Socio-cultural Conflicts Research Articles

H.M. Naqvi's Home Boy: A Socio-Cultural Conflict Analysis in the Context of Disruption and Multiculturalism

Through the lens of multiculturalism, this inquiry examines Home Boy by H.M. Naqvi. In particular, this study will look at how the selected literary work portrays several types of socio-cultural conflict that make it hard for the protagonists to blend in with their new communities. Concerns about intergroup tensions are at the forefront of multicultural communities' minds. According to this research, "socio-cultural conflict" describes when two or more cultures clash in areas such as politics, economics, religion, and society. The current study focuses on the book in question as an example of the socio-cultural conflict that might arise in heterogeneous society. Summing up the current human condition and the difficulties people face in a diverse city like New York is offered here. Characters in that society suffer as a result of these tensions as a result of immigration struggles, terrorist attacks, and identity issues. Cultural priorities, as shown in the book, lead to the denial of rights to many people in heterogeneous societies. Terrorist attacks and other forms of discrimination against them serve to solidify their inferiority complex. The facts on the hardships experienced by people in New York's postcolonial multicultural society are unearthed via the use of qualitative content analysis. Home Boy faces a plethora of socio-cultural conflicts and shows an interest in the real-life situations of the people living in such civilizations, according to the study. Their socioeconomic position is deteriorated by the prevailing culture, and H. M. Naqvi has communicated this misery via this work.

Civil Society in the Crosshairs

As a result of permanent crises, changing political circumstances, rise of populism and overwhelming socio-cultural conflicts, recently liberal democracy is on the decline. This process strongly affects the civil sector, which in the 21st century is still considered one of the main defenders of democracy and human rights. Civil sector also performs a couple of functions that help them try to monitor the state (watchdog function), protect citizens, minorities, human rights, environment, animals etc. and provide a normative behavioural attitude. Nowadays in many countries the activities of civil organizations are restricted, displaced or terminated. Focusing on those countries where democratic backsliding process can be clearly observed, this study examines the background and forms of the process by which civils turned from partners to “enemies” in the last decade.

Decoding Trauma: A Cultural Ecological Reading of the Graphic Memoir Persepolis

Trauma is an amalgamation of repercussions happened and the effects of socio-cultural conflicts. Graphical novels always combine images and text to decipher the narrative by appealing to all senses. Persepolisis, a graphic memoir is also an autobiographical narrative written by Marjane Satrapi. This memoir covers the societal and cultural aspects through pictorial representation. It delineates Satrapi’s childhood and her adult years in Iran and Austria during the Islamic Revolution. Satrapi resists to accept the new changes happening in the society. Eventually, she forgets her real self who migrates abroad in search of hope but ends up in trauma. This research article sets out to analyse Satrapi’s existential crisis, identity trauma, self- discovery and how the ecology influenced her culture and life.

The Recovery of Disused Waterways as Blue Corridors: The Battaglia Canal between Padua and the Venetian Lagoon

The management of surface freshwater bodies can be considered one of the most important issues affecting the quality of living spaces in the industrialised world. Today's awareness of the importance of sustainable water management includes the artificial canals built over centuries to meet multiple and different needs. The development of railways in the 19th century and the extraordinary spread of road transport after World War II led to the steady abandonment of historic canals all over Europe and the consequent deterioration of their water quality and corridor spaces. This deterioration, in turn, led to socio-cultural conflicts over the spaces and the necessity/desirability of maintaining them in the late 20th century. In recent years the benefits provided by blue-green infrastructure in terms of biodiversity, new socio-economical opportunities and the improvement of the well-being and mental health of their users has been acknowledged by scholars and policy makers in the European Union and elsewhere. The article analyses the territorialisation of the Battaglia Canal in Italy’s northwestern Veneto region, between Padua (Padova) and the Venetian Lagoon and its broader canalscape that has resulted from different adminsitrative and planning processes and the manner in which changes in socio-environmental perceptions has influenced approaches to managing the canal. Building on this, the article raises issues concerning the management of the canal and proposes some perspectives for a multifunctional recovery and a sustainable valourisation of it as a social and environmental asset.

