Introduction

Author(s):  
Maria Koinova

The Introduction lays out the book’s theoretical and empirical foundations, based on large-scale research conducted among the Albanian, Armenian, and Palestinian diasporas in the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. Two questions are of core interest: (1) why do conflict-generated diasporas mobilize in more or less contentious ways; and (2) why do they pursue their mobilizations through host-state, transnational, and supranational channels? Diaspora entrepreneurs are studied with their linkages to contested states experiencing challenges to their sovereignty, specifically de facto states with limited international recognition, Kosovo, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Palestine, respectively. The chapter presents a novel typology of four types of diaspora entrepreneurs based on configurations of their socio-spatial linkages to different global contexts: the Broker, Local, Distant, and Reserved. A two-level typological theory features interactions between diaspora entrepreneurs and homeland governments, parties, non-state actors, and critical events or limited global influences. This chapter presents other intellectual contributions of this book: going beyond analysis of diasporas as groups but focusing on individual agency; considering the socio-spatial positionality of diaspora entrepreneurs to different global contexts, not simply to host-states and home-states; shedding light comparatively on little explored diaspora lobbying in Europe, and integrating scholarship on migrant integration into the study of contested statehood. Scope conditions, methodology, coding, and dataset based on 146 interviews with diaspora entrepreneurs are presented next. The Introduction finishes by laying out the content of the individual chapters.

Author(s):  
Maria Koinova

Why do conflict-generated diasporas mobilize in contentious and non-contentious ways or use mixed strategies of contention? Why do they channel their homeland-oriented goals through host-states, transnational networks, and international organizations? This book develops a theory of socio-spatial positionality and its implications for the individual agency of diaspora entrepreneurs, moving beyond essentialized notions of diasporas as groups. Individual diaspora entrepreneurs operate in transnational social fields affecting their mobilizations beyond dynamics confined to host-states and original home-states. There are four types of diaspora entrepreneurs—Broker, Local, Distant, and Reserved—depending on the relative strength of their socio-spatial linkages to host-land, on the one hand, and original homeland and other global locations, on the other. A two-level typological theory captures nine causal pathways, unravelling how the socio-spatial linkages of these diaspora entrepreneurs interact with external factors: host-land foreign policies, homeland governments, parties, non-state actors, and critical events or limited global influences. Such pathways produce mobilization trajectories with varying levels of contention and methods of channelling homeland-oriented goals. Non-contentious pathways often occur when host-state foreign policies are convergent with the diaspora entrepreneurs’ goals, and when diaspora entrepreneurs can act autonomously. Dual-pronged contention pathways occur quite often, under the influence of homeland governments, non-state actors, and political parties. The most contentious pathway occurs in response to violent critical events in the homeland or adjacent to it fragile states. This book is informed by 300 interviews and a dataset of 146 interviews with diaspora entrepreneurs among the Albanian, Armenian, and Palestinian diasporas in the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as Kosovo and Armenia in the European neighbourhood.


Author(s):  
Niall Sharples

In this book I have attempted to create a new agenda for the study of Britain in the last millennium BC. The book consciously sets out, in its structure and content, to direct attention away from the nature of the archaeological record towards the nature of past human societies. This does not mean I am not interested in the archaeological record, and readers will have noted there is a considerable amount of detail in the text, perhaps too much for some people; but the data has to be examined in relation to the people who lived in a particular place at a particular time: ‘the archaeologist is digging up, not things, but people’ (Wheeler 1954b: v). The objective has been to outline the overall constraints of place and time (Chapter 2) and to see how these created a distinctive archaeological record that differed not only from other areas of Britain, but which varied significantly within the region. I examine how people created communities (Chapter 3) and explore how the mechanisms used to organize human relationships, within that society, changed through time. These changes were partly brought about through events outside their control, but always in a way that was affected by their own particular circumstances. I consider how the most ubiquitous architectural form in later prehistory, the house, was used to structure social relationships on a daily basis in relation to the family, and how this provided a template for thinking about the world (Chapter 4). The analysis concludes with an examination of how these societies considered individual freedom and connectedness, and how the complex variability of individual agency provides an internal dynamic to social change that was influenced by external events, but not led by them (Chapter 5). When I originally conceived of this book the structure was reversed: I started with the individual and worked up to the organization of the larger landscapes. At first sight this may sound a more sensible way of presenting the evidence, moving from small-scale structures to large-scale processes, but during the writing of the book I found this did not seem to work.


