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Food and digital culture are mutually implicated in contemporary processes of knowledge production and power contestation around the world. Our introduction and the papers in this special issue of the European Journal of Cultural Studies seek to draw out the distinctions, parallels and overlaps across food and the digital to offer critical insights into digital food culture's capacities, paradoxes and impacts on everyday life. We ask a series of questions fundamentally focused on issues of power that signal a critical concern for the (re)production and circulation of inequality within the food and digital nexus. For us and the authors here, Cultural Studies is particularly fertile ground from which to analyse digital food culture precisely because of the discipline's commitment to critiquing power and inequality and its subsequent capacity to illuminate everyday digital food politics and their social, cultural and ethical impacts. This article presents and highlights key questions—and introduces related concepts and theoretical debates—that drive this research agenda. In addition, we address the ways the issue's papers connect to digital food culture and power after COVID-19. We conclude with a summary of the articles in the issue and their contributions to digital food culture research and cultural studies more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African First Ladies are categorised into two: the less powerful First Ladies, the behind-the-scene actors, making positive contributions to their spouses’ regime and the powerful First Ladies whose arbitrary powers and overarching presence pose real threat to the regime. Extant studies concentrate on the former and pay scant attention to the latter. Drawing on the activities of Patience Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s former First Lady, this paper explores the ways Patience and other powerful African First Ladies contribute to regime change in emerging African democracies. In doing so, the paper explores the anatomy of female power and its intricate interface with the Office of the First Lady, the framework for appropriating and exercising the power of the First Lady. The goal is to provide the theoretical basis for understanding the empirical, that is, the practical ways Patience Jonathan and other powerful First Ladies appropriate power and contribute to regime change in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on assemblage theory to propose a new theoretical understanding of modernity. While the conceptual framing is meant for modernity at large, this paper locates its conceptual discussion in the context of tourism in Macao and illustrates how plasmatic thinking, the new conceptual framework proposed, advances analysis of aspiration, exploitation and freedom of its tour guides. Plasmatic thinking helps examinations of tourism labour to engage with the fragile and fluid nature of the sociomaterial environments. Instead of structures, networks or fluidities, plasmatic thinking sees the world as composed of 'plasmas' – 'charged' sociomaterial clustering of objects, humans and the processes between them. Plasmas are a form of charged matter falling outside solid, liquid and gaseous states and metaphorises the fragility and impermanence of sociomaterial situations for plasmas disintegrates when discharged. The attention to charges and fragility of plasmas helps describes both pandemic levels shocks and everyday disruptions. Through a plasmatic analysis of the falling apart and coming together of such plasmas and how they bring about significant consequences to Macao's tourism, I showcase plasmatic thinking as a theoretical approach which vividly uncovers the fragility and fluidity of modernity and the workings of power in our sociomaterial worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facilitators of collaborative governance structure communication between stakeholders. They influence the process and, in some instances, also the outcome of collaborative governance. Even so, facilitators are, in the literature and in practice, most often reduced to being neutral or seen merely as power sharers. This reductive understanding obscures facilititators' use of power. The purpose of this paper is to outline a nuanced understanding of authority in facilitation practice. We analyse a Swedish collaborative governance process where a governmental agency facilitates collaboration between actors with conflicting interests. We combine the work of Hannah Arendt and Mark Warren to study authority as relationally performed. We find that facilitators' use of power takes the form of a pendulum movement between authority and argumentation. Hence, authority and argumentation are linked, rather than incompatible, in facilitation practice. This paper sheds new light on the unrecognised, and yet influential, leadership role that facilitators play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the transformative potential of place-based community organizing as a theory and practice of progressive social change and as a critical approach to the social purpose of community engagement in Higher Education Institutions. The aim is to expose power asymmetries and civic renewal "from below" through a focus on community engaged learning, specifically community organizing on the curriculum for geography undergraduates. The empirical focus is an English university, but the issues and observations are widespread. Around the world, students are coping with disruptions following a global pandemic, austerity, and loss of trust in local democracy – participating in climate emergency and racial justice movements. This paper advances community organising and community engaged learning as a mutually co-constitutive challenge to conventional notions of the student as a passive consumer of recruitment, learning, and individualised notions of civic responsibility. Methods of community organising are based on the theory that if you want change, you need power: change ultimately traces a motivational journey from anger to agitation and action. Empirical vignettes explore the transformative role of emotionally stirring "political theatre" and direct action, while exposing tensions that arise due to the transitory status of students in place and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer people (LGBQ; a sexual minority social group) access counseling and psychotherapy more frequently than heterosexual people, often working with heterosexual therapists (a sexual majority social group). Heterosexual therapists working with LGBQ clients is under-researched which means limited dialogue exists describing a significant yet sensitive area of sexuality difference where therapist and client hold diverging social experiences. To facilitate awareness development in person-centered therapy and beyond, the paper seeks to challenge such limited dialogue, stimulating discussion through considering how four heterosexual person-centered therapists experience working with LGBQ clients. This qualitative research project was designed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as its methodology to explore the experiences of four heterosexual person-centered therapists who work with LGBQ clients. Findings centered upon four themes: shaping and forming, ways of seeing, witnessing clients and relationships with person-centered theory. The discussion considered the data in dialogue with person-centered theory, explored phenomenological therapy practice, intersectionality, power, and witnessing client experiences of social discrimination, and evaluated the non-pathologizing therapeutic potential that person-centered phenomenological practice holds for working with LGBQ clients. For theory development, the paper calls for further person-centered discourse exploring LGBQ experiencing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Michel Foucault’s work has immensely enriched the way critical social theorists understand power. Beyond his work on disciplinary normalisation, Foucault’s genealogy of the modern state has discussed governmental power as the conduct of conduct of subjects and populations. Foucault reserves his understanding of norms and normalisation for explaining the prescriptive force of disciplinary power. Accordingly, he hardly uses the language of norms to explain how neoliberal policies interfere in social conduct. In this paper, I aim to elucidate what kind of normative intervention neoliberal governmentality encompasses. By mobilising Rahel Jaeggi’s understanding of forms of life as ensembles of normatively imbued social practices, I suggest that neoliberal governmentality introduces the rationality of market competition into the problem-solving horizon of social conduct, thereby creating and instituting a “neoliberal form of life”. Hence, I argue that neoliberal governmentality is a form of domination that intervenes in ethical norms and social practices that build everyday forms of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a rhizomic authoritarianism that generally operates through a complex network of connections. It provides a genealogical reading of the authoritarian rule in Cameroon, with a particular focus on the roles of France and China, using both primary and secondary sources. Specifically, it seeks to enlighten the complex processes through which a transnational authoritarianism has been established in Cameroon over the past six decades, as well as how the formation of strategic alliances between local political actors and international institutions has contributed to the normalization of authoritarian policies and practices that sometimes occur in transregional contexts. The paper's main argument is that the authoritarian system Cameroon has experienced since the late 1950s is rhizomatic in nature and is partially the result of the hegemonic interventions of international powers such as France and China in the country's politics and economy, as well as its development and modernization processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a meticulous modeling approach is proposed not only for a fuel cell stack itself but also for all auxiliary components that collectively form the fuel cell system. This comprehensive modeling approach encompasses a wide range of components, including, but not limited to, the hydrogen recirculation pump and the air compressor. Each component is thoroughly analyzed and modeled based on the detailed specifications provided by suppliers. This involves considering factors such as efficiency, operating parameters, response times, and interactions with other system elements. By integrating these detailed models, a holistic understanding of the entire fuel cell system's performance can be attained. Such an approach enables engineers and designers to simulate various operating scenarios, predict system behavior under different conditions, and optimize the system design for maximum efficiency and reliability. Moreover, it allows for informed decision-making throughout the system's development, deployment, and operational phases, ultimately leading to more robust and effective energy systems. The model validation is performed by comparing experimental data to theoretical results, and the observed difference does not exceed 3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we consider a problem from the field of power-aware scheduling in which a fleet of electric vehicles have to be charged in a minimum time. Each vehicle is equipped with a lithium-ion battery of a given capacity. The initial power used for charging each battery is known, whereas it is assumed that the power drops to zero at the moment when the battery gets fully loaded. The power usage function is linear and decreasing. The charging jobs are nonpreemptable and independent, whereas the total available amount of power is limited. The objective is to minimize the schedule length. In this paper, we analyze the case of a problem with identical jobs that already cover a wide variety of practical situations. By employing inverses of natural numbers, similar to harmonic series, we prove two properties of this case, and we also discuss the phenomenon of the stabilization of the difference between the start times of two successive jobs in a schedule. We also take under examination a few special cases of the problem. Some conclusions and directions for future research are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to theorise power and change within informal settlements, manifesting across twin functions of leadership and representation. Adapting the Bourdieusian framework of class-formation, this research locates disproportionate concentration of symbolic resources that initially influence leadership roles but are soon subject to (re)evaluation following the emergence of an educated, dynamic and youthful class. Failure to coherently outline leadership functions de-stabilises the system and prompts multiple nodes of leadership/representation to emerge. Lessons from the paper are consistent with findings around informal settlements that privilege intra-settlement contradictions as key variable(s) in frustrating efforts by planning agencies to consistently apply uniform standards of negotiations. Equally, multiple points of representation prompt a (re)conceptualisation of the margins as rigidly opposed to the local state, instead highlighting tendencies of collaboration/contestation that underline the objective of the urban-poor to get by. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel test for testing whether data are missing completely at random is proposed. Asymptotic properties of the test are derived utilizing the theory of non-degenerate U-statistics. It is shown that the novel test statistic coincides with the well-known Little's $ d^2 $ d2 statistic in the case of a multivariate data that has only one variable susceptible to missingness. Then, the extensive simulation study is conducted to examine the performance of the test in terms of the preservation of type I error and in terms of power. Various underlying distributions, dimensions of the data, sample sizes and alternatives are used. Performance of the Little's MCAR test is used as a benchmark for the comparison. The novel test shows better performance in all of the studied scenarios, better preserving the type I error and having higher empirical powers for every studied alternative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current article takes established theoretical postulates about parody as a point of departure for examining how James Hynes's postmodern novel, The Lecturer's Tale (2001), contributes fresh fictional angles to the field of campus literature by building on William Shakespeare's Macbeth to chart its own protagonist's transition from victim to victor and to sound a cautionary note about ill-advised and addictive pursuit of power. I maintain that Nelson Humboldt, a visiting adjunct lecturer at the elite University of Midwestern at Hamilton Groves, Minnesota, renders the role of Shakespeare's ambitious eponymous tragic hero, whose usurpation of the crown wreaks havoc on the Kingdom of Scotland. This accounts for Hynes's satirical portrayal of academia as a battleground where several argumentative and erudite professors, craving praise and prize and armed with words and swords, tend to wage battles of wits and wills and to get entangled in a web of intrigue. Finally, the paper underlines that the novel's comic vein veils serious concerns about the defects and difficulties afflicting contemporary American academia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of force is at the heart of Leibniz's metaphysics. One of his central theses is that powers are to be reconceived as forces. Connectedly, he maintains that force is essential to the very account of substance. The paper contends that these claims have not been well understood due to an inadequate understanding of the notion of force itself. Against a common reading, I argue that Leibnizian force is not fundamentally dispositional, but an activity. Taking seriously this idea means reconsidering not only the nature and function of powers, but also the basic character of Leibniz's metaphysics—including his view of substances as soul-like and as causally independent. This paves the way for a novel interpretation of the unity of physical and metaphysical forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much philosophical work has examined both imperatival and non-imperatival forms of address that aim to motivate others to action. But one such kind of address has received relatively little attention: begging. This is partly surprising as begging, both as an individual act and as a widespread social practice, raises acute, yet difficult to articulate, moral and political concerns. In this paper, I identify a central form of the phenomenon which constitutively involves communicating one's relative powerlessness as a means of motivating one's target to act. I argue that this form of begging is present in a number of cases that animate many of our pre-theoretic normative worries about begging. I argue that when begging of this kind is bad for the beggar herself, this is so because either (i) the invoked powerlessness is bad for the beggar and thereby gives the action a negative evaluative meaning, or (ii) the invoked powerlessness is good/neutral, but the act of begging precludes or replaces valuable ways of interacting that the parties have reasons to care about in the context. In a slogan, the badness of begging revolves around power and helplessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will explore the dichotomy of direction and stimulus through a reflection on arts-based methods used in a research study into post-industrial communities in South Wales and consider whether in participatory processes, a catalyst for artistic creativity could become construed as researcher-led control over the activities. Through an examination of the methods and outcomes of the project, which employed a range of qualitative methods with an artistic and creative basis, I reflect on the positives and negatives of such an approach and also consider how my positionality affected my epistemological stance. Ultimately, I conclude that the complex storying of participatory activities and the issues of power and identity involving both researcher and participants inevitably means that the research 'dance' blurs the distinction between participation and direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The different stakeholder groups and their influence on value distribution have received increasing attention from organizations and academia. In the recent stakeholder literature, there has been a theoretical development on value distribution, considering the attributes of strategic importance and power; however, the literature still lacks empirical studies to analyze and understand the relationship. This paper examines the association between stakeholders' power and strategic importance and the value distribution to them by publicly traded companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). To obtain relevant information on companies' treatment of their stakeholders, we analyzed the content of 104 prospectuses for the TSX IPO process from 2008 to 2019. The results reveal that power and strategic importance are relevant to the distribution of value to stakeholders and that the strategic importance of stakeholders has a more significant influence than their power. Regarding contributions, our study advances previous debates in stakeholder literature in theoretical and practical terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The analysis of multiple bivariate correlations is often carried out by conducting simple tests to check whether each of them is significantly different from zero. In addition, pairwise differences are often judged by eye or by comparing the p‐values of the individual tests of significance despite the existence of statistical tests for differences between correlations. This paper uses simulation methods to assess the accuracy (empirical Type I error rate), power, and robustness of 10 tests designed to check the significance of the difference between two dependent correlations with overlapping variables (i.e., the correlation between X1 and Y and the correlation between X2 and Y). Five of the tests turned out to be inadvisable because their empirical Type I error rates under normality differ greatly from the nominal alpha level of .05 either across the board or within certain sub‐ranges of the parameter space. The remaining five tests were acceptable and their merits were similar in terms of all comparison criteria, although none of them was robust across all forms of non‐normality explored in the study. Practical recommendations are given for the choice of a statistical test to compare dependent correlations with overlapping variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Values play a significant role in decision-making, especially regarding nature. Decisions impact people and nature in complex ways and understanding which values are prioritised, and which are left out is an important task for improving the equity and effectiveness of decision-making. Based on work done for the IPBES Values Assessment, this paper develops a framework to support analyses of how decision-making influences nature as well as whose values get prioritised. The framework is used to analyse key areas of environmental policy: a) the present model for nature protection in market economies, b) the role of valuation in bringing nature values into decisions, and c) values embedded in environmental policy instruments, exemplified by protected areas for nature conservation and payments for ecosystem services. The analyses show that environmental policies have been established as mere additions to decision-making structures that foster economic expansion, which undermines a wide range of nature's values. Moreover, environmental policies themselves are also focused on a limited set of nature's diverse values. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bringing nature into decision-making'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wide circulation of conspiracy narratives and their frequent intertwining with populist rhetoric is both an element of concern and a topic of intense scientific and philosophical debate. The depth of the link between conspiracy theories and populism represents a crucial issue whose comprehension can facilitate understanding their specific nature and the factors behind their diffusion in public communication. To this end, it is necessary to cultivate an interdisciplinary approach and great critical attention, eschewing monocausal explanations. This paper addresses the question of the essentially political nature of conspiracism, confronting the recent epistemological debate that, by putting the positivist paradigm aside, has sought to explore and understand the socio-cultural roots of conspiracy rhetoric, with its sceptical, antagonistic and hermetic traits. By integrating the reflections of epistemologists such as Cassam or Harris with the considerations of political scientists such as Taggart and with Schmitt's radical reflections on politics, it is perhaps possible to reintegrate the different approaches to populist conspiracism into an overall social genealogical perspective, thanks also to recent demographic elaborations. Thus, we could ascribe the spread of conspiracism to the prevalence in societies of a hyperpolitical discursive