scholarly journals When “I” Becomes “We”: Religious Mobilization, Pilgrimage and Political Protests

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 735
Author(s):  
Adrian Schiffbeck
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Chain Reactions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Political Protests ◽  
Communist Revolution ◽  
Romanian Revolution

Scholars have extensively studied social and psychological components of pilgrimage in the past decades. Its political ingredients have less been taken into account. Moreover, there is marginal scientific evidence on connections between pilgrimage and political protests: A response to injustice within a specific agenda and certain goals, remembrance, testimony, imagination, as well as transformation, along with communion and solidarity—are some common features of pilgrims and protesters. There is also the resource mobilization factor—to be analyzed here with a view upon the Romanian 1989 anti-communist revolution in Timișoara. We look at religion as a provider of social ties, in terms of messages with political connotations coming from clergy, and of chain reactions inside religious groups. The qualitative research relies on content analysis of documents, and of 30 semi-structured interviews with former participants to the demonstrations. Results point towards a subtle and circumstantial collective religious mobilization before and during the Romanian revolution. Similarities with pilgrimage are related to the presence of a resourceful actor, converting individual into common needs and generating a collective identity. Differences refer to the spiritual vs. political movement, and to the socio-religious experience vs. the secular search for freedom and justice.

Existential Antagonisms: Boundary Work and the Professional Ideology of Turkish Industrial Designers

Design Issues ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali O. Ilhan ◽  
H. Alpay Er
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Boundary Work ◽  
Collective Consciousness ◽  
Professional Identities ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Demarcation Line ◽  
Professional Ideology ◽  
The Past ◽  
Industrial Designers

Industrial design (ID) is a fairly young and largely unknown profession in Turkey. Although significant developments have taken place in the field of ID in the past 15 years, the scope of scholarly attempts to analyze the sociological meaning of designing in the Turkish context is extremely limited. We use boundary work and professional ideology as salient concepts for a sociological understanding the ongoing professionalization process of Turkish industrial designers, who are developing professional identities and striving for recognition in the larger culture. This paper relies on 20 semi-structured interviews conducted with key players (i.e., ideologues) of the Turkish ID scene to analyze these boundary-work processes. We found that the positive collective identity of Turkish industrial designers is built on a formulation of negative others. These negative others are ideological antagonists that are pushed to the “other” side of the demarcation line. Negative others are especially dominant in the professional ideology of Turkish industrial designers because the perceived threats from these antagonists shape the collective consciousness. However, the construction of these others is an ambivalent process in which they also become ideological “friends.” We also demonstrate that professional ideology plays a pivotal role in producing, reproducing, and legitimizing claims of professionalism.

scholarly journals Planning for a neighborhood and city-scale green network system in Qatar: the case of MIA Park

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raffaello Furlan ◽  
Brian R. Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Urban Landscape ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Landscape Fragmentation ◽  
The State ◽  
Network System ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Main Mode ◽  
The Past ◽  
Neighborhood Scale

AbstractIn the past decade, Doha has witnessed fast-urban growth, an increased population rate, and an over-reliance on the automobile as the main mode of urban transportation. These factors caused social and environmental problems related to (1) the loss of a compact urban pattern, (2) an increased level of air pollution (3) high traffic congestions and (4) increasing landscape fragmentation. In consideration of such concerns, The State of Qatar invested large funds into the urban landscape development of Doha, as envisioned by Qatar National Vision 2030. As a result, in the past five years various parks and/or green areas, such MIA Park, a major public green space located around the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA), were planned and developed within metropolitan Doha. The authors argue that this park is currently facing issues and challenges related to (1) accessibility to/from the neighboring districts, and (2) connectivity to/from the neighboring parks. Therefore, this research study aims at assessing the existing conditions of MIA Park, at considering the broader city context and, at recommending strategies for implementing MIA Park’s green network system. It approached the investigative challenge using a multi-pronged comprehensive methodology, that deployed focus groups, semi-structured interviews and a comprehensive network analysis based on graph theory. The findings, revealed through these hybrid research tactics, allowed the researchers to generate a framework to enhance accessibility and connectivity of MIA Park through a green network system, planned at inter-related neighborhood-scale and city-scale levels. While the research examines most notably a single case, it is advocated that the proposed framework represents not just an optional feature pertaining to the case in Doha, but a valuable reference for the sustainable master planning of future cities in the State of Qatar and across the GCC. The paper proffers numerous key contributions, including the critical exploration of manufactured landscapes in Doha Qatar and the delineation of broadly applicable environmental design strategies to improve the fabric and livability of cities.