Author(s):  
Maria Koinova

Chapter 3 is the second theoretical chapter focusing on the individual-level perspective on diaspora mobilizations and the two-level typological theory. How do the four types of diaspora entrepreneurs—Broker, Local, Distant, and Reserved—interact with exogenous factors? How do these interactions lead to different modes of contention and channelling of interest through host-states, transnational networks, and supranational organizations? The two-level typological theory is unpacked through each of its constitutive elements: (1) diaspora entrepreneurs, (2) exogenous factors affecting them, and (3) contentiousness and channelling of their mobilizations, through their conjunctural variations. The chapter first conceptualizes diaspora entrepreneurs’ socio-spatial linkages and the typology developed through novel relational coding. Building on earlier work in International Relations, the Politically Relevant Environment (PRE) is discussed next. It is useful to theoretically narrow down the numerous factors affecting diaspora entrepreneurs in a particular context, namely when they are socio-spatially contiguous and affecting existing grievances related to conflict-generated identities of diaspora entrepreneurs. The chapter further theorizes about causal mechanisms and the nine causal pathways emerging through interactions between diaspora entrepreneurs and PRE factors such as host-land foreign policies, homeland governments, parties, non-state actors, critical events, and limited global influences. Four non-contentious pathways, four characterized by a dual-pronged approach, and one more contentious are presented.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 918-938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Drakopoulou Dodd ◽  
Paul Jones ◽  
Gerard McElwee ◽  
Mohamed Haddoud

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report findings from the first stage of a study that focusses on research in the domain of entrepreneurship as a process of knowledge creation and exchange. It seeks to discover what entrepreneurship scholars really believe that they contribute. Focusses on the entrepreneurship academic community and examine two issues: the value scholars perceive, in terms of both how an individuals’ work can be seen to be a contribution to knowledge, and what “contribution to knowledge” means to the individual researcher. Design/methodology/approach The authors employ a qualitative approach within which 20 entrepreneurship professors were asked to complete a semi structured research instrument to express their opinions on the value of the authors’ research and the extent to which the authors’ work contribute to knowledge and practice. The sample was drawn from full entrepreneurship professors from the UK, USA, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. Findings Suggest that entrepreneurship scholars publish for a plurality of reasons including personal fulfilment, interest, and necessity. It was also noted that the motivations for academic scholarship have changed with increased internal and external pressures and a drive to publish in certain journals. Research limitations/implications This is a novel study not undertaken previously in the entrepreneurship discipline. The results will inform research practices within the entrepreneurship discipline and represent the basis for an ongoing large scale global quantitative study of the entrepreneurship discipline. Originality/value The outcomes of this research inform higher education stakeholders in the construction of valid research strategies thus providing a suitable impact upon academia and society. It provides an initial insight into drivers for academic research within the entrepreneurship discipline, and the opportunities, challenges and paradoxes which various approaches to research contribution entail.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Gumble ◽  
Sarah Wise

New forms of mobility reshape the transportation landscape, changing movement for both their users and others in the environment. The transition period during which novel forms of travel are being explored can be a challenging time while the use of spaces must be renegotiated. E-scooters, which have recently been more widely introduced to the UK, are experiencing such a moment as riders, planners, and other users of the streetscape are determining what role this technology will play in communities. The data gaps surrounding e-scooters can make this an especially difficult question for planners because of the cost of gathering relevant observational data, much of which is held under private company ownership. In light of this, this work presents an agent-based model developed to examine the integration of e-scooters into existing streetscapes. Agent-based models explore phenomena through focusing on individual behaviour and rules which in turn gives rise to emergent large scale patterns. These patterns can be dissected and interrogated with a variety of tools, allowing us to tease out individual as well as group experiences of different scenarios. An agent-based approach allows us to capture the individual behaviours of e-scooter users and those of cyclists, drivers of variously sized vehicles, pedestrians, and others present in the environment. By focusing on the interactions of these various street users, we can explore how different approaches to e-scooter integration may fare relative to varying street configurations. Their decision frameworks are informed by observational studies of e-scooter users in order to augment the available data. We discuss the current state of understanding e-scooter behaviour and the potential modelling applications, present an initial behavioural framework of e-scooter decision making and inter-modal interactions, and highlight some preliminary results examining the differences between e-scooters operating on roads versus shared segregated cycle lanes. The work concludes with a case study comparing two modelled scenarios, one including a segregated cycle lane and one without. Drawing upon metrics such as the route segmentation/ cut-off rate and average travel comfort, we can more precisely explore how new forms of mobility will influence different kinds of street users in order to better understand the trade-offs associated with different paths forward.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Zapp ◽  
Marcelo Marques ◽  
Justin JW Powell

