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Social theory implies that a rise in the expectation that many will participate in collective action can make participation in the action widely rational, giving rise to a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’. I address this classic, yet understudied, proposition by surveying participation in a demonstration that the ‘Panama Papers Leak’ triggered in Iceland in 2016. The demonstration was preceded by a sudden rise of large-turnout expectations, and attracted one-fifth of an urban population, allowing me to obtain event-specific, population-representative survey measures of the focal constructs (N = 821). The findings support hypotheses about the role of large-turnout expectations in collective action. They confirm that protest support (i.e. the value placed in the goal of the collective action) both raises large-turnout expectations and moderates their effects on protest participation. In fact, large-turnout expectations were associated with participation only if individuals supported the protest. Also, the findings imply that large-protest expectations trigger interpersonal relational dynamics that further motivate participation. The study thus supports and yet qualifies the role of the self-fulfilling prophecy in collective action., Pre-print (óritrýnt handrit)

I trace the bibliometric evolution of “New Public Management Is Dead” by Dunleavy et al. to investigate how the seminal paper influenced the administrative reform debate. They suggested Digital-Era Governance as the main post-NPM idea. My bibliometric analysis discovers public value, administrative reform trajectories, and digital government as influential themes. Unlike Dunleavy et al., the literature found the managerial reform wave is not linear, reform ideas are supplementary, and NPM remains a major toolkit. Future research should focus on reintegration and need-based holism, linking digital government to administrative reform, and the negative impact of digital government on democracy.

We present a historical study of Quantum Technology 2.0 using more than 66,000 papers from 1980 to 2020 that had been assigned to four subfields. We applied the method reference publication year spectroscopy to respective publication sets of the subfields in order to identify their historical roots and seminal papers. We found 126 of them in total, 43 in quantum metrology and sensing, 46 in quantum communication and cryptography, 42 in quantum computing, and 33 in quantum information science–with a significant overlap between subfields–which are all discussed in their relevance for the respective subfield. We compared the subfields regarding their interrelationship and distinctiveness in terms of their most influential papers and were able to deduce a common core set of five seminal publications in all four subfields.

A “4-{[1-(2,5-dihydroxyphenyl)ethylidene]amino}-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one” chemosensor (C1) synthesized by Condensation reaction using “4-amino-1,2-dihydro-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenylpyrazol-3-one” and “2,5-dihydroxy Actophenone”. It shows absorption peak at 326 nm due to the C=C bond (π-π* transition), while the absorption peak at 364 nm is caused by the C=O bond (n-π* transition). In the presence of copper C1 only demonstrated a change in absorption peak to higher wavelength (redshift) from 364 to 425 nm. The hue of both the C1+Cu(II) complex changed from bright yellow to dark brown colour with hypochromic shift appearance of a new peak at 425 nm. Even in the presence of other competing metal ions, the hypsochromic shift of the absorption band and the quenching of the fluorescence emission intensity were different for detecting Cu2+, in CH3OH-H2O (v/v = 6:4). Job's plot was used to compute the binding stoichiometry between C1 and Cu2+, and MASS and FTIR spectrophotometry were used to investigate the complexation process. The capacity of the C1 to bind Cu2+ was further proven using DFT simulations. The complex S1+Cu2+ has a HOMO-LUMO energy gap of 2.8002 eV, which is lesser than S1 (2.9991 eV). From these results, it can be seen that the specific binding of S1 to Cu2+ improves the stability of the S1+Cu2+ complex and effectively reduces the HOMO-LUMO energy gap. The C1 was successfully used in a real-world water sample analysis. Using the Benesi-Hildebrand and Scatchard plots, the Kb was calculated and found to be 47340M-1 and 48369M-1 respectively, showing the creation of stable complexation between Cu2+ and S1 with 1:1 Stoichiometry. The LOD of S1 for Cu2+ ion analysis was determined to be 649 nM. Strip sheets were also built and tested to detect varying amounts of Cu2+ aqueous solution, and their color change suggested that they might be used for on-site Cu2+ detection in polluted water.

