Social Vitality Research Articles

Social vitality from the perspective of psychologists

Introduction: Joy and cheerfulness is the missing thing of contemporary man and the common desire of all people. Man is a purposeful being who seeks joy, happiness, and prosperity, and he does not feel joy, happiness, and prosperity until he achieves what he wants. The cheerfulness is one of the factors affecting economic, social, cultural, and political development and promotes sustainable development. Methods: The present study was conducted with a phenomenological social approach and with the aim of examining psychologists' experiences of social vitality. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 16 psychologists with PhD degrees and at least five years of teaching experience in the academic level. Findings: Smith's phenomenological method was used to analyze the data, during which eight main themes and 46 sub-themes were extracted from the data. Discussion: The results showed that in some sub-themes such as the definition of social vitality, consequences, obstacles, and causes, there is some alignment between the views of psychologists and the background; However, there are different results in the solutions. Psychologists, based on their psychological perspectives and experiences, have proposed various solutions for parents and organizations at the micro and macro levels. For example, their proposed solutions include not politicizing social vitality, careful selection of officials and meritocracy, reducing the distance between social classes, organizing the economic situation, having a scientific view on the issue of social vitality and several other strategies. The results of this study will pave the way for further research in the field of interventions related to social vitality.

Measurement Method and Influencing Mechanism of Urban Subdistrict Vitality in Shanghai Based on Multisource Data

Most previous studies on urban vitality focused on the analysis and evaluation of the overall vitality of urban agglomerations or single cities, while there are few related studies at the micro scale, such as subdistricts and even blocks. Based on multisource data and using the kernel density analysis and entropy methods, the economic vitality, social vitality, cultural vitality, ecological vitality and comprehensive vitality of each subdistrict in Shanghai were measured. Additionally, correlation analysis, the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model, the spatial lag model (SLM) and the spatial error model (SEM) were used for fitting analysis to reveal the influencing mechanism of urban subdistrict vitality. The results showed that (1) the spatial distribution of economic vitality and social vitality in Shanghai showed the spatial characteristics of radiating outward from the center, and the types of social activity location corresponding to different levels of hotspot areas are different. Cultural vitality showed the spatial distribution characteristics of “gathering in the centre and dispersing around, with Puxi higher than Pudong”, but the cultural vitality values of different subdistricts vary greatly. Ecological vitality showed an increasing trend from the center to the surrounding areas. (2) The overall urban vitality of Shanghai also showed a decreasing circular structure from the center to the periphery. (3) Among the three regression models, i.e., the OLS regression model, SLM and SEM, the model with the best explanation of urban vitality is the SLM, which had an R2 of 0.6984, indicating that it can explain 69.84% of the spatial distribution pattern of urban vitality. (4) The factors that have significant effects on urban vitality are functional mix, metro station accessibility, metro station density, bus station density and intersection density, and all of them are positively correlated. The order of the strength of the effects is bus station density > metro station density > intersection density > metro station accessibility > functional mix.

Ground Down and Locked in a Paperweight: Toward a Critical Psychology of Caste-Based Humiliation

AbstractPsychology limits the scope of raising questions important in the caste context. While psychology focuses on why and how people feel humiliated, the question in the caste context is why and how people do not feel humiliated despite incessant and gratuitous attacks on their dignity and self-worth. This article argues that psychology needs to adopt a critical orientation to address the experience of caste-based humiliation. The anticaste perspective of B. R. Ambedkar provides a critical orientation and psychological insights to build a meaningful psychology of caste-based humiliation. Ambedkar rejected individualist, essentialized notions of human self and emphasized the dimension of intergroup emotions to understand caste relations. I develop this argument by analyzing the experience, impact, and resistance to caste-based humiliation among Dalits. I describe caste-based humiliation in extreme (caste atrocities) and less extreme (caste microaggressions) forms and show that the experience of caste-based humiliation is pervasive, direct, but also vicarious. I then examine the psychological impact of caste-based humiliation on the health, social vitality, and appraisal process among Dalits. I show that a caste-ridden context makes it difficult to interpret humiliation and affects Dalit life narratives through retrospective feelings of humiliation. Finally, I consider the issue of resistance to humiliation and show that mere appraisal of humiliation could also be a form of resistance. The article concludes with an emphasis on exploring the scope of psychological resistance to caste-based humiliation through individual and collective acts of meaning that interpret and transform a humiliating existence.

