Good Guys Research Articles

“They Put Themselves in Danger, Girls Like That”: Ezekiel 16 and Promising Young Woman

This article pairs the worst of the biblical marriage metaphor texts, Ezekiel 16, with a feminist film about sexual violence, Promising Young Woman (2020). Strikingly, the God of Ezekiel 16 acts in ways that closely resemble the would-be rapists and “good guys” of Promising Young Woman. Furthermore, the portraits of female revenge in Promising Young Woman and Ana Lily Amirpour's A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) suggest new ways of reading the seemingly monolithic gender violence of text.

Be a boundaryless good guy! How job embeddedness mediates and organizational identification moderates the associations of boundaryless career attitude with extra-role behaviours

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the mediating role of job embeddedness and the moderating role of organizational identification on the relationships between boundaryless career attitude and extra-role behaviours (i.e. organizational citizenship behaviours and counterproductive work behaviours).Design/methodology/approachA two-wave study was carried out on 296 employees from public and private organizations in Italy. Boundaryless career attitude, organizational identification and demographics were measured at Time 1. Four months later (Time 2), job embeddedness, organizational citizenship behaviours and counterproductive work behaviours were assessed. Responses were analysed by means of multigroup structural equation modelling.FindingsJob embeddedness mediated the positive relationship between boundaryless career attitude and counterproductive work behaviours, as well as its negative association with organizational citizenship behaviours; organizational identification buffered this latter indirect effect.Practical implicationsOrganizations can promote stronger organizational identification and job embeddedness to retain boundaryless-oriented talent and foster positive extra-role behaviours.Originality/valueThis study integrated the protean/boundaryless careers literature with organizational behaviour theories to examine contextual factors influencing the effects of these contemporary career attitudes.

Good Guys Became Bad Guys? Changing Representations of Asians and Other Races in Crime News During COVID-19

During COVID-19, Asian Americans were perceived as a threat to the American society, which could have led to heightened media scrutiny and a shift in media portrayals. This study examines this question with a quantitative analysis of crime stories sampled from five newspapers (2019–2021). Our results suggested that large-scale social events such as COVID-19 might have transformed media representations of Asians and other racial groups, with noteworthy variability: (a) When considering all types of crimes, during the pandemic, news about lawbreaking activities by Asian perpetrators almost doubled that of before-COVID period. No significant change was uncovered in the coverage of Asian victims. (b) However, on two types of crimes—“crimes against persons” and “violent crimes”—that have more newsworthiness and social import, stories about Asian victims during the COVID-19 were higher than those of the before-COVID period. (c) When comparing media representations with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data, the percentage of Asian perpetrators and victims in newspapers did not differ from that of the FBI in 2019 and 2020; however, Asians were overrepresented as victims in 2021.

Building Peace after Self-Determination and Partition: Faulty Assumptions?

Abstract Since the 1990s, scholars have debated whether partition, the most radical solution to ethnic conflicts, promotes peace or not. Drawing on the peacebuilding and war recurrence literature, I contribute to this debate by theorizing reasons that newly independent states emerging from partition are likely to suffer from new conflicts between former pro-independence allies. At the domestic level, former pro-independence groups, assumed to be a unitary actor by partition proponents, are likely to fragment as their unity was based on achieving the goal of independence. Furthermore, newly independent states tend to suffer from very weak institutions, and citizens develop strong frustrations toward their new states because their unrealistically high expectations are unmet. At the international level, international peacebuilders tend to wrongly assume that the unity within the pro-independence camp will last after independence and that the pro-independence people are essentially “good guys.” As a result, they often misunderstand the post-conflict political dynamics of new states, which reduces the effectiveness of their peacebuilding efforts. My arguments are illustrated through analyzing why Timor-Leste and South Sudan, the closest to typical partition cases in the twenty-first century, faced the 2006 Crisis and the 2013 Civil War, respectively.

