Power Arrangements Research Articles

Metabolic politics: A comparative synthesis

AbstractNew arrangements of power are emerging in response to the turbulence generated by the quest to improve life and render it productive. This paper specifies such arrangements by developing the concept of metabolic politics: an apparatus that shifts from discipline to power regulating material, bodily, and environmental transformations. The dominant function of metabolic politics is to render the transformative capacities of living bodies and the circulatory dynamics of materials into object‐targets of governance. Through a comparative analysis of regulating pollution from industrial poultry units in Britain and India, the paper identifies logics of a metabolic politics and distinguishes these from the biopolitics of populations. Metabolic politics entails interventions targeting a milieu rather than deviant populations; its actions are directed at transformative capacities of bodies in addition to improving their productivity; its modes of governance operates via regulation and not just discipline; and its techniques of operation proceed through modulation instead of enclosure. Metabolic politics is a transversal form of power. It is situated and historically contingent, rather than uniform and universal. As a response to crises generated by the industrialisation and cheapening of life, metabolic politics furnishes vital insights into the administration and governance of the contemporary living and material world.

Challenging agricultural norms and diversifying actors: Building transformative public policy for equitable food systems

Food systems governance regimes have long been spaces of “thick legitimacy” (Montenegro de Wit & Iles, 2016), where embedded norms benefit pro­duc­tivist agricultural practices. Within governance regimes, the science-policy interface and the scien­tists who occupy this space are integral in today’s public policy processes. Often treated as objective science, technical disciplines have become a power­ful source of legitimatizing in decision making. Without the contextualization of lived experience or diverse ways of knowing, these siloed spaces can lead policymakers towards an action bias (e.g., a rush to short-term solutions) that neglects the underlying causes and concerns of our current crises. Current governance arrangements in the science-policy interface demonstrate the bias toward technical science (e.g. economics) and short-term solutions. However, by challenging productivist agriculture norms reformed public policy processes may shift from a space of repres­sion to one of possibility. This reform can happen through investigatiing dominant actor coalitions and identifying tools to reconfigure these power arrangements. Public policy theory, such as the advocacy coalition framework (ACF), helps organ­ize relations within current agricultural policy arenas. The work of practitioners and other disci­plines offer tools that can support transformative action by food systems advocates in the pursuit of changing the way public policy is made. In part, understanding how power is organized and who may influence policy processes is critical to change. This reflective essay ends with tools and strategies for those wishing to engage governments in this shift. The proposed tools and strategies focus on how people (e.g. policy champions), processes (e.g. policy leverage points), and partnerships (e.g. ally­ship) generate ways in which advocates can, and do, engage governments in transformative change.

From two-dimensional to three-dimensional marine spatial planning methodology: A case study of Qidong

The oceans are three-dimensional (3D) spaces, resource redistribution has long tended to involve two-dimensional (2D) planning, which has obscured the resource attributes and ecological features of the ocean's different layers, and is prone to cause erroneous sea-use conflicts. This study established a new 3D marine spatial planning (MSP) method consisting of ecological protection zoning (EPZ) and intensive sea-use zoning (ISZ) programs involving marine 3D spatial laying: EPZ was determined using a Marxan model. Based on spatial idleness and environmental friendliness principles, and appropriate newly added sea-use activities were designed to form synergistic sea-use combinations to establish an ISZ program. A case study of Qidong was conducted to test the applicability of the 3D planning program and compare the differences in the zoning results according to the two scenarios of ecological protection and exploitation. Results indicated that EPZ of mid-bottom waterbodies accounted for the highest proportion (47.62%). The best solutions and planning units selected frequency grading could be achieved separately for two scenarios of EPZ. For ISZ, the zoning for both scenarios achieves a synergistic effect between the newly added sea-use activities in the transportation zone; through the northward shift of sea-use in the southern fairway of Qidong, this sea-use activity converted the initially antagonistic attributes with the ecological protection zone to a synergistic purpose. Differences in the results of the intensive sea use zoning between the two scenarios were manifested in the EPZ and surrounding sea use activities, focusing on fishing and ecological control zones and the arrangement of wind power. The 3D MSP methods can address the conflict between some sea-use activities in 2D planning and the conflict between stakeholders competing for the sea-use right, and it also provides a solution for the coastal government to redistribute the marine resources and coordinate the sea-use elements. The relevant practice can provide theoretical and technical support for ecological protection, intensive and economical utilization of marine spatial resources, and national spatial planning framework improvement.

