COVID-19 and the Care of the Financialized Self

In the United States, the threat of COVID-19 as a public health problem was impossible to separate from the financial threat. From the start, the virus's circulation through human bodies intermingled with all the ways human lives had been defined by neoliberalism's economizing rationality. To unpack the convergence of the pandemic with neoliberal rationality, this article examines the financial advisory discourse produced by credit and fintech companies at the start of the pandemic, focusing on Equifax, Experian, and Mint. This messaging was replete with expressions of care, along with promises of institutional assistance. However, reading further it became clear the companies offered mostly financial self-help advice. The immediate turn to this type of messaging suggested how much the financial system depended on a collective continuation of the individual's sense of moral responsibility for financial self-management and creditworthiness, and especially diligent debt-payment.Alternate :Aux États-Unis la menace de la COVID-19 comme problème de santé publique était indissociable de la menace financière. Dès le début de la pandémie, la circulation du virus dans les corps humains s'est interposée avec toutes les façons dont les vies humaines ont été définies par la rationalité économisante du néolibéralisme. Pour éclaircir la convergence de la pandémie avec la rationalité néolibérale, le présent article examine les messages d'avis financiers produits par les entreprises de crédit et de technologie financière pendant la pandémie, notamment Equifax, Experian et Mint. Ces messages étaient emplis d'expression de soutien, avec des promesses d'aide institutionnelle. Cependant, une lecture plus attentive permet de voir que ces entreprises ont surtout offert des conseils visant l'auto-assistance financière. Le recours immédiat à ce type de message indique le degré auquel le système financier dépend sur la continuation collective du sens de responsabilité morale des personnes pour gérer eux-mêmes leurs finances et leur capacité de crédit, et particulièrement pour continuer à payer leurs dettes.

The Pandemic as Financial Laboratory

COVID-19 quarantine measures impacted incomes, labour and housing situations in different ways, particularly in the domestic sphere. In Argentina, "financial inclusion" polices" were linked, on one hand to the "bankarization" of new sectors to access relief funds, and on the other to the proliferation of fintech to mediate the receipt of funds. Debt, as a way of privatizing the crisis in the ability to eat, protect and heal oneself, solves emergencies in the here and now and exploits and conditions future time. Household debt, as a specific articulation of gender mandates, extracts value from reproductive tasks. Household debt is also an index of public debt, its cascading down the social hierarchy, and, as such, allows for a simultaneous analysis of the micro and macro planes. Even prior to the health emergency, the expansion of financial technologies targeting the most precarious sectors was becoming an accelerator for taking out non-banking debt.Alternate :Les mesures de confinement imposées par la pandémie de COVID-19 ont affecté les revenus, l'emploi et le logement de différentes manières, en particulier dans la sphère domestique. En Argentine, les « mesures de solidarité financière » ont été associées, d'une part, à la bancarisation de nouveaux secteurs dans le but de leur donner accès aux fonds de secours, et, d'autre part, à la prolifération des technologies financières qui permettent de recevoir ces fonds. L'endettement, en tant que moyen de privatiser une crise qui nuit à la capacité de se nourrir, de se protéger et de se soigner, résout les urgences immédiates ;il exploite l'avenir et l'assujettit à des conditions. La dette des ménages, comprise comme une branche particulière des obligations liées au genre, extrait une valeur des tâches reproductives. La dette des ménages est également indicatrice de la dette publique et de sa transmission vers le bas de la hiérarchie sociale et, en ce sens, elle permet l'analyse simultanée des niveaux micro et macro. Même avant la crise sanitaire, l'expansion des technologies financières ciblant les secteurs les plus précaires était en train d'accélérer l'endettement non bancaire.

