What happened to the wages of men since the mid-1960s

The gap between rich and poor has increased dramatically over the last 25 years and the incomes of the bottom 10 per cent were no higher in 1991 than in 1967 (see Goodman and Webb (1994b, this issue)). Wages are an important part of household income and the trends in the dispersion of wages mirror very closely the trends in the dispersion of income. Knowing the reasons for the changing structure of the wage distribution is thus crucial to an understanding of the trends in overall household income.

British Unions in Decline: An Examination of the 1980s Fall in Trade Union Recognition

The authors analyze establishment-level data from the three Workplace Industrial Relations Surveys of 1980, 1984 and 1990 to document and explain the sharp decline in unionization that occurred in Britain over the 1980s. Between 1980 and 1990 the proportion of British establishments which recognised manual or non-manual trade unions for collective bargaining over pay and conditions fell by almost 20 percent (from 0.67 to 0.54). The evidence reported demonstrates the importance of the interaction between the labour market, the product market, employer behaviour and the legislative framework in determining union recognition status in new establishments. The sharp fall in trade union recognition appears to be largely driven by a failure to achieve recognition status in establishments set up in the 1980s. These results, when taken in conjunction with recent changes in the nature of employment in the British labour market, seem to paint a bleak picture for unions and there appears to be no reason why the decline in union activity should not continue into the 1990s.

Green European citizenship? Rights, duties, virtues, practices and the European Green Deal

Paid open accessPublished in December 2019 by the European Commission, the European Green Deal (EGD) sets out the aim to transform the EU into a sustainable society in which economic growth is decoupled from resource use, so that there are no greenhouse gas net emissions by 2050. As the ‘driving force of the transition’ citizens are expected a play a key role in achieving this shift, by adopting sustainable consumption habits and changing their life styles and behaviour as well as actively participating in policymaking [EC, 2019, 22]. This expectation raises questions about European citizenship: Can European citizenship be ‘greened’? Conversely, might the EGD strengthen European citizenship? Drawing together theoretical insights into ‘green citizenship’ with research on European citizenship this paper considers what a ‘green European citizenship’ (GEC) might look like. It examines the rights, duties, virtues and practices of a GEC, and underlines in particular the important role of ‘critical acts’ of European citizens. It concludes that while the initiatives of the EGD might provoke citizenship engagement, participation and identification, these initiatives might also further expose the fault lines between citizens in Europe. This possibility makes the critical acts undertaken by citizens all the more important.publishedVersio

Progression of Performance Over Four Decades in Masters’ Athletics

Athletic performance at the highest level of competition has improved in a variety of sports over the last 40 years, most notably in swimming and track. Although improvements in performance have also been observed among masters’ athletes (ages 35 and older), data concerning masters’ athletic performance have only been certain since the 1970’s. Whether the magnitude of improvement in athletic performance from 1970 onward is different between elite and masters’ athletes, as well as between different age groups of masters’ athletes, has yet to be determined. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in progression of athletic performance between different age groups of masters’ athletes and elite athletes. METHODS: Track (100m and 400m running) and swimming (100m freestyle) times were collected from the World Masters Track and Field and the USA Swimming database. The time span ranged from 1975 to 2013. Age groups were separated into eight 5-year segments spanning from age 40 to 79 years. The top three times of each age group for each year were selected. Moreover, the top 3 track and field and swimming times of any age were collected for the same years to represent a reference standard from which to compare age-group records. A multiple linear regression analysis was used to evaluate the effect of the age × year × sex interaction with SPSS software. When a significant interaction was present, a comparison of slope between age groups and sexes was performed. RESULTS: There were significant age × year × sex interactions in all athletic events examined. Improvements in race times were significant (p\u3c0.05) in both sexes and for age groups 45 and older. Relative improvements in the 45+ age groups were significantly different from the fastest running times. The general trends were similar for 400m middle-distance running. The progressions of 100m swimming times were significant (p\u3c0.05) for all age groups and for both sexes. Analysis of differences in the slope showed that older athletes and women had a greater slope of improvement in performance during that time. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that there have been significant improvements in athletic performance in masters’ athletes aged 45 and older in the track and field events, and those aged 40 and older in the swimming events in the past thirty nine years

Evidence for variable selective pressures at MC1R

It is widely assumed that genes that influence variation in skin and hair pigmentation are under selection. To date,the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) is the only gene identified that explains substantial phenotypic variance inhuman pigmentation. Here we investigate MC1R polymorphism in several populations, for evidence of selection.We conclude that MC1R is under strong functional constraint in Africa, where any diversion from eumelanin production (black pigmentation) appears to be evolutionarily deleterious. Although many of the MC1R amino acid variants observed in non-African populations do affect MC1R function and contribute to high levels of MC1R diversity in Europeans, we found no evidence, in either the magnitude or the patterns of diversity, for its enhancement by selection; rather, our analyses show that levels of MC1R polymorphism simply reflect neutral expectations underrelaxation of strong functional constraint outside Africa

The nonhuman condition: Radical democracy through new materialist lenses

This Critical Exchange explores the nonhuman condition. It asks: What are the implications of decentering the human subject via a new materialist reading of radical democracy? Does this reading dilute political agency? Or should this be seen, on the contrary, as an invitation for new voices and demands to enter into democratic assemblages? How might engagement with the more-than-human disrupt or extend theories of radical democracy? In our introductory contribution, we engage with the radical democratic human subject and explore new materialist thinking and its challenge to anthropocentrism. We offer a preliminary answer to how democratic agency is reconfigured under the nonhuman condition. While these questions have no final answers, we show that engaging with them opens a fruitful conversation about the limits and content of radical democracy

Investigación joven con perspectiva de género II

Actas del II Congreso de jóvenes investigadorxs con perspectiva de género (Getafe, 26 y 27 de junio de 2017) organizado por el Instituto Universitario de Estudios de Género de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid