Social Restructuring Research Articles

Urban dynamics and socio-spatial transformations of housing in Djelfa City, Algeria

This study examines the socio-spatial transformations of Djelfa, Algeria in the contexts of its urbanization from 1990 to 2024, focusing on the transition from extended to nuclear family structures and from monocentric to polycentric urban forms. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, including interviews, questionnaires, observations, and data analysis with 200 participants, the research outlines the adaptation of housing and urban space to meet the needs of Djelfa’s growing population. Key findings highlight a dramatic demographic shift marked by a 75.6% increase in population, a reduction in average household size from 6.3 to 4.1, and a 150% surge in the number of households. This demographic expansion has spurred extensive urban expansion, effectively doubling the built-up area and necessitating the development of sub-centres of the city to mitigate pressure on the primary city center (CC). This evolution underscores Djelfa’s progression towards a polycentric urban model, reflecting broader urban space decentralization and diversification trends to improve accessibility and reduce congestion. The study contributes to the understanding of complex effects that urbanization has on social and spatial structures in the Global South, highlighting the critical interplay between demographic shifts, urban planning, and social restructuring. Advocating for strategic, inclusive urban planning and policymaking, the research underscores the importance of addressing the diverse needs of rapidly urbanizing populations, offering invaluable insights into sustainable urban management practices applicable to similar urban scenarios worldwide.

Competing institutional logics in healthcare organizations: theorising digitalism

PurposeThe digitalisation of healthcare services has proven to be difficult, with numerous negative effects. We argue that the reason for the problem is not poor project management, but a clash of different institutional logics. The aim of this article is to explore, define and theorise the concept of digitalism, as a term for a new institutional logic in contrast to other, more known logics in organisations, such as managerialism and professionalism, to better understand processes of digitalisation.Design/methodology/approachWe illustrate our arguments with a case study of a process of organizational development before and after the implementation of centralised large-scale IT systems at a large Norwegian hospital. Data was extracted from documents and observations from January 2015 to January 2016 during an organizational audit. In addition, a follow-up study was conducted in 2019 and 2024 by interviewing eight key personnel who were involved in the implementation process.FindingsThe implementation of a new digital health record in a Norwegian hospital is a process of social restructuring that involves new actors, logics and control systems. The process of digitalisation shows us how digitalism create tensions, diverges and merges with other institutional logics.Practical implicationsUnderstanding digitalism as a sensitising concept offers insights into how large-scale technology and organizations are tied together and can help to reduce organizational dysfunctionalities and improve the implementation of IT systems.Originality/valueThis study contributes to a new understanding of digitalisation processes and links an ongoing theoretical debate on the digitalisation of organizations with empirical findings.

Genomic Reconstruction of the Successful Establishment of a Feralized Bovine Population on the Subantarctic Island of Amsterdam.

The feral cattle of the subantarctic island of Amsterdam provide an outstanding case study of a large mammalian population that was established by a handful of founders and thrived within a few generations in a seemingly inhospitable environment. Here, we investigated the genetic history and composition of this population using genotyping and sequencing data. Our inference showed an intense but brief founding bottleneck around the late 19th century and revealed contributions from European taurine and Indian Ocean Zebu in the founder ancestry. Comparative analysis of whole-genome sequences further revealed a moderate reduction in genetic diversity despite high levels of inbreeding. The brief and intense bottleneck was associated with high levels of drift, a flattening of the site frequency spectrum and a slight relaxation of purifying selection on mildly deleterious variants. Unlike some populations that have experienced prolonged reductions in effective population size, we did not observe any significant purging of highly deleterious variants. Interestingly, the population's success in the harsh environment can be attributed to preadaptation from their European taurine ancestry, suggesting no strong bioclimatic challenge, and also contradicting evidence for insular dwarfism. Genome scan for footprints of selection uncovered a majority of candidate genes related to nervous system function, likely reflecting rapid feralization driven by behavioral changes and complex social restructuring. The Amsterdam Island cattle offers valuable insights into rapid population establishment, feralization, and genetic adaptation in challenging environments. It also sheds light on the unique genetic legacies of feral populations, raising ethical questions according to conservation efforts.

