Social Reality Research Articles

Breathe and let breathe: Breathing as a political model of organizing

Take a deep breath. Although nothing is more natural or essential to human bodies than breathing, this simple yet vital act is the critical result of complex organizational, material, and political processes. We suggest that breathing can be thought of as a political model of organizing insofar as it shapes questions of life and death while rooting these “operationally” in immediate, urgent, collective and more-than-human intra-action. Breathing is also a social act because the self is bound up with others in a fabric of relations upon which each person depends, and so breathing can serve as a trope for regenerating and rethinking social structures, institutions and organizing blueprints. We take the act of breathing—its literal and metaphorical (im)possibility and collective organization—as the focus of a reflection on relations among humans and between other living beings, humans, and their ecological surroundings. Re-thinking the question of whose breathing we care about and whose breathing counts, we offer a political model that embraces the mutuality principle for post-humanistic and post-anthropocentric organizing and community building. We thereby hope to “inspire” and materialize new social and political realities for organizing our shared future, conceptualized as building a (scholarly) community of breathers who breathe and let breathe.

Reception of Socialist Realism in Bangla Progressive Literature and Alternatives to It: 1930s to 1990s

ინდოეთში „პროგრესული მწერალთა ასოციაციის“ დაარსების შემდეგ, კომუნისტი მწერლები ცდილობდნენ გამოეყენებინათ სოციალისტური რე­ალიზმის იდეები თავიანთ ნაწერებში. სტატიაში მოკლედ არის განხი­ლული სოციალისტური რეალიზმის რეცეფცია ბენგალის ლიტერატურაში. ყველა­ფერი კი დაიწყო ცნობილი დებატებით, საროჟ დატსა და სამარ სენს შორის თემაზე – იყო პროგრესული აუცილებლად ნიშნავს თუ არა რევო­ლუცი­ონე­რობას? დუტი დაჟინებით მოითხოვდა, რომ პროგრესულმა მწერ­ლებმა უნდა მიიღონ მკაფიო რევოლუციური და პროლეტარული პოზიცია, სენი კი თვლიდა, რომ ავტორი უნდა მიჰყვეს იმ რეალობას, რომელიც მისთვის ცნო­ბილია და ფოკუსირება მოახდინოს არსებული საზოგადოებისა და კულ­ტურის დეკა­დანსის გამოაშკარავებაზე. 1940-იანი წლების ბოლოს გაიმართა დებატები როჯერ გაროდის პოზიციის გარშემო. ის, ინდოეთის ბანგლას კო­მუნისტური პარტიის თეორიულ ჟურნალ „მარქსბადის“ სტა­ტიების სერი­ასთან ერთად, დაჟინებით მოითხოვდა სოციალისტური რეალიზმის პრინ­ციპების გამ­ოყენებას. სინამდვილეში, ტექსტების უმეტე-სობა უფრო მეტად იყო ფოკუ­სი­რებული პარტიის მიერ „განათლებული“ საშუალო კლასის რევოლუციურ კადრებზე, ვიდრე პროლეტარულ გმირებ-ზე. პროლეტარი­ატის ხმის ძიებამ ისეთი ავტორები, როგორებიც არიან მაჰასვეტა დევი, დე-ბეშ როი და ნაბარუნ ბჰატაჩარია, ტიპური სოციალისტური რეალიზმისგან, ენისა და ენობრივი რეგისტრებისგან სრულიად განს­ხვა­ვებულ ფორმებამდე მიიყვანა, რაც მკვეთრდ განირჩეოდა ბჰადრალოკის გასუფთავებული დის­კურსისგან, რომელშიც მრავალი წინა ავტორი იყო ჩაფლული. შესაბამისად, დამ­ტკი­ცებულია, რომ მნიშვნელოვანი სოციალის­ტური და რეალისტური მხატ­ვრული ნაწარმოების დასაწერად, კლასობრივი ფორმაცია და კლასობ­რივი ბრძოლა ქვემოდან უნდა იქნას განხილული, ქვეყნის/რეგიონის სპეცი­ფიკის გათვალისწინებით.

