Search results for: kick start discourse
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 2103

Search results for: kick start discourse

1233 A Postmodern Framework for Quranic Hermeneutics

Authors: Christiane Paulus

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Post-Islamism assumes that the Quran should not be viewed in terms of what Lyotard identifies as a ‘meta-narrative'. However, its socio-ethical content can be viewed as critical of power discourse (Foucault). Practicing religion seems to be limited to rites and individual spirituality, taqwa. Alternatively, can we build on Muhammad Abduh's classic-modern reform and develop it through a postmodernist frame? This is the main question of this study. Through his general and vague remarks on the context of the Quran, Abduh was the first to refer to the historical and cultural distance of the text as an obstacle for interpretation. His application, however, corresponded to the modern absolute idea of authentic sharia. He was followed by Amin al-Khuli, who hermeneutically linked the content of the Quran to the theory of evolution. Fazlur Rahman and Nasr Hamid abu Zeid remain reluctant to go beyond the general level in terms of context. The hermeneutic circle, therefore, persists in challenging, how to get out to overcome one’s own assumptions. The insight into and the acceptance of the lasting ambivalence of understanding can be grasped as a postmodern approach; it is documented in Derrida's discovery of the shift in text meanings, difference, also in Lyotard's theory of différend. The resulting mixture of meanings (Wolfgang Welsch) can be read together with the classic ambiguity of the premodern interpreters of the Quran (Thomas Bauer). Confronting hermeneutic difficulties in general, Niklas Luhmann proves every description an attribution, tautology, i.e., remaining in the circle. ‘De-tautologization’ is possible, namely by analyzing the distinctions in the sense of objective, temporal and social information that every text contains. This could be expanded with the Kantian aesthetic dimension of reason (critique of pure judgment) corresponding to the iʽgaz of the Coran. Luhmann asks, ‘What distinction does the observer/author make?’ Quran as a speech from God to the first listeners could be seen as a discourse responding to the problems of everyday life of that time, which can be viewed as the general goal of the entire Qoran. Through reconstructing koranic Lifeworlds (Alfred Schütz) in detail, the social structure crystallizes the socio-economic differences, the enormous poverty. The koranic instruction to provide the basic needs for the neglected groups, which often intersect (old, poor, slaves, women, children), can be seen immediately in the text. First, the references to lifeworlds/social problems and discourses in longer koranic passages should be hypothesized. Subsequently, information from the classic commentaries could be extracted, the classical Tafseer, in particular, contains rich narrative material for reconstructing. By selecting and assigning suitable, specific context information, the meaning of the description becomes condensed (Clifford Geertz). In this manner, the text gets necessarily an alienation and is newly accessible. The socio-ethical implications can thus be grasped from the difference of the original problem and the revealed/improved order/procedure; this small step can be materialized as such, not as an absolute solution but as offering plausible patterns for today’s challenges as the Agenda 2030.

Keywords: postmodern hermeneutics, condensed description, sociological approach, small steps of reform

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1232 Heritage Making Process of Urban Movements: A Case Study on the Public Struggle for 100% Open Tempelhofer Feld

Authors: Dilsad Aladag

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From the closure of Tempelhofer Airport and the field in 2008 till 2014, the field's opening to public use was a subject of an urban movement that comprised demonstrations, protests, squats, workshops, panels, petition campaigns, and a referendum in 2014. As a result, Tempelhofer Feld is an open urban space for the use of Berliners today and protected by 'ThF law'. This analysis questioned how these urban movements' story is narrated and interpreted by two actor groups involved: citizen initiatives and city officials. Representation and communication take a vital part in transmitting and narrating meanings in heritage discourse and practice. Therefore, this research focused on particular websites as channels of representation and communication that these stakeholder groups maintained. The narrative analysis aims to examine meanings and stories portrayed with texts and images on the stakeholder's websites. This paper shares the essential findings of research and draws new questions regarding the urban heritage as both a source and a result of conflicts and stakeholders' role as producers of narrations of urban heritage.

Keywords: conflict, heritage, urban movement, representation

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1231 The Effects of Cross-Border Use of Drones in Nigerian National Security

Authors: H. P. Kerry

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Drone technology has become a significant discourse in a nation’s national security, while this technology could constitute a danger to national security on the one hand, on the other hand, it is used in developed and developing countries for border security, and in some cases, for protection of security agents and migrants. In the case of Nigeria, drones are used by the military to monitor and tighten security around the borders. However, terrorist groups have devised a means to utilize the technology to their advantage. Therefore, the potential danger in the widespread proliferation of this technology has become a myriad of risks. The research on the effects of cross-border use of drones in Nigerian national security looks at the negative and positive consequences of using drone technology. The study employs the use of interviews and relevant documents to obtain data while the study applied the Just War theory to justify the reason why countries use force; it further buttresses the points with what the realist theory thinks about the use of force. In conclusion, the paper recommends that the Nigerian government through the National Assembly should pass a bill for the establishment of a law that will guide the use of armed and unarmed drones in Nigeria enforced by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and the office of the National Security Adviser.

