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Although the Paralympic Games have been around for over 60 years, women remain underrepresented in almost all aspects of the Paralympic Movement. It has been suggested that a way to increase women's involvement is through the implementation of mixed-gender events. On paper, this approach makes sense. However, when it comes to the implementation of mixed-gender opportunities for women, it is less clear how effective these events are in increasing participation by women in Para sport. Through document analysis and interviews with athletes and organizers of mixed-gender Paralympic sport, we explore the various strategies that four mixed-gender sports have used to address the issue of gender parity. Using critical feminist theories, we illustrate how larger social, political, and cultural ideas about gender influence women's experiences within these events and discuss the potential of using mixed-gender initiatives to address gender parity within the Paralympic Movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nuclear test often is as political as it is technical. The intricacies of domestic and external politics play into Pyongyang's decisions on nuclear testing, going far beyond the technical aspects of such tests. This article explores the repercussions of the second North Korea-US summit in Hanoi in 2019 across all policy realms in North Korea and how domestic and external factors could inform and shape Kim Jong-un's decision on a seventh nuclear test. In order to delve into what to look out for in 2024 and beyond, this article focuses on Pyongyang's approach to the civilian economy as opposed to national defense and the reorientation of its foreign and South Korea policies as potential key indicators of Kim's thinking on nuclear testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building from recent criticisms that mainstream political corporate social responsibility has failed to effectively address the potential expansion of corporate influence in society, we advance a new conceptualization of corporate social responsibility inspired by U.S. federalist political theory. As federalism has served as a prevailing U.S. theory for arranging governmental political power for the advancement of the public interest, we derive from federalist principles descriptive, normative, and instrumental theoretical foundations for arranging corporate power and directing corporate social action in the pursuit of similar goals. What we call "federated corporate social responsibility" (FCSR) revives an older institutional approach to corporate responsibility, paying particular attention to the division of moral labor in society and how different corporate responsibility prescriptions stand to affect the social ecosystem of power. Federalist institutional strategies deploying separations of power and constitutions are used to develop a concept of corporate "constitutional devices," which have promise to constrain the corporation as it fulfills its social responsibilities, even outside the ambit of a strong state and in light of barriers to constant, effective stakeholder accountability. We conclude by outlining FCSR managerial strategies, which sometimes endorse corporate social inaction in the interest of a desirable distribution of authority across society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children affected by war and political violence deploy agentic competencies to cope with trauma symptoms and psychological difficulties. However, it does not always act as a protective factor to help them adjust to potentially traumatic events. Aims: We expected to explore the association between agency, trauma symptoms and psychological difficulties and the mediating role of hope and life satisfaction in a group of child victims of military violence in Palestine. Methods: 965 children aged 8 to 14 were assessed with self-reported measures, War Child Agency Assessment Scale, Children Revised Impact of events scale, Strengths and difficulties scale, Child Hope Scale and Brief Multidimensional Students Life Satisfaction Scale. Structural Equation Modelling was performed having Agency as a predictor, trauma symptoms, psychological difficulties as an outcome variable and life satisfaction and hope as a mediator. Results: We found a direct and positive effect of agency on trauma symptoms, psychological difficulties, and life satisfaction and hope on the two dependent variables. Life satisfaction and hope mediated the association between agency and the outcome variables. Conclusion: Agency can help defend children from trauma and psychological maladaptation when it acts on life satisfaction and hope. At the same time, it might worsen psychological dysfunctions when working directly on trauma symptoms and difficulties. Clinical interventions must help children to foster agentic resources in activating hope and life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving the sexual health components of sexual and reproductive health and rights as outlined in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) is integral to overall physical and mental well-being and a core part of universal health coverage. However, tracking national and global progress towards advancing the sexual health and rights of people is challenging because of the paucity of indicators to examine many of its components. To assess the state of sexual health in populations, determine service provision needs, evaluate the effectiveness of health system interventions and monitor progress in optimizing health, a comprehensive set of indicators is needed to cover every component of