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Narrative video ads often use either celebrities or unknown actors to engage consumers and convey their messages. Although research suggests that celebrities (versus unknown actors) may enhance the effects of narrative videos on brand attitudes, this hypothesis has yet to be empirically tested, and the mechanisms behind such potential effects remain unclear. We compared the effects of celebrities and unknown actors in narrative video ads on brand attitudes and examined potential pathways through which actor type might increase or decrease persuasion. In Studies 1(a) through 1(c) and 3 we used a narrative video in two distinct versions: the original with a celebrity and an alternative where we used face-swapping technology to replace the celebrity with an unknown actor. In Study 2 we analyzed responses to unmodified ads. In Studies 1(a) through 1(c) and 2 we found no evidence that the celebrity actor increased transportation into the story or identification with the actor, but we consistently observed that celebrities increased perceptions of a parasocial relationship with the actor. However, this effect was not enhanced for a narrative video ad compared to a nonnarrative one in Study 3. Furthermore, celebrity actors were associated with reduced retrospective reflection in the path models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Platforms are a dominant model for coordinating complex economic interactions. Platforms are distinguished by growth through network effects: an increase in the number (N) of platform actors (or complements produced by them) on one side makes the platform more valuable for an actor on the same or other side (and vice versa). This paper unbundles the network effect—the feedback loop—into directional and distinct types of network externalities that define the value received by each platform side. For example, value from a network externality may relate to variety (e.g., Google Play apps) or availability (e.g., Uber rides). Furthermore, at times, network externalities can have a negative impact. Although the existing literature recognizes some of these constituents, we lack an integrative framework. To address this gap, we first distinguish the heterogeneity and persistence of platform value units to identify a 2 × 2 typology of four positive and negative network externalities: quantity versus rivalry, accumulation versus fragmentation, variety versus choice overload, and utility versus degradation. Second, we generalize network connectivity and horizontal complementarity as two types of network externality amplification. Third, we demonstrate how all these dynamics play together in interactions that ultimately underscore the platformvalue and growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several actors have turned their attention to Africa, and the continent is becoming a focal point for international relations. These actors have adopted various approaches to improve their relations with African countries. Tis study examines the alternative dimension of rising international competition on the continent. The main focus of the study is Turkiye's and China's alternative approaches to Africa. Accordingly, the study seeks to answer three interrelated questions: What are the differences between the traditional and alternative approaches? What are the main factors shaping China's and Turkiye's alternative approaches toward Africa? What are the similarities in Beijing's and Ankara's approaches regarding African countries in practice? As a result, this study argues that China and Turkiye present an alternative stance to the Western-centered approach for competition in Africa, despite some differences in their relations with continental countries. Keywords: Africa, China, Turkiye, International Competition, Alternative Approaches, Introduction Africa's strategic importance in international relations is constantly growing. Notably, the continent's economic and political potential continues to increase the influence of African countries in global politics. In contrast, [...]

Africa has long been a focal point of global competition, driven by its young, dynamic population and abundant natural resources. The shifting international order has further intensified the presence of [...]

To combat hostile cyber actors, military leaders at all echelons must understand the attack vectors used by cyber threat actors. The best way to truly understand these vectors is to [...]

The Regional Pastoral Livelihood Resilience Project Community-Based Breeding Programme (CBBP) was designed with the objective of increasing production and productivity of local Zebu cattle by introducing Sahiwal bulls among sedentary and agro-pastoral livestock farmers. This study mapped out actors, their roles and level of influence in the CBBP as well as the opportunities and challenges encountered during its implementation using the Process Net-Map tool. The results revealed that there were differences in number and type of influential actors between sedentary and agro-pastoral livestock farmers. The bull host and subcounty veterinary officer were the most influential actors among the sedentary livestock farmers whereas it was the herdsman, bull host, and Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) among the agro-pastoral farmers. The CBBP was associated with benefits such as increased market value for cattle, reduced chances for cattle rustling, increased cattle productivity in terms of milk and beef production volumes and ease of access to veterinary services. In contrast, the challenges encountered were related to both governance (limited availability of veterinarians, cattle rustling, exclusion of farmers in the planning phase of the CBBP, political interference and failure of collective action) and bull management (high costs of keeping and maintaining the bulls in terms of feeding, housing, watering and veterinary care, heavy