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The article offers a comparative account of Raymond Williams's The Fight for Manod and E. P. Thompson's The Sykaos Papers and examines their depiction of social and political realities during the late twentieth century, the meeting of socialist and ecological concerns in their fictional world, as well as their allegiance to William Morris's utopian vision. The article also aims to place Williams's and Thompson's fiction in an often-neglected thread of the modern utopian tradition, which tends to combine utopian and dystopian elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Nabo is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article theorizes the work of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). This work is motivated by the need to link recent large-scale ICIJ projects such as the Panama and Paradise Papers revelations to ongoing theoretical discussions about emergent forms of journalism. It is argued that the ICIJ provides evidence of the emergence of a "global network journalism" characterized by a particular epistemology (a global outlook on social reality) that is embedded in a networked rationale. It is further suggested that this journalistic practice paves the way for the media's role as a global fourth estate, responding to the budding demand for a new type of reporting that influences political decisions and expressing society's development toward an internalized sense of globalization. We discuss the usefulness of applying the presented concepts to other cases than the ICIJ and provide suggestions for further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the digital scenario could be conceived as an extension of social reality where everything is real and where everyday life partly takes shape due to the cut of the online/offline duality in an always on world. Ascertained this premises, the role of the researcher and the readjustments of method and research techniques are as much as central. To focus them properly, it is necessary to take stock of the social objects central in social research and wonder with which native objects of the network can the researcher engage. What methodological itineraries and sets of techniques can be reconfigured to investigate social phenomena that extend within and beyond the network? What identification and operationalization procedures do they use to distinguish and categorize social objects appropriately taking care of the emerging of algorithms and digital traces? This paper proposes a reflection on the viable paths for the social researcher who must recognize the extensions of social reality within the Net today and inevitably grapple with its challenges. The reflection on limitations and methodological opportunities to overcome obstacles that arise in the researcher's path are the insights properly evidenced in all the research papers contained in this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Socjolingwistyka is the property of Instytut Jezyka Polskiego PAN and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: To construct effective compliance programmes, the phenomenon of non-compliance and variations in its abidance must be elucidated. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the social reality of ethical decision making, which examines the internalisation of moral norms and realities of social behaviour and, therefore, the general non-compliance with everyday laws (Tyler, 2006). Design/methodology/approach: This paper makes use of several social theories, including social proof theory, traditional social theory and social control theory. Humans are social beings, and decision-making in ethics is strongly influenced by herding behaviour (Roy, 2021). The behaviour of others and normative ethical standards inform the compliance of behaviour to an undiminishable degree. Findings: Although there is a host of factors to consider, the success of compliance can largely be attributed to people's perception and reception of authority. The perception of authority and legitimacy plays a vital role in appreciating the complexity of rule following. Legitimacy, and its embodiment by persons in public roles, is a cornerstone of the subsequent discussion. Originality/value: This paper uncovers the underlying motivations of non-compliance as well as the social psychology involved in the ethics of compliance. Cross-disciplinary connections are made between the private and public sector and practical compliance recommendations. The significant impact of integrity culture and value-based compliance emerges from the dissection of the social reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practical reason is the use of reason to decide how to act and perform in a social reality. When someone deliberates about what to do, one puts all the reasons for the action, and then all the reasons against the action will determine the outcome of the action. In that situation, we can describe that practical action with reason because we will determine reason with the weight of different reasons not on the weighing reasons. In this paper, we analyze that reasons have weight against the theory that weights of reasons have no role in a theory of reasoning, and defend that reasons have weight with the evidence of practical reasons. The aim of this paper is to argue that weight of reasons has a role in the process of reasoning. In every situation of life, we can use have reason and weight of reason according to the practical situation of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the study of corruption has become one of the most prominent in the social sciences. If there is corruption, however, it is because something has been corrupted; something pure has been sullied. This pure element serves mainly as a normative reference: It may never have constituted a social and political reality. However, the purpose of this article is to try to define what its components might be. In this way, theoretical considerations can be used to provide a more solid basis for the fight against corruption. The position of this paper is that the opposite of corruption should be explicitly defined without the use of abstract categories such as good governance or integrity. The paper will begin with a discussion of the concept of "non-corrupt government" and then proceed to a theoretical analysis of the main issues involved. It will conclude with some practical remarks on how to build, in the most parsimonious way, the benchmark of quality that corruption undermines. The contention is that a "non-corrupt government" is based on four principles: (1) equality (input side), (2) reasonableness (input side), (3) impartiality and professionalism of the administration (output side), and (4) accountability of the office (output side). