Individual Nations Research Articles

Some Determinants of Infant Mortality Rate in SAARC Countries: an Empirical Assessment through Panel Data Analysis

The present study is an attempt to examine the distal determinants of Infant Mortality Rate in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations over the period of 2000–2016. Instead of looking at individual nation model, the study tries to develop a regional model to examine the determinants of infant mortality. Infant mortality is modelled as a function of public health expenditure, educational status of women, access to proper sanitation, GDP per capita and urbanisation. To attain this objective, we have applied Pedroni’s cointegration test. Subsequently, to estimate the long run relationship we have utilized the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) methods. The results of the Pedroni’s cointegration test have shown the long run relationship among the selected variables. Similarly, FMOLS and DOLS test results have indicated that health expenditure, GDP per capita, educational status of women and sanitation facilities have a significant impact on Infant Mortality Rate of SAARC nations. The results of this study led to the conclusion that Health Expenditure is one of the significant contributors in decreasing the Infant Mortality Rate. Moreover, the results of our study shed light on determinants such as GDP Per Capita, Female Education, Urbanisation and Sanitation which have some clear policy implications for reducing Infant Mortality Rate in SAARC nations.

PMH35 MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS DUE TO OPIOID USE IN COLOMBIA: PREVALENCE AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS 2009-2018

Due to excessive prescription and misuse, an opioid epidemic has been officially recognized in recent years in the United States. This situation has worsened at an alarming rate and has become a major concern worldwide. Studies that have analyzed opioid abuse in Latin America are limited, this is why it is important to evaluate this situation in a middle-income country like Colombia. The objetive of this study was to estimate the number, geographical distribution and demographic characteristics of the population diagnosed with mental and behavioral disorders due to opioid use in Colombia. We conducted an observational descriptive study analyzing information from two different sources: the Individual National Registry of Health Services (RIPS) for the period 2009-2018, and the Colombian 2005 census and population estimates by DANE as denominators to estimate prevalence. All data were discriminated by age, gender and department (the Colombian political divisions). ICD-10 codes used were F110, F111, F112, F113 and F114. 12,557 cases of mental and behavioral disorders due to opioid use were reported, with a prevalence of 3.0 per 100,000 inhabitants for the studied period. Men accounted for 74.2%, with a male:female ratio of 2.9. The highest prevalence was found between 20 and 24 years of age (6.2 per 100,000 inhabitants). The departments with the highest prevalence were Quindío (50.4 per 100,000 inhabitants), Risaralda (19.6) and Antioquia (6.6) which are located in the center and northwest region of Colombia, were most coffee production is concentrated. Recognition of mental and behavioral disorders due to opioid abuse has increased in the last 10 years, affects more males than females, mostly young adults, and is higher in certain affluent regions of Colombia. Studies that have analyzed opioid abuse in Latin America are limited, and further studies are needed to evaluate this situation in a middle-income country like Colombia.

Sighs Originating in the PreBötC are Driven by Neuroglial Interactions

Sighs are large amplitude inspirations that occur periodically during normal breathing and are physiologically important for preventing alveolar collapse. Normal or “eupneic” inspirations and sighs originate from the same neural network, the preBötzinger Complex (preBötC), in the ventral medulla. Given that both sighs and eupnea arise from the same network, it has been challenging to differentiate the underlying mechanisms that concurrently generate both rhythmic behaviors. Using the in vitro brainstem slice preparation, we have recently demonstrated that this is possible through neuroglial coupling. We found that modulating purinergic signaling through P2Y1 receptors strongly alters sigh frequency without altering eupnea. Then, we used optogenetics in combination with extracellular population recordings to drive ChR2 expression under control of the astrocytic promoter, Aldh1l1. Light activation of Aldh1l1 expressing preBötC astrocytes evoked both eupnea and sigh bursts. Evoked sighs and eupnea had the same characteristics of spontaneous bursts, including comparable amplitudes, burst durations, and post‐burst intervals. Furthermore, optogenetic stimulations showed that sighs are tightly coupled to the eupneic frequency, as they occurred with a significantly higher probability when stimulated during the inspiratory cycle. Next, we demonstrated that light‐evoked sighs could be inhibited by applying P2Y1 blockade and low concentrations of the Ca2+ channel blocker cadmium (4μM, to selectively target P/Q‐type receptors). Sighs under control conditions and with application of the muscarinic receptor agonist oxotremorine were elicited within the limits defined by the refractory period. Utilizing calcium imaging with Fura‐2, we next identified a population of brainstem astrocytes that displayed an increase in intracellular calcium corresponding to both sigh and eupnea activity. We hypothesize that this increase in calcium facilitates neuroglial coupling through release of ATP, as preliminary data indicates that release of ATP from astrocytes and conversion to ADP contributes to this calcium change. Taken together, our experiments suggest that the timing characteristics underlying sigh generation are a coordinated action between glial calcium oscillations and the recruitment of preBötC neurons along the inspiratory column through purinergic signaling.Support or Funding InformationNIH Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service AwardNIH R01 HL126523

