Ecotourism development in Barru Regency currently faces complex challenges stemming from the disparity between abundant natural resource potential and the readiness of regional government institutions. This study aims to identify and analyze the roles of government and non-government actors, while simultaneously dissecting the relationship between local political dynamics and the effectiveness of ecotourism policy in Barru Regency. The research method applied is a qualitative approach with an exploratory case study design, in which primary data were collected through in-depth interviews with key informants from the legislative and executive branches and local communities, using an interactive data analysis model. The results indicate that local political dynamics are the primary determinant of policy effectiveness, as budget politics prioritize large-scale physical infrastructure development over environmental conservation. This condition creates institutional challenges in the form of a regional regulatory vacuum, leading to bureaucratic fragmentation and confusion over authority among technical agencies within the executive branch. Empirical data show a drastic decline in visitation and revenue at government-owned tourism attractions, while the private sector is experiencing massive growth. The weakness of these formal state institutions prompts the emergence of grassroots initiatives from non-government actors at the village level who self-manage governance roles, although these initiatives are threatened by stagnation due to the absence of systemic support. This study concludes that collaborative governance practices in Barru Regency have not yet ideally materialized due to the absence of an inclusive decision-making forum. As a recommendation, the regional government must urgently draft a regional regulation mandating the establishment of a collaborative ecotourism council to synergize the roles of government, village, and private-sector managers into a single sustainable development vision.

Purpose This paper systematically reviews the literature on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) adoption strategies and economic outcomes in the MENA region. It aims to explain why countries in the region exhibit divergent IFRS adoption paths, identify the main benefits and limitations of harmonisation, and explore the factors influencing adoption success. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology to analyse 159 academic publications, with a focus on the cultural, political, and institutional perspectives that help explain the variation in IFRS adoption strategies across MENA countries. The review also evaluates the key challenges that hinder the realisation of the anticipated benefits associated with the adoption process. Additionally, a bibliometric analysis was co-employed to uncover thematic patterns and trends within the existing literature. Findings The reviewed literature provides evidence that institutional pressures promote the IFRS adoption in the region. However, political dynamics, cultural norms, and Islamic finance often lead to partial adoption or to adoption with substantial modifications. Such adaptations tend to constrain the potential positive effects of IFRS adoption, which remain highly contingent on broader institutional reforms beyond financial reporting. Moreover, initial benefits often diminish over time due to persistent political and economic instability. Originality/value This paper offers a comprehensive, context-specific synthesis of the adoption of IFRS in the MENA region. Institutional and cultural theories are applied to explain cross-country differences in both IFRS adoption strategies and adoption outcomes. Based on the findings of the SLR, we propose a structured future research agenda focusing on regulatory adaptations, political developments, and the interaction between IFRS and Islamic finance.

"We are left alone": A qualitative study of life satisfaction of older adults in rural Nepal.

ABSTRACT Collaboration is widely promoted as a driver of educational change, yet policy discourse often obscures the sociocultural, organizational, and political dynamics shaping its enactment. This study examines how collaboration is constructed in Hong Kong’s K–12 system through critical policy analysis and narrative interviews with principals. Using a poststructural lens, it reveals tensions between policy ideals and leaders’ lived realities, showing how principals navigate hierarchical traditions, accountability demands, and community expectations. Findings illustrate how formal mechanisms intersect with relational processes, conceptualizing collaboration as both a policy tool and a culturally situated practice. The study informs more reflexive leadership and policy design.

This article explores how symbolic and cultural capitals shape the perceptions of Ukrainian political elites regarding Russia as a geopolitical threat, focusing on the transformations since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice, the paper argues that elite perceptions are not only reactions to external events but also products of internal struggles within the political field, influenced by elites’ positions, accumulated capitals, and embodied experiences. The article also integrates a postcolonial perspective to examine how the legacy of Russian imperialism continues to affect Ukraine’s political elites, shaping their identity, legitimacy, and responses to the evolving threat. This relational analysis provides a deeper understanding of the dynamics of national identity, memory politics, and power struggles in postcolonial and post-Soviet contexts, highlighting the role of symbolic hierarchies in the construction of political authority and threat narratives.