regime, i.e., founded on the principle of opposition, without the possibility of compromise, between different groups and interests. At the basis of such Manichaeism, it is plausible to place in the first place the growing inequalities and related social disintegration, which hinder the circulation of trust and recognition between individuals and groups, thus ending up undermining democracy at its roots, as a political system that legitimises and thus peacefully regulates conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to conduct a literature review of the existing nexus between conspiracy theories and populist politics. Most of the literature considering the political nature of conspiracy theories has focused mainly on individual action and electoral choices, hence setting aside the agency of political leaders that deliberately resort to these tales to mobilise supporters. On the contrary, conspiracy theories are increasingly moving away from extremist politics to enter the institutional political arena and become part and parcel of the political narratives and strategies of institutional figures. Against this backdrop, the present work offers a new approach to investigate the connection between populist conspiracy theories and conspiracist populism and attempts to explain how conspiracist populism works and what its potential impact on contemporary democracies is. The analysis of the literature offers some theoretical insights to explore the specific case of the presidency of Kais Saied in Tunisia, which has been labelled as a form of constitutional populism integrating conspiracy theories. The inquiry on the Tunisian case demonstrates that conspiracy theories can represent both tactics and framings for populists in power, and, if democratic checks and balances are weak enough, they can lead to the erosion of democracy itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the technological development of vehicles and fuels is not adequate to meet current climate mitigation targets, infrastructure development also plays an important role in transforming the transport system. Previous studies have argued that conventional infrastructure planning is incapable of implementing climate mitigation. The aim of the paper is to provide insights into power means and mechanisms that counteract integration of climate mitigation targets in infrastructure planning. This is done by an in-depth case study of current Swedish national transport planning. This case provides a rich illustration of a situation with high political ambitions regarding climate mitigation on the one hand, and power mechanisms and resistance with regard to climate goals during the planning process on the other. The case is analysed using the perspective of power circuits and shows how forecasting works as an obligatory passage point, sorting in and out which analyses will be part of the decision-making material. Analyses which do not fit the forecasting model are dismissed from planning. The conclusion is that as long as the transport infrastructure planning practice is dependent on forecasting as the only central analysis there will be difficulties in changing the scope of infrastructure planning and making climate goals central for transport planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship demonstrated the major role of inheritance and kinship for elite's power reproduction, particularly among noble families. In the absence of monarchic and court structures, ruling classes that enjoyed privileges and engaged in social closure could become the functional equivalent of a nobility. In this paper, we examine the evolution of the power of Swiss patrician families in the three major Swiss cities (Basel, Geneva, and Zurich) since the end of the nineteenth century and assess whether urban oligarchies endure in the twentieth century and what role kinship ties play in the reproduction of power structures. Building on a systematic database of 5,199 urban elites who hold power positions in the main economic, political, academic, and cultural institutions, we describe the evolution of Swiss patrician families between 1890 and 1957. Using social network, kinship, and sequence analysis, we provide a comprehensive investigation of the Swiss patrician elite's evolution at both the individual and the family level. Our analyses show a general decline of patrician families' presence in urban positions of power, however with significant variations according to both the cities and the spheres of activity. Furthermore, we identify distinct trajectories of families who have either lost their access to power positions, managed to access again or have remained in urban power positions according to different survival strategies. Beyond the Swiss case, we contribute to the literature on power and kinship through an interdisciplinary approach combining historical and sociological perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sudden departure of foreign, mostly white, development staff from Pacific countries in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, created a 'natural experiment' where local staff continued to work but without the accompaniment (and oversight) of their foreign counterparts. This paper reflects on evidence from the lived experiences of 12 experienced local development staff during this time. They detail how the absence of foreign staff led to increased opportunities for local staff, greater cultural sensitivity and relativity in the workplace, and the successful on-going operations of programs left in the hands of local workers. We position these experiences in relation to broader issues of racism, neo/colonialism and the centring of whiteness in the development industry to highlight the on-going structures that inhibit black and brown colleagues, and to provoke white development actors to work to redress on-going injustices in the industry. We specifically recommend white development actors openly discuss racism in the industry, enhance their knowledge of local cultures and politics, and work to cede space to local staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of wind energy has been observed for many years. Both construction firms and the scientific world are analyzing new design solutions, atmospheric conditions and the technical performance achieved. The main goal of this research is to evaluate the requirements that have to be met to design wind power stations that would be an optimal fit for the climatic conditions in Poland. This study combines the results of empirical studies on wind velocity distributions with the physical fundamentals of wind power station design. This paper presents modelling of the relationships between wind velocity distributions observed in Poland and technical requirements for wind power stations design. The wind velocities distributions for various locations in Poland are determined and expressed in Weibull distribution parameters. Theoretical computations concerning the dependence of wind power stations as function of wind speed and air's physical properties are presented. Conclusions important for the design of power stations fitted to the atmospheric conditions in Poland are given. LabVIEW 2021 was used for computer modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A common problem brought to coaching is one where the coaching client is unable to voice problems and concerns to someone more senior in the workplace. This paper introduces a coaching framework which supports coaches to help coaching clients think systematically about ways in which they can formulate and articulate needs and wants which address those problems and concerns. Drawing on the voice and silence literature, the Coaching as a Route to Voice framework brings to the fore power differentials between employees and managers in the workplace which act as both enablers and barriers to voice. The