Ethnic Context Research Articles

Contested Loyalty: Debates over Patriotism in the Civil War North ed. by Robert M. Sandow

Reviewed by: Contested Loyalty: Debates over Patriotism in the Civil War North ed. by Robert M. Sandow Asaf Almog Contested Loyalty: Debates over Patriotism in the Civil War North. Edited by Robert M. Sandow. New York: Fordham University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0-8232-7975-3. 310 pp., cloth, $65.00. What did loyalty to the nation mean for Northerners during the American Civil War? Edited by Robert Sandow, Contested Loyalty joins recent attempts to complicate analyses of wartime nationalism. Scholars have traditionally focused on questions of loyalty in the Confederate side. The tendency emanates from the "Appomattox Syndrome," described in Gary Gallagher's phrasing in the volume's preface (x). In other words, the losing side, containing the losing narrative, was seen as the side whose willingness to fight needed an explanation. However, in recent years increasingly more studies have probed into the construction of modern nationalism in the North as well. The volume's ten essays follow this literature by examining contests over the meaning of national loyalty in various geographic, social, and ethnic contexts. [End Page 152] Melinda Lawson's opening essay looks at the place the moral duty of loyalty played in the thought of three men: abolitionist Wendell Phillips, Radical Free Soiler (and later Republican) George Julian of Indiana, and Abraham Lincoln. The nontrivial decision to place men such as Phillips and Lincoln together to begin with is the essay's most intriguing aspect. Phillips had called for disunion, immediate abolition, and racial amalgamation for several decades. Conversely, Lincoln never publicly wavered from complete fidelity to the Union. His views on race and slavery also appear vastly different from Phillips's. Lawson's explanation for her initial choice is that all three believed that the American Revolution's egalitarian principles negated slavery, and all three faced the dilemma of the justification of war to preserve these ideals. While Phillips consciously used agitation as a political means to save the Republic, only war convinced Julian to accept general emancipation as synonymous with the goal of the Union's preservation. Most problematically, Lawson states that "there were limits to Lincoln's embracement of the Union" (39). She demonstrates these limits by pointing to Lincoln's firm opposition to slavery's expansion, shown in his stance on the Kansas-Nebraska Act and subsequent politics. However, limits imply a willingness to question the Union rather than simply present an opinion about its proper course. Is there evidence of such questioning by Lincoln? In Lawson's usage of the term, Daniel Webster could be regarded as an antislavery politician whose embracement to the Union had limits. The volume's other essays move away from the national prism, and several of them demonstrate the degree to which the administration and its representatives identified loyalty exclusively with support for the war's aim of restoring the Union and punishing the rebels. Matthew Warshauer's essay discusses the ideology of Peace Democrats in wartime Connecticut. According to Warshauer, the movement reflected the perseverance of a "deeply held party ideology, a Jeffersonian conservatism" that persisted throughout the Union, across temporal and geographical boundaries (57). The movement, Warshauer argues, defies a monolithic portrayal of war opponents as residents of the Lower North. Indeed, the party's Connecticut chapter remained competitive throughout the antebellum years and during the war itself. Warshauer identifies two main principles of Copperhead ideology: first, Peace Democrats opposed the war qua war, because of its damage to life and economy. In addition, they emphasized the constitutional principles at stake: the sovereignty of the Southern states, including that over their slaves, explicitly guaranteed by the Founders. Republican action and rhetoric, Peace Democrats argued, enhanced the risk of Federal despotism. Copperhead ideology persuaded many in Connecticut, whose electoral votes Lincoln carried by a narrow margin in 1864. More importantly, Warshauer states, Democrats throughout the Union had a lasting influence: [End Page 153] "Historians can ultimately judge the Democrats wrong in their views on race and humanity, but their views on constitutional authority and states' rights versus a powerful federal government have continued to rage in American society" (73). Warshauer emphasizes that Peace Democrats were ultimately loyal to the Union, despite continued charges of treason...

