Respective Cultural Contexts Research Articles

The Divergent Fates of Wartime Israeli and Gazan (Palestinian) Cultural Heritage: A Preliminary Inventory and Conceptual Analysis of Heritagization Processes in GLAMs on Separate Sides of the Israel-Hamas War

ABSTRACT Divergent fates are befalling Israeli and Gazan cultural heritage during the continuing Israel-Hamas war. This article conducts a case study of the war’s implications for both Israeli and Gazan (Palestinian) cultural heritage sectors, represented by galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAMs), to help establish a preliminary account and overview of the state of cultural heritage over the war’s first half-year. A tripartite typology of heritagization processes is further furnished in which to situate, examine, and contrast the case study. Specifically, this tripartite typology involves: heritagization that creates or designates phenomena as cultural heritage; re-heritagization that reaffirms, revalidates, or reinforces existing cultural heritage; and de-heritagization that damages, demolishes, or destroys cultural heritage. Foregrounding the case study of wartime Israeli and Gazan cultural heritage within this typology serves two purposes. First, it spotlights the parallel processes of heritagization, re-heritagization and de-heritagization, to help describe, interpret, and understand them within this volatile setting. Second, it enables a conceptual and practical mapping of the convolutions regarding the war’s productive (heritagization/re-heritagization) and destructive (de-heritagization) effects on cultural heritage on separate sides of the conflict. Ultimately, parallel heritagization processes related to the war are simultaneously unfolding within and between Israel and Gaza, resulting in contrasting consequences on their respective cultural heritage sectors and contexts.

Adultery Law and State Power in Early Empires: China and Rome Compared

Abstract As ancient China and Rome transformed into empires, both states showed an increasing interest in regulating family ethics and individuals’ sexuality. Using excavated documents and transmitted texts, this article compares legal statutes and practices against illicit consensual sex in early imperial China (221 BCE–220 CE) with those in the Roman empire. On the one hand, both legal systems aimed at consolidating social hierarchies based on gender, status, and generation. On the other, the Roman and Chinese statutes had different emphases due to their respective political, social, and cultural contexts, and the actual penalties for adultery and incest differed significantly from those prescribed in the statutes. In both empires, control over individuals’ sexuality facilitated state power’s penetration into the family during empire-building, giving rise to laws in areas that had been largely left to customs and individual will.

A conceptual analysis of gendered energy care work and epistemic injustice through a case study of Zanzibar’s Solar Mamas

Energy and climate transitions bear an inherent risk of replicating historically embedded unjust gendered norms in the current energy regimes. Positioning our work within critical feminist scholarship, our study emphasizes the embedded nature of energy technologies within respective socio-economic, institutional and cultural contexts. We use a combined lens of care and epistemic injustice to examine the case study of Solar Mamas in Barefoot College Zanzibar, highlighting the nuanced interplay of power relations in decentralized energy transitions. This approach helps comprehend and value gendered energy care work as involving skilled labour in everyday life. Our findings illustrate the need for energy transitions research, policy and practice to be deeply informed by lived experiences, diverse practices of care within the energy webs and valuing of multiple voices. We argue that interventions prioritizing care and knowledge in decentralized, locally managed energy provisioning have the potential to disrupt established gender relations.

A Comparative Analysis of Chinese and English Internet Popular Words in 2023 from a Sociolinguistic Perspective

This study conducts a comparative analysis of Chinese and English Internet buzzwords from 2023 using a sociolinguistic lens to explore their reflection and influence on respective cultural and social contexts. Internet buzzwords, as linguistic phenomena, encapsulate the dynamic interplay between language innovation and societal trends, offering insights into cross-cultural communication and the pervasive impact of digitalization. Utilizing a qualitative research methodology, the study analyzed data sourced from national and international digital media platforms. Findings reveal distinct cultural predilections: Chinese buzzwords largely underscore collective values and traditional sensibilities, while English buzzwords tend to highlight individualism and personal authenticity. The study underscores the role of language as a cultural artifact, shaped by and shaping social identities in a globalized discourse, thereby contributing to sociolinguistic theory by illustrating how language both influences and is influenced by socio-technological evolutions.

