Search results for: religion and religious organisation

Authors: Mamman Jimoh Ahmadu, Sanusi Abubakar Sadiq, Eldah Ephraim Buba

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In modern societies, stress has become a widespread phenomenon and therefore an issue of major concern to employees, organizations, and the state. As senior management of an organization, executives are not immune to this problem because they carry out lots of activities while on duty. This paper is centered on the benefits of Tourism, Leisure and Recreation to the management of executive stress. Executives work has always been considered to be stressful. The key objective of the research is to gain a better understanding of the causes of stress among executives and to find out how tourism, leisure, and recreational activities could be used as a means to managing stress. Interview and observation data were analyzed using SPSS. The major finding revealed that that human system has specific limitations and nature cannot be cheated. It is recommended that executives should take regular and mandatory vacation of least forty days in a year. The only answer then is rest. The research recommends that a break tends to improves and relaxes, refreshes the mind and enhances performance.

Keywords: executive, recreation, stress, tourism

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Authors: Naima Bilal

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The contemporary Anthropocene novel, with all the atrocities, man-made and inflicted by Nature (and Supernature), differs from the Horror novel in one main characteristic, that being naively lingering to hope and the notion that all evils, days and people come to an end. The current article explores the psychological dimensions of this optimistic ending that Climate fiction novelists uphold and how does this 'hope' functions as a bait for the reader to act. The primary sources for the research are The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson, Parable of the Sower by Octivia Butller and Amtiv Ghosh’s Gun Island.

Keywords: hope in contemporary anthroprocene literature, Pakistani science fiction novels, science fiction as a remedy to contemporary climate problems, science the new religion

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Authors: Osagiede Efosa Kelvin

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The Ebola virus disease (EVD); also Ebola hemorrhagic fever, is a disease of humans and other primates caused by Ebola viruses. Signs and symptoms typically start between two days and three weeks after contracting the virus as a fever, sore throat, muscle pain, and headaches. Then, vomiting, diarrhoea and rash usually follow, along with decreased function of the liver and kidneys. At this time, some people begin to bleed both internally and externally. The first death in Nigeria was reported on 25 July 2014: a Liberian-American with Ebola flew from Liberia to Nigeria and died in Lagos soon after arrival. As part of the effort to contain the disease, possible contacts were monitored –353 in Lagos and 451 in Port Harcourt On 22 September, the World Health Organisation reported a total of 20 cases, including eight deaths. The WHO's representative in Nigeria officially declared Nigeria Ebola-free on 20 October after no new active cases were reported in the follow-up contact. This paper looks at the Ebola Virus in general and the measures taken by Nigeria to combat its spread.

Keywords: Ebola virus, hemorrhagic fever, Nigeria, outbreak

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Authors: Thapasya J., Rajesh Kumar

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Language plays complex roles in society. The previous studies on language and society explain their interconnected, complementary and complex interactions and, those studies were primarily focused on the variations in the language. Variation being the fundamental nature of languages, the question of personal and social identity navigated through language variation and established that there is an interconnection between language variation and identity. This paper analyses the sociolinguistic variation in language at the lexical level and how the lexical choice of the speaker(s) affects in shaping their identity. It obtains primary data from the lexicon of the Mappila dialect of Malayalam spoken by the members of Mappila (Muslim) community of Kerala. The variation in the lexical choice is analysed by collecting data from the speech samples of 15 minutes from four different age groups of Mappila dialect speakers. Various contexts were analysed and the frequency of borrowed words in each instance is calculated to reach a conclusion on how the variation is happening in the speech community. The paper shows how the lexical choice of the speakers could be socially motivated and involve in shaping and changing identities. Lexical items or vocabulary clearly signal the group identity and personal identity. Mappila dialect of Malayalam was rich in frequent use of borrowed words from Arabic, Persian and Urdu. There was a deliberate attempt to show their identity as a Mappila community member, which was derived from the socio-political situation during those days. This made a clear variation between the Mappila dialect and other dialects of Malayalam at the surface level, which was motivated to create and establish the identity of a person as the member of Mappila community. Historically, these kinds of linguistic variation were highly motivated because of the socio-political factors and, intertwined with the historical facts about the origin and spread of Islamism in the region; people from the Mappila community highly motivated to project their identity as a Mappila because of the social insecurities they had to face before accepting that religion. Thus the deliberate inclusion of Arabic, Persian and Urdu words in their speech helped in showing their identity. However, the socio-political situations and factors at the origin of Mappila community have been changed over a period of time. The social motivation for indicating their identity as a Mappila no longer exist and thus the frequency of borrowed words from Arabic, Persian and Urdu have been reduced from their speech. Apart from the religious terms, the borrowed words from these languages are very few at present. The analysis is carried out by the changes in the language of the people according to their age and found to have significant variations between generations and literacy plays a major role in this variation process. The need of projecting a specific identity of an individual would vary according to the change in the socio-political scenario and a variation in language can shape the identity in order to go with the varying socio-political situation in any language.