Accumulating Roma cultural capital: First-in-family graduates and the role of educational talent support programs in Hungary in mitigating the price of social mobility

Based on 165 in-depth, narrative life story interviews with first generation graduates, fieldwork with educational support initiatives and auto-ethnography, this article contributes to the literature on whether and how structural educational inequality can be compensated by talent support programs and whether and how these programs can mitigate the price of education-driven upward social mobility for those Roma and nonRoma Hungarians who come from socio-economically disadvantaged families. Upwardly mobile Roma who achieve social ascension through academic high achievement usually travel vast social distances that straddle class and ethnic context. Many of their mobility trajectories are accompanied by a set of challenges that are unique to college educated, racialized, underrepresented minorities. To overcome these challenges, and to compensate for the inequality of life chances that originate from their socially and economically disadvantaged family backgrounds and from an unequal and highly selective educational system, upwardly mobile minority students join educational support initiatives or organisations. This paper, drawing on the narratives of our research participants, argues that particular types of these initiatives or charitable foundations that deploy an ethnically targeted complex approach, can equip their beneficiaries with different types of capital. Amongst these, one of the most important is the Roma cultural capital. The newly gained capitals are necessary for the first-in-family Roma mentees to get through higher education and succeed in the labour market in the context of the specific challenges they face. These initiatives mitigate the price of social ascension the most. The paper uses a case study of Romaversitas to demonstrate its main findings.

"The Judeans" for οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι? Contested Ethnicity in the Fourth Gospel

Despite its apparent geographical restriction, the translation "the Judeans" for the Johannine expression οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι has gained many supporters in the past decade. This trend may have been influenced by the view of Steve Mason (2007) that the translation "the Judeans" is not limited to a geographical meaning but is inclusive of religious and political connotations as well. Subsequently, he posits that the term οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι should be translated "the Judeans" as it captures best the ethnic centrality of Judea in the lives of concurrent Ἰουδαῖοι as evinced, for example, in the writings of Flavius Josephus. This proposal calls our attention since we know that the Fourth Gospel was composed in the same generation, prompting us to ask whether we should also consider the rendition "the Judeans" for οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι or not. To answer this question, this article explores John’s ethnic portrayal of the Ἰουδαῖοι in his narrative and juxtaposes it with the Josephan understanding. Recognising the ambiguous and fluid nature of ethnic identification in the writings of John and Josephus, this article argues that the translation "the Judeans"—within Mason’s reasoning—does not match the contested ethnic context of the Johannine narrative.

Peran Etnis dan Kultural Pada Persaingan Industri Tahu Takwa di Kota Kediri

Culture is a life mechanism that is repeated and regenerated in society. Cultural elements also have shaping aspects, one of which is ethnicity. The role of culture in an ethnic context is as a basis for forming thoughts, characters and habits so that it becomes a special identity for an ethnicity. Therefore, this has become a topic in this research and aims to explore issues related to the cultural economy in the context of the competition for the tahu takwa industry in Kediri. Cultural economy is an economic activity that combines in a regenerative articulation of culture. This research is important, because the takwa industry is an icon attached to the city of Kediri and tries to explain the results of cultural economic exploration in the context of 2 Javanese Chinese ethnicities. Various findings of researchers will be presented in this paper regarding the role of tofu commodity as a medium of representation of ethnicity, work ethic and social capital between Javanese and Chinese ethnicities. The research method in this research uses qualitative indepth interview data collection techniques. The results of the research study will present the results of cultural economic exploration covering work ethic, identity, competition patterns, social network market construction and the resilience of the tofu industry in two dimensions between Chinese and Javanese ethnicities

Globalization and National and Cultural Identity

The article deals with issues of national and cultural identity in the context of globalization in various aspects: in relation to oneself, in relation to others; national. The article deals with the problem of identity in the cultural and ethnic context, its connection with personal and psychological relations, the General system of values, material and living conditions of the individual, as well as General economic, social and cultural interests.In modern scientific literature, the terms «mass society», «mass culture» and «mass consciousness»are often used. The article considers the content of these concepts from the point of view of identity. It is argued that the introduction of Americanized ersatz-culture is aimed at blurring the common true culture, including ethnic national culture the author makes a conclusion about the spiritual principles that unite all people of the Republic of Kazakhstan, reveals the idea of civil society, the Kazakh national idea in relation to the idea of Eurasianism, and shows the Kazakh national idea based on tolerance in the development of Kazakhstan

