Socio-cultural Relationships Research Articles

Territorial Politics in Cross-Border Local Development Strategies in the Krayan – Ba’Kelalan Region at the Indonesia – Malaysia Border

ABSTRACT Dynamics of uncertainty and complexity shape cross-border local development. The ethnic proximity of communities in the highlands of Kalimantan creates fluid and cross-border cultural empathy in socio-cultural and economic interactions without a formal framework of cross-border cooperation. Indonesian border development policies have shifted socio-cultural relations, triggering socio-economic inequalities and conflicts of interest that impact cross-border activities. This study uses Constructivist Grounded Theory to analyze how these issues play out in the Indonesian-Malaysian border region. The study shows the management of socio-cultural relationships and networks, capital accumulation, and its role in accommodating local interests. In the case study, these efforts lead to sustainable regional development by promoting economic equality and ensuring cross-border interactions and local sovereignty in a region with different jurisdictions and limited resources and capacities. Thus, this study provides empirical evidence of how local development strategies transform into territorial politics in response to the dynamics of cross-border issues.

Clinical profile of HIV-infected adults receiving a holistic approach of care model in Nakawa, Kampala District.

People Living with HIV (PLHIV) are often dealing with a range of issues that make life more difficult because of the limited emotional, spiritual, psychological, social, physical and clinical support which consequently lead to poor physical health and quality of life. The holistic care of individuals infected with HIV/AIDS involves promoting psychological and physiological well-being as well as fostering socio-cultural relationships and supporting the fulfillment of spiritual aspirations. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study among HIV-infected patients receiving a holistic approach of care model from January 2015 to December 2018 in Kampala district, Uganda. The study involved adult individuals aged 18 and above from whom demographics and other information were obtained. All eligible participants were selected using stratified random sampling from the parishes and systematic random sampling to select study participants. We investigated the clinical profile and the factors associated with viral load suppression among HIV-infected patients receiving a holistic approach of care model in Kampala District. The data was analyzed using STATA version 13. 0. Results: A total of 910 patients were enrolled. 676 (74.3%) were female; 453 (49.8%) were between 18 and 39 years. 324 (35.6%) were either overweight or obese. 769 (84.5%) had viral load beyond detectable limits, 904 (99.3%) were adhering to HIV treatment. 867(95.3%) were virally suppressed. The age group 40-59 years (Adjusted Odds Ratio (aOR) = 2.85, 95% Confidence Interval (CI):1.36-5.97, P = 0.005) and good adherence (aOR = 12.9, 95%CI:1.86-81.07, P = 0.009) were significantly associated with viral load suppression. Conclusion: The holistic care model supports patients in all facets of their lives, resulting into improved treatment outcomes. Our findings show that age and adherence are linked to viral load suppression among HIV-infected adults receiving a holistic approach of care model.

Political Consciousness Formation in the Modern Global World

The article examines an actual problem of international integration, associated with the peculiarities of political consciousness in modern global society. The research methodology is determined by the synthesis of analytical and comparative historical approaches. The authors consider such conditions of global society existence in which the objective social polarity of a society and the heterogeneity of political structures give rise to a wide range of needs and interests of groups and individuals. This feature forms the difference in the elements of their political consciousness. As a result, several forms of political consciousness can exist simultaneously in every society. Conceptual description motivational structure in sociopolitical systems requires the complex application of various bases for their classification. In conclusion, it is emphasized that real social systems are characterized by a complex synthesis of elements of various political consciousness types. The unity of diverse forms of political consciousness organization in a global society is based on an axiological meaningful consensus of socio-cultural relationships between people, between society and man, between state and man, conceptual represented in the symbols that motivate individual and group consciousness on trust in the authorities.

Globalization Posing Challenges to Examine the Relevance of Postcolonial Criticism in Future

