$\sigma$-locales in Formal Topology

A $\sigma$-frame is a poset with countable joins and finite meets in which binary meets distribute over countable joins. The aim of this paper is to show that $\sigma$-frames, actually $\sigma$-locales, can be seen as a branch of Formal Topology, that is, intuitionistic and predicative point-free topology. Every $\sigma$-frame $L$ is the lattice of Lindel\"of elements (those for which each of their covers admits a countable subcover) of a formal topology of a specific kind which, in its turn, is a presentation of the free frame over $L$. We then give a constructive characterization of the smallest (strongly) dense $\sigma$-sublocale of a given $\sigma$-locale, thus providing a "$\sigma$-version" of a Boolean locale. Our development depends on the axiom of countable choice.

The Ways of Things: Mobilizing Charismatic Objects in Oberammergau and Its Passion Play

The mobilization processes initiated by the medieval practice of Christian pilgrimage do not only concern the journeys of human travellers but also of things. The transport of objects to and from pilgrimage sites derives from a pre-modern concept of charisma as a specific kind of energy that can be transferred to things and substances. This mutual mobilization of humans and things can be described as the entangled processes of charismatic charging and re-charging; we argue that this pre-modern logic of contiguity and contagion has survived the multiple transformations of individual travel until today. Even travel dispositives of the 20th and 21st centuries presuppose kinds of situational and spatialized charisma involving human and non-human agents. We illustrate this by the example of the world-renowned Oberammergau Passion Play with its unique playing continuity from the early 17th century onwards. We argue that by taking objects home from elevated places, situational and site-specific charisma can be taken home. To describe the relationship between travel by pilgrims, the mobility of objects, and the mutual charismatic charging of elevated places and things, we propose three perspectives on the material remains of elevated situations. In addition to relics and souvenirs, we propose ‘spolia’ as a third category which allows for the description of discontinuity and transformation in practices of elevating things.

Predictors of foster father’s engagement in foster family homes

Research background: Foster fatherhood is undoubtedly a specific kind of fatherhood, since the man, often being a husband and father to his biological offspring, makes the decision to play the role of a foster father, the performance of which requires a high level of engagement in the realization of caring-rearing as well as compensatory activities, which – in turn – call for constant raising of the competences of working with an orphaned child.Research aim: To learn about the factors which condition the level of involvement of foster fathers in the realization of parenting activity in family-run children’s homes in both the global and partial dimensions.Research method: In the study, the method of diagnostic survey and that of assessment were applied.Obtained results: The analyses proved that the level of engagement of foster fathers in the realization of parenting activity in family-run children’s homes is to a large extent conditioned by foster fathers’ personality factors; to a smaller degree it is influenced by sociodemographic factors or those which are based in the system of social welfare.Conclusions: The specific nature of tasks set for a family-run children’s home demands that foster fathers should engage in the realization of parenting activity to the highest possible degree. It is thus not only important for men to be prepared to play the role of a foster father, but it is also vital to constantly support them in this role.

