Moral Struggle Research Articles

Embodying the nuclear: The moral struggle of family care in postfallout Japan

AbstractThis paper examines the moral struggle of family care by focusing on parents’ efforts to raise “healthy” children in irradiated environments of Fukushima following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Drawing on fieldwork between 2017 and 2020, it explores the lived experiences of primary caretakers, mostly mothers, as they strive to cultivate “health” in their children while negotiating conflicting logics of radiological exposure, risk assessment, and gendered childcare. Central to this endeavor is what I call an ethical labor of “balancing:” the daily negotiation between protecting children and allowing them to live fully in risk‐laden environments. Emphasizing intercorporeal and interpersonal aspects of embodied care, the paper examines the nuanced ways in which three mothers recalibrate notions of health, personhood, and responsibility to safeguard their children's everyday lives. Such notions of “health” carry significant implications for family dynamics amid the uncertainties of postdisaster life. By highlighting the critical role of family care in potentially stigmatizing environments, the paper advocates for developing frameworks that address the real‐life complexities of making life in an increasingly compromised world.

Interrogating the Algerian Folkloric Identity in Khadra’s What the Day Owes the Night

This paper is an attempt to explore Folkloric material in Yasmina Khadra’s What the Day Owes the Night, to reconsider folklore, not as a remnant of the past, but as an artistic vehicle to locate cultural belonging. It examines the different elements by which folklore shapes individual and collective identity in colonial Algerian literature. The novel of Yasmina Khadra represents material and spiritual folk constituents of the Algerian national and cultural identity during the French colonization, mainly the moral struggle of the protagonist between his Algerian cultural heritage and the French-acquired culture. The novel is rich in cultural, artistic, and folkloric elements of the Algerian individual and collective identity. It also exhibits the contrast between the local, and everyday French habits, causing a chasm between the two cultures the protagonist is struggling to bear and fill. This research indicates that the protagonist’s internal conflict reflects the larger struggle that nearly all Algerians went through during French colonization by imposing the colonial culture on their own. Research findings demonstrate that folklore is a popular material that springs out from recurrent situations of everyday life. Khadra’s What the Day Owes the Night expresses verbal art as academic parlance to encounter identity issues. Khadra effectively captures the essence of Algerian society and its diverse cultural fabric through vivid descriptions and storytelling, shedding light on the intricate nature of identity in a colonized nation.

THE QUEST FOR MENTAL TRANQUILITY IN JOSEPH CONRAD’S "UNDER WESTERN EYES"

In Joseph Conrad’s novel Under Western Eyes (1911), Razumov is a kinless university student in St. Petersburg who involuntarily becomes the government’s agent as regard to espionage because of an unwelcome visit from the revolutionist student Haldin. This paper makes use of C.T. Watts’ article “Under Western Eyes: The Haunted Haunts” published in 2008 as a framework to investigate Razumov’s psychological journey: beginning with his decision to betray Haldin through to the consequential action of making a confession to the latter’s sister, Nathalie. Watts’ article explores both the haunting and exorcist aspects of the novel upon its author, characters and, possibly. the reader. The article primarily focuses on how Conrad’s novel intentionally mimics Crime and Punishment (1866). Several aspects of the narrative reveal to us that Conrad failed in avenging the haunting effect Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s work had upon him. In this paper, the rationale behind Razumov’s confession will be investigated in understanding how both physical and mental exhaustion stimulate moral struggles and alter one’s assumed ideology. Emphasis will be made on the transformation of Razumov in terms of the effect of acquiring domestic connections and arriving in different geographical locations as the plot complicates.

