Reluctant Acceptance Research Articles

From Deception to Redemption: Analyzing Volkswagen’s Reputational Journey Post-Dieselgate

The Volkswagen emissions scandal, or "Dieselgate," inflicted a severe blow to the company's reputation and financial standing. This research paper explores Volkswagen's journey from deception to redemption, analyzing its strategies to rebuild trust and restore its brand image. The study employs a mixed-method approach, incorporating qualitative analysis of media coverage and corporate communications alongside a quantitative assessment of stock prices and consumer sentiment data. Findings reveal a complex reputational trajectory, starting with initial denial, progressing to a reluctant acceptance of responsibility, and culminating in proactive measures to regain stakeholder confidence. While Volkswagen has made notable strides in its recovery, the lingering impact of the scandal underscores the formidable challenge of repairing a tarnished reputation. In conclusion, this research provides valuable insights into crisis management, corporate social responsibility, and the dynamics of reputational recovery in the digital age, highlighting the importance of swift action, transparency, and a genuine commitment to change.

Public perception of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage in Denmark: Support or reluctant acceptance?

Most climate change mitigation scenarios rely on negative emissions technologies like bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). However, little is known about public support for BECCS. This paper gauges Danes’ willingness to pay (WTP) for biomass with carbon capture and storage and examines factors influencing it. Denmark is a suitable case study given its reliance on biomass and negative emissions to achieve climate targets. Results from a questionnaire-based survey indicate a mean WTP of 3072 DKK (412 EUR) per household per year. This correspondents to a 12% increase in heat and electricity expenses. The need for negative emissions is the main stated reason for WTP. This may be interpreted as reflecting either support for, or reluctant acceptance of, BECCS. Results show that being younger, being concerned about climate change and believing that it is mainly caused by human activity, and believing in the mitigation potential of biomass and that sustainability is a precondition of its use have a significant effect on WTP. Public views on BECCS are complex but must be acknowledged if discussion of the role of BECCS in the decarbonisation agenda is to move forward.

Ottoman-Austrian Ceremonial Embassies of the First Half of the Seventeenth Century: The Selection of Ambassador Rıdvan Agha (1633)

Ottoman-Austrian Ceremonial Embassies of the First Half of the Seventeenth Century: The Selection of Ambassador Rıdvan Agha (1633)

Public opinion about solar radiation management: A cross-cultural study in 20 countries around the world

Some argue that complementing climate change mitigation measures with solar radiation management (SRM) might prove a last resort to limit global warming to 1.5 °C. To make a socially responsible decision on whether to use SRM, it is important to consider also public opinion, across the globe and particularly in the Global South, which would face the greatest risks from both global warming and SRM. However, most research on public opinion about SRM stems from the Global North. We report findings from the first large-scale, cross-cultural study on the public opinion about SRM among the general public (N = 2,248) and students (N = 4,583) in 20 countries covering all inhabited continents, including five countries from the Global South and five ‘non-WEIRD’ (i.e. not Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic) countries from the Global North. As public awareness of SRM is usually low, we provided participants with information on SRM, including key arguments in favour of and against SRM that appear in the scientific debate. On average, acceptability of SRM was significantly higher in the Global South than in the ‘non-WEIRD’ Global North, while acceptability in the ‘WEIRD’ Global North was in between. However, we found substantial variation within these clusters, especially in the ‘non-WEIRD’ Global North, suggesting that countries do not form homogenous clusters and should thus be considered individually. Moreover, the average participants’ views, while generally neither strong nor polarised, differed from some expert views in important ways, including that participants perceived SRM as only slightly effective in limiting global warming. Still, our data suggests overall a conditional, reluctant acceptance. That is, while on average, people think SRM would have mostly negative consequences, they may still be willing to tolerate it as a potential last resort to fight global warming, particularly if they think SRM has only minor negative (or even positive) impacts on humans and nature.

Francis and the Bomb: On the Immorality of Nuclear Deterrence

ABSTRACT This essay investigates the change in the Catholic attitude toward nuclear weapons as articulated by Pope Francis. Francis has generally followed the position of his immediate predecessors with regard to the Catholic teaching on just war. While the resort to armed force remains a morally justifiable option if the principles of just war have been met, the pope forcefully emphasises the tools of nonviolent peacebuilding. Recently, however, Francis made an original just war argument when he broke with the Church’s established position on nuclear weapons. The pope declared both the use and possession of nuclear weapons “immoral” and, thus, abandoned the Church’s reluctant acceptance of nuclear deterrence that had survived the end of the Cold War. In this essay, I analyse the rationale behind Francis’s decision to break with nuclear deterrence, which is mainly grounded in the disillusionment about the failed promise of nuclear disarmament. Furthermore, I assess the impact of the new position with regard to Catholic soldiers serving in nuclear armed militaries.