bulls injuring or breaking the small cows, sexually transmitted reproductive diseases among others). Lastly, this paper recommends adoption of a combination of well-organized and facilitated Artificial Insemination (AI) programmes alongside the improved bull service scheme as each has capacity to address the challenges of another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of digitalisation at work on existing inequalities is a growing concern. Social inequality is not solely determined by material circumstances, but also by the new social practises that arise in the workplace. However, the discourse about the digitalisation of work lacks specific organisational references. From an organisational theory perspective, it is important to note that digitality always takes place in an organisation-specific manner. Therefore, digitality and organisation are in a reciprocal relationship, resulting in the development of new organisational practises that impact organisational actors as structural conditions of organisational digitality. How the changes at the organisational level affect the mechanisms of production of social inequality in the course of digitalisation has not yet been taken into account, which means that previous research on inequality in digitalised work only allows an organisation-unspecific view of the subject. In contrast, this article places the organisation at the centre of the debate and presents a methodical approach for researching social inequality in the digitalisation of work from the perspective of organisational theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While IMU based motion capture offers a cost‐effective alternative to premium camera‐based systems, it often falls short in matching the latter's realism. Common distortions, such as self‐penetrating body parts, foot skating, and floating, limit the usability of these systems, particularly for high‐end users. To address this, we employed reinforcement learning to train an AI agent that mimics erroneous sample motion. Since our agent operates within a simulated environment, it inherently avoids generating these distortions since it must adhere to the laws of physics. Impressively, the agent manages to mimic the sample motions while preserving their distinctive characteristics. We assessed our method's efficacy across various types of input data, showcasing an ideal blend of artefact‐laden IMU‐based data with high‐grade optical motion capture data. Furthermore, we compared the configuration of observation and action spaces with other implementations, pinpointing the most suitable configuration for our purposes. All our models underwent rigorous evaluation using a spectrum of quantitative metrics complemented by a qualitative review. These evaluations were performed using a benchmark dataset of IMU‐based motion data from actors not included in the training data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractRussian civil society has experienced a retreat of foreign funding and NGOs. However, where foreign, formal organisations leave, Russian individuals remain. Exploring the pathways of these individuals shows how they navigate a shifting organising environment. Foreign experience is recognised as formational; it continues to inform action and moves into new spheres. However, some actors perceive overt publicisation of foreign connections and experience as heightening risk, and may disavow or obscure these experiences. Where foreign experience is associated with political threat, actors respond with strategies of apparent depoliticisation. Investigating how foreign experience is obscured thus provides a route into examining the political question of who, or what, is perceived as belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of grassroots actors in regions of violent conflict where competing governance systems exists. Specifically, it focuses on those living in the borderlands of South America, where alternative forms of governance may be created in response to violence between state and criminal organizations. In this context, how can grassroots actors overcome protracted armed violence and establish new, legitimate forms of social governance? To explore this question, our methodology employs data triangulation, combining literature, news reports, and fieldwork data collected in two violence‐prone territories: the borderlands of Cúcuta (Colombia)/Táchira state (Venezuela) and Pedro Juan Caballero (Paraguay)/Ponta Porã (Brazil). We argue that grassroots actors can develop innovative and alternative governance structures that differ from those of the state and criminal groups. This research also contributes to the ongoing discussion about the agency of local actors in violent conflicts between nonstate actors and the state. The findings demonstrate that grassroots actors in violent border regions can actively transform conflicts and build peace, particularly in areas such as migration, security, health, and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay relates the resurgence of contemporary far-right1 politics to a distinctive querpolitics (a transverse or diagonal politics) of socially, politically, and ideologically heterogeneous assembly. This calls for a reconceptualization of the global far right beyond homogeneous understandings of ideological beliefs. Instead of ideologically aligned fellow travelers bound together by their common consent to a system of thick beliefs, far-right political formations are located within messy and fissured socio-political fields. They assemble a varied and contradictory collection of individual, transactional actors with divergent interests. Moreover, the far right is often embedded in mainstream circuits of political and social life that are distinct from and often even opposed to overtly extremist positions. I elaborate on these points through a discussion of far-right politics in Germany and India. If the former is notable as a historically significant case, the latter is where the world’s largest far-right political movement is presently located. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of GeSec: Revista de Gestao e Secretariado is the property of Sindicato das Secretarias e Secretarios do Estado de Sao Paulo (SINSESP) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The global maritimization over the past half-century has heightened states vulnerability to maritime risks and threats, a situation particularly acute in the Wider Caribbean Region. This region, characterised by an important number of small and micro-states, faces a multitude of multiscalar maritime security challenges. In response, these states have increasingly adopted cooperative strategies, fostering close relationships to mitigate their shared vulnerabilities. Drawing on 98 interviews conducted between 2018 and 2023 with international, national, and local authorities, alongside extensive field observations, this article contributes to the scholarly discourse on regionalism. It demonstrates how a shared sense of vulnerability among these actors has fostered a ‘community of situation’, promoting intensified interactions that have led to notable advancements in regional integration and the diminishing of border effects. This study highlights the critical role of proximity-based cooperation in overcoming the geopolitical fragmentation that hampers security efforts in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusive innovations have the potential to foster socio-economic development and actively involve local communities in innovation processes in sub-Saharan Africa. The importance of inclusive innovations is emphasized in the public strategies and development programmes in the region. Nevertheless, despite some donor-funded initiatives, there remains a lack of systematic knowledge on how to effectively implement inclusive innovation in communities. This research aims to scrutinize the role of inclusive innovation in Tanzania. We conduct policy analyses of the country's official innovation strategies and investigate the inclusive innovation activities undertaken by 12 innovation hubs. These hubs facilitate interactions among diverse actors, provide necessary facilities and technologies, and offer mentorship and peer support. Our results reveal that the definition and significance of inclusive innovation are presented within the national policies. However, implementation programmes are currently modest and scattered. With a few exceptions, innovation hubs have inadequate understanding and limited resources for implementing inclusive innovations in practice. This research contributes by underscoring the need for comprehensive strategies, capacity-building initiatives, and collaborative efforts to fully leverage inclusive innovation for sustainable development in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decade, a significant amount of academic research focusing on the causes of, and the actors involved in the Yemen conflict has been published in peer‐reviewed journals, edited volumes, and books. Yet this research has emerged in a fragmented way that renders a comprehensive understanding of the conflict a challenging enterprise. Through our systematic review of peer‐reviewed academic articles and meta‐analysis of their findings, we identified and analyzed three main debates about the Yemen conflict. We conclude that each of these discussions contributes valuable insights but alone cannot fully explain the complex reasons behind the Yemen conflict. Instead, they offer individual pieces of the puzzle. We argue that a comprehensive understanding of the conflict necessitates considering and synthesizing all three debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The report deals with the environment of the military and civil conflict in Sudan, part of its backgrounds, the map of alliances that affect it at the internal, regional and global levels, and the future of these alliances in light of the developments of the scene. The report reviews the components of the internal environment of the Sudanese conflict with its military and civilian components, its external environment represented by neighboring countries, countries and actors in it, the roots of the conflict and its field map, in addition to the map of alliances related to it. The report concluded that the conflict in the Sudan has produced a complex reality that does not indicate that it can be resolved in any direction in the near term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and the arrival of 170,000 refugees, the already fragile Italian refugee system was forced to undergo major re‐structuring and expansion. Re‐organisation included the adoption of partially new multi‐level governance relationships, as well as political instruments. Despite the widespread positive attitude of public opinion toward the Ukrainian refugees and the bipartisan support for their reception, the outcome of the policy has been not in line with the goals the proponents set out to achieve. In fact, there have been delays, poor assistance to those who have offered to host, and, in the end, a partial waste of the economic and human resources which were devoted to the reception itself. The purpose of this article is to investigate the origin and development of the "vices" of this process, departing from the interpretive lens on policy and governance failure. Our findings consolidate the theoretical challenge to the reductive binary rhetoric on success and failure, and the classic view of failure confined to formulation and implementation. In addition, the article shows that multi‐level governance dynamics are strongly relevant in explaining the "vices" of policies, particularly highlighting the role, until now largely disregarded, of the latent conflicts between the actors involved. The study has benefited from 38 semi‐structured interviews with political actors, including third‐party