Social Crisis Research Articles

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES OF SECULAR PROGRAMS OF COMPASSION TRAINING

The article discusses key meditation-based programs aimed at nurturing and training the ability to empathize. Historically, these programs have been drawn to Buddhist teachings and traditional meditation practices, but in the process of adapting to global world and a secular context, they separate themselves from religion. In the process of research, I try to demonstrate the importance of these methods for philosophy, ethics and education, since the cultivation of compassion helps to better and more deeply understand the nature of a person, motivation and improve social interaction. Important for the modern world can be not only the therapeutic effect of the mentioned methods, but also their application in the field of philosophy. Although the vectors of Buddhism as religion and humanistic ethics may differ, they seek to improve the quality of human life, develop compassion, respect, trust to the world, and complement each other in conditions of environmental, social, and psychological crisis. For Ukraine, methods of compassion training are very important in the context of war and post-war healing of society. Education in general, and philosophical education in particular, will need a wide range of tools for healing collective trauma, returning to oneself, finding the home of being.

Tomorrow let’s all be pangolins! Western affirmation of a relational ontology in thinking and acting for a multi-species future

How should we envision the future of environmental justice in a context where the imbalances between part of humanity and other living beings seem irreversible and could compromise the survival of the majority? The scientific world and activist movements, both in the West and among indigenous peoples, are making their voices heard to denounce an industrial, productivist and extractivisit lifestyle that is predatory and incompatible with ensuring the well-being and intentionalities of all living beings. The ontological framework of the Anthropocene era seems to support this type of social relationship of domination. Indeed, naturalism puts humans as distinct from the rest of the animal kingdom and as having the right to use the different components of the environment as material resources. Due to the succession of environmental and social crises, whether worldwide or local, these power relationships need to be re-examined. The study of scientific results and observations from the last forty years, listening to people’s accounts of their attachments to their living environment, and the observation of new social and environmental movements all point to the emergence of hybrid ontologies that question naturalism, opening the door to the possibility of multi-species justice as an alternative to inequality.

Young Consumers’ Price Perceptions in Purchasing Foods: Evidence from Greece

The recent consecutive economic and social crises impose sustainable “from farm to fork” food chain management to feed the global population. In this study, we investigated the price perceptions of young consumers (Gen Z) in purchasing foods in Greece to find out the determinants ensuring sustainable, future food consumption. We used eight overall price perception determinants, five with negative roles, namely value and price consciousness, coupon and sales proneness, and price mavenism, and three with positive roles, namely price–quality, price–value, and prestige–sensitivity for the formation of the study’s questionnaire. A total of 514 students (Gen Z, 85%) answered the questionnaire, promoted through the Google platform during September and October 2023. The data were analyzed with statistical tools, combining cross and chi-square tests. Between the negative determinants, the “value consciousness” price perceptions (71.02%) were the most important parameters in purchasing food, followed by “price consciousness” (55.02%) parameters. “Coupon proneness”, 48.4%, and “sales proneness”, 49%, were equally lower, while “price mavenism” parameters were minimally preferred by only 26.4% of the participants. Participants exhibited a major preference for the “value to price” interconnection (66.7%), such as good value for money, value exceeding a product’s price, and overvalued low-priced foods, while their preference for the “quality to price” interconnection was significantly lower (48.8%), such as in terms of getting what you pay for, more money for better quality, and priced, quality foods. The “prestige–sensitivity” price perception was outside of their preferences in terms of food purchasing (only 7.1%). Our findings indicate that young consumers (Gen Z) pay more attention to the values of negative and positive parameters concerning price perceptions when purchasing food rather than quality, coupons and sales, low prices, and mavenism, or even the prestige of the foods. This means that value issues such as the perceived environmental impact (green value), the climate crisis, the social signaling potential, and others are significant concerns, including their price perceptions for food purchases.

