Between Social Opprobrium and Repeat Trafficking: choices and chances of Albanian women deported from the UK

Book abstract: Human trafficking is widely considered to be the fastest growing branch of trafficking. As this important book reveals, it has moved rapidly up the agenda of states and international organisations since the early-1990s, not only because of this growth, but also as its implications for security and human rights have become clearer. This fascinating study by international experts provides original research findings on human trafficking, with particular reference to Europe, South- East Asia and Australia. A major focus is on why and how many states and organisations act in ways that undermine trafficked victims' rights, as part of 'quadruple victimisation'. It compares and contrasts policies and suggests which seem to work best and why. The contributors also advocate radical new approaches that most states and other formal organisations appear loath to introduce, for reasons that are explored in this unique book

Albanians, Albanianism and the Strategic Subversion of Stereotypes.

This contribution describes the ways in which various European host countries’ stereotypical imageries of Albanians as being culturally particularly prone to violence have forced contemporary transnational Albanian migrants into subversive strategies and practices of identity mimicry. This powerful stereotypical imagery, a sub-category of Balkanism known as Albanianism, can be traced through various European historical literature and contemporary policy as well as in historical auto-imagery which all have always mutually mirrored and influenced each other. The study finds that ‘Albanian violence’ valorised according to political and economic interests, i.e. romantically glorified as ‘noble’ or demonised – typically in reference to customary kanun traditions and customary ideals of heroism, manly courage and honour – in both hetero- and auto-imageries. But, equally,mutually sceptical attitudes (Occidentalist and Orientalist) can be identified as well as the historical precedents for outsiders appropriating paternalist protectionism towards the Albanians in reference to ‘primitive’ local customs. In the end it emerges that, today, it is exactly those criminals – who by their actions help to perpetuate essentialist generalisations of Albanian violence – are the ones benefiting from contemporary Albanianism in implicit discursive alliance with contemporary, exclusivist, immigration policy

Synthetische Expressions-Systeme für die kontrollierte Perturbation von regulatorischen Netzwerken in Säugerzellen

One focus of synthetic biology is the redesign of cellular networks to obtain insight into complex biological relations. Since lately, synthetic approaches are used to interfere with mammalian networks. In this work, perturbation of the virus-induced interferon- (IFN-) beta induction pathway was performed by stable integration of synthetic expression cassettes in IFN-beta reporter cells. The interference was realized by exploiting viral IFN antagonists such as influenza A virus NS1 and hepatitis C virus NS3/4A which were expressed from a tetracycline-dependent promoter. These cells showed time- and dose-controlled regulation of the perturbators on the single cell level. The perturbators interfered strongly with the IFN-beta induction. On the single cell level, the virus-induced IFN-beta expression course inversely correlated with the ectopically induced expression of the viral perturbators. The latter was clearly associated with an arrest of IFN-beta signal increase. Moreover, monitoring the time course of perturbator expression and arrest of reporter expression indicated that even an ongoing IFN-beta induction can be interrupted by expression of the perturbators. This finding was confirmed by monitoring intracellular localization of IRF-7 which relocates from the nucleus upon perturbator induction. Besides this finding, the results underline the benefit of synthetic expression modules to specifically perturb individual steps within complex regulatory cascades in a highly controlled way – a prerequisite to establish mathematical models towards systems biology based understanding.Ein Ziel der Synthetischen Biologie ist die Neukonstruktion von regulatorischen Netzwerken, um Einblicke in komplexe, biologische Zusammenhänge zu erhalten. Seit Kurzem werden synthetische Expressionsmodule benutzt, um mit zellulären Netzwerken zu interferieren. In dieser Arbeit wurde eine Perturbation der Virus-induzierten Interferon- (IFN-) beta Induktion unter Nutzung synthetischer Expressionskassetten durchgeführt. Die Perturbation wurde durch virale IFN-Antagonisten (Influenza A Virus NS1 und Hepatitis C Virus NS3/4A) erreicht, welche stabil in IFN-beta Reporterzellen integriert und durch einen tetrazyklinabhängigen Promoter kontrolliert exprimiert wurden. Diese Zellen zeigten zeit- und dosisabhängige Regulation der Perturbatoren auf Einzelzell-Ebene. Die Expression der viralen Perturbatoren interferierte mit der virus-induzierten IFN-beta Reporterexpression. Auf Einzelzell-Ebene zeigte der Verlauf der Virus-induzierten IFN-beta Expression eine inverse Korrelation zur ektopisch induzierten Expression der viralen Perturbatoren. Letztere war mit einem Arrest der IFN-beta Zunahme assoziiert. Mit Hilfe dieses Zellsystems konnte erstmals die Konsequenz der Perturbatorexpression auf die IFN-beta Induktion zeitlich aufgelöst werden. Die Ergebnisse legten nahe, dass eine bereits in Gang gesetzte IFN-beta Induktion durch Expression der Perturbatoren unterbrochen werden kann. Dies wurde durch die Untersuchung der intrazellulären Lokalisation von IRF-7, welches nach Induktion des Perturbators aus dem Zellkern exportiert wird, bestätigt. Neben der Aufdeckung dieses bisher nicht bekannten Mechanismus unterstreichen diese Ergebnisse den Nutzen von synthetischen Expressions-Modulen für die strikt kontrollierte Perturbation von zellulären regulatorischen Kaskaden - eine Voraussetzung, um mathematische Modelle zu generieren

