scholarly journals In Praise of Sharing as a Strategy for Sustainable Housing

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline McIntosh ◽  
John Gray ◽  
Sasha Maher
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Theoretical Principle ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Equity Issues ◽  
Housing Design ◽  
Sustainable Housing ◽  
Planning And Design ◽  
Core Idea ◽  
Political Economic

A central theoretical principle of sustainability is the interdependence of economic, socio-cultural, environmental, and equity issues. The core idea is that sustainability is achieved only by balancing these elements. In practice, however, this balance is rarely evidenced in the design and production of housing, despite the mass of research into sustainable housing. This paper discusses some of the political, economic and socio-cultural issues at work in sustainable housing typologies. It illustrates how the notion of sustainability has come to be represented by ecologically-focused models, while other approaches to sustainable housing design, such as shared housing models, are barely mentioned in the literature. The paper argues that modernist imperatives, such as demands for speed and status undermine sustainable housing design and obscure its meaning. The authors suggest that in the planning and design of sustainable housing attention should be given to the sharing of resources and space as an added method of conservation, and conclude that current imbalances in research agendas and socio-cultural practices create a blind spot in the sustainable housing debate.

Biopolitics, Occupational Health and State Power: The Marginalization of Sick Workers in China

2014 ◽  
Vol 219 ◽  
pp. 808-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wing-Chung Ho
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
State Power ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Bare Life ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
Chinese Workers ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Contemporary Chinese

AbstractThis article endeavours to address the experience of Chinese workers with occupational disease as an instantiation of Agamben's notion ofhomo sacer– the ultimate biopolitical subject whose life is located outside the “normal” political, economic and cultural practices and, hence, is rendered largely silent and unintelligible in the public realm. It argues that the victimization of the occupationally sick worker has become almost a blind spot at the centre of governmentality insofar as the specific set of social regulations and power relations has created a “double ambivalence” among the victims who are constantly and disturbingly caught in between the public and private, the productive and unproductive, and the culturally normative and the culturally deviant. Such experiences of marginality contribute to the understanding of the biopolitical nature of contemporary Chinese state power, which adopts extensive “stability maintenance” (weiwen) measures to reduce resisters to a state of “bare life” susceptible to the rule of exception.

Ijtihad in Contemporary Shi`ism

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-52
Author(s):  
Hamid Mavani
Keyword(s):  
Legal Theory ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Ethical Framework ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Unit Of Analysis ◽  
Personal Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Political Economic

The adoption of the Mu`tazili school of “rationalist” theology and the institution of ijtihad enabled Shi`i legal theory to exhibit vibrancy and made it adaptable to changing contingencies and circumstances. But because Shi`i jurists did not face the challenge of governing a state, their juridical focus and orientation remained fixated on resolving issues confronting the laity or their followers (muqallid) at a personal level and did not provide an ethical framework for the ijtihad process. The establishment of a Shi`i state in Iran in 1979, which forced them to tackle social, political, economic, educational, and cultural issues, demanded a change in orientation – away from the individual and toward society as the unit of analysis vis-à-vis ijtihad. They marshaled various methods, legal devices, and strategies to address contemporary social issues in order to provide pragmatic guidance to the citizens that would be in conformity with the moral and ethical principles laid out in the revelatory sources. This paper examines the writings of Ayatullahs Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Muhammad Mahdi Shamsuddin, Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadlullah, and Ruhullah Musavi al-Khomeini and studies this phenomenon of change from individual-oriented ijtihad to society-oriented ijtihad.

Interorganizational Alliances

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly McNally Koney ◽  
Darlyne Bailey
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Styles ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Organizational Discourse ◽  
Relational Factors ◽  
Interorganizational Alliances ◽  
Discrimination And Oppression ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Continuum

Polarizing conversations and “othering” are becoming norms in individual and organizational discourse, while social, political, economic, and cultural issues—and solutions to manage them—are recognized as increasingly interconnected. Interorganizational alliances (IAs) are one means through which social workers can leverage collective resources toward just and common ground. As systems, policies, and contexts continue to drive the coalescing of organizations into IAs, social workers have an important role to play. All IAs fundamentally operate to address emergent issues. Understanding the ways organizations come together, the circumstances that drive them, and factors that contribute to their success is essential for maximizing results. IAs vary along a continuum, ranging from loosely connected to structurally unified, and can be broadly understood by the processes that underlie them. No position on the continuum is better (or worse) than another. Their evolution is dynamic, greatly shaped by relational factors such as leadership styles, organizational cultures, and the goals of those who will be affected. Regardless of whether organizational participants align for internal, operational gain or to better address issues raised within their environment, IAs must clearly identify all who are intended to benefit. In so doing, they must consciously analyze historic interactions, recognizing patterns of discrimination and oppression and establishing systems and narratives that center previously marginalized voices. Only in this way can IAs advance a just and equitable future. Given appropriate preparation through macro education, social workers are well situated for this work.

