Moments Of Crisis Research Articles

Balancing efficiency and equity. Consumer cooperatives in Barcelona (Spain), 1898–1936: An economic and financial-ratio analysis

Economic theory tends to link the emergence of cooperatives with moments of economic crisis, and to regard them as less efficient than investor-owned firms. This work aims to test these premises by analysing the economic and financial performance of fourteen consumer cooperatives in Barcelona (Spain) from the late nineteenth century to the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Economic and financial ratios are analysed, based on the cooperatives’ balance sheets, in order to identify strengths and weaknesses. The main conclusion is that these organisations could operate efficiently, although they found it difficult to grow and become more competitive.

Health system reform and path-dependency: how ideas constrained change in South Africa’s national health insurance policy process

Path-dependency theory says that complex systems, such as health systems, are shaped by prior conditions and decisions, and are resistant to change. As a result, major policy changes, such as health system reform, are often only possible in policy windows—moments of transition or contextual crisis that re-balance social power dynamics and enable the consideration of new policy ideas. However, even in policy windows there can be resistance to change. In this paper, we consider the role of ideas in constraining change. We draw on political science theory on the dynamic relationship between foreground ideas (policy programmes and frames) and background ideas (deeply held collective cognitive and normative beliefs) to better understand how ideas exert influence independently of the contextual conditions that give rise to them or the actors that espouse them. To do so, we examine two apparent policy windows in the South African National Health Insurance policy process. The analysis reveals how ideas can become institutionalised in organisations and procedures (such as policy instruments or provider networks), and in intangible cultural norms—becoming hegemonic and uncontested ideas that shape the attitudes and perspectives of policy actors. In this way, ideas operate as independent variables, constraining change across policy windows. While health policy analysts increasingly recognise the influence of ideational variables in policy processes, they tend to conceptualise ideas as tools actors wield to drive change. This analysis reveals the importance of considering ideas (values, norms, and beliefs) as persistent features of the policy-making context that constrain actors.

“I wanted to show the faces of these migrant workers, their struggles to breathe, and their undignified deaths”: In conversation with Puja Changoiwala

ABSTRACT Journalist and author Puja Changoiwala has been critically acclaimed for her passionate writings on crime and social issues across India, such as gender discrimination and poverty. Her debut novel, Homebound (2021), details the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indian society, which saw the largest exodus of people since Partition, the majority of whom were from India’s poorest regions. In the book, Changoiwala tells the stories of Indian migrant labourers, showing how years of exploitation converged in a single moment of humanitarian crisis and homelessness. In this interview, Changoiwala talks about her experience as a journalist and an author in unveiling the atrocious realities of migrant life in front of a largely complacent nation and world. The discussion highlights Changoiwala’s reflections upon the conveniently neglected history of oppression that has contributed to the silencing of these marginalized populations, and her call for an awareness of such discrimination through her fiction.

Energy Security, Climate Change, and Routines as Maladaptive Politics

Abstract Energy transitions suffer from a central political challenge. Future costs of the energy transition are directly linked to investments in mitigation and adaptation measures today, yet governments continue to underinvest in decarbonization policies and are far from meeting legally binding targets. While interdisciplinary explanations trace multiple motives behind inaction, I argue that climate inaction must be embedded in political mechanisms that sustain it. Routines are one such mechanism. Building on literatures of temporality, normative change in international politics, critical energy security studies, and routines, I argue that moments of crises have so far not been transformative in the context of climate and energy security because of how actors construct the politics of crises temporally. The temporal construction of crisis engenders a selective reading of the timescales that are perceived to matter, which in turn gives way to reproducing dominant routines that have historically been thought to secure against crises. Such routines, however, no longer secure outcomes against crises; they reproduce the very cause of climate change, namely the dependence on fossil fuels. I illustrate the explanatory mechanism between crises and routines through a case study of Germany’s energy security response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A World of Many Walks? Zapatista World Ordering between Center and Margins

