an article by Jaap Nieuwenhuis (Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands), Tiit Tammaru (University of Tartu, Estonia), Maarten van Ham (Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands; University of St Andrews, UK), Lina Hedman (Institute for Housing and Urban Studies, Sweden) and David Manley (University of Bristol, UK) published in Urban Studies Volume 57 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
The neighbourhood in which people live reflects their social class and preferences, so studying socio-spatial mobility between neighbourhood types gives insight into the openness of spatial class structures of societies and into the ability of people to leave disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
In this paper we study the extent to which people move between different types of neighbourhoods by socio-economic status in different inequality and segregation contexts in four European countries: Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK (England and Wales), and Estonia. The study is based on population registers and census data for the 2001–2011 period.
For England and Wales, which has long had high levels of income inequalities and high levels of socio-economic segregation, we find that levels of mobility between neighbourhood types are low and opportunities to move to more socio-economically advantaged neighbourhoods are modest.
In Estonia, which used to be one of the most equal and least segregated countries in Europe, and now is one of the most unequal countries, we find high levels of mobility, but these reproduce segregation patterns and it is difficult to move to less deprived neighbourhoods for those in the most deprived neighbourhoods.
In the Netherlands and Sweden, where income inequalities are the smallest, it is the easiest to move from the most deprived to less deprived neighbourhoods.
The conclusion is that the combination of high levels of income inequalities and high levels of spatial segregation tend to lead to a vicious circle of segregation for low-income groups, where it is difficult to undertake upward socio-spatial mobility.
Full text (PDF 22pp)
Labels:
disadvantaged_neighbourhoods, income_inequality, international_comparison, segregation, socio-spatial_mobility,
Friday, 31 January 2020
Nature, nurture, and intergenerational mobility
a column by Per Engzell and Felix Tropf for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
The debate about the influence of ‘nature versus nurture’ in human achievement persists.
This column contributes to this debate by linking trends in inter-generational mobility to data from nearly 50,000 twins. The findings suggest that in countries with lower rates of social mobility, family environment (‘nurture’) plays a more significant role than it does in countries where institutions that promote mobility enjoy wide support.
Continue reading
The charts are fascinating but you really need to study the accompanying text to get the best out of the results.
Labels:
nature_versus_nurture, inter-generational_mobility, family,
The debate about the influence of ‘nature versus nurture’ in human achievement persists.
This column contributes to this debate by linking trends in inter-generational mobility to data from nearly 50,000 twins. The findings suggest that in countries with lower rates of social mobility, family environment (‘nurture’) plays a more significant role than it does in countries where institutions that promote mobility enjoy wide support.
Continue reading
The charts are fascinating but you really need to study the accompanying text to get the best out of the results.
Labels:
nature_versus_nurture, inter-generational_mobility, family,
Ecological Gentrification in Response to Apocalyptic Narratives of Climate Change: The Production of an Immuno‐political Fantasy
an article by Earl T. Harper (The University of Bristol, UK) published in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Volume 44 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
Anxieties over the potential impacts of climate change, often framed in apocalyptic language, are having a profound, but little studied effect on the contemporary Western urbanscape.
This article examines the ways in which current theorisations of ‘ecological gentrification’ express only half the process, describing how green space is used for social control, but not how ecology is used as a justification regime for such projects. As urbanites seek out housing and living practices that have a lower environmental impact, urban planners have responded by providing large‐scale regeneration of the urbanscape.
With the demand for this housing increasing, questions of inequality, displacement and dispossession arise.
I ask whether apocalyptic anxiety is being enrolled in the justification regimes of these projects to make them hard to resist at the planning and implementation stages.
The article shows that, in capitalising on collective anxiety surrounding an apocalyptic future, these projects depoliticise subjects by using the empty signifier, ‘Sustainability’, leading them into an immuno‐political relationship to the urbanscape. This leaves subjects feeling protected from both responsibility for, and the impacts of, climate change.
Ultimately, this has the consequence of gentrification coupled with potentially worsening consumptive practices, rebound effects and the depoliticisation of the environmentally conscious urbanite.
Full text (PDF 17pp)
Labels:
ecological_gentrification, apocalypse, climate_change, immunopolitics, post-politics, psychoanalysis, fantasy, London, community, immunity,
Abstract
Anxieties over the potential impacts of climate change, often framed in apocalyptic language, are having a profound, but little studied effect on the contemporary Western urbanscape.
This article examines the ways in which current theorisations of ‘ecological gentrification’ express only half the process, describing how green space is used for social control, but not how ecology is used as a justification regime for such projects. As urbanites seek out housing and living practices that have a lower environmental impact, urban planners have responded by providing large‐scale regeneration of the urbanscape.
With the demand for this housing increasing, questions of inequality, displacement and dispossession arise.
I ask whether apocalyptic anxiety is being enrolled in the justification regimes of these projects to make them hard to resist at the planning and implementation stages.
The article shows that, in capitalising on collective anxiety surrounding an apocalyptic future, these projects depoliticise subjects by using the empty signifier, ‘Sustainability’, leading them into an immuno‐political relationship to the urbanscape. This leaves subjects feeling protected from both responsibility for, and the impacts of, climate change.
Ultimately, this has the consequence of gentrification coupled with potentially worsening consumptive practices, rebound effects and the depoliticisation of the environmentally conscious urbanite.
Full text (PDF 17pp)
Labels:
ecological_gentrification, apocalypse, climate_change, immunopolitics, post-politics, psychoanalysis, fantasy, London, community, immunity,
Fake It Till You Make It
a post by Linda Sapadin for the World of Psychology blog
It’s easy to look at self-assured people and wish, “Oh, if only I could be that confident, that self-assured, that easy-going.” Well, let me tell you that lots of those people, who look so self-assured, aren’t. They feel shy, shaky, even terrified on the inside, yet they present as competent and confident on the outside.
Don’t believe me? Listen to the successful actress Katherine Hepburn who confessed that, “Everyone thought I was bold and fearless, even arrogant, but inside I was always quaking.”
Or author Erica Jong who admitted that “I have accepted fear as a part of life and I’ve gone ahead despite the pounding in my heart that says turn back, turn back, you’ll die if you venture too far.”
Acting courageously does not mean you feel no fear. On the contrary, courage is the art of doing what needs to be done even when you’re frightened out of your wits. Is this tough to do? Absolutely. Is it worth the struggle? No doubt about it. If you can muster up the courage to do what you want (and need) to do, you’ll discover that over time, pretend courage morphs into real courage. In short, you can “fake it till you make it.”
But what if you’re just not up to it? What if you have taken the easy route, giving in to your fears? If you’re avoiding what’s uncomfortable on occasion? No big deal! If avoidance has become your lifestyle? A very big deal! Avoidance as a behavioral strategy creates a “void” in you. An emptiness. A blankness. Something’s supposed to be there, but it’s not. Though you may feel momentary relief, you remain mired in fear, unable to move forward to grow, to blossom, to become a more confident you.
Continue reading
Labels:
fake_it, courage, fear,
It’s easy to look at self-assured people and wish, “Oh, if only I could be that confident, that self-assured, that easy-going.” Well, let me tell you that lots of those people, who look so self-assured, aren’t. They feel shy, shaky, even terrified on the inside, yet they present as competent and confident on the outside.
Don’t believe me? Listen to the successful actress Katherine Hepburn who confessed that, “Everyone thought I was bold and fearless, even arrogant, but inside I was always quaking.”
Or author Erica Jong who admitted that “I have accepted fear as a part of life and I’ve gone ahead despite the pounding in my heart that says turn back, turn back, you’ll die if you venture too far.”
Acting courageously does not mean you feel no fear. On the contrary, courage is the art of doing what needs to be done even when you’re frightened out of your wits. Is this tough to do? Absolutely. Is it worth the struggle? No doubt about it. If you can muster up the courage to do what you want (and need) to do, you’ll discover that over time, pretend courage morphs into real courage. In short, you can “fake it till you make it.”
But what if you’re just not up to it? What if you have taken the easy route, giving in to your fears? If you’re avoiding what’s uncomfortable on occasion? No big deal! If avoidance has become your lifestyle? A very big deal! Avoidance as a behavioral strategy creates a “void” in you. An emptiness. A blankness. Something’s supposed to be there, but it’s not. Though you may feel momentary relief, you remain mired in fear, unable to move forward to grow, to blossom, to become a more confident you.
Continue reading
Labels:
fake_it, courage, fear,
Cyberbullying through the lens of social influence: Predicting cyberbullying perpetration from perceived peer-norm, cyberspace regulations and ingroup processes
an article by Valentina Piccoli, Andrea Carnaghi, Michele Grassi and Marta Stragà (University of Trieste, Italy) and Mauro Bianchi (Lusófona University, ISCTE-Lisbon University Institute, Italy) published in Computers in Human Behavior Volume 102 (January 2020)
Highlights
In the present research we analysed the social influence mechanisms that back the relation between peer group norms regarding cyber-bullying behaviours and individual cyber-bullying perpetration.
In a sample of adolescents (N = 3511, age: M = 16.27, SD = 1.58), we showed that the relation between perceived peer-norm and cyber-bullying perpetration was moderated by two distinct social influence mechanisms. Specifically, when individuals' lack of knowledge regarding appropriate behaviours in cyberspace (i.e., cyberspace regulations), levels of perceived peer-norm regarding cyber-bullying behaviours positively influence the participants' engagement in cyber-bullying perpetration (i.e., informational social influence).
Moreover, we showed that the higher the support of perceived peer-norm regarding cyber-bullying behaviours the higher the levels of cyber-bullying perpetration, especially for the higher (vs. lower) levels of identification with peers as the in-group; this relation was additionally enhanced at increasing levels of adolescents' in-group prototypicality (i.e., referential informative social influence).
The results demonstrated that the two social influence mechanisms work independently and likely contribute to predict participants’ engagement in cyber-bullying perpetration. Results are discussed with respect to the current literature regarding the social influence mechanisms underlying cyber-bullying. The implications of these findings for practical interventions are explored.
Full text (PDF 14pp)
Labels:
cyber-bullying. social_influence, social_identity, peer-norm, identification, prototypicality,
Highlights
- The study focuses on the relation between group-norms and cyber-bullying perpetration.
- The lower the level of cyberspace regulations the higher the levels of cyber-bullying.
- In-group identification moderates the relation between group-norms and cyber-bullying.
- In-group prototypicality moderates the relation between group-norms and cyber-bullying.
In the present research we analysed the social influence mechanisms that back the relation between peer group norms regarding cyber-bullying behaviours and individual cyber-bullying perpetration.
In a sample of adolescents (N = 3511, age: M = 16.27, SD = 1.58), we showed that the relation between perceived peer-norm and cyber-bullying perpetration was moderated by two distinct social influence mechanisms. Specifically, when individuals' lack of knowledge regarding appropriate behaviours in cyberspace (i.e., cyberspace regulations), levels of perceived peer-norm regarding cyber-bullying behaviours positively influence the participants' engagement in cyber-bullying perpetration (i.e., informational social influence).
Moreover, we showed that the higher the support of perceived peer-norm regarding cyber-bullying behaviours the higher the levels of cyber-bullying perpetration, especially for the higher (vs. lower) levels of identification with peers as the in-group; this relation was additionally enhanced at increasing levels of adolescents' in-group prototypicality (i.e., referential informative social influence).
The results demonstrated that the two social influence mechanisms work independently and likely contribute to predict participants’ engagement in cyber-bullying perpetration. Results are discussed with respect to the current literature regarding the social influence mechanisms underlying cyber-bullying. The implications of these findings for practical interventions are explored.
Full text (PDF 14pp)
Labels:
cyber-bullying. social_influence, social_identity, peer-norm, identification, prototypicality,
Engaging with and reflecting on the materiality of digital media technologies: Repair and fair production
an article by Sigrid Kannengießer (University of Bremen, Germany) published in New Media and Society Volume 22 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
How do people think about and engage with the materiality of digital media technologies and thereby try to transform the devices and society?
The article discusses this question by presenting the results of two qualitative studies in which people reflect on and engage with the materiality of media technologies.
In the first case, the repairing of media devices in Repair Cafés was analysed, in the second, the focus was on the production and appropriation of the Fairphone, a smartphone which should be produced under fair working conditions.