How and why snakebite became a global health priority: a policy analysis

BackgroundSnakebite was added to the WHO neglected tropical disease (NTD) list in 2017, followed by a World Health Assembly resolution in 2018, and an explicit global target being set to...

Better to Be Unpaid than COVID-19 Vaccinated! A Qualitative Study on Italian Nurses Suspended from Work without Salary.

In Italy, from April 2021, healthcare workers were required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine; if they refused it, an immediate unpaid suspension was implemented until they received the vaccine. Although there are numerous quantitative studies on the factors that influenced vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic, qualitative research on the causes of vaccine refusal is still missing. This research aimed to investigate the phenomenon of nurses who refused to receive COVID-19 vaccination despite being required to do so, as well as the reasons behind their refusal. Furthermore, the actions of those who abandoned this stance were explored. This was a qualitative study involving the methodological approach of grounded theory. Twenty-four nurses were interviewed virtually via Zoom from May to July 2022. Anti-vax behavior-as emerged from nurses' experiences-was based on seven themes: (1) job satisfaction, (2) the main sources of information on COVID-19, (3) the reasons for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, (4) the attitudes of family members toward the COVID-19 vaccine, (5) previous experience with other vaccines, (6) firm opposition to the vaccine (unvaccinated nurses), (7) reluctant acceptance (vaccinated nurses). It was shown that it is imperative for health authorities to adopt timely, documented, transparent, and consistent communication when carrying out public health campaigns, especially for vaccination.

Prisoners of oath: Junior doctors’ professional identities during and after industrial action

This article examines the identity (re)work undertaken by junior doctors during the junior doctors’ contract dispute of 2015–16 in the National Health Service (NHS). A qualitative, longitudinal approach was used, consisting of 31 interviews with 18 junior doctors across two time periods. Findings show that the junior doctors’ strike represented a major threat to their professional identities, and that the strike action instigated significant identity (re)work for the doctors. Furthermore, findings reveal three overlapping ‘identity threat alleviation’ strategies that were constructed by striking doctors: reluctant acceptance of their weak bargaining power due to their professional identities; a subsequent reattachment to their normative professional values; and a focus on their future careers. This study examines the effects of a ‘white collar’ industrial dispute through the lens of professional identity, showing how medics employ identity (re)work as a resource to help them cope with perceived assaults on their professional identity.

Bureaucratic Acquiescence as an Institutional Strategy in the African Union

Abstract The paper conceptualizes acquiescence as a strategy bureaucrats adopt to deal with contestation between themselves and political leaders. The literature on bureaucratic politics argues that policy outcomes result from a game of bargaining between bureaucrats and political leaders. These actors employ diverse strategies like bargaining for more authority, exploiting loopholes, challenging the political class, and, at other times, using the threat of resignation to implement their preferred priorities. However, we advance the above argument by introducing another strategy that bureaucrats use, acquiescence. We analyze African Union (AU) bureaucratic politics through speeches, press releases, and secondary materials. The paper argues that rather than opting for standard bureaucratic strategies, AU bureaucrats acquiesce because the institutional structure, material resources, and the AU solidarity norm make it difficult for them to do otherwise. Acquiescence is the reluctant acceptance of decisions in bureaucratic politics in the form of silence or an absence of protest. We show examples of AU institutional reform and the Burundi crisis debates, where acquiescence can explain decision-making outcomes in the organization. We conclude that acquiescence is a relevant conceptual tool in explaining the outcomes of bureaucratic politics in the AU and can be generalized to investigate institutional politics in other international organizations within and outside of the continent.

