Geographies of Production I: Relationality revisited and the ‘practice shift’ in economic geography

This report considers recent developments and ongoing debates around relational economic geography, and a growing body work that has focused on economic practices as a means to better understand production processes and economic development. In particular it examines the critical reaction to relational thinking within the sub-discipline, and the nature of the debate about the degree to which relational work is - and needs to be - regarded as distinct from more traditional approaches to economic geography. It then considers how relational economic geography has become inflected towards an epistemological and methodological focus on practice. It argues that this engagement with economic practices provides the basis to respond to some of the limitations identified with earlier work, and opens up fruitful new potential for theorizing the nature of agency in the space economy

A study of turbulent flow between parallel plates by a statistical method

Turbulent Couette flow between parallel plates was studied from a statistical mechanics approach utilizing a model equation, similar to the Boltzmann equation of kinetic theory, which was proposed by Lundgren from the velocity distribution of fluid elements. Solutions to this equation are obtained numerically, employing the discrete ordinate method and finite differences. Two types of boundary conditions on the distribution function are considered, and the results of the calculations are compared to available experimental data. The research establishes that Lundgren's equation provides a very good description of turbulence for the flow situation considered and that it offers an analytical tool for further study of more complex turbulent flows. The present work also indicates that modelling of the boundary conditions is an area where further study is required

The development of a business rules engine: A condition-action rule algorithm for finite static lists

An on-going theme in Information Systems research is the methods by which business rules are gathered and implemented. Additionally, many efforts have been made to develop reusable algorithms for processing business rules to reduce system development, testing, and maintenance time. The objective of this paper is to present a reusable algorithm for condition-action rules that are applied to finite static lists. More importantly, the algorithm is generalized for complex rules that are complicated by differences in user authorizations and other dependencies

Being an Early-Career CMS Academic in the Context of Insecurity and ‘Excellence’: The Dialectics of Resistance and Compliance

Drawing on a dialectical approach to resistance, we conceptualise the latter as a multifaceted, pervasive and contradictory phenomenon. This enables us to examine the predicament in which early-career Critical Management Studies academics find themselves in the current times of academic insecurity and ‘excellence’, as gleaned through this group’s understandings of themselves as resisters and participants in the complex and contradictory forces constituting their field. We draw on 24 semi-structured interviews to map our participants’ accounts of themselves as resisters in terms of different approaches to tensions and contradictions between, on the one hand, the interviewees’ Critical Management Studies alignment and, on the other, the ethos of business school neoliberalism. Emerging from this analysis are three contingent and interlinked narratives of resistance and identity – diplomatic, combative and idealistic – each of which encapsulates a particular mode (negotiation, struggle, and laying one’s own path) of engaging with the relationship between Critical Management Studies and the business school ethos. The three narratives show how early-career Critical Management Studies academics not only use existing tensions, contradictions, overlaps and alliances between these positions to resist and comply with selected forces within each, but also contribute to the (re-)making of such overlaps, alliances, tensions and contradictions. Through this reworking of what it means to be both Critical Management Studies scholars and business school academics, we argue, early-career Critical Management Studies academics can be seen as active resisters and re-constituters of their complex field

‘Jugglers’, ‘copers’ and ‘strugglers’: academics’ perceptions of being a head of department in a post-1992 UK university and how it influences their future careers

This study investigates the experiences of academics who became department heads in a post-1992 UK university and explores the influence that being in the position has on their planned future academic career. Drawing on life history interviews undertaken with 17 male and female heads of department, the paper constitutes an in-depth study of their careers in the same university. The findings suggest that academics who become department heads not only need the capacity to assume a range of personal and professional identities, but need flexibility to regularly adopt and switch between them. Whether individuals can successfully balance and manage such multiple identities, or whether they experience major conflicts within or between them, greatly affects their experiences of being a head of department and seems to influence their subsequent career decisions. The paper concludes by proposing a conceptual framework and typology to interpret the career trajectories of academics that became department heads in the case university

