Search Results (355)

This paper investigates the conditions and consequences of integrating small towns into industrial production networks. It is based on empirical research conducted in Algeria, a hydrocarbon-dependent rentier economy characterized by significant regional inequalities and the political aims of economic diversification and spatial rebalancing. Elaborating the case study of a state-owned cement factory in the small town of Sigus, the research provides insights into the multiple roles of the state in shaping production network integration and the characteristics of small towns as economic locations. The methodology combines secondary data and information with primary research based on semi-structured interviews. It reveals the importance of a multi-scalar regional framework in production network integration, whereby national factors played a key role due to the centralized Algerian state, the state-owned character of the investing company, and the shortcomings of the small town’s local environment. It emphasizes the contradictory impacts of production network integration in economic, social, and environmental terms, primarily on a local level. These contradictions underscore the necessity for critical evaluations to maximize the benefits of production network integration while mitigating its adverse effects. They also call for the more consistent involvement of the local community in similar economic development decisions. Notably, this research contributes significantly to the existing body of literature by addressing the underexplored topic of integrating small towns into production networks within the Algerian context. Doing so offers a more nuanced understanding of the particular economic, social, and environmental dynamics at play in these locations, thereby enriching the discourse on economic development strategies for small towns in rentier economies like Algeria. Full article

This paper explores the idea, occasionally discernible in Leibniz’s writings, that civil bodies can achieve a real or substantial union through the ’mystical body’ of the Church. The starting question is: can the ‘person’ of the state attain real internal union even if it is not a natural person? This theme is examined in light of Leibniz’s interest in the ontology of complex aggregates (including civil ‘bodies’ or ‘persons’), the miracle of the Eucharist, the mystery of transubstantiation, and the unity of the Church. Since his very early Demonstrationes Catholicae, he had strived to demonstrate that the body of the Church, despite being—so to speak—‘scattered’, can be regarded as a Respublica with a strong internal degree of unity, primarily due to the communion that the faithful share through the Eucharist. This article thus analyses both early and mature texts in which Leibniz discusses the bond established among the faithful by the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, arguing that he experimented with the idea that the spiritual union possible within the Church’s ‘mystical body’ and its aggregative capacity could transform European Christian states not only politically but also substantially. Full article

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is a contested environmental illness that can be debilitating and life limiting. Those with MCS develop an array of physical symptoms to doses of chemicals in everyday life that are currently considered safe for human health by scientific and political actors. (1) Background: The purpose of this project is to understand how people with MCS practice chemical avoidance, describe MCS as a “relational illness”, and understand the interactional strategies for navigating relational chemical exposures. (2) Methods: This is an ethnographically embedded interview project that consists of two field trips, thirty-three interviews, and content analysis of MCS materials such as newsletters, books, and websites. (3) Results: This article finds that personal protection strategies for chemical avoidance are insufficient in the case of MCS. By redefining the hazards posed by spaces and other people’s bodies, those with MCS transform chemicals into an object of relational concern. This creates opportunities for other people to reevaluate their own chemical relationships and accommodate those with MCS, but it can also lead to denial, dismissal, and social exclusion. (4) Conclusions: This work on demonstrates that chemical contamination is an issue of interactional concern and adds to the literature on contested illness and relationships. Full article

Ain’t I a Woman? This question was raised by activist and self-emancipated former slavewoman Sojourner Truth, who validly questioned the body politic of identity when contextualized to perceptions of female personhood. Essentially, what Truth challenged were presumptions about the standards set to revere female bodies through markers of genteel Whiteness, while the worth of embodied Blackness, precisely the beauty of Black women, is reviled. In this article, I seek to raise awareness about factors of patriarchy and societal ramifications. Patriarchy is a systematized phenomenology of norms privileging the male gaze. The White male gaze, particularly in strongholds of power, influences the body politic of communal identity. Black women tend to lean on their faith to embody strength, yet patriarchy also encumbers the gendered body politic in religious spheres. As a womanist scholar, my analysis considers the intricate roles that patriarchy holds in the cultural production of a genteel, pretty woman image, wherein the aura of Whiteness grounds a body politic that deems Blackness as other. Despite the influences of prevailing macrosystems, I propose a theoethic of self-love to push against negatively biased identity boundaries by affirming ways to embrace Black beauty with a subversive imperative to love oneself regardless. Full article