sexual health. Without comparable global indicators for each component of sexual health across the individual, health systems and policy levels, and disaggregated across subgroups including all genders, there is a considerable lack of insight into people's sexual health needs and progress towards meeting those needs. This article explores the availability of global indicators for the different components of sexual health by analysing two key sources: the global indicator framework of the SDGs and the indicator index of the Global Health Observatory. We summarize the indicators for each component of sexual health using the Guttmacher-Lancet Commission framework, highlighting gaps in current indicators, and recommend areas where additional indicators are needed along with strategies on how to improve data availability, quality and inclusiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the politics of placemaking in an expanding self-built settlement in the city of Cartagena, Colombia, under everyday conditions of disposability and waste toxicity. Based on 11 months of ethnographic research, the paper introduces the triptych of disappearance, emergence, and appearance to categorize residents' everyday garbage-based practices. The paper argues that these three forms of garbage-based practices are racialized and forged through historical processes of urban displacement, shifting socio-political backgrounds, and legacies of violence. This paper highlights the intimate links between the material and social production of Black placemaking and embodied experiences of toxicities in Cartagena. It draws attention to the multiple ways in which Afro-Colombian residents endure and contest cumulative processes of embodied experiences of waste exposure through politics of placemaking. Garbage socio-material entanglements allow for the acknowledgement of the relationality of space, materials, people, and politics, which are constitutive of contentious relational politics of placemaking. As residents in urban contexts contend with ever-evolving waste challenges, this paper proposes novel ways of reading the inherent plurality of relational politics of placemaking, which can foreshadow alternative urban environmental futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: COVID-19 had significant influences on everyone's lives. This study aimed to explore impacts of COVID-19 on mental and sexual health and access to health services among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) in Singapore. Methods: This qualitative study recruited 16 self-identified GBMSM via purposive sampling and semi-structured individual interviews were conducted. Three themes and seven sub-themes were derived from analysis done using the framework method. Results: Participants shared how COVID-19 led to negative emotions and experiences at an intrapersonal level and interpersonal level (with families or partners), which were also worsened by prevailing stigma that GBMSM already face in Singapore and within their social networks. Sexual behaviours associated with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections risk and substance use were seen to be maladaptive coping methods of social isolation due to COVID-19. These dynamics were all exacerbated by the closure of "non-essential" services, which included many important services for mental and sexual health that were relevant to the GBMSM community. Conclusions: Changes in policies and community efforts should be explored to improve these areas, enhancing the psychosocial and sexual well-being of GBMSM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study is to, in the Swedish media debate, explore the discursive constructions of challenges in human rights and freedoms following the national spatial strategy for health and survival during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study, inspired by a critical discourse analytic approach, focused particularly on the issues addressed, subject positions, relations and rhetoric. Seventeen opinion articles published in Swedish national newspapers December 2019 - February 2022 were analysed. Results: The main contents were threats to democracy, threats to the freedom and rights of specific groups, and threats to the debate itself. Contents were expressed through three discourse dichotomies: contribution vs interjection, documented vs alarmistic, and active on the stage vs commenting from the balcony. Conclusions: Striking about the results is the absence of dialogue, the one-way communication, and the absent politicians. It seems that the analysed debate on the challenges of the Swedish COVID-19 pandemic strategy, based on its impact on overall freedoms and rights, has not been the focus of decision-makers during the pandemic. They have neither addressed the threats highlighted in the articles, nor contributed to the discourse. This is worrying for the long-term maintenance and development of a healthy democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how relationships between policy actors at different scales, and their changing character over time, shape the production of spatial imaginaries and their use in transport infrastructure planning. Based on research on the planning of a major rail project in Northern England between 2011 and 2022, the article illustrates how spatial imaginaries reflect interactions between national, sub-national, regional and local institutions. Drawing on a programme of interviews with policy actors, the research highlights the tensions manifested in planning for transport infrastructure about which places are prioritized in policy, and the institutional influences shaping