Cultural Transition Research Articles

The meanings, changes, and challenges of the Grandmother’s house in Mosuo vernacular dwellings in Northwest Yunnan

This study investigates the Mosuo culture identity and transitions in the context of contemporary China. The Mosuo people are a small ethnic group who live in the highland regions close to the border with Tibet. At the center of values and architectural forms of Mosuo dwellings, the Grandmother’s house is explored in this study to see how identity is expressed through spatial organization, from houses, ornamentation, furniture, and furnishings to daily activities, life cycle events, and rituals. In April 2017, data was collected through ethnographical observations and interviews with 23 family members from five Mosuo households on their perceptions of the Grandmother’s house. Drawings were also used as a method to understand and analyze interior and architectural features of the Grandmother’s house. Elements of the Grandmother’s house that are meaningful and preserved include the female and male columns, low doors, hearths, Zambala, Guozhuang stone and Situo, the back room, and wood shingle roof. These elements constitute a “constant” in the construction of a Grandmother’s house and serve to promote the continuity and consistency inherent in traditional Mosuo dwelling, embodying Mosuo culture and values in the built form. The methods and findings presented in this paper aim to provide a comprehensive study/investigation of the Grandmother’s house and its spatial evolution, and to start a debate on the fate of this building.

Undergraduates’ Academic Acculturative Stress at the Intersection of First-Generation Status and Gender in a Public University Setting

First generation college students (FGCSs) may undergo challenging cultural transitions as they acculturate to higher education. Such challenges may include perceived loss of home ties, navigating unfamiliar social rules, and academic acculturative stress. The Academic Acculturative Stress Scale (AAS Scale) was designed to measure these experiences of FGCSs. The sample was comprised of undergraduates at a large public university. Items were created and factor analyzed to evaluate content validity. Mean AAS Scale scores were compared using a 2 (FGCS status) X 2 (gender) factorial analysis of variance. Correlations with students’ reported social support, self-esteem, life satisfaction, and depressive symptomatology evaluated criterion validity. A significant two-way interaction for FGCS status and gender for AASS showed that FGCS women reported doing worse than did non-first-generation students, while FGCS men said they were doing better compared to others. Future research should evaluate support needs of FGCS women for successful degree completion.

Reconstruction of coastal flooding processes and human response at the end of the Liangzhu Culture, East China

Understanding coastal flooding processes in response to centennial-scale sea-level rise is essential in preparing for the challenge of present-day global warming. Mid-Holocene sea-level rise induced widespread coastal flooding along the East China coast and precipitated the collapse of the Neolithic Liangzhu Culture, the earliest known prehistoric state in East Asia. This paper presents multi-proxy analyses of sedimentology, grain size, total organic carbon (TOC), and alkaline-earth metals extracted by acetic acid (HAc) of a dated sediment core, ZK07, collected from Liangzhu City, with the aim of revealing the detailed progression of coastal flooding phases and the response of prehistoric people at the end of the associated Liangzhu Culture. A three-step succession of coastal flooding processes between ca. 4.6–4.3 cal kyr BP, brought about by relative sea-level rise, is evident in core ZK07. Initially, an increase in the local water level in response to the first phase of sea-level rise is indicated by a gradual increase in TOC at ca. 4630 cal yr BP. Subsequently, at ca. 4520 cal yr BP, a second phase of increased local water-level, consistent with further sea-level rise and salinity intrusion, is suggested by higher Sr concentrations accompanied by a sharp increase in TOC. Thirdly, at ca. 4480–4315 cal yr BP, low TOC content, high - but strongly fluctuating - Sr and Ba concentrations and coarser sediment grain size are all indicative of coastal inundation caused by both storm surges and river flooding associated with typhoon events that correspond with a concurrent phase of accelerated sea-level rise. Considering the evidence of cultural deposits preserved at Liangzhu City, it appears that the Liangzhu people were forced to respond rapidly to the inundation by abandoning the city at ca. 4480 cal yr BP. We suggest that relative sea-level rise and coastal flooding at the terminal stage of the Liangzhu Culture was the regional response to global climate warming and eustatic sea-level rise at that time. Given evidence that a contemporaneous cultural transition took place in the lower Yellow River basin, we further propose that global climate change around 4.5 cal kyr BP had a widespread impact on Neolithic cultural evolution in East China. Furthermore, the rise in local water levels and associated salinity intrusions may be considered as an early warning signal in monitoring future coastal flooding risk.