Representing Women in the Struggle for Socialism: Alexandra Kollontai and Lydia Chukovskaia as Alternatives to Socialist Realism

სტატიაში განხილულია ქალ ავტორთა პოსტრევოლუციური, დისი­დენტური მხატვრული ტექსტები. სოციალისტურ რეალიზმის მეინს­ტრი­მულობის პირობებში, ლიტერატურასა და ხელოვნებაში ქალი პრო­ტაგო­ნისტების გავრცელება მჭიდროდ იყო დაკავშირებული სტალინის კულტის პოპულარიზაციასთან: ქალები ქმნიდნენ „სიყვარულის, პატივის­ცემისა და მორჩილების“ იდეალურ დამოკიდებულებას. მაგრამ ზოგიერთი მათგანი, დისიდენტი მწერალი ქალები, ეჭვქვეშ აყენებდნენ ამ ნორმებს. ალექსანდრა კოლონტაიმ, რა თქმა უნდა, თავისი რომანები და მოთხრობები მანამდე დაწერა, ვიდრე სოციალისტური რეალიზმი ერთადერთ სამწერლობო გზად განიხილებოდა. მისი კრებული „მუშა ფუტკრების სიყვარული“, განსა­კუთ­რებით კი რომანი „ვასილისა მალიგინა“, სხვა არაფერი იყო, თუ არა ტიპური სოციალისტური რეალიზმის რომანი. გენდერისა და კლასის ურთი­ერთ­კავშირის განხილვით, კლასობრივ სოლიდარობაზე და არა პარტიის სიბრ­ძნეზე ფოკუსირებით, სოციალისტური მშენებლობის პირო­ბებში სექსუ­ალური განთავისუფლების მნიშვნელობის კვლევით, კოლონტაიმ გააკრი-ტიკა ის, რის წარმოშობასაც იგი ჭვრეტდა, ახალ იერარქიის პორობებში და, ასევე, დაუპირისპირდა პატრიარქალური ნორმების ხელახალ წამოწევას, თუნდაც ისეთი რბილი ფორმით, როგორიც ის იყო 1920-იანი წლების შუა ხანებში, 1930-იან წლებთან შედარებით. ლიდია ჩუკოვსკაიას „სოფია პეტროვნა“ რომანის ფორმითაა დაწერილი, 1939-40 წლებში, და აღწერილია ქალის მიერ ტერორის გამოცდილება. სოფია და ნატაშა წარმოადგენს ორ განსხვავებულ პასუხს ტერორზე. კოლონტაი ხაზს უსვამს კორუფციის ზრდას, ბურჟუაზიული კომ­ფორტის და ბურჟუაზიული ქალურობის მაცდუნებლობას, პროლეტარი ქალებისა და მათ კლასობრივ და გენდერულ სოლიდარობაზე ფოკუ­სი­რებისგან განსხვავებით. ვასილისა მალიგინას კონტრპოზიცია ნინასთან, მისი ქმრის მეგობარ/საყვარელ ქალთან, წარმოადგენს როგორც სხეულის ენის, ასევე, იდეურ-პოლიტიკური პოზიციების შედარებას. სოფიას და მთლიანად რომანის ევოლუცია ჩუკოვსკაიას ხელში ერთგვარი გამოწვევაა სოცი­ალის­ტური რეალისტური რომანის სტრუქტურის წინააღმდეგ. საბჭოთა ისტორიის სხვადასხვა პერიოდში მოღვაწე ეს ავტორები აფასებენ რეალობას და ეჭვქვეშ აყენებენ მწერალთა ყრილობის მიერ შემოთავაზებულ მტკიცე რწმენასა და მისგან მომდინარე კულტურულ პოლიტიკას.

The Reverse Side of the Socialist Realist Canon: the Experience of Ukrainian Literature

