Social Freedom Research Articles

Revealing the role of intangible factors on migration in MENA: Religious identity and freedom perceptions

AbstractThis study investigates the role of intangible factors in the migration decision‐making processes of citizens from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. While the existing literature often highlights economic factors as the primary drivers of migration, this research explores how religious identity and perception of democracy and freedoms—specifically, freedom of expression and electoral freedom—influence these decisions. Utilising data from the Arab Opinion Index from 2012 to 2020, the study covers nine MENA countries and considers variables, such as gender, education level, household economic status, age, residential area, religious affiliation, and views on social and political freedoms. The findings suggest that intangible factors, particularly religious identity and perceived lack of freedoms, significantly influence individuals' migration decisions, similar to economic factors. Individuals who identify as less religious, associate with a less religious social circle, and perceive that their freedoms are not protected are more likely to consider migrating. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of migration dynamics in the MENA region, providing policymakers with crucial insights to develop evidence‐based strategies addressing the complex drivers of migration.

Confronting the neoliberal challenge: Recognition, social freedom and depth realism

AbstractThis article explores how Axel Honneth's critical theory, when adapted to a materialist depth realism, can be utilised as a critique of Fredrick Hayek's ‘neoliberalism’, an antipolitics influenced by Karl Popper's neo‐positivism. In response to the neoliberal challenge, it is proposed that Axel Honneth's theories of recognition, when grounded in anthropological (‘critical’) materialism, provides a robust defence of an irreducible social agency. When interpreted through this lens, recognition is one aspect of the system of human needs based on subject–subject interactions, the other being a subject–object interaction of humans with non‐human objects. By contrast, Honneth's more recent theory of social freedom relies on a Hegelian process of historical reconstruction and so remains vulnerable to the same epistemic errors that inform neoliberal attempts to universalise homo economicus, that is, of reducing reality to various ways in which it is conceptualised. In this regard, anthropological materialism must presuppose depth realism. The importance of this can be seen when the implications for Honneth's move towards a more orthodox Hegelianism in his more recent works are considered.

A Social Constraints and Personal Freedom in The Myth of Sisyphus: Examining the Impact of External Forces on Existential Autonomy

This paper explores the intricate relationship between social constraints and personal freedom in Albert Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus, focusing on the impact of external forces on existential autonomy. Camus’s philosophy, centered on the concept of the “absurd,” challenges traditional notions of freedom by highlighting the tension between human beings’ inherent desire for meaning and the indifferent, chaotic universe. The essay examines how social constraints—such as cultural norms, laws, economic conditions, and political ideologies—further complicate this quest for autonomy by imposing additional layers of limitation on individuals. Rather than viewing freedom as the absence of constraints, Camus redefines it as the capacity to confront these external forces with awareness and defiance, choosing one’s own path even within a constrained environment. Through a deeper analysis of Sisyphus as a symbol of human struggle against both cosmic and social limitations, this paper argues that true freedom is found not in escaping these constraints but in navigating and resisting them, asserting one’s values and identity in the face of both the absurd and societal expectations. The conclusion emphasizes the dynamic interplay between freedom and constraint, presenting a vision of autonomy as a continuous, courageous engagement with the world.

Unequal participation of genders in democratic processes: a product of polarization of parents’ roles and children’s upbringing in Nigeria

ABSTRACT At early childhood, female children face relative restrictions in social interactions and freedoms compared to their male counterparts. Using mixed methods, we examine how the polarization of parents’ roles in children’s upbringing leads to unequal participation of both genders in democratic processes in Nigeria. The secondary sources of data show an insignificant number of women in elected positions, compared to men. We discovered that parents’ lopsided and role-polarization during their children’s upbringing favor male children over female children. Since every human development is related to the past and the future, the earlier exposure of male children to qualitative education, utmost concern for their needs, and their early exposure to socio-political and cultural engagements by their fathers’ influence their active participation in democratic processes than the female children. This paper concludes that children’s upbringing foreshadows their adult lives; therefore, there is a need for more awareness policies for parents’ joint care of their children, irrespective of their gender.

