Institutionalized Forms Research Articles

Conscientiousness vs. Cultural capital: Which matters more for academic achievement in the Hong Kong educational landscape?

This study examines the relative impact of conscientiousness and cultural capital on academic achievement among university students in Hong Kong, within the broader East Asian educational landscape. Focusing on objectified, embodied, and institutionalized forms of cultural capital, we use fixed-effect hierarchical regression analysis to assess their influence on students’ GPA, while controlling for academic effort, attitude, and socio-economic background. The findings reveal that objectified and embodied cultural capital have limited effects on academic success, indicating that traditional cultural assets such as classical literature or highbrow cultural practices play a minor role in this context. Conversely, institutionalized cultural capital, including recognized qualifications, shows a modest positive association with GPA, though its significance diminishes when other factors are considered. Most notably, the study underscores the dominant role of conscientiousness—reflected in students’ academic effort and attitude—as a stronger predictor of academic achievement. These results challenge conventional views on the primacy of cultural capital in education and advocate for policies that prioritize the cultivation of personal attributes like conscientiousness alongside cultural knowledge to enhance academic outcomes in East Asia.

Dvojí život historické antropologie.

Since 1989 modern western methodological approaches, including historical anthropology, have been adopted in Czech academic circles, both spontaneously (among historians) and in institutionalised form (the case of ethnology). Very often, however, historical anthropology has been taken up only as an external label that has not meant any real change in research methods. This has simply encouraged the replication of the formal and informal ties and institutions inside the academic community that originated in the period of "normalisation" and that undermine the possibility of the real transformation of our academic environment. The author therefore attempts to distinguish in terms of both theory and method between two types of "historical anthropology": chronologically the first type has been closer to historical sociology (and directed in its way to the history of mentalities), while the second drew inspiration from social anthropology and led towards micro-history. In the Czech environment the ethnologists are closer to the first and the historians to the second, but often without either group being aware of the fundamental difference between the two types.

"You Can't Let Go" - A Black Community Leader's Perspective on Engagement and Advocacy.

Lanre Tunji-Ajayi is president and CEO of the Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario (SCAGO). This charitable organization focuses on ameliorating the lives of those living with sickle cell disease by providing evidence-based support to patients and supporting clinical and psychosocial research, health promotion and the development of best practice guidelines. Lanre's passion for this work is personal. Following the death of her brother Sunday Afolabi from preventable and treatable complications of sickle cell disease, Lanre immersed herself in advocacy for community health and quality patient care. In this oral history narrative, Lanre reflects on her decades-long journey advocating for those living with sickle cell disease - a disease which disproportionately affects Black people. Her reflections focus acutely on the challenges she has faced in raising awareness and visibility, including through formal public engagement policy processes. Lanre also speaks to the personal costs she has encountered engaging in this advocacy work and the subtle and institutionalized forms of anti-Black racism that have punctuated this already difficult effort to bring about change.

Vers un ‘Breaking fédéral et olympique’ : genèse d’une discipline sportivo-artistique engagée dans une nouvelle étape de sportification controversée face à l’enjeu de préservation culturelle

The inclusion of Breaking in the Olympic and Paralympic Games has generated internal reactions: How do the actors of French Breaking position themselves faced with the sudden and additional phase of sportification of their practice? The authors propose a recontextualization of the national and political registration of this practice, which is marked by three forms of institutionalization: first, socio-cultural, then cultural, and finally sporting. The field investigation (2019–2023) shows hip-hop actors, transmitters of a conventional sporting-artistic heritage, not fully adhering to the new “Olympic Breaking.” Some are trying to support federalization, which is favorable to the existence of cultural permanence at the organizational level of this new format. Changes have also been brought about. To understand them, particular interest is focused on the organizational specificities of “underground” Break battles, and on the “committed” positions of “recognized” hip-hop actors faced with the uncontrolled introduction of their culture into the Games.

