Issues Of Contingency Research Articles

Critical phenomenology, Mabogo More, and paracorporeal embodiment

This article pays tribute to Mabogo Percy More by exploring his salience to recent calls for “critical phenomenology”. The notion of critical phenomenology is explored through Lisa Guenther’s influential advocacy and Elisa Magrì and Paddy McQueen’s effort to offer an overview and definition of the field. I contend that the most laudable aspects of critical phenomenology are achieved in More’s phenomenological work on antiblack racism and black consciousness, but that More’s work nonetheless points to limitations in what its advocates have articulated critical phenomenology to be. I argue against Guenther’s case that critical phenomenology must abandon the transcendental for the “quasi-transcendental”, showing that More’s focus on contingency and its significance in the phenomenology of Jean-Paul Sartre means that his work is ultimately transcendental existential phenomenology. I then extend the issue of contingency in relation to Magrì and Paddy McQueen’s suggestion of critical phenomenology as centring corporeality. Taking seriously More’s emphasis on the contingency of embodiment points to the matter of what I term “paracorporeal embodiment”, which suggests phenomenological questions that go beyond many of the articulations of critical phenomenology in the contemporary literature.

‘Who Sanitizes the Sanitizer?’: COVID Comics and Sanitisers

Much like face masks, hand sanitisers have become a household item and a prominent symbol since the COVID-19 pandemic. As sanitisers began to be widely used, contingent issues related to...

A study of entrepreneurial marketing activities and firm performance in an immediate post-COVID-19 era: the moderating role of coopetition

Purpose Although earlier research suggests a positive relationship exists between engaging in entrepreneurial marketing activities and firm performance, there may be contingent issues that impact the association. This investigation unpacks the relationship between entrepreneurial marketing behaviour and firm performance under the moderating role of coopetition, in an immediate post-COVID-19 period.Design/methodology/approach A resource-based theoretical lens, alongside an outside-in perspective, underpins this study. Following 20 field interviews, survey responses via an online survey were obtained from 306 small, passive exporting wine producers with a domestic market focus in the United States. The data passed all major robustness checks.Findings The statistical findings indicated that entrepreneurial marketing activities positively and significantly influenced firm performance, while coopetition provided a non-significant moderation effect. Field interviews suggested that entrepreneurs’ attemps to scale up from passive to more active export activities in an immediate post-pandemic period helped explain the findings. Owner-managers rejoined trustworthy and complementary pre-pandemic coopetition partners in the immediate aftermath of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) for domestic market activities. In contrast, they had to minimise risks from dark-side/opportunistic behaviour when joining coopetition networks with partners while attempting to scale up export market activities.Originality/value Unique insights emerge to unpack the entrepreneurial marketing–performance relationship via the moderation effect of coopetition, namely, with the temporal setting of an immediate post-COVID-19 period. Firstly, new support arises regarding the likely performance-enhancing impact of owner-managers’ engagement in entrepreneurial marketing practices. Secondly, novel findings emerge in respect of the contrasting role of coopetition in both domestic and export market activities. Thirdly, new evidence arises in relation to a resource-based theoretical lens alongside an outside-in perspective, whereby, strategic flexibility in pivoting facets of a firm’s business model needs effective management following a crisis.

Mathematical Derivations of Actuarial Present Value for the Fully Continuous Whole Life Assurances from the Theoretical Market Price

Many current mortality tables are computationally Makehamised but technically devoid of continuous key life table functions such as and because of the underlying sophisticated mortality functions and the complex methods of computation which usually do not incorporate the market price. The computationally advanced Moore’s model, which does not endorse the market pricing mechanisms offers one of the most complex analytical results that seems not user friendly in actuarial literature. As a result of the Moore’s complexity, we offer the Gradshteyn and Ryzhik’s analytic integral as an alternative solution to examine the contingency issues involving the estimation of actuarial present values of the continuous whole life annuities. In this study, the objective are to (i) estimate the parameters of GM (1,2) through the method of equidistant points according to the natural order of human age (ii) Apply the mean value theorem to construct the survival probability function under the framework of policy modifications (iii) Develop a closed form pricing formula for the continuous whole life annuity and continuous whole life insurance. The Gradshteyn and Ryzhik’s analytic integral has eliminated the Moore’s complexities associated with symbolic computations such that the continuity assumption applied allows us to compute the continuous life annuity with expedience. Computational evidence further shows that the continuous life annuity reduces with age confirming that life annuities is a decreasing function.

