A strengths-based approach to exploring diabetes management in an Indigenous minority population: A mixed methods study

Indigenous and other marginalized racial/ethnic minorities have poorer health status than majority populations, including higher rates of type 2 diabetes. These disparities have typically been addressed using a ‘deficit-based’ discourse that isolates disease management from the broader social, economic, political context and does not incorporate patient perspectives. We aimed to explore factors affecting glycemic control among Indigenous Arabs with diabetes in Israel using a strengths-based approach that centered participants’ knowledge of their context, needs, resources and strengths. We conducted an exploratory sequential mixed methods study, which included 10 focus groups (5 men’s, 5 women’s) and 296 quantitative in-person surveys. Participants with diagnosed diabetes were randomly drawn from the patient list of the largest healthcare service organization (survey response rate: 93%). Prominent and interconnected themes emerged from focus group discussions, including: diet, physical activity, and social, economic, mental/psychological and political stress. The discussions raised the need for adapting diabetes management approaches to incorporate participants’ communal, physical and psychological well-being, and socioeconomic/political realities. The connections between these factors and diabetes management were also reflected in multivariable analyses of the survey data. Women (OR: 2.03; 95% CI: 1.09–4.63), people with disabilities (OR: 2.43; 95% CI: 1.28–4.64), and unemployed people (OR: 2.64; 95% CI: 1.28–5.44) had higher odds of economic barriers to diabetes management. Furthermore, female sex (OR: 2.26; 95% CI: 1.25–4.09), unemployment (OR: 4.07; 95% CI: 1.64–10.10), and suboptimal glycemic control (OR: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.03–1.41 per 1-unit increase in HbA1c) were associated with moderate-to-severe depressive symptoms. A pro-active, team-based healthcare approach incorporating Indigenous/minority participants’ knowledge, experience, and strengths has the potential to improve individuals’ diabetes management. Healthcare services should be structured in ways that enable providers to listen to their patients, address their key concerns, and foster their strengths.

“Witch doctors” or professionals? The graduates of Mexico´s first intercultural university and the struggle for legitimacy

Since 2003, the Mexican government has opened 11 intercultural universities serving a total of 15,000 students, a majority of whom are members of Mexico´s Indigenous minority. While there is a growing body of work analyzing the intercultural model from public policy and theoretical perspectives, few studies focus on the experiences of the students and graduates of these institutions. In this article, I share the findings of one such study of the Intercultural University of Mexico State, the pioneer of the intercultural universities. Through interviews with graduates, students, and deans of three undergraduate intercultural programs, I seek to answer a central question, which is rooted in critical and decolonial theory: To what degree does the intercultural model achieve its stated mission of empowering Indigenous students and to what degree does it contribute to the reproduction of inequality? In general, the findings are mixed. While many students share experiences of discrimination in the workplace, and even being derided as “witch-doctors,” they argue that attending an institution with a critical mass of Indigenous students has empowered them personally and professionally, transformed their cultural identities, and given them a new appreciation for their Indigenous roots.

A Sociology of Maori Education - Beyond Mediating Structures

<p>The history of the relationship between Maori (the indigenous minority) and Pakeha (the dominant majority) is one that is encapsulated in processes of mediation. Pakeha resolve issues that favour kawanatanga solutions (article 1 of the Treaty) while Maori recommendations almost always line up with solutions that uphold questions to do with tino rangatiratanga (article 2 of the Treaty). Each takes into account forms of accommodation of the other but these compromise positions are usually the tasks for the public servants who are by definition, working for the government of the day, and therefore, on the side of kawanatanga. The point of articulation is critical in the nature of the relationship between Maori and Pakeha. The legal academic, Alex Frame (2002) describes this position as important for those New Zealanders "who have tried to walk in both worlds, thereby not only honouring and strengthening their own and each other's cultures, but also bringing to life a third and co-existing culture of interaction in Aotearoa". A study of a variety of mediating structures, explores the relationship between Maori and Pakeha and analyses the effects these have on both parties, especially as these pertain to developments in Maori education. An approach to settling the conundrum of prioritising one agenda without creating new grievances for redress is argued throughout the study. It is argued, further, that a major re-think is needed of what an education will mean in order to meet the requirements of a contemporary Polynesian/Western society that both honours the tenets of its foundation document as well as providing a rational basis for meeting commitments in the modern global society.</p>

A Sociology of Maori Education - Beyond Mediating Structures

<p>The history of the relationship between Maori (the indigenous minority) and Pakeha (the dominant majority) is one that is encapsulated in processes of mediation. Pakeha resolve issues that favour kawanatanga solutions (article 1 of the Treaty) while Maori recommendations almost always line up with solutions that uphold questions to do with tino rangatiratanga (article 2 of the Treaty). Each takes into account forms of accommodation of the other but these compromise positions are usually the tasks for the public servants who are by definition, working for the government of the day, and therefore, on the side of kawanatanga. The point of articulation is critical in the nature of the relationship between Maori and Pakeha. The legal academic, Alex Frame (2002) describes this position as important for those New Zealanders "who have tried to walk in both worlds, thereby not only honouring and strengthening their own and each other's cultures, but also bringing to life a third and co-existing culture of interaction in Aotearoa". A study of a variety of mediating structures, explores the relationship between Maori and Pakeha and analyses the effects these have on both parties, especially as these pertain to developments in Maori education. An approach to settling the conundrum of prioritising one agenda without creating new grievances for redress is argued throughout the study. It is argued, further, that a major re-think is needed of what an education will mean in order to meet the requirements of a contemporary Polynesian/Western society that both honours the tenets of its foundation document as well as providing a rational basis for meeting commitments in the modern global society.</p>

