Pluralistic Society Research Articles

Didaculturation in Literature Class

This study aims to present a new concept (Didaculturation) based on the work of the author Formoso (2021), a specialist in the analysis of cultures. Formoso has proposed a notion (Coculturation) focused on the importance of the coexistence of different cultures, moving away from the separating theories and terms that are often used in plural societies. Our approach (Didaculturation) aims to take up this definition and apply it to didactics. We centre on teaching literature as a field of verbal and written expression, including narratives that often reflect social actions that must be explained in class under a cultural approach. It should be done in this way for an effective reception of the message and the positive coexistence between people. This is in addition to teaching the stylistic, aesthetic or poetic functions.

Avances y retos del plurilingüismo en los poderes públicos del estado españolProgress and challenges of multilingualism in the public powers of the Spanish state

Abstract More than four decades after the promulgation of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, its provisions on linguistic matters have been defined, through a dynamic and constructive process, by the state and regional legislators, and by the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court, to the point of allowing a significant advance of minority languages that had been neglected for decades. Over time, this dynamic, not exempt from controversy, as corresponds to an open and plural society, has revealed some imbalances due to the asymmetry of the constitutional linguistic model, for example the scarce presence and promotion of linguistic diversity at the state level.

MISIOLOGI KONTEKSTUAL DI INDONESIA: SOLUSI TEOLOGIS DAN SOSIAL UNTUK MASYARAKAT PLURALIS

In Indonesia, a pluralistic society with diverse cultures, religions, ethnicities, and worldviews poses significant challenges to church missiology. Horizontal conflicts related to religion and ethnicity are a frequent occurrence in the course of the nation's journey. This article explores the theological and social approaches to dealing with the issue's complexity. It investigates how the church can be a positive change agent in promoting interfaith dialogue, building social harmony, and strengthening cross-cultural understanding. Using a research method that involves theological study and social analysis expressed in a descriptive qualitative method with a literature study approach to understand the church's and missionaries' role in contemporary society. The conclusion is the need for the church to understand the dynamics of pluralism in the context of missiology in Indonesia so that it can provide a theological approach strategy in missiology for multicultural societies and also the importance of social strategies in facing the challenges of missiology in contemporary society. Finally, it can provide social and cultural impacts and implications for the practice of missiology in Indonesia. hence highlighting the need for a holistic approach that integrates theology with the social context of society, so that missiology can play an effective role in facing contemporary challenges and expanding its positive impact in social and spiritual transformation in Indonesia.

The Complexity of Freedom of Speech: Wittgenstein’s Language Game and Gadamer’s Hermeneutics

Freedom of speech is filled in various facets of daily life, which has long been the focus of people’s attention and debate. The concept has multiple layers, including mode, content, and timing of speech. It is worth noting that in different cultural, political and legal contexts, different groups of people interpret and apply freedom of speech in various ways. The purpose of this paper is to compare and analyze Austin’s Speech Act Theory, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Language Game Theory and Hans-Georg Gadamer’s Hermeneutics. Also it aims to demonstrate and summarize three philosophers’ views on freedom of speech from multiple perspectives. By examining these philosophical frameworks, this paper attempts to guide people to further understand the factors that influence freedom of speech and clarify its inherent complexity. This paper not only provides a detailed analysis of the role of language in different contexts, but also provides a relatively complete model for understanding the dynamic interaction between language and society. In the era of globalization, the contradiction between the basic principle and practice of freedom of expression has become increasingly prominent. The results of the paper are intended to provide a reference for future efforts to strengthen intercultural dialogue to guarantee freedom of speech in pluralistic societies.