Keywords: borrowings, dialect, identity, lexical choice, literacy, variation

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Authors: Dr Elliroma Gardiner

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Extending the working life of older workers is one important strategy in alleviating the social and economic challenges associated with the ageing population. The Australian government has implemented several strategies to improve the participation rates of older workers, however, the success of these initiatives has been limited. The aim of this project is to identify what workplace practices influence the workforce participation decisions of older workers. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with older Australians who were either recently retired or currently working. Participants were asks about the factors that influenced their decision to retire/continue working and their current (or former) workplace practices. The results of the thematic analysis identified several factors which either supported (i.e., job autonomy and managerial support) or hindered (i.e., perceptions of age discrimination and age-based stereotypes) continued workplace participation. This research has several important applications for organisation managing intergenerational workforces, as well as policy makers interested in increasing the working life of ageing workers.

Keywords: ageing workers, older workers, age discrimination, age diversity

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Authors: N. Farahin Ali, Naharriah Mohamed, Hafiz Majdi, Fathiyyah, Fadliana Saman

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This paper investigates the imperative for developing Islamic accounting standards tailored to Baitulmal, waqaf, and zakat transactions, with the goal of strengthening accountability and transparency in financial reporting. Current financial reporting frameworks in Malaysia—namely, the Malaysian Financial Reporting Standards (MFRS) and Malaysian Private Entities Reporting Standards (MPERS)—are designed predominantly for conventional financial transactions and fail to fully capture the Shariah-specific nature of these religious funds. The objective of this study is to critically examine the discrepancies between these conventional reporting standards and the requirements of Shariah-compliant financial transactions, specifically for Baitulmal, waqaf, and zakat. This research adopts a qualitative methodology, utilizing case studies from four different State Islamic Religious Councils to explore the current reporting practices. The findings reveal significant gaps between the conventional frameworks and the specific needs of Shariah-compliant accounting, leading to off-balance-sheet reporting of certain transactions and inconsistencies in financial disclosures across different states. These disparities undermine both the comparability and integrity of the financial reports, raising critical concerns regarding transparency and governance. The broader implications of this study underscore the necessity for a unified Islamic accounting standard that would align more closely with Shariah principles. Such a standard would not only enhance the disclosure and presentation of baitulmal, waqaf, and zakat transactions, but also improve decision-making processes, thereby fostering greater accountability and trust in the management of these Islamic funds. This paper advocates for a concerted effort to bridge the existing gap, ensuring that the distinctive characteristics of Islamic charitable funds are appropriately reflected in the financial reporting process.

Keywords: islamic accounting, waqf, zakat, islamic finance

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Authors: Mohammed Saif Al-Saidi, John P. T. Mo

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Modern engineering assets are complex and very high in value. They are expected to function for years to come, with ability to handle the change in technology and ageing modification. The aging of an engineering asset and continues increase of vendors and contractors numbers forces the asset operation management (or Owner) to design an asset system which can capture these changes. Furthermore, an accurate performance measurement and risk evaluation processes are highly needed. Therefore, this paper explores the nature of the asset management system performance evaluation for an engineering asset based on the System Support Engineering (SSE) principles. The research work explores the asset support system from a range of perspectives, interviewing managers from across a refinery organisation. The factors contributing to complexity of an asset management system are described in context which clusters them into several key areas. It is proposed that SSE framework may then be used as a tool for analysis and management of asset. The paper will conclude with discussion of potential application of the framework and opportunities for future research.

Keywords: asset management, performance, evaluation, modern engineering, System Support Engineering (SSE)

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Authors: Gülcan Taşkıran, Ayla Bayık Temel

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Background: Florence Nightingale, the modern founder of the nursing, is most famous for her role as a nurse. But not so much known about her contributions as a mathematician and statistician. Aim: In this conceptual article it is aimed to examine Florence Nightingale's statistics education, how she used her passion for statistics and applied statistical data in nursing care and her scientific contributions to statistical science. Design: Literature review method was used in the study. The databases of Istanbul University Library Search Engine, Turkish Medical Directory, Thesis Scanning Center of Higher Education Council, PubMed, Google Scholar, EBSCO Host, Web of Science were scanned to reach the studies. The keywords 'statistics' and 'Florence Nightingale' have been used in Turkish and English while being screened. As a result of the screening, totally 41 studies were examined from the national and international literature. Results: Florence Nightingale has interested in mathematics and statistics at her early ages and has received various training in these subjects. Lessons learned by Nightingale in a cultured family environment, her talent in mathematics and numbers, and her religious beliefs played a crucial role in the direction of the statistics. She was influenced by Quetelet's ideas in the formation of the statistical philosophy and received support from William Farr in her statistical studies. During the Crimean War, she applied statistical knowledge to nursing care, developed many statistical methods and graphics, so that she made revolutionary reforms in the health field. Conclusions: Nightingale's interest in statistics, her broad vision, the statistical ideas fused with religious beliefs, the innovative graphics she has developed and the extraordinary statistical projects that she carried out has been influential on the basis of her professional achievements. Florence Nightingale has also become a model for women in statistics. Today, using and teaching of statistics and research in nursing care practices and education programs continues with the light she gave.

