Academic Debate Research Articles

‘Ice sheet conservation’ and international discord: governing (potential) glacial geoengineering in Antarctica

Abstract Should current unmitigated emissions continue, there is a growing chance of collapse of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, one of the planetary climate tipping points at greatest risk of being crossed. Such a collapse would subject the world to an increase of several metres in average global sea-level rise over just a few centuries. In this context, there is an academic debate about the potential of supporting glacial stability through artificial infrastructures such as an undersea ‘curtain’. However, this ‘ice sheet conservation’ would come with significant yet unforeseeable technical and environmental risks. Moreover, in this debate governance risks have been either neglected or understated. We argue that the proposed infrastructures could negatively implicate the ‘peaceful purposes only’ obligation enshrined in the Antarctic Treaty. By affecting contentious areas of Antarctic geopolitics, such as authority, sovereignty and security, there is a significant risk that the project would make the Antarctic ‘the scene or object of international discord’. Even if the ice curtain idea were to be technically feasible and environmentally harmless, it would still create significant political and legal challenges for the current governance arrangements in the Antarctic.

‘Col Fumetto Posso Fare Di Tutto’. Life Narratives and the Italian Graphic Novel

ABSTRACT While comics studies are now a fully recognised field within academic debate in the humanities, it wasn’t until around ten years ago, when the medium really began to flourish, that they began to be accepted as an object of study in universities and research centres, including the field of Italian studies. This collective volume brings together an international group of scholars who were invited to reflect on one of the most fruitful genres in the Italian graphic novel: life narratives. This vitality is not surprising: at a time of socio-political crisis and instability, such as the one Italy is currently experiencing, the possibility to narrate and/or represent real-life experience, whether openly or metaphorically, stands out as a powerful tool for intellectuals and artists to analyse socially relevant questions of the day and, possibly, take a stance on these issues. Cutting across genres, editorial formats, targets, and markets, graphic novels closely mirror the historical complexity of their times, problematising issues and negotiating pressing questions of our social reality.

DENIAL OF AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE OR OCCUPATION OF ITS TERRITORY: A NEW CASE AMONG THE DENIAL CRIMES

Background: Denial crimes are considered one of the most controversial topics in modern criminal law. The criminalisation of historical negationism is problematically balanced between two extremes: the need to protect historical memory, public order and the feelings of victims of terrible tragedies and their descendants, and the need to safeguard freedom of expression and academic debate. Despite this tension, the criminalisation of denial crimes has been gaining momentum on the European continent and is constantly expanding. For a long time, Ukraine has remained on the sidelines of this complex debate on the prohibition of denials. However, Russian aggression prompted the Ukrainian parliament to criminalise the denial of the aggression against Ukraine and the occupation of its territory. The wording of the law is not trivial and differs from classic European models. Two laws were adopted simultaneously, but they were not synchronised with each other, creating a collision. Despite this, both are widely used. This article, therefore, demonstrates Ukraine's thorny path to criminalising denials and the legal difficulties that arose from the extreme conditions under which the laws were adopted. Methods: In the initial stages of the research process, the authors present a concise overview of the evolution of criminal prohibition of denial across the globe, focusing on recent trends. This is achieved through the application of historical and comparative legal methods. The central section of the study is devoted to an examination of the Ukrainian experience, comprising two parts. The first section elucidates the evolution of the concept of criminalisation of these actions in Ukraine through an analysis of legislative initiatives and the outcomes of their assessment. The second section is dedicated to investigating the shortcomings of the legislative process, the challenges encountered in the implementation of adopted amendments, and the formulation of recommendations for the resolution of collision between legal norms, as well as suggestions for improving existing regulatory frameworks. In this endeavour, the authors employ a combination of formal legal and logical methods of cognition. Results and conclusions: Europe is at the heart of the movement to criminalise historical negationism. Most European countries criminalise some form of denial. Ukraine, as a candidate country for accession to the European Union, must harmonise its legislation with EU law. Over the past two decades, numerous draft legislation proposals have been submitted to the Ukrainian parliament with the intention of criminalising the denial of specific historical facts and their legal assessment. However, the Ukrainian experience differs significantly from that of its European counterparts, which mainly focus on liabilities for denying the Holocaust, other genocides, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. At present, the criminal law of Ukraine provides for the denial of Russian aggression and occupation in two distinct articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Both articles are applied in practice, resulting in legal uncertainty and a violation of the principle of equality. The article proposes an amendment to the Criminal Code of Ukraine to resolve this collision and, in the interim, to resolve the collision of norms by the principle of in dubio pro homine.