framework centres around three questions which guide the coaching client through a goal-articulation process which provides clarity around who is most likely to be able to support the coaching client, when best to approach them and how best to present the information in order to have the most impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper explores the relationship between green resources, product recycling, CO2 emission, and clean environment, using time series data spanning from 1990 to 2021. The sample of the study was the green energy sector of Pakistan and clean energy was taken as the dependent variable while green energy resources, product recycling, and CO2 emissions were chosen as independent variables. Correlation matrix and multiple regression analysis were applied to determine the relationship between green energy resources, product recycling, CO2 emissions, and clean environment. The results of the study show that there is significant positive relationship between green energy resources and product recycling with clean environment but negative association between CO2 emissions and clean environment. These results provide valuable insight for policy makers to focus on development of green energy resources and encourage products recycling as an effective strategy to mitigate the depletion of natural resources and improvement of clean environment to attain sustainability in the energy sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to gain a better understanding of co-creative research key principles and their enactment in real-life practices. The study is based on interviews and a focus group with academic researchers and professionals (n = 16) involved in eight co-creative research projects funded by the Brussels Regional Institute for Research and Innovation (Innoviris). The study demonstrates the tension between respondents’ understanding of the key principles of co-creative research (e.g. a transformative aim, considering the community as actors, shared ownership, valuing experiential knowledge) and the power issues they face related to a ‘project-funding’ and ‘academic research’ logic when enacting those principles in real-life practices. This paper concludes that although dealing with power relations is inherent in co-creative research, power imbalances should be questioned on the level of (1) the linear, limited and inflexible nature of ‘project-funding’ logics and (2) the exclusive character of research methods, settings and institutions in ‘academic research’ logics. Finally, introducing a political and emancipatory dimension in co-creative research can contribute to reducing the gap between principles and their enactment in real-life practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from a study on blindness discourses found in South African non-profit organisations that provide rehabilitation services to visually impaired adults. The paper investigates what the public relations materials of these organisations communicate about blindness. It also considers the ideological assumptions that blindness discourses reinforce and embed in rehabilitation practice. The primary focus is a discourse analytic review conducted on a sample of organisation public facing material. The findings comprise three clusters of assumptions, with concomitant enactments in practice. These are i) third-person alliances around the blind subject and a resulting objectification of service users ii) 'journey discourse' which prohibits the expression of complex disability experiences and iii) polarised blindness fantasies which promote othering and prescribe acceptable ways of being for blind subjects. This paper questions what might be imparted to blind persons at a symbolic level through rehabilitative practices. This article explores the ways that blindness and blind persons are represented on the websites of organisations that provide visual impairment rehabilitation services in South Africa. These representations affect the way that society views visually impaired people, and the way that visually impaired people feel about themselves. Organisation websites describe visually impaired people in ways that make it seem as though they play little active role in the rehabilitation process. The idea that rehabilitation is a journey from dependence and depression to independence and self-acceptance might make it difficult for rehabilitation service users to express ongoing feelings of grief and loss. There is a need for more focus on interdependence in rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation organisations must think carefully about what their public relations materials communicate to society about blindness and blind persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the issue of branding in terms of politics and its power. The results are based on the analysis of some well-known faces in the politic stage. In fact, the research part of the paper is based on the research methods mentioned above. The results indicate that the branding and the communication aspects of an political actor are crucial for the elections. A strong political brand communicates a coherent message, builds a distinctive identity, and creates an emotional connection with the public. The paper also emphasizes the complexity and dynamism of the political branding phenomenon, highlighting its role in shaping public opinion and influencing democratic processes. It is crucial that both politicians and voters are aware of this role and manage political branding responsibly and transparently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has evolved into an important provider of resources for developing countries, encompassing capital, know-how and expertise. China has also actively worked to strengthen diplomatic ties with developing regions since the early 2000s. Against this backdrop, the governments in many developing countries have moved to incorporate China as a significant factor in their geopolitical and geoeconomic considerations. Under the rule of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP), Turkey has also sought to foster relations with China, particularly since the early 2010s. This pursuit has been further triggered by Ankara's strained relations with the United States and the European Union. Turkish political leadership envisions China as a potentially crucial partner that could enhance the country's autonomy in relation to the West. While this expectation has not entirely materialized so far, there is an ongoing debate regarding the extent to which China can potentially be a transformative actor in Turkey's position within the international order. This paper contributes to this debate by locating Turkey-China engagement within a broader context of China's power and influence in the developing world. The paper suggests that the potential for Turkey's cooperation with China is likely to remain relatively limited for the foreseeable future. This is not only due to Turkey's deeply rooted ties with the West, but also because of the nature of China's global power, which is more partial and not as deep as commonly assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of the electrical network necessitates the construction of new power plants and the extension of overhead and underground power transmission and distribution systems. However, underground power cables, such as XPLE 220 kV, can cause significant electromagnetic pollution, particularly in urban areas. This paper focuses on the evaluation and prediction of such magnetic emissions using analytical, numerical simulation (the finite element analysis), and experimental measurement. The paper aim is to minimize the magnetic emissions through the adjustment of the horizontal and vertical distances (x, y) of cables, serving as a technical solution. Additionally, the study investigated the impact of faults with