Academic literature on the topic 'Africans – United States – Social conditions'

Abstract This study examines the cultural perceptions of Africans in Diaspora on the Atlantic slave trade and reparations. It uses a cultural centered model to analyze the perception of Africans in Diaspora about the issue of slavery and reparations. The paper also uses a survey method to explore the perceptions of African-Americans in the United States, Africans living in Europe, and Africans living in the African continent about reparations. It argues that the environmental, religious, occupational, social and political conditions that Africans in Diaspora currently live in will determine their perception of slavery and reparations. Despite this argument, the paper stresses that it is a violation of the established precedence in law that is based on the principle of unjust enrichment to not pay some reparations to the present generation of Africans. This principle stipulates that if a person, a corporation or a country profit from the criminal treatment of a group of people, such a person, corporation or country is subject to the payment of reparations on the basis of unjust enrichment. The study further attempts to explain why it has been difficult for the western industrial world to agree to pay reparations to the children of over 25,000,000 Africans who were wrenched out of Africa as slaves. The concluding section of the paper suggests different reparation methods that would help create a permanent solution that might be acceptable to all.

Abstract Two concurrent agendas in the sociology of religion explore how conditions of secularism in the United States result in widespread norms of “spiritual seeking”, and how religion functions as a basis of belonging for U.S. immigrants. This study brings these subfields together by asking whether new immigrants from Ghana, West Africa, also exhibit an orientation of spiritual seeking in their religious trajectories, and how they engage with normative conditions of spiritual seeking within institutional contexts. I find strong evidence of spiritual seeking in their narratives, and I identify processes within the social institutions of family and coethnic networks, higher education, and African Evangelical Christianity that support a seeking orientation. I argue for more focus on the counter-impulses of seeking versus dwelling in immigrant religion, and that more studies of religion and culture should explicitly analyze the institutional contexts that mediate between normative culture and trajectories of social practice.

This article examines how absolute and relative income levels, social capital, and racial/ethnic composition interact to explain variation in age-adjusted mortality rates across the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Our data showed that social capital had a powerful, negative effect on age-adjusted mortality rates —higher social capital states had lower age-adjusted mortality rates. After controlling for other variables, median income moderately related to mortality, but unexpectedly three measures of inequality did not. Finally, states' percent African American positively related to mortality, though indirectly and mediated entirely by social capital. In contrast, the strong negative effect of percent Hispanic/Latino on mortality was partially suppressed by its negative association with social capital. Our understanding of the substantial impact of social conditions on mortality can help inform public policies and actions that may foster healthier and longer lives.

AbstractThe public opinion literature shows that cues about the policy positions of social groups influence citizens’ political attitudes. We assess whether cues about religious groups’ positions affect attitudes on three issues: protection of homosexuals in the workplace, improving the socio-economic conditions of African-Americans, and government-provided health insurance. We argue that such cues should shape issue attitudes and condition the impact of religious and political orientations on those attitudes. That should be especially true on issues closely connected to religion and for citizens with low levels of political awareness. We assess this argument with a survey experiment pitting pairs of religious groups on opposite sides of issues. We find that religious group cues matter primarily for cultural attitudes, among less politically-aware individuals, and for the religiously unaffiliated, Democrats, and liberals. The dominant effect is negative, moving these groups away from the positions of religious leaders and especially evangelical leaders.

The growing interest in migration issues in the EU has not affected the analysis of African migrants. The focus is on social and political issues, while the economic issues studied are primarily related to the assessment of the reasons for the arrival of Africans in the EU, the trajectory of their movement, as well as the scale of remittances to their homeland and the conditions for their return back to Africa. The article focuses on the main features of African migrants’ economic activity in the EU. Instead of the traditional consideration of only one or several diasporas in a single country or a generalized analysis of the entire EU, we compare the specifics of immigrants from different African countries in the 4 largest EU member states (including the UK, which left the integration project in 2020). Our article begins with a review of studies that contain information on the economic activities of migrants from African countries. Then, based on data from Eurostat and national statistics from Germany, France, Italy and the UK, the role of people from Africa in these countries population is shown. The reasons for the differences between these four countries in the dynamics and structure of immigration from Africa are explained. Statistics of refugees, naturalized persons over the past 10 years, foreign citizens and residents with migration past are considered. France is the leader in the number of migrants, mainly due to people from French-speaking countries of North and West Africa. Italy stands out because it is targeted by many illegal migrant routes due to its geographical proximity to this region. The UK has become a target mainly for residents of former British colonies who are quite successful in naturalization in the United Kingdom (therefore, there are as many Africans without local passports in the UK as in Germany – 0.6 million). Further, it is shown that the key factor for taking a particular economic position in society is the status of migrants, their education also plays an important role (although Africans often work in places where a lower level of qualification is required than they have), as well as language barriers. There are big gender differences. At the end of the article we make conclusions about the problems of African migrants’ adaptation, although the EU countries cannot refuse to employ migrants in unattractive jobs in any case.

South Africans with albinism are among the most marginalised and vulnerable citizens yet very little attention is paid to protecting them from human rights violations. There have been several calls by people with albinism in South Africa to be classified as disabled. The question of whether albinism is classified as a disability or not is a controversial legal one, which does not always have a straightforward answer. A literature search indicates that in South Africa no comprehensive and analytical study has been carried out on the subject of albinism and disability, whereas this has already been addressed in court cases in the United States of America. This paper anticipates addressing this gap within a legal perspective. The objective of such an analysis is to understand the construction of disability under the Employment Equity Act in order to shed light on whether people with albinism qualify for the protection, which is afforded to people with disabilities in the work place. Foreign case law and international human rights law could shed new light on this longstanding grey area or stimulate the development of novel legal analytical strategies. This paper reviews the nature of disability claims in the workplace on grounds of albinism in the United States context, including factors contributing to disability claims; assessing the degree of impairment and the guidelines in assessing albinism related disability. Prior to this discussion, the paper explores the current working definition of disability in South Africa, which stems from the IMATU case, which relied significantly on a foreign precedent; the Sutton v United Airlines case as there was no indigenous precedent in South Africa to fall back on. It will be argued that the Sutton v United Airlines decision, referred to in the IMATU case is based on an insufficiently inclusive definition of disability. Specific cases that relied on the Sutton v United Airlines decision as a persuasive authority in determining whether albinism is a disability or not, will also be examined. While the United States of America has struck down the decision in the Sutton v United Airlines and amended its legislation to include a broader and less restrictive definition of disability, which includes present as well as past conditions and a subjective component of perceived disability, the South African definition of disability still remains narrow and less inclusive. The United States of America's amended legislation does not contain an exhaustive definition of disability; rather, an equality-based framework was chosen which considers changing biomedical, social and technological developments. This new definition highlights the fact that the emphasis must be on whether discrimination occurred rather than adherence to a strict definition of disability. Such a framework of disability includes a socio-political aspect, which places emphasis on human dignity, respect and the right to equality. Against this background, the comparative analysis raises specific issues that deserve attention, in particular that the unique disadvantages and negative stereotyping suffered by people with albinism should be recognised as unlawful conduct against people with disabilities as defined by legislation. Put differently, the discussion calls for a broader approach to viewing disability, which includes both a social and a human rights perspective. In taking the position that albinism related discrimination is socially constructed, the article also explores the mandate of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in as far as it relates to the social construction of disability. The paper argues that the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities affords a direction for an analysis of the discrimination faced by persons with albinism.