Evolution and Deepening of Antagonistic Characters in Films: A Typological Analysis and Exploration of Empathy Construction

This paper explores antagonistic characters in films, specifically focusing on the concept of “empathetic antagonists.” Through a review of relevant literature, the paper defines empathetic antagonists, examines their evolutionary processes, categorizes them, and elucidates their significance in film narratives and how they evoke empathy in the audience. Firstly, the paper reviews prior studies related to empathetic antagonists and provides a conceptual framework. Secondly, it traces the evolution of antagonist characters from simple, one-dimensional evil personas to complex, multifaceted characters with depth. Thirdly, the paper classifies empathetic antagonists into four main types: Complex Motivation, Moral Struggle, Complicated Relationships, and Diverse Backgrounds. Additionally, it offers suggestions for scriptwriting and actor interpretation in shaping these characters. Finally, by synthesizing these aspects, the paper concludes that antagonistic characters in films have transitioned from initially simplistic and flat representations to complex and three-dimensional depictions, evolving from uni-dimensional evil to profound humanity. This trend not only enhances the artistic quality of films but also prompts audiences to contemplate issues of humanity, morality, and emotions. In the future, filmmakers can continue exploring the multifaceted qualities of antagonist characters to enrich character experiences and create more captivating works. Simultaneously, actors need to accurately convey the emotions and complexities of these characters during performances, leaving a lasting impression on the audience. This research is instrumental in understanding the role and impact of antagonist characters in film narratives and offers guidance for creating in-depth and empathetic antagonist characters.

A Comparison of the 1940 Animated Pinocchio Movie and Walt Disney Studios' 2022 Live-action Version of Pinocchio Movie

Pinocchio is one of the popular classics of the Walt Disney animation industry released in 1940, the popularity of the Pinocchio series also prompted the animated film Pinocchio to be adapted into a live-action version in 2022. The movie is based on the classic novel by Carlo Collodi that tells the story of a wooden puppet named Pinocchio who wants to become a human child. There are different scenes from the 1940 version of Pinocchio and the 2022 version of Pinocchio. This adaptation process does bring changes in the meaning content when the story is adapted from animation to live-action. Based on this, this study aims to analyze changes in meaning in the 1940 animated version of Pinocchio and the 2022 live-action version of Pinocchio with a comparative method, data obtained from observation. The results of the study are that there are significant differences, in the 1940 animated version of Pinocchio scenes prioritize Pinocchio's self-transformation into a real boy through moral struggle and sacrifice, while the 2022 live-action version of Pinocchio adaptation emphasizes the emotional relationship between Pinocchio and Gepetto. The results of this research are expected to provide additional knowledge and new knowledge about film adaptation and the importance of considering changes that occur in both films and their impact on the content of meaning.
 Keywords: Animation, Live-action, Movie, Pinocchio Scene

Virtual Poverty Simulation: Effect on Attitudes Toward Poverty in Nursing Students

Background: Simulation has been shown to be an effective teaching strategy for increasing nursing students' knowledge and empathy toward individuals with low income. Virtual simulation is effective in teaching critical thinking, situational awareness, and empathy. Method: This mixed-method study examined three virtual poverty simulation programs. The study sample included senior baccalaureate nursing students ( n = 99) in a Community Health course. Results: Fifteen of the 21 items on the Attitudes Toward Poverty–Short Form (ATP–SF) scale showed a statistically significant increase in knowledge and understanding of people living in poverty. Qualitative data analysis revealed four themes: (1) empathy; (2) sacrifice; (3) stress; and (4) moral struggle. Conclusion: Virtual poverty simulation is a teaching strategy for increasing nursing students' empathy, knowledge, and understanding of those living in poverty to provide compassionate, culturally competent care for individuals with low income. The simulation can be implemented in a variety of settings. [ J Nurs Educ . 2023;62(11):642–646.]

