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This study employs Walter Benjamin's aura framework as a theoretical lens to look at religious consumption in virtual worlds, via a case study of the London megachurch Kingsway International Christian Centre. Findings suggest inter-personal authenticity contributes to authenticity in online religious consumption and emphasise the need to re-sacralise space and de-sanctify time to help congregant-audiences access sacred experiences. We also highlight the importance of re-mooring traditions and transformable rituals in replicating essential components of real-world worship gatherings through media and technologies. Proposing that the digital imbues its own aura, we develop the concept of 'digital aura', characterised by hypermediacy in media usage and remediation, which leads to the refashioning of certain practices and, ultimately, changes the way that audience members engage in ritual events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although rituals are commonplace in marketer-consumer interactions, extant research devotes limited attention to how 'marketplace actors' or MAs (marketers and stakeholders enacting the roles of marketers) leverage these events in the marketplace. We scrutinise this gap by examining literature in the top 50 major marketing journals. We ask: What functions do marketplace rituals fulfil for MAs, as they leverage these rituals when shaping customer experiences? Our analysis finds MAs leverage rituals to support seven broad functional categories that pertain to customer experience: cognitive, cultural, emotive, logistical, relational, social, and transformative. We illuminate how MAs leverage these functions to meet specific goals. We propose an agenda for future research on marketplace rituals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer research has established a rich understanding of dominant consumption rituals, yet the tensions that emerge during celebratory rituals remain under-researched. Through the context of hen party rituals, we examine the emergent tensions in consumption rituals. Our insights are developed from in-depth interviews with hen party participants and netnography of Reddit forums on hen party planning and experiences. Our prioritisation of emergent tensions of rituals contributes to richer understandings of consumer ritual performance. We find consumers deploy self-policing as a form of boundary-work to reduce emergent tensions during ritual performance. We identify two forms of self-policing: shielding and remedying. In doing so, we contend that the evolution of hen party rituals can be both a celebration and a burden, steeped in feelings of anticipation and obligation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines how consumers value, over time, their possessions in the domestic space. We focus on the large amount of clothing kept in the household, given the critical issues of sustainability that are raised by this practice. Using in-depth interviews and wardrobe ethnography, we unpack the role of rituals in consumers' valuation of these possessions. The findings show that some possessions become dormant due to various failures in rituals. Dormant possessions are those pending revalorisation, which may be carried out by consumers themselves or through their use of services, specifically those related to circular economy. We identify and theorise reinvestment rituals, a new form of rituals that allow for revalorisation and extension of the life of a possession. This research highlights the value dynamics at play in the consumer – possession relationship and has implications for a strong sustainability approach on the part of consumers, managers, and policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ritual, which connects participants within brand communities, is a vehicle for creating and understanding time. Consumer and marketplace rituals have been theorised with respect to staging, enactment, outcomes, and place-making, but little consideration has been devoted to the timescapes that shape them. The study of time in marketing research is broadening beyond the chronos of chronology to the kairos of apperception or momentous liminality. We analyse distinct and interwoven chronos and kairos temporal strands experienced through the course of the vestaval ritual embedded within a brand community, in a plaiting process that ensures that contrasting temporalities co-exist, leaving the participant unmoored in time and resonant with deep personal significance of the moment. We theorise a temporal plaiting process and interpret its significance for ritual efficacy. We conclude with a discussion of research and managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal affective bonding through which social resources are deployed, known as guanxi, is significant in social, political, and economic relationships in present‐day China. Guanxi is sociologically understood as a form of social network and also as a type of social exchange. In addition, guanxi is regarded as a kind of or derived from ritual practices. Ritual aspects of guanxi are critically examined. The concept of ritual is distinguished from Confucian li, with which guanxi is often associated. Rituals held to be supportive of guanxi are examined, three distinct conceptualisations of ritual are identified, and ritual is differentiated from social practice, ceremony, and rite. Finally, emotions in guanxi ritual are briefly discussed, comparing Collins' approach with an account from the early Chinese theorist Xunzi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through an investigation of representations of the Other and ancient Chinese collective identity in classical Chinese texts, this paper offers a new perspective to modern discourse surrounding the ‘distinctions between barbarians and Chinese’ (yixia zhi