scholarly journals The Politics of Exceptionalism: Securitization and COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Kirk ◽  
Matt McDonald
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Police Powers ◽  
Significant Variability ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Emergency Responses ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Emergency Measures

Abstract The suggestion that we “are at war” with the coronavirus pandemic was not uncommon in national representations of the challenge posed by the virus. Such a representation was in turn frequently linked to the imperative of emergency responses, including expanded police powers, national lockdowns, and border closures. For theorists of securitization, this is not surprising. For them, the language of security and existential threat enables extraordinary and exceptional practices. This paper interrogates these assumptions about the performative and enabling role of securitizing language by beginning with emergency measures and asking how these were justified, how they became possible, and how prominent the language of “security” was to this politics of exceptionalism. It examines justifications for emergency responses—national lockdown and/or border closures—in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand in March 2020. Ultimately, the cases examined demonstrate significant variability in justifications for similar extreme measures. In the process, this analysis challenges core assumptions about the conditions in which extraordinary measures become possible, suggesting, in turn, the need for a context-specific understanding of both securitization and the conditions of exceptionalism.

scholarly journals The spectacle of research assessment systems: insights from New Zealand and the United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1219-1246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bikram Chatterjee ◽  
Carolyn J. Cordery ◽  
Ivo De Loo ◽  
Hugo Letiche
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Research Assessment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
The Impact

PurposeIn this paper, we concentrate on the use of research assessment (RA) systems in universities in New Zealand (NZ) and the United Kingdom (UK). Primarily we focus on PBRF and REF, and explore differences between these systems on individual and systemic levels. We ask, these days, in what way(s) the systemic differences between PBRF and REF actually make a difference on how the two RA systems are experienced by academic staff.Design/methodology/approachThis research is exploratory and draws on 19 interviews in which accounting researchers from both countries offer reflections on their careers and how RA (systems) have influenced these careers. The stories they tell are classified by regarding RA in universities as a manifestation of the spectacle society, following Debord (1992) and Flyverbom and Reinecke (2017).FindingsBoth UK and New Zealand academics concur that their research activities and views on research are very much shaped by journal rankings and citations. Among UK academics, there seems to be a greater critical attitude towards the benefits and drawbacks of REF, which may be related to the history of REF in their country. Relatively speaking, in New Zealand, individualism seems to have grown after the introduction of the PBRF, with little active pushback against the system. Cultural aspects may partially explain this outcome. Academics in both countries lament the lack of focus on practitioner issues that the increased significance of RA seems to have evoked.Research limitations/implicationsThis research is context-specific and may have limited applicability to other situations, academics or countries.Practical implicationsRA and RA systems seem to be here to stay. However, as academics we can, and ought to, take responsibility to try to ensure that these systems reflect the future of accounting (research) we wish to create. It is certainly not mainly or solely up to upper management officials to set this in motion, as has occasionally been claimed in previous literature. Some of the academics who participated in this research actively sought to bring about a different future.Originality/valueThis research provides a unique contextual analysis of accounting academics' perspectives and reactions to RA and RA systems and the impact these have had on their careers across two countries. In addition, the paper offers valuable critical reflections on the application of Debord's (1992) notion of the spectacle society in future accounting studies. We find more mixed and nuanced views on RA in academia than many previous studies have shown.

scholarly journals Acute and General Medicine on Opposite Sides of the World

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-68
Author(s):  
Alasdair B MacDonald ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Medicine ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
General Medicine ◽  
Acute Medicine ◽  
Shared Learning ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
Compare And Contrast

The environments in which General, Acute and Emergency Medicine have evolved in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom have differed significantly. As a result of this, the development and the role of Acute Medicine have also had significant contrasts but there are also many similarities and opportunities for shared learning. We are now in a position to look maturely at our services and allow a little constructive ‘compare and contrast’. Confidence in our own models means now we can each embrace diversity rather than believe one size fits all – not just across the world but also in our own backyards.

scholarly journals The Politics and Law of Trade Union Recognition: Democracy, Human Rights and Pragmatism in the New Zealand and British Context

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Bogg ◽  
Tonia Novitz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Employment Contracts ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Union Representation ◽  
Politics And Law

