Genuine Voice Research Articles

The Intersection of Feminist Psychoanalysis and Literature: A Critical Examination of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s "The Yellow Wallpaper"

This paper explores Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar" and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" through a feminist psychoanalytical lens, uncovering how Freudian theories have perpetuated gender biases. By examining the themes of hypocrisy and ontological insecurity, this analysis reveals the profound impact of societal expectations on women's mental well-being. The relationship between the two works and feminine writing and the way they both undermine conventional narrative formations while presenting genuine voices of women is also explored in the analysis. Last, this paper also examines the ongoing significance of "The Bell Jar" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" in feminist and women's mental health contexts, emphasizing their continued relevance today.

The Impact Of Social Media On Consumer Behavior And Its Implications For Business Growth

Social media has had a significant influence on consumer behavior and corporate growth since its inception in the late 1990s. Mostly used websites like Facebook and Twitter, which transformed online communication and information sharing, were made possible by early platformes like Friendster and Six Degrees. Social media became even more accessible as smartphone usage increased in the 2010s, which fueled the growth of influencer culture and brand communities. Peer reviews and genuine voices are now trusted by consumers, which has shifted power away from brands and highlighted the value of real-time feedback and tailored marketing. Improved customer relationship management, better marketing techniques, and insightful data have all resulted from this evolution for firms. Through direct audience engagement, improved brand reputation management, and market exploration, businesses can propel growth in a highly competitive environment. The advanced function of social media in shaping consumer behavior and its ensuing effects on corporate success are examined in this article. Social media's ongoing development is changing how customers find, assess, and buy goods. Through an analysis of recent data and trends, this study demonstrates the ways in which social media influences brand loyalty, purchase decisions, and general consumer participation. According to the research, companies that successfully use social media can improve their market visibility, cultivate clientele, and increase revenues

When authoritarian innovations fail: Labour governance in Myanmar's reform era and beyond

The concept of authoritarian innovations provides a means of interpreting labour governance practices that claim to uphold democratic values and international labour standards while restricting labour participation and genuine voice in the workplace. Two underexplored dimensions of this literature are (a) how authoritarian practices are utilised by power elites in ‘hybrid’ state formations and (b) under what conditions they may be discarded in favour of a return to direct forms of coercion and violence. In this article, we examine these questions with reference to Myanmar, where there was a decade of experimentation with democracy before a reversion to military-dominated authoritarian rule in February 2021. In the first half of that decade, space opened under a military-led government for decidedly more democratic labour relations, although labour governance reforms were designed and operationalised in ways that constrained the strength and reach of trade unions. In the second half, a democratically elected civilian-led government presided over the contraction of the space available to organised labour. By tracking the alignment of meso-level authoritarian practices against the changing macro-level character of Myanmar's political landscape, this article contributes to theoretical debates within the emerging literature on authoritarian innovations in labour governance.

Colonial Resistance and Cultural Revival: Insights from African Postcolonial Writings

The impact of colonization on native cultural life, modernization, and anticolonial nationalism led African writers to reflect on colonial encounters and their effects on social, economic, and cultural aspects. They felt tension between traditional and colonial values, seeking to re-discover cultural roots. Through a critical evaluation of the significant works by key African postcolonial writers such as Cyprian Ekwensi, D. O. Fagunwa, J. P. Clark, Ngugi wa Thiongo, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and others, this article seeks to explore how these African authors have dealt with the issue of colonial encounter in their writings. The focus is also on highlighting how these African authors have voiced their opposition to colonial legacies and have actively engaged in the resuscitation and celebration of local customs and cultural heritage through their writings in the postcolonial era. This research highlights the significant role that literature has in creating and expressing postcolonial African consciousness by analysing topics such as resistance, identity, tradition, and cultural pride. The study also examines how these literary contributions have actively questioned and dismantled colonial narratives, creating an opportunity for the genuine voices of African nations to emerge and thrive.

It matters to be heard: Increasing the citizen acceptance of low-carbon technologies in the Netherlands and United Kingdom

The deployment of low-carbon technologies such as carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) and onshore wind is essential to mitigate climate change, but may be met with resistance from local residents. In two experimental surveys (Study 1: Dutch citizens, N = 395; Study 2: United Kingdom citizens, N = 240) we investigated the importance of the quality of the voice opportunity offered to local residents in the decision-making process for acceptance of CCUS (Study 1) and onshore wind (Study 2) projects. Participants read a scenario in which they were asked to put themselves in the position of a resident in a town near which a project developer planned to implement a CCUS or onshore wind project. Depending on the experimental condition, participants read that they, as local residents, could voice their opinion and that their input was considered (genuine voice) or was not considered (pseudo voice) by the developer, or that they could not voice their opinion (no voice). As predicted, giving local residents a genuine voice opportunity resulted in higher project acceptance compared to giving a pseudo voice or no voice opportunity, due to an increase in perceived procedural fairness and trust in the project developer. Results further showed that giving a pseudo voice opportunity can be equally detrimental as giving no voice opportunity at all. The findings underline the importance of genuine voice opportunities and show that policymakers and project developers should avoid voice opportunities where residents' input is seemingly ignored.