Preparedness for Coronavirus Disease in Hospitals of Nepal: A Nationwide Survey

Coronavirus disease pandemic has affected large number of people globally and has continued to spread. Preparedness of individual nations and the hospitals is important to effectively deal with the surge of cases. We aimed to obtain nation wide data from Nepal, about hospital preparedness for COVID-19. Online questionnaire was prepared in accordance with the Center for Disease Control recommendations to assess preparedness of hospitals for COVID-19. The questionnaire was circulated to the over 800 doctors across the nation, who are the life members of six medical societies. We obtained 131 completed responses from all seven provinces. Majority of respondents had anaesthesiology as the primary specialty. Only 52 (39.7%) participants mentioned that their hospital had policy to receive suspected or proven cases with COVID-19. Presence of isolation ward was mentioned by 83 (63.4%) respondents, with only 9 (6.9%)mentioning the presence of airborne isolation. Supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) was inadequate as per 124 (94.7%) respondents. Critical care services for COVID-19 patients were possible only in hospitals of 42 (32.1%)respondents. RT-polymerase chain reaction could be performed only in the hospital of 6 (4.6%) respondents. It is apparent that most of the hospitals are not well prepared for management of patients with COVID-19. Resource allocation and policy making should be aimed to enhance national preparedness for the pandemic.

COVID-19: THE UNPRECEDENTED PHENOMENON OF TWENTY FIRST CENTURY UNBELIEVABLE BUT REALITY

During COVID-19 Pandemic followed by locked down period, Mental health has emerged as one of the essential componential thrust area to be considered at individual level, community level, National level and International level. To improve mental health in the present scenario, promotion of prevention with coping up strategy is essential for better mental health functioning and Psychological well-being. This review introduces an overview and discusses the conceptual frameworks of Existential Counseling therapy to illustrate a direct relationship between the anxiety of the general and affected populations due to COVID-19 and their ability to maintain optimal mental health functioning in the face of prolonged quarantine period. Based on literatures to date, understanding of Existential psychology as a preventive counseling therapy for mental health with a macroscopic perspective might help to practice positive mental health promotion and anxiety prevention. This study aims to characterize Existential Counseling as an appropriate preventive intervention and therapy that can feasibly be delivered to aid in the alleviation of symptoms of anxiety caused due to COVID-19 Pandemic. A narrative review was conducted given the wide range of relevant interventions with sufficient promising evidence to understand the conceptual framework ofExistential Counseling as preventivepsychotherapy in the present crisis of COVID-19 Pandemic. Interventions provided for optimal Mental Health functioning during the COVID-19 Pandemic have an important role to play in promoting mental health, preventing the onset, and protecting those with Anxiety symptoms. The importance of Existential Counseling as a preventive Psychotherapybeing highlighted in the present study is the need of hour in present scenario that lays the foundation for further research.

