Leaving no-one behind? Informal economies, economic inclusion, and Islamic extremism in Nigeria

This article examines how the Post-2015 commitment to economic inclusion affects informal economic actors in developing countries. It highlights the selective dynamics of inclusive market models which generate new processes of exclusion in which the most vulnerable continue to be left behind. The case of Nigeria reveals how inclusive market initiatives reinforce parallel processes of informalization, poverty and Islamic extremism in the north of the country. Fieldwork in northern Nigeria shows that inclusive initiatives are intensifying competitive struggles within the informal economy in which stronger actors are crowding out poorer, less educated and migrant actors, exacerbating disaffection and vulnerability to radicalization

Multifunctional properties of composition graded Al wires

International audienceThe potentiality of composition graded AlMgSi wires for optimized combination of electrical conductivity and torsion strength has been investigated. Composition graded wires were obtained by co-drawing commercially pure Al with an AlMgSi alloy followed by diffusion annealing. Diffusion gradients and local hardening response to precipitation treatments were evaluated thanks to nano-indentation measurements. Resulting microstructures with spatial gradients of nanoscaled precipitates were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Finally, it is shown that such graded structures give rise to an improved combination of electrical conductivity and mechanical strength in torsion as compared to the predictions based on a classical rule of mixture

Multifunctional properties of composition graded Al wires

International audienceThe potentiality of composition graded AlMgSi wires for optimized combination of electrical conductivity and torsion strength has been investigated. Composition graded wires were obtained by co-drawing commercially pure Al with an AlMgSi alloy followed by diffusion annealing. Diffusion gradients and local hardening response to precipitation treatments were evaluated thanks to nano-indentation measurements. Resulting microstructures with spatial gradients of nanoscaled precipitates were characterized by transmission electron microscopy. Finally, it is shown that such graded structures give rise to an improved combination of electrical conductivity and mechanical strength in torsion as compared to the predictions based on a classical rule of mixture

Secrecy as embodied practice: beyond the confessional imperative

This introduction to this special issue of Culture, Health & Sexuality aims to intervene critically in debates in public health about sexual rights and ways of de-stigmatising HIV/AIDS, in which silence and secrets are seen to undermine well-being and perpetuate stigma. It presents key insights from collaborative studies on HIV/AIDS and youth sexual health, arguing that advocates of disclosure and sexual rights need to think more contextually and tactically in promoting truth-telling. The authors aim to enhance current thinking on secrecy, which examines it primarily as a social practice, by emphasising the centrality of the body and the experience of embodiment in the making and unmaking of secrets. To understand secrecy as embodied practice requires understanding how it simultaneously involves the body as subject - as the basis from which we experience the world - and the body as object - that can be actively manipulated, silenced and ‘done’. The authors show how tensions emerge when bodies reveal reproductive mishaps and describe how the dissonances are resolved through a variety of silencing practices. The paper ends by discussing the implications of these insights for sexual-health programmes