Recognition Of Merit Research Articles

Research Center and Olympics as a strategy for science education in the centers Educates More of Maranhão

This article addresses the implementation of the Research and Olympics Center (NPO) in the Educa Mais Centers in the State of Maranhão, part of the Full-Time Public Education Networks. The main objective was to analyze the results obtained by students and teachers after the introduction of the Center, focusing on participation and awards in knowledge olympiads and scientific events. The data collected revealed a significant increase in the engagement of Educa Mais Centers in challenging academic activities after the implementation of the NPO. The significant participation of students and teachers in Olympiads and scientific events indicated a clear interest in deepening knowledge and expanding educational horizons. Also noteworthy is the considerable increase in the number of awards, indicating not only recognition of merit, but also encouraging participation in other activities, with different methodologies. This positive scenario suggests that the Research and Olympics Center not only introduces an innovative approach to teaching, but also promotes a school culture that values academic excellence. The focus on research and participation in Olympiads not only challenges students intellectually, but also develops fundamental skills and competencies such as critical thinking, problem solving, networking and teamwork. When considering the longevity and effectiveness of this implementation, constant monitoring of results is essential, identifying areas for improvement and necessary adjustments. The dissemination of these positive results not only celebrates the success of the initiative, but also serves as an inspiring model for other educational institutions seeking to improve educational standards and encourage student participation in enriching activities beyond the conventional curriculum. This study highlights the importance of innovative pedagogical strategies to promote the academic and scientific development of students, contributing to the formation of a more capable generation to face future challenges.

ІННОВАЦІЙНИЙ МЕНЕДЖМЕНТ: СТИМУЛЮВАННЯ ТА УПРАВЛІННЯ ТВОРЧІСТЮ І ІДЕЯМИ В ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ

The creativity of individual employees in an organization is an important source of innovation. The author establishes that the basis of the modern approach to stimulating creative activity among employees is the task of managers of organizations to maximize the creative abilities of each individual and direct them in the necessary direction to achieve specific innovative and economic results. It is necessary to create a special creative environment characterized by openness to new proposals, support for innovation, democratic leadership style, trust in management, cooperation at all levels, training and professional communication. Creativity management is a system of principles, methods, techniques, practices and tools for managing the creativity of employees. The factors that determine the level of organizational creativity are determined. Five phases of management for the realization of an idea are defined: the origin of the idea, compilation of the primary pool of ideas, development and enrichment of ideas, managerial evaluation of ideas, selection of ideas for practical implementation. The author considers a set of motives that encourage people to be creative and generate ideas. The process of generating ideas is stimulated by individual factors such as task skills, intrinsic motivation, and creativity-related processes, including certain personality traits, as well as work styles and heuristics to improve creative thinking. Effective and sustainable idea management programs that deliver results require key components - alignment, people and process, and technology. There is a distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. However, in practice, a combination of the two is more common. Finding the right balance between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation is one of the main tasks of motivation policy development. The author distinguishes non-economic methods of motivating creative work: moral and psychological (in the form of approval, support, recognition of merit, respect and trust) and organizational (participation in decision-making, clarification of prospects, delegation of authority and performance of more complex tasks). Intrinsic motivation increases the level of responsibility, attitude and personal initiative, personality traits that are usually associated with the successful implementation of an idea.

Педагогические функции управления коллективом

The article discusses the pedagogical functions of the head of the internal affairs body, carried out in the process of managing the service team. The authors give a detailed pedagogical description of the legal, diagnostic, analytical and evaluative, stimulating and research functions. Special attention is paid to pedagogical stimulation, presented as a purposeful process of applying external stimuli that interact with the motives and internal attitudes of the individual. The authors analyze the results of a study conducted in the form of a questionnaire of employees of internal affairs bodies to identify the features of applying types of incentives and incentive methods. Among the types of incentives, the heads of the body, organization, division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia most often use approval, praise and gratitude, awarding prizes, diplomas, medals, gifts. The most common incentive measures include the provision of an additional day of rest, public recognition of merit, transfer to a more prestigious unit. In conclusion, a reasonable conclusion is made about the importance and necessity of the implementation of pedagogical functions by the head of the body, organization, department of internal affairs.

