Critical Analysis Research Articles

“By women for women” communicating gender discourse in r/FemaleDatingStrategy

ABSTRACT This research offers insights into how r/FemaleDatingStrategy’s (FDS) utilizes themes of misandry and gender essentialism to indoctrinate members under the guise of community. Situated within the broader “femosphere,” which encompasses online communities predominantly occupied by women, FDS serves as a platform for discourse on gender issues and challenges to traditional norms. Through themes of misandry and gender essentialism, FDS aims to indoctrinate members under the guise of community support. The precarious nature of this online space is evident, as subreddits like FDS are frequently banned by Reddit in its efforts to combat hate speech. Formed in 2019, r/FemaleDatingStrategy presents itself as a female-only space for discussing dating and sharing past experiences. This essay offers initial findings from a feminist critical discourse analysis of the “required reading” pages on FDS.

Justice denied! COVID-19 and human trafficking in India and the USA

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened socio-economic vulnerabilities, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities and amplifying the risks associated with human trafficking. This paper examines the pandemic’s impact on human trafficking trends in India and the United States, focusing on shifts in vulnerabilities and victim profiles during and after the pandemic period. By employing rigorous selection criteria, the review synthesizes a robust dataset from the Counter Trafficking Data Collaborative (CTDC), to provide an understanding of the issue. Data on trafficking is complemented with a critical analysis of existing legislation, including India’s Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and the US’s Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and evaluates their efficacy in addressing the dynamic challenges posed by the pandemic. Through a comparative approach, this study underscores the necessity for adaptable strategies and innovative solutions, offering insightful policy recommendations tailored to the specific contexts of India and the US, with broader implications for global anti-trafficking efforts.

Responsibilization of weight management: a multimodal critical discourse analysis of losing weight articles in Chinese official WeChat posts

ABSTRACT In response to the rising obesity rate in China, the Chinese government has used the social media platform WeChat to encourage the public to lose weight. This article investigates the losing weight posts in 健康中国 [Healthy China], the official WeChat account of the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China. Taking a multimodal critical discourse analysis approach, I identify the dominant discourses used to represent obesity and individuals related to obesity. One of the most prominent features of the discourses is a trend of responsibilizing weight management by three sub-discourses surrounding obesity, i.e. medical discourse (obesity as a disease), moral discourse (obesity as a self-management issue) and gendered discourse (obesity as a female and mothering issue). I explore how the responsibilization discourse might be understood in the context of China’s efforts in facilitating the making of health-conscious citizens, which echo neoliberal ideas that normalize individual responsibility for obesity. A special note is paid to women. Apart from the neoliberalism-underpinned responsibility, the posts also position women under the Confucian expectation of ‘responsible mothers’ in terms of childhood obesity. This may lead to dual-responsibilities for women and heighten the weight stigma women experience in the society.

Still a small World?: critical analysis of cultura in secondary Spanish world language textbooks

ABSTRACT This critical teacher action research study revisits previous findings that high school Spanish textbooks tend to reflect small and invented worlds, rely on cultural stereotypes, and fail to engage students in critical thinking about sociocultural issues. Using multimodal SFL-based critical discourse analysis, we explore more recent textbooks used in the United States, with a focus on how they construe meanings regarding Spanish speakers, cultures, and linguistic/cultural dominance; and how they position and engage students relative to Spanish language varieties and cultures. Findings from an analysis of 24 textbook passages demonstrate that the focal textbook series linguistically and visually backgrounds Spanish speakers, particularly Black and Indigenous members of Spanish-speaking communities, as contributors to culture and construct membership in a nation-state as the most salient aspect of their cultural identities. Moreover, the textbooks position and engage students as elite bilingual tourists and cultural consumers. We discuss how these semiotic choices reproduce deficit raciolinguistic ideologies around Spanish speakers and cultures in the U.S. context, which has implications for world language teachers wishing to challenge these ideologies and simultaneously support students’ development of language and critical literacies.