Acima do título: "Dossiê: meio-ambiente em disputa" Bibliografia: p. 186 e notas de rodapé Disponível também em: https://www.scielo.br/j/civitas/a/KNPrfysCbx8YNQDZKyK5bQR/?lang=pt Artigo está licenciado sob forma de uma licença Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional The incidence of paper mills in the Três Lagoas region, as of 2009, brought a series of commitments and consequences to the settlers of the agrarian reform. With the offer of unlimited tax exemptions, public financing through BNDES and other industrial development programs and projects, the industries established and started the processes for the duplication of their industrial plants. Already, the settlers are at the mercy, therefore, can not obtain access to investments, nor to the financing of public banks and other development agencies. In this perspective, the only source of financing for family agricultural production ends up being the paper mills themselves, through their PDS - sustainable development plans and programs. Only in the settlement where the research was given there are 181 lots, but less than 20 were benefited by the financing. In this sense, the form and the model of financing, the speed and volume of resources contributed are at the absolute and exclusive discretion of the own pulleys, which has social and economic repercussions among the settlers, creating as a zone of imprisonment of the settlers to the paper, here called cages of paper. A incidência de indústrias papeleiras na região de Três Lagoas, a partir de 2009, trouxe uma série de compromissos e consequências aos assentados da reforma agrária. Com a oferta de isenções fiscais ilimitadas, financiamento público via BNDES e outros programas e projetos de fomento industrial, as indústrias se estabeleceram e iniciaram os processos para duplicação de suas plantas industriais. Já, os assentados ficam à mercê, pois, não têm condições de obter acesso a investimentos, nem a financiamentos dos bancos públicos e demais agências de fomento. Nessa perspectiva, a única fonte de financiamento da produção agrícola familiar acaba sendo as próprias papeleiras, por meio de seus planos e programas de desenvolvimento sustentável (PDS). Apenas no assentamento onde se desenvolveu a empiria há 181 lotes, mas, menos de 20 foram beneficiados pelos financiamentos. Nesse sentido, a forma e o modelo de financiamento, a velocidade e o volume de recursos aportados ficam à discricionariedade absoluta e exclusiva das próprias papeleiras, o que repercute social e economicamente entre os assentados, criando como que uma zona de aprisionamento dos assentados às papeleiras, aqui denominadas cativeiros de papel. La incidencia de industrias papeleras en la región de Três Lagoas, a partir de 2009, trae serie de compromisos y consecuencias a los asentados de la reforma agraria. Con la oferta de exenciones fiscales ilimitadas, financiamiento público vía BNDES y otros programas y proyectos de fomento industrial, las industrias se establecieron e iniciaron los procesos para duplicación de sus plantas industriales. Ya, los asentados se quedan a merced, pues, no tienen condiciones de obtener acceso a inversiones, ni a financiamientos de los bancos públicos y demás agencias de fomento. En esta perspectiva, la única fuente de financiamiento de la producción agrícola familiar termina siendo las propias papeles, a través de sus PDS - planes y programas de desarrollo sostenible. Sólo en el asentamiento donde se dio la encuesta son 181 lotes, pero menos de 20 fueron beneficiados por las financiaciones. En este sentido, la forma y el modelo de financiamiento, la velocidad y el volumen de recursos aportados quedan a la discrecionalidad absoluta y exclusiva de las propias papeles, lo que repercute social y económicamente entre los asentados, creando como una zona de encarcelamiento de los asentados a las papeleras, aquí denominada cadenas de papel.

This article is an ethnographic exploration of a promiscuously present and instantly recognisable legal and cultural artefact in India, the stamp paper document under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899. The ‘stamp paper’ is a documentary form that is constantly escaping from its legal moorings in revenue and evidentiary law, and is being replicated, mimed and recommissioned, both in form and in substance, and in ways which blur the domains of the legal, the quasi-legal and the non-legal. Its bureaucratic authority is produced through protocols and rituals of writing, verification, identification, attestation and authorisation performed by paper workers such as court typists, stamp vendors, notaries and oath commissioners. Yet the stamp paper is simultaneously viewed as notoriously fraudulent and legally invalid—its use redundant and truth functionaries infamously corruptible. Focusing on the materiality of the stamp paper, as it circulates through the interstitial spaces of Patiala House Court Complex in New Delhi, this article seeks to address this curious paradox and provides an account of the social life of law through the travels of an emblematic yet dubious legal form.