Purpose This study aims to examine how the evolving European Union (EU) sustainability regulatory landscape, shaped by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and recent developments such as the Stop the Clock Directive and the Omnibus I Package, and embodying differing political, economic and institutional interpretations of sustainability, may influence the future configuration of the sustainability assurance market for both mandatory and voluntary adopters. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a scenario analysis approach, supported by an inductive content analysis of legislative texts related to CSRD transposition and the Omnibus I Package. Key variables, including the scope of authorised providers, the role of incumbent auditors, professional qualifications and training requirements, guide the construction of alternative scenarios. Findings For mandatory adopters, the analysis outlines three possible trajectories for the sustainability assurance market: (1) a monopoly of statutory auditors, (2) competitive coexistence between statutory auditors and independent assurance service providers and (3) thematic specialisation between financial and sustainability auditors. For voluntary adopters, the analysis adds (4), a fragmented and largely optional assurance market shaped by the Omnibus I framework. Practical implications The scenarios identify actionable regulatory levers that policymakers and oversight bodies can use to mitigate fragmentation risks and safeguard assurance quality under both mandatory and voluntary regimes. Social implications By clarifying how regulatory recalibration may affect sustainability assurance practices, the study informs stakeholders who rely on sustainability reports for accountability and decision-making. Originality/value This study presents a novel approach by employing scenario analysis to link the diversity of CSRD implementation with potential assurance market outcomes. By connecting expected divergence in CSRD transposition to broad political and sustainability dynamics within the EU, the study demonstrates how competing policy directions and differing emphases on the economic, social and environmental pillars shape the emerging assurance market.

ABSTRACT School leaders face increasing political pressures when advancing equity initiatives. This study examines how one principal preparation program prepared graduates to navigate the zone of mediation where reforms encounter resistance. Drawing on interviews with graduates and faculty, we found the program effectively equipped leaders for first-order (technical) and second-order (cultural) changes through skill-building and relational resources. However, graduates encountered significant challenges when equity work required third-order change that threatened normative beliefs and power structures. Political navigation for third-order change is situated within specific local contexts and requires both enhanced pre-service training and ongoing, contextualized support responding to unique political dynamics.

ABSTRACT This study analyzes how anti-gender discourses reshape public attitudes towards homosexuality in Turkey by analysing World Values Survey data from 2011 (Wave 6) and 2018 (Wave 7). Moving beyond modernization theory’s view that economic development fosters tolerance and diversity, the analysis identifies a critical shift in the sources of homonegativity over time. In 2011, attitudes were largely shaped by education, regional development, and age, reflecting material and generational cleavages. By 2018, however, religiosity and trust in institutions associated with gender equality – such as the EU, UN, and women’s movements – became the strongest predictors, signalling the growing influence of anti-gender discourse on public values. This shift suggests that value change is increasingly driven by political and ideological dynamics rather than economic development. The study’s originality lies in linking value change to the politicization of gender and sexuality, demonstrating how authoritarian and religious narratives increasingly structure moral boundaries and public opinion in Turkey.

ABSTRACT This article explores the “tragic group-self” of Israel as it manifests in the present, shaped by ongoing political, social, and psychoanalytic dynamics. Drawing on Kohut’s writings on charisma, leadership, and group psychology, the discussion traces how Israeli society has become entangled in processes of messianism, authoritarian tendencies, and vertical splits, while simultaneously generating powerful movements of democratic resistance. Clinical vignettes and social observations highlight the lived experience of individuals who navigate between despair, protest, and hope. The analysis emphasizes the dangers of charismatic-messianic leadership, the psychic and societal costs of denial and splitting, and the possibilities for reconstituting a cohesive and democratic nuclear group-self. Ultimately, the article argues that Israeli society is at a critical juncture where psychoanalytic insight can illuminate both the perils of regression into authoritarianism and the transformative potential of collective responsibility, mutual recognition, and democratic renewal.

Religious conversion frequently serves as an instrument of cultural hegemony over Indigenous peoples (IP), undermining traditional beliefs, customs, and social structure, resulting in a loss of identity. Analyses of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) setting increasingly emphasize the significance of education in facilitating religious conversion, especially in its more 'fundamentalist' manifestations. The region, historically marked by ethnic and religious diversity, has experienced religious conversions, cultural absorption, and alterations in local political dynamics due to the proliferation of Islamic-driven policies and initiatives. This essay analyzed the processes by which Islamization is transforming Indigenous identities, mostly through schooling and governmental educational programs as a part of counter insurgency. This essay examined schooling in and out of CHT, emphasizing systematic conversion cultures shaped by the dual influences of homogenization and social exclusion, which are anchored in colonial legacies and an ultra-religious, assimilative yet exclusionary nationalistic ambition. This essay also regarded conversion as a coping mechanism. Comprehending these processes is essential for tackling the socio-political dynamics of religious homogenization in an area characterized by intricate ethno-religious identities. This conceptual essay enhances the discourse on religious nationalism, identity politics, and resistance movements in contemporary CHT.

