Abstract In India’s multilingual higher education system, language use reflects complex negotiations between institutional policies, social hierarchies, and identity practices. Within this context, translanguaging, understood as the strategic use of a multilingual speaker’s full linguistic repertoire offers a valuable framework for examining how individuals navigate these linguistic and social dynamics. However, limited research has examined how institutional structure and gender shape such translanguaging behaviours within Indian universities. This study investigates how institutional type and gender affect translanguaging among 522 university students across India. Drawing on data from both public and private institutions, it analyses language use across three domains: home, social and public, and academic and professional environments. The analysis employs Chi-square tests of independence to examine associations between institutional type, gender, and language use. The findings reveal that students from private institutions engage more frequently in English-dominant translanguaging, particularly in social and academic-professional environments, whereas female students demonstrate stronger maintenance of heritage languages within the home domain. These patterns highlight how institutional language policies and gendered expectations mediate multilingual behaviour in higher education. The study positions translanguaging as both an index of sociocultural identity and an adaptive communicative practice. It contributes to ongoing discussions on linguistic repertoires, social positioning, and multilingual agency in Indian educational contexts.

Purpose This study aims to critically examine the socio-technical, economic and governance challenges emerging at the intersection of Generative artificial intelligence (AI) and Urban AI. By foregrounding the metaphor of “the moon and the ghetto” (Nelson, 1977, 2011), the issue invites contributions that interrogate the gap between technological capability and institutional justice. The purpose is to foster a multidisciplinary dialogue–spanning applied economics, public policy, AI ethics and urban governance – that can inform trustworthy, inclusive and democratically grounded AI practices. Contributors are encouraged to explore not just what GenAI can do, but for whom, how and with what consequences. Design/methodology/approach This study draws upon interdisciplinary literature from public policy, innovation studies, digital governance and urban sociology to frame the emerging governance challenges of Generative AI and Urban AI. It builds a conceptual foundation by synthesizing insights from comparative city case studies, innovation systems theory and normative policy frameworks. The approach is interpretive and exploratory, aiming to situate AI technologies within broader institutional, geopolitical and socio-economic contexts. The study invites contributions that adopt empirical, theoretical or practice-based methodologies addressing the governance of GenAI in cities and regions. Findings This study identifies a critical gap between the rapid technological advancements in Generative AI and the institutional readiness of public governance systems – particularly in urban contexts. It finds that current policy frameworks often prioritize efficiency and innovationism over democratic legitimacy, civic trust and inclusive design. Drawing on comparative global city experiences, it highlights the risk of reinforcing power asymmetries without robust accountability mechanisms. The analysis suggests that trustworthy AI is not a purely technical attribute but a political and institutional achievement, requiring participatory governance architectures and innovation systems grounded in public value and civic engagement. Research limitations/implications As an editorial introduction, this study does not present original empirical data but synthesizes key theoretical frameworks, case studies and policy debates to guide future research. Its analytical scope is conceptual and comparative, offering a foundation for submissions that further investigate Generative and Urban AI through empirical, normative and practice-based lenses. The limitations lie in its broad coverage and reliance on secondary sources. Nonetheless, it provides an agenda-setting contribution by highlighting the urgent need for interdisciplinary research into how AI reshapes public governance, institutional legitimacy and urban democratic futures. Practical implications This editorial offers a structured framework for policymakers, urban planners, technologists and public administrators to critically assess the governance of Generative and Urban AI systems. By highlighting international case studies and conceptual tools – such as public algorithmic infrastructures, civic trust frameworks and anticipatory governance – the article underscores the importance of institutional design, regulatory foresight and civic engagement. It invites practitioners to shift from techno-solutionist approaches toward inclusive, democratic and place-based AI governance. The reflections aim to support the development of trustworthy AI policies that are grounded in legitimacy, accountability and societal needs, particularly in urban and regional contexts. Social implications The editorial underscores that Generative and Urban AI systems are not socially neutral but carry significant implications for equity, representation and democratic legitimacy. These technologies risk reinforcing existing social hierarchies and systemic biases if not governed inclusively. This study calls for reimagining trust not as a technical feature but as a relational, contested dynamic between institutions and citizens. It encourages submissions that examine how AI reshapes the urban social contract, affects marginalized communities and challenges existing civic infrastructures. The goal is to promote AI governance frameworks that are pluralistic, just and reflective of diverse societal values and lived experiences. Originality/value This editorial offers a timely and conceptually grounded intervention into the emerging field of Urban AI and Generative AI governance. By framing the challenges through Richard R. Nelson’s metaphor of The Moon and the Ghetto, this study foregrounds the gap between technical capabilities and enduring societal injustices. The contribution lies in its interdisciplinary synthesis – bridging innovation systems, AI ethics, public policy and urban governance. It introduces a critical framework for assessing “trustworthy AI” not as a technical goal but as a democratic achievement and encourages research that is policy-relevant, equity-oriented and attuned to the institutional realities of AI in cities.

