Rethinking Economic Structure: Exploring the Role of the Small Firm and Self-Employment in the British Economy

1990 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 125-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Curran

Dominant sociological interpretations of the economic structures of industrial societies have long neglected the role of small scale economic activities. However, current rethinking, stimulated by attempts to explain economic restructuring in the 1980s, appears to offer petty capitalism and self-employment a more important role in the economy. Several versions of economic restructuring theory are examined critically and argued to continue to offer an inadequate account of the role of small scale enterprise in the economy and especially of the social reality of small scale enterprise ownership, organisational patterns and employment. Conceptual and theoretical issues relevant to a more direct focus on small scale economic activities are explored together with a review of studies of a wide range of aspects of such activities. The paper ends by arguing for the continuing importance of small scale economic activities in industrial societies and the need for analyses of economic restructuring and, more fundamentally economic sociology generally, to incorporate a proper recognition of small scale economic activities and self-employment.

Author(s):  
Javad Gorjidooz

The success of Eurozone regionalism is primarily based on the establishment of regional monetary cooperation that resulted in creation of the Euro. In addition, the development of regional strategies for increasing competitiveness of the region and the establishment of structural funds for assisting economic restructuring, solving the social problems, and reducing the differences in the social economic structure of the member countries helped Eurozone integrates fully with the global economy. Just as the Euro has successfully helped the processes of regionalism (globalization on a smaller scale) in Eurozone, a global currency would be necessary counterpart to the further globalization of world economies. As regional monetary cooperation was required in Eurozone for success of the Euro, a global monetary cooperation is needed for creation and success of a global currency. This paper explores the success of the Euro in Eurozone regionalism, the formation of a global monetary cooperation, development of a framework for currency fluctuations among main currencies (dollar, euro, and yen), and ultimately creation of global currency.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Laura Hall ◽  
Urpi Pine ◽  
Tanya Shute

Abstract This paper will reflect on key findings from a Summer 2017 initiative entitled The Role of Culture and Land-Based Healing in Addressing and Ending Violence against Indigenous Women and Two-Spirited People. The Indigenist and decolonizing methodological approach of this work ensured that all research was grounded in experiential and reciprocal ways of learning. Two major findings guide the next phase of this research, complicating the premise that traditional economic activities are healing for Indigenous women and Two-Spirit people. First, the complexities of the mainstream labour force were raised numerous times. Traditional economies are pressured in ongoing ways through exploitative labour practices. Secondly, participants emphasized the importance of attending to the responsibility of nurturing, enriching, and sustaining the wellbeing of soil, water, and original seeds in the process of creating renewal gardens as a healing endeavour. In other words, we have an active role to play in healing the environment and not merely using the environment to heal ourselves. Gardening as research and embodied knowledge was stressed by extreme weather changes including hail in June, 2018, which meant that participants spent as much time talking about the healing of the earth and her systems as the healing of Indigenous women in a context of ongoing colonialism.


2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1122-1130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lotta Clara Kluger ◽  
Sophia Kochalski ◽  
Arturo Aguirre-Velarde ◽  
Ivonne Vivar ◽  
Matthias Wolff

Abstract In February and March 2017, a coastal El Niño caused extraordinary heavy rains and a rise in water temperatures along the coast of northern Peru. In this work, we document the impacts of this phenomenon on the artisanal fisheries and the scallop aquaculture sector, both of which represent important socio-economic activities for the province of Sechura. Despite the perceived absence of effective disaster management and rehabilitation policies, resource users opted for a wide range of different adaptation strategies and are currently striving towards recovery. One year after the event, the artisanal fisheries fleet has returned to operating almost on a normal scale, while the aquaculture sector is still drastically impacted, with many people continuing to work in different economic sectors and even in other regions of the country. Recovery of the social-ecological system of Sechura likely depends on the occurrence of scallop seed and the financial capacity of small-scale producers to reinitiate scallop cultures. Long-term consequences of this coastal El Niño are yet to be studied, though the need to develop trans-local and trans-sectoral management strategies for coping with disturbance events of this scale is emphasized.