Abstract Background: Type-2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the most prevalent chronic and noncommunicable conditions both domestically and globally. The objective of this descriptive study was to examine how perceived social support impacted self-care management behavior among female African American and Caribbean populations. Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study recruited 42 African American and Caribbean women diagnosed with T2D (M = 69.1, SD = 12.0). Univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between (1) demographic characteristics, (2) desired and received social support variables, and (3) self-management behaviors. Results: Caribbean women residing in the United States were more likely to follow general diet (M = 5.38, SD = 1.43) and to engage in physical activity (M = 4.31, SD = 2.39), whereas African American women were more likely to follow a specific diabetes diet (M = 3.79, SD = 1.60) and to monitor their glucose (M = 5.70, SD = 1.75). Caribbean women living in the United States Virgin Islands were more likely to follow recommended foot care procedure (M = 4.65, SD = 1.36). A negative correlation occurred between female participants exercising and the desired support in exercising. Women who reported that they desired more support with physical activity exercised less (r s= −0.34; P = 0.04). No relationship was found between foot care procedure and demographic characteristics or social support variables (i.e. desired or received). Conclusion: This study suggests directions for future studies that would examine the dynamics of social support and T2D self-management behaviors, and this study might be relevant to other Caribbean and African American communities with T2D both in North America and the Caribbean.

Within American sociolinguistics there is a substantial body of research on race as a social variable that conditions language behavior, particularly with regard to black speakers of African American English (AAE) in contact with their white neighbors (e.g., Wolfram, 1971; Rickford, 1985; Myhill, 1986; Bailey, 2001; Cukor-Avila, 2001). Today, the communities that sociolinguists study are more multi-layered than ever, particularly in a metropolis like New York City, thus warranting more complex analyses of the interaction between race and language. Along these lines, Spears (1988) notes the sorely underestimated social and linguistic heterogeneity of the black population in the U.S., which needs to be considered in studies of the language of black speakers. This critique is addressed in work of Winer and Jack (1997), as well as Nero (2001), for example, on the use of Caribbean English in New York City. These two studies broaden our notions of the Englishes spoken in the United States by black people, particularly first generation immigrants. The current research goes one step further with an examination of the English spoken by children of black immigrants to New York City.We focus on second generation Caribbean populations whose parents migrated from the English-speaking Caribbean to the United States, and who commonly refer to themselves as West Indians.

Slavery has always been condemned across the world; however in the end of the XX century, such canonical concept was rectified based on the extensive examination by American scholars of compilation of narratives of the former slaves collected in 1930s in the United States. At that time, 2,300 former slaves from 17 states were interviewed about their life in the era of slavery. Later, these interviews were placed in open access on the website of the Library of US Congress, reconstructing a contradictory picture of everyday life of African-Americans in the conditions of plantation economy: some reminiscences convey almost a nostalgic feeling of the past, while others criticizes it severely. The author in his attempt explain the historical accuracy of the results of mass interviewing of African-Americans, tries to make sense why 70 years later, the eyewitnesses of the same event have polar viewpoints. Forming the new comparative-historical approaches towards examination of collective consciousness under the influence of anthropologization of historical knowledge, the interview materials allow reconstructing the period, demonstrating the value system of the entire population group, unlike biography that structures the chain of events in chronological order. Analysis of the archive “Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938” has not been previously conducted within the Russian historiography, just briefly mentioned as one of the documentary aspects of the institution of slavery. The contained material is important for scientific comprehension of the bygone era of slavery, reflected in the collective memory of long-suffering African-American sub-ethnos. The problem of slavery in the United States, which synthesizes heritage of the past with practices of everyday life in various manifestations, seems optimal from the perspective of historiographical interest.

Aids in Africa AIDS (Acquired Immunization Deficiency Syndrome), first described in 1981 in the United States, is at present ascertained on every continent. Since its description, our knowledge about AIDS has advanced with giant steps, with regard to its causal agent, clinical image, biological effects and epidemiology. Although it is everywhere the same disease, its epidemiology and impact on society vary from one continent to another depending on the human, social and economic conditions of the countries which are affected. The first African cases were noticed in 1983. Since then the presence of AIDS has been confirmed in numerous sub-Saharan African countries. Our goal is to present here some characteristic features of the AIDS-epidemic in Africa and to offer some points of reflection for future action.

This research is a qualitative study that explores the gender role ideology of Black and White men between the ages of 18-30. The study found that both groups are moving toward egalitarianism on different pathways. The pathways illustrate the effect of racial identity on gender role ideology. White respondents had a progressive egalitarianism which stemmed from ideas reflected individualism, secularization, and the identification with the grand narrative of the United States. Their respondents also reflected postmodern ideas. Overall their ideas reflect larger White racial identity and shows an overlap between the progressive understanding of modernity and with postmodernist ideas of non-deterministic definitions. Black respondents had a collaborative egalitarianism which stemmed from historical racial and economic deprivation. Subsequently, Blacks gender role ideology illustrates collaboration and communal interdependence between of Black men and women, and the Black church. Blacks tended to view things from a social perspective that was often reactionary. Overall, their ideas reflected the larger Black racial identity which emphasizes collaboration between men and women and a reliance on community based institutions like the Black church.

Historically, blacks have viewed their lower socioeconomic status, relative to whites, as a result of structural limitations of society. People, white and black, have accepted that blacks have had more difficulty in making economic advancement due to societal barriers such as discrimination. As structural barriers have come down and it has become easier for blacks to move into the economic mainstream, it may be that those blacks who are moving upward no longer see structural limitations as the reason for economic inequality.Recent research distinguishes between two types of explanations for the gap. Theindividual explanation asserts that blacks' lower socioeconomic status is due to a lack of will power or effort on the part of blacks. In contrast, the structural explanation states that institutional barriers such as discrimination are to blame for the black-white socioeconomic gap. This study laid a solid foundation for an analysis of explanations for the black-white socioeconomic gap. However, it failed to investigate the relative proportion of blacks who adopt these explanations.It is the purpose of this paper to determine whether the individual and structural explanations for economic inequality is the same for blacks and whites.The most recent data from the General Social Survey is used to investigate this possibility. The sample and sub-sample sizes are 1517 and 1024, respectfully.
Department of Sociology

This study presents results from a survey of 108 African American women. Survey questions covered attitudes towards marriage, qualities of an ideal spouse, and opinions of African American men in general.

