Search

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 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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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 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]

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the childcare balancing policy and women's fertility intention in Japanese corporations. This paper constructed two logistic regression models based on data from the 2010 Japanese Life Course Survey of Youth to analyze the correlation between childcare balancing policies and women's fertility intentions. The binary logistic regression method was used. The results showed that women's fertility intention is negatively associated with the childcare balancing policy in Japanese corporations. This may be because the research object already had a child or children. The results indicate that the fertility intention of women who had a child or children was lower than those without children. This paper discovered that regular employees had higher fertility intentions than non-regular staff. This paper provides policymakers with valuable insights on establishing effective childcare policies to enhance women's fertility intentions. [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]

This paper aims to identify income-poverty risk factors in urban Mexican households. Special emphasis is paid to examine differences between female- and male-headed families. To this, a dataset with 45 theoretical factors at the individual/household, community, and regional levels, integrating information from nine sources, is created. To these data, additive quantile models are estimated via the boosting algorithm. From a gender standpoint, the following main contributions come from this paper. First, educational lag is particularly relevant for female-headed households. Second, there is a gendered life cycle in the income trajectory for poor households with a head having a medium level of education. Third, some households, traditionally disregarded, are found to be even poorer: those lacking social connectedness, without credit cards, with an extended composition, in which the female head spends a large part of her time on housework, and families headed by young women with a medium level of education. Finally, communities and regions where families have a lower income-to-poverty ratio are characterized as having an unequal income distribution, lower human development, lower levels of women's economic participation, poor quality of services, and lower gender-based violence levels in the public sphere but higher gender-based violence levels in the family context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the influence of international trade, labor flow not only exists in the waves of international labor migration but is also embodied in international products and services. This paper focused on members of the China–Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC). We computed and analyzed the sectoral embodied labor transfer between China and Africa from 2000 to 2015 based on the Multiregional Input-Output Method. Our results are as follows: (1) Both China and Africa play roles as labor suppliers in the global supply chain. By ameliorating the trade structure, both China and Africa can better utilize their labor surplus. (2) China and Africa share complementarity in sectoral labor allocation. In short, the embodied labor transfer via international trade between China and Africa has, to some extent, relieved the labor shortage on both sides. (3) Africa has transformed into a net exporter of industrial labor since 2011. By analyzing the embodied labor flow from the global perspective, this paper beats a new path in depicting the effect of international trade on labor allocation, enriches the evaluation of embodied labor transfer between China and Africa, and also provides a beneficial supplement to Multiregional Input-Output analysis in the field of factor flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on critical childhood studies and childism, this paper analyses children's participation in family law cases in Denmark. Spurred particularly by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, together with a general shift in the view on children, several jurisdictions, including Denmark, have implemented legislative reform in the last decades to accommodate children's participation rights. Even though such legal participation rights have increased, research in the family law field indicates that children's perspectives are often undermined or excluded. An analysis of qualitative data (workshops, observations, and interviews) establishes how the positioning of children and children's perspectives (as well as how "listening to children" is enacted) can be crucial to understanding the mechanisms that either subsidize or undermine children's perspectives in family law cases. The paper argues further that "listening emergent" to children can offer a path to deconstructing the norms and structures that undermine and exclude children's views—and thus offer a childist contribution to childhood research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on inclusive research has established its relationship with self-advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities. Self-advocacy has been described as both a requirement and a result of inclusive research. Additionally, the process of becoming an inclusive researcher can be seen as self-advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities. As inclusive research continues to become more prominent, and more people with intellectual disabilities become inclusive researchers, we need to continue to consider this fundamental relationship and how self-advocacy and inclusive research can inform and support each other. In this paper, we first discuss the history of self-advocacy and inclusive research and what inclusive researchers have shared about the relationship between self-advocacy and inclusive research. We then present the experiences of an inclusive researcher with intellectual disability with self-advocacy and how the process of becoming an inclusive researcher impacted those experiences. We conclude the paper with reflections on how future inclusive research should consider the role of self-advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development and practice of inclusive research with people with intellectual disabilities is complex, revealing challenges and lessons that inform innovative and novel methodological approaches. In Africa, inclusive research still