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This paper begins by reviewing rational choice institutionalism's explanation of how political institutions incentivise patronage networks emphasising ethnic cleavage. Acknowledging the limits of rationalist institutionalism in explaining societal norm constructions and mass behaviour, the paper then adopts discursive institutionalism to analyse the social affects of institutional design. The case study of violence against Amharas deemed 'settlers' in Ethiopia's contemporary ethnic federation highlights how new cleavages create new norms and new historical narratives, influencing group dynamics. These dynamics result in group‐based mass violence when rents‐based orders and patronage networks collapse during times of institutional instability or change. Thus, precipitated by the discursive effects of hyper‐ethnicised institutional design, mass violence against Amhara in different ethnic regions in Ethiopia emerges as an unexpected outcome of regime change and democratic transition in the country. These incidents of targeted violence are not simply explained by institutions, but rather by the socio‐political climate effected by the interaction between institutions and discourse under ethnic federalism. In short, this study demonstrates how institutions go beyond incentivising or constraining elite behaviour, producing discursive markers that normalise violence during periods of institutional 'lapse', when formal provisions of social order temporarily collapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the motivations and barriers behind the decision of economically disadvantaged Moldovans to refrain from migrating for better economic prospects. Drawing on 30 qualitative interviews with voluntary stayers, it uncovers a range of individual‐level characteristics that impede migration aspirations. These findings highlight the heightened sensitivity of lower‐wage stayers to their perceived social status abroad, their limited adaptability to new cultures and environments and their lower willpower to endure the challenges of long‐term gains. Moreover, this paper sheds light on their contentment with modest material gains and their aversion to migration risks. At the structural level, it emphasizes how social inequalities act as barriers for specific social groups, particularly the economically disadvantaged. These empirical insights challenge prevailing assumptions about the dominance of economic costs and network abroad in migration decision‐making, offering a fresh perspective on the social factors and costs shaping stayers' choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The status of women in Indian society has been paradoxical emanating from a deeply embedded socially construed gender‐based exploitation owing to historical and sociological reasons. Moreover, the intersectionality of gender and caste has made them one of the marginalized social groups who experience discrimination, exclusion, and exploitation. Plethora of Bollywood movies, and regional cinema narrate the humiliation and exploitation of women in various spheres of their life. Some of the recent Bollywood and regional cinema has successfully attempted to highlight the gender‐based exploitation and exclusion. Therefore, drawing upon an Amazon web series 'Dahad' and a movie 'Kathal‐a jackfruit mystery' the paper tries to explore the struggle, exploitation, discrimination, aspiration, and assertion of women against existing social oppression. Taking the inferences from these two movies, the paper endeavors to seek the answer to the following questions: What are the nature and pattern of gender and caste‐based humiliation of women? How gender and caste intersect in their humiliation and social exclusion? How are women making their own struggle against gender oppression and exploitation in society? What is the tactic they use to negotiate gender discrimination? How are they asserting against gender‐based discrimination? How are they asserting their 'agency' in patriarchal and hierarchical society? What aspire and motivate them to fight for their dignity? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the problem of assessing the homogeneity of the disease transmission process in stochastic epidemic models in populations that are partitioned into social groups. We develop a classical hypothesis test for completed epidemics which assesses whether or not there is significant within‐group transmission during an outbreak. The test is based on time‐ordered group labels of individuals. The null hypothesis is that of homogeneity of disease transmission among individuals, a hypothesis under which the discrete random vector of groups labels has a known sampling distribution that is independent of any model parameters. The test exhibits excellent performance when applied to various scenarios of simulated data and is also illustrated using two real‐life epidemic data sets. We develop some asymptotic theory including a central limit theorem. The test is practically very appealing, being computationally cheap and straightforward to implement, as well as being applicable to a wide range of real‐life outbreak settings and to related problems in other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's testimonial learning often occurs in epistemic collaborations with others. In this paper, we will discuss ways in which cultural learning emerges in social and interpersonal contexts, and is intrinsically supported and guided by children's collaborative capacities. Much work in cultural learning has focused on children's examination of speaker and model characteristics, but more recent research has investigated the interactive aspects of testimonial exchanges. We will review evidence that children (1) participate in the interpersonal commitments that are shared in testimonial transactions by way of direct address and epistemic buck passing, (2) participate in social groups that affect their selective learning in nuanced ways, and (3) may detect epistemic harms by listeners who refuse to believe sincere and accurate speakers. Implications for conceptualizing children's testimonial learning as an interactive mechanism of collaboration will be discussed. Children's testimonial learning often occurs in epistemic collaborations with others, which enable distinct forms of trust to operate that grant them access to information about the world. By examining children's conversational practices, their group‐based biases and assumptions, and their sensitivity to epistemic harms, we suggest that children evaluate speakers in terms of their epistemic credentials and social characteristics while at the same time holding them interpersonally responsible for their claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antisemitism has been a persistent and growing prejudice for millenniums against the Jewish people. This paper offers a general theory of group hatred appliable to antisemitism and other religious or racial prejudices. Theories of prejudice tend either to postulate an internal psychic template of hatred that is projected or postulate a social origin of hatred that is internalized. Rather there is a dialectic where there is a reciprocal movement between internal and external. The tendency to hate and project is a part of the human psyche, here called internal racism. Anxieties which cannot be contained internally can be stabilized by large‐group identity. When internal racism cannot be contained or the external social groups are weak, the result is