An examination of sexual coercion experiences among Latinx female college students

ABSTRACT The current study examined sexual coercion among Latinx female college students in New York City. It identified frequently reported sexual coercion tactics and disclosure behaviours, delineating these experiences by race and cultural values. Latinx women (N = 158) from several public colleges were surveyed, and 49.4% (n = 78) experienced sexual coercion – with most reporting helplessness tactics (39.2%; n = 62). No differences were found among race, although this sample of Black Latinx students endorsed coercion more often than non-Black students. Most participants sought informal support, and specifically disclosed to a female friend (82.9%, n = 34). Lastly, attitudes toward familism and religiosity did not affect disclosure in this sample. These findings highlight the nuances of young Latinx women’s sexual experiences and have implications for sexual violence education for Latinx youth. It also has implications for college mental health professionals working with Latinx students with histories of sexual coercion. PRACTICE IMPACT STATEMENT Due to the nature of negative sexual experiences experienced among youth, sexual education curriculum and prevention training in educational institutions must emphasise the importance of sexual consent and identifying appropriate and inappropriate sexual advances. Curriculum must be tailored towards the demographics and respective potential cultural contexts of school district populations. College mental health professionals should be properly trained on how sexual coercion manifests in college-age relationships in addition to current training on identifying sexual harassment, sexual assault, and alcohol/drug induced rape.

“Terrestrial Verses” on the borderline: an interdisciplinary decolonial reading of Forugh Farrokhzad and Frida Kahlo

This article studies the social and historical underpinnings of Forugh Farrokhzad’s poem “Terrestrial Verses” (1962) and her documentary film The House is Black (1962) in light of Frida Kahlo’s painting, Self-Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States (1932). I argue that this unlikely comparison—between neocolonial Mexico and postcolonial Iran—helps articulate a decolonial paradigm in Farrokhzad’s poetry that is often subdued in Persian literary studies. Few scholars have approached Frida Kahlo and Forugh Farrokhzad’s works from a post- or decolonial point of view, and almost no one has compared these two artists. Nevertheless, hitherto unseen aspects of their work address their politics, sense of worldliness, visions of decolonization, and dismantling of the colonial residues in their respective cultural contexts through their art and artistic expressions. In terms of Farrokhzad’s poetry, the history of medicine and public health in Iran is of high importance as I make my case. This interdisciplinary and comparative reading results in a new understanding of the epidemic of leprosy as an unintended consequence of the “colonial matrix of power” in Iran during WWI.

The Body, the Spirit, and the Other: Yantras as Embodied Cultural Integration

This article looks at the Sak Yant tattoo style, which is becoming increasingly popular among so-called “Westerners”. It explores the questions of whether Sak Yant tattoos among “Westerners” will typically fall under copyright issues and cultural appropriation, and what makes Sak Yants relevant to clients. Underlying this research, with a marketing analysis of Sak Yants on Instagram, is the assumption that marketing is also guided by (anticipated) customer desires and can thus tell us something about their perspective. Two interrelated aspects become apparent: Sak Yants integrate aesthetics and spirituality as well as the body and mind, entities that are often considered separately in the “West”, which may be appealing to the “Western” customer and which sets Sak Yants apart from other tattoo styles. The meanings that Sak Yants have usually go deeper than just to the surface, as is not only illustrated by the process and permanence of tattooing but also by the importance of the ritual. People from the respective cultural contexts usually benefit and take part in the process. Therefore, instead of cultural appropriation or appreciation, one could perhaps speak of cultural participation or integration.

State Formation Patterns: China, European Countries, and Decolonized Countries

The exploration of state formation patterns is a multifaceted and intricate field of study, encompassing a range of factors such as geography, history, and culture. It is essential to comprehend different nations various state formation models to gain a holistic understanding of their political, societal, and economic structures. This study seeks to conduct a comparative analysis of state formation patterns in diverse countries and elucidate their unique characteristics within their respective historical and cultural contexts. By examining historical facts and taking into account the geographical, historical, and cultural dimensions, this research aims to contribute to the understanding of the political, societal, and economic systems in China, European nations, and formerly colonized regions. These elements have given rise to distinct state formation traits in these areas, firmly rooted in their distinctive historical and cultural heritages. Furthermore, this analysis sheds light on the interconnectedness of these factors, offering a comprehensive perspective on state formation across the globe.

A Review of Semantic Application of MI Theory and Effects for Teacher Training

The notion of “multiple intelligences” (MI) was established by Howard Gardner, a psychologist from the United States, during the latter part of the 1970s and the early part of the 1980s. Gardner introduced the concept of MI in his 1983 publication titled Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, positing that individuals possess unique cognitive abilities across eight discrete domains. As per the theory, there exist nine discrete categories of intelligence, such as logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, musical-rhythmic, verbal-linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, existential, and naturalistic. Individuals construct their distinct cognitive frameworks by engaging in activities that are highly valued within their respective cultural contexts. The present article furnishes a comprehensive outline of the rationales and plausible scenarios for deliberating MI theory with pre-service educators during their teacher training. This study examines the significance of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and comparable models in the context of teacher training, taking into account the distinctions between the semantic theoretical foundations of intelligence in Multiple Intelligences (MI) theory and learning styles theory.

