Silent Revolution Research Articles

The magnificent seven: A proposal for modest revision of the quality index

Thirty years ago, Rob Van der Voo proposed an elegant and simple system for evaluating the quality of paleomagnetic data. As a second-year Ph.D. student, the lead author remembers Rob waxing philosophical about the need to have an appropriate, but not overly rigid evaluation system. The end result was a 7-point system that assigned a (1) or (0) for any paleomagnetic result based on objective criteria. The goal was never to reject or blindly accept any particular result, but merely to indicate the degree of quality for any paleomagnetic pole. At the time, the global paleomagnetic database was burgeoning and it was deemed useful to rank older paleomagnetic results with the newer data being developed in modern laboratories. Van der Voo's, 1990 paper launched a silent revolution in paleomagnetism. Researchers began to evaluate their data against those seven criteria with the anticipation that reviewers would be similarly critical.Today, paleomagnetism is a mature science. Our methods, analyses, and results are more sophisticated than they were 30 years ago. Therefore, we feel it is appropriate to revisit the Van der Voo (1990) criteria in light of those developments. We hope to honor the intention of the original paper by keeping the criteria simple and easy to evaluate while also acknowledging the advances in science. This paper aims to update the criteria and modernize the process. We base our changes on advances in paleomagnetism and geochronology with a faithful adherence to the simplicity of the original publication. We offer the “Reliability” or “R” index as the next generation of the Van der Voo “Quality” or “Q” index. The new R-criteria evaluate seven different information items for each paleomagnetic pole including age, statistical requirements, identification of magnetic carriers, field tests, structural integrity, presence of reversals and an evaluation for possible remagnetization.

Arbeid van vrouwen in Limburg in de twintigste eeuw: een stille revolutie

Female labour force participation declined in Limburg from a relatively high level at the start of the twentieth century to a relatively low level at the end of that century. In this article this “silent revolution” is analysed by focussing on the development of women’s labour in agriculture, in the South Limburg mining district, and in the Maastricht glass and pottery industries. The high level of female labour force participation was, firstly, caused by a high labour input of women in small farming predominating in Limburg agriculture well into the 1950s, secondly, by the many women, both married and unmarried, employed in the Maastricht glass and pottery works. In the mining districts, by contrast, women’s paid labour was almost absent (apart from employment of young, unmarried women in the clothing industry). The relative decline of female labour in the Province of Limburg is foremost a consequence of the growth of mining relative to agriculture. But in agriculture and the Maastricht industries female labour declined as well, due to the exodus of young women out of agriculture in the first, and of changes in production and employers’ policies in the second case.

Silent revolution in pulses production – India marching towards self-sufficiency

Globally, India is known to have largest share in acreage and production of pulse crops. At the same time, it is also a largest consumer and processor of pulses in the world. More than a dozen pulse crops are grown across the countries out of which six are major ones. Recently, India has witnessed a silent ‘Pulses Revolution’ whether to say or not but fact is that during 2017–18, the pulse production of 25.23 million tonnes (mt) is 5.98 mt more over 2013-14 (19.25 mt) and by 2.10 mt over 2016–17 (23.13 mt). There has been positive trend in area, production and productivity of pulse crops during last 3 consecutive Five Year Plan periods. This clearly indicates that an indigenous production has not only increased but sustaining as well and India is silently marching towards self-sufficiency in pulses. While the “Green Revolution” that was declared in 1968 when wheat and rice production increased by 4.15 mt and 6.17 mt, respectively in 1967-68 over 1966-67. Pulses revolution could happen due to development of science-led technologies and policy initiatives on similar lines as cereal revolution happened then in late sixties. Pulses revolution has distinction as it is led by the indigenous technologies developed by our research based institutions and then spread across the country. The realized pulses revolution is indigenous, wide spread, environment friendly, sustainable and a step towards ensuring food and nutritional security of the country.

Belarusian Millennials: A Generation Gap?

