Individual Agency and the Diversity of Traditional Practice: The Iji Nla Association of Ijede

The history of the Yoruba is replete with individuals who through their activities changed the face of local tradition. In Ijede town, a suburb of Ikorodu in Ijede Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, exists the Iji Nla Association, an ancient traditional group that rose to local power through the agency of Prince Ajanaku during the first half of the twentieth century. Over time, it increasingly functioned as an institution providing traditional social control mechanisms and security. This article focuses on the origin, structure, and diversity of the Iji Nla Association as a traditional social mechanism and its continued relevance in Ijede. The methodology of this research is descriptive and analytical. It relies essentially on information from in-depth interviews and secondary sources such as books and journals.

A conceptual model of a transition from technogenic to human-induced globalization

Globalization is a fundamental integrative social mechanism, in which two stages can be distinguished: “technogenic globalization” and “human-induced globalization”. The result of a phase transition from the first stage to the second should be the final formation of an information society. The aim of the study was the theoretical substantiation of globalization as a mechanism for a transition to an information society, and identification of the role and place of technogenesis in it. The paper considers the essence of a transition to an information society in the context of the replacement of technogenic globalization with human-induced globalization, and draws a conclusion about the place of technogenesis and artificial intelligence, as its institution, in human-induced globalization. It is shown that at the present stage, human-induced globalization should be implemented with a focus on the following directions of technogenesis: a) formation of breakthrough directions of development of the “Human Variable of society”; b) ensuring the demand for innovative development; c) acquisition by society of a new development resource – “human-energy-informational plasma”; d) formation of a new “capital” mechanism – the mechanism of self-growth of the value of social life on the basis of the investment flow of human-energy-informational plasma.

Dancing with Diversity?

Rapid market transition in post-reform China has created various socioeconomic spaces that fall beyond the Leninist mode of control by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and thus constitutes a formidable challenge to its ruling capacity. This article examines the evolving adaptations of the CCP and the rise of a new form of Party-society nexus in urban China. We found that Party organisers have been fostering a spatial strategy in the context of ‘disorganised urban socialism’. By spanning institutional and sectoral gaps, engaging so-called ‘floating party members’, and developing community-based service networks, the Party has deliberately combined a specific social mechanism with the Leninist logic of organising. We conclude with a broader discussion of the possible scenario and political implication of CCP’s organisational consolidation from below.

The Role of Interests in Social Management

This study analyzed the category of “interest” in the structure of the sociological theory and practice of modern management. The importance of interest in such a scientific field as the sociology of management is described and its role in the study of social management, considered as a specific sphere of human activity, is substantiated. As a result of the analysis, the place of interests in the activities of the subject of social management is revealed, characterized by the internal inconsistency of his interests and the need for their coordination. The importance of interests in the formation of the activity of the object of social management is determined and the main indicators of their state are described: social integration, cohesion, solidarity, social consensus. Particular attention is paid to the consideration of the effectiveness of management decisions described both from the standpoint of the effectiveness of resource use and from the standpoint of achieving the goals of social management. The technological aspect of taking into account interests in the process of social management is considered, which manifests itself in the use of social technologies that contribute to the optimization of managerial influences. The article describes the importance of taking into account interests (personal, group, social) in the process of social technologization. The connection of interests with the methods and principles of social management reflecting the social essence of its social mechanism is explained. Among the principles, the most significant ones are considered from the perspective of taking into account interests: the principles of social orientation of management, humanization of management, consistency of personal and organizational goals, delegation of authority and management through the team.

Turning Over the Keys: Public Prisons, Private Equity, and the Normalization of Markets Behind Bars

In recent decades, public prisons and jails have increasingly outsourced operational functions by “turning over the keys” to private business and, more recently and specifically, to private equity. By the early 2000s, private equity-owned corporations had entered the core sectors of prison and jail operations, creating “markets behind bars” in telecommunications, commissary sales, health provision, and a range of other services. Two decades later, they have become a quasi-oligopolistic market force across the carceral economy. Reacting to these developments, scholars and activists have explored how private firms generate profits by extracting resources from families of the incarcerated. Less explored is the fact that it is often and particularly private equity firms that partner with public carceral institutions in these extractive practices. In this reflection, we propose a three-part schematic for understanding how such partnerships, with their attendant predation on the poor and people of color, have become normalized. We focus, first, on the mechanism of bureaucracy through which mutual profit-making by public and private entities becomes regularized; second, we explore the legal mechanisms—the apparently small but potent and politically unexamined legal maneuvers—that enable the redirection of family resources beyond the support of a loved one to the operational needs of jails and prisons; finally, we trace the role of gender as a social mechanism through which private equity and its prison/jail partners rely simultaneously on women’s traditional role as caretaker and non-traditional role as primary breadwinner. We show that all three mechanisms are crucial to the economic functioning of the carceral state.

