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A literary analysis of the book "Interrogating My Chandal Life: An Autobiography of a Dalit " by Manoranjan Byapari is presented that explores the enduring social evil of caste in India. Topics discussed include the emotional and labor struggles of Dalits, the deep-rooted divisions among castes and the persistent challenges faced by lower castes and the socio-political dimensions of anger that arise from systemic oppression and misrecognition in postcolonial India.

ABSTRACT The construction history and subsequent usage of burial mounds are an important testimony for socio‐economic transformation in prehistoric societies. The Baalberge–Schneiderberg burial mound, subject of the presented study, falls in this category as it is considered as an important monument that indicates the emergence of early social stratification during the Chalcolithic period in central Europe. This hypothesis relies on the chronological development of the burial mound, which is not fully understood until now. Therefore, a reconstruction of the complex stratigraphy of the burial mound including construction phases and later alterations is highly relevant for archaeological research, but the required excavations would be onerous and inconsistent with preservation efforts. In this paper, we demonstrate that non‐invasive geophysical prospection, especially seismic sounding with shear and Love waves, is suitable to obtain the required stratigraphic information, if seismic full waveform inversion (FWI) and reflection imaging are applied. Complementary information on the preservation state of the mound is obtained through Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Electromagnetic Induction (EMI) measurements. To support the seismic and geoelectric results, we utilize Dynamic Testing (DynP), geoarchaeological corings, 14C‐Dating and archaeological records. Our investigations reveal two construction phases of the Baalberge–Schneiderberg mound. The 14C‐Dating yields dates for the older burial mound that are contemporary to the Chalcolithic Baalberge group (4000–3400 bc). During the Early Bronze Age (EBA), the mound was enlarged to its final size by people of the Aunjetitz/Únětice society (2300–1600 bc). However, both seismic and geoelectric depth sections show an extensive disturbance of the original stratigraphy due to former excavations. For this reason, the exact shape of the older burial mound cannot be determined exactly. Based on our data, we estimate that its height was below 2 m. In consequence, the original Baalberge burial mound was less monumental as until now assumed, which potentially prompting a revision of its significance as indicator for social differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southeast edge of the Loess Plateau (SELP) is a crucial area for studying subsistence strategies and social complexity in prehistoric China. Currently, no systematic isotopic study has been conducted to reveal shifts in subsistence strategies and their link to the trajectory of social complexity. This paper compiles previously published isotopic data from human and fauna bones at 24 sites dating from 8000 to 5000 BP, aiming to uncover diachronic changes in subsistence strategies and their relationship with social complexity. The results indicate a gradual increase in millet consumption by humans and an increasing utilization of millet‐based byproducts as feed for domestic animals (pigs and dogs) over time. The isotopic data of humans and animals demonstrate the establishment of millet agriculture during the Early Yangshao period (7000–6000 BP). Millet agriculture creates a crucial material foundation for population growth and cultural prosperity. Two modes of millet cultivation, intensive and extensive, are proposed to explain the continuous development of millet agriculture since the Early Yangshao period. Finally, significant dietary heterogeneity among the human population during the Late Yangshao period strongly suggests the emergence of social differentiation and complexity, supported by other archaeological evidence such as settlement hierarchies and the presence of exquisite objects in burials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harpoons are part of the composite technologies, widely dispersed throughout the world. In South America, a unique type of throwing harpoon reveals a limited distribution, primarily discovered in hunter‐gatherer archaeological sites within the lower La Plata basin. Specifically, they are found in two archaeological units named Incised Pottery and Plain Pottery which are defined by different material properties but share several common aspects as well. Regarding bone tools, the primary distinction lies in the decoration of the items, contrasting with the ornamentation of the pottery. While the processes underlying regional variability in the archaeological assemblages is not yet fully understood, various types of artifacts show differences in morphology and stylistic features that can be linked to archaeological units. For this purpose, we examined 13 archaeological samples of harpoon heads considering morphological, physical, and metrical variation, as well as the operational sequence. As result, we observed variations in both morphology and decoration, while the metrical structure, the selection of raw material and the operational sequence remain unaltered. This phenomenon could be attributed to a recent process of social differentiation affecting external features, whereas the internal characteristics are connected to technique behaviors resistant to recent changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analysis of the politico-economic and ethnic-social basis of difference, paying special attention to the anti-difference violence suffered by indigenous peoples and the concrete experience of the Gurani-Kaiowa in Brazil. Ethnic-social differences and commonalities are here examined through a social sciences reinterpretation of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. In this magistral book, Hegel problematises and gradually resolves many questions about human perception, the shortcomings of reason, and the incremental evolution of reason that can only happen through mediation and interaction. The unique features of each social group can consequently expand into ethnoclass commonalities shared with other, unique populations. That is particularly relevant to understand the many pressures to reduce the Guarani-Kaiowa to an indeterminate proletarian condition (generic members of the working class or the peasantry), which has nonetheless revitalised their sense of indigeneity. The Guarani-Kaiowa are different from other segments of the working class, but the more they see, and are seen, as different, the more immersed they become in the subalternity of the rest of the dispossessed population. The identification of the indigenous population as both members of the working class and of unique ethnical groups has major political consequences (the negation of the negation) in terms of poor-poor alliances that can challenge politico-economic trends and, particularly, the illegitimate concessions to agribusiness farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the reproduction of territorial stigmatization in the San Agustín neighborhood, located in Ecatepec, Mexico. Drawing on 21 months of ethnographic