Category Archives: Personal Empowerment

I was shocked to read the allegations of sexual assault against former Politburo standing committee member Zhang Gaoli by star tennis player Peng Shuai. Given that Peng had risked everything in writing them, I felt I had a responsibility to read every word with care and attention, especially given that those words were my sole source of information about the whole affair.

This is a text that will induce cognitive dissonance in many; it doesn't just expose male violence: it is also the product of it. It needs a feminist reading to avoid widespread misunderstanding of Peng Shuai and other female victims. Through my reading of those 1,600 characters, I have tried to form an understanding of Peng and her abnormal relationship with Zhang, and link it to broader issues of structural and cultural violence. The question at the back of my mind is always: why do so many female victims find it so hard to leave?

Peng's account, while it is filled with her personal sorrow, has plenty in common with those of other victims of sexual violence, imbued as it is with that sense of fear and panic experienced by those who are preyed on by the powerful. There is also the psychological conflict suffered by those caught up in a situation like this, which shows how women in a patriarchal society can internalize and identify with gender inequality and male violence, lose their sense of themselves in relationships, and remain bound by notions of sexual shame and chastity or caught up in myths of romantic love and marriage.

Women seem to be at particular risk in intimate relationships. They may be self-reliant and confident in the public sphere or in the workplace, and have no problem collaborating or competing with men. Peng Shuai is a particularly good example of one of these women of the new era. Educated, tenacious and spirited, she had the courage to stand up for herself as she rose to fame. At the age of 12, she elected to undergo heart surgery so she would be able to play tennis professionally. She was the first Chinese athlete to negotiate with the state system and to win the right to determine her own training and share of the rewards.

But in her personal relationship with Zhang Gaoli, she seems a totally different person.

That's not to say that Zhang's rape of Peng wasn't utterly evil. Given the huge difference in power between them, it would be totally unreasonable to expect Peng to just get up and leave after she told him no and started crying. Suffice it to say that the status of famous sports star wasn't enough to protect her, ultimately. The blame should not rest with her, but with the system as a whole. Peng writes that she was "scared, panicked, and went along with it because of the feelings I still had for you from seven years earlier." She entered into a three-year, secret and extramarital entanglement that left her body and mind divided from each other.

One the one hand, she describes her relationship with Zhang as "getting along so well that everything just felt right," while on the other, she details daily humiliation and abuse at the hands of Zhang's resentful wife, hoping in vain that he would get a divorce and marry her instead. This is such a contrast with the feisty and ambitious Peng Shuai of the public domain.

Peng probably thought so too. She probably wanted to keep the relationship secret, not just to protect Zhang, but because she couldn't face up to the affair herself. Despite being in huge pain and self-loathing, wishing she'd never been born, wanting to die, she kept quiet for three years. It's a bit shocking to read about her love for Zhang, because it is clearly sincere and heartfelt. Zhang was good to her, and they had some wonderful times together, she writes.

Former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, and tennis star Peng Shuai, who has accused a the former Chinese Communist Party high official of pressuring her into a sexual relationship, in file photos. Credit: AFP/ReutersThe Z pendant

There was one time when she wore a pendant with the letter "Z" on it to play a match, and told a journalist who asked about it that it was "meaningful" to her. Z has got to stand for Zhang, right? Looking back at photos of Peng from that time is a bit like watching a women show off her shackles. Why would the victim of sexual assault and abuse want to wear such a thing?

Reason No. 1 is Zhang's destruction of Peng Shuai as a moral being, his deception and psychological manipulation of her. Zhang had all the resources necessary to ensure that his snaring of Peng Shuai took place outside his home, at a time and place unbeknownst to his wife, and to carry on an extramarital affair alongside his marriage. Instead, he brought Peng into his family home, leaving his wife waiting outside the bedroom door, then made them all have dinner together, an approach designed to shame and humiliate both women. He crashed through both women's hard limits, forcing them to share his private life and centering his own desires without shame, nor any thought for their self-esteem.

Zhang told Peng: "The earth is no bigger than a grain of sand in the vastness of the universe, and we humans are even smaller than that." Peng describes him framing this as "letting go of over-thinking," but actually, he is requiring that she admit to being small, of no worth, with scant control over her fate, meaning that she might as well do as he says and satisfy his demands.

He also told Peng he hated her, that he would treat her well, and conflated sexual desire with genuine feeling, framing her unwillingness to have sex as a mistake. He also made empty promises he had no intention of keeping, so she could use self-deception as a way to comply with his assault.

By telling Peng Shuai that he couldn't get a divorce, he deftly set up the illusion in her mind that the relationship might one day be formalized, while offloading the conflict onto the relationship between Peng and his wife. Ultimately, his aim was to keep Peng stuck in the shameful role of mistress. He required Peng to keep the relationship secret even from her own mother, her closest ally and supporter. That had the effect of isolating Peng from any source of support and making it even harder for her to leave.

Zhang has far more power to follow his own desires than an average person, and this use of coercive power and psychological control is quite common among highly powerful men. An ordinary man might dream of having a wife at home and a mistress elsewhere, and exploit his wife's unpaid labor in the marriage to enjoy sexual and emotional favors from women outside it, but he is still obliged to maintain some kind of boundary between the two. He wouldn't dare be too blatant about it.

Powerful men can afford to dispense with such scruples and act as if their wives and concubines are all in it together, wrecking these women's sense of dignity to a far greater degree. For women, unclear boundaries and low self-esteem are the beginning of learned helplessness.

Further control is gained by socially isolating and brainwashing their victims, who are told on the one hand that nobody will help them, and on the other that they can stay right where they are, totally undermining their willpower.

Chinese women's tennis star Peng Shuai is shown in a file photo. Credit: ReutersGaslighting

Lies are a necessary part of their strategy, while gaslighting is even more effective. Both create illusions in the minds of victims, who waver and delay doing anything, and blame themselves for their own gullibility. Women's capacity for self-blame has always been a very important factor in this whole mechanism.

That's why men like Zhang need to encourage women to blame themselves and make them think they are "bad girls," so they avoid looking clearly at their situation out of shame, and appear to stay in it out of their own free will.

Meanwhile, society as a whole continues to reproduce fear and the call to surrender to violence, teaching women to accept male violence and their own subjugation in intimate relationships, and packaging the whole deal as "love." The fear sown by the patriarchy tells women that there is no resisting male violence. All you can do is hide from it.

The vast majority of women have never been trained to resist physical or psychological violence, so they would probably fare far worse than Peng Shuai if put on the spot like that. At the same time, society tells women that male desire is inevitably accompanied by male violence, and expressed through it, turning rape into a manifestation of "love," a love so strong that the perpetrator can no longer control themselves. This is nonsense, of course. Yet our culture is permeated with such coded hints, and people's talk of rape is full of such distortions.

Society teaches women to conflate male desire with abuse, so that to meet it, to be "feminine," is to assume the mentality of a victim. This leads to the belief that a love relationship that started with a rape is somehow normal, and the whole lie is further perpetuated by the taboo around female sexual autonomy. I am not saying that the tragedy Peng Shuai suffered was due to an insufficient sense of her own empowerment. I am saying that the social conditioning I have described above directly helps those who perpetrate violence.

In her social media post, Peng also describes herself as "lacking love" throughout her life. Didn't her mother take good care of her? She had teammates, collaborators and fans, didn't she? Yet none of them seemed to satisfy her desire to be loved. Her use of the word "love" here would appear to imply unconditional love and emotional generosity, which wouldn't usually be found through everyday social contact.

Yet it is often lacking in a woman's family of origin. Our society generally favors boys over girls. But even when there is no male to offer a point of comparison, the needs and feelings of women still tend to be ignored or ridden roughshod over. The trauma caused by this kind of neglect is hidden, in the unconscious of those who suffer from it, but its effects are far-reaching. It informs women's secret doubts about their own self-worth, and their tendency to hunger for unconsciously driven "love."

Achievements in a woman's working life can cover up such psychological needs to a certain extent, but they offer no cure. This is why a lot of women seem to undergo a personality change when they get into an intimate relationship, because they are addicted to enmeshment, and find it hard to extricate themselves from poor-quality relationships. They constantly feel that their needs aren't being met.

Zhang Gaoli didn't appear to be offering Peng much in the way of material benefits, and actually, she didn't need them. Instead, she writes that they had conversations on many different topics. But it's hard to gauge whether Zhang was truly knowledgeable about any of it. Their tennis matches could only have been something Peng did to please him. But during the other times they spent chatting together, playing chess or singing, Peng at least felt relaxed and happy some of the time.

But that really should be no big deal in an intimate relationship. It's entirely possible that Zhang was incapable of meeting Peng's needs; that it was all about her responding to his needs. Yet, Peng, who has "lacked love" since childhood, feels that this time they spent together was proof enough that he was "pretty good" to her.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has a virtual discussion with Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai in Lausanne, Switzerland, November 21, 2021. Credit: Greg Martin/IOC/ Handout via ReutersPower gap

Rather than calling Peng easily satisfied, it would be more accurate to say that the emotional void created in women by this society allows men to take advantage of them, and to exploit them for their own ends.

Even a strong woman can be greatly weakened by an intimate relationship. Ultimately, it's because of the huge weight of social injustice in our society, the power gap between high-ranking officials and ordinary people, and between men and women. Peng Shuai wasn't just raped: she was subjected to long-term psychological violence after that rape. She was besieged, isolated and continually stripped of her sense of self-worth.

The role played by so-called "love" is this story was a poisonous one, that enabled that violence, caused her suffering, and depleted her strength. Zhang Gaoli isn't just a guy. His immense political power means that the privilege out of which he can do violence is exponentially higher than that of other men. And yet Peng Shuai remains just a woman, mired in the weakness, obedience and resentment caused by male violence, which is packaged as that all-too-familiar notion of "femininity." Violence brings its victims into total subjugation, both psychologically and behaviorally.

Peng Shuai's biggest achievement is that she eventually resisted all that, despite the fact that she had "no evidence at all to back this up; only the distorted truth of my own experience."

Amid her own realization that her reality was distorted, she finally grasped the truth about this violent relationship, and affirmed her own being. She refused to stay down, despite having been destroyed and exploited.

And now, she seems to have fallen into a black hole, under the gaze of tens of millions of people. This is the ultimate cruelty. I want to bring her back. I want her to live the life she should have had, without its "lack of love," without secrets, shame or self-blame. I hope her words will awaken more women to the truth that male violence is everywhere. It may be hard to resist it alone, but we can try to resist together.

Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

L Pin is a U.S.-based Chinese feminist activist and journalist and founding editor-in-chief of Feminist Voices, a leading advocacy channel in China.

Originally posted here:

Peng Shuai and Zhang Gaoli: why didn't she just leave? - Radio Free Asia

Action against gender-based violence being pushed to the outlying margins of the global COVID-19 response

A new Oxfam report shows an undeniable increase in gender-based violence (GBV) during the COVID-19 pandemic around the world to which too many governments and donors are not doing enough to tackle.

The report, The Ignored Pandemic: The Dual Crisis of Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19, showed the number of calls made by survivors to domestic violence hotlines in ten countries during the first months of lockdown. The data reveals a 25 111 percentage surge; in Argentina (25%), Colombia (79%), Tunisia (43%), China (50%), Somalia (50%), South Africa (69%), UK (25%), Cyprus (39%), Italy (73%) and the largest increase in Malaysia where calls surged by over 111%.

In many households, coronavirus has created a 'perfect storm' of social and personal anxiety, stress, economic pressure, social isolation, including with abusive family members or partners, and rising alcohol and substance use, resulting in increases in domestic abuse.

Meanwhile, India too recorded an increase of 250 percent of domestic violence cases, according to the National Commission for Women. Domestic violence counselors there reported being unable to reach women and girls who were grievously injured or suicidal or those whose partners controlled their access to phones.

The report shows that not enough countries have acted with sufficient seriousness to tackle the GBV pandemic. Even before the surge in GBV cases sparked by the pandemic, in 2018 alone, over 245 million women and girls were subjected to sexual or physical violence by an intimate partner a greater number than the global total of coronavirus cases (199m) between October 2020 and October 2021.

"It is a scandal that millions of women and girls, and LGBTQIA+ people have to live through this double pandemic of violence and COVID-19. GBV has led to injuries, emotional distress, and increasing poverty and suffering, all of which are utterly inexcusable and avoidable. The pandemic has exposed the systematic failure of governments around the world to protect women and girls and LGBTQIA+ people from violence against them simply because of who they are," said Oxfam International Executive Director Gabriela Bucher.

Women's rights organizations whose mission is to support women and girls and LGBTQIA+ people from violence have been more likely to have been hit by funding cuts, exactly at the time when their work is most needed. In an Oxfam survey published in June this year, over 200 women's rights organizations across 38 countries reported reduced funding and shrinking access to decision-making spaces. Thirty-three percent had to lay off between one to ten staff, while nine percent had to close altogether.

Even though 146 UN member states have formally declared their support for action against GBV in their COVID-19 response and recovery plans, only a handful have followed through. Of the $26.7 trillion that governments and donors mobilized to respond to the pandemic in 2020, just 0.0002% has gone into combating GBV.

The pandemic has worsened long-standing gender discriminations, and this has increased the vulnerability of women and girls and LGBTQIA+ people to violence and abuse. If governments do not deliberately initiate strong, properly funded strategies to tackle this, the gains made in womens empowerment in the last 30 years are at risk. We need to avert this, and the time is now," said Bucher.

A few governments, however, have made efforts to respond to the GBV crisis. For instance, Indonesia and New Zealand introduced national protocols and identified GBV service providers as essential workers. South Africa took steps to strengthen GBV reporting channels.

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence that commences today until 10 December 2021 provides an opportunity for governments, donors, and activists to reflect on the emerging issues of inequality that put women and girls at risk and address them urgently. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that governments can take extraordinary measures to protect their citizens and respond to deadly crises when spurred to action. We need to see more efforts to tackle gender-based violence.

Oxfam recommends that states and governments ensure a more coordinated, comprehensive, and multi-sectoral GBV response that enables survivors to access effective and quality services. Governments and donors should channel more funding to women's rights organizations and feminist movements working to end GBV and support survivors. Additionally, more funding should be allocated to better data collection and analysis of gender-disaggregated national statistics to inform evidence-based interventions to end GBV.

"As the world comes together to mark 30 years of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, there is an urgent need for a truly gendered approach in every countrys effort to respond to and recover from COVID-19. Governments and donors need to live up to their commitments to promote gender equality by ensuring investment in all the areas we know could help end GBV. Only by doing so can we strive for a future that is more just, safe, and in which people live free from discrimination," said Bucher.

Notes to editors

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is an annual international event that runs for 16 days from 25th November, the International Day for the Elimination of violence against women, until 10th December, Human Rights Day. This years event marks 30 years since its first commemoration in 1991. The event is a platform used by organizations and activists globally to call for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.

The data on calls to domestic/GBV helplines in ten low, middle- and high-income countries during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has been compiled from different UN, national and international NGO reports and government sources. The increase in call volumes is presented as a range between the lowest and highest percentage value among the different countries.

Read the report.

Contact information

Florence Ogola, in Nairobi | florence.ogola@oxfam.org |+254 733770522

For updates, please follow @Oxfam

Please support Oxfam's Coronavirus Response Appeal.

View original post here:

The Ignored Pandemic: The Dual Crisis of Gender-Based Violence and COVID-19 - World - ReliefWeb

[co-author: Gabrielle Muhlberg, Consultant]

ESG, Sustainable Finance, Green Investments some of the biggest buzz words in finance the last years. What used to be a niche topic has now taken centre stage. Investors almost insatiable appetite and legislative innovation will keep it there for quite some time to come. Staying on top of local developments is not enough, reading the international trend tea leaves will be the only way for investors to answer; what next?

On the global stage, the EU has positioned itself as the Sustainable Finance frontrunner. Boasting the worlds first ever climate law, an action plan on sustainable finance already in 2018, and its recent unparalleled green bond issuance, the EU green agenda has been travelling at a rate of knots. As seen with other high-profile initiatives, the EU is setting the standard.

EU data protection and privacy laws (the famous GDPR) are a prime example, where versions have appeared across the continent, with SAs Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) epitomising this trend.

With the green transition as a top priority, the EU is possibly pushing even harder to drive the progress on Sustainable Finance, through numerous international fora and initiatives. With EUs Green Taxonomy already disseminating, it appears to work. Local models of the Taxonomy are emerging in the US, UK, China and of course SA (which has relied heavily on EU legislation). Lets take a look at what is going on in the EU, and why we should care.

The strong EU regulatory framework is the primary reason for the EUs global leadership the ESG space The EU laid the first brick in the Sustainable Finance foundation with its Green Taxonomy. It is a tool to determine if activities are environmentally sustainable, based on clear sciencebased criteria. Investors and investee companies are subject to comprehensive and standardised disclosure rules on their activities and sustainability performance, building on the classifications. Standards and labels acting as a quality label e.g. an EU Green Bond Standard will form the third pillar. Combined, these measures aim to prevent greenwashing and remedy the acute ESG data shortage in the market.

The next EU phase is already taking shape, aiming for inclusion of sustainability considerations into every aspect of finance. ESG integration in prudential frameworks and easier data access are high on the agenda. Two horizontal tracks are already active: Firstly, an EU Social Taxonomy which through classification, aims to direct capital to entities and activities which operate with respect for human rights, good corporate governance and support social objectives. Secondly, an overhaul of directors duties and due diligence is to come later this year, possibly integrating remuneration tied to ESG performance and incorporation of ESG considerations and stakeholder interests (e.g. of workers and civil society) into business decisions and oversight.

Alongside EU legislative developments, private institutional investors are increasingly emerging as a key driving force for Sustainable Finance. Institutional investors will continue to probe companies on their ESG approach. They see a positive correlation between ESG performance and company valuation investee companies too will need to swiftly demonstrate sustainability leadership or at least transition efforts. With increased scrutiny of governance and supply chain processes, transparency alone is not enough to guarantee long-term growth. Markets being global, these considerations are already having a significant spill over effect on other jurisdictions, leading to tangible ESG business transformations to attract investors.

As more organisations recognise the need to integrate ESG at the heart of business strategies, industry is helping lead the way. In SA, the industrys influential voluntary standards and innovative initiatives such as the JSEs sustainability index are and will continue to be indispensable in local standard setting.

Globally - and especially amongst emerging economies SA has impressive Sustainable Finance credentials. Alongside the significant sector efforts, the Treasurys plans in Financing A Sustainable Economy would likely increase work on classification, ESG integration and disclosures. In short, this will provide the building blocks for a more robust and comprehensive Sustainable Finance Framework.

With the immediate direction of travel more or less mapped out, naturally the question for the industry is; what comes next? Here upcoming EU initiatives on Directors Duties and the development of a Social Taxonomy, classifying activities by social impact, could be particularly interesting as inspiration. SA already has social-focused legislation in place Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) a key and unique example.

Nevertheless, the EU work could provide ideas and structures, with a tremendous potential for adaptation to a local context. With SAs unique socio-economic background, keen interest in Sustainable Finance and in light of President Ramaphosas recent comments indicting an upcoming BBBEE Review, an increased focus on the Social and Governance elements of ESG appears to be a natural next policy step. A social Taxonomy could be a strong starting place. A tool which redirects capital to reach social objectives would have the potential for tangible social transformation. As such, this could prove highly attractive to government, civil society and investors.

ESG will evidently only continue to grow in importance with new industry and legislative initiatives continually emerging. Staying on top of these developments with one eye on the global horizon is therefore the only way to remain competitive.

[View source.]

See the rest here:

The Mainstreaming of ESG Investing | FTI Consulting - JDSupra - JD Supra

Stroke Caregiving

Resources & Education for Stroke Caregivers' Understanding & Empowerment (RESCUE)

Welcome to the RESCUE Website

Resources and Education for Stroke Caregivers' Understanding and Empowerment, or RESCUE for short, is a lifeline to help caregivers keep their head above water. Stroke onset is very sudden and new caregivers are not always prepared for this new role. The caregiver may be overwhelmed and feel like the person who needs to be rescued. The RESCUE website provides stroke caregivers with information and resources to help them better care for their loved one. The website also gives caregivers information to help them take care of themselves. There are 45 easy-to-read fact sheets about stroke and stroke caregiving on this website. They can be downloaded and printed. The 45 fact sheets are also available in Spanish.

RESCUE Fact Sheet Categories

The RESCUE team has prepared 45 fact sheets that will help you with any questions you may have. These fact sheets are divided into the following categories:

Many people dont know what a stroke is or why it happened. In this section, you will learn about the causes of stroke and how to prevent another stroke in the future.

You may be overwhelmed by the amount of stroke information available. This section teaches you how to find up-to-date information from trusted sources. It also provides you with tips for talking to your healthcare team.

