Socio-political Structures Research Articles

Education and structural racism: teachers’ views on racial discrimination experienced in the workplace

The research in question was developed together with the Center for Research and Extension in Human Rights (NUPEDH) and the Research Group Law, Gender and Plural Identities (DGIPLUS), both linked to the Postgraduate Program in Law and Social Justice at the Faculty of Law (FADIR) from the Federal University of Rio Grande (FURG/Brazil). We sought to investigate, analyze, and understand how structural racism – a phenomenon understood as systematic racial discrimination present in sociopolitical structures – is experienced by teachers who self-identify as black and who work in the public and private primary and secondary education network in the city of Canguçu located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Brazil. Aiming to achieve the proposed objective, the deductive research method was adopted, comprising bibliographical research (scientific articles, theses, and books) and critical-reflective analysis of the collected material. As the aim was also to understand the reality of black teachers, empirical research was carried out through semi-structured interviews with all 41 black teachers out of a total of 775 teachers who work in the educational system in the city of Canguçu. Among the obtained results, the fact that the majority, that is, 99% of the teachers interviewed, stated that they had experienced situations of prejudice in work relationships and when teaching in the classroom stands out. Both the number of black teachers in the city of Canguçu and the testimonies of the interviewees corroborate the existence of structural racism in the educational sphere, since, as the authors who underlie the research emphasize, racial discrimination is one of the elements that make up the sociopolitical organization and economic aspects of Brazilian society.

Local circulation of elites punctuated by transregional mobility enabled steppe political consolidation in the Xiongnu nomadic state.

The Xiongnu polity (ca. 200 BC- 150 AD) emerged out of indigenous community-centered socio-political structures to forge a powerful state that commanded the Mongolian steppe and beyond. Underpinned by a highly mobile pastoralist population, accustomed to seasonally rhythmic moves and embedded in an equestrian culture that facilitated rapid transport over long-distances, it remains unclear precisely how the movement of commoners, local aristocrats and regional elites abetted the formation and organization of Xiongnu state structures. Here, we evaluate Xiongnu movement and dietary intake through multi-stable isotopic analyses of tooth enamel from directly dated Xiongnu intermediate elites recovered from the mortuary center of Baga Gazaryn Chuluu-a prominent granite outcrop set in the Gobi Desert. Carbon isotope (δ13C) analysis indicates millet was consumed by some individuals, but whether or not this C4 cultivar contributed to the diets of most elites remains ambiguous in this C3/C4 desert-steppe environment. The effectiveness of oxygen isotopes (δ18O) to establish mobility appears much reduced in steppe environments, where geospatially sensitive information appears disrupted by extraordinary seasonality in meteoric water oxygen isotopes, pronounced oxygen isotopic variation in potential drinking water sources, and culturally mediated drinking practices. Most revealing, strontium isotopes (87Sr/86Sr) indicate circulation of local elites around this central place and beyond, a mobility format that helped leaders cement their own position through political consolidation of spatially dispersed mobile pastoralist communities. The consistent presence at Baga Gazaryn Chuluu of extra-local intermediate elites also points toward the importance of transregional mobility in binding together the Xiongnu polity over the vast distances of the eastern steppe.

Российско-американское научное сотрудничество в Арктике в эпоху геополитической турбулентности

