The Precariat Soldiering on despite Challenges: A Comparative Study of Company A in the Agricultural Industry and Company B in the Hospitality Industry in Zimbabwe

Author(s):  
Vonai Chirasha ◽  
Christian Sauti

  Interrogating the precariat who soldier on in the face of numerous challenges in the agricultural and hospitality industries in Zimbabwe has become necessary in the light of the dilapidating economic environment in Zimbabwe. This study sought to unveil the factors behind the precariat who soldier on despite challenges faced at the workplace. A sample size of 16 participants was chosen from each company through convenience and purposive sampling. Data were gathered using a combination of unstructured interviews, content analysis of secondary sources and self-administered questionnaires. A thematic analysis approach was used to interpret and analyse the study findings. With the use of the employment strain model, the research established that despite the myriad of challenges faced by the precariat, there are motivating factors that help them to endure all the hardships. The findings revealed that entrepreneurial activities, counterproductive behaviours, and working hard helped to endure hardships. Organisations are on the receiving end of poor performance, poor quality service, high costs and high accident rates, among other things. Recommendations are for the companies to develop precarious employment policies to govern the working conditions for the precariat, to adhere to the existing legal frameworks for precarious work, and for the HR department to advise workers and management that the precariat should be treated equitably and enjoy workplace representation and protection against unfair labour practices.

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 330-347
Author(s):  
Hugo Agra

O artigo analisa um tema pouco abordado na literatura brasileira de relações internacionais: a atuação das políticas externas do Brasil e do México para a criação do Grupo de Contadora (1983), Grupo de Apoio à Contadora (1985) e do Grupo do Rio (1987). Esses grupos tiveram papéis importantes nas tentativas de estabilização dos problemas políticos, econômicos e sociais da América Central a partir dos anos 1980. O artigo está dividido em quatro partes: i) compreensão da criação do Grupo de Contadora, do Grupo de Apoio à Contadora e a atuação do Brasil e do México, ii) destaque aos principais objetivos desses dois grupos, iii) explica o “dilema” das políticas externas do Brasil e do México diante das ações estadunidenses para a América Central e iv) e descreve a criação e os objetivos do Grupo do Rio. Por meio de uma pesquisa explicativa, onde é fundamental reunir informações sobre vários assuntos para entender de forma mais abrangente um tema específico, o artigo faz uso de fontes secundárias que analisam as relações internacionais da América Latina e os processos decisórios das políticas externas do Brasil e do México na década de 1980, além de algumas fontes primárias, como documentos oficiais dos acordos celebrados e declarações presidenciais disponíveis em arquivos dos sites eletrônicos da presidência ou chancelaria dos países. Conclui-se mostrando que os dois países foram fundamentais para o processo de estabilização política, principalmente na região centro-americana, não só pela importância histórica, política e econômica de cada um, mas também pelo fato de que a formação desses grupos foram importantes para dirimir litígios, acelerar a resolução de conflitos entre os países do continente, além de ter sido um período de aproximação e fortalecimento da relação bilateral Brasil-México.         ABSTRACT: The article analyzes a theme little addressed in the Brazilian literature of international relations: the performance of the foreign policies of Brazil and Mexico for the creation of the Contadora Group (1983), the Contadora Support Group (1985) and the Rio Group (1987). These groups played important roles in attempts to stabilize the political, economic and social problems of Central America from the 1980s onwards. The article is divided into four parts: i) an understanding of the creation of the Contadora Group, the Contadora Support Group and the actions of Brazil and Mexico, ii) highlighting the main objectives of these two groups, iii) explaining the "dilemma" of the foreign policies of Brazil and Mexico in the face of US actions for Central America, and iv) describing the creation and objectives of the Rio Group. By means of an explanatory survey, where it is essential to gather information on various subjects in order to understand more comprehensively a specific theme, the article makes use of secondary sources that analyze the international relations of Latin America and the decision-making processes of the foreign policies of Brazil and Mexico in the 1980s, in addition to some primary sources, such as official documents of the agreements signed and presidential declarations available on the archives of the electronic sites of the presidency or chancellery of the countries. It concludes by showing that both countries were fundamental to the process of political stabilization, especially in the Central American region, not only because of their historical, political and economic importance, but also because the formation of these groups was important to settle disputes, accelerate the resolution of conflicts between the countries of the continent, and was a period of rapprochement and strengthening of the bilateral relationship between Brazil and Mexico. Keywords: International Relations; Latin America; Contadora Group; Rio Group.       Aprovado em: setembro/2019. Recebido em: agosto/2020.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (22) ◽  
pp. 138-146
Author(s):  
Mumtaj Hassan ◽  
Anis Shuhaiza Md Salleh ◽  
Yusramizza Md Isa @ Yusuff

