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This document is an introduction to a special issue of the journal "Social Sciences" that focuses on the selected papers from the 11th International Digital Storytelling Conference held in 2023. The conference explored the theme of "Radical Listening: Story Work for a Just Future" and aimed to strengthen communities and build understanding across divides through story work. The papers in this special issue cover a range of topics, including the use of digital storytelling as a research methodology, the ethics of participatory research, equity and access, and building and cultivating communities. The authors highlight the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on story work and discuss the potential of digital storytelling in various contexts, such as education, identity formation, intergenerational connections, and exploring experiences of homelessness. The document emphasizes the diversity and collaborative nature of the digital storytelling community and its commitment to amplifying voices and promoting social change. [Extracted from the article]

This article considers how undocumented youth in the UK survive and construct their everyday lives in precarious circumstances. Drawing on multiple in-depth narrative interviews with (n = 7) undocumented youth, I illustrate how these young people focus on the future and engage in purposeful activities as a way of enduring the everyday challenges of living with no papers. I reflect on the relationships, which young people draw on to enable them to endure adversity and rebuild their everyday lives. I conclude that the presence of love and community is critical for young people's survival, safety and wellbeing, and I suggest how practitioners and researchers might make use of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a summary of a special issue in the journal "Social Sciences" that examines the concept of relational wellbeing among young refugees. The papers in the issue explore various dimensions of relational wellbeing and highlight the challenges and resilience of young refugees. The authors emphasize the importance of relationships and call for a relational approach in policy and resource distribution to better support the needs of young refugees. The document provides a culturally sensitive and respectful perspective on the lives of young refugees and aims to inform library patrons conducting research on this topic. [Extracted from the article]

Since all policies address problems, they necessarily include implicit or explicit constructions of these problems. This paper explores how child maltreatment has been constructed in New Zealand's child protection policies. It questions the underlying assumptions of this problem construction and seeks to shed light on what has been omitted. Utilizing a qualitative content analysis of eight key policy documents, this study reveals the construction of child maltreatment has been dominated primarily by a child-centric, risk-focused approach. This approach assigns blame and shifts responsibilities onto parents and families. In addition, the vulnerability discourse and social investment approach underpinning this perspective have allowed important structural factors, such as poverty and inequality, to remain unaddressed. This paper also highlights the one-dimensional focus on the lower social class to control future liabilities. We suggest that the harm inflicted by corporations on children's well-being is another form of child exploitation currently omitted from the problem construction. We suggest that child abuse should be defined and understood in policy as harm to children's well-being and argue that the state should prevent and mitigate harm by addressing structural forces of the problem as well as protecting children against corporate harms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the importance of digital presence for the emerging visual artists' careers. The study first examines how artists manage their digital presence and subsequently analyzes the impact of this presence on their careers by applying a model that consists of four objectives (branding, engagement, networking, and conversion). A qualitative method was employed, and interviews were conducted with illustrators at an early or emerging career stage. The findings demonstrate that an effective presence on digital platforms requires not only producing and showing artistic work but also managing an artistic brand, engaging with the audience, and making use of networking opportunities. It is also established that artists need to complement their digital presence with interactions in the physical world to increase the chances for advancing their careers. This paper follows the literature that studies the visual artist as brand manager and adds to the body of knowledge on how artists build successful careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents lessons learned from a project inspired by digital storytelling and the human library to reduce prejudices against marginalized groups. By comparing the outcomes of similar participants in different settings over the same period, the study explored which types of activities might be pivotal when influencing the perspective-taking attitudes of participants. The study used a case study approach, with data from the digital human library project, and selected participants from three different engagement contexts: participants in group A were involved in reading story abstracts online, having short face-to-face meetings regarding human books, and engaging in editorial activities; participants in group B were involved in extended face-to-face sharing provided by human books, followed by question-and-answer interaction; and participants in group C were involved in the reading of stories online without interaction. Convenience sampling was used and included 250 registered participants who completed pre-test and post-test questionnaires. The study found that merely reading stories online (group C) did not significantly reduce prejudice, and face-to-face contact on its own (group B) was also not the most effective in changing attitudes. Group A participants who combined short face-to-face meetings and story-retelling activities showed the most significant changes in perspective-taking attitudes. These findings imply that dialogic cognitive processes in narrative activities, rather than the mode of contact, may be pivotal in enhancing perspective-taking attitudes. This paper calls for further research into the scalability of digital human library hybrids and more rigorous experimental research designs. It underscores the potential of these interventions to foster more inclusive societies, mitigate social biases, and support equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While questioning the universalization, naturalization, neutralization, and idealization of sport and physical culture, this paper examines the ultimate mystification process of sport and physical culture by expanding upon two conceptual frameworks: Jules Boykoff's celebration capitalism and Lawrence Grossberg's affective landscape. It first analyzes the evolution of the Olympics into a corporatized, commercialized, spectacularized, and celebritized "Disneylimpics" that can consistently evoke an affective reverberation. It then introduces the idea of "affective neoliberalism" to highlight neoliberalism's affective and ideological aspects. With Grossberg's concept of affective landscape, this paper explores the internalization and intensification of anxiety and affective isolation within society. Additionally, the paper utilizes Karl Polanyi's analysis in his influential book, The Great Transformation, to investigate the historical expansion of affective neoliberalism. By highlighting the 11 September 2001, attacks in the United States, it points out provocative militarization and (re)organization of the soul into a fictitious commodity, in addition to labor, land, and money, which triggers the greatest transformation. Lastly, summarizing central arguments, this paper concludes with modest suggestions, mainly focusing on two questions: (1) where are we now? and (2) how can we more effectively respond to the present context? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with disabilities are increasingly actively involved within research projects. For many of them this is a temporary role, but some work on longer-term projects and even build a career out of it. This is the case for the first author of this paper. He has worked as a researcher for almost six years. He is involved in various projects, all highly diverse in terms of subject, design, scope and collaboration with fellow researchers. In this paper, he looks back on his experiences in recent years. Together with colleagues, he reflects on his contribution to the various projects, his own development as a researcher and the impact of the work on his personal life. He finds that the essence of the motto 'Nothing about us, without us' has become increasingly intertwined with his life and identity through his work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2024 marks one decade of scholarship in the new interdisciplinary field of Digital Death, concerning the study of death, dying and grief in the digital age. This paper addresses one key subfield of Digital Death Studies, here termed Digital Grief Studies, which centres on theory, research and design concerning grief in today's digitally saturated contexts. It argues that a classic grand pattern in scholarly treatments of grief—Grief Universalism—with a long, problematic history in Grief and Bereavement Studies, is reappearing in Digital Grief Studies. The Continuing Bonds theory of grief and its application in theory, research and design in Digital Grief Studies is used to demonstrate Grief Universalism in action in our field via hypothetical and fictional examples. This builds toward this paper's big aim: to illustrate what we as an emerging field stand to gain from positioning the established field of Grief and Bereavement Studies as a veritable goldmine of advances—as well as pitfalls, wrong turns, and recurrent problem patterns to be avoided—generated over a hundred years of scholarship concerning human grief. Harnessing this wealth of prior learning and leveraging it toward the furtherance of our field in the coming decade and beyond becomes more crucial as we repel the seemingly perennial magnetism of Grief Universalism, as we operate within an interdisciplinary field vulnerable to Universalism and as yet unaware of its perils, and amid contemporary digital cultures and environments that may preserve and reinforce universalist grief framings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Racialised and culturally distinct refugee groups increasingly face hostilities and negative representations in countries of resettlment. The experience of African refugee youth in Australia illustrates this general trend. This paper explores how racial Othering discourse seriously undermines the group's wellbeing. The article concentrates in particular on two aspects of relational wellbeing, the capacity to move in public without fear or shame and the ability to feel a sense of belonging to the place where one lives in. Theoretically, the paper draws together work on wellbeing from a capability approach and relational perspective with interdisciplinary literature on racial Othering. Empirically, the paper demonstrates the pervasive culture of racial Othering through media identifications of African youth with criminality and gang violence and illustrates impacts on young people's wellbeing through data from interviews with African refugee youth. The youth's accounts show how it feels to be a problem and what it means not to belong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firstly, there has recently been a progression from understanding displaced, refugee and migrant children in isolation ([8]; [13]; [14]) to viewing children and young people as embedded in the social ecologies of their family, friends, community and culture ([2]; [12]). A number of papers in this Special Issue show how refugee children and young people engage in trajecto-making ([3]) and act on their circumstances in the "here and now". This Special Issue on I Crisis, (Im)mobilities and Young Life Trajectories i examines the intersections of developmental trajectories and (im)mobility amidst crises, with a focus on ruptures, transitions, disruptions and continuities in the life course of children and young people who have been forced to move due to various man-made and natural crises. This is, for instance, the case for the financial crisis of 2008, the refugee crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic ([4]); civil war, natural disasters, and the pandemic ([10]); and displacement and the pandemic ([6]). [Extracted from the article]

Until the last few years of the twentieth century, there was very little critical analysis surrounding child protection policies and practices. Although child protection systems were originally designed for interventions into the private family, the concepts of child protection and safeguarding have increasingly broadened to address concerns external to the family and we have several papers where this is the focus. [Extracted from the article]

This paper investigates China's regional role in Southeastern Europe by examining the economic strategy of neo-mercantilism using Greece as a case study. In doing so, this paper will make use of the strategy of neo-mercantilism as part of the broader theory of regional powers pursuing broader geostrategic goals. How has the strategic partnership between China and Greece evolved in recent years, and what are China's primary objectives in Greece under the neo-mercantilism? China has intentionally sought to expand its influence in Southeastern Europe by cultivating a strategic partnership with Greece, while avoiding challenging the influence of other powers in the area. The economic turmoil in Greece over the past decade created a favorable environment for attracting Chinese FDI. China's principal focus in developing its strategic partnership with Greece is to increase FDI as a means of achieving its economic goals and other political goals with tangible results related to China's support in issues mainly concerning the country's applied foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-violent (vocal) extremists are at the centre of inflamed debates in the UK as they use their freedom of speech to legally oppose key democratic values and national authorities while targeting specific groups in the society as alleged enemies. This paper aims to explore the radicalisation pathways of individuals in the UK who hold radical and extreme ideas but who have not (yet) committed any offence. More precisely, this paper aims to uncover the role (if any) played by non-violent extremist groups in pathways to radicalisation. To do so, this paper focuses on people supported by the Channel programme, the main early de-radicalisation programme within the Prevent Scheme. This paper innovatively uses first-hand data reflecting the views of Channel practitioners on radicalisation pathways. This study concludes that non-violent extremist groups (as structures) still play a role in familiarising/acculturating individuals with specific ideological concepts. However, the processes of identity building and resource mobilisation seem to be strongly agent-led when observing Channel population in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores some of the conversations currently taking place within Asian Canadian studies as they relate to coalitional spaces and community building. Specifically, I look at a co-op radio program from Vancouver called Pender Guy which aired in the 1970s. The members of Pender Guy were comprised of artists and activists from the Asian Canadian community attempting to establish and solidify their own collective identity during a time when minority communities and people of color were often sidelined or else considered as "surplus" to a national narrative that privileged Anglo- and Franco-Canadian identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizen participation among children and adolescents is key for the development of society. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the legal and ethical recognition of public, education, and social policies for children is vital for ensuring an active and critical society. The aim of this research paper is to analyse the characteristics and challenges of citizen participation during childhood as an educational process. The methodology employed was a systematic review carried out using the WOS, SCOPUS, and ERIC databases, taking into account the PRISMAS 2020 protocol. The results show that the incorporation of a culture of participation in children and adolescents will guarantee the persistence of democratic systems, although there are still challenges to overcome. The conclusions suggest that it is crucial that educational institutions, families, and society as a whole commit to promoting the philosophy of citizen participation at an early age in formal and non-formal educational contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formal language: This paper discusses inclusive research and epistemic justice by using an example of a published study the authors conducted on intellectual disability and sexuality in supported living environments. Our study addressed taboos and pushed boundaries in content and methodology through two ways of inclusive research: (1) the second author of this paper who has an intellectual disability was a main researcher in the study; and (2) we interviewed people with intellectual disabilities about their own experiences as well as their desired solutions to obstacles they face in their supported living environments. Their input was centralized in the final research report. This method challenged the epistemic injustice of who have historically not been 'allowed' to produce knowledge in research. This paper offers historical insight into epistemic injustice as well as relational approaches from critical disability studies and non-Western understandings of disability that 'rethink' disability and that can thus promote epistemic justice in academic theory. By addressing both practice and theory in this paper, we aim to contribute to the growing body of inclusive research and to the epistemic justice of people with intellectual disabilities. Plain language: (1) Epistemology = thinking about knowledge, producing knowledge, sharing knowledge. (2) In history, people with intellectual disabilities have often been excluded from participating in this. This is called epistemic injustice. It is caused by the discrimination of people with intellectual disabilities (ableism). (3) Performing inclusive research with people with intellectual disabilities challenges this. It contributes to epistemic justice. Researchers and interviewees with intellectual disabilities can bring knowledge from lived experience into research. (4) Knowledge from lived experience has not always been valued in traditional research. That means we also need to think differently about 'knowledge', and about 'disability' and its 'value'. (5) Discrimination based on disability has a long history. For instance: during colonialism by European countries (starting in the 15th century), false ideas about 'poor health' and 'low intelligence' were already used to justify slavery. People with disabilities have often been locked away or even killed because they have been seen as 'less valuable'. These ways of thinking still exist. They influence our understanding of 'epistemology' because they decide whose way of thinking and way of life is valuable or not valuable. We need to change this way of thinking. (6) Some academic fields that help are critical disability studies, indigenous studies, and feminist posthumanism. These fields challenge ableist ways of thinking. They can help us understand disability as something that is not negative or less valuable, but simply part of what makes us human. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The era of digital capitalism poses conundrums for communication for development and social change scholarship and practice. On one hand, mainstream social media platforms are an increasingly ubiquitous element of the everyday media practices of growing portions of the global population. On the other, the profit-driven architectures can make these hostile spaces for progressive social change dialogues. While a burgeoning literature exists on the uses of social media as part of hashtag-activism and social movements, much less critical consideration has been given to NGOs' and civil society organizations' uses of capitalist-driven social media platforms in their development and social change efforts, and the challenges and compromises they navigate in this, consciously or not. This paper argues that meaningful uses of social media platforms for social change requires cultivating a hacker mindset in order to find tactics to subvert, resist, and appropriate platform logics, combined with an ecological sensibility to understanding media and communication. This paper analyzes how metaphors, specifically of a recipe, can offer a productive, praxis-oriented framework for fostering these sensibilities. The paper draws on insights from workshops with IT for Change, a civil society organization in India, which is both a leader in critiquing the political and economic power of Big Tech especially in the Global South, and beginning to use Instagram for its work on adolescent empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the neo-liberal conceptualization of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD), which imposes the linear and simplistic notions of empowerment and development on the users from the global South. Using the rapidly growing EdTech segment in India as a case, this paper observes that EdTech has been touted as a magic multiplier and a savior for countries like India that aspire to educate their large populations. This has prompted EdTech companies to pursue platformization and templatization to accomplish scalability and standardization in EdTech use. Based on immersive ethnographic research with youth from low-income families in three Indian cities—Ahmedabad, Delhi, and Vadodara—we argue that the practices of young people concerning EdTech resist standardization. Our analysis reveals that three major factors—challenges of access and autonomy, continued relevance of place-based learning and in-person interactions, and uneven quality and rigor—influence low-income students and families to not completely buy the promise of access, equity, and quality that EdTech companies and governments advance. We explore the significance of the socio-economic and cultural contexts of young learners in the global South context and argue that they aspire for personalization, place-based experiences, guidance/mentorship, high grades, and in-person interactions instead of standardization. They do not fully benefit by the experimentation, DIY practices, and tech-lead learning opportunities and resources offered by EdTech platforms in their current state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how juvenile waiver policies may be leading to a reduction in the rehabilitative nature of the juvenile justice system. The first section discusses the value of the juvenile justice system. Here, the beginning of the juvenile justice system and why the juvenile justice system is important will be summarized. The second section explains the movement that is being made toward a more punitive approach in regard to juvenile delinquents and how this could lead to the erosion of the juvenile justice system. Next is a discussion of how waivers play a part in the erosion and how their continued use could prove very dangerous for the juvenile justice system. The next section will look at the implications of the erosion and what could potentially happen if we lost the juvenile system. Last, there will be a glance at possibilities for the future, along with suggestions on how to improve the use of waivers. Overall, this paper will show that the use of juvenile waivers may be leading the United States away from a rehabilitative system for juveniles to a smaller version of an adult criminal court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International