In both initiatives people reflect on the materiality of media technologies, criticise the production and disposal of the devices, and engage with the materiality of the apparatuses in order to change not only the technologies but also society as a whole by contributing to sustainability and the “good life.” The article adds to the field dealing with materiality and digital media technologies.
Full text (PDF 17pp)
Labels:
digital_media_technologies, engagement, fair_media_technologies, good_life, materiality, participation, repair, sustainability,
Abstract
How do people think about and engage with the materiality of digital media technologies and thereby try to transform the devices and society?
The article discusses this question by presenting the results of two qualitative studies in which people reflect on and engage with the materiality of media technologies.
In the first case, the repairing of media devices in Repair Cafés was analysed, in the second, the focus was on the production and appropriation of the Fairphone, a smartphone which should be produced under fair working conditions.
In both initiatives people reflect on the materiality of media technologies, criticise the production and disposal of the devices, and engage with the materiality of the apparatuses in order to change not only the technologies but also society as a whole by contributing to sustainability and the “good life.” The article adds to the field dealing with materiality and digital media technologies.
Full text (PDF 17pp)
Labels:
digital_media_technologies, engagement, fair_media_technologies, good_life, materiality, participation, repair, sustainability,
From Digital Mental Health Interventions to Digital “Addiction”: Where the Two Fields Converge
an article by Elias Aboujaoude (Stanford University School of Medicine, CA, USA) and Lina Gega (Hull York Medical School, University of York, UK) published in frontiers in Psychiatry
Abstract
Scientific literature from the last two decades indicates that, when it comes to mental health, technology is presented either as panacea or anathema. This is partly because researchers, too frequently, have planted themselves either in the field of digital mental health interventions (variably called “telepsychiatry”, “digital therapeutics”, “computerized therapy”, etc.), or in that of the problems arising from technology, with little cross-fertilisation between the two.
Yet, a closer look at the two fields reveals unifying themes that underpin both the advantages and dangers of technology in mental health. This article discusses five such themes.
First, the breakneck pace of technology evolution keeps digital mental health interventions updated and creates more potentially problematic activities, leaving researchers perennially behind, so new technologies become outdated by the time they are studied.
Second, the freedom of creating and using technologies in a regulatory vacuum has led to proliferation and choice, but also to a Wild-West online environment.
Third, technology is an open window to access information, but also to compromise privacy, with serious implications for online psychology and digital mental health interventions.
Fourth, weak bonds characterise online interactions, including those between therapists and patients, contributing to high attrition from digital interventions.
Finally, economic analyses of technology-enabled care may show good value for money, but often fail to capture the true costs of technology, a fact that is mirrored in other online activities.
The article ends with a call for collaborations between two interrelated fields that have been – until now – mutually insular.
Full text (HTML) [contains a link to downloadable PDF]
Labels:
digital_mental_health_interventions, digital_addiction,
Abstract
Scientific literature from the last two decades indicates that, when it comes to mental health, technology is presented either as panacea or anathema. This is partly because researchers, too frequently, have planted themselves either in the field of digital mental health interventions (variably called “telepsychiatry”, “digital therapeutics”, “computerized therapy”, etc.), or in that of the problems arising from technology, with little cross-fertilisation between the two.
Yet, a closer look at the two fields reveals unifying themes that underpin both the advantages and dangers of technology in mental health. This article discusses five such themes.
First, the breakneck pace of technology evolution keeps digital mental health interventions updated and creates more potentially problematic activities, leaving researchers perennially behind, so new technologies become outdated by the time they are studied.
Second, the freedom of creating and using technologies in a regulatory vacuum has led to proliferation and choice, but also to a Wild-West online environment.
Third, technology is an open window to access information, but also to compromise privacy, with serious implications for online psychology and digital mental health interventions.
Fourth, weak bonds characterise online interactions, including those between therapists and patients, contributing to high attrition from digital interventions.
Finally, economic analyses of technology-enabled care may show good value for money, but often fail to capture the true costs of technology, a fact that is mirrored in other online activities.
The article ends with a call for collaborations between two interrelated fields that have been – until now – mutually insular.
Full text (HTML) [contains a link to downloadable PDF]
Labels:
digital_mental_health_interventions, digital_addiction,
Thursday, 30 January 2020
Fergal Keane: hopes that BBC reporter’s courage will help remove stigma of PTSD in journalists
an article by Stephen Jukes and Karen Fowler-Watt (Bournemouth University, UK) published in The Conversation
BBC Africa Editor, Fergal Keane, in a still from the 2001 film about the Rwanda genocide, Hope in Hell. Comic Relief
In the hard-nosed world of journalism, admitting to suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has traditionally been taboo – a sign of weakness never to be admitted to colleagues in the newsroom where the remedy was often a stiff drink or two. Despite repeated efforts over the past decade to draw attention to the dangers of mental illness faced by foreign correspondents, that stigma has not gone away.
It can only be hoped that may change now that one of the BBC’s most high-profile correspondents, Fergal Keane, has shared publicly the PTSD he has been tussling with privately for several years.
The BBC announced that after decades of covering conflict, its veteran war reporter would be changing his role from that of Africa editor to “further assist his recovery”. The corporation’s head of newsgathering, Jonathan Munro, said: “It is both brave and welcome that he is ready to be open about PTSD.”
Keane is not the first correspondent by any means to have shared in public the impact that covering a relentless diet of conflict, crisis and disaster can have on even the most resilient human being. His BBC colleague Jeremy Bowen, Middle East editor, spoke about his own diagnosis of PTSD in 2017, characterised by bouts of depression related to his work.
Continue reading
Labels:
journalism, BBC, trauma, war_reporting, PTSD,
BBC Africa Editor, Fergal Keane, in a still from the 2001 film about the Rwanda genocide, Hope in Hell. Comic Relief
In the hard-nosed world of journalism, admitting to suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has traditionally been taboo – a sign of weakness never to be admitted to colleagues in the newsroom where the remedy was often a stiff drink or two. Despite repeated efforts over the past decade to draw attention to the dangers of mental illness faced by foreign correspondents, that stigma has not gone away.
It can only be hoped that may change now that one of the BBC’s most high-profile correspondents, Fergal Keane, has shared publicly the PTSD he has been tussling with privately for several years.
The BBC announced that after decades of covering conflict, its veteran war reporter would be changing his role from that of Africa editor to “further assist his recovery”. The corporation’s head of newsgathering, Jonathan Munro, said: “It is both brave and welcome that he is ready to be open about PTSD.”
Keane is not the first correspondent by any means to have shared in public the impact that covering a relentless diet of conflict, crisis and disaster can have on even the most resilient human being. His BBC colleague Jeremy Bowen, Middle East editor, spoke about his own diagnosis of PTSD in 2017, characterised by bouts of depression related to his work.
Continue reading
Labels:
journalism, BBC, trauma, war_reporting, PTSD,
Human Rights as an Ideology? Obstacles and Benefits
an article by Lea David (University College Dublin, Ireland( published in Critical Sociology Volume 46 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
Sociology has an important part to play in understanding human rights.
In this article, I trace obstacles within sociology to theoretically conceptualize human rights as an ideology.
These impediments, I suggest, demonstrate the need to recognise the blind spots within sociological research. However, instead of trying to persuade readers why human rights qualifies as an ideology, I attempt to demonstrate why it is beneficial for sociological inquiry to conceptualise human rights as an ideology.
Instead of following the widely accepted practice of understanding human rights as a desirable set of values designed to promote a liberal peace, I propose conceptualising human rights as an ideology which, through its institutionalisation, produces coercive organisational and doctrine power.
The question of whether its organisational and doctrine power is capable of value penetration in micro-solidarity groups opens up a new prism through which sociologists can assess the successes and failures of human rights ideology on the ground.
Labels:
human_rights, ideology, sociology,
Abstract
Sociology has an important part to play in understanding human rights.
In this article, I trace obstacles within sociology to theoretically conceptualize human rights as an ideology.
These impediments, I suggest, demonstrate the need to recognise the blind spots within sociological research. However, instead of trying to persuade readers why human rights qualifies as an ideology, I attempt to demonstrate why it is beneficial for sociological inquiry to conceptualise human rights as an ideology.
Instead of following the widely accepted practice of understanding human rights as a desirable set of values designed to promote a liberal peace, I propose conceptualising human rights as an ideology which, through its institutionalisation, produces coercive organisational and doctrine power.
The question of whether its organisational and doctrine power is capable of value penetration in micro-solidarity groups opens up a new prism through which sociologists can assess the successes and failures of human rights ideology on the ground.
Labels:
human_rights, ideology, sociology,
On Mathematics For Human Flourishing
posted by Jonathan Kujawa in 3 Quarks Daily
As I’ve tried to convey over the years here at 3QD, mathematics is the bee’s knees. Like most apologias for mathematics, many of my essays tend to fall into one of two categories.
The extrinsic: on maths’ usefulness in real-world applications like internet searches, GPS technology, compression and recovery of images, encryption, the handling of large data, and the like. This is the reason my relatives (and most of my students) think math is worth learning.
The intrinsic: on maths’ beauty, universality, timelessness, ability to amaze and inspire awe, its endless depth and richness, and its ability to spark joy and fun. This is what drew me (and some of my students) to study maths and still motivates me today to teach and do research.
But there is a third quality of mathematics which I’ve never quite been able to articulate. I’ve only managed to sneak up on it from time-to-time. This is the humanity of mathematics. For some, humanity may seem more the purview of literature, music, art, psychology, sociology, or philosophy. Not mathematics. They would be wrong, though.
Continue reading
PS from the comments
I just noticed the link to the zoomable Milky Way image is missing. Sorry about that! You can find it here.
Labels:
meaning, power, freedom, mathematics, humanity,
As I’ve tried to convey over the years here at 3QD, mathematics is the bee’s knees. Like most apologias for mathematics, many of my essays tend to fall into one of two categories.
The extrinsic: on maths’ usefulness in real-world applications like internet searches, GPS technology, compression and recovery of images, encryption, the handling of large data, and the like. This is the reason my relatives (and most of my students) think math is worth learning.
The intrinsic: on maths’ beauty, universality, timelessness, ability to amaze and inspire awe, its endless depth and richness, and its ability to spark joy and fun. This is what drew me (and some of my students) to study maths and still motivates me today to teach and do research.
But there is a third quality of mathematics which I’ve never quite been able to articulate. I’ve only managed to sneak up on it from time-to-time. This is the humanity of mathematics. For some, humanity may seem more the purview of literature, music, art, psychology, sociology, or philosophy. Not mathematics. They would be wrong, though.
Continue reading
PS from the comments
I just noticed the link to the zoomable Milky Way image is missing. Sorry about that! You can find it here.
Labels:
meaning, power, freedom, mathematics, humanity,
Exchange rate reconnect
a column by Andrew Lilley, Matteo Maggiori, Brent Neiman and Jesse Schreger for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
The ‘exchange rate disconnect’ describes the difficulty of explaining exchange rate movements using classical models and fundamentals.
This column presents evidence of an ‘exchange rate reconnect’ – a substantial co-movement of the US dollar with global risk premia and US foreign bond purchases since the Global Crisis. Though short-lived, this relationship between these factors could shed new light on the nature of financial crises and risk.
Continue reading and see some illuminating graphs. No point in trying to reproduce them here – you would not be able to see the lines!
Labels:
US_dollar, global financial_risk, exchange_rate_disconnect, global_crisis,
The ‘exchange rate disconnect’ describes the difficulty of explaining exchange rate movements using classical models and fundamentals.
This column presents evidence of an ‘exchange rate reconnect’ – a substantial co-movement of the US dollar with global risk premia and US foreign bond purchases since the Global Crisis. Though short-lived, this relationship between these factors could shed new light on the nature of financial crises and risk.
Continue reading and see some illuminating graphs. No point in trying to reproduce them here – you would not be able to see the lines!
Labels:
US_dollar, global financial_risk, exchange_rate_disconnect, global_crisis,
How Brandon Learned to Small Talk and Why It Transformed All His Relationships
a post by Jonice Webb for her blog Childhood Emotional Neglect [via World of Psychology’s Psychology Around the Net]
Standing uncomfortably in the kitchen at his sister’s baby shower, Brandon tries to make conversation with his brother-in-law’s cousin.
