability Directive (AILD)—now withdrawn– in addressing potential harms. We identify key issues within the AILD, including the plausibility requirement, knowledge paradox, and the exclusion of human-in-the-loop, which create significant barriers for claimants seeking redress. Although now withdrawn, the commission is contemplating putting up a new proposal for the AI Liability regime; if the new proposal is anything like the AILD (now withdrawn), there is a need to address the substantial shortcomings discovered in the AILD. To address these shortcomings, we propose integrating sui generis explainability requirements into the AILD framework or mandatory compliance with Article 86 of the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), notwithstanding its ineffectiveness. This approach aims to bridge knowledge and liability gaps, empower claimants, and enhance transparency in AI decision-making processes. Our recommendations include expanding the disclosure requirements to incorporate a sui generis explainability requirement, implementing a tiered plausibility standard, and introducing regulatory sandboxes. These measures seek to engender accountability and fairness. With the refinement of the AILD in mind, these considerations aim to influence and make recommendations for any future proposals for an AI liability regime and to foster a regulatory environment that encourages both the development and use of AI technologies to be responsible and accountable, ensuring that AI-driven or smart border control systems enhance security and efficiency while upholding fundamental rights and human dignity
Führung in der Schweizer Bundesverwaltung: Transformationale und Transaktionale Führung unter Sklerose
No full textThis thesis investigates how management in Switzerland's Federal Administration is behaving in the face of digitalisation, given the sclerosis of hesitant adjustment to structural change within a dual organisation. In this hierarchical organisation that has witnessed strong growth, management, in which Generation X is particularly well represented, is increasingly required to embrace change.
The investigation focuses on leadership style aimed at getting tasks done when faced with sclerotic conditions, taking into account age and openness to change ("resilience") in a static or dynamic organisational structure within the Federal Department of Finance (FDF).
The empirical study is based on design-oriented research, while the data survey uses a qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews. A quantitative method was used to verify the qualitative findings on leadership style and resilience.
The data survey's findings on change-oriented leadership, consisting of transformational leadership and transactional leadership, yielded varying results. Unlike transactional leadership, transformational leadership is not actively applied at the FDF. Contrary to the theory, merely applying transformational leadership does not increase resilience or alleviate the sclerosis as regards hesitant attitudes to change. This is because sclerosis in a static or dynamic organisational structure is influenced by the task topics, although research suggests that sclerosis is more prevalent in static organisations.
Management's resilience does not grow after the age of 50, due to age-related factors. However, resilience can be increased through greater leadership experience. Thus, appropriate additional management training is required as managers grow older.
The evaluation of the artefact of the leadership model in the empirical study, combined with the theoretical results, yields a model for practical application. Thanks to the haptic, three-dimensional leadership model as a cube, management's performance should be improved.
It has been empirically determined and demonstrated that transformational leadership is needed for change in the Federal Administration, which makes associated training of middle management over 50 years of age necessary. Resilience should be established as a new competency, in order to minimise sclerosis
Drug induced deaths in prisons
No full textProblematic drug use and drug-induced deaths are increasingly viewed in many countries as major societal challenges. Globally, the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime has registered increases in the supply, use and harms of drugs over the 20th and 21st centuries. Their 2024 report noted that cocaine production has reached record highs; drug use and markets have expanded in Europe, Africa and Asia; and synthetic drugs are inflicting harm, especially methamphetamines in Asia, the Middle East and parts of Europe, and fentanyl in North America. The report confirmed that poverty and insecurity lie at the root of illicit crop cultivation, and that traffickers are constantly producing new psychoactive substances that pose a serious threat to public health. 1,209 new psychoactive substances have been identified since 1995, four times more than the number under international control. Nitazenes (synthetic opioids which can be more potent than fentanyl) present a new challenge.
The available evidence from international multidisciplinary research about the supply, use and harms of drugs in prisons raises important questions about the relationship between patterns of drug use in people who cycle through prison, the health and social implications of this drug use, and the prison environment. Researchers and policymakers ask:
What are the problems underlying the use of drugs and drug-induced deaths in prisons?
What policies and programmes would be most effective in responding to these complex issues?
What lessons can policymakers draw from international experience for policy learning and transfer
Living with perinatal mental illness in the UK as a migrant woman from Sub-Saharan Africa: a phenomenological study
Get PDFBackground: Perinatal mental illness can be challenging due the seriousness of the illness, anticipated risk to a mother, baby, family, and society. Despite the UK’s health and social care institutions’ efforts to raise awareness, the Sub-Saharan African migrant women experience challenges such as delay accessing services, mental health deterioration, formal detention, and temporary mother- baby separation.
This qualitative study’s aim was to understand lived experiences of those Sub-Saharan African migrant women who used the UK’s perinatal mental health services. The objectives were: i) to explore the lived experiences of perinatal mental illness from Sub-Saharan African Migrant Women ii) to understand how differences in ethnic background and culture shape migrant women’s understanding of perinatal mental illness: iii) to understand women’s level of satisfaction with the perinatal mental health services: iv) to understand barriers encountered to access these services.
