Cameron’s counter extremism plan rests on shaky foundations

Underpinning David Cameron’s focus on non-violent extremism, delivered in a speech outlining the government’s counter extremism strategy, is the idea that there is a clear connection between radical ideas and radical action. The relationship between attitudes and behaviour is in fact far more complex, and targeting ‘non-violent extremists’ poses genuine risks for freedom of speech. Sarah Marsden examines Cameron’s speech, finding that it rests on shaky foundations

Migrant Workers, Rights, and the Rule of Law: Responding to the Justice Gap

Migrant agricultural workers provide an essential and longstanding contribution to food security in Canada. Exploitation and rights shortfalls for these workers are welldocumented. On paper, they have rights on par with Canadian workers, but these rights do little to address the structure and dynamics underpinning their subordination in Canadian society. In this article, I argue that law creates a “justice gap” in the case of these workers. Law gives rights to these workers on an individual basis but also creates structural vulnerability which renders them unlikely to make use of individual remedies or compliance-based systems. Rights and protection discourse does not challenge the underlying institutional arrangements in which workers’ labour unfreedom is maintained. I argue that the justice gap can be understood as a rule of law problem, but that the utility of this approach is u

Assessing the Regulation of Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada

There has been an increase in the number of incoming temporary migrant workers to Canada over the past decade. In this article, I critically assess recent changes in the law governing temporary migration to Canada by using theoretical tools from the fields of sociology, geography, and legal geography. A multidisciplinary framework to understand Canada\u27s labour migration policies is provided. Within the socio-historical context of migrant labour regulation in Canada, I argue that political and regulatory developments function to further entrench segregation and exclusion of foreign workers by maintaining a subclass of flexible labour. Specifically, I show that Canada\u27s current temporary migration regime retains the country\u27s historical role as an ethnocratic settler state in which the regulation of migrant workers creates inherent boundaries. These boundaries demarcate racially identified space(s) on the basis of the economic and political logic underlying temporary migration

Just Clinics: A Humble Manifesto

Student legal clinics are poised at the intersection of the crisis in the availability of legal services and pressure on law schools to produce practice-ready graduates. In a neoliberal policy environment, which emphasizes market-based outcomes, commodifies services, and obscures the structural roots of inequality, it is tempting to measure the work of student legal clinics in terms of their efficiency in providing services to large numbers of clients. In this article, I argue that law school clinics should instead be recognized as sites of justice, moving beyond the construct of “numbers served.” Using the idea of “access to actual justice” as opposed to mainstream versions of “access to justice,” I propose that the work of student legal clinics should be measured by way of three main tenets, namely, their adoption of a critical approach to access to justice, their meaningful accountability to the communities in which they work, and the extent to which they define competencies in terms of justice-readiness

A social movement theory typology of militant organisations : contextualising terrorism

Date of acceptance 8/8/14Typologies are ubiquitous in terrorism studies, illustrating their continued appeal as a tool to further our understanding of this form of political violence. Despite this, to date, the promise of an empirically derived typology has largely been neglected. In addressing this gap, this article sets out a typology developed from Social Movement Theory. Using a novel statistical technique to derive a three-dimensional framework for categorising militant groups, the typology incorporates both organisational characteristics and the wider political context. The result is a typology defined by three conceptual constructs: political capacity, war-making capacity, and network capacity. Alongside these organisational features, imposing measures of the wider political opportunity structure reveals eight types of militant organisation. To explore the utility of the framework, a preliminary analysis interprets the typology in light of the presence of wider conflict. That a robust relationship is found between the various types and whether groups were operating in peacetime, civil war, or low-intensity conflict, goes some way to demonstrating its utility as an analytical tool. Conclusions draw attention to the importance of contextualising militant groups in their socio-political setting, and the benefits of combining theory alongside empirical analysis to develop robust characterisations of violent organisations.PostprintPeer reviewe

The effects of sacroiliac manipulation and pelvic blocking on active gluteus medius trigger points: a randomised clinical trial

Abstract: Introduction: Low back pain is a leading cause of disability, activity limitation and loss of productivity on a global scale. Major causes of gluteus medius myofascial dysfunction are prolonged periods of sitting and unbalanced movement, a consequence of modern living. Gluteus medius referral pain is often overlooked as a cause of low back pain. Active gluteus medius trigger points commonly lead to primary pain around the low back into the buttocks and across the sacroiliac joint. The primary aim of this study was to compare the effects of sacroiliac manipulation and pelvic blocking in the treatment of active gluteus medius trigger points, with the secondary aim of understanding the correlation between joint hypomobility and myofascial pain dysfunction. Method: This was a comparative study utilising convenient sampling and random group allocation. A selection of 30 male and female participants between the ages of 18 and 45 years were recruited for this study. On meeting the inclusion criteria, participants were allocated into one of two groups by random draw, with 15 participants per group. Group A received chiropractic manipulation to the sacroiliac joints. Group B received biomechanical pelvic blocking. Each participant received two treatments per week over a three-week trial period with a total of six treatments. In the seventh and final consultation, only measurements were taken. Subjective and objective data were collected during the first, fourth and seventh consultations. Subjective measurements were captured using the Numerical Pain Rating Scale and the Oswestry Disability Index. Objective measurements were performed using a pressure pain algometer. The data was captured and analysed by the researcher with the assistance of STATKON. Results: The Numerical Pain Rating Scale readings revealed that Group A (78.8%) had a greater improvement in decreasing perceived pain scores in comparison to Group B (66.9%). The Oswestry Disability Index scores revealed that Group B (70.6%) had a greater improvement in perceived pain related to their level of function in activities of daily living in comparison to Group A (58.0%). The inter- and intra-group analysis of the Numerical Pain Rating Scale and Oswestry Disability Index readings revealed that both vii groups showed an equally statistically significant improvement in perceived pain. The pressure algometer readings revealed that Group A (38.7%) had a greater improvement in pressure pain threshold in comparison to Group B (29.9%). The inter- and intra-group analysis of pressure algometer readings revealed that groups A and B showed an increase in the pressure pain threshold of the gluteus medius trigger points. The results indicated that neither of the two groups showed statistically significant superiority over the other in terms of treating active gluteus medius trigger points. Conclusion: Both treatment protocols had positive clinical effects on the participants. Subjectively, the participants – on average – experienced a decrease in perceived pain. Objectively, the pressure algometer readings decreased throughout the trial period, which was noted in both groups. This suggests that, although both treatment protocols had positive clinical effects on participants over the trial, neither treatment protocol was statistically superior when compared to the other.M.Tech. (Chiropractic