ПОНЯТТЯ, СУТНІСТЬ І ЗНАЧЕННЯ ЗАОХОЧЕНЬ, ЩО ЗАСТОСОВУЮТЬСЯ ДО ОСІБ, ЗАСУДЖЕНИХ ДО ПОЗБАВЛЕННЯ ВОЛІ

The article is devoted to the study of various approaches to understanding the concept, content, essence, purpose and significance of incentives in legal science. Therefore, in studying this legal category, which is interdisciplinary and complex, the author was based on the scientific positions of both Soviet and modern Ukrainian researchers, established in the general theory of law and such legal sciences as labor, administrative, criminal and criminal executive law. Consequently, the article highlights that the various scholars view incentives as an act of approval and recognition of merit; as a peculiar form of positive assessment and reward of useful (honest, lawful) behavior associated with excessive performance of one's duties; as a means of stimulating law-abiding behavior of convicts, which serves the purpose of their further correction and resocialization. The latter interpretation is quite broad and unanimously substantiated in the science of criminal executive law. Thus, in general, the stimulating value of incentives is emphasized, in particular, by such scholars as the representatives of the theory of law V. M. Baranov, O. V. Malko and O. O. Barabash, Soviet theorists of labor law O. I. Zaretska and S. S. Karinskyyi as well as Soviet and Ukrainian researcher of labor law O. T. Barabash, representatives of Soviet science of correctional labor law F. R. Sundurov, I. A. Tarkhanov, Y. M. Tkachevskyyi as well as Ukrainian theorist of criminal executive law O. M. Dzhuzha. Moreover, on the influence by the application the measures of incentives on the stimulation of law-abiding behavior of convicts and, consequently, their further correction and resocialization emphasize their attention such scholars in the field of criminal executive law, as Soviet researchers M. A. Yefimov, V. P. Artamonov, as well as Ukrainian scholars O. G. Kolb, P. V. Khryapinskyyi, N. B. Khlystova, N. V. Kolomiyets, Z. V. Yaremko. The author also adheres to this scientific position in understanding the nature, purpose and significance of the measures of incentives and believes that they are primarily intended to stimulate further law-abiding behavior of persons sentenced to imprisonment, including juveniles, with the purpose to correct and resocialize them, as well as prevention of further commission of new offenses both by the convicts themselves, to whom the measure of incentives was applied, and by other persons.

Intangible motivation of the staff of modern enterprises

The motivation of the staff of modern enterprises has changed, and the method of “whip and gingerbread” demotivates employees rather than motivates them. Modern enterprises should use more methods of intangible motivation, which affects the loyalty and involvement of employees, creates in them the sense of security and care on the part of enterprise management. Improving the efficiency of personnel management depends on systematic approach to the application of intangible motivation of employees, the formation of motivational programs for middle management. For this purpose the practitioners advise to pay more attention to the motivation of enterprise managers and use such methods as remote work, extra time off, rapid career growth, tuition fees, opportunities for self-realization. Remote work makes it possible to preserve health and life of employees, encourages them to self-organization, self-control and self-motivation, additional vacations or holidays give employees the opportunity to relax and gain strength, which motivates them to create new ideas. Opportunity for self-realization, pay for training and rapid career growth motivates employees with high potential who can become leaders in the future, continuously learn and improve their competence. The investigation highlights the most common methods of intangible motivation of personnel used in modern enterprises, in particular: public recognition of merit, career planning, delegation of managerial powers, increasing personal responsibility, autonomy in solving tasks, employer brand, improving comfort in the workplace, organization of competitions for the title of the best employee, etc. The recommendations of scientists on the organization of intangible motivation, motivational measures of moral, psychological, organizational and social motivation are given. Measures of moral motivation include praise and recognition; psychological motivation – building the system of values and individual approach to each employee, organizational motivation – improving working conditions, organizing ergonomic space, providing flexible work schedule; social motivation – training of employees, participation in the decision-making process. Analysis of the motivational model of the XXI century, based on the innate human psychological needs of autonomy, purpose and skill, the satisfaction of which results in greater achievements of employees. It is shown that the methods of intangible motivation have positive effect on achieving better results in employees, team building and development, reduce staff turnover, improve product quality (goods, works, services) and increase the competitiveness of the enterprise.

