The contested and contingent outcomes of Thatcherism in the UK

The death of Margaret Thatcher in April 2013 sparked a range of discussions and debates about the significance of her period in office and the political project to which she gave her name: Thatcherism. This article argues that Thatcherism is best understood as a symbolically important part of the emergence of first-phase neoliberalism. It engages with contemporary debates about Thatcherism among Marxist commentators and suggests that several apparently divergent positions can help us now reach a more useful analysis of Thatcherism’s short- and long-term outcomes for British political economy. The outcomes identified include: an initial crisis in the neoliberal project in the UK; the transformation of the party political system to be reflective of the politics of neoliberalism, rather than its contestation; long-term attempts at the inculcation of the neoliberal individual; de-industrialisation and financial sector dependence; and a fractured and partially unconscious working class. In all long-term outcomes, the contribution of Thatcherism is best understood as partial and largely negative, in that it cleared the way for a longer-term and more constructive attempt to embed neoliberal political economy. The paper concludes by suggesting that this analysis can inform current debates on the left of British politics about how to oppose and challenge the imposition of neoliberal discipline today

Agronomic and economic evaluation of weed management methods in organic herb and vegetable production systems

Weed management is reported to be a major constraint in organic agriculture. Organic growers also report a lack of information about non-chemical weed control. A series of field trials was conducted in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and echinacea (Echinacea purpurea (L.) Moench) crops to evaluate a range of weed control methods commonly used in organic herb and vegetable production systems. The criteria for evaluating the methods were weed growth, crop yield and cost effectiveness. Hand weeding, tillage and organic mulches (hay and pelletised paper) were effective to very effective at suppressing weeds. In general, good weed suppression was correlated with good crop yields; however, crop yields were reduced by tillage and paper mulch. Deducting the cost of the weed control method from the gross crop value caused a greater re-ranking of the treatment performance in lettuce than in echinacea. This is partly due to the different growing season lengths and market prices of the two test crops. The most cost effective methods for managing weeds in lettuce were tillage and hand weeding. When weed competition is low, the unweeded control treatment was also cost effective. In echinacea, hand weeding and hay mulch were consistently the most cost effective methods for managing weeds

Graduate Students’ Perceptions of Written Feedback at a Private University in Pakistan

Excellence in academic performance at the graduate level requires good command of writing skills. Teachers’ written feedback can help students to develop their writing skills. However, several personal and contextual factors may influence feedback processes and its utilization by students. Therefore, understanding these factors is essential to improve the practice of written feedback. This study aimed to appraise the quality of written feedback in the graduate programmes and to ascertain students’ perceptions about it at a private university in Pakistan. A purposive sample of 15 participants comprised the study. The data were collected through in-depth students’ interviews and the teachers’ written comments on students’ assignments. Data were coded and cat egorized to assess the pattern of similarities and dissimilarities. The analysis of comments on students’ assignments indicated that the amount of feedback varied greatly. Although some feedback focused on form and style, most comments focused on the content. Moreover, the tone of comments lacked a balance of praise, criticism and suggestions. The data from students’ interviews were categorized as: variations in experiences, functions of written feedback, effectiveness of feedback and utilization of feedback. With some exceptions students’ perceptions about the quality feedback corroborated with the teachers’ comment analysis. The study highlights several factors that impact the receptivity and utilization of feedback by students. Therefore, teachers need to be aware and trained to enhance the quality of their feedback

Direct CP Violation in Angular Distribution of B→J/ψK∗B\to J/\psi K^{*} Decays

We show that the study of certain observables in the angular distribution in $B\to J/\psi K^*$ provide clear test for CP vioaltion beyond the Standard Model. These observables vanish in SM, but in models beyond SM some of them can be large enough to be measured at B factories.Comment: 7 pages, Revte

The Big Society and the Conjunction of Crises: Justifying Welfare Reform and Undermining Social Housing

The idea of the “Big Society” can be seen as culmination of a long-standing debate about the regulation of welfare. Situating the concept within governance theory, the article considers how the UK coalition government has justified a radical restructuring of welfare provision, and considers its implications for housing provision. Although drawing on earlier modernization processes, the article contends that the genesis for welfare reform was based on an analysis that the government was forced to respond to a unique conjunction of crises: in morality, the state, ideology and economics. The government has therefore embarked upon a programme, which has served to undermine the legitimacy of the social housing sector (most notably in England), with detrimental consequences for residents and raising significant dilemmas for those working in the housing sector

