61 research outputs found
Assessing the George W. Bush Presidency: A Tale of Two Terms
No full textIn one of the first volumes assessing the full two terms of the George W. Bush presidency, Wroe and Herbert have gathered the work of leading American and European scholars. In fifteen succinct and incisive chapters, authorities such as Jim Pfiffner, John Maltese, Graham Wilson and Alan Gitelson offer assessments of the Bush administration's successes and failures. Extensive attention is paid to Bush's foreign policy, including 'The War on Terror' but the focus is broadened to absorb not only the Bush Doctrine and its repercussions, but also his trade and homeland security policies. The president's domestic leadership in economics and social policy is investigated, as are his dealings as president with the other institutions of the U.S. political system. The result is a comprehensive guide to the Bush presidency and its legacy
Social working without borders: challenging privatisation and complicity with the hostile environment
No full textSocial Workers Without Borders is a UK social work charity established in early 2016 to provide direct support to migrant children and families, and to scaffold this through the development of social work education and activism reflecting the principles of human rights and social justice. Reflecting on Social Workers Without Borders’ model of practice, Lauren Wroe, co-founder and trustee of Social Workers Without Borders, discusses the charity’s recent campaign against Capita and the implications of privatisation for asylum-seeking and migrant families, as well as for the ethical value base of the profession. Positioning Social Workers Without Borders as a voluntary network that ‘fills the gap’ in state services, the author discusses campaign strategies to defend the profession, and the families it supports, from the rolling back of state welfare and the rolling out of state hostility through the deregulated outsourcing of social care services
COVID-19: Changing fields of social work practice with children and young people
No full textThis is a post-peer-review, pre-copy edited version of an article published in [Critical and Radical Social Work]. The definitive publisher-authenticated version [Dillon, J., Evans, F., & Wroe, L. E. (2021). COVID-19: changing fields of social work practice with children and young people. Critical and Radical Social Work, 9(2), 289–296] is available online at: https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/crsw/9/2/article-p289.xmlDrawing on the theoretical work of Wacquant, Bourdieu and Foucault, we interrogate how the COVID-19 pandemic has weaponised child and family social work practices through reinvigorated mechanisms of discipline and surveillance. We explore how social workers are caught in the struggle between enforcement and relational welfare support. We consider how the illusio of social work obscures power dynamics impacting children, young people and families caught in child welfare systems, disproportionately affecting classed and racialised individuals.This is not OA - author deposited the VoR but this should have been embargoed. AAM sourced 16/05/2025 and uploaded to CR. VoR removed 16/05/202
Dante Leave Homer Without It : On Epics, Umbras and Authorpreneurs
No full textMarketing is dead. Or so they say. They, in this case, being Fred Webster and Bob Lusch (2013), top profs both. According to the distinguished duo – marketing’s self-appointed morticians – our esteemed discipline has passed over, gone west, bit the dust, kicked the bucket, popped its clogs, joined the choir invisible, shuffled off this mortal coil and, not unlike the deceased parrot in Monty Python’s much-exhumed comedy routine, lies a-mouldering in its grave getting ready to meet its maker. Its maker being Peter Drucker, Wroe Alderson or Theodore Levitt, depending on who you talk to. For Webster and Lusch (2013) at any rate, marketing is kaput, capisce
Fixing Australia’s incredible defence policy
No full textAustralia’s new government must make tough decisions in defence policy. Australia’s broad national interests and the challenging strategic environment in Indo-Pacific Asia make it essential to modernise the Australian Defence Force. The nation’s defence capabilities remain underfunded and its strategic edge in the region is eroding. The gap between the nation’s interests and capabilities is widening, and it is getting harder to meet the demands of the US alliance. Australia’s new government needs to restore focus and funding to defence.Key findings: The Australian government will need a first-principles review to identify the military strategy and force structure required to protect and advance the nation’s interests. The Australian government must increase defence funding in order to modernise the Australian Defence Force\u27s capabilities. Otherwise it will need to make drastic cuts to planned defence capability. The government must also think deeply about the role of the US alliance in Australia\u27s security, and take the initiative in shaping that alliance in Australia’s interests
Young people and “county lines”: a contextual and social account
No full textPurpose: This paper aims to present an analysis of a “county lines” safeguarding partnership in a large city region of England. A critical analysis of current literature and practice responses to “county lines” is followed by the presentation of an analytical framework that draws on three contextual and social theories of (child) harm. This framework is applied to the partnership work to ask: are the interconnected conditions of criminal exploitation of children via “county lines” understood?; do interventions target the contexts of harm?; and is social and institutional harm acknowledged and addressed? Design/methodology/approach: The analytical framework is applied to a data set collected by the author throughout a two-year study of the “county lines” partnership. Qualitative data collected by the author and quantitative data published by the partnership are coded and thematically analysed in NVivo against the analytic framework. Findings: Critical tensions are surfaced in the praxis of multi-agency, child welfare responses to “county lines” affected young people. Generalising these findings to the child welfare sector at large, it is proposed that the contextual dynamics of child harm via “county lines” must be understood in a broader sense, including how multi-agency child welfare practices contribute to the harm experienced by young people. Originality/value: There are limited peer-reviewed analyses of child welfare responses to “county lines”. This paper contributes to that limited scholarship, extending the analysis by adopting a critical analytic framework to a regional county lines partnership at the juncture of future national, child welfare responses to “county lines”.</p
