Journal articles on the topic 'Household employees – France – Social conditions'

Sectoral agreements are an important link in the system of social partnership, since the stipulated obligations of the parties increase the responsibility of employers for the employee health, decent wages and their timely indexing, as well as assistance to working women with children, support for workers to purchase housing, employment of youth, etc. others. The aim of the article is to analyze the content of the General and sectoral agreements in force as of 2020, in connection with the included national goals defined in the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of July 21, 2020 No. 474 and characterizing their achievement of target indicators. The authors studied the practice of setting the minimum wage in industry agreements. They revealed that guarantees for minimum wage are applied in 43 sectoral agreements out of 61. The majority of sectoral agreements do not consider the decisions of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation about excluding individual compensation payments in the minimum wage. Also, less than half of the sectoral agreements include the guarantee for the tariff part of wages: it was only in 24 out of 61 sectoral agreements, while in 17 of them it was at the level of 60-70%. Due to the fact that in Article 134 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the subject to indexation is not specified - the wage fund, wages or the tariff part of it - industry agreements present different options for indexing wages at rates higher than inflation. The authors analyzed sectoral agreements on the application of compensation and incentive payments, measures to improve the housing conditions of workers (payment of compensation, provision of loans / loans on favorable terms), as well as assistance to young workers (up to 35 years old) to purchase housing and set up a household. The paper considers solving these issues in the sectoral agreements of Germany and France. The conclusion is that the sectoral agreements provide for a significant list of guarantees that contribute to the implementation of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation "On the national development goals of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030".

A large-scale project to introduce a participatory ergonomics approach into one hundred health care establishments in France was conducted by a hospital sector union. The project took the form of ergonomics training provided to union delegates to committees responsible for health, safety and working conditions. Data on the project's progress and results show that when unions had assimilated an ergonomic approach, the view that hospital actors (employees, union members, management) had of one another was modified, as were their relations concerning working condition issues. The conditions for the success, extension and durability of this approach are discussed.

This study uses detailed information from the Department of Labor (O'NET 98) concerning the characteristics and content of 1,122 occupations, and combines these data with information on alcohol and drug use collected by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in their 1997 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). Using a merged data set, based on 7,477 full-time workers, weighted logistic regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between eight occupational and job dimensions and workers' current and prior use of alcohol and drugs. Results show that steady employment or job security has the most pronounced negative effect on alcohol and drug use, while characteristics such as the pace of activity, job independence, and skills utilization to include feelings of accomplishment have little or no effect on employees' alcohol and drug use. Furthermore, the etiology of cocaine use appears quite different from that of alcohol and other types of drug use: all else being equal, employees' odds of using cocaine, when working in an occupation with greater job variety, decrease by 64 percent. However, employees in occupations with greater job autonomy are about 4 times more likely to use cocaine than are employees in jobs with less autonomy. These findings suggest that occupational conditions have a discernible influence on alcohol and drug use among employees, albeit in more complex ways than those suggested by much of the organizational stress and occupational subcultural literature.

The article analyzes the activities of the social protection system and social services of Ukraine. The concept of «social protection» is defined, the classification of the social protection system according to the models of social policy of other countries (Austria, England, Germany, USA, France, Japan) is given. The only principle of social protection according to the given models is formulated – joint action of a complex of measures which are directed on increase of well-being and quality of life of the population (economic, household, social). The socially-oriented policy of Ukraine, which is aimed at overcoming poverty, introduction of social insurance and targeted assistance, solving problems related to unemployment, is indicated. It was found that the basic state social standard in the field of income is the subsistence level. The social service is defined as a multifunctional state executive body that acts as a guarantor in ensuring the stability of the functioning of the system of social protection and social security of socially vulnerable groups. It is established that social services are an organizational form of social work, because they implement the practice of social security. Ensure orderly communication and interaction of all social work bodies (departments and social services). The organizational structure of the social security system is an orderly connection and interaction of all bodies of social work (departments and social services), which provide general conditions for rational organization and normal functioning of the support system for individuals, groups of communities at risk of social risk. The leading direction in social security is to support a person who finds himself in a difficult life situation at the minimum (not lower) social and household level – the provision of cash benefits, social benefits, benefits, subsidies and more.

In 2017, the municipality of Copenhagen made exercise mandatory for social workers performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients, cooking and cleaning. Private Danish companies have also started to impose exercise on their employees, including sedentary employees. Rationale behind mandatory exercise in the workplace is that it makes employees healthier and more productive, which is a win-win for employees and employers. However, mandatory exercise can put employees in a vulnerable position as employers potentially interfere with some of the fundamental rights of employees, namely their bodily autonomy and privacy. In addition, the increased emphasis on exercise at work and being ‘physically fit’ can indirectly lead to unlawful discrimination practices in recruitment, during employment, and at termination, as employers may exclude or sanction people who are not be able, or do not want, to exercise on various grounds, ranging from age, disability, pregnancy, religion, to health conditions. Therefore, this article examines the lawfulness of mandatory exercise at work in light of the fundamental rights of employees in two selected jurisdictions (Denmark and France), as well as under relevant European Union (EU) law, and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and related case law. Using a comparative and European perspective, the article examines the legality of mandatory exercise at work in the selected jurisdictions. It analyses and compares the level of protection of employees’ rights to privacy, autonomy and non-discrimination in France and Denmark. It also assesses whether mandatory exercise could qualify as an occupational health and safety measure in the selected jurisdictions. The article examines these questions in light of the increasing recognition and integration of fundamental rights in labour law at European, EU, and national levels. The article finds that the French and Danish labour laws offer different levels of protection of employees’ rights to autonomy, privacy and the right to non-discrimination. As a result, mandatory exercise would likely be deemed to be legal in Denmark, and illegal in France. However, the legality of mandatory exercise under Danish law could be challenged in light of the strong protection of employees’ fundamental rights at EU and European levels. The article concludes that rather than an obligation, exercise should be framed as a right for employees.

Purpose This paper aims to explore how stable employment, company culture and tailored health, digital and core skills training provided by a social enterprise (SE) in the Philippines affect survivors of exploitation. Research shows survivors experience adverse social conditions and physical and mental health outcomes caused by their exploitative experience. Stable, decent employment has been identified as critical to their recovery and reintegration. This paper discusses the SE’s impact on the employees’ physical, mental and social health and behaviour. Based on our findings, the authors discuss the contribution of SE in improving health outcomes and providing health services and conclude that SEs should not replace but complement public health government programmes. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses mixed methods, presenting data from a longitudinal survey (household income, mental health and social well-being) and a follow-up qualitative study, which uses in-depth interviews and participatory videos to explore survey findings. Findings The quantitative analysis demonstrates positive, but gradual, changes in sexual and reproductive health behaviour; personal empowerment; and trauma, anxiety and depressive symptoms. The qualitative findings show how improvements in executive functioning, self-regulation and self-esteem occur incrementally over time. As their self-efficacy improves, employees need to avoid being overly dependent on the SE, to support their autonomy; therefore, access to complementary public health services is fundamental. Originality/value This paper focusses, to the authors’ knowledge, on a unique SE, which hires survivors of exploitation, without losing their competitiveness in the market.

The subject of the study are residents of factory settlements of state-owned factories in the Urals. The aim of the study is to reconstruct the social and living conditions of living and working conditions of employees and factory workers. The basis of the study is the office documents of the Siberian Oberbergamt (Office of the Chief Executive of the Board since 1734), stored in the State Archive of the Sverdlovsk region. Special attention is paid to the conditions of the formation of settlements around the factories, the main categories of the population and their quantitative composition are determined. The duration of working hours, occupations of residents on weekends and holidays are considered. The system of receiving salaries of the officer mining corps, employees, the amount of remuneration of the main categories of workers has been studied. The analysis of prices for basic foodstuffs, clothing, shoes, household economy, living conditions of residents of factory settlements is presented. The novelty of the study is to identify the average wage for various categories of workers. The available materials on the living conditions of the inhabitants of the mining Urals allow us to conclude that the population of factory settlements was heterogeneous in social structure. The population of factory settlements mainly had their own housing, which varied by category of positions held. The remuneration of most of the factory workers varied from 18 to 30 rubles. The household economy of the population of factory settlements was also under the management of the Office, which kept records of pasture lands. The number of holidays and days off for factory workers was regulated by the provisions of the Instructions to the Factory commissioner dated October 16, 1723. A special contribution of the author in the study of the topic is the compilation of summary tables on the number of population of state-owned factories in the Urals, identifying the features of the activities of V.I. Gennin and V.N. Tatishchev on the organization of working hours and rest time of factory workers.

The assessment of early life socioeconomic position (SEP) is essential to the tackling of social inequalities in health. Although different indicators capture different SEP dimensions, maternal education is often used as the only indicator in birth cohort research, especially in multi-cohort analyses. Household income, as a direct measure of material resources, is one of the most important indicators, but one that is underused because it is difficult to measure through questionnaires. We propose a method to construct a standardized, cross-cohort comparable income indicator, the “Equivalized Household Income Indicator (EHII)”, which measures the equivalized disposable household income, using external data from the pan-European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EUSILC) surveys, and data from the cohorts. We apply this method to four studies, Piccolipiù and NINFEA from Italy and ELFE and EDEN from France, comparing the distribution of EHII with other SEP-related variables available in the cohorts, and estimating the association between EHII and child body mass index (BMI). We found that basic parental and household characteristics may be used, with a fairly good performance, to predict the household income. We observed a strong correlation between EHII and both the self-reported income, whenever available, and other individual socioeconomic-related variables, and an inverse association with child BMI. EHII could contribute to improving research on social inequalities in health, in particular in the context of European birth cohort collaborative studies.

The purpose of the article is to show the determining role of dirigisme in the restoration and prosperity of France in the period 1944–1973; the influence of nationalization of enterprises of leading industries, banks on a compensatory basis; indicative planning for the revival of the country’s economy and achieving high rates of its growth; the rise of agriculture; the formation of a unified system of state social insurance. As a result of the reforms carried out in the 1950s and 1960s, these decades were a period of accelerated and almost continuous growth of the French economy. The ‘engines’ of economic growth were heavy industries, which accounted for the majority of all investment in the industry. The equipment in machine building (first of all in the car and aircraft construction, production of machines and devices) was updated; metallurgy, electrical engineering, chemistry, oil refining were modernised; the nuclear industry was created for the first time in the history. At the same time, in agriculture was held large-scale mechanisation. All this was accompanied by significant positive changes in the social sphere: soon after the end of WWII, the 40-hour working week was restored, annual leave for workers and employees was returned. Already by 1946, a unified state social insurance system was formed, which extended to all categories of employees, except for workers in the agricultural sector. As a result, the dirigisme model in France in the period 1944–1973 allowed this country not only to restore the war-ravaged economy, and also to achieve impressive success in industry, agriculture and the social sphere, to return it to one of the key positions in the world. It leads to the conclusion that the experience of using the conductor model in France can be used in the development of areas of reform of the Russian economy in current conditions.

Purpose. This study analyzed correlates of workers' perceptions of the extent to which their work environment is healthy and how these perceptions influence job satisfaction, employee commitment, workplace morale, absenteeism, and intent to quit. Design. One-time cross-sectional telephone survey. Setting. Canadian employees in 2000. Subjects. A randomly chosen, nationally representative sample of 2500 employed respondents, using a household sampling frame. The response rate was 39.2%. Self-employed individuals were excluded, leaving a subsample of 2112 respondents. Measures. The dependent variable was the response to the item, “The work environment is healthy” (5-point strongly agree–strongly disagree Likert scale). Independent variables used in bivariate and ordinary least-squares regression analyses included sociodemographic characteristics, employment status, organizational characteristics, and scales that measured job demands, intrinsic rewards, extrinsic rewards, communication/social support, employee influence, and job resources. Perceptions of a healthy work environment were related to job satisfaction, commitment, morale (measured on a 5-point scale), number of self-reported absenteeism days in the past 12 months, and whether or not the respondent had looked for a job with another employer in the past 12 months. Results. The strongest correlate of a healthy work environment was a scale of good communication and social support (beta = .27). The next strongest was a job demands scale (beta = –.15.) Employees in self-rated healthier work environments had significantly ( p < 0.01) higher job satisfaction, commitment and morale, and lower absenteeism and intent to quit. Conclusions. The study supports a comprehensive model of workplace health that targets working conditions, work relationships, and workplace organization for health promotion interventions.

Abstract Background To explore trends in social and occupational inequalities in terms of exposures to physically demanding working conditions for French employees. Methods Our study assessed data from the French national cross-sectional survey of occupational hazards (SUMER) that was conducted in 2003, 2010 and 2017. Trends in the prevalence of several types of physically demanding working conditions (lifting of heavy loads, awkward postures, vibrations, harmful noise, extreme temperatures, and carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic agents) were explored. Temporal changes in associations of individual and job characteristics with these factors of hardship at work were examined using multilevel logistic regressions. Results We estimated that 53.5% of French workers from all industries in the private sector and in public hospitals were exposed to at least one of the adverse physical working conditions considered in 2017. While the prevalence of exposure to severe physical constraints increased between 2003 and 2017 (+4.2 pp), the exposure associated with a hazardous physical environment decreased sharply (−6.3 pp). These observed trends did not occur similarly for all workers. Several inequalities in exposure increased over the period, particularly to the detriment of blue-collar workers. The situation of shift workers deteriorated in terms of the exposure to vibrations and awkward postures. Conclusion Our study indicates that more stringent interventions are needed to reduce the prevalence of pronounced physical constraints that contribute to MSDs. Future prevention strategies, in addition to seeking to achieve a general reduction in exposure to all physically demanding working conditions, should aim to reduce disparities that adversely affect vulnerable populations.

When it comes to negotiating over a collective dismissals plan, the French national legal framework explicitly encourages social partners to favour outplacement services over significant indemnity payments. However, significant above-mandatory redundancy payments are commonly granted to laid-off workers. Based on these factual observations, this article aims to identify the antecedent conditions, or, more precisely, the combinations of conditions, that lead to the granting of a large severance pay. We conducted a qualitative comparative analysis (Crisp set QCA) methodology applied to 20 monographs on downsizing operations that took place in France during the 2000s. The results show that above-mandatory severance payments are closely related to two major dimensions characterizing the economic and social context in which restructuring processes are carried out. The first one is about the balance of power prevailing between the company decisionmakers and the employees. This balance of power dimension is subsumed by two distinct conditions: the availability of financial resources and the presence of active unions. The second dimension relates to the moral and economic damages inflicted upon laid-off workers. This dimension is intrinsically connected to two downsizing process features, i.e. the perceived degree of legitimacy associated with the downsizing process and the degree of employability associated with the laid-off workers. Most notably, it appears that none of the identified conditions is sufficient by itself to induce the payment of a significant above-mandatory indemnity. However, some causal conditions may induce the outcome variable when they are combined with some specific other antecedent conditions. Thus, our research shows that the financial resource condition leads to the granting of an above-mandatory indemnity either in conjunction with a low degree of worker’s employability or in conjunction with both a weak perceived legitimacy of the restructuring process and the presence of active unions.

This paper deals with development and subsequent comparison of the cost of living in different social groups in the Czech Republic. There is an analysis performed using data available from entry of the Czech Republic into the European Union till 2011. For this purpose, it will be interesting to track those measures in a timeline including the period before the last economic crisis, during the crisis as well as after this event. The economic crisis began in 2007 and has significantly affected living conditions of many people, who had to change their consumer behaviour or lifestyle. In the file used for the analysis, the individuals are divided into different social groups (i.e. employees, self-employed, pensioners and unemployed). The paper is focused on individuals according to the division of expenditure COICOP (Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose). As the second source of the performed analysis are taken the results of a sample survey EU-SILC (European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions) from 2005 till 2011. The paper considers mainly cost of living, but also household income because it is possible to determine from this indicator how much money households have left for other activities (as disposable income). The analysis is focused on whole set of individual households including low-income households at risk of poverty. According to widely used methodology within the European Union, households are considered to be at the risk of poverty if their income is lower than its median, which is 60%.

ABSTRACTThis study estimates the effect of increases in age on 16 health problems that affect paid work for men and women in the United Kingdom. The analysis is based on a sample of the United Kingdom household population from the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey of 2007. Using multinomial logit regressions, the results reveal considerable diversity in the relationships between age and the reported prevalence of health problems that affect work. In particular, problems with heart, blood and circulation, arms and hands, legs and feet were strongly related to age, while difficulties in seeing and hearing, skin conditions and allergies appeared not to be more prevalent among older workers than younger employees. Regarding gender differences, it was found that, in general, women's health-related ability to participate in work was less affected by age, but that they suffered particular problems with arms and hands, skin conditions, allergies and depression. Finally, the study analyses the non-linear effects of unit increases in age. Such analysis may usefully identify the ages (or inflection points) at which ageing intensifies its effects on occupational health. These findings point to the importance of intervention at the appropriate time, when preventive measures may avoid the exacerbation of the health problem.

Modern conditions for the development of market relations leave a significant imprint on all main aspects of rural life. The socio-economic situation of rural households is dangerously dependent on the fluctuations of various institutions, be it the labor institution, the food market or the production system. Under these conditions, increasing attention is being paid to the development of targeted programs to improve the living standard and the socio-economic situation of the population in rural settlements. The article discusses a methodological approach to assess the living standards of rural settlements in the context of municipal districts of the Saratov region, in particular, the Samoilovsky municipality. Basing on the participatory approach, categories of the rural population are determined by income level and a direct correlation dependence of the demographic situation (birth rate, mortality, migration rate) and the level of rural household income are revealed. The parameters of the resource of patience and the boundaries of the passive expectation for the poor and impoverished layers of the rural population, as well as the prerequisites for the passivity of the able-bodied population to participate in the processes of increasing their own well-being and well-being of others are determined. The conditions and parameters of the property status compelling the activation of the use of internal material and social sources of income are revealed. Three levels of decision-making strategies for improving the financial situation of the family are distinguished: employees, employers (agricultural enterprises and K(F)X), authorities (district administration). As a result, a concept of a decision-making strategy was developed to improve the material situation of households in rural settlements of the Saratov region. The economic factor (the size of wages) has one of the decisive effects on all the demographic processes taking place in society.

