National Coalition Research Articles

Drawing the Line : Racist Hate Speech and Offensive Speech

In light of the National Coalition Party/ Liberal Government’s intention to advance the right to free speech in Australia, this thesis examines s18 of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), (‘RDA’). The central argument of this paper is that offensive speech should not be restricted as it often draws on issues relating to political access and distributive justice. In line with the Liberal Government’s proposal to protect free speech without critically undermining the core purpose and effect of the RDA provisions to racial abuse in ss 18C and 18D, this thesis proposes a reformulation of the ‘unlawful conduct’ in s18C of the RDA by dropping the words ‘offend, insult’ and substituting for them the verb ‘abuse’. This proposal is supported by a comparative review of the language and practice in the United States and Germany as well as a theoretical discussion on the distinction between ‘racist hate speech’ and ‘offensive speech’.

Some Need Extraordinary Measures When Extreme Cold Strikes

Some Need Extraordinary Measures When Extreme Cold Strikes

La construction progressive de l'avantage compétitif financier suisse (1914-1936)

L’objectif de cet article est d’expliquer comment la Suisse est parvenue à construire un avantage compétitif majeur dans le secteur financier. À partir d’une perspective historique, nous montrons que la période 1914-1936 a été décisive dans cette construction, la Suisse passant d’un statut de place financière internationale de second rang à celui de lieu incontournable, avec l’émergence associée d’acteurs très puissants comme les banques. Si nous mettons en évidence une influence majeure exercée par l’industrie bancaire et financière, un tel avantage compétitif ne s’est durablement solidifié qu’à partir d’une coalition nationale autour de la préservation de la valeur du franc suisse, dans laquelle l’industrie des biens a aussi joué un rôle important. La stabilité de la monnaie nationale au cours de cette période a ainsi été décisive pour la spécialisation financière de la Suisse. Classification JEL : E58, E65, G21, N14, N24.

Genetics, Genomics, and Oncology

Genetics, Genomics, and Oncology

BETWEEN BLASPHEMY AND CRITIQUE: FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH

On Valentine's Day, 1989, novelist Salman Rushdie was driven into hiding in England by a fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran decrying his 1988 novel,The Satanic Verses, as “blasphemy against Islam” and demanding Rushdie's execution. Twenty years later, Yale University Press refused to publish cartoon representations of the Prophet Muhammad in political scientist Jytte Klausen's book,The Cartoons That Shook the World.That book analyzed the controversy spawned by a Danish newspaper's publication of the cartoons in 2005 and the republication of the cartoons in several European newspapers in 2008, which led to protests by Muslims around the world. In 2010, Terry Jones, a Christian pastor in Florida, announced plans to publicly burn a Qur'an on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Under protest, he cancelled his book-burning plans for the 9/11 anniversary, but he made good on his promise six months later in March 2011, in an incident whose online video dissemination around the world is said to have motivated riots in Afghanistan that resulted in the deaths of twelve people. Throughout this period, with the regularity of a drumbeat, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) (formerly the Organization of the Islamic Conference), a coalition of majority Muslim nations at the United Nations, introduced resolutions each year—first in the Human Rights Council (HRC) from 1999 forward and then in the General Assembly from 2005 forward—on “combating defamation of religions” at the UN and in wider global discourse.

Blending In: The Presentation of Self Among Homeless Men in A Gentrifying Environment

