bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Bis(ethylmaltolato)oxidovanadium (IV) attenuates amyloid-beta-mediated neuroinflammation by inhibiting NF-κB signaling pathway via a PPARγ-dependent mechanism
Authors: He Zhijun , Li Xiaoqian , Han Shuangxue , Ren Bingyu , Hu Xia , Li Nan , Du Xiubo , Ni Jiazuan , Yang Xiaogai , Liu Qiong
Published: June 2021

Neuroinflammation plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. During brain neuroinflammation, activated microglial cells resulting from amyloid-beta (Aβ) overload trigger toxic proinflammatory responses. Bis(ethylmaltolato)oxidovanadium (BEOV) (IV), an important vanadium compound, has been reported to have anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, and neuroprotective effects, but its anti-inflammatory property has rarely been investigated. In the present study, the inhibitory effects of BEOV on neuroinflammation were revealed in both Aβ-stimulated BV2 microglial cell line and APPswe/PS1E9 transgenic mouse brain. BEOV administration significantly decreased the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, interleukin-1β, inducible nitric oxide synthase, and cyclooxygenase-2 both in the hippocampus of APPswe/PS1E9 mice and in the Aβ-stimulated BV2 microglia. Furthermore, BEOV suppressed the Aβ-induced activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling and upregulated the protein expression level of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) in a dose-dependent manner. PPARγ inhibitor GW9662 could eliminate the effect of BEOV on Aβ-induced NF-κB activation and proinflammatory mediator production. Taken altogether, these findings suggested that BEOV ameliorates Aβ-stimulated neuroinflammation by inhibiting NF-κB signaling pathway through a PPARγ-dependent mechanism.
Patterns and Prevalence of Daily Tobacco Smoking in Australia by Industry and Occupation: 2007–2016
Authors: McEntee Alice , Kim Susan , Harrison Nathan , Chapman Janine , Roche Ann
Published: June 2021

Introduction

Australian workers’ daily tobacco smoking over time was examined by industry and occupation, to identify factors associated with high and/or low prevalence.

Aims and Methods

Secondary analyses of 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Surveys were undertaken (pooled n = 49 395). Frequency analyses informed subsequent modeling of select industries and occupations. Four logistic regression models estimated adjusted effects of demographics on daily smoking in industries with high (≥20%) and low (≤15%) daily smoking prevalence and occupations with high (≥20%) and low-moderate (<20%) daily smoking prevalence.

Results

The sample comprised 55.7% men, 34.1% 25–39-year-olds, 31.4% New South Wales residents, 70.1% metropolitan residents, 66.9% high socioeconomic status workers, and 70.6% with low psychological distress. Daily smoking prevalence differed by industry and occupation in 2007, generally decreasing between 2007 and 2016. In high prevalence industries, daily smoking was associated with male gender and age (25–39-year-olds) and in low prevalence industries with males and nonmetropolitan workers. In high prevalence occupations, daily smoking was associated with males, female nonmetropolitan workers, and age 25–39 years and in low-moderate prevalence occupations with nonmetropolitan workers and negatively associated with females aged 14–24 years. In all models, increased odds of daily smoking were associated with low socioeconomic status and very high psychological distress.

Conclusions

Low socioeconomic status and very high psychological distress were risk factors for daily smoking regardless of industry, occupation, or high preexisting smoking prevalence. Targeted, as well as universal, interventions are required for workplaces and workers with greatest smoking vulnerability and least smoking cessation progress.

Implications

Specific strategies are warranted for identified industries, occupations, and subgroups with increased odds of daily tobacco smoking. Industries and occupations with low-moderate smoking prevalence may confer workers some protection but are not without risk; some subgroups in these settings (eg, nonmetropolitan areas) had elevated daily smoking risk. Hence, the following are supported: (1) universal interventions directed at low socioeconomic workers and workers with very high psychological distress regardless of workplace; (2) interventions targeted at high prevalence industries; (3) cessation efforts targeted for young workers in high prevalence industries and occupations; and (4) focused interventions addressing specific needs of nonmetropolitan at-risk workers in low prevalence industries.
SARS-CoV-2 Subgenomic RNA Kinetics in Longitudinal Clinical Samples
Authors: Verma Renu , Kim Eugene , Martínez-Colón Giovanny Joel , Jagannathan Prasanna , Rustagi Arjun , Parsonnet Julie , Bonilla Hector , Khosla Chaitan , Holubar Marisa , Subramanian Aruna , Singh Upinder , Maldonado Yvonne , Blish Catherine A , Andrews Jason R
Published: June 2021

Background

Given the persistence of viral RNA in clinically recovered coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients, subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) have been reported as potential molecular viability markers for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, few data are available on their longitudinal kinetics, compared with genomic RNA (gRNA), in clinical samples.

