ABSTRACT The notorious ‘Tuvel Affair’, named after the author who likened ‘transracialism’ to gender transition, has raised several issues about what constitutes sound debate when branches of philosophical thinking, and supposed common sense about biology, collide with scholarship and activism of younger interdisciplinary fields like transgender studies and critical race studies. This paper works through the affair to draw out what got lost in the scramble to navigate the collision between philosophical abstraction, biological typing and (political) identity formation. The debate is made more complicated through its movement between public discourse, social media and academic deliberation. This paper shows that the supposed retort that gender is fluid while race is not, does not hold the efficacy that many presume. Drawing primarily on Foucauldian approaches to subjectivity, Kim TallBear’s critique of ancestryDNA, and critique from area studies that deal with trans/gender, sexuality, race and Indigenous issues, the case is made for a more robust conception of social construction, which presses analogical and syllogistic logic to become more engaged with the empirical muck of historical identity formation. This is more instructive for challenging the obsession with authenticity in sites and situations in which differences between identity affirmation and identity fraud become significant.

ABSTRACT This paper is a critical reflection on the intersection of social praxis and digital agency in SWANA-South Asia with regard to some notable intellectuals (Gramsci, Said, Dabashi andRoy) engaged in the twin project of scholarly activism that we have named scholactivism. The positioned subjectivity of these scholar-activists, premised on their post-humanist/feminist activism against the historical, political and socio-economic exploitation in their respective societies, is then used to understand the material struggle and resistance of a right-based movement in Pakistan’s Port city, Gwadar, in Balochistan. By representing ‘Haq Do Tehreek’ (Movement to Give Rights) as a site where activism intersects with academic engagements, the paper argues in favour of an alternative academic angle to reconceptualise the crossroads between academy and activism that is likely to subvert the hegemonic pattern by diversifying the public discourse on matters of social justice, gender equality and human rights.

The Status of Disadvantaged National Minorities in the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: Selected Examples of the Functioning of Disadvantaged National Minorities in the Public Sphere

This research is driven by the increasing strength of religion-based identity politics in Indonesia’s post-reform electoral democracy, which creates a dilemma between legitimate political competition and threats to interfaith harmony. The problem formulation of this study concerns how identity politics challenges religious harmony and to what extent harmony can serve as an instrument to reduce polarization and reinforce democratic consolidation. The research questions focus on two main aspects: (1) how the dynamics of harmony are tested by the exploitation of religious issues within electoral contests, and (2) how harmonization strategies can function as social capital in maintaining democratic stability. Using a qualitative approach with a juridical-normative and socio-political framework, this study relies on a literature review involving laws and regulations, court decisions, official state documents, and national and international academic works, combined with content analysis of religiously nuanced political narratives in media and public discourse. The findings indicate that harmony is not a natural social condition but a socio-political construction that is vulnerable to instrumentalization by electoral interests. FKUB and harmony-related regulations tend to remain normative and less effective in the absence of substantive justice. Nonetheless, harmony still holds potential as strategic capital for democracy if it is developed through a framework of justice, religious political literacy, and inclusive democratic governance.

The rapid evolution of digital algorithms has transformed the way psychological concepts are disseminated and understood. While the feedback loop between public discourse and psychological terminology has always existed, social media and artificial intelligence have accelerated this process, potentially prioritizing engagement over scientific accuracy. This has contributed to increased awareness and reduced stigma around mental health but has also facilitated the spread of inaccuracies, potential for overpathologization, and departures from diagnostic criteria. This article explores the ethical implications of this evolving digital landscape through a utilitarian framework, weighing the benefits of expression and sharing personal experiences against the risks of conceptual shifts and diagnostic imprecision. Building upon existing ethical standards from the American Psychological Association, this article provides practical recommendations for clinical and counseling psychologists, including engaging with the evolving social media-artificial intelligence feedback loop by thoughtfully addressing diagnostic misperceptions, incorporating dimensional models into psychoeducation, and advocating for the ethical use of artificial intelligence to enhance clinical practice and research. This article also proposes new ethical guidelines to address how American Psychological Association's ethical principles apply to emerging challenges in a digital age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Abstract: This article examines the evolution of the public sphere in the United States from the Civil War era to 2025. It argues that a revolution in mass media, marked by increasing consolidation and targeted manipulation, has enabled recent political shifts, including those taking place in the Trump administration's second term. The article explains how the "bourgeois public sphere," a concept introduced by Jürgen Habermas, could be transformed from a place of open debate into a "consuming public," eventually leading to a blurring of news and advertising; Habermas saw this occur in Germany in the period before World War II. This article argues that this transformation has been taking place since the 1980s, with some similarities to a partial transformation in the 1870s. Finally, the document connects this media transformation to the current attacks on university education, portraying universities as targets in a partisan "diploma divide."

