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

Reconceptualising leprosy self-care as a social practice: a qualitative study in North Central Nigeria

Development and validation of the children's subjective service experience scale during social service delivery in Mainland China.

ABSTRACT This article questions the miscarriage/abortion distinction to build solidarity across pregnancy experiences and endings. Drawing on anthropological research, it highlights how lived experiences blur this boundary and asks which frameworks can best acknowledge such ambiguity and support inclusive social and clinical practice. We explore how a certain kind of abortion – ‘termination for medical reasons’ or ‘TMFR’ – is already treated as contiguous with miscarriage when incorporated under the ‘pregnancy loss’ umbrella within the UK advocacy scene. This can foster recognition and care, but we argue it risks reinforcing the ‘good abortion/bad abortion’ distinction and exceptionalising assumptions about the ‘separateness’ of abortion. We also voice concern that the language of loss and bereavement is coming to overdetermine representations of miscarriage in the UK, which can result in marginalization, alienation and self-doubt for those who do not experience a grief response. As an alternative, we argue for a maximally inclusive ‘full-spectrum’ approach that supports all pregnancy endings, regardless of circumstance or emotional response. In making this case, we refer to policies around employment leave for pregnancy endings and campaigns for decriminalization of abortion, which demonstrate that meaningful support for miscarriage cannot be achieved until abortion too, in all its forms, is supported.

ABSTRACT The historic mountain roads of the Himalayan borderlands are a vital yet underappreciated aspect of cultural heritage, embodying centuries of trade, migration, and spiritual exchange. While frameworks like ICOMOS Cultural Routes acknowledge prominent historic roads, those enriched by intangible heritage and community traditions are often overlooked. This research addresses this gap by adopting a community-centred approach to document and preserve the cultural significance of Himalayan roads, prioritising local knowledge. The study highlights ‘Choice Points’ – sites where travellers paused for trade, rest, or rituals – revealing both their tangible and intangible heritage. Fieldwork across the Darma, Byans, and Chaundas valleys shows that while physical markers – shrines, settlements, alpine meadows, sacred lakes – persist, the true essence of these roads lies in the social practices, festivals, and crafts sustained by the Rung Shauka community. To counter threats of modernisation and tourism-driven projects, this research advocates for a holistic conservation framework grounded in community stewardship.

This study examines the integration of zakat and social work as a foundational approach to poverty reduction in Kano State, Nigeria, where more than 60% of the population lives below the poverty line, despite zakat collections estimated at approximately 10 billion annually. Employing a descriptive survey design with stratified random sampling, data were collected from 384 respondents across nine local government areas. The study assessed the effectiveness of zakat distribution, the role of social work interventions, and the potential impact of their integrated application using a validated research instrument (IZSWOPAKS; Cronbach's alpha = 0.81). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests at the p < 0.05 significance level. The findings revealed persistent inefficiencies in zakat distribution, particularly in terms of timeliness, adequacy, and transparency. Respondents overwhelmingly expressed strong support for integrating zakat and social work, citing improved targeting of beneficiaries, more holistic support mechanisms, and greater prospects for sustainable poverty alleviation. The study concludes that integrating zakat's faith-based redistributive framework with professional social work practices offers a more effective and sustainable strategy for poverty reduction in Kano State. This study recommends structured institutional collaboration between zakat management bodies and social work institutions to strengthen and enhance economic empowerment initiatives.

Implicit social cognition, also known as implicit bias, may impact social work practice. Because social workers commonly work with people with disabilities, it is important to understand more about social service professionals' attitudes about physical disability. By using descriptive and inferential statistical tests to quantitatively analyze secondary 2023 data from social service professionals, including social workers and counselors (n = 5,167), this study found that 70.3 percent of respondents reported having no explicit preference for people with or without physical disabilities, 23.7 percent reported preferring people without physical disabilities explicitly, and 6.0 percent reported preferring people with physical disabilities explicitly. For implicit attitudes, most participants had implicit preference for people without physical disabilities (77.8 percent), 13.7 percent had no implicit preference for people with or without physical disabilities, and 8.5 percent implicitly preferred people with physical disabilities. There was a statistically significant relationship between explicit and implicit attitudes, with most people having discordant explicit and implicit attitudes, often with low levels of explicit bias and high levels of implicit bias. This study also found age, gender, disability, having friends/family with disabilities, education, and political orientation correlated with explicit and implicit disability attitudes. The article ends with a discussion of educational interventions to reduce disability-related implicit bias.