Economic Uncertainty, Cultural and Ideational Transition, and Low Fertility

Increased objective uncertainties, upward movement in the hierarchy of needs, and associated cultural and ideational transition are inherent to modern societies. These factors were previously treated as independent macro-shocks and studied separately, without regard for their interactions. In this paper, we provide an all-around framework to interpret fertility behavior and low fertility in developed economies, to compensate for the isolation of economic uncertainty from a cultural and ideational transition in previous empirical studies. In this regard, we conduct an empirical analysis of panel data of 34 OECD countries from 2000 to 2018, to discuss the impact of economic uncertainty on the fertility rate and the moderating effect of cultural and ideational transition on that impact. Below are our findings: (1) economic uncertainty significantly inhibits the fertility rate, and such an inhibiting effect is found to be underestimated after endogeneity is controlled; (2) according to heterogeneity analysis, the inhibiting effect of economic uncertainty on the fertility rate is stronger after the 2008 financial crisis and among low-income economies and countries where Confucianism is practiced; (3) a significant negative moderating effect of cultural and ideational transition on the relationship between economic uncertainty and fertility rate is observed, indicating that the inhibiting effect of structural dimensions that combine objective and subjective factors regarding the fertility rate may be self-reinforcing; and, (4) further tests show that economic uncertainty and cultural and ideational transition affect the fertility rate by means of the effect of delayed parenthood, the substitution of cohabitation for marriage, and fertility preferences. We find that fertility behavior is cumulatively affected by both economic uncertainty and cultural and ideational transition. This implies that reducing economic uncertainty and fostering a culture that encourages marriage and fertility are fundamental for increasing the fertility rate in China, a country resorting to the third-child policy to promote a fertility rebound.

Islam Transformation, Diaspora, and The Locality Response of Java’s Religion: An Indonesian Fiction Studies

Abstract: The process of Islam transformation as a great religion however is massively received in Nusantara, recognized or not can bring its own problems for the local religion that has been long existed. In such cases, this study aims to describe the locality response of local religion in Java over the incessant process of the great religion transformation and diaspora. By the literature sociological approach, this study sought to describe the locality response as reflected in fiction Indonesia, namely Serat Darmogandul by K.R.T.Tandhanagara and novel Putri Cina by Sindhunata. By the analysis of genetic structuralism, the results of this study stated that that the process of transformation, the diaspora, and the response of the locality in the context of local religion in Java presupposelinearity pattern of cultural process for the cultural transition that occurred in Java. After the collapse of Majapahit who embrace Buddhism (the religion of Shiva-Buda religious/Java) who then turn to the rule of Islam in the Sultan of Demak, showing intertwined process between the dimension of power and religion. The intertwined process shows that the power dimensions and religiondimensions that seem inseparable; on the contrary, interwoven in their entirety. Therefore, the implications of this study are expected to contribute to the process of positioning the local religion more adequately in the context of the transformation and the religion diaspora that exists and keep going until today.

Social networking sites usage and psychological wellbeing: A survey among Telangana youth

"Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication," said Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s, commenting on the influence of broadcasting medium; further, he adds that Innumerable confusions and a profound feeling of despair invariably emerge in periods of great technological and cultural transitions (McLuhan, 1967). India is going through such a transition in this Information age, especially after the jio effect (Ghosh, 2019), which has bought millions of online by providing free High speed 4G data for more than six months as an introductory offer to increase its subscribers, both urban and rural Indian youth were quick to take advantage of the offer as youth instinctively understood the present environment (McLuhan, 1967). As of August 2021, India is the second-largest online market in the world with over 749 million internet users, internet access and use largely vary in the country due to the socio-economic divide and the number of users varied greatly among the urban and rural population (keelery, 2021). 90% of the internet users in India are on social networking sites; most of them are between 18 to 24 years of age (Keelery, Number of social network users India 2015-2040, 2021).Passive browsing social networking sites (SNSs) correlates with poorer wellbeing (Verduyn, et al., 2015). However, less research is conducted that examined the impact of social networking usage on the psychological wellbeing of Indian youth and compared rural and urban social networking usage. For a diverse sample of college students (N = 629, Mage = 21, SDage = 46.2% female), for this study social networking usage is considered as the amount of time spent on SNSs in a day and how long they have been using SNSs (in years).while the amount of time sent on SNSs has an impact on rural Indian youth, how long they have been on SNSs has an impact on psychological wellbeing of the urban Indian youth and neither the amount of time or how long they are using SNSs has impacted the semi-urban Indian youth.