LEGÍTIMA DEFESA: ANÁLISE, REQUISITOS, LIMITES E APLICAÇÕES PRÁTICAS

The present work aims to study and analyze the requirements, practical applications and limits for the configuration of self-defense, which excludes illegality and can be used when the offended individual uses moderately the necessary means to repel the unjust aggression committed against himself or another, when the State is unable to protect the physical integrity of the citizen. This research seeks to understand how far this right extends and what its legal and social implications are, using as a source the study of the Brazilian Penal Code, case law, doctrines and scientific works. However, the analysis aims at an in-depth understanding of the institute of self-defense, contributing to the social and academic debate on the defense of this fundamental right.

Artifacts of Glory and Pain: Evolving Cultural Narratives on Confederate Symbolism and Commemoration in a New Era of Social Justice

The American Civil War has been commemorated with a great variety of monuments, memorials, and markers. These monuments were erected for a variety of reasons, beginning with memorialization of the fallen and later to honor aging veterans, commemoration of significant anniversaries associated with the conflict, memorialization of sites of conflict, and celebration of the actions of military leaders. Sources reveal that during both the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras, many monuments were erected as part of an organized propaganda campaign to terrorize African American communities and distort the past by promoting a “Lost Cause” narrative. Through subsequent decades, to this day, complex and emotional narratives have surrounded interpretive legacies of the Civil War. Instruments of commemoration, through both physical and digital intervention approaches, can be provocative and instructive, as the country deals with a slavery legacy and the commemorated objects and spaces surrounding Confederate inheritances. Today, all of these potential factors and outcomes, with internationally relevance, are surrounded by swirls of social and political contention and controversy, including the remembering/forgetting dichotomies of cultural heritage. In this article, drawing from the testimony of scholars and artists, I address the conceptual landscape of approaches to the presentation and evolving participatory narratives of Confederate monuments that range from absolute expungement and removal to more restrained ideas such as in situ re-contextualization, removal to museums, and preservation-in-place. I stress not so much the academic debate but how the American public is informed about and reacts to the various issues related to Confederate memorialization. My main point, where my premise stands out in the literature, is that, for the sake of posterity, and our ability to connect and engage with a tangible in situ artifact, not all Confederate statues should be taken down. Some of them, or remnants of them, should be preserved as sites of conscience and reflection, with their social and political meanings ongoing and yet to be determined in the future. The modern dilemma turns on the question: In today’s new era of social justice, are these monuments primarily symbols of oppression, or can we see them, in select cases, alternatively as sites of conscience and reflection encompassing more inclusive conversations about commemoration? What we conserve and assign as the ultimate public value of these monuments rests with how we answer this question.

Building Sustainable Supply Chains: Role of Supply Chain Flexibility in Leveraging Information System Flexibility and Supply Chain Capabilities

In today's interconnected and intricate global environment, achieving sustainable supply chain performance is paramount for organizations. Within this context, the flexibility of information systems as dynamic capability, is a driving force behind effective supply chain management. In addition, there are a multitude of compliances that supply chains have to comply with in order to achieve sustainable outcomes. Against this background we examine how information systems flexibility, knowledge capabilities, supply chain capabilities and supply chain flexibility contributes towards sustainable performance of the supply chains. Using the lenses of Dynamic Capability View (DCV), this paper explores relationships among these constructs using Partial least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). 321 tire industry professionals participated in the survey and provided their feedback. The findings underscore the fact that information system flexibility significantly enhances knowledge and supply chain capabilities, which subsequently facilitate flexibility in supply chains. The results of this study also established the significant influence of supply chain flexibility on sustainable supply chain performance, emphasizes the need to have flexibility in supply chain to achieve sustainability goals. This research provides an important input into academic debates on sustainable supply chain management, as it sheds light on the role of information system to improve Supply chain flexibility and sustainability.

