Matter Of Life Research Articles

Against data individualism: Why a pandemic accord needs to commit to data solidarity

AbstractAn accord to increase global pandemic preparedness is currently negotiated at the World Health Organisation (WHO). One aspect is conspicuously missing from the draft version: data governance. As the COVID‐19 pandemic has shown, the availability of good quality data, and prudent ways of using this data while preventing other forms of data use that is harmful to people and communities, is literally a matter of life and death. It is of utmost importance for the pandemic accord to include a data governance strategy. We argue that data solidarity provides a suitable foundation for such a data governance strategy in the context of pandemics. It includes instruments to facilitate data use in cases where data use is likely to create benefits for many people without entailing high risks for individuals or communities. Data solidarity also calls to refrain from data use in cases where it would pose unacceptable risks. Finally, data solidarity helps to mitigate harm where it occurs. In sum, data solidarity helps to enhance the benefits from digital practices in health crises without playing out collective interests against the rights and needs of individuals.

Numeracy, gist, literal thinking and the value of nothing in decision making.

The onus on the average person is greater than ever before to make sense of large amounts of readily accessible quantitative information, but the ability and confidence to do so are frequently lacking. Many people lack practical mathematical skills that are essential for evaluating risks, probabilities and numerical outcomes such as survival rates for medical treatments, income from retirement savings plans or monetary damages in civil trials. In this Review, we integrate research on objective and subjective numeracy, focusing on cognitive and metacognitive factors that distort human perceptions and foment systematic biases in judgement and decision making. Paradoxically, an important implication of this research is that a literal focus on objective numbers and mechanical number crunching is misguided. Numbers can be a matter of life and death but a person who uses rote strategies (verbatim representations) cannot take advantage of the information contained in the numbers because 'rote' strategies are, by definition, processing without meaning. Verbatim representations (verbatim is only surface form, not meaning) treat numbers as data as opposed to information. We highlight a contrasting approach of gist extraction: organizing numbers meaningfully, interpreting them qualitatively and making meaningful inferences about them. Efforts to improve numerical cognition and its practical applications can benefit from emphasizing the qualitative meaning of numbers in context - the gist - building on the strengths of humans as intuitive mathematicians. Thus, we conclude by reviewing evidence that gist training facilitates transfer to new contexts and, because it is more durable, longer-lasting improvements in decision making.

A matter of life and death: The power of personal networks for medical crowdfunding performance

Medical crowdfunding is an accessible alternative for individuals to meet their unaffordable health needs. This study explores the role of personal networks in medical crowdfunding performance from the perspective of tie strength and whether gender inequality persists in the returns of personal networks in this survival context, using bilateral data of both the ego and the alters collected from a large representative medical crowdfunding platform in China. It is found that kin ties play a fundamental and predominant role while pseudo-kin ties, being less strong than kin ties in terms of mutual sentiment and reciprocal obligations to help each other, play an accumulative role and are more influential in increasing crowdfunding performance, and neighbour and other role relations have the weakest effect and contribution. Importantly, women are not discriminated against when mobilizing personal networks for medical crowdfunding as they enjoy the same returns of most personal ties as men do.

School Leadership Waterloo Region Must Show Black Youth Their Lives Matter

This paper amplifies the voices of Black youth based on findings from a study on schooling experiences of Black youth in the Region of Waterloo, a mid-size Canadian community. Data for the qualitative study was collected using elder-facilitated youth dialogue (adaptation of focus group and Afrocentric sharing circles) and in-depth individual interviews. The findings show that the Black youth participants did not feel their lives matter in the eduational system due to discrimination, alienation, non-inclusive curriculum, absence of Black teachers and failure of school leadership to address systemic racism. Framed by Afrocentric and critical race theories, these findings enabled recommendations on how teachers can take leadership for supporting Black learners by recognizing and mitigating the effects of anti-Black-racism through culturally responsive teaching, emancipatory pedagogy, and politicized caring. The study contributes to an understanding of the need for equitable outcomes, intentional inclusion, and culturally responsive pedagogy that celebrates identity of Black students and enhances their sense of belonging.

Cooking energy choices in urban areas and its implications on poverty reduction

ABSTRACT Developing nations face higher stakes in the race towards a cleaner energy future, where it's a matter of life, wealth, and basic human needs. Using Tanzania Panel Survey data, this study examined urban households' cooking energy choices and their impact on reducing poverty. Employing advanced statistical models, it found that traditional energy sources still dominate cooking methods, and households relying on them are more likely to be trapped in poverty. Clean energy sources, on the other hand, reduce poverty prevalence. Education and income diversification programs can facilitate an immediate shift towards clean energy and achieve Sustainable Development Goals. This study highlights the urgency of the situation and the need for decisive action towards a cleaner, equitable world for all.

