Power Asymmetries Research Articles

Between assimilation and recognition of Indigenous Peoples: the role of intercultural bilingual education in Latin America

This article aims to contribute to the ongoing discussion surrounding the concept of educational inclusion for Indigenous Peoples in Latin America. Despite official policies and programmes designed to promote diversity, their effectiveness is often hindered by the persistence of subtle yet damaging forms of racism that fail to recognise the epistemic perspectives of non-European peoples. Our focus lies on the challenges of education within multicultural contexts, particularly on intercultural bilingual education – a pedagogical model implemented in various countries across the region. Through the lenses of critical pedagogy and post-colonialism, the article analyses this perspective, shedding light on the persistently marginalised status of non-European knowledge within the symbolic landscapes of the region. It contends that the respect and acknowledgement of Indigenous knowledge systems represent not only an educational imperative but also an ethical and political one. This entails disrupting power asymmetries that perpetuate the segmentation and isolation of marginalised groups. Additionally, it offers an opportunity to fulfil the potential of education in deactivating asymmetrical positions and fostering respect for the legitimacy of the other.

Working with local suppliers in emerging markets

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings International manufacturers become better positioned to succeed in emerging markets when forming alliances with suppliers who boast knowledge of local conditions. Emphasis on supply chain integration and agility can increase the buying firm’s competitiveness. However, such operators must remain aware that high dependency on local suppliers can create power asymmetry in favor of the supplier. Research limitations/implications n/a Practical implications n/a Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Female collegiate soccer players post anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction utilize aberrant movement strategies to achieve similar performance to uninjured players.

Female soccer athletes with a history of anterior cruciate ligament injury are more susceptible to secondary injuries and potentially worse sport performance. The purpose of this study was to determine if female soccer athletes post anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction demonstrate worse jump height and reactive strength index performance and lower involved limb hip, knee, and ankle joint power and absorption, and larger joint power and absorption asymmetries compared to matched uninjured athletes. Eleven Division I female soccer athletes post anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (18.8±1.0years, 1.72±0.04m, 66.4±3.4kg) and twenty-two matched controls (19.2±1.0years, 1.72±0.05m, 65.8±5.0kg) completed three trials of a standard bilateral jump landing. Separate 2×2 (group, limb) mixed-model ANOVAs, independent t-tests, and Mann-Whitney U tests (α≤0.05) were used for analysis. Post-hoc t-tests with false discovery rate P-values were used on significant interactions. We found no differences between groups in jump height, reactive strength index, ankle power and absorption asymmetry, hip power and absorption asymmetry, and knee absorption asymmetry (P>0.05). Athletes post anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction had decreased knee power in their involved limb compared to their uninvolved limb (P<0.001). Regardless of limb, athletes post anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction absorbed more at the hip compared to controls (P=0.013). Female soccer athletes post anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction utilize aberrant strategies to achieve the same level of performance as their uninjured peers. Specifically, the athletes utilized a hip dominant strategy to achieve similar performance outcomes.

Exporting the just transition? The European Investment Bank, the European Green Deal and environmental and social rules for green projects outside the EU

Abstract The European Union’s European Green Deal (EGD) aims for a just transition to carbon neutrality both within and beyond its borders. This contribution to the special issue on the external dimensions of the EGD focuses on the role of the European Investment Bank (EIB). As a newly declared climate bank and a major funder of ‘green’ projects, the EIB’s role in this vein deserves attention. Do the environmental and social principles the EIB uses to judge funding applications contribute to an environmentally just transition? We explore this question by identifying key issues in impact assessment processes in the literature, brought into focus through an original illustrative case study on the Gibe III hydroelectric dam inaugurated in 2016 in Ethiopia, and linking these to three central aspects of Environmental Justice: recognitional, procedural and redistributive justice. This forms the basis for an analysis of the EIB’s environmental and social statements over time, and a reflection on how far current rules address critical issues. While the EIB’s rules pay increasing attention to critical issues such as the content of Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs), and questions around inclusion, timing, and trust, their contribution to a just transition could be strengthened by sharing responsibility for impact assessments with funding applicants and including rules about their co-design. A bottom-up approach to environmental and social issues could contribute to building shared norms amongst funders and a more universal adoption of ESIAs, and to strengthening networks of grassroots expertise to tackle power asymmetries.