When psychiatry encounters local knowledge of madness: Ethnographic observations in a Chinese psychiatric hospital

As the number of psychiatric hospitals are on the rise in China, this article examines how the psychiatric discourse as articulated by hospital staff interacts with local cultural understandings of madness/mental illness, as well as how such interactions impact patients and families’ reception of psychiatry. Data comes from 16 months of fieldwork in a psychiatric hospital in South China. We show that psychiatric professionals at the hospital attempted to establish their professional authority by discrediting other cultural epistemologies embraced by patients or families, such as religious and traditional Chinese medical understandings. Despite the quick effect of psychopharmaceuticals to control symptoms, the psychiatric perspective ultimately fell short in addressing the social and moral struggles faced by patients, such as patriarchy and gender-based violence. Moreover, as psychiatric professionals unreflexively used certain problematic local concepts to convey a biomedical and even genetically-determined account of mental illness to patients and families, they risked entrenching the stigma of mental illness and disempowering their clients. To improve the quality of mental healthcare, to make clients feel culturally safe and respected in clinical encounters, psychiatric professionals in China should develop a more holistic approach that takes into account the biological, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of mental illness, that recognizes the diverse sources of help clients may rely on. They should also develop a critical awareness of the language they use and of the power dynamics in which they and their clients are situated.

The Nonviolent Christ at the Apocalyptic Center of Origen’s Homilies on Joshua

Christians ancient and modern have puzzled over the violence in the book of Joshua. Origen of Alexandria interprets this text apocalyptically, to give readers a sense of their own personal moral struggle as participating in a cosmic effort. For Origen, the central act of apocalypse is the cross of Jesus Christ, conquering evil through nonviolence and making religious violence explicitly prohibited. This is a compelling exegesis still today, since by using the cross to reinterpret Joshua, Origen presents a middle path between endorsing the violence depicted and excising or ignoring it.

‘Dance is a disease for us’: dancing through the night as a threat to moral order in urbanizing Estonia

Abstract This article explores social dancing as the setting for moral struggles related to the urban night. Based on analysis of Estonian-language newspapers, I look at the historical context and expressed viewpoints linked with nocturnal public dance events in Estonian cities from 1880 to 1940. The established moral order was endangered by those staying out dancing late into the night. In the context of the multinationalism of urban areas and the national emancipation movement of the ethnic Estonian population, I investigate the transgressions and hazards that night dancing was perceived to bring, most significantly, threat to productivity, health and virtue.

Intizar Hussain: The Master of Urdu-Hindi Civilization

Intizar Hussain was a fiction writer with a novel use of symbolic and metaphorical styles, but for all his retrospect and escapism and denial of the future, his writings have a strange poignancy and beauty. It has the same charm one feels in old buildings on moonlit nights. Besides being a respected name in Urdu fiction, he was a great challenge to the pioneer fiction writers due to his style and changing tones. The atmosphere of his writings echoes the stories of the past. Regret, rememberance of past , love of the classics, nostalgia for the past, lamenting the past and seeking refuge in tradition are very prominent here. In many places, the style and tone become harsh in expressing the sadness and expression of the disintegration of the old values ​​and the superficial and sentimental nature of the new values. He also made the mythological trend a part of his writings. Extensive study is also required to find out the mysteries of their legends. A special kind of tension regarding migration is ongoing with Intizar Hussain. He could not logically separate himself from this situation. He was not interested in the external structure of life, but he cared about the condition that was faced inwardly. This is the deep diving and stylistic diversity of Intar Hussain. But they also call it intellectual and visual backwardness. In such a case, they declare the moral struggle of the individual as meaningless. This thematic and stylistic level is where Intizar Hussain seems to enter the foreground of fiction.

Václav Havel’s Search for Emancipatory Governmentality

ABSTRACT This paper deals with the political philosophy of Václav Havel, mainly its relation to ethics and what Michel Foucault called governmentality. Besides using his analytical framework, Foucault’s politics are engaged with to highlight similar trajectories of two intellectuals dealing with related dilemmas of ethics and politics. As a dissident of communist Czechoslovakia Havel, developed a profound critique of modernity, but also discovered technologies of the self, exclusive to dissidents, which empowered them in their moral struggle against the regime. The Velvet Revolution in 1989 ascended Havel to the presidency of the republic, a position from which he quickly embraced and disseminated neoliberal governmentality. The final section deals with Havel’s use of human rights in the later years of his presidency, being a justification for military interventions and comparing them to Foucault’s conceptualisation of rights. Human rights discourse is the culmination of Havel’s lifelong quest for the ethical foundation of politics and it is the source of most difficulties and potentialities associated with this project.