Kolaborasi Model PBL Dan Model STAD dalam Pembelajaran Ekonomi

Economic learning had a complex subject matter and high relevance in daily life. The output of economic learning was that students had good critical thinking skills as demanded by 21st century skills. However, during this time economic learning seem too bored because the learning only based on the theory without connected to contextual activities. This research used literature study method with the purpose to reviewed the collaboration model of PBL and STAD theoretically in improving student’s critical thinking skills in economic learning. The implementation of collaboration model of PBL and STAD could be done in six steps there are class presentation, team formation and work in group, identified the problem that provided by teacher then students find information from any resources in solving problem, organizing quiz, scoring and team recognition.

West African Sufism and the matter of Black life

AbstractIn this article, I consider how migration practices around the Black Atlantic and discourses of repatriation mobilize Black African diasporic Muslim identities in present-day Senegal and in a mosque in South Carolina that is situated on land that was formerly a slave plantation. I use the term ‘reversion’ as a vocabulary of ‘diasporic becoming’ to signal how notions of Islamic piety are coupled with a politics of Black Atlantic Muslimness in the context of a West African Sufi tariqa – or ‘Black Atlantic Sufism’. Moreover, I consider how identity formation and African Muslim ancestry are impacted by discourses of geographic return and repatriation that are linked to spiritual tourism.

SCF-FDPS: A Fast N-body Code for Simulating Disk–Halo Systems

A fast N-body code has been developed for simulating a stellar disk embedded in a live dark matter halo. In generating its Poisson solver, a self-consistent field (SCF) code that inherently possesses perfect scalability is incorporated into a tree code that is parallelized using a library termed Framework for Developing Particle Simulators (FDPS). Thus, the code developed here is called SCF-FDPS. This code has realized the speedup of a conventional tree code by applying an SCF method not only to the calculation of the self-gravity of the halo but also to that of the gravitational interactions between the disk and halo particles. Consequently, in the SCF-FDPS code, a tree algorithm is applied only to calculate the self-gravity of the disk. On a many-core parallel computer, the SCF-FDPS code has performed at least 3 times (in one case, nearly an order of magnitude) faster than an extremely tuned tree code on it, if the numbers of disk and halo particles are, respectively, fixed for both codes. In addition, the SCF-FDPS code shows that the central processing unit cost scales almost linearly with the total number of particles and almost inversely with the number of cores. We find that the time evolution of a disk–halo system simulated with the SCF-FDPS code is, in large measure, similar to that obtained using the tree code. We suggest how the present code can be extended to cope with a wide variety of disk-galaxy simulations.

Behind the badge and the veil: Black police officers in the era of black lives matter.

Behind the badge and the veil: Black police officers in the era of black lives matter.

Stephen E. Young. Our Brother Beloved: Purpose and Community in Paul’s Letter to Philemon

Stephen E. Young. <i>Our Brother Beloved: Purpose and Community in Paul’s Letter to Philemon</i>

Black lives matter and imagined futures of racial dynamics in the US

ABSTRACT As the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement fights to build an alternate future characterized by racial equality and justice, a priority is studying this projected image of what society could look like and how oppressed groups and activists who fight on their behalf feel this might be achieved. This article integrates knowledge from social movement studies, critical race theory, and futures research to add to this critical discussion. Specifically, I use the concept of social movement prospectus to investigate perspectives on future social change in relation to racial justice activism. Through analysis of interviews with 36 U.S. Black millennials about BLM and its potential impact on race relations in the United States, I examine the varied conceptualizations within this group of what success would look like for this movement and whether that success is likely to occur. Broadly, I find that Black millennials are skeptical about BLM’s ability to effect social change, but are more optimistic when change is viewed in terms of cultural outcomes than structural ones. I consider the implications of these perspectives for the future of the movement, as well as for scholarship that investigates how social movements produce social change and shape the future of society.

On impersonal justice: libraries' neutrality as an act of change

PurposeThis study introduces Simone Weil's impersonal justice concept and its relevance to libraries' identity and role in societies. The article presents the constituents of impersonal justice and a theoretical justification for the coexistence of neutrality with libraries' commitment to social causes.Design/methodology/approachConceptual analysis of 3 Weil's works, 13 scientific articles and 12 libraries' official documents was applied, looking at relevant concepts and findings, contexts of use, arguments and types of authority.FindingsFive constituents of impersonal justice were found: universality, concreteness, unicity, inviolability and inappropriability. Impersonal justice, based on the inviolable value of each individual and the universal expectation of good, allows for a more accurate definition of social justice. Besides, it justifies libraries' commitment to climate change, migrants and Black lives matter, among other causes.Originality/valueIn contrast to previous works, this paper focuses on clarifying concepts by applying conceptual analysis to Weil's works, Library and Information Science (LIS) sources in scientific and normative contexts. Additionally, the analysis of arguments and types of authority for justifying claims pro and against neutrality allows the reconstruction of the argumentative discourse beyond the examined sources.

Introduction

Introduction

The Deadly Intersections of COVID‐19: Race, States, Inequalities and Global Society edited by SuneraThobani, Bristol University Press, 2022, 176 pp., $83.95 (hardback).