Context Social aspects of livestock farming systems, including farm workforce and how work is organised, have received less research attention than the biophysical and technological aspects. This constrains understanding of social challenges to the sustainability of livestock systems, such as farm labour shortages, farmers’ overwork, the undesirability of farming careers, workforce and skills changes linked to new technologies, and the connections of all these to farm performance and profitability. Aims We introduce and test the applicability and utility in the Australian context of a method developed in France for assessing work organisation: The Work Assessment Method (WAM). The WAM goes beyond standard labour productivity metrics, such as total labour cost or livestock units per worker, to examine different types of work (routine, seasonal), who does the work (owner–managers, employees, contractors) and how these change seasonally. A measure of social sustainability (‘calculated time available’) is a key feature. Methods We conducted the first Australian trial of the WAM on two Victorian dairy farms. Through facilitated discussions between participating farmers and the research team, we evaluated the utility of the method, and identified requirements to adapt it for larger, pasture-based dairy systems. Key results The WAM was applied successfully on the pilot farms, despite differences in farm systems between France and Australia. The method characterised in detail the sources of overwork for each farm, enabling discussion of how the social sustainability and overall performance of the farms could be improved. The participating farmers reported that the method provided insights that were not available from current financial and physical analyses. Conclusions The WAM shows potential for supporting farmers, advisors and researchers in work aimed at improving farm social sustainability and profitability, but requires adaptation to suit Australian conditions. A larger exploratory study applying the WAM on additional dairy farms, and on mixed farms, is suggested. Implications This study provides a strong foundation for further research to develop the WAM as a useful research and advisory tool for Australian livestock production systems.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the rising public health phenomenon of workplace suicide drawing on comparative insights from the French and UK contexts. France has experienced what the media describes as a “suicide epidemic” in the workplace, with rising numbers of employees choosing to kill themselves in the face of extreme pressures at work. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a comparative approach drawing on insights from the French context, in which workplace suicide is legally and officially recognised, to shed critical light on the UK context where workplace suicide remains a hidden phenomenon. Findings Whilst in France, workplace suicide is treated as an urgent public health phenomenon and data on suicides are collected centrally, in the UK, despite a deterioration in working conditions, suicide is not recognised in legislation and data are not collected centrally. Unless society recognises and document rising workplace suicides, we will be unable to deal with their profound human consequences for suicidal individuals, their families and society more widely. Research limitations/implications Research on workplace suicides in the UK and many other national contexts is hampered by fragmentary statistical data on this phenomenon. Practical implications The paper calls for greater recognition, analysis and monitoring of workplace suicide in the UK. Suicide should be included in the list of workplace accidents that are reported to the authorities for further investigation. In a context where workplace conditions are deteriorating, society need to recognises the profound human costs of these conditions for the individual employee. Social implications The paper has important implications for the contemporary workplace in terms of the contractual relationship between employer and employee. Originality/value Workplace suicide is an urgent, yet under-researched phenomenon. The paper brings a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective to bear on this phenomenon.

In order to rationalize the massive use of administrative data in the production of demographic and social statistics, the French national statistical institute (INSEE) has decided to launch a program to create a system of interconnected registers of individuals, dwellings and households. This program, called RESIL, is based on the mobilization of external data, particularly administrative data, in strict compliance with the conditions for the protection of individual data. Thus, through these registers, INSEE will have a reference universe that will allow: (i) to constitute the sampling frames as well as the calibration margins of household surveys; (ii) to measure the quality of the coverage of sources; and (iii) to match different datasets: surveys with administrative data, administrative data with administrative data in order to provide richer information. To set up this information system, INSEE will draw on international experiences, as it plans to use methodologies already implemented in several national statistical institutes, including: • deterministic and probabilistic matching methods for identifying and comparing different administrative sources. These methods are essential insofar as France does not have a unique and shared identifier; • the sign of life method to define the reference population from the presence of individuals in several input data; • the Dual System Estimation methodology to measure the quality of coverage of the registers using annual population census data (it is a real opportunity to have these annual points of comparison to assess the quality of the registers, especially during the set-up period). This paper will therefore present the stakes and the context, in particular the legal context, of the implementation of these registers, and will then describe the main methodological principles and the proofs of concept planned for its implementation.

The economic recession led to the economic downturn, loss of jobs and income, and the risk of falling back into the poverty of near-poor and poor households. This recession caused an increase in child labor. This study aimed to analyze the concept of child and child labor under a regulatory framework and assess how the economic downturn affects child labor in Vietnam. This study used analytical research methods through synthesis, comparison, and legal analysis, emphasizing literary research based on secondary research data. This study showed that the economic downturn increased the proportion of child labor because the parents and the family's breadwinner are unemployed or cut down on their income. Children were out of school to help household businesses or look for work for extra income. The economic downturn increased the number of children working in unsafe working conditions. It increased the risk of children being forced into illegal jobs prohibited and exposing children to labor to risk forced labor. It resulted in difficulties preventing and eliminating child labor, especially in a developing country like Vietnam, due to the high number of employees working in the informal sector, who were often unsupported by social security policies such as unemployment insurance and social insurance. This study suggested that the Government should establish policies to promote sustainable economic development and promulgate appropriate social security policies to promptly support workers and their families out of difficulties caused by job loss. Also, it should organize the effective implementation of regulations on eliminating child labor and raise social awareness in preventing and eliminating child labor. KEYWORDS: Economic Downturn, Child Labor, COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Koorie Energy Efficiency Project (KEEP) was a Victoria-based, Australian social marketing initiative designed to provide support to Indigenous households so they could better manage their energy bills by reducing or controlling their energy use. The program was delivered by trained, Indigenous project employees who visited Indigenous households in metropolitan and regional parts of the state. During the home visit, they provided an energy efficiency audit, as well as specific energy efficiency tips and advocacy support. Minor draft-proofing products were also supplied to each household. As part of this project, dwelling and householder information was gathered during each home visit, as well as measures of energy efficiency knowledge, behaviours, and well-being of the main householder before and after a home visit. The results indicate that home visits to support the energy efficiency of indigenous households are effective in terms of encouraging new energy efficiency knowledge, behaviours, and broader elements of well-being. Furthermore, the home visit was found to be effective across all home types, but was significantly more effective in reducing energy related stress and discomfort in traditional houses and traditional apartments. These households were also often small and densely occupied. This suggests that when social marketing programs use methods that are culturally suitable and respectful, such as those used in KEEP, they become a powerful tool to help drive social change in Indigenous communities. The authors conclude that such programs in future will be hindered in their effectiveness unless property owners, such as those of social housing, do not urgently address the maintenance of their properties and ensure they provide fit living conditions for the tenants.

Incomes of population and poverty are key elements of the EU cohesion policy which aims at reducing disparities between the levels of development of individual regions. The traditionally appropriate study to evaluate the convergence of the Member States is the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU‑SILC). However, this is not the only source of information on income distribution and social inclusion in the European Union. In this article, the basis for calculations are the results of the fourth European Quality of Life Surveys (EQLS), whose purpose is to measure both objective and subjective indicators of the standard of living of citizens and their households. The aim of the paper is to assess the diversity of distributions of household incomes and the level of income poverty due to the selected socio‑demographic characteristics of the respondent or household in selected European countries in two periods: 2007 and 2016. Countries of the Visegrad Group (Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) were selected for the analysis, along with the Weimar Triangle (Poland, Germany, and France). Such a selection allowed us to compare the financial situation of households in Western Europe with those in Central and Eastern Europe. Poland becomes a natural link between all these countries. The article uses modelling methods of income distribution, indicators of distance (overlapping) of distributions and aggregate indicators of the scope, depth and severity of poverty. Those ratios were determined on the basis of the use of relative. In order to ensure comparability of incomes of households with different demographic compositions, the analysis used equivalent incomes. As a result of the preliminary analysis, differences were noted regarding the measured position, variation and asymmetry of equivalent incomes in the studied households. The applied gap measurements showed a significant disparity between the distributions of income in Western European countries (Germany, France) and the countries of the Visegrad Group, but the size of that differentation de creased significantly in 2016 relative to 2007. Important differentiation was also noted in terms of income poverty risk within the Visegrad Group: the highest proportion of households at risk of poverty exists in Poland and the lowest in the Czech Republic.

This article addresses the problem of jurisdiction and protection over certain categories of the local population by the British Consulate in the independent Sultanate of Zanzibar. The minorities in question represented various ethno-religious backgrounds and enjoyed different social and economic statuses. They included the British Indian community, whose members belonged to the economic elite of the state and many of whom were British servants: employees of the British Consulate, as well as missions and private companies. The category also included freed slaves and Christian converts. The article examines the motives and conditions that stood behind British legal policies in Zanzibar. It argues that even if the consulate did run its own policy within the limits sketched by the imperial administration, the dynamics of this policy was set by the interaction between the consuls and the groups over which the British claimed jurisdiction. Although the clash of different legal norms and systems occurred as a result of legal pluralism, the real conflicts concerned the limits of British jurisdiction. This paper is based on research in the national archives of Zanzibar, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Although job quality has become an active field of study over the last two decades in developed countries, it still remains an under-discussed concept in developing regions such as Latin America, where the incidence of work informality and low wages are particularly high. As quality of employment is a multidimensional concept and not homogeneously defined in the literature, we follow a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to build a Quality of Employment (QoE) Index for salary earners using household survey micro data of Uruguay from 2016-2019. Uruguay leads the Better Jobs Index launched by the Inter-American Development Bank in 2017, which constitutes the only index with a macro-approach to measure quantity and quality employment conditions in the region. We consider several aspects of working conditions: employment, earnings, hours worked, occupational safety and social security coverage. We focus on the tourism sector, which presents low job quality characteris-tics at the same time it accounts for 7.2% of employment in Uruguay. Furthermore, we found a sex-based gap of employment quality against women in tourism, a difference that is not observed in the trade sector. QoE in tourism shows a greater dispersion in the distribution of employees, indicating the presence of more inequalities among these workers compared to those of trade. Other results show that job quality in tourism is lower for those unskilled, but that there are still many skilled work-ers facing low quality. Finally, if we consider the activities that conform tourism, workers do better in hotels and travel agencies rather than in restaurants and entertainment.

Background: Several studies have investigated the implication of air pollution and some social determinants on COVID-19-related outcomes, but none of them assessed the implication of spatial repartition of the socio-environmental determinants on geographic variations of COVID-19 related outcomes. Understanding spatial heterogeneity in relation to the socio-environmental determinant and COVID-19-related outcomes is central to target interventions toward a vulnerable population. Objectives: To determine the spatial variability of COVID-19 related outcomes among the elderly in France at the department level. We also aimed to assess whether a geographic pattern of Covid-19 may be partially explained by spatial distribution of both long-term exposure to air pollution and deprived living conditions. Methods: This study considered four health events related to COVID-19 infection over the period of 18 March and 02 December 2020: (i) hospitalization, (ii) cases in intensive health care in the hospital, (iii) death in the hospital, and (iv) hospitalized patients recovered and returned back home. We used the percentage of household living in an overcrowding housing to characterize the living conditions and long-term exposure to NO2 to analyse the implication of air pollution. Using a spatial scan statistic approach, a Poisson cluster analysis method based on a likelihood ratio test and Monte Carlo replications was applied to identify high-risk clusters of a COVID-19-related outcome. Result: our results revealed that all the outcomes related to COVID-19 infection investigated were not randomly distributed in France with a statistically significant cluster of high risk located in Eastern France of the hospitalization, cases in the intensive health care at the hospital, death in the hospital, and recovered and returned back home compared to the rest of France (relative risk, RR = 1.28, p-value = 0.001, RR = 3.05, p = 0.001, RR = 2.94, p = 0.001, RR = 2.51, p = 0.001, respectively). After adjustments for socio-environmental determinants, the crude cluster shifts according to different scenarios suggested that both the overcrowding housing level and long-term exposure to largely NO2 explain the spatial distribution of COVID-19-related outcomes. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the geographic pattern of COVID-19-related outcomes is largely explained by socio-spatial distribution of long-term exposure to NO2. However, to better understand spatial variations of COVID-19-related outcomes, it would be necessary to investigate and adjust it for other determinants. Thus, the current sanitary crisis reminds us of how unequal we all are in facing this disease.

Housing conditions as a determinant of the quality of life of disabled people, based on the example of people with sight dysfunctionOne of the basic needs of a person is to have a place to live. Virtually everyone dreams of having their own place, to relax and feel safe. Such a space is an important place for people with disabilities, because it is often the only place that is tailored to their needs, where they feel safer than in any other spaces. Every citizen of the country has the right to housing, which is provided by numerous docu­ments and regulations.The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact of housing conditions on the quality of life of people with disabilities. The following thesis has been formulated in the work: the disabled aim to improve the quality of their lives by changing housing conditions.Literature sources have been reviewed to define basic concepts, the results of previous studies have been correlated. After accessing the database, the results of the research carried out in March 2015 by the foundation “Nie widzę problemu” literally meaning “I do not see the problem” with involvement of employees and students of the University of Wroclaw have been compiled.The analysis shows that respondents most often live together with their parents and spend a large part of their income on purchases related to household appliances. As much as 60% of re­spondents do not own a flat. Approximately 68% find the buildings they live in are not suited to their needs, however only 23% of them try to get social housing.Translated by Karolina Riemel

The article focuses on the legal nature of regulatory agreements in the field of private law. It is argued that in the economic and social sphere, the regulation of social relations is often practiced on the basis of normative agreements other than the norms of the law. It is noted that by its nature, a normative agreement expresses the conciliatory will of two or more parties to establish, modify and terminate their rights and obligations, to exercise or withhold certain legal actions. The examples of the material industries reveal the nature of regulatory agreements. The article focuses on collective agreements and collective agreements in labor law. The history of their appearance and scope is revealed. It is concluded that the reason for their emergence in the field of labor law was the need to resolve the confrontation between employers and employees in the field of labor relations regulation. By their structure, the provisions of collective agreements can be divided into normative and binding. Actually regulations are local norms on the main issues of labor, pay, conditions and labor protection, social and household issues. That is why not all content of collective agreements is normative. While revealing the importance of private-law normative treaties, attention is drawn to standard and exemplary treaties in civil and commercial law. Despite the widespread position in the theory of private law, the position of typical and exemplary contracts to the sources of law, it is noted that from the standpoint of the general theory of a normative contract it is not possible to consider typical or exemplary contracts a kind of normative contract. This claim is substantiated by the fact that standard and exemplary treaties are developed and enter into force on the basis of a unilateral legal act (for example, a by-law of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine), while a normative agreement is always a bilateral (or multilateral) arrangement of the subjects of law. It is concluded that it is necessary to further study the problems of application of normative treaties in the field of private law, since to other sources of branches of private law the normative treaty is not just a way of regulating social relations, but a way of self-regulation.

<div><p><em>This research sets out to unravel the history of Lennox Mine from its inception in 1970 tracing the contribution of the mine to the economic development of Zimbabwe from its colonial beginnings up to the current period when the new visionary owner, Honourable Gandiwa Moyo, Deputy Minister of Mines who inherited a dysfunctional mining enterprise set it on course again as a pillar for economic production, under the erstwhile management of the Lennox General Mine Manager, Edgar Mashindi. The research seeks to explore how the mine management, operating under harsh economic conditions prevailing in Zimbabwe has empowered African entrepreneurs and employees and resuscitated life to the dying town of Mashava. Mashava is back on its former footing as a lively booming bedroom town of Masvingo City, forty kilometres away: supermarkets, bars, salons, housing projects, new shops are sprouting up once again as Mashava claims its proud place as a gold producing enclave of the Zimbabwean economy. Hundreds of unemployed youths from all over Zimbabwe have descended on Mashava, seeking employment and investment opportunities resulting in an unprecedented economic boom which is being felt country wide. Only recently hordes of flea female market traders opened shop at Mashava to sell clothes, shoes, household furniture and related paraphernalia to local residents and they reported that business was excellent and confirmed business plans to return every month end to sell their wares. A few years back Mashava was an abandoned mining town with all services shut down after the Capitalist oligarchic organization which owned Mashava ceased all operations and expropriated capital to Australia and Europe and started out new commercial ventures in those respective European countries. The Zimbabwean Electricity Supply Association [ZESA] shut down electricity supplies to Lennox Mine after the mine incurred a debt of close to a quarter of a million. Today, Lennox has agreed on a payment plan and electricity has been reopened triggering high gold productivity as the mine returns to its normal production levels.</em></p></div>

The aim is the daily life of inhabitants of the Dnipropetrovsk (Dnipro) are considered in the conditions of the first post-war years.Research methods: historical and genetic; historical and comparative, system.Main results. The situation in different spheres of city life, state of communal infrastructure, centralized water supply and heating, food supply, priority areas of development of the city economy are shown. The forms and methods of solving the acute problems of the post-war policy and each family, factors of the material and everyday condition of the working people are considered. The ways of restoring the residential area of the city are shown. The restoration of the housing stock was given in two directions: by repairing partially destroyed buildings and, to a lesser extent, by new construction. In the city, due to the lack of material and technical base, mostly one- and two-storey residential buildings were erected. The way out of the situation was the settlement of the incoming families in the apartment of the surviving state houses, as well as the provision of land to those who were ready to solve their housing problems at their own expense. The various spheres of life of the inhabitants of the city in 1944–1947, their social and economic problems are analyzed: the material and communal conditions of their everyday life, social behavior and strategies of survival of different categories of the population of the policy. The social deviations of the deviant character that took place at this time are shown. The situation in the city under conditions of famine of 1946–1947 was studied. The forms and methods of solving problems of specific categories of inhabitants of the city in this difficult period. The attention was paid to such categories as infants, children of nursery, kindergarten and schoolchildren and students of technical schools. The real situation with wages was investigated, it was found that due to the necessity of various types of voluntary and compulsory loans and mandatory taxes, it was low in itself, it could not ensure the proper existence of a person. It is shown that the system of ensuring food and real needs of the population, namely, normalized supply of food and cargoes through the trading network at government prices for cards. It was found that the supply of food and household goods was extremely unsatisfactory, incomparable with a negligible payment of labor, making the price even unattainable, even on the shelves. At the same time different norms were applied for the workers, for the unemployed, the workers of various sectors of the national economy, employees of different institutions and different rank. In parallel, there was state open (commercial) trade with high prices, and also - bazaars at their prices. Many residents of the city were forced to ride in the villages and exchange household items for food. An impoverished day-long menu of many inhabitants of Dnipropetrovsk consisted mainly of vegetable food. Despite the difficult conditions for the restoration of the industrial and residential sectors, the cityʼs social sphere was restored. Understand the destroyed buildings and exported garbage. Every year, thousands of trees were planted on the streets and in parks, new squares were broken, repairs of the pavement, sidewalks, dwelling houses were painted, and markets were adjusted according to sanitary requirements. Works were underway to increase the capacity of urban water supply. Hospitals, various kindergartens were restored. To provide everyday needs of the population, shops were open, workersʼ dining rooms, equipped sports, dance and playgrounds, parks were improved, new baths were renovated and new baths were introduced, working clubs were being built.Main results. It is concluded that the everyday life of the first post-war years of Dnipropetrovsk was characterized by the difficult conditions of the existence of its inhabitants. Despite the ongoing rehabilitation of the city material, domestic and communal conditions of their existence were determined by the complex socio-economic situation, severe socio-demographic consequences of the war, as well as causes of a natural climatic nature. All this determined the strategies of their existence in the difficult conditions in which the majority of the city population, despite the difficulties, continued to fulfill the basic purpose of the person – to live, work, raise and raise children.Practical significance. For the historians of the everyday life of Dnipropetrovsk in post-war times.Originality. On the basis of research materials and memoirs of participants of events, the situation of the city's everyday life was reconstructed.The scientific novelty. The article was first presented in the history of post-war Dnipropetrovsk through the prism of everyday life, the various spheres of the existence of its inhabitants.Type of article: empirical.

