scholarly journals Face masks as layers of meaning in times of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
pp. 1354067X2095754
Author(s):  
Luca Tateo

The pandemic of COVID-19 has brought to the front a particular object: the face mask. I have explored the way people make-meaning of an object generally associated with the medical context that, under exceptional circumstances, can become a presence in everyday life. Understanding how people make meaning of their use is important. Using cultural psychology, I analyse preferences toward different types of face masks people would wear in public. The study involved 2 groups, 44 Norwegian university students and 60 international academics. In particular, I have focused on the role of the mask in regulating people affective experience. The mask evokes safety and fear, it mediates in the auto-dialogue between “I” and “Me” through the “Other”, and in the hetero-dialogue between “I” and the “Other” through “Me” The dialogue is characterized by a certain ambivalence, as expected. Meaning-making is indeed the way to deal with the ambivalence of human existence.

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 2130034
Author(s):  
Y. Geng ◽  
M. Katsanikas ◽  
M. Agaoglou ◽  
S. Wiggins

In this work, we continue the study of the bifurcations of the critical points in a symmetric Caldera potential energy surface. In particular, we study the influence of the depth of the potential on the trajectory behavior before and after the bifurcation of the critical points. We observe two different types of trajectory behavior: dynamical matching and the nonexistence of dynamical matching. Dynamical matching is a phenomenon that limits the way in which a trajectory can exit the Caldera based solely on how it enters the Caldera. Furthermore, we discuss two different types of symmetric Caldera potential energy surface and the transition from the one type to the other through the bifurcations of the critical points.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Piotr Fajdek

The inquiry concerns the role of philosophy in the modern sport. It brings the heritage of great philosophers closer and emphasizes their relationships with people practicing running. It describes the mental zone of participants in marathon races, their motives and feelings, about the sport. The purpose of this study, was to investigate Does sport and philosophy may have something in common? Two totally different branches at first sight, gives us a chance to have a closer look on themselves. A wider perspective on sport by philosopher, on one hand and on the other, – chance to deep search in the mental zone of the athlete. Surprisingly running and philosophy have a lot in common. Both of branches are recognized as difficult, but results achieved may be very satisfying. In both disciplines patience and commitment is needed, and success comes very slowly. Every man is a philosopher, cause every one of us believes in natural law. We all as a mankind can conclude which kind of life is the best for us. Therefore, many of people decided to consciously engage in physical activity. As a way to enrich their personality, the way to discover their own self. As a way to response to the stresses of everyday life. Below we can find short comparison of two worlds – one which covers human mind, and other human body.


Author(s):  
Dunja Apostolov-Dimitrijevic

This paper explains political democratization in Post-Milosevic Serbia, utilizing two different accounts of the democratization process: one rooted in the rational choice framework and the other in structuralism. While rational choice explains the decisive role of political leadership in overcoming path dependence, the structuralist explanations show the transnational linkages that encourage democratization in the face of domestic setbacks. This particular debate between the two types of explanations represents the larger debate concerning the role of internal factors and external linkages in propelling democratization in transitional societies. The paper concludes by integrating the two sets of explanations offered by each theoretical perspective, in order to develop a coherent understanding of Serbia's democratization.   Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v9i1.240


2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-269
Author(s):  
Camila Pérez ◽  
Giuseppina Marsico

Indigenous territorial claims are a long-standing concern in the history of Latin America. Land and nature have profound meaning in indigenous thinking, which is neither totally understood nor legitimized by the rest of society. This article is aimed at shedding light on this matter by examining the meanings at stake in the territorial claims of the Mapuche people. The Mapuche are an indigenous group in Chile, who are striving to recover their ancestral land. This analysis will be based on the concept of Umwelt, coined by von Uexküll to refer to the way in which species interpret their world in connection with the meaning-making process. Considering the applications of Umwelt to the human being, the significance assigned to land and nature by the Mapuche people emerges as a system of meaning that persists over time and promotes interdependence between people and the environment. On the other hand, the territorial claim of the Mapuche movement challenges the fragmentation between individuals and their space, echoing proposals from human geography that emphasize the role of people in the constitution of places.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-148
Author(s):  
Eva Eddy