bian 夷夏之辨). Providing a historical analysis of terms and tropes related to the in-group Huaxia and out-group rongdi (barbarian Other) from the Shang to the Han dynasties, it is argued that increasingly abstracted representations of the Other functioned in promoting identification and solidarity with an increasingly unified Huaxia. Rather than reading depictions of the rongdi as merely a reflection of how the ancient Chinese perceived the out-group, terms that function as the ‘generalized barbarian’ are interpreted as recursive reflections of how the Huaxia in-group understood the Huaxia themselves, offering a glimpse into what was implicitly regarded as characteristic, distinctive, or even sacred to Huaxia collective identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractGrief is a normal reaction after the death of a loved one. Death rituals are an integral part of the mourning processes. Not being able to carry out death rituals can affect relatives’ quality of life. The aim was to evaluate death rituals during COVID-19 and their association with relatives’ quality of life. In a Swedish nation-wide study relatives to persons who died during the COVID-19-pandemic received questionnaires about their quality of life and how they could perform death rituals. Association between quality of life and death rituals was analyzed with linear regression. Of the 324 relatives, a minority indicated that their loved one’s funeral (17%) met their wishes. Not being able to carry out the funeral as desired was significantly associated with a lower quality of life (p = 0.006). The experiences during the pandemic revealed that it is important for people to perform death rituals according to their wishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British government used to herald shale gas as a bridge fuel to a zero-carbon economy, trying (and ultimately, failing) to incorporate this hydrocarbon into a punctuated energy transition that is still under way in the country. On the one hand, planning translated central political decisions into local priorities, but on the other hand, it politicized public opposition to fracking. Although, there have been considerable criticisms of the planning process for fracking in Great Britain, we still lack a grounded understanding of how planning influenced the wider dynamics of public engagement with shale gas development. Drawing on ethnographic and participatory research across three locations in northern England, I explore how the planning process was experienced by the public and how its local participants were impacted by it. The ways in which planning dealt with evidence, public perception and democratic legitimacy suggested that planning was reinforcing the governmental pro-fracking policies while simultaneously undermining its own legitimacy, as questions about validity, impartiality and democracy were being raised. Rather than merely a technocratic arena for adjudicating between private and public interests, planning had a transformative effect on local participants and served as an important moment for mobilizing more politicized forms of public opposition against fracking, which undermined the energy-transition narratives touted by the government. I use anthropological theorizations of ritual to explain the concrete local dynamics that led to this unintended effect. This case study suggests that centrally orchestrated energy transitions may fail when they are enacted through local processes that foster experiences of injustice and lack of local control among the opposing publics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present treatise examines the emergence of the Corded Ware culture on the Jutland Peninsula. The focus is on the so-called individual burial customs, which represent the most striking element of this culture in the region. The distribution, chronology, and morphology of these structures are analyzed, as well as their connection to graves and their probable ritual function in relation to death. Geographical variations in the manifestation of these individual burial customs are also examined, and possible causes are discussed. The study emphasizes the importance of regional studies in order to better understand the emergence and development of this culture. [Extracted from the article]

The essay "From the Source to the Sea - A Regional Study on Bronze Age Deposits in Eastern Funen, Denmark" examines the relationship between Bronze Age deposits and their locations in the landscape. The study focuses on findings from previously little-explored sources and emphasizes the importance of a more differentiated examination of deposit locations outside of settlements. The distribution of findings shows a concentration along watercourses and near the coast. Water sources and wetlands were used as sites for ritual activities and depositions. The study emphasizes that deposits outside of settlements should be considered in order to gain a better understanding of Bronze Age societies. [Extracted from the article]

