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This paper makes three important contributions: to research on media and gender equality, specifically through the lens of gender equal sports coverage; to understanding the lived experiences of women in public service sports broadcasting, and to gender-sensitive public discourse and policy debates concerning the relationship between media and sport. In it, we examine industry attempts to achieve gender equal coverage in public service broadcasting (PSB) in Ireland and Sweden. The paper draws on a three-way dialogic exchange between the authors who, together, have sizeable professional and personal experiences of public service sports broadcasting, sports participation (from amateur to elite levels), and of voluntary sports coaching and administration. This novel exchange also responds to calls for greater insights into women's engagements with media. The paper concludes by considering current issues for PSBs in relation to gender equal coverage and suggesting potential future lines of enquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the intrinsic relation between institutions and social justice. Its starting point is that processes of institutionalization invoke societal groups to articulate justice demands which, in their turn, give rise to processes of institutional redesign. In liberal democracies, demands for justice are articulated as a pursuit for emancipation and empowerment of groups that feel excluded by dominant categorizations. The imminent presence of this twin pursuit for justice can be explained by the conceptual inconsistencies that characterize the distinction between the public and private sphere. These inconsistencies also explain why demands for emancipation and empowerment are intrinsically ambiguous and inconsistent. In order to reconsider the question how institutions are to be adapted to allow for social justice while acknowledging the plurality, ambiguity and volatility of justice demands, the paper will propose an empirical and normative research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's sense of place is important for wellbeing, development and belonging in a community or place. The VIP-CLEAR (Voices in a Pandemic – Children's Lockdown Experiences Applied to Recovery) project used creative methods and repeat engagement to capture children's experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic in socially disadvantaged, urban settings, in Bristol, UK. This paper focuses on findings from the two-phased 'deep mapping' activity conducted in schools with 6–11-year-olds to consider children's sense of place at this time. Children's maps showed how their mobility was restricted to the home and/or adult-controlled, looped routes for functional tasks rather than child-directed exploration. Key locations - including school, family houses, and parks - were disconnected and highlighted as sites of 'absence', where children were excluded. These places were given meaning due to pre-COVID practice, sensory experience, and/or their relationship with valued people. As pandemic mitigation relaxed, children's maps showed increasing connections and greater visibility of the community and non-essential activities. As places changed, the amplification of existing social inequalities became apparent. In both phases, sense of place evolved and digital and natural spaces (through animals) showed potential for children to increase practice and connections with place. A strong sense of place may support adaptation to change, and this paper contributes to limited research on how children's sense of place is dynamic, altering with fluctuating social and environmental conditions, e.g. mitigation of a global pandemic. The implications of findings on future recovery planning involving children are also considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between equality and social Europe, which has remained underdeveloped in the process of European integration. In contrast to the social dimension of the EU, the principle of equality has been significant from the beginning of European integration. The paper opens with an overview of how equality functions as the basis for a social Europe. Next, two interpretations of equality are introduced. The EU's preferred interpretation, which is based on merit, is in sync with market ideals. One of the shortcomings of merit-based equality as a foundation of social Europe, however, is its inability to properly disconnect the vulnerable person from the employment market. This paper argues that an alternative interpretation of equality based on value is more suitable, because value-based equality can challenge the potentially harmful social structure of the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fire at Grenfell Tower, a block of public housing flats in The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, in June 2017 has come to epitomize the growing divide between Britain's rich and poor in the last decade. Yet, the proximity of Kensington Palace, home of many senior British royals, has been almost entirely ignored in scholarship and commentary on the Grenfell Tower atrocity. This is especially remarkable given the philanthropic 'work' the monarchy has undertaken since the fire's aftermath. This paper explores Together: Our Community Cookbook (The Hubb Community Kitchen. 2018. Together: Our community cookbook. London: Ebury Press), a cookbook released by Meghan Markle as part of her royal charitable 'duties', to raise money for The Hubb Community Kitchen – a group of women displaced in the fire, who prepared meals for survivors in the aftermath. The cookbook repeatedly emphasizes unity, collectivity and togetherness: the importance of a local community response to rehabilitate Grenfell survivors. By analysing the cultural politics of Together through radical contextualization, this paper argues that in releasing the cookbook, the British monarchy itself is incorporated into this narrative of community and recovery, which erases the classed and racialised inequalities between the monarchy and Grenfell survivors (and, indeed, those in similar socioeconomic positions). Fundamentally, the cookbook obscures the ongoing culpability of 'the elites' for the sociopolitical and socioeconomic inequalities experienced by citizens in Britain. Together evidences how inequalities in contemporary Britain are normalized and legitimized in the public imaginary through media representations, obscuring the structural inequalities that underpinned the conditions at Grenfell, and instead individualizing the survivors as 'responsiblised' neoliberal subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusive education is of considerable significance in Australia being politically recognised and promoted by federal and state governments. However, literature suggests conceptual gaps have contributed to a limited understanding by policy makers and practitioners concerning ‘what is’ and ‘who needs’ inclusion. The research this paper reports explores what type of inclusiveness multilingual students have experienced in an Australian university teacher education programme. