Struggle For Life Research Articles

Queer Nightlife and Contemporary Art Networks: A Study of Artists at the Bar

This article positions queer nightlife as a central vehicle in the lives and practices of queer Latinx artists working in Los Angeles over the past decade. It highlights how queer nightlife has provided a generative space for art making and community building in LA and considers how the usage of queer nightlife as a frame of study ruptures existing art historical and curatorial methodologies relative to Latinx art. I closely analyze works by artists rafa esparza, Sebastian Hernandez, and Gabriela Ruiz drawn from the gay bars and streets of downtown and East Los Angeles to underscore the radical and sophisticated ways by which these artists create art, community, and opportunity. By critically examining three case studies—Escandalos Angeles (2018), a performance by Hernandez and Ruiz at Club Chico in Montebello, California; Nostra Fiesta (2019), a storefront mural by esparza, Ruiz, and friends at the New Jalisco Bar in downtown; and YOU (2019–ongoing), a queer party directed by Hernandez and launched at La Cita Bar in downtown—I reveal how queer nightlife has served as an incubator for these artists to come together, express themselves, and generate a sense of joy and freedom from the struggles of everyday life.

Canaan Hymns: Toward a decolonizing missiology of the Chinese church movement

This article provides a narrative of how the collection Canaan Hymns is embedded in the context of the life and struggles of ecclesial life within the Chinese church movement, embodied in their pneumatologically-led creation, and empowered by the theology of laity and women. It argues that the ecclesiological mode of the grassroots together with the affective style of worship and reflections form the two key characteristics of a decolonizing missiology, offering an epistemology of “knowing with” in relation to missio Dei. This is followed by further examining the mission impulse, nationalistic fever and transnational currents. Contesting the ideology of atheism, a decolonizing missiology of the Chinese church movement offers a bottom-up construction in that the lived embodied experiences of everyday life in Christ within a cultural soil take priority as sources of a theology of mission.

Contemplative Dispositions and Mental Health: The Supportive Role of Self-Compassion and Mindfulness on College Students’ Resilience

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to report the results of a study exploring the mediation effects of self-compassion and mindfulness on the relationship between mental distress and resilience among a national sample of college students (N = 260). The results of the structural equation modeling (SEM) serial mediation analysis revealed that mindfulness through self-compassion fully mediated the relationship between mental distress and resilience. Simple mediation demonstrated that self-compassion accounted for 79.3% of the total effect on resilience, while mindfulness accounted for 46.5%. After accounting for mental distress, follow-up regression analysis identified the mindfulness facet of non-reactive (β = .19, p < . 01), and the self-compassion subscales of mindful awareness (β = .32, p < . 01), common humanity (β = .20, p < . 01), and reverse-scored isolation (β = .17, p < . 05) to predict resilience. For students experiencing depression, anxiety, and loneliness, the dispositions of being present, non-judgmental, and accepting of life struggles may be particularly important for resilience and college persistence. Implications address how college counseling professionals can promote self-compassion and mindfulness on college campuses.

Exposing Widow’s Psyche in a Fine Balance: A Study of Rohinton Mistry’s Widow Characters

Indian writers including both male and female novelists generally utilise novels to reveal the psychological conditions of the female sex with the help of their dramatic personas. One such Indian writer is Rohinton Mistry, who unveils the mental states of women through his independent female characters, especially fictional female singletons. Among his numerous works, A Fine Balance is a notable piece that falls into this category. The novel is about the life struggles of the widow heroine Dina Dalal after the death of her husband. Apart from Dina, Mistry has used many widow characters who play minor roles in developing the storyline. The paper aims to exhibit the mental fluctuations of the fictional widows that comprise the widow protagonist Dina Dalal. The investigation with the help of the female characters uncovers the psychological oscillations of the widows due to their singlehood statuses. It unmasks the emotional transpositions, loneliness, fears, regrets, hopelessness and mental instabilities of the widows. The analysis avails the psychoanalytic Literary Theory to support its arguments and to obtain its objectives. With the aid of the select prose narrative, the research brings out Rohinton Mistry’s typical representation of widow characters to have psychological problems because of losing their husbands. Hence, the article projects that despite picturing the fictional widows as persons who are bold and liberating, Mistry has represented them to be psychologically vulnerable rather than presenting them as mentally strong and stable individuals.

