From a "Child of Light" to a "Woman of Genius": Sarah Grand's The Beth Book as the New Woman Bildungsroman

The New Woman fiction, popular in the last decade of the 19th century, contested the traditional notions of gender roles and participated in the public debates on women’s rights. The protagonists of the New Woman novels refused to conform to the submissive and self-abnegating Victorian ideal of femininity. The article discusses the ways in which Sarah Grand, a prominent New Woman novelist and social activist, uses and transforms both the elements of her own life and the Bildungsroman conventions in her 1897 novel The Beth Book to create a heroine whose growth and development result in her personal independence and her active public engagement in women’s issues. Cast in a variety of social roles, Beth Maclure reclaims her agency and becomes an embodiment of the New Woman.

Poles in Belgium and the question of rebirth of an independent Polish state

The issue of the participation of Polish political emigration in the struggle for freedom and its comprehensive activity in the political, scientific and cultural spheres are reflected in the Polish (European) history, thus providing valuable research material for future generations. Polish post-partition emigres, especially after the major national uprisings, was concentrated mainly in France, England and Belgium. Polish emigration in Belgium, similar to some extent to emigration in France – albeit smaller in number – was constituted by the Polish colony, represented, among others, by soldiers seeking refuge after the November Uprising (including several dozen officers, e.g. Ignacy Kruszewski, Feliks Prot de Pruszyński, Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki, Władysław Zamoyski) and representatives of culture and science, Joachim Lelewel (an outstanding Polish historian, spiritual guide in an exile democratic camp), Stanisław Worcell (thinker and social activist of the Great Emigration) and many other outstanding Poles. The aim of this article is to present the role of Polish emigration in Belgium, its contribution to the struggle for Poland’s independence, and to draw attention to the scholarly dispute surrounding the Great Emigration between Polish and Belgian historians regarding the effects of “politics in exile” and the question of the heroism of Polish patriots in exile. These considerations are a contribution to a broader discussion and an encouragement to a deeper penetration of the literature (source materials) on the Great Emigration, especially, if it concerns Belgium, available in foreign languages – French and Dutch.

Acid attacks: Issues and Challenges

cid attack is against the indivual but consequences are universal; hence I think it is one kind of deep rooted social evil. As a learner of law we all are well aware that crime is against world at large or against the society. Now this acid attacks demeans the society and humanity. It reflects crony of human beings which is always hidden and not apparent. Over the years the gravity of this heinous crime has centralized Research scholars, thinkers’ Social activist, Legislatures, law students’ judges as well to make out way to curb this paranoia. In A.K. Gopalan’s case Justice Patanjali shashtri said that “man is rational beings desires to do many things but in civil society his desires will have to be controlled with the exercise of sillier desires of other indivual.” And not pouring acid on him or her. Because the main reasons behind commission of this brutal act are unwarranted desires like rejection of love marriages not love but proposal of marriages, refusal of dowry, rejection of sexual demands, property dispute, family conflict, disputes of live-in relationships though desires of human beings cannot be legislated but behavior can be controlled by penalizing it. The acid attack is unpredicted and permeated violence against beauty and body of the person; this is the only attack which can be done against inherent things of the body rather than bodily harm to the person. Those beautiful things of the victims can be targeted which are impossible to digest to the acid throwers. Acid attack is not only crime but also brutal violence that shows the gravity of the act of the thrower. This leads several long term consequences like blindness, disfigurations of the face and body, having negative felling to live along with society. Hence this evil must be eradicated before it grows in civil society

The Story of how Vladimir Sergeevich Took Offense at Faivel Bentsilovich. An Unpublished V.S. Solovyov’s Letter to F.B. Getz

An analysis of the manuscript legacy of V.S. Solovyov is of the greatest importance for the study of his views, creativity, and biography, especially in connection with the ongoing pro-ject of publishing a complete collection of his works and letters. Even well-known and al-ready published texts, including those that appeared in newspapers and journals, need careful comparison with the manuscripts that have come down to us. This is particularly true of Solovyov's correspondence that at the time were carefully selected and, in some cases, edited before publication. This is demonstrated by the example of one of the philosopher’s letters that was intentionally published in a noticeably shortened form. The letter to his friend F.B. Getz was written in the summer of 1891 and reflects a dramatic episode in the lives of both and led to a break between Solovyov and the editorial board of the Petersburg newspaper Novosti. The article also presents a short story about Faivel Getz (1853–1932), a journalist, social activist, and the addressee of the letter with whom Solovyov engaged on the Jewish issue. This article also analyzes at length the events of 1891, which led to a small scandal that served as the reason for writing this letter. V.S. Solovyov could be suspected of cheating and self-promotion as a result of a misunderstanding that arose from the fact that two different authors published in the same newspaper at that time under the same pseudonym. The appendix contains the full text of Solovyov's letter to Getz with the necessary commentary.