Radicalization : trajectories in research, policy and practice

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The Ideology of Temporary Labour Migration in the Post-Global Era

In this chapter, we seek to explore the potential of new temporary labour migration programs to yield different outcomes than earlier guestworker programs in the 1980s and 1990s. By looking at key elements of temporary labour migration we assess the potential for an alternative trajectory for understanding and reframing the discussion in terms which are capable of responding in a more emancipatory way to the lived experiences of migrant workers. We have identified three concepts central to most analyses of temporary migration policies and programs: temporariness, the labour market, and rights. Our central contention is that these concepts function ideologically, and as such they constrain innovation with regard to temporary migrant labour programs. Our aim is to build on earlier waves of scholarship regarding guestworker programs. Primary among these are that once temporary migrant labourers arrive, it is difficult to ensure their departure, and the longer they remain, the harder it is to develop a theoretical argument for their exclusion from the polity and the territory. Similarly, we seek to build upon the insight that while workers may be invited, it is human beings who arrive. These touchstones are vital to understanding the linkage between temporary labour migration and illegal migration, and the policy trade-offs between the two categories which underpin state policy but which, for fairly obvious reasons, are rarely articulated by policy makers. We situate our analysis in the post-global era because a key difference from earlier guest worker programs is the backdrop of advancing globalization. This affects each of our key starting points: temporariness, labour markets, and rights. Followng a brief discussion of ideology as a framing concept, we first sketch the shape of temporary labour migration, paying attention to what is ‘new’ at present and to points of convergence between the states we take as examples (Canada, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom). This sketch grounds our consideration of the notion of temporariness and the aims and interests it serves. The subsequent section considers the representation of national labour markets within temporary labour migration programs. Following this, we turn to the possibilities and impossibilities of rights remedies for temporary workers. We draw on Hannah Arendt’s insight that labour is a vital aspect of the human condition to consider new ways of conceptualizing temporary migrant labour programs

Canadian Immigration Law in the Face of a Volatile Politics

The genesis of this special issue was a conference of Canadian immigration law scholars at the Université du Québec à Montréal in March 2018. Conference participants sought to look back on the many changes made to Canadian immigration law during the near-decade the Stephen Harper-led Conservative government spent in power (2006–2015). Although the Conservatives did not introduce a single, revamped immigration law— the major legislation remains the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, brought in under the Jean Chrétien-led Liberals (1992–2006) in 2002—they altered parts of the law nearly beyond recognition. In this introduction, we reflect briefly on these changes; on what has come after, under Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government (2015–), which has employed a more welcoming rhetoric yet left most of its predecessor’s amendments in place; and on what may lie ahead as we approach a federal election in which immigration again promises to be an important issue

Supports for Migrant Farmworkers: Tensions in (In)access and (In)action

Purpose: This study examined the role of support actors in promoting or hindering access to migrant agricultural workers\u27 (MAWs) needs, and, to determine the factors that influence adequate support for this population.Methodology: Employing a Situational Analysis methodology, we carried out focus groups and interviews with 35 support actors complimented by a community scan (n=28) with public-facing support persons and a community consultation with migrant agricultural workers (MAWs).Findings: Two major themes were revealed: (In)access and (In)action, and; Blurred Lines in Service Provision. The first illustrated how support actors could both reinforce or challenge barriers for this population through tensions of: “Coping or Pushing Back on Constraints,” and “Need to find them first!” Justification or Preparation? Blurred lines in Service Provision encompassed organizational/staff’s behaviours and contradictions that could hinder meaningful support for MAWs revealing 2 key tensions: “Protection or performance?” and “Contradicting or reconciling priorities? These 4 tensions revealed a support system for MAWs still in its infancy, contending with difficult political and economic conditions.Implications: Service providers can use research findings to improve supports for MAWs. For example, addressing conflicts of interests in clinical encounters and identification of farms to inform adequate outreach strategies can contribute to more effective support for MAWs.Value: This research is novel in its examination of multiple sectors and both formal and informal actors involved in MAWs’ support that can inform more comprehensive readings of the health and social care resources available to MAWs