varying magnitude and frequency, considering different loads and conditions. The simulation results indicate that several factors contribute to the escalation of magnetic pollution. These factors include a close proximity between cables, faults, and high current intensities.... However, as the distance between cables increases both horizontally and vertically, the strength of the magnetic field decreases, leading to a reduction in magnetic pollution. A comparison was carried out to assess the magnetic emissions of the underground cable, revealing a notable resemblance between the measured and calculated values. Ultimately, the validated simulation model serves as a valuable tool for evaluating, predicting, and mitigating electromagnetic pollution under different fault conditions and positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine the neoliberal transformation of civil society through Mitchel Foucault's insights concerning knowledge, power, and governmentality. The objective of this paper is to trace the evolving understandings of civil society and how they relate to governmental rationalities and technologies of power. The traditional notion of civil society as a distinct and autonomous sphere has shifted toward an intermediary associations approach under neoliberalism. I posit that the mobilization of non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations by states, international organizations, and donor agencies since the 1990s constitutes a form of governmental technology, influenced by neoliberal rationalities. This technology serves the neoliberal agenda of undermining the social state, promoting market creation, and encouraging non-partisanship. This argument suggests that the rise of civil society as intermediary associations coincides with the decline of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on Realism theory, this paper provides an explanation of the importance of power in International Relations, by analyzing the behavior of China and Japan in the East Asian region, and also the behavior of the United States of America towards them as the dominant superpower under the current international system. It answers the problem of the transfer of power from the West to the East, and in return supports the assumption that the Great Powers seek to possess relative power as much as possible. The paper also emphasizes that the State should not undermine or renounce its offensive power, as with Japan, because that will put it in front of a dilemma of the growing the power of neighboring States that seek to achieve regional hegemony, such as China. Therefore, all of these transformations show that international relations are a complex field and should not be reduced to a specific ideal field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the act of listening offered by active listening volunteers is a "gift" that requires reciprocity from elderly people. Active listening volunteers (keicho borantia) in Japan offer conversation and listening services for elderly people in local areas. Previous researchers investigate unsatisfying visits such as having boring conversations, and suggest the need for honing listening skills, or better pairing, and so on. This study, however, reveals that these solutions might not improve the situation, and, using participant observation and interviews, finds fundamental issues around reciprocity instead. First, and most importantly, volunteers do not realize that their listening functions as a "gift," which brings power dynamics, forcing elders either to stay as helpees, or to reciprocate. This paper, therefore, argues that even an act of listening in the field of volunteering can be perceived as a "non-free gift" by elderly people. Second, overemphasizing the importance of active listening obstructs reciprocity, letting volunteers cling to the role of listeners and helpers. In conclusion, this study suggests that volunteers need to understand three aspects: the importance of reciprocity; the fundamental power imbalance in caring activities; and the variety of reasons for elderly people to meet volunteers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a proficient control approach-based 17-level Quasi Z-source Cascaded Multilevel Inverter (QZS-CMI) topology is proposed to interface photovoltaic (PV) system. The control approach is a combination of GarraRufa Fish Optimization (GRFO) and Random Forest Algorithm (RFA). Hence, it is named as GRFO-RFA technique. The major goal of this paper is to present a 17-level QZS-CMI with fewer semiconductor switches that is ideal in high-power photovoltaic applications with lower total harmonic distortion and higher performance. The interface between the load and PV DC source is performed with QZSI. The design modeling of QZS-CMI is improved and the maximal power of PV power production system is supplied. Initially, the objective function is decided depending on the control restrictions and the parameters. The GRFOA process is utilized to enhance power delivery, voltage profile, and minimal power swing. The enhanced QZS-CMI based on the proposed system controls shoot-through and reduces modulation load and duty ratio. The proposed system is implemented in MATLAB/Simulink and its efficacy is compared to the existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an investigation of the performance indices employed in combined or multigeneration thermal systems. Specifically, the following thermal systems will be considered: (1) combined cooling and power (CCP) systems; (2) combined heating and power (CHP) systems; and (3) combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) systems. The investigation will highlight the main problems and limitations related to using these indices. We will propose a new procedure for evaluating the performance of CCP systems that can be generalized for use in other combined or multigeneration systems. Employing the subsystems forming any multigeneration system as a reference, the relative saving ratios of energy and exergy are calculated. These saving ratios are used as metrics for the goodness of multigeneration systems. We will also use them to calculate equivalent energetic and exergetic efficiencies of multigeneration systems. These equivalent efficiencies will be used as performance indicators of a multigeneration system as if it were producing only one of its products. The new procedure will be applied to three case studies in this paper. Results of this work indicate that the equivalent exergetic efficiency of power generation (ψP,eqv) is the most meaningful and accurate performance index for assessing the performance of multigeneration systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of recent papers raises worries about the manipulative potential of algorithmic transparency (to wit, making visible the factors that influence an algorithm’s output). But while the concern is apt and relevant, it is based on a fraught understanding of manipulation. Therefore, this paper draws attention to the ‘indifference view’ of manipulation, which explains better than the ‘vulnerability view’ why algorithmic transparency has manipulative potential. The paper also raises pertinent research questions for future studies of manipulation in the context of algorithmic transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the Artemis era of space exploration, space agencies will be working together with their industry partners to establish systems and infrastructure that enable sustained Lunar missions and develop capabilities for Mars. Lockheed Martin has a longstanding history of designing, building, and operating systems for deep space applications, from Viking to Orion. Lockheed Martin develops concepts, trades, and early system designs for Moon and Mars exploration to enable future missions. In 2016, Lockheed Martin presented a vision for achieving