Das inkludiernde De-Institutionalisierungsgebot im Lichte der Dramatik stationärer Pflege unter Corona-Bedingungen

Zusammenfassung Die Corona-Pandemie hat die Lebensqualität der Menschen in den Heimen als Einrichtungen der Langzeitpflege signifikant negativ geprägt. In der Dichte des stationären Settings wurden im Lichte eines „satt, sauber, trocken und still“-Dispositivs die ohnehin problematischen Strukturen der Entnormalisierung durch hospitalisierende Institutionalisierung eskalierend verstärkt. Selbstbestimmung und Teilhabe als Grundrechte im menschenrechtskonventionellen Sinne wurden pauschal ohne Risiko-bezogene Güterabwägungen zugunsten einer „Kasernierung“ zum Zwecke der Sicherung des „nackten Lebens“ dethematisiert. Die im Sektor ohnehin als Spuren struktureller Gewalt angelegten Mechanismen sozialer Ausgrenzung wurden im Krisenmanagement akzeleriert. Als Lehre aus diesen sozialen Praktiken muss über die Zukunft stationärer Settings radikal kritisch nachgedacht werden. Die Alternative ist eine Empowerment-orientierte investive Sozialpolitik als sozialraumorientierte Differenzierung der Wohnformen und ihren Care-Settings. Abstract: Normative Challenge of Including De-institutionalization of Long-term Nursing Under Conditions of the Corona Crisis The Corona pandemic is connected with a significant impact on the escalating reduction of the quality of life of old age in the settings of long-term nursing care. The heritage of given tradition of institutionalization as a culture of social exclusion as accelerating pathway towards a dispositive grammar of a regime of risk security and hygienic cleanliness of “naked life” in a limited activating atmosphere of “remain silent” dominating the valued of autonomy and inclusive participation as dimensions of dignity of human personhood. Social exclusion is a mode of performativity of structural violence. The critical result of the societal reflection about this social mechanism is to think about the alternative perspective of social investment in caring community-building as spatial social network supporting normal forms of living outside the institutions but within an inclusive normal social world of moral economy of social capital formation.

Psychological, Social and Imaginary Dimensions of LGB People who use Dating Apps: A Netnography Approach

Social networks and dating apps increasingly represent a novel way to meet people as opposed to traditional face-to-face communication. Virtual platforms are particularly important for gays and lesbians due to the social stigma related to their sexual orientation and are diversified according to their users: the former use Grindr and the latter Wapa. Our research involved a group of users from Campania, in southern Italy, and employs a mixed methods approach. We first studied users’ profiles in both dating apps and then focused on qualitative interviews to reconstruct the psychological (emotional and affective dynamics) and social (sexual script) dimension of the imaginary underpinning online interactions. We aim at filling the partial gap in the Italian research between virtual media and homosexuality, highlighting the communication methods and relational approaches through which gay and lesbian people (and partially also bisexuals) relate through social networks. The first section reviews the relevant literature, connecting it to the relation between new media, affectivity, and sexuality. It explains the notion of sexual identity, an essential epistemological preamble for comprehending the possible phenomenology through which people relate to their own sexuality. The second section explores the apps’ social mechanism, showing gay’s and lesbians’ trends on the emotional, sentimental, or sexual approach. Our purpose is to verify the existence of a different gay or lesbian approach in both applications (in the purpose of its usage and in some of the imaginary dimensions) or if those apps modify the sexual behaviour, thus producing new forms of social and relational homologation. Keywords: sexual scripts, app for dating online, gay and lesbian studies, gender models.

Emotional Competence of Women Administrators

Leadership is a social mechanism where action toward a common goal is affected by any person or community. The organization is in trouble without effective leadership, it has been said. Any educational institution’s success hinges greatly on how competent the leaders are. The research’s main objective is to assess the emotional competencies of women school administrators at public and private schools in Siquijor, Central Visayas, Philippines. The study focuses on the five (5) dimensions of emotional competence which are self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. The study was conducted to fifty-seven (57) school heads or administrators during School Year 2016–2017. The study revealed that the women administrators are all experienced and possess a high degree of emotional competence relative to their performance as leaders and administrators.

Legal mechanism for implementation of human rights in Ukraine: state and directions of improvement

The article presents a general theoretical description of the legal mechanism for the implementation of human rights. It is emphasized that the important role in implementing human rights is played by the state, as well as other institutions of society - religious organizations, public organizations, the media, etc., as well as specific people. It is stated that the social mechanism for implementing human rights includes the following mechanisms: 1) the international mechanism for ensuring human rights; 2) legal (domestic) mechanism for ensuring human rights; 3) the mechanism of ensuring human rights through other social means (moral, religious, etc.). The concept of the legal mechanism for implementation of human rights as a system of effective legal means (guarantees) for the protection and defense of human rights enshrined in regulations and other sources of law, as well as activities to form legal awareness of the subjects. The main problems in the field of the legal implementation of human rights in Ukraine are outlined. The main directions of improving the mechanism of the legal implementation of human rights in Ukraine are formulated: - enshrining in the Constitution of Ukraine special sections devoted to: 1) guarantees of fundamental human and civil rights and freedoms; 2) the rights of the child and legal guarantees for their provision; - bringing the provisions of the laws of Ukraine on human rights in line with international human rights standards; - adopting laws of Ukraine, where there are gaps in the field of regulation of the implementation of certain human rights; - improving the laws of Ukraine on human rights so that they express the will of the majority or the entire population; - restricting human rights only in cases specified by law, taking into account the need and expediency for society; - increasing the level of mutual responsibility of the individual and the state; - improving procedural and legal mechanisms for implementing human rights; - increasing the role of the judiciary of Ukraine as the most reliable and effective legal guarantee of human rights protection; - more effective application by the courts of Ukraine during the consideration of cases of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights as a source of law; - raising the level of legal awareness of officials and other participants in public and state life; - more effective legal implementation of the rights of certain categories of people who especially need it in modern conditions (children; socially vulnerable persons, women, etc.); - more effective legal implementation, first of all, of vital human rights: the right to life, the right to social protection; the right to an adequate standard of living for oneself and one's family; the right to health care, medical assistance; the right to a safe environment for life and health.