education scholarships can be significant interventions at times of conflict and peace. Extant research in International Relations and in International Education begins to demonstrate this significance but predominantly in neo-liberal terms of human capital import, North-facing cosmopolitanism, and Western-style democratization and global (economic) integration. This is valuable framing, but it misses more complex political effects of scholarships as conflict and peace interventions. This paper presents empirical evidence illuminating the need for a broader ontology in researching the potential contribution of scholarships to peace. The paper draws on qualitative data collected from 32 Palestinian scholarship alumni and alumnae, sampling a national group nowhere to be found in scholarly or policy works dealing with international education and conflict/peace. Developed through a critical realist thematic analysis of the collected data, the experiential findings reported here show strong perceived gains in the research participants' critical reflexivization and domestic and global (re)socialization of their sense of national identity and awareness. An interdisciplinary discussion of these gains demonstrates that scholarships may represent deep and significant advocacy and capacity-building interventions in the contexts of conflict, with these interventions spanning the humanitarian, development, and, to a lesser extent, political spheres. The discussion is concluded with a reflection on the methodological-conceptual challenge these findings outline to framing international education impacts in only neo-liberal terms. Overall, this paper contributes a timely Global South perspective to inform critical thought and practice of international scholarships for Palestinians and other conflict-affected groups/nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the diverse impact of the Olympic Movement on society, emphasizing core values like 'excellence', 'friendship', and 'respect'. Traditionally, the Olympic Movement actively promotes global sport through initiatives such as Olympic education programs, instilling moral dimensions, cultural values, and essential life skills. Recent Olympic Games are scrutinized for their organizers' focus on safety, pandemic management, environmental sustainability, and gender equality. This paper addresses crucial policy options, spanning human rights, social inclusion through sport, and the pervasive issue of inactivity affecting public health. Noteworthy successes in leveraging sports for refugees and combating substance use disorders are discussed, alongside joint efforts by the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee, to combat inactivity and promote health through sports. Exploration of gender equality in the Olympic Movement recognizes challenges and suggests actions, including increasing female participation and addressing sexual harassment. The intersection of sports, climate change, and environmental responsibility is examined, with a focus on the ambitious 'climate-positive' goals of the Paris 2024 Olympics. However, since most of the IOC actions are rather symbolic and not substantial, many organizations are called upon to take active initiatives. Actionable recommendations urge countries to prioritize physical activity policies, organize exercise programs, and collaborate across sectors for health and environmental sustainability. The Olympic Games should focus on promoting mass sports participation, fostering positive attitudes, enhancing public health through sports, education, peace, and societal values, advocating for a holistic approach that champions ethical values, and promoting Olympic education to build a better world through sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The context in which work is distributed, organized, and performed has certainly changed in recent decades. In recent years, shock events such as COVID-19 have contributed to the revision of human resource management (HRM) dynamics, which was previously for "standard work". Overall, hybrid work is not a novelty but has significantly expanded, particularly in the post-COVID-19 period, creating new opportunities in human resource management, especially for female employees, who often manifest the need to reconcile family and work. The new post-pandemic situation has paved the way for gender sustainability processes in organizations by pushing towards a more general organizational sustainability. In fact, in recent decades, sustainability in companies has ceased to be merely environmental and has expanded its boundaries to a "sustainable" business model, whereby human resource management must also meet organizational sustainability criteria. The literature shows that women add value to organizations. Therefore, companies that take on the implementation of management policies with the aim of gender inclusion are committed to social and organizational sustainability, which leads to strategic ideas of competitive advantages. Starting from these considerations, the main purpose of this paper is to compare several strands of research on organizational sustainability and diversity management using an integrative literature review method that offers the opportunity to discover areas where further research is needed. This allows fields of study to be mapped. This paper, derived from a review, provides insights for line managers and upper management regarding pursuing sustainability goals within organizations' boundaries. Limitations and potential future research directions are also discussed, contributing to the ongoing development of research on these subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental shock migration is a pressing phenomenon that became prominent with the continuous emergence of natural disasters and climatic shocks worldwide. In order to cope with these various disasters or shocks, people choose to migrate either internally, internationally, permanently, or temporarily; the paper named this phenomenon "environmental shock migration". For a holistic understanding, this paper analyzes the impact of environmental changes on migration and discusses the relevant consequences, specifically in the EU region. The paper demonstrates that natural disasters and climatic shocks as environmental changes lead to several forms of shock migration and differ depending upon the context of migration, the duration, the number of migrants, and the region. A comprehensive literature review will be provided to tackle the work of previous scholars and identify the gaps required to be studied in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital age has rekindled popular and academic interest in immortality. While the idea of immortality has long been recognized as fundamental to human societies, unlike death, within the field of sociology, immortality has not yet established itself as a distinct and autonomous field of study. This paper contributes to the recently emerging scholarship promoting a sociology of immortality. Drawing inspiration from C. Wright Mills's sociological imagination (1959) and building upon significant research in the field of immortality, we offer to use the concept of the immortological imagination as an analytical and conceptual tool for further developing a sociology of immortality. We refer to the immortological imagination as a complementary concept to Penfold-Mounce's thanatological imagination, seeing both concepts as stemming from two different lineages and academic traditions. After defining the immortological imagination and how it differs from and complements the thanatological imagination, the paper moves to discuss examples in popular culture establishing the potential impacts and influences of the immortological imagination, particularly within the digital context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper pursues the argument that finding a way for people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities to belong in inclusive research requires starting from a deep knowledge of the people in question. This paper illustrates this idea in action showing what can