BUNG KARNO'S SPEECH, UNESCO AND INDONESIAN DIPLOMACY

The contextuality of world civilization today presents a portrait of relations between countries that are less harmonious. The Covid-19 pandemic, which should have been a momentum for the unity of countries in the world, has actually sparked sharp conflict between the United States and China. On the other hand, the Russian and Ukrainian war opened our understanding that there was a wrong global construction that fueled Russia's "coercive and unilateral" behavior towards its own neighboring countries. Globalization has made problems in a country or region develop into global issues. It is at this point that Indonesia can make its contribution. With the designation of Bung Karno's speech entitled "To Build the World A New" as Memory of the World, it became easier for the international public to access the text archive of the speech as a reference for developing studies related to UNESCO's field of work. Archives are only archives if they are only stored in bookshelves and documents. The aim of this research is to answer the research question: How to "animate" Indonesian historical archives so that they benefit the world? and How to capitalize on these historical documents for the interests of Indonesian diplomacy? This study uses a qualitative method. The analysis was carried out by interpreting the data based on the literature study. Data were collected from previous reference journals, books, and news from internet sources. This study concludes, Pancasila can become an international reference. This is because the text of the speech is open for use by researchers, academics and international practitioners in studying Pancasila as a philosophical and political discipline, whose values are very relevant for mediating socio-cultural conflicts.

Ынтымақтастық философиясы: философиялық мәдени дипломатияның алғышарттары

People are always important only to people. Such practices as “communication”, “cooperation” have developed since mankind created society and are not new. The concept of “cultural diplomacy,” aimed at creating and maintaining peace and stability throughout the world through intercultural relations, forms the basis of a new science. While the new science considers new research, mechanisms and new ways, the proposed article examines a number of fundamental ways linking philosophy and cultural diplomacy. Such a step may be necessary for interdisciplinary reflection, research and practice. This is justified by the fact that philosophy is necessary to provide a theoretical vision of each science, while rational thinking seeks to clarify and determine the origin, causes, goals, characteristics, methods, scientific vocabulary, various areas of its specific part. Since philosophy is a worldwide science, the study of international exchange of experience can create an effective field of research.Cultural diplomacy is common to a number of fields of philosophy, such as “philosophy of culture”, “political philosophy” and “philosophical anthropology,” therefore, the field of research is open for development in terms of new philosophical considerations and many valuable ideas. The authors of the article believe that intercultural and internal relations can be strengthened and maintained through constant and continuous dialogue and exchange, which, in turn, helps to strengthen understanding and trust between peoples and communities, prevent misunderstandings, improve relations and cooperation, and reduce the likelihood of socio-cultural conflicts and disputes.

An MCDM-based risk management in an Indonesian highway measurement project

It is crucial to assess risks in projects as considering many factors with a high degree of uncertainty for project success. Although past studies were carried out on risk management in various projects, there are still wider opportunities to develop risk management integrating between a traditional risk management and a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach. Further, it involves multiple factors as well as decision makers (DMs) that may clearly represent the real situation. Accordingly, this study aims to develop a risk management model combined with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) demonstrated in an Indonesian highway measurement project. There are five DMs invited to identify the 45 risk factors categorized into nine groups. Then, the AHP method was employed to calculate the weight of the risk groups before a traditional risk assessment was utilized to obtain the risk scores. With the Pareto chart, the result indicated that there were 23 critical risks including the project and measurement groups and the external risks such as natural disaster, political issues, and socio-cultural conflicts that should be seriously concerned. For a further study, it is strongly encouraged to analyze the uncontrollable external factors bringing significant impact on project particularly in developing countries.

Necîb Mahfûz’un “Şehru’l-‘Asel” Adlı Öyküsünün Yitirilen Değerler Bağlamında Tahlili

Arap edebiyatında hayatının tamamını roman ve öyküye adayarak roman türünün bu edebiyatta kökleşip itibar görmesinin en etkin yazarlarından sayılan Necîb Mahfûz’un, her iki türün de şiirle eşdeğer tutulmasındaki büyük katkısı tüm eleştirmenler tarafından kabul görmektedir. Mısır’da tercüme çalışmalarıyla birlikte zemin bulan modern nesir türlerinin birer şube olmasının önündeki engebeli yolları aşan Mahfûz, özellikle romanın başlangıç, olgunlaşma ve zirve dönemlerini bizzat yaşamış birisi olarak Arap edebiyatında bu türün tartışmasız en büyük yazarlarındandır. Bu çalışmada eserlerinde olaylara geniş bir çerçeveden bakabilme yetisine sahip, 20.yy. Mısır toplumunun temel değerlerinde aksayan yanları dile getiren yazarın, modern roman tekniklerini esas aldığı tavrıyla, sıradan, öğütvari ve propagandacı tarzdan uzak; dönemin ve Arap toplumunun gerçeklerine dokunan bir anlayışla kaleme aldığı “Şehru’l-‘Asel” adlı öyküsünün tahlili yapılarak, sosyokültürel çatışmalar odaklı, eleştirel bir perspektifle değerlendirilmiştir.