Methods

We analyzed 536 samples from 205 patients with COVID-19 from placebo-controlled, outpatient trials of peginterferon Lambda-1a (Lambda; n = 177) and favipiravir (n = 359). Nasal swabs were collected at 3 time points in the Lambda (days 1, 4, and 6) and favipiravir (days 1, 5, and 10) trials. N-gene gRNA and sgRNA were quantified by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. To investigate the decay kinetics in vitro, we measured gRNA and sgRNA in A549ACE2+ cells infected with SARS-CoV-2, following treatment with remdesivir or dimethylsulfoxide control.

Results

At 6 days in the Lambda trial and 10 days in the favipiravir trial, sgRNA remained detectable in 51.6% (32/62) and 49.5% (51/106) of the samples, respectively. Cycle threshold (Ct) values for gRNA and sgRNA were highly linearly correlated (marginal R2 = 0.83), and the rate of increase did not differ significantly in the Lambda trial (1.36 cycles/d vs 1.36 cycles/d; P = .97) or the favipiravir trial (1.03 cycles/d vs 0.94 cycles/d; P = .26). From samples collected 15–21 days after symptom onset, sgRNA was detectable in 48.1% (40/83) of participants. In SARS-CoV-2-infected A549ACE2+ cells treated with remdesivir, the rate of Ct increase did not differ between gRNA and sgRNA.

Conclusions

In clinical samples and in vitro, sgRNA was highly correlated with gRNA and did not demonstrate different decay patterns to support its application as a viability marker.
Endoscopic Endonasal and Supraorbital Removal of Tuberculum Sellae Meningiomas: Anatomic Guides and Operative Nuances for Keyhole Approach Selection
Authors: Mallari Regin Jay , Thakur Jai Deep , Rhee John H , Eisenberg Amalia , Krauss Howard , Griffiths Chester , Sivakumar Walavan , Barkhoudarian Garni , Kelly Daniel F
Published: June 2021

BACKGROUND

With growing worldwide endoscopy experience, endonasal and supraorbital removal of tuberculum sellae meningiomas (TSM) has increased.

OBJECTIVE

To describe anatomic factors for guiding approach selection and outcomes.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of patients undergoing endonasal or supraorbital TSM resection: approach criteria, clinical outcomes, acute magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery (FLAIR)/T2 changes.

RESULTS

From 2008 to 2020, 33 patients (mean age 55 ± 11 yr) were identified: 20 (61%) had endonasal and 13 (39%) supraorbital removal. Comparing endonasal and supraorbital approaches, mean tumor volume (3.7 ± 3.5 cm3 vs 7.7 ± 8.5 cm3, P = .07); percent tumor above planum (42% vs 65%, P = .02), and lateral tumor beyond supraclinoid internal carotid arteries (1.4 ± 2.0 mm vs 4.0 ± 3.2 mm, P = .006) were greater for supraorbital route. Sellar depth was greater for endonasal route tumors (12.2 ± 2.6 mm vs 9.3 ± 2.4 mm, P = .003). Endoscopy, used in 10/13(77%) supraorbital cases, was helpful in additional tumor removal in 4/10(40%). Gross total removal and mean volumetric tumor resection were 16/20(80%) and 97.5% by endonasal, and 5/13(39%) and 96% by supraorbital route. Vision improved in 12/17 (71%) endonasal, 6/8 (75%) supraorbital operations, and worsened in 1 (3%) supraorbital case. Endonasal approach with optic canal decompression increased over study period: 15/20 (75%) endonasal patients vs 1/13(8%) supraorbital (P < .001). Postoperative FLAIR/T2 MRI changes occurred in 2/12 supraorbital and 0/20 endonasal cases.

CONCLUSION

In our experience, both endonasal and supraorbital routes are safe and effective for TSM removal. Greater tumor extension below planum and medial optic canal invasion favor endonasal route, while larger size and lateral extension favor supraorbital route. Given high frequency of TSM growth into optic canals and better access for medial optic canal tumor removal, endonasal route may be preferred for most TSMs.
Performance of Computed Tomography-Guided Spine Biopsy for the Diagnosis of Malignancy and Infection
Authors: Harris Lauren , Rajashekar Devika , Sharma Puneet , David Karoly M
Published: June 2021

BACKGROUND

Computed tomography (CT)-guided percutaneous biopsies are used to guide treatment in vertebral osteomyelitis and spinal malignancy, but the efficacy of this study remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the performance of CT-guided spinal biopsy, and factors that may influence its success.

METHODS

Retrospective study of all consecutive patients who underwent a CT-guided spine biopsy at a UK teaching hospital between April 2012 and February 2019. Biopsies were performed by 3 consultant neuroradiologists for a lesion suggestive of either malignancy or infection. Data collection included patient factors, biopsy factors, further investigations required, and diagnosis. Data were analyzed using contingency tables, analysis of variance, unpaired t-test, chi-squared test, and Fisher's exact test.

