Exploratory Models of Social Organization and Adaptive Responses to Risk in Subarctic Alaska

Cultural stability and change in subarctic Alaska are often couched in terms of archaeological constructs derived from lithic typologies, migration, and (to a lesser extent) diffusion. Major problems explaining material-culture continuity and transitions remain largely unresolved. To address these problems, models of resource management strategies (RMS) are developed for the two major cultural systems: a Late Pleistocene / Early Holocene (LP/EH) RMS (12,500 – 6000 cal BP) and Middle Holocene (MH) RMS (6000 – 1000 cal BP). This allows a first approximation of social organization and an investigation of the systemic relationships among demography, habitat use, mobility, storage, economy, and technology as constraints on exchange, group size, territory, and social interaction. These elements of both RMS are inferred or estimated through archaeological proxies, and ethnographic data, or both. Results indicate that the MH RMS resembles recent subarctic Dene hunter-gatherers, while the LP/EH RMS is substantially different in social organization, more similar to early Paleo-Indian complexes. The two RMS yield different predictions with respect to responses to risk, and these are assessed by examining several periods of hypothetically increased risk. The LP/EH RMS managed substantial climate change during and after the Younger Dryas without major technological or land-use changes, due in part to flexible social organization, mobility, and economic strategies. Mid-Holocene vegetation changes connected to decreasing bison and wapiti populations led to a collapse of this system.Dans l’Alaska subarctique, la stabilité culturelle et le changement sont souvent décrits à partir de concepts archéologiques dérivés des typologies lithiques, de la migration et, dans une moindre mesure, de la diffusion. Des problèmes majeurs expliquant la continuité de la culture matérielle et les transitions restent en grande partie sans réponses. Pour remédier à ces problèmes, des modèles de stratégies de gestion des ressources (SGR) ont été élaborés pour les deux grands systèmes culturels. Un modèle de SGR couvre le Pléistocène tardif et l’Holocène précoce (PT-HP) (de 12 500 à 6 000 ans cal. BP) et l’autre couvre l’Holocène moyen (HM) (de 6000 à 1000 ans cal. BP). Ces modèles ont permis d’obtenir une première approximation de l’organisation sociale et de faire une enquête sur les liens systémiques existant entre la démographie, l’utilisation de l’habitat, la mobilité, l’entreposage, l’économie et la technologie en tant que contraintes sur les échanges, la taille des groupes, le territoire et les interactions sociales. Ces éléments tirés des deux SGR ont été déduits ou estimés à l’aide de calculs archéologiques par approximation de données ethnographiques, ou les deux. Ils révèlent que la SGR de l’HM ressemble à celle des chasseurs-cueilleurs dénés récents du subarctique, tandis que la SGR du PT-HP diffère considérablement sur le plan de l’organisation sociale, qui se rapproche plutôt des complexes du début du Paléoindien. Les deux SGR ont produit des prévisions différentes sur la réaction au risque, lesquelles sont évaluées au moyen de l’examen de plusieurs périodes hypothétiques de risque accru. La SGR du PT-HP a fait face à un changement climatique majeur pendant et après le Dryas récent, sans avoir subi de profonds bouleversements technologiques ou de modifications de l’utilisation des terres. Cela est en partie attribuable à l’organisation sociale flexible, à la mobilité et aux stratégies économiques. Les changements en matière de végétation de l’Holocène moyen, en lien avec la diminution des populations de bisons et de wapitis, ont entraîné l’effondrement de ce système

‘You tried your best, but we suffered enormously’: A decentred analysis of the contested narratives surrounding COVID-19 policy implementation in the British prison system

Prison health is intricately connected to public health given the significant burden of poor health which the majority of people in prison experience. Prison healthcare suffers from chronic understaffing, mostly due to macroeconomic austerity. The COVID-19 pandemic inflicted extensive damage on this already fragile milieu. We employ decentred theory as a sensitising concept to articulate competing narratives about prison healthcare decision-making during the pandemic. We predominantly draw upon 44 interviews conducted in 2021. We found that non-urgent healthcare provision almost collapsed with exhausted healthcare staff trying to deliver a reduced service to patients who felt abandoned. Consequently, our analysis portrayed narratives of suffering, trauma and injustice that were experienced in markedly different ways. Many participants compared a muddled and un(der)funded prison healthcare COVID-19 strategy against that of well financed community healthcare. Decision makers implicitly competed with each other over lines of accountability and responsibility. The research process itself was distorted and resisted by various actors in both overt and covert ways. We argue that prison healthcare is emblematic of a devalued and underfunded public healthcare agenda where actors have been physically and emotionally harmed by habiting space within a struggling institution during the largest public health crisis of the past century. 

