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The electoral base of the Democratic Party has been transformed over the past generation. Democrats have lost ground in rural America while adding strength in cities and, more recently, suburbs. A major consequence of this shift has been the creation of a "U-shaped" Democratic voting base, with both poorer metro voters and affluent suburbanites siding with the party. This spatial alliance overlays a multi-racial one, as Democrats rely more heavily on voters of color than any other major party in American history. Many analysts have argued that the Democratic Party has managed this sea change by shifting from economic to cultural and identity appeals. This claim is consistent with leading models of two-dimensional party competition, as well as a fair amount of cross-national research on parties of the left and center-left in contemporary knowledge economies. However, we find little evidence for this claim in national Democrats' messaging (via party platforms and on Twitter), nor, more important, in their actual policy efforts. Instead, we show that even as Democrats have increasingly relied on affluent, educated voters, the party has embraced a more ambitious economic agenda. The national party has bridged the Blue Divide not by foreswearing redistribution or foregrounding cultural liberalism, but by formulating an increasingly bold economic program—albeit one that elides important inequalities within its metro-based multi-racial coalition. Understanding how and why Democrats have taken this path is central to understanding not just the party's response to its shifting electorate, but the way parties manage coalitional change more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines preference organization in adult second language classrooms in relation to possible -isms—utterances which are hearably racist, classist, (hetero)sexist, or otherwise exclusionary, although their exclusionary nature may be (re)negotiated in situ. A collection of sixty-one possible -isms from a corpus of fifty-five hours of video-recorded English second language classes was examined using conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis. The analysis shows that participants orient to solidarity by supporting -isms, progressivity by deleting -isms, and moral accountability by challenging -isms; however, participants prioritize solidarity, enacting it early, even in cases of deletion and challenges. I argue that this preference organization is rooted in the institutional roles and objectives of adult second language classrooms, where presumably competent members of diverse cultures aim to foster an environment for active participation. Findings underscore the importance of conducting microanalyses of talk-in-interaction to uncover structural constraints which facilitate the reproduction of systemic exclusion. (-isms, preference, conversation analysis, membership categorization analysis, classroom interaction, exclusion in interaction) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the historical development and dynamics of political and administrative structures in regions of a fragmented empire that cannot be simply described as marginal 'mouseholes'. Rather, it should be acknowledged that these spaces were part and parcel of a wider area (the Byzantine insular and coastal koine) , which encompassed coastal areas as well as insular communities promoting socio-economic contact and cultural interchange. More importantly, they also boasted a peculiar set of material indicators suggesting a certain common cultural unity and identity. The koine coincided with liminal territories and the seas on which the Byzantine Empire retained political and naval rulership. Such liminal territories showed varied – yet coherent– administrative infrastructures and political practices on the part of local elites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to describe the emergence of court and bourgeois salons in the nineteenth-century Principality of Serbia, in the context of the socio-historical circumstances and geopolitical background. A selection of examples of salon gatherings organized in Belgrade from the 1830s to the 1870s show the emergence of a new cultural identity through the coexistence and merging of different cultural models: Western European, Ottoman and Serbian. Starting with the first salons, organized in the 1830s in the home of Tomanija and Jevrem Obrenović, salon gatherings will be viewed through the prism of selected court and bourgeois salons. Special attention is paid to salons in which only women took part. In the period of the construction of the modern Serbian state, these salon gatherings contributed to the emancipation of women and their step from the private to the public sphere of society. In order to more comprehensively understand the role and significance of salon, the multi-layered salon practices are observed, with a focus on (1) analysis of the symbolism of interior decoration and clothing and of the social status of salon guests; (2) a reconstruction of the atmosphere through details of refreshments (food and drink), specific decorations of individual salons and dances performed; (3) analysis of the artistic and intellectual content: music, literature, poetry and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces histories of the Kru in West Africa from the fifteenth to nineteenth centuries, arguing that divergent identities of fifteenth- to eighteenth-century Kru canoers became unified when that unified identity was necessary for maintaining political, economic, and cultural autonomy during and after the slave trade. In conjunction with earlier multilingual work on the Kru mariners of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this article seeks to place the narrative of Kru identity and labor in a larger context of maritime history across the region at