The grounded theory alternative in business network research

This paper presents a brief outline of the defining characteristics of grounded theory methodology. Such a focus was motivated by a desire to bring the methodology into clearer focus. Particular attention is paid to the debate grounded theory has engendered. In doing so, a number of misunderstandings, dilemmas and criticisms are highlighted. Thus, while one research strategy should not be emphasised to the exclusion of others, this paper advocates the use of grounded theory methodology as a fresh approach in addressing some of the research challenges associated with network studies

Being Tamil, being Hindu:Tamil migrants’ negotiations of the absence of Tamil Hindu spaces in the West Midlands and South West of England

This paper considers the religious practices of Tamil Hindus who have settled in the West Midlands and South West of England in order to explore how devotees of a specific ethno-regional Hindu tradition with a well-established UK infrastructure in the site of its adherents’ population density adapt their religious practices in settlement areas which lack this infrastructure. Unlike the majority of the UK Tamil population who live in the London area, the participants in this study did not have ready access to an ethno-religious infrastructure of Tamil-orientated temples and public rituals. The paper examines two means by which this absence was addressed as well as the intersections and negotiations of religion and ethnicity these entailed: firstly, Tamil Hindus’ attendance of temples in their local area which are orientated towards a broadly imagined Hindu constituency or which cater to a non-Tamil ethno-linguistic or sectarian community; and, secondly, through the ‘DIY’ performance of ethnicised Hindu ritual in non-institutional settings

Recognising Muslims : Religion, Ethnicity and Identity Politics In Britain

In this short paper I want to trace the emergence and maturation of a Muslim identity politics in Britain during the 1980s and 1990s. I begin, before the events of the Rushdie Affair in 1989, with an examination of the first crystallisation of Muslim assertiveness on the local level, with special reference to the city of Bradford in West Yorkshire. Bradford is currently home to around 80 000 Muslims who make up 16% of the total population and over half of all numbers in key inner city wards. Throughout the 1980s Bradford became something of an icon of multiculturalism in Britain with its recognition of Muslim 'rights' in the public space and especially state education. My paper continues with an exploration of why, by the time of the Rushdie Affair, there was a need for Muslim identity politics to shift to the national level. This is followed by some reflections on the Rushdie Affair itself, during which I highlight the different orientations of some of the Islamic organisations presently represented in Britain. Elite Muslim organisations tend to be politically engaged on the national level but lack in substantial support at the grassroots. By contrast, other movements with power-bases in mosque networks routinely combine devotionalism or scripturalism with an ethnic orientation towards the Indian-subcontinent. The final part of my paper concerns the increasing recognition of Muslims as 'Muslims' on a national level in the decade or so between the Rushdie Affair and September 1 1 2001. SMMcloughlin Seán. Recognising Muslims : Religion, Ethnicity and Identity Politics In Britain. In: CEMOTI, n°33, 2002. Musulmans d'Europe. pp. 43-56

Hypoxic pulmonary hypertension in chronic lung diseases: novel vasoconstrictor pathway

Pulmonary hypertension is a well recognised complication of chronic hypoxic lung diseases, which are among the most common causes of death and disability worldwide. Development of pulmonary hypertension independently predicts reduced life expectancy. In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, long-term oxygen therapy ameliorates pulmonary hypertension and greatly improves survival, although the correction of alveolar hypoxia and pulmonary hypertension is only partial. Advances in understanding of the regulation of vascular smooth muscle tone show that chronic vasoconstriction plays a more important part in the pathogenesis of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension than previously thought, and that structural vascular changes contribute less. Trials of existing vasodilators show that pulmonary hypertension can be ameliorated and systemic oxygen delivery improved in carefully selected patients, although systemic hypotensive effects limit the doses used. Vasoconstrictor pathways that are selective for the pulmonary circulation can be blocked to reduce hypoxic pulmonary hypertension without causing systemic hypotension, and thus provide potential targets for novel therapeutic strategies.Health Research BoardScience Foundation Irelan

‘A‐Part of the community'? The politics of representation and a Muslim school's application for state funding

This paper examines the case of an independent Muslim girls’ school which applied for funding from the state in May 1994. Established in 1984, Feversham College struggles to survive on the limited finance forthcoming from parents’ fees and the support of Muslim benefactors. The failure of even a single Muslim school in Britain to win state funding has in recent years become a symbol of many Muslims’ concerns about how equally they participate in the idea of the nation. Those against such Muslim schools argue that they exist only to keep children, and especially girls, ‘separate'from their peers in multicultural Britain. However, these arguments are not routinely applied to the many Christian schools that receive funding from the state. In Ais paper I examine the way in which governors’ representations of their school set out to contest constructions of Islam and Muslim schools as necessarily ‘separatist’ and fundamentalist’. They welcomed a wide range of visitors to the school and promoted it as a transformative space within ‘the Muslim community’ that had been opened up for girls who might otherwise have been denied an education. Thus the governors argued that Feversham College was ‘a part of, and not ‘apart from’, the local community in Bradford. Finally, I show that while the school's application was supported by the local state it was ultimately rejected by a central government intent on the erosion of local democracy in Britain

Mosques and the Public Space: Conflict and Cooperation in Bradford

While there is still some evidence of conflict over the planning and building of mosques in Britain, in this article I demonstrate that this is not currently the case in Bradford. Having first considered issues relating to the status and significance of mosques in Britain, and then the institutionalisation of Islam in Bradford, I suggest that this absence of mosque conflict has much to do with the social and political implications of a densely populated ‘Muslim’ inner city. However, the absence of conflict over mosques in Bradford does not mean that the pervasive Islamisation of the inner city is not an issue; quite the reverse. After riots involving youth of Pakistani–Muslim heritage, a dominant discourse has emerged focusing on ethnic and religious ‘self-segregation’ and the need for ‘community cohesion’. Moreover, commentators have identified mosques, and the religious leadership and education they provide, as a part of the problem. My article examines why this might be so and the extent to which Bradford Council for Mosques, and one particular mosque in Bradford, have been able to engage Muslims in cooperative relationships with the public space