research, the article analyzes how territorial stigma is produced and reproduced through the discourses, practices, and interactions of multiple actors positioned at different levels. It argues that stigma unfolds internally as social differentiation, creating a normative structure based on criteria of moral superiority and inferiority. This is manifested in the use of derogatory social categories to refer especially to younger inhabitants and in forms of symbolic distancing among neighbors. The results underscore the moral dimension of stigma and its role in the construction of symbolic and social boundaries in contexts of urban relegation. The study concludes that the reproduction of stigma in the neighborhood is due to a structure based on criteria of superiority and inferiority among residents, which is sustained by a moral evaluation that normalizes the dominant urban symbolic order of central Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older people have been overlooked in recent debates over the relationship between age, class and culture despite their prevalence and the conceptual questions they raise. Seeking to bridge mainstream class analysis with debates in social gerontology, especially via a shared turn to Pierre Bourdieu's relational sociology, this paper draws on survey data from the US to examine not only the class position of older people but their internal social and cultural differentiation. I use geometric data analysis to construct a model of the class system, locate older people within it and then explore differences among older people. I then proceed to compare the cultural symbolisations of social positions among older people to those of the larger sample. The core structures of social and cultural differentiation among older people are roughly homologous with those of the broader sample, but there are also notable differences and even inversions pointing toward the specificity – and autonomy – of ageing as a principle of difference and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bylye Gody is the property of Cherkas Global University Press 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.)

We show that in search markets an influencer who recommends a product to her followers improves consumer surplus and total welfare despite the firm paying for her recommendation. As consumers learn their value for the product upon search, they will not buy at the recommended firm if they learn their value is low. The threat of search incentivizes firms to offer the influencer a financial contract involving a commission and incentivizes the influencer to be honest in her recommendation. Provided the influencer's search cost is not too high, she also has an incentive to acquire information and give informative recommendations. These informative equilibria are more difficult to sustain if influencers compete with each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the emergence of wellness as a significant lifestyle consideration, its influence on various life aspects, including travel, is gaining attention. This study aims to explore the intricate relationship between social wellness, physiological needs, safety‐security needs, self‐actualization needs, and travel intention. Utilizing partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM), the research examined these connections within a sample of 317 respondents. Findings revealed that social wellness significantly influence physiological needs, which in turn, have a strong positive effect on safety‐security needs, self‐actualization needs, and travel intention. However, safety‐security needs were not found to directly impact travel intention. Income was the only control variable affecting travel intention, with gender, age, and timing of last travel showing no significant influence. These insights carry valuable theoretical contributions, enriching the understanding of wellness‐driven travel motivation and offering practical implications for service providers, marketers, and policymakers in the travel and tourism industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Diachronic research of social status differences in diet reveals a dynamic interplay of cultural, economic, and technological forces that have shaped the food choices of individuals across the past centuries. In this paper we focus on food and related practices at Palatial Knossos on Crete in the mid‐second millennium BC and review palaeodietary stable carbon and nitrogen isotope (δ13C and δ15N) data from two cemeteries to explore evidence for embodied social variation during the site's uncontested heyday in the Neo‐palatial Period (c.1700 to 1500 BC). We show that analysis by sex and tomb suggests no significant social differentiation in access to food resources. Instead, temporal trends reveal increased availability of animal protein during the Neo‐palatial period, aligning with Knossos' political and economic supremacy. We argue that the equitable living circumstances at Knossos during the Neo‐palatial period may have contributed to the absence of factional competition and social unrest, potentially explaining the site's continuity into Post‐palatial times despite widespread destructions elsewhere on Crete. Overall, the findings shed light on the complex interplay between diet, social structure, and historical context at Neo‐palatial Knossos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the advanced state of capitalist dynamics' penetration in agriculture, Jordan constitutes an enlightening and overlooked case study. Shaped by a history of war, dependency and imperialism, the monarchy has undergone a rapid process of agrarian change that has radically changed the social fabric of agriculture. Nowadays, a new process is occurring: the growing polarisation of two social classes of capitalist producers reveals the processes of accumulation and disempowerment driven by relations of credit and debt. The market, both in its abstract and physical realities, is the central mechanism that fuels the ongoing process of social differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to provide a clearer understanding of Digital Capital in education. It introduces a comprehensive analytical framework that explores the relationship between Digital Capital and Bourdieu's Cultural Capital Theory. Instead of treating digital skills and resources as separate entities, it integrates them into Cultural Capital Theory as complementary elements. This approach helps shed light on the disparities in ICT usage. Data from the 2018 OECD‐PISA survey conducted in Italy are analysed to assess whether Digital Capital can be considered a component of Cultural Capital. The findings indicate that differences in Cultural Capital do not significantly impact the possession and usage of digital assets. Instead, distinctions become apparent through students’ behaviours within the school environment. This underscores the connection between digital competencies and various dimensions of cultural and educational capital. The article posits that status and cultural disparities stem not solely from digital competencies but also from their interplay with social and cultural resources. This offers deeper insights into how the digital divide intersects with broader societal power dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article diagnoses a novel problem with gentrification: that it can