‘Help Shelter Mend a Broken Family’: Homes, Homelessness, and Crisis in 1960s Britain

Abstract In 1966, a new homelessness charity, Shelter, set out to redefine the homeless as impoverished families enduring poor or insecure housing rather than single men living on the street. Through a series of ‘hard-hitting’ reports and adverts, the group highlighted the destructiveness of poor housing on young families and gained a prominent national voice. This article examines Shelter’s campaigns in the 1960s to examine how debates about homes and homelessness can reframe the development of discourses of ‘crisis’ that defined the 1970s and provided a key narrative of Thatcherism. It focuses on how Shelter deployed ideas of childhood, family, and the family home, often echoing theories of leading child psychiatrists of the post-war period, to warn of the profound and acute danger that the housing crisis represented to British society. Shelter’s prominent and successful adverts and campaigns drew on growing anxieties about social and economic crisis, but did not discuss key issues of unemployment, racial discrimination, and deindustrialization. Instead, Shelter’s campaigns focused on the damage poor housing did to family life and the education and life chances of individual children. Discourses of crisis in this period are often associated with ‘inner cities’ and failing reconstruction schemes, but Shelter presented an image of social crisis that was centred in the family and the family home. By analysing how Shelter drew on fears about the coming social crisis, the article suggests that the family home and the life chances of individuals were central to popular understandings and perceptions of crisis before the 1970s.

Discovering public attitudes and emotions toward educational robots through online reviews: a comparative analysis of Weibo and Twitter

PurposePublic reviews on educational robots are of great importance for the design, development and management of the most advanced robots with an educational purpose. This study explores the public attitudes and emotions toward educational robots through online reviews on Weibo and Twitter by using text mining methods.Design/methodology/approachOur study applied topic modeling to reveal latent topics about educational robots through online reviews on Weibo and Twitter. The similarities and differences in preferences for educational robots among public on different platforms were analyzed. An enhanced sentiment classification model based on three-way decision was designed to evaluate the public emotions about educational robots.FindingsFor Weibo users, positive topics tend to the characteristics, functions and globalization of educational robots. In contrast, negative topics are professional quality, social crisis and emotion experience. For Twitter users, positive topics are education curricula, social interaction and education supporting. The negative topics are teaching ability, humanistic care and emotion experience. The proposed sentiment classification model combines the advantages of deep learning and traditional machine learning, which improves the classification performance with the help of the three-way decision. The experiments show that the performance of the proposed sentiment classification model is better than other six well-known models.Originality/valueDifferent from previous studies about attitudes analysis of educational robots, our study enriched this research field in the perspective of data-driven. Our findings also provide reliable insights and tools for the design, development and management of educational robots, which is of great significance for facilitating artificial intelligence in education.

Development as ecology: the contribution of Pope Francis to the development debate

ABSTRACT Given the global social and environmental crises, Pope Francis reflects on the causes and solutions. His encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, suggest a plausible ‘good change’ or a notion of development. To locate his insights within the relevant debate, this article uses sociocultural viability theory, which proposes four ideal typical, mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive worldviews and development outlooks. The pontiff’s reflections are associated with the post-development paradigm and the egalitarian outlook, which is characterised by high group and low grid. Regarding group, all beings are regarded as intertwined, prompting a mutual responsibility among people as well as one of people towards nature, our common home. Concerning grid, the exclusive focus on either markets or hierarchies is rejected, while recognising the instrumental value of some of their features insofar they lead to the common good. With his contributions, Francis enters the development debate redefining it as ecology.

