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This paper seeks to explicate issues of harm to humanity caused by the mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of coltan, a conflict mineral used in the manufacture of mobile phones and other devices. It seeks to develop remedies and draw an end to a particularized form of human suffering in the DRC (a significant supplier of the mineral) where in its easternmost regions coltan fuels a long‐standing war and unremitting atrocities.

The paper is presented in six sections: Introduction, Background and regional parties, The scramble, Resource curse, Approaches and alternatives, and Conclusion. It is based on primary sources accruing from more than a decade in which the author worked and resided in the Great Lakes region of Africa, initially as a UN Attorney in Rwanda (1994‐1995), and subsequently as Director/Attorney of an international human rights and humanitarian non‐profit organization (1996‐2005). Further work has been undertaken in Europe between 2005 and the present. The paper additionally employs secondary materials and explores the regional, historical, political and economic contexts necessary for effective understanding of the relevant issues.

The central issue is whether remedies are available to halt the negative consequences procurement of minerals in developing regions has on local and regional populations. The specific concern is whether the cell phone industry can ensure that it is not using a mineral that causes vast bloodshed including war and violations of human rights, and how a conflict that has already caused suffering of historical dimension can be brought to a halt. Manufacturers to date cannot provide assurances. Several key issues, insights, approaches and solutions could change the status quo and conceivably end long‐standing conditions of war. This paper sets them forth.

An entire industry could change the way it does business if the problems that are the subject of this paper are dealt with effectively, whether by the means suggested here or additional measures. Millions of people bearing the brunt of a deadly trade could find relief, ending large‐scale human suffering in a forsaken region. A substantial reduction in crimes against humanity and war crimes can be realized. Working conditions, substandard in the extreme, can improve for miners. A precedent can be set without imposing undue hardships on the industry – a benefit to the industry and consumers.

The paper relies foremost on direct experience in the relevant regions covering a period of 17 years. It presents several novel approaches to solving the core problem. It suggests solutions for governing bodies and industry and actions an individual may personally adopt to effectively address a problem of global dimension.

The production of waste creates both direct and indirect environmental impacts. A range of strategies are available to reduce the generation of waste by industry and households, and to select waste treatment approaches that minimise environmental harm. However, evaluating these strategies requires reliable and detailed data on waste production and treatment. Unfortunately, published Australian waste data are typically highly aggregated, published by a variety of entities in different formats and do not form a complete time-series. We demonstrate a technique for constructing a multi-regional waste supply-use (MRWSU) framework for Australia using information from numerous waste data sources. This is the first subnational waste input–output framework to be constructed for Australia. We construct the framework using the Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab), a cloud-hosted computational platform for building Australian multiregional input–output tables. The structure of the framework complies with the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). We demonstrate the use of the MRWSU framework by calculating waste ‘footprints’ that enumerate the full domestic supply chain waste production for Australian consumers.

To determine the age at which influence peaks for men and women at work, then use empirical data to develop procedures predicting complex combining effects of diffuse status characteristics.

A survey experiment with a nationally representative sample is used to measure the age at which the status value of men and women at work reaches a maximum. Research results are then incorporated into equations adapted from current status characteristics theory (SCT) procedures to model the combined effects of age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, income, occupation, and beauty.

Analyses reveal that the status value of men and women reaches a maximum in middle age, and that women reach a maximum status value at work at an earlier age than men.

This approach maintains core assumptions of SCT and uses ongoing research results to calibrate a model predicting complex combining effects of diffuse status characteristics. Limitations include the need to develop additional empirical constants to make predictions in new research settings.

Predictions from the model can be used in hiring situations to adjust for interviewers’ nonconscious expectations related to status characteristics of job applicants.

The disadvantage for women at work that increases through mid-career helps to explain the continuing underrepresentation of women in senior leadership positions. Awareness of the impact of socially valued characteristics like age and gender can help individuals respond more effectively to challenging social situations.

Extend the current SCT model to make predictions in contexts where people are being evaluated such as elections, hiring, and promotions.