Folklore reflects the concept of fear, with which genres such as incantations and prayers are directly associated. These texts establish adialogue with danger, either with commands or supplications, and they indicate what kind of dangers are imminent. By combining psychoanalytical and folklore theories, the paper offers the analysis of the conceptual image of fear and of the defensive function of prayers and incantations within the material of Slovenian incantation and prayer collections: what kind of threats one wants to chase away by incantations or/and magical signs and objects; and what kind of form and use contain the preventive incantations themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the sonic aspect of the annual Aravan festival celebrated in the rural village of Koovagam, Tamil Nadu, India. The festival has gained popularity as the "Koovagam transgender festival" due to the participation of thousands of transgender women, known as Aravanikal in Tamil, from across India. The paper explores the relationship between the festival and sound by examining four distinct aspects: a patrikai (brochure), a village-specific mythical story, a unique listening experience of a group of women, and the participation of Aravanikal in the festival. The study unveils the integral role of sound, interwoven within a myth, in shaping the identity of the village. It delves into how this significance resonates within the local culture's perception of sound. The paper demonstrates that a particular group of women is excluded from participating in all sensory aspects of a ritual, except for the auditory realm. In this cultural context, sound is not subject to the same restrictions as other senses. The paper further argues that the festival has a hidden erotic dimension beneath its apparent layers, which is revealed through sounds, producing an "aural erotica" that subverts existing norms governing discussions about sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the prevalence and significance of ritual in the early modern world, focusing on the case of the early Qing surrender ceremony. It argues that as empires expanded and societies became more diverse, rulers relied on ritual to incorporate new political actors and govern different cultures and ethnicities. The article explores how ritual constructed and reconstructed social and political orders in a rapidly changing world, and suggests that ritual proliferated during this time period due to increased social interactions and the emergence of large empires. It discusses the role of ritual in the Qing surrender ceremony, which was used to incorporate surrendered generals and their troops into the Manchu political order. The article highlights how rituals were used to establish and reinforce power dynamics, create political relationships, and navigate conflicts, emphasizing the crucial role of ritual in state-building and the construction of political order in early modern societies. [Extracted from the article]

This paper explores the implementation of Soviet religious policy among the Ismaili Muslim population of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO) of Soviet Tajikistan. By means of oral interviews and the analysis of archival sources from the province, this paper reveals the challenges and complexities faced by local commissioners and Communist Party officials when executing centralized Soviet religious policy. In this process, the local commissioners (upolnomochennye) had to stress the religious community's compliance with Soviet legislation and were expected to provide accounts of decreasing religiosity among the Ismailis, and even their having ceased to practise their religious rituals. Meanwhile, the newly appointed Ismaili religious dignitary (khalifas) did not remain passive recipients or agents of Soviet religious policy but tried to modify their actions to conduct religious rituals within the limited but legal space for religious activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores war remembrance and ritual in English schools. The Remembrance in Schools project (2013–2020) investigated remembrance practices in schools in England through questionnaires, interviews and observations. Schools are unique as sites of remembrance because children constitute the majority of participants in rituals. School‐based rituals of remembrance might potentially reproduce dominant discourses of war‐normalisation that conflate military values and nationalism with morally 'good' values and an imagined community of the nation. They also provide a contested, ambivalent space in which ambiguities of practice and thinking may encourage the emergence, in small ways, of counter‐narratives about war and its remembrance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vilca or cebil (Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil) is a species known for its psychoactive properties and its widespread use among the pre-Hispanic peoples who inhabited the southern Andean area (southern Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile and northwest Argentina). Studies on this species, as well as on medicinal, psychoactive, or magical plants in general, tend to consider its use in post-Spanish conquest times to be scarce or irrelevant in the Andes of South America. However, based on an in-depth review of the existing literature and on ethnobotanical research conducted in markets in Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru, this paper provides an updated overview affirming the continuity of the use of this species. The results indicate a significant diversity in terms of usage types, plant parts used, treatments, and conditions in which it is applied, along with new records of vernacular names. This paper also offers an interpretation from the perspective of Andean logics, highlighting the current therapeutic effectiveness of the seeds of this plant, facilitated through a series of "movements" that aim to restore the affected person's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing upon Confucian ethical insights extracted from the Analects, this essay argues that principlism suffers from fundamental theoretical flaws. Its four principles do not genuinely capture universal principles, because they distort the practice-embedded nature of authentic moral norms found within actual moral cultures, as elucidated by Confucian insights. Specifically, Confucianism highlights the importance of a reflective equilibrium between constitutive rules and regulative principles. Principlism, in reality, represents an abridged version of modern Western liberal ethical norms, as it retains their significant regulative principles while excluding their specific