Liberal Society Research Articles

Assessment of Women's Socio-Economic Status and Attainments: A Case Study of District Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir

Empowerment is a complex societal process aimed at enabling individuals to gain control over their lives. This process involves enhancing their social status and granting them authority over their inherent rights, including those that pertain to the community and society. Moreover, empowerment is a consequence of being engaged in decision-making. Women's empowerment, specifically, pertains to the journey through which women attain equal recognition with men, enabling them to actively contribute to society's progress. This involvement spans various realms, encompassing political engagement, education, industrial employment, and notably, significant contributions to the corporate sector. This transformation has liberated women from antiquated roles, elevating their standing and influence across all facets of life. The historical perception of women as domestic and laborious entities has evolved, leading to a more optimistic and progressive global perspective that champions their cause. They have broken free from the confines of traditional roles, as the world now wholeheartedly acknowledges their skills and contributions across diverse domains. This study aims to delve into the current status and accomplishments of women in various sectors within the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, shedding light on their remarkable progress.

Tirani Meritokrasi dan Reimajinasi Solidaritas: Sebuah Kajian Berdasarkan Perspektif Michael Sandel

<p>This article presents Michael Sandel’s concept on the tyranny of meritocracy and reimagining of solidarity and its<br />relevance in Indonesia. Meritocracy is a kind of ideology that believes that those who are successful deserve to<br />breathe their success to their heart’s content, while for those who fail, there is no one to blame but themselves.<br />Sandel’s view is that this logic makes meritocracy undermines togetherness and solidarity as the ethical foundation<br />of democracy. The more we think that our success is our own effort, and the poor people’s failure as their own fault,<br />it is harder for us to imagine ourselves in someone else’s shoes. Meritocracy makes liberal society accepts as fair<br />the hierarchy between the rich and the poor, the smart and the stupid, or the successful and the unsuccessful. This<br />belief generates arrogance for the winners and contempt for the losers. For Sandel, Trump’s populism in the US is a<br />form of rebellion against the tyranny of meritocracy. To counter the tyranny of meritocracy and cultivate the<br />imagination of solidarity, we should propose the idea of humility as a public virtue. Humility is an acknowledgment<br />that all our talents, achievements, and success are not the results of our own efforts but rather it depends on the<br />resources of the community and society that accepts these talents and abilities.</p><p><br /><strong>Keywords:</strong> Meritocracy, Solidarity, Liberalism, Community, Humility.</p>

Birthright Entitlements and Obligations in an Intergenerational Political Society

Abstract Political societies are essentially intergenerational—not only because they often last for many generations and because they maintain their existence largely through members having or adopting children, but because the children of members acquire entitlements simply as a result of being born or adopted by members. Even in a liberal political society, members by birth or adoption are supposed to enjoy from birth the irrevocable status of membership and the privileges it entails. They have opportunities and civil rights that outsiders cannot claim. In liberal welfare states they are entitled to assistance in need. But from a liberal point of view birthright entitlements, and the obligations they entail, are problematic. I will discuss three attempts to justify them.

What lies behind the people? An approach to the 2019 mobilizations in Hong Kong and Chile through sociological discourse analysis

PurposeThis study analyzes how the notion of the people emerged in two (neo)liberal societies during the crisis in 2019: Hong Kong and Chile.Design/methodology/approachFrom a qualitative and comparative perspective, 131 middle-class individuals were interviewed during heightened contentious activity in Hong Kong and Chile. The interviews were analyzed based on Ruiz's model for sociological discourse analysis.FindingsThe study shows that in contexts strongly influenced by liberalism, the notion of “people” is not advertised antagonistically against the individual but as complementary, and to this end, it emphasizes the heterogeneity of repertoires or demands. The comparison of these two movements highlighted the importance of democratic institutions in shaping the outcomes and effectiveness of protests.Research limitations/implicationsEnacting the National Security Law in Hong Kong and the mandatory blockade imposed by both governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic required an adaptation in the design and execution of the interviews, adopting a hybrid format. The volatility that characterizes periods of political crisis requires longitudinal follow-up. This article does not capture but can be explored in associated research publications.Originality/valueThe research offers two significant contributions: it addresses the immediate context by conducting on-site research during the most significant contemporary crises in Hong Kong and Chile. Secondly, it problematizes the understanding of the people in liberal societies and proposes it as a complementary (and not antagonistic) concept to that of the individual.