Social restructuring during harsh environmental conditions promotes cooperative behaviour in a songbird.

Cooperation may emerge from intrinsic factors such as social structure and extrinsic factors such as environmental conditions. Although these factors might reinforce or counteract each other, their interaction remains unexplored in animal populations. Studies on multilevel societies suggest a link between social structure, environmental conditions and individual investment in cooperative behaviours. These societies exhibit flexible social configurations, with stable groups that overlap and associate hierarchically. Structure can be seasonal, with upper-level units appearing only during specific seasons, and lower-level units persisting year-round. This offers an opportunity to investigate how cooperation relates to social structure and environmental conditions. Here, we study the seasonal multilevel society of superb fairy-wrens (Malurus cyaneus), observing individual responses to experimental playback of conspecific distress calls. Individuals engaged more in helping behaviour and less in aggressive/territorial song during the harsher non-breeding season compared to the breeding season. The increase in cooperation was greater for breeding group members than for members of the same community, the upper social unit, comprised of distinct breeding groups in association. Results suggest that the interaction between social structure and environmental conditions drives the seasonal switch in cooperation, supporting the hypothesis that multilevel societies can emerge to increase cooperation during harsh environmental conditions.

Group‐Based Redistribution in Malaysia: Polarization, Incoherence, Stasis

Group‐based redistribution is extensive and embedded in Malaysia, and has comprehensively transformed the country since the introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1971. The NEP established a “two‐pronged” framework of poverty reduction irrespective of race and social restructuring to redress racial inequalities primarily through preferential programmes targeting the disadvantaged Bumiputera majority. The debate surrounding the NEP has under‐appreciated its strengths and augmented its omissions and misconceptions, which in turn have shaped policy discourses and attitudes in two ways. First, there is marked polarization, largely along ethnic lines, with the majority group overwhelmingly predisposed in favour of Bumiputera policy and minority groups generally wary of its continuation. The polarization unduly reduces the debate to monolithic pro‐NEP vs anti‐NEP dispositions, and constricts the solutions to a false binary question of continuing vs terminating the NEP. Second, a broad but incoherent consensus has consolidated around the notion that “need‐based” policies should comprehensively replace “race‐based” policies. While “need‐based” policies are widely embraced, they emphatically do not constitute a substitute for “race‐based” policies, or group‐based redistribution more generally. Surveys have captured the ethnic polarization surrounding “Malay privileges,” but also show that Malaysians unanimously support universal basic assistance. A systematic policy reformulation with universal basic needs and group‐based interventions as enduring and distinct domains might hold out possibilities for new and constructive compromise.

COVID-19 Vaccine Policy Implementation and Differential Vaccine Uptake Trajectories in Chicago Communities.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple public health interventions have been implemented to respond to the rapidly evolving pandemic and community needs. This article describes the scope, timing, and impact of coordinated strategies for COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Chicago for the first year of vaccine distribution. Using a series of interviews with public health officials and leaders of community-based organizations (CBOs) who participated in the implementation of the citywide COVID-19 vaccine outreach initiatives, we constructed a timeline of vaccine outreach initiatives. The timeline was matched to the vaccine uptake rates to explore the impact of the vaccine outreach initiatives by community area. Finally, we discussed the nature of policy initiatives and the level of vaccine uptake in relation to community characteristics. The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) implemented myriad vaccine outreach strategies, including mass vaccination sites, improved access, and community-level vaccine campaigns. Protect Chicago+ was the primary vaccine outreach effort initiated by the CDPH, which identified 15 highly vulnerable community areas. More than 2.7 million (67%) Chicagoans completed the vaccine regimen by December 2021. Black (51.3%) Chicagoans were considerably less likely to be vaccinated than Asian (77.6%), White (69.8%), and Hispanic (63.6%) Chicago residents. In addition, there were significant spatial differences in the rate of COVID-19 vaccine completion: predominantly White and Hispanic communities, compared with Black communities, had higher rates of vaccine completion. The community outreach efforts to improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake in Chicago have shown the importance of community-engaged approaches in pandemic responses. Despite citywide efforts to build community infrastructure, Black communities had relatively lower levels of vaccine uptake than other communities. Broader social restructuring to mitigate disinvestment and residential segregation and to ameliorate medical mistrust will be needed to prepare for future pandemics and disasters.