hinder valuable forms of everyday democratic communication. In order to make this argument, I develop a democratic interpretation of Iris Marion Young's 'ideal of city life', according to which social differentiation is valuable because of the epistemic role that it plays in the production and circulation of diverse social perspectives. I then leverage that ideal to examine two kinds of spatial and demographic changes associated with gentrification: community disintegration in enclaves and homogenisation in public spaces. I argue that community disintegration in enclaves can make the production of social perspectives within disadvantaged communities more difficult. I then argue that homogenisation in public spaces can undermine the role of such spaces as sites of democratic performance for the wider circulation of social perspectives in the public sphere. Finally, I reflect on the reach of my argument for broader judgements about the permissibility of policies that foster or permit gentrification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores linguistic life-histories from five participants in a larger interview study with U.S.-based adults. These five interviewees were middle-class White women from monolingual English-speaking families who pursued multilingual learning trajectories in young adulthood. Having previously attained proficiency in one language through academic study, all five recounted similar pivotal decisions to deprioritize that language, and instead invest in another language that they now saw as more socially relevant. Through discursive analysis of the emotionality and (lack of) agency in their narratives of linguistic decision-making, the paper demonstrates how all five women, in dialogue with the interviewer, co-constructed ideologies of linguistic solidarity across lines of social difference. Drawing on Bakhtinian theory to analyze identity development as ideological becoming, the research explores elite contestation of dominant language ideologies within interview dialogues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Stratum Plus Journal is the property of P.P. Stratum plus 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 examines how patron-client relationships deepen into relations of pity, obligation, and dependency through rural neighbourhood stores. Based on ethnographic research on Palawan Island, I examine relations between Tagbanua and their store-owning neighbours in order to consider firstly, how social differentiations of class and ethnicity are reproduced through stores, and secondly, the role of these stores in the reproduction of contending moral claims regarding the foundational basis of this inequality. I suggest that what is being debated can be understood in terms of a right to provision. In drawing on this case study, I argue that the right to provision allows us to consider how the right to provide is bound within claims about the right to be provided with the conditions that make viable provision possible. Shopping in the rainforest, therefore, concerns the moral claims central to how a person can make a living and live with others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the cognitive–ecological model of social perception, biases toward individuals can arise as by-products of cognitive principles that interact with the information ecology. The present work tested whether negatively biased person descriptions occur as by-products of cognitive differentiation. Later-encountered persons are described by their distinct attributes that differentiate them from earlier-encountered persons. Because distinct attributes tend to be negative, serial person descriptions should become increasingly negative. We found our predictions confirmed in six studies. In Study 1, descriptions of representatively sampled persons became increasingly distinct and negative with increasing serial positions of the target person. Study 2 eliminated this pattern of results by instructing perceivers to assimilate rather than differentiate a series of targets. Study 3 generalized the pattern from one-word descriptions of still photos of targets to multisentence descriptions of videos of targets. In line with the cognitive–ecological model, Studies 4–5b found that the relation between serial position and negativity was amplified among targets with similar positive attributes, zero among targets with distinct positive or negative attributes, and reversed among similar negative targets. Study 6 returned to representatively sampled targets and generalized the serial position–negativity effect from descriptions of the targets to overall evaluations of them. In sum, the present research provides strong evidence for the explanatory power of the cognitive–ecological model of social perception. We discuss theoretical and practical implications. It may pay off to appear early in an evaluation sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In her book From Law and Literature to Legality and Affect, Greta Olson argues for an expansive view of the legal, which encompasses both one's Rechtsgefühl and the sociocultural normative settings one is surrounded by. Acknowledging the existence of "a variety of competing nomoi " (Olson, From Law and Literature, p.7), i.e., diverse normative environments within a given legal order, notions of law as legality, and affect as law's new Other are conceptualized as projects fostering legal pluralism. Yet, is such a pluralistic, diversified notion of legality able to challenge those normative legal-cultural conditions which still privilege cis, male, heterosexual, White, able-bodied, propertied non-immigrants? Agreeing with Roger Cotterrell that "[l]aw's interpretive communities now reflect the patterned differentiation of the social" (Law, p.100), and Olson's claim that "ideas about law are negotiated outside of the courtroom, the parliament, or even the governmental office where law and legal ordinances are directly translated into everyday life experience" (From Law and Literature, p. 20), this article examines how legality may speak back to law, in its professionalized, dogmatic sense, and to legal orders, and analyzes in which ways an understanding of law as legality may affect LGBTQIAP* rights activism. This critical queer theoretical perspective thus challenges Olson's nomoi by approaching the limitations of legal affects for trans and queer legal subjects. By analyzing the design and logic behind two recent cases of anti-trans bills in the U.S., Arkansas' HB 1570 ('Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act') and Idaho's HB 500 ('Fairness in Women's Sports Act') from a cultural studies perspective, this article examines how an expanded understanding of law as legality may affect the gendered, cis-ed, and heteronormative nature of the U.S.'s dominant legal order(s). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the subjugation operated by the military campaigns of 1878-1885, the native population of northern Patagonia (Mapuche-tehuelche) suffered forced relocation, the breakdown of socio-political and family units, the erasure of the identity of hundreds of minors and the declamation of the extinction of the indigenous cultural and social world. From this genocidal process, the agency of indigenous individuals and collectives was conditioned within the framework of the construction of a new society that was defined as "without Indians". From then on, this became a condition for their possibilities of accessing land, as well as a principle of stigmatization and social differentiation. This paper focuses in addressing a particular instance of the agency of this population: the National Aboriginal Association. This organization stood out for its self-recognition as aboriginal and for its supra-community, trans-territorial and national structure. The ANA was active in a key period defining a political strategy that defended the indigenous producer, encouraged processes of communalization and articulation of the agency of the original peoples with other political actors, both in northern Patagonia and in the national context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Philopatric kin-based societies encourage a narrow breadth of conservative behaviours owing to individuals primarily learning from close kin, promoting behavioural homogeneity. However, weaker social ties beyond kin, and across a behaviourally diverse social landscape, could be sufficient to induce variation and a greater ecological niche breadth. We investigated a network of 457 photo-identified killer whales from Norway (548 encounters in 2008–2021) with diet data available (46 mixed-diet individuals feeding on both fish and mammals, and 411 exclusive fish-eaters) to quantify patterns of association within and between diet groups, and to identify underlying correlates. We genotyped a subset of 106 whales to assess patterns of genetic differentiation. Our results suggested kinship as main driver of social bonds within and among cohesive social units, while diet was most likely a consequence reflective of cultural diffusion, rather than a driver. Flexible associations within and between ecologically diverse social units led to a highly connected network, reducing social and genetic differentiation between diet groups. Our study points to a role of social connectivity, in combination with individual behavioural variation, in influencing population ecology in killer whales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the multifaceted impacts of hierarchical systems and social networking on social differentiation, network formation, and individual well-being. Employing a comprehensive literature review and meta-analysis, it explores the dynamics of power and status within organizations, the influence of social resources on socioeconomic status, and the role of social networking sites in shaping social capital and psychological health. The research investigates how hierarchical structures within organizations and informal social settings contribute to social differentiation, examining the effects of power, status, and social resources on individual and group dynamics. Additionally, it assesses the impact of social networking sites on social well-being, career development, and psychological health, considering both the positive and negative consequences of online social interactions. The study reveals that while hierarchical systems and social networking can foster social capital, professional growth, and enhanced wellbeing, they also pose risks of social inequality, psychological distress, and exacerbated mental health issues. The findings underscore the complexity of social relations in the digital age, offering insights for developing more inclusive social structures and healthier digital interaction spaces. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the interplay between social hierarchies, networking, and well-being, providing valuable implications for organizational leaders, policymakers, and individuals navigating social differentiation and digital socialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to reveal the social and spatial change in Bakırköy through time and to identify the drivers behind this transformation. Bakırköy has been chosen as it hosted the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires, leading to its multicultural and layered structure. It has been influenced by the dominant features of each era, shaping socio-economic changes, spatial transformations, and urban planning practices over the historical process. The interaction of these socio-spatial elements within Bakırköy encompasses broad themes such as social differentiation, economic change, and urban governance, thereby presenting case studies to examine the dynamics of urban areas in Istanbul. The research has been conducted at two levels. First, spatial changes were examined through relevant documents, literature, and historical maps. The periods were determined as the state-led development period (1923-1950), liberalization period (1950-1980), neoliberal transformation period (1980-2000), and globalization period (post-2000), with the pre-1923 period being considered separately. Subsequently, five case studies were selected to represent different functional land use at the local level. The first case study involves an area known as the İskender Çelebi Farm in the 17th century, which was chosen to represent the transformation from a food production area to industrial production in the 18th century and has become a mass housing area in the 20th century, now known as the Ataköy districts. The second and third case studies represent the transformation from industrial production areas in the 19th and early 20th centuries to residential, tourism, and shopping areas. The fourth case study focuses on the coastal strip, which was used as a public space for 'sea baths' in the 19th century and today exists as luxury housing projects under private ownership. The fifth case study involves an area that served as an airport in the early 20th century and is currently planned for a hospital and green spaces, although it remains a public service. Through these cases, which demonstrate the shift from the productional use of space to consumption, the study seeks to answer the following questions: First, how do demographic and economic changes play a significant role in the differentiation of urban space, and in a related context, what is the local-scale impact of changing policies on the functional change of the selected cases? The findings reveal that industrial investments, supported by transportation investments, choose their locations in the changing/transforming economic order. The decentralization of industry and the privatization or transformation of public investments into consumption-focused urban areas through public-private partnerships have also been observed. The study aims to prove that this change in space lays the groundwork for social differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2023 SDGs report underscores the prolonged disruption of COVID-19 on community living spaces, infrastructure, education, and income equality, exacerbating social and spatial inequality. Against the backdrop of the dual impact of significant events and the emergence of digital technologies, a coherent research trajectory is essential for characterizing social–spatial equity and understanding its influential factors within the urban planning discipline. While prior research emphasized spatial dimensions and mitigated spatial differentiation to ensure urban equity, the complexity of these interconnections necessitates a more comprehensive approach. This study adopts a holistic perspective, focusing on the "social–spatial" dynamics, utilizing social perception (sentiment