Addressing sustainable development goals in life cycle sustainability assessment: Synergies, challenges and needs

The assessment and monitoring of society's progress towards sustainability requires a multidisciplinary approach in which tools, indicators and data are integrated across existing frameworks. In this sense, the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) framework introduced by UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative are two of the most important references used by practitioners to assess sustainability at territorial level, in the first case, and at process, product, or organizational level, in the second case.However, due to the different scopes of SDGs and LCSA, the integration between the two tools has been limited so far and the synergies mostly remained untapped. Building on LCSA literature, and with the aid of text-mining analysis, this manuscript analyzes how linkages between product LCSA and SDGs have been and could be addressed, also highlighting key challenges and needs for connecting LCSA with SDGs in a coherent and operational way.The paper highlights that, although SDGs and LCSA are complementary and could inform and feed each other, as of today there is no harmonized way to set up and analyze the connections between the two and progress still seems far from reaching general consensus. Further research is needed to consistently link LCSA metrics to SDGs goals and thus ensure that improved products sustainability effectively contributes to progress towards more sustainable territories.

Religion and secularity as supersessionist categories

This article argues that the Christian ambivalence towards the Jews throughout history lies at the heart of the difficulties liberal societies are having today in accommodating religious diversity, but also more broadly, in discussing issues pertaining to religion and secularity in a nuanced way. After a brief summary of the characteristics of Christian supersessionism, the article first explores the modern concept of religion as a product of Protestant Christianity and thus as a category that inherently privileges a Christian perspective. Although the specific associations to Christians versus Jews have become less pronounced, the inherited dichotomies (archaic/enlightened, material/spiritual, particular/universal, etc.) live on and continue to shape attitudes towards what is perceived as more and less desirable forms of religion in contemporary Western societies – as mirrored in the widespread political rhetoric claiming that Islam is not ‘compatible’ with Western culture. However, to understand the full dimensions of the mechanisms guiding the public discourse on religion post-9/11, it is important also to recognize the extent to which not only the modern concept of religion but also of secularity is based on a supersessionary logic. Hence the second part of the article explores how the religious and the secular today jointly serve to uphold a hierarchical cultural order, where certain practices and values gain the upper hand by being associated with terms such as ‘rational’, ‘progressive’ or ‘Human Rights’, while other practices and values are framed as incompatible with these terms.

Jonathan Hearn (2023) The Domestication of Competition: Social Evolution and Liberal Society Cambridge University Press

Review of Jonathan Hearn (2023) The Domestication of Competition: Social Evolution and Liberal Society Cambridge University Press

A genealogical and archaeological examination of the development of corporate governance and disciplinary power in English local government c.1970–2010

The paper seeks to enhance our understanding of the interaction between the development of disciplinary power in western liberal society and Foucault's writings on governmentality, through examination of the political processes resulting from the largest public scandal in the UK, the Poulson scandal of the early 1970s. The first research motive is to uncover any additional insights or hidden understandings that can be derived by applying Foucauldian historiographical and governmental perspectives as strengthened by Dean's (2010) analytics of government to the history of corporate governance in English local authorities over the forty years following Poulson. We argue that the continual process of intervention, investigation and prescription by central government set in motion by the scandal resulted in an increase in disciplinary power within local government by changing the expectations of council officials, elected representatives and politicians in Westminster through the normalisation of these intrusions and the spirit of dependency and compliance which resulted. Secondly, the paper examines the strengths and weaknesses of the analytics approach in a complex situation involving many genealogical disruptions to the status quo over a long time-period; and whilst the paper found the method helpful, limitations emerged regarding its claims to empirical certainty through precise questioning. Finally, the paper examines the significance of countering corruption as a motivating factor in the rise of disciplinary power in English local government, which it finds as limited.

