Social Crisis Research Articles

The Influence Of Gravity Model And Intra Industry Trade Factors On Indonesian Tourism Demand From Ten Countries

The health emergency conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic which also had an impact on the global social and economic crisis, the tourism sector was one of the sectors most negatively affected, especially the decline in tourist visits due to the travel restriction policy. This condition also affects the contribution of the tourism sector to the national economy. This research was conducted to observe the impact of factors in the gravity model and intra-industry trade, including relative distance, GDP per capita, tourism sector integration, and exchange rates on tourism demand in Indonesia from ten countries during 2017-2022 on 60 data samples with observation techniques and panel data regression model observations. Results were obtained which stated that the relative distance variable and GDP per capita had a negative effect on Indonesian tourism demand, conversely the integration of the tourism sector had a positive effect on Indonesian tourist demand, while the exchange rate variable had no significant impact on housing tourism demand in Indonesia from ten countries in 2017-2022.

Urban trees as a lever for citizen engagement in public consultation processes: the case of Paris, France.

In the present context of increasing human population demography, worldwide social crises, and rapid ecological global change, large cities are facing major socio-environmental challenges. This convokes authorities to adapt their governance and urban planning to reconcile urban development, ecological systems, and city dwellers in the most sustainable way. To achieve such goals, local officials have to associate all local actors, including city-dwellers, to the decision-making process through participatory governance and/or participatory systems. Here, we elaborated an original pilot project governance system for a "Participatory System Combining Town Planning and Science" (the 2PS-CiTy), as part of the revision of the Local Urban Plan (LUP) of Paris, France, into a Bioclimatic LUP held from 2020 to 2024. By implementing 2PS-CiTy, we aimed to answer "How to turn trees into a lever for inhabitants' engagement in urban consultation systems?" Trees were chosen because they are emblematic elements of nature with significant roles in ecosystemic services such as urban climate regulation. Parisians were invited to (i) share in the first questionnaire some information on their knowledge about the LUP and their engagement in it, (ii) identify urban trees they consider remarkable, (iii) explain their choice in a second questionnaire, (iv) contribute to the urban consultation as part of the LUP revision, and finally, (v) give their feedback during a dedicated survey. Out of the 41 Parisians who took part in 2PS-City, 83% declared they were motivated to participate because they could contribute to the tree census, which in turn can constructively contribute to the Parisian LUP revision to bring more nature and sustainability in town. This study demonstrates that trees can be used as a lever for inhabitants' engagement in urban consultation systems to make cities more sustainable. Our survey also showed that the 2PS-CiTy governance system could be improved by (1) developing a participatory culture among decision-makers and (2) preventing nowadays silo governance from developing the most promising public governance systems that involve the departments of green space, urban planning, and local democracy.

Controversies in COVID-19 pandemic: the case of convalescent plasma

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has caused an unprecedented health and social crisis worldwide. In this paper we summarized the different therapeutic actions planned from the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean (USA and Europe) to fight the initial phase of COVID-19 pandemic, with an emphasis on passive immunotherapies such as convalescent plasma and anti-Spike monoclonal antibodies. The lessons derived from the critical analysis of that period could drive our treatment decisions for the next pandemics.

Centering relationships to place for more meaningful research and engagement

Research has the potential to simultaneously generate new knowledge and contribute meaningful social–ecological benefits; however, research processes and outcomes can also perpetuate extractive patterns that have manifested the climate, biodiversity, and social justice crises. One approach to enhance the societal value of research processes is to strengthen relationships with places of study and the peoples of those places. Deepening relational engagement with the social–ecological context and history of a place can lead to more accurate results and improved public trust in the scientific process and is particularly important for natural scientists who work at the interface of nature and society. We provide three actionable pathways that range from individual to systemic change to enhance place-based relationships within research systems: 1) deepen reflection and communication about relationships with places and peoples; 2) strengthen collaboration among research teams and partners; and 3) transform systems of knowledge creation to foster place-based roots. Action on any of these proposed pathways, but especially action taken across all three, can build empathy and connections to place and people, strengthening the meaningful impact of research both locally and globally.

