A rapidly expanding body of literature on international mediation, as well as the central role international mediation plays in modern-day conflict resolution, make it necessary…
Abstract
Purpose
A rapidly expanding body of literature on international mediation, as well as the central role international mediation plays in modern-day conflict resolution, make it necessary to review and analyze this vastly evolving field of study. This study seeks to review the most significant trends and debates in the literature on international mediation, with an emphasis on the literature of the past six years.
Design/methodology/approach
Reflecting Wall et al.'s staged conceptualization of the mediation process; this review essay is divided in three sections that cover the antecedents of mediation, possible mediation approaches, and the outcomes these approaches yield – making it possible to review and analyze the diverse sets of theories within the field of mediation, as well the various methodological approaches employed to test these theories.
Findings
Much research to date has focused on how international mediation in armed conflicts affects the likelihood of reaching a negotiated agreement, while other possible outcomes of mediation have been understudied. Accordingly, research needs to be done on the effects of mediation attempts that did not lead to a peace agreement, as well as the accumulative effect of peace agreements. Furthermore, the relation between negative peace and mediation has been studied extensively, but how mediation affects the degree of positive peace has received scant scholarly attention. Finally, the interlinkages between the different phases of the mediation process need to be examined more extensively.
Originality/value
This review identifies the state of the art knowledge concerning the international mediation process, which allows peacemakers to make informed decisions in order to prevent and resolve armed conflict in the twenty-first century.
Details
Keywords
Kelly Norwood and Mary Webster
Research ethics and integrity stipulates that research must be conducted with responsibility towards the research community and should benefit the intended population. This…
Abstract
Research ethics and integrity stipulates that research must be conducted with responsibility towards the research community and should benefit the intended population. This chapter will share insights from an ongoing research programme to reduce family conflict in the context of dementia care while discussing the accompanying ethical considerations. Research into dementia care has primarily focused on improving outcomes for the care dyad, leaving the influence and input of the wider family unit under investigated. Family conflict can detrimentally impact the quality of care provided and leave caregivers vulnerable to psychosocial difficulties. Family conflict occurs in the context of dementia care but there is little research on how to reduce, or prevent, such conflict occurring. In this research programme, a systematic review investigated the effectiveness of interventions that include the wider family unit to reduce family conflict; only one study was included which evidenced the lack of interventions in this area. A qualitative scoping review was then conducted to explore the lived experiences of caregiving families with experience of family conflict and reported solutions. It was found that conflict occurred due to factors including care decisions and role transitions which impacted relationships and affected care provision. Solutions to conflict were less often reported, indicating an important gap in the literature. Interviews with Alzheimer's Society staff and volunteers revealed that stigma and denial surrounding dementia were prevalent, and families were often reluctant to seek external help. This research programme is currently establishing public patient involvement (PPI) to develop the research methodology and interview questions for people with dementia (PWD) and their family caregivers to explore their lived experiences and potential solutions to family conflict. To conclude, this research programme will propose a family-focused intervention aimed at systemic family conflict for those caring for someone with dementia.
Details
Keywords
Pablo Hernández-Marrero, Sandra Martins Pereira, Joana Araújo and Ana Sofia Carvalho
This chapter aims to provide an overview of the ethical framework and decision-making in clinical dementia research, and to analyze and discuss the ethical challenges and issues…
Abstract
This chapter aims to provide an overview of the ethical framework and decision-making in clinical dementia research, and to analyze and discuss the ethical challenges and issues that can arise when conducting clinical dementia research.
Informed consent is the most scrutinized and controversial aspect of clinical research ethics. In clinical dementia research, assessing decision-making capacity may be challenging as the nature and progress of each disease influences decision-making capacity in diverse ways. Persons with dementia represent a vulnerable population deserving special attention when developing, implementing, and evaluating the informed consent process. In this chapter, particular attention will be given to vulnerability categories and how these influence decision-making capacity. Ethical frameworks with a pragmatic contour and implication are needed to protect vulnerable patients from potential harms and ensure their optimal participation in clinical dementia research.
In addition, this chapter analyses important ethical challenges and issues in clinical dementia research. If handled thoughtfully, they would not pose insuperable barriers to research. But if they are ignored, they could slow the research process, alienate potential study subjects and cause harm to research participants. Ethical considerations in research involving persons with dementia primarily concern the representation of the interests of the participants with dementia and protection of their vulnerabilities and rights.
A core set of ethical questions and recommendations are drawn to aid researchers, institutional review boards and potential research participants in the process of participating in clinical dementia research.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the Bombay textile mills of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to provide an account of the roots of business–society…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the Bombay textile mills of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to provide an account of the roots of business–society relationship in India and contribute to postcolonial perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR). This search is premised on the understanding that India has embarked on industrialisation from a set of productive relations that differ from European feudalism.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for this study have been obtained from published works on Bombay Textile Mills such as Chandavarkar (1994, 2008), Morris (1965), Wolcott (2008) and Clark (1999) and some Annual Reports of Bombay Mill Owners Association. Further Kydd (1920) has been used for history of factory legislation in India.
Findings
Evidence suggests that practices in mills were informed by notions of custom and fairness, which resulted in flexible hours, socially acceptable wage outcomes and work sharing. Individual reputations built through use of discretion within networks of patronage spanned both workplace and neighbourhood, interlinking the social, ethical, political and economic lives of owners, jobbers and workers. Jobbers’ authority was earned in return for providing support to a production process, mirroring Birla’s (2009) “layered sovereignty” differing markedly from delegated managerial authority. Workers’ share in surplus value was important along with autonomy, both of which were negotiated through customary networks and protest.