How to End a War: Remnants of Hope and Terror in Danny Ramadan’s The Foghorn Echoes

In the novel, The Foghorn Echoes (2022) by Danny Ramadan, readers are introduced to two young men, Hussam and Wassim, who love each other but whose lives are forever changed by a terrible event. Though this event marks the beginning of their end, they are met with several encounters that continue to separate them, as they grapple with what it means to be queer in Syria and what it means to be refugees elsewhere. Both their stories, told back and forth between the two young men, reveal the cruel optimism that is situated in the relationship between the good life and the queer struggle of romantic life. In other words, their desire for a better life as queer refugees becomes cruel when it becomes an obstacle in and of itself. For Hussam, readers witness this devastating blow as he is haunted by the death of his father and then by his separation from Wassim, as he struggles to build a better life in the nation-state of Canada. Wassim, on the other hand, has become a refugee in his own homeland, in this case, Syria during the Civil War, and he comes to view himself as a problematic object. Through both of their lives, it is revealed that the reality of queer Syrian refugees is inseparable from the complicated and oppressive histories that mark them such as the war and their forbidden love, whether they remain in the homeland or seek to build a good life somewhere else.

Struggles and Challenges of Street Women Vendors: A Study in Tamenglong District, Manipur

Women folks of Zeliangrong whose contributions are immense and diverse in the life situation of the people needs due acknowledgment and appreciation. In the society where women are treated as commodities and trapped within the domestic chores domain, the study search to empower women and accept the works and capabilities of women as a sustainable means to support the families and societies in general who stabilize the life struggle of the suffering poor families in the villages.The research thrust to study about women struggles for livelihood among Zeliangrong Nagas living in Manipur. Women who have been considered as second citizen of the society have been struggling to keep their family alive through thick and thin times; and the study shows how Zeliangrong women struggles for their livelihood through street vending. In the society where women are treated as commodities and trapped within the domestic chores domain, the study search to empower women and accept the works and capabilities of women as a sustainable means to support the families and societies in general who stabilize the life struggle of the suffering poor families in the villages.

Generative exhaustions: Thresholds of long-term uncertainty and stink bug infestation in Georgia’s contested borderland

ABSTRACT Displaced Georgians from the Gali region of the de facto Georgia–Abkhazia borderland have constructed mobile lives by navigating a decades-long conflict and its turbulent landscapes. For the people of Gali, cross-border mobility is a vital concern; uncertainty is a daily matter of tactical anticipation. Arbitrary checkpoints, unannounced border closures, and the Enguri River’s capricious water levels interfere with mobilities; occasional crises unsettle the subtle ways that the Gali people have developed over three decades to manoeuvre everyday uncertainties. Focusing on an unanticipated stink bug infestation that disrupted already precarious lives, this article explores the temporal and affective anatomy of long-term uncertainty with its continuities and limit points. Using exhaustion as an analytical concept, it examines the generative thresholds of protracted uncertainty without eclipsing the cumulative toll of continuous life struggle in a conflict zone.

Comic journalism in the context of Latin American social movements and resistance

This paper offers an analytical, conceptual and contextual review of comic journalism in Latin America, mainly focused on those proposals linked to the social movements and resistance struggles. The approach is from the theory of the comic social, mostly comic journalism. Methodologically, the topic of analysis is used, the artistic-journalistic approach of form and substance, and the objectives of comic journalism projects. As a result, it can be seen that comic book-web journalism work linked to Latin American social movements and resistance, is divided into two main areas: recovery of memory-testimony, and work aimed at activism, visibility and documentation of active social struggles in the Latin American region. Violence, disappearance and forced displacement, repression, struggles for land, water, life and feminist movements are some of the approaches that comic journalism have in Latin America.

Living with Multimorbidity through Time: A Meta-Synthesis of Qualitative Longitudinal Evidence.

The growing prevalence of multimorbidity places a strain on primary healthcare globally. The current study's aim was to identify, appraise, and synthesize published qualitative longitudinal research on individuals' experiences concerning living with multimorbidity through time. The authors searched two electronic databases, MEDLINE and CINAHL, and performed an additional literature search in Google Scholar. A thematic synthesis approach was used to analyze the qualitative data across the studies. A total of 10 reports that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included in the synthesis. Five descriptive themes emerged from the analysis of the living experiences of individuals with multimorbidity: (1) perceiving multimorbidity, (2) managing chronic conditions, (3) emotional struggles in everyday life with multimorbidity, (4) interactions with the healthcare system and healthcare professionals, and (5) family support. This meta-synthesis provides insights into the diverse perceptions of multimorbidity and how individuals cope with their chronic conditions in their daily lives. The findings highlight the importance of establishing effective patient-centered care that acknowledges and supports the multifaceted needs of this population. It is also recommended to involve a psychological component in the care of individuals with multimorbidity, as part of a collaborative and interprofessional approach.

