Common Identity Research Articles

Święci Cyryl i Metody prekursorami Unii Europejskiej (?)

For centuries, the brothers Cyril and Methodius, who are the patron saints of Europe, have reminded not only Christians but all the inhabitants of this continent of the continent's continuing need to build European unity. By going back to Europe's roots, we can gain a better understanding of its past and of its identity, so that we can be fully committed to the realisation of human rights, step up our efforts in solidarity with the peoples of other continents and, in so doing, work towards peace and development on a global scale. It can therefore be thought that both Saints made a fundamental contribution to the creation of Europe and its formation not only in religious terms, but moreover as a state and cultural organism. The founders of the European Union propounded views that were innovative and ahead of their time. At the same time, they did not forget that at the heart of the European integration tendencies of the peoples inhabiting this part of the world lay both a common history, tradition, culture and identity, but above all Christian values. Although they represented different backgrounds, they were guided by the fundamental objective of uniting Europe, thus striving to ensure lasting peace and economic, political and social stability. Bearing in mind the fundamental goals and values which guided the founding fathers of the European Union and which continue to guide the organisation, it should be emphasised that they coincide with those expressed by the Solemn Brothers. Hence, the author of this article attempts to answer the question whether Sts Cyril and Methodius can be forerunners of the European Union. An approximation of the brothers' mission in the Slavic territories, as well as a brief overview of the history of this European organisation, allows the conclusion to be drawn that both are the first founding fathers of the union as nations inhabiting the Old Continent. They brought the foundations of the Slav faith and culture, their indissoluble unity. But it should be remembered that they were, and still are, heralds of the Gospel, witnesses of the Good News proclaiming the God who constantly loves every human being. It is not insignificant that in the iconography the saints are depicted in pontifical dress as Greek or Latin bishops, which also shows the integrity of Europe, as both Eastern and Western parts of this continent.

The colonialism of the Modern Movement and the post‐USSR reaction in Central Asia

AbstractPolitical scientists and historians often credit the intangible heritage of language for the development or manufacturing of national identities. By controlling language through printing and media, it is possible to impose a common identity representing a political, diplomatic, and economic unity. This paper aims to illuminate the often‐unstated influences of urban and architectural language on the impact of cultural production, and to show how modernist syntax and vocabulary were hijacked into a colonial system through the control of the urban fabric, as an attempt to displace primary identity markers such as empire and religion. However, the socialist ideals of the Modern Movement that developed in the USSR after World War I, were a critical tangible component in this melting pot. At time of its ratification of the World Heritage Convention, the USSR did not nominate any properties in Central Asia, perhaps as a reaction against local identities. An exception was Itchan Kala which was nominated for inclusion as an “open‐air city museum.” ICOMOS in its evaluation of the long‐term risks involved in transferring all the settlement and artisanal areas beyond its borders, warned that Itchan Kala would become a dead city with the local population cast into the role of “benign traditionalists” (ICOMOS, Evaluation of the Nomination – Historic Centre of Itchan‐kala, Khiva. Paris: ICOMOS, 1990, 39). Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the entire Russian bloc faced issues arising from changing values and renewed identities, the speed of change and active vestiges of the past. The post‐USSR reaction in Central Asia was through a regenerated Timurid narrative in the inscription of World Heritage properties in Uzbekistan, particularly in Shakhrisyabz, Bukhara, and Samarkand. The shift from an emphasis on architectural monuments toward a broader recognition of the social, cultural, and economic processes in the conservation of urban values comes together with the need for integrative sustainable development. This is matched by a drive to adapt existing leftover planning policies from the Soviet regime by creating new tools to address this postcolonial national vision.