lags for various reasons. First, due to societal misconceptions that portray people with intellectual disabilities as unable to self-advocate or as lacking agency and self-determination; second, due to a lack of trained researchers and ethics committees on inclusive research practices. This paper critically reflects on and discusses the strategies and methods used to conduct an inclusive research study in Kenya. The focus was on the methodological approach of including people with intellectual disabilities as researchers in Kenya. Two people with intellectual disabilities were trained as research assistants. This paper describes the experiences with Institutional Review Boards, the processes and experiences while training this research assistants using a UK-developed curriculum, and fieldwork experiences while piloting interview guides, conducting interviews, and conducting focus groups with this research assistants. This study findings indicate the need to culturally adapt co-researcher training, the importance of working with support personnel who empower researchers with intellectual disabilities, and the need for greater advocacy to change negative attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities that hinder their participation in research. [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]

For several decades, Brazil's Grupo Globo, which controls radio, TV, and newspaper, served as the hegemonic voice controlling the audio, visual, and narrative dimensions of social phenomena that formed and informed social, political, and cultural attitudes among Brazilians. Of all their divisions, none has been more influential than the TV Globo network. Lately, with the popularization of free access to digital media, such as those offered by YouTube, TV Globo's viewership has substantially declined. This paper discusses the concept of controlling images to analyze examples of TV Globo's constructed visual image of the hypersexualized Afro-Brazilian female body in the network's soap operas. It also analyzes cases of TV Globo's constructed narrative over another subaltern Brazilian group: the LGBTQIA+ community. Recently, Afro-Brazilian and Queer-centric YouTube channels have attracted subscribers by emphasizing content centered on negritude, gender politics, and place of speech while deconstructing and de-normalizing Eurocentric and patriarchal controlling images. Against examples of TV Globo's normative discourse of the past decades, the YouTube channels discussed in this paper represent alternative mediums for agency, visibility, and unbiased representations of gender and racial identities in Brazil. [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]

This article examines the experience and effects of a trauma-responsive program that uses creative methods to address the ongoing psychosocial impacts of transgenerational trauma and youth suicide, which disproportionately affect First Nations people in Australia. Our aim is to understand how the aesthetic (sensory-affective) dimensions of such a program serve to promote experiences of growth after trauma, manifesting in a sense of connection to both self and community. The paper focuses on the second of two immersive, experiential workshops delivered seven months apart in the regional town of Warwick in Queensland, Australia. In the light of self-reports of growth and personal transformation following the initial workshop, the paper examines the key drivers of such growth, focusing in particular on how trauma-related experience is metabolised through cultural containment. It builds on Bion's concept of container/contained, combining analysis of the affordances of immersion. Framed in cultural rather than medical terms, the larger goal of the paper is to establish how cultural programs fill a gap in trauma informed support, facilitating the processing of trauma. [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]

In the Spanish context, Sports Sciences education is evolving to emphasize competency-based learning, crucial for adapting to the dynamic global landscape and labor market. This opinion article highlights the shift towards integrating generic and specific competencies, essential for automation and artificial intelligence, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8's focus on sustainable economic growth and employment. Despite the recognized importance of these competencies for economic sustainability and job readiness, the literature on this framework, particularly within the context of physical activity and Sports Sciences in Spain, remains underexplored. This paper is structured to first address the current state of the problem, followed by a conceptualization of competencies, including types of competencies. It then analyzes professional competencies within the realm of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences in Spain, moving towards the implementation and evaluation of these competencies in the classroom setting. By bridging the gap between educational outcomes and market demands, this work calls for ongoing research and pedagogical innovation to equip future professionals with the necessary skills for success. This approach not only prepares students for the future labor market but also contributes to the broader economic and sustainable development goals envisioned by SDG 8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an approach to decolonial thinking and epistemological disobedience through what we call "decolonial cognitive triggers". It is based on the struggles of urban peripheral communities in Brazil and explores eight triggers in the making of a Peripheral Epistemology. The unique points of our reflection are the sociocultural practices emerging from urban peripheral communities in Brazil and their responses to structural racism. As a part of this, we will explore the concepts of potência and convivência as core components of the decolonial debate, as well as their role in enabling epistemic disobedience in urban peripheries. We conclude by suggesting shifts in policy-making directed towards urban peripheries through the recognition and incorporation of such concepts and triggers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of how we measure, categorise, and represent ethnicity poses a growing challenge for identifying and addressing ethnic inequalities. Conceptual critiques and qualitative studies highlight the complexities and challenges of measuring ethnicity, yet there remains a lack of quantitative studies investigating the implications of these complexities for inequalities research. This paper addresses this gap by scrutinizing