What about the authors who can’t pay? Why the government’s embrace of gold open access isn’t something to celebrate

Dismayed by news that the Government has embraced the Finch Report findings, Mark Carrigan asks what will happen to authors and early careers researchers who have not yet secured a steady stream of funding and cannot pay the upfront fees required of gold open access

Inside the institution of the Prison: A Researcher’s Perspective

This paper provides a researcher’s perspective on conducting research in prisons and offers advice for researchers. It provides a reflection on research experiences gained in prisons in Ireland. The author argues that by reading as much as you can, understanding the prison for what it is, knowing the context in which the prison operates and, in particular, by making connections with others, prison researchers will be able to negotiate the often difficult research journey and may also be in a position to help other researchers too

Starry Messages: Searching for Signatures of Interstellar Archaeology

Searching for signatures of cosmic-scale archaeological artifacts such as Dyson spheres or Kardashev civilizations is an interesting alternative to conventional SETI. Uncovering such an artifact does not require the intentional transmission of a signal on the part of the original civilization. This type of search is called interstellar archaeology or sometimes cosmic archaeology. The detection of intelligence elsewhere in the Universe with interstellar archaeology or SETI would have broad implications for science. For example, the constraints of the anthropic principle would have to be loosened if a different type of intelligence was discovered elsewhere. A variety of interstellar archaeology signatures are discussed including non-natural planetary atmospheric constituents, stellar doping with isotopes of nuclear wastes, Dyson spheres, as well as signatures of stellar and galactic-scale engineering. The concept of a Fermi bubble due to interstellar migration is introduced in the discussion of galactic signatures. These potential interstellar archaeological signatures are classified using the Kardashev scale. A modified Drake equation is used to evaluate the relative challenges of finding various sources. With few exceptions interstellar archaeological signatures are clouded and beyond current technological capabilities. However SETI for so-called cultural transmissions and planetary atmosphere signatures are within reach.Comment: 29 pages including 4 figures and 1 tabl

Communities and consumption

Editorial for the IJSSP Special Issue on Communities and Consumption

Empowerment, waste and new consumption communities

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the diverse and complementary resistance and waste-reduction practices adopted by UK-based New Consumption Communities, and whether such behaviours empower them to achieve their environmental and social goals. Design/methodology/approach – The methodology can be broadly classified as critical ethnography, which acknowledges the researcher’s own subjectivity, how the informants are treated and represented, and the study’s wider context (Peñaloza, 1994). A participant-observer role is employed and six distinct New Consumption Communities are explored. Findings – It is suggested that through their resistance and empowerment, as well as a reconnection to production, the communities are able to implement alternatives to the wasteful practices of mainstream consumption behaviour, and achieve (partial) autonomy from the hegemonic forces of the market. Originality/value – This paper’s original perspective on waste is not limited to a small group of consumers, and thus should interest marketers and policy makers engaged in the advancement of sustainability and green marketing. Keywords – Consumer Empowerment; Voluntary Simplicity; Waste; Ethnography Paper type – Research pape

Flexibility, Dissonance and the conscious consumer

This paper considers the ethical purchasing of what are described as conscious consumers. Conscious consumers present a complex mix of behaviors; while seeking ethical alternatives, other social and economic forces impact on their behavior such that positive ethical choices are not always made. We identify two areas of theory relevant to the conceptualization of such consumers, flexibility and dissonance theory. A study of nine participants identified as conscious consumers was undertaken. As anticipated the participants revealed a range of often contradictory behaviors regarding their ethical purchases. The relevance of flexibility and dissonance theory to their behavior is discussed

