Developing an independent anti-racist model for asylum rights organizing in England

Since the mid 1990s third sector professionals and organizations have come under increasing pressure to help enforce restrictive and punitive policies toward refugees and asylum seekers. This paper presents one response, using an empirical case study to develop an ‘Independent Anti-Racist Model’ for asylum rights organising. This combines data from a three-year study comparing four organizations in a major city in England and reflections on the author’s experience as a member of the case study organization, contextualized in the literature. The paper identifies a related set of features distinguishing this model from other types of organization and the conditions making it possible and concludes that it offers wider lessons for work with groups in a conflictual relationship with the state

A localic theory of lower and upper integrals

An account of lower and upper integration is given. It is constructive in the sense of geometric logic. If the integrand takes its values in the non-negative lower reals, then its lower integral with respect to a valuation is a lower real. If the integrand takes its values in the non-negative upper reals,then its upper integral with respect to a covaluation and with domain of integration bounded by a compact subspace is an upper real. Spaces of valuations and of covaluations are defined. Riemann and Choquet integrals can be calculated in terms of these lower and upper integrals

Beyond the hegemonic narrative – a study of managers

Purpose – The aim is to analyse managerial behaviour using narrative analysis to identify stories that are often ignored, silenced or missed by the hegemonic managerialist narrative. Design/methodology/approach – An ethnographic narrative based on an 18 month period of participant observation where the author was a manager in a business unit acquired by another company for $1 billion. Findings – Strategy can be diverted or altered by managers lower down the organization in a counter strategy process. This is consistent with Dalton where managers lower down the organization adapt and change strategy to make it work in practice. Research limitations/implications – Participant observation and ethnomethodological narrative analysis have the potential to go beyond the hegemonic managerialist literature and identify a much more complex picture. However, such research is always open to criticism as being from the author's “own perspective” and appearing to claim “omnipresence.” Other stories have been given voice but it is never possible to say that all stories have been recovered from the silencing processes of the organization. Practical implications – A clearer understanding of how management operates counter strategies within an organization in practice. This enables organizations to reconsider how they engage managers beyond the hegemonic narrative. Originality/value – This paper aims to provide an insight into management behaviour beyond the usual treatment of managers as an amorphous mass as is common in most of the hegemonic managerialist narrative. When managers are told the narratives in this paper they can recount their own similar stories yet these are rarely told

Inflation targeting in practice: the UK experience

In this speech (given at the CFSresearch conference on the Implementation of Price Stability held at the Bundesbank Frankfurt am Main, 10. - 12. Sept 1998), John Vickers discusses theoretical and practical issues relating to inflation targeting as used in the United Kingdom doing the past six years. After outlining the role of the Bank s Monetary Policy Committee, he considers the Committee s task from a theoretical perspective, beforediscussing the concept and measurement of domestically generated inflation

Book review: what Ed can learn from Labour’s history on the world stage, from student revolts of the 1960s, to courting the media in the 1990s

The legacy of Blair and the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan continue to loom large for the Labour Party, whether in opposition or in government, giving rise to fierce debates over Labour’s attitude towards the wider world. This book considers the idea of Labour’s international identity, examining how world events and Labour’s response to them have helped to shape ideology, political culture and domestic agendas from the 1920s until the Iraq War

Aiming for the quiet eye in biathlon

The duration of the so-called "Quiet Eye" (QE) - the final fixation before the initiation of a critical movement - seems to be linked to better perceptual-motor performances in various domains. For instance, experts show longer QE durations when compared to their less skilled counterparts. The aim of this paper was to replicate and extend previous work on the QE [Vickers and Williams 2007] in elite biathletes in an ecologically valid environment. Specifically, we tested whether longer QE durations result in higher shooting accuracy. To this end, we developed a gun-mounted eye tracker as a means to obtain reliable gaze data without interfering with the athletes' performance routines. During regular training protocols we collected gaze and performance data of 9 members (age 19.8 ± 0.45) of the German national junior team. The results did not show a significant effect of QE duration on shooting performance. Based on our findings, we critically discuss various conceptual as well as methodological issues with the QE literature that need to be aligned in future research to resolve current inconsistencies.The duration of the so-called "Quiet Eye" (QE) - the final fixation before the initiation of a critical movement - seems to be linked to better perceptual-motor performances in various domains. For instance, experts show longer QE durations when compared to their less skilled counterparts. The aim of this paper was to replicate and extend previous work on the QE [Vickers and Williams 2007] in elite biathletes in an ecologically valid environment. Specifically, we tested whether longer QE durations result in higher shooting accuracy. To this end, we developed a gun-mounted eye tracker as a means to obtain reliable gaze data without interfering with the athletes' performance routines. During regular training protocols we collected gaze and performance data of 9 members (age 19.8 ± 0.45) of the German national junior team. The results did not show a significant effect of QE duration on shooting performance. Based on our findings, we critically discuss various conceptual as well as methodological issues with the QE literature that need to be aligned in future research to resolve current inconsistencies

Ars Informatica -- Ars Electronica: Improving Sonification Aesthetics

In this paper we discuss æsthetic issues of sonifications. We posit that many sonifications have suffered from poor acoustic ecology which makes listening more difficult, thereby resulting in poorer data extraction and inference on the part of the listener. Lessons are drawn from the electro acoustic music community as we argue that it is not instructive to distinguish between sonifications and music/sound art. Edgar Var`ese defined music as organised sound and sonifications organise sound to reflect some aspect of the thing being sonified. Therefore, we propose that sonification designers can improve the communicative ability of their auditory displays by paying attention to the æsthetic issues that are well known to composers, orchestrators, sound designers & artists, and recording engineers