Keywords: Crimean war, Florence Nightingale, nursing, statistics

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Authors: Francesco Saverio Angiò

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The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant / Syria (ISIL/S), Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad, also known as ‘Boko Haram’ (BH), have fought successfully against Syria and Iraq, Mali, Nigeria’s government, respectively. According to Napoleoni, the ‘shell-state’ concept can explain the economic dimension and the financing model of the ISIL insurgency. However, she argues that AQIM and BH did not properly plan their financial model. Consequently, her idea would not be suitable to these groups. Nevertheless, AQIM and BH’s economic performances and their (short) territorialisation suggest that their financing models respond to a well-defined strategy, which they were able to adapt to new circumstances. Therefore, Napoleoni’s idea of ‘shell-state’ can be applied to the three jihadist armed groups. In the last five years, together with other similar entities, ISIL/S, AQIM and BH have been fighting against governments with insurgent tactics and terrorism acts, conquering and ruling a quasi-state; a physical space they presented as legitimate territorial entity, thanks to a puritan version of the Islamic law. In these territories, they have exploited the traditional local economic networks. In addition, they have contributed to the development of legal and illegal transnational business activities. They have also established a justice system and created an administrative structure to supply services. Napoleoni’s ‘shell-state’ can describe the evolution of ISIL/S, AQIM and BH, which has switched from an insurgency to a proto or a quasi-state entity, enjoying a significant share of power over territories and populations. Napoleoni first developed and applied the ‘Shell-state’ concept to describe the nature of groups such as the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), before using it to explain the expansion of ISIL. However, her original conceptualisation emphasises on the economic dimension of the rise of the insurgency, focusing on the ‘business’ model and the insurgents’ financing management skills, which permits them to turn into an organisation. However, the idea of groups which use, coordinate and grab some territorial economic activities (at the same time, encouraging new criminal ones), can also be applied to administrative, social, infrastructural, legal and military levels of their insurgency, since they contribute to transform the insurgency to the same extent the economic dimension does. In addition, according to Napoleoni’s view, the ‘shell-state’ prism is valid to understand the ISIL/S phenomenon, because the group has carefully planned their financial steps. Napoleoni affirmed that ISIL/S carries out activities in order to promote their conversion from a group relying on external sponsors to an entity that can penetrate and condition local economies. On the contrary, ‘shell-state’ could not be applied to AQIM or BH, which are acting more like smugglers. Nevertheless, despite its failure to control territories, as ISIL has been able to do, AQIM and BH have responded strategically to their economic circumstances and have defined specific dynamics to ensure a flow of stable funds. Therefore, Napoleoni’s theory is applicable.

Keywords: shell-state, jihadist insurgency, proto or quasi-state entity economic planning, strategic financing

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Authors: Mohammad Z. Ansari, Lisa Brodie, Marilyn Goh

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Change facilitators are individuals who utilize change philosophy to make a positive change to organizations. The application of change facilitators can be seen in various change models; Lewin, Lippitt, etc. The facilitators within numerous change models are considered as internal/external consultants. Whilst most of the scholarly paper considers change facilitation as a consensus attempt to improve organization, there is a lack of a framework that develops both the organization and the change facilitator creating a self-sustaining change environment. This research paper introduces the development of the framework for change Leaders, Planners, and Executers (LPE), aiming at various organizational levels (Process, Departmental, and Organisational). The LPE framework is derived by exploring interrelated characteristics between facilitator(s) and the organization through qualitative research for understanding change management techniques and facilitator(s) behavioral aspect from existing Change Management models and Organisation behavior works of literature. The introduced framework assists in highlighting and identify the most appropriate change team to successfully deliver the change initiative within any organization (s).

Keywords: change initiative, LPE framework, change facilitator(s), sustainable change

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Authors: Akiode Ayobami, Akiode Akinsewa, Odeku Mojisola, Salako Busola, Odutolu Omobola, Nuhu Khadija

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Purpose: Evidence exists that family planning use can contribute to reduction in infant and maternal mortality in any country. Despite these benefits, contraceptive use in Nigeria still remains very low, only 10% among married women. Understanding factors that predict contraceptive use is very important in order to improve the situation. In this paper, we analysed data from the 2013 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) to better understand predictors of contraceptive use in Nigeria. The use of logistics regression and other traditional models in this type of situation is not appropriate as they do not account for social structure influence brought about by the hierarchical nature of the data on response variable. We therefore used multilevel modelling to explore the determinants of contraceptive use in order to account for the significant variation in modern contraceptive use by socio-demographic, and other proximate variables across the different Nigerian states. Method: This data has a two-level hierarchical structure. We considered the data of 26, 403 married women of reproductive age at level 1 and nested them within the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja at level 2. We modelled use of modern contraceptive against demographic variables, being told about FP at health facility, heard of FP on TV, Magazine or radio, husband desire for more children nested within the state. Results: Our results showed that the independent variables in the model were significant predictors of modern contraceptive use. The estimated variance component for the null model, random intercept, and random slope models were significant (p=0.00), indicating that the variation in contraceptive use across the Nigerian states is significant, and needs to be accounted for in order to accurately determine the predictors of contraceptive use, hence the data is best fitted by the multilevel model. Only being told about family planning at the health facility and religion have a significant random effect, implying that their predictability of contraceptive use varies across the states. Conclusion and Recommendation: Results showed that providing FP information at the health facility and religion needs to be considered when programming to improve contraceptive use at the state levels.