Institutionalization of Social Economy Public Policies as a Strategy against Global Challenges: Evidence from the Spanish Experience

This paper explores the process of increasing institutionalization of the social economy, focusing on its critical role in addressing global challenges, especially during crises. By examining mainstream international documents, the study identifies challenges confronting the social economy and spotlights Spain as a model for effective institutionalization practices in terms of recognition, regulation, institutional support, policies and programs and external institutional leadership. Two distinct forms of institutionalization are distinguished: socio-cognitive and political. Spain's leadership is noteworthy for integrating these forms, translating conceptual ideals into tangible policies.

Bonds not Claims. Political Representation as a form of Political Relationship

In the article, I argue that Michel Saward’s popular approach to political representation leads to its particularly problematic understanding as a potentially coercive form of political relationship. Drawing primarily on the experiences of feminist theorists, I argue that beyond analyzing the mechanism of ‘claim-making’, it is also ethically necessary to consider the possibilities and consequences of ‘claim-breaking’. Situations where political representation is broken illustrate how even institutionalized forms of representation often stem from the emotional needs of specific individuals, which politicians cynically exploit. To illustrate this, I utilize and critically assess Saward’s general explanatory model, analyzing the example of Donald Tusk’s resignation from the position of Prime Minister of Poland to assume the role of President of the European Council.

Receiving home care forms and the risk for emergency department visits in community-dwelling Dutch older adults, a retrospective cohort study using national data

BackgroundOlder adults receiving home care have a higher risk of visiting the emergency department (ED) than community-dwelling older adults not receiving home care. This may result from a higher incidence of comorbidities and reduced functional autonomy in home care recipients. Since people receive different types of home care because of their different comorbidities and autonomy profiles, it is possible that distinguishing between the form of home care can help identify subpopulations with different risks for ED visits and help develop targeted interventions. This study aimed to compare the risk of visiting the ED in older adults receiving different forms of home care with those living at home without receiving home care in a national cohort in one year.MethodsA retrospective cohort study using claims data collected in 2019 on the Dutch population aged ≥ 65 years (N = 3,314,440) was conducted. Participants were classified as follows: no claimed home care (NO), household help (HH), personal care (PC), HH + PC, and nursing home care at home (NHH). The primary outcome was the number of individuals that visited the ED. Secondary outcomes were the number of individuals whose home care changed, who were institutionalized, or who died. Exploratory logistic regression was applied.ResultsThere were 2,758,093 adults in the NO group, 131,260 in the HH group, 154,462 in the PC group, 96,526 in the HH + PC group, and 34,612 in the NHH group. More ED visits were observed in the home care groups than in the NO group, and this risk increased to more than two-fold for the PC groups. There was a significant change to a more intensive form of home care, institutionalization, or death in all groups.ConclusionsDistinguishing between the form of home care older adults receive identifies subpopulations with different risks for ED visits compared with community-dwelling older adults not receiving home care on a population level. Home care transitions are frequent and mostly involve more intensive care or death. Although older adults not receiving home care have a lower risk of ED visits, they contribute most to the absolute volume of ED visits.

On declining parental agency and institutionalized forms of parentification: narratives of changing parenthood among refugee families and social workers in collective reception centres

Over recent years, the number of refugee families with children fleeing to Europe has increased. Although reception centres in Europe are not equipped to host families with children, families nevertheless remain for extensive periods in these collective centres, where they lack autonomy, privacy, certainty and often even a sense of security. Drawing on 123 interviews with parents (58), children (38) and social workers (38) in nine collective reception centres in Belgium, we analyse how the Belgian asylum regime impacts refugee parents’ capacity to fulfil parental roles and responsibilities and social workers’ relationships with refugee parents. Our analysis points to a complex combination of declining parental agency yet increasing responsibility on behalf of refugee parents across different parental roles and responsibilities. This in turn leads children to take on what are typically considered ‘adult roles’, raising concerns about parentification among social workers. By introducing the term ‘institutionalized forms of parentification’, we call for a re-politicization of social work with refugee families. Moving away from common approaches to family relationships that focus primarily on the individual or the family system, our findings draw attention to the impact of social spaces, policies and cultural value systems.