The authors focus on the generation of young Belarusian Millennials represented in this research by the students born in 1995–2000. Their main features include political indifference, everyday use of IT technologies, individualism and rational life attitudes. Taking into account both objective and subjective characteristics of this generation, the authors argue that it demonstrates a significant shift in societal development of Belarus. Under the social and cultural conditions of stability and political conservatism, the ‘silent revolution’ took place: Millennials transcoded the traditional values of the previous Soviet generations. The conceptualization of this phenomenon cannot be made only on the basis of quantitative data not capturing the new tendencies in youth development. The authors combine qualitative and quantitative methods that enhance a possibility to measure new meanings the youth puts into the basic values. This approach made it possible to discover the new youth features that may affect Belarusian development in the near future: its ambivalent self-identification, dominance of pragmatism and individualism. This phenomenon can be considered as a spontaneous reflection to the challenges that Belarus was facing during the post-Soviet transformation.

Policy Merchandising and Social Assistance in Africa: Don't Call Dog Monkey for Me

ABSTRACTThe title of this article draws on a Yorùbá aphorism that roughly translates into ‘don't sell me a dummy’. The dark side of social policy, the theme of this Debate, has a distinct character in the African context. The transformation of the African public policy landscape, shaped by the ‘counter‐revolution’ in development thinking, has taken a new form with the donor ‘policy merchandising’ of cash transfer schemes. The stratified and segregated social policy on offer contrasts with the historical experience of ‘donor’ countries themselves. The policy instrument advanced is cast as ‘a silent revolution in development’, embodying the idea of development shifting from structural transformation to poverty alleviation. What is promoted is an impoverished version of development. Within the discourse of ‘working with the grain of African politics’, the politics of social assistance policy merchandising starts with a notion of politics as clientelist. It then deploys the instrumentality of clientelism — within an imperial deployment of power — in the manufacture of civil society and policy coalition, to ensure the local adoption of a policy instrument that the extra‐territorial donor actors offer. This modality of public policy formulation contrasts sharply with the historical experience of public policy making in the ‘donor’ countries themselves. The result is the subversion of the consolidation of democracy in the African client states.

Amid domestication and Afriexit: whither Nigeria and South Africa on the International Criminal Court?

There is a silent revolution going on among African states regarding the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Some states that previously signed the Statute refused to ratify it. Some that ratified the Statute refused to domesticate it. Some that domesticated it withdrew or threatened to withdraw from it. Some that withdrew from it revoked their withdrawal. The African Union called for the mass withdrawal of African states from the Statute. Amid this storm of domestication and Afriexit, this study probes the question: what will be the status of Nigeria and South Africa on the ICC by 2022, considering the events in these states so far, evidence from data and the spate of domestication and exit procedures in homogeneous African states in contemporary times? The objectives of the study are to predict the status of Nigeria and South Africa by 2022 and reflect on the implication of the predictions for the on-going viability, sustainability and credibility of the ICC. It predicts that Nigeria has a zero per cent indication of domesticating the Statute. South Africa has 100 per cent positive indication to remain an ICC state party.

The Silent Revolution in Franco’s Spain. Collaborative Creativity and Digital Experimentation 50 Years Later.

The Silent Revolution in Franco’s Spain. Collaborative Creativity and Digital Experimentation 50 Years Later.

A Silent Revolution: How Central Bank Statistics Have Changed in the Last 25 Years

This work provides a comprehensive overview of the giant leap made by European central bank statistics over the last quarter century. We illustrate, first, the work that led to a brand new set of central bank statistics for the implementation of the common monetary policy in the euro area. We then focus on the most significant developments brought up by the financial crisis and by the institutional changes that accompanied it. The final part look at challenges lying ahead for official statistics, namely how to deal with digitalization and globalization.