The daily stresses of caregiving can wear you down. To be the best caregiver, you must first take care of yourself. This section has tips on lowering your stress and depression. It also provides information on family relationships and long-distance caregiving.

Dealing with the physical needs brought on by stroke is hard. This section informs you about changes in how the body functions and problems with speech.

Stroke can change your loved ones personality and behavior. This section teaches you how to deal with these changes.

Helping your loved one lead a healthier life can promote stroke recovery. Topics in this section include preventing falls and managing your loved ones medications.

You may wonder how much help to give your loved one. In this section, you will learn ways to increase your loved ones independence, while still lending a hand.

You may not know what help is available in your local area. In this section you will learn about respite care, long-term care housing, and stroke support groups.

Money issues can cause a lot of worry and stress. Tips for how to manage finances and sort through the legal process can be found in this section.

In the last section of this book you will find helpful tools. These tools can be used for tracking your loved one's important health information. They include a personal health record form, a medication card and an aphasia card.

These materials were created for the project:

Web-Based Informational Materials for Caregivers of Veterans Post-Stroke

Project Number SDP 06-327 funded by VA HSR&D Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI); Supported by the Stroke QUERI

Original post:

RESCUE Home - Resources and Education for Stroke ...

As Black professionals with degrees and decades of experience in counseling, we continue to be flabbergasted, dismayed, and upset about the persistent and pervasive under-representation of Black and other minoritized professionals in counseling, psychological, and mental health professions. Whether one is a preschool, elementary school, high school, or college student of color, there is an abysmally low probability that they will have a counseling provider in a school, agency, or hospital from their racial and ethnic background. This is especially the case for Black males.Dr. Donna Y. Ford

Whether white or minoritized, we are very concerned about the delivery of services with and without a multicultural focus and/or experiences, as well as troubled about providers level of comfort, knowledge, skills, and experiences working with Blacks and other clients of color. Broadly speaking, the counseling profession comprises mostly white helping professionals in which many are insufficiently equipped and trained in multicultural, cross-cultural, or transcultural counseling. With an increasingly growing diverse society, it is critical that service providers hire counselors, who are anti-racist and culturally competent that reflect the population that being service. The same holds true with the goals and objectives of professional development workshops.

Multicultural, cross-cultural, or transcultural competency undergirded by an anti-racist philosophy is needed among all professionals, including counseling. When counselors are cultureblind (Fords substitution for colorblindness), they are frequently uncomfortable, unable, and/or unwilling to address their clients prejudices (i.e., individual, institutional, structural, systemic) or racist beliefs. It is well noted that clients of color benefit from racial/ethnic matching, meaning that counselors are likely to share some or much of the lived experiences of the same-race/ethnicity clients. In our experiences, when counselors have high levels of cultural awareness and pride, they are likely to express and promote racial and ethnic pride, affirm their clients experiences, share coping and empowering strategies and resources, and otherwise serve as cultural brokers/bridges.Dr. James L. Moore, III

Not surprising to us, as discussed by Kafka, for decades, a growing number of students with psychiatric and neurodiverse histories, conditions, and medications have been enrolling in college. From an access standpoint, this is terrific. Thus, from a counseling standpoint, it has meant a professional state of siege. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing and increased racial and ethnic prejudice and discrimination, counseling providers, particularly for Asian and Black clients, are struggling to keep up with requests for help and guidance wreaked on students of color. Data on students mental health from the Healthy Minds Network have shown increasing anxiety and depression over the past 10 years. Data from the networks spring survey revealed a rise from the fall of 2020 to the spring of 2021 in students who screen positive for anxiety (which grew from 31% to 34%) and depression (which increased from 36% to 41%).

A poignant reminder by Kafka is that some colleges counseling centers are creating more counseling and support groups to help meet the demand, but it is also in response to the needs of racial-minority (or LGBTQ) communities, students who share a particular diagnosis, students who might benefit from a specific type of therapy, or students who have common goals or problems. We added the italics to the assertion regarding needs to highlight/emphasize that counseling must be client-centered as we and others promote and admonish in education and counseling fields. The need to recruit and retain counselors does not do justice to the work that must be done when white and minoritized counselors are not culturally competent. Our grave concerns pertain to counselors adopting cultureblindness on the one hand to being culturally assaultive on the other hand.

Considering the above, it is no wonder that, per Kafka, more students are seeking help and their suffering is more acute. There is a need more counselors but finding them is challenging. Efforts by several colleges to meet the demands are described by Kafka; however, worth emphasizing is the need for counselors is more pressing and urgent for those of color and those individuals who are anti-racist and culturally competent. Being ever mindful that representation and cultural competence are crucial, we introduce our taxonomy or levels of multicultural content into counseling. This model is grounded in the work of James A. Banks four approaches of infusing multicultural content into the curriculum. In our five-level, cultural competence model, the focus is on the content of counseling sessions goals, topics, issues/problems, materials and resources, and strategies.

For approximately two decades, we have collaborated in the spirit and advocacy for Blacks and other individuals of color to support them in gaining access to professionals who are anti-racist and culturally competent and/or who share their race and ethnicity with cultural pride. This includes, but is not limited to, students, families, educators, counselors, administrators, and faculty. Figure 1 depicts our Five-Level Taxonomy of Multicultural Competence. We apply it below to school counselors, but it can be adopted for other disciplines (e.g., education, curriculum developers, etc.). Keywords for each level are listed. For the professional, the arrow indicates level or degree of cultural competence. For clients (or students, etc.), the arrow shows the idea and ideal of change and progress in meeting goals and objectives growth. It also represents feelings and reactions to counseling and the counselor at each level. We explain this more in forthcoming publications.

At the lowest level is cultureblindness. Counselors are not aware of cultural differences (i.e., assets) or are aware of culture, but deny that it matters by ignoring, discounting, and trivializing the culture of clients. No effort is made to discuss racialized experiences, both positive or negative, and no responsibility is given to their being racist and culturally assaultive in words and actions (e.g., behaviors, expectations, materials, techniques, and goals) toward clients. Too often, people color and other diverse populations feel invisible, frustrated, resentful, and angry due to implicit and explicit biases. When Black clients, in particular, feel rejection and alienation from the counselor, they often request another counselor and, when not available, they often terminate the counseling experience and may not seek help again.

The next level is objectification, whereby counselors equate clients of color with what we and others call the Four Fs Food, Fun, Fashion, and Folklore. The counselor is aware of culture in a superficial, stereotypical, and tourist manner. Stereotypes guide their work. Minoritize clients feel that their individual and racial/ethnic group identity is dehumanized, relegated to objects rather than ideas, experiences, and ways of being. Although some people of color feel seen, many are still perceived in negative, humiliating, deficit-based ways. Such feels often contribute to anger or rage and frustration, along with alienation and disconnected from the counselor. If possible, they request another counselor. When not available, they terminate the counseling experience and are reluctant to pursuing counseling assistance or help again.

Marginalization is the third approach or level of our taxonomy. It is not uncommon in schools and non-school contexts that Blacks and other people of color feel devalued and marginalized in American society; they feel unwelcome, as outsiders. The client-counselor relationship is strained because a relationship has not been developed or initiated by the counselor (e.g., getting to know about clients background, interests, goals, lived experiences, etc.). When talking about racial and ethnic prejudice and discrimination, counselors are dismissive and may resort to placing the onus of clients racialized issues and problems, resorting to blaming the victim. Helplessness, frustration, anger, indignation, and/or defensiveness ensue on the part of many Black clients and counseling consumers of color.

The fourth approach or level is Belongingness, which we align with racial and ethnic pride. Such an identity centers squarely on race-based self-perception, self-concept, self-esteem, and group affiliation. Counselors are culturally competent in knowledge, skills, and dispositions, based upon educational and multicultural experiences. This includes their ability to empathize with and have compassion for culturally different clients. They are keenly aware that both prejudice and racism exist, and they take a toll on people of color (e.g., racial battle fatigue, internalized racism, disdain for whites, etc.). Time is devoted to building positive and culturally affirming relationships with clients, along with session on minoritized clients racial or ethnic identity development and needs. They have an asset-based philosophy regarding culture and associated similarities and differences. When counselors feel confused and/or ineffective, they seek guidance from colleagues of color and/or whites who are considered culturally competent and anti-racist. To this end, such counselors commonly utilize rigorous and relevant resources, materials, theories, research, and techniques grounded in culture to promote and nurture racial and ethnic identity.

To connect with their clients, culturally competent counselors are conscious of the effects racial and ethnic variables, viewing this culturally-based psychological construct as a source of strength (similar to socio-emotional development, self-concept, and self-esteem). They set mutually agreed upon goals and objectives with Black clients and other of color. Positively, minoritized clients feel seen in affirmative ways. They feel cared about and a valued member of this professional relationship. They are comfortable discussing racialized encounters (e.g., microaggressions) with counselors from all racial and ethnic groups, and appreciate that their culture is being used with academic, social, affective, psychological, vocational, and personal concerns, issues, and problems so that the experience is productive goals and objectives are met. Clients of color would be aware and understanding of Cross and Vandivers internalization stage or phase of racial identity development and Maslows Hierarchy of Needs self-actualization level.

Empowerment is the highest level and the most culturally responsive approach in which Black and other clients of color, armed with belongingness, are proactive about addressing problems and concerns for themselves, and perhaps those of others in their racial and ethnic group and communities. They feel efficacious about their ability to cope with and resolve challenges that, prior to counseling, seemed insurmountable. Counselors have been instrumental in providing cathartic experiences by having someone to talk to who listens to understand and support with resources (e.g., literature, theories, research, same-race role models and mentors, opportunities, etc.). Such transculturally competent counselors have the knowledge, dispositions, experiences, and skills to be an advocate or ally to their minoritized clients. They adhere to the multicultural competencies developed by the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development in 1991.

Recommendations, Summary, and Conclusions

The counseling profession cannot wait for the field to become more diverse. It must simultaneously diversify the profession and train counselors to be anti-racist and culturally competent. Presenters must include people of color. Below are some of the topics that we recommend that the counseling profession devote considerable commitment and time:

1. Higher education formal training must have anti-racist, culturally courses, endorsements, licensure, and degrees. Field experiences need to be in diverse communities. Projects and assignments must be focused on minorized individuals and groups with the goal of immersing counselors in the communities of their clients. Counselors should not graduate only to find that they are ill-prepared to work with real clients with real culturally-based academic, social, affective, and psychological issues and needs.

