An Exploration of Culture in the UK Financial Services

This thesis explores dimensions of culture in the UK financial services. Through narrative interviews, it considers the experience of the industry and examines how culture can be formed through influences stemming both from the industry’s internal dynamics and wider societal contexts. The study analyses how the dimensions of culture might influence behaviours that have had an effect on the UK’s economy, such as the global financial crisis of 2008. The study further questions whether the crash was the product of the culture that existed before the crisis and which persists within the industry. The overall system – consisting of consumers, firms, regulators and governments – is taken into consideration. This is a select yet focused study and the unit of analysis is individual narrative interviews, through which the study attempts to access some of the systemic dynamics that may be present in the industry. The study does not claim to define culture in a singular sense, in what is a complex and diverse industry; instead, it attempts to draw out key themes from the data set that could shed light on the dimensions of culture. This study uses a systems psychodynamics approach, which takes into account the idea of unconscious group dynamics and open systems. Grounded theory has been employed to analyse the data and form a theoretical understanding

Rethinking capitalist transformation of fisheries in South Africa and India

Source at https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10461-230427.The industrialization of fisheries and the growth of a capitalist sector within fisheries have received considerable scholarly attention. For the most part, scholars have emphasized how capitalism has led to privatization of the commons, forced small-scale resource users into wage labor, and marginalized the sector. This analysis does not, however, explain the continued presence of such a vibrant and important small-scale sector in fisheries throughout the world. Drawing on the notion of Foucauldian governmentality, other scholars have argued that the small-scale sector or what they term the “need economy” is a product of primitive accumulation. The state must, in conditions of democracy, address the welfare needs of all those who have been dispossessed in order to govern. We engage with this theorization in the context of fisheries and argue that seeing small-scale fisheries only as a product of primitive accumulation and Foucauldian governmentality ignores the moral economies of these fisheries. By analyzing capitalist transformation of fisheries in two “democratic” countries, South Africa and India, we highlight how small-scale fishers resist increasing marginalization and how governments have afforded a measure of protection to this sector, and confirm the importance of their moral economies to sustainable and equitable fisheries in the future

Les agroforêts des Ghâts occidentaux (Inde) : une extension forestière ?

International audienceEn Inde, en raison de la main mise des pouvoirs publics sur la forêt, attribuer le nom de forêt aux systèmes agroforestiers ne fait pas l'unanimité. Cette communication discute des atouts et limites à considérer les agroforêts comme des extensions forestières

The Economic Impact of Forest Hydrological Services on Local Communities: A Case Study from the Western Ghats of India

The conventional wisdom that 'more forest is always better' has dominated policy making in the management of forested watersheds. In the context of the supposed hydrological regulation service provided by forest ecosystems, however, hydrologists have debated this assumption for more than two decades. Unfortunately, detailed studies of the relationship between forest cover, hydrology and the economic use of water have been relatively scarce, especially in the tropical forests of South Asia. Building upon a larger research project at four sites in the Western Ghats of peninsular India, this study examines the link between stream flow, agricultural water use an economic returns to agriculture. The study attempts to simulate the likely impacts of regeneration of a degraded forest catchment on stream flow and the consequent impact on irrigation tank based agriculture in a downstream village. The authors find that regeneration of forests would reduce the ratio of runoff to rainfall in the forested catchment thereby significantly reducing the probability of filling the well-used irrigation tank. This in turn reduces the probability of the command area farmers being able to cultivate an irrigated paddy crop, particularly in the summer season, thereby reducing expected farm income as well as wage income for landless and marginal landowning households. The study results seem counter intuitive to conventional wisdom. This result is, however, not because the hydrological relationships in this region are peculiar, but because the community immediately downstream of the forest is using water in a particular manner, viz., through irrigation tanks for growing water-intensive crops. The main implication is that policymakers must move away from simplistic notions of forests being good for everything and under all circumstances, and facilitate context-specific, ecologically and economically informed forest governance

Competing Visions: Domestic Forests, Politics and Forest Policy in the Central Western Ghats of South India

