Homophobic Bullying in South African Schools

Homophobic bullying in schools is a global phenomenon. However, on the African continent, the phenomenon is rife because homosexuality is regarded to be un-African and is often linked to Western culture and colonial influence. These misconceptions about homosexuality have resulted in a culture of homophobia being inculcated into major structures of the society including schools. In this regard, this chapter aims to explore and describe the problem of homophobic bullying in South African schools. Particular attention is paid to cases of school-based homophobic bullying as primary sources of data as well as secondary sources of data from extant literature, textbooks, and journals articles. The chapter employs the Epstein Theory of Overlapping Spheres of Influence to proffer practical solutions and recommendations to address the problem of homophobic bullying in South African schools. These are school-, family-, and community-based solutions and recommendations based on the principles of social justice, inclusion, diversity, and equality.

Transnational crime: features and basic models

The study found that the features of modern transnational organized crime are: rapid adaptation to realities, instant response to changes and transformations in life and economy, the ability to improve and adjust the methods and tools used in activities; coordination; rationality; thoughtfulness and systematic actions; systematization; the desire to minimize potential risks and get the most profit and maximum profits. Such models of transnational organized crime as: corporate, trade unions, partnerships, ethnic, network are considered. Modern transnational criminal groups, regardless of model, have been shown to be “well-concealed, well-off criminal communities with a well-defined internal structure, distribution of spheres of influence and functions, and extensive interregional or international ties. It is emphasized that now transnational crime is turning into cybercrime. This is made possible by the fact that it is easier to hide criminal activity on the Internet, anonymity is ensured, and it is possible to act uncontrollably, which, in turn, guarantees security for criminal activity

What are the fundamental meanings of money?

I advocate that money has two fundamental meanings: 1) pursuing perceived freedom and 2) enhancing perceived impact. To support my points, I developed a framework regarding an individual’s subjective spheres of influence based on the Mindsponge mechanism to illustrate how individuals perceive what they can influence and what can influence them.

«До талого, пацаны!»*: молодежные неформальные территориальные группировки Элисты

Introduction. The article deals with street youth gangs in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia. In the process of their development, such organized criminal groups have transformed into a special subculture with its own hierarchies, spheres of influence, lifestyles, language, and practices. The author aims to show the development of this phenomenon as a subculture in the youth milieu, describing the norms of behavior, values, and life orientations of members of particular gangs operating in Elista. Data and methods. The main research sources are field materials collected by the author by way of interviewing members of such informal groups. The analysis involved the structural-functional method, participatory observation method, method of content-analysis and interviewing. Results. There is a history to the growth of modern informal groupings in the town: in fact, they proliferated during the period of restoration of the Kalmyk ASSR with its center in Elista. Under new conditions, within urban environment informal street gangs were formed on the principle of shared territories, which was in fact the most typical kind of such groupings in the country at large. For the younger generation, the street served as a space of masculine brotherly unity based on bodily practices, as well as on similar ideas, views, and concepts. In the period between 2000 and 2010, some of the informal units represented qualitatively new forms of organized criminal youth groupings; these were characterized by dominance practices, power relations, and age hierarchy. Although the youth (patsan) companies were not part of the criminal thieves’ subculture, they maintained to a degree this connection and found ways for organized criminal activity.

Scaling Biodiversity Conservation Efforts: An Examination of the Relationship Between Global Biodiversity Targets and Local Plans

Cities have a critical role to play in meeting global-scale biodiversity targets. Urban socio-ecological systems connect human and ecological well-being. The outsized impact of cities reaches well-beyond their geographic borders through cultural, ecological, and economic interactions. Although cities account for just 2% of the earth's surface, they host over half of the human population and are responsible for 75% of consumption. The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and others have acknowledged the important role cities can play in achieving global targets. In response, at least 110 cities have produced plans focused on biodiversity, but we do not know the extent to which these city plans align with global targets or what role they play in achieving these targets. Here, we explore the relationship between global biodiversity conservation targets and local biodiversity plans to identify how elements at the two scales align or diverge. We compared the CBD Strategic Plan 2011–2020 (Aichi Targets) with 44 local biodiversity plans (often called LBSAPs) from cities around the world. We analyzed more than 2,800 actions from the local plans to measure the relationship with these global targets. Our results show how local approaches to biodiversity conservation can inform post-2020 global frameworks to improve coordination between global and local scale processes. We identify actions particular to the local scale that are critical to conserve global biodiversity and suggest a framework for improved coordination between actors at different scales that address their respective roles and spheres of influence.