RESULTS

A total of 124 percutaneous biopsies were performed on 109 patients with a mean follow-up of 34.5 mo (range 4-86 mo) and a mean age of 66 yr (range 27-93). Approximately 32.3% (n = 40) of the biopsies investigated possible infection, and 67.7% investigated malignancy. The sensitivity for infected cases was 37.0%, and for malignancy 72.7%. The diagnostic accuracy was 57.5% and 78.6%, respectively. Complication rate was 1.6%. In our study, neither needle gauge, anatomic level of the biopsy, or bone quality significantly affected the rate of positive biopsy.

CONCLUSION

Both in our study and in the wider literature, CT-guided biopsy has a vastly superior sensitivity for malignancy compared with suspected infection. These procedures may be painful, poorly tolerated, and are not entirely risk free. As such we advocate judicious use of this modality particularly in cases of suspected infection.
Outcomes of Surgical Treatment for 138 Patients With Severe Sagittal Deformity at a Minimum 2-Year Follow-up: A Case Series
Authors: Scheer Justin K , Lenke Lawrence G , Smith Justin S , Lau Darryl , Passias Peter G , Kim Han Jo , Bess Shay , Protopsaltis Themistocles S , Burton Douglas C , Klineberg Eric O , Lafage Virginie , Schwab Frank , Shaffrey Christopher I , Ames Christopher P ,   on behalf of The International Spine Study Group
Published: June 2021

BACKGROUND

Operative treatment of adult spinal deformity (ASD) can be very challenging with high complication rates. It is well established that patients benefit from such treatment; however, the surgical outcomes for patients with severe sagittal deformity have not been reported.

OBJECTIVE

To report the outcomes of patients undergoing surgical correction for severe sagittal deformity.

METHODS

Retrospective review of a prospective, multicenter ASD database. Inclusion criteria: operative patients age ≥18, sagittal vertical axis (SVA) ≥15 cm, mismatch between pelvic incidence and lumbar lordosis (PI-LL) ≥30°, and/or lumbar kyphosis ≥5° with minimum 2 yr follow-up. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) scores including minimal clinically important difference (MCID)/substantial clinical benefit (SCB), sagittal and coronal radiographic values, demographic, frailty, surgical, and complication data were collected. Comparisons between 2 yr postoperative and baseline HRQOL/radiographic data were made. P < .05 was significant.

RESULTS

A total of 138 patients were included from 502 operative patients (54.3% Female, Average (Avg) age 63.3 ± 11.5 yr). Avg operating room (OR) time 386.2 ± 136.5 min, estimated blood loss (EBL) 1829.8 ± 1474.6 cc. A total of 71(51.4%) had prior fusion. A total of 89.9% were posterior fusion only. Mean posterior levels fused 11.5 ± 4.1. A total of 44.9% had a 3-column osteotomy. All 2 yr postoperative radiographic parameters were significantly improved compared to baseline (P < .001 for all). All 2yr HRQOL measures were significantly improved compared to baseline (P < .004 for all). A total of 46.6% to 73.8% of patients met either MCID/SCB for all HRQOL. A total of 74.6% of patients had at least 1 complication, 11.6% had 4 or more complications, 33.3% had minimum 1 major complication, and 42(30.4%) had a postop revision.

CONCLUSION

Patients with severe sagittal malalignment benefit from surgical correction at 2 yr postoperative both radiographically and clinically despite having a high complication rate.
The Semiotics of Love
Authors: Danesi Marcel
Published: June 2021

Rituals, symbols, art forms, and narratives devoted to celebrating and reflecting upon the meanings of romantic love have existed throughout time and across cultural spaces. Deciphering those meanings concerns semiotics, the science of interpretation. This chapter deals with the meanings of love as they present themselves in diverse representational forms across the world in order to understand what they tell us about love as a universal emotional phenomenon. The practices, symbols, and cultural texts derived from the feelings evoked by romantic love suggest, clearly, that it is more than a reaction to sexual instincts and urges. This is perhaps why love-based traditions have brought about social revolutions and have had effects on how we have evolved psychologically and culturally. The actual biological source of love remains a mystery, but we can unravel its raison d’être somewhat by understanding why it is so meaningful for all of us.
Sexuality and Translation: Rewriting Identities and Desires
Authors: Santaemilia José
Published: June 2021

This chapter offers a panorama of research on sexuality and translation, a promising field of research still underexamined. Two directions are identified: the translation of sexuality and the sexualization of translation. The cooperation between disciplines has generated a number of new areas of study, including erotic/pornographic translation, (self)censorship in translation, and gay/queer translation. These promising lines of inquiry are briefly presented, and a few examples of analyses are added. Though much more work is needed, the critical alliance of translation and sexuality seems to be offering valuable insights into the ideological construction of a given society, particularly into the endless (re)writings of sexual identities, desires, and pleasures. Whether they will constitute a proper interdiscipline—in terms of a common focus or methodologies—remains to be seen.
Mediated Discourse Analysis in Language and Sexuality Research
Authors: Jones Rodney H.
Published: June 2021