“Did you hit traffic driving here today?” he asked her.
“I did,” she answered. “I came on Rt. 95, and traffic was OK since it’s Saturday. How about you?”
“Ah, well, I only live three streets over so it was a pretty easy trip for me today,” Brandon answered with a chuckle. He felt gratified by her slight laugh in response. As the natural pause in the conversation elongated, Brandon grasped for a new topic to continue the conversation. As he did so, his brother-in-law’s cousin suddenly said, “Excuse me,” and moved away.
Uncomfortable yet again, Brandon scanned the room to see who else he could try to talk with. “Geez, this is so much work. How do other people make it look so easy?” he wondered.
If you’ve found yourself in more than a few situations like Brandon’s, you are not alone. Many, many people struggle to make chitchat with people. There are 3 main reasons why some folks struggle more than others when it comes to chitchatting with someone you don’t know well.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
The thing which really struck me in this post was Jonice saying that almost all relationships start with chitchat otherwise known as small talk.
Some, of course, never progress beyond that so it’s wise to learn how to maintain this apparently trivial form.
Labels:
small_talk, relationships,
Standing uncomfortably in the kitchen at his sister’s baby shower, Brandon tries to make conversation with his brother-in-law’s cousin.
“Did you hit traffic driving here today?” he asked her.
“I did,” she answered. “I came on Rt. 95, and traffic was OK since it’s Saturday. How about you?”
“Ah, well, I only live three streets over so it was a pretty easy trip for me today,” Brandon answered with a chuckle. He felt gratified by her slight laugh in response. As the natural pause in the conversation elongated, Brandon grasped for a new topic to continue the conversation. As he did so, his brother-in-law’s cousin suddenly said, “Excuse me,” and moved away.
Uncomfortable yet again, Brandon scanned the room to see who else he could try to talk with. “Geez, this is so much work. How do other people make it look so easy?” he wondered.
If you’ve found yourself in more than a few situations like Brandon’s, you are not alone. Many, many people struggle to make chitchat with people. There are 3 main reasons why some folks struggle more than others when it comes to chitchatting with someone you don’t know well.
Continue reading
Hazel’s comment:
The thing which really struck me in this post was Jonice saying that almost all relationships start with chitchat otherwise known as small talk.
Some, of course, never progress beyond that so it’s wise to learn how to maintain this apparently trivial form.
Labels:
small_talk, relationships,
Behind the interface: Human moderation for deliberative engagement in an eRulemaking discussion
an article by Chaebong Nam (Harvard University, USA) published in Government Information Quarterly Volume 37 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Highlights
RegulationRoom was an online discussion platform designed to help stakeholders historically missing from the conventional rulemaking processes, such as ordinary citizens and small businesses, engage in thoughtful and informed discussion about a proposed rule. To achieve the goal, RegulationRoom adopted a neutrally engaged and expertise-based facilatative moderation system.
The RegulationRoom moderator helped commenters better understand the topic, engage in the discussion more effectively, consider opposing views, and substantiate their own comments.
In this study, employing social network analysis (SNA), I analysed one discussion hosted by RegulationRoom on a debt collection policy. I used crosscutting interaction between different interest groups as a proxy indicator to measure deliberativeness.
The results showed that the RegulationRoom moderator played a pivotal role in facilitating active discussion, encouraging both within-group and between-group (crosscutting) interactions.
Further research needs to be done to illuminate what moderation strategies are most effective in encouraging crosscutting interaction, how the quality of comments (or participation) is improved, and what roles the moderator plays in the process.
RegulationRoom also showed that the diffusion of social innovation is not so much a matter of technological progress alone as of social, cultural, and organisational change, both inside and outside the rulemaking context.
Full text (PDF 13pp)
Hazel’s comment:
The RegulationRoom is no more. The site still exists but has not been updated in nearly a year nor has the blog.
It seems like a good idea although I would be concerned about people who cannot participate because of lack of internet access or inability to understand the issues.
Labels:
eRulemaking, public_participation, online_deliberation, moderation, crosscutting_interaction, deliberative_democracy, social_network_analysis,
Highlights
- Crosscutting interaction was used as a proxy indicator to measure deliberativeness.
- Discussion was heated across three different interest groups: debt collectors, consumers, and others.
- RegulationRoom adopted neutrally engaged and expertise-based facilitative moderation for public policy discussion.
- The results of the comment- and commenter-level network analyses presented that the RegulationRoom moderator played a pivotal role in facilitating active discussion, encouraging both within-group and between-group (crosscutting) interactions among participants.
- Diffusion of social innovation such as RegulationRoom requires not only technological progress but also social, cultural, and organizational change, both inside and outside the rulemaking context.
RegulationRoom was an online discussion platform designed to help stakeholders historically missing from the conventional rulemaking processes, such as ordinary citizens and small businesses, engage in thoughtful and informed discussion about a proposed rule. To achieve the goal, RegulationRoom adopted a neutrally engaged and expertise-based facilatative moderation system.
The RegulationRoom moderator helped commenters better understand the topic, engage in the discussion more effectively, consider opposing views, and substantiate their own comments.
In this study, employing social network analysis (SNA), I analysed one discussion hosted by RegulationRoom on a debt collection policy. I used crosscutting interaction between different interest groups as a proxy indicator to measure deliberativeness.
The results showed that the RegulationRoom moderator played a pivotal role in facilitating active discussion, encouraging both within-group and between-group (crosscutting) interactions.
Further research needs to be done to illuminate what moderation strategies are most effective in encouraging crosscutting interaction, how the quality of comments (or participation) is improved, and what roles the moderator plays in the process.
RegulationRoom also showed that the diffusion of social innovation is not so much a matter of technological progress alone as of social, cultural, and organisational change, both inside and outside the rulemaking context.
Full text (PDF 13pp)
Hazel’s comment:
The RegulationRoom is no more. The site still exists but has not been updated in nearly a year nor has the blog.
It seems like a good idea although I would be concerned about people who cannot participate because of lack of internet access or inability to understand the issues.
Labels:
eRulemaking, public_participation, online_deliberation, moderation, crosscutting_interaction, deliberative_democracy, social_network_analysis,
I wasn't told why I was taken into care. For years I thought it was my fault
an article by Kerrie Portman published in the Guardian
All adopted children are given a book explaining why they were removed from their birth family. There is no such requirement for fostered children. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
How can you adjust to a new situation, feel safe and settled, when you don’t know how you got there?
When I was taken into care at 15, I was moved 80 miles from home. My relationship with my mum had broken down and I felt isolated and frightened. I barely knew my social worker and didn’t know any of the staff or other young people in the care home. I didn’t know why I was there. I felt I simply had to accept everything these strangers were doing.
My experience will resonate with many young people taken into care; they may feel terrified and struggle to adjust to a new place, sometimes far away from where they have grown up, while strangers take control of the key decisions in their lives. They may not understand the jargon that gets bandied around.
Research of children in care and care leavers by Coram Voice and University of Oxford’s Bright Spots programme found that half of those aged four to seven, a third of those aged eight to 11 and around one in five of secondary school age felt they were not given a clear explanation of why they were in care. Similarly, a quarter of care leavers felt the reason for their being in care had not been fully explained or wanted to know more. Given that supporting young people to understand who they are and where they come from is recognised as good social work practice, these statistics are worrying.
Continue reading
Labels:
cared-for_children, social_workers, care-leavers, fostering, children, young_people,
All adopted children are given a book explaining why they were removed from their birth family. There is no such requirement for fostered children. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
How can you adjust to a new situation, feel safe and settled, when you don’t know how you got there?
When I was taken into care at 15, I was moved 80 miles from home. My relationship with my mum had broken down and I felt isolated and frightened. I barely knew my social worker and didn’t know any of the staff or other young people in the care home. I didn’t know why I was there. I felt I simply had to accept everything these strangers were doing.
My experience will resonate with many young people taken into care; they may feel terrified and struggle to adjust to a new place, sometimes far away from where they have grown up, while strangers take control of the key decisions in their lives. They may not understand the jargon that gets bandied around.
Research of children in care and care leavers by Coram Voice and University of Oxford’s Bright Spots programme found that half of those aged four to seven, a third of those aged eight to 11 and around one in five of secondary school age felt they were not given a clear explanation of why they were in care. Similarly, a quarter of care leavers felt the reason for their being in care had not been fully explained or wanted to know more. Given that supporting young people to understand who they are and where they come from is recognised as good social work practice, these statistics are worrying.
Continue reading
Labels:
cared-for_children, social_workers, care-leavers, fostering, children, young_people,
Wednesday, 29 January 2020
The paradox of stagnant real wages yet rising ‘living standards’ in the UK
a column by Jennifer Castle, David Hendry and Andrew Martinez for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Real wages and productivity in the UK have stagnated since 2007, whereas employment has risen considerably. Many commentators lament the consequent failure of `living standards’ to rise at historical rates.
But real GDP per capita has grown by more than 20% since 2000 despite the Great Recession, so aggregate living standards have in fact risen.
This column resolves the apparent paradox.
Continue reading and if you appreciate graphical information then you are in for a treat!
Labels:
living_standards, real_wages, productivity, UK, global_crisis, Great_Recession,
Real wages and productivity in the UK have stagnated since 2007, whereas employment has risen considerably. Many commentators lament the consequent failure of `living standards’ to rise at historical rates.
But real GDP per capita has grown by more than 20% since 2000 despite the Great Recession, so aggregate living standards have in fact risen.
This column resolves the apparent paradox.
Continue reading and if you appreciate graphical information then you are in for a treat!
Labels:
living_standards, real_wages, productivity, UK, global_crisis, Great_Recession,
Urban Learning in Europe – a journey to co-living and learning spaces
a report by Richard Stang (Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart, Germany) published in EML Magazine (4/2019)
What do human beings hope from their urban environments?
One answer is non-commercial spaces allowing them to engage in meaningful social interactions and new experiences.
But building educational centres in needy neighbourhoods also have a peculiar side effect: gentrification.
Continue reading
Labels:
adult_learning, Europe, urabn_learning_centres,
What do human beings hope from their urban environments?
One answer is non-commercial spaces allowing them to engage in meaningful social interactions and new experiences.
But building educational centres in needy neighbourhoods also have a peculiar side effect: gentrification.
Continue reading
Labels:
adult_learning, Europe, urabn_learning_centres,
The British class system is in great shape
an article by Lisa Mckenzie (University of Durham) published in IPPR Progressive Review Volume 26 Issue 3 (Winter 2019)
Why we should embrace working class solidarity not the gentrification of class politics
The distinction between those that have middle‐class avenues to power, education, wealth, and culture, and those that don't, is stronger today than any time since the second world war. Relatively well‐paid and heavily unionised industries have been eroded from large parts of the North, the Midlands and coastal areas of the South. A decade of austerity budgets has severely impacted on working‐class people, with the deepest cuts falling on the poorest shoulders, including children and the disabled.
Meanwhile policy connected to housing has felt the consequences of house prices increasing year on year, benefiting those that own property. Simultaneously the private, for profit schooling sector has been lucrative with rising fees and ever‐better results – its students are still more likely than state educated students to be at Oxbridge and the Russell Group universities. These factors combine not to make class more complicated, as so often argued by politicians and academics, but rather more entrenched, more clearly delineated and more important than ever before.
Continue reading HTML
or if you prefer PDF (8pp)
Labels:
class_consciousness, working-class, poverty, austerity,
Why we should embrace working class solidarity not the gentrification of class politics
The distinction between those that have middle‐class avenues to power, education, wealth, and culture, and those that don't, is stronger today than any time since the second world war. Relatively well‐paid and heavily unionised industries have been eroded from large parts of the North, the Midlands and coastal areas of the South. A decade of austerity budgets has severely impacted on working‐class people, with the deepest cuts falling on the poorest shoulders, including children and the disabled.
Meanwhile policy connected to housing has felt the consequences of house prices increasing year on year, benefiting those that own property. Simultaneously the private, for profit schooling sector has been lucrative with rising fees and ever‐better results – its students are still more likely than state educated students to be at Oxbridge and the Russell Group universities. These factors combine not to make class more complicated, as so often argued by politicians and academics, but rather more entrenched, more clearly delineated and more important than ever before.
