Business, Enterprise & Management
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Item Barriers to access: Investigation of plus-size women consumer experiences at fashion events(Routledge, 2019-01-08) Elliott, Amanda; Finkel, Rebecca; Walters, Trudie; Jepson, Allan StewartRecent cross-disciplinary literature in the social sciences has shown that fat women experience weight bias and marginalisation in nearly all aspects of life, including within the fashion industry. This stigmatisation results in exclusion from brand and designer collections, runway shows, and other fashion events. As research in this area and in particular within an event context is very scarce, this chapter draws upon accessibility research, fat studies, and critical events studies to investigate the physical and psychological barriers to access for plus-size women at fashion events along with consumer attitudes with regard to fashion events. Research methods adopt quantitative approaches and include a survey of plus-size women who have attended a fashion event in 2017, which allowed for analysis of their experiences with regard to accessibility obstacles as well as their attitudes regarding fashion events and fashion event managers. Findings reveal plus-size consumers are more likely to attend fashion events if they see their body types represented in promotional event materials. They are also more likely to attend if they believe their needs will be met by the event facilities. Consumer attitudes toward fashion events and fashion event managers were generally negative, but provided several opportunities for growth and improvement.Item Governing major events legacy: Case of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games(Cognizant Communication Corporation, 2018-09-26) Sharp, Briony; Finkel, RebeccaThis paper explores the emerging importance of planning and governance surrounding the concept of event legacy by focusing on an in-depth case study of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. Given the long-term nature of the concept of legacy, the need for planned and thorough pre-, during and post-Games management is essential if legacy outcomes are to be monitored effectively. Research methods employed for this study consist of in-depth interviews (n=14) with policy makers, organisers, and local community associations, who were involved with legacy planning and implementation for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. The findings present Glasgow’s legacy approach as an advancement in the understanding of legacy governance and planning in relation to critical event management. By designing and implementing legacy governance structures at an early stage, each stakeholder role is established and can be monitored while allowing for some flexibility within the legacy management partnerships. In addition, the notion of a partnership legacy can be seen to have grown from innovative legacy governance structures, such as collaborative working and network creation, put in place by Glasgow in the early stages of legacy planning, which can act as a model of best practice for other major event host destinations.Item Multispecies leisure: Human-animal interactions in leisure landscapes(Taylor & Francis, 2019-06-24) Danby, Paula; Dashper, Katherine; Finkel, RebeccaThe emerging multidisciplinary field of human-animal studies encourages researchers to move beyond human-centric practices and to recognise that human and nonhuman beings are positioned within shared ecological, social, cultural and political spaces whereby nonhumans have become key actors worthy of moral consideration and play a fundamental role in humans’ lives. With some exceptions (e.g. Carr, 2014; Dashper, 2018; Danby, 2018; Danby & Finkel, 2018; Young & Carr, 2018), leisure studies has been slow to embrace this ‘animal turn’ and consider how leisure actions, experiences and landscapes are shaped through multispecies encounters between humans, other animals, reptiles, fish and the natural environment. This special issue begins to address this gap by considering leisure as more-than-human experiences. We consider leisure with nonhuman others, both domestic and wild, by exploring the ‘contact zones’ between humans and other species and, in doing so, we create an interspecies lens through which to explore these encounters. The research presented in this special issue takes into consideration the affective and ethical dimensions of human-nonhuman animal entanglements in leisure spaces and the need to strive for reciprocal, mutual welfare and wellbeing. Through the use of innovative methodological approaches, the authors explore a range of issues and perspectives to capture shared experiences of interspecies leisure pursuits. This special issue provides direction for future ways in which research on multispecies leisure, and its associated mutual benefits, can be done to advance understanding and practice in the field. The special issue seeks to ‘bring the animal in’ to the leisure studies domain and contribute to greater understanding of leisure as a complex, interwoven multispecies phenomenon.Item Post-humanist investigation into human-equine relations in event landscapes: Case of the Rodeo(Routledge, 2018-09-14) Danby, Paula; Finkel, Rebecca; Finkel, Rebecca; Sharp, Briony; Sweeney, MajellaDue to the increases in human leisure time, education, and affluence, animals are now incorporated into a range of recreational activities, which encourage and enable intra-active multi-species encounters in experiential environments. Framed in post-humanist theory, this chapter seeks to challenge the singular focus around human subjects, blurring boundaries between the human and nonhuman, looking beyond human agency and exploring the ‘more-than-human’ within the human-equine sporting event relationship. Focusing on a qualitative case study of the Austin Rodeo in Texas, USA, it is evident from this research how the boundaries and significant differences between humans and horses are challenged by the fluidity and interconnectedness of both species in rodeo performance spaces through increased knowledge, skill, and companionship. This has implications