Sociopolitical Features Research Articles

Beyond the border: comparative ethnobotany in Valmalenco (SO, Italy) and Valposchiavo (Canton of Grisons, Switzerland)

BackgroundThe ethnobotanical analysis of two bordering areas allows for the in-depth understanding of the dynamics of Local Ecological Knowledge, which mirrors the naturalistic, historical, and sociopolitical features of each area. As part of the Interreg Italy-Switzerland B-ICE&Heritage and GEMME projects, this work is an ethnobotanical comparative study of two neighboring Alpine territories: Valmalenco (Italy) and Valposchiavo (Switzerland).MethodsA total of 471 informants were interviewed on different fields of use (medicinal, food, veterinary, etc.). All data were organized in Excel™ spreadsheets. Informant Consensus Factor was calculated for the pathologies reported. Jaccard’s similarity indices were calculated to compare the Valmalenco and Valposchiavo areas. Subsequently, another comparison between Valmalenco/Valposchiavo and Italian/Swiss Alpine neighboring areas was carried out.ResultsThe number of taxa for Valmalenco was 227 (77 families) and 226 in Valposchiavo (65). Out of the 10 most cited species, 7 were mentioned in both. Arnica montana L. was the most cited in Valmalenco, and Sambucus nigra L. in Valposchiavo. The 5 most cited families were the same. Regarding the medicinal and food fields, the similarity indices were fairly low (0.31 and 0.34 for the species; 0.22 and 0.31 for the uses). Concerning the comparison with Italian and Swiss Alps, similarity values were slightly higher with Italy (Valmalenco food species: 0.38 with Italy and 0.26 with Switzerland, medicinal: 0.26 IT and 0.14 SW; Valposchiavo food species: 0.36 with IT and 0.26 with SW, medicinal: 0.21 IT and 0.14 SW).ConclusionAlthough Valmalenco and Valposchiavo partly share natural environment, language, history, and culture, they had low similarity indices. They both seemed to have more similarities with Italy than Switzerland, maintaining low values with the surrounding territories too. They showed a common core of Local Ecological Knowledge with several divergent branches possibly due to pivotal historical happenings, as well as more modern external influences.

A PRAGMATIC STUDY OF WORD COMBINATIONS WITH COLOR COMPONENTS

This article gives a broad opinion about the color component word combinations and talks about their specific aspects, psychological, socio-political features, and their use in speech acts. Also, the article presents a pragmatic analysis of word combinations which are expressed with the same and different color components in different languages. The analysis is enriched with examples in English and Uzbek languages.

Socio-political features shaping the mathematics teaching and professional identities of muslim minority teachers in Western Thrace

Socio-political features shaping the mathematics teaching and professional identities of muslim minority teachers in Western Thrace

State Postsecondary Boards as Policy Influencers During the Early Stages of COVID-19

In an era where many states’ postsecondary education governance dynamics are evolving, we set out to understand whether state-level governing boards with centralized governance functions affected institutions’ decisions to engage in in-person instruction during the fall of 2020, the first fall of the Covid-19 pandemic. We examined sociopolitical features related to the strength of governance functions of centralized state boards. The data alluded to linkages between Republican control and lower bachelor’s degree attainment linking (β = −.45) with weaker centralized governance. We also found a negative effect from increased centralized governance functions (β = −.12) to in-person instruction at public 4-year institutions for fall 2020. This paper gives a real-time opportunity to see if the characteristics of governing boards influence return to campus.

Дискурс энергетического перехода и его влияние на глобальную энергетическую политику

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the need for a balanced assessment and comprehensive analysis of the fourth energy transition and its features. The author examines the causes of the beginning of the transition and its political, economic, and social consequences. Sociopolitical features directly affecting the development of the energy transition and its pace are discussed in the article. Separately, the possible conse-quences of neglecting the economic foundations of the energy sector and replacing them with politically moti-vated decisions are explored. The research methodology includes the analysis of scientific publications by Russian and foreign authors, as well as logical and structural analysis. The use of a systemic approach allows for considering the energy transition as a single system with multiple interacting subsystems. The author con-cludes that the key factor and at the same time the main distinguishing feature of the fourth energy transition is political expediency. However, the author notes that substituting economic expediency with political expediency can lead to reduced energy accessibility worldwide, decreased investment, and social tension. Minimizing negative consequences is possible through harmonious and consistent development of the energy transition based on the use of market mechanisms.

