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This conceptual paper takes a dynamic view of culture to re-examine the tradeoffs between positive and negative aspects of guanxi in China. Because of cross-border collaboration and the wide use of the internet, Chinese employees are now exposed to more diverse values. Considering this cultural shift, the current paper discusses how the widely publicized negative aspect of guanxi relations in Chinese organizations can be mitigated. We suggest that employees are likely to withdraw from peer-to-peer guanxi relations that involve ethical concerns, and the likelihood and speed of this relation change would vary in part on the focal party's heritage of Confucian cultural values. This paper contributes to the literature by offering a dynamic approach to reconcile the controversy about peer-to-peer guanxi's role in Chinese organizations. This dynamic examination can invite further research on the complicated evolution of guanxi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuity of Australian First Nations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) culture has been threatened by colonisation and effects of this continue to have devastating impacts on their social emotional wellbeing [SEWB], especially mental health. This review analyses cultural interventions aiming to improve mental health outcomes for First Nations Australians (e.g., mood, self-esteem, suicide-attempts, self-harm, risky behaviours) to uncover the effectiveness and key components of such interventions. Databases PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE, EMCARE, LIt.search tool from Lowitja Inst, Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet and Google Scholar were searched. Studies published between 2000 and 2021 which reported the impact of cultural interventions on the mental health of First Nations Australians were included. From 172 studies, only eight studies met inclusion criteria and all improved measured domains of SEWB. Six studies evaluated culturally adapted interventions (i.e., Western interventions adapted to be culturally appropriate) and two evaluated culturally grounded interventions (i.e., interventions developed by First Nations Australians). Participants called for more cultural components in culturally adapted interventions. The most successful studies used collaborative and participatory approaches in the designs, included First Nations members in their research teams and presented culturally grounded interventions. The paucity of literature limit findings. There was a limited ability to identify key mechanisms of change across some intervention studies, and large outcome variations across studies meant some aspects could not be compared. Nonetheless, this review concludes that culturally grounded interventions are the most promising and successful mental health interventions currently available for First Nations Australians which has many implications for practice and funding. What is already known about this topic: First Nations Australians experience poorer mental health and wellbeing than non-indigenous Australians. Previous attempts to improve the mental health of First Nations Australians utilising Western therapeutic interventions have been largely unsuccessful. More recent attempts to improve mental health for First Nations Australians utilising culture appear promising, that is, culturally adapted and culturally grounded therapeutic interventions. What this paper adds: (1) Culturally grounded interventions are effective, preferable over culturally adapted interventions, and best to use for improving the mental health and wellbeing of First Nations Australians. (2) Limited evaluations of cultural interventions have been conducted that provide empirical data showing the effectiveness of the intervention on mental health and wellbeing for First Nations Australians. (3) Successful forms of intervention evaluations with First Nations Australians utilise participatory and collaborative research approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community mobilisation is recognised as an important strategy to shift inequitable gender norms and ensure an enabling environment to prevent gender-based violence (GBV). Yet there is a need to better understand the factors that facilitate effective community activism in particular contexts. Although fundamental to the success of mobilisation programmes, there is also limited appreciation of the experiences and agency of engaged community activists. This paper draws on qualitative evaluations from two community mobilisation GBV prevention programmes: the Gender Violence in the Amazon of Peru (GAP) Project and the Indashyikirwa programme in Rwanda. In Peru, participatory data was collected, in addition to baseline and endline interviews with 8 activists. In Rwanda, baseline and endline interviews and observations were conducted with 12 activists, and interviews were conducted with 8 staff members. The data was thematically analysed, and a comparative case study approach was applied to both data sets. The comparative study identified similar programmatic aspects that could hinder or enable activist's engagement and development, and how these are embedded within contextual social and structural factors. We discuss these insights in reference to the current emphasis in public health on individualistic programming, with insufficient attention to how wider environments influence violence prevention programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A theoretical paper in which the theory of mentalizing and epistemic trust are applied to thinking about the relationship between social systems and individual subjective experiences, and how this relationship may be shaped by developmental history, such as attachment experiences, exposure to childhood adversity, and the experience of being mentalized. We suggest that the experience of being mentalized and openness to epistemic trust may be the mechanism by which individual experiences of psychic distress, perception of self-agency and perceptions of others, are both influenced by and shape wider social phenomena and social change. We consider the impact of social inequalities and the breakdown of political legitimacy on mentalizing, epistemic trust and psychopathology, and argue that optimal individual outcomes cannot always be achieved without adaptation of the wider social environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the creation and negotiation of disciplinary culture, through ethnographic fieldwork about socialization in a critical learning environment: scientific fieldwork. Field-based science has received scant research attention relative to its importance as a degree requirement, a professional rite