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) allows a systematic and transparent comparison of cases while investigating explanatory conditions as sufficient or necessary for an outcome to occur. This paper aims to illustrate the usefulness of QCA in management research. Approach: There are five steps in a standard QCA process: 1) constructing a configurational model and selecting the conditions and outcome of interest, 2) identifying empirical cases and calibrating the data into sets, 3) converting the dataset into a truth table, 4) analysing set relations between the conditions and the outcome and 5) evaluating, interpreting and visualising the findings. We discuss these five steps and illustrate their application with a fictional analysis of configurations of conditions leading to high investment in research and development (R&D). In addition, we review the recent literature on QCA, including its application in management studies. Findings: We provide information on QCA-related resources and events, including workshops and summer schools. Current challenges in the diffusion and development of QCA involve analysing large data samples and including QCA in mixed-methods and multi-method research designs. Future challenges are related to configurational theorising, including time in the analysis and the foundations and procedures on which causal claims are made in QCA. Practical implications: QCA is gaining popularity in management research. Its assumptions about social reality and research procedures align well with management research questions and practices. There are many areas for further development. Nevertheless, QCA is a valuable tool for management researchers. Value: This paper focuses on the use of QCA in management research. It sheds light on the standard procedures involved in QCA and describes the application of QCA in management research based on the current literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the discursive tactics employed in The Handmaid's Tale to (re)produce social reality. Using critical discourse analysis, the study reveals the ideological polarization between a favorable selfpresentation and a negative portrayal of the other. Through the analysis of excerpts and the application of Van Dijk's framework, the pervasive use of discursive techniques is uncovered, emphasizing the ideological division between a positive self-portrayal and a negative depiction of the other. Pronouns and adjectives play a crucial role in conveying optimistic self-representations and pessimistic other representations, highlighting the characters' struggle against the inherent sexism and patriarchy within legal systems. The findings demonstrate the significance of polarization, lexicalization, positive and negative representation tactics, and the proximity of contrasting stages, illustrating the tension between the individual and society. Considering these results, the paper recommends fostering awareness and critical analysis of discursive tactics, promoting diverse narratives to cultivate empathy and understanding, encouraging dialogue and critical engagement, and actively addressing and challenging gender inequality. These recommendations aim to deepen our understanding of how discursive tactics shape social reality and promote a more equitable and inclusive society. By recognizing and interrogating these discursive strategies, individuals can navigate and challenge the manipulation of language and narrative. The study's insights contribute to a broader understanding of the underlying gender inequality and societal tensions portrayed in The Handmaid's Tale, shedding light on the power dynamics and systemic oppression present in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dalit literature intends to articulate this social, cultural, political and religious oppression perpetrated in this country. Awareness of this ageold practice does not simply manifest itself in torrid descriptions of dalit life. Rather, it attempts to derive out of these experiences a new value system that would help dalits to carve out a new social reality. The dalits are determined to narrate the dalit agony, assertion, resistance, anger, protest and mobilization. It is important to note here that while responding to the past experience, the dalit writers are conscious of the present and give hint of the future. They make a fervent plea for a complete overhaul of society by questioning all notions of caste and class. Sharankumar Limbale's poems unfold a rich mosaic of discourse; a discourse of resistance, protest, angst and liberation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sweat, meaning to sweat, is a moniker attached to prearranged but unorganised and informal sport and physical activity within local communities in Trinidad and Tobago. Explained as a culturally significant phenomenon, the sweat is a space of community cohesion and radical questioning through its resident attendant ole talk where the critical deconstruction of social reality readily occurs. Using Paolo Freire's pedagogical ideas of problem-posing dialogue, this ethnographic paper, explores three main areas. Those being, the sweats and ole talk; the radicality of the sweats displayed in individual agency against the structured restrictions of formal sports participation; and the sweats as a site for cross-cultural integration and interaction in an otherwise ethnically diverse country. Through the experiences of eight individuals associated to the sweats, Freirean ideas of love, radicality and hopefulness are prominent in the description of the sweats. To this end, this paper adds to the growing body of literature on informal sport participation as a site to negotiate and reconcile differences in local communities, as well as a site for social and sport-for-development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of College of Basic Education Researches Journal is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Praehistorische Zeitschrift is the property of De Gruyter and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper unravels the politics of belonging, the legal-political regime of exclusion, and differentiated citizenship in the multi-layered social and political context of Arunachal Pradesh, India. This paper aims to engage with the institutional arrangements of the Indian state that accommodate the ethno-cultural differences in a multi-ethnic society. Set amidst the changing social and economic