A critical review of English medium instruction (EMI) teacher development in higher education: From 2018 to 2022

Abstract The past few years have witnessed an emergent growth of both academic and practical works on English medium instruction (EMI) teachers' professional development. This paper presents a critical analysis of 30 empirical studies on EMI teacher development in a wide range of higher educational settings from 2018 to 2022. Through a systematic process of paper selection and review, we have identified three general routes to EMI teacher development, namely: (1) formal training activities; (2) opportunities for teacher collaboration; and (3) self-initiated practices. For each route, we presented a critical appraisal of their design and implementation, as well as reported gains and challenges. Meanwhile, we also conducted a critical analysis of the methodological issues pertaining to the selected papers. Overall, we argue that EMI teacher development in higher education is largely construed as a hybrid, contested, and transformative enterprise featured by EMI teachers' constant boundary-crossing at different levels to seek professional growth in linguistic, pedagogical, cultural, and psychological domains. During this process, EMI teachers may encounter conflicted dispositions, power asymmetries, and individual contradictions. Such a process thus requires EMI teachers to rethink, reexamine, and reflect critically on their accustomed preconceptions and practices, in order to facilitate transformation and achieve sustainability in the long run. The review also presents implications for EMI teachers, teacher educators, policymakers, and researchers on effectively facilitating EMI teacher development in higher education.

It Takes a Village to Get a PhD

What should be the outcome of the PhD journey? One frequent answer is to produce an independent researcher who, after years of doctoral education and supervision is ready to take on the academic world. In this context, metaphors such as master and apprentice or even parent and child are frequently invoked. However, research in higher education pedagogy has pointed out that, in the context of the neoliberal university, the rather intense supervisory relation can quickly turn oppressive, especially when intersecting with other power asymmetries around class, race, ethnicity, gender, age, or physical ability. The aim of this article is to ‘trouble’ the linear notion of the independent researcher by reflecting on the multiple, and often un- or under-recognized, relations that accompany the PhD journey. Drawing on feminist approaches that reconceptualize supervision as a care-practice, we reflect on the question of how the benefits and risks of the traditional supervisory model can be balanced through an embedment of PhD supervision into an extended set of relationships. We challenge the notion of independence as alleged self-sufficiency and instead suggest that independence can successfully be produced through 'interdependence’. Such shift, we argue, may help to: first, acknowledge the net of care practices already in place and dignify it as a fundamental part of the social infrastructure of doctoral education; second, mediate some problematic tendencies of neoliberal academia and conceptually reconcile the tensions between care and independence in doctoral education.

Power asymmetries in inter-organizational relationships: a case study using institutionalism

Power asymmetries in inter-organizational relationships: a case study using institutionalism

QEEG Neuromarkers of Complex Childhood Trauma in Adolescents.

Introduction. Complex childhood trauma (CCT) involves prolonged exposure to severe interpersonal stressors, leading to deficits in executive functioning and self-regulation during adolescence, a critical period for neurodevelopment. While qEEG parameters, particularly alpha oscillations, have been proposed as potential biomarkers for trauma, empirical documentation in developmental samples is limited. Aim. This preregistered study investigated whether adolescents with CCT exhibit qEEG patterns similar to those reported for PTSD, such as reduced posterior alpha power, increased individual alpha peak frequency (iAPF), right-lateralized alpha frequencies, and lower total EEG power (RMS) compared to controls. Materials and Methods. EEG data from 26 trauma-exposed adolescents and 28 controls, sourced from an open database, underwent similar preprocessing. qEEG features, including alpha power, iAPF, alpha asymmetry, and RMS, were extracted from eyes-open and eyes-closed conditions and analyzed using mixed ANOVAs. Results. Significant group differences were found in total EEG power, with trauma-exposed adolescents showing lower RMS than controls. No significant differences were found in posterior absolute alpha power, iAPF, or alpha asymmetry. However, we observed that posterior relative alpha power was higher in the trauma group, though the difference was not statistically significant but showing a small to medium effect size. Additionally, a negative correlation between CPTSD severity and EEG power in the EO condition was observed, suggesting trauma-related cortical hypoactivation. Conclusion. Reduced total EEG power and modified alpha dynamics may serve as candidate neuromarkers of CCT. These findings underscore the need for further research to validate qEEG biomarkers for understanding and diagnosing trauma-related disorders in developmental populations.

Linguistic Vulnerability and Slow Bureaucratic Violence in Institutional Welfare Borderscapes

ABSTRACT Despite the fact that public services in contemporary societies are increasingly marked by language diversity, research on language as a vantage point for understanding social (in)justice in human service work is still scarce. The logic of the neoliberal welfare state emphasises an individual’s responsibility and thus produces a situation where one has to actively claim services, such as interpretation. Drawing on conceptualisations of bureaucratic and slow violence, we examine language barriers as a site for oppression that is intimately linked with other material and symbolic disadvantages. Empirically, we build on a set of qualitative interviews collected in Finland, addressing the role of language in migrants’ experiences of welfare encounters. The analysis shows that language barriers dehumanise and isolate structurally vulnerable non-speakers of dominant languages and produce practices of silence. In this article, we demonstrate that linguistic and structural vulnerabilities and intersectional power asymmetries often create concrete harm and, ultimately, obstacles for substantive citizenship. Moreover, we ask what kind of agency is being produced when complaining actively is not possible and where non-native speakers turn to assistance if their needs are ignored in public welfare service encounters.