Keywords: armed drones, drones, cross-border, national security

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1230 Teacher Culture Inquiry of Classroom Observation at an Elementary School in Taiwan

Authors: Tsai-Hsiu Lin

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Three dimensions of teacher culture hinder educational improvement: individualism, conservatism and presentism. To promote the professional development of teachers, these three aspects in teacher culture should be eliminated. Classroom observation may be a useful method of eliminating individualism. The Ministry of Education in Taiwan has attempted to reduce the isolation of teachers to promote their professional growth. Because classroom observation discourse varies, teachers are generally unwilling to allow their teaching to be observed. However, classroom observations take place in the country in the form of school evaluations. The main purpose of this study was to explore the differences in teachers’ conservatism, individualism and presentism after classroom observations had been conducted at an elementary school in Taiwan. The research method was a qualitative case study involving interviews with the school principal, the director of academic affairs, and two classroom teachers. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) Educators in different positions viewed classroom observations differently; (2) The classroom teachers did not highly value classroom observation; (3) There was little change in the teachers’ conservatism, individualism and presentism after classroom observation.

Keywords: classroom observation, Lortie’s Trinity, teacher culture, teacher professional development

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1229 Long-Baseline Single-epoch RTK Positioning Method Based on BDS-3 and Galileo Penta-Frequency Ionosphere-Reduced Combinations

Authors: Liwei Liu, Shuguo Pan, Wang Gao

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In order to take full advantages of the BDS-3 penta-frequency signals in the long-baseline RTK positioning, a long-baseline RTK positioning method based on the BDS-3 penta-frequency ionospheric-reduced (IR) combinations is proposed. First, the low noise and weak ionospheric delay characteristics of the multi-frequency combined observations of BDS-3is analyzed. Second, the multi-frequency extra-wide-lane (EWL)/ wide-lane (WL) combinations with long-wavelengths are constructed. Third, the fixed IR EWL combinations are used to constrain the IR WL, then constrain narrow-lane (NL)ambiguityies and start multi-epoch filtering. There is no need to consider the influence of ionospheric parameters in the third step. Compared with the estimated ionospheric model, the proposed method reduces the number of parameters by half, so it is suitable for the use of multi-frequency and multi-system real-time RTK. The results using real data show that the stepwise fixed model of the IR EWL/WL/NL combinations can realize long-baseline instantaneous cimeter-level positioning.

Keywords: penta-frequency, ionospheric-reduced (IR), RTK positioning, long-baseline

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1228 Trapped Versus Stepping Stones: Work Trajectories of Young Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Authors: Goh Mingyuan Asher, Nurul Fadiah Johari, Neo Yu Wei, Kim Aryung, Ho Kong Chong, Irene Y. H. N. G.

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The COVID-19 pandemic represents an externally induced force as they face a combination of reduced work, dismissal, and job change for young precarious workers. The paper drew insights from two interview waves of the in-work poverty study in Singapore which were conducted a year apart. By analysing respondents’ job histories before and at the start of the pandemic as well as their job experiences over the two waves of interviews, the study found the presence of what scholars describe as trap and stepping stone trajectories. Trap trajectories refer to how the nature of precarious employment leads respondents to be in dead-end jobs with no room for progression while stepping stone trajectories refer to how poor work provides opportunities for the accumulation of work experiences. We also look at how structure, agency and biographical factors affect job trajectories and discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on work experiences and the implications of the bifurcation of trajectory outcomes on poverty and inequality among the young working poor in Singapore.

Keywords: working poor, precarity, young workers, COVID-19, work trajectories

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1227 Micro-sovereignty Dynamics: Property Management and Biopolitics

Authors: Sibo Lu, Zhongkai Qian, Haotian Zhang

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This article examines the phenomenon of micro-sovereignty in the context of property management and its implications for biopolitics and urban governance in mainland China. It explores the transformation of urban spaces into privatized communities managed by property companies, leading to the reterritorialization of urban areas and the segmentation of urban populations. Drawing on legal frameworks, we analyze how commercial real estate development and property management have reshaped the urban landscape, placing nearly all urban residents within service areas of property management firms, thus establishing micro-sovereign entities that exercise control over residential spaces. Through a critique of property management's sovereign effects on social organization and the exploration of autonomous, democratic alternatives in community governance, this article contributes to the broader discourse on sovereignty, governance, and resistance within the urban milieu of contemporary China. It underscores the urgent need for more democratic forms of community management that can transcend the capitalist logic of property management companies and foster genuine participatory governance at the grassroots level.

Keywords: biopolitic, critical theory, political sociology, political philosophy

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1226 Documenting the Undocumented: Performing Counter-Narratives on Citizenship

Authors: Luis Pascasio

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In a time when murky debates on US immigration policy are polarizing a nation steeped in partisan and nativist politics, certain media texts are proposing to challenge the dominant ways in which immigrant discourses are shaped in political debates. The paper will examine how two media texts perform counter-hegemonic discourses against institutionalized concepts on citizenship. The article looks at Documented (2014), a documentary film, written and directed by Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer-winning journalist-turned-activist and a self-proclaimed undocumented immigrant; and DefineAmerican.com, an online media platform that articulates the convergence of multiple voices and discourses about post-industrial and post-semiotic citizenship. As sites of meaning production, the two media texts perform counter-narratives that inspire new forms of mediated social activism and postcolonial identities. The paper argues that a closer introspection of the media texts reveals emotional, thematic and ideological claims to an interrogation of a diasporic discourse on redefining the rules of inclusion and exclusion within the postmodern dialogic of citizenship.