Designing an acceptance model and using public health apps by Iranian users.

Nowadays, there are hundreds of mobile applications related to sports, health and fitness. The benefits of using mobile phones in physical activity can be seen in the increasing use of mobile health applications. The purpose of this study was to design a behavioral model of acceptance and use of public health apps by Iranian users. The present study was a qualitative and exploratory approach that was conducted based on the theme analysis method (team). The statistical population included programmers and designers of sports programs and academic specialists in the field of sports and computers. Data collection was performed through review of documents, backgrounds and semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted in person or by telephone and each interview lasted about 20 to 40 minutes. In total, 249 key points with marker codes were extracted from 14 interviews which were classified into 21 sub-themes and 6 main themes (app quality, digital literacy, social influences, facilitating conditions, intention to use, trust and accept the app. Finally, the pattern of acceptance and use of health apps by Iranian users were presented in accordance with UTAUT theory. The results of this study can help the officials of the federation, public sports boards and clubs to use information and communication technology as a media in their strategies and programs to develop sports and health at the community level. It also contributes to social vitality and improves the quality of life of individuals.

Growing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: The interplay among transformational leadership in government, public trust, and posttraumatic growth

Individuals may experience positive changes or gain growths after struggling with traumas or challenging circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess potential levels of posttraumatic growth (PTG) of the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic and PTG's associations with perceptions of transformational leadership in local government and public trust. The data of a probability sample of 1011 community-dwelling adults (61.2% females; Mean age = 41.2 years, SD = 15.8) in Macao, China, were collected via a telephone poll survey. Multiple regression analyses were conducted and a bootstrapping approach was utilized to test the hypothesized moderating effects and mediating effects of trust in local government on the association between perceived transformational leadership and PTG, respectively. Results showed that about half of the respondents reported at least a medium level of PTG. Whereas perceived transformational leadership in the Macao local government was positively associated with four individual aspects of PTG (i.e., appreciation of life, new possibilities, personal strength, and relating to others) as well as the overall PTG, while controlling for the demographic variables, trust in the local government showed no moderating or mediating effects in these associations. Our findings suggest the value of governments’ transformational leadership in promoting people's PTG in the face of public crises such as COVID-19. More transformational leadership behaviors, such as attending to citizens’ personal needs and conveying an inspirational vision, in government are called for to bring about greater positive responses from individuals and ensure social vitality and resilience during this long-term public health battle.

Disembodiment of Internet Users as a Consequence of Modern Information Technologies and Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Students

This article focuses on the concept of disembodied Internet personality. The Internet gives its users a special disembodied status because mental self of the Internet user has no physical manifestation. Although this concept appears in many studies, it remains practically unexplored in psychological terms. However, British existential psychologist R. Laing already described its varieties and consequences on clinical material. His The Divided Self: An Existential Study In Sanity And Madness became a theoretical foundation of virtual disembodiment and a questionnaire of the same name. In this article, R. Laing’s ideas were compared with the socio-cognitive concept of self-efficacy, which was developed by A.Bandura and then modified by R. Schwarzer and M. Jerusalem, who also designed the scale of general self-efficiency. This research used both the scale of general selfefficiency and the questionnaire of Internet disembodiment to establish the relationship between various aspects of the Self. The research featured the self-perception of technological disembodiment and the subjective sense of social vitality and capacity in university students during the development of their first integral form of identity. The artificial separation of the mental Self from the physical body in the virtual environment weakened their beliefs in personal efficacy outside the virtual space. Students with different severity of online disembodiment and general self-efficacy appeared to have different self-identification features.

Vital triangle: A new concept to evaluate urban vitality

Urban vitality is a driving force of urban sustainable development and influences the well-being of its residents. To better understand and evaluate it, we defined urban vitality from the perspective of the urban organism and proposed the “vital triangle” conceptual framework linked to the three aspects of growth, diversity, and mobility. We designed an evaluation index system that includes the six dimensions of population, economy, society, government, environment, and external links by integrating multiple sets of heterogeneous data, and applied it to cities in the Yangtze River Delta. The results show that Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou have the highest vitality levels but are weak regarding their eco-environments. Cities with high vitality are distributed on the Z-shaped key development belt of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration planning. Regional differences in external links and population vitality are significant, and these two dimensions pose weaknesses to many cities. The interregional differences linked to social vitality are the smallest. Vitality not only comes from within the urban system, but also greatly depends on the external environment. The concept “vital triangle” and relevant evaluation framework are intended to serve as a basis for future research, and the case study could provide some key decision-making support for urban planning and management.

