Purpose This paper explores how Further Education (FE) and Skills professionals understand social value, based on a sector-wide call for evidence. It examines evidence of the sector’s contribution to social value at individual, community and societal levels. While relatively little has been written about social value in FE and Skills, articulating the value generated by the sector can strengthen its collective identity, provide meaningful insights for policymakers and support organisations to communicate and enhance the value they deliver. Design/methodology/approach In July 2024, the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) held a month-long call for evidence on social value in the FE and Skills sector in England. ETF invited FE and Skills professionals to submit evidence about the social, psychological and community benefits their institutions deliver. Participants were asked to complete a short online survey and upload any relevant reports, documents and supporting data. Findings Evidence reviewed in this study suggests that social value in FE and Skills is primarily created in the form of social inclusion and widening participation, employment opportunities and progression to future learning. Key perceived benefits included learner knowledge, skills and confidence, strengthening community bonds, social cohesion and integration and local employment and economic prosperity. Originality/value This study contributes to a better understanding of social value in FE and Skills. Based on the literature review and call for evidence, it offers a working definition of social value in FE and Skills as the social, economic and environmental well-being that benefits learners and local communities.

ABSTRACT In a context marked by multiple crises, the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources has been regarded as the primary solution to climate change. However, the implementation of large-scale renewable energy infrastructure is increasingly contested as market-driven, investor-led and incapable of protecting nature. This article investigates resistance to an industrial wind power plant proposed for a pristine area in the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines. From a theoretical perspective, it bridges social movement studies with political economy and critical debates on the green transition, including perspectives on green extractivism and territorial inequalities. Methodologically, we draw on qualitative research to analyse diagnostic and prognostic frames developed by the opponents of a locally unwanted land use (LULU) project, through which they articulate an environmentalist narrative grounded in biodiversity protection, attention to local characteristics and active citizen participation. We demonstrate that social movements mobilise at the local level around emerging centre–periphery cleavages, denouncing ecological and political marginalisation while promoting community-based alternatives. The article highlights the role of place as a source of collective identity and well-being, and of democratic participation as a condition for a just ecological transition.

This study aims to thoroughly examine the role of local language in the development of tourism based on local wisdom in South Sulawesi. Using a qualitative approach supported by quantitative data from questionnaires distributed to tourism actors, local communities, stakeholders, and tourists, this study highlights the importance of using local terms such as "tabe", "siri na pacce", and "sipakatau" in building authentic tourism experiences. The research results show that local language is not only a communication tool but also a means of preserving cultural values and collective identity that strengthens social relationships in the tourism realm. The high support for training in using the local language and the desire to integrate it into tourism promotion indicate great potential in revitalizing the local language through the tourism sector. These findings reinforce the sociopragmatic theoretical view of the social meaning of language while providing practical contributions to formulating culture-based tourism policy strategies.

Conversational remembering.

ABSTRACT This article examines how humour shapes collective memory and enables alternative reimaginings of the past among Dersim Alevis, based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Dersim and Istanbul between 2021 and 2023. Drawing on interviews, participant observation and personal reflections, it explores how humour operates as a narrative and affective tool for engaging with collective memory, cultural identity and intergenerational trauma. Particular attention is given to the use of Kirmanckî (Zazaki/Dımılki) and code‐switching practices, which enhance the emotional and aesthetic dimensions of humorous storytelling and reflect broader tensions between local languages and national discourse. The research includes stories of kuretacı (local jokers) and contemporary performances by young comedians, highlighting how humour circulates across generations and social settings from village squares to digital platforms. Rather than offering a fixed definition of humour, the study follows its manifestations in everyday life, considering its functions of coping, criticism and cultural transmission. Situating these narratives within trauma and memory studies, it suggests that humour provides a distinct, and at times subversive, space for remembering, resisting and reimagining the past.

Collective memory from a cognitive perspective.

This text examines German census statistics as a mechanism through which the state defines national belonging. It explores the interplay between the statistical categories used to assign collective identities and the underlying language ideologies that both shape and are influenced by these taxonomies. Historically and currently, official statistics have employed language not only to identify population affiliation but to actively construct it. Consequently, language serves as a ‘proxy characteristic’ – a statistical category standing in for national identity. The analysis traces how language-related questions have been formulated in German censuses from the foundation of the German Empire in 1871 to the present, with a particular focus on the contestation inherent in state-led categorisation.

