Was there discrimination in the distribution of resources after the earthquake in Gujarat? Imagination, epistemology, and the state in western India

In this paper, I analyse and reason with the patterns of discrimination evident in the reconstruction initiatives following the 2001 earthquake in Gujarat. I do so in order to explain what discrimination there was, and how and why such discrimination was related to broader patterns of social polarisation. After the earthquake, the political state of Gujarat made the headlines following widespread violence in 2002. This led to a flurry of publications in which anger and indignation led to the over-statement of the links between the government, social life in the state, and the politics of religious (Hindu-Muslim) communalism. This paper is an attempt to chip away to the impression thus created of a land consumed only by the violent compulsions of Hindu nationalism. I do so not through polemic, but ethnography, as a way of suggesting it is simply wrong to conflate state complicity in the anti-Muslim violence of 2002 with all other routine operations performed by government. Given Gujarat’s reputation for Hindu nationalism, my analysis unsurprisingly confirms the scholarship of others by showing how some powerful Hindu-oriented non-governmental organisations have drawn power and resources away from the state to parade before the people as if they govern. However, more importantly, the ethnography of the mixed-fortunes of Muslims in the rubble also illustrates some of the limits to the power of the Hindu nationalists: the data shows that the Hindu nationalists have not hijacked the state in its entirety and their influence is clearly curtailed and imperfect. By clothing the Hindu nationalist in unassailably powerful terms, the academic critic, I argue, has paradoxically almost become culpable in the success of the nationalist, by conferring on their rhetoric the status of reality, and on them power

Combining work and study:a solution?

Anyone dealing regularly with advising students is aware of the conflict between academic and non-academic pursuits, in particular paid employment, that can lead to under-performance and absence frequently followed by withdrawal from the course. Work has been perceived as conflicting with study rather than enhancing the learning experience, unless it is part of a sandwich course.Current progression rates indicate that some of those withdrawing at first and second year are working part-time and not combining work and study effectively. In order to address this issue it was necessary to devise a structured approach that gave credit to students whilst at work that also enhanced the learning experience. To that end, the Advisor of Studies devised a module to help students structure their personal development for work and study.The purposes of introducing the module were to:• Improve students’ performance in examinations and coursework.• Minimise “drop-out” rates. The design of the programme integrates the skills required for academic study with those developed as a result of employment, voluntary work or vocational training that is not otherwise recognised as a part of the course undertaken.The module aims to counteract this cause of poor progression by acknowledging and directing the skills and knowledge attained in a non-academic environment. Students who leave with the Diploma in Higher Education and utilised this option are expected to be more likely to return to their studies at a later date.In conjunction with the assessment strategy adopted it is envisaged that the module will, to a certain extent, address one cause of poor progression

The changing perspectives on three Muslim men on the question of saint worship over a 10-year period in Gujarat, western India

In many religious traditions, those who mediate relations between men and gods are often the focus of controversy and moral ambiguity. The ethnography in this paper outlines a number of perspectives on the role of such intermediaries (here ‘saints’) in Muslim society in western India. In the South Asian literature, historians have provided a thorough treatment of the doctrinal history and content of these debates. However, very little attention has been paid to how living individuals interpret and rehearse these debates in practice. The examination of the changing perspectives of three Muslim men on the question of saint worship over a ten-year period reveals the following. First, an individual’s relationship with ‘saints’ is often determined primarily by social context rather than simply by doctrinal allegiance or the compulsions of particular ‘beliefs’. Second, discourses of religious reform are also powerful social objects that can be used as political instruments for purposes other than simply refining the religious practices of a community. Finally, many commonplace assumptions in the literature – notably on the nature of belief and the significance of doctrinal divisions among Muslims – do not withstand ethnographic scrutiny

