Contemporary Society Research Articles

Global warming potential and societal-governmental impacts of the hydrogen ecosystem in the transportation sector

The environmental and societal challenges of our contemporary society are leading us to reconsider our approaches to vehicle design. The aim of this article is to provide the reader with the essential knowledge needed to responsibly design a vehicle equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell system.Two pivotal aspects of hydrogen-electric powertrain eco-design are examined. First, the global warming potential is assessed for both PEMFC systems and Type IV hydrogen tanks, accounting for material extraction, production, and end-of-life considerations. The usage phase was omitted from the study in order to facilitate data adaptation for each type of use. PEMFC exhibits a global warming potential of about 29.2 kgCO2eq/kW, while the tank records 12.4 kgCO2eq/kWh, with transportation factors considered. Secondly, the societal and governmental impacts are scrutinized, with the carbon-intensive hydrogen tank emerging as having the most significant societal and governmental risks. In fact, on a scale of 1–5, with 5 representing the highest level of risk, the PEMFC system has a societal impact and governance risk of 2.98. The Type IV tank has a societal impact and governance risk of 3.31.Although uncertainties persist regarding the results presented in this study, the values obtained provide an overview of the societal and governmental impacts of the hydrogen ecosystem in the transportation sector. The next step will be to compare, for the same usage, which solution between hydrogen-electric and 100% battery is more respectful of humans and the environment.

Exploring the Impact of Social Media on Public Opinion Formation: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract: This study investigates the influence of social media on the formation of public opinion, employing a comparative analysis with traditional media platforms. In the digital age, social media has become a ubiquitous source of information and communication significantly impacting the way individuals perceive and engage with societal issues. This research seeks to examine the mechanisms through which social media shapes public opinion, including factors such as algorithmic curation, user-generated content, and network effects. By juxtaposing its influence with that of traditional media, this study aims to provide insights into the evolving dynamics of public opinion formation in contemporary society.

A Brief Introduction into Scriptural Grounding of Contemporary Social Work

Social work, as a model of welfare practice in contemporary society, is based on the mutual aid principle of those in need or in a situation of vulnerability. Its historical foundations can be identified from the ancient writings, including the Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments. This paper brings to the attention of the students from the Faculty of Orthodox Theology, the Social Work specialization, but also of those concerned with a deep social-theological knowledge, the perspective of a theoretical analysis, but also that of a good practice model for contemporary social work based on the examples existing in Holy Scripture. Also, the focus is on developing, through study, professional skills that provide for the projection and elaboration of a discourse based on sacred texts (verbal and written exposure), but also the correct statement of the doctrine of the Church and the means transmitted by it for the perfecting of the person and of the world in the context of a constantly changing society. Thus, through this comprehensive analysis, the paper highlights the relevance and sustainable impact of the teachings and practices of social work in the Old and New Testaments on contemporary issues solvable through social justice, christian love, solidarity and community responsibility.

Centring animal experience through comics-based research: The case of Pavlov’s dogs 

The focus of this article is the collaborative creation of Pavlov and the Kingdom of Dogs, a graphic nonfiction novel aimed at highlighting the lives of dogs experimented upon by Ivan Pavlov in late 19th and early 20th-century Russia. The novel delves into the intricate human-canine relationships within the context of St. Petersburg’s scientific, cultural, and political landscape. The collaboration between a researcher, a professional illustrator, and a script editor aimed to challenge anthropocentric narratives prevalent in historical representations of Pavlov and experimental science. Rooted in animal studies and psychology, this project explores the potential of arts-based methods to centre animals and their relationships within historical contexts. It aims to deepen depictions of animal experiences and agency while bridging the gap between human-animal studies and psychology, where attention to animal lives in research settings remains limited. By focusing on Pavlov’s experiments, the project seeks to redefine experimental animals as active historical subjects, contributing to broader discussions on human-animal relationships and ethical responsibilities. The article delineates the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of the graphic novel, provides insights into the comics-based research process, and discusses the affordances and challenges of this approach. It concludes by reflecting on the potential of comics-based research to engage both academic and public audiences, ultimately advocating for a deeper understanding of human-animal entanglements and their implications in contemporary society.