for the leisure, tourism, and events fields by repositioning animals as partners in the co-creation of cultural experiences.Item Legitimizing leisure experiences as emotional work: A post-humanist approach to gendered equine encounters(Wiley, 2018-06-08) Finkel, Rebecca; Danby, PaulaDue to changes in lifestyle and work patterns, education and values associated with wellbeing, non‐human animals are now incorporated into a range of human experiences and environments. This research specifically focuses on human–equine relations, examining blurred boundaries between therapeutic and recreational interspecies encounters. It is acknowledged that human–equine relations are often gendered and this research focuses mainly on women's narratives. Viewed through the post‐humanist lens, horses now form kinship and companionship roles, particularly for women, where relations have become mutually emotionally dependent as a result of interspecies communication and embodied encounters. Research utilizes feminist post‐humanist and cultural politics of emotion frameworks associate with the co‐agency on the co‐agency of animals. Embedded in the concept of equiscapes, or post‐humanist leisure spaces, research methods employ qualitative approaches, including in‐depth interviews, participant diaries and multispecies ethnography. Findings reveal how women make considerable investments in equine activities, which develops mutual welfare and wellbeing. Yet, despite these benefits, emotional and other expenditures are justified in work discourses to legitimize them as valuable to themselves, their families and their communities.Item Olympic Panic or Prevention?: Human Trafficking and Global Events(2010-11) Matheson, Catherine M.; Finkel, RebeccaItem Sex, Lies and Olympic Games: Case Study of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics(2010-07) Finkel, Rebecca; Matheson, Catherine M.Item Sex, Lies and Olympic Games: Case Study of Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010(2010-09) Finkel, Rebecca; Matheson, Catherine M.Debates concerning the criminalisation of commercialised sex and the language, policies and practices that should be implemented regarding sex work/prostitution are ongoing in women's studies and feminist geography literature (Agustin, 2008; Doezema, 2001; Farley, 2003; Hubbard, 1998; Kempadoo, 2003). This paper seeks to contextualise these debates in an events management framework. In the past decade, issues regarding the sex industry and violence against women have become exacerbated by the hosting of global sporting events, and destination cities have been implementing different approaches to address these aspects of the urban environment. This research focuses on a case study of Vancouver as host of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and examines the situation regarding the debates to legalise sex work. Qualitative research methods have been conducted in the form of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with city officials, police, former sex workers, academics, NGO's and women's charities. The landscape of the sex industry in Vancouver is analysed in an effort to illustrate the impacts that the preparations for the Olympic Games has had on frontline support agencies and harm reduction strategies. It has been found that the already existing divisions between the groups who want prostitution abolished by criminalising demand and those who view sex work as work and, thus, want it legalised have surfaced and become more entrenched due to the media spotlight the Olympics has put on the city. Other factors, such as displacement, safety concerns and financial cuts to services have contributed to the problematisation of the overlap between mega event spaces and commercial sex spaces. References Agustin, L. (2008) Sex and the limits of enlightenment: The irrationality of legal regimes to control prostitution. Sexuality Research and Social Policy: Journal of NSRC, 5 (4), 73-86. Doezema, J. (2001) Ouch! Western feminists 'wounded attachment' to the Third World prostitute. Feminist Review, 67, 16-38. Farley, M. (2003) Prostitution and the invisibility of harm. Women and Therapy, 26 (3-4), 247-280. Hubbard, P. (1998) Sexuality, immorality and the city: Red-light districts and the marginalisation of female street prostitutes. Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 5 (1), 55-76. Kempadoo, K. (2003) Globalizing sex workers' rights. Canadian Woman Studies, 22 (3, 4), 143-150.Item Please don't stop the music-: An alternative approach to public sector evaluation and funding policies for cultural events(2009-01) Finkel, Rebecca; Goldblatt, Joe J.The former director of Britain's National Theatre, Sir Richard Eyre (2005), suggests there is a fundamental incompatibility between politics and the arts. He quotes Philip Roth as saying, Politics is the great generaliser and literature the great particulariser, and not only are they in an inverse relationship to each other they are in an antagonistic relationship. How can you be an artist and renounce the nuance? How can you be a politician and allow the nuance?- (Roth, 1999, in Eyre, 2005). The relationship between UK politics and culture has become more complex and more closely connected in recent decades. The New Labour government, especially, has exerted control over the cultural realm through instrumental policies quantifying the worth of each cultural project. Cultural events now need to justify their grants on the basis of their contribution to government goals such as economic regeneration, tourism and social inclusion, rather than their cultural value (Holden, 2004). Contemporary cultural policies that see development instead of art have been criticised as sucking the poetry out of the city and replacing it with pizzazz (Cooper, 2006, 12). The results of pressure by central and local governments to justify the impact of their work have made the cultural contribution of arts festivals less important than their funders' non-cultural priorities. This model of prioritising strategic public funding is spreading to Europe as well. For the most part, cultural subsidies are still higher in many European