Keywords: multilevel modelling, family planning, predictors, Nigeria

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Authors: Harsh Shah

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Spirituality and happiness are two very important aspects of human life. After defining happiness, an attempt has been made in this paper to review research on the relationship between happiness and spirituality, and then to experimentally study their correlation among students aged between 18-24 years. The relation was assessed in 200 students from IIT Kharagpur, who rated their own spirituality, and happiness using the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES) developed by Underwood, and the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) developed by Lyubomirsky and Lepper, respectively. Students who were more spiritual in general, were happier as well, and the Pearson Correlation Coefficient method gave a high positive correlation between happiness and spirituality.

Keywords: happiness, spirituality, youth, correlation, depression, religion

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Authors: Pan Rui, Ma Jun, Zhao Caiqi, Wang Guangda

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With the development of the tourism and religion,more and more large statue structures are adopted to build all over the world.For instance,the GuanYin statue with three plane reaches 108 meters high in HaiNan province in China.These statue structures belong to typical high-rise Building. However,the geometry sculpt of statues are complicated .The irregular shape makes these structures more complicated in force analysis than those normal standard tall buildings.In this paper,the Liu Bang Statue which is located at XuZhou in China.

Keywords: large statue structure, special-shaped steel, GuanYin statue, China

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Authors: Elif Eroglu Hall, Nurdan Sevim

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The purposes of this research are to clarify the determinants of Muslim immigrants in consuming halal food by using components of Theory of Planned Behavior. The study was done by surveying Turkish immigrants living in Cologne Germany. The results of this study show that the intentions of Muslim Turkish immigrants in consuming halal food is influenced by attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control.

Keywords: halal food, immigrants, religion, theory of planned behavior

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Authors: Janiel David Melamed Visbal

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The Islamic State has become one of the most remarkable threats for international security through their religious extremism and their establishment of a new caliphate by force. The main objective of this organization is to obtain territorial expansions beyond the Middle East and eventually to consolidate an Islamic global order based on their extremist ideology. This paper will conduct an analysis regarding how, over the past year, many jihadist organizations worldwide have pledged their alliagance to the Islamic State, transforming it into the most important jihadist franchise globally.

Keywords: Islamic state, franchise, jihad, Islamic fundamentalism, caliphate

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Authors: Hanan Eltayeb, Reem Al Refaie

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To be able to connect and relate to shows spoken in a foreign language, advanced learners must understand not only linguistics inferences but also cultural, metacognitive, and pragmatic connotations in colloquial Egyptian TV series. These connotations are needed to both understand the different facets of the dramas put before them, and they’re also consistently grown and formulated through watching these shows. The inferences have become a staple in the Egyptian colloquial culture over the years, making their way into day-to-day conversations as Egyptians use them to speak, relate, joke, and connect with each other, without having known one another from previous times. As for advanced learners, they need to understand these inferences not only to watch these shows, but also to be able to converse with Egyptians on a level that surpasses the formal, or standard. When faced with some of the somewhat recent shows on the Egyptian screens, learners faced challenges in understanding pragmatics, cultural, and religious background of the target language and consequently not able to interact effectively with a native speaker in real-life situations. This study aims to enhance the linguistic and cultural proficiency of learners through studying two genres of TV Colloquial Egyptian series. Study samples derived from two recent comedian and social Egyptian series ('The Seventh Neighbor' سابع جار, and 'Nelly and Sherihan' نيللي و شريهان). When learners watch such series, they are usually faced with a problem understanding inferences that have to do with social, religious, and political events that are addressed in the series. Using discourse analysis of the sematic, semantic, pragmatic, cultural, and linguistic characteristics of the target language, some major deductions were highlighted and repeated, showing a pattern in both. The research paper concludes that there are many sets of lingual and para-lingual phrases, idioms, and proverbs to be acquired and used effectively by teaching these series. The strategies adopted in the study can be applied to different types of media, like movies, TV shows, and even cartoons, to enhance student proficiency.

