Cultural Hierarchies Research Articles

Tourists as post-witnesses in documentary film: Sergei Loznitsa’s Austerlitz (2016) and Rex Bloomstein’s KZ (2006)

This article compares two documentary films that address an apparent crisis of post-witnessing at memorials that commemorate the victims of National Socialism. In the context of contemporary debates about appropriate behaviour for tourists at sites of “dark” or “difficult” heritage, Sergei Loznitsa’s Austerlitz (2016) and Rex Bloomstein’s KZ (2006) take very different approaches to observing the act of visiting concentration camp memorials. Whereas Loznitsa adopts an observational documentary mode, constructing a cultural hierarchy between the touristic observer and the cinematic observer at memorials in Germany, Bloomstein’s film uses a participatory mode to prompt the viewer to consider the complexities of the affective-discursive practice of tourists engaging with the suffering of victims at the Mauthausen memorial in Austria. The article argues that Bloomstein’s decision to adopt a participatory approach is more productive in allowing us to think about the significance of responses to victims’ suffering at such sites.

Tourists as post-witnesses in documentary film: Sergei Loznitsa’s Austerlitz (2016) and Rex Bloomstein’s KZ (2006)

This article compares two documentary films that address an apparent crisis of post-witnessing at memorials that commemorate the victims of National Socialism. In the context of contemporary debates about appropriate behaviour for tourists at sites of “dark” or “difficult” heritage, Sergei Loznitsa’s Austerlitz (2016) and Rex Bloomstein’s KZ (2006) take very different approaches to observing the act of visiting concentration camp memorials. Whereas Loznitsa adopts an observational documentary mode, constructing a cultural hierarchy between the touristic observer and the cinematic observer at memorials in Germany, Bloomstein’s film uses a participatory mode to prompt the viewer to consider the complexities of the affective-discursive practice of tourists engaging with the suffering of victims at the Mauthausen memorial in Austria. The article argues that Bloomstein’s decision to adopt a participatory approach is more productive in allowing us to think about the significance of responses to victims’ suffering at such sites. Este artículo compara dos documentales que giran en torno a una aparente crisis del post-testimonio en monumentos a las víctimas del nacionalsocialismo. En el contexto del debate actual sobre cómo deben comportarse los turistas en lugares de herencia “oscura” o “difícil”, Austerlitz (2016), de Sergei Loznitsa, y KZ (2006), de Rex Bloomstein, observan de forma muy diferente el acto de visitar antiguos campos de concentración. Mientras Loznitsa adopta un modo de observación documental, construyendo una jerarquía cultural entre el observador turístico y el cinemático, Bloomstein opta por un modo participativo para exhortar al espectador a considerar las complejidades de las prácticas afectivo-discursivas de los turistas que se comprometen con el sufrimiento de las víctimas. El artículo argumenta que la decisión de Bloomstein de adoptar un enfoque participativo es más productivo a la hora de propiciar nuestra reflexión sobre el significado de las respuestas al sufrimiento de las víctimas en esos lugares.

The Modernist Corpse: Posthumanism and the PosthumousAntebellum Posthuman: Race and Materiality in the Mid-Nineteenth CenturyNarratology beyond the Human: Storytelling and Animal Life

The Modernist Corpse: Posthumanism and the PosthumousAntebellum Posthuman: Race and Materiality in the Mid-Nineteenth CenturyNarratology beyond the Human: Storytelling and Animal Life

The Quality of Leader-Member Exchange (LMX): A Multilevel Analysis of Individual-level, Organizational-level and Societal-level Antecedents

We examine the direct relationships for both individual values and organizational-level culture on the quality of leader-member exchange (LMX) in a multilevel, multi-society study. In addition, we investigate the moderating roles of organizational- and societal-level cultures. Using 2343 respondents from 12 samples, we performed hierarchical linear modelling analysis and found that individual-level collectivism and organizational-level clan and hierarchy cultures were positively related to LMX, while individual-level individualism and organizational-level market and adhocracy cultures were negatively related to LMX. None of the organizational culture types or societal cultures had any moderating effects. One implication of the lack of moderating findings is that the main effect findings may be global, suggesting that they are not constrained by the organizational culture or societal culture in which they are embedded. We discuss additional implications for these findings.