Recently, there has been increase in number of experiencing homelessness. This is particularly true among unsheltered Nationally, most recent Point in Time Count estimates available state that on a single night in January 649,917 individuals were homeless, increase of 1.2 percent over previous year. While count of sheltered individuals remained same, count of unsheltered individuals increased nearly 3 percent (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 2011). Although a three per cent increase in a year may seem small, increased visibility of on our streets has resulted in many cities and municipalities to enact laws and ordinances to try and curb visibility.Domiciled individuals often see many individuals, or individuals that appear to be homeless, on their daily commutes. People assumed to be homeless, that is with unkempt appearances or those often in public places, are often generalized and associated with other stigmatized conditions such as substance abuse and mental illness (Phelan, Link, Moore, et al. 1997). In witnessing in public settings, many domiciled individuals have complained, which has resulted in many cities reacting by passing legislation to restrict where are allowed to be (Donley and Wright 2008). While striving to rid their city streets of individuals, local governments strive to reduce visibility of by implementing anti-homeless legislation, but not solve issue of through effective solutions (Wilson 2005).Measures criminalizing have, and continue to be, well documented (Wilson 2005; Donley and Wright 2008; National Coalition for Homeless and National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, 2009). The present study examines issue of visibility from perspective of individuals through use of semi-structured interviews. Specifically, this study asks if they experience stigma based on their housing status and if so, strategies they use to lessen stigma of being a person living on streets. While it has been well-documented that cities have and continue to try to decrease visibility of people, do themselves try to reduce their visibility as a person? Theoretically this study relies heavily on work of Erving Gofftnan. In particular our focus is on potential impact of stigma and personal fronts that may be used by men residing in a small city in Florida that is currently undergoing urban revitalization and image transformation.THEORETICAL ORIENTATIONIn his text, Stigma: Notes on Management of Spoiled Identity, Erving Gofftnan (1963) presents a theory of stigma for a concept that has arguably been around for thousands of years. For Gofftnan, stigma can occur if one of three things is present The first is physical differences, such as being in a wheelchair or being amputee. The second is a blemish of character, which refers to such conditions as mental illness or having a substance abuse problem. The third area refers to defects of tribal, national or religious affiliation. This area generally refers to ascribed statuses such as race or ethnicity.Homeless can be affected with traits stemming from each of three areas that can result in stigma. Being in and of itself falls into second category as it is assumed to be a defect of character by many members of society. Moreover, are also perceived to be a tribe unto themselves. Homeless are perceived by many to all be same, hence the and not homeless people. However, among advocates, term people experiencing homelessness is now often used, which focuses on condition rather than status of a person (National Coalition for Homeless 2007). In all types of stigma, Gofftnan states, an individual who might have been received easily in ordinary social intercourse possesses a trait that can obtrude itself upon attention and turn those of us whom he meets away from him. …

Kinky Parents and Child Custody: The Effect of the DSM-5 Differentiation Between the Paraphilias and Paraphilic Disorders

The DSM-5 differentiation between the paraphilias and Paraphilic Disorders has been a decisive step forward in depathologizing consenting adults who engage in unusual sexual behaviors. Prior to February 2010, when the proposed revisions for the DSM-5 were made public, individuals who engaged in BDSM behavior were regularly misdiagnosed as having a mental disorderduring criminal and civil proceedings. Some of these individuals turned for assistance to the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF), a national advocacy organization that advances the rights of, and advocates for, consenting adults in the BDSM-leather-fetish, swing, and polyamory communities. Under the earlier editions of the DSM, family court judges regularly removed children or restricted custody for parents if there was evidence of their BDSM activities, such as membership with an educational group or participation on an email list or website. A typical example of discrimination due to a parent’s BDSM behavior was submitted to a court-appointed psychologist by a case worker with the Department of Social Services Children’s Division in a Midwestern state (DSS, 2010):

Intermediary Organizations in Charter School Policy Coalitions

This article develops a framework for investigating research use, using an “advocacy coalition framework” and the concepts of a “supply side” (mainly organizations) and “demand side” (policymakers). Drawing on interview data and documents from New Orleans about the charter school reforms that have developed there since 2005, the authors examine (a) the role of intermediaries in producing information and research syntheses for local, state, and/or federal policymakers; (b) the extent of policymakers’ demand for such research and information; and (c) the extent to which local and national coalitions of organizations appear to be influential in research use. The article concludes that there are two coalitions in New Orleans that differ in their interpretations of charter school performance, equity, and access; that there is overall very low research capacity within the intermediary sector; and that there is little evidence of demand from state policymakers for research findings. There was agreement across both coalitions that there is a lack of a credible and non-partisan research group studying the reforms, that is, one that produces data analyses that are not merely descriptive. The authors map preliminary findings about how intermediary organizations are connected to national groups, as well as how research is shared within coalitions.

