bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Design and Integration of a Robotic Welding Parameterized Procedure for Industrial Applications
Authors: Puthussery Sangeeth , Secco Emanuele Lindo
Published: May 2024

This paper explores the development of an effective motion planning strategy for robotics welding in tube to tubesheet joints, a critical process in heat exchanger manufacturing. The research methodology follows an experimental paradigm, investigating two distinct approaches to tackle the intricacies of this task. The initial approach, involving a welding torch affixed to the robotic arm's flange, proved ineffective due to the complexity of continuous 360° orbital welding. This led to the adoption of a custom end effector in the second approach, designed to enhance adaptability and precision. Key tools and materials employed in this research include the Robot Operating System (ROS), Rviz for 3D visualization, MoveIt for motion planning, SolidWorks for CAD modelling, and the xArm7 Robotic Arm. These tools facilitated the creation of a comprehensive planning environment. The motion planning process relies on three essential parameters: tube diameter, type of tube to tubesheet joint (flush or protruding), and the 3D coordinates of tube centers. A Python scripts control the robot's movements, with specific joint state and pose goals for precise positioning. Finally, this study contributes to present a program that orchestrates the robotic arm's motion, simulating the welding process for tube to tubesheet joints. This comprehensive research endeavor contributes to the optimization of motion planning strategies in the context of tube to tubesheet welding, with practical applications in the manufacturing industry.
Antifungal pipeline: Is there light at the end of the tunnel?
Authors: Schinas Georgios , Spernovasilis Nikolaos , Akinosoglou Karolina
Published: May 2024

The misuse and overuse of classic antifungals have accelerated the development of resistance mechanisms, diminishing the efficacy of established therapeutic pathways and necessitating a shift towards alternative targets. Despite this pressing need for new treatments, the antifungal drug pipeline has been largely stagnant for the past three decades, primarily due to the high risks and costs associated with antifungal drug development, compounded by uncertain market returns. Extensive research durations, special patient populations and rigorous regulatory demands pose significant barriers to bringing novel antifungal agents to market. In response, the “push-pull” incentive model has emerged as a vital strategy to invigorate the pipeline and encourage innovation. This editorial critically examines the current clinical landscape and spotlights emerging antifungal agents, such as Fosmanogepix, Ibrexafungerp, and Olorofim, while also unraveling the multifaceted challenges faced in new antifungal drug development. The generation of novel antifungals offers a beacon of hope in the battle against antimicrobial resistance, but it is premature to declare them as definitive solutions. Their future role hinges on thorough clinical validation, cost-effectiveness assessments, and continuous post-marketing surveillance. Only through strategic implementation and integration with market strategies we can transform the landscape of antifungal development, addressing both the resistance crisis and the treatment challenges.
Multimodal imaging in the diagnosis of bone giant cell tumors: A retrospective study
Authors: Kou Ming-Qing , Xu Bing-Qiang , Liu Hui-Tong
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

Giant cell tumor of bone is a locally aggressive and rarely metastasizing tumor, and also a potential malignant tumor that may develop into a primary malignant giant cell tumor.

AIM

To evaluate the role of multimodal imaging in the diagnosis of giant cell tumors of bone.

METHODS

The data of 32 patients with giant cell tumor of bone confirmed by core-needle biopsy or surgical pathology at our hospital between March 2018 and March 2023 were retrospectively selected. All the patients with giant cell tumors of the bone were examined by X-ray, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and 7 of them were examined by positron emission tomography (PET)-CT.

RESULTS

X-ray imaging can provide overall information on giant cell tumor lesions. CT and MRI can reveal the characteristics of the internal structure of the tumor as well as the adjacent relationships of the tumor, and these methods have unique advantages for diagnosing tumors and determining the scope of surgery. PET-CT can detect small lesions and is highly valuable for identifying benign and malignant tumors to aid in the early diagnosis of metastasis.

CONCLUSION

Multimodal imaging plays an important role in the diagnosis of giant cell tumor of bone and can provide a reference for the treatment of giant cell tumors.
Iron and ferritin effects on intensive care unit mortality: A meta-analysis
Authors: Yang Deng-Can , Zheng Bo-Jun , Li Jian , Yu Yi
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

The effect of serum iron or ferritin parameters on mortality among critically ill patients is not well characterized.

AIM

To determine the association between serum iron or ferritin parameters and mortality among critically ill patients.

METHODS

Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases were searched for studies on serum iron or ferritin parameters and mortality among critically ill patients. Two reviewers independently assessed, selected, and abstracted data from studies reporting on serum iron or ferritin parameters and mortality among critically ill patients. Data on serum iron or ferritin levels, mortality, and demographics were extracted.

