Cultural Change Research Articles

Architecture between empire and revolution: housing and the shaping of Soviet Leningrad

ABSTRACT This article traces the planning history of the first major housing projects built in Soviet Leningrad: the Traktornaya Ulitsa and Serafimov site housing estates. Initiated by municipal authorities in 1924, they were built according to the designs of its own Design Buro and the architects Aleksandr Nikolsky, Aleksandr Gegello, and Grigorii Simonov in 1925–1926. Spearheading the reconstruction of a large industrial suburb, these projects offer an original example of the role of housing in urban development in the Soviet Union and in one of Europe’s largest cities. The planning history of the projects illuminates the way urban development unfolded in the early Soviet context: through practice and negotiation with multiple contexts, both the historic, imperial city and the revolution. The article shows the exemplary quality of these projects and their power and means to reinvent the historic forms and meanings of the city, and reconfigure its spatial hierarchies. It analyses the sources and means at play from revolutionary ideals and avant-garde ideas on form to western models of housing, the surrounding classical city and Byzantine and Russian vernacular architecture. It thus delineates the means through which architecture acts as an instrument of social and cultural change.

The political economy of digital government: How Silicon Valley firms drove conversion to data science and artificial intelligence in public management

IMPACT The relationships between digital governments and private digital technology corporations shape investments that endure for years, even decades. Yet recent changes have been under-researched in public management and accountability studies. Until the 2010s systems integrators (SIs) were dominant, producing proprietary legacy computer systems that still shape government technologies today. Since that time, governments have become increasingly reliant on the online tools and cloud technologies developed by Silicon Valley (SV) firms and platform corporations. To keep digital investments in line with business and civil society progress, governments have had to catch up and innovate with the latest generation of data-intensive technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and to adopt some SV organizational culture and practices in government. However, previous long time-lags in public sector responses highlight many lessons for today’s digital government change pioneers. In particular, the article illustrates the importance for digital managers of accelerating change in government organizational cultures, and developing the expertise to manage contractual diversity.

Contemporary Approaches to Qur'anic Hermeneutics

The problem in this study focuses on the significant changes in Qur'ānic hermeneutics in the modern era, where traditional approaches are often considered inadequate in addressing contemporary issues. This discrepancy creates a need for a more contextualized and inclusive approach to interpretation. This study aims to analyze the transformation of Qur'ānic hermeneutics and offer a more contextual approach without ignoring traditional values. The research used a descriptive qualitative method with a literature review design. The research subjects comprised 15 Muslim scholars and scholars involved in contemporary Qur'anic interpretation. Data were collected through document analysis and in-depth interviews, using an interview guide as an instrument. Data analysis was conducted through content and thematic analysis approaches. The results showed that the contemporary hermeneutic approach is more adaptive to modern social and cultural changes, enriching a more inclusive and contextual interpretation methodology. This study concludes that the transformation of Qur'anic hermeneutics offers interpretations more relevant to the challenges of the times. The implication of this research shows the need for a flexible hermeneutical method to support Muslims' understanding in the modern context.

Is Culture Learned? The Neglected Role of Evoking Events.

Although no one disputes that the transmission of culture depends on social learning, a capacity that has enabled humans, unlike other animals, to modify cultural practices across generations, this review argues that cultural change can also be evoked by environmental events leading to an alteration in the configuration of an habitual behavioural repertoire. An evoked mechanism allows latent or normally suppressed behaviour to emerge. Cannibalism and warfare are put forward as examples. Evoked mechanisms have largely been ignored by one of the few attempts to reconcile biology and culture, namely cumulative cultural evolution (CCE). This review endorses CCE's aim of developing a biocultural conceptual framework but criticises this model for failing to produce a credible analysis of culture into 'units'or 'variants'. The critique of CCE is situated within a discussion of the long-standing separation within academia of science and arts disciplines, each focusing at different levels of analysis and with different aims. It is suggested that the main obstacle to developing a biocultural framework can be attributed to an incompatibility between nomothetic and idiographic research methods, the former being typical of the biological sciences, the latter of the arts. A successful biocultural conceptual framework would therefore have to accommodate the particular and the general. It is suggested that progress in this direction would be made if agreement could be reached on ways of observing or inferring behaviours rather than pursuing an analysis in terms of hypothetical constructs such as mental representations or units of 'cultural information'.

