The community in the philosophy of William James

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oklahoma, 1999Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-85)There are those who have stated that James' social philosophy is of little import, and that the reader of James is, therefore, hard-pressed to find any notion of community therein. My primary purpose in this work is to show that while James has no systematic "theory of community," he does have important things to say about our "experience of community." In showing this, I also indirectly respond to the claim made against James' social philosophy. I call attention to the importance of James' theory of relations--where both conjunctive and disjunctive relations are held to be as real as the terms they connect--to his position as regards both the self, and the relation of selves known as the community. This is also the basis for James' suggestion that on the common sense level of daily life, we operate within the framework of a narrative concept of selfhood. Our experience of community consists of three overlapping areas; the materials, social, and spiritual. In the first area, our focus is upon "me and mine." In the second, it is on our social relations. The third has to do with the moral relations that exist between ourselves and other members. I suggest that a hypothetical Jamesean community is one that is pragmatic in orientation. James characterizes the pragmatic community as "an experiment of the most searching kind.

The legal aspects of connectivity conservation: case studies

This publication follows on from Volume I in the series on legal aspects of connectivity conservation. It provides five case studies that continue to define and develop connectivity conservation law for supporting protected areas and for providing opportunities to address climate change as part of biodiversity conservation agendas. Volumes I and II together aim to advance conceptual thinking and legal understanding about important law and policy tools and options for supporting the connectivity of protected area systems. The legal research and analyses reflected in these papers span international, regional, national and local levels. A range of legal instruments existing in most national legal systems, from conservation and sustainable use laws to land use planning, development control, voluntary conservation and economic instruments are explored

A Policy Maker’s Guide to Designing Payments for Ecosystem Services

Over the past five years, there has been increasing interest around the globe in payment schemes for the provision of ecosystem services, such as water purification, carbon sequestration, flood control, etc. Written for an Asian Development Bank project in China, this report provides a user-friendly guide to designing payments for the provision of ecosystem services. Part I explains the different types of ecosystem services, different ways of assessing their value, and why they are traditionally under-protected by law and policy. This is followed by an analysis of when payments for services are a preferable approach to other policy instruments. Part II explains the design issues underlying payments for services. These include identification of the service as well as potential buyers and sellers, the level of service needed, payment timing, payment type, and risk allocation. Part II contains a detailed analysis of the different types of payment mechanisms, ranging from general subsidy and certification to mitigation and offset payments. Part III explores the challenges to designing a payment scheme. These include the ability to monitor service provision, secure property rights, perverse incentives, supporting institutions, and poverty alleviation

Five Ways to Wellbeing: holistic narratives of public health programme participants

This paper reports on a study which formed part of a qualitative process evaluation of a wellbeing programme in North West England. The study used the biographic narrative interpretive method (BNIM) to undertake and analyse data from interviews with six participants from diverse projects within the programme. This generated rich case studies and spotlighted cross-case commonalities, building understanding of how the programme achieved its effects. We present findings using the Five Ways to Wellbeing framework, presenting one abridged ‘case’ and summarising cross-cutting themes. We explore how BNIM gives insight into the psychosocial complexity of wellbeing, building understanding of its holistic and dynamic nature, and then highlight the flexibility, resonance and widespread appeal of Five Ways to Wellbeing. In concluding, we argue that by enabling participants to tell their own stories of participation in the different projects, we gain a more authentic understanding of the ‘whole’ story of how involvement has affected wellbeing. Such approaches are crucial as wellbeing becomes a central concept in global health policy and promotion

Strategies for the construction of cassava brown streak disease viral infectious clones

Cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) has major impacts on yield and quality of the tuberous roots of cassava in Eastern and Central Arica. At least two Potyviridae species cause the disease: Cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) and Ugandan cassava brown streak virus (UCBSV). Cloned viral genome sequences known as infectious clones (ICs) have been important in the study of other viruses, both as a means of standardising infectious material and characterising viral gene function. IC construction is often technically challenging for Potyviridae due to sequence instability in E. coli. Here, we evaluate three methods for the construction of infectious clones for CBSD. Whilst a simple IC for in vitro transcription was made for UCBSV isolate ‘Kikombe’, such an approach failed to deliver full-length clones for CBSV isolates ‘Nampula’ or ‘Tanza’, necessitating more complex approaches for their construction. The ICs successfully generated symptomatic infection in the model host N. benthamiana and in the natural host cassava. This shows that whilst generating ICs for CBSV is still a technical challenge, a structured approach, evaluating both in vitro and in planta transcription systems should successfully deliver ICs, allowing further study into the symptomology and virulence factors in this important disease complex

International Influences and Drag: Just a Case of Tucking or Binding?

Recently there has been an  internationalisation in the training of UK drag performers. Whilst papers exist focused on drag kings and queens related to their community, few explore how kings/queens train – and fewer still explore international aspects. There are formal courses for drag, but historically this training was informal, present within specific performance communities built around LGBTQ cultures. Tracing dominant figures in such training – the drag mother/father – in order to historicise and contextualise the current explosion in drag performance,the paper argues that the potential globalisation of drag is largely down to the diversification of sources of knowledge available via the internet. Traditionally, performers trained with an established practitioner, where regional variances of drag were passed on. However, current new performers often learn ‘tricks of the trade’ through internet videos posted by people on other continents. In these videos, practitioners pass on their knowledge from the perspective of their locality, as if universal. New kings/queens are not passive in this training and locally infuse their acts, yet historical and local erasures persist. The paper argues that to engage with drag as performance one must be aware of locality and the deep connects drag has with its communities

Recommendations for clinical interpretation of variants found in non-coding regions of the genome

Background The majority of clinical genetic testing focuses almost exclusively on regions of the genome that directly encode proteins. The important role of variants in non-coding regions in penetrant disease is, however, increasingly being demonstrated, and the use of whole genome sequencing in clinical diagnostic settings is rising across a large range of genetic disorders. Despite this, there is no existing guidance on how current guidelines designed primarily for variants in protein-coding regions should be adapted for variants identified in other genomic contexts. Methods We convened a panel of nine clinical and research scientists with wide-ranging expertise in clinical variant interpretation, with specific experience in variants within non-coding regions. This panel discussed and refined an initial draft of the guidelines which were then extensively tested and reviewed by external groups. Results We discuss considerations specifically for variants in non-coding regions of the genome. We outline how to define candidate regulatory elements, highlight examples of mechanisms through which non-coding region variants can lead to penetrant monogenic disease, and outline how existing guidelines can be adapted for the interpretation of these variants. Conclusions These recommendations aim to increase the number and range of non-coding region variants that can be clinically interpreted, which, together with a compatible phenotype, can lead to new diagnoses and catalyse the discovery of novel disease mechanisms