Collective actors and potential alliances for eco-social policies in Germany

To break the vicious circle of mutually reinforcing climate and social crises, there is a rapidly growing literature around integrated public policy instruments called eco-social policies. The actors potentially drive such policies in public debate and the policy process remains under-researched. This paper elaborates on the positioning of various non-state actors on eco-social policies and potential alliance-building in Germany. It derives hypotheses from the existing literature on the role of trade unions, social- and environmental non-governmental organizations, and social movements in eco-social transformation. It tests them empirically on a dataset of public communication and uses a combination of computer-assisted text-analytic tools, namely text mining and structural topic modeling. The findings indicate that although eco-social themes as cross-cutting issues offer good conditions for alliance-building, actors differ widely in their potential to do so. Based on actors’ eco-social broadness and transformational intensity, the paper finds four clusters: a status quo supporter, an activist, a pragmatic, and an eco-social alliance cluster and discusses possible strategies for them. The findings highlight the relevance of service sector unions and social non-governmental organizations as they could act as a bridge to connect social and ecological interests. The paper’s contribution to the Special Issue is twofold: It addresses the policy dimension by examining what issues actors raise about ecological and social concerns. In terms of politics, it gains insights into actors’ positioning and their strategic alliance-building. Both shed light on the potential for eco-social change.

Tyshawn Gardner, Social Crisis Preaching: Biblical Proclamation for Troubled Times

Tyshawn Gardner, Social Crisis Preaching: Biblical Proclamation for Troubled Times

Walk With Me: reducing harm and confronting the toxic drug poisoning crisis in small British Columbia cities through community engaged research

In an era of escalating and intersectional crises, the toxic drug poisoning crisis stands out as a devastating and persistent phenomenon. Where we write from in British Columbia (BC), Canada, over 13,000 deaths have occurred in the eight years since the toxic drug poisoning crisis was declared a provincial health emergency. While many of these deaths have occurred in large urban centres, smaller rural communities in British Columbia are also grappling with the profound impacts of the toxic drug poisoning crisis and are struggling to provide adequate support for their vulnerable populations. In response to these challenges, the Walk With Me research project has emerged in the Comox Valley of Vancouver Island, BC, employing community-engaged methodologies grounded in pluralist knowledge production. Walk With Me seeks to understand the unique manifestations of the toxic drug poisoning crisis in small communities, identifying local harm reduction interventions that can foster community resilience, and aiming to catalyze sustainable change by amplifying the voices of those directly affected by the crisis to advocate for policy changes. This paper outlines the conceptual and methodological underpinnings of the Walk With Me project as a harm reduction initiative, which holds community partnerships and diverse ways of knowing at its heart. It presents the community-engaged research framework used by the project to address overlapping health and social crises, offering practical examples of its application in various research projects across sites and organizations. The paper concludes with a reflection on the impacts of Walk With Me to date, highlighting the lessons learned, challenges encountered, and opportunities for future research and action. Overall, this article captures the urgent need for community-engaged approaches to address the toxic drug poisoning crisis and other multidimensional crises facing society, particularly in smaller and rural communities, underscoring the potential for meaningful change through collaborative, grassroots efforts.

The rise of the penguins: analysing the trajectory of a peripheral elite in Argentina (1991–2003)

ABSTRACT In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of research on subnational policies and multilevel studies. Nevertheless, much remains to be understood about how peripheral elites enter central institutions and succeed in exerting an influence in national politics. The present article illustrates these dynamics through the case of the so-called ‘penguins’ – that is, the group of leaders from the coalition called ‘Front for Victory’ (Frente para la Victoria [FPV]) from Patagonia that has been ruling Argentina since 2003. After analysing the profile of this marginal group led by Néstor Kirchner, we reflect on the reasons for its success. The present study makes three contributions to the literature. First, it shows how Argentina’s territorial reconfiguration of power facilitated a renewal of political elites. Second, it illustrates the fact that political paths in territorial tiers of government can be analysed collectively. And lastly, it highlights the role of social crises in stimulating changes that affect the very nature of political elites.