In Sweden — as in other European countries - the question of tax deduction of domestic services is being discussed. The argument is that the high taxes in Sweden hinder the growth of a märket for domestic services. By introducing tax deductions prices would be lowered and the demand for such services would increase. This would in turn enhance employment and transform "black märket work" into regular employment. It would also further gender equality since women who could buy domestic services would spend less time performing household work and more on paid work or a career. However, in all countries domestic services are usually performed outside the regular terms of employment, i.e. neither taxes nor social security is paid. This is true whether taxes are high as for example in Germany or low as in the U.S. But the people doing this kind of work probably differ between countries. In Germany it is common that "housewives" do domestic work for pay in other peoples' homes and in the U.S. such work is often done by unregistered immigrants. The number of unregistered immigrants performing domestic work is probably growing in European countries. The large märket for domestic services in Germany can not be seen as a sign of a high degree of gender equality, but rather the reverse. Since there have been limited employment opportunities for women on the regular labour märket, domestic work outside the regular labour märket has provided an alternative. In the U.S. a märket for domestic services is presumably a result of big income differences in general. Women in high-income households can employ a person in their home at a very low wage. But in the very top positions in the private sector there are hardly any women in the U.S. as in Sweden. It is possible however, that there is a greater proportion of women managers in the private sector on lower levels in the U.S. than in Sweden. The reason is not necessarily that there are more female managers in general in the U.S. than in Sweden, but rather that the work women do - for example in hospitals - in the U.S. is done in the private sector and in Sweden in the public sector. Tax deductions have been introduced in several European countries. However, besides France, this has had very little effect on employment and black märket labour. In France subsidies have transformed black märket jobs into regular employment, which means that these employees have become part of the social security system. But it also means that high-income groups are subsidised and the costs have been high for the taxpayers. The subsidies were lowered in 1998. In Sweden the black märket for domestic services is probably quite small compared to many other countries, but it is growing. One current proposal is tax deduction of domestic services performed in the home, another is also tax deductions of services provided outside the home such as restaurants, dry cleaners, etc. This second proposal would mean that not only people with high incomes, but also those with quite low incomes could benefit, since most people for example at least some times eat in a restaurant. However, it is debatable whether this is the best way to transform black märket jobs into regular employment, to further employment or gender equality.

Purpose. The aim of the article is deepening of theoretical and methodological foundations of creation and functioning of farms and disclosure of their economic nature and specifics in the current economic conditions. Methodology of research. A set of methods, techniques and principles of scientific knowledge, fundamental provisions of economic theory and scientific developments on the development of farms are the theoretical and methodological basis of scientific research, the results of which are presented in the article. General and special methods of economic research are used in the course of scientific research, in particular: systematic approach – in studying the relations between phenomena and processes in the system of ensuring the effective development of farms; comparative approach – to compare economic processes in agricultural production at different time periods in order to identify cause and effect; dialectical, abstract and logical methods – in carrying out theoretical generalizations, forming conclusions. Findings. It is revealed that the peculiarity of the functioning of the peasant farms is that they are both a production and a consumer unit, and therefore they combine two goals – production (maximizing income) and consumer (increasing welfare of all household members). The following models of development of the subjects of rural family economy have been systematized: the model of a labour farm; the model of farm based on the use of wage labour; model of a family corporation. It is established that on the basis of family organization of labour a small local economy “family farm” is formed, the peculiarities of which are: dual purpose of development, i.e. realization of entrepreneurial ability of its members to manage on land and maximization of income; the reproduction process depends on the established system of informal institutions; Determinant behaviours of its members include: loyalty to traditions and cultural heritage, social orientation, innovation, resilience, confidence and predictability of household members' actions; combination of multi-vector, contradictory processes; combination of technological, economic and cultural conditions of functioning of the family farm that determine the synergistic effect. Originality. The concept of “family farm” has been further developed, which, unlike the existing ones, characterizes the form of agricultural activity carried out by persons with family ties or with the involvement of employees, and the share of the labour contribution does not exceed the contribution of family members. Practical value. Generalization of the evolutionary development of economic science indicates the existence of two concepts of economic development: the concept of the peasant economy as an entrepreneurial economy, in which the owner hires himself as a worker; the concept of the peasant economy as a working family farm, in which the family as a result of labour costs receives a single labour income and compares its efforts with the obtained material result. Taking into account the abovementioned features of the functioning of farms should be reflected in the development of national and regional programs to support the development of farms. Key words: farming, peasant economy, family farm, peasant, production.

European and local practices of digitization and their impact on employment relations, determination of current directions of digitalization development in Ukraine and implementation of the best world solutions are studied. It is pointed out that COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed the role and perception of digitalization in society and the economy. It is noted that digital technologies are now necessary for work, study, entertainment, communication, shopping and access to everything from health services to culture. The digital transformation has opened up new opportunities for the creation of new enterprises, the emergence of new forms of digital employment. It is noted that in early 2018 Ukraine officially embarked on the path of digitalization and policy making in the digital segment. The Concept of Digital Economy of Ukraine and Social Development for 2018–2020 has been adopted, which contains the main goals and principles of digital development in the country, as well as plans for their implementation. As a result of digitalization, modern technology makes it to perform job functions outside the workplace, not only at home (home office), but anywhere (mobile office) in many areas of the economy. Due to the possibility of remote earning, on June 25, 2019, the Ministry of Social Policy published the bill «On amendments to the Labor Code of Ukraine (concerning flexible forms of labor organization)». It is proposed, in Art. 24 of the Labor Code in particular, to clarify that the compliance with the written form is mandatory when signing an employment agreement for remote work. The indicators of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which demonstrates the level of digital efficiency of Europe and monitors the progress of the European Union in this direction are summarized. In order to implement the influence of digitalization on employment relations in Ukraine, the experience of a number of European countries (Spain, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries) is studied and analyzed. It is concluded that the influence of modern digital technologies significantly changes the state of the labor market, the demand for certain specialists, and the conditions of remote employment. The wages and social security are transformed and become individualized. Employees' dependence on employers is decreasing, their work is shifting into the digital space, which requires constant acquiring of new knowledge and skills in working with modern technologies.

Serbia is a part of the corpus of more than a half of world populations with very low fertility. According to census from 2011, none of the generations born between 1930 and 1962 in Serbia (without Kosovo and Metohija) gave birth to more than two children. The share of childless women aged 30-34 has been on rise, from 21.2% in census 2002 up to 30.3% in census 2011. These women are most often single, living out of unions, with tertiary education, economically active, employed, living in urban settings. Government of the Republic of Serbia has adopted revised Birth Promotion Strategy by the end of 2017 as the response to the problem of low fertility. It relies on the previous Strategy from 2008, but it upgrades and further evolves the document. This paper is aimed at short elaboration of the third goal of the revised Strategy (decrease of the socio-psychological cost of childbearing). Altogether with the second one (reconciliation of work and family), it should create conditions in favour of diminishing enormous exploitation of women/mothers? resources in parenthood and in household and thus alleviate transition to further birth parities. Empirical base consists of different sources of data, most prominent one being the last fieldwork carried out in 2017 by the Institute for Sociological Research, Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade: ?Culture of Childbearing - Reproductive and Partnership Strategies of Women in Serbia today?. Results have demonstrated moderate patriarchal statements among females in Serbia, altogether with quite strong patriarchal practice in partnering and parenting. It is the persistence of the ideology of ?intensive motherhood? and divided female/male performance in the critical moment of ?early baby stage? and later on in the course of family life in the context of low quality of everyday life and vast impoverishment at the semiperiphery. Such ideology and reproductive behaviour are not conducive to increased childbearing which is well documented in literature and research. To the contrary, they lead to postponement and giving up births eventually, especially of higher parities. As a political response we recommend more active inclusion of males into parenthood, by, inter alia, introducing of ?daddy quota? in Serbia. This short term and fully compensated paternal leave is recommended to last two weeks. The measure should be followed by vast social promotion of fatherhood, especially in business, with employers, employees and other males.

Purpose. The study’s purpose is a socio-economic analysis of the Zakarpattia region’s current state of development to determine the factors that affect the current situation and priority areas for improving the territorial organization Zakarpattia region, which will ensure sustainable regional development. Design/methodology/approach. In the article, the authors used the literature review method to identify the state of research on socio-economic development of the regions of Ukraine and to justify the importance of separate consideration of the dynamics of macroeconomic indicators. As a result of the analysis of scientific literature sources on the issue of socio-economic development of the Carpathian region of Ukraine, it was revealed that empirical studies of statistical data are insufficiently presented. Based on the comparative method, system analysis, and synthesis, the leading statistical indicators of the Zakarpattia region are studied: gross regional product (GRP), inflation, the economic activity of the population, unemployment, level of consumer prices, capital investments, foreign economic activity, household expenditures, level of wages and incomes of the people for 2007–2019, the dynamics of which reflects two crisis periods: 2008 and 2014–2015. Economic development dynamics in conditions of political instability and rapid changes in the external environment show positive macroeconomic changes reflected in GDP growth, wage growth, increasing exports, and the excess of exports over imports. Findings. The hypothesis that the focus of achieving the most efficient use of the region’s potential and its balanced development is possible only based on coordination of economic, social, and environmental interests, both at the regional and national levels. In particular, the study of GRP of the Zakarpattia region during 2007–2019 shows a stable growth of the area's nominal GRP. However, the real GRP at the same time, although fluctuating abruptly and in general, remains virtually unchanged. A study of the share of the Zakarpattia region’s economically active population in the structure of the economically active population of Ukraine allows us to conclude that it has changed unevenly and has tended to decrease. The border location of the Zakarpattia region facilitated emigration. In 2020, the share of the economically active population was declining, and unemployment is rising due to the loss of many people of their jobs due to the pandemic, which directly impacts reducing real and nominal GRP. Today’s economic recovery is taking place without significant changes in domestic enterprises’ quantitative structure by industry and is not accompanied by an increase in foreign investment. Practical implications. The results of this research are of interest to scientists and students of educational institutions, employees of research institutions that study the development trends of the regions of Ukraine. Besides, the results can help employees of public authorities of the Zakarpattia region shape the area’s development strategy. Originality/value. This study highlights the strengthening of globalization processes at the present stage of development of our state puts before its regions the main requirement – to maintain and streng then the positive growth of vital socio-economic indicators through the introduction of administrative, legal, tax, financial and other measures in the interests of the population and the state as a whole. The main factors influencing the socio-economic development of the Zakarpattia region are identified. Thus, based on the analysis, we can conclude that the Zakarpattia region’s socio-economic development will depend on the dynamics of production and consumption and improve the results of foreign economic activity. Priority areas for improving the Zakarpattia region’s territorial organization, which will ensure regional development sustainability, have been identified. The unique geopolitical location of Zakarpattia region and its agricultural orientation and tourism are decisive factors in overcoming crises and reviving its socio-economic development.

Development of the world economy requires energy supply, which under stable growth must be based on alternative energy resources. Bioenergy is an integral part of energy security supply in volatile countries. It can satisfy a considerable part of energy demand of agribusinesses and other companies as well as facilitate problem-shooting in energy, ecological and social sectors in some regions. Enhancing bioenergy in Ukraine is one of the strategic ways in the development of the alternative energy sector, taking into account high volatility of the country and significant potential of biomass available for energy production. This research intends to determine conditions and mechanisms of development and functioning of bioenergy clusters based on preliminary specification of the bioenergy potential of the territories, taking into account modern marketing approaches. This article contains evaluation of the bioenergy production growth in countries such as China, Germany, France, the USA, Canada, Brazil and Ukraine. The feasibility of the cluster approach for Ukrainian bioenergy development has been proved. In order to combine Ukrainian regions according to all types of energy resources the authors applied the method of clustering analysis. The key point of the method implies that, based on the given set of indicators which are defined as the main characteristics of the object, every object of the population belongs to a similar class. Therefore, in order to study the efficiency of usage of bioenergy resources in a particular region, it is necessary to classify a set of indicators to identify standard forms. To systemize Ukrainian regions, the Isodata algorithm Isodata, based on the types of the economic and energy potential of biomass, is taken into account. To implement the analysis, the following indicators are considered: the biomass energy potential of primary cell waste, the biomass energy potential of trimming, the biomass energy potential of refining, the energy potential of wooden biomass, the mold biomass potential, the energy potential of bioenergy crops, the corn energy potential (biogas). Market players organize groups with regard to their industries, territories and other factors, namely clusters which are likely to become effective tools in while carrying out scale projects under tough competition. In the minor energy sector cooperation between research and manufacturing enterprises, which satisfies energy needs both of cities and individual customers, is growing. This approach perfectly meets all requirements of the regional development of Ukrainian bioenergy. The main goal of bioenergy clusters is to develop competitive advantages of regions by increasing all types of biomass and biofuel production. This implies the following priorities: creation of a database of agribusiness enterprises, which potentially are members of the cluster and corresponding infrastructure, establishment of marketing communications in order to inform members and potential investors about bioenergy advantages, introduction of regional databases by means of webpages, newsletters, public discussions etc., enhanced vocational training of bioenergy industry employees and investment attraction to finance bioenergy projects. As a result, the authors of the paper propose a classification of Ukrainian regions based on the indicators of the economic energy potential of wastes and energy crops in agribusinesses, which is the basis for cluster formation. Vinnytsia, Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Khmelnitsky and Chernihiv regions refer to the first type with the biggest bioenergy potential, which makes it possible to create 2 energy clusters by combining central-west and north-east regions. Such a methodology gives an opportunity to satisfy the needs of the regions and districts which need additional energy resources taken from own biomass. Priority tasks of the bioenergy cluster include: development of the database of agribusiness entities which potentially are the cluster members and corresponding infrastructure, informing members and investors about bioenergy benefits, creation of the regional information database identifying the resources, capacity and the transport system, vocational training, investment attraction in order to implement bioenergy projects. Based on clusters, economic relations build up a competitive and sound investment climate to support the economy, which, in turn, provides high living standards. The authors have defined the procedure for exercising the cluster initiative and determined the structure of marketing support for cluster projects.

Abstract Background In France, self- employed workers receive disability benefits, but are outside of the specific legislation protecting employees from occupational accident and diseases. Physicians are generally not aware of this shortcoming and ask for occupational diseases benefits, as they do for salaried employees. The health fund of independent workers (HFIW ), dismiss the application, which is uphold by law, but can be a threat to the patient, if it shutters hope for other available benefits. Our aim was to see if the request for occupational diseases was related to significant disability in self-employed workers, and if such a disability could be handled by available benefits from HFIW. This survey could be instructive for countries without occupational diseases frame for self-employed workers. Methods A prospective study was conducted on self-employed claimants applying for occupational disease, from June 2015 to September 2017, with an 18 month period follow-up, in the Ile- de- France region. A questionnaire was sent to the claimant and the data were completed through a phone call or appointment. The main outcome was the number of claimants qualifying for disability benefit available at the HFIW. Results 148 claimants were identified and 141 (95%) matched with the occupational diseases legal setting. The causative agents were close to those observed in employed workers: musculoskeletal, asbestosis. Disability allowance, complete or partial, could be provided by the HFIW because his criteria were met in 38 claimants(27%);benefits for asbestosis exposure were possible through a specialized body in 16 claimants(11%). Conclusions The occupational disease request from self-employed workers matched with medical conditions granted by the HFIW, or external social bodies. This screening should be routinely implemented by nurses or any insurance officer. Key messages Self-employed workers are outside of the specific legislation protecting employees from occupational accident and diseases but 27% of them may apply for other disability benefits. The occupational disease request from self-employed workers dismiss an application but match with available disability benefits from the Independent health fund and should be routinely screened.

AbstractMany studies have investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. Throughout the pandemic, time spent at home increased to a great extent due to restrictive measures. Here we set out to investigate the relationship between housing conditions and the mental health of populations across European countries. We analyzed survey data collected during spring 2020 from 69,136 individuals from four cohorts from Denmark, France, and the UK. The investigated housing conditions included household density, composition, and crowding, access to outdoor facilities, dwelling type, and urbanicity. The outcomes were loneliness, anxiety, and life satisfaction. Logistic regression models were used, and results were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. In the meta-analysis, living alone was associated with higher levels of loneliness (OR = 3.08, 95% CI 1.87–5.07), and lower life satisfaction (OR = 1.27, 95% CI 1.05–0.55), compared to living with others. Not having access to an outdoor space and household crowding were suggestively associated with worse outcomes. Living in crowded households, living alone, or lacking access to outdoor facilities may be particularly important in contributing to poor mental health during a lockdown. Addressing the observed fundamental issues related to housing conditions within society will likely have positive effects in reducing social inequalities, as well as improving preparedness for future pandemics.

Health condition is an important area of social life. Employees in good health work more efficiently and effectively than sick ones. It is widely accepted that health is one of the elements of human capital and a factor in determining the situation of the individual in the labour market. The main objective of the research is to analyse the health status of household members in the context of their professional activity. The working hypothesis assumes that people suffering from health problems are rather economically inactive than unemployed. In the paper an attempt is made to identify factors (related to eg. health) which affect the probability of being economically inactive. To achieve the objective of the paper individual data of household members from the European Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU‑SILC) conducted by Central Statistical Office in Poland in 2013 was used. The results of the analysis indicate that in general, deterioration of health increases the risk of remaining economically inactive. In the analysis of the order of importance of factors affecting economic inactivity, the ones connected with health turned out to be of the greatest importance.