Keywords: counter-narratives, documentary filmmaking, postmodern citizenship, diaspora media

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1225 The Effect of Combustion Chamber Deposits (CCD) on Homogeneous Change Compression Ignition (HCCI)

Authors: Abdulmagid A. Khattabi, Ahmed A. Hablus, Osama Ab. M. Shafah

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The goal of this work is to understand how the thermal influence of combustion chamber deposits can be utilized to expand the operating range of HCCI combustion. In order to do this, two main objectives must first be met; tracking deposit formation trends in an HCCI engine and determining the sensitivity of HCCI combustion to CCD. This requires testing that demonstrates the differences in combustion between a clean engine and one with deposits coating the chamber. This will involve a long-term test that tracks the effects of CCD on combustion. The test will start with a clean engine. One baseline HCCI operating point is maintained for the duration of the test during which gradual combustion chamber deposit formation will occur. Combustion parameters, including heat release rates and emissions will be tracked for the duration and compared to the case of a clean engine. This work will begin by detailing the specifics of the test procedure and measurements taken throughout the test. Then a review of the effects of the gradual formation of deposits in the engine will be given.

Keywords: fuels, fuel atomization, pattern factor, alternate fuels combustion, efficiency gas turbine combustion, lean blow out, exhaust and liner wall temperature

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1224 Economics in Primary Schools – Positive Education and Well-being

Authors: Judit Nagy

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Many scientific studies claim that financial education should start as early as possible. Children are much more capable of and willing to absorb new concepts than adults. If we introduce children to financial knowledge early, their behaviour and attitudes to this subject will change, increasing later success in this area of life. However, poor financial decisions may entail severe consequences, not only to individuals but even to the wider society. Good financial decisions and economic attitudes may contribute to economic growth and well-being. Whilst in several countries, education about financial awareness and fundamentals is available, the understanding and acquisition of complex economic knowledge and the development of children’s independent problem-solving skills are still lacking. The results suggest that teaching economic and financial knowledge through accounting and making lectures interactive by using special tools of positive education is critical to stimulating children’s interest. Eighty percent of the students in the study liked the combined and interactive lecture. Introducing this kind of knowledge to individuals is a relevant objective, even at the societal level.

Keywords: positive psychology, education innovation, primary school, gender, economics, accounting, finance, personal finance, mathematics, economic growth, well-being, sustainability

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1223 Women’s Language and Gender Positioning in the Discourse of Indonesian Instagram Videos

Authors: Haira Rizka, Imas Istiani

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The way women and men use language is an interesting topic to discuss. Nowadays, Instagram shows many videos which illustrate the difference of women’s and men’s language. Furthermore, the videos show how different genders behave in daily communication. This research aims to (1) investigate conversational characteristics of women represented in Indonesian Instagram videos, and (2) investigate how different genders behave in daily communication. To analyze the two research problems, this research employs Tannen’s theory of language and gender (1996). This is a descriptive qualitative research which describes phenomena of language and gender shown in Indonesian Instagram videos. The data were collected through observation. The collected data were then analyzed by employing ethnography and textual analysis. The research results show that in Indonesian Instagram videos, women dominate the conversation than men. Women’s are portrayed as a figure who are talkative, never wrong, and sensitive. Women’s dominating men proves that women always want to be understood, produce more words than men, and are more creative in producing verbal communication. Meanwhile, men are portrayed as calm, gentle, and patient creature who listen to women’s talk. Furthermore, men are portrayed to prefer being silent for avoiding conflict.

Keywords: gender, Instagram videos, language variety, women's language

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1222 Beauty Representation and Body Politic of Women Writers in Magdalene

Authors: Putri Alya Ramadhani

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This research analysed how women writers represent their beauty in a platform called Magdalene. With the vision “Supporting diversity, empowering minds,” Magdalene is a new media that seeks to represent women's voices rarely heard in mainstream media. This research elaborates further on how women writers, through their writing, use their body politic to subvert patriarchal values. This research used a qualitative method with an explorative design by using text analysis based on the representation theory of Stuart Hall and in-dept-interview with Women Writers in Magdalene. The result illustrated that women writers represent their beauty in Magdalene to subvert body and beauty-representation in mainstream discourse. Furthermore, the authors have identified an identity negotiation as tension from inevitable oppression and power towards and from women’s bodies. In addition, Women Writers showed the power of their bodies through the redefinition of beauty practices and self. Hence, they subvert body dichotomy to redefine body values in society. In conclusion, this study shows various representations of beauty and body that are underrepresented in the mainstream media through the innovative new medium, Magdalena.

