Search results for: socio-economic and political context

Authors: Mamadou Diop, Florence Crick, Momadou Sow, Kate Elizabeth Gannon

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Understanding SME leaders’ responses to climate is essential to cope with ongoing changes in temperature and rainfall. This study analyzes the response of SME leaders to the adverse effects of climate change in semi-arid lands (SAL) in Senegal. Based on surveys administrated to 161 SME leaders, this research shows that 91% of economic units are affected by climatic conditions, although 70% do not have a plan to deal with climate risks. Economic actors have striven to take measures to adapt. However, their efforts are limited by various obstacles accentuated by a lack of support from public authorities. In doing so, substantial political, institutional and financial efforts at national and local levels are needed to promote an enabling environment for economic actors to adapt. This will focus on information and training about the threats and opportunities related to global warming, the creation of an adaptation support fund to support local initiatives and the improvement of the institutional, regulatory and political framework.

Keywords: small and medium-sized enterprises, climate change, adaptation, semi-arid lands

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Authors: Gang Liu, Can Wang, Runnan Zhang, Quan Wang, Huimin Song, Shaomin Ji

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Biba model can protect information integrity but might deny various non-malicious access requests of the subjects, thereby decreasing the availability in the system. Therefore, a mechanism that allows exceptional access control is needed. Break the Glass (BTG) strategies refer an efficient means for extending the access rights of users in exceptional cases. These strategies help to prevent a system from stagnation. An approach is presented in this work for integrating Break the Glass strategies into the Biba model. This research proposes a model, BTG-Biba, which provides both an original Biba model used in normal situations and a mechanism used in emergency situations. The proposed model is context aware, can implement a fine-grained type of access control and primarily solves cross-domain access problems. Finally, the flexibility and availability improvement with the use of the proposed model is illustrated.

Keywords: Biba model, break the glass, context, cross-domain, fine-grained

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Authors: Geraldine G. Granados Vazquez

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Every human being is exposed to the risk of dying; wherein some of them are more susceptible than others depending on the cause. Therefore, the cause could be the hazard to die that a group or individual has, making this irreversible damage the condition of vulnerability. Risk is a dynamic concept; which means that it depends on the environmental, social, economic and political conditions. Thus vulnerability may only be evaluated in terms of relative parameters. This research is focusing specifically on building a model that evaluate the risk or propensity of death in past urban societies in connection with the everyday life of individuals, considering that death can be a consequence of two coexisting issues: hazard and the deterioration of the resistance to destruction. One of the most important discussions in bioarchaeology refers to health and life conditions in ancient groups; the researchers are looking for more flexible models that evaluate these topics. In that way, this research proposes a theoretical-methodological model that assess the vulnerability of death in past urban groups. This model pretends to be useful to evaluate the risk of death, considering their sociohistorical context, and their intrinsic biological features. This theoretical and methodological model, propose four areas to assess vulnerability. The first three areas use statistical methods or quantitative analysis. While the last and fourth area, which corresponds to the embodiment, is based on qualitative analysis. The four areas and their techniques proposed are a) Demographic dynamics. From the distribution of age at the time of death, the analysis of mortality will be performed using life tables. From here, four aspects may be inferred: population structure, fertility, mortality-survival, and productivity-migration, b) Frailty. Selective mortality and heterogeneity in frailty can be assessed through the relationship between characteristics and the age at death. There are two indicators used in contemporary populations to evaluate stress: height and linear enamel hypoplasias. Height estimates may account for the individual’s nutrition and health history in specific groups; while enamel hypoplasias are an account of the individual’s first years of life, c) Inequality. Space reflects various sectors of society, also in ancient cities. In general terms, the spatial analysis uses measures of association to show the relationship between frail variables and space, d) Embodiment. The story of everyone leaves some evidence on the body, even in the bones. That led us to think about the dynamic individual's relations in terms of time and space; consequently, the micro analysis of persons will assess vulnerability from the everyday life, where the symbolic meaning also plays a major role. In sum, using some Mesoamerica examples, as study cases, this research demonstrates that not only the intrinsic characteristics related to the age and sex of individuals are conducive to vulnerability, but also the social and historical context that determines their state of frailty before death. An attenuating factor for past groups is that some basic aspects –such as the role they played in everyday life– escape our comprehension, and are still under discussion.

Keywords: bioarchaeology, frailty, Mesoamerica, vulnerability

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Authors: Ketevan Epadze

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The paper aims to examine conflicting historical narratives proposed by the Georgian and Abkhazian scholars on the territorial affiliation of Abkhazia in the 1950s, explain how these narratives were connected to the Soviet nationalities policy after WW II and demonstrate the dynamic of the narratives’ battle in the last years of the Soviet system, which was followed by military conflict in the post-Soviet era. Abkhazia –a breakaway region of Georgia- self-declared its independence in 1992. Historical dispute on the territorial rights of Abkhazia emerged long before the military conflict began and was connected to the theory of Abkhazian ethnogenesis written by the Georgian literary scholar Pavle Ingorokva. He argued that medieval Abkhazians were Georgians, while modern Abkhazians are newcomers in Abkhazia. After the de-Stalinization, Abkhazian historians developed historical narrative opposed to Ingorokva’s theory. In the 1980s, Georgian dissidents who strove for Georgia’s independence used Ingorokva’s thesis to oppose Abkhazians desire for self-determination and sovereignty. Abkhazian political actors in their turn employed opposite historical arguments to legitimate their rights over autonomy. Ingorokva’s theory is one of the principal issues, discussed during the Georgian-Abkhazian dialogue; it often confuses Georgians and gives the reasons to Abkhazians for complaining about the Georgian discrimination in the Soviet past. The study is based on the different kind of sources: archival materials of the 1950s (Communist Party Archive of Georgia, Soviet Journal ‘Mnatobi’), the book by Pavle Ingorokva ‘Giorgi Merchule’ (1947-1954) and Zurab Anchabadze’s responsive work to Ingorokva’s book – ‘From the medieval history of Abkhazia’ (1956-1959), political speeches of the Georgian and Abkhazian political actors in the 1980s, secondary sources on the Soviet nationalities policy from the 1950s to the 1990s.