Tissue-Resident Memory T Cells: Sheltering-in-Place for Host Defense

A silent revolution has occurred in our understanding of how T cell-mediated immunity protects the host from recrudescent pathogens and how it fits into occurrences of autoimmunity and allergies. Under the new paradigm, the hitherto unknown noncirculatory, tissue-resident memory T cells (TRM ) constitute the host defense sentinels posted in diverse anatomic compartments and they are the key actors in protection against reinfections, tissue surveillance, cancer, and in many cases in autoimmunity and allergy in both animal models and humans. This contrasts with the previously held view that circulating memory T cells (TcircM) transitioning through the peripheral tissue are the main defenders against reinfections and are underlying agents in autoimmune reactions. TRM, elicited after primary pathogen encounter in a given tissue, are now known to be stably positioned in the respective barrier (skin, lungs, gut, female reproductive tract mucosa, liver, etc.) or nonbarrier (brain, kidneys, etc.) peripheral tissues. TRM represent a rapid, tissue-autonomous, first line of robust adaptive immune defense against recurring infections. Following a discussion on the defining characteristics of TRM, this review will focus on how TRM seeding and induction at the site of recurrent pathogen invasion is now, and must continue to be, the governing principle in new vaccine designs. The review will also elaborate on the role of TRM in relapsing and remitting autoimmunity by being prepositioned in the tissue as potent effectors. Many infectious disease vaccines targeted to establish and activate TRM at the infection site in animal models are robustly more effective at host protection relative to their traditional, parenterally administered counterparts that only activate systemic TcircM. Likewise, TRM-centered remedies are being successful in ameliorating T cell mediated autoimmunity in cases in which approaches based on circulatory T cells failed. Thus, the current and emerging TRM discoveries are piloting a new era of TRM-driven strategies focused on activation or inactivation of tissue-localized immunity in vaccines and therapies targeting infectious disease, cancer, autoimmunity, and allergies.

'From guanxi to WeChat': new social networking technologies and digital entrepreneurship in Beijing

This paper explores how digital entrepreneurs utilise social networking technologies to develop and maintain networks in an increasingly digital environment. Despite the growing relevance and use of social networking technologies in entrepreneurship, few studies investigate the impact and outcome of social networking technologies in entrepreneurial processes. This paper addresses this research gap and explores the silent revolution instigated by new technological developments on contemporary networking practices. This paper is based on a case study involving 20 Beijing based digital entrepreneurs and presents empirical data contributing to the intersection of entrepreneurship and networking in the digital age. The paper applies a theoretical framework combining entrepreneurship and network theory, and offers new theoretical directions suited to explore networking in the digital dimension. The paper offers advanced insights to contemporary entrepreneurship and networking in the digital era, a field in need of future attention and extensive research.

The Silent Revolution of Mohammed Dib's Qui se souvient de la mer

This multimodal paper is about aesthetics, speculative philosophy, and the energy humanities. In it, I contemplate Algerian author Mohammed Dib’s visionary novel Qui se souvient de la mer (1962), emphasizing that our guide through the text is a nameless and wandering theorist who eventually goes underground. We encounter in the text an unnamed city—or, rather, cities within cities, and, indeed, cities beneath cities—besieged by fantastic forces and surrounded by a once-rejuvenating sea that recedes—an outré world that exists in its own spacetime. We find in this world minotaurs carrying flamethrowers; resuscitated mummies lying in ambush; an underground mole whose thunderous footsteps leave behind trails of blood; winged “iriace” that devour olives and spit out their pits, which rain down on the city like cinders; winged “spyrovirs” whose deafening shrieks blind and desiccate the city’s inhabitants; slithering walls that imprison and spit them out elsewhere; vomit of stones; holey skulls full of weeds; impossible songs and aromas; explosions without sources; hazy meteors and electric wind; a disintegrating star (the sun?), and so on. We encounter a world, then, where the fantastic is ubiquitous, a weird world that doesn’t belong. I therefore assert that Dib’s novel, which is ostensibly about the Algerian revolution, is a prototype for a new literary genre, le fantastique outré. I elaborate this assertion by closely reading passages from the original French text in apposition to the writings of Tzvetan Todorov, Mark Fisher, Louis Tremaine, Reza Negarestani, Frantz Fanon, David Benatar, Eugene Thacker, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Louis Althusser, and Stefano Harney and Fred Moten. Along the way, I argue that Dib’s novel at once renders obsolete capitalist-nationalist epistemologies founded on colonial-racial violence and gifts us a generously infinite energy source in the speculative thought of oil, the absolute of the sea, a nomad space, desert of water. Such is the silent revolution of Dib’s Qui se souvient de la mer.