these decisions. The article develops understanding of how inter-scalar politics influences the production of spatial imaginaries and how these imaginaries are in turn utilized in support of transport infrastructure plans by policy actors at different spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consolidation of authoritarian rule by constitutional tools is becoming an increasingly prevalent phenomenon, as powerful incumbents instrumentalize constitutional amendments to rework the state to their advantage and eliminate the horizontal checks. Turkish experience since 2014, we argue, is a suitable case to identify the legal mechanisms that are abused to undermine democratic rule within the context of abusive constitutionalism. We present original data on omnibus bills and analyse the executive decrees which expanded executive discretion over legislation and reduced horizontal accountability. Our analysis shows that the regime single-handedly reorganized the administrative structure through executive decrees, while the omnibus bills were critical in addressing the economic and judicial issues. Both methods of legislation accelerated the law-making to exclude the opposition from legislative processes. Our analysis contributes to the literature as it illustrates how the would-be autocrats eroded democratic institutional order by gradually neutralizing checks on their rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private funding in election campaigns has traditionally been studied in relation to its consequences or to private companies. However, we know little about why individuals privately fund political parties. This paper aims to identify the drivers for such behaviour in the context of the campaign for the 2020 parliamentary elections in Romania. We analysed all 98 individuals who paid extra-large membership fees, made donations, or provided high-value loans to political parties. The results show that the money provided by individuals in campaigns is given for narrow and egoistical interests rather than party-related goals. These include maintaining a favourable status quo, securing further nominations, gaining access to public office, moving from central to local politics, and acting as a smokescreen between companies and parties. These observations are not party-specific but characterize the entire political spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author offers outlook on the state of social work as a profession in the U.S. over the next 25 years. He speculates about the trends that will matter to social workers including partisan divides, greater regulations on cybersecurity and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in social media, advertising and information sharing, application of technology and AI in social work research, implications of health and aging for Social Security payouts, and challenges posed by diverse population.

This study explores the experiences and identities of nonbinary autistic people, an under-researched population. While past studies have posited a co-occurrence of autism and transgender identity, little research focuses specifically on nonbinary autistic adults. This community-based study draws on interview data from 44 nonbinary participants. Participants expressed nuanced and informed understandings of their gender identities, highlighting fluidity and a rejection traditional binary gender roles. Participants discussed the connection of their autistic and nonbinary identities and how their identity is shaped by external forces such as politics, community, and interpersonal relationships. Findings highlight the need for the inclusion of nonbinary autistic people in autism research and for autism services and programming to be affirming of various gender identities. This study explores the experiences and identities of nonbinary autistic people. The relationship between autistic and nonbinary identities has not been researched in detail. Few studies focus specifically on nonbinary autistic adults. We interviewed 44 nonbinary individuals for this study. Participants had thought-out opinions on gender identity and emphasized identifying with fluidity rather than traditional gender roles. Participants discussed the connection of their autistic and nonbinary identities and how it affected how people saw them and how they saw themselves. We have recommendations for programming, policy, and research from these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to document the longitudinal experiences of chaplains who served during both the early AIDS (1981–1995) and early COVID-19 (2020–2021) pandemics. A total of 11 hospital chaplains were interviewed across the USA and the United Kingdom. Interviews were analyzed using a Grounded theory approach. Chaplains reported multiple stressors during both pandemics, including barriers to integration into care teams, tensions with home religions institutions, burnout, and challenges arising from the politicization of disease. Despite these challenges, chaplains play a vital role during pandemics. Insights from their experiences can inform future strategies for compassionate crisis response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article brings together two disparate and so far largely disconnected bodies of research: the critical analysis of cryopreservation technologies and the debate on modes of anticipation. It starts with a short review of the state of the research on the concept of cryopolitics. In the next part I will suggest two revisions. I will problematize the idea of latent life and the focus on potentialities that have been central to the research on cryopolitics