The National Coalition for Sustained Optimal Iodine intake (NSOI): a case study of a successful experience from India.

Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) constitute the single most important preventable cause of mental handicap at global level. Recognizing the importance of coordination and synergy of the activities of wide range of universal salt iodisation (USI) stakeholders, WHO/ Unicef/ ICCIDD has prescribed a national multi-sectoral coalition as one of the ten indicators essential for attaining sustainable elimination of IDD at national level. Challenge for coordination among different stakeholders of IDD/USI is even greater in democratic and diverse country like India. In the present article we present successful experience from India regarding formation of a national coalition and contributions made by the coalition towards promoting USI in India. The activities of the national coalition in India are classified into three phases; 1) Phase 1- year 2006 to 2009- the inception; 2) Phase 2- year 2009 to 2012- consolidation; 3) Phase 3- year 2013 and ongoing- expansion. The National coalition for Sustained Optimal Iodine Intake (NSOI) has been instrumental in ensuring greater coordination and synergy amongst IDD and USI stakeholders in India and partially responsible for the current 71 percentage household level coverage of adequately iodised salt. The most significant contribution of the national coalition has been to act as a high level advocacy channel and provide a platform for regular dialogue for all partners of the coalition. With "mission" approach and allocation of optimal resource, India can achieve and should achieve USI by 2015, an apt culmination of a decade of existence of the national coalition.

Focus: Raising the bar in the struggle for living wages

The Asia Floor Wage is an industrial level collective bargaining strategy, targeting the garment global supply chain and combating the threat of relocation INTERNATIONAL union rights Page 19 Volume 21 Issue 2 2014 chain into a barrier both for organising and collective bargaining. In the face of such challenges Asian trade unions and NGOs have led the way in tackling the transnational nature of the industry and the fear that when workers struggle to improve their wages and conditions in one country, companies relocate to another, where wages and conditions are lower. From their grassroots activism grew the Asia Floor Wage Alliance (‘AFWA’) an alliance of trade unions, labour and human rights organisations whose aim is to raise wages collectively throughout Asia, thereby countering the threat of capital relocation. AFWA originated out of meetings at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, in 2004. Local activists, NGOs and trade unionists recognised that tackling wage issues at a local or national level was not enough, the power of global sourcing companies was placing severe limits on the ability for such efforts to be effective. AFWA therefore was an attempt to denationalise wage bargaining and opt for regional organising in order to address capital’s strategy of pitting workers against workers , and countries against countries. Ashim Roy, Secretary General of the New Trade Union Initiative, India, puts it as follows ‘the Asia Floor Wage is an industrial level collective bargaining strategy, targeting the garment global supply chain and combating the threat of relocation’. Regional solidarity At the core of AFWA is the commitment to acknowledging the importance of the Global South led by unions ensuring workers representatives are at the heart of the struggle for decent wages. This means that a key goal of AFWA is to achieve decent wages through negotiations between employers in the industry and workers’ representative organisations, with the mediation and support of governments, inter-governmental organisation and social movement organisations. AFWA was officially launched in 2009, and today over 70 trade unions, labour and human rights organisations from 17 countries make up the alliance. This joint approach means instead of competing against each other to drive wages further down, the alliance is providing a unified, regional demand for a wage that is decent and fair. AFWA has an international steering committee that is formed with representatives from South Asia, South-East Asia, East Asia, Europe, and the US. In keeping with the roots of the organisation representatives from Asia have a majority vote of 75 percent. There is an International Secretariat located in Delhi, India and at country level, national campaign coalitions have been formed in many of the regions major garment producing countries. S ince the invention of the sewing machine the garment industry has been one of the driving forces behind economic development globally. Whilst the 19th Century saw the garment industry predominantly in North America and Western Europe, today 60 percent of the world’s garments are produced in Asia, where over 15 million people rely on the industry for employment. Much has changed over the last two centuries in terms of technological know-how, transportation of goods and the growth of fast fashion but some things have sadly stayed the same. The inequalities and exploitation facing garment workers - low wages, excessive overtime and poor working conditions remain wide-spread. At the heart of the struggle for decent workers rights in the garment industry is the fight for a living wage. Whilst corporate social responsibility teams in major fashion brands talk of ethical, sustainable and fair fashion the fact is that while low labour costs continue to be exploited it is impossible to argue that the industry is benefitting the women and men who make the clothes. What is a living wage? A living wage would mean a garment worker would be able to feed herself and her family, pay the rent, pay for healthcare, clothing, transportation and education and have a small amount of savings for when something unexpected happens. A living wage should be the basic pay earned in a standard working week – which should never be more than 48 hours. Overtime and bonuses should be in addition to a living wage. A...

