Government Campaigns Research Articles

Pilgrim Hill: Alienated Farmers and Degraded Ecologies

ABSTRACT Irish agriculture is currently dominated by a cattle economy that can be traced from its historical origins under British imperialism to subsequent expansion and intensification since Ireland’s accession to the European Union (EU) in 1973. Its current growth-directed trajectory has been underlined by the controversial Food Harvest 2020 document produced by the Irish government with major input from agribusiness interests, which envisages significant intensification of beef and dairy farming. Combining ecosocialist theory with an eco-film analysis, wecast a critical eye over the range of externalities generated by “Green Revolution” technologies that form the centrepiece of most farming in Ireland today. We have analysed three films that represent Irish farming over the last century—Man of Aran (1934), The Field (1990) and Pilgrim Hill (2014). In particular, the concerns of Pilgrim Hill have been foregrounded, dealing as it does with a certain dysfunction at the heart of farming today, while the first two films have been used to consider the historical context. While government and industry campaigns have promoted the idea of “grass-fed” sustainable agriculture in Ireland, Pilgrim Hill highlights rather the difficulties faced by alienated farmers living and working in degraded ecologies under conditions of neoliberal capitalism.

Making Food Rescue Your Business: Case Studies in Germany

Initiatives of the European Union in the context of food waste running governmental and nonprofit campaigns strive to reach waste reduction goals. The study investigated entrepreneurial business models in the arena of food waste in Germany with a multiple case study research approach. Business entrepreneurs seek to reduce waste through its monetarization. After the initial identification of close to all current entrepreneurial businesses, ten entrepreneurs in retail, processing, and food service were interviewed to determine barriers and challenges to the models’ success and analyze their motivation to start these businesses. The most important barriers constituted logistical problems regarding supply as well as marketing; and the need for close collaboration with suppliers constituted another important challenge. Their motivations combine sustainability-oriented goals with a profit goal. To scale up, an increase in collaboration and data exchange is needed across the supply chain.

Dam construction in Francoist Spain in the 1950s and 1960s: Negotiating the future and the past

AbstractIn the 1950s and 1960s, dams were crucial to governmental campaigns for development, progress, and modernity in many world regions. This article focuses on the local aspects of a particular development scheme, namely, the construction of the Mequinenza Dam in Spain (1955–1964). This case study shows that dams were contested on a local level from the beginning, even within authoritarian contexts like Francoist Spain. It offers a closer look at processes of transformation and contestation in connection with the construction of dams, focusing on the actors, their points of view and arguments. It shows that the cleavages between interest groups that were later dichotomously labeled as strong supporters or opponents of the ideas connected to the dam construction were complex and shifted over time. These findings are relevant today because they show how the notion of development through dam building was controversial per se and challenged from the beginning.

“Eating Hanness”: Uyghur Musical Tradition in a Time of Re-education

In February 2019, two major musical performances by residents of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region were widely circulated on Chinese social media. These two performances, one a Mekit County Harvest Gala and the other a performance by a Uyghur school teacher from Qumul, featured Uyghurs dressed in Han cultural costumes performing Beijing Opera. Over the past five years, since the “People’s War on Terror” started, the space for Uyghur traditional song and dance performance has deeply diminished. Simultaneously, the space for Uyghurs performing Hanness through Chinese traditional opera and Red songs has dramatically increased. Drawing on open source Uyghur and Chinese-language media, ethnographic fieldwork, and interviews with Uyghurs in diaspora, this article analyses the changing role of music in Uyghur religious and ritual life by tracing the way state cultural ministries have dramatically increased their attempts to separate Uyghur music from its Sufi Islamic origins in order to produce a non-threatening “permitted difference” (Schein 2000). Since 2016, the re-education campaign of the Chinese government on Uyghur society has intensified this disconnection by promoting an erasure of even the state-curated “difference” of happy, exoticized Uyghurs on stage. Han traditional music is now replacing Uyghur traditional music, which shows an intensification of symbolic violence toward Uyghur traditional knowledge and aesthetics. In a time of Uyghur re-education, musical performance on stage has become a space for political rituals of loyalty to a Han nationalist vision of the Chinese state.

