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A major food contamination scandal occurred in Sri Lanka in 2013 after it was alleged that Fonterra dairy products contained chemicals known to have a negative effect on human health. This crisis was influenced by unique factors that, I argue, are particular to the social and cultural context of Sri Lanka. In this article, I will be focusing on several such factors: (a) specific considerations about the Sri Lankan dairy industry; (b) the growing influence of the worship of the deity Kiri Amma, a god that is associated uniquely with dairy and dairy production; (c) the common belief that milk possesses a unique transformative and curative property; and (d) prevailing food conspiracies that maintain that external groups are seeking to harm the Sinhalese people by purposefully poisoning confectionary and dairy products. By considering these factors, we can better understand how inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions can precipitate in Sri Lanka.

AbstractMuslim communities have frequently been the victim of vilification and discrimination in Australia and the broader Asian region. This article discusses and compares the narratives around Muslim vilification in Australia and Sri Lanka. Despite the fact that these two nations are vastly different in size, demographics and cultural history, I will argue that there are remarkable similarities in how Muslims are subject to attack in both nations. The hate speech occasioned against Muslims in Sri Lanka and Australia is shaped by almost identical narrative structures and is cultivated in similar online environments. In both cases, anti‐Muslim animus is fuelled by a fear of displacement and perceived contamination of what nativists regard as ethnically sovereign territory. I will argue that the underlying sub‐text in both cases is owed to a repulsion to the physical presence of Muslims which can be understood in terms of Mary Douglas' concept of the moral pollutant.

This study advances the analysis of factors contributing to the persistence of the black-white racial wealth gap using insights from Institutional Economics and Stratification Economics. The analysis challenges discourses trumpeting the emergence of a post-racial society in which previous barriers to attaining equal economic outcomes have been eliminated. It is argued that the post-racial rhetoric conveys inaccurate information to agents regarding the expected returns from investments in both capital assets and racial identity. Sub-optimal decisions by Black agents result, in part, from failure to take advantage of cultural knowledge about more advantageous investment strategies tied to indigenous cultural traditions.

In cybersecurity economics, the selection of a particular methodology is a matter of interest and importance for the researchers. Methodologically sophisticated research forms an essential basis for understanding the challenges and opportunities for the richer descriptions of the behavior of cybersecurity practitioners (i.e., what they are doing and why they are doing it). This requires a broad and self-reflective approach to understand the use of a technique in socio-technical research within cybersecurity economics. Such understanding recognizes that research in this field involves more than just applying a method to create knowledge and diffuse it throughout society, organizations, and governments. This paper argues in favor of a multi-paradigmatic approach to cybersecurity economics research. Rather than adopting a single paradigm, this study suggests that results will be more prosperous and reliable if different methods from different existing paradigms are combined. Hence, it puts forward the desirability and feasibility of the multi-paradigmatic approach in cybersecurity economics research. It also outlines several practical guidelines that help design multi-paradigmatic research studies. These are illustrated with a critical evaluation of three examples of studies. ; publishedVersion