an article by Sin Yi Cheung (Cardiff University) and Jenny Phillimore (University of Birmingham) published in Sociology Volume 48 Number 3 (June 2014)
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between social capital and labour market integration of new refugees in the UK using the Survey of New Refugees (SNR).
Our findings suggest that length of residency and language competency broaden one’s social networks. Contacts with religious and co-national groups bring help with employment and housing. The mere possession of networks is not enough to enhance access to employment.
However, the absence of social networks does appear to have a detrimental effect on access to work. The type of social capital appears to have no significant impact on the permanency or quality of employment. Rather, language competency, pre-migration qualifications and occupations, and time in the UK are most important in accessing work.
Our findings also have clear implications for both asylum and integration policy. The unequivocal importance of language ability for accessing employment points to a clear policy priority in improving competency.
Saturday, 31 January 2015
Why Making Up Lost Ground on Pay is so Important
via Touchstone Blog from the TUC by Richard Exell
Last week’s employment figures showed the annual increase in average weekly earnings (regular pay) rising to 1.8 per cent, higher than the most recent inflation figures (1.6 per cent for the Retail Price Index, 0.5 per cent using the CPI).
Continue reading
A lot of useful links to other information and a revealing graph
Last week’s employment figures showed the annual increase in average weekly earnings (regular pay) rising to 1.8 per cent, higher than the most recent inflation figures (1.6 per cent for the Retail Price Index, 0.5 per cent using the CPI).
Continue reading
A lot of useful links to other information and a revealing graph
Thursday, 29 January 2015
New Immigrant Destinations in a New Country of Immigration: Settlement Patterns of Non-natives in the Czech Republic
an article by Eva Janská and Zdeněk Čermák (Charles University, Prague) and Richard Wright (Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA) published in Population, Space and Place
Volume 20 Issue 8 (November 2014)
Abstract
This paper adds to the literature on new immigrant destinations and the geographies of immigrant incorporation by studying recent changes in the settlement patterns of non-natives in the Czech Republic.
This country has rapidly transitioned from a country of emigration to one gaining population from elsewhere. The speed of this transition is unusual and is worthy of study in and of itself. Similar to most other countries with significant immigration, newcomers tend to settle in large urban centres, so, not surprisingly, Prague is the principal gateway city.
In the Czech case, however, settlement patterns do not follow a simple hierarchy; non-natives indeed are now found increasingly not only in secondary cities but also in non-metropolitan areas, especially to the north and west of Prague. These basic geographies are shaped by the direct settlement from other countries and also result from rapidly evolving secondary migrations within the country.
Abstract
This paper adds to the literature on new immigrant destinations and the geographies of immigrant incorporation by studying recent changes in the settlement patterns of non-natives in the Czech Republic.
This country has rapidly transitioned from a country of emigration to one gaining population from elsewhere. The speed of this transition is unusual and is worthy of study in and of itself. Similar to most other countries with significant immigration, newcomers tend to settle in large urban centres, so, not surprisingly, Prague is the principal gateway city.
In the Czech case, however, settlement patterns do not follow a simple hierarchy; non-natives indeed are now found increasingly not only in secondary cities but also in non-metropolitan areas, especially to the north and west of Prague. These basic geographies are shaped by the direct settlement from other countries and also result from rapidly evolving secondary migrations within the country.
Wednesday, 28 January 2015
A slower recovery
an article by Robert Peston for BBC Business News
There has been a slowdown in the British economy, driven by weaker construction, manufacturing and energy production - although it would be premature to see this as an end to the recovery.
Continue reading
There has been a slowdown in the British economy, driven by weaker construction, manufacturing and energy production - although it would be premature to see this as an end to the recovery.
Continue reading
Recovery position
The View from HECSU by Charlie Ball
Today’s AGR survey findings reinforce that we are in a recovery – or at least a recovery for graduates. This builds on the High Fliers report from last week, and is very much along the same lines. That’s not surprising, as they’re both surveying the same employers – but the AGR has twice as many.
Let’s not fixate too much on the specific numbers – public sector recruitment will not be up 13% this year, the figure merely represents how important Teach First is to the sample. The AGR survey is excellent data for the AGR sample, but it’s not yet representative of the entire graduate jobs market. In that vein, it’s refreshing to see that the AGR have not included a salary figure in the press release as their salary figures, although fine in context of their high profile, high status graduate training schemes, are some way away from the experience of most graduates.
The crucial thing is that employment is on the up, and for graduates, the recession is essentially over and we’re well into recovery. Another sign that this is taking place is in the AGR noting that vacancies are going unfilled and students are turning down job offers. Some of the offers that business has become used to making in the last few years will look less attractive in a job market that is improving, and with applicants who are more confident that they have other options. And there are outright skills shortages - the AGR mention IT, where all the reports agree there are developing shortages of graduates.
So, the signs are that after a long period where employers held the all the cards when dealing with students and graduates, that the advantage may be moving back towards applicants. That doesn’t mean graduates won't have to work hard to get jobs, but it does mean that this year’s finalists can be a little more confident about the future.
Today’s AGR survey findings reinforce that we are in a recovery – or at least a recovery for graduates. This builds on the High Fliers report from last week, and is very much along the same lines. That’s not surprising, as they’re both surveying the same employers – but the AGR has twice as many.
Let’s not fixate too much on the specific numbers – public sector recruitment will not be up 13% this year, the figure merely represents how important Teach First is to the sample. The AGR survey is excellent data for the AGR sample, but it’s not yet representative of the entire graduate jobs market. In that vein, it’s refreshing to see that the AGR have not included a salary figure in the press release as their salary figures, although fine in context of their high profile, high status graduate training schemes, are some way away from the experience of most graduates.
The crucial thing is that employment is on the up, and for graduates, the recession is essentially over and we’re well into recovery. Another sign that this is taking place is in the AGR noting that vacancies are going unfilled and students are turning down job offers. Some of the offers that business has become used to making in the last few years will look less attractive in a job market that is improving, and with applicants who are more confident that they have other options. And there are outright skills shortages - the AGR mention IT, where all the reports agree there are developing shortages of graduates.
So, the signs are that after a long period where employers held the all the cards when dealing with students and graduates, that the advantage may be moving back towards applicants. That doesn’t mean graduates won't have to work hard to get jobs, but it does mean that this year’s finalists can be a little more confident about the future.
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Trivia (should have been 9 November)
Immense Chewing Candy: 1904
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
The Jersey shore circa 1904
“Young’s Hotel and Boardwalk, Atlantic City”
Where strollers confront a plenitude of amusements, confections and refreshments
8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company.
View original post
==========================================
The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
via 3 Quarks Daily by Aatish Bhatia in Nautilus
On 27 August 1883, the Earth let out a noise louder than any it has made since.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Gender, blah, blah, blah
Serious, intellectual writing is overwhelmingly male. Why? Ask the serious, intellectual gatekeepers of serious, intellectual magazines… more
==========================================
Do you have a vulgar tongue?
via OUP Blog by Jonathan Green
Slang is in a constant state of reinvention. The evolution of language is a testament to our world’s vast and complex history; words and their meanings undergo transformations that reflect a changing environment such as urbanization. In The Vulgar Tongue: Green’s History of Slang, Jonathon Green extensively explores the history of English language slang from the early British beggar books and traces it through to modernity. He defends the importance of a versatile vocabulary and convinces us that there is dose of history in every syllable of slang and that it is a necessary part of contemporary English, no matter how explicit or offensive the content may be. Test your knowledge…how well do you know your history of slang?
Yes, it's yet another of them thar quizzes behind the link
However, unlike the ones you see all over social media, this one gives you your score and goes through the questions telling you the correct answers and why they are correct!!!
I liked that.
==========================================
Little-Known Punctuation Marks That Need To Make A Comeback
via MakeUseOf by Dave LeClair who got it from Mental Floss
You know the question mark, exclamation point, and period, but have you heard of the love point? How about the acclamation point? If you haven’t, the infographic below will introduce you to each one, and they’ll even tell you how to enter them on your computer.
You just might learn a new way to express yourself, even if no one else will understand what you are trying to say.
See the Infographic for yourself
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Life of Penelope Fitzgerald
Penelope Fitzgerald, born into a remarkable family, was remarkable herself, not least for her persistence. She published her first book just shy of 60… more
==========================================
“The Door to Hell” in Derweze, Turkmenistan
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Back in 1971, a group of soviet scientists had the bright idea to light a massive natural gas fire in the middle of the Turkmeni desert. Forty-three years later, the blaze still burns.
Continue reading
==========================================
Heaven and Earth
via 3 Quarks Daily by Brooks Riley
Go on, admit it. You've always wanted to come back as a capybara.
Why not? There are worst entities for a come-back kid when its mortal coil is taken up again. As a capybara you would live in a small community of peaceful vegans, free to join the party or to wander off on your own without being ostracized.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Birth of pulp fiction
Mass-market paperbacks transformed the culture of reading, largely for the better. If no pulps, then no Philip Roth and Erica Jong… more
==========================================
Half the remains of slain Vikings in England are female
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
In Warriors and women: the sex ratio of Norse migrants to eastern England up to 900 AD, published in 2011 in Early Medieval Europe 19/3, Medievalists from the University of Western Australia survey the remains of fallen Vikings found in eastern England that had been assumed to be male, partly because some were buried with sword and shield.
Continue reading
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
The Jersey shore circa 1904
“Young’s Hotel and Boardwalk, Atlantic City”
Where strollers confront a plenitude of amusements, confections and refreshments
8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company.
View original post
==========================================
The Sound So Loud That It Circled the Earth Four Times
via 3 Quarks Daily by Aatish Bhatia in Nautilus
On 27 August 1883, the Earth let out a noise louder than any it has made since.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Serious, intellectual writing is overwhelmingly male. Why? Ask the serious, intellectual gatekeepers of serious, intellectual magazines… more
==========================================
Do you have a vulgar tongue?
via OUP Blog by Jonathan Green
Slang is in a constant state of reinvention. The evolution of language is a testament to our world’s vast and complex history; words and their meanings undergo transformations that reflect a changing environment such as urbanization. In The Vulgar Tongue: Green’s History of Slang, Jonathon Green extensively explores the history of English language slang from the early British beggar books and traces it through to modernity. He defends the importance of a versatile vocabulary and convinces us that there is dose of history in every syllable of slang and that it is a necessary part of contemporary English, no matter how explicit or offensive the content may be. Test your knowledge…how well do you know your history of slang?
Yes, it's yet another of them thar quizzes behind the link
However, unlike the ones you see all over social media, this one gives you your score and goes through the questions telling you the correct answers and why they are correct!!!
I liked that.
==========================================
Little-Known Punctuation Marks That Need To Make A Comeback
via MakeUseOf by Dave LeClair who got it from Mental Floss
You know the question mark, exclamation point, and period, but have you heard of the love point? How about the acclamation point? If you haven’t, the infographic below will introduce you to each one, and they’ll even tell you how to enter them on your computer.
You just might learn a new way to express yourself, even if no one else will understand what you are trying to say.
See the Infographic for yourself
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Penelope Fitzgerald, born into a remarkable family, was remarkable herself, not least for her persistence. She published her first book just shy of 60… more
==========================================
“The Door to Hell” in Derweze, Turkmenistan
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Back in 1971, a group of soviet scientists had the bright idea to light a massive natural gas fire in the middle of the Turkmeni desert. Forty-three years later, the blaze still burns.
Continue reading
==========================================
Heaven and Earth
via 3 Quarks Daily by Brooks Riley
Go on, admit it. You've always wanted to come back as a capybara.
Why not? There are worst entities for a come-back kid when its mortal coil is taken up again. As a capybara you would live in a small community of peaceful vegans, free to join the party or to wander off on your own without being ostracized.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Mass-market paperbacks transformed the culture of reading, largely for the better. If no pulps, then no Philip Roth and Erica Jong… more
==========================================
Half the remains of slain Vikings in England are female
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
In Warriors and women: the sex ratio of Norse migrants to eastern England up to 900 AD, published in 2011 in Early Medieval Europe 19/3, Medievalists from the University of Western Australia survey the remains of fallen Vikings found in eastern England that had been assumed to be male, partly because some were buried with sword and shield.
Continue reading
Increasing the value of age: Guidance in employers’ age management strategies
A new Cedefop report draws attention to the mutual benefits to workers and organisations that arise when guidance is integrated in age management strategies. The report offers insights on how to develop guidance activities at the workplace.
As Europe’s population is ageing, many European States have raised pension age and designed incentives for people to stay longer in employment. This results in a steady increase of participation among older workers and a change in attitude towards retirement.
Older individuals face career development challenges such as growing health limitations, skills obsolescence, and changing personal priorities. At the same time, they have enormous value for organisations and the economy, due to their accumulated experience, skills and knowledge.
