7564 research outputs found
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Everyday encounters with state and capitalism
No full textThis book on "Everyday Encounters with State and Capitalism," illustrates how different forces shape ideas, knowledge traditions, policies, processes, institutions and everyday lives to domesticate both people and the planet in pursuit of profit. It examines the myriad ways in which contemporary ruling and non-ruling elites influence politics, culture, economy, religion and shape our daily interactions, emphasising their impact on individuals, families, communities, democratic praxis, societal structures and nature. The book portrays power structures that are skewed in a manner that marginalises many while upholding the interests of a few. It depicts numerous contradictions inherent in capitalism and the state, while also presenting alternative ideas drawn from the everyday experiences of working people.
State and capitalism territorialise and deterritorialise lives and livelihoods. It destabilises social, cultural and economic relationships. Everyday crises are manufactured, and conflicts are designed to divert the masses from exploring alternatives to capitalism. This strategy aims to maintain the status quo by ensuring that attention and resources are consistently focused on the accumulation of wealth and prosperity for a few, thereby preventing widespread consideration of alternative and egalitarian systems and processes for mass welfare
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting and missing (M) scores in the Industry 5.0 era: broadening firms' and investors' decisions to achieve sustainable development goals
Get PDFEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are gradually being utilized to assess organizations' long-term success, drive capital, and inform company decision-making toward sustainable growth. Despite a few research investigations, studies on ESG are still developing by using a broader range of new technologies to improve ESG transparency; overcoming shortcomings that have arisen have yet to be examined. Industry 5.0 (I5.0) provides an effective paradigm for comprehending the significance of technology in enhancing ESG disclosure and reporting. To handle the critical shift to wider sustainable development goals (SDGs) specifically, SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 13 (Climate Action) within the ESG monitoring system, this research digs into current ESG reporting concerns and obstacles. The study systematically reviews I5.0 and ESG reporting literature. The study also carries out an extensive content-centric assessment of relevant sources and information mappings to accomplish the research aims. The findings reveal that the fundamental characteristics of I5.0 are consistent with ESG, while I5.0 may accommodate ESG capabilities by improving ESG disclosure reliability, expanding from retrospective to prospective and real-time reporting, customizing, broadening the range of reporting, lowering costs, and improving effectiveness. The findings suggest that ESG reporting must expand outside its company-centric emphasis, altering existing accounting methods to embrace ESG disclosure requirements more appropriately. ESG performance can be improved with clearer representation of environmental and social consequences, guiding both firms' and investors' decisions (double materiality concept) towards SDGs. New or missing (M) scores revealed by I5.0 technologies can assist both investors and company managers
Machine learning techniques for predictive maintenance of building services: a comprehensive review and research outlook
Get PDFPurpose:
Predictive maintenance in buildings is crucial for minimising unplanned downtime and extending lifespan of building components, yet its implementation remains complex. Machine learning (ML) offers a transformative approach by enabling systematic predictions and automation. The purpose of this study is to analyse the interrelationship between ML techniques and predictive maintenance of building services, identifying key research trends and future directions.
Design/methodology/approach:
A bibliographic analysis was conducted on 118 journal articles using VOSviewer to examine co-authorship and co-occurrence patterns. The key themes generated were then explored semi-systematically, focusing on the most frequently used ML techniques and predictive maintenance applications.
Findings:
The results reveal a strong relationship between ML and predictive maintenance, with increasing research interest post-2021. Co-occurrence analysis highlights the evolution of research themes, shifting from conventional ML models to advanced techniques such as digital twins and lifelong learning with deep generative replay modelling. Among the most frequently applied ML techniques, Extreme Gradient Boosting, Artificial Neural Networks and Deep Neural Networks have demonstrated the best predictive performance in fault diagnostics and system optimisation.
Practical implications:
The findings advocate for stronger interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers, institutions and industries to bridge the gap between research advancements and real-world implementation in facilities management and building life cycle.
Originality/value:
This study provides a comprehensive examination of research trends, highlighting underexplored ML applications in building services predictive maintenance
Centring Justice
No full textThis keynote speech was delivered by Professor Sunny Singh FRSL at the Educating Susan: Decolonisation and Inclusivity in Creative Writing Pedagogy and Publishing conference, held at City, University of London, in September 2024. Curated by Dr Deepa Anappara and Farhana Shaikh, this one-day, in-person event brought together writers, academics, researchers, and publishing professionals who spoke about their approaches to decolonisation within creative writing and the broader literary and publishing industry. Singh’s speech drew upon her decades-long work within academia, writing, and the publishing industry. It called for a dismantling of existing creative writing and publishing practices by questioning what we are taught about writing, storytelling, and approaches that favour certain modes of storytelling, while marginalising others. Most importantly, it reminded
us that decolonisation is not a fixed point, but instead, an ongoing, ever-changing process — one that demands constant reflection and a willingness to challenge and reshape the systems that define our creative and cultural
landscapes
Routledge handbook of populism and foreign policy: introduction
No full textThe study of populism and foreign policy is a rapidly growing academic field in the area of foreign policy analysis (FPA), developing in response to the seemingly never-ending rise of populism in political systems around the world. This literature has generated many valuable insights, yet its often reactive nature also means that its theoretical contributions about the changing nature of foreign policy in a world of populism remain largely unsystematized. The purpose of this handbook is to draw on the expertise and work of renowned scholars in all sub-fields of FPA in order to identify patterns, impact and implications of populism as a factor of foreign policy. This is all the more important since, as this handbook as a whole shows, the empirical picture of populism in foreign policy is quite complex and fragmented, with populism causing varying and divergent dynamics in foreign policy across countries, issue areas and the thick ideologies of populists themselves. However, as this handbook claims, it is still important to identify important distinctive and consistent features of foreign policies influenced by populism
Is AI stirring innovation or chaos? Psychological determinants of AI fake news exposure (AI-FNE) and its effects on young adults
Get PDFThe rapid rise of fake news has become a growing concern in recent years; moreover, advancements in technology, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), have further exacerbated this issue by making it increasingly difficult to detect and verify fake news content. Also, the advent of AI, especially in auto-generated texts and deepfakes, has made identifying such misinformation significantly more challenging, as this may be associated with many predetermined factors. This study, therefore, investigated the psychological factors that influence media consumers’ belief in deepfakes and other AI-generated content, particularly focusing on how this type of news exposure impacts young adults. Using quantitative methodology, the study randomly sampled a total of (N = 381) young adults to explore the relationship between factors like low critical thinking, emotional attachment to news, and susceptibility to AI-generated fake news. The study found a critical linkage in the prediction that low critical thinking exacerbates exposure to AI-generated fake news content. This study validated the assumption that AI fake news exposure significantly predicts low media trust and antisocial behaviours. In addition, the study affirmed that emotional attachment to news will be positively associated with AI-FNE. This study ultimately concludes that factors such as low critical thinking and emotional attachment to news are predeterminants to AI-FNE, while AI-FNE further exacerbates antisocial behaviours and an individual’s belief in news platforms
Youth system map
No full textThe Greater London Authority’s (GLA) have commissioned LondonMet CARES to undertake research into the challenges that young Londoners face, to help shape the GLA’s holistic approach to empowering the voice of young Londoners.