Keywords: Soviet, history, ethnicity, nationalism, politics, post-Soviet, conflict

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Authors: Stefanie Siebenhütter

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Men and women use minority and majority languages differently and with varying confidence levels. This paper contrasts gendered differences in language use with socioeconomic status and age factors of minority language speakers in Southeast Asia. Language use and competence are conditioned by the variable of gender. Potential reasons for this variation by examining gendered language awareness and sociolinguistic attitudes will be given. Moreover, it is analyzed whether women in multilingual minority speakers’ society function as 'leaders of linguistic change', as represented in Labov’s sociolinguistic model. It is asked whether the societal role expectations in collectivistic cultures influence the model of linguistic change. The findings reveal speaking preferences and suggest predictions on the prospective language use, which is a stable situation of multilingualism. The study further exhibits differences between male and females identity-forming processes and shows why females are the leaders of (socio-) linguistic change.

Keywords: gender, identity construction, multilingual minorities, linguistic change, social networks

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Authors: Lee Myung-Won, Kwak Keun-Chang

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This paper is concerned with knowledge representation and extraction of fuzzy if-then rules using Interval Type-2 Context-based Fuzzy C-Means clustering (IT2-CFCM) with the aid of fuzzy granulation. This proposed clustering algorithm is based on information granulation in the form of IT2 based Fuzzy C-Means (IT2-FCM) clustering and estimates the cluster centers by preserving the homogeneity between the clustered patterns from the IT2 contexts produced in the output space. Furthermore, we can obtain the automatic knowledge representation in the design of Radial Basis Function Networks (RBFN), Linguistic Model (LM), and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Networks (ANFN) from the numerical input-output data pairs. We shall focus on a design of ANFN in this paper. The experimental results on an estimation problem of energy performance reveal that the proposed method showed a good knowledge representation and performance in comparison with the previous works.

Keywords: IT2-FCM, IT2-CFCM, context-based fuzzy clustering, adaptive neuro-fuzzy network, knowledge representation

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Authors: Chih-Wen Wu

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This study examines the antecedents of heritage tourism loyalty and its relation to destination image, consumer travel experience, and destination satisfaction in the tourism context. In this respect, a number of important questions concerning how destination image, consumer travel experience, and destination satisfaction impact destination loyalty are raised. This study attempts to identify three key antecedents of loyalty in the heritage context. The author empirically tests predicted relationships by using personal interview data from 475 foreign tourists. The conceptual model investigated the relevant relationships among the constructs by using confirmatory factor analysis(CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Findings from the research sample support the argument that destination image, consumer travel experience, destination satisfaction are the key determinants of destination loyalty. Destination image and consumer travel experience influence destination satisfaction. The author also discusses theoretical and managerial implications of research findings for marketing the heritage globally.

Keywords: heritage, destination loyalty, destination image, consumer travel experience, destination satisfaction, tourism

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Authors: Anupam Deka, Indira Bardoloi

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Gender discrimination has been considered as a major obstacle in granting equal opportunity for women in higher education as education plays a pivotal role in a country’s socioeconomic development. To examine the empowerment of women in the higher education field of Assam, a case study has been carried out. In the first stage, an overview of enrollment of students in different courses has been made by considering the whole state. In the second stage, a study has been conducted regarding the enrollment of students in various degree and postgraduate courses for the period 2000-2007 at Gauhati University (one of the four universities of Assam), and the relevant data has been collected. It has been found that though the enrollment of students in the degree levels has been constantly increasing, but the enrollment of girls are not proportionately increasing, especially in commerce and law. On the other hand, in the postgraduate level, these proportions are higher in almost all subjects (except some subjects like M. COM., L.L.M, M. C. A., Mathematics, etc.), indicating that compared to boys, a higher number of girls are being admitted in postgraduate courses.

Keywords: field study, enrollment of girls in degree and postgratudate levels, regression lines, chi square test, diagrams, statistical tables

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Authors: Thelma Mort

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This empirical, qualitative research uses interviews of four intermediate phase English language student teachers at one university in South Africa and is an exploration of student teacher learning on their teaching practicum in their penultimate year of the initial teacher education course. The country’s post-apartheid language in education policy provides a context to this study in that children move from mother tongue language of instruction in foundation phase to English as a language of instruction in Intermediate phase. There is another layer of context informing this study which is the school context; the student teachers’ reflections are from their teaching practicum in resource constrained schools, which make up more than 75% of schools in South Africa. The findings were that in these schools, deep biases existed to local languages, that language was being used as a proxy for social class, and that conditions necessary for language acquisition were absent. The student teachers’ attitudes were in contrast to those found in the schools, namely that they had various pragmatic approaches to overcoming obstacles and that they saw language as enabling interdisciplinary work. This study describes language issues, tensions created by policy in South African schools and also supplies a regional account of learning to teach in resource constrained schools in Cape Town, where such language tensions are more inflated. The central findings in this research illuminate attitudes to language and language education in these teaching practicum schools and the complexity of learning to be a language teacher in these contexts. This study is one of the few local empirical studies regarding language teaching in the classroom and language teacher education; as such it offers some background to the country’s poor performance in both international and national literacy assessments.