Continue reading HTML
or if you prefer PDF (8pp)
Labels:
class_consciousness, working-class, poverty, austerity,
Why an Internal Focus is The Solution to All of Your Problems
a post by Marlena Tillhon-Haslam for the Tiny Buddha blog
“The moment you take personal responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you can change anything in your life.” ~Hal Elrod
I’m an introspective person, and at this point in my life don’t have any problems with taking personal responsibility. When I share my insights or understanding of situations I have been in, people often say, “Marlena, why are you so hard on yourself? What about the people that have wronged and harmed you? Why do you never mention them?”
For most of my life, I was trapped in a victim mindset, which meant that I focused on how I believed other people had wronged me or what I thought they had done to cause me pain. I focused on my perceptions of their flaws, their shortcomings, how I felt they mistreated or harmed me. As a result, I mainly experienced a sense of helplessness, hopelessness, and despair.
I’m not doing that to myself anymore.
Continue reading
Labels:
keeping_safe, self-compassion, making_choices,
“The moment you take personal responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you can change anything in your life.” ~Hal Elrod
I’m an introspective person, and at this point in my life don’t have any problems with taking personal responsibility. When I share my insights or understanding of situations I have been in, people often say, “Marlena, why are you so hard on yourself? What about the people that have wronged and harmed you? Why do you never mention them?”
For most of my life, I was trapped in a victim mindset, which meant that I focused on how I believed other people had wronged me or what I thought they had done to cause me pain. I focused on my perceptions of their flaws, their shortcomings, how I felt they mistreated or harmed me. As a result, I mainly experienced a sense of helplessness, hopelessness, and despair.
I’m not doing that to myself anymore.
Continue reading
Labels:
keeping_safe, self-compassion, making_choices,
The gig economy and workers’ preferences for steady jobs
an article published in CentrePiece 24 (3) Autumn 2019
Is the rise of gig work, freelancing, zero hours contracts and self-employment a result of people wanting such work or because they have no other choice? Nikhil Datta finds that while workers in the gig economy may like flexibility, they would prefer to have a steady job. Indeed, they would agree to earn less to improve their employment security.
Full article (PDF 4pp)
It’s worth the time if only to see the graphs showing clearly the difference in hourly wages between those in zero-hours contracts and those in more secure employment.
JEL Classification: J22, J24, J32, J81
Labels:
atypical work, self-employment, willingness-to-pay, experiment, labour_supply_preferences,
This article summarises ‘Willing to Pay for Security: A Discrete Choice Experiment to Analyse Labour Supply Preferences’ by Nikhil Datta, CEP Discussion Paper No. 1632
Nikhil Datta is a research assistant in CEP’s trade and labour markets programmes.
Further reading
Nikhil Datta, Giulia Giupponi and Stephen Machin (2019)
‘Zero Hours Contracts and Labour Market Policy, Economic Policy
(https://academic.oup.com/economicpolicy/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/epolic/eiz008/5524663)
Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger (2016)
‘The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States,
1995-2015’, National Bureau of Economic
Research (NBER) Working Paper No. 22667.
Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger (2017)
‘The Role of Unemployment in the Rise in Alternative Work Arrangements’,
American Economic Review 107: 388-92.
Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger (2019)
‘Understanding Trends in Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States’,
NBER Working Paper No. 25425.
Alexandre Mas and Amanda Pallais (2017)
‘Valuing Alternative Work Arrangements’,
American Economic Review 107: 3722-59.
Matthew Taylor, Greg Marsh, Diane Nicol and Paul Broadbent (2017)
Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices,
UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.
Is the rise of gig work, freelancing, zero hours contracts and self-employment a result of people wanting such work or because they have no other choice? Nikhil Datta finds that while workers in the gig economy may like flexibility, they would prefer to have a steady job. Indeed, they would agree to earn less to improve their employment security.
Full article (PDF 4pp)
It’s worth the time if only to see the graphs showing clearly the difference in hourly wages between those in zero-hours contracts and those in more secure employment.
JEL Classification: J22, J24, J32, J81
Labels:
atypical work, self-employment, willingness-to-pay, experiment, labour_supply_preferences,
This article summarises ‘Willing to Pay for Security: A Discrete Choice Experiment to Analyse Labour Supply Preferences’ by Nikhil Datta, CEP Discussion Paper No. 1632
Nikhil Datta is a research assistant in CEP’s trade and labour markets programmes.
Further reading
Nikhil Datta, Giulia Giupponi and Stephen Machin (2019)
‘Zero Hours Contracts and Labour Market Policy, Economic Policy
(https://academic.oup.com/economicpolicy/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/epolic/eiz008/5524663)
Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger (2016)
‘The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States,
1995-2015’, National Bureau of Economic
Research (NBER) Working Paper No. 22667.
Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger (2017)
‘The Role of Unemployment in the Rise in Alternative Work Arrangements’,
American Economic Review 107: 388-92.
Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger (2019)
‘Understanding Trends in Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States’,
NBER Working Paper No. 25425.
Alexandre Mas and Amanda Pallais (2017)
‘Valuing Alternative Work Arrangements’,
American Economic Review 107: 3722-59.
Matthew Taylor, Greg Marsh, Diane Nicol and Paul Broadbent (2017)
Good Work: The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices,
UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.
Governance models for redistribution of data value
a post by Maria Savona for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Personal data have value, and economists failed to predict that this value would become concentrated in the hands of digital platforms.
The column presents a novel data-rights approach to redistributing data value while not undermining the ethical, legal and governance challenges of doing so. This can be done by giving individuals authorship rights to their personal data.
Continue reading
Labels:
data, GDPR, data_governance, intangible_capital,
Personal data have value, and economists failed to predict that this value would become concentrated in the hands of digital platforms.
The column presents a novel data-rights approach to redistributing data value while not undermining the ethical, legal and governance challenges of doing so. This can be done by giving individuals authorship rights to their personal data.
Continue reading
Labels:
data, GDPR, data_governance, intangible_capital,
Tuesday, 28 January 2020
Labour market flows: Accounting for the public sector
an article by Idriss Fontaine (Université de La Réunion, France, Ismael Gálvez-Iniesta (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain), Pedro Gomes (Birkbeck, University of London, UK) and Diego Vila-Martin (European Central Bank, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) published in Labour Economics Volume 62 (January 2020)
Highlights
For the period between 2003 and 2018, we document a number of facts about worker gross flows in France, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States, focusing on the role of the public sector.
Using the French, Spanish and UK Labour Force Survey and the US Current Population Survey data, we examine the size and cyclicality of the flows and transition probabilities between private and public employment, unemployment and inactivity.
We examine the stocks and flows by gender, age and education. We decompose contributions of private and public job-finding and job-separation rates to fluctuations in the unemployment rate.
Public-sector employment contributes 20 percent to fluctuations in the unemployment rate in the UK, 15 percent in France and 10 percent in Spain and the US.
Private-sector workers would forgo 0.5 to 2.9 percent of their wage to have the same job security as public-sector workers.
JEL classification: E24, E32 J21, J45 J60
Full text (PDF 13pp)
Labels:
worker_gross_flows, job-finding_rate, job-separation_rate, public_sector, public-sector_employment,
Highlights
- The French, Spanish, UK and US public sectors represent 16 to 23% of total employment.
- Public sectors hire predominantly college graduates, women and older workers.
- The probability of a worker losing his job is 2–3 times higher in the private sector.
- Job security in the public sector is worth 0.5 to 2.9% of the wage.
- Public-sector employment explains 10 to 20% of the fluctuations of unemployment.
For the period between 2003 and 2018, we document a number of facts about worker gross flows in France, the United Kingdom, Spain and the United States, focusing on the role of the public sector.
Using the French, Spanish and UK Labour Force Survey and the US Current Population Survey data, we examine the size and cyclicality of the flows and transition probabilities between private and public employment, unemployment and inactivity.
We examine the stocks and flows by gender, age and education. We decompose contributions of private and public job-finding and job-separation rates to fluctuations in the unemployment rate.
Public-sector employment contributes 20 percent to fluctuations in the unemployment rate in the UK, 15 percent in France and 10 percent in Spain and the US.
Private-sector workers would forgo 0.5 to 2.9 percent of their wage to have the same job security as public-sector workers.
JEL classification: E24, E32 J21, J45 J60
Full text (PDF 13pp)
Labels:
worker_gross_flows, job-finding_rate, job-separation_rate, public_sector, public-sector_employment,
Understanding Policy Scandals in Historical Context: A Longer-Term Lens for Policy Analysis
an article by Patrick Brown(University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Rubén Flores (University College Dublin, Ireland; Maynooth University, Ireland) and Andy Alaszewski (University of Kent, Canterbury, UK) published in Journal of Social Policy Volume 49 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
The emergence of and reaction to policy scandals has been usefully studied through comparative case studies.
Far less attention has been devoted, however, to the study of such scandals in long-term historical context.
With the aim of illuminating longer-term social processes which shape the likelihood that (health)care scandals emerge, we delineate three areas where such changes are visible:
In the final section we explore the interconnection of the three processes and how longer-term approaches open up new vistas for policy analysis.
Full text (PDF 19pp)
Labels:
Mid_Staffordshire, health_scandals, NHS_England, long-term_policy,
Abstract
The emergence of and reaction to policy scandals has been usefully studied through comparative case studies.
Far less attention has been devoted, however, to the study of such scandals in long-term historical context.
With the aim of illuminating longer-term social processes which shape the likelihood that (health)care scandals emerge, we delineate three areas where such changes are visible:
- changing formats of social relations and emotions within and around care provision, and thereby understandings of and demands for compassionate care;
- heightened organisational and political sensitivity to failings; and
- changes in media reporting on healthcare failings, as well as in policy-makers’ responsiveness to and manipulation of media.
In the final section we explore the interconnection of the three processes and how longer-term approaches open up new vistas for policy analysis.
Full text (PDF 19pp)
Labels:
Mid_Staffordshire, health_scandals, NHS_England, long-term_policy,
Materializing architecture for social care: Brick walls and compromises in design for later life
an article by Sarah Nettleton, Daryl Martin and Christina Buse (University of York, UK) and Lindsay Prior (Queens University Belfast, Belfast, UK) published in The British Journal of Sociology Volume 71 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
This article reports on an ethnography of architectural projects for later life social care in the UK. Informed by recent debates in material studies and “materialities of care” we offer an analysis of a care home project that is sensitive to architectural materials that are not normally associated with care and well‐being.
Although the care home design project we focus on in this article was never built, we found that design discussions relating to a curved brick wall and bricks more generally were significant to its architectural “making”. The curved wall and the bricks were used by the architects to encode quality and values of care into their design. This was explicit in the design narrative that was core to a successful tender submitted by a consortium comprising architects, developers, contractors, and a care provider to a local authority who commissioned the care home.
However, as the project developed, initial consensus for the design features fractured. Using a materialised analysis, we document the tussles generated by the curved wall and the bricks and argue that mundane building materials can be important to, and yet marginalised within, the relations inherent to an “architectural care assemblage.”
During the design process we saw how decisions about materials are contentious and they act as a catalyst of negotiations that compromise “materialities of care.”
Full text (PDF 15pp)
Labels:
architecture, care_homes, later_life, materialities_of_care,
Abstract
This article reports on an ethnography of architectural projects for later life social care in the UK. Informed by recent debates in material studies and “materialities of care” we offer an analysis of a care home project that is sensitive to architectural materials that are not normally associated with care and well‐being.
Although the care home design project we focus on in this article was never built, we found that design discussions relating to a curved brick wall and bricks more generally were significant to its architectural “making”. The curved wall and the bricks were used by the architects to encode quality and values of care into their design. This was explicit in the design narrative that was core to a successful tender submitted by a consortium comprising architects, developers, contractors, and a care provider to a local authority who commissioned the care home.
However, as the project developed, initial consensus for the design features fractured. Using a materialised analysis, we document the tussles generated by the curved wall and the bricks and argue that mundane building materials can be important to, and yet marginalised within, the relations inherent to an “architectural care assemblage.”
During the design process we saw how decisions about materials are contentious and they act as a catalyst of negotiations that compromise “materialities of care.”
