Building audiences: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts

Building Audiences examines the barriers to and the strategies for increasing audiences in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts sector. This research investigates the attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of current and potential audiences. What is in the report? The findings reveal the key barriers facing audience attendance include: uncertainty about how to behave at cultural events and fear of offending lack of awareness with audiences not actively seeking information about Indigenous arts and outdated perceptions of the sector – that it is only perceived as ‘serious or educational’. Building Audiences also considered several strategies to build audiences for Indigenous arts: providing skills development, advice and resourcing to Indigenous practitioners within the arts sector; increasing representation of Indigenous artists in the main programing of arts companies by including more Indigenous people in decision making roles; promoting relationships between Indigenous arts and non-Indigenous companies to present their work to wider audiences; introducing children and young people to Indigenous arts through schools and extracurricular activities; allowing audiences to feel comfortable engaging by creating accessible experiences; implementing long-term strategies to change negative perceptions of Indigenous arts. The project was commissioned by the Australia Council for the Arts and funding partners include Australia Council for the Arts; Faculty of Business and Law and Institute of Koorie Education, Deakin University; Melbourne Business School, The University of Melbourne

Governing Skills, Governing Workplaces: State-steered Voluntarism in England under New Labour

This thesis examines the Skills Strategy for England under New Labour as a contested project to govern workplace high(er) skill aspiration and behaviour. It analyses differentiated state strategies to promote and (re)produce responsible skills ambitions; the engagement of employer and employee representatives with these strategies to stretch and reshape, and resist and restate the project; and the implications for skills provision. The research involved interpretive analysis of policy documents, and in-depth interviews with policy-making elites; strategic representatives of business and worker/learner interests; and skills providers. To support my empirical focus this thesis is located within theories of the changing form and function of the state. Adopting a ‘cultural political economy’ approach, and drawing on critical governance studies, to illuminate the interplay between meaning production and practice, I challenge the conclusion that mechanisms for skills creation in England are premised on a misunderstanding of the skills motivations of employers and employees. Instead I expose state work through policy to produce and export a skills logic; constituting and positioning governable subjects in relation to their internalisation of these logics; and the role of differentiated policies to manoeuvre subjects towards preferential skills behaviours. The findings highlight that what is presented as a coherent ‘partnership’ approach to producing enhanced skills can be better understood as three distinctive state strategies, (demand-led; leading demand; circumventing lack of demand) , which are aimed at differently imagined and constructed workplaces, (enlightened; inert; or deviant), depending on their demonstrable degree of responsible skills ambition. I therefore term this project ‘state-steered voluntarism’. However, I also expose the limitations and limits of this project. Attempts to present policy coherence lacquers over latent tensions and contradictions between the different skills strategies, creating policy ‘opacities’ which serve as spaces for the strategic voices of employer/employee representation to talk back; disorganising the practices and processes of skills delivery.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

A political ecology of community-based forest and wildlife management in Tanzania: politics, power and governance

The full text of this thesis is restricted until December 2014 for publication reasonsMy research is focused on investigating the socio-political processes taking place within Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) in Tanzania. I draw on a political ecology approach in an investigation of the politics of struggles over natural resources, their management and the benefits that can be derived from this. I bring together theories of policy processes, African politics and scale into an examination of power within two case studies of CBNRM from the wildlife and forestry sectors. I carry out a comparative analysis of these case studies, employing a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews, focus groups, participatory activities, participant observation and document analysis. My research is clustered around three core themes. Firstly, I trace the process of policy reform that introduced CBNRM in both the forest and wildlife sectors, and examine the differences between the governance systems prescribed in policy as a result of these processes. The contrasts between the two sectors in Tanzanian CBNRM are important and multiple. Different policy pathways were adopted, relating to the distinct political economies of forest and wildlife resources and their politicisation within the context of power devolution for CBNRM. The prescribed governance systems in the two sectors contain important differences in the processes by which local communities can apply to participate in CBNRM, the mechanisms of revenue distribution, and the ways in which power is devolved to the local level. Secondly I examine the implementation of these prescribed governance systems and their performance in reality through an exploration of the configurations of power set out in CBNRM, and the struggles that take place around these in ‘politics of scales’ as actors attempt to benefit from CBNRM. I examine the ways the governance systems have been adopted and adapted from those set out in CBNRM policy. I argue that the distinctions between the prescribed governance systems in the two sectors produce separate contexts of re-configuration into the performed governance systems within the case studies. However, I also argue that while the contexts are specific to each sector, both the case studies revealed the same underlying socio-political process of struggles over power to both manage and benefit from natural resources. These struggles to control and benefit from CBNRM are closely linked to the unequal distribution of benefits that were witnessed in both case studies. Finally I examine the performance of CBNRM as an integration of systems of power set out in policy and hidden, often unacknowledged, local contours of power. I address the themes of how the reality of CBNRM differs from that set out in policy, examine the processes ongoing within the projects that permit and maintain elite capture and unequal distribution of benefits, and investigate the socio-political processes of corruption taking place within devolved environmental management. I argue that the struggles over power, combined with hidden aspects, especially neopatrimonialism, local moral economy and the cultural context of corruption, are central to these unequal outcomes and the capture of benefits by a small group of individuals. My research highlights that power, the politics of its devolution to the local level, the struggles that take place around it, and its subtle, hidden forms, lie at the heart of gaining further understanding of the ways in which policies develop, the unexpected outcomes they produce and the inequalities these often entail.This work was funded by a 1+3 scholarship from the Economic and Social Research Counci

