bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE PROBLEM OF MOTIVATION OF EMPLOYEES OF ENTERPRISES IN MODERN CONDITIONS
Authors: Naumchev Il'ya
Published: January 2025

In today’s dynamic economy, when global processes and digitalization are radically changing the conditions of enterprises, the problem of employee incentives comes to the fore. The desire to increase productivity and retain key personnel is of particular importance for management and HR professionals who are looking for mechanisms to strengthen the incentives of their teams.

Within the framework of the aspects developed in this article, the subject of analysis is the relationship between employee motivation and changes in generally accepted value orientations caused by universal transformations such as globalization. The influence of various factors, including the amount of remuneration, the quality of the work environment, career opportunities, as well as the degree of attention provided by management, on the degree of motivation of employees is documented in this study, with special emphasis on their role in increasing or decreasing active participation and productivity of staff. The questions of how modern theoretical approaches to motivation correlate with the practice of business organizations are also raised.

For the teams of enterprises operating in the changing environment of modernity, the author offers unique strategic guidelines that allow optimizing internal motivation. Workshops based on relevant research designed to increase employee engagement and dedication are described taking into account the global challenges of today.

Subject of the study — determining the degree of influence of non-material motivation and incentive tools for employees of enterprises in Russia. Scientific novelty and conclusions:

The conducted research confirms the hypothesis that the stimulating aspect of an intangible nature has a significant impact on the performance of employees. This influence is reflected in increased productivity due to better discipline, an increased degree of satisfaction from performing work duties and, as a result, in reducing staff fluctuations. The effects of non-material labor stimulation are becoming significant factors in strengthening corporate culture and creating a favorable climate within organizations.

Area of application: The results of the study may be useful for organizations with increased staff turnover and limited payroll.

The practical value of labor market research in the aging phase of workers with an emphasis on the analysis of theories, concepts and models of active longevity may lie in rethinking personnel management strategies, improving employment policies and creating intergenerational interaction programs.
Village funds and village-level of economic growth: A case study in Pamekasan
Authors: Oktaviya Yetty Dewi , Sutikno Sutikno
Published: January 2025

Village funds have become a significant strategy in the government's efforts to improve economic development at the village level, and village funds play a role in encouraging equitable village economic growth in Pamekasan Regency but still require a more in-depth evaluation. This research is based on the condition of even village economic growth in Pamekasan Regency villages, which is still below the average of 29.53. A study aims to analyze the relationship and how much influence there is between village funds, poverty-free villages, developing village index, and villages without disparity on the increase in the economic growth score of the village equally.  The data collection technique is a documentation technique sourced from the Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration. The method used in this study is multiple linear regression. The study results show that the increase in the economic growth score of the village is evenly responded to positively by villages without poverty and without inequality. On the other hand, the increase in the economic growth score of the village is responded negatively by the village fund because the higher the economic growth score of the village is even, the village fund budget will be reduced. After all, the welfare of the community begins to be achieved. The implication of the study is to provide input for related agencies and village communities in increasing the score of equitable village economic growth in Pamekasan Regency villages.
Economies of scale, efficiency and profitability of the convection industry in the city of Palembang
Authors: Sandrat Tomi , Mukhlis Mukhlis , Apriani Deassy
Published: January 2025

The development of the industrial sector is greatly influenced by economies of scale, efficiency and profitability. The small convection industrial sector always follows changes in clothing models and creativity that consumers like. This research aims to find out the value of economies of scale and measure the level of efficiency and profitability in small convection industries in the city of Palembang. The type of data used is primary data related to small convection industries in Palembang City. The research method used is qualitative and quantitative with analysis of the scale of production results using the Cobb-Douglas production function, efficiency and profitability. The research results show that the variables of labor (X1), capital (X2) and digital technology (dummy) simultaneously and partially have a positive and significant effect on the amount of production (Y). The economic scale of the small convection industry in Palembang City is in a condition where the return to scale is decreasing. The efficiency value is above average at 52 percent and below average at 48 percent. Agencies or authorities at the Palembang City level, including related parties, are expected to be more active in socializing People's Business Credit so as to facilitate capital and marketing of small convection industries, because based on the results of in-depth interviews with respondents, overall they already have business capital, and the government is expected to be able to distribute it. assistance with production support equipment to business actors thereby providing encouragement to improve production performance.
COVID-19 pandemic and housing demand mortgage: Partial adjustment model approach
Authors: Ayuningtyas Fitri Juniwati , Anggrismono Anggrismono
Published: January 2025