Full text (PDF 15pp)
Labels:
architecture, care_homes, later_life, materialities_of_care,
Corporate social responsibility for poverty alleviation: An integrated research framework
an article by Rita D. Medina‐Muñoz and Diego R. Medina‐Muñoz (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) published in Business Ethics: a European review Volume 29 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
There is a growing demand by United Nations development agencies and governments for a higher engagement of firms in sustainable development goals, including that of eradicating poverty.
Nevertheless, the social issue of poverty has not traditionally been covered by firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
In addition, there is a need to integrate theories in order to better explain pro‐poor CSR in developing countries.
Relying on a review of both conceptual and empirical research articles on CSR for poverty alleviation, this study contributes to the CSR research agenda by proposing an integrated research framework for assessing and explaining a firm's contribution to poverty alleviation.
Besides discussing the existing evidence, the following issues are critically analysed with the general purpose of obtaining the framework and suggesting avenues for future research: the assessment of a firm's contribution to poverty alleviation, types of pro‐poor CSR initiatives that could be adopted by firms, and the factors influencing a firm's contribution.
The framework, which intends to be useful for future research, can also assist the United Nations to increase the firms’ contribution to its alleviating poverty sustainable development goal.
Labels:
poverty_alleviation, CSR, corporate_social_responsibility, sustainable_development,
Abstract
There is a growing demand by United Nations development agencies and governments for a higher engagement of firms in sustainable development goals, including that of eradicating poverty.
Nevertheless, the social issue of poverty has not traditionally been covered by firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives.
In addition, there is a need to integrate theories in order to better explain pro‐poor CSR in developing countries.
Relying on a review of both conceptual and empirical research articles on CSR for poverty alleviation, this study contributes to the CSR research agenda by proposing an integrated research framework for assessing and explaining a firm's contribution to poverty alleviation.
Besides discussing the existing evidence, the following issues are critically analysed with the general purpose of obtaining the framework and suggesting avenues for future research: the assessment of a firm's contribution to poverty alleviation, types of pro‐poor CSR initiatives that could be adopted by firms, and the factors influencing a firm's contribution.
The framework, which intends to be useful for future research, can also assist the United Nations to increase the firms’ contribution to its alleviating poverty sustainable development goal.
Labels:
poverty_alleviation, CSR, corporate_social_responsibility, sustainable_development,
Policy-Based Budgeting: How to Spot the “Fakes”
a post by Andrew Laing (Institute for State Effectiveness, Washington DC) for the Public Financial Management Blog
Governments introduce budget reforms programs for all kinds of reasons, noble or otherwise. But how can we tell if their declared good intentions are real? How can we identify genuine reform from “fake” reform? A recent paper by the Washington-based Institute for State Effectiveness provides a dozen examples of red flags for identifying “fake” budget reforms. It focused on two closely related areas of budgeting that are commonly found in PFM reform programs:
There are government systems that claim to be using performance and policy-based budgets, but they often exist in name only. These are what are called the ‘fakes’. Fakes are damaging as they prevent the public finance system from working as intended.
So how can we spot a fake? The paper goes into detail on some of the key technical processes that deliver good policy- and performance-based budgets.
Continue reading
Labels:
national_budgets, policy-based_budgeting, performance-based_budgeting, accounting_systems,
Governments introduce budget reforms programs for all kinds of reasons, noble or otherwise. But how can we tell if their declared good intentions are real? How can we identify genuine reform from “fake” reform? A recent paper by the Washington-based Institute for State Effectiveness provides a dozen examples of red flags for identifying “fake” budget reforms. It focused on two closely related areas of budgeting that are commonly found in PFM reform programs:
- Policy-based budgeting, defined as a process where “the fiscal strategy and the budget are prepared with due regard to government’s fiscal policies, strategic plans, and adequate macroeconomic and fiscal projections”.
- Performance-based budgeting, defined as a form of budgeting that “aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditure by linking the funding of public sector organisations to the results they deliver, making systematic use of performance information.”
There are government systems that claim to be using performance and policy-based budgets, but they often exist in name only. These are what are called the ‘fakes’. Fakes are damaging as they prevent the public finance system from working as intended.
So how can we spot a fake? The paper goes into detail on some of the key technical processes that deliver good policy- and performance-based budgets.
Continue reading
Labels:
national_budgets, policy-based_budgeting, performance-based_budgeting, accounting_systems,
Monday, 27 January 2020
Paying for loot boxes is linked to problem gambling, regardless of specific features like cash-out and pay-to-win
an article by David Zendle and Herbie Barnett (York St. John University, UK) and Paul Cairns and Cade McCall (University of York, UK) published in Computers in Human Behavior Volume 102 (January 2020)
Highlights
Loot boxes are items in video games that may be bought with real-world money but contain randomised contents. Due to similarities between loot boxes and gambling, various countries are considering regulating them to reduce gambling-related harm. However, loot boxes are extremely diverse. A key problem facing regulators is determining whether specific types of loot boxes carry more potential for harm, and should be regulated accordingly.
In this study, we specify seven key ways that loot boxes may differ from each other: They may involve paid or unpaid openings; give opportunities for cashing out; allow gamers to pay to win; involve the use of an in-game currency; feature crate and key mechanics; show near misses; and contain exclusive items.
We then use a large-scale preregistered correlational analysis (n = 1200) to determine if any of these features strengthen the link between loot box spending and problem gambling.
Our results indicate that being able to cash out, showing near-misses, and letting players use in-game currency to buy loot boxes may weakly strengthen the relationship between loot box spending and problem gambling.
However, our main conclusion is that regardless of the presence or absence of specific features of loot boxes, if they are being sold to players for real-world money, then their purchase is linked to problem gambling.
Full text (PDF 11pp)
Labels:
problem_gambling, loot_boxes. in-game_currency, real-world_currency, video_games,
Highlights
- Preregistered analysis replicates links between loot box spending and problem gambling (η2 = 0.092).
- Loot box spending remains linked to problem gambling, regardless of presence or absence of features like cash-out.
- Cash out, near-misses, and using in-game currency strengthened links between problem gambling and loot box spending.
Loot boxes are items in video games that may be bought with real-world money but contain randomised contents. Due to similarities between loot boxes and gambling, various countries are considering regulating them to reduce gambling-related harm. However, loot boxes are extremely diverse. A key problem facing regulators is determining whether specific types of loot boxes carry more potential for harm, and should be regulated accordingly.
In this study, we specify seven key ways that loot boxes may differ from each other: They may involve paid or unpaid openings; give opportunities for cashing out; allow gamers to pay to win; involve the use of an in-game currency; feature crate and key mechanics; show near misses; and contain exclusive items.
We then use a large-scale preregistered correlational analysis (n = 1200) to determine if any of these features strengthen the link between loot box spending and problem gambling.
Our results indicate that being able to cash out, showing near-misses, and letting players use in-game currency to buy loot boxes may weakly strengthen the relationship between loot box spending and problem gambling.
However, our main conclusion is that regardless of the presence or absence of specific features of loot boxes, if they are being sold to players for real-world money, then their purchase is linked to problem gambling.
Full text (PDF 11pp)
Labels:
problem_gambling, loot_boxes. in-game_currency, real-world_currency, video_games,
5 Powerful Ways to Stop Worrying About What Others Think
a post by Sandy Woznicki for Tiny Buddha [republished by the World of Psychology blog]
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” ~ Lao Tzu
We carefully pick out what we wear to the gym to make sure we look good in the eyes of the other gym goers.
We beat ourselves up after meetings running through everything we said (or didn’t say), worried that coworkers will think we aren’t smart or talented enough.
We post only the best picture out of the twenty-seven selfies we took and add a flattering filter to get the most likes to prove to ourselves that we are pretty and likable.
We live in other people’s heads.
And all it does is make us judge ourselves more harshly. It makes us uncomfortable in our own bodies. It makes us feel apologetic for being ourselves. It makes us live according to our perception of other people’s standards.
It makes us feel inauthentic. Anxious. Judgemental. Not good enough. Not likeable enough. Not smart enough. Not pretty enough.
F that sh*t.
The truth is, other people’s opinions of us are none of our business. Their opinions have nothing to do with us and everything to do with them, their past, their judgments, their expectations, their likes, and their dislikes.
I could stand in front of twenty strangers and speak on any topic. Some of them will hate what I’m wearing, some will love it. Some will think I’m a fool, and others will love what I have to say. Some will forget me as soon as they leave, others will remember me for years.
Some will hate me because I remind them of their annoying sister-in-law. Others will feel compassionate toward me because I remind them of their daughter. Some will completely understand what I have to say, and others will misinterpret my words.
Each of them will get the exact same me. I will do my best and be the best I can be in that moment. But their opinions of me will vary. And that has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them.
No matter what I do some people will never like me. No matter what I do some people will always like me. Either way, it has nothing to do with me. And it’s none of my business.
OK, “that’s all well and good” you may be thinking. “But how do I stop caring what other people think of me?”
Continue reading allow yourself time to read and then think about the advice that Sandy provides
Labels:
self-value, your_business, personal_feelings, making_mistakes,
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” ~ Lao Tzu
We carefully pick out what we wear to the gym to make sure we look good in the eyes of the other gym goers.
We beat ourselves up after meetings running through everything we said (or didn’t say), worried that coworkers will think we aren’t smart or talented enough.
We post only the best picture out of the twenty-seven selfies we took and add a flattering filter to get the most likes to prove to ourselves that we are pretty and likable.
We live in other people’s heads.
And all it does is make us judge ourselves more harshly. It makes us uncomfortable in our own bodies. It makes us feel apologetic for being ourselves. It makes us live according to our perception of other people’s standards.
It makes us feel inauthentic. Anxious. Judgemental. Not good enough. Not likeable enough. Not smart enough. Not pretty enough.
F that sh*t.
The truth is, other people’s opinions of us are none of our business. Their opinions have nothing to do with us and everything to do with them, their past, their judgments, their expectations, their likes, and their dislikes.
I could stand in front of twenty strangers and speak on any topic. Some of them will hate what I’m wearing, some will love it. Some will think I’m a fool, and others will love what I have to say. Some will forget me as soon as they leave, others will remember me for years.
Some will hate me because I remind them of their annoying sister-in-law. Others will feel compassionate toward me because I remind them of their daughter. Some will completely understand what I have to say, and others will misinterpret my words.
Each of them will get the exact same me. I will do my best and be the best I can be in that moment. But their opinions of me will vary. And that has nothing to do with me and everything to do with them.
No matter what I do some people will never like me. No matter what I do some people will always like me. Either way, it has nothing to do with me. And it’s none of my business.
OK, “that’s all well and good” you may be thinking. “But how do I stop caring what other people think of me?”
Continue reading allow yourself time to read and then think about the advice that Sandy provides
Labels:
self-value, your_business, personal_feelings, making_mistakes,
The impact of CEOs in the public sector: Evidence from the English NHS
a column by Katharina Janke, Carol Propper and Raffaella Sadun for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Studies have shown that in the private sector, top managers and CEOs can make a difference in the performance of their organisations and have a ‘style’ that is portable across firms.
This column uses the setting of hospitals in the English National Health Service to examine whether CEOs can make a difference in large and complex public sector organisations. The findings suggest that the CEOs of large public hospitals do not have a significant impact on performance, casting doubt on the ‘turnaround CEO’ approach to management in the public sector.
Figure 1 Mean annual pay of NHS staff by job type (CPI adjusted)
Continue reading
Labels:
NHS, public_sector, CEOs, turnaround_CEO, hospital_management,
Studies have shown that in the private sector, top managers and CEOs can make a difference in the performance of their organisations and have a ‘style’ that is portable across firms.
This column uses the setting of hospitals in the English National Health Service to examine whether CEOs can make a difference in large and complex public sector organisations. The findings suggest that the CEOs of large public hospitals do not have a significant impact on performance, casting doubt on the ‘turnaround CEO’ approach to management in the public sector.
Figure 1 Mean annual pay of NHS staff by job type (CPI adjusted)
Continue reading
Labels:
NHS, public_sector, CEOs, turnaround_CEO, hospital_management,
Digitizing freelance media labor: A class of workers negotiates entrepreneurialism and activism
an article by Errol Salamon (University of Minnesota, USA) published in New Media and Society Volume 22 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
Due to economic instability and technological change in digital media industries, media organisations and educators have encouraged freelance media workers to see themselves as individual businesses rather than a class of workers that should collectively protect their rights and fair pay.
