After Blood Diamonds: The Moral Economy of Illegality in the Sierra Leonean Diamond Market

While the role of illegal markets in contemporary inner-state wars has drawn considerable attention from both researchers and policy makers, very little is known about the fate of these “war economies” after the end of violent conflict. This paper aims to contribute to an understanding of the functioning of illegal markets under the condition of limited statehood by examining what has become of a notorious war economy: the illegal diamond market in Sierra Leone. Drawing on extensive field research, this analysis of the social order of the illegal diamond market in post-conflict Sierra Leone shows that while illegal activities are still widespread, the illegal diamond economy has largely been peacefully integrated into the social and economic order of the post-conflict society. In contrast to the violent and conflict-fueling war economy, the post-conflict illegal diamond economy is surprisingly benign. I argue that the illegal Sierra Leonean diamond market today can be understood as a moral economy of illegality, since economic action in this market is decisively shaped and regulated by widely held social norms about legitimate and illegitimate practices. It is highly interwoven with both the state and the legal markets, and has thus become part of the “peace economy.”Während die Rolle illegaler Märkte in zeitgenössischen innerstaatlichen Kriegen erhebliche Beachtung in der Politikforschung und -praxis erfahren hat, ist nur sehr wenig über das Schicksal dieser „Kriegsökonomien“ nach dem Ende gewaltsamer Konflikte bekannt. Dieses Diskussionspapier will zu einem Verständnis der Funktionsweise ille­galer Märkte unter der Bedingung schwacher Staatlichkeit beitragen. Dazu wird ein illegaler Markt untersucht, der als typische Kriegsökonomie Berühmtheit erlangte: der illegale Diamantenmarkt in Sierra Leone. Basierend auf umfangreicher Feldforschung zeigt diese Analyse der sozialen Ordnung des illegalen Diamantenmarktes in der sierra-leonischen Postkonfliktgesellschaft, dass illegales Handeln auf dem sierra-leonischen Diamantenmarkt zwar immer noch weit verbreitet ist, sich die illegale Diamantenökonomie jedoch weitgehend friedlich in die soziale und ökonomische Ordnung der Postkonfliktgesellschaft integriert hat. Im Gegensatz zur gewaltsamen und Gewalt verstetigenden Kriegsökonomie ist der illegale Diamantenmarkt in der Nachkriegsgesellschaft überwiegend gewaltfrei. Der illegale Diamantenmarkt im heutigen Sierra Leone kann als „moralische Ökonomie der Illegalität“ verstanden werden, da ökonomisches Handeln auf diesem Markt entscheidend durch soziale Normen der Legitimität und Illegitimität geprägt und reguliert wird. Indem der illegale Markt eng mit dem legalen Markt und dem Staat verwoben ist, wird er zum Teil der „Friedensökonomie“.1 Introduction 2 Theoretical framework: From war economy to moral economy of illegality 3 The illegal Sierra Leonean diamond market in historical perspective 4 Method 5 The illegal diamond market in post-war Sierra Leone Honorable thieves: Legitimacy in the illegal diamond market “Mafians, crooks and powder-sellers”: Illegitimacy in illegal markets 6 Conclusion Reference

„Wie erforschen wir Konflikte?“ : Herausforderungen ethischer Feldforschung im Kontext von Ressourcenkonflikten

Feldforschung in Konfliktkontexten geht mit besonderen Herausforderungen einher, wie der sensiblen Natur erhobener Daten, Sicherheitsrisiken für lokale Gemeinden, Aktivist_innen und Forscher_innen oder dem Risiko bestehende gesellschaftliche Polarisierungen zu ver-stärken und damit die Transformation von Konflikten zu erschweren. Anhand unserer For-schung über Ressourcenkonflikte wollen wir mit diesem Beitrag eine breitere Debatte zu den ethischen Herausforderungen von Feldforschung zu Konflikten im Globalen Süden im deutschsprachigen Raum anstoßen. Wie lässt sich Feldforschung in diesem Feld ethisch und nachhaltig durchführen? Wie gehen wir mit den Privilegien als weiße, europäische For-scher_innen und mit den einhergehenden Erwartungen an uns um? Wie lassen sich Prinzi-pien von Do no harm und Do good praktisch umsetzen? Wir arbeiten zunächst die englisch-sprachige Debatte auf, diskutieren daran anknüpfend kritisch unsere eigenen Erfahrungen in Kambodscha, Senegal und Sierra Leone entlang des Forschungsprozesses (Zugang zum Feld, Datenerhebung, Verwendung der Daten) und machen abschließend konkrete Vorschlä-ge, wie die Ausbildung von Nachwuchswissenschaftler_innen hinsichtlich der Vorbereitung auf die Feldforschung in Deutschland verbessert werden kann

Walking school buses as a form of active transportation for children : A review of the evidence