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has endangered the human and economic well-being in the world. It also has a huge impact on almost all industries at home and abroad. The International Labor Organization (ILO) expects the pandemic to increase layoffs and unemployment worldwide. In this case, employers are certainly in a dilemma, each looking for and juggling between workers' income and business profit. Thus, this article explores the aspect of termination of employees’ employment through library-based research that focuses on the use of statutes, courts’ cases, legal documents, and scholarly writings published in journals. Descriptive and critical methods are used to analyse the primary and secondary sources referred to. This article stresses that there are procedures and laws which employers need to obey in order to address the excessive number of employees in the face of pandemics. Dismissal of employees should not be done arbitrarily without justifications and procedures that have been outlined by law. The discussion ended with suggestions to employers so that any layoffs can be blocked and minimized.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-91
Author(s):  
Filip Kubiaczyk

Abstract The paper analyzes the role of the national team of Spain denoted by the neologism La Roja in promoting patriotic sentiments and building national unity. In a 2014 study entitled Goles y banderas. Fútbol e identidades nacionales en España, Alejandro Quiroga Fernández de Soto argues that the successes of the team in 2008-2012 (Champions of Europe in Austria and Switzerland, World Champions in South Africa and again Champions of Europe in Poland and Ukraine), brought about a patriotic revival, while La Roja itself became an integrating factor which united the Spanish regardless of political differences and distinct identities. The assertion is highly debatable for two reasons: firstly, the resurgence of the national symbols was temporary and did not occur uniformly across the country, especially in Catalonia and the Basque Country; secondly, it would be more fitting to speak of journalistic patriotism rather than actual patriotic revival within the Spanish society. The paper critically assesses the patriotic discourse rooted in the successes of La Roja in 2008-2012. Their poor performance in the last major tournaments in 2014-2018 and absence of any particular euphoria surrounding the national team confirm that the wave of flags which swept the country in the successful period was not an expression of profound, patriotic renewal of national symbols. At most, it may be argued to have been a forced attempt to boost Spanish (centralist) nationalism in the face of the increasingly active peripheral nationalisms, especially its most radical, Catalan embodiment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-320
Author(s):  
Edward O. Okumagba

The loss of an estimated $4.5 billion in 2020 by Nigeria to petroleum pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft has necessitated a critical assessment of the legal frameworks for the prevention of petroleum pipeline vandalism in Nigeria. This paper utilizes source materials relating to the title by examining the impacts of existing legal frameworks for the prevention of petroleum pipeline vandalization in Nigeria. It x-rays amongst others the provisions of sections 2 and 7 of the Petroleum Production and Distribution (Anti-Sabotage) Act and Miscellaneous Offences Act which imposes the death penalty and life imprisonment with the aim of deterring offenders without creating a court to try offenders. It reveals that in the face of such stringent sanctions, the activities of petroleum pipeline vandalism have continued unabated albeit a thriving business that is likely to arm the Nigerian economy in COVID-19 pandemic era. In addition, with an already perceived “compromised” criminal justice system, the paper concludes by advocating for change in policy strategy that will include the creation of a special court by amending existing legal frameworks to try offenders of the activities of petroleum pipeline vandalization.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
John Kwasi Annan

It is well known that quality and positive school outcomes are determined by teacher competence, sensitivity, and motivation which are summed as teacher quality. The role teachers play in shaping society requires that training of same must be of utmost priority of governments. With reference to the relevance of archival materials, the study relied mostly on observation and secondary sources of data with content analysis on training of teachers in Ghana. This study identified various elements that contribute to the quality of teachers which ultimately increases the quality of education. These included quality assurance of teacher education, initial training of teachers, deployment processes, professional growth, compensation, and regulatory bodies that ensure standards and compliance. The article also found out that low investments in teacher education, allowing nonprofessional graduates to teach, poor living, and working condition are deterrent to teachers from accepting postings to rural and deprived areas; lack of regular and consistent training for professional development and poor motivation packages for teachers are some of the reasons for poor quality in the education delivery at the basic school level. The study then advocates that teachers must be trained strictly by educational institutions only, aptitude test must be used to recruit teachers, intensify curricula reform to address critical thinking skills in teachers, institute regular development training for teachers, and motivate teachers who accept postings to rural areas.


