The Dynamics of Cultural Change in Northeastern Poland: The Role of Ethnicity in Local Activism

Author(s):  
Janine Holc
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4898
Author(s):  
Andrzej Tucki ◽  
Korneliusz Pylak

Regional inequalities are a major concern for governments and policymakers. There is no doubt that tourism impacts the reduction of inequalities, but this impact is not entirely clear. We consider this ambiguity to be related to both the level of study and type of accommodation. In the present study, we examine the inequality level measured by the Gini coefficient in 108 municipalities of the peripheral region of northeastern Poland from 2009 to 2018. We employ a directional spillover index to measure the impact of two accommodation types on tax incomes per capita. The empirical results indicate that collective accommodation-based tourism only reduced inequality during the financial crisis, while individual accommodation-based tourism started to reduce inequality from 2014, when Russian sanctions hit local agriculture and businesses. These results indicate that the role of accommodation types is time-varying and evident in measuring economic distress during and after shocks.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lise Esther Herman

In light of the instability of several Central Eastern European democracies following their accession to the European Union, most dramatically embodied by the ‘constitutional revolution’ taking place in Hungary since April 2010, this paper offers a critical reading of the dominant, rational-institutionalist model of democratic consolidation. Drawing on the Hungarian case, it argues that the conditions set out by this model are insufficient for ensuring a democratic regime against erosion. On this basis, the paper considers additional elements to understand Fidesz’s reforms: the importance of deeper commitments to democracy among the leadership of mainstream parties, and the pivotal role of party strategies of citizen mobilization in the consolidation of young democracies. Drawing on these insights, the paper argues for approaching democratic consolidation as an agent-led process of cultural change, emphasizing the socializing role of mainstream parties’ strategies of mobilization in the emergence of a democratic political culture. The last section concludes with methodological and empirical considerations, outlining a three-fold agenda for future research.


Anthropos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Cristian Alvarado Leyton

This article discusses how resignifications of the human rights NGO Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo contributed to transformations of post-dictatorial culture. For decades hegemonic media and perpetrators engaged state terror’s reasoning to confront Abuelas’ call for “restitution” of the children who “disappeared” during the last dictatorship in Argentina. Drawing on both the junta’s self-appointed role of saviors and the benevolence of nurture, Catholic couples had thus rescued children from irresponsible “subversive” parents. In their struggle against state terror Abuelas’ metaphor apropiación resignified nurture as violence, pushing politico-cultural change towards a universal right to identity.


2021 ◽  
pp. 239496432110497
Author(s):  
Umberto Tinazzi

There is a gap of knowledge between practitioners about the off-site construction. For this reason, the Manni Group case study presented in this article highlights the positive role of dissemination as business value proposition support in the context of off-site construction industry. The Manni Group involved opinion leaders, professionals, universities and industrial partners in a network of dissemination that, going beyond the concept of advertising, it generated a multiple effect of value creation between the direct and indirect involved stakeholders. Dissemination emerges as a model of action that creates impacts on cultural change. It is scalable and applicable in many areas where actors have the right competences to manage the dissemination. Wherever there is a knowledge gap or friction towards new techniques and methodologies, the model is able to create value for companies and stakeholders involved in the emerging network.


Author(s):  
Christophe Sand

New Caledonia is the southern-most archipelago of Melanesia. Its unique geological diversity, as part of the old Gondwana plate, has led to specific pedological and floral environments that have, since first human settlement, influenced the ways Pacific Islanders have occupied and used the landscape. This essay presents some of the key periods of the nearly 3,000 years of pre-colonial human settlement. After having presented a short history of archaeological research in New Caledonia, the essay focuses first on the Lapita foundation, which raises questions of long-term contacts and cultural change. The second part details the unique specificities developed during the “Traditional Kanak Cultural Complex,” during the millennium predating first European contact, as well as highlighting the massive changes brought by the introduction of new diseases, in the decades before the colonial settlement era. This leads to questions about archaeological history and the role of archaeology in the present decolonizing context.


