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Conflict-induced displacement is associated with loss of human and physical capital as well as psychological trauma. Households and social structures that produce and reproduce gender norms are disrupted. This paper investigates the extent to which gender norms relax in situations of displacement using predetermined indicators in the Colombia Demographic and Health Survey. Results of a two-step estimation involving kernel-based propensity score matching and multilevel linear regression models show that gender norms condoning violence against women relaxed with displacement, while those that limit women’s economic opportunities became more rigid. Findings also reveal a misalignment between attitudes and behaviors in specific domains of gender norms. Displaced women expressed lower support for patriarchy than non-displaced women, but they had less ability to make independent decisions over the use of contraceptives and over their own earnings. This implies that attitudes and behaviors do not always shift together, and, in displacement settings, do not always progress towards greater gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lack of sexual health knowledge among Saudi Arabian adolescents suggests the need for investigation into the sexual health education curriculum provided in schools. This study explored the dominant ideologies that shape sexual health education discourse in Saudi Arabia. To date, there have been few analyses of the ideologies underpinning Saudi Arabia's school curriculum and the approach that is taken to teaching about sexual health. Examining the ideologies informing sexual health education in Saudi schools can assist in a shift towards more comprehensive approaches. In this study, critical discourse analysis was used to identify the underlying ideologies present within Saudi school curricula as they relate to sexual health education. Our findings suggest that conservative ideology dominates sexual health education discourse. Significantly, it is more strongly present in the curricula available to girls and young women. Sexual health education's discourse currently reflects social/cultural perspectives and avoids the inclusion of more comprehensive health-related information that would better enable young people to protect their health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notwithstanding a body of research examining the way names are associated with the perception and treatment of individuals across social contexts, scant attention has been paid to the study of names in language attitudes research. This study explores American English listeners’ evaluative reactions to standard American and Spanish-accented English when exposed to a name indexing ethnic affiliation (White or Latinx). Participants listened to recordings and rated them along the dimensions of status and solidarity, and perceived accentedness. Additionally, listeners’ expectations about name–accent pairings were measured, and responses about how they reasoned these expectations were also collected and analysed thematically. The results showed that, overall, standard American English was more positively evaluated for status, but not solidarity, than Spanish-accented English. Relatedly, although names were not associated with solidarity or accentedness, there was an effect in which speakers paired with Latinx names were attributed higher status when compared to a control group (audio only). Furthermore, name–accent pairings were a reliable predictor of the valence of listeners’ expectations, which the thematic analysis revealed were underpinned by ideologies of nativeness, raciolinguistic ideologies and ideologies of goodness-of-fit. These findings underscore the importance of exploring other non-verbal cues such as names to better understand listeners’ language attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teaching is by no means 'an emotion-free zone', and teachers are often emotionally challenged in front of their students. When teaching and learning takes place via a second language, the emotional landscape of the classroom becomes especially charged. Often there is a notable gap between expected emotions or 'emotional rules' in English as a Second Language (ESL) classrooms and genuine emotions which results in 'emotional labour' for ESL teachers. Especially, 'English only' language policies and monolingual ideologies can lead ESL teachers and students to experience a range of emotions around authentic language use in the form of translanguaging. While research on students' attitudes toward translanguaging has mushroomed in recent years, fewer studies have concentrated on the emotions of teachers in relation to translanguaging in the ESL classroom. To bridge this research gap, this study investigates six university teachers' emotions related to translanguaging via semi-structured interviews in ESL classroom settings across three Asian countries (Mongolia, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates). The study revealed complex and conflicting teacher emotions around translanguaging including pride, comfort (related to feelings of safety), shame (related to linguistic inferiority complexes), guilt, and frustration. Based on the findings, practical recommendations are provided on the need for greater awareness and open dialogue on emotions in ESL classrooms for improved teacher and student wellness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using literature, more specifically poetry in English as F/L2 has grown over time. However, scholars disagree as to whether it makes any difference to language learning or what functions it serves. The purpose of this study is to examine what discourses poetry embodies, what identities it shapes, and whether it can confront dominant ideologies in English language textbooks in Pakistan. Based on Fairclough's dialectical-relational approach and Bakhtin's ideas on dialogism and heteroglossia, we analysed 12 Pakistani English language textbooks. Findings suggest poetry texts embody a variety of ideological themes, including linguistic sexism, nationalistic sentiments, and religious and spiritual ethos. These discourses tend to shape learners' identities. In addition, we also found references to poems that offer learners alternative perspectives and ways of being. In certain poems, for instance, curiosity, questioning, struggle, and recognising truth as a multifaceted entity are evident, allowing spaces for heteroglossia. Using these insights, teachers, curriculum developers and textbook writers will be able to better reflect on their pedagogical approaches and content embedded in textbooks to ensure justice, equality, and inclusion for students from a variety of socioeconomic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the experiences of middle-class transnational Latina mothers whose children are enrolled in gentrified dual-language -programs. Drawing upon the theory of differential consciousness, I explored how these mothers' own complex identities informed their navigation of conflicting discourses that position dual-language education on one hand as part of an anti-racist, social justice movement, and conversely as a neoliberal enrichment tool that confers a competitive social advantage for privileged children. Ultimately, this paper highlights how mothers engaged differential consciousness to shift between these ideologies strategically, centering community and working to expand access to these programs to other Spanish-speaking and transnational families. In doing so, they increased racial and linguistic diversity—but not socioeconomic diversity—in these programs. This study argues for the importance of considering multiple dimensions of parent identity in dual-language programs, and for continually acknowledging the key role social class plays in families' experiences of and access to these programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysed through the lens of language ideology, this qualitative study delved into the multilingual experiences of Chinese international students in English-medium instruction (EMI) studies in Germany. Drawing on semi-structured interview data from 16 Chinese postgraduate students in an international university, this study probed into these students' language ideologies related to English, German, and Mandarin Chinese. Data analysis showed that their language ideologies were complex and intertwined with academic success, social integration, future employment, solidarity within ethnic groups, and widening local networks. It was also found that the participants' multiple while often conflicting language ideologies were pivotal in shaping their investment in and usage of particular languages. The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the diversity inherent in international students' language ideologies in EMI and have significant implications for the internationalisation of multilingual environments in higher education (HE). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

The Objective of this research: Giving an overview of the religions, sects, and ideologies and an overview of its history so that the reader understands how the religious situation in Maldives has evolved, throughout its history since accepting Islam till the present era. The Research Consists of an introduction, a preface which consists of an introduction to the Maldives and definition of religions, sects and ideologies, section one: consists of its religions and sections two: consists of sects and ideologies that have spread therein, and a conclusion. Research Methodology: Descriptive and Inductive Approach Conclusions: The Maldives was practicing Buddhism before they entered to the fold of Islam in 548 A.H, they were influenced by several sects including Mysticism, Asharites, Dawoodi Bohra and now they are all extinct except Asharites. The Portugal and British colonizers tried to convert them to Christianity, but they failed. Contemporary Sects and Ideologies which exists in Maldives include Modern Kharijites, The Sect of Rashad Khalifa, Secularism, Atheism and Feminist Movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of African Journal of Reproductive Health is the property of Women's Health & Action Research Centre 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.)