„Między pomnikami zwycięzców a grobami na wiejskich cmentarzach”. Polska – Białoruś. Rozważania o historiozofii

<p>Celem badań jest ukazanie ideowo-politycznych i metodologicznych uwarunkowań interpretacyjnych w historiografiach Polski i Białorusi. Za przykład badawczy obrano interpretacje dotyczące wydarzeń z września 1939 r. na pograniczu II Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej oraz Związku Radzieckiego i poddano je analizie porównawczej. Białorusini podważają prawdziwość danych ze spisów powszechnych ludności II RP (składu narodowościowego tych ziem we wrześniu 1939 r.), interpretują wystąpienia ludności żydowskiej a zwłaszcza białoruskiej jako element sprawiedliwości społecznej. Polacy przyjmują kryterium granic historycznych dowodząc ciągłości państwowości na danym obszarze zgodnie z prawem międzynarodowym. Zwracają uwagę na brak ostrego określenia w historiografii białoruskiej obszaru terytorialnego nazywanego „Białorusią Zachodnią”. Pada też zarzut o generalizowanie obszaru województw: wileńskiego, białostockiego i nowogródzkiego. Polskie powszechne rozumienie całych „Kresów Wschodnich” to z kolei generalizacja obszarów etnicznej Białorusi, Litwy, Ukrainy i południowo-wschodniej Łotwy. W wyniku podsumowań określono wyznaczniki sporu historiozoficznego. Interpretacje historiografii polskiej opierają się na argumentacji propaństwowej: polskiej i jednocześnie anty-radzieckiej, podczas gdy narracja strony białoruskiej wynika z kontekstu narodowo-etnicznego wspartego ideologią sowiecką/postsowiecką. Opisano ewolucję metodologiczną (wykorzystywanie w badaniach historii mówionej) w Republice Białoruś. Na koniec zaproponowano dalsze poszerzanie pola metodologicznego w badaniach historycznych o teorie z dziedziny pogranicza. Uznano, że takie otwarcie dyscyplinarne pozwoli dwustronnie złagodzić spór a badania polsko-białoruskie zyskają kompatybilność.</p>

THE LOCAL CREATIVE ADS ON SRITANJUNG FM TO INCREASE FINANCIAL REVENUE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

<p>The COVID-19 pandemic condition requires private radio managers’ creativity, one of which is the Sritanjung FM in the Banyuwangi Regency. Uniquely, as a cultural radio, Sritanjung FM advertising revenue increased precisely during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research uses a virtual ethnographic method that collects data offline and online. Researchers conducted direct observations of Sritanjung FM in Rogojampi District, Banyuwangi Regency, and conducted a virtual search through audio streaming, Facebook, and WhatsApp. In this study, informants amounted to four people, two from radio staff, one cultural expert, and one loyal listener. The results showed that the number of local advertisers and the frequency of local advertisements had increased three times. The internal causes include the creativity of Sritanjung FM in creating cultural programs and religious programs, creativity in the designing messages for ads spots, and uniqueness of using local language that match the COVID-19 theme. Local culture advertising creativity can be felt as the main taste of content that has relevance to postmodernism studies. External causes include the need for a business breakthrough to maintain income, the socio-cultural context of Osing ethnicity for the Banyuwangi people. Combined interest between local advertisers, strong Osing culture identity, and advertisers' creativity make Sritanjung FM experience a surge in revenue from local advertisers during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>

The effects of contexts on consumer emotions and acceptance of a domestic food and an unfamiliar ethnic food: a cross-cultural comparison between Chinese and Korean consumers.