Abstract At the current moment of multiple global crises, including of the International Liberal Order, a search for new practices of world ordering seems to coexist with a deep skepticism regarding the possibilities of global solidarity and common struggles between centers and margins. Against this background, this paper focuses on the world ordering practices of the Mexican Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, a group that occupies a position between center(s) and margin(s). While they clearly self-identify as being on the political and economic margins—geographically remote, economically weak and under constant threat of military repression—their ideas occupied center stage in the search for alternative visions of world order at least for a certain moment. The paper will explore the potential pathologies that a recourse to Zapatism may entail, namely romanticization, hollowing-out and epistemic extractivism/opportunism. It then asks if and how these pathologies can be overcome in a search for common ground for both social movements and International Political Theory when trying to think differently about world ordering from the margins. In this exploration, special emphasis will be given to the pathways toward a desirable order that the Zapatistas conceptualize and practice, namely creating, narrating and walking.

Seeking Care: Youth’s Counterstories Within the Context of Mental Health

In this article, we draw on a narrative inquiry into the experiences of children, youth, and families waiting for mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic in Western Canada. We foreground two youths’ experiences (Gillian, who self-identifies as transgender, and Malek, who self-identifies as racialized) to highlight the complex barriers and supports each encountered while attempting to secure appropriate care as they navigated moments of crisis within their worlds of home, school, and communities. By inquiring into their mental health stories, we foreground the unique ways these youth enacted counterstories to disrupt hegemonic constructions of their identities, build agency, and support their wellbeing.

Framing disinformation through legislation: Evidence from policy proposals in Brazil

This article analyzes 62 bills introduced in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies between 2019–2022 to understand how legislators frame disinformation into different problems and their respective solutions. The timeframe coincides with the administration of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. The study shows a tendency from legislators of parties opposed to Bolsonaro to attempt to criminalize the creation and spread of health-related and government-led disinformation. This trend is explained by the Brazilian polarized democracy in a moment of crisis with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Market Reactions to U.S. Financial Indices: A Comparison of the GFC versus the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis

This study delves into the impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC) and the COVID-19 health crisis on U.S. financial indices, exploring the intricate relationship between economic shocks and these indices during downturns. Using Markov switching regression models and control variables, including GDP, consumer sentiment, industrial production, and the ratio of inventories-to-sale, it quantifies the effects of these crises on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), Standard & Poor’s 500 (S&P 500), and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) from Q1 2000 to Q2 2023, covering crucial moments of both crises and stable periods (dichotomous variables). Results reveal that the 2008 crisis significantly heightened financial volatility and depreciated the valuation of S&P 500 and DJIA indicators, while the COVID-19 crisis had a diverse impact on market dynamics, particularly negatively affecting specific sectors. This study underscores the importance of consumer confidence and inventory management in mitigating financial volatility and emphasises the need for robust policy measures to address economic shocks, enhance financial stability, and alleviate future crises, especially during endogenous crises such as financial downturns. This research sheds light on the nuanced impact of crises on financial markets and the broader economy, revealing the intricate dynamics shaping market behaviour during turbulent times.

Living on low-incomes with multiple long-term health conditions: A new method to explore the complex interaction between finance and health.

People on low-incomes in the UK develop multiple long-term health conditions over 10 years earlier than affluent individuals. Financial diaries -new to public health- are used to explore the lived experiences of financially-vulnerable individuals, diagnosed with at least one long-term condition, living in two inner-city London Boroughs. Findings show that the health status of these individuals is a key barrier to work opportunities, undermining their income. Their precarious and uncertain financial situation, sometimes combined with housing issues, increased stress and anxiety which, in turn, contributed to further deteriorate participants' health. Long-term health conditions limited the strategies to overcome moments of financial crisis and diarists frequently used credit to cope. Restrictions to access reliable services and timely support were connected to the progression of multiple long-term conditions. Models that integrate healthcare, public health, welfare and financial support are needed to slow down the progression from one to many long-term health conditions.