International audienceRural people in developing countries including India continue to access a number of types of 'forests' to meet specific needs such as fuelwood, fodder, food, non-timber forest produce and timber for both subsistence and income generation. While a plethora of terms exist to describe the types of forests that rural people use—such as farm forests, social forests, community forests and small-scale for-ests—the expression domestic forest has recently been proposed. Domestic forest is a term aimed at capturing the diversity of forests transformed and managed by rural communities and a way to introduce a new scientific domain that recognises that production and conservation can be reconciled and that local communities can be effective managers. This paper argues in the context of the central Western Ghats of south India that while the domestic forest concept is a useful umbrella term to capture the diversity of forests used by rural people, these domestic forests are often not autonomous local forests but sites of contestation between local actors and the state forest bureaucracy. Hence, a paradigm shift within the forest bureaucracy will only occur if the scientific forestry community questions its own normative views on forest management and sees forest policy as a means to recognise local claims and support existing practices of forest dependent communities

Dynamiques agricoles dans les monts Nilgiri (Inde) : entre crise économique et promotion de l’environnement

Grâce à son climat très arrosé et nettement plus frais que celui des régions environnantes, le haut pays des monts Nilgiri, situé dans les Ghâts Occidentaux à 1 800 m d’altitude, offre des produits agricoles différents de ceux des plaines. Le paysage agraire de ces monts se caractérise par des productions singulières en Inde du Sud. Dans le Sud de l’Inde, les légumes et fruits dits « européens » (comme les pommes de terre, les carottes, les betteraves, les choux et les choux-fleurs, les prunes et les poires) et depuis peu certaines fleurs sont cultivés uniquement dans ces montagnes, et occupent l’espace qui n’est pas cultivé en théiers. Les agriculteurs des Nilgiri ont su bénéficier de cette singularité climatique et les monts Nilgiri étaient considérés comme une région agricole florissante jusque dans les années 1990. À cette époque, la valeur de la production agricole par hectare y était trois fois supérieure à celle de l’État du Tamil Nadu (dans lequel le district des Nilgiri se situe) et six fois supérieure à celle de l’Inde. Présentées par les pouvoirs publics comme un système agricole plus respectueux de l’environnement que le maraîchage, les plantations de théiers ont connu une expansion spatiale importante, avec notamment le soutien de ces derniers. Cependant, depuis 1999, le marché du thé connaît une crise sévère. Aujourd’hui les grandes plantations vendent des parcelles et les petits producteurs de thé souhaitent que les pouvoirs publics fixent un prix minimum pour la vente des feuilles de théier. Le maraîchage est aussi une spéculation de plus en plus risquée en raison du coût croissant des intrants, du fait de l’augmentation de leur prix et de la réduction des subventions publiques sur les engrais chimiques, amorcée au cours des années 1990. Dans ce contexte économique difficile, cet article montre, à travers la dynamique en cours, que dans cette région aussi l’amélioration de la qualité des productions est une manière d’accéder à des marchés plus lucratifs, et que des producteurs commencent à valoriser les spécificités environnementales de cette montagne pour trouver des débouchés sur les marchés de l’agriculture biologique.Agricultural dynamics in the Nilgiri Mountains (India): between economic crisis and environmental specificities development The Nilgiri Mountains highlands, located in the Western Ghats at 1800 m elevation, benefit from a rainier and much fresher climate than the surrounding areas. The agrarian landscape characterized by productions specific to Southern India, present a range of agricultural products different from those of the plains. Vegetables and fruits known as “European” (like potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbages and cauliflowers, plums and pears, for example), and recently certain flowers, are cultivated only in these mountains and occupy the space not planted in tea. Nilgiri farmers took advantage of this climatic pattern. In the 1990’s, the Nilgiri Mountains were still considered as a flourishing agricultural area : at that time, the value of the agricultural production per hectare was three times higher there than in Tamil Nadu State (where the Nilgiri district is located) and six times higher than in India. Public authorities considered tea plantations as an agricultural system more respectful of the environment than truck farming, and supported it and its fast spatial expansion. However, since 1999 the tea market has met a severe crisis. At present, the large plantations are selling land and the small tea producers wish the public authorities fixing a minimum selling price for tea leaves. Truck farming has turned to be an increasingly risky speculation as well, due to inputs increasing costs and reduced public subsidies on chemical fertilizers started in the 1990’s. This paper explains the agricultural dynamics of this area. In the present difficult economic context it highlights that in these mountains also improving the productions quality may be a way to reach more lucrative markets, and some producers attempt to put Nilgiri mountains environmental specificities to advantage in order to find outlets on the organic farming market

Investigations on microbiome of the used clinical device revealed many uncultivable newer bacterial species associated with persistent chronic infections