Is the Coronal Plane Alignment of the Knee (CPAK) Classification Useful to Plan Individualized Total Knee Arthroplasty Surgery for the Spanish Population? A Critical Analysis of the CPAK Classification.

The CPAK classification aims to categorize knee phenotypes. The original study was based on Australian and Belgian population, but significant variation in CPAK distribution exists between different geographic areas. The primary objective is to evaluate knee phenotypes of osteoarthritic Spanish population based on the CPAK system. The secondary objective is to compare the Spanish CPAK distribution with that observed in the original study to analyse if proposing modifications is necessary when applying the classification to our population. Finally, we aim to critically analyse the utility of this classification to plan individualized TKA. It is a cross-sectional observational study analysing radiological datasets from 121 patients with knee osteoarthritis treated with a Mako assisted TKA in three Spanish institutions. The preoperative lower limb CT-scan was used to measure the MPTA and LDFA of each patient. Then, the aHKA (MPTA-LDFA) and JLO (MPTA+LDFA) were calculated to categorize patients into the nine CPAK phenotypes. The commonest knee phenotypes of osteoarthritic Spanish population were the distal apex JLO CPAK types (74%: II (28%), I (23%) and III (23%)). No patient presented a proximal apex type (VII, VIII and IX). The 30% of the patients had a varus alignment and 26% a valgus. No relevant differences were found between the Spanish CPAK distribution and that observed in the original study. No modifications to the CPAK classification should be necessary for the Spanish population. The CPAK classification can be useful to describe and categorize osteoarthritic patients. However, relevant limitations have been found to the classification, questioning its utility to plan and guide individualized TKA surgery.

Learning (Not) to Know: Examining How White Ignorance Manifests and Functions in White Adolescents' Racial Identity Narratives.

In critical approaches to the study of whiteness, white ignorance refers to systematic and intentional ways of (not) knowing that function to perpetuate racism. The current critical qualitative analysis examines how white ignorance surfaces in the racial identity narratives of white adolescents (N = 69, Mage = 15.91, SD = 0.49, data collected 2017-2019). Using semi-structured interview data, we identified three manifestations of accommodation to white ignorance: constructing white as disadvantaged, framing race(ism) as unimportant and elsewhere, and the active refusal to know or imagine racial oppression. Alongside this accommodation we also observed a less common but important thread of resistance to white ignorance: seeing (and naming) systemic racism. The findings reveal how white ignorance as a macrosystemic cultural practice becomes embedded in, and strengthened through, the micro-level racial identities of white adolescents. Implications for conceptualizing and contextualizing white racial identity in developmental science are discussed.

Interconnected identities and environmental justice in Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon: a vibrant materialist analysis of Afrofuturist narratives

ABSTRACT This paper offers a critical analysis of Nnedi Okorafor’s Lagoon through the lens of Jane Bennett’s vibrant materialism, examining how the novel reimagines concepts of identity, agency, and environmental justice within an Afrofuturist framework. By applying Bennett’s theories on assemblages, non-human agency, and the permeability of boundaries between entities, this research explores how the novel challenges traditional anthropocentric narratives and proposes a more inclusive understanding of the interconnectedness of all forms of life. The analysis reveals how Okorafor’s novel expands the scope of Afrofuturism by integrating non-human entities as active participants in the narrative, thereby reconfiguring social and ecological realities. Through detailed textual analysis, this paper highlights the novel’s contribution to contemporary discussions on environmental justice and the fluidity of identity, demonstrating how speculative fiction can provide new perspectives on pressing global issues. The study underscores the relevance of vibrant materialism in literary studies, offering fresh insights into the potential for non-human agency to shape more just and sustainable futures.

