Body Pedagogics, Transactional Identities and Human–Animal Relations

The sociology of the body developed as a reaction against Cartesian conceptions of homo clausus that haunted disciplinary thought in the late 20th century but exhibited anthropocentric tendencies in neglecting non-human animals. Building upon recent attempts to address this situation, I develop a transactional approach towards body pedagogics that explores how the shifting borders governing human–animal relations influence people’s embodied identities. Transactions between humans and (other) animals have been an historic constant across contrasting societies, but the patterning of these exchanges is framed by specific cultural body pedagogics. Focusing on the institutional means, characteristic experiences and corporeal outcomes of ‘civilising’ and ‘companionate’ human–animal body pedagogics, I explore the identity-shaping impact of these different modalities of inter-species inter-corporeality and demonstrate the sociological utility of this transactional approach.

Pre-service Teachers’ perceptions on instant messaging and orthographic competence

This work examines the perception held by pre-service teachers of Spanish in Chile and Argentina of the digital written norm in IM, together with their opinion regarding the influence of textisms on secondary students’ acquisition of orthographic competence. The study uses a transactional approach based on surveys and uses and applies a descriptive non-experimental design. Results, when compared with studies for the European Spanish variant, showed that pre-service teachers in Chile and Argentina considered use of textisms as harmful to secondary students’ development of orthographic competence, despite their own frequent use of textisms. However, one of the main findings is a certain degree of tolerance of specific types of textisms in digital writing, as was a more integrative approach to those written variables on the part of participants in Argentina.

Digitalization of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation

Due to the analysis of the functioning of the information systems of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, some problems were found: a substantial part of the accumulated data is outdated and needs clarification, storing data in different formats does not allow analyzing them and others. The key purpose of this work is to identify ways for improving external financial control through the implementation of digital technologies. The research methodology provides for two approaches of the digitalization of state financial control: development of existing information systems to improve their efficiency; creation of a unified digital environment — a digital platform of control bodies based on a transactional approach. According to the results of the study, the authors on the blockchain platform (Hyperledger) created a model of interaction between the Accounts Chamber and the Federal Treasury, the object of the control. On the other hand, the article focuses on the prospects for analysing information in real time, using machine learning. The theoretical and practical significance of the study is to justify the necessity for development a common vision of the functional architecture of solutions proposed by the internal and external financial control authorities.

Brand Pride in Consumer–Brand Relationships: Towards a Conceptual Framework

Brands are rapidly moving away from the traditional transactional approach to a relational journey with their users. In most cases, Consumer- Brand Relationships are based on the extent of congruence between individuals and their favourite brands. This paper aims to contribute to this journey and understand the genesis and outcomes of such a relationship wherein the consumer feels “proud” to be associated with his/her brand. Specifically the purpose of the paper is to understand the antecedents and consequences of a less explored construct, Brand Pride. This conceptual paper is based on an extensive and detailed review of literature pertaining to the areas of emotional branding, consumer-brand relationships, pride in brand associations, self-congruence and behavioral outcomes. It also evaluates the impact of a narssistic personality on such relationships. The authors propose a conceptual framework for Brand Pride which would lead to a deeper understanding in the phenomenology of Brand Pride and its subsequent impact on higher order Consumer-Brand Relationships. Crystallization of this concept would lead to invaluable insights in the advancement in emotional branding both for academicians and practitioners, with Brand Pride being the emotion in focus.