methodological processes and analysing the implications of measurement and categorisation in the Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW), critiquing the UK's standardised measurement of ethnicity in national survey data and government statistics. Based on our comparative quantitative analysis of standardised ethnicity categories and regional origins and our evaluation of the CSEW and census' methodologies, we propose an alternative categorisation of ethnicity, focusing on the 'Mixed', 'Asian', and 'Latinx/Hispanic' ethnic groups. Using adjusted crosstabulations and logistic regression models, we found variations in ethnic patterns of violence based on standardised measures and our alternative recategorisation, particularly relating to the distinction between 'Asian' sub-groups, the recategorisation of 'Mixed' ethnicities, and the inclusion of 'Latinx/Hispanic' as a distinctive ethnic group. Our findings reveal valuable insights into the implications of ethnic categorisation for understanding violence inequalities, with significant implications for further policy and research areas. [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]

The paper departs from the observation that the role of migrant organisations (MOs) in Germany has changed significantly since the strong influx of refugees in 2015/16. As a result of this specific historical situation, it seems that MOs were able to strengthen their position as important civil society and integration policy actors and reduce reservations about them. While there has been growing attention on MOs' civic and social contributions, both in public and academic debates, this article also highlights the risks of failure and inflated expectations and the often rather fragile structures of MOs. Thus, the article aims to broaden the view on MOs by focusing on aspects which have been neglected in the course of recent public and academic interest and rather optimistic perceptions. The methodological approach is one of "embedded research": the author has been a senior executive of one of the largest German MOs for six years and, at the same time, a migration researcher for many years. From this special inside/outside view, an ambivalent picture emerges: despite a significantly greater appreciation of the achievements of MOs and much verbal recognition, there is a clear lack of the necessary material/structural support, jeopardising the sustainability and viability of many MOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of gender equality is increasingly being raised today and is present at all levels of society. The topicality of the issue on farms is particularly evident, due to the particular inheritance processes on farms, the clear division of labour, and intergenerational cooperation that characterise the agricultural sector. In this research, a multi-criteria model (DEX-SOCIAL) was developed to understand the broader aspect of rural sociology and the issue of women's status on the farm. The paper discusses the status of women on a farm and assesses their social and economic situation. The methodology includes an online questionnaire in which women in the Eastern and Western Cohesion Regions participated, as well as other farm members and owners. Subsequently, the questions were transformed for the requirements of the assessment model, which assessed the life prospects of women on farms in both the Eastern and Western Cohesion Regions who were aged both over and under 40 years (criteria for "young successor"). The results of the study show that there is a clear difference in the qualitative assessment of women's socio-economic position in relation to the East–West cohesion region. The social position of women does not differ according to age structure. The conclusions of the study also present broader applications of the results in the field of rural development and rural sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. federal government manages many domestic and global operations, including environmental disasters. With the need to both mitigate and adapt to climate change, legislative and executive branches have spurred research efforts as the impacts of the Anthropocene accelerate around the country. The Army Corps of Engineers' overlapping interest in security and providing technological answers to mitigate weather disasters has led to recent research and development, including facilitating the federal mandate to convert military fleets to electric vehicles by 2027 while also building a hydrogen fuel cell emergency operations vehicle. The emergency vehicle, H2Rescue, has recently been tested in the field, and further refinements in the technology are leading towards a transition out of development and into production. However, the engineered solution must also attend to the social dimensions of disaster relief. This paper examines past environmental disasters in one location, the Navajo Nation, to describe how the vehicle could provide a combination of technological and societal future research possibilities for environmental anthropology. [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]

It has long been stated that children have the rights to protection from, e.g., abuse and to the provision of age-appropriate leisure, play, and recreational activities along with participation in all matters that concerns them. Yet, the full range of children's rights to and in sport has not yet been explored in detail. To do so, it is relevant to turn to the Scandinavian countries, which are praised for promoting children's rights and well-being, with organized sport forming part of the daily lives of many children and youths. In this paper, we examine the organizational policies in Scandinavian sport in order to develop foundational knowledge about how the range of children's rights to and in sport may be supported. Comparing key policy documents of the major sports confederations in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, these analyses identify great variety in the following: 1. when and how children's rights to and in sport have been made explicit in the three countries; 2. whether the emphasis is on protection and/or provision of sport to children and youths or their participation in shaping sporting activities; 3. the degree to and ways in which such rights are regulated. In sum, our findings reflect a disparity between organizational policies in the three countries, with a more liberal and individualistic approach to public policy in the Danish context, providing some explanation of the only recent development in and scattered enaction of regulations to support children's