Socio-political features and prospects for the development of the Russian movie industry through the prism of the history of soviet cinema and international film industry experience

The article is devoted to the Russian movie industry and the problems that national cinema is currently facing. This applies to surface level, urgent difficulties, such as the rapid decline in cinema attendance in the absence of Hollywood tentpoles at the box office, as well as to deeper shortcomings, among them the lack of Russian cinema's own identity. The author describes how the modern system of state support of the movie industry unwittingly leads to a deluge of similar run-of-the-mill movies, which not only negatively affects the total revenue of Russian cinemas, but also does not allow the domestic film market to grow, as well as effectively perform its socio-political functions. Patriotic high-budget blockbusters have become the most demanded type of Russian film production in recent years, the plot of which is based on events from Russian history, told in the language of Western commercial cinema. The rare but nevertheless sound successes of such films have led to the system under which these types of movies receive the lion's share of budget funding. Disregarding the fact that box office data shows that viewers are more often attracted to films of a smaller scale, but about lives of our contemporaries of today and tomorrow. The current situation in the Russian movie industry is compared with the experience of the formation of the Soviet cinema and withe the development of national film industries of China, South Korea and France.

Lock-ins to transition pathways anchored in contextualized cooperative dynamics: Insights from the historical trajectories of the Walloon dairy cooperatives

Drawing on a historical study of the Walloon dairy cooperatives, this paper analyses how complex cooperative dynamics define lock-ins in their trajectories. We consider cooperatives as firms active on markets and as structures of collective action gathering farmers-members around common strategic goals. Williamson's framework from New Institutional Economics accounts for the embeddedness of firms' strategies and governance in their wider context of development. Under the influence of this context of development, Ostrom's IAD (Institutional Analysis and Development) and SES (Social-Ecological Systems) frameworks, merged in a so-called CIS framework, capture the dynamic interplay between the components of cooperatives. Resorting to a combination between these frameworks, this paper discusses how the interplay between the components of the cooperatives' social-ecological system unfolded in the trajectories of the Walloon dairy cooperatives over the last sixty years. We uncover a double social dilemma at play. On the part of the farmers, the social dilemma anchors itself in the tension between their short-term interests as milk supplier over those of principal investor. On the part of the cooperatives' directors, the social dilemma anchors itself in the features of linking and bridging social capital in the region, unfavourable to inter-cooperative dialogue. In the Walloon Region, these social dilemma constituted a structural driver of the competition between dairy cooperatives and the subsequent inability to cooperate and invest towards successful long-term diversification pathways. We discuss how contextual factors, in particular market features, regulatory frameworks, socio-political features, and institutional support to dialogue, may aggravate, or conversely mitigate the effect of these social dilemma on cooperatives' trajectories. We call for more historically-informed studies on the impact of context on cooperative dynamics and stress the relevance of contextualized approaches to unlock prospective dynamics of collective agency in transition pathways.

ON SOME FEATURES OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND METHODOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE REGULATORY ROLE OF FATWAS USED IN THE DERADICALIZATION OF THE POPULATION IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES

The article discusses the features of the scientific and methodological study of the regulatory role of fatwas used in the deradicalization of the population in Muslim countries. The object of the study is the fatwas issued by the ulema of Egypt, Turkey, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and aimed at deradicalization of the people’s opinions. The subject of the study is the regulatory role and processes of applying fatwas to deradicalize the population of these countries. The study of the subject covers historical, theological, legal, socio-psychological, and political aspects, and to solve the tasks set, several scientific approaches and methods are required. The importance of applying theological and academic approaches is substantiated. According to the theological approach, social and all other processes are explained from the divine point of view. The corresponding norms of religious sources are studied. Each source of the chosen fatwa - sura, verse of the Koran, hadith, or the conclusion of authoritative ulema is subject to analysis and consideration primarily from a theological point of view. However, this approach will not give applied conclusions if the research, along with the theological aspect, involves the issue of radicalization, which requires the study of socio-political, economic, psychological, and other features of the object and subject of research. We think that with the theological approach, it is important to apply the academic approach in Islamic studies. One of the components of the scientific and methodological basis of this study is the comparative method. This method helps to identify the general forms, types, and effectiveness of fatwas. It is necessary to apply the genetic method - a method of studying social phenomena based on an analysis of their development to determine the features of the creation of fatwas. The application of this scientific method allows us to establish the primary problem - a misunderstanding or a controversial situation on a particular religious issue, on which it is necessary to issue a fatwa. Therefore, for in-depth analysis, it is advisable to apply the narrative method, the method of content analysis, and the empirical approach.