Introduction. Chronic persistent device-related infections (DRIs) often give culture-negative results in a microbiological investigation. In such cases, investigations on the device metagenome might have a diagnostic value. Materials and Methods. The 16SrRNA gene sequence analysis and next-generation sequencing (NGS) of clinical metagenome were performed to detect bacterial diversity on invasive medical devices possibly involved in culture-negative DRIs. Device samples were first subjected to microbiological investigation followed by metagenome analysis. Environmental DNA (e-DNA) isolated from device samples was subjected to 16SrRNA gene amplification followed by Sanger sequencing (n=14). In addition, NGS of the device metagenome was also performed (n=12). Five samples were only common in both methods. Results. Microbial growth was observed in only nine cases; among these, five cases were considered significant growth, and in the remaining four cases, growth was considered either insignificant or contaminated. Culture and sequencing analysis yielded identical results only in six cases. In culture-negative cases, Sanger sequencing of 16SrRNA gene and NGS of 16SrDNA microbiome was able to identify the presence of rarely described human pathogens, namely Streptococcus infantis, Gemella haemolysans, Meiothermus silvanus, Schlegelella aquatica, Rothia mucilaginosa, Serratia nematodiphila, and Enterobacter asburiae, along with some known common nosocomial pathogens. Bacterial species such as M. silvanus and S. nematodiphila that are never reported in human infection were also identified. Conclusions. Results of a small number of diverse samples of this pilot study might lead to a path to study a large number of device samples that may validate the diversity witnessed. The study shows that a culture free, a holistic metagenomic approach using NGS could help identify the pathogens in culture-negative chronic DRIs

People’s Relational Agency in Confronting Exclusion in Rural South India

Social exclusion is considered critical for understanding poverty, livelihoods, inequality and political participation in rural India. Studies show how exclusion is produced through relations of power associated with gender, caste, religion and ethnicity. Studies also document how people confront their exclusion. We use insights from these studies – alongside science and technology studies – and rely on life history narratives of ‘excluded’ people from rural Tamil Nadu, to develop a new approach to agency as constituted by two contrasting ways of relating: control and care. These ways of relating are at once social and material. They entangle humans with each other and with material worlds of nature and technology, while being mediated by structures such as social norms and cultural values. Relations of control play a central role in constituting exclusionary forms of agency. In contrast, relations of care are central to the agency of resistance against exclusion and of livelihood-building by the ‘excluded’. Relations can be transformed through agency in uncertain ways that are highly sensitive to trans-local contexts. We offer examples of policy-relevant questions that our approach can help to address for apprehending social exclusion in rural India and elsewhere

Forging connections, pursuing social justice: a tribute to Maarten Bavinck’s conceptual and institution-building contributions to maritime studies

This paper is written in recognition of the contributions that Maarten Bavinck has made to the field of maritime studies and for the inspiration that he has been for many. It is hard to separate Maarten’s academic and institution-building contributions from his personal qualities, particularly his interest in human relationships. Maarten’s aptitude for building bridges between people, ideas, and institutions has allowed him to connect people in larger knowledge generation and action projects and forge new conceptual bridges. In addition to reflecting shortly on Maarten's key role in establishing the Centre for Maritime Research (MARE) as a institutional anchor in maritime studies, this paper reviews on some of his important and original contributions to four academic domains: legal pluralism, interactive governance, the study of fisheries conflicts, and the environment-development interface. Common threads across these domains include his long-term commitment to meticulous fieldwork in South Asia that grounds his work so firmly, his focus on achieving a more socially just use of marine and coastal resources, and his pragmatic approach that has led to original connections across distinct conceptual and institutional fields

‘It Takes Two Hands to Clap’: How Gaddi Shepherds in the Indian Himalayas Negotiate Access to Grazing

This article examines the effects of state intervention on the workings of informal institutions that coordinate the communal use and management of natural resources. Specifically it focuses on the case of the nomadic Gaddi shepherds and official attempts to regulate their access to grazing pastures in the Indian Himalayas. It is often predicted that the increased presence of the modern state critically undermines locally appropriate and community-based resource management arrangements. Drawing on the work of Pauline Peters and Francis Cleaver, I identify key instances of socially embedded ‘common’ management institutions and explain the evolution of these arrangements through dynamic interactions between individuals, communities and the agents of the state. Through describing the ‘living space’ of Gaddi shepherds across the annual cycle of nomadic migration with their flocks I explore the ways in which they have been able to creatively reinterpret external interventions, and suggest how contemporary arrangements for accessing pasture at different moments of the annual cycle involve complex combinations of the formal and the informal, the ‘traditional’ and the ‘modern’