8,022 research outputs found

    Consent and the Construction of the Volunteer: Institutional Settings of Experimental Research on Human Beings in Britain during the Cold War

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    This study challenges the primacy of consent in the history of human experimentation and argues that privileging the cultural frameworks adds nuance to our understanding of the construction of the volunteer in the period 1945 to 1970. Historians and bio-ethicists have argued that medical ethics codes have marked out the parameters of using people as subjects in medical scientific research and that the consent of the subjects was fundamental to their status as volunteers. However, the temporality of the creation of medical ethics codes means that they need to be understood within their historical context. That medical ethics codes arose from a specific historical context rather than a concerted and conscious determination to safeguard the well-being of subjects needs to be acknowledged. The British context of human experimentation is under-researched and there has been even less focus on the cultural frameworks within which experiments took place. This study demonstrates, through a close analysis of the Medical Research Council's Common Cold Research Unit (CCRU) and the government's military research facility, the Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment, Porton Down (Porton), that the `volunteer' in human experiments was a subjective entity whose identity was specific to the institution which recruited and made use of the subject. By examining representations of volunteers in the British press, the rhetoric of the government's collectivist agenda becomes evident and this fed into the institutional construction of the volunteer at the CCRU. In contrast, discussions between Porton scientists, staff members, and government officials demonstrate that the use of military personnel in secret chemical warfare experiments was far more complex. Conflicting interests of the military, the government and the scientific imperative affected how the military volunteer was perceived

    Towards a sociology of conspiracy theories: An investigation into conspiratorial thinking on Dönmes

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    This thesis investigates the social and political significance of conspiracy theories, which has been an academically neglected topic despite its historical relevance. The academic literature focuses on the methodology, social significance and political impacts of these theories in a secluded manner and lacks empirical analyses. In response, this research provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for conspiracy theories by considering their methodology, political impacts and social significance in the light of empirical data. Theoretically, the thesis uses Adorno's semi-erudition theory along with Girardian approach. It proposes that conspiracy theories are methodologically semi-erudite narratives, i.e. they are biased in favour of a belief and use reason only to prove it. It suggests that conspiracy theories appear in times of power vacuum and provide semi-erudite cognitive maps that relieve alienation and ontological insecurities of people and groups. In so doing, they enforce social control over their audience due to their essentialist, closed-to-interpretation narratives. In order to verify the theory, the study analyses empirically the social and political significance of conspiracy theories about the Dönme community in Turkey. The analysis comprises interviews with conspiracy theorists, conspiracy theory readers and political parties, alongside a frame analysis of the popular conspiracy theory books on Dönmes. These confirm the theoretical framework by showing that the conspiracy theories are fed by the ontological insecurities of Turkish society. Hence, conspiracy theorists, most readers and some political parties respond to their own ontological insecurities and political frustrations through scapegoating Dönmes. Consequently, this work shows that conspiracy theories are important symptoms of society, which, while relieving ontological insecurities, do not provide politically prolific narratives

    TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF EFFORTFUL FUNDRAISING EXPERIENCES: USING INTERPRETATIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS IN FUNDRAISING RESEARCH

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    Physical-activity oriented community fundraising has experienced an exponential growth in popularity over the past 15 years. The aim of this study was to explore the value of effortful fundraising experiences, from the point of view of participants, and explore the impact that these experiences have on people’s lives. This study used an IPA approach to interview 23 individuals, recognising the role of participants as proxy (nonprofessional) fundraisers for charitable organisations, and the unique organisation donor dynamic that this creates. It also bought together relevant psychological theory related to physical activity fundraising experiences (through a narrative literature review) and used primary interview data to substantiate these. Effortful fundraising experiences are examined in detail to understand their significance to participants, and how such experiences influence their connection with a charity or cause. This was done with an idiographic focus at first, before examining convergences and divergences across the sample. This study found that effortful fundraising experiences can have a profound positive impact upon community fundraisers in both the short and the long term. Additionally, it found that these experiences can be opportunities for charitable organisations to create lasting meaningful relationships with participants, and foster mutually beneficial lifetime relationships with them. Further research is needed to test specific psychological theory in this context, including self-esteem theory, self determination theory, and the martyrdom effect (among others)

    Walking with the Earth: Intercultural Perspectives on Ethics of Ecological Caring

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    It is commonly believed that considering nature different from us, human beings (qua rational, cultural, religious and social actors), is detrimental to our engagement for the preservation of nature. An obvious example is animal rights, a deep concern for all living beings, including non-human living creatures, which is understandable only if we approach nature, without fearing it, as something which should remain outside of our true home. “Walking with the earth” aims at questioning any similar preconceptions in the wide sense, including allegoric-poetic contributions. We invited 14 authors from 4 continents to express all sorts of ways of saying why caring is so important, why togetherness, being-with each others, as a spiritual but also embodied ethics is important in a divided world