RESULTS

Nineteen studies comprising 125490 patients were eligible for inclusion. We observed a slight negative effect of serum ferritin on mortality in the United States population [relative risk (RR) 1.002; 95%CI: 1.002-1.004). In patients with sepsis, serum iron had a significant negative effect on mortality (RR = 1.567; 95%CI: 1.208-1.925).

CONCLUSION

This systematic review presents evidence of a negative correlation between serum iron levels and mortality among patients with sepsis. Furthermore, it reveals a minor yet adverse impact of serum ferritin on mortality among the United States population.
Conversion therapy of a giant hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein thrombus and inferior vena cava thrombus: A case report and review of literature
Authors: Song Wen-Jie , Xu Jian , Nie Ye , Li Wei-Min , Li Jian-Ping , Yang Li , Wei Meng-Qi , Tao Kai-Shan
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

The prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) combined with portal and hepatic vein cancerous thrombosis is poor, for unresectable patients the combination of targeted therapy and immune therapy was the first-line recommended treatment for advanced HCC, with a median survival time of only about 2.7-6 months. In this case report, we present the case of a patient with portal and hepatic vein cancerous thrombosis who achieved pathologic complete response after conversion therapy

CASE SUMMARY

In our center, a patient with giant HCC combined with portal vein tumor thrombus and hepatic vein tumor thrombus was treated with transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE), radiotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, and was continuously given Epimedium soft capsules for oral regulation. After 7 months of conversion therapy, the patient's tumor shrank and the tumor thrombus subsided significantly. The pathology of surgical resection was in complete remission, and there was no progression in the postoperative follow-up for 7 months, which provided a basis for the future strategy of combined conversion therapy.

CONCLUSION

In this case, atezolizumab, bevacizumab, icaritin soft capsules combined with radiotherapy and TACE had a good effect. For patients with hepatocellular carcinoma combined with hepatic vein/inferior vena cava tumor thrombus, adopting a high-intensity, multimodal proactive strategy under the guidance of multidisciplinary team (MDT) is an important attempt to break through the current treatment dilemma.
Crushing conditionality: women living through heavily enforced work-related conditionality
Authors: Wright Sharon
Published: May 2024

This second empirical chapter demonstrates the irreconcilable differences between welfare conditionality and the everyday realities of women’s family lives. It tells the stories of women who experienced crushing forms of conditionality – those who were sanctioned 2–5 times and 6 or more times within the 12-month period leading up to their first research interview. Sarah’s experiences of being sanctioned as a disabled in-work Universal Credit claimant illustrate how conditionality displaces adult kin care. Helen’s story of being sanctioned as a disabled ESA Support Group claimant participating voluntarily in the Work Programme demonstrates some injustices of system design, the challenge of wanting to work while in pain and supporting her brother. Jo fell foul of excessive job-search expectations on Jobseeker’s Allowance. Mira experienced in-work racism that was reinforced by out-of-work sanctions. Mira is part of the cohort of lone parents shifted from Income Support to Jobseeker’s Allowance post-2010, who were hammered by sanctions as soon as they were exposed to job-search requirements. Their sanctions were almost always irrational, unjust and unrelated to work efforts.
In the shadow of sanctions: disciplining women and children for violating male-defined work norms
Authors: Wright Sharon
Published: May 2024

This third and final empirical chapter explores the majority experience of conditionality – the background knowledge of punitive conditionality, empty sanctions threats and one-off sanctions. Warnings and solitary penalties may seem like lesser versions of the crushing experience of repeat sanctions, but the menacing ubiquity of conditionality was insidious and deeply harmful. Widespread fear of sanctions was found among interviewees, even among those who had never been sanctioned. Dread of sanctions was accompanied with a strong sense of injustice and many of the interviewees felt that the system conspired against them because they had not been informed of appointments that they were later warned about or punished for missing. The consequences, as well as the causes, of sanctions were interdependent. Mothers faced risks of occasional sanctions because of their children’s illnesses. When mothers were sanctioned as a one-off, there was an amplified impact on their children. Connections were found between threat of sanctions and domestic violence, financial abuse and survival sex.
White sadism
Authors: Kinouani Guilaine
Published: May 2024

In this chapter I place sadism under my analytic gaze. I look at historical manifestations of sadism and propose that colonial violence led to the mobilisation of sadism and the development of consequent sadistic cultures at the core of whiteness. These cultures, which have been institutionalised, I argue, are still apprehendable today through policing, correctional and medical practices.
Private renting in Denmark: foreign investors in the crosshairs
Authors: Scanlon Kath
Published: May 2024