One of the efforts to encourage the fulfillment of housing needs is the provision of housing both from the government and the private sector by considering the community's purchasing power. The background of this research is that the fulfillment of housing needs by both the government and the private sector has yet to be maximized while the demand for housing is relatively high. This research is still necessary because the demand for housing is still high. Increased housing demand will push house prices due to limited housing land. The problems faced focus on the relatively high demand for mortgages because even in the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, people still make houses their top priority. This study aims to analyze the effect of people's income, loan interest rates, the amount of housing finance, and dummy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic on housing demand mortgage. The data analysis technique in this study used multiple regression Partial Adjustment Model (PAM). The results showed that the variables of income as proxy for GDP and loan interest rates significantly affected housing demand mortgage. In contrast, the amount of housing finance and the COVID-19 dummy had no significant impact. The research implication that researchers can provide to the government is to provide policy recommendations regarding the  Housing Finance Liquidity Facility (FLPP) program, which is intended for low-income communities.
Analysis of regional growth center and hinterland in Bantul regency
Authors: Putri Alivia Rianti , Priyadi Unggul
Published: January 2025

Increasing regional economic efficiency can be done through accelerated regional growth. Growth acceleration is known to produce two groups of regions, namely the growth center and Hinterland (supporting areas). This study aims to analyze the sub-districts that become growth centers and determine the value of community interaction between regions in Bantul Regency through comparative data in 2020 and 2022. In this study, secondary data is obtained through BPS Bantul Regency, which includes data, government facilities, education facilities, health facilities, worship facilities, economic facilities, communication facilities, tourism facilities, population, and distance between sub-districts. The analysis method used in this research is scalogram and gravity analysis, which was processed using Microsoft Excel. The results of the scaling analysis show that in 2020, there are five regional growth centers in Bantul Regency, which include Kasihan Subdistrict, Sewon Subdistrict, Banguntapan Subdistrict, Jetis Subdistrict, and Bambanglipuro Subdistrict. Meanwhile, in 2022, the scaling analysis shows that there are five regional growth centers in Bantul Regency, which include Banguntapan Sub-district, Sewon Sub-district, Jetis Sub-district, Kasihan Sub-district, and Kretek Sub-district. Then, the results of the gravity analysis show that there are different interaction values. The research results show that local governments need to prioritize the development of sub-districts that are still Hinterland by the RPJMD of Bantul Regency.
Empowering Teachers with VR Technology for Immersive Learning Experiences
Authors: Sulisworo Dwi , Maryani Ika , Kusumaningtyas Dian Artha , Rahmatika Nuniek
Published: January 2025

Background: The study explores insights from participants' discussions on the utilization of Virtual Reality (VR) technology in education and proposes recommendations to improve teacher competence in this domain.
Contribution: The aim of this study was to identify training needs and educators' preferences in effectively integrating VR tools into their teaching practices.
Method: This method involves collecting statements from participants, including their reflections on the benefits and challenges of using VR in education, as well as their suggestions for improvement.
Results: Through thematic analysis, key findings emerged, showing strong interest among participants in utilizing VR to create immersive and engaging learning experiences. However, participants also expressed the need for additional training to address technical challenges, develop pedagogical strategies, and align the use of VR with curriculum requirements.
Conclusion: Based on these findings, recommendations for follow-up training programs include providing comprehensive training on VR use, offering hands-on practice sessions, showcasing diverse VR applications, emphasizing strategies to increase student engagement, and building ongoing professional development opportunities. By addressing these recommendations, educators can improve their competence in utilizing VR technology to create a more effective and innovative learning environment.
Empowering Communities of Coffee Farmers via Risk Management and Coffee Berry Borer Control
Authors: Nasution Anisah , Risnafitri Hafizhah , Andriani Dewi
Published: January 2025

Background: Coffee farmers in Central Aceh face challenges with coffee berry borer pests, reducing yields and market value. Empowering the Musara Miko farmer group aims to address these issues through education and training in risk management and environmentally friendly pest control.
Contribution: The purpose of this community service project is to raise awareness about coffee berry borer pest risk management and control. It is intended that by engaging in this activity, the community will be able to reduce the risk associated with producing coffee while simultaneously increasing output and improving quality.
Method: This activity includes socialization, training, and practice. Risk management socialization activities are carried out to provide an understanding of risk management, training activities to make pest control tools using simple materials, then practice controlling coffee berry borer pests in the field. This activity involved 21 farmers as training participants.
Results: This empowerment program showed an increase in knowledge about risk management and control of coffee berry borer pests by 71%.