1971 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 337-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howard Moody

Howard Moody is pastor of Judson Memorial Church in New York City and a Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. In 1967, Moody brought together a small group of clergymen to help counsel women with “problem pregnancies.” Risking public censure and criminal prosecution, the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion referred thousands of women for safe abortions. In addition, Moody and others formed a coalition to support the passage of a bill to legalize abortion. The New York Legislature passed such a bill in April, 1970, which permits abortions by licensed physicians within the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. On July 1, 1970, the New York Clergy Consultation Service, which had served as a model for other organizations in other states, was disbanded and reconstituted as Clergy and Lay Advocates for Hospital Abortion Performance. The new organization is designed to deal with local restrictions on abortions and the growth of high-priced “abortion brokers.” This article is reprinted from the March 8, 1971 issue of Christianity and Crisis, Copyright © 1971 by Christianity and Crisis, Inc. The article is used with permission and is reprinted not only as a commentary on a controversial issue but as a case-study of the problems involved when clergy and churches take on the role of social and cultural change-agents. It's definitely not easy, but apparently it can be done. Dr. Moody wishes to acknowledge the assistance of his associate, Arlene Carmen.


Author(s):  
Natalie G. Adams ◽  
James H. Adams

This concluding chapter summarizes the lessons learned from studying the stories of school desegregation in Mississippi. In organizing the book with separate chapters on black parents, superintendents, principals, and teachers, this study hoped to capture the nuances of how school desegregation was accomplished, fought for, resisted, and doomed in differing ways in different parts of the state. The inclusion of the role of sports, band, the prom, cheerleading, and student government during the school desegregation process is a reminder that educational reformers cannot ignore the importance of the informal curriculum, the hidden curriculum, and the extracurricular of schools. Meanwhile, the chapters on protests and private schools illustrate two primary ways in which people responded to this monumental cultural change that threatened the status quo: they resisted in various ways through conventional methods of protest, and they formed a countermovement that sought to retain the tribalism to which they clung and around which their identities were built.


YouTube is more than cute pet videos and aspiring musicians. Fully understanding YouTube and how it influences, reproduces, and changes our culture begins with accepting the role of media technologies inside and outside of YouTube. The history of the Internet and its core technologies provides one foundational proposition in this book. Two other propositions, regarding YouTube's reliance on Internet-based technology and historically relevant communication theories, specifically Cultural Studies and Medium Theory, are discussed, as well. In consideration of important historical and theoretical perspectives, YouTube is transformed in our minds from a simple user-generated content repository to a cultural change agent. The tools and technology associated with the Internet, richly integrated and manifest in YouTube, allow us to change the world around us. Understanding the function and design of Internet-specific technology and how we experience social networking can contextualize current trends and influences in our daily online experience. Essential to our understanding and ultimately our power over the technology that we create (in this case, YouTube) is informed through understanding the technologies presented as part of our shared history. Finally, grasping the technological concepts and terminology reveals a deeper perspective on our cultural and participatory experience with the Internet and YouTube far beyond cute pet videos.


Author(s):  
Iselin Frydenlund

This chapter is about Myanmar’s rapid political and social change, after decades-long isolation under military rule. It raises questions about the role of religious actors in the democratization processes. In 2015, four laws to ‘protect race and religion’ were passed in Myanmar’s Parliament, during a critical time in Myanmar’s political transition to democracy, and in the same year as the country’s first free elections in 25 years. The laws seek to regulate marriages between Buddhist women and non-Buddhist men, to prevent forceful conversion through state control of conversion from one religion to another, to abolish polygamy, and to promote birth control and family planning in certain regions of the country. Drawing on empirical data from Myanmar, the chapter argues that the rise of Buddhist nationalism during Myanmar’s democratization process primarily needs to be understood as a form of cultural defence in times of transition, cultural change, and societal insecurity.


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