Constructing legitimacy without legality in long term exile: comparing Western Sahara and Tibet

While scholars agree that political legitimacy, or the legitimacy to rule, is sought by governing authorities, the concept itself is often considered to be problematically vague. This article explores how the very ambiguity of the concept of legitimacy may make it ‘good to think with’. Calling into question two problematic assumptions in discussions of legitimacy—whether legitimacy is the prerogative of state authorities, and whether legality is a necessary basis from which to make claims for legitimacy—this article uses the cases of two exiled governing authorities, for Western Sahara and Tibet, to examine how legitimate government can be produced in the absence of full legality as a recognised sovereign state. Attending to similarities and differences between these governments-in-exile we trace the sources of political legitimacy in each case and the techniques through which legitimacy is constructed in exile. Key to this has been the enactment of forms of rational-legal authority, including the establishment of state-like bureaucracies, the provision of services to their diasporic populations and aspirations to develop democratic structures. With the latter presented as a strategy both of securing internal legitimacy and of being seen to adhere to international norms of ‘good governance’, legitimacy in these cases emerges not so much as an achieved status, but as a set of techniques of government. We conclude by reflecting on how liminality – both territorially in terms of displacement and legally in terms of lack of full recognition – can counter-intuitively provide creative grounds for producing legitimacy. Entitled to full text The creation of government

Simulating alternative internationals: geopolitics role-playing in UK schools

Simulation and role-play have a proven track record as pedagogic techniques to provide students with insights into geopolitics, diplomacy, and international relations. Since the first Model United Nations (MUN) in 1947, simulations have proliferated within secondary and tertiary educational settings. However, these activities overwhelmingly focus on recognised nation-states, neglecting polities that are not UN member states, but that are often acutely affected by conflict and human rights abuses. This paper is part of a broader project that is seeking to bring the realities and stories from such communities, territories, and peoples – a number of which have come together as the ‘Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization’ (UNPO) – to a wider audience. Loosely based on MUN simulations, the ‘Model UNPO’ exercise involves participants being assigned a UNPO member, researching that polity’s context and rights claims, and coming together for a structured role-play debate. Drawing on participant observation of Model UNPO exercises with 16–18 year old students at thirteen UK secondary schools we examine how geopolitics can be taught and learned within school classroom settings, how young people make sense of geopolitics, and how they imagine and articulate alternative internationals. We assess what simulation exercises can offer to understandings of the intersection of young peoples’ geopolitics and geographies of education. In doing so, we analyse how students draw on ‘known worlds’ and advocate for possible worlds through role-playing unrepresented diplomats, and examine the role of clause writing in the scripting of geopolitical imaginaries, and how role-playing forges empathy and solidarities. We conclude by making the case for foregrounding young people as critical and creative geopolitical thinkers

Geography and legal expertise: The transgressive nature of research at the boundary of geography and law‐making

While legal geographers have considered the geography of legal processes, there has been less attention on how geographers are contributing to the making of law. By orientating attention to the experiences and attitudes of the geographical profession, this paper examines how specific forms of knowledge become legally useful and the ensuing ethical, legal, and disciplinary implications. We are interested in the situated nature of these productions, as scholars seek to advocate for specific communities, interests, or environments, practices that are set within and, at times, against personal or institutional priorities. We argue that geographical legal work involves transgressing established professional practices and locations of knowledge production. Through our interviews with geographers, we explore three aspects of transgression as a situated practice: the experiences of boundary crossing, the costs and benefits of entering new epistemic communities, and the lasting impacts of intervening in legal processes. In conclusion, we outline the mechanisms through which geographical legal work could be better accommodated within the work of professional geographers

Compassion focused therapy: exploring mechanisms of change and investigating the feasibility of a transdiagnostic group for older adults

Objectives: Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) is a relatively new intervention, particularly with the older adult population. In line with complex intervention development, this project aims to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of CFT as an intervention for older adults with anxiety and/or depression. Methods: This project used a mixed methods design, utilising outcome measures and semistructured interviews. The CFT group was delivered in an Older Adult Community Mental Health setting. Outcome measures were administered pre-, during and post-intervention, participants were then invited for an interview to collect their views. Feasibility factors such as recruitment and retention were evaluated. Outcome measures were analysed for treatment signals using non-parametric analysis. Thematic analysis was used to evaluate interview data. Results: Thirteen participants started the CFT intervention and ten completed. The findings suggest CFT is an acceptable and feasible intervention for older adults. The results inform future research in this area with indicators for development. Research participation was varied, with participants wanting to participate but also finding the outcome measures to be onerous to complete. Conclusions: It is unclear from this study whether CFT is a feasible and acceptable treatment intervention for older adults with anxiety and/or depression. Further research could address barriers to referrals within the CMHT setting. Additional research is also needed to identify mechanisms of change within CFT treatment

Sovereignty without Territory? The Political Geographies of the Tibetan Government-in-exile