European Youth Dialogue as a Governmental Technology: Construction of the Youth Voice

In recent years, the EU Youth Dialogue (EUYD) gained significant popularization as an important political mechanism through which young people in dialogue with policymakers from the local to the EU level jointly formulate youth policies. In an ethnographic study of the sixth cycle of the EUYD, I applied the Foucauldian analytics of government to analyze how the voice was constructed. In contrast to the representations that EUYD annuls hierarchies and offers a space for equal discussion between young people and policymakers, thus producing a genuine voice, I argue that the construction of the voice is always under the influence of various power relations that form specific voices. I illuminate how, through concrete techniques and micro-practices, EUYD worked as a disciplinary technology that sought a docile voice of the youth and at the same time offered a space for shaping the subjectivity of young delegates as active and responsible EU citizens.

Deep Learning based DFWF Model for Audio Spoofing Attack Detection

One of the biggest threats in the speaker verification system is that of fake audio attacks. Over the years several detection approaches have been introduced that were designed to provide efficient and spoof-proof data-specific scenarios. However, the speaker verification system is still exposed to fake audio threats. Hence to address this issue, several authors have proposed methodologies to retrain and finetune the input data. The drawback with retraining and fine-tuning is that retraining requires high computation resources and time while fine-tuning results in degradation of performance. Moreover, in certain situations, the previous data becomes unavailable and cannot be accessed immediately. In this paper, we have proposed a solution that detects fake without continual-learning based methods and fake detection without forgetting in order to develop a new model which is capable of detecting spoofing attacks in an incremental fashion. In order to retain original model memory, knowledge distillation loss is introduced. In several scenarios, the distribution of genuine voice is said to be very consistent. In several scenarios, there is consistency in distribution of genuine voice hence a similarity loss is embedded additionally to perform a positive sample alignment. The output of the proposed work indicates an error rate reduction of up to 80% as observed and recorded.

Embedding 21st century employability into assessment and feedback practice through a student-staff partnership

Although commonly thought to be only a measure of academic performance, assessments can also provide students with an opportunity to apply skills and knowledge acquired at university into written literacies that prepare them for the transition into prospective careers. Within a Level 2 Microbiology and Immunology course, students struggled to engage with standalone timetabled careers-related sessions, yet they showed enthusiasm when employability was embedded into assessments. A staff-student partnership project explored these issues, with the overall aim of understanding how to effectively embed employability skills into assessment and feedback, which supports the theme of supporting students to position themselves for the future. Through student-run focus groups, this project investigated the reasons for low student engagement with the timetabled employability session and used student views to develop digital initiatives that could be applied to assessment and feedback practice with an emphasis on developing 21st-century competencies. These initiatives were then implemented as pre-session self-directed activities, which helped students link course feedback with employment skills and future career planning, followed by a newly developed in-class reflective feedback session that allowed students time to consider what skills they have developed and make links with future careers. Project evaluation was conducted using a quantitative survey of students involved. This project aims to make feedback more meaningful and better valued by students. The approaches were designed in partnership with former students from the course, this project possesses the unique ability to deliver a genuine student voice both on employability concerns and the role of assessment.

The Fragility of Liberal Democracy: A Schmittian Response to the Constitutional Crisis in South Korea (1948–79)

AbstractWhat is the legal source of legitimacy in political authority? This pressing question made a striking appearance on the South Korean scene when, since its inception in 1948, a popular backlash against a liberal democracy perceived as foreign and unjuridical erupted in the forms of terror, insurgency, mutiny, and putsch. Park Chung Hee's successful assumption of power through his 1961 coup d’état provided an implicit response, recasting the Korean concepts of legality and legitimacy. Han T'ae Yŏn was a key figure in this national dispute. Armed with Carl Schmitt's canon, Han gave a decisive verdict on how Korean liberal democracy had been eclipsed under the two spuriously liberal governments of Syngman Rhee and Chang Myŏn. His legal apology for Park's authoritarian constitutional regime echoed Schmitt's defense of the Führer by invoking the president as an incarnation of the will of the people as a whole. This article intends to revisit Schmitt's accusation of judicial positivism for its failure to deliver a genuine voice of the people in the case of a non-Western society.