Corruption: A Review of Issues

This paper provides a historical overview of the concept of corruption, the existing models for studying it, and the main costs that corruption imposes on the economy and society at large. Corruption was first understood as a disturbance of the balance of state power, and later as the immorality of political patronage and favouritism of certain groups. It evolved from the public sphere to the intertwining of the public and private spheres, from a political issue to the intertwining of political and economic issues. The fight against corruption evolved from the maintenance of necessary checks and balances, from moral struggles against a system of privilege, to a major motive for state policy. Looking at all these aspects allows us to understand the origins and evolution of corruption and why the fight against corruption is seen as a way to lead »failed countries«, politically backward and immoral societies, to the right path of political virtue. By understanding the historical evolution of corruption and its various forms, institutions and countries in general can develop more targeted and effective anti-corruption policies to limit the occurrence of corruption.

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”: environmental-climate conspiracy theories and populism at the beginning of the Bolsonaro administration (2018-2020)

The main argument presented in this paper is that the environmental-climate conspiracy theories propagated at the beginning of the Bolsonaro administration helped to foster a populist ideology – that is, the idea that there is a moral struggle between the 'good people' against 'corrupt elites' and that the populist leader is the only legitimate representative of this people because he represents their moral values. To support this argument, we conducted a qualitative content analysis of 36 conspiratorial speeches around the environmental-climate issue delivered by five actors from the Bolsonaro administration top positions (Jair Bolsonaro, Eduardo Bolsonaro, Ernesto Araújo, Filipe Martins and Olavo de Carvalho) between 2018 and 2020. From this qualitative analysis, we evidenced a conspiratorial structure as follows: global, intellectual, technocratic, and left-wing elites seek to instrumentalize the environmental-climate agenda – in particular by ideological indoctrination and alarmism – to justify widespread control over the nations sovereignties and the individuals freedoms. It was found that unmasking and resisting environmentalism were the two main moral messages that this conspiratorial structure emanates. In the face of this moral struggle between truth and freedom, in which climate change and the Amazon are embedded, Bolsonaro is presented as a patriotic leader who defends sovereignty, development, and the interests of the people and the nation.

Narratives about Negative Healthcare Service Experiences: Reported Events, Positioning, and Normative Discourse of an Active Client.

Narratives about clients' service experiences in healthcare organizations constitute a crucial way for clients to make sense of their illness, its treatment, and their role in the service process. This is important because the client's role has recently changed from that of a passive object of care into an active responsible agent. Utilizing Bamberg's narrative positioning analysis as a method, and 14 thematic interviews of healthcare clients with multiple health-related problems as data, we investigated the expectations of the client's role in their narratives about negative service experiences. All the narratives addressed the question of the clients' "activeness" in some way. We identified three narrative types. In the first, the clients actively sought help, but did not receive it; in the second, the clients positioned themselves as helpless and inactive, left without the care they needed; and in the third, the clients argued against having to fight for their care. In all these narrative types, the clients either demonstrated their own activeness or justified their lack of it, which-despite attempts to resist the ideal of an "active client"-ultimately just reinforced it. Attempts to improve service experiences of clients with considerable service needs require a heightened awareness of clients' moral struggles.