Gratitude Day: the role of cultural heritage in the construction of a common identity and symbolic policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

This paper is written on the basis of analysing the speech of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, who initiated the Day of Gratitude in 2015. The research explores the official concept of the holiday, examining its key ideas, media content related to the celebration, materials providing insights into the history of the formation of the multiethnic community - the people of Kazakhstan, and oral-historical evidences of various peoples deportation to the territory of the Republic. The use of historical documents and field materials allows for the identification of the cultural foundations of the holiday, resulting from the historical and cultural trauma and collective memory of the Kazakh people. The analysis of sources not only reveals the fundamental basis of the celebratory date but also identifies another important aspect - the influence of traditional hospitality practices that institutionally provided the reception of non-indigenous populations in Kazakhstan. The scientific significance of this work lies in its interdisciplinary historical-anthropological approach, expanding the boundaries of understanding the historical and cultural foundations of the holiday's actualisation. The methodological framework of the article is grounded in the theories of hospitality, memory, empathy, and symbolic politics, allowing for the uncovering of implicit foundations of the examined celebration. Examining the official concept of the Gratitude Day for its interpretation as a holiday elucidating the history and stages of the formation of the republic's multiethnic community. Additionally, it serves as the basis for constructing social and political unity – the people of Kazakhstan. The practical significance of the conducted research lies in the scientifically substantiated identification of the constructive foundations of the Day of Gratitude, obtained from the shared historical destiny of the people of Kazakhstan, as well as in providing an addition to the official concept of the holiday.

Religion and politics in Morocco: Islamic, Islamist, and post-Islamist dynamics

This paper aims to map the terrain of religion and politics in modern and contemporary Morocco. Seeing the chronological and intellectual diversity within Moroccan religious thought and politics, this paper proposes three major historical periods to facilitate approaching the topic: the pre-/ colonial, the colonial, and postcolonial times. The first pre/-colonial period is hybrid; it coincides with the rise of the first generation of the Moroccan Nahda renewal, before the colonial period, although it lived into the colonial period and played important roles in it for liberation. I mark this with the ?Islamic? label, since Islam was the only common identity marker for any project of renewal in an intellectually ?homogeneous? society. As to the colonial period, this Islamic identity became stronger since the colonial administration tried to weaken this identity and the social fabric and its related institutions, be they religious brotherhoods, religious endowments, or Sufi orders; at a certain moment in 1930, the colonial administration played on linguistic differences to divide and rule, and in another occasion, in 1953-1955, it tried to dethrone the nationalist Sultan and replace him with a docile one. Here, again, the ?Islamic? identity marker of society and politics was further emphasized as a force of unity, thus the label of Nationalist Islam in this stage, despite the variety of currents within the nationalist movement. As to the postcolonial period, it is a phase in which the modern debates over the format of the nation state, the place of religion in politics, democracy, liberalism, socialism, and secularization become part of Moroccan thought and politics. Thus, three major labels are used to describe the variety of political Islams in society: the Ultra-Orthodox Islam, the Orthodox Islam, and Critical Islam. And since they all share Islam as an identity but interpret it differently, I borrow the term from Asef Bayat to call this period the ?post-Islamist? period, since the actors with the Islamic label are multiple, and no one single trend or project manages to win to enforce its Islamist interpretation on society and political stakeholders. More importantly, this diversity of interpretations is what saves the ?Islamic? from rigidity and turns it into its fluidity of pre-modern times, i.e. to the ?Islamic? as a lived spirituality and moral compass, as a theocentric way of life, in a forthcoming post- Islamist society, a secular world and neoliberal economies.

Investigating the Essence of Organizational Identity: Perspectives from Employees in the Banking Sector of Nepal

This study pursued to examine employees' perceptions of organizational identity in different banks within the Nepalese banking industry and to identify the relationship between perceptions of organizational identity on demographic factors. To define the features and pinpoint the relationship, the descriptive research design is used for the study. A total of 228 employees were chosen to investigate the findings of this study. The survey included just the banks in the Kathmandu district. Questionnaires with Likert scales were employed as data collection techniques, and mean, standard deviation, and correlation were utilized to analyze the data. SPSS was used to investigate the outcome. Employee perceptions of organizational identity in the Nepalese banking industry vary widely, reflecting diverse levels of personal attachment and identification. Demographic factors like gender, marital status, and age do not significantly impact these perceptions, indicating consistency across different employee groups. This underscores the importance of recognizing individual differences while understanding that organizational identity remains stable and consistent within the industry. Organizations can use this knowledge to enhance employee engagement and foster a sense of identity, contributing to overall success. In conclusion, Nepalese banking employees share a common organizational identity despite their diverse individual perceptions.

