The impact of conversion to ecological recycling agriculture (ERA) on farm nitrogen budgets and production levels

The data used in this study is collected under BERAS Implementation project from ERA-farms in Finland in 2010 to 2012 (three years averages) and from three different production lines on ERA farms: beef, egg and milk.The data indicates the production level, the products sold and feed and other supplements purchased on the farm each year. Accordingly it has been calculated A) how much area B) how much other inputs (e.g. nitrogen and phosphorus) is needed to maintain the production level. Based on these calculations it makes possible to estimate how much of these nutrients are recycledon the farm, how much of the used nitrogen is based on biological nitrogen fixation and how much non-renewable resources have been needed. This makes it possible to calculate the output-input ratio of nitrogen

Building Alliances: Collaboration between CAUSA and the Rural Organizing Project in Oregon

This ethnography examines the components that allow quality solidarity work to happen between organizations with leadership and constituencies that are primarily people of color and primarily white, respectively. CAUSA (an immigrant rights coalition) and the Rural Organizing Project (ROP) of Oregon have developed a working relationship over ten years that has contributed to numerous victories for immigrant and farm worker rights, as well as greater consciousness among white rural activists of what it means to provide support as anti-racist allies. Because Oregon has a relatively small population (three million), and progressive organizations tend to know each other, the relationship provides an opportunity to study how such organizations manage power and historical inequalities in a manner suited for success. Ethnographer Lynn Stephen has conducted in-depth interviews with organizational leaders and members as a way to explore the history and lessons learned from the collaborative work between the two organizations. Key findings include the importance of both in-depth and sustained dialogue around the key values of work, and staff training around the issues involved with connecting to the other organization. The organizations use these techniques to build common ground. Hence, collaborative capacity can be mobilized quickly to support each other's actions as needed

Information Aggregation in a Catastrophe Futures Markets

We experimentally examine a reinsurance market in which participants have differing information regarding the probability distribution over losses. The key question is whether the market equilibrium reflects traders maximizing value with respect to their different priors, or whether the equilibrium is one based on a common belief incorporating all participants’ information. When assuming subjects are expected value maximizers, we reject both full information aggregation and no information aggregation equilibria. We discover, as in past individual choice insurance experiments, that buyers under-assess the probabilities of large loss states, or alternatively, subjects assign larger utility values to losses than to comparable gains. After accounting for these decision theoretic concerns, the non-aggregation of information hypothesis explains the data better than full information aggregation.

Doing Good Parenthood in Early Childhood Education and Care

This chapter examines collaboration between parents and ECEC professionals related to language development and literacy. It presents an analysis of how parents’ understanding of and experiences with their child becomes relevant when collaborating about care and learning. It uses a single case from an ethnographic research project in Denmark and employs social psychological discourse analysis to explore the negotiations about children’s care and learning, focusing on how parenthood is done. Parenthood is as a phenomenon that is accomplished collaboratively in and through social relations and institutions. The analysis is contextualized by referencing current welfare policies focused on early learning and parental responsibilities. The analysis shows how an approach to children’s learning may potentially standardize the collaboration about the child according to abstract evaluative criteria and frameworks, which marginalize parents’ perspective and experiences with their child and, furthermore, limits the agency of the parents. But the analysis also shows that collaboration may also render parents’ perspective on their children both relevant and valuable in ECEC.This chapter, which examines how welfare policies and regulations institutionalize parenthood, uses data from a case study from an ethnographic research project conducted in Denmark. The case study examines collaboration concerning children’s transitions in early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings. Social psychological discourse analysis is used to explore this collaboration and meetings between parents and professionals. Parenthood is theorized as being accomplished collaboratively in and through social relations and institutions. The analytical context is current early childhood education and care policies, a key focus of which is early learning. This focus may contribute to standardizing collaboration on children based on abstract evaluative criteria and frameworks that marginalize the perspective and experiences of parents with their child, limiting their agency. The analysis will show, however, that the encounter between parents and professionals may also render the perspective of parents on their child relevant and valuable when collaborating and thus contribute to the aim of early childhood education and care. The chapter argues that doing good parenthood in ECEC means exercising parental autonomy without disrupting the institutional order.</p