Keywords: Egyptian series, culture, linguistic competence, pragmatics, semantics, social

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Authors: Natascha Reich

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In colonial Peru, the Spanish crown relied on religious orders, most notably Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits, for accelerating processes of colonization. The dissemination of Christian art, architecture, and music, and most of all, the agency of indigenous people in their production played a key role in facilitating the acceptance of the new religious and political system. Current research on Peruvian colonial music culture and its role as a vehicle for colonization focus on practices in urban centers. The lack of (written) primary sources seems to turn rural areas into a less attractive research territory for musicologists. This paper advocates for a more inclusive approach. By investigating seventeenth-century pipe organs as material remains of Franciscan missionary music culture, it shows how reactions to colonial forces and Christianization in rural Andean locations could follow tendencies different from those in urban areas. Indigenous musicians in cities tried to 'fit' into the European system in order to be accepted by the ruling Spanish elite. By contrast, the indigenous-built pipe organs in the rural Peruvian Colca-Valley show distinctly native-Andean influences. This paper argues that this syncretism can be interpreted as hybridity in Homi K. Bhabha’s sense, as a means of the colonized to undermine the power of the colonizer and to advance reactionary politics. Not only will it show the necessity of considering rural Peruvian music history in modern scholarship for arriving at a more complete picture of colonial culture, but it will also evidence the advantages of a mixed-methodology approach. Historical organology, combined with concepts from ethnomusicology and post-colonial studies, proves as a useful tool in the absence or scarcity of written primary sources.

Keywords: cultural hybridity, music as reactionary politics, Latin American pipe organs, Peruvian colonial music

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Authors: Daniel O. Kleinsman

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The 2019 terrorist attack on two masjidain in Christchurch, New Zealand, was a shocking demonstration of the harm that can be caused by hate crime. As legal and governmental responses to the attack struggle to provide effective remedies to its victims, restorative justice has emerged as a tool that can assist, in terms of both meeting victims’ needs and discharging the obligations of the state under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), arts 2(3), 26, 27. Restorative justice is a model that emphasizes the repair of harm caused or revealed by unjust behavior. It also prioritises the facilitation of dialogue, the restoration of equitable relationships, and the prevention of future harm. Returning to the case study, in the remarks of the sentencing judge, the terrorist’s actions were described as a hate crime of vicious malevolence that the Court was required to decisively reject, as anathema to the values of acceptance, tolerance and mutual respect upon which New Zealand’s inclusive society is based and which the country strives to maintain. This was one of the reasons for which the terrorist received a life sentence with no possibility of parole. However, in the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Attack, it was found that victims felt the attack occurred within the context of widespread racism, discrimination and Islamophobia, where hostile behaviors, including hate-based threats and attacks, were rarely recorded, analysed or acted on. It was also found that the Government had inappropriately concentrated intelligence resources on the risk of ‘Islamist’ terrorism and had failed to adequately respond to concerns raised about threats against the Muslim community. In this light, the remarks of the sentencing judge can be seen to reflect a criminal justice system that, in the absence of other remedies, denies systemic accountability and renders hate crime an isolated incident rather than an expression of more widespread discrimination and hate to be holistically addressed. One of the recommendations of the Royal Commission was to explore with victims the desirability and design of restorative justice processes. This presents an opportunity for victims to meet with state representatives and pursue effective remedies (ICCPR art 2(3)) not only for the harm caused by the terrorist but the harm revealed by a system that has exposed the minority Muslim community in New Zealand to hate in all forms, including but not limited to violent extremism. In this sense, restorative justice can also assist the state in discharging its wider obligations to protect all persons from discrimination (art 26) and allow ethnic and religious minorities to enjoy their own culture and profess and practice their own religion (art 27). It can also help give effect to the law and its purpose as a remedy to hate crime, as expressed in this case study by the sentencing judge.

Keywords: hate crime, restorative justice, minorities, victims' rights

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Authors: Daniel Benson, Yundan Gong, Hannah Kirk

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Advancement in national language processing techniques has led to increased data processing speeds, and reduced the need for cumbersome, manual data processing that is often required when processing data from multilateral organizations for specific purposes. As such, using named entity recognition (NER) modeling and the Organisation of Economically Developed Countries (OECD) Creditor Reporting System database, we present the first geotagged dataset of OECD donor Official Development Assistance (ODA) projects on a global, subnational basis. Our resulting data contains 52,086 ODA projects geocoded to subnational locations across 115 countries, worth a combined $87.9bn. This represents the first global, OECD donor ODA project database with geocoded projects. We use this new data to revisit old questions of how ‘well’ donors allocate ODA to the developing world. This understanding is imperative for policymakers seeking to improve ODA effectiveness.

Keywords: international aid, geocoding, subnational data, natural language processing, machine learning

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Authors: Peter Lindstrom, Caroline Gyberg, Scott Goodwin

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The Swedish police organisation was fundamentally reorganized in 2015 when 21 regional police forces were combined into one national police authority divided in 7 larger police regions, 35 police areas, and some 100 local police districts. A central theme for the reform was that local crime prevention policing should be more unified in the country. In this paper, we review crime prevention strategies in Sweden from a criminological and policing perspective focusing, among other things, on differences between urban and rural areas. In the crime prevention field, words such as 'knowledge- and evidence-based', 'collaboration', and 'strategies' are common. Our objective is to investigate the relationship between theoretical and practical knowledge in local crime prevention work. Our research indicate that an elaborated and strategic connection between theoretical and practical perspectives is important for successful local crime prevention work. Universities may provide a platform such knowledge exchange.