Israel’s war on Gaza following 7 October 2023 has given birth to several political and social changes in European nations. According to the United Nations Report of the Special Rapporteur, Israel has used this moment to “distort” international humanitarian law principles “in an attempt to legitimize genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.” In the European context, this has led to European Muslims and non-Muslims, including organizations, institutions, as well as individual academics, politicians, and activists mobilizing and voicing their condemnation and demand their governments to do more towards peaceful and equitable solutions. However, this has been met with a strong reaction from European governing bodies. This paper situates this reaction within wider discourses on the European Muslim crisis. It begins with a systematic literature review on the so-called European Muslim crisis, followed by case studies on the United Kingdom and Germany on their respective changes to policies impacting Muslims in the post-October 7 contexa Regarding the literature review, this paper illustrates how this concept has three distinct, yet intersecting meanings: the crisis of European identity; the crisis of foundational ideologies of Europe; and an internal Muslim crisis that often leads to radicalization. Through the British and German case studies, this paper illustrates that October 7 has reinforced and strengthened the shift towards values-based citizenship and integration. This paper argues that through branding pro-Palestine protesters and organizations as extremists in the British context, and adding questions related to antisemitism and Israel in the citizenship tests in the German context, the Israel/Palestine issue has now become yet another yardstick to demarcate the European, civilized “us” vs. the Muslim “other.” In doing so, October 7 has escalated elements already present within the wider discourses of the European Muslim crisis. Full article

Making cities resilient and secure remains a central goal in urban policy strategies, where established methods, technologies, and best experiences are applied or replicated when the knowledge of a threat is already well established. The scientific community and specialized bodies are invited to comprehend and evaluate disastrous events that are still not well explored to broaden the concept of resilient cities. Among these, terrorism in the European-built environment remains an underexplored topic, despite various studies assessing its economic, social, and political dimensions, exploring the radicalist matrix, or examining the post-effects of high-impact disastrous events. Within this framework, this work presents an algorithm for the risk assessment of historic urban open areas (uOAs) in Europe, combining theories of the terrorism phenomenon, the normative experiences, and the phenomenological results of violent acts in uOAs. Specifically, the algorithm is determined by studying physical qualities/properties and elements that usually feature the uOAs, using a limited set of descriptors. The descriptors and their formulation are set starting from their qualification, in compliance with the risk determinant (Hazard, Vulnerability, and Exposure), and discussed starting from participatory methods (Delphi and AHP). The algorithm is finally applied to Italian historic squares, testing the mathematical approach, verifying theories of the phenomenon, and setting up a comprehensive three-dimensional risk matrix for both soft and hard targets. This latest constitutes an operative tool to assess the investigated built environment exposed to terrorist threats aimed at developing more detailed mitigative strategies. Full article

In this paper, we discuss qualitative findings drawn from a larger community-engaged project in a predominantly Black Midwestern city. Data collection for the project, which focused on the effects of policing on the city’s African American community, was carried out in collaboration with Black community organizations and an independent police oversight board. Using an intersectional queer politics lens, we present findings from a thematic analysis of field observations that focused on the city’s LGBTQI+ community. Major themes that emerged include the social context of Black LGBTQI+ oppression, the criminalization of the Black LGBTQI+ body, and mental health impact of policing experiences. Overall, we found that transgender and gender non-conforming experiences with police were particularly harmful. We conclude with insights into the strategies of resilience and resistance used by the community to navigate the impact police work has on their lived experience. Policy implications of our findings and the importance of queer politics to enable Black LGBTQI+ populations to access services and thrive, rather than survive are also addressed. Full article