of passage, and a site where sexual harassment and assault are disturbingly commonplace. We conducted a comparative ethnographic case study of two field-based geoscience courses, one each for undergraduate and graduate students. The data include 264 hours of participant-observation and 34 interviews with students and faculty. Three prominent qualities of the culture — eroding temporal and spatial boundaries, navigating challenging conditions, and normalizing alcohol — reflect and/or reinforce disciplinary norms of informality, togetherness, and toughness. We observed these qualities and norms could be leveraged for exclusion or inclusion; they are tools that, together, create a gendered disciplinary culture. Some women resisted the narrow definition of these norms, reframing toughness to include mental toughness, for example. Implications for course design and field leadership, as well as the possibilities and limits of disciplinary cultural change, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the attention that the affective sphere has reached in the last decades, affectivity has generally been supposed to be a consequence of historical processes, not changing their direction. This article argues instead that affectivity can be a driving force in historical change, and it establishes the concept of "patheme" in relation to Michel Foucault's "episteme", Martin Heidegger's "history of being" and the notion of regime in William Reddy, Jacques Rancière and Peter de Bolla. What is described as a pathemic change took place in the thoroughgoing affective transformation of European culture during the 18th century, a cultural change that in Sweden was condensed into much more compressed shifts during the Gustav III's reign (1772–92). This latter period is bestowed an investigation grounded in an understanding of historical processes that considers the interplay between layers such as power relations, social conditions and modes of scientific thought along with affectivity. The interplay is described in terms of polyphony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article utilizes anthropological theory to examine the existing body of ethnographic research in colleges and universities, which remains underdeveloped compared to K-12 ethnographies. I identify two parallel developments in this field: a micro-level ethnography of college and university sub-cultures and a macro-level ethnography of structural transformations in higher education. What has largely been missing is a meso-level or institutional ethnography of colleges and universities that centers institutional relations as objects of ethnographic inquiry. After surveying relevant ethnographic traditions that might inform this meso-level approach, I offer an illustrative example from an ethnography of diversity policy and practice at a public research university attempting to transform itself into a more diverse institution. The article highlights the benefits and possibilities of an ethnography of colleges and universities rather than ethnography in colleges and universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines a programme for Bedouin youth in the unrecognised Bedouin villages in the Naqab/Negev desert in Israel, as a case study of the cultural adaptation and implementation of Westernised youth programmes among indigenous minority groups. Our analysis, based on an exploratory qualitative study that probes the accounts of 11 professionals involved in the project, 10 of whom are Bedouin, indicates that the facilitation of youth centres is related to 2 dimensions: cultural and political. Although the programme was shown to successfully address complex cultural aspects of the Bedouin community in the adaptation process and in daily routines (e.g. cultural values and norms), it does not address the political context in which the community lives. The programme thus articulates a social recognition of the particular needs of this population, yet does not promote social activism in a way that might challenge existing social hierarchies and power relations. Therefore, the change promoted by the programme is restricted to maintaining the existing social order. Our findings call for a politicising of the discourses of 'cultural adaptation' in order to promote social justice for oppressed groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This collaborative autoethnography addresses the cultural, social, and political issues of (un)masking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though it may seem a simple act of wearing face masks in order to protect oneself and others from the virus, it has turned into a rather intricate phenomena for multiple reasons, including cultural attitudes, political rhetoric, and misinformation from leading health organizations. In this piece, the authors offer narrative dialogues of their experiences with mask-wearing across cultures and time, spanning from their youth in Japan and Bosnia–Herzegovina, respectively, to their current adult life in the U.S. prior to and during the pandemic. During the COVID-19 health crisis, reflections of our lived experiences across and within cultures provided us with rich qualitative data to understand the sociocultural impacts of mask-wearing (Rituparna & Uekusa [2020]. Collaborative autoethnography: 'Self-reflection' as a timely alternative research approach during the global pandemic. Qualitative Research Journal, 20(4), 383–392. ). This work contributes to mask-wearing behaviors and larger social and cultural changes regarding empathy and respect across cultural boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to explore the dialectic relationship between digital transformation and societal changes through a cultural and creative approach. The debate between an algorithmic society representation (as a narrative of the past) and a new strategic role of culture (as a narrative of the future) is still largely unexplored. In order to achieve the purpose of the research, the article wants to respond to the following research questions: what is the role of culture facing in the digital revolution? What opportunities and threats are created for the enhancement and preservation of culture and creativity? An open conversation in formal and informal environments has been mobilized from September 2018 until February 2020 with scientists and humanists following a narrative approach. The reflections derived and a comprehensive analysis of the literature on AI and data science have led to a review of models of culture-driven economic development. We propose a new research agenda for the preservation and enhancement of culture able to frame the opportunities and face the threats of the digital revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]