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This paper focuses on the diffusion of zero tolerance policing in Brazil. It argues that the global diffusion of security practices and technologies occurs through a multiplicity of channels operated by private security companies. Based on a multi-sited ethnography of electronic security fairs in São Paulo and a discourse analysis of publications distributed in these fairs, the paper discusses how these actors perform a semantic continuum between crime and existential threats. The consolidation of this continuum favors local attempts on the toughening of law enforcement and police intrusiveness, facilitating the marketing of transnational security models and technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports studies and project experiments being developed in researches financed by local authorities, the Ministry of University and Research with the support of NextGenerationEU and the European Commission. The work investigates the potential of culture, creativity and natural and built heritage in the green, digital and inclusive transition and is focused on the creation of sustainable, inclusive, beautiful spaces, involving the collaboration among different disciplines (architecture, music and immersive sound, visual arts, social sciences, and neuroscience). The studied spaces aim to create material and immaterial architectures, characterized by circular processes and therefore adaptable, flexible, removable, repositionable and reusable. We foresee the use of material elements (building products) and immaterial elements (sounds, images, colors, lights) to define spaces intended for the diffusion of different cultural forms and to implement the attractiveness of places afflicted by processes of abandonment and social degradation. Ideas, criteria and solutions for architecture and sound and video technologies (aimed at the definition of spaces whose perception involves full use of the senses as well as the application of the extended mind concept) will be presented to promote environmentally, economically and socially sustainable transformations of natural and built habitats for new forms of cultural diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociolinguistic research has demonstrated that 'urban contact dialects' tend to diffuse beyond the speech communities in which they first emerge. However, no research has attempted to explore the distribution of these varieties across an entire nation nor isolate the social mechanisms that propel their spread. In this paper, we use a corpus of 1.8 billion geo‐tagged tweets to explore the spread of Multicultural London English (MLE) lexis across the United Kingdom. We find evidence for the diffusion of MLE lexis from East and North London into other ethnically and culturally diverse urban centres across England, particularly those in the South (e.g. Luton), but find lower frequencies of MLE lexis in the North of England (e.g. Manchester), and in Scotland and Wales. Concluding, we emphasise the role of demographic similarity in the diffusion of linguistic innovations by demonstrating that this variety originated in London and diffused into other urban areas in England through the social networks of Black and Asian users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of trapeze industries (the creation of trapeze-shaped flint tips) during Late Mesolithic is one of the most disruptive phenomena of technological change documented in the European Prehistory. Understanding the chronological patterns of this process requires (i) a critical evaluation of stratigraphic relationship between trapeze assemblages and radiocarbon samples, and (ii) considering different levels of chronological uncertainty according to the inbuilt age of the samples and the calibration process. In this paper, we critically evaluate and analyze the radiocarbon record of the first trapeze industries in the Iberian Peninsula. A dataset of 181 radiocarbon dates from 67 sites dated to 8800–8200 cal BP was collected and evaluated following a strict data quality control protocol, from which 135 dates of 53 sites were retained and classified according to a reliability index. Then, three different phase Bayesian chronological models were created to estimate the duration of the first spread of trapezes across Iberia, considering different levels of chrono-stratigraphic resolution. We find that trapeze industries appeared in the eastern half of Iberia, over an area of 330,000 km2 between 8505–8390 and 8425–8338 cal BP, spanning 0–85 yr (95.4% CI). When the oldest evidence of trapezes from Portugal are considered, the probability distribution expands (8943–8457 and 8686–7688 cal BP), due to the chronological uncertainty of human samples with marine diet and regional ΔR values applied. For the eastern half of Iberia, the current evidence indicates a very rapid spread of trapeze industries initiated in the Central-Western Pyrenees, suggesting cultural diffusion within Mesolithic social networks as the main driving mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological data provide a potential to investigate the diffusion of technological and cultural traits. However, much of this research agenda currently needs more formal quantitative methods to address small sample sizes and chronological uncertainty. This paper introduces a novel Bayesian framework for inferring the shape of diffusion curves using radiocarbon data associated with the presence/absence of a particular innovation. We developed two distinct approaches: 1) a hierarchical model that enables the fitting of an s-shaped diffusion curve whilst accounting for inter-site variations in the probability of sampling the innovation itself, and 2) a non-parametric model that can estimate the changing