Keywords: women writers, beauty-representation, body politic, new media, identity negotiation

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1221 Coping Strategies for Stress Used by Adolescent Girls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Authors: Hafsa Raheel

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Objectives: Secondary school girls, ages 15–19 years old were surveyed to find out the coping strategies they used when stressed. Adolescents, who are affected with stress and depression early in life, suffer from depression throughout their lives, especially if they are utilizing improper ways to cope with it. Methods: A cross-sectional school-based survey among 1028 adolescent girls was conducted among the secondary schools in Riyadh city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Results: About 25% stated that they cry, 19% listen to music, 15% start eating a lot, 12% sit alone/isolate themselves, 11% pray/read the Quran, 10% get into a verbal argument or a fight. Only a few, 3% exercise, and 2% stated that they find someone to discuss and talk to. Conclusion: The majority of the adolescent girls in our survey rely on emotion-related coping mechanisms rather than problem-solving mechanisms. This can cause long-term implications in these adolescents as there is an increased probability to develop depression later on in life. Policy makers need to implement strategies for early identification of stress and depression. Talking to friends and family can serve as an effective way to cope with stress.

Keywords: adolescents, stress, Saudi Arabia, mental health

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1220 Identity and Access Management for Medical Cyber-Physical Systems: New Technology and Security Solutions

Authors: Abdulrahman Yarali, Machica McClain

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In the context of the increasing use of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) across critical infrastructure sectors, this paper addresses a crucial and emerging topic: the integration of Identity and Access Management (IAM) with Internet of Things (IoT) devices in Medical Cyber-Physical Systems (MCPS). It underscores the significance of robust IAM solutions in the expanding interconnection of IoT devices in healthcare settings, leveraging AI, ML, DL, Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), biometric authentication advancements, and blockchain technologies. The paper advocates for the potential benefits of transitioning from traditional, static IAM frameworks to dynamic, adaptive solutions that can effectively counter sophisticated cyber threats, ensure the integrity and reliability of CPS, and significantly bolster the overall security posture. The paper calls for strategic planning, collaboration, and continuous innovation to harness these benefits. By emphasizing the importance of securing CPS against evolving threats, this research contributes to the ongoing discourse on cybersecurity and advocates for a collaborative approach to foster innovation and enhance the resilience of critical infrastructure in the digital era.

Keywords: CPS, IAM, IoT, AI, ML, authentication, models, policies, healthcare

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1219 Nuclear Terrorism and Proliferation: A Conceptual Clarification

Authors: Uche A. Nnawulezi

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This paper analyzes the advancing nature of nuclear terrorism and proliferation in the global environment and its attendant impacts. It analyzes discourse and practice with respect to the general prohibition on the utilization of fissionable radioactive materials. Thus, there has been a few ideological, reasonable and academic recommendations of policies aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons which its ultimate nightmare has remained an assault including nuclear explosion in densely populated urban areas. Likewise, this paper concentrates on safety measures aimed at preventing nuclear assaults which should not just concentrate on endeavors to prevent terrorists from exploding nuclear gadgets but should be more concerned on endeavors aimed at preventing the acquisition of nuclear weapons in the first place. The author of this paper has pointed out that the non-proliferation treaty should be vigorously supported as well as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty brought into force. This paper depended unequivocally on secondary sources, for example, textbooks, journals, articles, and periodicals. It concludes that the fundamental proposals made in this paper if completely used shall remain a cornerstone of efforts made in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. At last, the only way is to eliminate stockpiles of nuclear weapons in the world or else the likelihood of nuclear terrorism remains a nightmare.

Keywords: nuclear, terrorism, proliferation, global environment

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1218 Perception of Violence through the Drawing: A Research with Mexican University Students

Authors: Yessica Martinez Soto, Cesar E. Jimenez Yanez, Margarita Barak Velasquez, Yaralin Aceves Villanueva

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The presence of violent behavior in society is growing rapidly, which causes people to live in an environment of constant tension due to fear of becoming victims of violent acts. It is up to social scientists to be able to carry out analyzes in this regard to identify the different ways in which violence is normalized among people. The interest of this research work focuses on investigating the perception of violence in Mexican University students through the technique of drawing. To carry out this research, we worked with 67 university students from the Autonomous University of Baja California in Mexico, who drew an image of how they understood the concept of violence. His works showed us a variety of emotions, actions, and elements that relate and link with violence. One of the methodological tools to recognize and establish the link between the knowledge of a concept between discourse and practice is through graphic representations, that is, drawings. Although the drawing gives us a personal interpretation of the reality of each artist, the repetition of elements and the representation of similar situations allowed us to identify the degrees of incidence of the different types of violence and the areas in which it manifests itself.