scholarly journals Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo: Enhancing Indonesia’s Multilateral Defence Diplomacy?

2021 ◽  
pp. 186810342110089
Author(s):  
Frega Wenas Inkiriwang
Keyword(s):  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Past ◽  
Documentary Analysis

Defence diplomacy has gained attention in the past decades. Hence, Indonesia has also developed its defence diplomacy for achieving its strategic interests. In Indonesia’s defence diplomacy, bilateral forms have dominated the practice of joint exercises with its defence partners. However, under the Yudhoyono administration in 2014, Indonesia hosted its first multilateral joint exercise, the Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo (MNEK), which aimed at facilitating multilateral engagement with greater international partners. This exercise was continued by the Widodo administration as a biannual event in the following years. Since this multilateral exercise has rarely been studied, this article attempts to qualitatively examine how this exercise has developed and contributed to Indonesia’s multilateral defence diplomacy. To support the analysis, this article relies on a combination of documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews, including with numerous participants of past MNEK exercises in 2014, 2016, and 2018.

scholarly journals Rethinking success, integrity, and culture in research (part 1) — a multi-actor qualitative study on success in science

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noémie Aubert Bonn ◽  
Wim Pinxten
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
Current Paper ◽  
Research Quality ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Students

Abstract Background Success shapes the lives and careers of scientists. But success in science is difficult to define, let alone to translate in indicators that can be used for assessment. In the past few years, several groups expressed their dissatisfaction with the indicators currently used for assessing researchers. But given the lack of agreement on what should constitute success in science, most propositions remain unanswered. This paper aims to complement our understanding of success in science and to document areas of tension and conflict in research assessments. Methods We conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with policy makers, funders, institution leaders, editors or publishers, research integrity office members, research integrity community members, laboratory technicians, researchers, research students, and former-researchers who changed career to inquire on the topics of success, integrity, and responsibilities in science. We used the Flemish biomedical landscape as a baseline to be able to grasp the views of interacting and complementary actors in a system setting. Results Given the breadth of our results, we divided our findings in a two-paper series, with the current paper focusing on what defines and determines success in science. Respondents depicted success as a multi-factorial, context-dependent, and mutable construct. Success appeared to be an interaction between characteristics from the researcher (Who), research outputs (What), processes (How), and luck. Interviewees noted that current research assessments overvalued outputs but largely ignored the processes deemed essential for research quality and integrity. Interviewees suggested that science needs a diversity of indicators that are transparent, robust, and valid, and that also allow a balanced and diverse view of success; that assessment of scientists should not blindly depend on metrics but also value human input; and that quality should be valued over quantity. Conclusions The objective of research assessments may be to encourage good researchers, to benefit society, or simply to advance science. Yet we show that current assessments fall short on each of these objectives. Open and transparent inter-actor dialogue is needed to understand what research assessments aim for and how they can best achieve their objective. Study Registration osf.io/33v3m.

Studying Palestinian-Israeli Relations at the Vanderbilt Television News Archive (VTNA)

2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-40
Author(s):  
Deborah L. Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Television News ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Media Culture ◽  
The Past ◽  
Shared Identity ◽  
P 16 ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Words And Images

For the Past Five Decades, media texts, broadcast over television air waves, have created a shared identity among viewing audiences. John B. Thompson notes that if culture is understood as “the ways in which meaningful expressions of various kinds are produced, constructed and received by individuals”, then mass media can be understood as central to the creation and maintenance of culture (pp. 122-23). The words and images that construct a media culture are the very building blocks of collective identity. As Michael Schudson observes, “news is part of the background through which and with which people think” (p. 16).