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with a group of pre-service teachers with overseas education backgrounds and their Anglophone academic course lecturers. An integrated inclusion model was employed in the data analysis. The research found that the teacher educators exercised efforts to demonstrate inclusiveness to this group from physical, social and psychological perspectives. However, the prior educational experience and existing knowledge of these students were ignored, either consciously or unconsciously and they were often regarded intellectually ‘less able’ than their Anglophone peers. This paper argues that engaging multilingual students from the standpoint of intellectual equality is the key to advancing inclusive teacher education in multilingual and multicultural Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As homophobia, transphobia and biphobia continue to permeate local and global contexts, the role of allies has been recognized as beneficial in supporting equity for LGBTQI+ communities. The concept of LGBTQA+ allyship has also been controversial, with some stakeholders disagreeing about who is an ally and what this role entails. In the academic literature, there is also a scarcity of knowledge examining the interrelation between LGBTQA+ allyship and activism. This paper focuses on deepening historical and cultural understandings regarding the nexus between LGBTQA+ allyship and activism. Underpinned by queer, trans, feminist and intersectional lenses, the paper delineates the LGBTQA+ ally movement and the importance of moving beyond reductionist paradigms to adopt a systemic approach to inclusion, especially in school communities. The paper unpacks diverse definitions of allyship, from those associated with mobilizing the power and privilege of straight, cisgender individuals, to the concept of allyship which includes resilient leadership within LGBTQA+ communities, as well as those, which negotiate and transform fixed and reductive boundaries of gender and sexuality. Recommendations are made for developing LGBTQA+ ally intersectional programmes, characterized by collaborative, expansive and affirmative work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy is famous worldwide for its co-operative sector, and this firm model has proven to be efficacious in redressing many social inequalities over the past two centuries. This paper aims to examine how local communities in diverse regions have adapted this traditional form to the contemporary trend of bottom-up community development processes. Furthermore, the paper compares the Italian initiatives with the international literature on community co-operatives and assesses to which extend similarities and differences are viewable. The qualitative analysis considers 7 co-operatives in various areas of Italy, and analyses result from 15 semi-structured interviews with managers. Findings show the intense work undertaken before the co-operatives' registration, the negotiation of purposes and objectives with external partners, how founder groups have a key role in determining each firm's approach to local development, and how further networks with external subjects are deeply influence the co-operatives' work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Introduction makes the case for a more critical engagement with oceans and the maritime within critical heritage theory. We lay out a research agenda that more consciously foregrounds aquatic domains in debates about conservation, sovereignty, governance, state power, and the politics of memory. In laying the ground for the papers that follow, we portray oceanic geographies and maritime heritage as politically and culturally charged arenas in order to argue that oceans are far from neutral or culturally egalitarian spaces and are subject to human-imposed hierarchies and competing ontologies. We scrutinize the dynamic interplay between maritime and marine realms to challenge conventional understandings of space, territory, and ownership, advocating for a reimagined approach to heritage that recognizes the ocean's pivotal role in shaping human history and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sufficientarian theories of distributive justice are often considered to be vulnerable to the 'blindness to inequality and other values objection'. This objection targets their commitment to holding the moral irrelevance of requirements of justice above absolute thresholds of advantage, making them insufficiently sensitive to egalitarian moral concerns that do have relevance for justice. This paper explores how sufficientarians could reply to this objection. Particularly, I claim that, if we accept that the force of the aforementioned objection comes from relational, and not distributive, inequalities, different strategies are open for sufficientarians in order to be sensitive to these concerns. Drawing on recent literature about the relation between distributive and relational egalitarianism, and the possibility of reducing one to the other, strategies of 'internalizing' and 'externalizing' relational egalitarian concerns to a distributive sufficientarian framework are explored. In turn, I suggest that both strategies fail in their standard versions, but argue that a particular 'hybrid view' about justice is an attractive candidate for the sufficientarian theorist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income inequality had been one of the important manifestations of social inequality, which can affect the health level by affecting savings, health care and living standards. Existing researches about the relationship between income inequality and health ignored the comprehensive characteristic of health concept, and did not consider the intrinsic relationship between health and income inequality. This paper attempts to re-shed light on the relationship. Firstly, this paper constructs a new health level evaluation system from three aspects: health basis, health environment and behavior, and health security. By means of the combination evaluation method, the health levels can be obtained. Then, considering the interaction between health and income inequality, a simultaneous equation group model is constructed to empirically test the relationship between income inequality and health levels in China. The results reveal that health level is negatively correlated