Contexts are known to affect hedonic and emotional responses to various food products. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of context on consumer acceptance and emotion of a domestic food and an unfamiliar ethnic food. Here, 97 Chinese and 83 Koreans rated hedonic and emotional responses to Korean shallot-seafood pancake (Haemul-pajeon) and Chinese shallot pancake (Cōngyóubĭng), in a sensory or ethnic context. Context did not significantly influence liking, but the Koreans' liking for Cōngyóubĭng significantly decreased in ethnic context compared to sensory context. Context significantly influenced eliciting positive emotions to domestic foods, whereas the context that increased positive emotions differed by the nationality of the panel. Ethnic food evaluated in ethnic context elicited emotions with negative valence or high arousal, whereas actual tasting significantly reduced these emotions. The results suggest that previous experiences and associations moderate the effect of context on emotions and acceptance.

Intermedial and Transnational Hip Hop Life Writing

In lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of this forum contribution:
 The growing popularity of celebrity life writing and of memoirs which focus on the respective memoirist's specific social, professional, ethnic, or other context also spawned a large number of autobiographical publications by persons in the music industry. The field of musical autobiography is a recent development for which a niche in life-writing scholarship has only been carved out in the past decade. The growing number of autobiographical book publications as well as autobiographical self-representations in non-analog, non-printed, not primarily verbal formats raises the questions as to whether specific genres of hip-hop life writing have been evolving and as to the perspectives from which scholars should discuss them.

POLITICS OF IDENTITY AND THE CASE OF AHOK’S RELIGION BLASPHEMY IN THE 2017 DKI JAKARTA ELECTION

Identity politics are often used in political contestation. Primordialism in similar religious and ethnic contexts creates the division and color of whose groups and supports whom. The purpose of this study is to understand and explain the politicization of religion and ethnicity in the DKI Jakarta 2017 elections. This study uses a cultural study approach with interpretive analysis techniques. The case of blasphemy by Ahok triggered the politicization of religion and ethnicity in the 2017 DKI Jakarta elections. Mass mobilization in the form of boycotts and the use of holy verses in choosing leaders was very massive carried out during the campaign period to increase the electoral effect. Identity is no longer purely a social movement to fight for a positive change, but rather a tool for the political elite to compartmentalize the masses in an effort to achieve their group goals. The identity politics that was triggered by the case of blasphemy by Ahok created a process of group exclusivity towards other groups on the basis of religion and ethnicity in winning a political battle. 
 Keywords: Identity politics, blasphemy of religion, Ahok, primordialism

Defining racial and ethnic context with geolocation data

AbstractAcross disciplines, scholars strive to better understand individuals’ milieus—the people, places, and institutions individuals encounter in their daily lives. In particular, political scientists argue that racial and ethnic context shapes attitudes about candidates, policies, and fellow citizens. Yet, the current standard of measuring milieus is to place survey respondents in a geographic container and then to ascribe all that container's characteristics to the individual's milieu. Using a new dataset of over 2.6 million GPS records from over 400 individuals, we compare conventional static measures of racial and ethnic context to dynamic, precise measures of milieus. We demonstrate how low-level static measures tend to overstate how extreme individuals’ racial and ethnic contexts are and offer suggestions for future researchers.

Youth injury and parents' unemployment-the importance of socio-economic status and ethnicity context.

Youth whose parents are unemployed have poorer health and well-being, including more injuries that result in hospitalization. The current study examined the possibility of an association of parents' employment status with youth injury and the interaction of this status with other socio-economic factors and ethnicity. We distributed to adolescents aged 11-15 years, in class, the Israel Health Behavior in School-Aged Children Survey. We distinguished between any injury and severe injury, defining the latter as one necessitating the use of a cast, stitches and crutches or overnight hospitalization. Of 13705 respondents, 6224 (45%) had an injury in the past year that required medical treatment and 1827 pupils (13.5%) reported severe injuries. The odds of any injury were 1.86 for boys as against girls (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.73-1.99), 0.80 for school grade (95% CI 0.78-0.82), 1.56 for Arabs vs. Jews (95% CI 1.43-1.70) and 1.10 for high Family Affluence Scale (FAS) vs. medium FAS (95% CI 1.01-1.21). Only in the low FAS group, when two parents were unemployed, the odds for severe injury was 1.36 (95% CI 1.03-1.78); when one or two parents were employed, the odds of severe child injury were the same (OR 1.13 and 95% CI 0.92-1.40). Factors that were found to increase the risk of injury among youth were parental unemployment, low socio-economic status and Arab ethnicity. The home environment was the most common place for injury.

