Kinds Of Others Research Articles

Interreligious hospitality: Reflections on death and eschatology

AbstractIs there an interreligious potential in the way we approach death and eschatology? Christian eschatology often suggests a unity that puts an end to religious otherness. It is difficult to find explicit, appreciative statements of any kind of otherness in many eschatologies. Given this situation, how can a Christian eschatology articulate hospitality and room for the religious Other as other? And what potential is there in the eschatological image of heavenly banquet?

The female detective as the child who needs to know. Saga Norén as an example of potent yet dysfunctional female detectives in contemporary Nordic Noir

Abstract The global popularity of Nordic Noir, such as the Danish/Swedish production Broen, The Danish production Forbrydelsen, its U.S. and U.K. remakes, the Danish/Swedish production The Millennium Trilogy seems to depend on its insistent interest in a set of maladjusted female detectives. The by now seven seasons of the U.S production Homeland have a similar focus. In this essay, we argue that the struggle these female protagonists endure between extreme potency on the one hand and shameful psychic problems on the other is linked to how these female detectives represent the female position in film in general. Turning to traditional and ongoing discussions in feminist film theory, and combining queer studies and sociological and psychoanalytic perspectives with recognition theory (Felski/Coplan), we ask how we as spectators relate to these women in terms of recognition. In line with that, we ask whether these female detectives should be considered feminist icons who challenge traditional gendered poses on film, or whether, due to their dysfunctionalities, they came to represent some kind of otherness that we sympathize with but also fail to identify with.

Blind Warriors, Supercrips, and Techno‐Marvels: Challenging Depictions of Disability in Star Wars

Blind Warriors, Supercrips, and Techno-Marvels : Challenging Depictions of Disability in Star Wars

Music as an Instrument of Making a Sociocultural Otherness

The notion of "music" should be viewed as a synesthetic concept: impressions about it are not transmitted exclusively through the sense of hearing, but also to the visual perception. The effect of music can be seen as intellectual and emotional, as a relation towards the played or pronounced at the lyrics, but also towards the very appearance or performance of the musicians, to the musical piece performing and so on. In other words, we do not only communicate by playing and listening to music, but also understanding it – in terms of cultural and social phenomenon. Those who use the concept of music understood in such a way even do not have to be musicians, because socially and culturally understandable and relevant messages can be transmitted through the simple broadcasting of a certain music audio or video recordings, or by taking a stand towards some musical piece. Music represents a medium to expression of a sociocultural otherness in Western civilization, at least from the Middle Ages, but also represents a way of producing that otherness. By producing of otherness, we mean "discovered", namely, conscious and intended individual acts to the use of music as a synesthetic concept for the purpose of transmitting a cultural message about a certain kind of otherness in a given sociocultural context, and which, for immediate reference, takes the sender of such a message. Our aim is to present a mechanism of that producing of otherness in such a way, by considering examples to different types of musical pieces (Rock and Roll, film music, classical music, etc.), different types of otherness (ontological, political, ethnical, etc.) and different sociocultural contexts from closer and further past, as well as from the present.

Changelings: alterity beyond difference

Drawing on historical and ethnographic data from Gaelic Scotland and Ireland, as well as data from contemporary Chile, this talk explores the phenomenon of changelings. Changelings are cuckoo-like imposters, left in the place of humans abducted by fairy captors, and identical in almost all aspects to the humans they have displaced. Yet small indices of difference – voracious appetite, rapid ageing, and fear of fire and iron – lead kin to suspect that the people in their midst might not be whom they seem. What intrigues me, however, is that not just difference, but similarity too, comes to index alterity in surprising ways. The question then becomes not just an epistemological one of how we can know others, but an ontological one of what kinds of others do we think we know. This shifting configuration of similarity and difference within the changeling encounter reveal a micropolitics of alterity that I suggest resonates beyond the historical and folkloric record to find parallels in contemporary debates about kinship. In particular, the perpetual presence of alterity within the kinship relation might lead to a reconsideration of Marshall Sahlins’ recent insistence upon ‘mutuality of being’ as the essence of ‘what kinship is.’