Wittgenstein famously proposed that language constitutes, rather than merely reflects, reality. We consider identity to be a dynamic, lifelong process shaped by both inherited factors and subjective choice. Collective identity emerges from a shared, unconscious matrix of values, fantasies and affects, with language functioning as a key organiser of belonging. In the current climate of social and political polarisation, language plays a central role in many identity-based conflicts. We examine several international cases in which linguistic tensions are indicative of cultural and historical divisions. Particular focus is given to the Basque Country, a region characterised by chronic identity instability and a long-standing linguistic divide. Through the lens of psychoanalytic theory, drawing on Freud's proposals and later contemporary contributions, we explore how language functions as a medium of representation, as well as a psychic container and scene of internal conflict. In contexts of collective crisis, the idealisation of a lost, “original” language often reflects a regressive drive toward a fantasised unity with the maternal imago and the Lacanian register of the Imaginary. The distinction between the “own” and the “alien” tongue becomes a site of projective identification and defensive structuring, aiming to restore coherence through a return to a mythical past.

Civil engineering plays a fundamental role in safeguarding transcultural heritage in vulnerable regions such as the Caribbean and Central America, where natural disasters pose a constant threat. This article explores how engineering practices integrate with conservation strategies to protect historical sites that reflect the fusion of indigenous, European, African, and Asian cultures. Through an analysis of real cases, it examines the impacts of earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods on emblematic places like Panama’s Casco Antiguo, the National Art Schools in Cuba, and fortifications in Puerto Rico. It highlights the importance of climate risk assessments, seismic interventions, and urban adaptation plans that incorporate modern technologies without altering the cultural essence. From an integrative perspective, it is observed that collaboration between engineers, historians, and localcommunities is key to mitigating damage and promoting resilience. The study reveals that, although challenges are intense due to climate change, adapted engineering solutions can preserve these legacies for future generations, fostering a balance between development and heritage. Ultimately, engineering not only repairs structures but also revitalizes collective identities in transcultural contexts.

Social media platforms serve as virtual communities where communication, interactions, and social connections arise, significantly influencing the formation of individuals' cultural identities. Humor is one of the cultural elements that spreads widely across the virtual world, which originated through social media, and the youth category is one of the strong groups that follow digital content, and young people are usually attracted to humorous content in particular, which reflects their daily experiences. Through young people sharing jokes and humor, the bonds between them are strengthened and their sense of collective identity is enhanced. Humor circulating on social media also influences the behavior of young people, serving as a tool for expressing opinions and alleviating daily and life pressures. Despite the positive aspects observed in the dissemination of humorous content across various social segments in general، and among young people in particular, we cannot ignore the negative effects some of it can have Humor can manifest in social interactions as mockery and bullying, highlighting the dangers of the rapidly spreading humor found in the digital sphere. Therefore, this research aims to examine the role and risks of humor disseminated through social media platforms, which significantly influences young people's opinions on social issues. Humor is a powerful and accessible tool for attracting attention, as it simplifies concepts and presents issues in a straightforward and humorous way that captures interest and sparks discussions on all topics relevant to society. The social survey method was used to analyze and study the phenomenon, employing a questionnaire as the data collection tool for the research topic. The study was conducted on a purposive, random sample of 50 individuals, distributing the questionnaire to students at the University of Mosul. The research yielded several key findings, including: - Social media platforms are important for disseminating and acquiring knowledge, communicating with others, and opening channels for social interaction and the exchange of experiences. - Humor circulating on social media provides a platform for young people to freely express their desires and opinions on local and global social issues. - The humor promoted and shared by young people is a double-edged sword, depending on the topics discussed, the methods of presentation, and the individuals and situations depicted.

How can music be used to build a shared sense of place in pluralised, post-industrial locales? Moreover, how can a culturally-significant musical instrument with multiple (and sometimes competing) heritages help develop a shared sense of place in multicultural communities? This article explores these questions through the Bradford Dhol Project (a community music initiative), drawing on qualitative research conducted during dhol workshops with Bradford (U.K.) community groups: Touchstone and ‘Stand and Be Counted’. Bradford is a large post-industrial city marked by economic deprivation and significant cultural diversity, including a sizeable South Asian population. Social issues are exacerbated by it being, to some extent, geographically divided along ethnic lines, generating undercurrents of mistrust and intercommunity tensions. The dhol drum, historically central in Indian and Pakistani musical traditions, has become an aural reminder of ‘home’ for diasporic communities in places like Bradford. Here, it has established new meanings through its prominent presence at public festivals and civic events, not only among the diasporic communities, but also those without historic cultural connections to the instrument. Rather than tracing the dhol’s routes of globalization, this article examines how the instrument’s cultural significance contributes to placemaking by evoking memories of place for those who migrated with it and enabling new meanings formed in the multicultural context of Bradford. Building on Bates’s (2012) call to examine ‘the social life of musical instruments,’ this article demonstrates how culturally significant instruments like the dhol can play an active role in social life by supporting the development of shared cultural and spatial identities. Ultimately, it argues that music—and musical instruments in particular—not only carry traces of their origins but also serve as a tabula rasa through which new collective senses of place can emerge. Developing shared senses of place and culture is a crucial starting point for improving social cohesion.