organisations and public actors, the analysis of political documents, and local and national media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiefs of Staff to heads of government hold a prominent position at the apex of the political executive. However, our knowledge of the personal and professional backgrounds of these unelected actors is surprisingly patchy. Not only is this an empirical gap, but it is also problematic as interactions between actors within political executives shape political decisions and ministerial operations. For this study, we present the most systematic dataset mapping the profiles of 56 chiefs of staff to prime ministers in four Westminster family countries from 1990 to 2021: Australia, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand. Their profiles are examined in relation to four concepts: (1) descriptive representation; (2) career de‐separation; (3) institutional (in)stability; and (4) the revolving door. The demographic results illustrate how prime ministers' offices attract individuals with certain characteristics more than others. In order to bolster these results, more research on the chief of staff role is needed to demonstrate how prime ministers exert power and use these staff to strengthen their capacity to govern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The localization of humanitarian operations is commonly characterized as a return of ownership to local and national actors. Localization policies in Kenya have made refugee‐led community‐based organizations a viable alternative for humanitarian provisioning. Simultaneously, localization facilitated the ongoing enlargement of the Kenyan state into refugee management. Incidentally, the Kenyan state has introduced limitations on community‐based organizations’ international funding and registration through a verification process. Drawing on 12 months of ethnographic research in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, this article explores how community‐based organizations mediate Kenyan state control through verification. The article develops the concept of “stateness” to examine how refugee actors claim legitimacy as a state function. Stateness is generated by members of community‐based organizations through practices involving fellow refugees and Kenyan state actors. Using stateness, this article seeks to draw attention to how refugees can become a part of wider state apparatus and shape how the state is constituted within the camp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research demonstrates that mainstream parties often take up the issues and positions of emerging Eurosceptic and anti-immigration parties. Yet, these accommodative strategies generally do not pay off. Why do mainstream parties nevertheless accommodate these niche actors? I argue that mainstream-niche competition is governed by intra-party dynamics. The pressure exerted by niche parties alone does not suffice to drive internally united mainstream parties to accommodate. However, when mainstream parties face substantial intra-party divisions on the niche party’s issue, they may yield under internal pressure. I find empirical support for my theoretical claims on the issue of European integration using expert survey data on 78 mainstream parties in 14 Western European democracies between 1999 and 2019. The findings contribute to our understanding of the conditions under which niche parties are contagious and illustrate how intra-party divisions can steer parties away from vote-seeking strategies with consequences for voter representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A binary, geopolitical narrative of a new "Great Game" for power in Central Asia may be too simplistic. It remains unclear what regionalisation trends will become embedded in Central Asia, with the apparent rise of China. The paper examines potential for China's Belt and Road Initiative to build new Eurasian economic interdependence through connectivity infrastructure and to reduce dependency for some actors on Russia. A political risk and grounded theory approach is taken, utilising in-depth interviews with local experts and stakeholders to develop a risk/opportunity framework. Conclusions from the research indicate China is unlikely in the foreseeable future to replace Russia as regional hegemon, but is likely to drive greater economic integration. Empirical investigation of dynamics on the ground - including the spectrum of options available to actors - is recommended for realist understanding of economic and other international connectivity trends across Central Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through artistic explorations of salt marshes in Scotland, England and the Netherlands, Linde Ex developed the concepts "Land-shapes" and "Sooth-scapes" as ways of observing and approaching these often considered underwhelming landscapes. "Land-shapes" and "Sooth-scapes" informed a series of artistic methods that engage with the challenges of these important but undervalued landscapes. The methods in their turn enriched the concepts. This process attempts to bring forth valuable and caring relations with actors and processes in these landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines how two major strategy formulation approaches influence city governments' decision to collaborate. Collaboration with governmental and nongovernmental actors gives rise to varying levels of risks, which can be managed by using the appropriate strategy formulation approach. Using data from a national survey of cities, we find that formal strategic planning catalyzes cross-sectoral collaboration but is not associated with government-to-government collaboration. Logical incrementalism has a consistently negative relationship with collaboration regardless of sector. The findings indicate that collaboration can be limited by city governments' capacity to undertake formal strategic planning and their propensity to engage