ОСОБЕННОСТИ МОТИВАЦИИ И СТИМУЛИРОВАНИЯ ПЕРСОНАЛА НА ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯХ ЭЛЕКТРОЭНЕРГЕТИКИ

The article discusses the role of human resources in the efficiency of an organization. Employees influence the result of the company’s activities and make the company competitive in the market. The authors consider incentives as part of the HR management system and analyze the relationships between an incentive scheme and labor productivity, an incentive scheme and staff turnover, an incentive scheme and competitiveness. The authors note the importance of the electric power industry in the economy of the Russian Federation, investigate the labor market in electrical engineering in St. Petersburg, and determine a range of problems. Incentives are classified into types. The incentive system of the enterprise includes material incentives and non-material incentives. Material incentives are divided into material monetary incentives and material non-monetary incentives. Material monetary incentives consist of basic wages and additional wages. Material non-monetary incentives are material benefits and rights, as well as non-monetary forms of remuneration. Features of material incentives in the industry are noted. Enterprises in the industry use a lot of material incentives. The study shows that the majority of workers in the electric power industry are satisfied with the material incentives. Non-material incentives consist of moral incentives, organizational incentives, and work time incentives. Systematic informing of staff, organization of corporate events, official recognition of achievements, and regulation of relationships in the team are moral incentives. Improving the quality of employees’ working life, managing an employee’s career, involving the team in the management process, and organizing labor competitions are organizational incentives. Provision of additional rest time, establishment of flexible working hours, and use of flexible forms of employment are work time incentives. Features of non-material incentives for personnel in the electric power industry are analyzed. Leading enterprises of the electric power industry use company websites to inform staff. Organization of corporate events is a common incentivization method at Russian enterprises. Sports activities are most effective for increasing productivity. Enterprises of the industry do not organize creative competitions, but such competitions are necessary for satisfying the need in the implementation of employees’ creative abilities. Official recognition of merit in the power industry is manifested in the placement of the best employees’ photos on the honor board and in the granting of awards. Relationships in the team are regulated by codes of corporate ethics. The results of a special assessment of jobs at enterprises of the industry demonstrate that there are no optimal working conditions in the electric power industry. Practice shows that the opportunity of career advancement depends on the scale of the enterprise: the larger the number of staff, the more ramified the management structure and the more opportunities for career advancement. Involvement of teams in the management is difficult due the large number of enterprises in the industry. Labor competitions for teams are organized, and they are very efficient for the industry. Enterprises do not give work time incentives. The authors make recommendations on how to use various incentives at enterprises of the energy industry and name the factors influencing the incentive system.

Good practices to reduce unfinished nursing care: An integrative review.

To identify evidence of good practice interventions aimed at reducing unfinished nursing care in the hospital context. Unfinished nursing care is a common problem related to nursing practice, essentially due to time scarcity. There is not much research on how to deal with it and on how to develop good practices that can mitigate the unfinished nursing care. This study is an integrative review of the literature. After searching databases, we selected seven articles that met the inclusion criteria. To mitigate unfinished nursing care, the following good practices were identified: adequacy of human resources, nurse-to-patient ratio and workload distribution; improvement of the working environment with increased teamwork; and effective communication among all health professionals. An adequate number of nurses can ensure the timely provision of care and mitigate unfinished nursing care. Efficient communication between the multi-professional team, as well as recognition of professional merit, personal and organisational accountability, also contributes to mitigate unfinished nursing care. Health organisations should staff their units adequately and ensure a well-balanced workload distribution, and promote healthy work environments that foster personal accountability, adequate communication between all professionals and recognition of professional merit.

EuCheMS ECC7 in Liverpool: Chemistry and More!

EuCheMS ECC7 in Liverpool: Chemistry and More!