The Political Economy of Myanmar's Transition

This is an Author's Original Manuscript of an article whose final and definitive form, the Version of Record, has been published in the JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY ASIA, 07 Feb 2013, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00472336.2013.764143.Since holding elections in 2010, Myanmar has transitioned from a direct military dictatorship to a formally democratic system and has embarked on a period of rapid economic reform. After two decades of military rule, the pace of change has startled almost everyone and led to a great deal of cautious optimism. To make sense of the transition and assess the case for optimism, this article explores the political economy of Myanmar's dual transition from state socialism to capitalism and from dictatorship to democracy. It analyses changes within Myanmar society from a critical political economy perspective in order to both situate these developments within broader regional trends and to evaluate the country's current trajectory. In particular, the emergence of state-mediated capitalism and politico-business complexes in Myanmar's borderlands are emphasised. These dynamics, which have empowered a narrow oligarchy, are less likely to be undone by the reform process than to fundamentally shape the contours of reform. Consequently, Myanmar's future may not be unlike those of other Southeast Asian states that have experienced similar developmental trajectories

From a fossil-fuel to a biobased economy : the politics of industrial biotechnology

Industrial biotechnology involves the replacement of petrochemical processes and inputs with more energy-efficient and renewable biological ones. It is already being used in the production of biofuels and bioplastics and has been touted as a means by which modern economies can be shifted toward a more competitive, low-carbon growth model. This paper does two things. First, it outlines the policy framework established in the European Union and the narrative of a knowledge-based bioeconomy (KBBE) underpinning this. Second, it argues that the ‘win – win’ rhetoric contained within the KBBE narrative is misleading. Among the different groups commenting on the use of industrial biotechnology, the paper locates cleavages between farmers and agribusiness, between those convinced and those sceptical of environmental technofixes, and between procorporate and anticorporate NGOs. Taken together, they show the purported transition from a fossil-fuel to a bio-based economy to be a resolutely political one

Re-stating the post-political: depoliticization, social inequalities, and city-region growth

This paper argues that city-region building debates and relatedly ‘post-political’ literatures are missing critical perspectives on the state, particularly the state’s continued existence as a social relation and an arena for politics, its role in the regulation of uneven development and the conflicts and struggles that arise from this. The paper brings the state centrally into ‘post-political’ debates via a critical analysis of the interrelationships between depoliticization and neoliberalism. Focusing on Sheffield (South Yorkshire, England) in the context of devolution and deal-making public policy, the paper explores the seemingly consensual visionmaking dynamics of this city region and dissects the tensions around economic governance, welfare austerity and social inequalities to get a handle on the ‘postpolitical’ depoliticized state in, and of, contemporary capitalism

Final-State Phases in B→B \to Baryon-Antibaryon Decays

The recent observation of the decay \ob \to \Lambda_c^+ \bar p suggests that related decays may soon be visible at $e^+ e^-$ colliders. It is shown how these decays can shed light on strong final-state phases and amplitudes involving the spectator quark, both of which are normally expected to be small in B decays.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D, references and discussion of helicity amplitudes adde

Enhanced Direct CP Violation in B±→ρ0π±B^{\pm} \to \rho^{0} \pi^{\pm}

We study direct CP violation in the hadronic decay $B^{\pm} \to \rho^{0}\pi^{\pm}$, including the effect of $\rho - \omega$ mixing. We find that the CP violating asymmetry is strongly dependent on the CKM matrix elements, especially the Wolfenstein parameter $\eta$. For fixed $N_{c}$ (the effective parameter associated with factorization), the CP violating asymmetry, $a$, has a maximum of order $30$ when the invariant mass of the $\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ pair is in the vicinity of the $\omega$ resonance. The sensitivity of the asymmetry, $a$, to $N_{c}$ is small. Moreover, if $N_{c}$ is constrained using the latest experimental branching ratios from the CLEO collaboration, we find that the sign of $\sin \delta$ is always positive. Thus, a measurement of direct CP violation in $B^{\pm} \to \rho^{0}\pi^{\pm}$ would remove the mod$(\pi)$ ambiguity in ${\rm arg}[ - \frac{V_{td}V_{tb}^{\star}}{V_{ud}V_{ub}^{\star}}]$.Comment: 37 pages, 7 figure