Family, Procreation, and Continuity in Two Selected Nigerian Novels

This article examines the linkage between family, procreation and human development as depicted in Shoneyin’s The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives (2010) and Adebayo’s Stay with Me (2017). The analysis places meanings the literary texts in respective historical and cultural contexts much in New Historicism assumptions. The attraction to New Historicism arose because of its inclination towards understanding intellectual history through literature and literature through its cultural context. The article argues that The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives and Stay with Me examine a triad of procreation, women’s culture of silence, and economic empowerment in their respective depictions as the driving force of “any marriage” crucial in socio-economic development. In the two novels, women get blame for childlessness even when male characters are metaphorically to blame. Moreover, the silence of women characters on infertility of their husbands in the novels undermines them while elevating the status of the otherwise dysfunctional and emasculated male characters. On the other hand, both novels empower women economically which ultimately debunks the traditional gender role, which make women dependent on men. Overall, the two novels suggest the need for further social, economic, and political reforms in African marriages with a changed way of how married African women behave.

Longitudinal relations of emotion knowledge to psychosocial adjustment in European and Chinese American school‐age children

AbstractThe study is the first to examine the developmental trajectory of emotion knowledge as it relates to psychosocial adjustment in a cross‐cultural context. European American (EA, n = 68, 28 boys) and Chinese American (CA, n = 62, 31 boys) children and their mothers participated. Children's emotion knowledge was assessed, and their psychosocial adjustment was reported by mothers at three time points when children were 6.5, 7, and 8 years of age. Although EA children had greater emotion knowledge at Time 1, CA children's emotion knowledge grew faster over the following 1.5 years. In addition, emotion knowledge predicted fewer internalizing problems in CA children but predicted fewer externalizing problems in EA children. Thus, emotion knowledge was associated with psychosocial adjustment for both cultural groups, and particularly helpful for children to cope with issues to which they are most vulnerable in their respective cultural contexts. The findings shed critical light on the developmental trajectories of emotion understanding and psychosocial adjustment in specific cultural contexts.

Transitional Justice Process and the Justice Theory of Roland Dworkin

The determination of truth in the aftermath of war aiming at establishing justice and peace is a key element of a transitional justice (TJ) process. The theory of justice of Roland Dworkin deals with an approach in which the interpretation of values such as equality, liberty or truth are paramount. Dworkin’s theory of justice is applied to constitutional states and lays out how democratic values are negotiated. The goal of a TJ process is to lead a state towards democracy after a war or internal armed conflict. TJ processes as well as Dworkin’s theory of justice are to be understood as dynamic, which implies that they are subject to constant change and thus to be considered in their respective social, cultural, political, and economic contexts. This paper explores the relationship between truth and justice in the framework of a TJ trial and Roland Dworkin’s theory of justice. The TJ process in Colombia serves as a case study because that was where I conducted field research in TJ in 2019.

Compassion in the international business studies – prospects for future research

PurposeThis paper aims to introduce the concept of compassion to the field of international business studies. As international business activities continuously intensify and hence generate a work environment characterized by cultural heterogeneity and pluralism, the notion of compassion in a cross-cultural context can be regarded a key skill for employees in internationally operating firms to enable coping with potential cross-cultural conflicts.Design/methodology/approachIn this narrative-oriented type of review, the authors discuss compassion in a cross-cultural context by drawing on the literature in the management and international business studies. By connecting prior research on compassion with the typical research interests in the IB domain, the authors identify and define potential future research foci for a research agenda centering on the role that cross-cultural compassion plays.FindingsThe authors argue that the conventional approach to learning about other national cultures, their value and norm systems, needs to be complemented by the acquisition of compassion skills. In todays culturally diverse business environment where employees increasingly work in virtual teams, cultural complexity is hardly manageable alone by developing expert knowledge about respective cultural contexts to prevent cross-cultural conflicts.Originality/valueBy drawing on extant research on compassion conducted in neighboring disciplines of the social sciences, the authors conceptualize compassion in the context of international business research. Because compassion in a cross-cultural context is new to international business research, this study suggests directions for future research consisting of four research streams to guide future research on compassion in a cross-cultural context in international business studies.