Exploring innovative food in a developing country: Edible insects as a sustainable option

Abstract Today's consumers are becoming more aware of what they eat and the benefits that a healthy diet can provide. Edible insects (EIs) have recently been proposed as a sustainable, protein-rich alternative food source. Consumers' adoption of insects as part of their diet may be influenced by their awareness of this source of food. In this context, the current study investigated the level of knowledge about EI in a developing country, with the goal of understanding how Lebanese people perceive EI as food, as well as whether there are any sociodemographic or socioeconomic differences in their knowledge and motivation to accept EI as food. This was a cross-sectional study conducted using a questionnaire survey of 357 Lebanese participants. Basic descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data, which were supplemented with statistical tests such as ANOVA for comparisons between three or more groups with post hoc to examine any group differences and Cronbach's alpha to assess internal scale reliability. The search for differences according to sociodemographic and socioeconomic characteristics showed significant differences between age groups and levels of education. Additionally, the results showed that the items used to assess the EI dimensions scale have a very high internal consistency, with the lowest being nutritional aspects (α = 0.669) and the highest being health effects (α = 0.797). This work is relevant because it highlights the EI food dimensions that influence people’s acceptance in Lebanon, which is facing social and economic crises while highlighting many age inequalities and education level differences. Based on the findings, individual EI dimensions were discovered, allowing for strategies deployment to effectively improve knowledge and eventually respond to a Sustainable Development Goal objective even in a nation where this is not a traditional practice.

Cash, crisis, and capers: The UK's cashbox policy during COVID-19

This study investigates the market impact of the “Cashbox” policy introduced in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic, which eased shareholder approval norms for equity issuances. Using manually collected data, we find that Cashbox issue announcements yield abnormal returns 4–6 % higher than other issuances, indicating that investors prioritise liquidity over agency concerns during the pandemic. Notably, this effect is more pronounced in firms facing greater financial constraints or exhibiting superior corporate governance. Our study sheds light on the impact of crisis-driven policy changes on financial markets, providing important and timely implications for policymakers and investors on the trade-off between rapid capital access and governance standards in times of significant social crises.

Perceived barriers and influencing factors of psychological help-seeking amongst Chinese nurses exposed to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused psychological problems among nurses worldwide. However, their willingness to seek professional help is relatively low, due to perceived barriers that have remained unknown. This study analysed the potential barriers and influencing factors of psychological help-seeking among nurses participating in community COVID-19 epidemic prevention work. Five variables - depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress syndrome, social support and mental health literacy - were measured from a sample of 667 nurses. Latent class analysis identified homogeneous classes about psychological help-seeking barriers and multinomial logistic regression identified factors associated with potential grouping outcomes. Three categories were identified: major barriers (N = 17, 2.5%), stigma and accessibility barriers (N = 132, 21.2%) and low barriers (N = 518, 76.4%). Mental health literacy was significantly correlated with the 'low barriers' class (OR = 0.953, B = -0.047, p = 0.03), whereas depression (OR = 1.091, B = 0.085, p = 0.011) had a slightly positive effect on being in the 'stigma and accessibility barriers' class. During pandemics or other social health crises, nurses may experience psychological barriers to help seeking. Communities and hospitals should consider increasing the resources available for psychological counselling services, improving mental health awareness and literacy that may help reduce depression levels and promote mental health.

Подходы к нравственному биоулучшению в классической и либеральной евгенике

Background:The general trendtowards the moralization of society, associated both with attempts to overcome the state of social and political crises, and determined by the general tendency to accept the Other, determines the need to address issues of mor-al improvement of moral agents. At first glance, biological improvement seems more reliable, because in the future it is more stable and predictable. In this regard, it seems extremely important to turn to the tradition of eugenic discussions. Aim: To analyze approaches to improving amoral agent using biological methods in domestic and world science.Materials and methods: To achievethe goal of the work, materials from the Galton School of Eugenics, policy articles of the Russian Eugenics Society by N.K. were analyzed. Koltsov and the modern discourse of liberal eugenics.Results: On the one hand, the biological improvement of a moral agent seems to be more predictable (in the case of relevant re-search) and more sustainable. On the other hand, history shows us the risks of this approach. The failure of classical eugenics, which degenerated in Europe into Nazi practices, and political decisions close to them in the USA seems obvious. Modern «liberal eugenics», in attempts to solve these problems, runs into the risks of discrimination. Conclusion: For more than a century, moral bioenhancement scholars have failed to offer specific criteria for a moral agent. Based on the analysis of eugenic discourse, the article raises ethical questions, the answers to which must be given to the scientific community before conducting practical experiments

Quranic methodology of managing social crisis: Prophet Joseph, (peace upon him) as a model : asocio – analogical study