A successful fuel transition? Regulatory instruments, markets, and social acceptance in the adoption of modern LPG cooking devices in Indonesia

In 2004, almost half of Indonesian society was dependent on firewood for fuel. Following the implementation of a policy to substitute kerosene use with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in 2007, there was a significant improvement in LPG use from 10.5 percent to 47 percent of households, whilst kerosene use fell significantly from 36 to 9 percent from 2007 to 2011. There was also a 10 percent reduction in the number of households using firewood. This paper investigates LPG adoption by households who previously relied on kerosene and firewood from two perspectives: the institutional perspective, and social acceptance. Semi-structured interviews with representatives from central government to local government in addition to members of the public in six regions in Java and Sumatera were conducted. Findings indicate that the central government’s commitment to implement the substitution policy—alongside effective regulatory instruments, financial support and infrastructure—was critical to the success of the policy. Meanwhile, from a household perspective the reasons behind adoption of LPG were favourable prices, as the result of subsidies and incentives; energy market lock-in; social trust and norms; government communication and campaigns; and favourable appliance characteristics and/or kitchen design. However, there were also LPG resisters who maintained the use of firewood rather than adopting LPG. Safety concerns, cooking preferences and habitual practices were identified as the main determinants of LPG resistance. Understanding the reasons underlying cleaner fuel acceptance or resistance is essential for policy makers to determine successful regulatory pathways to improve fuel quality for better quality of life.

Determinants of smoking behavior among young males in rural Indonesia.

A high prevalence of tobacco smoking has been reported among adolescents and young adults, especially men, in lower-middle-income countries such Indonesia. Understanding the extent and determinants of smoking within this population, particularly those living in rural areas where smoking rates are anecdotally higher than in city areas, is essential to inform development of targeted smoking prevention and reduction programs. This study analyzes the prevalence and determinants of smoking behavior among young men in rural Indonesia. Secondary data analysis of the 2012 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey: Adolescent Reproductive Health (IDHS ARH) were used. Data from 4811 rural males (15-24 years of age) were selected through two-stage stratified cluster sampling techniques. The chi-square (χ2) test and binary logistic regression were used to determine significant factors associated with tobacco smoking. More than half of this population in rural Indonesia were smokers. Significant factors associated with smoking were: age 20-24 years (odds ratio (OR) 2.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.4-3.2), working status (OR = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.95-2.57), low education level (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.52-2.45), access to magazines (OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.68-0.89) and access to the radio (OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.12-1.48) at least once a week. A significant proportion of adolescents and young men in rural Indonesia smoke tobacco. Exposure to media with likely cigarette advertising (radio and magazines) and access to money via employment in the context of lower socio-economic and education levels elevate the risk of smoking. While Indonesian government campaigns targeting smoking are in place, further work is required to decrease smoking rates and prevent a future smoking-related health crisis for rural Indonesia's young men.

Mental Health of Human trafficking; A Systematic Review

Human trafficking is being global crime worldwide. The practice of human trafficking in the form of human exploitation implicated in human rights violations. Survivors of human trafficking will experience health problems both physical and mental problems. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify and summarize the mental health problems of human trafficking victims. Systematic search conducted on March 12, 2019 in data of Proquest, Springer Link, and Scopus by keyword * human health of human trafficking * between the years of 2013-2018. The result of this search found 14 journals that match with inclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria were peer-reviewed journal articles, written in English, all forms of exploitation, the samples are aged >15 years old. The results shown the incidence of human trafficking greatly affected the mental health of victim. Victims experienced anxiety, depression, isolation, disorientation, aggression, suicidal ideation, attention deficit, psychotic disorders, behavioral and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For further research required in efforts to overcome the mental health impact of human trafficking victims. The focus on preventing efforts was through government campaigns, IOM and law enforcement and also the fulfillment of the rights of human trafficking victims