La insistencia de los cuerpos: el signo mujer proletaria en la narrativa de Nicomedes Guzmán

El presente artí­culo tiene como objetivo analizar las variantes estéticas y polí­ticas que confluyen en el signo mujer proletaria en la narrativa del escritor chileno Nicomedes Guzmán (1914-1964). La propuesta de lectura aquí­ desarrollada posiciona a los personajes femeninos proletarios de Guzmán como nuevos agentes revolucionarios que, mediante el cuerpo y la maternidad, logran tensionar o hacer huir las jerarquí­as polí­ticas, sociales y culturales tradicionalmente concebidas en torno a la mujer.

Reparations in the Caribbean and Diaspora

Millions of people have been victim to violent and inhumane social injustices, many of them based on racial and cultural hierarchies. The Nazi Holocaust or the colonization of North America through the genocide of indigenous populations are examples of such instances. When these victims have no direct claim on those who committed the harm, the victims turn to the government for reparations. It can be said that the enslavement of Africans in the Caribbean is another painful and violent injustice, yet few reparations, if any at all, have been paid out to those most affected by the transatlantic slave trade. In 2013, CARICOM released an official request for Reparations for the Native Genocide and Slavery from the United Kingdom and the other European colonies. The discussion of reparations for slavery has ignited debate worldwide.

Perceived organizational culture and its relationship with job satisfaction in primary hospitals of Jimma zone and Jimma town administration, correlational study

BackgroundThe concept of Organizational Culture (OC) which refers to the pattern of values, norms, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions may not be articulated through verbal language. However, it shapes the way people behave and the way things get done in an organization. The management of organizational culture is increasingly viewed as necessary part of health system reform. Major cultural transformation of an organization must be secured alongside structural and procedural changes in order to achieve desired quality and performances improvements in health systems. It is therefore essential to understand organizational culture, job satisfaction level of the health workers and the link between them.MethodologyFacility based cross sectional study was conducted in four primary hospitals of Jimma zone and town administration. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The collected data were checked for completeness, entered and documented into Epi-data version 3.1 and Exported to SPSS version 21 for analysis. Finally descriptive statistics, Paired t-test and multiple linear regression analysis were used to assess the relationship between organizational culture and job satisfaction and the results were presented using tables and charts.ResultIt was indicated from the finding that, the dominant existing organizational culture typology in the primary hospitals was Hierarchy culture (MS = 22.31, ±2.82).and the preferred organizational culture typology was Innovative culture (MS = 26.09, ±4.72). The health workers had low to medium level of job satisfaction where only (29.40%) of the health workers were very satisfied with their hospital physical working environment. Existing perceived clan culture had positive and significant correlation with health workers’ satisfaction in relation to work relation dimension (r = .16, p < 0.002).Conclusionwhile acknowledging all limitation of observational study we reached to the conclusion that an employees of the respective primary hospitals would prefer to work in environment characterized by innovative and clan culture and their satisfaction level is medium so that the managers should undertake major cultural transformation and must work to improve the job satisfaction level of health workers within their respective hospitals.

‘Putting Radiohead Next to Bach.’ Perceptions of Cultural Hierarchy Unravelled with a Ranking Task

Although cultural hierarchy is a social construction – the result of ever changing distinction practices by elites – the consequential division between ‘high culture’ and ‘low culture’ is often either taken for granted as a fixed opposition, or disputed because of waning boundaries. To what extent individuals of different status groups adhere to such hierarchy is not known, nor whether changed cultural taste patterns result in alternate perceptions. This article aims to unravel cultural taste, perceptions of and opinions on cultural hierarchy, by means of a ranking task with musical items among ninety people in the Netherlands. It shows, first, that perceptions of cultural hierarchy are still sound among many, regardless of egalitarian opinions. Second, many distinguish personal tastes – which are evidently diverse – from their perceptions of cultural hierarchy – on which a certain agreement exists. Third, this agreement is not absolute, as there are several deviations, that are related to educational level and age.