In international discussions, Denmark’s private rented sector is noted mainly for the complexity of the rent-control system, where different systems apply depending on the age and built form of the dwelling. Arguably, though, the private rented sector is now the most interesting of Danish housing tenures, as in recent years the sector has become a political battleground. Politicians have adopted measures to try to deter certain overseas investors whose activities, they say, have pushed up private rents in cities. Similar debates are taking place in other countries and the Danish experience may offer some lessons, though similar forces can have very different effects in different places. As always with housing, context is all.
Norway: booming housing market and increasing small-scale landlordism
Authors: Stamsø Mary Ann
Published: May 2024

The key features of the Norwegian housing system are a large homeowner sector; high real house price increases in recent years; a private rental sector dominated by small-scale investors; and a residual social rental sector. Even though Norway has a generous welfare benefit system, the housing sector is relatively market-oriented and housing policy is modest in terms of benefits and social housing provision. Favourable taxation, a long period of historically low interest rates, and a rental sector not considered a good alternative, have maintained a high demand for homeownership, along with high and rising house prices, and very high household debt. However, homeownership among young adults and low-income households has fallen, with a consequent increase in the private rental sector. Small-scale private landlords dominate the rental market and have increased in recent years. The rental sector is characterised by lower quality housing, short-term contracts, market-based rents and an increasing affordability problem for tenants.
Private rented markets in Spain and housing affordability
Authors: Pareja-Eastaway Montserrat
Published: May 2024

The Spanish housing system historically has been characterised by an imbalance in tenure in favour of homeownership and a social housing stock that is either residual or completely neglected. Currently, the private rented sector represents the most interesting alternative for alleviating the lack of affordable housing available in the country. Simultaneously, tenants living in rented accommodation are experiencing excessive housing burden costs. Policy intervention is required to palliate the negative effects of this situation based on the right to the city and the right to housing principles.
How we came to be here: 100 years of criminalised motherhood
Authors: Baldwin Lucy , Abbott Laura
Published: May 2024

This chapter explores incarcerated and criminalised motherhood over the last century. This chapter will provide an overview of historical developments in relation to pregnancy and prison over the last century or so. It will reveal the extent to which pregnancy and motherhood in criminalised women has been influenced by patriarchy, inequality and discrimination. It will also make links between past attitudes and responses to women in the criminal justice system, and contemporary views and responses. In doing so it will explore the legacy of motherhood ideology and its relationship to patriarchy, how this intersects with judgement and attitudes towards criminalised mothers, and, importantly, how this additional layer of judgement affects mothers themselves.
Localism: the peccadillos of a panacea
Authors: Sturzaker John , Sykes Olivier
Published: May 2024

Launched with much fanfare as a new scale and alternative to the regional planning structures established in England under the New Labour governments of the 1990s and 2000s, localism’s most tangible effect on planning has been the rights conferred on local communities and businesses to prepare neighbourhood plans. With the current government agenda for planning veering away from localism and back towards centralism, the chapter reflects on the legacies and lessons of almost a decade of experience of neighbourhood planning and its future prospects. It concludes that poorer areas have been much less likely to produce neighbourhood plans, highlights the regressive consequences of that inequality and suggests that fundamental changes are needed to make it work effectively.
PD games: death comes to planning
Authors: Dunning Richard J. , Lord Alex , Smith Mark
Published: May 2024

The extension of permitted development rights to make the conversion of buildings to residential use easier presents a typical example of the faith in deregulation as a pathway towards aligning development with demand. But what have been the impacts of this experimentation? Has it resulted in good-quality housing? And what might be the impacts of any extension of such rights on residential quality? This chapter explores the impact of permitted development, with a particular focus on neighbourhood health, providing new evidence of the problematic assumption that housing should be allowed regardless of local amenities and the built environment context of existing buildings.
Building beauty? Place and housing quality in the planning agenda
Authors: Madeddu Manuela
Published: May 2024

This chapter spotlights the cyclical interest, at a governmental level in England, in design governance, characterised by discrete periods of strong public oversight and relative market freedom. The chapter analyses the failure to deliver a consistent approach to place and housing quality over the last decade – a period in which the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment’s role in design scrutiny was ended while greater ‘market freedoms’ arrived in the form of an extension of permitted development rights. It notes that while permitted development rights are producing the ‘slums of the future’, a conservative ‘beauty’ ethic that will affect future planned development has been re-rooted in the Office for Place, marking the standard cyclical return to design oversight, though one that leans heavily on traditional urbanism. The chapter argues that the return of oversight, albeit in a very different form, might be cautiously welcomed if it can be evolved to correct at least some of the failings of design governance that have become apparent in the last decade.
Planning and the environment in England, 2010–22: cutting ‘green crap’, Brexit and environmental crises
Authors: Cowell Richard , Fischer Thomas B. , Thakur Urmila Jha
Published: May 2024