so far, proposing to shift the analytic frame to suspended life on the one hand and to modes of anticipation on the other. I argue that cryopreservation practices are part of contemporary technologies of anticipation. They are linked to a politics of suspension by mobilizing a liminal biological state in which frozen organisms or biological material are neither fully alive nor ultimately dead. This seeks to avert and/or enable distinctive futures by extending temporal horizons and keeping vital processes in limbo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Often, undocumented immigrants are considered a population living in the shadows. But living below the radar of U.S. governmental authorities is no longer as accurate. As of the end of 2023, estimates indicate nearly six million, or nearly half, of the undocumented population has some level of liminal or protected status. At the same time, these protections are more temporary than before as most immigration policy now occurs in the executive, and not the legislative, branch, and is subject to dramatic shifts with a change in administration. Also, the diversity of protection types has grown. Using data for the U.S. case, this paper examines the broader implications of this trend on how the term "undocumented" is defined, as well as the advocacy and policy implications such new statuses portend. Having the world's largest undocumented population, the U.S. case can also shed light on our broader understanding of the undocumented label as a globally-referenced category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding inclusive education challenges in India involves acknowledging the complex linguistic, cultural, religious, and caste-based diversity affecting marginalized groups. Ambiguity surrounds implementing the inclusion concept, necessitating critical evaluation and adaptation to align with India's unique dynamics. Despite increased enrollment (61%), concerns persist about omitting some children from inclusive education benefits, suggesting exclusivity. The 2020 National Education Policy aims for equitable opportunities, but challenges remain in implementation and access. Interchangeable terms (e.g., inclusion vs. integration) and a lack of differentiation hinder progress. Robust research on classroom practices is vital to establish effective strategies, support families, and address diverse student needs. This multifaceted issue requires consideration of India-specific contexts. India's interpretation of inclusive education varies based on disability severity, and solutions should account for political, historical, and cultural contexts and the beliefs and experiences of disabled individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much scholarly attention has focused on partisan affective polarization, a growing animosity between Democrats and Republicans in the mass public. Less notice has been given to affective polarization among the ideological teams, liberals, and conservatives. Yet, we suggest that given ideology's particular influence in U.S. politics, ideological affective polarization has important and distinct consequences. We begin by offering evidence that ideological affective polarization both exists and has increased sharply in recent years. We theorize that this shift alters the way individuals come to form attachments to ideological identities, as well as the structure and tenor of ideology in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous valuable research has examined the effect individual-level social and psychological factors have on suicidality. However, scholarship has yet to investigate the role civil society participation plays in suicide rates cross-nationally. Thus, this study examines the effect civil society participation has on suicide rates in 156 countries from varying levels of development from 2000 – 2019 from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America. When including standard controls and controlling for potential endogeneity, the findings indicate that civil society participation, both political and non-political, has a negative and statistically significant effect on suicide rates. The results suggest that both political and non-political forms of civil society participation may produce positive social and psychological benefits that are associated with lower suicide rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fuel taxes are seen as an important instrument in the fight against climate change, including in the European Green Deal. From a social-ecological policy perspective, it is important to understand current high levels of public opposition to fuel taxes. If social disadvantage is an important driver of opposition, this would strengthen arguments that fuel taxes need to be designed in a fairer way. However, it remains unclear how important social disadvantage – here defined as a combination of low income, fuel poverty risk, low education, low occupational status and job insecurity – is for explaining opposition compared to factors such as political trust and climate change attitudes, and how the role of social disadvantage varies with welfare regimes in Europe. In this article, we examine how strongly social disadvantage is associated with opposition to fuel taxes once political trust and climate change attitudes are controlled for, and we compare results across welfare regimes. The article uses data from the 2016 European Social Survey and employs logistic regression and decomposition analysis. We find that social disadvantage contributes nearly as much to fuel tax opposition as climate change attitudes and political trust together, with 