scholarly journals Psychedelics as Tools for Belief Transmission. Set, Setting, Suggestibility, and Persuasion in the Ritual Use of Hallucinogens

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Dupuis
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Social Affiliation ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
Verification Process

The use of psychedelics in the collective rituals of numerous indigenous groups suggests that these substances are powerful catalysts of social affiliation, enculturation, and belief transmission. This feature has recently been highlighted as part of the renewed interest in psychedelics in Euro-American societies, and seen as a previously underestimated vector of their therapeutic properties. The property of psychedelics to increase feelings of collective belonging and transmission of specific cultural values or beliefs raise, however, complex ethical questions in the context of the globalization of these substances. In the past decades, this property has been perceived as problematic by anticult movements and public authorities of some European countries, claiming that these substances could be used for “mental manipulation.” Despite the fact that this notion has been widely criticized by the scientific community, alternative perspectives on how psychedelic experience supports enculturation and social affiliation have been yet little explored. Beyond the political issues that underlie it, the re-emergence of the concept of “psychedelic brainwashing” can then be read as the consequence of the fact that the dynamic through which psychedelic experience supports persuasion is still poorly understood. Beyond the unscientific and politically controversed notion of brainwashing, how to think the role of psychedelics in the dynamics of transmission of belief and its ethical stakes? Drawing on data collected in a shamanic center in the Peruvian Amazon, this article addresses this question through an ethnographic case-study. Proposing the state of hypersuggestibility induced by psychedelics as the main factor making the substances powerful tools for belief transmission, I show that it is also paradoxically in its capacity to produce doubt, ambivalence, and reflexivity that psychedelics support enculturation. I argue that, far from the brainwashing model, this dynamic is giving a central place to the agency of the recipient, showing that it is ultimately on the recipient’s efforts to test the object of belief through an experiential verification process that the dynamic of psychedelic enculturation relies on. Finally, I explore the permanence and the conditions of sustainability of the social affiliation emerging from these practices and outline the ethical stakes of these observations.

Endangered Butterflies and their Non-Native Host Plants: Examining Shifting Values of Belonging in Restoration

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Robert M. Anderson ◽  
Amy M. Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Restoration ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Puget Sound ◽  
A Value ◽  
The Social ◽  
Remote Island ◽  
Scientific Truth ◽  
Native Host

The island marble butterfly (Euchloe ausonides insulanus), thought to be extinct throughout the 20th century until re-discovered on a single remote island in Puget Sound in 1998, has become the focus of a concerted protection effort to prevent its extinction. However, efforts to “restore” island marble habitat conflict with efforts to “restore” the prairie ecosystem where it lives, because of the butterfly’s use of a non-native “weedy” host plant. Through a case study of the island marble project, we examine the practice of ecological restoration as the enactment of particular norms that define which species are understood to belong in the place being restored. We contextualize this case study within ongoing debates over the value of “native” species, indicative of deep-seated uncertainties and anxieties about the role of human intervention to alter or manage landscapes and ecosystems, in the time commonly described as the “Anthropocene.” We interpret the question of “what plants and animals belong in a particular place?” as not a question of scientific truth, but a value-laden construct of environmental management in practice, and we argue for deeper reflexivity on the part of environmental scientists and managers about the social values that inform ecological restoration.

THE ROLE OF LOCAL SOCIAL INSTITUTION IN COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT IN BANDUNG REGENCY, INDONESIA

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helly Ocktilia
Keyword(s):  
Leadership Style ◽  
Social Institution ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Supportive Leadership ◽  
Community Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Descriptive Method

This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the existence of the local social organization in conducting community empowerment. The experiment was conducted at Community Empowerment Institution (In Indonesia it is referred to as Lembaga Pemberdayaan Masyarakat/LPM). LPM Cibeunying as one of the local social institution in Bandung regency. Aspects reviewed in the study include the style of leadership, processes, and stages of community empowerment, as well as the LPM network. The research method used is a case study with the descriptive method and qualitative approach. Data collection was conducted against five informants consisting of the Chairman and LPM’s Board members, village officials, and community leaders. The results show that the dominant leadership style is participative, in addition to that, a supportive leadership style and directive leadership style are also used in certain situations. The empowerment process carried out per the stages of the empowerment process is identifying and assessing the potential of the region, problems, and opportunities-chances; arranging a participative activity plan; implementing the activity plan; and monitoring and evaluating the process and results of activities. The social networking of LPM leads to a social network of power in which LPM can influence the behavior of communities and community institutions in utilizing and managing community empowerment programs. From the research, it can be concluded that the model of community empowerment implemented by LPM Cibeunying Village is enabling, empowering, and protecting.