Keywords: college students, Mexico, social representations, violence

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1217 Where Is the Sultan of Aceh? Reconsidering the Return of the Aceh Sultanate

Authors: Muhammad Harya Ramdhoni, Nidzam Sulaiman, Muhammad Ridwan

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The Helsinki Agreement between the Indonesian Government (RI) and the Aceh Liberation Movement (GAM) on 15th Aug. 2005 fails to reconcile social and political turmoil in Aceh Darussalam (NAD). The political powers that were once unified in their struggle against Indonesian Government prior to this agreement have now become divided due to differences in political and economic interests. Using descriptive analysis and intellectual discourse, this paper proposes that the Aceh Sultanate be revived as an attempt to unite these divided political powers and to curtail potential conflicts in the area. This proposal is based on three assumptions. First, the Aceh Sultanate is the only Sultanate in Sumatera that did not fall victim to the social revolution post 1945 proclamation of independence. Second, the Acehnese still acknowledge the Sultanate as a sovereign political power even though it was defeated by the Dutch in 1904. Third, there are emotional, historical and cultural ties between the Acehnese and the Sultanate as they still perceived them to be their patron. Consequently, the Sultanate is the unifying element of all political powers in the area. This, however, is not an attempt to reinstate feudalism in Aceh. It only seeks to facilitate the political reconciliation process in Aceh Darussalam founded on sociological and historical background of locals.

Keywords: Sultanate Aceh, political reconciliation, political power, patron-client

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1216 Communicating Safety: Warnings, Appeals for Compliance and Visual Resources of Meaning

Authors: Sean McGovern

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Discourses, in Foucault's sense of the term, exist as alternate knowledges about some aspect of reality. Discourses act as cognitive frameworks for how social matters are understood and legitimated. Alternate social discourses can stand competing and in conflict or be effectively interwoven. Discourses of public safety, for instance, can alternately be formulated in terms of physical risk; as a matter of social responsibility; or in terms of penalties and litigation. This research study investigates discourses of safety used in public transportation and consumer products in the Japanese cultural context. Employing a social semiotic analytic approach, it examines how posters, consumer manuals and other forms of visual (written and pictorial) warnings have been designed to influence behavioral compliance. The presentation identifies specific ways in which Japanese cultural sensibilities and social needs inform cultural design principles that operate in the visual domain. It makes the case that societies are not uniform in the way that objects and actions are represented and that visual forms of meaning are culturally shaped in ways consistent with social understandings and values.

Keywords: communication design, culture, discourse, public safety

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1215 Logic and Arabic Grammar Debates at Medieval Ages: A Quest for Muslim Contributions to Philosophical Development

Authors: Umar Sheikh Tahir

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This paper focuses on the historiography of the relationship between Logic and Arabic grammar in the Muslim Medieval Ages (a period between 750 and 1100/ 150 and 500 Ah). This sensation appears in the famous debate among many others between grammarians represented by abū Sa'id al-Sairafī and logicians represented by abū Bishr Mattā on Logic and its validity. This incident took place in Baghdad around 932 AD. However, this study singlehandedly samples these debates as the base for the contributions of Islamic philosophers to philosophy of language as well as Epistemology. The question that shapes this research is: What is the intellectual development for Muslim thinkers to philosophy of language in regards to this debate? The current research addresses the Arabic grammar and logical debates by conducting historiography to emphasize on Islamic philosophers’ concerns about this issue. Consequently, this debate generates philosophical phenomena and resolutions in deep-thinking. In addition, these dialogues create a language impression for Philosophy in Islamic world from the period under study. Thereupon, Islamic philosophers’ discourse on this phenomenon serves as contribution to the Philosophy of Language.

Keywords: debates, epistemology, grammar and grammarians, Islamic philosophy, philosophy language, logic

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1214 Being Chinese Online: Discursive (Re)Production of Internet-Mediated Chinese National Identity

Authors: Zhiwei Wang

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Much emphasis has been placed on the political dimension of digitised Chinese national(ist) discourses and their embodied national identities, which neglects other important dimensions constitutive of their discursive nature. A further investigation into how Chinese national(ist) discourses are daily (re)shaped online by diverse socio-political actors (especially ordinary users) is crucial, which can contribute to not only deeper understandings of Chinese national sentiments on China’s Internet beyond the excessive focus on their passionate, political-charged facet but also richer insights into the socio-technical ecology of the contemporary Chinese digital (and physical) world. This research adopts an ethnographic methodology, by which ‘fieldsites’ are Sina Weibo and bilibili. The primary data collection method is virtual ethnographic observation on everyday national(ist) discussions on both platforms. If data obtained via observations do not suffice to answer research questions, in-depth online qualitative interviews with ‘key actors’ identified from those observations in discursively (re)producing Chinese national identity on each ‘fieldsite’ will be conducted, to complement data gathered through the first method. Critical discourse analysis is employed to analyse data. During the process of data coding, NVivo is utilised. From November 2021 to December 2022, 35 weeks’ digital ethnographic observations have been conducted, with 35 sets of fieldnotes obtained. The strategy adopted for the initial stage of observations was keyword searching, which means typing into the search box on Sina Weibo and bilibili any keywords related to China as a nation and then observing the search results. Throughout 35 weeks’ online ethnographic observations, six keywords have been employed on Sina Weibo and two keywords on bilibili. For 35 weeks’ observations, textual content created by ordinary users have been concentrated much upon. Based on the fieldnotes of the first week’s observations, multifarious national(ist) discourses on Sina Weibo and bilibili have been found, targeted both at national ‘Others’ and ‘Us’, both on the historical and real-world dimension, both aligning with and differing from or even conflicting with official discourses, both direct national(ist) expressions and articulations of sentiments in the name of presentation of national(ist) attachments but for other purposes. Second, Sina Weibo and bilibili users have agency in interpreting and deploying concrete national(ist) discourses despite the leading role played by the government and the two platforms in deciding on the basic framework of national expressions. Besides, there are also disputes and even quarrels between users in terms of explanations for concrete components of ‘nation-ness’ and (in)direct dissent to officially defined ‘mainstream’ discourses to some extent, though often expressed much more mundanely, discursively and playfully. Third, the (re)production process of national(ist) discourses on Sina Weibo and bilibili depends upon not only technical affordances and limitations of the two sites but also, to a larger degree, some established socio-political mechanisms and conventions in the offline China, e.g., the authorities’ acquiescence of citizens’ freedom in understanding and explaining concrete elements of national discourses while setting the basic framework of national narratives to the extent that citizens’ own national(ist) expressions do not reach political bottom lines and develop into mobilising power to shake social stability.

