Radical Transition Research Articles

Rebellious sons and bad fathers: white male jouissance in the postcolony

ABSTRACT The visual devices employed by the artists Anton Kannemeyer and Brett Murray to criticise apartheid-era patriarchal rule seemed to have remained intact in their satirical critiques of black male leadership, yet their later works generate markedly different affects. This difference in affect is explored through the application of key Lacanian concepts (primarily the RSI and jouissance). It is argued that a slippage in the operation of the signifier demonstrates the tensions, complexities and anxieties that underpin white male subjectivities in times of radical transition. It is proposed that the artists’ jouissance, an irrepressible and destructive kind of enjoyment fuelled by the feeling that one’s rightful enjoyment is not only denied but has indeed been stolen by a cultural other, is behind the production of these works and is responsible for its affects.

1890년대-1930년대 조선 지식인들의 프랑스혁명 독해법

The fundamental goal of this article is to fill the void of poor prior research and stimulate further research. The main issue is, first, to apply into the context of the time and analyze various types of texts referring to the French Revolution from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. In that extension, it tracks the changes in the views and historical perspectives of Joseon/Korean intellectuals who lived in a radical transition period leading to the period of King Gojong, the Korean Empire, and the colony on the French Revolution. In addition, the discourse on the French Revolution formed and shared by Joseon intellectuals in the 1890s and 1930s is briefly compared with that of contemporary Chinese and Japanese intellectuals to gauge the worldview of contemporary East Asian intellectuals in the West. The achievements of this study are as follows. First, reformist intellectuals during the period of King Gojong-the Korean Empire represented by Yoo Gil-jun and Yoon Chi-ho were also afraid of active discussion of the French Revolution and acquisition of its historical lessons. Second, intellectuals during the period of cultural governance tried to approach the French Revolution ‘from below’, paid attention to its creative destructive power, and learned its democratic character. Third, Joseon’s modern women welcomed the French Revolution as a successful example of the modern feminine movement, and made it a lesson to overcome the ‘women’s panic era’ in which old women and new women conflict. Fourth, some intellectuals appropriated ‘La Marseillaise’, a military song and national song of the French Revolution, in a way that supported Japanese militarism and promoted totalitarian fascism. It can be seen that the framework for interpretation of the French Revolution during the colonial period shifted from ‘left to right’.

Rational choice theory and religion: the case of Turkey

ABSTRACT This study applies the rational choice perspective to government religion policy in Turkey. We argue that a rational choice analysis can provide a new perspective on how the pro-Islamist Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi – AKP) transformed Turkey’s religion policy from one that was constitutionally secular to one which strongly supports Islam. We also further develop the rational choice approach arguing that radical transitions in religion policy are often incremental and require support from political allies. Also, while the motivation for transitioning from a secular regime to a religious monopoly may be due to a desire for religious legitimacy, the nature and timing of this transition may be influenced by the rise or decline of other bases for legitimacy. Overall, this study demonstrates the utility of applying the rational choice theory of religion to Muslim-majority countries and the mechanisms through which countries change their religion policies.

Limitations of coordinative Europeanisation in the Just Transition Mechanism in Romania

The EU currently promotes a radical transition towards a green, digital and more inclusive economy, which for its realization relies on the European Investor State’s financial architecture. As the transition generates losers, not only winners, instruments like the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) are designed to provide a compensatory function. However, our research shows that it might miss its mark of ‘leaving no one behind’. JTM is a fascinating extension of European Investor State as it seeks to service the losers through investments rather than compensations. Firstly, JTM mirrors the vision of the InvestEU program and doubles down on industrial transformation and strategic investments that rely substantially on private sector involvement. Secondly, as a process, the JTM requires local stakeholder coordination and national institutional capacity – both of which can pose additional challenges to newer member states without enhancing local capabilities. Thirdly, based on the process design, much like other EU programs, JTM has a level of complexity that leaves beneficiaries highly reliant on technical assistance. As such, investment gaps in the newer member states might be extended, and not compressed by the current compensatory financial tools of the EU. Using an in-depth case study method, we develop a multi-dimensional evaluation of the Just Transition process in the most affected region of the Jiu Valley in Romania. Through an original local stakeholder mapping, we find that while the local and national authorities have the highest influence in determining the Just Transition process in Romania, they are also very much distrusted by other local actors. Our findings reveal that it is not just the often-cited weakness in institutional capacity, but also that of poor stakeholder consensus that impede the strategic planning and implementation of new EU investment tools at the level of targeted beneficiaries.