Conflicting Perspectives on the Internationalization of Higher Education: Evidence from the Turkish Case

The internationalization of higher education (IHE) has become a key policy issue for governments, a research field for scholars, a strategic priority for universities, and a career orientation for administrative staff. Yet, with recent social, political, and economic trends heavily embellished by globalization and neoliberalism, the term IHE has resulted in conflicting perspectives. Although there are numerous analyses on IHE, these analyses seldom focus on conflicts among different constituencies of the university (leaders, academics, administrative staff). This study aims at exploring the perspectives of key constituencies on the common conception and practice of IHE. The study was designed as basic qualitative research in which the data set was collected from four flagship universities in Türkiye. The results indicated a variety of academic, economic, political, and socio-cultural conflicts by different constituencies. These conflicts are mostly related to the association of IHE with neoliberal values while the progressive values remain invisible.

Multicultural Values: a Perspective Against Diversity

The purpose of this article is to describe and analyze: 1) the importance of multicultural education in a plural nation-state; 2) government policies on the application of multicultural values in educational institutions, and 3) multicultural values as the embodiment of the Pancasila philosophy. This type of research used descriptive qualitative research design, while the form of research used content analysis as the foundation of analysis procedures. The results of the study concluded that: 1) multicultural education needs to be understood by the community because the values of multiculturalism can be an alternative means of solving the national socio-cultural conflicts; 2) government policies on the application of multicultural values in educational institutions can be "entrusted" in the subjects of History, Civics, Religion, and Guidance and Counseling teachers other than through extracurricular activities; and 3) multicultural education needs to continue to be comprehensively deepened, because it contains social values as a source that is not stagnant, only limited to discourse, but these values are in line with the precepts in Pancasila.

The satirical map is a medium for criticism of the contemporary Arab Maghreb reality among Moroccan artists: الخريطة الساخرة وسيط تشكيلي لنقد الواقع العربي المغاربي المعاصر لدى الفنانين المغاربة

During the recent timeframe, what has become the Arab Maghreb plastic artist’s goal during the recent period is foregrounding, through cartographic works that mimic the reality of the Maghreb Arab world, the plethora of the latter’s matters. This is to be done either via critical artwork that may reach a level of sarcasm in certain stances, or via criticizing reality in which the Arab world witnesses ideological and socio-cultural conflicts. That image is nothing more than a multi-faceted area of research that defines the Maghreb identity and represents the intellectual, cultural and social features of the corresponding society. Ergo, various artists tried to transmit the Maghreb reality through different images in such a manner that they entered the realm of social critique and satire. Yet, the intensity of criticism varies from an artist to another, for it is gauged according to his/her cultural and social backgrounds; adding to that his/her national sense of belonging. Indeed, the plastic artist has ventured in the game of geographic leveling of countries, and even of the map as a whole. Thus, they rendered the general makeup of the image a mimesis of his/her design which was both critical and awareness-oriented. Satirical maps, then, saw the light and waxed a plastic medium that transmits and critiques the modern Maghreb world.

The Blurred Space: Reading the Body Politic in Christos Tsiolkas’s The Slap and The Jesus Man

ABSTRACT The politico-historical settings of Christos Tsiolkas’s novels The Jesus Man (1999) and The Slap (2008) compromise the expressions of self manifested by his transcultural characters. The failure of Howard-era multicultural policies combines with the economic rationalising of the culture wars and the xenophobic hysteria spread by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party to haunt those marginalised by the Eurocentricity of Australian culture. As a result, the transcultural characters of The Jesus Man are forced to externalise an augmented version of their performative selves, compromised as they are by such cultural homogenisation; in The Slap, the failure of neoliberal multicultural policies manifests in the anxieties experienced by the characters. The characters of both novels are forced to confront these sociocultural, historical and psychological conflicts in a space laden with historical tensions, cultural erasure and political uncertainty. This article argues that Tsiolkas’s real-world fictional settings problematise the performance of his multicultural characters in ways that unsettle hegemonic constructions of Australian culture. In particular, I contend that from this tension, a blurred space emerges that offers a way forward for transcultural subjects: it is a liminal space in which cultural syncretism is encouraged, cultural performance is delimited, and hegemonic cultural norms are mitigated.