crewed exploration of Mars. Known as Mars Base Camp (MBC), this design reference mission envisioned a crewed vehicle in Martian orbit from which astronauts could perform excursions to Phobos and Deimos and perform telerobotic exploration of the Martian surface, including sample return. This concept served as an "existence proof" for a novel, practical, and affordable path to enable human exploration of the Martian system. In 2017, an update was published that included the production of propellant from water and a single-stage fully reusable Mars lander concept. Then in 2021, Lockheed Martin introduced a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) configuration of Mars Base Camp, a technology that will be greatly enabling for crewed missions to Mars. This paper matures the design of the NTP configuration of Mars Base Camp and explores the Mars mission capabilities that the NTP technology will enable. These investigations include optimized trajectories for faster transit to Mars and an analysis of abort scenarios that are made possible by the high thrust and performance of NTP. The results provide insight into the performance and capabilities that are realized when NTP technology is matured and integrated into a Mars transit vehicle. The paper will also describe initial surface infrastructure capabilities that significantly enhance sortie science operations, including mobility and power. The resulting updated Mars Base Camp serves as an example of what is possible with current technologies and technologies under development. The MBC reference mission builds on the capabilities that will be developed and demonstrated through Artemis missions, enabling a viable, sustainable long-term Mars exploration program, with the first crewed Mars mission possible in the 2030s. • Matures design of nuclear thermal propulsion configuration of crewed Mars mission • Explores Mars mission capabilities and trajectories enabled by nuclear propulsion • Describes initial infrastructure to support sustainable long-term Mars exploration [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jamaican specialty coffee industry operates in an ecologically sensitive landscape that is institutionally, politically and socio‐economically complex. Birthed under colonial rule, the industry has undergone a confluence of events that have shaped its contemporary organisation and exacerbated deeply rooted institutional and structural conditions. Through the lens of environmental justice, the paper sheds light on the plural claims to justice under changing climatic conditions and reveals the politics of adaptation within the context of market capitalism. Using stakeholder interviews, the paper captures the articulations and manifestations of injustice by exploring the local perceptions of procedural justice and justice as recognition. Through an examination of power and politics, the paper begins by contextualising the pre‐existing conditions that shape the disabling environment in which smallholders operate. This includes the neoliberal restructuring of the industry, smallholders' access to low farm gate prices, expensive farm inputs, low‐value chain participation, and limited support services. As these conditions are exacerbated by climate change impacts, the paper then discusses the disparity in justice claims between farmers and industry stakeholders surrounding the deployment of suitable climate change adaptation response. This is an area of contestation, as even though smallholders face multiple stressors, industry leaders have continued to operate the island's major coffee‐producing spaces as areas where profits can be mined and privileges reinforced. Effectively, the smallholder livelihoods embedded within Jamaica's coffee‐producing landscapes have been subjected to asymmetrical structures of power which legitimise whose voices are heard and which adaptation pathway takes precedence, thus generating injustices, nurturing vulnerabilities and stifling agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With almost universal membership, the World Heritage Convention is at the heart of the global governance of heritage. Nested within UNESCO, the Convention sets the parameters for determining which natural and/or cultural sites can receive the prestigious 'World Heritage Property' designation and be added to the World Heritage List. What started in the early 1970s as an expert-based classification procedure focused on heritage preservation has become an ostensive political process, and a hotbed of competing nations interested in the domestic and international power deriving from inscriptions in the World Heritage List. This paper takes this empirical case as a springboard to reflect upon two key interrelated issues: the politicization of expertise and classification by International Organizations, and heritage as a national identity project and projection of 'soft power'. In doing so, it highlights how changes in the global system since the late 19th century – for example, colonialism, Cold War, 'emerging' powers – affected the global politics of heritage. The paper adds to the incredibly trans-disciplinary field of world heritage research by anchoring itself in International Relations literature, mostly through a Constructivist-based approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political power and state institutions, primarily in the sense of interweaving and reduction of their political power, is a research topic that has been going on for thousands of years. Many have studied the intertwined corridors of these political phenomena, but they have never been able to fully explore this topic. In this paper, their causal relationship is analyzed, with a special emphasis on the tendency of political power and state institutions to become alienated, in which these “servants of the people” are transferred over time to lords, which is why this paper starts from the position that political power wants to subordinate state institutions. The scientific importance is primarily contained in the effort to further enrich the scientific fund in the field of political theory and the state. The aim of the research is much more ambitious and is contained primarily in the intention to point out all the positive and negative repercussions that arise from the complex relations between the political power and state institutions, with the intention of pointing out these social anomalies and to increase the degree of democratization, but also functionality of society as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 2020, each of the authors was invited to come together to organize a pre-conference encounter group at the Person Centered and Experiential (PCE) World Conference to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark 2022. This paper started life as a promised report to the organizing committee of PCE 2022. In the writing, we became aware of our wish to share with others in the PCE world community our thinking and process as 6 of us joined together over 2 years, in our attempt to organize an encounter space in a manner that we thought – hoped – to be facilitative. We describe how we worked together, the main areas we considered in anticipation of the encounter group(s), and present feedback from some participants and ourselves after the event. From our experience, we suggest that a preparation group having a significant amount of time together, the importance of practical arrangements (rooms, refreshments, etc.) and a concentration on aspects of ‘welcome’ form an influential and helpful context for an encounter group in the frame of the Person-Centered and Experiential Approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power dynamics, generally defined as the patterns of partners enacting or resisting influence, are inherent in all relationships. Power structures and processes play a role in people's