Sartre: Tarihin İtici Gücü Olarak “Bunaltı” ya da “Bulantı”

If we consider Jean-Paul Sartre's position in the history of philosophy through his own method of reading history, it would not be wrong to identify him as a philosopher of a period of crisis. Sartre reads history by focusing on periods of crisis or crisis in theory and practice, and in doing so he follows the Marxist thesis that every theory is determined by practice. The period of crisis Sartre lived in, however, did not produce the conditions and means for the transcendence of Marxist philosophy, nor did it make it possible to embrace Marxist philosophy as it is. This study will try to show how "nausea" or "depression" can be seen as an important element that can provide a basis for historical and philosophical movements when Sartre's intellectual work is considered in its entirety. Because, although nausea is an individual experience, it points to the common existential crisis of human beings as a species, and social crisis situations feed this feeling. In this respect, it will be argued that the inextricability of the deep crisis and depression that the earth and humanity are in, in our age, is precisely due to the lack of the feeling of "nausea" in humans. Keywords: Jean-Paul Sartre, Nausea, History, Western Marxism, Crisis, Existentialism.

Taking Stock: Relational Happiness and Female Midlife in Doris Knecht’s Eine vollständige Liste aller Dinge, die ich vergessen hatte and Judith Hermann’s Daheim

This contribution focuses on the search for wellbeing at a time of the profound crisis of the Anthropocene, which demands that we move away from concepts of personal happiness and begin to imagine a more sustainable, relational wellbeing that includes both human and non-human partners. It argues that in this context female midlife is a fascinating terrain, which highlights the tension between the idea of happiness as a product of individual choice and the indisputable fact of our dependence on others. This article takes two recent German-language novels and explores the contrasting ways in which they figure their protagonist’s search for happiness in midlife. Austrian writer Doris Knecht’s Eine vollständige Liste aller Dinge, die ich vergessen hatte (2023) centres on a female protagonist who has experienced personal challenges and seeks to find greater happiness in middle age. Although Knecht’s novel reveals happiness as a social construct, it ultimately remains entangled in the inward-looking logic of happiness and a good life as the product of individualist optimization. By contrast, German author Judith Hermann’s Daheim (2021) situates the protagonist’s search for happiness in midlife as part of a broader context of social and environmental crisis and tentatively suggests the potential for a relational wellbeing based in an awareness of the interdependence of humans and the natural world.

Some Cases of Official Corruption in the Yuan dynasty Based on Chinese Sources

During the reign of the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) in China, corruption played a significant role and had a serious impact on the stability of government and social life of the conquered. Corruption was widespread at all levels of administration, including among senior officials, high-ranking officials, and local authorities. This included both Mongol rulers and representatives of the semu, who were the core elements of the officialdom. Corruption exacerbated poverty among ordinary people, as funds allocated for public needs were often redirected to benefit corrupt officials, eroding public trust in the government and the legitimacy of authority. Such a phenomenon heightened anti-government sentiment and served as the main catalyst for social unrest and uprisings. Moreover, corruption resulted in the appointment and promotion of officials not based on their qualifications but rather on personal connections and bribes. This diminished the efficiency of governance, as it did not always ensure that the most qualified individuals occupied key positions. This article offers insight into the phenomenon of corruption during the Yuan dynasty. The author explores the unprecedented level of corruption among officials and its impact on the living conditions of ordinary people in China. The article delves into a considerable number of instances of high-ranking officials’ malpractice taken from primary materials, providing a detailed analysis. This approach allows readers to gain an understanding of the social situation during Mongol rule in China and the role that corruption played in the overthrow of the Yuan dynasty. Social crisis was mostly caused by the employment of dishonest officials and the absence of the representative of the Chinese literati at the officialdom. It is worth mentioning that Kublai Khan (r. 1260–1294) managed to unite the vast expanses of China due to the assistance of Confucian scholars who served him as valuable allies in propagating Chinese values, traditions, as well vital elements of the civil administration.