まちづくり市民活動団体への参加動機と活動タイプとの関連性

Community action groups are expected as new groups to support the life of the community instead of territorial groups. In recent years, “Community design” that the expert support to forming community action groups to solve regional problems is getting a lot of attention. It is important for community designer to select the action type of the groups taking the motivations of members to participate into consideration. The aim of this study is to clarify the relationship between the motivations of members to participate community action groups and action types of the groups through the comparison between “action type of player” and “action type of area manager”. “Action type of player” is an action type of the group to act oneself as a player to creative a new social action, and “action type of area manager” is an action type of the group to make a place, system and opportunity for player to act to change the area. First, We made 32-items scale of motivations of members to participate community action groups in reference to scale of motivations to participate volunteer activities (Table2). We performed the questionnaire survey by using the scale targeting 153 members in 10 groups. By factor analysis using answers to the questionnaire, it was clarified that the motivations to participate community action groups is composed of the following 8 factors: “self-growth needs” factor, “desire for social contribution” factor, “belongingness and interaction needs” factor, “having spare time” factor, “desire to return for kindness ” factor, “desire to help family” factor, “desire to get evaluation in the society” factor and “desire for recognition from others” factor (Table3). Second, the motivations of members in 10 groups were classified as follows: “type of using spare time”, “type of desire for recognition from others” and “type of self-actualization needs”(Fig. 2). In “type of using spare time”, there were tendencies to be a lot of members in their 20's or younger, 60's or older, and without occupation. They had motivations to want to get evaluation in the society and to do what was useful for family. In “type of desire for recognition from others”, there were tendencies to be a lot of members in their 40's, self-employed workers and public servants. They had motivations to want to return for kindness of others and to be needed by them. In “type of self-actualization needs”, there were tendencies to be a lot of professional members. They had intrinsic motivations to want to make better community by using professional skill, to grow and to enjoy acting with other members. Third, we investigated the relationship between the motivations to participate the groups and their action types. The result was that there were tendencies to be a lot of members of “type of using spare time” and “type of desire for recognition from others” in the groups of “action type of player” and to be a lot of members of “type of self-actualization needs” in the groups of “action type of area manager”(Fig. 4). In other words, it was clarified that most of members in the groups of “action type of player” had extrinsic motivations, but on the other hand most of members in the groups of “action type of area manager” had intrinsic motivations.

Otherness in More’s Utopia

Utopia as a concept points towards a world essentially alien to us. Utopia as a work describes this otherness and confronts us with a world whose strangeness might seem disturbing. Utopia and Europe differ in their relationship to what is other (Latin alienus) – that is, that which belongs to someone else, that which is foreign, that which is strange. These two worlds are at odds in regards to their foreign policy and way of life: Utopia aspires to self-sufficiency but remains open to whatever good may arrive from beyond its borders, while the Old World appears alienated by exteriority yet refuses to welcome any kind of otherness. This issue also plays a major part in the reception of More’s work. Book I invites the reader to distance himself from a European point of view in order to consider what is culturally strange not as logically absurd but merely as geographically remote. Utopia still makes room for some exoticism, but mostly in its paratexts, and this exoticism needs to be deciphered. All in all, Utopia may invite us to transcend the horizontal dialectics of worldly alterity in order to open our eyes to a more radical, metaphysical otherness.