Linguistic justice for non-resident citizens: Protecting language interests away from home

Over the past 20 years, a number of political theorists have been focusing on the just political treatment of linguistic diversity in liberal democratic societies. This body of work, known as the ‘linguistic justice’ literature, has mainly examined two specific categories of linguistic groups: autochthonous linguistic minorities and immigrants. However, it has entirely neglected non-resident citizens, that is, citizens of a country who reside in a different one, and their distinctive language interests and rights. In this article, we address this gap by developing a theory of linguistic justice for non-resident citizens, using diaspora institutions as a case study. More specifically, we draw on the linguistic justice literature to outline two categories of non-resident citizens’ language interests and rights, that is, those related to opportunity access and to democracy. We finally suggest ways in which language-related diaspora institutions could be reformed in order to better fulfil non-resident citizens’ language interests and rights.

Democratizing philosophy for children: of difference and diverse ideas in Gareth Matthews’ Corpus

Abstract Maughn Rollins Gregory and Meghan Jane Laverty’s Gareth B. Matthews, The Child’s Philosopher explores the Philosophy for Children movement, and the way the work of Gareth B. Matthews carried forward its key components. In this paper, I consider the impact of Matthews’ embeddedness within a Western philosophical tradition, even as he strives mightily to propose a broad-minded approach to P4C. I draw upon the work of Amasa Philip Ndofirepi to explore the tensions and possibilities in reconciling Western and non-Western approaches to P4C. I argue that the social contexts of culture, ethnicity, and nationality can serve to broaden P4C curricula and pedagogy, making it fit for schools in a liberal democratic society.

Traditional values, family, homeschooling: The role of Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church in transnational moral conservative networks and their efforts at reshaping human rights

Abstract In the last two decades, Russian state actors and the Russian Orthodox Church have come to play an increasingly important role in the undermining of established understandings of international human rights law by reinterpreting its aims and repurposing its institutions, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights Council, and the European Court of Human Rights. Russian state and church leaders have appropriated and coopted the language of human rights in order to advance an illiberal and nationalist agenda that undercuts democratic values and targets particular groups and their rights and freedoms—most notably liberal civil society, political opposition, and the LGBTIQ+ community. Written from the angle of a constructivist sociology of human rights, this article brings together three case studies of Russian rights appropriation around the topics of traditional values, family, and homeschooling and draws six lessons on the (mis)appropriation of human rights for illiberal purposes. The analysis of Russia’s rights appropriation sheds light on the background and build-up for current events in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Happiness

The opposite of happiness is not unhappiness but disindividuation. Bersani’s reading of Freud and his identification of sexuality at odds with the happiness of liberal society also provides a nascent account of neoliberalism’s capture of queer sex.

Exploring the Role of Female Empowerment in Sustainable Rural Tourism Development: an Exploratory Sequential Mixed-Method Study