Addressing Corruption: Identifying the Factors Affecting the Disclosure of Anticorruption Plans in Italian Local Governments

ABSTRACT The never-ending fight against corruption has driven local governments (LGs) to prepare and disclose their strategies to prevent and/or reduce corruption. This paper aims to identify possible determinants that can affect disclosure provided through anticorruption plans, specifically the factors that can affect accountability behaviour. To this end, anticorruption plans published by a sample of Italian LGs are analysed. Findings reveal that governance, economic and socio-political features considerably affect anticorruption disclosure. The key lessons from the findings reveal that anticorruption regulations require further surveillance and that key mechanisms must be implemented for more effective action.

We Want You Back: Uncovering the Effects on In-Person Instructional Operations in Fall 2020.

Postsecondary institutions’ responses to COVID-19 are a topic of immediate relevance. Emergent research suggests that partisanship was more strongly linked to institutions offering in-person instruction for Fall 2020 than was COVID-19. Using data from the College Crisis Initiative and a multiple group structural equation modeling approach, we tested the relationships between our outcome of interest (in-person instruction in Fall 2020) and state and county sociopolitical features, state and county COVID-19 rates, and state revenue losses. Our full-sample model suggested that County Political Preferences had the strongest association with in-person instruction, followed by Pandemic Severity and State Sociopolitical Features. Because institutional sectors may be uniquely sensitive to these factors, we tested our models separately on 4-year public, 4-year private, and 2-year public and 2-year private institutions. State Sociopolitical Features were significantly related to in-person instruction for 4-year private and 2-year public institutions but were strongest for 4-year public institutions. For 4-year private and 2-year public institutions, County Political Preferences’ effect sizes were 2–3 times stronger than effects from State Sociopolitical Features. Pandemic Severity was significantly, negatively related to in-person instruction for 4-year private and 2-year public institutions–similar in magnitude to State Sociopolitical Features. Our analysis revealed that COVID-19 played a stronger role in determining in-person instruction in Fall 2020 than initial research using less sophisticated methods suggested—and while State Sociopolitical Features may have played a role in the decision, 4-year private and 2-year public institutions were more sensitive to county-level preferences.

A “Participatory School” in Iran: A Bottom-Up Learning Approach in a Top-Down Education System

This article discusses how a bottom-up approach to learning can be positioned within a top-down educational structure. For the first time, Iran’s educational system has witnessed a shift from a one-dimensional teacher-centered approach to the triangular student-facilitator-parent approach. While the majority of children’s participative activities in Iran have pedagogical functions, the participatory type of school was established to prioritize the voice of students. Through an analysis of interviews in a study of participatory schooling in Iran, this research identified several similarities and contradictions in terms of children’s inclusion between the theoretical framework and philosophy of democratic and child-centered school with the conventional Iranian one. The contribution of this article is to highlight how the socio-political features of the context can influence the structure and approach to education and effectiveness of inclusion. This approach to learning can be significant in societies where child integration has not yet found its meaningful position in schools.

Comparative Characteristics of Dances in China and Ukraine from the Point of View of Historical, Genre, Target, Methodological and Socio-Political Aspects: a Review Article

Purpose: to compare target, style, methodological, historical and socio-political features and determine the possibilities of mutual application of various approaches to the development of dance education in China and Ukraine. Material and methods. The review included articles on the peculiarities of historical development, methodological aspects, the dance influence on health of people of different ages and different social status. The review also included articles on the peculiarities of the social and political aspects of dance art in China and Ukraine. The analysis of literary sources was carried out by working with scientific articles that are presented in the databases "Web of Science", "Scopus", "Pub Med" and others. Results. The features of Chinese dances that can be applied in Ukraine have been identified: 1 - the practice of mass dances on the streets and squares of cities; 2 - the inner orientation of the dance art towards unity with nature, towards the self-expression of people of their feelings, emotions, experiences, towards achieving harmony through movement; 3 - increased attention to the psychological preparation of dancers; 4 - high attention of researchers to the influence of dancing on the mental and cardiological health of people of different ages; 5 - high number of articles, published in rating journals. The features of Ukrainian dances, which can be applied in China, have been determined: 1 - the development of speed-power qualities of dancers; 2 - implementation of an individual approach, which is currently beginning to develop in Ukraine. Conclusions. The combination of Ukrainian speed-power dance and Chinese inner focus on harmony of body and soul, on unity with nature will create a qualitatively new approach to the development of dance art in general and to the process of teaching dance. This study is the first from the point of view of a comparative analysis of the process of teaching dance in China and Ukraine in terms of historical, socio-political, methodological, substantive aspects, as well as the impact of dancing on the body of the practitioners.