OPŠTE DETERMINANTE BOSANSKO-BOŠNJAČKE INTERFERENCIJE / GENERAL DETERMINANTS OF BOSNIAN-BOSNIAK INTERFERENCES

The paper presents a sociological research of key characteristics, theoretical assumptions and strategic interests of Bosniak politics, which, in a diachronically very limited time, faced complex challenges of preserving its own ethnic identity and simultaneous efforts to strengthen the state role and its political prerogatives. Such challenges generate existential dilemmas about the possible loss of one's own ethnic substance through a process of interference with the identity of the state and its interests. The research is largely focused on the contingent issue of the nation, which is very sensitive in the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina and has the potential to ideologically divide the political spectrum into two completely different concepts (civic and ethnic). The Bosniak connection with Bosnia and the tendency towards a modern Bosnian nation-state that will overcome ethnic differences, divisions and conflicts is becoming a vital political context in which Bosniaks fill the empty space between the state and the nation. Sociological analysis critically investigates the whole process, objectively pointing out some of the mistakes that Bosniak politics has made or can make. The research showed that the Bosnian nation as a political fact does not exist in full capacity because it is burdened by the conflict of Bosniak insistence and, consequently, Serbo-Croat rejection. This fact has its functional repercussions on political perceptions of the status and future of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which for Bosniaks is not just an administrative space or a political agreement of ethnic groups, but above all a homeland. With the intention of more precise analytical research, the paper is based on a qualitative methodological approach and in addition to the usual research methods such as content analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction, generalization and comparison, the research-based interview method was also employed.

Care Work Is Not Conditional: Contingent Labor and “Vocation” in Theological and Religious Studies

Abstract This article is written for people working in the related fields of theological and religious studies, speaking directly to the issue of contingency as a feminist question of care. It acknowledges how cisgendered women in the academy often bear the bulk of caring for others, but goes further, interrogating how care discourses structurally inform the contingent worker’s material realities. Contingency raises the question of the value of the humanities, of which theological and religious studies are a part. Framed as a question of “vocation,” Max Weber argues that the humanities scholar’s work should be oriented to research, rather than moral transformation. A critical and feminist analysis of care, then, unveils contingent labor as a kind of care work that supports masculinist attachments to the tenure track faculty position as the pinnacle of effort and scholarship. The article offers first steps toward constructive recommendations for the issues that we identify.

Security Enhancement of Power Systems through Interline Power Flow Controller (IPFC) under Contingency Condition: A Case Study and Analysis‐EEP 400 kV System

Increasing contingency issues result in inevitable bus voltage violations and force the system to operate around its limit. This situation creates strains that are faced by the security of the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) 400 kV system. In this paper, the static security assessment (SSA) of the system under the base and N-1 contingency scenarios was examined by using Newton-Raphson (NR) method. The Bus and line loading-based composite severity indices (CSI) were utilized to determine the state of the system and to get an optimal location for interline power flow controller (IPFC) placement. In this research, the optimal sizing of IPFC was done by using Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) algorithm. From N-1 contingency analysis, Gelan to Sebeta and Gelan to Holeta branches were found as optimal places for IPFC placement. The IPFC optimal parameters were the series voltage and angle injection found as Vse1 = 0.1101pu, Vse2=0.1096pu, δse1=-0.1848rad, and δse2=2.7682rad with the optimal size of 50 MVA for each IPFC. The average bus voltage severity index (BVSI) without and with IPFC cases was found as 217.243% and 2.641% respectively. The average line severity index (LSI) without and with IPFC cases were found as 39.448% and 15.283% respectively. Moreover, the total line loss under severe N-1 contingency scenarios without and with IPFC integration was 437.783 MW and 63.136 MW respectively. From analysis, it was observed and concluded that the static security of the EEP 400 kV system under N-1 contingency conditions is effectively improved by the integration of IPFC.