Community Perspectives from Pond Inlet, Nunavut, on Shipping Risk and Emergency Preparedness at the Eastern Entrance to the Northwest Passage

Over the past two decades, ship traffic in Arctic Canada has increased, leading to concerns about increased risks to the region, including heightened probabilities of a major shipping accident or disaster. This situation challenges the emergency preparedness capacities of Arctic coastal communities and governments. The Northwest Passage (NWP) is of particular interest due to increased accessibility related to climate change and sea ice reduction, along with its rising popularity as a potential maritime trade route and cruise ship hot spot. The coastal community of Pond Inlet, Nunavut, sits on the eastern mouth of the NWP and is a community with first-hand experiences with increases in ship traffic volume. To explore community perspectives on emergency preparedness for different types of shipping accidents and events, we applied a scenario-based survey with residents of Pond Inlet. Results of the study revealed that Pond Inlet residents have a low level of confidence in what the level of emergency response timing would be if a shipping accident occurred, and they anticipate high levels of devastation for the community and environment in such a moment. They also offered insights into what an Arctic shipping disaster could look like and opportunities for risk mitigation.Au cours des deux dernières décennies, la circulation maritime s’est intensifiée dans l’Arctique canadien, ce qui entraîne des inquiétudes quant aux risques plus élevés encourus par la région, y compris la plus grande probabilité d’accidents ou de catastrophes de navigation. Cette situation exerce de la pression sur les capacités de préparation en cas d’urgence des collectivités côtières de l’Arctique et des gouvernements. Le passage du Nord-Ouest suscite un vif intérêt en raison de son accès facilité par le réchauffement climatique et la diminution de la couverture glaciaire, en plus de son émergence comme voie potentielle de commerce maritime et comme centre névralgique des navires de croisière. La collectivité côtière de Pond Inlet, au Nunavut, qui se trouve à l’embouchure est du passage du Nord-Ouest, est témoin de première main de l’augmentation du débit de circulation maritime. Nous avons mené une enquête auprès des résidents de Pond Inlet en proposant divers scénarios d’accidents et d’événements maritimes pour évaluer leur point de vue sur la préparation aux situations d’urgence. Selon l’étude, les habitants de Pond Inlet ont peu confiance en la rapidité d’intervention en cas d’urgence liée à un accident maritime. En conséquence, ils s’attendent à une dévastation importante, non seulement pour leur collectivité, mais aussi pour l’écosystème. Ils ont également partagé leur perception d’une éventuelle catastrophe maritime ainsi que les moyens d’atténuer les risques connexes

Leslie Tuck and the Origins of Arctic Marine Bird Research in the Canadian Arctic, 1954 – 1957

Leslie M. Tuck (1911 – 79) was a pioneer of Arctic ornithology. He made the first studies in Canada of the breeding biology of Arctic-breeding seabirds, making three visits to major seabird colonies (four colonies total at the three destinations) in the Eastern Arctic in the 1950s. His main purpose was to assess population sizes and demography of Thick-billed Murres. His aims were to better understand the impact of hunting in Newfoundland and Labrador, where probably hundreds of thousands of birds were being harvested annually, and to assess the sustainability of that hunt. His studies were the first of many that have been conducted subsequently. Using archived material, I assess the impact of Tuck’s work and the degree to which it was affected by logistical constraints, highlight the contribution of local Inuit to his research, and discuss some unanswered questions that Tuck’s observations posed. Despite Tuck’s prolific writing, both scientific and popular, questions remain about some of his results, particularly the number of birds in the colonies at the time of his visits, a statistic very pertinent to current conservation concerns. Sadly, because of lack of information on the methods he used, these questions cannot be answered unless further historical material comes to light.Leslie M. Tuck (1911 – 1979) était un précurseur de l’ornithologie dans l’Arctique. Il est reconnu pour avoir réalisé les premières études sur la biologie de la reproduction des oiseaux de mer nichant dans l’Arctique canadien. À ce titre, il a effectué trois expéditions dans des colonies d’oiseaux de mer importantes (représentant un total de quatre colonies réparties sur trois sites) de l’Arctique de l’Est au cours des années 1950. Le principal objectif de sa recherche consistait à évaluer la taille de la population de guillemots de Brünnich ainsi que sa démographie. Il cherchait à mieux comprendre les répercussions de la chasse à Terre-Neuve et au Labrador, où des centaines de milliers d’oiseaux étaient probablement récolté chaque année, et à évaluer la durabilité de cette chasse. Au fil des ans, de nombreuses recherches similaires ont été menées, mais celles-ci étaient les premières. À l’aide d’archives, j’ai évalué l’impact des travaux de Leslie M. Tuck et la mesure dans laquelle ils ont été affectés par les contraintes logistiques. Je mets aussi en évidence l’apport des Inuits de la région à sa recherche et j’aborde certaines questions sans réponse découlant de ses observations. Bien que Leslie Tuck ait produit une abondante littérature, scientifique et grand public, certains de ses résultats suscitent encore des interrogations, notamment le nombre d’oiseaux observés dans les colonies lors de ses visites. Cette donnée est importante dans le contexte actuel de la conservation. Malheureusement, il est impossible d’y répondre en l’absence d’information sur les méthodes utilisées, à moins que des renseignements historiques ne fassent surface

Continuity of biopolitics in late Soviet and post-Soviet Russia: What policy documents can tell us

