ABSTRACT This paper re-theorises the Vietnamese refugee intake of the late 1970s and early 1980s as a key moment of civilisational anxiety in Australia's national imaginary. While the end of the White Australia policy is often celebrated as the beginning of a humanitarian and multicultural era, this paper argues that the arrival of Vietnamese refugees revealed unresolved anxieties within the settler-colonial psyche, particularly regarding Australia's identification with whiteness, Western modernity, and civilizational order. Drawing on critical race theory, postcolonial studies, and settler-colonial critique, the paper develops the concept of civilisational anxiety to explain how racialised migrants are included or excluded and symbolically framed as threats to national cohesion. Through discursive and conceptual analysis, the study shows how Vietnamese refugees, especially those arriving by boat, became figures of symbolic disruption, activating fears around borders, racial purity, and Australia's geopolitical position in Asia. Their conditional inclusion exposed the limits of multiculturalism, which often functioned more as a mechanism of containment than genuine transformation. Marking fifty years since Vietnamese resettlement, this paper urges a critical reassessment of national belonging. It offers civilisational anxiety as a diagnostic framework for understanding how race, identity, and emotional governance continue to structure Australia's response to migration and difference.

Exploring the relationship between race, older age, and health inequality in the UK: the experience of racialised minority older adults living in the UK.

Corrosion-fatigue life prediction of high-strength steel wires based on reconstructed critical distance theory

The graduation rate of Black undergraduate students in nursing programs remains lower than that of their peers despite a notable increase in enrollment. Without disaggregated data, anecdotal and emerging evidence suggests student attrition rates are associated with unreasonable demands and unmet learning needs. Black nursing students experience systemic anti-Black racism from instructors, nurses, peers, and patients, which also contributes to their slow progress. These experiences impact equity, diversity, and inclusion in higher education and nursing. We explored the experiences of Black students in the two undergraduate nursing programs in Saskatchewan, Canada, to deepen our understanding of their needs and inform strategies for addressing anti-Black racism in nursing education. Using focused ethnography grounded in critical race theory and intersectionality, N = 26 individual interviews with current and former Black students from Saskatchewan nursing programs were analyzed using thematic analysis. Racist experiences reported by study participants were more prominent in clinical than classroom settings. Five main themes were identified. This paper focuses on Theme 1, "Racism is part of the culture in nursing," and its subthemes, namely racial microaggressions, racial stereotyping and accent bias, isolation and exclusion, unfavorable environment, and impact on mental health and well-being. Support and accountability measures in nursing education are needed to facilitate social justice.

Civilian-led crisis response teams provide emergency mental healthcare for individuals in acute distress in community settings, often without the involvement of police as first responders. These models represent one of several emerging alternatives to police-led crisis response and have gained attention for their potential to improve safety, trust, and care outcomes. Reports included in this scoping review discussed: the development, need, potential, implementation, and outcomes of civilian-led crisis response models. Covidence software was utilized by two independent reviewers to search 11 databases, with a third reviewer resolving conflicts. A dataset of 46 reports were then analyzed with thematic content analysis by a multidisciplinary team using critical theories to offer an exploration of how civilian-led crisis teams have begun to address the harms of policing responses to mental health. In exploring the key processes for civilian-led crisis response teams, three themes emerged. The first theme, Decentering Police, explores the growing collective awareness of the harms associated with police-involved crisis intervention and the corresponding need for alternative approaches, alongside efforts to establish a team composition that is intentionally distinct. The second theme, Team Scope of Practice, explores the subthemes of dispatch logistics and defining criteria for response. Team Sustainability is the third theme and explores how social and political will shape the uptake and long-term operation of civilian-led crisis programs.

This qualitative study employs Critical Disability Theory (CDT) to examine the role of fine arts in disability activism at Cyrene Mission in Southern Rhodesia from c.1930 to c.1960. The research interrogates archival sources, oral traditions, and secondary texts, and engages with critical art analysis to explain the use of handicrafts in activism. It examines the efficacy of fine arts in challenging societal norms and in advocating for inclusion and representation. The paper argues that the production of handicrafts by students with physical impairments at Cyrene Mission functioned as a form of disability activism. Through disability activism, students contested colonial and ableist norms, asserted social agency, and negotiated power, identity, and justice. The crafts reflected the lived realities of a social group seeking sanctuary within the two competing worlds of African tradition and European culture. By focusing on disability, creativity, and activism the article contributes to debates in colonial historiography on art, impairment, and activism.