For a Justice-to-Come: Milo Rau’s Utopian Realism

One of the most prolific political theatre makers in Europe today, Milo Rau is known for his commitment to a realist art of possibility—a “Möglichkeitsrealismus,” as he defines it, devoted to opening space for envisioning possible alternatives to the status quo. Drawing on Ernst Bloch’s writings on utopia, this article argues for an understanding of Rau’s artistic practice as a kind of “concrete utopianism” that materially engages the world so as to imagine—and enact—new possibilities for improvement and transformation. Via a reading of Rau’s Kongo Tribunal (2015), an attempt is made to show how, by staging the tribunal in the here and now of performance, the artist seeks to disclose the real but not yet realized possibilities available in the present, giving form to an alternative institutionality—and an alternative practice of justice—that is made fully graspable in the imagination and in reality. As a material act of imagining otherwise, the Kongo Tribunal refuses the closure of the present, inviting spectators to step back and recognize the institutionalized forms of law and justice not as fixed but variable—and thus (still) open to change.

Przedstawicielstwo ustawowe jako forma ochrony interesów osób małoletnich w postępowaniu cywilnym

Statutory representation is one of the institutionalized forms of party representation in civil proceeding. In addition, this institution is important from the point of view of children's rights protection due to the fact that it allows their parents, guardians or curators to take procedural actions on their behalf. The aim of this article is to present statutory representation as one of the forms of minors’ interests protection in civil proceeding. For this purpose it uses the law-dogmatic method to analyse the regulations contained in the Law of November 17, 1964. - Code of Civil Procedure, the Law of April 23, 1964. - Civil Code and the Law of February 25, 1964. - Family and Guardianship Code. The article shows the judicial and procedural capacity of a minor, the subject and object scope of statutory representation, as well as the most significant actions that a statutory representative can take to protect minor’s interests in civil proceedings.

Polish Sceptics and Czech Optimists: Perception of the Development within Euroregion Beskydy

The openness of space is one of the fundamental ideas behind the existence of the European Union. The benefits arising from this should outweigh the disadvantages associated with it. An advantage of openness is the possibility of integrating border regions of different countries into a consistent functional whole where cross-border cooperation takes place. Resulting mechanisms can lead to endogenously driven development of the territories that are typically on the periphery of their countries. However, reality is much more diverse. This is valid also in case of Central and Eastern European countries, where general socioeconomic processes take different forms in different regions and places. The same holds true also for territorial units, such as Euroregions that represent one of the most remarkable geographical embodiments of European integration. At the same time, they constitute one of the institutionalised forms of cross-border cooperation. Euroregions bear a twofold importance in postcommunist countries that for a long time suffered from pretty limited cross-border interactions and cooperation. Our article delves into the municipalities of Euroregion Beskydy at the Polish-Czech border. The main objective of the paper is to analyse and assess strengths and weaknesses of the development as perceived by Polish and Czech municipalities in the framework of Euroregion Beskydy. The article concentrates primarily on a qualitative dimension of the whole issue. This is partly supplemented by a quantitative perspective. The investigation mirrors the state of municipalities on Czech and Polish sides of Euroregion Beskydy from the perspective of municipal managements. From the methodical perspective, the questionnaire was utilised. This allowed respondents to identify the principal strengths and weaknesses of their municipalities based on their own knowledge and perceptions. The questions had a nominal character, and by aggregating similar responses, broader, consistent categories of strengths and weaknesses were established and analyzed. Respondents could name principal strengths and weaknesses of their municipalities on the basis of their own perception. The purpose was to identify substantial developmental domains or problem characteristics in individual municipalities of the researched Euroregion. At the same, it has been found out to what extent optimistic or pessimistic moods are prevailing in individual municipalities of the Euroregion. The research question posed in the framework of this paper is as follows: what are the most frequently mentioned strengths of municipal development at Polish and Czech side of Euroregion Beskydy? The results brought an interesting difference in the perception of the municipal development within Euroregion Beskydy. Respondents on the Polish side of the Euroregion can be characterised by higher rate of scepticism when compared with their Czech counterparts. On the Czech side of the Euroregion, slightly optimistic view on municipal lives is prevailing.