The project involves reviewing evidence gathered by the GLA to map out the ecosystem and interactions that underpin youth social action in London, as well as participatory research with active participation from members of London’s youth community.
This map was designed and created by Miki Holloway, Prof. Diana Stirbu and Assoc. Prof. Justin Webb, with assistance from Emma Seymour
Confronting sustainability grand challenges: how do standard-setters shape sustainability reporting standards and accountability practices?
Get PDFThis study critically reflects on how international sustainability standard-setters, namely the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), and the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG)—are responding to the environmental and social grand challenges by shaping sustainability reporting standards and accountability practice.
Drawing on insights from the academic debate and the official resources of GSSB, ISSB, and EFRAG, this study performs a thematic analysis of public documents, such as meeting summaries, minutes and notes, audio recordings gathered from January 2022 to May 2024 related to the process and discussions on sustainability reporting standards.
Findings reveal how the struggle to address grand environmental and social challenges unfolds in the standard-setting arena. Sustainability reporting standards emerge from power struggles among stakeholders within this field, thereby shaping the contours of these standards, with ISSB prioritizing financial market relevance and “desired” interconnectivity, GSSB centering broader stakeholder inclusivity, and EFRAG serving the European public interest in sustainability reporting. Each standard-setter underpins a ‘split of the cake’ leitmotif. Interoperability implies a strategic approach to align the work plans between the three boards. However, this process causes negotiating tensions, where materiality definitions serve as a key area of debate.
This paper highlights how sustainability reporting standard-setting is relevant in the global response to the sustainability grand challenges, calling for more inclusive, transparent, and impactful approaches. It provides constructive reflections to address some criticisms directed at the dominant sustainability reporting standard-setters. This study highlights the interrelations between the actors involved and the need to negotiate relevant themes, such as interoperability, materiality, and connectivity.
This research introduces a critical perspective to reflect on the attempts at standard-setting by multiple actors trying to regulate the same arena in response to the urgent need for systemic change. The findings advance the sustainability accounting literature by discussing how sustainability standard-setting is not merely a technical process but a highly contested arena where legitimacy and influence are continuously negotiated
Climate vulnerability and the cost of debt
Get PDFWe present the first systematic investigation of the impact of climate vulnerability on the cost of sovereign debt using a sample of 46 developing and advanced countries from 1996-2016. We find that a subgroup of 25 developing countries with higher exposure to climate vulnerability – all of which are members of the V20 climate vulnerable forum – exhibit, on average, a 1.174% higher cost of debt. We estimate that 40 members of the V20 paid USD 62 billion in additional interest from 2007-2016 due to their climate vulnerability. We also find that a measure of social readiness has a negative impact on bond yields, suggesting that social and physical investments in adaptation and resilience can help mitigate climate risk-related financing costs. Our findings indicate that climate vulnerability can threaten sovereign debt sustainability and cause financial exclusion, thereby undermining investment in adaptation and accelerating a vicious cycle of climate vulnerability, debt and underdevelopment
Digitalizing agriculture and the improvement of farming business practices: how rural farmers in Ghana employ mobile phone technology
No full textPurpose
This purpose of this paper is to explore how rural farmers in the Kwahu district of Ghana use mobile phone technology, what they see as the benefits of digitalization and how this technology supports and improves their small business agricultural practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research approach draws upon in-depth semi-structured interviews with 24 rural farmers, 12 of whom are given farming advice by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and 12 by a non-governmental electronic market body which, in addition, provides training in mobile phone technology use. Thematic analysis is used to identify key findings.
Findings
Farmers identify improved customer and agricultural benefits as well as family access as the key benefits of using mobile phone technology, enabling them to change their farming business practices to acquire land more efficiently, and improve crop yields, customer relationships, sales and profitability. Social benefits also are also identified through mobile phone technology adoption.
Originality
This study reports on how Ghanaian farmers working in remote, rural settings employ mobile phone technology to improve their business practices. Its findings are set within the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework to highlight the benefits associated with adopting digitalization in an African country heavily reliant upon its agricultural sector