Cultural Ethos Research Articles

Gender and fast food in Nigeria and South Africa

ABSTRACT Food is not just a material entity in African contexts. Cultivation, production, preparation, distribution and consumption of food are laden with value, embedded with and significant in social–cultural relations. Hence, the nature and contexts of food determine and demonstrate important gender essence, realities and structures of societies. Unfortunately, food elements and trajectories are often taken for granted and not sufficiently studied even though they determine outcomes of actions in gender spaces. This article therefore engaged the interfaces/intersectionalities of gender and food in two African contexts. Because of importance and dynamism of food in understanding humans and societal identities particularly gender, contemporary Fast Food in Africa was adopted as a case study in this article. Intersectionalities in this article are the complex and often taken for granted grounds of gender and fast food subjectivities and constructivities over time. This article is within broader frameworks of food and gender against the background of deep-rooted cultural norms, traditions, values and ethos in African societies. This article is conceptual, theoretical and analytical with transnational focus leveraging on the Nigerian and South African scenarios with relevant epistemologies, findings and conclusions. This article contributes new knowledge to the scarce scholarship on the intersectionalities of food in gender discourses in African societies.

Rethinking Anna Halprin’s Parades and Changes: Postmodern Dance, Racialized Urban Restructuring, and Mid-1960s San Francisco

While choreographer Anna Halprin’s work has been characterized as embodying the cultural ethos of the New Left, it is also aligned with the race and class interests that spearheaded urban renewal in San Francisco. Contextualizing Halprin’s Parades and Changes in relation to political and economic developments during the 1960s suggests the work’s contradictory affiliation with both an urban elite and utopian countercultures.

Fables as Panacea to Unethical Behaviours in Societies

The alarming rate of unethical deeds in societies constitutes a great concern to anthropologists, sociologists, linguists, philosophers, and a host of others. People across societies frown at these mal-comportments with their resultants effects, and they condemn in strong term and proffer solutions to these unruly behaviours that make life difficult and heartbreaking. From time immemorial, fables used to play a foremost role in inculcating moral in the younger ones. In this technological era, fables are no longer given any required meaningful recognition. Many societal traditions, fables inclusive, that serve as correcting agents have been neglected, this then results in various unruly acts. Among the factors that enhance this cultural dilapidation and unruly behavior are social, economic, cognitive, and technological development factors. This paper identifies various problems in the socio-cultural sphere and explores the ways and manners of making use of fables to address the social misdemeanors as it was in the olden days and how to rebrand such a device to salvage peace and the cultural ethos in this present technological/ global age.

The Application of Traditional Rules of Purity (Qinggui) in Contemporary Taiwanese Monasteries

Vinaya rules embody the ideal of how Buddhists should regulate their daily lives, and monastics are required to observe them, despite the fact that they were compiled nearly 2,500 years ago in India: a context dramatically different not only from Chinese Buddhism's present monastic conditions, but from its historical conditions. Against this backdrop, rules of purity (qinggui) were gradually formulated by Chinese masters in medieval times to supplement and adapt vinaya rules to China's cultural ethos and to specific local Chinese contexts. This study explores how the traditional qinggui are applied by the Buddhist sa?gha in present-day Taiwan, and contrasts modern monastics' opinions on these rules and their relation to early Buddhist vinaya, on the one hand, against classical Chan literature (such as Chanyuan qinggui) and the Buddhist canon (such as Dharmaguptakavinaya), on the other. This comparison fills a notable gap in the existing literature.

Application of Traditional Rules of Purity (Qinggui) in Contemporary Taiwanese Monasteries

Vinaya rules embody the ideal of how Buddhists should regulate their daily lives, and monastics are required to observe them, despite the fact that they were compiled nearly 2,500 years ago in India: a context dramatically different not only from Chinese Buddhism's present monastic conditions, but from its historical conditions. Against this backdrop, rules of purity (qinggui) were gradually formulated by Chinese masters in medieval times to supplement and adapt vinaya rules to China's cultural ethos and to specific local Chinese contexts. This study explores how the traditional qinggui are applied by the Buddhist sangha in present-day Taiwan, and contrasts modern monastics' opinions on these rules and their relation to early Buddhist vinaya, on the one hand, against classical Chan literature (such as Chanyuan qinggui) and the Buddhist canon (such as Dharmaguptakavinaya), on the other. This comparison fills a notable gap in the existing literature.