Domestic railways through the prism of the country's history

The construction of railways in Russia, as well as throughout the world, contributed to the emergence of numerous new areas of social life, including stimulating the emergence of previously unknown new sectors of the economy. On the basis of a historical review, the mission of the railways in improving the Russian society is considered, the spheres of influence on public life, aesthetic education and enrichment of the appearance of the landscape, the development of the sphere of enlightenment and education, missionary work, and service are listed. Examples of solving the problem of long-distance year-round communication, regardless of the climate, main communication across the vastness of Russia, the creation of a special tradition of transportation, which determined the still living everyday style of life of Russian railways, are given.Having spawned a new tradition of messages, people have created a different system of relationships with the world. The railway has played a leading role in this and has a long and honorable history, it is a great chronicle of heroism, labor, scientific thought and culture.The study is devoted to the initial stage of development of railways and aspects of their impact on the life of Russians. The following will describe the historical events that predetermined the current state of domestic railways in the context of the everyday life of compatriots.

Weaving Womanhood into Warfare: Gender-Hybrid Narratives of Amazons Penthesilea and Diana Prince

Largely rooted in ancient Greek essentialism, Western dichotomies of masculinity and femininity have been historically used to divide the sexes and limit women’s involvement in male institutions of power. The female warrior is an anomalous case. Fictional tropes of this type, especially the Amazons of Greek mythology, embody both masculine and feminine associations to exist in the separate spheres of womanhood and military heroism. Two transhistorical Amazons—Penthesilea (from Quintus Smyrnaeus’ Posthomerica) and Diana Prince (from the 2017 film Wonder Woman)—were analyzed to explore the evolution of Western perceptions on powerful women in traditionally male spheres of influence. Guided by gender and classics theories, a thematic and narrative analysis focusing on the characters’ gender hybridity (the combination of masculine and feminine distinctions) demonstrated new understandings: Penthesilea’s story demonstrates that hybridity in antiquity reinforced the hegemonic implications of gender essentialism. Diana’s modern hybridity empowers female success in male realms. Nonetheless, both narratives establish the difficulty of crossing gendered boundaries, as compromise and defeat accompany hybridity. Comparing ancient and modern adaptations of the Amazons reveals that while women’s presence in masculine spheres remains tentative in Western society, reimagined female warriors represent increasing acceptance towards women adopting hybrid roles in public expressions of power.

Revisiting Insularity and Expansion: A Theory Note

What is the relationship between insularity—a state’s separation from other states via large bodies of water—and expansion? The received wisdom, prominent in (though not exclusive to) realist theories, holds that insularity constrains expansion by making conquest difficult. We contend, by contrast, that this received wisdom faces important limits. Focusing on U.S. expansion via means short of conquest, we interrogate the underlying theoretical logics to demonstrate that insular powers enjoy two distinct advantages when it comes to expansion. First, insularity translates into a “freedom to roam”: because insular powers are less threatened at home, they can project more power and influence abroad. Second, insularity “sterilizes” power, which explains why insular powers are seen as attractive security providers and why we do not see more counterbalancing against them. On net, existing scholarship is correct to argue that insularity impedes conquest between great powers. Still, it has missed the ways that insularity abets expansion via spheres of influence abroad. One consequence is an under-appreciation for the role of geography writ large and insularity in particular in shaping contemporary great power behavior.

“Byzance apre`s Byzance” and Post-Byzantine Art from the Late Fifteenth Century through the Eighteenth Century

The study of the post-Byzantine world is now regarded as a field in its own right, separate from Byzantine studies or Renaissance studies. However, the scope of the discipline and the meaning of the term post-Byzantine—its conceptual, geographical, and chronological limits—remain unsettled. For art historians, the term typically refers to certain tendencies (especially in iconography and style) observable in and around one of a few centers of activity or spheres of influence within the Orthodox Christian world, typically identified as Ottoman-held vs. Venetian-held lands, or as Venetian Crete, Mt. Athos, and the “periphery” (i.e., everywhere else). Scholarly attention has also focused primarily on portable icons. Broadening the field to consider more types of objects across the whole geography under scrutiny, we can consider how art and ideas were received and adapted over time and across regions.