Forging a green future: Synergizing industry 4.0 technologies and circular economy tactics to achieve net-zero in sustainable supply chains

Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and Circular Economy (CE) are emerging in academic, managerial, and policy debates, leading to integrating sustainable supply chain and net zero paradigms as an important phenomenon for maintaining competitive advantages in business. Although CE and I4.0 have significant benefits, their integration is largely untapped, representing a significant opportunity to integrate technological advancements with sustainable practices. Hence, this study investigates how CE and I4.0 can be integrated to achieve net zero in a knowledge-based sustainable supply chain. As part of this objective, the paper conducts an exploratory systematic review of selected articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Three main categories are identified from the selected articles: (i) CE principles and I4.0 technologies integration, (ii) the role of CE-I4.0 nexus in a sustainable supply chain (iii) leveraging CE-4.0 integration for net zero sustainable supply chains. We propose a multi-perspective framework to analyze the net zero sustainable supply chain implementation level using I4.0, CE, and stakeholders’ perspectives. A recommendation from this study suggests increased attention from sustainable supply chain stakeholders on developing infrastructure, including knowledge-building development and training processes focused on net zero. By utilizing our improved knowledge of I4.0 and CE, the results of the study will help researchers, businesses, and policymakers to develop an effective and integrated strategic approach to foster a net zero sustainable supply chain.

E-Professionalism's Impact on Dental Professionalism: A Rapid Scoping Review.

Dental regulators and educational institutions are increasingly concerned about the influence of digital platforms used by the profession for social, business, digital interaction with the public/patients and its impact on the professionalism in practice now and going forward. However, academic knowledge and research within dentistry are relevant to e-professionalism at a level of engagement and approach in delivering guidance to students through the current dental curriculum. The question therefore asked was what breadth of academic material, research, debate and discourse is available to inform our understanding, guidance and teaching on this ever-evolving topic. To map how e-professionalism has developed in academic dental literature as a topic within the study of professionalism in practice. A rapid scoping review was conducted to identify published research that describes and tests the topic of professionalism from 2016 to 2023. Studies were synthesised narratively using thematic analysis to inform the understanding of what has been already researched in the field. Thirteen articles were included in the review. After undertaking a thematic analysis, five themes were constructed. These included: curriculum, opportunities and safe professional use, reflections, personal and professional identity issues, and students as co-creators. Within dental research there is consensus that e-professionalism could present a tangible threat to the identity of dental professionals their clinical practice and interaction with patients/public however, less is known about what educational strategies are most effective when teaching e-professionalism.

Augmenting Consumer Acceptance of Robot-Assisted Technologies in Retail Industry: An Interdisciplinary Approach

Since they have been incorporated into retail, robots have been discussed more frequently in academic publications and public debate. Customers in retail sector, as well as workers will be resistant to the rising employment of robots as their capabilities increase and they are employed to supplement or replace human labour. "Interdisciplinary" denotes a technique that amalgamates knowledge and methodologies from several academic or professional domains to attain a thorough comprehension of a particular subject or matter. As robots and AI become more common in society, this study examines the public's attitudes towards their use in retail. Consumer perceptions of retail robots are examined using consumer psychology and technology attitudes literature. To fill the research gap, 393 retailers' responses on service robot deployment in retail contexts are analyzed, with an emphasis on the East region. Service robot attitudes vary based on aspects such as robot benefits, social skills, and technology attitudes. Cluster analysis divides respondents into "high techies" and "high touches," depending on their service robot acceptance. The regression study clarifies how numerous factors affect retail robot-assisted service perceptions. Retailers and policymakers can learn from the survey that consumer opinion is significant for the future integration of robots in retail.