Good guys with good apples. The moderating role of moral competence on the association between moral disengagement and organizational behaviours

ObjectiveConsistently with Bandura's theory of moral disengagement, we examined if moral disengagement predicted employees’ counterproductive work behaviours and organizational citizenship behaviours, also assessing moral competence as a moderator that, at higher values, could mitigate the positive association with counterproductive work behaviours and mitigate the negative association with organizational citizenship behaviours. MethodFive hundred eighty-three Italian employees completed a time-lagged online survey including the following measures: Work Moral Disengagement Scale (Fida, Paciello et al., 2015), Moral Competence Test (Lind, 1985), Counterproductive Work Behavior Checklist (Spector et al., 2006), Organizational Citizenship Behavior Scale (Podsakoff et al., 1990). Associations between variables were examined via multiple linear regressions with bootstrapping, while the interactions were probed through the Johnson-Neyman technique. ResultsMoral disengagement is positively related to counterproductive work behaviours and negatively related to organizational citizenship behaviours. Furthermore, the association between moral disengagement and counterproductive work behaviours is moderated by moral competence, with a significant positive association only at lower levels of the moderator. ConclusionWe demonstrated for the first time the potentially significant role played by moral competence as a moderator that could reduce the negative effects of moral disengagement on deviant and unethical organizational behaviours, discussing our results in light of available evidence and theory, and elaborating on practical implications.

Film Genres after #MeToo: Promising Young Woman as a Rape-Revenge Film and a Rom-Com

Abstract From 2017 on, the #MeToo movement has resulted in a set of new perspectives and narratives in cinema; narratives, which, so far, have only ever been presented from and for the point of view of the male gaze. A special case in this process is Emerald Fennel’s 2020 directorial debut, Promising Young Woman. This essay argues that the film not only capitalizes on rape-revenge genre clichés, but it also relies on the tropes of romantic comedy traditions to give a sharp critique of the cultural climate that tolerates, denies, and normalizes rape. The subversion of the male gaze, the centrality of morality in revenge, and the avoidance of the spectacle of female suffering align Promising Young Woman with the rape-revenge genre. At the same time, the film’s take on the Hollywood myth of the likeable and harmless “good guy” highlights the role of classical romantic comedy conventions in perpetuating rape culture. (ZSOR)

At War with Corruption: A Biography of Bill Price, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma by Michael J. Hightower

Reviewed by: At War with Corruption: A Biography of Bill Price, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma by Michael J. Hightower Aaron Bachhofer At War with Corruption: A Biography of Bill Price, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. By Michael J. Hightower. Foreword by Frank Keating. (Norman, Okla.: 2 Cities Press, 2021. Pp. xx, 466. $29.95, ISBN 978-0-9847056-3-4.) The idea that corruption and chicanery were both frequent and familiar to Oklahomans remains a widely accepted perception of the state’s political history. Proponents posit that residents tolerated this “Soonerism” out of a misplaced sense of prairie populism, general apathy, or genuine ignorance of modern protocol (p. xiii). In At War with Corruption: A Biography of Bill Price, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, independent historian Michael J. Hightower challenges that perception, arguing that Oklahomans were not tolerant of corruption. Rather, he asserts, the structure of state and local governments made corruption much too easy to institute and terribly difficult to eliminate. To support this notion, Hightower introduces readers to the political life of his friend William S. “Bill” Price, who served as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1989 and who spent the vast majority of his public and private life seeking to end political malfeasance in Oklahoma. A native Oklahoman who saw corruption as a threat to the legitimacy of state and national institutions, Bill Price forged ahead in political circles with an enviable fortitude and a sense of fairness that governed his entire public career. Educated at Georgetown University and the University of Oklahoma, Price was a devout Catholic convert and a proud family man. After his tenure as a U.S. Attorney, he mounted unsuccessful campaigns for the governorship and a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, built a successful law practice, and advocated for criminal justice reform in Oklahoma. His reputation for honesty, hard work, and sharp intellect led his campaign manager and fellow political animal, Tom Cole, to remark that Price was “the best governor Oklahoma never had” (p. x). Aside from Price’s formative years, Hightower details, in abbreviated strokes, the painful series of political cancers that have plagued the Sooner State since its birth: the dispossession and murder of Indigenous Americans; the 1923 impeachment of the anti-Klan governor Jack Walton; the Oklahoma Supreme Court payola scandal of 1964; State Treasurer Leo Winters’s financial issues; and Governor David Hall’s extortion conviction, events that made national news regularly throughout the twentieth century. A significant part of the narrative’s second half focuses on Price’s prosecution of the Oklahoma county commissioner scandal—often called “Okscam” in state and federal circles. Hightower relates that the pervasiveness and normalization of county corruption stunned Price. Powerful county commissioners took bribes—often in exchange for awarding contracts—and the costs of their corruption were passed on to taxpayers. The fact that Price became the lead prosecutor ferreting out these crimes from his federal post illustrated a central weakness in Oklahoma law—the lack of multicounty grand jury systems that gave state prosecutors more discretion in their pursuit of justice. The scandal made Oklahoma a national political joke, but it encouraged officials to pursue much needed reforms in government purchasing and accountability. Price spent the rest of his tenure as U.S. Attorney investigating [End Page 396] drug cartels, bank fraud, corruption at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, and other odious situations. Readers will find firsthand information included in these pages from Oklahoma political legends like G. T. Blankenship, Henry Bellmon, Frank Keating, Gene Stipe, and Tom Cole—men who helped shape politics in the state for upwards of seventy-five years. Most of the key “good guys” are included here—those who helped Price pursue wrongdoing or provided him with invaluable guidance during his political career. But Hightower’s narrative is missing a wider engagement with sources who might have been critical of Price, or at least those who challenged his commitment to law and order, which would have offered more balance. Hightower should be commended for offering readers a powerful, raw look at politics...