10.9 and 16.6 percentage points respectively. However, the role of social disadvantage varies by welfare regime. It matters most in Southern and Eastern Europe, where opposition is particularly high, as are poverty and inequality. We discuss implications for social-ecological policy strategies that aim to increase public acceptability of fuel taxes in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) is portrayed as a "normative power" that promotes democracy. How does identifying with the EU identity predict citizens' responses to a war between two non‐EU countries, where one (Ukraine) appears as the victim (i.e., a nation suffering significant harm as a result of military aggression by another country) and the other (Russia) as the aggressor (i.e., a nation initiating military aggression against another country)? This study tested two contrasting, yet not mutually exclusive hypotheses. Based on the underlying idea that Ukraine is perceived to share similar (European) values while Russia is perceived to deviate from these values, the "humanitarian influence of the EU identity hypothesis" hypothesized that identification with the EU identity predicts increased support for the victim group (Ukraine) and condemnation of the aggressor group over time. Based on the "protective effect of EU identity hypothesis," however, a reverse temporal order was also hypothesized. We conducted a two two‐wave study among Greek participants. Our findings provided full support for the first hypothesis and partial support for the second hypothesis. Identification with EU identity predicts increasingly stronger opposition to an intergroup conflict between non‐EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All UN member States committed to realizing universal health coverage (UHC) when they included UHC as Target 3.8 in the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. However, the global commitment to UHC has not been matched with action on the ground. According to the World Health Organization, about half of the world population lacks full coverage for essential health services. To accelerate progress toward UHC, a close understanding of factors that drive adoption of UHC policies at the national and local levels is essential. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impetus for establishing a sub-national health insurance program in Kenya—the Makueni county government health insurance program (MakueniCare)—which led to increasing the percentage of the county population with health insurance, the majority of whom live in poverty, from 8.8% in 2013 to 91% in 2018. This qualitative case study drew on Kenyan law and policy documents as well as semi-structured interviews with 30 key informants in government and NGOs to understand the drivers that led to the establishment of MakueniCare. Findings revealed that several drivers—namely, global norms, decentralization, democratic competition, and the strategic action of social change-minded leaders—coalesced to influence the adoption of MakueniCare. The study offers timely insights into the factors driving UHC in Makueni, Kenya and lessons for other low- and middle-income countries working toward UHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to education and health care are core development goals of the United Nations since its inception. Today, almost all countries have education and health systems in place. In former colonies, the historical roots of these systems can often be traced back to colonial times. In this article, we argue that spending on social services for the local population was seen as a necessary condition to expand the trade-based colonial economy especially in the initial stage of social services dating back to the interwar period. Using novel data on health and education expenditure in 35 former British and French African colonies during the height of their empires (1919–39), we show that trade volumes account for a large share in the variance of expenditure on education but not health services, and that present-day expenditures partly reflect these patterns. Our results suggest that similar mechanisms are at play within the two empires and differences between them are in degree rather than in kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In communities of Sub-Saharan Africa, where local elites participate in the selection of households for cash transfers, there is a tendency to deviate from laid down rules for various reasons. Using qualitative data from selected districts where Ghana's Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme is implemented, this study investigates the reasons why district and community elites deviate from prescribed selection processes of the LEAP programme. Drawing on the concept of competitive clientelism, the findings suggest that elites are deeply guided by political patronage to fulfil one primary goal, protecting their role in office. Such ambition is facilitated by the discretionary power accorded to elites by the local government system and socio-cultural values deeply rooted in Ghanaian society. In conclusion, the study draws out key lessons from the analysis and suggests a design of beneficiary selection frameworks that acknowledges the nature of domestic politics, institutions of power and powerful actors at the subnational level. The article also highlights the implications of the findings for the broad politics of social protection literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how elected politicians' decisions impact place‐based policies (PBPs) and the resulting consequences. It emphasises that understanding the political factors influencing PBPs offers