Social Acceptance of the Fatimid Caliphs in the Light of Social Vitality of Popular Rituals

Social Acceptance of the Fatimid Caliphs in the Light of Social Vitality of Popular Rituals

Meatpacking America: How Migration, Work, and Faith Unite and Divide the Heartland by Kristy Nabhan-Warren

Reviewed by: Meatpacking America: How Migration, Work, and Faith Unite and Divide the Heartland by Kristy Nabhan-Warren Kevin D. Smith Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Meatpacking America: How Migration, Work, and Faith Unite and Divide the Heartland. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2021. 280 pp. $19.95 (paper). Belying the stereotype of a homogenous, White, conservative population, the midwestern Corn Belt is also home to thousands of Mexican and Central American migrants, along with a smaller but growing population of legally recognized African and Asian refugees. Media accounts typically portray the American-born White and migrant segments of this community as separate, [End Page 110] even opposed groups: the former as supporters of anti-immigration policies, and the latter as subjects of Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and as one of the first groups of essential workers to undergo a deadly wave of COVID-19. For Kristy Nabhan-Warren, professor of Religious Studies at the University of Iowa, however, these groups intersect in a complex and sometimes troubled milieu in and around Iowa meatpacking plants. After interviewing over one hundred migrant and American-born residents of Iowa, Nabhan-Warren argues that despite racial, ethnic, religious, and class differences, "faith, work, family, and food" united the disparate members of meatpacking communities in a common effort to "pull together to work toward better futures" (8, 10). Nabhan-Warren's preface, which locates her work in a growing literature about workplace religion, explains her concerns, religious commitment, and thesis. She maintains that although most of her Latin American subjects are officially classified as "economic refugees" and "asylum seekers," she views them as "de facto" refugees because they were victims of violence attributable in part to a long history of U.S. intervention (xiii). She describes the U.S. immigration system as "flawed [and] inadequate" and concedes that most of her White interviewees were indeed anti-immigrant (vii). Nabham-Warren affirms her commitment "to bringing forward American Catholic stories with broader themes in American life and culture," (xxi) and she argues that faith, along with a shared belief in hard work, family, and the significance of food, may help to resolve the "cultural paradox" that the refugees, upon whom White inhabitants look down and fear, are the same people whose labor in processing cattle and hogs preserves the economic and social vitality of the region (50). Nabham-Warren skillfully defends her thesis with a well-organized and richly populated account of the lives and aspirations of her American-born and migrant subjects. After a brief vignette that illustrates the plight of Latin American refugees, Nabham-Warren introduces some of her White, Catholic subjects, who are unanimous in crediting the faith and hard work of their settler ancestors for their prosperity. She then addresses the Catholic priests who have tried to bring American-born and immigrant Iowans together, describing the fine line they must hew both to make their refugee parishioners feel welcome and to avoid alienating longstanding White parishioners. Nabham-Warren next turns her attention to the meatpacking workers and the plants themselves, emphasizing the difficulty of the work and the racial stratification reflected in the distribution of jobs. She offers a [End Page 111] vivid description of the process of turning live animals into packaged meat, allowing the reader to appreciate the danger posed by repetitive motion, sharp knives, heavy carcasses, and long hours, as well as the blood that suffuses the environment. Like American-born Whites, Nabham-Warren's refugee subjects also credit faith and hard work for the successes they enjoy. The last section of the book, in which Nabham-Warren begins to make connections between the groups she analyses, however, does not fully support her argument that faith contributes to the breaking down of barriers between refugees and American-born Whites. There are, to be sure, some White women from the area's liberal Protestant denominations who regularly provide aid to refugees, and the Catholic priests try, if mostly in vain, to encourage White congregants to attend Spanish-language masses. The problem is that although each group points to religion as central to their ability to cope with the stresses of meatpacking, they seem to gain different rewards from...