Incident at Vichy

Incident at Vichy

Talking to Children About War

Abstract How should we talk to children about war? The basic story we tell them is that the world is split into good guys and bad guys, and that sometimes we have to kill the bad guys for the sake of justice. These stories of heroic killing teach children to train their attention on violence, and to interpret that violence as just or good. I show how this basic story – which also motivates much of our philosophical thinking about the morality of war and killing, mostly notably just war theory – makes it difficult for us to consider and evaluate pacific alternatives. If we are to give children the space to develop their imagination, so that they can more genuinely engage with the possibilities of nonviolence and peace, then we must learn to tell a different story.

Stay True: Use consequences to promote honesty

When my son Ron was young, I told him not to lie—being honest is what separates the good guys from the bad guys. But this lesson soon got me into trouble. One day, I took Ron to Disney World, and as we waited in line to purchase tickets, I saw a sign that said, “Under three years old: Free. Three and older: $117.”

Tree of life: endothelial cell in norm and disease, the good guy is a partner in crime!

Undeniably, endothelial cells (EC) contribute to the maintenance of the homeostasis of the organism through modulating cellular physiology, including signaling pathways, through the release of highly active molecules as well as the response to a myriad of extrinsic and intrinsic signaling factors. Review the data from the current literature on the EC role in norm and disease. Endothelium maintains a precise balance between the released molecules, where EC dysfunction arises when the endothelium actions shift toward vasoconstriction, the proinflammatory, prothrombic properties after the alteration of nitric oxide (NO) production and oxidative stress. The functions of the EC are regulated by the negative/positive feedback from the organism, through EC surface receptors, and the crosstalk between NO, adrenergic receptors, and oxidative stress. More than a hundred substances can interact with EC. The EC dysfunction is a hallmark in the emergence and progression of vascular-related pathologies. The paper concisely reviews recent advances in EC (patho) physiology. Grasping EC physiology is crucial to gauge their potential clinical utility and optimize the current therapies as well as to establish novel nanotherapeutic molecular targets include; endothelial receptors, cell adhesion molecules, integrins, signaling pathways, enzymes; peptidases.

Daring to Dream: Contextualizing B. M. Bower’s The Eagle’s Wing with Colorado River Compact History