constitutive rules. The essay also employs prominent examples to illustrate the practical ineffectiveness of principlism. Given that diverse cultures either adhere to different regulative principles that diverge from the four principles or are obligated to specify them with their distinct constitutive rules, relying on the four principles as a uniform starting point falls short in providing and justifying universal solutions to the bioethical dilemmas confronting contemporary societies. In addition, the essay delves into the underlying factors that have led to the seemingly widespread adoption of the four principles across different regions worldwide. Lastly, the essay introduces the concept of regioglobal bioethics as an alternative to principlism for global bioethics, outlining a general Confucian endorsement of this proposal and providing a brief response to potential objections, aiming to pave the way for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Most accounts of the Indonesian revolution in South Sulawesi have focused on the two groups fighting for power: the Republic of Indonesia as a new nation-state and the Dutch, who wanted to regain control. What is absent from this way of viewing history are the views of local elites, who wanted to retain their traditional authority and whose ideas about the nation-state were based on their oral traditions, which have the potential to affect the reconstruction and politicisation of collective memory in the struggle for cultural rights and political authority. This article examines how the Polombangkeng community used oral traditions to justify local input into the cause of the revolution in South Sulawesi. During the Indonesian revolution, the Polombangkeng people drew on their oral tradition to define leadership positions, claims of political authority, and alliance formation. Their narratives about their identity were supported by ritual ceremonies. The article argues that the Indonesian revolution in Polombangkeng was more than just a power struggle between ‘Indonesian’ and ‘Dutch’ groups: it was also a process of negotiating and/or renegotiating identities, driven by the desire to stake traditional authority claims through the justification of oral traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study makes the argument for the presence of a category of small‐sized ritual buildings at the Umm an‐Nar (2700–2000 BC) sites of Dahwa 1 (DH1) and Dahwa 7 (DH7). These buildings are DH1.S20 and DH7.S1. The architectural features and associated finds point to their ritual function. Building DH7.S1 will be the focus while presenting arguments for its ritual role. Besides domestic buildings within a clustered settlement system and a monumental tomb dating to the Umm an‐Nar period, the site might give unique evidence of a form of small buildings that served a ritual purpose. These buildings have no clear parallel in the excavated Umm an‐Nar period settlements so far but adhere to the principles of cultic structures from elsewhere around the Near East that support their interpretation as cultic buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monumental architecture, in the form of ballcourts and platform mounds, has dominated discussions of Ancestral O’Odham (Hohokam) ceremonialism. As conceptualized within the literature, ritual and ceremonialism progressed from the household to the community at ballcourts and then centralized at elite-controlled platform mounds. In this article, I explore Ancestral O’Odham ceremonialism through ritual items and spaces. Beginning with the Casa Grande community and then the village of AZ U:9:56 (ASM), I explore settlement patterns and the distribution of ritual objects in relation to platform mounds to understand where ceremonies may have occurred. As discussed, the presence of multiple locations of ceremonial importance suggests that ritual authority was unlikely linked to a single individual or household. Instead, ceremonialism and ritual were likely carried out in multiple places, a “dispersed centrality,” as it is defined here, by different types of leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online interactions constitute an ever‐larger part of our everyday lives. However, due to its roots in the study of face‐to‐face encounters, micro‐sociology tends to consider online interaction as a weak substitute for its physical counterpart. The aim of this paper is to critically assess and further develop one of the most influential micro‐sociological theories: Randall Collins' interaction ritual (IR) theory. To this end, we conducted a qualitative, two‐month, longitudinal study of six World of Warcraft players. The players were both interviewed and video‐observed while playing, in order to grasp the emotional and behavioral dimensions of their online IRs. Contrary to the prediction of IR theory, results showed that successful IRs with a high level of collective effervescence do take place in World of Warcraft. As such, the online IRs produced the ritual outcomes of group solidarity, emotional energy, symbols of membership, and standards of morality, which persisted for weeks. Our results add to the emerging evidence that IR dynamics may involve similar social processes in online and offline encounters. This suggests that IR theory, and micro‐sociology more broadly, should place less emphasis on bodily co‐presence when theorizing the realm of online interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having played at Highbury Stadium since 1913, Arsenal Football Club (Arsenal) moved a mere 500 metres to their new Emirates Stadium in 2006. In conforming to a contemporary ‘concrete bowl’ design, the new stadium lacked architectural distinctiveness. It also lacked the deeply emotional memories made over the years that meant Highbury was seen as ‘hallowed turf’. To embed a sense of history and heritage into