Pancasila as The Basis of The State Unity of The Republic of Indonesia

Indonesia is facing various challenges because some people do not use religious and cultural values as a source of ethics in the nation and state. Socio-cultural conflicts have occurred due to ethnic, cultural, and religious pluralism that the government and society are not appropriately managed and fair. Based on that, Pancasila is needed by all generations of the nation. The type of research method used in this research is normative research, namely research on library materials which are primary data in science is classified as secondary data, which relies on data collection tools in the form of library studies or document studies. The research concludes that generations need Pancasila to unify the nation. Even though the Indonesian people are now united, it does not mean that Pancasila is no longer needed. Because what is called the Indonesian nation is what is currently there and what will exist in the future. As long as the regeneration process continues, we still need Pancasila as a unifying nation.

The Interplay of Simulacrum, Hyper-reality and Distorted Identity in Hamid’s Fiction: A Postmodern Paradigm

The present research is an exploration of the interplay between simulacrum, hyper-reality and identity as presented in Hamid’s fiction. Simulation and hyper-reality created through media and globalization profoundly affect the socio-cultural identities of the various male and female characters in the novel in both positive and negative ways. Furthermore, consumer capitalism, westernization and hyper-mediated experiences make the characters believe in false realities thus leading them to chaos and identity crisis. These hyper-realties push the characters to undergo mental, emotional, psychological and socio-cultural conflicts. Thus, in an attempt to seek their identity and true self through blind imitation of the western culture, they are led further away from their cultural roots. The theoretical insights for this study shall be drawn from postmodern theory, specifically Baudrillard’s concept of simulacrum and hyper-reality. This qualitative inquiry shall be carried out by close reading and analysis of the selected textual lines in the context of the chosen framework. The significance of this research lies in the fact that it demonstrates how fictional characters specifically and humans generally are increasingly pushed to dwell in a hyper-reality created through simulation due to globalization. The repercussions of which are far reaching including a crisis of one’s own identity and perception of self in a society that is increasingly being disoriented due to the flux of globalization.

Dänemark – Hollywood – Europa

Abstract Thomas Vinterberg is one of Scandinavia’s well-respected contemporary directors. His career is best noted for his involvement in the launch of the Dogma 95 Manifesto and it was his acclaimed Festen (DK 1998) that started the prolific film movement that followed. Yet, as this article shows, Vinterberg repeatedly tried to reinvent himself as an artist, taking on different genres, themes and aesthetic approaches. When his all-star science fiction film It’s All about Love (2003) and his pan-European co-productions met with the disapproval of critics and audiences alike, he returned to realist films. The subsequent success of his dramas – including Submarino (2010), Jagten (2012) and Druk (2020) – reinstated his status of an auteur filmmaker. The three films share a number of continuities, including a penchant for themes of homecoming, dysfunctional family relations and everyday socio-cultural conflicts within the limits of close-knit communities or circles of friends.

Linguocognitive Conflict of Digital and Pre-Digital Thinking in Online Educational Discourse During the Pandemic: Social Danger or a New Challenge?

The authors analyze the problems of online educational discourse in the context of the linguocognitive conflict of the «pre-digital» and «digital generations» in connection with mediated communication during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Today, society has actualized hidden socio-cultural conflicts that have increased the disharmonious influence on the implementation of online educational discourse in a situation of prolonged self-isolation and lockdowns. The authors distinguish a separate subtype of educational discourse-online educational discourse, it is the result of an interactive process of interaction of subjects in an indirect educational space of an online format, within which intercultural, interpersonal communication, a diverse verbal-paraverbal exchange of information using digital means of communication is carried out. At the same time, the possibilities of the language of the participants of educational communication are evaluated in the context of expressing their communicative intentions. The situation of the pandemic has updated the features in the decoding of information in the «digital generation». The specifics of the speech-thinking activity of the «digital generation» are a pseudo-psychopatholinguistic phenomenon, which requires new approaches to online educational discourse in the formation of competencies. The new situation requires the allocation of other parameters for the psychodiagnostics of norm and pathology in the work of the language and brain. Humanity is looking for compromises for the full-fledged formation of various competencies based on language, using online educational dialogue as optimal in terms of survival during a pandemic. The specifics of the language behavior of the «digital generation» reflect a different type of thinking than that of the representatives of the «pre-digital generation». The article reflects the results of an international study on the formation of students ‘ communicative competence using online educational discourse during the COVID‑19 pandemic

Social Indicators of Conflict in the Context of Media and Journalism: Analysis of the Content of Russian Media