Introduction. The article examines cooperation between Russia and the US on Arctic research in the context of the Ukrainian crisis. One of the accompanying tasks is to study the motivations of both sides for continuing such cooperation. Methods and materials. The article uses the so-called liberal intergovernmental approach as a research method, aiming to explain the reasons for cooperation between countries with different socio-political structures and national interests on the world stage. The empirical basis for the study was the documents of international organizations, US and Russian state institutions, as well as research organizations in Russia and the US involved in the study of the Arctic. Analysis. The article demonstrates that currently there are four main levels of US-Russian scientific cooperation in the Arctic: interpersonal (individual), institutional (between various Russian and American organizations), state (government exchange programs), and international (within the framework of multilateral organizations of a global and regional nature). Results. It is concluded that despite the unfriendly actions taken by the US against Russian scientists and organizations, the “mechanism of interdependence” created in previous years did not allow to completely interrupt scientific ties between these countries. Both sides are well aware of the value of cooperation in this area and therefore try to maintain certain channels of interaction. Natural science topics (climate change, meteorology, environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, oceanology, glaciology, etc.) dominate the priorities of US-Russian scientific cooperation in the Arctic. However, socio-humanitarian and interdisciplinary issues (local communities, indigenous peoples, gender studies, urban development and planning, etc.) have recently become increasingly important. The authors believe that scientific cooperation between Russia and the US in the Arctic will revive as the international situation and bilateral relations between the two countries normalize after the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. Authors’ contribution. V.N. Konyshev: Introduction and Analysis. A.A. Sergunin: Abstract, methods and materials, results, and design of the scientific apparatus.

DECODING BUDDHIST IMAGERY: DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL REPRESENTATION IN 'PAPILIO BUDDHA' AND 'MADRAS'

Buddhism, a religion and philosophy founded by Gautama Siddhartha, (Buddha) around 2,500 years ago, has been utilized as a counter-hegemonic force to challenge dominant socio-political structures in India. By embracing Buddhism, individuals and communities can resist and subvert the oppressive structures and ideologies that have been used to marginalize and exclude them. This research analyzes how the films "Papilio Buddha" (2013) and "Madras" (2014), deploy Buddhist themes and motifs to critique socio-political issues, particularly Dalit struggle, resistance against caste oppression and Rights. The objectives of this research are to investigate how Buddhist symbols and imagery address social and political issues and to explore the significance of Buddhism in forming political identities and promoting collective resistance. Furthermore, this research examines the political symbolism of Buddhism in the films "Papilio Buddha" and "Madras", Through the insights of B.R. Ambedkar who argued that Buddhism has emerged as a counter–hegemonic force to the oppressive Brahmanical system, perpetuating inequality and social injustice by applying Saussurean semiotics and structuralism theory to interpret the deliberate application of Buddhist symbolism in these stories, highlighting the power of film as a medium for political discourse.

Social Meritocracy and Unjust Social Hierarchies: Three Proposals to Limit Meritocracy’s Erosion of Social Cooperation

A well-functioned society depends on its ability to nurture, attract, and deploy talents in critical sectors. However, the implementation of some meritocratic principles to allocate positions often leads to unjust social hierarchies. Is there, then, a solution to meritocracy’s dysfunctional hierarchical effects? This paper attempts to answer this by drawing on the real-world cases of Singapore and the USA to investigate the relationship of toxic social hierarchies with meritocracy. It proposes three solutions to curb the unjustifiable social stratifications and the erosion of social cooperation often associated with social meritocracy. These reflections could help to shed light on the grounds for the ongoing debates on social hierarchies and provide valuable insights into how to weigh up existing socio-political structures.

Pitirim Sorokin's personality at the turn of historical eras

Introduction. The article explores the personality of the famous Russian-American scientist Pitirim Sorokin. His life was eventful and passed in Tsarist and Soviet Russia, Europe and the United States. He took an active part not only in the two historical eras of Russia, but also in changing events at the turn of the eras. His passionate personality manifested itself most clearly during the revolution of 1917. Thereafter he became a professor of the largest university in the world, Harvard University, president of many international conferences, author of dozens of scientific papers, including those about the factors of the revolution.Purpose setting. On the structural model of P. Sorokin's personality there is investigated his interaction with the socio-political structure of society. Watching events, passing them through his feelings, thinking, and behavior, he turned them into history. Thanks to the work and communication with talented Russian researchers such as V. M. Bekhterev, I. P. Pavlov, N. D. Kondratiev, the scientist worked out a unique concept of personality. He proposed the model of personality that had four layers and differed from many models of other researchers described in the scientific literature.Methodology and methods of the study. We can analyze this model in layers from the bottom to top. It can be described like that: Subconscious is biologically unconscious; Biological consciousness; Socio-cultural consciousness; Superconscious mind. Interpretation of historical events in line with this model of personality gives us the opportunity to retrospectively deeper understanding the behavior of the real person Pitirim Sorokin.Results. The analysis was carried out in the coordinates which are not studied enough at the moment. This is the interaction of the scientist with the society in the busy life path. He always found himself at the right time and in the right place in the bifurcation points of development of the society. The peculiarities of his behavior can be traced in the exclusive state of the socio-political environment. That means that it is in a stable state of order and unstable state of chaos. In the history of mankind such opposite sides of society periodically replace each other.Conclusion. The functioning of the structural model of personality is transferred to the interpretation of the real personality of Pitirim Sorokin. In particular, historical phenomena are interpreted through the prism of psychological approach in its system of revolutionary factors. This study was carried out in line with the reevaluation of the revolutionary events of 1917.