maps) and spatial differentiation (housing prices index) pre- and post-pandemic to elucidate the interconnected and interactive nature of uneven development at the urban scale. It employs a multi-dimensional methodological framework integrating morphology analysis of housing conditions, GIS analysis of urban amenities, sentiment semantic analysis of public opinion, and multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) analysis of correlation influential factors. Using Suzhou, China, as a pilot study, this research demonstrates how these integrated methods complement each other, exploring how community conditions and resource distribution collectively bolster resilience, thereby maintaining social–spatial equity amidst pandemic disruptions. The findings reveal that uneven resource distribution exacerbates post-pandemic social stratification and spatial differentiation. The proximity of well-maintained ecological environments, such as parks or scenic landmarks, generally exhibits consistency and positive effects on "social–spatial" measurement. Simultaneously, various spatial elements influencing housing prices and social perception show geographic heterogeneity, particularly in areas farther from the central regions of Xiangcheng and Wujiang districts. This study uncovers a bilateral mechanism between social perception and spatial differentiation, aiming to delve into the interdependent relationship between social–spatial equity and built environmental factors. Furthermore, it aspires to provide meaningful references and recommendations for urban planning and regeneration policy formulation in the digital era to sustain social–spatial equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to growing environmental concerns and sustainability issues, firms have to rely on green practices to overcome these challenges, and they should not be reluctant that it will adversely affect their financial performance. Some studies hold that a green entrepreneurial orientation is vital for achieving performance. However, scant research has empirically tested the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions under which green entrepreneurial orientation affects firm performance. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the influence of green entrepreneurial orientation on firm performance via green ('product and process') innovation. Additionally, multiple moderation effects: a). Corporate social responsibility moderates green entrepreneurial orientation and green ('product and process') innovation nexuses, and b). Differentiation strategy moderates green ('product and process') innovation influence on firm performance was also investigated. The hypotheses were empirically tested with primary data collected from 576 Italian small and medium-sized enterprises using the survey method and analyzed through structural equation modeling. On the foundation of the resource-based view, the results demonstrate that green entrepreneurial orientation directly and indirectly, through green ('product and process') innovation, influences firm performance. Evidence also confirms that corporate social responsibility and differentiation strategies positively moderate the proposed relationships. These results provide a new perspective on green entrepreneurial orientation, underlying mechanisms, and boundary conditions under which firms can improve their performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Originally a domestic product used by West African rural population, shea nut has become an international commodity exported all over the world. However, local periodic markets remain a central site of exchange and nut trading for many women shea nut collectors in Burkina Faso. Using survey data from Burkina Faso, this paper explores the ways in which shea nut collectors navigate shea nut trading. Many collectors engage in early nut trading during the farming season to cover their household subsistence needs, despite the lower shea nut price at that time of the year. The results show that this early market consists mostly of better off shea nut collectors buying nuts from worse off collectors, as the lead firms and wholesalers tend to enter the market later in the season. While the exchanged volumes remain small, this highlights social differentiation among women shea nut collectors, as the better-off collectors are able to invest their shea income in other sources of income, while the other collectors rely on shea for their reproduction needs. Furthermore, this social differentiation is also reflected in different household dynamics and bargaining strategies between spouses, as better-off collectors tend to collaborate to a larger extent with their partners than the other collectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the article is to study the main parameters characterizing the quality of life of the population of Kazakhstan in modern economic conditions and develop proposals for its improvement. The methodology of the study is based on a holistic approach, including the use of objective indicators of the quality of life that determine the material conditions and means of human livelihood, and subjective assessments of the population, social groups of their material and social well-being. Measuring and evaluating the level and quality of life of the population of Kazakhstan based on an integrated approach includes the use of the following methods: component analysis, normative and stratification, integral indicators, and subjective assessments of the population. The leading blocks of the life support system are considered, including the assessment of income and consumption in the conditions of maintaining socio-economic income differentiation; the social qualitative parameters of the life support system of the population, the most important indicators of the implementation of priority areas of development of labor potential in the innovative economy, modernization of housing policy are given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across Southeast Asia's extractive frontier, Indigenous people increasingly negotiate an influx of nonstate actors pushing partnerships and projects to steer livelihoods away from extractivism and toward forest conservation. Yet, NGOs and their donors often struggle to grasp Indigenous peoples' changing needs and expectations that may prioritize sustaining an income, often via the promises extractive industries propose, over preserving fragmented forests for posterity. This paper examines three interventions by conservation NGOs in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, which leveraged custom (adat) and "alternative" livelihoods through territorial practices to dissuade a Dayak Modang community from releasing ancestral lands for palm oil plantations and coal mines. Drawing on the state's definition of adat to demarcate Modang territory, NGOs and some Modang engaged in counter-mapping and livelihood initiatives as hopeful expressions of indigeneity and making a living through acts of territorialization. We explore how NGO territorial practices unfolded as simplified spatial expressions that leveraged adat identity, enclosures, and livelihoods, neglecting the contemporary realities of living in a fragmented forest frontier. Although NGO-Modang strategies temporarily slowed dispossession and deforestation, their misaligned livelihood and conservation