Since 2022, the public discourse has been dominated by the thesis that the full-scale war erased the traditional differences between eastern and western Ukraine, giving rise to an unprecedented national consolidation. This analysis challenges that thesis, drawing on representative survey data from 2022–2025. The results reveal a dual picture. On one hand, support for the Euro-Atlantic course and the refusal to make territorial concessions to Russia has indeed risen to record levels across the country. On the other hand, regional differences have not disappeared but transformed: they remain persistent in domains tied to cultural identity. The deepest gaps still run along the lines of language practices and interpretations of Soviet and recent history. Differences in the religious sphere and in attitudes toward language and cultural policy also remain profound. The author argues that the regional divide has not disappeared but splintered: linguistic, religious, and value-based positions no longer overlap. Accounting for this complexity is a necessary condition for the formation of an effective state policy aimed at strengthening national unity.

Abstract: This issue of the Journal of the Civil War Era departs from our normal work of publishing articles and review essays to ask, "What should historians of crisis do in a moment of crisis?" We invited these essays over the summer of 2025, when many of our historian friends and colleagues especially those who study the Civil War Era—felt disturbed by political developments and uncertain about how to respond. The tools many had previously used to engage in public discussions seemed quaint or less useful in the face of what appeared a threat not just at the margins but to the very existence of the political and cultural order we operate within. The essays published here illuminate scholars wrestling in different ways with their hopes and fears, their expertise and uncertainty, their determination and confusion. They have lifted some of the veils that often cloak us and have exposed themselves—and all of us—as vulnerable at a very vulnerable moment in the country's history. None of them offer a single trick that will save us from the present predicament. All suggest ways of clarifying our thoughts, reckoning with our limitations, and finding meaning in our work.

Internal validation of the French Attitudes toward AI in Defense (AAID) scale: Evidence from an open dataset.

The geography of climate concern: A large-scale analysis of public discourse on extreme heat in China using social media and explainable AI

This article examines the institutional cultures and contradictions surrounding public-facing academic work in UK universities, particularly in regard to the backlash and harm experienced by those engaging in public discourse. Drawing on survey responses and interviews with academics, professional services and senior management, and speaker accounts from a series of public events, we interrogate how the labour of public academia is simultaneously mandated, quantified, individualised and institutionally marginalised. We evidence the persistent (under)valuing of public academia both in material terms (time, workload, resourcing) and symbolic terms (prestige, legitimacy) within a sector shaped by conflicting institutional logics. This double bind enables universities to promote researcher visibility while absolving themselves of accountability for the vulnerabilities of public exposure. Until public-facing work is taken seriously as work, it will fall outside of institutional frameworks for workplace health and safety, leaving individuals to bear the consequences unsupported. This article contributes to emerging scholarship on the politics of academic visibility and safety in the context of intensified demands for public engagement.

ABSTRACT This article examines how queer topics were rendered unspeakable in the Soviet official public sphere through a case study of the magazine Ogonek (1923–1993). Drawing on Michel Foucault’s conceptualization of silence as productive power, the study approaches it as a regime that authorizes specific ways of naming, framing, and feeling about prohibited subjects. Based on a corpus of Ogonek publications that mention queer topics, the analysis combines a quantitative mapping of keyword frequencies over time, an affective coding of emotional orientations, and a thematic discourse analysis of the dominant contexts in which queerness was articulated. The findings identify a “break-free trajectory,” unfolding as a slow accumulation of constrained discursive possibilities that became legible only after censorship weakened in the late 1980s. Rather than treating Ogonek as representative of the Soviet media as a whole, the article theorizes it as a node within a broader censorship ecology, where discursive legitimacy was negotiated under shifting political conditions. By tracing how queer subjects were produced through frameworks of foreignness, criminality, pathology, and eventually vulnerability, the article contributes to queer media debates on how authoritarian regimes structure, rather than simply suppress, public discourse on sexuality.