This study is a comment on Geoffrey Hodgson’s “Discovering Institutionalism: One Person’s Journey.” In this self-description of the evolution of his thought, Hodgson distinctly acknowledges Thorstein Veblen’s influence on his own institutional perspective. This is the issue that I explore in this study. My argument is that Hodgson can be understood as a Veblenian, but he does not fit in the Veblenian notion that became popular in the mid-twentieth century. I argue that Hodgson’s notion of habits is the strongest Veblen’s influence on him, and his reconstitutive downward and upward causations are in line with Veblen’s institutionalism, albeit without the mid-twentieth century Veblenian writings. I also address the approach to the content of habits as a break between Hodgson’s and Veblen’s institutionalism. By offering an unprecedented Veblenianism, I argue that Hodgson’s institutional economics can be understood as a new institutionalist segmentation.

Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.

This article focuses on the following questions: 1) How do secondary social studies teachers working in schools of color experience pedagogical negotiations when trying to teach students thoughtful, critically informed citizenship and government and school accountability mandates? and 2) How does teaching with lessons grounded in the principles of authentic intellectual work (AIW) affect this negotiation experience? We employed a phenomenological framework as the methodological basis for eliciting two classroom teachers’ experiences, both of whom have advanced degrees in social studies education and several years of teaching experience in schools of color and of poverty. The findings show that prior to the incorporation of lessons based on the principles of authentic intellectual work, these teachers’ negotiation experiences had strong negatively affective dimensions based on a zero-sum pedagogical conceptualization of curriculum. Following the introduction of lessons based on AIW, these negatively affective dimensions began to recede from their experiences and were replaced by more positive ones. Given that classroom teachers are the ultimate arbiters of curriculum in their classrooms, this research has implications for improving the experiences of secondary social studies teachers working in schools of color.

Architects and craftspeople work together on complicated built heritage projects as part of a diverse multidisciplinary team. Effective interactions and collaborations between them can lead to a more successful project outcome; however, differing perceptions of each other can cause professional relationship tensions, communicative barriers and disharmony.

Through the analysis of online surveys completed by architects and craftspeople, this study examines the contemporary relationship between the two groups, including the architect's perceptions of the function of traditional building craft within their day-to-day role.

Findings suggest that whilst both groups agree that the craftsperson is an essential specialist on a built heritage scheme, there are contradictory perceptions with regard to the architect's role. Despite these differences, the results suggest that architects are open to accommodating more exposure to craftspeople and traditional building craft within their day-to-day role – believing they would learn more about building materials, make better practical decisions and understand craftspeople better. More importantly, this study proposes that a focus on craft would break down communicative and perceptual barriers, in turn improving relationships and project outcomes.

The study strongly suggests that traditional building craft can form an essential, tangible bond between architects and craftspeople by increasing focus on relationships and learning. The insights offered are relevant not only to those in the fields of architecture and traditional building craft but also to those involved in heritage management, as well as other professional roles, who may benefit from the use of craft as a method to repair professional relationships, as well as historic buildings.

In the face of increasing resource insecurity, environmental degradation and climate change, more governments and businesses are now embracing the concept of the circular economy. This chapter presents some historical background to the concept, with particular attention paid to its assumed opposite, the ‘linear’ or growth economy. While the origins of the circular economy concept are to be found in 1960s environmentalism, the chapter draws attention to the influence of the then ‘new’ sciences of ecology and ‘cybernetics’ in shaping the public environmental discourse of the period. It also draws attention to the background of the present linear economy in postwar policies that encouraged reconstruction and a social and economic democratisation across the West, including an expansion of mass-consumption. It emphasises the role of the 1960s counterculture in generating a popular reaction against this expansionary growth-based agenda, and its influence in shaping subsequent environmentalism, including the ‘metabolic’ and ecological economic understanding of the environmental crisis that informs the concept of the circular economy. Reflecting upon this historical preamble, the chapter concludes that more attention should be paid to the economic, cultural and social contexts of consumption, now more clearly the main driver of our global environmental crisis. Without now engaging more directly with the ‘consumption problem’, the chapter argues, it seems unlikely that the goals of the circular economy can be met.