Ranking for Good?: A Comparative Assessment of the Performance of French Corporations in Human Rights Rankings

In recent years, greater attention has been given to developing metrics that measure more than a country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Similarly, greater consideration has been given to more than just the financial performance of commercial enterprises; corporations are now expected to conduct business in ways that are responsible and sustainable, giving attention to a triple bottom line where the planet and people are prioritized along with profits. Taking French government policy and the performance of French multinational corporations as a case in point, this article explores the ways in which emerging indicators and instruments on business and human rights are relevant to the impact of business on well-being. This article examines which reporting frameworks and ranking systems best capture human rights and sustainability risks that could compromise well-being. Specifically, the article analyzes the frameworks and indicators used to measure human rights performance and the impact of rights rankings on business management. It also reviews responses by corporations to rights rankings as indicia of how measurements might be perceived as likely to result in changes in investor and consumer behavior or place brand reputation at risk

Indicators, security and sovereignty during COVID-19 in the global south

This paper considers the spread of COVID-19 as a telling moment or épreuve in contests over governance in global south states. Two distinct governance modes are engaged in this crisis: 1) indicators/metrics; and 2) securitization. Indicators have been a vehicle for the government of states, particularly in the global south, through the external imposition and internal self-application of standards and benchmarks and through the comparative rankings which ensue therefrom. Securitization refers to the performative calling-into-being of emergencies in the face of existential threats. National sovereignty is at stake in both modes: limited, superintended, and redirected by indicators on the one hand; articulated as originary and untrammelled through securitizing moves on the other. Health has been a key focus for analysts of each. We may hypothesize that COVID-19 is the occasion for an as yet undecided contest between de-spatialized health governmentality and the reassertion of territorial segmentation as the frame for an autochtonously defined national interest, a retreat, it is feared, from Post-Westphalian to Westphalian governance in global health. In what follows, I first sketch an outline of each governance mode, remarking on the application of each to health promotion in the global south. The purchase of this theoretical outline is then tested briefly through a focus on Kenya, and, in particular, its response to COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic, between February and May 2020. Both modes were deployed in political and legal interventions during this period. It is clear that government ministers tended to adopt securitization language, while foreign and civil society actors drew on indicators and related benchmarks to support criticism of state action and inaction

Rotifer biomass of two reservoirs with different trophic states (Antioquia, Colombia) and its relationship with some limnological variables

ABSTRACT: Rotifers biomass was evaluated across longitudinal and vertical axes of the photic zone in the La Fe y Riogrande II reservoirs (Antioquia), Colombia, with different trophic states during periods of high and low precipitation. IN addition, its relationship with temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, transparency, nutrient availability, and phytoplankton biomass was analyzed. In both reservoirs, rotifer biomass was dominated by Asplanchna girodi De Geurne, 1888, and it was significantly higher in the reservoir with a lower trophic state. Even though rotifers biomass did not exhibit a longitudinal gradient, a vertical zonation in the photic zone was documented, with the greatest biomass at 10% and 1% of light intensity. Patterns of variation in total rotifer biomass and in dominant species biomass appear to be determined primarily by the entry of suspended solids into the reservoir with the higher trophic state, and by phytoplankton biomass and density in the reservoir with lower nutrient levels. Contrary to expectations, rotifer biomass was not favored by increasing trophic state. The most important factor determining rotifer biomass was the quality of food resources in each reservoir.RESUMEN: Se evaluó la variación de la biomasa de rotíferos en los ejes longitudinal y vertical de la zona fótica de los embalses La Fe y Riogrande II (Antioquia), Colombia, con diferentes estados tró cos, durante los periodos de alta y baja precipitación. Además, se analizó su relación con las variables temperatura, oxígeno disuelto, pH, transparencia, nutrientes y con la biomasa toplanctónica. La biomasa de rotíferos fue dominada por Asplanchna girodi De Geurne 1888, en los dos embalses y fue significativamente mayor en el embalse de menor trofía. Aunque la biomasa de rotíferos no mostró un gradiente longitudinal significativo, sí presentó zonación vertical dentro de la zona fótica, con mayor biomasa en el 10 y 1% de incidencia lumínica. Los patrones de variación de la biomasa total de rotíferos y de las especies dominantes estuvieron determinados principalmente por el ingreso de sólidos suspendidos en el embalse de mayor trofía y por la biomasa y la densidad del toplancton en el embalse con menos nutrientes. A diferencia de lo esperado, la biomasa de los rotíferos no fue favorecida por condiciones de mayor estado tró co, ya que el factor preponderante sobre la expresión de biomasa fue la calidad de los recursos alimenticios en cada embalse

INVESTIGACIÓN CUALITATIVA EN ATENCIÓN FARMACÉUTICA: Experiencia del Observatorio Farmacéutico Social, una propuesta en farmacia comunitaria con enfoque pedagógico y social