It has become very difficult today to assume that we are living in a world which is postcolonial just in the sense that the curse of colonialism is over. The questions of how one nation is dominating the other and how such dominating forces can be resisted have become the salient issues of the anti-colonial movements worldwide. The postcolonial studies are focusing on the contemporary neocolonial tendencies especially after when America has invaded Afghanistan and has also attacked Iraq for building a New American Empire. Globalization seems to have changed the world so radically that it has become meaningless if we try to perceive the world either from the perspectives of how the European colonizers wanted it to be or as totally decolonized from any exploitative networks. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri in their seminal work, Empire (2000) have argued that they have used the term ‘Empire’ to refer to the emergence of a new sovereign power in the world politics which is predominating over all the other nations in contemporary times. According to them, one can understand this present-day power structure best by comparing it with how the European powers had maintained their sovereignty and empires during the colonial period. Simon Gikandi has accurately observed that, what is very new in globalization is that it has appropriated certain identical postcolonial terms like ‘hybridity’ and concepts like the ‘other’. All these different postcolonial terms and concepts had always been ignored by the former social scientists. This paper will be exploring why it is irrelevant to assume that this new postcolonial globalized culture, as it is reflected in some postcolonial literary images and narratives, does not seem to have any functional impact in changing the socio-cultural relationships of the people of this contemporary global world. This paper will also focus on why in the contemporary globalization the native is found to be contaminated by the west and therefore dangerously ‘un-otherable’ and no longer available as the pure. This paper will also address as to how globalization apart from carrying the overwhelming connotations of cosmopolitanism and evaporating the geo-political centres and margins, is intensifying the pre-existing global asymmetries and pre-empting the postcolonial critics from analyzing the operative networks of the contemporary neoimperial forces.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE IN LATIN AMERICA: GENDER IDENTITY IN THE EDUCATION

This essay explores the notion of gender identity as a dynamic process, modelled by socio-cultural relationships, in the context of education in Latin America. The historical construction of schooling in recent decades is discussed through some documents of UNESCO. As an example of gender inequality within educational proposals, some texts from children’s literature will be analysed to highlight the gender stereotypes that still exist in the editorial industry today.

A story of two pies: structural and functional characteristics of Medieval and Early New English apple pie recipes

This paper explores the apple pie recipe in its earlier versions: For to make Tartys in Applis (1390) and To make pyes of grene apples (1575), which has been specifically chosen because of its global popularity. The current paper examines some linguistic, textual, and functional peculiarities of these recipes from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. As the study aims primarily to test Görlach’s textual components and social characteristics (2004) on the selected recipes, it will also provide insight into the interplay between language and socio-cultural relationships during these historical periods.

Investigating Religious Ethics and Sociocultural Relationships in-between Ifá and Ayò Ọlọ́pọ́n among the Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria : A Critical Comparative Study

In Africa, ethics are encapsulated their various religious and social activities. Among the Yoruba, ethnical codes are propagated in religious activities especially, Ifá and in socio-cultural activities such as ayò ọlọ́pọ́n. Ifá, the springboard on which Yoruba culture rests have specialized formal and informal rules regulating its activities. This informs why violation of rules guiding Ifá profession is regarded as ethical misconduct; the punishment of which may attract severe spiritual and/or human sanctions. Likewise, ayò ọlọ́pọ́n- indigenous Yoruba sociocultural board game have informal ethical rules. However, despite the national and international nomenclatures of Ifá and ayò ọlọ́pọ́n, no study is known that undertakes ethical interrelationship between the two cultural elements together. Employing code- a semiotic element, a channel through which communication is encoded. Ethical code of Ifá is compared with ayò ọlọ́pọ́n. It is found out that, there are affinities between operational rules guiding against Ifá divination profession and rules guiding against ayò game. This study concludes that, among the Yoruba, ethical codes of Ifá and ayò ọlọ́pọ́n are activated for sustainability of peace and development. Ethics of Ifá and ayò ọlọ́pọ́n are found related and therefore, ayò ọlọ́pọ́n ethical code is an extension of Ifá ethical code.

Distinctive Aspects of Vernacular Architecture of Wakhan Valley in Afghanistan; Influencing the Crossing Cultures and Adapting to the Harsh Climate

Many scientific sources agree that indigenous architecture, in terms of shape and function, is best suited to its environment. In this architecture, climatic conditions, access to materials, culture and beliefs of residents play an important role in the formation of the outer wall, the arrangement of ancillary spaces and decorative features. This architecture has a unique feature in the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan in the face of wildlife, different cultures and harsh climatic conditions. The approach of the two Wakhi and Kyrgyz immigrant communities in the region is quite different in their adherence to traditions. However, in the Wakhan Valley, the transfer of experiences between farmers and herding nomads has created a new kind of architecture that is still introverted. To study the formation of this architecture, descriptive-analytical method has been studied on library resources, maps, statistical data, reports and field images. This study showed that indigenous architecture, in a wise introverted way, is based on both maintaining the internal warmth of the house and socio-cultural relationships. Symbols are influenced by the nature, history and culture of neighboring civilizations and have evolved over time. However, this architecture plays an important role in creating interaction and social stability in this region. Communities in residential, religious and burial buildings have also paid attention to available materials and adaptation to land form. Despite efforts to adapt to very cold climates in both types of homes, buildings and tents, there are limitations to receiving lighting and ventilation.