DEVIANT ECONOMIC IDENTITY IN CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE: PROBLEM STATEMENT

Relevance of current research is determined by insufficient focus on the prevention of deviant economic socialization in children and adolescents in the conditions of high uncertainty of socio-economic prospects for Russian society and high risks of economic shocks. Objective. To justify the importance of prevention of deviant economic identity at the stage of formation of the “economic ethos of culture” in the senior preschool age and the subsequent “technological ethos of culture” in primary school age and adolescence and to determine the main directions of prevention. Method. Theoretical and methodological analysis, comparative and critical analysis, as means of clarifying the concept of “deviant economic identity” and defining its place in the context of such close concepts as “economic socialization,” “economic deviance,” “professional identity” etc.. Results. The concept of “deviant economic identity” is clarified. It is understood as the association of a person not only with a given economic activity or specific professionals (as role models to follow), but also with values and ideological positions underlying such activities. The “paradoxicality” of deviance can be a discrepancy between the norms of a particular society and general cultural norms, as well as the discrepancy between the generally accepted ideas about deviance and ideas about the deviance by the particular individual or group (at the level of families, collectives), which often provokes an identity crisis. Conclusions. Psychological and educational work with children and adolescents in order to prevent deviant economic identity is especially important because of the susceptibility of this age to socially dubious variants of economic relations and weak propaganda of worthy examples of economic behavior in the society. The article highlights the psychological and pedagogical conditions for the emergence, development and prevention of deviant economic identity in children and adolescents, which can be used in the psychological practice, associated not only with an orientation towards established values, but also with the culture (method) of the search for these values.

“Fire by Night, Cloud by Day”: Exile and Refuge in Postwar London

AbstractSusan Pennybacker's presidential plenary to the 2017 North American Conference on British Studies in Denver, Colorado, explores the lives of four of the subjects of her book (in progress) of the same title. It identifies the kinds of archival and ethnographic sources that allow new treatments of the exile, émigré, and expatriate communities of London after the close of World War II and of those who contributed in various ways to the ethos of metropolitan political culture in the “late empire” and Cold War era. The essay focuses on the South African Ruth First, the Indian diplomat Mrs. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, the Indian academician Achin Vanaik, and the South Asian Londoner Suresh Grover, a member of the Monitoring Group, a legal assistance and anti-discrimination organization in the capital. It suggests the importance of scholarship that reckons with known and notable activist persons who led and represented many others in their challenges to global politics from a base in the “mammoth crossroads, the secure and unsafe haven that is London.”

A Review of Ilya Utekhin, Chto takoe vizualnaya antropologiya: putevoditel po klassike etnograficheskogo kino [What Is Visual Anthropology: А Guidebook on the Classics of Ethnographic Cinema]. St Petersburg: Poryadok slov, 2018, 352 pp.

This is a review of anthropologist Ilya Utekhin’s What Is Visual Anthropology: A Guidebook on the Classic of Ethnographic Cinema. On the example of classical ethnographic films of the 20th century, the monograph considers the phenomenon of ethnographic cinema as an important part of visual anthropology. The book’s main intent is to show how outstanding projects that shaped visual anthropology as a discipline posed key questions for anthropology as a whole. These include nonverbal communication, the socialization and association of personality types with the dominant ethos of culture, the form and function of ritualized aggression in tribal society, obsession and communication with other beings, psycho-pathology, boundaries of normality, arrangement of specialized social institutes, boundaries of human beings and human projections in relations between human beings and animals. The review focuses on the key problems of developing visual anthropology as a discipline and how they were reflected in films.

ЭТИЧЕСКИЕ ЦЕННОСТИ КАК ЗАЩИТНАЯ СИСТЕМА КУЛЬТУРЫ

The article discusses one of the essential aspects of the problem of the value foundations of a society and an individual - the place and role of basic ethical values in the context of dynamic social changes that accompany the development of high technologies. The study aims to justify the protective functions of ethical values in the modern culture. It is shown that ethical values included in the ethos of culture are both universal and culturally specific in nature and perform the following basic functions: 1) a universal regulator of development and application of potentially dangerous high technologies; 2) a selective mechanism for protecting cultural identity of a society and an individual; 3) the most important component of civilization planner.