Getting published: group support for academic librarians

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to offer an effective model for increasing professionals' competence, enthusiasm and success in writing and publishing. Design/methodology/approach - Recent articles on writing groups in the field of library and information science are reviewed and a case study of a group at RMIT University Library is presented. The authors were the facilitator and group members who were librarians, most with relative inexperience in research, writing, presenting, and getting published. A self-rating confidence survey was created to establish developmental priorities which were then addressed through input from experts, practical application and reflection, and constructive advice and support from group members. Group effectiveness and outcomes were evaluated at mid- and end-point review meetings, through a post-intervention confidence survey and by tracking publication output. Findings - The group became a cohesive, task-focused and productive team. A post-intervention confidence survey evidenced improvements on all survey items at a team level. Each member affirmed that they had gained substantial knowledge of writing, presentation and research techniques and understanding of the publication process. Publication output increased over the benchmark year of 2010, and in 2011 and 2012 exceeded initial targets. Practical implications - The model presented offers a practical and effective approach to increasing competence and output in writing, presenting, research, and getting published and can be easily adopted by others. Originality/value - Most literature reviews on library professional writing groups relate to professionals required to publish. The Get Published Group comprised Australian librarians writing voluntarily

The shape of equality: discourses around the Section 28 repeal in Scotland

This article focuses on conceptualizations of equality in the discourses deployed in the campaign to repeal Section 28 in Scotland. I use the parliamentary debates and two newspapers: the Daily Record, which supported the campaign to Keep the Clause, and The Guardian, which supported repeal, to exemplify the different discursive articulations around equality and citizenship. I suggest that the Scottish example provides further evidence of the ways in which liberalism naturalizes heterosexuality as the standard for citizenship and thus bequeaths a hierarchy of 'equality' and citizenship in the realm of sexuality, wherein lesbian and gay citizenship is either rendered invalid or characterized as 'special rights'. However, within the narrow confines of the parliamentary debates, more expansive and differentiated notions of citizenship and equality are evident. Whilst I conclude that the 'shape' of equality achieved through the repeal has been moulded to support institutionalized heterosexuality - with Section 28 replaced by statutory guidelines on sex education which advocate marriage - I also suggest equality is contested, both through the recognition of transformations in heterosexual family forms and the appeal to non-discrimination as a democratic principle. It is possible, therefore, that current destabilizations of the heterosexual social order simultaneously destabilize the precepts of liberal democracy

Turning points: the personal and professional circumstances that lead academics to become middle managers

In the current higher education climate, there is a growing perception that the pressures associated with being an academic middle manager outweigh the perceived rewards of the position. This article investigates the personal and professional circumstances that lead academics to become middle managers by drawing on data from life history interviews undertaken with 17 male and female department heads from a range of disciplines, in a post-1992 UK university. The data suggests that experiencing conflict between personal and professional identities, manifested through different socialization experiences over time, can lead to a ‘turning point’ and a decision that affects a person’s career trajectory. Although the results of this study cannot be generalized, the findings may help other individuals and institutions move towards a firmer understanding of the academic who becomes head of department—in relation to theory, practice and research

Continuing professional development for LIS professionals: Maximizing potential in an organizational context

Library and information science (LIS) professionals must be engaged in continuing professional development (CPD) to ensure their skills, knowledge and capabilities regularly to meet their own objectives and the requirements of employer organizations. This article highlights crucial issues relating to CPD in the interrelated contexts of the individual professional and their employer organization. We address three rhetorical questions: Are we willing to learn? Do we have opportunities to learn? Are we able to apply what we learn? Discussion and recommendations are drawn from relevant literature and grounded in workplace experience. Included are exemplar case studies from a large Australian academic library. Individuals' motivation and learning skill levels have significant impact on CPD effectiveness, as does the organizational learning climate. Professionals and employers jointly bear responsibility for CPD outcomes. LIS professionals should reflect on what motivates them towards continuous learning and organizations must create supportive learning environments. We find that both staff and employers are responsible for sourcing learning opportunities and utilizing effective learning transfer strategies. In this context, we recommend that a deliberate and thoughtful approach to CPD as this will result in increased benefits to LIS professionals and organizations

Sociology and postcolonialism: another 'missing' revolution?

Sociology is usually represented as having emerged alongside European modernity. The latter is frequently understood as sociology's special object with sociology itself a distinctively modern form of explanation. The period of sociology's disciplinary formation was also the heyday of European colonialism, yet the colonial relationship did not figure in the development of sociological understandings. While the recent emergence of postcolonialism appears to have initiated a reconsideration of understandings of modernity, with the development of theories of multiple modernities, I suggest that this engagement is more an attempt at recuperating the transformative aspect of postcolonialism than engaging with its critiques. In setting out the challenge of postcolonialism to dominant sociological accounts, I also address `missing feminist/queer revolutions', suggesting that by engaging with postcolonialism there is the potential to transform sociological understandings by opening up a dialogue beyond the simple pluralism of identity claims