A JAPANESE EGYPT: KOREA AS DEPICTED BY EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY BRITISH NEWSPAPERS

This article investigates what kind of otherness the British projected onto Korea in the 1900s through a close examination of newspaper articles. The point of departure of this work is the idea that Westerners’ conception of the Orient in this period was not monolithic but hierarchically structured. What this article attempts is thus to reveal the distinct position Korea occupied within the assumed Orient, a position different from, and assigned particularly in relation to, that of Japan. It will be shown that Korea was perceived by British newspapers as a Japanese Egypt, an image made possible by the imperialist notion of the modern state shared, overtly or otherwise, by both British and Japanese intellectuals and discrimination in the application of the idea of national freedom. While Korea was largely perceived in terms of what were presumably inherent Oriental traits such as inertness, conservativeness, and laziness, the British accorded a distinct sense of otherness to Korea based on their individualized yet hierarchical understanding of the Orient. Therefore, the phrase ‘a Japanese Egypt,’ coined to describe Korea, represents the marginalized position Korea occupied within the British conception of the Orient.

Do unto others or treat yourself? The effects of prosocial and self-focused behavior on psychological flourishing.

When it comes to the pursuit of happiness, popular culture encourages a focus on oneself. By contrast, substantial evidence suggests that what consistently makes people happy is focusing prosocially on others. In the current study, we contrasted the mood- and well-being-boosting effects of prosocial behavior (i.e., doing acts of kindness for others or for the world) and self-oriented behavior (i.e., doing acts of kindness for oneself) in a 6-week longitudinal experiment. Across a diverse sample of participants (N = 473), we found that the 2 types of prosocial behavior led to greater increases in psychological flourishing than did self-focused and neutral behavior. In addition, we provide evidence for mechanisms explaining the relative improvements in flourishing among those prompted to do acts of kindness-namely, increases in positive emotions and decreases in negative emotions. Those assigned to engage in self-focused behavior did not report improved psychological flourishing, positive emotions, or negative emotions relative to controls. The results of this study contribute to a growing literature supporting the benefits of prosocial behavior and challenge the popular perception that focusing on oneself is an optimal strategy to boost one's mood. People striving for happiness may be tempted to treat themselves. Our results, however, suggest that they may be more successful if they opt to treat someone else instead. (PsycINFO Database Record

Mindfulness of the kindness of others: The contemplative practice of Naikan in cultural context.

Mindfulness in the Buddhist tradition involves a variety of practices, and contemporary secular forms of mindfulness practices, therapies, and interventions can similarly be broadened to include more of these forms. The Japanese practice of Naikan takes one mindfulness practice from the Buddhist tradition--that of recollecting the kindness of others--and asks clients to engage in this practice for 1 solid week, 15 hours per day. Difficult interpersonal relationships and a perceived lack of social support are chief sources of stress, and Japanese selfhood in particular has been described as interdependent and highly social in nature. It is unsurprising therefore that Japanese would be drawn to relational forms of practice like Naikan, and that they would find particular benefit from such practices. Recent ethnographic and survey work I have conducted at 2 Naikan centers suggests that Naikan significantly improves positive mental health, perceived connection with others, and perceived meaning in life, even up to 6 months later, thereby potentially undercutting factors contributing to depression and suicide. Naikan practice is not entirely limited to Japan, however, and its use in Europe and North America prompts us to ask about the culturally specific and universal aspects of mindfulness practices, and how we may construct mindfulness interventions that are best suited for addressing the mental health problems that face our communities.

Rethinking Reciprocity

Reciprocal behavioral has been found to play a significant role in many economic domains, including labor supply, tax compliance, voting behavior, and fund-raising. What explains individuals’ tendency to respond to the kindness of others? Existing theories posit internal preferences for the welfare of others, inequality aversion, or utility from repaying others’ kindness. However, recent evidence on the determinants of (unilateral) sharing decisions suggests that external factors such as social pressure are equally important. So far, this second wave of social preference theories has had little spillover to two-sided reciprocity environments, in which one individual responds to the actions of another. We present a novel laboratory reciprocity experiment (the double-dictator game with sorting) and show that failure to account for external motives leads to a significant overestimation of internal motives such as fairness and altruism. The experimental data illustrate the importance of combining reduced-form and structural analyses to disentangle internal and external determinants of prosocial behavior.