Исторические аспекты административно-территориального устройства Калмыкии в контексте взаимоотношений с Астраханской областью по вопросу реабилитации калмыцкого народа

Introduction. The paper explores historical aspects of Kalmykia’s administrative and territorial structure with due regard of its relations to Astrakhan Oblast in the context of the Kalmyk people’s territorial rehabilitation initiated in the early 1990s. Materials and Methods. The work employs the historical descriptive and comparative research methods. It focuses on one archival document — the opinion letter of September 20–23, 1991 by Yu. Oglaev, Cand.Sc. (history) and Associate Professor at Kalmyk State University, dealing with ‘Working Papers on Territorial Rehabilitation of the Kalmyk People’ issued by the Commission of Astrakhan Oblast Soviet of People’s Deputies. Results. The article examines arguments of Astrakhan Oblast authorities aimed at undermining attempts of Kalmykia’s government to raise the question of territorial rehabilitation. Specifically, it gives some data on territorial transformations of ‘enclave’ settlements in Kalmykia before December 1943 and after the 1957 restoration of the ethnic autonomy. Conclusions. The historical aspect of territorial disputes between the two Lower Volga regions after 1957 basically rests on that Astrakhan Oblast government refused to recognize the proclaimed (reclaimed) borders (some part) of Kalmykia as of 1957. The idea of returning two districts integral to the Kalmyk ASSR as of 1943 back to the republic was articulated by Kalmykia’s executives in the Government of the RSFSR after 1957, and the era of perestroika attached somewhat sociopolitical features to the issue — only to eventually end in nothing. However, the history of territorial transformations of settlements in the border areas of Kalmykia and Astrakhan Oblast do require further scientific insights, as well as the use of distant pastures by neighboring regions — special emphasis thereto be laid on economic, environmental and land-related consequences experienced by the republic.

Treatment of History in Select Contemporary Indian English Novels

History and fiction share one trait in common and that is recording of events past, incidence, personalities, movements, etc. the difference between history and fiction is that history takes an objective view of the events whereas fiction takes a creative sweep. Both chronicle formation, development and evolution of nations in their own way. History fiction interface therefore becomes a virgin track to till for the Indian English novelist. Shashi Tharoor in The Great Indian Novel (1989), Geeta Mahta in Raj (1988) and Kiran Nagarkar in Cuckold (1997) explore this interface in their unique ways. Tharoor tries to atone himself with his present retrospectively with the help of history. Geeta Mehta tries to coalate east –west encounter along with cultural issues, historical facts and fantasy, realism and socio-political features at the time of independence. Kiran Nagarkar tries to achieve a transformation in the history or the lack of it.

Does the Arab region have an agrarian question?

ABSTRACT Discussion on food sovereignty and agro-ecology, and Anglophone rural sociology have blind spots when it comes to the Middle East/North African (Arab) region. This article explores them; outlines some initial concepts, discusses avenues for research, and notes some socio-political features of the region which make it distinct from others. It focuses on the necessity to include war and the national question to understand the regional agrarian question and advances and retreats in regional knowledge production. It proceeds by (1) establishing the relative absence of the region from the leading peasant studies journals; (2) synthesizing the region’s political economy and waves of knowledge production; (3) highlighting local traditions which speak to the questions of food sovereignty and agro-ecology; and (4) listing a series of theoretical, historical, and analytical avenues which remain to be addressed.

