Studies Scholars Research Articles

Cultural Heritage Informatics, Old Idea or Emerging Domain?

This is a 90-minute roundtable discussion, moderated by Shirin G. Alamdari. With Hannah Turner (UBC); Stacy Allison-Cassin (Dalhousie), Isto Huvila (UU), Andrea Thomer (UArizona) and Diana Marsh (UMD Maryland). The term, Cultural Heritage Informatics, is being used widely in Information fields and by Information Studies Scholars and programs. This panel will address the questions: What is Cultural Heritage Informatics? Why do researchers and institutions stumble with a definition? Does Cultural Heritage Informatics define a methodology, a subject interest, or a set of technical practices? What kinds of ethical considerations could we, or should we, have?

White Appalachians: Not a “People of the Mountains” [A Rhetorical Analysis of Recent Journal of Appalachian Studies Issues

Previous research has shown that Appalachian studies as a field, by drawing upon Appalachian studies scholars and activists such as Harry Caudill, Helen Lewis, and Chris Irwin, misapplied the colonialism model to whites in the region, which resulted in clear remnants of self-Indigenization in the field. I show through a rhetorical analysis of recent (2020–2023) editions of the Journal of Appalachian Studies that these critiques have been left largely unaddressed in the field. In reviewing these issues, a tenet of Appalachian studies is to employ “Appalachian” as an identity (rather than as solely a regional analytic) that is claimable by whites as distinct from other white settler colonizer identities. Applying the peoplehood matrix, which is a theory of that which imbues Indigenous peoples with Indigeneity and sovereignty, I reveal that white Appalachia often rhetorically presents itself as a colonized Indigenous people—though not necessarily as American Indians.

“For Generations Farmers Have Preserved the Environment, Now You Are Endangering It”: Affective-discursive Practices in European Farmers’ Reaction to Climate Policy

The farming sector is one of the sectors most affected by climate change while simultaneously contributing to around 20% of global greenhouse emissions. To alleviate the pressures of agricultural production on nature and climate, the European Union (EU) established a new set of agri-environmental regulations positioning farmers as crucial actors in providing sustainable food and safeguarding the environment. However, farmers are increasingly contesting these regulations and mobilizing through EU-wide protests. Despite the obvious potency of the farmers’ actions, scholarly studies problematizing their manifestation in the context of climate governance are scarce. This paper addresses this gap by analyzing the 2023–2024 farmers’ protests in Slovenia to examine the interplay of affects and discourse in meaning-making among the farmers, which shows a mobilization driven by anger and fear as well as self-importance. The paper thus contributes to the knowledge on agrarian populism and farmers’ mobilizations in the European context, uncovering complexities and nuances of the articulated affective-discursive canon.

Co-Design in Practice: Bringing STS to Post-Brexit Agricultural Policy

Following the Brexit referendum, the United Kingdom's Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) began to "co-design" a new agri-environment policy for England with stakeholders: the environmental land management (ELM) scheme. ELM is the cornerstone of the most far-reaching agricultural policy reforms undertaken in the UK since the Second World War. This article provides the first empirically grounded assessment of the ELM co-design process. It uses a framework developed by science and technology studies (STS) scholars to help remake participation along constructivist lines to show where, how and why the co-design process was constrained by sociotechnical systems and constitutional relations between citizens, science and the state. Our analysis shows that while STS-informed interventions can help make government-orchestrated participation more experimental, reflexive, anticipatory and responsible, remaking it along constructivist lines requires a new constitutional moment in which major changes are made to the arrangement of epistemic and political authority. With the popularity of co-design rising with governments across the world, our article is relevant to a broad international readership wanting to know more about how co-design fares in the context of large-scale systemic transformations.

