ISS Blog Bliss

💡Happy cows without happy workers?” How Migrant Justice is fighting for improved labour conditions in the US’ dairy industry💡 Dairy production often relies on poorly paid and precarious migrant labour, but while the welfare of animals in the dairy sector is increasingly emphasized, that of the people working in the sector receives less attention. In this blog article, Hammal Muhammad Aslam and Karin Astrid Siegmann discuss the efforts of migrant dairy workers' organization Migrant Justice to highlight the precarious labour conditions migrant dairy workers face and to push for the sector's transformation. #migrantworkers #decentwork #labor Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ev6TyuV9

💡 Data inaccuracy is a global problem — a plea for decolonizing the debate on the quality of statistics💡 In this blog article, ISS Professor of International Economics and Macroeconomics Peter Van Bergeijk points out the biases of academia in the global North, showing that their pretention about their statistical superiority perpetuates power imbalances in academic and policy discourses. Read the full article here: https://wp.me/p9fvbD-7D2  #decoloniality #economicdata #power

💡How the United States’s legacy of slavery influences unequal credit scores and what we can do about it 💡 The credit scoring system in the United States, particularly the FICO score, significantly impacts individuals’ access to affordable financing, housing, and employment opportunities. In this blog article, recent ISS MA graduate Conor Farrell shows that though deemed “colour-blind,” the model inadvertently perpetuates racial disparities rooted in historical injustices, particularly slavery. Reforms, including AI-enabled credit scoring and policy changes like excluding medical debt from credit considerations, are essential to address these inequities and break the cycle of intergenerational poverty and racial inequality, he writes. Read the full article here https://wp.me/p9fvbD-7C5 #AI #creditscoring #inequality

💡 How artisanal fishers across the world are trying to turn the tide by adapting to climate and anthropogenic change💡   Artisanal fishers across the world are facing change from all sides. While these changes have been well documented, the intricacies of the adaptation strategies they are forced to assume remain underexplored. A group of researchers met at a workshop held at the ISS in December last year to discuss the challenges artisanal fishers face and what we can learn from their responses. In this blog article, Ilaha Abasli, Ninaswen, and Oane Visser detail the key takeaways of the workshop, noting that while artisanal fishers are trying to turn the tide by adapting, the challenges they face at times may seem unsurmountable. Read the full article here : https://wp.me/p9fvbD-7y3 #climatechange #artisanalfishers

💡India’s Modi returns to power — but his victory is not as sweet as he’d hoped for💡 India's elections marked an unprecedented third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu right-wing government. However, the victory was won by a narrower margin than expected, challenging Modi's invincible image and signalling the resurgence of opposition parties. In this blog article, Haris Zargar highlights the electoral setback driven by farmers' protests and strategic voting by Muslims in crucial constituencies. This outcome could either embolden Modi to intensify his communal agenda and suppress dissent or compel him to moderate his stance due to coalition pressures, writes Haris Zargar. Read the full article here: https://wp.me/p9fvbD-7x7 #illiberaldemocracy #islamophobia #elections

💡 How a new conscription law is threatening everyday humanitarian action in Myanmar💡 The compulsory enlistment of young men and women in war-stricken Myanmar following the enactment of a conscription law in February this year is adding a layer of complexity to a society already struggling with human rights abuses and a lack of safety for civilians. In this blog article, Hyeonggeun Ji, states that the conscription order is systematically depleting the youth who are pivotal to everyday humanitarian action, thereby posing a threat to humanitarianism in a country facing a massive humanitarian crisis. Read the full article here: https://wp.me/p9fvbD-7wf #humanitariancrisis #myanmar #humanrightabuses

💡 “What would a just approach to ‘sustainability’ look like that supports ‘life-making’ in all its forms, even — or especially — in the wake of the ruins of capitalism?”💡   This was the central question environmental justice scholar Giovanna Di Chiro asked — and sought to answer — at a talk she recently gave at the ISS but also in her work on social reproduction and its links to environmental justice. Today on ISS Blog Bliss, ISS Professor of Gender, Diversity, and Sustainability Wendy Harcourt shares some of Di Chiro’s reflections and contributions.   Read the full article on Bliss: https://wp.me/p9fvbD-7vy #EnvironmentalJustice #Gender

💡 Pandemics such as Avian Influenza and COVID-19 show that we need to overcome human exceptionalism to prevent another ‘catastrophic moral failure’ 💡 After the COVID-19 pandemic, governing bodies, research institutes, and health organizations around the world reflected extensively on our (failed) responses to the pandemic, hoping to identify lessons that can be applied to the governance of future pandemics. As various bird flu strains are spreading across the world, Assistant Professor of Social Sciences at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Dorien B. reflects on gaps in the COVID-19 response and the need for a different approach to prevent mistakes from being repeated. Read the Article here: https://wp.me/p9fvbD-7uL #pandemic #birdflu #publichealth

💡Medical Drones in Africa: A Gamechanger for the Continent’s ‘Ailing’ Health Sector? 💡 While medical drones can be lauded as game-changing health technologies that help save lives, and usher efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the often contextualized as fragile African health systems. In this blog article, Edwin Ambani Ameso and Gift Mwonzora argue that this is not the complete picture. Read the full article here: https://wp.me/p9fvbD-7uh #digitalization #medicaltechnology #aid

💡 How (not) to enhance meaningful dialogue about academic relations with Israeli universities.💡 After weeks of protest and student-led demands to cut ties with Israeli universities, a joint letter recently published in Dutch newspaper Trouw by the rectors of all Dutch universities declared that they will not consider cutting ties with all universities. Whereas the letter leaves an opening for universities to evaluate their collaboration with specific institutions, the main message remains that cutting ties would run counter to academic freedom. In this (translated) blog article, Professors Thea Hilhorst, Klaas Landsman and Amina Helmi argue that the letter risks stifling a dialogue that had been going on in various forms since October of last year. Read the full article here: https://wp.me/p9fvbD-7tE #Isreal #Gaza #DutchUniversities #Academicfreedom