Cultural backlash: Trump, Brexit, and authoritarian populism

Cultural backlash is a leader in a crowded field of research on the origins and implications of populist politics in western societies. Among many contributions, the book especially adds value for scholars of international affairs in three main areas. First, by conceptually differentiating between authoritarian populism and the populist radical right, Pippa Norris and Ronald Inglehart imbue both concepts with more analytical purchase. Second, their exhaustive, multimethod analysis of the drivers of such politics will advance debates on their causes. Third, their finding that the origins of authoritarian populist politics reside primarily within authoritarian values, which are more strongly associated with age cohort than other variables, suggests ways in which societies may engage constructively with such politics. Norris and Inglehart use a minimal definition of populism as a ‘style of rhetoric reflecting first-order principles about who should rule’, which hold that legitimate power rests with ‘the people not the elites’ (p. 4). From that definition they move on to focus on authoritarian populism, which they argue is the predominant trend in the current populist wave. The general theory at the heart of the book is that this trend results from an ‘authoritarian reflex’ (p. 450) triggered by a ‘silent revolution in cultural values’ (p. 14). These new values differ significantly from socially conservative values that were pre-eminent in western societies into the middle of the twentieth century. While Norris and Inglehart devote significant attention to the proximate roles of economic grievances and pressure from immigration, as well as the effect of different political regimes on the relative success of populist parties, their key insight is that authoritarian populism is a cultural phenomenon, better predicted by age cohort than by political or economic conditions.

The audiobook circuit in digital publishing: Voicing the silent revolution

Digital Internet-distributed audiobooks are a surprising game changer in digital publishing. In recent years, audiobooks have moved from being a peripheral by-product of the printed book into the centre of digital publishing and reading, but are typically still ignored in publishing studies. This article raises the voice of the audiobook by giving it a privileged status in the current transformations of book publishing caused by digitization. We present an original model of the digital audiobook circuit, which is based on interviews and knowledge from the Danish market as part of a global industry, which makes it possible to reflect and adjust according to national variations. The model is framed by theoretical discussions of values and dynamics within the digital audiobook circuit in general.

Now there is, now there is not: the disappearing silent revolution of AKP as re-entrenchment

ABSTRACTBased on a continuous and relational understanding of state-formation, as conceptualized by Charles Tilly, and inspired by Gramsci’s formulation of ‘war of position’, AKP regime in Turkey can be identified as a process of (re)-entrenchment. The AKP’s original claim to de-securitize the state–society relationship in Turkey has re-entrenched, re-aligned and re-institutionalized positions of power and democratic participation within the state to overcome the old-guard and establish its own hegemonic rule. The conspicuous disappearance of a booklet from 2013, i.e. the Silent Revolution, that was supposed to be the historical documentation of the AKP’s ambitious original claims from all AKP-related media effectively indicates its abandonment of these goals. This document reveals the contentious (re)entrenchments while the party ascended to power challenging deep-rooted security-oriented positions of the statist nationalism. This ascent to power was indeed a ‘war of position’ during which international opportunities created by the EU were effectively navigated and legislation and executive actions a) pertaining rule of law, human rights and freedoms, administrative accountability and transparency, b) economic and social reforms regarding vulnerable social groups, anti-corruption measures and labour relations, c) de-securitization and civilianization of government agencies and d) issues of Kurdish citizens were utilized as ‘trenches.’

A Silent Revolution in Rural Transportation System: A Study on Measuring the Popularity and Sustainability of ‘Easy Bike’ in Bangladesh

The Easy Bike has brought revolutionary changes in the rural transportation system in Bangladesh. This paper aims to evaluate the supply chain of the battery based electric charged vehicle popularly known as Easy Bike and identify the role of Easy Bike for the development of the country’s rural transportation system. The method of data collection was both interview and questionnaire in the form of closed and open-ended questions. The researchers have selected three different stakeholders associated with the industry such as passengers, drivers and importers or Assemblers of the easy bike and developed three separate questionnaires for identifying the problems, opportunities, and the actual condition of this newly developed industry. The role played by the related authority has been identified and analyzed through extensive literature review and interview with the selected stakeholders. The collected data has been analyzed through different statistical tools. Research findings show that the vehicle has become the most reliable and one of the fastest mediums of the transportation system for the rural people as well as urban people. The reasons behind the popularity of the vehicle are reduced fare, safe to travel, environment-friendly, faster than the previous transport mode and easy to operate the vehicle. The availability of the auto rickshaw in the current time has reduced the mortality rate in case of different emergency need for Medicare services. This vehicle is also making the contribution to girls’ secondary higher education by easing their movement to the remote area where most of the colleges are situated. There are problems like higher electricity cost, poor road structure, illegal extortion, lack of driving training facility etc. faced by the industry. The removal of these problems will accelerate the growth of the industry and will ensure long-term benefits for the industry.