Preliminary study on sexual dimorphism of metric traits of cranium and mandible in a modern Italian skeletal population and review of population literature.

This study aims to assess the sexual dimorphism of skull in a modern skeletal collection through a direct anthropometric methodology by using a logistic regression analysis as statistical approach in order to provide specific regression formulae for the Italian population. Thirtyfour measurements (24 from cranium, 10 from mandible; 33 linear distances, one angle) were taken on 80 individuals (40 males, 40 females). A stepwise discriminant function analysis selected the combination of variables which best discriminated between sexes, and a cross-validation assessed the accuracy rate of the original sample. Most distances resulted longer in males than in females, but differences were statistically significant only for 12 and 6 out of respectively 24 cranium and 10 mandibular distances. Five combined cranium features returned a prediction accuracy of 88.6% (y=-81.01+0.14* Maximum cranial length+0.16* Basion-bregma height -0.05* Cranial base length +0.20* Bizygomatic breadth +0.31* Nasal height; adjusted R2=47.0%). Nine mandibular features were required to reach 74.7% accuracy (y=-93.08+0.19* Bigonial width +0.14* Bicondylar breadth +0.11* Mandibular length +0.18* Height of the mandibular body at mental foramen +0.21* Chin height -0.09* Mandibular angle -0.06* Minimum ramus breadth -0.05* Maximum ramus height -0.01* Maximum ramus breadth; adjusted R2=23.92%). Current results and existing literature suggested that only few cranial measurements can be used for diagnosis of sex: the same variables showed similar accuracy in different ethnic contexts. In conclusion, some aspects of sexual dimorphism of skull seem to be independent from ancestry.

Seeing and treating the out-group like family: Transference effects in an ethnic context

Transference effects occur when our impressions are guided by our mental representations of significant others. For instance, if a target resembles an individual’s significant other, then that person’s feelings toward their significant other will be transferred onto the target. The present research examines whether transference effects emerge even when the target belongs to an ethnic out-group. In two experiments, participants received descriptions of in-group and out-group targets who partly resembled their own (or another’s) positive significant other. The findings showed that resemblance to one’s own significant other improves attitudes and behavior toward both in-group and ethnic out-group targets, as found across 2 nations and 3 different ethnic out-groups. The present research hence provides evidence of robust transference effects across ethnic group boundaries.

The Reflection of the Ethnic Ethos in the Shaping of Mizrahi Female Characters, in the Light of the Literary Criticism of Yaakov Churgin’s Books – Sipurim (1928), Alumot (1957), and Yalkut Sipurim (1981)

This article suggests taking a close look at the stories of Eretz-Israel author Yaakov Churgin (1899 – 1990) as a hybrid system of identities, that is ambivalent and unclassified, that can also fit stories about Jews of Ashkenazic origin as they were portrayed in the stories of the Jewish shtetls by authors such as Shalom Aleichem, Dvora Baron, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Shay Agnon, while identifying the similarity between secular or enlightened Orientalism’s attitude to traditional or religious society, and Ashkenazic Orientalism’s attitude to the Mizrahi Jews in Eretz-Israel. The article will also suggest a new diachronic examination of the literary criticism regarding Churgin’s writing in its ethnic context, that will review the primary criticism over the years and address the characteristics of this criticism in light of the changes over the years.

Contested Loyalty: Debates over Patriotism in the Civil War North ed. by Robert M. Sandow