Revivalistics is Not Documentary Linguistics

Summary This article introduces a new field of enquiry called revivalistics, and explores its trans-disciplinarity and various ethical, aesthetic and utilitarian benefits. Revivalistics is an emerging global, trans-disciplinary field of enquiry studying comparatively and systematically the universal constraints and global mechanisms on the one hand (Zuckermann, 2003; 2009; 2020), and particularistic peculiarities and cultural relativist idiosyncrasies on the other, apparent in linguistic reclamation, revitalization and reinvigoration across various sociological backgrounds, all over the globe (Zuckermann, 2020; Zuckermann & Walsh, 2011; 2014). The article focuses on the crucial differences between revivalistics and documentary linguistics. It provides examples from the field that demonstrate the complexity of the revivalist’s work and how the revivalist’s work is distinct from that of the documentary linguist. Too many documentary linguists mislead themselves to believe that they can easily be revivalists too. But there are two crucial differences between revivalistics and documentary linguistics, which are at war between themselves: (1) Whereas documentary linguists put the language at the centre, revivalists put the language custodians at the centre. (2) Whereas in documentary linguistics the Indigenous/minority people have the knowledge of the language, in revivalistics the revivalist is the one with that knowledge. Given that the Aboriginal/minority people are the language custodians, and given that the language custodians are at the centre of the revivalistic enterprise, the revivalist must be extremely sensitive. A revivalist is not only a linguist but also a psychologist, social worker, teacher, driver, schlepper, financial manager, cook, waiter, babysitter, donor etc. A revivalist must have a heart of gold, “balls” of steel and the patience of a saint. Language revival is similar to co-parenting. But the revivalist is only a step-father. The important biological mother is the Indigenous/minority community. If you are the step-father and your spouse, who is the biological mother, makes what you perceive to be a mediocre decision with regard to your children, you cannot just disapprove of it. After all, the children are your spouse’s more than they are yours. You must work together for the best possible outcome. Similarly, if the community supports a decision that is not linguistically viable, the revivalist can try to inspire the community members, but must accept their own verdict. That would be difficult for a documentary linguist with poor social skills.

The Quest for Minority Rights in Federal Ethiopia: Legal Promise and Challenges

Ethiopia has adopted ethnic-based federal system as a response to National Questions in the country during the reign of EPRDF regime. As this federal system is based on ethnicity, ethnic identity has become the key instrument regarding entitlement, representation and state organization. Now, the key to get access to the resources of the state is to acquire a separate ethnic identity and an ethnically defined administrative structure. Based on the analytical literature review, the study has examined the challenges posed by ethnic-based federal system to protect the rights of minority groups and individuals residing within ethnically designated regional states. The federal system has created its own types of political challenges for the protections of the rights of non-indigenous minority groups. It is constraining rather than enlarging the political space for an overall citizenship. The idea of overarching citizenship that transcends ethnic identity is lacking in the federal system. The ethnic federal system also lacks mechanism for monitoring human rights at ethnically designated sub-state levels. The study, therefore, suggest reformulating the federal system, strictly respecting the principles of the federal constitution and revisiting regional state constitutions to avoid contradiction to the supreme federal constitution.

Where Are the Goalposts? Generational Change in the Use of Grammatical Gender in Irish

The Irish language is an indigenous minority language undergoing accelerated convergence with English against a backdrop of declining intergenerational transmission, universal bilingualism, and exposure to large numbers of L2 speakers. Recent studies indicate that the interaction of complex morphosyntax and variable levels of consistent input result in some aspects of Irish grammar having a long trajectory of acquisition or not being fully acquired. Indeed, for the small group of children who are L1 speakers of Irish, identifying which “end point” of this trajectory is appropriate against which to assess these children’s acquisition of Irish is difficult. In this study, data were collected from 135 proficient adult speakers and 306 children (aged 6–13 years) living in Irish-speaking (Gaeltacht) communities, using specially designed measures of grammatical gender. The results show that both quality and quantity of input appear to impact on acquisition of this aspect of Irish morphosyntax: even the children acquiring Irish in homes where Irish is the dominant language showed poor performance on tests of grammatical gender marking, and the adult performance on these tests indicate that children in Irish-speaking communities are likely to be exposed to input showing significant grammatical variability in Irish gender marking. The implications of these results will be discussed in terms of language convergence, and the need for intensive support for mother-tongue speakers of Irish.