The Path to Mainstream Finance: Exploring Complementary Currencies and Interest-Free Lending

This paper explores elements of alternative finance including complementary currencies, credit clearing systems, and Islamic Banking practices. I begin first by outlining the issues created by the mainstream western banking model, including wealth inequality, socioeconomic discrimination, environmental degradation, and the collapse of small businesses and local economies. I go on to introduce and define the concepts of complementary currencies, Local Exchange Trading Systems, and credit clearing systems; I argue that these systems challenge the popularly held perceptions that currencies and mainstream banking practices in general are immutable, given, or ideal. To support this assertion, I transition into my research findings first by describing the research methods and experiences that have led me to hold these beliefs. I recount the details of a 5-week internship with Geneva-based complementary currency association Monnaie Léman, where I gained valuable exposure to concepts and structures associated with this field. Finally, I discuss my research findings as related to both complementary currencies and interest-free lending in credit clearing systems. I argue that among the greatest barriers in the way of success for such systems is publicity and public trust. I go on to argue that interest-free lending has proven to succeed through credit clearing systems as well as in Islamic Banking and should therefore be explored further. This paper as a whole serves to inform on the subject and encourage the inclusion of alternative financial systems, primarily complementary currencies and interest-free lending

« Nous ne sommes pas les mamans de l’entreprise! » : « Le féminin » dans les représentations de la fonction des ressources humaines

Dans cet article d'anthropologie du travail, l'auteure soutient que le caractère « genré » de la gestion des ressources humaines (RH) est intégré par ses professionnels et professionnelles en fonction de rapports sociaux de sexe qui traversent un ensemble de représentations sociales du monde du travail et des affaires. À partir d'une perspective ethnographique et historique, elle montre comment les acteurs et les actrices du monde des RH reproduisent et alimentent un système symbolique et social de division et de hiérarchisation des principes masculin et féminin. Deux facettes de la hiérarchisation des principes sexués qui traversent les discours identitaires des spécialistes des RH sont explorés: la valeur différentielle accordée au caractère « féminin » de la profession et la place des catégorisations de sexe dans la promotion d'une conception libérale de l'individu. Il est proposé que l'évocation de différences sexuelles supputées naturelles comme explication de la subalternité des professions liées aux RH dans le monde des affaires constitue un mécanisme par lequel les rapports sociaux de sexe sont révélés, solidifiés et reproduits.This article, focusing on the anthropology of work, contends that HR professionals interpret and represent the gendered nature of human resources management in accordance with gender relations that permeate the entire social field. Employing an ethnographic and historical perspective, it demonstrates the ways in which the HR world reproduces and sustains a system, both symbolic and social, that divides the masculine from the feminine principles, and sets one above the other. Two facets of gender hierarchization, both arising in HR experts' identity discourse, are explored: one is the differential value granted to the “feminine” character of the profession, and the other is the role gender categorization plays in promoting a liberal concept of the individual. The author suggests that citing presumed natural gender differences as an explanation for the subordinate status of HR careers in the business world is in fact a mechanism for revealing, solidifying and replicating gender relations

Thienopyrimidinone based sirtuin-2 (SIRT2)-selective inhibitors bind in the ligand induced 'selectivity pocket'.

Sirtuins (SIRTs) are NAD-dependent deacylases, known to be involved in a variety of pathophysiological processes and thus remain promising therapeutic targets for further validation. Previously, we reported a novel thienopyrimidinone SIRT2 inhibitor with good potency and excellent selectivity for SIRT2. Herein, we report an extensive SAR study of this chemical series and identify the key pharmacophoric elements and physiochemical properties that underpin the excellent activity observed. New analogues have been identified with submicromolar SIRT2 inhibtory activity and good to excellent SIRT2 subtype-selectivity. Importantly, we report a co-crystal structure of one of our compounds (29c) bound to SIRT2. This reveals our series to induce the formation of a previously reported 'selectivity pocket', but to bind in an inverted fashion to what might be intuitively expected. We believe these findings will contribute significantly to understanding of the mechanism of action of SIRT2 inhibitors and to the identification of refined, second generation inhibitors