2. Professional development in the workplace must also focus directly on supporting school counselors. Sample topics here and in other organizations and settings should include theories, research, along with prevention and intervention strategies, models, and programs grounded in the culture(s)of each racial and ethnic group. Homogenization must be avoided. Efforts must support counselors in their ongoing development to be effective and culturally responsive and competent.

3. Professional development in mainstream and multicultural professional organizations provide important outlets for counselors to have increased contact and interactions with culturally different individuals. Real world experiences increase multicultural efficacy.

4. Recruitment of minoritized counselors is essential, as previously stated. They serve as cultural brokers to clients of color and as resources to white counselors.

Dr. Donna Y. Ford is a Distinguished Professor of Education Human Ecologyat The Ohio State University. Dr. James L. Moore III, is a Distinguished Professor of Education and Human Ecology and Vice Provost of Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer at The Ohio State University.

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Culture Must Be Up Front and Center Not an Afterthought -- in Counseling Black and Other Minoritized Clients - Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

The International Propeller Club of the United States announced its 2021 International awards at its 95th Annual Convention held virtually from October 12-14.

The International Propeller Clubs Port of the Year award was presented to the Propeller Club of Piraeus, Greece. This award recognizes the most outstanding port, or chapter, among the International Propeller Clubs 70 ports worldwide. In August, the Port of Piraeus completed a 15-month interactive, online program of psychological support and empowerment for seafarers. This was a program funded by the club, and it provided counseling to crew members on ships under Greek ownership. The Propeller Club of Piraeus also signed the Neptune Declaration on Seafarer Wellbeing and Crew Change, an initiative that aims to alleviate the seafarer crisis by facilitating crew changes and repatriation. Despite the significant challenges posed by COVID19, the club was recognized for an astounding 80 percent growth in membership within the last year. At the same time, the ports annual philanthropic program grew by 48 percent, offering 14 scholarships and receiving a record 23 donations. The Propeller Club of Piraeus is led by Costis J. Frangoulis, president of the Board of Governors.

The prestigious Maritime Person of the Year award for 2021 was given to Eric Roger Dawicki of Fairhaven, Mass. Dawicki has served as the president and CEO of the Northeast Maritime Institute (NMI) since 1995. He also serves as the president and CEO of the Commonwealth of Dominica International Maritime Registry. During his tenure at Northeast Maritime Institute, Dawicki was responsible for overseeing its growth from an exam preparation facility to a full-service maritime college and professional maritime training institution, providing quality education to mariners at all levels. As a prominent maritime leader following the attacks of 9/11, Dawicki served a full term as a member of the United States Maritime Security Advisory Committee under both the Bush and Obama administrations. On an international level, since 1996, he has participated in numerous U.S. delegations to the IMO and served on multiple committee and subcommittee meetings. Dawicki has also been a member of the board of governors and an executive governor of the IMOs World Maritime University in Malmo, Sweden, and he was chairman of WMUs 30-year sustainability plan.

The International Propeller Club Member of the Year was awarded to Dimitris Fafalios of the Propeller Club of Piraeus. Fafalios is president of Fafalios Shipping SA, a traditional, family-run bulk carrier shipping company that traces its roots back to the 1860s. He is chairman of The International Association of Dry Cargo Shipowners (INTERCARGO), and he chairs the Bulk Carrier Panel of the International Chamber of Shipping and the Maritime Safety and Marine Environment Protection Committee of the Union of Greek Shipowners. In 2020, Fafalios was chosen by Lloyds List as one of the 100 most influential people in global shipping. Throughout his career, the safety of seafarers and the environment have been at the forefront of his efforts. He placed personal emphasis on the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially to relieve the severe plight of seafarers aboard vessels and improve the challenging problems associated with crew changes.

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International Propeller Club Of The United States Announces Awards - The Waterways Journal

Woodie Guthrie

During a recent trip to Dholavira in Kutch, where archaeological remains of an ancient Harappan settlement dating back to 1900 BCE are located, a tourist guide had a tragic personal story to relate. During the early 1990s, the Archaeological Society of India (ASI), a government-owned establishment under the ministry of culture, acquired land from over 10 agricultural families around the excavation site to expand its discovery coverage. On the surface, that seemed routine. Except, none of the families accepted the compensation because they felt it was too paltry. They wanted either jobs or equivalent parcels of land anywhere else. The ASI couldnt comply, forcing land-owners to seek legal redressal; the case has been dragging for more than 25 years, with villagers forced to travel 250km every time a new date is announced by lower courts. In the meantime, the guide, lacking formal higher education but perhaps the villages most knowledgeable person about the settlement and its history, has become a security guard to put food on the family table.

This sad account illustrates, apart from the usual story of official apathy, the significance of land. Under the original transaction, land-owners did not contest the ASIs acquisition, but only asked for either state employment or compensatory land elsewhere. The reason is simple. Economics 101 lists two primary factors of production: capital and labour. Land is capital, and when coupled with labour, it yields a regular income. The Dholavira land-owners wanted landany landto keep their income streams uninterrupted.

At another level, beyond this economic and transactional relationship, land is invested with multiple layers of significance. For many agricultural families, despite their marginal holdings, land serves as the basis for social, cultural, linguistic and filial ties. Land was also the primal motive for early humankinds migratory impulses, braving the elements and travelling across continents without modern navigational aids to settle in other places. Lust for land also impels humans to invade other territories, even if that means war and bloodshed.

This centrality of land to peoples lives is key to understanding the reasons behind the year-long, dogged opposition to the three farm laws that Prime Minister Narendra Modi said will be repealed. Multiple interpretations of their impact were put forth by those both for and against them, but none of the versions was able to allay the widespread apprehensions that this legislative exercise evoked.

One of the proximate reasons was the manner in which the three lawsThe Farmers Produce and Trade Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020were pushed through Parliament. Legislative equity requires due process, and that includes reaching out to key stakeholders or even accepting opposition disapproval and making changes. The farm laws were first introduced as ordinances, which were then replaced by bills during Parliaments 2020 monsoon session in the midst of a raging pandemic and eventually rammed through by a voice vote, disregarding all opposition demands for a debate. The government did not even subject the trio of bills to scrutiny from a Parliamentary panel, as per the usual practice. Legitimate questions can be raised over why farmers should be bothered about a shortened Parliamentary process if the laws were designed for their benefit.

The triple enactment, ostensibly designed and sold as farmer-friendly, had three legs. One, it allowed farmers freedom to sell their produce anywhere and to anybody without being legally bound to state-mandated market places. Two, it let farmers strike contracts with buyers even before sowing, under which a farmer could sell his produce to the buyer at a predetermined price. Third, the Centre was keen to free a number of cropspulses, oilseeds, onions and potatoes, among othersfrom rules that either regulated or prohibited their production, supply, distribution and trade.

The governments browbeating of the legislative process possibly got to farmers, who feared that these laws were designed for the benefit of large conglomerates that could use their clout to control farmers and the farm trade. Right or wrong, the governments haste in enacting them did not help alleviate these apprehensions. Given how marginal farmers lack agency, or the wherewithal to seek legal recourse, especially against powerful corporations which have a record of suborning legal processes, such anxieties should have been anticipated.

Land is the final missing piece in the jigsaw puzzle. Indias average operational agricultural land-holding has been in decline. As per the last agri-census, held in 2015-16, the average land-holding was 1.08 hectares. The National Statistical Offices 2019 survey on farm incomes, released this September, showed that farmers with less than 2 acres of land (90% of all farmers) had suffered poor income growth from cultivation over the past decade, lower than even the rate of inflation. The farm laws gave rise to fears that even this income would be further compressed under corporate pressure, forcing many farmers to eventually lose their capital. Without land, it could have meant losing their identity as farmers, and that wasnt acceptable.

Rajrishi Singhal is a policy consultant, journalist and author. His Twitter handle is @rajrishisinghal.

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Failure at the tri-junction of land, income and identity - Livemint

Heres a recent factoid that sits rent-free in my head. In the UK, there are more CEOs named Peter than there are women CEOs. Sounds absurd, doesnt it? Whats disturbingly hilarious is that this isnt even a gender comparison, its an entire gender versus an aggregate of guys called Peter. Sadly enough, that strange disparity doesnt exist within the executive domain or within entrepreneurship alone, but also is rampant within the creative industry. However, heres whats even more surprising about the creative industry women make up over 60% of students studying creative arts and design at the university level, but beyond college, the world of product and industrial design is anywhere between 78 and 95% male.

We shared these details in an Instagram post roughly a year back, with responses that shocked and wowed us. The viral post raised awareness on the experiences of women in industrial design, and also the amount of appreciation, recognition, and exposure they truly deserve but do not always receive. In an ode to amazing female designers and the mindblowing work they do, together with our guest post author Kristi Bartlett, weve curated a collection of 14 women industrial designers and their innovative product designs. Scroll on to meet them and learn from their answers to 2 questions that give us their outlook on the design world. From tech to furniture to architecture, theres no design industry left untouched by women and their creative enigma! Its a womens world, and its time we celebrate it!

Japanese designer Fumie Shibata (follow her on Instagram to get a glimpse of her work life!) is the founder of the Design Studio S. Her experience spans a range, right from electronics, medical equipment, housewares, to even doing the creative direction for a capsule hotel. Her past clients include the legendary minimal Japanese international brands like Muji and Zojirushi. Her portfolio showcases the awards she has won the iF Gold Award, and the Design for Asia Top, Culture, and Gold Awards among others. She works as the Professor of Musashino Art University and is a part of the Judging Committee Chair of the 2018-2019 Good Design Awards. She has also authored the book Forms within Forms. Her latest work, the Bonbori collection is hypnotic lighting that uses a minimal dot pattern to create an interesting gradient in this lamp. The design also won the Elle Deco International Design Awards for 2021.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?I would like to create a variety of options without being bound by existing values. For example, I believe that the 9h (capsule hotel) I designed has created a new style of accommodation.

Is there a social issue you hope to design can help solve?As a person involved in manufacturing, I am always thinking about what I can do to address environmental issues.