Commentary Cultural Brokerage in the Newborn Nursery

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-54
Author(s):  
Lynn Deitrick
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Northeastern State ◽  
Cultural Brokerage ◽  
The U.S

Cultural issues play an important part in our daily lives. Often, the cultural practices of immigrants differ from those of the U.S. community in which they now live. The cultural misunderstandings that can result occur in a variety of situations. This is the story of one such misunderstanding that happened a few years ago at a small suburban hospital nursery in a northeastern state.

scholarly journals The Role of social Identity in James Joyce`s Dubliners within the Light of Cultural Materialism

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-99
Author(s):  
Mojgan Gaeini ◽  
Fatemeh Sadat Basirizadeh ◽  
Mahnaz Soqandi MA
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
James Joyce ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Cultural Materialism ◽  
Material Life ◽  
Raymond Williams

Language, Social identity and Religion are three major concerns of cultural studies. Language in literary texts plays a major role in constructing meaning and reflecting the author`s intention. Likewise religion as a cultural politics is a dominant factor in shaping mind as well in affecting the framework of literary text. Religion is one of the emerging issues in the modern era and forms the backbone of most literary works. Religion as a theme is seen to influence the operation of those who believe in it. It forms the functional framework that predetermines ones actions and behavior. Furthermore, social identity decides on the status of the social class and their material life situation.  Social identity relates to how we identify ourselves in relation to others according to what we have in common. All these issues are interrelated since they all cooperate and construct a social and cultural materiality. James Joyce could be placed among the most dominant cultural authors whose concern is the material life, social class, social identity and cultural crisis. As an outstanding author, Joyce is well known for his typical depiction, musical decoration as well as his sticking to proper cultural and social materials and issues such as religious matters. His major short story collection, Dubliners, revolves around the lifestyle of the Irish middle-class in Dublin around the late 1800s and early 1900s. This collection is decorated with violated norms and ritualistic behavior that are part of social constructs. Addressing social, religious and cultural issues, cultural materialists believe that “literature can serve as an agent of change”, since a culture`s hegemony is unstable. Raymond Williams views culture as a “productive process” that is, part of the means of production, and cultural materialism often identifies what he called “residual”, “emergent” and “oppositional” cultural elements. Seemingly, James Joyce`s Dubliners pertains to the notion of language, social identity and religion as cultural practices within the framework of cultural materialism. This study aims to clarify how James Joyce`s Dubliners reflects the notions of language, social identity and religion as cultural practices and how they construct social and cultural products within the framework of cultural materialism to show how James Joyce criticizes Irish culture at the beginning of the Twentieth century.

scholarly journals The Role of Language and its Analysis in James Joyce`s Dubliners within the Light of Cultural Materialism

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-26
Author(s):  
Mojgan Gaeini ◽  
Mahnaz Soqandi ◽  
Fatemeh Sadat Basirizadeh
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
James Joyce ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Dominant Factor ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Cultural Materialism ◽  
Material Life ◽  
Raymond Williams