This chapter outlines some of the main theoretical principles and analytical procedures of mediated discourse analysis and illustrates how they can be applied to studies of language and sexuality. Where mediated discourse analysis differs from other approaches to language and sexuality is its focus on the concrete social actions that people take in their lives, like putting on a condom or sharing a dick pic. The approach asks how language and other cultural tools that people have available to them make these actions possible, and, how through their actions, people reproduce or “technologize” these cultural tools so that they can be taken up and used in future actions. Sexuality emerges through a process of making our bodies (and parts of our bodies) meaningful in the ongoing negotiation of mediated actions through processes of entextualization, appropriation, and recontextualization.
Introduction
Authors: Richmond Oliver P. , Visoka Gëzim
Published: June 2021

This introductory chapter offers an overview of the key concepts and themes covered in the Handbook. The first section explores how peacebuilding, statebuilding, and peace formation are conceived in different international relations approaches and social science disciplines, offering an overview of the conceptual bedrock of major theories and approaches. The second section situates these approaches among other major global issues to illustrate their global, regional, and local resonance. The third section disaggregates key themes in peacebuilding and statebuilding studies. Finally, the fourth section looks at key features of postliberal peace and peace formation processes both in theory and in practice.
Pacifism in International Relations
Authors: Jackson Richard
Published: June 2021

The aim of this chapter is to explore the contribution of pacifism to international relations (IR), and in particular to demonstrate its relevance to discussions around peacebuilding, statebuilding, and peace formation. The chapter argues that despite its currently subjugated status within IR, as a form of theory rooted in a real-world critique of violence and its effects and in the historical practices of peacemaking and nonviolent resistance, pacifism is ideally placed to offer insights and suggestions for both practitioners and theorists of peacebuilding. The chapter begins by explaining what pacifism is, its main types and approaches, and offers a brief outline of the history and legacy of pacifism in IR, some of the main objections to pacifism, and some answers given by pacifists to these criticisms. The chapter goes on to explore what pacifism can contribute to IR by way of, first, a critique of violence, power, and just war theory and, second, positive contributions to discussions of power and agency, security, civilian protection, peacebuilding, statebuilding, and peace formation. The chapter makes the case that pacifism is a credible and insightful approach to IR that should be taken far more seriously than it is. Moreover, the current historical juncture provides an ideal moment for the return of pacifism to IR, although there are a number of serious challenges it will first have to surmount.
Rising Powers and Peacebuilding
Authors: Kenkel Kai Michael
Published: June 2021

Over the past two decades, a number of states have risen to take on substantial roles in peacebuilding efforts across the globe. China, Brazil, India, South Africa, and Turkey, among others, have become major players in their regions and beyond. This chapter analyzes how peacebuilding serves as the locus for these states to contest the rules underpinning the international order and to stake their claim to influence. These states have to date worked within the dominant liberal paradigm rather than revamping it; thus they have brought significant improvements in legitimacy and efficacy through their domestic experiences. The chapter identifies the commonalities that Southern rising powers apply to peacebuilding, as well as divergent characteristics that hamper its spread. It provides a definition of this class of states apt for analyzing their peace policies and crystallizes elements of a Southern-based rising-power contribution to global peace. Examples are given of how these states have sought to multilateralize their cooperation and act consistently within the United Nations. The analysis then takes a closer look at the practices of Brazil and India, two major rising powers from the Global South.
Peace, Intervention, and State Fragility
Authors: Lemay-Hébert Nicolas
Published: June 2021

This chapter explores the relationship between discourses of state fragility and peacebuilding and statebuilding interventions. The chapter covers two different (yet compatible) discourses of state fragility and intervention. The first one is grounded in the modern episteme, based on a dichotomy between strong and weak states through state rankings and fragile states listings that legitimize intervention in these weak states. The second one is an emerging discourse on risk and resilience, with more fluid understandings of fragility that go beyond the dichotomy of strong versus weak states, but also opens up new interventionary possibilities for international actors. The chapter takes stock of these discourses, emphasizing commonalities and divergences between them, as well as the repercussions for the peacebuilding and statebuilding practice and academic literature.
Terrorism and Peacebuilding
Authors: Tellidis Ioannis
Published: June 2021

This chapter examines the relationship between terrorism studies and the practice(s) of counterterrorism, and peace studies and the practice(s) of peacebuilding. The chapter seeks to uncover the political implications of the conceptualizations of both “terrorism” and “peace” in order to evaluate how peace was sought (or not) to be built in terrorist conflicts. A brief chronology of long-established approaches in each field uncovers the basic deficiencies in approaches to these two concepts by both academics and practitioners, resulting in a shared definition of objectives: counterterrorism’s preoccupation with the annihilation of terrorists, and peacebuilding’s anxiety with domination and imposition; as a consequence, both of these fail to provide anything other than a victor’s peace. The emergence of more critical approaches in both fields has begun to rectify those understandings, but more daring epistemological and methodological steps need to be undertaken. The chapter concludes by identifying some of the obstacles and limitations facing these more recent approaches and tries to identify the scope of future research.
Peacekeeping
Authors: Pugh Michael
Published: June 2021