მიუხედავად იმისა, რომ ლიტერატურული კანონის კონცეფცია სრუ­ლიად განსხვავებული ტრადიციიდან იღებს სათავეს, ის საოცრად ორგანული აღმოჩნდა იმის აღსაწერად, რაც ტოტალიტარული სახელმწიფოს მექა­ნიზმების საშუალებით ჩამოყალიბდა, მათ შორის, უკრაინულ საბჭოთა ლიტერატურაში. ასეთი კანონი უკიდურესად სტრუქტური­რებულია, მაგრამ არ არის გაყინული, რადგან მან განიცადა ტრანსფორმაციები „პარ­ტიული ხაზის“ ცვლილებების მიხედვით. ამ კანონის ტოტა­ლიტარული ბუნება იმას ნიშნავდა, რომ მის გარეთ ვერაფერი იარსებებდა. ყველაფერი, რაც ამ საზღვრებს მიღმა არსებობდა, ან აკრძალული იყო ან დაგმობილი (უმე­ტესად, არა მეტაფორული, არამედ ამ სიტყვის სრულიად პირდაპირი გა­გებით). სწორედ ამას ვგულისხმობთ სოციალისტური რე­ალიზნის კანონის მეორე მხარეში. ტოტალიტარული სახელმწიფოს დაშლამ, მთელი მისი ზედამხედ­ველობითი და სადამსჯელო მექანიზმებით, ერთი შეხედვით, თითქოს მიგვიყვანა იმ ფაქტამდე, რომ „უკანა მხარე“ ავტომატურად გადაიქცა „წინა მხარედ“. ყოველ შემთხვევაში, როგორც კვლევის ობიექტი, ის სათანადო ყურადღების ღირსია. საუბარია აკრძალული და დაუმსახურებლად მარ­გინალიზებული ავტორებისა და ტექსტების „დავიწყებიდან დაბრუნებაზე“. ჩვენ ბოლო ოცდაათი წელია ვაკვირდებით ასეთ პროცესებს. ამავდროულად, ოდესღაც „კანონიკური“ ავტორების შემოქმედებაც რეგულარულად განიცდის გადაახედვასა და გადააზრებას. აქცენტიც გადაინაცვლებს საპი­რისპირო მხარეს, რომელიც ადრე შეფასებული იყო როგორც გარკვეული გადახრა „ერთადერთი სწორი გზიდან“. ორივე შემთხვევაში, შეიძლება მოვიყვანოთ პოეტების პავლო ტიჩინისა და ვასილ სტუსის მაგალითები. მეორე მხრივ, ჩვენ შეგვიძლია დავაფიქსიროთ უკრაინული სოციალისტური რეალიზმის კანო­ნის გარკვეული სიცოცხლისუნარიანობა ჩვენს დრომდე, სხვადასხვა ჰიპოს­ტასებით. როგორც უახლესი კვლევები აჩვენებს, შეუძლებელია მისი საპი­რისპირო მხარის სრულად გაგება, ამ ფენომენის საფუძვლიანი შესწავლის გარეშე.

მოქმედებს თუ არა გველის შხამი სოციალისტურ რეალიზმზე?

In 1927, philosopher Serge Danelia published an article of criticism “Vazha-Pshavela and Georgian Nation,” in which he discussed the poet Vazha-Pshavela’s conception and representation of nature. Among the topics discussed in this article, Danelia’s interpretation of the poem “Snake Eater” is of particular interest to us. To answer a question of why the snake poison did not work on the protagonist Mindia as soon as he ate snake meat, he offers the explaination that the meat was boiled and so the effect of poison was slowed down. This interpretation, of course, strikes us as excessively realistic. Where did this attitude come from? How much does Danelia’s account reflect the tendency of social realism of that time? Danelia thought that Vazha-Pshavela represented nature as an endless circle, as opposed to the historical process, which moves in the direction of progress. Further, for Vazha, nature is not to be measured by the good and evil of the events that occur in nature, but by its beauty. In Vazha’s understanding, this beauty is woven into the fabric of nature itself and exists independent of human judgment. This conception of a transcendentally beautiful, ahistorical nature, Danelia claims, belongs to an Eastern, paganistic worldview, which he poses as an anthithesis to the Western, Christian conception of “history.” This criticism can be explained by dialectical materialism. According to the scholar, Vazha’s representation of nature in “The Snake Eater” is fundamentally realist. The only reality that exists for the poet is indepentent nature. However, he criticizes, the poem also mixes a folktale into the realistic framework. Therefore, two different motifs, paganism and Christianity, are mixed in the work, which he regards as illogical; this destroys the any consistency in the poem’s plot line or framework. According to this argument, he rejected the poem and regarded it as a “weak” work. This is an inadequate and unsuccessful reading, even giving credit to the value of his dialectical materialist analysis of Vazha’s conception of nature. Danelia’s criticism shows a forced application of the conventions of realism to “The Snake Eater”  supposedly, as demanded by the period  and, from this point of view, ignores or denies the magical element in the poem. However, today the concept of materialism again attracts our attention under the name of “new mate­rialism.” While his evaluation of the poem is flawed, a part of Danelia’s ar­gu­ment, in which he criticised the critic K’it’a Abashidze’s understanding of Vazha-Pshavela as a symbolist poet, is convincing and invites more careful discussion.