Stop Mare Mortum y el movimiento de solidaridad con las personas refugiadas en Barcelona

Durante el largo verano migratorio de 2015 aumentaba de un modo dramático el nivel de conciencia ciudadana y activismo en Barcelona. En la primavera de 2016, cada día tenían lugar eventos de protesta en solidaridad con las personas refugiadas , promovidos por un amplio espectro de grupos locales, asociaciones y redes. En tanto, un cambio en el gobierno local erigía a una otrora activista social como alcaldesa, asumiendo el tema de las personas refugiadas como una prioridad política. Basado en una serie de entrevistas en profundidad con activistas clave, este artículo presenta, mapea y estudia la evolución de las redes activistas locales. Buscando arrojar luz sobre las dinámicas de meso-movilización, analizamos la plataforma Stop Mare Mortum (SMM). Con un alto nivel de politización y centrándose en las personas refugiadas en tránsito, esta iniciativa nacida de una pequeña red de círculos activistas creció hasta convertirse en una plataforma paraguas con gran capacidad para coordinar iniciativas de la sociedad civil. Junto con una combinación única de emociones y marcos de movilización, la habilidad de SMM para adaptar sus estrategias, repertorios de acción y estructuras organizativas a un contexto cambiante explican su capacidad de movilización y el carácter transversal de sus bases. The 2015 long summer of migration has increased dramatically the level of citizen awareness and activism in Barcelona. In Spring 2016 a number of protest events in solidarity with refugees were taking place on a daily basis, promoted by a broad range of local groups, associations and networks. In the meantime, a change of government brought a social activist as the new mayor of the city, with the refugees' issue as a top political priority. Based on a number of in-depth interviews with key activists, this article presents, maps and studies the evolution of the local networks. Aiming at shedding light on meso-level mobilization dynamics, we zoom into Stop Mare Mortum. With a high level of politicization and focusing on refugees in transit, this initiative borne out of a small network of activists has gradually become an umbrella platform aiming to coordinate civil society initiatives within this field. Together with a unique combination emotions and frames for mobilization, SMM’s ability to adapt its strategies, repertoires of action and organizational structures to a changing environment explains its mobilization capacity and the cross-cut nature of its constituency.

Deep Ecological Reading of Mahasweta Devi’s “The Book of The Hunter”: An Eco-Conscious Approach

Deep Ecology is one of the newly emerging areas in ecocritical studies. Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess has coined the word in order to promote ecological consciousness and encourage a feeling of shared identity between humans and the biosphere. Studies in Deep Ecology propose that the human being is just one more among the many species in nature, and not the supreme one; the belief that humanity is somehow exceptional is swiftly leading us towards the anthropogenic depletion of the environment. Mahasweta Devi, a well-respected author and social activist, shows great concern for the health of the ecosystem and its importance for the continuity of the human species, to the extent that a significant amount of her work can be used as apposite study material for eco-critical analysis. The novel considered here, The Book of The Hunter, incorporates salient features of the concept of Deep Ecology. Consequently, the present study reviews the novel with an ecological perspective, all the while discussing the author’s efforts to create eco-consciousness among the readers. The story follows the lives of two couples, the medieval poet Kabikankan Mukundaram Chakrabarti and his wife, and the youngsters Kalya and Phuli. While the novelist aims to capture the different socio-cultural conventions of XVI century rural society (in this Devi acknowledges her debt to Mukundaram’s 1544 epic poem “Abhayamangal”), she nonetheless offers a significant commentary on the deep-seated, beneficent attitude of the forest-dwelling Shabar community of Odisha and West Bengal towards ecological management. At the same time, the author illustrates the effects of the growing number of settlements encroaching upon the forest.

Role of Professional Social Workers in Promotion of Quality of Life of Children Orphaned by AIDS: A Study

This article discusses the role of professional social workers in promotion of quality of life of children orphaned by AIDS. Children orphaned by AIDS are the children, who have the age of below 18 years, and lost one or both biological parents due to AIDS. It is estimated that there are 13.8 million children worldwide had lost mother or father or both parents to AIDS as of 2020. Children orphaned by AIDS face economic, social, psychological, and health problems. It is very difficult for them to access the basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing as well as education. This study conducted in two states of India i.e. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with 316 children orphaned by AIDS. The study found that women-headed, granny-headed and child-headed families are more in HIV affected families. Stigma and discrimination were faced by 64.2 per cent respondents. About 35 per cent of the children are not attending the schools regularly, 72.2 per cent respondents required psycho-social support. Social work is a practice-based profession and it believes that every child is unique. There is a lot of scope for the practice of social work profession with these children. Social workers work as a social case-worker, social group worker, community organizer, social activist, social welfare administrator, social researcher, counsellor, communicator, and educator etc. to promote the quality of life of children orphaned by AIDS. This study suggested a strategy to work with children orphaned by AIDS.

John Lennon as Pop-Cultural and Political Icon

No musician embodied the world-changing turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s more than John Lennon. His work as a composer with the Beatles and as a solo artist reinvented what a rock song could be. As a political and social activist, he was a tireless champion of truth, peace, and world harmony. For many of his fans, Lennon’s music and sociopolitical efforts were intertwined. They loved him for the timeless music he created with the Beatles and on his own. And many admired him still more for his efforts to effect social and political change. But his personal life, which included domestic abuse, heavy drug use, and some epically boorish behavior, did not always match his image rooted in peace and love. Has the growing knowledge of Lennon’s personal shortcomings damaged his relationship with his fans? Judging by the adulation he has received since his tragic death in 1980, apparently not.