MAJLIS TA’LIM (ISLAMIC FORUM) AND HARMONIZING INTER FAITH COMMUNICATION

The process of growing multiculturalism and tolerance values among religious followers to the community in Indonesia can be done through religious lectures in majlis ta’lim (Islamic forum) in mosques, houses, meeting halls, etc. The lectures delivered were concerned about democracy, justice and law, cultural values and ethos, equality in differences, ethnicity, religious beliefs, cultural expressions, private and public domains, human rights, community cultural rights, and other relevant concepts. In this case, majlis ta’lim (Islamic forum) can be seen as a solution of growing the seeds of democracy, tolerance and multiculturalism for the harmonization among religious groups Indonesia. Majlis Ta’lim (Islamic forum) is a great potential since it can create a harmonious and free from radical values country, and able to reduce issues of SARA (ethnicity, religion, ancestry, and group of people), which are often raised from the institutionalization of community. Good understanding of democracy, tolerance and multiculturalism are aligned with the Islamic values.

Therapeutic turn

This paper offers a systematic and critical exploration of contemporary theology of pastoral care in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in light of the history of the practice of care-giving and Western cultural change. Currently, pastoral care is characterized by a therapeutic approach that aims to offer sincere help for earthly suffering and to promote the good things that the individual chooses to reach for. This has been drastically different than historical models from Luther to the early twentieth century that were spiritual and paternalistic in nature. The therapeutic turn connects to the therapeutic culture that has set self-actualization as a central idea determining Western cultural ethos. The therapeutic approach calls into question how the spiritual task of the church is carried out. The prevailing pastoral-psychological theology of pastoral care proves to be problematic. The spiritual task of pastoral care should be based on the basic Lutheran theology of God as objective and not conditioned upon the human mind. Yet, the therapeutic aim should still be maintained as the basic approach of care.

Public Health Experts, Expertise, and Ebola: A Relational Theory of Ethos

Abstract The key public health officials in the United States have been criticized for their work in the Ebola outbreak of 2014–15 by citizens, public officials, and health scholars from multiple disciplines. There are numerous grounds for these complaints, but underlying many of them was the perception of “failed leadership” that is here traced in substantial part to the embodiment of a positionality based in a presumed logos-based power instead of an ethos-based relationship between public health expert and public. Because any leader’s public ethos is dependent on the cultural ethos of audiences who promote them to leadership, this essay combines the Aristotelian topoi for ethos (goodsense, goodwill, goodness) and contemporary redefinitions of ethos as cultural-level phenomena (either “dwelling places,” ideologies, or ethical and cultural codes) to conceptualize ethos as the activation, rebuilding, or maintenance of relationships among different social positions: publics and institutions. The complexities of the Ebola epidemic—with its national and international dimensions and its partially faulty scientific grounding—make visible the predisposition toward positional gaps between publics and public experts regarding interests (eunoia) and goods (arête), with concomitant difficulties for the sharing of practical wisdom (phronesis). Aristotle was correct that such gaps cannot be bridged by logos, and the pervasive insistence on more logos as corrective therefore may contribute to public mistrust of all expertise.

Indigenous Socio-political and Cultural Similarities in Africa: The Case of the Igbo of Nigeria and the Jola of the Gambia

A major thrust of this paper’s analysis is the indigenous socio-political and cultural similarities in Africa, in particular the case of the Igbo of Nigeria and the Jola tribe of The Gambia. The study aims at identifying the areas of similarities between these cultures in a context in which indigenous cultural and socio-political framework of society has witnessed significant transformations over the years. Using multi case studies strategy of inquiry, this paper addressed two key broad research questions, first, whether veritable similarities could be found between the two cultures, or whether identified similarities mere coincidence or did arise from the fact both groups having the same ancestry but subsequently dispersed into different directions and locations in search for arable lands? Second, does ethno-cultural interrelatedness of societies arise from shared historical ancestry? In this context, it established strong link between the cultures the Igbo of Nigeria and the Jola ethnic of The Gambia suggesting that the similarities are real and pervasive. The paper further suggests that the complex network of relationships and kinship ties found in both Igbo and Jola cultures appear to provide the impetus for persisting social consciousness and observance of the customs, traditions, and cultural ethos, attitudes and perceptions that animate and sustain cultural colourations, which have survived over the years retaining some key cultural elements of traditional society that sets them apart from other ethno-cultural groups in contemporary West Africa.

