Suchergebnisse

The protection of labour rights of temporary migrant workers in global supply chains requires further theoretical and policy research. Through the case of Serbian workers in Slovak electronics supply chains, we look at how the transnational recruitment of labour via temporary work agencies (TWAs) for globally organised production generates heightened forms of exploitation and unfree labour relations. We show that such exploitation occurs in a regulatory framework consisting of various instruments ranging from the Palermo Protocol specific to trafficking, to EU law addressing the mobility of workers, and corporate codes of conduct aimed at guaranteeing worker rights within supply chains. Paradoxically, despite an overregulated field, existing instruments fail to offer a straightforward avenue for redress. We suggest that this failure is an outcome of the current legal and corporate regulatory matrix that allows market competition through work practices that violate basic labour standards and produce the conditions that enable and sustain unfree labour relations, while normalising exploitation in supply chains.

This article introduces the Special Issue on the Politics of Postcapitalism. Considering the theoretical foundations, empirical perspectives and political ramifications of claims made about a coming 'post-work' or 'post-capitalist' society, it maps existing debates through a discussion of two key recent texts, Paul Mason's Clear Bright Future and Aaron Bastani's Fully Automated Luxury Communism. It first surveys how the relationship between labour market trends, technological change and wider political-economic shifts is articulated in the postcapitalist literature. It then explores how concepts from Marx are deployed to depict social relations as a constraint on technological development and its utopian potentialities, leading to political demands for new class actors and electoral blocs centring on the new forms of economic and political activity associated with digital networks. It also considers the role of the state and how this theoretical and political approach envisions historical change, situating utopian visions of an incipient postcapitalist alternative to capitalism within the contemporary political context of authoritarian populism and and challenges to liberal democracy. Finally, it explores the continuing relevance of humanism as a critical counterpoint to the social and philosophical agenda of present-day 'posthumanism'. It is concluded that, in unfavourable political conditions, it would be strategically unwise to stake too much on an overoptimistic approach to the unfolding future. This outlook, it is suggested, carries considerable risks and consequences for a contemporary left in search of a viable electoral coalition and route back to power.

In African countries such as Ghana, microentrepreneurs make formal economy goods and services available to base of the pyramid (BOP) consumers. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) co-opt BOP business models when they enter the BOP market. We conducted a case study of six MNEs and 36 microentrepreneurs in three key sectors. In two sectors (fast-moving consumer goods and telecommunications), reverse bridging enables MNEs to capture value from BOP business models, which has a negative impact on both the financial and social capital of microentrepreneurs. In the third sector (finance), microentrepreneurs are buffered from the negative effects of co-optation through a process of integrating, which enhances their social capital but reduces their financial capital. Our research contributes to the BOP literature, first by demonstrating that financial and social capital are intertwined at the BOP level, and second by analyzing how the negative effects of co-optation can be cushioned by enhancing microentrepreneurs' social capital.

In this chapter I discuss several ways in which language learning was a valuable process in itself for my research in Morocco. Pre-research language learning cannot be expected to completely mitigate the risks and limitations of being an outsider in a foreign research context. However, I found that cultural learning was an inherent and invaluable element of my language preparation in both French and Moroccan Arabic. Unpicking the illusionary goal of becoming fluent in the language(s) and culture(s) of research contexts, I illustrate how some of the costs of learning a language may not be as insurmountable as many assume. I show how my stay at a language school provided a forgiving and powerful environment for research preparation, acting as a variety of rehearsal space. Finally, exploring the value of untranslatable and in-between linguistic terms, I consider how they helped build an understanding of the social phenomena of my research.