The pragmatics of ‘it is well’ in Nigerian English

Abstract This paper explores the pragmatics of the comment clause, it is well, with a view to examining its origin, frequency, structural features, and extended discourse-pragmatic functions in Nigerian English, from a grammatical-pragmatic approach. The data for the study are collected from the Global Web-based English corpus (Davies, Mark. 2013. Corpus of Global Web-Based English: 1.9 billion words from speakers in 20 countries (GloWbE). Available at: http://corpus.byu.edu/glowbe/) and questionnaires, and are analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results show that the origin of the clause in Nigerian English is the Bible. The clause occurs most frequently at utterance-final position, and collocates with other discourse-pragmatic features. The results also reveal that the clause performs both textual and interpersonal functions. Textually, it is used as a silence filler and to terminate discourse. Interpersonally, it is employed as a part of a prayer, to express hope, offer comfort, indicate resignation, show (reluctant) acceptance of other people’s actions, and to express sarcasm, amongst other functions. The study shows that the use of it is well is related to the cultural and religious beliefs of Nigerians as well as to the political and economic situation in Nigeria.

Are immigrants living in France more reluctant to receive vaccines than native-born French citizens? findings from the national health Barometer study

BackgroundFrance is one of the world's most vaccine hesitant countries and vaccine hesitancy (VH) is considered one of the world's leading threats to global health. However, little is known about VH in immigrant populations in France. Using data from the 2016 Health Barometer, we examined VH among newcomers, more established immigrants, and the native-born population in France. MethodsData was collected from French speaking individuals aged from 15 to 75 years old, residing in France. Individuals were selected through randomly generated landline and mobile phone numbers. Vaccine hesitancy was assessed through four questions and a “time spent in France” variable was created, using the year of arrival in France. Associations were studied using logistic regression. ResultsA sample of 15,216 participants residing in France included 1,524 foreign-born immigrants and 13,692 native-born individuals, with a mean age of 46-years. Most participants (75.7%) reported being favorable to vaccination regardless of country of origin but immigrants were less hesitant toward vaccinations than the host population. Foreign-born immigrants from North Africa had the most favorable views whereas those from sub-Saharan Africa held most unfavorable views on vaccination. With time spent in France, the opinions towards vaccination became more negative (aOR = 0.57, 95 %CI [0.40–0.79], p = 0.001) and the risk of vaccine refusal (aOR = 2.34, 95 %CI [1.45 – 3.78] p = 0.001) and reluctant acceptance of vaccines increased (aOR = 1.89 95 %CI [1.20 – 2.99], p = 0.006).Foreign-born individuals with the longest residency in France had more negative opinions than native-born individuals, regardless of region of origin. ConclusionImmigrants were less hesitant toward vaccinations than the host population, but vaccine hesitancy increased with time spent in France. The provision of appropriate information and awareness to facilitate critical thinking towards antivaccine theories is necessary for immigrants in France.

From silence to ‘strategic advancement’: institutional responses to ‘decolonising’ in higher education in England

ABSTRACT Amid the rising calls for a ‘decolonised curriculum’, scholars and activists have outlined what needs to be done to ‘decolonise the university’. Yet in practice, those involved in decolonising work often face considerable backlash and institutional resistance. Drawing on empirical research with students and staff across nine universities in England, this paper sets out to capture the contested terrain of ‘decolonising the university’. We draw on qualitative accounts, collected through in-depth interviews with 24 individuals who are engaged in individual and/or group-based decolonial efforts, at discipline/departmental/institutional level to achieve change in their universities. We conceptualise and explore institutional responses to ‘decolonising’ through three strategies: rejection, reluctant acceptance, and strategic advancement. Presenting a snapshot of decolonising work in England over the period 2014–2021, our findings raise questions about what needs to be done to counter institutional co-option, incorporation, and the dilution of the radical message of decolonising.

The politics of remembering and forgetting: Vietnamese refugees at Singapore’s Hawkins Road Transit Camp

This paper examines the genealogy of Vietnamese refugees based at a transit camp in Singapore between 1975 and 1996. Created by UNHCR with permission of the Singapore government, Hawkins Road Camp hosted Vietnamese refugees with confirmed destinations in their transit. The transit camp was found to be heterotopian, oscillating between the state’s economic pragmatism and humanitarianism. Its heterotopian traits can be traced to its varying (in)visibility throughout its operation from physical demolition to eventual cyber-presence. The heterotopian space of the camp is found to be constructed by two epistemes or politics of truth – the first functioning when the transit camp was in operation and the second operating when the camp was decommissioned and demolished. The first episteme created discursive practices which directed measures at reluctant acceptance and discreet (unpublicised) care of refugees. This is evident from the low media presence, obscure camp location and invisibility not being marked on key landuse maps at the time. The second episteme enacts discursive practices which shape the textual and tangible marginalisations and erasures of refugee presence and history. It is matched and resisted by online commemoration of the transit camp by a stakeholder community concerned with the histories of the transit camp. In doing so, we illuminate the omission of humanitarian ideals for discourses focused on extreme resource vulnerability and economic pragmatism by the Singapore state and provide a geographical critique of such refugee governance. We add to the current literature on the politics and landscapes of remembering and forgetting by examining the subject positions of peoples entwined in these power-relations and highlight the need to attend to the shifts in these subject positions. The shift from a transient unwanted population to one that has never existed has propelled physical and textual erasures of refugee presence.