Political and cultural changes as an effect of the pestilences and pandemics through the centuries: Case studies

In considering pandemics from an historical point of view, we should first have in mind the differences in perception and language which have evolved over the centuries: the numerous sources we are dealing with may refer to the same phenomenon in different ways. Notwithstanding the fact that pestilences belong to human history from the very beginning (the Bible, the Iliad and Thucydides’ The History of the Peloponnesian War are some appropriate witnesses), only between the 1800s and the 1900s did the scientific notions start classifying viruses and related diseases, allowing intervention through scientific medicine to repair all or some of the damage caused by pandemics. The Black Death is in everyone's memory, but other pandemics have killed before and after it. This article goes through the events, giving evidence of the contacts and distances between different pandemics, aware that the effects of those diseases on culture and society are controversial and that the debate is still open.

Evidence-Based Policing as a Foundational Policing Model for the INP

In the midst of various challenges of policing and its consequences on public trust, a number of studies have examined the duties of the Police, especially the Republic of Indonesia National Police (INP), in maintaining security and public order, enforcing the law, protecting the public, and serving the community. Several contemporary policing models, such as Community Policing or Problem-Oriented Policing, have been suggested and implemented by the INP, although the parameters of its successful implementation continue to be a questionable issue. This article discusses how the concept of Evidence-Based Policing (EBP) – a new paradigm in policing – can better serve as a foundation for the Police in dealing with societal and criminal issues. EBP emphasises scientific and evidence-based decision-making, enabling officers to avoid the biases that are frequently criticised in policing practices. By utilising literature review and document analysis methods, this article examines existing policing models and demonstrates the importance of evidence-based approaches in improving INP performance. It also highlights the importance of consulting and collaborating with pracademics and international institutions that have successfully implemented EBP, in order to increase the accountability and responsibility of the INP in implementing EBP. The implementation of EBP is expected to lead to positive changes in policing culture – providing more effective and comprehensive solutions based on data and scientific studies to address crime and social problems in the community.

Implementation of mindfulness at work considering digital support: A qualitative study with a systems theory approach

Current research states the benefits of implementing mindfulness within the workplace. In large corporations, financial and personnel resources for a mindfulness-based intervention may exist, but successfully implementing interventions within a corporation may also require changes in the workplace culture as a whole. This study aims to depict the integration of a mindfulness-based intervention in a digitally augmented setting to promote mindfulness in the digital workplace. Because change in an organization cannot be managed one-dimensionally, systems theory is implemented within this study to meet the requirements of a complex system. Interviews with experts working in or with large companies on the topic of mindfulness in new work contexts disclose an integration process. Subsequently, information is extracted from the interviews and the content is qualitatively analyzed to find answers to the research question. Differentiated results from (a) employees’, (b) employers’, and (c) consultants’ perspectives, with information about input (1), throughput (2), and output (3) of a mindfulness-based intervention in the corporate setting were stated, for example, with respect to communication by using the employees’ language as well as internal resources, such as social media and communication platforms. Guidelines for implementing digitally-supported mindfulness at work are derived and discussed.

Understanding power, culture and institutional change: a revised approach to political settlements analysis

ABSTRACT The institutions that govern how we distribute resources, protect rights, and accord status are widely recognised as important for progressive development outcomes. Political settlements analysis is an increasingly influential framework for (post)institutional analysis within development studies, arguing that institutions and their outcomes are shaped by political economy relations of power. This article builds on the strengths of political settlements analysis (PSA) but argues that its strongly materialist foundations overlook the role of social identity, status and moral beliefs in shaping institutional change. Future research employing PSA needs rebalancing, incorporating an understanding of power relations as ideational as well as material and based on cultural as well as political and economic sources. Drawing on insights from cultural political economy, this article presents an alternative approach to power in PSA. This emphasises the contingency inherent in meaning-making processes and conceives of power as embedded in cultural understandings, as well as political organisation and economic control. Adopting this cultural political economy approach to power allows PSA to produce a fuller understanding of the causal mechanisms generating institutional change.

