Troubled Society Research Articles

미디어 콘텐츠 액티비즘의 명암: 자유주의인가, 공동체주의인가?

Since the 1990s, the media has become even more powerful. The fall of the totalitarian socialist states at the end of the 20th century was largely due to the media. Almost every aspect of human society is now under the influence of media. Real-world politics and economy, society and culture are all interacting with media products (which exist somewhere between the virtual and the real). This is where the term “content activism” comes into play. As you may know, content activism is the idea of “realizing social movements through content”. In some countries, where totalitarian dictatorships and human rights abuses that deprive people of their freedom are commonplace, content activism can be crucial as a way for citizens to actively mobilize in solidarity and resistance to unjust social and cultural systems. Content activism can be a new wind of change in a conservative or troubled society, and it can be a “conduit and device for social justice”. To this end, media content aimed at the majority is often utilized as a means of content activism. The problem is that media content activism is not as simply positive as this. This is because content activism can lead to difficulties and conflicts in social consensus, a side effect of dissonance. In advanced cultural content societies, where content activism can thrive, the content echos are free to burst forth with content that seeks to realize justice based on its own perspectives and ideologies, whether from the left or the right, and from different sectors of society. Based on this perspective, this article examines the two characteristics of media content, the ideological messages of content activism, and parrhesia, or “fearless speech” emphasized by M. Foucault. Finally, it considers the significance and dangers of media content activism from a socio-ethical perspective.

On thinking about interpersonal violence and the impotence of force

We argue that the problem of violence persists, to a certain degree, because of our refusal or inability to think about traumatic, difficult or “senseless” material systematically. We explore the connection between thinking and violence, and specifically Arendt’s question whether thinking can make men abstain from violence. We are interested in the relationship and tension between knowing and not knowing – as products of thinking – in relation to (also our own capacities for) violence. The tension presents in two main ways. First, thinking is employed to shed light on dark or difficult knowable material, thereby increasing our understanding of ourselves, our place in a troubled society and our relation to violence. Second, thinking bumps up against our ability to know, and it is this unknowability that exposes us to our limits as thinking beings as well as a place of humility and mutual vulnerability. We suggest that paying closer and more nuanced attention to the gender dimensions of the above questions reveals something important about the reasons that gender-based violence persists. We argue, with Arendt, that violence results from non-mastery and that the equation of male power with violence is a lie that violence perpetuates about itself. Similarly, Heberle argues that violence results from the fragile non-cohesiveness of masculine subjectivity and thus also traces the roots of violence to weakness and fragility rather than strength or power. We argue that the antidote for this false mastery and control is thinking.

Human Rights in a Troubled Society: Northern Ireland since 1969

Human Rights in a Troubled Society: Northern Ireland since 1969

Human Rights in a Troubled Society: Northern Ireland since 1969

Human Rights in a Troubled Society: Northern Ireland since 1969

The situation of lyrical literature in the sixth century

The sixth century is the Seljuk period from exciting times to different centuries in Iran. This study analyzes the causes and factors of changes in the style of poetry and its content and themes and changes the sponsors of poetry and finding poetry among the common people Mysticism and Sufism have dealt with the needs of the troubled society of that century. In this study, due to the tendency of the monasteries towards the monasteries in the sixth century and the lack of attention of the Seljuk kings to the poets, there was a lack of introspection of the poet and interesting mystical agreements in his view and attention.

The Self‐Understanding of the Congolese Church during War: CENCO in the Grip of the Greatest Modern Humanitarian Crisis

This article analyses how the National Conference of Congolese Catholic Bishops (CENCO) identified its public mission in society as veilleurs et éveilleurs des consciences (custodians and awakeners of consciences). This perception emerged because of external pressures, namely the phenomenon of war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the late twentieth and early twenty‐first century. The argument is developed in four steps. First, I offer a succinct account of the period of war since 1996 and the magnitude of the havoc wreaked on the people of the DRC. Next, I consider the historical background of CENCO. Third, I discuss the organisation and some most important modern bishops of CENCO. Fourth, I analyse how CENCO perceived the role of the Catholic Church in this troubled society and how this acute consciousness emboldened the Congolese Catholic Church to tackle the woes of the deadliest war in recent history. Finally, I draw some implications and address challenges that CENCO faces when it intersects with politics.