Convergence and remarkably consistent constraint in the evolution of carnivore skull shape
No full textPhenotypic similarities between distantly related marsupials and placentals are commonly presented as examples of convergence and support for the role of adaptive evolution in shaping morphological and ecological diversity. Here we compare skull shape in a wide range of carnivoran placentals (Carnivora) and nonherbivorous marsupials using a three-dimensional (3-D) geometric morphometric approach. Morphological and ecological diversity among extant carnivorans is considerably greater than is evident in the marsupial order Dasyuromorphia with which they have most commonly been compared. To examine convergence across a wider, but broadly comparable range of feeding ecologies, a dataset inclusive of nondasyuromorphian marsupials and extinct taxa representing morphotypes no longer present was assembled. We found support for the adaptive paradigm, with correlations between morphology, feeding behavior, and bite force, although skull shape better predicted feeding ecology in the phylogenetically diverse marsupial sample than in carnivorans. However, we also show that remarkably consistent but differing constraints have influenced the evolution of cranial shape in both groups. These differences between carnivorans and marsupials, which correlate with brain size and bite force, are maintained across the full gamut of morphologies and feeding categories, from small insectivores and omnivores to large meat-specialists
The influence of mobility strategy on the modern human talus
No full textObjectives The primate talus is known to have a shape that varies according to differences in locomotion and substrate use. While the modern human talus is morphologically specialized for bipedal walking, relatively little is known on how its morphology varies in relation to cultural and environmental differences across time. Here we compare tali of modern human populations with different subsistence economies and lifestyles to explore how cultural practices and environmental factors influence external talar shape. Materials and Methods The sample consists of digital models of 142 tali from 11 archaeological and post‐industrial modern human groups. Talar morphology was investigated through 3D (semi)landmark based geometric morphometric methods. Results Our results show distinct differences between highly mobile hunter‐gatherers and more sedentary groups belonging to a mixed post‐agricultural/industrial background. Hunter‐gatherers exhibit a more “flexible” talar shape, everted posture, and a more robust and medially oriented talar neck/head, which we interpret as reflecting long‐distance walking strictly performed barefoot, or wearing minimalistic footwear, along uneven ground. The talus of the post‐industrial population exhibits a “stable” profile, neutral posture, and a less robust and orthogonally oriented talar neck/head, which we interpret as a consequence of sedentary lifestyle and use of stiff footwear. Discussion We suggest that talar morphological variation is related to the adoption of constraining footwear in post‐industrial society, which reduces ankle range of motion. This contrasts with hunter‐gatherers, where talar shape shows a more flexible profile, likely resulting from a lack of footwear while traversing uneven terrain. We conclude that modern human tali vary with differences in locomotor and cultural behavior
Verses, subverses and subversions in contemporary postcolonial poetry : the arts of resistance in the works of Linton Kwesi Johnson and Lesego Rampolokeng
No full textIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 136-141).This dissertation seeks to analyse insubordination and resistance manifested in postcolonial and post-apartheid poetry as ways of subverting dominant Western discourses. More specifically, I focus my analysis on textual strategies of resistance in the poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson and Lesego Rampolokeng. The syncretistic quality in the oeuvres of both poets is related to diaspora, hybridity and crealisation as forms of writ[h]ing against (neo)colonially-based hegemonic discourses. Postcolonial critiques at large will frame this analysis of strategies of domination and resistance, but some discussions from the domain of history, sociology and cultural studies may also enter the debate. In this regard there is a great variety of theories and arguments dealing with the contradictions and incongruities in the question of power relations interconnecting domination and resistance. This study is arranged in three pivotal debates. There is firstly an in-depth discussion of underpinning theories that deal with strategies of domination and resistance in the postcolonial domain This is a threefold task carried out by scrutinising (a) the origins of colonial discourse and its binarist tendencies, (b) the pitfalls of anticolonialist resistance based on dualistic opposites, and (c) the hybrid and insubordinate nature of resistance as an efficient alternative to transcend such binaries. Afterwards I seek to investigate how strategies of diasporic resistance and cultural hybridism employed in the poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson can contribute to moving away from the limitations of dichotomies and also subvert hegemonic power. And finally, I look at crealisation, mockery and insubordination as strategies of resistance in the postapartheid poetry of Lesego Rampolokeng. Besides that, this project is concerned with the increasing importance of academic studies on postcolonial literatures. The present research aims therefore to analyse postcolonial and post-apartheid poems as strategic techniques to decentre dominant Western rhetoric that tries to naturalise inequalities and injustices in the relations between power holders and the powerless in both local and global contexts
An investigation into brokered inter-organisational relationships within the supply chain.
