Creativity, spirituality and society: a study in preservation of Ikenga and Ọfọ sculptures in contemporary Igbo society

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Chukwudi Isiani ◽  
Ngozika Anthonia Obi-Ani ◽  
Chikelue Chris Akabuike ◽  
Stanley Jachike Onyemechalu ◽  
Sochima P. Okafor ◽  
...  

PurposeThe overall aim of this research is to interpret Ikenga and Ofo creativity as it is revered in Igbo societies. Igbo creativity, especially interpreted through material culture, suffers the threat of extinction resulting from the forces of modernity. Forces of modernisation, which appear in the personae of Christianity, education, urbanisation and industrialisation, denigrated indigenous creativity, brandishing them as devious, fetish and primitive. Ironically, in most cases, the drivers of such narratives keep these “fetish” items in their museums and will give a lot to preserve them.Design/methodology/approachThis study centred mostly on several communities in the Nsukka area of Igboland, Nigeria. It relied on both primary and secondary sources of historical enquiry. This qualitative research discussed the nuances of the subject matter as it relates to Igbo cosmos. These approaches involved visiting the study area and conducting personal interviews.FindingsArchaeologists do often rely on material culture to study, periodise and date past human societies. In this study, it is found that material culture, an expression of indigenous creativity, best interprets how society survived or related with their environment. This paper examined two Igbo sculpted artefacts – Ikenga and Ofo – while unearthing the intricacies in Igbo cosmology as regards creativity, spirituality and society.Originality/valueThe shapes, motifs, patterns and designs depict an imaginary history, the intellectualism of the past and even the present. This serves as an objective alternative to the twisted colonial narrative on Igbo material culture and consequently contribute to ongoing efforts to preserve, protect and promote cultural heritage resources in this part of the world.

Author(s):  
Silvia Gherardi

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the ten years of the journal through a personal reflection. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the articles published in the last ten years. Findings – I argue that what has distinguished QROM in these ten years are two distinctive features: reflexivity on practices of qualitative research, and openness to the application of qualitative methods to unusual research topics. Originality/value – The main limit of the paper resides in the subjectivity of the person who has read the articles. Other readers may have different opinions and may have chosen different criteria.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 15-31
Author(s):  
Joanna Wardzała

The young generation in terms of work, consumption and success  The subject matter of the young generation in the social context has been repeatedly examined and many studies have been prepared on this topic, for example the works of K. Wyka and earlier K. Manheim. Increasingly, the issue of the younger generation is discussed in the area of issues related to consumption and work. The article is of a theoretical and empirical nature; it is an attempt to portray the young generation in its two most important roles on the market — the consumer and the entrepreneur. It is an introductory element to the problems of consumer behaviors and entrepreneurial behaviors of the young generation. The publication draws attention to the expectations of the young generation about the applicable law and the economy. The first part of the article is characterized by sociological considerations and serves to determine the meaning of the young generation in consumer society, in particular, to outline the framework of youth, which in literature is sometimes defined not only by age categories. It is also an interdisciplinary review of theories, both those created in the past and those quite contemporary. In the second part, it refers to the results of qualitative research relating to the opinions and expectations of the young generation about consumption, work and success.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-39
Author(s):  
Dagmara Chylińska ◽  
Łukasz Musiaka

Museums are a constantly developing segment of cultural tourism. Poland is in line with current trends in museums, expanding its offer and adapting it to the requirements of the world of contemporary image culture and multisensory experiences, which is increasingly dominated by technology. The authors of the paper undertook to recognise the specificity of military museums, by conducting a survey of approximately a third of all such institutions in Poland. Due to the subject-matter of their exhibitions, military museums create a broad field of research both in terms of aesthetics and museum practice, as well as the issues of shaping and maintaining collective memory and the identity of the nation. They form a special mirror in which the country’s ideas and aspirations are reflected more often than any real characteristics. In reference to contemporary trends in museums, the article aims to place Polish military museums between locality and universality, education and entertainment, stability and dynamism, knowledge and experience. The results obtained allowed the authors to distinguish three groups of military museums in Poland, as well as indicate conditions conducive to the further development of such attractions in the country.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Ryan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reflexively reconsider the effects of the author’s pre-understandings, both academic and non-academic, on the subject matter and the research setting. The unforeseen implications of this disjuncture on our research practice and the expected deliverables are discussed.Design/methodology/approachThe paper engages in a critical, self-reflexive dialogue of a journey through a stimulating yet, uncomfortable piece of feminist, organizational ethnographic research drawing on the insights from the author's research diary.FindingsThe account presented in this paper describes the problematic nature of undertaking a collaborative, reciprocal research project in the distinctive and foreign cultural landscape of the military. The author shows the importance of delving into matters of positionality and preparedness for what might emerge, as a form of closure.Practical implicationsThe paper provides insights into the importance of sponsors to access “the field” and our obligation as researchers to produce written deliverables.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the emerging literature on the significance of reflexivity in feminist inspired organizational ethnographies in highly gendered settings such as the military.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-413
Author(s):  
Clive Roland Boddy