proportion of the innovation across user-defined time-blocks. The robustness of the two approaches was first tested against simulated datasets and then applied to investigate three case studies, the first pair on the diffusion of farming in prehistoric Japan and Britain and the third on cycles of changes in the burial practices of later prehistoric Britain. • Bayesian methods for modelling diffusion curves with radiocarbon dates are introduced. • Sample interdependence and non-sigmoid diffusion curves can be handled. • Robustness is tested on simulated datasets and archaeological case studies. • Code and data are available on a GitHub repository and archived on Zenodo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Austronesian (AN) is the second-largest language family in the world, particularly widespread in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) and Oceania. In Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA), groups speaking these languages are concentrated in the highlands of Vietnam. However, our knowledge of the spread of AN-speaking populations in MSEA remains limited; in particular, it is not clear if AN languages were spread by demic or cultural diffusion. In this study, we present and analyze new data consisting of complete mitogenomes from 369 individuals and 847 Y-chromosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 170 individuals from all five Vietnamese Austronesian groups (VN-AN) and five neighboring Vietnamese Austroasiatic groups (VN-AA). We found genetic signals consistent with matrilocality in some, but not all, of the VN-AN groups. Population affinity analyses indicated connections between the AN-speaking Giarai and certain Taiwanese AN groups (Rukai, Paiwan, and Bunun). However, overall, there were closer genetic affinities between VN-AN groups and neighboring VN-AA groups, suggesting language shifts. Our study provides insights into the genetic structure of AN-speaking communities in MSEA, characterized by some contact with Taiwan and language shift in neighboring groups, indicating that the expansion of AN speakers in MSEA was a combination of cultural and demic diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Brazil's favela residents have long challenged the dominant media and social narrative that has described them by employing discourses of criminality. That prevailing, and discriminatory, view obscures the complex and multifaceted character, dynamism, and individual and collective agency of these communities' populations. This article examines the work of Redes da Maré, a civil society organization that offers cultural spaces for community-based creation and diffusion of the arts in its namesake favela. We employ the concepts of the social imaginary as well as individual and collective agency to investigate whether and in what ways this nongovernmental organization (NGO), which has adopted a cultural development approach, encourages participants' democratic attitudes and behaviors at the organizational and community level by fostering participation in the development process and offering a platform for the expression of the voices of those it engages. Our analysis is based on interviews with organizers and participants of Redes' arts program and its Free Dance School of Maré and on a review of relevant events in Maré's Arts Center. This inquiry contributes to a more nuanced view of the roles the arts can play in encouraging democratic agency and possibility among favela citizens despite adverse political and social conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yangmingism, a crucial component of Chinese Confucianism, has profoundly impacted the development of Eastern civilization throughout history and gained new significance within modern contexts. This study employs social network and GIS spatial analyses to investigate the spatio-temporal evolution and patterns of Yangmingism during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Conclusions drawn include: (1) Yangmingism spread during the Ming and Qing dynasties followed five phases (rise-peak-decline-revival-trough), consistent with general cultural diffusion processes. (2) The spatial structure of regions accepting Yangmingism changed from polycentric to localized ribbon-polycentric, then to monocentric, polycentric, and ultimately, fragmented distribution. Diffusion began with a point-axis structure along traffic routes, transitioned to a core-periphery spatial structure, and returned to a point-axis structure due to reduced diffusion potential energy. (3) Yangmingism diffusion exhibited distance decay characteristics, with the most extensive diffusion in the Han cultural region, primarily located within the middle and lower reaches of the Ganjiang River basin and the Yangtze River Delta. (4) Yangmingism diffusion reflected influences from local administrative hierarchies and cultural development. During the rise-to-peak phase, Yangmingism reached areas with higher administrative and cultural levels, while during the peak-to-decline phase, it disseminated from higher to lower hierarchy regions. (5) The spatial diffusion of Yangmingism is mainly relocation diffusion, followed by expansion diffusion. In the process of relocation diffusion, Yangmingism may reverse the diffusion from the "target regions" to the "source regions" due to the influence of the radiation of the high-ranking regions and the cultural innovation of the "target regions". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online dating is an inevitable phenomenon in this digital age. The close interaction of digital natives with the internet makes them seem to entrust all activities in their lives to the internet, including dating and finding a mate. This makes them more likely to use online dating applications. This thesis investigates the drivers of the use of online dating applications by the digital natives, their opinions about online dating application and how the use of such application is different or the same between Indonesians and Americans. Data collection techniques are using questionnaire and interview. The secondary data in this study were obtained from other sources such as research results presented on the official website. This research found that there are many factors that influence digital natives in using online dating applications. This study reveals an array of eastern philosophical ideas, such as the predominance of female gendered application users in Indonesia, which implies that the gender line has become more ambiguous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural diffusion and a paradigm shift from a "skill-based" approach to an "action-oriented" approach in language pedagogy transform the functions of an educator in a foreign language classroom. A language instructor accepts an intermediatory role in learners' interactions with the environment, using language as a primary mediation tool. Thus, by being involved in varied social contexts and activities, a language educator mediates learning, communication, and sociocultural environments. This study relies on a structural analysis to investigate the mediating role of a language educator. It suggests that pedagogic mediation should be viewed as a specific form of language educators' activity and described through three dimensions: mediating learning, mediating communication, and mediating sociocultural space. In the teaching and learning context, these dimensions manifest themselves as skills to adapt to the instructional and linguistic complexity of texts, manage interaction, facilitate communication in sensitive situations, etc. Drawing upon a phenomenological research design and qualitative methods, the study develops illustrative descriptors that can be used in a foreign language classroom to assess the patterns of social, instructional, and communicative behavior of educators. The developed descriptors allowed for exploring the self-perceptions of pre-service language teachers towards their abilities for pedagogic mediation in a foreign language classroom. The results of the study identified the learning gaps among novice language teachers that can be further addressed as learning objectives while designing a curriculum for professional training in language education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the World Values Survey (1990–2012), this article attempts to describe and analyze the changing trends in public values during social transformations in China. It is found that public attitudes toward authority tend to be increasingly favorable over time, values in the private sphere tend to be more open, while postmaterialist values show a trend of first rising and then falling. The most salient feature of the cohort effect is that the generations born after the reform and opening-up in 1978 identify more closely with the value of respect for authority, while their recognition of postmaterialist values tends to decline. The change in values is related to China's modernization process, global cultural diffusion, and important historical events and is also deeply influenced by the two-way interaction between tradition and modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade can be slowed down by cultural diversity as a source of friction but also accelerated by the emergence of a global culture. We attempt to illustrate this point by focusing on one good, Japanese sake, whose exports can benefit from the diffusion of Japanese food culture as represented by sushi consumption. We estimate a gravity model of Japanese sake exports worldwide over the years 2001–2016, showing that this trade responds to standard determinants (GDP, distance, exchange rates, tariffs) but also to the flow of Google searches for the word 'sushi'. We extensively discuss the assumption that sushi, as a proxy for the popularity of Japanese culture, is unaffected by other unobservables that may drive up exports from Japan. Future research should attempt to model and further characterize the spillovers from a global culture on international trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the cultural characteristics and evolution of traditional dwellings in the context of ethnic integration is of great significance for protecting the diversity of residential cultural heritage of ethnic minorities. This article compares the ethnic differences in the internal spatial configuration of vernacular dwellings in Xiangxi region, China, a typical multi-ethnic area where "line-shaped" dwellings are prevalent among the Miao, Dong, Yao, Tujia, and Han groups. This study found that the spatial sequence, ritual axis, importance of fireplace, spatial hierarchy, and privacy of bedrooms of each ethnic group's dwellings present a trend towards Han's dwelling culture in the order of "Western Miao, Southern Dong, Northern Dong, Yao, Eastern Miao, Tujia". Based on the analysis of the lifestyles, ethnic customs, and historical development processes of ethnic minorities, this study identifies that the main reasons for the formation of the aforementioned sequence lie in the differences in the historical diffusion patterns and paths of Han culture in Xiangxi. This article analyses the ethnicity of minority residential culture in Xiangxi and its spatial configuration formation process, revealing the relationship between the spatial effect of Han cultural diffusion pattern and the spatial difference pattern of each ethnic group's vernacular dwelling space configuration, and expanding the connotation of "cultural genotypes" in multi-ethnic areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]