This chapter examines how reforms to the planning system in England since 2010 have affected the capacity of the system to deal effectively with environmental problems. The period 2010 to 2016 witnessed a progressive diminution of the environmental role of planning, legitimised by ideological desires to deregulate development and exacerbated by public sector austerity. Until the Brexit vote of 2016, however, there remained the stabilising framework of European Union environmental policy, which offered a system of bedrock protections. Since then, the planning–environment interface has been buffeted not only by planning reforms but also by the repercussions of Brexit for environmental policy. On the one side have been ministers exploring the new freedoms Brexit has given them to pursue opportunities for regulatory flexibility and streamlining. Set against these pressures, the implications of climate change, the nature crisis and the emergence of a new domestic environmental governance regime all push in the direction of firmer, long-term, goal-driven frameworks for planning. Should the latter prevail, the need to address ‘state failure’ on the environment could help to reverse decades of ‘planning failure’, but this outcome is far from guaranteed.
Ideal, good enough and failed motherhood: how disabled Canadian mothers manage in hostile circumstances
Authors: Malacrida Claudia
Published: May 2024

Ideal motherhood, characterised by expectations of intensive, limitless and selfless care, serves to hold women responsible for all that befalls their children, and works to individualise and privatise the work of childbearing and rearing. The individualisation of mothering work, the shortcomings of social and structural supports for that work, and the sanctions on women who fail to meet normative expectations of ideal motherhood are intensified for disabled women. Our narrative interviews with 44 disabled Canadian women about their pregnancy decisions and mothering experiences illuminate normative notions of what kinds of women can, and perhaps should, be mothers, and highlight the specific challenges disabled mothers face. The women described barriers to becoming and remaining mothers, and were particularly vulnerable to social isolation, abusive partners, and the effects of poverty. They also experienced surveillance and intervention from helping professionals and multiple structural barriers to accommodation. The women’s stories highlight ‘disability embodiment’, the interaction between their corporeal issues and the social, political and economic aspects of disability, which deeply affect disabled women’s mothering.
Confronting meanings of motherhood in neoliberal Australia: six crystallised case studies
Authors: Coles Laetitia , Cooke Emma , Chawla Jasneek
Published: May 2024

In this chapter, we focus on the marginalised group of mothers of children with Down syndrome. Applying an intersectional feminist sociological lens, we examine how neoliberalism converges with race, class, gender and ableness to shape experiences of mothering in contemporary Australia. To impact readers in a way that traditional academic writing cannot, we draw upon the scholarship of researchers who advocate for departing from traditional academic conventions in their scholarly work and utilise a crystallisation approach. We crystallise academic and creative writing and present a narrative literature review, six case studies, and a provocative conclusion. Through this methodology, we demonstrate that, despite contending with neoliberal expectations of mothering from medical professionals, family, friends and society, the mothers shared their stories with agency, evocative language, and often humour. Hence, we considered it an ethical imperative that we did not reinforce these hectoring discourses and misrepresent mothers’ experiences by sterilising the emotion in their stories to fit the hegemonic and masculine norms of traditional academic research and writing. Rather, by providing an embodied and affective understanding of neoliberal forces, we show that crystallisation is ideal for reaching beyond academia and redressing the social injustices that these mothers experience.
Quality and the NHS: fair-weather friends or a longstanding relationship?
Authors: Millar Ross , Waring Justin , Lalani Mirza
Published: May 2024

Quality in the NHS has combined different ideas and assumptions about how improvement can be achieved and for whom these improvements will benefit. This chapter provides a historical account of the quality in the NHS, arguing that while quality and quality improvement continue to remain a focal point for policy and practice, the agenda has lacked a coherent strategy and has struggled to achieve its desired goals. Within the current policy priorities for systems working and integrated care, the quality agenda has the potential to support the NHS, yet its future remains unstable within sedimented governance and socio-political turbulence.
NHS managers at a crossroads: part of the problem or the solution?
Authors: Kirkpatrick Ian
Published: May 2024

A view shared by many politicians and parts of the media is that the NHS employs too many managers and back room administrators, soaking up resources, stifling creativity and interfering with the work of frontline clinicians. Essentially, managers have become part of the problem. In this chapter, I critically assess these claims, drawing on the latest evidence. Following a discussion of terminology, I provide a brief overview of historical attempts to develop specialised management functions in the NHS and the origins of recent critiques. Drawing on organisational theory and the available research, I then raise questions about three primary assumptions: a) that the NHS is over-managed; b) that managers are a rent seeking and self-serving elite; and c) that managers and administrators are an unproductive overhead. A key conclusion is that, in light of the mounting evidence, it is necessary to take more seriously the need to develop managers as an occupation in the NHS and to recognise their potential to help improve the service in future.
Introduction: Melting labour and institutional inconsistency
Authors: Seung-yoon Lee Sophia
Published: May 2024