This paper explores how caste and social hierarchy affected public health in colonial Kerala, and how health policies also reinforced those hierarchies. Using archival materials such as Travancore Administration Reports, Malabar District Health Reports, missionary hospital records, and local newspapers, the study looks at public health measures like quarantine, sanitation campaigns, vaccination programs, and burial rules. It argues that these measures, although presented as scientific and neutral, often reflected caste-based ideas of purity and pollution. This influenced who received care and how people followed health rules. By studying epidemics such as cholera, plague, and the 1918 influenza, the paper shows that epidemic control was not just about medicine but also about social power and control. The findings suggest that state health policies and local customs shaped each other, making some caste groups more vulnerable to disease than others. Overall, the study highlights how modern public health in colonial Kerala was closely linked to social inequality and cultural beliefs.

This article examines the role of the chronotope as a key means of constructing satirical meaning in Thomas Nashe’s novel The Unfortunate Traveller, or The Life of Jack Wilton (1594). While Nashe’s works have long attracted scholarly attention, most research has focused on genre classification, the controver- sial figure of the author, and the stylistic heterogeneity of the text. The present study shifts the emphasis toward spatial-temporal structures, demonstrating how time and space function as active instruments of social critique. The novelty of the research lies in the interpretation of the chronotope as a satirical mech- anism that shapes the ideological message of the novel. The aim of the study is to determine the role of time and space organization in forming the satirical modus of Nashe’s novel. To achieve this aim, the article addresses several specific tasks: defining the con- cepts of topos and locus; identifying the biographical, geographical, and historical chronotopes in the text; analysing the specifics of the chronicle narrative mode; clarifying Jack Wilton’s dual role as narrator and character; examining the temporal structure of the plot, including chronological distortions; and exploring strategies of chronotope construction in the French and Italian episodes of the novel. The methodology of the research is complex and interdisciplinary, combining cultural-historical, sty- listic, biographical, comparative-historical, and hermeneutic approaches. This methodological framework makes it possible to consider both the historical context of the novel and the internal textual logic of how space and time are represented and transformed. The article argues that Nashe employs the chronotope dynamically, using shifts in spatial perspective and temporal rhythm to intensify satirical effect. In The Unfortunate Traveller, time is not linear: historical events are reordered, accelerated, condensed, or suspended. This distortion of chronology serves as a de- liberate rhetorical strategy. By rearranging events such as the Anabaptist uprising in Münster or references to English epidemics, Nashe creates a form of “satirical prophecy,” demonstrating that the moral and social failures of one era are inevitably repeated in another when ethical lessons are ignored. Space functions similarly. The novel’s structure moves from broad geographical panoramas (France, Germany, Italy, England) to narrowly defined local settings (military camps, university halls, banqueting houses, streets, chambers). These open spaces (topoi) and enclosed spaces (loci) allow Nashe to modulate the intensity and focus of his satirical commentary. For instance, the military camp in France serves as a mi- crocosm of London, enabling Jack to expose greed, ambition, and opportunism within a confined environ- ment where social hierarchy collapses. In contrast, the Italian chapters are notable for their concentration on cultural and ideological critique through descriptions of monuments, public spectacles, and intimate do- mestic chambers. These spatial structures reveal Nashe’s satirical engagement with literary fashions such as Petrarchism and chivalric romance, which he transforms into targets of parody. The article also emphasises the narrative role of Jack Wilton. As both protagonist and narrator, he embodies a mobile and ambivalent observer-participant position. His shifting roles—as manipulator, wit- ness, traveller, commentator—enable the text to alternate between storytelling and critical reflection. Through Jack’s perspective, Nashe exposes European social and cultural realities, while simultaneously ad- dressing contemporary English audiences. The study concludes that the chronotope in The Unfortunate Traveller functions as a central artistic device that shapes the novel’s satirical discourse. The interplay of temporal disruption and spatial locali- sation allows Nashe to connect historical events with contemporary Elizabethan concerns, demonstrating the cyclical nature of moral and social decay. The chronotope thus becomes the medium through which satire unfolds, transforming narrative movement into critique and moral warning.