While age management strategies are increasing in organisations and firms across Europe, they are not necessarily supported by consistent policies and systems; and most still fail to exploit fully the potential of guidance.
Guidance activities help older workers to reflect about their professional experiences and assess their skills, needs and expectations. They support informed decisions on further training, retraining and development of key skills.
Guidance can also help reflect about part-time work, redeployment in new functions or development of entirely new activities. It can assist older workers in planning their mature career stages and exit strategies in a structured, informed way, increasing their motivation and productive contribution.
Firms can use guidance to harness the potential of their human resources, not only via the assessment of skills and knowledge, but also by enabling better allocation of resources and transmission of knowledge between generations of workers. It is a useful complement to validation procedures and the planning of training.
When implemented in a lifelong perspective, guidance allows for even more effective age management strategies, with smooth integration in internal processes and covering all of an enterprise’s staff.
Cedefop’s report aims to inspire actions and help Member States develop institutional frameworks and incentives to help enterprises devise age management and guidance strategies.
NOTE: both links are automatic downloads
Full report (PDF 132pp)
Background material: case studies (PDF 175pp)
As Europe’s population is ageing, many European States have raised pension age and designed incentives for people to stay longer in employment. This results in a steady increase of participation among older workers and a change in attitude towards retirement.
Older individuals face career development challenges such as growing health limitations, skills obsolescence, and changing personal priorities. At the same time, they have enormous value for organisations and the economy, due to their accumulated experience, skills and knowledge.
While age management strategies are increasing in organisations and firms across Europe, they are not necessarily supported by consistent policies and systems; and most still fail to exploit fully the potential of guidance.
Guidance activities help older workers to reflect about their professional experiences and assess their skills, needs and expectations. They support informed decisions on further training, retraining and development of key skills.
Guidance can also help reflect about part-time work, redeployment in new functions or development of entirely new activities. It can assist older workers in planning their mature career stages and exit strategies in a structured, informed way, increasing their motivation and productive contribution.
Firms can use guidance to harness the potential of their human resources, not only via the assessment of skills and knowledge, but also by enabling better allocation of resources and transmission of knowledge between generations of workers. It is a useful complement to validation procedures and the planning of training.
When implemented in a lifelong perspective, guidance allows for even more effective age management strategies, with smooth integration in internal processes and covering all of an enterprise’s staff.
Cedefop’s report aims to inspire actions and help Member States develop institutional frameworks and incentives to help enterprises devise age management and guidance strategies.
NOTE: both links are automatic downloads
Full report (PDF 132pp)
Background material: case studies (PDF 175pp)
Monday, 26 January 2015
Adolescent to parent violence: Framing and mapping a hidden problem
an article by Rachel Condry and Caroline Miles (University of Oxford) published in Criminology and Criminal Justice Volume 14 Number 3 (July 2014)
Abstract
Adolescent to parent violence is virtually absent from policing, youth justice and domestic violence policy, despite being widely recognised by practitioners in those fields. It is under-researched and rarely appears in criminological discussions of family or youth violence.
This article presents the first UK analysis of cases of adolescent to parent violence reported to the police. We analyse victim, offender and incident characteristics from 1,892 cases reported to the Metropolitan Police in 2009–2010, most of which involved violence against the person or criminal damage in the home. Our findings reveal that adolescent to parent violence is a gendered phenomenon: 87 per cent of suspects were male and 77 per cent of victims were female.
We argue that the absence of adolescent to parent violence from criminological discourse must be addressed if criminology is to have a thorough understanding of family violence in all its forms.
Abstract
Adolescent to parent violence is virtually absent from policing, youth justice and domestic violence policy, despite being widely recognised by practitioners in those fields. It is under-researched and rarely appears in criminological discussions of family or youth violence.
This article presents the first UK analysis of cases of adolescent to parent violence reported to the police. We analyse victim, offender and incident characteristics from 1,892 cases reported to the Metropolitan Police in 2009–2010, most of which involved violence against the person or criminal damage in the home. Our findings reveal that adolescent to parent violence is a gendered phenomenon: 87 per cent of suspects were male and 77 per cent of victims were female.
We argue that the absence of adolescent to parent violence from criminological discourse must be addressed if criminology is to have a thorough understanding of family violence in all its forms.
Data shows that these 12 careers have a brilliant future
The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) has used extensive labour market intelligence to find out which will be fantastic careers to get into. Pay, careers opportunities, entry routes and personal development are all factors they’ve taken into account. Here’s an overview of 12 of the most exciting “careers of the future”.
See the infographic here
Careers of the Future (PDF 36pp)
Careers of the Future: background report (PDF 115pp)
Hazel’s comment:
Yes, the careers would seem to offer a stable future but to describe care work as exciting ....
See the infographic here
Careers of the Future (PDF 36pp)
Careers of the Future: background report (PDF 115pp)
Hazel’s comment:
Yes, the careers would seem to offer a stable future but to describe care work as exciting ....
Friday, 23 January 2015
Knowledge-based Hierarchies: Using Organizations to Understand the Economy
Occasional Paper Number 43 (October 2014) from the Centre for Economic Performance by Luis Garicano and Esteban Rossi-Hansberg
Abstract
We argue that incorporating the decision of how to organise the acquisition, use, and communication of knowledge into economic models is essential to understand a wide variety of economic phenomena.
We survey the literature that has used knowledge-based hierarchies to study issues like the evolution of wage inequality, the growth and productivity of firms, economic development, the gains from international trade, as well as offshoring and the formation of international production teams, among many others.
We also review the nascent empirical literature that has, so far, confirmed the importance of organisational decisions and many of its more salient implications.
Full text (PDF 47 pp)
Abstract
We argue that incorporating the decision of how to organise the acquisition, use, and communication of knowledge into economic models is essential to understand a wide variety of economic phenomena.
We survey the literature that has used knowledge-based hierarchies to study issues like the evolution of wage inequality, the growth and productivity of firms, economic development, the gains from international trade, as well as offshoring and the formation of international production teams, among many others.
We also review the nascent empirical literature that has, so far, confirmed the importance of organisational decisions and many of its more salient implications.
Full text (PDF 47 pp)
From inertia to innovation Information-based organizations in the Age of Intelligence
an article by Roberta I. Shaffer (Library of Congress) published in IFLA Journal Volume 40 Number 3 (October 2014)
Abstract
As the Information Age has given rise to the Intelligence Age, institutions of all kinds are challenged to adopt a culture of constant innovation. Innovation is the broad term and includes the concepts of invention, ingenuity, and improvisation. Organizations go through a process of inquiry, instigation, insight, initiation, imagination and inspiration, and inlightenment to ultimately achieve innovation.
However, the road to full innovation offers many options like creating an incubator or being iterative, instantaneous, incomplete, or infectious in approach to innovating. To begin the innovative process, organizations must be willing to look at all aspects of their operations, make long-term commitments to funding, accept the possibility of some failure, and look seriously at their missions, value systems and value propositions.
Organizations that are insular, inflexible, in-bred, insincere about innovating, insecure in their ability to deliver, and operate independently are more likely to disappear or diminish in their influence because their environment and culture will not sustain innovation.
Abstract
As the Information Age has given rise to the Intelligence Age, institutions of all kinds are challenged to adopt a culture of constant innovation. Innovation is the broad term and includes the concepts of invention, ingenuity, and improvisation. Organizations go through a process of inquiry, instigation, insight, initiation, imagination and inspiration, and inlightenment to ultimately achieve innovation.
However, the road to full innovation offers many options like creating an incubator or being iterative, instantaneous, incomplete, or infectious in approach to innovating. To begin the innovative process, organizations must be willing to look at all aspects of their operations, make long-term commitments to funding, accept the possibility of some failure, and look seriously at their missions, value systems and value propositions.
Organizations that are insular, inflexible, in-bred, insincere about innovating, insecure in their ability to deliver, and operate independently are more likely to disappear or diminish in their influence because their environment and culture will not sustain innovation.
Reappraising the place for private rental housing in the UK market: Why an unbalanced economy is at risk of becoming even worse…
an article by Martin Field (University of Northampton, UK) published in Local Economy Volume 29 Number 4-5 (June-August 2014)
Abstract
There appears to be a current policy fascination with what rental provision from the private housing sector could offer to the UK’s housing market and to national and local economies. A plethora of reports from Parliamentary Committees, independent think-tanks, academic and professional bodies have promoted the benefits of new private rental supplies, but there seems little critical evaluation of whether this could make economic matters worse rather than better, nor of the potential negative impact upon local places.
This Viewpoint tables a number of concerns on the nature of private rental supply and its problems. It notes the manner in which the rise in private renting is impacting upon other parts of the housing market, not least its growing influence on wider assessments of housing performance by the establishment of benchmarks that are based upon ‘open market’ conditions. Particular criticism is levelled at how private rental provision is increasing ‘social’ and economic divisions between those having settled and secure accommodation and those seeing their income lost to short-hold and limited residences.
A critique is levelled against the promotion of the sector as some kind of a ‘value-neutral’ investment, since current rental and investment mechanisms represent an ideological framework to consolidate ever more resources with investors and property-owners that exclude increasing numbers of households from the potential benefits of their own owner-occupation. It is also argued that the ideological values underpinning a transfer of UK home ownership to the investment sector are going unreported, and that expansion of the private rental sector represents a real threat to future ‘affordable housing provision’.
The piece concludes with some views for putting other frameworks and financial systems for a fairer basis of housing delivery into place.
Abstract
There appears to be a current policy fascination with what rental provision from the private housing sector could offer to the UK’s housing market and to national and local economies. A plethora of reports from Parliamentary Committees, independent think-tanks, academic and professional bodies have promoted the benefits of new private rental supplies, but there seems little critical evaluation of whether this could make economic matters worse rather than better, nor of the potential negative impact upon local places.
This Viewpoint tables a number of concerns on the nature of private rental supply and its problems. It notes the manner in which the rise in private renting is impacting upon other parts of the housing market, not least its growing influence on wider assessments of housing performance by the establishment of benchmarks that are based upon ‘open market’ conditions. Particular criticism is levelled at how private rental provision is increasing ‘social’ and economic divisions between those having settled and secure accommodation and those seeing their income lost to short-hold and limited residences.
A critique is levelled against the promotion of the sector as some kind of a ‘value-neutral’ investment, since current rental and investment mechanisms represent an ideological framework to consolidate ever more resources with investors and property-owners that exclude increasing numbers of households from the potential benefits of their own owner-occupation. It is also argued that the ideological values underpinning a transfer of UK home ownership to the investment sector are going unreported, and that expansion of the private rental sector represents a real threat to future ‘affordable housing provision’.
The piece concludes with some views for putting other frameworks and financial systems for a fairer basis of housing delivery into place.
Thursday, 22 January 2015
Graduate labour market buoyant, report heads of university careers services
A new survey from the Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services (AGCAS) reveals that the vast majority of the heads of careers and employability services believe that the graduate labour market improved further in 2014.
Continue reading
Continue reading
Ireland’s immigration policies (1997–present): Links to global trends of labour division and effects on national labour market structure
an article by Siobhán R McPhee (University of British Columbia, Canada) published in Local Economy volume 19 Number 6-7 (September-November 2014)
Abstract
Ireland’s economic growth (1992–2007) was fuelled by availability of capital, but also through access to cheap flexible labour. This article attempts to provide evidence that the Irish state played a central role in facilitating and shaping labour supply, a role that has resulted in the clustering of non-Irish workers in particular sectors of the labour market.
Worker mobility across national borders takes place at the intersection of global economic trends and local or regional labour market development, thus creating global consistency in the operation of local or regional markets and demand for workers; however, each labour market is unique as each creates its own local and global social relations.
The state, as a main actor in the formulation of immigration policies and in shaping labour market structure, has a central role in affecting the nature of the interconnection between global and local. The analysis considers how Ireland’s immigration policies, as they reflect global labour trends, contribute to the clustering of certain migrants in particular sectors.
The method of analysis involves a three-step numerical analysis of clustering: (1) percentages, (2) ODDS ratios and (3) two-step cluster analysis.
Results suggest the existence of economic clustering and channelling of workers into specific jobs linked back to immigration policies and recruitment drives.
Abstract
Ireland’s economic growth (1992–2007) was fuelled by availability of capital, but also through access to cheap flexible labour. This article attempts to provide evidence that the Irish state played a central role in facilitating and shaping labour supply, a role that has resulted in the clustering of non-Irish workers in particular sectors of the labour market.
Worker mobility across national borders takes place at the intersection of global economic trends and local or regional labour market development, thus creating global consistency in the operation of local or regional markets and demand for workers; however, each labour market is unique as each creates its own local and global social relations.