in incrementalist decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the request of Csíki Játékszín, András Hatházi wrote and directed a classroom performance in the 2023/2024 theatre season titled At This End of the Line. The young actor of the Miercurea Ciuc theatre company, Zsuzsa Tatár, plays in the performance in one person, her character is a substitute teacher. In her essay, Zsuzsa Tatár analyses the experiences of this rehearsal process and of the first performances. In her acting work, she is looking for ways to do non-acting. In her view, the following four elements are needed: not playing a character, pure presence, attention, and openness to let anything happen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In urban property development projects, attention to the needs and aspirations of local communities is often neglected. Although some developers still consider local community stakeholders to be a potential threat to their developments, in many developed countries, stakeholder participation is embedded within statutory processes such as the formal planning process and is increasingly regarded as a component of sustainable development. Even though the local community is widely recognized as an important project stakeholder, little has been done to understand how to engage effectively with this stakeholder group to resolve their concerns. The purpose of this study is to investigate practitioners' perceptions and actions on local community participation in urban property development projects. The study is conducted through interviews with 12 actors in the southern part of Sweden. The findings show the importance of early involvement of local communities, the relevance of building community networks, trust and relations, the challenges to stakeholder participation and the need to formalize stakeholder participation in the organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to address environmental challenges through innovation-based transformative change has become more urgent than ever and the spatial dimension of pathways towards sustainability has attracted increasing scholarly interest. Over the last decade, research on environmentally oriented innovation has entered the geographical discourse from different directions. This paper starts with the premise that, among other contributions, two main directions of research can be identified within the current geographical discourse that do not yet interface much – a broad, yet conceptually more traditional debate on eco-innovation and a newer discourse around socio-technical transitions that adds a further perspective. Having justified this assumption by a short literature review, we perform a keyword-based literature search, which confirms that there are indeed two distinct bodies of literature and few studies to date that integrate features from both fields. Following this, an in-depth review of the sources clarifies the differences in perspective and the common object of analysis of the basic systemic elements of actors, institutions and technologies. While this juxtaposition illustrates why the two fields of research have hardly cross-fertilised each other so far, it also shows that they are in substance far from irreconcilable. On the contrary, the nuanced synthesis of research findings reveals numerous complementarities that constitute promising avenues for future geographical research. These are considered necessary to improve the understanding of the geography of innovation-based transitions towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the individual factors that potentiate communication conflict in romantic relationships. This study examined the main and interactive effects of two types of emotion regulation in 1240 couples enrolled in an online relationship intervention. Results revealed that higher levels of actors' communication conflict were associated with actors' greater negative urgency and lower cognitive reappraisal. Furthermore, actors' cognitive reappraisal acted as an inhibitor of communication conflict, but only for actors with low levels of negative urgency. Partner effects on perceived actor conflict followed a similar pattern. There was no evidence that the emotion regulation of one partner moderated the effect of the emotion regulation of the other. These results highlight the importance of considering the contribution of couples' emotion regulation in the etiology of their communication conflict and selecting interventions that best match their emotion regulation needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While scholars of, and participants in, social movements, electoral politics, and organized labor are deeply engaged in contrasting different theories of how political actors should organize, little recent philosophical work has asked what social organizing is. This paper aims to answer this question in a way that can make sense of typical organizing‐related claims and debates. It is intuitive that what social organizing does is bring about some kind of collectivity. However, I argue that the varieties of collectivity most amply theorized by analytic philosophers in recent years, including grouphood and collective intentionality, are not the right kinds to embed in a theory of social organizing. I ultimately argue that the sort of collectivity that organizing characteristically brings about is a special kind of causal complementarity among agents' actions— and that while this can exist alongside grouphood and collective intentionality, it is not the same thing as either. The notion of social organizing that emerges is one that can clarify, without trivializing, a number of pressing contemporary debates about how normal people should conduct themselves as interconnected political actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The position of First Lady is typically viewed as ceremonial and a reflection of marital and maternal roles: some combination of “the president's wife,” the “nation's social hostess,” and the “Mom‐in‐Chief.” Yet modern First Ladies often develop their own policy priorities and programs, and the Office of the First Lady is integral to modern presidential administrations. We make a case for studying First Ladies as policy actors by systematically measuring the audiences to which First Ladies speak, the roles they adopt in doing so, and the degree of substantive policy content in their remarks. Using data from public speeches and statements from 1993 to 2022 we demonstrate that First Ladies over the past 30 years have been active in adopting a policy role and speaking to policy‐focused audiences. First Ladies frequently speak to national, organized interest groups and adopt a policy role more often than not across most of their audiences. Our data highlight the importance of studying First Ladies in the policy process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development of railway represents an essential dimension of spatial planning and a priority of the European Union as it constitutes a safe and environmentally friendly transportation mode. This paper focuses on the application of an integrated approach supporting the development of railway in Greece. A Decision Support System (LIPSOR) was used in order key components, key actors and possible future states to be explored; alternative scenarios were designed and assessed in combination with policy goals and measures. The main outcomes indicated the need to upgrade rail infrastructure and services, increase railway extroversion and reinforce investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The so-called geoeconomic turn in global trade policy-making has changed the context in which the European Union positions itself as a trade actor. However, there is little scholarly attention paid to how the geoeconomic turn affects the EU's relations with developing countries. This article analyses the potential implications of new EU autonomous trade and investment instruments for developing countries, and how the EU has taken these consequences into account when designing them. We rely on a combination of desk research of official documents, trade data, and secondary literature complemented with expert interviews. We find that a trade-off between geoeconomic and development objectives is more pertinent in sustainability-related than in competitiveness- and security-oriented instruments. In these sustainability instruments, differential treatment of developing countries rarely features in the design-despite some proposals having been made. The geoeconomic turn has thus made it more difficult to align the different objectives in the EU's trade and investment policies, and development concerns are sometimes relegated to the background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use is both a major cause of the biodiversity crises and a potential solution to it. Decisions about land use are made in complex social–ecological systems, yet conservation research, policy, and practice often neglect the diverse and dynamic nature of land use. A deeper integration of land system science and conservation science provides major opportunities in this context, through a transfer of concepts, data, and methodologies. Specifically, a closer exchange between land‐use data developers and users will enable common terminology and better data use, allowing to move beyond coarse land‐cover representations of land use. Similarly, archetyping and regionalization approaches can help to embrace, rather than oversimplify, the diversity of land‐use actors and practices. Finally, systematically linking land‐use actors to portfolios of pressures on biodiversity, beyond their direct impact on habitat, can better represent and map co‐occurring and interacting threats. Together, this will enable conservation policymakers and planners to recognize the often‐complex and wicked nature of conservation challenges related to land, allowing for more context‐specific conservation policymaking and planning, and more targeted conservation interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synchromodality aims to reduce costs, emissions and delivery times by offering a flexible and adaptive mode choice and seamless integration of transport modes, both horizontally and vertically. The concept, which has hardly been applied in practice, poses significant requirements for the involved stakeholders and their interactions. However, there has been limited research on how stakeholder dynamics should be shaped and adapted compared to the conventional hinterland transport stakeholder dynamics to facilitate synchromodal transport. Our study fills this gap by presenting an overview of the stakeholders that should be involved in synchromodality, their decision-making responsibilities and relations (referred to as stakeholder dynamics), illustrated in a conceptual synchromodal stakeholder network. Then, this network is compared to the conventional port-hinterland transport stakeholder network, which is the transport chain in which synchromodality is likely to be applied. To this end, this paper analyses and integrates literature on three topics: synchromodality, stakeholder dynamics in the port-hinterland transport chain and stakeholder theory. Our analysis reveals that facilitating synchromodal transport necessitates adaptations such as the inclusion of additional stakeholder roles, the delegation of decision-making power, and the evolution towards collaborative relationships. However, examining these requirements through the lens of stakeholder theory exposes significant complexities, such as an increased risk of opportunism, thereby giving rise to the formulation of an extensive future research agenda. The findings were tested against industry experts’ views in a workshop and focus group. This analysis should enhance the understanding of synchromodal stakeholder dynamics and its challenges from a