Eleven research participants were interviewed using zoom or telephone to collect data and verbatim transcribing followed each interview. Five steps Giorgi’s phenomenological data analysis method was followed. The themes identified illuminated the lived experiences of i) being an African woman: ii) perinatal mental illness, and services: iii) racism: iv) physical health during the perinatal period. Sub-Saharan African migrant women’s reluctance to access services was contributed by a lack of the illness awareness, available services, the services’ set up, structural and institutional racism, cultural barriers, influence of culture, and healthcare professionals limited cultural awareness. This study’s contributions to knowledge includes more understanding of cultural experiences and mental health which are less documented in research field and less understood by professionals and less included in the policies but well informed by CRT. This is further evidence to suggest that Sub-Saharan African migrant women’s experiences of care in perinatal mental health services are not satisfactory and it is below professionals and policies expectations as they contribute to their reluctance. Another contribution is in terms of positionality and decolonisation of literature as a black male African migrant healthcare professional researching black Sub-Saharan African migrant women with lived experiences of perinatal mental health problems and services
From behind the veil: unveiling the experiences of Black British-born males of African heritage navigating psychotherapy training within a White-dominated culture
No full textThis study explores the under-researched experiences of eight Black British-born males of African heritage who completed their counselling and psychotherapy training in the United Kingdom (UK). This study employs a novel decolonial lens to examine intersections of race, identity, and systemic barriers within white-dominated spaces. Drawing on a transdisciplinary approach—Black Africana Existentialism (BAE), Black Critical Race Theory (BCRT), and the Colonial Matrix of Power (CMP)—that constitute the Africana Critical Race Framework (ACRF), this research unveils nuanced ways Black male therapists resist and are shaped by the racial and colonial dynamics inherent in their training. Interviews were conducted through the Ubuntu ethic, fostering a communal, humanising approach that honoured participants’ lived experiences. Utilising only the methodological steps, not the analytic apparatus of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study critiques and builds on the limited literature from the United States (US) regarding Black males’ experiences in white spaces. It highlights gaps in addressing the complexities Black males face and underscores the need for a systemic decolonial shift. Three main themes emerged: Being Black and Male in White Therapeutic Spaces (focusing on identity and existential challenges); Black Male Survival in White Training Spaces (examining resilience); and Afrolantica, Beyond the Veil: Black Males Speak and Thrive (detailing how participants articulated and overcame systemic barriers). Recommendations for decolonising psychotherapy training include decolonising one’s mind, revising curricula to embed non-Eurocentric perspectives (specifically Africana Studies), diversifying faculty to teach the revised curricula, and establishing mentorship programmes for Black students, particularly Black males. This research challenges the status quo and charts transformative change. It advocates for psychotherapy training that rejects the ethics of disdain, a concept articulated by Tommy Curry, which restricts Black scholars’ critique of oppression, fostering a liberated space for genuine expression and resistance to oppressive structures
Unveiling wisdom: a literary and theological study of wisdom traditions in the Book of Revelation
No full textThis thesis analyzes the pervasive use of wisdom language and themes in the Book of Revelation. Although numerous scholars have noted the use of wisdom language in apocalyptic writings such as 1 Enoch and 4 Ezra, this thesis focuses on its use in the Book of Revelation. Chapter 1 introduces the topic, and surveys questions concerning the relationship between apocalyptic and wisdom literature in dialogue with modern genre theory. It is argued that apocalyptic literature is best viewed as a blending of prophetic and wisdom literature. Chapter 2 sets out to study parallels of this blending of apocalyptic and wisdom in 1 Enoch, 4QInstruction, and 4 Ezra, where an ‘eschatologization of wisdom’ is detected. Chapter 3 maps out wisdom language in Revelation. This chapter focuses on literary forms that are related to wisdom literature (e.g., proverbs, macarisms, and vice lists) but also allusions to wisdom literature. It is concluded that wisdom language permeates the book. Chapter 4 explores theological themes that are embedded in the text of Revelation. It is demonstrated that wisdom has influenced and affected the theology of Revelation, especially pertaining to its Christology, ethics, and soteriology. Chapter 5 summarizes the findings, draws conclusions, and presents implications for further investigation.
The argument of the thesis is that Revelation is presented as revealed wisdom. Revelation blends apocalyptic and wisdom genres, creating urgency and a call to ethical action within an eschatological framework. This combination encourages readers to ponder the text’s claims and live wisely in light of impending events. It is a text that invites its readers to wise discernment in light of the revelation of Jesus. Jesus Christ is the supremely wise king who is the source and supplier of wisdom. The followers of the Lamb are invited to hear what Jesus and the Spirit are saying so that they might flourish in the eschatological age by conforming to the revelation of Jesus