Love, rights and solidarity: studying children's participation using Honneth's theory of recognition

Recent attempts to theorize children’s participation have drawn on a wide range of ideas, concepts and models from political and social theory. The aim of this article is to explore the specific usefulness of Honneth’s theory of a ‘struggle for recognition’ in thinking about this area of practice. The article identifies what is distinctive about Honneth’s theory of recognition, and how it differs from other theories of recognition. It then considers the relevance of Honneth’s conceptual framework to the social position of children, including those who may be involved in a variety of ‘participatory’ activities. It looks at how useful Honneth’s ideas are in direct engagement with young people’s praxis, drawing on ethnographic research with members of a children and young people’s forum. The article concludes by reflecting on the implications of this theoretical approach and the further questions which it opens up for theories of participation and of adult–child relations more generally

A Fig Leaf for Action: Critical perspectives on Youth Policy in the UK

This paper discusses the changing approaches that governments in the UK have adopted in response to youth issues and the extent to which these are reflected in dominant social constructions of youth. Our discussion offers a perspective on youth policy in the UK in 2014 set within an historical context with a particular focus on policy from England. We outline the debates and issues facing youth policy as a result of the opportunities and tensions created by recent transformations of local authority services and changes to the way in which youth work is funded and consider the implications of this for young people. Finally we consider some of the key elements to youth policy in the current era of austerity. The picture of youth policy in the UK highlights the extent to which ideological crusades based on moral panics and deficit models of youth have given rise to a stream of policies which have successively failed to connect with the lives of young people whilst redirecting the blame onto young people themselves. We argue that constantly changing and underfunded initiatives have done little more than provide a ‘fig leaf’ to provide the illusion that something is being done

Long-term photometry and periods for 261 nearby pulsating M giants

We present the results of a 5.5-year CCD photometric campaign that monitored 261 bright, southern, semi-regular variables with relatively precise Hipparcos parallaxes. The data are supplemented with independent photoelectric observations of 34 of the brightest stars, including 11 that were not part of the CCD survey, and a previously unpublished long time-series of VZ Cam. Pulsation periods and amplitudes are established for 247 of these stars, the majority of which have not been determined before. All M giants with sufficient observations for period determination are found to be variable, with 87% of the sample (at S/N >= 7.5) exhibiting multi-periodic behaviour. The period ratios of local SRVs are in excellent agreement with those in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Apparent K-band magnitudes are extracted from multiple NIR catalogues and analysed to determine the most reliable values. We review the effects of interstellar and circumstellar extinction and calculate absolute K-band magnitudes using revised Hipparcos parallaxes.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures; accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ

Participating together: dialogic space for children and architects in the design process

© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupTypically enmeshed in the ‘voice’ perspective within children’s participation debates, there are currently sporadic insights into designer–child creative dialogue. Drawing on the findings of a Leverhulme Trust-funded research project, this paper articulates moments of dialogue between architects and children in spatial design processes, whose spatial and symbolic qualities help to understand the interactions and meeting of cultures. Several authors have discussed the transformational potential for adults and children to ‘co-author’ identities in dialogical contexts. The paper builds on this body of research to suggest that design dialogue offers the space, literally and metaphorically, for children and architects to participate together. Identifying the qualities of the dialogic design space as potentially present in children’s and adults’ everyday cultures and interdependent relations, it is proposed that this dialogical framework might diversify architects’ and children’s roles in the design process and enrich practices and perceptions of design participation

Synthetic photometry for carbon-rich giants II. The effects of pulsation and circumstellar dust

By using self-consistent dynamic model atmospheres which simulate pulsation-enhanced dust-driven winds of AGB stars we studied in detail the influence of (i) pulsations of the stellar interiors, and (ii) the development of dusty stellar winds on the spectral appearance of long period variables with carbon-rich atmospheric chemistry. While the pulsations lead to large-amplitude photometric variability, the dusty envelopes cause pronounced circumstellar reddening. Based on one selected dynamical model which is representative of C-type Mira variables with intermediate mass loss rates, we calculated synthetic spectra and photometry for standard broad-band filters from the visual to the near-infrared. Our modelling allows to investigate in detail the substantial effect of circumstellar dust on the resultant photometry. The pronounced absorption of amorphous carbon dust grains leads to colour indices which are significantly redder than the corresponding ones based on hydrostatic dust-free models. Only if we account for this circumstellar reddening we get synthetic colours that are comparable to observations of evolved AGB stars. The photometric variations of the dynamical model were compared to observed lightcurves of the C-type Mira RU_Vir which appears to be quite similar to the model. We found good agreement concerning the principal behaviour of the BVRIJHKL lightcurves and also quantitatively fitting details. The analysed model is able to reproduce the variations of RU_Vir and other Miras in (J-H) vs. (H-K) diagrams throughout the light cycle. Contrasting the model photometry with observational data for a variety of galactic C-rich giants in such colour-colour diagrams proved that the chosen atmospheric model fits well into a sequence of objects with increasing mass loss rates, i.e., redder colour indices.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Catalog of Galactic Beta Cephei Stars