Codeswitching refers to the act of changing between two or more languages or dialects in a conversation and is a common characteristic of multilingual societies, Pakistan is no exception. In the Pakistani talk shows, code-switching has various communicative and social purposes including the linguistic diversity, cultural identity, and social hierarchies of the viewers and the speakers. This paper will examine the different uses of code-switching in televised talk shows and the theme addressed in signaling group membership, asserting solidarity or authority, making points, clarifying meaning, and controlling interpersonal relationships. The chosen talk shows, in Urdu and English media, were used to gather data and apply the qualitative discourse analysis to investigate code switching cases and their contextual meaning. The results indicate that hosts and guests often alternate languages in a strategic way to entertain the audience, bargain courtesy, establish social identity, and meet various needs of different audience groups. Also, code-switching is used as one of the stylistic devices to make the rhetorical effect, humor, or emotional outburst more effective. The study highlights the relevance of sociolinguistic value of code switching in media discourse which reflects the larger cultural, social, and pragmatic aspects in language choice. The insights are part of the interpretation of multilingual communication strategies in Pakistani media and their contribution to the creation of the discourse of people.

"Homo informatio".

Social hierarchy modulates cognitive flexibility through basal forebrain-prefrontal cholinergic projections.

Household risk factors associated with canine leishmaniasis in Fortaleza, northeastern Brazil: Environmental, social, dog characteristics, and exposure to canine Ehrlichia spp.

Rule change: Behavioral phenotyping and adaptive strategies of black rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii) during social hierarchy reestablishment

Shauna Singh Baldwin in What the Body Remembers (1999) closely studies the Indian social structure and examines the marginal position of women within it. She surpasses the patriarchal framework as the only system that marginalizes women and addresses issues related to caste, class, and religious boundaries that further aggravate the female position. Although her protagonist is of Sikh descent, the novelist conceptualizes the heterogeneous experiences of Indian women, and in support of this notion, she crafts her female characters from various social levels. Through adopting a postcolonial feminist perspective, the present work explores the intricate mechanisms by which various social constructs subjugate women differently. Despite being oppressed in one way or another by social ranking, some of her female characters still maintain caste and religious systems to exclude and subjugate women from the less privileged social strata.

Educational institutions have historically assumed central roles not only in the transmission of knowledge but also in the shaping of social structures and the construction of collective identities. This article examines madrasas in the Indian Subcontinent from a sociological perspective, arguing that they functioned not merely as centers of religious learning but also as institutional mechanisms of social stratification and identity formation. Institutionalized since the period of the Dihlī Sulṭānate (1206–1526) and the Mug̱ẖal Empire (1526–1857), the madrasa system simultaneously transmitted scholarly knowledge and religious authority to Muslim communities while offering opportunities for social mobility, thereby enabling individuals from lower social strata to attain higher intellectual and spiritual status. At the same time, however, madrasas concentrated religious authority and cultural capital within specific groups, thereby reproducing social differentiation and consolidating hierarchies of knowledge. The study employs Émile Durkheim’s approach to social integration, Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural capital and habitus, and Max Weber’s analysis of status groups as its primary theoretical framework, while Berger and Luckmann’s theory of social construction serves as a complementary lens for understanding the processes of identity formation. The research adopts a conceptual analysis method rather than empirical fieldwork; it draws upon historical sources, archival materials, and both classical and contemporary literature on Islamic education. This approach enables a theoretically consistent examination of how madrasas evolved as dynamic institutions reflecting broader transformations in Muslim societies. The article’s original contribution lies in its integrative interpretation of madrasas as institutions performing multiple and sometimes contradictory social functions—equalizing, differentiating, and identity-forming—within the broader sociology of religion.

