Uses of Facebook and grief: emotional expression and seeking support in social media

This article discusses the use of Facebook in relation to grief by women who have lost a loved one. Qualitative research was carried out using a phenomenological-hermeneutic method, in which 29 bereaved women were interviewed. The results indicate that Facebook is a platform for emotional expression and for seeking support. This research contributes to the understanding of communicative practices in digital media, which blur the boundaries between what is private and public during moments of crisis.

Functional set of axiological dominants within English discourse-communicative space

The article is devoted to the problem of multifunctionality of value dominants in the discourse space of English communication. The relevance of the study is determined by the fact that it is aimed at clarifying the conceptual guidelines of discourse-communicative linguoaxiology as a direction that is experiencing a stage of development of its own theoretical platform. English communication acts as a zone of manifestation of axiological attitudes, which serve as nuclear elements of both personal axiospheres of speakers and the social value system of English-speaking linguocultural communities. Nevertheless, the analysis of the functional system of axiological vectors has so far been sporadic and fragmentary. The article makes an attempt at the analysis of multifunctional loading of axiological dominants within the boundaries of the discourse field of English-based interpersonal communication. The purpose of the study is to develop a functional axiological set, i.e. a complex of interrelated functions fulfilled by value dominants in English discourse-communicative practices. The relevant methods of comparative content analysis and comparative analytical systematization have been employed as the methodological apparatus of the research. The results of the study consist in the formation of a five-component system-functional axiological set, implemented in the process of English communication, the analysis of functional potential of value dominants in terms of axiological levels, as well as the identification of the specificity of each component within the developed paradigm. Based on the results of the study, the authors formulate a reasoned conclusion that value dominants lay deep foundation that systematically defines the entire area of interpersonal communication due to the simultaneous realization of multifunctional potential. The components of functional axiological set, namely the social-regulatory, motivational, cultural-integrative, structure-forming and pragma-axiological functions, in the process of communicative actualization determine the speech behavior of those who participate in verbal interaction.

Maklena Grasa by Serhiy Danchenko in the Context of Communicative Practices of the Theatrical Process in the 1960s–1970s’ Ukraine

Maklena Grasa by Serhiy Danchenko in the Context of Communicative Practicesof the Theatrical Process in the 1960s–1970s’ Ukraine

Against Epistemological Virus of Scepticism: Davidson on Objectivity of Knowledge

This paper provides a short overview of approaches to epistemological issues as represented by Donald Davidson, an American philosopher. This is an attempt to analyse Davidson’s essential postulates, in order to construct a framework for understanding a highly authentic epistemological position and the way in which it appears as an antipode to the sceptical epistemological strategies. In other words – the goal is to identify a coordinate system, through a set of postulates, from which Davidson projects his epistemological attitudes. For that purpose, the paper presents the developmental process of Davidson’s epistemological thought that goes through triangulation of notions subjective, intersubjective, and objective. The paper places special emphasis on Davidson’s concentration on communicative practices and intersubjectivity as the only topoi in which the issue of objectivity can be raised.

The ulus elite of the Yakuts in the communicative space of the Russian state from the 17th to 19th centuries

The article discusses the incorporation of the elite of the Yakut uluses - traditional potestary institutions - into the Russian state through its communicative space. At the same time, a new interpretation of uluses is given as a special political form of organization of nomadic peoples. In view of their dispersed and mobile lifestyle, communication played an important role among them. With titles such as toyons, kniastsy , and "best people", the taxonomy of the representatives of the Yakut elite finds analogies among other nomadic peoples. The article discusses the genealogical principle of the legitimacy of power and the governance practice of the Russian state in Yakutia. This article breaks new ground by analyzing the routes and forms of political communication through which the influence of the Russian state on the ulus system in general and on the ulus elite in particular was carried out. The activities of the provincial administration in relation to toyons to make them Russian subjects are interpreted as a route for the formation of the communication space in the imperial outskirts. The delegations of the Yakut nobles to the Russian tsars of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the inclusion of Yakut elite representatives into the Russian nobility, expanded this space by increasing the Yakuts confidence in the ruling regime. The article also takes account of local features of this process, which influenced the rate and nature of incorporation. The paper characterizes the communicative practices of embedding the Yakut ulus elite into the district governance system of Yakutia. The author argues that typologically, the ideas of citizenship adopted in the Russian state and in the Yakut ulus elite coincided. The Yakut nobles, apparently, did not differ in this from the related Turkic-Mongol elites of Southern and Western Siberia, but differed, in turn, in the pace of transition to tsarist power, since the former had an alternative in the face of politically strong neighbors, for example, Dzungaria.