the new stadium, Arsenal embarked on a process of place-making they described as ‘Arsenalisation’ which employs design-led graphic heritage within and around the space. Drawing on observation, visual analysis and interdisciplinary literature research, this article focuses on the impact of these interventions in supporters’ place-making and place attachment. It discusses the impact of graphic heritage on matchday rituals; the engagement of existing supporters and the initiation of new fans in Arsenal’s history; and the use of graphic heritage in re-establishing a local sense of place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New Orleans is no stranger to trauma. The Crescent City has a vast history of environmental calamities and oppression. Yet, New Orleans is renowned for its "joie de vivre"—or "love of life." Specifically, this community is known for its unique practice of second-line parades. Researchers have noted the healing power of second-line processions, but none have analyzed the practice and psychology of this ritual through a trauma-informed lens. The aim of this conceptual paper is to begin the conversation, rather than deliver hard fast conclusions, on the potential therapeutic function of second-line parades in response to grief. Relevant literature is presented to illustrate second-line parades, trauma theory, and to provide evidence that the therapeutic effects of second-lining may, in part, be explained by trauma theory. This paper concludes with remarks on conceptualizing the second-line funeral as a sophisticated trauma-informed approach to grief and a note for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the postcolonial critique of Eurocentrism, the epistemological foundations of sociology and the legacies of classical sociologists have certainly become controversial. Postcolonial critiques of sociology's Eurocentrism have denounced the "parochial" nature and limitations of the theoretical contributions left by Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, the reductive and stereotyping orientation of the "primitivist" and/or "orientalist" representations of non-Western peoples that can be identified in their work, and the incomplete and misleading accounts of the Western processes of modernization that we have inherited from them, which fail to fully address and satisfactorily account for the realities of modern Western forms of colonialism and imperialism. However, the nature and consequences of Durkheim's specific sociological Eurocentrism raise opposing views within postcolonialism. This article aims to evaluate the pertinence of the divergent and sometimes contradictory postcolonial appraisals of Durkheim's Eurocentrism by focusing particularly on the controversies generated by his sociological approach to religion. Placing Durkheim's sociological project within both the academic field and the socio-political context in which it took shape, this article highlights the shifting relevance and the implications of his evolving sociological approach to this object of study in his science of morals. Although it is not exempt from inconsistencies and Eurocentric assumptions, Durkheim's sociological approach to religion leaves an invaluable legacy for a non-dualistic sociological understanding of the rituals through which humans (re)create their social identities and their forms of belonging and solidarity. In line with the priorities of some postcolonial agendas, it can fully reveal its explanatory potential in the sociological investigation of modern and contemporary interethnic and racial conflicts and forms of colonialism and neo-colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Despite the regular appearance of peak sanctuaries, for over a century, in discussions on the organization of Cretan Bronze Age society, uncertainty still looms over the precise position these places of congregation held in the island's complex network of sites. One of the causes behind this academic situation is their methodological treatment. Particularly problematic is the customary scholarly practice of defining the sites' political affiliation, and their visitors' economic status, according to dichotomizing and somewhat reductive criteria such as 'palatial'/'non‐palatial' or 'elite'/'non‐elite'. Seeking to incorporate more nuance into the investigatory trajectory, this paper therefore encourages the implementation of more localized and materially‐founded analyses on the structure of the ritual activities held at these mysterious mountain‐tops. The efficiency of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a re‐examination of the ceramic figurines from Petsophas and the subsequent articulation of the existence of a communal dimension to their use and function. The study concludes that closer consideration of the simultaneously personal and collective significance of peak sanctuary ritual can yield further clues on their socio‐political role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This collaborative autoethnography invited and engaged 16 participants in a workshop to both explore and embody autoethnography as communal activity. Working in four groups, each group determined a prompt for reflection and remembrance, writing individually and sharing communally their diverse but interlocking cultural memory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article joins Durkheim's theory of cult and Goffman's notion of an interactional membrane to show how rituals transform social life from mundanity to ritual, and back again. I update these classical theories with a cultural sociology of performance and the sociology of fun to emphasize diversity in social compositions, contextual transformations, and contradiction in meaning. With an abductive methodology, I leverage an ethnography of children's sports in Norway to show how we carry out symbolic work to set