Managing the Pandemic in Digitized Spaces: Assessing the Social Media Approaches of Scandinavian Public Health Authorities

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, health- and civil-contingency agencies—referred to here as public health authorities (PHAs)—in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark turned to social media to disseminate pandemic recommendations and information. This study explores the social media crisis management strategies employed by Scandinavian PHAs. Specifically, we apply a multiplatform research approach to assess communication objectives (Instruct, Support, Manage Reputation, and Solicit Interaction) across three social media platforms—Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (currently known as X). Introducing a series of hypotheses based on previous scholarship, we detail the prevalence of different objectives across platforms and countries. The results indicate prominent use of reputational management, particularly on Twitter, while instructive information emerged as a highly used communication objective in Sweden and Denmark. Overall, the communicative trends remained parallel across nations, despite Sweden implementing a more relaxed crisis management strategy. The main distinction in Sweden’s approach manifested in a relatively lower emphasis on the pandemic by its PHAs compared to Denmark and Norway. National differences in crisis communication objectives indicate that Norwegian PHAs stand out in terms of using reputational management, while Sweden stands out in employing more supportive information on Instagram.

ГЕНДЕРНЫЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ МЕХАНИЗМОВ ПСИХИЧЕСКОЙ АДАПТАЦИИ У ПСИХИЧЕСКИ ЗДОРОВЫХ ЛЮДЕЙ

It seems important to study the gender features of the mechanisms of mental adaptation in mentally healthy people due to a high correlation between the increase in the number of mental disorders and the frequency of catastrophes, social crisis periods and traumatic situations, as well as the fact that perceived levels of stress and stress factors can vary between genders. The aim of this study to identify the psychological features of stress response, taking into account gender specifics, to determine adaptation mechanisms in life-threatening situations. Two hundred mentally healthy people aged 18–60 years with a high level of adaptation to stress took part in the research. The diagnostic complex was aimed at studying individual psychological and individual typological characteristics, regulatory processes, and assessing the value-semantic component of personality. Women are distinguished by high rates of anxiety and depression, emotional instability and sensitivity; use of defense mechanisms of regression, compensation and hypercompensation; the use of coping strategies — “escape” and “positive revaluation”. Men are characterized by high levels of modeling in the regulatory profile and the use of the protective mechanism of displacement. They are able to plan in accordance with goals and suppress unacceptable desires, thoughts and feelings in situations of stress. Analysis of intragroup relationships showed that in men and women anxiety is associated with personal characteristics, as well as with the general level of formation of the self-regulation system. For men, the profile of intragroup connections is represented primarily by personal characteristics. Whereas women have a more complex profile organization, which includes not only personal characteristics, but also variables of the value-semantic level, as well as a broader system of regulatory processes. It is advisable that the identified patterns be taken into account when developing individualized programs for the prevention of stress-related disorders in lifethreatening situations and creating medical and psychological technologies for preserving health and extending professional longevity.

Institutionalized Interdisciplinary Approaches in Architectural and Design Education

This paper investigates the multifaceted realm of interdisciplinarity in architectural education, examining historical and contemporary perspectives from institutions such as the Bauhaus, the Ulm School of Design, TU Delft, and the University of Zagreb Faculty of Architecture. Acknowledging the challenges posed by complex urban issues, the study underscores the imperative for interdisciplinary approaches in addressing economic, social, and ecological crises. By tracing the evolution of the concept, the paper distinguishes between disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, exploring key definitions of the concept. The paper concludes by highlighting ongoing efforts in educational institutions, reflected in various courses, workshops, and summer schools. Despite the limitations inherent in examining a handful of examples, the findings offer valuable guidance for educational institutions aspiring to embrace or enhance interdisciplinary approaches in architectural education. The insights draw attention to the importance of holistic, collaborative models in preparing future architects to navigate the complexities of our urban environments.

Perspectives on religious denominations and social crises in Romania

The relationship between social crises and religious cults in Romania is a topic neglected by the specialized literature. In this paper, we propose a series of analyses regarding how social crises have influenced religious life in Romania and the mechanisms by which religious cults have played a role in solving or amplifying them. We will refer to the Romanian Orthodox Church, the majority religious denomination, and some of its positions on events/stages of these social phenomena between 1990 and 2023. This text does not propose a thorough examination of these relationships but attempts to sketch perspectives of analysis in response to the following research questions: What do Romanians think about the Church's involvement in the life of society and implicitly in social crises? Why is it important to understand the position of religious actors on the evolution of social crises? How have religious denominations influenced the improvement/aggravation of some dimensions of social crises? Official stances of Religious Cults during different social crises were examined, alongside instances of informal religious practices aimed at enhancing societal conditions. In Romania, religious cults have been essential partners of the State in reducing social crises, providing support through their rich infrastructure and human resources or their symbolic position in society. However, there have also been cases in which religious cults have generated conflictual social states and tension, producing or aggravating social crises.