Linguistic and cultural changes in the globalization process and their effects on society

Türkçede “Küreselleşme” olarak karşılık bulan “Globalleşme” son yüzyıla damgasını vurmuş bir kavramdır. Bir anlamda yeni dünya düzenini tanımlamaya yarayan farklı anlam ve algılara açık oldukça karmaşık bir süreci ifade eder. Küreselleşme kapitalizmin dünyayı ele geçirme çabası ve onun ekonomik, siyasi ve kültürel bağlamda yeni versiyonudur. Bu kavramı ele alış şekli bakış açısına göre değişiklik gösterse de hemem hemen bütün toplumlarda teknolojinin gelişmesiyle ulaşım ve iletişimin kolaylaşması, bilginin, sermayenin ve ürünlerin küresel ölçekte akışlarının artış göstermesidir. Kültürel açıdan küreselleşme kavramı; toplumların birbirinden ister istemez etkilenmesi ve aynılaşmasını içerdiği gibi aynı zamanda birbirlerinin dilsel ve kültürel farklılıklarına saygı duyma ve beraber yaşama arzusu olarak da ifade edilir. Her kültür doğduğunda özgündür. Küreselleşme ile birlikte beklenen şey; kültürün değişime uğraması ve dayatılan tek bir küresel kültüre tabi olunmasıdır. Milli kültürlerin binlerce yıllık süreç içerisinde, aşınmalar olsa da varlığını sürdürebileceğini bilen batı, bu arzusunu farklılıkları kucaklama ve herkesi kendi kültürüyle kabul etme politikası ile kamufle etmeye çalışmaktadır. Ancak toplumlar, küresel kültürün bu örtülü beklentisi karşısında maalesef fazla bir direnç gösterememektedir. Karşılıklı kültürel geçişleri beklerken, bu etkileşim tek yönlü gerçekleşmekte ve egemen kültür etkisini her alanda hissettirmektedir. Egemen kültür yani Amerikan kültürü yaşam anlayışıyla, yeme içme, giyim tarzı ve özellikle diliyle tüm toplumları etkilemiş durumdadır. Az gelişmiş ve gelişmekte olan ülkeler kendilerine empoze edilen bu yeni kültürün tesiri altında kendi kültürlerini kaybetme riskiyle karşı karşıyadırlar. Küresel vatandaş kavramı, kültürel asimilasyona hayır diyebilen ve sadece kendi ülkesinin değil aynı zamanda tüm insanlığın sorunlarına duyarlı, farkılıkları tolere edebilen evrensel bilince sahip insan anlamına geldiği takdirde kabul görür. Zemin çok kaygan ve tehlikelidir. Küresel gelişmelere karşı koyulamaz belki ama küresel kültüre ulusal bilinçle karşılık verilebilir. Bu nitel çalışmada doküman analizi modeli kullanılmıştır.

On a fast-track to adulthood: social integration and identity formation experiences of young-adults of 1.5 generation immigrants

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the dynamic nature of social integration and local identity formation as experienced by young-adult immigrants who arrived in Israel as children or adolescents (1.5 generation) from the former Soviet Union (FSU). 1.5 generation immigrants (1.5GI) are versed in the cultures of both origin and host countries while not fully belonging to either, and as young adults are challenged by both cultural and developmental transitions. Young adults in industrialized societies nowadays experience a stage of ‘emerging adulthood’ characterized by uncertainty and inquiry. However, it is not clear how 1.5GI experience this stage. Based on in-depth interviews with 25 FSU 1.5GI, thematic analysis of the data led to four categories: 1) Segregation in childhood and adolescence; 2) Military service as a turning point, where their substantial integration and Israeli identity began to form; 3) A fast-track to adulthood on their own: 1.5GI cannot fully enjoy the emerging adulthood period, and move rapidly into adulthood; and 4) A spectrum of identities: varying degrees of dominance of Israeli vs. FSU identity. The study examines identity formation as an ongoing process, stresses specific stages in the lives of young immigrants, and their implications for 1.5GI identity and integration.