Illusions of Prosperity: The Socio Economic Delusions in John Steinbeck’s The Pearl

This article examines the extent to which the pursuit of unreal goals, terms here as “Illusions of Prosperity,” alienates individuals from reality, using John Steinbeck’s The Pearl (1945) as a case study. Focused on Kino, the protagonist, the narrative explores how his discovery of a large pearl sets off dreams of social elevation and economic freedom within a colonially dominated Mexican village. The analysis reveals that despite the pearl’s promise of erasing historical humiliations and bringing prosperity, it ultimately leads to Kino’s psychological and social alienation, reflecting a broader critique of the materialistic pursuit under colonial influence. This paper highlights how personal aspirations, when intertwined with colonial and capitalist ideologies, can lead to disillusionment and societal estrangement.

Migration potential from Iran: A cluster analysis of the main departure drivers

Exploring the reasons behind people’s migration decisions has always been a core topic of migration studies. However, there is little scientific information on Iranian citizens’ migration plans; therefore, this study aims to fill this research gap. Our goal is to explore the main factors that push people to leave Iran, their reasons for seeking a new life abroad, their anticipations about their journey from Iran to the destination countries, and expectation of life outside Iran. We focused our attention on potential migrants relying on a convenience sample of Iranian citizens (n = 1006) who filled the online survey that was spread on Telegram channels and X application in Iran. We found that the main push factors are economic issues, lack of social freedom, and lack of job security. When it comes to choosing the destination country, good living conditions, availability of job opportunities, and economic security were identified as the main factors. Financial issues, emotional problems, and language barriers were the most often chosen challenges concerning the journey from Iran to the destination countries. As far as their main anticipations are concerned, providing a better life for their families and children, having freedom, and finding a better job chosen by participants.

Ukrainian Literary Dissent

The aim of the study was to discuss Ukrainian literary dissent as a component of the socio-cultural phenomenon of the Sixties – the national revival of the 1960s and 1970s in Ukraine and the Resistance Movement under the totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union. The objective was to reflect on the phenomenon of Ukrainian literary dissent in the second half of the twentieth century in the light of the modus operandi/concept of Freedom. Historical and literary, comparative and historical, receptive and aesthetic, on top of typological methods are tools for understanding the Ukrainian literary dissent of the 1960s and 1970s in Ukraine in its morphological dimension. Personalities of the Ukrainian literary dissent included Ihor Kalynets, Hryhorii Kochur, Yurii Lytvyn, Valerii Marchenko, Taras Melnychuk, Mykhailo Osadchyi, Vasyl Ovsiienko, Mykola Rudenko, Yevhen Sverstiuk, Ivan Svitlychnyi, Vasyl Stus, Oleksa Tykhyi, Les Taniuk, Mykola Kholodnyi, and others. The basis for the formation and existence of Ukrainian literary dissent (general historical, historical and cultural, mental, ontological) in the context of the Sixties as a “synergistic phenomenon” was discussed by Liudmyla Tarnashynska. Worldview, philosophical, socio-cultural manifestations of Ukrainian literary dissent were literary aspects of the human rights movement (literary and artistic, rhetorical and journalistic, literary and critical). The existence of Ukrainian self-publishing was a special form of the Resistance Movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, as well as an alternative component of the literary process of this period (Ivan Dziuba, Iryna Zhylenko, Sviatoslav Karavanskyi, Roman Korogodskyi, Mykhailyna Kotsiubynska, Leonid Pliushch, Mykola Rudenko, Yevhen Sverstiuk, Ivan Svitlychnyi, Vasyl Stus, and others). Contribution of literary dissidents included the activities of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group (Oles Berdnyk, Yurii Lytvyn, Valerii Marchenko, Mykola Rudenko, Vasyl Stus). The activity of the Ukrainian literary dissent is projected into the plane of Freedom and Rebellion in the socio-historical, mental, genetic, and metaphysical planes were social freedom as a socio-political struggle; personal freedom as an existential confrontation; and creative freedom as a metaphysical rebellion. Presentation of the activities/works of Mykola Rudenko, Ivan Svitlychnyi, and Vasyl Stus as key figures of Ukrainian literary dissent follows.