From the Great Lakes to the Great Rift Valley: Does Strategic Economic Policy Explain the 2009 Malawi Election?

Ethno-regional voting cleavages have featured in a number of sub-Saharan African states during the third wave of democratization following the end of the Cold War. While the causes and consequences of these cleavages are well studied, there have been surprisingly few attempts to understand how strategies of pan-ethnic or pan-regional coalition building based on distributive economic policies could be employed to secure national electoral coalitions. In this paper we examine if in the 2009 Malawian parliamentary elections the newly-formed national party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), led by the President Binguwa Mutharika used its incumbent position to promote an economic policy based on food security in order to overcome traditional ethno-regional voting patterns and win a nationwide electoral majority. After presenting a formal model of a optimal allocation of an economic resource to overcome ethnic bias and induce vote-switching, we use district-level data in a system of equations to analyze if strategic allocation within the national fertilizer subsidy program contributed to the nation-wide electoral victory of the DPP.

Systematic approaches to fragility fracture prevention

SummaryIndividuals who have suffered fractures caused by osteoporosis – also known as fragility fractures – are the most readily identifiable group at high risk of suffering future fractures. Globally, the majority of these individuals do not receive the secondary preventive care that they need. The Fracture Liaison Service model (FLS) has been developed to ensure that fragility fracture patients are reliably identified, investigated for future fracture and falls risk, and initiated on treatment in accordance with national clinical guidelines. FLS have been successfully established in Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Oceania, and their widespread implementation is endorsed by leading national and international osteoporosis organisations. Multi-sector coalitions have expedited inclusion of FLS into national policy and reimbursement mechanisms. The largest national coalition, the National Bone Health Alliance (NBHA) in the United States, provides an exemplar of achieving participation and consensus across sectors. Initiatives developed by NBHA could serve to inform activities of new and emerging coalitions in other countries.