sports apart from the mundane and then meaningfully enact games either as an attractive play modality or as a constrained organizing of creative play. Dramaturgy, not athletic success, is key in this study. Children's sports, as an arena for tacit learning about symbolic modalities, show us how much effort it takes to create ritual-like encounters and fun. The study also reveals how broadly available codes about children's sports, and about play itself, are worked into sports through social performances where adult coaches and children manoeuvre the possible meanings of sports. The result is a theory of the multiple pathways for symbolic work we can travel to create ritual-like interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paul Ricœur's narrative hermeneutic provides a unique lens for interpreting liturgy as narrative. Liturgy begins with the collective, prefigured knowledge of the assembly and configures symbols, music, prayers, scriptures, and actions into an interpretive narrative. This process engages the liturgical assembly's imagination to synthesize its unique narrative of God's divine story. This paper explores the function of imagination in the formative process of liturgical narrative arguing that imagination shapes human knowing and being through liturgical narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Mystery" is a term with divergent meanings in the religious and secular worlds. This term bears history in the philosophical and theological worlds. The meaning of the term includes concepts of secrecy, mysteriousness, incomprehensibility, and transcendence on the one hand and its connection with religious rituals on the other hand. This nature of the term recommends that we re-read its original meaning. This article tries to understand the connection of this term with archaic religious rituals based on mimetic theory. This article finds that the mysteriousness behind the archaic religious rituals is related to the scapegoat mechanism. The hidden process of deification in primitive religions and cultures is the reason behind the meaning of the term mystery. Using mimetic theory as a tool, this article asserts that only "revealed mysteries" remain in human history following the Christ-event and defines mystery as a process of deification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Developing methods for communicating, analysing, and interpreting the spiritual context of cultural objects is essential to gaining a deep understanding of the past. In archaeology, Indigenous methodologies in the field of creativity as an embodied exploration can enable archaeologists to understand how we perceive and interpret cultural information. This article examines how art making, within Indigenous cultures, serves as a powerful lens through which archaeological inquiries can be spiritually interpreted. This intricate relationship between art making and archaeological exploration provides a nuanced understanding of the spiritual significance inherent in historical relics. Its objective is to highlight Indigenous creative embodied methodologies, embracing a decolonised perspective that honours Indigenous worldviews. Serving as a bridge, it narrows the divide between creative craftsmanship and the field of archaeology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Linguistic Anthropology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Previous research suggests that sharing emotionally intense experiences with others, for example by undergoing dysphoric collective rituals together, can lead to "identity fusion," a visceral feeling of oneness that predicts group cohesion and self-sacrifice for the group. In this pre-registered research, we provide the first quantitative investigation of identity fusion following participation in a national funeral, surveying 1632 members of the British public. As predicted, individuals reporting intense sadness during Queen Elizabeth II's funeral exhibited higher levels of identity fusion and pro-group commitment, as evidenced by generosity pledges to a British Monarchist charity. Also consistent with our hypotheses, feelings of unity in grief and emotional sharedness during the event mediated the relationship between sadness intensity and pro-group commitment. These findings shed light on importance of collective rituals in fostering group cohesion, cooperation, and the dynamics of shared emotional experiences within communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the decoding of some of the many aspects of Islamism—labour relations in Turkey, based on the political rituals that historically operate as self-assertions and self-definitions of the working class. The epicentre of this article is May Day and seeks to analyse the process by which an organic part of the Islamist movement in the country, Hak-İş, dealt with it, through the effort for transformation of the symbolisms, and confrontation for the ideological meaning and social vision of this labour political ritual in Turkey. Through this framework, the study highlights three different stages in the political mobilization of Hak-İş regarding the 1st of May, within the broader framework of a process named ‘loss of proletarity’ and the Confederation’s vision about a classless society. The first stage is that of the absolute denial of the class content and hierarchies in society. The second stage is the process of the ‘reluctant adoption’ of May Day, combined with strategies to transform its material culture. Finally, the third stage is the attempt to ‘nationalise/Islamise’ this political ritual through the organization of separate May Day mobilizations in various cities in Anatolia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a common assumption that human behavior is guided by a desire to feel safe and avoid harm. However, this view is challenged by the popularity of