AUTOCOMPOSIÇÃO NO ÂMBITO DA JUSTIÇA CONSTITUCIONAL

The Federal Constitution of 1988 advocates justice as the supreme value of a fraternal, pluralistic and unprejudiced society, founded on social harmony and committed, in the internal and international order, to the peaceful resolution of disputes. We sought to analyze how self-composition has been implemented within the scope of constitutional justice. The study was carried out through bibliographical research and critical analysis. Self-composition has the ability to humanize the judiciary as it encourages dialogue and changes the course of the social culture of litigation, focusing on a more pacifying, conciliatory and dialectical culture. It gives the parties the power to adapt the best solution to that conflict, and it is possible that the solution best suited to the parties may be completely counterintuitive, but it will be the one that will completely extinguish the dispute and, therefore, be the fairest for the parties. Aiming to implement self-composition in processes within its jurisdiction, the Federal Supreme Court published successive Resolutions creating centers for alternative methods of conflict resolution.

BERMISI DALAM MASYARAKAT MAJEMUK MELALUI DIALOG DAN KERJA SAMA

Indonesia is a pluralistic society because its citizens consist of various ethnic groups, races, religions, and social groups. Missions in a pluralistic society certainly have their own characteristics and uniqueness. This paper is a study of church missions in the context of a pluralistic society, taking West Sulawesi as the location of the research. The research method used to write this article is a qualitative method in the library, supplemented by field observations by observing the phenomena of church members' lives and interviews with several church leaders. This study employs a qualitative method with a case study approach, involving in-depth interviews with church leaders, congregation members, and other religious figures involved in interfaith dialogue and cooperation.. The results of the study indicate that honest and open dialogue, along with cooperation in social and humanitarian projects, can be effective tools for building mutually beneficial relationships between religious communities. This approach not only strengthens the role of the church in society but also helps to overcome prejudices and conflicts that may arise due to religious and cultural differences. These findings highlight the importance of cultural understanding, empathy, and communication skills in the implementation of missions in a pluralistic society. The study concludes that missions focusing on dialogue and cooperation are not only relevant but also essential in promoting peace and harmony in a pluralistic society. Practical recommendations are provided for churches and mission organizations in developing programs that support interfaith integration and cooperation, as well as advocating for policies that encourage inclusiveness and tolerance in society.

Sovereignty across generations: The problem of divisive pluralism dismissed

The Rawlsian conception of constituent power in Alessandro Ferrara’s Sovereignty Across Generations is burdened by a deep contradiction that renders the central argument in the book highly questionable. On the one hand, Rawls is (correctly in my view) presented as the thinker that confronted contemporary political theory with the problem of divisive pluralism. On the other hand, Rawls is also presented (incorrectly in my view) as the thinker who then suddenly found a solution for this divisive pluralism in the ‘common values’ that all the members of these divisively pluralist societies share ‘unproblematically’. The combination of these two moves leaves one with the sense that Rawls rather frivolously put up the problem of divisive pluralism like a strawman that he could shoot down again without much ado. This article proposes a different reading of Rawls that considers him a serious thinker who did not amuse himself and his readers with strawman-problems. For this reading of Rawls, guidance is drawn from Hans Kelsen, the very thinker whom Sovereignty Across Generations casually dismisses for failing to grasp or appreciate the ‘common values’ that pluralist societies share so ‘unproblematically’.

The WEIRD Trio: The Cultural Gap between Physicians, Learners, and Patients in Pluralistic Societies.

Physicians are shaped by sociological and philosophical factors that often differ from those of their patients. This is of particular concern in pluralistic societies when navigating ethical disagreements because physicians often misunderstand or even dismiss patient perspectives as being irrational. This paper examines these factors and why many physicians approach ethics as they do while elucidating various patient perspectives and demonstrating how they make sense when considered from a different cultural worldview. Many physicians are trained in contexts that are WEIRD: Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic. These sociological characteristics tend to go hand in hand with the trio of individualism, secularism, and existentialism. These then shape an approach to ethics that focuses on the individual patient, makes no reference to the divine, and focuses on a patient's personal desires. This contrasts significantly with many patients who are collectivistic or religious, and then make rational decisions based on other values. The social fact of pluralism implores physicians to temper confidence in their own cultures while considering others to promote mutual understanding and improved care. This paper concludes with a discussion of how bridges can be built across cultures without sliding into relativism, beginning with recognizing and communicating our shared moral intuitions.

