Zotero database: Consumer Law Female Collective

Research shows that works of female scholars are less likely to be referred to than publications written by male authors (see e.g. on gender gap citations here). Is this the case in the field of consumer law studies, as well? These questions were raised in a conversation of my colleagues: Prof Vanessa Mak (University of Tilburg, the Netherlands) and Dr Christine Riefa (Brunel University, UK). They decided to organise an online meeting with a few other female scholars working in the field of European consumer law to discuss whether we could see any potential gender gaps, as well as brainstorm ideas on how to address them. This led to the beginning of the Consumer Law Female Collective this summer.

One of the ideas coming from the meeting was to create a database for female (at least co-)written scholarship and share it publicly. This should raise the awareness of female scholarship in this field, hopefully increasing the amount of citations to this body of work. I found some time over the past few weeks to set it up on Zotero, as it allows for an easy way to share it publicly. The database is open, which means all our readers can have access to it (although registration with Zotero will be necessary to do so). You may (and we hope you will) share this database with your students, colleagues, co-workers and anyone interested. We hope that this will help to diversify the curriculum for many consumer law classes, too.

 

We have introduced a detailed structure, hopefully allowing for an easy overview of sources, but the search function of the Zotero app facilitates an easy access, too. At the moment, we have over 100 sources in the database and many different sub-collections, but this is just the beginning. Therefore, dear readers, please feel free to send us suggestions what sources should further be added, what collections (sub-collections) you are still missing, etc. Our email address is: conlaw.fc[at]gmail.com When you are sending us your suggestions, please do so by giving us links to the publisher's websites for any journal articles, book chapters or books, as this facilitates adding these sources to Zotero. The main collections contain sources published in the English language but we are not opposed to the idea of creating sub-collections to sources written in other languages. The database is focused on European consumer law. With time we may, however, want to add sub-collections on other consumer legal systems.

We have now seven registered members of the Zotero Consumer Law Female Collective database group, with rights to add/edit the database, these are: Dr Andrea Fejos (University of Essex, UK), Dr Lorna Gillies (University of Strathclyde Glasgow, UK), Dr Joasia Luzak (University of Exeter, UK), Prof Vanessa Mak (University of Tilburg, the Netherlands), Dr Kristin Nemeth (Universität Innsbruck,  Austria), Prof Charlotte Pavillon (University of Groningen, the Netherlands), Dr Christine Riefa (Brunel University, UK). If you were interested in having the rights to edit the database, please let us know, as we may want to add a few members to the editorial group.

Master of European Private Law, University of Amsterdam

The new academic year started this week and the Law Faculty of the University of Amsterdam is full of life again. For any readers of ours who are still working on their law degrees, you may be interested in our international, English-speaking master program: European Private Law. The next application deadline is 1 April 2014, so there is still some time to gather all the documents, to fill out all the required forms (available as of December 2013) and to improve your English. I might see you then in my European Consumer Law course next fall.

The faculty in the summer and in the winter:

Inside Job

I've seen yesterday the documentary "Inside Job" that has won an Oscar for the best documentary of 2010. It is a documentary about the financial crisis directed by Charles H. Ferguson explaining how changes in the policy environment and banking practices contributed to the financial crisis of the past few years. It shows clearly that if certain changes had been made, warnings listened and followed, corruption restricted - the financial crisis could have been avoided. The movie introduces certain financial instruments and explains clearly the risks involved with them, it follows year by year developments on the financial market, shows when the first warnings were given by economists as well as presents lack of political response to them. What caught most of my attention were the interviews with various reknowned economists who 'happened' to also be consultants either of the US government or/and major financial companies and banks. Presented in this movie their ignorance as far as morality of certain choices they had made is astounding. And it ends on a scary note: nothing seems to be changing in the US financial policy despite election promises of Obama...

I recommend this movie to anyone. I think it's interesting both for people who have in-depth knowledge as to financial markets, as well as regular consumers who are thinking about investing on the financial market or taking mortgages. Of course, you need to be a bit wary since this movie is definitely leaving you with a certain view that they intended to inflict upon you: bankers are corrupt and care only about their own money, and not about their clients' interests. Still, one cannot help but wonder how much of what is presented in it is more of a rule than an exception.

Contact lenses are only the tip of the iceberg...