perceptions of themselves and others, their feelings and emotions, and both their implicit and explicit behaviors. As such, understanding power dynamics is crucial for fully conceptualizing and intervening within relationships. Although power was not always given high priority in many of the early systemic family therapy models, that has changed over the years, with scholars working to address how power is manifested in relationships, how power imbalances affect relationships, and how power can be addressed more explicitly in treatment. Nonetheless, there is much additional work needed to ensure that systemic therapists have an appropriate depth of understanding regarding power dynamics to fully recognize their manifestations in relationships and then intervene appropriately. To help in these efforts, this paper aims to synthesize relational power research into a more complete description of what power is and how it is enacted in couple relationships. To do this, we introduce relevant perspectives of power not fully integrated with family therapy theories. Overall, we provide a brief history of power‐oriented research in the fields of family therapy, outline couple research regarding the sources of power that can inform therapeutic case conceptualizations and interventions, describe how power is addressed in specific couple therapy models, and highlight some important clinical applications that can help systemic therapists more fully address power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, after George Floyd's murder and with the mobilisation of Black Lives Matter activism, many UK institutions announced social media pledges to tackle racism. The cultural sector promised honest conversations about race, racism and whiteness and offered hope for social justice. However, not long after claims of imminent change on the part of cultural organisations, it went quiet. Conversations about race, racism and whiteness, once again, were not a priority. Rightly, young activists question the performative nature of cultural institutions expressing anti‐racist commitment and social justice values. Drawing upon the experiences of museum education, engagement and activism, the key question addressed in this paper by the author and members of the Our Shared Cultural Heritage Young Collective is: How do young people understand and experience the processes of engaging in education and activism in what they perceive to be overwhelmingly white middle‐class cultural institutions? The authors argue that museums can be useful, relevant and interesting to young people if museum staff actively seek to learn from them through participatory action research. The authors share some highlights, challenges and complexities of our 'youth‐led' work in the heritage sector, in the hope that museums and galleries, as well as other arts and cultural organisations, might learn and benefit from our experiences and knowledge of young people's activism in the heritage sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's right to participate has been one of the most challenging rights to implement due to dominant norms which position children under adults' authority. Notably, this has more negatively impacted girls than boys due to traditional gender norms and practices that often restrict girls' agency and are reproduced and unchallenged in many societies. To contest these struggles, young female activists (13–17 years) in Sierra Leone, who are the focus of this paper, engaged in direct actions to influence public decision‐making and prevent girls from being married during childhood. Drawing upon empirical evidence exploring the girls' activism experiences, this article explore, young female activists' practical work is an example of what intersectionality as praxis means by connecting social categories to inequalities and highlights that they saw themselves as social actors with the ability to negotiate power, take part in community‐based activism to end child marriage and network with others to seek justice for practices and attitudes they perceived to be abusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronations in Great Britain previously offered an occasion for national civic and spiritual renewal. However, the recent crowning of Charles III threw a spotlight on some of the deepening dissonance, diversity and divisions within British society. This paper is an 'in principle' argument for change and development. As the clamour for constitutional reform in the United Kingdom continues, and the awkwardness of Church of England bishops sitting in the House of Lords becomes more apparent, the time is ripe to reconsider disestablishment. In particular, the power and privilege of one denomination over all others is interrogated in relation to a kenotic ecclesiology, and which may now require the intentional divesting of kingly power: not clinging to status any longer, but self-emptying and embracing equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article engages with biometric data gathering technologies as part of migration infrastructures for the monitoring and control of migration. It explores power and agency by paying attention to the complexity of readings, interpretations, and storytelling of illegalised migrants in the Moria and Kara Tepe camps, in the Island of Lesvos in Greece, as they received their bureaucratic legal papers and discussed developments in their 'cases'. Borrowing from feminist and feminist security studies scholarship, the article argues for an understanding of data gathering and sharing infrastructures as material. It suggests that the datafication of migrants' bodies constitutes a manifestation of power that 'enacts' the migrant body as a subject of power but also produces counter self-subjectifications. The article also suggests an understanding of subject agency as the 'capacity to act' within contexts of power. Such a position on the agency of illegalised migrants allows us to examine the emergence of solidarities and alliances and to understand and contextualise not only actions that seem to be questioning and rejecting power, but also those that accept it and internalise it as a strategy of survival and of bettering one's life chances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selecting designs that efficiently optimize multiple objectives simultaneously is an important problem in several distinct industries. Typically, there is not a single ideal design; rather, there are several Pareto‐optimal designs that provide the best possible trade‐offs between the objectives. However, evaluating every design might be expensive, making a thorough search for the whole Pareto optimum set impractical. The aforementioned issue with technology computer‐aided design (TCAD) while investigating a multidimensional parameter set for device design is addressed using Pareto active learning (PAL) and the nondominated sorting genetic algorithm‐III (NSGA‐III) which are metaheuristics‐based multiobjective optimization (MOO) techniques. NSGA‐III adeptly analyzes the tradeoffs among multiple objectives while ensuring diversity in the design space. PAL forecasts the Pareto‐optimal set with intelligence by deliberately sampling the design space. This work focusses on improving the performance of surrounding gate tunnel field‐effect transistors (SGTFETs) by optimizing and assessing their complex designs in terms of multiple objectives, including power, energy, speed, and variability. This paper presents a novel MOO framework that incorporates machine learning (ML) approaches, including NSGA‐III and PAL in SGTFETs technology. The framework provides effective global optimization without gradients, allowing for the automatic recognition of the best solutions. The outcomes show the possibility of ML‐based MOO to create next‐generation nanoscale transistors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]