SPELLING PRACTICE OF THE INDEPENDENCE ERA : “UKRAINIAN SPELLING” IN 1990

The given research is devoted to the formation specificity of the Ukrainian orthographic code during the Independence period. The methods of “Ukrainian spelling” of 1990 have been clarified in succession. We also logically elaborated the system of innovations within a projection on the developed tradition, standing on the basis that language changes, therefore the spelling code should adhere to the established norms, simultaneously reflecting its up-to-date condition. The focus lies in interpreting the spelling changes of 1990 and 2019, as the spelling code of 1993 did not involve drastic changes. The system of all the latest innovations is analysed in detail. They are classified according to such criteria as terms of the new spelling standards implementation (to be exact, the pronunciation and spelling of words proiekt, sviashchennyi, Sviatvechir, piv vidra, piv Kyieva, piv yashchyka, pivostriv, pivlitrovyi), alternative norms (kafedra / katedra, audytoriia / avdytoriia, Hete / Getu, Londona / Londonu, Ivanovi / Ivanevi, arkhymandryt / arkhimandryt, etc.). It is about non-alternative norms as well (they are related to spelling of parts of the word base, inflections of declension words, words of foreign origin and proper names, and usage of punctuation). Systematized material on graphics, spelling, and punctuation serves as a specific kind of guide for those who will study the dynamics of the newest spelling rules. It was proved that the spontaneous critique of the orthographic system gradually acquired a constructive point, relying not only on intra- but also on extralingual factors. The issue of the modern alphabet war in Ukraine as well as reasons for its occurrence and negative impact on the spiritual and cultural progress of our country have not remained outside the research. The “Project of the Latest Edition of the Ukrainian Orthography” was logically accentuated. It made a great impression on society, though was not legitimized. The emphasis is on the fact that one of the current priorities lies in creating a single spelling model for Ukrainians within mainland Ukraine and in the diaspora. We are confident on the point it will function as an important consolidating factor of the nation.

The scene as a space for artistic searches of the director-author. Part 1. Rainer Werner Fassbinder: stage-screen experiments

The purpose of the article is to identify the problems of creativity of directors who have realized their artistic potential both in auteur cinema and in the space of the stage and to determine scientific guidelines that will contribute to a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of the filmmaker in the performing arts. Research methodology. Methods of scientific analysis, comparison, generalization, self-analysis of the artist were used in the elaboration of the theme. In addition, analytical and systematic methods were applied in their unity, which is necessary to study the art aspect of the problem. The scientific novelty of the study is to determine the universality of directing as a specific kind of artistic and aesthetic activity; in clarifying the interaction of performing and screen arts in the use of expressive means; in determining the features of the filmmaker's activity in the stage space through the adaptation of screen means in theatrical productions, which first became the subject of a special study; in the coverage, the activities of directors-authors who resorted to reforming the language of language and the language of stage production; in identifying the original principles of filmmaking and specific means of cinematic expression, which not only found a direct embodiment in films and contributed to the emergence of outstanding authorial films but also had a significant impact on the author's theatrical direction, which sought to visualize stage images. Conclusions. It is proved that the stage work of filmmakers-authors calls into question the theoretical postulates about the perniciousness of the intrusion of theater culture into screen works. It has been found that pictorial and expressive means provide a chronology of image creation (long shots, in-frame editing, acoustic, light, and shadow effects), the use of which in cinema is considered a high degree of skill, have their origins in the performing arts. Keywords: director-author, stage space, directing means, theater, screen.

Composing an “Agon” and “Lettering a Public”: Democracy Between Binaries?

In response to ongoing expansion of neoliberal ideology in democratic education, this essay details a classroom experiment that attempts to “redo,” or “recraft” democracy. Recrafting democracy, in this context, takes shape in active efforts to compose an agonistic public sphere through a specific kind of “lettering a public.” As described, intentionally inefficient student efforts to “care-fully” compose, revise, and mail democratic letters allowed a more reciprocal and felt form of democratic deliberation to unfold. The essay describes the “Dear Demos” course assignment and articulates how the experiment in doing democracy might work to contest neoliberal notions of efficient, technocratic models of self-governance.