Study on the Problems and Strategies of Recreational and Educational Services for the Elderly in Transitional Communities in the Context of Positive Ageing

With the aim to address the shortage of recreational resources available for elderly communities in transition, and to overcome the challenge of balancing population ageing and social restructuring across China, this study explores the recreational services offered to the elderly in transition areas through an analysis of the studies conducted on recreational services for the elderly. Besides, various perspectives are taken to examine the challenges facing the Chinese recreational services for the elderly industry, such as service forms and recreational products, which are purposed to promote the development of elderly care services in transitional communities. From the perspective of social work, appropriate measures and recommendations are proposed to develop a forward-looking plan for further research on the recreational services system intended for the elderly in transitional communities.

CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE: what should dental surgeons know?

Child sexual abuse is defined as the involvement of a child in sexual activity that he or she does not fully understand or is unable to give informed consent to. Dental surgeons who work with children must be alert to signs and behaviors that can help diagnose abuse and criminalize the aggressor. Thus, the present study aimed to present a literature review regarding dental management in cases suggestive of child sexual abuse. According to the literature review, it was possible to identify that child sexual abuse is a silently underreported social issue, capable of causing physical and psychological harm to the victim. Suggestive injuries, preferably in the head and neck region, should be evaluated taking note of the causal history reported by the child and their guardian, if necessary, separately. In the assimilation of injuries resulting from sexually transmitted infections, testing and treatment must be included in care. The dental surgeon must be prepared to carry out compulsory notification under the risk of ethical, civil and criminal charges. The creation of public policies and the union of sectors that work directly with the child population must focus on education and children's understanding of the limits of access by third parties to their bodies, as well as support networks for the victim's mental and social restructuring.

Maternal prenatal social contact during the COVID-19 pandemic predicts infant birth weight

BackgroundSocial connectedness and mental health have been associated with infant birth weight, and both were compromised by the COVID-19 pandemic. AimsWe sought to examine whether changes in maternal prenatal social contact due to the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with infant birth weight and if maternal prenatal mental health mediated this association. Study designA longitudinal study of mothers and their infants born during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. SubjectsThe sample consisted of 282 United States-based mother-infant dyads. Outcome measuresDepressive symptoms were measured with the Beck Depression Inventory-II, anxiety was measured with the State Anxiety Inventory, and stress was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale 14. We also asked participants about pandemic-related changes in social contact across various domains. Adjusted birth weight was calculated from birth records or participant-report when birth records were unavailable. ResultsDecreases in social contact during the pandemic were associated with lower adjusted infant birth weight (B = 76.82, SE = 35.82, p = .035). This association was mediated by maternal prenatal depressive symptoms [Effect = 15.06, 95 % CI (0.19, 35.58)] but not by prenatal anxiety [95 % CI (−0.02, 32.38)] or stress [95 % CI (−0.31, 26.19)]. ConclusionThese findings highlight concerns for both mothers and infants in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, since birth weight can have long-term health implications and the social restructuring occasioned by the pandemic may lead to lasting changes in social behavior.

“Keep That German Kitsch Away from the Czech Hands!” Ethnic Cleansing in the Light of Material Culture: Furnishings of the Displaced Moravian and Silesian Nobility on the Post-1945 Brno Auction Market


 
 
 The paper deals with the significant social restructuring and radical ethnic cleansing in post-Second World War Czechoslovakia borderlands as evidenced by the art market, where massive state appropriations and transfers of furnishings from the mostly ex-German and ex-Hungarian nobility residences manifested themselves in huge wave of frenetic auction sales. The uniquely preserved archive file on the Karel Ditrich Exhibition and Auction House in Brno enables us to reconstruct these processes within the scope of the entire Moravian and Silesian territory. The documents reveal the contemporary ethnic, social, and economic disputes, leading in the end to significant class and social transfers, i. e., new trends in living culture and collecting.
 