International peacekeeping after the Second World War began as a modest means of subduing conflicts between states and grew in importance, partly to facilitate processes of decolonization. This analysis pays particular attention to the concept of peacekeeping and its evolution in the light of conflict within states, the majority of which had achieved sovereign independence from imperial rule in the years after 1939. Paradoxically, former colonies came to dominate force contributions to UN operations. Another aspect explored is the aspiration for peacekeeping to require “robust” mandates against terrorism or counterinsurgency and for protecting civilians. By the 2000s peacekeeping formed the keystone of a UN integrated crisis management “architecture” to support peacebuilding and neoliberal economic development. The chapter contends that while peacekeeping had undoubtedly secured many lives, its relationship to peacebuilding broadly sustained asymmetries and inequalities in the global system.
Power-Sharing in Divided Societies
Authors: Doyle John
Published: June 2021

Peacebuilding—in one form or another—is likely to persist for the duration of a liberal world order. Power-sharing models of government as a contribution to peacemaking have dominated constitutional design since the mid-1990s, but they remain highly contested. Consociational power-sharing offers a means to move beyond armed conflict acceptable to political actors, for whom a return to hegemonic majoritarianism is unacceptable and a hope of conflict transformation too distant. Critics claim that it locks in divided identities and prevents other options emerging. This chapter argues that the causal impact of power-sharing in cases such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, compared to other features of these conflicts, such as excessive canonization, is not clear-cut and that in other situations, such as Northern Ireland, the outcomes are more positive. Basing each cycle of power-sharing executive formation on the results of the previous election rather than historic balances of power or population can facilitate internal electoral competition within political communities and the emergence of new parties outside of the traditional political divisions. It could also facilitate other forms of representation, such as gender quotas. The external influences on power-sharing and international intervention are not well explored, and engaging with the “local turn” in peacemaking could allow a better understanding of the positive and negative factors in the interaction between external support and local agency.
Democratization and Peacebuilding
Authors: Zürcher Christoph
Published: June 2021

Major peacebuilding missions seek not only to end wars but also to build institutions for democratic governance. But while peacebuilding is often successful in ending wars, it rarely leads to democratic postwar regimes. Only two host countries of major peacebuilding missions since 1989 became liberal democracies, and only seven met the more lenient standard of electoral democracies. Elites in postwar countries rarely demand democracy because the adoption costs are too high. Democratization is often perceived as a security risk, and as a threat to the prevailing patronage system on which political elites in many postwar countries rely. Adoption costs are low only when democratization is linked to a war for independence or when democracy is seen as a way out of a stalemate. Peacebuilders rarely use their leverage over local elites in order to push for democratic reforms because they prioritize stability over democratic reforms, Also, they depend on local elites for carrying out their programs and very rarely apply conditionality. As a result, democratization within peacebuilding mission rarely leads to more democratic regimes.
Foreign Aid and Peacebuilding
Authors: Gisselquist Rachel M.
Published: June 2021

Foreign aid is a core component of peacebuilding and among the largest external financial flows to fragile states and conflict-affected areas. Nevertheless, troubling critiques have been raised about its overall impact and effectiveness. Some of the most troubling speak to whether it has succeeded even to do no harm. These important critiques notwithstanding, aid has also played a positive role in many countries. Given that improving aid for peacebuilding is a clear priority for global development, building a base of knowledge that informs better aid interventions is a priority for future research. It is important to better understand not only what has not worked but also what has worked, why, and the likely transferability of findings to other contexts. This chapter begins with consideration of the role of aid in conflict-affected societies and the ways in which aid may support peacebuilding. It then turns to why aid may not realize such positive impact, including the challenges of aid effectiveness in weak states and key (unintended) negative impacts on public accountability, state capabilities, and violence. It discusses how to improve aid impact and effectiveness, focusing on issues of context, local ownership, and building state capabilities.
Religion and Peacebuilding
Authors: Brewer John D.
Published: June 2021

This chapter explores the relationship between religion and politics through the lens of religious peacebuilding. Instead of asking the usual question of what happens to politics when it is infused with religion, it explores what happens to religion when it becomes politicized. Politicized religion distorts the meaning and practice of religion, one consequence of which is to constrain the potential for religious peacebuilding. Instead of becoming part of the solution in conflict transformation, politicized religion becomes part of the problem. The chapter goes on to discuss the far greater role religion has played in transitional justice.
Hybrid Political Orders and Customary Peace
Authors: Boege Volker
Published: June 2021