insights into their effectiveness and potential pitfalls. The article draws upon the behavioural political economy theory, suggesting that political decisions often deviate from the purely rational due to cognitive biases and social influences. It examines the critical role of territorial intermediation, explores the potential discord between policy designs and ground realities, and investigates how broader political dynamics shape these trajectories. Additionally, the article probes the obstacles, including psychological, institutional and contextual factors, that may hinder policy implementation. In conclusion, the article proposes new avenues of research in regional, urban and planning studies that highlight the complexity of the political processes influencing these policies and calls for a multidimensional analysis of these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Insights from mental health stigma research indicate the importance of societal and political views on mental health perceptions. Most studies originate from typical Western neo-liberal settings and focus on generic mental health issues. Our research explores these associations in Hungary, an understudied post-communist context with significant stigma levels, examining a broad range of stigmas related to both general and three specific mental illnesses: schizophrenia, depression, and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Aims: The study aims to connect a wide array of political dispositions to stigma associated with both general and specific mental illnesses, exploring both attitudes and behavioral intentions. Methods: We surveyed 492 participants (147 males, 342 females) on their political dispositions, including Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), general and economic system justification, and conservative political ideology, and their attitudes toward general and specific mental illnesses. Regression analyses identified key political dispositions influencing stigma. Results: RWA was significantly linked to most stigma outcomes, while conservative political ideology showed a selective impact. Other predictors had minimal influence on stigma outcomes. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that perceptions of danger, threat, and unconventionality, as indicated by RWA, are crucial for mental health stigmatization in Hungary. Intervention programs should target these factors, particularly in similar contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines one often overlooked aspect of Kenneth Waltz's Theory of International Politics : the analogy he makes between firms and states. Specifically, I contrast this 'states as firms' analogy adopted by Waltz with the state of nature analogy that has often been attributed to him. I make three separate but interrelated claims: (1) the state of nature analogy is not only different from the states as firms analogy, but may also be an inappropriate one for structural realism in the sense that it fails to account for some of the theory's key theses; (2) the states as firms analogy helps us to better understand, if not to fully embrace, how Waltz arrives at certain central premises of his theory; and (3) the states as firms analogy provides a more comprehensive account of dynamic effects of the international system, including the transformation of state attributes that would have been neglected by those who subscribe to the state of nature analogy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1979 and 2013, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami was the largest Islamist political party in the country and the only one that ever played a prominent role in government. In 2013, the party had its registration revoked, effectively banning it from running in elections, and has since been stigmatized as a terrorist, or at the very least a terror-sympathizing, organization. This paper looks at the nature of the party and the roles it has played historically in Bangladesh politics. It also investigates the party's alleged links with religious extremism and terrorist activities in the country, and the roles the party has played in perpetuating religious nationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we provide lessons learned from studying the 'reticent' participants–those whose answers to our questions ranged from "I don't know" to "minding my own business" to an overpowering silence. These questions were posed to different Salvadoran women residing on Long Island, NY, and were based on two separate research projects–one examining diaspora politics and the other looking at community-policing relations. While combing through the interviews for patterns and themes for our respective research projects, we found combining our analyses helped us discover there is a lot to learn from the "yo no se" ("I don't know") responses. We argue this response is an entry point for us, as researchers, to strengthen our qualitative toolbox and, here, we provide tools for how to do this. We call on qualitative scholars to not ignore the silences or "I don't know" responses and instead see this as a journey to discover the 'aha' moments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic models of couple and family therapy (CFT) are often categorized into two transtheoretical paradigms: modernism and postmodernism. Traditionally, these paradigms have been positioned in opposition to one another and are critiqued for their respective epistemologies and stances on the definitions of truth and reality. The binarizing of systemic models has created theoretical divisions in the field of CFT that restricts many clinicians from