programs may have reinforced social differentiation between and across Dayak and migrant groups to ultimately facilitate extraction's expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a historically situated close reading of Mauritanian-French filmmaker Med Hondo's first feature-length film, Soleil Ô (1970), this article traces the development of a deeply inventive, decolonial form of audiovisual critique that retains its analytical and affective force. The analytic framework of racial capitalism, I propose, makes it possible to hold together the film's fragmented vignettes. Focusing on how the work attentively sifts through the powerful auditory cacophony of the postcolonial city, I argue that the film traces a sonic cartography, generating an oppositional 'sound-essay' that critically interrogates racial capitalism's structuring dynamics of social differentiation and spatial domination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As highly social animals, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (Sousa chinensis) exhibit community differentiation. Nevertheless, our understanding of the external and internal factors influencing these dynamics, as well as their spatiotemporal variations, is still limited. In the present study, variations in the social structure of an endangered Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin population in Xiamen Bay, China, were monitored over two distinct periods (2007–2010 and 2017–2019) to analyze the effects of habitat utilization and the composition of individuals within the population. In both periods, the population demonstrated a strikingly similar pattern of social differentiation, characterized by the division of individuals into two main clusters and one small cluster. Spatially, the two primary clusters occupied the eastern and western waters, respectively, although the core distribution area of the eastern cluster shifted further eastward between the two periods. Despite this distribution shift, the temporal stability of the social structure and inter-associations within the eastern cluster remained unaffected. A subset of 16 individuals observed in both periods, comprising 51.6% and 43.2% of the population in each respective period, emerged as a foundational element of the social structure and may be responsible for sustaining social structure stability, especially during the 2007–2010 period. These observations suggest that the composition of dominant individuals, an internal factor, had a more substantial influence on the formation of the social network than changes in habitat use, an external factor. Consequently, the study proposes distinct conservation measures tailored to each of the two main clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article constructs a comprehensive new model of the contemporary class structure of Germany. More specifically, inspired by Pierre Bourdieu's geometric conception of class relations and drawing on original survey data, it adopts multiple correspondence analysis paired with cluster analysis to chart the German 'social space', that is, the relational configuration of key forms of capital. It then explores correspondences with occupational groups, ethnic groups, other demographic features, lifestyle practices and tastes. The results disclose specific structuring effects of German peculiarities on the distribution of social power, including East–West reunification and the long-running guestworker programme. More fundamentally, though, in its basic structure, the space resembles that mapped by Bourdieu in France and those documented by others elsewhere, suggesting common principles of social and symbolic differentiation among Western capitalist societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores two significant issues in Lima: social differentiation and middle-class neighbourhoods. In a context of urban unpredictability, it addresses the residential strategies carried out by ancashinos, puneños and huancaínos during Lima's 1970 and 1980 decades. Reviewing the residential criteria, such as the material neighbourhood conditions, the urban location and the resident families' features, it was identified that social class, ethnic group and social origin were fundamental categories when choosing neighbourhoods. The residential strategies allow to delve into the homogeneity of the city's central area and explore the social differences within the middle classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the types of work that jurists have historically undertaken and maps how opportunities for legal practice have been shaped by social origins across three centuries: after constitutional independence in the mid‐1800s, during industrial capitalism in the mid‐1900s, and at present‐day advanced capitalism. I analyze historical archive data on law graduates from the 19th and 20th centuries in combination with administrative registry data from the 1990s onwards and employ correspondence analysis to explore how social backgrounds shape careers, considering transformations in class structures and the changing significance of juridical expertise over time. Within each period, jurists have served in very different roles including those that craft and cater to the institutional make‐up of the state and the markets. My analysis shows that the impact of social origin on occupational outcomes has undergone significant changes, mirroring shifts in the broader social structure; from the importance of legal and political capital (within regional jurisdictions) in the 19th century to the significance of economic capital as the main structuring principle, but also a greater significance of cultural capital, in contemporary times. The ability to reach the most powerful positions among law graduates—within the polity in the 19th century, and the economy in the 21st century—has been differently structured by origins. I argue that expansion of the student body, the declining standing of the university, and heightened differentiation of the social structure and the juridical field have made intimate familiarity with the business world pivotal for forging mutually beneficial alliances between jurists and the increasingly dominant capitalist class. Today, a select group of jurists have managed to connect with and contribute to the rising power of private capital. Thus, the historical tale of jurists cannot be accurately captured by notions of uniform descent from national power structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Educa UMCH is the property of Universidad Marcelino Champagnat 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.)