Complexities and contradictions in the global energy transition: A re-evaluation of country-level factors and dependencies

The aim of this paper is to map the potential for nation states to adapt to global coal phase-out targets. An assessment framework using three core indicators: ‘economic health’, ‘dependency on coal’ and ‘carbon contribution to climate change’ is used to identify key constraints and contradictions. The indicators include 8 secondary measures. From a complete global list of 264 countries provided by World Bank, a final sample of 118 countries was selected, based on availability of data for the indicators. The sample was further refined using a two-step process. First, 118 countries were characterized according to their capacity to transition from coal (combining ‘economic health’ and ‘dependency on coal’) then divided into 4 groups of countries (A-D). Second, the groups were categorized by their level of carbon dioxide (CO2) contribution. This step resulted in a further refinement of the categories showing the different constraints to nations achieving set transition goals. In designing and analyzing our framework, we considered the importance of interrelationships between the measures. ‘Carbon contribution to climate change’ and ‘economic health’, in particular, show strong links across the evaluated indicators. Our research demonstrates a direct correlation between CO2 emissions and the size of national economies, as well as the important role of coal imports in transitioning market systems. Green growth is widely promoted as a lever for continued economic expansion. The new energy-efficient technologies and capital investment required for this environmentally sustainable economic growth, however, present significant challenges, particularly for nations that have historically contributed little to global CO2 levels. This article provides a comprehensive multi-step analysis of country-level dependencies that will shape the decision-making pathways available to individual nation states. Recalcitrant nations frame this pathway as a trade-off between short-term economic viability and long-term, even deferrable, climate security issues. While policy platforms that defer climate action are becoming deeply unpopular in most democratic societies, there remains the fundamental question of how coal-dependent nations will stabilize their economies in the absence of coal. In a choice between imperfect alternatives, conservative politics appears to gravitate towards maintaining a cautious balance of market protectionism with the façade of supporting incremental investments in cleaner energy alternatives.

Directing Foreign Investments to Eastern Germany: Swiss Engagements after (and before) 1989

AbstractThis contribution explains how a specific constellation of Swiss consulting experts, financial advisors, and diplomats became involved in the economic restructuring of eastern Germany after November 1989. Swiss engagements reveal that capital did not merely “flow” across unifying Germany's borders, as economists’ definitions of foreign direct investment suggest. Rather, facilitators within and especially beyond Germany actively promoted investments. Business involving foreigners was often grounded in socialist-era trade activities that united profit seekers from East and West Germany, Switzerland, and other nations. As foreign engagements in unifying Germany's economy illustrate, mediators mattered. Pasts persisted. Debt and investment were intertwined. The course of public divesture and state-sponsored private investment in post-Wall Germany suggests future scholars pay closer attention to individuals and entities engaged in exchanging market information, not so much within individual nations as between them.

Italian LGBTQ representation in transnational television

Abstract This article analyses the narrative depictions of LGBTQ minorities in contemporary Italian transnational television. To understand the sociocultural repercussions of these representations I first contextualize them by exploring current cultural theories behind trends in production and acquisition practices. I argue that by conforming to 'universalized' format and audience standards individual nations achieve transnational visibility. In turn, this universalization contributes to the transnational validation of the narrative discourses within these television programmes. As such, the depictions of LGBTQ characters on the shows Suburra, Gomorrah, Baby and SKAM Italia legitimize a certain level of sexual and gender variance while simultaneously endorsing acts of discrimination against those within these minority categories.

Introduction: Rethinking Safety of Journalists

The introductory chapter to the thematic issue, entitled “Rethinking Safety of Journalists,” shows how promoting the safety of journalists is closely related to press freedom. It presents the articles of the thematic issue and highlights how the safety of journalists is no longer a concern of individuals or individual nation states only, but is now also a global concern, whereby the international community is obliged to come to the defense of journalists’ safety.

Quality and Publication of Emergency Medicine Trials Registered in ClinicalTrials.gov