A radical transition in the post-main-sequence system U Equulei

Context. U Equ is an unusual maser-hosting infrared source discovered in the 1990s. It was tentatively classified as a post-asymptotic giant branch (post-AGB) star with a unique optical spectrum displaying rare emission and absorption features from molecular gas at a temperature of about 500 K. In 2022, we serendipitously discovered that its optical spectrum had drastically changed since the last observations in the 1990s. Aims. We aim to characterize the drastic change in the spectrum and analyze the photometric behavior of the object since 1989. Methods. Optical high-resolution spectra of U Equ from the Southern African Large Telescope were supplemented by archival data and near-infrared photometry from the Nordic Optical Telescope. New spectral line observations with the Effelsberg 100 m radio telescope and Atacam Large Millimeter Array are presented. Radiative transfer modeling of multiple epoch spectral energy distributions was performed. Results. No circumstellar molecular features are present in the contemporary optical spectra of U Equ. Nonphotospheric absorption and emission from neutral and ionized species dominate the current spectrum. Some of the observed features indicate an outflow with a projected terminal velocity of 215 km s−1. Broad H&K lines of [Ca II] indicate a photosphere of spectral type F or similar. For the first time, we find SiO J = 1−0 υ=1 maser emission in U Equ. Our collected photometric measurements show that the source has monotonically increased its optical and near-infrared fluxes since about the beginning of this century and continues to do so. The current rise in the optical regime is about 1 mag. Spectral energy distributions at different epochs show dusty circumstellar material that is very likely arranged in a highly inclined disk. Adopting a distance of 4 kpc, informed by the Gaia parallax of U Equ, we find that the source luminosity is about 104 L⊙. This luminosity has likely increased by a factor of a few in the last decades, which is most probably related to the drastic change in the optical circumstellar spectrum of the object. Conclusions. The object has changed considerably in the past three decades, either due to geometrical reconfiguration of the circumstellar medium, evolutionary changes in the central star, or owing to an accretion event that started very recently in the system. Observationally, U Equ appears to resemble category 0 of disk-hosting post-AGB stars reported previously, especially the post-common-envelope binary HD 101584. It is uncertain whether the drastic spectral change and the associated optical and mid-infrared rise in brightness witnessed in U Equ are common in post-AGB stars, but this radical change may be related to the real-time onset of the evolution of the system into a planetary nebula. We find that the post-AGB star V576 Car has undergone a similar transformation as U Equ in the past few decades, which means that the phenomenon is not extremely rare.

Experiences and lessons for China's energy transition: From the firewood era to the low carbon era

China is currently facing a critical challenge in completing its second radical energy transition from fossil to zero-carbon energy amidst the impacts of climate change and the international landscape. In order to clarify the concept of energy transition and the challenges facing China's energy transition, this paper adopts a research framework with Multi-Level Perspective to sort out China's energy history. Drawing on China's energy transition experience, this paper derives four key conclusions. Firstly, the energy transition is a comprehensive transformation of the energy system, which is influenced by the macro landscape, socio-technical regime and innovation niche. Secondly, based on the intensity of the transition, the historical energy transitions can be divided into two categories: incremental energy transitions and radical energy transitions. Thirdly, China's past energy transitions are mainly incremental energy transitions. Influenced by the macro environment and socio-technical regime, the transition process is mostly iterative and tortuous. Fourthly, China's energy transition is facing significant challenges in the current stage, with a tight schedule and heavy tasks, and a lack of basic scientific and technological theories and niche innovations. Building on these findings, specific recommendations to policy makers are provided.

Comparing the decarbonization benefit provided by waste-based hydrogen routes to green steel production process: an analytical model

In the present context of global decarbonization, the steelmaking sector plays a key role. It is indeed one of the so-called hard-to-abate sectors. The high emissions from steelmaking depend on the use of the Blast Furnace-Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF) route, which generates 1.8 tCO2eq per ton of Liquid Steel (LS). The production of direct reduced iron (DRI) to power an electric arc furnace is currently the most adopted solution to achieve the decarbonization goals. This alternative, based on the use of natural gas, offers a decarbonization potential of about 34% compared to the BF-BOF route. The most promising alternative, however, consists of using electrolysis-based hydrogen (H2) to produce DRI. This solution would drastically reduce direct and indirect process emissions but requires a radical energy transition. In the current transition phase, waste-based H2 production routes could be attractive, but their potential need to be evaluated with respect to the steelmaking process. To this concern, the objective of the present work is to assess the decarbonization potential of three waste-based H2 production routes (i.e., gasification, incineration and anaerobic digestion-based) with respect to the electrolysis-based steelmaking route. An environmental analytical model was therefore developed to evaluate the total (i.e., direct, indirect, and avoided) greenhouse gases emissions associated with the production of 1 ton of LS by employing the different routes. A sensitivity analysis was also carried out to understand the benefit provided by each waste-based H2 alternative in the current energy transition phase. The results obtained confirmed the need for radical emission reductions from electricity generation to make electrolysis-based H2 production environmentally favorable and revealed a high decarbonization potential for waste-based routes in the current energy transition phase.

