Ethnic Issues Research Articles

Débora Arango’s Indulgencia

During the first half of the twentieth century, representing the body was a pivotal means to reimagine national and regional identities at a moment when the legacies of colonial power structures were coming under increasing scrutiny. The body became a vehicle through which artists could envision new, expanded, and intersecting notions of race, gender, class, nation, and region. Through close readings of single images created in eight different countries—Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba—this Dialogues contains essays by scholars from South America, Europe, and the United States that reveal the capaciousness for the body to encapsulate local racial, class, and gender dynamics, to illuminate regional and national politics, and to embody divides between socially progressive politics and entrenched conservative social systems and hierarchies. The authors pay careful attention to form, subject, and style to demonstrate the potency of modernist figuration, an international and vibrant visual language, to interrogate issues of race, ethnicity, indigeneity, and gender. Together, the essays point to the critical particularities of iconography, context, and style. In so doing, they reinforce the ability of representation to resonate in multivalent ways and assert the power of the image to stir debate, fix (or challenge) convictions, and raise questions about histories. The authors harness the power and visual variety of realisms and representation in Latin America, revealing the malleability of the modernist body and its efficacy as a carrier of meaning and locus for debates about power, progress, and identity.

Samba and the Brown Body Politic

During the first half of the twentieth century, representing the body was a pivotal means to reimagine national and regional identities at a moment when the legacies of colonial power structures were coming under increasing scrutiny. The body became a vehicle through which artists could envision new, expanded, and intersecting notions of race, gender, class, nation, and region. Through close readings of single images created in eight different countries—Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba—this Dialogues contains essays by scholars from South America, Europe, and the United States that reveal the capaciousness for the body to encapsulate local racial, class, and gender dynamics, to illuminate regional and national politics, and to embody divides between socially progressive politics and entrenched conservative social systems and hierarchies. The authors pay careful attention to form, subject, and style to demonstrate the potency of modernist figuration, an international and vibrant visual language, to interrogate issues of race, ethnicity, indigeneity, and gender. Together, the essays point to the critical particularities of iconography, context, and style. In so doing, they reinforce the ability of representation to resonate in multivalent ways and assert the power of the image to stir debate, fix (or challenge) convictions, and raise questions about histories. The authors harness the power and visual variety of realisms and representation in Latin America, revealing the malleability of the modernist body and its efficacy as a carrier of meaning and locus for debates about power, progress, and identity.

Greed, Violence, and Desire

During the first half of the twentieth century, representing the body was a pivotal means to reimagine national and regional identities at a moment when the legacies of colonial power structures were coming under increasing scrutiny. The body became a vehicle through which artists could envision new, expanded, and intersecting notions of race, gender, class, nation, and region. Through close readings of single images created in eight different countries—Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba—this Dialogues contains essays by scholars from South America, Europe, and the United States that reveal the capaciousness for the body to encapsulate local racial, class, and gender dynamics, to illuminate regional and national politics, and to embody divides between socially progressive politics and entrenched conservative social systems and hierarchies. The authors pay careful attention to form, subject, and style to demonstrate the potency of modernist figuration, an international and vibrant visual language, to interrogate issues of race, ethnicity, indigeneity, and gender. Together, the essays point to the critical particularities of iconography, context, and style. In so doing, they reinforce the ability of representation to resonate in multivalent ways and assert the power of the image to stir debate, fix (or challenge) convictions, and raise questions about histories. The authors harness the power and visual variety of realisms and representation in Latin America, revealing the malleability of the modernist body and its efficacy as a carrier of meaning and locus for debates about power, progress, and identity.

Poniendo al indio en el cuerpo de la nación moderna

During the first half of the twentieth century, representing the body was a pivotal means to reimagine national and regional identities at a moment when the legacies of colonial power structures were coming under increasing scrutiny. The body became a vehicle through which artists could envision new, expanded, and intersecting notions of race, gender, class, nation, and region. Through close readings of single images created in eight different countries—Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba—this Dialogues contains essays by scholars from South America, Europe, and the United States that reveal the capaciousness for the body to encapsulate local racial, class, and gender dynamics, to illuminate regional and national politics, and to embody divides between socially progressive politics and entrenched conservative social systems and hierarchies. The authors pay careful attention to form, subject, and style to demonstrate the potency of modernist figuration, an international and vibrant visual language, to interrogate issues of race, ethnicity, indigeneity, and gender. Together, the essays point to the critical particularities of iconography, context, and style. In so doing, they reinforce the ability of representation to resonate in multivalent ways and assert the power of the image to stir debate, fix (or challenge) convictions, and raise questions about histories. The authors harness the power and visual variety of realisms and representation in Latin America, revealing the malleability of the modernist body and its efficacy as a carrier of meaning and locus for debates about power, progress, and identity.