Introduction: Boundary work in Muslim-Jewish encounters in urban Europe

This special issue, based around the European Encounters project research carried out before October 2023, explores ambivalence and boundary work in Jewish and Muslim encounters across urban European contexts. Drawing on case studies in Frankfurt, London and Paris, it examines intercultural negotiations and identity constructions among minoritised groups. Contributors analyse diverse sites of encounter, from musical collaborations to more formal interfaith initiatives and everyday commercial spaces. Across these settings, the articles highlight complex layers of commonality and difference shaping boundary dynamics between Muslims and Jews. Analytically, this issue deploys central cultural studies concepts like symbolic boundaries, conviviality and superdiversity to elucidate lived realities. Empirically, grounded examination of understudied intercultural encounters advances cultural studies scholarship. The juxtaposition of the cities enables a relational understanding of how national repertoires of discourse shape boundary negotiations differently across contexts. Furthermore, analysis complicates assumptions of conflict, foregrounding marginalised perspectives on identity and power. Key findings demonstrate the ambivalence underpinning most Muslim-Jewish interactions. Structural inequalities, avoidance and indifference more frequently characterise encounters than outright hostility. Yet significations of difference still dominate, as groups navigate uneasy proximities. This special issue challenges essentialist portrayals of immutable intergroup divisions. Its nuanced analysis underscores the need to understand quotidian encounters relationally, as a multi-level interdependency, grounded in their socio-historical contexts across and within groups. This yields multifaceted insights into minority experiences of othering and belonging in Europe’s superdiverse cities.

LGBTQ+ Adult Sexual Violence Critical Scoping Review: Insights into Victimization and Perpetration.

The existing research on sexual violence has primarily concentrated on instances where cisgender, heterosexual men have perpetrated sexual violence against cisgender, heterosexual women, with knowledge about LGBTQ+ people underdeveloped. However, there is a growing body of literature examining the experiences of LGBTQ+ people. No previous review has critically synthesized both quantitative and qualitative scholarly studies on adult LGBTQ+ sexual violence globally. In this scoping review, we provide a comprehensive overview of current research by examining the prevalence of victimization and perpetration of adult LGBTQ+ sexual violence. To do this, an extensive search of the Discovery database was conducted, and studies published between 1990 and September 2021 were included. The final sample comprised 108 papers focused on LGBTQ+ participants' experiences of adult sexual violence. Across studies, LGBTQ+ people were found to experience high rates of sexual violence, most commonly perpetrated by men, with rates the highest among transgender and gender-diverse people and bisexual women. However, the body of research is limited as it largely consists of quantitative studies from the United States with differing methodological approaches for measuring sexual violence and gender and sexuality, making it difficult to draw comparisons across studies. We propose recommendations to enhance future research on LGBTQ+ sexual violence.

Decolonising Global North terrorism studies in Southeast Asian Muslim-majority countries

ABSTRACT Over the past few decades, the call to decolonise academia has garnered significant momentum in some Global North and Global South countries and settler states. This shift reflects a growing recognition among scholars that academia perpetuates various forms of coloniality. However, terrorism studies scholars, particularly those in Global South countries, have largely refrained from addressing the need to decolonise the discipline and the broader terrorism industry. This situation is troubling given the role that ‘Global North terrorism studies' – and, by extension, the terrorism industry – plays in supplying Northern-centric intellectual frameworks that work to ‘civilise’ the ‘other,’ support settler colonial projects, and suppress Indigenous and alternative perspectives. This article draws theoretical and methodological insights from the Latin American School of Decoloniality and the Southeast Asian School of Autonomous Knowledge. It seeks to start a conversation among terrorism studies scholars in Southeast Asian Muslim-majority countries on the need to develop an ‘independent and alternative’ terrorism studies discipline based on epistemologies and methodologies from their region to what I call Global North terrorism studies.

Social research methods for students and scholars of theology and religious studies

Social research methods for students and scholars of theology and religious studies

Competing for Cultural Authority: Journalism Studies Must Account for the Right

ABSTRACT Recent technological and political developments have caused researchers to reevaluate journalists’ relevance vis a vis other forms of media production, with some calling for a “decentering” of journalism within broader media cultures. While there has been sizeable growth in research concerning the impacts of new digital technologies on journalism, we call for a renewed focus on partisan media. We contend that the future of journalism studies necessarily involves a reckoning with right-wing news cultures and note four areas where further research is especially necessary: including theorizing how conservative news influences and its epistemological assumptions, as well as right-wing media’s increasing salience across a diverse array of communities in the U.S. and across the globe. We intend this essay as a provocation to journalism studies scholars, with the goal of effecting a robust and reflexive subfield devoted to the study of right-wing news.