 

In flux: Social adaptability in two former timber towns transitioning to new economies

Rural towns across the US have undergone economic and social restructuring. We focus on two former timber towns adjacent to public lands that are transitioning to new production economies, wherein the communities develop new economic sectors. One of our cases has developed data centers, and the other prisons. Through in-depth interviews with residents, we explore the shifts toward these new sectors and their impacts on community social adaptability, in particular human and social capital and community identity. In both of the communities, there are well-paying jobs in the new production sectors. However, indicators of social adaptability have diverged greatly. In the data center community, there are higher perceived levels of human and social capital, while the prison community has lower levels. Members of both communities describe their community identity as in flux, and voice apprehension about growth and development of new industries, including the possibility that the communities may be shifting single-industry dependence from one sector (timber) to a new sector. Both communities are rebuilding their relationships to adjacent public lands and view those public lands as opportunities for economic diversification.

Fission-fusion dynamics in sheep: the influence of resource distribution and temporal activity patterns.

Fission-fusion events, i.e. changes to the size and composition of animal social groups, are a mechanism to adjust the social environment in response to short-term changes in the cost-benefit ratio of group living. Furthermore, the time and location of fission-fusion events provide insight into the underlying drivers of these dynamics. Here, we describe a method for identifying group membership over time and for extracting fission-fusion events from animal tracking data. We applied this method to high-resolution GPS data of free-ranging sheep (Ovis aries). Group size was highest during times when sheep typically rest (midday and at night), and when anti-predator benefits of grouping are high while costs of competition are low. Consistent with this, fission and fusion frequencies were highest during early morning and late evening, suggesting that social restructuring occurs during periods of high activity. However, fission and fusion events were not more frequent near food patches and water resources when adjusted for overall space use. This suggests a limited role of resource competition. Our results elucidate the dynamics of grouping in response to social and ecological drivers, and we provide a tool for investigating these dynamics in other species.

The Right to Comfort in Social Housing: Energy and Thermal Performances as Parameters of a Systemic Analysis

This paper proposes a critical analysis of the intervention, over time, in the housing estates built under the Improvement Plan for the city of Porto. This plan enabled the construction of a significant number of dwellings within a limited period of time, promoting a broad and impactful urban and social restructuring of the city in the mid-twentieth century. Several post-construction interventions over the last decades were important opportunities to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants and to enhance the energy performance of the buildings. However, these buildings are still subject to architectural and construction challenges in terms of ‘energy poverty’ and the adaptation of the domestic comfort parameters. Thus, this research analyses the intervention strategies used in these buildings and the constraints resulting from current legislation and funding conditions that significantly impact design decisions. The study points to significant changes in the implementation of measures to improve the state of buildings, becoming progressively more concerned with energy consumption and thermal comfort. The discussion also highlights the impact of current measures on the comfort of interior spaces, current problems, and alternative means of balancing energy and comfort. The relevance of this research lies in the joint analysis of the interventions and frequent efficiency and comfort problems as a motto to improve the implementation of future strategies in developing a more energetically balanced housing stock. The paper also aims to deconstruct the preconceptions often associated with interventions geared towards thermal comfort, especially in social housing.

Desarrollo local endógeno, una propuesta desde la acción participativa, el caso de la comunidad indígena de San Pedro Huitzquilico, San Luis Potosí

It is possible to find in the Mexican “Huasteca Potosina” a large amount of indigenous communities. Many of these ethnic groups in this country suffer from poverty and social relegation despite they are rich in natural and cultural values. This research was developed in the rural community of San Pedro Huitzquilico. It is populated by the indigenous group “nahuas”. It is located in the southeast of the “Huasteca Potosina” on the “Sierra Madre Occidental”, 15 kilometers away from the main town, “Xilitla”. In this community, poverty and social backwardness are still high despite structural changes and new implemented policies during the last years. Nowadays, this group faces new challenges derived form a global processes. These challenges are mainly related to global intercommunication, to the impact on the environment, to the social restructuration and local policies. All these changes affect to the group and the same time they can became new opportunities to take action from the inside the community. Considering these aspects, they have to identify local opportunities that could be better linked to global aspects. From this point, new action lines may emerged and may provide new possibilities for the local endogenous development as an alternative to improve their current condition. In the pursuing of new action local lines, a participative action research (IAP, for its name in Spanish) was considered to establish a bridge to allow a dialogue between academic knowledge and popular knowledge, creating synergy into the community. This way was possible to find adequate conducts of work which consider these theoretical ideas and local knowledge and it was possible to include the different social actors from the community of “San Pedro Huitzquilico”.