Qin Li is the Vice President of Design at fuseproject, and has over 20 years of experience and knowledge of the industry which is why she guides the entire design process from ideation to production. She is also the Chair Emeritus of the Board of IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) and has served as a juror in multiple design competitions. Her Instagram is a collage of her work and personal life with interesting architectural shots making up the mix. Showcased here is one Ori Living, one of her TIME Magazine 100 Best Inventions of 2020 winning designs. The Ori Cloud Bed was designed to be integrated into smaller living spaces to make the most out of the space we have for working from home.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

More than ever, I am feeling the increasing responsibility as a designer reimagining the post-pandemic human experience, and being active stewards of the environment. Ill always have a passion for uncovering new opportunities in the design process. A concerted effort in unpacking challenges allows us to deep dive into understanding user needs on a physical, emotional, and cultural level to deliver a streamlined, elegant, and human-centered solution. It is also a natural segue into pushing for true accessibility and universal design. A paradigm shift is needed to carve a path for this profession that prioritizes fundamental human needs over profit and consumerism.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

Weve seen California skies turn dark orange for days on end, entire glaciers disappear, and unprecedented drought and flooding all over the globe. The need for a serious and collective response to global warming is immediate and critical. As designers, we understand the depths of this systemic issue in our industry. Only a clear and deliberate charter spearheaded by the design community will change the attitudes, behaviors, and necessary legislature to address the climate crisis. Designers need to lead the charge in imploring clients to choose sustainable solutions and helping them understand this as both an opportunity and a necessity for the future health of our earth.

Ti Chang is a feminist industrial designer and entrepreneur who is the co-founder and VP of Design at Crave, a female pleasure company. With international design awards in her portfolio, she has led her company to have partnerships with Nordstrom, MoMA Design Store, Standard Hotel, Goop, and Saint Laurent. Ti describes herself as a feminist industrial designer and an unlikely activist and is passionate about her cause of getting women an equal consideration in the field of design. Follow her on Instagram to understand more about design activism. We have here the Ouchless hairbrush collection, a prolific product for nearly a decade designed during Tis time at Goody. The invention addresses the core of design philosophy using simple changes to solve an everyday problem, which explains why the design is such a hit.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

Designs must have a reason to exist, and to me, design is at its finest when it is in service to humanity. Design is my activism it is my opportunity to serve those who are underrepresented and underserved. Women have largely been ignored and pandered to in the design of products. I am most interested in improving experiences that are universal because in this divisive time, theres also so much that unites us. I have worked on consumer products such as hairbrushes and currently, Im working on pleasure we could all use more joy and permission to embrace the pleasure our bodies are capable of.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

Design can profoundly change peoples lives and Im particularly interested in how it can empower women on a daily basis. We just havent earnestly tried in the past to serve women in industrial design because often we assumed the experiences of men mapped to the entire humanity. We are only beginning to scratch the surface of what we are capable of achieving for empowerment of women. As I see more businesses embrace diversity and the emergence of women-led companies, I am hopeful that the lens of design will continue to evolve and be a force for a more equitable world.

Arielle Assouline-Lichten is the founder of Slash Objects, a sustainability-minded design firm based in Brooklyn, NY. Arielle is passionate about design as a way to transform how humans experience the world. Her work aims to reframe our understanding of the resources we have through tactile stories that create a sense of intrigue into our material world. If you think you have seen her before, shes the runner-up on Ellens Next Great Designer. Follow her on Instagram for some fun behind-the-scenes of her daily life. One of her latest pieces, the Adri Chair, is all about clean lines and is a renewed interpretation of a modernist experiment. Marble and recycled rubber were used to create this exquisite piece of furniture!

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

I am a minimalist with some maximalist tendencies but I ultimately aim to highlight the beauty of materials. Im interested in what we can do with the least amount possible, how we can pair things down to uncover new connections.

Is there a social issue you hope to design can help solve?

I think that representation is important in the creation of design our canon of design pieces has historically been overrepresented by one type of creator. Id like to see new authors create timeless pieces that is something I am aiming for.

Industrial designer Veronika Scott is a social change entrepreneur and the founder of the Empowerment Plan, a Detroit-based non-profit breaking the cycle of homelessness through empowerment. What started out as her senior project is now a full program which provides jobs to people who need them. The workers make EMPWR coats, durable coats that can transform into sleeping bags or be worn as an over-the-shoulder bag, which are distributed to people experiencing homelessness. Her work embodies the principle Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Veronikas organization gives the ones in need a lifeline, a chance to make the world better and thats what can change their life. Follow her on Instagram to see the impact of her work.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

My design philosophy is centered around constant evolution to meet the needs as they change over time and that really goes hand in hand with listening. Truly listening, not just for the answer you want to hear but letting people drive the growth of the work. We are constantly getting feedback on the coats we make as well as the job opportunities we create. We aim to make people feel heard in the process. No issue or challenge is stagnant, things change, and we need to keep up.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

I wish some of the incredible design minds that I know are out there could solve the childcare issue. We have such a challenge with this as a country and in this last year, we have truly felt the impact of poor childcare, on the whole family and in particular women. I think that designers could take on this complex social issue and come up with some beautiful solutions.

Matali Crassets experience shows the trends of Industrial Design, and you can see her personal style on her Instagram. Graduated at Les Ateliers Ecole Nationale Suprieure de Cration Industrielle, Matali Crasset is an industrial designer of formation. She collaborates with eclectic universes, with work ranging from handicraft to electronic music, from the scenography to the furniture, from graphic design to interior architecture. The work here showcases the renovated Michle Monroys apartment in Paris. Matali showered it with colorful hues of orange, yellow, pink, blue, and green this ecstatic rainbow-themed space is designed to instantly lift up spirits.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

I see this profession more and more, through the projects I lead, such as that of a midwife. It is less and less a question of shaping matter aesthetics but rather of bringing out, federating, organizing, around common intentions and values, links and networks of skills, connivance as well as sociality.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

A designer is not a problem solver. I defend design as an artistic, anthropological, and social practice ever since graduating from the ENSCI-Les Ateliers. I strive for its dedication to creativity, people, and everyday life: how can design contribute to our community and help us navigate the contemporary world? This is the simple yet engaging premise, from which I think and set anything in motion.

Meet Jasmine Burton a powerhouse designer who has spoken at 130+ global stages including a TedxAtlanta, Women Deliver Power Stage Speaker and has also been featured on 50+ media platforms including CNN Money, Inc., WIRED, Fast Company, and WSBTV. She is the founder of Wish for WASH, a startup intended to innovate the field of sanitation. Post that, she started the Hybrid Hype, a woman-owned global consulting firm. Jasmine aims to use design thinking and business skills to improve access to health and sanitation for all. And she reinforces that ideology on her Instagram with the hashtag #everybodypoops aimed to normalize discussing sanitation. The design showcased here is the SafiChoo toilet an inexpensive toilet frame that can be easily carried to any destination. The toilet also comes with a bucket system that allows for a safe and clean method of disposal.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

Design is inherently optimistic and that is its power William McDonough.This quote rings true for me as I seek to use my product design skillsets and design thinking mindsets as generative, inclusive, and asset-based tools to help drive sustainable development particularly related to work rooted in health equity, gender parity, racial justice, and social inclusion. I firmly believe that design especially human-centered design has the power to change the world if used and proliferated intentionally. Across my ventures and vocations, we seek to design for dignity and ownership by designing with not for in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), menstruation, and global health sectors.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

I identify as a hybrid professional who is passionate about using my design, public health, and business prowess to drive innovation in sanitation and gender equity through Wish for WASHandPeriod Futures. Over four billion people lack access to safely managed sanitation. Many communities share unimproved pit latrines or holes in the ground, which can be overflowing, poorly maintained, and/or far from home. The lack of toilets in schools and public places also makes it incredibly challenging for menstruating people to safely manage their periods. We need more inclusive, representative, and innovative product development and design research in this sector that touches all peoples lives because #everybodypoops and #menstruationmatters.

Morna Gamblin has 12 years of experience covering a design right from its research and concept development phase to its manufacturing. Taking this extensive experience, Morna now teaches eager students about the intricacies of Industrial Design through her Instagram and her Youtube channel. As she explains, I started putting my learning out into the world because I see a lack of design research strategy being taught in ID schools. One of the most difficult aspects of being an industrial designer is that you could potentially design anything that is manufactured.and ANYTHING is a broad topic! One of the products designed by Morna is the Muse a brainwave sensing headband that uses biofeedback sensors to provide a deep meditative experience.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

My approach is oriented to be: Functional so that the design works, Friendly so that its inclusive and understandable, Attentive so that the needs of the end-user are addressed, Appropriate so that the solution is perfectly suited to the problem, and Beautiful so that it resonates emotionally with the end-user. Ive worked on many projects that shape technology (new and old) into beautiful, functional, understandable, and manufacturable products. These tenets guide my approach, especially while juggling multiple needs from the client, their business, the end-user, and manufacturing.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

Gender equality and inclusion in the workplace is an important issue for me. Recently, The Globe & Mail (Canadian newspaper) reported men still hold the bulk of decision-making positions, and they continue to dramatically outnumber, outrank and outearn their female colleagues. Its a wicked problem: complex and nuanced. Design is well suited to address it because, unlike other disciplines which are problem-focused, design is solution-focused. As designers, we facilitate a process to imagine new futures. Last spring, I co-organized an event with Lindsay Malatesta for women (and non-binary) designers because we need to connect, share stories, and support each other.

Susan McKinney is a ceramic artist and award-winning industrial + CMF designer; she was a design manager at New Deal Design prior to starting her own creative studio, SKINNY. Her design contributions over the past 12 years are notable, with honors from IDEA, Spark, FastCo Innovation by Design, and the National Design Award from her 7 years at New Deal Design, a renowned design agency in SF. Susan began exploring clays materiality in 2008, connecting her passion for inventive design with natural materials as seen on the behind-the-scene images on her Instagram. Her use of clay pushes the material to go past its usual form as shown in her clay weaving called the Infinity Collection.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

Im constantly pushing the boundaries of what is possible, embracing radical ideas and processes. My work seeks to connect people to their own sense of wonder. By using materials in unexpected ways, like weaving clay, I create objects that go beyond our everyday experience, to bring moments of curiosity and magic to our daily lives.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

As designers, we have a role to play in advocating for a positive and equitable human experience, at every level, while equally advocating for our planet.

Alejandra Castelao is a senior industrial designer at Fjord, San Francisco. Alejandra works best at the intersection of the digital and physical realm and has over 10 years of experience working with multiple Fortune 500 companies. She also creates stunning human as well as insect forms sketched in VR, which you can see on her Instagram!

