ABSTRACT
While American poverty research has devoted greater attention to poverty in the Northeast and Midwest, poverty has been persistently higher in the U.S. South than in the other regions. Thus, ...this study investigates the enduring question of why poverty is higher in the South. Specifically, it demonstrates the role of power resources as an explanation for this regional disparity, yet also considers family demography, economic structure, and racial/ethnic heterogeneity. Using six waves (2000–2016) of U.S. Census Current Population Survey data from the Luxembourg Income Study (N = 1,157,914), this study employs a triangulation of analytic techniques: (1) tests of means and proportion differences, (2) multilevel linear probability models of poverty, and (3) binary decomposition of the South/non-South poverty gap. The comparison of means associated with the power resource hypothesis yields the largest substantive differences between the South and the non-South. In the multilevel models, adjusting for power resources yields the largest declines in the South coefficient. Binary decomposition results indicate power resources are the second most influential factor explaining the South/non-South poverty gap. Overall, power resources are an important source of the South/non-South poverty gap, though economic structure and other factors certainly also play a role. Results also suggest an important interplay between power resources and race. Altogether, these results underscore the importance of macrolevel characteristics of places, including political and economic contexts, in shaping individual poverty and overall patterns of inequality.
Theories of international relations, assumed to be universally applicable, have failed to explain the creation of states in Africa. There, the interaction of power and space is dramatically different ...from what occurred in Europe. In States and Power in Africa , Jeffrey Herbst places the African state-building process in a truly comparative perspective. Herbst’s bold contention—that the conditions now facing African state-builders existed long before European penetration of the continent—is sure to provoke controversy, for it runs counter to the prevailing assumption that colonialism changed everything.
This revised edition includes a new preface in which the author links the enormous changes that have taken place in Africa over the past fifteen years to long-term state consolidation. The final chapter on policy prescriptions has also been revised to reflect the evolution of African and international responses to state failure.
Coal and Energy in South Africa: Considering a Just Transition investigates the consequences of shifting social responsibilities, new inequalities and the sustainability concerns created by the ...likely energy transition in Africa to end the fossil-fuel era. Focusing on the local realities in a growing coal and energy town of South Africa, Emalahleni, it explores whether a just transition from coal-generated energy is possible and what the local implications will be of this global restructuring of the energy sector.
Abstract
This review gives first a brief view of the potential availability of sustainable energy. It is clear that over 100 times more solar photovoltaic energy than necessary is readily accessible ...and that practically available wind alone may deliver sufficient energy supply to the world. Due to the intermittency of these sources, effective and inexpensive energy-conversion and storage technology is needed. Motivation for the possible electrolysis application of reversible solid-oxide cells (RSOCs), including a comparison of power-to-fuel/fuel-to-power to other energy-conversion and storage technologies is presented. RSOC electrochemistry and chemistry of H2O, CO2, H2, CO, CnHm (hydrocarbons) and NH3, including thermodynamics and cell performance, are described. The mechanical strength of popular cell supports is outlined, and newly found stronger materials are mentioned. Common cell-degradation mechanisms, including the effect of common impurities in gases and materials (such as S and Si), plus the deleterious effects of carbon deposition in the fuel electrode are described followed by explanations of how to avoid or ease the consequences. Visions of how RSOCs powered by sustainable energy may be applied on a large scale for the transportation sector via power-to-fuel technology and for integration with the electrical grid together with seasonal storage are presented. Finally, a brief comparison of RSOCs to other electrolysis cells and an outlook with examples of actions necessary to commercialize RSOC applications are sketched.
Energy security challenges are topping the policy agenda of the European Union and China. Consequently, policy makers of both energy import-dependent polities continue to look for new responses. But ...will these new policies put EU-China relations in a cooperative or competitive setting?.
The worldwide economic shock caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is having widespread and often dramatic effects on investments in the energy sector. Based on the latest available data, the International ...Energy Agency's World Energy Investment 2020 provides a unique and comprehensive perspective on how energy capital flows are being reshaped by the crisis, including full-year estimates for global energy investment in 2020.Now in its fifth edition, the World Energy Investment report is the annual IEA benchmark analysis of investment and financing across all areas of fuel and electricity supply, efficiency, and research and development. In addition to a full review of the 2019 trends that preceded the crisis, this year’s analysis highlights how companies are now reassessing strategies – and investors repricing risks – in response to today’s profound uncertainties and financial strains.The energy industry that emerges from this crisis will be significantly different from the one that came before. The vulnerabilities and implications vary among companies, depending on whether they are investing in fossil fuels or low-carbon technologies, as well as across different countries. The new report assesses which areas are most exposed and which are proving to be more resilient. The analysis also provides crucial insights for governments, investors and other stakeholders on new risks to energy security and sustainability, and what can be done to mitigate them.
Is it possible for trade unions to fight precarity in an adverse global context? Although existing research suggests this is possible, there is limited understanding of the interplay of resources ...that enable unions to address precarity in deregulated markets. This study employs a power resource approach to investigate how unions overcome their external constraints. It draws upon 130 in-depth interviews with key informants across nine Central and Eastern European countries to investigate successful and unsuccessful union actions in sectors with differing external resources. In each sector, unions that mobilise their internal resources have been able to reduce various precarity dimensions, such as low wages, lack of voice, and irregular working time. The results reveal that unions whose objectives are based on convincing win–win discourses can make strides, acting as drivers of change in precarity patterns even in unfavourable conditions. Moreover, the study introduces a multi-dimensional conceptualisation of union success, identifying union actions that result in measurable improvements in precarity dimensions for all worker types. To deepen understanding of the role unions play in fighting precarity in adverse contexts, future research could investigate union actions that improve a wider range of precarity dimensions for all workers.
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