stakeholder theory perspective, contributing to further developing dynamic stakeholder management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creating emotionally truthful screen performances is often thought the performance elixir for screen actors and directors, but how this process is approached is subject to significant, and often idiosyncratic, variation from both actors and directors alike. During my own experience as a professional director working in filmed drama, I recognised the struggle rationalising a response to each performed take. In this article, I attempt to identify a conceptual frame implicit in many approaches to directing screen acting but not explicitly referenced or conceptualised as a directorial skill or intrinsic directorial process. This analysis aims to identify enacted emotionality as a missing concept from the directing screen acting literature. This analysis rooted in the theories of distributed cognition, a constructed theory of emotion, and affect theory attempts to explain how the process of directing screen acting can be more explicitly defined as characterising the range of cognitive activities involved in, and experienced by, screen directors and actors while making Film/TV drama. This inter-disciplinary approach offers a conceptual contribution towards the application of an enacted emotionality as a missing concept in the directing screen acting literature that can benefit future media education and practice for screen directors, actors, and media scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the emergence of welfare states, and the origins of social protection in healthcare, have been examined extensively for Global North countries, there is much less research with a global perspective. Addressing this gap, this study provides a descriptive and analytical account of the characteristics of healthcare systems as they were introduced worldwide. Using original and unpublished data, the study classifies healthcare systems according to the main actor type in regulation, financing, and service provision. We find two worlds of healthcare regulation – a state-regulated and a societally-regulated. Adding the financing dimension yields six clusters of healthcare regulation and financing. Based on regulation, financing, and service provision the classification reveals the existence of 12 healthcare system types. While systems that rely on societal actors mainly emerged prior to the mid-twentieth century, state-based systems have characterized system introductions since then. The classification of healthcare systems in 165 countries shows that only a limited number of actor combinations can be found empirically. However, it still presents greater variety than previous studies focusing on the Global North. The notable historical and regional patterns in the choice of healthcare system types can serve as a starting point for further research on healthcare system development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have shown that police assaults reduce trust in the police among the group affected by the incidents. As the phenomenon of plural policing emerges and the actors in policing become intertwined, blurring the boundaries between them, analysis of the impact of security guards’ actions becomes warranted. This paper investigates the impact of two security guard incidents on trust in the police in Sweden, a high-trust society, using the Unexpected Events During Survey Design, with data from the European Social Survey Wave 9. The results can be interpreted as a causal relationship and point to the fact that immigrant women’s trust in the police significantly reduced as a result of incidents, raising the importance of the fact that the immigrant group is not homogeneous and that those who suffer multiple stigmatisation may be particularly vulnerable to incidents of abuse. Furthermore, our findings highlight the potential for spill-over effects within plural policing even in high-trust societies, and the need for continuous cooperation among the actors in the security network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does a harmful act appear more intentional–and worthy of opprobrium–if it was committed by a member of a stigmatized group? In two studies (N = 1,451), participants read scenarios in which an actor caused a homicide. We orthogonally manipulated the relative presence or absence of distal intent (a focus on the end) and proximal intent (a focus on the means) in the actor's mind. We also varied the actor's racial (Study 1) or political (Study 2) group. In both studies, participants judged the stigmatized actor more harshly than the non-stigmatized actor when the actor's level of intent was ambiguous (i.e., one form of intent was high and the other form of intent was low). These data suggest that observers apply a sliding threshold when judging an actor's intent and moral responsibility; whereas less-stigmatized actors elicit condemnation only when they cause the outcome with both types of intent in mind, more-stigmatized actors elicit condemnation when only one type, or even neither type (Study 2) of intent is in their mind. We discuss how these results enrich the literature on lay theories of intentionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) on socio-technical transitions to develop a theoretical model for analyzing the stable operation of regional innovation ecosystems. Focusing on 30 provinces in China, it employs Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) and Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to systematically examine the configuration paths driving their stability. First, the findings reveal that innovation actors, resources, driving policies, industrial regulations, infrastructures, and the innovation environment are not individually necessary for stability. However, infrastructure is identified as a critical core condition. The study highlights a complex causal relationship and synergistic interplay among the six antecedent conditions. Second, the research identifies two paths to highly stable operation in regional innovation ecosystems: the ‘Innovation Actor + Infrastructure’ path and the ‘Infrastructure’ path. Finally, the results show that configurations for highly and non-highly stable operations exhibit causal asymmetry, indicating ‘different paths to the same destination.’ This study deepens theoretical insights into regional innovation ecosystems and offers actionable strategies for their stable operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The 'spatial fix' has been central to economic geography for nearly 50 years, examining capitalist development through both stability and change. Harvey's original conceptions of the fix prioritised capital's capacity to fix space to accumulate and forestall crisis. We continue this by considering the ' socio -spatial fix', allowing closer investigation of who makes the landscapes of capitalism, and how actor choices and actor inter- and intra-relationships forestall crises of accumulation. We show how crisis, time and actors are central to making and re-making socio-spatial fixes and in turn to understanding both the socio-spatial dialectic and the spatial fix. Empirically, we compare two remote but globally networked mining towns, Kiruna, Sweden and Newman, Australia. Mining towns are rewarding case-studies because capital's relative immobility and the dominance of a single industry make strikingly clear how both production and social reproduction are remade. We enrich general theorisations in three ways, by explaining: first, how crisis-threatening events require renegotiation of socio-spatial arrangements; second, how time and timing are critical in remaking fixes; third, how actor agency and heterogeneity are central because the actors who make fixes change over time and are in complex relationships with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The connections between musical improvisation and society are a topic of frequent scholarly interest. These investigations take a range of analytical approaches, often adapted to the specifics of the improvised musicking being examined. This paper synthesizes existing concepts and theories to produce a framework for improvisation that is applicable to the social analysis of a wide range of improvisatory musical practices. The three foundational tenets of this framework are: (1) improvisation is one musical property among many that occurs to varying degrees and in different ways that fluctuate across space, time, and relevant actors; (2) the interactions between musical improvisation and the other properties of a given musical event are crucial for understanding its social implications; and (3) understanding these properties and their interactions requires examining the specific actions taken by improvisers in context. After outlining these tenets, the paper explores the role of various social, material, and individual factors in shaping improvisation and why examining these is crucial to social analysis. Finally, the paper demonstrates this model with a brief analysis of musical improvisation's political impacts during the cacerolazos of the 2001–2002 Argentine Financial Crisis. The result of this paper is a theorization of improvisatory musicking especially suited to social analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) underwent three years of negotiations by the EU and US, both experienced and capable negotiators, yet the negotiations failed, raising questions. This article delves into the factors that caused TTIP's demise by examining the negotiation structure, the impact of secrecy versus transparency, and the disruptive influence of spoilers. The change in negotiation structure caused a cascading effect, enabling disruptive actors to flourish, and causing the negotiators to switch from an integrative negotiation strategy into a distributive strategy. To enhance the chances of success and avoid similar pitfalls, this article presents recommendations: (1) maintaining a consistent negotiation structure, (2) coordinating any structural changes with the negotiation partner, (3) expanding the agreement's scope to garner more internal political support, and (4) establishing political backing before commencing negotiations. By addressing these issues, future negotiations can mitigate risks and improve their chances of achieving desired outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General (SG) an independent actor in conflict diplomacy, or are his political interventions influenced by the parochial interests of the UN Security Council (UNSC) permanent member states – the P5? Previous studies have suggested that the political independence of the UN is constrained whenever a conflict evokes the strong parochial interests of individual P5 states. Using a newly compiled dataset, this article presents the first large-N historical study on the SG's conflict interventions. The study quantifies the interventions while distinguishing between interventions mandated by the UNSC, which have always been high-profile in nature, and nonmandated interventions, with key emphasis on high-profile nonmandated interventions. The study ascertains whether both types of intervention were inhibited by the parochial interests of individual P5 states or whether the nonmandated interventions were uninfluenced by P5 interests. The results reveal that while parochial P5 interests have a significant bearing on UNSC-mandated interventions, they do not influence nonmandated interventions. Crucially, UN Charter dictates generally exert a greater influence on nonmandated interventions than on UNSC-mandated interventions. These findings present a strong case for the formal autonomy of the UN Secretariat and contribute to the growing literature on the role of executive heads in international organization secretariats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]