pathological large‐group formations. A distinction can be made between personal antisemitism in which the hatred is projected onto a known person and impersonal antisemitism in which hatred is projected into groups. A fairy tale by the brother's Grimm, "The Jew among Thorns" is used to illustrate a number of personal antisemitic attitudes. "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," a forged document that appeared in pre‐revolutionary Russia, is used to illustrate impersonal antisemitism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paternal incarceration (PI) is recognised as a severely stigmatising event that undermines social connections leaving affected children isolated and vulnerable. However, few studies have explored social group membership as a potential mediator of positive outcomes. This paper analysed data from two national contexts, Scotland and the United States, to examine the potential for social group membership in childhood to mediate the association between PI and child behavioural and emotional outcomes. Study 1 reported on cross‐sectional data from the Growing Up in Scotland dataset of children aged 12 years. Study 2 used longitudinal data from the Fragile Families cohort study (USA) of children aged 9 years and then 15 years. Children and parents completed measures of PI, children's group membership, as well as positive functioning. In Study 1, a mediated indirect effect of PI on prosocial behaviour via children's group membership was observed. In Study 2, children's reported social group membership mediated the effect of PI on positive adolescent functioning longitudinally. Whilst experiences of PI at age 9 were linked with lower group membership at age 15, group membership was associated with higher levels of positive adolescent functioning. This has implications for the support families receive when a parent is incarcerated to avoid children serving sentences for 'the sins of their fathers'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increased research on 'multiple hazards' and 'cascading effects', ambiguity remains concerning terminology. This paper reviews the literature to explore how these two concepts are defined in relation to critical infrastructures and their vital societal functions. Next, it investigates how the concepts are operationalised in Swedish disaster risk management. Findings indicate that regardless of a wealth of methodologies assessing multiple hazards and their cascading effects, these are rarely used by local planners, suggesting a gap between scientific approaches and practical implementation. Research mainly captures multiple hazards and cascading effects through technical parameters related to the severity of a hazard or the direct physical impacts on infrastructure. Less focus has been placed on the wider or knock‐on effects across sectors and how these translate into societal risk. Future research should move beyond traditional understandings of social vulnerabilities as only pre‐existing, to analyse how cascading effects on infrastructure and services can put new social groups at risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In social psychology, stereotypes have generally been viewed as overgeneralized beliefs about social groups in society. Although stereotypes—especially those that are negative— tend to be recognized as contributing to prejudice and discrimination of marginalized communities, they are often conceptualized as containing a “kernel of truth.” Meanwhile, there has been relatively little consideration of the historical and cultural origins of racial stereotypes. This is an important oversight given that stereotypes have and continue to be used as a means to excuse and reinforce the systemic oppression of communities of color. Thus, the current paper uses a historical framework to review major stereotypes that have targeted communities of color throughout U.S. history, with a focus on stereotypes of Black people. In doing so, we conceptualize racial stereotypes as propaganda that have historically functioned to support oppressive societal systems in the U.S. by both (a) shaping public perceptions and expectations and (b) by influencing the thoughts and behavior of members of stereotyped groups. By situating stereotypes within their historical and cultural frames, readers can recognize the way stereotypes reinforce systems of oppression. We conclude with research implications and encourage stereotyping scholars to foreground the social construction of stereotypes and the function that  they serve by contextualizing their work in the social and historical context in which stereotypes emerged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme flooding events are becoming more frequent and costly, and impacts have been concentrated in cities where exposure and vulnerability are both heightened. To manage risks, governments, the private sector, and households now rely on flood hazard data from national‐scale models that lack accuracy in urban areas due to unresolved drainage processes and infrastructure. Here we assess the uncertainties of First Street Foundation (FSF) flood hazard data, available across the U.S., using a new model (PRIMo‐Drain) that resolves drainage infrastructure and fine resolution drainage dynamics. Using the case of Los Angeles, California, we find that FSF and PRIMo‐Drain estimates of population and property value exposed to 1%‐ and 5%‐annual‐chance hazards diverge at finer scales of governance, for example, by 4‐ to 18‐fold at the municipal scale. FSF and PRIMo‐Drain data often predict opposite patterns of exposure inequality across social groups (e.g., Black, White, Disadvantaged). Further, at the county scale, we compute a Model Agreement Index of only 24%—a ∼1 in 4 chance of models agreeing upon which properties are at risk. Collectively, these differences point to limited capacity of FSF data to confidently assess which municipalities, social groups, and individual properties are at risk of flooding within urban areas. These results caution that national‐scale model data at present may misinform urban flood risk strategies and lead to maladaptation, underscoring the importance of refined and validated urban models. Plain Language Summary: Flooding presents a significant risk to human activities and development, and its impacts have been rapidly increasing over recent decades. However, government flood mapping in the U.S. has not kept pace with adaptation needs, and communities have now turned to other sources of information to inform planning and design decisions. This study examines the uncertainties of flood hazard data available from the First Street Foundation across Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the U.S. With a comparision to two different models that more fully capture processes known to affect urban flooding, we show concerning levels of uncertainty in the First Street Foundation data at scales of municipalities and properties. These results highlight the need for more robust validation of urban flood hazard models, and caution against overliance of First Street Foundation data for urban flood management. Key Points: Flood risks are concentrated in urban areas, where national‐scale hazard models are less accurateFlood exposure estimates become increasingly uncertain at finer scales and may misrepresent the social distribution of riskRefined and validated urban flood models are needed to effectively and equitably manage increasingly severe flood risks [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]