Rolling back the prison estate: The pervasive impact of macroeconomic austerity on prisoner health in England

Prisons offer policymakers an opportunity to address the pre-existing high prevalence of physical and mental health issues among prisoners. This notion has been widely integrated into international and national prison health policies, including the Healthy Prisons Agenda, which calls for governments to address the health needs of prisoners and safeguard their health entitlement during imprisonment, and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 concerning reducing inequality among disadvantaged populations.However, the implementation of the austerity policy in the United Kingdom since the re-emergence of the global financial crisis in 2008 has impeded this aspiration. This interdisciplinary paper critically evaluates the impact of austerity on prison health. The aforementioned policy has obstructed prisoners’ access to healthcare, exacerbated the degradation of their living conditions, impeded their purposeful activities and subjected them to an increasing level of violence.This paper calls for alternatives to imprisonment, initiating a more informed economic recovery policy, and relying on transnational and national organizations to scrutinize prisoners’ entitlement to health. These systemic solutions could act as a springboard for political and policy discussions at national and international forums with regard to improving prisoners’ health and simultaneously meeting the aspirations of the Healthy Prisons Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals

The Turks of Bulgaria: An Outlier Case of Forced Migration and Voluntary Return

The Turks of Bulgaria have a particular place in displacement scholarship. As the largest minority group in the country, they were subjected to ethnic cleansing in the 1980s. Anti-Turkish sentiments culminated in state-led systematic exclusion and more than 340,000 Turks were forcefully migrated to Turkey in 1989. After the collapse of Communism and the transition to democracy, almost 40 per cent of them voluntarily returned to Bulgaria, making it an outlier case in displacement literature. Drawing on 46 semi-structured interviews, this study contributes to the literature by offering a grounded conceptual framework which explains the macro-dynamics of voluntary and sustainable return through an in-depth study of the Bulgarian case. The findings suggest that three-factors account for the voluntary return: (i) the peaceful transition to inclusive democracy and power-sharing; (ii) the dual moderation between majority and minority representatives; and (iii) the enabling role of international actors, primarily the EU-anchor

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Restitution of forest property in post-communist Bulgaria

After ten years of post-communist transformation, the current Bulgarian Government has only recently initiated the task of wholesale reform of the communist-era structures extant within the forestry sector. This is an unavoidably complex process, involving the reorganisation of tenure over forest resources (restitution to pre-communist era owners), the privatisation and decentralisation of commercial and related activities in the woods, the redefinition of the role of the State in oversight, management and planning, and the development of a supportive institutional context for the growth of small and medium private enterprise throughout the forestry production process. This paper discusses the legal, institutional, economic and environmental implications of forest restitution. The author argues that the particular Bulgarian solution to the reform of forestry tenure structures, based on a mix of private and public ownership, arises out of the crucible of Bulgarian historical geography and the requirements of contemporary neoliberal models of transition. On the basis of the analysis, a number of important implications for Bulgarian, and indeed all post-communist forestry sectors, are raised for major related processes, such as the development of a robust private forestry sector, the limitation of the role of the State to conservation, management and oversight, and the reconfiguration of timber as a resource for local economic development. (C) 2000 United Nations. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Overcoming energy injustice? Bulgaria’s renewable energy transition in times of crisis

The effects of renewable energy transitions on energy costs and economic growth have led to cost concerns and a prioritisation of economic issues during the economic crisis. Bulgaria, the EU's poorest state has nevertheless already achieved its 2020 renewable energy targets. This achievement seems to challenge the widely held assumption that poorer countries struggle to meet environmental objectives. This paper analyses the drivers and implications of Bulgaria's renewables expansion in order to test general expectations on influential factors shaping renewable energy transitions in the context of poor states. The analysis employs the energy justice framework to identify the justice, equity and fairness implications of Bulgaria's renewable energy for its energy system. Despite the clear justice implications raised by changing energy systems, there are limited pieces analysing the relationship between renewable energy transitions and energy justice. The analysis shows that whilst Bulgaria was able to reach its renewables targets, the mismanaged, opaque and corrupted policy framework undermines the longterm viability of its energy transition. The analysis confirms the importance of long term strategies, effective policies and a supportive macroeconomic context for renewable energy transitions, and highlights the negative implications of renewables to achieve greater energy justice if these factors are omitted

Restructuring the Bulgarian wood-processing sector: Linkages between resource exploitation, capital accumulation, and redevelopment in a postcommunist locality