Considering the youth voice: needs and asset assessment in sport for development using photovoice

With the growth of sport for development (SFD), it is increasingly important to ensure that programmes are intentionally designed to meet the needs of the communities they serve, in a way that helps build community capacity. Still, many programmes have been criticised for not considering the voices of marginalised individuals, specifically youth programme recipients, in the planning and development of SFDprogrammes. Additionally, programmes are developed from a deficit approach where only the needs or negative aspects of the community are being considered in the planning and development of programming. With these issues in mind, the purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of photovoice as a strategic tool to give youth a voice in SFD needs and asset assessment. Additionally, it examined how practitioners can utilize the outcomes of a needs and asset assessment in planning and implementing SFD programming. The results highlight the assets and challenges that the youth participants identified and the practical use of the assessment from the perspective of programme administrators. The results suggest that photovoice can allow youth programme participants to have a genuine voice in programme development.

The well‐being and voice of migrant workers in participatory organizational interventions

AbstractOrganizational interventions that draw on participatory processes to tap into the views of workers can benefit both the health of workers and their organizations. However, the frameworks used to develop participatory organizational interventions are often described in a generic, ‘one‐size‐fits‐all’ manner. Considering the specific needs of diverse groups such as migrants is important, given current migration rates globally. Using the literature of migrant voice, cross‐cultural management, organizational change and organizational intervention, this paper extends the research by applying theoretical insights into identify specific strategies that enable migrant workers to have a genuine voice in organizational interventions. The paper further contributes to the literature by proposing a participatory intervention framework that organizations can implement to maximize the voice of migrant workers and subsequently improve their well‐being. The directions of future organizational intervention research involving migrant workers and implications for integration policy, integration support systems and unionization are discussed.

Un] Silencing the Genuine Voices of Young Emerging Scholars on Challenges Facing Young Academics in South African Universities

There is a clear systemic motive to silence and undermine the genuine voices of young academics in comprehensive South African universities. The foregoing manifests in various ways including gate-keeping publishing techniques. Senior academics do not emphasize the significance of ‘publish or perish’ mantra as needed and on time for young emerging academics. This continued invidious practice is further perpetuated by the circulating scholarly reports and the media-alike which intentionally do not pay too much attention to this ongoing injustice. Where such is reported, it is often not given too much attention, or rather side-lined and even critiqued. This research article seeks to revisit all the various challenges facing young emerging scholars in South African universities. Due to complicated ethical reasons, the author does not dwell much on pin-pointing universities one by one. Also, this is because the problem seems to be a country-wide systemic instigation to undermine the new emerging voices of young emerging scholars who were previously marginalized and kicked out of the apartheid research system. I, therefore, adopt Afrocentricity as a theoretical lens to challenge the perpetuation of this continued intentional and discriminatory practice against publishing whilst young.

A Proposal for Four Key Reforms to New Zealand's Labour Law

This paper proposes four key reforms intended to reinforce and support the fundamental values that should underlie any contemporary system of employment law. The reforms support and enhance the key objects of the Employment Relations Act 2000 stated in s 3 and specifically support and recognise sub-objects that recognise “(ii) the inherent inequality of power in employment relationships”, and those of “(iii) promoting collective bargaining” and “(iv) protecting the integrity of individual choice.” The proposals build on the positive changes to employment law made by the Employment Relations Act 2000 and in particular its pluralistic vision of labour relations including the broad statutory duty of good faith and the restoration of trade unions as the primary form of worker representation. They also are intended to promote, in the context of the twenty-first century, something of the pluralist vision that was the philosophical foundation of the arbitration system by promoting genuine pluralism and effective worker voice and to reassert that workers are not a commodity and are entitled to the full benefits and rights of citizens in a democratic country.

Deep Learning Serves Voice Cloning: How Vulnerable Are Automatic Speaker Verification Systems to Spoofing Trials?