We present an extensive and up-to-date catalog of Galactic Beta Cephei stars. This catalog is intended to give a comprehensive overview of observational characteristics of all known Beta Cephei stars. 93 stars could be confirmed to be Beta Cephei stars. For some stars we re-analyzed published data or conducted our own analyses. 61 stars were rejected from the final Beta Cephei list, and 77 stars are suspected to be Beta Cephei stars. A list of critically selected pulsation frequencies for confirmed Beta Cephei stars is also presented. We analyze the Beta Cephei stars as a group, such as the distributions of their spectral types, projected rotational velocities, radial velocities, pulsation periods, and Galactic coordinates. We confirm that the majority of these stars are multiperiodic pulsators. We show that, besides two exceptions, the Beta Cephei stars with high pulsation amplitudes are slow rotators. We construct a theoretical HR diagram that suggests that almost all 93 Beta Cephei stars are MS objects. We discuss the observational boundaries of Beta Cephei pulsation and their physical parameters. We corroborate that the excited pulsation modes are near to the radial fundamental mode in frequency and we show that the mass distribution of the stars peaks at 12 solar masses. We point out that the theoretical instability strip of the Beta Cephei stars is filled neither at the cool nor at the hot end and attempt to explain this observation

On the nature of the galactic early-B hypergiants

Despite their importance to a number of astrophysical fields, the lifecycles of very massive stars are still poorly defined. In order to address this shortcoming, we present a detailed quantitative study of the physical properties of four early-B hypergiants (BHGs); Cyg OB2 #12, zeta Sco, HD190603 and BP Cru. These are combined with an analysis of their long-term spectroscopic and photometric behaviour in order to determine their evolutionary status. The long-term datasets revealed that they are remarkably stable over long periods (>40yr), with the possible exception of zeta Sco prior to the 20th century, in contrast to the typical excursions that characterise luminous blue variables (LBVs). Zeta Sco, HD190603 and BP Cru possess physical properties intermediate between B supergiants and LBVs; we therefore suggest that BHGs are the immediate descendants and progenitors (respectively) of such stars (for initial masses in the range ~30-60Msun). In contrast, while the wind properties of Cyg OB2 #12 are consistent with this hypothesis, the combination of extreme luminosity and spectroscopic mass (~110Msun) and comparatively low temperature means it cannot be accommodated in such a scheme. Likewise, despite its co-location with several LBVs above the Humphreys-Davidson (HD) limit, the lack of long term variability and its unevolved chemistry apparently excludes such an identification. Since such massive stars are not expected to evolve to such cool temperatures, the properties of Cyg OB2 #12 are difficult to understand under current evolutionary paradigms. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 36 pages, 19 figures (of which 17 pages are online supplemental material). Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Collaborative writing with young people with disabilities: raising new questions of authorship and agency

The process of communication between author and reader is a critical issue in examining any text. When considering the communication of ideas from young people whose voices are seldom heard, the journey from author to audience has particular significance. The construction of children and young people as ‘authors’ is important, especially for those with learning difficulties or who struggle to comply with the current emphasis on spelling, punctuation and grammar. This article relates to a UK Research-Council-funded three-year collaborative research project involving the co-creation of fictional stories with young people with disabilities to represent aspects of their lives. Drawing on frameworks from narratology, I analyse the co-creation of one of the stories, and present an interpretation and elaboration of the discourse structure of narrative fiction to illustrate the complexities of the relationship between the multi-faceted ‘author’ and community ‘reader’ of these stories. The combination of qualitative research and fictional prose has particular characteristics and implications for the dissemination and communication of research findings; while extending feminist critique of Barthes’ claim for the death of the author provides new insights for engaging children in writing with their own voice

CRIRES-POP: A library of high resolution spectra in the near-infrared

New instrumental capabilities and the wealth of astrophysical information extractable from the near-infrared wavelength region have led to a growing interest in the field of high resolution spectroscopy at 1-5 mu. We aim to provide a library of observed high-resolution and high signal-to-noise-ratio near-infrared spectra of stars of various types throughout the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. This is needed for the exploration of spectral features in this wavelength range and for comparison of reference targets with observations and models. High quality spectra were obtained using the CRIRES near-infrared spectrograph at ESO's VLT covering the range from 0.97 to 5.3 mu at high spectral resolution. Accurate wavelength calibration and correction for of telluric lines were performed by fitting synthetic transmission spectra for the Earth's atmosphere to each spectrum individually. We describe the observational strategy and the current status and content of the library which includes 13 objects. The first examples of finally reduced spectra are presented. This publication will serve as a reference paper to introduce the library to the community and explore the extensive amount of material.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A; see also the project webpage http://www.univie.ac.at/crirespo

Creativity, play and transgression: children transforming spatial design

Spatial designers, who engage children in their design process, most often frame children in this context as experts in their own lives. Findings from a study based at the University of Sheffield, point to new understandings of this participatory role, in which children move towards the role of designer. Drawing on interviews including visual methods with 16 spatial designers and guided by phenemonography, the paper seeks to represent the designers’ perspectives on the under-explored area of child–designer interactions. Findings suggest that the designers understand these interactions to comprise a reciprocal and co-created space – a sphere of behaviours, actions and ways of being which together becomes an enabler of change. It is proposed that what Bhabha (The Location of Culture, 1994) refers to as a ‘Third Space’ in which the ‘dominant culture might be temporarily subverted and its structural systems of power and control renegotiated’ can be re-imagined in this co-design context. The paper weaves together theoretical discourse and empirical illustrations of perceived creativity, play and transgression, which – at their intersection – support a potential transformation of understandings of children as co-designers and of the design process itself