The Pictorial Turn and Visual Rhetoric: Analyzing Image Agency and Persuasion in Contemporary Media

In a time where the role of the image within academic and cultural contexts is undergoing a paradigm shift, especially since the notion of the pictorial turn proposed by the American art historian W J T Mitchell, the following paper will argue that the image is not only a passive representation, but has also become an active force in the construction of social realities, public opinion and the formation of subjectivity. The theory of image agency by Mitchell will be discussed in order to explain how images in political propaganda, social movements and advertising are used to either reaffirm or challenge hegemonic decisions. Examples such as the poster Rosie the Riveter and the advertisement If Youre Not Fast, Youre Food by Timberland will be used to illustrate the persuasive power of the image in modern communication. The proliferation of digital platforms such as Instagram or TikTok, which support a predominantly visual mode of communication, will be discussed in order to demonstrate how images come with an expanded force of impact. In this manner, the conclusion will underline that image studies and visual rhetoric are of utmost importance to an understanding of the contemporary information dissemination.

‘Mediatized Diaspora’: Modelling the transnational influences of media in diaspora

This article seeks to model the socio-political influences of media use in diaspora. Participant observation and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from Tunisian diaspora members residing in France, Denmark and Sweden. The article proposes ‘mediatized diaspora’ as a new model explaining the transnational intertwining between media and politics in the diaspora. Four sets of influences enabled by multimodal communication were defined and discussed as components of the model: (1) aspirations for the country of origin; (2) political meaning-making; (3) engaging in political actions; and (4) perceptions of social reality.

New Aspects of Hobbes – Matter and Energy: Remarks on Samantha Frost’s Lessons from a Materialist Thinker

Abstract A symposium on Samantha Frost’s Lessons from a Materialist Thinker: Hobbesian Reflections on Ethics and Politics offers an opportunity to revisit one of the most original contributions to Hobbes scholarship in the last few decades. The book’s originality resides not only in recuperating Hobbes’s materialist metaphysics for contemporary ethics and politics, but in making Hobbes’s take on matter inform novel conceptual approaches to social and non-social reality, such as new materialism – a philosophical school that conceives matter as vibrant and agentic, rather than inert.

Exploring Intellectual Freedom and Collection Development Policies in School Libraries: Perspectives from US and Kenya.

Information is one of the essentials for decision making and intellectual development, thus it is difficult for democratic societies to exist without access to diverse information (Knox, 2011). Within school libraries, access to information resources should be enhanced through the selection, evaluation, and acquisition of diverse resources in different formats to cater to the different needs of students, support the curriculum and promote their intellectual freedom. The fight for intellectual freedom in schools is not a recent development and the number of challenges and book bans is escalating and anticipated to continue rising in the years ahead (ALA,2022). While issues regarding intellectual freedom and censorship are global affairs, much is known about the US, but this study also focuses on Kenya, two countries with varying approaches on different issues thus addressing a significant research gap on intellectual freedom beyond the US. Employing a mixed methods approach, the study involves semi structured interviews among school librarians (10 from the US and 10 from Kenya) and an analysis of the school’s collection development policies. A qualitative thematic analysis of the data is being carried out to identify school librarians’ perspectives on censorship and advocacy for intellectual freedom through policies. The study aims at creating an awareness of the social reality regarding intellectual freedom between the two contexts. School librarians, administrators and policy makers will be able to restructure existing policies to enhance intellectual freedom for students.