“I’ve adopted it as my smell”: transgender identity and the olfactory

ABSTRACT Smell is an often-overlooked sense within transgender studies, despite the extensive theorization of the ways that scent and perfume is categorized along gendered lines, and its links to identity more broadly. This article begins to address this presently under-studied topic, drawing on data from 26 interviews with transgender people about their perspectives on smell, scent, and fragrance in relation to identity. Interview data was analyzed using a combination of thematic and critical discourse analysis approaches. The participants reported that smell was often a central component of early experiences which prompted them to explore or question their gender identity; that fragranced items were something which they used to affirm their gender personally; and that smell was something they used to manage or direct others’ perceptions of their identity, including to minimize experiences of misgendering. Participants were acutely aware of how fragrances are culturally “read” as gendered, and while they were often critical of these divisions, they also acknowledged they could be useful at times. It is evident that smell and fragrance can form part of the process of gender identity exploration and expression for transgender people.

LGBTQ+ Adult Sexual Violence Critical Scoping Review: Victimization Risk Factors.

Sexual violence experienced by LGBTQ+ adults is a rapidly expanding field of academic study. Therefore, there is a need for a synthesis and critical analysis of the research. The aim of this review was to conduct a critical review of the academic literature on adult LGBTQ+ sexual violence and to provide recommendations for future research. A total of 10,845 papers were identified through a comprehensive scoping review approach and 108 met the criteria for inclusion. The findings are reported across two papers. This second paper reports on the risk factors for victimization: alcohol and other drugs (AOD); homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and minority stress; "risky" sexual behavior and HIV transmission; and child sexual abuse (CSA). AOD use was seen as a risk factor for sexual violence, yet the causal relationship was not always clear. Minority stress was conceived of as an individual issue with undertones of victim-blaming. "Risky" sexual behavior research, at times, framed LGBTQ+ sex as "risky" and failed to account for the specific needs of LGBTQ+ communities. Research on adult sexual violence risks had a focus on CSA that often neglected broader structural issues. In general, across the studies, there was a focus on individual-level research that analyzed survivor behavior, resulting in victim blaming. This paper advocates for expanding LGBTQ+ sexual violence research beyond just individual risk factors, shifting research away from constructing LGBTQ+ people as "risky," and expanding research to include a more intersectional analysis that goes beyond heteronormative and cisnormative inquiry.

Three paradigms of inquiry into self-regulated learning (SRL): a critical analysis and ways to transformative and integrated practices

Three paradigms of inquiry into self-regulated learning (SRL): a critical analysis and ways to transformative and integrated practices

Evaluating the Limitations of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act,2023: A Critical Analysis

Evaluating the Limitations of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act,2023: A Critical Analysis

A comparative critical analysis of official and personal social media videos on being and becoming old in China

ABSTRACT This study delves into ageing as it is depicted through social media videos in China. Through a critical analysis of 40 short-form videos, it compares how older people are discursively constructed by official agents and individual content creators to uncover their underlying ideological interests. Findings show that official videos tend to portray older people as socially disconnected and lonely whereas personal videos tend to showcase the jovial and inspirational aspects of growing old. They also reveal that official videos are exclusively situated in urban settings while personal videos also depict older people in rural and relatively modest settings. These findings reflect and reinforce the pathologisation and othering of older people and reveal ideologies linked to communitarianism and governmentality and the commodification of old age in the Chinese socio-political and socio-cultural ecosystem.

Paralyzing DEI: A critical analysis of anti-CRT legislation

The United States is currently embroiled in political conflict over diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), with a particular focus on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and DEI programming. In this article, we use a racial paralysis lens to analyze anti-CRT and anti-DEI legislation, identifying four stages of institutional racial paralysis: counteraction, concealing the motive, moral panic, and pervasive monitoring. We propose that anti-CRT and anti-DEI policies represent an administrative response to undermine and paralyze organizational DEI efforts, thereby maintaining existing power structures and inhibiting progress toward equity and inclusion. By analyzing these stages, we highlight the underlying processes that reinforce and perpetuate resistance to DEI initiatives.

Nurse-patient relationship boundaries and power: A critical discursive analysis.