De la gestión local a la gobernanza global: actores e interacciones multiniveles en la gestión del agua en la ciudad de México

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-66
Author(s):  
Joyce Valdovinos
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Water Governance ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Service Contracts ◽  
Governance Model ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The One

The provision of water services has traditionally been considered a responsibility of the state. During the late 1980s, the private sector emerged as a key actor in the provision of public services. Mexico City was no exception to this trend and public authorities awarded service contracts to four private consortia in 1993. Through consideration of this case study, two main questions arise: First, why do public authorities establish partnerships with the private sector? Second, what are the implications of these partnerships for water governance? This article focuses, on the one hand, on the conceptual debate of water as a public and/or private good, while identifying new trends and strategies carried out by private operators. On the other hand, it analyzes the role of the state and its relationships with other actors through a governance model characterized by partnerships and multilevel networks.Spanish La provisión del servicio del agua ha sido tradicionalmente considerada como una responsabilidad del Estado. A finales de la década de 1980, el sector privado emerge como un actor clave en el suministro de servicios públicos. La ciudad de México no escapa a esta tendencia y en 1993 las autoridades públicas firman contratos de servicios con cuatro consorcios privados. A través de este estudio de caso, dos preguntas son planteadas: ¿Por qué las autoridades públicas establecen partenariados con el sector privado? ¿Cuáles son las implicaciones de dichos partenariados en la gobernanza del agua? Este artículo aborda por una parte, el debate conceptual del agua como bien público y/o privado, identificando nuevas tendencias y estrategias de los operadores privados. Por otra parte, se analizan el rol y las relaciones del Estado con otros actores a través de un modelo de gobernanza, definido en términos de partenariados y redes multi-niveles.French Les services de l'eau ont été traditionnellement considérés comme une responsabilité de l'État. À la fin des années 1980, le secteur privé est apparu comme un acteur clé dans la fourniture de certains services publics. La ville de Mexico n'a pas échappé à cette tendance et en 1993, les autorités publiques ont signé des contrats de services avec quatre consortiums privés. À travers cette étude de cas, nous nous interrogerons sur deux aspects : pourquoi les autorités publiques établissentelles des partenariats avec le secteur privé ? Quelles sont les implications de ces partenariats sur la gouvernance de l'eau ? Cet article s'intéresse, d'une part, au débat conceptuel sur l'eau en tant que bien public et/ou privé, en identifiant les tendances nouvelles et les stratégies menées par les opérateurs privés. D'autre part y sont analysés le rôle de l'État et ses relations avec d'autres acteurs à travers un modèle de gouvernance, défini en termes de partenariats, et des réseaux multi-niveaux.

Perception of Absence as Value-Driven Perception

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anya Farennikova
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Ring Finger ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Form

Experiences of absence are often laden with values and expectations. For example, one might notice that a job candidate is not wearing a tie, or see the absence of a wedding band on a person's ring finger. These experiences embody cultural knowledge and expectations, and therefore seem like good candidates for being a form of evaluative perception. This chapter argues that experiences of absence are evaluative apart from the social or cultural values they take on. They are evaluative in their core, solely by virtue of being experiences of absence. The chapter begins by explaining why certain experiences of absence should be treated as a case of genuine perception. It then clarifies the role of the evaluative states in experiences of absence. The chapter concludes by arguing that experiences of absence constitute a new form of evaluative perception, and presents the subjective–objective dichotomy in a new light.

From converts to cooperation: Protestant internationalism, US missionaries and Indian Christians and ‘Professional’ social work between Boston and Bombay (c. 1920–1950)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Michael Phillipp Brunner
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
North America ◽  
Social Gospel ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Historical Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Concerns ◽  
High Phase

Abstract The 1920s and 30s were a high phase of liberal missionary internationalism driven especially by American-led visions of the Social Gospel. As the missionary consensus shifted from proselytization to social concerns, the indigenization of missions and the role of the ‘younger churches’ outside of Europe and North America was brought into focus. This article shows how Protestant internationalism pursued a ‘Christian Sociology’ in dialogue with the field’s academic and professional form. Through the case study of settlement sociology and social work schemes by the American Marathi Mission (AMM) in Bombay, the article highlights the intricacies of applying internationalist visions in the field and asks how they were contested and shaped by local conditions and processes. Challenging a simplistic ‘secularization’ narrative, the article then argues that it was the liberal, anti-imperialist drive of the missionary discourse that eventually facilitated an American ‘professional imperialism’ in the development of secular social work in India. Adding local dynamics to the analysis of an internationalist discourse benefits the understanding of both Protestant internationalism and the genesis of Indian social work and shows the value of an integrated global micro-historical approach.

scholarly journals Using Social Media in Tourist Sentiment Analysis: A Case Study of Andalusia during the Covid-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 3836
Author(s):  
David Flores-Ruiz ◽  
Adolfo Elizondo-Salto ◽  
María de la O. Barroso-González
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Sentiment Analysis ◽  
Cost Savings ◽  
Mass Scale ◽  
Tourism Sector ◽  
The Social ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
Media Data