Electroencephalographic markers in Major Depressive Disorder: insights from absolute, relative power, and asymmetry analyses.

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) leads to dysfunction and impairment in neurological structures and cognitive functions. Despite extensive research, the pathophysiological mechanisms and effects of MDD on the brain remain unclear. This study aims to assess the impact of MDD on brain activity using EEG power spectral analysis and asymmetry metrics. EEG recordings were obtained from 48 patients with MDD and 78 healthy controls. The data were segmented into 2-second windows (1024 data points) and analyzed using the Welch method, an advanced variant of the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). A Hanning time window with 50% overlap was applied to compute the modified periodogram. Absolute and relative power, along with asymmetry values in the theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands, were calculated. Patients with MDD exhibited significantly higher absolute and relative power in the theta and beta bands and decreased power in the alpha band compared to healthy controls. Asymmetry analysis revealed significant differences between symmetric channels in the theta band (F7-F8, C3-C4, T3-T4, T5-T6), alpha band (F7-F8, C3-C4, T3-T4, T5-T6, O1-O2), and beta band (C3-C4, T3-T4, T5-T6, P3-P4). The findings suggest that MDD affects brain mechanisms and cognitive functions, as evidenced by altered power values in the theta and alpha bands. Additionally, asymmetry values in theta, alpha, and beta bands may serve as potential biomarkers for MDD. This study highlights that beyond the commonly used alpha asymmetry, theta and beta asymmetry can also provide valuable insights into the neurophysiological effects of MDD, aligning with previous neuroimaging studies that indicate impairments in memory, attention, and neuroanatomical connectivity in MDD.

ASSIMILATIVE GLOCALISM: DISSECTING POWER ASYMMETRIES THROUGH “THE HANDBOOK OF CULTURE AND GLOCALIZATION”

This paper delves deeply into the forces of globalization, leveraging The handbook of culture and glocalization (2022), edited by Victor N. Roudometof and Ugo Dessì, as both a resource and a subject of critique. While the handbook provides an expansive view of global influences across diverse sectors, it overlooks the power asymmetries embedded in glocalization. By examining theoretical gaps, conceptual ambiguities, and uneven engagements with global-local dynamics, this research uncovers a need for a more incisive framework to address the realities of power within globalization. To bridge this gap, the study introduces “assimilative glocalism”, a theoretical model designed to illuminate the strategic incorporation and subtle subordination of local elements within global structures. Through this, the paper presents a sophisticated balanced analysis of glocalization, revealing how integration often disguises underlying hierarchies. This research offers a pioneering perspective, re-envisioning glocalization as a complex interplay that simultaneously celebrates and constrains diversity. This contribution not only enriches the discourse but also enhances the theoretical tools available for studying globalization.

Characterising and reassessing people-centred data governance in cities

The increasing deployment of digital infrastructures in cities highlights challenges in how people shape the conditions of data production that shape their cities and lives. As such, the need to centre data governance (DG) models around people is amplified. This paper unpacks and reassesses how people-centredness materialises at the level of DG in cities by conducting a scoping review of the literature on people-centred data governance (PCDG) in cities. Utilising twelve extraction categories framed by the conceptualisation of DG as a socio-technical system, this review synthesises identified themes and outlines six archetypes. PCDG is characterised by people-centred values; the inclusion of people as agents, beneficiaries, or enablers; the employment of mechanisms for engaging people; or the pursuit of people-centred goals. These coalesce into diverse PCDG archetypes including compensation, rights-based, civic deliberation, civic representation, data donations, and community-driven models. The paper proposes a nuanced reassessment of what constitutes PCDG, focusing on whether DG models include people in the emergent benefits of data or merely legitimise their exclusion, the extent to which embedded power dynamics reflect people’s perspectives, the extent to which participation influences decision-making, and the model’s capacity to balance power asymmetries underpinning the landscape in which it is situated.