Masks and Mantras: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Spiritual Reterritorialization Among Tibetan Buddhist Communities in Taiwan

This article examines how Tibetan Buddhist teachers’ and communities’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have facilitated the contemporary global transmission of this tradition. Based upon fifteen months of ethnographic research in Taiwan, I examine how one community, the Bhumang Nyiöling Buddhist Society, was introduced to and adopted practices to the deity Parṇaśavarī, a protectress against pandemic illnesses, in response to COVID-19. Drawing upon Deleuze and Guattari, I introduce the concepts of spiritual deterritorialization and reterritorialization to describe the processes whereby divinities in the Buddhist cosmos are unbound from specific geographies and expand their intercessory powers across new contexts. I argue that the introduction of Parṇaśavarī practices to the Bhumang Nyiöling community during the COVID-19 pandemic serves as a vibrant example of how processes of spiritual deterritorialization and reterritorialization can play a powerful role in the broader transmission of Tibetan Buddhism globally, particularly when catalyzed by critical moments of crisis.

Strategic Judicial Empowerment

Abstract When courts seek to strengthen their own institutional power, they often need to be strategic. In many fraught political contexts, judiciaries lack a history of asserting authority against powerful political actors. How can courts with fragile authority establish and enhance judicial power? This Article explores the phenomenon of strategic judicial empowerment, offering an account of how and when courts deploy various strategies aimed at enhancing their institutional position vis-à-vis other branches of government. Drawing on examples from apex courts in Pakistan, Malawi, Malaysia, and the United Kingdom, it explores the ways in which judges use tools of statecraft to increase the effectiveness of their decisions and enhance their role in the constitutional order. The Article explores the particular strategies that courts might employ in service of self-empowerment: first, a strategy of maxi-minimalism features Marbury-style maximalist reasoning that expands judicial power while issuing a narrow ruling to avoid political backlash; second, an inverse strategy of mini-maximalism involves formalistic, orthodox doctrine that downplays the expansion of judicial power, even as a court delivers a decision of immediate consequence; third, a strategy of coalition-building that aids a judiciary in seeking allies in other institutional stakeholders; fourth, a rhetorical strategy that courts may use to craft a constitutional narrative of popular salience; and, fifth, a unanimous, single-voice decision that provides the optics of a unified judicial front. This Article also considers the conditions that tend to give rise to instances of judicial self-empowerment. Courts in diverse contexts tend to assert themselves, for example, when their own institutional turf is threatened, during moments of political or constitutional crisis, when judges can capitalize on popular support for the outcome of a ruling, and under an influential judicial leader mindful of establishing a legacy.

COVID again? Health workers’ burnout and turnover intentions: possible impacts of coronavirus-induced anxiety and first-level servant leaders