The combination of the Korean welfare state and its labour market is puzzling. In this book, I embark on a journey to unravel the complex relationship between the evolving landscape of melting labour and the inadequacies of institutional protections in the Korean welfare state. South Korea (hereafter, Korea) is often recognised as the most typical case of the East Asian miracle, characterised by broadly fair income distribution without prominent welfare politics representing income, wealth redistribution or labour. The puzzle lies in understanding why, despite achieving economic affluence and rapid institutional development in welfare institutions, Korea has witnessed a distinctively high rate of new forms of precarious work since the 2000s. Why and how does the compressed institutional development of the welfare state fail to protect precarious workers in Korea? In this book, I argue that the mismatch between the institutional combination established during the compressed welfare state development and the melting labour, which has increased precarious work, is at the core of this issue. I will explain how this mismatch renders the old institutions obsolete, employing the concept of policy ‘drift’.
Social protection policies and the South Korean labour market in comparative perspective
Authors: Seung-yoon Lee Sophia
Published: May 2024

In this chapter, I will examine the Korean social protection and labour market policies, as well as the empirical trend in the Korean labour market. The chapter will also provide legal and statistical definitions of various new forms of work in Korea, including platform work. Furthermore, I will explore the concept of melting labour by examining the characteristics of non-standard forms of work and their deviation from the traditional standard employment relationship. We will examine how the eligibility criteria for social security are inconsistent with new forms of work, conceptualised as melting labour, and the level of social protection benefits is low due to low wages and contributions. Additionally, employers’ non-compliance with the scheme and their ambiguous employment relationships make it difficult to determine who the employer is.
Submission and humiliation of childhoods from a decolonial perspective
Authors: Liebel Manfred , Budde Rebecca , Markowska-Manista Urszula , Meade Philip
Published: May 2024

This chapter explores how childhoods of the Global South result from colonization and how children from popular sectors are affected by its aftermath in the postcolonial era marked by the coloniality of power. For children, being affected means being subjugated and humiliated in various ways, but they also give rise to resistance. The basic thesis of the chapter is that the modern Western pattern of childhood is a colonial construction in a triple sense: it is inspired by the colonial relationship, it serves to justify colonial conquest, and in the postcolonial era it serves to render invisible other childhoods that do not conform to the Western norm or to make them appear deviant and backward. After explaining the multiple forms of subjugation and humiliation of childhoods under conditions of coloniality, the chapter explains the need for and possible ways of decolonizing childhoods, the discourse and practice of children’s rights, and childhood studies.
Children’s rights studies in search of its own profile
Authors: Budde Rebecca
Published: May 2024

For about two decades, studies on children’s rights have been developed as a particular branch of research. Like social childhood studies and human rights studies, which have a longer history, it is considered a scientific field with specific interests and cognitive issues. Some similarities can be identified in the discussion, but the question also arises how the profile of these studies can be refined, expanded and, in some points, reconceptualized. This chapter raises some of these questions and offers considerations about future prospects for children’s rights studies. After summarizing the previous discussion regarding the aims of these studies, their legal understanding and policy implications are analysed and the question is raised to what extent the concept of ‘living rights’ can serve as a guideline for research. The chapter then turns to the question of the Eurocentric bias of children’s rights discourse and practice, and the need for its decolonization. The tense relationship between universalism and cultural relativism in the understanding and treatment of these rights is then looked into. Finally, the question whether children’s rights studies should be seen more as a form of ‘enlightenment’ or as a contribution to ‘political intervention’ is addressed.
‘Not about us, but with us!’: Perspectives of insurgent research with children of the Global South
Authors: Liebel Manfred , Budde Rebecca , Markowska-Manista Urszula , Meade Philip
Published: May 2024

This chapter explores the question of how childhood studies can contribute to counteract the marginalization and oppression of children and thus adultism in society. What kind of knowledge is required, and how it can be generated, are guiding questions. The production of such knowledges requires methodologies that do not separate the researcher from the researched, but understand research as a joint project in which there are horizontal and equal relationships between all participants. And it requires methodologies that do not only build on cognitive and linguistic premises usually attributed to adults, but give equal weight to mimetic and emotional skills and ways of communicating. The chapter refers primarily to research approaches that have emerged in Latin American and indigenous contexts and represent what sometimes is called ‘epistemic disobedience’. Further, the chapter presents different dialogical and action-oriented research approaches, and highlights the importance of the research attitude and physicality of those involved in the research. Finally, pitfalls and possible perspectives in dealing with linguistic diversity and the relationship between rationality and emotions are explored.
Public health in England, 2013 to 2020
Authors: Littlejohns Peter , Hunter David J. , Weale Albert , Johnson Jacqueline , Khatun Toslima
Published: May 2024