No Overactivism: Robert Lewandowski’s Use of Gentle Protest to Avoid National Political Backlash

The last few years have seen the return of athlete activism into major international sports events held worldwide as a mindset based on social responsibility and political freedom of speech has spread into the selfperception of many current top athletes. However, while these athletes may have experienced a recent personal transformation, the national political backlash accompanying activism remains set in a long tradition condemning political interference in sports. This article provides a background on the tradition of castigating political athlete activists, a theory on why and how national political backlash occurs, and evidence on the successful use of gentle activism to avoid such scenarios. The research examines a case study of Polish international footballer Robert Lewandowski’s ‘pointing the finger’ during a World Cup qualifier in 2022 to illustrate how alternative moderate forms of activism can be adopted. This study aims to introduce the term ‘overactivism’ into the politics of sport as a concept where the athlete prioritises retaining long-term political relevancy over maximising the political impact of a single event.

The regenerative liminalities of Global Citizenship Education

Abstract Global citizenship education (GCE) is an active entanglement in the civic priorities of the planet. In recent research, the concept has emerged as a multivalent coalescence of being, an engagement with planetary tensions and revisions of cosmopolitan ideology. In this article, I argue for a theoretical interpretation of GCE reliant on liminal-oriented practice and the potentialities of regenerative agency. Privileging Axel Honneth’s interpretation of social freedom and Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ postabyssal thinking, I argue that interfaces with the limit of our global perception reveal the regenerative qualities of our relations, allowing us to conceive ourselves as uniquely influenced by globality and possessing critical agency for otherness. Although such global perceptions can only ever be wrought within the ideological constraints of locality, a globally situated agency is more agile as a regenerative set of dispositions and interknowledge ‘globalities’. I further argue that regenerative liminalities hold significant implications for teaching and learning, as they signify the importance of a global consciousness over a technologically rationalized competency-based approach.

Semantics of the lexemes «freedom» and «will» in the Old Russian language as a reflection of the value dominants of the historical era (based on the material of dictionaries)

The article is devoted to identifying the connection of meanings within the semantic structure of the words «freedom» and «will» in the Old Russian language, indirectly reflecting the system of values and beliefs of the corresponding historical era. The relevance of the research is due to the insufficient study of the patterns of interpreting abstract concepts in the Russian language of the older generation. Uses a complex of linguistic methods, such as analysis of dictionary definitions, semantic field method, contextual analysis, etc. The semantics of the lexemes «freedom» and «will» in the Old Russian language is characterized by syncretism, which determines the complex connection of the meanings of these units. Thus, the word «freedom» reflects a number of correlated ideas about this phenomenon: 1) the internal (psychological) state of freedom; 2) social state of freedom; 3) causation of social freedom; 4) causation of internal freedom; 5) a person is a carrier of a state. The corresponding semantic field, the core of which is the word «freedom», in the Old Russian language has an isostructural organization. The semantic structure of the word «will» is less extensive, but it also represents the connection of this concept with the internal (mental), social and religious spheres. It is shown that freedom and will are interpreted in the Old Russian language as significant axiological phenomena that determine the self-awareness of an individual and the norms of his behavior in various spheres of life. The semantics of the words «freedom» and «will» reflect ideas about the close interaction of two principles: sacred (religious) and profane (psychological and social). At the same time, these lexemes emphasize one or another specified aspect: «freedom» primarily correlates with the social and religious spheres, while the «will» turns out to be associated with the internal (psychological) sphere of desire.