A novel methodological approach for group classification during fission of a semi-free-ranging group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata).

The self-initiated split of a social group, known as fission, is a challenge faced by many group-living animals. The study of group fission and the social restructuring process in real time provides insights into the mechanism of this biologically important process. Previous studies on fission in Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) assigned individuals to newly reorganized groups mainly using behavioral observations and group attendance records based on periods before or after fission itself. Here, we present a novel framework for group classification during the process of fission that uses quantifiable behavioral variables and statistical analyses. The framework was tested on a group fission process at Affenberg Landskron (Austria), a park that housed around 160 semi-free-ranging Japanese macaques. The behavioral data were collected for 26 days during fission. We analyzed three behavioral developments recurrent in fissions in Japanese macaques, that is, independence of behavior, participation in group movements, and separation of nomadic ranges. These analyses were combined to assign individuals to different groups. Our study resulted in one main group (N = 33), one subgroup (N = 36) and 56 individuals whose group membership was still undefined. The demographic characteristics of these newly formed groups were comparable with those of fissioned groups in wild populations. Furthermore, we found that these newly forming groups showed early social dynamics of fission five months before group level movements, that is: grouping based on spatial proximity and spatial withdrawal of the subgroup to the periphery. These results underline the validity of our novel framework to study social dynamics in Japanese macaques during the process of fission. It represents an important addition to existing methods, and we recommend testing its scope in other primate societies.

Nudge for Environmental Restructuring in Diabetes Self-Management: Comment on Existing Systematic Reviews.

Diabetes self-management education and support are necessary for all people living with diabetes, but its accessibility is limited worldwide. Nudge strategies have been proposed as an environmental outreach for diabetes management. This article provides further insights regarding environmental restructuring nudges into the cumulative evidence on diabetes self-management interventions from existing systematic reviews that classified primary trials using the behavior change technique taxonomy (BCTTv1). Among the 137 relevant articles searched through the bibliographic databases until 2022, three systematic reviews were scrutinized. Environmental restructuring nudges have been tested in interpersonal communications for diabetes self-management. Although nudge-based techniques were used with other types of behavior techniques in various trial contexts, the independent effects of social restructuring nudges were not denied in previous meta-analyses. Environmental restructuring nudges may be feasible in diabetes management, but they are still controversial with internal and external validation. Considering care accessibility for diabetes management, social restructuring nudges applied to healthcare providers are expected to complement healthcare systems. For future implementation, the rationale for the practice should be explicit in the conceptualization and evidence synthesis of diabetes-specific nudge interventions based on global sources.

The Correlation Effects and Mechanisms of Rural Restructuring and Transformation: A Case Study of the Jianghan Plain in China