Investigating water sustainability towards indicators: An empirical illustration using country-level data

This paper contributes to the academic debate on the construction of synthetic indices with respect to water-based sustainability analysis. In this regard, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.4 specifically considers the progress on water-use efficiency within the target of ensuring access to water and sanitation (SDG 6). Our contribution investigates the levels of water sustainability reached by countries around the world considering a suitable measure of the goal obtained by aggregating variables available at the national level, i.e. water efficiency (SDG 6.4.1) and stress (SDG 6.4.2).The construction of a composite index for SDG 6.4 is discussed through the usual steps of normalization, aggregation, and weighting, also highlighting the pros, cons and issues encountered in each step. Fundamental issues faced in the construction of synthetic indices are also discussed: different methods for performing the above steps are compared, and uncertainty analysis is carried out to understand which methods could be reasonably suitable to measure the synthetic indicator of the entire target. As a further theoretical contribution, we illustrate some arguments in favor of the application of categorical scales for normalization, even if the results of some countries seem to be particularly sensitive to the choice of weights in the aggregation phase.Results, obtained after examining univariate and multivariate descriptive statistics, show that the best performances can be observed in small and medium European countries and sub-Saharan African nations (such as Congo, Gabon, and Angola), while the lowest levels appear to be located in Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.A natural implication of this research is its contribution to valorizing the social capital of a regional area, stimulating new approaches to environmental issues, informing public debate, and influencing policy-making.

The need for translational bioethics within perinatal healthcare and policy making: A COVID-19 case study

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted many issues that can occur due to lack of translation between the spheres of bioethics and clinical practice. In this paper, we examine how mothers and newborn infants were inappropriately separated during the initial stages of the pandemic due to inconsistent application of ethical principles in determining policy. One of the significant challenges that translational bioethics face is the complexity regarding its implementation into the health service environment. As outlined in the literature, it may be postulated that responsibility for translating bioethics from philosophical concepts into practice is the duty of those training in philosophical theory and reasoning. However, the use of bioethics in informing clinical practice is not just the case of needing a translator but rather requires an interpreter in the widest sense: professionals attuned to both bioethics and clinical practice, who can communicate with both groups effectively. A two-way dialogue needs to be more cohesively established to ensure clinical practice is guided by ethical principles and to focus academic debate towards the pragmatic issues that require ethical exploration. Utilising the translational bioethics model described by Bærøe and applying it to our perinatal COVID case study, we examine how an integrated translational bioethics approach could have prevented the harm and disruption to mother–infant dyads during the initial phase of the pandemic in 2020.

Supersizing the Impact of Unions in Downsizing Processes: A Configurational Approach Based on 19 Cases in France

This article explores how unions can influence employer decisions to downsize – a longstanding question that has been addressed through three waves of research. Although the literature has successively identified three types of factors that influence managerial decisions to downsize, it has not fully addressed the interactions of these factors, leading to inconsistencies. This article builds on and refines the existing work through a configurational approach which qualitatively evidences six downsizing configurations through a uniquely large number of cases ( n = 19). This research sheds new light on how factors combine to enhance union influence by theorizing four types of chemical-like factor interactions: catalysing, inhibiting, synthesizing and decomposing. By highlighting this interactive chemistry, this configurational approach revisits longstanding academic debates about the context–union strategy fit and the relative efficacy of union responses. From a practical perspective, it encourages unions to reject the idea that there is a single, optimal strategy for addressing downsizing.