Keywords: language teaching, narrative, post apartheid, South Africa, student teacher

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Authors: Shierwin Agagen Cabunilas

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Countless Filipinos are reeling in dire economic inequality while many others are victims of human trafficking. Where there is extreme economic inequality, majority of the Filipinos are deprived of basic needs to have a good life, i.e., decent shelter, safe environment, food, quality education, social security, etc. The problem on human trafficking poses a scandal and threat in respect to human rights and dignity of a person on matters of sex, gender, ethnicity and race among others. The economic inequality and trafficking in persons are social pathologies that needed considerable amount of attention and visible solution both in the national and international level. However, the Philippine government seems falls short in terms of goals to lessen, if not altogether eradicate, the dire fate of many Filipinos. The lack of solidarity among Filipinos seems to further aggravate injustice and create hindrances to economic equity and protection of Filipinos from syndicated crimes, i.e., human trafficking. Indifference towards the welfare and well-being of the Filipino people trashes them into an unending cycle of marginalization and neglect. A transnational solidaristic action in response to these concerns is imperative. The subsequent sections will first discuss the notion of solidarity and the motivating factors for collective action. While solidarity has been previously thought of as stemming from and for one’s own community and people, it can be argued as a value that defies borders. Solidarity bridges peoples of diverse societies and cultures. Although there are limits to international interventions on another’s sovereignty, such as, internal political autonomy, transnational solidarity may not be an opposition to solidarity with people suffering injustices. Governments, nations and institutions can work together in securing justice. Solidarity thus is a positive political action that can best respond to issues of economic, class, racial and gender injustices. This is followed by a critical analysis of some data on Philippine economic inequality and human trafficking and link the place of transnational solidaristic arrangements. Here, the present work is interested on the normative aspect of the problem. It begins with the section on economic inequality and subsequently, human trafficking. It is argued that a transnational solidarity is vital in assisting the Philippine governing bodies and authorities to seriously execute innovative economic policies and developmental programs that are justice and egalitarian oriented. Transnational solidarity impacts a corrective measure in the economic practices, and activities of the Philippine government. Moreover, it is suggested that in order to mitigate Philippine economic inequality and human trafficking concerns it involves a (a) historical analysis of systems that brought about economic anomalies, (b) renewed and innovated economic policies, (c) mutual trust and relatively high transparency, and (d) grass-root and context-based approach. In conclusion, the findings are briefly sketched and integrated in an optimistic view that transnational solidarity is capable of influencing Philippine governing bodies towards socio-economic transformation and development of the lives of Filipinos.

Keywords: Philippines, Filipino, economic inequality, human trafficking, transnational solidarity

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Authors: Ahmadreza Hakiminejad, Changfeng Fu, Hamideh Mohammadzadeh Titkanlou

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For decades, sustainable development has been an imperative concern in the process of urban development of the world’s developed countries. Despite the fact that the concept of sustainability, primarily, emerged by virtue of warning over global environmental catastrophes, it subsequently led to the ongoing debates not only over environmental, but also economic and sociocultural issues involved. This study, particularly, discusses the constituents of social sustainability– as one of the three pillars of sustainable development– and its situation within an urban context. It tries to investigate the interrelationships between the elements of social sustainability and the quality of physical environment. The paper, firstly, depicts a theoretical overview of the notions of social sustainability and urban form. Secondly, it will discuss the interrelationship between the two. And lastly, it will investigate and analyse this interrelationship through the historical transformation of Iranian cities. The research aims to answer this very question that how the urban form within the context of the built environment can influence the social behaviors so as to achieve a more sustainable society. It is to examine how and why compact, high-density and mixed-use urban patterns are environmentally sound, efficient for transport, socially beneficial and economically viable. The methodology used in this paper is desk research. Thus, the documents from different urban related disciplines including urban planning, urban design, urban sociology and urban policy have been reviewed. The research has also applied a comparative approach to discuss and analyse the impacts of different urban forms on the elements of social sustainability within the context of modern and traditional Iranian cities. The paper concludes with an examination of possible future directions of Iranian cities with consideration to socio-cultural concepts and the challenges that will have to be overcome to make progress towards social sustainability.

Keywords: social sustainability, urban form, compact city, Iranian cities

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Authors: Mariam Dammak, Yosra Makni Fourati, Rania Mnejja

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This paper aims to highlight the conditions and the context of the birth and the implementation of the Chartered Certified Accountants in Tunisian universities. For this purpose, we present an historical overview of the establishment of institutions that started the courses of Chartered accounting, including the Institute of Higher Commercial Studies (IHEC) of Carthage, the Higher Institute of Management (ISG) of Tunis, the Faculty of Economics and Management (FSEG) of Sfax and later the Higher Institute of Accounting and Administration of Enterprises (ISCAE) of Tunis. Then, it would be relevant to examine the changes, carried out by the Tunisian government, of the regulations in force relating to this academic path, from its birth during the 1970s until nowadays. We conducted a documentary study (archival documents, official documents, etc.) accompanied by semi-structured interviews with key actors (accountants, academics, officials of the Ministry of Higher Education) who marked the history of the studies of Tunisian charted accounting. Addressing this research question in Tunisia may contribute to the literature in three ways. First, previous researches dealing with the history of charted accounting-education are scared. Second, this paper allows us to understand the circumstances and context of the birth and teaching of accounting in Tunisia. Eventually, it helps to position the accounting curriculum in relation to international requirements. In fact, the training of accountants is closely related to the practice of the profession, regulated by the Order of Chartered Accountants in Tunisia (OECT). This Order is a member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), since its creation in the 80s, has obligations to align with international requirements, particularly those relating to higher education, set up in 2005 and updated in 2015 (International Standard Education: IES).