Researching as a Commoner: Affect and the Lives of Underprivileged Mobile Youth in Greece

This paper examines the role of commons-based activist ethnography in reshaping the dynamics between researchers and underprivileged mobile youth (UMY), focusing on the opportunities and ethical challenges of this approach. Conducted in youth centers in Thessaloniki, Greece, the study explores how trust, affect, and collaborative knowledge creation supported agency among UMY while confronting systemic barriers and power asymmetries. Using qualitative ethnographic methods, the research investigates the role of convivial spaces and the ambiance of the commons in creating meaningful connections and emotional resilience, enabling the participants to articulate aspirations and reclaim agency. The dual role of the researcher as an advocate and observer raised questions about representation and power dynamics. This paper contributes to discussions on activist ethnography by offering insights into its possibilities and limitations in advancing transformative research with marginalized populations.

Scaling deep at the margins: coproduction of nature-based solutions as decolonial research praxis in Cape Town

In this paper, we use a decolonial lens to reflect on a place-based transdisciplinary Nature-based Solutions (NbS) research project that focussed on the multifunctional retrofitting of a stormwater detention pond through coproduction in Mitchells’ Plain, Cape Town. We find that stormwater ponds represent promising yet contested leverage points for coproducing NbS towards water resilience in Cape Town. We also find that ‘scaling deep at the margin’ is an important initial condition for experimenting with NbS in contexts of deep difference. Here resistance and desire are central dynamics that may help rework the unjust power asymmetries in the post-apartheid city. Researchers need not foreclose the possibilities of failure in transdisciplinary NbS experiments when resistance is encountered, instead they should explore the generative insights that may result from failure. We conclude that sustainability transitions in the Global South may be more productively understood as contested, seldom-complete endeavours in which justice remains the goal.

RESEARCHING THE EDTECH INDUSTRY FOR CHILDREN: METHODOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS ON A DESIGN-BASED APPROACH

Digital platforms and services are making inroads into the everyday lives of even very young children. As with many other domains of life, children’s learning and education are increasingly digitised through ‘educational technology’ software, or more commonly EdTech. The rise of the EdTech industry provokes new questions about children’s education in the digital age. Methodologically, studying the EdTech industry for children largely falls in the field of the political economy of digital childhood, an interdisciplinary research agenda underpinned by an overall interest in understanding the critical roles of institutions, especially companies and governments, in producing and distributing digital services that shape children’s and families’ everyday consumption of digital technologies. This paper focuses on the methodological offerings of a design-based method for researching the political economy of digital childhood. We explore how a design-based approach is compatible with the research interests of a political economy perspective by drawing on the processes and findings of a collaborative design intervention study which aimed to conceptualise and build a database of EdTech companies and products for young children living in Australia. Based on the findings of the Database, this paper illustrates how the design-based approach employed in this study enabled the researchers to identify the key EdTech industry trends and characteristics, surfaces the power asymmetry between EdTech corporations and individual users, and provoke new ideas and imaginaries among parents and educators to address these challenges.

SURREPTITIOUS EXPERIMENTATION: DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURES AND STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE IN THE HUMANITARIAN INDUSTRY.

The humanitarian sector is known for its reliance on technological pilots as part of the digitisation and datafication of aid operations. Drawing on ten years of research in the aid sector, this paper outlines a new type of technological experimentation which I term surreptitious experimentation. This type of experimentation is possible as digital technologies and practices become enmeshed with the infrastructures of aid. This process of infrastructuring allows for a continuous flow of experimentation, which is not named as such, and which operates in the infrastructural background, and therefore remains hidden – yet in plain sight. Surreptitious experiments take place outside the laboratory, without clear boundaries, meaningful consent or processes of accountability. In so doing, surreptitious experiments compound the power asymmetries of humanitarianism with significant risks and harms for some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Evaluation of Theta EEG Neurofeedback Procedure for Cognitive Training Using Simultaneous fMRI in Counterbalanced Active-Sham Study Design.

Evaluation of mechanisms of action of EEG neurofeedback (EEG-nf) using simultaneous fMRI is highly desirable to ensure its effective application for clinical rehabilitation and therapy. Counterbalancing training runs with active neurofeedback and sham (neuro)feedback for each participant is a promising approach to demonstrate specificity of training effects to the active neurofeedback. We report the first study in which EEG-nf procedure is both evaluated using simultaneous fMRI and controlled via the counterbalanced active-sham study design. Healthy volunteers (n = 18) used EEG-nf to upregulate frontal theta EEG asymmetry (FTA) during fMRI while performing tasks that involved mental generation of a random numerical sequence and serial summation of numbers in the sequence. The FTA was defined as power asymmetry for channels F3 and F4 in [4-7] Hz band. Sham feedback was provided based on asymmetry of motion-related artifacts. The experimental procedure included two training runs with the active EEG-nf and two training runs with the sham feedback, in a randomized order. The participants showed significantly more positive FTA changes during the active EEG-nf conditions compared to the sham conditions, associated with significantly higher theta EEG power changes for channel F3. Temporal correlations between the FTA and fMRI activities of prefrontal, parietal, and occipital brain regions were significantly enhanced during the active EEG-nf conditions compared to the sham conditions. Temporal correlation between theta EEG power for channel F3 and fMRI activity of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) was also significantly enhanced. Significant active-vs-sham difference in fMRI activations was observed for the left DLPFC. Our results demonstrate that mechanisms of EEG-nf training can be reliably evaluated using the counterbalanced active-sham study design and simultaneous fMRI.