with income inequality. Reducing income inequality plays an important role in improving health levels in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unmet cultural norm of motherhood can constrain a woman's sense of social equality. Childlessness is often accompanied by social stigma and shame. The author identifies personal barriers within both patient and analyst that were unforeseen prior to the treatment process. The author implements reverie to open deeper aspects of her mind that allows further exploration into the patient's dreams. This interplay between analyst and patient evokes additional memories from the patient's earlier life. The paper is written in a lovely prose style that demonstrates the creative growth of the author while transforming the artistic pursuits of the patient. Both patient and analyst benefit from this mutual awareness of limitations towards new creative possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper problematizes the precision medicine approach embraced by the All of Us Research Program (US) and by Genomics England (UK) in terms of benefits distribution, by arguing that current "diversity and inclusion" efforts do not prevent exclusiveness, unless the framing and scope of the projects are revisited in public health terms. Grounded on document analysis and fieldwork interviews, this paper analyzes efforts to address potential patterns of exclusion upstream (from participating in precision medicine research) and downstream (from benefitting from precision medicine outputs). It argues that efforts for inclusion upstream are not corresponded downstream, and this unbalance jeopardizes the equitable capacities of the projects. It concludes that enhanced focus on socio-environmental determinants of health and aligned public health interventions as precision medicine outputs would be to the benefit of all and especially of those who are most at risk of (upstream as well as downstream) exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ganghof's Beyond Presidentialism and Parliamentarianism advances three main claims: an innovative typology of comparative government, introducing the category of semi-parliamentarianism; an explication of two conceptions of majority rule, simple majoritarianism and complex majoritarianism; and a demonstration that there are viable systems of government embodying the political equality associated with each majoritarian conception. This paper explains these claims and identifies issues discussed in this symposium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many democratic theorists hold that when a decision is collectively made in the right kind of way, in accordance with the right procedure, it is permissible to enforce it. They deny that there are further requirements on the type of reasons that can permissibly be used to justify laws and policies. In this paper, I argue that democratic theorists are mistaken about this. So-called public reason requirements follow from commitments that most of them already hold. Drawing on the democratic ideal of civic equality, I show that it can successfully explain why political decision-making must have the right sort of procedure-independent justification. However, contra standard accounts of public reason, I argue that laws and policies need to be justified with convergence accessible, not shared, reasons. Public reasons are those that are accessible in light of evaluative standards shared by all, or in light of every citizen's private evaluative standards. Since this will make the set of public reasons wider, it makes the theory more palatable to sceptics while retaining the framework's justificatory potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a conversation with decolonisation to pitch a novel mode of engagement; depathologising the university. While higher education institutions are in the midst of an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion revolution, I posit that all is not well. Too often disability staff and students have been sidelined in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion discourse and practice and this paper addresses this omission. First, I pose a question ‘what is the university for?’ and consider two recent campaigns by Black and Minority Ethnic and disabled students in the UK that offer partial responses to this question. I argue that these campaigns not only implicate the colonial and ableist heritage of universities but also illuminate two critical modes of engagement: decolonisation and depathologisation. Second, to focus the discussion, I introduce Disability Matters; a new six year programme of research which seeks to promote more inclusive university environments through positioning disability as the driving subject of inquiry. Third, I offer some provisional and anticipatory thoughts by sitting with decolonisation in order to expand upon a project of depathologisation. I conclude with an appeal; desiring disability’s disruptive qualities to rethink the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the concept of knowing in caste-ridden Dalit lives using the analogy of seeing in the context of the Black African-American racial society, where race is identified primarily through skin colour. Thus, the 'Black body' is marked by the act of seeing. A Dalit body, however, is usually discovered through knowing caste. Knowing is a complex mediated by caste, class, race, religion, occupation, spatiality, language and other forms of placement. Knowing is imperative in the context of a representative democracy to ensure social justice and the equitable distribution of government services. But does knowing someone's identity lead to equal treatment and equal respect, which constitute the substantive measures of democracy? I argue that knowing is a mode used to perpetuate caste, based on everyday ways in which Hindus live their lives. Pursuing this question, I problematise the concept of knowing in the trajectory of Dalit lives. I then take Ambedkar's 'Waiting for a Visa', situated in the genre of Dalit autobiographies, to illustrate the concept of knowing. Finally, I ask: given the politics of knowing, how do Dalit lives matter when practising caste? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to education for undocumented migrant children in South Africa remains a significant challenge. While the difficulties related to their inability to access education within the country have been highlighted elsewhere, there remains a lack of clarity on an approach to how this basic human right can be achieved. In this conceptual paper, we draw on the distinction between equality and equity, and describe the various ways in which education has been conceptualised in the South African Constitution – which in part contributes to the existing confusion on education for various groups, including undocumented migrant children. In this paper, we critically reflect on the need to develop an integrated approach for creating a platform that allows all undocumented migrant children access to education in South Africa. We argue that an integrated approach – which entails ways through which access to education can be delivered through the lens of equity – will enhance the right to education for undocumented migrant children in South Africa. We conclude that the South African government must urgently consider this integrated approach to enable access to education for undocumented migrant children, so that they can achieve their full educational potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do women and workers with a migration background earn relatively less in the core creative arts or in commercial creative sectors such as advertising? In this paper, we seek to (1) uncover to what extent workers' socio-demographic characteristics and the sub-sector of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in which they are active affect how much they earn, and (2) unravel to what extent the context of sub-sectors affects inequality in earnings between different socio-demographic groups. Using Statistics Netherlands register data on all workers with earnings from the CCIs, we show that earnings are lowest in the sub-sectors in Throsby's (2008) inner circles of the CCIs. Both having a migration background and being a woman affect earnings in the CCIs. Especially gender inequality in earnings is extensive and omnipresent, being least pronounced in sub-sectors such as literature, music and visual arts, and most severe in e.g. film and photography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the discursive articulations of populism with egalitarianism in the parties of the Greek Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) and the German The Left Party (Die Linke). I draw on tools of political discourse analysis and use a discursive-analytical perspective to develop an analytical framework for examining egalitarianism and populism as separate yet interconnected concepts in the examined cases. My data is drawn from speeches and interviews of each party’s leadership during the national and European Parliament elections from 2009 to 2019. The aim is to make an argument for the analytical utility of ‘the elite’ term and its importance within each party’s socio-political context to separate egalitarian from populist elements in each party’s discourse and offer a renewed understanding of the distinction between egalitarianism and populism as two concepts that are often conflated in radical left parties. The analysis showed that there was a distinction between egalitarian and populist discursive elements in both parties’ discourses, with each party employing them on different levels depending on their respective contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of city lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic exposed some social inequalities in Mexico. The paper evaluates the effects of the closure of the Alameda Central, a public park in the Historic Centre of Mexico City. It examines how its closure affected some vulnerable populations, including homeless people, beggars, street vendors, buskers, and male sex workers, to the extent that they resisted leaving or found ways to return to public space. The research shows how Mexican COVID-19 policies tended to overlook the diversity of populations making use of public space, and their various necessities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the impact of education on inequality using the recentered influence function regression and standard inequality measures. Results indicate that between 2005 and 2010, the returns to education declined from the 10th to the 50th percentiles, but increased at the upper tail of the distribution. Inequality is lower in the counterfactual education-equalising distribution, revealing the inequality increasing effect of education in the actual distribution. This implies that educational expansion widens inequality relative to educational equalisation. As such, policies that target disadvantaged groups in terms of educational attainment should be a key focus for policy interventions than educational expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological development is a key factor for shaping social life, transforming the ways in which societies organize their production, mobility and communication processes. Since the beginning of industrialization, the pace of the transformations brought about by technological change has increased dramatically, and has further accelerated since the advent of the new digital technologies. These development processes has also impacts in terms of social, economic and environmental costs, a fact that has been addressed in the past few decades by various social movements as well as theoreticians, becoming a key issue in political and social discussion agendas. In this paper, we outline a historical perspective of these changes and their effects, from pre-industrial, industrial, post-Fordism and network societies, and we focus on the mobilizing potential of technological change. We analyze the role that technological interfaces play today in social transformation, as well as the implications for our present day that our interactions become increasingly intermediated by digital technologies. Finally, we discuss digital technologies and their impacts on social inequity. We argue that a public and democratic agenda comprising both development and technological issues should be put in place for guaranteeing social development processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how new entrants to the Creative Industries view the challenge of achieving equality, diversity and inclusion in the sector. The research adopts a case study approach based on a snowball sample and interviews with 21 new entrants to media work. All were graduates of the same media degree programme and all were based in Ireland and worked in the audio-visual sector, PR, communications, marketing, content creation or advertising, as well as in media-related roles in non-media organisations and companies. The key findings are that new entrants do see the need for EDI initiatives in creative industries. However, they frame EDI interventions in terms of the needs of individuals. Because of their new entrant status they do not see themselves as being in a strong position to advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion in creative industries and so do not view themselves as change agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a sound policy framework, the