Introduction to the Dialogues on Modernist Bodies

During the first half of the twentieth century, representing the body was a pivotal means to reimagine national and regional identities at a moment when the legacies of colonial power structures were coming under increasing scrutiny. The body became a vehicle through which artists could envision new, expanded, and intersecting notions of race, gender, class, nation, and region. Through close readings of single images created in eight different countries—Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba—this Dialogues contains essays by scholars from South America, Europe, and the United States that reveal the capaciousness for the body to encapsulate local racial, class, and gender dynamics, to illuminate regional and national politics, and to embody divides between socially progressive politics and entrenched conservative social systems and hierarchies. The authors pay careful attention to form, subject, and style to demonstrate the potency of modernist figuration, an international and vibrant visual language, to interrogate issues of race, ethnicity, indigeneity, and gender. Together, the essays point to the critical particularities of iconography, context, and style. In so doing, they reinforce the ability of representation to resonate in multivalent ways and assert the power of the image to stir debate, fix (or challenge) convictions, and raise questions about histories. The authors harness the power and visual variety of realisms and representation in Latin America, revealing the malleability of the modernist body and its efficacy as a carrier of meaning and locus for debates about power, progress, and identity.

Flatness, Fabric, and Folklore

During the first half of the twentieth century, representing the body was a pivotal means to reimagine national and regional identities at a moment when the legacies of colonial power structures were coming under increasing scrutiny. The body became a vehicle through which artists could envision new, expanded, and intersecting notions of race, gender, class, nation, and region. Through close readings of single images created in eight different countries—Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and Cuba—this Dialogues contains essays by scholars from South America, Europe, and the United States that reveal the capaciousness for the body to encapsulate local racial, class, and gender dynamics, to illuminate regional and national politics, and to embody divides between socially progressive politics and entrenched conservative social systems and hierarchies. The authors pay careful attention to form, subject, and style to demonstrate the potency of modernist figuration, an international and vibrant visual language, to interrogate issues of race, ethnicity, indigeneity, and gender. Together, the essays point to the critical particularities of iconography, context, and style. In so doing, they reinforce the ability of representation to resonate in multivalent ways and assert the power of the image to stir debate, fix (or challenge) convictions, and raise questions about histories. The authors harness the power and visual variety of realisms and representation in Latin America, revealing the malleability of the modernist body and its efficacy as a carrier of meaning and locus for debates about power, progress, and identity.

Violence and vulnerability: the everyday life of black youth in suburbs of two Brazilian state capitals

Violence and vulnerability: the everyday life of black youth in suburbs of two Brazilian state capitals

RESEARCHING THE ISSUES OF ETHNIC MINORITIES IN KAZAKHSTAN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY AND EXISTENTIALISM

The study of ethnic minority issues in Kazakhstan through the lens of modern philosophy and existentialism is vital for understanding the social and cultural processes in the country. This research aims to analyze the life strategies and identities of ethnic minorities, exploring their interactions with society and state institutions from the perspectives of existentialism and contemporary social philosophy. The study is of significant academic importance as it contributes to a deeper understanding of the cultural and social dynamics in Kazakhstan's multicultural environment. The practical significance of the work lies in developing suggestions for improving policies in integration and cultural adaptation. The research methodology includes qualitative methods such as interviews and analysis of social media content. These methods allow for an in-depth examination of the personal experiences of ethnic minorities and their interactions with societal structures. Key findings demonstrate that philosophical and existential aspects play a significant role in preserving identity and aiding social adaptation of ethnic minorities. The research underscores the need for deeper interaction between state structures and minorities to create an effective model of multicultural interaction. This study makes an important contribution to social sciences by expanding the understanding of mechanisms of social integration and cultural dynamics in Kazakhstan. The practical value of this work lies in the potential to use the results to adjust cultural and educational programs aimed at supporting multiculturalism and social harmony.

Violence and vulnerability: the everyday life of black youth in suburbs of two Brazilian state capitals.