Abstract The paper focuses on one’s perception of factuality in selected online news media. A group of university students of English were approached and presented with ten statements about Sweden and asked to evaluate their truthfulness. Half of the group (informed respondents) were then advised on the ways media use to infer a narrative onto the reader, potentially influencing the way they view events, while the other half (uninformed respondents) were not made aware of this fact. The respondents were then presented with a news report describing a specific event that took place in Sweden; however, half of each group were asked to read its tabloid description while the other halves were shown the event as reported by a broadsheet (both online). They were then asked to reevaluate the statements they were presented with before and decide whether their opinions changed based on the article they had just read. The results suggest that one is inclined to believe what they read, regardless whether the source seems reliable and whether they are aware of the fact media might manipulate their audiences.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 387-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherif A. Eissa

There are two principal reasons behind the lack of success in reaching a final peace agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, namely, the malfunctioning negotiations’ framework from one side and the complexity of the negotiated issues from the other. This article is mainly addressing the bilateral framework’s flaws when it comes to the Oslo accords and the way the two negotiating parties have perceived them. It is an attempt to overhaul the existing Oslo peace process and not to create a new one. Oslo process has become entrenched over more than twenty years of different practices and legal realities. The article is also introducing a negotiating framework that combines the benefits of a multilateral regional track to the Oslo process aiming to redress the latent structural flaws. It is intended not to tackle the final status issues, as there is a plethora of literature doing so. The extensive focus on those complicated issues without redressing the process’ structural flaws has led partially to the current stalemate. The role of any mediator or external partner is not to solve those issues on behalf of the principal parties, but to work on the negotiating framework and the process itself.


2002 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 431-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordi Fernández-Castro ◽  
Joaquim T. Limonero ◽  
Tatiana Rovira ◽  
Samanta Albaina

This work analyzed the effects of unrealistic optimism in the interaction between the emotional valence of future events, the perception of control over these events, and the person with whom one compares oneself. It was hypothesized that, if the person of comparison is judged as very competent, a pessimistic bias should be produced. Likelihood of four different types of events (positive and controllable, positive and uncontrollable, negative and controllable, and negative and uncontrollable) were rated by 133 university students (22 men and 111 women) for themselves, for an average student, for their best friend, and for a bright friend. A pessimistic bias was observed on the relative likelihood of the events when the comparison was made between oneself and a competent and bright friend, when events were perceived as controllable, especially positive ones. Not enough is known, however, to provide meaningful interpretation at present; that must await further data and theoretical development.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-122
Author(s):  
Nina A Tsyrkun

The article explores the balance of the two basic cultural constructs - individualism and collectivism - and the way it is represented in the American cinema of 2015-2016 as exemplified by a number of films set in the past, present and future. The author comes to the conclusion that in the face of a global peril the idea of individual moral responsibility inevitably leads to the role of collectivism as the essential survival condition.


2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lotte Philipsen

This article analyses how works of art that make use of or refer to digital technology can be approached, analysed, and understood aesthetically from two different perspectives. One perspective, which I shall term a ‘digital’ perspective, mainly focuses on poetics (or production) and technology when approach- ing the works, whereas the other, which I shall term a ‘post-digital’ perspective, focuses on aesthetic experience (or reception) when approaching the works. What I tentatively and for the purpose of practical analysis term the ‘digital’ and the ‘post-digital’ perspectives do not designate two different sets of concrete works of art or artistic practice and neither do they describe different periods.[1] Instead, the two perspectives co-exit as different discursive positions that are concretely ex- pressed in the way we talk about aesthetics in relation to art that makes use of and/or refers to digital technology. In short: When I choose here to talk about a digital and a post-digital perspective, I talk about two fundamentally different ways of ascribing aes- thetic meaning to (the same) concrete works of art. By drawing on the ideas of especially Immanuel Kant and Dominic McIver Lopes, it is the overall purposes of this article to ana- lyse and compare how the two perspectives understand the concept of aesthetics and to discuss some of the implications following from these understandings. As it turns out, one of the most significant implications is the role of the audience. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabi Reinmann

Bardone and Bauters suggest a re-conceptualization of design-based research using the classical term "phronesis" and question some methodological developments referring to the role of intervention and theory in design-based research. This discussion article is a comment on the text of Bardone and Bauters and pursues two aims: On the one hand the term “phronesis” is connected to the traditional concept of “pädagogischer Takt” (literally: “pedagogical tact”) to stimulate a joint discourse of both traditions. On the other hand, two main suggestions of Bardone und Bauters are critically examined, namely their proposal to conceptualize intervention in design-based research exclusively as an action, and their call for deriving generalizations via experiences instead of theories. The discussion article finally argues for maintaining the integrative power of design-based research by avoiding one-sided interpretations.  


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