Breaking the Mold: Normative Hybridity as the Key to Contemporary “Non-Western” Political Theorizing

What normative compass can appropriately ground a theory for contemporary “non-Western” societies? This question has become urgent amid the pressure to decolonize political science and academia. The hybridity of numerous contemporary non-Western societies means that political theorists cannot refuse to engage with either Western-originated or premodern Indigenous concepts and ways of thinking that bear on the local public culture. However, these normative strands alone are unsuitable for grounding a contemporary theory. This methodological dilemma can be overcome if theorists adopt normative hybridity as a methodological stance. Normative hybridity suggests that hybridity is not only a feature of the theorist’s context of reference but should also be their modus operandi. Normative hybridity already underpins relevant works in contemporary Confucian political theory. Drawing from these works, I illustrate three methods to apply normative hybridity to theory building. This novel methodological approach uniquely addresses current political theory discussions and influences non-Western policymaking.

Fear - an Essential Characteristic of Recent Times

Current sociological and psychological research tends to consider fear as an essential feature of recent times, an omnipresent phenomenon of contemporary society that influences individual and collective behaviors in different fields. This theoretical analysis explores the various aspects of fear in modern society, with a focus on key concepts such as fear culture, fear sociology, liquid fear, terrorist threat, and fear of freedom. The main objective of this theoretical analysis/research/documentation is to become the theoretical framework for further research on fears and threats in a modern society.  

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION AS A BASIS FOR CIVIL SOCIETY IN KYRGYZSTAN

This article analyzes the process of political socialization in the context of civil society in Kyrgyzstan. The study examines various aspects of political socialization and identifies factors that influence the formation of political beliefs and activism of citizens, including education, mass media, and the role of political parties. The paper focuses on the significant role of education and the media in shaping political socialization and identifies the challenges facing contemporary civil society in Kyrgyzstan. The author suggests possible strategies to strengthen political activism and civic participation in the country to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between political socialization and the formation of civil society. This study aims to identify potential strategy.

Accessibility of students through the Technological system in Private Schools

The current era and advancements in technology have facilitated communication, allowing individuals to stay updated about everyday events and maintain contact with their families. Currently, individuals are not facing a shortage of knowledge but rather an abundance of options when it comes to accessing information. In contemporary society, the majority of individuals, including young ones, find it difficult to conceive of a life devoid of the radio, television, telephone, and particularly the Internet. In its most comprehensive form, the mass media aims to disseminate information to a large audience. Our educational system is currently undergoing necessary reforms to keep up with the times. These reforms include updating curricula, programs, and textbooks, as well as incorporating modern teaching methods and technology, particularly electronic media like the Internet and audio-visual tools. These technological resources are essential for both students and teachers to acquire new knowledge in various fields of science and education. The rapid advancement of science and technology has significantly influenced the operations of educational institutions. However, it is important to acknowledge that this growth plays a beneficial role in modern teaching practices. However, recognizing that technological advancements have had detrimental effects on the lives and perspectives of young children, particularly those in early age groups, has sparked my curiosity about the influence of audio-visual mediums like the Internet, radio, and TV on children. My role as a mother and future educator drives this interest, as I consider the impact of these mediums on the education of future generations. Safeguarding the welfare of children is the collective responsibility of society. Therefore, it is imperative that we fulfill this duty diligently, both as members of society and particularly as members of educational institutions, where children receive the fundamental building blocks for their holistic development.   