Keywords: accounting history, chartered certified accountants, higher accounting education, Tunisian context

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Authors: Satabdi Das

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Background:The abortion debate has polarized women, pitting them against each other in the binary of pro-choice and pro-life. While the followers of pro-choice views the right to an abortion as inherent to a women's right to sovereignty, the latter believes that it is unethical to kill a unborn baby as it is in a way denying the foetus' right to life. So there are innumerable arguments and counter arguments without hyphenation and the dilemma remains that which one is more significant – the mother's right to terminate pregnancy or the foetus' right to life. This pro-life and pro-choice debate has an western root which is more about reproductive freedom. But the Western standard of looking at abortion debate is not fully relevant in the Indian context. The situation is entirely different here. Sex selective foeticide is a social ill in India which cannot be explained through the prism of abortion debate only. It must take into account the problems of forced female foeticide. Objectives: Against this backdrop the study sheds light on the following issues: -How the Reproductive debate has been evolved? -How it is relevant in the Indian Context where female foeticide is a harsh reality? -How one should address the dilemma between life and death in the context of pro life-pro choice debate? Methodology: The study employs historical analytical and descriptive analytical methods and uses primary documents like governmental documents and secondary sources like analytical articles in books, journals, and relevant websites. Findings: -Fertility control is not a modern day phenomenon. It has its roots throughout ancient, medieval and present epochs. However, there existed debates over the rights of the foetus and the question of ethics pertaining to the act of abortion. -Pre-natal sex determination for sex selective abortion is a common phenomenon in India because of the wish for male heirs. The cultural preferences for male child over female ones have resulted in the disappearance of girl children. -When does the life begin has not been recognized by any law. Considering Indian case, it can be said that the Pro life/ pro choice is not that relevant as it is in the US. Here the women are often denied the basic human rights. They are murdered at the womb in many places. Their right to lives are jeopardised in that way. In the liberal abortion regime of India, women's choice to end a pregnancy is limited among very few enlightened families. In many cases, it is the decision of the family to end a pregnancy for boy preference. For that pre natal sex determination plays a crucial role. Conclusion: In India, we can be pro life only when the right to life of the unborn can be secured irrespective of its sex. Similarly we belong to pro-choice group only when the choice to terminate a baby is entirely decided by the mother for her own reasons.

Keywords: female foeticide, India, prolife/pro choice, right to abortion

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Authors: A. U. Ugwu

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Post-Apartheid South African education system had witnessed waves of curriculum reforms. Accordingly, there have been evidences of responsiveness towards local and global challenges of sustainable development over the past decade. In other words, the curriculum shows sensitivity towards issues of Sustainable Development (SD). Moreover, the paradigm of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was introduced by the UNESCO in year 2015. The SDGs paradigm is essentially a vision towards actualizing sustainability in all aspects of the global society. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in retrospect entails teaching and learning to actualize the intended UNESCO 2030 SDGs. This paper explores how teaching and learning of ESD can be improved, by drawing from local context of the South African schooling system. Preservice natural sciences and technology teachers in their 2nd to 4th years of study at a university’s college of education in South Africa were contacted as participants of the study. Using qualitative case study research design, the study drew from the views and experiences of five (5) purposively selected participants from a broader study, aiming to closely understating how ESD is implemented pedagogically in teaching and learning. The inquiry employed questionnaires and a focus group discussion as qualitative data generation tools. A qualitative data analysis of generated data was carried out using content and thematic analysis, underpinned by interpretive paradigm. The result of analyzed data, suggests that ESD pedagogy at the location where this research was conducted is largely influenced by contextual factors. Furthermore, the result of the study shows that there is a critical need to employ/adopt local experiences or occurrences while teaching sustainable development. Certain pedagogical approaches such as the use of videos relative to local context should also be considered in order to achieve a more realistic application. The paper recommends that educational institutions through teaching and learning should implement ESD by drawing on local contexts and problems, thereby foregrounding constructivism, appreciating and fostering students' prior knowledge and lived experiences.

Keywords: context, education for sustainable development, natural sciences and technology preservice teachers, qualitative research, sustainable development goals

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Authors: Dirk Winkler, Leon Koevener, Lamees AlHayary

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This paper contributes to the improvement of the municipal wastewater systems in Jordan. An important goal is increased energy efficiency in wastewater treatment plants and therefore lower expenses due to reduced electricity consumption. The chosen way to achieve this goal is through the implementation of Technical Sustainable Management adapted to the Jordanian context. Three wastewater treatment plants in Jordan have been chosen as a case study for the investigation. These choices were supported by the fact that the three treatment plants are suitable for average performance and size. Beyond that, an energy assessment has been recently conducted in those facilities. The project succeeded in proving the following hypothesis: Energy efficiency in wastewater treatment plants can be improved by implementing principles of Technical Sustainable Management adapted to the Jordanian context. With this case study, a significant increase in energy efficiency can be achieved by optimization of operational performance, identifying and eliminating shortcomings and appropriate plant management. Implementing Technical Sustainable Management as a low-cost tool with a comparable little workload, provides several additional benefits supplementing increased energy efficiency, including compliance with all legal and technical requirements, process optimization, but also increased work safety and convenient working conditions. The research in the chosen field continues because there are indications for possible integration of the adapted tool into other regions and sectors. The concept of Technical Sustainable Management adapted to the Jordanian context could be extended to other wastewater treatment plants in all regions of Jordan but also into other sectors including water treatment, water distribution, wastewater network, desalination, or chemical industry.