Gender, class and school teacher education from the mid-nineteenth century to 1970: scenes from a town in the North of England

ABSTRACTThis paper considers gender and social class in relation to teacher education through an episodic study of the development of adult educational institutions in Huddersfield. It briefly discusses nineteenth-century mechanics’ institutes in the town before moving to a consideration of school teacher training college students in the twentieth century, highlighting aspects of the gendered and cultural ethos of teacher training. Local efforts to establish teacher training, and the wartime presence in the town of an evacuated women’s teacher training college, provide a prism for the examination of transitions in social attitudes towards teaching as a profession, as do the educational aspirations of local working-class grammar school girls and boys during the 1940s/1950s. The paper then focuses on the establishment in 1963 of a ‘new kind’ of non-residential teacher training college and, in particular, on its introduction in the late 1960s of part-time provision designed specifically for ‘married women’.

A case study comparison of different ownership and finance models for off grid systems in southern india

Off grid alternatives to a centralized grid are considered essential for parts of the world in which grid access has currently not reached or is unlikely to reach. However, a “one size fits all” approach to system deployment by non-profits or governments will not work. Many different models of system ownership and finance are necessary for individual systems to match their cultural and demographic context. Our work attempts to investigate collective vs. individual ownership and subsidized vs. micro-lent finance in off grid electrification of villages in Southern India. We designed and built five subsidized microgrid systems across three rural villages with the help of a local non-profit, and analyzed the social response to their implementation through qualitative interviews. We also interviewed owners of subsidized single-family systems in a different village. Overall, satisfaction and ease of deployment seemed greater with the single family systems, and a subsidization model fit into the cultural ethos of the Indian non-profits.

Rethinking Development: India’s Cultural Ethos as Foundation

According to the development model India has adopted, development is viewed in narrow terms of economic development and, more particularly, GDP growth. This is largely due to our blind imitation of Western philosophy, which is based on materialistic values, and has given birth to current ruling economic ideology of free markets and competition, where earning money and accumulating wealth is considered primary goal of life. In its practical operation, this model creates serious socio-economic problems, such as ecological devastation, economic inequality, culture of consumerism, unemployment and social Darwinism. In India today, most components of social and economic well-being of people, such as education, health, employment and a healthy agricultural and industrial base, are in dismal state, indicating that our existing policy has failed. This calls for a fundamental rethink of our development policy. There is a need to embrace a more human-centric model of development, based on our cultural and civilisational ethos, which is ethico-spiritual and is deeply concerned with the problem of human welfare, social good and well-being of people. There is a need to redefine our development goals as creation of a happy, healthy and prosperous society.

Exploring Prenatal Physical Activity at the “Postgenomic Turn”: A Transdisciplinary Journey

Within the life sciences, there has been a move away from genetic determinism toward an awareness of how the environment (from cellular to social) can impact gene expression and health outcomes. Significantly, exercise scientists are looking to this “postgenomic turn” to explore how prenatal physical activity and leisure might affect the fetal metabolic environment by altering offspring gene expression and preventing future obesity. In this article, we draw upon insights from feminist new materialist scholars to explore how and if the entanglement of the social and material promised by the postgenomic turn is realized in prenatal exercise interventions. After outlining how this is not the case, we reflect upon our attempt to promote a transdisciplinary dialogue that facilitates a social justice ethos and nonreductionist version of maternal-fetal health and physical culture. Our transdisciplinary journey contributes to the feminist physical cultural studies agenda of equity development in the realm of exercise and leisure.

More Than One Way to Float Your Boat: Product Use and Sustainability Impacts

Concern for sustainability crosses multiple areas of scholarly inquiry. At the macro level, sustainability research has focused primarily on institutional actors and systemic change efforts. At the consumer level, sustainability research has focused primarily on consumer product choice and post-use disposal. Employing a practice theory lens, this study examines how consumer practices during product use results in a wide variance in overall environmental sustainability impacts. Emerging practice configurations illustrate the ways rules as meaning, at both the macro level institutional regulations and micro level of cultural expectations shape consumer options. Practice configurations also illuminate the ways material marketplace resources, both stagnated products and innovations, provide opportunity for variance. Finally, the competence element of practice varies between a traditional consumer culture ethos and new practices vis-a-vis consumer resourcefulness. This study provides a contribution to the link between macromarketing and consumer culture theory in the centrality of enforcement of both governmental level regulations and consumer best practices for improved environmental sustainability.