Societal Roles of Nonprofit Organizations: Parsonian Echoes and Luhmannian Reframing of the Organization–Society Interface

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have long been recognized as playing vital roles in society. Nevertheless, a coherent understanding of how these roles align with broader social theory, and how to conceptualize the interface between nonprofits and society is still lacking. In pursuit of a solid theoretical foundation, we conducted a systematic literature review encompassing 119 publications spanning from 1959 to 2021 that delve into the societal roles of NPOs. We reason that much of prior research has implicitly adhered to a functionalist perspective akin to that proposed by Talcott Parsons nearly seven decades ago. Our review identifies four overarching societal roles fulfilled by NPOs: service delivery, advocacy, integration, and the development of cultural patterns. Recognizing the limitations of Parsonian functionalism, we advocate for a shift toward a neo-functionalist, systems-theoretical framing to allow for an analysis of societal functions that is more sensitive to the heterogeneity and contradictions pervasive in contemporary society.

Social Control of Everyday Life and Political Construction of (Montenegrin) Identity

Abstract The research problem is the influence of global crisis on identity and daily life of Montenegrin people. The subject is the political construction of (Montenegrin) identity, as a result of social control on everyday life, where identities are born. For the purpose of researching this relation, the starting point is the explanatory potential of J. Habermas’s contemporary socio-political theory about the colonization of the lifeworld by an expansionist logic of the political-economic constellation (system). Scientific goals are: 1) description of the colonization of the lifeworld and the construction of (Montenegrin) identity, as an indicator of social crisis (in Montenegro); 2) understanding the causal factors (causes, motives) of (Montenegrin) identity construction; 3) generic explanation of the political construction of (Montenegrin) identity, through strategies, policies, educational and media influences. Social goals refer to: 1) expansion of the fund of knowledge about contemporary (Montenegrin) society and its problematic aspects; 2) pragmatic explanations of the problem of social control of everyday life through the re-actualization of socio-political concepts; 3) indication of guidelines for possible changes for the better in the sphere of everyday life in the foreseeable future. The methodology concerns the main hypothesis that by constructing the identity of people in the post-industrial society, social control of everyday life is realized. Auxiliary hypotheses are: 1) Identity construction takes place through strategies, policies, educational and media influences as segments of social control aimed at managing social resources from the local to the global level. 2) With instruments of social control, a desirable system of values of individuals and social groups is established with the aim of preventing, delaying, compensating, and transforming their potential subversive action (undermining the system from within). The independent or causal variable is the social control of everyday life, while the dependent or consequential variable is the constructed identity. Making final findings will be facilitated by the synthesis, inductive and deductive methods of reasoning, as well as the method of comparison with a case study. The results refer to the achieved goals and the general conclusion that the system’s power logic reduces the sphere of free and open communication of individuals, thus their identity becomes a place of permanent crisis due to the threat of the meaning of everyday life within which identity is formulated. This crisis is the reason that identities will remain endangered until the question of alienation of life is raised, in accordance with the capitalist imperatives of unlimited economic growth and consumption, and instrumental-rational interaction. As a reaction to the system dominance, the forces of resistance are strengthening, in the form of new alternative grassroots social movements, such as Civil Movement United Reform Action (URA), in Montenegro, which is pro-European green political party of the left center and social-liberal ideological provenance.

Migration Policy – An Oxymoron or a Management Project?

Abstract Arguably, standardization is a key concept in contemporary global society. Not only has standardization facilitated worldwide trade of goods and services, but it has also made people amenable to similar work situations and to the production and consumption of similar products and similar information across countries. Harsh regional and national migration policies negate these effects of globalization and reflect instead a – unrealistic – managerial ideal of order. It is suggested that legislators who seek to transform states into nation states mistake states for organizations. They take an instrumental approach to citizens and migrants and see the declaration of human rights as an insignificant mission statement.

The effect of city reputation on Chinese corporate risk-taking

City reputation is a valuable asset for the local economy and firms in the contemporary society. However, the impact of city reputation on micro-level firms has been largely overlooked by the literature. This paper uses the National Civilized City (NCC) policy in China as a quasi-natural experiment to enhance city reputation. We employ the DID approach to investigate the relationship between city reputation and corporate risk-taking. The result shows that corporate risk-taking significantly increases following the NCC policy adoption. Moreover, information asymmetry can strengthen the positive impact of city reputation on corporate risk-taking. Channel tests show that city reputation improves financial condition and decreases default risk, leading to improved risk-taking tolerance. Overall, our paper indicates that city reputation is an important mechanism to improve corporate financial performance, providing empirical evidence for local governments to pursue the NCC title.