Ukrainian maternity clinics in time of war: a struggle for life

Ukrainian maternity clinics in time of war: a struggle for life

The ghost dead: ethical and medico legal analysis on the Mediterranean tragedies.

Cadaveric identification represents a legal, moral and medico-legal obligation and also fulfills the ethical function to allow the living to offer their dead a merciful burial. In the Mediterranean basin we have been witnessing for years a struggle for life where hundreds of migrants die in an attempt to reach Europe. For these people right to be recognized is not easy because of ante-death biological data are not always available for comparison, and DNA analysis is not always feasible cause for the absence of data with which to compare. In Italy a multidisciplinary protocol has been adopted that involves the acquisition of data provided by family members present in the countries of origin. Between August 2015 and December 2021, bodies of 879 migrants of various nationalities washed up on the shores of Sicily and Calabria. These men, women, and children, in various states of preservation, were examined. Each body underwent a multidisciplinary approach. External examination and autopsy aimed to determine the cause of death for judicial purposes and to facilitate individual identification. Whenever possible bodies underwent total body post-mortem computed tomography examination to identify fractures and prosthetic implants. including inspection of the third molar to provide an estimate of the age. The activity carried out in cooperation with Prefecture, Scientific Police, and National and International Red Cross highlighted the importance of employing multiple scientific skills to compensate for the lack of biological information. The importance of appropriate behaviors to avoid contamination and ensure proper preservation underlines the importance of the establishment of a dedicated database.

Теория эволюции в «Происхождении видов» Чарлза Дарвина как основа современной «эволюционной» психиатрии

The article analyzes the main provisions of the fundamental work of the famous English naturalist Charles Darwin “The Origin of Species” from the point of view of their significance for the relatively new “evolutionary” (or “ethological”) direction in psychiatry. At the same time, the influence of Lamarck’s evolutionary theory of “gradation” and “degradation” of various species on both Darwin’s theory of “evolution” and B. Morel’s theory of “degeneration” is emphasized. The support of the evolutionary direction in psychiatry by E. Kraepelin in Germany and the significance of the work of P.I. Kropotkin “Mutual assistance as a factor of evolution” for Russian “ethological” psychiatrists are noted. The most important notion in Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is the concept of “natural selection”, by which Darwin understood the preservation of favorable individual differences and the destruction of harmful ones, without excluding, however, that a huge number of animals and plants die from random causes, having been created even more “adapted” to life. At the same time, according to Darwin, rare forms in the struggle of life are defeated by “ordinary” ones, which are more variable. The most stubborn competition occurs between the closest forms. If a form cannot derive any benefit from a higher organization, it can remain indefinitely long at a low level of organization, since under very simple conditions a high organization can even be harmful. Separate from natural selection, Darwin distinguished sexual selection, by which action he did not deny aesthetic feelings in animals. Of particular importance for psychiatry and psychology is Darwin's doctrine of instincts, according to which natural selection preserves variations in instincts to any degree of utility, causing a variety of instincts in the same species, and each individual seeks to benefit from the instincts of another. Instincts are rarely perfect and can lead to mistakes. Although natural selection tends to make the organization of each creature more specialized and, in this sense, higher, it may in some cases even lower the organization, which makes such simplified creatures better adapted to the new conditions of their life.

Analisis Penggunaan Perangkat Internet of Things (IoT) pada Novel Hujan Karya Tere Liye

This study aims to analyze the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technology in the novel "Hujan" by Tere Liye. This novel shows how the love story and life struggle of the main character, Lail, are connected to the development of IoT technology. This research aims to understand how IoT technology shapes the story from the aspect of the situation to the characteristics of the related IoT devices. Through the hermeneutic method, this research identifies the use of IoT in several contexts. The findings obtained in the novel are 1) Smart Buildings, 2) Smart Farming, 3) Smart Home, 4) Smart City, and 5) Smart Healthcare. The results show that IoT technology is a key element in achieving a more advanced and connected digital society, bringing positive impacts in daily life and providing smart solutions to various global challenges.