rights to and in sports. Furthermore, we identify that political attention has mainly been drawn to the protection and provision of sports to children and youths, while their participation in shaping sport is a shared challenge for sport confederations in the Scandinavian countries and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Edwardian period, women's physical education colleges were graduating significant numbers of gymnastics and games teachers, the demand for whom had increased rapidly following an expansion in the playing of team sports in girls' schools. Much of the subsequent development of women's physical activity in the 1920s can be credited to the passion and commitment of these women, who were not only key role models within the school setting but who also coached and organised women's sport at club, regional, and national level. Given that the education sector operated a 'marriage bar' until 1944, the critical juncture in their careers was the decision to marry or not, and several of these women decided to remain single. This, and the strong bonds they often formed with other practitioners, has resulted in a great deal of unsubstantiated speculation about their private lives. Combining evidence from a variety of primary sources, including newspapers, census returns, college records, literature, girls' annuals, specialist periodicals, photographs, and local and family histories, this paper illuminates some of the biographies and experiences of these women and questions the stereotypical image of the games mistress as an unfulfilled spinster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co-design of research can evolve organically when the questions to be asked have their roots deep1 in the soil of partnerships based on trust, respect, and a common vision for equity and inclusion. White Questions—Black Answers, a PhD thesis research project focusing on the inclusion of Indigenous students with disability in the Australian Higher Education Sector, demonstrates this premise. Founded on Indigenous Standpoint Theory, the methodology of this research foregrounds the central role of Indigenous people with lived experience of disability—in the study design, its implementation, and in the validation of the results. This paper shares the conceptual framework and relationship hierarchy for the research, ensuring that the authority of those with lived experience was maintained and central to all research activities. It showcases a way forward for other fields of co-designed research, delivering both academic rigour and leadership by those with lived experience. [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]

Education and culture are seen as key components of the learning process. In this context, discussions about the quality of education and approaches to strengthening educational values, as well as the importance of culture in the transmission of these values, are becoming increasingly relevant. However, in Latvia, studies regarding people who attend various cultural events do not focus on strengthening educational values or linking them to the cultural context. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore how educational values are linked to current trends in cultural offerings and how they are reflected in teacher education. The research methodology followed a qualitative and quantitative research paradigm and the specifics of interdisciplinary research. The data were obtained using surveys and focus group discussions. The overall strategy of the study is based on a holistic, multidisciplinary approach that takes the regional discourse in Latvia into account. The research results prove that cultural experiences have contributed to the development of most respondents' personalities and emphasize the role of teachers in the transmission of educational values. The qualitative and educational content of cultural offerings promotes a culture of discussion, strengthens community consciousness, and shapes cultural taste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Works Council (EWC) Directive provides the establishment of a social partnership forum within Multinational Companies (MNCs). The directive gives employees the right to information and consultation with the supra-national group management. The aim of this concept paper is to contribute to the debate on the Europeanization of Industrial Relations (IR) in the European Union. Specifically, it assesses the influence that EWCs, a novel institution within certain Euro-companies, have on the convergence of industrial relations among the member states. This critical topic can be evaluated from the standpoint of the current theory and its practical implications in order to draw the perspectives for a European system of IR both within MNCs and the rest of the companies. Our conclusions indicate that EWCs contribute to Europeanization in several aspects of employee relations, although this contribution has been limited to those issues that are wished for by the MNCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the relationship between morality and engagement focused on the narratives about climate change. The goal of our research is to understand whether moral grounds identified in individuals and in narratives can influence youth's engagement in environmental debate and news consumption on climate change. Recognizing that people's perceptions of climate change are related to several factors, such as ideas, cultures, and values, we sought to understand whether there is a "green morality" or a prevalence of more responsive moral attributes in individuals when they are exposed to thinking about the environment. We use the Moral Foundations Theory to analyze comments on the environmental news on Twitter and a questionnaire adapted to the environment on moral grounds. The data were collected from Brazil and Portugal between 2021 and 2022. The overall results showed a high incidence of responses with Care/Harm and Fairness/Cheating, and an average incidence of responses related to Loyalty/Betrayal and Authority/Subversion. The results indicate that youngsters show a more prominent moral to care and environmental harm, as well as justice and responsibility, which may influence their interest in the consumption of environmental news and future engagement. In addition, there are factors, such as political issues, that can influence moral values and engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the dialogue around how to increase inclusion in higher education, taking the lecturer perspective as the point of departure. Theoretically, disability is understood as