Public space and alcohol advertising: Exploratory study of the role of local government

Swensen, G. (2016). Public space and alcohol advertising: Exploratory study of the role of local government. The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 5(3), 117-123. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v5i3.224The paper argues that local government bodies in Western Australia, which have a long-standing key role in overseeing public health standards and regulating business activities, potentially have a major, but under-recognized, capability to regulate the promotion and advertising of alcohol in public places overseen by them. It is contended that because local government bodies already possess extensive statutory powers to undertake this function, there is a compelling case for them to actively regulate alcohol advertising as they “own” most of the public space in Australian cities and towns.As the proposition would involve the prohibition of alcohol advertising, this could mean that local authorities may balk at assuming this responsibility due to a possible loss of revenue if they have already issued licenses to companies to construct and maintain key parts of the public infrastructure, like bus shelters, seating, and other street furniture, in return for being able to charge fees for advertising on these facilities.It is contended that local government authorities would ably perform a front-line role in regulating alcohol advertising in public places because of their reliance on community-based processes of consultation and decision-making for planning, in addition to understanding this role as an extension of a long standing role concerned with the advancement of public health and traffic safety.

Download Full-text

Exploring the linguistic landscape of Cameroon: Reflections on language policy and ideology

Russian Journal of Linguistics ◽

10.22363/2687-0088-2020-24-2-294-324 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 294-324

Author(s):

Martin Pütz

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

African State ◽

Linguistic Landscape ◽

Public Places ◽

African Languages ◽

The Public ◽

Political Implications ◽

A Minor ◽

British Colonies

This contribution focuses on the study of Linguistic Landscapes in the Central/Western African state of Cameroon, with particular reference to its capital, Yaoundé. Linguistic landscapes is a relatively recent area of research, and can be broadly defined as the visual representation of languages in public space. This paper will show that the field of linguistic landscapes can act as a reflection of linguistic hierarchies, ideologies and acts of resistance in multilingual and multicultural communities. At the same time, the sociolinguistic situation in the country will be investigated, which is paramount to understanding the linguistic and ideological conflicts between the anglophone minority and the francophone government. Cameroon’s linguistic landscape will be explored via the various spaces that English, French, Pidgin English, Camfranglais and, to a minor degree, indigenous African languages occupy in its sociolinguistic composition. The methodological design is quantitative in nature, involving collecting more than 600 linguistic tokens (digital photos) in various public places mainly in and around the Cameroonian capital of Yaoundé. It will be demonstrated that the deployment of languages on signs and linguistic tokens, apart from serving informative and symbolic functions for the audiences or passers-by they target, also has social and political implications in an ethnically heterogeneous and linguistically hybrid society such as Cameroon. Whereas in some other former British colonies there are indications that the public space is being symbolically constructed in order to preserve some of Africa’s indigenous languages (e.g. in Botswana, Rwanda, Tanzania), in Cameroon the linguistic landscape almost exclusively focuses on the dominant status and role of one single language, i.e. French, and to a lesser extent English, whose speakers therefore feel marginalized and oppressed by the French government.

Download Full-text

Corrupt Practices in the Public Health Sector: A Focus on Metropolitan Local Government Areas of Kano State, Nigeria

The Nigerian Journal of Sociology and Anthropology ◽

10.36108/njsa/0202/81(0290) ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 149

Author(s):

Mohammed Mustapha Namadi

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Local Government ◽

Health Sector ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

Healthcare Services ◽

Healthcare Sector ◽

Healthcare Provision ◽

The Public ◽

Public Health Sector ◽

The Government

Corruption is pervasive in Nigeria at all levels. Thus, despite recent gains in healthcare provision, the health sector faces numerous corruption related challenges. This study aims at examining areas of corruption in the health sector with specific focus on its types and nature. A sample size of 480 respondents aged 18 years and above was drawn from the eight Metropolitan Local Government Areas of Kano State, using the multistage sampling technique. The results revealed evidence of corrupt practices including those related to unnecessary-absenteeism, diversion of patients from the public health facilities to the private sector, diverting money meant for the purchase of equipment, fuel and diesel, bribery, stealing of medications, fraud, misappropriation of medications and unjustifiable reimbursement claims. In order to resolve the problem of corrupt practices in the healthcare sector, the study recommended the need for enforcement of appropriate code of ethics guiding the conduct of the health professionals, adoption of anti-corruption strategies, and strengthening the government monitoring system to check corruption in public health sector in order to ensure equitable access to healthcare services among the under-privileged people in the society.

Download Full-text

Anticipating on a post covid-19 world and the pivotal role of science and technology

Coronaviruses ◽

10.2174/2666796701999201116121451 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 01 ◽

Author(s):

Saeed Khan ◽

Tusha Sharma ◽

Basu Dev Banerjee ◽

Scotty Branch ◽

Shea Harrelson

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Pivotal Role ◽

Public Healthcare ◽

Healthcare Organizations ◽

Health Crisis ◽

Outbreak Management ◽

The Public ◽

Public Health Crisis ◽

Future Outbreak

: Currently, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has transformed into a severe public health crisis and wreaking havoc worldwide. The ongoing pandemic has exposed the public healthcare system's weaknesses and highlighted the urgent need for investments in scientific programs and policies. A comprehensive program utilizing the science and technologydriven strategies combined with well-resourced healthcare organizations appears to be essential for current and future outbreak management.

Download Full-text

Conclusion

10.1093/oso/9780199392469.003.0016 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Samuel Llano

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Public Space ◽

Social Conflict ◽

Musical Performance ◽

The Public ◽

Political Interests ◽

Musical Practices ◽

The Media ◽

The City

As is described in this conclusion, more than the media and culture, Madrid’s public space constituted the primary arena where reactions and attitudes toward social conflict and inequalities were negotiated. Social conflict in the public space found expression through musical performance, as well as through the rise of noise that came with the expansion and modernization of the city. Through their impact on public health and morality, noise and unwelcomed musical practices contributed to the refinement of Madrid’s city code and the modernization of society. The interference of vested political interests, however, made the refining of legislation in these areas particularly difficult. Analysis of three musical practices, namely, flamenco, organilleros, and workhouse bands, has shown how difficult it was to adopt consistent policies and approaches to tackling the forms of social conflict that were associated with musical performance.

Download Full-text

Komunistki

The Oxford Handbook of Communist Visual Cultures ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190885533.013.30 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 671-692

Author(s):

Aga Skrodzka

Keyword(s):

Public Space ◽

Visual Memory ◽

Women's Movement ◽

Women’S Rights ◽

The Public ◽

The Status ◽

The Commons ◽

Communist Past ◽

Status Of Women

This article argues for the importance of preserving the visual memory of female communist agency in today’s Poland, at the time when the nation’s relationship to its communist past is being forcefully rearticulated with the help of the controversial Decommunization Act, which affects the public space of the commons. The wholesale criminalization of communism by the ruling conservative forces spurred a wave of historical and symbolic revisions that undermine the legacy of the communist women’s movement, contributing to the continued erosion of women’s rights in Poland. By looking at recent cinema and its treatment of female communists as well as the newly published accounts of the communist women’s movement provided by feminist historians and sociologists, the project sheds light on current cultural debates that address the status of women in postcommunist Poland and the role of leftist legacy in such debates.

Download Full-text