Rémy Ollier And Imperial Citizenship

This essay discusses Rémy Ollier’s (1816–45) journalism. As an early claimant of citizenship through (rather than against) the British Empire during the 1840s, Ollier attempted to redress a gap that he perceived between the institutionalization of rights in Britain and Mauritius. Established accounts of Ollier’s political intervention provide a rich narrative of how his efforts are implicated in the development of rights in Mauritius and broader postcolonial nationalisms. However, I argue that facets of his expression of imperial citizenship reside apart from this genealogy. To explore how Ollier uniquely created imperial citizenship, an “acts”-influenced approach to citizenship is adopted. By analyzing his writings in La Sentinelle de Maurice, I reveal how imperial citizenship is generated through a subversive loyalism to Britain and an orientalist portrayal of indentured labourers. I conclude by mobilizing Ollier’s struggle as a challenge to the notion that citizenship realizes itself in teleological fashion

'Don’t you feel bad watching the Olympics, watching us?' A qualitative analysis of London 2012 Olympics influence on family sports participation and physical activity

This paper examines the use of video diaries (VDs) and their value as supplementary methods in qualitative research examining the influence of the London 2012 Olympics, from the perspectives of five families in the East Midlands of England. The aims of the project were to assess their reaction to the Games, the influence it had on family attitudes, opinions and perceptions towards sports participation and physical activity. We present qualitative interview data from pre and post Games interviews and VD data to gather micro realities of the influence of the Games. We draw on a dramaturgical perspective to explore the perspectives of familiess regarding the impact of the Olympics on their everyday lives. It has yielded the following themes: access, motivation, inspiration, apathy and reflection on methodological use of VDs. The benefits and challenges of VD use alongside Goffman’s framework are discussed in the context of assessing the impact of the Games on these families. Our evidence suggests that these methods are an invaluable tool for accessing the families’ immediate responses to mega-events during the period in which they are hosted. However, the feasibility and complexities of utilising VDs are presented, as we consider whether these methods assist researchers to examine the uptake of sports participation, or simply encourage the researchers to become voyeurs watching the participants, watch the Olympics. The implications for using these methods as part of qualitative methods for analysis of the sports participation legacy and the impact of future mega events are discussed

A new method for the timber tracing toolbox: applying multi-element analysis to determine wood origin

To effectively reduce illegal timber trade, law enforcers need forensic methods to independently verify claims of wood origin. Multi-element analysis of traded plant material has the potential to be used to trace the origin of commodities, but for timber it has not been tested at relevant large scales. Here we put this method to the test, by evaluating its tracing accuracy for three economically important tropical timbers: Azobé and Tali in Central Africa (22 sites) and Red Meranti on Borneo (9 sites). Wood samples from 991 trees were measured using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and element concentrations were analysed to chemically group similar sites (clustering) and assess accuracy of tracing samples to their origin (Random Forest models). For all three timbers, we found distinct spatial differences in chemical composition. In Central Africa, tracing accuracy was 86%–98% for regional clusters of chemically similar sites, with accuracy depending on the tracing question. These clusters were 50–800 km apart and tracing accuracy was highest when combining the two timbers. Tracing accuracy of Red Meranti on Borneo was 88% at the site level. This high accuracy at a small scale may be related to the short distances at which differences in soil type occur on Borneo. A blind sample analysis of 46 African timber samples correctly identified the origin of 70%–72% of the samples, but failed to exclude 70% of the samples obtained from different species or outside the study area. Overall, these results illustrate a high potential for multi-element analysis to be developed into a timber tracing tool which can identify origin for multiple species and can do so at a within-country scale. To reach this potential, reference databases need to cover wider geographic areas and represent more timbers

Solicited diary methods

To date, solicited diaries have been relatively neglected as a research method within the health and social sciences. Yet, the gathering of chronologically organized diary data can provide unique insights into the life-worlds inhabited by individuals; their experiences, actions, behaviors, and emotions and how these are played out across time and space. Solicited diaries enable informants to actively participate in both recording and reflecting (either in written, oral, or visual formats) on their own data. While inevitably these data are reflected upon with a certain research agenda in mind, most qualitative diary methods allow space and time for diarists to depict their own priorities. As such, this research technique affords participants greater control of the data, enabling individuals to not only consider their responses but reveal as little or as much as they feel willing to do so. Solicited diary methods can be used to gather both qualitative and quantitative data, but in this chapter we focus specifically on the use of qualitative diary techniques. We address the methodological underpinnings of these approaches and the contribution they can make to the study of different questions, phenomena, and social problems. We also consider the strengths and limitations of solicited diary methods including debate about the extent to which they are viable techniques for undertaking research with all groups and individuals. Finally, we discuss how the rise of digital technologies is opening up new and exciting approaches for solicited diary techniques, the possibilities for which are only newly being explored