Looking for stability : Repercussions of the Russian revolution in the work of John Maynard Keynes

The paper analyses and proposes an answer to the question of how the Russian revolution is reflected in the work of John Maynard Keynes. The starting point of the analysis is an interesting yet not very well known episode of the economist’s life: a period when Keynes, then a British Treasury official, was entrusted with the task of creating a currency for Northern Russia. The ensuing design and architecture of the North Russian rouble virtually became an opportunity for Keynes to put into practice some of his general currency-related ideas, and the entire project influenced Keynes’s economic thought in two specific ways. First, the Russian experience can be traced in the economist’s reflections on two fundamentally different financial policies: the inflationary approach adopted by the Bolsheviks, and the anti-inflationary strategy of the British government. Keynes made use of his experience with the Russian hyperinflation in a multitude of his works, especially in the papers on inflation and its consequences. Second, certain elements of the project influenced the actual formation of Keynes’s view on the function and balancing of the international monetary markets. This part is based on monitoring the continuity of thoughts and actions, starting from India Currency and Finance and ending with the North Russian rouble and the design of the bancor

Looking for stability: Experiences of rehabilitation for Congolese survivors of torture in Athens and the role of the Congolese community in their support

Introduction: On-going conflict and political instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has led to increasing numbers of people fleeing their country for Europe. Many need rehabilitation services upon arrival in Greece after experiencing torture in DRC.  The scarcity of state resources and the limited capacity of non-governmental organisations to assist survivors of torture means many needs remain unmet. This study explored the experiences of rehabilitation for male Congolese survivors of torture living in Athens, as well as the potential role of the wider Congolese community in Athens in supporting rehabilitation.  Methods: This qualitative study included in-depth interviews with survivors of torture attending a rehabilitation clinic and key informant interviews with representatives of the wider Congolese community in Athens. Data was thematically analysed to construct and develop codes and themes. Results: 19 survivors and 10 key informants were interviewed. For many survivors, rehabilitation was an unclear concept. Despite the appreciation for services received at the clinic and the amelioration of physical and psychological symptoms, survivors felt rehabilitation was incomplete as it did not meet their accommodation needs nor provide stability through granting refugee status. Survivors were wary of trusting other Congolese people after experiencing torture and did not always associate themselves with the local Congolese community. The role of local Congolese leaders and organisations was not seen as replacing the clinical element of rehabilitation but aiding in practical issues such as information sharing and integration, especially in partnership with other organisations. Discussion: Systemic shortcomings in Greece, including poor access to accommodation and insecure asylum status, impeded processes of rehabilitation. Many participants found themselves navigating an unstable and unpredictable landscape in their journey towards “feeling whole again.” The role of the wider Congolese community in Athens in supporting rehabilitation remains complex and a lack of trust threatens social cohesion. Nonetheless, the willingness of the community to be more proactive should not be ignored by organisations and policy-makers. &nbsp

The impact of organisational culture on WiMax adoption by Saudi SMEs

Although there is some research that examines Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access (WiMax) adoption, the role of the organisational culture by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has not been studied in the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This paper presents the outcome of a study carried out to examine the impact of organisational culture on the WiMax adoption by SMEs in the KSA. Based on Cameron and Quinn's Organisational Culture Assessments Instrument (OCAI), 63 questionnaires were distributed to different SMEs in Saudi Arabia. The results showed that there is a relatively low level of WiMax adoption by Saudi SMEs. Findings stated that Saudi SMEs are dominated by the clan culture where people are less innovative than the people in adhocracy culture

The Necessary Architecture of Self-Regulating Teams

In this paper we present the meaning of self-regulation in Self- Regulating Teams (SRTs) and show the importance of self- regulating teams in a learning organisation. Self-regulating (also known as self-managing) teams guide and perform their own tasks without a visible leader. In the present dynamic business environment, SRTs promise to deliver higher motivation and empowerment to the individuals that participate in them as well as elevated performance and efficiency to the organisations that implement them. However, as management support and change in business culture are prerequisites for the success of SRTs, their implementation is not an easy task. Often, unsuccessful SRTs have been (in our opinion, wrongly) criticized as a source of ambiguity for organisations and as yet another management technique that does not deliver its promises. We start exploring the validity of such a criticism by discussing the shift from a training paradigm to a self- development paradigm in order to draw the picture of a learning organisation as an entity that facilitates learning of all its members and continuously transforms itself as a whole. We continue by showing the contribution that SRTs could make to the process of an organisation that aims to become a learning organisation. In this paper we adopt a cybernetic approach to describe the role of SRTs and to identify the necessary conditions for SRTs to work at all. We present the necessary architecture of SRTs; the architecture that is needed to deliver their promised advantages. We show how Gordon Pasks Conversation Theory could be applied to self-regulating teams and present how learning conversation could provide the framework for successful organisational evolution through team development and team self- regulation. We show how the establishment of such an architecture can lead to a better understanding of self-regulating teams and thus to their successful evolution and development within an organisation. We conclude by stating the implications of our analysis

Becoming a Teacher and Staying One: Examining the Complex Ecologies Associated With Educating and Retaining New Teachers in Rural Australia?

The problem of teacher retention has intensified in Australia, particularly in rural areas, with a number of studies suggesting that beginning teachers are not entering the profession with a commitment to remaining there. This paper reports on a study of 102 new teachers graduating from a rural campus of a major Australian university. Utilising a self devised survey over a 3 year period, graduate reflections were captured on what it meant for them to become a teacher. The research sought to determine graduates’ goals and aspirations for working in the profession in both the long and the short term. Participants reported that while they were looking for stability and would like to remain in their current positions, they were hampered by the present contractual system which eroded any sense of permanence. It is argued that contractual employment disrupts the development of a sense of belonging to the profession and the building of meaningful connections between teachers and their schools, a factor that will require attention if retention issues within rural Australia are to be seriously addressed

Topological fermion condensates from anomalies

We show that a class of fermion theory formulated on a compact, curved manifold will generate a condensate whose magnitude is determined only by the volume and Euler characteristic of the space. The construction requires that the fermions be treated as K\"{a}hler-Dirac fields and the condensate arises from an anomaly associated with a $U(1)$ global symmetry which is subsequently broken to a discrete subgroup. Remarkably the anomaly survives under discretization of the space which allows us to compute the condensate on an arbitrary triangulation. The results, being topological in character, should hold in a wide range of gravitationally coupled fermion theories both classical and quantumComment: 10 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables. minor corrections. Version published in JHE

Minimal field requirement in precessional magnetization switching

We investigate the minimal field strength in precessional magnetization switching using the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation in under-critically damped systems. It is shown that precessional switching occurs when localized trajectories in phase space become unlocalized upon application of field pulses. By studying the evolution of the phase space, we obtain the analytical expression of the critical switching field in the limit of small damping for a magnetic object with biaxial anisotropy. We also calculate the switching times for the zero damping situation. We show that applying field along the medium axis is good for both small field and fast switching times.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Aims and obstacles, gains and setbacks: German women, 1945-1960

No description supplie