Masks Versus Cattle: The Ecology of an African Art Form

Masquerades form an important part of indigenous African religions, and headpieces of masks are found all over the world as an iconic African art form. Contrary to expectation, however, the geographical distribution of masking is very restricted, occurring only in three areas of the continent, mainly situated in the forested zones. I explain this peculiar distribution by tracing the ecological and historical parameters of the societies that harbor mask rituals. The main ecological factors are the absence of cattle and the type of horticulture, while a crucial historical element is the long history of slave raiding and trading to which the continent has been subjected. These factors have led to societies in which both gender and local power arrangements show a marked indeterminacy, operating as internal arenas between men and women, and between different groups of men. Crucial in the explanation of masquerades is the fact that masking is completely absent from societies that practice cattle husbandry with the Bos indicus species (zebu). Since sleeping sickness prohibits cattle husbandry, wherever the tsetse fly thrives, masks appear.

Optimizing Data Centre Energy Efficiency with Dynamic Resource Allocation and Intelligent Cooling Management through Machine Learning

Our research aims to improve energy efficiency in data centres by combining cloud computing infrastructure with machine learning techniques. We propose that dynamic resource assignment, combined with intelligent optimisation of cooling systems, can reduce power waste and operational costs. Real-time sensor data from various data centre components such as servers, cooling systems, and power distribution units is collected and fed into machine learning models for analysis. In this way, we can create power arrangements that are tailored to the resources and needs of various applications. The experimental results show that energy consumption has been reduced by an average of 30% compared to traditional methods. Furthermore, our machine learning models are quite accurate in predicting cooling system performance. For example, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has an accuracy rate of 98.78%. This result demonstrates the efficacy of our approach in promoting energy efficiency and operational performance in data centres: it not only provides a scalable, cost-effective solution to industry energy efficiency challenges, but it also improves day-to-day data centre operations by reducing electrical consumption. Our approach, which is based on dynamic allocation of computational resources and real-time data analysis for optimising cooling systems, not only saves energy but also improves operational efficiency. With energy in mind, we must all work towards a more sustainable and green approach to data centre management. Future research can look into other potential optimisations, as well as issues with scalability and application in real-world data centre environments.

Does war improve women’s political representation?

An expanding body of scholarly work posits that war, particularly intrastate war, disrupts established power arrangements and social institutions, providing avenues for women to enhance their political influence through reforms in political structures and participation in peace-building processes. Webster, Chen, and Beardsley (2019) systematically explore the nexus between war and women’s political empowerment, demonstrating associations between both interstate and intrastate conflicts and advancements in women’s political empowerment. Extending their analysis, this study investigates the influence of intrastate conflicts on women’s representation in legislative bodies. However, nuanced findings emerge from this analysis. There is no supporting evidence that the occurrence of warfare leads to an increase in women’s legislative representation. Ongoing internal conflicts exhibit a negative impact on the progression of women’s political representation. Conversely, the termination of civil wars, particularly without their prompt resumption, correlates with a higher likelihood of adopting gender quotas, thereby enhancing women’s legislative representation. Furthermore, the correlation between the termination of civil wars and women’s legislative representation appears specific to the context of sub-Saharan Africa. No conclusive evidence supports this relationship as a global phenomenon.

Towards a critical consideration of the effects of coaching practice on athletic retirement: a poststructuralist perspective

ABSTRACT Dominant understandings of sports retirement have tied problematic outcomes to individual characteristics and the circumstances of an athlete’s exit from sport. In recent years, sociologists have problematised these readings, providing new ways of thinking about retirement transitions, experiences, and relationships. This area of research considers how an exposure to normalising arrangements of power might produce challenging responses to athletic retirement. Accordingly, scholars have drawn upon Foucauldian theory to reveal how the disciplinary logic of modern coaching can impact upon retirement experiences. However, there remains limited empirical research exploring the effects that the approaches, attitudes, and practices of coaching practitioners may have upon retirees’ post-athletic lives. Developing poststructuralist analyses of athletic retirement, this paper seeks to stimulate a further consideration of the retirement process within coaching research. Specifically, this ‘new horizons’ paper does so by advocating for a broader empirical exploration into the connection between sports coaching and sports retirement.