be possible from building research around 'being with' people with profound intellectual disabilities, creating intersubjective knowledge together. It follows the journey of fostering a relational research space that a young person with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities can occupy, their assenting to share the space and ensuing exploring together in embodied ways. Small stories show where this particular open road of inclusive research can lead. The analysis interacts with provocations from decolonising research that demand respect for wider ways of knowing, doing research and being human. The paper invites reflection on the ways in which research needs to be deconstructed to be inclusive for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominant theoretical discussions on insider/outsider, co-ethnic/co-national migrant researcher positionalities have focused on the ideas of group identities such as nationality and ethnicity and how they shape and inform insider/outsider researchers' positionalities. While some migration researchers argue that shared nationality and ethnicity make co-national or co-ethnic researchers insiders, others contend that the insiderness/outsiderness of co-national or co-ethnic researchers tends to be shaped and informed by multiple, fluid and changing situational factors. This paper draws on 'fluid identity theory' and secondary literature to argue that in migration research, insider/outsider positionalities tend to be fluid formations that change, shift and become unstable during research encounters with study participants. I develop an analytical concept that I term 'liquid insider/outsider positionalities' to contribute to the literature on insider/outsider researcher positionalities in migration research. By way of introducing this analytical concept, I critique presuppositions, conceptualizations and categorizations of migrant/migration researchers as either insiders or outsiders based on predetermined and rigid social identity markers such as ethnicity or nationality. Migration scholars and researchers may employ the concept of 'liquid insider/outsider positionalities' as a tool to frame the dynamic, changing and situational character of researcher positionalities in migration research during field research encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media platforms such as Twitter/X are increasingly important for political communication but the empirical question as to whether such communication enhances democratic consensus building (the ideal of deliberative democracy) or instead contributes to societal polarisation via fostering of hate speech and "information disorders" such as echo chambers is worth exploring. Political deliberation involves reciprocal communication between users, but much of the recent research into politics on social media has focused on one-to-many communication, in particular the sharing and diffusion of information on Twitter via retweets. This paper presents a new approach to studying reciprocal political communication on Twitter, with a focus on extending network-analytic indicators of deliberation. We use the Twitter v2 API to collect a new dataset (#debatenight2020) of reciprocal communication on Twitter during the first debate of the 2020 US presidential election and show that a hashtag-based collection alone would have collected only 1% of the debate-related communication. Previous work into using social network analysis to measure deliberation has involved using discussion tree networks to quantify the extent of argumentation (maximum depth) and representation (maximum width); we extend these measures by explicitly incorporating reciprocal communication (via triad census) and the political partisanship of users (inferred via usage of partisan hashtags). Using these methods, we find evidence for reciprocal communication among partisan actors, but also point to a need for further research to understand what forms this communication takes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we demonstrate the ways in which the schooling of refugee youth in the United States reflects ongoing coloniality in education. Drawing on data collected in a case study, conducted between 2013 and 2016, as part of a larger ongoing ethnography of a Southwest United States District school's response to refugee students, we show how the enactment of policies, pedagogies, and practices within schools reinforce the government's control over refugee students and their families. In schools, the students are kept out of certain school spaces, marginalized in remedial courses, and denied academic opportunities and integrated support services. Using empirical data, we demonstrate how the restriction of the students' movement in and around schools is embedded within the larger limitations embedded in coloniality and assimilation. We situate our analysis within the tensions and interactions between coloniality, assimilation, and neoliberalism as articulated in studies within anthropology and sociology, migration studies, critical refugee studies, and cultural studies. We conclude with a call for the decolonization of education and offer a practical starting point in refugee education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decades, intersex studies has achieved increasing development as a field of critical knowledge, in tight collaboration with discourses developed by intersex activism and human rights bodies. This paper proposes a self-reflexive review of epistemological perspectives in intersex studies within broader discursive fields, through a thematic analysis and comparative framing analysis. This analysis is based on a narrative literature review of academic contributions, activist declarations, and documents issued by human rights bodies conducted over the last decade as a work-in-progress project. Furthermore, it includes results of a scoping review of recent knowledge production in intersex studies carried out in Scopus within the subject area 'social sciences'. This paper focuses on the analysis of the following epistemological perspectives: human rights frameworks, legal perspectives and citizenship theories, reflections on biopolitics, medicalization and iatrogenesis, sociology of diagnosis framework, depathologization perspective, respectful health care models, and reflections on epistemological, methodological, and ethical aspects. The literature review raises questions about the existence of specific intersex epistemologies in intersex studies, their interrelation with discourses contributed by intersex activism and human rights bodies, and the opportunities for a contribution of theory making in intersex studies to the human rights protection of intersex people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on two research projects in the Brussels-based artistic workspace and NGO Globe Aroma, this paper shows how artists with a (recent) migration background make sense of the arts and the space in which they are produced. Born out of a need to counter the dominant presence of men in this artistic workspace and create a welcoming environment, textile-making and live radio were used as means of reclaiming space, fostering solidarity, and sharing personal narratives. Textile-making, traditionally associated with domesticity, was repurposed for public exhibition, challenging the dichotomy between private and public spheres. Furthermore, the projects challenged neo-colonial dynamics and traditional research methodologies. While asking which (micro-)political meaning these artists give to their works and practices, the paper also reflects on the cultural thresholds experienced by migrant artists wishing to access hegemonic arts institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a conceptual exploration and diffractive reading of refugee/(im)migrant education through multiple lenses, including data-driven decision making, critical refugee studies, new materialism and critical feminist and posthumanist studies, and trans theorizations such as Black trans feminism. After a brief introduction to "the field" of refugee/(im)migrant education, the paper turns to diffractive readings