ABSTRACT This article examines Sheger City within Ethiopia’s contested nation-building trajectory, arguing that capital-adjacent urban restructuring has become a strategic arena for negotiating competing national projects. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork including ethnographic observations, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and analysis of policy documents and political discourse, the article shows how the state deploys spatial reconfiguration to navigate, mediate and reproduce longstanding ideological tensions. While scholarship has privileged capital cities as primary sites of nation-building, this focus obscures political dynamics unfolding in urban formations that encase the capital. Sheger, a doughnut-shaped city surrounding Addis Ababa, demonstrates how non-capital urban projects recalibrate territorial authority, symbolic meaning and demographic politics of contested capitals. The article introduces pericapital urbanism to conceptualise this spatial politics, in which power is asserted not by transforming the capital but by reworking its margins through administrative consolidation, spatial reclassification and symbolic restructuring. While the ruling party frames Sheger City as a pragmatic compromise between Oromo self-determination and Ethiopian nation-building, Oromo nationalists view it as repackaged dispossession and domination, and Amhara nationalists interpret it as a project of demographic and territorial reengineering. This underscores the need to theorise capital peripheries as consequential sites in multinational states’ spatial strategies of nation-building.

This study examines the political dilemma in tourism governance in Mandalika, Indonesia, focusing on three key components: accountability, transparency, and resource allocation. This research aims to reframe the role of political activity to align with the principles of community benefit and justice. Data collection was conducted through a survey from August to September 2025, with 465 questionnaires distributed. A total of 444 questionnaires (95.48%) were deemed valid, while 21 (4.52%) did not meet the criteria and were excluded from the analysis. Data were analyzed through Microsoft Excel and SmartPLS version 4.1.1. The results show that a serious political problem leads to less freedom in how things are managed, making it harder to trust the systems for accountability, transparency, and resources in tourism governance. This condition is closely related to the dominance of the central authority, which holds significant control over the tourism industry and positions it as a national strategic sector. Consequently, the limited policy flexibility and strict restrictions of the tourism management framework leave local authorities and communities with limited maneuvering options. Statistical testing supports significant relationships, both direct and indirect. This study recommends more genuine and balanced integration between national and local authorities to create mutually beneficial opportunities, strengthen sustainability, and enhance international competitiveness through multi-stakeholder engagement in more inclusive governance. This research employs a quantitative, exploratory approach to elucidate the political dynamics and constraints that limit the involvement of local tourism authorities and communities in tourism management in Mandalika, Indonesia.

This article investigates how Brazil’s massive anti-corruption surge, epitomized by the criminal investigation known as Operation Car Wash, contributed to rising illiberalism. Drawing on an analysis of the political dynamics of anti-corruption in the last decades, we explore two interrelated mechanisms. The first is the delegitimization of political elites: by imposing severe costs on once-powerful political actors, the investigation opened space for new forces to arise, culminating in the election of Jair Bolsonaro, whose presidency tested the resilience of the country’s liberal institutions. The second is political backlash: both emerging and established actors cooperated to curb the independence and powers of oversight institutions, including those that had spearheaded the anti-corruption surge. While recognizing that other factors also shaped this outcome, we argue that illiberalism was, to an important extent, an unanticipated consequence of the anti-corruption drive—yet this illiberal potential ultimately could not be fully weaponized due to political and institutional constraints. Our findings contribute to debates on the consequences of anti-corruption, providing nuance on the conditions under which it may help unleash illiberal forces.

ABSTRACT Among the Precolumbian Maya, the spatial separation between living and dead was non-existent, with the dead often interred beneath floors of domestic and civic-ceremonial structures and plazas. This lack of spatial separation between living and dead effectively creates what may be considered hybrid mortuary-domestic contexts, necessitating integration of these two forms of archaeological data. Such integration can offer insights into the impact of quotidian concerns on mortuary practice, illuminating the role of political, social, cultural and economic dynamics, which may remain obscured if considering mortuary contexts in isolation. Here, the Precolumbian Maya site of Marco Gonzalez, Belize – one of relatively few southern lowland sites to persist and, indeed, thrive through the so-called ‘Collapse’ – and the emergence of a novel mortuary pathway – ‘ventrally-placed, legs flexed’ burials – are presented as a case study exploring the benefits of integrating domestic and mortuary data in formulating more holistic understandings of shifts in mortuary activity.

ABSTRACT Drawing upon detailed data on more than 120 concentration camps employed by the British in southern Africa during the Second Boer War (1899–1902), we examine the long-term legacies of these camps on trust and mobilisation in modern-day South Africa. Using geocoded Afrobarometer survey data, we assess whether contemporary attitudes vary relative to individual respondents’ proximity to historical British concentration camps. We distinguish between camps where the British detained white Boer/Afrikaner populations, Black African populations, or both, to trace motivations for modern attitudes across race and ethnic dimensions. To account for the non-random placement of camps along newly built and developing colonial railway lines, we compare locations that historically housed camps with those along the railway that did not. We find evidence that in areas which previously hosted camps, populations remain subject to heightened in-group/out-group dynamics and are more distrustful of one another. Additionally, residents in these areas are more likely to participate in political activities benefiting the in-group. This work contributes to a growing literature on the long-term effects of state repression on social and political dynamics.