Keywords: national identity, national(ist) discourse(s), everyday nationhood/nationalism, Chinese nationalism, digital nationalism

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1213 The Right to State Lands: A Case Study of a Squatter Community in Egypt

Authors: Salwa Salman

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On February 2016, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi ordered the former Prime Minister, Ibrahim Mehleb, to establish a committee responsible for retrieving looted state lands or providing squatters with land titles according to their individual cases. The specificity of desert lands emerges from its unique position in both Islamic law and Egypt’s Civil Code. In Egypt, desert lands can be transferred to private ownership through peaceful occupation and cultivation. This study explores the (re-) conceptualization of land rights, state territoriality, and sovereignty as a part of an emerging narrative on informal land tenure. Through the lens of an informal settlement, the study employs methodological insights from studies in the anthropology of development and their interpretation of Foucauldian discourse analysis to examine official representations on squatting over state lands and put them in conversation with individual narratives on land ownership and dispossession. It also employs Bruno Latour’s actor-network theory to explore the development of social networks through primary land contracts and informal local resource management.

Keywords: State lands, squatter community, Islamic law, Egypt’s Civil Code

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1212 Assessment of the Efficacy of Oral Vaccination of Wild Canids and Stray Dogs against Rabies in Azerbaijan

Authors: E. N. Hasanov, K. Y. Yusifova, M. A. Ali

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Rabies is a zoonotic disease that causes acute encephalitis in domestic and wild carnivores. The goal of our investigation was to analyze the data on oral vaccination of wild canids and stray dogs in Azerbaijan. Before the start of the vaccination campaign conducted by the International Dialogue for Environmental Action (IDEA) Animal Care Center (IACC), all rabies cases in Azerbaijan for the period of 2017-2020 were analyzed. So, 30 regions for oral immunization with the Rabadrop vaccine were selected. In total, 95.9 thousand doses of baits were scattered in 30 regions, 970 (0.97%) remained intact. In addition, a campaign to sterilize and vaccinate stray dogs and cats undoubtedly had a positive impact on reducing the dynamics of rabies incidence. During the period 2017-2020, 2339 dogs and 2962 cats were sterilized and vaccinated under this program. It can be noted that the risk of rabies infection can be reduced through special preventive measures against disease reservoirs, which include oral immunization of wild and stray animals.

Keywords: rabies, vaccination, oral immunization, wild canids, stray dogs, baits, disease reservoirs

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1211 The Functions of Music in Animated Short Films: Analysing the Scores of the Skeleton Dance, Fox and the Whale and la Vieille Dame et les Pigeons

Authors: Shally Pais

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Film music holds a special relationship with the narrative systems and dramaturgical operations in animation. Though the roles of cartoon music closely resemble those fulfilled by traditional film scores, which have been extensively studied, there is a large knowledge gap regarding non-mainstream or non-Hollywood animation music. This paper is an investigation of the understudied compositional materials and narrative contexts in three distinct films by exploring the main narrative and dramaturgical effects of music in The Skeleton Dance, Fox and The Whale, and La Vieille Dame et les Pigeons. The study uses a Neoformalist approach towards qualitative analysis of the music in these films to document ways in which music can be made to function differently depending on the individual films’ contexts and the desired effects to be had on the audience. Consequently, the paper highlights these factors’ influence on the films’ narratives and aims to widen the discourse on composition for animation film scores, suggesting the further study of non-mainstream film music.