Cameroon’s special criminal court: an appraisal of its first decade of existence

Purpose In total, 10 years since the establishment of the Special Criminal Court (SCC) in Cameroon to deal with a specific kind of corruption, one may wonder whether any achievements have been made so far in fulfilling its mandate and also assuaging the tense and toxic perception that the Court was established as an arsenal to witch-hunt political opponents. This study aims to look into the work done so far in this regard, and makes an assessment as to whether any accomplishments have been made in the first decade of its establishment. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes an evidence-based approach in seeking answers to what accomplishments, if any, have been made by the Court, explores the notion of corruption within Cameroon’s legislative and institutional landscape prior to the establishment of the Court and looks into the profiles of those who have been indicted by the SCC for that crime; the amounts that were misappropriated and for which they were convicted; the sentences imposed. It identifies some outstanding cases: where the amounts misappropriated exceeded a threshold and asks the question of what made it possible for these individuals to misappropriate such huge sums of money? Findings The inconsistencies and irrationality in the sentencing are a few findings made. Added to those is the timing of the establishment of the Court which, as most have perceived, is a political witch-hunting aimed at bringing credibility to a failed regime, as well as deal with a few political “irresponsibles” who were once the president’s buddies. Research limitations/implications This research unravels key insights into the functioning of the SCC. It advances the knowledge thereon and adds to the literature on corruption in Cameroon. Practical implications The establishment of the SCC is commendable. However, as it deals with but a particular kind of corruption, it might be necessary to rethink the need of additional institutional mechanisms that have specialized jurisdiction to deal with the different kinds of corruption in Cameroon. Social implications The paper highlights the entrenched nature of corruption in the social fabrics of Cameroonian society, and exposes the need for a much holistic approach in dealing with corruption, as the SCC offers but one institutional mechanism toward that direction. Originality/value This paper, given the issues discussed therein, and considering the dearth of literature on the topic, advances the literature on the SCC in particular and the problem of endemic corruption in Cameroon in general.

Warunki praktykowania edukacji domowej w Polsce

The article concerns the subject of homeschooling practice conditions in Poland – it focuses on the legal conditions and outlines the socio-economic conditions in which Polish homeschoolers operate. It discusses the specific kind of right which is the right to education, its position in the systematics of the constitution and the connection to the learning duty and school duty. It brings attention to state-citizen relations and the rule of state subsidiarity. It points to legal regulations which allow realization of the school duty outside of school, underlining the controversial and discriminatory regulations which ignore the parents’ priority to decide on their own children’s education and treat children learning in this way unequally to those who attend school. The article is ended by an observation about the state remaining decisive on the form of education of each citizen, despite the constant change of legal regulations, which in relation to the discussed subject characterizes the last three decades.

Tears in Heaven: Tracing the Contours of a Pan-European Transconfessional Genre

This article explores the genesis, proliferation, and readership of an understudied genre of religious poetry in early modern Europe. The weeping poem—a devotional literary genre combining elements of epic narrative and Petrarchan lyric that focused specifically on the religious grief of biblical figures—swept across Europe in the forty years around the turn of the seventeenth century. Although this genre was instigated by the Italian Luigi Tansillo’s 1560 Le Lagrime di San Pietro and has often been read as exhibiting a distinctively Counter-Reformation spirituality, our survey of weeping poems uncovers the surprising reach of this genre across multiple languages and even into Protestant England. The range and popularity of this specific kind of weeping poetry across early modern national, linguistic, and confessional lines shows how this constellation of texts transmitted a new form of devotional affect founded on imaginative identification with weeping biblical narrators. In other words, these poems demonstrate how interiority, rather than factional political or theological difference, could be the basis for new emotional communities of worship. Moreover, the relative obscurity of this genre to scholars prompts new questions around the viability of continuing to explore early modern European literary traditions from the perspective of nationalist/linguistic/confessional frameworks.

Neoliberalism and Religion in Latin America

The term “neoliberalism” has variable and broad meanings. It has even been suggested that we should dispense with the term altogether. However, in this text, I defend that we can find a very powerful concept of neoliberalism in the works of Dardot-Laval, and Brown. These thinkers show us that neoliberalism needs to be conceived as a rationality that produces a specific kind of human subjectivity, namely, the neoliberal Homo Oeconomicus or the Homo Neoliberalis. Such a concept is, in addition, crucial to understand the most recent and visible changes in Latin American religiosity, that is, the so-called “Latin American Protestant Turn”. This turn, as has been noted, should be more precisely called the “Latin American Pentecostal Turn”. Based on empirical studies that describe the main elements of this turn, I describe what seems to be the principal traits of the religiosity of the Latin American Homo Neoliberalis.