Based on recent primary research, in this paper I explore the emerging contours of the postcommunist forest-products sector in Bulgaria and, in particular, the ramifications for community-level restructuring in a small, mountainous region located in the southwestern part of the country. After ten years of postcommunist transformation, the current government has only very recently initiated the task of wholesale reform of communist-era structures extant within the forestry and forest-products sectors. This is an unavoidably complex process, involving reorganising tenure over forest resources (with some measure of restitution of formerly private forest resources to precommunist era owners), privatising and decentralising logging and related activities in the woods, redefining the role of the state in oversight, management, and planning, and the development of a supportive institutional context for the growth of, in particular, small and medium-sized private enterprises throughout the forest-products chain. Restructuring of the wood-products sector in one Bulgarian mountain locality is the primary focus of the paper, with a five-fold descriptive typology of wood-processing enterprises proposed. Based in part on manifest differentiations in corporate governance and institutional network orientation (including markets), this typology assists with the analysis of challenges to sustainable local restructuring in resource dependent communities. These models are discussed in turn in terms of both the theoretical implications for Bulgaria's 'transition model of development' and the empirical ramifications for regional development and well-being

International Social Survey Programme: Family and Changing Gender Roles IV - ISSP 2012

Familie und Wandel der Geschlechterrollen. Themen: Einstellung zur Berufstätigkeit von Müttern; Rollenverteilung von Mann und Frau in Beruf und Haushalt; präferierter Umfang der Berufsausübung von Frauen während verschiedener Phasen der Kindererziehung; Einstellung zu Ehe, zum Zusammenleben ohne Heirat sowie zu Scheidung; Einstellung zu Alleinerziehenden und Kinderbetreuung durch gleichgeschlechtliche weibliche und männliche Paare (alternative Familienformen); ideale Kinderzahl für eine Familie; Einstellungen gegenüber Kindern: Ansichten über die Bedeutung von Kindern für das Leben; Gleichstellung, Pflege und Sozialpolitik: Einstellung zu Elternzeit für Vollzeit arbeitende Eltern und präferierte Dauer der Elternzeit; Finanzierungsquelle für Elternzeit, präferierte Aufteilung der Elternzeit zwischen Mutter und Vater; bester Weg zur Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf für eine Familie mit einem Kind im Vorschulalter und die am wenigsten wünschenswerte Option; Hauptzahler für die Kinderbetreuung von Kindern im Vorschulalter (Familie selbst, Regierung oder aus öffentlichen Mitteln oder Arbeitgeber); Familie oder Institutionen, die in erster Linie Unterstützung bieten sollte für ältere Menschen; Hauptzahler für diese Hilfe für ältere Menschen; Zeitbudget für beide Partner für Arbeiten im Haushalt und die Betreuung von Familienangehörigen; Verwaltung der Einkünfte in der Ehe oder Partnerschaft; Verteilung von Pflichten im Haushalt und in Familienangelegenheiten; Bestimmung des Zeitanteils an der Hausarbeit; Entscheidungsgewalt innerhalb der Partnerschaft bei Wochenendaktivitäten und bei der Kindererziehung; Hauptverdiener (Partner mit höherem Einkommen); Belastung durch Familie, Arbeit und Haushalt; Einschätzung des allgemeinen persönlichen Glücks; Zufriedenheit mit der Arbeitssituation und dem Familienleben; Selbsteinschätzung der Gesundheit; Berufstätigkeit der Mutter während der Kindheit des Befragten; Erwerbstätigkeit des Befragten und des Ehepartners / Partners in verschiedenen Phasen der Kindererziehung. Demographie: Geschlecht; Alter; Geburtsjahr; Jahre in der Schulbildung; Bildung (länderspezifisch); höchster Bildungsabschluss; Erwerbstätigkeit; wöchentliche Arbeitszeit; Arbeitsverhältnis; Anzahl der Mitarbeiter; Vorgesetztenfunktion; Anzahl der beaufsichtigten Mitarbeiter; Organisationsart (Profit / Non-Profit bzw. öffentlich / privat); Beruf (ISCO- 88); Haupterwerbsstatus; Zusammenleben mit einem Partner; Gewerkschaftsmitgliedschaft; Religionszugehörigkeit oder Konfession (länderspezifisch); Gruppen von Glaubensgemeinschaften; Kirchgangshäufigkeit; Selbsteinstufung auf einer Oben-Unten-Skala; Beteiligung bei der letzten allgemeinen Wahl; Parteipräferenz (länderspezifisch) und Wahlverhalten bei der letzten Wahl; links-rechts-Einstufung der gewählten Partei; ethnische Zugehörigkeit (länderspezifisch); Anzahl der Kinder; Anzahl der Kleinkinder; Haushaltsgröße; Einkommen des Befragten (länderspezifisch); Familieneinkommen (länderspezifisch); Familienstand, Wohnsitz: Stadt- Land; Region (länderspezifisch). Informationen zum Ehepartner bzw. Partner bezüglich: Erwerbstätigkeit; Wochenarbeitszeit; Arbeitsverhältnis: Vorgesetztenfunktion; Beruf (ISCO-88); Haupterwerbsstatus; Bildung und Alter des derzeitigen Ehegatten bzw. Partners; Dauer der aktuellen Beziehung. Zusätzlich verkodet wurde: Interviewdatum; case substitution flag; Erhebungsmethode; Gewichtungsfaktor