large. This article argues that the Kru relied on longstanding maritime traditions from localized groups to capitalize on the need for work and cash in a capitalist economy driven by growing European imperialism. The historical narrative of Kru maritime power shows how local and global identities in Atlantic Africa shifted in response to exploitation, blurring the lines between response and resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review of recent archaeological work in Ionia and Caria, located in southwest Anatolia. In this paper we focus on archaeological research conducted in the past decade and we present a synthesis of recent discoveries and published research. Southwest Anatolia is a region where the earliest archaeological work dates back to the 19th century. However, there are research areas that have been long neglected, and archaeological work has been stifled until recent decades. As a result, the last decade of research has seen significant transformations in approaches and methodologies, with new research agendas to report. Owing to their presentation in historical accounts, Ionia has been perceived as more embedded within the world of Greek archaeology, whereas Caria, viewed from an Atheno-centric perspective, has been regarded as peripheral and provincial. Therefore, it is interesting to present a synthesis of archaeological research for both regions together. It is promising that archaeological practice in both regions has begun to embrace a longue dureé approach and has shifted research focus from major urban centres and monuments to new research foci by making use of interdisciplinary research, including rural landscapes, domestic space, cultural identities, and daily practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the formation of a "showmen's culture" among circus employees in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth, a cultural identity which had the effect of diffusing labor conflicts in this developing industry. The showmen's culture created an affective bond between employees of all levels, from manual laborers, to middle managers, to company owners. This article links cultural history and labor history and provides an example of how workers outside traditional manual-labor industries coped with the challenges of industrialization, and how proprietors used the same cultural identity to their own advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qara Khitai or Western Liao dynasty (1124–1218) is one of the most fascinating polities in medieval Eurasia, but also one of the least documented in terms of both literary sources and material culture. Founded by Khitan refugees who escaped from North China when the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) vanquished the Khitan Liao dynasty (907–1125), the Qara Khitai soon established a multicultural empire in Central Asia, combining Khitan, Chinese, and Muslim elements. The Buddhist Qara Khitai ruled over their mostly Muslim population in rare harmony until the rise of Chinggis Khan (r. 1206–1227). Hitherto only a few objects—and not a single structure—have been associated with this powerful empire. We argue that the Kök-Tash mausoleum, excavated in 2017–2018 and originally interpreted as a unique subterranean Muslim mausoleum, is actually the first-ever identified Qara Khitai elite tomb. This unique tomb, located in the Kochkor valley of north-eastern Kyrgyzstan, about a day's ride from the Qara Khitai capital of Balāsāghūn, shares many similarities with the Liao tombs in North China, notably the typical Khitan mesh-wire burial suit. Yet it also uses local Central Asian materials and techniques, thereby manifesting how the Qara Khitai managed to retain their cultural identity in their new Central Asian and mostly Muslim environment. Moreover, identifying the Kök Tash mausoleum as a Qara Khitai tomb allows us to reassess several other unusual tombs excavated in the region in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and to suggest attributing them, too, to the Qara Khitai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excavations conducted by Beloit College in 1958 and 1960 identified the site of La Magdalena in the Bajío of Mexico. Investigators have since highlighted three primary phases of occupation at La Magdalena, two of which were proposed to have been culturally influenced by Teotihuacan or Tula. Modern research in the Bajío mostly diverges from those postulations of distant connections, supplanting them with local patterns that hold much more explanatory power. Archaeometric studies are pivotal in this regard but have thus far been infrequently used. This research analyzes the obsidian assemblage from La Magdalena and finds a nearly ubiquitous utilization of a local obsidian source known as Ojo Zarco. These findings merit a reevaluation of obsidian in the eastern Bajío and argue for more archaeometric studies that elucidate local procurement patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an attempt to explore the role of Tai Ahom proverbs as a marker of cultural identity in the realm of postmodern society. Using or choosing culturally driven speech in communication is a linguistic behaviour which reflects the character of the people, their worldview, and thus their uniqueness or difference from the 'other'. In another way, this might be a conscious way of projecting self. This qualitative study on proverbs of Tai Ahom language and culture adopts the methods of ethnography and textual analysis. A cultural hermeneutic model, along with the participant observation method, was used to collect the data. Finally, the Tai Ahom community of Sivasagar district of Assam, India was chosen as the locus for the research. The findings show that the proverbs are deeply woven by the Ahom community's cultural heritage, history, pride, advice, and satire. Hence, this article provides an insight into Tai