Italici an Itali?

During the Social War, certain linguistic choices must have had particular importance for the rebel Italian allies who fought against Rome. This article aims to demonstrate why the insurgents were likely to have rejected the term Italici and adopted the name Itali as their self-designation. A thorough analysis of the meanings and connotations of Greek and Latin terms used for the inhabitants of Italy clearly indicates that during the war the ethnonym Itali allowed the rebel Italians to radically dissociate themselves from the Romans and strengthen their own common identity.

Integration of Social Identities in Interreligious-Group Relations

In the context of interreligious group relations, grassroots society tends to demonstrate adaptation strategies to promote harmonious social living. Based on the social identity perspective, such conditions encompass the dynamic process in which diverse religious group identities are endorsed within a coherent superordinate identity. This study explores the dynamics of integration as a strategy to maintain religious harmony. A qualitative case study was conducted in a rural community with diverse religious groups in Central Java. Data were gathered through participative observations, semi-structured interviews, casual conversations, and document analysis. We employed an abductive strategy to analyze the rich empirical materials gathered. The findings reveal the integrative construction of a common ingroup identity, that embraces the essence of unity in diversity. As a strong common ingroup identity indicates, it requires the development of a transcendent identity at the subgroup level. This process encourages a positive orientation towards others to preserve equality among groups. Of utmost importance, this integration most likely plays a pivotal role in addressing both social harmony and social tension. This study highlights that the strategy of integration is explained through the formation of an inclusive common ingroup identity, that illustrates the node of bonding and bridging for existing religious groups to live together.

Изменение правового положения немусульманского населения Османской империи в контексте реформ Танзимата

The article is devoted to the study of the legal status of the non-Muslim population of the Ottoman Empire and the transformation of this status in the era of Tanzimat reforms. The author analyzes the doctrinal foundations of Islamic legislation in terms of regulating the life of non-Muslim communities, combining the study of the letter of Muslim law with the historical context. A comparative analysis of Islamic theoretical and legal material, coupled with socio-political processes, is carried out. The emphasis of the study is on studying the transformation of the millet system under the influence of Western European legal thought with the aim of creating a modern nation. The relevance of studying the legal aspects of regulating the lives of non-Muslims in the process of changing the legal status of non-Muslim communities in the structure of Ottoman society is shown. The author comes to the conclusion that although changes in the legal status of other religious communities took place in this era, nevertheless, they did not allow the creation of a single homogeneous society based on a common identity.

Deployment of the Deliberative Model of Political Participation of EU Citizens in the Discourse of the European Democracy Future