Scale and information-processing thresholds in Holocene social evolution

Throughout the Holocene, societies developed additional layers of administration and more information-rich instruments for managing and recording transactions and events as they grew in population and territory. Yet, while such increases seem inevitable, they are not. Here we use the Seshat database to investigate the development of hundreds of polities, from multiple continents, over thousands of years. We find that sociopolitical development is dominated first by growth in polity scale, then by improvements in information processing and economic systems, and then by further increases in scale. We thus define a Scale Threshold for societies, beyond which growth in information processing becomes paramount, and an Information Threshold, which once crossed facilitates additional growth in scale. Polities diverge in socio-political features below the Information Threshold, but reconverge beyond it. We suggest an explanation for the evolutionary divergence between Old and New World polities based on phased growth in scale and information processing. We also suggest a mechanism to help explain social collapses with no evident external causes.

Metropolitan Feminisms of Middle-Class India: Multiple Sites, Conflicted Voices

Across Indian metropolises, large demonstrations protesting violence against women have become very frequent, marking the present as a significant moment for feminism. I use the term feminism metonymically, to signify the force activated in the name of justice, when women foreground their gender identity. This clarification is prompted by the resistance to these terms seen as Western, culturally different from the milieu here constituted by an active meld of economic and socio-political features. However, in the immense heterogeneity of the cities, markers such as region, caste, religion, etc, get marginalized, though definitely not erased. Impediments to any neat, progressive reading of the public assertions are many. Gender gets displaced when other contexts, which have produced us as women through differentiations, come into play unexpectedly. Breaking the hegemony of cultural imaginaries remains a work in process.

Where Our Bright Star Is Cast: Religiosity, Spirituality, and Positive Black Development in Urban Landscapes

Social science research offers a particular, narrow view of the lived experiences of Black urban-residing people. When the religious and spiritual lives of Black urban residents are viewed through this narrow lens, the diversity of religious and spiritual experiences and the connections between everyday life and positive outcomes, such as compassion, hope, liberation, joy, etc., become flattened, doing a disservice to the very people whose experiences we aim to understand. We contend that understanding the link between religiosity, spirituality, and positive development among Black urban-residing people requires us to pay attention to the ways that faith helps Black people to navigate the sequelae of five distinct sociopolitical features of urban life. We propose a conceptual framework that links these sociopolitical factors to religiosity, spirituality, and positive development among Black youth and adults residing in urban spaces. We conclude with recommendations applicable to the study of Black urban religiosity and spirituality.

MAKING THE UNSEEN VISIBLE: EXPLORING CROSSCUTTING SOCIAL MEDIA PUBLICS AND THEIR SOCIOPOLITICAL TRAITS

This paper proposes an approach for studying the sociopolitical traits of multiple publics on Facebook that emerge in the network of interactions between users and public pages. The study is based on a survey of 1697 Danish citizens whose responses are coupled with their public Facebook activity.This is used to make predictions about a selection of sociopolitical features for a random sample of 50.000 Facebook users across more than 20.000 public pages. The interactions of the 50.000 users are modeled as a network and a clustering algorithm is used to find groups that arise naturally within said network. This allows for the study of how certain sociopolitical features cut across different congregations of the public in a way that retains a lot of the complexity of the digital trace data.
 Results show that voting intention overlaps most strongly with the clusters in the network, followed by gender and geo-location. Additionally they show that the so-called political echo-chambers consist only of smaller subsections of the entire network with many users' interactions mainly being identified by interests that can be attributed to gender, geo-location or other. Although, results also show that the political alt. right are very dominant on hot button political issues such as immigration and religion.
 It is proposed that by eliciting sociopolitical trends while considering the full network of interactions might lead researchers to overlook and overestimate fewer features when studying the formation of social media publics.

Language matters? Antecedents and political consequences of support for bilingualism in Canada and Finland

Language policies are important sociopolitical features of multilingual countries. Not only do they regulate relations with governmental authorities, but they can also impact intergroup relations. Yet, empirical research has tended to ignore language policies. Very little is known in relation to the factors that lead individuals to support or oppose such policies. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, there is relatively little knowledge regarding the influence of attitudes towards language policies on subsequent political phenomena. The present article seeks to address these gaps by exploring bilingualism in Canada and Finland. Specifically, using survey data from both countries’ national election studies, the article, firstly, examines factors that can account for support towards bilingualism and, secondly, it investigates the relationship of these attitudes with vote choice. The results reveal two main findings. Firstly, support for bilingualism seems to be associated with context-specific factors; a general pattern of determinants is not indicated by the results. Secondly, attitudes towards bilingualism are found to have a significant association on vote choice in both Canada and Finland.