Conclusion: The program significantly improved farmers' ability to manage pests, enhancing productivity, quality, and market value, fostering sustainable coffee farming and economic welfare.
MeDASH: An Effective Way to Check the Availability of Pharmaceutical Drugs in Proximity Using QR-codes
Authors: Kommey Benjamin , Klogo Griffith Selorm , Paha Linda Ama , Yeboah Ofosu Samuel , Ofori Asamoah Davies
Published: January 2025

Background: The rapid advancement of technology is reshaping industries, including healthcare. Doctors and pharmacists require efficient tools to manage inventory and meet patient needs effectively..
Contribution: This project introduces a mobile application that leverages QR code technology to provide real-time information on the availability of prescribed drugs in nearby pharmacies.
Method: The app has two interfaces. The doctor’s interface records prescription details (drug name, dosage, frequency) and generates a QR code for the patient. The patient’s interface scans the QR code to find nearby pharmacies with the prescribed drugs via a central database.
Results: The application generates QR codes within 0.19 seconds and displays them in 0.22 seconds on average. It integrates Google Maps to identify the patient’s location and nearby pharmacies, offering precise directions to the selected pharmacy.
Conclusion: This solution enhances healthcare delivery by improving access to prescription drugs, offering convenience for both healthcare providers and patients, and addressing drug availability challenges.
Introduction of Artificial Intelligence to Students Using AIOT-kit Based on ThingSpeak
Authors: Trihandaru Suryasatriya , Parhusip Hanna Arini , Susanto Bambang , Setiawan Adi , Nugroho Didit Budi , Kurniawan Johanes Dian
Published: January 2025

Background: Schools struggle to engage students in science and technology, highlighting the need for innovative, tech-driven teaching methods to meet 21st-century educational demands.
Contribution: An AIOT kit was developed to introduce middle school students to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). The kit measures environmental factors like temperature, humidity, pressure, and light, providing real-time data.
Method: Students received training in mathematical and coding fundamentals, programmed the AIOT kit to collect data, and displayed it on the ThingSpeak dashboard. They also designed and assembled the kit, fostering peer-to-peer learning in future activities.
Results: Students visualized data effectively and successfully connected the AIOT kit to the dashboard, confirming its functionality.
Conclusion: The project enhanced students' understanding of AI and IoT, providing hands-on learning and boosting engagement in science and technology
Creating the “Father of the Nation”
Authors: Hattem Michael D.
Published: January 2025

This chapter explores how George Washington's memory was shaped in the years following his death in 1799. After having achieved a degree of unpopularity during his second administration, Washington's death elicited an outpouring of rhetorical grief that redefined him as the father of the nation. Almost immediately, Washington's life and person began to be mythologized in ways that would define his public memory for nearly two centuries to come.
Creating Monticello and Colonial Williamsburg
Authors: Hattem Michael D.
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines the politics around the creation of two major revolutionary historical sites in the 1920s. It also explores the partisan, class, and ethnic dimensions that helped define the creation of Monticello as a house museum and Colonial Williamsburg as one of the first living history museums.
The Cold War’s Revolution
Authors: Hattem Michael D.
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines the emergence of a new, conservative historical memory of the Revolution defined by individual liberty, limited government, and free market capitalism in the 1950s as a direct response to the need to define the United States and its origins in direct opposition to the Soviet Union and its communist revolution. It also shows how this memory was taken to its logical extremes by radical anticommunists and helped inspire the rise of the modern far-right militia movement.
Creating the Bicentennial
Authors: Hattem Michael D.
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines the national political, social, and economic contexts that shaped the planning for the bicentennial anniversary of 1976, reactions against the highly commercialized nature of the commemoration, and the bicentennial's influence on local political conflicts, particularly in Boston.
The Afterlife of the Bicentennial
Authors: Hattem Michael D.
Published: January 2025

This chapter explores the conservative approach to the bicentennial and its subsequent response to the alternative bicentennial. Spurred by the rise of evangelicals as a political force in Republican politics and the presidency of Ronald Reagan, conservatives added Christianity, the Second Amendment, and originalism as key principles of their existing Cold War memory of the Revolution in the 1970s and 1980s.
The Struggle Continues
Authors: Kolchin Peter
Published: January 2025