Flowing from a critique of liberal peacebuilding-as-statebuilding, this chapter builds a case for acknowledging the significance of customary or “traditional” forms of governance and peace in hybrid political orders. Situated in the context of the local and ethnographic turn in peacebuilding studies, its focus is on the customary “local local”—the societal networks, institutions, and actors that shape peace and order for large sections of the populace in many postcolonial countries, beyond the realm of state, market economy, and civil society. It is demonstrated that customary peace, grounded in indigenous concepts of reconciliation and customary law, is an integral dimension of today’s hybrid political orders, and that while it is itself imbued with hybridity it in turn permeates these hybrid orders. Taking customary peace seriously and engaging with it would have fundamental implications for the wider debate about, and the praxis of, peacebuilding and statebuilding.
Emancipatory Peace
Authors: Visoka Gëzim
Published: June 2021

The quest for emancipation remains an aspirational project in critical peace and conflict studies. Recently, however, new proposals for emancipatory peace have emerged in conflict-affected societies. This chapter gives an overview of different visions of emancipatory peace and examines their key features. Whereas, for the proponents of liberal peace, local subjects need to be freed from the local practices, identities, habits, and structures that have caused violent conflict in the first place, critical scholars focus their emancipatory project on the importance of not only tackling the root causes of conflict but also unmaking the negative legacies of liberal peacebuilding’s failed attempts to resolve the tier-one suppressive structures. The first part of the chapter briefly outlines the significance of emancipation for different strands of critical theory. The tensions between deconstructive and reconstructive modes of critique will be examined to shed light on the extent to which critical theory can contribute to the development of emancipatory knowledge for social and political change. The discussion then surveys the early critiques of liberal peacebuilding and outlines some of the emerging visions of what emancipatory peace would look like in conflict-affected societies. Finally, the chapter traces some of the critiques of and responses to the visions of an emancipatory peace, and it concludes by exploring the limits of existing work in critical peace and conflict studies and exploring ideas for a future direction.
Protection of Civilians
Authors: Kilroy Walt
Published: June 2021

The protection of civilians was first included the mandate of a UN peacekeeping operation in 1999, and has since become a standard item on the list of tasks for integrated missions. The wording of the mandates has also become more ambitious, and force is not only permitted but has been used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in tackling armed groups that were preying on civilians. Protecting civilians from direct physical violence is not simply a military matter, and it includes promoting political processes and improving the human rights environment. But the possibility of UN peacekeepers using force is a further step in the fundamental changes seen in peace operations since they began as a cautious, neutral presence where peace was already in place. Protecting civilians goes to the heart of peacekeeping, with very real dilemmas on whether and how to act. There can be significant consequences for civilians and conflict dynamics, whatever decisions are made.
Ethnographic Peace Research
Authors: Millar Gearoid
Published: June 2021

This chapter provides an introduction to ethnographic peace research (EPR) and an argument in favor of its use as a key methodological extension of the recent turn to the local in peace and conflict studies. EPR is primarily an attempt to promote a forceful and rigorous research agenda that centralizes local experiences, perceptions, concepts, and understandings within research regarding conflict, violence, and peace. The original contribution here is the delineation of EPR into three different forms, described as its evaluative, scholarly, and active registers. As described, each of these has different goals and target audiences and demands different depths of analysis and levels of reflection. This new typology therefore identifies the benefits of EPR when applied in response to different demands, conducted for different purposes, and with different audiences in mind.
The Evolving State of the State in International Political Economy
Authors: Ba Heather
Published: June 2021

Three established conceptions of the nation-state have a long and well-established tradition in the field of International Political Economy (IPE), each aligning with a major research paradigm within IPE or the broader field of international relations: realism, open economy politics, and constructivism. A fourth, emerging, research paradigm called the “New Interdependence Approach” or the “Political Economy of Complex Interdependence” offers a promising new conceptualization of the nation-state that encompasses the best insights offered by traditional paradigms. This article reviews the evolution of scholarly thinking about the nation-state within the field of IPE and proposes a new, more encompassing conception of the nation-state as a cross-section of the international political economy multiplex.
Non-Governmental Organizations
Authors: Bloodgood Elizabeth
Published: June 2021

Research on non-governmental organizations (NGOs, often international NGOs, or INGOs) has advanced over the last several decades from demonstrating that NGOs matter in shaping economic development and foreign aid to examining the potential for NGOs to advocate for new rights, set standards for environmental protections, and establish alternative economic arrangements in international relations. The study of NGOs as organizations has opened their potential as interest groups as well as economic actors in their own rights. Moving forward, new data and new theory is needed to fully develop International Political Economy (IPE) understandings of NGO motives, intentions, strategies, and power in global governance.
Development Policy
Authors: Huh Seung-Uk , Winters Matthew S.
Published: June 2021

A variety of policies implemented by the wealthy countries of the world can have an impact on economic development in poor countries. We argue that the field of international political economy has underinvested in studying the determinants of non-foreign-aid policies that affect development. We review literature from a set of eight policy areas where there are identifiable development consequences and discuss the findings of the International Political Economy (IPE) literature with regard to policy origins, changes, and consequences. We find a consistent role of non-governmental organization (NGO) pressure on wealthy-country governments in bringing about pro-development policies, although we also identify instances where pro-development policies originate in domestic and strategic interests. Overall, we argue that there is significant space for additional exploration through a development lens of how policies come into being in the wealthy countries of the world.
Christology and Revelation
Authors: Narcisse Gilbert
Published: June 2021