During the antebellum period of U.S. slavery (1830-1861), many people claimed ownership of the enslaved woman's body, both legally and figuratively. The assumption that they were merely property, however, belies the unstable, shifting truths about bodily ownership. This thesis inquires into the gendered specifics and ambiguities of the law, the body, and women under slavery. By examining the particular bodily regulation and exploitation of enslaved women, especially around their reproductive labor, I suggest that new operations of oppression and also of resistance come into focus. The legal structure recognized enslaved women in the interest of owners, and this limitation was defining, meaning that justice flowed in one direction. If married white women were "civilly dead," as famously evoked by the Declaration of Sentiments (1848) then enslaved women were civilly non-existent. The law controlled, but did not protect slaves, and a number of opponents to slavery denounced this contradictory scenario during the antebellum era (and before). Literally, enslaved women were claimed by their masters, purchased and sold as chattel. Physically, they were claimed by those men (both white and black) who sought to have power over them. Symbolically, they were claimed by anti-slavers and pro-slavers alike when it suited their purposes, often in the domains of news and literature, for the sake of advancing their ideas, a rich record of which fills court cases, newsprint, and propaganda touching the slavery issue before the civil war. Due to the numerous ways that enslaved women's bodies have been claimed, owned, or circulated in markets, it may have been considered implicit to many that others owned their bodies. I believe that this is an oversimplified historical supposition that needs to be re-theorized. Indeed, enslaved women lived in a time when they were often led to believe that their bodies were not truly their own, and yet, many of them resisted their particular forms of oppression by claiming ownership of their bodies and those of their children; sometimes using rather extreme methods to keep from contributing to their oppression. In other words, slave owners' monopoly of the legal, economic, and logistical meanings of ownership of slaves had to be constantly reaffirmed and negotiated. This thesis asks: who owned the enslaved woman's body? I seek to emphasize that enslaved women were valid claimants of themselves as can seen in primary sources that today have only been given limited expression in the historiography.

The purpose of this research study was to determine what effect, if any, the role of parental divorce would have on African Americans' ability to form satisfying adult romantic relationships and on their socioeconomic status. The groups were divided into those who had experienced parental divorce prior to age thirteen (adult children of divorce) and those whose parents were still married when the respondent was thirteen (intact families). Respondents were recruited via online postings, correspondence with organizations and word of mouth.A survey packet was created to measure relationship satisfaction, reactions to conflict in relationships and demographic data to ascertain how similar or dissimilar the respondents were as well as their self-reported income level. Surveys were made available in paper format before being placed on an online university sponsored survey site where the majority of surveys were completed. The data were analyzed using a one way multiple analysis of variance to assess for differences in relationship satisfaction and conflict response and a chi square test of significance to assess for differences in socioeconomic status.The results showed that there was little difference between ACOD and respondents from intact families on relationship satisfaction or how they responded to conflict. Respondents from intact homes showed significantly higher scores on two of the survey subscales, investment (Multiple Determinants of Relationship Quality Inventory) and passion (Perceived Relationship Quality Components Inventory). This group also indicated that they handled conflict in their relationships better and their partners used more positive means to deal with conflict in their relationships than did the ACOD group. The ACOD respondents, however, had significantly higher income levels, which amounted to approximately two thousand dollars in salary per year.While the differences were minor, the similarity between group mean and responses would indicate that for this sample the experience of parental divorce did not create a permanent adverse effect on their SES or their ability to form healthy adult romantic relationships.
Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This dissertation analyzes a black family's social, cultural, and educational experiences including factors related to their successes and failures during the past century in the United States. These experiences span the eras of segregation, desegregation, and integration. Specifically, the study examines what this family's members view as their strengths and weaknesses and how each has contributed to their high and low levels of achievement in school and society. Such data can be useful and applicable to black families and other cultural groups as they strive to achieve in school and society. This first-hand information can be valuable for identifying the specific issues and problems impacting the families being studied. Findings from these empirical data can contribute to the betterment of schools and society as families, educators, policy makers, and others focus on addressing these issues and seeking solutions to the problems. Sleeter's (1991) research includes varying theoretical views regarding the value of voice and empowerment for the betterment of individuals, education, and society. Ruiz (as cited in Sleeter, 1991) theorizes that having a voice implies not just that people can say things but that they are heard (that is, their words have status and influence), and Banks (as cited in Sleeter, 1991) suggests that "the position of the U.S. as a world leader demands that we deal more effectively and constructively with the enormous cultural differences in our society" (p. 297). Given the cultural diversity within the American population, it is deemed appropriate to include for this black family study an in-depth discussion regarding other families from various cultures, namely, Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and Jews. Chapter 2 examines each group's experiences since their initial contact with the Anglo or dominant cultural group. Findings from this family research study can contribute to the betterment of America by providing perspectives to enhance intra/intercultural relationships among various cultural groups in our society. Enhanced familial and cultural relationships can be valuable not only to my family but to other groups and their families as they seek success in school and society.

This dissertation is based on Sociocultural Theory, Social Learning Theory and Trauma Theory, as well as a new theoretical framework (Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome) which takes into account multigenerational trauma. Five research questions involving independent variables believed to predict violent behavior in African American male youth were investigated. The first three questions addressed stressors experienced by African Americans: violence witnessing, violence victimization, and daily urban hassles. The fourth and fifth questions concerned the sociocultural characteristics of racial socialization and prosocial attitudes toward respect. Participants were 200 African American male youth residing in inner Northeast Portland, Oregon who were recruited from four organizations: The Portland House of Umoja residential facility, McLaren Youth Correctional Facility, Donald E. Long Youth Correctional Facility and the Bridge Builders Gentlemen's Rites of Passage Program. The study included two groups of African American male youth ages 14 to 18, 100 of whom were incarcerated and 100 of whom were non-incarcerated. All five independent variables significantly predicted use of violence in separate regression equations. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the strongest predictor of the use of violence was victimization extent which alone accounted for 43.3% of the total variance in use of violence. In the second step of the regression, witnessing was added to the equation which increased the explained variance to 49.2%. The third and final step added prosocial attitudes toward respect to the regression accounting for a total of 51.2% of the variance of the extent of the use of violence. Variables excluded from the final regression equation were racial socialization and urban hassles which failed to significantly increase the prediction of the criterion variable of extent of use of violence. The data provide evidence that trauma characteristics of absent mothers, witnessing violence, experiencing violence, and feeling disrespected by others are key factors that can provide practitioners a better lens to use in assessment and treatment planning than the current response of punishment and incarceration for displays of violent behavior.

This paper explores the issue of reparation and how institutionalized racism in the United States has influenced the outcome for the following ethnic groups - Japanese Americans, Black Americans and Native Americans.

AbstractRecent large wildfires in the USA have exposed millions of people to smoke, with major implications for health and other social and economic values. Prescribed burning for ecosystem health purposes and hazardous fuel reduction also adds smoke to the atmosphere, in some cases affecting adjacent communities. However, we currently lack an appropriate assessment framework that looks past the planned versus unplanned nature of a fire and assesses the environmental conditions under which particular fires burn, their socio-ecological settings, and implications for smoke production and management. A strong scientific foundation is needed to address wildland fire smoke challenges, especially given that degraded air quality and smoke exposure will likely increase in extent and severity as the climate gets warmer. It will be especially important to provide timely and accurate smoke information to help communities mitigate potential smoke impacts from ongoing wildfires, as well as from planned prescribed fires. This assessment focuses on primary physical, chemical, biological, and social considerations by documenting our current understanding of smoke science and how the research community can collaborate with resource managers and regulators to advance smoke science over the next decade.