During the immediate post-emancipation period, transforming “freedom” into more than a legal technicality required continuing struggle, particularly over access to land and control of labor. For both African Americans and peasants, that struggle also encompassed resistance to other forms of mistreatment and a desire to maximize their autonomy and access to “self-government.” Former masters in both countries, on the other hand, strove to enforce as much dependency as possible and to confine the freedom of former bondspeople within narrow limits. Russian peace mediators and Southern Freedmen’s Bureau agents faced the almost impossible task of balancing the expectations of each group. The struggle was most evident in the process whereby Russian peasants negotiated “statutory charters” preliminary to “redeeming” (paying for) the land they worked and Southern freedpeople negotiated yearly contracts for their labor. In the end, the freedpeople’s strategic use of collective bargaining enabled them to secure less one-sided arrangements than the former masters sought. Such struggles evolved within increasingly divergent demographic and political contexts.
Introduction: Indentured bodies/embodiments of indenture
Authors: Kloß Sinah Theres , Leetsch Jennifer
Published: January 2025

Indentureship had profound and lasting effects on the bodies of those involved. Recruitment processes, along with the harrowing conditions of transport and labour, radically reshaped the material and physical realities of indentured labourers, influencing not only their immediate bodily experiences but also the socio-cultural practices and embodied memories they would pass down to future generations. As such, indentured corporeality dwells in but also extends beyond the tangible realm of labour, touching on deeper questions of how bodies can be understood, experienced and mediated under colonial exploitation and beyond. To trace the intricate interplay between the concrete and sensory actualities of indentured bodies and the cultural processes inherent to embodiments of indenture, this special issue brings together interdisciplinary perspectives that examine how bodies became both sites of colonial inscription and sites of resilience and resistance. Through historical analysis, literary exploration, artistic representation and anthropological insight, contributors attend to how the afterlives of indenture continue to shape our understanding of indentured identity, memory and belonging, revealing the body as both a marker of oppression and a medium for enduring cultural expression.
Mapping Welfare Attitudes in East Asia
Authors: Sundberg Trude
Published: January 2025

This book provides an overview of welfare attitudes in East Asian societies using data from a range of cross-national surveys and a qualitative study. It provides a comprehensive and multidimensional overview of welfare attitudes by using a comprehensive set of measurements of welfare attitudes. It also emphasises the importance of the political and cultural trajectories of societies when we seek to understand welfare attitudes and show that these factors matter when we analyse welfare attitudes in East Asia. The book also explores how we can decentre the typical approaches to welfare attitudes that make use of explanations and experiences coming out of Europe and North America.When analysing welfare attitudes, we see that there is no one East Asian model of attitudes, and that societies group together differently depending on the dimension of welfare attitudes we analyse. Furthermore, both political systems and cultural values and families have a unique importance when we analyse welfare attitudes in East Asia, which calls for these dimensions to be included more in welfare attitude studies in the future.
Introduction
Authors: Sundberg Trude
Published: January 2025

Why study welfare attitudes, and why in East Asia? The Introduction to the book sets out what welfare attitudes are, how they are defined and makes the case for why East Asian societies are crucial to study when it comes to welfare attitudes. It also sets out the structure of the book and what to expect as we move along the different dimensions of welfare attitudes.
Trends and approaches in East Asia
Authors: Sundberg Trude
Published: January 2025

The chapter sets out what we know so far from previous studies about welfare attitudes in East Asia. It moves on to set out the major trends along the multidimensional framework of welfare attitudes set out in Chapter 2 across the East Asian societies. In doing so it shows that there is no one East Asian model of welfare attitudes, but rather different welfare systems with varied histories leading to different patterns of welfare attitudes. However, we do find some similarities, in particular when it comes to the role of family in taking care of the elderly and young people. This confirms what one would expect from Confucian and productivist welfare state regimes. We also find less support for income inequality and higher support for taxes than what one would expect from earlier studies. Furthermore, we found that Japan has slightly different patterns of welfare attitude from the other countries, pointing to the influence of an older and more advanced welfare state regime.
A qualitative study in Singapore and mainland China
Authors: Sundberg Trude
Published: January 2025