Strengthening National Identity Through Sheikh Yusuf's Historical Traces

This study aims to build national identity through the historical traces of Sheikh Yusuf as one of the important figures in the spread of Islam in Indonesia. This can be an effective mean to foster a sense of love for the country and nationalism of the younger generation in building the nation’s identity. This study used a literature study including books or journals about Sheikh Yusuf. The results show that the life of Sheikh Yusuf can be an effective means to foster a sense of patriotism and nationalism in the younger generation in building the identity of the Indonesian nation, which can be seen from loyalty to religious values and the motherland, the spirit of struggle in life, interfaith tolerance, and cross-cultural brotherhood, the importance of education and learning, cultural diplomacy and international relations, to respect for cultural and historical heritage. Through the narratives and values contained in Sheikh Yusuf’s life trajectory, the younger generation can gain a deeper insight into the strengths and potential of the Indonesian nation. Thus, they can be inspired to actively contribute in building a strong and competitive national identity.&#x0D; Keywords: Sheikh Yusuf, national identity, history

The procedural aspects of postmortem defense of non-material goods of patient

The protection of privacy of patient that is applying for medical care, diagnostics and treatment is one of the main pillars of implementation of medical activities. However, despite sufficient volume of legal regulation of lifetime respect of privacy of examination, observation and facts of medical intervention, in practice occur situations when privacy ceases to be such after death of the patient. The article is based on results of content-analysis of normative legal acts (n = 11), scientific publications (n = 52), cases of judicial practice (n = 8). The problem of non-observance of privacy becomes especially actual after death of person whose name is widely known. Having no possibility to impact on causes and modes of obtaining and propagating such specific information, the deceased, one's illness, stages of treatment, struggle for life, resources spent, clinics and specialists involved become object of close attention of various subjects (mas media, Internet communities) that use obtained information for speculative purposes at the expense of fixation of inhumane public replicas and increase of number of browsing. Despite prohibition provided for by law of dissemination of information constituting privacy of applying for medical care, after death of patient and application of measures of legal liability for fact of such a disclosure, information leak occurs regularly and information that got into common access frequently discredit good name of the deceased or develop other problems that are subjects to legal protection, for family members and legal successors. Yet, circumstances of transfer of information of limited access by medical organization (data leakage) or by intent of medical worker are difficult to be proved. Therefore, in judicial practice there are practically no such cases. At that, after death of famous people, juristic community regularly faces problems of protecting personal rights and non-material values from the side of relatives, legal successors and other interested persons. On the basis of formal logical method and system analysis method of disputable situations, possible perspectives of applying for judicial protection, procedural characteristics of procedure of applying for protection and possible composition of participants are presented.

SLAGANjE MARGINA: PUT OD USAMLjENOSTI DO PRIJATELjSTVA U FINSKOJ KNjIŽEVNOSTI ZA DECU (T. KONTIO, N. REITU, M. HAI – T. JU HANI)

Starting from Levinas’s position that “emotion does not follow the representation of the object” but precedes it, the paper shows the ways in which socially marginalized beings (animals, children), through longing for acceptance and longing for community, struggle in life with the involuntary push into loneliness. In the worlds of Finnish children’s literature, devoid of adults, we can see the ways in which different social and life edges merge in order for their representatives to overcome alienation by forming friendships. In this sense, an old man and a girl enter into a cooperative, business relationship in Magdalena Halonen’s and Teemu Juhani Karttunen’s story The Little Shop of Horrors, the homeless old man Kuna and a dog named Cat find each other in the story of the same name by Tomi Kontio, while the girl Tilly, in the story My Friend Donut Cookie, grows up, seeing in his purchased pony, a means of riding, a future friend. In this way, Fromm’s view of “freedom from” is transformed into “freedom for”, and the reader’s target group of children is inspired to see the world around them ethically in a different way.

The activities of the Social Security Department of the Pskov city Administration during the years of occupation (1941-1944).