Conflictology as a field of knowledge is aimed at identifying and substantiating the factors that systematically generate contradictions, social tension, and collisions in the society. At the same time, researchers recognize that media support has become an integral natural part of conflict throughout the process of its development, which gives rise to a media-centric approach to the study of sociocultural conflicts using interdisciplinary means and methodological tools. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the results of a study analyzing key indicators of conflict-related information agenda in Russian mass media outlets. The leading federal socio-political newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda, Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Kommersant, as well as online media sources Lenta.Ru and Gazeta.Ru were selected as the object of the research. The period under investigation was January-December 2020. The selection and analysis of publications by keywords was carried out using the information retrieval system for monitoring and analyzing the media "Integrum" and an algorithm based on artificial neural networks word2vec. The original methodology has made it possible to determine the ratio of publications containing conflict as the key notion in the total amount of media reports of the same period, as well as to identify key indicators of conflict-related materials analyzing their main characteristics. The results have shown that Russian media sources chosen as the study sample reveal conflict significantly a lot and the topic semantic field is extremely diverse. The present study may be prototypical for the analysis of indicators of relevant issues and resonant topics in any social sphere. This, in turn, is extremely valuable in situations when mass media becomes a tool for shaping public opinion and consciousness, in terms of both theoretical or scientific importance and quick and effective practical application.

Marginalised identities between fatalism and desperation – experiences of low-level cannabis street dealers in Frankfurt

Purpose This paper aims to research people who sell cannabis in public spaces known as “drug places” in Frankfurt, Germany. A particular focus is set to the relations of identity formation, relations to other dealers and law enforcement, taking into account the concept of “street capital” as social and cultural capital accumulated in the practice of drug dealing in public. Design/methodology/approach Nine biographically oriented qualitative interviews were conducted directly within the respective “drug places” in the inner city and the margins of the local open drug scene with exclusively male subjects. Interviews were conducted in German, audio-recorded and transcribed. Data was analysed with structured qualitative content analysis. Findings All respondents had some degree of migration background, ranging from German citizens up to refugees with illegal residence permit status. Social deprivation, socio-cultural conflicts with parents, combined with often early own drug use (mainly cannabis and cocaine) and stigma had contributed to a precarious existence. Experiences of criminalisation did not discourage the respondents from the continuation of their selling activity. Violence in these settings was likely but assessed in highly different ways depending on attitudes and experiences. The same is true for diverging experiences with police, however, the threat of being criminalised is always present. Originality/value As mostly independent and solitary dealers, this study researched a rarely investigated group. While these respondents have developed skills or street capital to survive in the respective setting, they are caught between unfavourable social conditions, social exclusion, violence, law enforcement and own drug use, leading to a desperate and fatalistic mindset. Somewhat paradoxically, this fatalism may be regarded as a result of keeping control over their own actions.

The Role of Native Weaknesses and Cultural Conflicts in Escalating Colonial Supremacy in the Igbo Society, as Perceived in Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe

The colonial invaders and their repressive means of governance in Africa were not the only reasons that could be solely held accountable for the fall of indigenous African society during the colonial invasion. Native weaknesses, socio-cultural conflicts and hegemony were equally responsible for the falling apart of native social setups when confronted with colonial alternatives. Native people had had their own covert religious and cultural limitations long before the colonizers entered their soil. The colonial powers cleverly used such inherent societal flaws of African people as excuses to impose European religion and traditions on them. Chinua Achebe does not blindly idealize native African traditions in his writings. He frequently narrates his doubts on flawed socio-cultural practices and moral dualities in the native society, too. This paper is an attempt to explore how innate weaknesses of native Igbo people, socio-cultural conflicts and domination in the native society have also made it easier for the colonial administration to prolong their supremacy in the Igbo land, as depicted in Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe. It also elaborates how Ezeulu, the chief priest of god Ulu, falls from dominance in his society because of his intent to execute personal desires which jeopardize his societal role in the Igbo land.

Sociocultural Conflicts and Ottoman Settlement Policies at the Balkan Wars

ABSTRACT Migrations from Balkans to the Ottoman Empire continued for about 150 years; and peaked during the wars such as the 1877–78 Ottoman-Russian War and the Balkan Wars. Balkan immigrants with multi-ethnic, multicultural backgrounds and settling in with monocultural host communities faced hostility. We analysed these conflicts through official Ottoman archives, testimonies, and literary memoirs for the period of 1912 and 1917. Through the lenses of the conflict model of migration, we have explored the dynamic nature of migration processes in response to conflicts emerged between immigrants and local population in this period. We argue that Balkan immigrants faced insecurities arising from socio-cultural conflicts and this adversely affected the integration process.