Outlining the contours of Russia’s legal mobilization

In 2020, based on the results of the all-Russian vote, the current Constitution of the Russian Federation was changed, it was supplemented by a number of new important norms relating to a variety of areas of constitutional and legal regulation. However, today a number of authors, experts, and representatives of government bodies raise the question of the need to continue to correct the Basic Law of Russia. Among such authors is N. M. Dobrynin, who in his article “The Russian constitutionalism in the framework of new geopolitical environment: milestones and vectors”, published in the journal “State and Law” of the Russian Academy of Sciences (2023. No. 9), outlines ways of possible changes to the Russian Constitution, including the establishment of guarantees of social justice and strengthening the spiritual and moral foundations of the country’s socio-political structure.

Contextualizing Late Holocene Subsistence Change on California’s Northern Channel Islands: A Middle Period Case Study from Santa Cruz Island

ABSTRACT The complex relationship between sociopolitical complexity, natural climatic change, and subsistence strategies on California’s Northern Channel Islands has long been a topic of archaeological inquiry. One period of particular interest to researchers is the Middle-to-Late Period Transition (MLT, 800–650 cal BP), during which Chumash hierarchical sociopolitical organization is thought to have solidified. Multiple models of sociopolitical change have been proposed, all of which acknowledge the relationship between growing populations, shifting dietary patterns, climatic events, and sociopolitical structure. Considerable debate remains, with some pointing to the importance of events during the late Middle Period (∼1,500–800 cal BP) or earlier. While these models partly rely on dietary data from late Middle, MLT, and Late Period (650 cal BP–AD 1542) archaeological sites, research at late Middle Period sites has often been more limited than work at later sites, leaving an imbalance in our understanding of subsistence shifts and changing cultural and environmental dynamics. Here, we present faunal and dietary data from two well-dated Middle Period sites on Limuw (Santa Cruz Island) that document an intensification of finfishing in the Middle Period, supporting models that see the evolution of Island Chumash complexity as a more gradual phenomenon.

Corruption Models of Behaviour in the Structure of the Political System of Society

The phenomenon of corruption as a type of crime is immanently inherent in social and political reality. Sociality as a trans-societal universal form of human community is the environment in which corruption ties are born and function. The socio-political structure is organized as a collective effort, on the one hand, it overcomes disintegration, and on the other, it generates corrupt behaviour patterns. Corruption models of behaviour have an extremely wide scale of distribution and are characterized by active institutional expansion into various spheres and institutions of modern society, they feed business relations and administrative activities, covering huge masses of the population. In this sense, their study is extremely important and relevant.

Unsettled landscapes. The (un)making and remaking of a Tibetan farming community in northwestern China

This paper examines the impacts of land expropriation and resettlement on a Tibetan farming community in Qinghai Province by addressing resource distribution, land ownership, community membership, and sociopolitical structures. In this case, land expropriation involved the state taking community land from farmers for reforestation and demolishing their houses in the original village site to make farmland. The land expropriation prompted a shift to more market-oriented livelihoods, and it divided the community, creating tensions among villagers due to opposed interests exacerbated by competitive capitalistic relations in the market economy. As a state-led community-building scheme, resettlement ruptured the village community, undermining traditional social structures and cultural institutions. Nevertheless, villagers responded to the perceived weakening of social cohesion by drawing on the notions of pha yul (home/homeland), sha khrag rgyud pa (kin), and kha ya na zla (peers) to revitalise their community. Here I describe resettlement as an ongoing historic process of community building that does not simply end with the removal of people from one place to another, especially on the part of resettled people.