Organizational Culture and Its Relationship with Employee Stress, Enjoyment of Work and Productivity

Despite a recent resurgence in the study of organizational culture, insufficient attention has been paid to the impact of the types of organizational culture on employee well-being and productivity in Canadian settings. This study investigated which types of organizational culture are most closely related to employee levels of work-related stress, enjoyment of work and self-perceived productivity. A secondary research interest was to identify the dominant culture type at the studied university in northern Canada. A total of 193 staff members from various departments (e.g., academic services, facilities, student life) completed an online survey containing questions on organizational culture, stress, enjoyment of work and productivity. Three intriguing findings were generated from the data: (1) All four types of organizational culture &amp;ndash; clan, hierarchy, adhocracy, market &amp;ndash; were identified at the institution; (2) the hierarchy culture was most prevalent, followed by the adhocracy culture, the market culture and then the clan culture; and (3) the type of organizational culture was significantly related to stress, enjoyment of work and productivity. Employees working in a clan culture reported the lowest levels of stress, and highest levels of enjoyment and productivity, followed by those in the adhocracy and hierarchy cultures, lastly the market culture. Important implications include: (1) Organizational leaders need to take into account the role organizational culture plays in employee well-being and workplace functioning, and (2) Organizational leaders should implement strategies to create a workplace culture that promotes employee well-being and productivity.

Yiddish Buenos Aires and the Struggle to Leave the Margins

ABSTRACT Yiddish culture developed in Argentina within the context of a self-perception that figured Buenos Aires as a marginal and peripheral locale on the global Yiddish map. Against this backdrop, Argentine Yiddish culturalists argued for the strengthening of local Yiddish culture with a goal of elevating Buenos Aires's status within the international hierarchies of Yiddish culture. Buenos Aires indeed emerged in the 1920s as a producer of Yiddish cultural contents, maintained networks of international cultural contacts with other Yiddish centers, financially supported Eastern European Yiddish establishments, and hoped that these contacts would allow for solving Buenos Aires reputation problems. The pre-World War II preoccupation with the status of Buenos Aires as a center of Yiddish culture provided a basis upon which post-Holocaust discourse of Argentine Jewish responsibility for the maintenance of Yiddish culture was constructed.

The Effect of Hierarchy Culture on Clan Leadership and Organizational Commitment of Export-Driven SMEs

Purpose: The purpose of this study examines the mediating effect of clan leadership in the relationship between hierarchy culture and organizational commitment. Most previous research focused on the relationship between organizational culture and organizational performance or organizational culture and job satisfaction. There are few empirical studies that focus on organizational commitment data because it is difficult to collect in many cases of export-driven small and medium sized enterprises. However, this research measures affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment differently than previous research, which is mostly focused on the hierarchy culture, clan leadership, and organizational commitment measurements. Research design, data, methodology: Conceptual research model is based on the studies of Cameron and Quinn (2011), and Gungor and Sahin (2018). The model is designed with three constructs such as hierarchy culture, organizational commitment, and clan leadership. The monitor culture and coordinator culture are as proxy for the hierarchy culture. The affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment are as proxy for the organizational commitment. And also the facilitator leadership and mentor leadership are as proxy for the clan leadership. Based on three hundred cases such as export-driven small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), this study verify the hypothesis. Hypothesis was analyzed with the structural equation modeling. Results: In case of export-driven small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), clan leadership acts as a mediator in the relationship between hierarchy culture and organizational commitment. In case of export-driven small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with high organizational commitment, clan leadership acts as a mediator in the relationship between hierarchy culture and organizational commitment. In case of export-driven small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with low organizational commitment, clan leadership did not act as a mediator in the relationship between hierarchy culture and organizational commitment. Conclusions: By controlling for the mediating effect of clan culture, this study have improved the academic contributions as well as policy and practical implications through empirical study of clan leadership that affect organizational commitment in the fields of hierarchy culture. In addition, this study means that the mediating effects on the variables of clan leadership were examined.

Curt Sachs Is No Longer Number One! Confronting Chinese Students’ Expectations of Essentialist Theorizing in Dance Research

ABSTRACT Chinese postgraduate dance students can be surprised by epistemological expectations when commencing research degrees outside China. This can result from translations into Mandarin of very dated dance scholarship from Europe. Specifically, Curt Sachs’ 1933 book World History of the Dance continues as a pervasive representation of Western dance scholarship in current dance research published in Mandarin. Within this article we collate key examples of academic literature published in Mandarin during the last twenty years to show how World History of the Dance continues to be used to support essentialism in dance research in China. We connect this with critical arguments from international dance scholars, identifying why Sachs’ publications from the early 20th century have been rejected within English language academic journals. While this comparative analysis of dance scholarship reveals deep epistemological differences across learning cultures, this paper further evidences how essentialist theories can construct cultural hierarchies in dance.