AbstractSince the Industrial Revolution, management has relied on hierarchy to control assets and employees. The negative impact of that hierarchical control on employee performance has long been recognized, yet in spite of expert and scholarly attempts to solve these problems hierarchical control generally continues to dominate management theory and practices. This article argues that is because these problems are rooted not in hierarchy, but rather in organizational expectations of hierarchy. Hierarchy emphasizing “liberating servant leadership” (Dr. Isaac Getz of the ESCP Business School in Paris introduced the term “liberating leadership,” the French equivalent of which “entreprise libérée” has become a household term in France. Max De Pree suggested the leader must become a servant in Leadership is an Art. This combines the two concepts.) instead of controlling employees can produce extraordinary business results. Eighteen innovative CEOs (The innovative CEOs and their successful companies in alphabetical order are Bill Gore, W.L. Gore Company; Bob Beyster, Science Applications International Corporation; Bob Davids, Radica Games & Sea Smoke Vineyard and Winery; Bob Koski, Sun Hydraulics; Bob Townsend, AVIS; David Kelley, IDEO; Garry Ridge, WD-40; Gordon Forward, Chaparral Steel; Harry Quadracci, Quad/Graphics; Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines; Jeff Westphal, Vertex; Ken Iverson, Nucor Steel; Kim Jordan, New Belgium Brewing; Max De Pree, Herman Miller; Paul Staley, PQ Corporation; Rich Teerlink, Harley Davidson; Robert McDermott, USAA Insurance; and Stan Richards, The Richards Group. Additional details about each leader can be found in the books Freedom, Inc. by Brian Carney and Isaac Getz and Questioning Corporate Hierarchy by Paul Staley and Bill Nobles.) whom I have studied discovered this by trial and error while trying to take advantage of Douglas McGregor’s Theory Y. Their leadership changed the design of their organizations. Believing that individuals can drive themselves more effectively than managers can, these CEOs sought to create conditions in which associates committed themselves to organizational objectives, and satisfied their ego and self-development needs. The CEOs relied on hierarchy to control financial assets, but fundamentally changed the human dimension. The organizational roles traditionally called “middle managers” responsible for controlling employees became “liberating servant leaders” responsible for ensuring that associates had everything needed to freely self-control and self-coordinate their efforts. The resulting self-motivated, creative employees played key roles in each CEO’s company being extraordinarily successful. These experiences provide a foundation for transforming the human role of hierarchy in organizational design.

Orientation: Job characteristics are well accepted as sources of burnout and engagement amongst employees; psychosocial safety climate may precede work conditions.Research purpose: We expanded the Job Demands and Resources (JD-R) model by proposing psychosocial safety climate (PSC) as a precursor to job demands and job resources. As PSC theoretically influences the working environment, the study hypothesized that PSC has an impact on performance via both health erosion (i.e. burnout) and motivational pathways (i.e. work engagement).Motivation for the study: So far, integration of PSC in the JD-R model is only tested in a Western context (i.e. Australia). We tested the emerging construct of PSC in Malaysia, an Eastern developing country in the Asian region.Research design, approach and method: A random population based sample was derived using household maps provided by Department of Statistics, Malaysia; 291 employees (response rate 50.52%) from the State of Selangor, Malaysia participated. Cross-sectional data were analysed using structural equation modelling.Main findings: We found that PSC was negatively related to job demands and positively related to job resources. Job demands, in turn, predicted burnout (i.e. exhaustion and cynicism), whereas job resources predicted engagement. Both burnout and engagement were associated with performance. Bootstrapping showed significant indirect effects of PSC on burnout via job demands, PSC on performance via burnout and PSC on performance via the resources-engagement pathway.Practical/managerial implications: Our findings are consistent with previous research that suggests that PSC should be a target to improve working conditions and in turn reduce burnout and improve engagement and productivity.Contribution/value-add: These findings suggest that JD-R theory may be expanded to include PSC as an antecedent and that the expanded JD-R model is largely valid in an Eastern, developing economy setting.

Summary. Introduction: Professional populations have significant differences related not only to the specifics of working conditions, but also to numerous socioeconomic circumstances of their formation (education, income, lifestyle, etc.). This fact impedes selection of adequate occupational groups for comparison and identification of workers requiring priority therapeutic and preventive measures. Materials and methods: We compared three different cohorts of workers exposed to occupational hazards by indicators of cardiovascular performance, body weight, anthropometric parameters, results of a questionnaire-based survey and clinical examination. According to a developed method of visualization of individual parameters, we established the employees with the most significant deviations from the average group values, especially those of blood pressure, heart rate, and whole-body fat percentage. Results: The comparison of three groups of workers demonstrated a possible dependence of health status not only on occupational but also on social and household factors. Examples of identifying individuals with the most altered health indicators using radar charts are presented. Conclusions: The proposed method of individual health risk assessment in industrial cohorts based on comparing personal parameters with the group averages contributes to elaboration and better choice of preventive programs. The use of visual presentation of individual indicators against group averages in radar charts helps identify risk subgroups requiring special attention.

PurposeThis paper examines the human resource (HR) strategies and practices that are considered to be particularly beneficial for aging employees in organizations in Thailand, which is an underresearched developing economy, from an employee perspective and the implications of national institutions and cultures for the adoption and implementation of those HR strategies and practices across organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe results of the study, based on a cross-case analysis of seven organizations across industries, are primarily drawn from structured interviews and focus groups with aging employees, field visits and a review of archival documents and web-based resources, including newspaper reports and magazines.FindingsThis paper proposes that HR strategies that are appropriate for managing aging employees in organizations in Thailand’s developing economy can be classified into four bundles: growth, maintenance, recovery and regulation. Each bundle of HR strategies consists of several HR practices that are appropriate for managing aging employees in organizations. In particular, from the perspective of aging employees, these HR practices help aging employees upgrade their skills, prepare them to have a sufficient amount of financial savings after retirement, ensure that they are safe, secure and healthy, help them feel that their tacit knowledge and experience are still valuable, and help them perform jobs that are appropriate for their physical health conditions. Additionally, the adoption and implementation of the proposed HR strategies and practices tend to be influenced by national institutions in terms of deficiencies in the national skill formation system, healthcare institutions, regulatory institutions and welfare state regime and by the national culture in terms of reciprocity and respect for elderly people (i.e. aging employees). However, there are five important HR practices that are specifically appropriate for managing aging employees in Thailand and other developing economies where the level of household debt and/or personal debt is high, where the increasing number of aging employees leads to high demand for medical services when the medical services offered by private hospitals are expensive, and where tacit knowledge and experience are important for creating and maintaining firms’ competitive advantage: (1) the facilitation of financial planning, (2) safety and health training, (3) annual health check-ups, (4) the appointment of aging employees as advisors/mentors and (5) knowledge transfer/job enrichment.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the limitations of this research is its methodology. Because this research is based on case studies of seven firms located in Thailand, the findings may not be generalizable to all other firms across countries. Rather, the aim of this paper is to further the discussion regarding HR strategies and practices for managing aging employees in organizations. Another limitation of this research is that it does not include firms located in several other industries, including the agricultural and fishery industry and the financial services industry. Future research may explore HR strategies and practices for managing aging employees in organizations located in these industries. Moreover, quantitative studies using large samples of aging employees who work in firms across industries might also be useful in deepening the understanding of HR strategies and practices for managing aging/retired employees in organizations.Practical implicationsThis paper provides practical implications for top managers and/or HR managers of firms in Thailand and other developing economies where the level of household debt and/or personal debt is high, where the increasing number of aging employees leads to high demand for medical services when the medical services offered by private hospitals are expensive, and where tacit knowledge and experience are important for creating and maintaining firms’ competitive advantage. In particular, the aging employees in this study identified the HR practices that they perceive as being appropriate for aging employees and that were already available in firms or that they expect their firms to have but are currently missing. In this regard, HR managers should take note of these good and appropriate HR practices to ensure that they become part of official, structured HR strategies and practices. This would ultimately help line managers and aging employees think more positively about the future of aging employees within the company and help retain invaluable aging employees over time.Social implicationsThis paper provides social/policy implications for the government and/or relevant public agencies of Thailand and several other developing economies where the majority of aging people do not have sufficient savings to support themselves after retirement, especially when these countries are becoming aging societies, where the increasing demand for medical services cannot be adequately addressed by existing public hospitals while private hospitals’ medical prices are quite expensive, and where intellectual property right (IPR) protection laws are weak. That said, such governments should encourage firms located in their countries to implement these HR strategies and practices for developing, maintaining, deploying and supporting aging employees.Originality/valueThis paper aims to contribute to the literature on human resource management (HRM), specifically on HR practices for aging employees, in the following ways. First, this study is different from the previous studies in that it examines HR practices for managing aging employees from an employee perspective, while most of the previous studies in this area have focused on the management of such employees from an employer perspective. In this case, it is possible that formal company policies may be different from actual HR practices as perceived by aging employees (Khilji and Wang, 2006). Second, this paper explores the implications of national institutions and cultures of Thailand’s developing economy for the adoption and implementation of HR strategies and practices that are appropriate for managing aging employees in organizations. Finally, this paper examines HR practices that are specifically appropriate for managing aging employees in Thailand and other developing economies. The literature on HR practices for aging employees has overlooked developing economies, including the underresearched country of Thailand, as most of the studies in this area have focused on developed economies. In fact, developed economies and developing economies are very different in several respects, which may influence the HR strategies and practices that are appropriate for managing aging employees in organizations.

Abstract Background There is a high burden of depression globally, including in South Africa. Maternal depression is associated with poverty, unstable income, food insecurity, and lack of partner support, and may lead to poor outcomes for mothers and children. In South Africa one-third of working women are in informal work, which is associated with socioeconomic vulnerability. Methods A cross sectional survey explored work setting and conditions, food security and risk of depression among informal working women with young children (0–3 years). Depression risk was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Score (EPDS) and Whooley score. Food insecurity was evaluated using Household Food Insecurity Access Scale. Data was analysed using SPSS and Stata. Results Interviews were conducted with 265 informal women workers. Types of work included domestic work, home-based work, informal employees and own account workers, most of whom were informal traders. Most participants (149/265; 56.2%) earned between US$70–200 per month, but some participants (79/265; 29.8%) earned < US$70 per month, and few earned > US$200 per month (37/265; 14.0%). Many participants experienced mild (38/267; 14.3%), moderate (72/265; 27.2%) or severe (43/265; 16%) food insecurity. Severe food insecurity was significantly higher among participants with the lowest income compared to those with the highest income (p = 0.027). Women who received financial support from the baby’s father were less likely to be food insecure (p = 0.03). Using EPDS scores, 22/265 (8.3%) women were designated as being at risk of depression. This was similar among postnatal women and women with older children. Household food insecurity was significantly associated with depression risk (p < 0.001). Conclusions Informal women workers were shown to be vulnerable with low incomes and high rates of food insecurity, thus increasing the risk for poor maternal health. However, levels of depression risk were low compared to previous estimates in South Africa, suggesting that informal workers may have high levels of resilience. Interventions to improve social protection, access to health services, and support for safe childcare in the workplace could improve the health and wellbeing of these mothers and support them to care for their children.

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic in the UK and subsequent lockdown may have affected the mental health of the population. This study examines whether there was an increase in the prevalence and incidence of common mental disorders (CMD) in the UK adult population during the first months of lockdown and whether changes in CMD were associated with stressors related to the pandemic and lockdown. Methods Longitudinal data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study waves 10–11: 2019–2020 and waves 1–4 of the COVID-19 monthly surveys in April (n = 17 761) to July 2020 (n = 13 754), a representative sample of UK adult population, were analysed. CMD was measured using the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) (cut-off >2). Changes in CMD were analysed in relation to COVID-19 and social stressors. Results Around 29% of adults without CMD less than a year earlier had a CMD in April 2020. However, by July 2020, monthly incidence of CMD had reduced to 9%. Most employment, financial and psychological ‘shocks’ were at their highest levels in April and reduced steadily in later months. Despite the lifting of some lockdown conditions by July, stressors related to loneliness, unemployment, financial problems and domestic work continued to influence CMD. Conclusion Some COVID-19 policy responses such as furloughing may have been effective in mitigating the increase in CMD for some groups of employees. Despite some reduction in levels of pandemic and lockdown-related stressors by the middle of 2020, loneliness and financial stressors remained key determinants of incidence in CMD among the UK adult population.

The police as a law enforcement body of a specific state was created to perform a variety of tasks in order to maintain the law and order in society, to ensure the security of the state, its citizens. In accordance with the role of the police in the legal doctrine of different countries (Germany, France, England, etc.), in due time, there were even separate schools to study this institution. The police are also one of the subjects of anti-corruption. Nevertheless, this does not mean that corruption cannot exist in the ranks of the police. Despite the general increase in confidence in the police and their employees, noted by the All-Russia centre of studying of public opinion over the last few years in the Russian Federation, today the efforts to combat corruption need to be undertaken not only outside, but also within the police departments themselves. It is obvious that corrupt law enforcement bodies are not able to perform effectively and qualitatively their tasks, and this fast poses a real threat to the state, society and the individual. Thus, the task of improving the complex of anti-corruption measures in the police bodies is becoming more urgent. The article presents a comparative legal analysis of anti-corruption in the police bodies of Russia and Germany in modern conditions. The measures of influence are defined, as well as the forms of interaction of law enforcement agencies in the fight against this negative social phenomenon. The authors come to conclusion that the effective system of anti-corruption in police facilitates not only by the system of legislative sanctions adopted in the state, but also by the qualitative implementation of the state’s social policy with regard to civil servants.

India is a home to 1.21 billion people, about one-sixth of the world’s population. The Prime Minister of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) on 2nd October, 2014 to accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put focus on sanitation. It is India's biggest ever cleanliness drive and 3 million government employees and school and college students of India participated in this event. The SBM has two sub-missions, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation is the nodal Ministry for SBM (Gramin) and Ministry of Urban Development is the nodal Ministry for SBM (Urban). The core objectives of SBM are to bring about an improvement in the general quality of life in the rural areas. India clean by October 2, 2019 with core objectives of making the country 100% free from Open Defecation and ensuring 100% Modern and Scientific Municipal Solid Waste Management as a fitting tribute to the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, which in rural areas shall mean improving the levels of cleanliness. Villages are considered "Open Defecation-Free" when no faeces are openly visible and every household and public/community institution uses safe technology to dispose of faeces in such a way that there is no contamination of surface soil, groundwater or surface water; excreta is inaccessible to flies or animals, with no manual handling of fresh excreta; and there are no odour and unsightly conditions. Usually, an "ODF village" declaration is made by the village or Gram Panchayat. As of 2016, 36.7% of rural households and 70.3% of urban households, 48.4% of households overall used improved sanitation facilities as per data of National Family Health Survey 4, which was conducted between January 2015 and December 2016, show. A majority, 51.6%, did not. Household toilet availability has improved from 41.93% 2014 to 63.98% in 2017, and the state of Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Kerala have achieved 100% Open Defecation Free (ODF) status as per data of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Gram Panchayats have self-declared 193,081 villages to be ODF, but 53.9% of these have not been verified, according to the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, which is responsible for Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin, which accounts for 85% of Swachh Bharat Mission's budget. (Data accessed on May 22, 2017). According to the Swachh Survekshan 2017 Report, the top two cleanest cities in India are Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh while Gonda in Uttar Pradesh is the dirtiest city in India, Every segment of population, from primary school children to elderly persons need to be properly sensitized about inherent linkages of sanitation for public health. Besides roping in the educational institutions, particularly the schools in awareness campaigns, optimum use needs to be made of social media as well as electronic and print media to spread the message to grass root level. Celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan is leading a “Darwaza Bandh” (on open defecation) campaign for SBA. The film Toilet: Ek Prem Katha was released in Indian Cinema in the year of 2017 to improve the sanitation conditions, with an emphasis on the eradication of open defecation, especially in rural areas. Swachh Shakti 2018 is celebrated in Lucknow with 15 thousands women Swachh Bharat Champions resolving to usher in Clean India on International Women’s Day (8th March 2018).