Embedded in social worlds, education systems and research reflect distinct national trajectories. We compare two contrasting traditions of educational research (ER). Whereas British ER exhibits a multidisciplinary and pragmatic character, German ER reflects pedagogy and mainly humanities-based traditions. Yet, in both countries, policymakers’ growing demand for evidence in ER resulted in increased funding, specific research programs, and mandatory large-scale assessments. These have reshaped the field, suggesting more similar ER agendas. Based on a comprehensive original dataset of basic ER projects funded by the main grant-making agencies in both countries (2005–2015), we analyze five dimensions: levels, objects, disciplines, methodologies, and themes. We find epistemic drift, with partial convergence characterized by a multi-level focus, multidisciplinary approach, strongly empirical and quantitative methodology, and a premium on teaching and learning themes. The cases remain distinct in exploring systemic questions in a wider contextual frame (UK) or concentrating more narrowly on the individual learner (Germany).


Author(s):  
Yulia P. Melentyeva

In recent years as public in general and specialist have been showing big interest to the matters of reading. According to discussion and launch of the “Support and Development of Reading National Program”, many Russian libraries are organizing the large-scale events like marathons, lecture cycles, bibliographic trainings etc. which should draw attention of different social groups to reading. The individual forms of attraction to reading are used much rare. To author’s mind the main reason of such an issue has to be the lack of information about forms and methods of attraction to reading.


Author(s):  
Margaretta Jolly

This ground-breaking history of the UK Women’s Liberation Movement explores the individual and collective memories of women at its heart. Spanning at least two generations and four nations, and moving through the tumultuous decades from the 1970s to the present, the narrative is powered by feminist oral history, notably the British Library’s Sisterhood and After: The Women’s Liberation Oral History Project. The book mines these precious archives to bring fresh insight into the lives of activists and the campaigns and ideas they mobilised. It navigates still-contested questions of class, race, violence, and upbringing—as well as the intimacies, sexualities and passions that helped fire women’s liberation—and shows why many feminists still regard notions of ‘equality’ or even ‘equal rights’ as insufficient. It casts new light on iconic campaigns and actions in what is sometimes simplified as feminism’s ‘second wave’, and enlivens a narrative too easily framed by ideological abstraction with candid, insightful, sometimes painful personal accounts of national and less well-known women activists. They describe lives shaped not only by structures of race, class, gender, sexuality and physical ability, but by education, age, love and cultural taste. At the same time, they offer extraordinary insights into feminist lifestyles and domestic pleasures, and the crossovers and conflicts between feminists. The work draws on oral history’s strength as creative method, as seen with its conclusion, where readers are urged to enter the archives of feminist memory and use what they find there to shape their own political futures.


Author(s):  
Elisabeth van Houts

This book contains an analysis of the experience of married life by men and women in Christian medieval Europe c. 900–1300. The focus will be on the social and emotional life of the married couple rather than on the institutional history of marriage. The book consists of three parts: the first part (Getting Married) is devoted to the process of getting married and wedding celebrations, the second part (Married Life) discusses the married life of lay couples and clergy, their sexuality, and any remarriage, while the third part (Alternative Living) explores concubinage and polygyny as well as the single life in contrast to monogamous sexual unions. Four main themes are central to the book. First, the tension between patriarchal family strategies and the individual family member’s freedom of choice to marry and, if so, to what partner; second, the role played by the married priesthood in their quest to have individual agency and self-determination accepted in their own lives in the face of the growing imposition of clerical celibacy; third, the role played by women in helping society accept some degree of gender equality and self-determination to marry and in shaping the norms for married life incorporating these principles; fourth, the role played by emotion in the establishment of marriage and in married life at a time when sexual and spiritual love feature prominently in medieval literature.


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