This paper explores the role of social media in tourist sentiment analysis. To do this, it describes previous studies that have carried out tourist sentiment analysis using social media data, before analyzing changes in tourists’ sentiments and behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the case study, which focuses on Andalusia, the changes experienced by the tourism sector in the southern Spanish region as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are assessed using the Andalusian Tourism Situation Survey (ECTA). This information is then compared with data obtained from a sentiment analysis based on the social network Twitter. On the basis of this comparative analysis, the paper concludes that it is possible to identify and classify tourists’ perceptions using sentiment analysis on a mass scale with the help of statistical software (RStudio and Knime). The sentiment analysis using Twitter data correlates with and is supplemented by information from the ECTA survey, with both analyses showing that tourists placed greater value on safety and preferred to travel individually to nearby, less crowded destinations since the pandemic began. Of the two analytical tools, sentiment analysis can be carried out on social media on a continuous basis and offers cost savings.

scholarly journals Social Studies Course from the Perspective of Parents -The Istanbul-Sultanbeyli Case

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Kenan Baş ◽  
Esen Durmuş
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Spring Semester ◽  
The Social ◽  
National Flag ◽  
Kemal Ataturk ◽  
Academic Year

The aim of this study is to identify the perspectives of parents on the "Social Studies" course. The case study design,one of the qualitative research methods, was used in accordance with the nature of the study. Data related to the studywere obtained through a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researchers. The data of the study wereobtained from the parents of students attending 5th, 6th and 7th grade of a state secondary school located in theIstanbul-Sultanbeyli district in the spring semester of 2017 and 2018 academic year. The data obtained were analyzedby content analysis. According to the data obtained from the research, the following results were obtained: Themajority of the parents apparently linked the concept of Social Studies to the concepts of History, Geography,Citizenship and Socialization. Parents thought that the subjects related to History, Geography, Citizenship Rights,Culture, Democracy, Human Rights and the life of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk were taught in the Social Studies course.Nevertheless, it was seen that the parents wished to see the concepts such as Love of Motherland, Nation, Communityand National Flag, Etiquette, Cultural Values, Freedom, Democracy, Equality to be taught in the Social Studies courses.While the parents mostly compared the Social Studies courses with such organs as the Brain, Kidney, Heart, Eye,Stomach and Intestine, they considered it as appropriate to place this course in the last places in terms of importance. Inaddition, it was found that majority of the parents did not want their children to become social studies teachers in thefuture.

Linking Moralisation and Class Identity: The Role of Ressentiment and Respectability in the Social Reaction to ‘Chavs’

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 18-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elias Le Grand
Keyword(s):  
Working Class ◽  
Moral Panic ◽  
Class Identity ◽  
Moral Self ◽  
Social Reaction ◽  
The Social ◽  
Dialectical Process ◽  
White Working Class

This paper aims to link two fields of research which have come to form separate lines of inquiry: the sociology of moralisation and studies on class identity. Expanding on recent papers by Young (2009 , 2011 ) and others, the paper argues that the concepts of ressentiment and respectability can be used to connect moralisation processes and the formation of class identities. This is explored through a case study of the social reaction in Britain to white working-class youths labelled ‘chavs’. It is demonstrated that chavs are constructed through moralising discourses and practices, which have some elements of a moral panic. Moreover, moralisation is performative in constructing class identities: chavs have been cast as a ‘non-respectable’ white working-class ‘folk devil’ against whom ‘respectable’ middle-class and working-class people distinguish and identify themselves as morally righteous. Moralising social reactions are here to an important extent triggered by feelings of ressentiment. This is a dialectical process where respectability and ressentiment are tied, not only to the social control of certain non-respectable working-class others, but also to the moral self-governance of the moralisers.

scholarly journals University Students’ Learning Disruption and Affordance in a Contested Learning Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-44
Author(s):  
Siti Nur'Aini
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environment ◽  
University Students ◽  
Social Environment ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
The Social

This study investigates how university students engage with their learning affordances in a contested environment due to the Coronavirus pandemic. This qualitative research employed a case study approach involving 136 participants. Data analysis was conducted using qualitative analysis as a circular process to describe, classify, and perceive the phenomenon and how the learning, affordances, and society were interconnected. The main framework of the research was the theory of affordance and how it was available for university students in their learning environment that changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected in the first semester of 2020 through an online survey on Google form. The findings indicate the importance of the social environment to provide affordance for the students to adjust with them. Four kinds of affordances emerged from the study; internet affordance, assignment affordance, domestic affordance, and distance learning affordance. The role of the social environment is definitive in changing how students manage their affordances.

scholarly journals The tourism industry and solving the problems of patriotic education for the young generation

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (SPE3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fadbir Magusovich Safin ◽  
Rafael Mirgasimoviz Valeev
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Tourism Development ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Social ◽  
Patriotic Education ◽  
Tourist Demand

The analysis of the current state and development of social tourism in Russia indicates the need for further research into its content and forms, aimed at introducing the historical and cultural values of our citizens, organizing their active and wholesome recreation, solving the problems of patriotic education for the country's younger generation. The paper discusses some issues of social tourism development in Russia, the role of social tourism in the preservation and development of historical and cultural heritage focuses on the need to develop measures to stimulate tourist demand, strengthen the social component of tourism in the country

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