Pembingkaian Media Dalam Perpektif Hak Asasi Manusia Terhadap Kasus Intoleransi Beragama dan Berkeyakinan di Masa Pandemi

Coverage of the issue of violations Religion and Belief Freedom during the pandemic is not free from the bias of journalists and mass media. The issue, which is reported inaccurately and sometimes tends to sharpen existing differences in society. It should then be able to provide an overview to the public on how to understand differences amidst the pandemic. Detik.com, as a popular mainstream online media in Indonesia, has the advantage of distributing news quickly. Coverage of the issue of violations is quite common in detik.com. This study focuses on examining how the news texts regarding the issue during pandemic are constructed by detik.com using the framing analysis method of Zhongdang Pan and Gerald M. Kosicki. In this study, the researcher uses the theory of the construction of social reality and views it from the perspective of Human Rights. This aims to see how detik.com constructs its news texts regarding the issue during the pandemic. Based on the research results, detik.com tends to be more biased towards the victims, as seen from most prominent structural units emphasized by detik.com when constructing news texts regarding the issue violations, such as headlines, leads, background information, quotes from sources, statements, details, and lexicon.

Addressing the Practice of Religious Tolerance by Panji Gumilang (In the studies of Wahbah Az-Zuhaili and Quraish Shihab)

Studying the subject of religious tolerance is always fascinating. This research holds a significant place in the field of religion studies because to the fluctuations in relationships between religious groups throughout different regions of the world, including Indonesia. Numerous Islamic scholars, particularly those who study tafsir, attempt to define tolerance normatively by drawing on passages from the Quran. Wahbah al-Zuhayli is a modern scholar who takes tolerance very seriously. Al-Zuhayli's interpretation, while methodologically sound, generally adopts the methodology of ancient ulama literature. But the issue of tolerance that he highlights stems from the social reality that religious communities currently inhabit. Al-Zuhayli opens his discussion on tolerance by elucidating the notion of wasatiyyah al-Islam, or Islamic moderation. Al-Zuhayli then categorized the four primary themes of tolerance found in the Koran. First, the interactions amongst the Samawi faiths. Forming a moderate and tolerant mindset is made possible by the heavenly religion's shared core doctrines. The second is the freedom to select one's religion. This point demonstrates how Islamic law upholds the Ri'ayah al-Din concept. The third is the ban on inciting hate. Fourth, the advice to put justice first and the outlawing of acts of terror. Each and every person is entitled to protection for their soul's freedom. According to Al-Zuhayli's perspective, religious groups generally get along well and are tolerant of one another. This is also a scientific refutation of the violent ideologies that radical organizations frequently advance.

Media construction of pseudo-events: Lula da Silva at the Portugal’s parliament during a historic annual celebration

The Carnation Revolution (25th April 1974) has changed the course of Portugal, leading it to transition from an autocratic to a democratic Government. Every year, celebrations are conducted at the national Parliament. In 2023, it counted with another guest: Lula da Silva, Brazil’s ongoing president. Considering the notion of cultural memory and media construction of social reality through media events, this article notes Lula da Silva’s presence and exceptional address was portrayed on newspaper front pages of several journalistic media outlets. Therefore, it aims at understanding meaning and discourse production with Lula da Silva’s visit to Portugal on the 25th April 2023 through media coverage and first page highlight. Lula da Silva is noticed by the front pages under analysis as a controversial, entertaining, and eventful celebrity linked to specific positioned actors that is invited to the Parliament and prompts indirectly and directly discontentment and, at the same time, support. Also, it discusses how such spotlight over Lula da Silva turned that visit and Parliament’s address it into a pseudo-event. Adopting a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis approach, this research work intends to offer a multimodal eye upon those front pages and critically reflect on populism, coloniality, cultural memory, and journalism.

The effect of abrasion on resilience of fishermen/ Fish farmer livelihoods on the North coast of central Java