ABSTRACT Forests not only provide a pool of natural resources, but they can also foster responsible agency among forest communities through managing them. Based on a case study in Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh, India, this work investigates how the existing forest management policies and practices in India create a platform for the community to achieve its well-being in the context of natural resource management. It extends the framework of the Capability Approach to empirically examine the freedom of the community to participate in forest management, their role as agents of change and their participation in effective public deliberation. Findings suggest that the policy primarily grants “paper freedom” to the community to participate in forest management, and the effective community participation is largely crippled in the absence of individual and social conversion factors, such as education and inclusivity. Community perceives themselves as “beneficiary” with dominant extraction motives, rather than as an “agent” who can contribute to forest management. The study emphasises the role of freedom to participate in public discussion towards the co-creation of knowledge by policymakers and the village community.

Smartphone use among older adults has become increasingly important, shaping social inclusion and daily life. This study examined public discussions on X (formerly Twitter) regarding smartphone use in older adults, comparing Persian-speaking and English-language communities. Tweets in English and Persian were collected from June 1 to June 30, 2024, and analyzed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis approach. Six themes emerged in the English-language dataset, including digital exclusion, learning and adaptation, usability challenges, preference for simplicity, vulnerability to digital risks, and intergenerational support. Persian tweets revealed five main themes, overlapping with those identified in the English-language data, but highlighting stronger emotional and cultural dimensions, such as sentimental value in digital interactions. Overall, discussions reflected experiences ranging from empowerment to exclusion, underscoring the importance of inclusive technology design, culturally sensitive digital literacy programs, and policies addressing accessibility barriers for older users.

The discourse on the hijab in the contemporary context is no longer limited to a symbol of individual piety but has developed into an arena of identity contestation fraught with politicization, stereotypes, and discriminatory practices in the public sphere. This article examines these dynamics through a netnographic analysis of the Instagram account @lia_lestari29, which represents resistance to symbolic coercion, and then analyzes them through a synthesis of Quraish Shihab’s thoughts and the Qirā’ah Mubādalah approach. The results of the study show that the integration of legal flexibility based on maqāṣid al-sharī‘ah with the hermeneutics of reciprocity is capable of reconstructing textual readings that tend to be gender biased, particularly in the interpretation of the hadith kasiyāt ‘āriyāt. This study emphasizes that the construction of public morality should not be imposed exclusively on women, but rather be positioned as a collective ethical responsibility that binds men and women equally. Thus, the recontextualization of dress ethics based on the principles of al-ḥayā’ and gender justice is a prerequisite for the establishment of an inclusive, democratic social order that is free from structural exclusion.

ABSTRACT This article explores the democratisation of Uruguay’s National Police (UNP) from 1985 to 2020, emphasising the pivotal role of police unions. Drawing on ethnographic research, it argues that police democratisation can emerge from grassroots movements, specifically subaltern police personnel mobilising for their rights through unionisation and collective action, building what is termed the ‘police worker repertoire’. This transformation enables subaltern officers to challenge hierarchical command structures and foster more egalitarian relationships within police work. Additionally, police unions have brought internal policing issues into public discourse, breaking traditional political practices dominated by higher ranks. The article contributes to policing literature by framing democratisation as an ongoing process, highlighting the significant shift in the UNP’s dynamics and positioning police unions as key interlocutors in shaping institutional power and engaging with political authorities.

Purpose: In Kenya today, many politicians have faced significant backlash from the public regarding their statements, often attributing their situations to being “misquoted”. For a politician, being straightforward can lead to dismissal from their elective or appointed positions or result in the loss of an elected position. As a result, politicians frequently opt for indirect communication to maintain their reputations, often using euphemisms. This study focused on politicians from the Central Region of Kenya, specifically Kiambu County, who speak Gikuyu, which is the language relevant to the research topic. The research examined the discourse of 10 politicians, comprising 5 women and 5 men. The three main objectives of the study were: (a) to analyze the Gikuyu euphemisms used by politicians in Kiambu County as face-saving strategies; (b) to explore how politicians utilize euphemisms to protect their public image; and (c) to assess the impact of these euphemisms on the electorate. Methodology: The study primarily referenced Brown and Levinson’s Politeness Theory, along with other related materials on politeness. The researcher gathered data through direct interviews at live political rallies and by observing attendees at these events. Primary data was collected from these sources, while secondary data was sourced from recorded Gikuyu political speeches available on YouTube, as well as from radio and television interviews. The gathered data were analyzed qualitatively using Brown and Levinson’s politeness theory (1978, 1987) as the framework. A purposive sampling technique was employed for the study. Findings: The findings indicated that politicians frequently use euphemisms as a method of saving face in their public discourse. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: This study recommends raising public awareness of political euphemisms.