NadeemAslam's The Blind Man's Garden(2013) is a replica of the political chaos which prevails in the South Asian region in the wake of 9/11. The present research aims at exploring the conflict of ideas manifested through binary oppositions in the novel in the light of Jaques Derrida's theory of deconstruction. Warring ideologies bring forth the conflict between two major entities of the torturers and the sufferers, former are the Americans and warlords, while Pakistanis and Afghanis make the latter group in The Blind Man's Garden. The analysis of binary oppositions reveals that the binary traits ultimately manifest a constant conflict beyond the apparent opposition of politically powerful groups, i.e., the USA, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The conflict lies between the freedom and imprisonment, humanity and bestiality, world of nature and the world of man, tolerance and intolerance, tradition and modernity etc. The research amplifies Nadeem Aslam'sprovocation for the need of humanity to be inculcated for the amelioration of the apocalyptic occurrencesin the South Asian region involving innocent lives in Pakistan and Afghanistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medemer, both as a book and as an idea, is trapped between two extremes: admiration and rejection. Writers from both ends offer their thoughts, criticisms, and reviews of Medemer. The aim of this article is to analyze Medemer from an ideological perspective. Raising some political and policy questions about Medemer's application is also the aim of this article. This article used a qualitative research approach and comparative and critical research methods. Secondary sources of data were used to compare Medemer with various political ideologies. Ideologically, Medemer meets the three criteria (critics of the present order, vision of the future society, and theory of change). Medemer is a "blended ideology" that combines concepts, principles, and ideas from liberalism, socialism, conservatism, and fascism. Furthermore, Medemer ideology attempted to combine concepts from opposing political ideologies and proposed it as a solution to Ethiopia's complex sociopolitical and economic problems. Despite the government's claim that Medemer is Ethiopia's redeemer, several political questions remain unanswered given the country's current situation. Therefore, the country's complicated sociopolitical and economic problems under the regime of the Prosperity Party challenged the applicability of Medemer. Is Medemer thus the sole (or perhaps the only) instrument, policy framework, ideology, and mechanism for resolving Ethiopia's multiple, dynamic, and complex socio-political problems? These remain a point of contention among academics and politicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This analysis examined whether commonly assumed associations between personal values and political attitudes within countries varied worldwide by the level of democratic governance. In less democratic countries, people may have less exposure to or engagement with value expression through political party affiliation and experience less motivation to express values through political attitudes. Therefore, in such countries, the commonly assumed association of personal values typically labeled "conservative" (e.g., tradition) or "liberal" (e.g., universalism) with right‐ or left‐wing political ideologies could be weaker. Furthermore, less democratic governments are more likely to be perceived as a deciding presence in economic outcomes than the people's or the market's will, which could alter the degree to which right‐wing economic attitudes toward free markets and private enterprise are associated with conservative values. Responses to the World Value Survey across 60 countries were largely consistent with these moderation effects when operationalizing democratic governance using both more objective, structural, and subjective, perceptual metrics. In less democratic countries, conservation‐oriented personal values were less positively associated with broad right‐wing political identification and self‐transcendence‐oriented values less positively associated with broad left‐wing political identification. In less democratic countries, conservation‐oriented values were more negatively associated with right‐wing economic attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of the influence of literary figures on the poetry of Azad Kashmir shows that there are influences of Sanskrit, Kashmiri, Persian, Arabic, Urdu and other regional languages as well as classical and modern poetry on the literature of Azad Kashmir. There are intellectual and artistic influences on the poetry of Azad Kashmir from to the present period. Some thoughts are prominent, some artistic imitation is visible. There is similar style; there is also the use of similar tone. However, all these influences despite this, the poetry of Azad Kashmir has its own individuality and its own style. Azad Kashmir's poetic capital, while being a part of the poetic tradition of Urdu language, has interesting, unique experiences and individual characteristics in terms of theme, theme, style innovation, new symbols, techniques, untouched and unique creative experiences and many other aspects. Azad Kashmir's own regional symbols and some unique experiences give its distinctive color to the poets of Azad Kashmir. Happily, the influence of movements, ideologies and personalities in the footsteps is less visible in the new generation. The poets of the new generation are actively and diligently engaged in creating their own special point of view, their own tone, their own style, and their own color. In spite of the influence of literary movements, critical schools, literary theories, poetic styles and poet personalities in the poetry of Azad Kashmir, its own color and harmony exist with all the beauty, rather, the colors and styles of the poets of Azad Kashmir are different from those of many other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the representation of the Russia–Ukraine conflict by two state-owned Russian news media and two state-owned Ukrainian news media, namely Izvestia, Russia Today, Ukrinform and Dzerkalo Tyzhnia. The aim of this investigation is to determine the ideologies embedded in the news reports and discourse structures, and strategies deployed in portraying the conflict actors and their actions. Van Dijk's socio-cognitive