Economic Change and Occultic Sika Bone: Market Women’s Responses to Increased Financialization in Ghana

Set in a context where material accumulation is valorized, this article analyzes narratives of sika bone (bad money) as expressions of economic uncertainty by market women operating in an era of increased financialization. The ethnographic evidence supports previous arguments about the impact of economic change in this millennium, a change that fosters both rationality and superstition in equal measure. Salifu proposes that sika bone indicates a sense of uncertainty fostered by economic change in the supply of cash and formal credit, a sentiment that is expressed by applying old notions about occultic means of accumulation to new and equally enigmatic circumstances.

Prediction of transition probability from unemployment to employment in Argentina (2003-2019)

Despite their growing participation in the labor market, women who decide to go out and look for a job face greater difficulties in obtaining it. The participation of women in the labor force is considerably lower, even if entering the labor market the possibility of actually finding a job is also less than the chance that men have of doing so (CIPPEC, 2019). Being able to predict the probability of occupational insertion of men and women, and inquire about the factors that influence this probability, is essential in order to understand gender gaps in the labor market, helping to improve the design and implementation of public policies with a gender perspective, with the final goal to achieve equality of opportunities. In this framework, the present work will seek to predict the probability of transition from unemployment to the employment in Argentina from 2003 to 2019, using the Permanent Household Survey, based on traditional prediction techniques and Machine Learning, with the objective to find the most robust model that achieves the highest level of accuracy.

Gleichstellung in der Krise – Eine vergleichende Analyse der Auswirkungen der Corona-Pandemie auf die Gleichstellung der Geschlechter in Deutschland und Schweden

In Deutschland sind Frauen pandemiebedingt stärker von Kurzarbeit und Arbeitslosigkeit sowie von Problemen der Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf betroffen als Männer. Gleichzeitig arbeiten sie aufgrund der geschlechtersegregierten Arbeitswelt häufiger in schlechter bezahlten systemrelevanten Berufen. Staatliche Hilfs- und Unterstützungsangebote zur Krisenbewältigung umfassen primär finanzielle Leistungen und Beratungsmöglichkeiten. In entscheidenden wissenschaftlichen und politischen Beratergremien sind Frauen unterrepräsentiert. Der Vergleich mit Schweden verdeutlicht, dass dort die Geschlechtergleichstellung in Normalzeiten stark institutionell verankert wurde. Gender Mainstreaming, Gender Budgeting und Gender Monitoring sind daher auch in Krisenzeiten fester Bestandteil der Strategien. Das schwedische Beispiel zeigt wichtige alternative Herangehensweisen und Denkanstöße für die Debatte um eine geschlechtergerechte Krisenpolitik in Deutschland. Abstract: Gender Equality in Times of Crisis – A Comparative Analysis of the Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality in Germany and Sweden Women suffer more from short-term work arrangements, unemployment and the challenge of balancing work and family life in Germany as a consequence of the COVID-19-pandemic. Moreover, in a gender-segregated labour market women are overrepresented in essential but low paid positions. State support to overcome the crisis is mainly given in forms of financial assistance and counselling. Furthermore, women are underrepresented in the most influential scientific and political advisory bodies. In comparison to Germany, Sweden has institutional integration of gender equality. Gender mainstreaming, gender budgeting and gender monitoring are an integral part of the Swedish strategy in normal times, and remain so, even in times of crisis. The Swedish example provides an alternative approach crucial for the debate on how to achieve a more gender equal crisis response in Germany.

Awareness and Use of Food Adulterants among Food Vendors and Market Women in the Northern Part of Ghana

Ingestion of unsafe/adulterated foods is on record to have caused devastating health conditions and deaths around the world. Accordingly, an investigation to unearth this revelation is crucial in saving lives. This study, within the context of the Theory of Planned Behaviour investigated the awareness level, affordances and effects of food adulterants from the perspectives of market women and food vendors in the Bolgatanga Municipality. The study employed a sequential explanatory mixed-method design including both questionnaire and semi-structured interview guide in data collection. Using purposive, convenience and simple random sampling techniques, 106 respondents comprising 46 food vendors and 60 market women were sampled for the study. Quantitative data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics while the qualitative data followed the thematic approach. The study discovered that respondents were moderately aware (3.34±0.82) of the use of food adulterants. Again, factors such as, improve food colour, desire to increase profits, quest to improve food appearance, adding to weight and improvement of taste predominantly trigger food adulteration. Furthermore, the study revealed that food adulterants pose various health threats to consumers as perceived by respondents. Finally, the study established that there was no statistically significant difference between food vendors and market women on their level of awareness on the use of food adulterants [t(104)=0.670,p=0.504]. Hence, the study recommends that, the Bolgatanga Municipal Assembly and health directorate should embark on intensive public education campaigns to educate the entire populace to increase awareness levels and improve food safety knowledge to curtail the predominant use of food adulterants.

Why do women become teachers while men don’t?

Across countries, almost all primary and pre-primary teachers are women while few men in the occupation tend to specialise in secondary schooling and administration. We investigate the decision to become a teacher versus alternative occupations for graduates in Australia over the past 15 years. We find that this gender distribution reflects relative returns in the labour market: women with bachelor qualifications receive higher returns in teaching, while similarly educated men enjoy substantially higher returns in other occupations. We also find evidence that schools which can, and do, make higher wage offers successfully attract more male teachers as well as more female teachers with a degree in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. These results are consistent with the predictions of theoretical models of self-selection of intrinsically motivated workers.

An Exploration of the Involuntary Celibate (Incel) Subculture Online

Incels, a portmanteau of the term involuntary celibates, operate in online communities to discuss difficulties in attaining sexual relationships. Past reports have found that multiple elements of the incel culture are misogynistic and favorable towards violence. Further, several violent incidents have been linked to this community, which suggests that incel communities may resemble other ideologically motivated extremist groups. The current study employed an inductive qualitative analysis of over 8,000 posts made in two online incel communities to identify the norms, values, and beliefs of these groups from a subcultural perspective. Analyses found that the incel community was structured around five interrelated normative orders: the sexual market, women as naturally evil, legitimizing masculinity, male oppression, and violence. The implications of this analysis for our understanding of extremism and the role of the internet in radicalization to violence are considered in depth.