Daring to DreamContextualizing B. M. Bower’s The Eagle’s Wing with Colorado River Compact History Patricia J. Rettig (bio) For the seven US states of the Colorado River Basin, 2022 was to be the year for centennial celebrations of the Colorado River Compact, the multistate legal agreement that changed the West. Instead, as low river flows threatened water supplies for homes, farms, and power production, historical reflections were overridden by discussions of the increasingly urgent environmental and management challenges the Compact caused. Indeed, calls to renegotiate the Compact demonstrate the dire circumstances. An innovative document drafted and negotiated between January and November 1922, the Colorado River Compact, crafted to achieve solutions for its time, marked a turning point for the region. Most immediately the end goal for the seven southwestern states was to agree on how to share the river and thereby resolve the interstate conflicts impeding river development. By ensuring some level of certainty, the agreement enabled construction of dams for flood control, water storage, and power supply. Engaging creatively with this “subject of national importance and interest” the very same year, popular western writer B. M. Bower crafted a novel dedicated to the idea of damming the Colorado River. With the “timely” topic being an unconventional choice for Bower, The Eagle’s Wing: A Story of the Colorado became the first novel to depict the dam-building era of Colorado River development.1 In the book Bower presents a dramatic alternative approach to dam building, shaking characters out of their complacency and confronting readers with difficult questions. Contextualizing this otherwise obscure novel with primary sources conveying the history of the Colorado River Compact—especially [End Page 47] documents of originator Delph Carpenter—reveals how perceptively Bower commented on contemporary river issues. The novel generally aligned with the times but diverged in important ways as well. Examining The Eagle’s Wing in light of Colorado River Compact history shows the dominant interest in solving river problems through innovation, creativity, and action. This essay will draw on Colorado River Compact history after it first positions The Eagle’s Wing within the broader context of B. M. Bower’s work. Then, following a review of scholarship on Bower and The Eagle’s Wing, Delph Carpenter’s compact concept will be explored, primarily using a reflective essay he wrote. The successful process that brought about the Compact will be summarized through the Colorado River Commission meeting minutes and other historical documents. These contextualizing elements will then be used to illuminate how The Eagle’s Wing aligned with and diverged from its times, and what it can show us now. B. M. Bower and The Eagle’s Wing Though unknown to the public now but recently recovered by literary scholars, B. M. Bower (1871–1940) was, according to William Bloodworth, “the only woman to become an important writer of westerns” (95). Bower, whose complete name by 1921 was Bertha Muzzy Bower Sinclair Cowan,2 published more than one hundred short stories and nearly seventy novels between 1904 and 1941. Twenty years and more than thirty novels into her career with the publication of The Eagle’s Wing: A Story of the Colorado by Little, Brown and Company in 1924, Bower had built her nationally popular reputation on formula Westerns of the type involving cowboys, cattle, and conflict, where the good guy gets the girl. Having always incorporated less violence in her stories than did male writers, such as competitors Zane Grey and Clarence Mulford, Bower became comfortable with departures from the formula as her career progressed (Arbuckle 76; Baym 185; Bloodworth 101). In May 1922, when she was likely working on The Eagle’s Wing, Bower wrote to her publisher that she desired to “avoid that killing quality of sameness” across her novels.3 Though Bower wrote more than cowboy Westerns, these have been the focus for literary scholars recently recovering her work. [End Page 48] From the first to the most recent scholarship, Bower’s Chip of the Flying U (1904) and the related “Happy Family” books (fifteen in all) have garnered the most attention.4 These novels and stories, published over the course of thirty years, featured cowboy Chip...

Red Barber: The Life and Legacy of a Broadcasting Legend by Judith R. Hiltner and James R. Walker

Reviewed by: Red Barber: The Life and Legacy of a Broadcasting Legend by Judith R. Hiltner and James R. Walker Alan L. Griggs Judith R. Hiltner and James R. Walker. Red Barber: The Life and Legacy of a Broadcasting Legend. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2022. 496 pp. Cloth, $36.95. One can wonder, dear reader, why the world needs a 440- page tome about an obscure sports announcer; obscure to many, perhaps, but to those of us who know Walter Lanier Barber as “Red,” the need for such a thorough examination of his life should come as no surprise. Barber’s professional career, indeed his life, reads like something from the march of history. Born in the segregated south, he fell in line with the societal norms of Mississippi and Florida before gradually, thankfully, changing his outlook toward those with a different color of skin. Perhaps it is fitting that Red Barber is the man who handled the play- by- play radio call of the most momentous game in Major League Baseball history— the day Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier for the Brooklyn Dodgers, April 15, 1947. [End Page 132] It is here that Judith Hiltner and James Walker shine, not only as exceptional writers and researchers but as explorers of Barber’s inner personality, one that always held true to the guidance given him by baseball commissioner Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis: to report, not to editorialize, not to manage, “just report.” It is simple but profound advice for anyone whose voice holds sway over thousands, perhaps millions, of people at any given time, a situation Barber found himself in as his career blossomed. What a career it was, a life of describing on- the-field action from Cincinnati to Brooklyn to New York interspersed with college football games, newspaper columns, four books, and a notable finale as colorful commentator for National Public Radio. Along the way, Barber was an eyewitness to not only the integration of baseball but the first game under the lights, May 24, 1935, when the Reds played the Phillies. He called the first no-hitter of Johnny Vander Meer’s two consecutive no- hitters, interviewed players from the dugout using a crude portable shortwave radio transmitter, broadcast road games for the first time, was an early proponent of educating women about baseball and bringing them to the games, called the first major league televised game, and was at the microphone when the Yankees’ Roger Maris hit number sixty- one. Red Barber’s trademark smooth Southern dialect was a source of comfort for fans even when their favorite team was on the losing end. Even more distinctive were the “barbarisms” he sprinkled throughout the game, particularly colorful, if unique, descriptions of the action. A lopsided run margin might mean the good guys had the game “tied up in a croaker sack.” A pitcher with a particularly sharp breaking ball threw “a jug- handle curve.” If a ball was tough to hold it might be “slick as okra,” and a team or individual with a decided advantage would be in “the catbird seat.” Modern-day announcers have their distinctive styles and verbiage, but it is safe to say none approached the colorful colloquialisms of Barber, especially since they were from the heart and not simply manufactured for effect. Perhaps the high point of Red Barber’s career was the time he spent in Brooklyn broadcasting Dodger games. From 1939 to 1953 the “Barber of Flat-bush” painted an electronic picture of the diamond action, in the process creating an art form that had no peer during his time or perhaps at any other time, for that matter. As the authors note, Barber could “transform Brooklyn into everyone’s hometown and Ebbets Field into everyone’s backyard” (168). He was the most admired sportscaster in the business, using his talents to become a household name through game action, commercials, active participation in civic affairs, and the transition from radio to television. Yes, it must [End Page 133] be noted that after Brooklyn Barber announced Yankees games for several years, but let’s leave it at that. There wasn’t a happy ending. Hiltner and Walker...

