#WeJamminStill : agential realism and Trinidad and Tobago's absent terrorism narrative

Electronic version excludes material for which permission has not been granted by the rights holderThis work examines the limitations of Securitisation Theory by applying it to an ethnographic case study of Trinidad and Tobago – the state with the highest per capita ISIL recruitment rate in the Western World. It examines the reasons for the absence of a terrorism narrative for that country until very recently, where one might expect a narrative to have existed for decades. It argues that securitisation thinkers must continue to extend their arguments, as gaps in the current approaches are limiting their utility. To make this argument it shows that while securitisation theory on its own, fails to explain the absence of a narrative due to ineffectively providing a means to address contextual considerations, Agential Realism is able to effectively integrate the necessary historical and cultural realities through the quantum thinking informing its diffractive methodology and its hauntological approach to time and space. In applying both securitisation theories and Agential Realism to the case, it can be seen that history and culture are deeply entangled with the security politics of Trinidad and Tobago as a post-colonial state – as they are for the many other former colonies which make up the global landscape. This work shows that conventional approaches to understanding security in Trinidad and Tobago are limited in the questions which they can answer and that if the discipline seeks to have more profound understandings of a wide range of actors and be truly ‘global’, it must be willing to continue to push the expanding boundaries of critical orthodoxy."This work was supported by the British Federation of Women Graduates [Ref # 189287]." -- Fundin

Plotting the coloniality of conservation

Funding: NORFACE/Belmont Forum (ES/S007792/1).Contemporary and market-based conservation policies, constructed as rational, neutral and apolitical, are being pursued around the world in the aim of staving off multiple, unfolding and overlapping environmental crises. However, the substantial body of research that examines the dominance of neoliberal environmental policies has paid relatively little attention to how colonial legacies interact with these contemporary and market-based conservation policies enacted in the Global South. It is only recently that critical scholars have begun to demonstrate how colonial legacies interact with market-based conservation policies in ways that increase their risk of failure, deepen on-the-ground inequalities and cement global injustices. In this article, we take further this emerging body of work by showing how contemporary, market-based conservation initiatives extend the temporalities and geographies of colonialism, undergird long-standing hegemonies and perpetuate exploitative power relations in the governing of nature-society relations, particularly in the Global South. Reflecting on ethnographic insights from six different field sites across countries of the Global South, we argue that decolonization is an important and necessary step in confronting some of the major weaknesses of contemporary conservation and the wider socio-ecological crisis itself. We conclude by briefly outlining what decolonizing conservation might entail.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Terrorism : A ‘creative’ solution to social insecurity

As relatively young small developing nations, Caribbean states face a number of challenges which lend themselves to various manifestations of insecurity. For many individuals, one such challenge relates to socio-economic insecurity. As a vibrant and creative people, vulnerable Caribbean nationals have innovated countless ways to combat this type of insecurity – music, crafts, cottage industries - but also other via less legitimate, socially unacceptable and even criminal means. Using Trinidad and Tobago as a case study, this paper argues that political violence, couched specifically in the form of terrorism has emerged as a means of attempting to change life circumstances for some of those marginalised by poverty. It examines the genealogy of this type of terrorist activity in Trinidad and Tobago, beginning with the attempted coup of July 1990 and comparing it with the more recent activity of Trinidadians having migrated to Syria to fight with the terrorist insurgent group Daesh. As terrorism can introduce new forms of insecurity to the region, possibly impairing relationships with other states in the international system, I argue that it is imperative to recognise these socio-economic push factors and take them into consideration in policy making in order to be able to treat with the phenomenon meaningfully and protect our societies moving forward

An Opinion Questionnaire on Trinidad and Tobago and terrorism (thesis data)

Raw data collected for qualitative purpose using a virtual ethnographic method. Questionnaire disseminated via social media in July 2018