ABSTRACTNursing is a profession grounded in a vocation of caring, altruism and moral responsibility. However, contemporary nursing practice occurs largely within a healthcare system structured by neoliberal, productivity‐driven imperatives—commonly described as the healthcare‐industrial complex. As market‐oriented logics continue to shape healthcare delivery and access to care, tensions emerge between the moral foundations of nursing and the economic rationalities that govern healthcare institutions. This paper presents a philosophical analysis of the bioethical contradictions that nurses experience in practising within the healthcare‐industrial complex. Drawing on bioethical principles, nursing ethics and critical social theory, the analysis examines how neoliberal healthcare structures create moral distress, ethical dissonance and constrained moral agency among nurses. This paper argues that nurses' ethical struggle is not a failure of professional integrity but a predictable outcome of structural forces that compel participation in systems that are misaligned with nursing's moral commitments. By elucidating these dynamics, this analysis offers a conceptual framework for understanding nurse moral distress and identifies pathways for ethical agency, resistance and professional advocacy within contemporary healthcare.

When reinforced concrete (RC) slabs are subject to low velocity impacts (LVI), they will experience highly non-linear behaviors based upon the combined effects of flexural deformations; tensile membrane actions; punching shears; and local crushing as well as the evolving nature of damage in these structures. Most analytical models have been developed under restrictive simplifications; lack complete partitioning of energies; and depend heavily upon computationally intensive finite element simulations. An analytical-energy-based approach is presented to predict the non-linear dynamic behavior of RC slabs subjected to both LVIs and equivalent blast loads. The proposed model integrates an improved two degree-of-freedom (2-DoF) dynamic interaction system with an explicit multi-mechanism energy partitioning procedure which can be used to quantify all of the major forms of energy consumption including flexural; membrane; shear; crushing; damping and damage. The analytical framework has incorporated strain rate enhancement through use of dynamic increase factors (DIFs); punching shear capacity through application of the critical shear crack theory (CSCT); and geometrically non-linear membrane behavior via Xie's formulation for large deflection membrane behavior. A wide-ranging parametric analysis was performed to examine the effect of impact energy; slab thickness; reinforcement ratio; boundary conditions and advanced materials systems such as normal strength concrete (NSC); ultra high-performance concrete (UHPC); and ultra high-performance fibre reinforced concrete (UHPFRC). Results indicated that an increase in the magnitude of impact energy from 1 to 6kJ resulted in an approximate 301% increase in slab displacement. Furthermore, an increase in the slab thickness from 60 to 125mm resulted in a reduction of approximately 68% in slab displacement. It was also found that when compared with RC slabs made with NSC, those made with UHPFRC had displacements decreased by approximately 61% and reduced damage dissipation energy by approximately 69% due to higher levels of crack bridging and membrane resistance. Lastly, it was determined that twisted and hooked end fibres had the greatest energy absorbing capability and provided the longest delay to punching shear failure. Validation studies were conducted against existing experimental data and comparative non-linear ABAQUS CDP simulations indicating prediction error margins generally less than ± 5-10% and good correlation in terms of slab displacement response; crack development; and failure progression. The validation studies also showed that the method could be easily adapted for equivalent blast load analyses using impulse equivalency principles thus enabling a rapid predictive tool for designing RC slab systems resistant to either low velocity impact or blast loads.