Ahoms' way of living and their worldview. In locating the Tai Ahom's cultural identity within the homogenised bigger community of 'Assamese' or akhomiya , this study could help in understanding the differences or uniqueness of the Tai Ahom and thereby the Assamese identity in the present context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"A Biography of Power: Research and Excavations at the Iron Age Oppidum of Bagendon, Gloucestershire (1979–2017)" by T. Moore is a comprehensive study that aims to shed light on the lesser-known Iron Age site of Bagendon in Gloucestershire. The book combines the results of new excavations, geophysical surveys, and previously unpublished work to provide a detailed understanding of the site's chronology, phasing, and significance. The research reveals a complex settlement system and trade network in southern Britain during the Iron Age, highlighting the evolving nature of cultural identity and elite power. The book is a valuable resource for researchers interested in this critical period of history. [Extracted from the article]

In 2004, Cape Town Opera mounted a production of Beethoven's Fidelio at the former apartheid prison on Robben Island. Sponsored by Den Norske Opera, and endorsed by the South African government, the production was presented as a celebration of the country's tenth year of democracy. This article investigates the vision of democracy performed by Fidelio on Robben Island and asks how it interacts with the founding principles of the new South African political order. Situating the production within the context of contemporaneous debates about cultural identity and representation in a democratic South Africa, I argue that Fidelio on Robben Island performed a legitimizing function designed to endorse the validity of the state and of opera as a democratic cultural form. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting whether a species is likely to go extinct (or not) is one of the fundamental objectives of conservation biology, and extinction risk classifications have become an essential tool for conservation policy, planning and research. This sort of prediction is feasible because the extinction processes follow a familiar pattern of population decline, range collapse and fragmentation, and, finally, extirpation of sub-populations through a combination of genetic, demographic and environmental stochasticity. Though less well understood and rarely quantified, the way in which science and society respond to population decline, extirpation and species extinction can also have a profound influence, either negative or positive, on whether a species goes extinct. For example, species that are highly sought after by collectors and hobbyists can become more desirable and valuable as they become rarer, leading to increased demand and greater incentives for illegal trade - known as the anthropogenic Allee effect. Conversely, species that are strongly linked to cultural identity are more likely to benefit from sustainable management, high public support for conservation actions and fund-raising, and, by extension, may be partially safeguarded from extinction. More generally, human responses to impending extinctions are extremely complex, are highly dependent on cultural and socioeconomic context, and have typically been far less studied than the ecological and genetic aspects of extinction. Here, we identify and discuss biocultural aspects of extinction and outline how recent advances in our ability to measure and monitor cultural trends with big data are, despite their intrinsic limitations and biases, providing new opportunities for incorporating biocultural factors into extinction risk assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 2005 Jyllands-Posten controversy, both far right and Islamist actors have employed Muhammed cartoons to construct a radical frontier between Muslims and non-Muslims. This article aims to provide a better understanding of the linkages between two opposing forms of popular identification by looking at the utilization of the Muhammed cartoons to crystallize a multitude of (conflicting) subjects, affects, and demands. Following a vantage point of mutual relations, the article investigates the discursive performances of the Dutch branch of the transnational Islamist party Hizb ut-Tahrir and the far right Party for Freedom with respect to the Jyllands-Posten affair, the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks, and the 2020 killing of a French schoolteacher. Considering its cultural and political foundations of mutual respect and tolerance, the Dutch case is pertinent for examining the tension between the right to free speech and support for extremist and popular forms of (far right and Islamist) identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I explore the political aspects of contemporary Paganism. Based on my own fieldwork, I analyze the changes in views and attitudes in relation to nationalism among Polish followers of Rodzimowierstwo , which is a modern religious movement referring to the pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavs. I put forward the thesis that the attitude toward nationalism is an important element in shaping the dynamics of divisions within believers and at the same time radical nationalist views and attitudes present among them are marginalized. The gradual weakening of nationalist tendencies does not mean, however, the dissemination of liberal and universalist attitudes and views. Nationalism is being replaced by a specific type of conservatism, which consists in creating a clear opposition between "foreign" and "native" cultural patterns, and the postulate of preserving and defending the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low political support for religious minority groups in the United States is often explained as a matter of social distance or unfamiliarity between religious