Changes in Organizational Culture in the Financial Services Authority Unable to Improve Employee Performance

The aim of this research is to determine the effect of changes in organizational culture, competence and job satisfaction on employee performance at the Financial Services Authority (FSA) Head Office. The population of this study was 3,780 organic employees of the FSA central office using the Stratified Random Sampling technique, a sample of 100 people was determined to represent each field in the FSA work unit. The data collection method uses field data and primary data obtained through surveys by distributing questionnaires to respondents, while the data analysis method uses partial regression analysis and is processed with SmartPLS 4.0 software. The results of this research showed that there was a positive but not significant effect of changes in organizational culture on the performance of FSA employees, competency had a positive and significant effect on performance and job satisfaction had a positive and significant effect on employee performance.

Tradisi VS Modernitas: Konflik Generasi dan Komunikasi Gender dalam Crashing Eid

This study investigates the intricate dynamics of tradition versus modernity through the lens of generational conflict and gender communication in the Netflix series "Crashing Eid." Utilizing a systematic content analysis, the research aims to identify and categorize representations of these themes within the series. The analysis focuses on key aspects such as traditional versus modern values, generational perspectives, and gender roles as depicted in the interactions and dialogues of the characters. The findings reveal that "Crashing Eid" effectively portrays the tension between traditional and modern values, particularly in the context of family expectations and personal aspirations. The series highlights the challenges faced by younger generations in balancing respect for cultural heritage with the desire for individual autonomy. Gender communication is intricately woven into these narratives, showcasing the evolving roles of women and men within the Saudi Arabian cultural setting. The study underscores the importance of media representation in reflecting and shaping societal norms and values. "Crashing Eid" serves as a poignant example of how contemporary media can address and bring to light the complexities of generational and gender-related conflicts. The research contributes to the broader discourse on cultural change and continuity, emphasizing the role of media in facilitating dialogue and understanding across different societal segments.

“I Love My Body, but Hers is Better!” Body Positivity and Social Media Among College Women

This qualitative study explores how college women interpret and negotiate body positivity messages that appear alongside unattainable body image ideals on social media. The sample consisted of 44 undergraduate college women between the ages of 18 and 23. Methods included semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Using content analysis, the following key themes were identified: a persistent culture of comparison online that reinforced a narrow body ideal alongside an imperative to love your body at any size; skepticism about whether the body positivity movement could create meaningful or enduring cultural change; and the use of fat talk and other self-disparaging online strategies to mitigate critique from others and elicit compliments. Results suggest that women endeavored to internalize the values of body positivity even as they struggled to enact them online. Social media, an ever-changing environment, emerged as a key social and developmental context within which emerging adults negotiate body image ideologies.

Contemporary hazing prevention initiatives and efforts

AbstractHazing prevention and education efforts continue to evolve in response to changing student behavior. The organic and anomic nature of hazing is deeply embedded in higher education, permeating across campus reinforced by cultural norms and institutional practices. While numerous approaches attempt to disrupt hazing, public health approaches, particularly those that involve and engage students, offer new promise in facilitating sustained culture change against hazing.

Legal Culture and Disability Rights in Indonesian Islamic Higher Education: A Review of Practices

This research aims to examine disability rights in relation to Islamic universities in Indonesia, paying attention to the legal culture concerning equal opportunities for disabled people. As a qualitative study with an empirical legal research method, this research will therefore gather information from various sources to examine current practices concerning regulations, facilities, and academic and social support, and disability education in Islamic higher learning institutions. The findings indicate that there is a major disparity between the legislation and the realities on the field. Implementation of strategies is poor, and a number of strategies are even ineffectual. Lack of physical infrastructure, academic accommodations, and training on the disability topics are some of the main challenges regarding full inclusion. Based on the study findings, it is suggested to enhance and expand the existing policies that include all parties and policies based on Islamic values that support equality and social justice. The final section reiterates the call for the reform of institutional culture and the advocacy of continuous public education to achieve cultural change.