يعرض هذا البحث أهمية المنهج القرآني في إدارة الازمات الاجتماعية لا سيما في وقتنا الحاضر بعد ما ازدادت الازمات وتفاقمت على كافة الاصعدة والمستويات، واصبحت تمس بشكل او باخر كل جوانب الحياة بدا من الفرد والجماعة والمجتمع كونه منهجا ربانيا فيه الحلول الإلهية التي لها الأثر المباشر في استيعاب الازمات فضلا عن معالجته الكثير من الازمات التي مرت بها البشرية وعمل على علاجها ومواجهتها ، ومن بين اهم هذه الأمثلة ما جاء في سورة يوسف كنموذج من نماذج إدارة الازمات الاجتماعية ، فمن هذا المنطلق تم الاعتماد على المنهج الوصفي التحليلي والمنهج التاريخي لبيان أهمية إدارة الازمات الاجتماعية وفق المنهج القرآني ، وخرج البحث بمجموعة من النتائج ابرزها ان الازمات الاجتماعية حالة إنسانية يتعرض لها الافراد والجماعات تتفاوت فيها ردود الأفعال من جماعة لأخرى ، تميز المنهج القرآني في معالجته لكافة الازمات الاجتماعية من خلال منهج وتشريع قائم على العدل والمساواة فاقت القوانين الوضعية .

E-Governance for Crisis Communication: A Study of Environmental Disaster in Pakistan

This study explores the state of social media as an e-governance platform which is currently in preliminary stage in crisis communication during three major climate disasters in Pakistan. The researchers aim to scrutinize the proactive or reactive approach of social media handles belonging to Disaster Management Authorities (DMA’s) of Pakistan during the natural calamities of 2022: During Murree Snowstorm, Karachi Monsoon Rainfall, and Floods. This study targets various authorities, namely the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities of Punjab, Sindh, KPK, and Baluchistan. Using quantitative content analysis techniques, the Social Mediated Crises Communication Model provided theoretical implications to determine which authority gathered more feedback likes, comments, and shares/retweets. The data is purposively sampled from the Twitter and Facebook handles of the National Disaster Management Authority and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities beginning from 1 January 2022 till 31 December 2022. The descriptive analysis on SPSS indicated that, most of the times, disaster management authorities adopted a reactive approach, with Twitter being a more active platform than Facebook. Additionally, contrary to other DMA’s, the Punjab Disaster Management Authority received more feedback on their social media platforms.

Age and schooling are associated with job loss in the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

Brazil was one of the countries most affected by the social and economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to verify the association between job loss and region of the country, sex, age, educational status, marital status, and parenting in Brazilian workers during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional online study was performed with data from workers aged 18 years or older in any economic sector and different occupations. A sociodemographic and occupational questionnaire was applied. Data collection began on June 2020 and ended on September 2020. To estimate the degree of association between job loss and the region of the country and workers’ characteristics, binomial logistic regression analysis was performed to obtain the odds ratio (OR) and confidence intervals. The sample was composed of 1319 participants and of these, 108 (8.2%) lost their jobs in the initial months of the pandemic; 51.6% were female; 53.5% were married; 42.5% reported having children; 80.7% had a complete college education. The age and educational status were associated with job loss, with younger and less educated workers being more affected by unemployment. For women, age and educational status were associated with job loss, for men only educational status showed a significant association. Young workers, mainly women, and with less educational status were the most affected by unemployment at the beginning of the pandemic in Brazil. Thus, this group of workers proved to be more vulnerable and should be prioritized by public policies.

The dilemma of constitutional mobilization: The housing and the environmental social movements at the Chilean Constitutional Convention

The dilemma of constitutional mobilization: The housing and the environmental social movements at the Chilean Constitutional Convention

Samobójstwa wśród młodzieży jako problem kryminologiczny

Suicide is the subject of interest in many scientific disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, law, theology. A serious social problem is the growing number of young people who, in an act of desperation, lack of ability to cope with school and family problems, peer exclusion and low stress resistance, decide to take their own lives. Suicide in this aspect should be considered as a major social crisis of the 21st century. In criminological literature, it is seen as a type of voluntary death and an act of discontinuation of life. Suicide among young people is often preceded by a suicide attempt, which is a “call for help”, an attempt to draw attention to themselves, but above all an act of despair and rebellion against the reality they have to face. Suicidal risk factors intersect and complement each other. These include both those related to the suicidal person, as well as his or her personality traits, cognitive styles, genetic or biological conditions. An important role is played by those linked to the immediate environment, the family, the social group and the media. The aim of this article is to characterise the phenomenon of suicides in Poland with special attention to data on children and adolescents based on the statistics of the Police Headquarters. In addition, the authors attempt to provide a psychological portrait of the person who decides to commit suicide and to draw attention to suicide risk factors among adolescents.