an interaction, which means that lecturers partake in the constitution of dis/ability in learning situations. Two qualitative interviews were conducted with an interdisciplinary lecturer employed in an institution of higher education in Norway. These data are used for this single case study to illustrate and reflect on the challenges of diversity in learning situations. Findings suggest that the lecturer struggles to encounter an increasingly diverse student population inclusively. Overall, her experiences unpack the outcome of a structural lack of prioritization to ensure accessibility for disabled students at an institutional level at the university where she is employed. This article emphasizes that the responsibility to ensure an inclusive teaching practice in higher education must be recognized and treated as an institutional obligation. To signal its priority, all institutions of higher education should make inclusive training obligatory for lecturers, as well as assigning hours to work on enhancing the development of inclusive skills in this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crafts sector, traditionally characterized by its adherence to heritage and small-scale familial enterprises, confronts an array of unprecedented challenges stemming from rapid technological advancement, globalization, climate change, and shifting demographics. This article presents a pioneering investigation into the profound and transformative effects of digitalization on the crafts sector, offering novel insights into the future trajectory of this industry. Through an explorative approach, we critically examine and interrogate the social imaginary underpinning the crafts sector, shedding light on the intricate interplay between tradition and innovation. Leveraging an inter- and transdisciplinary framework, our research brings together academics, experts, and practitioners from diverse regions in Italy and Austria to explore the nexus of digitalization and craft futures. We introduce three future scenarios for the crafts sector, each delineating varying degrees of digitalization and their potential implications. Employing a mixed-method approach encompassing expert interviews, a Delphi survey, focus groups, and scenario development, our study offers a comprehensive exploration of the multifaceted landscape of craft futures. Furthermore, through the visualization of these scenarios, we provide a tangible platform for envisioning and engaging with the myriad possibilities that lie ahead. By synthesizing innovative methodologies from future studies and social imaginaries with a specific focus on the crafts sector, our research offers a robust analytical framework for navigating the complex dynamics of digitalization and envisioning transformative futures. This paper not only illuminates the disruptive forces unleashed by digitalization but also provides strategic insights to inform future decision-making processes within the crafts sector and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central Americans living in Mexico remain a small group (100 thousand) relative to the size of the Mexican population. However, they experienced accelerated growth between 2000 and 2020, with Guatemalans as the largest group and Hondurans as the most dynamic one. The previous literature has found a positive and significant, albeit decreasing, income advantage of Central American workers in Mexico. Meanwhile, the percentage of migrant women reported as spouses has gone down and the female labor force has increased. The paper uses information from the 2000, 2010, and 2020 Mexican censuses as well as the 2015 Intercensal Survey to compare access to the labor market for men and women from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras residing in Mexico. We compare marital status, female labor force participation, main economic sectors, human capital, and income levels of the men and women of each of the three nationalities considered, seeking to identify from a gender perspective the differentiated labor performance of each nationality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the study of migration has shifted its focus from an individual perspective (on those who emigrate) to also include their integration networks in the country of destination, it is also necessary to consider the dynamics with their families in the country of origin. With an integral focus on the analysis of Portuguese transnational families, this paper aims to reflect on how the connection between those who emigrate and those who stay can promote greater resilience, presenting best practices for interventions among these dynamics and generations. Using a post-positivist paradigm and semi-structured interviews, we developed a qualitative approach with three exploratory studies: (1) Portuguese young adults living abroad (N = 22); (2) parental figures living in Portugal with adult children living abroad (N = 20); and (3) experts in the fields of academic and psychosocial work with similar people (N = 8). The data were analyzed using N-Vivo software (ed.11 and 14). The general results lead us to reflect on the dynamics of relationships, where digital and face-to-face spaces participate simultaneously, even though there are different challenges and ways of using digital means. We also found a change in expectations regarding the norms and values perceived by this generation of emigrants, which leads us to consider the importance of intercultural values since transnational families greatly increase transculturality, which can promote resilience among these groups. The data also alert us to the need to train intervention professionals in multidisciplinary areas, always taking the cultural context into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I recall reflections from and discussions with both older people who exercise actively and with personal trainers who specialise in working with older people to address two essential elements that should be clarified: First, what are we talking about when we discuss sport, physical exercise and physical activity, especially when we relate them to older people? Second, the benefits of exercise are known, but what are the margins and precautions that this group of people should consider, and even the damage that physical exercise can cause to them? Based on qualitative data that are taken from different ethnographic works, four areas are considered: What does it mean to train as a senior?; are injuries inevitable?; the dangers of having an athlete's identity; and the hazards of body-image ideals. This work gives voice to older athletes and their coaches, and