Epistemic Justice and Everyday Nationalism: An Auto-Ethnography of Transnational Student Encounters in a Post-War Memory and Reconciliation Project in Kosovo

This contribution introduces an exercise in epistemic justice to the study of everyday nationalism in post-conflict, transnational (local and international) encounters. It explores how everyday nationalism, in often unexpected and hidden ways, underpinned a cocreational, educational project involving several local (Albanian) and international (British based) university students and staff collaborating on the theme of post-war memory and reconciliation in Kosovo. The set-up resembled a microcosm of transnational social encounters in project collaborations in which the problem of nationalism, typically, is associated with one side only: here, the Kosovars. Guided by Goffman's (1982) social interactionist framework, the study employs selected participants' paraethnographic and auto-ethnographic reflections of their project experiences and practices after the event in order to trace the everyday workings of mutual assumptions and constructions of a national self and other for all sides involved. In this, it explores how the project participants' asymmetric positioning within a wider, global context of unequal power relations shaped their vernacular epistemologies of belonging and identity. It thereby excavated what otherwise taken-for-granted criteria can become relevant in such local/international social encounters as reflected upon and how the enduring power imbalances underpinning these might best be redressed

Introduction to special section on 'police reform and human rights in the Western Balkans'

Throughout the Western Balkans a range of international actors have been involved in the comprehensive reconstruction of polities, economies and societies ravaged by the violent conflicts and political turmoil of the 1990s. The reform of police forces in accordance with international policing and human rights standards and practices has played a crucial role in the wider peace- and state-building efforts. To international proponents of liberal democratic governance, the police, alongside the judiciary and the penitentiary system, should serve as an important pillar of protecting human rights. Given a history of the police’s participation in the war efforts during Yugoslavia’s disintegration process as well as their role as henchmen of the previously ruling regimes, tackling the legacies of ethnic bias and human rights violations in the police forces appeared of utmost importance. Beyond this specific war-related necessity and guided by the concept of ‘democratic policing’, international-facilitated police reform processes in the Western Balkans – like in many other parts of the world – have aimed to turn the police into a ‘servant’ of citizens, not the state. This implies that the police forces should operate in an accountable, transparent and law-abiding manner in accordance with internationally and domestically agreed human rights standards. The envisaged result is the provision of security to all citizens equally, which in turn contributes to the improvement of domestic human rights practices and the emergence of a rule of law culture. But how effective have these endeavours been in practice? What lessons can we draw from efforts to implement democratic policing agendas in the Western Balkans