Research limitations/implications
The paper suggests that a postcolonial approach to CSR implies an expansive notion of responsibility that goes beyond a Western focus on wages to encompass worker autonomy and countervailing power. Postcolonial accounts of CSR history can only be understood as emerging from a triadic interaction of imperial interest, subordinated native business and native societal relationships. This contrasts with conventional approaches that look at CSR’s emergence simply as a process internal to that society. Account of Indian CSR trajectory is in part a journey of native business from responsible practices to a messy tessellation of legal exploitation and illegal customary concerns.
Practical implications
The findings of this paper suggest that it is possible that customary practices of care and concern might still be surviving in Indian business even if only in the illegal and informal realm. Thus CSR programs in the Indian context might be useful to bring to centre stage these customary practices.
Originality/value
This study documents the evolution of business–society relations in a post-colonial context and shows how they are different from the Western trajectory.
Details
Keywords
The aim of this chapter is to investigate the meaning of terrorism, with a view to highlighting the main hurdles in the way of creating a working definition, as well as the…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this chapter is to investigate the meaning of terrorism, with a view to highlighting the main hurdles in the way of creating a working definition, as well as the necessity of developing definitions and classifications of this phenomenon.
Design methodology/approach
This chapter provides an overview of the literature on terrorism as a social/political phenomenon. It is therefore based on secondary sources.
Findings
While most literature on the topic finds it pointless or impossible to define terrorism, here we argue just the opposite. Common critiques of current definitions may be overcome by using multiple definitions and classifications.
Research limitations/implications
The chapter provides the methodological foundations for a comprehensive theoretical analysis of terrorism.
Originality/value of the chapter
The chapter applies insights from methodology of social sciences to the problem of defining terrorism.
Details
Keywords
Examines demographic variables (gender, age, educational level) and motivation variables (perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness) associated with…
Abstract
Examines demographic variables (gender, age, educational level) and motivation variables (perceived ease of use, perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness) associated with Internet usage activities (defined in terms of messaging, browsing, downloading and purchasing). A total of 1,370 usable responses were obtained using a Web page survey. Results showed that males are more likely to engage in downloading and purchasing activities while females are more likely to engage in messaging activities. Younger users engage in messaging and downloading activities to a greater extent than older users. Perceived usefulness is associated with the four activities, while perceived ease of use and perceived enjoyment are associated with messaging, browsing and downloading activities.
Details
Keywords
Heavy‐duty, high‐build ccatings may be defined in a number of ways, but it is the intention in this article to discuss only those which are air‐curing, organically‐based, and…
Abstract
Heavy‐duty, high‐build ccatings may be defined in a number of ways, but it is the intention in this article to discuss only those which are air‐curing, organically‐based, and applied as liquids. They should produce in one coat (normally wet multi‐pass) a dry film thickness of not less than 125 microns.
Donna Mitchell, Darren Hudson, Riley Post, Patrick Bell and Ryan B. Williams
The objective of this chapter is to discuss the pathways between climate, water, food, and conflict. Areas that are exhibiting food insecurity or have the potential to be food…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this chapter is to discuss the pathways between climate, water, food, and conflict. Areas that are exhibiting food insecurity or have the potential to be food insecure are typically located in areas that experience poverty and government corruption. Higher rates of conflict occur in areas with lower caloric intake and poor nutrition.
Methodology/approach
We identify key pathways between these variables and discuss intervening factors and compound effects.
Findings
The pathways between water, food security, and conflict are complicated and are influenced by many intervening factors. A critical examination of the literature and an in-depth analysis of the reasons for conflict suggest that food insecurity is a multiplier, or facilitator, of the opportunities for and benefits from conflict.
Practical implications
To most effectively reduce the risks of conflict, policies must adequately and simultaneously address each of the four dimensions of food security – availability, stability, utilization, and access. Careful attention to alleviating food insecurity will help alleviate some of the underlying rationale for conflict.
Details
Keywords
We consider the well-known and painful problem of countries, mainly in the developing world, that suffer not only from low levels of economic development, but also from high…
Abstract
We consider the well-known and painful problem of countries, mainly in the developing world, that suffer not only from low levels of economic development, but also from high levels of inequality and poverty. They struggle to solve their development problems by implementing various policies for economic growth (investing in infrastructures and education, providing incentives for capital investments, etc.), but in many cases it seems that economic growth, even when it is achieved, does not necessarily resolve the fundamental problems of poverty and unequal income distribution (Selowsky, 1981; Cardoso & Helwege, 1992).
Asif Yaseen, Kim Bryceson and Anne Njeri Mungai
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of market orientation (MO) on the major determinants of commercialization behavior among Sub-Saharan smallholders. The study…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of market orientation (MO) on the major determinants of commercialization behavior among Sub-Saharan smallholders. The study addresses the shortfalls in prior research on smallholder commercialization, which makes little difference between MO and market participation (MP).
Design/methodology/approach
The study reports on an empirical data set of 272 vegetable growers from Kiambu West District in Kenya and employs a partial least squares structural equation approach to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The results evidence that MO: fosters farmers’ ability to create value within commodity markets by capitalizing on market opportunities; changes the way in which farmers perceive the role of institution and infrastructure support and; and develops a drive for adopting business approach in farming operations.
Research limitations/implications
Fostering commercialization behavior among smallholders in Kenya requires implementing a two-pronged approach: improving MO to adopt business approach in farming operations; and facilitating MP at output level. The major limitation of this study is data collected only from high value vegetable producers in Kenya, signifying a need to include other agriculture produce across different Sub-Saharan countries.
Originality/value
Research on smallholder agriculture is replete with investigating institutional and technical constraints to make smallholders more productive, however, research on MO to adopt business approach in farming operations is scant. This study emphasizes that understanding MO, as a distinct and separate concept from MP, is vital for scaling up business approach among smallholder farmers.