Systemic and Sociocultural Factors Impeding Women’s Political Participation and Leadership Development: A Sociological Inquiry

In pursuing a deeper understanding of the persistent underrepresentation of women in politics and leadership positions, this article adopts a sociological lens to probe the intricate network of systemic barriers and sociocultural norms that continue to impede women’s full participation in the political arena. Gender stereotypes play a critical role in shaping public perception and expectations of leaders, with prevailing biases often favoring masculine traits and devaluing the leadership capabilities of women. Equally, the disproportionate burden of family responsibilities that women frequently shoulder imposes time and energy constraints, thus limiting their capacity to engage fully in political activities and campaigns. Beyond the confines of household obligations, the political culture and infrastructure itself are often unsympathetic to women, with institutional discrimination manifesting in various forms, from gendered political party practices to the lack of supportive networks for aspiring female politicians. The study unearths the subtle yet pervasive ways in which these sociopolitical structures and cultural attitudes intertwine, creating a formidable barrier to women’s political empowerment and leadership ascension. By illuminating these interconnections, the article seeks to advance the dialogue on what specific measures and systemic changes must be undertaken to dismantle these hurdles and pave the path toward gender parity in political leadership.

University Prototypes in The Middle Ages: Sociological, Sociopolitical and Academic Structures of First Generation Universities

İlk dönem üniversitelerinde beliren ‘nationes’ adlı oluşumlar öğrencilerin sosyal duruşlarını sergileme ve diğer gruplara karşı korunması gereken hakları olması noktasında öğrenci federasyonlarının doğal ve zorunlu bir gruplaşma şeklinde ortaya çıkmasına neden olmuştur. Studiumdaki çeşitli menfaatlerini öğrenci lonca ve birliklerine karşı garanti altına almak gibi nedenlerle birlikte hareket etme amaçlı ortaya çıkan diğer oluşumlar, ustalar/hocalar tarafından açılan loncalardır. Bu durum beraberinde farklı sosyal etmenleri de getirmiş; loncalar da tıpkı “milletler” şeklinde gruplaşan toplumlar gibi var olmaya çalışmışlardır. Akademik anlamda yükseköğretimde okutulan derslerin içerik ve yapıları hala VIII. ve IX. yüzyılın etkisinden kurtulamamışken, studiumlarda çalışılan konu başlıklarında özellikle X. ve XI. yüzyıldan itibaren çeşitlenmeler ve faculty denilen bölümler kurulmaya başlamıştır. Takip eden yüzyıllarda ise öğrenci-devlet arası yaşanan çatışmalar bugün üniversite özerkliği kavramının ortaya çıkmasını sağlamıştır. Çalışmada kronolojik sıralama tercih edilmiştir. Üniversitelerin ortaya çıkış sürecindeki olayların sosyal, akademik ve sosyo-politik hatta din boyutları yorumlanarak sunulmaya ve tüm bunların üniversitelerin özerkleşmelerine etkisi incelenmeye çalışılmıştır. İlgili Türkçe literatürde son dönemlerde Orta Çağ’da erken dönem üniversitelerin ortaya çıkış ve gelişimlerine yönelik az sayıda bulunan çalışmadan farklı olarak bu çalışma üniversitelerin ortaya çıkışına etki eden studiumların iç dinamiğine etki eden sosyal, politik ve akademik etmenlerin ortaya çıkışına odaklanarak üniversitelerin yapı ve organizasyonlarını ve bunlar içinde özerkleşmelerine etki eden olguları incelemektedir.