The article investigates the process of deployment of the deliberative model of political participation of EU citizens in the discourse of the future of European democracy, which was officially defined by the EU at the organizational level (Conference on the Future of Europe), but the thematic content of the problem was not limited to any official documents, so every EU citizen got the opportunity to express an idea and participate in the discussion of the ideas of other subjects of deliberation at the first stage of the Conference (Multilingual digital platform). The study of the application of digital tools of political participation in the practices of deliberative democracy, applied during the Conference on the Future of Europe, proved that two formats of such tools were used: first, the format of the Multilingual Digital Platform functioned according to the digital model of the deployment of political participation; secondly, the format of the European Citizen Panels was based on a mixed model that combined the principles of digital and face-to-face communications in the deliberation process. At the same time, both formats most systematically reflect the nature of the transformation of the discursive model of political participation of EU citizens from dialogic to deliberative forms based on digital tools. The study of the forms of deliberation on the future of European democracy during the Conference on the Future of Europe and its results allows us to conclude that structurally, the problem of European democracy was defined by EU citizens as a set of interdependent dimensions promising for a common political agenda: elections to the European Parliament; EU federalization; political participation of citizens and consultations; institutional reforms; promotion of common European identity and common public space; protection and strengthening of democracy. The established set of markers, thematic areas and clusters of the deliberation of the future of democracy at the second European Citizen Panel was reflected in 39 guidelines proposed for the development of the final recommendations of the Conference: ensuring rights and (non)discrimination – 9 guidelines; protection of democracy and the rule of law – 5; reforming the EU – 10; formation of European identity – 9; citizens' participation – 6. In the final documents of the Conference, a consensus was reached on 5 proposals, which accumulated most of the recommendations of citizens regarding the future of European democracy, expressed during the deliberation process.

Floral structure and development in Nandina domestica and implications for systematic affinities in Berberidaceae and perianth evolution in Ranunculales

Abstract In Berberidaceae, the phylogenetic position and systematic affinities of the monotypic genus Nandina have long been debated and remain unclear. In addition, previous comparative studies have provided conflicting reports on the origin and development of its petals. Using scanning electron microscopy and microtome sections, we studied the structure and development of the flower and perianth in Nandina domestica to re-evaluate its affinities and homology of its petals. Our results confirm that N. domestica essentially shares the same Bauplan (organization) with other Berberidaceae and its petals are neither delayed in development nor much differentiated from sepals. However, we sometimes also observed the initiation of additional primordia that become confluent with the base of stamens of the outer whorl, but do not develop further and are no longer visible in later stages of development. Our study thus not only reconciles previous conflicting interpretations on the origin and development of petals in Nandina, but also confirms that it has a unique suite of vegetative and reproductive features supporting its position as a distinct member of the family. In addition, it suggests that the most recent common ancestors of both Berberidaceae and Ranunculales probably had two types of petaloid organs with distinct origin and development but still sharing a deep common genetic identity.

An Intercultural Perspective on Construction of Corporate Identity of Chinese and American Enterprises —— Taking Fin-Tech Unicorns as an Example

Benefiting from the progression of science and technology, an increasing number of enterprises begin to delve into the construction of corporate identity through their official websites, regarded as an international door today. The researches about the building of corporate images takes a large amount of shareholdings in academic area. Notwithstanding, there are only few scholars studying the portray of the profile from an intercultural perspective with “About us” section in company websites as the data. With the help of the corpus analytic tool AntConc, this paper intends to discuss the common and distinctive corporate identities of Fin-Tech unicorns in China and the US respectively which are manifested in high-frequency vocabulary, key words, communication strategy and style. It is discovered that the common identities include international financial technology companies, payment services provider and caring about consumers. Apart from this, CF takes the mixture of proactive and reactive strategy in building its images and tends to be more impersonal and hierarchical in communication style. The proactive strategy and casual communication style constitute to the construction of UF’s identities. From the cultural perspective, CF expresses all of the cultural dimensions specific in China except that of masculinity and femininity and the situation of UF is the same with CF. CF should endeavor to narrow the cultural gap thorough applying effective intercultural communication strategies and keep in line with the local culture. In this way, CF might be able to grab the chances along with the advance of globalization.

Co-segmentation assisted cross-modality person re-identification

We present a deep learning-based method for Visible-Infrared person Re-Identification (VI-ReID). The major contribution lies in the incorporation of co-segmentation into a multi-task learning framework for VI-ReID, where the co-segmentation concept aids in making the distributions of RGB images and IR images the same for the same identity but diverse for different identities. Accordingly, a novel multi-task learning based model, i.e., co-segmentation assisted VI-ReID (CSVI), is proposed in this paper. Specifically, the co-segmentation network first takes as the inputs the modality-shared features extracted from a set of RGB and IR images by using the VI-ReID model. Then, it exploits their semantic similarities for predicting the person masks of the common identities within the input RGB and IR images by using a cross-modality center based weight generation module and a segmentation decoder. Doing so enables the VI-ReID model to extract more additional modality-shared shape features for boosting performance. Meanwhile, the co-segmentation network implicitly establishes the interactions among the set of RGB and IR images, thus further bridging the large modality discrepancies. Our model’s effectiveness and superiority are verified through experimental comparisons with state-of-the-art algorithms on several benchmark datasets.