Socio-spatial relations and the governance of city-regional growth: A comparative analysis of two European high-tech regions

Oxford-Oxfordshire, UK, and the Verband Region Stuttgart or the Metro Region in Germany are two of Europe’s high-tech powerhouses, facing similar challenges concerning housing and infrastructure provision and accommodating regional as well as local economic growth. Based on desktop studies and semi-structured expert interviews, this paper examines the respective institutional, political and cultural contexts for strategic planning in the two distinct settings, aiming to identify the evolving balance of socio-spatial dimensions influencing each case. While the interplay of territory, place, scale and network is different across the two cases, both face ongoing dilemmas. In the Stuttgart region, an established and smoothly running economic and spatial growth-machine has stuttered as growth has reached capacity and localities have asserted their constitutional controls on urban expansion. In Oxford (and the wider county of Oxfordshire), there has been a contrasting dislocation between an emerging growth agenda and a fractured governance context that is historically less oriented towards growth. Additionally, Oxfordshire has operated since 2010 against the background of localism in English planning and an increasing reliance on city and housing/growth ‘deals’ negotiated with central government to access planning flexibilities and infrastructure funding. Conclusions are drawn with the aim of mutual learning from the different international experiences and of informing approaches to strategic and inter-municipal planning.

Conflicting sociotechnical imaginaries of the future built environment: An analysis of current discourses on timber construction in France and Germany

Building with timber promises many things at the same time: sustainability, economic efficiency, as well as innovative forms and building processes. However, it is disputable to what extent, and under which conditions, timber construction can be considered sustainable. The societal discourse in Germany and France is shaped by four competing visions that favor either 1. a positive CO2 balance, 2. a particularly time- and cost-efficient construction process, 3. the use of regional resources, or 4. the creation of uniquely designed buildings as the guiding principle of future timber construction.The construction industry is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. In view of resource scarcity, climate change, and rapid global population growth, the industry faces the urgent challenge of a sustainable transition. The renaissance of timber as a renewable, carbon-neutral construction material could pave the way for more sustainable modes of building. Taking France and Germany as examples, and based on a sociological discourse analysis, this paper reveals four different and conflicting sociotechnical imaginaries of the future built environment. The four imaginaries show specific characteristics depending on the respective national, political, and cultural contexts. Moreover, they include partially incompatible objectives and compete for discursive hegemony, and thus implementation. Scrutinizing the four competing visions and their approach to conflicts and scarcities raises profound questions about their political, technological, ecological, and social implications.

Humor and Rumor in the Post-Soviet Authoritarian State

Humor and Rumor in the Post-Soviet Authoritarian State

The Renaissance Revisited

The Renaissance Revisited

The “Black Art” Renaissance:African Sculpture and Modernism Across Continents

The “Black Art” Renaissance:African Sculpture and Modernism Across Continents

Gilt Dragons, porcelain and plundered doubloons: A comparative analysis of Taiwan and Australian underwater cultural heritage protection laws

Taiwan and Australia are non-Parties to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH Convention). However, as the first two non-Parties in the East Asia region, both have incorporated the spirit and letter of the UCH Convention into their respective domestic laws, with minor exceptions to fit into their respective historical and cultural contexts, as well as their administrative and judicial settings. This paper traces and compares the very different origins of these two pieces of UCH specific domestic legislation. A comparative analysis is also made of the structure and content, similarities and differences of each piece of legislation as well as deviations between them and between the UCH Convention. The paper argues that the Taiwanese and Australian experience demonstrates models for the successful incorporation of the UCH Convention for States striving for the preservation, protection and management of UCH.

Towards a bioenergy transition in Italy? Exploring regional stakeholder perspectives towards the Gela and Porto Marghera biorefineries

This paper investigates two transition initiatives at the local level – namely the reconversion of the Porto Marghera and Gela refineries into biorefineries for second-generation biofuels. The study aimed at assessing the extent to which the narrative pressures exerted by local actors influenced the perspectives of key stakeholders involved in these transition processes. To this end, a blended methodology was employed, combining discourse analysis with stakeholder analysis and semi-structured interviews. First, stakeholders were grouped into four categories according to the source (national/global) and channel (formal/informal) of pressure. National/informal actors emerged as the most influential group. The discourse analysis identified three dominant storylines representing complementary trajectories defined by national actors operating through informal channels. Finally, semi-structured interviews with key local actors involved in the Porto Marghera and Gela reconversions were used to assess the impact of these storylines in the reconversion processes. Comparison of the two cases revealed fundamental specificities related to their respective cultural, political and socio-economic contexts. While the Porto Marghera reconversion was presented as a consolidated success story (albeit with a number of drawbacks related to the fact that it was still mainly powered by first-generation feedstocks), the Gela case was viewed as a complex and challenging ongoing process with an uncertain outcome.