Egalitarian Research Articles

DA SENZALA À ACADEMIA UNIVERSITÁRIA

This article will discuss the transition from "slave quarters" to "university academy", analyzing the persistent inequalities, prejudices and racism faced by black people in Brazil in the context of higher education. Despite the paradigmatic changes that have occurred over time, academia still reflects structures of exclusion and privilege, often masked by the idea of neutrality and meritocracy. The research seeks to demonstrate what it was like during slavery, how slave quarters worked, what they were like. What happened after slavery was abolished, what were the consequences after abolition. What were the measures adopted after the slave quarters doors were opened so that slaves could experience their freedoms? If the applications of affirmative actions are managing to fulfill their social function, if the government has adopted measures so that affirmative actions continue to be implemented in society. By exploring the historical roots of these inequalities, the study contextualizes contemporary challenges and proposes the need to reformulate educational policies to promote true inclusion and diversity in academic institutions, aligning with the principles and objectives of a free, fair and egalitarian society, as established by the Federal Constitution of 1988.

Comparing the roles of secondary schools and universities in the formation of British cabinet ministers, 1922–2022

AbstractThe role played by the education system in the creation and reproduction of governing elites, and its countervailing potential to create a more meritocratic and egalitarian society, has been a topic of enduring concern. However, these debates have been rendered opaque by an inability to directly compare elite formation systems both within and between countries. To resolve this problem, we employ elite formation quantitative indices to compare the roles of the secondary school and higher education systems, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in the formation of its political elite—cabinet ministers—between 1922 and 2022. Our findings show that the universities educating cabinet ministers have been more elite and influential than the secondary schools, but not more exclusive. Additionally, while only a small number of universities and schools supplied more than one cabinet minister over the century, a very small number of universities and schools supplied a great many.

Confronting the idealised ‘Nordic model’ in education with contemporary realities of special education in Sweden

ABSTRACT For decades, the Nordic countries have been admired for their inclusive education systems within egalitarian societies, bolstered by PISA studies and global calls to ensure inclusive education as a human right. This paper contrasts idealised perspectives on Nordic education with internal experiences, exploring recent challenges to the relationship between special and inclusive education. Using Sweden as a case study, it highlights internal diversity within the Nordic region, showing differing paths and gaps between research, policy and school realities. The risks of idealising past educational models are discussed, noting that Sweden, once known for its egalitarian education and low special education needs classification rates, now faces higher classification rates and more separate provision due to policy changes. Recent trends have shown a shift towards increased diagnosis and classification, influenced by marketisation and decentralisation policies. The paper focuses on neurodivergence, analysing shifts in government priorities, teacher education, school practices and research agendas. Analysis of recent policies, reports and educational data reveals winners and losers in school participation, providing insights into the implications for educational discourse, the future of the ‘Nordic model’, and Swedish education in a global context.

Thinking alike, acting alike? An assessment of organizational homophily and paradigmatic pragmatism in networks for local integration policies

As migrant integration policies touch upon almost all spheres of citizens’ life, collaboration across policy levels as well as across policy domains is needed. Over time, a series of both policy and analytical paradigms on the integration of migrants emerged, going from the traditional ideas of differentialism and assimilation, over multiculturalism, interculturalism, integrationism, liberal egalitarianism and mainstreaming, up to superdiversity and intersectionality. While networks for integration policies are likely to be at least partly driven by these paradigms, recent studies seem to nuance this assumption based on so called paradigmatic pragmatism, meaning that cities draw on a variety of ideas and pragmatically combine them under the header of diversity policies. The need for multi-level and multi-actor governance on migrant integration, the theoretical knowledge about homophily in organizational networks, and the recent findings on paradigmatic pragmatism, raise the question to what extent collaboration between public and non-profit organizations active around migrant integration is based on a shared policy paradigm on the integration of migrants. This question is answered based on a multiple case study of four central cities in Flanders (Belgium), covering 1.403 organizations. In the quantitative and qualitative (social network) analyses, comparisons along both the axes of cities and policy domains are made. Findings contribute to literature on organizational homophily, showing that clustering of organizations is likely to be at least partly driven by policy paradigm on integration. This is however nuanced by the observation that policy paradigms appear to be ambiguous, which in turn reveals opportunities for more flexible collaborations between actors and for avoiding deadlocks in policy making.