traditions. Observable differences between beliefs and behaviors of religious minority groups and the cultural mainstream are thought to demarcate group boundaries. However, little scholarship has examined why some practices become symbolic boundaries that reduce support for religious accommodation in public policy, while nearly identical practices are tolerated. We hypothesize that politics is an important component of the process by which some religious practices are transformed into demarcations between "us" and "them." We conduct an original survey experiment in which people are exposed to an identical policy demand—women-only swim times at a local public pool—attributed to three different religious denominations (Muslim, Jewish, and Pentecostal). We find that people are less supportive of women-only swim times when the requesting religion is not a part of their partisan coalition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers are increasingly demanding information regarding the characteristics of products, their place of origin and methods of production. A Geographical Indication (GI) can be understood as a way to meet these demands, as it protects the origin of the product, as well as its characteristics. In addition to contributing to territorial development, GI signs have the potential to add value to products and help producers to become more competitive. However, some authors argue that there are barriers that can prevent the benefits of GI from reaching producers. Therefore, this article aims to identify the barriers and benefits of GI for producers. To reach this end, a Systematic Literature Review was carried out. As a result, it was observed that among the main benefits offered by the GI are higher prices, access to markets and preservation of cultural identity. Regarding the challenges, it was highlighted the existence of inefficient institutions, organizational problems, power asymmetry and appropriation of value by the most powerful agents of the supply chain. To conclude, this paper shows that the difficulties and benefits of GI to producers are not absolute and vary from region to region. In this sense, further research on the impact of GI, especially in developing countries, is necessary. The results here presented may be used as a base for future research that search to identify the importance of GI for producers and may also contribute to the development of actions or public policies related to GI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many scholars blame partisan polarization for collapsing politics into social life. But these diagnoses lack any sophisticated theoretical basis for distinguishing "social" from "political" forms of identity. This article offers such a framework, providing better grounding for evaluating polarization. Drawing on work on the politics of difference, I first argue that the harms of polarized partisanship mirror long-standing criticisms of essentialist social identities, including the constriction of agency and reduction of compromise. I then show how a more political form of partisan identity could not only mitigate these concerns but also positively contribute to democracy through the promotion of civic republican ideals of active citizenship. I conceptualize partisan identity between the view of the social-identity literature (partisanship as cultural identity) and an idealizing tendency within some recent normative views (partisanship without identity), offering a novel evaluation of polarization and a conceptual map useful for both empirical and normative scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Shauer's chapter discusses the colonial discursive construction of the "authentic Malay", Moser dissects the long-lasting legacies of such colonial discourse. These insights are especially developed by three contributors to the book: Arnout van der Meer, Sarah Moser, and Matthew Shauer. The three authors explore colonial engagement with indigeneity in terms of: first, the colonial I performance i of indigeneity (van der Meer); second, the colonial I discourse i of indigeneity (Shauer); and third, the long-lasting I legacies i of the colonial appropriation of indigeneity (Moser). [Extracted from the article]

At its peak in the sixteenth century, the Zimbabwe Culture encompassed an area the size of France. The greater Tuli area in east-central Botswana formed the western extent of this culture area. Here many dzimbahwe mark the residences of sacred leaders in the later Khami period (1400–1840 ad). These stone-walled headquarters formed a pyramid of political importance, with district chiefs (Level 4) and petty chiefs (Level 3) at the top and headmen (Level 2) and commoners (Level 1) at the base. Commoners and their headmen lived near arable land, while petty chiefs placed their administrative centres at the boundaries of their small chiefdoms. In death, sacred leaders rested in dzimbahwe on special hills, while ordinary villagers were buried in their homesteads. During the Khami period in Botswana, these various settlements were part of only one Level 4 district: Level 5 and Level 6 capitals were located elsewhere. After the collapse of the powerful Torwa state at Khami, decorative symbols changed from emphasizing the majesty of kingship (Khami) to the responsibilities of sacred leaders (Zinjanja), and then back again to kingship in the Rozvi state (Danangombe). The powerful Rozvi state did not extend to the Tuli area, probably because it was too dry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews scholarship regarding migrants' legal consciousness. After discussing the personal, geographic and methodological scope of the reviewed studies, the conceptualisation of legal consciousness is examined in light of evolutions in general legal consciousness studies. Thereafter, factors emerging as shaping migrants' legal consciousness are analytically clustered