The Common Core “State” Standards: The Arts and Education Reform

As the Common Core Standards (CCSS)1 become reality, teachers have reason for concern. Their autonomy and intellectual freedom to craft curriculum, tests, and assessments are relinquished and put in the hands of experts and testing companies such as Pearson. This reform to public education has consequently marginalized the arts and exacerbated the inequities of people in poverty and with disabilities.These populations flourish when engaged in autonomous acts of discovery, experimentation, and hypothetical thinking, all antithetical to the new reform.Published in 2010, the Common Core State Standards initiative for school reform has been intended to replace the current state standards. The initiative has been funded by the richest private foundations-primarily the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Broad Foundation-wielding their influence on Obama's and Arne Duncan's polices. It has been backed by the most powerful federal agencies in education: the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices, Achieve Inc., the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and the United States Department of Education (Chapman, 2011).As of January 27,2013,45 states, four territories, and the District of Columbia2 have adopted the CCSS in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, which will replace current state standards. States that accepted federal money have committed their schools to the most prescriptive and formalized curriculum we have seen in this country. The Common Core Standards have aligned national curriculum and standardized testing to the effect that testing inexorably drives curriculum.Teachers, principals and, ultimately, schools are accountable for student test scores. Consistently low performing schools face corrective action, restructuring, or closure. Most at stake are the arts, faced with elimination if test scores are not raised in ELA and mathematics (Kohn, 2013). The curriculum materials of CCSS will be fully implemented by most states in 2013-2014.3National Core Arts StandardsIn January 2013, the National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) released National Core Arts Standards: A Conceptual Framework for the Arts, the revision of the National Arts Standards. Its purpose is to place the arts in the curriculum beyond their integration into ELA and mathematics.4 Members of the coalition intend to dispel any doubt that the arts have a meritorious place within the curriculum. Inspiration for the arts framework came from McTighe and Wiggins (2005), authors of Understanding by Design. Among their foci are essential questions that promote engaged and provocative dialogue.The arts framework invites rhizomatic and hypertexual learning in contrast to the CCSS's linear processes of transmitting knowledge, although the authors must make clear that NCCAS standards conform in direct and meaningful ways to the CCSS. The arts framework is about to undergo a second review at the College Board5 to align the goals of NCCAS with CCSS and to determine whether the standards will or will not be framed to coordinate with CCSS.The Arts According to David ColemanDavid Coleman, a prominent architect of CCSS and the recently appointed president of the College Board, has taken the podium at several satellite organizations of CCSS to clarify his philosophy, often to soothe the nerves of educators and administrators who have taken offense at a clumsy comment. Coleman's presence at a panel given at the Common Core headquarters in Washington, DC, is an example of a strategic event. The Common Core is a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, and founded in 2007 to conduct research and advocacy in K-12 education. The Common Core is unrelated to CCSS but has since become its partner, providing CCSS with tools such as curriculum maps. Common Core has co-opted CCSS's language of content-rich reform, and the knowledge that students need to learn. Lynne Munson, president and executive director of the Common Core, led a symposium in Washington, DC, on March 15, 2012, provocatively called Truant from School: History, Science and the Arts. …

Social Justice for Food Workers in a Foodie World

In the United States, a movement towards sustainable food production and food systems has been growing, as evidenced by interest in community gardens, urban agriculture, and healthy, local, and “slow” food access, but this broad food movement has not yet fully integrated the voices and leadership of the workers who bring our food from the farm to the table. This article argues that those who want a sustainable, just food system need to care about and collaborate with food workers in order to achieve that goal. With almost 20 million workers in the food system in the U.S., and millions more around the world, food workers are a key stakeholder group that should not be ignored. They face a multitude of injustices such as low wages, a lack of benefits, and dangerous working conditions that intersect with many of the issues that those in the “sustainable food” movement are working on, such as food insecurity and a lack of access to healthy and affordable food. Food workers in the U.S. also make up the largest employment sector in the country. As an organized group, food workers have the potential to influence governments, corporations, and society at large and to directly diminish the power of corporations in the current food system. The author of this article is the executive director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance (FCWA), a national coalition of unions, workers centers, and advocacy organizations throughout the food system. She provides a first-hand account of the history of the FCWA, its work in bringing the issues of food workers to the attention of the sustainable food movement, its collaborations with others working for justice in the food system, and its hopes for future movement-building.

Extent and Implications of the Presentation of False Facts by Domestic Violence Agencies in the United States

The problem of domestic violence (DV) agencies presenting statistics that are distortions or have no basis in research has been pointed out by several DV researchers in the past several years. However, the extent of this problem is unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how frequently 15 identified false facts were presented on DV agencies’ websites in their fact sheets. All member agencies of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV;N= 2,180) were investigated to see if they have websites and fact sheets on their websites. The fact sheets were then examined to see whether they presented any of the 15 false facts. The most frequently mentioned false fact was, “According to the FBI, a woman is beaten every (fill in the blank) seconds in the United States,” presented by 34.9% of the agencies with fact sheets. Results are discussed in terms of their limitations and their implications for the field of DV, paying particular attention to how the proliferation of these false facts may undermine the credibility of the DV field and also harm the very people the agencies are trying to help.