Peer reviewed: True, This article extends existing sociological scholarship on doing and displaying family by developing the concept of documenting families. We suggest that documenting is conceptually rich insofar as it showcases the relationship, and tensions, between institutional practices and individual experiences of family display. Drawing on our research with men who became parents without partners, we argue that the process of documenting family is made especially evident in studies of what Finch originally referred to as ‘non-conventional’ family relationships. We explain that documenting sheds light not only on the official and unofficial means through which families are recognised on paper, but also on family practices as work – in this case paper-work – that involves negotiation between different social actors who are generally unequal in terms of their authority and agency to impose situational meaning.

Abstract Simple, portable, and low-cost paper-based sensors are alternative devices that have the potential to replace high-cost sensing technologies. The compatibility of the paper base biosensors for both chemical and biochemical accentuates its feasibility for application in clinical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and food quality monitoring. High concentration of copper in blood serum and urine is associated with diseases like liver diseases, carcinomas, acute and chronic infections, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. Detection of copper concentration can give an early sign of Alzheimer disease. Apart from that genetic Wilson's disease can be detected by evaluating the concentration of copper in the urine. In view of the above advantages, a novel and the highly sensitive paper-based sensor has been designed for the selective detection of Cu2+ ions. The fast and highly sensitive chemiresistive multi-dye system sensor can detect Cu2+ ions selectively in as low as 2.23 ppm concentration. Least interference has been observed for counter ion in the detection of Cu2+. Copper chloride, nitrate, and acetate were used to validate the detection process. This assay provides a very high selectivity of Cu2+ ion over other metal cations such as Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, etc. The easy preparation and high stability of dye solutions, easy functionalization of the paper-based sensors, high selectivity over other cations, low interference of counter anion, and significantly low detection limit of 2.23 ppm make it an effective Cu2+ ion sensor for real-time application in near future. Graphical Abstract

Panic buying of toilet rolls in Australia began in early March 2020. This was related to the realisation that the novel coronavirus was spreading across the country. To the general population the impact of the virus was unknown. Gradually the federal government started closing the country’s borders. The panic buying of toilet rolls was not unique to Australia. It happened across all societies that used toilet paper rather than water to clean after defecation and urination. However, research suggests that the panic buying was most extreme in Australia. This article argues that the panic buying was closely linked to everyday notions of Western civilisation. Pedestal toilets and toilet paper are key aspects of civilisation and the fear of the loss of toilet paper is connected to anxiety about social breakdown, the loss of civilisation. This is the fear manifested in the perceived threat posed by the virus. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

In 2015, the Open Science Collaboration reported in the journal Science that a disturbingly large proportion of psychological studies cannot be replicated (Open Science Collaboration, 2015). The ensuing ‘reproducibility crisis’ became a lightning rod for contesting what counts as legitimate research, and for negotiating the relationship between communication infrastructures and research practice. In the psychological and cognitive sciences, the Open Science community has advocated widespread reforms to incentivize transparency, encourage replication, and detect and discourage questionable research practices. The model of ‘openness’ underlying mainstream Open Science centers on sharing information to increase science’s self-correcting capacity. Against the backdrop of broad-scale transformations in Open Science, this case study depicts how scientists read. By examining the activity of a group of researchers ‘virtually witnessing’ an experiment together, this study reveals reading as a non-trivial process that matters for how research is apprehended and for how science is moved through time and space. The case complicates a disembodied, information-centric ‘openness’ pursued by mainstream Open Science reforms and advocates integrating situated and embodied resources into methods reforms, beginning with practices of reading.

Intersectionality scholarship has yet to systematically recognize the importance of citizenship status for the mutual shaping of inequalities. In this article, we bring attention to the combined structuring force of criminal law and citizenship status (and the related concepts of ‘illegal’ or ‘irregular’ status) in intersecting with other categories of social disadvantage, such as those created by racialization, class, gender and ethnicity. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with women in prisons for ‘foreign nationals’ and health clinics for ‘undocumented’ migrants in Norway and Denmark, this article shows how citizenship status has a central role in the co-constitution of gendered, classed and racialized social disadvantages.