Spouses form the largest single category of migrant settlement in the UK, but research and policy making on marriage-related migration to Britain provides incomplete coverage of the phenomenon, having been dominated by a focus in the South Asian populations which are among the largest groups of such migrants. By bringing together immigration statistics with information from academic and third sector sources, this article attempts to provide a more balanced and nuanced portrayal of patterns and practices of marriage-related migration to the UK. In doing so, it reveals important nationality and gender differences in migration flows, and considers how varying marriage practices, social and political contexts, and policies of both receiving and sending countries may work to influence marriage-related migration streams. It also exposes the limitations and lacunae in existing research on this diverse form of migration, highlighting the danger that immigration policy made on the basis of partial evidence will produce unexpected consequences. ; Spouses form the largest single category of migrant settlement in the UK, but research and policy making on marriage-related migration to Britain provides incomplete coverage of the phenomenon, having been dominated by a focus in the South Asian populations which are among the largest groups of such migrants. By bringing together immigration statistics with information from academic and third sector sources, this article attempts to provide a more balanced and nuanced portrayal of patterns and practices of marriage-related migration to the UK. In doing so, it reveals important nationality and gender differences in migration flows, and considers how varying marriage practices, social and political contexts, and policies of both receiving and sending countries may work to influence marriage-related migration streams. It also exposes the limitations and lacunae in existing research on this diverse form of migration, highlighting the danger that immigration policy made on the basis of partial evidence will produce unexpected consequences.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic is having profound mental health consequences for many people. Concerns have been expressed that, at their most extreme, these consequences could manifest as increased suicide rates. We aimed to assess the early effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide rates around the world. Methods We sourced real-time suicide data from countries or areas within countries through a systematic internet search and recourse to our networks and the published literature. Between Sept 1 and Nov 1, 2020, we searched the official websites of these countries' ministries of health, police agencies, and government-run statistics agencies or equivalents, using the translated search terms "suicide" and "cause of death", before broadening the search in an attempt to identify data through other public sources. Data were included from a given country or area if they came from an official government source and were available at a monthly level from at least Jan 1, 2019, to July 31, 2020. Our internet searches were restricted to countries with more than 3 million residents for pragmatic reasons, but we relaxed this rule for countries identified through the literature and our networks. Areas within countries could also be included with populations of less than 3 million. We used an interrupted time-series analysis to model the trend in monthly suicides before COVID-19 (from at least Jan 1, 2019, to March 31, 2020) in each country or area within a country, comparing the expected number of suicides derived from the model with the observed number of suicides in the early months of the pandemic (from April 1 to July 31, 2020, in the primary analysis). Findings We sourced data from 21 countries (16 high-income and five upper-middle-income countries), including whole-country data in ten countries and data for various areas in 11 countries). Rate ratios (RRs) and 95% CIs based on the observed versus expected numbers of suicides showed no evidence of a significant increase in risk of suicide since the pandemic began in ...

Objective To investigate student, parent/carer, and secondary school staff attitudes towards school Covid-19 mitigation measures. Methods Recruitment used school communication, community organisations and snowball sampling in South West England. Audio recorded online or phone individual/group semi-structured interviews were conducted in July-Sept 2020 and lasted 30-60 minutes. Interviews focused on views towards social distancing, hand-hygiene and testing. Framework analysis was performed on interview notes/transcripts. Results Participants were 15 staff, 20 parents and 17 students (11-16 years) from 14 diverse schools. Concerns about Covid-19 risk at school, especially to vulnerable individuals, were outweighed by perceived risks of missed learning. Some staff felt guilt around being a potential "spreader" by teaching multiple classes. Findings highlighted a wide variety of school covid-19 mitigation measures being deployed due to ambiguous government guidance. Participants generally saw mitigation measures as an acceptable and pragmatic solution to the perceived impossibility of social distancing in crowded schools, although anticipated challenges changing habitual behaviour. Participants supported school Covid-19 testing but identified the need to consider data security and stigma around Covid-19 diagnosis. Staff were concerned about unintended consequences of risk-reduction strategies on student behaviour, learning, and pastoral care, particularly for those with Special Educational Needs or mental health issues who may find the measures especially challenging, and resultant widening inequalities. Conclusion Families and staff supported Covid-19 mitigation measures in schools and would welcome the roll out school Covid-19 testing. Clear messaging and engendering collective responsibility are important for compliance and success of Covid-19 mitigation measures. However, schools and policymakers should consider unintended consequences of measures, providing extra support for vulnerable students and those with additional needs, and consider ways to avoid widening educational and health inequalities. Findings demonstrate the acceptability of school Covid-19 infection control measures is likely to be influenced by the balance of risks and benefits to students.