Measurements of workplace productivity in the office context: A systematic review and current industry insights

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Bortoluzzi ◽  
D. Carey ◽  
J.J. McArthur ◽  
C. Menassa
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Key Performance Indicators ◽  
Expert Interviews ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Productivity Measurement ◽  
The Past ◽  
Workplace Productivity ◽  
Comprehensive Survey

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present a comprehensive survey of workplace productivity key performance indicators used in the office context. Academic literature from the past ten years is systematically reviewed and contextualized through a series of expert interviews. Design/methodology/approach – The authors present a systematic review of literature to identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and methods of workplace productivity measurement, complemented by insights semi-structured interviews to inform a framework for a benchmarking tool. 513 papers published since 2007 were considered, of which 98 full-length papers were reviewed, and 20 were found to provide significant insight and are summarized herein. Findings – Currently, no consensus exists on a single KPI suitable for measuring workplace productivity in an office environment, though qualitative questionnaires are more widely adopted than quantitative tools. The diversity of KPIs used in published studies indicates that a multidimensional approach would be most appropriate for knowledge-worker productivity measurement. Expert interviews further highlighted a shift from infrequent, detailed evaluation to frequent, simplified reporting across human resource functions and this context is important for future tool development. Originality/value – This paper provides a summary of significant work on workplace productivity measurement and KPI development over the past ten years. This follows up on the comprehensive review by B. Haynes (2007a), providing an updated perspective on research in this field with additional insights from expert interviews.

Les facteurs d’aide : Pour une meilleure compréhension des éléments-clés de l’intervention en contexte de nature et d’aventure

Groupwork ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-107
Author(s):  
Virginie Gargano
Keyword(s):  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Past ◽  
Travail Social ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Multiple Challenges ◽  
Interpersonal Learning ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Connaissance De Soi ◽  
Primary Family

Les programmes d’intervention en contexte de nature et d’aventure (INA) font l’objet d’études depuis plus d’une cinquantaine d’années. Malgré la reconnaissance des effets qui leur sont attribués, peu de travaux portent sur les processus s’opérant dans ces interventions. L’objectif de cet article est d’identifier ces processus et de mieux comprendre leur influence sur l’expérience de groupe. Pour ce faire, le modèle des facteurs d’aide (FA) a été retenu. Des entrevues semi-dirigées ont été réalisées auprès de 23 sujets âgés de 17 à 21 ans ayant participé à une expédition de 18 jours. Les éléments-clés de l’INA sont les suivants : la multitude de défis, la déstabilisation, la relation entre les enseignants et les participants et le milieu naturel. Ensuite, leur relation avec les FA est mise en relief. Il est question de : l’altruisme, les comportements d’imitation, la cohésion, la connaissance de soi, le partage d’information, l’universalité et les techniques de socialisation. Les apprentissages interpersonnels, la catharsis, l’espoir, les facteurs existentiels et la récapitulation corrective de la famille sont absents. Ces résultats mettent en lumière l’interaction entre les éléments-clés de l’INA et les FA, et la pertinence de s’y intéresser en travail social de groupe.A number of studies have addressed outdoor and adventure programs over the past fifty years. Despite empirical evidence that demonstrates the personal benefits of these programs, research investigating the key features responsible for these effects is scarce. The purpose of this article is to identify them and understand their influence. In order to achieve this goal, the data were examined from the perspective of helping factors (HFs). Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 23 subjects aged between 17 and 21 who had participated in an 18 day expedition. The results show that participation in the program promoted key features: multiple challenges, the experience of destabilization, the relationship between the facilitators and group members and finally, the experience of being in wilderness. Then, relationships between key features and HFs are highlighted. Many of them are found: altruism, imitative behavior, cohesiveness, self-understanding, imparting information, development of socializing techniques, and universality. Interpersonal learning, catharsis, hope, existential factors, and corrective recapitulation of the primary family group are absent. These results give a better understanding of how key features interact with HFs in nature and adventure settings and its relevance in social work with groups.