In recent years, far-right actors and movements have become a growing field of scientific research. The specific challenges of this political spectrum have led to a number of interdisciplinary debates on methodology and ethics. In this context, questions concerning a critical distance in research have played a crucial role since there is a constant risk of an involuntary reproduction and thus amplification of far-right ideology. The article ‘The transnationalization of ethno-nationalism: The case of the Identitarian Movement’ by Petra Mlejnková (published in Intersections) illustrates these pitfalls. It shows the consequences of a lack of reflexivity when approaching far-right activism. As a result, the author’s findings appear rather one-sided when contrasted with critical debates on far-right ideology and current methodological discussions. Moreover, the presentation of the results creates the impression of, at least implicit, empathy towards the ‘Identitarian Movement.’ This, in turn, shows the risk of scientific research turning unintentionally into a (discursive) ally of the far-right and promoting ideologies of inequality.

This article reviews Bram Büscher’s book The Truth about Nature: Environmentalism in the Era of Post-truth Politics and Platform Capitalism (2021).

The increasing pressure on natural resources and the climate has been noted by businesses and governments worldwide, who now face the difficult task of integrating paths of environmental sustainability and economic growth. One promising approach to sustainable development, reducing the pressure on natural resources and solving waste problems is circular economy. From different ways of implementing circular economy, this study focuses on the productization of industrial side streams, which carry a great deal of underutilized potential. In this article, the productization of pulp and paper industry side stream, fiber sludge, for commercial use as a dust-binding agent is studied via a descriptive, in-depth case study. Apart from inconsistent quality, fluctuating supply, cost of storage and logistics, what makes industrial side stream utilization challenging is the lack of knowledge that stakeholders have about side streams and their utilization and the lack of new value chain development for their commercial use. Therefore, it is essential for all parties involved to have a clearer vision of what is being sold for what purposes, through productization. This study found that the productization of side streams follows the same steps as the productization of any other traditional product, and the productized side streams can be added to the company&rsquo, s product portfolio as by-products.

Both trade and production of graphic paper have decreased over the last three decades. While this general decrease can partially be attributed to increased prominence of information technology, the overall figure is devoid of context and thus of most of its meaning to global economy. In this study we aim to break this trend down across the geographical and temporal scope, across its supply-chain commodities and to find out what drives the global trade patterns. Econometric trade models focus on the trading countries and direct exports or imports but fail to consider the structural and the indirect trade relations. We take the approach of network analysis, where the emphasis is on the structure of trade and not on country-level descriptors. We focus on 1995–2017 period as within it this decrease can be observed and assess the entire graphic paper and pulp supply chain, consisting out of printing and writing paper, mechanical wood pulp, chemical wood pulp, semichemical wood pulp, pulp made from fiber other than wood, recovered paper and paperboard. We employ descriptive statistical and network analysis, grouping and role analysis, and end with an inferential logistic regression quadratic assignment procedure model. Results show that newsprint trade decline is mirrored in printing and writing paper and mechanical wood pulp. The trade network densities have remained generally stable throughout the observed period, but the topological proprieties of the individual product groups vary greatly. Although no stabile grouping of countries throughout the assessed period could be observed, role analysis shows that countries tend to trade within their continent, that European countries are at the core of the trade network, and that the structural shift of decline of the trade value is followed by increasing prominence of several Asian countries, such as China and Indonesia. The most important finding of the study is that internal trade effects such as reciprocity and transitivity are much more explanatory than classical effects used in trade models such as GDP per capita, geographical distance or forest endowment.