From the outset Christianity had a proper name in its signature: Christ. Christians are the disciples of Christ, those who gain reward from the Revelation done in and through Christ. From the New Testament to the Second Vatican Council, this Christian identity is expressed in terms of fullness. Christ is the fullness, or plenitude, of Revelation: ‘full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14). Thus, understanding the bond between Christology and Revelation comes down to grasping this fullness and the correlation between the fullness of Revelation and the fullness of Christ.
Revelation in German Idealism
Authors: O’Regan Cyril
Published: June 2021

This chapter explores how revelation functions in German Idealism, especially in the case of G. W. F Hegel (1770–1831) and F. W. J. Schelling (1775–1854), both of whom were hospitable to the idea of revelation in a way that J. G. Fichte (1762–1814) was not. Against the background of a general questioning of the standard theistic account of revelation, and of Fichte’s violent rejection of it and Kant’s moral reduction, both Hegel and Schelling attempted to revise revelation to take into account the dynamic self-manifesting character of the divine such that, at the very least, the creation of nature and human being is not accidental. After a synopsis of the development of the thought of each, the chapter focuses on representative texts: Hegel’s Phenomenology (1807) and Schelling’s Philosophie der Offenbarung (1841–1842). While structurally speaking in their philosophies of revelation Hegel and Schelling have much in common, there is much that divides them both methodologically and substantively. When it comes to explaining revelation, Hegel is confident in a way that Schelling is not. When it comes to register, in the case of Hegel the register is reason, in the case of Schelling, will. Finally, when it comes to constructing the relation between God and world, Hegel emphasizes their logical and ontological reciprocity, whereas Schelling asserts a measure of independence of God from the world, even if the world makes a real difference to a Trinitarian God who can no longer be thought to be self-sufficient without remainder.
Where Words End
Authors: Ward Graham
Published: June 2021

Revelation cannot be approached directly. It is mediated all the way down. That is not just because of ‘sin’. Though sin is the manifestation of our alienation from God—an alienation overcome by God’s reconciling operations in salvation—a diastema between Creator and creation still pertains. There is no immediate encounter with the Word of God available to us as such. It is always mediated to us through human words and human acts, stories (biblical and autobiographical) and material practices, the Church and its liturgies, and the cultures we inhabit that shape us. The voice of the Lord comes to us in and through the darknesses and ambivalences of our various unredeemed and yet to be redeemed states. We are addressed, continually addressed, by God’s transformative grace, by his love and mercy, in and through our condition as created. The voice is accommodated to that condition, and can be accommodated because the Word of God is written into creation, coming finally, and intensively, in Jesus Christ. So the voice can be heard: makes itself available to be heard. But the eternal presence of God pro nobis (where the ‘we’ is not just humankind but all God’s creatures, pace Barth), the eternal presence of God-with-us that is the touchstone and content of revelation, bubbles up intrinsically through the obscurities of created and creative experience.
Revelation and Human Sexuality
Authors: Schumacher Michele M.
Published: June 2021

From the first pages of the Scriptures, which reveal the original unity of man and woman (see Gen. 1:27–28; 2:18–24), to the last, which announce the marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 21:2, 9), we are reminded that ‘it is not good that man should be alone’ (Gen. 2:18). Passing by way of the corporeal and spiritual union of Christ and the Church, as summarized in Eph. 5:22–32, the original ‘one flesh’ union (Gen. 2:24) of man and woman simultaneously announces and prepares the final form: the wedding of the divine Bridegroom and his spotless Bride, whose identity transcends the figure of the Church to include each of her members, beginning with Mary, her archetype and first cell. Beside the New Adam, as his associate in the mission of redemption, is thus the New Eve: his Bride and Mother, who is the exemplar of faith for all Christians in her self-gift to the divine Bridegroom, who is always the first to give himself.
Revelation and Theology of the People
Authors: Buttiglione Rocco
Published: June 2021

The Theology of the People (teología del pueblo) emerged in Argentina in the 1960s. It was conceived as Catholics awakened to the problem of poverty in the Global South. The immediate sources of inspiration can be seen in Vatican II’s Gaudium et spes, the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, and in Paul VI’s encyclical Populorum progressio and in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi. Poverty has been a universal human phenomenon throughout history. But the phenomenon takes on new meaning in an age in which humanity has acquired the technical means to feed and shelter all its members decently. If poverty is not eradicated, there must be something wrong in the organization of human societies. Poverty becomes a moral problem and not only for individuals but for society at large. This will lead later to the concept of social sin or sinful social structures. The other source of the shift in theological thought is the acquisition in the Church of the logics of democracy. The Church has always addressed the problems of social injustice, but she had directed her teachings to the rulers of the nations. Now the Council addressed the peoples, who, in a democratic order, are supposed to be sovereign. The problem of social justice acquires a subjective dimension: that of the constitution of the subject of social change and of the liberation of the poor. The poor are called to become the subjects of their own liberation.
Dice and Divine Action
Authors: Giberson Karl
Published: June 2021