Open toileting is the discharge of human excrement, faecal and/or urinary, in any open space in the built environment. Indiscriminate exposure to bodily human waste adversely impacts peoples’ well-being and environmental health. The prevalence of toilet spaces such as open fields/spaces, forests, bushes, gutters, garbage dumps, streams and rivers constitute a public health hazard. Whether off-street, on-street, flying, public, or private, toilets are inaccessible, of poor quality or non-existent in many public and private spheres in Nigeria. Triple peril of open toileting, toilet sharing, and inadequate water access predisposes many people to ill-health and disease. This paper adopts a qualitative inquiry using focus group discussions, interviews, observations, secondary and non-formal sources to elicit information and lived experiences of 22 individuals about the private and personal matter of toileting. The research was conducted in 2019. Deductions from the research includes moral failure, poor planning, and poor policy implementation. Lack of toilets and clean sanitation spaces, undignified toilet spaces, toilet sharing practices, lack of safety and toilet insecurity in terms of access, location and health were prevalent in places where people lived, learned, worked, played, and recreated. Paper suggests behavioural change through health promotion and advocacy to minimise the continued exposure to the various vector-borne diseases associated with open defecation and improper toilet facilities. Healthy spaces for toileting are essential to healthy life and living, and access to sanitation, inclusive toilets within public spaces is a human right, and the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals six and eleven.

In the article, the authors express firm disagreement with the idea that the category of administrative and legal support is, or may become in the future, a fundamental and system-forming category of administrative law. In the authors’ view, such an approach leads to an unjustified hyperbolization of its content and to the actual blurring of the basic categories of the field. At the same time, the authors do not consider it appropriate to completely abandon this category, since it performs an important intermediate methodological function, being positioned between administrative legal regulation and public administration and allowing for the identification of the specific features of creating conditions for the realization of rights and obligations in the public sphere. It is noted that the authors do not support the position of certain scholars who limit the content of administrative and legal support exclusively to the framework of state administration. It is evident that local self-government bodies, as well as, in certain cases, other subjects of public administration, including those exercising delegated public powers, also participate in this activity. At the same time, it is emphasized that administrative and legal support should be primarily oriented toward the creation, guarantee, and actual provision of the realization of an individual’s administrative legal status in the public sphere, which constitutes its main functional purpose regardless of the specific area of application. It is substantiated that administrative and legal support for the provision of electronic trust services in Ukraine should be understood as a set of legal means and instruments, the mechanism for the application of which is enshrined in the norms of administrative law and which are aimed at creating appropriate organizational, procedural, and legal conditions for the functioning of the electronic trust services system, ensuring the rights and legitimate interests of participants in the relevant legal relations, as well as maintaining stability, security, and trust in the digital public environment.

The research aims to identify the specific features of entrepreneurial activity among Tatar merchants in the Volga-Ural region in the late 19th and early 20th century, amidst the development of banking in Russia and the traditions of Muslim culture. The article presents the findings regarding the banking sector’s influence on the life of the Tatar (Muslim) population in the Volga-Ural region of the Russian Empire. The work establishes the main stages of Tatar entrepreneurship’s involvement in banking operations and identifies examples of entrepreneurs’ interactions with various financial institutions (e.g., participation in accounting and loan committees for commercial and industrial credits, their history of borrowing and depositing in banks, and instances of bankruptcy). The study also analyzes the spiritual wills of Tatar merchants and public discussions concerning banking instruments, ultimately generalizing their everyday historical experiences amidst the conflict between traditional Muslim values and the economic realities of the modernization era. The scientific novelty of the study lies in its being the first to thoroughly investigate the impact of the banking sector on Tatar entrepreneurial activity and to present specific historical examples of entrepreneurs’ interaction with financial institutions in the Volga-Ural region. The findings reveal that at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Tatar Muslims changed their attitude towards banking instruments, and Tatar entrepreneurship actively utilized bank lending in both gubernia (provincial) and uyezd (district) towns of the specified territory.