Developing multiple perspectives by eliding agreement: A conversation analysis of Open Dialogue reflections

Open Dialogue is an approach to working with mental health problems that emphasises promoting dialogue between multiple perspectives within an individual person and between all the people present, including the therapists. Therapists’ own perspectives are often introduced during conversations called reflections, which present a potential source of different perspectives. Using conversation analysis we analysed 14 hours of video-recorded Open Dialogue sessions with a focus on therapists’ reflections. We noticed that therapists did not display explicit agreement with each other’s reflections. This absence of explicit agreement was displayed through a variety of verbal and non-verbal forms. Eliding agreement facilitated deference to the epistemic authority of the client, assertion of epistemic rights from second position, emphasis of a positive perspective or to voice multiple perspectives. Therapists avoided consensus and thus presented multiple perspectives to the family while also attending to issues of contingency. The implications of epistemic primacy and asymmetry connected to sequential structures in talk pose a challenge to the generation of collaborative reflective dialogues.

Preliminary Molecular Survey of the Possible Presence of Xylella fastidiosa in the Upper Ionian Coasts of Calabria, Italy, through the Capture and Analysis of Its Main Vector Insects.

Simple SummaryAs a consequence of the advancement of the outbreak front in Apulia (Italy), and the possibility of pathogenic insects being “hitchhiked” over long distances, the neighboring regions must implement a monitoring system for the control of the spittlebug vectors of Xylella fastidiosa. In this sense, the aim of this work was to evaluate the eventual presence of X. fastidiosa in olive orchards and meadows in the upper Ionian coasts of Calabria, Italy, through the capture and molecular analysis of its main vector insects.Xylella fastidiosa subsp. pauca, strain CoDiRO is the bacterium responsible for the onset of the disease known as the olive quick decline syndrome, which has been causing a phytosanitary and economic emergency in the Apulia region since 2013. To date, three insect species have been identified as pathogenic carriers of X. fastidiosa. With the advancement of the infection front, and the possibility of pathogenic insects being “hitchhiked” over long distances, the monitoring of the vectors of X. fastidiosa in the Italian regions bordering Apulia is an increasingly contingent issue for the rapid containment of the bacterium and the protection of the olive-growing heritage. Accordingly, the present research concerned the capture and recognition of the vector insects of X. fastidiosa in the upper Ionian coasts of Calabria (Italy) to evaluate the possible presence of the bacterium through molecular diagnostic techniques. The sampling allowed us to ascertain the presence of Philaenus spumarius and Neophilaenus campestris and their preferential distribution in olive groves and meadows, whereas all the 563 individuals tested negative for the pathogen.

Value-based lean implementation in a surgical unit: the impact of the methodology

PurposeThis paper aims to present a method for strategic planning and implementation processes in health care based on lean management.Design/methodology/approachWithin the framework of the action research methodology, the authors present the ten steps of a kaizen project, which enable lean transformation over a period of time. The study is underpinned by a literature review of enablers and barriers and an implementation case in a tertiary care hospital.FindingsKey points and possible contingency issues are presented for each of the steps, and a successful lean tools intervention is illustrated by examples of improvement projects of the surgical process. Conclusions of the implementation establish a roadmap for improvement projects in hospital environments based on lean management, thus bridging the existing gap between the large number of theoretical projects (much of the projects described are not sustainable over time as the hospital sector is very particular) that have failed to be implemented, or been paused mid-term, and the self-sustaining projects developed by improvement teams in the hospital.Originality/valueThe study details knowledge gleaned from a three-year project entailing various stages: forming improvement teams; training health-care professionals in lean management; drawing up a process map to identify value stream mapping improvement opportunities; implanting projects and verifying the results obtained; and finally, laying the cornerstones, which would make the project self-sustaining and open to long-term continuous improvement.