Early Childhood Educators as COVID Warriors: Adaptations and Responsiveness to the Pandemic Across Five Countries

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted countries across the globe. The pandemic has created a completely new teaching–learning environment of interaction for early childhood educators. In many countries, face-to-face teaching has been replaced by remote teaching, while in others, there have been intermittent lockdowns and limited interruptions to regular teaching norms. Given the play-based nature of preschool teaching–learning activities in most countries, educators are required to reimagine the sociocultural relationships to their pedagogical practices in their everyday teaching–learning contexts. This paper sheds light on educators’ experiences and the dramatic shift in their indoor–outdoor teaching–learning environment due to the evolving health measures. The study draws on notions of teachers’ identities and Vygotsky’s cultural–historical concept of social situation of development (Vygotsky, 1994) to capture the new forms of relationships that early childhood educators experienced with their pedagogical environments across different countries during the pandemic. Data were collected from preschool teachers across five countries—Australia, Bangladesh, Norway, Singapore and India using online surveys which included open- and close-ended questions. Findings reveal the on-ground realities and teachers’ adaptations to new pedagogies emerging across the five countries. The new digital environments provided an equally new dimension for change. These changes were seen in interactions, relationships within the everyday pedagogical contexts, as well as the shifting physical and social environment of early years educators.

‘The World Is Very Competitive and Cruel, You Won’t Get Any Special Treatment’: Social Work and Youth Policy Discourses in the Neoliberal Era

Abstract Young people from ethnic minority groups are at the centre of public concern in modern societies. This article presents the findings of a qualitative study that critically examines the discourses of thirty-three social workers who work with young people of Ethiopian ethnic origin in Israel. The findings reveal three key discourses: the social inclusion discourse, the meritocracy discourse and the social conflict discourse. Alongside the dominance of conservative discourses and neoliberal perceptions of youth and sociocultural group relationships, the findings reveal the existence of a competing critical discourse. The discussion offers a critical and contextual analysis of the field of social work with youth as the basis for a renewed discussion of basic assumptions, values, professional role perceptions and work directions. It notes the critical models that recognise and oppose oppression as an alternative to policymaking, training and practice processes regarding young people from social minority groups.

From Machine to Musical Instrument

Media histories of music often frame technological innovation in the early twentieth century within a general zeal for automated musical reproduction. The engineering efforts of the Aeolian Company and its Pianola counter such narratives by fostering active music-making rather than passive listening. As a pneumatically powered attachment to a piano, the Pianola was initially limited to reproducing strictly mechanical renditions of music from perforated paper rolls. But the invention of the Metrostyle in 1903, a hand lever to achieve tempo-specific effects, significantly refined the musical capacities of the instrument. It allowed for inscribing onto the music rolls authoritative performance instructions that could be enacted by the player. Revisiting the various places that the Metrostyle Pianola inhabited, from the manufacturing site to the concert hall and the bourgeois living room, I illuminate the different sociocultural relationships and musical experiences that it mediates. By relegating certain tasks of conventional piano-playing to the mechanical workings inside the instrument, the Pianola was marketed as facilitating simplified music-making in ever wider parts of society. The Metrostyle annotations served as a pedagogical device for instructing novice players in principles of nuanced and tasteful interpretation. My analysis exposes the reciprocal relationships between the instrument and its human players, from attempts to adapt the physical interface to human physiologies, to the ways in which the instrument, in turn, imposes certain mechanistic affordances on its players.

African Linguistic Images for Cross-Cultural Communication

Cross-cultural communication takes place when message is transmitted from a person from one culture to another person from a different culture; however, communication scholars estimate that two-thirds of communications are influenced by the culture of the communication. Based on this, this paper explored socio-cultural relationships as they influence the management of communication patterns Africa. With special focus on African linguistic images, the paper analyzed the relationships between African linguistic images and the communicative powers of language, graphic systems, and the written word. Language is a means which human beings have devised for communicating ideas, feelings, emotions, desires, etc, through complex vocal or written symbols; hence, images play a central role in the complex communications that both link and separate communities and institutions. Keywords: Cross-cultural, Linguistic, Image, Africa, Communication. DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/72-04 Publication date: May 31 st 2021

Ending the Chase: Experiences of Rural Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder

Background The US remains in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic. Given that rural populations have higher rates of opioid-related morbidity and mortality, it is important to understand the factors that perpetuate opioid use and facilitate recovery in rural communities. Purpose: To explore experiences of individuals living with opioid use disorder (OUD) and to analyze these experiences within a broader sociocultural context. Methods: Using a descriptive, qualitative design, we interviewed twenty purposefully sampled participants. We used thematic content analysis to identify themes and patterns. Results: As participants became dependent, the chase for opioids was to avoid the pain of withdrawal. Waking up sick became an everyday experience, leading to a lifestyle of hustling. The pursuit of opioids resulted in physical, social, emotional, and legal consequences that fed a cycle of stigmatization. In recovery, participants learned to embrace a new way of thinking, allowing them to make new choices. The strong influence of family and community in their lives was a key factor in their resiliency and opioid use experiences. Conclusions: Individuals with OUD are impacted by intersecting social, physical, economic and policy factors that reinforce the expansion of the opioid epidemic rurally. This study provided a voice to rural individuals with opioid use disorder, a group often underrepresented in the literature, providing an understanding of their struggles and the unique sociocultural dynamics that exist in rural northern New Mexico. The complex sociocultural relationships to family and community represent important adaptive factors that could support individual healing and community transformation.

Social Evaluation of Public Open Space Services and Their Impact on Well-Being: A Micro-Scale Assessment from a Coastal University

Public open spaces services have been shown to be profoundly affected by rapid urbanization and environmental changes, and in turn, they have influenced socio-cultural relationships and human well-being. However, the impact of these changes on public open space services (POSS) remains unexplored, particularly in the Saudi Arabian context. This study examines the socio-cultural influence of POSS on the King Abdulaziz University campus, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and the impact of these services on well-being. A field survey and questionnaire were used to collect data. Non-parametric tests (Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney tests) were used to find significant differences in the importance of POSS as perceived by stakeholders based on socio-demographic attributes. Factor analysis was performed for 14 POSS to identify those that are most important. The study showed that (i) university stakeholders are closely linked to services provided by public open spaces (POS) and dependent on POSS, (ii) there were significant differences in the perceived importance of POSS according to gender, age, and social groups, and (iii) 70 to 90% of stakeholders reported POSS as having a positive impact on well-being. Thus, the findings will help design and plan POSS to meet the needs of society and promote well-being.

Socio-environmental dynamics and tourist-recreational potential of the La Segua wetland (Ecuador): Attitudes and perceptions of local agents and visitors

En este trabajo se realiza una caracterización socioambiental del humedal de La Segua (Ecuador) como punto de partida para comprender los significados, valores, actitudes y motivaciones de los agentes, comunidades locales y visitantes que intervienen en este espacio protegido declarado Sitio Ramsar, en relación con la sostenibilidad de su gestión turístico-recreativa y de los recursos naturales que le sirven de soporte. Con ello se busca establecer una serie de acciones futuras para su desarrollo y planificación de manera compatible con la recuperación de su ecosistema, actualmente con serios problemas de conservación y manejo de sus recursos territoriales, conflictos de usos del suelo y por el control del agua y crisis de algunas de sus actividades tradicionales. El análisis realizado sigue una metodología mixta cuantitativa y cualitativa, incluyendo un enfoque exploratorio y documental, utilizando encuestas estructuradas y entrevistas personales en profundidad semiestructuradas y parcialmente abiertas. Asimismo, se han utilizado fuentes primarias obtenidas del trabajo de campo, que ha contado con el apoyo de una explotación SIG para georreferenciar los cambios de uso del suelo experimentados en las dos últimas décadas. Finalmente se identifican diversos indicadores de base experimental para la toma de decisiones e implementación de medidas preventivas en materia de conservación y manejo sostenible del ecosistema del humedal y para plantear lineamientos estratégicos de gestión turístico-recreativa de base comunitaria, que permitan en su conjunto el mantenimiento de unas relaciones socioculturales y ambientales de carácter sustentable.