model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (see Ideology: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 1998; New(s) racism: A discourse analytical approach, 2000; and Politics, ideology, and discourse, 2006) and Martin and White's Appraisal Framework of attitude and graduation (see The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English, 2005) served as the theoretical frameworks. Using Critical Discourse Analysis as the analytical framework, the study examines how attitudinal and evaluative language use are employed to enact ideologies and to portray biased presentations of conflict actors. The findings reveal that the media reports of the Russia–Ukraine conflict are laden with militarism and nationalism. Discourse structures and strategies of emotive verbs, evaluative adjectives, positive self-presentation, negative other-presentation, national self-glorification, actor description, comparison and number games are powerful tools for enacting ideologies. The media representation of the Russia–Ukraine conflict lacked conflict resolution embedded linguistic frames and is rather distorted, stereotypic and conflict-inciting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of blockchain technologies is reflected in the various ways in which social actors operate with crypto transactions, and this is seen in the wide range of discourses and practices adopted on the crypto market. Using social constructivism, this study highlights the fact that social practices in the crypto area respect certain thematic ideologies, through which individual discourses reflect different pragmatic expectations in relation to virtually encrypted transactions. Drawing on inductive thematic analysis based on 38 semi-structured interviews with Romanian investors, four major themes emerge: (1) unbreakable power of code encompasses rather libertarian discourses on potential state policies, (2) key role of peers explains the investments in the crypto market as a form of community membership, (3) assuming plenty of risks highlights the discourses focused on substantial and unpredictable gains, and (4) preferring safety above all encompasses discourses on financial stability through rather conservative behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative social science concepts such as "illiberalism" and "authoritarianism" are increasingly common terms of art used in academic and policy debates, yet usage patterns and their substantive meaning vary widely across publications and authors. This article presents parsimonious "best-use" conceptualizations of both constructs, underlining the limitations of current, often widely disparate practices. In doing so, it outlines the reasons why this state of affairs is analytically unnecessary, leading to both conceptual stretching and terminological confusion. Illiberalism can most fruitfully be conceptualized positively and ideationally, capturing a distinct form of ideological reaction against hegemonic liberalism, experienced largely over the last several decades, with a variety of case-specific elements. This definition sits in partial contradistinction with other, sometimes-associated concepts such as anti-liberalism, populism, or conservatism and is not associated with regime-type definitionally. Authoritarianism, meanwhile, is most parsimoniously treated as a residual categorization of political regime vis-a-vis the concept of electoral democracy, which accords with the goals for which most scholars deploy it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing popularity of radical right, anti-immigrant, neo-nationalist movements can be seen as a response to super-diverse and complex migration and globalization processes challenging the ideology of the 'nation-state' and the traditional education system. Based on the question of how English is increasingly viewed as a threat to Swiss national languages and identities, this study presents data from Switzerland, often portrayed as the ideal multilingual country. Such a challenge was nevertheless confirmed through the qualitative analysis of 38 in-depth interviews conducted with students and teachers at three secondary schools in three language regions, policy makers, and open-ended questions from 94 student questionnaires. Language education policies have divided the educational landscape into certain regions prioritizing English over a national language and others adhering to the traditional curriculum. The data reveal strong ideological beliefs, lacking intranational communication, and personal as well as societal struggles of positioning based on linguistic competences, expectations, and policies. This article advocates for interdisciplinary approaches to (language) education as societies' and students' needs constantly evolve and calls on all learners' and educators' responsibility to counteract such movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are quite a few studies that adopted a critical perspective to the analysis of the narrative of standardized school textbooks and their impact in the process of ‘the interpellation of individuals as subjects’. While these studies examined narratives on racial/ethnic identity in different national contexts, both the Global North and the Global South, they all address the way mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion play out to define ‘sense of belonging’ ersus ‘otherness’. In the Maghreb region, studies that depict the representation of Amazighs in school textbooks remain scarce. Therefore, guided by Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis conceptual framework, this study focuses on the textual and visual representation of Algerian Tuareg Amazighs in the textbooks that are currently used in Algerian Middle schools. The findings suggest that the portrayal of the Tuareg Amazigh Sahrawi ethnic group is characterized by the ‘markedness’ of their blackness. This visibility affirms their ‘local Otherness’ in three different ways: deagentialization, folklorization, and disempowerment. Some pedagogical recommendations are suggested to foster inclusive and equitable language learning materials and spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue Historique (0035-3264) is the property of Presses Universitaires de France and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In current political analysis, as well as in discourse, the term populism has become an ‘umbrella