high-risk leisure sport and other practices that involve subjecting oneself to a considerable danger with no apparent gain. By using real-contact stick fighting as an example, I suggest that the attractiveness of at least some such practices can be explained by cognitive dynamics that are typical of affectively intense rituals such as initiations. Affectively intense rituals are known to enhance personal meaning-making and foster identity fusion, that is, the overlapping of personal and social identities. The sense of meaning thus engendered effectively satisfies common identity motives and thus elicits positive affect. By introducing ritual studies perspectives into the edgework paradigm that is commonly used to conceptualize voluntary risk taking, I contribute to an increased understanding of the cognitive processes motivating participation in extreme leisure sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the fomentation and diffusion process of tourism infringement incidents on social media, this study adopted an exploratory sequential mixed-method approach. Findings from in-depth interview and web text analysis indicated that destination crisis event on social media is fermented in three stages: emotional arousal, emotional interaction and emotional resonance. Further, quantitative research (PLS-SEM) yielded the impact of social norms, emotional motivation, ritual admission and emotional polarization on information empowerment, psychological empowerment and social empowerment, as well as the further reaction of tourist complaint and word-of-mouth (WOM). The current research contributes to the application and development of interaction ritual theory and empowerment theory in tourism field, and social media empowerment mechanism also provides inspiration for marketing and public opinion crisis management for tourism destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the Hasidic interpretation of the Zohar, focusing specifically on the genre of Hasidic commentaries to the Zohar. Hasidic interpreters positioned themselves within the Kabbalistic continuum, drawing upon earlier commentaries while infusing modern Hasidic hermeneutics. However, the classification of these commentaries as distinctly “Hasidic” remains underexplored in academic scholarship. This article addresses this gap by analysing a lesser-known Hasidic commentary on the Zohar: Damesek Eliezer, authored by Eliezer Zvi Safrin (1830-1898), the third Rebbe of the Kamarno dynasty. Despite its significance, this seven-volume commentary has received limited attention in academic discourse. The study delves into the motivation and methods in writing the commentary, and its hermeneutical approach, focusing on a unique emotional ideal imparted to Hasidim: the fusion of a broken heart with joy. This emotional hermeneutics, offering psychological interpretations of Lurianic Kabbalah, is a defining characteristic of Hasidic texts. The elevation of suffering, sorrow, and affliction as a means to commune with the Shekhinah in her state of suffering is exemplified by a recommendation for nightly ritualistic performance. Through an analysis of Damesek Eliezer, this study sheds light on the emotional dimensions of Hasidic interpretation within the broader context of Kabbalistic tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the Syrian kingdoms of the 13th century BCE may not have been integrated into the Hittite empire politically or economically, there is evidence that the Hittites employed strategies of cultural integration – part of bridging the geographical and social divide between the rulers and the ruled. The recently published documents from Ugarit reveal that both the Hittite Great king himself, as well as the King of Karkamiš, who administered the Syrian kingdoms, participated in Ugaritic ritual management and sent Hittite agents to offer sacrifices foreign to Ugarit. These features resonate with the emerging understanding of ritual practice at Emar as deeply influenced by Hittite ritual ideas and closely managed by Hittite officials, raising anew the question of Emar's cult for "the gods of Ḫatti." This investigation demonstrates aspects of foreign involvement in Ugaritic and Emarite ritual that contributed to the ongoing negotiation of power between those regions as political actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While recent scholarship has clarified the spelling of the little-known Old Assyrian nasbītum rite, formerly glossed as naspittum , its etymology and social context have remained obscure. This paper suggests the elusive rite has its etymology in the OA verb sabā'um , "to brew/draw beer," and refers to the act of libation. While the textual evidence for nasbītum is currently limited, an analysis of the rite as it occurs in the OA corpus suggests that nasbītum was the OA term for the care and feeding of the spirits of the dead, analogous to the better-known Old Babylonian kispum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussions of the prehistory of the rituals Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread have frequently held that they stem from distinct origins and purposes. In part, this claim corresponds with the biblical presentation of the rituals as distinct and separable. But in an academic tradition reaching back to the early 19th century, scholarly reconstructions have additionally assumed that the rituals suggest sociological details about the putatively distinct populations that observed them—that Passover was a rite associated with nomadic pastoralists and Unleavened Bread served an agrarian populace. This article challenges such notions based on ritual texts from Emar. Emar's ritual writings—especially those detailing the zukru festival—demonstrate that Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread share a structure for equinoctial ritualizing that suggests a