Abstract This chapter provides an overview of the policy infrastructure and key policies in place concerning the social rights of Danish citizens residing abroad. It builds on evidence from legal and administrative documents, on communications with key informants, as well as on existing studies and reports concerning the Danish Government’s approach to emigration and diaspora policies. Concrete cases for this study are five countries where the largest Danish diaspora concentrate: Sweden, Norway, Germany, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. It argues that reliance on supra-national agreements, previous rather negative public opinion about emigrants as well as the residence principle embedded in the qualifying conditions for social benefits are three main factors which explain the limited attention currently given by the Danish Government to diaspora policies, in particular the social protection of Danish citizens residing abroad.

AbstractDuring the early months of the 2020 pandemic, migrants who travelled to the United States to pick crops, scrub floors, stock warehouses, and tend to elders became ‘heroes’ for performing necessary labour – unless they were surplus bodies crammed into prison-like detention waystations before being deported for the crime of arriving without proper papers. The pandemic intensified states of precarity. Especially among those labelled as ‘essential workers’, the lack of protective equipment and labour rights put them on the frontline of exposure. But domestic and home care workers, meatpackers, fieldhands, and others in the US stepped out of the shadows to demand inclusion in social assistance, occupational health and safety laws, and other state benefits. This chapter historicises the recent hardships and the organising of (im)migrant workers: it shows that the policies of Donald J. Trump were not an aberration, but part of a national pattern of racial differentiation with gendered inflections. Vulnerability, however, is only part of the story. Workers remained resilient in the face of the hidden enemy of Covid-19, as they sought safe and decent living and working conditions.

AbstractTarget 16.5 of SDGs aims to “Substantially reduce corruptionand bribery in all their forms.” It is widely accepted in economics that corruption aggravates the overall economic performance of a society. However, previous studies have also shown that firms providing bribes to public officials are likely to record higher sales growth, while public officials undoubtedly enjoy extra income or entertainment. Domestic and international actors have fought against corruption for long, but most of these efforts have failed, mainly due to the reluctance of public officials who benefit from the entangled networks of corruption. Corruption has become an equilibrium of the interactions of a variety of societal actors, which is thus considered a social institution. Historically, all societies were corrupt by today’s standards, but some of them have successfully overcome the hardship of escaping the equilibrium of corruption, achieving a more transparent society. The examples of such societies include Britain, the United States, Hong Kong and Singapore. These cases indicate that the strong political will of powerful elites is necessary for successful transitions. Many developing countries do not meet such conditions, which is a strait gate for a fair and transparent society.

Recent conversations about African American families leaving urban neighborhoods to move to the suburbs are spreading on cable news and social media. Historically, those living conditions were in the neighborhoods with low-quality housing and high crime rates compared to suburban neighborhoods. According to Bialik, more than six million African Americans who lived in urban communities in United States have migrated to the suburbs to take advantage of improved housing and safer environment. This chapter explores the challenges of isolation for African American movement to suburbanization.

This chapter begins with Esther's story, a woman residing in Nairobi who confronts convergent social and health conditions from food insecurity to diabetes, HIV, and financial stress. The story demonstrates how a global story of diabetes overlooks the unique social, political, and cultural factors that produce diabetes from place to place. The chapter positions the book within the anthropological literature on diabetes and social suffering and introduces the idea that diabetes is always "syndemic" – or convergent with social and health problems. The chapters suggests that social pathways link arduous life experiences with biological risk, revealing important psychophysiological pathways between social stress and metabolic distress. The chapter also introduces the book, a multi-method study of diabetes among low-income communities in the United States, India, South Africa, and Kenya.

This chapter critically analyzes the work of contemporary transgender spoken word poet, performance artist, and musician Ellison Glenn. Specifically, it focuses on how Glenn forges a critique of the current political, social, and economic conditions of African Americans in the United States and abroad. Glenn’s early days of participating in poetry slam competitions and his reappropriation of minstrelsy are documented alongside his critique of hip-hop masculinity and his adoption of the performance persona Black Cracker. Black Cracker enables Glenn to move his work beyond the US-based spoken word circuit, resulting in his imagining and performing a multiplicity of trans and queer racial identities in a mode defined as trans-Afrofuturism.

This chapter explains that union workers have often fought to have a say over an employer's business practices and governance, attempting to negotiate over far more than wages and worksite conditions. It describes unions in Germany, South Africa, and countries throughout South America that have a role in governing a company's business practices in addition to negotiating a fair wage. Many unions in the United States have been attempting to overcome challenges through various forms of social movement unionism. The chapter reviews community organizations and unions in coalition with others that have fought for quality public schools, hospitals, mass transit, affordable housing, and the regulation of health and the environment to create a civil society. Unions who have largely followed the traditional models for bargaining move to broaden the scope of what is negotiated to include the community interests where workers' families live.

This chapter discusses the US international empire in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since the 1920s. Constructed by both US multinational oil companies (MNOCs) and the US government, US empire in the MENA sought to ensure the cheap, plentiful flow of oil from the region to Western consumers. However, US and European empires in the MENA generated popular local resistance to client regimes and their Western backers. This resistance to the US-led order developed in part due to poor labor and human rights conditions, cultural and religious alienation toward encroaching foreign social systems (including capitalism), and nationalist aspirations. This situation increasingly led oil-rich US allies in the MENA to collaborate with each other and additional oil-rich countries to challenge the US-dictated terms of the global petroleum economy. Growing US support for Israel would likewise increasingly push US-allied, oil-rich Arab governments to join Arab countries more hostile to Washington in challenging the United States.