IntroductionPromoting emergency medicine (EM) clinical trials research remains a priority. To characterize the status of clinical EM research, this study assessed trial quality, funding source, and publication of EM clinical trials and compared EM and non-EM trials on these key metrics. We also examined the volume of EM trials and their subspecialty areas.MethodsWe abstracted data from ClinicalTrials.gov (February 2000 – September 2013) and used individual study National Clinical Trial numbers to identify published trials (January 2007 – September 2016). We used descriptive statistics and chi-square tests to examine study characteristics by EM and non-EM status, and Kaplan-Meier curves and log-rank tests to compare time to publication of completed EM and non-EM studies.ResultsWe found 638 interventional EM trials and 59,512 non-EM interventional trials conducted in the United States between February 2000 and September 2013, registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. EM studies were significantly less likely than non-EM studies to be National Institutes of Health-funded or to evaluate a drug or biologic. However, EM studies had significantly larger sample sizes, and were significantly more likely to use randomization and blinding. Overall, 34.3% of EM and 26.0% of non-EM studies were published in peer-reviewed journals. By subspecialty, more EM trials concerned medical/surgical and psychiatric/neurological conditions than trauma.ConclusionAlthough EM studies were less likely to have received federal or industry funding, and the EM portfolio consisted of only 638 trials over the 14-year study period, the quality of EM trials surpassed that of non-EM trials, based on indices such as randomization and blinding. This novel finding bodes well for the future of clinical EM research, as does the higher proportion of published EM than non-EM trials. Our study also revealed that trauma studies were under-represented among EM studies. Periodic assessment of EM trials with the metrics used here could provide an informative and valuable longitudinal view of progress in clinical EM research.

METHODOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF PERIODIZATION OF THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF PEDAGOGICAL SCIENCES AND RESEARCH PROBLEMS AND PHENOMENA

The article deals with the methodological guidelines for the periodization of the formation and development of the pedagogical sphere and the pedagogical problem under study. Using the historical genetic and theoretical analysis of the philosophical, methodological and pedagogical special literature, a close correlation of the general philosophical periodization of the development of society and the general scientific periodization of the development of knowledge is attested; the basic provisions of the synergistic approach for periodization of the development of pedagogical sciences and pedagogical phenomena have been interpreted, which allowed us to reach the following conclusions. We view science as a controlled system that is hierarchically subordinated to a higher order system, i.e. the social system that puts forward certain goals and objectives for science and its individual parts. The social systems of individual nations are elements of a supersystem, i. e. the human community. The stability of a system is based on the functioning of all its elements in a time space. Therefore, the periodization of Ukrainian linguistics didactics as an independent branch of pedagogical science in connection with the general philosophical periodization of the development of society, the general scientific periodization of the development of science, and the general periodization of the development of pedagogy have been made, since each of the systems of higher order affects the development of the system. A synergistic approach to the interpretation of the development of pedagogical sciences and phenomena helps to understand the process of their formation and development through the concept of synergy, which leads to understanding the mechanism and internal factors of the development of the subject of study and to find the initial limit of its periodization.

Musical and instrumental culture of Ukrainians as a component of the formation of national outlook