Keywords: animation film music, film score analysis, Fox and The Whale, La Vieille Dame et les Pigeons, Neoformalist analysis, The Skeleton Dance

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1210 A Foucauldian Analysis of Postcolonial Hybridity in a Kuwaiti Novel

Authors: Annette Louise Dupont

Abstract:

Background and Introduction: Broadly defined, hybridity is a condition of racial and cultural ‘cross-pollination’ which arises as a result of contact between colonized and colonizer. It remains a highly contested concept in postcolonial studies as it is implicitly underpinned by colonial notions of ‘racial purity.’ While some postcolonial scholars argue that individuals exercise significant agency in the construction of their hybrid subjectivities, others underscore associated experiences of exclusion, marginalization, and alienation. Kuwait and the Philippines are among the most disparate of contemporary postcolonial states. While oil resources transformed the former British Mandate of Kuwait into one of the world’s richest countries, enduring poverty in the former US colony of the Philippines drives a global diaspora which produces multiple Filipino hybridities. Although more Filipinos work in the Arabian Gulf than in any other region of the world, scholarly and literary accounts of their experiences of hybridization in this region are relatively scarce when compared to those set in North America, Australia, Asia, and Europe. Study Aims and Significance: This paper aims to address this existing lacuna by investigating hybridity and other postcolonial themes in a novel by a Kuwaiti author which vividly portrays the lives of immigrants and citizens in Kuwait and which gives a rare voice and insight into the struggles of an Arab-Filipino and European-Filipina. Specifically, this paper explores the relationships between colonial discourses of ‘black’ and ‘white’ and postcolonial discourses pertaining to ‘brown’ Filipinos and ‘brown’ Arabs, in order to assess their impacts on the protagonists’ hybrid subjectivities. Methodology: Foucault’s notions of discourse not only provide a conceptual basis for analyzing the colonial ideology of Orientalism, but his theories related to the social exclusion of the ‘mad’ also elucidate the mechanisms by which power can operate to marginalize, alienate and subjectify the Other, therefore a Foucauldian lens is applied to the analysis of postcolonial themes and hybrid subjectivities portrayed in the novel. Findings: The study finds that Kuwaiti and Filipino discursive practices mirror those of former white colonialists and colonized black laborers and that these discursive practices combine with a former British colonial system of foreign labor sponsorship to create a form of governmentality in Kuwait which is based on exclusion and control. The novel’s rich social description and the reflections of the key protagonist and narrator suggest that such fiction has a significant role to play in highlighting the historical and cultural specificities of experiences of postcolonial hybridity in under-researched geographic, economic, social, and political settings. Whereas hybridity can appear abstract in scholarly accounts, the significance of literary accounts in which the lived experiences of hybrid protagonists are anchored to specific historical periods, places and discourses, is that contextual particularities are neither obscured nor dehistoricized. Conclusions: The application of Foucauldian theorizations of discourse, disciplinary, and biopower to the analysis of this Kuwaiti literary text serves to extend an understanding of the effects of contextually-specific discourses on hybrid Filipino subjectivities, as well as a knowledge of prevailing social dynamics in a little-researched postcolonial Arabian Gulf state.

Keywords: Filipino, Foucault, hybridity, Kuwait

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1209 Modern Saigon Drag Queen Show: Voice of the Trans Vietnamese for Gender Equality

Authors: Ly Quyet Tien

Abstract:

Starting in the 1990s and growing in tandem with the LGBTQI movement in Vietnam, Modern Saigon Lottery Show is one of the most popular Vietnamese drag queen shows in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Transgender by nature, underprivileged by status, avoided by the family, and despised by society for decades, these queer artists came out of the closet and decided to change their own destiny by organizing lottery music shows. Unprofessionally in the start, they gradually appeared professionally on stage in big cities and won the heart of the larger public. Their success affirms themself, promotes their gender right, and assures their life in a proud way: honest, independent, and sustainable. This paper aims to give the readers a full portrait of Modern Saigon’s activities through musical bingo. It examines the background into which the drag queen show was born and developed: its styles, themes as well as own particularity. It also studies its identity, diversity in the entertainment industry, and its revolutionary role in the promotion of the welfare of Vietnamese transgender citizens and the local popular queer culture in Vietnam and Asia.

Keywords: transgender, lottery show, equality, culture

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1208 Mentoring in Translation: A Tool for Future Translators

Authors: Ana Sofia Saldanha

Abstract:

The globalization is changing the translation world day after day, year after year. The need to know more about new technologies, clients, companies and social networks is becoming more and more demanding and competitive. The recently graduated translators usually do not know where to go, what to do or even who to contact to start their careers in translation. It is well known that there are innumerous webinars, books, blogs, webpages and even Facebook pages indicating what to do, what not to do, rates, how your CV should look like, etc. but are these pieces of advice of real translators? Translators, who work daily with clients, who understand their demands, requests, questions? As far as today`s trends, the answer is NO. Most of these pieces of advice are just theoretical and far away from the real translation world. Therefore, mentoring is becoming a very important tool to help and guide new translators starting their career. An effective and well-oriented mentoring is a powerful way to orient these translators on how to create their CVs, where to send CVs, how to approach clients, how to answer emails and how to negotiate rates in an efficient way. Mentoring is crucial when properly delivered by professional and experienced translators, to help developing careers. The advice and orientation sessions are almost a 'weapon' to destroy the barriers created by opinions, by influences or even by universities. This new trend is the future path of new translators and is the future of the translation industry and professionals, however minds and spirits need to be opened and engaged in this new way of developing skills.