This article verifies the reliability of automatic speaker verification (ASV) systems on new synthesis methods based on deep neural networks. ASV systems are widely used and applied regarding secure and effective biometric authentication. On the other hand, the rapid deployment of ASV systems contributes to the increased attention of attackers with newer and more sophisticated spoofing methods. Until recently, speech synthesis of the reference speaker did not seriously compromise the latest ASV systems. This situation is changing with the deployment of deep neural networks into the synthesis process. Projects including WaveNet, Deep Voice, Voice Loop, and many others generate very natural and high-quality speech that may clone voice identity. We are slowly approaching an era where we will not be able to recognize a genuine voice from a synthesized one. Therefore, it is necessary to define the robustness of current ASV systems to new methods of voice cloning. In this article, well-known SVM and GMM as well as new CNN-based ASVs are applied and subjected to synthesized speech from Tacotron 2 with the WaveNet TTS system. The results of this work confirm our concerns regarding the reliability of ASV systems against synthesized speech.

Ethiopia’s Justice System Reform at Crossroads: Impediments relating to Institutional Continuity, Ethnic Politics and the Land Regime

Ethiopia’s Justice System Reform Program has not achieved the pledges that were promised since 2002. One of the sources for the impediments was ‘revolutionary democracy’ because its ‘democratic’ limb represented the pursuits of justice system reform while its ‘revolutionary’ limb caused impediments to the reform. This involves various manifestations of ‘revolutionary democracy’ which include institutional discontinuity, ethnic politics and reluctance to land reform. Disruptions owing to periodic changes in institutional structures (and mandates) adversely affect institutional memory and continuity in Ethiopia’s justice system reform. The second impediment relates to problems in law and order owing to the risky experiment in ethnic politics that has nurtured ethnic radicalism and hostilities along linguistic lines thereby creating pressures on the justice sector. It has also impeded attainments in the first two dimensions of good governance, (i.e. voice and accountability) because genuine voice of citizens envisages rational choice as opposed to ethnicity. The third trap which is among the manifestations of ‘revolutionary democracy’ involves rigidity against reforming Ethiopia’s land law which has handcuffed broad-based economic performance thereby impairing the resource base of all reform pursuits (including justice system reform). The way forward thus envisages not only addressing the external manifestations of the problems in the justice system, but also requires directly addressing the root causes of the impediments. Key terms Justice system reform · Good governance · Nation building · Land tenure security; Ethnic politics · Ethiopia

Mahesh Dattani’s Tara: A Critical Study of Gender and Social Discrimination

Mahesh Dattani is a well known Indian English dramatist. He was born in 1958 in Bangalore, India. He is resourceful theatre artist, a drama teacher, stage director and a good dancer. He was awarded with the prestigious Sahitya Academy Award for his plays; Final Solutions and Other Plays. It is the first Indian dramatist who received this eminent award. Apart from this, he wrote many plays like Dance like a Man, Bravely Fought the Queen, Tara, Where There’s a Will, Thirty Days in September, On a Muggy Night in Mumbai, The Tale of a Mother Feeling Her Child, Complete Plays, (it holds 8 plays), Morning Raja, Collected Plays 2 Vol., Collected Plays. The themes of gender discrimination and social upheavals keep a lot of implication in his plays. He is a very strong and genuine voice of the middle class society in India. Most of the characters of his plays belong to the middle and lower class family. He deals the issues of societal construct of gender, the position of patriarchy, the dilemma and problems of homosexuals, the institution of marriage, the hypocrisy of the middle class and some other which are directly related to the middle class sensibility. There is expression of everyday events. He does not endeavour to present an unfeasible realism.Discrimination, Feminism, Patriarchy, Inequality

Is Scoring Helpful Feedback for Writing Tasks? An Examination of Teachers’ Beliefs

Understanding teachers’ beliefs about scoring procedures can be beneficial for educators in order to understand factors including challenges the teachers face when dealing with writing evaluation. This study investigated teachers’ beliefs about scoring procedures through the narrative approach. Their stories were revealed through repertory grid interviews based on the Personal Construct Theory. The method encouraged teachers to think more critically when expressing their beliefs, so their genuine voices and experiences could be revealed. Two native and two non-native English-speaking teachers at the university level were interviewed about their methods of assigning scores when evaluating an essay. The interviews revealed that several factors, such as learning, practicality, experience, objectivity, and confidence could influence teachers’ beliefs when deciding which scoring procedures to use. The challenges that educators might face when giving feedback were also discussed.