Fall Armyworm (FAW) Epidemic in Sri Lanka: Ratnapura District Perspectives

A recent outbreak of FAW (Spodoptera frugiperda) caused a substantial yield loss in corn was recorded in Sri Lanka especially from Uva, Eastern and North Central provinces. This was first reported in Sri Lanka in August 2018 and over the last six months, the livelihood of the majority of small-scale farming families was greatly affected. National mobilization of resources, agriculture related institutions together with university academia actively participated with the government campaign of combating the pest and improving the livelihood of affected people all over the country. The effort of this short communication is to describe the magnitude of FAW infestation, its implications in Ratnapura District, Sri Lanka and the contribution of the inter-institutional support towards the sustainable management of the Fall ArmyWorm epidemic in Sri Lanka. Amount of land extent used for corn cultivation in Ratnapura district was estimated as 292.65ha, while 32.95 ha were infected with the pest (11.3%). Highest provincial land extent use for corn in Sri Lanka was Uva province where considerable pest damage has been reported. In Uva, total 42436.7 ha were cultivated in maha season where 30998.3 ha has infected and destroyed (73%). Even though corn was cultivated in lower land extent in Ratnapura, effective and organized disaster management response in Ratnapura was able to minimize the pest impact to 11.3% from total losses.

Are Australians ready for warning labels, marketing bans and sugary drink taxes? Two cross-sectional surveys measuring support for policy responses to sugar-sweetened beverages

ObjectiveTo assess public support for 10 potential policy initiatives to reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption.DesignA 2014 historical data set, which employed a face-to-face survey in one Australian state (study 1),...

LONGRANGE\xae (eprinomectin 5% w/v extended-release injection) efficacy against Hypoderma lineatum in an endemic area in southern Italy

BackgroundDespite intensive control measures including governmental campaigns using highly-efficacious systemic insecticides, there is evidence for persisting or recurring bovine Hypoderma species populations in parts of Europe, the USA and Canada. The present study evaluated the efficacy of LONGRANGE® (eprinomectin 5% w/v extended-release injection) against the infestation of cattle with Hypoderma lineatum, which is considered to be the predominant bovine warble fly in southern Europe and in North America.MethodsThirty-six local breed cattle sourced in an endemic area in southern Italy and confirmed positive for Hypoderma exposure by ELISA were randomly assigned to three groups of 12 animals each. Cattle of one group served as control and received saline injectable solution, whereas those in the two other groups received LONGRANGE® by subcutaneous injection. LONGRANGE® was administered once, either when Hypoderma larvae were expected to be first-instars (L1) or after warbles development, with Hypoderma larvae moulting to the second-(L2) and third-(L3) instars. Cattle were checked at intervals for warbles and Hypoderma larvae were collected, examined for their viability and morphologically identified. The detection of Hypoderma on cattle was terminated when warbles were no longer emerging.ResultsAll intact larvae collected were identified as H. lineatum. No live larvae were collected from any animal treated with LONGRANGE® while live specimens were sampled from nine of the 12 control cattle (1 to 9 larvae per animal) (P = 0.0001 at α = 0.05). LONGRANGE® treatment was well accepted and no adverse events related to treatment or other health problems were observed.ConclusionsThis study confirmed the continued ‘preventive’ (efficacy against migrating L1) and ‘therapeutic’ (efficacy against L2 and L3 in warbles) efficacy of LONGRANGE® against H. lineatum infestation of cattle under contemporary field conditions.