Embracing the leadership potential of occupational therapy in the social age: Time for a silent revolution

Embracing the leadership potential of occupational therapy in the social age: Time for a silent revolution

The ‘Events of May 68’ in Adam Thorpe’s No Telling: a Silent Revolution?

Le but de cet article est de remettre en cause le presuppose courant qui assimile la revolution a un changement drastique, en justifiant pourquoi le modele lineaire et son corollaire, la rupture, ne constituent pas les seules manieres de penser la relation temoin-evenement. Prenant pour objet d’etude le cinquieme roman d’Adam Thorpe, No Telling (2003), l’objectif est d’analyser comment ce roman, en se detournant de la relation classique de coincidence entre l’histoire familiale et l’histoire collective, propose a l’inverse un mode original d’articulation fonde sur un ecart irreductible ou, en termes d’optique, une tache aveugle. Cette articulation singuliere oblige a reviser l’idee que l’apparition de l’evenement est une totalite revelee. A travers le choix du point de vue excentrique d’un garcon de douze ans, l’intrigue de No Telling depend de la conjugaison entre l’intermission et la mediation, interconnectant en silence, au lieu de simplement lier, le temoin innocent avec l’evenement collectif, l’ordinaire avec l’epique.

A small and silent revolution

Abstract Through explicitation of Roquet’s aesthetics – including echoes and reflections of Erice, Hammershøi and Martel – this article argues that The Goodbye harnesses intertextuality concisely to question how class, language, gender, servitude and race intersect. It addresses the role of grief in illuminating the indignities of deeply entrenched power relations.

‘When it comes to what employers are looking for, I don’t think I’m it for a lot of them’: class and capitals in, and after, higher education

ABSTRACTMuch research on adults in higher education has focused on issues of access and participation. As a result little is known about what happens to working-class students after leaving university even though employability is high on the agenda HE research on this topic in relation to such students is sparse. This research focuses on the voices of working-class students and their aspirations in relation to employability. Using two student narratives this paper draws on the findings of two countries, England and Ireland, from a six-country European project on employability of non-traditional students using biographical research methods. Their stories reveal an awareness of class inequalities in the labour market in relation to cultural, economic and social capital and issues of locality, gender and age. The stories also indicate a sense of precarity in their lifecourse in a society which has become highly reflexive and fluid (Alheit, P., and B. Dausien. 2002. “The ‘Double Face’ of Lifelong Learning: Two Analytical Perspectives on a ‘Silent Revolution’.” Studies in the Education of Adults 34 (1): 3–23).

Viability assessment of emerging smart urban para-transit solutions: Case of cab aggregators in Kolkata city, India

The dimensions of transport development are closely linked with the socio-economic profile and technological level of a city. The entire trafficscape of the city of Kolkata evolved as the efficiency of the mass transport services declined, disposable income of the majority increased. There was gradual privatisation with increase in the share of para-transit modes. As the literate, technologically conversant urban population wanted a smarter alternative to regular taxis and auto rickshaws the app-based cab aggregator services brought in the silent revolution in the transport communication system. The main objectives of the paper are to bring out the essence of changing scenario, to access qualitatively and quantitatively that how far analysis of big data and reliance on technology through ICT and IoT has been able to meet the gap between expected and actual service delivery of the said para-transit mode through SWOT analysis, regression analysis and perception studies involving primary and secondary database and to have an idea about the future trajectory of this emerging app cab market. The study found that though majority of the commuters were satisfied with availability, reliability, cost effectiveness, safety, cashless option, driver behaviour, comfort and absence of bargaining there were issues regarding transparency and surge pricing. The drivers too were content with their improved earnings but were unhappy with the long hours and were apprehensive with regular incentive cuts. So, the situation is volatile with promising future if the companies manage to balance between the virtual capabilities and actual reality.