In this article, we seek to examine the potential for cross-fertilisation of legal regimes relating to trade union representation of members in collective bargaining. The United Kingdom has moved from an entirely voluntarist model in the 1980s to a statutory regime which facilitates recognition of a trade union following majority support from workers (usually by a ballot). By way of contrast, New Zealand has shifted from a highly regulated award-based model in the 1980s to an "agency" model whereby an employer is required to bargain in good faith with any union representing two or more of the employer's employees, but with some balloting also contemplated for coverage of non-unionised workers. It is uncontroversial that the United Kingdom legislation has been severely limited in its effects in a context of ongoing decline in collective bargaining, while the New Zealand model offers only faint remediation of the dismembering of the collective bargaining system by the Employment Contracts Act 1991. In both legal systems, a Labour Party is now proposing implementation of forms of sectoral bargaining. We explore the reasons for these political and legal developments, exploring democratic and human rights rationales for their adoption, as well as more pragmatic approaches. In so doing we examine the scope for democratic trade union representation via consent or ballot, the role of individual human rights and regulatory rationales. We conclude by considering how representative and regulatory approaches may be mutually reinforcing and address different understandings of "constitutionalisation". In so doing, we reaffirm the emphasis placed in Gordon Anderson's writings on substance over form.

scholarly journals Constitutional Statutes and Implied Repeal: The Thoburn Decision and the Consequences for New Zealand

2005 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Prebble
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
City Council ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Parliamentary Sovereignty

The United Kingdom case of Thoburn v Sunderland City Council suggests that there might be statutes that may not be impliedly repealed because of their "constitutional" status. This article examines the Thoburn decision and considers its implications for both the United Kingdom and New Zealand. This article questions whether Thoburn can be applied directly to New Zealand’s constitutional situation, and in particular whether New Zealand even has statutes that might be called "constitutional". The role of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 is considered, as is the case of R v Pora, which can be seen as New Zealand’s forerunner to Thoburn.The article also examines the broader significance of the Thoburn decision and its implications for parliamentary sovereignty. Thoburn can be seen as a mid-point between the traditional supremacy of Parliament and a more rights-based jurisprudence because it protects rights without fettering Parliament’s ability to legislate.

VFR travel interactions through the lens of the host

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-411
Author(s):  
Elisa Backer ◽  
Günay Erol ◽  
Ebru Düşmezkalender
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
The United States ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Visiting Friends And Relatives ◽  
Rich Data ◽  
Official Data

Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel is a substantial segment of tourism globally. In many countries, VFR travel represents a large proportion of visitor movement. The size of the segment is often underestimated because official data only reveal VFR by purpose of visit or VFR by accommodation, contributing to the underestimation of the size of VFR travel. Similarly, there is a lack of research that considers the role of the VFR host in VFR travel which results in a lack of understanding. Clearly, the role of the host is critical in VFR travel and it is what centrally defines VFR. This study contributes to the research in VFR travel through providing research related to hosting VFRs. Of note, this study was undertaken in Turkey, which makes a significant contribution to scholarship given the lack of research that has been undertaken outside of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, which are the areas in which VFR travel research has dominated. This study determined the profiles and characteristics of 423 VFR travellers to Nevsehir, Turkey, and their hosts. Accordingly, this study provides a significant contribution to the scholarship of tourism by providing rich data on an area of tourism (hosting VFRs) that had to date, been overlooked.

scholarly journals Corruption and misconduct: A behavioural reflection from investigative reports into local government

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aquinas J. Purcell
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Zero Tolerance ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Behavioural Factors ◽  
Government Perspective

This paper offers a local government perspective on the behavioural factors which can be the precursors for corruption and misconduct and those factors which can prevent corruption and misconduct. The investigation centred on corruption and misconduct evidenced from local government investigation reports in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. A corruption and misconduct taxonomy was developed and the role of the audit committee in the oversight of corruption and misconduct allegations in local government was empirically tested. The empirical findings indicated low support for an audit committee managing corruption and misconduct allegations. The qualitative research found that a robust culture of zero tolerance of corruption and misconduct was one of the best ways to keep a council honest.

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