Reviewed by: Contested Loyalty: Debates over Patriotism in the Civil War North ed. by Robert M. Sandow Asaf Almog Contested Loyalty: Debates over Patriotism in the Civil War North. Edited by Robert M. Sandow. New York: Fordham University Press, 2018. ISBN 978-0-8232-7975-3. 310 pp., cloth, $65.00. What did loyalty to the nation mean for Northerners during the American Civil War? Edited by Robert Sandow, Contested Loyalty joins recent attempts to complicate analyses of wartime nationalism. Scholars have traditionally focused on questions of loyalty in the Confederate side. The tendency emanates from the “Appomattox Syndrome,” described in Gary Gallagher’s phrasing in the volume’s preface (x). In other words, the losing side, containing the losing narrative, was seen as the side whose willingness to fight needed an explanation. However, in recent years increasingly more studies have probed into the construction of modern nationalism in the North as well. The volume’s ten essays follow this literature by examining contests over the meaning of national loyalty in various geographic, social, and ethnic contexts. Melinda Lawson’s opening essay looks at the place the moral duty of loyalty played in the thought of three men: abolitionist Wendell Phillips, Radical Free Soiler (and later Republican) George Julian of Indiana, and Abraham Lincoln. The nontrivial decision to place men such as Phillips and Lincoln together to begin with is the essay’s most intriguing aspect. Phillips had called for disunion, immediate [End Page 210] abolition, and racial amalgamation for several decades. Conversely, Lincoln never publicly wavered from complete fidelity to the Union. His views on race and slavery also appear vastly different from Phillips’s. Lawson’s explanation for her initial choice is that all three believed that the American Revolution’s egalitarian principles negated slavery, and all three faced the dilemma of the justification of war to preserve these ideals. While Phillips consciously used agitation as a political means to save the Republic, only war convinced Julian to accept general emancipation as synonymous with the goal of the Union’s preservation. Most problematically, Lawson states that “there were limits to Lincoln’s embracement of the Union” (39). She demonstrates these limits by pointing to Lincoln’s firm opposition to slavery’s expansion, shown in his stance on the Kansas-Nebraska Act and subsequent politics. However, limits imply a willingness to question the Union rather than simply present an opinion about its proper course. Is there evidence of such questioning by Lincoln? In Lawson’s usage of the term, Daniel Webster could be regarded as an antislavery politician whose embracement to the Union had limits. The volume’s other essays move away from the national prism, and several of them demonstrate the degree to which the administration and its representatives identified loyalty exclusively with support for the war’s aim of restoring the Union and punishing the rebels. Matthew Warshauer’s essay discusses the ideology of Peace Democrats in wartime Connecticut. According to Warshauer, the movement reflected the perseverance of a “deeply held party ideology, a Jeffersonian conservatism” that persisted throughout the Union, across temporal and geographical boundaries (57). The movement, Warshauer argues, defies a monolithic portrayal of war opponents as residents of the Lower North. Indeed, the party’s Connecticut chapter remained competitive throughout the antebellum years and during the war itself. Warshauer identifies two main principles of Copperhead ideology: first, Peace Democrats opposed the war qua war, because of its damage to life and economy. In addition, they emphasized the constitutional principles at stake: the sovereignty of the Southern states, including that over their slaves, explicitly guaranteed by the Founders. Republican action and rhetoric, Peace Democrats argued, enhanced the risk of Federal despotism. Copperhead ideology persuaded many in Connecticut, whose electoral votes Lincoln carried by a narrow margin in 1864. More importantly, Warshauer states, Democrats throughout the Union had a lasting influence: “Historians can ultimately judge the Democrats wrong in their views on race and humanity, but their views on constitutional authority and states’ rights versus a powerful federal government have continued to rage in American society” (73). Warshauer emphasizes that Peace Democrats were ultimately loyal to the Union, despite continued charges of treason. In Pennsylvania, these...

Мемораты и семейные фотографии русских Трёхречья: семейно-родовые основы исторической памяти

Основной целью исследования является реконструкция значимых сторон семейно-родовой и этнической культуры особой этнолокальной группы русских – русских Трёхречья (Внутренняя Монголия, КНР). Источником реконструкции выступают аудиовизуальные комплексы (устный рассказ, нарратив, сопровождающий демонстрацию семейного фотоархива). В этнолокальной группе русских Трёхречья мемораты и семейные фотоархивы сохранили в китайской среде тесную связь с русской традицией нарративизации и экспонирования семейных фотоколлекций: они особенно значимы как визуальная фиксация исторической памяти и основа этнической идентичности. Гендерные составляющие повествования о семейном прошлом и гендерные фотографические образы семейной группы в этнокультурных условиях Трёхречья раскрывают общие закономерности функционирования меморатов в этническом контексте и выявляют специфику функционирования нарративов, обусловленную особенностями культуры.