Chapter 6 uses the qualitative study’s findings to explore welfare attitudes and deservingness attitudes in mainland China and Singapore. The chapter also explores political campaigns and narratives in those countries as they are seen to represent values and influence and shape attitudes, roles and values. We find some differences in welfare attitudes in Singapore and China, and discuss how political systems and societies might explain this. The chapter argues in favour of what is called cultural and politically sensitive deservingness approaches. The chapter shows that: family and value systems guide the role of different people within families, influencing who is seen as deserving as well as whose role it is to provide welfare; filial piety is seen as a sought-after virtue; when analysing the attitudes with the deservingness criteria lens, two criteria mattered: contribution and identity; Singapore and mainland China differ in who has what attitudes when it comes to filial piety and the importance given to family; the importance of family is also reflected in policies, and answers among respondents reflect and mirror slogans from political campaigns in mainland China; and in Singapore we see the regime effect of the absence of immigrants when speaking of deservingness.
Conclusion
Authors: Sundberg Trude
Published: January 2025

In the Conclusion we go through the main findings of the book showing the importance of multidimensional approaches to welfare attitude studies, and also the importance of including political and cultural trajectories when analysing welfare attitudes. It is argued that doing so successfully means decentring the European experience and historical trajectories that have served as benchmarks for concepts in welfare attitude studies. The chapter goes on to suggest ways in which we can improve our methodological and theoretical approaches in welfare attitude studies to get more comprehensive understandings of welfare attitudes across countries in the world.
Introduction
Authors: Magalhães Claudio De , Sieh Louie
Published: January 2025

This chapter introduces the book, its context, approach and structure. It starts by discussing the current importance of public space in several fields of policy, and by reaffirming the need to focus on the challenges of provision and management, especially in a complex, fragmented and contested built environment. The chapter puts forward the key arguments that justify the book, around the need to take on board the complexity and variety of public space; to understand publicness in relation to the aspirations and demands of stakeholders in relation to the various attributes of public space; and to look at the life cycle of public space and its management. It discusses why a comparative analysis of London and Hong Kong, with their similarities but also stark physical, cultural and institutional differences can help us understand the challenges of providing and managing public space in contemporary cities. The last section of the chapter presents the structure of the book and explains how its main argument is developed through each of its chapters.
The quantitative challenges of public space provision and management
Authors: Magalhães Claudio De , Sieh Louie
Published: January 2025

This chapter uses empirical cases in London and Hong Kong to examine the quantitative challenges of providing enough public spaces and of finding the resources to maintain them over the long term. In Hong Kong the chapter discusses the ways capital investment on public space has been sought outside public sector budgets and in private property development operations. It looks at the production of public facilities in private developments or on privately leased land, including public passageways and public open spaces and the land leasing and deeds of dedication mechanisms that make these possible. In London, the chapter discusses the use of planning obligations to obtain new public space as a planning gain from development. It also looks at the various forms of transfer of management rights and of outsourcing of management responsibilities to private and voluntary bodies. The conclusion looks at how responses to the quantitative challenges in both cities have affected the rights of access to and use of public space, the operational rights associated with publicness.
The qualitative challenges of public space provision and management: quality and responsiveness
Authors: Magalhães Claudio De , Sieh Louie
Published: January 2025

This chapter discusses the qualitative challenges to provision and management of public spaces. It looks at how London and Hong Kong try to adapt public spaces to meet evolving needs and how users’ aspirations are incorporated into that process. The chapter looks at the issue of diversification, the challenge of addressing different functions of public spaces in different contexts and the inevitable changes in those functions over time. It examines the mechanisms through which public spaces are continuously shaped and reshaped in response to the needs and demands of users and how this affects the allocation of those rights that make up publicness. The chapter looks at the responses from both cities and their impact on the agency rights, the collective choice rights that are at the root of what is to be ‘public’.
Conclusions and the sketch of a practical theory of public space governance
Authors: Magalhães Claudio De , Sieh Louie
Published: January 2025

This chapter draws together both the conceptual discussions in the first part of the book and the empirical evidence from London and Hong Kong to propose a practical theory of public space governance. It uses the diverse theoretical sources raised in the first part of the book, from law to institutional economics, public administration and urban design, together with the experience of practice as revealed in the case of both cities to propose theoretical underpinnings of public space governance in a way that can bridge scholarly theoretical work and the challenges of practically governing and managing actual public space in cities around the world. The chapter draws on both theory and practice to set out basic principles that acknowledge the diversity and specificity of public spaces but which are sufficiently situated to inform operational decision. Since theorisation of public space governance is still limited, and a significant gap exists between practice and scholarly theorising, the chapter concludes the book by trying to bridge that gap.
Mental vulnerability and the moving target of mental health
Authors: Väänänen Ari
Published: January 2025