Introducción: El Observatorio Farmacéutico Social (OFS) es una propuesta investigativa en farmacia comunitaria con enfoque pedagógico y social. Indaga sobre el uso cultural de medicamentos, plantas medicinales, educación para la salud, promoción de la salud y prevención de la enfermedad, especialmente, en poblaciones vulnerables. En Colombia la información sobre este tema es limitada.  Objetivo: Documentar experiencias de vida y conocimientos relacionados con el uso de medicamentos y plantas medicinales en una población de adultos líderes comunitarios, utilizando la propuesta de OFS.  Método: Propuesta de corte cualitativo basada en la metodología participativa de Investigación-Acción-Participación. Para el trabajo de campo se utilizaron algunas Metodologías interactivas de la investigación cualitativa. La lectura de los resultados se realizó desde la mirada crítico-reflexiva de los investigadores, acorde con recomendaciones técnicas y científicas relacionadas con el uso adecuado de medicamentos.  Resultados: Se estructuró una propuesta de OFS, que permitió la participación de 46 mujeres. Los principales hallazgos se dieron sobre conocimientos y mitos asociados al uso de medicamentos, confianza en la atención médica, adherencia a los tratamientos y defensa por los saberes ancestrales relacionados con el uso de plantas medicinales. Conclusiones: Actualmente no se encuentra información que documente la disponibilidad de un observatorio con estas características; por ello, se considera necesario continuar la estructuración y funcionamiento del OFS como una propuesta de educación popular en el uso adecuado de medicamentos y plantas medicinales y, así, contribuir al logro de resultados positivos en la terapia farmacológica

INVESTIGACIÓN CUALITATIVA EN ATENCIÓN FARMACÉUTICA: Experiencia del Observatorio Farmacéutico Social, una propuesta en farmacia comunitaria con enfoque pedagógico y social

Introducción: El Observatorio Farmacéutico Social (OFS) es una propuesta investigativa en farmacia comunitaria con enfoque pedagógico y social. Indaga sobre el uso cultural de medicamentos, plantas medicinales, educación para la salud, promoción de la salud y prevención de la enfermedad, especialmente, en poblaciones vulnerables. En Colombia la información sobre este tema es limitada.  Objetivo: Documentar experiencias de vida y conocimientos relacionados con el uso de medicamentos y plantas medicinales en una población de adultos líderes comunitarios, utilizando la propuesta de OFS.  Método: Propuesta de corte cualitativo basada en la metodología participativa de Investigación-Acción-Participación. Para el trabajo de campo se utilizaron algunas Metodologías interactivas de la investigación cualitativa. La lectura de los resultados se realizó desde la mirada crítico-reflexiva de los investigadores, acorde con recomendaciones técnicas y científicas relacionadas con el uso adecuado de medicamentos.  Resultados: Se estructuró una propuesta de OFS, que permitió la participación de 46 mujeres. Los principales hallazgos se dieron sobre conocimientos y mitos asociados al uso de medicamentos, confianza en la atención médica, adherencia a los tratamientos y defensa por los saberes ancestrales relacionados con el uso de plantas medicinales. Conclusiones: Actualmente no se encuentra información que documente la disponibilidad de un observatorio con estas características; por ello, se considera necesario continuar la estructuración y funcionamiento del OFS como una propuesta de educación popular en el uso adecuado de medicamentos y plantas medicinales y, así, contribuir al logro de resultados positivos en la terapia farmacológica

Refocusing Loyalty Programs in the Era of Big Data: A Societal Lens Paradigm

Big data and technological change have enabled loyalty programs to become more prevalent and complex. How these developments influence society has been overlooked, both in academic research and in practice. We argue why this issue is important and propose a framework to refocus loyalty programs in the era of big data through a societal lens. We focus on three aspects of the societal lens-inequality, privacy, and sustainability. We discuss how loyalty programs in the big data era impact each of these societal factors, and then illustrate how, by adopting this societal lens paradigm, researchers and practitioners can generate insights and ideas that address the challenges and opportunities that arise from the interaction between loyalty programs and society. Our goal is to broaden the perspectives of researchers and managers so they can enhance loyalty programs to address evolving societal needs

Global standards of Constitutional law : epistemology and methodology

Just as it led the philosophy of science to gravitate around scientific practice, the abandonment of all foundationalist aspirations has already begun making political philosophy into an attentive observer of the new ways in which constitutional law is practiced. Yet paradoxically, lawyers and legal scholars are not those who understand this the most clearly. Beyond analyzing the jurisprudence that has emerged from the expansion of constitutional justice, and taking into account the development of international and regional law, the ongoing globalization of constitutional law requires comparing the constitutional laws of individual nations. Following Waldron, the product of this new legal science can be considered as ius gentium. This legal science is not as well established as one might like to think. But it can be developed on the grounds of the practice that consists in ascertaining standards. As abstract types of best “practices” (and especially norms) of constitutional law from around the world, these are only a source of law in a substantive, not a formal, sense. They thus belong to what I should like to call a “second order legal positivity.” In this article I will undertake, both at a methodological and an epistemological level, the development of a model for ascertaining global standards of constitutional law