right of learners with disabilities in South Africa to inclusive and equitable quality education is not being met. A key reason hindering the realisation of this right is that there are very few teacher education programs focused on supporting learners with disabilities. Acknowledging the urgency of teacher education, in this paper we draw on qualitative data from 109 teacher participants and 39 course facilitators of a series of disability inclusion-focused teacher education short courses in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Based on their experience of the courses, we consider how teachers can be empowered to meet the diverse needs of their learners within an inclusive framework. Findings highlight that professional and personal growth facilitated a more empathic understanding of learners and the opportunity to collaborate with others, enabling teachers to find creative ways of solving problems faced in their workplaces. To support teachers in meeting the needs of their learners, teacher training should facilitate active reflection on the role they play in shaping the lives of their learners, and prepare teachers to respond to challenges strategically, taking advantage of the resources available to them within and beyond their school environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we use data from 44 Danish families to develop a new conceptual framework for analysing family learning environments and how they shape children's opportunities in the Scandinavian context. We use data from qualitative interviews and a new smartphone app to outline six key dimensions of family learning environments that intersect in four types, which we label Expansive curators, Recreational home dwellers, Casual pragmatists and Disempowered strugglers. The dimensions and types of family learning environments provide a conceptual framework for (1) identifying a set of mechanisms that might explain intergenerational associations in socioeconomic outcomes; (2) linking dimensions of family learning environments often studied in isolation (e.g. family activities and networks); (3) incorporating dimensions of learning environments rarely considered (e.g. day care and children's use of digital devices); and (4) distinguishing socioeconomic gradients in family learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jayathi Ghosh's paper explores the relationship between social inequality and economic outcomes. She argues that social and relational inequalities contribute to work distribution, labor segmentation, and differential remuneration in both formal and informal labor markets. Ghosh challenges the assumption that free trade benefits both parties equally, suggesting that exchange can be extractive and favor one party over another. Her findings align with research in anthropology and feminist anthropology, which also highlight the ways in which social differences are sustained and leveraged by exchange. Ghosh's work opens up avenues for interdisciplinary collaboration and discussion on addressing social inequality. [Extracted from the article]

Few quantitative studies have looked at how reasons for quitting organized sports vary according to social backgrounds. The present paper addresses this gap by investigating how youths' perceptions of six reasons for dropping out of organized youth sports vary according to three types of social inequality: socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and gender. We utilize data from the 2015 Young in Oslo survey, where organized youth sport dropouts in grades 8–13 rated the importance of six reasons for dropping out (N = 2355, response rate = 72%). Two findings stand out. First, gender differences were subtle and often related to ethnicity; they were more pronounced among majority youths than minority youths. Second, well-resourced majority youths were more likely to consider a lack of sports skills and friends who quit as important to dropout while minority youths with less resources more often highlighted discouragement from parents and sport expenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a critical reconstruction of J. B. Erhard's account of recognition that locates it within the context of his revolutionary natural law theory. The first three sections lay out the foundations of Erhard's position. The fourth section outlines Erhard's response to the opponents of revolution and raises a problem for it. The fifth section argues that we can resolve this problem by drawing upon Erhard's account of failures of legal recognition. The sixth and final section considers the relevance of that account for contemporary legal and political theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union emerged as an important actor in debates on 'migrant integration', yet remains understudied. This paper critically maps the EU Framework on migrant integration, outlining the ruptures and continuities that have shaped EU's approach to 'diversity governance' in the past three decades. I propose a typology of the (sometimes opposing) discourses that converge in the EU migrant integration policy, differentiating between neoliberal, egalitarian (welfarist), securitarian and boundary integrationism. I argue that while the early predominantly welfarist and neoliberal discourse on integration was only vaguely interested in questions of values and identity, the recent reformulation of the EU's integrationist strategy represents a break from universalist ideas of a 'European community'. In particular, the Commission under von der Leyen adopted a more nativist and securitarian discourse that frames 'integration' as a wager in an alleged civilizationist clash between the liberal and the 'illiberal' world. I argue that the rising importance of adherence to liberal values as a proxy for 'integration', the reinvention of 'European values' as cultural values springing from the Judeo-Christian liberal tradition, and drawing new boundaries around the subject of integration are three developments that amount to an important shift in the European Union's migration and integration agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assistive technologies (ATs) promote participation and inclusion in society, and support access to health, social services, education, work and other important life experiences for persons with disabilities, older people and those with chronic conditions. The Global Report on Assistive Technology, launched in May 2022 by WHO and UNICEF, calls for concrete actions to improve access to AT globally, and recognizes AT as both a means to, and an end itself, in the achievement of rights of persons with disabilities. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006) is the most widely ratified human rights convention, affirming the right to participation in society on an equal basis with others. In this paper, we highlight examples of how AT may play a role in realizing each of the fundamental rights affirmed in the UNCRPD. We conducted an indicative literature search for relevant literature to each of the substantive articles of the CRPD. Assistive technology plays a critical role in achieving the rights affirmed by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ensuring adequate provision of AT by states parties is critical to the progressive realization of the rights of persons with disabilities and to fulfilling commitments made by states parties upon ratification of the CRPD. Assistive technology (AT) is critical to enable full participation of persons with disability in society and the achievement of rights affirmed by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Governments and other key stakeholders should endeavour to improve access to AT through inclusive, evidence-informed programs and services. Advocacy is required to improve access to AT through universal health coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 is mostly considered to have ravaged places with high levels of inequality and poverty. Yet, in the case of Europe, the evidence for this is limited. In this paper we address this gap in our knowledge by exploring how regional variations in poverty, wealth and interpersonal inequality have shaped COVID-19-related excess mortality. The results show that during the first 18 months of the pandemic there is no link between inequality and poverty, on the one hand, and the lethality of the disease, on the other. The geographical concentration of wealthy people is related to more, not less, excess mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dichotomous views of gender and sexuality primarily categorize people according to opposing binaries – either those attracted to the 'opposite' sex (heterosexual people) or those attracted to the same sex (gay or lesbian people). This 'either/or' notion greatly stigmatizes people who exist outside of this binarized categorization due to their attraction, or lack thereof, to multiple gender identities as well as the non-binary nature of their own genders. Past scholars have coined the term 'monosexism' to describe the social and cultural structures that operate on the premise that all individuals experience attractions, and that all are (and should be) attracted to no more than one gender (Eisner, 2013; Meyer, 2019; Roberts et al., 2015). Hence, asexual, bisexual, pansexual, and other plurisexual people experience oppression rooted in the normativity of monosexuality, while heterosexual people, lesbians, and gay men–all who adhere to the societal norm of monosexuality– receive privileges. While the impacts of monosexism are evident in the literature (Kaysen et al., 2011; Walters et al., 2013), there are scholars (Hemmings & Blumenfeld, 1996; Weiss, 2004) who oppose using the term monosexism and its presumed monosexual categorization – denoting it as pejorative and divisive to the 2SLGBTQIA + community as it groups lesbians and gay men together with heterosexual people as the oppressing, monosexual group. With the increasing scholarly focus on representation and recognition of 2SLGBTQIA + individuals and communities, we contend that understanding the complexity of monosexism is important for a more clearly articulated analysis of gender and sexuality-based inequality and experience. This paper provides a critical review of scholarly perspectives discussing monosexism and at the same time, contributes to a fuller understanding of the nature of this system of oppression and discrimination. Overall, we suggest that comprehending monosexism as a neutral term to describe a social structure that oppresses all sexual identities (not just asexual and plurisexual people) can lead to better understanding and potentially to resisting and dismantling this form of oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional notion of integration as 'immigrants becoming part of something' has been widely criticised for its undesirable normative connotations. In response, scholars either discard the concept altogether, or they strive for a 'non-normative approach'. In this paper, I argue that both strategies are unsatisfactory and present a third: through ameliorative conceptual analysis, I rethink the concept such that it is useful for both the normative and analytical purposes of investigating inequalities and social boundaries that so often emerge in contexts of immigration. Building on insights from political philosophy, I argue for a conception of integration problems as a subset of relational inequality. Crucially, this framework shifts the site of the integration problem and process from 'the immigrant', and a process that 'immigrants' go through, to the relations amongst all people within a society, and a process of relational change amongst them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text is a summary of a special issue of the journal Industry and Innovation, which focuses on Grand Innovation Challenges (GICs). The special issue includes four articles that explore different aspects of innovation in relation to these challenges. The articles cover topics such as the resilience of innovation systems, the challenges posed by online labor platforms, the coordination challenges faced by ecosystem orchestrators in the metaverse, and the importance of multi-stakeholder collaboration in open social innovation. The authors of the special issue call for research that addresses GICs from various perspectives and suggest several areas for future research. Overall, the special issue aims to shape the research agenda for innovation studies and invites scholars to contribute to the ongoing debates. [Extracted from the article]