Utilisation Versus Enshrinement: Sibling Conflict over Heritage in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” from an Anthropological Perspective

Through Mrs Johnson’s household, Alice Walker illustrates a microcosm of the Afro-American ethnic culture in the US. A victim of racial segregation and discrimination, Mrs Johnson remains a single parent with two daughters to look after, while living in a simple tin-roofed cottage located in a remote village. Despite her suffering from trauma caused by her previous house being burnt to ashes, she manages to play her role as a perseverant mother devoted to her two daughters, ancestors, religion, community, and above all her Afro-American ethnicity. The short story covers Mrs Johnson’s painful meeting with her younger daughter Dee after several years of absence from home, which spans over a couple of hours but enlightens her on what is happening to her Afro-American ethnic community in the process of sophistication achieved through the institutionalised form of education that Dee has already received. Dee’s repulsion against her new house which Mrs Johnson has qualms about, is ironically superimposed by her newly developed anthropological appreciation of the household goods of Afro-American ethnic character it shelters. Her passionate struggle to possess handmade items of ethnic value belonging to the house leads to a conflict between Dee and her sister Maggie who is backed by their mother Mrs Johnson. Her intervention in preserving the rights of Maggie appears to Dee as a retrogression in the current trends of ethnicity-inspired commodity culture. A headstrong outspoken woman by nature, Mrs Johnson reduces Dee’s condescending criticism to laughter and celebrates her victory over the new fashion-centric value system.

"Sandpaper. Yeah.”: Educators’ embodied insights into comprehensive sexual health education pedagogy

In this arts-informed inquiry, I examine Canadian sex educators’ embodied sense-making of comprehensive sexual health education (CSHE). I seek to understand how educators use their bodies to negotiate contested pedagogical terrain in order to gain insights into conflicting patterns observed in the literature, as well as to challenge how educators’ personal pedagogies may be implicated in uneven enactments of CSHE. Using sensory ethnographic principles, I focus inquiry on educators’ embodied experiences of contentious pedagogical practices, including the over-reliance on institutionalized forms of knowledge. I conceptualize their experiences as “interchange”— the sense of simultaneous bodily gaining and giving in response to the social-political demands of teaching CSHE. I analyze two focal experiences of interchange—namely, Feeling Right(s) and Be/ing Schooled—to highlight paradoxical frictions of educators’ personal and pedagogical anti-oppressive aims. Last, I utilize Maclaren’s concept of “unfreedom” to discuss addressing problematic CSHE practices as an intersubjective project.

“Churchill's Party”: A necessary experiment in personalization

AbstractAimThis article aims to determine the extent of “personalization” and “de‐institutionalization” within the Conservative Party in Britain during the period 1940–1945 when the Party was under the leadership of Winston Churchill.Materials and methodsThe article examines the different dimensions of “personalization” and “de‐institutionalization” as defined by Harmel, Svåsand, and Mjelde in this special edition. To do so, it uses a variety of sources including: internal party records, memoirs and biographies, contemporaneous diaries, letters to party leaders, and survey research undertaken by the organization Mass Observation.ResultsThe article identified that a limited degree of personalization took place during the period. This was largely in relation to the movement away from existing internal policy and procedures, especially those to do with electioneering. Evidence regarding other dimensions was mixed with a notable lack of change in the perceptions other parties and their leaders held about the Conservative Party.ConclusionThe article suggests that the personalization that occurred within the Party was largely a product of necessity, notably the unpopularity of the Conservative “brand” during World War II, compared to Churchill's own personal popularity, as well as the disruptions caused by the war itself. The article argues that this was enabled, to an extent, by the already high degree of latitude that the Conservative Party afforded its leaders. At the same time, the article notes the way in which defeat at the 1945 general election led to the Conservative Party “snapping back” to its pre‐war highly institutionalized form. Both findings highlight the extent to which electoral calculations were central to the process of personalization and its subsequent reverse.