Between Africa and India: Thinking comparatively across the western

Scholarship on the Indian Ocean is generally comparative in its approach. In this paper, we draw from our research experiences on the Swahili and Gujarati coasts in order to discuss some of the epistemological consequences of comparison for the ways in which East Africa and Western India have been understood. We critically examine the frames and terms of comparison in the work of the historian Thomas Metcalf and the anthropologists A.H.J. Prins, Helene Basu and David F. Pocock. We suggest that the personal journeys of scholars, as well as the sources they use, have profoundly influenced the ways in which they have been able to write and problematize their own material

Effective student motivation commences with resolving 'dissatisfiers'

The evolution in students' expectations based on Maslow's theory of human motivation shows a transition from expectations having an effect upon motivation towards those providing a satisfactory experience. Maslow's argument was that once the lower level needs, such as physiological and safety needs, are met other higher needs emerge. In the context of student motivation, once environmental conditions are satisfied, the individual becomes dominated by the unsatisfied needs and other hygiene factors related to their studies dominate their experience and expectations. However, the environmental conditions must be satisfied before progress to other levels will succeed. Failure to address these basic issues at the commencement of a student's course of study can lead to absence and the subsequent lack of academic integration is a significant contributor to withdrawal

Technological design and moral hazard

Technology

Firms, assignments, and earnings

Executives - Salaries

Innovation and failure in mechatronics design education

Innovative engineering design always has associated with it the risk of failure, and it is the role of the design engineer to mitigate the possibilities of failure in the final system. Education should however provide a safe space for students to both innovate and to learn about and from failures. However, pressures on course designers and students can result in their adopting a conservative, and risk averse, approach to problem solving. The paper therefore considers the nature of both innovation and failure, and looks at how these might be effectively combined within mechatronics design education

Failure is an option:an innovative engineering curriculum

PurposeAdvancements and innovation in engineering design are based on learning from previous failures but students are encouraged to ‘succeed’ first time and hence can avoid learning from failure in practice. The purpose of the study was to design and evaluate a curriculum to help engineering design students to learn from failure.Design/Methodology/ApproachA new curriculum design provided a case study for evaluating the effects of incorporating learning from failure within a civil engineering course. An analysis of the changes in course output was undertaken in relation to graduate destination data covering 2006 to 2016 and student satisfaction from 2012 to 2017 and a number of challenges and solutions for curriculum designers were identified.FindingsThe design and delivery of an innovative curriculum, within typical constraints, can provide opportunities for students to develop resilience to failure as an integral part of their learning in order to think creatively and develop novel engineering solutions. The key issues identified were: the selection of appropriate teaching methods, creating an environment for exploratory learning, group and team assessments with competitive elements where practicable, and providing students with many different pedagogical approaches to produce a quality learning experience.OriginalityThis case study demonstrates how to design and implement an innovative curriculum that can produce positive benefits of learning from failure. This model can be applied to other disciplines such as building surveying and construction management. This approach underpins the development of skills necessary in the educational experience to develop as a professional building pathologist

A network approach to overcoming barriers to market engagement for SMEs in energy efficiency initiatives such as the Green Deal

The Green Deal (GD) was launched in 2013 by the UK Government as a market-led scheme to encourage uptake of energy efficiency measures in the UK and create green sector jobs. The scheme closed in July 2015 after 30 months due to government concerns over low uptake and industry standards but additional factors potentially contributed to its failure such as poor scheme design and lack of understanding of the customer and supply chain journey. We explore the role of key delivery agents of GD services, specifically SMEs, and we use the LoCal-Net project as a case study to examine the use of networks to identify and reduce barriers to SME market engagement. We find that SMEs experienced multiple barriers to interaction with the GD such as lack of access to information, training, and confusion over delivery of the scheme but benefited from interaction with the network to access information, improve understanding of the scheme, increasing networking opportunities and forming new business models and partnerships to reduce risk. The importance of SMEs as delivery agents and their role in the design of market-led schemes such as the GD are discussed with recommendations for improving SME engagement in green sector initiatives