PurposeA review of papers on public sector accounting in emerging economies, as published in the Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies' (JAEE) first decade.Design/methodology/approachA reflection on the issues covered and achievements made in the reviewed papers in the context of extant knowledge in this domain.FindingsA majority of the research in JAEE is dominated by accounting reforms inspired by New Public Management (NPM). Performance management, budgeting and accrual accounting are the main topics in the reviewed research. NPM claims, which can range from usability and use of a new accounting repertoire to desirable impacts on efficiency and service delivery, are often not fulfilled. Many papers attempt to explain failing accounting innovations by the local context in which they are embedded, including political instability, poor governance and a lack of capabilities.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper reviews research in a niche journal, but the findings are related to wider public sector accounting literature.Practical implicationsPublic sector practitioners, but also researchers, need to move away from a focus on public sector reforms due to contextual circumstances leading to built-in failures and concentrate instead on understanding how the accounting repertoire works in practice, including routes for improvements therein.Originality/valueAn original framework for analysing public sector accounting research in emerging economies is proposed, which, among others, distinguishes between various ambition levels for achieving NPM reforms.

book review

In April, 2020, Dr. Geoff Cole published, “Why the ‘Hoax’ Paper of Baldwin (2018) Should Be Reinstated.” We are the authors of the “Baldwin” paper published in Fat Studies. The paper satirized theoretical ideas within Fat Studies as part of a larger project to demonstrate the lack of rigor in certain theoretical approaches to cultural studies. In this response, we agree with Cole that our project should not be understood as hoaxes and that the retracted article should be reinstated, but defend our methods.

The South African land control system has always, to some extent, been interfered with by government. Interventions in the course of the twentieth century in particular have resulted in an unequal, fragmented and diverse land control system. The law has been integral to this process. Since 1994, within a constitutional paradigm, interventions have been aimed at untangling the complex web of land-related measures so as to affect an equitable, co-ordinated and less complex land system. In this process law - including policy documents, plans, programmes and legislative measures - is again integral. The aim of this contribution is to ascertain whether, under the present government, the mechanics of intervention within the land reform arena have resulted overall in a sensible, workable framework within which challenges and weaknesses linked to land reform can be addressed effectively. In this regard both the structural and material dimensions of recent interventions are set out. Within this context the most recent intervention dealing with land reform in particular, the Green Paper on Land Reform of 2011, is placed in perspective and investigated further in light of the recent National Development Plan. Specific themes that have resonated in the recent mechanics of intervention, as well as the persons and communities who stand to be affected by them and the possible extent of their collective impact, are thereafter discussed. Due to the general vagueness of the Green Paper and its lack of depth and detail, the extent of the impact of the recent measures cannot be ascertained fully. The alignment of the new bodies and institutions proposed by and their contribution to actually addressing the challenges identified in the Green Paper are furthermore problematic and disappointing. Excluding vast portions of rural land comprising communal areas from all of the recent tenure-related measures is especially disconcerting. Clearly, huge gaps prevail in the resultant framework. Overall, the analysis of the recent structural and material dimensions of the recent mechanics underlines that further engineering is urgently required.

The current challenge facing the European pulp and paper industry is how to materialize the transformation to a bio-economy, as well as to realize the necessary new green innovations. The risks, costs and constraints of doing business will increase, thereby further intensifying competition, but at the same time new business opportunities will open up. This study adopts a three-round dissensus-based Delphi approach in order to explore our key research question of how the pulp and paper industry may change strategically, and what is the potential for value creation in the year 2030. According to our expert panel, the main drivers of competitiveness in 2030 will include energy and material efficiency, sustainability, as well as new innovations in products to serve customer needs better. According to the projected 2030 scenario, the pulp and paper industry will produce more diversified products, focus on higher value-added, and aim at consumer segments with higher environmental awareness. On average, 40 percent of the turnover will according to the panel come froth genuinely new products. Strategic cross-sectorial partnerships will have a key role in making this big leap, while simultaneously acknowledging the changing needs of sustainability-conscious customers and other stakeholders. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

This paper is based on ‘Ending Period Poverty in Scotland: A Historical and International Perspective’ funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Arts and Humanities Research Network Award from 2020 to 2022 (grant number 64992), and administratively based at the University of St Andrews with Principal Investigator Bettina Bildhauer and Co-Investigators Sharra Vostral and Camilla Mørk Røstvik. This briefing paper discusses how to include historical perspectives to assess the potential success for current and future menstruation legislation. The case of Scotland provides an instructive example of law-making about free period products and period poverty. While commercial products are perceived as a solution, historical research suggests that cultural attitudes, lingering stigma, and regional differences affect opportunities for passing laws. To predict the likelihood that proposed menstrual product legislation might be adopted in other locations, historical factors related to attitudes about menstruation, including stigma, must be considered and understood to effect lasting change. Publisher PDF