REVEALING CONTINGENCY THROUGH SHUN'S 舜 ASCENSION TO THE THRONE

AbstractThis article examines the story of Shun's 舜 ascension to the throne. This story has drawn considerable attention throughout Chinese history because of its significance with regard to political succession. However, in this article, I shed light on a different dimension of the story: its relevance to the issue of contingency. I investigate four texts, two excavated and two transmitted: Qiongda yi shi 窮達以時 (Failure and Success Depend on Times), Tang Yu zhi dao 唐虞之道 (The Way of Yao and Shun), the Mengzi 孟子, and the Xunzi 荀子. At one extreme, Qiongda yi shi highlights that Shun became a king by pure chance, while at the other extreme, Xunzi interprets the event as a necessary one, emphasizing that Shun cannot but succeed Yao. The other two texts fall somewhere in between the two extremes. I use these four texts to showcase different ways of thinking about areas over which humans are believed to lack control. My claim is that these four texts offer different accounts of the same event—Shun's ascension—because they see the event from different perspectives: from a perspective of the chosen, from a perspective of the chooser, from a mise-en-scène, and from a perspective of not of this world, respectively. I argue that the diverse perspectives of these texts entail the different understandings of several related issues such as the degree of human control over the event, the important features of the event, and the content of the moral and political lessons that we draw from the event.

Marxism And Its ‘Other’: Why Do We Need Althusser To Understand Foucault?

With the current renewal of interest in the Marxist theoretical tradition, revisiting its classical and neoclassical texts is crucial for understanding Marxism’s explanatory potential in the context of contemporary socio-political relationships. This paper makes productive efforts to review existing theoretical perspectives on non-coercive mechanisms of engaging the masses with particular value systems. I discuss Althusser’s theory of ideology: its content, central critique, and developments in relation to other compatible theories, the most salient of which is the idea of governmentality proposed by Foucault. Foucault’s approach is especially interesting due to its consistent attempts to separate itself from the critical tradition. As I demonstrate, however, several parallels can be drawn between the theory of ideology and the notion of governmentality, including the focus on reproduction, attempts to address the issue of contingency, interest in both the symbolic and the material, the emphasis on the mechanism of subjection and recognition of individualization of power relationships. I conclude that critical reflections over Althusser’s epistemological findings and the legacy of his ideas may facilitate our understanding of prospective developments in the Marxist tradition and its alternatives.

A nonlinear well-determined model for power system observability using Interior-Point methods

This paper proposes Interior-Point (IP) methods for the solution of the optimal placement of phasor measurement units (PMUs) ensuring complete observability. The optimization problem consists of a quadratic function under a well-determined system of constraints that is, nonlinear equations equal to the number of the design variables defined over the whole search space Rn. A hybrid-optimization technique coupling a branch-and-bound and a local search-procedure based on the (IP) methods is used in solving the model. The (IP) methods detect solution points that yield a minimum objective value as the one obtained by branch-and-bound algorithm. The (IP) methods optimizes the required PMU numbers whereas practical constraints as well as contingency issues as single PMU failure, costs of communication infrastructure (CI) from Phasor Data Concentrator to PMUs and prohibitive installations are satisfied. A large-scale system is also analysed to exhibit the applicability of (IP) methods to practical power system cases.