Literature and Mysticism in the Wake of Silvano Panunzio: From The Divine Comedy to the European Literature of the Twentieth Century

This article introduces one of the forgotten figures of religious and literary studies: the Italian scholar, philosopher, metaphysician, poet and writer Silvano Panunzio (1918–2010). His contribution has so far been relegated to the margins of academic debate, and, currently, there are no academic studies on his work, in which mysticism plays a pivotal role. Panunzio believed that the transcendental and mystical dimension is fundamental for fully understanding the social, cultural, historical and political events of humanity. Another relevant aspect of his work is the importance he gave to literature and its relationship with mysticism, as in the case of Dante’s Divine Comedy or other European and Eastern writers and poets, such as Goethe, Shakespeare, Ibn Arabi and Dostoevsky. Significantly, Panunzio saved from oblivion the work of a forgotten man of letters of the nineteenth century, Gabriele Rossetti (1783–1854), who proposed the first symbolic and esoteric interpretation of Dante’s literary production and of European medieval love literature. Raising awareness of the intellectual amnesia around the figure of Silvano Panunzio may be a useful contribution to future research, both in the field of religious and literary studies.

CAPACITAÇÃO DOCENTE PARA A INTEGRAÇÃO EFICAZ DAS TICS NO PROCESSO EDUCATIVO

New Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have triggered a series of profound transformations in contemporary society, affecting sociocultural, historical, economic and political spheres in unexpected and complex ways. In this context, this paper adopts a qualitative approach and carries out a literature review to explore the impacts of ICTs on education, particularly about pedagogy and teacher training. Thus, the main emphasis lies on unraveling the relevance of ICTs in teacher training, in addition to identifying the challenges that these professionals face when trying to integrate these technologies into their pedagogical practices. To this end, we seek to develop an in-depth introspection on the concrete difficulties that teachers encounter and the strategies to overcome them, seeking both to elucidate the obstacles and to propose ways to optimize the use of ICTs in the educational process. In this sense, it is pointed out that the intended results include a more solid understanding of the importance of ICTs in teacher training and a detailed perception of the barriers that limit their effective implementation. Therefore, the study aims to enrich the academic debate on the topic, offering effective understandings for researchers and educators interested in integrating ICTs more efficiently into their pedagogical practices.

Contemporary fellow travellers: Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists and the theory and political practice of Marxism

Within academic discourses of postcolonial theory, much has been written on whether and how Marxism can be drawn on to understand the ‘postcolonial world’ and, in this regard, what the relations between Eurocentrism and Marxism are. In practice, Marxism remains a core analytical framework for many emancipatory movements from the Global South, as is the case for Egyptian organisation of Revolutionary Socialists, whose popularity grew during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. The following paper is based on anthropological research with Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists in exile and the political underground. It showcases that many academic postcolonial debates sideline the agency of Marxist social actors from the Global South, their theoretical and practical endeavours, and their own modes of knowledge production. It is through the agency of Revolutionary Socialist social actors that Marxism travels from below, is translated, (re)read, debated, and materialises itself in given contexts. I highlight how Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists utilise Marxism as a living theory in their contemporary political practice and argue that their practice in exile as fellow travellers can be understood as a reconfiguration of the concept of travelling theory into travelling theory from below. Herein the centrality of social actors’ practice in grasping theory manifests itself.

IDENTIFICAÇÃO E ABRANGÊNCIA DA AUTONOMIA PRIVADA

Private autonomy is a fundamental concept in democratic societies, recognizing individuals' capacity to exercise their will and make decisions within the context of their private relationships. This article aims to provide an understanding of the identification and scope of the principle of private autonomy in the legal sphere, its interaction with other relevant legal principles, the limits imposed by public order and fundamental rights, its evolution and challenges. Special attention will be given to how this principle is understood and applied in the Brazilian legal system. The presentation and analysis of practical cases in different legal relationships intends to clearly demonstrate the evolution of the autonomy of the will to private autonomy, to highlight the limits and extent of its application and to contribute to the academic debate and the development of Civil Law.