Keywords: crime prevention, police reform, urban and rural areas, criminological and policing perspectives

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Authors: Elena Chernyak

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The status of Russian women has changed dramatically over the course of Russian history and under different leadership and economic, political, and social conditions. The perception of women, their submissive roles, and low social status cause gender conflict that affects society: demographical issues, increased numbers of divorces, alcoholism, drug abuse, and crime. Despite the fact that around the world women are becoming more independent, protected by law, and play more important roles in society, Russian women are still dependent on men financially, socially, and psychologically. This paper critically explores the experience of Russian women over the course of over a thousand year of Russian history and how the position and image of women changed in Russian Empire, Soviet and post-Soviet Russia and what role women play in contemporary Russia. This paper is a result of deep examination of historical and religious literature, mass media, internet sources, and documents. This analysis shows that throughout history, the role and image of women in society have repeatedly varied depending on ideological and social conditions. In particular, the history of Russian women may be divided into five main periods. The first was the period of paganism, when almost all areas of life were open for women and when women were almost equal in social roles with men. During the second period, starting with the beginning of the Mongol invasion in the 13th century, the position of women was diminishing due to social transformation to the patriarchal society in which women started playing subordinate role in family and society. The third period – the period from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries - is a period of the total seclusion of Russian women from each part of social life. The fourth, Soviet period started after the Revolution of 1917. During that time, the position of women was drastically changed due to the transformation of traditional gender roles under the Bolshevik government. Woman's role was seen as worker-mothers who had a double duty: a worker and a mother. The final period began after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The restructuring (Perestroika) and post-Restructuring periods have had contradictory consequences and tremendous impact on Russian society. The image of women as partners and equal to men, which was promoted during the Soviet regime, has been replaced with the traditional functionalist views on family and the role of women, in which men and women have different but supposedly complementary roles. Modern Russia, despite publicly stating its commitment to equal rights, during last two decades has been reverting to an older social model with its emphasis on traditional gender roles, patriarchal ideas of dominant masculinity, and adverse attitudes to women, which are further supported and reinforced by the reviving Russian Orthodox Church. As demonstrated in this review, Russian women have never possessed the same rights as men and have always been subordinate to men. During all period of Russian history, patriarchal ideology maintained and reinforced in Russian society has always subjected women to manipulation, oppression, and victimization and portrayed women as not a ‘full human being’.

Keywords: women, Russia, patriarchy, religion, Russian Orthodox Church

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Authors: Preeti Madan, Shalini Malhotra, Nirmaljit Kaur, Charoo Hans, VK Sabarwal

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Hospital is one of the most diverse and complex institutions frequented by people from every walk of life without any distinction between age, sex, gender, religion or intellect. This is over and above the normal inhabitant of hospital i.e. doctors, patients, and paramedical staff. The hospital waste generated 85% is non hazardous, 10% infectious and around 5% are non-infectious but hazardous waste. The management of biomedical waste is still in its infancy. There is a lot of confusion with the problems among the generators, operators, decision makers, and general community about the safe management of biomedical waste prompt action initiated to seek new scientific, safe, and cost-effective management of waste.

Keywords: biomedical waste, nosocomial infection, waste management, hospitals

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Authors: Muhammad Asghar, Muhammad Ali, Farwah Batool

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Despite the general belief in Islam that figural representations should be avoided, particularly propagated by the Deobandis, a religious group influenced by Salafi and Wahhabi ideas, nevertheless the public interaction spaces such as Shops and offices are decorated with popular, mass-produced, modern devotional prints. This study seeks to focus on popular visual culture, its display in public interaction places such as shops and discusses how people establish relationships with images. The method adopted was basically ethnographic: to describe as precisely and completely as possible the phenomena to be studied, using the language and conceptual categories of the interlocutors themselves. This study has been enriched by ethnographic field research conducted during the months from October to December 2015 in the major cities of Punjab and their brief forays and surroundings where we explored how seeing upon images performs religious identity within the public space. The study examines the pattern of aesthetics and taste in the shops of especially common people whose sensibilities have not been refined or influenced by being exposed to any narrative or fine arts. Furthermore, it is our intention to question the general beliefs and opinions in the context of popular practices, the way in which people relate to these prints. The interpretations and analyses presented in this study illuminate how people create meaning through the display of such items of material culture in the immediate settings of their spaces. This study also seeks to demonstrate how popular Islam is practiced, transformed and understood through the display of popular representations of popular figures of piety like Sufi saints or their shrines are important to many believers and thus occupy important places in their shops. The findings are supported with empirical evidence and based on interviews with the shopkeepers, owners and office employees. Looking upon those popular modern devotional prints keeps people’s reverence of the personages alive. Because of their sacred themes they affect a relationship between the saint and the beholders as well as serve to symbolize and reinforce their belief since they become powerful loci of emotional attachment. Collectively such devotional prints satisfy a local taste to help people establish contact with God through the saints’ intercession in order to receive protection and benediction, and help in spiritual, mental and material problems. By putting all these facets of belief together we gain an insight into both the subjective and cognizant role that icons’ of saints play in the lives of believers. Their veneration through ingeniously contrived modern means of production makes a significant contribution to an understanding of how such imagery promotes a powerful belief in Sufi saints, which ultimately gives indications of how popular Islam is practiced and understood at its gross roots level.

