A review on discourse studies concerning migrants in media publications from Brazil and South Africa: towards more Afro-Latin perspectives

This paper reviews scientific literature about representation on migrants in Global South media and in other parts of the world, focusing on comparative studies in Brazil and South Africa, and providing suggestions for less Eurocentric perspectives relating to such topic. We resort to a critical review on theoretical references and multiple studies published between the second half of the last century and the beginning of this century. South African comparative research through meta-studies and their quantitative tendency —alongside French Discourse Analysis, Bakhtinian Circle and Greimas’ influence in Brazil— indicate how this type of research needs to be expanded in the Global South. This paper recommends the construction of more systematic content-based analyses and the exploration of the different degrees and forms through which balanced or patronizing portrayals on migrants are projected in media. Dislocation from a dominant sociocognitive perspective towards inter-semiotic/sociolinguistic approaches is advisable. This work also suggests that Pan-Africanism, African approaches, and/or Latin-American philosophies should be part of this foundation for migration criticism, especially if these migratory processes are analyzed in media or communication context

Instrumental Comparative Tort Law

This article examines the possible uses of comparative tort law in practice and theory. It takes the view that comparative law is always a means, never an end in itself, explains how it can be utilized by judges, legislatures, and legal scholars, and puts forward important caveats and qualifications. Part 2 demonstrates the traditional role of comparative law in interpreting and implementing shared or similar tort doctrines and in providing ideas for domestic tort law gap-filling and reform. It highlights the challenges that such utilization might present. Part 3 maintains that comparative research is the cornerstone of unification endeavors. Starting with coordinated projects, Part 3 argues that unification is in itself an instrument (making comparative law a second-order instrument) and that it cannot be pursued without taking into account some concerns about its desirability and practicability. Part 3 then discusses uncoordinated unification processes, whereby lawmakers in one jurisdiction identify a “global consensus” and decide to join it, and elaborates on the normative and positive components of these strategies. Part 4 acknowledges that comparative analysis usually uncovers trans-jurisdictional diversity and argues that such findings can underlie normative and positive theories of tort law. A comparison can offer a systematic taxonomy of possible legal solutions to a particular problem, enabling scholars to critically evaluate and compare the alternatives from their preferred theoretical perspective. Moreover, any hypothesis about the impact of cultural, economic, political, technological, and other conditions and changes on the law can be substantiated or refuted through comparative analyses that seek out legal differences (or similarities) among systems with different (or similar) underlying backgrounds. Through this analysis, the article aims to reignite and enrich the debate and inspire tort-law makers and scholars to integrate comparative research into their work.

Digital Shadow Economy – Literature Review

The virtual environment is a phenomenon that has grown exponentially in recent years, changing the way the economy evolves. Through e-commerce, social media platforms, online stores, or websites, financial resources are rolled both legally and illegally. Thus, some transactions are not accounted for or taxed, and also the concept of the digital shadow economy, defined as economic shadow activities conducted in electronic space, with no physical contact is increasingly present today. This paper aims to review and systematically analyze, through bibliometric analysis, using the Web of Science scientific platform and the VOSviewer software, the notion of digital shadow economy, determining the current state of knowledge in the field. Also, a comparative research was performed between digital shadow economy and the traditional shadow economy. The main findings reveal that digital shadow economy has a novelty character that refers to an economy based on digitized services and products, which escapes the official estimates of the GDP and the main research tendencies concern the conceptualization of the term and its main activity channels, aspects that distinguish it from traditional shadow economy. Furthermore, a thematic cluster, containing links to the digital shadow economy term can be noticed to be around cybercrimes.

Reinstating Traditional Horsemanship of Ethnic Minorities in Southern China by Excavation, Sorting, and Comparative Research

In August 1991, the book Chinese Nation’s Traditional Sports History was published, and it was hailed as the “masterpiece of Chinese folk sports” by academic circles. In this masterpiece, the traditional horsemanship of 23 ethnic minorities and that of 10 southern ethnic minorities represented by the Miao, Yi, Bai, Shui, Hani, Naxi, and other ethnic groups has been included. For the first time, this masterpiece integrates the traditional horsemanship of the ethnic minorities in Southern China in one volume. The disadvantage is that most of the included traditional horsemanship of ethnic minorities only made a brief introduction to the time, place, and form of its development. However, under the global trend of the transition from traditional society to modern society and post-modern society, the traditional horsemanship of ethnic minorities in Southern China is facing an increasingly serious crisis of inheritance and disconnection, resulting in a gradual extinction of related traditional cultural heritage. The characteristics are gradually lost because of it. Therefore, it is essential to return to the historical and cultural field of traditional horsemanship, conduct rescue excavation, sort out the traditional horsemanship of ethnic minorities in Southern China, rescue the records of traditional horsemanship that is disappearing or undergoing drastic changes, as well as carry out comparative studies on this basis. This is not only an important way to inherit the traditional culture of ethnic minorities, but also means to protect the diversity of ethnic cultures and promote the development of exotic villages.

ICT in prison during the Covid-19 pandemic: a case study

In the presented case study we deepen the results of an international comparative research concerning the section of the survey carried out in Italy, going into detail about the situation related to the use of ICT in prison in our country during the Covid-19 pandemic. By proposing large excerpts of the interviews collected from four privileged witnesses (a prison manager, a school principal and two teachers), the article, through the examination of the practices told and the reflections collected, intends to probe the existing imaginaries on the use of ICT in the prison context, comparing points of view of different roles and examining the diachronic perspectives: pre/post pandemic and the prospects of future development. Le TIC in carcere durante la pandemia da Covid-19: uno studio di caso. Nello studio di caso presentato approfondiamo i risultati di una ricerca comparativa internazionale che riguardano la sezione dell’indagine svolta in Italia, scendendo nel dettaglio della situazione relativa agli utilizzi delle TIC in carcere nel nostro Paese durante la pandemia da Covid-19. Proponendo ampi stralci delle interviste raccolte da quattro testimoni privilegiati (un dirigente carcerario, un dirigente scolastico e due docenti), l’articolo, attraverso l’esame delle pratiche raccontate e delle riflessioni raccolte, intende sondare gli immaginari esistenti sull’utilizzo delle TIC in contesto penitenziario, confrontando punti di vista di ruoli differenti ed esaminandone lo svolgimento diacronico pre/post pandemia e le prospettive di sviluppo futuro.