Organizational Ownership Structure and Employee Perceptions

Organizations in the present day endure dynamic volatile environment in terms of socio-political-economic environment and a changing value system such as relationship with external organization, economic conditions of the market, Socio-political context, labour market, distribution networks, environmental sources of risk, uncertainty and opportunity, the instability of consumer tastes, trades unions and diversified workforce (Sheaff, Schofield, Mannion, Dowling, Marshall, & McNally, 2003). These factors play a key role in an organization's structure, process and The ownership is the fundamental structural characteristic that determines how organization fine-tune their other structural characteristics such as hierarchies, division of labour in response to their environmental circumstances.Organizational structure in IndiaOrganizational structure particularly in India can be classified in terms of ownership control- Government owned Public sector undertaking, Private owned firms and Entrepreneurial Ventures. Though the employees and labourer in both the firms are under the ambit of the same labour laws, in Indian context it has been observed that there have always been differences in the three structures in various ways such as mission, values, goals, climate, culture, and Human Resource practices in these firms.Especially HR practices such as recruitment and selection, training and development, career advancement, wages and allowances, promotion, working condition, level of workers participation, collective bargaining, standard of safety, performance appraisal, style of leadership, work load, communication facilities, recognition of merit, authority and responsibilities, grievances handling differ considerably. The primary reason that can attributed is the climate as a result of ownership control that differs among the firms (Murty, Khan, & Abhinov, 2011).The government-owned corporation which is termed as a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU), the ownership control vests with the Government. In private sector undertakings also, there are departments with various work structures. They operate on different functions and cannot override each other's functions. The third type of organizations that exist in terms of Organizational Structure is the Entrepreneurial firms. The firm is an entity primarily shaped by an entrepreneur's visions and goals. Entrepreneurs motivate their employees either extrinsically, by relying on instructions, incentives, and monitoring mechanisms, or intrinsically by achieving a commonly shared understanding of the company's goals and procedures among the firm's employees.Several research works on management have focussed on how techniques can improve core working practices, profits, and numerical outputs which are labelled as organizational outcomes. However, few researches have tried to deliberate on the role of what is termed as second order namely processes such as leadership styles, stress, commitment and group personality dispositions which contribute to the core working processes indirectly. The present study aims at understanding the psychological variables of Organizational Commitment, Leadership Perceptions, Stress, and Personality Dispositions differ in varied ownership and structural characteristics of an organization.Organizational commitment and structureOrganizational commitment, which, is defined as the relative strength of an employee's attachment or involvement with the organization (Porter, 1974), is a multidimensional construct that has the potential to predict outcomes such as performance, turnover, absenteeism, tenure, and goals (Morrow, 1993; Meyer & Allen, 1997). Accroding to Becker (I960), commitment involves the perceived 'gains and costs' associated with membership of an organization internalization of the goals and values of the organisation (Hall & Schneider, 1972), organizationaljustice (Konovsky & Cropanzano, 1991). …

The Teflon effect: when the glass slipper meets merit

PurposeThis paper aims to draw on Ashcraft’s (2013) metaphor of the “glass slipper” (which highlights the need for alignment between occupational identity and embodied social identities of workers) to show how merit may not adhere to individuals when social identity in the form of gender, race or class fails to fit the definition and perceived characteristics of the job.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper.FindingsThis study develops the notion of the Teflon effect to describe the way merit may go unrecognised and may therefore not “stick” to the bodies of women in management and leadership roles.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides an explanation for the persistence of the glass ceiling and the barriers women face as they undertake or aspire to management and/or leadership positions in organisations.Practical implicationsThis study introduces a more embodied notion of merit which relies on both performance and recognition to “take effect”. Professionals must see beyond “objective” measures of merit in performance reviews and/or in recruitment and promotion decisions to include reflection on the significance of merit’s subjective, “performed” dimensions.Social implicationsThis study adds to understandings of women’s positioning in organisations.Originality/valueThis study develops the notion of the Teflon effect. This highlights the significance of the recognition, performance and embodiment of merit and how merit may fail to adhere to the bodies of women in management and leadership roles.