Features of state financial control in the circulation of budget funds

Based on the study and analysis of scholars’ positions and legal provisions, this scientific article highlights the concept and features of state financial control in the sphere of budget funds circulation. The relevance of the chosen topic lies in the increasing importance of state financial control, as its effective application in managing state financial resources creates the necessary conditions for effective economic policy implementation. The article reveals such general concepts as state financial control in the circulation of budget funds, its features, tasks, functions, and forms. The aim of the author is to define state financial control in the sphere of budget funds circulation and to study its peculiarities. The work emphasizes that there is no definition of the basic category in the current legislation and among scholars, the diversity of doctrinal interpretations of the definition «state financial control» is striking, each highlighting separate features. Among scholars, there are different views on this issue, which can be grouped into several categories: state financial control as one type of financial control; specific managerial activity or system of certain actions; public sector institution of the economy. The research provides an author’s interpretation of state financial control in the sphere of budget funds circulation as a systematic activity of state authorities and specially authorized bodies aimed at ensuring the legality, rationality, and efficiency of budget funds circulation, oriented toward preventing, detecting, and stopping violations at the controlled object. The study considers and summarizes existing scientific views on the features of state financial control in the circulation of budget funds as a specific type of activity, including: defined subject composition of control bodies; list of subjects whose activities are subject to control; control object; control goal; control methods. Based on the analysis of the content of legislation and scientific works, the most important tasks, functions (analytical; informational; preventive; mobilizing; corrective; law enforcement; detection of deviations; analysis of causes of deviations), and forms of state financial control in the circulation of budget funds are analyzed, the most common classification of which is their division into preliminary (preventive), current (operative), and subsequent (retrospective).

If I Learn to Ride a Bicycle, I Will Turn From Gay to Straight”: Decoding ‘Masculine Behaviour’ and Gay Voice in Vasudhendra’s Mohanaswamy

This article discusses the representation and reciprocation of masculinity in gay men, primarily from non-urban setups in India, which has been underrepresented in South Asian masculinity studies. Vasudhendra’s coming-out book, Mohanaswamy (2013/2016), set in the Indian state, Karnataka, paves the way for the study of the impact of hegemonic masculine behavior and ideal masculinity in gay men in the transition from rural to urban setup. The imposition of ‘idealistic’ masculine behavior seeks scrutiny of the critical question: how does the hegemonic masculinity impact gay masculinities in the non-urban Indian setup in Mohanaswamy? This study seeks to provide answers to pertinent questions and create space for a more inclusive study of men through a detailed examination of the deconstruction of hegemonic masculinity in Indian gay masculinity, deriving from the theoretical framework by the scholars of masculinity studies.

Jimmy Carter, Letters to the Editor, and the “Loss of Confidence” in America’s Political System in 1976

ABSTRACT More than three years prior to President Jimmy Carter’s “crisis of confidence” speech, letter-to-the-editor writers, cued by daily news coverage, acknowledged an emerging “loss of confidence in the American political ‘system’” prompted by the materialization of “showbiz politics” and superficial, sensationalistic campaign reporting surrounding the presidential horse race. In conversation with cultural studies scholars and historians, this study seeks to better understand lingering material traces of the nation’s structures of feeling bound within newspaper editorial pages during the first post-Vietnam/Watergate presidential election, with a focus on emerging cultural conversations cued by campaign reporting on the candidacy of relatively unknown “outsider” Jimmy Carter. The coauthors conducted a textual analysis of a purposive sample of letters to the editor in the nation’s six leading-circulation newspapers within a ten-month period surrounding the 1976 presidential campaign, read with and against the grain of related news coverage and archival materials. This paper gives us a new understanding of the critique of the American political system and an emerging national malaise during the long seventies.

Introduction to the special issue: Organizing domestic work: The limits of regulations in the wake of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention

AbstractIn 2011, the International Labour Organization adopted a new Domestic Workers Convention, a change that generated struggles internationally around recognizing domestic labor as a form of work. Recognition as a worker is meant to redress the particularities that render the exploitation of domestic workers so intimate, painful, and naturalized. A decade after the Convention's passage is a reasonable period in which to assess its impact, as the papers in the special issue do in a variety of sites. The introduction discusses the limitations of the regulation of work in changing domestic workers' conditions. First, labor studies scholars have shown how contracts can cement inequalities. Second, attempts to standardize domestic labor through work contracts and the law rely on liberalism's supposedly unparalleled capacity to correct historical harms and perfect human relations. Moreover, studies in legal pluralism highlight the ways that informal work is organized according to social conventions. Forms of resistance by domestic workers indicate that they use a sense of rights based both on their status as workers and from other social domains to negotiate employment conditions. This leads us to the conclusion that all forms of energy expended, both paid and unpaid, should be considered forms of work.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE GANESHA STATUE AT BUKIT MAS SITE, LIMBANG SARAWAK: A DISCUSSION