ФАКТОРИ ВПЛИВУ НА ПРОФЕСІЙНУ РЕАДАПТАЦІЮ ОСОБИСТОСТІВ УМОВАХ ПРОБЛЕМОГЕННОГО СОЦІУМУ

The article reveals the factors of influence on occupational re-adaptation of a person in the settings of the problemogenic society. The Purpose of this study was to carry out a systematic review of scientific sources that highlight the factors influencing the professional re-adaptation of a person in the face of a troubled society, using the three-vector approach proposed by Carpenter P. and Foster B. Methods. The study used a literature review strategy based on the format proposed by the Joanne Briggs Institute (JBI). The literature search was conducted in such bases as: Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), PsycINFO, Scopus and Informit. Additionally, the Joanne Briggs Institute Critical Assessment Tool (checklist) for qualitative and cross-sectional research was used. Results. Among the identified internal factors of readaptation were revealed such ones as: self-perception, self-positioning, self-concept, self-confidence. motives of readaptation, interests, advantages, inclinations, ambitions and possibilities, desire, interests, desire to realize, self-expression, self-actualization in life, conscious control, personal interest in the inert environment. External factors of readaptation were mentioned in the pursuit of better working conditions, higher financial rewards, social recognition (higher prestige) and a better social package, as well as professional, psychological, social and cultural requirements and challenges, unregulated work schedules, tough deadlines, component of stress, authoritarian leadership style, conservativeness of moral attitudes, aggressive attitude, moral abuse. Among the interpersonal factors of readaptation were mentioned such as: personality characteristics, cultural characteristics, universally recognized social roles in the ethnic community – influence of family and immediate surroundings, individualistic culture, lack of support, competition, social stereotypes, universally recognized socialities. Conclusions. It has been found that the above three groups of factors that underpin this study are decisive for professional re-adaptation and influence the behavior and decision-making system of the individual. The factors of the occupational re-adaptation differ significantly in collectivist and individualistic cultural (ethno-national) communities, and are related to the value system and education. Factors influencing the professional re-adaptation of the individual in conditions of problem society are associated not only with psychological and social factors, but also with the state of human health.

From Comrades to Bodhisattvas: Moral Dimensions of Lay Buddhist Practice in Contemporary China, by Gareth Fisher. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press; Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2014. x+263 pp. US$50.00/HK$390.00 (cloth).

<i>From Comrades to Bodhisattvas: Moral Dimensions of Lay Buddhist Practice in Contemporary China</i>, by Gareth Fisher. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press; Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2014. x+263 pp. US$50.00/HK$390.00 (cloth).

Ecological Civilization and the New Enlightenment

Ecological Civilization and the New Enlightenment

Language, Gender and War Situation: “Her/story” in Nwapa’s and Adichie’s Stories, the Complement of “His/tory”

Writers are the voices of people and they derive the subject matters of their discourse from the experiences of society. These experiences are derived from the socio-political and spiritual lives of the people that make up the society. Any major occurrence that disrupts the equilibrium of an existing social structure is a subject matter of a discourse and every discourse has language as its indispensible meduim. This paper examines the predicaments of women in the 1967-1970 Nigerian civil war through the voices of women in Chimamanda Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, Flora Nwapa’s Never Again and Wives at War and Other Stories. The works expose the tribulations that women underwent in the civil war, their active participation and contribution for the sustenance of a troubled society. The exposure not only contradicts the men’s stories that portray women as passive participants in Nigeria-Biafra war, they complement and validate the men’s stories. The works also make claim that these women might not have carried guns but they fought the war in their own courageous way.Key words: War situation, Gender, Patriarchy, Predicaments

Power and Purity: Nature as Resource in a Troubled Society

Abstract This article analyses representations of nature as brand and resource in current Icelandic society. This is done through an interdisciplinary approach consisting of concepts from the discipline of cultural geography and the analytical methodologies of visual cultural, imagology, discourse and brand analysis used to highlight key narratives in images and written sources. The article discusses how ideas of purity are used in branding strategies and what they mean in Iceland today e.g. as a part of the emerging regional consciousness of ‘Arctic Iceland.’ The current overlapping crises of the economy, the environment and the collective self-image in Iceland have fostered critical representations of the past, present and future of the relationship between humans and the environment. Thus utilitarian environmental policies and shallow ecology is treated critically in contemporary Icelandic art, as is the question of what constitutes pollution. Such internal conflicts of interest are analysed to show critical perspectives on the dominant narratives about Icelandic nature and society that are communicated to the outside world through nation branding.