Challenges in the Social and Psychological Adaptation of Ukrainian Forced Migrants (in the Context of Poland)

The dramatic changes that have taken place in Ukraine since the time of full-scale military operations have caused a fatal demographic, social and economic crisis, which has led to significant changes in people’s lifestyles, migration of a large number of Ukrainian citizens who have to adapt to the new living conditions and integrate into the receiving country. This definitely affected the social attitudes and mental states of both the forced (war) migrants and the receiving nations, who also have to adapt to coexistence with representatives of other culture. Among the main factors that hinder the social and psychological adaptation of forced migrants in the new settings are the following: language barrier, lack of communication within the Polish community, difficulties related to the legalization of stay, and working in a field unrelated to their specialization. The lack of constructive communication and interaction with local residents leads to the appearance of maladaptive feelings in forced migrants ‒ alienation, social isolation, uselessness and futility. Further development and self-realization of an individual in society depends on the result of social and psychological adaptation. A significant factor influencing one’s adjustment to a new reality is the position (active or passive) an individual adopts that is, the readiness to accept the existing situation and change one’s attitudes, behavior and way of life. This choice determines various personal strategies of adaptive behavior. Social integration of migrants is a two-way process characterized not only by adaptation (in social, economic, cultural and psychological aspects) of people to a new environment, but also by the reaction of hosting society to changes and its adaptation to migrants as well. Therefore, it is important to develop a strategy of behavior 42 | WEEReview 13 | 2024 and interaction on the basis of tolerance and mutual understanding that would satisfy both parties.

Corporate hypocrisy in the context of corporate social responsibility: a literature review

PurposeCorporate social responsibility (CSR) is going through a critical period that challenges its capacity to respond to social and environmental crises, which could be associated with the growing Corporate Hypocrisy (CH) phenomenon. This study aims to identify the theoretical perspectives of the scientific literature on CH as a contemporary phenomenon concerning CSR.Design/methodology/approachWe adopted a sequential mixed-method approach in this study. First, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of the publications on the Web of Science database. Subsequently, we performed a content analysis of CH with CSR.FindingsThe literature review revealed two main research paths: the first deals with the perceptions of hypocrisy; the second relates to the company’s responsibility for disclosure. In addition, we found that researchers use different expressions to refer to the gap between discourse and action in organisations. Some authors suggest subtle differences between these terms, while others use them interchangeably. The causes of this phenomenon vary according to the facets of hypocrisy and the negative implications for the reputation and credibility of companies.Originality/valueThis study contributes to understanding the dissociation between CSR statements and practices. To this end, it combines and collates the literature on a phenomenon studied from different sides using numerous designations.

Interactional and convivial possibilities at war: Ukrainian students’ home-making on a multicultural campus

This article examines Ukrainian students’ home-making at London’s multilingual and multicultural universities, contrasting the ways in which students’ idea of themselves and their sense of belonging developed after their arrival in London, and the ways in which this experience was altered by the outbreak of war on 24 February 2022. For international students in the UK, making themselves at home on a university campus is a relational process in which cultural, linguistic and political ideas and practices, brought together from the students’ former homes, are negotiated and transcended in newly established social networks. In this article, we explore the ways in which students’ networks, old and new, are altered as a result of their experience of war. Our findings indicate that when imagined personal life trajectories are disrupted as a result of the social and political crisis that accompanies the war, the possibilities of articulating the individual experience and the social interactions that provide such affordances are existential processes, which allow (or not) individuals to (re-)engage in home-making and to find new meaning in their emplacement and sense of self.