The product featured here is The Band an original wearable design for Virgin Voyagesbrand new cruise ships. The design is a solution that works across multiple environments from lounging in a bikini, adventurous days out to a classy evening in cocktail dresses.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

Not quite a philosophy per se but I believe we as designers are innate problem solvers. And our skillset sometimes involuntarily makes us jump into solutions right away, especially when were young and eager to make an impact. Now that Ive been in the business of design for a while, I find myself assigning more focus, time, and importance to the definition of the problem itself. Defining the why something needs to be designed before figuring out the what it should look like is 90% of the battle if we are to ship products and experiences that will stand the test of time and wont just satisfy fleeting needs.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

Ive been really interested in the healthcare space and how design can gain a seat at the table to help improve not just patient experiences but general wellness outcomes. Healthcare as a whole is an intricate and complicated challenge that is ripe for innovation in terms of how care is being delivered even minor changes can have a direct impact on millions of lives. The current environment has finally opened the door for re-evaluation of incentives and outdated processes and institutions are a bit more open to change. I cant wait to see what the future holds for the industry as we move toward more human-centered care models.

Kickie Chudikovas approach to design is full of colour. Her work spans across a wide range from products, objects, furniture to lighting. Her Instagram is full of colour palettes that attract your attention using a mix of raw materials, different textures, and patterns. Kickies eye for detail shines with her bold, aesthetically pleasing designs which are designed to last each product is made to be kept, valued, and appreciated. Featured here is the Spiral of Life, a public installation that draws inspiration from the waves of the Hudson River and the sculptures of Isamu Noguchi. It offers a space to sit, relax, contemplate, and take a break from the hectic city routine.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

I believe in well-designed products. That means products have to function, look beautiful, trigger an emotion all while using environmentally friendly materials, innovative production techniques and live within a circular system. This is the way to sustainability since products like these are the ones we keep and pass on to the next generations. I am striving to create new icons, designing products that spark joy. Living with less but better.Color is a big passion of mine and I really like to use it in my work.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

One of the issues I deeply care about is waste management and its global impact and effects on human health and the health of our planet.I am convinced design could be used as one of the tools to help with the trash and material recycling crisis we are facing. Therefore I carefully select materials I use in my designs and focus on the lifecycle of the product. Whether it means longevity, recycling, or up-cycling.I am witnessing this pressing issue daily, since living in New York where only 17% of garbage gets recycled. The United States accounts for only about 4 percent of the worlds population yet generates 12 percent of the planets garbage. These numbers are mortifying, as Americans create 3 times more trash than India or China.We need a systematic change, change in peoples thinking, approach and behavior.Sustainable design, repurposing, reusing, repairing rather than throwing away.Small steps can go a long way!

Brazilian designer Carol Gay was originally trained in architecture, but later transitioned to furniture design. She has been nominated for multiple awards, including the XXI TOP Design Award Brazil created by the magazine Arc Design ranking among the three finalists in the lighting category. Her Instagram shows her love of experimenting with materials be it mixing rocks with glass, or fusing metal to create a geometric base that holds up her furniture design. The molded pipes almost look like paper clips and add a quirky touch to the classic and elegant furniture designs.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

In 1999, I attended the Construction of Objects workshop, given by the designers Fernando and Humberto Campana. I consider this experience as the genesis of my current work.Throughout the workshop, I was able to reflect upon many questions besides aesthetics, acquiring a keener eye for the world of product design, within a sustainable view, and finally reaching a personal expression.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

A hands-on experience, performing constant artisanal skills, and the permanent search for new materials have become essential features of my design. Design is an important tool for many solutions and one of them is social. Design can transform poor communities and thus empower people by developing and sophisticating their skills. Valuing manual knowledge and awakening new paths. Working with artisans values ancestral knowledge and allows continuity through generations.

Elodie Delassus describes her design approach as a people-centric Industrial, Strategic, and Experience designer. As she puts it, I believe in uncovering opportunities to make lives better, solving challenges. I dont get stopped by the tools and methodologies I know to rethink topics and challenges. Most of the time, many tools end up blooming along with a project. With multiple iF Product Design Awards under her belt, Elodie loves working with multi-disciplinary teams to create a great design. You can check out her work process on her Instagram page, which is filled with interesting product ideation and sketches! The design here is LeVentilo, a soft and approachable fan that uses a metal perforated sheet to show the blades while removing the fear of hurting your fingers!

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

I always try to use reasoning to guide design choices, challenging my decisions with what if scenarios to understand the impact of each element. I ask myself if one part of the design were changed, would that improve the use, experience, manufacturability, affordability, or reparability? It is important to me to understand each and every design detail and decision that I made for my design. Design is about conscious choices, not a coincidence.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

Accessibility for all is a topic that I keep front of mind in every new project I work on. Designing for the most extreme cases often also benefits the broader audience. The curb-cut effect is an example of this; curb-cuts are required to make sidewalks accessible for wheelchair users, but also benefit users of bicycles, strollers, and more. Sustainability is sharing the podium as another issue I am passionate about it is such a critical need for designers to consider at the earliest stages of the creative process!

Originally from the Netherlands, Monika runs her own design studio in Sweden, and has worked for brands such as Materia, Tenzo, and IKEA. Her pieces range from minimal and sophisticated to whimsical and playful and her Instagram is her showcase of her work-in-progress as well as her daily life. Called the Twins, this side table by Monika Mulder truly does look like a pair of twins! The intriguingly looped furniture piece features two tabletops, connected via a U-shaped pipe. It also comes in varying heights.

What is your design philosophy and how is it reflected in your work?

I work with emotion, function, and innovation. I like to challenge myself to create concepts that are meaningful for at least one of these three reasons. Many times, I think of people when I find inspiration for my projects. Their challenges and dreams make me eager to find relevant solutions and trigger my imagination. I use the form, material, and color to add emotion, which is an important asset to achieve affection for the design. Adding identity also makes me more innovative since it often requires a new way of thinking to get what I have in mind.

Is there a social issue that you hope design can help solve?

In the past two years, one topic has risen to the top of my agenda. Climate change has made me extremely aware of the necessity to adjust the way we design and produce. Design and Quality have got a new purpose. I see it as my obligation to take responsibility as a designer and I take every opportunity to raise critical questions to myself and my clients. I have noticed that it does make a difference, and together with my clients, we are making steps in the right direction.

Kristi Bartlett is a designer in the healthcare industry and Ph.D. student in Computer Graphics Technology at Purdue University. She believes that the strongest designs are made by teams that reflect the diversity of real-world users. Find more of her work on her Website and Instagram.

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Female Industrial Designers you must follow to see the impact they are making with their designs! - Yanko Design - Form Beyond Function

The creation and development of cyberspace has profoundly changed peoples thinking and behavioural habits. Current academic discussions on a range of issues such as web policy, web ethics, web culture and ideology have also become borderline academic topics.

Accurately grasping the connotation, characteristics and essence of cyberspace and scientifically defining its attributes in everyday life are the foundations and prerequisites for exploring this kind of problem. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to understand and accurately grasp the origin and roots of these issues, which will influence the scientific nature of research.

For discussing the Internet-related issues, social science research mainly uses the web society and cyberspace as conceptual tools to impact on the topic.

With the fast development of web technology and peoples proactive participation in communication practices, cyberspace has been widely recognised and has affected people as a new form of environment. Nevertheless, there are still many differences in the understanding and definition of the cyberspace concept. Further work on theoretical identification is therefore needed. Many scholars have made a structural analysis of cyberspace and some consider it to be a three-tier structure, including:

A. the lowest physical layer, which forms the material basis of the web information system. The term cyberspace, for example, leads some people to think that information travels over the air: this is not the case at all! The Internet spreads via underground terrestrial and marine fibre-optic cables, and radio base stations are connected to this cable network. The antennas we see towering on the hills receive the signal from the network of underground cables and transform it into electromagnetic waves so that they can be transmitted and then picked up by our smartphones: in other words, the illusion that cyberspace is wireless in the air, while it is, in fact, ground-to-ground.

B. The intermediate grammar layer, i.e. the instructions, programs and protocols with which the machine interacts between the system designer and the machine user.

C. The highest semantic layer, which mainly refers to the information contained in the machine and to some services that are needed to make the system information work.

Other scholars classify it into five layers:

A. the physical layer refers to the hardware devices that make up the computer.

B. The protocol layer emphasises that the different versions of communication protocols are, to a large extent, the source of power and authority in cyberspace and provide users with key identifying marks in cyberspace.

C. The logic layer/code is the software operated by the computer, which defines and limits the ways in which users can use the web.

D. The content layer mainly expresses the various objects and/or narratives created by the Internet users.

E. The relations layer emphasises the transmission of cyberspace, i.e. the social relationship between the users who make, exchange, disseminate and share web content embedded in objects and narratives.

As a result, scholars not only see the material and technical foundations that constitute cyberspace, but also reveal the human relation aspects contained in it, thus considering cyberspace as a kind of virtual reality. Some scholars have interpreted this relational aspect from a more specific viewpoint, and have considered cyberspace to be a stand-alone electronic field separate from political professionals a field containing many topics such as politics, economy, society, culture and religion.

Hence what is the essence of this virtual reality? Traditionally, with a view to meeting their basic survival needs, real people first engage in the production of material goods. In production activities, the division of labour, the practice of communication and the methods of production will inevitably arise, which characterized by different behaviours will give rise to different social forms.

It can be said that perceptual and concrete practical activities are the driving force behind the establishment of human social relations. In fact, the emergence of the Internet is exactly the product of human practical activities and an important result of the transformation of the objective world into human production practices. In other words, as a technical tool, the web represents advanced productivity and embodies the legacy of human knowledge, abilities and skills.

Based on the Internet technological platform, the social participation of real people enables the creation and development of cyberspace. The information flow is the basic form of existence in cyberspace. Information, as a symbol, brings the peoples actual social relations, which have consequential values and meaning.

Based on these attributes, cyberspace as a product of human social practice activities has further expanded and enriched the field and methods of human practice. It has changed peoples thinking and behavioural habits: new forms of real life.

In short, whether in terms of production, content or actual impact, cyberspace displays clear social characteristics and sociability is its fundamental attribute. It can be said that cyberspace is a new form of social space created with the development of web technology, and it is the further extension and expansion of social space in the context of information technology.

This process of extension and expansion produces and reproduces the social space itself, i.e. the space in which we actually live. For cyberspace, as in everyday life, peoples interaction and practice activities based on different interests and purposes which cause the continuous differentiation of cyberspace are marked by the generation of secondary spaces such as the Web, the forum, the post to be posted, and the circle of friends that begins to create widespread consensus.