La escuela y la cuestión del mérito: reflexiones desde la experiencia chilena

Resumen Este artículo discute la importancia y centralidad que ha adquirido el mérito en la sociedad chilena hoy, enfocándose principalmente en sus efectos asociados con la experiencia educacional. El argumento es desarrollado en tres pasos. Luego de una presentación del contexto histórico y de las transformaciones sociales que dan cuenta de su expansión, se analizan sobre todo las maneras en que el reconocimiento del mérito es distintamente evaluado en las diferentes etapas de la trayectoria escolar por las clases medias y los sectores populares. En un tercer momento, se muestra de qué manera a través del extendido recurso a las redes sociales y a los contactos interpersonales, la expansión del mérito se acompaña del surgimiento de un nuevo horizonte de injusticia social. El artículo pone en evidencia, así, a la vez el fuerte consenso en torno al valor del mérito en Chile y los sentimientos de injusticia y frustración que ello engendra en los individuos. La discusión presentada se basa en los resultados de dos estudios cualitativos. La primera investigación se desarrolló en las ciudades de Santiago, Concepción y Valparaíso, entre 2007 y 2009, a través de alrededor de un centenar de entrevistas a hombres y mujeres de entre 30 y 55 años, pertenecientes la mitad de ellos a sectores populares urbanos y la otra mitad a las clases medias y medias-altas. La segunda investigación, en curso, aportó al análisis dieciséis entrevistas hechas en Santiago, a lo largo del 2014, a partir de las cuales se profundizó la problemática del mérito.

Culturas de escola e celebração da excelência: cartografia das distinções em Portugal

Resumo As orientações de política educativa de âmbito global têm colocado no centro das suas prioridades a promoção da excelência, da qualidade e da eficácia dos sistemas de ensino e formação. Este texto propõe-se a debater o impacto dessa agenda na realidade educativa portuguesa a partir de um olhar sobre a política em estado prático, isto é, sobre os mecanismos de apropriação ocorridos no espaço organizacional e sua articulação com as especificidades culturais da escola. À luz desse enfoque, pretende-se compreender de que forma a cultura de escola redefine localmente a sua missão educativa, ajustando-a aos propósitos democráticos e igualitários e/ou às exigências de promoção da excelência e do mérito. Partindo da hipótese de que as dimensões culturais exercem um papel central na recontextualização das políticas educativas, procurou-se identificar, no sistema educativo português, o alcance de um dos rituais mais expressivos da missão da escola: os rituais de distinção dos melhores alunos. Da análise de conteúdo efetuada em cerca de 1500 documentos produzidos no contexto das escolas públicas com ensino secundário, resultou um mapeamento nacional dos rituais de distinção. As conclusões apontam para uma forte adesão das instituições com ensino secundário aos rituais de distinção ou de reconhecimento público do mérito. Contudo, nem a sua configuração nem os critérios de seleção apresentam um caráter uniforme, o que nos aponta para a existência de distintas conceitualizações de excelência, decorrentes das diferentes culturas de escola e do seu papel na definição da sua política e do seu critério de sucesso.

The Social and Psychological Determinants of Faculty Members’ Work Motivation

Employment motivation is the driving factor of professional growth of the personality and it is determined by a complex system of internal and external reasons. There is an increase of workers qualification as the complexity of the content of work, which has not only positive aspects, but also connected with management problems with employees. Teacher's activity implies a high autonomy, coupled to a constant intellectual activity and the need for self-development that realized in scientific and educational context. Impact on the motivational sphere of such workers becomes possible only indirectly, where the more important information (feedback) based on the self-assessment of performance than the external evaluation and recognition of merit.

Taking Trade Union Discrimination to Court: A Sociology of Support and Resources for Legal Action

This article examines the rise in the number of court cases related to discrimination against trade union workers in France since the late 1990s. It identifies the sources of support for victims of discrimination that allow them to file complaints in court. The judicialization of union-related cases of discrimination has been made possible by a new discourse linking the recognition of individual merit to the common cause of re-unionizing. Developing a special method of bringing evidence and the specialization of certain union actors and lawyers have helped make legal action against discrimination routine. But the historical roots of this strategy leave the question open as to how it can be applied to workers in secondary labor markets, particularly precarious workers.