Different choices of living space for urban residents are concrete reflections of a social class divide. Emerging residential space differentiation is a critical issue in Chinese cities. This paper aims to explore the current situations and mechanisms of residential spatial differentiation, and reveal its social responses in Chinese cities. Taking Wuhan, the largest city in central China, as an example, this research divides the residential space based on social resource structures. It analyzes and compares spatial differentiation and influencing factors of different residential areas and houses with different prices in Wuhan by spatial differentiation indicators and geographic detector. The results show that residential areas are divergent due to differences in urban resource spatial structure, with few and concentrated high-quality residential areas. The spatial differentiation level of different residential areas also varies, with central location, landscape, educational resources, and other dominant scarce resources being the key to residential spatial differentiation in most of China's big cities. In addition, residential spatial differentiation can lead to issues including housing wealth inequality, resource deprivation, and class identity solidification. In the end, this paper puts forward policy implications on alleviating residential spatial differentiation and optimizing allocation of residential resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on social structure and residency provides important information on the dynamics of a population, improving knowledge of the species' behaviour and ecology. This study investigated the social network, site fidelity, and residency patterns of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) off Lampedusa Island.Direct visual detection and photo‐identification methods were used to collect data during 124 boat‐based surveys conducted from 2013 to 2020. A total of 117 groups (mean size 4.5 ± 3.3) were sighted; 73 well‐marked animals were identified, of which 59% were resighted over the years.The estimate of social differentiation was 0.72 (SE = 0.07), suggesting differentiated social groups within the community. Data were somewhat representative of the true social system, as the correlation coefficient was close to 0.4. However, the half‐weight index averaged 0.07 (±0.03), indicating individuals' low tendency to associate. Five social clusters were identified with strong relationships between individuals within each cluster, in which 94% of maximum association indices were ≥0.4. The data also highlighted preferred and avoided associations and stable relationships. The removal of individuals with the highest values of strength and eigenvector centrality from the network did not affect its connectivity, suggesting inherent robustness.Despite the different levels of site fidelity among individuals, the results indicated rather high levels of yearly sighting rate. Temporary migration into and out of the area shown by this study indicates that Lampedusa coastal waters are an important, regularly used bottlenose dolphin habitat.These results suggest extensive ranging behaviour, which implies the need for networking between institutions and organizations from the various states bordering the Strait of Sicily to address conservation efforts and inform regional management of the Mediterranean bottlenose dolphin population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the link between religion and conspiracy theories by focusing on religious agents operating two alternative media outlets in Switzerland, opposing perceived mainstream opinions. Informed by Bourdieu's field theory, the article elaborates on the agents' surpassing of field boundaries, spawning an alternative field that accommodates all agents expelled from their initial fields. Through web scraping and qualitative interviews with the content creators, the analysis elucidates the particular significance of religious agents in the production and distribution of conspiracy theories, as they inherently oppose social differentiation, enabling them to contend with dominant authorities convincingly. The article concludes by offering an understanding of the alternative field and, by extension, of conspiracy theories as a process of dedifferentiation, striving for a realignment of the current structure of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflict divides society by bringing out opposing opinions and social, political and cultural difference. Humour becomes a way to disseminate and comment on opinions as well as to mark divisions in the public sphere. Even though humour is ambiguous in nature, its stance (Shifman 2014) is made evident through content and/or context. In cases where the content of pro- and anti-democratic humour is similar, meta-discourse decides the stance. In this article we look at the (mainly online) humour that has emerged as a reaction to politically polarising conflicts. We use as examples the 2020 protests in Belarus and the Russian war in Ukraine. We analyse common and unusual motifs in pro- and anti-democratic humour born from these conflicts and discuss the sources used to create this humour. The results show that anti-democratic humour has fewer layers of reference and is less subtle than pro-democratic humour as the latter needs to circumvent censorship. Pro-democratic humour makes ample use of self-irony in contrast to the more rigid and offensive position taken in antidemocratic humour. Pro-democratic humour also needs to be more inclusive as it often spreads within a wider, more global audience catering for wider tastes in humour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alongside subsystems, classes, and types of socials relations, societies differentiate between categories of their personnel, referring to their age, sex, "race," (dis)ability, performance, geographic and social origin, sexual preference, religious conviction, profession, and so on. This article outlines a theory of human differentiation with the aim of viewing processes leading to reified memberships of human categories in an encompassing comparative approach. Differentiating humans distinguishes them perceptively, categorizes them lingually, shapes them physically, segregates them spatially, and subjects them to othering and unequal evaluative treatment. The analytic vocabulary developed in this article puts forward five elementary processes—prelingual distinction, lingual categorization, official classification, material marking/dissimilation, and segregation—and three advanced processes of asymmetrical differentiation: the alterization of humans, their differential evaluation, and the escalation into boundary constitution and polarization. Processes of human differentiation are stabilized via coupling with social and societal differentiation, but they can also be practically minimalized, normatively contained, and institutionally diluted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociological literature on cultural practices seeking to understand the social differentiation of taste pays limited attention to what people avoid consuming, despite its potential as a strategic indicator of taste. Avoidance has special relevance for the understanding of eating and drinking practices which are often characterized by exclusion of items for health, hedonic, reputational, or spiritual reasons. Making use of rich data on twenty-three items commonly consumed by Italian adults, this paper investigates how avoidances—i.e. what people claim never to eat or drink—are clustered, socially patterned and have evolved over time. Methodologically, we propose the novel use and integration of two machine learning techniques—Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) and Boosted Regression Trees (BRT)— to identify nine highly homogeneous avoidance clusters and examine the power of social variables in predicting the probability of individuals' belonging to various clusters and to further characterize them. We conclude by discussing possible rationales behind avoidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copy number variations at 