Tommy on Tour: One man’s mission to raise awareness of dementia – son, carer, campaigner

The following article includes two brief blogs written by Tommy Whitelaw; a son carer and campaigner, passionate about raising the profile of people and carers affected by dementia. We agreed with Tommy to reproduce some of his work in this newsletter so that we could promote his experiences and campaigning to the wider FPOP audience. Further information on Tommy’s work can be found here:http://tommy-on-tour-2011.blogspot.co.uk/. The first story Tommy wanted to share is called ‘No one ever asked’ and the second, ‘The kindness of others’.

Paying more when paying for others.

Social behavior is heavily influenced by the perception of the behaviors of others. We considered how perceptions (and misperceptions) of kindness can increase generosity in economic transactions. We investigated how these perceptions can alter behavior in a novel real-life situation that pitted kindness against selfishness. That situation, consumer elective pricing, is defined by an economic transaction allowing people to purchase goods or services for any price (including zero). Field and lab experiments compared how people behave in 2 financially identical circumstances: pay-what-you-want (in which people are ostensibly paying for themselves) and pay-it-forward (in which people are ostensibly paying on behalf of someone else). In 4 field experiments, people paid more under pay-it-forward than pay-what-you-want (Studies 1-4). Four subsequent lab studies assessed whether the salience of others explains the increased payments (Study 5), whether ability to justify lowered payments (Study 6), and whether the manipulation was operating through changing the perceptions of others (Studies 7 and 8). When people rely on ambiguous perceptions, pay-it-forward leads to overestimating the kindness of others and a corresponding increase in personal payment. When those perceptions are replaced with explicit descriptive norms (i.e., others' payment amounts), that effect is eliminated. Finally, subsequent studies confirmed that the effects were not driven by participant confusion (Studies 9A and 9B) and not limited by the specificity of the referent other in the pay-it-forward framing (Study 9C).

Strangeness and World Literature

In his article "Strangeness and World Literature" Mads Rosendahl Thomsen argues that world literature has emerged as a supplement to the two dominant paradigms for studies of literature beyond the nation: comparative literature and postcolonialism. Key questions for all three paradigms are first, what kinds of otherness or strangeness are desirable in literature, and second, how literary circulation is dependent on the representation of otherness. Through a variety of literary examples, Thomsen discusses how strangeness is mediated through genres, bicultural references, and (im)migrant experiences, and how making the local enchanted makes the world stranger to everyone.

Approaching the historical other through hermeneutics

The article discusses the concept of historical other. It draws on a case study of a work in progress – research of the idea of social work derived from the texts of the prominent social worker Jane Addams (1860−1935). The timeline of Addams’ life and work coincides with the establishment of professional social work, in which Addams was one of the central figures and a pioneer activist in the USA. The design of the study has been based on the principles of historical research. Studying history and a person who lived in a different time and culture has brought up a question: how is it possible to understand this kind of otherness? Methodologically, a hermeneutic framework has been essential to the study and has led me to dialogic relationship with Addams’ original texts. The aims of the article are to answer how historical otherness can and should become understandable and why it is important to have this kind of research in social work. I will outline how I have approached and understood historical otherness as a researcher and how the process of understanding has developed during the research project. At the end I will reflect on what this kind of approach can offer me and my understanding of the discipline of social work.

The Impossible Decision: Social Tagging and Derrida's Deconstructed Hospitality

Social tagging has been lauded for providing a voice of the user community, free of restrictions dictated by knowledge organization standards for subject access. Tagging allows many perspectives to be represented, but at what cost? Using deconstruction, Derrida argues that absolute hospitality is required to ensure justice for access and inclusiveness; however, the consequence becomes that the host becomes hostage to the other. In this ongoing research, we explore the Derridean concept of hospitality as it relates to social tagging, examining the consequences of unconditional inclusiveness, the process of discerning constraints to hospitality in order to interpret different kinds of otherness—or what Derrida (2000, 75) calls the impossible decision—and what mitigation means, using the social tagging environment to illustrate.