2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
GISELE GARCIA ALARCON ◽  
ALFREDO CELSO FANTINI ◽  
CARLOS H. SALVADOR

Abstract Environmental services provided by forests are essential to the social reproduction of populations in rural areas. Perceptions about the services provided by forests play an important role in the planning of landscapes; however, few studies have investigated this issue. This study aimed at understanding how farmers perceive the role of forests in maintaining environmental services. One hundred farmers from the Chapecó Ecological Corridor - SC were interviewed. Provisioning and regulating services were mentioned most often. Water availability ranked first (65%), followed by the maintenance of habitat for biodiversity (34%) and firewood (23%). Income and local use of forest resources were the variables that best explained farmers' perceptions of forest benefits. Nevertheless, the use of forest resources has been limited by restrictions imposed by environmental legislation, which is affecting the perception of farmers about the wide range of environmental services provided by forests.


Muzealnictwo ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margherita Sani

The role of museums in society has expanded significantly in the last decades: from temples of knowledge to forums for debate and discussion, from repositories of objects to people-centred institutions with social responsibilities and functions. This shift reflects an ongoing trend to democratise museums and make them more accessible to wider audiences and responsive to the public’s changing needs, in particular the interests of local communities, whose composition has changed in recent years to include migrants and people of different ethnic backgrounds. With annual migration flows to the EU as a whole projected to increase from about 1 043 000 people in 2010 to 1 332 500 by 2020, the question of how cultural institutions can contribute to effective integration and dialogue has become more relevant than ever. Funders and society at large expect museums to play their part in facilitating the integration and peaceful coexistence of newcomers, with financial resources being made available, also at the EU level, to support them in this effort. Many questions can be raised as to whether it is right and appropriate to charge museums with these responsibilities and whether this would push the boundaries of their work too far and give the social function an exceedingly prominent role over the traditional conservation and educational tasks museums already fulfil. But this discussion seems to be already obsolete in the light of the growing body of evidence on good practices available at the European level. This essay aims to illustrate some of them, as well as to discuss some underpinning theoretical issues and methodological approaches.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Manjón-Cabeza Córdoba ◽  
Maxim Ballmer

Abstract. The origin of intraplate volcanism is not explained by the plate tectonic theory, and several models have been put forward for explanation. One of these models involves Edge-Driven Convection (EDC), in which cold and thick continental lithosphere is juxtaposed to warm and thin oceanic lithosphere to trigger convective instability. To test whether EDC can produce long-lived high-volume magmatism, we run numerical models of EDC for a wide range of mantle properties and edge (i.e., the oceanic-continental transition) geometries. We find that the most important parameters that govern EDC are the rheological paramaters mantle viscosity η0 and activation energy Ea. However, even the maximum melting volumes found in our models are insufficient to account for island-building volcanism on old seafloor, such as at the Canary Islands and Cape Verde. Also, beneath old seafloor, localized EDC-related melting commonly transitions into widespread melting due to small-scale sublithospheric convection, inconsistent with the distribution of volcanism at these volcanic chains. In turn, EDC is a good candidate to sustain the formation of small seamounts on young seafloor, as it is a highly transient phenomenon that occurs in all our models soon after initiation. In a companion paper, we investigate the implications of interaction of EDC with mantle-plume activity.


Solid Earth ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-632
Author(s):  
Antonio Manjón-Cabeza Córdoba ◽  
Maxim D. Ballmer

Abstract. The origin of intraplate volcanism is not explained by plate tectonic theory, and several models have been put forward for explanation. One of these models involves edge-driven convection (EDC), in which cold and thick continental lithosphere is juxtaposed with warm and thin oceanic lithosphere to trigger convective instability. To test whether EDC can produce long-lived high-volume magmatism, we run numerical models of EDC for a wide range of mantle properties and edge (i.e., the oceanic–continental transition) geometries. We find that the most important parameters that govern EDC are the rheological parameters mantle viscosity η0 and activation energy Ea. However, even the maximum melting volumes predicted by our most extreme cases are insufficient to account for island-building volcanism on old seafloor, such as at the Canary Islands and Cabo Verde. Also, beneath old seafloor, localized EDC-related melting commonly transitions into widespread melting due to small-scale sublithospheric convection, inconsistent with the distribution of volcanism at these volcano chains. In turn, EDC is a good candidate to sustain the formation of small seamounts on young seafloor, as it is a highly transient phenomenon that occurs in all our models soon after initiation. In a companion paper, we investigate the implications of interaction of EDC with mantle plume activity (Manjón-Cabeza Córdoba and Ballmer, 2021).