Islam and Nationalism in Modern Greece, 1821-1940

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanos Katsikas
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Greek Orthodox ◽  
Independent State ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Balkan States ◽  
Muslim Minorities

Drawing from a wide range of primary archival and secondary Greek, Bulgarian, and Turkish sources, the book explores the way the Muslim populations of Greece were ruled by state authorities from Greece’s political emancipation from the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s up to the country’s entrance into World War II, in October 1940. In particular, the book examines how state rule influenced the development of the Muslim populations’ collective identity as a minority and how it affected Muslim relations with the Greek authorities, Greek Orthodox Christians, and other ethnic and religious groups. Greece was the first country to become an independent state in the Balkans and a pioneer in experimenting with minority issues. With regards to its Muslim populations, Greece’s ruling framework, and many of the country’s state administrative measures and patterns were to serve as a template at a later stage in other Christian Orthodox Balkan states with Muslim minorities (e.g., Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Cyprus): Muslim religious officials were empowered with authorities they did not have in Ottoman times, and aspects of Islamic law (sharia) were incorporated into the state legal system to be used for Muslim family and property affairs. The book shows that these and any policies can be ambivalent and cannot be a guide to present-day solutions. It also argues that religion remained a defining element and that religious nationalism and public institutions played an important role in the development of religious and ethnic identity.

scholarly journals UNDERSTANDING LAW AND RELIGION AS CULTURE: MAKING ROOM FOR MEANING IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1, 2 & 3) ◽  
pp. 2006
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Important Relationship ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between law and religion in contemporary civil society has been a topic of increasing social interest and importance in Canada in the past many years. We have seen the practices and commitments of religious groups and individuals become highly salient on many issues of public policy, including the nature of the institution of marriage, the content of public education, and the uses of public space, to name just a few. As the vehicle for this discussion, I want to ask a straightforward question: When we listen to our public discourse, what is the story that we hear about the relationship between law and religion? How does this topic tend to be spoken about in law and politics – what is our idiom around this issue – and does this story serve us well? Though straightforward, this question has gone all but unanswered in our political and academic discussions. We take for granted our approach to speaking about – and, therefore, our way of thinking about – the relationship between law and religion. In my view, this is most unfortunate because this taken-for-grantedness is the source of our failure to properly understand the critically important relationship between law and religion.

scholarly journals Measurements of workplace productivity in the office context

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brandon Bortoluzzi ◽  
Daniel Carey ◽  
J.J. McArthur ◽  
Carol Menassa
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Expert Interviews ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Productivity Measurement ◽  
Worker Productivity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Past ◽  
Workplace Productivity ◽  
Detailed Evaluation ◽  
Comprehensive Survey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive survey of workplace productivity key performance indicators (KPIs) used in the office context. Academic literature from the past 10 years has been systematically reviewed and contextualized through a series of expert interviews. Design/methodology/approach The authors present a systematic review of the literature to identify KPIs and methods of workplace productivity measurement, complemented by insights semi-structured interviews to inform a framework for a benchmarking tool. In total, 513 papers published since 2007 were considered, of which 98 full-length papers were reviewed, and 20 were found to provide significant insight and are summarized herein. Findings Currently, no consensus exists on a single KPI suitable for measuring workplace productivity in an office environment, although qualitative questionnaires are more widely adopted than quantitative tools. The diversity of KPIs used in published studies indicates that a multidimensional approach would be the most appropriate for knowledge-worker productivity measurement. Expert interviews further highlighted a shift from infrequent, detailed evaluation to frequent, simplified reporting across human resource functions and this context is important for future tool development. Originality/value This paper provides a summary of significant work on workplace productivity measurement and KPI development over the past 10 years. This follows up on the comprehensive review by B. Haynes (2007a), providing an updated perspective on research in this field with additional insights from expert interviews.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document