Analysing policy success and failure in Australia: Pink batts and set‐top boxes

AbstractThis article examines two Australian government programs from the Rudd/Gillard Labor government, the Home Insulation Program (HIP) and the Digital Switchover Household Assistance Scheme (HAS). Both became shibboleths of the Labor government's perceived waste and incompetence. Using key informant interviews and documents obtained under freedom of information (FOI), I analyse these programs against the multiple ‘dimensions’ of success proposed by Newman and common narrative frames around programme failure. I argue that the HAS was broadly successful across most dimensions of success, notwithstanding the adverse media attention. The study identifies four key factors driving HIP's failure: scheme design, installer training, demand control, and departmental expertise. All of these came back to the timeline pressures, driven by conflicting priorities, which in turn gave the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) more influence than would usually be the case. In comparison, HAS's success is attributed to crucial design choices, like the phased rollout and head contractor model. The article identifies the danger of ignoring subject matter expertise and poor policy/Cabinet processes, which have been reinforced by the recent Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme.Points for practitioners Demand‐driven programmes need to have demand‐side control techniques built into them. The role of central agencies needs to be carefully considered, particularly in relation to areas that are not their expertise, such as detailed programme development and implementation. Lessons about poor policy and Cabinet processes, as well as cultural change from the Pink Batts Royal Commission, do not appear to have been sufficiently embedded in the culture of the APS, as there are ongoing echoes of the same problems evident in the Robodebt Royal Commission.

Transformation of local cultural values in the modernization of architectural and interior design of traditional market buildings in Bali

Traditional markets in Bali reflect the richness of local culture closely related to people's daily lives. Along with the times and demands for progress, these markets are transforming through the modernization of architectural and interior design. This modernization impacts local cultural heritage, changing how people interact with markets and the traditional values that Balinese people have long upheld. Therefore, research on the transformation of local cultural values in the modernization of architectural and interior design in traditional Balinese markets becomes relevant to understanding the implications and evaluating the preservation and adjustment efforts needed to maintain a unique cultural identity. The main focus is on changes in building design that influence the user experience of the building and the sustainability of cultural heritage as well as providing insight into emerging challenges and opportunities as well as an understanding of efforts to preserve local cultural values. This study will use a qualitative methodology to investigate changes in aesthetic and cultural dimensions. The results of this study demonstrate that cultural values change due to modern buildings being constructed in Bali's traditional marketplaces. The building's modernization has an impact on everyday activities, including the waning of the bargaining culture, the consumer behavior when visiting the upper floors, the traders' behavior regarding the interior conditions of the market, the culture that elevates buyers to the status of kings, and the transactional atmosphere typical of traditional markets. The contribution involves active participation from local communities with solutions in the form of efforts to maintain cultural heritage that can be aligned with implementing innovations that have a positive impact. By involving traders and market owners, solutions can be found to modernize facilities while maintaining local cultural values.

Recent Urban-to-Rural Migration and Its Impact on the Heritage of Depopulated Rural Areas in Southern Transylvania

There has recently been discussion regarding how heritage rural areas are culturally affected by recent urban-to-rural migration. However, little research has been conducted on the form this process takes in post-communist contexts. Taking a geography approach to some Romanian heritage sites, this study foregrounds narratives based on interviews with local people in two villages in southern Transylvania that were formerly inhabited by different ethnicities. The results point to quite different perceptions of the cultural landscape changes in the two villages. Although both communities consciously seek to preserve and maintain a sense of place that is rooted in history, those who migrate from urban areas to these rural heritage places represent a catalyst for community resilience and development in areas such as acquisition of buildings, development of facilities, modern social services, and seeking new funding for landscape transformation. As NGOs function as a link between government, local people, newcomers to the community, and investors, we contend that more attention could be paid to channelling their funds towards investment in rural heritage. The greatest challenges to heritage are those posed by tourism, while NGOs and small investors are the driving force that helps to preserve and save cultural heritage.

