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

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

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

The Cubic Mile project : recommendations and guidance for implementation

Subsurface space is regarded as both a key potential future resource that could be utilised to support the resilience of society to climate change, and at the same time a blocker to surface climate resilience measures where areas are perceived as ‘congested’. Understanding the current state of play, as well as available data and legislation, formed a key aspect of the UK Climate Resilience placement for both the City of London Corporation (CoLC) and the British Geological Survey (BGS). Discoveries from the Cubic Mile project have enabled a better understanding of the issues surrounding subsurface information and its relation to climate adaptation/resilience planning. Whilst underground space is regulated to a degree through spatial planning policy (e.g., conversion and subterranean expansion of residential property) and environmental licensing (e.g., water abstraction, mineral extraction, discharge and mining) there are no leading subsurface governing polices at the local level that support climate adaptation. Accessing data about the subsurface is often resource heavy, both in terms of cost and time, and limited by licensing and spatial data coverage. The complex history of the City of London has resulted in a very congested subsurface with a history of around two millennia of development. A key part of the embedded researcher placement involved a review of existing data, identification of gaps and discussions with the City and other stakeholders identifying where improvements or changes could be made for future implementation of subsurface data in climate resilience planning. Whilst some suggestions could be realised as a quick win with regards to storage and sharing of internal information, other recommendations would be much more involved and relate to policy or a wider cultural change. These would require a strategic change implemented at higher level and a lead agency to take forward

The Cubic Mile project : policy summary and overview

The City of London ‘Square Mile’ (Figure 1) is the historic centre of London and the financial and commercial heart of the UK. It is a very high-density urban environment. Specific modelling carried out by the Met Office (UKCP18) for London indicates that overall, winters will be 20% wetter and summers 30% drier, combined with more extreme weather events and sea level rise. Increased rainfall and surface water run-off present a key issue for the City, where the presence of many hard, impermeable surfaces significantly increases the risk of flooding of high-profile commercial premises. The projected increase in temperatures and heatwaves will also lead to overheating and increased mortality for the City’s people and services, which, given its central urban location, is vulnerable to the urban heat island effect. The future resilience of the City to climate change is high on the City of London Corporation’s agenda. The collaborative ‘Cubic Mile’ project with the British Geological Survey under the UK Climate Resilience Programme Embedded Researcher scheme was designed to support the delivery of the City of London’s Climate Action Strategy, by understanding to what extent subsurface space could support climate resilience and adaptation. This policy review forms part of an exercise to determine policy barriers and enablers to urban subsurface climate resilience

Prevalence and predictors of health service use among Iraqi asylum seekers in the Netherlands

BACKGROUND. A long asylum procedure is associated with higher prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders, lower quality of life, higher disability and more physical health problems. Additional knowledge about health seeking behavior is necessary to guide governments and health professionals in their policies. OBJECTIVE. To measure service use among one of the biggest asylum seekers population in the Netherlands and to assess its relationships with predisposing and need variables (including post-migration living problems). METHOD. Two groups were randomly selected: Group 1 (n = 143), less than 6 months and Group 2 (n = 151), more than 2 years in the Netherlands. Respondents were interviewed with fully structured, culturally validated, translated questionnaires, which contained instruments to measure psychiatric disorders, quality of life, disability, physical health and post-migration living problems. Use of preventive and curative (physical and mental) health services was measured and the relationship with predisposing and need risk factors was estimated with univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS. A long asylum procedure is not associated with higher service use, except for mental health service use and drug use. Use of mental health services is, however, low compared to the prevalence of psychiatric disorders. Low quality of perceived general health and functional disability are the most important predictors of services use. Psychopathology predicts use of a medical specialist (non-psychiatrist), but does not predict mental health service use. CONCLUSION. A high percentage of asylum seekers with a psychiatric disorder is not getting adequate treatment. There is a mismatch between the type of health problem and the type of health service use. The various health services should work together in education, detection, referral and care in order to provide help to this group of patients.De Open Ank

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