English is one of the most spoken languages in the world. A global language communication is inherent in him. This language is also distinguished by a significant diversity of dialects and speech. It appeared in the early Middle Ages as the spoken language of the Anglo-Saxons. The formation of the British Empire and its expansion led to the widespread English language in Asia, Africa, North America and Australia. As a result, the Metropolitan language became the main communication language in the English colonies, and after independence it became State (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) and official (India, Nigeria, Singapore). Being one of the 6 Official Languages of the UN, it is studied as a foreign language in educational institutions of many countries in the modern time [1, 2, s. 12-14]. Despite the dozens of varieties of English, the American (American English) version, which appeared on the territory of the United States, is one of the most widespread. More than 80 per cent of the population in this country knows the American version of the British language as its native language. Although the American version of the British language is not defined as the official language in the US Federal Constitution, it acts with features and standards reinforced in the lexical sphere, the media and the education system. The growing political and economic power of the United States after World War II also had a significant impact on the expansion of the American version of the British language [3]. Currently, this language version has become one of the main topics of scientific research in the field of linguistics, philology and other similar spheres. It should also be emphasized that the American version of the British language paved the way for the creation of thousands of words and expressions, took its place in the general language of English and the world lexicon. “Okay”, “teenager”, “hitchhike”, “landslide” and other words can be shown in this row. The impact of differences in the life and life of colonists in the United States and Great Britain on this language was not significant either. The role of Nature, Climate, Environment and lifestyle should also be appreciated here. There is no officially confirmed language accent in the United States. However, most speakers of national media and, first of all, the CNN channel use the dialect “general American accent”. Here, the main accent of “mid Pppemestern” has been guided. It should also be noted that this accent is inherent in a very small part of the U.S. population, especially in Nebraska, Iowa, and Illinois. But now all Americans easily understand and speak about it. As for the current state of the American version of the British language, we can say that there are some hypotheses in this area. A number of researchers perceive it as an independent language, others-as an English variant. The founder of American spelling, American and British lexicographer, linguist Noah Pondebster treats him as an independent language. He also tried to justify this in his work “the American Dictionary of English” written in 1828 [4]. This position was expressed by a Scottish-born English philologist, one of the authors of the “American English Dictionary”Sir Alexander Craigie, American linguist Raven ioor McDavid Jr. and others also confirm [5]. The second is the American linguist Leonard Bloomfield, one of the creators of the descriptive direction of structural linguistics, and other American linguists Edward Sapir and Charles Francis Hockett. There is also another group of “third parties” that accept American English as a regional dialect [5, 6]. A number of researchers [2] have shown that the accent or dialect in the US on the person contains significantly less data in itself than in the UK. In Great Britain, a dialect speaker is viewed as a person with a low social environment or a low education. It is difficult to perceive this reality in the US environment. That is, a person's speech in the American version of the British language makes it difficult to express his social background. On the other hand, the American version of the British language is distinguished by its faster pace [7, 8]. One of the main characteristic features of the American language array is associated with the emphasis on a number of letters and, in particular, the pronunciation of the letter “R”. Thus, in British English words like “port”, “more”, “dinner” the letter “R” is not pronounced at all. Another trend is related to the clear pronunciation of individual syllables in American English. Unlike them, the Britons “absorb”such syllables in a number of similar words [8]. Despite all these differences, an analysis of facts and theoretical knowledge shows that the emergence and formation of the American version of the British language was not an accidental and chaotic process. The reality is that the life of the colonialists had a huge impact on American English. These processes were further deepened by the growing migration trends at the later historical stage. Thus, the language of the English-speaking migrants in America has been developed due to historical conditions, adapted to the existing living environment and new life realities. On the other hand, the formation of this independent language was also reflected in the purposeful policy of the newly formed US state. Thus, the original British words were modified and acquired a fundamentally new meaning. Another point here was that the British acharism, which had long been out of use, gained a new breath and actively entered the speech circulation in the United States. Thus, the analysis shows that the American version of the British language has specific features. It was formed and developed as a result of colonization and expansion. This development is still ongoing and is one of the languages of millions of US states and people, as well as audiences of millions of people. Keywords: American English, English, linguistics, accent.

Abstract In the past decades, financial institutions have led the way for companies to adhere to international standards for social performance. The journey began in the Industrial Revolution, when negative societal business impacts rapidly escalated, which led people to demand for their management. Initially focused on working conditions, impacts on the environment soon started to gain notice. Halfway through the 20th century, a combination of oil spills and mass media attention generated enough public pressure for the United States to sign the first piece of legislation requiring the environmental impact assessment. With this law and its replication abroad, however, came the concern with social impacts as well. Both environmental and social performance expectations soon spread internationally and, by the 1980s, multilateral financial institutions, most prominently the World Bank, incorporated such considerations into their investment and lending practices, which is the source of all such international standards today. These standards require the establishment of a social management system to integrate risk and impact management processes and stakeholder engagement activities. Given the challenge of implementing these requirements, a social risk management development framework is proposed to bring together the extensive and multidisciplinary demands of effective social performance. Five development areas are proposed: governance, social policy, tools, resourcing and capacity, and knowledge sharing. This is an important step to take today as it is expected that the next decades will see these international demands increase, possibly by ever increasing governmental regulation.

Students and practitioners of architecture challenge the hegemonic Whiteness, maleness, cisheteronormativity, and capitalist control of these disciplines as a means of democratizing and decolonizing practice to create conditions for Black self-determination. This paper considers how architectural professionals have responded to contemporary movements for social justice in the United States and the ways in which some are more and some less successful at addressing the intersecting nature of identity-based oppressions. Organizations and convenings, including the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), Black in Design, the Design Futures Public Interest Design Student Leadership Forum, Equity by Design, and the Architecture Lobby are considered from 2012 to the pre-pandemic spring of 2020, with a focus on the emergence of new spaces and shifts in how existing spaces engage with activist movements as a result of changing political conditions. The paper provides historical background and constructive critique. It concludes with recommendations for creating institutions that respond proactively, rather than reactively, to racist violence, sexual harassment, assault, and exploitation, and for making lasting meaning of these injustices when they occur. The roles Black people and other people of color, particularly women, have played, and the roles White people, particularly men, and White institutions must play in creating an antiracist, feminist architecture are a focus of this paper.

The purpose of this research is to learn how youth aged 11–14 understand highly aggregated data about social and economic conditions, especially related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We designed an after-school program that introduces students to data broadly in the context of “using data for social good.” Using CODAP, an educational data visualization tool, students explore data about countries’ health and education indicators. We observe that youth are highly engaged with these data yet sometimes struggle to make sense of the aggregate values that hide variability within countries. Using examples from student projects, this paper reports preliminary findings about how youth analyze data aggregated by governmental entities such as countries, states, or cities.

This study aims to identify urban resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, England, and China. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a terrible impact on the lives of many citizens, especially in urban areas. Cities are the central point of economic growth and governance, cities must continue the function even in conditions of crisis or disaster. So that it becomes interesting to review the strategies of big cities in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used a simple statistical method, and bibliometric analysis was performed using VOSviewer software. Scientific literature data was taken from the Scopus database which was searched with the keywords urban resilience and covid 19 with a range of 2019 to 2022. limitations on authors or affiliations of the 3 countries in literature publications, namely the united states, England and China. This analysis includes a number of publications, citation analysis, and visualization of co-occurrence patterns of the most frequently occurring keywords. Bibliometric analysis shows the United States leading the way in article publication with 25 articles, followed by England and China with 15 articles each. The results of data analysis show that the initial strategy of urban resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic in the three countries was carried out by limiting community activities in public spaces to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19 disease. In addition, the urban resilience strategy is carried out by building integrated health services and digital infrastructure and carrying out transportation management. Another strategy is to build public spaces that can provide social distancing and provide easier access to information and communication technology for the entire citizens. In future research, it is hoped that we can discuss how to transform the strategy by adjusting to the style of the city and the needs of the citizens.