Развитие гуманистической направленности современной системы образования России: условия реализации

The education system includes the main social institutions that perform the functions of upbringing and education. A common characteristic of any education system is the orientation towards the transfer of knowledge and the formation of skills in order to develop students. At the same time, each stage of social development corresponds to an education system that meets the requirements for the results and goals of education in a particular society. Historically, the evolution of educational systems is interconnected with the transformation of the socio-political structure. The need for a serious reform of the Russian educational system arose under the infl uence of two interrelated factors: the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 and its education system, and the rejection of the existing ideology of educating the younger generation. The protracted reform of the Russian education system is currently causing a lot of criticism from experts and the public, one of which is the deviation from humanistic traditions in teaching practice. The subject of analysis in the article is the conditions that ensure the implementation of the idea of developing the humanistic orientation of the modern education system in Russia. At the origins of the implementation of any idea is a person, innovations in educational practice are embodied by a teacher. Consequently, the backbone components capable of ensuring the embodiment of the idea of a humanistic orientation of the modern education system in Russia are the goals of education that are consonant with this orientation and the pedagogical staff that ensure their achievement. At the same time, the reforms of domestic education in the post-Soviet period led to the loss of the primacy of the educational component in the educational process. Currently, society and the state are making efforts to make up for this mistake. However, a signifi cant obstacle to solving this problem is often the unpreparedness of teachers to implement the educational functions of education based on the humane principles of pedagogy, the basis of which is to take into account the individual characteristics and personal needs of the pupil. The introduction of new forms and methods of working with students will not provide long-term results if it does not affect the foundations of the education system. The purpose of the article is to systematize and supplement information about the conditions that contribute to the development of the humanistic orientation of the modern education system in Russia. The author evaluates the evolution of two ideas: the humanization of education and the formation of a professional orientation in the system of teacher training. The humanistic orientation is substantiated by the author as part of a professional orientation. The origins, problems and approaches to the scientifi c analysis of the idea of the formation and development of the humanistic orientation of future teachers in the conditions of university education are analyzed. To obtain substantiated scientifi c results, the author analyses the normative documentation of the Russian education system, dissertation research, current periodicals and the educational environment of the university. The paper also indicates the reasons preventing the mass dissemination of humanistic ideas in modern Russian education. Thus, the author draws reasonable conclusions about the set of conditions necessary for the development of the humanistic orientation of the education system of modern Russia. Among the conditions mediated by the system of training of pedagogical personnel are: respectful relations of the subjects of the educational process; selection of the content of education; use of active forms and methods of training and education; participation of students in volunteer activities, including leader activities; creation of a special educational environment of the university. The general conclusion of the article is the emphasis on the dependence of the embodiment of the idea of developing the humanistic orientation of the Russian education system on the organizational and pedagogical conditions of the modern system of training teachers. The teaching staff in this historical period is a system-forming component of the Russian education system, on which the results of its transformation depend.

Agent of Your Own Destiny: How Neoliberal Discourses Permeate Award-Winning Public Service Announcements

Public service announcements (PSAs) are messages disseminated by governments and nonprofits to serve the public interest. In emphasizing social good, PSAs should be less likely to employ neoliberal discourses. Neoliberalism is a political and economic structure and ideology that seeks to maximize free trade and minimize government interference. It has expanded to become a set of practices that calls on individuals to be agents of their own destinies, focus on their own self-care, provide for their own needs, and be responsible for their actions. To answer calls for media scholars to examine neoliberal discourses in their fields, this study uses qualitative (N = 59) and quantitative (N = 276) content analyses to articulate how neoliberal discourses permeate award-winning PSAs. Results uncovered five elements of discourse utilized in PSAs: (1) the entrepreneurial self, (2) sensitization to neoliberal values, (3) sensitization to neoliberal affective dispositions, (4) individualization at the expense of examining socio-political structures, and (5) hollow diversity. Findings show an increasing tendency for PSAs to employ hollow diversity, representing marginalized identities as individual obstacles to overcome through hard work, while simultaneously divorcing social issues from their historical or systemic roots. This has important implications for the development of inclusive advertising.

