‘Everyday otherness’ – intercultural refugee encounters and everyday multiculturalism in a South Australian rural town

In this paper, I investigate the lived experience of multiculturalism often referred to as ‘everyday multiculturalism’. I suggest that the concept of ‘everyday otherness’ offers further insight in understanding the intercultural dynamics of diverse communities and explore the ways in which individuals and communities have negotiated intercultural encounters and ‘otherness’ in a regional Australian community. The research is based on ethnographic fieldwork in a South Australian regional town and draws on an analysis of 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews with long-term residents and recent humanitarian migrants – those who are from Afghan Hazara refugees/asylum seeker backgrounds. Following on from Amanda Wise’s (2009 Wise, A. 2009. “Everyday Multiculturalism: Transversal Crossings and Working Class Cosmopolitans.” In Everyday Multiculturalism, edited by A. Wise and S. Velayutham, 21–45. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9780230244474_2[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]) conception of individuals who facilitate bridging difference between diverse groups, ‘transversal enablers’, I identify two types of ‘transversal enablers’ that can be found among both long-term regional residents and new migrants – structural and everyday enablers – and draw out the characteristics and capacities that they exemplify in bridging ‘everyday otherness’ in the community.     

Does governance confer organisational resilience? Evidence from UK employee owned businesses

Current economic crisis has highlighted the importance of an organization’s ability to withstand economic shocks. This has rekindled interest in organization resilience on the one hand, and the relationship between alternative governance forms such as employee owned businesses (EOBs) on the other. We explore this relationship using performance data on 204 publicly traded non-employee owned businesses and 49 EOBs prior to the economic downturn (2004–2008), and during the economic downturn (2008–2009). This data is complemented with a survey of resilience related governance and organizational practices in 41 EOBs and 22 non-EOBs. Our results show that: (a) employee ownership that is combined with employee involvement in firm governance is associated with greater stability in business performance over a business cycle; (b) EOBs have longer investment payback horizon when compared to non-EOBs across a number of activities; (c) Top management in EOBs are more likely to seek employee input in strategic decision making; (d) EOBs are more likely to use employee involvement to achieve tighter coupling between feedback from operations and the setting of strategic direction for the firm. These results suggest that employee stock ownership programs alone are not sufficient to develop higher levels of organizational resilience. Managers must combine employee stock ownership with employee involvement in governance if they wish to build up resilience in advance of adverse economic conditions.     

“Having a family is the new normal”: Parenting in neoliberal academia during the COVID-19 pandemic

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has made explicit the burden of care shouldered by academic mothers, in addition to juggling their scholarly commitments. Although discussions are abundant on the impact of caring responsibilities on the careers of women academics, neoliberal academia continues to minimize such struggles. Despite the disruptions to family routines caused by the health crisis, academic institutions have expected academic mothers and fathers to continue undertaking their professional responsibilities at the same level as before, disregarding their parenting demands. This paper contributes to the research on parenthood in academia by looking at how, throughout the pandemic, academic parents have negotiated the tensions between parenthood and academic demands, and by investigating the strategies they use to confront neoliberal culture of academic performativity, even amid the health crisis. The paper engages with the “space invaders” concept used by Puwar (2004) to analyze the “hypervisibility” of academic mothers' and fathers' “bodies out of place” during the pandemic, and to investigate their “renegade acts” against the uncaring attitudes of their institutions. Evidence is drawn from a qualitative study conducted during December 2020 and January 2021 among scholars affiliated to Portuguese academic institutions: 17 in-depth interviews conducted with women, and two mixed-gender focus groups. Our results research reveal how the experiences of academic mothers and fathers were not uniform during the pandemic. In addition, it shows how, despite their commitment to their academic responsibilities, these parents have crafted various resistance strategies to confront the institutional pressure to continue maintain their working routines, and instead positioning themselves as “more than just academics.”     

副省级城市综合韧性评价及障碍因子识别

为了提升副省级城市韧性,探索其可持续发展路径。该文以15个副省级城市为研究对象,运用改进的CRITIC-熵权组合赋权法、TOPSIS法、方差分解法、障碍度模型对2011—2020年15个副省级城市综合韧性进行评价,并对其障碍因子进行识别分析。结果显示:15个副省级城市综合韧性在2011—2020年间呈现波动上升的趋势,整体形势较好;各副省级城市综合韧性、分项韧性排名存在明显差异;从方差分解结果来看,宁波、成都、长春、哈尔滨四个城市的经济韧性和生态韧性对综合韧性的贡献度最大,而其余副省级城市则是经济韧性和社会韧性的贡献度最大;从障碍度结果分析,经济系统和社会系统是制约副省级城市韧性提升的主要障碍系统,对于具体指标,每百人公共图书馆藏书(b₃)和一般公共预算收入(a₄)是大部分副省级城市的主要障碍因子。未来,各副省级城市应依据发展情况着力补齐短板,从完善社会应急保障体系、扩大社会文化产业影响力和增加科教领域的投入等方面增强城市韧性,推动副省级城市实力整体提升。     