addressing the limitations and harnessing the benefits of each transtheoretical paradigm. Metamodernism, a philosophical paradigm that emphasizes theoretical pluralism, reflexivity, and dialectical processes, has arisen as a potential solution for addressing the philosophical tensions between modernism and postmodernism; however, there currently exists no approach to systemic therapy that aligns with the tenets of this paradigm. This article delineates the application of metamodernism in the field of systemic therapy through the presentation of Dynamic Narrative Therapy, an innovative approach to systemic therapy drawn from the integration of two foundational theoretical models (i.e., strategic family therapy and narrative family therapy). This integration synergizes the strategic concepts of circular causality and feedback loops as well as the narrative use of deconstruction, externalization, and narrative metaphor to illustrate a more comprehensive approach to the therapeutic change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: This study examines whether autocratic governments are more likely than democratic governments to manipulate health data. The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity for examining this question because of its global impact. Methods: Three distinct indicators of COVID-19 data manipulation were constructed for nearly all sovereign states. Each indicator was then regressed on democracy and controls for unintended misreporting. A machine learning approach was then used to determine whether any of the specific features of democracy are more predictive of manipulation. Findings: Democracy was found to be negatively associated with all three measures of manipulation, even after running a battery of robustness checks. Absence of opposition party autonomy and free and fair elections were found to be the most important predictors of deliberate undercounting. Conclusions: The manipulation of data in autocracies denies citizens the opportunity to protect themselves against health risks, hinders the ability of international organizations and donors to identify effective policies, and makes it difficult for scholars to assess the impact of political institutions on population health. These findings suggest that health advocates and scholars should use alternative methods to estimate health outcomes in countries where opposition parties lack autonomy or must participate in uncompetitive elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: The role of political identities in determining attitudes to vaccines has attracted a lot of attention in the last decade. Explanations have tended to focus on the influence of party representatives on their sympathizers (partisan cues). Methods: Four representative samples of the French adult population completed online questionnaires between July 2021 and May 2022 (N = 9,177). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to test whether partisan differences in attitudes to vaccines are best explained by partisan cues or by parties' differences in propensity to attract people who distrust the actors involved in vaccination policies. Findings: People who feel close to parties on the far left, parties on the far right, and green parties are more vaccine hesitant. The authors found a small effect of partisan cues and a much stronger effect of trust. More importantly, they show that the more politically sophisticated are less vaccine hesitant and that the nonpartisan are the biggest and most vaccine hesitant group. Conclusions: The literature on vaccine attitudes has focused on the case of the United States, but turning attention toward countries where disenchantment with politics is more marked helps researchers better understand the different ways trust, partisanship, and political sophistication can affect attitudes to vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: In 2012, California instituted a new requirement for parents to consult with a clinician before receiving a personal belief exemption (PBE) to its school entry vaccine mandate. In 2015, the state removed this exemption altogether. In 2019, legislators cracked down on medical exemptions to address their misuse by vaccine refusers and supportive clinicians. This article uses "policy feedback theory" to explore these political conflicts, arguing that PBEs informed the emergence and approaches of two coalitions whose conflict reshaped California's vaccination policies. Methods: The authors analyzed legal, policy, academic, and media documents; interviewed 10 key informants; and deductively analyzed transcripts using NVivo 20 transcription software. Findings: California's long-standing vaccination policy inadvertently disseminated two fundamentally incompatible social norms: vaccination is a choice, and vaccination is not a choice. Over time, the culture and number of vaccine refusers grew, at least in part because the state's policy sanctioned the norm of vaccine refusal. Conclusions: The long-term consequences of California's "mandate + PBE" policy—visible, public, and socially sanctioned vaccine refusal—undermined support for it over time, generating well-defined losses for a large group of people (the vaccinating public) and specifically for the provaccine parent activists whose experiences of personal grievance drove their mobilization for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Purpose.: Increasingly, PT programs in the United States are providing educational experiences outside of the home country (OHC) where faculty and students engage in global health initiatives. It is important to consider that the field of global health has its historical