В данной статье определены ведущие тенденции развития Российской Федерации в условиях введённых санкций, рассмотрен вопрос их влияния на различные сферы жизни общества и обозначены пути решения возникших проблем. Высказываются рекомендации по преодолению санкций и развитию в новых политических и экономических реалиях отдельных отраслей социально-экономической политики российского государства — здравоохранения, социального обеспечения, образования, туризма, экономики и др. Перечисляется перечень возможных последствий от введённых санкций, как положительных, так и отрицательных. Научная новизна работы заключается в том, что на Российскую Федерацию в настоящее время ежедневно накладываются всё новые и новые пакеты санкций со стороны ряда европейских государств и США. Целью исследования является изучение информации о сложившейся в настоящее время ситуации в нашем государстве и последующее определение влияния на обстановку в стране введённых санкций, последствиями которых выступают уходы с российского рынка многочисленных компаний. Проанализировав статью, можно сделать краткие выводы: 1. Тенденция импортозамещения позволит нашему государству выйти на новый экономический уровень, стать независимым от европейского рынка, а также снизить общий уровень цен на российском рынке. 2. Малый и средний бизнес при нынешних условиях лишается большей части конкурентов и получает стимул на развитие, в том числе в сфере туризма. 3. Политическая сфера также получает шанс на развитие посредством поднятия рейтинга доверия населения к действующей власти. 4. Санкции положили начало модернизации права в социальной сфере, так как осуществляется принятие новых законов по степени возникновения новых санкций. 5. Единственной отрицательной особенностью выступает психологическая атмосфера населения – повышается общая тревожность в обществе. Однако, при ускоренном развитии всех вышеперечисленных сфер, это явление быстро пойдёт на спад, так как в таком случае люди убедятся в незначительности последствий санкций. This article identifies the leading trends in the development of the Russian Federation under the imposed sanctions, examines the issue of their impact on various spheres of society and identifies ways to solve the problems that have arisen. Recommendations are made on overcoming sanctions and developing certain branches of the socio-economic policy of the Russian state in the new political and economic realities — healthcare, social security, education, tourism, economy, etc. The list of possible consequences from the imposed sanctions, both positive and negative, is listed. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that new and new packages of sanctions from a number of European states and the United States are being imposed on the Russian Federation every day. The purpose of the study is to study information about the current situation in our country and the subsequent determination of the impact on the situation in the country of the sanctions imposed, the consequences of which are the departures from the Russian market of numerous companies. After analyzing the article, we can draw brief conclusions: 1. The trend of import substitution will allow our state to reach a new economic level, become independent from the European market, and also reduce the overall price level in the Russian market. 2. Under the current conditions, small and medium-sized businesses lose most of their competitors and receive an incentive to develop, including in the tourism sector. 3. The political sphere also gets a chance to develop by raising the rating of public confidence in the current government. 4. Sanctions marked the beginning of the modernization of law in the social sphere, as the adoption of new laws is carried out according to the degree of occurrence of new sanctions. 5. The only negative feature is the psychological atmosphere of the population – the general anxiety in society increases. However, with the accelerated development of all of the above areas, this phenomenon will quickly decline, since in this case people will be convinced of the insignificance of the consequences of sanctions.

"Police officers are some of the first professionals that might have direct interaction with individuals with mental illnesses. Statistics show that from 2017 to 2020 about 3986 individuals in the United States were fatally shot by police officers (Statista, 2021). These reports indicate that at least 25% and as many as 50% of all fatal shootings involved individuals with untreated severe mental illness. The purpose of this pilot study was to test the effectiveness of a five-day psycho-educational mental health awareness training in enhancing law enforcement officers’ knowledge about mental illness, and their perceptions towards mentally ill individuals using a pretest-posttest design. The Community Attitudes Towards the Mentally Ill (CAMI) scale was used to measure participants’four mental health attitudinal domains - authoritarianism, benevolence, social restrictiveness, and community mental health ideology. The results indicate that at the completion of the training there was an increase in participants’ confidence about their knowledge of the mentally ill individuals and mental illness conditions. However, the results also indicate a slight decrease in participants' mental illness social restrictiveness sentiment after the completion of the training. Additionally, the results also show a correlation between demographic variables and some of the domains. Implications for practice are discussed."

Recent high profile exposure and rupture of pipelines at river crossings in the United States (U.S.) has raised the awareness of riverine hazards and the corresponding risks of operating pipeline river crossings. The decadal tendencies for rivers to change vertically (i.e. scour and deposition) and horizontally (i.e. channel migration) increases the risk to ageing pipeline systems. The corresponding cost of the consequences from potential exposures, damages or even ruptures at river crossings has re-defined the risk regime for planning, permitting, designing, installing, operating, and regulating river crossings. Pipeline systems installed decades ago frequently did not incorporate state of the art hydrotechnical engineering approaches, and did not address long-term channel scour and erosion dynamics, instead setting sagbends and burial depths relative to active (i.e. short term) channel conditions and not planning for long-term geomorphic trends. Planning for river crossing routing assessments now include increasing awareness of how riverine systems function. Hydrotechnical studies incorporate hydrologic, hydraulic, and fluvial geomorphic assessments and investigations, as well as environmental, social, and land inputs to the planning, permitting, design and construction processes. Recent high profile damage, exposure, and in some cases rupture of pipelines in river crossings has brought these issues into the public domain. Pipeline regulatory agencies and congressional oversight in the U.S. has responded to recent pipeline incidents in dynamic riverine conditions with increased permit planning, design and operation requirements. This paper will discuss the ways changing rivers are resulting in increasing challenges for pipeline operators, and discusses how Williams Northwest Pipeline (NWP) has implemented several practical mitigation measures to proactively address river crossing risks.

