109,916 research outputs found
The Body as Weapon: Bobby Sands and the Republican Hunger Strikes
No full textThe 1981 Hunger Strike marked an important point in the Northern Ireland conflict, shifting its focus away from city streets and country lanes into the H-Block prison. Here republican prisoners used their embodiment to resist and fight back at attempts to recast them as criminals as opposed to the soldiers they perceived themselves to be. Given the centrality of the body and embodiment in the prison struggle this paper will theorise the \'body-as-weapon\' as a modality of resistance. This will begin by interrogating key themes within the sociology of the body before discussing and dismissing an alternative explanation of the Hunger Strike: the actions of the hunger strikers standing in the traditions of heroic Gaelic myths and Catholic martyrdom. Finally, drawing from the sociology of the body, I will then proceed to discuss how the body and embodiment deployed in this manner can be effective, concentrating on how the \'body-as-weapon\': (i) acts as a resource for minority political groups; (ii) destabilises notions of the body in modernity and related to that point (iii) engages in a \'hidden\' impulse of modernity, that of self-sacrifice.Embodiment, Conflict, Modernity, Northern Ireland, Resistance
Hunger and Food Insecurity in Nairobi's Slums: An assessment using IRT models'
No full textAlthough linked to poverty as conditions reflecting inadequate access to resources to obtain food, issues such as hunger and food insecurity have seldom been recognized as important in urban settings. Overall, little is known about the prevalence and magnitude of hunger and food insecurity in most cities. Yet, in sub-Saharan Africa where the majority of urban dwellers live on less than one dollar a day, it is obvious a large proportion of the urban population must be satisfied with just one meal a day. This paper suggests using the one- and two-parameter item response theory (IRT) models to infer a reliable and valid measure of hunger and food insecurity relevant to low income urban settings, drawing evidence from the Nairobi Urban Health and Demographic Surveillance System (NUHDSS). The reliability and accuracy of the items are tested using both the Mokken Scale Analysis and the Cronbach test. The validity of the inferred household food insecurity measure is assessed by examining how it is associated with households? economic status. Results show that food insecurity is pervasive amongst slum dwellers in Nairobi. Only one household in five is food secure, and nearly half of all households are categorized as ?food insecure with both adult and child hunger?. Moreover, in line with what is known about household allocation of resources, evidence indicates that parents often forego food in order to prioritize their children. (229 words)Food insecurity; Hunger; Sub-Saharan Africa; Slum; Nairobi
Fighting Hunger in Ethiopia
No full textThis chapter provides an overview of a series of projects focusing on fighting hunger in Ethiopia. As a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia suffers from drought, flood, inconsistent food supply, and decades of conflict. To provide help and resources, non-government organizations such as Mercy Corps, World Food Programme, Compassion International, and Concern Worldwide adopted various strategies to fight hunger in Ethiopia, relieved the hunger situation in Ethiopia significantly. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the activities and strategies in the realm of social marketing, this entry delves into the background context of the hunger crisis in Ethiopia. This case study delves into target audiences using the “4Ps” marketing mix approach, focusing on product, promotion, place, and people for a detailed analysis. Additionally, the case further discusses implementation management, monitoring, and evaluation processes. Finally, the chapter concludes with a summary of the key points covered.No Full Tex
How are We doing on Poverty and Hunger Reduction? A New Measyre of Country-Level Progress
No full textProgress toward eradicating poverty and hunger is patchy and generally too slow. New impetus is needed to meet internationally accepted goals, better informed by recent progress and challenges. The United Nations Millennium Development Goal No. 1 (MDG-1) aims to halve the proportion of people affected by poverty and hunger by 2015. The five indicators officially employed to assess progress toward MDG-1 reflect different deprivations of basic human capabilities, and progress in one domain does not guarantee progress in each of the others. Building on the statistical methodology of the widely-adopted Human Development Index, a new composite indicator – Poverty and Hunger Index (PHI) – that combines on all 5 measures together provides original insights on poverty and hunger trajectories. A number of findings emerge from the analysis, suggesting that the new index can play an important role in informing the policy debate on the prominence of all MDG-1 dimensions.poverty, hunger, malnutrition, food insecurity, inequality, MDGs.
Involvement of human amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex in hunger-enhanced memory for food stimuli
No full textWe used positron emission tomography to measure regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in 10 healthy volunteers performing a recognition memory task with food and non-food items. The biological salience of the food stimuli was manipulated by requiring subjects to fast before the experiment and eat to satiation at fixed time points during scanning. All subjects showed enhanced recognition of food stimuli (relative to non-food) in the fasting state. Satiation significantly reduced the memory advantage for food. Left amygdala rCBF covaried positively with recognition memory for food items, whereas rCBF in right anterior orbitofrontal cortex covaried with overall memory performance. Right posterior orbitofrontal rCBF covaried positively with hunger ratings during presentation of food items. Regression analysis of the neuroimaging data revealed that left amygdala and right lateral orbitofrontal rCBF covaried as a function of stimulus category (i.e., food vs non-food). These results indicate the involvement of amygdala and discrete regions of orbitofrontal cortex in the integration of perceptual (food), motivational (hunger), and cognitive (memory) processes in the human brain
The human body as a terrorist weapon: hunger strikes and suicide bombers
No full textThis article argues that a major factor in terrorist acts is an appeal to the actor's own community at an emotional and symbolic level, through acts of sacrifice, particularly self-sacrifice. Although other aims also exist, a prime concern is to recall the actor's home audience to the struggle, because the actor regards himself as acting on their behalf. This utilizes the imagery and symbolism of traditional religion, implying a strong communal and non-material impetus to terrorist acts, rather than rational material calculation, that modern Western man finds difficult to comprehend. It also recalls much classical social theory, which emphasized the central role of religion in community. Self-sacrifice tells an emotional story to the actor's community that is comprehensible to them and will have an emotional appeal to maintaining the community. For the Northern Ireland hunger strikes (possibly analogous to suicide bombers) this is reflected in their appeal solely to a Catholic/nationalist community that equates strongly with ideas of a pre-modern society under threat from a modernizing society. All the hunger strikers were very normal for their community, but left non-Catholics completely unmoved. Consequently there is a need to understand the communal dynamics behind terrorism if one is to effectively counter the threat and that different societies may have different values regarding the individual, community, and life itself. Individual motivations do not provide an adequate explanation for much terrorism and it is a failure to grasp this that severely hinders much counterterrorism
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