A Dread Decision: The Execution of Edwin Hickey, 1936

Edwin Hickey's trial, conviction and subsequent execution in 1936 for the apparently unprovoked murder of conciliation commissioner Montague Henwood raised questions about the administration of justice and legal representation in New South Wales. This controversial execution laid bare the anxieties of a troubled society, exposing conflicting attitudes to youth, crime, sexuality and sexual assault. Hickey was portrayed as one of a lost generation, who unfairly carried the burden of societal disquiet following World War I. For many he was also a symptom of communal guilt concerning the cruel impact of the Great Depression on rural youth. Such representations did not save Hickey, whose unsubstantiated allegation of attempted sexual assault rendered him beyond redemption in the eyes of conservative politicians who made the final decision on whether his death sentence would be commuted.

Leadership for inclusion: conceptualising and enacting inclusion in integrated schools in a troubled society

Inclusion is increasingly understood as an educational reform that responds to the diversity of all learners, challenging the marginalisation, exclusion and underachievement which may result from all forms of ‘difference’. Leadership for inclusion is conceptualised here as driving a constant struggle to create shared meanings of inclusion and to build collaborative practice, an effort that needs to be rooted in critical practice lest it risks replicating existing patterns of disadvantage. In response to calls for further research that challenge how school leaders conceptualise inclusion and for research that investigates how leaders enact their understandings of inclusion, this paper aims to increase our understanding of the extent to which leadership vision can map onto a school’s culture and of the organisational conditions in schools that drive responses to diversity. We investigate the enactment of leadership for inclusion in the troubled context of Northern Ireland by looking at two schools that primarily aim to integrate Catholic and Protestant children but which are also sites for a range of other dimensions of student ‘difference’ to come together. Whilst the two schools express differing visions of the integration of Catholics and Protestants, leadership vision of inclusion is enacted by members of the school community with a consensus around this vision brought about by formal and informal aspects of school culture. Multiple and intersecting spheres of difference stimulate a concerted educational response in both schools, but integration remains the primary focus. In this divided society, religious diversity poses a significant challenge to inclusion and further support is required from leaders to enable teachers to break through cultural restraints.

Teaching about/for ambivalent forgiveness in troubled societies

In this article, the author argues that it would be valuable to look into less paradigmatic manifestations of forgiveness in schools, that is, pedagogical approaches that acknowledge the complexity of forgiveness in socio-political contexts – namely, how forgiveness might be ambivalent, intermingled with both positive and negative emotions, and concerned with the standpoints of both the victim who offers forgiveness and the perpetrator who seeks forgiveness. The meaning and value of ambivalent forgiveness is presented through an extended reflection on a vignette from the author's ethnographic research on forgiveness in a troubled society – his home country, Cyprus. The vignette will highlight the complexity of forgiveness and provide a specific instance where traditional models of interpersonal forgiveness may fail or, at the very least, need to be expanded to account for the socio-political or inter-group dynamics. This article ends with a discussion of the pedagogical implications of the notion of ambivalent forgiveness for troubled societies.

Teachers' understandings of forgiveness in a troubled society: an empirical exploration and implications for forgiveness pedagogies

The purpose of this article is to explore how teachers define forgiveness in a society troubled with political conflict and historical trauma, what reservations they have and what pedagogical opportunities (if any) are created to teach about/for forgiveness in schools. More specifically, this is a phenomenological study of how a group of Greek-Cypriot teachers who teach in a troubled society (Cyprus) understand forgiveness; the authors examine how forgiveness pedagogies might or might not become part of Greek-Cypriot curricula and teaching practices. This article shows that some forgiveness pedagogies will not take place in schools unless there is political settlement in Cyprus. This finding does not preclude the possibility of engaging in some forms of forgiveness pedagogies before reconciliation is reached; however, these pedagogies will vary widely in value, depending on their context and motivation. An important contribution of forgiveness pedagogies is the creation of learning spaces which restore the humanness that is often lost in troubled societies.