Keywords: mentoring, translation, translators, orientation, professional path

Procedia PDF Downloads 179
1207 Social Media Impact on Startup Entrepreneurial Intention: Evidence from Greece

Authors: Panagiotis I. Mallios, Vassilis S. Moustakis

Abstract:

The research reported herein presents a conceptual model that explores the relationship between social media factors and entrepreneurial intention, with a focus on the Greek startup ecosystem. The significance of the study is that social media have gained importance in explaining the entrepreneurial process, and through them, nascent and potential entrepreneurs seem to get inspired and motivated to initiate their businesses. The research methodology employed in this study included a qualitative research approach, utilizing in-depth interviews with a sample of 15 startup entrepreneurs providing valuable retrospective information. The data collected were analyzed using the content analysis method. The major findings of the study are that social media factors such as usefulness, influence, and credibility have a significant impact on entrepreneurial intention. We also found that social media can be a powerful tool for entrepreneurs to access resources, knowledge and networks that can help them in their venture creation. Overall, this research contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by uncovering the relationship between social media factors and entrepreneurial intention and has implications for entrepreneurial education, policymakers, and official partners, highlighting the potential of social media to enhance the startup ecosystem.

Keywords: entrepreneurial intention, social media, start up ecosystem, entrepreneurship

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1206 Words of Peace in the Speeches of the Egyptian President, Abdulfattah El-Sisi: A Corpus-Based Study

Authors: Mohamed S. Negm, Waleed S. Mandour

Abstract:

The present study aims primarily at investigating words of peace (lexemes of peace) in the formal speeches of the Egyptian president Abdulfattah El-Sisi in a two-year span of time, from 2018 to 2019. This paper attempts to shed light not only on the contextual use of the antonyms, war and peace, but also it underpins quantitative analysis through the current methods of corpus linguistics. As such, the researchers have deployed a corpus-based approach in collecting, encoding, and processing 30 presidential speeches over the stated period (23,411 words and 25,541 tokens in total). Further, semantic fields and collocational networkzs are identified and compared statistically. Results have shown a significant propensity of adopting peace, including its relevant collocation network, textually and therefore, ideationally, at the expense of war concept which in most cases surfaces euphemistically through the noun conflict. The president has not justified the action of war with an honorable cause or a valid reason. Such results, so far, have indicated a positive sociopolitical mindset the Egyptian president possesses and moreover, reveal national and international fair dealing on arising issues.

Keywords: CADS, collocation network, corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis

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1205 The Impact of Student-Led Entrepreneurship Education through Skill Acquisition in Federal Polytechnic, Bida, Niger State, Nigeria

Authors: Ibrahim Abubakar Mikugi

Abstract:

Nigerian graduates could only be self-employed and marketable if they acquire relevant skills and knowledge for successful establishment in various occupation and gainful employment. Research has shown that entrepreneurship education will be successful through developing individual entrepreneurial attitudes, raising awareness of career options by integrating and inculcating a positive attitude in the mind of students through skill acquisition. This paper examined the student- led entrepreneurship education through skill acquisition with specific emphasis on analysis of David Kolb experiential learning cycle. This Model allows individual to review their experience through reflection and converting ideas into action by doing. The methodology used was theoretical approach through journal, internet and Textbooks. Challenges to entrepreneurship education through skill acquisition were outlined. The paper concludes that entrepreneurship education is recognised by both policy makers and academics; entrepreneurship is more than mere encouraging business start-ups. Recommendations were given which include the need for authorities to have a clear vision towards entrepreneurship education and skill acquisition. Authorities should also emphasise a periodic and appropriate evaluation of entrepreneurship and to also integrate into schools academic curriculum to encourage practical learning by doing.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship education, active learning, Cefe methodology

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1204 The Eathquake Discourse as a Strategy of an Urban Renewal: A Case Study into the Karapınar Valley Regeneration Project in Eskişehir, Turkey

Authors: Cansu Civelek

Abstract:

The flexible and uneven character of neoliberalism has provided adaptation of urban strategies into the constantly changing circumstances in order to renew and reproduce the neoliberal accumulation model. Instrumentalization of catastrophic events to this end has been one of those global urban strategies. Regarding Turkey, exploitation of natural disasters has been the latest tactic of the Justice and Development Party (JDP) government to achieve radical economic goals. ‘Unhealthy’ and ‘risky’ structures of squatter settlements have often been articulated while the regenerations, expropriations, and exclusions have been sugarcoated through the discourses of ‘reintegrating the shanty zones into the cities’, ‘supplying healthy housing’, and ‘win-win’ character of the projects. Being the first regeneration project of Eskişehir, the Karapınar Regeneration Project has been initiated in 2011 by the partnership of the Odunpazarı Municipality of the JDP and the Mass Housing Organization. Discourses around the forthcoming disasters, ‘risky structures’ of the squatters, and the importance of the ‘security of life and property’ have been utilized, even though the zone is situated on a geotechnically stable area. Yet, many of the locals are worried about the payments while some have already decided to move elsewhere at the outskirts of the city.

Keywords: neoliberal urbanism, urban regeneration, illegal settlements, discourses

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