"This book aims to unpack the core message of the Labour Church and question the accepted views of the movement by pursuing an alternative way of analysing its history, significance and meaning. The religious influences on late-nineteenth/early-twentieth-century British Socialism are examined and placed within a wider context, highlighting a continuing theological imperative for the British Labour movement. The book argues that the most distinctive feature of the Labour Church was Theological Socialism. For its founder, John Trevor, Theological Socialism was the literal Religion of Socialism, a post-Christian prophecy announcing the dawn of a new utopian era explained in terms of the Kingdom of God on earth; for members of the Labour Church, who are referred to as Theological Socialists, Theological Socialism was an inclusive message about God working through the Labour movement. Challenging the historiography and reappraising the political significance of the Labour Church, this book will be of interest to students and scholars researching the intersection between religion and politics, as well as radical left history and politics more generally."--Provided by publisher.
Despite current concern about declining foreign student enrolments in Canadian post-secondary institutions, there remains a paucity of information regarding international students' perceptions and performance after returning to their own countries. To assist in overcoming this deficiency, this paper reports about methodological procedures, results and research and policy implications from an investigation of CIDA graduates who had studied at the University of Alberta between 1972 and 1984. A range of substantive outcomes are presented: educational attainments and characteristics of students; marital and family circumstances; preferred programs of study; use of and satisfaction with university facilities; academic and personal interaction; prior and subsequent employment; adjustments to Canada; advantages and disadvantages accruing from studying in Canada; as well as comments about the experience and advice for prospective international students. The findings had policy implications relating to correction of imbalances according to gender, nationality and employment background of students, as well as to provision for academic, personal, recreational and financial needs of international students. Suggestions are also made about data collection emphases, strategies for establishing and maintaining contact with informants, and productive avenues for future inquiry. ; Malgré les inquiétudes que suscite actuellement la baisse des inscriptions d'étudiants étrangers dans les établissements postsecondaires canadiens, il y a pénurie d'informations sur les perceptions des étudiants internationaux et sur leurs résultats après leur retour dans leur pays. Dans le but de combler cette lacune, le présent article rend compte des démarches méthodologiques, des résultats et des implications pour la recherche et les politiques à partir d'une étude faite auprès de diplômés de l'ACDIqui ont étudié à l'Université de l'Alberta, entre 1972 et 1984. Une gamme de constations indépendantes y est présentée: réalisations et caractéristiques éducationelles des étudiants; situation conjugale et familiale; programmes d'études préférés; utilisation des installations universitiares et satisfaction à leur endroit; interaction personnelle et universitaire; emploi avant et après les études; ajustement au Canada; commentaires sur l'expérience et conseils aux futurs étudiants internationaux. Les conclusions ont affecté les politiques pour réduire les disproportions relatives au sexe, à la nationalité et aux antécédents d'emploi des étudiants, ainsi que les moyens de répondre aux besoins des étudiants internationaux en matière d'ensignement et de loisirs ainsi qu'à leurs besoins personnels et financiers. Des suggestions sont également faites sur l'importance de recueillir les données, sur des méthodes en vue d'établir et de maintenir le contact avec les informateurs, et sur des moyens efficaces d'obtenir des renseignements à l'avenir.
"A vibrant introduction to the science and societal impacts of disasters. As our planet changes and human population grows, students will see new examples every year of the devastating impact that geologic and atmospheric disasters have on communities. Through vibrant and detailed visuals, engaging writing, and extended case studies, Natural Disasters helps explain the science behind these catastrophes and the societal factors that shape our responses. Step-by-step art makes key concepts accessible to all students. And two case studies in every chapter-covering one North American and one global example and reinforced through online Guided Learning Explorations-get students examining the societal factors that help shape how communities deal with these disasters" - provided by publisher
Abstract We consider the looming threat of bad actors using artificial intelligence (AI)/Generative Pretrained Transformer to generate harms across social media globally. Guided by our detailed mapping of the online multiplatform battlefield, we offer answers to the key questions of what bad-actor-AI activity will likely dominate, where, when—and what might be done to control it at scale. Applying a dynamical Red Queen analysis from prior studies of cyber and automated algorithm attacks, predicts an escalation to daily bad-actor-AI activity by mid-2024—just ahead of United States and other global elections. We then use an exactly solvable mathematical model of the observed bad-actor community clustering dynamics, to build a Policy Matrix which quantifies the outcomes and trade-offs between two potentially desirable outcomes: containment of future bad-actor-AI activity vs. its complete removal. We also give explicit plug-and-play formulae for associated risk measures.
Research into providing effective online education has suggested an important goal for instructors is the creation of an online community of inquiry (CoI) where social, cognitive, and teacher presence are all important aspects of successful online learning. With reference to a recent reflective practice case study, this paper describes ways that the research on online communities of inquiry may be enriched through the use of digital ethnography. In the target reflective case study, data analysis tasks were designed and presented in an online VoiceThread site, promoting dialogic and multimodal engagement with data from actual research studies that are central to the module theme in teacher education. Interaction around these tasks is coded using the CoI framework. Ethnographic data from the participants was collected and coded using qualitative research protocols to contextualise the interaction data and provide a clearer understanding of how participants had come together throughout the module. The ethnographic data revealed some interesting concerns with online learning, including the use of technology as a barrier to participation.
The current military conflict between Russia and Ukraine is accompanied by disinformation and propaganda within the digital ecosystem of social media platforms and online news sources. One month prior to the conflict's February 2022 start, a Special Report by the U.S. Department of State had already highlighted concern about the extent to which Kremlin-funded media were feeding the online disinformation and propaganda ecosystem. Here we address a closely related issue: how Russian information sources feed into online extremist communities. Specifically, we present a preliminary study of how the sector of the online ecosystem involving extremist communities interconnects within and across social media platforms, and how it connects into such official information sources. Our focus here is on Russian domains, European Nationalists, and American White Supremacists. Though necessarily very limited in scope, our study goes beyond many existing works that focus on Twitter, by instead considering platforms such as VKontakte, Telegram, and Gab. Our findings can help shed light on the scope and impact of state-sponsored foreign influence operations. Our study also highlights the need to develop a detailed map of the full multi-platform ecosystem in order to better inform discussions aimed at countering violent extremism.
PurposeIn this research, the authors apply artificial neural networks (ANNs) to uncover non-linear relationships among factors that influence the productivity of ragpickers in the Indian context.Design/methodology/approachA broad long-term action research program provides a means to shape the research question and posit relevant factors, whereas ANNs capture the true underlying non-linear relationships. ANN models the relationships between four independent variables and three forms of waste value chains without assuming any distributional forms. The authors apply bootstrapping in conjunction with ANNs.FindingsThe authors identify four elements that influence ragpickers' productivity: receptiveness to non-governmental organizations, literacy, the deployment of proper equipment/technology and group size.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides a unique way to analyze bottom of the pyramid (BoP) operations via ANNs.Social implicationsThis study provides a road map to help ragpickers in India raise incomes while simultaneously improving recycling rates.Originality/valueThis research is grounded in the stakeholder resource-based view and the network–individual–resource model. It generalizes these theories to the informal waste value chain at BoP communities.