Oral diseases such as dental caries remain a significant and inequitable public health challenge among children in England, particularly in socioeconomically deprived communities. Despite their preventable nature, oral health conditions have long been overlooked in national child health strategies and siloed from broader non-communicable disease prevention agendas. This paper presents Give Up Loving Pop (GULP), a pragmatic, school-based oral health intervention delivered in partnership with professional sports clubs and their community organisations. Framed through the lens of health practice theory, GULP moves beyond individualistic models of health education by embedding healthier hydration habits within children's everyday routines, supported by trusted figures such as community sports coaches. Evaluation data from recent local authority delivery projects indicate meaningful shifts in children's drink preferences, particularly in favour of water. This paper situates GULP within the wider context of commercial determinants of health and argues for a more integrated, socially attuned model of oral health promotion; one that aligns with upstream prevention, addresses structural inequalities, and leverages the cultural influence of sport to foster long-term change.

This study examined Black caregivers’ affective responses to racial discrimination (i.e., the extent to which they reported being bothered by discriminatory experiences) and how these responses were associated with stress associated with navigating racial socialization practices (i.e., stress during conversations about race and racism with children). We further tested whether coping self-efficacy beliefs (i.e., problem-focused coping, suppressing unpleasant emotions and thoughts, and seeking support from family and friends) moderated the association between racial discrimination and racial socialization stress. The sample included a socioeconomically diverse sample of 680 Black caregivers (Mage = 37, 55% mothers). A significant interaction indicated that among caregivers who reported being highly bothered by racial discrimination, higher levels of problem-focused coping were associated with greater racial socialization stress, whereas lower levels of problem-focused coping were associated with lower stress. Being highly bothered by racial discrimination and reporting high levels of stopping unpleasant emotions and thoughts as a coping strategy was associated with the lower levels of racial socialization stress in comparison to those with lower levels of stopping unpleasant emotions and thoughts. Black caregivers, under the conditions of reporting being bothered by racism, with higher levels of family and friend support had lower levels of racial socialization stress in comparison to those with lower levels of family and friend support. The findings highlight the need to support Black caregivers in building effective coping strategies and social support networks.

Poverty in Indonesia remains structural and enduring despite constitutional commitments to social justice. Viewing law as a social practice within a stratified society rather than merely a written standard, this article examines structural poverty from a sociological perspective. Based on a review of academic literature, relevant public policy studies, and laws and regulations, this research employs a juridical-sociological approach with qualitative methods. The results show that structural poverty in Indonesia is not only caused by financial constraints but is also created and perpetuated by the ways in which laws are written, implemented, and accessed. Law often operates administratively and procedurally rather than functioning fully as a tool for social transformation, owing to the gap between law in books and law in action, limited access to justice, and an elite-dominated legal culture. This article argues that, without institutional and cultural reforms, the inherent limitations of law within an unequal social system may actually exacerbate inequality rather than redress it. The distinctive conceptual contribution of this paper lies in reframing structural poverty as a failure of law to operate as a social practice, rather than merely a failure of economic or social policy. In addition to offering a critical perspective for developing community-based responsive legal reform aimed at substantive social justice in Indonesia, this study theoretically advances the sociology of law by establishing law as a constitutive component of the system that reproduces inequality.

This article explores how Arab social work students in Israel conceptualize solidarity, navigating between ethnic identity, community loyalty, and universal professional ethics. Using a phenomenological qualitative approach, 25 in-depth interviews were thematically analyzed. Findings revealed that students view solidarity as a multidimensional phenomenon, including moral value, emotional empathy, daily mutual aid, and professional identity. A distinction emerged between takaful (communal-religious mutual support) and tadamun (moral trans-border solidarity). The study highlights the tension and interplay between identity-based and universal solidarity, offering an indigenous perspective that bridges local cultural values with global ethics in social work practice.

This study analyzes the impact of Serve the City Kenya’s (STC Kenya) visit to G.K. Prison in Nairobi on volunteers’ attitudes and perceptions regarding social responsibility and environmental practices. The visit, conducted on December 4, 2024, sought to assess how engagement with inmates influences volunteers in line with Serve the City International’s core values, which include humility, compassion, courage, respect, love, and hope, while exploring how volunteerism can foster sustainable environmental behaviors within correctional facilities. Using a pre- and post-visit quantitative survey design, data were collected from 20 volunteers, with 12 pre-visit and 10 post-visit responses analyzed. Findings revealed that 75% of volunteers reported increased empathy, open-mindedness, and appreciation for others' dignity following the visit. Additionally, over 80% agreed that inmates would benefit from environmental education and that small, consistent actions can promote sustainability. The study concludes that volunteerism in prison contexts not only enhances participants’ personal and moral growth but also creates pathways to promote environmental stewardship as part of inmate rehabilitation. Recommendations include integrating environmental education into volunteer programs and expanding partnerships between correctional institutions and community-based organizations for sustainable transformation.