at four levels: individual characteristics, relational factors, cultural dynamics, and public policies and discourse. Future research on legal consciousness could shift its gaze towards understudied migrant groups as well as places. We suggest being more explicit regarding the conceptualisation of dimensions of what is 'legal' and of 'consciousness', and adopting a pluralist approach to law. The analytical grouping of the factors impacting migrants' legal consciousness may serve as a useful reference point for future research and facilitate a more comprehensive appraisal of the various dynamics shaping migrants' legal consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the Boxer Rebellion ended with China's crushing defeat and the signing of the Boxer Protocol, China participated in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition as its official debut at world's fairs. The Chinese pavilion was supposed to represent the country's national pride and cultural identity, yet ironically, the pavilion materialised the Chinese government's weak position in its quasi-colonial relationship with the US – both politically and culturally – in terms of the appointment of architects, the design process, and the arrangement of construction. Such power interaction shaped an ambiguous 'Chinese architecture' presented at the fair, imitating the Beijing residence of a Chinese Prince while incorporating vernacular architectural elements from south China. It reflected the Chinese government's early self-vision of its global image in an age of political turmoil and cultural uncertainty, and pioneered the exploration of an architectural 'Chinese-ness' in the early twentieth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mosque connotes a place of prostration towards Allah. As a sacred space, mosque designs use great detail to respect specific ceremonial functions and some requirements outlined in the Quran, but accommodate diverse styles and construction materials that several traditional and cultural factors determine. As early as the seventh century, as Islam spread across the Mediterranean, North Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia, the mosque remained a quintessential Islamic building for local Muslim communities. Consequently, mosque architecture presents diverse styles and forms. It does not follow a normative design form besides having an essential hall to accommodate the congregation and visibly indicating the qibla. This paper explores mosque architecture designs in Brunei Darussalam to analyse expressions of cultural identity and constructions of a collective identity. Since the 1950s, mosque architecture in Brunei has distinguished itself by amalgamating designs that culturally significant historical exchanges within and beyond the Malay world dictated. The paper argues that specific governmental, social, cultural and economic contexts necessarily inform the built environment and, particularly, that of religious architecture, resulting in the development of autochthon styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the use of an accessible visual notation system that represents the melodic component of an electronic music composition in acid house music, based on programming the Roland TB-303 bassline synthesiser's sequencer. This notation system can be used for sharing, composition, collaboration and archival purposes. This system is called an acid pattern. The article analyses a variety of different approaches to communicate acid patterns. It examines the requirements and visual elements used and how they relate directly to the functionality of the Roland TB-303's sequencer. Through content analysis of images, text and audio data gathered from various music community websites this article furthers the understanding of how the practices and cultures of acid house music composition, notation and archiving are shared online and how they, enabled by web-based technologies, can build communities. This article suggests important possibilities for communities of practice-based around a shared cultural identity, accessible notation systems, and the creation and recreation of music in both online and offline contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

First of all, I would like to thank Freda Mishan (2021) for a fascinating and insightful article into English language teaching (ELT) coursebooks. She covers a wide range of perspectives and raises many important issues. Although I may have different views on some of these, I think she has done a great service in helping me look with fresh eyes at what many teachers take for granted: the humble yet ubiquitous ELT coursebook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Camelid pastoralism, agriculture, sedentism, surplus production, increasing cultural complexity, and interregional interaction during northern Chile's Late Formative period (AD 100–400) are seen in the flow of goods and people over expanses of desert. Consolidating evidence of material culture from these interactions with a bioarchaeological dimension allows us to provide details about individual lives and patterns in the Late Formative more generally. Here, we integrate a variety of skeletal, chemical, and archaeological data to explore the life and death of a small child (Calate-3N.7). By taking a multiscalar approach, we present a narrative that considers not only the varied materiality that accompanies this child but also what the child's life experience was and how this reflects and shapes our understanding of the Late Formative period in northern Chile. This evidence hints at the profound mobility of their youth. The complex mortuary context reflects numerous interactions and long-distance relationships. Ultimately, the evidence speaks to deep social relations between two coastal groups, the Atacameños and Tarapaqueños. Considering this suite of data, we can see a child whose