Исламское образование в Чечне: историко-политические и духовно-культурные факторы становления

Islamic education in Chechnya has its own historical-political and spiritual-cultural factors of formation, dating back to the period of the adoption of Islam by the Chechens, associated with the socio-political structure of their society, beliefs, Arab conquests, the construction of mosques, during which primary Muslim schools were always created, also madrasah secondary schools. These schools existed in the North Caucasus, the Volga region, and Central Asia; they had a Kadimist (or Bukhara) system of training children. At the dawn of Soviet power, all Islamic educational institutions, with rare exceptions located in Uzbekistan, were liquidated for political reasons. Islamic education in the USSR was generally interrupted as a phenomenon alien to progressive Soviet society. Religious education, including Islamic, in the post-Soviet period in Russia and its regions, is being revived, acquiring a new status and receiving tangible development. The purpose of the article is to consider the experience of the development of Islamic education in Chechnya, including modern ones, in the context of the tasks of strengthening the state unity and integrity of the Russian Federation, preserving the ethnocultural identity of its peoples, ensuring the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, harmonizing public and state interests. It is concluded that the modernization of Islamic education carried out in the Chechen Republic is becoming a significant factor in the religious and national security of the region and Russia as a whole. A unified and viable system of continuous Islamic education and science has been created in the republic, represented by three levels of spiritual education.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS OF RECENT POLITICAL SECULARISM IN TURKEY AND HABERMAS' PROPOSED REMEDIES

Within the intricate structure of global political landscapes, the nation of Turkey emerges as a captivating subject of study, particularly when examining its progressive secularism and the complex interplay of socio-political dynamics. This study aims to examine the fundamental structural factors that surround the implementation of Turkey's present political secularism, while also employing Habermas' proposed notion of a post-secular society as an approach to address and resolve these intricacies. This study utilizes a qualitative research methodology by doing literature studies and relying on secondary data for data collection. The findings of this study suggest that Habermas's notion of a post-secular society has the potential to develop a sociopolitical structure that is more democratic and inclusive in the setting of Turkey where it is being investigated.

African feminist activism and democracy: Social media publics and Zimbabwean women in politics online

“We need to begin our questioning, activism and theorising from the spaces from which we are dying,” Funmi Olonisakin. The political landscape in Zimbabwe is largely a post-colonial hetero-patriarchal domain that pushes women politicians to the border of politics. Constraints in civic engagement and political participation that is characteristic of a shrinking democracy and exclusionary public sphere subsist. The 2023 election and its campaign period has shown that the socio-economic and political landscape is unpredictable with serious threats to women’s participation in politics. The lives of Zimbabwean women in politics are continually subjected to multiple forms of violence online and offline. Meanwhile, African feminist activism in the country has seemingly taken several steps back. Zimbabwean feminist activists risk being co-opted into the hetero-patriarchal socio-political structures. There is evidence of a considerable disconnect between feminist/gender activists and women in politics that needs to be addressed. In Senegal and South Africa among other countries, protests by younger generations of feminists have addressed this divide through innovations in protest strategies resulting in the re-formation of radical politics (Dieng, 2023; Hassim, 2023). With social media at the disposal of the younger generation of women politicians the movement is set on a revolutionary trajectory. The sustained social media presence of the new crop of women politicians has created active intimate and counter-publics who engage in vital Zimbabwean political dialogue. The new crop of women politicians referred to here are younger women politicians who unlike their predecessors are very active on social media and have no liberation war experience. The study locates social media as a provenance for Zimbabwean feminist activist revolutionising and democracy initiatives. Theoretically, I posit that the contentions around women’s political participation and violations against Zimbabwean women in politics are revealing of intricacies in African feminism and the coloniality of gender and how these, together with theories of the public sphere can further feminist activism. The study will utilise online ethnography of purposively selected Facebook posts and Tweets by Zimbabwean women in politics, feminist activists and/or gender organisations.