Keywords: ethnographic field research, popular visual culture, protected space, religious identity

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Authors: David Obafemi Adebayo

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An occupational challenge has been identified as one of the factors that could cripple set goals and life ambitions of an Internally Displaced Person (IDP). The main thrust of this study is therefore, explore the use of life support/adjustment strategy with a view to repositioning these internally displaced persons in Nigeria in revamping their goals and achieving their life-long ambitions. The study intends to investigate whether there exist, on the basis of gender, religion, years of working experience and educational qualification any significant difference in the occupational challenges and adjustment strategies of IDPs. The study being descriptive of survey type adopted a multi-stage sampling technique to select the minimum of 400 internally displaced persons from IDP camps in Yimitu Village, Waru District in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The research instrument used for the study was a researcher-designed questionnaire entitled “Questionnaire on Occupational Challenges and Adjustment Strategy of Internally Displaced Persons (QOCASIDPs)”. Eight null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha levels of significance. Frequency counts and percentages, means and rank order, t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) (where applicable) were employed to analyze the data. The Study determined whether occupational challenges of internally displaced persons included loss of employment, vocational discrimination, marginalization by employers of labour, isolation due to joblessness, lack of occupational freedom, which were found to be true. The results were discussed in line with the findings. The study established the place of notable adjustment strategies adopted by internally displaced person like engaging in petty trading, sourcing soft loans from NGOs, setting up small-scale businesses in groups, acquiring new skills, engaging in further education, among others. The study established that there was no significant difference in the occupational challenges of IDPs on the basis of years of working experience and highest educational qualifications, though there was significant difference on the basis of gender as well as religion. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made.

Keywords: internally displaced persons, occupational challenges, adjustment strategies, Abuja-Nigeria

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Authors: Sharad Kumar Kulshreshtha

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India is a great land of cultural and traditional diversity. Its spectrums create a unique ambiance in all over the country. Specially, fairs and festivals are ancient phenomena in Indian culture. In India, there are thousands of such religious, spiritual, cultural fairs organized on auspicious occasions. These fairs reflect the effective and efficient role of social governance and responsibility of Indian society. In this context a mega event known as ‘Kumbha Mela’ literally mean ‘Kumbha Fair’ which is organize after every twelve years at (Prayaag) Allahabad an ancient city of India, now is in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Kumbh Mela is one of the largest human congregations on the Earth. The Kumbha Mela that is held here is considered to be the largest and holiest city among the four cities where Kubha fair organize. According to the Hindu religious scripture a dip for possessing the holy confluence, known as Triveni Sangam, which is a meeting point of the three sacred rivers of India i.e., –Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati (mythical). During the Kumbha fair the River Ganges is believed to turn to nectar, bringing great blessing to everyone who bathes in it. Other activities include religious discussions, devotional singings and mass feedings pilgrims and poor. The venue for Kumbh Mela (fair) depends on the position Sun, Moon, and Jupiter which holds in that period in different zodiac signs. More than 120 Millions (12 Crore) people visited in the Kumbha Fair-2013 in Allahabad. A temporary tented city was set up for the pilgrims over an area of 2 hectares of the land along the river of Ganges. As many as 5 power substations, temporary police stations, hospitals, bus terminals, stalls were set up for providing various facilities to the visitors and thousands of volunteers participated for assistance of this event. All efforts made by fair administration to provide facility to visitors, such security and sanitation, medical care and frequent water and power supply. The efficient and timely arrangement at the Kumbha Mela attracted the attention of many government and institutions. The Harvard University of USA conducted research to find out how it was made possible. This paper will focuses on effective and efficient planning and preparation of Kumbha Fair which includes facilitation process, role of various coordinating agencies. risk management crisis management strategies Prevention, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery (PPRR Approach), emergency response plan (ERP), safety and security issues, various environmental aspects along with health hazards and hygiene crowd management, evacuation, monitoring, control and evaluation.

Keywords: event planning and facility arrangement, risk management, crowd management, India

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Authors: Sulmaz Mozaffari, Zahra Mozaffari, Saman Mozaffari

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Man has always tried to find the Ideal place for life and he has experienced a lot of problems. So many internal and external limits has been on his way. Today man is threatened by so many crisis because of his specific look to the world. Literature as a universal science has not ignored this problem either. Children's literature has tried to present the social, cultural, religious and economical problems in tales and novels. This research tries to analyse social and cultural problems related to 10th century children from social point of criticism.

Keywords: social criticism, crisis, children's literature, tale

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Authors: Malak Khaled Hosny

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The paper inspects Ibrahim Eissa, a famous Egyptian writer and TV persona, and his literary and film works. Having faced threats of persecution and assassination, Eissa is a controversial figure in Egyptian media, and his works always pose a trigger of outrage and conversation. His book The Preacher, his movie The Guest, and his TV show Faten Amal Harby all led to some controversy unfolding in Egyptian society, and all led to conversations erupting in Egyptian households and on social media platforms. Through a close reading of his written work and an analytic watch of his work on-screen, the paper delves into the details of the intentions behind and the repercussions of Ibrahim Eissa's work.