Background. One of the integrating, determining and identifying forces of the social progress of the entire human community is the custom and folklore tradition of the smallest sub-ethnic units / constituents individual nations and peoples, their verbal and ethno-cultural (including ethno-musical) sources, that, like rivers and brooks, fill the ocean of culture promoting for life and further development. The structure of the traditional Ukrainian musical culture, along with the well-known the old practices of group singing, itinerant kobzars and lira players, also consists of a powerful musical-instrumental component (herdsman’s folklore, calendarian-ritual chanting and dance). The aim and methods of the research. This article examines the phenomenon of traditional instrumentalism from the point of view of its fundamental influences on the worldviews regarding the formation and functioning of the ethnic sound of Ukrainians based on the longtime field-type, theoretical, pedagogical and practical (scientific and reconstructive musical performing) the experience of the author. The research results. Especially effective and such that, in recent years, was involved in the processes of salvation and “strengthening” (the term by S. Hrytsa) of traditional musical aesthetics, is the method of scientific and executive reconstruction of old folk music genres and forms. Systematic scientific-theoretical and structural-typological analytical work aimed at reproducing prototypes and structural details of reconstructed objects, forms, genres and actions of traditional Ukrainian musical culture, including instrumental, was reflected primarily in the research of S. Hrytsa (2000; 2002; 2015), A. Ivanytskyi (2007), I. Matsiievskyi (2012), B. Kindratiuk (2012), V. Yarmola (2014) and the author of these lines (Khai, M., 2011a; 2011b; 2013 and others). The author of the article thoroughly considers special issues of indexing musical instruments according to the system of E. Hornbostl – K. Sachs with the principle of division into classes, subclasses, categories, subdivisions; for the first time in Ukrainian ethnoorganology he carrys out a complete and consistent grouping of Ukrainian folk musical instruments. It is stated that the most important criteria of all classifications are: form, construction, structure, way of playing, repertoire, manner of performance. The criteria of traditionalism and functioning of folk instruments are determined separately (see: Khai, M., 2011a: 145–261). Based on this, Ukrainian folk musical instruments are considered in the following groups: 1) folk idiophones (self-sounding), 2) folk membranophones; 3) folk chordophones (strings); 4) folk aerophones (wind). Analyzing the existing classifications of national instrumental music, the author puts forward the thesis: areas of distribution and “density of ingrowth” of non-ethnic and authorial elements in the traditional centers of Ukrainian national instrumental music are mostly related to factors of geographical proximity, of natural extinction and administrative-repressive planting of alluvial and so-called “parallel” culture. Experiments on the instrumental traditions of Ukrainians, along with the autochthonous traditional instrumental repertoire, testify to the active functioning at the level of reception / ingrowth of works of other national origin. The interethnic and inter-genre transformation of the folk-instrumental style is connected with the spread of the Moscow, Polish, Romanian and Jewish intonation elements on the territory of the country. Touching the extremely complex and topical problems of archetypal traditional culture, interethnic relations of nations in the modern kaleidoscope of globalization processes, the article focuses on the negative (forced, administrative-aggressive absorption and destruction) and the positive (diversity, enrichment) interactions of the mentioned cultural elements. Characterizing from the positions mentioned here the main features of the ethnic sound ideal in the instrumental tradition of Ukrainians, the author defends its “European model” (tendency to cantilena sound of violin and flute ) as opposed to the type, which dominates the ethnosonic aesthetics of East – tremolo on one string. For the first time in these studies, the thesis is asserted that sounds that imitate the human voice or complement it predominate in Ukraine: flute cantilena, bandura-kobza and partly cymbal arpeggio, which differ significantly and fundamentally from the “Asian” coloristics of one-string tremolo. Conclusions. The final outcome of the study, about the cathartic function of traditional instrumentalism and musical culture in modern social-sublimation processes of human development and, conversely – about neglecting it as a manner to the complete destruction of human civilization as such, steers away from pessimism, inspiring hope for survival in the cataclysms of nature and society as a whole.

The ideological basis of organizational warfare

The purpose of organizational wars is to create a new world order under the authority of a world government. As a result of the war, power is fully established in the countries of aggression that are completely controlled by the world's oligarchs. Rigid control is exercised through the establishment of rulers with foreign accounts at the head of conquered countries. These accounts are known and may be suspended at any time. To justify the existence of a new world order, the ideological underpinnings developed in this article have been developed. The essential characteristics of the new world order, as well as the mechanisms of transformation of society, which consist in shaking the foundations of statehood, culture, religion, national identity of the population of the victim country are considered. The concept of the "golden billion" is analyzed, the essence of which is that developed countries, while maintaining a high level of consumption for their population, will try to keep the rest of the world in an industrially undeveloped state (as a raw material appendage and a storage area of harmful waste) by military and economic means. The concept of "mondialism" is considered, the meaning of which is reduced to the inevitability of full planetary integration, the transition from the plurality of states, peoples, nations and cultures to the "uniform world". The idea of mondialism, a new world order, and the messianism of individual nations and peoples is a veiled form of the idea of orming a world government. The effect of the principle of asymmetry of globalization is investigated. It consists in the fact that different nations and states have approached different levels of readiness with different cultural, economic, informational and military-strategic potentials in the new system of open world, which is globalizing. The asymmetry of globalism is manifested primarily in the information "imperialism" associated with the inequitable exchange of information between strong and weak states.

Rethinking on the methodology for assessing global water and food challenges

ABSTRACT The article delinks food security challenges from the challenge of supplying water to meet the needs of the industrial, livestock, domestic and environmental sectors to analyze the food security and water management challenges of individual nations. For this, three indices are developed: the water adequacy index, water-land index and water-land-pasture index. Their values are computed for 172 countries. The analysis suggests that the criteria for assessing the magnitude of food insecurity and water scarcity problems should include agricultural land, particularly cultivated land and pastureland, along with renewable water.