No full textThe concern of this thesis is to provide a comprehensive understanding of "the broking process" - the process by which a broker facilitates inter-organisational relationships. It is the product of the author's research into a programme to facilitate business networking that was in operation at several Business Links - the four research sites being at Bristol, St.Helens, Sunderland and Sheffield - and complementary personal action research on two network broking initiatives.
The thesis begins by suggesting that the brokered network entity represents a form of postmodern organisation ideally suited to the globally competitive business realities of the Postmodern era due to its inherent flexibility of structure and purpose. It notes that within this "new competitive landscape" 1 collaborative inter-firm relationships are considered to provide a way of securing a "collaborative advantage" (Huxham 1996) that enables greater opportunities for process and product innovations - facilitating an organisation's capability to learn and its responsiveness to changing circumstances. As the management of inter-firm relationships is argued to be critical to the organisational competitiveness of the supply chain this research is seen as having relevance to all organisations. A review of the literature on networks highlights the significance of others' research findings to this study as well as directing attention to the social aspects of relationship and the important issue of 'trust' in the facilitation process - the 'glue' that enables progress in the development of relationships.
Having established a context for the research the thesis then proceeds to describe the research approach adopted, the research process, the case studies produced and the initial sensemaking of the research 'findings'. A hen-neneutic perspective recognising participants' sensemaking of activities as 'interpreted' and only 'meaningful' within the context of a system was adopted throughout the research process. Each of the case studies resulting from the research highlights a separate issue of concern to brokers within their broking practice and provides insights into their conceptions of the broking process - an empathetic understanding grounded in experience was gained by the author as a consequence of personal action research in two broking initiatives. Consideration of these issues results in the identification of the four themes of governance, identity, learning and time-dependency that provide `themed lenses' for a reflective review of the research findings and the development of a conceptual framework that enables a comprehensive understanding of the broking process. Each of the themes is explored in the following chapters.
The effective governance of the broking process is argued to depend upon the broker's ability in managing the mobilisation of the network's resources and in 'managing the meaning' attributed to network development by its membership - the former facilitating effective operation, the latter facilitating members' commitment. Effectiveness in the development of the network's identity and the memberships' identification with the network is argued to depend upon the broker's ability to determine appropriate stakeholder definitions that meet the needs of the network and to provide 'a vision' of network purpose and possible development that's attractive to its members. The effectiveness of the learning that occurs within the broking process is argued to depend upon the broker's ability to facilitate members in the development of a collaborative mindset and in accepting the necessity of 'learning through doing' as a practical response to inherent dynamism within the brokered network form as well as that within its markets. Time-dependency dictates the effectiveness of the network's activities (ie. members' activities) and is argued to depend upon the broker's ability to create and sustain momentum as well as their willingness to satisfice.
Each of these 'lenses' results in new insights into the broking process and working definitions of each theme. In the concluding chapter these insights and definitions are brought together to form a comprehensive working definition of the broking process and to establish the foundations for a theoretical framework that enables a comprehensive understanding of the broking process.
1a phrase coined by Bettis & Hitt (1995) to signify the dawn of Postmodern business realities.</p
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