Awe weakens the blatant dehumanization of people with obesity via common ingroup identity

Awe weakens the blatant dehumanization of people with obesity via common ingroup identity

За кирилицата като шрифт на Балканите през XV–XVI век

The author explores the following issues: the differing graphical systems of the early print Cyrillic fonts and their role in establishing common identity through achieving cultural unity in graphical diversity. The paper provides conclusions about the types of orthographic systems (the Tarnovo two-nasal system and the Raška and Resava systems); the graphical inventory of individual editions according to selected differential features; the areal and cultural specifics of the studied editions. The author argues that the early print Cyrillic fonts functioned as a sign and information system and a cultural phenomenon that upheld tradition and rein-forced its literary prestige.

Intergroup contact in Japan: An exploration of direct, E-contact, and mass-mediated modalities among Japanese and international students

This study explored relationship between intergroup contact and willingness to interact with each other among Japanese and international students in Japan, focusing on three contact modalities: direct, E-contact, and mass-mediated contact, from perspectives of both groups. The research identified unique relationships between contact types and intergroup anxiety and common ingroup identity as mediating variables. Key findings include (1) divergent paths between all three contact modalities with intergroup anxiety and common ingroup identity, (2) a more pronounced link between positive contact and interaction willingness among Japanese students, and (3) the dominance of positive over negative contact in predicting interaction willingness. Exceptions to the latter two findings were also explored. The study’s nuanced insights offer valuable contributions to the field, guiding effective strategies in improving intergroup attitudes among domestic and international students.

‘We like because we feel liked’ exposure to cultural fusion improves outgroup attitudes through contact metacognition

AbstractBased on the common ingroup identity model and the principle of group reciprocity, this study proposes that exposure to cultural fusion can improve outgroup attitudes by activating positive contact metacognition, that is, the subjective perception of the outgroup's desire for contact with the ingroup. To test this hypothesis, we conducted three experiments with Chinese Yi students. They were randomly primed with Dai‐Yi cultural fusion pictures, Dai cultural pictures, Yi cultural pictures or geometry pictures (Dai and Yi are two Chinese ethnic minorities). They were asked to report their contact metacognition, cultural identity (Experiments 2 and 3), explicit (willingness to help; Experiments 1 and 2) and implicit attitudes towards Dai (SC‐IAT; Experiment 3). The results found that exposure to Dai‐Yi cultural fusion improved contact metacognition among Yi participants, subsequently leading to more positive explicit and implicit attitudes towards Dai. Unexpectedly, cultural identity did not moderate the mediated effect of contact metacognition. These findings suggest that exposure to cultural fusion is an effective and stable strategy for fostering harmonious intergroup relationships and specifically highlight the importance of contact metacognition. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Who Cashed the Rent Gap? An Alternative Narration of a Shantytown Renovation Project in Nanjing, China

AbstractDespite research on shantytown redevelopment highlighting socio‐spatial exclusion, the viewpoint frequently disseminated through social media depicts it as a massive wealth‐creation movement in China. This paper intends to provide evidence that evicted residents of a shantytown in Nanjing, China, share a common identity with the encroaching gentrifiers – the housing class. By shaping the housing class, an increasing number of urban residents become micro‐agents of housing financialization, allowing the rent gap to be frequently opened even without producing a ‘higher and better’ space. This enables capital to circulate and accumulate within a broader temporal and spatial scope. However, both the class imagination of the housing class and the financial speculation in the housing market are based on the expectation of continuous price growth. This is unsustainable and leaves the real housing needs out of the housing market, which is detrimental to housing equity.