Russia’s strategy towards the Nordic region: Tracing continuity and change

ABSTRACT Since Russia’s intervention in Ukraine in 2014, debates about its behaviour and intentions have increased significantly in the West. This article examines Russia’s strategic interests in its historically peaceful Nordic neighbourhood. It identifies and applies the classic strategy terms ends, ways and means in a 100-year perspective and asks if Russia’s military and political goals in the Nordic region have changed after 2014. Despite increased tensions and a more aggressive Russian rhetoric and behaviour, Russian strategic goals in the region are characterised by an evolving continuity and a reluctant acceptance of the current military-political status quo.

Exploring the experience of recurrence with advanced cancer for people who perceived themselves to be cancer free: a grounded theory study

Advances in cancer treatment have led to longer cancer-free periods and overall survival. This study aimed to understand patients' experiences of transitioning out of a state of believing to be cancer free into incurable recurrence with advanced disease. Using constructivist grounded theory with in-depth interviews patients (n = 15) with solid tumors from a major US cancer center participated. Theoretical sampling enabled concepts to be developed until theme saturation. Constant comparative analysis used initial and focused coding to develop themes and concepts to describe this specific period from extended time cancer free and transition to advanced incurable disease. Three interrelated concepts were identified: reluctant acceptance, seeking survival through continuous treatment, and hope in the face of an uncertain future. A conceptual model of the experience was developed encompassing anger and sadness, at initial recurrence, to reluctant acceptance, and, finally, a cycle of seeking continuous treatment to prolong life leading to a sense of hope in the face of an uncertain future. The cycle between treatment and hope creates a state of personal equilibrium, which provides insights into the importance of treatment for this population. This study provides direction for future research to understand the expectations of people experiencing advanced cancer recurrence. Many cancer survivors live with advanced cancer. Assessing their needs as they transition from survivor with no disease to survivor with advanced disease requires a new conceptualization of the experience which recognizes expectations and priorities for care of this patient group.

Are you for real?! Tourists' reactions to four replica cave sites in Europe

Creating authentic, non-invasive visitor experiences at fragile heritage sites is challenging. This paper explores the potential of replicas to address the negative impacts associated with over-tourism by examining tourists' reactions to four replica cave sites in Europe. Data were compiled from 1369 TripAdvisor reviews, and revealed that tourists were generally receptive to the notion of replication. Responses ranged from deep appreciation of the effort taken to create immersive replica experiences to a reluctant acceptance that replicas are necessary to protect fragile sites. Not all reviews were positive, however, with some tourists being quite dismissive of the replica experience. Thematic coding was used to create five tourist typologies – the pragmatists, the converts, the believers, the purists and the conservationists. Characteristics of each group are described. Managerial implications for designing experiences at replica sites are outlined, and the contribution replica sites could play in addressing the challenges posed by over-tourism discussed.

Building trust while influencing online COVID-19 content in the social media world

With more than two million cases globally, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in unprecedented disruption to human society. Leaders from around the world have escalated from states of reluctant acceptance to states of emergency. Unlike historical pandemics, such as the 1918 H1N1 pandemic, COVID-19 is spreading across a highly connected world, in which virtually all individuals are linked to each other through the mobile phone in their pockets. Because of strict physical distancing measures, people are heavily reliant on maintaining connectivity using global digital social networks, such as Facebook or Twitter, to facilitate human interaction and information sharing about the virus.