The Dubious Relationship Between Make in India and Foreign Direct Investment: The Story So Far and the Road Ahead

Campaigns like ‘Make in India’ (MII) rely on inviting foreign direct investment (FDI) into India to garner the benefits of spillover effects, although the pieces of evidence so far confirm the opposite due to the weak targeting of the factors determining FDI transfers. Thus, the current study explores the key components that shall be sufficiently pursued in order to assign relevance to such governmental campaigns and foreign capital movement for the future capacity building. In order to determine the same, the present study addresses it descriptively by a non-econometric study based on correlation and linkage with key components like manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, employment creation, Index of Industrial Production and FDI restrictiveness index and empirically by applying the Granger causality tests (post unit root stationarity conversion) between the key factors of FDI and FDI inflows in India from 2000 to 2016 (from the eclectic paradigm of OLI [Ownership, Location and Internalization] factors) in the light of the MII campaign. The result indicates that the ease of doing business, gross domestic product growth rate and exchange rate volatility are the prime factors contributing to the inflow of FDI in India. Therefore, the think-tanks will need to draft such a policy framework that enables the required boosting of these key elements to make campaigns like MII really promising in the Indian context. The same could be harnessed through the promotion of greenfield investments, adequate infrastructure, improved governance, tax reforms, rationalizing land and labour reforms, etc.

Government campaign to tackle ‘botched’ procedures

Government campaign to tackle ‘botched’ procedures

Early use of alcohol associated with sociodemographic, nutritional and lifestyle factors: survival analysis with Brazilian students.

To evaluate the early age of onset (AOO) of alcohol consumption and its association with sociodemographic, nutritional and lifestyle characteristics. A national cross-sectional multi-centered study assessed 12-17-year old adolescents from 1247 public and private schools in 124 Brazilian municipalities with more than 100 000 habitants. Our variable of interest was the AOO of alcohol consumption. Covariates comprised sociodemographic status, lifestyle habits and nutritional parameters. We used adapted survival models to investigate the association between covariates and the AOO of alcohol consumption. From a sample of 67 672 adolescents, 50% were females. The mean AOO of alcohol consumption was 12.9 years. Male adolescents had a lower mean age of alcohol experimentation when compared to females in Northeast and South regions. The difference between private and public school for AOO was observed only for the Northeast Region (12.6 versus 13.1, respectively). Adolescents who reported smoking or mental health problems or from the Southern Region presented earlier alcohol use. Physical activity and overweight were positively associated with earlier use of alcohol. There is no homogeneity in the AOO of alcohol consumption among adolescents, which should be considered when formulating public policies and government campaigns directed toward reducing alcohol consumption.

Mao Zedong, Sinization of Marxism, and Traditional Chinese Thought Culture

The informed perspective presented here may rouse a sensitivity to the differences in reading Marxist philosophy from the perspective of the Inseparability of One and Many worldview and philosophy (a doctrine of internal, constitutive, relations––“intimacy”) on the part of Chinese intellectuals, particularly Mao Zedong, a great campaigner for philosophic and discursive Sinicization of Marxism. Marxism has provided an opportunity for a philosophical conversation with Chinese tradition, and this conversation was not launched by a government or official campaign, but instead by the efforts made on the part of countless grassroots intellectuals. It is argued that the reason for this was perhaps due to the fact that certain of Marx’s cosmological assumptions, in contrast to those of the main Western categories, are more capable of being understood and Sinicized in terms of particular philosophical currents in the Chinese tradition. This was particularly so for the two decades of the 1950s and 1960s, and until the end of the 1970s when Deng Xiaoping came to power and openly declared the start of his “Economic Reform” with the slogan “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics.”

Equality and diversity training for care staff

With the recent Government campaign against discrimination, everyone is aware of the impact being targeted for being part of a minority can have on people. Adrian Ashurst tells how he trains nurses on equality, so that an inclusive care environment can be created.