"What can I know? Where can I go? What can I be?"

Co-sponsored by the Information Policy and Information Ethics special interest groups (SIGs), this proposal is for a pair of 90-minute speaker panels, facilitated by the respective SIG convenors and supporting interlocutors, which will draw on concepts of Habermas's ideal speech and public discourse. We begin with the premise that there are multiple theoretical lenses through which to critique increasingly hostile proposals of law and/or policies that limit bodily sovereignty and speech/intellectual freedom. Such polices can be understood as attempts to organize historically marginalized bodies in both physical and digital realms (e.g., through restrictions on access to knowledge, or production of dis/mal information, etc.). Thus, challenges that limit access to spaces and knowledge (focusing libraries and education) demonstrate a need to counter the breakdown of "ideal speech" within a pluralistic society that is free of coercion (Habermas, 1985) while acknowledging the role of identity, positionality, and embodiment with a post-critical lens. This back-to-back SIG session will be comprised of two panels: first, a panel focusing on Information Ethics, which will explore the notion of what is allowed and is not allowed in public and quasi-public physical and virtual spaces; and second, a panel focusing on Information Policy, which examines how conflicts in ethics are manifest in policies that determine or exert limitations on discourse in public spaces, focusing on libraries and educational spaces. Together, the panels will demonstrate theoretical and practical departure points that can be applied in a wide range of LIS/IS educational contexts. The first co-sponsored panel explores how identity and embodiment are linked, as embodied knowledge can be understood as identity expressions, whether enacted through affordances or limitations to exercise autonomy and that which a society and community construct for it, e.g., gender affirming and reproductive care, expressions of sexuality, and the racialized body. Professional identity, which is the identity transposed into and developed within a profession, can impact understanding of affiliation with a profession and behaviour within it (e.g., Pierson, 2023). This first co-sponsored panel will focus on the guiding question: How do we prepare students to navigate the complex realities of identity, embodiment, and professional ethical imperatives to maintain the library as a commons for ideal speech and public discourse? The second co-sponsored panel pivots attention to laws and policies that limit public speech and discourse. Limitations on expression can be considered an act of symbolic violence (Bourdieu and Passeron, 1990), designed to subordinate certain bodies, ideas, identities, etc. However, policy-makers are tasked with governing public spaces to balance the rights of individuals with the collective. When (if ever) is it acceptable to create policies that limit speech or peoples’ right to express themselves in public spaces? How might policies be developed, and what do policies look like, that take into account and respect individuals’ rights and create a collective space where all bodies are able to flourish? Both discussions will be supported by co-convenor and interlocutors representing both North American and international voices, prompting organic discussion in the tradition of the commons and public discourse.

The Role of Sports in Islamic Festivals and Its Relevance to Pluralistic Society: An Analysis from the Prophet Muhammed’s Tradition

The Role of Sports in Islamic Festivals and Its Relevance to Pluralistic Society: An Analysis from the Prophet Muhammed’s Tradition

Girmitiya nationalism: Lived cultures and diasporic bonding in a plural society

AbstractNationalism studies tend to focus on a relatively closed and abstract nation. This paper addresses these features by analysing the case of Girmitiya nationalism, a nationalism in the Indian diaspora that broadens the exclusive focus on the nation. It introduces the concept of lived culture that makes the nationalism of an ethnic diaspora community concrete and specifies the interaction between global forces and local life. Using data obtained as a member of the studied ethnic community and deploying additional concepts such as ethnogenesis, Creole hegemonic nationalism, ethnification, diaspora bonding and Girmitiya ideology, the paper demonstrates the usefulness of the concept of lived culture. The concept of lived culture thus discloses the specificities of Girmitiya nationalism, while countervailing the tendency to restrict the focus on the nation and offering a route to broaden the focus.