O TRABALHO DO GESTOR PÚBLICO NO PROGRAMA BOLSA FAMÍLIA

In the development of this research, it is possible to present the performance of the public manager in the Bolsa Família program. With a vast field of activity, the public manager collaborates based on his/her professionalism in the construction of a fair and egalitarian society, promoting values ​​that enable a quality of life, such as accessibility to social projects, educational programs and inclusion. The Bolsa Família program seeks to have an important social meaning, where the families assisted and accompanied by the public manager, where the performance of the same can enable accessibility, clarity and commitment to the users. The program contributes not only with income transfer in order to overcome poverty and extreme poverty, but reinforces basic social rights, allowing these families to go further, being able to have a better future through education and health. The presented research brings together a framework of reflections on the theme, analyzing theorists on the respective subject from a constructive and informative approach. The methodology of the referred work is the result of readings and reflections based on different theorists on the respective theme.

EGALITARIANISM WITHOUT CATASTROPHE?

This paper explores the Teotihuacan civilisation’s low levels of inequality, challenging Walter Scheidel’s Four Horsemen theory which posits that only catastrophic events can significantly reduce inequality. Analysing Teotihuacan, a large pre-Columbian city noted for its egalitarian structure, the paper refutes the idea that only mass warfare, pandemics, revolution or state collapse can flatten social hierarchies. It suggests that Teotihuacan’s unique formation and governance, influenced by a multiethnic population influx following a volcanic eruption, fostered a decentralised and egalitarian society. The paper contributes to the discussion on designing equal and sustainable societies, offering an alternative historical perspective to the inevitability of social inequality.

AUTISTIC SPECTRUM DISORDER

This article is part of the conclusion of the Postgraduate Course in Special Education from Favimo University. It focuses on discussing some educational proposals aimed at students with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which are inserted in the regular school classrooms. It is the classroom teacher who will mediate the whole of the inclusive process, he is the one who promotes the child's initial contact with other children in the class and is responsible for including him in everyday activities. In this perspective, this theme reaffirms the need that everyone understands and accepts human diversity, and can contribute to the construction of a fairer and more egalitarian society. The article will be divided into three great moments. In the first one will be made a global contextualization of special education. Then the autistic spectrum disorder will be presented- Tea its main characteristics and needs. Finally, some pedagogical proposals that can be used in the classroom will be presented. It is concluded that a lot has changed since the beginning of history when we talk about people with ASD. Of schizophrenics there are numerous distinct characteristics even in the same disorder. Of communication difficulty to high skills. Autism is one of the syndromes as the largest variants of behavior, without modeled patterns.

Energy poverty and the green energy transition's impact upon income inequality in Latin America

In this study, we examine the relationships arising from the transition process to green economies and energy poverty in relation to income inequality across 22 Latin American countries during the period from 2000 to 2021. Our estimations are conducted using various estimators for energy poverty and the transition to green economies, employing feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) and panel corrected standard errors (PCSE) to ensure robustness. The results reveal a significant effect of both sets of variables on income inequality. Specifically, energy poverty contributes to higher levels of income inequality, while the ecological transition has the potential to address income inequality issues, provided an effective distribution of renewable energy resources among society is ensured. Failure to achieve equitable distribution of renewable energy resources may hinder the attainment of more egalitarian societies. To address this, a comprehensive set of policies is required to ensure equal access to renewable energy sources for the entire population, along with effective long-term measures that contribute to the equitable distribution of energy resources.