Historical Geographies of Coastal Tourism: Mossel Bay, South Africa c.1850-1988

During the past decade there has occurred a burst of international research and debate on coastal tourism as part of the ‘blue economy’ including a growth of geography-specific scholarship. Arguably, however, within the extant geographical literature there is an overwhelming ‘present-mindedness’ and limited historical perspectives. This paper addresses this neglected knowledge gap by using an historical approach and archival sources to undertake a locality-based study of the historical transitions which have shaped and reshaped one coastal settlement in South Africa. The Mossel Bay area is of considerable historical significance because of its long history of indigenous settlement before the first European contacts triggered by the arrival in 1488 of Bartholomew Diaz and crew who were in search for a trading sea route for Portugal to India. The nature of the colonial growth of tourism in Mossel Bay and the distinctive tourism economy of the town under apartheid is interrogated. This culminated in the scripting of the controversial 1988 Dias festival hosted to celebrate the opening of ‘apartheid’s last museum’ which occurred before Mossel Bay would experience a radical social transition following South Africa’s democratic elections. Overall, the evolutionary pathways and transitions in the historical geography of this coastal locality are the focus of discussion.

Exploring the automotive transition: A technological and business model perspective

The automotive industry is currently undergoing a radical transition. This transition is a complex process that depends on many factors, especially technologies and business models. This process started many years ago, but it is still associated with a high uncertainty level. With regards to powertrain technologies, it is not clear which technology will be dominant in the future. Will it be the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) or the hydrogen-based Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) that will achieve a higher level of diffusion? Regarding business models, despite extensive research, the business models that will support the automotive transition are far from clear. Therefore, this research, based on a two-stage interview study, addresses both perspectives: technology and business model. Three possible options for powertrain technologies are identified: (i) coexistence of BEVs and FCEVs, (ii) BEVs, but conditional introduction of FCEVs, and (iii) BEVs only without FCEVs. In addition, the results show that business model innovation in the automotive industry can be driven by many aspects such as management vision, market, competition, future trends, battery, charging technology and infrastructure, as well as digital technologies and services. By combining the powertrain technology and business model dimensions, four future scenarios for the automotive transition are proposed: simply BEV, technology diversification, service-oriented BEV production, and maximum versatility. An expert evaluation allows the scenarios to be prioritized according to their likelihood of occurrence. The results show that the service-based BEV-scenario is the most likely one. Nevertheless, the differences between most and least likely scenarios are not large enough to disclose a clear trend, confirming the diffuse situation in the industry.

Identity Splinting as Core Mechanism for Organizational Identity Construction in Radical Transitions

Identity Splinting as Core Mechanism for Organizational Identity Construction in Radical Transitions

The Strength of Connection: The Virtual Adaptation of Twelve-Step Programs’ Meetings

The global crisis engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic brought about profound changes in various aspects of daily life, one of which pertains to how group therapies and support meetings are conducted. Of particular interest in this paper is the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) program, a globally recognized initiative known for its efficacy in helping individuals cope with alcoholism through mutual, peer support in group meetings. The advent of the pandemic, however, challenged this very structure of the program, enforcing a radical transition from in-person meetings to virtual environments, which has posed several hurdles for both organizers and participants. Notably, these changes triggered by restrictive mobility measures have called for innovative adaptations to continue to provide the support needed for recovery and to reduce relapses fuelled by pandemic-induced loneliness and isolation.