7q11.23 cause neurodevelopmental disorders with shared and opposite manifestations. Deletion causes Williams-Beuren syndrome featuring hypersociability, while duplication causes 7q11.23 microduplication syndrome (7Dup), frequently exhibiting autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Converging evidence indicates GTF2I as key mediator of the cognitive-behavioral phenotypes, yet its role in cortical development and behavioral hallmarks remains largely unknown. We integrated proteomic and transcriptomic profiling of patient-derived cortical organoids, including longitudinally at single-cell resolution, to dissect 7q11.23 dosage-dependent and GTF2I-specific disease mechanisms. We observed dosage-dependent impaired dynamics of neural progenitor proliferation, transcriptional imbalances, and highly specific alterations in neuronal output, leading to precocious excitatory neuron production in 7Dup, which was rescued by restoring physiological GTF2I levels. Transgenic mice with Gtf2i duplication recapitulated progenitor proliferation and neuronal differentiation defects alongside ASD-like behaviors. Consistently, inhibition of lysine demethylase 1 (LSD1), a GTF2I effector, was sufficient to rescue ASD-like phenotypes in transgenic mice, establishing GTF2I-LSD1 axis as a molecular pathway amenable to therapeutic intervention in ASD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North Korean authorities have the responsibility to protect (R2P) their people from starvation. Yet, reports of death from starvation in North Korea have been consistent since the widespread famine during the so‐called "Arduous March." According to Amartya Sen, in a society with massive starvation and food refugees, famine crises are not merely due to food availability decline (FAD). Instead, the dominant variable in such crises is the food entitlement decline (FED) of vulnerable social groups. Therefore, since the repeated failure of the North Korean government to fulfill its responsibility justifies and obliges the international community to act, the "food entitlement" of the North Korean people needs to be further explored from social, economic, and political perspectives to help clarify and validate such international responsibility. Focusing on Kim Jong‐un's leadership since 2012, this paper explores the substance and causes of FAD and FED in North Korea and monitors any changes. To seek effective commitments from the international community, including South Korea, the current research also analyzes the impact of the persistent violation of the people's right to food on the North Korean economic‐social system and political regime, and the ensuing influence on the human rights situation with reference to the cases of Vietnam, China, and Mongolia in terms of the dichotomic social differentiation, beginnings of the civil society, and political change in the late‐communist stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Interdisciplinary borrowing between ecology and the social sciences has produced numerous insights about pastoral livelihood practices and rangeland ecology, demonstrating how people practicing pastoralism constantly modify their practices to adapt to social, political, economic, and biophysical change. Objectives: I outline an approach for integrating research on pastoral livelihoods into a landscape ecology framework. I focus on access to land and resources, and an integrative approach to scale, to assess the relationship between landscape and social processes. Methods: I use remotely sensed data and ethnographic analysis of livelihood change in two semi-arid contexts in Kenya to compare broad scale changes in pastoral mobility to spatio-temporal patterns of variability in rainfall and vegetation productivity. I then synthesize the political, economic, and social relations that have most prominently influenced access to land and restructured landscape process at finer scales. Results: Spatial controls have been imposed on land use that have increasingly partitioned landscapes and concentrated pastoral access to land. Access to land has also been influenced by changes in social norms, employment, and market relations. Informal rules and norms, social differentiation, and exclusionary partitions have produced socially differentiated land use intensity gradients and novel landscape processes that have not previously been considered in landscape analyses in Kenya. Conclusions: Understanding access, land use, and landscape processes as intertwined, with uneven processes of land and resource capture at different scales, would enable landscape ecologists to choose observational scales relevant to rural livelihoods and sensitive to power asymmetries, creating robust analytical linkages between social and ecological processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Language & Law / Revista de Llengua i Dret is the property of Revista de Llengua i Dret 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 analyzes livelihood diversification and social differentiation in the Bolivian highlands. It argues that peasants' increased dependence on mining is undermining the material basis of their farming practices and leading to social differentiation which threaten their autonomy, control over their resource base and, ultimately, farming futures. While pluriactivity is necessary to sustain life on the farm, it also actively depletes it. The multiple identities and complex class positions of these smallholders have hindered forms of organized resistance. Mining is part of agrarian life and these dynamics are important to understand rural livelihoods and agrarian change in the contemporary context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collective coordination of distributed tasks in a complex system can be represented as decision dynamics on a graph. This abstract representation allows studying the performance of local decision heuristics as a function of task complexity and network architecture. Here, we identify hard-to-solve and easy-to-solve networks in a social differentiation task within the basic model of small-world graphs. We show that, depending on the details of the decision heuristic as well as the length of the added links, shortcuts can serve as structural promotors, which speed up convergence toward a solution, but also as structural insulators, which make the network more difficult to solve. Our findings have implications for situations where, in distributed decision systems, regional solutions emerge, which are globally incompatible as, for example, during the emergence of technological standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In East Africa, pastoralist systems are undergoing rapid transformation due to land enclosures, benefit distributions associated with new land uses, shifting social relations, and changing authority and governance structures. We apply a critical analysis of the institutions that mediate access and benefits across a complex mosaic of property relations within Ilkisongo Maasai pastoralist land in southern Kenya. Our analysis elucidates how global and national influences have interacted with shifting dynamics of socio-cultural norms and rules regarding access to create new benefit pathways, cascading patterns of accumulation and social differentiation, and diffuse institutional controls over land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]