Scrupulosity in the Network of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms, Religious Struggles, and Self-Compassion: A Study in a Non-Clinical Sample

Scrupulosity is a phenomenon of the intersection between religiosity and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It could be regarded as an interactive effect of religiosity, religious internal conflicts, cognitive distortions associated with thought processing and self-reference, and obsessiveness. The present study investigated scrupulosity in the network of religious/spiritual struggles, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, self-compassion, and religiosity in order to better describe a position of scrupulosity in the dimensions of mental health and illness. Two hundred and ninety-two religious individuals from Poland (two hundred and two women) between the ages of 18 and 83 (M = 39.3; SD = 13.7) participated in the study. We applied the Self-Compassion Scale, Religious and Spiritual Struggle Scale, Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised, Pennsylvania Inventory of Scrupulosity, and posed questions concerning identification with religious beliefs, the role of religion in one’s identity, and religious attendance. Using correlation analysis and a network analysis, we demonstrated that scrupulosity was positively correlated with religious/spiritual struggles (mostly with moral struggles and religious doubts) and with obsessing as an OCD symptom. The bridge strength analysis indicated that scrupulosity may be regarded as a bridge symptom between religious/spiritual struggles and OCD symptoms. Pastoral and psychological counselling could use these results in order to design efficient treatments for people suffering from religious scruples.

From Moral Struggles to Regulative Discussions – The Case of Plant-Based Meat Substitute Labels

While there is a growing literature on moral markets that aim to create social value through market exchange, much of the research focused on how social movements and activist-producers initially create and legitimate new moral markets. What we currently know little about is how moral markets scale up and what happens when established organizations enter the market, following mainly economic goals. Additionally, we do not know much about the reactions of members of the 'conventional' market and their effect on moral struggles and the legitimacy of the market. To shed light on the effects of the economic growth and conventionalization of moral markets, I study moral struggles as they play out in the contestation of labels in the market for plant-based meat alternatives in Germany. Based on extensive archival data and 17 interviews with field actors, I show how incumbent actors initiate a regulatory contestation of product labels and therefore de-moralize the public discussion around the moral market. Doing so, they shift the focus of the struggle from moral legitimacy towards cognitive legitimacy, giving them larger margins to bring out 'conventional' arguments in politics and media. I discuss the implications of my study for research on moral markets and social movements.

Decarbonized Futures: Struggles Over Ecological Distribution in Greece

ABSTRACT The energy sector in Greece has been undergoing multiple processes of diversification, privatization and neoliberal restructuring, following EU imperatives for common energy market and metabolized by fast-track policies of the indebted state. Based on long ethnographic fieldwork in the main coal-mining region of Greece, this article discusses the energopolitics of austerity linking the state-backed logics of accumulation to the lived experience of energy producers and consumers. The expropriation of surrounding-the-mine villages, the growing transformation of public/communal/private land into photovoltaic parks and the very directions of imagining the future fuel multiscalar social and moral struggles. These reveal not only the horizontal integration of nature into capital valorization, though – albeit reduced – coal production and the spectacular investment to renewable energy ventures, but also the vertical processes of subsumption, enabled by financial engineering and rent-extraction. The model of energy transition rests on an uneven regime of ecological distribution that shapes but also exploits growing intra-class conflicts, propelled by the very contradictory nature of public power companies within each historical capitalist moment.

Evil Deeds in High Places: Christian America's Moral Struggle with Watergate by David E. Settje