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the empowerment of rural women in the context of sustainable tourism development, identify the factors that influence their empowerment, examine the impact of women's empowerment on sustainable tourism development, and explore innovative approaches to empower rural women. Theoretical Framework: This study combines four factors that influence women's empowerment, namely women's entrepreneurship, education, social capital, and human capital, to form a theoretical framework based on empowerment theory, and uses the empowerment of women as a mediator to explore the elements that impact the sustainable growth of rural tourism. Design/Methodology/Approach: A mixed research method was employed, starting with qualitative research, where 11 relevant interviews were conducted to gain a preliminary understanding of the factors affecting women's empowerment and the sustainability of rural tourism. Subsequently, a 68-item survey questionnaire was used in the quantitative research stage. A total of 340 responses were collected. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested using Cronbach's alpha, and validation factor analysis was used to assess its validity. Structural analysis and equation modeling (SEM) techniques were used to test the hypotheses of the study. Findings: The study shows that women's entrepreneurship, education, human and social capital have a positive impact on women's empowerment and sustainable growth of rural tourism. Women's empowerment mediates the relationship between these factors and sustainable development of rural tourism, which also positively impacts sustainable community, economic, environmental, and cultural development. Therefore, promoting women's empowerment and enhancing their access to education and resources are essential for achieving sustainable growth of rural tourism and community development. Research, Practical & Social implications: This study proposes a new theoretical framework that includes female entrepreneurship, education, social capital, and human capital to fill the gap in knowledge. The development of women in rural tourism is also crucial for society's progress towards civilization, and policies and incentives should be implemented to encourage their participation and ensure their effective involvement. This will contribute to the growth and sustainable development of China's rural tourism industry. Originality/value: This research provides valuable insights into the role of women's empowerment, education, human capital, and social capital in driving sustainable rural tourism development.Furthermore, this research has a significant impact on how Chinese farmers participate in rural tourism in the future, providing insights into rural revitalization efforts. This study underscores the importance of innovative research in driving perspectives on rural tourism and empowering women, which are essential elements for the sustainable development of rural communities.

Civic values: Thematic studies on citizenship in Islam

Indonesia's diverse religious, tribal, cultural, and linguistic background has resulted in frequent disputes between different groups due to the lack of firmly established civic values. As the majority population, Islamic ummah holds a vital role in establishing and managing a peaceful, fair, and prosperous society. The Qur’an, being the primary source of Islamic law, contains principles and meanings of social values that laid the foundation of the first Islamic country in Medina. Therefore, it is essential for followers of Islam to explore civic values in the Qur’an that can be integrated into Indonesian civic values. However, previous research on the concept of the ummah in the Qur’an that can construct civic values is lacking. This study aimed to address this gap by conducting qualitative research through a library research method and thematic analysis. The study identified civic values in the Qur’an that included unity, self-regulation, justice, honesty, responsibility, moderation, tolerance, rule of law, purity, change, plurality, critical thinking, and becoming a participatory, humanist, emancipatory, liberal society inseparable from the transcendental path. Integrating these values into Indonesian civic values can contribute to establishing a peaceful, fair, and prosperous society that values diversity, justice, and the rule of law.

Modernity and collective subjectivity in Marcel Gauchet

This article examines Marcel Gauchet’s claim that the political history of religion is the key to a new understanding of contemporary liberal democratic societies in the shape that they have come to assume since the 1970s. The Disenchantment of the World presents a history of religion starting out from the thesis that, from the perspective of universal history, the primary function of religion can be identified with the production of the unity and identity of societies. Present-day liberal democracies, it is argued, perform the same function through an alternative disposition of the constitutive elements of collective life. Where religions institute the identity of the society by accepting dependence upon a supernatural origin, contemporary society is organized as a ‘subjective form of social functioning’, in the sense that it is able to create and transform itself. Gauchet argues that the central structural features of contemporary society – the administrative state, the separation of civil society and the freedom of individuals, and the global orientation to the future – allow the practical accomplishment of the ideal of autonomy announced by the tradition of modern and revolutionary political thought. The explication of this logic establishes the preconditions for the criticism of these societies, by showing the historical decision and the internal articulations that give them their cohesion.

The Status of Women and Marginalized Social Classes: Pakistan’s Pashtoon Society in Perspective

The prehistoric code of conduct, morality, conscience, and reprisal, known as 'Pukhtunwali,' struggled to regain its prominence during colonial rule. However, women and lower social classes were continually denied their fundamental rights. In the patriarchal Pashtun society, women's role remained limited, despite the notable contributions of several women in literature, work fields, and administrative functions. Unfortunately, women were often disregarded, and lower social classes had no rights, even though they constituted the basic unit of society and contributed their labour to society's progress. This paper aims to examine the status of women and the marginalized social classes in Pakistani society. The article explores how these groups were denied their rights and how the lack of recognition of their contributions negatively impacted society. The paper concludes by highlighting the need to address these inequalities to create a more equitable society that respects all its members.