Introduction The recipe is more than just a list of ingredients and the instructions on how to prepare a particular dish. Recipes also are, as Janet Floyd and Laurel Foster argue, a form of narrative that tells a myriad of stories, “of family sagas and community, of historical and cultural moments and also of personal histories and narratives of self” (Floyd and Forster 2). Among the most intimate and personal sources of recipes are manuscript cookbooks. These typically contained original handwritten recipes created by the author as well as those shared by family and friends; some recipes were copied from published cookbooks or clipped out of newspapers and magazines. However, these books are more than a mere collection of recipes and domestic instructions, they also paint a unique and vivid picture of the life of their authors. These manuscript cookbooks were a common sight in many Australian colonial kitchens, yet they are a rarely examined and rich archival source that provides a valuable insight into foodways, material culture, and the lives and social relationships of the women who created them. This article will examine the manuscript cookbook created by Phillis Clark in the Darling Downs during the 1860s. Through a close examination of Clark’s manuscript cookbook, this article will explore colonial domestic habits and the cultural context in which they were formed. It will also highlight the historical value of manuscript cookbooks as social texts that chronicle daily life, both inside and outside the kitchen, in colonial Australia. A Colonial Woman Phillis Clark was born in Tasmania in 1836. She was the daughter of Charles Seal, the pioneer of the whaling industry in that state. In 1858 she married Charles George Clark, the eldest son of a well-known Tasmanian family. Both the Seal and Clark families were at the centre of social and political life in Tasmania. In 1861, the couple moved to Talgai, twenty two kilometres north-west of Warwick in the Darling Downs region of Queensland. Here, Charles Clark established himself as a storekeeper and became a partner in the Ellinthorp Steam Flour Mills, the first successful flour mill in Queensland (Waterson 3). He also represented Warwick in the Queensland Legislative assembly between 1871 and 1873. Clark’s brother, George Clark, also settled in the area together with his wife and family. In 1868, both families set up home in adjoining properties known as East Talgai and West Talgai. This joint property, with its well manicured gardens, English trees, and fruit orchard, has been described as a small oasis “in an empty, brown and dusty summer landscape” (Waterson, Squatter 19). The Manuscript Sometime during this period Clark began to compile her very own manuscript cookbook. The front of Clark’s manuscript is dated 1866, yet there is ample evidence to suggest that she began work on this manuscript some years earlier. Clark was scrupulous in acknowledging the sources of her recipes, a habit common to many manuscript cookbook authors (Newlyn 35). She also initialled her own creations, firstly with P.S., for her maiden name Phillis Seal, and later P.S.C. for Phillis Seal Clark, her married name. By 1866 Clarke had been married for eight years so it can be assumed that she commenced her manuscript some time before 1858. A number of the recipes that appear in the manuscript appear to be credited to people living in Tasmania. Furthermore, a number of the newspaper clippings found in her manuscript can be dated to before 1866, including one for 1861. The manuscript itself is a hard bound and lined notebook, sturdy enough to withstand the rigours of daily use in the kitchen. The majority of recipes are handwritten but there are also a number of recipes clipped from newspapers interspaced within the manuscript. The handwritten recipes are in a neat copperplate style and all appear to be written in the same hand. The recipes are not found in distinct sections, although there are some small clusters of particular types of recipes, highlighting the fact that they were added to the manuscript over a period of time. At the front of the manuscript there is a detailed index noting the page number on which each recipe is to be found. The recipes themselves follow the standard conventions of the period. The Sources The sources from which Clark gathered some of the recipes in her manuscript indicate the variety of texts that were available to her. There are a number of newspaper clippings pasted in the pages of her manuscript for a range of both recipes for foods as well as the so-called domestic remedies (medicines) and receipts for household products. Amongst the food recipes there are to be found instructions in the making of cream cheese in the Irish manner and a recipe for stewed shoulder of mutton as well as two different methods for preparing kangaroo. While it is impossible to fully know what newspapers all these clippings have been taken from, at least one of them came from the Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser and it is likely that some of them might also have come from a number of the local Warwick papers (one which was founded by her brother-in-law George Clark) that were in publication during Clark’s residence in the area. Clark also utilised a number of published cookbooks as sources for some of the recipes in her own manuscripts. Like most Australians until the last few decades of the nineteenth century, Clark would have mainly resorted to the British cookbooks that were available. The two most commonly acknowledged cookbooks in her manuscript were Enquire Within Upon Everything and Eliza Acton’s. Enquire Within Upon Everything was an immensely popular general household guide amassing eighty-nine editions in a little over forty years in print. It contained information on a plethora of subjects (over three thousand individual entries) including such topics as etiquette, first aid, domestic hints, and recipes. It first appeared on the British market in 1856, under the editorship of Robert Kemp Philp, and became available in Australia in the same year. Booksellers in the Darling Downs advertised copies of the book for the price of three shillings and six pence. Eliza Acton, for her part, was one of Britain’s leading cookbook authors. Her books were widely available throughout the colonies with copies advertised for sale by J. Walch and Sons booksellers in Hobart (‘Advertising’ 1). Extracts from her cookbook Modern Cookery for Private Families began to appear in Australian newspapers only months after it first was published in Britain in 1845 (‘Bullion’ 4). Although Modern Cookery did not provide any recipes directly catering for Australian conditions, its simple and straightforward approach to cookery made it an invaluable resource in the colonial kitchen. Such was the popularity and reputation of Acton’s work that in the preface to Australia’s first cookbook, The English and Australian Cookery Book, the author, Tasmanian born Edward Abbott, stated that he hoped that his cook book would posses “all the advantages of Mrs. Acton’s work” (Abbott vi). The range of printed sources contained within Clark’s manuscript indicate that women in colonial households were far from isolated from the culinary trends occurring in other parts of Australia and the wider British empire. The Recipes Like many Australian women of her class and generation, Phillis Clark reproduced the predominant British food culture in her kitchen. The great majority of recipes contained in her manuscript are for typically English dishes, particularly those for sweet dishes such as biscuits, cakes, and puddings. Plum pudding, trifle, and custard pudding are all featured in her book. As well, many of the savoury dishes such as curry, roast beef, and Yorkshire pudding similarly reflect the British palate. In There is No Taste like Home: The Food of Empire, Adele Wessell argues that the maintenance of British food habits in Australia was a device to reaffirm “cultural and historical bonds and sustain a shared sense of British identity” (811). However, as in many other rural kitchens, native ingredients also found a place. Her manuscript included a number of recipes for the preparation of kangaroo and detailed instructions for the butchering of the animal. Clark’s recipe for “Jugged Hare or Kangaroo” bares a close resemblance to the one that appears in Edward Abbott’s cookbook. Clark’s father and Abbott were from the same, small social milieu in colonial Hobart and were both active in the same political causes. This raises the intriguing possibility that Phillis also knew Abbott and came into contact with some of his culinary ideas. Australians consumed all manners of native ingredients, not only as a matter of necessity but also as a matter of choice. The inclusion of freshly killed native game in Clark’s kitchen would have served to alleviate the monotony of the salted beef and mutton that were common staples during this period. The distinct Australian flavour that began to appear in manuscript cookbooks like Clark’s would later be replicated in their printed counterparts. Australian cookbooks published in the last decades of the nineteenth century demonstrate the importance of native ingredients in colonial kitchens (Singley 37). The Darling Downs region had been a popular destination for German migrants from the 1850s and Clark’s manuscript contained a number of recipes for German dishes. This included one for the traditional German Christmas cake Lebkuchen as well as for various German puddings and biscuits. Clark also included an elaborate recipe for making ham or bacon in the traditional Westphalian fashion. This was a laborious process that involved vigorously rubbing salt, sugar, and beer into the leg of ham every day for a fortnight after which it is then hung to dry for a couple of days and then smoked. Katie Hume, a fellow Darling Downs resident and a close friend of the extended Clark family described feeling like a “gute verstandige Hausfrau” (a good sensible housewife) after salting 112 pounds of pork she had purchased from a neighbour (152). While, unlike their counterparts in the Barossa valley in South Australia, the Germans who lived in the Darling Downs area did not leave a significant mark on the local culinary landscape, the inclusion of German recipes in Clark’s manuscript indicates that there was not only some cross-cultural transmission of culinary knowledge, but also some willingness to go beyond traditional British fare. Many, more mundane recipes also populate Clark’s manuscript. “Toad in a Hole”, “Mutton Pie” and “Stewed Sirloin” all merit an entry. Yet, even with such simple dishes, Clark demonstrated a keen eye for detail. This is attested by her method for the preparation of a simple dish of roasted pumpkin: “Cut into slices 1 inch thick and about 5 inches long, have ready a baking dish with boiling fat—lay the slices in it so that the fat will cover them and bake for 20 minutes (by fat I mean good dripping) Half an hour will not bake them too much. They ought to be brown” (Clark 13). Whilst Clark’s manuscript is not indicative of the foodways of all classes across Queensland society, it does provide some insight as to what was consumed at the table of a well-heeled rural household. As the wife of a prominent businessman and a local dignitary, Phillis Clark would have also undoubtedly been called upon to play the role of hostess and to entertain her husband’s commercial and political acquaintances. Her manuscript also reflects the overwhelmingly British nature of colonial Australian foodways despite the intrusion of some foreign dishes. As Anne Murcott argues, the preparation and consumption of food provides a way through which individuals can express the more abstract significance of cultural values and social systems (204). The Clark household also showed some interest in producing a broad range of products in the home. There are, for example, a number of recipes for beverages including those for non-alcoholic ginger beers and flavoured cordials. They were also far from abstemious, with recipes for wine, mead, and ale included in the manuscript. This last recipe was given to her by her brother Alfred who, according to Clark, “understands brewing and therefore I think it can be depended upon” (Clark 43). Clark also bottled her own fruit, made a wide range of jams, including grape and mock melon, as well as making her own butter, confectionery, and vinegar. The production of goods like these within the home indicates the level of self-reliance in many colonial households, particularly those finding themselves far from the convenience of shops and markets. Many culinary historians argue that there exists a significant time lag between the initial appearance and consumption of a particular dish in a society and its subsequent appearance in the pages of a cookbook. This time lag can be between forty and 150 years long (Mennell 44; Mason 23). However, manuscript cookbooks reflect the immediacy of eating practices. The very personal nature of manuscript cookbooks would suggest that the recipes included within their pages were ones that the author intended to use in her own kitchen. Moreover, from the reciprocal nature of recipe sharing that is evident from these types of cookbooks it can be concluded that the recipes in Clark’s manuscript were ones that, at least in her own social milieu, were in common usage. In her manuscript Clark clearly noted those recipes which she especially liked or otherwise found useful. Many recipes throughout the manuscript have been marked as “proved” indicating that Clark had used and tested them at some stage. A number of them have also been favourably annotated as being “delicious”, “very nice”, “the best”, and “very good”. Amongst the number of recipes for “Soda Cake” that feature in the manuscript Clarke clearly indicates that “Number 1 is the best”. However, she was not averse to commenting on recipes and altering them to suit her taste. In a recipe for “A nice light Cake”, for example, Clark noted that the addition of a “little peel and currants is an improvement” (89). This form of marginal intrusion was a common practice amongst many women and it can even be seen in the margins of many published cookbooks (Theophano 186). These annotations, according to Sandra Sherman, are not transgressive, since the manuscripts are not authored “by” anyone (Sherman 121). In fact, annotations personalise the recipe and confirm the compiler’s confidence in it (Sherman 121). Not Just Food: ‘Domestic Receipts’ As noted above, Clark’s manuscript contained more than just recipes for food and drink. Many of them are “Domestic Receipts” that reflect the complex nature of running a household in rural Australia. Some of Clark’s domestic receipts are in the form of newspaper clippings and are general instructions for the manufacture of simple household products such as a “ready to use glue” and a home-made tooth powder. Others are handwritten and copied from other domestic advice books or were given to Clark by family and friends. A recipe for manufacturing “blacking for stoves”, essential in the maintenance of cast iron stoves, was, for example, culled from Enquire Within Upon Everything. Here, with some authorial intrusion, Clark includes her own list of measured ingredients to prepare the mixture. An intriguing method for the “artificial preparation of ice” involving the use of ammonium nitrate and bicarbonate of soda was given to Clark by Mrs. McKeachie, the wife of Charles Clark’s business partner. Clark also showed an interest in beekeeping and in raising turkeys, with instructions for both these tasks included in her manuscript. The wide range of miscellaneous receipts featured in Clark’s book highlights the breadth of activities that were carried out in many homes in rural Australia. A hint of Clark’s artistic side is also in evidence, with detailed instructions on how to create delicate fern impressions on paper also included in her book. As with many other women in colonial Australia, Clark was expected to take on the role of caregiver when members of her family fell ill or were injured. Her manuscript included a number of recipes for “domestic remedies”, another common trope in books of this kind as well as in their printed counterparts. These remedies included recipes for a cough mixture composed of linseed, liquorice, and water and a liniment to treat rheumatism which was made by mixing rape seed oil and turpentine with a hefty dose of laudanum. Clark used olive oil in a number of medical recipes to treat burns and scalds. As well, treatments for diphtheria, cholera, and diarrhoea feature prominently in her manuscript. The Darling Downs had been subject to a number of outbreaks of dysentery and cholera during Clark’s residency in the area (Waterson, Squatter 71). For “a pain in the chest” Clark recommended the following: “a piece of brown paper spread with tallow and placed on the chest” (69).The inclusion of these domestic remedies and Clark’s obvious concerns for her family’s health is particularly poignant given her personal history. Her family was plagued by misfortune and illness and she lost three of her ten children in a six-year period including two within just months of each other. Clark herself would die during childbirth in 1874. Sharing and Caring The word “recipe” has its origins in the Latin recipere meaning to “receive”. In order to receive there has to be, by implication, someone doing the giving. A recipe signifies an exchange and a connection between individuals. The sharing of recipes was a common activity for many women in nineteenth century Australia. Wilhelmina Rawson, Queensland’s first published cookbook author, was keenly aware of the manner in which women shared recipes and culinary knowledge. This act of reciprocity, she argued, not only helped to ease the isolation of bush living but also allowed each individual to be “benefited by the cleverness of the whole number” (14). For many, food often has a deeply private and personal component, being prepared and consumed within the realm of the home. However, food is also a communal experience and is openly shared through rituals, feasts, the contexts in which it is bought and sold, and, most importantly, reciprocal exchange. In her manuscript, Clark acknowledged a number of different individuals as the source for the recipes she included within its pages. The convention of acknowledging the sources of recipes in manuscript cookbooks functions as a way to assert the recipe’s authority and to ensure that they are proven (Sherman 122). This act of acknowledgement also locates Clark within a social network of women who not only shared recipes but also, one can imagine, many of the vicissitudes of domestic life in a remote rural setting. In her study of women’s manuscript cookbooks, entitled Eat My Words: Reading Women’s Lives Through the Cookbooks They Wrote, Janet Theophano describes these texts as “the maps of the social and cultural life they inhabited” (13). This circulation of recipes allowed women to share their knowledge, skills, and creativity. Those who received and used these recipes not only engaged in a conversation with the writer of these recipes but also formed a connection with a broader community that allowed them to learn more about themselves and the world. Conclusion The manuscript cookbook created by Phillis Clark is a fascinating prism through which to explore domestic life in colonial Australia. The recipes contained in Clark’s manuscript reflect the eating habits of her own family and those of a particular social class in Queensland. They not only demonstrate the tenacity of British foodways in Australia but also show the degree of culinary adventurism that existed in some homes. The personal, almost autobiographical nature of manuscript cookbooks also provides an intimate view in the life of its creator. In the splattered pages of Phillis Clark’s book we can read the many travails, joys, and tragedies of her life. References Abbott, Edward. The English and Australian Cookery Book: Cookery for the Many, as Well as for the Upper Ten Thousand. London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1864. ‘Advertising’. Launceston Examiner 9 Mar. 1858: 1. ‘Boullion, The Common Soup of France’. The Sydney Morning Herald 22 Aug. 1845: 4. Clark, Phillis. “Manuscript Cookbook”. 1863 Floyd, Janet, and Laurel Forster. “The Recipe in Its Cultural Content.” The Recipe Reader: Narratives, Contexts, Traditions. Ed. Janet Floyd and Laurel Forster. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate. 2003. Hume, Anna Kate. Katie Hume on the Darling Downs, a Colonial Marriage: Letters of a Colonial Lady, 1866-1871. Ed. Nancy Bonnin. Toowoomba: DDIP, 1985. Mason, Laura. Food Culture in Great Britain. Greenwood, 2004. Mennell, Stephen. All Manners of Food: Eating and Taste in England and France from the Middle Ages to the Present. Oxford, UK: B. Blackwell, 1985. Murcott, Anne. “The Cultural Significance of Food and Eating”. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 41.02 (1982): 203–10. Newlyn, Andrea K. “Redefining ‘Rudimentary’ Narrative: Women’s Nineteenth Century Manuscript Cookbooks”. The Recipe Reader: Narratives, Contexts, Traditions. Ed. Janet Floyd and Laurel Forster. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate, 2003. Rawson, Wilhelmina. Australian Enquiry Book of Household and General Information: A Practical Guide for the Cottage, Villa and Bush Home. Melbourne: Pater and Knapton, 1894. Sherman, S. “‘The Whole Art and Mystery of Cooking’: What Cookbooks Taught Readers in the Eighteenth Century”. Eighteenth-Century Life 28.1 (2004): 115–35. Singley, Blake. “‘Hardly Anything Fit for Man to Eat’: Food and Colonialism in Australia.” History Australia 9.3 (2012): 27–42. Theophano, Janet. Eat My Words: Reading Women’s Lives Through the Cookbooks They Wrote. New York, N.Y: Palgrave, 2002. Waterson, D. B. “A Darling Downs Quartet”. Queensland Heritage 1.7 (1967): 3–14. Waterson, D. B. Squatter, Selector and Storekeeper: A History of the Darling Downs, 1859-93. Sydney: Sydney UP, 1968. Wessell, Adele. “There’s No Taste Like Home: The Food of Empire”. Exploring the British World: Identity, Cultural Production, Institutions. Ed. Kate Darian-Smith and Patricia Grimshaw. Melbourne: RMIT, 2004.