The fatal conceit of foreign intervention refers to the limitations faced by governments using discretionary power to address perceived problems in foreign societies. Drawing on evidence from the “Afghanistan Papers”—a collection of internal government documents compiled by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) and released in December 2019—we demonstrate how the failure of the U.S.-led intervention in Afghanistan to meet the stated objectives illustrates the fatal conceit of foreign intervention. We explore the limitations faced by foreign government interveners in three stages, reflecting distinct decision nodes within a means-ends framework in which the policies relating to foreign intervention are formulated and implemented.

In recent years the lawfulness of certain types of sanctions and the question about the usefulness of sanctions in general have become topical and widely discussed issues. Of special significance is the expanding use by powerful states of unilateral coercive measures without Security Council authorisation, or beyond Security Council authorisation, to illustrate their displeasure with the domestic or foreign policies of certain members of the international community. Over time the nature of these measures has taken on diverse forms and their encroachment on human rights and freedoms has become a matter of international concern. This contribution examines the developments that have taken place in this context since the 2000 report of the Working Group on the negative impact of sanctions by focussing on the interventions by key United Nations bodies.

The working paper is devoted to the issues of taxation in the digital economy. The main focus is on the concept of "user value". The authors argue that the widespread adoption of this concept has led to developing new approaches to calculating this value and the subsequent taxation of companies that profit from the use of user data. The working paper examines the steps taken at the country level to develop taxation based on user value and the difficulties of implementing the concept. Nevertheless, the authors come to the conclusion that reforming the global tax system in this direction is inevitable.

The review covers the 2018 IMF working paper “Borrowing Costs and The Role of Multilateral Development Banks: Evidence from Cross-Border Syndicated Bank Lending.” It is acknowledged that cross-border bank lending is becoming an increasingly important source of external financing for developing countries and therefore can play a key role in infrastructure development. The working paper examines the impact of participation by multilateral development banks (MDBs) in loan syndicates on the terms of loan deals, with a particular emphasis on loan pricing. The results of the study show that MDB participation is associated with higher borrowing costs and longer maturities, indicating a greater willingness on the part of MDBs to finance projects with higher risks which may otherwise be unattractive to private investors. In addition, MDB participation is associated with lower spreads for riskier borrowers compared to similar loans from private banks. The authors show that MDBs can help mobilize private investment in developing countries, including in infrastructure, through risk mitigation.

O artigo parte de uma “cena etnográfica” com migrantes estrangeiros em um escritório de advogado para discutir a função que os documentos migratórios exercem sobre o parentesco no movimento transnacional. Por meio dela, evidencia como o Estado e o Direito disciplinam essas relações e como os próprios migrantes, usando a lógica jurídica da produção documental, elaboram a si mesmos como pessoas, em resistência ao poder estatal. A partir dessa experiência, chamada aqui de parentesco de papel, propõe-se uma reelaboração do conceito de documento, abrangendo tanto a agência burocrática quanto aquela dos sujeitos da documentação. This paper starts from an “ethnographic scene” with foreign migrants in a lawyer’s office to discuss the role that migratory documents play on kinship in the transnational movement. By doing this, it highlights how the state and the Law discipline these relations and how migrants themselves, using the legal logic of documentary production, elaborate themselves as persons, in resistance to state power. Based on this experience, named here as paper kinship, a re-elaboration of the concept of document is proposed, encompassing both the bureaucratic agency and that of the subjects of documentation.