Investigating Urban Inequities: Unveiling Women’s Struggle against Discrimination in Literary Narratives through a Feminist Lens

This scholarly investigation critically examines the nuanced challenges confronted by women in contemporary urban landscapes within the contextual framework of India. The study undertakes a comprehensive exploration of the ubiquitous discrimination encountered by women that extends beyond socioeconomic demarcations. The spectrum of challenges encompasses intricacies, such as economic disparages, societal norms, gender-based violence, and the overarching phenomenon denoted as the ‘feminization of poverty’.Within the purview of feminist analysis, this examination accentuates the imperative of recognizing and understanding the intersectionality inherent in the challenges confronting women in urban environments. The study underscores the interwoven nature of diverse forms of discrimination, shedding light on the complex interplay of factors that contribute to the perpetuation of gender-based disparities in urban settings. The socioeconomic underpinnings of discrimination are discerned through an exploration of economic disparities prevalent in urban spaces. This inquiry delves into the systemic barriers that impede women’s access to economic opportunities and financial resources, elucidating how such disparities contribute to the perpetuation of gender-based inequalities. Societal norms, as a focal point of analysis, are interrogated for their role in reinforcing discriminatory practices against women. The study scrutinizes the prevailing cultural and social norms that perpetuate gender roles and expectations, elucidating their impact on shaping the experiences of women in urban contexts. A paramount consideration in this analysis is the examination of gender-based violence as a pervasive manifestation of discrimination within urban settings. The research delves into the various forms of violence inflicted upon women, ranging from physical and psychological abuse to systemic and institutionalized forms of gender-based discrimination. Through this exploration, the study elucidates the deleterious effects of such violence on the overall well-being and agency of women in urban environments. The concept of the feminization of poverty is critically evaluated as a theoretical framework that encapsulates the gendered dimensions of poverty prevalent among women in urban locales. This examination contextualizes the multifaceted ways in which poverty disproportionately affects women, delineating the intricate relationship between economic deprivation and gender-based disparities. This academic endeavor therefore underscores the necessity of adopting a feminist lens to comprehensively analyze and address the challenges faced by women in contemporary urban settings in India. By highlighting the intersectionality of these challenges, the study seeks to contribute to an enhanced understanding of the complex dynamics that underscore women’s experiences in urban environments. Moreover, the research emphasizes the resilience and collective agency demonstrated by women in their concerted efforts to reshape urban spaces towards inclusivity and empowerment.

On Advantage or Disadvantage of Academic Scholarship for Life

The article with allusions on Nietzsche’s provocation about history lessons proposes an interdisciplinary approach to academic scholarship considered as a special cultural and organizational form of advanced studies aimed at professional development or skill exchange, which have influence on human being in contemporary societies involved in the process of globalization. The theoretical conceptualization of institutionalized forms of scholarships and internships is analyze in connection with its practical representation and economical allocation. Pathological representations of academic scholarship as an end in itself are unveiled as a kind of conspicuous consumptions symbolizing the status position or exclusivity on the borders between academic community and mass-media. The purpose of this article is to explicate some representations of academic scholarship in the contexts of the academic capitalism searching the way of overcoming its utilitarian limitations with universal ethical imperatives. To realize such a purpose, phenomenological reduction is applied in combination with the biographical method. Assumptions made in the article are verified on biographical fragments of curriculum vitae of influential sociologists such as Ralf Dahrendorf and Niklas Luhmann, because the social and professional self-realization and revision of the life-priorities of them was due in many aspects to academic scholarship gained by different ways but with success, especially in the field of educational policy and in the case of establishing democracy in the process of post-totalitarian transformation in Germany. This experience can be useful for Ukraine as well. The phenomenon of the cultural shock and its influence on visiting scholars is explicated. The role of communication between epistemic cultures is emphasized on by overcoming epistemic injustice and establishing academic integrity.

Children’s participation matters: a step towards institutional and legal innovation in Spain

Abstract Since its adoption in 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has had a significant impact on multilevel legislation regarding children’s rights. This research aims to examine the Spanish legislation on childhood and adolescence in four autonomous communities and in the central state. To achieve this objective, a sociological neoinstitutionalist approach and qualitative methodology based on content analysis and coding using MAXQDA software in its 2022 version were employed. The study focused on the language of the rules, objectives, system of governance, and participation as the main variables. The analysis allowed for an understanding of the discourse and degree of development of these variables. The results of this research reveal the importance of CRC and its influence on national legislation. Additionally, the emphasis on protection policies for the creation of a sphere for children and adolescents is noteworthy. Lastly, the instruments of participation vary but tend to take institutionalized forms. This research contributes to our understanding of the impact of CRC and its influence on childhood and adolescence legislation in Spain.