In 1922, a significant artifact was accidentally uncovered at Bukit Mas, Limbang: a statue of Ganesha, the Hindu deity depicted with an elephant head and a human body. This discovery is noteworthy, particularly given the limited historical research on Limbang. To address this, the research will employ a historical analysis method, previous scholarly studies, and historical records to contextualize the Ganesha statue within Limbang's historical narrative. This approach aims to initiate a detailed discussion about the statue's significance and its implications for our understanding of the region's past.

The temporary turn in asylum: a new agenda for researching the politics of deterrence in practice

ABSTRACT While policies of non-admission, deflection and containment have animated Global North states’ response to refugees since the 1980s, the past decade has witnessed a new turn towards post-entry measures making protection more temporary and limiting the rights previously associated with the grant of asylum. This special issue explores recent deterrence strategies in Denmark and Norway, focussed on the revocation regimes adopted to withdraw or deny the extension of refugees’ residence permits. It provides ethnographic insights into the everyday consequences of temporariness as well as the dilemmas it presents from a legal perspective. Building on existing literature on deterrence policies in refugee studies scholarship, this introduction will propose a new research agenda for studying newer dimensions of deterrence in practice. It broadens the scope of analysis to include multiple actors and levels, centered on the everyday imprints of deterrence following admission and the recognition of a refugee’s need for protection. Bridging juridical–political, socio-legal, and ethnographic approaches, the introduction will advance the field of international migration research by discussing the methodological, ethical and epistemological challenges of studying temporariness in refugee protection, while also presenting strategies for researching deterrence without uncritically reproducing the policy discourse aimed at deterring refugees.

New Area Studies as an Epistemological Framework: Some Reflections of Knowledge Production and Positionality

New Area Studies can be seen as resulting from the debate in the Area Studies between the need for disciplinarity and the urgency of ethical research practices in the social sciences. As such, it is fertile ground for reflexions on methodology, knowledge production and the construction of epistemic communities that go beyond disciplinary silos. In this paper, I argue that New Area Studies is useful as a lens through which to engage with decolonial and postcolonial critiques of the social sciences and humanities. To present New Area Studies as an epistemological framework, in this theoretical intervention, I first engage with its origins in the field of Area Studies and the critiques aimed at it. Next, I propose that taking such critique seriously involves necessarily a discussion of knowledge production and research practice. Finally, I propose that New Area Studies can be understood as an epistemological framework useful to address contemporary challenges faced by all social sciences, not only Area Studies. This paper weaves together decolonial and feminist approaches to research, to argue for the relevance of New Area Studies scholarship.

Flood Photography and the Visual Component of Environmental American Studies

This article develops a new approach for using photographic sources that might be of interest to American Studies scholars whose research contributes broadly to environmental education. Over the past forty years of photographic scholarship, scientific and other record images have become relatively prominent as primary sources. This visual material can be used to interrogate past responses to flooding and other environmental events. On the other hand, discourses around social documentary continue to frame how the human impacts of rapidly changing environments are visualised. By comparing two sets of images from the 1930s, the article juxtaposes the approaches of photographers associated with these two conventionally distinct areas to offer a more rounded view of flood photography. The discussion starts with a reflective section detailing how I arrived at my current research project. Following this, the categories of scientific and social documentary photography are described relationally in the context of the agencies of the New Deal, in the process setting out an argument for the contribution that engaged visuality can make to Environmental American Studies. Afterwards, the attention shifts to focus on images from two official contexts. The first example concerns record photography from the Soil Conservation Experiment Station in Bethany, Missouri, whilst the second considers photographs that the Resettlement Administration produced in response to flooding in Posey County, Indiana, in 1937. The article concludes by remarking on some of the implications of this method for how American Studies researchers currently conduct environmentally focused projects.