The state, as a main actor in the formulation of immigration policies and in shaping labour market structure, has a central role in affecting the nature of the interconnection between global and local. The analysis considers how Ireland’s immigration policies, as they reflect global labour trends, contribute to the clustering of certain migrants in particular sectors.
The method of analysis involves a three-step numerical analysis of clustering: (1) percentages, (2) ODDS ratios and (3) two-step cluster analysis.
Results suggest the existence of economic clustering and channelling of workers into specific jobs linked back to immigration policies and recruitment drives.
‘I Know It Sounds Nasty and Stereotyped’: Searching for the Competent Domestic Worker
an article by Manuel Abrantes (University of Lisbon, Portugal) published in Gender, Work & Organization Volume 21 Issue 5 (September 2014)
Abstract
The recent upsurge of commercial companies in the market of domestic services has drawn attention in various countries. However, little is known about the operation of these companies and the extent to which their endeavours to industrialize paid domestic work reproduce or break away from historical patterns of gender inequality.
In this article, the theoretical debate is informed by empirical data collected in the city area of Lisbon, in Portugal. In particular, open-ended interviews with the managers of 15 companies provide a privileged view over the practices of recruitment and selection. Multiple sources of segmentation are associated with gendered understandings of class and ethnicity.
Far from a paradigm in which stimuli toward industrialization and professionalization would overthrow the traditional centrality of trust and personal bonds in domestic service relationships, managers seek to gain a competitive advantage over rival companies and the informal economy precisely by mastering the trade of trust and personal bonds.
Abstract
The recent upsurge of commercial companies in the market of domestic services has drawn attention in various countries. However, little is known about the operation of these companies and the extent to which their endeavours to industrialize paid domestic work reproduce or break away from historical patterns of gender inequality.
In this article, the theoretical debate is informed by empirical data collected in the city area of Lisbon, in Portugal. In particular, open-ended interviews with the managers of 15 companies provide a privileged view over the practices of recruitment and selection. Multiple sources of segmentation are associated with gendered understandings of class and ethnicity.
Far from a paradigm in which stimuli toward industrialization and professionalization would overthrow the traditional centrality of trust and personal bonds in domestic service relationships, managers seek to gain a competitive advantage over rival companies and the informal economy precisely by mastering the trade of trust and personal bonds.
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
The Impact of Economic Perceptions on Work-Related Decisions
an article by Nadya A. Fouad, Jane P. Liu, Elizabeth W. Cotter and India Gray-Schmiedlin (University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee) published in Journal of Career Assessment Volume 22 Number 2 (May 2014)
Abstract
The most recent economic downshift demands that researchers gain a better understanding of the type of decisions individuals are making regarding work and the basis for those decisions.
The state of the economy over the past few years warrants further examination, as the economic downturn has resulted in a dramatic shift in the availability of jobs in the workforce.
The current study examined the impact of the economic downturn on the emotional and cognitive processing of individuals in regard to the decisions they make about work in two separate studies (N = 179 and N = 82), using two measures (Perceptions of Economy [POE] scale and Work Decisions scale) that allowed us to assess economic perceptions and work-related decisions quantitatively.
Results indicated support for the instruments and that POEs account for 5% of the variance in work-related decisions.
Abstract
The most recent economic downshift demands that researchers gain a better understanding of the type of decisions individuals are making regarding work and the basis for those decisions.
The state of the economy over the past few years warrants further examination, as the economic downturn has resulted in a dramatic shift in the availability of jobs in the workforce.
The current study examined the impact of the economic downturn on the emotional and cognitive processing of individuals in regard to the decisions they make about work in two separate studies (N = 179 and N = 82), using two measures (Perceptions of Economy [POE] scale and Work Decisions scale) that allowed us to assess economic perceptions and work-related decisions quantitatively.
Results indicated support for the instruments and that POEs account for 5% of the variance in work-related decisions.
Assuring Quality in Education: Policies and Approaches to School Evaluation in Europe
Holding schools to account for the quality of the education they provide and driving forward improvement is fundamental to education in the UK.
A new report from Eurydice explores how European countries approach the evaluation of the quality of education in their schools.
The report comprises a comparative overview covering self-evaluation and external inspection, alongside individual national profiles which provide an overview of how quality assurance operates in each country.
It considers the responsible bodies, frameworks, procedures, outcomes and publication of the results of external evaluation, as well as the qualifications required of school inspectors.
It also looks at the status of internal or self-evaluation, who undertakes it (school staff, parents, students and/or other stakeholders) what support is available to them and how the results are used.
Full report (PDF 208pp)
A new report from Eurydice explores how European countries approach the evaluation of the quality of education in their schools.
The report comprises a comparative overview covering self-evaluation and external inspection, alongside individual national profiles which provide an overview of how quality assurance operates in each country.
It considers the responsible bodies, frameworks, procedures, outcomes and publication of the results of external evaluation, as well as the qualifications required of school inspectors.
It also looks at the status of internal or self-evaluation, who undertakes it (school staff, parents, students and/or other stakeholders) what support is available to them and how the results are used.
Full report (PDF 208pp)
The need to reform whistleblowing laws
a post by John Sprack on the OUP blog
“Why didn’t anyone in the know say something about it?”
That’s the natural reaction of the public when some shocking new scandal – financial wrongdoing, patient neglect, child abuse – comes to light. The question highlights the role of the whistleblower. He or she can play a vital role in ensuring that something is done about activity which is illegal or dangerous. But the price which the whistleblower pays may be high – ostracism by colleagues, victimisation by the employer, dismissal, informal blacklisting by other employers who fear taking on a “troublemaker”.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
And we have to remember that it is not only at work that whistleblowing may be appropriate but detrimental to the person doing the blowing.
The neighbour whose child is always crying. Should you call social services? The police? The decision that a lot of us take is to do nothing.
And yet we have to remember: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
“Why didn’t anyone in the know say something about it?”
That’s the natural reaction of the public when some shocking new scandal – financial wrongdoing, patient neglect, child abuse – comes to light. The question highlights the role of the whistleblower. He or she can play a vital role in ensuring that something is done about activity which is illegal or dangerous. But the price which the whistleblower pays may be high – ostracism by colleagues, victimisation by the employer, dismissal, informal blacklisting by other employers who fear taking on a “troublemaker”.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
And we have to remember that it is not only at work that whistleblowing may be appropriate but detrimental to the person doing the blowing.
The neighbour whose child is always crying. Should you call social services? The police? The decision that a lot of us take is to do nothing.
And yet we have to remember: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
Tuesday, 20 January 2015
Trivia (should have been 2 November)
Working Moms: 1944
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
May 1944. New York
“Two working mothers calling for children at Greenwich House, a neighborhood center, where they have left them early in the morning for day care”
Photo by Risdon Tillery, Office of War Information
View original post
==========================================
Constables John, Paul, George, and Ringo Reporting For Duty
Short description here
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
String theory is a remarkable and beautiful idea. But after 30 years, it’s still unproven. Can it really explain our universe?… more
==========================================
Learning poetry by heart ignites the imagination
via Telegraph by Sir Andrew Motion
Like most people born in the 1950s, my early school experience of learning poetry by heart was pretty grim.
Occasionally the gloom was brightened by a teacher making it fun (in the way we were asked to learn, as well as in the poems chosen), but generally it was a matter of boring poems being boringly presented, and surrounded by a sense of impending punishment if we failed to remember them.
Rote learning, in other words, has a lot to be said against it. Learning by heart, on the other hand, is a wonderful thing (as I only saw in gleams and glances as a child). And especially wonderful when it comes to remembering poems, which have the delightful advantage of being organised in ways (involving rhythm and rhyme) that make learning them easy.
Continue reading
==========================================
Black Humour Books: Catch 22 & Other Grim Jokes
via AbeBooks.co.uk
Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 was published in June 1961 just as the American involvement in the Vietnam War was escalating. You have probably read Catch-22 (and if you haven’t then you are missing out). This book is one of the blackest examples of black Humour, also known as black comedy or dark humor, but there are many more novels written in the same vein.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The foreign spell
Cherish foreignness. Enjoying the convenience of modern travel, we underestimate the differences of other lands. That’s a mistake… more
==========================================
Researchers Develop Battery That Runs on Renewable Organics
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Despite their relative efficiency, modern lithium batteries come with a lot of environmental baggage. Scientists at Sweden’s Uppsala University, seeking to develop a more eco-friendly alternative, have created a new smart battery made from organic materials that they say produces just as much power as its lithium counterpart.
Continue reading
==========================================
Evolution of the desk (1980-2014)
via MakeUseOf by Jackson Chung
Whether you like it or not, the fact is, we depend on technology more than you know. How has your desk evolved over the last 35 years? Do you still have that Rolodex in front of you? Probably not. What about that clunky dictionary, or the answering machine? Technology (and the cloud) has replaced most of our desktop items.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Automation and us
Death by a thousand apps. Self-reliance has given way to learned helplessness. Automation makes our lives safer and easier. But the costs are dear… more
==========================================
“In The Mood” for three ukes
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
Great fun (via Laughing Squid)
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
May 1944. New York
“Two working mothers calling for children at Greenwich House, a neighborhood center, where they have left them early in the morning for day care”
Photo by Risdon Tillery, Office of War Information
View original post
==========================================
Constables John, Paul, George, and Ringo Reporting For Duty
Short description here
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
==========================================
Learning poetry by heart ignites the imagination
via Telegraph by Sir Andrew Motion
Like most people born in the 1950s, my early school experience of learning poetry by heart was pretty grim.
Occasionally the gloom was brightened by a teacher making it fun (in the way we were asked to learn, as well as in the poems chosen), but generally it was a matter of boring poems being boringly presented, and surrounded by a sense of impending punishment if we failed to remember them.
Rote learning, in other words, has a lot to be said against it. Learning by heart, on the other hand, is a wonderful thing (as I only saw in gleams and glances as a child). And especially wonderful when it comes to remembering poems, which have the delightful advantage of being organised in ways (involving rhythm and rhyme) that make learning them easy.
Continue reading
==========================================
Black Humour Books: Catch 22 & Other Grim Jokes
via AbeBooks.co.uk
Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 was published in June 1961 just as the American involvement in the Vietnam War was escalating. You have probably read Catch-22 (and if you haven’t then you are missing out). This book is one of the blackest examples of black Humour, also known as black comedy or dark humor, but there are many more novels written in the same vein.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Cherish foreignness. Enjoying the convenience of modern travel, we underestimate the differences of other lands. That’s a mistake… more
==========================================
Researchers Develop Battery That Runs on Renewable Organics
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Despite their relative efficiency, modern lithium batteries come with a lot of environmental baggage. Scientists at Sweden’s Uppsala University, seeking to develop a more eco-friendly alternative, have created a new smart battery made from organic materials that they say produces just as much power as its lithium counterpart.
Continue reading
==========================================
Evolution of the desk (1980-2014)
via MakeUseOf by Jackson Chung
Whether you like it or not, the fact is, we depend on technology more than you know. How has your desk evolved over the last 35 years? Do you still have that Rolodex in front of you? Probably not. What about that clunky dictionary, or the answering machine? Technology (and the cloud) has replaced most of our desktop items.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Death by a thousand apps. Self-reliance has given way to learned helplessness. Automation makes our lives safer and easier. But the costs are dear… more
==========================================
“In The Mood” for three ukes
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
Great fun (via Laughing Squid)
The impact of free, universal pre-school education on maternal labour supply
a research paper by Mike Brewer, Sarah Cattan, Claire Crawford and Birgitta Rabe published by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (October 2014)
Abstract
We estimate the impact of free, universal pre-school education for three year olds on maternal labour supply in England, exploiting discontinuities arising from date of birth eligibility cut-offs and geographical variation in the speed at which the entitlement effectively covered all children.
The impacts using geographical variation in the rollout imply that the expansion of the free entitlement, which increased the proportion of children in England who could access free part-time early education by around 50 percentage points between 2000 and 2008, led to a rise in the employment rate of mothers whose youngest child is 3 years old of around 3 percentage points, equivalent to about 12,000 more mothers in work.
Given the estimated rise in the fraction of three year olds using some form of early education over the period, the implied IV estimate is that those mothers who used early education only because it was free were 25 percentage points more likely to work thanks to the free entitlement: although this is very imprecisely estimated, this is in the mid to upper range of estimates from studies from other countries, many of which look at the impact of access to longer hours of pre-school care.
JEL Classifications: I21, J22
Full text (PDF 49pp)
Abstract
We estimate the impact of free, universal pre-school education for three year olds on maternal labour supply in England, exploiting discontinuities arising from date of birth eligibility cut-offs and geographical variation in the speed at which the entitlement effectively covered all children.