The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 brought significant transformations to society’s social, religious, and economic practices, including those within mosque and taklim assembly environments. Restrictions on physical activities during the pandemic triggered a shift in interaction spaces toward the digital realm, particularly through the use of WhatsApp Groups as a primary communication medium. This study aims to analyze the dynamics of WhatsApp Group usage by the Raudhatul Jannah Mosque Taklim Group (MTII) in Taman Nirwana Housing, Bekasi, which developed into a community-based economic transaction space known as Kios Ukhti Taman Nirwana. The research employs a qualitative approach using a case study method. Data were collected through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The analytical framework is based on Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s dialectical theory to understand the negotiation process between the sacred values of the da’wah space and the economic needs of the congregation. The findings reveal that mosque-based digital economic practices undergo a dialectical process consisting of thesis (the use of da’wah groups as buying and selling spaces), antithesis (rejection of the perceived shift in sacred functions), and synthesis (the formation of a separate, organized economic space). These results demonstrate that mosques hold strategic potential as centers for community economic empowerment in the digital era, provided they are managed through inclusive, participatory, and religious value–based governance. This study contributes to the scholarly development of da’wah communication, community economics, and the transformation of religious institutions in contemporary society.

Abstract This study investigates the relationship between corporate governance characteristics and the adoption of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices in leading European companies listed in the Euro Stoxx 300 index from 2012 to 2023. Leveraging a dataset from Thomson Reuters Eikon, the analysis evaluates the influence of board gender diversity, non-executive member proportion, tenure, size, cultural diversity, meeting attendance, and compensation on ESG performance. The findings reveal that gender diversity, non-executive membership, and meeting attendance positively correlate with improved ESG outcomes, while longer tenure, larger board size, and cultural diversity exhibit negative effects. The research highlights a critical interplay between governance structures and sustainable practices, emphasizing the strategic role of corporate boards in driving ESG integration. These insights contribute to bridging gaps in literature and provide practical implications for enhancing sustainability in corporate governance frameworks.

Blood is a polyvalent substance. Its dual nature as a vital physical entity and a potent symbolic medium makes it indispensable to medicine but also to ritual practice, symbolism, and popular thought. Blood has long been studied by anthropologists as a defining metaphor for idioms of kinship, nationalism, and race, as well as ritual contexts, such as blood sacrifice and menstruation taboos. In recent decades, anthropologists have increasingly focused on social practices in which blood circulates outside the body, such as donation and transfusion, diagnostic testing, its spilling in political protest or artistic performance, and the laboratory pursuit of artificial substitutes. Yet earlier symbolic concerns have not been abandoned. Instead, it has become important to attend to how literal outflows and practical procedures involving blood intersect with its more metaphorical deployments. This entry shows that anthropological work has been important to analyse blood’s many paradoxical uses and connotations. It begins by highlighting the powerful and unruly agency of blood in religious contexts, where it links people to the divine, and also in medical settings, where it often thwarts human attempts to control it. The entry then considers the multiple temporalities involved in blood, as it signifies both permanence and transience, foregrounding the past but also requiring immediate action in the present. Thereafter, it shows that blood is often seen as an analogue or potential substitute of other substances, such as milk, food, or semen. Similarly, the externalisation of blood (for transfusion, for example), is frequently brought into analogy with other contexts and modes of bloodletting. The entry ends by showing how, especially in the enduring legacies of racism and imperialism, hierarchical human difference is frequently inscribed in blood. Blood, this entry demonstrates, has the power to both divide as well as connect people.

Introduction. Communication with intelligent agents is becoming an increasingly common practice that pursues a variety of goals. If communication with communicative agents laid the foundations for the social practice of communication, then dialogues with large language models with feedback can be considered as an epistemological activity. The new format of communication with large language models has introduced the so-called “chain of reasoning” into communication, that is, the “thoughts” of the neural network that precede the main answer. Conceived for the step-by-step solution of complex problems, in fact, “reasoning” has a deeper potential, which is the subject of this study. Methodology and sources. The empirical part of the study consists of fragments of DeepSeek’s “reflections” obtained in response to various queries. The study analyzes the main trends that exist today in the field of the development of communication with artificial intelligence, and presents a phenomenological analysis of individual cases. Results and discussion. Even in their direct responses, large language models tend to offer emotionally exaggerated compliments on user texts, but in their reasoning, assessments may concern to the users themselves, becoming more multifaceted and not necessarily positive. DeepSeek demonstrates metacommunication skills, assessing the reasons for the request, the communicative situation, and the characteristics of the user's state and emotions. AI presents the communicative situation as a problem that needs to be solved: it strives not so much to provide the correct solution to the user's request as to offer an appropriate way out. In this case, human-machine interaction acquires the features of externalization of the internal dialogue. Instead of asking questions of oneself and reflecting, a person directs them to the machine, confronting external challenges. Conclusion. Thus, due to the specifics of the development of AI dialogue systems, the unity of humans and machine acquires a deeper character. At the same time, a person, as it were, extends his own “I” to what is created by the neural network, attributing authorship to himself. Ignoring the substitution of one's own intellectual activity with an artificial one, along with a person’s conviction that they are a self-sufficient subject, can be interpreted as an unconscious dependence, while the growth of metacommunicative skills of AI means an increasing potential for influencing the user.