Équipe mobile de pédopsychiatrie en territoire guyanais : questionnement de l’adolescent amérindien

IntroductionSince their French naturalization in 1969, Amerindians of French Guiana have been facing a full and fast reorganization of their way of life. Teenagers, at the forefront of this cultural transition, are challenging French school institutions, as well as cultural society and care system organizations in Amazonian French remote villages. Rates of autolytic behaviors such as toxic substance abuse or suicide attempts, but mostly completed suicides, are alarming among this adolescent population. To improve care delivery to those teenagers, a mobile child psychiatric team was implemented in 2013. MethodsWe describe this device, its activities and the problematics encountered. ResultsThis team's purpose is to lead a psychiatric evaluation of teenagers in order to determine a possible psychiatric diagnosis and elaborate a care plan. Although the results are mostly encouraging, this device seems to show some limitations: lack of time dedicated to these interventions, lack of psychiatric care available for follow-up in these villages, tremendous numbers of social distress situations implicated in psychological issues. Moreover, it appears that cultural aspects must be considered in the analysis of the Amerindian adolescent population's issues and the determination of providing care. ConclusionImplementation of actions based on more educational and social levels might be a solution.

The COVID-19 economic shutdown and the future of flexible workplace practices in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County

The COVID-19 lockdown has increased the use of flexible workplace practices (FWP) especially work from home, demonstrating their importance to the resilience of transportation systems and regional economies. This study compares experiences and perceptions of FWP and related policy interventions before and during the COVID-19 shutdown, using a mixed-methods approach focusing on the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, to inform projections about the use of FWP and policy implications post-COVID. Pre-shutdown surveys and focus groups interviews confirmed that major obstacles to FWP expansion were a combination of managerial and executive resistance, alongside occupational constraints. Pre-shutdown interviews suggested that costs associated with manager training and cultural transition are major concerns for executives. A small sample of follow-up interviews with executives, managers, and staff, conducted during the shutdown period has revealed some of the practical issues with full-time FWP such as work-life balance, childcare, productivity, IT hardware and software, and network connectivity. Although organizations have been forced into flexible arrangements, many are considering continuing to utilize the practices after the pandemic settles down. In terms of policy interventions, pre-COVID participants perceived government subsidies and incentives as the most desirable government programs. However, in a resource-constrained post-COVID world, policy makers might instead focus on training programs and promotional campaigns tied to public health messaging, and the implications of reduced commuting for transportation system design and commercial zoning and land use.

Climatic and Cultural Transitions in Lambayeque, Peru, 600 to 1540 AD: Medieval Warm Period to the Spanish Conquest

The Lambayeque Valley on the north coast of Peru offers a cautionary case study on the relation between climatic and cultural change. Three archaeological site complexes dating from late in the first millennium AD to the middle of the second millennium AD rose and were abandoned in sequence. Each abandonment was associated with a conflagration on the main pyramidal mound(s). In this region, El Niño is the most significant climatic disruption now and for millennia past. By tracking proxy records for El Niño intensity, we found that only the first episode of abandonment and burning was associated with a strong peak in El Niño intensity, while the final episode was the outcome of the Spanish Conquest of the Andes, a distinctly non-climatic driver. These records suggest that equifinality is operative and urge caution in over-interpreting climate as culture-changing catastrophe.