life was spent moving through desert routes and perhaps also glimpse the construction of intercultural identity in the Formative period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An academic generation before mine, early modern studies, although primarily based in the global north, became the beneficiary of ground-making work along two key intellectual strands emerging from wider connections. I mention Heng's ability for critical self-reflexivity here precisely because I see in it a valuable prototype for how we might truly work toward decolonizing the early modern, say, or Shakespeare, and also use the early modern, perhaps especially Shakespeare, toward decolonizing English and European curricula and institutions. But it is not imperative for a Shakespearean at the Shakespeare Institute, in Stratford, to know that Shakespeare still lives and works in Bengal or that he first entered I any i university curricula, in the world, in Calcutta, Bengal, or to know Bengali scholarship on Shakespeare.[3] No, I am not demanding that everyone should know everything. I am comparing Heng's work, perhaps predictably, yet with a clear preference for Heng's methodology, to all the global Shakespeares I am constantly asked to teach for my students to "complete their diversity requirements in the English major.". [Extracted from the article]

This article scrutinizes the negotiations with, and discursive refashioning of, Hong Kong identity during and after the Umbrella Movement (2014–16). I argue that these discursive experimentations borne out of the Umbrella Movement bring to light Hong Kong's uniquely cultural formulations of democratic self-determination that exceed the traditional analytic framework of Hong Kong cultural studies. The article analyses literary works as a hitherto neglected facet of the 'Umbrella culture' that, as a whole, acts as a discursive laboratory for multiple reflexive theorizations of Hong Kong identity and democratic subjectivity to be devised and debated. Cases studied here include the protesters' on-site cultural expressions and two major Hong Kong literary authors: Dung Kai-cheung and Wong Bik-wan. This article examines social-movements artworks and literary works in terms of their performative and ethnographic dimensions, arguing that they are important intellectual and cultural-political processes to produce new knowledge about collective identity. This article first demonstrates how the Umbrella artworks repurpose the performative and the ethnographic strategies in Saisai's canonical novel, My City (1975), often cited as the ur-text of Hong Kong identity, to proclaim themselves as 'we the Hong Kong people'. After reading Dung's and Wong's Umbrella-related works, I then show in this article that the performative and the ethnographic can open up spaces to reconfigure collective identity beyond its existent discourses. Putting theories of performativity into dialogue with critical ethnography, I consider the politics of negotiating and debating cultural identity in literature and protest arts as integral to postcolonial democratic action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history and proliferation of Afropolitanism. Topics cited include the two textual origins of Afropolitanism such as Taiye Selasi's "Bye-Bye Barbar" published in "The Lip Magazine" in 2005 and philosopher Achille Mbembe's analysis written for the art exhibition "Africa Remix" in 2007, Afropolitanism's proliferation as cultural identity and ethical norm in fashion, music and social media, and its promises and pitfalls on the lines of race and social class.

In this article, the socio-economic and cultural identity of Chalcis is traced through, and combined with, the story of its material culture and, in particular, of its impressive pottery production and consumption. Through this lens, the historical conditions and daily life over more than ten centuries (from the ninth to the early twentieth century) of this relatively unknown provincial town are closely examined. This makes it possible to detect one field in which local communities reacted to, adjusted to, took advantage of, survived or sometimes succumbed to the wider turmoil of the Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek eras. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys the process of discursive contestation by intellectual agents in Hong Kong that fostered a counter-public sphere in China's offshore. In the post-war era, Chinese exiled intellectuals leveraged the colony's geopolitical ambiguity and created a displaced community of loyalists/dissenters that supported independent publishing venues and engaged in the cultural front. By the 1970s, homegrown and left-wing intellectuals had constructed a hybrid identity to articulate their physical proximity to, yet social distance from, the Chinese nation-state, as well as to appropriate their sense of belonging to the city-state, through confronting social injustice. In examining periodicals and interviewing public intellectuals, I propose that this counter-public sphere was defined first by its alternative voice, which contested various official discourses, second by its multifaceted inclusiveness, which accommodated diverse worldviews and subjectivities, and third by its critical platform, which nurtured social activism in undemocratic Chinese societies. I differentiate the permissive conditions that loosened constraints on intellectual agencies from the productive conditions that account for their penetration and diffusion. Habermas's idealized public sphere framework is revisited by bringing in ideational contestation, social configuration and cultural identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along the coast of the Republic of Guinea, the term "Baga" has been used to cover a large amalgamation of cultural groups, always previously misinterpreted. There are five dialect groups called