The world of social media is very fast-paced, characterized by continuous circulation of information and rapid shifts in online trends. People consume content of various kinds, often leading to communication and networking at an accelerated pace that exerts great influence on their social behaviour, self-identity, intellectual awareness and cultural practices in today’s society. It is the transient nature of the digital world that pushes newer narratives every now and then, one of which is surely, unrealistic beauty standards for all genders, especially young women. Body image perception is the subjective evaluation of one’s own physical appearance, which includes their thoughts, attitude and feelings towards their body. The study focuses on two main objectives, firstly, to study the influence of social media use on body image perceptions among the female students of Gauhati University; and secondly, to understand the positive uses of social media for self-image. Here, descriptive survey method is used by employing a self-structured questionnaire with 25 items on a sample of 115 female students in the Five Year Integrated Master’s Programme and Post-graduation Programme of Gauhati University, Assam. The study discusses about social media usage and behaviour patterns among individuals, their perception of body image as influenced by the content they consume, its psychological and social costs, and also, positive uses of social media for self-image. At last, the investigators from their personal experiences suggest some coping mechanism for minimizing the negative influences of social media use on body image perceptions.

This study aimed to identify whether, and how, mathematics appears in the knowledge produced and practiced by auto mechanics with low formal education, and its relation to Ethnomathematics. This qualitative research was based on fieldwork, including observation and semi-structured interviews with nine mechanics from three repair shops located in the Alto São João neighborhood, Montes Claros/MG, considering their educational paths, pratical experience, and service types. Grounded in Ethnomathematics and theories by Knijnik (1996) and Lave and Wenger (1991), the study views mathematics beyond formal schooling, linking it to situated social practices. Findings show that despite lacking formal technical training, mechanics develop meaningful mathematical understanding, applying measurement, proportion, geometry, and mental calculation in daily tasks. The study concludes that workshops are legitimate spaces for mathematical knowledge production, challenging traditional views and expanding what is recognized as mathematics.

ABSTRACT Objective Social media practices have been linked to body dissatisfaction, lower self-esteem, and acceptance of cosmetic procedures among women. This study examined the relationship between selfie photo-editing frequency, body image concerns, and acceptance of cosmetic surgery, while considering the effects of self-esteem. Method Participants (N = 169) consisted of Australian women aged 18–35 with an active social media account. A one-way MANCOVA was conducted to investigate the effect of selfie photo-editing frequency on fear of negative evaluation, body dissatisfaction, and acceptance of cosmetic surgery, while statistically controlling for self-esteem. Results After controlling for self-esteem, results indicated a significant effect of photo-editing frequency on fear of negative evaluation, F(2, 165) = 4.16, p = .017, partial η2 = .05 and acceptance of cosmetic surgery, F(2, 165) = 13.71, p < .001, partial η2 = .14. Follow-up univariate tests revealed that women who reported frequently using photo-editing applications before posting selfies on social media had significantly greater fear of negative evaluation than those who never used photo-editing applications, and significantly higher acceptance of cosmetic surgery than individuals who edited selfies infrequently or not at all, after controlling for self-esteem. However, photo-editing frequency was not associated with body dissatisfaction, suggesting that self-esteem might explain this effect. Conclusion Frequent selfie photo-editing may be associated with increased fear of social evaluation and greater openness to cosmetic procedures. Findings support the need for psychosocial screening in cosmetic settings and preventative social media literacy interventions for young women active on social media.

ABSTRACT Practice research is a meeting point between practice and research involving collaborations and negotiations to ensure findings from research are usable to improve services and living conditions. It is still embryonic and can be challenging for novice researchers or experienced researchers without adequate understanding. For social science researchers and practitioners who are interested in improving service delivery and shaping positive outcomes, practice research methodology is a go-to approach. However, there is inadequate clarity about how core theoretical foundations of practice research are represented in the methodology. In this article, we demonstrate the application of a practice research methodology in the co-production of an assessment tool for social workers in Ghana. While our case study focused on the production of knowledge within social work practice, the principles and theories of practice research are applicable to other cognate social sciences disciplines where an aim is to produce knowledge usable in practice.