The question of the ‘foreigners’ in select fictional narratives from Assam

In this age of metamorphosis of cultural transition and assimilation, in this age where everyone in one sense or the other is a migrant, the issue of identity can never be resolved. Iain Chambers (1994) holds that migrancy “calls for a dwelling in language, in histories, in identities that are constantly subject to mutation” (p. 5). ‘Home’ sometimes becomes a provisional location as it fails to provide assurance and security; and hence, in many instances, one witnesses an individual’s desire to break free, to migrate. Memory and narratives can be seen as symbolic ways of making homes, of negotiating different and competing allegiances. Jahnavi Barua’s novel, Undertow, Arupa Patangia Kalita’s novellas and stories like ‘Face in the Mirror’, ‘The Half-burnt Bus at Midnight’, stories from the Barak Valley of Assam like Moloy Kanti Dey’s ‘Ashraf Ali’s Homeland’, Amitabha Dev Choudhury’s ‘Wake Up Call’, Arijit Choudhury’s ‘Fire’, among others, provide multiple perspectives on the question of identity. The paper seeks to delve into select fictional narratives from Assam and analyse the question of ‘foreigners’, keeping in mind the current discourses on the issue of migration, especially the issue of illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

Environmental changes in SW France during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition from the pollen analysis of an eastern North Atlantic deep-sea core

AbstractEvaluating synchronies between climate and cultural changes is a prerequisite for addressing the possible effect of environmental changes on human populations. Searching for synchronies during the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition (ca. 48–36 ka) is hampered by the limits of radiocarbon dating techniques and the large chronological uncertainties affecting the archaeological and paleoclimatic records, as well by their low temporal resolution. Here, we present a high-resolution, pollen-based vegetation record from the Bay of Biscay, sea surface temperature changes, additional14C ages, and a new IRSL date on the fine-sediment fraction of Heinrich Stadial (HS) 6. The IRSL measurements give an age of ca. 54.0 ± 3.4 ka. The paleoclimatic results reveal a succession of rapid climatic changes during the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in SW France (i.e. D-O 12–8 and two distinct climatic phases during HS 4). Comparison of the new paleoclimatic record with chronologically well-constrained regional archaeological changes shows that no synchronies exist between cultural transitions and environmental changes. The disappearance of Neanderthals and the arrival ofHomo sapiensin SW France encompassed a long-term forest opening, suggesting thatHomo sapiensmay have progressively replaced Neanderthals from D-O 10 to HS 4 through competition for the same ecological niches.

A long march on the mainstream: chronicle of Laibach’s artistic career

ABSTRACT Laibach is a music and cross-media group from Slovenia, which develops a multi-disciplinary art practice. While exploring the relationships between art and ideology as their major point of interest, Laibach has appropriated a symbolically charged language of communication, which encompasses an eclectic assemblage of provocative and ambivalent artistic, political, and religious references, often relying on their shock value. Since their beginning, the group has been associated and surrounded with controversy, provoking strong reactions from the political authorities of former Yugoslavia and in particular in the Socialist Republic of Slovenia. Laibach’s international success commenced when the famed British label Mute Records signed them and released their 1987 album Opus Dei. In the over 40 years of Laibach’s existence, which coincided with the political, economic, and cultural transition in the European East, the group has crossed a wide path from being the harsh, ominous voice of the Slovene alternative cultural scene in socialist Yugoslavia to independent Slovenia’s major cultural export. This paper puts into an historical perspective the spectacular changes in Laibach’s uneasy co-habitation with the institutional framework and cultural mainstream of their home country, on the one hand, and the global contemporary art scene and music industry, on the other.

Anomie, Loneliness, and Psychopathology

Abstract Objective: “Anomie” describes social dysregulation or a social condition in which individuals feel isolated instead of united with other members of the society. The literature on the association of anomie and loneliness with suicidality and youth psychopathology has been demonstrated in some studies based in Western nations. This study aims to compare the association of anomie and loneliness, substance use, and psychosocial risk factors with suicidal ideations in a sample of high school (HS) students in Istanbul. The context of modern-day Turkey provides a setting where stress from socio-economic and cultural transitions resulting from globalization could contribute to higher degrees of anomie and isolation/loneliness. Methods: The study data were collected from a 66-question survey of 31,604 HS students administered by the Istanbul Department of Education. The primary questions and subquestions were used to generate variables of interest to explore the relationship between anomie, loneliness, and psychopathology. In addition to the descriptive analyses, logistic regressions were used with anomie and loneliness as dependent variables, and psychosocial variables and psychiatric symptoms were used as two main independent variable clusters. Results: Our findings show that 45% of Turkish youth experienced anomie and 17% experienced loneliness. Both anomie and loneliness are strongly associated with particular psychosocial variables. More time spent with family and higher parental education are protective factors, whereas peer influences and substance misuse increase the risk of anomie and loneliness. Both anomie and loneliness are also associated with psychiatric symptomatology, particularly suicidality. Conclusions: Identification of youth struggling with anomie and loneliness can be an important approach to reaching out to at-risk youth, particularly in a context of socioeconomic and cultural transition.