Keywords: energy efficiency, quality management system, technical sustainable management, wastewater treatment

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Authors: Chia-Chi Cheng

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After the implementation of “the internet plus,” several puzzles emerge as below: why does China impose more regulation and laws on economic development on the Internet? Why does China urge the importance of manufacturing industry? Why does China’s local government passively implement the policy imposed by the central government? What kind of factors can influence China’s local government’s economic preference? In the framework of neo-institutionalism, this research considers China’s local government as changing agents to analyze its preferences and behavior. In general, the interests urged by the local government will decide its preference and behaviors. They will change its counterpart to cooperate if the change will bring more benefits. Thus, they will change its preference and behavior while the external environment alters. While the local government has the same definition on political activity and economic interest, they will prefer to cooperate with the local enterprises in the way of laying symbiont, within the presumption that the institution remains. While the local government has the different positions on political activity and economic interest, they will re-define the existed regulation or create new regulation in the condition of institution vacuum. Sequentially, they will replace the targets, and the policy, which does not fit in the Central government’s policy, will emerge.

Keywords: China, institutional change, government enterprise relationship, e-commercial policy

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Authors: Tania Mitra

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Digital Activism or Cyber Activism uses digital media as a means to disseminate information and mobilize masses towards a specific goal. When digital activism was first born in the early 1990s, it was primarily used by groups of organized political activists. However, with the advent of social media, online activism has filtered down to the individual- one who does not necessarily belong to or identify with an agenda, group, or political party. A large part of digital activism today stems from the individual’s notion of what is right and wrong. This gives rise to a discourse around descriptive ethics and the implications of the independent digital activist. Although digital activism has paved the way for and bolstered support for causes like the MeToo Movement and Black Lives Matter, the lack of a unified, organized body has led to counterintuitive progressions and suspicions regarding the movements. The paper introduces the ideas of 'clout' culture, click baits, and clicktivism (the phenomenon where activism is reduced to a blind following of the online trends), to discuss the impacts of exclusive digital activism. By using Jeremy Bentham's utilitarian approach to ethics, that places emphasis on the best possible outcome for a society, the paper will show how individual online activism reaching for a larger, more common end can sometimes lead to an undermining of that end, not only in the online space but also how it manifests in the real world.

Keywords: digital activism, ethics, independent digital activist, utilitarianism

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Authors: Saadet Taşyürek Demirel, Halide Sena Koçyiğit, Rümeysa Fatma Çetin

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Celebrity worship, characterized by excessive admiration and devotion towards public figures, often mirrors elements of religious fervor. This study delves into the intricate connection between celebrity worship and religiosity, particularly within the Turkish cultural context, where Islamic values predominantly shape societal norms. The investigation involves the adaptation of the Celebrity Attitude Scale into Turkish and scrutinizes the interplay between young individuals' religiosity and their extreme adulation of celebrities. Additionally, the study explores potential moderating factors, such as age and gender, that might influence this relationship. A cohort of 197 young adults, aged 19 to 30, participated in this research, responding to self-administered questionnaires that assessed their attitudes towards celebrities using the adapted Celebrity Attitude Scale, along with their self-reported religiosity. The anticipated relationship between religiosity and celebrity worship is hypothesized to exhibit a non-linear pattern. Specifically, we expect religiosity to positively predict celebrity worship tendencies among individuals with minimal to moderate religiosity levels. Conversely, a negative association between religiosity and celebrity worship is expected to manifest among participants exhibiting moderate to high levels of religiosity. The findings of this study will contribute to the comprehension of the intricate dynamics between celebrity worship and religiosity, offering insights specifically within the Turkish cultural context. By shedding light on this relationship, the study aims to enhance our understanding of the multifaceted influences that shape individuals' perceptions and behaviors towards both celebrities and religious inclinations. Methodology of the study: A quantitative research will be conducted, where the factor analysis and correlational method will be used. The factor structure of the scale will be determined with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The reliability, internal consistency, Objectives of the study: This study examines the relationship between religiosity and celebrity worship by young adults in the Turkish context. The other aim of the study is to assess the Turkish validity and reliability of the Celebrity Attitude Scale and contribute it to the literature. Main Contributions of the study: The study aims to introduce celebrity worship to Turkish literature, assess the Celebrity Attitude Scale's reliability in a Turkish sample, explore manifestations of celebrity worship, and examine its link to religiosity. This research addresses the lack of Turkish sources on celebrity worship and extends understanding of the concept.