Introduction The scientific validity of climate change claims, how to intervene (if at all) in environmental, economic, political and social consequences of climate change, and the adaptation and mitigation needed with any given climate change scenario, are contested areas of public, policy and academic discourses. For marginalised populations, the climate discourses around adaptation, mitigation, vulnerability and resilience are of particular importance. This paper considers the silence around disabled people in these discourses. Marci Roth of the Spinal Cord Injury Association testified before Congress in regards to the Katrina disaster: [On August 29] Susan Daniels called me to enlist my help because her sister in-law, a quadriplegic woman in New Orleans, had been unsuccessfully trying to evacuate to the Superdome for two days. […] It was clear that this woman, Benilda Caixetta, was not being evacuated. I stayed on the phone with Benilda, for the most part of the day. […] She kept telling me she’d been calling for a ride to the Superdome since Saturday; but, despite promises, no one came. The very same paratransit system that people can’t rely on in good weather is what was being relied on in the evacuation. […] I was on the phone with Benilda when she told me, with panic in her voice “the water is rushing in.” And then her phone went dead. We learned five days later that she had been found in her apartment dead, floating next to her wheelchair. […] Benilda did not have to drown. (National Council on Disability, emphasis added) According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), adaptation is the “Adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities” (IPCC, Climate Change 2007). Adaptations can be anticipatory or reactive, and depending on their degree of spontaneity they can be autonomous or planned (IPCC, Fourth Assessment Report). Adaptations can be private or public (IPCC, Fourth Assessment Report), technological, behavioural, managerial and structural (National Research Council of Canada). Adaptation, in the context of human dimensions of global change, usually refers to a process, action or outcome in a system (household, community, group, sector, region, country) in order for that system to better cope with, manage or adjust to some changing condition, stress, hazard, risk or opportunity (Smit and Wandel). Adaptation can encompass national or regional strategies as well as practical steps taken at the community level or by individuals. According to Smit et al, a framework for systematically defining adaptations is based on three questions: (i) adaptation to what; (ii) who or what adapts; and (iii) how does adaptation occur? These are essential questions that have to be looked at from many angles including cultural and anthropological lenses as well as lenses of marginalised and highly vulnerable populations. Mitigation (to reduce or prevent changes in the climate system), vulnerability (the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, the adverse effects of climate change), and resilience (the amount of change a system can undergo without changing state), are other important concepts within the climate change discourse. Non-climate stresses can increase vulnerability to climate change by reducing resilience and can also reduce adaptive capacity because of resource deployment to competing needs. Extending this to the context of disabled people, ableism (sentiment to expect certain abilities within humans) (Wolbring, “Is there an end to out-able?”) and disablism (the unwillingness to accommodate different needs) (Miller, Parker and Gillinson) are two concepts that will thus play themselves out in climate discourses. The “Summary for Policymakers” of the IPCC 2007 report, Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, states: “Poor communities can be especially vulnerable, in particular those concentrated in high-risk areas. They tend to have more limited adaptive capacities, and are more dependent on climate-sensitive resources such as local water and food supplies.” From this quote one can conclude that disabled people are particularly impacted, as the majority of disabled people live in poverty (Elwan). For instance, CARE International, a humanitarian organisation fighting global poverty, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Maplecroft, a company that specialises in the calculation, analysis and visualisation of global risks, conclude: “The degree of vulnerability is determined by underlying natural, human, social, physical and financial factors and is a major reason why poor people—especially those in marginalised social groups like women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities—are most affected by disasters” (CARE International). The purpose of this paper is to expose the reader to (a) how disabled people are situated in the culture of the climate, adaptation, mitigation and resilience discourse; (b) how one would answer the three questions, (i) adaptation to what, (ii) who or what adapts, and (iii) how does adaptation occur (Smit et al), using a disabled people lens; and (c) what that reality of the involvement of disabled people within the climate change discourse might herald for other groups in the future. The paper contends that there is a pressing need for the climate discourse to be more inclusive and to develop a new social contract to modify existing dynamics of ableism and disablism so as to avoid the uneven distribution of evident burdens already linked to climate change. A Culture of Neglect: The Situation of Disabled People As climates changes, environmental events that are classified as natural disasters are expected to be more frequent. In the face of recent disaster responses, how effective have these efforts been as they relate to the needs and challenges faced by disabled people? Almost immediately after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, the National Council on Disability (NCD) in the United States estimated that 155,000 people with disabilities lived in the three cities hardest hit by the hurricane (about 25 per cent of the cities’ populations). The NCD urged emergency managers and government officials to recognise that the need for basic necessities by hurricane survivors with disabilities was “compounded by chronic health conditions and functional impairments … [which include] people who are blind, people who are deaf, people who use wheelchairs, canes, walkers, crutches, people with service animals, and people with mental health needs.” The NCD estimated that a disproportionate number of fatalities were people with disabilities. They cited one statistic from the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP): “73 per cent of Hurricane Katrina-related deaths in New Orleans area were among persons age 60 and over, although they comprised only 15 per cent of the population in New Orleans.” As the NCD stated, “most of those individuals had medical conditions and functional or sensory disabilities that made them more vulnerable. Many more people with disabilities under the age of 60 died or were otherwise impacted by the hurricanes.” As these numbers are very likely linked to the impaired status of the elderly, it seems reasonable to assume similar numbers for non-elderly disabled people. Hurricane Katrina is but one example of how disabled people are neglected in a disaster (Hemingway and Priestley; Fjord and Manderson). Disabled people were also disproportionately impacted in other disasters, such as the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in Japan (Nakamura) or the 2003 heatwave in France, where 63 per cent of heat-related deaths occurred in institutions, with a quarter of these in nursing homes (Holstein et al.). A review of 18 US heatwave response plans revealed that although people with mental or chronic illnesses and the homeless constitute a significant proportion of the victims in recent heatwaves, only one plan emphasised outreach to disabled persons, and only two addressed the shelter and water needs of the homeless (Ebi and Meehl; Bernhard and McGeehin). Presence of Disabled People in Climate Discourse Although climate change will disproportionately impact disabled people, despite the less than stellar record of disaster adaptation and mitigation efforts towards disabled people, and despite the fact that other social groups (such as women, children, ‘the poor’, indigenous people, farmers and displaced people) are mentioned in climate-related reports such as the IPCC reports and the Human Development Report 2007/2008, the same reports do not mention disabled people. Even worse, the majority of the material generated by, and physically set up for, discourses on climate, is inaccessible for many disabled people (Australian Human Rights Commission). For instance, the IPCC report, Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, contains Box 8.2: Gender and natural disasters, makes the following points: (a) “men and women are affected differently in all phases of a disaster, from exposure to risk and risk perception; to preparedness behaviour, warning communication and response; physical, psychological, social and economic impacts; emergency response; and ultimately to recovery and reconstruction”; (b) “natural disasters have been shown to result in increased domestic violence against, and post-traumatic stress disorders in, women”; and (c) “women make an important contribution to disaster reduction, often informally through participating in disaster management and acting as agents of social change. Their resilience and their networks are critical in household and community recovery.” The content of Box 8.2 acknowledges the existence of different perspectives and contributions to the climate discourse, and that it is beneficial to explore these differences. It seems reasonable to assume that differences in perspectives, contributions and impact may well also exist between people with and without disabilities, and that it may be likewise beneficial to explore these differences. Disabled people are differently affected in all phases of a disaster, from exposure to risk and risk perception; to preparedness behaviour, warning communication and response; physical, psychological, social and economic impacts; emergency response; and ultimately to recovery and reconstruction. Disabled people could also make an important contribution to disaster reduction, often informally through participating in disaster management and acting as agents of social change. Their resilience and their networks are critical in household and community recovery, important as distributors of relief efforts and in reconstruction design. The Bonn Declaration from the 2007 international conference, Disasters are always Inclusive: Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Emergency Situations, highlighted many problems disabled people are facing and gives recommendations for inclusive disaster preparedness planning, for inclusive response in acute emergency situations and immediate rehabilitation measures, and for inclusive post-disaster reconstruction and development measures. Many workshops were initiated by disabled people groups, such as Rehabilitation International. However, the disabled people disaster adaptation and mitigation discourse is not mainstreamed. Advocacy by people with disability for accessible transport and universal or “life-cycle” housing (among other things) shows how they can contribute significantly to more effective social systems and public facilities. These benefit everyone and help to shift public expectations towards accessible and flexible amenities and services—for example, emergency response and evacuation procedures are much easier for all if such facilities are universally accessible. Most suggestions by disabled people for a more integrative, accessible physical environment and societal attitude benefit everyone, and gain special importance with the ever-increasing proportion of elderly people in society. The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report is intended to be a balanced assessment of current knowledge on climate change mitigation. However, none of the 2007 IPCC reports mention disabled people. Does that mean that disabled people are not impacted by, or impact, climate change? Does no knowledge of adaptation, mitigation and adaptation capacity from a disabled people lens exist, or does the knowledge not reach the IPCC, or does the IPCC judge this knowledge as irrelevant? This culture of neglect and unbalanced assessment of knowledge evident in the IPCC reports was recognised before for rise of a ‘global’ climate discourse. For instance, a 2001 Canadian government document asked that research agendas be developed with the involvement of, among others, disabled people (Health Canada). The 2009 Nairobi Declaration on Africa’s response to climate change (paragraph 36) also asks for the involvement of disabled people (African Ministerial Conference on the Environment). However, so far nothing has trickled up to the international bodies, like the IPCC, or leading conferences such as the United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009. Where Will It End? In his essay, “We do not need climate change apartheid in adaptation”, in the Human Development Report 2007/2008, Archbishop Desmond Tutu suggests that we are drifting into a situation of global adaptation apartheid—that adaptation becomes a euphemism for social injustice on a global scale (United Nations Development Programme). He uses the term “adaptation apartheid” to highlight the inequality of support for adaptation capacity between high and low income countries: “Inequality in capacity to adapt to climate change is emerging as a potential driver of wider disparities in wealth, security and opportunities for human development”. I submit that “adaptation apartheid” also exists in regard to disabled people, with the invisibility of disabled people in the climate discourse being just one facet. The unwillingness to accommodate, to help the “other,” is nothing new for disabled people. The ableism that favours species-typical bodily functioning (Wolbring, “Is there an end to out-able?”; Wolbring, “Why NBIC?”) and disablism (Miller, Parker, and Gillinson)—the lack of accommodation enthusiasm for the needs of people with ‘below’ species-typical body abilities and the unwillingness to adapt to the needs of “others”—is a form of “adaptation apartheid,” of accommodation apartheid, of adaptation disablism that has been battled by disabled people for a long time. In a 2009 online survey of 2000 British people, 38 per cent believed that most people in British society see disabled people as a “drain on resources” (Scope). A majority of human geneticist concluded in a survey in 1999 that disabled people will never be given the support they need (Nippert and Wolff). Adaptation disablism is visible in the literature and studies around other disasters. The 1988 British Medical Association discussion document, Selection of casualties for treatment after nuclear attack, stated “casualties whose injuries were likely to lead to a permanent disability would receive lower priority than those expected to fully recover” (Sunday Morning Herald). Famine is seen to lead to increased infanticide, increased competitiveness and decreased collaboration (Participants of the Nuclear Winter: The Anthropology of Human Survival Session). Ableism and disablism notions experienced by disabled people can now be extended to include those challenges expected to arise from the need to adapt to climate change. It is reasonable to expect that ableism will prevail, expecting people to cope with certain forms of climate change, and that disablism will be extended, with the ones less affected being unwilling to accommodate the ones more affected beyond a certain point. This ableism/disablism will not only play itself out between high and low income countries, as Desmond Tutu described, but also within high income countries, as not every need will be accommodated. The disaster experience of disabled people is just one example. And there might be climate change consequences that one can only mitigate through high tech bodily adaptations that will not be available to many of the ones who are so far accommodated in high income countries. Desmond Tutu submits that adaptation apartheid might work for the fortunate ones in the short term, but will be destructive for them in the long term (United Nations Development Programme). Disability studies scholar Erik Leipoldt proposed that the disability perspective of interdependence is a practical guide from the margins for making new choices that may lead to a just and sustainable world—a concept that reduces the distance between each other and our environment (Leipoldt). This perspective rejects ableism and disablism as it plays itself out today, including adaptation apartheid. Planned adaptation involves four basic steps: information development and awareness-raising; planning and design; implementation; and monitoring and evaluation (Smit et al). Disabled people have important knowledge to contribute to these four basic steps that goes far beyond their community. Their understanding and acceptance of, for example, the concept of interdependence, is just one major contribution. Including the concept of interdependence within the set of tools that inform the four basic steps of adaptation and other facets of climate discourse has the potential to lead to a decrease of adaptation apartheid, and to increase the utility of the climate discourse for the global community as a whole. References African Ministerial Conference on the Environment. Nairobi Declaration on the African Process for Combating Climate Change. 2009. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.unep.org/roa/Amcen/Amcen_Events/3rd_ss/Docs/nairobi-Decration-2009.pdf ›. American Association of Retired Persons. We Can Do Better: Lessons Learned for Protecting Older Persons in Disasters. 2009. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/il/better.pdf ›. Australian Human Rights Commission. “Climate Change Secretariat Excludes People with Disabilities.” 2008. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.hreoc.gov.au/about/media/media_releases/2008/95_08.html ›. Bernhard, S., and M. McGeehin. “Municipal Heatwave Response Plans.” American Journal of Public Health 94 (2004): 1520-21. CARE International, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and Maplecroft. Humanitarian Implications of Climate Change: Mapping Emerging Trends and Risk Hotspots for Humanitarian Actors. CARE International, 2008. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.careclimatechange.org/files/reports/Human_Implications_PolicyBrief.pdf ›, ‹ http://www.careclimatechange.org/files/reports/CARE_Human_Implications.pdf ›. "Disasters Are Always Inclusive: Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Emergency Situations." Bonn Declaration from the International Conference: Disasters Are Always Inclusive: Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Emergency Situations. 2007. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.disabilityfunders.org/webfm_send/6, http://www.disabilityfunders.org/emergency_preparedness ›, ‹ http://bezev.de/bezev/aktuelles/index.htm ›. Ebi, K., and G. Meehl. Heatwaves and Global Climate Change: The Heat Is On: Climate Change and Heatwaves in the Midwest. 2007. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ www.pewclimate.org/docUploads/Regional-Impacts-Midwest.pdf ›. Elwan, A. Poverty and Disability: A Survey of the Literature. Worldbank, Social Protection Discussion Paper Series (1999): 9932. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DISABILITY/Resources/Poverty/Poverty_and_Disability_A_Survey_of_the_Literature.pdf ›. Fjord, L., and L. Manderson. “Anthropological Perspectives on Disasters and Disability: An Introduction.” Human Organisation 68.1 (2009): 64-72. Health Canada. First Annual National Health and Climate Change Science and Policy Research Consensus Conference: How Will Climate Change Affect Priorities for Your Health Science and Policy Research? Health Canada, 2001. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/climat/research-agenda-recherche/population-eng.php ›. Hemingway, L., and M. Priestley. “Natural Hazards, Human Vulnerability and Disabling Societies: A Disaster for Disabled People?” The Review of Disability Studies (2006). 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.rds.hawaii.edu/counter/count.php?id=13 ›. Holstein, J., et al. “Were Less Disabled Patients the Most Affected by the 2003 Heatwave in Nursing Homes in Paris, France?” Journal of Public Health Advance 27.4 (2005): 359-65. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. 2007. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_ipcc_fourth_assessment_report_wg2_report_impacts_adaptation_and_vulnerability.htm ›. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “Summary for Policymakers.” Eds. O. F. Canziani, J. P. Palutikof, P. J. van der Linden, C. E. Hanson, and M.L.Parry. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007. 7-22. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg2/ar4-wg2-spm.pdf ›. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC Fourth Assessment Report Working Group III Report: Mitigation of Climate Change Glossary. 2007. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/ar4-wg3.htm, http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/wg3/ar4-wg3-annex1.pdf ›. Leipoldt, E. “Disability Experience: A Contribution from the Margins. Towards a Sustainable Future.” Journal of Futures Studies 10 (2006): 3-15. Miller, P., S. Parker and S. Gillinson. “Disablism: How to Tackle the Last Prejudice.” Demos, 2004. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.demos.co.uk/files/disablism.pdf ›. Nakamura, K. “Disability, Destitution, and Disaster: Surviving the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake in Japan.” Human Organisation 68.1 (2009): 82-88. National Council on Disability, National Council on Independent Living, National Organization on Disability, and National Spinal Cord Injury Association and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Emergency Management and People with Disabilities: before, during and after Congressional Briefing, 10 November 2005. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2005/transcript_emergencymgt.htm ›. National Council on Disability. National Council on Disability on Hurricane Katrina Affected Areas. 2005. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2005/katrina2.htm ›. National Research Council of Canada. From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate 2007. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://adaptation.nrcan.gc.ca/assess/2007/pdf/full-complet_e.pdf ›. Nippert, I. and G. Wolff. “Ethik und Genetik: Ergebnisse der Umfrage zu Problemaspekten angewandter Humangenetik 1994-1996, 37 Länder.” Medgen 11 (1999): 53-61. Participants of the Nuclear Winter: The Anthropology of Human Survival Session. Proceedings of the 84th American Anthropological Association's Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C., 6 Dec. 1985. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/doe/lanl/lib-www/la-pubs/00173165.pdf ›. Scope. “Most Britons Think Others View Disabled People ‘As Inferior’.” 2009. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://www.scope.org.uk/cgi-bin/np/viewnews.cgi?id=1244379033, http://www.comres.co.uk/resources/7/Social%20Polls/Scope%20PublicPoll%20Results%20May09.pdf ›. Smit, B., et al. “The Science of Adaptation: A Framework for Assessment.” Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 4 (1999): 199-213. Smit, B., and J. Wandel. “Adaptation, Adaptive Capacity and Vulnerability.” Global Environmental Change 16 (2006): 282-92. Sunday Morning Herald. “Who Lives and Dies in Britain after the Bomb.” Sunday Morning Herald 1988. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19880511&id=wFYVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kOQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3909,113100 ›. United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report 2007/2008: Fighting Climate Change – Human Solidarity in a Divided World. 2008. 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_20072008_EN_Complete.pdf ›. Wolbring, Gregor. “Is There an End to Out-Able? Is There an End to the Rat Race for Abilities?” M/C Journal 11.3 (2008). 26 Aug. 2009 ‹ http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/viewArticle/57 ›. Wolbring, Gregor. “Why NBIC? Why Human Performance Enhancement?” Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research 21.1 (2008): 25-40.