The implementation of IFRS electronic financial reporting – XBRL and usefulness of financial information: evidence from Jordanian finance industry

Purpose This study aims to compare the usefulness of financial information in the Jordanian finance industry before and after applying eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) as a new regulatory requirement under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Financial information usefulness is measured using the Nijmegen Centre for Economics (NiCE) disclosure index. This index examines IFRS-defined “qualitative characteristics of useful financial information”. These are relevance, faithful portrayal, understandability, comparison and timeliness. Design/methodology/approach To evaluate the formulated hypotheses, ordinary least squares regression analysis was used on a dataset consisting of 954 observations from the Jordanian financial industry, specifically the banking, insurance and real estate sectors, spanning the period from 2005 to 2022. The content analysis method has been used to quantify the extent of each characteristic of useful information disclosure. Findings The investigation validates that the utilisation of XBRL generally enhances the usefulness of financial information in terms of its “relevance, faithful representation, comparability, and timeliness”, although no association was found regarding the duration of understandability. To ensure effective adoption of XBRL in Jordan, it is essential to provide suitable infrastructure to XBRL suppliers and offer training to XBRL users. Practical implications This research advances the field and may be valuable in areas with minimal XBRL framework usage. This analysis can assist businesses in understanding how XBRL affects financial information quality in the age of technological adoption. The findings help regulators and policymakers monitor Jordanian enterprises’ technological adoption and propose IFRS-XBRL-compliant legislation. This could improve measurement and disclosure while protecting investors and integrity. Thus, this research shows that potential investors in Jordanian enterprises must understand and evaluate electronic financial report data. The findings affect business and policy, so executives, lawmakers and stockholders should evaluate them. As technology advances, practitioners and scholars must recognise XBRL’s potential to improve organisational values and effects. These findings can apply to Middle Eastern (ME) countries with similar institutional, cultural and accounting frameworks. Originality/value This study combines agency, signalling and stakeholders’ theories, motivational theories for technology adoption, institutional theories and technological acceptance theories to analyse how XBRL affects financial information. To the best of the author’s knowledge, no other scholarly study has examined how XBRL affects country-level financial information usefulness. This study illuminates XBRL’s country-level benefits and complements firm-level assessments. These are crucial for ME and Jordan’s economic growth. Jordanian data and the existing disclosure index of financial information usefulness are used for the first time to evaluate XBRL.

Fiscal on Islamic View; How Does it Run in Modern Day Indonesia

The fiscal mechanism is an important thing to discuss, because it concerns the lives of many people, but the question is whether all fiscal instruments are permitted in Islam? This research aims to discuss how fiscal instruments are carried out in the Islamic context and how Islam provides guidance for making a breakthrough. in this activity. The approach used is literature study, by comparing the opinions among moeslem scholar and others relevance study. The findings from this research answer that taxes are still a problem among fiqh experts, either another fiscal insrument were relevance with contemporary world , in the Indonesian context it can be done if; fair and other sources of funding have not met needs, since of the governments expenditure were could not be fulfilled by only using one fiscal instrument such as zakah.

Issues and Challenges of Understanding Obligatory Prayers among Primary School Students

The understanding of obligatory prayers has become a focal point in the initiative to enhance the character development of students within schools, particularly in response to the rising social issues observed among primary school students. This concern necessitates urgent attention, as many students exhibit disinterest in Islamic Education and neglect their prayer obligations. A comprehensive analysis of over 50 scholarly studies published from 2010 to 2024 reveals a growing emphasis on the importance of understanding obligatory prayers. Despite this, significant challenges remain, including a lack of awareness regarding the significance of prayer and deficiencies in comprehending its proper execution. This article seeks to critically examine these issues and the hurdles faced in promoting a deeper understanding of obligatory prayers among students. Employing methodologies such as observation and documentation, the study highlights the pressing need for an integrated educational approach that combines both religious instruction and character education. The findings suggest that merely teaching the mechanics of prayer is insufficient; instead, a structured framework for early education is essential to foster an appreciation for prayer and its moral implications. Ultimately, the research concludes that addressing these challenges requires innovative and comprehensive strategies tailored to instill a meaningful understanding of obligatory prayers among primary school students. By doing so, educators can significantly contribute to character building and mitigate social issues prevalent in this demographic. Further research is encouraged to explore effective methods for enhancing engagement with obligatory prayers, ensuring that students not only perform them but also appreciate their spiritual significance.