There is no capitalist conspiracy and the rich are not all‐powerful

There is no capitalist conspiracy and the rich are not all‐powerful

“The man who wasn’t there”—and was “out there”: Chigurh as cinematic figure

Notwithstanding Joel Coen’s tongue-in-cheek comment that his film is “about a good guy, a bad guy, and a guy in between”, the main characters of No Country for Old Men have evinced much perplexity. In particular, Chigurh, who has been deemed one of the most chilling villains in cinema history, defies any univocal archetypal definition that would readily apply to such character type. The present article focuses on the character of Chigurh in the Coens’ film. After examining the diversity of interpretations that have sought to account for his character, it contends that Chigurh’s enigmatic ambivalence is part and parcel of his characterisation. More specifically, it throws light on the character’s ambivalence as a cinematic entity, that is, not so much as a direct personification of moral and philosophical issues as the embodiment of filmic figures and devices that are displayed to convey the film’s worldview.

Darren A. Raspa. Bloody Bay: Grassroots Policing in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco.

For generations, the Wild West was an exciting historical narrative in books, movies, and television, featuring tantalizing stories of good guys fighting bad guys, earnest homesteaders trying to make it against towering odds, gold rush towns where fortunes were made (or not), and sheriffs poised for a showdown with a villain. In reality, the westward migration resulted in hundreds of thousands of people who moved across the continent in search of a better life, but the stories were hardly glamorous. The journeys were grueling, the destinations challenging—one needed a lot of grit to make a fortune. The circumstances may have been tough, as the thousands of diaries of frontier settlers show, but the rewards could be great. Westward migration most often resulted in farming, with bountiful produce, flowing milk, and tons of cattle. But this agricultural land of plenty was only part of the story: there were a significant number of cities, modest in size, that came into being in the post-1850 western expansion. One of the most important new towns was San Francisco, with its fortuitous geographical location on a bay and the Pacific Ocean. Hilly and near two major earthquake centers, the little outpost was part of Spain until 1821, when it became part of Mexico. As the National Trust Guide/San Francisco explains, Yerba Buena was attractive to the American newcomers, and following the Mexican-American War in July 1846 was renamed San Francisco during the US takeover in 1848. By 1850, California was given statehood, a recognition of its economic and geographical importance; San Francisco was the US’s the first major port on the West Coast.

Liver-resident CD8+ T cells in viral hepatitis: not always good guys.

More than twenty years ago, non-HBV-specific CD8+ T cells were found to contribute to liver immunopathology in chronic HBV infection, while HBV-specific CD8+ T cells were noted to contribute to viral control. The role of HBV-specific CD8+ T cells in viral control and the mechanisms of their failure in persistent infection have been intensively studied during the last two decades, but the exact nature of nonspecific bystander CD8+ T cells that contribute to immunopathology has remained elusive. In this issue of the JCI, Nkongolo et al. report on their application of two methodological advances, liver sampling by fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq), to define a liver-resident CD8+ T cell population that was not virus specific but associated with liver damage, thus representing hepatotoxic bystander CD8+ T cells.