PurposeBuilding on social exchange and leader-member exchange theories, this paper aims to propose a model of the impact of coronavirus-induced anxiety on health-care professionals’ burnout and turnover intention through the mediation role of servant leadership.Design/methodology/approachThis model was examined by adopting partial least square-based structural equation modeling using data collected from 271 health professionals (doctors, nurses, midwives and analysts) from Turkey.FindingsThe findings of the research illustrate that coronavirus-induced anxiety is positively associated with burnout and turnover intention. Furthermore, servant leadership mediates the relationship between coronavirus-induced anxiety, burnout and turnover intention. Yet, according to factor loadings, the mediating role of servant leadership is not strong (β : 0.035 and 0.053, respectively).Research limitations/implicationsFirst, this study targeted the health-care professionals from Turkey. Therefore, this population may not be able to provide general information on the topic. Thus, this study suggests that the subject be addressed in other populations as well. Second, the data were self-reported by the participants. Although common method bias and social desirability bias were not an issue in this study, it should be known that the results are based on the subjective judgments of the participants. Third, this study was limited to investigating the mediating role of servant leadership only.Practical implicationsThis study gives much beneficial information to both administrators and organizations by mirroring highly stressed workers’ inside throughout statistically results. Hence, it is assumed that the findings will help leaders to cope with several difficult situations, especially in crisis moments. As the chaotic circumstances occurred, achieving organizational goals became more and more difficult. To do this, some leaders play critical roles for members like servant leaders by contributing uniquely spiritual dimensions.Social implicationsStruggling with the COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated the health-care professionals’ existing mental health and has loaded more agitation on them. According to Mozes (2021), suicide cases among nurses have doubled the number of women in the general population. Thus, leaders should do something to lower those ratios. This study points out that servant leaders could break down those unwanted issues by decreasing burnout and turnover intention rates of health workers. Barbuto and Wheeler (2006) highlighted this situation by creating a dimension called “The Natural Desire to Serve Others.”Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, to date, this study is the first to examine the mediating role of servant leadership in the effect of coronavirus-induced anxiety on burnout and turnover intention. Furthermore, this research reveals that servant leadership may play a role in avoiding burnout and turnover intention in the health sector.

The Power of the Eye and Point of View in Oliver Twist

Abstract: This article seeks to revise the orthodox opinćions about Dickens as a "superficial" novelist who is unable to delve into the souls of his characters and depict their interiority. Since the introspective elements in Dickens are worthy of more attention than they have received, I critically dissect two passages in which Dickens dramatizes the mental operations of two criminals (Sikes and Fagin) at a moment of crisis in Oliver Twist . As I argue, the vigour and intensity of the novelist's portrayal of these characters' inwardness and mental activity draw heavily on eye imagery, its symbolic implications, and metaphors of seeing, which focuses all textual eyes together with the reader's eyes on the two malefactors. The internal focalizations of Sikes and Fagin deserve a particular critical interest because of their significant impact on the cultural afterlives of the novel, which this essay also discusses.

Power of Zero Resilience in Genetic Dyslipidemia: Kuhn Model Crisis Moment for the Lipid Hypothesis?

Power of Zero Resilience in Genetic Dyslipidemia: Kuhn Model Crisis Moment for the Lipid Hypothesis?

"I Felt a Sense of Mission during Moments of Crisis": Mental Health Professionals' Perspectives on Their Initial Treatment of Evacuees during the Israel-Hamas Conflict.

This study examines mental health service providers who provided care to evacuees during the Israel-Hamas conflict. Utilizing a phenomenological qualitative method, the research delves into the psychological impact on the participants' lived experiences. The sample included 25 mental health providers (13 female, age range 28-63, mean 42.4, SD 7.3; 15 psychologists and 10 social worker, average seniority 10.8 years, SD 5.2, range 2-18 years). Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted between December 2023 and March 2024. The data analysis revealed a dual narrative: Participants paid a major personal price and experienced secondary traumatization manifesting in emotional detachment, physical symptoms, and heightened arousal. They also derived a profound sense of meaning and fulfillment from their work, contributing to personal and professional growth. These findings underscore the complexity of their experiences, which were marked by the challenges of secondary trauma and the resilience fostered through their work. This study emphasizes the importance of support systems, including social and familial networks and professional supervision, in navigating these challenges. This study has several limitations, including small sample size and the use of virtual interviews, suggesting the need for further research with a broader participant base and in different contexts.

Analyse und Entwicklung im Controlling-Bereich Während der Covid-19 Pandemie

This paper deals with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on controlling within companies. Because Covid-19 was a moment of crisis, companies wanted to take a series of measures to ensure the stability of the company. Through the interview and survey as the main research methods, I was able to find out how the companies managed to cope with this situation and how the controlling department, which was responsible for developing many strategies, changed in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Topics such as digitalisation, adaptability and the introduction of new technologies were also covered. The paper presents the ways in which the company reacted to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the help of the controlling department, they were able to adapt quickly and develop new strategies to overcome this period. Therefore, this paper provides updates regarding the development of this department within the company and the technologies they use to develop more accurate strategies and reports.