roots in colonialism, which has led to inequities and injustice. Those who are engaged in this work must assist in reversing this colonial legacy. The purpose of this position paper is to present the colonial history of global health, to provide context, and to spark critical reflection among PT educators about how OHC experiences are developed and configured. Position and Rationale.: As a profession, we must educate ourselves about the history of global health and critically reflect on OHC engagements to ensure that we support equity and justice. Discussion and Conclusion.: We must start by grounding our OHC experiences in health equity and justice. This should be done by considering the colonial history of global health and the privileges we hold as members of academic institutions in the United States. Why we offer OHC experiences in PT education should be investigated and clear to both faculty and students. Excluding this colonial history and its impacts risks perpetuating the historical harms to the health and well-being of the populations we claim to be serving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At this pressing historical juncture, where escalating violence against queer and racialized bodies runs concurrently with the specter of wide-scale planetary collapse, social work is in dire need of reconceptualizing the moral parameters of its imagination. Recognizing that changes in thought both precede and extend from changes in behavior, this article advocates for a profound unlearning of supremacist modes of thinking wedded to hierarchical orderings, dichotomous and essentialist views, and categorical oppositions. By engaging de/coloniality and eco-queer feminisms, this article draws connections between the discursive violences targeting queer and racialized bodies and the parallel destruction of the animate Earth—bodies circumscribed, exploited, and rendered disposable by the power-logics of coloniality/heteropatriarchy/modernity and the untenable demands of global capitalism. With the interest of re-situating clinical social work within the broader context of planetary health, this article considers the criticality of decolonial eco-queer thought, praxis, and imaginaries as vital responses to the multidimensional power structures constraining our transformative potential. Ultimately, this paper discusses four tenets vital for a more holistic and revolutionary social work education and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU's Prodi doctrine stipulates that a new state formed through secession from an EU member state will be treated as a third party vis-à-vis the Union. This article engages with debates on secessionism, self-determination, and democracy in the EU to discuss what the doctrine entails for the democratic legitimacy of the EU. We argue that the doctrine is only compatible with one source of political legitimacy that the EU partly depends on, the state consent model. However, it is not compatible with the voluntary association model which is a moral basis that is increasingly relevant for a supranational union of democratic states. The prevalent practice of organizing referendums on EU accession shows that securing popular support is today an important feature of the politics of legitimacy in the EU. We illustrate our argument with the case of Catalonia and contrast it with cases from the history of European integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ireland had, for a long time, been an outlier in European politics in that, despite having experienced large‐scale immigration in the 2000s, it had not seen a significant expression of anti‐immigrant sentiment, and it was almost absent at a political level. The year 2023 saw a significant rise in the number of people seeking international protection or asylum. The state struggled to cope with the rise in numbers, which saw it take control of hotels and other private premises across the country. Protests grew in some localities, but the political reaction was negligible until in late November, there was a riot in Dublin city centre causing millions of euros worth of damage. There was an expected impact on Irish politics that might change the shape of politics in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, student work is the subject of primary research to showcase the topic of climate change in fake news, with some insights from Twitter. The first dataset consisted of topics/communication platforms identified by students related to the issue of climate change in the media, while the second consisted of tweets synthesized through text mining showing how politics and the media influenced the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the key dilemmas that will confront the new Labour administration in Britain during its initial period in power are examined. The Starmer government is seeking to use the state pragmatically to improve British economic performance, stem the crisis in public services and strengthen the strategic capacity of Whitehall. However, embryonic approach represents a melding of disparate ideas and traditions that have yet to cohere into a cogent model of statecraft. As a result, the strategy is replete with tensions and dilemmas that make the task of governing competently extremely challenging in the current national and geo‐political environment. Owing to the scale of the crises that Labour has inherited, the article considers whether a statecraft approach that places greater emphasis on continuity over change is viable in the absence of a much needed, radical vision for a reimagined British state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]