Analysis of the Realistic Impact of the Explosion of Artificial Intelligence Application on Contemporary Social, Economic and Cultural Development

With the rapid development of science and technology, artificial intelligence (AI), as an emerging and extremely subversive technological force, is penetrating into every corner of the social economy at an unprecedented speed, and has had a profound and extensive impact on contemporary social, economic and cultural development. This paper aims to comprehensively analyze the social, economic and cultural changes brought about by the explosion of artificial intelligence application, deeply discuss the opportunities created and challenges faced by it, and propose practical countermeasures on this basis, in order to provide reference and inspiration for decision-makers, researchers and practitioners in related fields.

Challenges in Adopting Agile Methodologies in the Software Engineering Processes Management: a Literature Review

Objective: To identify and select the main challenges in adopting agile methodologies in the software engineering processes management, that is, to analyze the most recurring challenges involving the application of agile methodologies in organizational environments. Theoretical Framework: Software Development is marked by a dynamic environment in constant change, where organizations must experiment with new values, manifested in flexibility, adaptation, intelligence, innovation and proactivity, using innovative tools, as conditions to become efficient and competitive. Method: The research was conducted based on bibliographical review, whose strategy was the analysis of a group of authors who constituted the theoretical framework to substantiate and explain the categories of this study, centered on agile methodologies. Results and Discussion: The results revealed that organizations encounter obstacles of different natures to implement agile methodologies in their environment, making project development difficult, thus not having the changes considered with good receptivity among employees, given the ingrained values and culture, becoming challenges for the organization. Implications of the Research: Given this evidence, it is concluded that organizational culture has as its primary factor resistance to change, as being the organization's main challenge for the acceptance and implementation of agile methodologies, indicating that there is no compatibility between organizational culture and agile methodologies. Originality/Value: This study contributes to identifying factors that become challenges to the successful implementation of agile methodologies in organizations, such as changes in organizational culture.

TANTANGAN DAN SOLUSI PENERAPAN SISTEM INFORMASI AKUNTANSI DI INDONESIA: SEBUAH ANALISIS TEMATIK

This research aims to investigate the benefits, obstacles and recommendations for implementing Accounting Information Systems (AIS) in Indonesia. The research method used is qualitative, with data sources from scientific documents such as journals and thematic analysis using NVivo 12 Plus software. This study outlines some of the critical benefits of AIS, including improved operational efficiency, data accuracy, transparency, decision support, and regulatory compliance. However, various barriers were also identified, such as limited technological infrastructure, changes in organizational culture and processes, data security, lack of management understanding and support, and implementation and training costs. Recommendations to overcome these barriers include increasing understanding and awareness of AIS, evaluating technology infrastructure, employee training, and collaboration with professional service providers. These findings highlight the need for better awareness of the benefits of AIS, improved technological infrastructure, employee training, and management support as critical factors in the successful implementation of AIS in Indonesia. Further research is recommended to conduct field studies through interviews and observations to gain deeper insight into the challenges and needs in implementing AIS in Indonesia.

From a grand hotel to an urban symbol: the Astor Hotel in old and new Tianjin

This article examines the enduring iconicity, multifaceted functions, and changing meanings of the Astor Hotel in Tianjin—one of the first international hotels in modern China—from the mid-19th century to the 21st century. Originally built more than 150 years ago, the Astor Hotel still stands exactly where it did in the former British Concession in Tianjin. This hotel was not only a venue boasting Tianjin’s most expensive accommodations but also a crucial site where politics, technology, economics, social, and cultural changes intersected and developed in its treaty port incarnation. Moreover, the expansion of the Astor Hotel evolved along with the development of Tianjin from a hypercolonial city to a Chinese-run metropolis. Shortly after the Communist Revolution in China, its ownership was overtaken by the Tianjin Municipal Government. Following a sequence of major renovations and commercial relaunches in the 1990s, the Astor Hotel was restored and reconstructed as an emblem of Tianjin’s historical status as an international and cosmopolitan city in China. Both continuity and changes will be emphasised in the discussion of the Astor Hotel’s history, as well as its multiple functions and shifting symbolic significance.