The global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) has led to the imposition of severely restrictive measures by governments in the Western hemisphere. We feel a contrast between these measures and our freedom. This contrast, we argue, is a false perception. It only appears to us because we look at the issue through our contemporary moral philosophy of utilitarianism and an understanding of freedom as absence of constraints. Both these views can be substituted with more sophisticated alternatives, namely an ethics of virtue and a notion of freedom of the will. These offer a fuller picture of morality and enable us to cooperate with the current restrictions by consciously choosing to adhere to them instead of perceiving them as draconian and immoral. We ask whether we should collaborate with the restrictions and argue that considerations of virtue will lead to an affirmative answer. More broadly, virtue ethics permits to deal with the practical concerns about how an individual should behave during this pandemic, given the current lockdown measures or lack thereof. In section 1, we present how utilitarianism and a notion of freedom as negative liberty support the opposition to restrictive measures. In section 2, we outline an alternative based on an ethics of virtue and a more elaborated notion of free will. In the concluding section 3, we argue that considerations of virtue should guide the individual and public response to the emergency.

A holistic seismic risk management framework for East Africa, with particular focus on Malawi, is under development as part of the EPSRC-sponsored Global Challenges (GCRF) grant PREPARE. The project aims to co-produce practical tools and guidelines for enhanced disaster preparedness in close partnerships with local governmental and academic institutions. For the seismic vulnerability assessment of masonry buildings in Malawi, a series of tests were conducted in the field and in the Civil Engineering laboratory of the Malawi Polytechnic in Blantyre. The specimens and applied loads are of three main types: (a) single bricks subjected to uniaxial compression and three-point bending; (b) masonry prisms subjected to compression, direct tension and interface shearing; and (c) masonry panels of different brick configurations and reinforcement subjected to in-plane compression/shearing and out-of-plane bending in two planes. The specimens were built by local artisans using locally produced materials to simulate actual field conditions and indigenous construction methods. The different kinds of reinforcement tested were inspired by the recommendations of the Safer House Construction Guidelines of Malawi. Focusing on the masonry panel tests in (c) above, the main results from the experimental program are presented herein. The results help quantify the effect of simple, available types of retrofitting/reinforcing of masonry houses in Malawi.

The COVID-19 pandemic placed hygiene at the centre of disease prevention. Yet, access to the levels of water supply that support good hand hygiene and institutional cleaning, our understanding of hygiene behaviours, and access to soap are deficient in low, middle and high income countries. This paper reviews the role of water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) in disease emergence, previous outbreaks, combatting COVID-19, and in preparing for future pandemics. We consider settings where these factors are particularly important and identify key preventive contributions to disease control and gaps in the evidence base. Urgent substantial action is required to remedy deficiencies in WaSH, particularly the provision of reliable, continuous piped water on-premises for all households and settings. Hygiene promotion programmes, underpinned by behavioural science, must be adapted to high risk populations (such as the elderly and marginalised) and settings (such as health care facilities, transport hubs and workplaces). WaSH must be better integrated in preparation plans and with other sectors in prevention efforts. More finance and better use of financing instruments would extend and improve WaSH services. The lessons outlined justify no-regrets investment by government in response to and recovery from the current pandemic; to improve day-to-day lives and as preparedness for future pandemics.

Virtually our entire existence became medicalized in the spring of 2020. How we worked, shopped, washed, loved had suddenly been transformed into actions with a profound impact on our own health as well as the health of our nations, essentially into matters of life and death. Medicalization is obviously not a new phenomenon; many of the activities just mentioned have been subject to medical expertise and language. Yet the intensity and scope of the medicalization we are experiencing now is novel – at least in terms of recent history. Most of us had not experienced what it is like to have our public and private lives framed in terms of medicine. In some ways, now we share what was already the reality of many chronically ill people. This medicalized reality unavoidably has profound ramifications for our politics. This essay sketches out the political consequences of the medicalization that the coronavirus has unleashed, drawing on examples from the UK and the US. I do so by focusing on four themes: political discourse, political change, political emotions, and democratic citizenship.

