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Positive Action (positive + action)
Selected AbstractsDiversity in the Judiciary: The Case For Positive ActionJOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2009Kate Malleson A range of policies has been developed in England and Wales to reform the judicial appointments process so as to promote greater diversity. But despite two decades of official activity, the pace of change has been far slower than anticipated. Increasing awareness of the intransigence of the problem has led to a greater willingness to revisit some of the more fundamental tenets which have underpinned the approach to the problem to date, in particular, the unquestioning and inflexible commitment to the principle of equal treatment. This article examines the different forms of positive action which might play a part in the development of new diversity strategies for the judiciary. It reviews the arguments for and against different types, in terms of effectiveness, quality of appointments, and equity. It goes on to consider the legal frameworks which govern diversity and equality policies and assesses the legal implications of adopting different forms of positive action. [source] Gender Quotas in Politics: The Greek System in the Light of EU LawEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010Panos Kapotas Positive action is currently gaining momentum in the European anti-discrimination discourse and policy-making as a necessary and effective tool to achieve the goal of full and effective equality in employment. Gender quotas in politics, however, are thought to remain outside the normative scope of Community law, the dominant view being that candidature for elected public office does not constitute employment in the sense of the relevant provisions. This article seeks to examine the Greek quota system for women in politics in its dialectical relationship to the general equality discourse and with reference to the current normative framework in Europe. The aims are threefold: to assess the legality of positive action in favour of women in politics from the point of view of EU law, to evaluate the effectiveness of the Greek system in achieving its gender equality goals, and to identify the problems that quotas in politics may pose with regard to the principle of democratic representation. It will, thus, be argued that positive measures in politics, though generally compatible with the fundamental principles of justice and representative democracy, may nevertheless be inadequate,at least in their current form,to provide effective solutions to the unequal distribution of social and political power. [source] The dynamics of positive action in UK trade unions: the case of women and black membersINDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL, Issue 2 2002Gill Kirton This paper considers positive action strategies amongst UK trade unions, aimed at increasing membership and levels of participation and representation among women and black workers. It provides an overview of women's, black members' and race structures within large Trades Union Congress unions and a detailed case study of one large UK trade union. We find that there are salient differences in the way that unions approach issues of gender equality, compared with the approach adopted towards race equality. The paper explores possible explanations, justifications and implications of these differences. [source] Diversity in the Judiciary: The Case For Positive ActionJOURNAL OF LAW AND SOCIETY, Issue 3 2009Kate Malleson A range of policies has been developed in England and Wales to reform the judicial appointments process so as to promote greater diversity. But despite two decades of official activity, the pace of change has been far slower than anticipated. Increasing awareness of the intransigence of the problem has led to a greater willingness to revisit some of the more fundamental tenets which have underpinned the approach to the problem to date, in particular, the unquestioning and inflexible commitment to the principle of equal treatment. This article examines the different forms of positive action which might play a part in the development of new diversity strategies for the judiciary. It reviews the arguments for and against different types, in terms of effectiveness, quality of appointments, and equity. It goes on to consider the legal frameworks which govern diversity and equality policies and assesses the legal implications of adopting different forms of positive action. [source] Cinderella comes to the Ball: Art 14 and the right to non-discrimination in the ECHRLEGAL STUDIES, Issue 2 2009Rory O'Connell This paper examines how Art 14 has developed and how it may live up to its potential as a powerful non-discrimination principle. The case-law developments in relation to the ,ambit' requirement in Art 14, the development of indirect discrimination case-law and the approval of positive action, all point to a more substantive conception of equality, which offers protection to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. [source] RFI2, a RING-domain zinc finger protein, negatively regulates CONSTANS expression and photoperiodic floweringTHE PLANT JOURNAL, Issue 5 2006Mingjie Chen Summary The red and far-red light-absorbing phytochromes interact with the circadian clock, a central oscillator that sustains a 24-h period, to measure accurately seasonal changes in day-length and regulate the expression of several key flowering genes. The interactions and subsequent signalling steps upstream of the flowering genes such as CONSTANS (CO) and FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) remain largely unknown. We report here that a photomorphogenic mutant, red and far-red insensitive 2-1 ( rfi2-1), flowered early particularly under long days. The rfi2-1 mutation also enhanced the expression of CO and FT under day/night cycles or constant light. Both co-2 and gigantea-2 (gi-2) were epistatic to rfi2-1 in their flowering responses. The gi-2 mutation was also epistatic to the rfi2-1 mutation in the expression of CO and hypocotyl elongation. However, the rfi2-1 mutation did not affect the expression of GI, a gene that mediates between the circadian clock and the expression of CO. Like many other flowering genes, the expression of RFI2 oscillated under day/night cycles and was rhythmic under constant light. The amplitude of the rhythmic expression of RFI2 was significantly reduced in phyB-9 or lhy-20 plants, and was also affected by the gi-2 mutation. As previously reported, the gi-2 mutation affects the period length and amplitude of CCA1 and LHY expression, and GI may act through a feedback loop to maintain a proper circadian function. We propose a regulatory step in which RFI2 represses the expression of CO, whereas GI may maintain the proper expression of RFI2 through its positive action on the circadian clock. The regulatory step serves to tune the circadian outputs that control the expression of CO and photoperiodic flowering. [source] Decreased oxidative stress and greater bone anabolism in the aged, when compared to the young, murine skeleton with parathyroid hormone administrationAGING CELL, Issue 5 2010Robert L. Jilka Summary Because of recent insights into the pathogenesis of age-related bone loss, we investigated whether intermittent parathyroid hormone (PTH) administration antagonizes the molecular mechanisms of the adverse effects of aging on bone. Parathyroid hormone produced a greater increase in vertebral trabecular bone mineral density and bone volume as well as a greater expansion of the endocortical bone surface in the femur of 26- when compared to 6 -month-old female C57BL/6 mice. Moreover, PTH increased trabecular connectivity in vertebrae, and the toughness of both vertebrae and femora in old, but not young, mice. Parathyroid hormone also increased the rate of bone formation and reduced osteoblast apoptosis to a greater extent in the old mice. Most strikingly, PTH reduced reactive oxygen species, p66Shc phosphorylation, and expression of the lipoxygenase Alox15, and it increased glutathione and stimulated Wnt signaling in bone of old mice. Parathyroid hormone also antagonized the effects of oxidative stress on p66Shc phosphorylation, Forkhead Box O transcriptional activity, osteoblast apoptosis, and Wnt signaling in vitro. In contrast, administration of the antioxidants N -acetyl cysteine or pegylated catalase reduced osteoblast progenitors and attenuated proliferation and Wnt signaling. These results suggest that PTH has a greater bone anabolic efficacy in old age because in addition to its other positive actions on bone formation, it antagonizes the age-associated increase in oxidative stress and its adverse effects on the birth and survival of osteoblasts. On the other hand, ordinary antioxidants cannot restore bone mass in old age because they slow remodeling and attenuate osteoblastogenesis by interfering with Wnt signaling. [source] | |||||||||||||