On the other hand, once the secondary web space is generated, it will produce a certain value and meaning of aggregation (pro) or exclusion (anti), and will thus divide people into different web groups. Consequently, two relations are established between man and cyberspace: one is that people use the web as a means and instrument to be applied; the other is that the web constitutes the actual conditions of human existence: people are in the web, they exist only there, as the real is only necessary as a search for food and physical subsistence, and not even so much for sex.

In further analysis, man and cyberspace manifest themselves as a spatial relationship of symbiosis and coexistence. In this relationship, cyberspace has not only changed the way people receive, process, and send information (as in the past), but it has also changed the way information itself is generated, in a different and/or opposite way than before.

People have created and developed web technology through practice, but at the same time they have reshaped and improved themselves with web technology, as well as expanded the boundaries of life and achieved the spatialisation of life itself. It can be said that cyberspace is not only a space for the digital information flow, but also a space for social interaction, a new space in which the essential power of the human being can be shown in a new guise that is no longer casual or accidental, such as physiological birth.

People are used to summarising the basic features of cyberspace with words such as virtuality, anonymity (albeit illusory as noted in an article published a few weeks ago), freedom and openness, as well as trans-temporal and spatial features, and then making common sense of them. Usual and ordinary things, however, are more likely to be marked by omissions or illusions, not being able to grasp a fact or a truth in depth.

Cyberspace is often said to be virtual reality. When we call it virtual space, what does the word virtual mean? In a general sense, the word virtual has the following meanings: one refers to a kind of empty space, or something that does not exist in reality, while the other is to represent a potential possibility. For example, a piece of wood can become a table or a cupboard, and a stone has the possibility of being the statue of a leader or the sculpture of a lion. These can all be transformed into a certain reality by relying on intermediary human practical activities: the carpenter, the artist. Virtual can also be understood as a type of real existence, but this type of existence does not play a practical role, although it plays a certain role. The virtual nature of cyberspace can also be understood and defined from several angles. From a technical viewpoint, cyberspace is a spatial form based on digital and computer technology. It is not a world composed of atoms, but a virtual world composed of bits that simulate real things. From the identity viewpoint, the apparent anonymity (i.e. the illusion of it that the provider offers the user) brought about by virtuality deconstructs the subjects professional role, social status, and even the gender of men and women, transforming X into what he/she would like to be, but is not.

As a result, real people become ghosts wandering in cyberspace. Past social interaction between people is turned into technical and symbolic interaction. When several computers are connected to form a huge network linking people through different interfaces, communication practices take place in which there is no longer any need for movement, travel, encounter. It is here that the virtual world takes shape.

The virtual nature of cyberspace does not certainly focus on the so-called emptiness=real existence, but its essence comes in the form of simulation and digitalisation. This virtualised way of constructing the world does not only contain the potential for the development of things, but also possesses the actual path of transformation from possibility to reality.

The US computer scientist, Nicholas Negroponte, pointed out: If the words virtual reality are seen not as noun and adjective, but as equal halves, the logic of calling virtual reality a pleonasm is more palatable. The implication is that virtual can also be understood as part of reality. Virtual things will be as real as reality, and even more real than reality. Because, as a form of technology, the virtual cannot only unfold around real problems, but also reveal the real parts of things and bring people a realistic experience, making it easier to achieve peoples expected goals.

In short, we cannot regard cyberspace as an unrealistic space because of its virtual nature. Cyberspace is not an abstract space that depends on the human imagination to perceive and grasp. Its spatial form is embodied in what is by no means a figment of imagination.

Freedom is the universal value concept of modern political civilisation and it is the fundamental human right, second only to the right to life. The creation and development of cyberspace has given this right a new expression, i.e. the Internet freedom. Some scholars have specifically structured the Internet freedom into (a) freedom of expression on the Internet; (b) freedom of access to the Internet and (c) freedom of communication on the Internet.

Freedom of expression on the Internet means that the so-called netizens can use the Internet to post and convey their thoughts, opinions and even personal feelings. They are not passive receivers of information, but proactive publishers and disseminators of this information.

Freedom of access to the Internet refers to the netizens rights to obtain and use the network infrastructure and to choose and obtain web information.

Freedom of communication on the Internet refers to the freedom of Internet users to use media.

In general terms, we can further understand and define web freedom by the following aspects. Cyberspace is an equal and open form of disseminating thought. Based on access conditions and technical thresholds for the release of basic information, everyone can participate freely, thus having the opportunity to freely release, access, choose and consume information online. At the same time, cyberspace overcomes to some extent the shortcomings of the information asymmetry of traditional media and breaks down the natural barriers of physical time and space.

Netizens can share information resources online and develop free exchanges and interactions. The virtual nature of cyberspace has actually hidden the different representations of identity, status, wealth, job, etc. in real social relations. Based on the fundamental characteristics of cyberspace, individualisation in it has been strengthened, thus generating a bottom-up inner power. With this kind of power, netizens generally have an autonomous experience of freedom. It can be said that for real people, the development of technology and the creation of the web space also have an important liberating significance from a psychic viewpoint.

Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web (WWW), wrote: My ideal for the World Wide Web is that everything can potentially be connected. It is this ideal that gives us new freedom and enables us to develop faster than our own hierarchical classification system. Nowadays, faced with the fast development of the Internet and the profound social changes it entails, some scholars have directly pointed out that the value and significance of the Internet lies in its internal values of civilisation. It is the spirit of the Internet that advocates and supports freedom, equality, openness, innovation and sharing. The freedom of the Internet, however, is not absolute. Cyberspace itself has not only the function of individual empowerment, but also the function of control, which is mainly achieved through the creation of technical barriers. These types of operations can effectively set the authority to post information, as well as netizens access authority, and can selectively display or mask relevant information, thus intentionally guiding or even controlling the public opinion trends on the web, ranging from the illusion of being free and independent to that of being controlled and hetero-directed.

This kind of operations, however, can also be used for special purposes, and the advantages gained by hidden third parties achieve a comprehensive monitoring of netizens and web information.

Quoting Michel Foucault, referring to Jeremy Bentham, cyberspace can become a panoptic ring-shaped prison, i.e. a super panoramic prison for the observer. Milton Mueller had to say: Although the Internet has greatly expanded the scope and interaction between public and individual discourse, it has also fostered the development of technology and organisational means to monitor and control online discourse.

In the governance process, with a view to effectively regulate netizens sloppy and superficial use of freedom, and overcome misguided trends of thought such as cyber violence and rumours, cybercrime, fake news, cyber anarchism, unbridled liberalism and nihilism, States and governments have also actively intervened, striving to base netizens thoughts and actions on legal regulations and moral constraints. Only in this way can the Internet freedom truly embody the subjects consciousness and awareness, the value of rights and obligations, and netizens public spirit.

Therefore, we cannot only understand the web from the perspective of individual freedom. It also aims directly at the creation and maintenance of a holistic public order. In short, cyberspace is not a non-proprietary technology-centred space system, but a human-centred system with unification of rights and obligations. The Internet freedom is not abstract freedom, nor freedom of individualism, but includes the protection of other peoples rights and the overall construction of public order. Therefore, the Internet freedom is ultimately a kind of limited freedom and the freedom to break this limit will turn into a destructive and consequently illegal force.

As mentioned above, cyberspace is essentially a social space. The production of cyberspace is fundamentally the production of human social relations, and this production process is completed through interactions between people. The characteristics of virtuality, anonymity and intertemporal nature inherent in cyberspace provide new spatial conditions for human interaction, which is prominently manifested in the non-centrality or decentralisation characteristics of the web interaction.

Manuel Castells pointed out: The net has not a centre; it only contains nodes. Each node has a different relevance to the net. Hence we ask ourselves: what kind of person crosses the node? What is the relevance of the mode of communication? First of all, the web communication is made in the electronic square and the whole process is completed in the links of production, exchange, consumption and processing of web information. It can be noted that web interactions are based on the Internet technical platform, using symbols such as texts, videos, voice and even emoticons, in various online communities, forums and other secondary spaces.

It is a typical technicality of activity. The virtual nature and anonymity of cyberspace, as well as the interaction between people, break down the restrictions of face-to-face communication and make them obsolete. The presence of the mind and the absence of the body become the technical behaviour of interaction.

Web interaction has also become a new form of spiritual communication for real people. Value and meaning are constantly being created in the process. Secondly, this production of value and meaning is more procedural, i.e. the production of value and meaning is created in the process of interaction between the subjects of the communication. It is no longer prefixed, given, instilled by a third party, but consciously forms the power and influence of the discourse in the interaction, thus constructing different worlds and modes of meaning.

Taking some question-and-answer web platforms as an example, netizens can edit together, share knowledge and experiences through the aforementioned interactive mode, with a simple registration. Between question and answer, netizens establish a social relationship by adding followers (actual followers), sending private messages and posting comments. In question-and-answer style interaction, these professional and rational answers can acquire the power of discourse more and faster, and are universally recognised by netizens.

In this world and in this way, on the Internet, the social network of the others, of the unknown selves, is constantly being constructed, and this is where the value and meaning of the new social relationship arise. Finally, the non-centrality of web interaction does not mean non-subjectivity: the web subjects are always the main vectors of communication activities, and they are fully reciprocal.

Communication activities will establish new relations and will form a new social structure, but at the same time they will take place within the social relations and structures established with non-visible knowledge.

In real society, peoples communication activities are inevitably influenced by the subjects pre-existing identity, manifested in specific social roles: status, wealth, physical beauty and other pre-existing elements even to their contrary which makes interaction appear not so natural, but influenced precisely by wealth, position, and physical appearance factors.

Conversely, web interaction has largely changed the hierarchy of power and formal degrees of value in real society. When everyone becomes the centre, people enter the web space and enjoy the same opportunities and rights for communication. The structure of democracy is thus formed, which is not based on visible values in the known exterior (society), but on invisible values in the unknown interior (the web).

Obviously this kind of reciprocity is also discussed in a general sense, and it is not absolute either. For instance, some Internet influencers and opinion leaders publicly disclose their identities. The reason why they have a strong ability to acquire unknown fans does not exclude the aggregation of their social status (the aforementioned status, physical appearance and other pre-existing factors), so as to use it in real society. In other words, the known figure exploits the cyberspace to impose himself/herself within society; in other words, the shepherd leads nameless sheep where he/she wishes. There is therefore a certain degree of unequal power structure in cyberspace.