The Role of Social Happiness and Vitality in the General Health of Teachers in Yazd

Introduction: Social happiness and vitality is one of the basic concepts and components of people's lives, especially for teachers, which is closely related to their public health. Therefore, the present study aims to determine the role of social happiness and vitality in the general health of teachers in Yazd.
 Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 250 junior high school and high school teachers in Yazd participated using cluster sampling. General Health, Oxford Happiness, and Social Vitality questionnaires were utilized for data collection. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23. Descriptive and analytical statistics, including Pearson correlation coefficient, regression analysis, analysis of variance and t-test were used to determine the predictors of variables. The significance level was considered less than 0.05.
 Results: The mean age of participants was 5.46± 31 years. The mean total health score was 56.12 ± 1.18. Among the health dimensions, the highest mean score was related to social health 15.35 ± 2.25. The mean scores of happiness and social vitality were 44.58 ± 1.57 and 66.01 ±5.57, respectively. There was a direct and significant relationship between social vitality, happiness, and general health (p = 0.00). There was also a direct and significant correlation between social vitality and happiness (p <0.001).
 Conclusion: Considering the effect of social happiness and vitality on teachers' health, it is suggested that happy lifestyle classes be included in the programs of the Ministry of Education for teachers in the form of in-service courses and recreational camps.

The Impact of the Structures of Planned Behavior Theory on Social Vitality of the Participants in Sports Aactivities

Background. Happiness and vitality are among the essential spiritual and psychological needs of human beings. The main purpose of this study was to present a model of participation in sports activities with the level of social vitality and the moderating role of awareness based on the theory of planned behavior. Methods. In terms of methodology, the presnt study was a descriptive correlational study which adopted survey method for data collection. The present study’s population consisted of 120,000 males and females who participanted in group and individual sports activities and introduced by Municipality of Isfahan. A total of 384 participants including 247 females with an average age of 42±14.1 and 137 males with an average age of 46±10.66 were selected through stratified random sampling as our final sample. In order to collect data, the questionnaires of Oxford Argil Happiness (OHI) (2001) and Planned Behavior of Karimi et al. (2012) were used. Correlation coefficient, regression and structural equations were conducted through using SPSS and Amos softwares version 22 for data analysis. Results. The results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between willingness to do work and planned behavior of participation in sports activities, planned behavior of participation in sports activities and social vitality (p ≤0.05). Conclusion. It can be concluded hat by informing people of the beneficial effects of sports, it is possible to plan to establish people's participatory behavior in sports activities and consequently to to promote and maintain social happiness and vitality of people.

Freight Demand Distribution in a Suburban Area: Calibration of an Acquisition Model with Floating Car Data

The paper deals with the interaction between freight flows, land use, and economy of a suburban area. In urban freight distribution, the process of freight acquisition of commercial establishments represents a crucial element. Therefore, it is necessary to plan city logistics in order to reduce the negative externalities generated by freight transport without depressing the economic and social vitality. In order to estimate and evaluate the performance and impacts generated by urban freight distribution, Transport System Models (TSMs) play an important role in reproducing and forecasting the process of distribution of final products to retailers and consumers. In recent years, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have made new sources of data in great amounts available at lower costs than data provided from traditional surveys. Among the different data sources, Floating Car Data (FCD), obtained through GPS trackers installed on board the vehicles, offer partial insights into the examined process with lower cost and provide continuous information in space and time. In order to obtain reliable results, it is necessary to combine TSMs and ICTs as observed data could feed Transport System Models and could allow their calibration and therefore their application in real cases. In the above context, the paper deals with TSMs related to estimating urban freight demand flows. The work carried out concerns the specification-calibration-validation of a freight zonal acquisition model by means of FCD related to interzonal trips of commercial vehicles inside the Locride area (Reggio Calabria, Italy). The obtained models, estimated from FCD, could support the a priori evaluation of city logistics measures. The results are more important considering that they are obtained in an area with a lack of transport monitoring technologies. They could be adopted in other similar areas and confirm that adequate planning of city logistics determines advantages for environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

Normative based beliefs as a basis for perceived changes in personality traits across the lifespan.