The impacts using geographical variation in the rollout imply that the expansion of the free entitlement, which increased the proportion of children in England who could access free part-time early education by around 50 percentage points between 2000 and 2008, led to a rise in the employment rate of mothers whose youngest child is 3 years old of around 3 percentage points, equivalent to about 12,000 more mothers in work.
Given the estimated rise in the fraction of three year olds using some form of early education over the period, the implied IV estimate is that those mothers who used early education only because it was free were 25 percentage points more likely to work thanks to the free entitlement: although this is very imprecisely estimated, this is in the mid to upper range of estimates from studies from other countries, many of which look at the impact of access to longer hours of pre-school care.
JEL Classifications: I21, J22
Full text (PDF 49pp)
Workplace bullying as an antecedent to job insecurity and intention to leave: a 6-month prospective study
an article by Mats Glambek, Stig Berge Matthiesen, Jørn Hetland and Ståle Einarsen (University of Bergen)published in Human Resource Management Journal Volume 24 Issue 3 (July 2014)
Abstract
Workplace bullying is a severe problem in contemporary working life, affecting up to 15 per cent of employees. Among the detrimental outcomes of bullying, it is even postulated as a major risk factor for exclusion from work.
In support of this claim, the current study demonstrates that exposure to bullying behaviour predicts an increase in both levels of job insecurity and intention to leave over a 6-month time lag, among a random sample of North Sea workers (n = 734).
The findings suggest that bullied employees are insecure about the permanence and content of their job, and they may be at risk of turnover and exclusion from working life. It is recommended that these outcomes are taken into consideration when incidences of workplace bullying are addressed.
Full article (HTML)
Abstract
Workplace bullying is a severe problem in contemporary working life, affecting up to 15 per cent of employees. Among the detrimental outcomes of bullying, it is even postulated as a major risk factor for exclusion from work.
In support of this claim, the current study demonstrates that exposure to bullying behaviour predicts an increase in both levels of job insecurity and intention to leave over a 6-month time lag, among a random sample of North Sea workers (n = 734).
The findings suggest that bullied employees are insecure about the permanence and content of their job, and they may be at risk of turnover and exclusion from working life. It is recommended that these outcomes are taken into consideration when incidences of workplace bullying are addressed.
Full article (HTML)
Monday, 19 January 2015
Fun and friends: The impact of workplace fun and constituent attachment on turnover in a hospitality context
an article by Michael J Tews (Pennsylvania State University), John W Michel (Loyola University Maryland) and David G Allen (University of Memphis) published in Human Relations Volume 67 Number 8 (August 2014)
Abstract
Extending the growing body of research on fun in the workplace, this article reports on a study examining the relationship between fun and employee turnover. Specifically, this research focused on the influence of three forms of fun on turnover – fun activities, coworker socializing and manager support for fun.
With a sample of 296 servers from 20 units of a national restaurant chain in the US, coworker socialising and manager support for fun were demonstrated to be significantly related to turnover. In addition, constituent attachment was found to mediate the relationship between each of the three forms of fun and turnover.
This research highlights that not all types of fun are equal and demonstrates that one of the key means through which fun influences retention is by facilitating the development of high quality work relationships.
Abstract
Extending the growing body of research on fun in the workplace, this article reports on a study examining the relationship between fun and employee turnover. Specifically, this research focused on the influence of three forms of fun on turnover – fun activities, coworker socializing and manager support for fun.
With a sample of 296 servers from 20 units of a national restaurant chain in the US, coworker socialising and manager support for fun were demonstrated to be significantly related to turnover. In addition, constituent attachment was found to mediate the relationship between each of the three forms of fun and turnover.
This research highlights that not all types of fun are equal and demonstrates that one of the key means through which fun influences retention is by facilitating the development of high quality work relationships.
Pay, Progression and Productivity: A change of business for a Better Off Britain
a post by Ian Brinkley published in The Work Foundation blog
The recent CBI report A Better off Britain has grabbed the headlines with calls for tax cuts for the low paid and more free child care and for ways to be found to increase pay on a sustainable basis. That would be news in itself - employer organisations are not known for embracing policies more associated with centre - left political parties and trade unions. But the report itself is a remarkable piece of work both in terms of language and the recommendations.
Continue reading
A Better off Britain (PDF 109pp with lots of colour and pictures)
The recent CBI report A Better off Britain has grabbed the headlines with calls for tax cuts for the low paid and more free child care and for ways to be found to increase pay on a sustainable basis. That would be news in itself - employer organisations are not known for embracing policies more associated with centre - left political parties and trade unions. But the report itself is a remarkable piece of work both in terms of language and the recommendations.
Continue reading
A Better off Britain (PDF 109pp with lots of colour and pictures)
Friday, 16 January 2015
Trivia (should have been 1 November)
On the Ropes: 1904
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Florida circa 1904
“Surf bathing at Palm Beach”
8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company
View original post
==========================================
The shortest path, the traveling salesman, and an unsolved question
via 3 Quarks Daily by Hari Balasubramanian
How does Google Maps figure out the best route between two addresses? The exact algorithm is known only to Google, but probably some variation of what is called the shortest path problem has to be solved.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Donkeys and the military
When did the humble donkey become the ultimate fighting machine? It all began in 520 BC with King Darius I… more
==========================================
Cinematic tragedies for the intractable issues of our times
via OUP Blog by Sandra Shapshay and Steven Wagschal
Tragedies certainly aren’t the most popular types of performances these days. When you hear a film is a tragedy, you might think “outdated Ancient Greek genre, no thanks!” Back in those times, Athenians thought it their civic duty to attend tragic performances of dramas like Antigone or Agamemnon. Were they on to something that we have lost in contemporary Western society? That there is something specifically valuable in a tragic performance that a spectator doesn’t get from other types or performances, such as those of our modern genres of comedy, farce, and melodrama?
Continue reading
==========================================
Bitter: one of the most interesting and exciting cookbooks I've ever read
via Boing Boing by Carla Sinclair
The term bitter, when associated with food, has never whet my appetite. Bitter, like sour, leans towards the negative. “She made a sour face”. “He is a bitter person”. Unlike sweet or savoury (unami), I think of bitter as an acquired taste that does not easily enthuse. So when I ran across Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, I was intrigued. And I was not disappointed.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
In search of time gained
Art in an age of relentless acceleration. The novel used to be a speedy way of delivering ideas and experiences. Now it’s unbearably slow … more
==========================================
Yes, it’s official, men are from Mars and women from Venus, and here’s the science to prove it
via 3 Quarks Daily: Lewis Wolpert in The Telegraph
In his fascinating new book the developmental biologist Lewis Wolpert argues that there is actually hard science behind many of our stereotypical gender roles.
Continue reading
==========================================
The tape deck you probably won’t be leaving for your great-grandson
via Boing Boing by Rob Beschizza
See for yourself
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Art of not trying
Wu wei, the art of trying – but not too hard – is central to romance, religion, politics, and business. Those ancient Chinese philosophers were on to something… more
==========================================
God, Darwin and My College Biology Class
via 3 Quarks Daily David P. Barash in the New York Times
Every year around this time, with the college year starting, I give my students The Talk. It isn’t, as you might expect, about sex, but about evolution and religion, and how they get along. More to the point, how they don’t.
I’m a biologist, in fact an evolutionary biologist, although no biologist, and no biology course, can help being “evolutionary”. My animal behaviour class, with 200 undergraduates, is built on a scaffolding of evolutionary biology.
Continue reading
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Florida circa 1904
“Surf bathing at Palm Beach”
8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company
View original post
==========================================
The shortest path, the traveling salesman, and an unsolved question
via 3 Quarks Daily by Hari Balasubramanian
How does Google Maps figure out the best route between two addresses? The exact algorithm is known only to Google, but probably some variation of what is called the shortest path problem has to be solved.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
When did the humble donkey become the ultimate fighting machine? It all began in 520 BC with King Darius I… more
Cinematic tragedies for the intractable issues of our times
via OUP Blog by Sandra Shapshay and Steven Wagschal
Tragedies certainly aren’t the most popular types of performances these days. When you hear a film is a tragedy, you might think “outdated Ancient Greek genre, no thanks!” Back in those times, Athenians thought it their civic duty to attend tragic performances of dramas like Antigone or Agamemnon. Were they on to something that we have lost in contemporary Western society? That there is something specifically valuable in a tragic performance that a spectator doesn’t get from other types or performances, such as those of our modern genres of comedy, farce, and melodrama?
Continue reading
==========================================
Bitter: one of the most interesting and exciting cookbooks I've ever read
via Boing Boing by Carla Sinclair
The term bitter, when associated with food, has never whet my appetite. Bitter, like sour, leans towards the negative. “She made a sour face”. “He is a bitter person”. Unlike sweet or savoury (unami), I think of bitter as an acquired taste that does not easily enthuse. So when I ran across Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor, I was intrigued. And I was not disappointed.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Art in an age of relentless acceleration. The novel used to be a speedy way of delivering ideas and experiences. Now it’s unbearably slow … more
==========================================
Yes, it’s official, men are from Mars and women from Venus, and here’s the science to prove it
via 3 Quarks Daily: Lewis Wolpert in The Telegraph
In his fascinating new book the developmental biologist Lewis Wolpert argues that there is actually hard science behind many of our stereotypical gender roles.
Continue reading
==========================================
The tape deck you probably won’t be leaving for your great-grandson
via Boing Boing by Rob Beschizza
See for yourself
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Wu wei, the art of trying – but not too hard – is central to romance, religion, politics, and business. Those ancient Chinese philosophers were on to something… more
==========================================
God, Darwin and My College Biology Class
via 3 Quarks Daily David P. Barash in the New York Times
Every year around this time, with the college year starting, I give my students The Talk. It isn’t, as you might expect, about sex, but about evolution and religion, and how they get along. More to the point, how they don’t.
I’m a biologist, in fact an evolutionary biologist, although no biologist, and no biology course, can help being “evolutionary”. My animal behaviour class, with 200 undergraduates, is built on a scaffolding of evolutionary biology.
Continue reading
What the Greeks taught us and we British have forgotten
an article by
Howard James Elcock (Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne) published in Public Policy and Administration Volume 29 Number 3 (July 2014)
Abstract
The ancient Greek philosophers taught us many of the desirable features of government, but since 1979 we have lost sight of most of them. We now have a restricted view of citizenship, a defective view of the public interest, a diluted public service ethic, little public service education and training and above all we have lost sight of the Greeks’ demand to seek the good life and the good society.
Instead we have the ‘Three Es’ and a business approach which is profit led.
Leadership and action are needed to restore the former virtues of British government, many of which were learnt from Plato and Aristotle.
Hazel’s comment:
When I first became a civil servant in 1971 the emphasis was on the true meaning of both of those words.
I had to be civil – even when asked whether I knew when the next bus into town was. A frequent happening as a direct result of the Jobcentre having a bus stop right outside.
And I had to provide a service – to both employers and jobseekers and provide value for money to my paymaster.
Abstract
The ancient Greek philosophers taught us many of the desirable features of government, but since 1979 we have lost sight of most of them. We now have a restricted view of citizenship, a defective view of the public interest, a diluted public service ethic, little public service education and training and above all we have lost sight of the Greeks’ demand to seek the good life and the good society.
Instead we have the ‘Three Es’ and a business approach which is profit led.
Leadership and action are needed to restore the former virtues of British government, many of which were learnt from Plato and Aristotle.
Hazel’s comment:
When I first became a civil servant in 1971 the emphasis was on the true meaning of both of those words.
I had to be civil – even when asked whether I knew when the next bus into town was. A frequent happening as a direct result of the Jobcentre having a bus stop right outside.
And I had to provide a service – to both employers and jobseekers and provide value for money to my paymaster.
Gamification Making work fun, or making fun of work?
an article by Steve Dale (Collabor8now Ltd, UK) published in Business Information Review Volume 31 Number 2 (June 2014)
Abstract
Gamification is about understanding and influencing human behaviours that organisations want to encourage amongst their workforce or customers. Gamification seeks to take enjoyable aspects of games – fun, play and challenge – and apply them to real-world business processes.
Analysts are predicting massive growth of gamification over the next few years, but is there any substance to the benefits being touted?
This article takes a critical look at the potential of gamification as a business change agent that can deliver a more motivated and engaged workforce.
Abstract
Gamification is about understanding and influencing human behaviours that organisations want to encourage amongst their workforce or customers. Gamification seeks to take enjoyable aspects of games – fun, play and challenge – and apply them to real-world business processes.
Analysts are predicting massive growth of gamification over the next few years, but is there any substance to the benefits being touted?
This article takes a critical look at the potential of gamification as a business change agent that can deliver a more motivated and engaged workforce.