As the covid-19 pandemic has unfolded, interest has grown in antibody testing as a way to measure how far the infection has spread and to identify individuals who may be immune.1 Testing also has a clinical role, given the varying symptoms of covid-19 and false negative results of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, particularly when swabs are taken more than five days after symptom onset and sensitivity of RT-PCR tests starts to decrease.23 In May, the UK government announced that antibody testing should be offered to anyone having their blood taken who wants to know whether they have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, even if there is "not a specific clinical indication,"4 yet currently there is no clear guidance for clinicians on how to interpret these results or how they fit into clinical pathways. In this article we offer an approach to antibody testing in individuals with and without symptoms suggestive of current or past SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods used to select opinion leaders for informal behavior change interventions vary, affecting the role they adopt and the outcomes of interventions. The development of successful identification methods requires evidence that these methods achieve their aims. This study explored whether the "whole community" nomination process used in the ASSIST smoking prevention program successfully identified "peer supporters" who were well placed within their school social networks to diffuse an antismoking message to their peers. Data were collected in the United Kingdom during A Stop Smoking in Schools Trial. Behavioral data were provided at baseline and post intervention by all students. Social network data were provided post intervention by students in four control and six intervention schools. Centrality measures calculated using UCINET demonstrate that the ASSIST nomination process successfully identified peer supporters who were more socially connected than others in their year and who had social connections across the entire year group including the program's target group. The results indicate that three simple questions can identify individuals who are held in high esteem by their year group and who also have the interpersonal networks required of opinion leaders to successfully disseminate smoke-free messages through their social networks. This approach could be used in other informal health promotion initiatives. Adolescent smoking remains an issue of global public health concern. The 2009/2010 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC) survey (Currie et al.,) noted that 6% of 13-year-olds were weekly smokers. In Wales, UK, 22% of girls and 18% of boys aged 15 years reported having first used a cigarette at age 13 or younger, and 6% girls and 3% boys aged 13 smoke at least once a week. In the United States these figures are lower: 11% of girls and 14% of boys aged 15 years have smoked by age 13, and 3% of girls and 4% of boys aged 13 smoke at least once a week. A number of risk factors, including peers, family factors, school factors, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, depression, and stress, have been identified as instrumental in adolescent smoking (Conrad, Flay, & Hill, 1992; Schepis & Rao, 2005; Tyas & Pederson, 1998), although these may operate differently in different social, cultural, and legislative contexts. For example, educational systems differ across the world, exposing young people to different social and environmental influences within this setting. Furthermore, the introduction of tobacco-related legislation and the implementation of education and prevention interventions has not been uniform worldwide.

Den Russiske demografi har været igennem en voldsom udvikling siden Sovjetunionens fald. Ruslands mandtal faldt betydelig i perioden 1991 -2006. Præsident Putin adresserede problemet i sin tale til det Russiske parlament i 2006. Han fastslog det var Ruslands vigtigste opgave, at sikre en stigning i befolkningsantallet. Mange tiltag inden for offentlig sygesikring, sundhed, og børnepengetilskud skulle sikre en stigning. En stigning blev noteret i 2012. Men udvandring af Russiske statsborgere, særligt de veluddannet, til Vesteuropa kunne udgøre en trussel. I denne briefing undersøges hvilken konsekvenser en skrøbelig demografi har for Ruslands politiske strategi. Ligeledes søger briefingen, at forklare hvordan de demografiske problemer kan lægge til grund for dele af den Russiske sikkerhedspolitik. ; With the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the new Russia has seen a decrease in thenatural growth of its population. Much of this can be explained by the independence of many of the former Soviet republics. Other reasons are a result of emigration to Western Europe, an unwillingness to have children owing to poor future prospects, and an inferior public health service. In early 2006 the trend had continued, and President Vladimir Putin addressed these problems in a speech on the 10th of May 2006 as the biggest concern for Russia. At the time, the efforts included improved health care, better conditions for families with young children, and more attractive offers for its citizens to stay in Russia. A policy of welcoming immigrants from the former USSR republics was also actively pursued. With the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Russia was given a boost. The momentum from the annexation was followed with an increased rhetoric of protecting ethnic Russians abroad in Eastern Europe. If Russia had not done so, their hard earned gains from 2006 could be severely reversed if Ukraine had turned towards the European Union. Ukraine could have been seen as a gateway to the prosperous EU and Western Europe. With the civil unrest and armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine this option was eliminated. It could also make the immigration to Russia an attractive option, instead of staying in the conflict zone. The object of the Russian strategy is the most precious resource of all: People.