Dénoncer en justice les discriminations syndicales : contribution à une sociologie des appuis conventionnels de l’action judiciaire

This article examines the rise in court cases relating to discrimination against trade union workers in France since the late 1990s. It seeks to identify sources of support for victims of discrimination to help them file complaints before the Courts. The judicialization of union-related discrimination cases was made possible by a new discourse that links the recognition of individual merit and the common cause of re-unionization. The development of a special method of proof and the specialization of certain union actors and lawyers have helped make legal action against discrimination routine. But the historical roots of this strategy raise the question of how it can be applied to workers in secondary labor markets, particularly precarious workers.

Fórum: legitimidade, expansão e sustentabilidade das Ciências Sociais e Humanas em Saúde Coletiva. Introdução

The Forum debates current trends and challenges for teaching and research in this subfield and the prevailing criteria for evaluation of its academic output. The authors wager on the hypothesis that we are currently experiencing a clash between the consolidation of Social and Human Sciences in Public Health (with a well-defined identity, undeniable vigor in their research and proposals, and an important number of practitioners) and a bottleneck in training processes and iniquity and inadequacy in the institutional mechanisms for recognition of merit. The Forum presents four articles. The first, by Minayo, discusses the basic forms of knowledge for this training and those needed to analyze contemporary challenges in a globalized world, besides debating the interfaces and mediations between the biological and the social in a teaching proposal. The second, by Trad, provides a current portrait of the subfield's output. The third, by Deslandes & Iriart, presents theoretical and methodological trends in recently published studies, identifying their gaps and characteristics. Bosi, author of the fourth article, fuels the debate on the criteria for evaluation of academic output in the field and analyzes their consequences. The Postscript, by Nunes, reclaims and updates the debate on the construction of identities in the social and Human Sciences in Public Health.

Should We Miss Einsteins in Higher Education in India - Do We Have Some Lessons to Learn?

This paper addresses the issue of higher education in India from different perspectives. The changes in the global requirements of organizations, sociological changes, non recognition of merit, new type of organization who consider profit for a purpose.

Literary Technique, the Aestheticization of Laboring Experience, and Generic Experimentation in Stephen Duck's The Thresher's Labour

