No abstract

This paper critically examines new modes of behaviour change promoted by the contemporary British state, providing a critique of libertarian paternalism as an emergent form of government in the UK. We analyse the multivalent principles and mechanisms associated with libertarian paternalism. We consider the contribution of Foucauldian theories of governmentality and psychological power within human geography to a critical analysis of libertarian paternalism. Reflecting on the example of Manual for Streets (DfT, 2007) for re-designing residential roads in the UK, we conclude by explaining why libertarian paternalist policies could lead to the formation of more, or less deliberative public spaces.

There is a rich repertoire of methods for stress detection using various physiological signals and algorithms. However, there is still a gap in research efforts moving from laboratory studies to real-world settings. A small number of research has verified when a physiological response is a reaction to an extrinsic stimulus of the participant’s environment in real-world settings. Typically, physiological signals are correlated with the spatial characteristics of the physical environment, supported by video records or interviews. The present research aims to bridge the gap between laboratory settings and real-world field studies by introducing a new algorithm that leverages the capabilities of wearable physiological sensors to detect moments of stress (MOS). We propose a rule-based algorithm based on galvanic skin response and skin temperature, combing empirical findings with expert knowledge to ensure transferability between laboratory settings and real-world field studies. To verify our algorithm, we carried out a laboratory experiment to create a “gold standard” of physiological responses to stressors. We validated the algorithm in real-world field studies using a mixed-method approach by spatially correlating the participant’s perceived stress, geo-located questionnaires, and the corresponding real-world situation from the video. Results show that the algorithm detects MOS with 84% accuracy, showing high correlations between measured (by wearable sensors), reported (by questionnaires and eDiary entries), and recorded (by video) stress events. The urban stressors that were identified in the real-world studies originate from traffic congestion, dangerous driving situations, and crowded areas such as tourist attractions. The presented research can enhance stress detection in real life and may thus foster a better understanding of circumstances that bring about physiological stress in humans.

No abstract

No abstract

It appears that recent debates within human geography, and the broader social sciences, concerning the more-than-rational constitution of human decision making are now being paralleled by changes in the ways in which public policy makers are conceiving of and addressing human behaviour. This paper focuses on the rise of so-called Behaviour Change policies in public policy in the UK. Behaviour Change policies draw on the behavioural insights being developed within the neurosciences, behavioural economics, and psychology. These new behavioural theories suggest not only that human decision making relies on a previously overlooked irrational component, but that the irrationality of deeision making is sufficiently consistent to enable effective public policy intervention into the varied times and spaees that surround human decisions. This paper charts the emergence of Behaviour Change policies within a range of British public policy sectors, and the political and scientifie antecedents of such policies. Ultimately, the paper develops a geographieally informed, ethical critique of the contemporary Behaviour Change regime that is emerging in the UK. Drawing on thirty in-depth interviews with leading policy executives, and case studies that reflect the application of Behaviour Change policies on the design and constitution of British streets, the analysis claims that current strategies are predicated on a partial reading of new behavioural theories. We argue that this partial reading of human eognition is leading to the construction of public policies that seek to arbitrarily decouple the rational and emotional components of human deeision making with deleterious social and political consequenees.

This paper examines the emergence of libertarian paternalism or 'nudge' as a rationale of government in the UK and charts the way in which this development has been enabled by, and has enabled, a process of policy translation. We examine: the reasons for the emergence of libertarian paternalism in the UK; the processes that have enabled libertarian paternalism to become a significant way of framing policy in the UK for both the New Labour and the Coalition administrations; the way in which this set of policy initiatives has been predicated upon a process of social and spatial embedding that has seen it become interpreted as a meaningful and default solution to a whole host of social ills. We conclude by arguing that there is a need to appreciate both the political malleability of libertarian paternalism as a concept and the complex geographies that have enabled it to assume political significance in the UK.

This article interrogates the norms of good citizenship invoked in and across different social domains, using the example of citizenship education in the UK as one field in which good citizenship is constituted. It is possible to make visible the political struggle inherent in the mechanisms of framing the good citizen by unpacking the differences between citizenship as acts, status and virtues. This is a necessary step in assessing good citizenship claims in the absence of moral and political absolutes. We deploy a two-tiered account of Butler's theory of performativity to examine how ordinary citizenship acts are preceded by elite rhetorical framing. We conclude that citizenship, like democracy, is always enacted in particular contexts in which positioning, method and motives play an important part. IntroductionOur aim in this article is to contribute to the important task of bringing to the debate on good citizenship greater theoretical depth and empirical richness. We interrogate the norms of good citizenship invoked in different social domains and extend our analysis across as well as within particular domains, using the example of citizenship education in the UK to illustrate our argument. At the centre of our efforts is the specification of a framework for analysing invocations of the good citizen. The aim of this style of analysis is to reveal or unmask the making of conceptions of the good citizen and good citizenship. The good citizen is a figure who is 'framed', or set up, by political and academic observers alike; framed in the sense of viewed from a certain perspective, and in the different sense of set up for a particular purpose (to contribute to a sustainable society or cohesive community, for example). Indeed, the frames constitute ideas of the good citizen and the desired practices that flow from that: there is no single normative ideal outside frames. By deploying an interpretative methodology, it is our intention to make visible the political struggle inherent in the practices and mechanisms of framing the good citizen, and to speculate on the possibility of assessing such claims in the absence of moral and political absolutes.We argue that a focus on good citizenship means a focus primarily on acts of citizenship, showing how key actors performatively construct both the content (approaches) and products (domains) of good citizenship, indicating a constitutive relationship between 'elite' representations and 'ordinary' performative acts of citizenship and their specific contexts. As we will go on to elaborate, the invocation of the good citizen is twofold: the frame itself is produced through elite actions (the constitution of a domain and an approach) and in turn provides the repertoires of possible acts and social roles that are deemed to be 'good', as performed by ordinary would-be citizens themselves. Analysts therefore need to embrace the inevitable plurality of conceptions of the good citizen, and would benefit from a specific set of linked concepts that can genuinely help us to map and ...