Contentious politics: financial crisis, political-economic conflict, and collective struggles - a commentary

At the heart of the current global crisis is a crisis of capitalism and in particular neoliberal financial and economic policy. Within the crisis of capitalism, we are also witnessing a political crisis—of representation, of legitimation, of defunct or dysfunctional political processes and regimes—and a rejection of the “business as usual” status quo

Book review: Welfare, inequality and social citizenship: deprivation and affluence in austerity Britain by Daniel Edmiston

In Welfare, Inequality and Social Citizenship: Deprivation and Affluence in Austerity Britain, Daniel Edmiston offers insight into how austerity and inequality impact upon citizen identities, showing that low-income individuals are excluded from dominant narratives of citizenship. Heather Mew recommends this structural account for evidencing how austerity in the UK is intensifying the gulf between social and welfare rights available to low- and high-income citizens

Book review: hunger pains: life inside foodbank Britain by Kayleigh Garthwaite

In Hunger Pains: Life Inside Foodbank Britain, Kayleigh Garthwaite draws upon eighteen months spent volunteering as a foodbank worker in Stockton-on-Tees to take readers through the workings of a foodbank and to reflect on the experiences of those who use them including discussion of shame and stigma. This is a revealing, impassioned and self-reflective book on the taboo subject of food poverty in a rich country, drawing timely and vital attention to the injustice of food hunger in Britain today, writes Heather Mew

Book review: student lives in crisis: deepening inequality in times of austerity by Lorenza Antonucci

In Student Lives in Crisis: Deepening Inequality in Times of Austerity, Lorenza Antonucci examines the material inequalities that shape young people’s experiences of Higher Education by examining welfare provision in three European countries – England, Italy and Sweden. Heather Mew welcomes this book as an eye-opening account that shows how austerity policies are leading universities to reinforce rather than remedy social inequalities

Editors' introduction: conflicts within the crisis

Introduction to Social Justice Special Issue, Conflicts within the Crisis

Transient thermal response of solid, pinned and highly porous ventilated brake discs

During braking, heat is generated due to frictional contact between the brake pads and the brake disc (rotor) of a vehicle. At elevated temperatures, brake fade may occur, leading to potentially catastrophic brake failure in a vehicle. The heat-dissipating characteristic of a brake disc is a function both of the physical design of the brake disc, and also the brake disc material. This research focuses on the effect of brake disc design, in particular, how the surface temperature is affected by increasing the surface area of a brake disc’s ventilated channel. The surface temperature of a newly developed brake disc with a wire woven porous ventilated channel (the design of which is not part of this research) will be compared to existing commercially available designs, and the parameters governing transient thermal response for solid, ventilated, and porous brake discs during extended braking will be identified and compared. The results of this research reveal that the thermal capacity of a brake disc determines the initial rate of brake disc temperature increase (T), resulting in initial temperatures being T(solid disc)<T(pin-finned disc)<T(WBD disc). However, for extended braking, the ventilated discs run at lower temperatures and reach a lower steady state temperature than the solid rotor i.e., T(solid disc)>T(pin-finned disc)>T(WBD disc) due to the increased convective surface area and addition of forced convection in the ventilated channels. With the WBD core, a substantially lowered disc temperature can be achieved

An economic and social review of the preferred bidders under the small projects IPP procurement programme: a cross-case synthesis

The literature on the economic and social impacts of infrastructure projects, such as renewable energy projects, largely point towards these projects having positive direct and indirect benefits for the local economy, especially if the ownership, components, construction, and operation are sourced from local enterprises. The recipients of project expenditure, the location of their employees and to whom the profits accrue are essentially the factors that determine how much local economic benefit these renewable energy projects have. With this in mind, the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) was structured in such a way that gave additional weighting to socioeconomic criteria such as job creation, local content, local ownership, Socioeconomic Development (SED) funding, and Enterprise Development (ED) funding among others. The structuring of the REIPPPP in this way highlights the overarching policy objectives in the energy sector and how these renewable energy projects have been identified by the government as a means to achieve these socioeconomic objectives. The REIPPPP formed the foundation upon which the Small Projects Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (SP-IPPPP) was based. The SP-IPPPP was created by the government to further localise the renewable energy industry in South Africa and give local developers and suppliers better access into this emerging sector. This research sought to compare Small Projects under the SP-IPPPP with projects of the same technology under the REIPPPP (in bid window 3 and 4) in a cross-case synthesis. Using an embedded, multiple-case study design the commitments made by Preferred Bidders in each programme were compiled and contrasted. Following this, the results for the Small Projects were scaled-up to identify how justified the additional costs associated with the Small Projects are, given their co-benefits to the South African economy. The findings suggest that the impact of the Small Projects on the overall price of renewable energy from the chosen cases would be negligible; and therefore, the co-benefits from these projects could justify this price premium. Even when scaled-up to the 400 MW allocated to Small Projects, the impact on the overall cost of renewables from BW3 and BW4 could be argued to have been justified by the co-benefits afforded by these Small Projects. The impact on the electricity price from projects in the scenario and BW3 and BW4 was not substantial; however, the job creation, local (national) expenditure, and community (within 50km of the project site) benefit were substantial, which may vi incentivise policy makers to go ahead with the procurement in order to meet these soci oeconomic objectives. In terms of the best technology option for the SP-IPPPP, the findings suggest that solar PV and biomass (in particular) are better suited to this capacity and offer improved socioeconomic benefits without a drastic price premium. Wind energy on the other hand, appeared to have a notable price premium over the Large Projects without proportionate socioeconomic benefits and would perhaps be better left to the REIPPPP