Current Knowledge on Friction, Lubrication, and Wear of Ethanol-Fuelled Engines—A Review

The urgent need for drastic reduction in emissions due to global warming demands a radical energy transition in transportation. The role of biofuels is fundamental to bridging the current situation towards a clean and sustainable future. In passenger cars, the use of ethanol fuel reduces gas emissions (CO2 and other harmful gases), but can bring tribological challenges to the engine. This review addresses the current state-of-the-art on the effects of ethanol fuel on friction, lubrication, and wear in car engines, and identifies knowledge gaps and trends in lubricants for ethanol-fuelled engines. This review shows that ethanol affects friction and wear in many ways, for example, by reducing lubricant viscosity, which on the one hand can reduce shear losses under full film lubrication, but on the other can increase asperity contact under mixed lubrication. Therefore, ethanol can either reduce or increase engine friction depending on the driving conditions, engine temperature, amount of diluted ethanol in the lubricant, lubricant type, etc. Ethanol increases corrosion and affects tribocorrosion, with significant effects on engine wear. Moreover, ethanol strongly interacts with the lubricant’s additives, affecting friction and wear under boundary lubrication conditions. Regarding the anti-wear additive ZDDP, ethanol leads to thinner tribofilms with modified chemical structure, in particular shorter phosphates and increased amount of iron sulphides and oxides, thereby reducing their anti-wear protection. Tribofilms formed from Mo-DTC friction modifier are affected as well, compromising the formation of low-friction MoS2 tribofilms; however, ethanol is beneficial for the tribological behaviour of organic friction modifiers. Although the oil industry has implemented small changes in oil formulation to ensure the proper operation of ethanol-fuelled engines, there is a lack of research aiming to optimize lubricant formulation to maximize ethanol-fuelled engine performance. The findings of this review should shed light towards improved oil formulation as well as on the selection of materials and surface engineering techniques to mitigate the most pressing problems.

On the eve of ecological transition? The failed institutionalization of sustainable development in Italy (1992–2020)

AbstractThe National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) adopted in 2021 by the Italian government is explicitly committed to push the country towards a ‘radical ecological transition’ and sustainable development. However, the institutionalization of the paradigm of sustainable development, in Italy, is a story of a failure. The aim of this contribution is to investigate the hows and whys that may help explaining the failed institutionalization of the paradigm. By combining an ideational approach with a political system perspective, our empirical investigation analyses the initiatives promoted by Italian national governments, by covering a time span of over 20 years (1992–2020). Thick historical description and process tracing are used to provide an in-depth reconstruction of the process. Our results show that adverse combinations of factors of a cognitive, institutional and political nature have hindered the adoption of substantive policy outcomes, thus leading the institutionalization of the paradigm along a disjointed path.

Changing teachers’ beliefs and practices towards learner-centred education: experiences and lessons from Vietnam’s education system reforms

ABSTRACT This study traces back nearly five decades of Vietnam’s reform policies of pursuing the learner-centred education (LCE) approach, and it gives insights into the latest attempts, the 2013 Fundamental and Comprehensive Education reform (FCER) and its central policy, the Curriculum 2018. Prompted by Schweisfurth’s four continua framework on defining LCE, the study found evidence of teachers and principals generally accepting the intent of the reform policies, and teachers were using a greater variety of classroom techniques than previously. However, the findings suggest that teachers still control the content, pace of learning and classroom activities; there is a continuing tradition of relying on extrinsic motivation rather than developing students’ intrinsic motivation to learn; and there is a lack of opportunities for students’ rich and genuine reflections and expressions and the development of deeper understanding of complex problems. The paper argues that it is unrealistic to expect a radical transition without adequate teacher preparation, and that a scaffolded approach to developing teachers’ understanding and skills is called for via professional development.

Difunctionalization of Dienes, Enynes and Related Compounds via Sequential Radical Addition and Cyclization Reactions.

Radical reactions are powerful in creating carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds. Designing one-pot radical reactions with cascade transformations to assemble the cyclic skeletons with two new functional groups is both synthetically and operationally efficient. Summarized in this paper is the recent development of reactions involving radical addition and cyclization of dienes, diynes, enynes, as well as arene-bridged and arene-terminated compounds for the preparation of difunctionalization cyclic compounds. Reactions carried out with radical initiators, transition metal-catalysis, photoredox, and electrochemical conditions are included.

National-legal and international-legal solutions to the problems of digitalization of transport engineering plants of Kazakhstan

