The Struggle for Symbolic Dominance in the British ‘Anti-Capitalist Movement Field’

This article provides a study of ideological conflict and competition between anarchist and socialists in the British anti-capitalist movement between 2001 and 2005. Using an ethnographic study, including 30 semi-structured interviews, observations of major mobilisations and documentary analysis, I argue that a symbolic struggle for ideological dominance over the anti-capitalist movement took place. To understand and explain the dynamics of this movement struggle I conceptualise the anti-capitalist movement as a field in the Bourdieusian sense of the term. Anarchist networks were the dominant players within this field for over a decade; however, the emergence and actions of newly formed socialist organisations challenged their dominance. Both sides attempted to accrue different forms of capital to further their ideological agenda which brought them into conflict with each other. This conceptualisation offers a new direction for understanding conflict, not just for anti-capitalist activists, but also for the study of social movements generally.     

Asymmetric impact of inflation and unemployment on poverty in Pakistan: new evidence from asymmetric ARDL cointegration

The current study is intended to examine the asymmetric impact of inflation and unemployment on the poverty of Pakistan over the period of 1970 to 2016 by applying asymmetric Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) cointegration approach. The results revealed the presence of long-run asymmetries among inflation, unemployment and poverty. These findings also confirmed the atypical reaction of poverty to negative and positive shocks in unemployment and inflation. Furthermore, findings also confirmed negative and significant association among health expenditures (HE), population growth and poverty. The findings of the study have relevant implications for policymakers interested in the asymmetric relationship among inflation, unemployment and poverty in Pakistan.     

The Impact of European Monetary Union on Finance-Growth Nexus

This study examines the relationship between financial development and economic growth in 15 developed European countries before and after the formation of the euro. The results of the panel data analysis show that financial development is significant in promoting economic growth for both periods. The impact of the banking sector development on growth, however, is greater in the post-euro period, whereas the impact of stock market development on growth is reducing in the period investigated. The study concludes that the formation of European Monetary Union does not weaken the relationship between financial development and economic growth in developed European countries.     

The experience of Jordanian care leavers making the transition from residential care to adulthood: The influence of a patriarchal and collectivist culture

The problems faced by young people leaving care to join the adult world are well-known. The present study adds to the current body of research on the subject by exploring the post-care experiences of young Jordanian care leavers. Forty two care leavers were interviewed, thirteen of whom also took part in a focus group. The interview data were analysed qualitatively. Jordanian care leavers described many experiences similar to those reported by young people leaving care in other countries including struggles to continue education, find accommodation, secure employment, and cope financially. Of particular interest was the more specific finding that the cultural values of patriarchy, family life, and collectivism characteristic of all Arab countries had a deeply pervasive impact on many of the care leavers' post-care experiences. The reasons that brought the young people into care, and the lack of family that most experienced upon leaving care, increased the risk of them being stigmatised. For many, managing their post-care identity in a patriarchal, family-based culture proved difficult and stressful. Although some care-leavers did receive exceptional, albeit informal support from friends and employers, the challenges faced by the care leavers were often exacerbated by the cultural values explicit in a society that is patriarchal, family-based and honour-bound. The policy and practise implications of these findings are briefly acknowledged.     

Nonparametric versus Parametric Estimation of the Cure Fraction Using Interval Censored Data

This article discusses estimation of the cure rate by means of the bounded cumulative hazard (BCH) model using interval censored data. The parametric and nonparametric estimation methods within the framework of the EM algorithm were employed for cure rate estimation and their results compared. The Turnbull estimator was used in the nonparametric estimation while in parametric method both the exponential and Weibull distributions were considered. We show via simulation that the nonparametric method is a viable alternative to the parametric one when the censoring rate is rapidly increasing.