Author(s):  
Ajeya Jha ◽  
Ajay Dheer ◽  
Vijay Kumar Mehta ◽  
Saibal Kumar Saha

The adverse health effects of high altitude are of considerable importance since they may seriously interfere with working efficiency of an organization that is actively involved with inescapable duties. The objective of the current study is to explore inter-relational dynamics of various HR aspects in HAIA. The HR aspects included are job delay, poor team, motivation, less leave, high working hours, poor decision making, personal stress, family stress, personal discomfort, uncertainty, poor relations, health, accidents, quality and performance. A decision-making trial and an evaluation laboratory have been used to explore the inter-relation dynamics of various factors of HR. The results indicate that personal stress has the highest impact priority which is followed by poor performance, poor team and motivation. Uncertainty, less leave, and high working hours has the least impact priority. It is also found that high working hours, less leave and poor health are the major causes whereas decrease in motivation and poor quality of work are the major results.


Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
Hoops ◽  
Tagliarino

The Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure (VGGT) call for governments to clearly define the term ‘public purpose’ to allow for judicial review of the goals of expropriations of property. However, recent research indicates that national-level legal frameworks that govern expropriation decision-making not only vary greatly from country to country but also often fail to comply with the VGGT standards on expropriation. This creates the potential for unpredictable and, in some cases, arbitrary applications of expropriation law in practice. Focusing on legal norms and jurisprudence applicable to ‘public purpose’ decision-making in South Africa and India, this article provides a comparative analysis of these countries’ legal frameworks as means of ascertaining (1) the current legal boundaries to decisions on the expropriation’s goal; (2) whether these boundaries comply with the VGGTs; and (3) what these two countries can learn from one another in terms enacting legislation and regulations that comply with the VGGTs. To conduct this comparative analysis, we thoroughly examine constitutional provisions, relevant case law, legislation, regulations, and relevant secondary sources to highlight the current status of India’s and South Africa’s law on ‘public purpose’ and how they relate to the VGGTs. We conclude by distilling some key findings that can inform the decisions of expropriation lawmakers in both countries, especially in South Africa where a draft Expropriation Bill is currently being considered.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEXANDER ORAKHELASHVILI

Abstract:The unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovar authorities in Pristina in 2008 has been the source of various controversies in international affairs. From a legal perspective, Kosovo’s secessionist drive is contrary to the well-established position of international law regarding the territorial integrity of states. From a political perspective, Kosovo’s case exemplifies the political drive to alter the law – a drive that applies to other entities in Kosovo’s position. Both these phenomena are accompanied by the divergent interests held by Kosovars as the ‘local agency’ and by the interests of Serbia and third states (including great powers) that support or oppose Kosovo’s independence. The interdisciplinary nature of this matter is enhanced by the intersection of applicable legal frameworks with competing political interests. The motivating factors – and implications of – great power conduct in this context should be examined through the prism of political realism, which provides an enhanced perspective on the relationship between legal and political factors in all their complexity.


1996 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 240-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R. Polster ◽  
Steven Z. Rapcsak

AbstractWe report the performance of a prosopagnosic patient on face learning tasks under different encoding instructions (i.e., levels of processing manipulations). R.J. performs at chance when given no encoding instructions or when given “shallow” encoding instructions to focus on facial features. By contrast, he performs relatively well with “deep” encoding instructions to rate faces in terms of personality traits or when provided with semantic and name information during the study phase. We propose that the improvement associated with deep encoding instructions may be related to the establishment of distinct visually derived and identity-specific semantic codes. The benefit associated with deep encoding in R.J., however, was found to be restricted to the specific view of the face presented at study and did not generalize to other views of the same face. These observations suggest that deep encoding instructions may enhance memory for concrete or pictorial representations of faces in patients with prosopagnosia, but that these patients cannot compensate for the inability to construct abstract structural codes that normally allow faces to be recognized from different orientations. We postulate further that R.J.'s poor performance on face learning tasks may be attributable to excessive reliance on a feature-based left hemisphere face processing system that operates primarily on view-specific representations. (JINS, 1996, 2, 240–248.)


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