realities of Arunachal Pradesh, this study relates to the emerging contestations around the protection of Indigenous identity and the need for differential treatment of people in multiethnic societies by embedding these discussions within policy debates on Inner Line Regulation and land legislations in the state. This paper adopts an incisive approach to understand the implications of such protective measures on the conceptualization of citizenship in states with a significant Indigenous population. It argues for examining the implications of ethnicised forms of governance in favour of democratic power sharing structures and representative institutions of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Sociology: Bulletin of the Yerevan State University / Banber Erevani Hamalsarani. Sots'iologia is the property of Publishing House of Yerevan State University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper we tried to deepen Zagaria, Andò and Zennaro's reflection on the problem of integrating psychology in their paper "Psychology: A Giant with Feet of Clay" (Zagaria et al. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 54, 3, 2020). Psychology obtained this question from the uniqueness of its objects and it is an unavoidable question because of the social reality of modernity. We went back to the philosophical transitions on subject and proposed that Karl Marx's thinking on the subjectivity of objective faculties can be the first principle for different schools and sub-disciplines, as it conceptualizes human beings as natural beings but with its consciousness of being from its social praxis. Thus, it provides a starting point of humanized psychology. Further direction and tasks for psychology is also examined under a call of psychology going back and entering into the life world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 30 years, the last planner system (LPS), as a Lean-driven production planning and control tool, has consistently demonstrated its capability to improve planning reliability and overall performance in construction projects. Recent research provides evidence suggesting that the LPS ability to do good to projects has not reached its full potential yet. In fact, it has been observed that by identifying the missing social mechanisms in its implementation process and managing more effectively the complex socio-technical nature of the LPS, its implementation effectiveness is improved. However, commonly used research approaches, such as the case study method, have been criticized for lacking scientific control, replicability, and external validity. Alternatively, immersive virtual reality (IVR)-based simulation games have the methodological capability to enable the study of the social mechanisms that the LPS engenders when implemented in projects, by providing a highly controlled, reproducible, and ecologically valid experimental environment. However, how to leverage effectively IVR-based gaming technology to study the social mechanisms that the LPS engenders in construction organizations is not well understood. In order to bridge this gap, this paper established the conceptual and technical foundations to set IVR-based experimental environments and developed an IVR prototype encompassing nonlean and LPS-based rounds. The evaluation of the IVR prototype involved both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, focusing on its functionality, user-perceived presence and usability, task performance, and lean expert feedback. The results demonstrated the prototype's capability to create a controlled experimental environment while offering participants a user-friendly, immersive, and realistic LPS simulation experience. The contributions of this study are twofold: (1) the addition of a new method to the research methodology toolbox in construction engineering and management; and (2) the generation of design insights to develop IVR prototypes for research in construction engineering and management, and preliminary evidence for its ecological validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has been experienced differently by people depending on their socio-cultural contexts. These varied experiences are expressed in various forms of communication, including cartoons. This paper examines the pragmatic resources inherent in COVID-19-related cartoons depicting the impact of the virus on Nigerian society. Forty COVID-19-related cartoons, circulated on social media, were collected on Twitter and WhatsApp platforms between March and April 2020 as data. Multimodality and presupposition served as theoretical framework and descriptive research design was adopted. Findings reveal five socio-contextual domains, religion, health, economy, politics and governance nd family, characterizing the social experiences of Nigerians during the pandemic. Through the evocation of situational reality, pragmatic sarcasm, punning, and orientation to government insensitivity, the cartoonists evoke pragmatic functions of informing and warning about social behaviours in the religion, family and health domains; recreating situational realities on socioeconomic impacts in the domain of economy; and satirizing government policies and mocking politicians' insincerity in the domain of politics and governance on sociopolitical experiences of Nigerians before and during the pandemic. The study concludes cartoons are a strong means of portraying societal realities and people's experiences comically and graphically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the life and afterlife of Tunisia's literary avant-garde (al-tali'a al-adabiyya), which thrived between 1968 and 1972. Al-tali'a sought to 'revolutionize' literary language and to root Tunisian literature in the multilingual environment and social reality of the country, at a crucial period of social and political change and against the backdrop of a Leftist turn in local dissident politics. Al-tali'a sought to complete the process of language and literary decolonization in intersection with key global tendencies, including Tiermondisme and decoloniality. The language question was articulated, then as in post-2011 Tunisia, in terms of democracy and justice. While the state promoted fostering Tunisianness as state policy, there were other takes on this concept that were progressive, more deeply decolonial and justice-driven. This paper uncovers the genesis of the movement through the work of Izzeddine al-Madani in drama and Tahar Hammami, among others, in fiction and poetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of the World Church is one of the significant developments in the Church