of refugee/(im)migrant education as means of exploring what is the matter, as in the material and discursive substance, in refugee/(im)migrant education, and why and how (including when, where, and by whom) does that matter come to matter? The paper concludes with discoveries, or findings, from this diffractive, transdisciplinary exploration and considerations for educators, policymakers, researchers, activists, and other actors (co)constituting and "becoming with" refugee/(im)migrant education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars examining racial stereotyping and prejudice in racially organised social systems have largely focused on how non-White ethnic and racial groups experience racial stereotyping in White-majority national contexts such as the US, Australia and European countries. There is only scant scholarship on experiences of ethno-racial communities in Black-majority countries such as South Africa, a country where Whites are a minority. Even though there is ample scholarly work on racial stereotyping of racial groups in South Africa such as Coloured people, much of it is focused on their experiences during colonial and Apartheid eras. Little is understood about how Coloured people experience racial stigmatisation in post-Apartheid South Africa. This paper addresses this gap. Based on interviews with fourteen Coloured participants from Westbury, Johannesburg, this study found that many interviewees claimed that Coloured South Africans were negatively racially stereotyped as people who use drugs, as aggressive and violent people, as alcoholics and as criminals. Many participants also resisted and countered the negative stereotypes by talking about Coloured people in positive ways, which shows their agency. The negative stereotyping of Coloured people which prevailed during colonial and Apartheid times is still deployed by society to describe Coloured people in post-Apartheid South Africa. To capture the continuity of negative stereotyping in South Africa about Coloured people, I developed the analytical term of 'perpetual racial stereotyping'. Many decades after the end of the Apartheid system, negative racial stereotyping of Coloured South Africans still continues in everyday life, and Coloured people are still associated with racist prejudices, narratives, discourses and stereotypes that were invented many decades ago by settler colonialism and Apartheid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Vulnerability" is now a widely used term in different settings—from politics and academia to everyday life. In response, a growing body of research has emerged critiquing and challenging the use of the concept in the social sciences. In this paper, we explore the use of the term vulnerability in research on children in out-of-home care and discuss the possible negative consequences of this—for the people involved and for the knowledge produced. Showing some of the problems involved in classifying these children as "particularly vulnerable", we argue that there is a need for more nuanced understandings of children growing up in out-of-home care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the correlation between teachers' emotional intelligence (EI) and students' academic achievement. Utilizing the Daniel Goleman questionnaire, the study delves into the multifaceted aspects of EI that extend beyond traditional leadership qualities. Goleman contends that, while attributes such as determination, intelligence, and vision are essential, they alone do not encapsulate effective leadership. Emotional intelligence introduces a spectrum of qualities crucial for leadership success, including self-awareness, managing emotions, motivating oneself, empathy, and social skills. The study employed a questionnaire developed by the researcher, employing a statement-based approach. Participants, predominantly students, were tasked with selecting statements that best resonated with their experiences. The questionnaire aimed to assess various dimensions of emotional intelligence, including self-awareness, emotional management, self-motivation, empathy, and social adeptness. Through statistical analysis of the collected data, the paper examines the relationship between teachers' EI levels and students' academic achievement. Findings revealed the significance of teachers' ability to comprehend and regulate emotions, as well as their capacity for empathy and effective social interaction. Furthermore, the study sheds light on how these facets of emotional intelligence contribute to creating conducive learning environments and fostering student engagement and achievement. This research underscores the pivotal role of emotional intelligence in educational settings and provides insights into how enhancing teachers' EI can positively impact students' learning outcomes. The implications of these findings extend to educational policies and practices, advocating for the incorporation of EI training and development programs for educators to cultivate conducive learning environments and facilitate students' academic success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the ongoing academic discussion regarding what happens to our data after we die, how our data are utilised for commercial profit-making purposes, and what kinds of death-related practices our posthumous data figure in, the notion of digital afterlife is attracting increasing attention. While the concept of digital afterlife has been approached in different ways, the main focus remains on the level of individual loss. The emphasis tends to be on the role of posthumous digital artefacts in grief practices and death-related rituals or on data management issues relating to death. Building on a socio-technical view of digital afterlife, this paper offers, as a novel contribution, an understanding of digital afterlife as a techno-affective assemblage. It argues for the necessity of examining technological and social factors as mutually shaping and brings into the discussion of digital afterlife the notions of relationality, materiality, and the affective potential of data. The paper ends with ruminations about digital afterlife as a posthumanist project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of how Aboriginal Elders influence the leadership of non-Aboriginal led service organisations when working biddiya to biddiya (boss to boss) emerged while conducting a qualitative analysis as part of the evaluation of the Looking Forward Moving Forward project. This project brought together non-Aboriginal service leaders, Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal researchers to implement and evaluate a framework for engagement to promote organisational change and transform the way in which services respond to Aboriginal people in need of mental health and drug and alcohol support in Perth, Western Australia. This paper uses a case study to demonstrate how Elders on Nyoongar Country have influenced one non-Aboriginal service leader. At the heart of this case study is a close examination of a recorded, semi-structured, in-depth focus group exchange between a non-Aboriginal leader, Elders and co-researchers. This exchange foregrounds the Elders' and co-researchers' voices, capturing the dialogic nuances and interplay of the interaction to provide a more detailed picture of how building long-term relationships with Elders influences leaders. A key theme to emerge from the data was the developmental change in leadership approaches resulting from the biddiya to biddiya working relationship between Elders and this non-Aboriginal leader. The data show that, along with their deepening relationship, the leader demonstrated an openness and humility to be teachable. This leader demonstrated how he applied his new learning, integrating new ways of working into his leadership practice to change the way his organisation responded to Aboriginal people seeking support and to enhance the organisation's cultural safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-trafficking programmes in Italy have been implemented for more than two decades. Yet, little empirical evidence is available regarding their functioning. This