PhDBased on ethnographic research on exiled Tibetan political institutions and practices in India, this thesis investigates sovereignty in exile. The Tibetan Government-in-exile (TGiE), based in India since 1960, remains internationally unrecognised, has limited judicial powers and lacks de jure sovereignty over territory in both Tibet and in exile. However, this exiled administration claims legitimacy as the official representative of the Tibetan population, attempts to make its voice heard within the international community and performs a number of state-like functions in relation to its diasporic 'citizenry'. Given that conventional political theory is premised on the territorially-bounded sovereign nation-state as a container for political activity, and governments are legitimated according to the territory over which they hold authority, this is an exceptional case of a government which appears to refute these orthodox assumptions. As such, this study of the form, functioning and limitations of TGiE and of its existence and state-like operations within another sovereign state, raises important theoretical issues which speak directly to political geography's concerns with power and space. These include the nature of sovereignty, the extent to which sovereignty can be disentangled from jurisdiction over territory, and the role of 'the exception' in geopolitical discourses. Employing multi-sited ethnographic methodologies, the broad aims of this research are to investigate what kind of political entity the TGiE is, and to examine the nature ofthe sovereignty it articulates. To do so, attention is paid to Tibetan settlements in exile as sites of sovereignty, TGiE's construction of a Tibetan 'population' in exile and its management of livelihoods, the negotiation of exilic political identities, and the strategic spatialities of TGiE's election systems. Rejecting realist arguments that polities such as TGiE should be viewed merely as discrepant forms of political practice, it is argued that if sovereignty is understood as historically contingent and socially constructed - and the state, sovereignty, and territory thereby conceptually disentangled - this opens up the theoretical possibility of territorial-less sovereign polities.ESRC 1+3 studentship (Ref. PTA-031-2004- 00028) and a grant for translation costs from the University of London Central Research Fund

Using narrative messages to improve parents' experience of learning that a child has overweight

BackgroundProviding feedback to parents that their child is overweight often elicits negative reactance. AimsTo investigate the acceptability and feasibility of providing theoretically-informed narrative messages to reduce negative reactance, alongside National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) feedback informing parents when their child is overweight. MethodsA mixed-methods design: interviews with parents of primary school-aged children explored responses to the narratives; a randomised trial examined the feasibility, acceptability and promise of enclosing narratives with NCMP feedback.FindingsInterview participants found the narratives acceptable and indicated they could help lessen negative reactance. Pilot study data suggested 65% of parents could identify with the characters, with evidence of elaboration (applying the story to one’s own situation) evident in 65% of those reading the accounts. ConclusionAlthough the findings are limited by the low response rates typical in this population, narrative messages were acceptable to parents, feasible to deliver and show promise. <br/

Institutional responses to electronic procurement in the public sector

Purpose: The primary aim of the research presented in this paper is to address the gap in the literature with regard to the factors that affect the uptake and application of e-procurement within the public sector. Design/methodology/approach: This analysis was achieved through five in-depth case studies – based upon extensive interviews, observation and documentation reviews - conducted within central and local government organisations. Findings: The study shows that despite being very different in terms of their form and function, each of our five case study organisations had achieved similar levels of progress in terms of their adoption of e-procurement technologies. In short every organisation had already adopted BACS, all five were also actively planning to implement: e-tendering; e-award; e-contract and e-catalogue systems, but none had any intention of adopting e-marketplaces or e-auctions. Research limitation/implications: The results of this study will help individual organisations to better understand their current situations and the barriers that will need to be overcome before they can significantly expand their adoption of e-procurement technologies. Originality/value: In addition to presenting one of the first detailed studies of the adoption of e-procurement technologies, this study also breaks new ground through its use of the lens of "Institutional theory" to help interpret the findings

Teaching and Learning Competencies Valued by Engineering Educators: A Pilot Study

At the onset of this paper, it is important to provide context by highlighting two backdrop narratives, which have prompted and guided this research project:-(i) Since 2015, The National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning in Ireland has undergone an extensive consultation process on professional development, resulting in a guiding document entitled the National Professional Development Framework (NPDF) for Staff Who Teach in Higher Education [1].(ii) The Technological University Alliance for Dublin has placed Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) and Institute of Technology Tallaght (ITT) on a merger trajectory towards technological university designation [2] under the Technological Universities Act 2018. Project Levitus is a cross-institute initiative tasked to develop and pilot a disciplinaryspecific (engineering) version of the NPDF, transferrable to other academic disciplines. A steering committee, comprising of engineering educators, teaching and learning specialists, academic managers and HR representatives, has guided the project

Practising legal geography

Funder: Royal Geographical Society; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000623Abstract: Legal geography is experiencing a “practice turn.” Understanding the material, spatial, and embodied characteristics of law is illuminating hitherto obscured experiences of justice, injustice, and political practice. It is contributions from scholars at the forefront of these concerns, from geography and cognate disciplines, that comprise the papers in the Practising Legal Geography special section. Across seven papers we are seeking to explore the ways in which a focus on practice can deepen our understanding of the methods and praxis of legal geography. Following an outline of its conceptual underpinnings and origins of the research, we give a short account of each of the papers and point to areas of future research for which they provide provocation. Practice emerges as much more than empirical detail – it is a perspective through which we can trace the operation of power and struggle in the making of law

Lymphoid Tissue Inducer Cells: Pivotal Cells in the Evolution of CD4 Immunity and Tolerance?

Phylogeny suggests that the evolution of placentation in mammals was accompanied by substantial changes in the mammalian immune system: in particular lymph nodes and CD4 high affinity memory antibody responses co-evolved during the same period. Lymphoid tissue inducer cells (LTi) are members of an emerging family of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) that are crucial for lymph node development, but our studies have indicated that they also play a pivotal role in the long-term maintenance of memory CD4 T cells in adult mammals through their expression of the tumor necrosis family members, OX40- and CD30-ligands. Additionally, our studies have shown that these two molecules are also key operators in CD4 effector function, as their absence obviates the need for the FoxP3 dependent regulatory T (Tregs) cells that prevent CD4 driven autoimmune responses. In this perspective article, we summarize findings from our group over the last 10 years, and focus specifically on the role of LTi in thymus. We suggest that like memory CD4 T cells, LTi also play a role in the selection and maintenance of the Tregs that under normal circumstances are absolutely required to regulate CD4 effector cells