R&D investments, ownership and local firm growth

Abstract How do research and development (R&D) investments stimulate the local economy? Our paper complements and extends the voluminous literature on the externalities of R&D investments by looking at internal firm growth across regions and the “spillovers” from R&D workers on other workers within the same firm. More specifically, we examine how R&D investments affect the change in employment and productivity in the same firm over time. We also investigate the differences that come with domestic or foreign ownership. Combining data from the Swedish biennial survey series on R&D with firm and establishment registers, we find that R&D-stimulated growth is a localized phenomenon: firms tend to grow in the same regions where they invest in R&D activities. This link is particularly strong for employment effects. While we find that the positive association between R&D and labor productivity holds for all firms, growth effects on local employment are limited to domestically owned firms, especially in manufacturing. The results strengthen our understanding of the correlation between R&D and firm growth on a local level, and contribute to both the academic and policy debate on the effects of globalization on local economic growth.

Whither the Walking Dead? The Consequences of Artificial Intelligence for Zombie Firms

Abstract Zombie firms have been a prominent yet controversial subject of academic and policy debates in recent years. In this article, we first revisit the economic consequences and driving factors of zombie companies and then, based on this assessment, discuss the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) for zombie firms. We document that the share of zombie firms in advanced economies has risen considerably over the past three decades, and that this increase has been a significant drag on productivity growth. We further find that persistently low interest rates are a significant causal factor underlying the rise of zombie companies. Turning to AI, we argue that an AI-induced productivity boom may counteract the drag from zombie firms and improve firm performance, mitigating corporate zombification. Moreover, by leading to higher interest rates that force zombie firms to exit markets, AI may boost productivity further in the longer run – a so far overlooked channel in the debate on the economic implications of AI.

Impact and critical factors in Heijunka implementation an action research study

Purpose: Although Heijunka (production levelling or smoothing) is a lean tool designed to balance changing customer needs and production efficiency, this study aims to analyze the impact of Heijunka and identify various factors which can generally affect its successful implementation.Design/methodology/approach: We adopted an action research (AR) approach to analyze the consequences of implementing Heijunka in a factory that successfully operates in a lean environment but faces demand that is increasingly less predictable, and customers who require ever more individualized products at low prices with extremely demanding delivery timescales. An estimation of costs was carried out to compare three alternative production planning scenarios: (1) make to order (MTO) production, (2) weekly levelled production and (3) production with minimal changeovers.Findings: The analysis of the impact of implementing Heijunka in this factory demonstrated that MTO production planning without Heijunka is the most efficient option for the factory. We explore the reasons why Heijunka is not suitable for this factory even though other lean principles and tools have been successfully implemented. In this way we identify the main factors which might influence the successful implementation of Heijunka, such as changeover time, the number of different product types (and lot sizes) and the capacity that the production lines are running at.Originality/value: Based on close collaboration between researchers and practitioners in the field of Operations Management, this AR study provides important information for decision making in lean environments (applying Heijunka or not), as well for the advancement of the academic debate about successful lean implementation nowadays.

History of behavioral accounting research (1960–2023): a bibliometric analysis

Purpose This study aims to examine the over 60-year evolution of behavioral accounting research (BAR), with the main aim of critically and accurately tracing its past, present and future. Design/methodology/approach This study used Scopus and Google Scholar databases to collect 2,263 articles of BAR published on relevant accounting journals. Thus, this study used Bibliometrix to provide a temporal overview of articles and a temporally oriented network co-occurrence analysis of BAR topics. Findings This study retraces the history of BAR since its origins and, also on the basis of triggering events inside (e.g. Nobel Prizes for behavioral economics studies) and outside (e.g. accounting scandals) the academic debate, this study critically discusses the evolution and interconnections of BAR topics. Then, future research is addressed toward main promising avenues, thus integrating recent technological applications into the behavioral accounting experimental designs to improve their external validity, exploring the potential positive effects of professionals’ heuristics in performing accounting tasks under certain environmental conditions, exploiting behavioral accounting frameworks to analyze and improve sustainability reporting and sustainability performance management. Originality/value Although BAR is rich of contributions, including subfields and contaminations, it lacks a holistic evaluation of its origins, development and future perspectives. In this vein, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to use a bibliometric analysis to evaluate the evolution of BAR.