Expert Equestrians: How the Game of Polo Forged Masculinities in British India and the British Metropole, 1862–1914

ABSTRACT Polo is a team sport played on horseback hitting a small ball through the opposing team’s goal. In today’s form, it originated in Northern India and is an example of colonial encounter and the formation of colonial masculinities. This paper follows Mrinalini Sinha’s findings that see power at the centre of masculinity in arguing that the emerging dynamics between elite colonisers and colonised displayed in the game of polo aided both groups’ interest to rule. The late nineteenth century was defined by shifts in imperial social relations and the outdoors became a space to practice changes linked to racial, class, sex, ethnic, or national differences and discourses. Threatened not least by the emergence of Indian nationalism, British elite colonisers and Indian nobility played polo to assure each other of their social, cultural, and political power arrangement within a mostly homosocial milieu. In playing polo a cross-racial (elite) form of masculinity was practiced that allowed both groups to showcase their manliness and upkeep existing social hierarchies and status. After arriving in the metropole, polo turned into an even more elite form of masculinity to defend fragile class divides and reassure British upper classes of their status and privilege.

Copyright Law and the Ruse of Culture: ‘Traditional Cultural Expressions and Expressions of Folklore’ as a Conception of Racial Difference

‘Traditional Cultural Expressions’ and ‘Expressions of folklore’ (TCEs/folklore) have received very little critical attention within intellectual property (IP) jurisprudence. Where TCEs/folklore have been treated, it has only been to the extent that international IP does not offer sufficient protection over them as an analogous class of IP or to the extent that TCEs/folklore themselves are philosophically incompatible with IP, and accordingly fail to adequately capture the cultural expressions of indigenous peoples. This article offers a different argument regarding TCEs/folklore which neither seeks their further protection nor their legislative and policy development. Instead, this article traces the genealogy of TCEs/folklore within the imperialist foundations of international law, arguing that TCEs/folklore are the function of an already existing discursive arrangement of power that is consistent with colonial valuations of knowledge and culture.

Justice suspended: Rethinking institutions, regimentation, and channels from a human rights law perspective

AbstractThis article analyzes institutions as sites for political and social change by looking beyond regimentation and fixedness as the central discursive features of institutionalization. Drawing on research at the European Court of Human Rights—one of the world's most extensive human rights courts—I analyze how human rights actors redeploy normative institutional logics through creative approaches to institutional categories. I argue that lawyers and advocates working within the Court and Convention system naturalize and fix boundaries of law and politics and use that distinction to activate an excess of potential meanings and intertextual connections in legal judgments. This involves using institutional affordances to keep cases open and structure collaborative waiting. These strategies allow people to mutually inhabit open‐ended relationships to texts in intentional ways. In so doing, lawyers and activists defer resolving legal judgments—until new coalitions take political power, there are generational shifts in attitudes or shifts in geopolitical power arrangements that render state actors subject to diplomatic pressure. Analyzing how people improvise, learn, and teach others to manage institutional channels and excess opens up the black box of institutionality as a site for social transformation.

Criminalized or Stigmatized? An Intersectional Power Analysis of the Charter School Treatment of Black and Latino Boys

As scholars account for the disproportional harm adolescent Black and Latino boys face in school, needed are studies that report on more than educator bias. Utilizing interviews and ethnographic observations from an urban charter school, I introduce and deploy the Intersectional School Power Model to illustrate how multiple school processes coalesced to uphold the criminalization of Black boys and stigmatization of Latino boys subtly and acutely. Findings show their (mis)treatment resulted from intersecting power arrangements across four school domains: the structural (e.g., organizational components), cultural (e.g., school norms), disciplinary (e.g., student corrective policies and practices), and interpersonal (e.g., daily interactions).

A dielectric barrier discharge based low pressure narrow band far UV-C 222 nm excimer lamp and its efficiency analysis

Far UV-C light at wavelength 222 nm is gaining popularity nowadays due to its properties that it cannot penetrate even the outer dead skin of humans and the tear layer of the eyes. This wavelength has been proven to be much safer for human health. In this paper, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) based Far UV-C excimer lamp with a very narrow and intense spectrum peaking at a wavelength of 222 nm has been reported. Optimization of high voltage electrodes has been carried out to minimize the lamp heating without using any external cooling. The discharge produced in this configuration is diffused discharge at a low pressure of 140 mbar. Generally, at low pressure, a very wide band of spectra having full-width half maxima (FWHM) of 8–15 nm is obtained. In this case, due to the confined gas gap and bi-polar pulse power arrangements, the spectra obtained are very narrow, having an FWHM of 1.7 nm. Applied voltage, frequency and gas pressure are optimized to get high electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency of the lamp. The measured radiated intensity at the applied input electrical power of 31 W from the optimized lamp is ∼2.5 mW cm−2, which results in the electrical to optical conversion efficiency as high as 12.5%. The bacterial efficiency of the developed lamp is also examined on pathogenic gram-positive (S. aureus) and gram-negative (E. coli) bacteria. Complete inactivation of S. aureus and E. coli has been achieved at a UV dose of 3 mJ/cm2 and 12 mJ cm–2, respectively. Morphological studies of treated bacteria have also been performed to correlate the results.