Violence is a serious public health issue and constitutes a historical social phenomenon with diverse causes and consequences, and multiple manifestations. The main victims continue to be populations left vulnerable and marginalised, where dimensions including gender, class, race and social belonging intersect. Although studies to explain the phenomenon of violence do address ethnic and racial issues, they tend not to consider violence as stemming also from institutional racism. This paper examines data from a qualitative and quantitative study drawing on focus groups and semi-structured interviews to evaluate symbolic and structural violence experienced by young black people from 15 to 29 years old residing in peripheral neighbourhoods of two Brazilian state capitals - Recife and Fortaleza. The focus is on their standpoints that situate the intersectionality, especially among race/skin colour, territorial belonging and class, in the very definition of identity. In both capitals, the young black people revealed a common reality: life projects constrained by economic limitations and by the concrete or symbolic demarcation of social spaces to which they are denied access.

Constructions and representations of Chinese identity through England’s curatorial imagination: A corpus-assisted analysis

This article explores the linguistic representation of Chinese identity in art exhibitions across England in the period immediately following the Umbrella Revolution. It focuses on publicly funded institutions through an analysis of press releases from Art Council England’s National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) between 2014 and 2020. By employing corpus-assisted methods of analysis (Baker et al. 2008; Partington et al. 2013; Gillings et al. 2023) and drawing on Karen Barad’s (2007) notion of ‘diffraction’ to read through linguistic and artistic practices, we identify five key areas of interest that run throughout the press releases: namely, colonial history, the foregrounding of ethnicity, the media, fantasy, and green issues. This analysis allows us to speculate on how the creative actions of these publicly funded institutions might have contributed to the socio-political Zeitgeist surrounding a racialised population in England, raising important questions for NPOs and other institutions on the role of the curatorial in the forming of social realities, and the extent of their practice in discourse on decolonisation, language, race, and politics. On a theoretical and methodological level, it also allows us to explore potential synergies between corpus-assisted discourse analysis and the arts.

Partition’s Shadow:

Assam’s Barak Valley is an example of how the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan left behind long-term conflicts and issues pertaining to identity, place, and belonging that have created turmoil in the geo-political space that we refer to as India’s Northeast. The transformation of this space from a frontier during colonial times to a borderland in 1947 is not only significant for the genealogy and configuration of states within the region but also because this understanding subverts common assumptions about 1947, particularly on issues of communal polarizations, the formation of the border as well as the participation of non-political groups like the tribal populations who had very little stake in the playing out of the Radcliffe Line. Siddhartha Deb’s 2002 novel The Point of Return looks at some of these questions of identity and belonging that so plague the region. The novel is an exploration of the life journeys of Dr. Dam and his son Babu and their relationship to the geographical locations they come to inhabit. The spatial and temporal realities that came into being in the Northeastern region is charted through this text in the postcolonial state making practices that produce irreversible patterns of social and political chaos. Issues of ethnicity, language, and belonging that are contentious questions in this region are represented in this narrative as the continued precarity of people who had come to live here. This essay presents an analysis of the novel through the optics of history and literature, using tools from the Phenomenological analysis of Time by Paul Ricouer, to investigate how the interface of events and memory transform and complicate our understandings of a contentious divided past.

Ego-centered network analysis of ethnic-racial socialization in families

ABSTRACT Ethnic-racial socialization refers to the implicit and explicit ways individuals learn about race and ethnicity from family, media, community, and peers (Hughes et al., 2016). Ethnic-racial socialization is a central part of familial conversations for Black, Indigenous, and families of color. This research uses ego-centered network analysis to explore the different patterns and meaning-making in families when discussing issues of race and ethnicity. Overall, four family map types emerged from the data: expansive, concentrated, condensed, and balanced. In addition, participants described different themes according to their map type, overall demonstrating the multitude of ways ethnic-racial socialization manifests in families.

China’s Intervention Policy in Myanmar Facing Challenges from India

In the context of the 21st century, Myanmar holds a significant geopolitical position, serving as a hotbed of competition between India and China in the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia region. To counter India’s influence, China has employed various tools to increase its sway in Myanmar. This article investigates China’s intervention policies in Myanmar in the face of challenges from India. The research results indicate that China is implementing four main policies to intervene in Myanmar: (1) Approaching political factions; (2) Exploiting ethnic issues, particularly the Rohingya; (3) Creating economic dependence through investment and trade; (4) Enhancing military and defense cooperation. However, Myanmar’s policies have undergone numerous changes, causing China’s influence to waver. Nevertheless, in the current volatile context, Myanmar tends to rely on China economically and militarily. This has posed challenges to India’s position, especially since the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader - Aung San Suu Kyi was ousted.