The pronounced embeddedness of commercial and social entrepreneurship in rural communities

This study examines the characteristics of entrepreneurship in rural villages. It was conducted during ongoingeconomic and social crises in rural areas. We interviewed 23 entrepreneurs located in small rural communities, focusing on thedynamics between rural entrepreneurs and village communities. Four themes emerged from the content analysis: (1) The village relieson entrepreneurs to provide products or services, (2) the community and the entrepreneurs establish a pattern of combined paid andunpaid services, (3) entrepreneurs leverage a rural product or service into something greater than was previously provided in thevillage, and (4) tensions may arise between entrepreneurs and the village management as well as village members. Overall, thefindings show that small business entrepreneurs in rural villages are more embedded in the community compared with those in urbanareas.

Housing and mental health inequalities during COVID-19: the role of income and housing support measures

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted people’s mental health and wellbeing. Using a national dataset of >11,000 Australians collected before and during the first two years of the pandemic, this study examines housing and mental health effects of COVID-19, and the extent to which access to government income support (social security measures, crisis payments and wage subsidy), early superannuation withdrawal, mortgage and rent relief, and tenant eviction moratoriums offered protection. Results show that the mental health gap between private rental and more secure housing tenures and between good- and poor-quality housing widened during the pandemic. Government income support provided a social safety net and was important in buffering housing instability especially when strong eviction moratoriums were lacking. Mortgage relief measures were associated significantly lower risks of housing affordability stress. Strong eviction moratoriums were effective in reducing risks of residential instability and forced moves. The pandemic exposed health vulnerabilities generated from people’s housing circumstances, reinforcing the need for public policies to address these social inequities to improve health and wellbeing. Findings emphasise the importance of tenure security, housing quality and enforcement of rental market interventions during disasters and identify the benefits of policies providing income support and strong eviction protection.

Aquaponics in schools: Hands-on learning about healthy eating and a healthy planet.

Our food system is giving rise to a growing social, health and environmental crisis. Much of the food consumed in the United Kingdom is cheap, nutrient-poor and highly processed, leading to under-consumption of essential foods such as grains, beans, vegetables and fruit. This has contributed to a rise in diet-related diseases, with approximately 22% of primary school leavers being overweight or obese. Food production is unsustainable with agriculture responsible for 10% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions and intensive farming practices have led to a significant loss of soil carbon and a decline in biodiversity. COVID-19 increased inequalities in our food system. Therefore, there is an urgent need for interventions to counteract these adverse social, health and environmental impacts. Education can play a crucial role as an intervention to address challenges in the food system. We tested an innovative school initiative using portable aquaponic pods and aligned to the national curriculum, to engage pupils in food production and foster learning about sustainability, climate change and healthy eating. The evaluation, based on teacher surveys, aquapod chart data, student blogs and postcards and feedback from the development team, revealed positive impacts on students' environmental awareness, as well as sustainability and practical food production knowledge. However, the programme encountered logistical challenges and we therefore highlight future improvements to produce a curriculum programme that can be delivered at scale to enhance food education and empower pupils to drive the agenda on tackling food sustainability and climate change.

Peran Pendidikan Islam dalam Menghadapi Krisis Moral dan Etika Sosial

This research aims to study the role of Islamic Education in facing the moral and social ethical crisis. The method used is a literature review, which analyzes sources or data from scientific journals on topics relevant to the research. The research results show that Islamic education can provide an example for someone to speak and behave according to religious demands (Al-Qur'an and Sunnah) to prevent a moral and social-ethical crisis. In conclusion, Islamic education can solve the moral, social, and ethical crises. In conclusion, implementing and strengthening Islamic Education can solve the problem of moral, social, and ethical crises. Islamic education can play a role in controlling attitudes, reminding oneself, and preventing oneself from detrimental actions Keywords: Islamic Education, Morals, Social Ethics