The article examines the social practices of the civil occupation authorities of the city of Pskov in 1941-1944. The article analyzes the reasons for the provision of social assistance, its varieties, and size. Assistance was entrusted to the social department of the Pskov City Administration, which compiled survey reports, visiting the housing of the poor and disabled. Among the measures were bread and fuel cards, as well as the provision of housing and medical care. The publication is based on documents located in the State Archive of the Pskov region. The activities of the social security department of the Pskov city Administration during the years of occupation are reviewed on the basis of archive materials, the funds of which also contain data from the trade and financial departments of Pskov dealing with payments to the population. The residents who remained in the city did not represent an exceptionally able-bodied community. They were often disabled people, children and women who, for various reasons, could not evacuate. They were unable to work either for health reasons, or because of their age, or because their specialty turned out to be unclaimed by the occupiers. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion about the limited and unsatisfactory amount of social support for residents of occupied Pskov. Social support, although organized by the city administration department, was in practice coordinated with the German commandant&amp;apos;s office, which was the source of genuine power. The funds allocated by the department were so insignificant that they did not allow them to live even for a week. The prices of groceries in stores and on the market were incredibly high. Cash flows to the department were also extremely limited. Survival in occupied Pskov, as in any Nazi-occupied city, turned into a fierce struggle for life. By the time of liberation, less than a thousand people remained in the city from the pre-war more than 60 thousand people.

The Interweaving of Everyday and Structural Perspectives: Exploring Suburban Struggles of Everyday Life

Everyday life is a central element for understanding the (sub)urban. Broader forces shape the (sub)urban and manifest in both its geographical structures and everyday life. These forces also shape globalized and complex urban contexts. Recent debates have addressed the question of which research designs best decipher this interplay. We argue that the struggles of everyday life could be a fruitful starting point for (sub)urban studies. Our research on socio-spatial changes in suburbia shows that these struggles emerge in a multidimensional field of tension. The concept of struggles of everyday life simultaneously acknowledges the relevance of the everyday and the impact of structural forces. We demonstrate this with our research design, the essential elements of which are literature work, narrative-episodic interviews, expert interviews, vignettes, and a hermeneutic, iterative research process. Conceptually, our research is based on the epistemological framework of planetary urbanization and Henri Lefebvre’s perspective on everyday life. We outline which conceptual and methodical approaches are useful for deciphering the interweaving of everyday life and structural forces, through the example of a suburb of the City of Cologne, Germany. Thereby, we provide remarks on recent questions of comparative urbanism in conceptual and methodological terms.

Subsistence via Jala-Samadhi (Sacred Suicide): An Enigmatic Activism of Yogmaya

Collective jal-samadhi (killing oneself by plunging in the river) is one of the rare evidences in the resistance history that Yogmaya led from the Eastern part of Nepal at the verge of Rana regime. This paper examines her three different aspects - her life story, her Sarwartha Yogbani, and her collective jala-samadhi - to argue Yogmaya as an enigmatic social activist. The main purpose is to foreground her life struggle with reference to her Sarwartha Yogbani from the perspective of subaltern studies. The notions of ‘hegemony’ and ‘subaltern’ as Antonio Gramsci and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak point out when ‘agency’ of the oppressed is concerned have been applied as theoretical parameters to foreground her story. The finding of the study shows subsistence of her resistance via jal-samadhi that helps engage intellectuals in academic activism and critical discourse in the history form below perspective.

Recreating Sustainable Societies through Experiential and Peer Learning in Higher Education

Education System in India was based on culture, traditions and social practices that was passed on to the pupils through inherited values. It was learnt at homes as well in schools such as the Gurukul System, which was the centre of diverse learning. The cultural practices in the society, whether reading the scriptures or acquiring hoplology skills, were needed for all round development of the individual. Art and craft; sports and yoga; and also, daily chores were given the same importance, for holistic learning. To some extent, they were also taught to have restraint on unearthly desires. This exercise was influenced by spiritual enlightenment, awareness about nature and self-discipline. It prepared them for their future life struggles, as well as psychological wellbeing. The modern education system introduced during the colonial era was aimed at competitiveness and exploitation of resources. They destroyed the culture and created social divides amongst children; and encouraged a consumeristic lifestyle. Gradually, these societies divorced themselves from ethical principles and were responsible for destruction of nature. The urban milieu vitiated further in this process, becoming centres of environmental degradation and pollution; and diminished social values. Although one associates education with higher level of consciousness, many modern societies have failed to prevent the ecological devastation. In fact, numerous traditional societies have lived more sustainably despite the people there being less literate. Thus, existing education system requires a certain change geared towards human awakening. The present study elucidates the importance of reviving some practices of the past within the modern curriculum by adopting experiential tools for a sustainable living.