ABSTRACT This psychobiographical study examines the life of Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza, through a religious-psychological lens, analysing the cognitive, emotional, and social dynamics that shaped his conversion, asceticism, and transformative influence in fifth-century Gaza. By applying modern psychological frameworks – including cognitive dissonance, charismatic authority, posttraumatic growth, and place-identity – the study bridges historical hagiography with contemporary empirical research. The analysis argues that Porphyry’s dramatic conversion and the destruction of the Marneion temple were not merely expressions of religious devotion, but intentional strategies aimed at shaping social and collective identity. Key findings reveal how his spiritual struggles and societal interventions align with neurotheological and sociocultural theories, offering new insights into religious experience and communal change. The analysis not only deepens the understanding of his sanctity and historical impact but also highlights the enduring relevance of his story for modern interfaith dialogue and the psychology of religious leadership.

Debates about cultural recognition have been divided into two main views: on the difference-sensitive liberal view, recognition of individuals’ collective identities requires group-specific minority rights, whereas on the difference-blind liberal view, recognition requires nothing beyond the basic rights guaranteed by liberal procedural justice. This article seeks to show that, in fact, both camps are wrong about what recognition requires. Instead, I argue that what recognition requires must be decided through a democratic discursive procedure, which allows members of minority groups to freely articulate their claims to recognition, and have those claims in turn, reviewed by the public through an impartial process of mutual argumentation. In fact, I show that even if independent principles of fairness might seem to require extending group-specific minority rights, as Alan Patten argues, the content of those rights must be determined by the affected agents themselves through a democratic discursive procedure. On the basis of this argument, I defend an alternative discursive approach to the problem of recognition.

This article examines a distinct discursive practice encompassing a set of communicative practices that emerge and circulate at the intersection of different national contexts in the digital environment, terminologically defined as «cross-national internet discourse». The aim of the work is to justify the validity of distinguishing this type of discourse and to identify its features based on the general taxonomy of discourse in domestic and foreign literature. The research materials include works by Russian, Chinese, and European linguists dedicated to studying the concept and classification of internet discourse in general and its cross-national variety in particular. Descriptive and comparative methods, as well as observation and theoretical analysis, were employed. It is established that within the scientific community, internet discourse is most often viewed as a new form of communication, classified by genre, topic, message format, and communication channel, with texts containing a cross-national context typically categorized as political internet discourse. The necessity of distinguishing cross-national internet discourse as a variety of modern discourse is justified on the grounds that this type of discourse actively constructs transnational public spheres, influences international relations, shapes collective identities, and redefines the boundaries of cultural influence. The specific features distinguishing this type of discourse from others are systematized. The categorical parameters include: a) a specific nature of communication participants; b) a special chronotope; c) a unique goal; d) a specific set of strategies; e) a distinct thematic focus; f) genre variability; g) linguistic features. The obtained data contribute to expanding the understanding of internet discourse, particularly its cross-national variety, and create a foundation for further study of its characteristics, including from the perspective of the linguistic devices employed within it.

This study examines how Generation Z’s digital practices on TikTok and Instagram shape their music festival experiences, focusing on event perception, engagement, and the development of collective identity. The aim is to identify key factors connecting online and offline aspects of festival participation. The research adopts a quantitative approach based on an online survey of 248 respondents born between 1995 and 2010 from various regions of Serbia. Data were analyzed in SPSS 26.0 using Spearman correlation, quantile regression, and the Mann–Whitney test. Given the exploratory nature of the study, the findings should be interpreted accordingly. Findings show that frequent social media use has a positive but limited effect on how important these platforms are perceived for the festival experience. However, user-generated content created by attendees plays a more significant role in shaping engagement and attitudes than influencer content. Influencer credibility also influences how festivals are interpreted digitally. The interplay between online interaction and offline participation motivates content sharing and reinforces a sense of community. Overall, the study concludes that social media and digital narratives are central to Generation Z’s festival experience. Authentic, attendee-created content strongly contributes to collective identity, helping bridge digital and physical dimensions—insights valuable for festival organizers, influencers, and cultural tourism.