Between maintenance and transformation: Reading for difference in agricultural extension

Agricultural extension has long been the subject of scholarly critiques for its hierarchical approach to knowledge transfer and its complicity in promoting agricultural intensification and farm sector consolidation. Here, however, we suggest that there are already-existing examples of different kinds of agricultural extension practices, ones that challenge the capitalist—understood here as synonymous with racial capitalist—paradigm that dominates in California’s agricultural landscapes and elsewhere. We discuss one such example, providing a case study of Diana’s efforts to support Spanish-speaking, small-scale, Latine farmers in California. Drawing from feminist political economic theory, we argue that extension is a site of heterogeneity, where existing power asymmetries are both maintained and transformed. Diana’s efforts to transform such power asymmetries illustrate the labor that some extensionists mobilize to support small-scale Latine farmers and other farmers of color in the context of U.S. agri-capitalism. We highlight 4 ways in which Diana’s labor disrupts extension norms, including (1) filling gaps in state programs with invisible labor, (2) building mutual trust through social relationships beyond work, (3) blurring distinctions between extension work and farm work, and (4) broadening definitions of “farmers” beyond business ownership and land tenure. In doing so, we advocate for a critical understanding of heterogeneity among extension practices, as extensionists both contribute to and challenge racial-economic inequalities in the agri-food system. With this approach, we hope to identify and better understand how contestations of dominant power arrangements can and do occur in extension contexts in the hopes of supporting these efforts.

Transformative or incumbent futures? How the future of mobility is imagined in sustainability transitions research

How actors relate to the future has long been considered important in research on the governance of transformations towards sustainability. Recent contributions have explored the politics at play in the ‘making’ of futures and the forming of collective expectations. Building on the concept of socio-material incumbency and integrating academic discussions which appreciate the politics of future-making, we consider the forming of collective expectations as a process through which prevailing socio-material arrangements are challenged and reproduced. We introduce the concept of ‘scope incumbency’, through which the particular ideas about the future collectively deemed plausible are shaped by prevailing power arrangements. Consequently, we suggest it plays an important and underappreciated role in the reproduction of locked-in systems. We illustrate this perspective by exploring how mobility futures are imagined in sustainability transition research. We investigate academic contributions which explicitly articulate possible, plausible and/or desirable alternative mobility arrangements and consider the extent to which and how contributions challenge and reproduce hegemonic socio-technical orders. We find that a substantial portion of the contributions collectively limits the scope of the plausible around automobile-centric futures in several ways.

Produção imobiliária em periferias de São Paulo: ilegalismos sob lógica rentista

Abstract The production of São Paulo's peripheral territories has changed due to the crisis in salaried employment, changes in socio-economic profile, access to credit, public housing policies, and the formation of a multi-scalar market arbitrated by illegal market operators. Entrepreneurial business networks, including real estate, have emerged as an investment opportunity for the money accumulated in these territories. New buildings in border areas with a rent-seeking use point to new power arrangements based on illegalisms that articulate scales in a market-based production, disputing the forms of political association of the previous period. The methodology is based on secondary sources and direct field research in São Paulo's slums, carried out by a multidiscipli nary team over the last five years.

Low-carbon Energy Transition from the Lens of Feminist Theories

Climate change mitigation pledges require decarbonization of the economy and the creation of a carbon-neutral society. Men and women contribute differently to climate change and have different roles in low-carbon energy transition. Gender roles influence career choices, abilities to invest in low-carbon solutions, power of decision-making, dissimilar mobility and energy consumption demands, and different values and consumption profiles, shaping the individual carbon footprint and behavior. A feminist methodology in gender- just low-carbon energy transformation goes beyond the introduction of certain gender-equal redistribution measures and aims to deal with the core roots of the different unequal practices in all fields of society life. It seeks to rebalance prevailing power arrangements, centering the most marginalized individuals and groups. There are various frameworks developed for the analysis of linkages between climate change and women following the feminist theory, like gender impact assessment (GIA); gender equality training (GET) model, and so on. The paper applies the feminist theory approach to the analysis of low-carbon energy transitions. The main purpose of using a feminist lens in this study is to enable the discovery of how people interact within energy systems and to offer solutions to confront and eradicate oppressive structures for just low-carbon energy transition in the EU.