WEAVING THE HARMONY OF CULTURES INTO THE INFINITE TAPESTRY OF MATHEMATICS

This study explores Ethnomathematics as an innovative and transformative approach to teaching mathematics, highlighting its potential to promote inclusive and culturally relevant education. Ethnomathematics challenges the traditional view of mathematics as a neutral and universal science, proposing it as a cultural construct that reflects the practices, values, and needs of different social groups throughout history. By integrating students’ cultural realities into the school curriculum, this approach not only enriches mathematics education, making it more accessible and meaningful, but also serves as a catalyst for social inclusion and educational equity. Ethnomathematics promotes a dialogue between formal academic knowledge and diverse cultural practices, suggesting that mathematics education should be deeply contextualized and connected to students’ everyday experiences. This transforms mathematics education into something more relevant and engaging, while valuing and acknowledging the cultural traditions that shape students’ identities. This integration is seen as a form of social justice, as it challenges the hegemony of Western mathematical knowledge and values ​​the contributions of other cultures. To understand how Ethnomathematics can be effectively incorporated into the school curriculum, the study uses a rigorous bibliographical analysis, based on works by renowned authors such as Ubiratan D'Ambrósio, Milton Rosa, and Daniel Clark Orey. This detailed analysis allowed us to identify the main theoretical and practical contributions of Ethnomathematics, as well as highlight pedagogical strategies that value students' cultural traditions and adapt teaching materials for a more inclusive mathematics education. The study points to Ethnomathematics as a promising path for an education that respects and values ​​cultural diversity, promoting the development of critical and socially engaged citizens. This approach contributes to the construction of a more just and egalitarian society, where all forms of mathematical knowledge are recognized and celebrated.

Marginal debiased network for fair visual recognition

Deep neural networks (DNNs) are often prone to learn the spurious correlations between target classes and bias attributes, like gender and race, inherent in a major portion of training data (bias-aligned samples), thus showing unfair behavior and arising controversy in the modern pluralistic and egalitarian society. In this paper, we propose a novel marginal debiased network (MDN) to learn debiased representations. More specifically, a marginal softmax loss (MSL) is designed by introducing the idea of margin penalty into the fairness problem, which assigns a larger margin for bias-conflicting samples (data without spurious correlations) than for bias-aligned ones, so as to deemphasize the spurious correlations and improve generalization on unbiased test criteria. To determine the margins, our MDN is optimized through a meta learning framework. We propose a meta equalized loss (MEL) to perceive the model fairness, and adaptively update the margin parameters by meta-optimization which requires the trained model guided by the optimal margins should minimize MEL computed on an unbiased meta-validation set. Extensive experiments on BiasedMNIST, Corrupted CIFAR-10, CelebA and UTK-Face datasets demonstrate that our MDN can achieve a remarkable performance on under-represented samples and obtain superior debiased results against the previous approaches.

Subjection to Authority in the Workplace: A Basic Structural Problem

Many liberal egalitarians argue that workers today are subjected to the authority of their bosses and that justice demands that the employment relationship be reformed. But why? What is unjust is not subjection to authority as such but subjection without adequate justification. In this article, I argue that the justificatory demand raised by subjection to workplace authority has not been well understood, primarily because the nature of the subjection itself has been misunderstood. According to the standard view, workplace subjection consists in the fact that managers issue orders backed by sanctions. I challenge this view by reconstructing the libertarian-economic theory of the firm, which construes managerial authority simply as a division of labor. I propose an alternative account, according to which workplace subjection consists in living under a society-wide arrangement that compels most workers to work under a boss. My argument reorients theorizing about justice at work from a narrow focus on corporate governance towards a broader theory of a just social system, incorporating the role of the state, class, the power of investors, and the social purpose of labor.

Prosocial reputation and stress among contemporary hunter-gatherers: the Hadza case

It has been suggested that having a reputation for being prosocial is a critical part of social status across all human societies. It has also been argued that prosocial behavior confers benefits, whether physiological, such as stress reduction, or social, such as building allies or becoming more popular. Here, we investigate the relationship between helping reputation (being named as someone others would go to for help), and hair-derived chronic stress (hair cortisol concentration). In a sample of 77 women and 62 men, we found that perceived helping reputation was not related to chronic stress. Overall, the results of our study suggest that, in an egalitarian society with fluid camp membership and widely practiced generosity such as the Hadza, helping reputation does not necessarily boost stress-related health benefits through prestige-signaling mechanisms observed in hierarchical, large-scale societies.