Katie's Canon: Enfleshing Womanism, Mentoring, and the Soul of the Black Community

Katie's CanonEnfleshing Womanism, Mentoring, and the Soul of the Black Community Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas (bio) When I think about Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon, I cannot help but acknowledge the great debt I owe—and so it's a privileged obligation to pay tribute to her life, lessons, and legacy, which made my own womanist beginnings possible. In essence, I am speaking of the "origin story" of when and where I first met Dr. Cannon. I first began pondering the relationship between faith and ethics as a schoolgirl, while listening to my grandmother teach the central affirmations of Christianity within the context of a racially segregated society. My community of faith taught me the principles of God's universal parenthood, which engendered a social, intellectual, and cultural ethos that embraced the equal humanity of all people. Yet, my city, state, and nation declared it a punishable offense against the laws and mores for blacks and whites to "travel, eat, defecate, wait, be buried, make love, play, relax and even speak together, except in the stereotyped context of master and servant interaction."1 It was 1991 when I discovered and read those words and the 174 pages that followed them. As I stood amid the stacks of Candler School of Theology's Pitts Theological Library, I became wrapped up in the work, witness, and words of Katie Cannon's definitive text Black Womanist Ethics. Prior to this chance encounter, I did not even know the name Katie Cannon. But her explicit naming of her approach as "womanist ethics" quickened my soul, opened my mind, and set my feet on a course toward becoming the womanist ethicist I am today. "Womanism," as Katie Cannon framed it, took my mind to where my soul had always been. [End Page 101] After receiving word from Religion Department Chair John Raines that I had received the Future Faculty Fellowship at Temple University, I promptly shared my excitement with Dr. Cannon. She was a bit hesitant during that conversation because she was unsure whether I would accept admission to Temple's graduate program given that I had more competitive offers elsewhere but, as I affirmed to her on the phone that day, "I'm not applying to a school, I'm applying to be mentored by you." At that time, I had no idea that I was the first student of hers to make this appeal. But she was to be the first black woman teacher-mentor I would experience in my academic career. As in all things, she took note of it and wrote me the following words in a letter before I met her in fall 1993: Greetings from Kannapolis, NC! I write to you from my parents' kitchen table where I shared with my mother, Ms. Corine, that you are to be my first doctoral student. I want to be the first to offer congratulations to both of us! It's apparent that you really want to study womanist ethics. . . . The particular usefulness of womanist ethics is (1) to know and do justice to the moral resources and tradition of Black women's lives; (2) to help black women remember, redeem and reproduce the moral wisdom that they utilize; and (3) to engage Black women and other feminists of color who have given up on the community of faith so we might gain new insights concerning the reasonableness of theological ethics in deepening our character, consciousness and capacity in our collective struggle for survival. These are my criteria, and this is the work, I believe, both our souls must have. In my mind, the real-life palpability, scholarly precision, and engaging pedagogy of her womanist work captured and distilled the most essential truths about human nature, in general, and black women, in particular. That's why I think Katie Cannon was bigger than life to so many of us. It's no surprise that we liken so many of her professional exploits to epic superhero sagas. Each one of us writing in this section can attest to Katie Cannon being a superhero—boldly going where so many others had never gone before in order to articulate the truths that some called...

End-of-Life Practices in Rural South India: SocioCultural Determinants.

Introduction:End of life care of terminally ill is a sensitive topic in our socio cultural ethos. In a country where Euthanasia policies are widely debated, dignified death is a desired form of death. Euthanasia literally means “good death”. In India the debate still continues on practices related to euthanasia and its legalization until recently when the verdict on the passive euthanasia has been passed by the supreme court. In addition, lack of an effective palliative care system has led to complex situations towards the end of life. Globally, it is estimated that palliative care is needed in 40-60% of all deaths. However there is no training or facility to meet this demand.Methodology:A focus group discussion (FGD) was carried out among 22 residents in a rural area of Tamilnadu to identify the social and cultural determinants of end of life care practices. A FGD guide was prepared and after an informed consent the study was undertaken. An in depth interview was carried out among a sub group of participants.Results:The FGD and the IDI revealed several end of life practices in the rural areas such as Thalaikoothal, Feeding the ill with holy water and sand etc. The study also revealed the major determinants leading to such practices such as the social, and cultural beliefs in addition to economical and emotional factors.Conclusion:Several factors determine the end of life decisions in a family ranging from economical to social and cultural factors. While we are examining these factors, it is important to strengthen the palliative care provision in the country by building capacity and integrating it in primary care.