The Changing Paradigm of Pacific Regional Politics

Analyses of recent developments in Pacific regional politics have emphasized the role of ideas and new thinking about how the Pacific should engage in global and regional diplomacy (the so-called ‘paradigm shift’). These ideas include the call for regional self-determination, the claim that Pacific island states need to engage more assertively in global diplomacy, the call for a ‘genuine Pacific voice’ to be heard in global forums, recognition that a ‘one region approach’ need not be the best approach, the reconfiguring of diplomatic alliances to leverage Pacific island positions better in global forums, and embracing non-state actors as equal partners. The importance of this paradigm shift is that it challenges many prevailing stereotypes and assumptions about Pacific islands diplomacy. It recognizes and facilitates choices and alternatives. It emphasizes the imperative of being proactive and of taking responsibility for the challenges facing the Pacific islands; and being creative in finding solutions. This is a fundamentally empowering transformation. But in order to understand where this might lead, it is necessary to explore where this transformation has so far played out. Case studies at the national, regional and global levels give insights into the impact and potential of the new Pacific diplomacy.

Book Review: Visionary Pragmatism: Radical & Ecological Democracy in Neoliberal Times by Romand Coles

Romand Coles Visionary Pragmatism: Radical & Ecological Democracy in Neoliberal Times, Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016; 240 pp.: ISBN 0822360640, 19.99 [pounds sterling] Is it possible to think in an age of new praxeology? Romand Coles offers undeniable paths to praxeology through his book that transcends the binary oppositions of theory and praxis. It attempts to listen to the multiple understandings on environmental systems through complexity theory. It reflects on the global environmental theories as well as practices through the melange of contemporary theory and praxis. It attempts to unveil some of the nuances that exist between political theory, democracy and new forms of social movements. Broadly, it maps the assertions that seek to unravel the question of the anthropocene. It delves into novel, agrarian thoughts and alternative politics that emerged around the larger, global questions on food. One of the significant arguments of Coles' undeniable endeavour is that one need not fall into the trap of communitarian and essentialist politics while seeking alternative routes to agrarian and environmental reflections. Indigenous thinking that looks for a better future is discussed in this context to spell out the strength/weakness of resistance to dominant ideologies of environmentalism. Global theory becomes the last resort of Coles, to reach the labyrinth of praxis. For instance, Coles engages with Stuart Kauffman's theory of self-organization in order to expand and understand the radical environmental thinking in America. Receptive democracy is foregrounded as a way to undermine a dominant resonance machine and to reach at the intercorporeal resonance. Nondeterminist engagement with neuroscience perspectives is therefore one of the daunting theoretical moves in Coles' approach. What are the meaningful meanderings via which one can attain sensible ecological democracy? Is it possible to capture the resonance of radical receptive democracy, and if so, what are the theoretical grooves that are waiting for the politically sensitive world? The position adopted is near to current anarchist modulations. One of the vital Colean interventions here is his attempt to have a critical rereading of pedagogy and rethinking it in terms of alternative anti-status quo politics. It is important to understand the rightwing politics of education that thrives on the notion of efficiency and espouses the genuine political voices from the campus. Broadly, Coles raises a penetrating critique of the neoliberal doxas that lead to the corporatization of life forms. Drawing on the understanding of Cornel West, Coles invokes the idea of everyday democracy which is capable of accommodating the displacements of agentic energy. Current forms of power are analysed through the notions of resonance, mega-circulation and complex systems dynamics. Coles' open-ended praxeology thus oscillates between the academic and social movement worlds. Thus, it does not differentiate the experiential and intellectual divide and tries to forge an ecology of multiple, political voices. In doing so, it initiates the recovery of aforementioned centrifugal voices. This is the discourse of the anti-globalization movements that have enriched global theory and practices. However, a return to the classical thinkers who argued for the succinct distinction of theory and praxis has been replaced by scholars as well as activists across the globe. The importance of Coles' intervention lies in its broad approach to analysing metanarratives, as well as sceptical voices raised in a holistic manner, rather than detaching these from those theoretical and practice-based conflicts. …

Digital Portfolios in Action: Acknowledging Student Voice and Metacognitive Understanding in Art

ABSTRACTStudents need a genuine voice in the content, process, outcome, and assessment of their learning so they can take ownership of their education (Jaquith and Hathaway 2012). Digital art portfolios allow students to research, document, and reflect on the development and assessment of their learning. Unlike traditional portfolios, which typically emphasize product, the use of digital portfolios as a process portfolio for learning has the potential to increase autonomy, experimentation, and allow the student to tell the story of their learning; to be metacognitive about their work (Berrett 2005). For the purposes of our research, we are defining metacognitive as awareness or analysis of one's own learning or thinking processes. The key elements of traditional paper portfolios include: collecting, selecting, reflecting, directing/goals, and presenting/celebrating. The use of technology adds to that list the processes of archiving, linking/thinking, storytelling, collaborating, sharing, and publishing (Barrett 2005). This paper examines how online digital portfolios provide a platform to promote students’ metacognitive skills and direct their learning.