This article analyses the mechanisms that contribute to differences in educational choice in the transition from the second to the third stage of secondary education in Flanders, a highly tracked educational system. The study programme chosen in the eleventh grade, besides being quite predictable from the educational position in the tenth grade and school performance, is also affected by social class, ethnic background and gender. Using data gathered from pupils, their parents and their teachers, this study (N = 4389) tests a broad range of factors put forward by rational action theory, cultural reproduction theory and the Wisconsin status attainment model. As proposed by rational action theory, relative risk aversion affects educational choice. However, it does not explain the SES effect. Pupils' academic self-esteem and their time perspective do have some potential to explain SES differentials in educational choice, as hypothesised by rational action theorists, and as can be expected from cultural explanations for educational inequality as well. In addition, expectations of significant others (parents, as well as teachers) are important predictors for subsequent educational choice and explain part of SES differences. Finally, classic cultural indicators of the parental home do not seem to affect educational choice beyond their effects on performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academia is increasingly populated but remains saturated with problems of exclusion, inequality, and injustice. However, policies aimed to govern the sector are criticized for corrupting the core of the academic practice, overlooking complexities, and perpetuating old and constructing new forms of inequalities. We thus need more empowering ways to design policies which can productively transform academia into good spaces to inhabit. To this end, we take a novel approach by viewing higher education policies as world-making spaces. Through 'social world/arena mapping' of the Norwegian research and higher education policy, we find that the policy articulates diverse worlds with different logics and purposes for academics to inhabit. However, the actors in these worlds remain passive, and seemingly 'universal' actors, able to simultaneously inhabit all the different policy worlds, while systemic inequalities which permeate the sector are largely overlooked. We argue that acknowledging this shortcoming is pivotal to finding new ways to (re)create sustainable spaces in research and higher education that ensure inclusive environments and function as democratic institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In urban planning processes, global policies that are evaluated positively may not achieve favorable performance in specific urban, social, and policy circumstances. The practice of transit-oriented development (TOD) strategy in Johannesburg is a representative example. This report focuses on its role in balancing ecological sustainability, social inclusion, economic development, and impact on citizens. The report finds that while TOD can theoretically help eliminate social inequalities and promote economic and ecological sustainability, its practical effect is limited, manifesting in exacerbated government deficits and a growing gap between the rich and the poor. This report examines the causes and provides recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the inclusion of civil society organizations (CSOs) in international organizations (IOs) as a means of democratizing global governance. However, empirical research shows that CSOs often face exclusion and inequality within IOs, with economically powerful actors having greater access and influence. The article takes a practice theoretical perspective to understand the everyday dynamics of civil society participation in global governance and the potential for democratization. While civil society participation can reproduce, contest, and potentially transform global governance, it often leads to conformity with existing organizational practices rather than substantive change. The authors suggest that a different approach to democratic governance may be needed to challenge prevailing organizational logics. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the construction of femininity and sexuality, specifically as trans* intersect with race/ethnicity, in sport. The third author (S.F.'s) lived experiences as a Hong Kong Chinese gender-fluid bodybuilder who competes in international women's bodybuilding contests serve as an impetus to examine cultural norming and marginalization in professional sport. Narrative analysis and autobiographical memory are used to understand SF's construction of identities in relation to her sociocultural environment and as a political process that alerts us to the power structures that permit certain stories to be told while silencing others. Specifically, this article problematizes how professional women bodybuilders are being constructed as objects that are expected to embody Whiteness and 'authentic heightened femininity'. It highlights how the intersection of genderfluidity, race/ethnicity and bodybuilding defy dominant understandings of what is aesthetically, experientially and physically acceptable within the 'norm' in both 'Eastern' and 'Western', and masculine and feminine worlds. The discussion aims to provide implications to moving beyond the enduring binary gendered, racialized and sexual assumptions in women sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Despite rapid economic growth in China since 1978, rural-urban inequality has widened. High levels of socioeconomic inequality can have profound implications for child development and lifelong educational equity. Using a dataset containing early childhood development (ECD) outcomes of 0- to 3-year-olds (N = 9,053) from study sites in Eastern, Central, and Western China, the study finds that the risks of cognitive, language, and motor delay are, respectively, 43.2, 18.3, and 20.7 percentage points higher in rural study sites than in urban Shanghai (ps <.01). Impact evaluation of cluster-randomized experiments shows that parental training (focusing on child psychosocial stimulation and caregiver-child interaction) can improve parenting beliefs and practices (or investments) and ECD outcomes of disadvantaged rural children (p<.01). Such programs can play an important role in advancing progress toward more social equality and economic equity, the stated goals of China's "Common Prosperity" policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minoritised individuals (people identifying as belonging to groups experiencing socially constructed power inequalities) frequently experience mental health inequalities. Mental health services have often, intentionally or inadvertently, perpetuated these inequalities due to historic and ongoing systemic discrimination. To reduce inequalities, mental health services must address ongoing systemic discrimination and improve cultural-sensitivity of clinical staff. One method of improving clinician cultural-sensitivity is through reflective practice groups. This project evaluates a staff Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) reflective space within a community psychological therapies team. A mixed methods approach of survey feedback and semi-structured interviews was used. Staff found the reflective space beneficial for improving their clinical skills relating to issues of EDI and helpful for their own wellbeing. Staff also found the EDI reflective space both acceptable and feasible and were keen to attend future sessions. However, some clinicians highlighted challenges relating to fear of judgment and evaluation