Islamic Perspective and Socio-Cultural Aspects of Pre-Marital Medical Test in Sokoto Metropolis

The foundation of an egalitarian society is rooted in the family system, and a healthy marital atmosphere is needed to achieve the objective of marriage. Pre-marital medical test plays a vital role that cannot be overemphasized, particularly in limiting the spread of some infectious diseases, such as sickle cell, HIV, thalassemia, etc. However, the fact that some resistance was relatively recorded on the pre-marital medical tests among people in the Sokoto metropolis does not mean it has no place in Islam. The study intends to assess the level and attitudes of Muslims of Sokoto State towards the pre-marital test. The paper specifically examines the extent to which the pre-marital medical test is observed in the metropolis and the societal perception of it from the Islamic perspective, bearing in mind that preserving human life is among the significant goals of Shari'ah in Islam. Hence, the paper discovers less patronage of pre-marital medical tests by people in the Sokoto metropolis, which many attributed to ignorance of their existence and poor perception of them. The paper underpins the importance of having these tests by would-be couples before marriage as well as the position of Islam on them so that people in the state can embrace them accordingly. The paper adopted a qualitative survey where interviews were conducted with individuals and the researchers purposively selected participants. In conclusion, the study highlighted some of the importance of pre-marital medical tests among the Muslim Ummah.

Job mobility, reallocation and wage growth: A tale of two countries

Job reallocation is a key driver of aggregate wage growth, but its role in different economic systems remains understudied. This paper takes a comparative view and analyses the role of job mobility in job reallocation and aggregate wage growth in Norway, comparing it to published results for the United States. The results show first that, as expected, overall job mobility is much lower in Norway compared to the United States, likely reflecting the compressed wage distribution. However, the speed of job reallocation from low-wage to high-wage firms is similar to or even higher than in the United States. Second, in both Norway and the United States, the process of job reallocation is strongly pro-cyclical. This is entirely driven by the pro-cyclical nature of net job-to-job mobility from low- to high-wage firms. Third, for Norway, the bulk of aggregate wage growth reflects on-the job wage growth, while its cyclicality is largely driven by net job-to-job mobility from low to high-wage firms. This paper shows that reallocation is not necessarily less efficient in more egalitarian societies with lower mobility and different wage structures.

Wealth distribution on a dynamic complex network

We present an agent-based model that examines the microscopic exchange of wealth in a dynamic network to investigate the topological characteristics associated with economic inequality. The model consists of two processes: conservative wealth exchange between connected agents and the rewiring of connections, which depends on the wealth of the agents. The dynamics of wealth and connections are interrelated, as the network structure influences which agents interact with each other. We analyze the time evolution and asymptotic characteristics of the model for different values of a social protection factor (f), which favors the poorest agent in each wealth transaction. Our results show that for f=0, wealth and connections condense in a single agent, in accordance with mean-field models of wealth exchange. When f is low, agents from the middle and upper classes become favored, leading to the formation of network hubs. However, as f increases, the restriction of the network on exchanges results in an egalitarian society departing from the outcomes observed in the mean-field exchange models.

CORRUPTION AND POLITICAL PARTY PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA’S FOURTH REPUBLIC; FOCUS ON PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY

One of the perennial challenges facing the Nigerian polity is corruption and the political space was not left out in this regard. Despite the fact that political parties are the bedrock of democratic settings as they perform the functions of political recruitment, socialization, articulation as well as strengthening the competition in the political space, lack of ideology, corrupt practices and intra-party contradictions have hindered them from meeting their expectations. This paper interrogated the effects of corruption on political party performance in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic with much focus on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and to proffer solutions on how the menace could be curbed to enhance the internal democracy and potential of the PDP to capture the state power. The paper adopted qualitative research method through the use of secondary data such as journals, textbooks and periodicals and also utilized the clientelism model as a framework of analysis. The study reveals that corruption has eaten deep into the fabric of all democratic institutions in the state including the political parties as the electoral processes have been monetized beyond reasonable doubt. The study, therefore, recommended among others that the democratic institutions in the state such as political parties and the electoral commission be strengthened so as to promote good governance, values ethics and national prosperity. Again, there should be focus on meritocracy in selecting the leadership of political parties and party candidates rather than emphasis on nepotism and relying on patron-client agreements where the patrons decide who and how leaders are elected. This will go along to establish a just, fair and an egalitarian society.