Analyzing the important implications of tourism marketing slogans and logos in Asia Pacific nations

ABSTRACTThis study conducts cluster analysis and discriminant analysis to analyze national tourism logos and slogans to determine intra-cluster similarities and inter-cluster differences of tourism marketing for Asia Pacific nations. The characteristics of tourism slogans and logos are distributed among six clusters: spiritual serenity, symbolic image, emotional flow, natural discovery, creative aesthetics, and cultural experience. The results of cluster analysis with tourism slogans and logos demonstrate integral attributes of each cluster and help potential tourists comprehend individual nation’s tourism resources with marketing strategy. Besides, the results also help tourism authority appreciate which main competitors are in the same cluster.

Naagan ge bezhig emkwaan

Bkejwanong—the place where the waters divide (the delta islands of Lake St. Clair)—has been called the “soul” of Anishinaabe territory. Long before Europeans arrived, the Anishinaabe occupied territory which includes parts of present-day Ontario, Michigan and Ohio. The resources found there are integral to their way of life and identity. The Anishinaabe defended this territory against Haudenosaunee warriors in the seenteenth century and its integrity was at the core of the peace they concluded in Montreal in 1701, a key element of which was the Naagan ge bezhig emkwaan, or Dish with One Spoon. The dish represented the territory and the single spoon symbolized that people from other territories would be able to eat together while peace was maintained. Recently, however, the Dish with One Spoon has been popularized as an agreement to protect the environment. The original treaty has been incorporated into “land recognition statements” that blur the territorial rights of individual First Nations. This transformation is damaging to First Nations who seek to protect their territories and resources. Walpole Island First Nation (the Council of Three Fires) is working to reclaim their Dish.

Editors’ Introduction

Editors’ Introduction Alexandra M. Hill and Hester Baer We write from quarantine, during the summer of 2020, when time feels suspended. The convergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, racist violence, escalating authoritarianism, and climate collapse have upended the material conditions of life and the foundations of societies around the world, opening onto increasingly precarious futures. As we write, we can only speculate on what the world will look like a few short months from now, when this issue of Feminist German Studies goes to press. The sense of time’s suspension and uncertainty about the future that characterizes our present moment only underscores the illusory quality of the narratives of progress and individualism long trumpeted by capitalism. Even as we are able to partake in the “hollow privilege” of self-isolation, mapping the spread of the virus has only showed us how interconnected we are.1 Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, in The Mushroom at the End of the World, critically examines the flawed “assumption of self-containment” which underpins so many systems that structure our lives, from “neoclassical economics” to “population genetics” (28). We are not, in fact, self-containedunits—whetherthat we refers to individual people or individual groups, nations, or species— but are in constant collaboration with others. Tsing uses the term contamination to mean “transformation through encounter,” a natural and neutral by-product of collaboration. In a global moment when we leave the house in face masks and regularly reach for hand sanitizer, contamination is exactly what we fear. And yet, Tsing’s book argues, “staying alive— for every species— requires livable collaborations. Collaboration means working across difference, which leads to contamination. Without collaborations, we all die” (28). If we think about collaboration in the context of COVID-19, we can identify many examples that ensure survival: the surge in volunteers for Meals on Wheels, people who sewed masks or donated personal protective equipment for essential workers, and international labs working together to develop [End Page xi] a vaccine. Tsing argues, “It is unselfconscious privilege that allows us to fantasize— counterfactually— that we each survive alone” (29). The pandemic has stripped us of that fantasy. This is also a historical moment in which we must acknowledge that “[t]he evolution of our ‘selves’ is already polluted by histories of encounter” (29). The deaths of Black Americans Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Italia Marie Kelly, David Mcatee, and Chris Beaty at the hands of the police, and the resultant worldwide protests against systemic racism, should make painfully clear that we do not live in isolation.2 In this context, we must pay renewed attention to how our disciplines and institutions support and benefit from the systemic oppression of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). We acknowledge that, as Mikki Kendall writes in Hood Feminism, “the innately abusive nature of white supremacy has shaped white feminism, seen to it that investment in white supremacy is easier than investment in actual equality for [white women] with all women” (257). As white feminists in German studies, we specifically recognize the necessity of engaging in antiracist work in our personal and professional lives, including ongoing work to decolonize our field and dismantle structures of white supremacy and privilege. It is noteworthy that sales of books on antiracism have recently skyrocketed, propelling texts such as Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Antiracist and Ijeoma Oluo’s So You Want to Talk about Race to the New York Times bestseller list. If “[r]eading is an infection, a burrowing into the brain,” and “books contaminate” (Lepore 22), then we are actively seeking contamination in the form of reading. This is not easy reading. It is not comfortable to see the ways in which our own lives and actions emerge from systems of oppression. Tsing reminds us that “contaminated diversity is complicated, often ugly, and humbling. Contaminated diversity implicates survivors in histories of greed, violence, and environmental destruction” (33). If we can bear to accept this complicity, the question is: how will we use collaboration to transform the world? The Mushroom at the End of the World is a fitting source of wisdom as we consider the many intertwined...