The Partition of India in 1947 remains one of the most traumatic events in Indian history, marked by mass displacement, communal violence, and the loss of countless innocent lives. While many works have examined women’s experiences of abduction, sexual violence, and trauma during Partition, less attention has been paid to the destruction of young women’s aspirations and imagined futures. Narinderjit Kaur’s short story “Who Killed Me,” published in The Icicle: A Collection of Short Stories, offers a powerful exploration of this neglected dimension of Partition. Through the experiences of two adolescent girls, Ameena and Nimmo, the story reveals how communal violence and patriarchal notions of honour work together to deny women agency and control over their lives. Rather than focusing solely on physical violence, Kaur highlights the loss of dreams, education, friendship, and self-determination. Drawing on Partition studies, feminist criticism, and trauma theory, this paper examines the interconnected themes of girlhood, honour, patriarchy, and resistance. It argues that the story can be read as a narrative of stolen futures in which the most devastating loss is not simply death itself, but the destruction of possibilities that never have the chance to be realised. By foregrounding the experiences of young girls, Kaur broadens our understanding of Partition and exposes the lasting impact of gendered violence on women’s ability to imagine and shape their own futures. Keywords: Partition, Narinderjit Kaur, gendered violence, honour, futurity, girlhood, patriarchy, trauma, women’s agency

ABSTRACT The model minority myth (MMM) positions Asian and Asian American students as academically successful, diligent, and self-reliant, leading to unrealistic expectations and obscuring the challenges they face. This phenomenological study explores how Asian American and Asian international college students perceive, experience, and respond to MMM-related stereotypes in U.S. academic and social settings. Through interviews with 15 students from diverse backgrounds, the study reveals differences in how these groups understand the MMM, with shared experiences of stereotypes related to intelligence and personality, and varied responses shaped by individual and contextual factors. Informed by critical race theory, AsianCrit, and intersectionality theory, the study highlights how MMM operates within broader systems of racial inequality, leading to stress, invisibility, and restricted support. Findings underscore the need for culturally responsive, stereotype-aware support systems in higher education, with implications for addressing similar stereotypes affecting Asian students in educational contexts worldwide.

Systemic discrimination within nursing and healthcare institutions continues to shape inequitable workforce experiences and leadership opportunities for 2SLGBTQI+, Indigenous, and Black nurses. These inequities have implications not only for the nursing profession but also for health system performance and the delivery of culturally safer care. In 2024, the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) established the Health Equity Consortium (HEC) to coordinate collective action across three equity-focused nursing interest groups. This paper argues that the HEC constitutes a policy-relevant organizational response to structural inequities in nursing, demonstrating how professional associations can operationalize equity, diversity, and inclusion through governance, advocacy, and capacity-building mechanisms. Guided by Critical Social Theory, the analysis draws on the concepts of liberation and conscientization to examine how shared experiences of marginalization are mobilized into coordinated policy and practice interventions. The paper highlights key outcomes associated with the HEC, including the advancement of anti-racism initiatives, the integration of equity-focused content into professional development and education, and the creation of leadership pathways for underrepresented nurses. It further illustrates how collective advocacy within a formal organizational structure can influence policy priorities, strengthen accountability, and support system-level change. The HEC provides a transferable model for embedding equity within professional governance and health policy frameworks. Its approach underscores the role of nursing leadership in advancing structural change and offers insights for policymakers and health organizations seeking to address workforce inequities and improve the inclusiveness of healthcare systems.

The public relations (PR) industry plays a vital role in shaping corporate reputation, public discourse, and social engagement. However, despite serving diverse audiences, the industry has long struggled with racial equity, representation, and inclusion. This study examines the current state of racial diversity within PR, assessing recent industry initiatives, and persisting challenges, and provides potential solutions to advance meaningful change. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as an analytical framework, this research explores structural barriers that impact career advancement for PR professionals of color and evaluates whether existing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts effectively challenge systemic inequities. Through a qualitative analysis of a focus group discussion with influential affinity group, senior-level PR practitioners, this study uncovers key themes, including the role of leadership in fostering DEI, client-driven diversity demands, and the necessity for accountability measures. Findings reveal that while DEI efforts have gained momentum, structural barriers remain pervasive, limiting true progress. This study offers strategic recommendations for PR firms, corporate communication teams, and industry organizations to enhance accountability, create sustainable DEI frameworks, and drive equitable representation across all levels of leadership.

I examine fans' disability headcanons, or personal readings of a source text, on English-language Tumblr for Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's first novel, Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong (The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System). These posts show how fandom can allow for personal catharsis through shared identities, be a vehicle for explaining critical disability theory, and complicate our understanding of fans' relationship to the concept of canonical authority.