Public health, pluralism, and the telos of political virtue.

In the ethics of public health, questions of virtue, that is, of what it means for public health to act excellently, have received little attention. This omission needs remedy first because achieving improvements in population-wide health can be in tension with goals like respect for the liberty, self-determination, or non-oppression of various individuals or groups. A virtue-ethics approach is flexible and well-suited for the kind of deliberation required to resolve or mitigate such tension. Public health requires practically wise and careful thinking, which virtue ethics brings with it. Furthermore, too tight a focus on delivering outcomes in determining how public health should act has, in some cases, actually undermined its ability to achieve those consequences. However, the main concern about incorporating virtue into public health in a pluralistic society is likely to be that virtue is generally teleological, and we would surely need some widely agreed upon idea of something like flourishing or the common good for this to work. In this paper, I propose that for public health to express virtue in its work, it must express a commitment to justice as it goes about its business promoting and protecting the health of the population. Justice is both a contributor toward better health for groups in society, and a worthwhile goal in its own right. I will sketch an argument that justice as non-oppression - not merely health equity - is the right telos toward which excellent public health should aim in a pluralist society.

The evolution of family creation via sperm donation: New perspectives on family and parenthood

The presence of diversity constitutes a valuable asset, playing a pivotal role in fostering social cohesion within pluralistic societies. Despite the existence of diverse family structures, there often exists a tendency to compare parenthood and family dynamics against a prevailing hegemonic norm. This norm exhibits variations and is the result of cultural, social, and historical contexts. The objective of this report of our research study is to elucidate the phenomenon of family creation through sperm donation in Germany. Employing qualitative interviews, the individual experiences of two groups who utilise sperm donation as a means of family formation were explored: lesbian couples and solo mothers. A historical perspective on family and sperm donation provides valuable insights into early variations of family concepts. The results are interpreted on a psychodynamic level, amongst other things associated with the concept of ambiguity tolerance, oedipal constellations and triangulation. Further, therapeutic implications of the presented topics are given. This article strives to offer insights and psychodynamic perspectives on the notions and significance of family and parenthood that transcend the constraints of conventional norms.

Taiwanese youth’s imagination of good citizens through environmental policy controversy deliberations

What does it mean to be a good citizen when coping with sustainability challenges in politically polarized and values-conflicting contexts? This study explores Taiwanese students’ imagination of good citizens as they deliberate over a highly controversial local environmental policy. Tracing five focal students’ learning trajectories, this study unpacks how the students perceive their own and the adult stakeholders’ roles in this controversy. Results revealed students’ consistent distrust of the adult stakeholders. Nevertheless, they developed expectations of the stakeholders as they learned more about the political complexities of this issue. Students’ imaginations about good citizens include four elements: engaging in public issues, respecting different opinions, rational communication, and addressing the local’s concerns and needs. Based on the results, I argue that pluralistic values are needed for preparing citizens to cope with sustainability challenges in multicultural and pluralistic societies.

Seeing Through the Lens of Atheism: Plural Societies, Religion, and Harmony Ideology in Southeast Asia

Seeing Through the Lens of Atheism: Plural Societies, Religion, and Harmony Ideology in Southeast Asia

Makna Gelar Yesus sebagai Mesias dan Implementasinya bagi Kehidupan Umat Kristen dalam Masyarakat Majemuk di Indonesia

This research investigates the meaning contained in the title “Jesus as Messiah” and how this concept is implemented in the daily lives of Christians in Indonesia, a pluralistic society with diverse cultures and religions. Using a theological and social approach, this research eplores Christians’ understanding of the identity of the Messiah and its impact on religious practices and their interactions in a multicultural environment.