countries than they are in the UK (Serota, 2006). However, European subsidies are not as secure as they once were, as they also have succumbed to economic restructuring pressures. For example, many IFEA Europe member festivals have also resorted to seeking private funding due to budget cuts or too many 'strings' attached to obtaining public funding (Torch, 2006). Using the city of Edinburgh and the ten major Edinburgh festivals as a case study, this paper provides an assessment of the way in which the public sector evaluates cultural events to determine financial support. It examines the factors included in this evaluation, which are mainly socio-economic targets that correspond to cross-cutting, non-arts agenda items. An alternative model of evaluation is introduced to argue for an events-driven approach to policy, which would provide benefits not only to the communities and places in which the events occur, but also would be advantageous to events and their future financial sustainability. Methods This research is based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with ten Edinburgh Festival Directors from the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh Science Festival, Edinburgh Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Children's Festival, Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Edinburgh Book Festival, Edinburgh Hogmanay and Festivals Edinburgh. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were also conducted with Edinburgh city council officials. The data acquired from this qualitative approach with festival providers and public sector funders shed light on the status of public sector rationales for funding and the impacts these decisions have on the cultural festivals. This, then, informed a model for an alternative evaluation system that is events-driven and does not fall pray to the mainly instrumentalist and managerialist approaches widely employed by the Scottish public sector at this time. Findings It was found that although the Edinburgh city council supports the Edinburgh festivals through funding and other resources, their policies are based on the prevailing instrumentalist argument for public funding of the arts. These socio-economic dimensions seem to provide justification for public spending, as if an exceptional artistic experience or widening education and exposure to the arts were not enough in its own right (Myerscough and Bruce, 1988, 2). In terms of the festivals themselves, the main concern of the directors is future stability and financial sustainability. Indeed, they are finding it increasingly difficult to plan from one year to the next because the council cannot pledge an amount in advance. There are some hard feelings here, as the festivals provide tremendous benefits to the city in terms of tourism, image and profit; therefore, they believe they are entitled to more financial guarantees from the public sector. Application of results It is argued that an events-driven approach to funding policies would be beneficial to both the public sector and the festival sector. Such an approach has the potential to create reliable evaluation tools in order to measure the holistic impacts of the events more effectively and provide more relevant rationales for the use of public money. It also has the potential to help festivals and events plan for the future in a more dependable manner, which would improve the quality of the event infrastructure and the cultural forms presented. This model of festival evaluation encompasses the intrinsic, institutional and even parts of the instrumental arguments (Holden, 2006) for events provision and support in order to mend the fences- between funders, providers and audiences. Conclusions Although arts festivals have the capability to contribute to wider policy objectives (Florida, 2002), it is argued that their main value should not be judged by those considerations. The socio-economic enhancements often brought about by events are valid and especially attractive to policy makers; however, it is important not to have them become the top priority for events provision. In making non-cultural priorities the overriding benchmarks for success, arts festivals on the whole are becoming increasingly unoriginal and culturally mediocre (Finkel, 2006). It is argued that it is imperative that public agencies adopt a more holistic approach to validating their funding decisions and evaluating the impacts that cultural events have on places. Without including more than socio-economic valuations into impact assessments, the cycle of underestimating and undervaluing, and therefore underfunding, cultural events will continue to the possible detriment of communities and places (Sherwood et al, 2005, 12). References Cooper, N. (2006) Edinburgh: expiring capital. The List, 6-20 July, 12. Eyre, R. (2005) Ballot-box blues. The Guardian, 26 March. Finkel, R. (2006) Unicycling at Land's End: Case study of the Lafrwoda Festival of St Just, Cornwall. Leisure Studies Association Journal, 2(92), 129-145. Florida, R. (2002) The rise of the creative class: and how it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New York: Perseus Books Group. Holden, J. (2004) Capturing cultural value: how culture has become a tool of government policy. London: Demos. Holden, J. (2006) Cultural value and the crisis of legitimacy: why culture needs a democratic mandate. London: Demos. Myerscough, J. and Bruce, A. (1988) The economic importance of the arts in Britain. London: Policy Studies Institute. Roth, P. (1999) I married a Communist. New York: Vintage. Serota, N. (2006) A new direction. The Guardian, 5 June. Sherwood, P., Jago, L. and Deery, M. (2005) Triple bottom line evaluation of special events: does the rhetoric reflect reporting?. Paper presented at the Annual Council of Australian Tourism and Hospitality Educators' Conference, Alice Springs, Australia. Torch, C. (2006) Citizen meets city: arts and urban re-invention. Paper presented at the IFEA Annual Conference: Festivals and Identities, Belfast, Northern Ireland.Item Serial replication of UK arts festivals and issues of place-based identity(2006-03) Finkel, Rebecca