Investigating Technology Transfer Gaps Through Farmers Field School

Technology transfer is one of the core elements in a rapidly changing agricultural sector. However, the booming of agricultural innovation is not followed by the generation of methodological tools able to diffuse innovation in farmers and other stakeholders. For the last decades, Farmers Field School (FFS) approach is offering technology transfer and co-generation, infused by agricultural extension. Traditional FFS form is a learning by doing method and farmers are learning from other experienced farmers. Even though FFS has various forms which are trying to cover gaps between science and practice, there are still different methodological challenges in each FFS form. In this research, we propose a Hybrid FFS strategy, assembled by the strengths of various FFS forms and trying to close these gaps. We review and implement a metaanalysis of FFS forms, investigating these gaps. Afterwards, a comprehensive, holistic and dynamic conceptual and methodological model, derived from meta-analysis is proposed to cover the technology transfer methodological gaps. Our Hybrid FFS strategy highlight strategic questions which offer the appropriate background for establishing a strong educational strategy and overcome possible challenges. "Learning by doing" is supported from farmers to farmers as well as from experts to experts. Various stakeholders from value chain are promoted to use and be familiarized with new technologies, practical tools and the internet, as well as develop their managerial skills in value chain products. Modules cover the gaps ofrecent FFS approaches, by incorporating issues of sustainability and certification of value chain products, with business and entrepreneurship. Flexibility of a hybrid (virtual and physical) environment resolve complex situations (i.e. COVID-19). This methodology can be useful to policy makers managers or agricultural extension researchers, in order to construct, implement and evaluate an FFS agricultural program. Hybrid FFS strategy describes how agricultural education approaches of the past can create educational environments of the future and lead learning accelerators in agricultural sector.

Determinants of House Prices and Housing Affordability Dynamics in the Czech Republic

The property market in Central European Region countries share a number of common features among which privatization, restitution of property, massive regulation or underdeveloped financial market all of which contributed on persisting property market imbalances and continuous dynamic changes. These changes have recently been significantly exacerbated by the presence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and a significant increase in energy prices (heating of apartments and houses, production of building materials, etc.). It is currently difficult for investors and people looking for their own housing to predict the future development of housing prices and housing affordability. This article analyses the housing market trends in this region taking the example of the Czech Republic using unique primary statistical data. It offers a deeper insight into the trends present on this market, identifies significant determinants of housing prices and evaluates changes in housing affordability. Our research reveals why the property market trends may contribute to opening inequality scissors and thus economic stability. This research is based on primary statistical data mined by EVAL software which allows to gather information about the development of the real estate market from real estate advertising.

The Health and Socio-Economic Crisis of COVID-19 'State of Shock': A Case Study in Greece

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a continuous health crisis from March 2020 until today. The health crisis due to the imposed restrictions caused socio-economic crisis and disorders in almost all over the world. Greece is not an exception in these new conditions that the health crisis has imposed. Through a structured questionnaire, distributed to young people, we investigate how the health crisis affected Greek people. Specifically, we study the respondents' opinions regarding the anti-dispersion prevention measures, their feeling of security and who is responsible for the pandemic. By means of descriptive statistics and more advanced statistical techniques, we aim to verify or disprove the view of Naomi Klein that a society in deep crisis is in a 'state of shock ', unable to react.

Quantification of Economic, Ecological and Social Impacts of Climate Change in the EU

The article focuses on the current, urgent, and much discussed global issue of climate change, the impacts of which are expansive and involve a wide range of expertise. The base forms the evaluation of a sample of European Union member states using the quantification of threats and intensity of two key factors. The main objective of this article is to evaluate EU countries the INFORM assessment tool and to highlight the link between the effects of climate change (environmental, social, and economical) as quantified by respective threats posed by emission volume and poverty. In the present research, we relied on the new INFORM Risk Index assessment indicator because it represents a completely new but also globally applicable, reliable, and transparent tool to understand the risk of humanitarian crises and disasters. The significant results of the performed quantitative analysis suggest that security risk, poverty, and pollution levels operate as closely linked areas. It can be expected that recent changes (the COVID-19 pandemic, state of war) will mean that these influences will increase in severity.

Engendering Transnational Space: China as a High-capacity Diaspora State and Chinese Diasporic Populations

[...]Chinese diasporas are, in gross numbers, among the largest and geographically most widespread in the world. The focus on the dynamic relationship between the Chinese state and Chinese diasporas also fills a gap in the recent "China rising" literature, which has been preoccupied with the Chinese state's role in building soft power or "infiltrating" foreign countries and populations (Hamilton and Joske 2018). By exploring various local approaches to mobilising Chinese overseas within the area of legal affairs and public administration, investment, e-governance, public diplomacy, local urban restructuring, and Covid-19 responses, Martina Bofulin argues that diaspora policy implementation at the local level is undertaken with a high degree of independence from the centre in Beijing. [...]the third contribution by Maggi W. H. Leung investigates the notions, politics, and practices of the caring Chinese transnational state emerging during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Covid-19 Care Circuits: The Chinese Transnational State, Its Diaspora, and Beyond

This paper examines the notions, politics, and practice of care that have characterised the transnational Chinese state during the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on policy and media analyses, participant observation, and qualitative interviews with 21 Chinese people in the Netherlands, the paper maps out three care circuits: from the diaspora to China, from China to the diaspora, and from China to the world. The findings show how the pandemic has offered a stage for emotional ties, patriotism, and moral responsibility to be played out, cultivated, and contested. These in turn have an impact on the economic and political agendas of the transnational Chinese state.