SPECIAL FEATURE: KNOW YOUR COLLEAGUES—STEPHANIE JOHNSON AND MARSHA PARKER

As we begin the new year, we take the opportunity to introduce two of our colleagues that serve on the ISPI Board of Directors. Dr. Stephanie Johnson serves as our Board Secretary and Marketing Committee Chair. Dr Marsha Parker also serves on the Marketing Committee and has taken the lead in facilitating the design and development of ISPI's new Marketing Plan.I was introduced to ISPI at Wayne State University (WSU) during a class with Dr. James Moseley. He encouraged me to join and brought me to my first ISPI Conference as part of the WSU professor/student cadre.I am very proud of the work I did to support my dissertation. Any time you can increase the efficacy of the military, while ensuring their safety, is important. I am also extremely proud of the work that I am currently doing, as we are directly affecting product quality and helping move goods and services across the planet.I want people to say that I was “one of the good guys.” We teach our children to “do the right thing every time, even when no one is looking.” I'd like to think that I have put my money where my mouth is.Stephanie Johnson, PhD is the Master Black Belt for four divisions at PACCAR, responsible for performance improvement at Quality, Purchasing, DAF Brasil, and ITD (information technology division). She is also responsible for oversight and management of the Six Sigma training program supporting all of PACCAR globally. Prior positions at PACCAR include Continuous Improvement Instructional Designer and National Dealer Training Manager at PACCAR Parts. Prior to her role at PACCAR, Stephanie spent time in positions at the State of Washington, SABIC Innovative Plastics, General Dynamics Land Systems, and O/E Learning. Stephanie has a bachelor's degree in education from Central Michigan University, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Saginaw Valley State University, and a PhD in Instructional Technology from Wayne State University. Stephanie also serves as Director for The International Society for Performance Improvement. She can be reached at Stephanie.johnson@paccar.com or srjohnson@ispi.org.I was attracted to the wealth of knowledge and accessibility to professionals in the field of performance improvement. I had the ability to grow my network, learn from others, present at ISPI conferences, and connect with others at chapter meetings.Transformation of Learning and Development at Ford Motor Company. We started on a journey to transform our instructional designers from order takers to performance consultants using the ISPI 10 standards.“Your limitation isn't what you don't have, it's what you don't use.” Author unknown.Dr. Parker is a learning and development strategist at Ford Motor Company and currently leads the transformation of learning technology platforms for the Global Talent organization. With over 10 years in the field of instructional design and analytics, she is an experienced performance strategist, instructional designer, data scientist, and leadership coach. Having received her PhD from Wayne State University (2014) in instructional technology and design, Dr. Parker is a recognized speaker in the field of digital learning, data and analytics, and learning strategy. Dr. Parker currently serves as an ISPI Board Member. She can be reached by email at mparke91@ford.com or by phone at 248-910-9938.

Those Good Guys who Turn Bad and Stronger Have a Morphological Marker on Their Names?

It has been a formula in films, comics, animations, and games to narrate a protagonist who turns into an antagonist to offer an alternate narrative to enjoy. This good-to-evil and weak-to-strong transformation is followed by changes in the names of the characters. We argue that the name changes are marked by what we called as umbralatives, an augmentative marker to indicate that a character has undergone a nuance shift from light to dark and an increase in power. This study attempts to address this phenomenon by proving the existence of umbralatives, their typology, and functions. Applying Zwicky and Pullum’s expressive morphology, Dressler and Barbaresi’s morphopragmatics, and Reinhart’s gestalt perception of narrative texts, we attempt to prove the existence of umbralatives. Implementing Spradleyan analysis on a corpus of characters from seventy one titles of animations, comics, films, and games, it was revealed that umbralatives are classified into colorative, stative, referentive, inventive, and elliptive. These five umbralatives function as a narrative marker in animations, comics, and films and a ludic marker in games. This study discloses a new field of study on morphology with special emphasis over the combination of morphopragmatics and onomastics – umbralatives. The results of the study might also disclose further investigations over good-to-evil narratives which we call umbral narratives.

Non-state Actors in the International System: How Do We Recognize the Bad Guys?

Non-state actors represent equal partners, viable competitors, and/or serious enemies in the current international system. Their specific position depends on how their behaviour in the system is perceived by states, international organizations, and civil society. The behaviour itself can be positive or negative. However, a closer look at the field of non-state actors will show that it is not easy to identify the good and bad guys of the system between them. It is due fact, that we are not living in a black-and-white world, or a black-and-white international system. For this reason, this study has the ambition to present a new approach to identifying bad guys, i.e., negative non-state actors, in the international system.