Plotting the coloniality of conservation

Contemporary and market-based conservation policies, constructed as rational, neutral and apolitical, are being pursued around the world in the aim of staving off multiple, unfolding and overlapping environmental crises. However, the substantial body of research that examines the dominance of neoliberal environmental policies has paid relatively little attention to how colonial legacies interact with these contemporary and market-based conservation policies enacted in the Global South. It is only recently that critical scholars have begun to demonstrate how colonial legacies interact with market-based conservation policies in ways that increase their risk of failure, deepen on-the-ground inequalities and cement global injustices. In this article, we take further this emerging body of work by showing how contemporary, market-based conservation initiatives extend the temporalities and geographies of colonialism, undergird long-standing hegemonies and perpetuate exploitative power relations in the governing of nature-society relations, particularly in the Global South. Reflecting on ethnographic insights from six different field sites across countries of the Global South, we argue that decolonization is an important and necessary step in confronting some of the major weaknesses of contemporary conservation and the wider socio-ecological crisis itself. We conclude by briefly outlining what decolonizing conservation might entail

Assessment, endoscopy, and treatment in patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis during the COVID-19 pandemic (PROTECT-ASUC): a multicentre, observational, case-control study

BackgroundThere is a paucity of evidence to support safe and effective management of patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to identify alterations to established conventional evidence-based management of acute severe ulcerative colitis during the early COVID-19 pandemic, the effect on outcomes, and any associations with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and severe COVID-19 outcomes. MethodsThe PROTECT-ASUC study was a multicentre, observational, case-control study in 60 acute secondary care hospitals throughout the UK. We included adults (≥18 years) with either ulcerative colitis or inflammatory bowel disease unclassified, who presented with acute severe ulcerative colitis and fulfilled the Truelove and Witts criteria. Cases and controls were identified as either admitted or managed in emergency ambulatory care settings between March 1, 2020, and June 30, 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic period cohort), or between Jan 1, 2019, and June 30, 2019 (historical control cohort), respectively. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with acute severe ulcerative colitis receiving rescue therapy (including primary induction) or colectomy. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04411784. FindingsWe included 782 patients (398 in the pandemic period cohort and 384 in the historical control cohort) who met the Truelove and Witts criteria for acute severe ulcerative colitis. The proportion of patients receiving rescue therapy (including primary induction) or surgery was higher during the pandemic period than in the historical period (217 [55%] of 393 patients vs 159 [42%] of 380 patients; p=0·00024) and the time to rescue therapy was shorter in the pandemic cohort than in the historical cohort (p=0·0026). This difference was driven by a greater use of rescue and primary induction therapies with biologicals, ciclosporin, or tofacitinib in the COVID-19 pandemic period cohort than in the historical control period cohort (177 [46%] of 387 patients in the COVID-19 cohort vs 134 [36%] of 373 patients in the historical cohort; p=0·0064). During the pandemic, more patients received ambulatory (outpatient) intravenous steroids (51 [13%] of 385 patients vs 19 [5%] of 360 patients; p=0·00023). Fewer patients received thiopurines (29 [7%] of 398 patients vs 46 [12%] of 384; p=0·029) and 5-aminosalicylic acids (67 [17%] of 398 patients vs 98 [26%] of 384; p=0·0037) during the pandemic than in the historical control period. Colectomy rates were similar between the pandemic and historical control groups (64 [16%] of 389 vs 50 [13%] of 375; p=0·26); however, laparoscopic surgery was less frequently performed during the pandemic period (34 [53%] of 64] vs 38 [76%] of 50; p=0·018). Five (2%) of 253 patients tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during hospital treatment. Two (2%) of 103 patients re-tested for SARS-CoV-2 during the 3-month follow-up were positive 5 days and 12 days, respectively, after discharge from index admission. Both recovered without serious outcomes. InterpretationThe COVID-19 pandemic altered practice patterns of gastroenterologists and colorectal surgeons in the management of acute severe ulcerative colitis but was associated with similar outcomes to a historical cohort. Despite continued use of high-dose corticosteroids and biologicals, the incidence of COVID-19 within 3 months was low and not associated with adverse COVID-19 outcomes