Qiaoxiang 2.0: The People's Republic of China and Diaspora Governance at the Local Level

The article examines recent transformations in diaspora governance at the local level, particularly the new, more integrated approach towards emigrated Chinese developed in places with longstanding and strong emigration movements. These places, known as "hometowns of Overseas Chinese" or qiaoxiang, have been actively reaching out to their expatriates for decades, but the initiatives and strategies for reaching out have changed recently due to central government policies, increased return migration, and the widespread use of information and communications technologies. Based on the case study of Qingtian County in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the paper examines different ways in which local government is reaching out to its members abroad, focusing on activities in the area of legal affairs and public administration, investments, digital transformation, public diplomacy, local urban restructuring, and response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The findings reveal innovation and experimentation at the local level rather than the passive implementation of central policies, and point to the need for further unpacking of the role of the state in diaspora engagement.

THE EUROPEAN UNION AND BREXIT: ANALYSIS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE VISEGRAD GROUP COUNTRIES

The article aims to analyze Brexit from the perspective of the Visegrad Group countries in the context of the future of the European Union. Addressing this issue is important from the point of view of assessing the role of the EU for the Visegrad countries. The main thesis of the research is that Brexit will not lead to a reform of the EU in the coming years, which is what some of the Visegrad Group countries are trying to do. The article is provocative, because, during the migration crisis, the Visegrad Group was shown as a brake on the European integration process. After Brexit, it was considered that some of EU Member States could follow Great Britain and leave the EU. The article complements the scientific achievements in this field, as it presents the view from the country of Central and Eastern Europe.

GLOBAL HEALTH GOVERNANCE POST-COVID-19: TIME FOR A HIERARCHICAL ORDER?

The COVID-19 has renovated the debate about global health governance. Many scholars have proposed that the World Health Organization (WHO) should assume the position of a central coordinator with hierarchical powers. This article presents four main objections to this project: the problems with ‘one-size-fits-all' policies, the heterogeneous distribution of power within multilateral institutions, the risks of crowding out parallel initiatives, and the democratic principle. Testing the WHO's ability as a provider of technical information, an OLS regression, analyzing the first year of the coronavirus health crisis, from January 2020 to January 2021, in 37 countries reported in the World Values Survey Wave 7, shows a negative relationship between the population trust in the WHO and the number of cases of COVID-19. This indicates that there is a valid case for countries to strengthen the WHO's mandate, but not to create a hierarchical global health structure.

THE COVID-19 MOBILITY IMPACTS ON THE MIGRATION FLOW IN SOUTH-EAST EUROPE: THE SITUATION IN 2021 AND BEFORE 1989

In this paper, we analyze the current travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic imposed by the countries from South-East Europe and briefly compare them with those imposed by the Central European countries. By using official data collection of displacement tracking matrices and analyzing the porosity of the borders in this part of Europe, we research the impact of COVID-19 on human mobility and the related economic and social aspects. Discussions are presented regarding this impact on the travelers, the seasonal workers from some of the selected countries, and the immigrants from the Middle-East. A formal analysis is performed relating the current travel restrictions and the travel ban during the iron curtain.

THE EFFICIENCY OF ENSURING THE FINANCIAL SECURITY OF ARMENIA: NEW APPROACHES

Financial security is considered a subsystem of the economic security system. The financial security of the Republic of Armenia is one of the most urgent issues of study and analysis. Covid-19 and the 2020 war in Armenia harmed all sectors of the Armenian economy, especially economic and financial security. At this moment, the research of the chosen topic becomes more than necessary and urgent. In the current post-crisis period, financial security is more than possible in Armenia. In this article, we tried to define and analyze the elements affecting the security of the Armenian financial system and evaluate the current effectiveness of financial security. For that purpose, we have formulated the following research questions: How are countries' financial security assessed? What elements ensure financial security in Armenia? Is the current system of financial security effective in Armenia? The applied methodologies are quantitative and qualitative. In particular, we used index analysis, graphical analysis, comparison, and expert evaluation analysis to answer the research questions. The analysis results showed that the change of isolated factors significantly impacts indicators of the country's economy, particularly the financial system;moreover, the factors indirectly impact the country's social, political, and public life.