Abstract This study applies Asian Critical Theory to conduct a content analysis of the middle-grade novel Maizy Chen’s Last Chance . Guided by three key tenets, Asianization, transnational contexts, and (re)constructive history, we examine how the novel disrupts racialized stereotypes, challenges the perpetual foreigner narrative, and recovers marginalized episodes of Chinese American history. Findings center on three thematic insights. First, the novel’s portrayal of the forever foreigner stereotype shows how Chinese Americans, regardless of birthplace or citizenship, are repeatedly positioned as outsiders through racialized rhetoric, underscoring the persistence of Asianization. Second, the novel highlights the contrast between first-generation immigrants’ deep ties to their homeland and later generations’ more distant connections, illustrating the complexity of diaspora identities within transnational contexts. Third, Lucky’s migration from Guangdong to San Francisco to Minnesota demonstrates how multi-generational storytelling restores neglected histories, fulfilling the aims of (re)constructive history. Pedagogical implications suggest that Maizy Chen’s Last Chance offers rich opportunities for classroom engagement. Ultimately, the study affirms that children’s literature can serve as both a mirror and a platform for recovering erased histories, strengthening identity across generations.

ABSTRACT This study examines how racialization and nativist ideologies shape the linguistic identities and heritage language development of twelve second-generation Spanish heritage language learners in Massachusetts communities with low concentrations of Spanish speakers. Drawing on Latinx Critical Theory (LatCrit), raciolinguistics, and participant testimonios, the study analyzes learners’ experiences across both Trump administrations. Findings show that participants’ Spanish was shaped by racialized othering, institutional neglect, and limited community affordances, while also functioning as a resource for survival, identity, professional opportunity, and symbolic resistance. The study calls for Spanish heritage language curricular tracks, critical pedagogies, and stronger institutional commitments to linguistic justice.

African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) populations in high-income countries (HICs) continue to experience long-standing health inequities rooted in structural and anti-Black racism embedded in health systems, policies, and institutional practices. From an ecosocial perspective, these inequities reflect the embodiment of intersecting forms of oppression structured through racialized, gendered, and socioeconomic relations. Critical racial literacy (CRL) has emerged as a promising framework for recognizing and addressing structural racism in ways that foster critical reflection and support justice-oriented action in health contexts. However, evidence on how CRL is conceptualized and operationalized in health research, policy, and practice concerning ACB communities remains fragmented and limited. This scoping review aims to map how CRL is conceptualized and operationalized in HICs and examine its potential to advance health equity for ACB populations. This scoping review will be conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute guidance. Comprehensive searches will be conducted in MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo, ERIC, Scopus, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global from inception to March 31, 2026. Peer-reviewed articles and theses or dissertations will be included, with no restrictions on study design or publication type. At least 2 independent reviewers will conduct screening, charting, and analysis of the data. A 3-phase thematic mapping process guided by critical race theory, intersectionality, and ecosocial theory will be used to analyze and interpret the findings. Searching, screening, data charting, and analysis will be undertaken between April 2026 and July 2026. Manuscript preparation will be completed by July 31, 2026, and dissemination will occur between August 2026 and October 2026. The findings will identify key CRL components, applications, strategies, barriers, and equity pathways across clinical, policy, and community contexts. This scoping review will provide a comprehensive overview of how CRL is conceptualized and applied in health contexts involving ACB populations in HICs. By clarifying current conceptualizations, applications, and gaps in the literature, the review will identify priorities for future theoretical, methodological, and practice-based development. In doing so, the findings will inform more critically grounded, praxis-oriented, and structurally focused antiracism efforts across health systems. Results will be disseminated through open access publications, conference presentations, and stakeholder engagement activities to advance evidence-informed health equity action. PROSPERO CRD42024623132; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024623132. PRR1-10.2196/79361.

ABSTRACT This article investigates the trafficking of women into the sex trade under the guise of employment opportunities in the showbiz industry in Pakistan. I argue that in the context of Pakistan, the rhetoric of ‘showbiz jobs’ is often used as a cover for women’s trafficking. I interviewed twenty rescued victims residing in Lahore to gain a deeper understanding of the trafficking process, the complex criminal networks, and the experiences of the survivors. Thematic content analysis of the data drawn from the in-depth interviews was conducted through the lens of critical feminist theory to examine how patriarchal power structures and economic vulnerability contribute to women′s exploitation within trafficking networks. There is limited evidence-based research documenting instances of such human exploitation, thereby demonstrating a significant need for survivor-centred emperical research. The project contributes to feminist scholarship by examining survivors′ voices and focusing on the legal and policy responses to human trafficking. It also highlights the role of international treaties and state-led anti-trafficking initiatives. The findings reveal that trafficking networks exploit women's aspirations for employment, economic security, and social mobility, thereby hindering accountability and impeding legal intervention. The study concludes that stronger institutional oversight could significantly strengthen the country′s response to human trafficking.