Improvisation and Value in Rock, 1966

AbstractThe mid-1960s has figured as a central period in the historiography of popular music, but the role of improvisation has been little discussed. This article argues that issues of improvisation and value are crucial to understanding the emergence of a high-low split within popular music, a division that figures prominently in criticism and fan discourse up to the present day. This new stratification within popular music made it possible for rock to acquire critical prestige relative to other popular music genres. The formation of rock also relied on its association with a primarily white, male, middle-class demographic. This article demonstrates that rock's prestige rests simultaneously on maintaining this narrow demographic profile while locating aesthetic and spiritual value in musical practices coming from elsewhere (in terms of geography, race, or cultural hierarchy): blues, Indian classical music, jazz. The socio-musical transformation in which improvisation played such an important role is explored through a survey of recordings and an analysis of the development of rock criticism in 1966, the year in which a new constellation of aesthetics, politics, and musical style crystallized.

Turkey as a Model for the Mediterranean? Revealing Discursive Continuities with Europe’s Imperial Past

This article critically engages with the discourse on “Turkey as a model country” for the Muslim world which became popular in Europe and the West after 9/11 and the Iraq War and later during the Arab uprisings. It argues that this discourse was not an ad hoc formulation developed in response to the imminent geopolitical challenges faced by Europe and the West, but that it reflects deeper legacies of colonialism and neo-orientalism produced in Europe’s own history with the Mediterranean. It demonstrates these legacies by pointing to the discursive continuities in the European representations of Turkey in the context of the abolition of the Caliphate by the Turkish Republic in 1924 and the Arab uprisings. By conducting a critical discourse analysis of the coverage of the abolition of the Caliphate in the French and British press and of a European Parliament debate on Turkey in the wake of the Arab Spring, the article shows the resilience of colonial and neo-orientalist assumptions on the relationship between Islam and democracy over time, and warns against their effects on the (re)inscription of a cultural hierarchy between Europe and the Islamic world as well as on the trajectory of democracy beyond Europe.

From institutionally embedded ‘serious’ to individualized ‘popular’: a report on values and attitudes in Estonian music criticism

ABSTRACTThis article examines the values and attitudes of Estonian music criticism in print publications. The findings suggest that state-subsidized publications are characterized by Romantic ideology, professionalism, and tradition, and cover almost exclusively classical music, whereas commercial publications review mostly popular music and adopt a more individualized, less normative attitude to music. While transnational studies have referred to the growing legitimation of the ‘popular’ in elite publications, the high–low discrimination evident in Estonian state-subsidized music journalism upholds the dominant cultural value hierarchy. This could be embedded in the institutional framework of Estonian music culture and its Soviet heritage.

Do National Cultures Matter for External Audits? Evidence from Eastern Europe and the Middle East

This study aims to examine the relationship between national cultural dimensions and the probability of a firm being externally audited. It uses a large set of representative micro-data from nearly 3000 firms across 34 industries in 13 countries in Eastern Europe and the Middle East over the period 2008–2010, and Schwartz’s cultural dimensions, namely autonomy, embeddedness, egalitarianism and hierarchy. The findings show that the relationship between firm audits and cultural autonomy and egalitarianism is strongly positive and statistically significant. Specifically, they show that an increase of one standard deviation (SD) in affective autonomy increases the probability that a firm will engage in an external audit by 3.37%. Along the same lines, a 1 SD increase in egalitarianism leads to a 8.36% increase in the likelihood of a firm engaging in an external audit. However, there is no clear evidence that embeddedness and hierarchy play a role in firms’ external auditing trends. These findings remain robust to the use of several confounding factors at the firm and country levels. This research highlights its uniqueness in the choice of national culture as a determinant for the likelihood of external audits.

