Arguing for a citizens basic income: a contribution from a feminist economics perspective

Current debates concerning the future of social security provision in advanced capitalist states have raised a citizens‟ basic income (CBI) as a possible reform package. The proposal is based on the principles of individuality, universality and unconditionality and ensures a minimum income guarantee for all members of society. Implementing a CBI, thus, entails radical reform of existing patterns of welfare delivery and would bring into question the institutionalized relationship between work and welfare, upon which modern welfare states are premised. It follows that the practice of arguing for a CBI has tended to concentrate on issues regarding the role of the state in providing income security for all citizens and, in particular, to issues pertaining to the world of paid work. However such a concentration indicates bias in the approach to study and serves to confine the welfare reform agenda. The purpose of this thesis is to make a positive contribution to the CBI literature by examining the proposal from a feminist economics perspective. It is argued that a CBI has the potential to promote equal rights of freedom for men and women and provides the basis for the development and sustainability of new and liberating patterns of working and living. However, this particular aspect of the proposal will never be fully considered as long as the analytical framework employed is dominated by an adherence to neo-classical economic theory. Embracing a feminist economics perspective allows for the identification of the androcentric bias inherent within the neo-classical construct and further provides an alternative methodological approach that serves to open up the debate to incorporate a more realistic vision of the nature of modern socio-economic relationships

Arguing for a citizens basic income: a contribution from a feminist economics perspective

Current debates concerning the future of social security provision in advanced capitalist states have raised a citizens‟ basic income (CBI) as a possible reform package. The proposal is based on the principles of individuality, universality and unconditionality and ensures a minimum income guarantee for all members of society. Implementing a CBI, thus, entails radical reform of existing patterns of welfare delivery and would bring into question the institutionalized relationship between work and welfare, upon which modern welfare states are premised. It follows that the practice of arguing for a CBI has tended to concentrate on issues regarding the role of the state in providing income security for all citizens and, in particular, to issues pertaining to the world of paid work. However such a concentration indicates bias in the approach to study and serves to confine the welfare reform agenda. The purpose of this thesis is to make a positive contribution to the CBI literature by examining the proposal from a feminist economics perspective. It is argued that a CBI has the potential to promote equal rights of freedom for men and women and provides the basis for the development and sustainability of new and liberating patterns of working and living. However, this particular aspect of the proposal will never be fully considered as long as the analytical framework employed is dominated by an adherence to neo-classical economic theory. Embracing a feminist economics perspective allows for the identification of the androcentric bias inherent within the neo-classical construct and further provides an alternative methodological approach that serves to open up the debate to incorporate a more realistic vision of the nature of modern socio-economic relationships

Vpliv športne identitete vrhunskih atletov na kognitivno ocenjevanje in soočanje z neuspešnostjo v športu

Previous studies have demonstrated that strong and exclusive athletic identity is a risk factor for adjustment difficulties following major sport career transitions (e.g., Cecić Erpič, Wylleman, & Zupančič, 2004; Grove, Lavallee, & Gordon, 1997). However, research investigating the influence of athletic identity on adjustment to negative events that athletes encounter more routinely is scant. This study adopted a stress perspective (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) and qualitative method to examine the influence of athletic identity on athletes' appraisal and coping responses to underperforming. Three male and three female UK international track athletes provided accounts of their experiences of underperforming in semi-structured interviews. Athletic identity was established with the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS; Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993), in addition to qualitative data. Case studies were constructed and cross-case comparisons revealed that athletes with strong and exclusive athletic identity appraised underperforming as a threat to their self-identities, experienced intense emotional disturbance and implemented emotionfocused and avoidance coping. These findings suggest that the risks of over-identification with the athlete role are more widespread than is currently recognized and highlight the need for intervention programs that encourage athletes to invest in non-sport sources of identification

Cycle training and factors associated with cycling among adolescents in England.

BACKGROUND: Cycling has the potential to encourage physical activity as well as advancing societal goals such as reducing carbon emissions; encouraging cycling is therefore a policy goal in many contexts. We analysed individual level data from the whole of England on factors associated with cycling among adolescents, including cycle training delivered by the age of 11 years in primary schools. METHODS: Data came from the nationally representative Millennium Cohort Study collected when participants were aged 13-15 years (adolescents). We assessed frequency of cycling at least once per week (regular cycling) and used logistic regression to assess how this differed across characteristics including demographic, health and environmental factors, as well as receiving cycle training ('Bikeability') in primary school. RESULTS: We found that 21.0% of adolescents cycled at least once per week. In fully adjusted analyses, this was more common among boys than girls (32.5% vs. 9.4%, p < 0.001), and those in rural areas than urban areas (24.9% vs. 20.3%, p < 0.001). Adolescents in areas with higher prevalence of adult cycle commuting were more likely to cycle regularly (26.1% in high cycling areas vs. 19.3% in low cycling areas, p < 0.001). Participants offered cycle training in primary school were not more likely to cycle regularly as adolescents (21.7% vs. 22.3%, p = 0.528). DISCUSSION: Approximately one in five adolescents in England cycles regularly, although being offered cycle training in primary school was not linked to greater cycling. Many of the factors associated with adolescent cycling are similar to those for adults and adolescents are more likely to cycle in areas with higher levels of adult cycling

Quality of Type 2 Diabetes Management in the States of The Co-Operation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf: A Systematic Review

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a growing, worldwide public health concern. Recent growth has been particularly dramatic in the states of The Co-operation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), and these and other developing economies are at particular risk. We aimed to systematically review the quality of control of type 2 diabetes in the GCC, and the nature and efficacy of interventions. We identified 27 published studies for review. Studies were identified by systematic database searches. Medline and Embase were searched separately (via Dialog and Ovid, respectively; 1950 to July 2010 (Medline), and 1947 to July 2010 (Embase)) on 15/07/2009. The search was updated on 08/07/2010. Terms such as diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent, hyperglycemia, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and Gulf States were used. Our search also included scanning reference lists, contacting experts and hand-searching key journals. Studies were judged against pre-determined inclusion/exclusion criteria, and where suitable for inclusion, data extraction/quality assessment was achieved using a specifically-designed tool. All studies wherein glycaemic-, blood pressure- and/or lipid- control were investigated (clinical and/or process outcomes) were eligible for inclusion. No limitations on publication type, publication status, study design or language of publication were imposed. We found the extent of control to be sub-optimal and relatively poor. Assessment of the efficacy of interventions was difficult due to lack of data, but suggestive that more widespread and controlled trial of secondary prevention strategies may have beneficial outcomes. We found no record of audited implementation of primary preventative strategies and anticipate that controlled trial of such strategies would also be useful

Genomic investigations of unexplained acute hepatitis in children

Since its first identification in Scotland, over 1,000 cases of unexplained paediatric hepatitis in children have been reported worldwide, including 278 cases in the UK1. Here we report an investigation of 38 cases, 66 age-matched immunocompetent controls and 21 immunocompromised comparator participants, using a combination of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical methods. We detected high levels of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) DNA in the liver, blood, plasma or stool from 27 of 28 cases. We found low levels of adenovirus (HAdV) and human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) in 23 of 31 and 16 of 23, respectively, of the cases tested. By contrast, AAV2 was infrequently detected and at low titre in the blood or the liver from control children with HAdV, even when profoundly immunosuppressed. AAV2, HAdV and HHV-6 phylogeny excluded the emergence of novel strains in cases. Histological analyses of explanted livers showed enrichment for T cells and B lineage cells. Proteomic comparison of liver tissue from cases and healthy controls identified increased expression of HLA class 2, immunoglobulin variable regions and complement proteins. HAdV and AAV2 proteins were not detected in the livers. Instead, we identified AAV2 DNA complexes reflecting both HAdV-mediated and HHV-6B-mediated replication. We hypothesize that high levels of abnormal AAV2 replication products aided by HAdV and, in severe cases, HHV-6B may have triggered immune-mediated hepatic disease in genetically and immunologically predisposed children