FRENCH IMMIGRATION POLICY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Following the start of the European refugee crisis in 2015, France had to modify its immigration and asylum policies. However, France faced two main issues resulting from the pandemic: pandemic control and refugee management. This article examined the reform and adjustment of France's immigration and refugee asylum policies before and after the pandemic outbreak. It concluded that the pandemic had aggravated the problems of refugee management in France. At the same time, refugees in France were in a difficult situation. The French government had imposed restrictions on entry and exit, leaving many refugees stranded in France, unable to return home. Moreover, the high sanitary conditions of accommodation due to the pandemic led to the fact that the health of many refugees could not be guaranteed. Therefore, the French government should enhance the guarantee of a healthy environment for refugees, which is also beneficial to the social management of France.

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL ORDER: A SHORT OVERVIEW

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected most of the world, adding health security as a new challenge. Instead of facing these challenges, some states move towards a system of competition and intolerance, which forms new patterns in the international order. This questions the impact of the pandemic on the strategic dynamics of the international order. This article argues that the global pandemic transforms the political system and the way of governing liberal democracy more than any other factor. It took the form of a variable, driver, and accelerator, and the established world order transformed into a new form of order. Using the descriptive-analytical method and the theories of international relations, the current study examined the impact of the pandemic on the strategic dynamics of the international order.

THE FACTORS INFLUENCING GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH IN THE POST-PANDEMIC PERIOD: THE CASE OF KOSOVO

This paper examined the factors that influenced the Gross Domestic Product growth (GDP) in the post-Covid-19 period in Kosovo. This paper explored the impact of consumption, remittances, exports, imports, and inflation on Kosovo's GDP growth using fixed effects regression analysis with data from various secondary sources to analyze their impact from Kosovo's perspective. The results demonstrated that consumption, remittances, and exports had a statistically significant influence on GDP growth during the post-pandemic economic lockdown stage, whereby imports and inflation had a little inverse relation. Further, the Hausman test statistics on the adequacy of the fixed-effect model selection represent a superior performance compared to the random effect model. The paper is the first that extensively explores the impact of these factors that drove GDP growth in the post-pandemic period in Kosovo's economy. The novelty of this paper is that it recognizes the response of governments to the pandemic and accurately identifies the macroeconomic factors that influenced GDP growth.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION, WORK ENJOYMENT, AND TASK PERFORMANCE: A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN VIETNAM

This study aimed to examine the impact of health workers' public service motivation during their participation in response to the Covid-19 pandemic at a time of the highest number of infections and deaths in Vietnam. This study was conducted through a cross-sectional survey using an intentional sampling technique (n=200). In addition, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied to illustrate the proposed hypotheses. We found that compassion in the workplace, self-sacrifice, and attraction to policy-making impacted work enjoyment positively and significantly. In particular, there was a positive and significant relationship between work enjoyment and task performance but no evidence of the relationship between Commitment to the public interest and work enjoyment. This study further demonstrates the importance of public service motivation of health workers in pandemic response, as previous studies have found. This finding suggests that the government and policymakers in Vietnam should develop policies to promote health workers' public service motivation during their engagement in response to the health crisis.

PENITENTIARY INSTITUTIONS AND COVID-19: HOW TO STOP THE VIRUS AND GUARANTEE HUMAN RIGHTS?

Starting the COVID-19 pandemic, physical and social distancing, besides wearing masks and frequent use of disinfectant, was and still is the most important preventive measure in stopping the spreading of the new coronavirus. Penitentiary institutions, especially the crowded ones, became a hard place to manage in stopping the infections. Why? Because these institutions are the ones where there is even more need to balance health protection with human rights. Using medical isolation and quarantine in the process of prevention of infections with SARS-CoV-2 virus, is complicated as result of the use of punitive solitary confinement as disciplinary sanction. The paper analyses the possible methods of protection of prisoners' health during COVID-19 pandemic with parallel protection and respect of their basic and guaranteed human rights.

THE RULE OF LAW CRISIS AND SELF-INCURRED IMMATURITY

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged countries around the world to preserve public health which entailed limitations of human rights. We have seen around the world that these limitations were adopted in way that was not in accordance with the proportionality principle, which led to misuse of the state of emergency in general and the interventionism of unseen proportions. The goal of this paper is to present how Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a country in transition, faced the COVID-19 pandemic and give an overview of the events that represent human rights and freedoms violations and abuses associated with the state of emergency.