“独二代”幼儿抗逆力发展的个案研究

“独二代”幼儿有着特殊的家庭结构，在面对冲突或矛盾时多表现出退缩、哭泣、无助、依赖感，其抗逆力水平不高。研究者针对“独二代”幼儿的抗逆力发展培养情况进行个案研究，发现研究对象在情绪管理、专注力、学习能力、问题解决能力和家庭支持系统等方面存在问题，从幼儿园和家庭两个方面进行了系统分析，并提出相应的培养建议：一是在幼儿园内，教师应该用发展的眼光看待“独二代”幼儿，挖掘个体内在潜能，抓住教育契机，因材施教，在游戏中提高幼儿的抗逆力；二是在家庭中，应营造和谐的家庭氛围，同时家长以身作则，淡化独生概念，学会放手让“独二代”幼儿独立成长。     

供应链韧性：适应复杂性——基于复杂系统管理视角

构建富有韧性的供应链已从企业层面关注的问题上升到行业、地区和国家层面战略，成为应对当前社会经济发展复杂局面和提升国家安全与竞争力水平的重要举措。本文在阐述了供应链是一个社会型多中心共享共治的复杂适应性系统基础上，指出供应链韧性是供应链系统行为与功能整体适应环境复杂性变动的一种能力标志；供应链韧性的复杂整体性属性特征需要通过复杂系统思维范式转移形成新的研究范式与方法论；供应链韧性理论的学术价值主要不是针对常规问题，而要看它应对供应链失稳、风险、应急、功能退化等韧性危机是否有效和效能如何；供应链韧性有着具体特定的真实世界；解释、分析和揭示供应链韧性复杂现象和客观规律需要充分关注供应链的独特性与话语语境，没有两个现实的供应链韧性机理是完全一样的；供应链韧性是当今供应链研究领域中的一个大问题、难问题，具有重要的学术前沿性、现实性与挑战性，应扎根在我国供应链管理的丰富实践土壤中，从基础性的学术体系、理论体系与话语体系夯实研究基础，而不宜过于被供应链韧性初始定义中的“断”与“不断”捆住手脚。     

Health insurance system and resilience to epidemics

We theoretically analyze the resilience (efficiency) of health insurance systems and diverse factors including trace and test technology, infection and contagion rates, and social distancing/lockdown policy, in coping with contagious diseases like COVID-19. Our findings can be summarized as follows. First, public insurance is more resilient than market insurance, as the former's investment in test technology is made at the social optimum, whereas the latter's investment is less. The decentralized behavior of competing insurers leads to a less resilient outcome. Second, resilience decreases as the market becomes more competitive because the externality effect becomes more severe. Third, a higher contagion rate, a more cost-efficient test technology or a higher initial infection rate unless it is not too high, leads to a higher test accuracy level. Fourth, the socially optimal social distancing/lockdown policy is determined by comparison between its relative costs and the benefit from contagion reduction.     

The evolution of structural resilience of global oil and gas resources trade network

This paper establishes anetwork resilience evaluation framework of the global oil and gas resourcetrade network in 2010, 2015 and 2020. The results are as follows: The links of the oil trade network present a gradually shrinking trend, and the gas tradenetwork presents a trend of close connection first and then reduced. In termsof network density, network centrality, network connectivity and network size, the structural resilience of the oil and gas resource trade network displays ashrinking trend, and the gas trade network is superior. Concerninginvulnerability and recovery, the resilience of the oil trade network issuperior to the natural gas trade network. In simulated attacks, the oil tradenetwork reveals a higher resilience towards intentional attacks, and the gastrade network shows a higher resilience towards random attacks. The Strait ofHormuz and the Strait of Malacca are critical chokepoints in the networks.     

新时代如何提升产业链供应链韧性和安全水平

当前，统筹发展和安全问题被提到了前所未有的新高度，直接关乎我国的高质量发展。因此，在对我国产业链供应链韧性和安全面临的内外部风险与挑战进行系统研判的基础上，从四个方面提出了新时代提升我国产业链供应链韧性与安全水平的对策建议：第一，维护产业链供应链的全球公共产品属性，利用国际循环“延链”“稳链”;第二，构建“以我为主”的区域产业链供应链体系，积极寻求破解国际围堵的有效路径；第三，破除国内大循环堵点、卡点，立足全国统一大市场赋能“补链”“强链”;第四，加速提升自主创新能力，构建产业链供应链协同创新机制。     

构建高质量发展的区域经济布局和国土空间体系

党的二十大报告强调“构建优势互补、高质量发展的区域经济布局和国土空间体系”。根据中国经济发展具体事实和未来展望,论述构建高质量发展的区域经济布局和国土空间体系对增强“三链”韧性和协同性、拓展区域协同的广度、深度,以支撑新发展格局、消弥区域间发展的不平衡不充分、支撑中国式现代化有重要意义。未来构建高质量发展的区域经济布局和国土空间体系的具体路径是:各区域需要立足于自身比较优势,形成特色创新发展之路; 抓住新一代数字通用技术革命的机遇,形成区域间协调发展新思路; 要以全国“一盘棋”的思路探索合理分工、优势互补的区域发展新格局。