Fishermen on the North Coast (Pantura) of Central Java are affected by abrasion and have decreased economically and environmentally. In this context, tidal flooding damaging ponds, mangroves, public facilities, roads, and settlements allow people in coastal area to immediately adapt to livelihoods. Therefore, this research aimed to identify resilience of fishermen/ fish farmer on Pantura coast affected by abrasion. Qualitative data analysis was carried out with a constructivist-interpretivist method to produce social realities from social construction. This research was conducted in 3 regencies between April - June 2024 in Central Java with the largest abrasion areas, namely Brebes Regency, Semarang City, and Demak Regency. The selected regencies and the 3 villages had the largest abrasion area. Snowball sampling was used to obtain 20 fishermen from each village; hence, the total number of respondents was 180. The results showed that there were 10 coping strategies applied by fishermen/ fish farmer in livelihoods to analyze with the effect of abrasion. Most fishermen/ fish farmer only apply coping strategies in relation to limited resources, skills, education and ability to take advantage of opportunities. A total of 39% respondents applied the strategy of adding other jobs outside fisheries sector. Respondents obtained additional income with a relatively low business risk compared to fisheries or marine sector. There were only 5 coping strategies used to increase livelihoods by adding other jobs outside and in fisheries sector, raising houses, installing nets and making embankments.

Mainstreaming Social Realism in Children’s Literature

Childhood is the base for human growth and development and it shall be prudent if the child has an opportunity to get exposed to the challenges and realities of life along with fantasy, ecstasy and imagination. Children can grasp and learn their environment right from an early age as they are really smart; but the supplement which reaches them in terms of literature in any form should also provide them with glimpses of real life. Hence, it would be really judicious if the fodder they get in terms of literature is infused with social realism so that they understand the realities of life, the kind of society they live in with all kinds of inequities, stigma, discrimination, cruelties, marginalisation, and social exclusion, and so on. Children shall develop the wisdom to distinguish just from unjust and in a way might also build up their responding, assertion and decision-making skills. The Paper primarily discusses how social realism needs to be mainstreamed in children’s literature, firmly believing that it shall help the children towards their own positive development along with the development of the communities and nations they live in.

Clubs and events: Two models of performance in studies of sport and national solidarity

AbstractThis study distinguishes between two performances of solidarity—a performer–audience structure and a network structure—illustrated through a review of two case studies from the field of sport: a cross‐national survey of football fans and a historical study of French cycling clubs. Research on nationhood, sport and performance has centred mainly on public events and how they generate focused attention to foster mass solidarity. Scholars have overlooked an alternative model of performance situated in horizontal networks and interpersonal interactions staged in front of a third party, such as found in clubs. Distinguishing between these performance models in sport and beyond can further our understanding of the relations between identity and solidarity in studies of nationhood. Whereas in the former model, expressions of solidarity mainly reaffirm pre‐existing feelings of national identity; in the latter model, solidarity is performative: it does not simply represent social reality but serves to create it.

Representation of migrant workers in Chinese newspapers: combining topic modeling and critical discourse analysis

Abstract Chinese migrant workers have contributed greatly to the industrialization and urbanization of China and have thus long been a popular topic in news reports. Most previous studies on the news about this group have been qualitative or quantitative analyses based on small-scale datasets, with few based on large-scale corpus data. This study combined topic modeling and critical discourse analysis (CDA) to analyze 186,180 reports of migrant workers published by 906 Chinese newspapers between 2001 and 2021. We identified seventeen topics in the news that fell into five categories: “work and labor,” “support and care,” “rights and interests,” “homecoming,” and “social emergencies.” Overall, news reports on the group have become increasingly diverse, with various diachronic changes in the proportions of topic categories and specific topics. In addition, we found three major types of representation of migrant workers: as a disadvantaged group, as outsiders, and as a group vulnerable to risks. These negative representations might be closely related to government policies, ideology, media stance, and social reality (the broader societal context in which these individuals are situated).

The third integrative wave in sociology’s development. Part II. Theories and methods for an augmented social reality

The article is analyzing positive prospects of the sociology’s development in the context of today’s fragmentation of scientific discipline under conditions of metaparadigm crisis and post-globalization. Current disintegration in sociology is provoked by the rising postcolonial discourse, by attempts to stigmatize western classics and to create theoretical alternatives to the ‘global North’ domination in knowledge production as well as by spread of conceptions opposing social reality of networks and flows to classical sociality of structures and agency (M. Castells, B. Latour, J. Urry, K. Knorr Cetina). The third in the modern sociology’s history integrative wave is expected to come in the 2020s displacing tendencies of disintegration, discrimination, growing gaps and rising barriers. Now theories are relevant as they create a coherent configuration of four types of structures: institutions, interactions, networks, and flows. The new subject matter for theorizing is constituted by their interconnections in forms of fields of structurations, scapes of assemblages, communications, platforms, projects, and events. After the ideas of the end of Modernity and multiple Modernities, the idea of augmented Modernity emarges overcoming constitutive distinctions of the last century’s sociology: local vs. global, system vs. lifeworld, material vs. symbolic, private vs. public, real vs. virtual, physical vs. digital, et ctr. Mutual penetration of different social structures stimulates elaboration and implementation of innovative hybrid methods directed towards an augmented data collecting and analysis.