in modern times. It emerges from the dialectical tensions or conflicts between a Church widely perceived as monocultural and a world that has witnessed the ascendance and call for recognition of other cultures. The processes of confrontation and, subsequently, rectification have fructified in the sense that it gave way to various expressions of the Church other than its European form. We can now speak of the Church in Asia, the Church in Africa, the Church in Latin America, and even the Church in the Philippines. In this paper, we refer to the dynamics of critical theory, specifically Axel Honneth's theory of recognition, to explain how historical movements create tensions that have profound and lasting effects on institutions such as the Church. The movements in the Church before and after the Second Vatican Council, which saw the emergence of the World Church, reveal the workings of Honneth's emphasis on anchorage in social realities, emancipation from slavery and social injustice, intersubjectivity, and recognition spheres in the processes that paved the way for a significant evolution of the Church's self-understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper finds its point of departure in Murad Idris's argument about peace being a fundamentally violent ideal marked by an overarching logic of constitutive aggression. It responds to this categorical statement by reconstructing four distinct variants of the peace/violence nexus, each of which involves a different type of violence, performed by a different type of agent, with a different demeanor, at different times and intervals, and in relation to a different conception of peace. There is not one peace/violence nexus but at least four. What is more, a detailed examination of these peace/violence nexuses puts into doubt their fundamental nature, if by fundamental is meant intrinsic and inescapable. It draws attention to the contingency of their becoming a social and political reality, and thereby confirms that the imbrication of peace and violence may at least theoretically—and temporarily—be avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Young Intellectuals / Genç Mütefekkirler Dergisi is the property of Journal of Young Intellectuals and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

History is a subject that students often find uninspiring in school education. This paper explores the application of social VR metaverse platforms in combination with interactive, nonlinear web platforms designed for immersive storytelling to support learning about a sensitive historical event, namely the Asia Minor Catastrophe. The goal was to design an alternative method of learning history and investigate if it would engage students and foster their independence. A mixed-methods research design was applied. Thirty-four (n = 34) adult participants engaged in the interactive book and VR space over the course of three weeks. After an online workshop, feedback was collected from participants through a custom questionnaire. The quantitative data from the questionnaire were analyzed statistically utilizing IBM SPSS, while the qualitative responses were coded thematically. This study reveals that these two tools can enhance historical education by increasing student engagement, interaction, and understanding. Participants appreciated the immersive and participatory nature of the material. This study concludes that these technologies have the potential to enhance history education by promoting active participation and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Thematic Scientific Conference Fundamental Researches is the property of International Association of Social Science Methodologists and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper intends to remind communication scientists that the indirect effect as estimated in mediation analyses is a statistical synonym for omitted variable bias (i.e. confounding or suppression). This simple fact questions the interpretability of statistically significant 'indirect effects' when using observational data: in social reality, all variables correlate with each other to some extent – the so-called 'crud factor' – which means that omitted variable bias and 'indirect effects' at the population level are virtually guaranteed regardless of the actual variables involved in the statistical mediation model. As a result, there can be no inferential link between the observation of a significant indirect effect and a theoretical claim of mediation. Through this argument, the paper hopes to add to the existing warnings on mediation analyses and cultivate a more critical interpretation of 'indirect effects' in communication science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As seedbeds, academic institutions must be an avenue of reflection that involves different sectors of the community. The social encyclical Laudato si' centralizes on the theme of integral ecology, where it emphasizes interconnections, which include human and social dimensions. This paper attempts to explore Laudato si's elaboration on ecological education. While existing Catholic Social Teachings from Rerum Novarum until Caritas in Veritate address different social realities, the question on the topic of ecology, as well as teachings on the environment, has been scarcely incorporated. This paper analyzes Laudato si's conceptual elaboration of ecological education and how this conceptual elaboration provides the framework for the encyclical's vision of ecological education in the contemporary period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a geophysical reality, water deficit is a natural reality whereas risk community is a social reality. The interconnectivity between the three is intense with each variable having a chain reaction with the other two. Studies on climate change and water scarcity are abundant and are taking an escalating trend. But there is a dearth of literature relating to the interlinkage of the aforesaid variables. So, this has become the backdrop of the present article. The paper is fully backed by secondary literature and has taken its parameters to look at the individual phenomenon and establish its connectivity. The study areas selected are the Bolangir and Bargarh districts of Odisha, which encounter acute water stress for agricultural and domestic purposes. No such research study is found to date. Thus, the paper has tried to establish how climate change is rapidly taking place bringing water scarcity and stress is responsible for generating risk communities. Finally, the article culminates with certain ways forwards to bring solutions to such issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I call for geographers to engage further with a so far under‐explored concept of the socio‐ecological imagination, which I define as a variant of political‐geographical imagination(s) concerned with envisioning (and progressing) the transformation of relationships between human society and the rest of the planetary environment. In response to escalating ecological breakdown, and a recent surge in environmental movement mobilisation(s) led in many places by young people, this paper seeks to contribute to expanding understandings of the socio‐ecological imagination, drawing on interviews and participant observation with young environmental activists in the North East of England. The paper performs two major tasks. First, through analysing the ways in which the environmentalists narrate their imaginaries of socio‐ecological transformation(s), it is argued that dominant oppositional tendencies within participant narratives result from a tension between antagonistic and imaginative forms of transformative politics. Second, the paper explores in more depth the main forces constraining the imagination of alternative socio‐ecological futures, proposing three major interconnected barriers that emerge from the environmentalists' narratives: crisis lock‐in; colonisation of the social imaginary; and dualistic temporal imaginaries of transformation. In sum, I suggest that these barriers warn of an imaginative gap between our current social reality and just and sustainable futures, driven by structural and psychological pressures faced by activists in the current era of multi‐dimensional crisis. Bridging this gap can be aided by a greater engagement of geographers and environmental movements with a socio‐ecological imagination and a processual understanding of space–time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Foco (Interdisciplinary Studies Journal) is the property of Revista Foco and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Socioloski Pregled is the property of Srpsko Sociolosko Drustvo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Our paper is concerned with theories of direct perception in ecological psychology that first emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. Ecological psychology continues to be influential among philosophers and cognitive scientists today who defend a 4E (embodied, embedded, extended, enactive) approach to the scientific study of cognition. Ecological psychologists have experimentally investigated how animals are able to directly perceive their surrounding environment and what it affords to them. We pursue questions about direct perception through a discussion of the ecological psychologist's concept of affordances. In recent years, psychologists and philosophers have begun to mark out two explanatory roles for the affordance concept. In one role, affordances are cast as belonging to a shared, publicly available environment, and existing independent of the experience of any perceiving and acting animal. In a second role, affordances are described in phenomenological terms, in relation to an experiencing animal that has its own peculiar needs, interests and personal history. Our aim in this paper is to argue for a single phenomenological or experiential understanding of the affordance concept. We make our argument, first of all, based on William James' concept of pure experience developed in his later, radical empiricist writings. James thought of pure experience as having a field structure that is organized by the selective interest and needs of the perceiver. We will argue however that James did not emphasize sufficiently the social and intersubjective character of the field of experience. Drawing on the phenomenologist Aron Gurwitsch, we will argue that psychological factors like individual needs and attention must be thought of as already confronted with a social reality. On the phenomenological reading of affordances we develop, direct perception of affordances is understood as taking place within an intersubjective world structured by human social and cultural life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What (im)politeness means changes over time. As these changes are usually gradual, we tend to be relatively unaware of them. However, when changes are abrupt, people not only notice but are also concerned with them. The COVID-19 pandemic entailed such abrupt changes involving new rules most of which are at odds with the rather automatic conventions of politeness that we follow. My aim in this paper is to explore what politeness means to non-academics in the context of the pandemic and how similar or different their understandings are from academic accounts. To this end, I will draw from an online article entitled "Your politeness is a public health hazard", which appeared at the onset of the pandemic, and the user-generated comments it triggered. The discussion is placed within the discursive turn in (im)politeness research, considering its key distinction between first-order and second-order conceptualisations of politeness. The findings suggest that politeness in the pandemic is still mostly understood as consideration for the other, an understanding shared with (im)politeness research. However, posters' views are broader overlapping with understandings of 'civility'. These views manifest their knowledge as observers and participants of social reality but also reveal that they are in dialogue with work in philosophy, sociology and psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BapsiSidhwa's novel Ice Candy Manexplores the marginalization of women during the partition and after the partition. The main objective of this paper is to project in bright light the various forms of gendered violence during the partition of India. An analysis of the central character Ayahand other women characters in the novel, underscore how acts of abduction and rape use women's sexuality as a tool to articulate religious enmity. This paper will depict that Ayah's abduction is a punishment for her lack of adherence to cultural norms. This paper also highlights that women's bodies were under patriarchal surveillance and regulations and those who fail to abide societal rules are inevitably discarded. This paper intents to explore the treatment of abducted women by the patriarchal state to expose the social reality where victimized women were ostracized by society. By analyzing the violence against women during the partition, this paper will highlight how Sidhwa's novel contributes to a silenced feministic reading of partition history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to