Disciplining dissent: multicultural policy and the silencing of Arab-Canadians

This article examines two cases of state funding cuts to the most prominent and active Arab community organisations operating in Canada, the Canadian Arab Federation and Palestine House. It contextualises the cuts within broader ‘crisis of multiculturalism’ debates imbued with anti-Arab/anti-Muslim racism and the silencing of Palestine advocacy efforts; arguing that the shift to a neoliberal multiculturalism, emptied of anti-racist politics, along with the construction of national identities around a set of western ‘core values’ has advanced a marginalising politics that demarcates a ‘civilisational’ border which excludes Arabs, Muslims, and by extension Palestine solidarity. Curtailing freedom of expression, partly through funding cuts, thus becomes a key mechanism for disciplining dissent in racialised communities

Experimental ionization of atomic hydrogen with few-cycle pulses

We present the first experimental data on strong-field ionization of atomic hydrogen by few-cycle laser pulses. We obtain quantitative agreement at the 10% level between the data and an {\it ab initio} simulation over a wide range of laser intensities and electron energies

Precise and accurate measurements of strong-field photoionisation and a transferrable laser intensity calibration standard

Ionization of atoms and molecules in strong laser fields is a fundamental process in many fields of research, especially in the emerging field of attosecond science. So far, demonstrably accurate data have only been acquired for atomic hydrogen (H), a species that is accessible to few investigators. Here we present measurements of the ionization yield for argon, krypton, and xenon with percentlevel accuracy, calibrated using H, in a laser regime widely used in attosecond science. We derive a transferrable calibration standard for laser peak intensity, accurate to 1.3%, that is based on a simple reference curve. In addition, our measurements provide a much-needed benchmark for testing models of ionisation in noble-gas atoms, such as the widely employed single-active electron approximation.Comment: Article: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PRL (manuscript number LZ14457). Supplementary information: 7 pages, 6 figures, appended to end of main Articl

Selection and performance of village health teams (VHTs) in Uganda: lessons from the natural helper model of health promotion

Background: Community health worker (CHW) programmes have received much attention since the 1978 Declaration of Alma-Ata, with many initiatives established in developing countries. However, CHW programmes often suffer high attrition once the initial enthusiasm of volunteers wanes. In 2002, Uganda began implementing a national CHW programme called the village health teams (VHTs), but their performance has been poor in many communities. It is argued that poor community involvement in the selection of the CHWs affects their embeddedness in communities and success. The question of how selection can be implemented creatively to sustain CHW programmes has not been sufficiently explored. In this paper, our aim was to examine the process of the introduction of the VHT strategy in one rural community, including the selection of VHT members and how these processes may have influenced their work in relation to the ideals of the natural helper model of health promotion. Methods: As part of a broader research project, an ethnographic study was carried out in Luwero district. Data collection involved participant observation, 12 focus group discussions (FGDs), 14 in-depth interviews with community members and members of the VHTs and four key informant interviews. Interviews and FGD were recorded, transcribed and coded in NVivo. Emerging themes were further explored and developed using text query searches. Interpretations were confirmed by comparison with findings of other team members. Results: The VHT selection process created distrust, damaging the programme’s legitimacy. While the Luwero community initially had high expectations of the programme, local leaders selected VHTs in a way that sidelined the majority of the community’s members. Community members questioned the credentials of those who were selected, not seeing the VHTs as those to whom they would go to for help and support. Resentment grew, and as a result, the ways in which the VHTs operated alienated them further from the community. Without the support of the community, the VHTs soon lost morale and stopped their work. Conclusion: As the natural helper model recommends, in order for CHW programmes to gain and maintain community support, it is necessary to utilize naturally existing informal helping networks by drawing on volunteers already trusted by the people being served. That way, the community will be more inclined to trust the advice of volunteers and offer them support in return, increasing the likelihood of the sustainability of their service in the community

Representations of the postcolonial state in the childhood metaphor in selected postcolonial texts

In the analysis of postcolonial literature, there is no systematic construction of a framework to factor in childhood as a metaphor. Postcolonial criticism has not been engaged further in the enterprise of literary analysis, particularly on form. Consequently, this research fills the need to recast the focus of postcolonial criticism to the analysis of form in literature†(through the use of metaphor of childhood). Hawley picks out one author, Salman Rushdie who is often studied under postcolonial criticism. He singles out that postcolonial critics look only for Rushdie-like characteristics. It is in the interest of this research to apply childhood as a different set of characteristic or criterion to profit the agency of postcoloniality. This research also, therefore, contributes to this critique by establishing further that postcolonial criticism embodies a wider canon and that postcolonial texts are not a ‘handful and recurring’. This research introduces pericolonial zones as well as exposing further ‘the list’ to include the selected texts; Beneath the Lion’s Gaze, in addition to The God of Small Things and Nervous Conditions. A sifting of childhood metaphor, in relation to postcoloniality, engenders further appreciation on the analysis of the literary context and beyond

Pleistocene terrestrial Mammal faunas from the North Sea Area

Wetensch. publicatieFaculty of Archeolog

The Cubic Mile project : workshop overview

The City of London Corporation and the British Geological Survey (BGS) hosted a workshop to conclude the ‘Cubic Mile’ project, an embedded researcher project carried out between November 2021 and October 2022. Focusing on the City of London (Figure 1), the year-long partnership investigated how urban subsurface space could be better utilised to improve the City’s resilience to the impacts of long-term climate change and extreme weather. The workshop event brought together a range of stakeholders to discuss the progress of this project over the past 11 months, and to develop recommendations and next steps in the understanding, and potential development, of the urban subsurface for climate resilience. The project aimed to identify the current gaps and uncertainty in subsurface use and associated data, focussing on five potential subsurface adaptation measures: • Urban greening and tree planting • Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) • Cool spaces below ground • Ground source energy • Resilience of buried utilities networks This document provides a summary of key findings and recommendations from the workshop, as well as a more detailed insight into issues raised during the discussions. Further background information on the project, as well as more information on climate resilience, is available on the UK Climate Resilience Programme website: https://www.ukclimateresilience.org/projects/climate-action-strategy-for-city-of-london-adaptive-design-pathways-for-londons-cubic-mile

Consumer Complaints and Company Market Value

Consumer complaints affect company market value and common sense suggests that a negative impact is expected. However, do complaints always negatively impact company market value? We hypothesize in this study that complaints may have a non-linear effect on market value. Positive (e.g. avoiding high costs to solve complaints) and negative (e.g. speedy and intense diffusion) tradeoffs may occur given the level of complaints. To test our non-linear hypothesis, a panel data was collected from cell phone service providers from 2005 to 2013. The results supported our tradeoff rationale. Low levels of complaints allow for companies to increase market value, while high levels of complaints cause increasing harm to market value. The sample, model and period considered in this study, indicates a level of 0.49 complaints per thousand consumers as the threshold for a shift in tradeoffs. The effects on market value become increasingly negative when trying to make reductions to move below this level, due to negative tradeoffs