The struggles of several women defending their territories and lives are marked by family tensions and reactions to the overload of care tasks and community rules according to their socially established roles. In this qualitative research, we analyze and discuss the cases of three women’s collectives from different suburban and rural communities in Jalisco. Information recollected through the new ethnography approach over six years was coded and analyzed with the Atlas ti program. Results: Women’s defense of their land involvement, organizing, and social mobilization actions move to an overload of care and raise adverse reactions in their community and families in response to what is seen as a transgression of women’s roles. This increases dominant demobilization emotions: fear, sadness, loneliness, guilt, and shame. Through emotional management strategies linked with alternative forms of appropriation of space, starting with their bodies and sharing emotions and actions with their companions, the women in these collectives produced emotions of resistance: pride, hope, friendship, and anger, which led to reconfiguring their identities, family relationships, and roles within other place domains: bodies, family, and community. Conclusions: Women defenders, as principal carers of life, have produced and inherited a set of strategies that configure a growing “politics of the ordinary. “These strategies, through emotional management, subvert dominant emotions, feelings, and acting rules, gradually questioning and reinventing their roles and human and nonhuman relations in their most immediate contexts. Full article

The role of the mosque has become increasingly vital, particularly in contemporary societies such as Britain, where both the place and status of religion in public life are constantly discussed and debated. Indeed, in the contemporary period, the role of the mosque has several dimensions, ranging from a social space, educational and cultural exchange, and community cohesion centre to a knowledge hub. In this context, this paper suggests that a mosque should be seen as an independent religious institution, although these are influenced by and responsive to governments, elites, pressure groups, public bodies, etc. Using a thematic analysis of news items in The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph over a period of two years (8 July 2005–7 July 2007), it finds that in the aftermath of 7/7, the mosque as a religious place and an institution for British Muslims is largely seen as incompatible and a threat to secular British society and that it is linked with radicalisation and terrorism. According to Quranic texts and revelations, it is indeed a fact that mosques are open to all. This is logical since God’s mercy, love, and forgiveness are for all of mankind without any distinction, which is perhaps why the mosque has been the sacred house of God Himself. This study aims to reveal the development of visible hostility in some sections of the British media and political campaigns. Moreover, it intends to trace the determination and idea of the mosque as a religious place and an institution for British Muslims rather than only a place for worship. Finally, this study will argue the role of the mosque in promoting community cohesion and mutual understanding within the Muslim and other faith communities located in Britain. Full article

Conceived as institutions funded by the public purse and intended to exist devoid of political influence, the mandate of public service media (PSM) entities is to disseminate reliable news content and high-quality audiovisual productions to all demographic segments, inclusive of marginalized communities and audiences that are typically under-served. Over the previous ten years, the rise in prominence of global platforms in national media systems has precipitated many changes in the media sector, including unique challenges for PSM institutions guided by specific public service values. Using a holistic conceptual framework for assessing the implementation of these values, this article analyzes the impact of platformization on Europe’s PSM and discusses how the Union’s policy approaches affect related challenges to PSM. The analysis indicates that while the European Union (EU) has accorded a high priority to PSM within its media policy framework, the role that Brussels plays in protecting the independence and efficacy of PSM has been circumscribed, given that the onus of regulating PSM entities rests with national governments. This has engendered contrasting experiences wherein certain PSM outlets enjoy political independence and command significant public trust while others function as state-controlled propaganda vehicles, advancing the objectives and interests of governing bodies. The EU has addressed global platform power in recent attempts to safeguard its digital future, including the Digital Services Act (DSA), Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). However, these acts do not adequately address PSM’s two central and often interconnected problems: funding challenges and political pressures. Full article

Coalitional communication is a dwelling amidst non-dominant differences that requires introspective, complex communicative philosophy and practice. My concern is with differentiation in hierarchies. They are understood and shaped by colonial modernity. They are historical logics and practices of settler colonialism, enslavement, and citizenship. My perspective is feminist, decolonial critiques of modern, capitalist social systems. The analysis is grounded in communicative philosophy in intercultural contexts where folks intend justice and equality. For example, in political democracies, localized social alliances actually harm one another being hegemonic by taking routes of familiarity through structures of linguistic and practical cultural systems. Communicative projects of liberation across oppressions (with monologic and single-axis perceptions) tend to miss intersections of our raced and gendered experiences. The result is unintelligibility among us. In this state, one can sense in the body the space of the liminal—with both a communicative impasse and opening. Rather than aligning liberation and domination in the impasse, I describe the creativity of liminal space as a communicative opening. The opening is a recognition of multiplicity and a refusal to assimilate each other’s lived experiences into familiar, complex codes of habituated thought and action. Examining communication hostilities in oppressed–oppressing relations is a necessary condition for coalition. Thus, coalitional communication is a call to engage a full sense of listening to one another as relevant. Ways that decipher codes and signals of resistance come to constitute the project of creating relevant intelligibility together. Praxis as critical, dialectical, and intersectional thinking is part of this method. Full article