Interrelationship and interdependence of human rights, rule of law and democracy

The article examines the formation, current state of the rule of law and democracy, their relationship and interdependence with the principle of respect for human rights. And also the importance of maintaining a balance of the interests of the state and society for international security.
 In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 8 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the principle of the rule of law is recognized and applied in Ukraine.
 The rule of law is embodied in the law-making and law-enforcing activities of the state. Regulatory acts of the state must ensure social justice, freedom, and equality.
 The rule of law is one of the basic principles of a democratic society and involves judicial control over interference with every person’s right to freedom. The rule of law is an integral part of any democratic society, it is the rule of law in society. The state is required to implement the rule of law in law-making and law-enforcement activities, in particular, in laws that must correspond to the ideas of social justice, freedom, equality, etc. But only declared human rights, democracy and the rule of law without real mechanisms for their protection, processes and procedures are only a declarative category. Therefore, actually functioning mechanisms for the maintenance of democracy and the protection of human rights, combined with the constitutional limitation of power, are the main prerequisites for democracy.
 Democracy guarantees a peaceful political dialogue both in the internal politics of the state and in international relations. Dialogue guarantees a more or less stable balancing between the interests of the state and civil society.
 Human rights, the rule of law and democracy are interconnected and mutually reinforcing and belong to the common and indivisible core values and principles of the United Nations. The rule of law is the main factor in the implementation of democracy. Strengthening the rule of law promotes the protection of human rights and limits the arbitrary exercise of power, which is a basic requirement of modern democracy.
 But of the three considered categories of «human rights», «democracy» and «rule of law», the main one is human rights. Others rely on human rights. The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations states: «We, the peoples of the United Nations, are determined to save future generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold grief to humanity, and to reassert faith in fundamental human rights...»

Cultural Divergence in Psychedelic Use among Medical Students: An ESPAD-Adapted Survey among Poles and Iraqis.

Psychedelics can profoundly alter cognition and consciousness. Their use in Middle Eastern countries, including Iraq, is ambiguous. We aim to investigate psychedelic awareness and use among Iraqi and Polish medical students. We surveyed 739 university students from Poland (315) and Iraq (424) using 31 adapted questions from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD). We conducted multivariable analyses based on binary logistic regression to identify the factors associated with psychedelic awareness and use. Most of the respondents were females (65.6%) and senior medical students (69.6%). Notably, the Polish students displayed a higher prevalence of psychedelic use (21.6% compared to 1.2%, p < 0.001), while the Iraqi participants exhibited a lower familiarity with psychedelics (p < 0.001). The multivariable model demonstrated a commendable level of statistical accuracy and satisfactorily conformed to the Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test (statistical accuracy = 91.61%, Nagelkerke R2 = 0.488, p-value = 0.848). Several factors emerged as correlates of increased psychedelic use, including lacking an intact religious belief system or commitment to its practice (OR = 7.26, 95% CI [2.33, 22.60]). Additionally, those who perceived a low risk associated with sporadic psychedelic use (3.03, [1.44, 6.36]) were likelier to engage in such behavior. Other factors included residing in Poland (2.82, [0.83, 9.55]), maintaining positive attitudes toward psychedelics (2.49, [1.20, 5.14]), frequent social nightlife activities (2.41, [1.26, 4.61]), male gender (2.05, [1.10, 3.85]), and cigarette or tobacco smoking (2.03, [1.06, 3.86]). Significant disparities exist between Poles and Iraqis, influenced by religiosity, perceptions of the usage risks, geographical location, gender, attitudes toward psychedelics, parental leniency, and social freedom, especially concerning nightlife activities. Addressing the factors influencing psychedelic usage is paramount to responsible psychedelic engagement and culturally sensitive interventions to prevent misuse.