Keywords: celebrity, worship, religiosity, god

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Authors: Hsing-Hua Stella Chang, Mong-Ching Lin, Cher-Min Fong

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Using surrogate boycotts as a coercive tactic to force the offending party into changing its approaches has been increasingly significant over the last several decades, and is expected to increase in the future. Research shows that surrogate boycotts are often triggered by controversial international events, and particular foreign countries serve as the offending party in the international marketplace. In other words, multinational corporations are likely to become surrogate boycott targets in overseas markets because of the animosity between their home and host countries. Focusing on the surrogate boycott triggered by a severe situation animosity, this research aims to examine how social media influencers (SMIs) serving as electronic key opinion leaders (EKOLs) in an international crisis facilitate and organize a boycott, and persuade consumers to participate in the boycott. This research suggests that SMIs could be a particularly important information source in a surrogate boycott sparked by a situation of animosity. This research suggests that under such a context, SMIs become a critical information source for individuals to enhance and update their understanding of the event because, unlike traditional media, social media serve as a platform for instant and 24-hour non-stop information access and dissemination. The Xinjiang cotton event was adopted as the research context, which was viewed as an ongoing inter-country conflict, reflecting a crisis, which provokes animosity against the West. Through online panel services, both studies recruited Mainland Chinese nationals to be respondents to the surveys. The findings show that: 1. Social media influencer message is positively related to a negative attitude toward the offending country. 2. Attitude toward the offending country is positively related to boycotting participation. To address the unexplored question – of the effect of social media influencer influence on consumer participation in boycotts, this research presents a finer-grained examination of boycott motivation, with a special focus on a situational animosity context. This research is split into two interrelated parts. In the first part, this research shows that attitudes toward the offending country can be socially constructed by the influence of social media influencers in a situational animosity context. The study results show that consumers perceive different strengths of social pressure related to various levels of influencer messages and thus exhibit different levels of attitude toward the offending country. In the second part, this research further investigates the effect of attitude toward the offending country on boycott participation. The study findings show that such attitude exacerbated the effect of social media influencer messages on boycott participation in a situation of animosity.

Keywords: animosity, social media marketing, boycott, attitude toward the offending country

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Authors: Sandra Figueiredo, Margarida Alves Martins, Carlos Silva, Cristina Simões

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This study integrates a larger research empirical project that examines second language (SL) learners’ profiles and valid procedures to perform complete and diagnostic assessment in schools. 102 learners of Portuguese as a SL aged 7 and 17 years speakers of distinct home languages were assessed in several linguistic tasks. In this article, we focused on writing performance in the specific task of narrative essay composition. The written outputs were measured using the score in six components adapted from an English SL assessment context (Alberta Education): linguistic vocabulary, grammar, syntax, strategy, socio-linguistic, and discourse. The writing processes and strategies in Portuguese language used by different immigrant students were analysed to determine features and diversity of deficits on authentic texts performed by SL writers. Differentiated performance was based on the diversity of the following variables: grades, previous schooling, home language, instruction in first language, and exposure to Portuguese as Second Language. Indo-Aryan languages speakers showed low writing scores compared to their peers and the type of language and respective cognitive mapping (such as Mandarin and Arabic) was the predictor, not linguistic distance. Home language instruction should also be prominently considered in further research to understand specificities of cognitive academic profile in a Romance languages learning context. Additionally, this study also examined the teachers representations that will be here addressed to understand educational implications of second language teaching in psychological distress of different minorities in schools of specific host countries.

Keywords: home language, immigrant students, Portuguese language, second language, writing assessment

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Authors: Anchana Sooksomchitra

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This study aims to explore and compare the current condition of community radio stations in Phutthamonthon district, Nakhon Pathom province, Thailand, as well as the challenges they are facing. Qualitative research tools including in-depth interviews, documentary analysis, focus group interviews, and observation are used to examine the content, programming, and management structure of three community radio stations currently in operation within the district. Research findings indicate that the management and operational approaches adopted by the two non-profit stations included in the study, Salaya Pattana and Voice of Dhamma, are more structured and effective than that of the for-profit Tune Radio. Salaya Pattana, backed by the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University, and the charity-funded Voice of Dhamma are comparatively free from political and commercial influence, and able to provide more relevant and consistent community-oriented content to meet the real demand of the audience. Tune Radio, on the other hand, has to rely solely on financial support from political factions and business groups, which heavily influence its content.

Keywords: radio broadcasting, programming, management, community radio, Thailand

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Authors: Simont Toussi

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Cameroon and the Central African Republic arebound by the provisions of many regional and international charters, which condemn the manipulation of information, obstacles to access reliable information, or the limitation of freedoms of expression and opinion. These two countries also have constitutional guarantees for free speech and access to true and liable information. However, they are yet to define specific policies and regulations for access to information, disinformation, or misinformation. Yet, certain countries’ laws and regulations related to information and communication technologies, to criminal procedures, to terrorism, or intelligence services contain provisions that rather hider human rights by condemning false information. Like many other African countries, Cameroon and the Central African Republic face a profound democratic regression, and governments use multiple methods to stifle online discourse and digital rights. Despite the increased uptake of digital tools for political participation, there is a lack of interactivity and adoption of these tools. This enables a scarcity of information and creates room for the spreading of disinformation in the public space, hamperingdemocracy and the respect for human rights. This research aims to analyse the adequacy of stakeholders’ responses to disinformation in Cameroon and the Central African Republic in periods of political contestation, such as elections and anti-government protests, to highlight the nature, perpetrators, strategies, and channels of disinformation, as well as its effects on democratic actors, including civil society, bloggers, government critics, activists, and other human rights defenders. The study follows a qualitative method with literature review, content analysis, andkey informant’sinterviews with stakeholders’ representatives, emphasized crowdsourcing as a data and information collecting method in the two countries.