“Bedroom tax”: an update on challenges
an article by Fiona Seymour published in Adviser: a guide to benefits, housing, employment, consumer and money advice Number 164 (July/August 2014)
The “social sector under-occupancy charge”, the “bedroom tax” or the “removal of the spare room subsidy” – whatever you call it, it has made headlines for many reasons since its introduction in April 2013. Fiona Seymour considers the issues it raises and highlights the ongoing challenges.
NOTE: This article applies in England and Wales only.
And, as luck would have it, Citizens Advice have chosen this as one of their sample articles which is available as a PDF.
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/164__bedroom_tax_seymour.pdf
I don't know how long it will be available.
The “social sector under-occupancy charge”, the “bedroom tax” or the “removal of the spare room subsidy” – whatever you call it, it has made headlines for many reasons since its introduction in April 2013. Fiona Seymour considers the issues it raises and highlights the ongoing challenges.
NOTE: This article applies in England and Wales only.
And, as luck would have it, Citizens Advice have chosen this as one of their sample articles which is available as a PDF.
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/164__bedroom_tax_seymour.pdf
I don't know how long it will be available.
EAT (Employment Appeals Tribunal) rules that holiday pay includes non-guaranteed overtime
Reported as a "Key Case" in IDS Employment Law Brief HR Number 1010 (December 2014)
Bear Scotland Ltd and ors v Fulton and ors; Hertel (UK) Ltd v Woods and ors; Amex Group Ltd v Law and ors, EAT
The EAT holds that payments in respect on no-guaranteed overtime must be taken into account when calculating holiday pay under the EU Working Time Directive. Furthermore, the Working Time Regulations 1998 can be construed to achieve that result in respect of the basic four weeks' leave due under Reg 13. However, the judgment significantly limits the scope for retrospective holiday pay claims based on a series of unauthorised deductions under the Employment Rights Act 1996, deciding that such a series is broken by any gap of more than three months between deductions.
Hazel's comment:
IDS publications are not available online. However, I have found a report of the case from Judiciary (gov.uk) – a 53-page PDF and there are other commentators besides IDS if you search on the case title.
Bear Scotland Ltd and ors v Fulton and ors; Hertel (UK) Ltd v Woods and ors; Amex Group Ltd v Law and ors, EAT
The EAT holds that payments in respect on no-guaranteed overtime must be taken into account when calculating holiday pay under the EU Working Time Directive. Furthermore, the Working Time Regulations 1998 can be construed to achieve that result in respect of the basic four weeks' leave due under Reg 13. However, the judgment significantly limits the scope for retrospective holiday pay claims based on a series of unauthorised deductions under the Employment Rights Act 1996, deciding that such a series is broken by any gap of more than three months between deductions.
Hazel's comment:
IDS publications are not available online. However, I have found a report of the case from Judiciary (gov.uk) – a 53-page PDF and there are other commentators besides IDS if you search on the case title.
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Trivia (should have been 26 October)
Coal, Water, Sand: 1942
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Chicago November 1942.
“Locomotives loading up with coal, water and sand at an Illinois Central Railroad yard before going out on the road.”
Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information
View original post
==========================================
Name Any Color Imaginable With This Color Thesaurus
via Small Business Trends by DashBurst In Marketing Tips
Have you ever had trouble correctly labeling certain colors? Well, you won’t have that problem again, thanks to writer and children’s book illustrator Ingrid Sundberg, who cleverly created a color thesaurus to help you name any color imaginable.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Smile revolution in Paris
Smiles are fleeting, says Mary Beard, and hard to pin down. The perfect smile is a modern obsession. Blame the dental-industrial complex… more
==========================================
Top 25 weirdest and most inappropriate children’s books of all time
via Boing Boing by Mitch O’Connell
I have stacks of children’s book, either because I loved them as a kid, bought them for my first two kids, or, as an illustrator, purchased them for the inspiring art.
And now, I’m restocking for our newborn son Aiden.
But once in awhile I’ll stumble across something that'll just make me just scratch my head. As in, “What the f**k were they thinking?!” And since I also love to share, here are some highlights ...for you!
Continue reading
==========================================
Report: Unique Human Faces Evolved To Signal Individual Identity
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
The reason you’ve got a different nose from the person who lives next door isn’t just because you have different parents. A new report in Nature Communications suggests that our diverse facial features can be linked to an evolutionary development from eons ago that corresponded with the increased importance of interpersonal interaction.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Habits of mind
Grand critiques of the humanities rely on caricature. When we look closely, we see the value it bring. Consider historians… more
==========================================
Why people believe things you don’t believe
via Boing Boing by David McRaney
Why do Holocaust deniers, young Earth creationists, people who think they’ve lived past lives as famous figures, people who claim they’ve been abducted by aliens, and people who stake their lives on the power of homeopathy believe things that most of us do not? David McRaney investigates.
Continue reading
==========================================
Our Education System Conflicts With the Science of Learning
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Science writer Benedict Carey lays out everything we know about learning and memory in his new book How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens. What he found was that our brains aren't designed to learn in a ritual manner such as with the typical educational setting. Instead, the brain is a forager designed to pick up information on the go. This has major implications for how students study, he says. There is no one-size-fits-all tactic for effective learning.
Continue reading
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Graffiti in Roman Pompeii
Graffiti varies from place to place. In New York, it’s gallery-approved. In the Arab world, it’s political. In Pompeii, it was erotic and funny… more
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Spheres o’ gears
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Deviantart’s Taffgoch creates beautiful models of spheres made from kinetic elements, primarily gears.
Continue reading
and please go to the link as well.
You will find some fascinating images.
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Chicago November 1942.
“Locomotives loading up with coal, water and sand at an Illinois Central Railroad yard before going out on the road.”
Medium-format negative by Jack Delano for the Office of War Information
View original post
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Name Any Color Imaginable With This Color Thesaurus
via Small Business Trends by DashBurst In Marketing Tips
Have you ever had trouble correctly labeling certain colors? Well, you won’t have that problem again, thanks to writer and children’s book illustrator Ingrid Sundberg, who cleverly created a color thesaurus to help you name any color imaginable.
Continue reading
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Smiles are fleeting, says Mary Beard, and hard to pin down. The perfect smile is a modern obsession. Blame the dental-industrial complex… more
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Top 25 weirdest and most inappropriate children’s books of all time
via Boing Boing by Mitch O’Connell
I have stacks of children’s book, either because I loved them as a kid, bought them for my first two kids, or, as an illustrator, purchased them for the inspiring art.
And now, I’m restocking for our newborn son Aiden.
But once in awhile I’ll stumble across something that'll just make me just scratch my head. As in, “What the f**k were they thinking?!” And since I also love to share, here are some highlights ...for you!
Continue reading
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Report: Unique Human Faces Evolved To Signal Individual Identity
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
The reason you’ve got a different nose from the person who lives next door isn’t just because you have different parents. A new report in Nature Communications suggests that our diverse facial features can be linked to an evolutionary development from eons ago that corresponded with the increased importance of interpersonal interaction.
Continue reading
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Grand critiques of the humanities rely on caricature. When we look closely, we see the value it bring. Consider historians… more
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Why people believe things you don’t believe
via Boing Boing by David McRaney
Why do Holocaust deniers, young Earth creationists, people who think they’ve lived past lives as famous figures, people who claim they’ve been abducted by aliens, and people who stake their lives on the power of homeopathy believe things that most of us do not? David McRaney investigates.
Continue reading
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Our Education System Conflicts With the Science of Learning
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Science writer Benedict Carey lays out everything we know about learning and memory in his new book How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens. What he found was that our brains aren't designed to learn in a ritual manner such as with the typical educational setting. Instead, the brain is a forager designed to pick up information on the go. This has major implications for how students study, he says. There is no one-size-fits-all tactic for effective learning.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Graffiti varies from place to place. In New York, it’s gallery-approved. In the Arab world, it’s political. In Pompeii, it was erotic and funny… more
==========================================
Spheres o’ gears
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Deviantart’s Taffgoch creates beautiful models of spheres made from kinetic elements, primarily gears.
Continue reading
and please go to the link as well.
You will find some fascinating images.
Profitability of UK Companies, Q3 2014
Statistical Bulletin from ONS
Key Points
The graph on page 11 says it all for me.
Key Points
- Private non-financial corporations’ profitability, as measured by their net rate of return, was estimated at 12.0% in Q3 2014; up from the revised estimate of 11.6% in Q2 2014.
- Manufacturing companies’ net rate of return was estimated at 10.9% in Q3 2014, 0.1 percentage points higher than Q2 2014 and the highest since Q1 2002.
- Service companies’ net rate of return was estimated at 16.8% in Q3 2014, the highest rate since the series began in Q1 1997.
- UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) companies’ net rate of return was 13.9% in Q3 2014. This was the lowest estimated rate since the series began in Q1 1997. This was the second consecutive lowest estimate and 3.3 percentage points lower than the previous quarter.
- UK non-CS companies’ net rate of return was 12.0% in Q3 2014. This was the highest rate since Q4 1998, when it was also 12.0%.
- To see the above data in more context, data for earlier periods are shown at Tables 1 and 2, they are also presented in the graphs at Figures 1 to 4.
The graph on page 11 says it all for me.
Why are pupils from disadvantaged families more often found studying in poorly performing schools?
CMPO Viewpoint: a blog from The Centre for Market and Public Organisation
Blog post by Simon Burgess and Ellen Greaves (IFS) and Anna Vignoles (University of Cambridge)
Why are pupils from disadvantaged families more often found studying in poorly performing schools?
Is it choice or is it constraint?
Is it because the families choose local schools despite low performance?
Or is it because the school admissions system which focusses on proximity to school works against poorer families?
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
Sometimes the answers to the above type of questions are obvious, sometimes they are not but anecdotal response does not move policy-makers.
Sometimes considered, researched response doesn’t move them either but that is a different issue.
Blog post by Simon Burgess and Ellen Greaves (IFS) and Anna Vignoles (University of Cambridge)
Why are pupils from disadvantaged families more often found studying in poorly performing schools?
Is it choice or is it constraint?
Is it because the families choose local schools despite low performance?
Or is it because the school admissions system which focusses on proximity to school works against poorer families?
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
Sometimes the answers to the above type of questions are obvious, sometimes they are not but anecdotal response does not move policy-makers.
Sometimes considered, researched response doesn’t move them either but that is a different issue.
Monday, 12 January 2015
Living in the age of no retirement
via The Work Foundation; a blog post by Deborah Gale
The last of the baby boomers turns fifty in 2014. This huge cohort is said to have defined the modern age. Not only have the first teenagers come to an advanced age, they are likewise crossing into a different time to grow old. Unsurprisingly, their retirement experience is also turning out to be very different.
Continue reading
The last of the baby boomers turns fifty in 2014. This huge cohort is said to have defined the modern age. Not only have the first teenagers come to an advanced age, they are likewise crossing into a different time to grow old. Unsurprisingly, their retirement experience is also turning out to be very different.
Continue reading
Becoming a young mother: Teenage pregnancy and parenting policy
an article by Naomi Rudoe (University of Westminster) published in Critical Social Policy Volume 34 Number 3 (August 2014)
Abstract
As part of New Labour’s commitment to reducing social exclusion, their Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (1999–2010) aimed to reduce teenage conceptions in England and Wales and to increase the participation of young parents in education, employment and training.
The Coalition government, while discontinuing the Strategy, has increased the focus on early intervention, parenting and targeted support for ‘troubled families’.
This article examines teenage pregnancy and parenting policies in the context of an alternative educational setting for pregnant young women and mothers. Young women and staff in this setting held complex attitudes towards the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy and towards parenting interventions and ideas about ‘good’ motherhood.
The data demonstrate both resistance to and support for such policy interventions, as well as a contested and unstable notion of the ‘good mother’.
The article argues that parenting education needs to be sensitive towards structural inequalities and difficulties rather than purely focusing on behaviour change.
Abstract
As part of New Labour’s commitment to reducing social exclusion, their Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (1999–2010) aimed to reduce teenage conceptions in England and Wales and to increase the participation of young parents in education, employment and training.
The Coalition government, while discontinuing the Strategy, has increased the focus on early intervention, parenting and targeted support for ‘troubled families’.
This article examines teenage pregnancy and parenting policies in the context of an alternative educational setting for pregnant young women and mothers. Young women and staff in this setting held complex attitudes towards the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy and towards parenting interventions and ideas about ‘good’ motherhood.
The data demonstrate both resistance to and support for such policy interventions, as well as a contested and unstable notion of the ‘good mother’.
The article argues that parenting education needs to be sensitive towards structural inequalities and difficulties rather than purely focusing on behaviour change.