Reviewed by: Evil Deeds in High Places: Christian America's Moral Struggle with Watergate by David E. Settje Robert Benne Evil Deeds in High Places: Christian America's Moral Struggle with Watergate. By David E. Settje. New York: New York University Press, 2020. 275 pp. As a rule, Lutherans' political presence in American life has been neglected by scholars of religion and politics. Lutheran political involvements are not as well-known as those of the mainline denominations nor as effective as the Southern Baptists or United Methodists. Lutherans have not played as prominent a political role in American life as Roman Catholics and they have not spawned politically powerful voluntary associations—Moral Majority, Christian Coalition—as have fundamentalists and evangelicals. Yet, they have been involved far beyond the attention they have been given by scholars. This book by David Settje, Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program at Concordia University Chicago, corrects that lack of attention. Here he adds to his considerable prior efforts to plumb the political involvements of American Lutherans in the great issues of the day. Two books precede this current effort: Lutherans and the Longest War: Adrift on a Sea of Doubt about the Cold and Vietnam Wars, 1961–75 (Lexington, 2006) and Faith and War: How Christians Debated the Cold and Vietnam Wars (New York University Press, 2011). This book focuses on the Watergate scandals that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in August of 1974. As the "evil deeds in high places" and the dishonesty that surrounded them shook the confidence of the country, Settje argues that the churches played an increasingly important role in political life in America. The crisis especially provided an occasion for conservative religion to provide a stronger voice in public life. That is where at least some Lutherans (Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod) come into play in the book. Other Lutherans (Lutheran Church in America) trained their influence on the liberal side. But all Christian traditions exercised new and important roles in both moral judgment and renewal in America. So, while Settje gives due attention to Lutheran voices, he also covers other major traditions, as well as the journals that represented those traditions. [End Page 241] The main part of the book provides an exhaustive account of those religious bodies' grappling with the many facets of the Watergate crisis. It is highly detailed and thorough. The notes and bibliography together are forty pages long. Recounting that upheaval brings back many memories of that era and its primary actors to those who lived through it. To those who did not it provides excellent historical instruction. While for the most part, Settje's work is fair-minded, it is clear that he favors liberal Protestant political incursions. He tends to argue that evangelicals have violated their emphasis on piety in their affection for Nixon and later Trump. He ends the book by arguing that Christians "must advocate for the moral and ethical leadership that will protect democracy. But this requires, within the Christian comfort of mixing religion and politics, they put morality first and politics a distant second." (216) This obviously is a criticism of those who thought that Nixon's—as well as Trump's—political agendas were important enough to support in spite of their personal foibles. The choice between a politician's character and his or her agenda is not as neat as Settje suggests. Liberal support for Clinton demonstrates that ambiguity on the other side of the political spectrum. Settje also makes the claim that the Watergate imbroglio was the doorway to much more religious involvement in politics, whereas it seems to me that the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war provided an earlier occasion for heavy religious involvement. Also, the Supreme Court's decision in Roe vs. Wade was a huge stimulation for religious involvement in politics that was just as strong as Watergate and far more long-lasting. Nevertheless, this book is a welcome examination of a watershed moment in American politics as well as American religions' political role in it. [End Page 242] Robert Benne Institute of Lutheran Theology Brookings, South Dakota Copyright © 2022 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran...

Evil Deeds in High Places: Christian America's Moral Struggle with Watergate

Evil Deeds in High Places: Christian America's Moral Struggle with Watergate

THE DYNAMICS OF MUSLIM INTERPRETATION OF JIHAD VERSES: Between Morality And Military

The article questions the general assumptions in interpreting the Jihad verses as justifications for intolerant actions among religious organizations and transnational movements in Indonesia. It is due to a misunderstanding of the verses of the Qur'an and the hadith of the Prophet about Jihad without regard to its meaning and historical context. In the use of the Qur'an, especially in the revelation of the first Meccan revelations, the main emphasis is on the meaning of peaceful Jihad as an individual effort for self-improvement. It shows that the verses of Jihad have not connoted military action so far. However, in the second year after the Hijrah, permission for military movement or war was granted when the Muslim community in Medina. The interpretation of the verses of Jihad in the next period changed. The interpretation of Jihad for specific groups as justification for acts of violence contradicts the basic meaning of the verses of Jihad. This shows that the verse of Jihad faces the dynamics of interpretation for a group of Muslims both in terms of justification and contextualization. This article questions the idea that the interpretation of Jihad is inherently a military confrontation rather than a moral struggle. This study also confirms that religious authority influences the dynamics in interpreting religious texts as the interpretation of jihad verses.