Power Sources for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: A State-of-the Art

Over the past few years, there has been an increasing fascination with electric unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) because of their capacity to undertake demanding and perilous missions while also delivering advantages in terms of flexibility, safety, and expenses. These UAVs are revolutionizing various public services, encompassing real-time surveillance, search and rescue operations, wildlife assessments, delivery services, wireless connectivity, and precise farming. To enhance their efficiency and duration, UAVs typically employ a hybrid power system. This system integrates diverse energy sources, such as fuel cells, batteries, solar cells, and supercapacitors. The selection of an appropriate hybrid power arrangement and the implementation of an effective energy management system are crucial for the successful functioning of advanced UAVs. This article specifically concentrates on UAV platforms powered by batteries, incorporating innovative technologies, like in-flight recharging via laser beams and tethering. It provides an all-encompassing and evaluative examination of the current cutting-edge power supply configurations, with the objective of identifying deficiencies, presenting perspectives, and offering recommendations for future consideration in this domain.

Democratic Rotation, an Alternative to Power Sharing in the Democratic Republic of Congo

"In this article, we outline the history and evolution of the Congolese people from their origins to independance with the State preceding the Nation. Concerning democracy accession to legislative power after independance, there is in DRC a curious rotation of political transition beyond various regime changes and arrangements of Power sharing occurred between community groups. However, there were noises, quarrels and or violences between linguistic socio-anthropological actors on the legitimacy of power, access to the presidential chair, which gave rise to inter group conflicts till the country is divided into three community groups : the Luba community of Félix Tshisekedi from CACH-USNA at the center of power, the Swahili community of Joseph Kabila from AMP-FCC who genially handed over power but also on its periphery, and the Kongo-Ngala community of Martin Fayulu from LAMUKA to the outskirts. The concept « Majority » has cleverly been exploited by those in power in order to subjugate and or exclude their protagonists. In the context of this article, we finally propose the model of Rotary Democratic called « Inculturated Democracy » by Isidore Ndaywel in « Congolese historiography, an essay of achievement ». An alternative model to « Power sharing method » generally presented as democracy model in which the group element constitutes an important criterium of participation in term of access to political power, mainly the legislative power and its executive. Keywords : DRC - Mesoconflict - Political shift - Liberal democracy - Power sharing – Democratic rotation "

Cross-disciplinary method development for assessing dog welfare in canine-assisted pedagogical work: a pilot study

ABSTRACT Research on so-called social service dogs’ welfare in schools is scarce and tends to suffer from positive bias; i.e., lacking critical approaches to claimed welfare benefits for dogs. To contribute method development for studying effects on dogs in pedagogical work, we applied and evaluated a combination of four data collection methods: Ethogram, Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA), ethnographic observations, and interviews with dog-handling pedagogues. We followed pedagogues (n = 5) and their dogs (n = 8) in their daily work, observing 16 canine-assisted sessions in total at five different schools. Follow-up semi-structured interviews were carried out with all pedagogues. Our findings suggest combining either ethogram or QBA with ethnographic data that gives contextual information on the events causing the dog’s behavior. The method choice will, ultimately, depend on study design, but the specific premises of QBA seem to work particularly well with ethnography. We further suggest a shift from simultaneous (parallel) to synchronous (connected) documentation of data. To minimize anthropocentric bias and power arrangements involved in animal welfare research, it is necessary to critically scrutinize accepted conventions regarding social service dogs and their work situation.

Conscience and Convenience: How Social Workers Pursue Rehabilitation in Chinese Community Corrections

The establishment of community corrections in China marks a restructuring of the Chinese penal field and a possibly differentiated arrangement of penal power. Social forces and community actors are now enabled and encouraged to participate in penal affairs and to share devolutionary penal power with the authoritarian state. Yet little research attention has been allotted to examine how these burgeoning social organizations, professional service providers, and community actors manage their participation in rehabilitative work and negotiate their rehabilitative aspirations with state ideologies and policy mandates as they work within Chinese community corrections (CCC). Drawing on observational data and in-depth interviews with social workers within CCC, we show the ways in which social workers actively create strategies to pursue their professional values of service and implement rehabilitative ideals and caring ethos while, at the same time, minimizing the risk of challenging state authority and jeopardizing penal policy priorities. Three devised approaches are presented, and their implications are discussed.