This article examines how freelance media workers negotiate individualism and collectivism, producing a contradictory freelance class ideology.
It is grounded in an exploratory critical political economy of communication and sociology of work approach.
It is based on interviews with 21 freelance journalists and professional writers, considering how they discursively construct their work practices and coping strategies vis-à-vis their uses of digital technology and the structural factors that shape media industries.
Through discourse, these workers produce a contradictory “e-lance” class ideology as both entrepreneurs who temporarily sell goods and services and activists who temporarily resist demands from clients that they give up their rights and pay.
Labels:
activism, class, digital_technology, discourse, entrepreneurialism, freelancers, journalism, labour, political_economy_of_communication, sociology_of_work,
Abstract
Due to economic instability and technological change in digital media industries, media organisations and educators have encouraged freelance media workers to see themselves as individual businesses rather than a class of workers that should collectively protect their rights and fair pay.
This article examines how freelance media workers negotiate individualism and collectivism, producing a contradictory freelance class ideology.
It is grounded in an exploratory critical political economy of communication and sociology of work approach.
It is based on interviews with 21 freelance journalists and professional writers, considering how they discursively construct their work practices and coping strategies vis-à-vis their uses of digital technology and the structural factors that shape media industries.
Through discourse, these workers produce a contradictory “e-lance” class ideology as both entrepreneurs who temporarily sell goods and services and activists who temporarily resist demands from clients that they give up their rights and pay.
Labels:
activism, class, digital_technology, discourse, entrepreneurialism, freelancers, journalism, labour, political_economy_of_communication, sociology_of_work,
The Urbanization of Nature in a (Post)Socialist Metropolis: An Urban Political Ecology of Allotment Gardening
an article by Petr Gibas and Irena Boumová (Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic) published in International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Volume 44 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
In this article we explore how nature becomes part of the city through the example of allotment gardening in the city of Prague, in the Czech Republic.
Prague allotments were established based on an ongoing political‐ecological process of urbanisation of nature that was locally driven by socialist (from 1948 to 1989) and later neoliberal governance. We employ a situated urban political ecology (UPE) approach to analyse changes in the planning of allotments and the impact thereof on the experience of gardeners.
This double focus allows us to uncover the effects of neoliberalisation on the processes of production of urban nature in respect of both policy and everyday practice.
We contrast contemporary capitalist urbanisation with its socialist predecessor by showing the immediate effects of the acceptance of neoliberal modes of governance on allotments, urban nature and the understanding of the city.
We open allotments as a terrain for UPE to turn attention to the (uneven) production of urban nature in a post‐socialist context that has thus far been largely absent from the UPE literature. We demonstrate that post‐socialist urbanisation is a fruitful terrain that offers new opportunities to unmask the effects of neoliberalisation on the production of uneven urban space and thus improves our understanding of contemporary uneven urbanisms.
Full text (PDF 20pp)
Labels:
situated_urban_political_ecology, socialism, post-socialism, urban_planning, allotments, urban_planning, Prague, Czech_Republic,
Abstract
In this article we explore how nature becomes part of the city through the example of allotment gardening in the city of Prague, in the Czech Republic.
Prague allotments were established based on an ongoing political‐ecological process of urbanisation of nature that was locally driven by socialist (from 1948 to 1989) and later neoliberal governance. We employ a situated urban political ecology (UPE) approach to analyse changes in the planning of allotments and the impact thereof on the experience of gardeners.
This double focus allows us to uncover the effects of neoliberalisation on the processes of production of urban nature in respect of both policy and everyday practice.
We contrast contemporary capitalist urbanisation with its socialist predecessor by showing the immediate effects of the acceptance of neoliberal modes of governance on allotments, urban nature and the understanding of the city.
We open allotments as a terrain for UPE to turn attention to the (uneven) production of urban nature in a post‐socialist context that has thus far been largely absent from the UPE literature. We demonstrate that post‐socialist urbanisation is a fruitful terrain that offers new opportunities to unmask the effects of neoliberalisation on the production of uneven urban space and thus improves our understanding of contemporary uneven urbanisms.
Full text (PDF 20pp)
Labels:
situated_urban_political_ecology, socialism, post-socialism, urban_planning, allotments, urban_planning, Prague, Czech_Republic,
In search of the skilled city: Skills and the occupational evolution of British cities
an article by Peter Sunley (University of Southampton, UK), Ron Martin (University of Cambridge, UK). Ben Gardiner (Cambridge Econometrics, UK) and Andy Pike (Newcastle University, UK) published in Urban Studies Volume 57 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
Recent research has argued that human capital has become the key driver of city growth and that there is a widening divergence between high- and low-skill cities. This skilled-city view includes several stylised propositions.
The first is that more skills and human capital generate stronger economic growth; the second is that already-skilled cities are becoming ever more skilled; and, the third is that larger cities tend to have stronger concentrations of, and faster growth in, high-skilled, cognitive occupations.
Using a detailed data set for occupational change in 85 urban Travel to Work Areas in Britain between 1981 and 2015, this paper evaluates whether these propositions apply to British urban evolution, and how they relate to the ‘hollowing-out’ of medium-skilled jobs.
The results confirm the close interactive relationship between growth and high-skilled occupations. However, some of the skilled-city propositions, such as ‘smart cities becoming smarter’, and a positive relationship between agglomeration and high-skilled employment growth, do not apply in Britain where other factors have been more important.
The pattern of high-skill growth has shown a strong regional dimension, and the ‘emergence’ of newer smaller cities, particularly in southern England, has been more evident than the ‘resurgence’ of large core and industrial cities.
Labels:
agglomeration/urbanisation, economic_processes, employment/labour, skills,
Abstract
Recent research has argued that human capital has become the key driver of city growth and that there is a widening divergence between high- and low-skill cities. This skilled-city view includes several stylised propositions.
The first is that more skills and human capital generate stronger economic growth; the second is that already-skilled cities are becoming ever more skilled; and, the third is that larger cities tend to have stronger concentrations of, and faster growth in, high-skilled, cognitive occupations.
Using a detailed data set for occupational change in 85 urban Travel to Work Areas in Britain between 1981 and 2015, this paper evaluates whether these propositions apply to British urban evolution, and how they relate to the ‘hollowing-out’ of medium-skilled jobs.
The results confirm the close interactive relationship between growth and high-skilled occupations. However, some of the skilled-city propositions, such as ‘smart cities becoming smarter’, and a positive relationship between agglomeration and high-skilled employment growth, do not apply in Britain where other factors have been more important.
The pattern of high-skill growth has shown a strong regional dimension, and the ‘emergence’ of newer smaller cities, particularly in southern England, has been more evident than the ‘resurgence’ of large core and industrial cities.
Labels:
agglomeration/urbanisation, economic_processes, employment/labour, skills,
Political information in the age of the internet
a column by Filip Matějka and Guido Tabellini for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Digital technologies provide a vast and accessible supply of information for voters. And yet, research suggests that the American electorate is no better informed than it was in the late 1980s.
This column argues that the digital revolution has changed the distribution of news and data, increasing informational asymmetries across issues, amplifying the influence of extremist voters, and diverting attention away from important but non-controversial policies.
Continue reading
Labels:
digital_revolution, news, information, voter_behaviour, politics,
Digital technologies provide a vast and accessible supply of information for voters. And yet, research suggests that the American electorate is no better informed than it was in the late 1980s.
This column argues that the digital revolution has changed the distribution of news and data, increasing informational asymmetries across issues, amplifying the influence of extremist voters, and diverting attention away from important but non-controversial policies.
Continue reading
Labels:
digital_revolution, news, information, voter_behaviour, politics,
Saturday, 25 January 2020
10 for Today starts with a review of nomadic lifestyle and ends with the Sumerian language
The Nomad In Us
posted by S. Abbas Raza in 3 Quarks Daily: Benjamin Hein in Taxis:
Thousands of years ago, hunters tossed aside their spears and began cultivating the fruits of the earth. The arrival of agricultural society, we have long been told, marked a turning point in human history. Cultivating grains generated an abundance of food, liberating our species from its struggle with scarcity and its primitive, nomadic existence. In the first great bread basket societies such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Rome, humanity flourished. Well-fed and secure, we began devoting ourselves to the finer things in life, like building pyramids and exploring the universe.
That is an inspiring story about human progress, but also wrong in many ways, argues Yale political scientist James Scott in his latest book Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. Contrary to popular belief, nomadism actually persisted for millennia and indeed predominated as the leading form of social organization for most of human history. Only around 1600 CE did grain-based sedentism begin to supersede nomadic forms of subsistence around the world. One of the reasons why this has been forgotten is our skewed reading of the source record. “If you built, monumentally, in stone and left your debris conveniently in a single place, you were likely to be ‘discovered’ and to dominate the pages of ancient history,” writes Scott. But “if you were hunter-gatherers or nomads, however numerous, spreading your biodegradable trash thinly across the landscape, you were likely to vanish entirely from the archaeological record.”
Continue reading
==============================
Why else would a grown man play with trains?
via Boing Boing by Jason Weisberger
Tish! Would you like to see me blow up three trains?!
==============================
The Little Book That Lost Its Author
How will artificial intelligence change literature?
via Library Link of the Day: Amber Caron in Boulevard
This story was funded by Longreads Members
Oliver Killig/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
In Roald Dahl’s 1953 short story, The Great Automatic Grammatizator, Adolph Knipe, the story’s protagonist, invents a computer that can provide the answer to a math problem in five seconds. His invention is a technical masterpiece, and his boss sends him on a weeklong vacation to celebrate his good work. Knipe, however, doesn’t travel and doesn’t even celebrate. Instead, he takes a bus back to his two-room apartment, pours himself a glass of whiskey, and sits down in front of his typewriter to reread the beginning of his most recent short story: “The night was dark and stormy, the wind whistled in the trees, the rain poured down like cats and dogs.” It’s not a promising beginning, and Knipe knows it. He feels defeated, nothing more than a failed writer, when he’s suddenly “struck by a powerful but simple little truth, and it was this: That English grammar is governed by rules that are almost mathematical in their strictness!” His fate isn’t to write stories, he realises, but to build a machine that can write stories for him.
Dahl’s fiction became a reality in 1973 when Sheldon Klein, a computer scientist at the University of Wisconsin, designed Novel Writer, the first computer program that could generate stories.
Continue reading
==============================
10 of the Best Poems about Men and Masculinity
via Interesting Literature
Yesterday, we offered ten poems about womanhood and womankind, written by both men and women. But how have poets tended to approach manhood, masculinity, and what it’s like to be a man? Or how have female poets written about men? Here are ten of the very best poems about men, manliness, masculinity, and related themes.
Rudyard Kipling
Continue reading if only to discover why men are like busses
==============================
How the Universe Came to Be: The Bible and Science Finally in Accord?
via Ancient Origins by Daniel Friedmann
Creation. Source: AGPhotography / Adobe Stock.
For most of our history, scientists have primarily believed that the universe is eternal and unchanging. Aristotle in the fourth century BC asserted that the world is without beginning or end. But this view was not without direct opponents who believed the universe had a beginning.
Aristotle’s works were largely lost for about seven centuries, beginning to resurface in the thirteenth century. The eternity view then largely dominated science until the early nineteenth century.
Continue reading
==============================
Fra Angelico’s Divine Emotion
posted by Morgan Meis to 3 Quarks Daily: Cody Delistraty at The Paris Review:
FRA ANGELICO, THE CRUCIFIXION WITH SAINTS, 1441
In the summer of 1873, Henry James visited a former monastery on Piazza San Marco in Florence. Surrounded by a scattering of low-slung, washed-out government buildings and conical Tuscan cypresses, the church and convent were in what is still the city’s center. When James first entered the convent, he saw Fra Angelico’s The Crucifixion with Saints in the chapter room. A brightly coloured, semicircle fresco about thirty feet wide, Crucifixion depicts Christ and the two thieves on either side of him, nailed to their crosses, as saints and witnesses grieve below. “I looked long,” James wrote. “One can hardly do otherwise.” As the author moved throughout what had then just become a museum, he felt a spiritual urge, even though he had rejected his Christian upbringing. “You may be as little of a formal Christian as Fra Angelico was much of one,” he wrote in Italian Hours. “You yet feel admonished by spiritual decency to let so yearning a view of the Christian story work its utmost will on you.” Even Angelico’s colours, he added, seem divinely infinite, “dissolved in tears that drop and drop, however softly, through all time.”