Rule of law vs. ‘Russian justice’: Nikita Mikhalkov's 12

ABSTRACTThe article analyses Nikita Mikhalkov's film 12 (2007), a remake of the classic American Twelve Angry Men by Sidney Lumet (1957). Lumet's film asserts the rule of law over illegal retaliation, chauvinism and emotional judgement. Though Mikhalkov's version uses the setting and the plot of the original production, its ultimate conclusion is that the rule of law is not always an acceptable answer to Russia's troubled society. This article explores how Mikhalkov remade the classic courtroom drama into a prequel for a revenge genre film.

Dealing with damage: the desire for psychic violence to soothe psychic pain

Damage and destruction in people's lives can be dealt with either through recognizing and resolving psychic pain and loss or acting out destructive human relationships. This paper highlights the internal processes within a patient and a troubled society where psychic pain may not be recognized, experienced and worked through, so leading to the possibility that psychic violence may be used to soothe heartfelt emotional injuries. Psychic pain is often associated with emotional poverty and inadequacy. This paper describes the idea that pain is acted out through psychic violence and how the therapist has to face and contain many facets of this human frailty disguised as ‘sexed-up’ violence. My observations of psychic violence in the everyday life of a society exposed to over 35 years of death and destruction are also described. Here, there is not the comfort of the consulting room to detoxify poisonous projections, which often present under the psychic guise of superiority and contempt. Intrapsychic formulations are outlined which underlie such violence and clinical interventions and suggestions to repair societal troubles are offered to help this disturbed state of mind move towards more whole-object human relations. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Children's Gun Violence Prevention Act

Pearl, Paducah, Jonesboro, Edinboro, Springfield — and now Littleton. Eighteen months ago, these were nothing more than quiet towns in suburban America. Today, they conjure up images of death and sadness — troubled children in a troubled society. This list of towns grew in April when two boys with access to guns entered Columbine High School and started shooting. We [as a society] glorify guns and the use of guns and glamorize the use of violence as a way of solving problems, said Howard Spivak, M.D., FAAP, chair of the AAP Task Force on Violence in a Good Morning America interview following the Colorado shooting. We do it on television and in the movies and in all of the role models we put up in front of young people. And then we seem to get surprised when they act it out and do it themselves.

Defending a Vital Program: School Counselors Define Their Roles

In response to a troubled society, the scope and function of school counseling programs have changed, leaving many, including administrators, confused as to their primary purpose. This confusion has caused the elimination of counselors in some districts as an answer to budgetary constraints. Administrators play a crucial role in shaping these programs. Understanding and marketing the vitality of school counselors may be critical to ensuring their survival.

Modern tsars and princes: the struggle for hegemony in Russia

This study offers an account of political life in Russia since the fall of communism, as ultra-nationalists, nostalgic communists, Westernizers and administrative centrists seek to control the destinies of a deeply troubled society and state. The author looks beneath the clash between Yeltsin and the Duma, the decision to intervene in Chechnya, and the personalities of such figures as Zhirinovsky, to identify the struggle for hegemony between rival social forces and political projects. The volatility of some institutions and the endurance of others mean that the conventional categories used in so much writing about Russia fail to grasp what is really happening today. The book surveys Russia's new power structures and the political forces which strive to control them. It assesses the impetus to authoritarian solutions in a country in which civil society has only just begun to acquire elements of autonomy, and explains how Russophiles, liberals, communists and centrists each seek to construct a new historical bloc capable of controlling the state. The book also considers the fate of Russia's bewildered working class and the prospects for the emergence of a new left. Based on extensive primary research, this book develops an original analytical framework to furnish an account of a complex and crucial event, the birth of the new Russian state.