Issues of monolingualism: A new expression of Neo-Colonisation? The ideological underpinnings of language education in Australia: The case of New South Wales

In recent decades, the drift toward English monolingualism has been a significant concern in Australian multilingual education. Despite Australia being multicultural and linguistically diverse, extensive research has shown that the nation is still adversely affected by a persistent ‘monolingual mindset’. Potential weaknesses regarding multilingual education have been long addressed but no satisfactory countermeasures have been implemented. A recent challenge to the conceptual underpinnings of the ‘monolingual mindset’ have emerged in the last half-century from the neoliberal marketisation of education. Discouragement of multilingualism and multiculturalism may be related to Australia's ‘liberal status quo’, in which language education has not been provided with adequate structural support from Australia’s liberal government and society. While Australian language educators have made continuous efforts to maintain ethnic minority ‘community languages’ within this context, these efforts will seemingly remain ineffective if a monolingual mentality is permitted to remain at a structural level. Recently, a neoliberal challenge has been levelled to make such structural changes, with the privatisation of education encouraging the learning of minority languages and cultivation of ethnic identities. However, political problems are raised by this response, which risks stressing ethnic conflict and political tensions. This paper investigates the issues around Australia’s liberal ‘monolingual mindset’, the structural causes for its discouragement of language learning and the strengths and weaknesses of its responses. This paper utilises a qualitative approach to analyse documents relevant to current language syllabi in New South Wales. Through critical discourse analysis, thematic categorisation will reveal the values and interests contained in these documents. New South Wales has been chosen as a reference for other Australian states and territories regarding language planning and education due to its rich multicultural and multilingual makeup. This study is intended to motivate further inquiry into what may motivate students to pursue future language studies.

Being European, the nationalist way: Europe in the discourse of radical right parties

European radical right parties (RRPs) have recently experienced strong electoral success and have strengthened their positions within the European Parliament. While their Eurosceptic positions are well documented in the literature, the fact that most RRPs refer not only to their nations but to Europe in general in order to ground their nationalist visions remains understudied. We investigate this issue by analyzing the discourses of MEPs from 24 radical right parties in the 8th legislature of the European Parliament (2014–2019). Relying on a vast corpus (36,413 speeches) and using quantitative text analysis, this research sheds light on the various notions of Europe that are used by radical right MEPs. We find evidence of three visions of Europe: as a civilization; as an ethno-religious community; and as a liberal society. The use and preferences for these visions vary according to ideological positions, strategies and national contexts.

La Possibilité d’un Complot

This article asserts that the main polarity that structures the controversy around Islam and its followers in France is the one that opposes the proponents of the liberal motive—that is to say, of a strictly individualistic perspective that does not consider the historical links constituted within the society—to those of the conservative motive—which postulate the strong thesis of the existence of a coordinated conspiracy of the Muslims. The main point of contention is thus the qualification of the main point of contention is the characterization of collective experiences in modern society, denied by some and reified by others. The shift from the fight against radicalization to the anti-separatism apparatus can be understood as the passage from a liberal moment—discursively based on the repression of deviant individuals—to an ongoing conservative one where the Muslim community is explicitly incriminated as an inadequacy within the liberal and secular society.

Climate change and the challenge to liberalism

AbstractIn this editorial, we consider the ways in which liberal constitutionalism is challenged by and presents challenges to the climate crisis facing the world. Over recent decades, efforts to mitigate the climate crisis have generated a new set of norms for states and non-state actors, including regulatory norms (emission standards, carbon regulations), organising principles (common but differentiated responsibility) and fundamental norms (climate justice, intergenerational rights, human rights). However, like all norms, these remain contested. Particularly in light of their global reach, their specific behavioural implications and interpretations and the related obligations to act remain debatable and the overwhelming institutionalization of the neoliberal market economy makes clear and effective responses to climate change virtually impossible within liberal societies.