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When monopsony power wanes - part one: material conditions
Get PDFIn this Part 1, Material Conditions, I look at the changing material conditions of capital in the most labour-intensive manufacturing sectors in world production. I argue that these changes are leading to a waning in monopsony power. The paper introduces a universal logic that governs competition and reshapes the chain around the question of monopsony in the global supply chain. Put simply, deregulation produces high degrees of monopsony power, increasing the value share for the lead firm. This intensifies competition, exerts downward pressure, and winnows the number of suppliers able to compete. The result is a supplier consolidation. Consolidation increases the surviving suppliers’ share of value, which expands access to finance, facilitates self-investment, and raises entry barriers. In Part 2, Subjective Agency, I look at how this leads to the emergence of market spatial inflexibility, which has given labour new openings by increasingly their disruptive power
A qualitative exploration of how extended paternity leave can promote fathers’ psychological wellbeing
Get PDFThe perinatal period is known to be a vulnerable time for parents’ mental health and wellbeing. Research about fathers’ health during this time is in its infancy and has focused predominantly on mental health problems. Much less is known about how fathers experience their own wellbeing or what can help their lives (and consequently the lives of their family) to go well during the significant event of having a baby. Early research suggests that allowing fathers to take a longer period of paternity leave could help to promote their wellbeing. The aim of this study was therefore to explore the experiences of some of the first fathers to take extended paternity leave following the UK’s introduction of its new Shared Parental Leave policy in 2015. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sixteen fathers from around the UK who were employed in a variety of industries. The sample included both first-time fathers and those extending their family. Template Analysis was initially used to systematically analyse the data. The overarching conclusion was that the wellbeing of these fathers appeared to flourish during a major life event that has a known association with mental health problems for many fathers. To seek an explanation for this, the findings were interpreted using a novel approach based on the theoretical framework of Ryff’s (1989)six aspects of psychological wellbeing. A conceptual model is therefore proposed that suggests extended paternity leave can promote fathers’ psychological wellbeing by allowing them a rare and valuable opportunity for self-reflection, personal growth, development of parental mastery, and to support the wellbeing of their family. This qualitative exploration contributes a deep understanding of the nature of these fathers’ individual experiences of their own psychological wellbeing. The potential of extended paternity leave for promoting the wellbeing of fathers and their families during the critical postnatal period signals that there may be value in researching the relationship between paternal leave and wellbeing further
Voicing Loss - Policy Brief No. 1: Clarifying the role and remit of the coroner
Get PDFThe Voicing Loss project explored the role of bereaved people in coroners’ investigations and inquests. The project involved interviews with 89 people who had experience of the coroner service following the death of someone they were close to, as well as interviews with coronial professionals and witnesses. This is the first of two Policy Briefs based on the study findings, intended for those involved in coronial policy-making and leadership
Principles for Practice No. 3 - Humanity at the heart of the coronial process: Respecting and including the deceased person
Get PDFThis good practice document is based on findings of the Voicing Loss project on the role of bereaved people in the coronial process. The project involved interviews with 89 people who had experience of the coroner service following the death of someone they were close to, as well as interviews with coronial professionals and witnesses. This document is intended for professionals and practitioners in the coronial sector. It aims to support practice which respects and reflects the personhood of the deceased individual throughout the coronial process. This practice can make a substantial, positive difference to bereaved people’s experiences of the coroner service. The focus here is on two principles: respectful communication about the deceased; and reflecting the personhood of the deceased
Target switch costs in visual search arise during the preparatory activation of target templates
Get PDFPrior research on task switching has shown that the reconfiguration of stimulus-response mappings across trials is associated with behavioural switch costs. Here, we investigated the effects of switching representations of target-defining features in visual search (attentional templates). Participants searched for one of two colour-defined target objects that changed predictably every two trials (Experiment 1) or every four trials (Experiment 2). Substantial costs were observed for search performance on target switch relative to target repeat trials. Preparatory target template activation processes were tracked by measuring N2pc components (indicative of attentional capture) to a rapid series of task-irrelevant colour singleton probes that appeared during the interval between search displays, and either matched the currently relevant or the other target colour. N2pcs to relevant target colour probes emerged from 800ms before search display onset on target repetition trials, reflecting the activation of a corresponding colour template. Crucially, probe N2pcs only emerged immediately before target onset on target switch trials, indicating that preparatory template activation was strongly delayed. In contrast, irrelevant colour singleton probes did not trigger N2pcs on either repeat or switch trials, suggesting the absence of any target template inertia across trials. These results show that switching the identity of search targets delays preparatory target template activation and impairs subsequent attentional guidance processes. They suggest that performance costs on switch versus repeat trials are associated with differences in the time course of task preparation
Women and trauma in Modiano's millennial novels
No full textIn this essay, I will show how the joint focus on women and trauma in Modiano’s millennial novels works to find a way out of what Colin Davis and others before him have discussed as the aporia of trauma. My discussion will refer to the majority of his novels published around and since the year 2000, such as Des inconnues (1999), La Petite Bijou (2001), Accident nocturne (2003), and L’Horizon (2010), but in greatest detail to Encre sympathique (2019)
Phylogenomics and the rise of the angiosperms
Get PDFAngiosperms are the cornerstone of most terrestrial ecosystems and human livelihoods1,2. A robust understanding of angiosperm evolution is required to explain their rise to ecological dominance. So far, the angiosperm tree of life has been determined primarily by means of analyses of the plastid genome3,4. Many studies have drawn on this foundational work, such as classification and first insights into angiosperm diversification since their Mesozoic origins5,6,7. However, the limited and biased sampling of both taxa and genomes undermines confidence in the tree and its implications. Here, we build the tree of life for almost 8,000 (about 60%) angiosperm genera using a standardized set of 353 nuclear genes8. This 15-fold increase in genus-level sampling relative to comparable nuclear studies9 provides a critical test of earlier results and brings notable change to key groups, especially in rosids, while substantiating many previously predicted relationships. Scaling this tree to time using 200 fossils, we discovered that early angiosperm evolution was characterized by high gene tree conflict and explosive diversification, giving rise to more than 80% of extant angiosperm orders. Steady diversification ensued through the remaining Mesozoic Era until rates resurged in the Cenozoic Era, concurrent with decreasing global temperatures and tightly linked with gene tree conflict. Taken together, our extensive sampling combined with advanced phylogenomic methods shows the deep history and full complexity in the evolution of a megadiverse clade
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