Bound to the Land: Cove Fort in Kesler Family History and Memory

Bound to the Land: Cove Fort in Kesler Family History and Memory

Negotiating Infant Personhood in Death: Interpreting Atypical Burials in the Late Roman Infant and Child Cemetery at Poggio Gramignano (Italy)

The Late Antique (ca. 450 CE) infant cemetery uncovered at Poggio Gramignano near Lugnano in Teverina (Italy) has been interpreted as a catastrophic death assemblage associated with an acute epidemic of Plasmodium falciparum malaria and a resulting episode of increased infant mortality. Previous research has noted the unique mortuary ritual associated with these burials but has not adequately considered the social implications of the nonnormative burial of the infant and even fetal dead. This paper considers 10 newly uncovered burials of infants and one child from the cemetery, analyzed in situ using an archaeothanatological approach to separate postdepositional taphonomic change from the social and ritual dimensions of intentional funerary behavior. The mortuary treatment provided to these individuals suggests a possible fear of the dead, and more significantly, maternal grief and a desire for remembrance that contrasts with Roman cultural expectations surrounding the mourning of infants. The treatment of these individuals in death provides valuable and specific insight into the attitudes of this rural community’s shared stress surrounding unexplained illness, infant death, and traditional beliefs in an era of significant cultural and social transition.1

Human evolution: The unsealed fates of foragers and farmers

It is commonly thought that the spread of agriculture and farmers led to the decline of hunter-gatherer populations. A new study found that the demographic responses of Ethiopian foragers to this major cultural transition have been more diverse than anticipated.

Raising teenage children in disadvantaged neighbourhoods: the experiences and challenges of immigrant mothers in Sweden

ABSTRACT Parenting is arguably the most critical factor in protecting teenagers from problem behaviours, such as delinquency and substance use. For immigrant mothers, however, the ability to care for their children might be negatively affected by challenges related to acculturation and area deprivation. The aim of this study was to raise this issue by examining parenting challenges and needs among immigrant mothers of teenagers living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Sweden. Such knowledge is crucial for society to be able to adequately support families in promoting their teenagers well-being. Based on an intersectional framework and qualitative interviews with 14 mothers, four themes related to challenges and needs emerged: structural challenges, cultural transition, psychosocial problems, and social support. The themes were highly intertwined and demonstrated substantial distress among immigrant mothers in relation to their parenting and protecting their children. Mothers’ were, therefore, highly engaged in parenting and expressed a desire and motivation to improve their parenting through social support. The introduction of culturally sensitive parenting support specifically aimed at this marginalized group of parents is encouraged.

Origin and mobility of Iron Age Gaulish groups in present-day France revealed through archaeogenomics

SummaryThe Iron Age period occupies an important place in French history because the Gauls are regularly presented as the direct ancestors of the extant French population. We documented here the genomic diversity of Iron Age communities originating from six French regions. The 49 acquired genomes permitted us to highlight an absence of discontinuity between Bronze Age and Iron Age groups in France, lending support to a cultural transition linked to progressive local economic changes rather than to a massive influx of allochthone groups. Genomic analyses revealed strong genetic homogeneity among the regional groups associated with distinct archaeological cultures. This genomic homogenization appears to be linked to individuals’ mobility between regions and gene flow with neighbouring groups from England and Spain. Thus, the results globally support a common genomic legacy for the Iron Age population of modern-day France that could be linked to recurrent gene flow between culturally differentiated communities.