Introduction: Mental health nursing is dependent on nurses' ability to engage in therapeutic relationships with patients. The ability to manage professional boundaries is equally important, but less explored. This study aims to address the following research questions: How do nurses define their professional, personal, and private roles? What are nurses' experiences with professional boundaries? What are the implications of nurses' understanding of these boundaries?Background: Nurse-patient relationships are characterized by asymmetrical power dynamics, which places the responsibility of delineating professional boundaries on the nurse. While ethical codes offer guidance, nurses must identify appropriate boundaries in a dynamic process that relies on the clinical context.Research design: This study used critical discursive psychological analysis to examine data from participant observations, individual interviews, and focus group discussions.Participants and research context: We included 16 nurses working in mental health care in this study, comprising 12 in specialist mental health care and 4 in community mental health care.Ethical considerations: The study was registered with Norwegian Social Science Data Services.Results: Nurses defined professionalism as being an educated caregiver who prioritizes patients' needs. Professionalism involves personal engagement, while some personal matters remain private. However, nurses experienced challenges in maintaining professional boundaries, facing dilemmas due to the subjective nature of boundaries and patients' unpredictable responses.Conclusions: While nurses prioritize patients' needs and best interests, this study demonstrated that personal engagement is considered part of professionalism. However, nurses encounter complex dilemmas in setting professional boundaries. Additionally, these boundaries can either emphasize or de-emphasize the power differential in nurse-patient relationships.

A ÉTICA NA ERA DAS MÁQUINAS: DESAFIOS E IMPLICAÇÕES DA INTELIGÊNCIA ARTIFICIAL PARA A SOCIEDADE MODERNA

This article explores the emerging ethical challenges associated with the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in modern society. With the automation of processes and the increasing prevalence of autonomous systems playing critical roles in sensitive sectors such as healthcare, transportation, and justice, it becomes essential to assess the ethical implications of automated decision-making and the use of personal data. Furthermore, the recent development of human cortical organoids simulating complex neural networks raises new debates about the possibility of autonomous artificial biointelligence. This study analyzes concrete cases and proposes guidelines to integrate technological advancements with fundamental ethical values. The methodology includes a critical analysis of bibliographic sources and reflections on the ethical pillars in the development of emerging technologies.

The Discursive Construction of “Truth” in the Email Newsletter of an Anti-Genderist Polish NGO

Since at least 2012, right-wing politicians, media, and the Catholic Church have been demonizing the LGBTQ+ community as promoters of the “LGBT ideology,” a substitute term for “gender ideology” in Poland. The vitriolic anti-LGBTQ+ discourse has become a central resource in the right-wing construction of Polish patriotism and national identity. This discourse is adopted by many mainstream conservative public figures and is part of the global anti-genderism register that has been taken up by transnationally linked actors and institutions. In this article, I adopt Critical Discourse Analysis, Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, and the Discourse Historical Approach to examine how anti-genderist actors in Poland discursively construct “truth” through what looks like logical argumentation and appeals to assumed “common sense” knowledge, and how such constructions are used to support appeals to emotion and Catholic faith while also co-opting and redefining progressive terms and concepts in service of right-wing agendas. This strategy departs from the anti-intellectual rhetoric typical of right-wing populism. The article is based on an analysis of 216 emails sent in an email newsletter by the ultraconservative Catholic NGO Centrum Życia i Rodziny (Center for Life and Family) between September 2020 and July 2023.

A renewable light unto the nations? Modelling the limits of culturally appealing climate frames: a case study from Israel

ABSTRACT This study examines why some climate frames lose their discursive dominance over time despite successfully appealing to the cultural values and beliefs of the target audience. It argues that while ‘cultural climate frames’ are more effective in garnering public attention than frames emphasizing the science of climate change, they eventually lose strength if the value they promote no longer applies to the material context in which they communicate. The article uses Israel as its case study to examine why it officially abandoned its pro-climate policy in 2015 after enthusiastically promoting it since 2007. Critical discourse analysis of 58 semi-structured interviews with key policy actors, five public opinion surveys, media coverage, and government protocols identifies ten distinct frames that dominate Israeli climate discourse. It points to the ‘climate techno-opportunity’ framing as the most prominent among the ten frames due to its strong cultural appeal to both secular and religious Jewish audiences that commonly view Israel as a ‘start-up nation’ or as a ‘light unto the nations.’ The framing, however, ultimately lacked scientific validity or the resilience to survive the high-profile bankruptcies of several Israeli cleantech companies, and Israel’s 2010 natural gas discoveries that provided a quicker solution to Israel’s energy sector.