Saturday, 10 January 2015
Trivia (should have been 25 October)
Office Girls: 1921
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
December 1921 Washington, D.C.
“Machinists Association”
And what could be an exhibit for the Museum of Antique Office Equipment. Experts please weigh in.
National Photo Company Collection glass negative
View original post
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20 Amazing Novels You Should Read Before You Watch The Movies Based on Them
via Lifehack by Sarah Anton
There’s nothing better than sinking into your comfy chair with a wonderful book and being drifted off into a whole new world. A world that isn't yours. Many will agree that reading books is differentthan from watching the movie version, since you grow attached to the characters as their feelings and story progresses. It’s not uncommon for a reader to actually get caught up into the book to such a level that they cry, laugh, blush or scream while their favorite character goes through different life episodes. That being said, there are 20 amazing novels that you must read before you watch the movie! Not only to know what to expect before it happens, but also to compare your vision of the character to the movie’s portrayal.
Continue reading
And it's not uncommon for me to watch the first five minutes of a movie and give up because it is so different from my own idea of what the characters and the landscape should be like.
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Slavery and capitalism
The relationship between the two is key to understanding the origins of the modern world… more
==========================================
What lies beneath London?
via BBC News, London by Andy Dangerfield
From deep-level air raid shelters to the colossal Crossrail construction, beneath London lies a labyrinth of tunnels. BBC News delved underground to visit some of the capital’s rarely seen subterranean spots. Continue reading
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15 of the World’s Coolest Sheds
via Killer Web Directory by David Eaves
Here is an infographic from the garden buildings website called What Shed all about the most awesome sheds. The majority of these sheds are based in the United Kingdom but they are not sure about the location of some of them.
Check it out here
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Inventing the future
The Victorians told a particular story about culture, technology, and optimism. It still shapes our vision of things to come… more
==========================================
How I learned to think like a mushroom
via Boing Boing by Trad Cotter
We need fungal solutions to pollution, pandemics, and starvation, says Tradd Cotter, a microbiologist and professional mycologist.
Continue reading
==========================================
The ‘live bait squadron’
via National Archives by Dr Richard Dunley
Admiralty ship Hogue, ADM 176/337 (2)
In the space of little over an hour on the morning of 22 September 1914, the Royal Navy suffered one of the worst disasters in its history. Three armoured cruisers were sunk with the loss of over 1,450 lives. The culprit, U-9, a small German submarine with a crew of less than 30, slipped away unharmed. This battle fundamentally changed perceptions of warfare at sea, and set the tone for the very modern maritime conflict to be fought over the next four years.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The invention of clumsiness
With the advent of photography, artists grew to differ in their depictions of the ungainliness of the human form… more
==========================================
Supporting a son who wants to wear pink shoes
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorw
Todd, who made an appearance here last year, pondering how to support his little boy who’d been scared off wearing pink; now he's back with the latest chapter in his son’s life.
Continue reading
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
December 1921 Washington, D.C.
“Machinists Association”
And what could be an exhibit for the Museum of Antique Office Equipment. Experts please weigh in.
National Photo Company Collection glass negative
View original post
==========================================
20 Amazing Novels You Should Read Before You Watch The Movies Based on Them
via Lifehack by Sarah Anton
There’s nothing better than sinking into your comfy chair with a wonderful book and being drifted off into a whole new world. A world that isn't yours. Many will agree that reading books is different
Continue reading
And it's not uncommon for me to watch the first five minutes of a movie and give up because it is so different from my own idea of what the characters and the landscape should be like.
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The relationship between the two is key to understanding the origins of the modern world… more
==========================================
What lies beneath London?
via BBC News, London by Andy Dangerfield
From deep-level air raid shelters to the colossal Crossrail construction, beneath London lies a labyrinth of tunnels. BBC News delved underground to visit some of the capital’s rarely seen subterranean spots. Continue reading
==========================================
15 of the World’s Coolest Sheds
via Killer Web Directory by David Eaves
Here is an infographic from the garden buildings website called What Shed all about the most awesome sheds. The majority of these sheds are based in the United Kingdom but they are not sure about the location of some of them.
Check it out here
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The Victorians told a particular story about culture, technology, and optimism. It still shapes our vision of things to come… more
==========================================
How I learned to think like a mushroom
via Boing Boing by Trad Cotter
We need fungal solutions to pollution, pandemics, and starvation, says Tradd Cotter, a microbiologist and professional mycologist.Continue reading
==========================================
The ‘live bait squadron’
via National Archives by Dr Richard Dunley
Admiralty ship Hogue, ADM 176/337 (2)
In the space of little over an hour on the morning of 22 September 1914, the Royal Navy suffered one of the worst disasters in its history. Three armoured cruisers were sunk with the loss of over 1,450 lives. The culprit, U-9, a small German submarine with a crew of less than 30, slipped away unharmed. This battle fundamentally changed perceptions of warfare at sea, and set the tone for the very modern maritime conflict to be fought over the next four years.
Continue reading
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
With the advent of photography, artists grew to differ in their depictions of the ungainliness of the human form… more
==========================================
Supporting a son who wants to wear pink shoes
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorw
Todd, who made an appearance here last year, pondering how to support his little boy who’d been scared off wearing pink; now he's back with the latest chapter in his son’s life.
Continue reading
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Life satisfaction effects of unemployment in Europe: The moderating influence of labour market policy
an article by Melike Wulfgramm (University of Bremen, Germany; IZA, Germany) published in Journal of European Social Policy Volume 24 Number 3 (July 2014)
Abstract
Public policy shapes the lives of individuals, and even more so if they depend on state support.
In the case of unemployment, the financial situation is largely determined by cash transfers and daily routines depend on the involvement in active labour market policy measures. To what extent, however, can subjective well-being differences of European unemployed be traced back to the national design and generosity of labour market policy?
This article applies multilevel and panel estimation techniques to identify the moderating effect of unemployment benefit generosity and active labour market policy on life satisfaction of the unemployed.
While unemployment has strong negative life satisfaction effects in all 21 European countries under study, the generosity of passive labour market policy moderates this effect to a surprisingly large extent: the adverse effect of unemployment is almost doubled if unemployment benefits are meagre.
This moderating effect can be explained both by a resource as well as a non-pecuniary mechanism. The positive moderating effect of active labour market policy is less robust across model specifications.
Abstract
Public policy shapes the lives of individuals, and even more so if they depend on state support.
In the case of unemployment, the financial situation is largely determined by cash transfers and daily routines depend on the involvement in active labour market policy measures. To what extent, however, can subjective well-being differences of European unemployed be traced back to the national design and generosity of labour market policy?
This article applies multilevel and panel estimation techniques to identify the moderating effect of unemployment benefit generosity and active labour market policy on life satisfaction of the unemployed.
While unemployment has strong negative life satisfaction effects in all 21 European countries under study, the generosity of passive labour market policy moderates this effect to a surprisingly large extent: the adverse effect of unemployment is almost doubled if unemployment benefits are meagre.
This moderating effect can be explained both by a resource as well as a non-pecuniary mechanism. The positive moderating effect of active labour market policy is less robust across model specifications.
How Far do England's Second-Order Cities Emulate London as Human-Capital ‘Escalators’?
an article by Tony Champion and Mike Coombes (Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies, Newcastle University) and Ian Gordon (London School of Economics) published in Population, Space and Place Volume 20 Issue 5 (July 2014)
Abstract
In the urban resurgence accompanying the growth of the knowledge economy, second-order cities appear to be losing out to the principal city, especially where the latter is much larger and benefits from substantially greater agglomeration economies. The view that any city can make itself attractive to creative talent seems at odds with the idea of a country having just one ‘escalator region’ where the rate of career progression is much faster, especially for in-migrants.
This paper takes the case of England, with its highly primate city-size distribution, and tests how its second-order cities (in size order, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol, Sheffield, Liverpool, Nottingham, and Leicester) compare with London as human-capital escalators. The analysis is based on the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Survey of linked census records for 1991–2001 and uses one key indicator of upward social mobility – the transition from White Collar Non-core to White Collar Core.
For non-migrants, the transition rate for the second-order cities combined is found to fall well short of London's, but in one case – Manchester – the rate is significantly higher than the rest of the country outside the Greater South East. Those moving to the second-order cities during the decade experienced much stronger upward social mobility than their non-migrants, but this ‘migrant premium’ was generally similar to that for London, suggesting that it results from people moving only after they have secured a better job.
Second-order cities, therefore, cannot rely on the speculative migration of talented people but need suitable jobs ready for them to access.
Abstract
In the urban resurgence accompanying the growth of the knowledge economy, second-order cities appear to be losing out to the principal city, especially where the latter is much larger and benefits from substantially greater agglomeration economies. The view that any city can make itself attractive to creative talent seems at odds with the idea of a country having just one ‘escalator region’ where the rate of career progression is much faster, especially for in-migrants.
This paper takes the case of England, with its highly primate city-size distribution, and tests how its second-order cities (in size order, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol, Sheffield, Liverpool, Nottingham, and Leicester) compare with London as human-capital escalators. The analysis is based on the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Survey of linked census records for 1991–2001 and uses one key indicator of upward social mobility – the transition from White Collar Non-core to White Collar Core.
For non-migrants, the transition rate for the second-order cities combined is found to fall well short of London's, but in one case – Manchester – the rate is significantly higher than the rest of the country outside the Greater South East. Those moving to the second-order cities during the decade experienced much stronger upward social mobility than their non-migrants, but this ‘migrant premium’ was generally similar to that for London, suggesting that it results from people moving only after they have secured a better job.
Second-order cities, therefore, cannot rely on the speculative migration of talented people but need suitable jobs ready for them to access.
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
“How people read and write and they don't even notice”: everyday lives and literacies on a Midlands council estate
an article by Susan Jones (University of Nottingham) published in Literacy Volume 48 Issue 2 (July 2014)
Abstract
This article presents data from a British Academy-funded study of the everyday literacy practices of three families living on a predominantly white working-class council housing estate on the edge of a Midlands city. The study explored, as one participant succinctly put it, “how people read and write and they don't even notice”. This alludes to the ways in which everyday practices may not be recognised as part of a dominant model of literacy.
The study considered too the ways in which these literacy practices are part of a wider policy context that also fails to notice the impact of austerity politics on everyday lives. An emphasis on quantitative measures of disadvantage and public discourse which vilifies those facing economic challenge can overshadow the resilience and resourcefulness of individuals and families in making meaning from their experiences.
Drawing together consideration of everyday lives and the everyday literacies which are part of them, this article explores the impact of the current policy context on access to both economic and cultural resources, showing how literacy, as part of this context, should be recognised as a powerful means not only of constricting lives but also of constructing them.
Abstract
This article presents data from a British Academy-funded study of the everyday literacy practices of three families living on a predominantly white working-class council housing estate on the edge of a Midlands city. The study explored, as one participant succinctly put it, “how people read and write and they don't even notice”. This alludes to the ways in which everyday practices may not be recognised as part of a dominant model of literacy.
The study considered too the ways in which these literacy practices are part of a wider policy context that also fails to notice the impact of austerity politics on everyday lives. An emphasis on quantitative measures of disadvantage and public discourse which vilifies those facing economic challenge can overshadow the resilience and resourcefulness of individuals and families in making meaning from their experiences.
Drawing together consideration of everyday lives and the everyday literacies which are part of them, this article explores the impact of the current policy context on access to both economic and cultural resources, showing how literacy, as part of this context, should be recognised as a powerful means not only of constricting lives but also of constructing them.
Neither ‘Deepest, Darkest Peckham’ nor ‘Run-of-the-Mill’ East Dulwich: The Middle Classes and their ‘Others’ in an Inner-London Neighbourhood
an article by Emma Jackson (University of Glasgow, Scotland) and Michaela Benson (Goldsmiths, University of London) published in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Volume 38 Issue 4 (July 2014)
Abstract
This article examines how middle-class residents of an inner-London neighbourhood draw up socio-spatial and symbolic boundaries between themselves and their ‘others’. Through a discussion of accounts of two very different boundaries – the boundary of a multi-ethnic high street and a less clearly defined boundary of a neighbouring middle-class area – we argue that the production of middle-class identities is bound up with processes of disaffiliation not only from proximate stigmatised areas, but also from more upmarket areas and the people who populate them.
Against this background it becomes clear that middle-class claims to belonging are made through (1) the asymmetric processes by which the middle classes create and maintain spatial boundaries between themselves and racialized/classed others, and (2) the subtle processes of distinction that go on within the middle classes.
Nevertheless, relationships to place remain ambivalent, and as neighbourhoods undergo change, physical boundaries separating one area from another refuse to stay put. We argue that the re-inscription of such boundaries in the accounts of middle-class respondents are attempts to create a stable identity on the shifting ground of the contemporary global city.