And an Algorithm to Bind Them All? Social Credit, Data Driven Governance, and the Emergence of an Operating System for Global Normative Orders

The 21st century has seen a reluctant acceptance of the de-centering of the state, and consequentially of the rise of multiple centers of governance with multiple forms of law. That acceptance has also produced a certain knowledge of the likelihood of space between these emerging centers of law/norms/governance. This space without a space, this in-between space of law (and governance), has itself assumed a spatial dimension. Yet the conventional focus on the inter-spatial carries with it the risk of never ending boundaries—of the permanent and quite dynamic cacophony of borders. The problem of the never-ending spaces between spaces, where every law system itself defines its own inter-spaces, might itself be undergoing an extra-spatial transformation. That extra-spatial form of governance—in which space loses its centrality and law changes it forms and function, is the object of the exploration attempted in this essay. The essay considers the emergence of data driven analytics, and machine driven (artificial intelligence (AI) based) algorithmic techniques as defining not just new modalities of governance but reshaping the conception of spatiality within which governance happens. Its thesis is simple: that AI and big data management suggests the fundamental reshaping of law and law systems, one in which it may be possible to cobble together traditional spatial and inter-spatial of law toward a comprehensive management of behavior neither dependent on the forms and techniques of law nor on the bureaucratic apparatus of state. This reshaping will have particular effect on the way on which the emerging polycentric systems of governance that have been the singular feature of globalized law frameworks may be enmeshed; that is how the regulatory algorithm may come to rule them all. This essay, then, explores some of the potential ramifications of big data management and machine learning on the organization of the multiplicity of emerging law and governance systems and how these are or will change legal practice. To that end the paper will consider the emergence of data driven governance regimes. The first is the Chinese “social credit” initiative, which emerged in its current form in 2014. Social Credit is the name given to the initiative undertaken by the Chinese government during the present administration that is meant to produce an all-around approach to ensuring compliance with law and social responsibility under the guidance of the state. The second is U.S. and Western private initiatives around emerging markets for data. These are framed around principles of governance, risk management and compliance principles. It explores their potential systemic qualities and their relationship to contemporary and traditional law and governance systems. It considers the way that social credit in its public forms (China) and in its private forms (U.S. and the West) point to the emergence of a potential data driven unifying structure for legal multiplicity even as it changes the practices of law. Lastly, the paper explores the nature of that unifying structure within domestic legal orders and within global trade regimes.

Improved Derivation of the Butler Equations for Surface Tension of Solutions.

The Butler equation was published in 1932 to describe the equilibrium surface composition and equilibrium surface tension of solutions. Unfortunately, it used the so-called "partial surface tension of a component", which was not properly defined by Butler, leading to a reluctant acceptance of this equation. Although the present author defined the partial surface tension recently in this journal, it is considered an advantage to derive the same key equations of Butler without the need to employ the concept of partial surface tension. This derivation is offered in the present paper, starting from the two fundamental equations of Gibbs. No assumptions are made on the thickness and structure of the surface region, it is only supposed that the surface region has an average composition with a negligible concentration gradient. In this way, the Butler equations are obtained, which have more general validity compared to the original Butler equations derived by supposing a surface monolayer.

Patient and caregiver experience with delayed discharge from a hospital setting: A scoping review

BackgroundDelayed hospital discharge occurs when patients are medically cleared but remain hospitalized because a suitable care setting is not available. Delayed discharge typically results in reduced levels of treatment, placing patients at risk of functional decline, falls and hospital‐related adverse events. Caregivers often take on an active role in hospital to mitigate these risks.ObjectiveThis scoping review aimed to summarize the literature on patient and caregiver experiences with delayed hospital discharge.Search strategySeven electronic databases and grey literature were searched using keywords including alternate level of care, delayed discharge, patients, caregivers and experiences.Inclusion criteriaIncluded articles met the following criteria: (a) patient or caregiver population 18 years or older; (b) delayed discharge from a hospital setting; (c) included experiences with delayed discharge; (d) peer‐reviewed or grey literature; and (e) published between 1 January 1998 and 16 July 2018.Data extractionData were extracted from the seven included articles using Microsoft Excel 2016 to facilitate a thorough analysis and comparison.Main resultsStudy themes were grouped into five elements of the delayed discharge experience: (1) overall uncertainty; (2) impact of hospital staff and physical environment; (3) mental and physical deterioration; (4) lack of engagement in decision making and need for advocacy; and (5) initial disbelief sometimes followed by reluctant acceptance.ConclusionThis review provides a foundation to guide future research, policies and practices to improve patient and caregiver experiences with delayed hospital discharge, including enhanced communication with patients and families and programmes to reduce deconditioning.