from others. Findings are discussed in relation to the growing body of evidence of the usefulness of staff reflective spaces in healthcare generally, and provide specific support for the implementation of EDI reflective spaces. Guidance for developing an EDI staff reflective space for healthcare staff are discussed, alongside limitations and possible future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sindhi nationalist historiography is a classic case of how to read historical, archaeological, and political texts of importance to justify the present-day modernist ideologies premised on excluding marginalized sections of society. This essay interrogates the Sindhi nationalist literati elite's epistemic neglect of the underprivileged caste's lifeworld. That disregard reflects in their literary and political writings that arguably rely on the British Orientalist historiography to construct the myth of caste-neutral and egalitarian culture of Sufi Sindh. It traces the historicisation of the claim of Hindu–Muslim interfaith harmony, and its persistence in the post-Partition Sindh. Based on the content analysis of progressive literature and the historiography of progressive politics in Sindh, it is concluded that owing to the casteist social structural barriers the privileged caste elite at the vanguard of progressive nationalist politics was blinded by their own privileged position to justly address the caste question. That inherent blindness to see through the problem of caste is the reason that progressives' emancipatory projects to redefine the past and myths end in failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do mutually reinforcing cleavages harm democracy? Evidence from specific cases suggests that autocratization can be related to the predicament of ethnic groups, if ethnicity is politicized and involves resource distribution. However, we know little about whether this is a cause of autocratization more broadly. The article demonstrates that, with increasing inequalities between ethnic groups, a country experiences a decline in its level of democracy and higher propensity to start autocratizing. The analysis thus advances previous contributions, focusing on individual inequalities and power-sharing institutions as explanations of democratization or democratic quality, in two ways. First, isolating autocratization as downturns in democracy levels and the onsets of related timespans (autocratization episodes), and comparing the impact of (economic, political, and social) types of inequalities between ethnic groups. Second, adopting a global sample of (democratic and non-democratic) countries since 1981, with an original data collection integrating expert surveys with survey data. Quantitative evidence confirms most expectations, particularly on economic inequalities between ethnic groups, and – although less precisely – economic, political and social dimensions combined. The findings have important implications for political regime and ethnic studies, showing that preventing the mutual reinforcement of sociocultural and economic cleavages is key to stabilize democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes over time in social-class inequality of educational attainment have been shown by previous research to depend on whether attainment is measured absolutely or relatively. The pioneering work in this respect by Bukodi and Goldthorpe found that inequality has fallen when attainment is measured absolutely (for example, as the percentage completing full secondary schooling) but has changed less when a relative measure is used (for example, reaching the top quarter of the distribution of attainment). Although absolute measures remain intrinsically interesting, insofar as they represent cognitive or cultural accomplishment, relative measures are more relevant for understanding the role of education in allocating people competitively to employment. Implicit in this previous research, as in much research on the connection between education and social mobility, is that the society over which the relative standing of qualifications is measured is the same as that in which they are used to gain social rewards, such as a job. When labour markets operate across educational borders, this assumption might be open to question. The present analysis investigates the interpretation of absolute and relative educational inequality by comparing England, Scotland and Wales, which have distinct education systems but a common labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa remains an unequal society even nearly three decades post-apartheid. This puts the country in the limelight of the discourse on racism and its enduring effects. This article contributes to the literature on the effects of racism in South Africa particularly for the Black population group. Social inequality during and after apartheid is examined highlighting legal devices that entrenched racial discrimination in the country. The enduring social inequality for Blacks was emphasized through national survey research that has consistently over the years shown this group to be disproportionately affected. The authors then interrogated, using a psychological lens the effects that social inequality could have on three behavioral outcomes: aggression, crime, and social trust for Blacks. These variables were examined in the context of social inequality as a push factor for their manifestations. The authors emphasize the importance of providing a forum to uncover and address the trauma of the apartheid era on Blacks. Lastly, the importance of addressing the socio-economic inequality experienced by Blacks to ensure their wellbeing and capacity for self-restraint was emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies provide evidence of health and well-being benefits gained from contact with nature. In the United Kingdom, people who claim Black, Asian and UK minority ethnic (UKBAME) backgrounds are less likely to have a garden, or live near quality greenspace, and are often under-represented as park users, compared with White British people. Placemakers in the UK predominantly claim White British ethnicity. We find cultural biases support unfair advantage for White British people in provision of, and access to healthy nature in London. We propose insufficient attention is given to the cultural content of nature and find that inequality is sustained by White privilege in design or management, even in "best practice" exemplars. We propose action to increase equity in access to healthy nature in cities, responding to variation we find in Viability, Interest and perceived Healthfulness of greenspaces in London for people along lines of ethnicity, race and religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]