    How to Be a God

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    When it comes to questions concerning the nature of Reality, Philosophers and Theologians have the answers. Philosophers have the answers that can’t be proven right. Theologians have the answers that can’t be proven wrong. Today’s designers of Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games create realities for a living. They can’t spend centuries mulling over the issues: they have to face them head-on. Their practical experiences can indicate which theoretical proposals actually work in practice. That’s today’s designers. Tomorrow’s will have a whole new set of questions to answer. The designers of virtual worlds are the literal gods of those realities. Suppose Artificial Intelligence comes through and allows us to create non-player characters as smart as us. What are our responsibilities as gods? How should we, as gods, conduct ourselves? How should we be gods

    Reforming the United Nations

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    The thesis deals with the financial crisis that the United Nations faced starting in 1985 when the US Congress decided to withhold a significant part of the US contribution to the UN regular budget in order to force a greater say for the major contributors on budgetary issues, budgetary restraint and greater efficiency. The UN responded by the adoption of resolution 41/213 of 19 December 1986 that was based on the recommendations of a Group of High-level Intergovernmental Experts ("G-18") set up a year earlier. A new system was introduced regarding the formulation of the regular budget of the United Nations Organisation and a broader process of reform was initiated including a restructuring of the Secretariat and of the intergovernmental machinery in the economic and social fields. After an introductory chapter (Chapter I), the thesis examines the UN problems at the budgetary/financial and administrative/structural levels, the solutions proposed from within and without the United Nations established framework and the actual attempts at reform (Chapters II and ifi). The realisation that the implementation of reforms is rather disjointed and often unsuccessful (e.g. the failure to restructure the intergovernmental machi.neiy) prompts a search for the deeper causes of the UN problems at the political level and the attitudes of the main actors, namely the USA, the USSR, some up-and-coming states, notably Japan, the Third World states and, finally, of the UN Secretary-General and the Secretariat (Chapter 1V). Although the financial crisis may have subsided since 1988 and the USA seem committed to paying up their dues, the deeper UN crisis of identity has not been resolved and is expected to resurface if no bold steps are taken. In that direction, some possible alternative courses for the UN in the future are discussed drawing upon theory and practice (Chapte

    Epistemologies of possibility: social movements, knowledge production and political transformation

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    Urgent global problems - whether military conflicts, economic insecurities, immigration controls or mass incarceration-not only call for new modes of political action but also demand new forms of knowledge. For if knowledge frameworks both shape the horizons of social intelligibility and chart t he realms of political possibility, then epistemological interventions constitute a crucial part of social change. Social movements play a key role in this work by engaging in dissident knowledge practices that open up space for political transformation. But what are the processes and conditions through which social movements generate new ways of knowing?'What is politically at stake in the various knowledge strategies that activists use to generate social change? Despite a growing literature on the role of epistemological dimensions of protest, social movement studies tend to neglect specific questions of epistemological change. Often treating knowledge as a resource or object rather than a power relation and a social practice, social movement scholars tend to focus on content rather than production, frames rather than practices, taxonomies rather than processes. Missing is a more dynamic account of the conditions, means and power relations through which transformative knowledge practices come to be constituted and deployed. Seeking to better understand processes of epistemological transformation, this thesis explores the relationship between social movements, knowledge production and political change. Starting from an assumption that knowledge not only represents the world, but also works to constitute it, this thesis examines the role of social movement knowledge practices in shaping the conditions of political possibility. Drawing from the context of grassroots queer, transgender and feminist organizing around issues of prisons and border controls in North America, the project explores how activists generate new forms of knowledge and forge new spaces of political possibility. Working through a series of concepts-transformation, resistance, experience, co-optation, solidarity and analogy - this thesis explores different ways of understanding processes of epistemological change with in social movement contexts. It considers processes that facilitate or enable epistemological change and those that limit or prohibit such change. Bringing together a range of theoretical perspectives, including feminist, queer, critical race and post-structuralist analyses, and drawing on interviews with grassroots activists, the thesis explores what is politically at stake in the different ways we conceptualise, imagine and engage in processes of epistemological change

    Understanding the Relationship among Durable Goods, Academic Achievement, and School Attendance in Colombia