Communally Living the Positive Alternative

Downshifting and other ‘resistance’ consumer behaviors have been examined according to varied perspectives, including political consumption (Shaw 2007; Shaw, Newholm and Dickinson 2006; Dickinson and Carsky 2005; Micheletti 2003), consumer activism and movements (Hermann 1970; Hilton 2003; Kozinets and Handelman 2004; Lang and Gabriel 2005) and resistance to consumer culture, the marketplace or marketing more broadly (Kozinets 2002; Giesler and Pohlmann 2003). Indeed, communities of alternative consumption involving radical forms of downshifting and/or ethical consumer behaviour have been largely positioned as anti- consumer culture and anti-marketing (Kozinets 2002; Giesler and Pohlmann 2003; Dobscha and Ozanne 2002; Dobscha 1998). But Juliet Schor (1998:23) suggests that past movements such as the “hippies” were “much more self-consciously anti-consumerist than most of today’s downshifters”; that downshifters today “are not dropping out. They are not back-to-the-land types. They don’t live together. And they don’t share a religion.” In this chapter we examine whether downshifting behaviour is possible within alternative community lifestyles, how it is manifested, and whether it may be considered a form of resistance to consumer culture in such a context. To do so, we review a diverse body of cross-disciplinary literature on the question of resistance to consumer culture, comprising the perspectives mentioned above. We also examine six UK communities of consumers who at a first glance could be seen as current embodiments of the ‘anti-’ and/or ‘resistance’ phenomenon, but which instead have shown communally-held ‘positive alternative’ approaches to discourses and practices encompassing downshifting and ethical consumption. We consider the communities’ relationships with the market and wider society from both the community position and the views of individuals within, presenting the everyday realities of downshifting in a communal context. We (re)present the communities through data from three years of ethnographic research comprising participant-observation, depth interviews, websites, print documents, broadcast material, informal conversations and experience stories with participants in what we have termed New Consumption Communities (Szmigin, Carrigan and Bekin 2007; Szmigin and Carrigan 2003). New Consumption Communities are presented as beneficial in terms of consumer re-enablement; they have been conceptualized as communities providing alternative ways of engaging in consumption and negotiating with the marketplace to an increasingly varied range of individuals (Szmigin, Carrigan and Bekin 2007). New Consumption Communities are formed around a sense of community through consumers’ reconnection to production, and maintained through engagement in boycotts, voicing of concerns and positive choices (Szmigin and Carrigan 2003). The six distinct cases are presented throughout the text in order to diversely illustrate our arguments in this chapter. The first of these is Hockerton Housing Project (HHP), the UK’s first ecologically sound, energy-efficient, earth-sheltered housing complex, launched in 1998. It was built by five resident families who produce 100% of their own wind energy, grow organic food, and manage their own sewage, water collection and filtering systems. Members are committed to a community business that comprises guided tours, educational and specialist workshops. HHP considers itself a best practice example and catalyst for sustainable living. The second community is Fallowfields (pseudonym). Founded in 1950 as an educational trust, Fallowfields had eighteen members at the time of research (2004). Their values comprise learning to live life peacefully and in community. Some members live in shared and others in independent accommodation within the community. During fieldwork, Fallowfields was undergoing an ethos-searching period, with environmental causes gaining prominence. The third community is Spiritual (pseudonym), a pioneering, holistic enterprise whose aim is spiritual (non-religious) education. It comprises an eco-village with several communal buildings for workshops, housing, ethical shops and a hall used for conferences and performances. Spiritual is an inspirational example to other communities. It had around five hundred permanent and volunteer members at the time of research, and thousands of people visit them each year. It is set up as a non-profit charity with a body of trustees, and is holistically devoted to sustainability through its energy windmills, organic sewage system, eco-housing and local exchanges fostered through its own community currency and bank. Stone-Hall (pseudonym) is also committed to holistic education. Its education centre is run by a resident cooperative group and administered by a trust. They are committed to environmental goals, rear livestock, grow vegetables, recycle, have their own water spring, reed-bed sewage, composting system and wood burners. All members work full-time for the community. Sunny-Valley Community (pseudonym) and its eleven members celebrated the community’s 10th anniversary in 2004. It is also a co-housing cooperative based in a shared house on rural land with members sharing maintenance responsibilities. Their ethos has a strong ecological focus and respect for diversity. They have good links with the local village, organize the local composting scheme and take part in the local community currency scheme. Finally, Woodland (pseudonym) is a rural co-housing initiative formed some thirty years ago. It had fifty-eight members at the time of research, and volunteers supplement the community. Spaces were communal with shared kitchen, laundry, library and other social rooms. Common values included self-sufficiency, cooperative living and low environmental impact

Responsible waste disposal: An exploratory study of affluent British and Brazilian consumers

This paper explores how British and Brazilian consumers dispose of their unwanted or no longer used goods. Post-consumption environmental impact has become a global issue, and the need for consumers to reduce, reuse and recycle is paramount. A study of seven participants with recycling experience was undertaken. Divergent concerns in relation to waste, and distinct symbolic roles for disposition reflected the economically distinct contexts of the participants. Insights from this study can inform future consumer and policy research, and provide a more holistic view of the consumer behavior cycle

Trends and developments in green cement and concrete technology

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Studies of Nanotube Channeling for Efficient Beam Scraping at Accelerators

While particle beam steering (and in particular, "scraping") in accelerators by bent channeling crystals is an established technique extensively tested at IHEP Protvino and other major high-energy labs, an interesting question is how one could improve channeling capabilities by applying modern nanotechnology. Theoretical research of nanotube channeling was in progress over recent years. In this work, we assess potential benefits from nanotube channeling for real accelerator systems. We report simulation studies of channeling in nanostructured material (carbon SWNT and MWNT) tested for possible serving as a primary scraper for the collimation systems of hadron colliders. The advantages of nanostructured material as a potential choice for a primary scraper in a high-energy accelerator such as LHC or the Tevatron are discussed in comparison to crystal lattices and amorphous material. We evaluate physical processes relevant to this application and reveal nanotechnology requirements.Comment: Presented at the Int. Conf. on Atomic Collisions with Solids (ICACS-21, Genova 4-9 July 2004