The Economic Returns of Social Capital: Comparing Han Chinese and Ethnic Minorities in China

This paper investigates and compares the effect of social capital on the earnings of Han Chinese and ethnic minorities in China. Previous studies have primarily focused on education differentials as the key determinant of Chinese ethnic income inequality. The notion that social capital helps improve labour market engagement and performance has long been prevalent in the literature, however, it has rarely been examined within the Chinese ethnic context. Using a nationally representative dataset, the main findings of this study suggest that social capital only exerts a positive effect on the income of Han Chinese, while it fails to generate economic returns for ethnic minorities. This finding is robust when the reserved causality between social capital and income is accounted for by using an instrumental variable estimation. Educational level and Mandarin fluency both positively influence the income of Han and ethnic minorities, but the effect of education is attenuated when one’s social capital is stronger. This study has important implications for Chinese policymakers seeking to address income inequality and ethnic stratification in China.

Migration,Group Agency, and Archaeology: A New Theoretical Model

Unlike other social sciences, the archaeological discipline has been lacking a theoretical framework to discuss the mechanism of migration. Traditionally, patterns of population movements were denoted from material culture and interpreted within the context of ethnicity and the diffusion of ideas without considering underlying processes and incentives, despite active consideration of these issues by geographers and sociologists. It was not until the 1990s that a more integrated archaeological discussion on the various stimuli, influences, and mechanisms of why people choose to migrate was beginning to evolve. Since then, the debate on migration in archaeology has not only reflected on patterns of cultural and technological change but also increasingly on aspects of identity and self-realization; both in terms of how migrants themselves adapt and adjust to their new home environment, and how the host-communities themselves respond and interact with newcomers. Using four case studies, the current paper proposes a new theoretical model for how to assess patterns of group migrations. This new model considers the respective mode of agency related to both the intention and size of the group. “Very High and High Group Agency” represent situations where the migrant group is at a technological and quantitative advantage to the host community, while “Medium and Low Group Agency” represent situations where the newcomers are forced to respond to their new environment through adaptation and adjustment to their local host community.

Association between genetic polymorphisms of glutathione S-transferase M1/T1 and psoriasis in a population from the area of the strict of messina (Southern Italy)

Glutathione S-transferases (GST) are antioxidant enzymes with frequent genetic polymorphisms. Homozygosis for gene deletion (“null” genotype) of GSTM1 and GSTT1, causing decrease of the antioxidant potential of the organism, is frequent, with variable frequency in different ethnic contexts. Although oxidative stress notoriously plays a role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis, few studies exist on the association between GSTM1/GSTT1 genotype and psoriasis, with different results. We aimed to assess the frequency of GSTM1/GSTT1 polymorphisms in Southern Italian psoriatic patients and controls and investigate the association of the GSTM1/GSTT1 genotype with individual and disease parameters. To this aim, the GSTM1/GSTT1 genotype of 148 psoriatic patients and 148 age- and sex-matched controls was defined by PCR on oral mucosa cells. GSTT1 null was associated with psoriasis (55.4% of patients vs. 25% of controls, p = 9.58 × 10−8, odds ratio 3.73), while GSTM1 null was not. The GSTM1/GSTT1 “double null” genotype conferred an even higher odds ratio for psoriasis (5.94). The association between psoriasis and GSTT1 null was stronger in women (54.1% of patients vs. 19.7% of controls, p = 8.13 × 10−5) than in men (56.3% of patients vs. 28.7% of controls, p = 0.0002). No association was found between GSTM1/GSTT1 genotype and psoriasis severity, age of onset or comorbidities (psoriatic arthritis, metabolic syndrome). The remarkable differences among the few available data on the association between GSTM1/GSTT1 polymorphisms and psoriasis suggest the need for further studies, on different and larger populations, to improve knowledge on the pathogenesis of psoriasis and possibly provide more precise and personalised prevention and treatment in the future.