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    A joint report from the United Nations Development Program and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative indicates that while the number of people living with less than 1.90adaydeclinedglobally,droppingfrom2billionin1990to736millionin2015,thenumberofpeoplewhoexperiencednon−incomepovertyreached1.3billionin2020.Non−incomepoverty,referredtoasmultidimensionalpoverty,assessestheextenttowhichpeoplearedeprivedfromaccessingbasicservicessuchashealth,education,orattainingdecentlivingstandards,despitehavingincomelevelswellabove1.90 a day declined globally, dropping from 2 billion in 1990 to 736 million in 2015, the number of people who experienced non-income poverty reached 1.3 billion in 2020. Non-income poverty, referred to as multidimensional poverty, assesses the extent to which people are deprived from accessing basic services such as health, education, or attaining decent living standards, despite having income levels well above 1.90. Research on development and welfare economics points to assets as the missing piece in the poverty puzzle because they can build capacity. In general, assets can be used to generate income or to enhance quality of life. Income-generating assets such as bonds, credit, or home ownership help people gain economic stability, acquire other assets, and prepare for economic shocks. Quality-of-life-enhancing assets help people improve their living standards, develop agency, and participate in political as well as in social life. Examples of quality-of-life-enhancing assets include education, social capital, and durable goods such as TVs or computers. Most research on assets examines the relationship either between financial assets and poverty or between financial assets and education. An exploration of durable goods and education was the focus of this dissertation. Although not a nascent field, most studies in this area have focused on analyzing how durable goods relate to academic achievement and school attendance mainly in African and Asian countries. From a methodological standpoint, these studies have modeled durable goods utilizing a binary approach, where ownership of durable goods is measured as possession of any durable good, or as an index, using principal component analysis (PCA), which research suggests is not the most robust method for index creation. Such methodological decisions have provided only a partial understanding of the relationship between durable goods and education. For example, findings indicate that possession of durable goods improves achievement in reading, but not in math. However, further research is needed to assess whether different types of durable goods have differential effects on educational outcomes. Hence, this study explored the relationship among durable goods, academic achievement, and school attendance in Colombia through three methodological approaches to operationalize durable goods: inventory, attributional, and index approaches. Data come from the 2017 SABER test, a nation-wide examination that assesses reading and math skills, for fifth and ninth grade students, (N = 621,218). Students with complete durable goods information (N = 364,436) were included. This research added to the existing literature on this field by using different methodological approaches to model durable goods, including the construction of a durable goods index employing exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and by expanding the geographic scope to Latin America. By using hierarchical linear and nonlinear modeling, this study found that, overall, durable goods were positively associated with reading and math outcomes, particularly for fifth graders. Similarly, results indicated that students whose families owned washing machines, computers, or who had Internet access were more likely to go to school

    To be or not to be: a critical realist exploration of factors motivating doctors in their commitment to improve their teaching practice in a clinical setting in Oman

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    Adopting a critical realist framework, this study explored how medical doctors come to understand and espouse, or resist, their roles as teachers in clinical settings and how they seek to become more proficient in that role. This work builds on earlier research on doctors’ professional development as teachers and extends it into the particular cultural context of medical practice and education in the Sultanate of Oman. A qualitative approach was adopted. Data were collected in 2016 through semi-structured in-depth interviews with 27 senior clinicians and by the examination of relevant institutional policy documents. Interviews were conducted in two hospital settings: the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) and the Royal Hospital (RH), which is a Ministry of Health Hospital (MoHH). The findings suggest that Omani medical doctors’ orientation to their roles as teachers and their understanding of their responsibility to prepare the next generation of medical professionals have been transformed by three main events over the last 3 decades. First was the establishment of Sultan Qaboos University College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CoMHS) in 1986. Next came the governmental authorities’ decision to train medical doctors in the overseas hospitals that have structured postgraduate clinical training since the 1990s. Thus, while the senior doctors contributing to this study had received some or all of their medical training outside of Oman, they were helping to build a medical education system which sought to raise the next generations of doctors at home. Finally came the establishment of the Oman Medical Speciality Board (OMSB) in 2006 as the official body responsible for the graduate medical education in Oman. However, due to a lack of clear policy regarding their teaching roles, the Ministry of Health (MoH) doctors felt that they, as compared to their colleagues in the university teaching hospital (SQUH), were being expected to make an extra effort to teach in their clinical setting. All respondents, whether recruited from RH or SQUH, recognised the influence their own experience of being taught had on their personal development as clinical teachers on their return to Oman. Respondents’ exposures to different teaching and learning cultures and styles contributed to their motivation to teach and learn about teaching. In particular, many respondents believed that the religious culture of the country contributed to a pervasive attitude of altruism in the orientation of doctors to both their patients and their students. However, demotivators such as the health system’s hierarchical structure, unclear educational roles, lack of resources—time, human and suitable facilities—for teaching in their hospitals are significant challenges in accomplishing their multiple roles and developing themselves for their educational roles. What emerged as a fundamental challenge for the RH respondents was the lack of any clear policy regarding the doctor’s role as a teacher. The respondents believed that having a clear policy would empower the doctors and give them the support they need for their multiple roles in the clinical setting. Such policy would also guide the administrators and decision-makers in the support and resourcing that they provide to doctors, which they believed were so essential to ensure the next generation of doctors developed according to Oman’s mission and vision. This study’s findings show clearly the need to establish and standardise national medical education policy and procedures for the MoH doctors, thus giving them a clarity of roles and responsibilities they believe to exist for their SQUH colleagues. Having such national standards and policy is an essential part of a health organisation, and hence its implication for the doctors will be to provide them with the road map for the day-to-day management of their multiple complex roles. It is also clear that the Ministry of Health and the educational institutions (governmental and private at both the undergraduate and the postgraduate levels) need to collaborate and cooperate to establish an integrated medical education system for clinical settings, not just for the learners but also for the doctors who teach them, and thus to establish a stable teaching and learning environment. The presence of such a national policy for medical education will have a positive impact upon the quality of medical education, patient care, and upon junior doctors’ willingness to pursue careers as medical educators in clinical settings
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