A significant number of first-generation offshore wind turbines (OWTs) have either reached or are approaching the end of their operational lifespan and need to be upgraded or replaced with more modern units. In response to this concern, governments, regulatory bodies and industries have initiated the development of effective end-of-life (EOL) management strategies for offshore wind infrastructure. Lifetime extension is a relatively new concept that has recently gained significant attention within the offshore wind energy community. Extending the service lifetime of OWTs can yield many benefits, such as reduced capital cost, increased return on investment (ROI), improved overall energy output, and reduced toxic gas emissions. Nevertheless, it is important to identify and prepare for the challenges that may limit the full exploitation of the potential for OWT lifetime extension projects. The objective of this paper is to present a detailed PESTLE analysis to evaluate the various political, economic, sociological, technological, legal, and environmental challenges that must be overcome to successfully implement lifetime extension projects in the offshore wind energy sector. We propose a decision framework for extending the lifetime of OWTs, involving the degradation mechanisms and failure modes of components, remaining useful life estimation processes, safety and structural integrity assessments, economic and environmental evaluations, and the selection of lifetime extension technologies among remanufacturing, retrofitting, and reconditioning. Finally, we outline some of the opportunities that lifetime extension can offer for the wind energy industry to foster a more circular and sustainable economy in the future. Full article

This study examines the progress and challenges in the democratic landscape of Africa within the framework of the Africa Agenda 2063 (hereafter AA2063). Initiated in 2013, the Agenda signifies Africa’s commitment to an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful continent. Despite these aspirations, Africa faces persistent challenges, including political instability, socio-economic inequalities, and health crises. This study triangulates data from Afrobarometer public perception surveys, Varieties of Democracies expert insights, and the Ibrahim Index of African Governance to provide a broad understanding of the ten-year trend in democratic governance in Africa. The study found an increased demand for democracy, contrasted with a continuous decline in the supply of democracy. The study observed that, based on the average democratic performance over the decade, measured at 45% using V-Dem indices and 44% using IIAG percentage, Africa needs to score more than twice the current performance every year to align with the democratic aspirations of AA2063. This study underscores the need for targeted reforms to bridge the gap between current democratic performance and the envisioned goals of AA2063. It identifies key areas for improvement, including the separation of powers and checks and balances, citizens’ active participation, accessibility to state-owned media, and the independence of election monitoring bodies. Full article

Street children who are forced onto the streets due to oppressive experiences use a variety of strategies, including nicknaming, to cope with street adversities. Previous studies have not adequately considered street children’s nicknames as resilience enablers. This study fills this gap by unpacking identity frames in street children’s nicknames as resilience enablers in southwestern Nigeria. Using the unstructured interview method, 65 nicknames of street children in the six southwestern states of Nigeria were sampled and subjected to discourse analysis with insights from social identity theory and the concept of frames. Findings reveal that the sampled names manifest Yorùbá and English with five syntactic patterns. Yorùbá nicknames are characterised by animal metaphors, food/body-parts/virtue-related terms, while the English forms indicate force, weather, and political-related terms, with meanings oriented to street culture. The nicknames configure the identity frames associated with ingroup norms and attributes of self-enhancement. Given the complexity of street life, the children adopt nicknames for discursive functions such as evasive mechanisms, reinforcement of an ingroup affiliation, group management, and bestowal of preferences. This study concludes that full-time street children in southwestern Nigeria use nicknames as adaptations to street culture, routine communication, and psychological strength boosters to withstand the adversities of street culture. Full article