The Underground Railroad: main aspects of operation

The relevance of the research topic. Wherever slavery existed, people attempted to escape, and American history is no exception. Sometimes such efforts took on organized and institutionalized forms, a notable example of which is the so-called Underground Railroad, a secret and organized system of resistance to enslavement by facilitating the escape of African Americans to northern states and other territories. In the chosen context of the research, the Underground Railroad can rightfully be considered one of the first mass movements for human rights not only in the United States, but also in the world.The purpose of the research is to reveal the main aspects of the functioning of the Underground Railroad, since this problem is extremely poorly covered by domestic science.The research is based on a scientific analysis of biographical data, literary sources, legal documents, materials from periodicals and has been carried out by applying the principle of historicism, comparative historical, problem-chronological, biographical and descriptive methods.The research results demonstrate that, in order to prevent human trafficking, individuals, families, and communities with anti-slavery attitude created preconditions for the formation of a large-scale institutionalized system that stretched from the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario east to the Atlantic coast, south to Florida and the Caribbean, and west to the border enclaves of Kansas, Texas, and Mexico.On the basis of the research results, it has been concluded that the term «Underground Railroad», although it does not reflect the specifics of its activities, denotes a very real historical phenomenon. The organization and activities of the Underground Railroad became an important component in the difficult task of eradicating slavery in the United States.

Solidarity and reciprocity during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal qualitative interview study from Germany.

While solidarity practices were important in mitigating the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, their limits became evident as the pandemic progressed. Taking a longitudinal approach, this study analyses German residents' changing perceptions of solidarity practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and examines potential reasons for these changes. Adults living in Germany were interviewed in April 2020 (n = 46), October 2020 (n = 43) and October 2021 (n = 40) as part of the SolPan Research Commons, a large-scale, international, qualitative, longitudinal study uniquely situated in a major global public health crisis. Interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. While solidarity practices were prominently discussed and positively evaluated in April 2020, this initial enthusiasm waned in October 2020 and October 2021. Yet, participants still perceived solidarity as important for managing the pandemic and called for institutionalized forms of solidarity in October 2020 and October 2021. Reasons for these changing perceptions of solidarity included (i) increasing personal and societal costs to act in solidarity, (ii) COVID-19 policies hindering solidarity practices, and (iii) a perceived lack of reciprocity as participants felt that solidarity practices from the state were not matching their individual efforts. Maintaining solidarity contributes to maximizing public health during a pandemic. Institutionalized forms of solidarity to support those most in need contribute to perceived reciprocity among individuals, which might increase their motivation to act in solidarity. Thus, rather than calling for individual solidarity during times of crisis, authorities should consider implementing sustaining solidarity-based social support systems that go beyond immediate crisis management.

The Role of Anglo-Saxon Countries in Maintaining the American-led Order in the Indo-Pacific Region

The analysis is based on theoretical assumptions characteristic of the multi-order world by Trine Flockhart concept. The main factor influencing the situation in the Indo-Pacific region is the conflict between two international orders, Chinese-led and American-led, which is economic but may take a military form in the future. The practical limitations of the article result from the complex process of analyzing and forecasting political phenomena in statu nascendi. The analysis contributes to the scientific discussion on the future of international relations in the Indo-Pacific region. The American-led order in the Indo-Pacific region is based on the institutionalized forms of cooperation involving Anglo-Saxon states based on identity factors determining their effectiveness. The US strategy for the Indo-Pacific is mainly based on the network of partnerships with the region’s countries and countries from other parts of the world supporting the American-led order in the region, especially the Anglo-Saxon countries. In addition to identity factors, the positive long-term experience of military cooperation between the Anglo-Saxon countries is significant. The escalation of the global conflict between the US and China will be conducive to further tightening this cooperation.