Las Fintech y la inclusión financiera en la era digital: El impacto en la reducción de la pobreza y la informalidad en el Perú

La inclusión financiera significa tener acceso a servicios que solucionen un problema o satisfagan una necesidad financiera de la población con la finalidad de reducir la informalidad y la pobreza. Estos servicios financieros son operaciones de transferencias de capitales, compra-venta de divisas, pagos de servicios, préstamos, ahorros, seguros, etc. De acuerdo con Scottish Executive (2005) Inclusión financiera es “El acceso para individuos a productos y servicios financieros apropiados. Esto incluye a las personas que tienen las habilidades, el conocimiento y la comprensión para hacer el mejor uso de esos productos y servicios. La exclusión financiera es a menudo un síntoma de pobreza, así como una causa”. Los accesos a los servicios financieros contribuyen a crear oportunidades de negocio para la población generando ingresos sostenibles en el largo plazo con el objetivo de un mejor nivel de vida. La tecnología financiera es una herramienta importante para lograr estos fines, ya que permite fácil acceso a realizar transacciones a bajo costo y según las necesidades de los usuarios. En línea con lo mencionado, las startup fintech han cobrado gran importancia en los últimos años, ya que ellas han tomado como giro de negocio alguna de las principales actividades que realiza una institución financiera ofreciendo servicios en forma rápida, altamente especializada y a bajo costo. En el Perú (2017), existen altos niveles de pobreza 22% e informalidad del PBI 18% y según estudios realizados por organismos multilaterales para disminuir estos indicadores podemos valernos de la tecnología; Sin embargo, en el campo del desarrollo tecnológico ocupamos los últimos lugares en el mundo, según el ranking de Institute for Management Development 2018.

‘Liable or Likely to Deprave and Corrupt the Morals of the Lieges’: Sex Shops and Moral Panic in Late Twentieth-century Scotland

An account of the prosecution and closure of Scotland’s first sex shop in 1971 forms a prelude to a review of the subsequent crusade of purity activists and moral vigilantes in Scotland’s cities against the spread of pornography and sexual display. While the Scottish Office initially was content to rely on obscenity clauses in local Acts to counter the proliferation of sex shops, it was increasingly forced to contemplate the need for new statutory powers. The study explores the various policy options advanced by Whitehall and Scottish departments of State, and the growing tension between advocates in Westminster of a new system of licensing of sex shops and the preference of Scottish officials and law officers for a more modest extension of existing planning controls that would not appear to legitimise the activities of retailers. The outcome of this debate, culminating in the creation of a modified licensing scheme under the 1982 Civic Government (Scotland) Act is charted. Finally, the chapter reviews the extent to which sex shops were licensed over the following decade and the findings of a Scottish Executive Task Force sub-group set up to review the workings of the scheme and its viability in the new millennium. .

Rebranding the Scottish Executive

This article examines the change in name of the devolved governing body of Scotland from the Scottish Executive (1999–2007) to the Scottish Government (2007-present) following the majority result for the Scottish National Party in the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections. In the wider European political landscape this is unusual: while ministries, departments and even political parties change their names relatively frequently, the same cannot be said for top-level political institutions. This paper investigates this discursive act of “rebranding” from a discourse-historical perspective (see Reisigl & Wodak 2009). In addition to critical analysis of various texts about the act of rebranding itself (media reports, political speeches and parliamentary debates, policy documents), the historical, cultural and political contexts are examined in relation to the wider significance of this move for top-down Scottish national identity construction.

Highly able pupils in Scotland: Making a curriculum change count

In line with many countries Scotland is seeking to develop citizens fit to deal with the challenges of the 21st century (Scottish Executive, 2006). It also wants to ensure that children?s abilities and talents are recognised and extended. One way it has sought to do this is to develop a new curriculum framework - Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). CfE endeavors to provide a coordinated approach to curriculum reform for the age range 3-18. It seeks to move away from a prescriptive model towards a more teacher centred model which relies on teacher educators adapting national guidelines to meet local needs. This paper will outline the legislative context for highly able pupils in Scotland and then consider the relative merits of the new curriculum framework for this cohort of pupils. It will examine what is considered optimal curriculum provision for highly able pupils in relation to the process model of curriculum development (Stenhouse, 1975).

Legitimating inaction: Differing identity constructions of the Scots language

The Scots language plays a key role in the political and cultural landscape of contemporary Scotland. From a discourse-historical perspective, this article explores how language ideologies about the Scots language are realized linguistically in a so-called ‘languages strategy’ drafted by the Scottish Executive, and in focus groups consisting of Scottish people. This article shows that although the decline of Scots is said to be a ‘tragedy’, focus group participants seem to reject the notion of Scots as a viable, contemporary language that can be used across a wide range of registers. The policy document also seems to construct Scots in very positive terms, but is shown to be unhelpful or potentially even damaging in the process of changing public attitudes to Scots.

Looking local, finding global: paradoxes of gender mainstreaming in the Scottish Executive

Gender mainstreaming is portrayed as the next step in the global gender equality landscape and has been widely adopted internationally in a variety of governments and political organisations. However, the radical potential of gender mainstreaming to transform organisations has not been fulfilled. In this article, I explore three paradoxes which are inherent in the intent, implementation and institutionalisation of gender mainstreaming. I argue that we cannot fully understand these global paradoxes without a better understanding of local experiences which underpin them in the everyday working lives of those people involved in advocating gender mainstreaming. Using results from an institutional ethnography of the implementation of the Gender Equality Duty by gender mainstreaming advocates in the Scottish Executive, I show that bureaucratic practices, fossilised norms and the continued reliance on soft measures to promote mainstreaming are reflections at the local level of barriers to the advancement of global gender mainstreaming. By taking seriously the local practices and knowledge of those who do gender mainstreaming, we can reflect on the inherent tensions within gender mainstreaming that prohibit its ability to truly transform the gender landscape at both the local and global level.