Literary Technique, the Aestheticization of Laboring Experience, and Generic Experimentation in Stephen Duck's The Thresher's Labour Steve Van-Hagen The year 2005 was the tri-centennial of the birth of Stephen Duck, the "thresher poet" of Wiltshire accorded patronage by Queen Caroline after the success of poems including The Thresher's Labour and The Shunamite (both 1730). The year 2006, meanwhile, is the 250th anniversary of his (probable) suicide in a river behind a Reading tavern. These anniversaries, coupled with the recent surge of interest in Duck and other laboring-class poets make this an appropriate moment to reexamine his most celebrated and discussed individual work.1 The Thresher's Labour is believed to have been composed third of Duck's extant poems2 (after "To a Gentleman, who requested a Copy of Verses from the Author" and "On Poverty," and immediately before the biblical-historical The Shunamite).3 Even now, these, as well as other significant poems, such as "On Richmond Park, and Royal Gardens," A Description of a Journey to Marlborough, Bath, Portsmouth, &c. (both 1736),4 Every Man in his own Way: An Epistle to a Friend (1741), and the prospect poem Caesar's Camp (1755), are often read (if at all) for the light they shed on The Thresher's Labour and its author. Despite Joseph Spence's view that The Shunamite was his finest poem,5 Duck's biographer Rose Mary Davis calls The Thresher's Labour "the best poem" he wrote,6 adding, "critics are almost unanimous in placing this poem, from the point of view of merit, at the head of Duck's works."7 Commentators in the eighty years since her assessment have tended to agree, or if they have not always been concerned with aesthetics, nonetheless often concur that The Thresher's Labour is Duck's most noteworthy work. As John Goodridge has written with reference to laboring-class poets in general, "one thing these writers have rarely been allowed to be is poets . . . Historically, the considerable interest there has been in labouring-class [End Page 421] poetry has not always extended to a recognition of literary merit."8 Yet a number of recent treatments of the poem have focused anew on its "literary" and formal achievements.9 In the wake of these readings, some of which concentrate on the relationship of The Thresher's Labour to existing genres such as georgic and pastoral,10 the aim of the present essay is to plot the poem's attempts to reconcile laboring-class experiences with verse, with reference to poetic mediums, techniques, and genres. The Thresher's Labour was composed when one of Duck's patrons, Rev. Stanley, suggested that he write about the life he knew.11 As a necessary part of doing so, a laboring-class poetic voice and a mode of writing about labor that dominates the poem emerged. In enabling the representation of experiences, this mode fosters an informal, confidential tone of friend to friend rather than of poet to public.12 It tends to produce narrative, descriptive verse, describing the vigorous performance of physical labor and depicting labor and laborer with respect and dignity. It does not just describe everyday objects or processes, however, but mimetically evokes the sights and sounds of physical labor. This mode is interested in physical objects as they are rooted in a world of sights, sounds, and smells, yet is suspended within the amber of neoclassical versification (the heroic couplet), and mingles specific everyday and colloquial terms with a familiar neoclassical poetic medium. In advancing these arguments through a detailed close reading, I will also be concerned to suggest that whereas The Thresher's Labour has long been defined in terms of being either pastoral or georgic, there are good grounds for arguing that it should be considered generically distinct. II The heroic couplets in which The Thresher's Labour is written were, as critics including J. Paul Hunter and Margaret Anne Doody have observed, the dominant medium of their time.13 As Bridget Keegan has argued, laboring-class poets were particularly influenced by the couplet's greatest practitioner, Alexander Pope (and other canonical figures who regularly used the couplet...

Justice Principles and Judgment Practices in Allotting Emergency State Financial Aid in France

Set up in 1998 in response to a highly popular protest movement of “the unemployed and underprivileged”, the Social emergency fund (Fonds d’Urgence Sociale: FUS) had 1 billion francs to distribute. Allotment of fund money was determined by decentralized state services. In accordance with government instructions, the procedure adopted in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis involved a kind of administrative casuistry: each request for aid was handled by an allotment commission that decided who was to receive what amount of aid on the basis of figures representing applicant’s budget realities and arguments written by applicants themselves in their own favor. Commission decisions about applicant eligibility and sum to be allotted may thus be considered a kind of tragic choice in which agents evaluated arguments aimed at demonstrating applicants’ necessity and suffering. On the basis of interviews with involved actors and a sample of three hundred applications, this article analyses the alleged principles of justice and the actual judgment practices underlying the commission’s deliberations and decisions. Eligibility was mainly decided by calculating a “remainder to live on” after expenses and with reference to a threshold value, but there were also many exceptions to this rule. While sum allotted was fixed according to a very rough scale, it could also be determined with the intention of sending the aid recipient a “message”. Analysis of the functioning of this welfare program suggests that contemporary politics of pity are structured, on the one hand, by recognition of merit and sympathy for distress, on the other, by the weight of contingency and arbitrariness.

Junior group leaders get EMBO support

The European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) has launched a ‘Young Investigator Program’ that aims to select young group leaders in Europe and boost their careers. Selected scientists within the first three years of starting an independent laboratory will be awarded an annual grant of Eu15 000 for a period of three years. EMBO's recognition of the researcher's scientific merit will distinguish him or her by labelling their groups as EMBO Research Groups, which is likely to facilitate their grant hunt both locally and internationally. One of the longer-term aims of the scheme is to establish a network of EMBO Young Investigators and Research Groups around Europe that will have close collaborative ties with the centrally funded laboratory in Heidelberg. This will be achieved at least in part by annual meetings at EMBL-Heidelberg. The EMBO-instated scientific elite is being created ‘to make Europe a better place for young scientists and to consolidate the concept of European Science’, according to EMBO. Further information can be obtained at: http://www.embo.org/YIAtoppage.html [J.d.B.; D.S.]