Impact of organizational culture and leadership styles on employee performance: a research study on the banking industry

Purpose- The aim of this study is to assess the influence of organizational culture on leadership styles and investigate how employee performance is affected by the relation between these two factors. Methodology-This study follows a quantitative research methodology. A survey data has been yielded from the employees of a private bank’s head office and analyzed using SPSS 24. The questionnaire in this study comprises four parts. The first part of the questionnaire contains questions on demographic information, the second part is the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLP), In the third part, the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument was used in order to determine employee perceptions and the final part of the questionnaire is the individual performance assessment tool. The research attempts to find an answer to the question, “Is employee performance influenced by organizational culture and leadership style?” Findings- The correlation analysis results show that there is a positive correlation between transactional leadership and market culture but a negative correlation both hierarchy and clan-adhocracy culture. Between transactional-transformational leadership style and all culture types there is positive correlation. Between all culture types and individual performance there is positive correlation. Finally, according to the correlation analysis between leadership styles and individual performance; there is a positive correlation between transactional-transformational leadership and individual performance whereas there is a negative correlation between transactional leadership and individual performance. The effect of all cultures types on transformational leadership style is statistically significant. The effect of hierarchy culture and transformational leadership on individual performance is statistically significant. Conclusion- Organizational culture is a factor that plays important roles on both leadership styles and employee performance. The leadership styles demonstrated in an organization also exert a major impact on the performance of employees. The results of this research suggest that the market type and the hierarchy type of organizational culture increase employee performance. This finding implies that employees perform relatively better when tasks are defined in line with rules, procedures, and policies, goals are openly shared with them, they are encouraged to compete over performance criteria, and are rewarded based on their performance. The clan-adhocracy culture is also observed to have a positive influence on employee performance.

‘The Uttermost Perfection of all Wind Instruments’: Franz Tausch (1762–1817) as Virtuoso Clarinettist and Director of the Conservatorium Der Bläseinstrumente in Berlin

Abstract The life of clarinettist Franz Tausch (1762–1817) spanned a formative period of development both for his instrument and the culture he operated within, yet he has been neglected because of his lack of association with a major composer. Tausch received his musical education at the Mannheim and Munich courts, where he was exposed to broad cultural and musical influences. His compositions for clarinet show his playing to have foreshadowed the virtuosity associated with his pupils Heinrich Baermann and Bernhard Henrik Crusell. This can particularly be seen in his exploitation of the new possibilities afforded by instruments with a fully chromatic bottom octave, as well as in his incorporation of extreme high-register writing in his concertos. Tausch’s transition from a life of court service to successfully establishing himself within the diverse musical culture and social hierarchy of Berlin is documented in the changing nature of his compositions as well as contemporary written sources. His life is a case study of a trajectory typical of many musicians working at the end of the eighteenth century.

Changing status, entrenched inequality: How English language becomes a Chinese form of cultural capital

This paper explores how English language has gradually become a linguistic form of cultural capital in China’s zigzag journey to modernization. It situates English’s status in flux in historical context, with an analysis at both the international and intra-national level. It showcases the necessity to embed cultural capital within Bourdieu’s full framework, and evidences the arbitrary nature of this form of cultural capital for its intimate tie to power and politics. By revealing how English has been officially consecrated as a global lingua franca and then socially recognized for material and symbolic benefits, this paper implicitly problematizes the officially validated cultural hierarchy, argues that the value of a cultural capital is context-dependent, politically and socially constructed, inseparable from the field where it is produced. The present-day English manifests its symbolic power in classification and social stratification, entrenching the already entrenched inequality within and without the national state.

Between culture and satisfaction: mediating roles of renqing perception and rules perception

Renqing is a culturally specific Chinese notion of the informal norms in society that are significantly different from the formal rules. This paper focuses on employees’ perception of renqing and of the rules in Chinese workplaces. Specifically, we define renqing (or rules) perception as the extent to which employees perceive that people’s actions in their organizations follow renqing norms (or formal rules). Conceptually and empirically, we find that both renqing perception and rules perception are two‐dimensional constructs. Drawing on social information processing theory, we propose the mediating mechanisms underlying organizational culture, employees’ perceptions of renqing and of rules, and their job satisfaction. Specifically, we hypothesize that clan culture will positively relate to renqing perception, while hierarchy culture will have a positive relation to rules perception; both will lead to higher job satisfaction. Results from two‐wave surveys of 325 Chinese employees provide largely consistent support for our hypotheses. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.