ABSTRACT This article explores how Arab and Muslim states have represented nurses on postage stamps from 1940 through 2021. Postage stamps provide a visual medium through which states convey social, cultural, and political ideologies and messages. Employing visual analysis and contextual historical methods, this study reveals shifting perceptions of nurses within the interplay between tradition, religion, modernity, science, gender roles, and national identities in the Arab-Islamic world. Four prominent themes emerged from the analysis: nurses as professionals-agents of social and scientific progress, their symbolic roles during wartime, their depiction as compassionate caregivers emphasizing maternal values, and their portrayal as guardians of religious and cultural traditions. These themes highlight how nurses navigate dual expectations of embodying current healthcare practices and upholding traditional and religious norms. The findings indicate a notable gap between the social and medical significance attributed to nursing and its limited numerical representation, while the width of their professional representation is quite evident. This research offers a novel contribution to philatelic studies, cultural representation, and Middle Eastern gender studies, demonstrating how visual symbolism shapes and reflects collective national identities.

In the context of territorial displacement and following a long-termperspective, this article examines political exile in Latin America, with itsaccumulation of pressures, socio-political and cultural impacts. It analyzesits importance in shaping collective identities, its systemic impact on thestyle of doing politics in the region, and the contribution of exiles andreturnees to numerous facets of culture and politics. The text highlights theinstitutional logic of exile as a mechanism of political exclusion and controlthat, although it shares characteristics with other forms of human mobility,displays a particular physiognomy that has impacted all Latin Americancountries for a long time and is still projected in recent history.

Socio-economic challenges faced by tuberculosis (TB) survivors in Indonesia remain substantial, particularly stigma that restricts employment opportunities and hinders social reintegration. This community service program aimed to strengthen the economic capacity of TB survivors through a community-based empowerment approach and health information dissemination via social media. The program involved a TB survivor community in the partner area of the Lampung Sehat Initiative. A participatory method was applied through entrepreneurship training, digital content production assistance, and the distribution of health education materials using Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. The results indicate that social media was effective not only as a platform for health education but also as a promotional tool for participants’ micro-business products. In addition to improving public literacy regarding TB, social media contributed to stigma reduction by delivering positive narratives and reinforcing the collective identity of the survivor community. The program also encouraged behavioral change, supported the emergence of local leadership, and expanded participants’ social and economic networks. These findings suggest that integrating social media into community-based empowerment initiatives can serve as a social transformation strategy that enhances the sustainability of economic development and social support for TB survivors.

This study examines the process of religious habituation among congregants at Masjid Jami’ Al-Barokah Yasda, South Jakarta, through the perspective of Peter L. Berger’s theory of social construction. The mosque implements a series of religious programs conducted consistently on a daily basis, including ta’lim, recitation of Rotibul Haddad, congregational shalat tasbih, Yasin Tahlil Barzanji, silaturahmi, and jaulah. This research aims to understand how these programs are designed, implemented, and interpreted so as to shape the religious patterns of the congregation. This study employs a qualitative descriptive approach, with data collected through in-depth interviews with the head of the Mosque Management Board (DKM) and direct observation of religious activities. The findings indicate that religious habituation in this mosque is formed through an interconnected process of social construction: religious programs are formulated by mosque administrators as an expression of religious values and vision (externalization), subsequently carried out on a regular basis until they are accepted as traditions and a collective identity of the mosque (objectivation), and ultimately internalized by congregants as values that shape religious attitudes and consciousness of piety (internalization) in their daily lives.Overall, these religious activities are oriented toward sustaining Rahmatan lil ‘Alamin da‘wah da‘wah that promotes goodness, inner peace, and social benefit for both congregants and the surrounding community. The findings demonstrate that religious habituation, when managed consistently and adaptively, is capable of fostering a living religious culture, strengthening piety, and generating tangible social impacts within an urban religious context.

The article analyzes the uptick in migration in Latin America and how it is discursively treated as a security issue—a process known as “securitization.” It argues that collective identity becomes the core of “societal security,” and that labeling the migrant population as a “threat” legitimizes exceptional and exclusionary responses. It also engages the debate on the intentional political use of migration flows to exert pressure and international coercion. This is done through a non-systematic narrative review of the literature alongside a trend study that combines, on the one hand, theory and, on the other, technical reports from international organizations. The text likewise shows that digital media in the region frame migration mainly as a threat (crime) or as victimhood (vulnerability), with alarmist headlines that shape public opinion. Consequently, several surveys reveal greater support for restrictive policies, the belief that migrants are a burden, and a growing association between immigration and crime in various countries. However, comparative evidence refutes this link: migrants’ crime rates tend to be equal to or lower than their share of the population. In response, the article concludes by offering a ten-point set (“decalogue”) of concrete tools for formulating regional public policies that guarantee the fundamental rights of migrants.