If Crisis or War Comes: A Study of Risk Communication of Eight European Union Member States

How do European Union (EU) member states communicate risks to their citizens? In this study, we define risk communication as the information provided by different levels of government to citizens regarding possible future crises to which the general public might be subjected. We seek to answer the following questions: Are there any patterns in the risk communication strategies among EU member states in terms of the sender of information, the message conveyed, the method used, and the intended audience? Finally, to what extent is the state involved in ensuring the safety of its citizens? To tackle these questions, we examine the risk communication strategy of eight countries: Sweden, Finland, Germany, England, France, Estonia, Greece, and Cyprus. Our data consist of governmental web sites, publications, campaigns, and other modes of communication, such as videos posted on YouTube, with questions centering on institutional actors, methods of delivery, content, and effectiveness. We find that the institutional architecture of risk communication aligns with the broad administrative system of each member state. Countries tend to focus on risks that are specific to their context, with Sweden and, to a lesser extent, Germany having a special focus on consequences and providing guidelines to the public on how to survive for a certain period of time in the absence of the state. Especially in Sweden, though the state is a salient actor in risk communication through the dissemination of information at the agency level, the state retreats while urging the resilient citizen to take control of his or her own crisis management.

Deconstructing ISIS: Philippe-Joseph Salazar's Aesthetics of Terror

ABSTRACT Philippe-Joseph Salazar's 2017 masterpiece Words Are Weapons poses a fundamental question: Should we read al-Qaeda? Can we teach the aesthetics that made ISIS infamous? Or in studying the phenomenon do we perpetuate its influence? Government and media campaigns to counter falsehoods, take down propaganda, or superimpose interpretation seek to silence the enemy while preserving the presumed sensibilities of their intended audience. Yet such strategy leaves the door open to the infinitely more seductive power of mystery. Like Arendt's work on Eichmann, Salazar's book challenges us to confront the extreme violence of ISIS in its absolute form. What he finds is a mirror onto Western society—a culture of paralysis in the face of danger and indifference in the face of zealotry. The book is arguably the single indispensable work to date for understanding the psychological and communicative complexities of the war formerly known as the “Global War on Terrorism.”

A qualidade da educação na Colômbia

This reflexive discourse investigates, in genealogical terms, the political-administrative category of the quality of education. The context: Colombia. The problem: the commercial consideration of educational quality as an increase in figures in the government campaigns of the governments on duty. The idea that a quality education has to do with the increase of infrastructure, coverage and training is sold to the company. At no point has the hypothesis been reached that the educational problem in the country is not a question of quantity but of quality. Therefore, this work, on the one hand, problematizes the notion of educational quality; On the other hand, he proposes to speak of an intersectoral training project between: the family, the school, the community and the State.

The role of government campaign commercials in shaping government brand equity

The government, for the upliftment of the standard of living of citizens, simultaneously runs various campaigns. These campaigns exhibit the conducts of the government and also act as 'goodwill' ambassador! Government extensively advertises such campaigns to disseminate information and create awareness. The present study is an attempt to explore the impact of government campaign commercials on government's brand equity in India. This study not only reveals the perception of the public to the government but also establishes the relevance of campaign advertisements by government. The foundation of the present study is based on extensive review of existing literature by authors. Findings of this study can further be used by professional agencies involved in designing effective campaign commercials for the government. The study provides a new dimension to understand the relevance of 'campaign commercials' for forming brand image of the Government in India. In this space, it is one of the initial attempts.

The Party’s Turn to Public Repression: An Analysis of the ‘709’ Crackdown on Human Rights Lawyers in China

The intensified and more public repression of civil society in China is part of a global shift toward deepened and technologically smarter dictatorship. This article uses the example of the ‘709’ government campaign against Chinese human rights lawyers to discuss this shift. It argues that the Party-State adopted more public and sophisticated forms of repression in reaction to smarter forms and techniques of human rights advocacy. In contrast to liberal legal advocacy, however, the Party-State’s authoritarian (or neo-totalitarian) propaganda is not bounded by rational argument. It can more fully exploit the potential of the political emotions it creates. Along with other forms of public repression, the crackdown indicates a rise of anti-liberal and anti-rationalist conceptions of law and governance and a return to the romanticisation of power.