Cultural Studies has tended to prioritise the domain of leisure and consumption over work as an area for meaning making, in many ways defining everyday life in opposition to work. Greg Noble, a cultural researcher who examined work in the context of the early computerisation of Australian universities made the point that "discussions of everyday life often make the mistake of assuming that everyday life equates with home and family life, or leisure" (87). This article argues for the need within Cultural Studies to focus on work and media as a research area of everyday life. With the growth of flexible and creative labour and the widespread uptake of an array of new media technologies used for work, traditional ways to identify and measure the space and time of work have become increasingly flawed, with implications for how we account for work and negotiate its boundaries. New approaches are needed to address the complex media environments and technological practices that are an increasing part of contemporary working life. Cultural Studies can make a significant impact towards this research agenda by offering new ways to analyse the complex interrelations of space, time and technology in everyday work practice. To further this goal, a new material practices account of work termed Officing is introduced, developed through my doctoral research on professionals' daily use of information and communication technology (ICT). This approach builds on the key cultural concepts of "bricolage" and "appropriation" combined with the idea of "articulation work" proposed by Anselm Strauss, to support the analysis of the office workplace as a contingent and provisional arrangement or process. Officing has a number of benefits as a framework for analysing the nature of work in a highly mediated world. Highlighting the labour that goes into stabilising work platforms makes it possible to assess the claims of productivity and improved work-life balance brought about by new mobile media technologies; to identify previously unidentified sources of time pressure, overwork and intensification and ultimately, to contribute to the design of more sustainable work environments. The Turn Away from Work Work held a central position in social and cultural analysis in the first half of the twentieth century but as Strangleman observed, there was a marked shift away from the study of work from the mid 1970s (3.1). Much of the impulse for this shift came from critiques of the over-emphasis on relations of production and the workplace as the main source of meaning and value (5.1). In line with this position, feminist researchers challenged the traditional division of labour into paid and unpaid work, arguing that this division sustained the false perception of domestic work as non-productive (cf. Delphy; Folbre). Accompanying these critiques were significant changes in work itself, as traditional jobs literally began to disappear with the decline of manufacturing in industrialised countries (6.1). With the turn away from work in academia and the changes in the nature of work, attention shifted to the realm of the market and consumption. One of the important contributions of Cultural Studies has been the focus on the role of the consumer in driving social and technological change and processes of identity formation. Yet, it is a major problem that work is largely marginalised in cultural research of everyday life, especially since, in most industrialised nations, we are working in new ways, in rapidly changing conditions and more than ever before. Research shows that in Australia there has been a steady increase in the average hours of paid work and Australians are working harder (cf. Watson, Buchanan, Campbell and Briggs; Edwards and Wajcman). In the 2008 Australian Work and Life Index (AWALI) Skinner and Pocock found around 55 per cent of employees frequently felt rushed or pressed for time and this was associated with long working hours, work overload and an overall poor work–life interaction (8). These trends have coincided with long-term changes in the type and location of work. In Australia, like many other developed countries, information-based occupations have taken over manufacturing jobs and there has been an increase in part-time and casual work (cf. Watson et al.). Many employees now conduct work outside of the traditional workplace, with the ABS reporting that in 2008, 24 per cent of employees worked at least some hours at home. Many social analysts have explained the rise of casual and flexible labour as related to the transition to global capitalism driven by the expansion of networked information processes (cf. Castells; Van Dijk). This shift is not simply that more workers are producing ideas and information but that the previously separated spheres of production and consumption have blurred (cf. Ritzer and Jurgenson). With this, entirely new industries have sprung up, predicated on the often unpaid for creative labour of individuals, including users of media technologies. A growing chorus of writers are now pointing out that a fragmented, polarised and complex picture is emerging of this so-called "new economy", with significant implications for the quality of work (cf. Edwards and Wajcman; Fudge and Owens; Huws). Indeed, some claim that new conditions of insecure and poor quality employment or "precarious work" are fast becoming the norm. Moreover, this longer-term pattern runs parallel to the production of a multitude of new mobile media technologies, first taken up by professionals and then by the mainstream, challenging the notion that activities are bound to any particular place or time. Reinvigorating Work in Social and Cultural Analysis There are moves to reposition social and cultural analysis to respond to these various trends. Work-life balance is an example of a research and policy area that has emerged since the 1990s. The boundary between the household and the outside world has also been subject to scrutiny by cultural researchers, and these critically examine the intersection between work and consumption, gender and care (cf. Nippert-Eng; Sorenson and Lie; Noble and Lupton, "Consuming" and "Mine"; Lally). These responses are examples of a shift away from what Urry has dubbed "structures and stable organisations" to a concern with flows, movements and the blurring of boundaries between life spheres (5). In a similar vein, researchers recently have proposed alternative ways to describe the changing times and places of employment. In their study of UK professionals, Felstead, Jewson and Walters proposed a model of "plural workscapes" to explain a major shift in the spatial organisation of work (23). Mobility theorists Sheller and Urry have called for the need to "develop a more dynamic conceptualisation of the fluidities and mobilities that have increasingly hybridised the public and private" (113). All of this literature has reinforced a growing concern that in the face of new patterns of production and consumption and with the rise of complex media environments, traditional models and measures of space and time are inadequate to account for contemporary work. Analyses that rely on conventional measures of work based on hourly units clearly point to an increase in the volume of work, the speed of work and to the collision (cf. Pocock) of work and life but fall down in accounting for the complex and often contradictory role of technology. Media technologies are "Janus-faced" as Michael Arnold has suggested, referring to the two-faced Roman god to foreground the contradictory effects at the centre of all technologies (232). Wajcman notes this paradox in her research on mobile media and time, pointing out that mobile phones are just as likely to "save" time as to "consume" it (15). It was precisely this problematic of the complex interactions of the space, time and technology of work that was at stake in my research on the daily use of ICT by professional workers. In the context of changes to the location, activity and meaning of work, and with the multiplying array of old and new media technologies used by workers, how can the boundary and scope of work be determined? What are the implications of these shifting grounds for the experience and quality of work? Officing: A Material Practices Account of Office Work In the remaining article I introduce some of the key ideas and principles of a material practices account developed in my PhD, Officing: Professionals' Daily ICT Use and the Changing Space and Time of Work. This research took place between 2006 and 2007 focusing in-depth on the daily technology practices of twenty professional workers in a municipal council in Sydney and a unit of a global telecommunication company taking part in a trial of a new smart phone. Officing builds on efforts to develop a more accurate account of the space and time of work bringing into play the complex and highly mediated environment in which work takes place. It extends more recent practice-based, actor-network and cultural approaches that have, for some time, been moving towards a more co-constitutive and process-oriented approach to media and technology in society. Turning first to "bricolage" from the French bricole meaning something small and handmade, bricolage refers to the ways that individuals and groups borrow from existing cultural forms and meanings to create new uses, meanings and identities. Initially proposed by Levi-Strauss and then taken up by de Certeau, bricolage has been a useful concept within subculture and lifestyle studies to reveal the creative work performed on signs and meaning systems in forming cultural identities (cf. O'Sullivan et al.). Bricolage is also an important concept for understanding how meanings and uses are inscribed into forms in use rather than being read or activated off their design. This is the process of appropriation, through which both the object and the person are mutually shaped and users gain a sense of control and ownership (cf. Noble and Lupton; Lally; Silverstone and Haddon). The concept of bricolage highlights the improvisational qualities of appropriation and its status as work. A bricoleur is thus a person who constructs new meanings and forms by drawing on and assembling a wide range of resources at hand, sourced from multiple spheres of life. One of the problems with how bricolage and appropriation has been applied to date, notwithstanding the priority given to the domestic sphere, is the tendency to grant individuals and collectives too much control to stabilise the meanings and purposes of technologies. This problem is evident in the research drawing on the framework of "domestication" (cf. Silverstone and Haddon). In practice, the sheer volume of technologically-related issues encountered on a daily basis and the accompanying sense of frustration indicates there is no inevitable drift towards stability, nor are problems merely aberrational or trivial. Instead, daily limits to agency and attempts to overcome these are points at which meanings as well as uses are re-articulated and potentially re-invented. This is where "articulation work" comes in. Initially put forward by Anselm Strauss in 1985, articulation work has become an established analytical tool for informing technology design processes in such fields as Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) and Workplace Studies. In these, articulation work is narrowly defined to refer to the real time activities of cooperative work. It includes dealing with contingencies, keeping technologies and systems working and making adjustments to accommodate for problems (Suchman "Supporting", 407). In combination with naturalistic investigations, this concept has facilitated engagement with the increasingly complex technological and media environments of work. It has been a powerful tool for highlighting practices deemed unimportant but which are nevertheless crucial for getting work done. Articulation work, however, has the potential to be applied in a broader sense to explain the significance of the instability of technologies and the efforts to overcome these as transformative in themselves, part of the ongoing process of appropriation that goes well beyond individual tasks or technologies. With clear correspondences to actor-network theory, this expanded definition provides the basis for a new understanding of the office as a temporary and provisional condition of stability achieved through the daily creative and improvisational activities of workers. The office, then, is dependent on and inextricably bound up in its ongoing articulation and crucially, is not bound to a particular place or time. In the context of the large-scale transformations in work already discussed, this expanded definition of articulation work helps to; firstly, address how work is re-organised and re-rationalised through changes to the material conditions of work; secondly, identify the ongoing articulations that this entails and thirdly; understand the role of these articulations in the construction of the space and time of work. This expanded definition is achieved in the newly developed concept of officing. Officing describes a form of labour directed towards the production of a stable office platform. Significantly, one of the main characteristics of this work is that it often goes undetected by organisations as well as by the workers that perform it. As explained later, its "invisibility" is in part a function of its embodiment but also relates to the boundless nature of officing, taking place both inside and outside the workplace, in or out of work time. Officing is made up of a set of interwoven activities of three main types: connecting, synchronising and configuring. Connecting can be understood as aligning technical and social relations for the performance of work at a set time. Synchronising brings together and coordinates different times and temporal demands, for example, the time of "work" with "life" or the time "out in the field" with time "in the workplace". Configuring prepares the space of work, making a single technology or media environment work to some planned action or existing pattern of activity. To give an example of connecting: in the Citizens' Service Centre of the Council, Danielle's morning rituals involved a series of connections even before her work of advising customers begins: My day: get in, sit down, turn on the computer and then slowly open each software program that I will need to use…turn on the phone, key in my password, turn on the headphones and sit there and wait for the calls! (Humphry Officing, 123) These connections not only set up and initiate the performance of work but also mark Danielle's presence in her office. Through these activities, which in practice overlap and blur, the space and time of the office comes to appear as a somewhat separate and mostly invisible structure or infrastructure. The work that goes into making the office stable takes place around the boundary of work with implications for how this boundary is constituted. These efforts do not cluster around boundaries in any simple sense but become part of the process of boundary making, contributing to the construction of categories such as "work" and "life". So, for example, for staff in the smart phone trial, the phone had become their main source of information and communication. Turning their smart phone off, or losing connectivity had ramifications that cascaded throughout their lifeworld. On the one hand, this lead to the breakdown of the distinction between "work" and "life" and a sense of "ever-presence", requiring constant and vigilant "boundary work" (cf. Nippert-Eng). On the other hand, this same state also enabled workers to respond to demands in their own time and across multiple boundaries, giving workers a sense of flexibility, control and of being "in sync". Connecting, configuring and synchronising are activities performed by bodies, producing an embodied transformation. In the tradition of phenomenology, most notably in the works of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and more recently Ihde, embodiment is used to explain the relationship between subjects and objects. This concept has since been developed to be understood as not residing in the body but as spread through social, material and discursive arrangements (cf. Haraway, "Situated" and Simians; Henke; Suchman, "Figuring"). Tracing efforts towards making the office stable is thus a way of uncovering how the body, as a constitutive part of a larger arrangement or network, is formed through embodiment, how it gains its competencies, social meanings and ultimately, how workers gain a sense of what it means to be a professional. So, in the smart phone trial, staff managed their connections by replying immediately to their voice, text and data messages. This immediacy not only acted as proof of their presence in the office. It also signalled their commitment to their office: their active participation and value to the organisation and their readiness to perform when called on. Importantly, this embodied transformation also helps to explain how officing becomes an example of "invisible work" (cf. Star and Strauss). Acts of connecting, synchronising and configuring become constituted and forgotten in and through bodies, spaces and times. Through their repeated performance these acts become habits, a transparent means through which the environment of work is navigated in the form of skills and techniques, configurations and routines. In conclusion, researching work in contemporary societies means confronting its marginalisation within cultural research and developing ways to comprehend and measure the interaction of space, time and the ever-multiplying array of media technologies. Officing provides a way to do this by shifting to an understanding of the workplace as a contingent product of work itself. The strength of this approach is that it highlights the creative and ongoing work of individuals on their media infrastructures. It also helps to identify and describe work activities that are not neatly contained in a workplace, thus adding to their invisibility. The invisibility of these practices can have significant impacts on workers: magnifying feelings of time pressure and a need to work faster, longer and harder even as discrete technologies are utilised to save time. In this way, officing exposes some of the additional contributions to the changing experience and quality of work as well as to the construction of everyday domains. Officing supports an evaluation of claims of productivity and work-life balance in relation to new media technologies. In the smart phone trial, contrary to an assumed increase in productivity, mobility of work was achieved at the expense of productivity. Making the mobile office stable—getting it up and running, keeping it working in changing environments and meeting expectations of speed and connectivity—took up time, resulting in an overall productivity loss and demanding more "boundary work". In spite of their adaptability and flexibility, staff tended to overwork to counteract this loss. This represented a major shift in the burden of effort in the production of office forms away from the organisation and towards the individual. Finally, though not addressed here in any detail, officing could conceivably have practical uses for designing more sustainable office environments that better support the work process and the balance of work and life. Thus, by accounting more accurately for the resource requirements of work, organisations can reduce the daily effort, space and time taken up by employees on their work environments. In any case, what is clear, is the ongoing need to continue a cultural research agenda on work—to address the connections between transformations in work and the myriad material practices that individuals perform in going about their daily work. References Arnold, Michael. "On the Phenomenology of Technology: The 'Janus-Faces' of Mobile Phones." Information and Organization 13.4 (2003): 231–56. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 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"Consuming Work: Computers, Subjectivity and Appropriation in the University Workplace." The Sociological Review 46.4 (1998): 803-27. –––. "Mine/Not Mine: Appropriating Personal Computers in the Academic Workplace." Journal of Sociology 38.1 (2002): 5-23. O'Sullivan, Tim, John Hartley, Danny Saunders, Martin Montgomery, and John Fiske. Key Concepts in Communication and Cultural Studies. London: Routledge, 1994. Pocock, Barbara. The Work/Life Collision: What Work Is Doing to Australians and What to Do about It. Sydney: The Federation P, 2003. Ritzer, George, and Nathan Jurgenson. "Production, Consumption, Prosumption." Journal of Consumer Culture 10.1 (2010): 13-36. Sheller, Mimi, and John Urry. "Mobile Transformations of 'Public' and 'Private' Life." Theory, Culture & Society 20.3 (2003): 107-25. Silverstone, Roger, and Leslie Haddon. "Design and the Domestication of Information and Communication Technologies: Technical Change and Everyday Life." Communication by Design: The Politics of Information and Communication Technologies. Eds. Roger Silverstone and Robin Mansell. Oxford: U of Oxford P, 1996. 44-74. Skinner, Natalie, and Barbara Pocock. "Work, Life and Workplace Culture: The Australian Work and Life Index (AWALI) 2008." Adelaide: The Centre for Work and Life, Hawke Research Institute, University of South Australia 2008 ‹http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cwl/default.asp›.Sorenson, Knut H., and Merete Lie. Making Technology Our Own? Domesticating Technologies into Everyday Life. Oslo: Scandinavian UP, 1996.Star, Susan L. "The Sociology of the Invisible: The Primacy of Work in the Writings of Anselm Strauss." Social Organization and Social Process: Essays in Honor of Anselm Strauss. New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1991. 265-83. Star, Susan L., and Anselm Strauss. "Layers of Silence, Arenas of Voice: The Ecology of Visible and Invisible Work." Computer Supported Cooperative Work 8 (1999): 9-30. Strangleman, Timothy. 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Problem setting. One of the most important tasks of modern science of public management and administration is the further improvement of management technologies, management decisions in banking in particular and the increase of their efficiency and effectiveness. Accordingly, the scientific interest is not only in the study and the analysis of banking legislation of certain countries, but in the adaptation of national legislation to the directives of the European Union. The urgency of improving the mechanism of state regulation of the market for the provision of services for the collection of funds and transportation of currency valuables in the banking system of Ukraine is undeniable, the implementation of which should include the mandatory establishment of real requirements and measures of responsibility of managers of both individual financial institutions and regulatory bodies. Recent research and publications analysis. The organization of central banks of the world, their legal status, main functions, comparative aspects, regulatory activities in the field of the organization of cash circulation and cash collection were studied in the works of L. Voronova, D. Hetmantsev, V. Krotyuk, S. Yehorychev, M. Starynsky, P. Melnyk, S. Laptev, I. Zaverukha. Legal problems of legalization of firearms circulation in Ukraine were studied by А. Kolosok, P. Mitrukhov, P. Fries, S. Shumilenko and others. The works of V. Baranyak, V. Меzhyvy, М. Pinchuk, T. Pryhodko, V. Rybachuk, В. Tychyi, etc. are devoted to the study of legal problems of illegal handling of weapons. However, these works do not reflect the peculiarities of the use of firearms in subdivisions of collection of funds. Native and foreign scholars generally have not paid due attention to the study and the analysis of the existing model of cash circulation in Ukraine, its advantages, risks and disadvantages as well as the effective functioning of the market of collection of funds and transportation of currency valuables in the banking system of Ukraine. Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem. The purpose of this article is to analyze the innovative foreign experience of state regulation of the market of collection of funds and transportation of currency valuables in the banking system of Ukraine (hereinafter – collection of funds) and to justify the need for its implementation in Ukraine. Another important problem in collection activities is the lack of legislative regulation of firearms trafficking as there is no law on weapons in Ukraine, there are only regulations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, which greatly complicates its regulation by the state according to P. Fries. Paper main body. The market of collection of funds and transportation of currency valuables (hereinafter – the market of collection) is one of the most closed segments of the banking system of any country as a whole. The most popular way to pay for services and goods during the last few years, according to annual surveys conducted by the Swiss central bank, is cash. The important factor is that even with the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the demand for cash and cash flow has increased significantly. The National Bank of Ukraine carries out regulatory activities in accordance with the requirements of the Law of Ukraine “On Principles of State Regulatory Policy in the Field of Economic Activity”. Collection of funds has never been a particularly profitable activity, for the subdivisions of collection of any country along with the staff and transportation costs, that is why to ensure the proper security of cash transportation is a very costly item of the estimate. In this regard, there is an urgent need for the adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On collection of funds and transportation of currency valuables” and “On firearms”, which would define the basic foundations, principles, forms of activities in the field of collection services, rights, duties and responsibilities of all participants in the collection market, in order to increase their reliability, safety and efficiency. In the countries of the European Union (EU), services for the collection and transportation of currency valuables are provided by public and private enterprises. In many EU countries there is no legal definition of the concept ‘collection’. In most cases, collection falls under the general legislation on the basics of security, except for Austria and Germany, which regulate such activities through professional organizations, insurance and collective agreements. Today, five foreign global CIT companies account for almost 60% of the global CIT market for cash collection and cash handling services. They are: – Brinks (USA) – 23%; – G4S (England) – 15%; – Loomis (Sweden) – 12%; – Prosegur (Spain) – 7%; – Garda (Canada) – 4%; – GSLS – 0.01%; – Other regional independent companies – 39%. In six EU countries (Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Sweden, Great Britain and the Netherlands) the presence of firearms during collection of funds is prohibited. In Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain, the presence of a weapon in the performance of professional collection duties is mandatory. Safe collection of funds largely depends on the fast, without delays, safe travel by road. Ukraine needs to reform its transport system to gain access to the European Union’s rail, road, river and air transport markets and to financial resources for building safe infrastructure of high quality. Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. Unfortunately, there are no well-known world CIT collection companies in the Ukrainian market of collection services and therefore Ukrainian banks and legal entities have to deal with local CIT companies, the authorized capital of which in some cases may be significantly less than the amount of the collected cash. In accordance with the mentioned above, for the effective functioning of the Ukrainian market of collection of funds and a balanced regulatory policy of the state, we suggest making appropriate changes and additions to the Laws of Ukraine on “Banks and Banking”, “National Bank of Ukraine”. To initiate the development and adoption of the Laws of Ukraine “On Collection and Transportation of Currency Valuables” and “On Firearms” which will ensure equal competitive conditions in the collection market for all its participants, reliable labor protection, social guarantees and rights of employees of collection divisions.