This chapter explores the organisation of public health responsibilities in England between 2013 and 2020. The establishment of Public Health England was widely welcomed in bringing together health protection and health promotion. During its lifetime, Public Health England encountered problems in addressing some health promotion issues, like vaping, as well as ensuring cross-departmental working in government and forming relations with local government. Its funding was also cut. At its abolition in 2020, long-standing issues about the lack of priority to be given to public health to protect the NHS and promote the health of the population remained unresolved.
Introduction: Setting the Scene
Authors: Conaghan Joanne , Russell Yvette
Published: May 2024

The chapter locates the issue of sexual history evidence in a contemporary context, focusing on the way it was used in the Ched Evans trial in 2016 and the public debate this provoked. The public profile of the Evans case provides a compelling setting in which to raise the key questions the book wishes to address and to highlight their contemporary significance, including: What is meant by sexual history evidence? Why is it thought to be relevant in the context of rape trials? What good/harm does it do in relation to the broader quest for justice? How effective has the law been in repressing its inappropriate use? How accurate is the view of many commentators that it is now only used ‘exceptionally’? Uniting these themes and questions is a single overall aim: to cast new light on the way in which rape victims are apprehended, assessed and ultimately abandoned by the criminal justice system.
Legal Regulation: Limits and Potentialities
Authors: Conaghan Joanne , Russell Yvette
Published: May 2024

This chapter tracks the development of a legal and policy impetus to restrict the use of sexual history evidence in rape trials through several similar common law jurisdictions. The chapter explores the law at the time of writing in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic, Australia, Scotland, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. It assesses the (in)effectiveness of these legal reforms against their primary policy aims, not all of which are the same. The chapter highlights the difficulties reformers face in drawing a clear line between ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ uses of sexual history evidence and the irrepressibility of narratives in trial discourse which promote the use of sexual history evidence in problematic ways. We highlight the limits of criminal justice, its normative underpinnings, and their historical and cultural specificity to demonstrate (and critique) the modes of and justifications for weighting the balance of justice so heavily in favour of the defendant.
Sexual History Evidence and Subjectivity
Authors: Conaghan Joanne , Russell Yvette
Published: May 2024

Chapter 7 explores the construction of subjectivities in rape law discourse, with a particular focus on the role and function of sexual history evidence as a subjectivity erasing and constituting tool. Within the context of the rape trial, we focus on unpacking the subjectivities of both the defendant and the complainant, considering the impact of the introduction of sexual history evidence on the construction of subjectivity and also on the types of stories prosecution and defence lawyers are able to tell about the defendant and complainant. In broad terms, we argue sexual history evidence is a useful and extraordinarily effective specular tool in the rape trial that functions to redirect the court’s attention away from the defendant while simultaneously activating a particular understanding of feminine subjectivity, which helps to undercut a linear story of violation a prosecutor might be trying to tell.
Introduction: Criminology as Otherness?
Authors: Mehozay Yoav
Published: May 2024

The introductory chapter builds the case for why we should read and interpret Western criminology as an ideology of otherness. It provides a short review of knowledge production in Western criminological thought – the classical school, the positivist school, and the managerial movement and administrative criminology – and establishes the ideology of otherness as the book’s analytical framework. It concludes with a brief outline of the remaining chapters.
The Classical School: Otherness as an Ideology of an Imaginary Bourgeois Society
Authors: Mehozay Yoav
Published: May 2024

The chapter considers the role of the classical school in criminology in establishing an ideology of social control, and asks how, if at all, the conception of otherness informed this school of thought. The chapter traces this ideology through the work of the two main founding fathers of classical criminology: Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham. In doing so, the chapter asks how we can reconcile the classical school’s liberal foundations with the fact that its principles undergird a highly stratified social regime; and it argues that this paradox conceals an element of othering in classical criminology. The ideology of otherness defines who is accepted as a rational actor, and who is not; who deserves the protection of the social contract, and who does not.
Introduction
Authors: Masquelier Charles
Published: May 2024

The introductory chapter makes explicit the conception of utopia adopted in the book. It is shown that Ruth Levitas’ understanding of utopia as a ‘method’ heavily influenced the way intersectionality and socialism are brought into dialogue with one another. Then, intersectionality is defined and the way it will be deployed in rethinking socialism is presented. The chapter ends by situating the book within the contemporary scholarship on non-capitalist alternatives/utopias, highlighting the singularity of the utopia formulated here, and introducing the structure of the book.
Pluriversal Emancipation
Authors: Masquelier Charles
Published: May 2024