The world picture disclosed by classical physics, beginning with Kepler, Galileo, and Newton and continuing until the early part of the twentieth century, was increasingly deterministic. The prevailing metaphor was that of a clock: as a clock is wound up and runs in an entirely predictable way which can be known from its initial conditions, so the universe unfolds according to a deterministic plan. Such a universe, unfolding under the influence of forces so absolute they were called ‘laws’, appeared to have limited opportunity for divine action. The theological response to this world picture was deism: God created the world but it runs on its own. This world picture collapsed in the early twentieth century as quantum mechanics was discovered and developed into a central, if not the central, part of scientific understanding of physical reality. The quantum-mechanical world picture cannot be modelled after the gears, pulleys, and levers of the classical world: its irreducible constituent parts are more like tiny clouds than tiny gears. Furthermore, the behaviour of these smallest parts was discovered to be indeterministic, and eternally so until observed by a mind. The mysterious behaviour of quantum particles, which compose all reality, and the puzzling role of minds invited speculation that God may be acting through the natural order to influence events. Such divine action could exist entirely within the envelope of possibilities possessed by quantum particles and thus not require any disruption of the natural order.
God and Revelation
Authors: Swinburne Richard
Published: June 2021

This chapter will be concerned solely with revelation of true propositions. It will not be concerned with truths which God supposedly conveys to particular humans which are of importance only for those humans (for example, that he wishes a particular human to pursue a particular vocation), but only with those truths which are supposedly of importance for all humans (even if they concern a privilege or command given to a particular individual or tribe). This chapter will also follow the normal theological understanding of a ‘revealed truth’ as one which is to be believed on the ground that God has told us that it is true, even if—as with some purportedly revealed truths—it is also a truth which some of us could discover for ourselves if we were clever enough and so is said to be discoverable by ‘natural reason’. Christianity and Islam have both strongly affirmed that God has told us truths of great importance for human life, which we should believe because he has told them to us; and hence this category of ‘revealed’ truths. Many recent thinkers, beginning with the eighteenth-century ‘Deists’ such as Voltaire and including some twentieth-century Christian theologians, have claimed that all we can know about God and morality is what our ‘natural reason’ can show us, and that we can have (or at least do not have) any knowledge of truths revealed by God. The chapter argues that it is possible for us to have such knowledge, and that we have the criteria to assess the competing claims of different religions to possess such truths.
Becoming an Agent of Change
Authors: Prichard Craig , Creed W. E. Douglas
Published: June 2021

Social movements are often regarded as the seedbeds of widescale organizational change in western economies. However, we know less about why and how actors take on the insurgent identities that motivate and enable them to play dramatic roles in the movements that facilitate such change. One argument is that actors become agents of change through some kind of common conversion experience. But such an explanation struggles to address the character and nature of the motive forces that embolden and stabilize oppositional insurgent identities that then reshape incumbent interests, systems and structures. Drawing on aspects of narrative and psychoanalytic traditions, which have both made compelling contributions to the European study of organizational change, our chapter suggests a pattern of unconscious drives, traumatic experiences and socialized narratives that aid the formation of insurgent organizational change agents.
Historical Currents in Scholarship of Organization Change
Authors: Burke W. Warner
Published: June 2021

Grounded in open system theory this chapter covers the primary contributions to our understanding of organization change since the early work of Kurt Lewin in the 1930s and 40s. Two areas of interest represented the theory and practice back then and since—what to change and how to change organizations. Most models of organizations covered both. Regarding the what models, the organization’s external environment, its strategy, culture, and structure are examples of what has been included. The how models developed mostly from practice with learning coming from experience about stages of the change process such as gathering data, diagnosis, developing a vision and communicating it, etc. The latter part of the chapter brings organization change thinking up to date with three articles that have reviewed considerable literatures. These reviews provide significant information regarding organization change that is evidence based, the importance of an organization’s history in terms of its relevance to effective change, and how leadership has a direct impact on organization change.
Diffusion of Innovations
Authors: Dearing James W.
Published: June 2021

The main concepts of the diffusion of innovations represent a hybrid change research and practice paradigm that blends ideas that can now be found in life cycle, evolutionary, and teleological theories of social change. This chapter discusses why the paradigm developed in the ways that it did, including the shortcomings of this approach, especially for studying the role of organizations in change processes. The chapter also examines the rapid rise of dissemination and implementation science as conducted by health services and public health researchers and how those new literatures are related to diffusion. This paradigmatic evolution from descriptive and explanatory studies to intervention research utilizing diffusion concepts is a theme of this chapter, with emphases on organizational implementation of innovations, inter-organizational diffusion, external validity of innovations and how a recognition of the agency of adopters can reshape diffusion study.