Engaging the unengaged: Understanding residents’ perceptions of social access to urban public space

Social access to urban parks is an understudied phenomenon encompassing the interplay between the physical conditions of urban neighborhoods and green space with the socio-cultural and historical relationships urban residents have developed with these familiar places. Understanding social access can help inform planners and designers who would like to ensure that measures taken to increase investment in and proximity to urban green space also result in increasing use of that green space by neighboring community members – a key premise in achieving intended benefits such as improved health and well-being. This study uses selected ethnographic field methods supplemented with semi-structured interviews to advance the concept of social access. In-depth narratives are shared to demonstrate the nuanced ways in which urban residents construct meaning in nearby urban green space and how that influences their perception and use of these places. The paper outlines the key dimensions of social access – people, activities, novelty, and ability – as well as five underlying historical and socio-cultural narratives used to describe these dimensions. The thorough documentation of the complexity inherent in social access suggests increased attention from researchers, designers, and planners is warranted to a) expand notion of access to urban green space beyond proximity, such as incorporating programming and cultural identity and b) support efforts to use innovative community engagement strategies beyond traditional evaluative methods (e.g. visual preference) to capture the layers of perspective held by urban residents.

Of Ebbs and Flows: Understanding the Legal Consequences of Granting Personhood to Natural Entities in India

AbstractA study of the rights regime for environmental protection in India indicates that such protections overlap with constitutional rights guaranteed primarily to citizens or persons under the law. Contemporary jurisprudence has aggressively developed this intersectionality, declaring natural entities to be living persons with fundamental rights analogous to those of human beings. This article explores the role played by two judgments delivered by the Uttarakhand High Court – Mohammed Salim v. State of Uttarakhand and Lalit Miglani v. State of Uttarakhand – in the establishment of an effective framework for environmental protection. This is effectuated in both cases by assigning legal personality to rivers and articulating a conceptual shift from the human-centric approach. Accounting for the socio-cultural and spiritual relationships that have received legal protection, this article critically analyzes the judgments, their rationale and contributions to environmental protection. As the judgments articulate a paradigm shift in environmental protection, their effectiveness is best assessed through analyzing the frameworks created for their implementation. While the pronouncement of the Indian courts on the legal personality of rivers is an encouraging paradigm shift in environmental commitment, establishing the rights of nature was undertaken without due attention to the complexities that characterize the Indian socio-politico-religious context and to the legal consequences of bestowing vaguely contoured rights upon natural entities.

Do local business peculiarities matter in internationalisation A perspective from micro, small and medium-scale entrepreneurs in business clusters

The factors that drive small business clusters in internationalisation have recently become a matter of great interest for policy makers in emerging and developing economies as these policy makers strive for sustained economic growth. Yet, the literature overlooks the significant influence that co-location plays in generating the needed environment within dynamic relationships, to drive the internationalisation activities in business cluster. We address this gap by collecting and analysing empirical qualitative data from two food processing clusters in Ghana and posit that the local business environment and unique sociocultural factors may influence exports of micro, small and medium-scale businesses. The key findings revealed that partnerships between multinational and indigenous businesses (international exposure of fruit processing businesses and socially embedded relationship of associations and local distributors) have made it possible for dynamic networks to be established in international markets. These export drivers are sustained by socio-cultural collaborative relationships which allow micro, small and medium-enterprises (MSME) to internationalise, while maintaining their local peculiarities.

Memory, risk, and regional identity: Assessing the socio-cultural impacts of tornadoes in Oklahoma, USA

Tornadoes are often seen as a way of life in the Great Plains region of the United States, with many stories of deadly storms originating before the 20th century. Because of this historic connection between people and their environment, residents of states such as Oklahoma develop distinctive sociocultural relationships to extreme weather, particularly associating tornadoes with social memory and regional identity. In this paper, I assert that shared memories of historic tornadoes are impactful to Oklahomans’ regional identity as it relates to residents’ relationships with risk. Multiple qualitative methods, including interview and archival research were used in order to identify the importance of this relationship to Oklahomans as a social group. Much importance is also placed on connecting the present to the past, and many Oklahomans have adopted tornadoes as a symbol of strength. While memories of these tornadic events do not negate the risks of living in a potentially dangerous environment, they also do not imply that risks should be avoided. Rather, facing these risks is seen as a practice in endurance that many Oklahomans believe they were built to face.

The sociocultural relationships of older immigrant Punjabi women living in Nova Scotia: Implications for well-being

ABSTRACT With the increase of South Asian immigrants in Canada, the relationship between older immigrant Punjabi women’s sociocultural relationships and their mental health and well-being needs to be understood. Guided by the social determinants of health and intersectional feminist frameworks, five Punjabi women living in Nova Scotia, Canada were interviewed. Three themes were identified: (a) having freedom yet being dependent on families, (b) conflating having a happy family with having good mental health, and (c) needing ways to connect with other older Punjabi women. These findings articulate how Punjabi relationships affect women’s views on mental health and well-being.