The intersectional socialist utopia whose contours start being drawn from Chapter 3 aims to offer an alternative to such dispossessional practices. To this end, it is grounded in a conception of emancipation which is directed at large-scale structural change and articulates self-actualization with radical interdependence. In this chapter, then, the decision to choose the term emancipation is justified, and its use is clarified. A particular emphasis is placed on the relationship between difference/individuality and commonality/collectivity entailed by pluriversal emancipation. It is shown that pluriversal emancipation presupposes a distinctive form of identity thinking whereby difference is treated as a bond. The chapter ends with a discussion of the subject of pluriversal emancipation, whose mobilization emerges from the diverse struggles’ recognition of their radical interdependence. The key contribution of this chapter, then, lies in laying the conceptual groundwork for envisioning radical interdependence in an intersectional socialist utopia. The following three chapters clarify the institutional framework that could bring this radical interdependence to life.
Work, Property, and Resource Allocation
Authors: Masquelier Charles
Published: May 2024

This chapter tackles the re-organization of economic life. It starts with reimagining work by grappling with the debate between the emancipation from work and emancipation through work thesis marking socialist thought. It is argued that instead of attempting to leave work behind, it must be collectivized and affirm radical interdependence by being re-orientated towards social value creation. It is also argued that such a conception of work presupposes a re-organization of the system of allocation of resources. An alternative to the market, which brings democratically organized associations of producers, consumers, and user groups into dialogue with one another is offered. Finally, the chapter tackles the issue of property, making explicit the reasons why a relationalized form is most suitable for affirming radical interdependence.
Beyond the Modern Liberal-Capitalist State
Authors: Masquelier Charles
Published: May 2024

This chapter provides utopian insights into political life. It starts with the deployment of an intersectional lens for the critique of the state. Domination, it is argued, is integral to the modern liberal-capitalist state. For this reason, it must be replaced by an alternative socio-political institution. As an alternative is envisioned what anarchists and libertarian socialists called the ‘commune.’ This insight is complemented with a system of representation articulated around the notion of function – functional representation – on the basis of which representatives at local, regional societal, and governmental levels are periodically elected. This system, it is contended, is not only a more democratic and effective mode of representation, it is also particularly well-suited for bringing radical interdependence to life. This is why, finally, the chapter proposes to re-organize international relations away from the state and towards need/function by drawing on the work of international functionalists.
Conclusion
Authors: Masquelier Charles
Published: May 2024

The book concludes with reflections on the way intersectional socialism would be expected to tackle some contemporary issues like the cost of living crisis of the early 2020s. The chapter then turns to a range of important potential objections/criticisms of that utopia. Responses and clarifications are provided for each of those potential objections, those objections, all in an effort to clarify what the utopia in question consists of, as well as what it sets out (and does not set out) to achieve.
Intergenerational Harms: Border Memories and Genealogies of Harm
Authors: Iliadou Evgenia
Published: May 2024

This chapter explores the legacies and memories of forced migration, borders and violence, focusing on Greece and Lesvos in particular. It begins by looking at the Greek Genocide (1914-1923) and theAsia Minor Catastrophe of 1922 and the violence and humiliation that Asia Minor refugees experienced when they settled in Greece, which were similar, if not identical, to contemporary border crossers’ experiences in refugee camps, hotspots, detention centres and the local community of Lesvos. The chapter focuses on the intergenerational harms that remain in collective memory, time and space. It then discusses the ‘violence continuum’ across time and space – that is, the existence and operation of past border policies and practices in the present and future. The chapter argues that past developments and security/military responses to unauthorized border crossings across time and space have generated a ‘border harm’ precedent that has been passed on to the present. This border harm precedent operates as part of the ‘generational’ effect (Arango, 2012) from preceding border regimes, which has affected migration policies and practices across generations. The deficiencies, bureaucracy, inconsistency and chaos surrounding policies and practices of migration governance in each phase of irregular migration in Greece have been passed on from one phase to the next by formulating a genealogy, routine and ritual of cumulative misery, violence and harm in time and space.
Mundane Surrealism: Bureaucratic Deterrence, Violence and Suffering
Authors: Iliadou Evgenia
Published: May 2024