Abstract
This article examines how middle-class residents of an inner-London neighbourhood draw up socio-spatial and symbolic boundaries between themselves and their ‘others’. Through a discussion of accounts of two very different boundaries – the boundary of a multi-ethnic high street and a less clearly defined boundary of a neighbouring middle-class area – we argue that the production of middle-class identities is bound up with processes of disaffiliation not only from proximate stigmatised areas, but also from more upmarket areas and the people who populate them.
Against this background it becomes clear that middle-class claims to belonging are made through (1) the asymmetric processes by which the middle classes create and maintain spatial boundaries between themselves and racialized/classed others, and (2) the subtle processes of distinction that go on within the middle classes.
Nevertheless, relationships to place remain ambivalent, and as neighbourhoods undergo change, physical boundaries separating one area from another refuse to stay put. We argue that the re-inscription of such boundaries in the accounts of middle-class respondents are attempts to create a stable identity on the shifting ground of the contemporary global city.
Monday, 5 January 2015
The power to create
an article by Adam Lent published in RSA Journal Issue 2 (2014)
Governments, business and our institutions need to make the most of the technologies and methods that are transforming our economy.
The economist Eric Beinhocker once wrote that for 130,000 years of human history not much happened economically before all hell broke loose 250 years ago. He was not wrong. There were explosions of inventiveness, such as during the Roman Empire, but these would come to an end with the fall of the political system that sustained them. Average incomes improved at glacial rates: in the first century, most people could expect an income of around $1.20 a day; by the 18th, it had risen to $1.70.
This all changed in the late 1700s. Britain became the birthplace of an extraordinary revolution that would come to transform the world. Modern capitalism was being built on the back of an enormous flowering of commercial innovation: new machines, new products, new production systems, new business structures and new markets came to life.
Continue reading
Governments, business and our institutions need to make the most of the technologies and methods that are transforming our economy.
The economist Eric Beinhocker once wrote that for 130,000 years of human history not much happened economically before all hell broke loose 250 years ago. He was not wrong. There were explosions of inventiveness, such as during the Roman Empire, but these would come to an end with the fall of the political system that sustained them. Average incomes improved at glacial rates: in the first century, most people could expect an income of around $1.20 a day; by the 18th, it had risen to $1.70.
This all changed in the late 1700s. Britain became the birthplace of an extraordinary revolution that would come to transform the world. Modern capitalism was being built on the back of an enormous flowering of commercial innovation: new machines, new products, new production systems, new business structures and new markets came to life.
Continue reading
Can investments in better connected Cities make us happier?
via the City Growth Commission Blog by Thomas Hauschildt
Happiness and well-being are often used interchangeably. However, happiness is associated with the pleasant feeling accompanying certain events which then contributes to the general state of our well-being. Subsequently, unhappy experiences reduce our state of well-being and the reduction of those experiences should be at the heart of policy decisions.
Continue reading
Lots of links to other interesting items.
Happiness and well-being are often used interchangeably. However, happiness is associated with the pleasant feeling accompanying certain events which then contributes to the general state of our well-being. Subsequently, unhappy experiences reduce our state of well-being and the reduction of those experiences should be at the heart of policy decisions.
Continue reading
Lots of links to other interesting items.
Sunday, 4 January 2015
Trivia (should have been 19 October)
Sweethearts of Rhythm: 1940s
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the pioneering all-girl jazz-swing group, with bandleader Anna Mae Winburn in the 1940s. Guitarist Carline Ray, who died in New York earlier this month [July 2013] at age 88, is third from left.
View original post
Of course, being me, I could not let it rest there with just a picture.
http://youtu.be/94fcqEkPmSk
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The Underwater Sculpture Garden in Molinere Bay, Grenada
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Not many art galleries would let you inside wearing nothing but a swimsuit. Visiting the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Garden almost necessitates it.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
On human cruelty
Ian Buruma’s interests – Anne Frank, Clint Eastwood, kamikazes – are linked by a single question: Why do humans behave so atrociously?… more
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Card tricks with Willie Nelson
via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder
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Unethical Behavior Begins With Minor Transgressions That Swell Over Time
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Do folks who routinely behave unethically just wake up in the morning and decide they want to be evil? While that'd be a nice and simple way of explaining why people do bad things, the truth is probably not as starkly black and white as we'd like to believe.
Continue reading
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Good feminist
For a 1970s feminist like Vivian Gornick, there is cause for dismay today. Women’s liberation is in the doldrums, not likely to recover in her lifetime… more
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Beat your brain’s stupid hyperbolic discounting
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Dispassionately, we know that cheating on our diets or procrastinating on our stupid deadlines isn’t worth it, but our stupid brains treat most future consequences as if they’re worth nothing, while treating any present-moment benefits as though they were precious beyond riches – so how do you get the “hyperbolic discounting” part of your brain to shut up and listen to reason?
Continue reading
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The lure of sounds
via OUP Blog by David Crystal
There’s something about the idea of ‘original pronunciation’ (OP) that gets the pulse racing. I’ve been amazed by the public interest shown in this unusual application of a little-known branch of linguistics — historical phonology, a subject that explores how the sounds of a language change over time. I little expected, when I was approached by Shakespeare’s Globe in 2004 to help them mount a production of Romeo and Juliet in OP, that ten years on the approach would become a thriving linguistic industry. Nor could I have predicted that a short documentary recording about OP for the Open University (which I made with actor son Ben in 2011) would for no apparent reason go viral towards the end of 2013, with 1.5 million hits in recent months.
Continue reading
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Weapon for readers
Margins are for scribbling, pages for folding, spines for breaking. We have a responsibility to read with a pen in hand. Tim Parks explains.. more
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Brew coffee 19th century style with a balancing siphon
via Boing Boing by Andrea James
Looking for a whimsical yet scientific way to serve coffee or tea to guests with showy flair? Consider the Continental balancing siphon coffee brewer developed in the 19th century.
Continue reading
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the pioneering all-girl jazz-swing group, with bandleader Anna Mae Winburn in the 1940s. Guitarist Carline Ray, who died in New York earlier this month [July 2013] at age 88, is third from left.
View original post
Of course, being me, I could not let it rest there with just a picture.
http://youtu.be/94fcqEkPmSk
==========================================
The Underwater Sculpture Garden in Molinere Bay, Grenada
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Not many art galleries would let you inside wearing nothing but a swimsuit. Visiting the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Garden almost necessitates it.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Ian Buruma’s interests – Anne Frank, Clint Eastwood, kamikazes – are linked by a single question: Why do humans behave so atrociously?… more
==========================================
Card tricks with Willie Nelson
via Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder
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Unethical Behavior Begins With Minor Transgressions That Swell Over Time
via Big Think by Robert Montenegro
Do folks who routinely behave unethically just wake up in the morning and decide they want to be evil? While that'd be a nice and simple way of explaining why people do bad things, the truth is probably not as starkly black and white as we'd like to believe.
Continue reading
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
For a 1970s feminist like Vivian Gornick, there is cause for dismay today. Women’s liberation is in the doldrums, not likely to recover in her lifetime… more
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Beat your brain’s stupid hyperbolic discounting
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Dispassionately, we know that cheating on our diets or procrastinating on our stupid deadlines isn’t worth it, but our stupid brains treat most future consequences as if they’re worth nothing, while treating any present-moment benefits as though they were precious beyond riches – so how do you get the “hyperbolic discounting” part of your brain to shut up and listen to reason?
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The lure of sounds
via OUP Blog by David Crystal
There’s something about the idea of ‘original pronunciation’ (OP) that gets the pulse racing. I’ve been amazed by the public interest shown in this unusual application of a little-known branch of linguistics — historical phonology, a subject that explores how the sounds of a language change over time. I little expected, when I was approached by Shakespeare’s Globe in 2004 to help them mount a production of Romeo and Juliet in OP, that ten years on the approach would become a thriving linguistic industry. Nor could I have predicted that a short documentary recording about OP for the Open University (which I made with actor son Ben in 2011) would for no apparent reason go viral towards the end of 2013, with 1.5 million hits in recent months.
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Margins are for scribbling, pages for folding, spines for breaking. We have a responsibility to read with a pen in hand. Tim Parks explains.. more
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Brew coffee 19th century style with a balancing siphon
via Boing Boing by Andrea James
Looking for a whimsical yet scientific way to serve coffee or tea to guests with showy flair? Consider the Continental balancing siphon coffee brewer developed in the 19th century.
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Saturday, 3 January 2015
Trivia (should have been 18 October)
YWCA: 1906
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Circa 1906
“Y.W.C.A. building, Detroit”
Once again the interesting stuff is at the periphery – note signage at right advertising Cracker Jack and the services of a “bell hanger”
8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co
View original post
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DIY rolling-ball clock
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Christopher Blasius sells plans (€40) to make a Serpina "rolling ball clock" whose timekeeping is accomplished by rolling a ball around a laser-cut wooden frame, causing the frame to see-saw and sending the ball in the opposite direction.
Continue reading
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
History of hogsheads, kegs and puncheons
Beer, whiskey, wine, grain, tobacco, molasses, cement, fish, coins: The barrel is far from a simple idea… more
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Chimps Outplay Humans in Brain Games
via 3 Quarks Daily by Madhuvanthi Kannan in Scientific American
We humans assume we are the smartest of all creations. In a world with over 8.7 million species, only we have the ability to understand the inner workings of our body while also unravelling the mysteries of the universe. We are the geniuses, the philosophers, the artists, the poets and savants. We amuse at a dog playing ball, a dolphin jumping rings, or a monkey imitating man because we think of these as remarkable acts for animals that, we presume, aren’t smart as us. But what is smart? Is it just about having ideas, or being good at language and math?
Continue reading
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
Circa 1906
“Y.W.C.A. building, Detroit”
Once again the interesting stuff is at the periphery – note signage at right advertising Cracker Jack and the services of a “bell hanger”
8x10 inch glass negative, Detroit Publishing Co
View original post
DIY rolling-ball clock
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Christopher Blasius sells plans (€40) to make a Serpina "rolling ball clock" whose timekeeping is accomplished by rolling a ball around a laser-cut wooden frame, causing the frame to see-saw and sending the ball in the opposite direction.
Continue reading
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Beer, whiskey, wine, grain, tobacco, molasses, cement, fish, coins: The barrel is far from a simple idea… more
==========================================
Chimps Outplay Humans in Brain Games
via 3 Quarks Daily by Madhuvanthi Kannan in Scientific American
We humans assume we are the smartest of all creations. In a world with over 8.7 million species, only we have the ability to understand the inner workings of our body while also unravelling the mysteries of the universe. We are the geniuses, the philosophers, the artists, the poets and savants. We amuse at a dog playing ball, a dolphin jumping rings, or a monkey imitating man because we think of these as remarkable acts for animals that, we presume, aren’t smart as us. But what is smart? Is it just about having ideas, or being good at language and math?
Continue reading
==========================================
The City of Literature: Books Set in Paris
via AbeBooks.co.uk by Jessica Doyle
Hemingway wrote, “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”
It’s a book lover’s dream to wander the very streets that inspired Marcel Proust, Émile Zola, Samuel Beckett, Albert Camus, Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and so many others. You might step into the Salon at 27 rue de Fleurus where Gertrude Stein mentored Ernest Hemingway, or have a drink at the café littéraires Les Deux Magots and Café de Flore, the long-ago haunts of James Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound and their fellow The Lost Generation writers.
Continue reading
WARNING: This is a market place. Keep a hold on your credit and/or debit cards.
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Whether tapered, snout-like, or hooked, the Jewish nose displays a remarkably diverse history in Christian art… more
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The life of a hoarder
via Boing Boing by Rob Beschizza
Corinna Kern documented the life of George Fowler, a compulsive hoarder. In her photographs is "a closeness between the young woman behind the camera and the old man in front of it." [Itsnicethat via Digg]
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Wow
via 3 Quarks Daily by Maniza Naqvi
This is the letter “wow”
Just Wow! At every turn, and corner in Istanbul — you are bound to say — Wow.
The obvious example is, of course, at the Basilica of Aya Sofiya—built by Emperor Justinian in 537 AD. Legend has it, that Justinian wanted this magnificent Eastern Orthodox Church, in its beauty and scale to rival Solomon's great Temple. So that even Solomon would have been Wowed.
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The case for Van Gogh’s suicide is tarnished by bad history, bad psychology, and bad forensics. So if he didn’t shoot himself, who did?… more
Stonehenge was a circle
via Boing Boing by Rob Beschizza
Stonehenge’s remains suggest a circle, but archaeologists have finally proven it after a drought revealed what lay beneath the grass.