Baga within the Temne language group. The question raised here concerns the etymology of the name Baga, as it has evolved in juxtaposition to the name Temne in Sierra Leone. It is an attempt to parse the intricate use of language to describe the historical and hierarchical relationship between these two segments of the same group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years of studying the magical powers of words in the Burmese Buddhist context, I spent much of my research on the inner workings of the letter and phrase combinations and how the correct construction, combination and usage of these words, known in Burmese as inn, aing, and sama made for a potent prophylactic against a host of maladies. So focused had I been on the words that I had not taken the time to consider the individual letters, in and of themselves, before they went on to be combined into esoteric phrases and diagrams. Moreover, I had devoted my research to examining the ways Burmese words were predominantly seen to protect, purify, and even attack, but had never considered other ways in which letters may 'do' things, as Fox points out: namely, 'represent cultural identity'; 'embody and transmit knowledge'; 'animate and enable'; 'render things usable and so nameable'; 'turn on their user'; and 'both incur and pay debts'. While I cannot address each of these points in this short essay, I would like to discuss how Fox's book helped me to discover new ways of interpreting how letters and words may transfer their powers to people and things ('embody and transmit knowledge'), as well as encouraging me to look into concepts of how, and if, letters can be considered 'alive' ('animate and enable') in the Burmese context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a striking variance between the sounds of highlife music recorded in the 1950s and 1960s and that of the 1970s. This difference can be attributed partly to the advancement of recording technology, a shift from shellac to vinyl records as well as the advent of multi-track tape recorders in Ghana. The 1970s had a unique highlife sound that can be situated within and explained by the socio-cultural context of recording approaches embraced by studio engineers. This paper investigates the technological approaches to the production of highlife songs at the Ghana Film Studio (GFS) and how they reshaped the highlife soundscape in the 1970s. It also draws attention to the influence of Francis Kwakye, the then resident recording engineer of GFS as a case study to explore highlife sound on records within this period. Employing document review, audio review, observations and interview for data collection, the paper reveals that the engineering techniques and tools employed on the recordings were socio-culturally influenced and constructed to resonate with the Ghanaian identity of the time. It further argues that the recording activities have been guided largely by a new imagination of the highlife sound recordings framed within a certain Ghanaian nationalistic context. The paper concludes that the methods employed to record highlife music of the 1970s were masterminded essentially from a Ghanaian socio-cultural sound perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Zealand Māori metal band Alien Weaponry rose from local act to international prominence over the course of 2016–2018, lauded by critics and fans for their songs involving Māori history and culture, and with lyrics in the indigenous Māori language. This article examines Alien Weaponry's participation in Māori language revitalisation efforts and explores the use of indigenous frameworks for analysing these issues. Māori principles of kaitiakitanga (protection) and whai wāhi (participation) offer an understanding of the band's contributions to both Māori cultural preservation and global metal, and of how these contributions cooperate in the band's success. In addition to unpacking the issues of identity, indigenousness and language revitalisation inherent in understanding Alien Weaponry's output, this article also expands on previous work on nationhood and identity in both global metal music and Māori popular music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the character of Trimalchio in Petronius' Satyricon and his use of visual and material culture to create a new social and cultural identity for himself. Trimalchio appropriates the symbols of the Roman upper classes to project an image of power and superiority, despite being regularly ridiculed by the narrator for his bad taste and pretensions. The author of the article conducted research at the BSR library and visited museums and archaeological sites to study the material culture associated with Trimalchio's character. The preliminary conclusions suggest a continuity in architectural patterns and domestic-decoration preferences between Trimalchio and the Roman elite, and argue that the narrator fails to understand or appreciate Trimalchio's aspirations. [Extracted from the article]

In mid-twentieth-century Mexican philosophy, there was a peculiar nationalist existentialist project focused on the cultural conditions of agency. This article revisits some of those ideas, including the idea that there is an important but underappreciated experience of one's relationship to norms and social meanings. This experience—something called accidentality—casts new light on various forms of social subordination and socially scaffolded agency, including cultural alienation, biculturality, and double consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Once a prosperous manufacturing town, Geelong in Victoria, Australia is undergoing a process of deindustrialisation and, in turn, redefining its identity to better retain viability in a globalised world. For instance, the town bid to host a Guggenheim museum on its Eastern Beach shore at the turn of the millennium, and has recently become a UNESCO