Thus far in reporting the findings of our project “Fifty Years After: Black Employment in the United States Under the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,” our analysis of what has happened to African American employment over the past half century has documented the importance of manufacturing employment to the upward socioeconomic mobility of Blacks in the 1960s and 1970s and the devastating impact of rationalization—the permanent elimination of blue-collar employment—on their socioeconomic mobility in the 1980s and beyond. The upward mobility of Blacks in the earlier decades was based on the Old Economy business model (OEBM) with its characteristic “career-with-one-company” (CWOC) employment relations. At its launching in 1965, the policy approach of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission assumed the existence of CWOC, providing corporate employees, Blacks included, with a potential path for upward socioeconomic mobility over the course of their working lives by gaining access to productive opportunities and higher pay through stable employment within companies. It was through these internal employment structures that Blacks could potentially overcome barriers to the long legacy of job and pay discrimination. In the 1960s and 1970s, the generally growing availability of unionized semiskilled jobs gave working people, including Blacks, the large measure of employment stability as well as rising wages and benefits characteristic of the lower levels of the middle class. The next stage in this process of upward socioeconomic mobility should have been—and in a nation as prosperous as the United States could have been—the entry of the offspring of the new Black blue-collar middle class into white-collar occupations requiring higher educations. Despite progress in the attainment of college degrees, however, Blacks have had very limited access to the best employment opportunities as professional, technical, and administrative personnel at U.S. technology companies. Since the 1980s, the barriers to African American upward socioeconomic mobility have occurred within the context of the marketization (the end of CWOC) and globalization (accessibility to transnational labor supplies) of high-tech employment relations in the United States. These new employment relations, which stress interfirm labor mobility instead of intrafirm employment structures in the building of careers, are characteristic of the rise of the New Economy business model (NEBM), as scrutinized in William Lazonick’s 2009 book, Sustainable Prosperity in the New Economy? Business Organization and High-Tech Employment in the United States (Upjohn Institute). In this paper, we analyze the exclusion of Blacks from STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) occupations, using EEO-1 employment data made public, voluntarily and exceptionally, for various years between 2014 and 2020 by major tech companies, including Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Cisco, Facebook (now Meta), Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Intel, Microsoft, PayPal, Salesforce, and Uber. These data document the vast over-representation of Asian Americans and vast under-representation of African Americans at these tech companies in recent years. The data also shine a light on the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of large masses of lower-paid labor in the United States at leading U.S. tech companies, including tens of thousands of sales workers at Apple and hundreds of thousands of laborers & helpers at Amazon. In the cases of Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Intel, we have access to EEO-1 data from earlier decades that permit in-depth accounts of the employment transitions that characterized the demise of OEBM and the rise of NEBM. Given our findings from the EEO-1 data analysis, our paper then seeks to explain the enormous presence of Asian Americans and the glaring absence of African Americans in well-paid employment under NEBM. A cogent answer to this question requires an understanding of the institutional conditions that have determined the availability of qualified Asians and Blacks to fill these employment opportunities as well as the access of qualified people by race, ethnicity, and gender to the employment opportunities that are available. Our analysis of the racial/ethnic determinants of STEM employment focuses on a) stark differences among racial and ethnic groups in educational attainment and performance relevant to accessing STEM occupations, b) the decline in the implementation of affirmative-action legislation from the early 1980s, c) changes in U.S. immigration policy that favored the entry of well-educated Asians, especially with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990, and d) consequent social barriers that qualified Blacks have faced relative to Asians and whites in accessing tech employment as a result of a combination of statistical discrimination against African Americans and their exclusion from effective social networks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and worsened the depth of inequality in West Africa. It has pushed millions into poverty. There is no end in sight due to the obscene global vaccine inequality, which means that less than 4% of West Africans had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as at September 2021, compared with 52% in the United States and 57% in the European Union. In 2021, when COVID-19 infections are rising in West Africa, the critical support health and socioeconomic programmes put in place by most governments in 2020 are being rolled back and replaced with austerity. Many governments are following advice from the IMF and World Bank, reminiscent of the severe cuts in spending imposed under the structural adjustment policies of the 1980s and 1990s. However, as this paper argues, the pandemic offers West African governments a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest heavily in inequality-busting policies by boosting public spending (especially on healthcare, education and social protection), making tax systems more progressive, and tackling joblessness and precarious work. This report uses the Commitment to Reducing Inequality Index (CRII) framework devised by Oxfam and Development Finance International to assess the policies of West African governments. Visit the CRI Index website to learn more: www.inequalityindex.org.

Background. In the United States, patients referred to as high-need, high-cost (HNHC) constitute a very small percentage of the patient population but account for a disproportionally high level of healthcare use and cost. Payers, health systems, and providers would like to improve the quality of care and health outcomes for HNHC patients and reduce their costly use of potentially preventable or modifiable healthcare services, including emergency department (ED) and hospital visits. Methods. We assessed evidence of criteria that identify HNHC patients (best fit framework synthesis); developed program theories on the relationship among contexts, mechanisms, and outcomes of interventions intended to change HNHC patient behaviors (realist review); and assessed the effectiveness of interventions (systematic review). We searched databases, gray literature, and other sources for evidence available from January 1, 2000, to March 4, 2021. We included quantitative and qualitative studies of HNHC patients (high healthcare use or cost) age 18 and over who received intervention services in a variety of settings. Results. We included 110 studies (117 articles). Consistent with our best fit framework, characteristics associated with HNHC include patient chronic clinical conditions, behavioral health factors including depression and substance use disorder, and social risk factors including homelessness and poverty. We also identified prior healthcare use and race as important predictors. We found limited evidence of approaches for distinguishing potentially preventable or modifiable high use from all high use. To understand how and why interventions work, we developed three program theories in our realist review that explain (1) targeting HNHC patients, (2) engaging HNHC patients, and (3) engaging care providers in these interventions. Theories identify the need for individualizing and tailoring services for HNHC patients and the importance of building trusting relationships. For our systematic review, we categorized evidence based on primary setting. We found that ED-, primary care–, and home-based care models result in reduced use of healthcare services (moderate to low strength of evidence [SOE]); ED, ambulatory intensive caring unit, and primary care-based models result in reduced costs (low SOE); and system-level transformation and telephonic/mail models do not result in changes in use or costs (low SOE). Conclusions. Patient characteristics can be used to identify patients who are potentially HNHC. Evidence focusing specifically on potentially preventable or modifiable high use was limited. Based on our program theories, we conclude that individualized and tailored patient engagement and resources to support care providers are critical to the success of interventions. Although we found evidence of intervention effectiveness in relation to cost and use, the studies identified in this review reported little information for determining why individual programs work, for whom, and when.