contributes to studies on physical activity, older people and wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a case study to critically reflect on contemporary discourses in Norway connected to ethnic minority childhoods and children's rights to education and work. Based on a narrative interview with an ethnic minority girl, Sadja (aged 16), who is in state custody and lives with a foster family, we use a decolonial lens to explore the tensions in expectations and rights in her life and education. The tensions encountered are situated along three axes. The first axis illustrates tensions related to education, work, and responsibilities, as Sadja's family responsibilities are perceived by teachers and child welfare workers as preventing her from having "a proper childhood". The second axis explores tensions connected to independence, educational choice, and "belonging to the state", where Sadja experiences that being in state custody results in being unable to "follow her dream". The third axis reflects the tensions between parental expectations of "dreaming big" versus her surrounding environment's anticipation of her simply getting a job. In sum, Sadja's experiences suggest that contemporary Western discourses—such as individualism, self-autonomy, and children as human capital—paradoxically curtail the educational rights and trajectories of ethnic minority children in foster care in Norway in unforeseen and unfortunate ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the peace accord on 26 September 2016 between the Colombian government and the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), significant structural issues persisted in Colombia, such as state fragility, land distribution challenges, and rural impoverishment, all of which jeopardized sustainable peace. Previous disarmament events indicated potential shifts in violence and recidivism rates among ex-combatants. This paper aims to determine the likelihood that, in the post-conflict era with FARC, these ex-combatants would rearm themselves into new criminal factions. Employing a methodology by Paul Collier, the study utilized logit, probit, and panel data models with both fixed and random effects to evaluate the recidivism risk at the municipal level. A 1% increase in per capita municipal income decreased conflict probability due to the increased opportunity cost of disrupting economic endeavors. Conversely, 1% increases in potential conflict benefits from tax revenue and natural resource proceeds raised the probability of conflict by 40% and 17%, respectively. Key results indicate that economic advancement, as measured by per capita income, reduced the duration of paramilitary presence, whereas revenue from taxes and natural resources extended it at the municipal level in Colombia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the effectiveness of cross-border cooperation programmes between Spain and Portugal, focusing on their impact and outcomes in Portuguese regions. Drawing on a comprehensive analysis of the programmes, the study examines the socio-economic dynamics in border regions, including job creation, population trends, and investment patterns. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative data analysis. We argue that the cross-border territorial cooperation between Spain and Portugal has played a significant role in fostering regional development and addressing common challenges. While the concerted efforts have shown positive results in terms of economic growth and employment, they have not been sufficient to reverse the regressive demographic trends. Thus, it is essential to strengthen cooperation mechanisms, invest in human capital, and foster innovation so that the two countries can work together to create sustainable and inclusive development across their shared border regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 lockdown has had serious consequences, including rethinking higher education. The study aims to enhance the knowledge base of online education and academic integrity through a case study of the Ludovika University of Public Service (LUPS), Budapest, Hungary. The research aimed to assess the teachers' experience with distance learning and examinations, including the change in workload, digital competencies, Moodle, Turnitin, and other software used during and after the lockdown. This paper summarizes the university-level policy changes induced during the lockdown, covering the introduction of emergency distance teaching and online examinations in academic integrity at the university. Two years after the first lockdown, the researchers made a survey (n = 145) about the continuation of the introduced solutions. The results show that a remarkable reordering started while the technical and technological backgrounds were available for the changes. The teachers could feel a significant increase in workload with distance education and have low trust in maintaining the standards of academic integrity. However, the research shows moderate and low levels of digital competencies in the majority of teachers, which clearly defines the most crucial task leading to success. Maintaining the monitoring system with objective indicators of the development and the opinions of the interested parties is essential for successful strategies in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key feature of inclusive research is the accessibility of research procedures to meaningfully engage people with intellectual disabilities in research processes. Creating accessible research procedures requires innovations in methods traditionally used in research. This paper describes how the Lifeline Interview Method by Assink and Schroots was adapted and implemented in a study using life story research to better understand the experiences of older adults with intellectual disabilities. Twelve adults with intellectual disabilities over the age of 50 participated between two and seven times in interviews about their life histories. The interviewer assisted in the construction of timelines of key events in the participants' individual life stories, and the participants decorated their lifelines throughout the course of the interviews. The lifeline process was an effective tool to engage the participants in the research process, support participation, and provide access for people with intellectual disabilities to retrieve their life experiences. Challenges in the lifeline process included barriers to gathering sufficient information to construct timelines and gatekeepers withholding access to information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]