Keywords: censorship, film, literature, religion

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Authors: Lateef Hakim Zai Khyber, Syed Rashid Ali

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In the post 9/11 era, a new trend has developed of terrorist profiling on the basis of the ethnic, religious, political, psychological, social, and economic background of the terrorists to anticipate and assess the possible risk and to prevent and prosecute the suspected before they commit any violent act. The same profiling approach was adopted in different militant or terrorist de-radicalization and rehabilitation programs across the world in order to evaluate and identify the reasons and causes for joining terrorism in terms of push and pull factors. This paper attempts to explore and investigate the profiles of the detainees in the Sabaoon de-radicalization and Emancipation program, which aimed at de-radicalizing the former militants of Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) Pakistan in the Swat valley of Pakistan. This research attempted to use qualitative methods for collecting data, including a number of formal and informal open-ended interviews with the former staff members of Sabaoon to explore various aspects of the program, such as various approaches used at Sabaoon for terrorist profiling. It conducts a thorough examination of the profiles of the terrorist through their socioeconomic, ideological, emotional, intellectual, and psychological conditions and orientations, personal details, family issues, social preferences, etc. The study finds out that the majority of the terrorists belonged to the marginalized groups or lower class, including underprivileged tenants and poor laborers, of society having no access to land. They possess almost the same profiles, including low socioeconomic status, absence of a father or strict behavior of parents, large and combined families, lack of education, lack of religious understanding, etc. They also possess some common traits such as anxiety disorder, emotional instability, aggressive impulses and insecurity, depression, inferiority complex, lack of critical thinking and logical reasoning, authority-seeking behavior, and revenge-seeking behavior.

Keywords: terrorist profiling, Sabaoon, de-radicalization, rehabilitation, Swat, Pakistan, juvenile militants

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Authors: M. Takhtravanchi, C. Pathirage

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In the construction industry, project members are conveyor of project knowledge which is, often, not managed properly to be used in future projects. As construction projects are temporary and unique, project members are willing to be recruited once a project is completed. Therefore, poor management of knowledge across construction projects will lead to a considerable amount of knowledge loss; the ignoring of which would be detrimental to project performance. This issue is more prominent in projects undertaken through the traditional procurement system, as this system does not incentives project members for integration. Thus, disputes exist between the design and construction phases based on the poor management of knowledge between those two phases. This paper aims to highlight the challenges of the knowledge management that exists within the traditional procurement system. Expert interviews were conducted and challenges were identified and analysed by the Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) approach in order to summarise the relationships among them. Two identified key challenges are the Culture of an Organisation and Knowledge Management Policies. A knowledge of the challenges and their relationships will help project manager and stakeholders to have a better understanding of the importance of knowledge management.

Keywords: challenges, construction industry, knowledge management, traditional procurement system

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Authors: Sevcan Ozturk

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The overall aim of this paper is to present a Kierkegaardian approach to Iqbal’s use of literature as a form of communication. Despite belonging to different historical, cultural, and religious backgrounds, the philosophical approaches of Soren Kierkegaard, ‘the father of existentialism,' and Muhammad Iqbal ‘the spiritual father of Pakistan’ present certain parallels. Both Kierkegaard and Iqbal take human existence as the starting point for their reflections, emphasise the subject of becoming genuine religious personalities, and develop a notion of the self. While doing these they both adopt parallel methods, employ literary techniques and poetical forms, and use their literary works as a form of communication. The problem is that Iqbal does not provide a clear account of his method as Kierkegaard does in his works. As a result, Iqbal’s literary approach appears to be a collection of contradictions. This is mainly because despite he writes most of his works in the poetical form, he condemns all kinds of art including poetry. Moreover, while attacking on Islamic mysticism, he, at the same time, uses classical literary forms, and a number of traditional mystical, poetic symbols. This paper will argue that the contradictions found in Iqbal’s approach are actually a significant part of Iqbal’s way of communicating his reader. It is the contention of this paper that with the help of the parallels between the literary and philosophical theories of Kierkegaard and Iqbal, the application of Kierkegaard’s method to Iqbal’s use of poetry as a communicative act will make it possible to dispel the seeming ambiguities in Iqbal’s literary approach. The application of Kierkegaard’s theory to Iqbal’s literary method will include an analysis of the main principles of Kierkegaard’s own literary technique of ‘indirect communication,' which is a crucial term of his existentialist philosophy. Second, the clash between what Iqbal’s says about art and poetry and what he does will be highlighted in the light of Kierkegaardian theory of indirect communication. It will be argued that Iqbal’s literary technique can be considered as a form of ‘indirect communication,' and that reading his technique in this way helps on dispelling the contradictions in his approach. It is hoped that this paper will cultivate a dialogue between those who work in the fields of comparative philosophy Kierkegaard studies, existentialism, contemporary Islamic thought, Iqbal studies, and literary criticism.

Keywords: comparative philosophy, existentialism, indirect communication, intercultural philosophy, literary communication, Muhammad Iqbal, Soren Kierkegaard

Procedia PDF Downloads 335