Land use practices in the estates of landlords in the late XIX – early XX century

Importance. Unequal resource provision of owners’ property and a significant shortage of peasant hay and forest lands, aggravated by overgrowth and far-earth land, determined the practice of economic relations between landlords and communal farms.Research Methods. The problem of land use in the landlord economy system of post-reform Russia remains one of the most difficult in agrarian historiography. In the writings of prerevolutionary historians, the modernization of estates is highlighted in the writings of conservatives who linked crisis moments in the economy of estates with insufficient state support for owners and liberal figures stratifying savings into labor and capitalist ones. In the works of Soviet historians, the modernization of the latifundia is severely criticized.Results and Discussion. Many landlords, taking advantage of the positive situation in the grain market, expanded production and established a diversified economic complex. These trends were especially strong in estates with sugar and distilleries. However, even during the period of maximum capitalist development of the agricultural sector, the predominant form of land use of Latifundists remained a combination of running their own farm and rental distributions.Conclusion. The transition from a serfdom to a productive economy was associated with the modernization of the field-growing complex of estates, the use of agricultural innovations. However, the active introduction of grass planting by owners and the mechanization of agriculture have long been combined with unproductive methods of agricultural development.

Dynamic linkage between environmental segments of stock markets: the role of global risk factors

ABSTRACT This study evaluates the links between representative indices of companies with high environmental performance and the propensity of such indices to economic and financial shocks. Five indices, representing environmental segments and four global macroeconomic and financial variables, were analyzed over a thirteen-year period, which included various crisis moments, such as the sovereign debt crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and the onset of the Russia/Ukraine conflict. Using dynamic and nonlinear models, our research reveals statistically significant and consistent relationships between the variables under investigation, particularly during periods of global financial and pandemic crises. The analysis revealed that the VIXCLS is the most influential global risk factor, with certain risk factors being influenced by environmental segments, particularly Alternative Energy. This influence can create conditions conducive to contagion risk and diminish the benefits of portfolio diversification. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the connection between environmental investments and their vulnerability to significant global events and risks.

Cognitive and Relational Processes Associated to Mental Health in Italian High School Students during COVID-19 and Russian-Ukrainian War Outbreaks.

The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health has been widely demonstrated; however, few studies have investigated the psychological processes involved in this impact, including core beliefs violation, meaning-making disruption, interpersonal support, or one's relational functioning. This study explored the mental health of 215 Italian adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war. By administering a set of questionnaires, several cognitive and emotional variables were investigated, including core belief violation, meaning attribution to the pandemic and war, attachment, and emotion regulation, social media addiction, and relationships with significant others and teachers. We conducted some descriptive, mean difference, correlational, and predictive analyses that revealed a significant association between core belief violation caused by war and pandemic, ability to integrate war and pandemic within personal meaning universe, the relational support received, and mental health. The relationship with teachers during these challenging periods improved significantly according to the respondents' opinion, becoming both more authoritative and empathic. This study offers insights into what cognitive and relational processes are useful to intervene on to reduce the distress of adolescents who are facing significant moments of crisis due to events that challenge their cognitive and emotional balance.

Личностно-профессиональное развитие студентов — будущих педагогов в условиях цифровой модернизации системы образования

This article examines the issue of personal and professional development of future teachers in the context of digital modernization of the education system. The trends of the modern education system are reflected, which in turn affect the personal and professional development of the future teacher. The article examines the crisis moments in the professional development of a future teacher in the context of the implementation of professional pedagogical activity both in traditional conditions and in the context of digital reform of the education system. The axiological and motive are considered. The basic stages of personal and professional development of a student of a future teacher in the conditions of digitalization of the education system are determined. In this regard, the importance of personal and professional development of a student-a future teacher in the context of digitalization of the education system is emphasized.