This chapter introduces the conceptual framework of the book. It describes how it is possible to analyse the diversifying challenges of the psyche as part of changes in work and culture without turning to the conventional understanding of mental health. It explains how mental vulnerability is embedded in the socio-historical behaviour and why it is important to include the perspective of social character/historically transformative subjectivity to the analysis of mental health crisis. The chapter also explains how the rapid transition from agricultural to late modern society in the Finnish labour market and culture can offer a unique empirical material for the analysis of surge of mental vulnerability in affluent societies in general. By placing mental health within the analytical scope of culture and institutional social action, the chapter formulates an alternative approach for the current conception of mental health focused on individual risks and symptoms. It suggests that it is essential to look at the possibilities, ideals and limits linked to the historically unique social behaviour when analysing the fuelling processes of mental vulnerability.
The change in the understanding of occupational health
Authors: Väänänen Ari
Published: January 2025

This chapter focuses on the transformation of occupational health and the surge of mental health perspectives since the 1960s through three social arenas. First, this chapter analyses how the central paradigm of modern occupational health, work stress research, developed into a dominant perspective structuring wellbeing at work, and what kind of built-in assumptions it produced about psychological wellbeing and human characteristics. The second part of the chapter describes the emergence of psychosocial risks of work and mental health in media by analysing the largest newspaper in the Nordic countries and a widely circulated women’s magazine. It analyses how the problems of the psyche came to the fore in occupational health publicity when the problems of the middle class in working life grew and new challenges began to be identified. The third part summarizes key research findings derived from extensive interview data of occupational health professionals (especially doctors) with long-term work experience. These analyses show how changes in work conditions and occupational structure as well as the liberalization of reflexive psycho-emotional character fuelled the emergence of mental vulnerability in the medical practice.
The historical pathways of mental vulnerability in different occupations
Authors: Väänänen Ari
Published: January 2025

Employees of different historical periods experience working life and its challenges within their own working conditions and through their worldviews. In different occupations changes in work, cultural climate and employee ideals have taken place in various ways. This chapter discusses how the position of mental health, its understanding and coping with psycho-emotional difficulties has transformed during the post-war period and early 2000s in three different occupations. The analysis of insurance workers, teachers and social workers based on archival materials shows how mental vulnerability gradually gained a foothold. The analyses indicate that the history of occupations and the development of work ability/mental health are linked to broader economic and cultural change. Unique and diverse empirical materials describing the experiences of employees in different occupations also show how the challenges of the psycho-emotional life at work have developed through special professional trajectories and socio-cultural pathways. At the same time, they reflect the broader societal change, for example through transition in interaction norms, perceptions of wellbeing and evolvement of professional cultures.
The current dynamics of vulnerability at work
Authors: Väänänen Ari
Published: January 2025

This chapter discusses the core nature of mental vulnerability through three groups of workers of late modern society: knowledge workers, young employees and female employees. They are often seen as problematic groups in studies of work disability related to mental health. First, the illusory autonomy of knowledge workers and the system-based nature of their workload are investigated and discussed. Second, the challenges of mental health and the typical characteristics of vulnerability among young working adults are analysed using extensive interview material. The cultural typology of mental health characters describes the sources and nature of mental vulnerability among them. At the end of the chapter, the role of gender as a watershed of mental vulnerability is analysed. According to the results, not only work conditions but the ways of emotional management vary according to sub-cultures of work. Due to the gendered structure of labour market and group-specific socio-emotional codes, the phenomenon viewed as mental health is quite different between men and women, both in terms of background and manifestation. The chapter illustrates how the foundation of mental vulnerability arises from different material and subjective frameworks, emphasizing its contextual nature.
The public inquiry as a site of struggle
Authors: Schlembach Raphael
Published: January 2025

This chapter proposes a reading of public inquiries that foregrounds contestation and struggle. At the outset of the Undercover Policing Inquiry, the police developed an approach of ‘neither confirming nor denying’ the deployments of undercover officers into political groups. This approach was fiercely contested by non-state participants who sought to find answers about the levels of intrusion into their lives. The chapter shows how the Neither Confirm Nor Deny position was eventually rejected by the Chair of the Undercover Policing Inquiry, but how the issuing of restriction orders allowed him to protect the anonymity of many police witnesses.
Time and practice in social theory
Authors: Dobson Mark , Parker Gavin
Published: January 2025