The Deadly Intersections of COVID‐19: Race, States, Inequalities and Global Society edited by SuneraThobani, Bristol University Press, 2022, 176 pp., $83.95 (hardback).

Online Gaming Network Communication Dynamics, Depressive Symptoms, and Social Support: A Longitudinal Network Analysis

ABSTRACT Video games are part of everyday life for many Americans despite concerns for social isolation and depressive symptoms. Preliminary studies show gamers may compensate for lack of in-real-life (IRL) support with online connections. This longitudinal social network study investigated the social structure of an online gaming site and how social support, sense of community, and depressive symptoms relate to communication. Members (N = 40) of an online gaming site reported online and IRL support, sense of community, depressive symptoms, and usernames of other members whom they spoke to about important life matters. IRL and online social support, sense of community, and depressive symptoms significantly influenced changes in online gaming network structure over time. These results are timely given social isolation and mental health impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Exploring how to healthfully build online connections through gaming may be an avenue for greater social support when IRL social support is lacking.

Calling for justice with #JusticeforBreonnaTaylor: a case study of hashtag activism in the evolution of the black lives matter movement

Taking a stage-based approach, before and after the release of the 15-h audio recording files of the grand jury’s inquiry on the Breonna Taylor case on October 2, 2020, this study examined the #JusticeforBreonnaTaylor Twitter networks. By employing multimethodology, including natural language processing, social network analysis, and qualitative textual analysis, I examined keys connectors of the two Twitter networks and investigated major themes conducting thematic analysis of network discourses and highly associated hashtags with the hashtag #JusticeforBreonnaTaylor. In both networks, several key stakeholders, such as Benjamin Crump, Danial Cameron, and Black women activists were identified as key connectors along with social activists and ordinary participants. Demanding justice to the case was the core agenda of the hashtag activism. The findings of the study revealed that the participants not only shared breaking news and important information but also organized protests and routinely tagged people to spread messages about the Taylor’s case on Twitter. The participants conversed major issues about the Taylor case and set the agendas for the next action, such as encouraging to take part in voting for the 2020 presidential election. The thematic analysis concurrently demonstrated that the network participants strongly demanded legal prosecution to the three Louisville cops that involved in the act of killing Breonna Taylor during the botched raid in her apartment.

Antiracism Approaches Through an Outsider-Within Positionality: Making Black Women’s Lives Matter in Art Education

This study investigated the narratives and racial experiences of Black women K–12 art educators navigating the White field of art education. Drawing from a Black feminist outsider-within positionality framework, their shared stories reveal how Black women art educators are unprivileged insiders within their schools and outsiders to a social system that privileges White people as the dominant group in art education. Outsider-within positionality is foundational in providing a platform for revealing the exclusion of Black women’s identities in White spaces. A Black feminist approach to narrative inquiry is a crucial methodology in identifying why Black women matter in art education. Their interviews expose the experiences of racist obstacles that hinder their progress as art educators. As a result, approaches to implementing gender equity with antiracist strategies are presented for an inclusive and safe environment for Black women art educators and create a critical dialogue in art education at large.

Moral Learning through Tragedy in Aristotle and Force Majeure

Abstract In this article, I challenge Simon Critchley's recent suggestion that tragic art is not morally educational in Aristotle's analysis and instead argue that it can be inferred from Aristotle that tragic art can morally educate in three main ways: via emotion education, by helping the audience come to understand what matters in life, and by depicting conduct worthy of moral emulation and conduct that is not. Stephen Halliwell's reading of how catharsis helps the audience of tragedy learn to feel pity and fear appropriately is discussed. Two objections Lear makes to Halliwell's account are thereafter outlined and responded to. I maintain that for Aristotle, the pleasure proper to tragedy is prompted by an understanding of what matters most in life—not making mistakes that threaten the prosperity of loved ones. I pull the article together by questioning aspects of Christopher Falzon's reading of Ruben Östlund's film, Force Majeure. I conclude that the film both exemplifies and critiques Aristotle's account of moral learning through tragedy.

Sheik Muhammad Abdul kharim Al-Maghili and His Role in Strengthening Islamic Political Thought in Northern Nigeria

The political thought and judicial system before the advent of Islam in Northern Nigeria was based on its traditions and inherited customs. After the emergence of Islam in the land, Kings adopted the system of Islamic Sharia’. Nevertheless, research in Islamic political thought was not as developed as it was in the jurisprudence of worship and marriage. Perhaps, there are terrible things happening in the Islamic Emirates in this period. Based on this, the aim of this research is to explain the role of Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Karim al-Maghili in reforming the situation that the nation was in, and in promoting Islamic Political Thought in northern Nigeria. Finally, the researchers concluded that Islamic Political Thought in northern Nigeria was invigorated by the vision of Imam al-Maghili, and his participation in activating political affairs, as they also proved that this thought was mature enough to solve all the problems of the nation, because it is founded on a divine approach and divine laws that covered the interests of people in matters of religion and everyday life.

Florence Kelley: Pragmatist, Feminist, Socialist

Florence Kelley: Pragmatist, Feminist, Socialist