The logic of appropriateness of unity in diversity: the institutionalization of a city network in global governance

ABSTRACT Conceptualizing city networks as institutionalized organizations allows unveiling the internal dynamics beneath their increasing dynamism in global politics. The article taps into the insightful yet uncharted theoretical framework of sociological institutionalism to analyze United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). The logic of appropriateness of unity in diversity drives the process of institutionalization of UCLG, constructing the common and unifying identity of the membership, while simultaneously controlling the potential multiple struggles deriving from the myriad of members’ self-interests in an organization fraught with diversity. The process of identity construction of UCLG members as global policy actors revolves around the legitimacy that stems from their governmental nature, democratic mandate, and proximity to their communities. Yet the call to unity in diversity cannot be upheld without the definition and implementation of rules that organize the interactions among members.

Identities in the “posthuman” condition: locality of war and global world

“Posthuman” is considered now to be one of the most important concepts in contemporary political philosophy, cultural studies, theory of literature and art, sociology of the body and identity, etc., which keeps in focus a detailed discourse regarding the knowledge of the “posthumanity” condition (R. Braidotti, N. Gane, N.K. Hayles, F. Fukuyama, and others). This concept is no longer necessarily confined to the image of a “cyborg” as an ironic political fiction that skillfully reinvents social reality and everyday life in the context of eroding boundaries between nature and culture, or a metaphor that remains symbolically significant due to the ethical impulse and social commitment of its author (D. Haraway). Even a fragmentary involvement in the “posthuman” discourse cannot but encourage reflection on the structure of our common identity as people in the modern global world of high technology and local wars, complex interactions between science and technology, commodification of the natural world, as well as politics and international priorities; this cannot but promote rethinking the imperatives of anthropocentrism. In the case of identities, whether individual or collective, we are talking about partial, contradictory and always open constructions, about their impossibility of relying upon a single essentialist foundation, which can be skillfully intercepted by ideological and political rhetoric but not recognize obvious social and cultural differences; however, such a foundation is unlikely to lose the image of possible unifications in future, effective attraction and solidarity-driven identifications. Depending on the degree of subjects’ involvement in the transitional states of interaction between nature and culture, identities are fragmented and “denaturalized” in various ways; and it is precisely these transitional states, flows that cross borders, whether they are defined metaphorically or instrumentally, that become, first of all, the objects of control strategies, not without activating the mechanisms of informatics of domination, ignoring local knowledge in a military context, which takes into account the status of partial explanation but does not insist on the total substantiation of statements, conclusions and perspectives.

Blind and Deaf Together: Cross-Disability Community at Virginia's Residential School for Black Disabled Youth

Disability history has embraced the cultural model of Deafness which argues that residential schools fostered a common identity unified around the use of sign language. This article argues that this model was built on examinations of primarily (and exclusively) white institutions, resulting in scholarship that erases the distinct experiences of deaf African Americans. Cross-disability experiences were central to the lives of Black children at the Virginia State School, a residential school for deaf and blind African American youth. Far from a statistical outlier, the majority of Southern states used this cost saving measure to educate blind and deaf African Americans. Though not exclusively utilized for African Americans, the disproportionate use of combined schools reflects a Jim Crow approach to disability designed to reduce state expenditures at the cost of services rendered to the Black community. Relying on previously unused sources of the Virginia State School, including surviving records of administrators and a school bulletin with student contributors, this article explores a community where nearly every aspect of life involved cross-disability relationships. Oral histories with former students add to this narrative, revealing how young people who came to identify as culturally Deaf, communicated with partially blind students through sign language and with fully blind students through spoken English. This approach to deaf and blind education regularized cross-disability interactions among African Americans in Virginia, producing a community at the school defined by their categorization as disabled and Black, more so than by specific disabilities.