Purpose Academic qualitative researchers have been criticized for rejecting the idea that their research can establish causality while market and social researchers, with their realist and pragmatic approach to research, take for granted that it can. This paper aims to explore the ability of qualitative research to determine cause and effect in terms of market and social phenomena. Design/methodology/approach The literature on causality in qualitative research is reviewed and discussed. The discussion is further informed by the author’s own experience of undertaking commercial and academic market and social qualitative research over the past 33 years. Findings In qualitative market and social research, the determination of causality is often needed but rarely discussed. This paper explores this occurrence and brings to the fore, via discussion and the use of example, the ways in which causality can be determined by qualitative research. Practical implications A determination of what events bring about predictable changes in social and market environments can be established via qualitative research particularly at a probabilistic level of causality. This implies that policymakers should give a greater emphasis to qualitative findings than then sometimes do at the moment. Originality/value Causality in market and social research is rarely discussed by practitioners but is nevertheless a premise of much of the qualitative research that is undertaken. This paper is therefore distinctive in that it examines whether this premise is justifiable.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Martinez-Gil ◽  
Bernhard Freudenthaler ◽  
Thomas Natschläger

Purpose The purpose of this study is to automatically provide suggestions for predicting the likely status of a mechanical component is a key challenge in a wide variety of industrial domains. Design/methodology/approach Existing solutions based on ontological models have proven to be appropriate for fault diagnosis, but they fail when suggesting activities leading to a successful prognosis of mechanical components. The major reason is that fault prognosis is an activity that, unlike fault diagnosis, involves a lot of uncertainty and it is not always possible to envision a model for predicting possible faults. Findings This work proposes a solution based on massive text mining for automatically suggesting prognosis activities concerning mechanical components. Originality/value The great advantage of text mining is that makes possible to automatically analyze vast amounts of unstructured information to find corrective strategies that have been successfully exploited, and formally or informally documented, in the past in any part of the world.


Author(s):  
Albert J. Mills

Purpose – A focus on the socio-politics of qualitative research and, given the space available, to raise more questions than answers. In other words, the author wants to be more speculative then definitive. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is grounded in a sociology of knowledge approach known as ANTi-History. Findings – The development of qualitative methods is grounded in the socio-politics of knowledge production. Research limitations/implications – The focus chosen – ANTi-History – is selected in exclusion to other potential approaches. Practical implications – To encourage researchers to include socio-politics in understanding the production of qualitative research methods. Social implications – Identification of the socio-politics that underlie qualitative approaches. Originality/value – The paper is rooted in a developing approach to the socio-politics of knowledge of the past.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-29
Author(s):  
Ian Ritchie ◽  
Kathryn Henne

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the institutional mechanisms for combating doping in high-level sport, including the trend toward using legalistic frameworks, and how they contribute to notions of deviance. Design/methodology/approach A historical approach informed by recent criminological adaptations of genealogy was utilized, using primary and secondary sources. Findings Three time periods involving distinct frameworks for combating doping were identified, each with their own advantages and limitations: pre-1967, post-1967 up until the creation of the World Anti-Doping Agency in 1999, and post-1999. Originality/value This study contextualizes the recent legalistic turn toward combating doping in sport, bringing greater understanding to the limitations of present anti-doping practices.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 70-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike McGrath

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the changes that have taken place in Interlending & Document Supply over the past 12 years. Design/methodology/approach – Research of the past 48 literature reviews published in Interlending & Document Supply. Findings – Over the past 12 years, Interlending & Document Supply has declined dramatically in much of the world, although less so in the US. It is likely to increase in the developing world but not as much as to compensate for the decline elsewhere. Originality/value – This is the only study that has been made of the changes in document supply in this century.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajith Narayanan ◽  
Jyoti Ranjan Das

Purpose Purpose branding is a concept that has gained momentum in recent years. It is a marketing innovation that has the potential to change why and how companies work. Still, academic research on purpose branding is scarce. This paper aims to increase awareness about purpose branding and showcase how it can be implemented successfully through account of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). Design/methodology/approach The study is based on qualitative research and case analysis of HUL by examining its published reports, its parent company’s trade publications, press articles and relevant studies in indexed journals. Findings Purpose branding is a marketing innovation that delivers increased value to all stakeholders. The account of HUL reveals that purpose branding reaps economic rewards for the organization. Practical implications A study by Havas Media group involving 300,000 customers across 33 countries found that the customers would not care if 74% of brands in the world disappeared. In such a context, purpose branding provides a way to make the brand meaningful and play a worthy role in consumers’ lives. HUL’s brands that used this approach grew by 69% and accounted for 75% of its overall growth, showing how other organizations can imbibe it into their brands. Originality/value Despite many trade publications on this trending topic, there is limited academic research on purpose branding. This paper focuses on understanding this concept and demonstrates its successful use by an organization.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document