paper draws on 56 semi-structured interviews carried out in the period of 2019–2021 with practitioners and beneficiaries of the N.A.Ve anti-trafficking programme. The interviews focused on practitioners' experience working with Nigerian women and on Nigerian women's experiences of the programme upon completion. By building on critical anti-trafficking studies and the autonomy of migration perspective, this contribution looks at the relationship between practitioners and Nigerian women admitted to the programme by addressing the following questions: what is the experience of practitioners and beneficiaries in the N.A.Ve programme? To what extent is the structural violence of the counter-trafficking apparatus reproduced in the relational dynamics between practitioners, particularly Case Managers, and beneficiaries? How do beneficiaries cope with such violence? I argue that the Case Managers' approach builds on "stratified layers of institutional knowledge" and that this concept is useful to highlight how their knowledge derives both from the counter-trafficking apparatus and their social work background. Furthermore, I present evidence that such an approach reproduces structural violence through processes of "conditional inclusion". Nigerian women denounced this violence but also seized the relational capital grown from rapport, calling for more engagement with people rather than programme objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decades, Nigerian migrant women in the European sex market, described as victims of trafficking, have generated consistent concern and outrage. This article analyzes data from an ethnographic study of more than 800 Nigerian sex workers in southern Spain, describing the networks used by these women to carry out their migration projects and the relationships they establish with their agents. Thus, it contributes to refuting the hegemonic narrative about trafficking and its victims by contrasting it with data collected and systematized over almost a decade of participant observation and informal conversation. This paper argues that the stereotypical image of the Nigerian migrant women as victims of abuse and violence by transnational trafficking networks functions to justify strict migration-control policies and the denial of labor rights to sex workers. As an antidote to the dominance of narratives based on stereotypes and pseudoscientific claims, this paper underscores the urgent need for ethnographic research and its focus on emic (participant) perspectives. The goal is to develop tailored and effective policies and practices for the prevention of and intervention in migrant women's experience of exploitation, abuse, and violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper exposes the role of universities in creating silence around gender-based violence in higher education, drawing on narratives from 39 qualitative interviews with victims/survivors and bystanders about reporting incidents and experiences. In this paper, we extend concept of 'network silence' around sexual harassment to other forms of gender-based violence. Our research applies three components of the theoretical model of network silence, namely, self-silencing by victims/survivors, silencing, and not hearing by others, and analyses their contextual manifestations through the reporting experiences of victims/survivors and bystanders. This helps to identify the traits of the informal organisational structures and power dynamics, gendered attitudes, actors, and factors which facilitate silencing. The intersectional approach in our analysis of organisational contextual traits contributes to the research on inequality regimes in universities. The findings suggest that universities are making limited efforts to address silence around gender-based violence. We conclude that shared beliefs among the leadership about the reputation and prestige of the university facilitate the endurance of silence in universities. Our findings indicate reasons why universities fail to create spaces that are safe from gender-based violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People with innate variations of sex characteristics (also known as intersex traits or disorders or differences of sex development) have any of a wide range of innate physical traits that differ from medical and social norms for female and male bodies. Responses to these physical differences create experiences and risks of stigmatisation, discrimination, violence, and harmful medical practices intended to promote social and familial integration and conformity with gender stereotypes. As is evident globally, the Australian policy response to the existence and needs of people with innate variations of sex characteristics has been largely incoherent, variously framing the population as having disordered sex development in need of "fixing", and a third sex/gender identity group in need of recognition, with only recent engagement by intersex community-controlled civil society organisations. This paper presents an overview of the context and goals of the intersex human rights movement in Australia. Australian intersex community organisations have sought to apply human rights norms and develop new infrastructure to address key health and human rights issues, and necessitating new ways of resolving policy incoherence. Together with human rights, mental health, and public health institutions, they have called for significant changes to medical models of care and reform to research and classification systems. Intersex community organising and resourcing have made a tangible difference. The Australian Capital Territory is the first jurisdiction in the country to move ahead with reforms to clinical practice, including a legislative prohibition of certain practices without personal informed consent, oversight of clinical decision-making, and investment in psychosocial support. A national community-controlled psychosocial support service has also commenced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the phenomenon of anonymous news channels on Russian Telegram, which have become increasingly popular in recent years. Drawing on 25 self-confrontation interviews, we answer the following questions: Do users trust anonymous news? If not, why do they keep using this information source? How does a restrictive socio-political context influence users' trust in alternative news sources? Our results show that, in Russia, the concept of trust is linked to the normative democratic understanding of journalistic functions. At the same time, many users believe that trust in media is not at all necessary and develop individual strategies to navigate a "chaos of narratives". The paper discusses Telegram's role in shaping trust or distrust in news. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the crucial role of the regional dimension for economic, social, and environmental development. Sustainable development may be linked to migration management to strategically disperse international migrants to regions in need of ameliorating rural challenges. This paper explores the features affecting international migrants' intentions to move to rural areas, such as Alentejo, Portugal, based on a set of micro-, mezzo-, and macro-sociological migration theories to support policymakers. This paper addresses the following research question: what motivates immigrants' decisions to move to rural regions, such as Alentejo, Portugal? Practitioners (n = 8) and migrants (n = 15) were interviewed, and then a thematic analysis supported by MaxQDA 2022 was conducted. The results suggest that there is a set of motives for international migrants to move to rural areas and smaller cities based on multilevel factors, both economic and non-economic, such as the following: employment availability and promises of work; lower living costs compared to bigger cities; quality of life; local services support; and echoes of the country of origin. Migrants' networks and seeking greater opportunities were consistent motives. The pull to rural areas, however, is a side effect of the attraction of Portugal and Europe as destinations. The conclusions highlight implications