This chapter provides a deep exposition of time and practice as conceptualised in the wider social sciences. It presents a review of how time has been theorised in social theory, drawing on key thinkers who emphasise the role of time in shaping social and institutional practices across capitalist economic systems, interpersonal power relations and political strategies. In considering this range, the chapter draws on a number of theorists’ work, notably, Pierre Bourdieu, Barbara Adam, Helga Nowotny and Nomi Lazar, whose ideas are presented as key in highlighting the operation of power, political strategy and the relationship of time to practice (and vice versa). This sets out a framework for analysis and provides both an insight and a guide to understanding the multiple temporalities of planning and how timescapes structure practice. By considering the use and organisation of time in organising how planning is practised and who is involved, the recognition that planning itself produces particular futures is brought into view. Key theoretical ideas are used specifically to examine, in later chapters, the way time is organised and deployed as a tool to exert control in the planning system in England.
The Rights-Based Approach to Social Policy in India: Innovations, Advances and Setbacks
Authors: Ruparelia Sanjay
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines the rights-based approach to social policy in India from 2004 to 2021. Initiated by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), this approach sought to bolster civil liberties, economic security, and social entitlements for India’s most marginalized citizens, introducing rights related to information, work, education, food and land. New digital technologies and cash transfer schemes were also integrated. Reflecting on the uniqueness of India’s social policy, the chapter highlights the role of activists and innovative governance mechanisms in these policy shifts, while also noting the subsequent attempts to constrict these entitlements. Despite the significant strides in enhancing economic security, the chapter argues that efforts have fallen short in equalizing social opportunities and improving power dynamics. Moreover, the rights-based approach has faced durability issues due to executive interference and partisan attacks, and difficulties posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the chapter underscores the challenges of implementing these measures and questions their transformative potential, while recognizing their foundational role in reshaping state–citizen interactions. Nonetheless, the persistence of India’s rights-based Acts amid these political changes reflects their continuing significance.
New Actors and New Systems in Aged Care Services in China
Authors: Li Bingqin , Fang Lijie , Hu Bo , Wang Jing
Published: January 2025

China, with its rapidly ageing population, faces escalated demands for aged care. By November 2020, seniors aged 60 and over represented 18.7 per cent of the population, a number projected to rise considerably by 2030. Concurrently, shifts in economic and social dynamics influence older individuals’ lifestyles, leading to varied demands. Traditional living arrangements are changing, with fewer older people residing with their children, thus elevating the need for external care. To cater to this, the Chinese state initiated reforms, emphasizing community-based care provision and transitioning from direct state-provided services to collaborations with social organizations and private entities. This chapter delves into the changing dynamics of China’s aged care system, exploring the introduction of diverse care providers, expanding care scopes, and evolving perceptions among stakeholders. The research, conducted in pilot cities, suggests a gradual shift toward a hybrid care model, although challenges persist in nationwide implementation and stakeholder trust. The findings offer insights into the complexities of adapting aged care systems amid demographic and social changes.
NGOs in the Context of the Reform of Social Services in Russia
Authors: Cook Linda J. , Iarskaia-Smirnova Elena
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines the transformation in Russia’s social policies from 2005 to 2020, focusing on three major reforms: policies for people with disabilities, child welfare and the outsourcing of social services to socially oriented non-profit organizations (SONPOs). These reforms signify a departure from Soviet-era institutionalization toward a rights-based approach, emphasizing social inclusion, deinstitutionalization and diversified service delivery. The changes are attributed to Russia’s adoption of international norms, such as those from United Nations Conventions, influenced by the government’s priorities such as demographic issues, cost efficiency and public service satisfaction. However, the adoption of these norms is selective. These reforms, initiated between 2005 and 2010 and fully legislated between 2012 and 2015, aim to integrate marginalized populations into society, thereby reducing structural inequalities. Research findings from 40 interviews reveal the potential of SONPOs in implementing these reforms, as demonstrated during the COVID-19 crisis. Nevertheless, while these policy alterations have significant backing from Russia’s civil society, major reform initiatives predominantly emerge from the centralized political system. The application of these rights-based norms remains inconsistent across different policy areas.
Street-level bureaucrats in environments of systemic corruption: sources of influence
Authors: Meza Oliver , Pérez-Chiqués Elizabeth , Gofen Anat
Published: January 2025