Media does not merely mirror society—it actively shapes how people understand the world around them. This study critically examines the dynamic relationship between media representation and social perception, demonstrating how news, entertainment content, and digital platforms collectively construct what audiences come to accept as “reality.” Drawing on theories of framing, agenda-setting, and cultivation, the research explores how selective portrayals of gender, caste, class, religion, and political issues influence public attitudes and behavior. Using a mixed-method approach that includes content analysis, audience surveys, and qualitative interviews, the study highlights the subtle ways in which stereotypes are reinforced, identities are negotiated, and social hierarchies are normalized. The findings reveal that media representation is not neutral; it is shaped by institutional interests, ideological biases, and market pressures. These forces often marginalize certain groups while privileging others, ultimately shaping collective memory, public discourse, and socio-political decision-making. The paper argues for a need to cultivate critical media literacy and ethical communication practices that empower citizens to question dominant narratives and engage with media more reflectively. By unpacking how reality is constructed through mediated images and stories, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of power, perception, and the politics of representation in contemporary society.

This article offers a longue durée account of Kashmir’s textile industry, focusing on the post-1947 period through the life stories and recollections of its artisans. While the state and elite actors—from industrialists (karkhanedar) to researchers—have long sought to define and classify artisans, their lived experiences often defy such frameworks. The artisans’ counter-narratives are vital to understanding how they negotiate self-representation, dignity, and agency. By foregrounding artisan voices, the article shifts the usual focus of Kashmir’s textile histories from trade and production to the contested terrain of labour, identity and politics across colonial and postcolonial contexts. Drawing on ethnographic research, it shows that artisans construct their identities through multiple sources—including regional histories, Sufi hagiographies and inherited craft traditions. It further argues that while their everyday strategies of resistance—reinterpretation, symbolic assertion and subtle defiance—may not transform material conditions or dismantle marginalisation, they nonetheless challenge the social hierarchies that structure their lives.

The paper uses a micro-level analysis of godparenthood as a tool for studying the social structure and personal networks in the rural milieu in Bohemia. The ritual kinship created between a child and its godparents during the baptism carried an essential symbolic value. It represented the social bonds, networks and hierarchies in the village, and reflected the traditions and individual aspirations of community members. The research concentrates on the Červená Řečice domain (South Bohemia) from the beginning of the 17th century, when the first parish register of baptism appeared, to the turn of the 18th century. The Bohemian rural society underwent significant transformation in this period: from the strengthening of subjection and the recatholization after the Thirty-Year War to the birth of civil liberties. The paper examines godparenthood as an indicator reflecting both the enforcement of ecclesiastical authority and the prominence of habitual godparents – individuals commonly chosen for baptismal ceremonies.

This study examines the extent to which individuals’ adherence to various principles of justice leads them to evaluate their income as (un)fair. We analyse individuals’ evaluations of income (un)fairness in relation to their own subjective social position, based on their declared identification with a vignette representing a given social stratum, paying special attention to the predominant evaluation of unfairness. Based on an overview of various principles of justice, we analyse responses to an open question in order to establish whether adherence to any of these principles is associated with that subjective assessment. We compare this with the influence of the individuals’ socio-economic characteristics relative to their objective social position. We use qualitative and quantitative data from a survey applied in 2024 to a statistically representative sample of 562 employed individuals from the province of Palena in Chile, selected randomly by district, household and individual. Results show that the principle of meritocracy based on education and entrepreneurship tends to be used to justify income inequality, while the opposite occurs with merit based on effort at work and the principle of need. However, some respondents’ socio-economic characteristics – in particular, having lower levels of income or education – are also associated with the likelihood that they will rate their income as unfair

This paper investigates the business operations of shops in Guangzhou’s urban villages, aiming to clarify how grassroots commerce interacts with urban renewal. Urban villages, as transitional spaces, accommodate dense clusters of small retailers that sustain affordable services and migrant livelihoods, yet their survival strategies remain underexplored.Recent research has shifted from viewing urban villages mainly as governance problems to acknowledging their economic and social roles. Studies emphasize spatial restructuring, long-tail economic dynamics, and institutional change, showing how shop operations are embedded in broader urban transformation.Nonetheless, gaps remain. Existing studies focus heavily on macro policies, with limited attention to micro-level practices. They also lack longitudinal depth and rarely connect shop operations to issues such as social stratification perceptions or customer base positioning.This study addresses these gaps through a field survey of shop operations in Guangzhou, documenting operating conditions, business models, and client targeting. Findings reveal that shop resilience depends on both regulatory frameworks and community hierarchies, highlighting the importance of inclusive renewal strategies.Looking ahead, shop operations in urban villages are expected to evolve from informal survival units toward more formalized and digitally integrated enterprises, playing a vital role in Guangzhou’s pursuit of sustainable and high-quality development.