Music and theater festivals in the identity processes

The paper discusses the possibility of applying music and theater festivals in the processes of identity changes, as well as in shaping the identity and image of individual nations. In a multitude of cultural and political tools that can be used in branding a country, festival politics is particularly interesting precisely because of the potential to achieve visibility. Employing the notion of cultural brand as part of the process of branding a nation with its cultural segment, the paper addresses the emblematic Austrian Salzburg Festival of national importance, which has the merits of launching Austria into the global cultural orbit. In this way, it is shown how the festival organism can become noteworthy worldwide and, through national culture, brand a country.

Євген Маланюк – основоположник літературного міфу України ХХ ст

Myths are regarded as the metaphysical engines of the national progress, a specific code-program for the state development, as a vector of the individual mission of an individual nation. In general, the ideological and political myths of national states are metaphorically derived primarily from their national anthems. The anthem is a kind of vaccine against assimilation and is effectively delivered to educate the younger generation in the spirit of civic consciousness. Decadent (frustration) myths destroy the national idea, vitaistic and consolidating myths inspire, compact and unite any nation. The National Anthem, as the primary literary formulation of the national idea, gives impetus to the constant creation by the writers of the myth of the state and the nation as a specific phenomenon at the artistic level. The literary myths of stateless peoples are always preceded by the emergence of their own ideological and political myths as well. Among the most talented passionaries of every «incomplete» nation, there must be a talented philosopher or politician who will be able to verbally formulate the idea of a new ideological-political myth, which will be based on a national idea. Similarly, in the nineteenth century the ideological-political myth for Ukrainians was «Law of God (Book of Being of the Ukrainian People)» by M. Kostomarov. It is natural that this philosophical and propaganda work had a great influence on Kobzar and led to the creation of the literary myth of Ukraine by our national poet-genius, T. Shevchenko. The beginning of the twentieth century for the Ukrainians was marked by the tragic fall of the young state of the UNR. The nation had to start all over again in order to endure. There was a need for a new ideological and political myth of Ukraine of the twentieth century. It was created by Ye. Malaniuk with his own essays about the most talented Ukrainian politicians, including B. Khmelnitskyi and I. Mazepa, as well as M. Hrushevskyi and S. Petliura. In his essays on the past of Ukraine Ye. Malaniuk not only wrote about biographies of bright historical figures, but above all analyzed Ukrainian national victories and tragedies, logically argued mistakes and losses of our nation’s leaders, considered the issues of «his» and «alien», determined a peculiar «doctrine», submitted in a wide typre of «enemy face» of the Ukrainian statehood. Ye. Malaniuk also analyzed the positive and negative features of the Ukrainian mentality, aptly raised the question of passion, foresighted the stages of becoming the future of Ukraine as a sovereign nation-state at the end of the twentieth century. On the basis of his own ideological and political myth, the poet started to create the literary consolidating myth of Ukraine. His initiative was taken by contemporaries of the artist – the most talented writers-modernists of the Ukrainian diaspora of the twentieth century. The concept of the literary myth of Ukraine has been considered by the researcher Olha Slon’ovska; the significant role played by Ye. Malaniuk as a poet and essay writer in creating the literary myth has been revealed.

Ending the Global HIV Epidemic Begins at the Individual National Level: An Update from the United States.

Ending the Global HIV Epidemic Begins at the Individual National Level: An Update from the United States.