Divisive Issues, Polarization, and Users’ Reactions on Facebook: Comparing Campaigning in Latin America

Economic, social, and health crises have shaken and polarized contemporary politics. An element fueling this polarization is the dissemination of divisive topics on social media platforms. While these polarizing social media tendencies are increasingly studied, research exploring digital political communication in South America remains scarce. This study aims to analyze the electoral campaigns in Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Peru to define the features that trigger polarized emotional reactions on Facebook. The corpus comprises a sample of 2,930 posts published by candidates and political parties during the first round of the presidential elections held in these countries between 2021 and 2022. We hypothesize that users are more likely to react in a polarized way to content focused on divisive issues. In addition, we examine how these patterns differ across countries and the influence of the level of political polarization. Finally, the role played by party-level characteristics in the emotional reactions of users is also analyzed. By means of quantitative content analysis, these questions are addressed using multilevel negative binomial regressions to identify what predicts Love and Angry reactions. The bandwagon effect seems to work positively on users’ moods since the most popular political actors receive significantly more Love reactions, irrespective of the post’s subject. In more polarized countries, there is a tendency to react more negatively to certain divisive issues, generating greater visibility of these issues on social networks and thus promoting more polarization. These findings expand knowledge about the dynamics of digital political communication in the Global South.

Lost in Luxury: Climate Change and Silk Consumption in Mid-Qing China (1735–1840 CE)

A quantitative approach has been promoted to understand the history of climate and society. Statistical research on luxurious expenses under climate change in past societies remains insufficient, however. Hence, this study statistically examined the association between climate change and the imperial court’s luxury expenses on silk products in mid-Qing China (1735–1840 CE) by including major ecological–social–economic stresses. Results indicated that the Qing imperial court’s silk consumption increased under favorable climatic conditions and a flourishing agrarian economy, and vice versa. Natural disasters and social crises hardly affected the Qing imperial court’s silk consumption, however, suggesting its limited support and inactive attitude toward ecological–social–economic stresses. Such an institutional weakness might have increased social vulnerability, which could have led to Qing China’s decline since the eighteenth century. The study serves as the first attempt to reveal a long-term historical climate–luxury linkage and further provides a supplementary explanation of the economic decline from the perspective of the history of climate and society. Based on past lessons, this study emphasizes institutional activeness to tackle upcoming climate change challenges.

A hybrid approach of machine learning algorithms for improving accuracy of social media crisis detection

The use of social media is becoming increasingly important in our day-to-day activities. Platforms for social media are utilised on a daily basis, and it has been seen that young adults make regular use of social media, even while they are in the midst of an emergency scenario. For the purpose of communication, individuals, businesses, and governments all make use of various social media platforms. Through their efforts to establish communication with their loved ones who are residing in regions that have been impacted by disasters, a great number of people are demonstrating their profound concern for the well-being of those individuals. The individuals are looking for a variety of necessities, including food, help, pharmaceuticals, lodging, transportation, and other necessities. It is possible for telecommunication networks to experience a breakdown or become incapable of adequately accommodating a sudden spike in the number of users attempting to connect to the network during times of crisis. There is a widespread use of short messaging service (SMS) mobile text messages in the modern communication landscape. Platforms for social media websites that are accessible online have the potential to effectively regulate the flow of communication. The existence of social media networks that are technologically scalable makes it possible for this to be a feasible option. The usage of a platform that enables communication in both directions has the potential to outperform the efficiency of conventional channels that only transmit information in one direction, such as radio and television, when it comes to crisis situations. The proliferation of network technologies has resulted in an increased emphasis on the examination of the features of network components, the mitigation of the affects of these components, and the rapid restoration of operations in the event of disasters. It is possible to improve the efficiency, dependability, and participatory nature of emergency communication by making use of various social media platforms. Consequently, it is possible to make the observation that crises have become an integral part of the ecosystem of social media in the modern day.