study the different manifestations of the dance practice of the Gagauz of Inoi of Evros in Greece as tactics in search of their ethnic identity. In particular, with reference to the analysis of the main dance of the repertoire of the Gagauz and all of Thrace, Zonaradikos or Omouslamas and based on the fluid nature of identity formation, this paper aims to investigate the attitudes with which members of this ethnic group, self-identify, construct and reconstruct their ethnic identity, depending on the circumstances. Data was gathered through ethnographic method as this is applied to the study of dance, while its interpretation was based on the theoretical perspective of constructivism under the analytical terms of "acculturation" according to the multicultural model proposed by Berry. From the data analysis, it is showed that Zonaradikos or Omouslamas is danced in the same way on stage and in the social events of the community and the only parameter that differs is the musical accompaniment. In conclusion, the Gagauz use the dance selectively to shape their ethnic identity. So, through dance, choose on the one hand to have a Greek-Thracian ethnic identity and on the other Gagauz ethnic identity and on a third level they identify themselves as Greek Thracian Gagauz, experiencing a social reality which seeks to have multiple identities at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is part of an empirical study of Anglophone travel books describing Bulgaria. Its subject are the images through which the topic of ‘Bulgaria’ is communicated to the British public at the beginning of 20th century. These images are found to be informed by the symbols of the dominant discourse iconography as well as by innovative approaches to the representational paradigm. The paper applies the historical discourse approach to the process of uncovering the link between the representations of Bulgaria in English travel writing and the models of identification deriving from the socio-political reality of the division between the colonial Great Powers and the marginal newly-liberated states. The constructivist focus on the continuous mutually constitutive interaction between social reality and communication is pivotal in the study. The travelogue is interpreted as a communicative act in the course of which the subject and the object position themselves and assume or attribute to each other identities matching their social roles. The images of „gentlemen“, „peasants“, „warriors“, unlock models of identification that either reaffirm the status quo in the British-Bulgarian relations or advocate a closer engagement of Britain with Bulgaria [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are viewing and acting separate things? In his essay The Emancipated Spectator (2008), Jacques Rancière argues that the state of passivity inscribed in the traditional role of the spectator must be revoked by theater itself, whose primary aim should be to liberate “a form of consciousness, an intensity of feeling, an energy for action” that can empower the spectators, make them aware of the social reality they live in, and potentially foster their desire to transform some of its structures. This paper looks at two examples of contemporary attempts at “staging justice” that expressly require an emancipated spectatorship, though in different ways: Terror. Ein Theaterstück (2016) by Ferdinand von Schirach, a courtroom drama in which the spectators are requested to judge on a fictional legal case, and Zeugen! Ein Strafkammerspiel (2004) by theater collective Rimini Protokoll, in which experts of justice from the Berlin-Moabit criminal court share their knowledge and experience with the audience. By examining the aesthetic strategies through which both texts portray the world of justice on stage, the paper outlines their political relevance as well as the different ways in which they thematise the theatricality of legal processes and the relationship between make-believe and reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I address human‐induced environmental ills we face using an ubuntu‐inspired ethical lens. I follow ubuntu scholars to stress the significance for moral agents to embody virtues. Virtue development is essential to carry out obligations and address human impacts on the environment. Thaddeus Metz, in particular, has drawn attention to how embodying ubuntu virtues of humility and friendliness can prompt moral agents to be other‐regarding. The view I developed in this paper differs from his ubuntu‐inspired account in at least two significant ways. First, humans cannot be in harmonious relationships with some species such as Black Mambas, Hyenas and sea urchins even if they can interact. Second, we must acknowledge the consequentialist dimension of ubuntu ethics and prioritise the different aspects of ubuntu 'mixed' ethics, ranking them to offer possibilities for a more realistic recommendation to change our moral life. This paper demonstrates that the three dimensions of ubuntu 'mixed' ethics are fundamental because we need to think about moral consequences, right action and our virtue in accounting for our actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a new analytical framework in examining corruption from the social ontology perspective by using the Schatzkian practice theory to assess the interconnectedness among social practices constituting the social reality. Design/methodology/approach: This exploratory paper is part of the author's study to assess the complex corruption phenomenon in Indonesia from multiple perspectives to gain a better understanding of its nature and dynamics. By drawing from the existing literature on the Schatzkian practice theory, the COVID-19 pandemic and the corruption phenomenon, this study investigates the potential changes of the new constellation of practice-arrangement bundles within the social reality and how such changes may alter corruption practices in the future. Furthermore, this study also uses publicly available reports from several national and international agencies to explore possible future scenarios from the interconnectedness of corruption, anti-corruption and pandemic practices. This paper constructs a new analytical framework for assessing the corruption phenomenon and designing the most appropriate anti-corruption strategy from such an exploration. The framework also serves as a reference for future anti-corruption research. Findings: The author establishes that all social phenomena are constructed by an interconnected, dynamic and ever-changing constellation of practice-arrangement bundles within the social