This article reveals one of the facets of a big topical topic formulated in the form of a radical transition of digitalization of transport engineering in Kazakhstan, to electric mobility, autopilot of its products, which should be disclosed through national and international legal decisions. This approach is expedient, because thanks to it, Kazakhstan’s transport engineering receives accelerated development. The purpose of this article is to conduct a systematic analysis of national and international legal problems of the transformation of today’s transport engineering into a digitalized one, in the production process of which various digital technologies, artificial intelligence technologies, robot manipulators at all production sites, automated mechanisms that allow the production of electric vehicles, autopilot-intelligent vehicles for various purposes will be involved. In this regard, researchers pay special attention to the legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan, legislative acts of developed countries, as well as international conventions and agreements ratified and initiated by the Republic of Kazakhstan on the radical transition to a qualitatively new level of the above-mentioned branches of mechanical engineering, electric mobility and autopilot of transport vehicles produced by it. On this basis, the researchers in this article formulated legislative, organizational-legal, managerial- legal and practical proposals for the real provision of the radical transition of the studied branches of transport engineering through 5G technology. The authors use the method of comparative legal analysis of the legislation of different countries with the transport and production legislation of Kazakhstan. The method of scientific forecasting allows researchers to formulate new Kazakh laws and new international conventions relevant to the analyzed topic. The practical and theoretical significance of the study is related to the improvement of transport production and legal ways of digital export of products of Kazakhstani transport engineering enterprises on the basis of the World Trade Organization law.

Сучасні протиріччя у вітчизняній електроенергетиці

The article is concerned with studying the current state of the domestic electric power industry and the existing and potential contradictions between stakeholders in the process of its restoration and modernization. Based on the studies of world experience, possible changes are indicated, namely: recovery of the energy system on the basis of decentralization; development of mini-power plants; creation of an energy storage system at existing hydroelectric power plants; development of hybrid projects in the field of renewable energy sources (RES) and the introduction of other generating capacities of «green» energy. The need to amend the Draft Concept of the «green» transition of Ukraine until 2050 to increase the share of electric energy from the nuclear energy sector is substantiated. It is noted that the domestic energy sector will undergo significant changes in the coming decade, but positive changes are possible only with the interaction and beneficial cooperation of all business structures, as well as with the support of their activities by individual territorial communities and public organizations. Attention is focused on a significant number of stakeholders in the electric energy market, some of which have counter interests, which will cause conflicts and contradictions. The article also points out that one of the important ones is the contradiction between the need for a radical energy transition to new technologies and the interests of current raw materials and energy monopolies to maintain the status of traditional energy for as long as possible. As a result of the study, it is determined that the current sector of the domestic electric power industry is characterized by a significant number and versatility of contradictions, which are proposed to be classified on the basis of «sphere of manifestation» into the following: economic; social; market-based, and technological. It is proposed to consider the processes of detection and identification of contradictions as an important prerequisite for a solid foundation in order to ensure a stable, consistent and innovative development of the electric power industry sector of the national economy.

Exploring the Critical Role of Circular Economy in Green Energy Transition in India

n line with the national commitments of reduction in carbon emissions India is undergoing a radical transition to green energy. The revised targets declared at Glasgow are ambitious and far reaching. But this transition is based on use of many precious elements used in batteries and solar panels as well as many potentially hazardous components. The transition, therefore, needs to be sustainable and should not be the cause of any environmental degradation. The implementation of circular economy with the integrated principles of reuse and recycle is imperative to achieve this objective.

Implementation of the principle of continuity of pre-professional and professional training of future doctors

In the article based on the analysis of educational processes in institutions of general secondary education (IGSE) and medical institutions of higher education (MIHE) theoretically substantiated implemented the basics of using physical and technical discoveries in teaching Medical and Biological Physics for future doctors. The relevance of research is exacerbated by the fact that education in the XXI century faces the task of making a radical transition in the learning process from an informational approach to activity, aimed at developing the ability to learn, to conduct research, to form a future highly educated specialist, scientist. One of the ways to solve these problems is to improve the method of use of physical and technical discoveries at the stage of pre-vocational education (physics classes, elective classes and courses in secondary schools and academic lyceums) and its development at the stage of vocational education (course of medical and biological physics in medical (pharmaceutical) institutions of the higher education).

Beyond the green new deal? Dependency, racial capitalism and struggles for a radical ecological transition in Argentina and Latin America

In recent years, discussions on the need for a transition to stop climate change have multiplied. In the global North, several alternatives have appeared, ranging from green capitalism proposals to several versions of Green New Deals. In Latin America, particularly in Argentina, several initiatives are being posed by governments, academics and social movements. In this article, we concentrate on critically discussing the main alternatives: the Green Developmentalist initiative of the Argentine government and the Social, Ecological, Economic and Intercultural Pact fostered by several academics and social movements across the region. We present our analytical framework, providing a succint discussion on marxian dependency and racial capitalism as key elements of our analysis. Then we engage in a critical disection of the green developmentalist initiatives to tackle climate change from Argentina. Afterwards, we discuss the strenghts and limitations of the Pact, and later on we present some of the main ideas being stressed by radical eco-social collectives and organizations in Argentina. We finish our work with some brief reflections.