Continue reading and see more stunning images of Angelico’s work
==============================
New portal takes you deep within the ocean’s hidden world
Interactive website offers access to real-time ocean data from off the Oregon coast
via ResearchBuzz Firehose: Elizabeth Sharpe in the UW [University of Washington] Information Technology blog
In her introductory oceanography class, Cheryl Greengrove’s undergraduate students learn how one of the most critical forces of nature – upwelling – ties the rotation of the Earth, weather patterns and climate to what is happening in the ocean.
Now, with a new Interactiveoceans website launched in June, her students will be able to apply what they learn in a textbook to what’s actually happening in the ocean. They will be able to explore real-time data to evaluate whether upwelling is happening off the Oregon coast– when the wind blows parallel to the coast, forcing the deeper water up to replace the water being pushed off shore – using data on wind direction, oxygen, nitrate and chlorophyll levels, water temperature and salinity. Even more, the data can help the students better understand one of the most biologically productive areas of the ocean.
Continue reading
==============================
10 of the Best Poems about Afternoon
via Interesting Literature
Previously, we’ve offered our pick of the best morning poems, evening poems, and night poems. What does that leave? Well, afternoon poems, for one! Below are ten of the finest poems for afternoon, poems about the afternoon, or poems which might, for one reason or another, be described as ‘afternoon poems’. Enjoy.
Continue reading
==============================
Watch this far-out Japanese animated "documentary" about UFOs (1975)
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
"That's a UFO! The flying saucer" (これがＵＦＯだ！ 空飛ぶ円盤) is a Japanese "documentary" about unidentified flying objects. It was first screened in 1975 at the annual Toei Anime Festival hosted by the famed Toei Animation studio, creators of Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball. The short film features classic UFO encounters like the Betty Barney Hill abduction case of 1961 and the 1948 story of Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Captain Thomas F. Mantel whose plane crashed while he chased a UFO.
(r/ObscureMedia)
==============================
Sumerian Tablets: A Deeper Understanding of the Oldest Known Written Language
via Ancient Origins by Wu Mingren
The Sumerian language was developed in ancient Mesopotamia and is the oldest known written language. This language was written in a script known as cuneiform, which was later adapted by other languages that emerged in Mesopotamia and its neighbouring regions, including Akkadian, Elamite, and Hittite.
In the modern world, paper (and various electronic devices) is the medium on which writing is made. The Sumerians, however, did not invent paper and used a different medium for their cuneiform script. Documents and text were inscribed by the Sumerians on clay tablets, which has the advantage of greater durability than paper. One of the consequences of this is that a large number of Sumerian clay tablets have survived over the millennia and have been unearthed by archaeologists. Once the Sumerian language was deciphered, much information could be obtained from these tablets.
Sumerian cuneiform alphabet found on Sumerian tablets. ( drutska / Adobe)
Sumerian cuneiform numbers found on Sumerian tablets. ( drutska / Adobe)
Continue reading
posted by S. Abbas Raza in 3 Quarks Daily: Benjamin Hein in Taxis:
Thousands of years ago, hunters tossed aside their spears and began cultivating the fruits of the earth. The arrival of agricultural society, we have long been told, marked a turning point in human history. Cultivating grains generated an abundance of food, liberating our species from its struggle with scarcity and its primitive, nomadic existence. In the first great bread basket societies such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Rome, humanity flourished. Well-fed and secure, we began devoting ourselves to the finer things in life, like building pyramids and exploring the universe.
That is an inspiring story about human progress, but also wrong in many ways, argues Yale political scientist James Scott in his latest book Against the Grain: A Deep History of the Earliest States. Contrary to popular belief, nomadism actually persisted for millennia and indeed predominated as the leading form of social organization for most of human history. Only around 1600 CE did grain-based sedentism begin to supersede nomadic forms of subsistence around the world. One of the reasons why this has been forgotten is our skewed reading of the source record. “If you built, monumentally, in stone and left your debris conveniently in a single place, you were likely to be ‘discovered’ and to dominate the pages of ancient history,” writes Scott. But “if you were hunter-gatherers or nomads, however numerous, spreading your biodegradable trash thinly across the landscape, you were likely to vanish entirely from the archaeological record.”
Continue reading
==============================
via Boing Boing by Jason Weisberger
Tish! Would you like to see me blow up three trains?!
==============================
How will artificial intelligence change literature?
via Library Link of the Day: Amber Caron in Boulevard
This story was funded by Longreads Members
Oliver Killig/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
In Roald Dahl’s 1953 short story, The Great Automatic Grammatizator, Adolph Knipe, the story’s protagonist, invents a computer that can provide the answer to a math problem in five seconds. His invention is a technical masterpiece, and his boss sends him on a weeklong vacation to celebrate his good work. Knipe, however, doesn’t travel and doesn’t even celebrate. Instead, he takes a bus back to his two-room apartment, pours himself a glass of whiskey, and sits down in front of his typewriter to reread the beginning of his most recent short story: “The night was dark and stormy, the wind whistled in the trees, the rain poured down like cats and dogs.” It’s not a promising beginning, and Knipe knows it. He feels defeated, nothing more than a failed writer, when he’s suddenly “struck by a powerful but simple little truth, and it was this: That English grammar is governed by rules that are almost mathematical in their strictness!” His fate isn’t to write stories, he realises, but to build a machine that can write stories for him.
Dahl’s fiction became a reality in 1973 when Sheldon Klein, a computer scientist at the University of Wisconsin, designed Novel Writer, the first computer program that could generate stories.
Continue reading
==============================
via Interesting Literature
Yesterday, we offered ten poems about womanhood and womankind, written by both men and women. But how have poets tended to approach manhood, masculinity, and what it’s like to be a man? Or how have female poets written about men? Here are ten of the very best poems about men, manliness, masculinity, and related themes.
Rudyard Kipling
Continue reading if only to discover why men are like busses
==============================
via Ancient Origins by Daniel Friedmann
Creation. Source: AGPhotography / Adobe Stock.
For most of our history, scientists have primarily believed that the universe is eternal and unchanging. Aristotle in the fourth century BC asserted that the world is without beginning or end. But this view was not without direct opponents who believed the universe had a beginning.
Aristotle’s works were largely lost for about seven centuries, beginning to resurface in the thirteenth century. The eternity view then largely dominated science until the early nineteenth century.
Continue reading
==============================
posted by Morgan Meis to 3 Quarks Daily: Cody Delistraty at The Paris Review:
FRA ANGELICO, THE CRUCIFIXION WITH SAINTS, 1441
In the summer of 1873, Henry James visited a former monastery on Piazza San Marco in Florence. Surrounded by a scattering of low-slung, washed-out government buildings and conical Tuscan cypresses, the church and convent were in what is still the city’s center. When James first entered the convent, he saw Fra Angelico’s The Crucifixion with Saints in the chapter room. A brightly coloured, semicircle fresco about thirty feet wide, Crucifixion depicts Christ and the two thieves on either side of him, nailed to their crosses, as saints and witnesses grieve below. “I looked long,” James wrote. “One can hardly do otherwise.” As the author moved throughout what had then just become a museum, he felt a spiritual urge, even though he had rejected his Christian upbringing. “You may be as little of a formal Christian as Fra Angelico was much of one,” he wrote in Italian Hours. “You yet feel admonished by spiritual decency to let so yearning a view of the Christian story work its utmost will on you.” Even Angelico’s colours, he added, seem divinely infinite, “dissolved in tears that drop and drop, however softly, through all time.”
Continue reading and see more stunning images of Angelico’s work
==============================
Interactive website offers access to real-time ocean data from off the Oregon coast
via ResearchBuzz Firehose: Elizabeth Sharpe in the UW [University of Washington] Information Technology blog
In her introductory oceanography class, Cheryl Greengrove’s undergraduate students learn how one of the most critical forces of nature – upwelling – ties the rotation of the Earth, weather patterns and climate to what is happening in the ocean.
Now, with a new Interactiveoceans website launched in June, her students will be able to apply what they learn in a textbook to what’s actually happening in the ocean. They will be able to explore real-time data to evaluate whether upwelling is happening off the Oregon coast– when the wind blows parallel to the coast, forcing the deeper water up to replace the water being pushed off shore – using data on wind direction, oxygen, nitrate and chlorophyll levels, water temperature and salinity. Even more, the data can help the students better understand one of the most biologically productive areas of the ocean.
Continue reading
==============================
via Interesting Literature
Previously, we’ve offered our pick of the best morning poems, evening poems, and night poems. What does that leave? Well, afternoon poems, for one! Below are ten of the finest poems for afternoon, poems about the afternoon, or poems which might, for one reason or another, be described as ‘afternoon poems’. Enjoy.
Continue reading
==============================
via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
"That's a UFO! The flying saucer" (これがＵＦＯだ！ 空飛ぶ円盤) is a Japanese "documentary" about unidentified flying objects. It was first screened in 1975 at the annual Toei Anime Festival hosted by the famed Toei Animation studio, creators of Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball. The short film features classic UFO encounters like the Betty Barney Hill abduction case of 1961 and the 1948 story of Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Captain Thomas F. Mantel whose plane crashed while he chased a UFO.
(r/ObscureMedia)
==============================
via Ancient Origins by Wu Mingren
The Sumerian language was developed in ancient Mesopotamia and is the oldest known written language. This language was written in a script known as cuneiform, which was later adapted by other languages that emerged in Mesopotamia and its neighbouring regions, including Akkadian, Elamite, and Hittite.
In the modern world, paper (and various electronic devices) is the medium on which writing is made. The Sumerians, however, did not invent paper and used a different medium for their cuneiform script. Documents and text were inscribed by the Sumerians on clay tablets, which has the advantage of greater durability than paper. One of the consequences of this is that a large number of Sumerian clay tablets have survived over the millennia and have been unearthed by archaeologists. Once the Sumerian language was deciphered, much information could be obtained from these tablets.
Sumerian cuneiform alphabet found on Sumerian tablets. ( drutska / Adobe)
Sumerian cuneiform numbers found on Sumerian tablets. ( drutska / Adobe)
Continue reading
Friday, 24 January 2020
Understanding (and Reducing) Inaction on Climate Change
an article by Matthew J. Hornsey and Kelly S. Fielding (The University of Queensland) published in Social Issues and Policy Review Volume 14 Issue 1 (January 2020)
Abstract
For over 50 years, scientists have sounded alarms that the burning of fossil fuels is causing changes to the Earth's climate, and that failure to take action on climate change will have devastating consequences.
Despite this urgency, CO2 emissions (and global temperatures) continue to climb. Progress on mitigating climate change is slowed by the stubborn persistence of climate scepticism, as well as a failure for non-sceptics to translate their concern about climate change into meaningful action.
The goal of this article is to describe and synthesise research on how to understand (and reduce) this public inaction on climate change.
In the first half of the article, we examine the question of how to understand (and overcome) climate change scepticism. We review international evidence regarding the role of demographics, ideologies, and conspiracist worldviews in shaping people's willingness to believe in the reality of human‐caused climate change. We then review theory and research on how to successfully capture the attention of – and change the behaviour of – people who traditionally resist climate change messages, such as those high in conservatism and free‐market beliefs.
In the second half of the article, we examine how to promote more climate‐friendly behaviours among people who believe in the reality of climate change. Evidence will be reviewed suggesting that many people agree that climate change is caused by humans, but are not yet willing to make the necessary investments and sacrifices to respond to this threat. We then draw on relevant literatures to critically discuss three strategies for promoting pro-environmental behaviour:
climate_scepticism, conspiracy_theories,
Abstract
For over 50 years, scientists have sounded alarms that the burning of fossil fuels is causing changes to the Earth's climate, and that failure to take action on climate change will have devastating consequences.
Despite this urgency, CO2 emissions (and global temperatures) continue to climb. Progress on mitigating climate change is slowed by the stubborn persistence of climate scepticism, as well as a failure for non-sceptics to translate their concern about climate change into meaningful action.
