From the 'governance of security' to 'governance failure' : refining the criminological agenda

Over the past three decades, an on-going debate has developed around the ways and extent to which the hierarchical, state-led provision of security and policing has been displaced by a move toward a polycentric, network-oriented mode of governance. This paper, firstly, analytically reconstructs the debate, suggesting that it is characterised by descriptive concordance, explanatory confluence, and normative dissonance. In other words, the major area of contention has been around the social and political implications of the State’s decentring by a networked provision of security, a transition that is accepted as having actually taken place. It is argued, secondly, that the debate has neglected to some considerable extent the inherent functional (as opposed to normative) limitations of networked governance, and that all parties to the debate may have been somewhat precipitous in accepting that such modes for delivering security can be functionally efficacious. Drawing on social theoretical explorations of ‘governance failure’, I identify three distinctive failure tendencies inherent in nodal networks, and evaluate their implications for the wider debate on the future of security provision

A Failure to Regulate? The Demands and Dilemmas of Tackling Illegal Content and Behaviour on Social Media

The proliferation and user uptake of social media applications has brought in its wake a growing problem of illegal and harmful interactions and content online. Recent controversy has arisen around issues ranging from the alleged online manipulation of the 2016 US presidential election by Russian hackers and ‘trolls’, to the misuse of users’ Facebook data by the political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica (Hall 2018; Swaine & Bennetts 2018). These recent issues notwithstanding, in the UK context, ongoing concern has focused in particular upon (a) sexually-oriented and abusive content about or directed at children, and (b) content that is racially or religiously hateful, incites violence and promotes or celebrates terrorist violence. Legal innovation has sought to make specific provision for such online offences, and offenders have been subject to prosecution in some widely-publicised cases. Nevertheless, as a whole, the business of regulating (identifying, blocking, removing and reporting) offending content has been left largely to social media providers themselves. This has been sustained by concerns both practical (the amount of public resource that would be required to police social media) and political (concerns about excessive state surveillance and curtailment of free speech in liberal democracies). However, growing evidence about providers’ unwillingness and/or inability to effectively stem the flow of illegal and harmful content has created a crisis for the existing self-regulatory model. Consequently, we now see a range of proposals that would take a much more coercive and punitive stance toward media platforms, so as to compel them into taking more concerted action. Taking the UK as a primary focus, these proposals are considered and assessed, with a view to charting possible future configurations for tackling illegal social media content

Panoptic Power and the Pathologisation of Vision: Critical Reflections on the Foucauldian Thesis.

This article attempts to evaluate theoretically the applicability of Foucault’s Panopticon to the practices of public surveillance utilising CCTV technology. The first part maps out three “strands” in the reception of panopticism in surveillance studies, suggesting that it tends to fall into one of three broad kinds: its wholesale appropriation and application; its wholesale rejection as inadequate with respect to a supposedly “post-disciplinary” society; and its qualified acceptance subject to some empirically-dependent limitations. I then attempt in a preliminary way to supplement these three positions. In particular, I question the logical adequacy of equating visual surveillance with effective subjectification and self-discipline by drawing upon a range of philosophical and sociological perspectives. Philosophically, it is suggested that the Foucauldian thesis may well “pathologise” the relationship between subjectivity and visibility, and thereby overlook other dimensions of our experience of vision. Sociologically, it is suggested that the precise relation between surveillance and self-discipline requires us to attend, in ethnomethodological fashion, to the situated sense-making activities of subjects as the go about everyday practical activities in public settings

DRASTIC indices for selected agricultural areas in Utah

The main objective of this report is to present contour maps of DRASTIC indices for selected areas in Utah. In general, the higher the DRASTIC index value, the greater the potential for ground-water pollution. The acronym DRASTIC is derived from the following hydrogeologic factors which affect vertical movement of water through the soil, and hence affect downward movement of contaminant

Design and Simulation to Create a Uniform Concentration Distribution in Fixed Bed Catalytic Reactor Using a Static Mixer

In fixed bed reactor, catalyst particles are in different sizes and are randomly scattered in bed which led to the non-uniform flow pattern. Thus, non-uniform access of reactants to the catalytic surfaces will lead to a sharp fall in overall performance of reactor. Pressure drop and high energy consumption are among other problems that experts and artisans are faced with it in terms of a fixed bed reactor. In his study, it is noted to the simulation of concentration distribution in two porous catalytic fixed bed reactors to investigate the heterogeneous catalysis of nitrogen, one of the reactors is equipped with a static mixer. According to the results, we can see in the reactor without using of static mixer, the reaction components are not evenly distributed within the catalyst bed. This is when the static mixer makes the uniform concentration distribution of particles in the catalyst bed before entering particles to the catalyst bed. So it can be concluded. The use of a small static mixer or a few baffles in fixed bed catalytic reactor, in addition to stable and uniform concentration distribution of the catalyst bed and reduce dead space, as well as the highest purity of the material produced in the catalyst bed, the system performance will be increased as much as 20 percent

Pesticide and Water management alternatives to mitigate potential ground-water contamination for selected counties in Utah

Production of adequate supplies of food and fiber currently requires that pesticides be used to limit crop losses from insects, pathogens, weeds and other pests. Although pesticides are necessary in today\u27s agriculture, they can be a serious problem if they reach and contaminate ground water, especially in places where drinking water needs are supplied from ground water. The relative reduction of potential ground-water contamination due to agricultural use of pesticides was analyzed for particular sites in Utah. The potential reduction of pesticides in ground water was considered by utilizing alternative irrigation systems, water management practices and pesticides. A one-dimensional simulation model, CMLS (Chemical Movement in Layered Soils), was utilized to simulate the movement of pesticides through soils. A hydraulic irrigation model (Kinematic-wave) was used to estimate water infiltrating through the soil profile for alternative furrow irrigation system designs and water management practices. The study indicates that a reduction in the likelihood of ground-water contamination due to agricultural use of pesticides can be achieved with careful use of pesticides, appropriate irrigation system design and water management techniques