history of those rites as integral to one another and refutes notions of their separability based on equation with social lifestyles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following a study by Robertson (1885), Old Testament scholars have attempted to resolve the difficult reference to oil in Isa 10:27d by means of emendations, generally of a geographical nature. In this way, the verse becomes the opening line of the following war oracle (10:28–32). The study of royal inscriptions from the Neo-Assyrian period reveals instead the existence of covenant-making rituals in which oil was employed, especially as an image of the curse associated with covenant transgressions. Since in Assyrian propaganda, the yoke was an image of the king's lordship over the conquered peoples, with the prophecy that "the yoke before the oil will be destroyed," the prophet alludes to the termination of the treaty obligations stipulated through the ritual, as well as any form of curse associated with it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By discussing some text-critical findings, this article poses the question of how the concept of emotivity can inform our understanding of the transmission processes which shaped Lam 1. An introduction establishes the theoretical and methodological basis for a comparative analysis of the Masoretic text, the Qumran manuscript of 4QLam, and Targum Lamentations. In various ways, the textual witnesses intensify and emotionalize Lam 1. Moreover, they focus on specific emotion words and make their meaning explicit for readers and listeners. Finally, the textual witnesses use different means to allow recipients to identify with the emotional descriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rituals and feasting ceremonies at Polynesian marae depict culturally complex relationships between humans and animals that cannot be explained by subsistence alone. In Central‐East Polynesia, this topic still requires the elaboration of a "ritual zooarchaeology" framework. Using sea turtle assemblages from three sacred sites on Fakahina atoll (Tuamotu), this study offers a preliminary approach to faunal deposits from ritual contexts. Following systematic excavations of marae on Fakahina, analysis aimed to determine whether faunal deposits could be linked with intentional feasting and offering behaviours. To detect how ritual actions were organised through space, skeletal and taphonomic variables were examined for both overall sites and "sub‐assemblages" within sites based on the spatial associations of fauna with site features. At certain site features, derived quantitative units such as %MAU and recovery rate could identify potential offering behaviours through the intentional sorting of culturally significant body parts. The taphonomic signatures of site features could also identify open or closed deposition environments, assisting with the identification of disturbed features as either exposed platforms or enclosed cists. In addition to highlighting previously undocumented complexity in the use of site features, an overall comparison of turtle remains from the three sites shows the potential of these methods to explore variation in ritual practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a functional analysis of severe problem behavior (aggression, disruption, and self‐injury). The analysis examined four potential socially mediated functions: attention, escape, receipt of tangible items, and restoration of environmental items. Restoration involved the experimenter replacing missing puzzle pieces, ring stacker rings, and shape sorter blocks without giving the items to the participant. An initial multielement functional analysis, followed by a brief pairwise comparison identified restoration of environmental items as the variable maintaining the participant's problem behavior. Subsequently, we conducted brief functional communication training to teach the participant to mand for restoration of disturbed items in the absence of problem behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a Symbolic Interactionist perspective and the Grounded Theory methodology, this study aimed to explore self-denigration from the perspective of Iranian applied linguists highlighting the significance of self-denigration as an in-group relational ritual in Iranian doctoral defense sessions. The data were obtained from rigorous coding of the transcripts of two focus groups and a questionnaire built on the findings of the focus group discussions. The findings indicated significant gender differences in terms of the participants' attitudes toward the functions and meanings of self-denigration. Academic experience was also found to be an important factor in how the participants perceived self-denigration. Through a meticulous analysis of self-denigration in doctoral defense sessions, the present study sheds light on the norms and conventions of the academic discourse of defense sessions, thereby justifying the rights and obligations of the defense session participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jaimini's Book of the Horse Sacrifice (Jaiminīya Āśvamēdhikaparvan) is a late mediaeval Vaiṣṇava text that is unusual for several reasons. In this article we examine the interplay of violence, devotion and ritual in the Sanskrit vorlage and its Kannada transfiguration--the Jaiminibhārata of Lakṣmīśa (ca. 1500 CE). Violent emotions or extreme feelings are deeply imbricated in South Asia religious discourse. Extreme feeling is entangled with the history of texts that emerged as a result of interreligious and intra-religious debate. Our article puts forth the idea of violence as a mode of bhakti devotion, and we historicize the emergence of violence-as-bhakti in the Vaiṣṇava context, using the tale of Mayūradhvaja from Jaimini's Book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]