Setting the Mood Weirdly, everything feels the same. There’s absolutely no distinction for me between news, work, walking, gaming, Netflix, rock collecting, scrolling, messaging. I don’t know how this happened, but everything has simply blurred together. There’s a dreadful and yet soothing sameness to it, scrolling through images on Instagram, scrolling Netflix, walking the dog, scrolling the news, time scrolling by as I watch face after face appear or disappear on my screen, all saying something, yet saying nothing. Is this the rhythm of crisis in a slow apocalypse? Really, would it be possible for humans to just bore themselves into oblivion? Because in the middle of a pandemic, boredom feels in my body the same as doom ... just another swell that passes, like my chest as it rises and falls with my breath. This opening anecdote comes from combining narratives in two studies we conducted online during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: a global study, Massive and Microscopic Sensemaking: Autoethnographic Accounts of Lived Experience in Times of Global Trauma; and an Australian project, The Shut-In Worker: Working from Home and Digitally-Enabled Labour Practices. The Shut-In Worker project aimed to investigate the thoughts, beliefs, and experiences of Australian knowledge workers working from home during lockdown. From June to October 2020, we recruited twelve households across two Australian states. While the sample included households with diverse incomes and living arrangements—from metropolitan single person apartment dwellers to regional families in free standing households—the majority were relatively privileged. The households included in this study were predominantly Anglo-Australian and highly educated. Critically, unlike many during COVID-19, these householders had maintained their salaried work. Participating households took part in an initial interview via Zoom or Microsoft Teams during which they took us on workplace tours, showing us where and how the domestic had been requisitioned for salaried labour. Householders subsequently kept digital diaries of their working days ahead of follow up interviews in which we got them to reflect on their past few weeks working from home with reference to the textual and photographic diaries they had shared with us. In contrast to the tight geographic focus of The Shut-In Worker project and its fairly conventional methodology, the Massive and Microscopic Sensemaking project was envisaged as a global project and driven by an experimental participant-led approach. Involving more than 150 people from 26 countries during 2020, the project was grounded in autoethnography practice and critical pedagogy. Over 21 days, we offered self-guided prompts for ourselves and the other participants—a wide range of creative practitioners, scholar activists, and researchers—to explore their own lived experience. Participants with varying degrees of experience with qualitative methods and/or autoethnography started working with the research questions we had posed in our call; some independently, some in collaboration. The autoethnographic lens used in our study encouraged contributors to document their experience from and through their bodies, their situated daily routines, and their relations with embedded, embodied, and ubiquitous digital technologies. The lens enabled deep exploration and evocation of many of the complexities, profound paradoxes, fears, and hopes that characterise the human and machinic entanglements that bring us together and separate the planetary “us” in this moment (Markham et al. 2020). In this essay we draw on anecdotes and narratives from both studies that speak to the “Zoom experience” during COVID-19. That is, we use Zoom as a socio-technical pivot point to think about how the experience of liminality—of being on/off screen and ambiently in between—is operating to shift both our micro practices and macro structures as we experience and struggle within the rupture, “event”, and conjuncture that marks the global pandemic. What we will see is that many of those narratives depict disjointed, blurry, or confusing experiences, atmospheres, and affects. These liminal experiences are entangled in complex ways with the distinctive forms of commercial infrastructure and software that scaffold video conferencing platforms such as Zoom. Part of what is both enabling and troubling about the key proprietary platforms that increasingly host “public” participation and conversation online (and that came to play a dominant role during COVID19) in the context of what Tarleton Gillespie calls “the internet of platforms” is a sense of the hidden logics behind such platforms. The constant sense of potential dis/connection—with home computers becoming ambient portals to external others—also saw a wider experience of boundarylessness evoked by participants. Across our studies there was a sense of a complete breakdown between many pre-existing boundaries (or at least dotted lines) around work, school, play, leisure and fitness, public and media engagement, and home life. At the same time, the vocabulary of confinement and lockdown emerged from the imposition of physical boundaries or distancing between the self and others, between home and the outside world. During the “connected confinement” of COVID-19, study participants commonly expressed an affective sensation of dysphoria, with this new state of in betweenness or disorientation on and off screen, in and out of Zoom meetings, that characterises the COVID-19 experience seen by many as a temporary, unpleasant disruption to sociality as usual. Our contention is that, as disturbing as many of our experiences are and have been during lockdown, there is an important, ethically and politically generative dimension to our global experiences of liminality, and we should hold on to this state of de-normalisation. Much ink has been spilled on the generalised, global experience of videoconferencing during the COVID-19 pandemic. A line of argument within this commentary speaks to the mental challenge and exhaustion—or zoom fatigue as it is now popularly termed—that many have been experiencing in attempting to work, learn, and live collectively via interactive screen technologies. We suggest zoom fatigue stands in for a much larger set of global social challenges—a complex conjuncture of microscopic ruptures, decisions within many critical junctures or turning points, and slow shifts in how we see and make sense of the world around us. If culture is habit writ large, what should we make of the new habits we are building, or the revelations that our prior ways of being in the world might not suit our present planetary needs, and maybe never did? Thus, we counter the current dominant narrative that people, regions, and countries should move on, pivot, or do whatever else it takes to transition to a “new normal”. Instead, drawing on the work of Haraway and others interested in more than human, post-anthropocenic thinking about the future, this essay contends that—on a dying planet facing major global challenges—we need to be embracing liminality and “staying with the trouble” if we are to hope to work together to imagine and create better worlds. This is not necessarily an easy step but we explore liminality and the affective components of Zoom fatigue here to challenge the assumption that stability and certainty is what we now need as a global community. If the comfort experienced by a chosen few in pre-COVID-19 times was bought at the cost of many “others” (human and more than human), how can we use the discomfort of liminality to imagine global futures that have radically transformative possibilities? On Liminality Because liminality is deeply affective and experienced both individually and collectively, it is a difficult feeling or state to put into words, much less generalised terms. It marks the uncanny or unstable experience of existing between. Being in a liminal state is marked by a profound disruption of one’s sense of self, one’s phenomenological being in the world, and in relation to others. Zoom, in and of itself, provokes a liminal experience. As this participant says: Zoom is so disorienting. I mean this literally; in that I cannot find a solid orientation toward other people. What’s worse is that I realize everyone has a different view, so we can’t even be sure of what other people might be seeing on their screen. In a real room this would not be an issue at all. The concept of liminality originally came out of attempts to capture the sense of flux and transition, rather than stasis, that shapes culture and community, exemplified during rites of passage. First developed in the early twentieth century by ethnographer and folklorist Arnold van Gennep, it was later taken up and expanded upon by British anthropologist Victor Turner. Turner, best known for his work on cultural rituals and rites of passage, describes liminality as the sense of “in betweenness” experienced as one moves from one status (say that of a child) to another (formal recognition of adulthood). For Turner, community life and the formation of societies more broadly involves periods of transition, threshold moments in which both structures and anti-structures become apparent. Bringing liminality into the contemporary digital moment, Zizi Papacharissi discusses the concept in collective terms as pertaining to the affective states of networked publics, particularly visible in the development of new social and political formations through wide scale social media responses to the Arab Spring. Liminality in this context describes the “not yet”, a state of “pre-emergence” or “emergence” of unformed potentiality. In this usage, Papacharissi builds on Turner’s description of liminality as “a realm of pure possibility whence novel configurations of ideas and relations may arise” (97). The pandemic has sparked another moment of liminality. Here, we conceptualise liminality as a continuous dialectical process of being pushed and pulled in various directions, which does not necessarily resolve into a stable state or position. Shifting one’s entire lifeworld into and onto computer screens and the micro screens of Zoom, as experienced by many around the world, collapses the usual functioning norms that maintain some degree of distinction between the social, intimate, political, and work spheres of everyday life. But this shift also creates new boundaries and new rules of engagement. As a result, people in our studies often talked about experiencing competing realities about “where” they are, and/or a feeling of being tugged by contradictory or competing forces that, because they cannot be easily resolved, keep us in an unsettled, uncomfortable state of being in the world. Here the dysphoric experiences associated not just with digital liminality but with the broader COVID-19 epidemiological-socio-political conjuncture are illustrated by Sianne Ngai’s work on the politics of affect and “ugly feelings” in the context of capitalism’s relentlessly affirmative culture. Rather than dismissing the vague feelings of unease that, for many of us, go hand in hand with late modern life, Ngai suggests that such generalised and dispersed affective states are important markers of and guides to the big social and cultural problems of our time—the injustices, inequalities, and alienating effects of late capitalism. While critical attention tends to be paid to more powerful emotions such as anger and fear, Ngai argues that softer and more nebulous forms of negative affect—from envy and anxiety to paranoia—can tell us much about the structures, institutions, and practices that frame social action. These enabling and constraining processes occur at different and intersecting levels. At the micro level of the screen interface, jarring experiences can set us to wondering about where we are (on or off screen, in place and space), how we appear to others, and whether or not we should showcase and highlight our “presence”. We have been struck by how people in our studies expressed the sense of being handled or managed by the interfaces of Zoom or Microsoft Teams, which frame people in grid layouts, yet can shift and alter these frames in unanticipated ways. I hate Zoom. Everything about it. Sometimes I see a giant person, shoved to the front of the meeting in “speaker view” to appear larger than anyone else on the screen. People constantly appear and disappear, popping in and out. Sometimes, Zoom just rearranges people seemingly randomly. People commonly experience themselves or others being resized, frozen, or “glitched”, muted, accidentally unmuted, suddenly disconnected, or relegated to the second or third “page” of attendees. Those of us who attend many meetings as a part of work or education may enjoy the anonymity of appearing at a meeting without our faces or bodies, only appearing to others as a nearly blank square or circle, perhaps with a notation of our name and whether or not we are muted. Being on the third page of participants means we are out of sight, for better or worse. For some, being less visible is a choice, even a tactic. For others, it is not a choice, but based on lack of access to a fast or stable Internet connection. The experience and impact of these micro elements of presence within the digital moment differs, depending on where you appear to others in the interface, how much power you have over the shape or flow of the interaction or interface settings, or what your role is. Moving beyond the experience of the interface and turning to the middle range between micro and macro worlds, participants speak of attempting to manage blurred or completely collapsed boundaries between “here” and “there”. Being neither completely at work or school nor completely at home means finding new ways of negotiating the intimate and the formal, the domestic and the public. This delineation is for many not a matter of carving out specific times or spaces for each, but rather a process of shifting back and forth between makeshift boundaries that may be temporal or spatial, depending on various aspects of one’s situation. Many of us most likely could see the traces of this continuous shifting back and forth via what Susan Leigh Star called “boundary objects”. While she may not have intended this concept in such concrete terms, we could see these literally, in the often humorous but significantly disruptive introduction of various domestic actants during school or work, such as pets, children, partners, laundry baskets, beds, distinctive home decor, ambient noise, etc. Other trends highlight the difficulty of maintaining zones of work and school when these overlap with the rest of the physical household. One might place Post-it Notes on the kitchen wall saying “I’m in a Zoom meeting so don’t come into the living room” or blur one’s screen background to obscure one’s domestic location. These are all strategies of maintaining ontological security in an otherwise chaotic process of being both here and there, and neither here nor there. Yet even with these strategies, there is a constant dialectical liminality at play. In none of these examples do participants feel like they are either at home or at work; instead, they are constantly shifting in between, trying to balance, or straddling physical and virtual, public and private, in terms of social “roles” and “locations”. These negotiations highlight the “ongoingness” of and the labour involved in maintaining some semblance of balance within what is inherently an unbalanced dialectical process. Participants talked about and showed in their diaries and pictures developed for the research projects the ways they act through, work with, or sometimes just try to ignore these opposing states. The rise of home-based videoconferencing and associated boundary management practices have also highlighted what has been marginalised or forgotten and conversely, prioritised or valorised in prior sociotechnical assemblages that were simply taken for granted. Take for example the everyday practices of being in a work versus domestic lifeworld; deciding how to handle the labor of cleaning cups and dishes used by the “employees” and “students” in the family throughout the day, the tasks of enforcing school attendance by children attending classes in the family home etc. This increased consciousness—at both a household and more public level—of a previously often invisible and feminised care economy speaks to larger questions raised by the lockdown experience. At the same time as people in our studies were negotiating the glitches of screen presence and the weird boundarylessness of home-leisure-domestic-school-work life, many expressed an awareness of a troubling bigger picture. First, we had just the COVID lockdowns, you know, that time where many of us were seemingly “all together” in this, at home watching Tiger King, putting neighborly messages in our windows, or sharing sourdough recipes on social media. Then Black Lives Matters movements happened. Suddenly attention is shifted to the fact that we’re not all in this together. In Melbourne, people in social housing towers got abruptly locked down without even the chance to go to the store for food first, and yet somehow the wealthy or celebrity types are not under this heavy surveillance; they can just skip the mandatory quarantine. ... We can’t just go on with things as usual ... there are so many considerations now. Narratives like these suggest that while 2020 might have begun with the pandemic, the year raised multiple other issues. As many things have been destabilised, the nature or practice of everyday life is shifting under our feet. Around the world, people are learning how to remain more distanced from each other, and the rhythms of temporal and geographic movement are adapting to an era of the pandemic. Simultaneously, many people talk about an endlessly arriving (but never quite here) moment when things will be back to normal, implying not only that this feeling of uncertainty will fade, but also that the zone of comfort is in what was known and experienced previously, rather than in a state of something radically different. This sentiment is strong despite the general agreement that “we will never [be able to] go back to how it was, but [must] proceed to some ‘new normal’”. Still, as the participant above suggests, the pandemic has also offered a much broader challenge to wider, taken-for-granted social, political, and economic structures that underpin late capitalist nations in particular. The question then becomes: How do we imagine “moving on” from the pandemic, while learning from the disruptive yet critical moment it has offered us as a global community? Learning from Liminality I don’t want us to go back to “normal”, if that means we are just all commuting in our carbon spitting cars to work and back or traveling endlessly and without a care for the planet. COVID has made my life better. Not having to drive an hour each way to work every day—that’s a massive benefit. While it’s been a struggle, the tradeoff is spending more time with loved ones—it’s a better quality of life, we have to rethink the place of work. I can’t believe how much more I’ve been involved in huge discussions about politics and society and the planet. None of this would have been on my radar pre-COVID. What would it mean then to live with as well as learn from the reflexive sense of being and experience associated with the dis-comforts of living on and off screen, a Zoom liminality, if you will? These statements from participants speak precisely to the budding consciousness of new potential ways of being in a post-COVID-19 world. They come from a place of discomfort and represent dialectic tensions that perhaps should not be shrugged off or too easily resolved. Indeed, how might we consider this as the preferred state, rather than being simply a “rite of passage” that implies some pathway toward more stable identities and structured ways of being? The varied concepts of “becoming”, “not quite yet”, “boundary work”, or “staying with the trouble”, elaborated by Karen Barad, Andrew Pickering, Susan Leigh Star, and Donna Haraway respectively, all point to ways of being, acting, and thinking through and with liminality. All these thinkers are linked by their championing of murky and mangled conceptions of experience and more than human relations. Challenging notions of the bounded individual of rational humanism, these post-human scholars offer an often-uncomfortable picture of being in and through multiplicity, of modes of agency born out of a slippage between the one and the many. While, as we noted above, this experience of in betweenness and entanglement is often linked to emotions we perceive as negative, “ugly feelings”, for Barad et al., such liminal moments offer fundamentally productive and experimental modalities that enable possibilities for new configurations of being and doing the social in the anthropocene. Further, liminality as a concept potentially becomes radically progressive when it is seen as both critically appraising the constructed and conventional nature of prior patterns of living and offering a range of reflexive alternatives. People in our studies spoke of the pandemic moment as offering tantalizing glimpses of what kinder, more caring, and egalitarian futures might look like. At the same time, many were also surprised by (and skeptical of) the banality and randomness of the rise of commercial platforms like Zoom as a “choice” for being with others in this current lifeworld, emerging as it did as an ad hoc, quick solution that met the demands of the moment. Zoom fatigue then also suggests a discomfort about somehow being expected to fully incorporate proprietary platforms like Zoom and their algorithmic logics as a core way of living and being in the post-COVID-19 world. In this sense the fact that a specific platform has become a branded eponym for the experience of online public communicative fatigue is telling indeed. The unease around the centrality of video conferencing to everyday life during COVID-19 can in part be seen as a marker of anxieties about the growing role of decentralized, private platforms in “replacing or merging with public infrastructure, [thereby] creating new social effects” (Lee). Further, jokes and off-hand comments by study participants about their messy domestic interiors being publicized via social media or their boss monitoring when they are on and offline speak to larger concerns around surveillance and privacy in online spaces, particularly communicative environments where unregulated private platforms rather than public infrastructures are becoming the default norm. But just as people are both accepting of and troubled by a growing sense of inevitability about Zoom, we also saw them experimenting with a range of other ways of being with others, from online cocktail parties to experimenting with more playful and creative apps and platforms. What these participants have shown us is the need to “stay with the trouble” or remain in this liminal space as long as possible. While we do not have the space to discuss this possibility in this short provocation, Haraway sees this experimental mode of being as involving multiple actants, human and nonhuman, and as constituting important work in terms of speculating and figuring with various “what if” scenarios to generate new possible futures. As Haraway puts it, this process of speculative figuring is one of giving and receiving patterns, dropping threads, and so mostly failing but sometimes finding something that works, something consequential and maybe even beautiful, that wasn’t there before, of relaying connections that matter, of telling stories in hand upon hand, digit upon digit, attachment site upon attachment site, to craft conditions for flourishing in terran worlding. This struggle of course takes us far beyond decisions about Zoom, specifically. This deliberately troubling liminality is a process of recognizing old habits, building new ones, doing the hard work of reconsidering broader social formations in a future that promises more trouble. Governments, institutions, corporate entities, and even social movements like Transition Towns or #BuildBackBetter all seem to be calling for getting out of this liminal zone, whether this is to “bounce back” by returning to hyper-consumerist, wasteful, profit-driven modes of life or the opposite, to “bounce forward” to radically rethink globalization and build intensely localized personal and social formations. Perhaps a third alternative is to embrace this very transitional experience itself and consider whether life on a troubled, perhaps dying planet might require our discomfort, unease, and in-betweenness, including acknowledging and sometimes embracing “glitches” and failures (Nunes). Transitionality, or more broadly liminality, has the potential to enhance our understanding of who and what “we” are, or perhaps more crucially who “we” might become, by encompassing a kind of dialectic in relation to the experiences of others, both intimate and distant. As many critical commentators before us have suggested, this necessarily involves working in conjunction with a rich ecology of planetary agents from First People’s actors and knowledge systems--a range of social agents who already know what it is to be liminal to landscapes and other species--through and with the enabling affordances of digital technologies. This is an important, and exhausting, process of change. And perhaps this trouble is something to hang on to as long as possible, as it preoccupies us with wondering about what is happening in the lines between our faces, the lines of the technologies underpinning our interactions, the taken for granted structures on and off screen that have been visibilized. We are fatigued, not by the time we spend online, although there is that, too, but by the recognition that the world is changing. References Barad, Karen. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Duke UP, 2006. Gillespie, Tarleton. Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, Content Moderation, and the Hidden Decisions That Shape Social Media. Yale UP 2018. Haraway, Donna J. “SF: Science Fiction, Speculative Fabulation, String Figures, So Far.” Ada New Media 3 (2013). <http://adanewmedia.org/2013/11/issue3-haraway>. Lee, Ashlin. “In the Shadow of Platforms: Challenges and Opportunities for the Shadow of Hierarchy in the Age of Platforms and Datafication.” M/C Journal 24.2 (2021). <http://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.2750>. Markham, Annette N., et al. “Massive and Microscopic Sensemaking during COVID-19 Times.” Qualitative Inquiry Oct. 2020. <https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800420962477>. Ngai, Sianne. Ugly Feelings. Harvard UP, 2005. Nunes, Mark. 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