Russian Sociology of Cinema in the Context of Society Development

In the history of the Russian sociology of cinema (1910–2019), the development of which has been intermittent and fraught with drama, five waves of development are distinguished and discussed, interspersed with two tragic halts. The first wave is dated as a short prerevolutionary period. Russian researchers, under a strong impact from the social critique cinema in Germany and the very birth of the sociology of cinema there, strived to collect factual material regarding the impact of film spectacle on the souls of the young. Their nascent searchings were stopped by the 1917 revolutionary events and the ensuing civil war. The second wave (the mid-1920s to 1933) is the period of emergence and formation of the Soviet sociology of cinema. Researchers attempted to render some assistance to filmmakers in the latter’s tasks of schooling and enculturating the masses. Such activity on their part did not last long. In the administrative-command system of the 1930s, there was no place for the sociologist. Cinema found itself under Stalin’s personal control. The second long halt set in. The third wave (1963–1985) came as a period of rebirth and professionalization for the sociology of cinema under the conditions of Khrushchev’s «thaw» and the «developed socialism». The main stimulus for the progress was the problem of theater attendance and of cinema profitability. The fourth wave (1985–1991) was – according to its conception, anyway – the continuation of the third wave within the framework of «perestroika», with its course toward democratization and «glasnost». The societal position of the sociology of cinema improved significantly. The fifth wave (from 1991 to the present) is the period of restructuring the sociology of cinema, of its development and declining activity in the 2010s, premised on the subjectivization of the actual film policy and the contingent issue of financing the work of sociologists.

Women, Water & Well-Being: A Case Study of ‘Kuttadampadam’ in Palakkad, Kerala

The natural resources are repository for the survival of all of us, so they must be used efficiently to meet the present needs while conserving them for future generations. An action to develop capacities from global to household levels for their sustainable management and regulation is required henceforth. Of these natural resources, water resources are most precious. If there is no water; there would be no life on earth. Since ‘water is the elixir of life’, water resource management has been considered as one of the most relevant areas of intervention. Understanding the gender dimensions of water resource management is a starting point for reversing the degradation of water resources. Women play an important role here since they have to access the water resources for almost all the activities on a daily basis. As the women are the strong social agents, effective and improved water preservation techniques could be achieved through their empowerment that may eventually lead to the well-being of the households in particular and of the community in general. Therefore, the major research question posed in this study is to analyze the role of women in the preservation and management of water, an inevitable, precious but diminishing natural resource. The study also intends to describe the relationship between the three ‘W's-Women, Water & Well-being. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are essential here as it is a contingent issue in the present scenario. Psychological dimensions were also explored since the issue is affecting the routine life of the community. The case study of women belonging to the Kuttadampadam region was done to explain the role of women in preserving water resources in the areas affecting severe water scarcity.

Increasing Resilience through Interaction: Stakeholder Workshop on Aviation and Volcanic Ash

The Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption in 2010 illustrated the threat that Icelandic volcanoes can pose to global air transportation and connected economy. It highlighted the necessity for crisis management and contingency planning that crosses borders. This research obtained insights into how the European aviation volcanic risk management has progressed since 2010. It developed escalating volcanic scenarios to investigate the robustness of the aviation sector and to identify improved mitigation measures. This paper presents a multi-level methodology to build a lasting relationship with, and between, stakeholders and to obtain relevant data. The first step consisted of establishing a face-to-face interaction with stakeholder representatives on an individual basis. Subsequently the group was invited to a one-day participatory stakeholder workshop where extreme volcanic events and their effects on aviation were investigated using scenario narratives. The workshop’s set-up proved successful in enabling discussions and obtaining information. The stakeholders’ positive response to the invitation, as well as their feedback after the workshop, illustrate their interest in this type of workshop. The feedback showed that the stakeholders appreciated the opportunity to meet and specifically to discuss aviation contingency issues. The workshop raised awareness and facilitated information flow between the stakeholders. The paper describes this case and provides generalized guidance on how to build a fruitful interaction between interviewees in a study, sheds light on the resulting impact on the results, and presents opportunities to create value beyond the study.