Effects of alternative furrow irrigation parameters on pesticide movement in cropped areas in Utah

Production of adequate supplies of food and fiber currently requires that pesticides be used to limit crop losses caused by insects, pathogens, weeds and other pests. Although pesticides are necessary in today\u27 s agriculture, they can be a serious problem if they reach and contaminate ground water, especially where drinking water needs are met by ground water. The relative reduction of potential ground-water contamination due to agricultural use of pesticides was analyzed for particular sites in Utah. The potential reduction of pesticides in ground water was considered by utilizing alternative irrigation systems, water management practices and pesticides. A one-dimensional simulation model, CMLS (Chemical Movement in Layered Soils), was utilized to simulate the movement of pesticides through soils. A hydraulic irrigation model (Kinematic-wave) was used to estimate water infiltration through the soil profile for alternative furrow lengths and inflow rates. The study indicates that a reduction in the likelihood of ground-water contamination due to agricultural use of pesticides can be achieved with careful use of pesticides, efficient irrigation system designs and improved water management techniques

Effects of alternative sprinkler irrigation parameters on pesticide movement

The relative reduction in potential ground-water contamination due to pesticides at several sites in Utah was determined by comparing alternative irrigation system designs, water management practices and pesticides. Alternative sprinkler irrigation distribution coefficients were used to estimate infiltration depths. The movement of pesticides through soils following sprinkler irrigations was simulated with one-dimensional model. Pesticide contamination of ground water can be reduced by careful selection of pesticides, properly designed irrigation systems and improved water management techniques. Procedures for selecting an appropriate sprinkler design and pesticide are presented

El dossier copia/sur: problemas económicos, políticos, e ideológicos del copyright (derecho de autor) en el sur global

In 2005, a group of scholars and activists, mostly from the global South, created the Copy/South Research Group to analyse, criticise, and confront the oppressive nature of current global copyright regimes, such as those defended by the World Intellectual Property Organisation, and similar ones around the globe. In May 2006, 22 of us, including 15 people from the global South, published THE COPY/SOUTH DOSSIER: Issues in the economics, politics, and ideology of copyright in the global South. The aim of the Dossier was to open up a critical and radical debate on the real impact of copyright laws and how they affect the daily lives of people living in more than 150 developing countries of the global South. We also highlighted issues that are not unique to the Global South, but also affect both sides of the North-South divide. This publication of more than 50 articles was addressed to researchers, educators, librarians, musicians, activists, organizations concerned about access to knowledge, and all of those who want to learn more about the oppressive global role of copyright laws and, in particular, their largely negative role in the developing countries of the global South. Given the democratic objectives of the Copy/South Research Group, the Dossier was not restricted by copyright. Therefore, it has been accessed openly and freely in both electronic and paper formats by thousands of readers from around the world in English. But English is not spoken by all citizens in the global South. With this in mind, the entire 200-page Dossier was translated into Spanish in late 2007 by an enthusiastic team of voluntary translators from Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela. As for this Spanish version, made with the support of the Intellectual Property Automous Service (SAPI), from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, we must acknowledge the prior SAPI's General Director Eduardo Samán for promoting the making of this translation. Besides the general revision of Gerardo Cárdenas and his labor as main translator, some other volunteers translated or revised important sections of the Spanish edition: María Jesús Morillo (Spain), Oscar Pérez Peña and Gilda Gil (Cuba), Edgardo Civallero (Argentina) and Rafael Carreño (Venezuela), who coordinated the process of translation in 2007. Also it is worth to mention the additional colaboration of Ana Lía López (Bolivia), Richard Castro, Rafael Bellota and Carmen Chirinos (Venezuela), Zapopan Muela and Gonzalo Lara (Mexico), and Lilian Álvarez (Cuba). But what is still more extraordinary about this Spanish translation is that it was completely coordinated and edited by the Servicio Autonomo de la Propiedad Intelectual (SAPI) of the democratic government of the Venezuelan Bolivarian Republic. The Dossier provides “useful material to introduce this topic to teachers and students” and does a good job of “summarizing a complex and conflicting situation” for developing countries, Jumersi La Rosa, SAPI’s new director, said last week in announcing the release of the Spanish edition. She has written a special new introduction for the Spanish-language edition. The Copy South Research Group is very pleased that the radical message of resistance found in the Dossier can now be read by thousands of Spanish-language speakers who are questioning the current copyright regime and who hopefully will be ignited by the ideas in the Dossier to take up the fight against oppressive regimes based on copyright. You can get a copy of the Dossier in Spanish and English by downloading it, free of charge, at http://www.copysouth.org . We also still have a limited number of printed and bound copies of the English-language version of the Dossier. If you would to be mailed a copy of the English-language version, which contains eight posters, send us an e-mail ([email protected]) and include your full postal details. COPY/SOUTH RESEARCH GROUP, 28 April 2008

Criminology or Zemiology? Yes, please! on the refusal of choice between false alternatives

Buried deep within the zemiological movement and its supportive literature is the implicit assumption that the word zemia, the organising concept around which zemiology is built, simply represents ‘the Greek word for harm’. This interpretation has supported numerous drives to ‘move beyond criminology’ and erect strict borders between the study of crime and harm. However, a deeper, albeit still rather brief, exploration of zemia reveals that it possesses a broader range of meaning than that commonly afforded to it. By beginning to unpick zemia’s semantic genealogy, it appears that the conventional use of the word to support the imposition of false alternatives between criminology and zemiology is untenable. Accordingly, this chapter attempts to foreground a more integrated approach to the study of crime and harm