The Luwu Palace serves as a cultural emblem of the Bugis people, representing their traditional social hierarchy and political power. This study seeks to analyze the historical and physical evolution of the palace and its function in preserving Bugis identity in the context of colonial impact and contemporary development. The research utilizes a qualitative-descriptive methodology, incorporating literature review, visual analysis, and field observation. Data were gathered from historical documents, archival records, and direct observations. Research demonstrates that despite alterations in the palace's structure and purpose, its fundamental cultural values persist. The creation of the Langkanae replica and the adaptive repurposing of the palace into a museum demonstrate continuous endeavors to reinterpret and safeguard the Bugis cultural environment and identity in a modern setting.

Studies dating back several decades have suggested that humans prefer potential mates with dissimilar HLA genotypes. Evidence for actualized disassortative mating based on the human-specific MHC remains inconclusive. For instance, cosmopolitan populations have often exhibited the opposite trend whereby assortative mating at the MHC is observed, indicating that social stratification may overwhelm potential biological mate preferences. However, small-scale, endogamous populations–whose social structures more closely resemble those throughout most of human evolution–have been largely overlooked. Here, we assess HLA dissimilarity among Himba pastoralists from Namibia, where socially accepted concurrency allows individuals to maintain both arranged marital and self-selected (“love match”) partnerships. This provides a rare opportunity to directly test HLA similarity across contrasting partnership types (arranged vs chosen) within the same social system (n = 249 observed partnerships). We find no difference in HLA dissimilarity (neither at the genotype nor protein divergence level) between partnership types, nor in their fitness benefits to potential offspring as assessed via computationally predicted pathogen binding affinities. The effects of the partnership types likewise do not differ from a random, background distribution of 18,487 possible unrelated pairings. Finally, we detect extensive haplotype sharing across the HLA region, suggesting that episodes of fluctuating positive selection may be a stronger force maintaining HLA polymorphism than disassortative mating, even in an evolutionarily relevant social context.

This article argues for a concept of misogyny as socially produced negative affects and emotions mobilized towards women that normalize not only hierarchical binary relations between men and women but also hierarchical relations between men. The article draws upon Samantha Wrisley's critique of Kate Manne's influential definition of misogyny as a patriarchal enforcement mechanism. Manne dismisses as naïve the commonplace definition of misogyny as hatred of women because, she claims, it focuses on individual psychology. However, sociological analysis of affect and emotion does not require concern with the individual psyche. Drawing on Sara Ahmed's work on racist affects and emotions, this article argues that misogynist affects and emotions produce masculine subjects in opposition to feminine subjects and a masculine hierarchy that ranks men according to their ability to dominate women and resist their wiles. Misogynist affects and emotions may be directed at anything or anyone coded feminine, not only at women who challenge patriarchal privilege. As illustrative examples of how misogynist texts produce male supremacist subjects and social hierarchies, this article analyses two texts by mainstream public figures: JD Vance's infamous ‘childless cat lady’ comments, and Jeremy Clarkson's call for Meghan, Duchess of Sussex to be paraded naked through British streets and pelted with excrement. The article also analyses texts by prominent manosphere figures Paul Elam and Andrew Tate. In line with Wrisley's suggestion that misogyny implicates an amalgam of emotions, this analysis shows how misogyny combines contempt, fear and desire. Furthermore, anxiety about falling for women's wiles and contempt for men who do so proved an equally important theme. Thus, these texts show how media, political leaders and influencers propagate misogynist affects and emotions that normalize hierarchical relationships between men and women, and between men.

Access to sanitation is a fundamental human necessity; however, in India, it remains unevenly distributed, influenced by social hierarchies, the urban-rural divide, and gender-specific vulnerabilities. This study utilizes data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) (2019-21) focusing on Uttar Pradesh and its district Lucknow, to explore how sanitation access is intertwined with health, nutrition, gender equality, and sustainable development, particularly in relation to Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) and other related goals. A sociological approach is employed, incorporating conflict theory, feminist viewpoints, and structural functionalism to analyze the quantitative data. The research reveals that despite advancements in sanitation, notable disparities continue in Uttar Pradesh and Lucknow, as evident in varying health and nutritional outcomes, gender-specific sanitation shortcomings, and urban-rural disparities. The policy recommendations emphasize the need for profound behavioral changes, governance at the community level, and addressing structural inequalities beyond merely providing the necessary infrastructure