National Museum of History of Azerbaijan

The article presents an overview of the movement of "21 Azer" (December 12, 1945), social-political, economic, national and ethnic issues, and national enlightenment in Iranian Azerbaijan based on the 1947-1949 issues of the "Azerbaijan" newspaper, the organ of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP) headed by S.J. Pishevari. The periodical was issued in the Azerbaijani Turkic utilizing the Arabic script during 1945-1946 in Tabriz under the governance of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party (ADP) and in Baku from 1947 to 1949 due to the defeat of the ADP. Issues of the newspaper for 1947-1949 are stored in the Documentary Sources Fund at the National Museum for History of Azerbaijan. The newspaper “Azerbaijan” contains a critical stance towards the Qajar and Pahlavi authorities, an overview of socio-political, economic and cultural processes, some pieces of revolutionaries and intellectuals of the time, the activities of the ADP, and ethnic and ideological issues. For a comprehensive presentation of the topic, this paper considers various sources and documents illuminating the historical context of the period have been utilized, including speeches, articles and other works by S.J. Pishevari, alongside with issues of the newspaper “Azerbaijan”.

Award for Distinguished Senior Career Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest: Helen A. Neville.

"For her outstanding contributions in research, theory, and service to advance our awareness of color-blind racial ideology, Helen A. Neville's work is a model of psychology in the public interest. Her work supports efforts toward a solution to racism, one of the world's intransigent social problems. Dr. Neville and her colleagues pioneered conceptual models and measures that articulate the role of color evasion (ignoring race) and power evasion (denying structural racism) as key components of color-blind racial ideology that legitimizes racial inequality. Dr. Neville has integrated the science and practice of psychology to serve the public interest and advances social justice and human welfare as president of American Psychological Association (APA) Division 45, the Society for Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity, and Race, and president-elect of APA Division 17, the Society of Counseling Psychology. Dr. Neville has served the public interest through her exceptional editorial work in books and special issues and proposed guidelines on issues of culture, ethnicity, and race as an active member of distinguished APA committees. Dr. Neville and her colleagues have advanced our understanding of racial trauma and addressed their impact by promoting theory, research, training, policy, and interventions on radical hope, healing, and liberation." This award recognizes people who have advanced psychology as a science and/or profession by a single extraordinary achievement or a lifetime of outstanding contributions in the public interest. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Philip and the Nubian Official: Dimensions of Text and Narrative

The encounter between Philip the deacon/evangelist and the Nubian official in Acts 8 has garnered much scholarly attention in recent decades. Numerous articles and monographs have explored issues of gender, race, and ethnicity in this pericope. This study takes a different tack by focusing on several textual issues as well as exploring unique narratival features adopted by Luke. Each character is developed within his individual trajectory in the account. After evangelizing in Samaria, Philip is directed to travel from Jerusalem along the road to Gaza. There he has a dramatic meeting with a man from Africa. Luke introduces him by using a character introduction formula adapted from the introduction of Potiphar in Genesis 39. The seven features of the formula are discussed seriatim. It is argued that understanding this formula’s use is key to interpreting the identity of the African man. He is deemed to be a circumcised Jewish man, a treasury official serving the Kandake of Nubia, not a eunuch from Ethiopia. After the Nubian official learns that Isaiah’s suffering servant is to be identified with Jesus, he believes and is baptized by Philip. The article provides a fresh reading that hopefully will advance discussion of why Luke placed this pivotal, divinely orchestrated meeting in Acts.

Polskie kresy – bliskie i dalekie (1918-1939)