Individualization and contemporary fatherhood

Objective: This article explores dilemmas related to contemporary fatherhood and discusses how theories of individualization enable the understanding of social change and family life. Background: Theories on modernization argue that ongoing processes of individualization challenge researchers to reinvent key concepts in family sociology. The concept of intimate fatherhood allows for the exploration of men’s family practices and presents a basis for understanding what modernization means for contemporary parenthood. Intimate fatherhood can be further theorized through empirically sensitive approaches in the study of everyday family life. Method: Drawing on data from a mixed-method longitudinal study comprising four waves of data from the 1968 cohort in Denmark (n = 1,414), the study analyzes qualitative interviews from the second and fourth waves. Social psychological discourse analysis of the interviews is used to explore the participants' family practices. Results: The analysis examines how caring intimacy in contemporary fatherhood is interwoven in a complex entanglement with other positions related to partnering and provision. Individualization is theorized as a mode of orientation in life with reference to oneself but not counterposed to social ties and family practices signified by solidarity and togetherness. Conclusion: Individualization theory can guide analytical attention when examining contemporary fatherhood, but such analyses must remain sensitive to the complex entanglement of everyday family life

On the road to Denmark - Swedish gambling legislation in the light of the European Union

Spel och dobbel är något som har funnits i de flesta kulturer i århundraden och är ett ämne där åsikter och intressen går vida isär. Trots att stora delar av världen befinner sig i en finansiell kris, fortsätter spelmarknaden att växa. I takt med att den teknologiska utvecklingen ökar, ökar även tillgängligheten av spel. Den kraftiga tillväxten inom spelsektorn, ger upphov till frågan om hur en marknad som å ena sidan kan uppfattas som moraliskt förkastlig och förknippad med negativa sociala skadeverkningar, och å andra sidan genererar betydande intäkter, ska regleras. Redan från ett tidigt skede har EU haft förhållningssättet att det är upp till varje medlemsstat att avgöra hur Spel och Dobbel ska regleras, vilket har lett till ett ”lapptäcke” av olika lagstiftningar. De nationella lagstiftningarna måste följa de fundamentala principerna i EU-rätten, vilket har tagits upp i ett flertal rättsfall. ECJ har dock gett medlemsstaternas en bred möjlighet att göra en skönsmässig bedömning angående vad som är bäst för respektive land trots klara avvikelser från de fundamentala principerna inom EU. Sverige har alltid haft en restriktiv hållning gentemot spel och dobbel, som har varit kontrollerat genom ett statligt monopol sedan 1200-talet. Det kan ifrågasättas huruvida den svenska restriktiva lagstiftningen är förenlig med EU-rätten. De svenska domstolarna har undvikit att inhämta förhandsavgöranden innan Sjöberg och Gerdinfallet, där ECJ ansåg den svenska lagstiftningen i stort vara förenlig med EU-rätten. När Högsta domstolen senare dömde i samma fall ansågs straffpåföljderna i lagstiftningen vara diskriminerande, vilket får anses skapa rättsosäkerhet. Riksrevisionen och den svenska regeringen har framfört kritik mot delar av den nuvarande lagstiftningen. De trängande frågorna är: 1) Hur skall en potentiell ny lagstiftning se ut? 2) Kan den danska licensmodellen ses som ett passande alternativ för lagstiftaren?Gambling is something that has existed in most cultures for centuries and it is a topic which is highly debated. Despite large parts of the world being in an economic crisis, the gambling sector continues to grow. With the aid of new technology the accessibility of gambling has increased immensely. This raises concern on how to regulate this delicate area, as gambling on the one hand is perceived as morally objectionable and socially harmful, yet on the other hand, gambling generates significant amounts of revenue. The EU has from an early point taken the approach that it is up to each Member State to decide the appropriate measures regarding to gambling to pursue set objectives. This discretion has led to a patchwork of regulations on the matter of gambling and especially regarding online gambling. The regulations still have to adhere to fundamental principles of EU law, which has been brought up in case law, yet the ECJ has given Member States a broad discretion in how to regulate gambling despite clear breaches of fundamental principles. Sweden has always had a restrictive stance towards gambling and has had a state controlled monopoly for gambling since the 13th century. Questions could be raised whether the Swedish restrictive legislation is coherent with EU law. Case law reveals that the Swedish Courts have refrained from requesting a preliminary ruling up to the Sjöberg and Gerdin case, where the ECJ considered the Swedish legislation to be coherent in principle. The recent judgment where the criminal sanctions were ruled to be discriminative by the Supreme Court, has caused legal uncertainty. Riksrevisionen and the Swedish Government also raised concerns with parts of the current legislation. The urgent questions are: 1) What will a potential new legislation look like? 2) Can the Danish license system prove to be a suitable alternative for the legislator

Our Legacy of Neglect: The Longfellow Bridge and the Cost of Deferred Maintenance

The Longfellow Bridge, connecting Boston and Cambridge, is in bad shape, due not only to its age and the ravages of our weather, but also to a troubling and persistent lack of maintenance. Fixing the bridge, in effect paying the bill for our unwillingness to maintain it, is estimated to cost at least $180 million, with the potential for cost overruns reaching into the hundreds of millions. The neglect of the Longfellow Bridge is symptomatic of a problem that encompasses almost all the assets owned by the Commonwealth