Language, Social identity and Religion are three major concerns of cultural studies. Language in literary texts plays a major role in constructing meaning and reflecting the author`s intention. Likewise religion as a cultural politics is a dominant factor in shaping mind as well in affecting the framework of literary text. Religion is one of the emerging issues in the modern era and forms the backbone of most literary works. Religion as a theme is seen to influence the operation of those who believe in it. It forms the functional framework that predetermines ones actions and behavior. Furthermore, social identity decides on the status of the social class and their material life situation.  Social identity relates to how we identify ourselves in relation to others according to what we have in common. All these issues are interrelated since they all cooperate and construct a social and cultural materiality. James Joyce could be placed among the most dominant cultural authors whose concern is the material life, social class, social identity and cultural crisis. As an outstanding author, Joyce is well known for his typical depiction, musical decoration as well as his sticking to proper cultural and social materials and issues such as religious matters. His major short story collection, Dubliners, revolves around the lifestyle of the Irish middle-class in Dublin around the late 1800s and early 1900s. This collection is decorated with violated norms and ritualistic behavior that are part of social constructs. Addressing social, religious and cultural issues, cultural materialists believe that “literature can serve as an agent of change”, since a culture`s hegemony is unstable. Raymond Williams views culture as a “productive process” that is, part of the means of production, and cultural materialism often identifies what he called “residual”, “emergent” and “oppositional” cultural elements. Seemingly, James Joyce`s Dubliners pertains to the notion of language, social identity and religion as cultural practices within the framework of cultural materialism. This study aims to clarify how James Joyce`s Dubliners reflects the notions of language, social identity and religion as cultural practices and how they construct social and cultural products within the framework of cultural materialism to show how James Joyce criticizes Irish culture at the beginning of the Twentieth century.

scholarly journals Factors of Ethnic Conflict in the Ethiopian Federation

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (29) ◽  
pp. e210804
Author(s):  
Takele Bekele Bayu
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Conflict ◽  
Resource Competition ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Data Interpretation ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Territorial Expansion ◽  
Key Informant ◽  
Key Informant Interview ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Survey Questionnaires

Since 1991 Ethiopia has made a change in thinking favoring federalism against the centralized hierarchical power to radically respond to the problem of diversity and better recognize and accommodate the country's ethnolinguistic and cultural diversity. Paradoxically, Ethiopia had experienced more ethnic-based conflict in its post-1991 existence than ever before. Among others, the Somali-Oromo conflict is the worst ethnic-based conflict in the country’s history. Though the two communities, have a long tradition of co-existence and strong socio-cultural integrations due to their shared Muslim-Cushitic identity, economic interdependence, and shared cultural practices; antagonistic relationships, and intermittent conflicts due to resource competition, territorial expansion, bad governance, and other factors have prevailed in the last three decades. It is the objective of this paper, therefore, to investigate and analyze factors of ethnic conflict along the shared border of the Somali and Oromia regional administrations, specifically Bable and Bobas districts, within the context of Ethiopian federalism. Methodologically, the study employed a comparative research approach and made use of key informant interview and survey questionnaires' techniques in gathering the relevant data, and in effect, both qualitative and quantitative data interpretation and analysis methods were utilized in the analysis section. The findings of this study demonstrate that the Somali-Oromo conflict is complex & dynamics and the result of the interplay of historical, institutional/structural/political, economic, socio-cultural, and environmental factors. Furthermore, the result of the study reveals that major drivers of ethnic conflict in both areas are similar.

Arab State Broadcasting Systems in Transition The Promise of the Public Service Broadcasting Model

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ayish
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
Arab State ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Political Reforms ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
Cultural Empowerment ◽  
Political Economic

AbstractIn an Arab region entangled in global political, economic, social, and technological transformations, it seems natural to see traditionally paternalistic state broadcasting systems going through transitions. It has been noted that in Arab countries where social and political reforms are highly visible, radio and television services have been most cognizant of the need to adapt to surrounding change. Yet, in the long run, if government broadcasters are perceived to evolve along a path most compatible with envisioned democratization trends, it is public service rather than commercial broadcasting that holds the promise for that democratic vision. State broadcasters share significant features with their public service counterparts when it comes to service universality, funding, social and cultural empowerment, and public interest orientations. It is true that state broad casters in Arab countries with a progressive democratic history have demonstrated a propensity to be more inclusive and pluralistic in addressing national political and cultural issues. But all in all, their institutional affiliation with the state has been highly inhibitive for the pursuit of independence in news and current affairs, documentaries, and religious and cultural content. To bring themselves into closer alignment with the PSB model, state broadcasters need to harness ongoing social and political reforms to address four central issues arising out of their relation ship with government: editorial independence, institutional autonomy, non-state broadcast competition, and program enhancement. The writer notes that those issues have been occasionally addressed in the contexts of new audio-visual laws, broadcast restructurings, state-commercial broadcasting co-existence, and professional and technological development. The writer concludes that only an institution of genuine democratic political, social, and economic reforms in the region would secure state broadcasters' transition into the PSB model.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document