Knowledge is an essential ingredient for economic development, growth and gaining a competitive advantage. In order to produce novel and valuable knowledge, it is advantageous, perhaps vital, to rely on insights gained from prior research efforts. Those knowledge spillovers (KS) provide the rationale for sustained economic growth and produce unique place-based knowledge spaces. Due to the spatial embeddedness and stickiness of knowledge, most investigations mainly pay attention to the localized nature of KS, but what about those spillovers from other jurisdictions, or perhaps even from across the globe? To analyse the role played by international KS, the present study investigates to what extent international KS shape the evolution of the UK science and technology space. The first step involves creating knowledge spaces following the methodology outlined by Kogler et al. (2013; 2017) for the period 2006–15. Subsequently, we are following the paper trail of publications and patents developed by UK authors and inventors to depict to what degree international KS in specific science and technology domains have contributed to the production of novel knowledge in the UK. The results indicate that four out of five citations made in publications and patents in the UK are the works of authors and inventors residing elsewhere. This has important policy implications considering recent tendencies to curtail trade and the free movement of labour, all of which contribute to the diffusion of knowledge.

This introduction provides the rationale for a fresh look at an apparently obvious phenomenon – the production and life of state documents. Whilst ethnographies of statehood have multiplied in recent years, we focus on an underexplored avenue of inquiry: the role played by pieces of paper in constituting modern bureaucratic states. To date, attempts to map out this area of study have focused predominantly on the discourse and semiotics of state documentation. Our work goes further, discussing not just what is on such paper but also its shifting materiality, meaning and social significance throughout its production, circulation and preservation or destruction. These discussions deepen our understanding of statehood, sovereignty and power across Africa, with our part special issue drawing particularly on research in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

This essay discusses first English and then world economic history, starting with the Black Death of 1348–1400AD. When the English population and wealth both increased after 1400, the structure of English development by the year 1700 became a little bit like a spiral, this paper says. The aggregate size of wealth increased, but there was little commensurate change in the distribution of wealth. The eighteenth-century English elite absorbed the elites of Wales and Scotland, and then the Protestant elite of Ireland. Then, on the same model of absorption, an English-speaking elite later came to dominate world wealth. As the world population increased in the early modern period, and as aggregate wealth increased apace, the distribution of world wealth became approximately what the distribution of wealth had been in England in 1700. A tiny group of very wealthy people had controlled the wealth of England in 1700. In the late twentieth century, the English elite absorbed the world elite many of whom adopted the English language and much of English culture. They often sent their children to study in Britain or America. Now this tiny elite group, English in language and usually English in culture, controls much of the wealth of the world while at the same time the ongoing increase in population has produced a huge number of very poor people.

This article explores how the Mexican state gathered, archived and destroyed information. It focuses on the US–Mexico campaign against foot-and-mouth disease between 1947 and 1952, whose paper archive Mexican officials burned near the successful conclusion of the campaign. This article argues that several factors shaped the context for this documentary bonfire and made the 1940s a key point of inflection in Mexico’s history of official information-gathering: the dominant party’s system of elite power-sharing, the growth of a reading public and the regime’s drift rightward. At the same time, the nature of the foot-and-mouth disease campaign itself ensured that, despite its possible uses, the archive was particularly sensitive, providing evidence of the embarrassing gaps that began to yawn between the state’s language of revolutionary nationalism and its political practise. Indeed, the bonfire represented the culmination of practises Mexican officials had already developed throughout the campaign to reconcile the demands of legibility and deniability, hemispheric integration and nationalism, political stability and state capacity. More broadly, the case illustrates the uneven effects of US assistance on the development of state capacity, the authoritarian but institutionally weak character of the early PRIísta state, and the role of archives in maintaining a coherent image of state sovereignty.

Past quantitative studies have shown that most media coverage is of men. Here we ask if the scarce coverage that women get is qualitatively different from that of men. We use computer-coded sentiment scores for 14 million person names covered in 1,323 newspapers to investigate the three-way relationship between gender, fame, and sentiment. Additional large-scale data on occupational categories allow us to compare women and men within the same profession and rank. We propose that as women’s fame increases their media coverage becomes negative more quickly when compared to men (a “paper cut”), because their violation of gender hierarchies and social expectations about typical feminine behavior evokes disproportionate scrutiny. We find that while overall media coverage is much more positive for women than for men, this difference disappears and even reverses at higher levels of fame. In encyclopedic sentiment data we find no biographic basis for women’s disproportionate decline in media coverage sentiment at high fame, consistent with the conjectured double standard in media discourse.