Manufacturing and Physicochemical Properties of Wine using Hardy Kiwi Fruit (Actinidia arguta)

For the development of hardy kiwi wine, we arranged for the post-maturity of hardy kiwi fruit, treated them with calcium carbonate and a pectinase enzyme complex, investigated the resulting physicochemical properties and conducted a sensory evaluation. The period determined for creating post-maturity in the hardy kiwi fruit was determined as 5 days storage at room temperature following maturity. During this time the yield of fruit juice was increased from 22.1% to 53.5% using 0.1% (v/v) cytolase PCL5 for 2 h at room temperature. 0.1% (w/v) calcium carbonate was also added during the process of aging, for the reduction of the sour taste. The fermentation trial of the hardy kiwi wine was prepared using water (25% or 50%), sugar (), 0.1% (w/v) , 0.1% (v/v) cytolase PCL5, (200 ppm), and yeast ( cell/ml). Fermentation then occurred for 2 weeks at . The pH value, total acidity, alcohol, and reducing sugar content of the resulting hardy kiwi wines of 25% (v/w) and 50% (v/w) water, were in a range of pH 3.4-3.7, 1.12-1.21%, 14.3-14.4%, and 15-16 g/l, respectively. Citric acid and fructose constituted the major organic acids and the free sugar of the 25% and 50% hardy kiwi wine, respectively. Volatile flavor components, including 10 kinds of esters, 8 kinds of alcohols, 5 kinds of acids, 3 kinds of others and aldehydes, were determined by GC analysis. The results of sensory evaluation demonstrated that 50% hardy kiwi wine is more palatable than 25% hardy kiwi wine.

Blackness, Indigeneity, Multiculturalism and Genomics in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico

AbstractGenomic research in Latin America has looked into the African, Amerindian and European ancestry of local populations. This article explores how indigeneity and blackness figure in genomic science in the light of previous and current representations of indigenous and Afro-descendent people. These categories have been cast as ‘other’ in Latin America, but they have occupied different locations in ‘structures of alterity’. I look briefly at these similarities and differences in the colonial and republican periods and in recent multiculturalist reforms. I look at the gendered sexual imagery surrounding each concept, before examining in detail how blackness and indigeneity figure in gendered ways in genomic science research on admixture and ancestry in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. I conclude that, in the context of multiculturalism, genomics works to re-centre imaginaries of the nation around the mestizo and mixture, while casting blackness and indigeneity, in sexualised and gendered ways, as different kinds of others.

Epistemic Addiction: Reading “Sonny's Blues” with Levinas, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche

journal of speculative philosophy, vol. 26, no. 3, 2012 Copyright © 2012 The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA James Baldwin writes that “I underwent, during the summer that I became fourteen, a prolonged religious crisis.” Baldwin dealt with this crisis in his literary works through the strategic use of Christian theological themes and imagery to make compelling critiques of bourgeois cultural and Christian values. So “prolonged” was his “religious crisis” that Christian theological themes permeate Baldwin’s immense literary corpus. Baldwin thus both was influenced by Christianity and critiqued it in his works. Considering these two points, I think it appropriate to begin this essay with a biblical reference to the Christian narrative of the “fall” of humanity. I choose this biblical starting point not only because of Baldwin’s Christian background and literary inclinations but also because I think that this starting point accurately depicts the moral problem that is at work in Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues.” I shall call this moral problem “epistemic addiction.” Epistemic Addiction: Reading “Sonny’s Blues” with Levinas, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche

The perverse psychological contract

Joshi and Foster's article 'Depending on the kindness of others'(2012) is particularly relevant in reminding healthcare managers of the 'true'needs of the service. It also reminds the service of the many failures in healthcare management both historically and in recent times. These failures are frequently ascribed to organisational, economics or resource issues, or indeed a combination of them. However, there is an emergent view that these 'failures' can actually be the product of a lack of individual interdependence and a subsequent ...