Gender Equality in Context: Policies and Practices in Switzerland

Gender Equality has not yet been achieved in many western countries. Switzerland in particular has failed as a forerunner in integrating women in politics and economy. Taking Switzerland as a case study, the authors critically reflect the state of gender equality in different policy areas such as education, family and labour. The collection of articles reveals how gender policies and cultural contexts interact with social practices of gender (in)equality. They also outline the gender(ed) effects of recent changes and reform strategies for scientists, politicians and practitioners. Despite considerable successes at the legal and societal level, equality between women and men has not yet been achieved in many western countries. This is true also for Switzerland, where gender equality issues increasingly are being highlighted. This book critically reflects the state of gender equality in Switzerland by focusing on key areas of gender policy such as education, labour, and the private sphere, especially in the context of economic and social change. The articles are based on multi-disciplinary perspectives as well as innovative methods in studying gender (in)equality. All chapters refer to the National Research Program 60 on 'Gender Equality' (2010-2014) launched by the Swiss National Science Foundation which aimed at generating knowledge on the complex conditions for gender equality in Switzerland. The chapters of this book highlight the 'evidence' and impact of current gender equality policies and objectives. The authors investigate the gender-relevant implications of important policy areas, some of which are still rarely discussed, such as social investment, tax or working time policies. They discuss interdependencies between gender and other categories of social difference, e.g. social class, and also illustrate the meaning of these intersections with respect to the outcomes and limitations of public policies. Further, the articles are dedicated to the analyses of the complex reasons for persisting gender inequalities in the world of work, care and education by looking especially at the interfaces and the transitions between those social fields. The book provides nuanced insight into how gender policies and cultural contexts interact with social practices of gender (in)equality and reflects the media and public reception of scientific studies on gender inequality. It is directed to social and political scientists and yields important information on effective strategies and their relevance to gender equality for politicians and practitioners today

Gender Equality in Context

Gender Equality has not yet been achieved in many western countries. Switzerland in particular has failed as a forerunner in integrating women in politics and economy. Taking Switzerland as a case study, the authors critically reflect the state of gender equality in different policy areas such as education, family and labour. The collection of articles reveals how gender policies and cultural contexts interact with social practices of gender (in)equality. They also outline the gender(ed) effects of recent changes and reform strategies for scientists, politicians and practitioners

Social media use, online political discussion and UK political events 2013-2018: a phenomenographic study

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D.Social media has had observably significant effects on the way many ordinary people participate in politics and appears both symptomatic and causal of a changing landscape. Research, often data-led, has shown marked trends in online behaviour, such as political polarisation, the tendency to form echo chambers and other distinct patterns in the way people debate, share opinions, express their self-identities, consume media and think critically, or otherwise, about political issues. A review of the literature shows that current research in this area across disciplines explores an increasingly wide range of potential influencing factors behind these phenomena, from the social to the psychological to the physiological. However, there have been – far - fewer phenomenological or phenomenographical studies into people’s lived experience of being part of this cultural shift, how their own inclinations, practices and behaviour might be helping to shape the bigger picture, and to what extent they understand this. Starting from an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, and based on in-depth conversations with 84 mostly UK-based adults spoken to one-to-one or in focus groups and webinars over an 18-month period, this study asked people’s about their own perceptions and understanding of their online engagement, focusing on recent major UK political events between 2013 and 2018, (including the Scottish Independence Referendum, The EU Referendum and the Labour Party leadership contests) and considers some of the inferences that might be drawn from people’s own insights. It shows:  People’s experiences are varied, influenced by a range of factors but there is a focus on personal needs and concerns as much as wider political ones  Participants often struggle with behavioural self-awareness and understanding of the motives and actions of others  They can have profound emotional responses owing to the difficulties of using social media but still value it as a medium for political learning and self-expression  A lot of activity takes places in covert, limited or private spaces  Social media itself is an unprecedented learning environment where people begin to understand their own behaviour better and adap