ABSTRACT The inclination towards leaving Iran and residing abroad is growing among many Iranians as a result of multifaceted socioeconomic and political dynamics, but understandings of emigration remain underexplored in this context. This study delves into how Iranian university students perceive emigration and how their perceptions are shaped in this regard. A diverse group of 43 students across seven universities in Tehran participated in interviews to share their perspectives on emigration and the sources of these perspectives. The findings suggest that while an image of a better life abroad, predominantly crafted by foreign media and influenced by university and family/friends, motivates some participants to emigrate, a smaller group, bound by national, cultural, and personal ties, exhibit reluctance to leave. Aspects of the construction of these complex perceptions are discussed along with possible messages for other contexts where emigration is an issue.

State Science functions as an initial foundation for understanding Administrative Law Country, State Administrative Law, and International Law, each of which intersects within the dynamics of contemporary legal politics. The study of the elements of the state is a fundamental aspect in examining the prerequisites for the formation of a country. Although the constitutive elements of a state have been formulated since classical doctrines up to the development of statehood thought from the 17th to the 21st century, the dynamics of the modern state and the evolution of contemporary international law demand a reconsideration of these concepts. This study aims to critically analyze the main elements involved in the formation of a state, including a permanent population, a defined territory, a sovereign government, and the capacity to conduct international relations with other countries. This research employs a national, conceptual, and juridical-normative approach to examine the relevance of the main elements of a state as conditions for its establishment and their correlation with the evolving discourse on modern statehood. The findings indicate that classical and modern theories—including the provisions of the Montevideo Convention (1933)—are not yet fully capable of explaining the dynamic nature of state elements, the process of international recognition, and the complexity of state formation and development in the current global context. The research concludes that the Montevideo Convention’s statehood criteria are inadequate for modern realities and calls for a reformed framework that prioritizes human rights and substantive justice.

Throughout history, wars and conflicts have led to large-scale forced migration movements, causing various economic, social, and political problems in the countries receiving migrants. The Middle East is one of the regions where such forced migrations have frequently occurred. The Arab Spring, which began in Tunisia in 2010 and rapidly spread across the region, triggered a civil war in Syria in 2011. As a result of this conflict, millions of Syrians were forced to leave their country and sought refuge primarily in neighboring states, with Türkiye hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees under its “open-door policy.” However, this policy soon led to serious economic, social, and political challenges and provoked diverse reactions within the public sphere. This study examines how the Syrian refugee crisis has been securitized in Türkiye through economic, social, and political dynamics within the framework of the Copenhagen School. Focusing on the period 2011–2024, it argues that the increasing economic burden, social tensions, and political transformations have contributed to the construction of refugees as security threats. The study reveals that Türkiye’s initial humanitarian approach gradually evolved into a security-oriented perspective as the crisis became protracted.

ABSTRACT Unlike the hinterlands, border regions between Ethiopia and Kenya have their own political, social, and economic dynamics. The border and borderland study between Ethiopia and Kenya is increasingly concerned with geopolitical and transnational migration. The main focus of this paper, however, is to highlight the effects of boundary-making on the social and political dynamics of the borderland zone between Ethiopia and Kenya. The paper illustrates the historical dynamics of boundary-making between Ethiopia and Kenya as well as the rationale behind peaceful boundary diplomacy at odds with cross-border raids. The paper elucidates the complex interactions of borderland communities, such as the Gabra, Boran, Garri, and Dassanetch, among others, before and after the making of the international borderline. In this vein, conceptualizing aspects of border making, boundary diplomacy, and cross-border tribal conflicts along the Ethiopia and Kenya borderlands would aid in understanding why the peaceful making of boundaries between Ethiopia and Kenya is at odds with cross-border tribal conflict. We extensively employ untapped archival sources from the Ethiopian National Archive and Library Agency (ENALA) in the examination process.

Political decisions made under geopolitical conditions significantly influence global digital‎ ecosystems, as illustrated by the U.S. ban on TikTok and Germany’s withdrawal of advertising from the‎ platform X (formerly Twitter). This study identifies and predicts patterns of digital platform fragmentation ‎emerging from such politically driven interventions. By integrating social network analysis, sentiment ‎analysis, and predictive modelling, the research connects regulatory behaviour, public sentiment,‎ and predictive scenarios to demonstrate how political and corporate strategies jointly reshape global‎ communication structures. The findings reveal deep polarisation of public opinion on digital regulation, ‎while predictive results suggest that ongoing fragmentation may accelerate the formation of regional‎ platforms and increase digital isolation. The paper concludes with recommendations for policymakers to‎ develop adaptable legal and governance frameworks capable of addressing the geopolitical complexity ‎of contemporary digital environments.‎