Ethnography, Tactical Responsivity and Political Utility

In this article, we address issues of attribution, utility, and accountability in ethnographic research. We examine the two main analytical approaches that have structured the debate on data collection and theorization in ethnography over the last five decades: an inductivist approach, with grounded theory as its main analytic strategy; and a deductivist stance, which uses field sites to explore empirical anomalies that enable an ethnographer to test and build upon pre-existing theories. We engage recent reformulations of this classical debate, with a specific focus on abductive and reflexive approaches in ethnography, and then weigh into these debates, ourselves. drawing on our own experiences producing and using research in non-academic settings. In so doing, we highlight the importance of strategy and accountability in one’s ethnographic practices and accounts, advocating for an approach to ethnographic research that is reflexive and overtly responsive to the knowledge needs and change goals articulated by non-academic collaborators. Ultimately, we argue for a research stance that we describe as tactical responsivity, whereby researchers work with key collaborators and stakeholders to identify the strategic aims and audiences for their research, and develop ethnographic, analytic, and communicative practices that enable them to generate and mobilize the knowledge required to actualize their shared aims.

Danish satisfaction and Austrian discontent with their governments’ measures during the Covid-19 crisis: Explanations from a citizenship perspective

The various interventions that governments took in the first wave of the Covid-19 outbreak impacted people severely. Given the low satisfaction with the government performance in Austria compared to Denmark, though both governments set out with a suppression strategy early on and were able to lower infection rates, we analyse the changes in civil, political and social citizenship and the governmental communicative practices during the first Covid response phase from March to August 2020. Employing a case-oriented qualitative comparison, we find that a combination of factors explains the different degree of satisfaction. In Austria, there was a combination of politics of fear, extensive and authoritarian regulations of civil citizenship, political citizenship was challenged and social citizenship undermined. In Denmark, an engaging and caring communicative strategy was employed, political citizenship was maintained and civil citizenship was curtailed less obstructively and was less policed. Social citizenship also was upheld for larger groups.

Civil Society as Networks of Issues and Associations: The Case of Food

Scholars usually conceptualize civil society as both a discursive and an associational space. In the former, focus is on communicative practices; in the latter, attention shifts to the actors that cooperate or clash about the identification and production of collective goods. In this chapter, we sketch the contours of an approach to civil society that treats both dimensions in an integrated way. Looking at the role of food issues in urban settings as diverse as Cape Town, Bristol, and Glasgow, we borrow from social network analysis to explore first, how civic organizations combine an interest in food-related issues with attention to other themes, thus defining different, specific agendas; next, we ask if and how interest in food identifies specific clusters of cooperation within broader civil society networks.

Transformative Communication Radar: Practices, Action and Praxis Communication in Solidarity Economy Networks in Portugal and Catalonia

This article explores the transformational character of solidarity economy network communication in Portugal and Catalonia, focusing on the first two months of the crisis brought on by COVID-19. We assume that what these networks choose to convey (or remain silent on) in their public communications reflects their positions in the fields of action and values and their theoretical alignment, establishing an ethico-political orientation. Through the analysis of virtual content conveyed by solidarity economy organisations, we analyse the topics covered, the types of content and sources cited, and the level of demand in the discourse, as well as their individual, institutional and collective character. The results reveal very different communicative approaches in each of the cases analysed: from silence or total absence of communicative practices to what can be considered a transformational praxis communication, based on collective action challenging the structures of power and domination and pointing out ways to overcome them. The article proposes a transformative communication radar linking Habermas’s theory of communicative action and Fuchs’s Marxist-inspired praxis communication concept, as a way of distinguishing merely instrumental communicative approaches from those guided by communicative and cooperative rationality driving new agreements and societal transformations.

Decolonising Literacy Practices for an Inclusive and Sustainable Model of Literacy Education

Despite efforts on the part of institutions, professionals and social agents, the Roma population in Europe still lacks equal access to education. Difficulties in literacy development are at the root of this: Roma learners present lower literacy rates than non-Roma learners and learners in non-segregated schools, preventing them from transitioning to secondary education. This article presents the results of ethnographic research with a group of Roma primary learners in Southern Spain. The aim was to analyse the contexts, interactional spaces, contents and practices of learners’ engagement with literacy in and outside the classroom. Data analysis was carried out using an adaptation of the continua model of biliteracy, useful for analysing literacy practices in contexts with different literacy cultures. Results show that communicative practices that challenged skills-based literacy models helped activate learners’ literacy reservoirs, enhancing their literacy engagement and allowing them to renegotiate their position as Roma learners in a non-Roma institution and as text creators in the classroom. Conclusions point to the need to decolonise classroom practice by identifying learners’ literacy reservoirs and ways to activate these, contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable model of literacy education consistent with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal for quality education.