Anti-Religious Struggle against Tajik Ismailis in the 1920s (Based on Archival Documents)

The article covers the anti-religious struggle of the Soviet State against Islam in Central Asia with a focus on the Ismaili community of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) of Tajikistan. The study is based on archival documents from two Russian archives — the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GA RF) and the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI). The study involved a critical analysis of archival documents, considering the context of when these documents were created. The study attempted to comprehend and scientifically evaluate the fact that the transmitters of knowledge about the Ismailis in the region included members of the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU), who themselves had very superficial knowledge about the history of this Islamic branch. In spite of the biased approach of declassified archival documents concerning the anti-religious struggle in the early years of the Soviet State, they nevertheless provide researchers with a lot of useful information — both statistical and shedding light on the socio-political context. The OGPU members had quite sufficient information regarding the amount of zakat for Aga Khan III, the ways of delivery and the people involved in this process. These data help researchers to further investigate the socio-economic condition of religious communities, the role of their activists in establishing contacts between ordinary community members and their spiritual leader, etc. A comparative analysis of the materials prepared by government officials and the documents in the personal archives of the GBAO Ismailis is also important. They differ not only in writing style, but also in content. The anti-religious fighters, when preparing their letters and report notes to the center (Tashkent or Moscow), had the goal of promptly “ridding” the population of “religious prejudices”, while the spiritual leaders (in our case, the residence of Imam Aga Khan III) strove to preserve the spiritual bond that had developed between Imam and his followers over millennia.

Evolving Dynamics of Moderate Islamic Discourse on Indonesian Social Media

Social media not only creates a new public sphere for the expression of religious activities but also serves as a contested arena for religious discourse. In Indonesia, one of the key discourses under contention is moderate Islamic discourse. This article addresses two primary questions: First, what forms does contested moderate Islamic discourse take on social media, and what strategies are employed in these contests?. Second, what factors contribute to the emergence of these contestations surrounding moderate Islamic discourse on social media?. Using Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis as a theoretical framework, this research explores qualitative data gathered through the observation of YouTube videos. The findings indicate that the contestation of moderate Islamic discourse on YouTube occurs not only between traditional and new religious authorities, as is often assumed, but also among traditional religious authorities themselves. These groups compete to articulate the true and ideal meaning of moderate Islam. The contestation is driven by a combination of ideological, economic, political, and socio-cultural factors that influence the digital sphere in Indonesia.

Electrochemical approaches for CO2 point source, direct air, and seawater capture: identifying opportunities and synergies.

The world is increasingly facing the direct effects of climate change triggering warnings of a crisis for the healthy existence of humankind. The dominant driver of the climate emergency is the historical and continued accumulation of atmospheric CO2 altering net radiative forcing on the planet. To address this global issue, understanding the core chemistry of CO2 manipulation in the atmosphere and proximally in the oceans is crucial, to offer a direct partial solution for emissions handling through negative emissions technologies. Many technologies have been proposed to develop a strategic and economic solution for carbon capture, storage, and utilization. In this paper, we review recent advances in technologies proposed for carbon capture and release via electrochemical process for point source/flue gas, direct air capture (DAC), and ocean/seawater capture. Electrochemical approaches to carbon capture are favorable in terms of reaction conditions, their ability to be incorporated into transformation processes, modularity, low relative carbon footprint, and compatibility with the availability of renewable electricity sources. We offer a critical comparative analysis of land- and ocean-based capture technologies to help guide future research and innovation.