Economic inequality, culture, and governance quality

AbstractWe review work that has linked economic inequality and culture to governance quality. We start with contributions that have considered the relationship between inequality and governance from a long‐run perspective. This historical perspective yields a range of insights and helps identify the deep drivers of specific cultural traits that relate to both economic inequality and governance in contemporary societies. We then survey work that has linked inequality and culture to governance in present‐day settings. We identify the complexity of the relationships with causality between any pair of these variables running both ways. These causal patterns, in turn, imply that countries may end up in either a good equilibrium characterized by lower economic inequality, the “right” culture and good governance, or a bad equilibrium described by greater inequality, the “wrong” culture and bad governance. We conclude with a range of policy implications.

A nostalgic trip? Klaus Rifbjerg’s “På Sporet af den Tabte Vogn” and the Copenhagen tramway

For much of the twentieth century, the tramway was the most important public transport system in Copenhagen, Denmark. It played a crucial role in the life of the city and features strongly in Danish art and literature produced during the network's lifespan as well as after it was finally closed in 1972. Despite this, the tramway has only received scarce scholarly attention. This article looks to address the situation. It does so by drawing attention to the fact that although the tramway was shut down, it lived on in art and literature. One example of this is “På Sporet af den Tabte Vogn” (1985) written by Klaus Rifbjerg. This short story has often been described as nostalgic. While this is not a misreading, it is an assessment that requires clarification. A close reading that draws on studies of nostalgia reveals that the short story does not boil down to a sentimental longing for a lost past. Rather, it thematises nostalgia for the Copenhagen tramway, questioning such remembrances’ status and relevance in contemporary society. This means that, ultimately, the short story can be seen as part of a broader tendency in writing about closures of electric public transport networks in Western Europe and North America: it works as a counternarrative to notions of progress, an antidote to predominant ideas of urban development in the mid-twentieth century.

‘Brigate Verde…a terrible beauty is born': an exploratory examination of the social leadership of the Green Brigade

ABSTRACT The UEFA Europa League group stage clash on 24 October and 7 November 2019 between Celtic FC of Glasgow and SS Lazio of Rome offers fascinating insight into ultra social movements as forms of leadership. This exploratory research paper conceptualizes this tie as an Event that provides both a pivotal point of cross-cultural reflection on ultra fan groups as emergent social movements, and a means for the examination of forms of social leadership in contemporary society. In such terms, the paper initiates a critical consideration of The Green Brigade, a self-styled ultra fan group of Celtic FC as an emerging social movement, characterizes the group in terms of the differentiated ultra/ultraS binary, begins to qualitatively address the question as to levels of support for the group among the wider constituency of Celtic supporters, and as such, tentatively explores the groups’ leadership and organizational characteristics. The research concludes that a creative and action-oriented leadership style can be discerned. While organizational characteristics require further examination, intimations of a logic of development emerge.

Representing slavery in visual art: a multimodal approach

Abstract This article explores some issues related to the trauma of slavery, colonialism and identity-formation processes through a multimodal analysis, which is particularly useful in studying the manifold meanings and relationships emerging from the forms of cultural and social representation such as visual art. A series of images, chosen within Ellen Gallagher’s art exhibition “AXME”, held at Tate Gallery in London, is investigated to deal with the discursive constructions of gendered and racial identities. Employing Kress and van Leeuwen’s model (2021 [1996]. Reading images: The grammar of visual design. London: Routledge), this article attempts to identify the signs related to categories such as gender and race, as well as the persistence of stereotypical representations in our contemporary societies.