From a critical public health perspective, public health serves as an instrument of biopolitics in modern societies. Through public health measures, citizens’ bodies are regularised to exhibit desirable characteristics. However, what is considered desirable differs between epochs and political configurations. In this article we aimed to discern what kinds of subjects were envisioned as ideal and what configurations of public health were consequently produced in the late Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. Through the analysis of legislative documents that have regulated Russian public health since their first codification in 1971 until now, we traced transformations of the state’s biopolitical agenda. We demonstrate how the Soviet paternalistic state aimed to provide health(care) for all while coercing those who did not share its ideals of health. We show how the liberalisation and marketisation of the 1990s attempted to transform citizens into responsible patient-consumers, and how, nowadays, public health regulation balances neoliberal ideas of health and Soviet notions of control. ‘Reading off’ legislative documents highlights how public health is transformed in line with biopolitical agendas, which exist in continuity and are deeply rooted both in the agendas of the past and imaginaries of the future.

Canadian Hansard and Arctic Sovereignty: A Narrative Policy Framework Study

This paper demonstrates that Canadian Hansard, which represents an exact transcript of the debates conducted in the House of Commons of Canada, is a valuable source for analyzing political positions on Arctic sovereignty using the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF). Unlike sporadic official documents, Hansard offers a continuous empirical dataset. While our research supports the NPF postulates, it proposes a complementary methodological approach through a Canadian narrative case study. Our findings suggest that MPs’ narratives align with those in official governmental publications and policy frameworks, reflecting the NPF’s primacy of groups and networks and narrative cognition postulates. Even though small to moderate lexicon differences were found in debates on Canadian Arctic sovereignty among the political parties, we observed a consistent lexicon across political affiliations. The period analysis demonstrated that Conservative MPs’ narratives align with what is expected based on NPF postulates. However, the policy reorientation in terms of beliefs, values, and norms caused by the Northern Strategy in conjunction with wavering leadership and unclear Arctic priorities created internal inconsistencies within the Liberal and New Democratic Party (NDP) narratives. These observations suggest that MPs’ narratives are more ambiguous than initially assumed, since they can deviate from official documents or publications because of current events before reverting to their core preferences. This study underscores the potential for continual empirical analysis of Hansard and the NPF’s applicability in Canadian policy studies

The Strong Women’s Circle: Addressing Violence by Restoring Balance, Culture, and Connection

The Strong Women’s Circle is more than a project—it is the creation of ethical space and truth- telling; rooted in Indigenous teachings, lived experience, and community resilience. Brought to life by Indigenous Elders, grandmothers, researchers, and community partners, the Circle provides a space for honesty, healing, and advocacy. At its core, the Strong Women’s Circle seeks to address the root causes of family violence and to transform systems that have long harmed Indigenous children and families. It recognizes that prevention begins with restoring balance—reviving language, land-based teachings, kinship ties, and the spiritual and cultural practices that sustain community well-being. Through dialogue, storytelling, and ceremony, participants are shaping a new vision for safety and belonging that reflects Indigenous ways of knowing and being. This commitment to culturally grounded prevention connects directly to the broader conversation about child welfare reform in Canada

Challenges of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students in English Learning in Higher Education

Following the trend of inclusive education in China during the past decade, a growing number of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students have entered regular tertiary institutions. Learning English as an additional language presents challenges to these DHH students and relevant research is underdeveloped. To explore the English learning experience of DHH students in regular higher education in China, this research conducted a qualitative case study of three DHH students currently enrolled in regular tertiary education. The research findings show that DHH students face multiple difficulties in English learning including inappropriate instruction and assessment methods, insufficient accommodations and support, and a non-supportive physical learning environment. These factors result in a low level of inclusion in the higher education system. The insights from this research contribute to the ongoing global conversation of inclusive education. It offers a comparative view for Western language educators in developing inclusive English education for DHH students

Fair partitions of the plane into incongruent pentagons

Motivated by a question of R. Nandakumar, we show that the Euclidean plane can be dissected into mutually incongruent convex pentagons of the same area and the same perimeter

Autonomy-Supportive Teacher Behaviours and Their Impact on Student Attendance at University Level

Previous research on the motivation types located along a self-determination continuum revealed that the autonomy in students’ motivation has a positive impact on getting favourable results and underlined the importance of autonomy-supportive environments. Given that teacher behaviour is addressed as one of the forms of autonomy-supportive environments, the present study aimed to understand the nature of teacher behaviours in a mass course where the students explained the teacher as the most important motivational drive for their attendance in lectures. To this end, 101 first-year students studying at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences participated in semi-structured interviews. The content analysis of qualitative data showed that the students were motivated by the teachers’ structured guidance, promotion of active participation, and acknowledgement of their ideas. Most importantly, their responses showed that lively teaching performance with use of humour and changing the tone of voice were the most important factors influencing their attendance behaviour. The results indicated that attendance was autonomously motivated by not only teachers’ informative, interactive, and caring behaviours but also teaching performance with some desired characteristics for university level students