Gus Baha’s Perspective on Religious Tolerance and How the Public Respond

Tolerance in religion practices among different groups or differen religious communities is always important in plural societies like Indonesia. However, the fact shows that many intolarance cases still occur in the country. This study is an endevour to explore the tolerance teaching brought by Gus Baha in his traditional islamic lectures. In addition, the reaction of the public to the teaching was also examined. It adopted a digital ethnography approach employing virtual data as the main sources, including YouTube Video, and the comments of netizen following them. The ideas of tolerance were analyzed thematically, and the comments were classified, following the Appraisal theory (Martin & Rose, 2005). Based on the analysis, it reveals that Gus Baha makes use of old stories involving prophets, the Prophet and his companion as they implemented tolerant practices of daily business and religious matters. The stories there proved upscaled tolerance exemplified by the best models for Moslem communities. The public (netizen) have shown positive responses toward the ideas, as it is proved from their positive emotion (80%), and judgment (74%), meaning they like the idea and agree that they are right. In turn, it is expected that they would practice the models of tolerance in their own daily lives.

(Re)Imagining the future of multicultural education: reinvesting, reorienting, and reshaping multicultural education

Abstract Multicultural education (ME) remains essential to the development of a critical mass of culturally and socially conscious global citizens. Yet, as a field, the minoritization of ME parallels the marginalization of those whom the field was designed to support and uplift. Despite growing movements to overturn policies and programs that support diverse learners, many still ponder whether ME remains relevant to American society. Thus, this article aimed to (re)imagine the future of ME by proffering three considerations to support the uptake and sustainability of ME. In the present article, we argue that scholars reinvest, reorient, and reshape ME. First, we argue that it is important to recognize that multicultural education (ME) is a unique field with a critical role in education as well as significant implications beyond the academic environment. Then, we must reinvest in the future of ME financially, socially, and emotionally. Through reinvestment, we can reorient the ME field, resituating it in relation to the challenges of today’s racially and ethnically tense, pluralistic society. To this end, reshaping ME programs is key, including revitalizing coursework to effectively prepare educators, lay persons, social justice advocates, and others interested in universal equity. Implications for the future of ME are provided, as well as recommendations for actualizing these considerations.

The future of UN peace operations: pragmatism, pluralism or statism?

Abstract Although United Nations peace missions have played an important conflict management role for decades, a backlash against the post-Cold War model of ‘liberal peacebuilding’ and other recent developments have called their future into doubt. Some observers contend that a ‘pragmatic turn’ is now underway—a shift away from ambitious plans to transform war-torn societies into liberal democracies and towards more modest and realistic goals. Whether ‘pragmatism’ offers a viable alternative framework for peacebuilding, however, is less clear. This article challenges key assumptions of the pragmatic approach to peacebuilding, including the notion that UN missions can be ‘agnostic’ about the governance arrangements of societies that host these operations, as some proponents of pragmatism recommend. Historical case-studies show that such assumptions are integral features of collective conflict management systems, including UN peace missions. Moreover, a close examination of the pragmatist approach reveals that it, too, is based on such assumptions—namely, that building peace requires the promotion of pluralist societies and states. Pluralist peacebuilding, the article concludes, could offer a compelling foundation for future UN missions in an era of rising statist–authoritarianism, but developing this approach will first require discarding pragmatism's pretence of ideological agnosticism.

Is Pope Francis’s Social Teaching Post-Cardijn?

Pope Francis’s two social encyclicals and his addresses to Cardijn movements reveal that he reinterprets and goes beyond the see-judge-act method. The pastoral spiral and the Ignatian pedagogical paradigm better describe the dynamics of his social teaching. Furthermore, reading Francis solely through a see-judge-act lens obscures important aspects of his teaching. Elements of his post-Cardijn approach include: a wholistic and inclusive approach to experience; respect for the agency of all; seeking understanding through encounter, listening and dialogue; flexible and open-ended processes; the integration of spirituality at every stage; and the use of new language that communicates effectively with contemporary pluralist societies.