term’, embracing a large number of concepts and phenomena. One risk underlying this conceptual stretching is that the term falls into the trap of ‘all-nothing’ and becomes so elastic that populism is used to improperly describe a wide and unrelated variety of phenomena. Some political phenomena might share some characteristics with populist movements but are nevertheless characterised by ideological elements and political projects that are very much in line with the traditional left/right split, as in the case of the new radical right. This article proposes a distinction between the conformational populism typical of some populist parties and the contagious populism typical of the radical right. We argue that in the latter, populism becomes another tool in the arsenal of parties with clearly established identities. Using a comparative approach, we evaluate the programmes, ideological foundations, conception of the people and positions of the 5 Star Movement, The League and the Rassemblement National to illustrate this distinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mixed-heritage individuals (MHIs) are known to face high levels of social exclusion. Here, we investigate how raciolinguistic ideologies related to one's heritage language abilities add to these exclusionary experiences. The results from 293 MHIs reveal frequent experiences of marginalisation from members of each of their heritage communities because their racial appearance and language practices are perceived as deviant and outside imagined 'monoracial' norms. Specifically, over half of respondents described experiences of exclusion for not speaking their minority heritage languages with the same accent or manner or fluency associated with 'monoracial' native speakers of their heritage languages or dialects. Another subset described high pressure to speak 'proper English' in White dominant work environments. These results extend past MHI work by empirically documenting the 'monoracial-only', monoglossic, and 'Standard English' ideologies that contribute to the continued social exclusion of MHIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the ideological, social, economic, and political aspects of life on planet Earth. This study examines the visuals associated with COVID-19 published in Pakistani English newspapers. Visual data were collected through purposive sampling, analyzed using social semiotic theory, and discussed through a post-colonial lens. The visual data were grouped as Global South and North owing to socioeconomic and political categorization among countries. The results show that the Pakistani media portrayed the Global South as rebellious, miserable, and noisy against the government. However, the Global North is depicted as civilized, stress-free, and abiding by all the instructions of the authority. Analysis shows that the two realms are visually represented as remarkably divergent from each other, and media portrayal has attached stereotypes identities to the nations. Pakistani media follows a basic restricted code of conduct, which should be extended to avoid labelling and politicizing groups and nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies on racial inequality begin with a series of statistics highlighting racial variations in an outcome of interest to illustrate how wide (or narrow) the gaps between racialized groups are. This approach is standard in racial inequality research because emphasizing racial differentials between racialized groups helps researchers frame inequality as a social problem. Scholars across academic disciplines and across sub‐areas within sociology report racial statistics to pay attention to what social scientists refer to as racial disparities. Presenting racial disparities is extremely important for documenting inequality; however, family scholars tend to provide descriptive statistical portraits along ethno‐racial lines (disparities) in the absence of racism, which, in turn, conceals the United States' racialized historical context. In other words, reporting racial inequality as disparities without addressing racism is a critical omission in family science research. Emphasizing racism is important because biological explanation still permeates the American imagination about racial inequality. The purpose of this paper is to provide conceptual and analytical considerations for future racial inequality and family research by recasting disparities as manifestations of racism instead of mere statistical differences. To illustrate the conceptual considerations, I first build on Williams' theoretical model focusing on structural racism and Black family life. I expand on how racism not only makes the idea of race possible but also manifests in observable, measurable outcomes. In the second section, I present an analytical consideration for understanding Black families' inequality by focusing on within‐group analyses. These conceptual and analytical considerations serve as ways to adequately represent Black families and children in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic reveals an obvious ideological influence on people’s health decisions worldwide. However, little research has examined such an effect on China’s public attitude to health issues. This article tries to fill the gap by examining how conventional factors linked to health behaviours – e.g. perceived threats, scientific knowledge, and trust in science—and ideological beliefs jointly influence the Chinese public’s attitude to the zero-COVID policies. Utilizing a national quota sample (n = 1,021) collected in April 2022 when Shanghai’s lockdown resulted in numerous online protests, this study found that perceived severity of COVID-19 infection, trust in science, left-leaning ideologies, and nationalism scores were associated with supporting the zero-COVID policies. Objective scientific judgments did not influence their views. Moreover, people whose ideological stances were closer to the official lines (political left and nationalism) were less likely to associate a zero-COVID attitude with perceived threats but more likely to link their trust in science to their support for the zero-COVID policy. The findings here provided empirical proof from China to the booming research agenda on the politicization of science and health communication while expanding our understanding of how ideological beliefs may have distorted scientific cognitions and health decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conceptual engineering is the method for assessing and improving our concepts. Some have recently claimed that the implementation of such method in the form of ameliorative projects is truth-driven and should thus be epistemically constrained, ultimately at least (Simion, Mona. 2018b. "The 'Should' in Conceptual Engineering." Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 61 (8): 914–928; cf. Podosky, Paul-Mikhail Catapang. 2018. "Ideology and Normativity: Constraints on Conceptual Engineering." Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy, Online first, 1–15. doi:10.1080/0020174X.2018.1562374). This paper challenges that claim on the assumption of a social constructionist analysis of ideologies, and provides an alternative, pragmatic and cognitive framework for determining the legitimacy of ameliorative conceptual projects overall. The upshot is that one should not ameliorate for the sake of truth or knowledge, in the case of ideologies – at least, not primarily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discussion about the words and concepts related to autism is alive in the scholarly community, tacitly or explicitly. Contrasting ideologies linked to the medical model and neurodiversity paradigm underlie terminology referring to autism. The present proof-of-concept study conducted a critical discourse analysis of the terminology (i.e., microstructure) used to describe autism in two academic journals across four decades. Specifically, we utilized the framework provided by Bottema-Beutel et al. (2021) to analyze 35 articles published in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and Autism. These articles were reviewed with a focus on terminology used to describe the concept of autism, autistic individuals, and nonautistic individuals. The main findings support the feasibility of this proof-of-concept study. They revealed a predominant use of potentially ableist language across the four decades and a slow incorporation of alternative terms usually linked with more inclusive language in the last decade. We suggest that this change has been driven by the autistic community in a process of democratizing the role of experts. Accordingly, we recommend including autistic individuals’ choices to designate their community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Íkala: Revista de Lenguaje y Cultura is the property of Universidad de Antioquia 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.)

Achebe's There was a Country became controversial due to the author's recount of the civil war story. The text has been criticised for its bias by different people. However, these kinds of explorations, mainly literary reviews, have merely focused on its bias in terms of ethnicity and the civil war story, with little attention paid to the linguistic strategies used by the author in emphasising certain ideologies. This study, therefore, seeks to unearth the different discursive strategies used in the ideological representations of social actors and actions in the text. Wodak's approach to discursive strategies is found helpful for this study for its ideological and contextual approach to the use of language. Data are randomly selected from the different parts of the text and subject to content analysis and critical discourse analysis. The study reveals the 'us and 'them' dichotomy and provides concrete linguistic evidence as to the author's bias in representing social actors and actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following article explores a proposed educational programme premised on writing for utopias. Specifically, through facilitated dialogue, participants would collectively engage in creative writing as a mechanism for envisioning alternative futures grown out of divergent political ideologies or social norms to those they experience today. Participants are encouraged to question their current mentality, reflect on why society operates as it does today, and consider what changes they would want to bear witness to. The contribution outlines core concepts for the programme, whilst offering a sample twelve-session guide with suggestions on how to adapt it based on previous knowledge or the participants' ambitions. The ambition of such an undertaking is that students are supported - and support each other - to break with traditional formulaic tasks and, instead, develop their creativity and vision. Their works then serve as a starting point for further tasks predicated on critical dialogue over why they hold particular beliefs, rely on their stated visions to be utopian, and, ultimately, what steps are required to build towards the society they wish to see. The premise is non-prescriptive to enable writers to take their narratives in whichever directions they see fit - for example, whilst science fiction permits us to consider far flung futures, and fantasy enables perspectives to emerge from any source (flora, fauna, or otherwise), historical fiction enables us to revisit significant moments in time to ask what could have been had different choices been made. Throughout the submission, several literary and cinematic fiction examples are drawn upon to help demonstrate the relevant points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-tracking describes capturing and analysing the body and life using digital technologies. Its popularity is propelled by the widespread availability of enabling technologies like smartwatches or fitness-trackers. However, given the broad consensus on the co-productive relationship between technologies and social realities, reducing this phenomenon to technological feasibility alone would be inappropriate. This paper explores self-tracking by investigating its enculturated meanings, focusing on Western Europe. For this purpose, we analysed promises behind self-tracking technologies articulated in TV-commercials considering their relation to the late-modern socio-material constitution. The findings suggest that self-tracking addresses several ideal-typical late-modern problems, like the contingency of everyday living. Self-tracking technologies promise to counteract these problems by employing number-based rationalisation strategies. They aim to increase and condense performance capacities and activate the users. Thereby, they turn out to be technologies of an instrumental reason attempting to counter collective issues by optimising the individual.