Inter-community participatory social network analysis: re-envisioning humanitarian accountability with climate-related displaced communities in Bangladesh

PurposeHumanitarian accountability is practiced with the normative aim of challenging systematic inequalities and power imbalance in humanitarian governance. This study interrogates the actual practices of humanitarian accountability from the perspectives of climate-related displaced communities in Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachInter-community participatory social network analysis (PSNA) was adopted during the fieldwork to centralise the perspectives of climate-related displaced people in knowledge construction. The on-site revision of the research design manifested methodological reflexivity, fostering epistemological plurality.FindingsThe universal practice of downward accountability shows limited sensitivity to local power asymmetries in rural Bangladeshi society. This apolitical approach is often co-opted by humanitarian agencies, further marginalising displaced people in governing process. In contrast, the nuanced concept of an accountable humanitarian network represents a socially embedded practice driven by local actors and institutions, emphasising respect for the rights and agency of displaced people.Originality/valueThe findings were co-constructed by the author, research assistant and participants, contributing to methodological reflexivity in disaster studies and advancing humanitarian accountability practice.

The impact of asymmetry in lower limb muscle strength and power on straight-line running speed in female soccer players

The aim of this study was to investigate and determine the impact of asymmetries in muscle strength and power between the right and left lower limbs on straight-line running speed in female soccer players.30 right-footed female soccer players playing in the Ekstraliga participated in the study. The Modulus. Number formula was used to avoid negative results and to assess only the difference in relative strength and power between the lower limbs, not the dominance of one of them. A result equal to or below the threshold defined group G1 "with lower asymmetry," and a result above the threshold defined group G2 "with greater asymmetry." It should be emphasized that the level of asymmetry in no way allows determining the strength and power results achieved by the players. Therefore, some players were classified into group G1 or G2 depending on the test. Analysis indicated no significant differences between groups G1 and G2 in straight-line speed (criterion: MVSLJ). The same analysis indicated higher speeds in G1 (criterion: LSLJ), meaning players with lower asymmetry in lower limb muscle strength were faster in straight-line running compared to those with higher asymmetry. The one-way ANOVA for running speed between groups G1 and G2 (criterion: PPLP) indicated statistically significant differences in running speed between groups over 20m and 30m segments. Players in the lower asymmetry group (G1) achieved higher speeds on straight-line segments of 20m and 30m. The one-way ANOVA for running speed between groups G1 and G2 (criterion: SLS) indicated statistically significant differences in running speed between groups over the 10m distance. Players in the lower asymmetry group (G1) achieved higher speeds over the 10m distance. In conclusion, this study highlights the significant impact of lower limb muscle strength and power asymmetry on straight-line running speed in female soccer players. The findings underscore the necessity for balanced muscle development to enhance performance and reduce injury risk. By addressing these asymmetries through targeted training interventions, coaches and trainers can help athletes achieve their full potential on the field.

Competing stakeholder discourses in constructing cultural heritage: The legal case of the house at No. 98 Hai’er Lane, China

In the process of urbanization, the balance and/or conflict between the conservation, development, and utilization of cultural heritage has become an emergent theme. This paper explores how such a theme is manifested through discourse by analyzing the legal case of the house at No. 98, Hai’er Lane, China, which is entangled with multiple narratives of the local community, various levels of courts, and government agencies regarding the value of this site. While the contested nature of discourses lies in the power asymmetry, there is some space to pose a challenge against the dominant discourse, e.g., adopting a multi-stakeholder approach to mediate various interests of stakeholders. Besides, disputes over heritage protection and promotion need to be understood within the dominant discourses of their time. Based on such understandings, cultural heritage, if taken as a social sign, particularly for its identification and conservation, may be subject to different constructions by sign users as society progresses. Considering that heritage protection law in China places a greater emphasis on taking cultural heritage as things than orientating cultural heritage to humans, it is desirable to address intricate tensions between the conservation, development, and utilization of cultural heritage by promulgating more systematic and explicit laws and regulations that better reflect the heteroglossia of stakeholders.