The message is the medium: immaterialism and McLuhan’s Poetic Excess

Against interpretations of Marshall McLuhan as philosophical materialist, I argue that Understanding Media and its tagline, the medium is the message, show McLuhan to be an immaterialist: a poetic, intuitive thinker, at least as interested in immaterial as in material aspects of the world. From a pragmatic perspective, or one requiring attention to both poetic and technical modes of understanding, McLuhan’s approach—offering a torrent of flashing insights and neglecting the process of empirically assessing these insights—is described as poetic excess. This is a double-edged sword, alienating many readers even as it inspires others. McLuhan’s poetic excess is a rhetorical reminder of the value and power of poetic thinking, and simultaneously of its insufficiency for the fullest understanding. Pleading that his poetic texts should be read rhetorically rather than literally, I argue we should forgive McLuhan’s worst affronts to technical, materialist rationality. McLuhan’s immaterialist epistemology, inseparable from the content of his insights, is a valuable part of his distinctive and foundational contribution to media studies.     

The Research Potential of Mental-Health Social Workers: A Qualitative Study of the Views of Senior Mental-Health Service Managers

Social workers have undoubtedly played a significant role inmental-health care in Britain. Yet their contribution to themental-health knowledge base is decidedly meagre compared tothe prolific research activity of psychiatry and allied healthprofessions. A qualitative study was conducted on the researchpotential of mental-health social work, based on the views ofsenior service managers in London boroughs. Social-work researchwas found to suffer from a combination of structural, economicand academic constraints. The impact of social work on mental-healthpolicy and practice developments, particularly in the lightof a growing emphasis on evidence-based practice, is likelyto remain weak until this issue is addressed.     

A taxonomy of all ordinal 2 × 2 games

The 2 × 2 game is the simplest and most commonly employed representation of strategic conflict. The 78 strict ordinal 2 × 2 games have been used as conflict models extensively, and have been related in several different taxonomies. However, interest has recently focussed on the full set of 726 general ordinal games, in which one or both players may have equal preferences for two or more outcomes. This paper describes the development of a practical taxonomy of all 726 ordinal 2 × 2 games. The taxonomy provides for rapid identification of particular games, gives a convenient ordering, is as consistent as possible with previous work, and yet is not tied to any specific solution concepts. As well, definitions of several significant game properties are developed or extended to general ordinal games and applied in conjunction with the taxonomy.     

Approaches to conflict modeling: A study of a possible USA-USSR nuclear confrontation

A possible nuclear confrontation between the USA and USSR is analyzed using five different models from game theory in order to compare the various approaches that can be taken in the analysis of conflicts. Of particular importance is an improved metagame analysis model that provides a comprehensive procedure for analyzing not only the nuclear conflict but also any other type of real world conflict that can arise in practice. When the improved metagame analysis model is linked with a new state transition model, the dynamics of the game can be thoroughly studied.     

Continuous monitoring for changepoints in data streams using adaptive estimation

Data streams are characterised by a potentially unending sequence of high-frequency observations which are subject to unknown temporal variation. Many modern streaming applications demand the capability to sequentially detect changes as soon as possible after they occur, while continuing to monitor the stream as it evolves. We refer to this problem as continuous monitoring. Sequential algorithms such as CUSUM, EWMA and their more sophisticated variants usually require a pair of parameters to be selected for practical application. However, the choice of parameter values is often based on the anticipated size of the changes and a given choice is unlikely to be optimal for the multiple change sizes which are likely to occur in a streaming data context. To address this critical issue, we introduce a changepoint detection framework based on adaptive forgetting factors that, instead of multiple control parameters, only requires a single parameter to be selected. Simulated results demonstrate that this framework has utility in a continuous monitoring setting. In particular, it reduces the burden of selecting parameters in advance. Moreover, the methodology is demonstrated on real data arising from Foreign Exchange markets.     

Employment regulation,game theory and weak employee voice in liberal economies

This article analyses the impact of information and consultation regulations – specifically the European Information and Consultation Directive – on worker participation or “employee voice” in liberal market economies (LMEs), providing both empirical and theoretical insights to complement existing research on the Directive. Using game theory and the prisoner's dilemma framework, and empirical data from 16 case studies, the authors explain why national legislation implementing the Directive is largely ineffective in diffusing mutual‐gains cooperation in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Three theoretical explanatory propositions advance understanding of the policy impact of information and consultation regulations in LMEs.     

“Without women,the war could never have happened”: representations of women’s military contributions in non-state armed groups

Feminist international relations theory argues that male consolidation of power in the aftermath of armed conflict often occurs as men gain the status of heroes in the post-war appraisals. Explorations of republican commemoration in the North of Ireland have uncovered the dominance of the male protagonist with a notable relative absence of militant republican women. Militarized masculine narratives and patriarchal understandings of what is deemed a combatant role, and therefore deemed worthy of commemorating, consistently fail to value or recognize women’s multiple and vital wartime contributions. This article argues that conventional definitions of military contributions and combatant roles are imprecise, highly gendered and ultimately function as a mechanism to denigrate and exclude women’s wartime labor. Based on in-depth interviews with former combatants, the article critically explores the ways in which republican women themselves conceptualize their contributions to armed struggle. Emerging from this is a theoretically rich narrative of women’s multiple and diverse military roles which firmly challenge the limited definition of “a person with a weapon.” It is suggested that by paying careful attention to the lives of combatant women, feminist scholars can use their experiences, narratives and meanings to challenge existing frameworks and discourses, and redefine combatant roles and wartime contributions.     

Responding to family problems,alcohol and substance misuse

Children of alcohol and substance misusers are at risk of developing a range of behavioural problems of their own. The aim of this project was to assess the extent to which workers in the field of alcohol and substance misuse problems in the Glasgow area are aware of, and feel able to address, these risk factors. The evidence reported here indicates that workers in the field are aware of potential problems. However, there is also uncertainty about appropriate responses and a desire for training to enhance skills in this area. Locally based ‘befrienders’ projects provide a model for low-key interventions with the potential to provide valuable support and positive socialisation within a structured and safe environment.