Ten Trivial Items that I found interesting (some time ago)
Intelligence Is a Burden on Making Good Life Decisions
via Big Think by Orion Jones
Having greater intelligence can actually make you a more foolish person because intelligence breeds hubris, according to sociologists who study how intelligent people make life decisions.
Continue reading
==========================================
Mixing Up Settings: Town, Country and the Books of Lorna Hill
via An Awfully Big Blog Adventure by Emma Barnes
Last week I was in Northumberland. It's only a couple of hours from Leeds, where I live, but it feels like a different world.
Leeds is a big, bustling, ethnically diverse Northern city. The Northumberland coast, with its empty beaches, fishing villages and old-fashioned pubs, feels like a journey away in time as much as space. Even the tourist hot spots – like Lindisfarne – are tranquil, the cars abandoned once the causeway has been crossed, the many visitors wandering the windswept island by foot.
Continue reading
==========================================
Why Did Humans Advance Among Primates? Look to Ants For the Answer
via Big Think by Big Think Editors
In many of Edward O. Wilson's books, most notably his recent titles The Meaning of Human Existence and The Social Conquest of Earth, the famed biologist adopts a scientific lens to examine the quandaries of the human condition and other opaque areas of human knowledge. These are topics most typically explored by philosophers and sociologists, but Wilson approaches them with the scientific mind. For example, in the Big Think interview below, Wilson asks how Homo sapiens managed to separate from other primates and dominate the large animals of the world. Is this something science on its own can explain?
Continue reading
==========================================
10 Reasons Why Coffee Drinkers Are More Likely To Be Successful
via Lifehack by Casey Imafidon
I love coffee. I hope you do too. There is a ritual that comes with making it and the smell is wonderful. While others are yawning and trying to get their days going, coffee is like a punch in the face to wake you up into the real world. Perhaps you drink coffee all the time or merely sometimes, yet do not quite fully understand how pivotal it is to your success. If so, here is some news for you!
Continue reading
==========================================
Pain Relievers May Be Numbing Your Emotions
via Big Think by Natalie Shoemaker
Popping a Tylenol may do more than just alleviate that headache you've been suffering through; it may also be a potent solution for numbing emotions. Researchers, led by social psychology doctoral candidate Geoffrey Durso, have published a study in the journal Psychological Science, which reveals that “rather than being labeled as merely a pain reliever, acetaminophen might be better described as an all-purpose emotion reliever."
Continue reading
==========================================
Royal Mint to welcome visitors for first time with £7.7m museum
via The Guardian by Maev Kennedy
The Royal Mint is to open its doors to the public for the first time in its 1,100-year history. There will be tours, but no gold and silver samples.
A £7.7m museum and visitor centre showcasing the long history of coinage in the UK, designed by Mather & Co, will be built at the site in Llantrisant in South Wales, where the Mint moved in the 1960s to meet the challenge of creating a new coinage when the UK went decimal.
Continue reading
==========================================
10 Actors Who Played Against Type — and Failed
via Flavorwire by Jason Bailey
This Friday [would have been months ago!], Arnold Schwarzenegger does something you’d have never quite predicted: he plays the leading role in an indie drama. Even more surprisingly, he’s very good in it. His quiet turn as a Midwestern farmer in the family drama/zombie flick Maggie is both a strong performance and a smart move for the aging actor, whose action vehicles haven’t exactly burned up the box office lately; when what you do isn’t working anymore, it’s a good idea to try something new. But for every Robin Williams, Matthew McConaughey, or Albert Brooks who transformed their screen persona successfully, there’s another who didn’t quite pull it off.
Continue reading
==========================================
“Under the influence of rock’n’roll”
via OUP Blog by David George Surdam
Rock’n’roll music has defied its critics. When it debuted in the 1950s, many adults ridiculed the phenomenon. Elvis, Chuck Berry, and their peers would soon be forgotten, another passing fancy in the cavalcade of youth-induced fads. The brash conceit, “rock’n’roll is here to stay”, however, proved astute.
Continue reading
==========================================
Infested, About Bedbugs
via 3 Quarks Daily: Marlene Zuk at The New York Times
A book about bedbugs is, by necessity, a book about nearly everything: about travel and adventure, about our relationship to nature, about how scientists solve problems, about trust and whether we view strangers as friends or foes. It is a book about what people will do under extreme circumstances, and about environmental politics, and art and mental illness. It is even a book about kinky sex.
Continue reading
==========================================
The UK’s most eccentric library
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
In this week’s New Yorker, Adam Gopnik visits one of the more intriguing and strange European libraries, the Warburg Institute in London, a 115-year-old institution with a sadly uncertain future.
Continue reading
via Big Think by Orion Jones
Having greater intelligence can actually make you a more foolish person because intelligence breeds hubris, according to sociologists who study how intelligent people make life decisions.
Continue reading
==========================================
Mixing Up Settings: Town, Country and the Books of Lorna Hill
via An Awfully Big Blog Adventure by Emma Barnes
Last week I was in Northumberland. It's only a couple of hours from Leeds, where I live, but it feels like a different world.
Leeds is a big, bustling, ethnically diverse Northern city. The Northumberland coast, with its empty beaches, fishing villages and old-fashioned pubs, feels like a journey away in time as much as space. Even the tourist hot spots – like Lindisfarne – are tranquil, the cars abandoned once the causeway has been crossed, the many visitors wandering the windswept island by foot.
Continue reading
==========================================
Why Did Humans Advance Among Primates? Look to Ants For the Answer
via Big Think by Big Think Editors
In many of Edward O. Wilson's books, most notably his recent titles The Meaning of Human Existence and The Social Conquest of Earth, the famed biologist adopts a scientific lens to examine the quandaries of the human condition and other opaque areas of human knowledge. These are topics most typically explored by philosophers and sociologists, but Wilson approaches them with the scientific mind. For example, in the Big Think interview below, Wilson asks how Homo sapiens managed to separate from other primates and dominate the large animals of the world. Is this something science on its own can explain?
Continue reading
==========================================
10 Reasons Why Coffee Drinkers Are More Likely To Be Successful
via Lifehack by Casey Imafidon
I love coffee. I hope you do too. There is a ritual that comes with making it and the smell is wonderful. While others are yawning and trying to get their days going, coffee is like a punch in the face to wake you up into the real world. Perhaps you drink coffee all the time or merely sometimes, yet do not quite fully understand how pivotal it is to your success. If so, here is some news for you!
Continue reading
==========================================
Pain Relievers May Be Numbing Your Emotions
via Big Think by Natalie Shoemaker
Popping a Tylenol may do more than just alleviate that headache you've been suffering through; it may also be a potent solution for numbing emotions. Researchers, led by social psychology doctoral candidate Geoffrey Durso, have published a study in the journal Psychological Science, which reveals that “rather than being labeled as merely a pain reliever, acetaminophen might be better described as an all-purpose emotion reliever."
Continue reading
==========================================
Royal Mint to welcome visitors for first time with £7.7m museum
via The Guardian by Maev Kennedy
The Royal Mint is to open its doors to the public for the first time in its 1,100-year history. There will be tours, but no gold and silver samples.
A £7.7m museum and visitor centre showcasing the long history of coinage in the UK, designed by Mather & Co, will be built at the site in Llantrisant in South Wales, where the Mint moved in the 1960s to meet the challenge of creating a new coinage when the UK went decimal.
Continue reading
==========================================
10 Actors Who Played Against Type — and Failed
via Flavorwire by Jason Bailey
This Friday [would have been months ago!], Arnold Schwarzenegger does something you’d have never quite predicted: he plays the leading role in an indie drama. Even more surprisingly, he’s very good in it. His quiet turn as a Midwestern farmer in the family drama/zombie flick Maggie is both a strong performance and a smart move for the aging actor, whose action vehicles haven’t exactly burned up the box office lately; when what you do isn’t working anymore, it’s a good idea to try something new. But for every Robin Williams, Matthew McConaughey, or Albert Brooks who transformed their screen persona successfully, there’s another who didn’t quite pull it off.
Continue reading
==========================================
“Under the influence of rock’n’roll”
via OUP Blog by David George Surdam
Rock’n’roll music has defied its critics. When it debuted in the 1950s, many adults ridiculed the phenomenon. Elvis, Chuck Berry, and their peers would soon be forgotten, another passing fancy in the cavalcade of youth-induced fads. The brash conceit, “rock’n’roll is here to stay”, however, proved astute.
Continue reading
==========================================
Infested, About Bedbugs
via 3 Quarks Daily: Marlene Zuk at The New York Times
A book about bedbugs is, by necessity, a book about nearly everything: about travel and adventure, about our relationship to nature, about how scientists solve problems, about trust and whether we view strangers as friends or foes. It is a book about what people will do under extreme circumstances, and about environmental politics, and art and mental illness. It is even a book about kinky sex.
Continue reading
==========================================
The UK’s most eccentric library
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
In this week’s New Yorker, Adam Gopnik visits one of the more intriguing and strange European libraries, the Warburg Institute in London, a 115-year-old institution with a sadly uncertain future.
Continue reading
Friday, 2 January 2015
Trivia (should have been 12 October)
Private Area: 1965
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
1965
“Entertainer Johnny Carson working on the Tonight Show. Includes Carson standing backstage”
From photos taken for the Look magazine article Johnny Carson, the Prince of Chitchat, Is a Loner
View original post
via Shorpy Historical Photo Archive – Vintage Fine Art Prints by Dave
1965
“Entertainer Johnny Carson working on the Tonight Show. Includes Carson standing backstage”
From photos taken for the Look magazine article Johnny Carson, the Prince of Chitchat, Is a Loner
View original post
==========================================
A beginner’s guide to drills and bits
Steve Hoefer returns with another guide to some of the things that make civilized life possible.
via Boing Boing
There are a dizzying number of ways to put a hole in something. Choosing the right way not only means that you get the right hole in the right place, but that you get it with the least amount of trouble and without damaging the material, your tools, or yourself.
Continue reading
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debateThe Victorian age abounded in amateur tinkerers. Let us praise the inventions – collapsible hats, revolving heels – that didn’t change the world… more
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Office Networks Reveal Which Co-Workers To Avoid During Infectious Outbreaks
via MIT Technology Review
Some of your co-workers are much more likely to spread disease than others. Now a new study of office networks reveals how to spot them.
Continue reading
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Affecting sculpture about our relationship to technology
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
Soheyl Bastami’s Extreme: an Iranian sculptor’s beautiful and trenchant take on our relationship to technology.
(via Super Punch)
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Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
History of beer
Babylonians, shamans, monks, farmers, patriots, industrialists: Brewers are an ancient and odd bunch. Every beer tells a story… more
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Knowledge is a sobering thing
via McGee’s Musings by Jim McGee
I sometimes wonder whether the thing that scares people about knowledge and science is how it can make you feel small and insignificant. This image is a visualization of the newest knowledge about where we on Earth fit in the universe. They’re calling it “Laniakea.”
It’s a very long way from when we thought that the Sun revolved around the Earth. For me, it engenders a sense of awe; what reaction does it trigger for you?
Continue reading
==========================================
Pop songs as sonnets
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
There’s a more readable image and further information here.
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Does time have a future?
One second per second is the speed of time, right? Not necessarily. It depends where (and when) you are.Unpacking a cosmic riddle… more
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Is ‘Progress’ Good for Humanity?
via 3 Quarks Daily by Jeremy Caradonna in The Atlantic
Rage against the machine: Luddites smashing a loom
(Chris Sunde/Wikimedia Commons)
The stock narrative of the Industrial Revolution is one of moral and economic progress. Indeed, economic progress is cast as moral progress.
Continue reading
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Babylonians, shamans, monks, farmers, patriots, industrialists: Brewers are an ancient and odd bunch. Every beer tells a story… more
==========================================
Knowledge is a sobering thing
via McGee’s Musings by Jim McGee
I sometimes wonder whether the thing that scares people about knowledge and science is how it can make you feel small and insignificant. This image is a visualization of the newest knowledge about where we on Earth fit in the universe. They’re calling it “Laniakea.”
It’s a very long way from when we thought that the Sun revolved around the Earth. For me, it engenders a sense of awe; what reaction does it trigger for you?
Continue reading
==========================================
Pop songs as sonnets
via Boing Boing by Cory Doctorow
There’s a more readable image and further information here.
==========================================
Arts & Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
One second per second is the speed of time, right? Not necessarily. It depends where (and when) you are.Unpacking a cosmic riddle… more
==========================================
Is ‘Progress’ Good for Humanity?
via 3 Quarks Daily by Jeremy Caradonna in The Atlantic
Rage against the machine: Luddites smashing a loom
(Chris Sunde/Wikimedia Commons)
The stock narrative of the Industrial Revolution is one of moral and economic progress. Indeed, economic progress is cast as moral progress.
Continue reading
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