Macroeconomic summary Several factors contributed to an increase in projected inflation on the forecast horizon, keeping it above the target rate. These included inflation in December that surpassed expectations (5.62%), indexation to higher inflation rates for various baskets in the consumer price index (CPI), a significant real increase in the legal minimum wage, persistent external and domestic inflationary supply shocks, and heightened exchange rate pressures. The CPI for foods was affected by the persistence of external and domestic supply shocks and was the most significant contributor to unexpectedly high inflation in the fourth quarter. Price adjustments for fuels and certain utilities can explain the acceleration in inflation for regulated items, which was more significant than anticipated. Prices in the CPI for goods excluding food and regulated items also rose more than expected. This was partly due to a smaller effect on prices from the national government’s VAT-free day than anticipated by the technical staff and more persistent external pressures, including via peso depreciation. By contrast, the CPI for services excluding food and regulated items accelerated less than expected, partly reflecting strong competition in the communications sector. This was the only major CPI basket for which prices increased below the target inflation rate. The technical staff revised its inflation forecast upward in response to certain external shocks (prices, costs, and depreciation) and domestic shocks (e.g., on meat products) that were stronger and more persistent than anticipated in the previous report. Observed inflation and a real increase in the legal minimum wage also exceeded expectations, which would boost inflation by affecting price indexation, labor costs, and inflation expectations. The technical staff now expects year-end headline inflation of 4.3% in 2022 and 3.4% in 2023; core inflation is projected to be 4.5% and 3.6%, respectively. These forecasts consider the lapse of certain price relief measures associated with the COVID-19 health emergency, which would contribute to temporarily keeping inflation above the target on the forecast horizon. It is important to note that these estimates continue to contain a significant degree of uncertainty, mainly related to the development of external and domestic supply shocks and their ultimate effects on prices. Other contributing factors include high price volatility and measurement uncertainty related to the extension of Colombia’s health emergency and tax relief measures (such as the VAT-free days) associated with the Social Investment Law (Ley de Inversión Social). The as-yet uncertain magnitude of the effects of a recent real increase in the legal minimum wage (that was high by historical standards) and high observed and expected inflation, are additional factors weighing on the overall uncertainty of the estimates in this report. The size of excess productive capacity remaining in the economy and the degree to which it is closing are also uncertain, as the evolution of the pandemic continues to represent a significant forecast risk. margin, could be less dynamic than expected. And the normalization of monetary policy in the United States could come more quickly than projected in this report, which could negatively affect international financing costs. Finally, there remains a significant degree of uncertainty related to the duration of supply chocks and the degree to which macroeconomic and political conditions could negatively affect the recovery in investment. The technical staff revised its GDP growth projection for 2022 from 4.7% to 4.3% (Graph 1.3). This revision accounts for the likelihood that a larger portion of the recent positive dynamic in private consumption would be transitory than previously expected. This estimate also contemplates less dynamic investment behavior than forecast in the previous report amid less favorable financial conditions and a highly uncertain investment environment. Third-quarter GDP growth (12.9%), which was similar to projections from the October report, and the fourth-quarter growth forecast (8.7%) reflect a positive consumption trend, which has been revised upward. This dynamic has been driven by both public and private spending. Investment growth, meanwhile, has been weaker than forecast. Available fourth-quarter data suggest that consumption spending for the period would have exceeded estimates from October, thanks to three consecutive months that included VAT-free days, a relatively low COVID-19 caseload, and mobility indicators similar to their pre-pandemic levels. By contrast, the most recently available figures on new housing developments and machinery and equipment imports suggest that investment, while continuing to rise, is growing at a slower rate than anticipated in the previous report. The trade deficit is expected to have widened, as imports would have grown at a high level and outpaced exports. Given the above, the technical staff now expects fourth-quarter economic growth of 8.7%, with overall growth for 2021 of 9.9%. Several factors should continue to contribute to output recovery in 2022, though some of these may be less significant than previously forecast. International financial conditions are expected to be less favorable, though external demand should continue to recover and terms of trade continue to increase amid higher projected oil prices. Lower unemployment rates and subsequent positive effects on household income, despite increased inflation, would also boost output recovery, as would progress in the national vaccination campaign. The technical staff expects that the conditions that have favored recent high levels of consumption would be, in large part, transitory. Consumption spending is expected to grow at a slower rate in 2022. Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) would continue to recover, approaching its pre-pandemic level, though at a slower rate than anticipated in the previous report. This would be due to lower observed GFCF levels and the potential impact of political and fiscal uncertainty. Meanwhile, the policy interest rate would be less expansionary as the process of monetary policy normalization continues. Given the above, growth in 2022 is forecast to decelerate to 4.3% (previously 4.7%). In 2023, that figure (3.1%) is projected to converge to levels closer to the potential growth rate. In this case, excess productive capacity would be expected to tighten at a similar rate as projected in the previous report. The trade deficit would tighten more than previously projected on the forecast horizon, due to expectations of an improved export dynamic and moderation in imports. The growth forecast for 2022 considers a low basis of comparison from the first half of 2021. However, there remain significant downside risks to this forecast. The current projection does not, for example, account for any additional effects on economic activity resulting from further waves of COVID-19. High private consumption levels, which have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels by a large margin, could be less dynamic than expected. And the normalization of monetary policy in the United States could come more quickly than projected in this report, which could negatively affect international financing costs. Finally, there remains a significant degree of uncertainty related to the duration of supply chocks and the degree to which macroeconomic and political conditions could negatively affect the recovery in investment. External demand for Colombian goods and services should continue to recover amid significant global inflation pressures, high oil prices, and less favorable international financial conditions than those estimated in October. Economic activity among Colombia’s major trade partners recovered in 2021 amid countries reopening and ample international liquidity. However, that growth has been somewhat restricted by global supply chain disruptions and new outbreaks of COVID-19. The technical staff has revised its growth forecast for Colombia’s main trade partners from 6.3% to 6.9% for 2021, and from 3.4% to 3.3% for 2022; trade partner economies are expected to grow 2.6% in 2023. Colombia’s annual terms of trade increased in 2021, largely on higher oil, coffee, and coal prices. This improvement came despite increased prices for goods and services imports. The expected oil price trajectory has been revised upward, partly to supply restrictions and lagging investment in the sector that would offset reduced growth forecasts in some major economies. Elevated freight and raw materials costs and supply chain disruptions continue to affect global goods production, and have led to increases in global prices. Coupled with the recovery in global demand, this has put upward pressure on external inflation. Several emerging market economies have continued to normalize monetary policy in this context. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Federal Reserve has anticipated an end to its asset buying program. U.S. inflation in December (7.0%) was again surprisingly high and market average inflation forecasts for 2022 have increased. The Fed is expected to increase its policy rate during the first quarter of 2022, with quarterly increases anticipated over the rest of the year. For its part, Colombia’s sovereign risk premium has increased and is forecast to remain on a higher path, to levels above the 15-year-average, on the forecast horizon. This would be partly due to the effects of a less expansionary monetary policy in the United States and the accumulation of macroeconomic imbalances in Colombia. Given the above, international financial conditions are projected to be less favorable than anticipated in the October report. The increase in Colombia’s external financing costs could be more significant if upward pressures on inflation in the United States persist and monetary policy is normalized more quickly than contemplated in this report. As detailed in Section 2.3, uncertainty surrounding international financial conditions continues to be unusually high. Along with other considerations, recent concerns over the potential effects of new COVID-19 variants, the persistence of global supply chain disruptions, energy crises in certain countries, growing geopolitical tensions, and a more significant deceleration in China are all factors underlying this uncertainty. The changing macroeconomic environment toward greater inflation and unanchoring risks on inflation expectations imply a reduction in the space available for monetary policy stimulus. Recovery in domestic demand and a reduction in excess productive capacity have come in line with the technical staff’s expectations from the October report. Some upside risks to inflation have materialized, while medium-term inflation expectations have increased and are above the 3% target. Monetary policy remains expansionary. Significant global inflationary pressures and the unexpected increase in the CPI in December point to more persistent effects from recent supply shocks. Core inflation is trending upward, but remains below the 3% target. Headline and core inflation projections have increased on the forecast horizon and are above the target rate through the end of 2023. Meanwhile, the expected dynamism of domestic demand would be in line with low levels of excess productive capacity. An accumulation of macroeconomic imbalances in Colombia and the increased likelihood of a faster normalization of monetary policy in the United States would put upward pressure on sovereign risk perceptions in a more persistent manner, with implications for the exchange rate and the natural rate of interest. Persistent disruptions to international supply chains, a high real increase in the legal minimum wage, and the indexation of various baskets in the CPI to higher inflation rates could affect price expectations and push inflation above the target more persistently. These factors suggest that the space to maintain monetary stimulus has continued to diminish, though monetary policy remains expansionary. 1.2 Monetary policy decision Banco de la República’s board of directors (BDBR) in its meetings in December 2021 and January 2022 voted to continue normalizing monetary policy. The BDBR voted by a majority in these two meetings to increase the benchmark interest rate by 50 and 100 basis points, respectively, bringing the policy rate to 4.0%.