The goal of this article is to describe and synthesise research on how to understand (and reduce) this public inaction on climate change.
In the first half of the article, we examine the question of how to understand (and overcome) climate change scepticism. We review international evidence regarding the role of demographics, ideologies, and conspiracist worldviews in shaping people's willingness to believe in the reality of human‐caused climate change. We then review theory and research on how to successfully capture the attention of – and change the behaviour of – people who traditionally resist climate change messages, such as those high in conservatism and free‐market beliefs.
In the second half of the article, we examine how to promote more climate‐friendly behaviours among people who believe in the reality of climate change. Evidence will be reviewed suggesting that many people agree that climate change is caused by humans, but are not yet willing to make the necessary investments and sacrifices to respond to this threat. We then draw on relevant literatures to critically discuss three strategies for promoting pro-environmental behaviour:
- optimistic versus pessimistic messages;
- in‐group versus out‐group messenger effects; and
- the use of descriptive and injunctive norms.
climate_scepticism, conspiracy_theories,
How to Manage an Employee with Depression
an article by Kristen Bell DeTienne, Cristian Larrocha and Annsheri Reay (Brigham Young University, USA) and Jill M. Hooley (Harvard University, USA) published in Harvard Business Review [grateful thanks to the World of Psychology blog for this item)
Baskoro Lanjar Prasetyo/EyeEm/Getty Images
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. One in five Americans are affected by mental health issues, with depression being the most common problem. A recent report by Blue Cross Blue Shield found that depression diagnoses are rising at a faster rate for millennials and teens than for any other generation. All told, the disorder is estimated to cost $44 billion a year in lost productivity in the U.S. alone
Yet despite this enormous and growing toll, many employers take an ad hoc approach to handling depression among employees. Many managers become aware of mental health issues only when they investigate why a team member is performing poorly. A better scenario would be if employees felt empowered to report a mental health problem and ask for a reasonable accommodation so that their manager can intervene to minimise the damage to the organisation and help the employees return as quickly as possible to full health.
Continue reading
I wish, oh how I wish, that this advice was available to my managers during my years of employment.
Please, make it available to your employer if you have one.
Labels:mental_health, depression, advice_for_employers,
Baskoro Lanjar Prasetyo/EyeEm/Getty Images
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. One in five Americans are affected by mental health issues, with depression being the most common problem. A recent report by Blue Cross Blue Shield found that depression diagnoses are rising at a faster rate for millennials and teens than for any other generation. All told, the disorder is estimated to cost $44 billion a year in lost productivity in the U.S. alone
Yet despite this enormous and growing toll, many employers take an ad hoc approach to handling depression among employees. Many managers become aware of mental health issues only when they investigate why a team member is performing poorly. A better scenario would be if employees felt empowered to report a mental health problem and ask for a reasonable accommodation so that their manager can intervene to minimise the damage to the organisation and help the employees return as quickly as possible to full health.
Continue reading
I wish, oh how I wish, that this advice was available to my managers during my years of employment.
Please, make it available to your employer if you have one.
Labels:mental_health, depression, advice_for_employers,
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment? Benefit sanctions in the UK
a book by Michael Adler published by Palgrave Pivot (2018)
I wonder whether anything has got better in the year since this book was published.
From talking to friends who are trying to cope with "the system" I doubt it.
Here's a review that I have recently found.
By Citizens Basic Income Trust 7th August 2018
The title of this timely book comes from Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A similar phrase, ‘inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’, appears in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which in 1998 was incorporated into UK law. As Adler points out in his first introductory chapter, the right granted by article 3 of the ECHR is ‘absolute’, and so cannot be qualified by any other right; it refers to ‘treatment’ as well as to ‘punishment’; and the ‘or’ between ‘inhuman’ and ‘degrading’ implies a low threshold. The European Court of Human Rights has not yet been asked whether the UK’s benefit sanctions constitute ‘inhuman or degrading treatment’. This book proves that they are.
Chapter 2 sets out from Ken Loach’s film I, Daniel Blake (with a comma), asks why benefit sanctions are not more of a public concern than they are, and suggests that the reason for that is public disapproval of benefits claimants. The following two chapters relate a history of the increasing scope and severity of sanctions.
Chapter 5 is of particular relevance to the Citizen’s Basic Income debate because it offers a wide-ranging discussion of rights, responsibilities, and conditionalities. Adler provides a list of three types of conditionality: category conditionality, circumstance conditionality, and conduct conditionality – and finds that the third now takes centre stage. He then employs T.H. Marshall’s categorisation of rights as civil, political, and social, and finds civil rights such as due process being denied to benefits claimants. He also finds that the balance between rights and responsibilities has shifted too far in the direction of responsibilities. A Citizen’s Basic Income would, of course, behave very differently from sanctions-infested means-tested benefits, because a Citizen’s Basic Income would function as a civil, political, and social right, and it would shift the balance towards rights functioning as an invitation to responsibility.
In chapter 6 Adler finds that sanctions are generally ineffective, that they cause a considerable amount of suffering, and that hardship payments are inadequate; and then in chapter 7 the book turns in a more clearly legal direction, as the series title, ‘Palgrave socio-legal studies’, suggests that it will. Adler begins with a distinction between substantive justice and procedural justice – that is, the justice of the process through which substantive justice is administered; he discusses administrative justice – that is, justice in decision-making; and he lists some recent changes in administrative methods, and their consequences for administrative justice – for instance, claimants who wish to challenge a sanction now have to submit to a bureaucratic ‘mandatory reconsideration’ process before an appeal to a tribunal can be made. This is just one example of a general shift from a juridical model of administrative justice to a bureaucratic model. Chapter 8 concludes that
This well-evidenced, well-argued, and comprehensive book offers precisely the kind of evaluation of benefit sanctions that was required. Ministers, shadow ministers, members of parliament, civil servants, and anyone interested in the UK’s benefits system, should read it.
However, the lowest cost I could find was £32 on Amazon (I try to avoid using this company because of its attitude to paying corporation tax in the UK).
Hopefully a copy will be available in the larger public libraries.
I wonder whether anything has got better in the year since this book was published.
From talking to friends who are trying to cope with "the system" I doubt it.
Here's a review that I have recently found.
By Citizens Basic Income Trust 7th August 2018
The title of this timely book comes from Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A similar phrase, ‘inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’, appears in Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which in 1998 was incorporated into UK law. As Adler points out in his first introductory chapter, the right granted by article 3 of the ECHR is ‘absolute’, and so cannot be qualified by any other right; it refers to ‘treatment’ as well as to ‘punishment’; and the ‘or’ between ‘inhuman’ and ‘degrading’ implies a low threshold. The European Court of Human Rights has not yet been asked whether the UK’s benefit sanctions constitute ‘inhuman or degrading treatment’. This book proves that they are.
Chapter 2 sets out from Ken Loach’s film I, Daniel Blake (with a comma), asks why benefit sanctions are not more of a public concern than they are, and suggests that the reason for that is public disapproval of benefits claimants. The following two chapters relate a history of the increasing scope and severity of sanctions.
Chapter 5 is of particular relevance to the Citizen’s Basic Income debate because it offers a wide-ranging discussion of rights, responsibilities, and conditionalities. Adler provides a list of three types of conditionality: category conditionality, circumstance conditionality, and conduct conditionality – and finds that the third now takes centre stage. He then employs T.H. Marshall’s categorisation of rights as civil, political, and social, and finds civil rights such as due process being denied to benefits claimants. He also finds that the balance between rights and responsibilities has shifted too far in the direction of responsibilities. A Citizen’s Basic Income would, of course, behave very differently from sanctions-infested means-tested benefits, because a Citizen’s Basic Income would function as a civil, political, and social right, and it would shift the balance towards rights functioning as an invitation to responsibility.
In chapter 6 Adler finds that sanctions are generally ineffective, that they cause a considerable amount of suffering, and that hardship payments are inadequate; and then in chapter 7 the book turns in a more clearly legal direction, as the series title, ‘Palgrave socio-legal studies’, suggests that it will. Adler begins with a distinction between substantive justice and procedural justice – that is, the justice of the process through which substantive justice is administered; he discusses administrative justice – that is, justice in decision-making; and he lists some recent changes in administrative methods, and their consequences for administrative justice – for instance, claimants who wish to challenge a sanction now have to submit to a bureaucratic ‘mandatory reconsideration’ process before an appeal to a tribunal can be made. This is just one example of a general shift from a juridical model of administrative justice to a bureaucratic model. Chapter 8 concludes that
violations of economic and social rights – including the right to social security – are widespread and are not currently subject to any effective remedies in the UK … it would appear that justice was not the primary consideration for those who were responsible for the design or implementation of benefit sanctions. (p. 112)Chapter 9 finds that benefit sanctions compare badly with court fines – ‘they are disproportionate to the seriousness of the offence and they cannot be adjusted to take account of claimants’ changing circumstances’ (p. 127); chapter 10 concludes that benefit sanctions do not comply with a number of principles of the rule of law; and chapter 11 makes suggestions as to how the sanctions regime could be made more just, and discusses arguments for and against a Citizen’s Basic Income. In the final chapter Adler concludes that benefit sanctions are more cruel, inhuman and degrading than they need to be, and that ‘in terms of justice, the UK benefit sanctions regime undoubtedly fails the test’ (p. 151).
This well-evidenced, well-argued, and comprehensive book offers precisely the kind of evaluation of benefit sanctions that was required. Ministers, shadow ministers, members of parliament, civil servants, and anyone interested in the UK’s benefits system, should read it.
However, the lowest cost I could find was £32 on Amazon (I try to avoid using this company because of its attitude to paying corporation tax in the UK).
Hopefully a copy will be available in the larger public libraries.
Participatory Budgeting
I saw an article on this topic when I was reading in the British Library but couldn't find the exact one.
Found this instead.
a post from the Local Government Association
Participatory budgeting is a form of citizen participation in which citizens are involved in the process of deciding how public money is spent. Local people are often given a role in the scrutiny and monitoring of the process following the allocation of budgets. Costs of participatory budgeting can vary anywhere between £400 and £40,000 depending on the size and the scope of the project.
Continue reading
Labels:
participatory_budgeting, citizen_involvement, local_project_management,
Found this instead.
a post from the Local Government Association
Participatory budgeting is a form of citizen participation in which citizens are involved in the process of deciding how public money is spent. Local people are often given a role in the scrutiny and monitoring of the process following the allocation of budgets. Costs of participatory budgeting can vary anywhere between £400 and £40,000 depending on the size and the scope of the project.
Continue reading
Labels:
participatory_budgeting, citizen_involvement, local_project_management,
Ten years of WhatsApp: The role of chat apps in the formation and mobilization of online publics
the Introduction to First Monday Volume 28 Number 1 (January 2020) by Emma Baulch (Monash Malaysia), Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández (Queensland University of Technology) and Amelia Johns (University of Technology Sydney)
Abstract
This special issue, curated by Emma Baulch, Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández, and Amelia Johns, marks the end of the first decade of WhatsApp’s existence and offers a collection of essays on the importance of this technology in everyday life. Considering the rapid uptake and ubiquity of WhatsApp in places beyond the Anglophone world, including Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, and Spain, the seven papers interrogate the opportunities and challenges that the app affords to activists and ordinary users through its main features: end-to-end encryption, groups, and the forward function.
Full text (HTML)
Rather than create independent blog posts for the rest of this issue here is the rest of it. All very interesting.
Abstract
This special issue, curated by Emma Baulch, Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández, and Amelia Johns, marks the end of the first decade of WhatsApp’s existence and offers a collection of essays on the importance of this technology in everyday life. Considering the rapid uptake and ubiquity of WhatsApp in places beyond the Anglophone world, including Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, and Spain, the seven papers interrogate the opportunities and challenges that the app affords to activists and ordinary users through its main features: end-to-end encryption, groups, and the forward function.
Full text (HTML)
Rather than create independent blog posts for the rest of this issue here is the rest of it. All very interesting.
The banality of WhatsApp: On the everyday politics of backstage activism in Mexico and Spain
Emiliano Treré
Emiliano Treré
Enter the WhatsApper: Reinventing digital activism at the time of chat apps
Stefania Milan, Sérgio Barbosa
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