Proactive Resilient Scheduling for Networked Microgrids With Extreme Events

In this paper, we propose a risk-constrained adaptive robust optimization approach to provide proactive resilient scheduling decisions for multiple networked microgrid central controllers under potential extreme events. Our objective is to minimize both risks of false judgement made by microgrid central controllers and damage done to networked microgrids by extreme events through a proactive resilient scheduling process. A risk-constrained adaptive robust optimization approach is developed to handle risks and uncertainties associated with: (i) extreme events that may occur and contingency issues linked to influential buses; (ii) renewable energy sources power generation; (iii) human reactions when faced with an extreme event; and (iv) status of combined cooling, heat and power units. “Budget of uncertainty” and risk-management parameters are utilized together to overcome both overconservative issues of conventional robust optimization and human errors that may occur when making decisions. Extensive simulation results from real-world data sets show that the risk-constrained adaptive robust optimization approach we propose can ensure the resilience of networked microgrids under extreme events.

Optimal energy management for commercial buildings considering comprehensive comfort levels in a retail electricity market

Demand response has been implemented by distribution system operators to reduce peak demand and mitigate contingency issues on distribution lines and substations. Specifically, the campus-based commercial buildings make the major contributions to peak demand in a distribution system. Note that prior works neglect the consumers’ comfort level in performing demand response, which limits their applications as the incentives are not worth as compared to the loss in comfort levels for most time. Thus, a framework to comprehensively consider both operating costs and comfort levels is necessary. Moreover, distributed energy resources are widely deployed in commercial buildings such as roof-top solar panels, plug-in electric vehicles, and energy storage units, which bring various uncertainties to the distribution systems, i.e., (i) output of renewables; (ii) electricity prices; (iii) arrival and departure of plug-in electric vehicles; (iv) business hour demand response signals and (v) flexible energy demand. In this paper, we propose an optimal demand response framework to enable local control of demand-side appliances that are usually too small to participate in a retail electricity market. Several typical small demand side appliances, i.e., heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, electric water heaters and plug-in electric vehicles, are considered in our proposed model. Their operations are coordinated by a central controller, whose objective is to minimize the total cost and maximize the customers’ comfort levels for multiple commercial buildings. A scenario-based stochastic programming is leveraged to handle the aforementioned uncertainties. Numerical results based on the practical data demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework. In addition, the trade-off between the operation costs of commercial buildings and customers’ comfort levels is illustrated.

The Oxford Handbook of Hegel. By Dean Moyar (Ed.). Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2017; 880 pp.; ISBN: 9780199355228

Despite Georg W.F. Hegel’s claim that “philosophy, at any rate, always comes too late” because, like the owl of Minerva, it “begins its flight only with the onset of dusk” [1] (p. 23), and beyond the contextual and contingent issues that might contribute to its return in auge,1 there exist important theoretical reasons to consider the question “why Hegel now and again?” still legitimate and current.[...]

Insanity and Social Dangerousness: Philosophical Reflections on Italian Law

Abstract According to Italian law 81/2014, social dangerousness derived only from individual personal characteristics, including mental health conditions. As a result, dangerousness is not perceived as related to a specific context, but on the contrary mainly caused by a psychic condition. Although forensic psychiatry and criminology have denied this axiom for a long time now, this ancient and traditional prejudice where a mentally ill person is dangerous as such, seems to have returned formally. Beyond the contingent issues that may have influenced Italian lawmakers in formulating this legislation, there is a question to ask: why does this union between mental illness/social dangerousness reappears in a cyclic and persistent way? Since imputability and social dangerousness are not topics studied exclusively by law and psychiatry, it is possible to express some philosophical considerations regarding the correlation between insanity and deviance and the ancient bond between insanity and evil. In assessing psychiatric social dangerousness, in order to reconcile instances of the rights of individual patients with the need to protect society, the law needs to take into account these hidden and intertwined issues.