: The subject of Borderlands situated further away and close by is presented not by accident. In the Polish historical narrative, we usually remember only about the Eastern Borderlands. Created by Henryk Sienkiewicz’s “Trilog”, known from the pages of Polish history, being a place of birth to Polish poets, they are inevitably memorable and integral part of Poland’s national tradition. This notion is so strong that the word ‘Borderlands’ is associated only with the formed eastern territories of Poland. We do not use this terminology for other areas. We think only of the eastern borderlands which were gradually lost between the 17th and 20th century. This article also mentions this fact. Nevertheless, the article presents a slightly different perspective, i.e. it tries to present the Borderlands that were distant because they were unknown or known very little, the Borderlands which did not manage to enter the Polish narratives and Polish historical memory for good. They entered Poland for a very short time and disappeared for it very quickly. Nowadays they are abroad and they are practically unknown. The distant, unknown former Polish western Borderlands was Trans-Olza (Zaolzie). The Silesian residents living there in the 19th century shaped mostly Polish national identity, i.e. at the time when the then modern European nations were establishing. Undoubtedly, this was influenced by a strong economic development of the territory of Cieszyn Silesia. On the one hand, it was a blessing, but on the other hand, it turned out to be its curse, causing the rivalry over this land between the Poles and Czechs. The conflict over this territory, where the ethnic issues played no significant role for the powers considering this matter. Moreover, it inscribed into different types of territorial conflicts that Europe experienced after the First World War. For the borders established by the victorious allied forces as part of the Versailles treaty were not entirely fair in any place, which, in turn, is an obvious matter because it is never possible to set borders that would fully satisfy all the parties of the conflict. This was also the case of the Polish-Czech conflict over Cieszyn Silesia. The rivalry did not cease with the borders being established by the allied forces in July 1920, and both countries were still interested in the population living there. The population faced assimilative activities as the so-called ‘Polonized Moravians’ by the Czechoslovakian Republic. On the other hand, this population became a causation for Poland when reclaiming this area in autumn 1938. In the second part of the article presents the realities of life in Trans-Olza in the second half of the 1930s, which were witnessed by Paweł Hulka-Laskowski. He collected material for his monumental work on Trans-Olza Silesia. This work is practically unknown today, but it is an equivalent of the results of Melchior Wańkowicz’s travels around East Prussia in the book Na tropach Smętka. Who has ever heard in Poland of the work by Paweł Hulka-Laskowski Śląsk za Olzą Similarly, who has the knowledge of the long-forgotten Western Borderlands? This article introduces readers to this subject matter.

Human dental pulp stem cells have comparable abilities to umbilical cord mesenchymal stem/stromal cells in regulating inflammation and ameliorating hepatic fibrosis.

Hepatic fibrosis, also called cirrhosis, have wide prevalence worldwide for long yeas. Recently, many treatments for liver cirrhosis made marked progress, especially the umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (UCMSC) therapy. However, limited recourses and potential immune-related issues become the obstacles on UCMSC popularization in clinic. Therefore, we took dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) into the consideration, since autologous DPSCs can be easily obtained without any ethnic or immune-related issues that heterogenous UCMSCs could encounter. We systematically compared the effects of both cell types and found that DPSCs had similar results to UCMSCs in regulating inflammation and reversing hepatic fibrosis. In our study, co-culturing T cells and PBMSCs showed that DPSCs have the ability to inhibit the proliferation of inflammatory cells and downregulate relevant inflammatory factors. In vitro and in vivo sterility tests confirmed the bio-safety of DPSCs. Moreover, the 1year-aged mouse model demonstrated that DPSCs successfully reversed hepatic fibrosis. Overall, DPSCs demonstrated comparable effectiveness to UCMSCs in regulating inflammation and reversing hepatic fibrosis, particularly in the aged mouse model that represents middle-aged and elderly humans. Since autologous DPSCs avoid potential immune-related issues that heterogenous UCMSCs could encounter, they may be a better choice for stem cell-related therapies.

Slovinské veřejné mínění o Jugoslávii v 80. letech 20. století a jeho reflexe v místním komunistickém vedení

The paper examines evolution of the opinions of the Slovenian public regarding cohabitation in socialist Yugoslavia before its breakup. Data from regular Slovenian sociological surveys from 1970s and 1980s and the design of these surveys are analysed. A sudden increase of ethnic issues is observed in the questionnaire in 1987 which illustrates growth of importance of the topic even among those intellectuals who had focused on other political issues up to then. The results of the surveys show, at the same time, continually increasing ethnical sensibility and fading identification with Yugoslavia among the Slovenian public during the entire decade with an acceleration in 1987. Since the second half of that year, growing nationalism in Slovenia was extensively discussed also by the local communist elites. They, however, mostly gave in to the nationalist radicalisation and quickly absorbed it into their own attitudes.

Personal Backgrounds, Constituency Demands and Policy Issues Raised by Deputies of China's National People's Congress

Abstract: Research on China's legislators has seldom explained the types of policy issues raised by legislators and has rarely demonstrated the influence of constituencies. This article reveals that National People's Congress deputies whose personal backgrounds are closely associated with specific types of policy issues or whose constituencies have stronger demands regarding these issues usually submit more proposals pertaining to the issues. Furthermore, negative interactive effects exist between deputies' personal backgrounds as farmers or members of ethnic minorities and constituency demands corresponding to rural or ethnic minority issues on the relevant proposals that they raise. These findings further indicate how information is transmitted by China's legislators without a strong electoral connection.