Trust and Ethics in Finance : Innovative ideas from the Robin Cosgrove Prize

The values that guide finance professionals and the core role played by trust in the modern finance industry have been the dominant themes of the best papers submitted for the Robin Cosgrove Prize since it was launched in 2006. Inviting young people to submit innovative ideas to advance ethical approaches to the world of finance in its many manifestations has stimulated a global debate on the role of ethics and integrity in finance. It is important to note that the prize was launched before the topic of ethics in finance became fashionable. It is not a reactive exercise to the current crisis. The aim is to prompt a shift in thinking throughout the world of finance – the fresh ideas submitted for the prize have global relevance. The twenty-three essays in this volume come from young researchers on six continents; their innovative ideas will contribute to future-oriented ethical solutions

Decolonising the University

In 2015, students at the University of Cape Town demanded the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes, the imperialist, racist business magnate, from their campus. The battle cry '#RhodesMustFall' sparked an international movement calling for the decolonization of the world's universities. Today, as this movement grows, how will it radically transform the terms upon which universities exist? In this book, students, activists and scholars discuss the possibilities and the pitfalls of doing decolonial work in the home of the coloniser, in the heart of the establishment. Subverting curricula, enforcing diversity, and destroying old boundaries, this is a radical call for a new era of education. Offering resources for students and academics to challenge and resist coloniality inside and outside the classroom, Decolonising the University provides the tools for radical pedagogical, disciplinary and institutional change

Underperforming institutions:a multiperspective approach to trust and confidence

This qualitative study examined how the complex institutional context of gas extraction in Groningen affects relations and processes of trust, and seeks to better understand what is necessary for restoring trust. In the Groningen gas case, responsibilities for dealing with multiple negative consequences of gas extraction are shared by many different organizations who together form a complex institutional system. Over 60 residents and professionals from various institutions were interviewed for this study. As individuals, case managers and other professionals are seen as benevolent, hard-working and trustworthy people. But as representatives of (large) institutions these professionals struggle to be seen as trustworthy because of persistent problems with institutional performance, with professionals themselves feeling they have insufficient discretionary power. More than interpersonal trust, an entirely different form of trust appears to be at stake here: confidence in the system itself. According to many respondents, confidence in the system is low because the perceived interests of the institutions that shaped this system are not aligned with those of residents and the region. In addition, the positions of power and responsibility within this system are opaque to both residents and professionals. Moreover, the institutional system is perceived to be based on a distrustful attitude toward citizens in general, resulting in elaborate procedures for accountability, control and monitoring. While understandable perhaps for financial and legal reasons, this treatment conveys distrust towards citizens and has become an obstacle to restoring confidence in the system, no matter how well residents and professionals get along as individuals

The future of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the energy transition: options and implications for the LNG industry in a decarbonising world

A global energy transition is currently taking place, driven primarily by the need to combat climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that the current trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions is not consistent with limiting global warming to below 1.5 or 2 °C, relative to pre-industrial levels, a threshold that could lead to severe economic damage and instability for the coming decades. Fossil fuel combustion, industry, transport, and electricity production contribute to approximately 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Energy systems must therefore decarbonise at dramatic rates to move towards a more sustainable environmental development path, but also to cater for population and economic growth in many parts of the world. Natural gas, a fuel with superior environmental credentials than other fossil fuels, has been touted as a “transition fuel” to support the low-carbon transition by promoting fuel-switching and supporting hard-to-abate sectors until largescale electrification with renewable resources and other solutions such as largescale batteries and hydrogen are developed and deployed. Utilising a bespoke meta-framework grounded in institutional theory, combining elements of techno-economic and socio-technical approaches, this study examines how institutional, political, and resource characteristics affect the use of liquified natural gas (LNG), the fastest growing sector within natural gas. Methodology includes the analysis of three country cases (UK, Japan, China). In addition, an in-depth analysis of the LNG industry is conducted, with a focus on the decarbonisation options and implications for the industry, including the impact of development of the hydrogen economy on LNG. The synthesis presents conclusions and findings on LNG’s role in future potential pathways in energy systems in various stages of the energy transition