This chapter explores the bureaucratic procedures surrounding registration, identification and asylum that are implemented upon arrival and which produce uncertainty, protracted waiting and bureaucratic limbo by mentally exhausting people. The chapter argues the bureaucratic procedures are designed to always fail, so as to make people’s lives unliveable. Furthermore, the procedures are characterized by an overwhelming inconsistency, uncertainty and chaos, which border crossers must adhere to while living in appalling, inhuman, degrading and life-threatening reception and living conditions. Through this lens, the chapter explores bureaucratic deterrence, and therefore bureaucratic violence – that is, the intentional, well-designed policy of deterring by gradually, slowly and silently ‘killing’ those who have sought international protection in Europe. The bureaucratic deterrence is the apotheosis of the ‘politics of discomfort’ (Darling, 2011, p 268). In this way, border crossers are deterred and indirectly coerced by the authorities to withdraw their asylum claims and either traverse alternative dangerous illicit migratory pathways to other EU countries or ‘voluntarily’ return to their countries of origin.
Memory and Future through the Generations
Authors: Leccardi Carmen , Jedlowski Paolo , Cavalli Alessandro
Published: May 2024

Historical discontinuities in social change make generations appear to be a sociologically relevant phenomenon. However, the demographic concept of generation also has important sociological implications, as living in an ageing society makes a difference to young people, for example, welfare resources may be allocated more readily to retirement funds than to education and training. In historical perspective, generations depend on events and conditions that mark the formative years of life before the entry into adulthood. Thus, a kind of generational collective memory is formed through the cognitive and emotional processing of key events experienced by individuals. In addition, accelerating social changes increase the distance between generations, both within the family and in educational institutions. In recent times, the dangers produced by COVID-19, the outbreak of war in Ukraine and climate emergencies have had different impacts on younger and older generations, and open opportunities for the development of new social movements with different perspectives towards the future.
Why Think Through ‘Family’?
Authors: Boddy Janet , Hanrahan Fidelma , Wheeler Bella
Published: May 2024

Chapter 1 sets out the theoretical framework for the book as a whole, introducing the two studies and establishing the critical arguments for thinking beyond a ‘single story’ of the conventional or the ‘troubled’ family. The chapter addresses the underpinning conceptualization of ‘family’, including attention to a family practices conceptual framework, and discusses the importance of thinking beyond childhood in relation to family and interdependence in early adulthoods. The chapter also introduces the wider context for the research in relation to the sociopolitical context of austerity policies in England during the period of the research, considering the implications for family lives, early adulthoods, and for public and political conceptualizations of family and family responsibility.
Doing Family: The Significance of the ‘Ordinary’
Authors: Boddy Janet , Hanrahan Fidelma , Wheeler Bella
Published: May 2024

Drawing on Morgan’s (2011) conceptualization of family as entailing a sense of the active, and seeking to highlight the (continuing) significance of birth families in care-experienced lives, Chapter 3 addresses the significance of the ‘ordinary’. Undeniably, care-experienced people have often faced significant challenges within their family lives. But focusing only on documenting those adversities runs the risk of engaging in a dividing practice (see Foucault, 1983), whereby care-experienced people – and care-experienced families – are reduced to the problems they have faced. Accordingly, this chapter draws attention to ‘ordinary’ memories within extraordinary childhoods, encompassing narratives of regular, ritual and habitual family practices and the importance of these within participants’ accounts.
‘How Can We Not Talk about Family When Family’s All That We’ve Got?’: Care and Connectedness
Authors: Boddy Janet , Hanrahan Fidelma , Wheeler Bella
Published: May 2024

The title of Chapter 5 is taken from a song chosen by someone who took part in Against All Odds?, discussing his relationship with his siblings. The chapter builds on the material discussed previously to consider care and connectedness, and the challenges, responsibilities and resources that are part of those linked lives. In line with previous research concerned with young adults who had been in care, participants in both studies had contact with their birth families and gave accounts of practices of care within and across generations. This chapter draws on these accounts to think about the sharpened significance of family connections for care-experienced young adults living in a historical moment of heightened precarity and political austerity.
Thinking Through Family: Implications for Theory and Practice
Authors: Boddy Janet , Hanrahan Fidelma , Wheeler Bella
Published: May 2024

Chapter 7 concludes the book by drawing together learning from the preceding chapters to consider the value of a sociological lens, and of attention to family practices, for thinking through the conceptualization of family for people who have been in care. The chapter argues that learning about ‘unconventional’ family lives from the perspective of people who are care experienced enriches the theorization of ‘family’ more generally – in terms of understanding family practices, fluidity and continuities, for example. This in turn helps with identifying the implications for the politics, policy and practice of child and family welfare. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the importance of thinking through ‘family’ when working with children in care and with families who encounter public care systems, through childhood and beyond.
Introduction
Authors: Gibson Kate
Published: May 2024

The introductory chapter offers an overview of the contemporary British foodscape to provide a starting point from which to contemplate the classed locatedness of food. The chapter sets out the aims of the book and in particular its rationale of focusing on the middle classes. The remainder of the chapter details the range of ethnographically inspired qualitative methods utilized in conducting this research. The chapter concludes with a detailed overview of the remaining chapters.