Keywords: disinformation, democracy, political manipulation, social media, media, fake news, central Africa, cameroon, misinformation, free speech

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Authors: Yasemin Gülşen Yılmaz, Süleyman Hakan Yılmaz, Muhammet Erbay

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Social media is among the most important means of communication. Social media offers individuals and groups with an opportunity for participatory socialization over the internet, which is free of any time and place restrictions. Social media is a kind of interactive communication and bilateral social network. Various communication contents can be shared and put into mass circulation easily and quickly through social media. These sharings are not only limited to individuals but also happen to groups, institutions, and different constitutions. Their contents consist of any type of written message, audio and video files. We are living in the social media era now. It is not surprising that social media which has extensive communication facilities and massive prevalence is used in politics. Therefore, the use of social media (Facebook) by political parties during the Turkish general elections held on June 7, 2015, has been chosen as our research subject. Four parties namely, AKP, CHP, MHP and HDP who have the majority of votes in Turkey and participate in elections in Konya have been selected for our study. Their provincial centers’ and parliamentary candidates` use of social media (Facebook) on the last three days prior to the election have been examined and subjected to a qualitative analysis by means of content analysis.

Keywords: social media, June 7 general elections, politics, Facebook

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Authors: Laura Brennan, Ram Balakumar

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ChatGPT has been developed by Open AI (Nov 2022) as a powerful artificial intelligence (AI) language model which has been designed to produce human-like text from user written prompts. To gain the most from the system, user written prompts must give context specific information. This article aims to give guidance on how to optimise the ChatGPT system in the context of education for otolaryngology. Otolaryngology is a specialist field which sees little time dedicated to providing education to both medical students and doctors. Additionally, otolaryngology trainees have seen a reduction in learning opportunities since the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article we look at these various barriers to medical education in Otolaryngology training and suggest ways that ChatGPT can overcome them and assist in simulation-based training. Examples provide how this can be achieved using the Authors’ experience to further highlight the practicalities. What this article has found is that while ChatGPT cannot replace traditional mentorship and practical surgical experience, it can serve as an invaluable supplementary resource to simulation based medical education in Otolaryngology.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, otolaryngology, surgical training, medical education

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Authors: Victoria Wolf, Renata Dobrucka, Robert Prezkop, Stephan Haubold

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The COVID-19 causes a worldwide crisis and has an impact in every dimension of the economy. Organizations with the ability to adapt to new developments and which innovate solutions for the disrupted world during and after the Corona crises have the opportunity to not only survive the crisis but rather to use new trends to implement new business models and gain advantage. In this context, startups seem to have better opportunities to manage the Corona crisis through their innovation-based nature. The main result of this paper is the understanding that by applying a startup orientated innovation (SOCI) strategy, established companies can be motivated to meet the challenge of COVID-19 in a similar way like startups. This result can be achieved by describing the role of innovation and a SOCI strategy as helpful methods for organizations to meet the coming challenges during and after the COVID-19 epidemics. In addition to this, this paper presents a practical application of SOCI through the PANDA approach of the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Germany and discuss it in the context of COVID-19 as an exemplary successful real-world implementation of SOCI strategy.

Keywords: Covid-19, innovation, open innovation, startup, soci framework

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Authors: Teju N. Adisa-Farrar

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In European cities, social, political and cultural geographies of blackness exist. Organizations create spaces to discuss, express, and expose the realities of young people of African descent creating an Afropean lifestyle with transnational affiliations. Focusing on black and brown spaces produced by and for the young people of African descent in Vienna and Brussels, it became clear a multidisciplinary approach would be necessary. Using Cultural Studies frameworks along with Communications Theories on Black Public Spheres and Social-Geography, a basis was created for exploring the creative, political, and economic responses of young people who are apart of the historically (and contemporary) oppressed and excluded groups of the African Diaspora. Through this intrinsic study, it became apparent that spaces created and reclaimed by young people of the African Diaspora were more inclusive and democratic than other spaces. The organizations studied have used city life as the platform to express their struggles and celebrations of their multicultural identity; clearly using historical, global black and Pan-African movements as the basis for local adaptation of an African Diaspora identity.

Keywords: African diaspora, black public sphere, identity, spaces, geographies

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Authors: Fevy Kae Mateo, Kimberly Javier, Alyzza Marie Palles

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Leadership is a process of relationship involving interaction with other people. Leaders emphasise authority, which executes and implements regulations, maintains the rules and leads to a better future. The First Time voters are very significant because there are the stakeholders of the type of leader to be deployed. They also have the capacity of engaging the government and can be the agents of change. The objective of the study is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of leader. Moreover, the study identifies the qualities of a leader. Finally, the study determines first-time voter’s representation of a leader. Focus Group Discussion was carried out into two groups of first time voter’s ages 18 to 21 years old. Verbatim transcripts of the discussion were analyzed using Thematic Analysis. Overall results showed super ordinate themes for weaknesses of leader: Lace of transparency in the government, poor communication strategy, and valuing experience over potential and other contributory factor; for strength of a leader: analytical skill, emotional intelligence in political work, analytical ability and economic status on political participation; finally, in the representation of a leader: positive representation of a leader and negative representation of a leader.