Lessons for REDD+ from Cameroon's past forestry law reform: a political economy analysis

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and enhancing forest carbon stocks (REDD+) is gaining traction in Cameroon. However, given the deep-rooted trans-sectoral drivers of forest loss, enforcing REDD+ policies will require major policy change and reform both within and beyond the forestry sector. In this paper, we view the REDD+ policy arena in Cameroon within a political economy framework and conduct policy network analysis to explore the factors that will enable or hinder efforts to implement the broad policy change required to realize REDD+. As the REDD+ context is shaped by the history of Cameroon's forestry sector, we draw lessons for REDD+ from the forestry law reform undertaken in 1994. We focus our analysis on three factors considered necessary for REDD+ success: (i) autonomy of the nation state from interests behind deforestation and forest degradation, (ii) national ownership over reform processes, and (iii) inclusiveness of policy processes. We find that the REDD+ policy process in Cameroon is repeating the weaknesses of the earlier forestry law reform, as seen in the minimal ownership of REDD+ by national actor groups and low inclusiveness among domestic actors at both national and local levels, as well as the absence of a national coalition for REDD+. Furthermore, politics and private agendas are compromising state agencies' autonomy in making decisions about forest resources. Our findings suggest that responses to these weaknesses, as well as to inconsistencies between sectoral policies and to competition over forest resources, will determine whether REDD+ can induce change within and beyond Cameroon's forestry sector.

Attentional bias and response inhibition in obese individuals: A systematic review

monitoring framework was developed based on a review of recommendations for improving food environments and population diets from United Nations bodies, governments and expert advisory groups, and a week-long consultation with international experts. The resulting Government Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI) comprises a ‘policy’ component with seven domains to improve the healthiness of food environments, and an ‘infrastructure support’ component with seven domains to strengthen systems to prevent obesity and diet-related NCDs. Good practice statements are proposed within each domain, and those will evolve into best existing practice exemplars in the future. A rating process is proposed for assessing a government’s level of policy implementation towards good practice and involves the following steps: 1. context analysis, 2. collection of relevant policy documents, 3. evidence-grounding the policies and actions, 4. validation of evidence with government officials, 5. rating of government policies by non-government public health experts and organisations, 6. weighting and aggregation of scores and calculation of the Food-EPI, 7. collection of comments and recommendations from raters, and 8. translation of results for governments and stakeholders. This process ideally should be driven by an existing or formed ‘national coalition’ of public health non-government organisations and researchers. The Food-EPI will be pre-tested and piloted in countries of varying size and income levels, and may potentially increase and improve government policies and actions to reduce obesity and NCDs.

2013 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk

Preamble and Transition to ACC/AHA Guidelines to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk S50 The goals of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) are to prevent cardiovascular diseases (CVD); improve the management of people who have these diseases through professional education and research; and develop guidelines, standards, and policies that promote optimal patient care and cardiovascular health. Toward these objectives, the ACC and AHA have collaborated with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and stakeholder and professional organizations to develop …

2013 AHA/ACC Guideline on Lifestyle Management to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk

2013 AHA/ACC Guideline on Lifestyle Management to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk

Networks for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders: Notes from the Field

Founded in 2005, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) functions as the Secretariat to the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Network (EHAHRD-Net). Its core mandate is to offer protection to and promoting the rights of human rights defenders (HRDs) throughout the East and Horn of Africa subregions. In this policy and practice note we reflect on strategies, tactics and results in four core areas of interrelated work: protection, security management, advocacy, and capacity and coalition building. We argue that a concerted, holistic approach to the protection of HRDs is necessary to mitigate the worst risks that HRDs face as well as to foster an enabling environment for the effective defence of human rights. This involves complementing urgent responses to HRDs at immediate risk with the provision of prevention-oriented security management training, as well as conducting sustained institutional and public advocacy. We also stress the importance of capacity building as well as coalition building and networking in this work. Supporting the growth of national HRD coalitions helps to bring protection expertise down to the national level, strengthening the regional network model. Finally, we put forward areas of work that need further development in the context of the East and Horn of Africa.