This article presents a new framework for understanding how people think personality changes across the life span. In two studies we examined the correspondence among how people thought their personalities would change, how people in general change, and changes found in a meta-analysis of changes in personality. We conceptualized and measured personality in terms of the Big Five model (FFM). In Study 1 participants rated either how they had changed from the past to the present or how they would change from the present to the future. We found that for openness to experience and social vitality participants thought these traits had increased from the past to the present, whereas participants did not think they would change from the present to the future. In contrast, participants thought that conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability would increase from the present to the future, although they did not report changes in most of these traits from the past to the present. The changes that occurred in Study 1 correspond to changes of personality found in previous research. In Study 2 participants rated themselves and other people on the FFM traits for each of nine intervals representing the lifespan. We found that people perceived changes in themselves to be similar to the changes found in meta-analyses, and perceptions of change in the self-corresponded to perception of changes for others. We believe these results can be explained by recognizing that people share normative based beliefs about how people change at certain age. Nevertheless, we also found that people perceived themselves as better than others, i.e., relatively greater increases in some positive traits and relatively smaller decreases in some negative traits, being first among equals. We discuss possible explanations for this phenomenon, which according to our knowledge, has not been discussed in this context previously.

Psychometric Validation of the German Translation of the Quality of Life Questionnaire-Bronchiectasis (QOL-B)-Data from the German Bronchiectasis Registry PROGNOSIS.

Patients with bronchiectasis feature considerable symptom burden and reduced health-related quality of life (QOL). We provide the psychometric validation of the German translation of the disease-specific Quality of Life Questionnaire-Bronchiectasis (QOL-B), version 3.1, using baseline data of adults consecutively enrolled into the prospective German bronchiectasis registry PROGNOSIS. Overall, 904 patients with evaluable QOL-B scores were included. We observed no relevant floor or ceiling effects. Internal consistency was good to excellent (Cronbach’s α ≥0.73 for each scale). QOL-B scales discriminated between patients based on prior pulmonary exacerbations and hospitalizations, breathlessness, bronchiectasis severity index, lung function, sputum volume, Pseudomonas aeruginosa status and the need for regular pharmacotherapy, except for Social Functioning, Vitality and Emotional Functioning scales. We observed moderate to strong convergence between several measures of disease severity and QOL-B scales, except for Social and Emotional Functioning. Two-week test-retest reliability was good, with intraclass correlation coefficients ≥0.84 for each scale. Minimal clinical important difference ranged between 8.5 for the Respiratory Symptoms and 14.1 points for the Social Functioning scale. Overall, the German translation of the QOL-B, version 3.1, has good validity and test-retest reliability among a nationally representative adult bronchiectasis cohort. However, responsiveness of QOL-B scales require further investigation during registry follow-up.

Research on the Cultivation of College Students' Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ability Based on Subject Competition—Taking Logistics Management as an Example

With the continuous development of the social economy, the competition in different fields is becoming more and more intense, so it will also put forward higher requirements for the cultivation of talents. Vigorously developing subject competitions is not only to cultivate talents who can better connect with the society, but also to effectively enhance students' own innovation ability. It is also of great significance to enhance social vitality and promote national development. This article takes the subject competition as the starting point of the research, through in-depth analysis of the functional effect of the subject competition, the principles and practice of the logistics management innovative talent training model based on the subject competition, and the guarantee mechanism, etc. The cultivation of innovative and entrepreneurial ability of college students has greatly promoted the quality of high-quality logistics management innovation talents, with remarkable results.

Multidimensional Urban Vitality on Streets: Spatial Patterns and Influence Factor Identification Using Multisource Urban Data

Urban vitality is a key indicator for measuring urban development. This topic has been trending in urban planning and sustainable development, and significant progress has been made in measuring single indicators of urban vitality based on parcel or block units. With the continuous development of smart sensing technology, multisource urban data are becoming increasingly abundant. The application of such data to measure the multidimensional urban vitality of street space, reflecting multiple functions of an urban space, can significantly improve the accuracy of urban vitality analyses and promote the construction of people-oriented healthy cities. In this study, streets were taken as the analysis unit, and multisource data such as the trajectories of taxies and shared bicycles, user reviews and cultural facility points of interest (POIs) in Chengdu, a city in southwestern China, were used to identify spatial patterns of urban vitality on streets across social, economic and cultural dimensions. The correlation between the built environment factors and the multidimensional urban vitality on the street was analyzed using a multiple regression model. The spatial distribution of the different dimensions of urban vitality of the street space in Chengdu varies to a certain extent. It is common for areas with high social vitality to have production and life centers nearby. High economic vitality centers are typically found along busy streets with a high concentration of businesses. Areas with high cultural vitality centers tend to be concentrated on the city’s central streets. Land use, transportation, external environment, population and employment are all closely linked to urban vitality on streets. The crowd counting and POI density have the greatest impact on multidimensional urban vitality. The crowd and the level of service facilities profoundly affect social interaction, trade activities and cultural communication. The goodness of fit (R2) of the regression models for social, economic and cultural vitality are 0.590, 0.423 and 0.409, respectively. Using multisource urban data, our findings can help stakeholders better understand the spatial patterns and influencing factors of multidimensional urban vitality on streets and provide sustainable urban planning and development strategies for the future.