The influences weighing on SLBs’ behaviour, attitudes, and proclivity towards corruption in environments of systemic corruption are many and difficult to disaggregate. Drawing from fieldwork on corruption in Mexican municipalities, this chapter offers a typology that helps identify different sources and levels of influence that weigh on SLBs and that help contextualise the predatory and corrupt behaviours SLBs can be involved in or subjected to. The typology takes into account hierarchical sources of influence (top-down or bottom up/sideways) as well whether these are internal or external to the organisation (from inside or from outside). Identifying the multiple and often simultaneous sources of corrupted influence on SLBs signals the need for further study of the roles of SLBs in contexts of systemic corruption, as well as of the factors that drive street-level implementation in these settings.
Frontline implementation conditions of the Families programme: labour precarity and territorial gaps as aspects of weak state institutions in Chile
Authors: Reininger Taly , Arce Gianinna Muñoz , Villalobos Cristóbal , Luengo Mitzi Duboy
Published: January 2025

This chapter analyses the implementation conditions of one of Chile’s central social protection system programmes: the Families programme. Successor to the Puente Programme (2002–2011) and the Ethical Family Income (2011–2016), the Families programme consists of preferential access to state social programmes, conditional and unconditional cash transfers, and a psychosocial support component for families living in situations of extreme poverty. This programme is Chile’s most significant state action in the ‘fight against poverty’. However, despite almost 20 years of experience, the highly precarious working conditions of the professionals who implement the programme and the territorial differences in implementation conditions are critical and persistent issues discussed in this chapter. Based on the findings from 17 individual and six group interviews with frontline professionals who implement the Families programme in six municipalities and the descriptive results of a nationally representative survey of frontline professionals implementing the programme, we discuss how weak institutions – specifically administrative/organisational and professional factors – contribute to undesired policy outcomes. We conclude the chapter by reflecting on the challenges of implementing social policies in weak institutional contexts and suggest recommendations for policymakers.
Touching from a distance: gaining intimacy with research participants during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Caetano Ana , Nico Magda , Pereira Anabela , Correia Sónia Bernardo
Published: January 2025

In this chapter, we discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the development of the ‘Biographical echoes’ project. We focus not only on the pandemic challenges faced due to this project’s singularity but also, more particularly, on the sociological response to the disruptive effects of the general lockdown for the research’s design, relationships and essence. After an inevitable break in the data-collection process, instead of proceeding with the original plan of recruiting and interviewing the remaining participants, we decided to focus specifically on the individuals that had been interviewed so far. We maintained contact with them in several ways: some were interviewed by phone about the way they were coping with the lockdown; others accepted our invitation to send us photographs of their daily lives during the lockdown. This was a sociological and humanist need at the time, but also a way of integrating the pandemic experience in the participants’ biographies and in the further development of the project. We argue that, although we could not carry out interviews in co-presence, establishing a more immediate intimacy and empathic interaction, we still managed to touch people’s lives, as they did ours. Even from a distance.
Relations between biographical dispositions and teaching strategies of computer science teachers during lockdown: application of triangulation in biographical research
Authors: Epp André
Published: January 2025

This chapter discusses the teaching strategies of computer science teachers during the first lockdown in Germany. Relations between the biographies of computer science teachers and their actions (strategies) during home schooling/emergency remote teaching are explored. Biographical narrative interviews and expert interviews are triangulated, because the former enables to capture big life-historical lines and the latter informations about pedagogical action. With a case example the relevance of teachers’ biographies with regard to their professional actions – even in relatively spontaneous and crisis-prone situations, like teaching at a distance during a lockdown, without having any experience in this – is shown. In addition, the empirical approach is critically reflected.
Revising the researcher’s ‘borders’: the narrator demands expansion of the researcher’s ‘presence’ in storytelling
Authors: Žabko Oksana
Published: January 2025

This chapter reflects the author’s experience – the gradual development of the applied questioning technique in the course of biographical interviewing – that implies an extensive review of professional and personal boundaries while studying intra-generational occupational mobility. This was facilitated, first, by confrontation between the author’s previous qualitative research practice of a favourable but restrained attitude and a need or even ‘a demand’, expressed to a greater or lesser extent by interviewees, to expand the researcher’s presence in the conversation and to share some parts of the researcher’s life course. Second, this experience was contested again during the COVID-19 pandemic when face-to-face interaction was transferred online, reducing the researcher’s ability to influence the interview surroundings. This experience facilitates discussion of the impact of the approach with regards to the quality of the data collected; the narratives both in terms of their richness and potential bias emerging through a desire on the part of the researcher to adjust to the expectations of the interviewee in an attempt to bridge the spaces between them, as well as the knowledge, self-awareness and/or emotional states of the narrator.