Keywords: first time voters, focus group discussion, leadership, qualitative research design

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Authors: G. Obrentri, C. Whajah, E. Yeboah Acheampong

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Professional status for African male players guarantees them socioeconomic benefits that may not necessarily be the case for female footballers. The study’s rationale is to understand how female footballers achieve professional status abroad. That contributes to analyzing how female players from Africa especially, Ghana, manage their professional status to improve their family’s social welfare and the community. Relying on football migration and feminization, we identify their migration process and its relevance to their social mobility in society. Analysis through interviews with some female footballers revealed the importance of playing professional abroad that goes to increase their social status and national identity. Findings show that some female footballers with secondary education achieved career empowerment and social independence via their profession. Thus becoming medical doctors and nurses, sports administrators, football coaches and welfare officers for clubs. These achievements of the female footballers can provide useful information and lessons for young female African players aspiring to play professionally abroad.

Keywords: empowerment, female footballers, football migration, professional status, social independence

Procedia PDF Downloads 172

Authors: Lamia Bouzgarrou, Amira Omrane, Malika Azzouzi, Asma Kheder, Amira Saadallah, Ilhem Boussarsar, Kamel Rejeb

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Introduction: Increasing the women’s labor force participation is a political issue in countries with developed economies and those with low growth prospects. However, in the labor market, women continue to face several obstacles, either for the integration or for the maintenance at work. This study aims to assess the prevalence of premature withdrawal from working life -due to invalidity or medical justified early retirement- among active women in the Tunisian center and to identify its determinants. Material and methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study, over one year, focusing on the agreement for invalidity or early retirement for premature usury of the body- delivered by the medical commission of the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM) in the central Tunisian district. We exhaustively selected women's files. Data related to Socio-demographic characteristics, professional and medical ones, were collected from the CNAM's administrative and medical files. Results: During the period of one year, 222 women have had an agreement for premature departure of their professional activity. Indeed, 149 women (67.11%) benefit of from invalidity agreement and 20,27% of them from favorable decision for early retirement. The average age was 50 ± 6 years with extremes of 23 and 62 years, and 18.9% of women were under 45 years. Married women accounted for 69.4% and 59.9% of them had at least one dependent child in charge. The average professional seniority in the sector was 23 ± 8 years. The textile-clothing sector was the most affected, with 70.7% of premature departure. Medical reasons for withdrawal from working life were mainly related to neuro-degenerative diseases in 46.8% of cases, rheumatic ones in 35.6% of cases and cardiovascular diseases in 22.1% of them. Psychiatric and endocrine disorders motivated respectively 17.1% and 13.5% of these departures. The evaluation of the sequels induced by these pathologies concluded to an average permanent partial disability equal to 61.4 ± 17.3%. The analytical study concluded that the agreement of disability or early retirement was correlated with the insured ‘age (p = 10-3), the professional seniority (p = 0.003) and the permanent partial incapacity (PPI) rate assessed by the expert physician (p = 0.04). No other social or professional factors were correlated with this decision. Conclusion: Despite many advances in labour law and Tunisian legal text on employability, women still exposed to several social and professional inequalities (payment inequality, precarious work ...). Indeed, women are often pushed to accept working in adverse conditions, thus they are more vulnerable to develop premature wear on the body and being forced to premature departures from the world of work. These premature withdrawals from active life are not only harmful to the concerned women themselves, but also associated with considerable costs for the insurance organism and the society. In order to ensure maintenance at work for women, a political commitment is imperative in the implementation of global prevention strategies and the improvement of working conditions, particularly in our socio-cultural context.

Keywords: Active Women , Early Retirement , Invalidity , Maintenance at Work

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Authors: Helena Maragou

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Introducing Toni Morrison’s fiction to a classroom overseas entails a significant pedagogical investment, from monitoring students’ uncertain journey through Morrison’s shifty semantics to filling in the gaps of cultural knowledge and understanding for the students to be able to relate text to context. A rewarding process, as Morrison’s works present a tremendous opportunity for transnational dialogue, an opportunity that hinges upon Toni Morrison’s bringing to the fore the untold and unspeakable lives of racial ‘Others’, but also, crucially, upon her broader critique of Western ideological hegemony. This critique is a fundamental aspect of Toni Morrison’s politics and one that appeals to young readers of Toni Morrison in Greece at a time when the questioning of institutions and ideological traditions is precipitated by regional and global change. It is more or less self-evident that to help a class of international students get aboard a Morrison novel, an instructor should begin by providing them with cultural context. These days, students’ exposure to Hollywood representations of the African American past and present, as well as the use of documentaries, photography, music videos, etc., as supplementary class material, provide a starting point, a workable historical and cultural framework for textual comprehension. The true challenge, however, lies ahead: it is one thing for students to intellectually grasp the historical hardships and traumas of Morrison’s characters and to even engage in aesthetic appreciation of Morrison’s writing; quite another to relate to her works as articulations of experiences akin to their own. The great challenge, then, is in facilitating students’ discovery of the universal Morrison, the author who speaks across cultures while voicing the untold tales of her own people; this process of discovery entails, on a pedagogical level, that students be guided through the works’ historical context, to plunge into the intricacies of Morrison’s discourse, itself an elaborate linguistic booby trap, so as to be finally brought to reconsider their own historical experiences using the lens of Morrison’s fiction. The paper will be based on experience of teaching a Toni Morrison seminar to a class of Greek students at the American College of Greece and will draw from students’ exposure and responses to Toni Morrison’s “Nobel Prize Lecture,” as well as her novels Song of Solomon and Home.

Keywords: toni morrison, international classroom, pedagogy, African American literature

Procedia PDF Downloads 81