The flexibility paradox and spatial‐temporal dimensions of COVID‐19 remote work adaptation among dual‐earner mothers and fathers

AbstractThere is an increased blurring of work and home life in contemporary society due to access to technology and the mass expansion of remote work during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Flexible working arrangements like remote work can lead to men self‐exploiting themselves in the workplace and women self‐exploiting themselves in the domestic sphere in the context of a work‐centric society that is reliant upon passion at work and traditional gender norms. This study extends Chung's ideas on gendered patterns in the flexibility paradox by examining spatial‐temporal dimensions of COVID‐19 remote work adaptation among an extreme sample: dual‐earner parents with young children. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted on Zoom with 20 mothers and 17 fathers working from home in the U.S. with children ages 5 and under between the summer of 2020 and the spring of 2021. Findings indicate that fathers' work is prioritized in spatio‐temporal terms whereas mothers' work is fragmented and dispersed. Gendered patterns in the flexibility paradox and labor shouldered by mothers as primary caregivers are considered as potential theoretical explanations for the privileging of fathers' workspace and work time.

Critical Reflection on Inequality and Precariousness in Contemporary Society: Reconstructing Connections from Social Intervention

This article, oriented towards good practices in social action, is nourished by reflection on the marked inequalities and precariousness that characterise contemporary reality, focusing on how these dynamics undermine the equitable distribution of opportunities that are fundamental for a dignified existence. From this perspective, we seek to reflect on the dimensions of precariousness and inequality, allowing for the re-evaluation of interventions in different environments and critically addressing the possibility of new modalities of action. The proposed approach implies an ethical commitment to overcoming the dilemma between adhering to the logic of the market and adopting a more humane and supportive stance, challenging conventions and promoting socially responsible practices. In short, the aim is to analyse intervention, enabling the (re)understanding of inequality in the social context and questioning the social structures that generate suffering, with a view to reconstructing the essential concepts of solidarity and community in contemporary society, in a critical understanding of socio-educational action in society.

Life as Distinct from Patriarchal Influence: Exploring Queerness and Freedom through Portrait of a Lady on Fire

ABSTRACT This article examines the interconnection of queerness and freedom in Céline Sciamma’s film Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The article focuses on the unattainable relationship between Héloïse and Marianne, their friendship with the house maid, Sophie, and the life of Héloïse’s mother, la Comtesse, to demonstrate how cultivating queerness can undermine the existence of patriarchal influence in contemporary society. Specifically, we argue that the inherent queerness within mutually affirming and supportive sapphic relationships, and any state of living where a woman maintains singleness, can foster independence, and therefore greater freedom, from restrictive and oppressive law. We first consider assisted reproductive technology and superannuation provisions to demonstrate how these laws create a normative cultural framework of heteropatriarchal oppression. We then analyse the film, using it as a thematic touchstone to explore how the heteropatriarchy is undermined through queerness. Ultimately, the film’s representation of life without the masculine gaze begs the question of how women can continue to avoid the fixation of the patriarchy within contemporary society and our laws.

The Exploration of Lingyang Ceremony in Contemporary Gansu, China

This article delves into the "Lingyang" ceremony, a revered ancestral veneration ritual within Gansu's funeral culture in Northwest China. "Ling" meaning "receive" and "Yang" referring to "sheep," encapsulates the ritual's essence of using animals to bridge the spiritual and material worlds. The paper detailed the Lingyang ceremony's complicated practices, particularly in Jingyuan and Jingtai counties, highlighting its profound anthropological significance. The paper draws comparisons between the Lingyang ceremony in Gansu and the animal sacrifice rituals of Haitian Voodoo, highlighting the similarities in their use of animals as conduits between the material and spiritual worlds. Furthermore, the study explores the "Lingyang" ceremony's historical evolution against the backdrop of societal changes and examines its relevance in the modern context of globalization and modernization. This exploration not only deepens the understanding of Gansu's funeral rites but also engages in the broader conversation on the resilience of traditional customs in contemporary society. Through a detailed comparative analysis, the article offers insights into how such rituals adapt while retaining their core identity, reflecting the dynamic interplay between tradition and change.