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Walking School Buses (WSBs) offer a potentially healthier way for children to get to school whilst reducing traffic congestion. A number of pressing societal challenges make it timely to evaluate evidence of their value. METHODS: Studies that focused solely on WSBs were identified through online and manual literature searches. Twelve WSB studies involving a total of 9173 children were reviewed. Study aims, designs, methods, outcomes, and barriers and facilitators were examined. RESULTS: WSBs were found to be associated with increased prevalence of walking to school and general activity levels though not always significantly. Time constraints emerged as barriers to WSBs, impacting on recruitment of volunteers and children to the WSBs. Facilitators of WSBs included children enjoying socializing and interacting with the environment. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary evidence of the health value of WSBs was demonstrated, along with recommendations for the design of future studies. By tackling barriers of time constraints, volunteer recruitment and parents’ safety concerns whilst at the same time, increasing convenience and time savings for families, future WSBs are likely to be more sustainable and taken up by more schools. Implications for future innovation in school health were identified

Pilot evaluation of a walking school bus program in a low-income, urban community

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To evaluate the impact of a walking school bus (WSB) program on student transport in a low-income, urban neighborhood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The design was a controlled, quasi-experimental trial with consecutive cross-sectional assessments. The setting was three urban, socioeconomically disadvantaged, public elementary schools (1 intervention vs. 2 controls) in Seattle, Washington, USA. Participants were ethnically diverse students in kindergarten-5^thgrade (aged 5–11 years). The intervention was a WSB program consisting of a part-time WSB coordinator and parent volunteers. Students' method of transportation to school was assessed by a classroom survey at baseline and one-year follow-up. The Pearson Chi-squared test compared students transported to school at the intervention versus control schools at each time point. Due to multiple testing, we calculated adjusted p-values using the Ryan-Holm stepdown Bonferroni procedure. McNemar's test was used to examine the change from baseline to 12-month follow-up for walking versus all other forms of school transport at the intervention or control schools.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At baseline, the proportions of students (n = 653) walking to the intervention (20% +/- 2%) or control schools (15% +/- 2%) did not differ (<it>p </it>= 0.39). At 12-month follow up, higher proportions of students (n = 643, <it>p </it>= 0.001)) walked to the intervention (25% +/- 2%) versus the control schools (7% +/- 1%). No significant changes were noted in the proportion of students riding in a car or taking the school bus at baseline or 12-month follow up (all <it>p </it>> 0.05). Comparing baseline to 12-month follow up, the numbers of students who walked to the intervention school increased while the numbers of students who used the other forms of transport did not change (<it>p </it>< 0.0001). In contrast, the numbers of students who walked to the control schools decreased while the numbers of students who used the other forms of transport did not change (<it>p </it>< 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A WSB program is a promising intervention among urban, low-income elementary school students that may promote favorable changes toward active transport to school.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00402701</p

Gender Differences and the Impact of Partnership and Children on Quality of Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic and its protective measures have changed the daily lives of families and may have affected quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study was to analyze gender differences in QoL and to examine individuals living in different partnership and family constellations.Methods: Data from the Gutenberg COVID-19 cohort study (N = 10,250) with two measurement time points during the pandemic (2020 and 2021) were used. QoL was assessed using the EUROHIS-QOL questionnaire. Descriptive analyses and autoregressive regressions were performed.Results: Women reported lower QoL than men, and QoL was significantly lower at the second measurement time point in both men and women. Older age, male gender, no migration background, and higher socioeconomic status, as well as partnership and children (especially in men), were protective factors for QoL. Women living with children under 14 and single mothers reported significantly lower QoL.Conclusion: Partnership and family were protective factors for QoL. However, women with young children and single mothers are vulnerable groups for lower QoL. Support is especially needed for women with young children

After Mining: contrived dereliction, dualistic time and the moment of rupture in the presentation of mining heritage.

Since the early twentieth century, attempts have been made to promote sites relating to mining as industrial heritage. Since the rise of the heritage industry in the 1980s, the number and size of the mining sites being managed and promoted as heritage destinations has dramatically increased across the West. This paper will examine how the strategies for interpreting such sites rely on different temporal constructions. As well as outlining the ‘technological development’ approach and its association with linear time, the paper will unpack the key features of the less understood strategy of ‘contrived dereliction’ and the dualistic temporal framework that it relies on. This argument will reference a range of mining heritage sites visited and researched by the author: Kennecott, Skagway and Dyea in Alaska, Bodie in California and Geevor in Cornwall. The paper will also identify how curators have used the moment of rupture that can feature in dualistic temporal constructions to promote a specific political viewpoint and consider the social consequences of accepting the dualistic temporal construction that underpins contrived dereliction

"It Can Lift Someone from Poverty": Imagined Futures in the Sierra-Leonean Diamond Market

This article aims to draw attention to the role of the future in artisanal mining. It argues that in order to understand the dynamics of artisanal mining, research must understand miners’ imaginaries of a better future which inform their economic strategies in the present. Drawing on Jens Beckert’s (2016) concepts of fictional expectations and imagined futures, the article investigates projections of the future and strategies of future-making in the Sierra Leonean diamond market. If these expectations remain poorly understood, development policies will not be able to address the needs of mining communities