The activity of the cyberspace figure known from the outside, as he/she is present and active in real society, is represented by various information, involving all aspects of production and peoples lives, such as education, medical care, insurance, real estate, advertising, legal services, etc. The data flow is ultimately the information flow. The information flow in cyberspace, with its wide source, high speed, large capacity, rich content and form, completely surpasses the traditional information flow. As a result, the well-known figure who uses the net does so to overtake real opponents in his or her respective field, while the followers think he or she is a disembodied guru or anything else.

Through nodes, netizens can spread and receive information without being limited by time and space. On the one hand, the virtualised and anonymous characteristics of cyberspace deconstruct or weaken the subjects fixed identity, which in cyberspace is strongly contextualized, thus showing ambiguity in the practice of fluid communication, as the nature of cyberspace has changed the traditional meaning of space-time coordinates.

The Internet physical equipment is the new field of the subjects activities, but the meaning of the subjects geographical position disappears, and the IP address determines his/her existence. Mobile identity can enable web subjects to become ubiquitous and to exist and be mobile across different web interfaces.

The fluidity of cyberspace reflects the following aspects: firstly, the dynamic nature of cyberspace. The characteristic definition of flow has the dual meaning of time and space. Due to the flattening and levelling of cyberspace, this type of flow is not a change in the position of individuals in the social class in a sociological sense, but is a flow without hierarchical meaning. Due to the borderless and trans-temporal nature of cyberspace, this type of flow has no physical boundaries in the topological sense, but takes on the undefined meaning of place.

Secondly, it reflects the interaction between web entities in the process of web information flow. Human needs are the source of information production, and the web information flow has become the bearer of value and meaning from the very beginning. It is also in the flow and collision of information that new values and meanings are created, thus showing the complex social relations between people. Therefore, in a fundamental sense, the information flow is a social movement related to the generation of meanings and signifiers. In Italy we had a great example, which later ended up in the disappointment of the vast majority of voters, to the benefit of a few who knew how to study (sometimes fraudulently) the bureaucratic apparatus.

Thirdly, it reflects the dynamic development of the social structure based on technological progress, which fundamentally reflects the procedural nature of the practice of real people. Castells pointed out: Space is not a reflection of society, but an expression of society. In other words, space is not a copy of society: space is society. This emphasises that the generation of cyberspace is fundamental to its self-generation.

On the one hand, the fluidity of cyberspace has become an endogenous force for the differentiation and integration of cyberspace itself and its dynamics influence and change the structure of value and meaning in cyberspace. On the other hand, through online and offline interactions, it ultimately transforms through concrete actions real society itself that, in turn, promotes changes in the overall social structure. Hence, as a quality of flow, cyberspace is basically embodied as a process of social practice.

The creation and development of cyberspace is the result of the continuous differentiation and integration of social space in its own changes. Hence, is cyberspace a so-called public domain? According to our understanding, we can see the basic elements that constitute the public domain: firstly, individuals with a rational and critical spirit; secondly, independent media and thirdly, public opinion forming a rational consensus.

As to cyberspace, the public is active: when faced with general events, the public does not stand on the sidelines, but actively participates in the discussion of important issues to safeguard public interests and control power. This kind of fair and dialogic communication and interaction not only reflects the independent thinking, judgment, choice and even critical capacity of netizens as rational subjects, but also reflects their good moral and legal literacy, thus playing a key role in maintaining public order.

In the media sense, the basic characteristics of cyberspace make it relatively independent. There are no hierarchical and strict public power organisations, institutions or systems in cyberspace: it is open to everybody and people communicate and interact in a relatively free environment. The development of web technology at least the one presented as such also provides sufficient guarantee for this equality, freedom and independence.

When people online express opinions on various events, a large number of opinions and discussions are quickly gathered in the online public opinion with the help of the relevant platform. Through massive pressure, related issues are resolved in a fair or at least not covert way, and promote the reform and improvement of the relevant systems, and of the rules, too, where necessary.

It can be said that the critical and controlling functions of people online through public opinion have become a positive and constructive force. From this viewpoint, cyberspace has actually fulfilled its function of public domain. But can we infer from this that cyberspace is really in the public domain?

As the main entity of the web, not all netizens can be called public in a rational spirit. On the contrary, with the exception of the netizens who are addicted to online consumption and entertainment all day long, some netizens arbitrarily vent their emotions by attacking and verbally abusing their opponents. Aggressive cybernetic pursuits, rampant defamations that ignore facts, and unprincipled cyber parodies make them outright saboteurs.

Public spirit and rationality are completely unfamiliar terms to such netizens. There are unidentified cyber forces that become the packagers and manipulators of information for further aims. Fake information with extremely unreliable sources and content, cybercrimes that trample on the bottom line of laws and morality, etc.

They have also turned cyberspace into a foggy environment. Hence, based on its complexity and in view of creating good web ecology, countries around the world are strengthening the management and control of cyberspace, thus achieving the penetration of public power into it. Therefore, we see that cyberspace is not completely independent in a theoretical sense.

In short, in the process of information flow and collision, there is the creation of value and meaning, but also its destruction. Web communication and interaction do not always contribute to resolving incidents of any kind, but in many cases simply act as a destabilising force. Indeed, we cannot simply decide that cyberspace is a public or a quasi-public sphere.

When discussing the spatial attribution of cyberspace, the yes/no-1/0 method of judging is the result of mechanistic understanding and application of commonly accepted public domain theories. It is very easy to hide the complexity of the structure and the inherent contradictions of cyberspace, and this prevents us from accurately understanding and judging the essential characteristics and functions of cyberspace and by essential I mean and refer to utility as a shared value, and not to the individuals personal benefits.

In my opinion, the greatest significance of the public domain for cyberspace is that it must exist functionally. Cyberspace cannot simply be judged at the aforementioned 1/0 digital level, but can actually perform service operations for everyone. When attempting to orient and guide web subjects from individualised to public netizens, they can express not only their own needs for interest under the form of help with knowledge and exchange of purely personal experiences, etc., but also uphold the spirit of public rationality by actively paying attention to public events, supervising public power, and safeguarding everybodys interests.

As a result, it is hoped that cyberspace will rise to the status of a rational information agent, and hence a proactive constructive force. When cyberspace plays the role and function of the public domain, it can effectively communicate the relationship between the private sphere and the power sphere, between the online and the offline space, and effectively rebuild the relationship between government, society and citizens, thus contributing to the adjustment and optimisation of the general order of social space.

Conversely, as far as the ownership of cyberspace is concerned, we cannot simply identify cyberspace as being or not being in the public domain, but we must seek to orient its role in the public interest. In a fundamental sense, cyberspace is a social space, a new environmental form that extends and differs from the social space of everyday life with the development of the Internet technology.

Nevertheless, based on the technical dimension, cyberspace as a virtual reality is different from the social environment in a general sense, displaying its own characteristics and operating rules that all too often defy moral, civil and criminal behaviours.

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Housing needs, the Internet and cyberspace at the forefront in the UK and Italy - Modern Diplomacy

CHICAGO, Nov. 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Property and auto insurance shopping trends were split once again in Q3 2021. TransUnions (NYSE: TRU) latest Personal Lines Insurance Shopping Report found that low inventories suppressed insurance shopping for automobiles while boosting the property insurance shopping market through increased activity from both homeowners and renters.

The gap between property and auto insurance shopping during Q3 2021 was greater than the two prior quarters. The three-week moving average for property insurance shopping was between 1% and 8% higher than the previous year. In comparison, the three-week moving average in Q3 for auto insurance shopping was between 2% and 13% lower than one year ago.

The rise in property insurance shopping was primarily driven by home buyers, but rental insurance played a significant role.

Soaring housing prices prevented a lot of younger people and first-time buyers from purchasing a homeand sent many homeowners to the rental market, said Mark McElroy, executive vice president and head of TransUnions insurance business. However, much of that latter group comprised people from older generations who took advantage of the ability to cash in on their homes value, while downsizing their lifestyle at an opportune moment.

Baby Boomers and Gen X consumers drove much of the rental insurance shopping in Q3. Boomers in particular entered the rental market with more valuable personal belongings and were more apt to seek out renters insurance to protect their personal property. It is not yet clear what portion of these groups will remain renters versus those who plan to buy after the housing market cools down.

Lower Auto Insurance Shopping Still Driven by Higher Risk Consumers While for much of 2020, higher-risk customersthose with a 300500 TrueRisk Auto Scorewere less likely to shop for auto insurance than their lower-risk counterpartsthose with a 701+ TrueRisk Auto Score. This tendency dramatically reversed itself in the spring of 2021, and has continued through Q3. The three-week moving average for higher-risk customers was as much as 20% higher than the same period last year, while lower-risk customers were as much as 5% lower than Q3 2020.

Lowering premium costs was still the primary motivation for auto insurance shopping, which means higher-risk customers may be shopping more in an attempt to save money, particularly in light of rising inflation.

In addition, 2021 saw the widening acceptance of online vehicle shopping and vehicle delivery services, an innovation likely accelerated by the pandemic but one that will likely continue to grow in a post-pandemic economy. This may have driven sales among younger buyers in particular, who broadly correspond to the higher-risk group.

The Near- and Long-Term Insurance Market ForcesAside from the current real estate and auto market trends, there are some additional reasons to anticipate increased insurance shopping. One driver may be natural disasters, such as the havoc Hurricane Ida wreaked in the Northeast, and the worry that similar events will become more common as the climate warms.

In the immediate future, concerns about inflation may continue to drive elevated shopping activity. Also, increased consumer comfort with online insurance research and shopping, combined with streamlined options from insurers, may increase shopping volume.

Altogether, there are several factors such as online insurance shopping and streamlined policy options that we expect will drive overall increases in shopping. The question is always to what extent customers immediate needs will take priority, concluded McElroy.

For additional insights into the personal lines insurance marketplace, the full report can be accessedhere.

About TransUnions Insurance Shopping Snapshot ReportThe quarterly Insurance Shopping Snapshot Report is based entirely on TransUnions internal studies. The insurance shopping trends reported are based on TransUnions report which is derived from TransUnions extensive database of credit data. It includes information on insurance shopping transactions from July 2020 to October 2021. The report focuses on the credit population, highlighting TransUnions data. It also explores a subset of the total insurance shopping population. The report excludes data from insurance customers in California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts, where credit-based insurance scoring information is not used for insurance rating or underwriting.

About TransUnion (NYSE: TRU)TransUnion is a global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing an actionablepicture of each person so they can be reliably represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good.

A leading presence in more than 30 countries across five continents, TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people.

http://www.transunion.com/business

Source: TransUnion

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Low Inventories Drive Continued Divergence in Property and Auto Insurance Shopping - Insurance News Net