Oleogels formed using natural waxes undergo a sol-gel transition as the temperature decreases. Such a transition is due to the formation of a hierarchical three-dimensional crystalline network formed by the wax crystals. The properties at the interfaces of these crystals play a crucial role in shaping the overall viscoelastic response of bulk materials. Although this transition governs their processing and functional performance, it has not been examined using critical gelation theory. In this work, we investigate the sol-gel transition in beeswax-corn oil oleogels by performing a detailed linear viscoelastic analysis. When subjected to an oscillatory shear flow field while decreasing temperature, the dynamic moduli exhibit an identical power-law dependence on frequency at a certain temperature, confirming the existence of a critical gel state. We also obtain various critical scaling relations with respect to different linear viscoelastic properties in the pre-gel and post-gel states. Remarkably, the corresponding scaling exponents satisfy the hyperscaling relations, validating the critical gelation framework. We also quantify the effects of wax concentration, which cause an increase in the fractal dimension as well as the gel strength. We believe that this study provides the first comprehensive validation of the critical gelation theory for wax-based oleogels. This work also establishes a unified linear viscoelastic description of their sol-gel transition, offering a predictive framework for formulation and processing near the gel point. Finally, we create a logical design framework for manipulating the mechanical stiffness and thermal durability of oleogels for various applications, such as shape-retaining cosmetics and spreadable food products. This is achieved by correlating the scaling behavior with the composition as well as the thermal history of the oleogels.

ABSTRACT Honneth’s critical theory of recognition divides social and political theorists. Advocates of Honneth’s approach stress its sophisticated normative foundations, its ease of operationalizability and its intuitive applicability to contemporary socio-political struggles. Honneth’s approach is popular with empirical researchers and is deployed widely. Yet, criticisms of Honneth’s theory have been mounting. In this paper, I expand on these criticisms. I advance eight arguments which can be made against Honneth’s critical theory of recognition. I argue that the combined power of these criticisms is such that critical theorists should cease attempts to reform Honneth’s perspective and should instead develop divergent social-theoretical foundations.

In this paper, we consider the following critical Kirchhoff–Boussinesq equations in R N : Δ 2 u − Δ p u + V ( x ) u = f ( x , u ) + κ | u | 2 ∗ ∗ − 2 u , x ∈ R N , where 2 < p < 2 ∗ = 2 N N − 2 , 2 ∗ ∗ := 2 N N − 4 with N ≥ 5 , the potential V : R N → R is continuous and the function f satisfies subcritical growth, κ is a positive parameter. When κ approaches sufficiently large and sufficiently small respectively, by the concentration-compactness principles and variational methods, and together with some critical point theories, we obtain the existence and multiplicity of solutions for the above equations. The novelty and features of this paper lie in that the biharmonic operator, p-Laplacian and the critical nonlinearity appear in the above equation simultaneously. It seems that this is the first contribution to considering the existence of multiple solutions for the above equation via concentration compactness principle in the whole space R N . To some extent, we fill some gaps in the results of [Carlos et al: Kirchhoff–Boussinesq-type problems with positive and zero mass. Appl Anal, 2024;103:16–28; Ding and Lin: Solutions of perturbed Schrodinger equations with critical nonlinearity. Calc Var Partial Differ Equ, 2007;30:231–249; Figueiredo and Salirrosas: Multiple solutions to a Kirchhoff–Boussinesq type problem with competing potentials. Minimax Theory Appl, 2025;10:135–163; Liang et al.: Existence of solutions for a class of biharmonic equations with critical nonlinearity in R N . Rev R Acad Cienc Exactas Fís Nat Ser A Mat RACSAM, 2016;110:681–693].