Author(s):  
Kanika Kishore Saxena

Mathura is famous for its association with Vāsudeva‒Kṛṣṇa, an important deity of the Hindu pantheon. However, apart from the sanctity attached to this place by Hindus, it has also provided conditions for the nurturing of Buddhist, Jaina, nāga and yakṣa traditions. This book engages in a wide range of epigraphic, archaeological and art historical data from the various sites in the Mathura area and weaves this to present a coherent picture of the variegated religious history of the area from c.600 CE to c.1000 CE, which witnessed various religions/cults/sects competing for attention and patronage. The chapters in this book have been divided according to religious traditions, namely, Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism, along with the Kṛṣṇa, yakṣa, nāga, and mātṛkā cults. It raises many important issues related to Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism as well as older cults of the yakṣas and nāgas. The objects of donation ranged from images, stūpas, temples to tanks and gardens. Donations by monks and nuns; together with laity from different locations within and beyond Mathura, amply reflect on the social mosaic of the time. The role of monastics and laity, the nature of patronage, and the social and political underpinnings of the religious history are also examined, all within a long, diachronic frame. This book reveals the complexity of the religious history of Mathura to provide the reader a taste of its diversity and plurality.


2007 ◽  
Vol 64 (10) ◽  
pp. 3542-3561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Fuhrer ◽  
Christoph Schär

Abstract Shallow orographic convection embedded in an unstable cap cloud can organize into convective bands. Previous research has highlighted the important role of small-amplitude topographic variations in triggering and organizing banded convection. Here, the underlying dynamical mechanisms are systematically investigated by conducting three-dimensional simulations of moist flows past a two-dimensional mountain ridge using a cloud-resolving numerical model. Most simulations address a sheared environment to account for the observed wind profiles. Results confirm that small-amplitude topographic variations can enhance the development of embedded convection and anchor quasi-stationary convective bands to a fixed location in space. The resulting precipitation patterns exhibit tremendous spatial variability, since regions receiving heavy rainfall can be only kilometers away from regions receiving little or no rain. In addition, the presence of banded convection has important repercussions on the area-mean precipitation amounts. For the experimental setup here, the gravity wave response to small-amplitude topographic variations close to the upstream edge of the cap cloud (which is forced by the larger-scale topography) is found to be the dominant triggering mechanism. Small-scale variations in the underlying topography are found to force the location and spacing of convective bands over a wide range of scales. Further, a self-sufficient mode of unsteady banded convection is investigated that does not dependent on external perturbations and is able to propagate against the mean flow. Finally, the sensitivity of model simulations of banded convection with respect to horizontal computational resolution is investigated. Consistent with predictions from a linear stability analysis, convective bands of increasingly smaller scales are favored as the horizontal resolution is increased. However, small-amplitude topographic roughness is found to trigger banded convection and to control the spacing and location of the resulting bands. Thereby, the robustness of numerical simulations with respect to an increase in horizontal resolution is increased in the presence of topographic variations.


Author(s):  
Traolach S. Brugha

Where treatment and health care is no longer able to bring relief and improve functioning, social care should take over. In this chapter, we discuss the development of social care in the context of adult autism, and the range of its concerns and interests is considered. The key role of the social worker, particularly as a broker of social care, is developed. Health professionals define the need for reasonable adjustments to assessed disability, and the content of a personal passport, summarizing individual’s needs. Health professionals also have a key role in risk management, although the social worker may have a key co-ordinating role. A wide range of contexts for social care within and beyond health care is considered. The distinction between individual need and care planning, and the role of the wider society, which will be covered in Chapter 14, concludes this chapter.


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