Sociological Impact of Cyber Laws on Media: Virtue Community and Controversies

This study aims to delve into the sociological dimensions and repercussions of cyber law on cyber-based mass media and social media freedoms in Indonesia while shedding light on questionable aspects of the country’s cyber laws. Employing qualitative research methods encompassing theoretical and investigative perspectives, the study combines normative juridical research with a legal, sociological approach and an observational survey approach. Data collection involved an examination of legal materials on information technology alongside interviews with cyber-policymaking bodies, stakeholders, cyber-media houses, journalists, bloggers, and social media influencers. The collected data were scrutinized through descriptive analysis to clarify the sociological and legal impacts of Indonesia’s cyber law on media and social media. The findings reveal that implementing cyber law in Indonesia carries substantial sociological implications for both the media and society. It highlights questionable aspects of the existing cyber laws, as they pose challenges to upholding the rule of law and safeguarding social and media freedoms in the country. The insights derived from this study hold relevance for research endeavors focusing on the sociological aspects of cyber law in developing countries. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the evolving digital landscape and emphasizes the need to address pertinent issues while balancing legal regulations and societal freedoms. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2024-05-01-04 Full Text: PDF

Bad Faith and the Contours of Black Consciousness

This discussion essay examines Lewis R. Gordon’s Fear of Black Consciousness (2022) and his analysis of ethics and politics within Black political philosophy. Gordon’s interdisciplinary book weaves together film, jazz, Judaism, and Egyptology (for instance) to interrogate the limits of political liberal concepts such as liberty, justice, and equality for analyzing and addressing anti-Black racism. A central concern facing Gordon is the degree to which bad faith is ignored or underexamined in political philosophy and public debates on social justice and freedom. Exploring how the racialization of the “Black” informs competing responses to anti-Blackness among Black and non-Black communities, this essay weighs the usefulness of Gordon’s metareflective framing for understanding the tension and significance of religion and moral claims in developing theories of freedom within Black political philosophy.

Move Violently for Liberty in Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was written by Mark Twain, an American author and father of American literature. The novel was published in 1884. It depicts the struggles for social freedom and individualism in the face of societal expectations. The character of Huckleberry shows the natural life and fights to get against rules and discipline to need of freedom to lead the life freely according to his way. Huckleberry started his life in Widow Douglas’s house but he didn’t stay in her house. Huck goes out of house and travels from one place to other place because of his freedom. At the end of the novel Huckleberry’s father was died, so Aunt Polly wanted to adopt him but he rejected her offer and started his new life. The novel focused the teenage boy Huckleberry, and his friend Jim, how they struggle to get a freedom to lead their life in the own way. The novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows the significant slavery and pervasive racism of the time.

Enhancing Human Rights Protections in Ukrainian Law Enforcement: National Compliance with EU Standards

Ensuring human rights and freedoms is the primary task of national development in Ukraine and the main social values and freedoms that determine the need to ensure the transparent, efficient, and population-oriented functioning of all state institutions that ensure the protection of people's and citizens' rights. The purpose of this research is to identify the state of human rights protection and enforcement in law enforcement activities in EU countries and Ukraine and to outline trends for further improvement in human rights law enforcement activities. The methodological basis of the investigation is the dialectics of worldview and general and specific scientific methods for understanding national phenomena and legal realities. The research finds the promotion and protection of human rights and freedoms are foundational to effective law enforcement activities, requiring alignment with constitutional, legal, and international standards. The modernization of policing principles involves expanding the role of national institutions, fostering accountability, diversity and partnerships, while humanizing police activities to establish trust-based relations with citizens. The research further emphasizes the critical role of implementing these insights into the actual activities of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies for a more meaningful and impactful transformation in ensuring human rights and freedoms. The study is of great scientific and theoretical importance, since scientific achievements in this field define the general direction of its understanding of the state, making it possible to understand and identify new trends in the development of ensuring compliance with human rights and freedoms in the world.