Although I’m quite short-sighted, I don’t wear contact lenses. Reason: I like myself in glasses. :) I tried contact lenses - they are very practical when swimming - but they simply don’t work for me on regular basis. However, I’m clearly aware that contact lenses make a critical difference to quality of life for millions of people everyday. For example one of my best friends "can’t live without them" – her words. :) To be more general, we are talking here about medical devices. That’s important problem and contact lenses are only the tip of the iceberg. What about a simple bandage or – more extreme - the most sophisticated life-supporting products or implants. No doubt the medical devices sector plays a crucial role in the diagnosis, prevention, monitoring and treatment of diseases and even saving the most precious – our life. EU Health and Consumer Commissioner John Dalli, and Hungary's Minister of State for Health Miklós Szócska, co-chaired this week a High Level Conference in Brussels on "Exploring innovative healthcare – the role of medical technology innovation and regulation". Main topics: improvements in the innovation process so that, safe, life-saving and life-enhancing medical equipment can be brought to Europe's patients and consumers as quickly as possible. Commissioner Dalli said "Europe's patients benefit from the latest in medical technology, but Europe is facing major public health, societal and demographic challenges and we need to respond with innovative solutions. Innovation is the oxygen of our economy and the answer to tomorrow's needs – it is imperative."

Overloaded...

I've been recently searching for some information on new campaigns and initiatives concerning consumers; both European and national but I was particularly interested in the Polish market. As it always is with researching, I accidentally found out plenty of websites, portals, databases etc. with informational sources, educational campaigns, tips what rights consumers have, tips what to do, how to behave. Finally I was really lost in multiple, chaotic communications. Not to mention that I felt extremely overloaded with information and simply tired. What made things worse, I found out that even more new initiatives, websites etc. are planed in a foreseeable future... Analyzing all these (of course not exclusively:) sources led me to the important conclusion. We constantly come up with new initiatives rather than master existing ones. We love creating new initiatives but when the dust settles we simply forgot about them. I wonder whether it is wise to start new websites and portals saying "all the same but with different words". Maybe it would be better to concentrate on (just) few. Sometimes fewer is better - I think. Such an undervalued and definitely not well enough (for sure in Poland) database is DOLCETA (http://www.dolceta.eu/). It is an ongoing online Consumer Education project involving 27 countries of the EU, financed by the European Commission. DOLCETA offers online modules which focus on different consumer topics. Very interesting and creative!

Fat or thin?

When I saw news about "Renewed Commitment of Stakeholders to Combat Overweight and Obesity-Related Health Issues" I immediately thought about my 1,5 years old son who is extremely active and - I hope therefore - extremely thin. As a loving mummy I am permanently worried: is he "fat" enough? But is it a real problem? Looking at the data below, I am not longer worried about the weight of my son.

According to the EC/OECD Report "Health at a Glance" published last December, the rate of obesity has more than doubled in the past 20 years in most EU Member States. On average, an estimated 15% of the EU adult population is obese.

Currently, 1 in 7 children in the EU are overweight or obese - and it is likely that the figures will rise even further. This is worrying, as children who are obese or overweight are more likely to suffer from poor health later in life, with greater risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, some forms of cancer, arthritis, asthma, a reduced quality of life and even premature death.

This week, European-level umbrella organisations, ranging from the food industry, health organisations and other civil society NGOs, who are members of the European Commission's Platform for Action on Diet, Physical Activity and Health agreed to step up action to tackle the growing problem of overweight and obesity related health problems. Priorities focus on children and how to make healthy choices available whilst also encouraging physical activity and sports.

No doubt that as consumers we all should take better care and double check what we buy to eat and how we live.

Consumers - patients

The European Parliament voted on 19 January in favor of the EU Directive on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare.

John Dalli, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, said it was an important step forward for all patients in Europe.

The Directive will benefit patients across Europe by clarifying their rights to access safe and good quality treatment across EU borders, and be reimbursed for it. Generally speaking, people prefer to receive their healthcare closer to home. No one wants to travel further than necessary when they are sick. However, sometimes the need for certain treatment leads patients to go abroad. Another reason could simply be that the nearest hospital lies across a border.

In addition to providing a clear and coherent set of rules on cross-border healthcare, this Directive will benefit patients in several other ways. It will help patients who need specialized treatment, for example those who are seeking a diagnosis or treatment for a rare disease. It will bring about closer and improved health cooperation, including the recognition of prescriptions, between Member States. Health experts across Europe will be able to exchange best practices and mutually benefit from innovations in health technology assessment and eHealth.

Happy Consumer Family

Happy Consumer Family
Originally uploaded by P-E Fronning

We are all part of one big happy consumer family and since 15 May is an International Day of Families, I wanted to wish us all - all the best.