The Roman Catholic Church, just like other churches in the world, has seen an unprecedented influx of afflicted followers as fear of death looms around the globe with the spread of an unseeable enemy the Covid-19 pandemic. This study analyzed how the Church's supreme pontiff, Pope Francis, mirrors his intentions in his ten randomly selected homilies to project his powers and ideologies amid the pandemic. Grounded on the supposition of discourse that language reflects and shapes social order and individuals interact and react to the words of others to better themselves and the world, this study revealed that Pope Francis' intentions in delivering the pandemic homilies encompass asserting the theological teachings of the Church, directing the congregation to act, committing himself and his audience to respond as a community, and expressing a mixture of personal emotions, which were revealed through the scrutiny of illocutionary forces used to assert legitimate, expert, and referent powers and profess magisterial, covenantal, volitional, and revelational ideologies. Notably, it could be observed in the findings that there appears to be a unification of powers to mirror the overriding ideologies that emerge. Indeed, the findings imply that the pope's homilies serve multiple purposes, including asserting theological teachings, directing the congregation to act, fostering community response, and expressing personal emotions through illocutionary forces establishing a meaningful correspondence between preaching and communication.

The current study seeks to explore and analyze the role of newspapers in constructing ideologies. The construction of ideologies is a discursive practice which has been given a specific worldwide focus in the field of discourse studies and corpus linguistics. Newspapers, tabloids and magazines are the immediate sources of information that have a wider influence on people all over the world. In this regard, headline articles from two Pakistani newspapers –The Dawn and The News–have been selected. 10 headline articles are selected from the Dawn and 12 headline articles are selected from The News with a particular focus on the current lockdown issue in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). The selected data are processed through AntConc, a corpus tool to retrieve and analyze concordance lines. The Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) with a particular focuson Van Dijk’s (1988) concept, which is called “Structures of News in Press,”is used as a framework for the analysis of attained concordance hits. In addition to this, some tools, namely: naming and referencing, hyperbole, implicature, generalization and reconstruction, given by Richardson (2007), have been applied in addition to the framework proposed by Van Dijk for a refined and improved analysis to explore the discursive construction of ideologies. The findings reveal that through the naming technique,the Dawn editorials have portrayed a negative image of India, while a soft image of Pakistan. However, The News editorials have remained neutral in this regard.The overall analysis depicts that both newspapers have presented Pakistan as supporter and savior of Kashmiri people and India as a manipulator inflicting cruelty in Kashmir. It is recommended that the use of corpus tools in analyzing data from newspapers and then conducting critical discourse analysis are effective ways of unearthing hidden ideologies which can be extended to future research at a broader scope.

By the beginning of the 2010s, Russia has developed a party system and an electoral culture for which the ideological spectrum is not critically important. However, the high-profile political processes, the events of recent years and the leap in the development of social media have contributed to the reactualization of the ideological spectrum in the field of unconventional politics. At the same time, new social movements were formed. In this regard, questions about the left-right divide and about the semantic content of the concepts of left and right wings themselves acquire new relevance. The author of the article tries to determine which Russian ideological and social movements, political parties and associations of a different type today can be attributed to each wing of the left-right continuum, and what are the essential divisions between the different sides of it today. For this purpose, a discourse analysis of the publications of certain public opinion leaders who directly relate themselves to one or another camp in social media was carried out. Various interviews and speeches of these individuals, as well as program documents of some parties and movements were also used for this analysis. In order to clearly identify various personalities and groups on the basis of their position in the ideological spectrum, the author relied on the methodology of social constructivism. The author concludes that the conceptualization of the right-wing established in Russian political science, referring this concept mainly to liberals, is largely outdated by now. There are splits within the left and right movements themselves along the line of attitude to the state and etatism, no less acute and fundamental than the very division between these movements.