Linguistic identity play in zones of interculturality

Ladino, the heritage language for many Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria and beyond, is often discussed in terms of language endangerment and of cultural loss for this community and humanity more widely. However, for intercultural communication specialists, especially those with a linguistic focus, the Ladino experiences of Sephardic Jews in Bulgaria, as set against the backdrop of their changing political and social realities, provide rich insights regarding the linguistic complexities of identity. Through the Ladino-framed narratives of (often elderly) members of this community, I have learned how they drew, and continue to draw, upon their diverse linguistic and cultural resources to define themselves, to articulate their various identities, and to communicate within and beyond Bulgarian society. In order to connect these insights to current discussions of interculturality, and as informed by intercultural thinking, I present the following five-zone framework: (1) the (intra-)personal, that is a zone of internal dialogue; (2) the domestic, that is a zone for the family; (3) the local, that is a zone for the Sephardic community in Bulgaria; (4) the diasporic, that is a zone for the wider Sephardic Jewish community; and (5) the international, that is the international community of Spanish-speakers. Further, the project presented here is methodologically innovative involving several languages, i.e. it was researched multilingually as well as focused on multilingual communities. /Keywords: workshop, education, interculturality, linguistic identity play

Negotiating with Colonial Modernity

The emergence of a new elite in Minangkabau, flourishing in the modern milieu of Bukittinggi city at the beginning of the 20th century, represents a pivotal case study in the dynamics of colonial modernity. These individuals distinguished themselves in the economic and intellectual domains, as well as in the authentication of symbolic status through lifestyle emulation of the Dutch. However, their integration into the social circles of both traditional and modern communities in Bukittinggi was met with limited acceptance. This phenomenon underscores a society that embraced novel perspectives on the colonial world without succumbing to colonialist ideologies. This raises pertinent inquiries: who were these new elites? Why did they seek recognition within their modern context in Bukittinggi despite existing within a reality of modernity? And what was the nature of the inclusivity process for these new elites as modernists, without becoming colonialists? This discourse elucidates the process by which the new Minangkabau elite negotiated colonial modernity in Bukittinggi between 1905 and 1942. The findings reveal that the successful negotiation of colonial modernity by the new Minangkabau elite served as a mode of restraint as well as alienation from the social realities of Bukittinggi. Firstly, the negotiation facilitated broader participatory avenues for the new elite of Minangkabau in early 20th-century Bukittinggi. Secondly, it paved the way for them to independently craft mediums of intellectual and inclusive modernity. Thirdly, this negotiation led to the creation of new cultural forms that amalgamated three essential values of early 20th century Bukittinggi: tradition, colonialism, and Islam.

Systematic Analysis of Institutional Internationalization and Research Policies of Prioritized Institutions of The RCI (Colombian Network to Internationalize Higher Education)

The internationalization of research is the process that allows the execution of research actions in cooperation, linkage and integration among higher education institutions, IES, which also responds to the needs of social reality. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyze the institutional policies of internationalization and research of priority institutions of the Colombian Network for the Internationalization of Higher Education (RCI). The methodology of the study was qualitative, case study and documentary type, since higher education institutions such as Universidad de la Guajira, Universidad de la Costa CUC and ITSA University were taken and a documentary analysis was made of their internationalization policies where developed internationalization strategies and comparative and prospective analysis were identified with the support of MAXQDA software, with which categories were identified and represented graphically, The results revealed categories of analysis of the internationalization and research policy such as visibility, promotion strategies, mobility, talent attraction, training, dissemination, resources and incentives. In conclusion, the current dynamics demands collaboration and joint work among nations, even more so in the post-pandemic context, and the internationalization of research is conceived as a strategy inherent to higher education institutions, which enriches scientific production through the exchange and transfer of knowledge and good practices.