for policy and practice on migration and local development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the study of corruption has become one of the most prominent in the social sciences. If there is corruption, however, it is because something has been corrupted; something pure has been sullied. This pure element serves mainly as a normative reference: It may never have constituted a social and political reality. However, the purpose of this article is to try to define what its components might be. In this way, theoretical considerations can be used to provide a more solid basis for the fight against corruption. The position of this paper is that the opposite of corruption should be explicitly defined without the use of abstract categories such as good governance or integrity. The paper will begin with a discussion of the concept of "non-corrupt government" and then proceed to a theoretical analysis of the main issues involved. It will conclude with some practical remarks on how to build, in the most parsimonious way, the benchmark of quality that corruption undermines. The contention is that a "non-corrupt government" is based on four principles: (1) equality (input side), (2) reasonableness (input side), (3) impartiality and professionalism of the administration (output side), and (4) accountability of the office (output side). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that a large proportion of the world's population has experience with mental health difficulties, and reliable as well as scalable care is urgently needed. Digital mental health seems to be an obvious solution to provide the better delivery of care but also the delivery of better care. With an imagined future of real-time information sharing, improved diagnosis and monitoring of mental health conditions, and remote care, supported by advances in artificial intelligence, many tech companies have emerged over the last three decades to plug the treatment gap and provide services. The evidence base seems compelling: some online treatments have the capability to treat individuals quite successfully. However, the introduction, utilisation, and expansion of digital mental health technologies have not always focused on public health only. Using a surveillance capitalism perspective, this paper approaches the democratisation–privatisation dichotomy in digital mental health with a critical lens. In particular, the paper details how (commercially valuable) mental health data are extracted, "shared", and claimed as an asset by big tech companies. Reviewing the terms, conditions, and practices of ten popular mental health apps, the paper polemically argues that mental digital health cannot unlock real value for society—better treatment, good quality care, and efficient delivery—if power, politics, and profits remain in the hands of big tech companies. To conclude, the paper draws attention to contemporary discourses that seek to promote democracy and public value for digital mental health apps, technologies, and solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Arab Spring was a period of intense activism demanding democracy and freedom that swept across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. While previous research has focused on the role of diaspora communities in the uprisings and the strategies employed by regimes to suppress them, it has primarily centered on countries that experienced large-scale revolutions and endured severe consequences. Consequently, the current literature has failed to explore the situation of Arab Gulf dissidents living in exile, instead focusing on a few isolated incidents. This paper examines the transnational repression (TR) campaign of the Arab Gulf states (AGSs). Drawing on the literature about the long arm of authoritarianism and TR, this paper explores the various TR methods employed by the AGSs to silence activists living abroad. The paper finds that the nature of TR in the Arab Gulf region is unique when compared with other MENA countries. The TR campaign of AGSs is alarmingly expanding, using various mechanisms and resources, making the region one of the world's leading perpetrators. The methods employed by the AGSs include travel bans as part of their coercion by proxy, digital transnational repression, and the use of multilateral organizations as tools of repression. Additionally, this paper highlights the AGSs' support of other countries' TR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration has almost always been accompanied by language-related processes and concerns. Integration dimensions interact with numerous language-related issues, such as language requirements and learning opportunities, and the purpose of our paper is situated in the broader field of linguistic integration of adult refugees and migrants in Greece and Italy. Greece and Italy share a double role both as host and transition countries, as two of the main EU entry points for refugees and migrants since the 2015 refugee crisis, and therefore they have been selected as two suitable cases to be further explored. This paper aims to give an overview of the language requirements and language-learning opportunities in the migration context in Greece and Italy. Through our comprehensive review of language requirements and language-learning opportunities in Greece and Italy, we have undertaken an examination of the two contexts employing a comparative approach to scrutinize the processes of linguistic integration. The information presented has shown that similar linguistic requirements are set in both countries although the use and implementation of the Knowledge of Society (KoS) tests seem to discriminate between the two contexts. The results agree with similar findings through indexes such as the Language Policy Index for Migrants (LAPIM) and the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid growing academic discourse on teenagers' political rights, this paper argues that the inclusion of teenagers in the decision-making process at the municipal level has positive effects. Based on qualitative and quantitative research on three municipalities in Greece and Sweden, this paper concludes that a level of awareness of the critical issue of climate change leads to a greater propensity for action from municipal councils aimed at restoring the environment. The findings demonstrate that including teenagers in the decision-making process at the local and regional level could lead to a greater focus on forward-thinking policies, particularly in areas concerning young people, such as environmental preservation efforts and democratic rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In several Western European countries, a significant share of social rental housing stock has been sold since the 1980s as part of government policies aimed at promoting homeownership societies. Research has shown that tenure conversion has contributed to increasing socio-spatial segregation of lower-income groups, with diverging spatial patterns of homeownership among immigrants. This paper examines the impact of recent public housing privatization schemes in Milan in relation to micro-segregation and peripheralization processes of foreign populations, which represent distinctive features of immigrant residential distribution in this city. By employing name analysis, an unconventional approach in segregation studies, I inferred the geographical origins of homebuyers and mapped their distribution across the city. The findings reveal divergent purchasing behaviors, whereby Italians predominantly acquire properties in semi-central areas currently undergoing urban regeneration. In contrast, immigrants tend to concentrate their acquisitions in peripheral post-war public housing neighborhoods or in areas predominantly inhabited by residents with similar geographical origins. This paper contributes to the existing literature on ethnic residential segregation in Southern European cities by shedding light on the underexplored role of public housing privatization policies in shaping specific residential patterns and housing outcomes among different groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]