The rural decline accompanying industrialization and urbanization is a lingering puzzle in human society, while promoting rural restructuring and transformation is considered the primary task of contemporary rural development. It is the historical mission of rural geography research in the new era to scientifically understand the characteristics of contemporary rural development and accurately explain the patterns of rural reconstructing and transformation. In this paper, the Jianghan Plain in China is selected for the case study. Characteristic indexes are selected based on the “structure–function” correlation to interpret rural restructuring. Measurement benchmarks are unified through functional value marketization to interpret rural transformation. Multiple statistical analysis is adopted to identify the action paths and decipher the correlation mechanisms. The case study yields the following findings. (1) The rural restructuring on Jianghan Plain has spatial and temporal differences. Rural restructuring has roughly gone through the social restructuring-led, economic restructuring-led, and spatial restructuring-led evolution stages, showing spatially divergent patterns with high rural comprehensive restructuring index (RRC) areas concentrated around the main traffic arteries and linear low RRC areas along the Yangtze River banks. (2) Rural restructuring and transformation on Jianghan Plain show significant correlation effects. During the study period, the rural transformation magnitude (RTM) continues to increase and shows a spatial map similar to that of rural restructuring, with economic-spatial restructuring-led and economic-social restructuring-led as the main modes of rural transformation. (3) The correlation mechanism of rural restructuring and transformation on Jianghan Plain has characteristics typical of less-developed agricultural areas. The economic restructuring led by agricultural land changes and the social restructuring led by rural population outward migration remain the main paths of rural transformation, and the agricultural function still plays an important role in some rural areas. The quantitative measurement of rural region functions in this study need further optimization, and the refinement and accuracy of regional function accounting needs further exploration. The research results are expected to provide a scientific basis for stimulating rural development and promoting sustainable rural development in contemporary developing countries.

Рец. на кн.: AMIRA MITTERMAIER. GIVING TO GOD: ISLAMIC CHARITY IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2019. XIV+233 p.

Amira Mittermaier’s book examines the practices of Islamic charity in contemporary Egypt. To answer the question of how and why pious Muslims engage in charity in their mundane lives, the author visits not only mosques, shrines, charitable and volunteer organizations, but also Tahrir Square in Cairo, an important locus for understanding Islamic piety. The place became widely known in 2011 due to the massive anti-government protests that came to be known as the Arab Spring in Egypt. The study of political activism allows the author to get a better grasp on the ordinary ethics of Islamic charity that considers the issues of social justice to be no less important compared to the political activism. But unlike liberal emancipatory projects, the understanding of social justice within the framework of Islamic piety relies on a fundamentally different ethics, political ontology, and temporal orientations. Drawing upon different cases, Mittermaier demonstrates the diverse ethical repertoire of Islamic giving, ranging from the examples of radical asceticism and self-denial, based on the Sufi ideal of the gift, to the more utilitarian approaches to charity, where gift exchange is considered to be a means to collect divine rewards for performed virtues. By comparing the Islamic gift ethics with the secular projects of social restructuring and reducing poverty, the author urges the reader to rethink Islamic charity as having a specific political meaning and potential vis-a-vis progressive ideas and politics.

Comprehensive Land Consolidation as a Tool to Promote Rural Restructuring in China: Theoretical Framework and Case Study

In the context of current global rural decline, land consolidation has been adopted with the objectives of promoting rural vitalization and regional sustainable development. In this paper, we provide a theoretical framework for rural restructuring driven by comprehensive land consolidation (CLC). The framework describes three key mechanisms of rural spatial, economic, and social restructuring driven by CLC: improving spatial patterns and functions, vitalizing the collective economy, and reshaping the social community. Based on the theoretical framework, we present a case that exemplifies the micro processes of rural restructuring. Taking spatial restructuring as the material basis and carrier, CLC promotes economic restructuring from traditional agricultural production to modern agricultural production and industrial integration, as well as social restructuring from a traditional rural society to urbanization, communitization, and a society with diversified culture. After CLC, it is very important to further enhance the sustainability of the collective economic development and enhance the cohesion and prosperity of the social community.

Tensions between municipal reform and outdated fiscal levers in rural British Columbia

Debates about the future of small municipalities in Canada are set against a backdrop of economic, political, and social restructuring processes that have displaced former state investment policies in favour of neoliberal public policy approaches. Small municipalities struggle with outdated financial and governance structures and a provincial public policy agenda that asks them to become more creative, innovative, and “entrepreneurial” in their approach and responsibilities. Drawing upon key informant interviews with eight case studies in British Columbia, Canada, this research examines the tensions between municipal reforms mandated by the provincial government over the past 30 years and commensurate fiscal levers and capacities in place to address these broadening responsibilities for small municipalities in volatile staples‐dependent regions. Our findings demonstrate how successive provincial governments have mobilized New Public Management objectives through a host of legislative and regulatory changes that have increased the responsibilities and requirements on local governments without commensurate fiscal or jurisdictional capacity.