reality. As a largely social phenomenon (at least in Indonesia), corruption is also constructed by webs of practice-arrangement bundles. For decades, corruption practices in Indonesia have always been interconnected with anti-corruption practices in ways that changes in one group of practices will drive changes in the others. With the adoption of the pandemic practices centered around social distancing, social restriction and social safety net, corruption practices appear to transform to adapt to the new environment. Therefore, future anti-corruption research should aim to examine the structure and dynamics of corruption, anti-corruption and pandemic practices to highlight changes or potential changes within the three groups of practices to determine the most appropriate intervention measures and anti-corruption strategy. Research limitations/implications: This exploratory study is self-funded and relies primarily on documentary analysis to explore the corruption phenomenon in Indonesia. Future studies will benefit from in-depth interviews with former corruption offenders and corruption investigators. Practical implications: This exploratory paper contributes to developing a sound corruption prevention strategy by proposing a new analytical framework for assessing various social practices, particularly those associated with corruption and the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value: This paper highlights the importance of understanding the structure, interconnectedness and dynamics of social practices, particularly associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, to better understand the corruption phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the founders of sociology, it was Georg Simmel who provided the most thorough analysis and theory of space. This paper aims to reconstruct Simmel's spatial theory and his observations of spatial relations. The German sociologist engaged with spatiality in a threefold way. First, he tried to provide a systematic social theory of space; second, analyzing spatial relations was important for his diagnosis of modernity; third, he dealt with the subjective constitutions of space in his shorter, essayistic writings. This paper argues that the importance of the third strand for a sociological understanding of space has seldom been recognized in sociology. In addition, it also shows that despite the diversity in perspectives, there is an underlying coherence to Simmel's theory of space. As a result, it becomes evident that Simmel was not only ground-breaking in conceptualizing space from a sociological point of view, but that his theory of space continues to be inspirational and relevant to this day for interpreting the entanglement of social and spatial relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Special Issue centralizes powerful leisure stories that may otherwise be understood as myths—sometimes recognized, often less so—that circulate in the field, and beyond. In everyday use, a myth perpetuates a popularly held belief that is false or untrue. However, in social and cultural theory, myths are more complex, as partial truths that privilege particular versions of a shared social reality. We want to know what myths are, what they "do", and how they circulate and shape people's leisure lives. Myths can do more than obfuscate—they often animate people's lives, motivate collective action, and inspire change. In this Introduction, we map out the aims of the Special Issue to establish the conceptual terrain of leisure myths and mythmaking, and explore definitions and uses of myths, which are then brought into sharper focus in the eight papers that comprise the collection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Revista Miradas is the property of Universidad Tecnologica de Pereira and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The preoccupation with architecture, geography, and borders in the work of Anglo-Sudanese writers Leila Aboulela and Jamal Mahjoub is to a large extent tied to the postcolonial mindset the two authors share and the minority status of the Anglophone Arab literary tradition. This tradition aims, among other things, at rewriting space to negotiate questions of identity, power, and resistance. Drawing on recent research on the intersections between the postcolonial field and the field of space studies, this paper argues that, although Aboulela and Mahjoub both seek to expose the spatial organization of social reality, that is to say the ways in which space is both conceived and shaped to reinforce existing power differentials, they diverge on the esthetic and political strategies to challenge this power configuration. Therefore, by comparing Aboulela’s Minaret (2006) and Mahjoub’s A Line in the River: Khartoum, City of Memory (2018), it will be argued that, while Aboulela displaces the larger geographies of the nation and the city in favor of urban microstructures that become the site of dissent and empowerment for the alienated migrant subject, Mahjoub embraces the geography of the nation as holding the key both to the collective project of nation-building and the more personal task of coming to terms with the plurality of postcolonial identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The figure of the ethnic minor is a heavily inscribed representational subject in PRC cinema. Coming out of a socialist cinematic tradition as images of thoroughly assimilated, phlegmatic adults-in-waiting, the portrayal of ethnic children in PRC cinema today assumes more nuances as an art-house cinema verité aesthetics demands ethnic children enact their social presence in a complex network of social relations fraught with the tension between modernity and tradition, identity structures and their restructures. This paper examines two 2018 films about ethnic minors in Tibet and the Uyghur region of China—Wangdrak's Rain Boots by Lhapal Gyal and A First Farewell by Wang Lina, respectively. Through the lenses of what Félix Guattari calls "partial subjectivity" and the "social machine," the article demonstrates how the two films portray weather forecast and linguistic ability in Mandarin Chinese as socializing conduit of Chinese state power and produce for the ethnic children an affect of authoritarian certainty. The paper argues that those two films critique the PRC's current ethnopolitical strategies in the said regions, which place a premium on a monoglot and monovocal articulation of a pan-Chinese identity at the cost of impoverishing a polyvocal ethno-social reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the social realities of forcibly displaced persons in