Sex-specific social aging in wild African lions

There is a growing interest in social behavior change with age,1,2,3,4,5 and the impacts of sociality on longevity,6,7,8 but current knowledge is broadly limited to primates, societies structured by dominance hierarchies, or single-sex studies. It is less clear how social aging patterns emerge in carnivores. The African lion (Panthera leo), a species that lives in egalitarian fission-fusion societies, presents an exceptional opportunity to examine social aging. Across felids, lions are unique in their dependence on conspecifics for many essential processes,9,10,11 and there is vast knowledge of lion behavioral ecology,10,11,12,13,14 including documented reproductive senescence in both sexes.14,15 Applying spatial-social network analyses across 30 years of data on the wild Serengeti lion population, we show that sex strongly modulates patterns of social aging and longevity. Group size increased with age for both sexes, but only males experienced significant changes in associate numbers (degree), specifically to females, which peaked in mid-life before declining. While aging females experienced declines in intra-sex connectivity (strength) and bond strength (mean strength), they peaked in both to males during mid-life. Male inter-sex strength also peaked in mid-life, while conversely their intra-sex strength and mean strength significantly dipped in mid-life. Although social associations were important for survival in both sexes, the investment diverged significantly: females' overall network connectivity was key for longevity, while the number of associates was important for males. These findings illustrate important potential effects of social aging in a wild carnivore and demonstrate how these diverge strongly between the sexes.

Dr Ambedkar’s idea of human rights and its scope of teaching in social work education: from text to context

ABSTRACT Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Ambedkar henceforth) is not merely known as the chief architect of the Indian constitution, social activist, philosopher, and social reformer but also as a great human rights defender in India. His idea and vision of human rights have been referencing points for creating an egalitarian society and formulating social policies. Despite his strong vision, teaching, and philosophy about an equal and just society, the pedagogy of social work is underutilized in social work education. His ideas of human rights were enshrined in the Indian constitution which even prevented marginalized social groups such as Dalit (Dalits are ex-untouchable caste group who live at the bottom in Indian social structure), tribal, and women from exploitation and protect their human rights. We argue that Ambedkar’s strong vision for a just and egalitarian society, and his rights and policy-based framework are key human rights features to introduce in the curriculum of social work education within India and outside India. This will not merely equip social work professionals to be better human rights defenders but also equip them significantly to contribute to creating a just and equal society.

Challenges of Madheshi Women’s Feminists in Nepal

Nepalese society is patriarchal, and the concept of an egalitarian society is not well understood by its people. The Madheshi feminists have been fighting against oppression, discrimination, and inequality between the sexes. This article looks at what challenges, Madheshi women feminists’ have encountered to achieve gender equality in society. The methodology used for this article is a face-to-face in-depth interview and Key informant interview. The writer argues that the number of Madheshi women feminists has been gradually increasing. However, there are still several challenges to feminism. One of the major challenges is identified as the mainstream feminist movement’s tendency to homogenize women’s experiences that cannot address the diverse experiences of women from different castes, classes, sexual orientations, religions, and regions. The issues of marginalized women, including Madheshi are often not acknowledged by the mainstream feminist movements. The paper concludes that feminism is important for Nepalese and integrating all different voices is one of the challenges. The author suggests that the intersectionality perspectives of the mainstream feminist movement in Nepal could solve the barriers of Madheshi women. The research helps to understand the dilemmas experienced by Madheshi feminists. The study’s findings contribute to the existing literature on Madheshi women, providing valuable insights for policymakers to advocate for equal opportunities for marginalized women including Madheshi. The affirmative policy will increase their participation in politics as well as executive positions. It also helps to build a more inclusive and representative feminism in Nepal. Int. J. Soc. Sc. Manage. Vol. 11, Issue-3: 58-65.

Impacts of the use of WhatsApp for the development of oral production in English as L2

This study aimed to investigate the possible impact of the use of the WhatsApp application on the development of the oral production of learners in English Language (L2), in terms of fluency. To this end, forty-six volunteer students from the Informatics, Agroindustry and Agriculture courses of the Agricultural School of Jundiaí/UFRN participated in the research. The data were generated through the application of pre and post-tests, which were tabulated and subsequently submitted to tests of the statistical program RStudio, to analyze the development of the learners' oral production in relation to fluency. The results indicate that the use of WhatsApp as a tool to practice oral skills can have a positive impact on students' oral production, considering their fluency. We believe that this study is relevant, since the use of the WhatsApp tool is widely disseminated in the school community and guarantees democratic access to digital technologies, contributing to a more egalitarian society.