Research on Vitality Improvement Strategy for the Historic District of Taiyanggou in Lushun

Located in the Lushunkou District of Dalian, Liaoning Province, the Taiyanggou Historic District is one of the most well-preserved modern historic districts in China, with the most surviving historic heritages. The area is home to a large number of cultural heritages, ranging from national to district level, as well as a large number of modern historic buildings that are not on the conservation list, which have immeasurable historical and cultural value. This District is reputed as an “open-air architectural exposition”. However, as Lushun is a military port city, most of the area is under the jurisdiction of the army, and the government and the army have multiple administrations that do not form a unified combination, making it difficult to implement conservation and development in the Taiyanggou Historic District. Eventually, this leads to problems of stagnant development, environmental degradation, population loss, population aging and a gradual decline in the vitality of the district. Therefore, how to reshape the vitality of the district and promote its long-term development while preserving its original historical appearance to the greatest extent has become an urgent problem to be solved. The paper began with an in-depth interpretation of the connotation of “vitality” and “vitality improvement” in historic districts through previous studies. The five major components of the vitality of historic districts were summarized as physical space vitality, social vitality, cultural vitality, economic vitality and political vitality. Subsequently, from these five aspects, the elements of vitality of the Taiyanggou Historic District were extracted and summarized, and the problems of its current decline in vitality were analyzed. Finally, using the problem-oriented and goal-oriented research ideas, a targeted approach was adopted to explore strategies to improve the vitality and get out of its current development dilemma, with a view to shedding light on the conservation and renewal of Taiyanggou Historic District.

A Qualitative analysis of the Constraints of women's social vitality in Kerman

A Qualitative analysis of the Constraints of women's social vitality in Kerman

A New Insight into Understanding Urban Vitality: A Case Study in the Chengdu-Chongqing Area Twin-City Economic Circle, China

Addressing the issues caused by urbanization through urban vitality theory has elicited increasing attention in social environment research. However, few studies focus on vitality itself, such as the generative mechanism of urban vitality (GMUV) and the identification of key factors to vitality improvement. Therefore, a new insight into vitality is presented in this study through the exploration of GMUV based on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Concretely, the GMUV and the key factors to vitality improvement are analyzed and identified based on nighttime lights data, points of interest, and the statistical data of the Chengdu-Chongqing Area Twin-City Economic Circle in China. The results show that external representations and internal elements constitute the structural basis of the GMUV and that environmental vitality and social vitality are the key factors to enhance vitality. Finally, suggestions on improving regional vitality are provided to urban policymakers. This study may promote a better understanding of vitality, and the proposed vitality evaluation model may serve as a reference for other regions.

Spirit and Social Death: Hegel, Historical Life and Genocide

ABSTRACT This essay proposes that the interpretations of Hegelian philosophy advanced by Gillian Rose and Robert Pippin may be relevant to the theorisation of genocide. This argument is presented via a discussion of Claudia Card’s contention that genocide can be understood as a form of ‘social death’. According to Card, genocide damages or eradicates what she calls ‘social vitality’: inter-generational social relations that animate, articulate and characterise social groups, and which give meaning and context to individual lives. The essay points out limitations in Card’s claims and proposes that Pippin and Rose could help to respond to those problems. It argues that Pippin’s reading can develop Card’s ideas regarding the collective ‘life’ of groups, and that Rose’s interpretation can remedy difficulties posed by Card’s conception of evil. The essay suggests that, when taken together, this combination of ideas may point towards a means of thinking about Hegel that serves to foreground the pertinence of past disasters to any critical assessment of the present.