The Motif of the "Pact with the Devil" In the Artistic Works of T.A. Hoffmann, N.V. Gogol, M.A. Bulgakov

The idea of a pact with the devil, originating in medieval theological papers, became new impulses in the literature. The pact with Satan in the works of E. T. A. Hoffman, N. V. Gogol, M. A. Bulgakov received a new reading. These writers, combining theological ideas about magic and witchcraft, ancient superstitions, elements of hagiographic and ascetic literature, folklore tradition create original works in which the conclusion of an agreement with the forces of evil occupies a key place, because with its help the connection between ontological planes „unreal” and “real” is established. The splitting of the monolithic picture of the world and the creation of an ontological binary system is due to the artistic concept of the writers, which has its origins in their worldview. Despite the differences in the historical and national context within which the poetics of the authors under study were formed, they are united by the duality of the picture of the world, in which, reinforced by the tragicomic register, the rejection of socio-political structures, as well as the cultural and aesthetic values of their time was expressed. It is this two-world-structure that forms the originality of the poetics of Hoffman, Gogol, and Bulgakov.

Ways of rethinking inclusion for disabled students in Higher Education

The word ‘inclusion’ now frequently appears in the marketing strategies of many UK universities, despite the equivocal ways the term is used across the sector (Koutsouris et al., 2022). For some of us in the field of disability studies, these ambiguities in the ways the concept of inclusion is used are one of the reasons why it has become emptied of meaning. While notionally disclosing the invisible work entailed in being disabled (Wertans and Burch, 2022), inclusion also implies a form of privileging: those on the inside determine who is included and on what grounds. This assimilationist discourse reproduces the socio-political structures and practices that categorise those who are outsiders (Biesta 2010; Biesta, 2019). Moreover, the technocratic nature of the current political context in which performance and its measurement are the main drivers of how higher education (HE) is required to address underrepresented groups and their performance (Peters, 2020; Supiot, 2021), for example, through access and participation plans, not only homogenises disability but inevitably excludes others (Evans and Zhu, 2022). For example, this may happen to postgraduate students, international students or those who, because of the discrimination and stigma they experience, choose not to disclose a disability. This presentation explored the problematic nature of inclusion in relation to disabled students in HE and how it might impact on the work of learning developers. The paper explored Biesta’s concept of ‘transclusion’ as a way of transforming and rethinking how we conceptualise and enact equality of access, participation and social justice and what this could mean for practitioners. It highlighted the extent to which we, as practitioners, could contest and respond to the complex demands of inclusion in ways that might help change institutional cultures and thinking about disability so that disabled students (and staff) remain less invisible.

Analysis of Turkish Economy from Macroeconomic and Socio-political Perspective (1923-2023)

The evaluation of economies provides an idea about the direction of countries and determines their international reputations. Economic evaluations hold significant importance for this reason. Evaluations often utilize macroeconomic indicators like real growth rate, unemployment rate, and inflation rate. On the other hand, to honestly evaluate economies, a long-term perspective is required, and it is vital to maintain continuity and have a broad scope. During this process, many factors, such as developments in the external world, geography, language, religion, ethnicity, and customary practices, can have an impact, in addition to macroeconomic factors. However, none of these (except for macroeconomic factors) have as much impact on the development of economies as the institutional factors that form the basis of the socio-political structure. As property rights, freedom of expression, press freedom, judicial independence, and equality of opportunities in the economic, social, and political fields expand in a country; experts anticipate that institutional quality will increase and positively impact economic operations. Findings indicate the necessity of conducting macroeconomic and socio-political performance measurements to evaluate the Turkish economy properly. For 1924-2023, a macroeconomic performance index (MPI) has established for measuring macroeconomic performance, and a socio-political performance index (SPI) for measuring socio-political performance.
 The findings obtained from the studies reveal that in Türkiye, more than ensuring only macroeconomic stability is necessary to achieve satisfactory and lasting economic success. Compromising fundamental rights, freedoms, and socio-economic justice (e.g., income distribution) has achieved stability, but only with temporary effects. The development structure and macroeconomic gains solidify the economic outlook through socio-political developments.