Nigeria, with a focus on internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, Abuja. Internally displaced persons are individuals who have been forced from their homes or habitual places of residence and, unlike refugees, have not crossed the borders of their country. They remain under the primary protection of their governments and often seek refuge in their own countries. This study draws on secondary data sources and primary data collected from two IDPs campsites, arguing that most IDPs in the FCT, displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency live in makeshift and inhumane informal settlements in the peri-urban areas of Abuja City. These settlements also host the urban poor and other economic migrants in the country's capital, occasionally leading to conflicts between them. The paper calls for the government to recognise the presence and condition of IDPs in the FCT and to work with relevant organisations to provide durable solutions to ensure that displaced persons can once again become productive members of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the status of feminist theory and academic politics as the foundation for women’s struggle for liberation. A distinct contribution of the paper to the current literature is the focus on theory and theoretical perspectives, distinguishing between sociology, patriarchy, and capitalism as the key to women’s liberation. After a careful and critical examination of the classical roots of contemporary sociological theory, the varieties and basic domain assumptions of feminist theory, and the impact of patriarchy and capitalism on women, the following conclusions are drawn: 1) Feminist theory must be recognized and accepted for its significant contribution to the birth and development of sociology and its major role in helping to broaden the field of sociology and provide a broader and better understanding of society, the individual in society, and various social phenomena; 2) The negative impact of patriarchy and capitalism on the struggle for women’s liberation must be recognized; and 3) Both men and women must eliminate academic politics intellectually and more importantly, practically in order to bring about real and true women’s liberation. It is therefore correct, right, and justifiable to have a Feminist Perspective in Sociology based on the following: 1) the clearly identified, different, and unique basic domain assumptions and research methodological approaches of feminist theory; 2) the fact that gender is unique and different from other social stratification categories since it is made up of two broad categories, females and males, with two unique and different intellectual bases; 3) the fact that the Feminist Perspective will facilitate the elimination of academic politics; and 4) the fact that the Feminist Perspective will facilitate the production of different social realities, especially and particularly, women’s liberation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In immersive virtual reality (VR) applications, the facial expressions and lip-syncing of an avatar can have a significant impact on a user's experience. In this paper, we designed a VR "trust game" scene to evaluate the effects of four expression conditions (positive facial expressions, neutral facial expressions, negative facial expressions and no expressions and lip-syncing) on participants in an immersive VR scene. We measured the participants with both objective and subjective measures. The two objective behavioral measures were the level of investment in the "trust game" and the users' eye-movement data, and the subjective measures included social presence, emotional awareness level, and user preferences. We found that the participants were generally less trusting of the avatars with negative expressions, while the avatars with positive expressions made the participants feel comfortable and thus increased their willingness to cooperate with the avatars. In conclusion, avatars with facial expressions, whether positive or negative, were more effective in influencing the participants' trust levels and decision-making behaviors than those without facial expressions. These findings provide novel ideas and suggestions for improving the level of human–computer interaction in VR and enhancing user experience in VR scenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores Hungarian sociographic documentary films from the late 1960s and 1970 which called attention to the inner contradictions of the consolidated Kádár regime. Representatives of critical sociology and filmmakers shared the view that many of these contradictions were the result of the discrepancy between ideological and empirical perceptions of social reality, the emergence of dual social consciousness, and the strict control over access to the public sphere. The paper argues that consolidating the political system came at the cost of setting off an epistemic crisis characterised by the desperate suppression of knowledge and experience incompatible with the official interpretations of social phenomena. Analysing a handful of films made about rural poverty, the Roma minority, and agricultural businesses, the article explores in great detail how documentary strategies of analytical realism depleted and invalidated official concepts (e.g. the concept of maternity, Romani, cooperative democracy) and brought to light concealed layers of individual and social experience. In broad terms, the article claims that a new kind of political cinema came into existence during the consolidated Kádár regime, a cinema which exposed the epistemological unconscious of political establishment and opened new avenues for the understanding of Hungarian society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from some considerations regarding the process of compiling a bilingual literary vocabulary, this paper will discuss examples of culturally marked lexicon employed by Graciliano Ramos in a corpus of selected novels and their respective translations into Italian. The aim is to demonstrate how the multifaceted cultural and social reality of reference of the analyzed works emerges through the writer's lexical choices. At the same time, the paper also wants to illustrate that the study of regionalism and other cultural markers constitutes a precious didactic material in university courses, not only in the area of Translation Studies but also from an interdisciplinary perspective, which considers linguistic and extralinguistic connections, to deepen the varied elements of the Northeastern culture in its globality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]