City of Design (2017). Like so many declining regional industrial towns, Geelong has been undercut by the new economic forces, and has sought a new identity in cultural economies. The 'Vacant Geelong' project, which began at Deakin University in 2015 and is ongoing, evolved as a response to vacant industrial architecture in Geelong. Major industries including Ford (vehicles), Alcoa (aluminium), timber sawmills, wool mills, Pilkington Glass, cement works, and the oil refinery once defined the town and its history as an industrial architectural landscape.1 Major industries transformed the architectural and cultural terrain. Despite these cycles of transformation and erasure, and counter to a progressive and chronological approach to change, the 'Vacant Geelong' project explored this vacancy of industrial operation, yet presence of industrial architecture. Through inscriptions – artworks, design projects, creative research, installations, texts – it addressed those material realities that did not leave, the industrial structures – silos, ducts, chimneys, warehouses – that give Geelong its continuing industrial architectural character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fall of Communist rule in Eastern Europe (1989–91) had a profound impact on economic, socio-political, and cultural conditions in Cuba during the 1990s. It was the beginning of the so-called 'Special Period in Times of Peace'. Increasing dire economic conditions on the island led to many changes that impoverished cultural life, including the relocation of composers in Europe, the United States, and other countries in the Americas. The situations encountered by composers who migrated to Europe varied, depending on generational differences and on the dynamics of the socio-political and cultural powers to which each of them were exposed in their new reception contexts. Whether adopting an uncontested identification with the new cultural milieu or resorting to discursive strategies of appropriation and de/re-territorialized negotiation, this text centres on the compositional journeys of four Cuban composers who settled in different European cities: Leo Brouwer (Córdoba, Spain); Eduardo Morales-Caso (Madrid); Keyla Orozco (Amsterdam); and Louis Aguirre (Aalborg, Denmark). Each case represents an invaluable experience of aesthetic reconstruction in a new creative territory that, by its own transterritoriality, has in turn enriched the sonic map of the Caribbean island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article seeks to map the evolution of Métis studies in Canada since 2003 based on an analysis of the intellectual networks formed by publications on Métis identity. Topics discussed include relations of power that animate the political, judicial, and cultural debates surrounding Métis identity; information on Powley decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in 2003; and association of scholars with the ethnogenesis paradigm conceive of the Métis as belonging to Aboriginal people or nation.

During the nineteenth century, the Muslim Mediterranean became a locus of competing imperial projects led by the Ottomans and European powers. This article examines how the migration of people and ideas across North Africa and Asia complicated processes of imperial consolidation and exposed the ways in which North Africa, Europe, and Asia were connected through trans-imperial influences that often undermined the jurisdictional sovereignty of imperial states. It demonstrates that cross-border migrations and cultural transfers both frustrated and abetted imperial projects while allowing for the imagining of new types of solidarities that transcended national and imperial categorizations. In analysing these factors, this article argues for a rethinking of the metropole–periphery relationship by highlighting the important role print and trans-imperial networks played in shaping the Mediterranean region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the World Values Survey, we analyze the extent to which value consensus exists within countries. To do this, we introduce a statistical model which allows us to generate country-level measures of cultural heterogeneity. Our statistical approach models each country as a mixture of subcultures that are shared across the world. Our results demonstrate that value consensus varies substantially across countries and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs about American reading public's response to the book "There There" by Tommy Orange. Topics include the luminary who will reignite the Native American literary movement; commenting on the disturbing vacancies created by industrial capitalism; and archive of Indigenous authors writing searingly for decades about urban exile, cultural alienation, and postmodern malaise.

This article proposes a new literary history of British Asia that examines its earliest communities and cultural institutions in translocal and regional registers. Combining translocalism and regionalism redefines Anglo- Indian writing as constituted by multisited forces, only one of which is the reciprocal exchange between Britain and its colonies that has been the prevailing emphasis of literary criticism about empire. I focus on the eighteenth century's overlooked military men and lowlevel colonial administrators who wrote newspaper verse, travel poetry, and plays. I place their compositions in an institutional chronicle defined by the "cultural company- state," the British East India Company, which patronized and censored Anglo- India's multilingual reading publics. In the process of arguing for Anglo-Indian literature as a local and regional creation, I consider the how the terms British and anglophone should function in literary studies of colonialism organized not by hybridity or creolization but by geographic relations of distinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]