Extravagance and misery: Hegel on the multiplication and refinement of needs

AbstractThe topic of this paper is Hegel's claim in the Philosophy of Right that, within the modern social world, human needs tend to be endlessly expanded. Unlike the role that the system of needs plays in the formation of its participants' psychological makeup and the problem of poverty and the rabble, the topic of the expansion of needs remains underdiscussed in the recent Hegel literature on the virtues and vices of civil society. My discussion of the topic aims to answer the following two sets of questions: How does it come to pass that individuals' needs are endlessly expanded in this way? And is that expansion a phenomenon to be applauded or condemned? In particular, does the endless expansion of needs aid or obstruct the realization of social members' freedom? In answer to the first question, I argue that for Hegel the endless expansion of needs results from the level of specialization and division of labor distinctive of the modern market economy, the human capacity for a certain kind of abstraction, and the desire to be recognized by other participants in the market system. In answer to the second set of questions, and despite Hegel's own apparent ambivalence, I argue on his behalf that the endless expansion of needs represents an obstacle to the realization of freedom, and is on that ground a phenomenon to be condemned, for the following two reasons: First, the endless expansion of needs increases the influence or “pressure” of desire on the members of civil society that are subject to that expansion. Second, that expansion leads to widespread frustration, understood as the inability on the part of the members of civil society to ever fully realize their ends or satisfy their desires. I end by briefly considering two Hegelian solutions to the pernicious effects of the endless expansion of needs.

Homoeroticism vs Homoaesthetics in the Literary Works of Oles Ulianenko

The article is devoted to the literary heritage of Oles Ulianenko, who was virtually the only national author addressing LGBTQIA+ subject matter. The corporal-mimetic method was applied to analyze fiction works, which enabled us to draw a number of meaningful conclusions. On the one hand, LGBTQIA+ themes are typologically represented by a variety of images which are characterized by both an ironic dimension and dramatic pathos, interpreted not in ethical but in aesthetic terms. On the other hand, Oles Ulianenko was the first to shift homosexuality into the visible realm, and to represent the “splendors and miseries” (H. de Balzac) of homoeroticism to Ukrainian society; who, with his sexualized, homosexualized and lesbian narrative of his literary works attempted to speak of a future when his country would overcome the lack of social and sexual freedom.

Cityscapes, trance states, and women walking: embodied practices of walking in experimental film and video

ABSTRACT Commonly associated with the cinema of Béla Tarr and Gus Van Sant, walking on screen has received relatively little attention from researchers despite the ongoing popularity of wayfaring films and videos. Unsurprisingly, even less is known about how walking functions in experimental film and video or responds to avant-garde storytelling. To fill this gap, I take a phenomenological stance on walking to discuss the pedestrian’s embodied experience in a few stylistically distinct works: Crowdog (Vanessa Renwick, 1984/1998), A Walk (Jonas Mekas, 1990), Ordinary Matter (Hollis Frampton, 1972), and Death Songs & Car Bombs (Brendan and Jeremy Smyth, 2013). Despite having different formats and narrative foci, which, respectively, explore walking in a structural-diaristic framework and as a trance state or turn it into a social commentary on female liberation and the culture clash, all of these films echo the phenomenological turn in film studies, demonstrating how pedestrians relate to the multisensorial, kinaesthetic practice and space of walking. Compared to the itinerant mode of art cinema, experimental film and video usually challenge the representational nature of walking and present it as a more complex, disorientating, and unconventional experience, linking the sensation of walking to social mobility, personal freedom, feminism, or place and urban memory.

The voice of irregular migrants : A mixed-method study exploring the migration process of Iranian asylum seekers to Europe

After nearly four decades of irregular movement of Iranian nationals worldwide, we have much to learn about their motivations for leaving Iran and choosing their destination countries. This paper investigates the main factors that influenced Iranian asylum seekers to leave Iran in an irregular way. Our quantitative survey was conducted online, relying on a convenience sample of Iranian asylum seekers (n=241) who filled out the survey, which was spread on social media applications. We found that the main factors pushing people to leave Iran were related to the lack of social freedom (81 per cent), economic issues (76 per cent), and the lack of job security (71 per cent). Likewise, secure economic conditions (81 per cent), social freedom (76 per cent), and the availability of job opportunities (70 per cent) were the main factors that pulled people to their destination countries. We found that participants have effectively adapted to the healthcare system, language, and weather of destination countries, and they expect to have freedom in Europe and improve the quality of life of their loved ones, including their offspring.